Thankful

This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for the family God has given me. If you would've asked me 15 years ago what I thought my life would be like in the future, I don't think I would've even come close to imagining what it is like now. The love that fills my heart when I look into the eyes of each of these sweet ones that belong to Matthew and I...the love that grows deeper and deeper each day for the gift God has given me in my husband. My life is forever changed because of the people you see in this picture, my heart is fuller, my life is brighter, my joy is deeper, and I am thankful.

Wouldn't you?!!!

Ok, I know this is a ridiculous looking picture of me..but I just HAD to share! :) I was super freezing all day today, so I donned this super cute..er...warm hat. Well, this afternoon I was preparing to run errands and my husband dared me. "Honey, I'll give you a 30 minute back scratch tonight if you'll wear that hat out." (snicker, snicker) I love back scratches! I'm up for the challenge! So I grabbed one of my girls..(my oldest chickened out) and we went errand running together. Abby gave me the confidence I needed. "Mommy, I think you look pretty!"

Thanks Abby! :) I hoped and prayed that I wouldn't run into anyone I knew, I only had to do one major avoidance..! Ok, I got a few funny stares and heard a couple chuckles as I passed by cool looking teenagers...I tried to avoid mirrors at all costs..BUT I DID IT!! I went to Target and Kohls looking pretty silly!! :) Yahoo! Matthew couldn't believe it..! He drilled Abby for about 5 minutes. "Mommy, REALLY wore it the entire time, Abby? Really?" I guess I'm not as vain as he thought I was..and I guess I'll be getting my 30 minute back scratch tonight!!!

The Best Birthday Gift.

A decade ago I received the best gift a Mommy could ever get on her birthday! At 7:27 pm, on my 23rd birthday, our firstborn daughter, Rebecca Joy Rowland was born. I'll never forget the day, or the joy that filled my heart as I held this precious gift. 10 years goes by way too fast. Last night, as I was snuggling with our Becca, I told her, once again.. "Becca, you have to stop growing up!". She obediently replied, with a smile, "Ok, Mamma." Our Becca is so responible, so smart, such a faithful daughter. Psalm 144:12 says "Our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace." That's what our Becca is. A pillar. Strong, reliable, trustworthy, stable.

We love you so much Becca. You are a true gift.

My Compassionate One.

Abby. Full of compassion. Our Abby is like no other. Living on a small farm, having lots of animals can be quite distressing at times, for one so compassionate..like when we go out to feed our new baby chicks and find that they've been attacked by a opossum. From almost an acre away I could see and hear the cry of my Abby. My heart melted..a little bit for the chicks, but mostly for her.

Abigail Grace. Our Abby is full of grace and compassion for others. She's the one who needs to know where everyone is at every moment. And watch out..! Because if she calls your name and you don't answer right away...well, let's just say, everyone in this family knows to answer Abby's call quickly! She's our giver. She has a dollar to spend at Wal-Mart? She'll buy her sister a chocolate bar. She loves and cares for others. There's a lot of others around here, so we keep her pretty busy! I love you so much Abby! Our family would not be complete without you. Thanks for loving and caring so much for all of us!

My Man.

Right now...I miss my man! He's at a men's retreat tonight. I'm so thankful he gets to go and be encouraged and do some fun "manly" stuff. Yet..here I am, sitting all alone in our bedroom missing him like crazy. You'd think after 13 years of marriage, that we've probably spent our share of time apart. Not the case. I think the most we've ever been apart was last year, when Matthew and his best friend in the world..Joshua Houser..went on a once in a lifetime trip to the Grand Canyon. Matthew was away for 6 long nights. Before that, I think the most time we'd spent away from each other was two nights.

What do I miss about my man tonight? I'll share a few things...

1. I miss the way he makes himself his very own batch of chocolate chip cookies almost every night. (ok, not his very own..he buys one of those big tubs from Costco and scoops them onto a tray)

2. I miss the way he sits at his desk and concentrates for hours on his homework. (Only two more classes and he'll have his degree!! I'm so proud of him!) Yet, he still takes time to listen to me and tries so hard to answer questions like this one... "Honey, who did you talk to today?" Ummm...poor guy! What kind of question is that anyway?!

3. I miss the way he smells. So clean! He should be..he takes at least two showers and a bath per day..and I'm not kidding!

4. I miss the way he brushes and flosses his teeth and washes his contacts...this whole process takes at least 30 minutes...he does it every single night, so faithfully and consistently. I love the way he makes fun of me for not being a very good flosser...ok, the truth? I'm not a flosser. Once in a while I pretend to try to floss, just to make him happy, but I'm pretty sure he's caught on. He just rolls his eyes at me when I pull out the floss.

5. I miss the way he comes to bed and puts his freezing cold hand on my back to make me scream. I know..torture!

Ok, I could go on and on..but for now I'll leave you with those 5. I love you so much honey. Can't wait to see you tomorrow! I'll always miss you. Whether its one night or the 10 hours you're away at work, or the 45 minute trip to Home Depot. Life is always better when you're here. You are loved.

"Can I hab her, Mamma?"

Daniel with Naomi

Ok, as you all well know....we love babies around here!! Today, I had the joyful pleasure of having a very dear friend bring over her six week old, precious, baby girl for a visit. Of course, my children all gathered around and asked to hold her..after some major hand washing, baby Cara was finally in the arms of our Daniel. I've never seen him so willing and speedy to wash his hands.."Ok, Mom!...I'll wash them "weally" clean!" I wish you could've seen the expression on his face as he held this little one. The story does not end here...as I was snuggling with Daniel tonight, we had this conversation...

"Mamma, I want Baby Cara! Can I hab her? Please Mamma?"
"Daniel, Baby Cara is Mrs. Elissa's baby, Mrs. Elissa would miss baby Cara."
"Oh, Mamma..Mrs. Elissa will gib her to us. Weally Mamma. Please Mamma! I NEED HER MAMMA! "
"What about Naomi, Daniel? You have baby Naomi."
"Mamma, Nomie doesn't let me hobe her anymore, we can give baby Nomie to Mrs. Elissa and Baby Cara can sweep right here next to me!"

So sweet! I then explained to Daniel that we couldn't possibly make a trade with Mrs. Elissa. He finally seemed to understand and realized that he would miss "Nomie" too. :)..but he still has his heart set on having another baby.

I love that if you ask any of my kids, they all want more siblings. You'd think after having such a houseful that they'd get worn out with so many people...nope! Every one of them wants at least a few more brothers and sisters. Anna says she wants 88! Hmm...I don't know about that one. Now, I'm not dropping any hints that #7 is on the way, but if my kids had it THEIR way........

Special to Anna...

Part of our homeschool curriculum is to write a letter to someone on Thursday afternoons. Now..this is NOT a simple task..we have to decide who we're writing to, think of what should be said...anything besides the ongoing list of all of our animals...!..then comes the first draft, which they bring to me and we sit together and fix all the spelling mistakes..followed by the final draft and even a picture..usually. Well, I just have to share about Anna's letter. She came up to me having drawn the cutest picture of her and Grammy. Now, letter writing with a four year old can be pretty tricky at times...some serious prompting..so..here we go.."Anna, what do you want to say to Grammy?" Without even a second thought, Anna piped up, "Grammy, you are so very special to me." And that's it. Grammy, you are special to Anna.

Our Naomi Love

It's so hard to believe she'll be turning one in a few days! Our little "Pookie". Don't ask me how in the world she got that nickname..it's a mystery...all I know is that our sweet Naomi Love answers to "Pookie" around here! I just have to share this picture of her..I think it captures her sweetness and the joy she brings to us. She lights up our family and we all break into giggles and outright laughter over the littlest things she does. She certainly is loved around here...whether she's in Mamma's arms or swung on the hip of a 4 year old...our little "Pookie" will always know love.