LAUGHING, LAUGHING

Last night, Nathan, Samuel and I laughed so hard I actually got dizzy. Life doesn't get much better!
Don't forget that you will NEVER regret the time that you spend with your kids!

Have a wonderful and blessed day!
From our nest to yours,
The Boyds :-)

DRAWING ON THE SIDEWALK

When the weather is pretty and warm, there is nothing like pulling out some chalk and writing on the sidewalk (if you have a sidewalk)! :-) I even still like to do some drawing myself.

MY SIGNATURE AND NATHAN DRAWING.

SAMUEL WRITING.

SAMUEL'S NOTE TO ME. :-)!

Have a wonderful and blessed day!

From our nest to your,

The Boyds :-)

TEETH AND BREAD

The Boyd nest is all "a-twitter" this week as Nathan and Samuel have been losing teeth like crazy!
Nathan is at the point where he is losing molars and canines. The molars seem to be giving him a little more trouble than his other teeth, I guess because they are so much larger and have more roots. He also asked for a little more payment for them because they are bigger and a little bit more trouble. Hmmmm.....  :-)!
Samuel is still working on his smaller teeth. We have been reading the book, "Wiggly Tooth", a lot more lately! He likes to read it every time he has a loose tooth. Poor Samuel looks like a little hillbilly because he is so gap-toothed! Ha!
My Amish Friendship Bread starter mix is just about ready to divide and give away. I started it last Saturday. I'll be baking bread tomorrow night. I love this bread and there are so many ways to make it up. You can also bake smaller loaves to give away to teachers, elderly people, etc. It's a good lesson in charity for the boys!
Well, the weather has been up and down. It's beautiful, warm and sunny one day, then cold and rainy the next! Oh, well! Atleast we have warm days in between the cold. Where I come from, it is constantly cold and grey for atleast four months!
Scrabble was on the list for our family game time this past Thursday night. It's funny how new words are invented when people get down to their last, desparate letters! ;-)! It's a good thing we keep a dictionary handy!
Well, time to go. Have a wonderful and blessed day!
From our nest to yours,
The Boyds :-)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Happy Valentine's Day from our nest to yours to all of our wonderful readers! Don't forget your husband or wife, children, parents or grandparents!

This is the greatest Valentine that we could ever receive:

           For God so loVed the world,

 that He gAve

                                            His onLy

BegottEn

    SoN

                            That whosover

Believeth In Him

         should Not perish,

                but have Everlasting life."

JOHN 3:16



Have a wonderful and blessed day!!

The Boyds :-)

BIRTHDAY PARTIES AND CORNBREAD

Ah, Monday again! What a busy weekend for the Boyd house!
Saturday morning, Dwayne and the boys went hunting while I hung around the house catching up on laundry, a little housework and some blogging.
Saturday afternoon, we headed on over to a birthday party for one of our church members. He is in the end stage of his cancer, and hospice has said that he may not be with us much longer. But we know that God is in control of that decision! This dear brother in Christ was not supposed to live past Thanksgiving, but here he is, celebrating his 16th wedding anniversary on Friday and his 54th birthday on Saturday. He is ready to go, though. He knows that when he closes his eyes in death, he will be in the presence of the Lord.
We ended up eating out Saturday night as the party was a little later in the afternoon and we hadn't had time to fix any supper at home. We have tried very hard to set Saturdays aside as our "Family Day", as things are so busy during the week between church, work and school.
Sunday afternoon held a surprise for me as both boys went home with their Granny and Pa after church. Samuel doesn't usually go as he is only six years old, and still likes to go home. But he was in a "I'll do whatever Nathan is doing" mood yesterday, so he went. Let me tell you, the house yesterday afternoon was quiet, TOO QUIET! Since we don't believe in doing unnecessary work on Sundays, as it is set aside as our day of rest, I decided to lay down for a nap. I slept all afternoon! I must have needed it. :-)!
Nathan and Samuel found out something new that they like to eat. I made cornbread in a skillet on Sunday. As they were eating their hot-fresh-out-of-the-oven piece and yumming over it, I told them about how I used to eat cornbread in a bowl with milk over it. Of course, they wanted to try it! Guess what? This is their new favorite breakfast (atleast until the next thing comes along. ha!).
Have a wonderful and blessed day!
The Boyds :-)

DECEMBER 26, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our Nathan. He is now ten years old and in the "double digits". Almost a teenager (gasp!).
Christmas was wonderful. We had some family over for Christmas Eve. One of my brothers and I surprised my Mom with a Kindle. She was surprised and excited.
Nathan kept saying thank you over and over. He told us that it was the best Christmas and birthday EVER. So, you see, children don't need a lot of presents to make them happy.
Nathan wanted to do Japanese for his birthday dinner, so we went to a local restaurant here in town. When we started to head out the door from home, Samuel started complaining about his stomach hurting. I was somewhat concerned, but wasn't sure if he was getting sick with the virus that's going around or not because he normally has stomach problems that can mimic a virus and he wasn't running a fever. I really got concerned when he started dozing off, which is SO not typical of my youngest son who is a very active child. Needless to say, when I noticed that not even the "show" that the Japanese cook puts on while preparing the food didn't faze him, I took him out to our van. He promptly got sick, everywhere. I am seriously thankful to the Lord that I got him out of the restaurant before it hit poor Samuel. On the upside, he felt much better and wanted to go back in and eat. But by the time my mom and I got him and my van cleaned up (thanks, Mom!!), everyone in our group was coming out. My husband made sure that he got our plates "to go" (after he picked out some of my steak and shrimp!), which made Samuel happy.
But, all's well that ends well. Samuel is much better today.
All in all, it was a great weekend. I enjoyed my family time to the max. I'm looking forward to this next coming up weekend, which is another three-day weekend for me! Whoo-Hoo!
Have a wonderful and blessed day!
The Boyds :-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS!



What a busy, busy month December has been! Between sickness, school and church, it's been a whirlwind.
The boys are now out of school for Christmas break. The school Christmas program was awsome. It only included K-4 through third grade, so Nathan got to sit with us in the audience this year since he's a "grown" fourth grader. :-)! Although I thoroughly enjoyed all of the songs, my favorite one was "Isaiah 9:6". Their music teacher put the verse to song. It was wonderful. I couldn't get enough of seeing all of those children singing their hearts out!
Then it was time for our church play, which was this past Sunday night. A lady in our church wrote it. It followed Jesus from the time that He was in a manger through the point where He called His first two disciples. She entitled the play "Where He leads I Will Follow".
This Mom couldn't have been more proud as Nathan sang a solo, "Silent Night" and also portrayed Jesus when He was twelve years old in the temple. Samuel sang with the "angel choir". OK, I have to tell a little something about Samuel. As you know, things often happen when children are involved in a play. Well, Samuel was supposed to sing the last verse of "We Three Kings" by himself. When his turn came, the two little girls next to him started to sing the verse as well. He stopped singing and frowned at them. Now, mind you, I am leading this little angelic group in their songs (how I got to be the leader, I really don't know, since I seriously CAN NOT sing!). I sternly looked at him and whispered for him to keep singing. He turned to them, puts his finger to his lips, shushing them. I whisper, a little louder, for him to KEEP SINGING (picture, if you can, this very loud whispering while trying to keep the other children on time with the music). He turns back to his page and sings, but the expression on his face was not very "angel-like".  It was definitely not humorous to me, as a mom, at the time, and I have had a talk with my child. But now as I look back at it, I chuckle, JUST a little.
Well, now we are preparing for our Lord and Saviour's birthday. Then Nathan's birthday is the day after. I can not believe it, but he will be ten years old!
My husband and I finished our Christmas shopping Monday. As we started having children, we really wanted to keep the focus of Christmas where it should be-on the birth of Christ. So we decided that we would only buy three presents for each. This reminds them of the three presents that Jesus received. We also encourage them to clean out their toys each year and give them to children who are in need.
We had a chance to visit a local Mennonite church Tuesday night for their school Christmas program. They do not use instruments in their worship when they sing, so I was wondering how it would sound. It was BEAUTIFUL. The harmonizing was awsome. The program was God-centered and lifted up our Lord and Saviour. The church members were so very friendly and welcoming. You were not a stranger there. We have definitely made some new friends!
Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas. Christmas is on a Sunday this year. Don't forget to to to church and celebrate the real reason for the season-Jesus Christ!
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS!
The Boyds :-)