More Precious Than Silver...

I am starting something new at the Buhl Castle! I really want to build a special bond between the girls and I so that we have a good close Mother-daughter relationship. Things are so busy at our house all of the time and I want so badly for them to know how precious they are to me. I have decided to set aside time for each one of them individually and spend some good quality one-on-one time together. So starting this month I am going to take one girl a month and let them choose something for us to do together. This month I chose Maddy. I asked Maddy what she wanted to do for our special Mother-Daughter time together, and she chose to go to Lilly's Bead Box to make a bracelet. Her Grandma and Grandpa got her some pop beads for Christmas that she absolutely loves and has had so much fun with and she is really getting into accessories. She also has heard me talk about Lilly's Bead Box and knows that I have made her a bracelet there before. When we got to Lilly's Bead Box, Maddy couldn't believe how big the store was and how many beads there were. She was too short to really see all of the beads. Here she is trying to get a peek at some of the beads: Maddy is very independent, and she got a little too excited trying to find the perfect yellow beads. She pressed down on one of the trays to get a better look, and of course...beads went EVERYWHERE!!! So unfortunately before we got started on a bracelet, we had to clean up! After that, she decided on what beads she wanted, and she carefully picked them out and placed them in the dish:Her favorite part was stringing them on herself. She was very serious about it: She decided to make a bracelet with yellow beads and red hearts. Here is her finished bracelet: We had such a great time together, just the two of us. I love you Maddy Faith and can't wait until our next special day together. You are so precious to me!

"The silver is mine and the gold is mine," declares the LORD Almighty. Haggai 2:8

A Mother's Job...

is never done!
And that is the lesson that Lily learned last week when she was asked to create a "Mom and/or Dad at Work" poster for her Kindergarten class. Lily chose me for her poster and before we got started I told her my title was a "Stay at Home Mom." I explained to her that I used to be a First Grade Teacher, but when she was born I chose to stay home and take care of her. And in the meantime, God blessed our family with 2 other daughters and a son, so now Mommy takes care of 4 kids. Then we sat down together and came up with a list of things that I do for them. Lily had some really great ideas and she came up with 10 things that she wanted to include on her poster. We took pictures for each of her ideas, and then she wanted to write the sentences to go with each picture. At the top we included the sentence, "My Mommy stays at home and takes care of us. She...
1. cooks and feeds us
2. cleans
3. does the laundry
4. makes us feel better
5. plays with us
6. helps with homework
7. reads to us
8. tucks us in bed
9. drives us around
10. gives us baths
She was so excited about this project and wanted to mat her pictures in rainbow colors! (She will be great at scrap booking!) Here is Lily with the finished poster:
She worked so very hard on it and was proud to show it off to her teacher and friends! I loved working on this with you, Lily, and am so blessed to be a Stay at Home Mommy. I can't imagine doing anything else!


She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Proverbs 31:27-28

Snow Much Fun!

We had our first "SNOW" day home from school yesterday! The girls were so excited to play out in the snow, even though we had very little! We waited until Parker took his morning nap and got all bundled up to go outside:

Katy kept looking around at the white grass in amazement and started running back and forth from the top to the bottom of our backyard: Then she wanted to play in our sand and water table, (where SOMEONE left the lid off!), but the sand was covered in snow, and the water was frozen solid! When she figured out that she wasn't going to be able to play in it, she thought she would try the swing set, but it was too icy: Lily wanted to make snowballs, but when she couldn't she decided to just throw some snow at her Mommy!:

Then Lily suggested that they make snow angels. Here are my Snow Princesses trying to make snow angels: I took the girls to the front of the house where I thought our steep driveway would be fun to slide down, but it was too powdery. Maddy was fascinated that she could make footprints in the snow and she said that was her favorite part: Katy tried to do what Maddy was doing: but she got running too fast and fell. Lily was so sweet to her, and went to check on her: I'm so glad we had a "SNOW" day so the girls could see what it was like to play in the snow. I am praying for more next time so we can build a snowman and make better snow angels!

...wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7b

Twinkle Toes

Tuesdays are Lily's favorite day of the week because she has dance class. This past Tuesday, Jan. 13th, her dance school, Tennessee Conservatory of Fine Arts, had their Open House. I was so excited because I was finally able to sit in during her ballet and tap class! And I was even more excited when they said we could bring our cameras! Here is my Lily Ballerina: Ms. Tammy is her teacher, and there are only 5 girls in the class counting Lily. Before they start, they do warm-up exercises and stretches first: Then they go through their positions (first through fifth), and do plies, jetes, and tondus. Here is Lily doing a plies: And then a tondus: After 30 minutes of ballet, they change into their tap shoes. Here is Lily in her tap shoes:They start off doing shuffle ball changes on both feet:

Here are the girls following Ms. Tammy as she leads them in various tap steps: They also did lots of fun things like the Chicken Dance and the Train. Here is Lily and her sweet friend, Ellie, (who is also in her Kindergarten class at Brickey) doing the Chicken Dance: Here are the girls doing the Train as they tap heel then toe: I think this was one of Lily's favorite parts because she kept giggling! At the end, the girls all joined hands together and then took a bow:

I loved getting to watch Lily dance. She is enjoying it so much, and it thrilled me that a lot of the music they danced to was Christian! I can't wait for her recital in May! I love you, Lily Bean!


Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Isaiah 12:5

M'mm! M'mm! Good!

Parker had his first taste of veggies on Wednesday, Jan. 14. Once again he had an audience, so he knew something was coming and he was very excited... I started with squash just like I did with the girls. Here is his first spoonful: He wasn't sure what to think at first: But then he really liked it! So much that he kept saying, "mmmm....mmmm...." while kicking his feet just like Lily did with her first veggies!: He ended up finishing the whole jar! Here he is all done: What a messy eater you are Parker Levi! But I'm so glad you liked your first veggie!
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Oh Boy, Oh Boy! Parker is 6 Months Old!

Parker turned six months old on January 4th. I can't believe that a half a year has gone by since he blessed our family. He has brought us so much joy! He is a very content baby and only cries when he is hungry, tired, or needs a diaper change. He likes jumping in his jumpster, playing in his exersaucer, watching Baby Einstein DVD's, sitting up and playing with toys on the floor, and most of all... being loved on and entertained by his 3 Big Sissies! Just in the past 2 weeks, he has learned to go to sleep on his own for naps and bedtime. He still loves to be swaddled up tight in his favorite blankie. We lay him down and within just a couple of minutes he has fussed and or cried himself to sleep: Here he is for our monthly pose on his raggy blankie: Parker had his Six Month Well Check yesterday. Unfortunately he is still not "well." Bless his little heart...his right ear and throat were still extremely red, so he is on his 3rd round of antibiotics! Please continue to pray for our sweet boy and that he will be completely well very soon!

Here are his stats from his checkup:

Weight: 19 lb. 5 oz. (75%)

Height: 28 in. (99%)

His appetite has been way down because of all the illness, otherwise he would have probably been over 20 lb.! We discussed possible issues with textures since Parker has not really shown any interest in cereal at all. He won't open his mouth and he tightens those lips as soon as the spoon comes close! (stubborn already?!?) We are hoping that things will improve as his body mends, and that he will get his appetite back. But, if there isn't a dramatic change in the next 6 weeks, Parker is going to be referred to a Speech Therapist for some help. We are so thankful to have such a wonderful Doctor looking after our children!

I love you Parker Levi. You are so very precious to me!

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart. Jeremiah 1:5a

Horrible Hair Day!

Lily's Kindergarten class is focusing on the letter H this week, and they have been doing lots of fun things to celebrate! Yesterday was Hat day, and today is "Horrible Hair" day. When we started talking about what to do with her hair, Lily was kind of hesitant for me to do anything. But when I suggested dyeing her hair pink her eyes lit up and she screamed, "Yes! Yes! I want Pinktails like Pinkalicious!" Lily's friend, Emma, introduced her to the cutest book, Pinkalicious, and Santa brought it to Lily for Christmas. She has been reading it and reading it over and over! So after we picked up Maddy from school yesterday, we went to Party City and picked out some pink hair spray, along with some purple too, so she could be both Pinkalicious and Purplicious! Here she is: You look so cute, Lily! But we love you just the way you are. You are beautiful both inside and out!

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks in the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1Samuel 16:7

A Kiss Will Make it Better...

I took Parker back to the Doctor today for a recheck. I was hoping that he was on the mend, because he finally slept very well last night (only woke up once!) and he was smiling, squealing and kicking this morning on the way to take Maddy to school. But, after getting rechecked, I was told that his left ear is still infected, and his right ear that was completely fine last Wednesday is also now infected so they are changing his antibiotics. He is also wheezing and coughing still so he is starting singulair. I am a little nervous because he already takes Prevacid once a day for his reflux, and starting today he is on Augmenten 2x/day, Orapred 2x/day, and breathing treatments every 4-6 hours, and now singulair 1x/day for at least 30 days. I am asking for prayer that all of these medications will work effectively and there will be little or no side effects. Please pray for our Parker and that God will have mercy on his little body and he will heal quickly!

Katy was so sweet today at the Doctor. She asked me, "Mommy...wut wong wi Parter?" I told her that he was sick and his ears hurt and she said, "Tiss it Mommy, Tiss it." She leaned over and gave her little buddy 2 big kisses on his ears. She thinks that a kiss will make everything all better. And for a moment I think it did...

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psalm 103:2-5

Sittin' Cute!

My sweet little Parker is sitting up! He was trying so hard to sit up on his own right around Christmas, but would fall over after several seconds. He turned 6 months old today and he is sitting up so strong all on his own! We are very excited!
Here is my cutie (drool and all!): We are so proud of you little buddy!

I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Every Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus with a birthday party. The girls were so excited!

And of course Maddy, my deep thinker, asked her Daddy how old Jesus was. Jonathan told her that he was 33 years old when he died on the cross. Well, that wasn't enough for Maddy because she knows that Jesus is alive in Heaven! So she asked him again, and he told her 2041! I'm glad Maddy asks him the hard questions!

I made the Holiday funfetti cake and lit one candle so we could sing Happy Birthday to Jesus:

The girls enjoyed their cake while Parker enjoyed his cereal (what little of it got in his mouth!) I am so happy that we have a special day to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins. Matthew 1:21