In Christ Alone our Hope is Found

****Power is on now!***** (o: So I am sitting here in the semi dark on Thursday morning without power, typing on the laptop, in a word processing program. Ken is gone to school and only Grace and I are up. I have done all I can do. I have showered, the house is tidy and my bed is made up. The loads of wash I should be folding are still wet. The kids I should be feeding breakfast are still sleeping. I am going to let them sleep a little longer today because they had a late summer night last night. So it is quiet. My first thought when I woke up was to turn on the radio and listen to the news. Then I realized that of course – no power. So I took off the back of the radio to see what kind of batteries I needed to make it happen. I need 6 C batteries. I found 3 in Grace's toy and 1 in the drawer. I am 2 short. So I texted my mom, across the street to see if she has 2. In the middle of all this I thought to myself, “Wowee serious?” Nothing bad is going to happen if I don't lis...

1. Ken coming home from school. My heart still does a little leap! If you wanted to know! (o: 2. Getting Grace out of bed in the morning. 3. I went to Value Village with Ken and saw a dad by the change rooms, "OK-ing" his teenage daughter's clothes as she tried them on. They tried on one thing after another. He apparently had very different standards than his daughter. I wanted to high five him, but I was scared the daughter would beat me up. Way to go dad! (o: 4. After a game of blindsman's bluff, Naddie asked me if it was my first time playing because it probably wasn't invented when I was little. Serious?(o: Sometime I am going record Ken playing. He is good and crazy. It is so funny. Last year, he jumped on our oak dining table and broke one of the legs on the pedestal. I so didn't laugh that day! But he jumps over the counter, whips around like a crazy man and crawls on the ground, screaming the whole time. I hurt from laughing yesterday. We should ...

So my little boy is 5. His birthday was April 20. We have 3 in April. We are birthdayed out! (o: He was only one that I had a really bad birth with. My labours are always beautiful and quick. But his cord was so tight around his neck that his heart rate dropped really low and we had to get him out way earlier than my body was ready for. He came out red around his eyes and the rest of him was chalky white. When I look at pictures now, I gasp. Really! But the sad thing is that I didn't really bond with him. I am not sure why. I was not panicked when he came out like that. I did not want to cuddle him. Ken took him. It was very strange. When he was 6 weeks old, if someone wanted to have him I would have given him to them. That is such a switch from my fierce, immediate, desperate love. It was sad, but I didn't know how to fix it. It wasn't a mind over matter thing. I just didn't understand how moms at times didn't bond with their babies. How could they not? Well, I u...

I have been reading the book, One Thousands Gifts. It is written by Ann Voskamp. She is an ordinary woman -wife of a farmer,  mother of 6, homeschooler, lover of the Lord. She is no different than us. I think she is a beautiful woman. Here is the thing: I can hardly read her blog . I just do it occasionally. She is a poet and sometimes I have no idea what she talking about. It makes no sense to me.  At times it seems like it is in code. It drives me crazy. I love and appreciate beautiful writing, but when I want to learn something, I don't have the patience to wade through flowery words. I am way too practical. So I was hesitant to pick her book up. After the first day of reading, I wanted to call her and ask her to write it again in regular English. Just say it - Please! I am a skimmer. I read books quickly and efficiently and get what I want out of them and put them back on the shelf.  Not this one. It takes me half an hour to read 10 pages and sometimes I go b...

Micah's scan results are in and his lungs are clear! (o: Praise the Lord!

My girl is 10 months old ( 3 days ago). We have enjoyed every single day with her. Ok, maybe there were a few I haven't enjoyed, but I don't really remember them! I am going to write a few details for myself, so I remember what she was doing at 10 months. Feel free to skip them and just look at pictures! (o: You know she is the fifth, when I grab my camera instead of grabbing the rabbit food out of her mouth. Hehe. My girl is crawling from one end of the house to the other.  I found her standing in her crib days ago. She was so proud. She has started to pull herself up regularly on things. She loves music. She LOVES keys. No serious, loves them! She wants to live outside and will sit by the door waiting to be let out onto the deck. She stills loves Bunny Lunny and her fingers. She sleeps about 12 hours a night.  She does not love bottles. She still has 2 a day, but only drinks about half. She is eating chunky things - Veggies, fruit, jam sandwiches. She love to drink co...

I totally can't believe how many pictures I have been taking! It is crazy! My helper girl - Naddie sorts the wash into baskets, when I lose control. I try to sort as I bring it to the bathroom/laundry room. I have great shelves back there for all my baskets, so it makes it easy to stay on top of it and just throw in loads as the baskets fill. But there are times I just can't keep up. She is a great helper! At this point, I think I had already done a few loads. Yikes! Really.... this is the life! We bought some fab skipping ropes for Natalie for her birthday. All the kids have been skipping. EVEN the boys. I think its great! (o: Josh getting wacked by the rope. He is a good sport. He likes to skip, but I think a lot of the time, he is humoring Micah and Natalie. I was turning and got these neat shots of Micah. I tried it with Nads but she makes the funniest faces. She wouldn't want me to put them on and Josh was too tall for it to work. The kids have been roller...

I found this beautiful poem, that is such a comfort, no matter your circumstances. I found it on a blog that I just started reading. There was no credit given, so I am not sure who wrote it. The Will of God The will of God will never take you, Where the grace of God cannot keep you, Where the arms of God cannot support you, Where the riches of God cannot supply your needs, Where the power of God cannot endow you. The will of God will never take you, Where the Spirit of God cannot work through you, Where the wisdom of God cannot teach you, Where the army of God cannot protect you, Where the hands of God cannot mold you. The will of God will never take you, Where the love of God cannot enfold you, Where the mercies of God cannot sustain you, Where the peace of God cannot calm your fears, Where the authority of God cannot overrule for you. The will of God will never take you, Where the comfort of God cannot dry your tears, Where the Word of God cannot feed you, W...

This afternoon Micah had a heart ultrasound and another heart thing. This evening he had a CT of his lungs.  We really hope to hear results by Friday.  We are doing quite well. We are the most relaxed we have been in a very long time. But I wouldn't be being completely honest if I didn't tell you that we do think about the what if and have moments of fear. But, we serve the Almighty God! What a beautiful comfort! Please pray with us.

I am only 2 days late posting this! (O: So my big boy is 13. It is hard to believe that I became a mom 13 years ago. Where has the time gone? It really does make me realize how young we were when we had Josh. In another 13 years he could be married with kids. Yikes! I love these two pictures. They are so real. The messy hair, dirty clothes and dirty faces are what they look like after a busy day of school and play. I love how Grace is looking at Siah!  Everyone is reading the card that Micah made Josh. Micah looks mighty pleased! Naddie just gave her card to Josh. Josiah has a happy birthday hug for Josh. Siah is super sincere. I love his heart. These two kids are my 2 Pennings kids. The others are more my side of the family. Happy Birthday Josh. We love you and are so thankful for the 13 years the Lord has given you! We pray that we will be blessed by your presence for many more!

So my big girl is 7. That is crazy! She is a love! (o: Just so you know, I am 10 days late on this post. I can't keep up. Life is flying by. Every year we decorate the house. This time we decided to put some balloons in our tree. Look at Grace's eyes. She likes the fire! Flowers and a card from my parents. That was a treat! A card from Micah. It is a super sweet one! Josh's card to Natalie is sweet, but kind of funny too! (o: Nads' present from us.

My girlie loves being outside. Here are a few pictures from a few weeks ago when we had snow, but it was still nice and warm. This is her, "I am so happy I can't stand it look!" The kids call this her bear walk. She is crawling like a maniac now. But she has also started walking on her feet and hands. She wants to run, but can't quite figure out how to actually walk! Yum? Hmmm, my hand is cold and wet now.