The Volcanic Eruption of Green Mountain.

We narrowly missed being exiled by a massive eruption of a local mountain this morning, 9:30 am, EST. Icy winds, melting snow, and then... KAAABOOOOMMM!! Well, i suppose it sounded a little more like, "Fzzzzzzzzzz". The mountain side to the East was completely covered in a raging river of lava, to the West, however the village was spared until later eruptions occurred ( 9:40 am, EST ) . Cars have been recovered from the rivers of lava (Surprising, i know! They should have melted like butter on hot toast), to the joy of one Samuel Naus, a local of Green Village, at the base of Green Mountain. He is quoted to have said, " Are my cars going to get washed now?" A sure sign that there is hope among the village folk that their regular life will commence once emergency crews clear away the hazards ( and of course, the poisonous gases dissipate ).






"Salad Spinner Art"



Independent History Project: Julia's idea of studying castles on her day off of school :)

still walking in snow.

Yep. there is still a lot of this white stuff on the ground.

Baby Shower for Ms. Madilyn!

Together as family and friends we celebrated Madilyn Marie's arrival into our big world. At nearly three weeks old she is beautiful, light red hair and dimples. Full of sweetness. :) K was blessed with many many many gifts for her sweet little one.



Here is a picture of K opening her gift from mom: a photograph of K as a toddler wearing a special dress that mom made her, which was the other part of her gift. How precious. :)



Here is the cake that Alicia made, talented girl that she is. :)



Amanda and I strung a clothesline and hung baby clothing and the letters of Madilyn's name as our main decoration. It looked SO cute!! (if i do say so myself)

There were fresh flowers on the tables, sweet and simple. The cards in a variety of browns, had little birds on them as well as the beginning of a sentence for the ladies to finish as a special gift to Karli. The cards said things like, "You will be a wonderful mother because....." , " My favorite children's book to read is...." , " The best advice i received about motherhood was..." , " A favorite song to sing to baby is....", and so on and so forth.

Mom and her friends put on a wonderful table of goodies for everyone. It was a lot of fun to work together, and the outcome was beautiful. It is a lovely thing to have another sister join me in the realm of motherhood, and to have cousins around for my kiddos'.

"t'is our bliss to be nothing and to find our all in You. Amen"

C. H. Spurgeon

‘There are horses and chariots of fire all around’ 2 Kin. 6:17

"He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection."

Psalm 91:4 (NLT)

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These verses and the small quote from Spurgeon all bring much peace and joy to my weary heart. Although i personally am not afflicted with many trials at this point, many around me are, and i feel the weight of it every moment, and the strong need to get on my knees in prayer.

Snow day today, cooking day today: so i should do a lot of praying on my feet i suppose! :) Apron or snow shovel, whatever it may be, i need to keep my mind on the scriptures that God places in my heart to pray for those I love.

My first prayer may have to be: God don't let my kids argue so much as to distract me from prayer today. :)

Family time.

A birthday party, a new baby to watch, a "skype" visit, and a great saturday of fun.

Here are some more photos of little precious! :)

BABY MADILYN IS HERE!!

Our beautiful niece was born on monday, she is a doll. we are so happy for K and M!

waiting.

I have pictures from someone's hospital room, and I would LOVE to post them.... but I would like to let "them" have the first chance to do so... So hang in there!!!
:) heehee.

I'll just say, there is a gorgeous little baby Girl that has joined the Naus-Reycraft family.

Pictures soon to follow.

so glad.

I experienced the great exchange today, the perfect trade.


As I walked to the kitchen sink for a drink of water, it came to me... My friend Sonia and I worked out a wonderful example of life-sharing.

Simple, but so helpful.

She took her older children skating, and brought Julia with her.
Saving me the trouble of taking two little frozen, crying, floppy, sad kids out on the frozen lake, and providing Julia with two wonderful hours of bliss!!! (she loves skating!!! Julia's little friend figure skated along with her today, they had so so so much fun)

Then I took my friend's daughter for the afternoon/evening for a playdate.
Saving her older children from noise (apparently). They thanked me as they picked their daughter up for the trip home, thanked me for a quiet afternoon. ( at their house, that is!! hahaha)

Now, isn't that awesome? I love little things to be glad about.

speaking of glad: i love listening to Brian Deorksen's worship albums. All. Day.

snow fest and a special Birthday party

Opa's Birthday at our house.



Snow Fest 2011.
If we look cold it is because we WERE!!!! aaaaaaaahhh.
The trip was not a success...simply because Julia can stand the cold for much longer than the little ones... so she was just getting geared up for mini golf, magic shows, sledding, snowman decorating, etc... and the other two were just starting to cry because they suddenly realized they were cold beyond their liking.

too bad. it was fun for a little while. :) maybe next year they will stand the cold a little longer.... or maybe we'll pray for a much lower wind chill factor... yikes. it was CRAZY that day.