Saturday Morning Stroll

. . . in the rain





















. . . sights of spring














. . . the best thing this week, our double stroller arrived!!! I even carried Jaden in my baby sling underneath my jacket.

Now all the summer outings are looking more feasible! Thank-You, Lord!!!

" . . . when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;" Acts 3:19b

On the Right Hand and on the Left

One child has the earache, another the fever, and all snotty noses. How many tissues have we gone through this week??? . . . and still it gets wiped away just by little hands across the cheek! Jaden is starting to be fussy at nighttime no matter how careful I am about what I eat. It’s just that certain foods make it worse. I finally decided that even popcorn is a “no,no”

But two boys are out haning up the wash, and two boys are sleeping. The girlie is finally quiet . . . the whimpering, fussy, crying has stopped. (It has a way of getting on the nerves. ) God has not forsaken us!


“But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses . . . by longsuffering, by kindness, . . .by the power of God, by the amour of righteousness, on the right hand and on the left . . . “
II Corinthians 6:4-7

My Kitchen Window

I prayed for a parsley plant last fall after mine had died. No parsley plants to be found anywhere in a store. No parsley plant appeared on my doorstep . . . I longed greatly to have fresh parsley to use. Now my prayer is answered. This is the result of two seeds that I sowed in my pot. Finally it has matured . . . and tonight as I stir my pot of chicken\corn\noodle soup I will once again have a FRESH green herb to add! It makes a world of difference.

Sometimes prayer takes a long time till you see the answer . . . sometimes you never do . . . But what rejoicing when your faith beomes sight!!!

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1





Now for those of you who like crafts as well as I, here's a cute one for you. When the seeds go on sale or get out of date or you can even just slit it at the top and dump them out to use, then you can creat this little birdhouse with some tape. My "gloryland" friend made a bunch of them last year and had them sitting on the windowsills in our church basement for sewing circle. We finally figured out who did this. I just loved it and thought you might too.

Have fun.

Spring Days

The guys are starting to get in the next winter's supply of wood. So the little guys have to too. Japheth was so excited to start hauling in the kitchen wood, pieces for the old cook stove that we use in the spring and fall to "warm up" the house. Even in winter it's fun to have it going in the morning, we also use it to burn up our paper trash. That reminds me, I need to empty the ashes out today. The last few days were kinda windy so I put it off.










We planted another row of rasberries and some garden on Tuesday! Fun!! Only problem I had to feed baby and didn't get to be in on all of it. But babies don't stay babies so I am trying to enjoy all the stages and moments that go along with the little guy!

Yesterday morning I went Wal-Mart shopping. I could leave as early as I wanted to . . . Just had to be back before Japheth needed to head off for work. Silence on the way in and silence on the way back. Jaden didn't make a peep. I knew he should sleep the whole time yet I took him so I wouldn't have to worry if he needed me. Japheth doesn't like having a baby with no Mama around . . . What if he gets hungry???

It's a wonderful rainy day!!! Although I started to hang out wash, I still love these days. Idecided to pull out my crocheting project, white" lattice"work with pansies. Will let you see the finished project . . . in several years. :) One block at a time just as we take one day at a time. Actually, I'm hoping to have enough of it done to take it to the ladies tea at Camp Chippewa this summer. I've been working at it off and on now for a year or two.

Tin Tea Party

Maybe I'll just post pictures for awhile . . . That way I won't flavor everything with the "Baby blues." :)

Here he is with eyes open. Poor boy, today he got an "owie."


I love my tin cups! . . . Drinks are nice and cold in them. They don't break. They make a nice unbreakable tea party for boys . . . and girls. Uhmmm . . . they might be able to break the lid off the tea pot . . . Hope not. We'll see I guess what happens over this summer.

They love their little picnic table too to eat their snacks on. It was a gift last fall from a friend. It's just their size. It comes in so handy, especially since we don't have a regular size one yet.

A tin tea party . . . makes the day special.

Jaden Scott Stauffer

Hodge-Podge

SEE!!! The ice went out yesterday. NOW, it is spring!


Today is Sewing Circle day . . . so my writing can be a “hodge-podge” just like some of the comforts are right? (We ventured down for lunch; Grandma provided extra food so I didn't have to fix any.)

Ah, what a relief to have baby here safe and sound, to be feeling better and those first days past!

Instead of going uphill gaining weight we are now on the downhill side . . . YES!!!

Also yesterday I and the three youngest Stauffers had a wonderful two-hour morning nap while a friend took the two eldest Stauffer boys to the park. What a treat for us all!

It is a blessing to have meals brought in by our church ladies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grandma’s close by are a God send at times!

Grandpa’s new hobby this year is his bee hives . . . They are right by were we are going to move our raspberries so we will see how the summer goes. ( Sap time is over already. They harvested around twenty gallons I think.

Japheth is quite busy at his store . . . He thrives on customer relationships and interaction. He has been making friends too with the other “companies” sharing the same building. They are warming up. At first they weren’t too sure they wanted someone else in there. I think till another month goes around they won’t want to leave. (One is considering leaving because he doesn’t like the extra “traffic” coming through there.) I sent a Shoo-fly pie the other day for Japheth to share. Yesterday the guy that frequents the Pizza Hut next door and usually only eats their salad, snatched a piece of sausage pizza for Japheth. God has blessed him with the gift of making friends out of anybody!

Juanita was such a help to me too. One day she came and did my laundry, cleaned out the fridge, swept the floors, and changed diapers.( Loraine still is not trained. That’s my next project. One excuse is that we didn’t want her to go backwards after baby came. Now no excuse. )

One lady offered to wash diapers . . . What a wonderful old-fashioned practical gift! As we use pampers she settled for doing our laundry and making cookies and a hotdish.

Our midwife’s daughter was here for about two days. Finally the van got a good vacuuming! It was special to be able to sit down and watch the table getting cleared and food put away with out having to supervise energetic boys who would LOTS rather be doing something else!!!

God is good!!! His mercy is everlasting . . . and His truth endures to MY generation!!

A New joy, It's a Boy!!

We praise the Lord that He saw fit to bless us with another son. After weeks of unrest in the fact of not knowing when we were due and several false starts of labor, today was a God-send!

Jaden Scott Stauffer
was born at 3:17 am on April 5th, 2006.
He weighed in at 9 lbs even, and was 20 3/8" long.

The labor was hard to get started but once Aimee's water broke at 2:05 am, things kicked in high gear and Jaden was born 72 minutes later. Both Aimee and Jaden are doing very well. Aimee had no complications and is recovering quickly. Truly God answered our prayers for safety and as quick a birth as possible.

Thank YOU for all the prayers you have offered up for us the last week or so. We have felt them and feel very blessed by all the friends we have out there.

Now it is 5:21 and I have not slept yet so since Aimee and the little one are sleeping, I shall try to get a few winks in before I have to get up with the rest of the children.