Samuel, our 6th son, turned 11.  The older he gets, the more of a blessing he becomes.  He brings me such joy!

This is an IMovie that Molly (surprisingly) put together about Sam's birthday.  The only thing she needed help with was the words since she doesn't write yet  ;-)   She made the comment recently that she wanted to learn how to make movies so she can "make some good movies!" I'm for that!

A Fun Tradition

     Once a year comes Thanksgiving dinner, and never without much baking and preparation. And everyone knows baking is never without a mess-at least in our house. So with that in mind we have started a tradition of making aprons to somewhat shield our clothing from the torrents of flying flour and the odd flying mashed potatoes. This year Amy choose our color scheme, mom whipped them out with ease, and we adorned ourselves as a soldier adorns for battle.  Only we aren't off to a battle, but we are at praise and thanksgiving to our God for His abundant goodness and His undeserved mercy towards us. Happy Thanksgiving!

Amy, Mom, and Molly with their Thanksgiving armor aprons. As always, the picture took about ten minutes to get a good one.

"So what was his name?!"  says Molly as she took a bite of her Thanksgiving turkey.

A Poem For Father's Day

Hi, everyone! This is Amy, and here is a poem I wrote for my dad for Father's Day. I may have written it for him, but this poem includes every father that goes out daily to fight for his family and friends.

Fathers

By Amy O'Brien

While lying awake, I hear the gong,

The clink, the crash above their song,

The building, the fight still going strong

Brick by brick they lay up the wall.

I rise to see how it goes,

Men rising on ladders to serve their blows

A tool for the wall and sword for their foes,

Striking them down to the depth of below.

To the right, one fighter, I see him trip,

His ankle is caught by the Devil Foe's whip,

But he is saved by his brethren's grip,

He will not let his brother slip.

Still the demons wish to destroy,

The wall about my father's joy,

But I take a tool, I wield a sword,

For me and my house, we will serve The Lord!

And every moment of every day,

The cries of slain demons never sway,

But I can rest without a worry,

I know my father makes a way.

      Happy Father's Day!

 

 

My Dad and I



A Prayer for Father's Day

     

"Dear God, You have given to me my wife, children, home, and property. I receive these as your desire and will care for them for Your sake. Therefore, I will do as much as possible that all may go well.  If my plans do not all succeed, I will learn to be patient and let what cannot be changed take its course.  If I do well I give God the glory, I will say: O Lord, it is not my work or effort but Your gift and providence.  Take my place and be head of the family. I will yield humbly and be obedient to You."
                                                                                                              Luther's Prayers

Welcome Home

"I don't care what government honors, financial security or far away happiness I sought to gain. I know now there is nothing that will replace the honor, security and happiness I felt today when I walked back into the memory filled door of my family's home. Dad, Mom, John, Pete, Ben, Amy, David, Sam and Molly. I love you more than I can describe"

                                                                                                                                       said Seth, our oldest son, who is officially out of the Marine Corp

Easter Hike Video

This is my feeble attempt at making a video.  It was quickly made with my unedited photos and footage from today's hike with Dad and the girls.  Maybe sometime, if I ever have time, I will make a nicer one-but for now at least it's not just sitting on my phone forever unseen and unenjoyed :) 

Fruity Goodness

What a blessing to live in the Northwest where we have an abundance of cherries, blueberries, raspberries, plum, blackberries, and more.

And they are right in our own back yard!

Speaking of blackberries.....

 

These three children

picked lots,

 and lots

 of blackberries.

 Mom found recipes.

We mixed

and poured

 and baked

one blackberry pie

 

 and one blackberry crisp.

The pictures were taken by David and Peter, but the anticipation of tasting the delectable desserts caused them to forget to take pictures of the finished products.

O well. There's always tomorrow and there's plenty more blackberries!

Breakfast Fun

The summer has been full of hustling, bustling, outings, innings, taking care of a lot of business, and having a lot of fun.  With the older boys working, this summer finds me enjoying the younger crew in a new way.  This morning after the older boys were off to work, David asked to make Eggs in a Well - a breakfast we haven't had in a very looong time. 

Chef David

Anxious Onlookers

 

Mmmmmm

Breakfast is served!

They seem to enjoy this a lot. Looks like we have a new old breakfast favorite!

Laundry Tips

No, not tips on how to do one's laundry, but rather the little tips my children leave me to say how much they appreciate the fact that I clean their laundry. 

How is that for putting the best constuction on things :)

Seed Time!

     Today we planted seeds!!! We also planted flowers around in our yard.

Molly wanted to plant the pumpkins

Planting sunflowers

Dirty Hands!

Future Veggies

"Are we going to eat this mom?"

Sam made plant markers

David's tomato plant

Nasturtiums

Pansies

Molly's pumkin marker

Clean hands! I didn't even have to tell them to wash up :)



Happy Monday!

Typical

Typical Friday night these days:

"What should we watch?" 

"Let's watch __________!"

"Naw, we've seen that too many times." 

"We could watch _____________."

"That one's for girls!"  (yes, the girls are very much out numbered in our family)

"How about ______________?!"

"No, that one isn't for everybody."

Ok, what about __________?"

"Nawww,"           "Not that one,"               "No way!"




Everyone sits for a few minutes saying nothing...........


Let's just forget it!  

We could all play a game of King Elephant

You mean you used to know how to..............................

Today a child discovers mother used to do something other than laundry.  Mom used to play piano and actually knows a little about inversions!

Business is Booming!

I have nothing to complain about and everything to be thankful for:  




Ran the dishwasher 3 times so far


Washed and dried 9 loads of laundry (and still have more)


Folded 50+ pairs of socks


Prepared meals and snacks for 8 hungry people (and still preparing)

~ and this is a condensed list of the adventures

Brother Says................

Seth & John

The other day a couple of kids were arguing (shocking I know) while I was on the phone with Seth.  I asked Seth if he could hear what was happening in the background and asked if he had anything to say to them as their eldest brother.

 "Do they have clothes?"  Seth asked.  I yell out to the boys his question.

"Yes," they said.

 "Do you have food?"  He asked.

Yes, again.

"Well then, you have nothing to argue about - be thankful!"

Well put Seth, thank you for the reminder. 

Pete, Seth, Ben

1st Timothy 6 - "But godliness with contentment is great gain.

   For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

   And having food and raiment let us be content."

David, Pete, Sam

What To Do When the Power Goes Out

To start off the new year, we had snow and an ice storm recently, which caused power outages.  We were fortunate (or unfortunate if you were one of my children) to have lost power for only a few hours.  So what can you do when the power goes out?

Play a board game 

Roast a bagel by candle fire

Pose for a few pictures

Build a fort under the table

And when it is completely dark out and stomachs are rumbling..........

Go out to eat

Proof that Peter does eat  ; )