Amazing Grace

 

This morning I was amazed and grateful once again as
I read these verses in Romans 3:21-22.

 

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law,

has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ

to all who believe.

 

I can never follow all the rules perfectly in order to be "good enough"

before God, trying to follow all the rules just makes me realize

how imperfect I am.  BUT GOD!  Because of His grace, he sent

His only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross as payment for my sins.

If I have faith in Jesus, God gives me His righteousness.

Thank you Lord!

 

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD.

"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

Isaiah 1:18

 

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound-

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind but now I see.

~John Newton~

 

More snow + a little history

 

Well, this has been quite the February!  We broke the 100 year

old record for most snowfall in a month- 21 inches!  Plus the

kids got to have 4 days off school in a row- pretty fun.

 

While we were "snowed-in" I updated our mantle decor, using

a farm theme, since both Andy and I are the descendants of farmers

and ranchers.  I framed some old photos and had to share a couple

with you.  (You know I love history!)

 

 

These are some of Andy's ancestors in front of their log cabin

in Colorado.  He comes from a long line of pioneers.

Makes our life look pretty easy, huh?

 

This photo of my Grandpa and his sister is almost 100 years old-

aren't they so cute?  I love old photos. 

 

Looks like March will be coming in like a lion again this year!

~Stay warm~

Snow in the Country

 

This snow has been so much fun for the kids- 2 days off of school,

a mountain of snow to build tunnels in, extra long icicles,

and lots of snowball fights!  I'm glad they can have these good memories.

 

 

God truly makes beautiful things!

 

How many are your works, LORD!

In wisdom you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

Psalm 104:24

 

 



Snow Day!

 

Hooray for snow days!  We got a lot of snow here the last

couple days, so everything is closed today.  The boys have

been having lots of fun out there, and come inside to dry

their clothes before they go back out again.  A fun thing

we did this afternoon was make snow ice cream- the

recipe is below if you'd like to try it!

 

Snow Ice Cream

 

2 bowls of fresh clean snow

1/2 c. milk

1/4 c. sugar

few drops vanilla

 

Blend milk, sugar and vanilla in blender.  Send the kids out

to gather snow in their bowl.  Pour cold milk mixture over snow

and stir with spoon.  Enjoy!  (I tripled it for our kids)

Just life lately

Just a little update on life around here-

 

We've been pretty much operating under Murphy's Law

these days- you know, "If anything can go wrong, it will".

I'll spare you the details, but you know how it goes sometimes.

 

 

AJ got his poor little pinky finger smashed in a door at church

on Sunday.  It looked so bad and he was in such pain we were

sure it was broken.  But after looking at an x-ray they said it wasn't!

He did have to have 2 stitches though.

 

 

LA is trying to sell his pony.  She's 2 years old now and is

broke to lead but not broke to ride yet.  She's pretty small

so would be great for a kid if you worked with her a little.

Anyone interested??

 

We are supposed to get 6-10 inches of snow today and tomorrow.

That would be the most we've had for 2 years.  This cardinal

is hunkered down here on the feeder.  Pretty good place to take shelter!

Of course, the kids are hoping they cancel school.

 

Hope you stay warm and dry wherever you are!

Thoughts from Heidi

 

I just finished reading my Grandma's 1924 copy of the book,

Heidi, by Johanna Spyri, and it was such a sweet story,

I decided to share a little of it with you today.  Somehow

life always seems to come back to whether or not we

choose to trust in God and His plan, doesn't it?

 

"When we do not know what more to do we must go and tell

everything to God," answered Heidi with decision.

 

"Ah, that is a good thought of yours, Heidi," said the doctor.

"But if it is God Himself who has sent the trouble,

what can we say to Him then?"

 

Heidi sat thinking for a while.

 

"Then we must wait," she said, "and keep on saying to ourselves,

God certainly knows of some happiness for us

which he is going to bring out of the trouble,

only we must have patience and not run away."

 

"And then all at once something happens and we see clearly

ourselves that God has had some good thought in His mind

all along; but because we cannot see things beforehand,

and only know how dreadfully miserable we are,

we think it is always going to be so."

 

I am joining Tea Time Tuesday again today.

Valentine's, Past and Present

 

Happy Valentine's Day!  The postcard above was

my Great-Grandpa's.  I love old Valentines.

 

 

Andy surprised me with roses delivered to our door!

They are beautiful, he is a dear husband.  This has

been a great Valentine's Day so far, but the most

memorable Valentine's Day was the one below, 11

years ago. Andy couldn't think of what to get me,

so he finally decided on a baby.  (just kidding!)

 Here is the story, if you haven't heard it before. 

 

 

Valentine's Tea

It's Valentine's this week, so here's a little Valentine's tea

to get you in the mood. 

 

 

Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious,

never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude.

 

Love does not demand its own way.

It is not irritable or touchy.

 

It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong.

It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out.

 

If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost.

You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him,

and always stand your ground in defending him.

 

There are three things that remain-

faith, hope, and love-

and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13, TLB

 

I'm joining Teatime Tuesday today for her Valentine's Tea.

Heart Banner

I'm home from church again today with sick boys,

so I have a little time to show you the heart banner

I made for Valentine's Day while they sleep and

watch reruns on TV.

 

 

I got the idea for this cute heart banner here from

Bella's Rose Cottage.  It was easy to make with

white card stock, scrapbook paper, and tulle and ribbon.

The one Bella made had silk roses as well, which

would be pretty, but I didn't have any.

 

 

It looks so pretty here with the red transferware,

don't you think?

 

I hope you have Happy Valentine's Day with those you love!

AJ's take on skin color

Our AJ, he's always thinking, and apparently

lately he's been wondering about different skin colors.

 

So the other day he came to the conclusion that

PD, DJ, and SJ had all eaten a lot of chocolate

and he had drank a lot of milk and that's why

they're the colors they are.

 

Then yesterday he had a different idea.

PD, DJ, and SJ were all rusty, and

he was just a little bit rusty!

 

He's so funny.

Beauty in the Winter

Sometimes it's hard to find beauty in the winter.

 

Everything is brown and dead, and it's cold,

and so sometimes we just try to exist and make it through.

 

 

Sometimes it's winter in our hearts too.

We may be facing a difficult circumstance, an illness,

a broken relationship, and we just want to exist

and make it through.

 

 

But God is there!  He is bringing new life.

Out of the dark, cold, place- he can bring beauty!

 

I waited patiently for the LORD;

he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear

and put their trust in the LORD.

Blessed is the man

who makes the LORD his trust,

who does not look to the proud,

to those who turn aside to false gods.

Many, O LORD my God,

are the wonders you have done.

The things you have planned for us

no one can recount to you;

were I to speak and tell of them,

they would be too many to declare.

Psalm 40:1-5

Sewing in the Old Days

My mom is great at arranging flowers, and she brought

over this arrangement for me to enjoy the other day.  It contains

my great-grandma's yarn, needle book, darning foot and

her sewing basket.  The antique sewing machine belonged

to my other great-grandma.  I'm thankful I don't feel the need

to patch socks anymore- but it would be fun to sew with

such a pretty sewing machine!  I admire those women of

the past who worked so hard for their families.

 

 

A wife of noble character, who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.

 

She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.

 

She makes coverings for her bed;

she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

 

She makes linen garments and sells them,

and supplies the merchants with sashes.

 

Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

"Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."

from Proverbs 31

 

I'm joining Table Top Tuesday today.

There's lots of good ideas there!

A Saturday in February

 

The buds are getting bigger on our pear tree!

 

SJ will sit on his horse while I lead her around, they are

both a little scared but the ride was successful.  (if you are

wondering about SJ's outfit- his favorite color is red and so

this is his favorite outfit.  I let him wear it at home even though

he looks like a ragamuffin in it).

 

 

The weather is so pretty today, so AJ and I took a walk down

the road.  He's such a little sweetheart.

 

He is your praise; he is your God,

who performed for you those great and awesome wonders

you saw with your own eyes.

Deuteronomy 10:21