1-7-15 First Snow!!!!

by Kaitlyn

We finally got enough snow to sled in! I went outside around 1ish yesterday and didn’t go back into the house until about 4:30ish.

I rode Skeet a little. It was really fun riding where the snow wasn’t all messed up yet, and it was the perfect weather for a ride.

Mom and the littles skated and worked on scooping off the rink. The ice is ok but along the edges it’s a bit bumpy. Sunday afternoon Jake, Ben, and I had scooped off all the slush, then Jake and I watered it down four times making it smooth in most parts. The edges still need some work but hopefully we’ll get them smoothed out in the next couple weeks.

Josh is gonna be a little pro by the end of the year……….

…..but he still needs a little more practice.

We four-wheeled for a little bit, and Mom even drove the four-wheeler some.

Josh was a little wound up after his shower and was bouncing off the walls.

After supper and Bibletime, Tori, Jake,Ben, Sarah, and I went out to ice skate and play hockey. Mom took this picture from the house.

Mom came out a little later to ice skate and took a few more pictures during a rest.

We probably won’t be doing much skating today as the high is supposed to be –2 with a wind chill of even colder!

                                                                                            THE END.

1-5-15 Oh The Joys Of Winter

Yesterday afternoon -

And the snow came right on time, right when ‘they’ said it would. Happy people here .

yep that’s a leaf blower… it worked great!

I will say it was one of the best times ice skating I can remember. And I will say I wasn’t the only one who thought that, because no one wanted to come in at bedtime!! And that’s all I will say right now, because I’m going to grab a powernap; and then I’m going ice skating awhile.

Hooray for winter!

1-4-15 The LORD Reigneth

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations,

The LORD reigneth.

I Chronicles 16:29, 31

1-3-15 Others

By Charles D. Meigs (written sometime between 1890 and 1902)

Lord help me live from day to day
In such a self-forgetful way
That even when I kneel to pray
My prayer shall be for – Others.

Help me in all the work I do
To ever be sincere and true
And know that all I do for you
Must needs be done for – Others.

Let “Self” be crucified and slain
And buried deep; and all in vain
May efforts be to rise again
Unless to live for – Others.

And when my work on earth is done
And my new work in heaven’s begun
May I forget the crown I’ve won
While thinking still of – Others.

Others, Lord, yes others
Let this my motto be
Help me to live for others
That I may live like Thee.

1-2-15 Painting Day

by Tori

Today (Friday) was one of those days when it seems like Saturday all day because of the holiday. Dad, Jesse, & I all had off, although Jesse went to work anyway. It was definitely a good decision for him. Levi worked at CIT & then went to work for Randy, a wise decision for him, but not so good for us. My morning started out by taking my car up to Mike’s Garage to get the blower replaced (two days of going to work with no heat was enough for me). Dad picked me up & we proceeded on to give ourselves a tour of the old Farm & Fleet, & then on to quick stops at Uncle Jerry’s shop & Affiliated for some paint supplies. Upon arriving home, Dad & I, along with Kate, started our painting marathon with the hallway ceiling. We quickly advanced to the boys’ room & then the girls’ room ceilings. After this, Jacob joined the crew & began tearing off baseboard & the carpet along the edges in the boys room. That went almost flawlessly (except the small hole Jacob accidently punched in the wall) & we soon we had the hallway carpet & baseboard removed as well as the girls’ room. We taped off some trim, removed light switch & electrical outlet covers, filled in nail holes, & did lots of sweeping. After that we proceeded to paint all three rooms twice, stopping for a 2:00 pizza break in between coats. After some quick cleanup we were all glad for a break (except Dad, who, as this is being typed, is pacing around doing little bits here & there). Also, at one point Mom went up to Miller Paint to get more supplies. And, actually, Jacob just now got back from Menards with new lights for the bedrooms & new light switches & outlets.

Just getting started – taping off the few ceiling fixtures.

Tearing out baseboards & carpet.

Classic 60’s yellow/orange linoleum.

Dad is very good at multitasking; he can talk to 2 people at once (he really was too).

Yesterday we had an iPad overload so today no one gets to play them. Instead the 3 littles have to resort to the things we older kids did at their age, such as wildlife search books.

I think that pretty much wraps up our day. We get to have Monicals for supper because we did all the painting in one day. Yay for us.

1-1-15 Skating Debut

So when the sun is shining brightly and the temps are terribly low, the rink tends to get mushy over day. But once the sun goes down and the mush freezes solid, there’s a scramble for skates. And tonight was a perfect first skate of the year (not counting November when the littles went for a short while). It wasn’t bitter cold, as evidenced by the coats hanging on the backboard stakes. (I’m told the backboards will be up soon.) At any rate it was a good time of fun and exercise.

And that’s what you get when you have a very talented and determined young man who also loves to ice skate!  Thanks, Jacob!!!

1-1-15 Yesss, Take Three!!!