They Love Each Other!

They really do!

Our New Friend

For a while now the children have all begged for a puppy. We've always said no because we understood the work involved in having one; the cleaning, checking for invaders, vet bills, food costs, house breaking, wondering where to keep it when we go on vacation. All of those and more that I can't really think of at this late of an hour have always cause me and McPapa to firmly say, "No, not until you all are older." Well before McPapa left for Cuba the pleas for a pet were stronger and more frequent than ever. He appeased the kids by telling them that after he got back he would consider it. Well that was enough to content them for the eight days that we was gone.

As soon as he got back however the pleas returned full force...not sure if McPapa meant for them to forget about the pet but they surely did not forget!

Well after some talking to McPapa finally took the first step and allowed us to begin looking on the web for a pet to adopt. There are so many little animals out there that are in need of a home. It's really rather sad!

We saw many that we liked, some of us liked beagles, others dalmations, others anything that was cute..our hearts were smitten more than once!

Well after much drama that I am not going to go into here the Lord finally gave us our little pet. Yes, we prayed about it, pray about everything right?!!!

This little fella is a cutie, are you ready?

He is a chihuahua. Not sure if he is a mix, we got him from someone in the church who has family that breeds them. We suspect that he is a long-haired chihuahua...all we need in this family-more hair! ;) He is so adorable! Right now he is quietly sleeping in his kennel. He hasn't eaten much yet, we are hoping that is because of his new surroundings and that tomorrow will be better. We are still deciding on a name. Here is our list of choices:

Charlie, Pepper (Pepe for short), Alex, Ginger, Baxter, Cuba, Max, Dash.

Not sure what we will end up with but we'll let you all know!

Here is a video of him.

Our newest addition to the family…

Okay, it’s not what you think! It’s actually an object and not another child or animal…Mom…:)!!!

Big Sis, being the typical 2nd child is always pretty quiet when it comes to asking for what she wants. She’s not pushy about it either. Sometimes I really feel badly for her because I feel that she often gets looked over.

Well when Biggest started piano lessons back up last summer we started Big Sis as well. She did great for a while but soon started to say that she wanted to stop for a while. I don’t think that she lost interest but I think that it bothered her a little that she couldn’t play like her older sister. Although I was uncomfortable allowing her to stop McPapa (yes, I changed his name…sounds better?) and I decided that it would be okay to take a step back for a little while. Don’t want to force her to do it now and then in a couple of years have her end up hating the piano altogether.

Well just this summer she had started asking about playing again. She has mentioned various instruments this past year such as the harp and guitar (neither of which we felt we would be able to supply lessons for) but here lately-and off and on in the past-she has mentioned the violin.

Well it just so happens that we know a young lady that gives violin lessons. This young lady also happens to play in the Charlotte Symphony. So terrific. We are going to talk with her in July about setting up lessons for Big Sis.

However Biggie immediately put this at the top of her prayer list. And the Lord already answered a big part of that list! We found a great violin (great as far as I’m concerned because I don’t know violins) on Craigslist for $40!! We were so excited when we drove out to take a look at it because it looks so great!!

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It was a surprise for Biggie too and she was all smiles thrilled when she realized what we were doing!

So I am asking our family to pray that everything else will work out for this little one. If this is truly what the Lord wants for her then I know things will fall into place. Please pray for all areas: finances, faithfulness on Big Sis’ part, schedules for practice times etc.

Who knows, wouldn’t it be grand if the girls could play in church together? Brother wants to play violin too. We will wait another year for him. We used age as an excuse but I don’t think that we’d be able to afford THREE sets of music lessons!!

Thank you all!

Smart little girl!

At least I think she's smart! I was walking into the kitchen yesterday and saw that she had climbed in to her highchair. (See previous post for a video). She was standing up pointing to Biggest's spelling list and trying to "say the words" is what I thought. I decided to help her out by saying the words to see if she would repeat them...I think that she did! Listen here!!!

Our Little Monkey

Littlest may be the youngest but she sure doesn't seem to want to be left behind!! Here are a couple of videos that show her skills!!!

A glimpse at my grumpy Littlest!

So she's not been feeling well the last couple of days. Mainly runny nose and a bit fussy. You'll see in this short video. But even through all that she is still so cute!!! Pray that she feels better today! I am going to a used homeschool book sale and would love to have some happy babies to take along with me!!

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY
Outside my window...I am watching Mr. Mac swim in our little pool with the children.

I am thinking...what a wonderful hubby and great daddy he is! I love him!

I am thankful for...our sweet Saviour...and chocolate and caramel~

From the learning rooms...we have had a crazy last couple of weeks so there has not been much "learning" going on!! I need to get with it!

From the kitchen...nothing cooking but there's chocolate in the fridge!

I am wearing...an aqua blue shirt with a jean skirt and white socks.

I am creating...nothing, it's been to crazy lately! But the girls want me to make them some prarie dresses and bonnets.

I am going...to go get some of that chocolate!

I am reading...just got done reading some scripture. 2 Cor. 4:7 and 6:4-10.

I am hoping...that Littlest feels better when she wakes up.

I am hearing...birds singing and children talking to their daddy!

Around the house...3 loads of laundry to fold...ugh!

One of my favorite things...talking to Mr. Mac about our family.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Get back into school and go to a homeschool book sale tomorrow.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...hope she feels better!!

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A great giveaway!!!

Another contest!! Boy the bloggin world is busy!!! Today is the last day for it however so hurry up and scoot on over to this site to enter to win some fabulous prizes!! While you are there check out some of the other stuff on the site! Much encouragement for ur Moms trying to be the Mother God desires for us to be!!

Hurry, go on over to this site now!!!

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The Language of Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

I received a complimentary copy of The Language of Love and Respect from Thomas Nelson for review quite a few months back and it has taken me FOREVER to get through this book!! It started out quite well with Mr. Mac and I reading it together at night but then things got busy! I decided to go ahead and read some on my own but it just couldn't hold my attention and at times I thought it was repeating itself. Over all I give this book a "B" because although at times hard to follow, it really does offer a lot of great advice!

I thought that I wouldn't get anything out of this book because I do have a good marriage, but we all know marriage in general isn't always bliss. For me it helped explain communication which at times is a hindrance in my marriage - proper communication is key. No matter how great your marriage is I feel you will get something out of this book (just skim through the parts that repeat itself).
I wish someone would have given it to me as a newly wed. It would have saved me a lot of trial and error, especially early in my marriage.

One of my favorite parts is when Mr. Eggerichs talks about the Energizing Cycle. (There are a lot of "cycles" that he says couples go through so I won't even bother to list any but this one). During this cycle couples are practicing the Love and Respect Principles. To show their love husbands live out the acronym C-O-U-P-L-E; closeness, openess, understanding, peacemaking, loyalty and esteem. The wife shows her respect living out the acronym C-H-A-I-R-S; conquest, heirarchy, authority, insight, relationship and sexuality.

These two principles really make so much sense and seem to be right on target in relation to what men and women really need from their spouse. Really quite an informative book!

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A reminder for all parents!

A Prayer for New Parents
by James Keller

O Lord, give us the wisdom ---
To deal with our children as You would,
To see in each of them Your Holy Image,
To develop in them a Christ-like love of all men, not only a select few,
To teach them to be go-givers rather than go-getters.
Oh God, in training these dear ones whom
Thou hast entrusted to our charge, help us ---
To encourage rather than discourage them,
To discipline with kindness not softness,
To guide them intelligently, not blindly,
To coach, not scold; to nudge, not nag.
Dear Lord, above all, help us ---
To use common sense in regard to their future,
To let them go gladly when the time comes,
To let them lead their own lives while following them with our love,
To pray always that they will be close to Thee,
not only for the few years of this life
but for the endless years of eternity.

Thanks for stopping by!!
McMama

Happy Easter

Some photos from our Easter weekend. Wish ALL of you could have been here to enjoy it with us!! Maybe next year?!

Free digital collage customized with Smilebox

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McMama

First day of Spring

It is finally here!!! FINALLY!!!! It is SPRING!!! We have been anticipating this day for soooooooooooooo long! We have had an unusually cold and snowy winter here in NC so the change in weather is more than welcome!!!

We are also excited because we have decided to FINALLY start the garden that we have been talking about for years!! We couldn't have started it on a more beautiful day either! Check out that beautiful Carolina blue sky!!!

Mr. Mac took Brother Mac this morning to go and rent the tiller and pick up a load of soil and compost. This part of NC is ridden with that hard clay soil!! NOT the best gardening soil I'm learning so we had to pick up some fillers for our ground. Here's the pictures.

Our clay dirt!

What the store calls "Gardener's Choice" soil!

This was their "Father/Son Outing" for the weekend. No, they don't do something together like that every weekend but Brother Mac has been in need of some alone time with Daddy lately so this was a perfect opportunity!!

Helping Daddy put the soil on the garden.

Mr. Mac has worked so hard today! Look at the progress of his labor!!

All of the kids had a great time playing in the truck bed with all of that "black gold!!" Check them out!

We are still trying to figure out what exactly we are going to plant. We are novices at best so this going to take some thought and a little more planning! We've a busy week ahead of us!!

As for my work for the first day of spring; no, I didn't just walk around snapping pictures today! The girls and I have been busy cooking up our St. Patty's/First day of Spring/Thank you Daddy for all your hard work meal!! What's on the menu?! Nothing special...

Corned Beef Brisket
Irish Soda Bread
Chocolate cupcakes with surprise candy centers and green frosting
Lime jello jiggler eggs

Flowers from the girls!

"Irish surprise cupcakes"

Irish Soda Bread...Yum!!

It took a while to get this all done but it was DELICIOUS!!! (Although I wasn't sure if the brisket was suppose to be pinkish or not so we have actually eaten the meal without the meat so that it could cook longer. Upon finding out that it is suppose to be a little pink we packed it up and put it in the fridge for Sunday lunch!)

It has been a busy but lovely day! Biggest Mac said at one point, "This is the best day ever!!" I've noticed that she says that whenever she is very excited and happy!!!

So, what have you done with your First day of Spring?




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Mama Mac

So here is the video that I mentioned in an earlier post. I know that I'm blogging a lot today and probably fillin up your Inboxes from snippets of my life but I only have so much free time now and have to cram as much into those few spare moments as possible! So, now you see what the fruit of getting homeschool done at 10:30 in the morning leaves me to do!!

We thought that Littlest was just too cute riding this thing! It amazed us also how she figured out how to make the three wheeler go on her own...must get her smarts from her Mama?! ;) She's so cute, hope you enjoy watching her...and if you don't just humor me please!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Mama Mac.

Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window...soggy wet grass, mushy mud and gray, rainy and dreary skies...oh where is the beautiful sunshine of yesterday?
I am thinking...are the kiddos doing their chores?
I am thankful for...a wonderful church service last night where we heard about TWO awesome answers to prayer! God IS real!!!
I am wearing...a brown shirt, jean skirt (with my PJ bottoms underneath...it's cold) pink fuzzy, warm and comfy socks...and my robe...it's cold remember?!
I am remembering...that I have eggs boiling...
I am going...NO WHERE!! Remember the gray soggy mess outside?! YUCK!!
I am currently reading...How to Have a Mary Heart in a Martha World.
I am hoping...that I can memorize 5 verses from Proverbs 31 in Spanish this month.
On my mind...wondering when Mr. Mac will be home.
Noticing that...there sounds like too much playing going on to be chores.
Pondering these words..."Mommy, you sound like you're not coming yet..." ;)
From the kitchen...my eggs, crumbs and a very messy baby in her high chair.
Around the house...got to straighten up our Master bath...fold laundry and maybe get some Modge Podging done?!
And one of my favorite things...crazy songs coming from my singing-lovin' children.
From my picture journal...

Happy 8th birthday to Biggest Sis!!!!!

Check out more Simple Woman Daybooks from this lovely lady's blog!!

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Krissy

Three wheeler...

 

 

 

 

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Krissy

Three wheelin' pictures...

And still we have more, this time with Big Sis helping out...

 

 

 

 

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Krissy

Here are some more pictures of Littlest and her three wheeler...

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Krissy