I think it is safe to say that the little girl in the piggy tales may just love her feathered friends too much! ;) She has been caught sneaking outside to spend time with the chicks more than once today. And when she finally gets a hold of them…. well, her face lights up and she loves them so much she wants to squeeze them to death. We are still teaching her the importance of a gentle hug instead of a tight squeeze and, thankfully, the chickens are quite resilient & don’t seem to mind{too much!} ;)
The little girl in the piggy tales{and her feathered friends} wishes you a very happy Sunday!
“But Jesus said, Allow little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 19:14
Yes, it’s true! Though the lovely sun is beckoning and the warm summery weather is calling my name, I have work to do this beautiful Saturday. Temptation knocks at my door to put down the paperwork and make a cheesecake but I must persevere. ;) So I grab myself a cappuccino & earphones{to drowned the call to take a break before I even get started and go for a walk} and get started. This is my Saturday! And yes, this post is really random. ;) Hope y’all enjoy your Saturday… and whatever task the Lord may give you this day…Oh, happy June by the way! :)
“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.”
Colossians 3:17
“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 6:40
“The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:24
If April showers bring May flowers… what do May showers bring? ;)
“Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
Sing praises on the harp to our God, Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who prepares rain for the earth,
Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.”
It’s Saturday again! :) By the grace of God and His strength alone, we have made it to the end of another week! Every second of every minute of ever hour of every day of this week has been filled to overflowing with God’s mercy & grace & love & goodness{and yes, I know that sentence is very grammatically incorrect! ;)} He has sustained your life{Psalm 54:4}, keeping your heart beating{approximately 700,000 times in the last week!}, and He alone has given you the strength to get out of bed each new morning and get back in every night! He is our Provider{Phil 4:19}, our Protector{Psalm 91:1-2}, and our Redeemer{Ephesians 1:7}! God truly is great and greatly to be praised!! Tonight I am glorying in my Redeemer and so thankful for the wonderful work He has done and is doing in my life{Phil 1:6}! What are you thankful for today? :)
“I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.”
Psalm 86:12
Giving thanks for the little thing throughout the week! For rainy Saturdays off work, thankful for the little people, :) for sunsets{and the unseen sunrises}, for the cute little girl all dressed up in the giraffe suit, for patient brothers willing to teach me new card games. Thankful for funny brothers that add a lot of laughter to my day, for lots of work & hard-working sisters{that includes you, Grace & Lydia… just didn’t grab a picture of y’all this week. :)}, for a handsome fellow in a dapper hat, for bookmarks made by a talented almost 8 year-old out of lindor truffle wrappers, and so much more! :)
Rainy day fun! :)
A glorious Sunset
Enjoying a rainy Saturday!
My little giraffe ;)
Trust & Obey :)
A Card game with brothers
One of my hard working sisters! :) Photo courtesy of Micah ;)
Work! Photo courtesy of Micah ;)
Brothers!
Hansome fellow! :)
“Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD”
A lovely reminder!
My lindor chocolate wrapper bookmark! :)
“I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.”
Psalm 91:2
Well, my daily posts have turned into once-every-few-days posts! ;) Believe it or not, I picked up my camera for the first time this evening in over a week! It is either because I am keeping busy with work{very thankful to the Lord for lots of work}, my computer is filled full of pictures{running slower than a snail…need to clean it off}, or I am unable to venture outdoors for new pictures due to the killer mutant mosquitoes that have come out in the last week{or perhaps it’s all of the above?! ;)}…. Seriously, the mosquitoes here are the size of quarters{everything is bigger int Texas, right?!} :-| I’m taking any helpful tips as to how to exterminated the creatures or somehow repel them if y’all have any advice! ;) My brothers have come up with 1/2 a dozen ingenuous yet crazy & somewhat dangerous ideas to rid us of the mosquitoes but until then, my pictures will consist of activities…. indoors! :) So, there will be another recipe on my cooking blog {soonish!} :) Until then, here are a few shots of my cooking partner caught in the act of licking the cookie dough. Notice the last picture when she noticed she was caught… she put on her “I didn’t just lick the dough” cheesy grin! ;)
Until another post finds its way on this blog, remember:
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalm 118:24
“Commit your works unto the LORD, and your thoughts shall be established”
Proverbs 16:3
I have never been one to sit around and day dream about what my future home would look like or how I would like to decorate it but I have always been in love with old barns and thought about how fun it would be to live in one someday!! Yesterday my lovely sister, Micah, and I spent the entire morning/afternoon shopping which is strange because I am not very fond of shopping but I enjoyed myself 185%! :) I walked through this gorgeous store with delightful dishes! Yep, dishes. :) I get inspired by dishes! ;) Annnd I started thinking about how much I would love to decorate my {future} home barn with those dishes… one day{I will have to start saving my pennies}! But for today I am happy just sharing some {future} home inspiration with y’all and a few random shopping {iphone} pictures from the weekend! :)
Side note: As I live one day at a time, trusting in the Lord’s provision{Luke 12:28}, I may never live in a lovely old barn or buy those beautiful dishes {both of which I am totally and completely okay with} but couldn’t help putting a random happy post up this beautiful Sunday evening! :)
First off, my {future} barn home! ;)
Funny iphone cover! :D
So creative!
Shopping!
Micah :)
My Breakfast! :)
Micah
Cake plate!
“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19
“And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.”
Revelations 21:6
I am backed-up on pictures I hope to posts so I thought since I couldn’t sleep, I might as well get caught up on at least 1 post! Be prepared for lots of pictures! :)
I started off the day finishing my mother’s present! :) I am not a “crafter” and really don’t get into crafts/sewing/etc{actually don’t know how to sew! :-| } I step into a craft store and automatically get a headache. ;) But for some really strange reason I decided to do the below cross-stitch for my mother as a gift this mother’s day. I hadn’t done a cross-stitch in several years but this time it wasn’t just a craft but a spiritual lesson learner. This time I found the art of cross-stitching{though very old-fashioned} a beautiful lesson in patience! With each stitch I was gently and humbly reminded of one of my favorite quotes from Joni Eareckson Tada:
“Most of the time, we scratched our heads and wondered how the matted mesh of threads in Romans 8:28 could possibly be woven together for our good. On earth, the underside of the tapestry was tangled and unclear; but in heaven, we will stand amazed to see the topside of the tapestry and how God beautifully embroidered each circumstance into a pattern for our good and His glory.”
My parents spent a few hours out this morning which allowed us to rally the troops and clean the house!! :) Then do some decorating and baking!
Card Making!
Micah’s Card
Chocolate Espresso Torte!
Chocolate Espresso Torte!
And when my parents returned home they brought with them a brand new apron… FOR ME!! :) If y’all know me, you know I love aprons and couldn’t help but laughed when I read this one. THANK YOU mom & dad! :)
My New apron! :)
And once my parents were settled, I rounded everyone up for a few group pictures with our mom! :) My dad is in the middle of building a chicken coop that explains the “painters” shirt. ;) Well, after the group photos I was exhausted and purposely forgot to take pictures of the rest of the evening. ;)
“Blessed is every one who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.
When you eat the labor of your hands,
You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
In the very heart of your house,
Your children like olive plants
All around your table.
Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.”
Psalm 128: 1-4
It all began in 1983! :) 30 years later, 14 children, 140 months of pregnancy{my mom carries her babies for 10 months…. Leake’s take extra time to bake! ;)} which is a combine total of 11.6 years, several dozen hours of painful labor & delivery, 70,000 diapers changed, countless feedings & baths, 20 years of homeschooling, somewhere around 54,000 loads of laundry…. and the list could go on and on!! :) Wow, needless to say, I am sooooo thankful for my mom!!
Her bravery and courage is outstanding and the proof is in the pudding! ;) My mom has defied the odds and definitely gone against the world’s norm for mothering! Among many of her accomplishments, she is what would be classified as a pioneer of the home-school movement and did what most objected to when she pulled her children out of public school 20 years ago bringing them into the physical & spiritual safety of the home to teach! And she has definitely outdone the average 2.06 children per couple that was recorded for the USA by septupling that number! ;) I am extremely thankful for my mom and for the work The Lord has done through her the last 30 years!!
I ❥ my mum…. :)
HAPPY MOTHER’S Day mom… your the best!!
“Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.”
Proverbs 31:28-30
So, in honor of my mother…. 30 pictures from her last 30 years of motherhood! :D
1983 :) Oldest brother & mom! Here is where it begins!!
1984ish Mom, Christian, & Noah
1985ish :) Family Picture
Then came Micah!
Mom & me :) 1989
First day of homeschooling
1993
1993/4? :)
Here comes Grace! :)
Baby Lydia, Grace, and mom!
1999 Family picture :)
Ruthie & Mom
Mom with Lydia, Joel, Ruthie, & Nathanael :)
2009 Bekah & Mom
Emmi :)
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
My view from my walk this evening and one of my favorite verses…. you can never over-use a favorite verse can you?! :)
“The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.”
Nahum 1:3
“For behold, He who forms mountains, And creates the wind, Who declares to man what his thought is, And makes the morning darkness, Who treads the high places of the earth— The Lord God of hosts is His name.”
Amos 4:13
