Blizzard!!

As I write this the winds are howling, it is dark outside, and the wind chill is probably -25F! It's another Midwest blizzard! I'm sure you southerners are laughing at us crazy people, wondering why on earth we live up here. :-) Well, let me tell you, a blizzard is better than an earthquake or hurricane any day! :-) It's so nice to feel cozy and warm while a 45 mile-an-hour wind is whipping the snow everywhere outside. And it seems like every time there's bad weather, dad has the day off!!

Anyway, here are some pictures I took this afternoon. Yes, I actually went outside! The boys and dad plowed and shoveled, and I spent some time with my German Shepherd, Mercy.








Dad just said the driveway is REALLY bad!! The drifts are packed down and at least knee high. The boys sure have their work cut out for them tomorrow!

We have been extremely busy lately - as you probably know, mom is the convention coordinator for the ND Home School Convention. We are counting down the days until we leave for Jamestown, ND (we leave next Wednesday)! Some of the highlights this year for me will be seeing friends and hearing George Escobar speak about filmmaking. We are staying in a hotel for four nights, so we will probably be ready to go home to our own beds on Sunday, but I'm sure we'll be disappointed that the convention is already over (it always goes by so fast)! We've been going to the ND Convention every year since I was 2 or 3, so this is an annual tradition for our family. In 2006 mom became the coordinator and she enjoys being able to work from home and save up money for family trips. So, that being said, I won't be writing on here for a little while. But in a few weeks I'll be sure to tell you all how the convention went, and to post some pictures!! Please pray for mom as she finishes preparing, for our family's health, and for the weather to be sunny and warm next week!

Random Quotes and Pictures

"They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” — Benjamin Franklin



“Truth is not determined by majority vote.” — Doug Gwyn



“The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.” — Thomas Jefferson



“Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do” — Voltaire



“For most Americans the Constitution had become a hazy document, cited like the Bible on ceremonial occasions but forgotten in the daily transactions of life.” — Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. – (1888-1965)




An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me…It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, pride and superiority. The other wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside of you and every other person too.”

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee simply replied…“The one I feed.” — Anonymous



“My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you’ll join with me as we try to change it.” — Barack Obama



“Past the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten. And seeing them…he cried, ‘Great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?’...God said, ‘I did do something. I made you.’ “ — Sufi Teaching

Mom's Birthday

My dear mother turned 42 today (but doesn't she look younger!?). Some of the highlights of her day were: opening the presents she picked out herself, eating the meals she planned (but didn't cook - she had the day off), and taking a buttermilk bath ALONE, WITHOUT ANY UNWANTED INTERRUPTIONS (that in itself was a miracle!!). Here are her favorite things:

Food -- pizza
Activity -- reading, taking a hot bath, talking to friends
Fruit -- fresh pineapple
Restaurant -- Pizza Hut
Bible Character -- Ruth
Dessert -- cheesecake
Color-- blue
Music group -- The Bartlett Boys
Sport - football (specifically the Packers)
Snack - nuts
Place to stay - at a B&B with my hubby
Drink - cranberry juice
Vegetable - squash

This morning she was rather embarrassed to have her picture taken because she was in her robe and didn't have any make-up on. :-)



She was real stubborn.



Ah . . . there's her lovely face . . .



Lydia drew a beautiful handmade card for mom - doesn't she do a good job?



And here is mom after her bath, changed from her robe and wearing make-up. :-)



And here are some pictures of my best friend and I - from baby, to girl, to young lady. The last one was taken in 2006.





Happy birthday mom! We love you!

Sunday

Today we celebrated my mom's birthday (which is tomorrow) by going out to eat at the Golden Corral for brunch. Yum!! Afterwards we enjoyed going to a black powder show in town. Caleb especially liked looking at all the old-fashioned guns that were there. There were also people selling toys, furs, rendezvous clothing, jewelry and a lot more! Here are a few pictures from this afternoon:







That last one was of Ethan with "General Custer" (you'll have to excuse the smudge on Ethan's face - must have been on the camera!). Anyway, we had a good time, and we're looking forward to tomorrow!! :-)

The Sound of Music

For the past two and a half years, two families have been working on making a movie. They call it The Sound of Music. It is a remake of the original (the one with Julie Andrews), although minus numerous parts and not even a fraction of the quality of that well-made original. :-) Nevertheless, they had a blast making it, and now they are proud to announce that the project is almost finished!! All that's left is for the editor (yours truly) to finish some editing (and who knows how long that will take with the ND Homeschool Convention coming up!). So . . . here is a trailer of the film that our family made with the U. family. They have eight children who were all in the movie and even the parents have enjoyed being in it! :-) We plan on making another movie this summer (along with the S. family) about persecuted Christians. We are working on writing the script and putting it together now, so that when the nice weather comes we can start filming. I am in the process of buying a new camcorder, so I am looking forward to putting it to good use in making many exciting, encouraging, and God-honoring movies!!

P.S. A couple times in the trailer the words go down to the space below - sorry about that! I'm not quite sure how that happened.
P.P.S. The Sound of Music is not really "coming to theatres near you" I just put that in there for fun!

Fiddle Tune

Last Wednesday we played music for about 45 minutes at an assisted living home near us. Every so often we like to share our music and the love of Jesus with residents at various nursing or assisted living homes. We played mostly bluegrass, and mostly gospel, but we like to add a few traditional or fun songs in here and there. Lydia just started playing fiddle this school year, and she's come really far! God has given her a natural ear for music. Caleb is also excellent at fiddle (he's been playing it for maybe five years). So here is a fiddle song (Boil Them Cabbage Down) played by our fiddlers!! Dad is on the bass, I'm on banjo, and Daniel is on the mandolin.

Ethan's Birthday

Last week was really busy for our family! Babysitting twice, playing at a nursing home, passing out tracts, giving lessons, running errands and lots more filled my time. And then Monday, February 9th, was Ethan's 7th birthday! He had a good day, full of army men, a toy tractor, plenty of cards, and a Thomas the Tank movie before bed. Here is a short video I quickly put together of some of his day. I used my camera and so the quality probably isn't very good. :-) Enjoy!!