UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

You may have noticed some interesting changes in the look of this blog since yesterday... that is because my sweet web-designer husband is fooling around with it...exploring the html code that lies behind the scenes and mixing up the formating and colors for me. Since he does this in his free time, it will probably look kind of quirky for a little while before it settles into an ultra cool style. So, bear with us and enjoy the changes that may come along!

Late Easter

So, Easter has come and gone but I neglected to post some cutie pictures for the grandmas (and lets face it,for me to share cute pictures!!!). Since Passover is this weekend, I thought the timing was semi-appropriate! So, here are the belated pictures of my sweet children. Sorry there are no pictures of Lael, at the time she was only 12 days old and I was snuggled inside with her copping out on all the egg hunting fun!
P.S. My favorite picture is the one of Grandma Jan sticking her tongue out for the camera... I think we have some old pictures of her doing this at about age 15 too!

Nectar

So, I realized lately that I feed my kids a lot of sugar... I love to bake and to smother their otherwise healthy flaxseed waffles with syrup every morning. There has been considerable guilt about this on my part, but then I consider: "hey... I have 4 kids and they are so much happier with slurpy, syrupy waffles at 7am, so what the heck." I was fairly resigned to continue this pre-diabetic breakfast feast until I read Jodi's blog about Agave Nectar (otherwise known as : fruit of the gods). You have got to read all the information she has there about how this kind of sugar is actually good for you, as far as sugar can be good for you, of course...

Now I am happy to report that my children are receiving Agave Nectar on their waffles and they haven't even noticed the swap! This was highly unexpected as my children notice the ever so subltle differences between regular or light vanilla soy milk. Score one for me! And please don't mention this post to them if you bump into them at breakfast time.

Our Sweet Garden

We dedicated our Lael Harue last Sunday. Sitting in our living room, surrounded by my parents, my sister Julie and her husband Ryan and my sweet nephew Zeke. Our good friends Dan and Allison were here with their boys, Zeke and Reed as well. It was a sweet moment in time that I have been replaying in my mind all week, just relishing...

Josh shared about Lael's name (which is Hebrew for "of God"), annointed her with oil and asked me to share a vision that we have for all of our daughters before praying over little Ellie (her official nickname).

We believe so passionately in the importance of having our home be a vibrant place of life, creativity, learning,and relationships. We have a purpose for the connections that take shape within these walls and what happens when we head out from them into the wide open world! We are also passionate about the beauty of femininity and in the calling God has placed on women to be beautifying sources of help and support.

We love the image of the wife in the Song of Solomon, where she is described as a walled garden full of splendor and beauty, protected and preserved by the wall, which is not restrictive, but rather lovingly and carefully guarding her. We see Lael (and our other daughters) as a beautiful garden. They are to be treasured and nourished,watered and tended with all the energy a watchful gardener can muster. We asked our family to join Josh and I in our role as Lael's garden wall; we asked them to help guard and protect her sweet fragrance, her innocence, her purity...her heart. We closed our time by singing "The Lord Bless You and Keep You" all together... it was glorious.

Our Sweet Garden... our sweet girl, we are so very blessed to love her and bring her before our God.