A Flat Tire…

I walked out the door to see Scott pulling the jack out from the shed we have behind the house. We were about to go into town but we had a flat tire. I had the camera planning to take some pictures of the kids at the park but we had to go to a tire place. So instead of taking pictures of the kids at the park, I took a picture of Jonathan “helping” change a flat tire.

There are people in this world that would get upset, if this had happened to them. But we see these things that happen to us as opportunities from God. Maybe the people at the tire place needed to meet Scott. Maybe one of the kids could have been hurt at the park. We may never know what all the purposes are, but God knows and he is taking care of us.


They didn’t find the leak in the tire, even after airing it up and testing it with water and soap. Scott thinks that when the air was added to it, it may have closed the leak up for a while. So we may have another flat tire in a few days. Maybe the people at the tire place need another visit.

Life isn’t a card game that things just happen to us by chance. God has a reason for everything. He is so good to take care of us. Knowing this makes life worth living. We know we are here for a purpose. Even a flat tire can’t stop us from fulfilling His purposes.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
(Romans 8:28)

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Dog Ears


This morning Hannah showed me her doll and told me that it was a boy doll. I told her that I thought it was a girl doll because of her dog ears. Hannah said that it was a boy with dog ears. Which I told her that boys don’t wear dog ears. She then informed me that dogs are boys. I, of course corrected her by telling her that some dogs were girls, too. At that moment I didn’t catch the logic she was actually trying to impart to me.

She told me, “Well, Ms. Lauwa has a horse and it’s a boy, and it has dog ears. Well, actually it has horsey ears, but it looks like doggy ears.”

Then I understood her meaning. Since boy dogs have dog ears, why can’t boy people have dog ears too? I’m not sure how that argument would hold up in a Logic and Argumentation class in Seminary but it works for her. It’s hard to argue with a 3 year old.

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Fun on a Ranch


Scott and the kids had a good day over at the neighbors’ ranch. They all got to ride Jinglebob. Scott even rode the horse. They all had fun and came home all excited about it. Scott brought me some of the pictures they took. I thought this posed picture of the kids and Scott was cute. They not only rode horses but they helped plant potatoes and cleaned out a horse trailer while they were there. They really had fun.

Jonathan was taking a nap, so I decided to stay home with him and get some work done while he slept.

Below I have a video of Ruth riding JingleBob. She is really getting good at riding. I’m already looking forward to our next visit over there.

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Mother – Daughter Tea

Today, Ruth and I went to a Mother-Daughter tea. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the skit and the presentation brought by a Mother and her 19 year old daughter. It was so inspiring. The whole theme was that our daughters need to trust God and wait what God has in store for them.

This is a message that I want so badly to get out to the young girls out there. Just like the mother said to us mothers, these girls need to learn to trust God and make the right decisions while they are very young, so that when they reach the age where they must make their own decisions then they will be able to make the right ones.

Another lesson in the skit that I found very good, was that when our daughters do get to be older and teenagers that we need to give them the chance to make their own decisions. We should be there to help them and guide them as best we can but they will have to decide for themselves whether they will follow God or not when they are older. They cannot just go to heaven on our faith in God but they need to trust Him and make the right decisions to follow Him for themselves.

Ruth also got something good from the skit. She said that the girl in the skit made the right decision not to go to the party that the other girls were going to. When I asked her why, she said that there might be bad people at the party and they might do bad things there. If Scott and I keep working with our children, with God’s help I know they will grow up to make the right decisions.

I was so inspired by the whole event, I came home all excited and jabbery. I practically talked Scott’s ear off. At least I didn’t overload him with the details on what everyone was wearing or what all the different tea sets looked like. All I know is that I feel more than ever that I need to get serious about my writing.

I want so badly to have an influence on children, not just my children but all children. I want to help them while they are young and before they make life-changing decisions. The decisions these kids make in their youth can affect their lives for the good or the bad. They need to be reached before they take the wrong path. It’s so much harder to take the right path after going down the wrong one. If these children can be directed down the right path before they get off it, they can live a life led by God and walk forever in His care. They will be ready for the good things that God has in store for them.

I’m not very good at speaking, however, I love to write. I believe the way the Lord would have me reach out to young people and to help them is through the words I write on paper. David said in Psalm 45:1 “…My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” For me, my pen is the tongue of a ready speaker. Take my pen, Lord, I’ll write for You.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
(Proverbs 22:6)

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Tea for Two…


It’s amazing how well our children are able to play together. This picture shows Ruth and Jonathan having pretend tea together. They just turned to smile at me while I took their picture but I had gotten this second picture as well showing Jonathan actually pouring the tea into Ruth’s cup. It was so cute to watch.

Ruth has been doing a good job helping with Jonathan. Jonathan has been wanting to have a “lesson” also, while Hannah is learning. So Ruth has taken it upon herself to teach Jonathan his numbers.

Joshua and Hannah are doing well with their lessons. Hannah has learned the letter F today. She has been really bragging to everyone about how Joshua is her teacher. She considers it a really special honor that he teaches her. Kind of like she has her own private tutor, that no one else has. It is really sweet and I praise him for how well he works with her.

The only problem Hannah has now is telling Ruth that she’s not her teacher. So I explained to Hannah that Ruth is Joshua’s assistant. She can teach Hannah things too. There seems to be a misunderstanding with Hannah as to who a teacher is. I’ve tried to explain to her that anyone that knows something more than someone else can teach what they know. I think she thinks you have to be big to be a teacher. Little does she know how much she teaches Jonathan.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
(Proverbs 22:6)

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Shave and a Haircut … 2 Bits!

I cut Scott’s and the kids hair today. No, I didn’t get two bits for it. But I did think about it. This picture shows them all after their haircuts.

I started with Hannah’s hair. It is hard to get her bangs straight, since she doesn’t sit still very well. I used to try keeping a hair band in her hair and I hoped that she would eventually have her hair long enough to stay behind her ears, but the hair band would get lost and her hair wasn’t staying out of her face at all. So out came the scissors. It’s nice seeing her eyes.

After Hannah’s hair cut, I cute Joshua’s. His is the easiest hair to cut. I just use the razor with a fairly short guide and shave it all over the same length.

Then I cut Scott’s hair. His is the most stressful. He likes his hair a certain way, but he’s not sure what that way is. I know that he doesn’t want it sticking up anywhere. He has very straight hair and it has specific calic spots. Which makes his hair rather difficult to work with. It turned out pretty good though and he seemed pleased with it. He’s definitely pleased with the price, he doesn’t complain nearly as much after I cut his hair, than with someone professional that he has to pay.

After Scott’s hair, I cut Jonathan’s hair. This was his first real haircut. We had tried to cut his hair before while he was asleep but it wasn’t a very good one. This time I took him to the bathroom and stood him in front of the bathroom mirror. I showed him the electric hair shaver that I was going to use. I turned it on for him and let him hold it. I wanted him to get used to the sound and not be afraid of it. Then I turned it off and brushed his hair with the comb of the razor. Then I showed it to him again and turned it on for him again. Once he was used to it, he started playing with some of the combs I had set on the counter top. That was when I started cutting his hair. He didn’t mind at all. I kept talking real cheerfully with him about how pretty his hair looked. I think hearing me praising his haircut and having seen that the razor wasn’t going to hurt him, he wasn’t scared and didn’t mind.

Scott took Ruth with him to a Mission Rally today. I chose to stay home with the younger two kids and Scott gave Joshua and Ruth the choice to stay with me or to go with him. It was going to be a pretty long evening, since Scott was going early to play some music with another man from the church there. I didn’t know what there would be for Hannah and Jonathan to do. They would get bored and 4 hours of trying to keep them out of trouble sounded tiring. Ruth brought her mandolin along. She also brought her book with her in case she got tired of playing and wanted to read. She had a good time.

Our kids are growing up so fast. God has richly blessed me with a wonderful family.

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A Substitute for the Substitute…

Scott finally took my advice and called the school he substitutes for to let them know he was sick. I couldn’t stand seeing him go into school not feeling well and then come home feeling worse. I also have to thank my Dad for suggesting that it might be the flu. Something about the word flu makes it seem a little scarier and the fact that if he doesn’t take care of himself he might be feeling like this for ten days made him realize that he should stay home. It’s hard for him to admit he’s sick but to have to be this way for that long sounded like misery.

I think Hannah has finally decided that she likes being a girl. This morning she had watched a Strawberry Shortcake movie and said that she wanted to be Blueberry Muffin who is a boy. She gave me the normal because she never got to be a boy before. Then I suggested, “Why don’t you want to be the kitty, you never got to be a kitty before either.”
This of course was an exciting idea. She said, “I can be Pupcake. I never got to be a puppy before either.”

Now she may want to be a Puppy or a Kitty when she grows up but at least she likes being a girl again. I tried to read her the story of Deborah out of her Picture Bible. I told her that she would probably like Deborah because she led an army into Battle. She decided that she didn’t want me to read that one though, because she didn’t like the blood from the battle. So thankfully, Hannah won’t be a Joan of Arc. And she is still proud that her finger nail polish is still on her fingers. So I think I’ve convinced her to enjoy being my little girl.

Of course, Joshua dropped his guard over Jonathan today. Ruth had dressed Jonathan up in her pink sweater. When Joshua found out he shook his head and requested, kindly of course, that it be removed. I asked Joshua if he was glad that he was the oldest and didn’t have older sisters dressing him up like a live Baby doll. He is definitely glad.

I’m afraid Jonathan may be catching a little bit of what Scott has though. He has been acting tired all day. I am hoping a good nights sleep will help him feel better. I hate it when Babies get sick. They can’t really talk to tell you what hurts. They just want to be held all day long, and all you want to do is hold them. Ruth and Joshua have been a big help with Jonathan on that though. If I need to do something, I can pass Jonathan to one of them and they will rock him for me. They are such big helpers.

I’ll try to blog more tomorrow. Hopefully, I’ll have better news on everyone’s health.

I want to end this blog with a thought I find interesting about Deborah. It’s relating to the verse which states.

The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.
(Judges 5:7)

She specifically mentions herself as a mother in Israel, not a soldier, not a judge but a mother. Of all the amazing things God allowed her to do, she still sees herself as primarily a mother in Israel, that God used for his honor and glory.

God can do amazing things even with someone as simple and humble as a mother.

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Ride a little Horsey!

I finally have some videos for everyone. Yesterday, the kids had an opportunity to ride a horse. They actually will be getting to ride horses quite a bit. We have a couple that have been coming to our church that train and raise horses to sell. They offered to let the kids come out anytime to do a few odd jobs around the place and feed the horses. This is great for the kids, since Ruth has always loved horses and has wanted one for a long time. It reminds me of when I was her age and wanted a horse. I love seeing the kids get to fulfill some of their dreams.

The first picture is of Ruth and Hannah riding on Daisy, a Tenessee Walking Horse.

This one is Ruth riding by herself. The lady that works with these horses says that Ruth took to riding so naturally. Of course Hannah didn’t realize that the video was being taken and is talking the whole time.

This last one is of Joshua riding Daisy. He is learning to be a little more natural. He is doing real well for his second time riding.

I’m so glad that they are getting this opportunity to learn to ride. This will be a great experience for them as they get older.

Thank you, Ms. Laura for putting these videos on youtube!

I have to end with one last video, since I don’t know when I’ll get this chance again. This one is of Joshua unmounting. We had a good laugh. After this video was taken he had said, “Well, at least I tried it.” It was so cute!

You’re never too old nor too young, to reach for your dreams! Find what God has given you an opportunity to do and go for it!

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When I grow up…

Today, Hannah and I were having another one of our detailed conversation about what people like to do. I can’t remember everything we talked about, but she asked me if Papa and Nana liked to do something like walk. I told her they both liked whatever it was she was asking about. She said, “I want to be Papa when I grow up.”
I told her, “Nana likes that, too, why don’t you want to be Nana?”
Her reply was, “But I never got to be a boy before!”

I then tried to explain the advantages she had being a girl. “I thought you wanted to be a Mommy with milk when you gr0w up.”

She said, “I do, but I want to be a boy first and then be a Mommy with milk!”

She was sure she found the perfect solution. I think she thinks being a boy is as simple as a haircut. So I tell her, “How about if we give you a hair trim so that your hair still looks like a pretty girl’s hair and then paint your finger nails. Boys don’t get to paint their fingernails.”

To which she responds, “Ok, I’ll be a girl then. Can we paint Jonathan’s fingernails, too?”

That girl could make a good lawyer.

When Ruth was her age, she wanted to be a Princess. It’s neat seeing all four of their different personalities. It definitely keeps life interesting.

And thanks to big brother, little Jonathan doesn’t have pink finger nails like his sister right now.

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Happy Birthday!

We celebrated Jonathan’s first Birthday a few days ago. We didn’t really do a big party but we had a few friends over and baked a chocolate cake for the occassion. It was Jonathan’s first time to have chocolate cake. That is a tradition we have had for each of our children, on their first birthday they get their first taste of chocolate cake. It is also fun for pictures.

The kids and I spent his birthday making a few gifts. Joshua learned how to use the sewing machine. Meanwhile, Ruth wanted to sew her gift by hand. I helped cut out a Zebra shape for Joshua, and helped cut out a circle pillow for Ruth. The circle turned out looking more egg shape but it still turned out well. The material Ruth used for the pillow she made had dinosaurs all over it. The zebra Joshua made was made of black and white striped material. I made a dinosaur out of the same material Ruth used. We decided that the pillow she made could be the dinosaur’s egg.

Scott also bought him a toy that has about 5 rings that stack in order over a cone. Our guests gave Jonathan a car that has popping balls inside of it. He really likes pushing it down the hallway. I will post a few pictures that I know everyone is wanting to see. I will try to post a few more later on as well.
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