[quote!]

"It is wonderful what miracles God works in wills that are utterly surrendered to Him. He turns hard things into easy, and bitter into sweet. It's not that He puts easy things in the place of hard, but He actually changes the hard thing into the easy one."

Hannah Whitall Smith

"What we need is not new sight, but new light; not new paths, but new strength to walk in the old ones; not new duties but new wisdom from on high to fulfill those that are plain before us."

Some outtakes from last week. This week has been sooo crazy, so I'm just now getting them up :)

Ha, this is just beyond cool. I luv it.

Sylvia with one of Samantha's bouquets.

My muffin man :) Adorbs.

[eight/fiftytwo]
Joey is super duper.

My pile of shells... Josh's boot.

Date night with Dad!

Yep, the mirror picture. Sorry guys, it was soo windy outside, I couldn't get what I wanted.

We four girls.... I love us!! Thanks Nathaniel for the picture! It was soo happy to see Bre again, and Alyssa and Nathaniel. Come again soon :)

After J's birthday party we went around the town, shopping and stuff... Nathaniel was a trooper, haha!

P.S. As you've probably figured out, I usually only post about things I have pictures to go with, haha. But last week we met a schola friend and her family!! It was great to meet you, Catherine! Thanks for meeting up with us :)

[quotes!!]

"Today's February twenty-oneth, right? -Micah
Haha, yep, the twenty oneth. 

Sam: "If someone mugs me, I will be too weak to fight back."
Mom: "Just throw up on them."

"I put the 'fun' in 'fundamentalism'." -Dad, haha.

 "The less the lerrier!" -Micah

 Josiah: "I felt the fingerknobs!" (knuckles)

During 20 Questions: I had earlier said "celebrity" and then explained to the kids what that was.
Josiah: "Is he a persecutionist?"
Me: "What?" 
Joe: "A, whatever Shaina said." (celebrity) hahahhahaha.

Levi: "What's this?"
Me: "Makeup."
Levi: "Makeup? I love makeup!"

Weider: "Me too!"
Dad: "Don't be a Weider."

Levi, at the meal prayer: "I love you, but I don't want to hold your hand." 

Micah, after our neighbors brought us some food while my parents were gone: "Why are they bringing us lunch?"
Sylvia: "So we can survive, Micah!!

Me: "You can have the other earbuddy."
Sam: "I love it! I'm gonna make it a favorite quote."

"You need to do school. What are you waiting for?"
"Motivation."
"Hmm..you wanna watch a movie with me?"

Sam, answering the phone: "Hello?"
Grandma: "Hello Samantha, is Grandma there? No! I mean, this IS Grandma!"

Micah: "I don't like any fajitas except for Mrs B's!!"
Sylvia: "What are you talking about, Micah? These things are awesome, man!!"

"And Paul's sermon is getting looonger and loonger, and then all of a sudden, "Plunk!" the guy falls off the window ledge, and Paul's like, "I knew I should have stuck to my notes. Fine, I'll bring him back to life." "

"It's like, The Landmark Eusebius! It should have some pages that when you open them up, a city pops up and goes 'boingk!'"

"...Ireaneas (who's name means Mister Peaceful).."

"They said, 'Victor, sit down and take a chill pill. Have some more chicken mcnuggets."
"Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, unless the baby is a heretic." -Vincent

[update]

Samantha came home last night and she was able to get a lot of rest Saturday night, which was a huge praise the Lord. The noise of our household is very stressful on her right now. She's still sore and tired, but she's doing well and all your prayers are showing. Thank you all, so much!

[seven/fiftytwo]

[seven/fiftytwo]
I had a really hard time choosing a photo for this week, so below are the other ones I took into consideration! I love the dreamy feel of this one.

I fell in love with this the second I saw it on the back of the camera. Samantha looks so peaceful, almost unworldly. I love the framing the branches create around her.

Rock star. :D

Ahh! This was my absolute favorite of Josh. I love this one soo much.

Sam's new boots+golden hour flare=perfection.

And, I never actually took this one into consideration because half of the fifty two photos so far have been silhouettes already, but I do loove it. I played  with the colors on this one; it wasn't this pink in reality.

[poor widdle sami]

Last night around 12 probably Samantha started having severe pain in her abdomen. My mom and Dad took her to see my aunt who is a surgeon this morning and she went into surgery at about 7:45 this evening. She had appendicitis. My dad said that the surgery went well, but continue to pray that the recovery goes smoothly as well. Also, due to one thing and another, she did not get much sleep the two nights before either, and my mom said that the pain is still keeping her awake. Please pray that she could get the much needed rest tonight.  Thank you all!!! We appreciate it sooo much!
Love,
Shaina

 

Haha, Grace  introduced me to this annnnd... it's adorable :) Take a listen.

S.A.D.?

I'm sorry, but I think that having a singles awareness day is a little ridiculous. It's not a disease, people.
Here's the point I want to make: Singleness is just as much a gift from God as a godly relationship is, and you bet you can honor Him just as well in your single years. In fact, Paul says that we can focus more on God as a single person. I kind of view it as comparable to something my parents always used to say: If you want a different chore, you have to become diligent at this one first, before you move on and gain more responsibility. Use your single years productively, or you won't be ready for a relationship. Use them to serve others (great preparation for marriage) and become closer to God (indispensable preparation for marriage) Use them to perfect the skills that you will need as a spouse (for guys, getting a career, for girls, learning how to run a household effectively). Oh, yes, and learn to embrace your femininity and respect your body, because it does not belong to you, but to Christ and your future husband. Guys, become men and protect your eyes, because your future wife has every right to them. These years are a precious preparation time that God is giving you so that you don't have to learn it all on the spot. That would be extremely difficult. Don't waste your preparation time trying to jump into the job. That would be like going to college straight out of middle school instead of going to highschool first, or going to war without any training. In short, it's stoopid. ;)

This idea will be revisited. First of all, the candle wasn't anywhere near bright enough to achieve the look I was going for, secondly, the wind blew the flame out anyway, third, I was doing it in the 20 minutes before class, and my dress got a bunch of sticktights on it. I thought I was holding it up. Obviously not enough, haha. I have a much more elaborate plan of the same concept... I just need someone to help me out with it, like Justin. :)

[scone recipe]

On Sunday I borrowed Miss Jackie's cookbook containing her amazing scone recipe. "Confident Cooking Muffins, Scones, & Coffee Cakes" Today I made them! They turned out really well. I suggest some tea, butter and marmalade to go along with them

 

Basic Scones

Makes 16 scones.

2 cups self rising flour

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, cut into small pieces

½ cup milk

½ cup water

1. Preheat oven to 425. Place flour iin a large bowl. Cut in butter or margarine with your fingers or a pastry blender till the mixture resembles fine crumbs. 

2.      Stir together milk and water. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add liquid, saving a tablespoon to brush on the tops of the scones. Stir with a table knife or spoon till a soft dough forms. (Do not over mix; this toughens the scones) 

3.      Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead gently ten to twelve times. Pat or roll dough into a 7 ½ inch circle about ¼ inch thick. 

4.      Cut dough into rounds using a floured 2 inch biscuit cutter or cut into wedges using a floured knife.  Place dough on a greased baking sheet. Brush tops with reserved milk mixture. 

5.   Bake for ten to twelve minutes or till light brown and scones sound hollow when tapped. Cool slightly on a wire rack. Serve warm with jam and cream. 

Hints: It is important for the oven to be preheated to the correct temperature.

Handle scones with great care and a very light hand. If you are heavy handed and mix or knead the dough too much, your scones will turn out very tough.

Add some sugar to insure your scones do not taste too floury.

And, a photo of the horses in the snow this morning:

[snow!]

the poison cup

I was inspired to take pictures in the snow yesterday. Surprisingly, I could fit into this dress. I think I must have lost weight, because last time I tried I couldn't. *shrugs*  Ziva (our Great Pyrenees) LOVES the snow. She was frolicking more than I've ever seen her before and that's... sayings something, haha. She's a very happy dog.

Fancy has gorgeous doe eyes :)

We had a tea party, oh yes.
But first we played ping pong and laughed, oh my goodness, sooo much. And played music and sang, which was so much fun of course :) And the tea party was super relaxing... the whole time was.We went home and made broccoli cheese soup and watched Courageous together (Sam's and my first time!) I really liked it :)

Cards!

Sunday morning I woke up to this incredible sight. I cannot begin to do justice to the loveliness of the icestorm.

Yes, I went out into our field at eight o clock in the morning to take pictures in the coooold. It was worth it :)

we are fragile.

[a very worthwhile]quote]

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves,
when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little,
when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess,
we have lost our thirst for the waters of life, having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity, and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery, where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizon of our hopes, and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love. This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ."
-Sir Francis Drake

"I want to struggle. I want be ridiculously miserable and sad. And I want to be effortlessly happy. Because the truth is you need one to appreciate the other.
To feel is a great thing, I'd like to experience it all."
-Janey Lu.

[snatches of my life]

sunday. we went bowling with Josh. it was great fun :)

monday. we went riding. It was a beautiful day.

 they climbed a tree.

Josh was scared.

the moon was spectacular.

the sunset was soft, puffy, and pastel.

champ has a noble profile.