Just the Ordinary

 This has been our life; just ordinary which is really extraordinary because that is where daily joy is found.

 

 Elizabeth has been french braiding Janey Kate's hair.  I can't figure out how she gets her to sit still that long.

 My new vinyl I cut for my van.  I find it way more hilarious than the rest of the family.

 Pretending to nap on my closet shelves. Creed was pretty certain he could sleep there all night.

 Jack and Emma both learned to make bread.

 I wish I had captured the joy on his face when he grinned sheepishly and said, "I sure had fun!"

 She loves to brush her teeth or to have them brushed.

 Thanks to pinterest we discovered the joys of an "under the table" hammock.

 I made a new dress for Janey Kate and it may be my new favorite pattern. She was tired and messing with her ear is a comfort thing for her.  That is her favorite purple paci.  It is really going to have to disappear...soon...

 Elizabeth strikes again as either the world's most creative 13 yr old or the greatest schoolwork procrastinator...or both.  I left to run a couple of errands and I came home to a fort made out of a drying rack full of fun details.

 A place for JK's baby on the side.

 Storage buckets hung with pipe cleaners.

The lucky younger siblings.
http://www.made-by-rae.com/2012/12/geranium-dress-sewing-pattern-is-here/
and Creed is learning to ride a two wheeler.

   We are spending a few days in Jackson, MS this week and took the kids (minus Elizabeth who has been sick) to Friendship Park in Madison.  We used to go their frequently when Anne Michal and Elizabeth were babies and toddlers.  It was a fun walk down memory lane.

 When Anne Michal wasn't much older than Janey Kate, we came to the park one Friday and she started to play as usual, but she got about where she is standing in this picture and looked down through the holes in the play structure and froze.  She screamed and hollered until we picked her up and refused to move a muscle.  She was terrified she was going to fall.  It took a number of trips back to the park before she got over her fear.

   Emma on the fun tire swing.

 Janey Kate has no fear.

 At the top...

 Getting tickled

 I believe I can fly...

 Another act of bravery...

 Don't be fooled. That is not Dad; it is Bob, the hairy monster.

 Bob, the hairy monster, sneaking up on a couple of boys.

 She played and played and played.

 A "who can swing the highest" contest.

 Snack time...his favorite!

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Janey Kate Turns Two

   We are so incredibly thankful for our Mallory Jane Katharine!  She brings much joy and fun to our house.  I am sure she is a bit spoiled as everyone vies for her attention.  She is zany and full of energy.  She is stringing some words together in sentences and loves to be read to and sing songs. Outside is her favorite place to be and loves to go for wagon rides.  Here are some pictures from her special day!

 Eating a chik-fil-a lunch with her big brother.

Showing off the spin of her birthday dress!

opening presents

 Apparently it takes great strength and concentration.

 She got the same thing as last year...a doll stroller. She wore the other one out with the bazillion trips it took around the house!

 With her cake...homemade strawberry with homemade strawberry icing (the o-fficial anderson icing #2)

Then we started to sing and she wasn't so sure...

 and I guess we sound kind of scary when singing" Happy Bithday" or maybe just really loud!

She got over it and everyone blew out candles together.

Yum! Cake!

Tracing Rainbows

    Today in church we sang O Love That Will Not Let Me Go.  It is one of those songs that often chokes me up. It seems I am often weary and often tracing rainbows.  The lyrics are as follows:

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.


      I was thinking about this song as I was driving home and visualizing tracing rainbows and it reminded me of a conversation with a friend.  Her son, who has dyslexia, traces his numbers to make sure he knows what they are.  He traces them and it plants it firm in his mind what the number really is.
      Tracing rainbows is like this.  I get weary, my light starts flickering, my heart wants to close, my head falters.  Then I trace that rainbow through the rain, and remind myself of all God's promises, cast out the lies, and remind myself of the basics.  I trace that rainbow and see what is real even if some of it is yet to come...

Hello and Goodbye

  Word in the cookie aisle at Wal-mart yesterday was that the bakery workers at Hostess had gone on strike and the company was going out of business. I got kid of tickled that there was a buzz about it between the guys from different companies stocking shelves.  I, of course, heard this several times throughout the day from various sources.
  I can't remember when we have ever bought any Hostess products.  Every once in a blue moon we have bought a Little Debbie's product, but we tend to be bakers and not buyers. It did; however, seem unamerican or something for my kids to not ever to have had a Hostess item so Anne Michal and I were in Kroger today and picked up a few random items for sampling. My pick was the chocolate zingers to take me back to the glory days of Glasgow High School and what I occasionally bought for lunch. Anne Michal incredulously asked me, "You ate that for lunch????"

 The Greek Yogurt is in the picture because my crazy kids love those things and consider them a great treat.  At over a dollar a piece they are a bit pricey to buy for 6 kids so I always snatch them up when they are marked down for quick sale (19 cents a piece today!!!!).  Creed was way more excited about getting one of those than anything on the plate!!!

 We cut them all up so everyone could try a piece of everything. (Janey Kate was napping)

 I am sure Elizabeth would like you to know that she is sick and has been on the couch all day. ;-)  She asked me what that stuff on top was right after this picture.  Really stiff icing???

 Emma eating a piece of apple pie and wondering why the crust was all weird. I actually thought the pie was pretty good.

Janey Kate eating part of a vanilla zinger after her nap.  She ate half of it and ditched the rest for a yogurt.

   The consensus overall was that Jack liked them all which was no big surprise! Elizabeth said she liked them all but the honey bun was her favorite.  Creed liked the vanilla zinger the best.  Anne Michal saved hers for later and Janey only had the one kind.  For those who feel the need to know, Elizabeth and I decided we like the chocolate zingers better than swiss rolls as they have more of a chocolate flavor.