A Little Catching Up

Little Sleeping Beauty

One of Anna's favorite places to be...

I can't believe it's already been a little over three weeks since little Anna was born! There's an interesting mix when a newborn babe arrives on the scene... in one sense we've enjoyed a season of quietness, and in another sense it's been downright crazy around here!

(See? I said it's been crazy at times!)

Isaac and the kids were able to go to his brother's wedding (I missed being able to be there since Anna was so little), we were blessed to be able to attend a not-too-far-away showing of The Mysterious Islands, which we thoroughly enjoyed! We've shown the house a few times, which provided for some fun and interesting memories (thankfully my sister Hannah was here when we showed the house, and she wonderfully helped me get the house ready and take the kids out!), and we got to show Anna off to the rest of Isaac's family for Thanksgiving. You can see pictures of that here.

Now we're in the process of packing for the Sufficiency of Scripture Conference. We are notoriously heavy packers, so I'm trying to keep it to the bare minimum... though that's proving to be a difficulty due to the chilly forecast! We're looking forward to all of the great teaching and always enjoy the great fellowship!

Anna seems to be settling in to somewhat of a schedule, and she's dearly letting mommy get enough sleep to function normally. She is the darling of the family right now, having assumed the focus of everyone's attentions... her sisters and brother are constantly hovering over her, adjusting blankets, remarking over her cuteness, and asking to hold her. We aren't getting much done otherwise, but that's fine... life will slow down and settle back into a more productive schedule soon enough! We're just enjoying this little life that's come into the world!

My Girls

The Joys of a Newborn Baby

Here is a sweet, fragrant mouth to kiss; here are two more feet to make music with their pattering about my nursery. Here is a soul to train for God, and the body in which it dwells is worth all it will cost, since it is the abode of a kingly tenant. I may see less of friends, but I have gained one dearer than them all, to whom, while I minister in Christ’s name, I make a willing sacrifice of what little leisure for my own recreation, my other darlings had left me. Yes, my precious baby, you are welcome to your mother’s heart, welcome to her time, her strength, her health, her life-long prayers!

-Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

A New Arrival...

Just a quick post to announce the birth of our newest precious child!

Anna Verity Weathers was born today at 3:06pm, weighing in at 7 lb, 3 oz.

For more pictures, visit Stephanie's blog.

Autumn's Joys

Remember just how much fun it always was as a kid to play in leaf piles during Fall? Daddy pulled together a great big leaf pile in our back yard where the little ones played quite happily for much of the morning.

We're all still "patiently" waiting for baby's arrival... the women in my family tend to take a little longer to "hatch". *grin*  I'm reminding myself often that although I'll be more physically comfortable, the work load is bound to increase with another tiny one- so I'm trying to just enjoy these last "days", however many they may be!

Oh, to see the world through the eyes of a two year old again...

filled with such awe and wonder!

and just for fun...

A Little Fall Fun

We're still here! Blogging's just taken a back seat to baby preparations, getting the house ready, and all of the other many daily things that seem to present themselves without notice!

This past Saturday, we decided to load the kids up and take a family day trip. We drove up to a little apple farm where we bought some very delicious apples, and the kids got to take a pony ride... which they thoroughly enjoyed!

Apple Cider Donuts... yum!

After leaving the apple farm, we headed up towards Helen, GA. We had a quick lunch, but didn't stay long there due to the major crowds (Oktoberfest). Heading back from Helen we happened upon Nora Mill Granary Grist Mill... it's a charming little grist mill that was built in 1876, and is still fully functioning.

Isaac took the kids around and started explaining to them how the water was powering the mill, and when the operator (Mr. Tommy) saw their interest, he gave us a full guided tour to the inner workings of the corn grinding process!

Mr. Tommy making up a "goody bag" for the girls

Fresh ground corn

All in all we had a lovely weekend! It was the perfect little memory-making-before-baby-family-day-trip! If you ever find yourselves in the Helen, GA area I highly recommend stopping by Nora Mill... and if you see Mr. Tommy, be sure to say hi... he's a wealth of information!

Getting to the heart of education

"The end of learning is to repair the ruin of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge, to love Him, to imitate Him, to be like Him."

-John Milton

allposters.com

"..the issue of education is always the heart. Changed hearts is the goal, the function, the very purpose of education. Our goal is not multigenerational personal peace and affluence. Neither are we simply trying to raise clean-cut children. Homeschoolers are adept at doing that... what we want is the changed heart."

"What is your goal? What are you shooting for? Even if you answer, "Building the kingdom of God," you might still have it wrong. Be careful here. We are not training our children so one day they might build the kingdom. We must remember, as we continue to grow in grace and become more effective in our calling, to ditch this notion that school is something you do for a time, and then you work. We continue to learn, while we work. And our children continue to work, while they learn. Your children are not simply in training, but are even now about the business of building the kingdom of God."

allposters.com

"If the heart is the heart of the matter, if our children not only are learning to be kingdom builders, but are also being kingdom builders now, if we are to train our children to train their children, then this is something we need to remind ourselves of daily. The devil, you understand, is craftier than the beasts of the field. He doesn't simply whisper in our ears, "Betray your children. Raise them in the nurture and admonition of the state." Instead he distracts us, pulls us off target, makes us forget our calling, piece by piece.

Our calling is to keep our eyes on the prize- not to long to be at ease in Babylon, but to long for the city whose builder and maker is God."

-When You Rise Up, R.C. Sproul Jr.

allposters.com