Ug.

Our internet has been down for 5 days. We are back up and running and I am happy to report, because I know you were all wondering, the internet is not an idol! You may think this is silly to consider, but it is my habit to examine all areas of my life to see where God isn't first. I have often thought to myself, "Would I be the same mother through the day If I didn't have the internet.." I already know I have issues with "over-loving" my house.. I discovered this the last time we went camping and the raccoons ate all my homemade muffins while we slept, definitely not a good response there. But alas, I passed the no internet test with flying colors!!

Now for the Ug. Samuel and Libby have Bronchitis. We have all been hard down sick for a few days. Each Reynolds in turn, has had a nasty bug. Today when Samuel woke up he was definitely laboring for breath as was Libby. The Doctor affirmed our assumptions that there was something serious going on. Samuel was so bad when we got to the Dr. that she nearly had us head straight to the hospital. Praise God there was a sweet turn of Providence when Samuel responded well to an Albuterol treatment, or as we refer to it, "All-Better-All."

While I was at the Dr. with the little and the mini the rest of the family had the 1st annual St. Patrick's Day Jello Feast. More on that later.

If you remember, please pray for our littles that they would not need to be hospitalized. We will know how things are looking in the morning when we go in for Samuel's follow-up.

God Bless You dear ones!!

It's Official.

The candles have been blown out, the prayer of blessing was given, Jackie is 11.

Perhaps you might think only a teenage boy would request steak... Our little Jack is full of surprises.

Turns out Colby was full of surprises too. He and I collected dryer lint for a month. To give you some background, Jackie has some texture issues with flannel pajamas and dryer lint.. It's strange, but understandable. She always pleads with one of her sisters to scrape the lint out of the dryer when she is swapping loads over for me. So Colby, always loving a good laugh, bought her a package of Lindor Lindt Chocolates. Lindt = Lint. He dumped the lindt chocolates throughout the box of dryer lint he'd been collecting. Very, very funny.

Crafty letters and Red Velvet Cake with "Magic Frosting."

As tasty as it was pretty.

It's hard to be serious and smile when one is hungry for cake!

Dad's got them in line... Say cheese, or no cake for you.. Just Kidding.

Happy birthday Jackie Lynn! I am encouraged by your grace and blessed by your love. You are a dear young lady and we adore you.

Hot, Pinch, Ow

Something Jackie and I have talked about for years now is ear piercing. She has desired to have them punched through for a long time. Each time we discussed the option I would remind her of the pain that would be involved. She'd ask me for my own story, I'd tell her about it and explain how much I enjoy my own pierced ears. I would then encourage her to wait until she's a little older only to be sure she truly wanted them pierced. Eventually the notion would be dropped and several months would pass by before it would come up.

For her 11th birthday Jackie told me she indeed wanted them pierced, she knew there'd be pain, and she knew that she'd need to take care of them. I talked it over with Jake and we both had no problem with it, so we only need wait for the day to come.

Today was that day! She sits nervously after praying with me in the van. Her description of the piercing was hot, pinch, ow! Even though her teeth were chattering, she sat up in the tall chair bravely and barely batted an eye. She told me later she had faith she'd have the strength she prayed for and she did!

There they are!

She's beautiful.

We went to the Red House Cafe and stole away to a window seat with fresh cut flowers.

Hmm, what to order? How about the Red House Pizza.

Window light made our picture dark, so we made it a black and white photo adjusting the exposure and fill light. Sweet Memories with my daughter.

Benjamin turns 9

For dinner we started with Spaghetti and Meatballs with Honey Butter Rolls.

As soon as dinner finished Louisa gave Benjamin the gift he's always wanted.. a woopie cushion.

He was so excited about his new bible. Thankfully it's large enough that it can't fit in his pocket and go through the wash...

Not one, but two Lego cakes.

He was soooo excited. What big eyes and teeth you have Ben.

He was pleased and got all the candles blown out with nine big breaths.

Can you tell how proud he is to stand by his daddy? Daddy wasn't home for his celebration last year.

Now for the action. A Star Wars Lego game. I tried to play too but they made fun of me.

Benjamin, we love you so much. You are a treasure to this family and we have delighted greatly over you these past 9 years. May God grant you many more!

When Hide and Seek goes Sour

The children and I were trying to have a friendly game of hide and seek the other night. Jake was caught up with studies and we were bored. So we played and had so much fun. However, something happens to our dog whenever we start having a good time. He gets really weird. Weird as in, he starts attacking my Pottery Barn pillows and tries to mark his spot on them. This particular night he was doing okay, leaving my pillows alone. There was a sudden change of events when Silas and I were hiding under a blanket behind a chair. We were sitting there, covered up and Salt decided to have a game of tug-o-war with the blanket. Silas and I pulled and tried to stay hidden behind the chair under the blanket, but the dog was winning. I got to laughing so hard that I was crying and Silas was getting bothered that the dog was taking away his hiding spot. Thankfully Libby was "It" so she was oblivious to the fact that there was a huge commotion behind the chair with the dog. I mean she ran right past us saying, "Ready or not, here I come..." Silas and I ended up coming out of hiding due to the dog and the fact that Silas really isn't the best partner to team up with during hide and seek. Typically, he likes to jump out of hiding and say RAHHHH! He doesn't like being found, rather he likes finding others.. Back to the dog, we put him in the exersaucer.. He didn't like it very much. But I did.

Louisa consoling Salty

Silas likes the idea and wishes he would have thought of it first.

Seriously.

I thought this was a joke... but it's not.

Clearly people love their animals too much and other humans not enough! We should not be more concerned for our pets than the souls of others..

Samuel 9 Months (3 days ago)

Samuel is growing and he is precious and we are enjoying each day with him.

He is very fresh and his pale little face betrays his innocence.

This is what we love to see him doing most, laughing.

He is a thoughtful young man and often just hangs out and watches his family.

Other times when I'm taking pictures of him, which happens often, he gazes at me. I'm sure he's curious what I'm doing and why it happens so often. No doubt he'll have memories of his mom with a face in the shape of a Canon Rebel Camera.

He's learning to crawl. His talent has only begun in the last 2 days. He is just strong enough to push himself up on all fours. From there he gives himself a good push forward and continues the process until he's reached what he set out for.

Then a yawn, when it's time for nap.

*Did I mention how blue his eyes are?