Elizabeth is 15

Elizabeth had a birthday at the beginning of the month.  She requested a tea to celebrate.  Her big sister Grace fulfilled that request with a full spread of tea sandwiches, quiche, shortbread and of course, tea. Elizabeth was tickled, as were the little boys.  The rest of us didn't complain either.  We all enjoyed the homemade New York cheesecake, which Elizabeth prepared with her Grandma Dianne, for dessert.

Our Lil' Bit is growing into a lovely young lady.  She has a great sense of humor, which is only on display every once in a while, so it tickles the funny bones of her family members to a greater degree than one that is used frequently.

This year Elizabeth has found that she enjoys making pottery.  She seems to have a knack for it, which doesn't surprise any of us.  She took one pottery class in the fall and has just begun another one. Elizabeth has thrown, glazed and fired numerous pottery pieces.

She made me another soap dish for my kitchen sink to replace the fifteen year old one that recently broke. She even improved on the design of the original by adding drain holes.  She also made a platter for her sister Grace for Christmas.  She made it by pushing an old doily into the clay.  It's very pretty.

Elizabeth has adopted our neighbor's horse.  She visits Shawnee frequently and takes her treats.  She also brushes the horse and gives her loves, which she is very happy to receive.

Liz is a natural with baby Joseph.  She seems to sense what he needs before he needs it.  I know she'll be a good mother one day.  Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

Uncle Keith's 70th Birthday Pictures

  

Advent Through Epiphany

It seems like the Christmas season literally flew by this year.  Advent is a time of celebrating Jesus' first advent, but also a time of anticipating His second advent.  I think this year, more than most, I found myself longing for His second coming, when He will wipe away every tear.

Our family packed a lot of work and a lot of fun into December.  The little kids made a giant gingerbread man one night.  They also decorated a gingerbread house and cookie tree on a different night. I made the fruitcake, as always, but this year I barely made the two-weeks-before Christmas deadline.  Grace was a baking fiend in December.  She made 95 of my Great Grandma Katherine's dinner rolls, 18 loaves of challah bread,  36 of Bon Appetite's Ultimate Sticky buns, 2 chocolate bundt cakes, a red velvet cake (for Jesus' birthday), spritz cookies, sugar cookies, Hello Dolly cookies, pfeffernusse, bourbon balls and  peppermint bark.

Grace, Paul and Lydia also performed in a small piano recital.  Paul was especially excited.  It was his last recital.  Playing the piano has never been his favorite thing to do.

I read a new to us Christmas book to the kids called Nancy and Plum.  Lydia got impatient for me to finish the book, so she sneaked off with it and read the last half in less than one day.  Lil' stinker.  I read a book to myself over the Christmas holiday, which was a rare treat.  The Dirty Life has been on my book list for awhile now.  It was so excellently written that when I finished the last page, I told Matt I thought we should start our own homestead.  That thought lasted about ten minutes before I got a grip.  My dad's words rang in my head, "Simplify, Melissa.  Simplify."  O.K.  Reason wins again.

We hosted my family for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We finally got to meet my sister's new husband.  The kids broke him in with about 25 rounds of "Go Fish" and "Don't Bug Me!"  What a guy!  Christmas Day included a marathon session of Trivial Pursuit.  When the game finally ended and Wade was declared the winner, I had about an hour to get my people together to head to Matt's family celebration.  We had a quiet and relaxing time at Matt's parent's.  Pretty amazing considering that there were 18 kids there (Matt's sister and her family were at her in-laws this year.)

The weekend after Christmas we headed north to celebrate my Uncle Keith's (and godfather's) 70th birthday.  It was a surprise.  He was tickled.  We spent a few days there and had a nice time with my uncle, Aunt Leanna and my cousin George.  The kids weren't used to the slow pace we kept on this visit.  I said, "Hey! This is winter on the farm!"

We celebrated Isaac's 3rd birthday while we were there and also had a chance to explore the old homestead.  The hoar frost was beautiful.  The little boys were delighted to see deer and deer tracks, which they followed for quite a distance.  They enjoyed putting their new found tracking skills to use.  (They received the book, Tracks, Scats and Signs for Christmas.)    Libby and Arie, the family dogs, were sad to see us pack up to go home.  No more crumbs under under the dinner table.

 

 

                                                 
In addition to all of this, we managed to sneak in a couple of snacky movie nights.  One was before Christmas with our annual viewing of It's a Wonderful Life and the other was on New Year's Eve with another Jimmy Stewart movie called Made for Each Other.  It was kind of a depressing movie.  Matt bailed, but the rest of us watched to the bitter end.  The very bitter end.  The final few minutes finally got a little better, so we didn't go to bed completely depressed.

We celebrated Epiphany on Sunday, instead of Monday, January 6th, as most of us went to BSF that night.  The girls and I prepared our traditional Epiphany feast.  Grace added a Three Kings Cake to the menu this year.  She used some of Grandma Dianne's famous dried fruit.  It was yummy.

Joseph got his two front (bottom) teeth for Christmas and he and the rest of the kids got a stomach virus and then a cold, which they are still fighting.  We finally pulled down the Christmas wreaths today.  I guess it's official.  Christmas is over.  It was crazy, but we had a good time celebrating Jesus' birth with family and friends.       

 

Bible Study Start Up

I'm this close to starting up another 5 Aspects of Woman study.  I'm thinking of getting going before the month is out. 
Barbara Mouser, who holds a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies degree from Dallas Theological Seminary, is the author of this study.  It's a scripturally sound study on biblical femininity.  It is a meaty, 23 week course.  The study is not prescriptive, in that it doesn't give specific instructions on how to live as a woman, it simply shows through the lens of scripture that God created woman and how He views her.
This Bible study is a life changer. I've heard it over and over again.  It's been true in my own life as well.  This is stuff I wish I'd known 20 years ago.  In many respects my life would have been easier and I know I would have been more effective for the Lord.  It's so freeing to see God's point of view on the subject of femininity.  And by femininity, I mean the full-orbed kind--courageous, compassionate, dynamic and definitely not wall flowerish.
If anyone who is local would like to participate, let me know.  The cost of the materials is $45.  I'm thinking Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30.  Outside of class, homework will take an additional 1 1/2 to 2 hours per week.