covenant

A man of integrity, honor; gentle and kind

how I dreamed of the day, when God brought him to me

At 18 years old, a tad early I thought

a man stole my heart, my hand, my life

At age 21, a covenant made

We joined together, in all, not in some

to tarry here as long as He allows, as long as likes

Loving one another through trials

through joys, never to loose our way

With our faith rock solid, our determination doubled

We dance and we cry, whole or broken

together, we're a cord of three

not easily separated, not easily torn

We pray and we're humbled

built up and strengthened

Bruised in an instant, hot tears from words spilt

hearts unguarded, soft and tender to pain

Never to sleep though, before making amends

our Holy Spirit, a watch over our lips

In Him, quickly willing to forgive, to forget

To gently lift, to build, to support

allowing the Holy Spirit to flow through us

into each other and out through our children

How much He has taught us! How faithful is our God!

no matter our trial, tribulation or fear

In loyalty and honor and daily choices

this covenant of ours, will always be near,

on my heart, in my head, on my lips

My only one, may you always know

my commitment to you

Snuggled close, tender and loved

I'm surprised to not fear growing old

My hearts twin, my one true love by my side!

exploring great adventure, in stillness on our knees

in joy, in health, in sadness, in sickness

In health, I expected, but my heart skipped a beat

in sickness, a promise honored, your covenant was true

My man of integrity, how I will always trust you

reliable, sure, certain, determined...you are

and you are mine

How happy, how honored, how blessed, I am

to live this coventant with you

Random Picture Challenge 6.0

January 2007
or 13th picture folder
3rd picture

This was Ryland's masterpiece he painted on our new easle on his fourth birthday.

play along! why not? it only takes 20 seconds to find your pic, 20 to post about it! :o)

toddlerhood

Guess who???

Toddlerhood is so much fun. I love how my daughters are learning about their world and the way they are sponges soaking up an enormous amount of...everything: everyday. Everything is so new and exciting~the planes flying overhead, the birds singing, the sun in their eyes and the wind in their face, puppy-dog kisses, the thrill of a slide faster than they thought it would be, mama's delight with their scribbles, I mean drawings, the deliciousness of ice-cream...and so much more

Toddlerhood can also be a royal pain sometimes. They cannot tell me exactly what they want and they get frustrated. They cannot get exactly what they want, when they want it (NO eating in the new van! AND definitely NO EATING the new van, TENNYSON!!! Don't ask, you don't want to know.).

But they are enjoying exploring life, from leapsters to light snowfall on the deck to mama's makeup, hugs and kisses, tickling and chase, reading stories and playing on our big toy, these girls are fun...

yep

She's teething alright, all four molars, poor girl...

I took her to the window this morning to show her the light snowfall covering the logs in the creek; she said "nooooo!" and "owwww" and stuck her whole fist in her mouth.

After the day we had yesterday, it is quite a relief to know there was a reason. :o)

look what I found

on MY chair...Chad keeps using words like "cute" and "sweet" when referring to our youngest snake Sam. I'm not buying it...yet. Do you??? Chad's hoping that when this baby boa grows up, he will mate with Maddie and make babies he can sell for over $200. And possibly watching the live births will be a great homeschool activity. ;o) When Yoshi and Lizzie mate their eggs will be fun to watch hatch too. (No, we're not planning a mate for our bearded dragon, Frodo!) I'll have to post pics of our reptile room now that it's brimming with no less than 5 reptiles!

shoes, specifically shiny mary-janes

I'm afraid I did it. I turned Hope and Halle into shoe snobs. They love cute shoes. They don't want rubber boots or tennis shoes, they want soft, well-made, pretty shoes and boots. It's true.

I just recently cleared out most of their 18-24 month clothes (I can't believe they are into 24mos/2/2t now!) and their new shoes came out from the back of their armoire. Hope was watching intently as I searched for the size 5-5.5's (hope) and 6-6.5's (halle).

When I brought out these shiny beauties her eyes got big and she grinned and shook her head up and down! They are Halle's size but I put them on her and she walked around like a peacock glancing down every few seconds, grinning the whole time. Oh dear, what have I done!?!

Halle has been teething or something. She was so mad that Hope got to put the shiny black mary-janes on and she didn't. She refused to look at me or let me take her out of her high-chair.

Silly girls, huh???

What do you do...

when you want to welcome a teenager into your home, but she doesn't want to come??? Anna's heart is broken, I am frustrated (and dare I say it, a little bit angry, protective of Annah's feelings), and the boys are confused. Chad shrugs it off... "She's a teenager. She'll come around." lol Well, God's will be done. There is a freedom in knowing there isn't much you can do. But please pray as I would love for our happy home to stay that way! Yet, I know, we're called to do this and I know it will be challenging sometimes.

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:2-5

Random Picture Challenge 5.0

March2008

5th picture from the end

Click here to play along!

Baby B

bright

busy

explorer

joyful

happy

loving

shy

Baby A

sensitive

sweet

sense of humor

gentle

animal lover

quiet

nature girl

20 month old joys

How my little girls have grown in the last few months! They are barely barely baby anymore. Just a teensy bit baby but so much more little girl! Here they are in all their cuteness in photos I took yesterday...