My garden in winter

The kids found this little frog-on-a bench at a garage sale last spring. The weeds are the mint we planted and I never cut back. I have a pot of herbs that still has usable parsley and rosemary. As I write the temperature is 12 degrees.

Motorcycle

All the kids wanted to play with the motorcycle. David is checking it out in this picture.

Birthday gifts...

Daniel loved his gifts! He was enthralled by the jar of shells from Uncle Charlie and couldn't wait to try out the video game!

Annabelle with Aunt Mandy

January 28

Winter is here! It has been snowing off and on all day for several days. On Sunday we warmed up at Blairs, where we gathered to celebrate the January birthdays. Daniel chose an Over the Hedge cake and Marilyn made a yummy looking cake for Amy and Charlie. Of course the real star of the day was baby Annabelle. Such a precious little bundle!

Snowflakes on my door...

The kids were here today while their mother went to the chiropractor. They busied themselves making snowflakes which are now decorating my front door.

Sunday

On Sunday I went over to see the kids for a little while in the afternoon. We had delicious hot roast beef sandwiches and I got to hold Annabelle. She is changing! The red new baby blotches are gone. Her skin is beautiful! She was so alert - looking all around and followed Joyce with her eyes when she came over to talk to her baby sister. Annabelle smiled again and again. She seems to be a very contented baby.
David brought me a book to read. He put the book in front of me and grunted UH while tipping up on his toes. I guess that is Davidese for, "Get me up on your lap so we can read this!"

Amy and Annabelle on Sunday the 21st

Life begins...when?

I don't usually steal other people's pictures, but this is sort of special. I am so in awe that a picture like this could be taken in the womb and actually show the baby's face so clearly. He actually looks like his big brother Isaac! This is only at 30 weeks.
How could anyone ever think that this is not a person? That it is ok to put babies in the womb to death? Surely this little guy is "fearfully and wonderfully made." He is treasured by his Creator and by his parents, siblings, and extended family.

My inward parts were formed by Thee;
Thou ere my birth didst cover me;
And I Thy praises will proclaim,
For strange and wondrous is my frame.

Thy wondrous works I surely know;
When as in depths of earth below
My frame in secret first was made,
Twas all before Thine eyes displayed.

Mine unformed substance Thou didst see,
The days that were ordained to me
Were written in Thy book, each one,
When as of them there yet was none.
[from Psalm 139]

Elijah sonar

Amy with Annabelle

Annabelle is hungry.

Joyce with Annabelle

Annabelle

Joyce took this picture.

A lovely afternoon

Today I had lunch with the kids and I got to hold baby Annabelle! Life doesn't get much better than this! Annabelle was very alert and looking all around. For the most part she is quiet and content. David calls her, "baby." I think Annabelle is too long for him, not that he can't say it. A friend gave the kids a box of very nice toys, so it was almost like they were having a second Christmas. They were very fascinated by the castle.

SURPRISE!!!

I finally got around to putting away Christmas decorations. What made it seem like a bigger job than it turned out to be is that I did not know where I was going to store everything. There is not much room in this tiny place, so I have to get creative. I still don't know where to put one of the trees, so I decided to rearrange the cans in my kitchen - which is also a challenge. There I was up on the step ladder and listening to a tv program on Elvis Pressley's gospel music when the doorbell rang. It was the kids! All 5 of them with their parents! What a wonderful surprise!!! They were just bringing Amy and Annabelle home from the hospital and stopped to see Aunt Jane. I actually got to hold Annabelle today for the first time. Now that was pure joy! The next best thing to holding Annabelle was seeing Amy looking so rested and beautiful! Next to that it was the obvious pride and pleasure that radiated from all their faces in introducing me to their tiny treasure -baby Annabelle!

First photo of Annabelle

Baby Annabelle

Annabelle Louise was born this morning at 9:04 am. 7lbs. 9 oz. Mother and baby are doing fine.
Tears came to my eyes upon learning the baby's name. I was flooded with happy and poignant memories of another precious Annabelle. I am confident that in the years to come we will all enjoy telling this new Annabelle about the one she was named for.
Annabelle Louise will be her own person, but I can't help desiring prayfully that she will have some of the characteristics of Annabelle Leah. I fervently hope she will have complete trust in her Savior knowing that she belongs to Him and is loved by Him. I pray that she will be a strong light in the world developing those spiritual fruits that so characterized Annabelle Leah. Annabelle Louise was loved by her family before she was born. May she always be loved and be a loving blessing to all. I am so eager to see her!

Star Wars

Today I stopped at the Sr. Blairs and was greeted by P3 and Daniel running down over the bank with big sticks in hand. "Aunt Jane, we are playing Star Wars and these are our 'life savers'" P3 said, indicating the big sticks. He and Daniel even did a mock 'life saver' fight with loose bark flying in place of sparks. I am still chuckling.

Cleaning up...

We have officially begun the year 2007. We got together for sauerkraut and pork and mashed potato. It would be nice to say something profound here, but instead I began with a silly poem about the perils of not taking out the garbage - the poem that Randy used to begin his sermon yesterday. Not taking care of the garbage is really bad. It does tend to pile up and become unmanageable. It attracts bugs. It stinks. There are many kinds of garbage, but all kinds are bad and need to be taken care of. Hurtful words and thoughts can rot a soul. The failure to show kindness, to forgive, to make right choices, giving way to fear - all garbage must go if you desire cleanliness. I won't list all the spiritual garbage and I won't list my personal failings, but on the first day of the new year cleaning up is on my mind. It is amazing how free and ready to meet the world one feels after a good housecleaning! And if cleaning house has this effect, then imagine how liberating and envigorating it is to clean up one's spiritual house!

Taking the garbage out...

SARAH CYNTHIA SYLVIA STOUT
by Shel Silverstein

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Would not take the garbage out.
She'd wash the dishes and scrub the pans
Cook the yams and spice the hams,
And though her parents would scream and shout,
She simply would not take the garbage out.
And so it piled up to the ceiling:
Coffee grounds, potato peelings,
Brown bananas and rotten peas,
Chunks of sour cottage cheese.
It filled the can, it covered the floor,
It cracked the windows and blocked the door,
With bacon rinds and chicken bones,
Drippy ends of ice cream cones,
Prune pits, peach pits, orange peels,
Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal,
Pizza crusts and withered greens,
Soggy beans, and tangerines,
Crusts of black-burned buttered toast,
Grisly bits of beefy roast.
The garbage rolled on down the halls,
It raised the roof, it broke the walls,
I mean, greasy napkins, cookie crumbs,
Blobs of gooey bubble gum,
Cellophane from old bologna,
Rubbery, blubbery macaroni,
Peanut butter, caked and dry,
Curdled milk, and crusts of pie,
Rotting melons, dried-up mustard,
Eggshells mixed with lemon custard,
Cold French fries and rancid meat,
Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat.
At last the garbage reached so high
That finally it touched the sky,
And none of her friends would come to play,
And all of her neighbors moved away;
And finally, Sarah Cynthia Stout
Said, "Okay, I'll take the garbage out!"
But then, of course it was too late,
The garbage reached across the state,
From New York to the Golden Gate;
And there in the garbage she did hate
Poor Sarah met an awful fate
That I cannot right now relate
Because the hour is much too late
But children, remember Sarah Stout,
And always take the garbage out