A Picture is worth......

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, right?  Well how about a few collages?  Will they make up for my hiatus from the blog!?  SORRY!  It's been so crazy hectic around here.  I truly just haven't had time or motivation to blog until now.  I hope these picture collages will help you understand why I've been so busy and catch you up on the happenings at our "Blessed Little Quiver."

This is our trip to the Brushy Mountain Apple Festival and then up the Blue Ridge Parkway for a day visit!  It was a beautiful day to enjoy God's creation, as is any day!  This was a great family day.  We started the day with 2 soccer games, good food, apple festival fun, a nice drive, hiking and great pictures. I just love spending time together as a family....one of my favorite things.

This is our recent trip to the Creation Museum!  If you haven't been, GO....if you are thinking about it, GO.....it is money well spent!  I wish I could have recorded my Youngest girl arrows reaction to Adam and Eve's joy as they walked in fellowship with God and then after the fall, their sadness.  She was so overcome with their sadness, she started to understand the magnitude of "sin" and what it really means for us.   Precious moments!  We were also blessed to share this experience with our Best friends that recently moved to Indiana.  We will cherish these memories for a lifetime!

 This is the Creation Petting Zoo.  The kids really loved feeding and petting all the animals.  Even little man fed a few animals, but his favorite was the camel.  My oldest arrow doesn't show favor towards anyone and enjoyed feeding all the animals, especially the zebra/horse.

These are our dearest friends that we spent the week with in Indiana.  My heart longs to be with them.  It's so amazing to me how God puts people in our lives that we need at just the right time, my how I needed them and still do.  We have only known them for a few short years, but it feels like we have known them a lifetime!  We truly are more like family than friends. 

The kids are just as close to each other as us parents!  This was a Great "old fashioned," meaning like when I was a kid, park.  They had a merry go round, metal slide, see saws, swings, big rope tree swing, cool train where we rang the bell, and a little boat play set too.  It was a beautiful fall day at the park....a wonderful last day to our short trip.  We spent every waking moment together doing something fun, games, corn hole, outings, shopped the "Rural King," Creation Museum field trip, step classes, zumba, and late night laughter (my favorite).

We returned home on a rainy, stormy day only to unpack the car and lose power for the night and most of the next day.  Things are cleaned up from the storms, power is back on, school is in session and life is just as it normally is, BUSY.

Reformation Day was this past week and the kids enjoyed some dress up fun.  We hosted home fellowship in our home on this evening, so the kids loved showing off their costumes.  As you can see we had "Woody" from Toy Story, "Jessie" from Toy Story, "Astrid" from How to train a dragon, "Mean, Old Neighbor Lady," "Tooth fairy Princess," a Black Eyed  "P" and Daddy's One of a kind....NO costume t shirt.

So there you go, you are now caught up on the happenings in our quiver!  See you around!

Fully Restored....

I don't know where this week has gone, but it certainly flew right by me.  Mondays are always busy days for us, but then again, everday is busy!  LOL

I had the joy of watching 4 extra girls this week, while my girlfriend packed up the rest of her home for the big move.  We had a GREAT time!  There were 9 kids in the house and yes, only one of them was a little boy!!  My youngest arrow was surrounded by girls, but he loved every minute of it.  The youngest babe was 9 1/2 months, she is a doll!  My youngest arrow loves having a younger person in the house, he feels older I guess.  While he enjoyed being the "big brother" for a few days, my oldest arrow was like an extra set of mom hands.  I couldn't have done it without her.  During day 2 of our adventure she said, "see mommy, 4 more kids isn't that bad, you could handle it."  I stopped dead in my tracks and stared her down....."are you kidding me child?"  She replied "hee hee, no, you haven't lost your mind yet, WE could do it."  My reply was gentle, but blunt.  "There is a HUGE difference in watching 4 extra kids and BIRTHING 4 more kids! Ha Ha"  She laughed and we continued with our day without another thought of adding to our brood.

I have to admit, there are days when I think about having more kids, but then the Lord gently reminds me of the blessings I have now.  I am so grateful for the Lord entrusting me with 5 of His children (and 1 that is in His care) and I couldn't feel anymore complete than I do at this very moment.  What a great and wonderful God to serve.  I prayed for this day when I would feel "complete" and no longer desire more children.  What an answer to prayer.  I would welcome another child if He thought us worthy enough, but I really feel like He and I have a common understanding.  : )

So after 2 1/2 days of pure joy with 9 kids I am fully in tact, totally grateful, overwhelmed with love and wondering when I can do it all over again!  When I serve the Lord and do everything in His name, He fully restores my soul and gives me unmeasurable blessings!

"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26

Savoring every minute...

I find myself savoring every minute we have with our friends lately.  In the back of my mind, I know this might be the last time we do this, or that, or the last time I could photograph this and that.  So yesterday at the park I followed the kids everywhere and snapped lots of photos! 

I guess I've been savoring my friends like a sweet dessert, one that you thoroughly enjoy.  With every bite you wish there could be just a little bit more.  Maybe just one more serving will satisfy your craving.  Maybe just another weekend with my friends will make the hurt not hurt so bad or maybe one more playdate will be enough to last until our next visit.  The time is going by so fast, it seems like I had a few more months with them, but now the time is near.  Only a few more weeks now, then they will be gone.  The emptiness is almost too much to bear, but then I have sweet moments like this to treasure and cherish forever.

I feel like this babe....being held in the loving arm of her mother, but I am in the loving arms of my Heavenly Father.  He is comforting me, soothing my nerves, swinging me to sleep in the midst of this storm.  I can feel His presence and at times I feel peace, but today.......I am anxious for the day is nearing, nearing when they will depart. 

So for today, I will continue to savor each and every moment we have together.....taking pictures to cherish forever, making memories with our children, and enjoying life.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory above the heavens.  From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.  When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.  You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.  O LORD, our Lord,  how majestic is your name in all the earth!  Psalm 8

Lonesome.....

Yesterday it finally hit me.....and hit me HARD.  In bible study we were talking about friendships....everyone was sharing how special it is to have those friends that you share everything with and you act yourself around.  You know the ones I'm talking about.  The friends that know you better than anyone, almost as well as your spouse.  They are kindred spirits, bosom buddies as Anne of Green Gables would say, they see your feelings without words.  They love you unconditionally, with all your faults, they pray for you, they are truthful even when it hurts, they make you laugh until your stomach hurts, and they cry with you when you are hurting.  It's not easy to find kindred spirits like this, it takes much work, vulnerability, and patience.

I have been blessed with wonderful friendships in my adulthood, not so much in my younger years, but definitely in the past 12 years.  I have been given friendships that come and go, and now I am facing friends that literally go and move.  This is a first for me.  I mean, yes people I know have moved away, but this is the first one that HURTS!!  In December a dear friend and her family announced they are moving to Ecuador to be missionaries and about a month ago my closest and best friend found they had to move to Indiana.  Really????  Two of my closest friends in 4 months!!!??  Are you kidding me?

Let me give you a little background to why this is such a big deal.  Fifteen years ago I was a working, newly married woman and only 22 years old.  My friends were literally girlfriends of my husbands friends and a couple coworkers.  These were only "party friends" we didn't get very close or share a lot of secrets.  These were not friends that I would call or go to with a problem.  Then my husband and I joined a new church, they searched out a pastor and he moved his family here to my town.  I fell in love with this family right away.  They had 1 child and she was adorable!!  Not long after getting to know this family did we find out we were expecting our first blessed child and our pastor's wife was expecting her 2nd child!!!  We shared our pregnancies together and gave birth to our babes only 1 week apart!!  I was so blessed to share this with her and I was so grateful that the Lord had provided me a confidante to help me in the new stage of my life/motherhood.  As you can guess our babies have grown to be best friends and are now 13 years old!  I have endured so much with this family....births of children, miscarriage, death, divorce, remarriage, and salvation of family and friends.  As you can see, this family is very near and dear to me.  Now after 15 years of knowing them, they are moving on to a new adventure.  God is calling them to be missionaries!  How wonderful is that???!!!  However, after finding out they were moving I didn't let myself accept that they were leaving.  They left the church in December, but aren't moving until May.  I just knew I was going to spend every waking minute I could taking in her wisdom, sharing dinners, sharing our kids and just enjoying each others company as long as I could.  Well, don't you know, life goes on and I haven't spent hardly anytime with their family.  They are busy with packing, school, activities for their children, getting their house ready to sell, and a list of other things.....as well as our own family busyness.  So we haven't spent as much time together as I would have liked.  So....here I sit today, SAD......Lonesome, missing my friend and her family.

Now, that's just one family.  There's another wonderful family that I have opened my heart to in the past 2 years.  They moved here 2 years ago and I met them at church.  It was at a time in my life when I didn't like to step out of my comfort zone.....I didn't like greeting people I didn't know, but someone had asked me to reach out to this family since they were new and they home schooled.  I finally got up the nerve to say hello and I am so glad that I did!  God was putting an opportunity in my lap and I almost passed it up!!  I can't even explain to you the connection I felt right away to this family.  It was INSTANT!  Love at first site!  LOL  At the time we met them I had no idea that they would change my life forever!!!!!!  She has helped me be a better mom and teacher to my kids, she has sparked my love for sewing again, she has inspired me to be healthier, she inspires me to be better organized, she sparked my love for blogging and she helped me grow spiritually!!!  God really put her family in my life right when I needed them the most.  There are other reasons they are so special, but not enough words or space to blog about it.  About a month ago her husband was laid off and had to find work.......well, God is taking them to Indiana!!!  Just when I was enjoying them the most and really loving having them around, they have to move.  I know they have been here only 2 years, but I feel as though I have known them forever.

See......these 2 families have touched my life so much that I don't think I can go on without them.  I'm struggling to stay afloat.  I feel like I'm drowning in my own tears of saddness.  After battling 9 years of depression and finally conquerring it 3 months ago, I'm scared!!  I don't want to slip into the pit of darkness that I lived in for so long.  These 2 women gave me hope, love, light, and showed me that there is life to be enjoyed....it's mine for the taking!  Will I be able to brush this feeling off and move forward?  Will I find another friend or confidante?  I know that God has provided these families to begin with and He will provide again.....BUT, will my heart be willing to open back up to another journey??  It's not easy to find friends like I have with me now.  I guess for now I have to be patient and wait, but man, am I lonesome.

Super Fun Field Trip!

Whew....we had the best time in Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg.  I don't know that my oldest 3 arrows have ever walked that much, but wow it was great!  I learned so much while we were there and I pray that my girls did too.  It was a great effort to get us all there, but God was gracious in our travels, we arrived safely and had a wonderful time while learning so much about our country and exactly how this "new world" all got started.  If you ever have a chance to go, I must say, TAKE IT!  It is definately a must see kind of place.  To be there and see, touch, feel, walk and talk all where our founding fathers did was amazing!  Words just can't describe it.  Breath Taking!  I can't even begin to sum it up for you, but I will leave you with a slideshow of our trip.  We took over 300 pictures, but I downsized to the best of the best for you all.  ENJOY!  I will be back to my regular blogging this week.  I needed a few days to recover from such a wonderful trip.

The pictures start in Jamestown, then go to Yorktown and end in Williamsburg.  ENJOY!

Oh the deep....

All week I have been singing this song.  As a member of the praise team at our church, we introduced this song during the offertory.  I LOVE IT!  It's my new favorite!!  "Oh the Deep, Deep Love" by Bob Kauflin   (this is a youtube video, please don't hold me responsible for the ads or comments)   This song is an old hymn, but only put to new music.  How beautiful!!!  I can't tell you what a saving grace it has been for me after this weekend and past few days, I am truly leaning on the words of this song.  "Oh the deep deep love, all I need and trust is the deep deep love of Jesus!"  How true!

The old me would have been deep in a pit of depression by now and yesterday I was fighting it for sure, but today I stand triumphed in His Glory and resting upon Jesus for every breath!  Last night Blessed Daddy and I had to tell our girls that their "BESTEST friends" are moving to Indiana!  It never seems to matter how much you prepare for these moments, you are never prepared.  I have had awhile to let this sink in, but it felt like hearing it for the first time.  How my hurt is aching and rejoicing at the same time.  I know that the bond of our friendship is strong and can withstand this distance, but trying to convince my kids of this is something different.  My middle arrow didn't take the news really well, she is so tender.  The Second Oldest Arrow was quiet, she is hurting on the inside.  My youngest girl arrow is too young to understand, but I will always hate to see my kids sad and hurting.  This is a wonderful song to help heal us!

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Far Surpassing all the rest
It's an ocean full of blessing
In the midst of every test
Oh the deep, deep, love of Jesus
Mighty Savior, precious Friend
You will bring us home to glory
Where Your love will never end

I am taking great comfort in these words.  His love surpasses all the rest, no one can love us the way He does.  In the midst of every trial, test, and season HE is the one there to carry us through, lending His shoulder for us to cry on, wiping the tears from our faces.  Oh Father, how I am leaning and trusting in these words today!  Thank you Dear Lord, for hearing me in my cries and offering mercy and love to me.

Here's the question I pose to you today, Will you trust in His Deep Love?  I certainly pray you do!

Freshness...

Ahh, the freshness of a new week and all the potential it has, isn't it great?  Oh sorry, did you hear the sarcasm in my typing?  Hee Hee  Really, Mondays are turning out to be pretty great.  I get to start it off with a weekly bible study, prayer and meeting with other women.  Sounds good, right?  It is all those things and more.  It's when I see that the laundry is neglected from the weekend, the house is a wreck from our "no chores on weekends," the dishes are waiting for someone to tend to them, the floors need tending from all the many feet in and out all weekend, the kids rooms need a bit more "mom clean" perspective.  You know, all the joys of having a big household.  I love every minute of it too.  : )

Speaking of freshness.....as you can see, I've been playing with some layouts and pictures.  A friend tried to teach me how to make my own blog banner, but the text wasn't working out so well for us, so you see what we ended up with.  I LIKE IT!  I just wish I could get the words to line up better, like I had it yesterday.  So, please forgive the "remodeling" of the blog and feel free to tell me what you like or dislike!  Comments are always welcome!  I enjoy knowing who's reading!  :)

Happy Monday Yall!

An Evening Out......

Ahhhh....a peaceful evening out for a few hours, but sadly not with my husband!  I met with some homeschooling girlfriends for dinner last night and it was so refreshing!  We really didn't talk much about our homeschools, but we did get a glimpse into the "real" women that we are apart from teaching.  You know sometimes its nice to know more about your friends and not just the things you have in common.  I was surprised by so many things that were shared, but more impressed with the way each lady handled themselves in each situation.  I have a much greater respect for each of them and now I know a little bit more about who they are and how God has used them.  It was a wonderfully enlightening evening!

Although my dear husband was at home watching our precious children (and a few extra), I did so enjoy the time away, but missed him dearly.  I wish there were ways to find time away with him.  It seems that we never make time to go anywhere just the 2 of us.  We are always too busy serving the other one that we forget to serve our marraige.  Surely someday we will see that we need to stop serving each other with restful times away from the children and chaos of our lives to realize we need some time together.

Apples and Fall

Yesterday was our Apple Orchard Field trip....we had so much fun!  I can't explain to you the amount of fun, so I dedided to let the pictures do the talking for me today....ENJOY!!!

 Pink Lady Apples

Arkansas Black Apples

My Blessed Arrows

Yummy Apple!!!

Her first taste of apple cider.

Our Homeschool Group that attended with us.  We were also the first tour of the season for this orchard....they got a late start this year due to a hail storm earlier in the year.  It was an honor to be the first and so much fun too!

Beautiful Sunfowers surrounded us in the maze.

A Sunflower maze.....this was a first for me.  FUN!

He was happy to find the end!!

Our picnic lunch with friends!  After lunch the kids played on the playground for an hour!  Then we packed up and went shopping in the little store they had there.  We got some yummy treats to try, apples for cooking, blackberry jam, apple butter and a few mums for outside.  All in all it was a wonderful day.  It was such lovely weather...we really felt like Fall had finally arrived.

Raindrops......

Rain Drops Keep Falling on my head

But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red

Cryin's not for me

'Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'

Because I'm free

Nothin's worryin' me

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head

They keep fallin'

Nothin's worryin' meeeeeee!!

Not a cloud in the sky, just a sprikler nearby

How are you spending your last days of summer?

Busy Hands

These are some busy hands at my house today. We are having a wonderful time with our friends that are visiting with us for the week. There are 7 girls in the house and 1 Little boy!!! My poor son! Nah......he's got it made! He has 8 Moms in the house because everyone loves looking after and playing with him.

Thanks for some friends on the web, I have been playing with some pictures. Tell me what you think? Please be honest as I am new to this...you won't hurt my feelings!

Here are some pictures of busy hands and busy mouths. Everyone seems to hold the mouth a certain way while working. The concentration is so cute! I love to watch children imagine and learn.







And others choose to do real school work in the peace and quiet! :)


I hope that your hands are busy today doing the things that you love. My hands are full of love and ready to learn today. My heart is overflowing and my prayer is that you have busy hands for the Lord too!

Camping Update....

Sorry I have been away for so long. I have been trying to recuperate from a long camping trip. We had a GREAT time, despite the cloudy weather. Some of our dear friends went with us and that made it even better. I found out how hard it is to camp with 5 of my own kids and one extra, plus a dog!! I woke up grouchy about every morning and the last morning was by far my WORST day yet. To let you know how bad it was, I actually had to go to my friends and ask for forgiveness!!! My behaviour was worse than that of a child and I felt awful for acting that way. They have since forgiven me of my short coming and they are still friends with us! :) Thank you guys (you know who you are)! Here is a slide show to let you see some of our fun! Enjoy!!!

Christ Is Risen!!!

He is Risen Indeed!!! What a beautiful Easter Sunday it was yesterday! We enjoyed Worship with our Savior, good food, family, friends, egg hunts, and relaxation galore.

Lake Norman State Park Fun

We went to the Lake Norman State Park a few weeks ago with a couple sets of friends. We had a BLAST!! I thought I would share the slide show of all our fun! Enjoy!

Spring has Sprung!! God's creation is in full bloom, from the flowers, trees to the animals!

Busy, Busy

Sorry, it's been a while! I've been busy! I had a friend over last week for a play date with the kids and the mommies got to scrapbook!! I haven't scrap booked in over 3 years! It felt so good to get some pages done. I wasn't being very creative, it was more about getting the pictures down on paper. 9 pages later I was a very happy mommy and inspired to do it more often. After realizing that my supplies are just not very accessible during the evenings when I could scrapbook it was time for a change. After about 6 1/2 hours on Thursday I got the job done. All my supplies are now in my loft area, which has now become the scrapper/sewing area. The 2 oldest arrows now have more room in their bedroom and it is more their own room, not mommy's storage room. They have a computer in their room now too which makes it GREAT for playing Webkinz again! We had taken a long break from playing webkinz, but they seem to be interested in it again. Here are a few pictures of my accomplishments last week.








Not only did I scrapbook 9 pages, but I made 2 sundresses, finished 1 Easter skirt, and 2 Easter dresses. Now I only have 1 Easter dress and 1 Easter skirt to go! Not so easy for the scrap booking, as I have many, many, many years to catch up on!

Anyway, as you can see, it was a busy week. Weekends are always fun with Daddy and friends. This weekend was no different! We had friends over on Saturday for games, movies and Easter Egg Dying! Our friends brought some egg dying kits over and the kids did about 4 dozen eggs! They had so much fun and I didn't get one picture! I don't know what I was thinking, other than we were having so much fun that we forgot.

Sunday was the Lord's day! While getting ready for church I was rushing around and hit my toes on a baby gate. I have walked by this gate so many times and never had a problem, but yesterday the Lord had a lesson for me to learn. Either watch where you are going or SLOW down! My toes were throbbing so badly I took 2 Motrin before we left for church, BTW, I taped them and put on a pair of flip flops. Hee Hee While at church I could see behind the tape that there was some blue discoloring. Then while waiting to go to lunch my son toddles over to me (without me seeing him coming) and he kicked my toes!! After another 2 ibuprofen we left for lunch. Upon returning home we took the tape off so we could see just what was going on under the tape. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So many shades of blue, purple, black and a touch of pink. I put my foot up and put ice on my toes for awhile. It did seem to help with the swelling, but the throbbing was not going away. I slept with my foot propped up on a pillow and tossed and turned all night long, feeling my pulse in my toes. When I woke up this morning I went about my normal routine with a slightly swollen toe and then it happened.....I HIT IT AGAIN!!!! This time I was in the school room and hit it on the steel leg of the desk! I really thought I was going to pass out from the pain! SO.....what to do now?

I am terrified of hitting it again, but there is nothing to do for a broken toe, just tape it, but I can't do that because the swelling gets worse when I tape it. I can't stand the pressure either. Ahh, what lesson did I miss Lord? How then should I glorify You in the midst of all this throbbing!? I am to slow down and enjoy the little things in life for right now. So, I will.......take a deep breath, exhale and now I will bask in the glory, beauty and knowledge of what a Sovereign, Loving God you are.