SNOW!

Can you believe it is snowing??? This is SO out of place for this time of year. I just love it! The girls have had their faces plastered to the windows and quickly wrapped Christmas gifts for each other, which they all had fun opening this morning! LOL! I wish I could get better pics, but this is what I have. It's no longer just flurrying, it's coming down! :) Wish you all could come over for for some hot chocolate and a great conversation.

It's so interesting how God chooses to arrest my heart.

I have been in class just about 2 years and I should be winding up my associates in science in March. The lessons I have learned spiritually and relationally, to God and others, far out weighs anything academic. Part of the program I am in requires study groups, and I strongly dislike it. ;) I don't mind being responsible for my own grade, but I start to shutter when we are all responsible for our group grade.

The pain is not without it's benefits. I have learned how to confront others with the least chance of emotional disaster (meaning extending grace), how to think critically outside of my comfort zone, and how to realize that I am not the same student I was in high school (meaning I am capable of way more then I thought). One of the areas that God has been working on my heart is in the process of how I handle change, or maybe it would be better to say challenge. I have slowly been becoming confident in my ability to tackle the hard stuff, but obviously this week I hadn't learned the lesson as well as I thought I had.

I started my economics class. I have tried to drop this class, sweated and wrung my hands in terror as the professor seemed so... daunting. The work load is huge, it took 4 of us 6 hours to complete it. The subject should be intriguing, especially with what we are going through as a country, but I was still really worried. I talked to the professor and I was not reassured that my fears weren't correct.

Today it felt like God was asking me why I keep pitching a fit in the sun and complaining how hot it is, when he is offering me his shade. Tonight was our first lecture, and while it will be very challenging, it was also beautiful. It's was just a reassurance of how I need to handle the bigger challenges, by staying in the shade and depending on Him to get me through it. The professor was amazing. He had so much wisdom, and not just in economics but in how we are to really react to that which seems to be crumbling around us.

So, I looked over my shoulder and noticed the cool shade a wee bit to my right, and I stepped back under the cover. Peace that requires nothing of me but my unending love for his presence is where I'd like to rest.

Salsa!!!

Today we went to our dear friends Shelley's house to make a TON of salsa! Shelley is so amazing, her canning has reached mass proportions so we tease her that if there is ever a food shortage we all know where to go to get food! LOL! We did green salsa, hot salsa, mild and Black Bean with Corn. YUMO!!! Here is a few pics of our glorious day!

Of course Maggie had a great time. The kids all made her a crown and set her in the leaves like a princess! LOL, she certainly doesn't need any help in that idea! :)

Happenings...

I finally found some trees with intense color. Of course I took these last night during a break from class so you can't really see the color, but I liked them anyway! ;) I have one more week and I will be done with my Lit class! I am so happy! However, I do have to start economics next. :(

And CONGRATULATIONS to Maggie! She lost her first tooth this past week! The dentist had to pull it for her because she wouldn't let any of us do it. It hung by a thread for 2 weeks! She was very excited to finally have it out. Unfortunately the tooth fairy was not so swift. Maggie came up crying at 6:45 am saying there wasn't any money under her pillow. (blushing here) So I told her the tooth fairy has until 7 to make deliveries and to run back to bed. She did, I crawled and slithered across her bedroom floor as discreetly as possible to make the trade and she came up all excited because she was rich! LOL!

Another typical homeschool day. The girls are working on their math and the dog is guarding us from the evil squirrels. :)

More from our trip

I just wanted to add a bit to our trip adventure!

This is Tyler, he and Chloe are just a day apart. He was with friends when we were at the parade.

When at Mike and Diana's the kids found 5 kittens in the Hosta along the house! Of course all the kids wanted to keep them. ;) We ended up leaving them out over night and the mama came back for them. The kids all named them and were a bit sad to see them go.

This is at Kevin's. Nate is on the left. He is right between Maggie and Riley age wise. We had so much fun together! Kevin and Leslie have the coolest mastiff named Peanut (kevin calls him waffle). It's funny because Peanut thinks he is a lap dog!LOL!

We had such a great trip. I love that all the cousins get along so well. I just refuse to let distance hinder their relationships. :) I will say that all the girls made me promise no more rad trips for the next 20 days! I had to laugh and agree to that! ;)

Spontaneous Road trip!

This past week we decided to take a little road trip to where I grew up. The fair and parade were there this week and I so wanted the girls to be able to experience the parade, as ours is awful around here! We had a wonderful time! (Yes, I drove 10 hours with 3 kids in the car for a parade! No laughing at me! ;))

The fair was close to my brother Mike's house so we stayed there for a lot of our time. Mike and Diana have 3 sons (we have all the girls). Here are some pictures!

This is Riley and Maggie on the Carousel. I think Maggie road this 5 times at least! LOL!

Riley on the swings! She was laughing the whole time. It was so fun to watch!

Riley and Chloe on the Himalayan! These are my little thrill seekers! They love to go fast! I'm so glad, until they learn to drive anyway! ;)

This is the youngest of the pack Jordan. He had a good time too. I think by the end of the day I would have been happy to crawl into his stroller with him! LOL! My sil Diana is off the the left side there.

Chloe and Cameron are a bunch of goof balls. The hams and pranksters of the family.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the parade. I don't know what I was thinking! Oh yeah, it was dark. That was probably why. Anyway, Maggie declared in the middle of the parade that it was the "best night of her whole life!!!" I think it was worth the drive for that kind of passion! LOL! We had lots of good food, rides and hanging out.