Multitude Mondays

“God is near at hand when you do approach Him in prayer. Oh, comforting truth! A God at hand to hear the softest breath of prayer–to listen to every confession of sin–to every cry of need–to every utterance of sorrow–to every wail of woe–to every appeal for counsel, strength, and support. Arise, O my soul! and give yourself to prayer; for God is near at hand to hear and answer you.”

- Octavius Winslow

513.  a new day will come....this past week, we've all struggled with having a bad day...as the week went on we all got better and better about stopping, praying, and asking God to change our outlooks and attitudes and circumstances may not have changed, but our attitudes did
514.  glimpse of a fox running across Crocus Trail
515.  spending the night up at my sister's....catching up, a "place" to be truly honest about our struggles and insecurities, trusting that it will not affect the opinion held by sisters, knowing that in the end we'll spur one another on to be better reflections of Christ....the love the cousins have for one another
516.  beautiful weather...our first picnic outside

517.  preparing our hearts for Resurrection Day
518.  things kids do in the warm weather....play basketball, whittle a new weapon, ride bikes, play baseball with neighbors

519.  first signs of spring

520.  playing fetch with the dogs....Annie has been in 7th heaven with kids outside and tennis balls no longer buried in snow!
521.  the determination by 5 children to catch the Leprechaun this year.....they spent over an hour brainstorming how best to trick him, but to no avail!

522.  watching Allie....it's been a long time since we've had a full day together...so sweet to see Jake playing with her

523.  homeschooling fun....Nate hammering out an N with nails and Ben creating a treehouse from the idea of Swiss Family Robinson with Madeline's help

524.  homemade jam on tortillas....Nate's idea of a great lunch

525.  bedhead

526.  homemade jam with cheese sandwich...another of Nate's ideas of a great lunch

527.  the "normalcy" of a dog wearing underwear

 528.  since we're talking about undergarments, I'll add another undergarment thankfulness....new bras....I know this is a little private, but I have to include it on my list....I wore nursing bras for sooooo many years and would just "get by" with bras from pre-children time, so I'm grateful a friend who does enjoy shopping asked me to go along with her and then encouraged me to find something I needed at Younkers because she had awesome coupons!  (no pictures posted!)
529. Jake & Isaiah and their friends, Jonathon & Harrison,  qualifying and being asked to go compete in the Regional World Quiz Meet this summer!  They have all worked so hard, and yet have had so much fun hiding God's Word in their hearts.
530.  as if there's not enough farting in our home, the boys bought a whoopie cushion and since then it's like non-stop noise with giggles....I looked at them this morning and asked, "How long can you find that funny?"  and they couldn't answer because of their giggles