We have been busy!!

A birthday gift from my Mother. She knows how I love teapots and this one is wonderful!!

My son Jonathan's 17Th birthday cake. He designed it. He wanted the leaf shape for fall.

Birthday cake for a friends little girls 2ND birthday!!

The front porch.

Some snowflakes it snowed for the first time here. It did not stick, but that's okay I can wait a little longer.

Snow!!!

More snow!!

Our mailbox, I think it looks pretty!!

Our mini Christmas tree forest!!

I love this time of year! We have been decorating slowly over the last few days. I am hoping to finish early this week. I hope everyone had a delightful Thanksgiving. We spent it with my family in Wichita. There were 18 of us. Plus my brother in law David had his laptop and web cam out and so did my brother Christopher in Arizona so we could see my brother Chris and his wife Niki and my brother David. I am hoping they will be home for Christmas. We sure miss them. I am so very thankful they both are home safe from overseas! Praise God.

I am so looking forward to Christmas. No matter what is under the tree, we have each other and we are safe and together and that is what counts. We have already been given the best present ever the birth of Christ and the forgiveness given to us all.
I am hoping to try to get something together to do something for the people in the retirement home here. The church we attended before made these token trips to a few of them, practically running through the halls belting out a few carols and then running out the door.

It finally struck me as this was just not right 3 places in an hour???? We were not connecting with anyone. We did not stop and say hi or visit with anyone. This just made us feel as if we did something nice. I am actually kind of embarrassed by it now. If I do nothing more I plan to take my kiddos and some handmade cards as well as some goodies for the nurses and hand deliver them. Take some time to say hi and visit.

I hope everyone enjoys this Christmas season and can spend time with family and friends remembering the true reason for the season as well as having all the fun that can be found this time of year!!

Merry Christmas
Hugs
Amy

Busy Busy Busy......

We have been so busy this week, between test for kiddos, the thieving landlady, and sorting through the front garage, we have been busy.

I do not do loads of "test" with our homeschooling, but this week we have been having a few, just want to make sure we are heading the right direction. So far so good, whoohoooo. I have had long weeks lately with uncooperative kiddos. I did actually threaten public school to my two middle schoolers this week. Mom had a bad week and they were not helping. They declined and behaved a bit better. Thankfully, the two youngest still have some frustrating days. Handwriting is not my two youngest favorite thing to do, in fact one moaned to dad that it was torture, LOL.

Ahh now on to the thieving landlady. I mentioned previously about the ceiling fans being removed, now this week she came and removed the wood stove, that the previous owner put in and "replaced" replaced it with a old gas heater. There is no gas hookup. Oh, and removed the duct work and left a nice hole to the outside. Yup, she did. We told her we used the wood stove to keep the gas bill down, but did she care, nope she has a wood burning stove in her house out by the lake. She just removed this one and moved it across the street into a storage unit.

Oh, and while we were gone sometime in the last week, they came into the fenced backyard, to the garage we have a lock on and our belongings in and pried the bottom hinge off of a side door and unlocked it and went in and removed an electric heater that was connected in the garage. All wired in with a thermostat and everything. She was also here last week removing other things from outside the house while we were gone. I have had about as much as I can take and fully intend to give a detailed list to the lawyers for the bank about the items she has removed. I have no intention of being blamed for theft.

We are moving all of the stuff we have stored in the attached garage to the back garage and so that I can track down all of my Christmas stuff. I am also throwing out stuff while going through it. I have so many clothes for all of these kids alot grown out of, that I could open a store. Geesh... I plan on making sure that the side door is no longer accesible. I plan to temp nail a board over the whole door. It is a short door. And then I plan to move my big chest freezer in front of the door. Let's see her get in then!! Anyway, I love Christmas so much and plan to decorate eerything. I will share pictures as I get it done. I have a bunch of tiny trees to decorate each room in the house, plus garland and tons of lights, and candle lights for all of the windows, then a big tree for the family room. I love Christmas!!!!

Hope ya'll have an awesome weekend.
Hugs
Amy

Veterans Remembered

I hope that today, everyone can take some time to stop and remember those who have fought for our freedom and our rights. Freedoms that so many take for granted, not thinking of the cost, that some have paid for us to have them. So many have died so that all of us have the right to whine and complain about our government and what we think is wrong without us having to worry that we may have to pay a terrible price for saying these things. I am thankful everyday for the heroic men and women who make these sacrifices so that my children, my family, and my country is safe. God bless those who have gone before and God bless those who, like my brothers are fighting for our freedoms now. And let us remember that no matter what your beliefs are and where you stand on things, these men and women fight for us all. Not just those who are proud of them and support them. That's the way it has always been. Thank you Veterans, you have made us proud.

Why oh why am I never happy or the post better known as I am a whinny wimpy freezy toes, LOL

You know it seems like I am comfortable for such a short period of each year, LOL. Lets start in January, I sound something like this, man when will spring get here. I miss spring, I love spring, I am so tired of being cold. I hate cold, oh and just so you understand the true extent of my whinniness, I thought I was freezing growing up in Modesto California, LOL. Then finally spring has sprung, I am so happy, spring is here lalalalalala, tip toeing through the tulips lallalalalal!!! Then comes heat rotten dreaded heat way way too soon. And with the heat comes HUMIDITY, remember it's not the heat it's the humidity, oh yeah and again growing up in the "dry" heat of Modesto California, I whined there too, man it's sooooo hotttttt......... When can fall get here, stupid summer seems to take longer each year, I could so cook an egg on the sidewalk, I could probably bake cookies in the suburban, just let me pop a couple of sheets of the suckers in, what we are out of ice, come one you have got to be kidding no ice, man why can't fall get here I miss fall, I love fall, all the colors, the cooler temperatures, sigh....... Hip Hip Hooray fall, I love fall it is so nice and cool. The red leaves on the trees, the crisp air, yummy apples, pumpkin pies, pumpkin carving, trick or treating with the kiddos, fall is awesome, whats this the temperature took a nose dive, man I hate the cold, I don't want it to be cold, how about just some cold and snow right around Christmas, I mean Christmas without cold and snow would be dumb, but we really don't need it for the rest of winter do we??? WHY?????? My toes are cold, my fingers are cold, my nose is cold, I am SO COLD, whaaaaaaa...... Man I wish spring would get here, Christmas is over I am ready for spring............. etc etc etc..... LOL

Okay granted I don't say most of this out loud, well at least not in public, LOL. But you would think I could just accept the fact that seasons change and that we need every one of them, which I know we do. And yes a good hard freeze and cold winter means less bugs, which is good for A. the farmers, B. Me, and C. Everyone else, LOL, hahahhaahhah Just kidding there..


I do know that there is a time and season for everything and that means winter, spring, summer and fall as well.

Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.


Okay so maybe I will try harder to just accept the different temperatures and perhaps, just perhaps, I will not whine so much, at least not where anyone can here me..........




Shhhhhh............













I am so cold.............

Wandering around Marion Ks

Isn't the red lovely, I just adore the colors in autumn!!

Now isn't it interesting how you can take a picture of the same stretch of trail(both the pic above this and below) from two different directions, and it hardly looks the same


My middle kiddo David and I were in Marion today and decided to take a little "hike" and explore around the park. It is fairly short, but different then just walking around concrete, kinda nice, a bit of a stream off to the left, there is a bigger "river" or creek around the corner, but I just could not find a spot that was what I wanted for a picture...

Steps down to a little spring area. Kinda cool! I would like an area like this in my backyard!!

A bit of the little "waterfall"

In appreciation of Paul Brooker, not sure who he is, but he helped get this little area cleaned up in honor of his father.

Waterfall from a bit farther back.

My kiddo forging the way! Checking out the area.....

This is a picture if a building I have watched them restore in Marion. I noticed them working on it quite awhile ago and now they have the lovely doors and wonderful new paint on the woodwork. As you can you can see below it is a lovely old sandstone I believe, that has been refurbished. I am so glad when they do this as opposed to just tearing old buildings down.

Just for info's sake this pics posted backwards in the order I wanted them. Not sure what is up with that now. I will have to remember that next time, a blogger glitch or something. Who knows, no biggie.

Fall has hit again, but for how long???

We have had a cold wind blow in again this evening, had some rain bursts, and a bit of lightning. The weather has been warm, but cooling off at night. We are looking at 60's tomorrow. I am feeling the need to decorate for the season. I so love all of the holidays. Now onto other things.

I had a post already last night, I was frustrated with the decisions our nation has made lately. I have decided not to post that one as it was a knee jerk reaction that was let's say a bit angry at the choices so many have made. So I will say, I am glad that our nation has risen to a point where a man of any race can be elected president, this is a wonderful thing. I am just sorry that this man was the one. I think his stand on so many things will be a terrible thing for our country. I think those who are struggling now will be finding things ever so much harder with the agenda this man has. We shall see.

However, God knows what he is doing and we can trust God in everything. God can change hearts and work on anyone. We need to remember to pray for the leadership of our country, our state, our county and our city. They all need prayer, heck we all do.


Amy

Busy making cards

Okay thought I would mention that yes I know the photography leaves alot to be desired in this post, LOL. I was in a hurry. I needed to mail out these cards to the winners of the giveaway. They are much straighter in person, LOL