Beautifully Blessed Day

Annalina (stripes) and A (boots) in front of the home

we have come under contract for in Colorado!

What a day!! Today our final negotiation paper was signed for the house we picked in Colorado!! We have been watching and falling in love with that house for a LONG TIME! It is our dream home and Lord willing we hope to own it for a very long time. The home is in the mountains, which many know Babe and I LOVE mountains, and the windows look right at Pikes Peak! AHHH, AHHH, AHHH. Our closing date is June 8th. We are now going to be waiting to see how the home inspection goes. :-) I can't help but decorating in my mind and that has been so fun for me.

Another huge blessing today came to Babe and Gabriel. They went to a Messianic Passover Dinner. They came home so excited and obviously blessed by the experience. Gabriel really enjoyed learning the symbolism of the dinner. Babe was touched by the personal nature of the worship. The people were a blessing. They REALLY enjoyed the fellowship with the people. They enjoyed the Hebrew music and the unique food. I thought they would enjoy it but I didn't realize it would be the blessing it was to them! They got all dressed up for the dinner and Ross thought Gabriel looked like a Pastor in his suit and tie!

What a day. We have never owned a home it has only been a dream of ours. It is exciting to see that our dreams and prayers are coming to fruition.

Tomorrow will be so nice as we take time to remember what Good Friday is all about. I really look forward to it. We've been doing a 40 day Discovering Jesus children's devotional put out by Charles Swindol. It has been good. I'll have to write more on that later.

Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends

I don't even want to attempt to explain this book. I am not a talented writer and this book was just amazing. Not only was it imformative, thought provoking, and packed with Scripture it was also FUNNY and just a whole lot of fun. The kids really enjoyed it. It definitely impacted their minds and hearts. I still miss reading this book to the kids. We would just read a few pages after devotions and it took us a few months. It will be read again! This book is for all ages probably 4 and up! LOVE IT!

It is written by 3 siblings . . . 2 girls and one boy. They were gifted by God for this task! They are honest and fun!

The Secret Garden

"Two things cannot be in one place. Where you tend a rose, a thistle cannot grow." --one of my favorite quotes from the book

Of course, this is a classic and well known book. We LOVED it! The kids would ask me to read more! We throughly enjoyed and looked forward to reading this book at lunch time!

Quotes from the book:

"If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden."
— Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden)

"Two things cannot be in one place. Where you tend a rose, a thistle cannot grow."

— Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden)

"To let a sad thought or a bad one get into your mind is as dangerous as letting a scarlet fever germ get into your body. If you let it stay there after it has got in, you may never get over it as long as you live."
— Frances Hodgson Burnett

"It made her think that it was curious how much nicer a person looked when he smiled. She had not thought of it before."
— Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden)

"Much more surprising things can happen to anyone who, when a disagreeable or discouraged thought comes into his mind, just has the sense to remember in time and push it out by putting in an agreeable, determinedly courageous one. Two things cannot be in one place."
— Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden)

"At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done--then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago."
— Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden)

Ahh, Brotherly Love!

Some snap shots of Carson deciding to show Gabriel brotherly love while Gabriel was sitting at the table trying to color. Thankfully, Gabriel does still have two eyes and did not lose one to a colored pencil!

The other picture is of Ross (the dragon) and Carson having fun playing and hiding away.

Word Mix Up

Ross and Carson were playing with pretend food on the ironing board lowered to their level to put the food on. Actually, Ross was the one playing with the food while Carson was sitting on a stool enjoying the show I guess! Anyway, Ross had food plated up and said "Do you want some sabotage?" I thought "What? Sabotage?" I said something to the effect that I didn't understand and he said "What Indians eat!" I started laughing . . . he meant succotash! Just too cute! My budding chef!

House Hunting with Annalina

No, this is NOT the yellow car we rented! Although, when the lady in the restaurant started telling us about a yellow car outside Annalina and I paused in our minds thinking "yellow car, we have a yellow car!" This car was decked out in bunny rabbit disguise!

We got a kick out of the back of the car! Yucky Obama bumper sticker though! :-(

Annalina's and A's felt bracelets they made!

Annalina with her missing front tooth at one of our Starbucks breakfasts!

What a fun trip!

Well, Thursday Annalina and I took off from San Francisco to fly to Colorado to do the househunting! We were both so excited we were just about giddy the day before and on Thursday Annalina kept giving me high fives. Tooo cute! Carson was not a happy camper watching us leave. Almost the whole flight Annalina and I played either hang man or a word search. When we got to Colorado and picked out our bright YELLOW little car that was a riot. I told Annalina we were like a bumble bee! We stopped for a really nice dinner and Annalina got steak and a sweet potato! On our trip to Colorado Springs we sang hymns and chorus' and had fun doing that. We finally made it to our room late that night. We had a great day together.

Friday, we were able to get up at our leisure and have devotions reading in Proverbs on wisdom and seeking early for it. Prayed for our day. We were to meet the realtor at a Starbucks so we went early to get breakfast. Wow, we are living high on the hog a Starbucks breakfast! Anyway, it ended up being providential there was a sharp older man sitting very near us since Starbucks was crammed with people and he struck it up with us. He liked Annalina. I found out he was an investor and his business was taking peoples business' and turning them into franchises. I decided to ask him what he thought about the house we really wanted and he gave me a great response and advise. It was like talking to a wise older grandpa!! Very, Very long story short it was a long day seeing 6 very spread out houses. But we have narrowed it down to 3 really probably 2.

Now time for bragging. The realtor had one child that was grown and was in college and very soon after we met her she was telling me what she did with her son and how she thought it was important for kids to be able to talk well to adults, etc. Well, by the end of the day she was so impressed by Annalina she thought she quite something. I do too! She was impressed with her reading she was impressed with her intelligence and I think, above all, her actions. I already knew Annalina has insight beyond her years and would be great to bring on this trip. We had a blast!

I told Annalina as we were ending the trip I was going to take her to Claire's and I would treat her. Claire's is her all time FAVORITE store. She was so excited. She picked out 2 rubbery frogs that stretch and was talking and talking to them before bed.

For dinner tonight we went to a fancy and very busy Italian restaurant and again their was a very sharp older couple next to us that had to talk to Annalina! We had such a nice time with them. The people here are so friendly! We had great meals again tonight with strawberry lemonade with Real strawberries in it! We also had warm chocolate cake and ice cream! After dinner we had to take Annalina's picture outside with a car dressed up like a bunny!

Saturday was exciting because we got to see Quentin, Theo, and A (their foster daughter). Annalina and A really hit it off and we found them to be quite similar! Annalina LOVED her time with A and can't wait to go back to Colorado and be nearer to her. After looking at the last 3 houses again. Theo, A, Annalina, and I went to California Pizza Kitchen and then we went to a Marble Slab type ice cream place at A's request! Great idea! We also got in the making of a craft, playground fun, seeing their new baby chicks, toe painting, and popcorn and a DVD! A lot to cram into what was left of the afternoon and evening! We had a great time despite the fact that my mind was in a fog from 2 days of house hunting! :-)

Sunday we were able to make it to my brother's church in the morning. It is always a treat listening to him teach and preach. I wish I could listen to him preach every week. After church we had a super great Mexican lunch and Annalina and I were off to the airport.

The boys had a great time at home wrestling (Brian said the boys made up their own wrestling move called "the roly poly") and Gabriel and Ross got to stay up late at night 12:30 and 1:00 am to play the board game Axis and Allies. Gabriel and Babe play while Ross sits near and plays his own war with the pieces their not using then falls asleep when he can't make it any more! They also worked on a wood 3D puzzle of an air craft carrier which ended up being very difficult but it looks like an air craft carrier!

We'll see what God has for us for houses. Just don't know!

Sign of the Academic Times!

Babe is in the depths of writing his thesis and that is how his time is spent cloistered away in the only available room that one can work at a table and shut a door which is Carson's room. Gabriel made a sign for the door for us to be aware that Daddy is working for 6 weeks and Carson may be sleeping! My Mom made it through my Dad's 3 master degrees and 2 doctorates. She's a SAINT! I don't deal with it as well as my mom! I'm ready to be done already! :-)

Easter Gifts

We wanted to put together some small gifts for our neighbors for Easter. Annalina also gave one of these gifts to her super great dentist yesterday. Target provided us with the perfect items all in their $1 isles! The kids and I had a great time shopping and figuring it all out. The green pots were 2 for $1. Each plant was $1 and we put one Zinnia and one Forget-Me-Not in each planter and then used dollar ribbon to tie it all together. They also had BEAUTIFUL note cards for $1 per 10 cards. I printed out a poem and Ross cut it out and then I rubber cemented it onto the cards. The kids are excited to deliver these around Easter time!

Below is the poem I found and liked for the cards.

JESUS LOVES US ALL SO MUCH

Jesus loves us all so much
That He would bleed and die
He took upon His beaten back
The cross that saw Him crucified

Yes He loved us all so much
That He was scorned and scoffed
He took it all upon Himself
For it was the will of God

God knew it was the only way
The final sacrifice
Jesus Christ a sinless man
Would need to give His life

And even in the gift He gave
We still have not yet known
The fullness of His mighty love
And the grace so freely shown

All He asks is that we all
Repent and follow Him
For He has made the way for us
Free from hurt and sin

Yes God loved us all so much
And yes He loves us still
He longs for us to trust in Him
And do the Fathers will
© By M.S.Lowndes

The Beauty of Spring

I'd rather have roses on my table than

diamonds on my neck.

~Emma Goldman

For myself I hold no preferences among flowers,

so long as they are wild, free, spontaneous.

~Edward Abbey

Just about every morning when Gabriel goes outside to take care of our dog he brings me back some beautiful flowers from our yard and I enjoy that! I keep the collection on my kitchen counter and this time of year I have a beautiful bouquet! The picture above is what my kitchen flowers look like now!

Tuckered Out Warrior

Annalina and Ross had a great time playing. They were again in their pretend worlds and even speaking in their own language to each other! Very cute! Ross got plain tuckered out and fell asleep with his toy knife by him!!

. . . spread it before the Lord

In devotions the other day I read II Kings 19:14.

"And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and

spread it before the Lord."

I LOVE this phrase "spread it before the Lord"! As my Bible study note said that the Lord of course didn't need to read the letter because He knew all about it! It is such a human thing to do to lay it all out and say "Here is my problem . . . I need help." I feel like I did this to an extent this week with a certain problem and it is was good. I need to converse with my Father and spread it out in front of Him. He wants me to seek Him in prayer. Of course, yes, He knows my situations but the petitioning is healthy for me and besides He has told me to do it!

My Bible has a note that says "The Lord certainly did not need to read the blasphemous letter of the Assyrian king in order to know what it contained. Nevertheless, it pleases Him when we "remind" Him of His promises and of our dependence on Him."

I may be goofy but I just love that phrase! ". . . spread it before the Lord" it really gives me a humorous and secure feeling at the same time. Kinda like "Ok God, you gotta see or listen to this . . . let me tell you about this . . ." that's where I see the humor and yet He knows and He listens and He helps there comes the security.

I am reading The Light and the Glory (by Peter Marshall and David Manuel). This book whether one agrees with the premise of the book or not is challenging personally as it looks at the lives of people who made an impact on the beginnings of America. I was so challenged yesterday when I read about the Pilgrims. I'm a spiritual wimp! I was challenged by their tenacious faith and their attentiveness to keep a short account with God. They were masters at laying things before their Father God. Here is an excerpt from the book talking about their time on the Mayflower.

"It added up to seven weeks of the hell of an ill-lighted, rolling, pitching, stinking inferno, the kind that brings up sins that had lain buried for years--anger, self-pity, bitterness, vindictiveness, jealousy, despair. All these surfaced sins had to be faced, confessed, and given up to the Lord for His cleansing. No matter how ill they felt, or how grim the daily situation, they continued to seek God together, praying through despair and into peace and thanksgiving."

Monarch Knitting

Awhile back my sister in law was here and started teaching Annalina and I how to knit. She did a great job giving us a taste of knitting and a start on learning! Thanks Theo! Knitting is something that I really have wanted to learn to do so I signed Annalina and I up for 2 knitting lessons in April and will probably sign us up for more. We went to Monarch Knitting in Pacific Grove. When we got done Annalina said "That was fun!" She caught on quite fast. The lady teaching us, Sandy, was an amazing teacher and has been knitting since she was 10 in the 1940's! She is sweet and has a lot of experience! I have been praying that I would be able to learn. I think it would be a great thing to do for mental relaxation!

I copied the Monarch Butterfly Knitting blog because they told me they posted a picture of Annalina. They REALLY REALLY enjoyed having her there. Their blog piece is below . . . .

And now for a cute picture from today's beginner knitting lessons, taught gently and sweetly (and efficiently!) by Sandy Martin. Here, she's helping Annalina, who caught on super-quickly.

It seems like everyone's a natural, but it's Sandy's teaching method!

Her students love her. She does not believe in smacking them on the head to get them going, like I do. No! I don't! I was kidding! Sheesh!

April Fools Day!

The kids were all excited about April Fools being today! When I went to eat my cereal instead of a spoon in my cereal Gabriel had slipped Annalina, Ross, and I a fork!! Ha, Ha!! I thought that was a pretty good one.

Carson being constipated kept acting like he was pooping only to check and find nothing. He even pointed at the back of his diapers and said "AHH" and stuck his tongue out (like yuck!). Maybe he was trying to get in on the April fooling! :-)

Hah, just got another April Fools Day prank! Annalina said something had come out of the printer so I checked it and sure enough there was a paper that read

from: Brian
to: Abigail

I hope you [are] doing well with the kids.
happy April fools day!

Then she went to Daddy and told him there was a paper in the printer and it read . . .
These were hand written by the way.

from: Abigail
to: Brian

I hope your doing well on your school work. Happy April fools day!

To funny! I thought that was a cute April Fools!!!

Things I Wanted to Jot Down About Friday

This morning in school Ross read to me the following sentences!

Mom made a cake.

It is red on top.

Mike ate it.

So proud of my little boy!!

This morning Ross was talking about Las Vegas. Last summer on our way home from our big summer trip we spent the night on the outskirts of the city. I like the kids to be able to visualize places when they hear of them and so I had this great idea that at night we would just drive through the street that has all the lights. That was a REALLY, REALLY, REALLY bad idea. I knew Vegas was raunchy but I thought the raunchiness would be on the inside of the buildings not 30 feet tall on the outside of the buildings. Needless to say the kids had to put things over their faces as we got out of there. It is purely hedonistic and evil there!!! So there is the background to Ross's experience with Vegas. He told me this morning that if he were to go there people might try to get him to gamble but he would not do it. He thought if he was to tell them about Jesus they would not listen. I told him that Ninevah was very similar to Vegas and they ended up listening. Anyway, he told me he wanted to be a missionary! Of course, he is only 4 and things can change but I was thrilled that that appealed to him right now!