Merry, Merry, Christmas!!!

No news has not been good news.

No news has meant things have not looked great,

or good

or even mediocre.

No news has been,

we can't put things into words right now,

it has been so rough.

Two weeks ago the doctor put Shauna on a new chemo that has not been used
with her type of cancer before.
The insurance company won't even approve the I.V. version of this chemo,
so he is giving her oral samples.

She is also going through radiation.

Today we got the best Christmas present we could get.

Shauna's latest CAT scan came back and for the first time in this battle with cancer, ALL of her tumors have shrunk.

We are giving praise and thanksgiving to our God above!

Much love~
Debbie and Chasity

from a bend in the road to sort of, the end of the road...

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with love and the knowledge that we truly are blessed people.

Our day was as perfect as it could be, barring our sweet Shauna's cancer. We laughed and talked and prayed and ate and played games and laughed some more, all while giving thanks over and over for another Thanksgiving together. For another day together as a blessed family crazy in love with each other. We have our differences and we disagree about some things (not many) but we don't care. We know who we are and we love deeply and we have faith that we will always be here for each other and that God is on our side. How could we not enjoy the day?

But, I need to get on to the reason for this post. I'm not sure how to start, but here goes.

When Chasity first came up with the idea for this blog, she worked and worked on it to get us started with our business and with the hope of sharing our faith, ideas and dreams with others. In the very beginning, it was a time of great anticipation and excitement. We were hopeful for our new business, and excited to share our faith, our thoughts, our ideas and our dreams with you all.

We have met a lot of wonderful friends and been greatly encouraged by you along the way. But things are a little different now. Our circumstances and goals have shifted. Our little wild raspberry business has fallen by the wayside while some other things have taken precedence.

It's been hard

and sad.

We are...well...
different.

We're wondering what's next.

Pensive if you will.

Searching in which direction to go.

It has been difficult for Chas to write. She just doesn't have it in her right now. She is really enjoying her photo blog and she has done such a lovely job with it. I love her so much and she is so creative. She and Shauna truly inspire me. I am so very blessed and so very thankful to have them for my sisters. God in His tender Providence, knew just who I needed in my life, and I am so grateful to Him for giving me such amazing sister's in law.

Alright, I'm getting all mushy and teary eyed again...
I admit of the three of us, I am the sappy one. :)

Anyway, we are not sure what we'll do with this little blog.
I don't feel like it is my baby to take over solo,
when Chas worked so hard to start it and keep it going.

I am attempting to start a new blog,
and Chas will continue her photo blog.
I'm the first to admit that I am not nearly as computer savvy as my sweet sister,
or, well, really, anybody. :)
I don't even know how to put a link from this blog to the one I will start once I do post something...
But I have no doubt that Chasity will help me.
She is my go-to girl for blogging flustrations. :)
We may keep this one up too, we will just see.
We're figuring it all out.

As for our little business, part of our home addition includes a "wild raspberry room" as hubby calls it. Once the house projects slow down...and hopefully life in general...I hope to get back to it. I look forward to the day when I can just sit and sew again. Crafting, sewing and painting things white is more than a hobby. It's calming, peaceful, soul soothing if you will. It fills a need I have to create. I think that God puts that desire to create in the heart of women. I have so many ideas I want to try...hopefully soon.

You see, though I have a few more years left, I am coming to the end of my home schooling road. Another four more years and my homeschooling journey (by then) of more than twenty-two years will be finished. I love my life and I am not ready for this stretch of it too end, but it will, and I will (maybe) have a little more time and energy for creating.

But Chas' girls are still little and she has a lot of years schooling left to go. She is not sure she wants to come back to our little business, though I'm not sure she has made any permanent decision yet. She is enjoying crafting with her girls for pleasure without the pressure of a business. I will miss having a business with her, but we will see how it goes.

If nothing else we have certainly learned that life is ever changing.

Anyway.
Things are just different.
We're o.k. mostly
Just changed.
Life has definitely thrown us some unexpected curves,
and we are trying to take them in stride.
Some days we cope better than others.
But we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is with us each and every step of the way.

Talk to you soon friends.

Don't be surprised if it is right here on this little blog
I'm sure I'll have something I want to share before I figure out a new one. :)

Have a wonderful night!

Love to you all.
~Debbie

Some really cute pictures...and working on it...

First the cute pictures.

Sugarbear

Chasity's, Shauna's and mine (minus Mr. Smartypants who was at class)

My grandblessings...what little punkins!!

Angelbaby

ahem...

O.k.now that I am done sharing randomly cute pictures of our punkins and grandpunkins...

Onto what I'm working on.

Well...yes, the house too...but that is not what I am referring to.

It's these two little words:

pa'tience~(pa'shens), n. 1. Means pertaining to enduring difficulties without becoming angry or upset, tolerant, patient. 2. Exercising forbearance under provocation; long-suffering. 3. Expectant with calmness or without discontent; also, undisturbed by obstacles, delays, failures, etc.; persevering.

long'-suffering n. 1. Means a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation or misfortune and without complaint or irritation. 2. Long and patient endurance of offense.

***sigh***
I know. I know.
I read those definitions.

Daily.

I keep them in my Bible.

And some days I think,
You've got to be kidding...right?

I am naturally neither.

But He is not kidding.

And I need to do better.
Ever so much better.
So I am working on it.
I think I will be 'til the day I die.
:)

We will be spending the day together tomorrow for Thanksgiving.
Chasity, Shauna, me and all our family.
It's going to be a wonderful, wonderful day full of yummy food, love, laughter and games.

We hope yours is filled with the same!
Happy Thanksgiving dear friends!
We have ever so much to be thankful for.
I pray you enjoy every minute of your Holidays!

Love to you all!
~Debbie

A Pocket Full of Pinecones

Construction on our home (and a few other things obviously) have somewhat taken over our life. For the first time in our Homeschool's history, our school books were not pulled out in Late August, Early September as they have been for the last nineteen years. Now, don't get me wrong, we have had our ups and downs, and we have always been flexible to the needs of our family, and the crisis that have occasionally arisen...But never have we been this late.

However, school books aside, plenty of learning has been going on. My children have learned to be more compassionate and helpful with the needs of others. They have been patient with disrupted plans and lovingly open to doing what needs to be done. And to say that they have learned a bit about construction would be a gross...um...can I say under-exaggeration? But now, it's time to dust off the school books and get the new ones out. I usually spend the summer rejuvenating and gearing up...however... :)

But the last week or so I have been re-reading one of my favorite home school inspiration books, Karen Andrealo's "A Pocket Full of Pinecones". It's a lovely little read. Sweet, simple and inspiring about a fictional families life and love of learning about God's word and His world. I don't necessarily agree with everything doctrinally, but very much enjoy her style of writing and the encouragement it gives me to use nature and nature study in all of our every day learning. Especially as Fall is in full swing here in our lovely little piece of Heaven in the Missouri countryside...crunching leaves and acorns abound and our little road is just beckoning us to take a nature walk.

It was just the boost I needed to "officially" start our school year...albeit a bit late. If you are home schooling your self, or know someone who is, this book is a real treat.

Well, I'm off to read a chapter or two more, and then dust off a few school books. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Love, Debbie

My Birthday Girl

**Today is Twinkle's Birthday**

It sounds so cliche but 

wow...

It feels like you were just born my sweet girl

You have gone from one of the prettiest babies on earth~

to an amazingly beautiful girl.

Beautiful inside and out.

You have such a good heart~

tender.

loyal.

honest.

I love that you are so sentimental at the age of 9.

I love how you help your little cousins.

I love how you are such an amazing little helper to me.

I love that you are so artistic.

I love your great sense of style.

It has been an amazing journey watching you grow.

I have loved and cherished every minute.

Thanks for making me such a proud and happy mama.

I love you baby.

Happy Birthday.

~Momma~

Thankful

Hubby rented a concrete saw at nine 'o clock Saturday morning.

It was a heavy saw.

It was a loud saw.

It's sole purpose was to cut not one, but two doorways in our basement to go into our addition...well, where our addition will be.

One of those doorways was going to be where our old fireplace was, which meant cutting out a VERY, VERY thick fire place, after tearing out the brick.

Poor hubby.

Our oldest son, Mr. Smartypants, was a huge help.
But they really needed one more pair of arms.

I offered to help, and boy I would have if I could have.
But Hubby said, no, I was not strong enough and he didn't want me to get hurt.
(This prompted one of his, "I don't know how you get through the day with those tiny arms!" He frequently says this to me, and he always chuckles when he says it.)

I sure do love my man!

After running that nasty saw all day, hubby was tired.
Deep down, bone shaking tired. His hands were swollen.
His arms resembled Popey's.

(Though he is really Superman, no spinach eating fellas here...
My man wears blue tights, thank you very much).

When he woke up this morning he took four, count 'em four, Ibuprofen.
And he's no wimp.
He said he was more sore than he ever remembered being.
And he's had a whole heap of hard days before.

Then guess what?

Today, when it would have been so nice to rest in his easy chair after worship...
the concrete fairy did NOT come and
all of those bazillion tons of aforementioned concrete
had to be sledge hammered into carriable
(is that a word?)
sized pieces so they could be taken up out of the hole,
so the concrete guys could pour the floor this week.

If that weren't enough to send hubby into an "I quit, who needs an addition anyway" mode,

he had to fire up that nasty ol' saw (again) and cut out the 10 inch thick concrete footing that had been under the fireplace with the saw that he
" was never going to touch again for as long as he lives".

Am I thankful?

Oh, yeah!

You can bet your boots that I am very thankful for such a wonderful,
hard working hubby.

And that I'm a girl.


Love,
Debbie

p.s.
My youngest daughter and I have been painting several new pieces white(read that auction finds) and I hope to take pictures and post them later this week. They will look lovely at a good friends bridal shower next month..it's going to be soooo much fun!!

p.s. again
I am really trying to get back in the habit of cooking several meals at a time and freezing them. I've had great luck before and found it super helpful. Just passin' it on, in case you want to try it too.

p.s.s.
one more random thought.
Another thing I need to get back to is exercising. My boo-tay is going to get too big for even super man to lift...and I would love to have a pretty new dress for the wedding...maybe a reward for losing a few pounds?

O.k. I am really going to bed now.
'Nite.

Thirty something...

Someone is turning thirty-something,

and it's not me.

I soon will be leaving thirty everything behind...
ahem...
but enough about me.

If you have been following for a while you may remember a post that Chasity did...
"35 things to do before I am 35"
(I'll ask Chas to put the link there. I still haven't figured that out)
That was before her birthday last year.

Well, I don't know if Chasity ever got to accomplish her list of 35 things.

But I do know that she has accomplished a lot.

She has lived another year as a faithful Christian wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend.

It wasn't hard to come up with thirty-something things I love about Chasity. As a matter of fact, if we are still around when she turns 100, I don't think that would be a bit hard either.

Chasity, you are
patient.

You have the most beautiful smile. It's like sunshine. You and Shauna both... I think you get it from your mom.

You are a fantastic mother, who would do anything good for your sweet girlie girls.

You are fiercely competitive.
I like playing on your team, not against you. :)

You are a caring Aunt who always has a listening ear for your nieces and nephews, no matter when, no matter what.

You are an excellent teacher, whether it be to your sweet girlie girls in your home school, or to the kiddos in Bible class. You always go the extra mile, not to just help them learn, but to inspire them to want to learn more.

One of your favorite movies is Nacho Libre (which I don't like) but it cracks me up that it is one of your favorites and makes me love you all the more. Si, eet ees true!

You are a wonderful example of a loving, Christian wife.
That sounds so simple, but in this day and age, it's not.
Thank you.

Your laughter is contagious.
When you laugh, it makes me laugh, even if I didn't think something was that funny.

Your ability to garden is amazing.
I think perhaps you have a green soul.
(instead of just a green thumb.)

You are so creative. You truly can do anything from painting, to gardening, to sewing and more.

You taught me to run and to love doing it. Some day we'll be back at it. :)

I love your sense of style in shoes, clothes, decorating, gardening...you name it.
How do you always find such great shoes?

You make me happy just by being around you.

Your photographs have always been lovely, but with your new gained knowledge and experience, they keep getting even lovelier.

Your comments in our ladies Bible class are always encouraging and though provoking.
I miss you lots if ever you aren't there.

You make me believe in myself and my ability to create as well. That means a lot to someone with no prior creative ability...I thought.

You helped inspire us to start the wild raspberry, and started this lovely blog, introducing us to all of these wonderful friends.

You don't speed.
Or break any rules if you can help it.

One time when I called you and asked you to go by a certain thrift store, that I didn't know you hated, to get me a dress that I had seen but hadn't bought...and of course you did. Without batting an eye or saying a word. Now that's love.

You always believe the best of everyone, even if you have reason not to.

You don't make me feel like a sister-in-law. Just a sister-that's-loved.

You love a good chick flick. Especially "The Notebook" (after skipping a few scenes)
***sigh***
Romance is highly under rated.

You're always ready to help me with whatever project is going on at the time,
and you're great at it...especially painting things white.

You find the greatest new music. I don't even know where you come up with all these random groups and songs, but I always love what you've found.

You are compassionate, and have a desire to help others, whether they are your neighbors, strangers or friends from church.

I love that you love your pink bike with a basket. It is so perfect for you.

You love a good sale, but hate garage sales. Thrifty but not cheap.
It's just one of the little things that I love about you, because it is uniquely you.
Alas, I do love a good garage sale. :)

You have an uncanny ability to come up with great and unique names for pets...chickens, dogs, cats, shrews...you name it. I love it.

You never lie.

You hardly ever, ever, ever get angry. Except when someone messes with your girlie girl's pumpkins...and then, who could blame you.

You are a great cook. I have been hungry for your crescent roll thingy by the way...

You throw the best and most beautiful parties, whether indoor or out. Fairy tale Fabulous!

You are one of my best friends, no matter if we talk every day, or go a week without picking up the phone. I know you are still you and I am still me. Different but alike.

You have always been here for me, no matter what, and I will always be here for you.

You are beautiful both inside and out.

I love you, Chasity.
Happy Birthday sweet sister!

When Did You Get So Big?

I must have blinked my eyes longer than I thought....

because it seems like you were just born.

Tiny little thing~

Sleeping 20 hours a day

always making us smile

Now you have grown so much~

full of energy and excitement



always making us smile.


well~ almost always :)

My pretty little blondie

who adores the color blue

loves wearing dresses
and
shopping for shoes

with a tender heart
but an independent streak

Happy Birthday

My Sweet Little Spunky.

I Love You~

Mommy

Summer Days...Being Purposeful

This summer has been full of blessings.

I have purposed to spend more time having enjoyable
quality moments with my girls and my family.

Doing things that really bring us together.

Like sharing breakfast on the side porch together....

it's almost a sacred feeling~
these early morning moments

and spending lots of time reading really good books.

We are on the 9th book of the Green Gables series and we
have loved every one of them.

We have been taking many hikes and field trips where we can
work on our photography together.

That has been more fun than I could have ever imagined.

We have gone to the zoo...and plan to go lots and lots of times.

We are spending lots of time outside enjoying our gardens.

Each girl has her own flower garden to call her own.
They are beautiful.

and summer wouldn't be complete without rides of all sorts~~

I hope that your summer days are filled with joy.

we think we can, we think we can, we think we can...

Remember the little engine that could? That's us right now.

We try to be a positive bunch in this family, and we really are trying! Things have been a wee bit rough around the edges, but we are sure they are looking up.

Shauna has had a better couple of days after a week and a half of vomiting everything up, besides having a very rough flu bug at her house. The whole family was sick at various times with fever, runny nose, cough. Ick!! But today, she felt hungry! Yippee! And did that girl complain? Not a bit! She is an amazing inspiration to all of us. We love her so much. She has a CAT scan Wednesday, and then the consult with the doctor on Friday to see if this treatment is working on this rotten cancer. Thank you for all of your prayers you have offered on her behalf.

Chasity saw the doctor today, and four days after she broke her arm, it is finally set! We are very glad to have that part behind her! She goes back in a week to see if the bones are healing properly, or if she will need a plate put in. Thankfully, they put her out to set her arm. She has been a little loopy (sorry Chas, but it's the truth). But we prefer her loopy rather than in too much pain. Her tailbone is also probably broken, but one thing at a time. Her family has also all been sick, especially Twinkletoes. She just can't shake her little cough. Thank you for prayers on Chasity's behalf as well.

Well, we are a very close family, and we do tend to share EVERYTHING. So, you guessed it, Debbie's family is sick as well. She needs to get better on the double to help aforementioned sisters! Debbie, Hubby, oldest and youngest sons are puny, but especially the youngest. Poor coughing, sneezing, snotty nosed, congested, fevered kiddos! All that said, Shauna's battle and Chas's injuries sure help us keep it all in perspective, and we know these little things will pass.

We hope you all have a wonderful day. There is always a silver lining, always something to be thankful for, and always Hope that comes from Above. Thank you for all of your kind words, prayers and encouragement. You help us remember that with God, we KNOW we can.

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones."
Proverbs 17:22

Love, Debbie, Chasity and Shauna
xoxoxo

A Day In Front of the Camera

Thank you so much Kellie~~

for offering to take our family pictures~

for giving us this day to be together....

~~and letting us act like crazy kids~~

Thank you so much for your time and your patience...

....and for capturing treasured memories.

You did a wonderful job.

Your kindness will never be forgotten.

Love,

Chasity and the whole gang

Family Joys

Our family loves corny and thrives on traditions....

We celebrate themed parties every few months.

Our longest running party is the Halloween Pumpkin Carving Party.
We have been celebrating this one for 10 straight years.

While our little kids do some pumpkin painting or carving....

It's really for us big kids. I admit it.

For months beforehand...my dad starts trash talking.
~~He and Mom will have the best pumpkin of the group~~
and believe me~ they are always amazing.

Our pumpkins have required power tools....dimmer switches...
spray paint....motors....

and nobody tells their idea until it reveals its form at the carving party.

So....

When I thought up my idea this year, I thought that it probably had never been done in the history of pumpkin carving

{ok....not likely but I really did think it}

I start getting mine ready.....
Shauna starts getting hers ready.

hmmmm.

Our preparations are looking eerily similar.

Can you believe it?!?

I told you we were twins.

Shauna's is the whopper and mine the whopper jr.

The little kids found fun in hugging the dog....

and playing some football

while we slaved over our carvings.....

then it was time for a little trick or treating

this is me with my sisters
kelly~me~kristy~shauna

{shauna and I dressed in our twin hats}

While it is sometimes difficult to watch life keep trudging on in the midst of grief and tears...
it was wonderful to stay true to our traditions
and drink in the joy
that comes from being with family.

Thank you for your continued good thoughts, encouraging words, and cherished prayers.

Chasity

Hello Country Bumpkin...

My youngest country bumpkin.

Next bumpkin.

He looks like he's going to pitch his country pumpkin at me!
And the next bumpkin.

Fresh as frost out on the pumpkin...


I've seen some sights but, man you're something!

Mama loves her country bumpkin!
What a great crew!
Youngest being eaten by a bumpkin eating caterpillar.
My beautiful sisters in law and best friends.





So long, country bumpkin.

The frost is gone now from the pumpkin.

I've seen some sights and life's been somethin'.

So long country bumpkins!

Warmly, Debbie