Happy Birthday Honey!

Our Labrador retriever is one! She has been a joy and a handful. She requires two walks a day, lots of love and a close eye. She'll eat anything from dog food and peanut butter to socks and tissues!

But we love her. A lot. She lets the kids lie on her, pinch her, hug her and kiss her. She's the perfect companion if you're sick in bed, though she is a bed hog. She is full of energy and fun. Her tail is impressive and she wags it often. We are blessed to have such a sweet friend in our family.

Bee-day

 Today is my sister's 16th birthday. There are six April birthdays and Abby's starts it off.

Happy Birthday, Abby.
You're a beautiful person.
You're clever and funny.
You have a thrive for life.
You're creative and inspiring. You have the best ideas.
You are an expressive writer and a funny writer.
I always enjoy our late night talks.
I love being around you and spending time with you.
Thank you for making me laugh when I am sad.
 I love you. xo

  Love,
Your sis

Winds-day

Birthdays are so much fun. Spending time with family and a few special privileges.(Like not changing diapers and cleaning dishes) I had a birthday the other day filled with lots of birthday-y enjoyments.

 Coffee drinking. Book reading. A little journal writing.

 Present opening. Uninterrupted sewing. (More on what I made later...)
Candy munching. Pandora listening.

Cheese-burger bliss. Sunshine. Sister time.

Screaming for ice cream. Movie watching. Photo credit: My sister

I am so happy to be alive! Another year has gone by filled with so much to reminisce on. 
I am looking forward to another year to grow and learn.

A Special Girl...

 My sister turned fourteen on the December eighteenth...!

 Dear Sis,
Happy Birthday.
You're a beautiful young lady,
an inspiration, a joy.
You can make me laugh.
You can make me think.
You make amazing music.
You create stunning art.
Thanks for being there when I'm not the big sister I should be.
Thank you for being... you.
Much love,
Leah

My Mom's birthday

 Today is my Mom's birthday!
 She is very practical and doesn't make a fuss about her special day. 
 She has sacrificed so much for her children.

It was awful seeing her in so much pain when in labor with my sister and hard to watch when her uterus ruptured. Before she was rolled out for an emergency c-section I was holding her hand, she was squeezing as tight as she could. As my dad and I waited in the waiting room, I could not help but wonder if it would be last time I would see her and hold her hand.

But she made it through.

My mother is strong and determined and I am grateful to God to still have her today.  She makes wonderful meals, plants beautiful produce, cleans rigorously, and shares wisdom daily.

She a wise mentor, teacher, mother and best friend.

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Sweet sixteen: { Snow, Sewing, Sisters}

 ...And yes; Sweets.
 On the 26th I enjoyed a quiet beautiful snowy birthday. The lush blissful snow made it extra special and a first. I've never had a white Christmas or birthday. I had a relaxing day with laid back meals and schedule.Other than being sick I had a great day. I was able to work peacefully on my birthday sewing project... I finished it the day after. I had some quality time with my sisters enjoying the snow and playing my recent favorite game: banana grams, which I received on my birthday.

                                   {My skirt before sewing.}

                                                                          And after!
                                          

                                              A fun project finished.

{Some snap shots of our beautiful snow and ice}

                                                  Ice encased leaves

                                              
                                                    {One of my birthday gifts.}

                          

I think next on my sewing adventures will be that dress pattern I've been meaning to make for so long,- before I make this.

So that sums up my special day. Beautiful, relaxing and stress- free. I ended my day with dinner at Olive garden and eating some of their yummy sweet desserts.




* I wanted to thank you all for your kind comments on my birthday post and on this post. I appreciate all your encouragement!



Did you all get any snow? :-) How did you enjoy your holidays and after holidays?
 

Sweet Sixteen...

It doesn't feel much different being sixteen as apposed to fifteen. When I was little I always pictured teens as old, mature and scary. But being at the height of my teen years, it doesn't feel too different than the rest of my life. There is a sensation of excitement saying, "I'm sixteen!". My responsibilities and capabilities will grow as I mature.

Standing back and seeing my life before me gives a thrill of past memories of childhood joys. Beautiful adventures that I reminisce, in the years to come.
I look at teens around me and wonder how they feel. Do they feel old? Do they feel mature and ready to face the world?
I on the other hand still feel very much like a kid and literally I am a child and always will be in God's eyes. I am God's eternal child. :-) I have many years ahead of me -if God allows- and though I'll get older and take on bigger tasks, my life will be the same in the sense that I am God's child and He's my father.:-)

Matthew 5:9
They are blessed who work for peace,
       for they will be called God's children.


John 1:12
 But to all who did accept him and believe in him
he gave the right to become children of God. 

{My family and I are still slowly recovering from the flu. But getting better none the less.}


I hope your having a nice day after Christmas!We had a nice white Christmas. Time to go enjoy it. Going out make a snow man later... :-)

My sister Mags...

 Today is my sweet sister Maggie's birthday.
She is turning thirteen today!
Out of my two sisters and I, Maggie has the best temperament.
She makes me laugh. She's a joy to be around. She's a talented artist.

I am always amazed at her drawing skills. She has a good eye and captures most anything she sketches. She's clever, witty, smart and bright. She has an eye for beauty. She's kind and sympathetic. She's artistic in most anything. She is wonderful at embroidery and is a skilled pianist. My sister is an amazing example of a godly young lady. She is one of my best friends.

I love Maggie!

Mother's Birthday...

                                           My exuberant mother

My Dear mother's b-day is today!!! Holidays in our house always seem to come in bunches. She is 20-sum years old. He he! She most likely wishes that and I think most people that talk to her don't think about her age.

She is young in spirit. She is a wonderful woman and a joy to have as a role model.

Sympathetic

Hospitable and hardworking

Elated

Relaxed

Rapturous

Industrious


 May a new year be a blessing to you, as you are a year wiser, dear Mother!

                                             The birthday girl, laughing.

John's birthday...

Yet another birthday arrived, for one of my siblings.

It is John!
Silly smile.

Really silly smile.


Adorable.
Extra adorable.

John turned one year old yesterday.
He is a ray of sunshine in our lives, but also a reminder of how busy a baby can get.
John, absolutely, gets into to every thing.
He is very smart and observant.
He is babied by our mom. He is fun loving and cheerful almost all the time.
He is very mischievous and sneaky.
He can walk and -kind of run.
He does not talk very often, but he does know words in baby sign language. Such as more and please. (He can say hello, Dada, and no no. )
He is so chubby and a good eater.
John watches Sam and Joe's every move and copies.
He does have a bad temper. That he... doesn't control. But he is learning that screaming does not get your way. :)
John babbles a lot through out the day. He is always pitter pattering around smiling, learning, and exploring.

John is a joy to have around and adds smiles and laughs to our lives in every situation. :)


And yes, I think my baby brother is the cutest there every was. Who can argue? ;)

Sam+Joe= A double take of fun!

Yesterday was my twin brothers' third birthday!

My brothers are as fun as you can get. They have the biggest imagination and have a huge amount of energy. They are such a blessing and I don't know what I would do with out them. They have an amazing story that Mom wants to share on the family blog soon. :)

My brothers are now three years old. They are an amazing blessing and a joy in my life. Having babies in the house has sure helped my sisters and I in our mothering skills.

Here is a little about Sam and Joe personally:

Sam:
He is the oldest of the twins. Plumper, bigger, and heavier set. He is the shy twin and the quietest one I would say. And the funnier twin. :)




Joe:He is the youngest twin. Skinnier, smaller and lighter. He is more talkative and can memorize things better than Sam. (Including bible verses.)

They both love any kind of automobile or construction vehicle, cars, trains, planes, firetrucks, boats, tractors, earth movers, diggers, dump trucks....You name it!

They have a big imagination (as I said.) and would rather pretend doing things then really do them. They are both really observant and love to "work" like "big men".

They don't wrestle like most little boys, strangley enough. People keep telling me that will change. :)

They love learning. They know about half the alphabet, when looking at the letters and words.

We are memorizing about 7 bible verses. Two of them being Psalm 23 and Ephesians 5:1-13. They almost know all of them by heart. (Psalm 23 in particular.)

They are sweet, but they do have a quick temper.
Sometimes they have a fit when they don't get their way, but they are learning.

They do get into mischief.

Sam has stuck a whole roll of toilet paper in toilet, twice. But he did clean it up. :)
(Oh yeah. He paid the punishment.)

Joe put is tooth brush down the sink's drain recently. ( Naughty, naughty)


But the twos are over and the big boy threes are here to stay. No looking back Sam and Joe! You are big boys now!

My Daddy's birthday

Here is my Daddy, with his birthday waffle. :)

My dear Daddy's birthday was on the 5th of April. I will not tell you how old he is turning but I will say that, as my daddy grows older, he also grows wiser. :)

~Daddy is a wonderful teacher who has trained all of us with much time, effort, and love.
~He is a hard worker, and a really great and organized man.
~My daddy can make any one laugh. His is so funny and clever. :)
~He loves every one around him.
~Daddy is very bold and strong in his beliefs and faith in Christ.
~He can articulate every thing that he believes.
~My daddy is the best man I know, and the best daddy ever!!

I hope you had a great birthday Daddy!!!!!

Abby's birthday...

Today is my dear sister, Abby's 14th birthday. She is a wonderful young lady who has a big imagination.

She is filled with humor and fun. She can almost always cheer someone up. Although she is quite private around most people and on her blog, she has a very big personality.

Some of her expressions are quite funny, but she can't stand acting with other people and especially around other people.

She is a great writer and a very dedicated reader and filled with facts and knowledge.

When holidays come around, she always has an idea on what to buy or make for a person. And most of the crafts she makes, she gives to someone.

Amazing
Brilliant
Inspirational
Generous
Ambitious
Intelligent
Lovely and Loving

Abby is a sweet sister and one of my dearest friends.

I hope you have the best birthday ever, Abby!

My Birthday....

Yesterday was my birthday! I had a great day and a very relaxing birthday.

I love birthdays and I think having mine so close to the holidays really controls how prideful I am about my special day. It humbles me to know that mine is so close to Christ's. Jesus' birth is so much more important and so much more special than my own. My father and I talked about this and I really think that this is why He made mine the 26th.

Anyway, my birthday was great! Sometimes my birthday is remembered more easily by people and other times people are still celebrating Christmas that day. I got some sweet phone calls from my family and friends, including my violin teacher. She's so sweet! :-) (Thank you Mrs. Anderson!)

One of my favorite hobbies is doll making. Which most of you may not know. I get craft books from the library all the time and I love this one woman's technique for doll making. She has made four doll making related books. I got two of them for my birthday!! Yeah! I have been working on a doll yesterday and today. I am going really slowly with it, because I made some home made Christmas presents this year that took up a lot of time and had to be done quickly. I want this project to be very laid back and stress free.( Maybe I'll post some pictures of my new doll after she is done.)

Hmm.. what else did I do. Well I played apples to apples. Which is a really fun card game! We got it for Christmas. I've been wanting it for a while, and we got it!

At the end of the day we went to the Golden Corral and then watched the Emma movie. (One of Jane Austen's books turned into a movie.) This is the second time I've watched this version. I understood it more this time because I have been reading the book as well. It's a really great movie. We watched the one with Gwynth Paltrow playing Emma. It only had one kiss in the whole movie!


I am so happy to be alive and 15 years old! God has blessed me so much this year and I am looking forward to another year to be a daughter of my Heavenly father and Earthly Father.

I am waiting to get my driver's license and soon I will be.......( Did I get ya? :D) Retake! I am waiting to get my learner's permit and hopefully be learning to and trying to drive a bit.I am a little nervous but excited at the same time. :)


This turned out to be a longer post than I thought of writing! Well, I told you. I love birthdays!
Others' and my own.

How do you like to celebrate your birthday? Any let down's on your birthday? What about exciting birthday's from the past?


Blessings from a new and maybe not too improved 15 year old, me!

Happy Birthday To Maggie....

Maggie: My wonderful younger sister. She is now 12 years old and a very sweet young lady. I am very happy to have a Maggie in our family. Life in our home would not be half as joyous with out her! Here are twelve things I love about my sister that I would like to share:

1. Her calm, sweet, temper. She can control her temper in most every situation.

2. She is a very personable girl. She has different ways of putting things that I would not even be able to describe as she says it.

3. She is a wonderful artist. I learn a lot from how she draws and paints things.

4. She is eager to learn and loves to show people new things that she has learned.

5. Her cheerfulness is contagious.

6. When we get sick she usually gets it the worst of us all, but doesn't complain.

7. She is very creative and has an idea for almost every project we tackle.

8. She is good at describing details that happen if we go on vacation or a if she remembers a childhood moment.

9. She is good at accomplishing tasks thoroughly and quickly.

10. She cares about people's feelings and gets very upset if she makes some one sad.

11. She is a Christian and loves the Lord.

12. She is the best Maggie I have ever known, and I know quite a few!


I am so thankful for 12 wonderful years of Maggie!

Have a wonderful, blessed, cheerful, happy, exciting, enthralling, joyous, birthday Maggie!!!
May God bless you and keep you on His perfect plan for your life!




And may you all have a blessed day!

Happy Birthday Grandma...

Today is my Grandma's birthday, I will not mention any age, but I will tell you how wonderful she is and how she affects my life.

10 Grand characters of my Grandma

1. Her willing attitude

2. Her Infectious Cheerful spirit

3. Her Helpful heart

4. Her good-natured joy

5. The way she loves me and my family

6. Her Giving attitude

7. Her Many Virtues

8. Her non-argumentative attitude

9. Her way with children

10. Her Love to help around the house


My grandma is a good example on how never leaving your spouse in sickness and in health and what it truly means. My grandpa had a stroke in 1994. His condition worsened over time. He went from walking to a walker, a wheel chair, and was finally bedridden. My grandma could have put him in a nursing home where they treat them with no real love. But, she didn't, she stayed with him unconditionally for thirteen years. He passed away in Feburary 2008 with Grandma at his side. This story shows what marriage really means. My Grandma is a true example of couples and their devotion to each other.


I love you Grandma!!