i love monograms

(some of the kids' pillowcases)

and have for more than 25 years. the kids and i joke that i married their dad so i wouldn't have to change the pink monogram on my lime green espadrilles (that have been in the dress up box since about 1994). ha!

i love my puppies

juliet loves to take a nap with pete. in a rare moment of alone-ness here at the in-laws house, i let her sneak up there long enough for me to take a picture.

isn't she the sweetest?

always motivated by food.....

she's not doing what it looks like she's doing. there were people out in another backyard that they were both looking at, but when i called romeo's name, he looked, but she didn't and that made for a bad picture, but i only have a few of them.

elisabeth elliot has this to say about whether dogs will be in heaven:

The Bible does not speak specifically of the destiny of animals, but there is a promise in the letter to the Ephesians which surely must include them. Ephesians 1:10: "Everything that exists in heaven or earth shall find its perfection and fulfillment in Christ."

you can read the rest of that article (a good one!) here.

i love sunsets

praise the Lord! praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise Him in the heights!
praise Him all His angels;
praise Him, all His hosts!

praise Him, sun and moon;
praise Him, all stars of light!
praise Him, highest heavens,
and the waters that are above the heavens!

psalm 148:1-4

i love field trips!

we had the distinct pleasure yesterday (due to an extended weekend for president's day) of going down to philadelphia to visit one of the favorite museums of my childhood, the franklin institute. as in, ben franklin. fascinating man, and philadelphia is full of so much history. they have a special narnia (as in chronicles of) exhibit going on right now that the kids were anxious to see.

what kind of seats do you expect to see inside a science museum? bones, of course.
mike had to turn the crank to "pump blood" through the blood vessels. he looks pretty good here considering he decided to throw up in traffic on the schuykill expressway when there was nowhere to pull over.
pete inside a blood vessell. like the shirt, grandma? found it at a goodwill store here for $1!
jack enjoyed being a blood cell inside the vessell too.
pete was entranced with the electricity room. here, he could push a button and send an electric current to slide a ring high across to the other side of the table.
nick took pete up into a real fighter jet in the flying room.
this is the part i remember most from my childhood---the giant heart. you can hear it beat throughout the room. the staircases are much narrower than i remember (or perhaps.... i've just gotten a lot bigger since i was 9). it still beat loudly but the kids really enjoyed it.
they come out an aorta and go back in by ventricle....
this is what your left ventricle should look like if it was healthy....
we were so disappointed that there was no photography inside the narnia exhibit. the people who went in ahead of us didn't care. they took pictures anyway. no one but me noticed when a large security guard woman came and quietly escorted them out of the exhibit.
the girls enjoyed the rock climbing wall in the sports competition room.

also in the sports competition room, the boys enjoyed testing their reflexes while "driving" dragster cars.

karis was afraid of getting a giant jug of gatorade dumped on her by an eagles player.
the statue of ben franklin as you enter. the building itself is an architectural wonder. built in the 1930s, it was only the 2nd planetarium built in the united states at the time.
they have a dramatic presentation every 15 minutes or so about the influence ben franklin had on the world. he invented many things and was always thinking outside the box. the boys liked how the colors changed on the statue.

we had a great day, though it was our first field trip in 18 years to not have a stroller to hold all the coats and bags and stuff. we've entered a new chapter, i believe!

i love vegetables for breakfast

usually mixed in with eggs. here it's asparagus (my fav!), green pepper and onion.

i love nick

i love nick-15 because he is different than every other 15yo boy i know.
he's never liked bugs.
he loves to read.
he's into any and every sport (well, except synchronized swimming).
i love nick's metabolism.
truly. the boy's hunger is never-satisfied.
he has a keen sense of justice.
yet he is sensitive (he read the book sounder as an 8yo, and started old yeller but could see what was coming and decided then and there that he would not read another book about a dog).


he loves his little brothers and they adore him.
he is not always patient with them.
but that will help them later in life when others are not so kind.


he's very competitive.
he may be cautious in new situations, but he is not afraid of them.
he has a strong sense of who he is, and doesn't bend easily.


he's fun to play games with.
he's game to try new things (i can't wait to see him on a snowboard).
he makes friends easily (even though he says it's harder than it is for girls because girls make friends by commenting on each other's nail polish).

although he's got serious skills as a drummer on rock band, he knows his limits and never tries vocals.
i don't think he'll be a rock star as a grown up, but i can't wait to see how God uses him.
he told his family/consumer science teacher (that would be home-ec to the over 35 crowd) that the best decision he ever made was accepting Jesus as his Lord and Savior (to which his teacher said, "amen"). robin and i pray daily for his walk with the Lord, and that he would continue to serve Him.

we love you, nick.

i love happy mail

it doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it brings a smile to my face.

(bottom to top: new shoe inserts for my morton's neuroma and one new night splint after the dogs ate one, videos to keep little boys out of trouble entertain little boys, sandpaper letters to help teach pete since he's interested and my hand made ones are in florida, and a book for me from used amazon-so cheap!)

we interrupt our month of love to be reminded

you've got to watch this.
and listen to the music.
because sometimes we all need to be reminded of where we've been and where we are.

(originally found on randy alcorn's blog)

i love red

i love olivia

olivia-12, our fourth child and third and last girl, is all girl.
she is a perpetual ballerina.
even though she hasn't taken lessons in 2 years.


she loves to sing.
she was in the chorus at her school in florida.
she is taking chorus here, but she has to wait until the 4th quarter.
she is patient.
she doesn't complain much.
she has 2 volumes. quiet, or really girly loud.
we love the videos of her as a 2 yr old "talking" without saying anything.
we would ask her a question, and she would move her mouth like she was talking, only nothing would come out.
once she did start talking for real, though, she spoke in complete sentences.
as the youngest of 3 girls, she has her share of things about which she could complain.
repeat hand me downs.
last to do everything.
only blonde/blue-gray eyes.
only one who is not a teenager (that will change in 4 months!).
she usually gets to pick last. she's usually outvoted.
but she knows how to have a good time.

we often say she would be an excellent only child.
she is self-entertaining and quiet. she was the only one that i didn't have to worry about her getting into trouble if she was quiet as a baby.
now she likes solitude (like her mother) and reading and knitting (like her mother) and socializing (like her father).
but only if she really likes the people.
she'd never socialize just to say she had tons of friends.
no, she's more of a kindred-spirit seeker.
little girls love olivia. and she can entertain them for hours--in forts (like the day this picture was taken with the neighbor), or building things, or playing dolls, or school, or restaurant, or dress-up, or creating outfits for american girl dolls...the list could go on and on.

she never runs out of creative ideas.
she enjoys teaching others things.
she taught peter to do angels in snow.
she taught jack how to tie his shoes.
she and jack have been best friends for probably 9 years.
they love to do stuff together.
like legos
and she knows how to be a good friend (here with tally friend martha-elizabeth).
she's waiting patiently for a pennsylvania friend.
she's already been over to a friend from school's house.
she's already been invited to help a 9yo girl make doll clothes.
we love you olivia. for who you are now, and for what God has planned for you in the future.

i love God's Word

"Thy Word have I hidden in mine heart,
that I might not sin against thee" - Psalm 119:11

2 Corinthians 4:16

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

"And the Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear, or be dismayed." Deuteronomy 31:8

we love ikea

we just went to scope it out--check prices on sofas and dishes, since we have none of either when we actually do have a home again.


the girls discussed cabinet colors for a kitchen... (look how shiny they are--you can see their face in the green one!)

i loved these lamps...not sure where i'd put them

we had a great lunch....after finding karis' phone at lost and found (she forgot it in the bathroom, remembered as soon as we got up to the cafe, but when she returned it was gone. i called the number and got the lady at lost and found. that quickly some nice person had turned it in). so glad we found it! that would've been one. expensive. trip to ikea.can't eat at ikea without getting swedish meatballs...
karis loved this pot. the lid on it makes it so cute (see the one in the background)


all in all, a lovely day with 2 lovely companions.....