Gretchen Louise

the “new” baby

Dear Little One, Your big sisters are quite fascinated by you and your coming.  Ruth has decided that you are “the new baby” and Mary is “the old baby.”  I’m not sure what that makes Ruth—probably the old, old baby! The conversations we have about you are many and varied.  Ruth loves seeing the little…

January

It’s making plans.  It’s writing lists.  Ordering seeds, ordering supplies. (Ordering a tractor, too.  After selling another one, mind you.) More to-do’s.  More plans.  Events.  Promotions.  Brochures. It’s January on the farm.  And it’s enough to overwhelm anyone. I’m not ready for summer.  I’m so not ready for summer. “But it’s only January,” my husband…

Dandilion Rhymes

It took no more than a glance at the back cover for my daughters to be in love with this book by Dandi Daley Mackall—the kitty looks like it’s about to meow at you! But even better is the message inside, that God Loves Me More Than That. It’s almost like a God-sized version of…

to my baby

Sunday, September 05, 2010 Dear littlest one, On Wednesday I found out for sure that you were growing within me. Apparently the test the previous week had been a false negative, and my rising temperatures were telling the most accurate story after all. When I awoke with yet another high temp, I decided to take…

fires

I let the fire go out this morning. Again. I’ve been doing it this whole past month. Even as I tell my shivering husband that I have yet to be warm all the time from being pregnant this time. He laughs. As he will laugh again when he comes home and I tell him. No…

Little Star

Little Star

Anthony DeStefano’s Little Star is my girls’ favorite Christmas story this year.  But it’s not the typical cheerful Christmas story, at least not at first glance. Little Star is so small and tiny that everyone ignores him.  But then, on that special night, Little Star understands that it truly is a King being born in…

our little one…

our little one…

Dear Littlest One, A week ago Monday, Mommy and Daddy got to see you for the very first time!  Mommy was 18 1/2 weeks along on December 6, which meant you were about 16 weeks “old.” Oh the wonders of ultrasound technology! We laughed as the ultrasound tech pretended to count to 5.  I knew…

Oatmeal Candy Cane Cookies

Oatmeal Candy Cane Cookies

My first Christmas with my husband’s family, I discovered that not everyone has the same definition for “candy cane cookies.”  When my husband requested them, I made my family’s favorite recipe: a hearty, oatmeal cookie filled with candy cane chunks and glazed with powdered sugar and crushed candy cane.  We’d gotten the recipe from another…

The Baby Snowman

The Baby Snowman

Dear Ru, You’d been wanting to build a snowman for months, ever since you knew snow was coming. You heard me mention something on the phone about getting something finished outside before the snow flew and you were talking about the snow flying. A green snowman was your plan. I had visions of a snowman…

“Be Not Afraid”

“Be Not Afraid”

“Be not afraid.” It wasn’t the first time I’d played Mary and heard those words from the lips of the angel with a baptismal robe and cardboard wings. (One time, I’d even played the angel.) But it was the first time I’d acted the part since joining the drama troupe, since learning there was more…

The End.

The End.