I Would Gather Children

Some would gather money
Along the path of life;

Some would gather roses,
And rest from worldly strife.

But I would gather children
From among the thorns of sin;

I would seek a golden curl,
And a freckled, toothless grin.

For money cannot enter
In that land of endless day;

And roses that are gathered
Soon will wilt along the way.

But, oh, the laughing children,
As I cross the sunset sea,

And the gates swing wide to heaven -
I can take them in with me.

-Author Unknown

A friend shared this with me a while back. What a beautiful poem of the joy children bring. It saddens me to hear the current views of having children today. As if God was wrong and children are burdens and not blessings. There seems to be this mindset that children are a bother, an expense or an obstacle that hinders our success or enjoyment of life.

Psalm 127:3-5 says, Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.

Who wouldn't want a GIFT from GOD?! Or a REWARD for that matter. He is the AUTHOR of life. Children come from Him!

A quote from Mother Theresa...How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers.

Family Visit

Last week brought us a visit from my mom and my stepdad. They drove up from near Branson, MO to visit a few days. We haven't seen them since the twins were bo
rn 2 1/2 years ago.

Here's a few pictures from their visit.












Of course there was lots of excitement around here! We couldn't get away from that with the kids. One needed a tooth pulled, one fell and broke her arm, Adam had friends here as well. Brittany came almost every night. I love having my family all together. There just is nothing better than that.

Pictures (I'm not very good with titles)

Rebecca again. These were some pictures I took in the last two days that I thought were pretty neat, and so I thought I'd post them for you all to see. :)

Susanna, who's the twin "in charge," (meaning she decides what her and Rachel are going to do and where they are going to go) decided to pull Rachel down to see the flowers. Rachel doesn't really ever mind, though.

Susanna decided something was in their feet and Rachel agreed. ;)

Susanna is the one doing the groovy dance down there.

One of my favorite pictures of Rachel - and then there's little Susi back there. They're both so cute.

Susanna on the left, Rachel, right.

We were out running errands and so I brought the camera with. You can get some really cool pictures out the window of your van.

Another one out the window.

On the way home. Elmwood is such a pretty road, with a pretty name.

I love the look she's giving me. LOL

I love my typewriter. Even if she doesn't work properly.

Rachel, being cute.

Other things I like are self-timers and old barns. :P

They love their Daddy!

And I will end with a picture of the cutest little boy in the world.

Signing off,

Rebecca
-----------

Here you go Sarah!

I tried uploading pictures this morning and it took about 5 minutes!! YAHOO!

This is me. :D I am interested in knitting, sewing, gardening, canning, babies, homemaking, piano, flowers, herbs, reading, baking, cooking, and more!

Here's Jonathan! He is interested in Legos, tractors, eating (LOL) and reading.

That's all for now!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Samantha
~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Fun Spring Photos!

Little Rachie and I (Sam) thought we'd post some of our favorite spring photos for you all!

This is Little Miss Susie. She is totally my little buddy and such a sweet big sister to Rachel and Caleb.

And her twin, Miss Rachel. She LOVES to pose for pictures! Here she is with some Iris's and Peony's.

Here is Charles! He is quite the young man! He is very talented in the area of design. We'll have to see if we can make a post of all his lego creations.

And here is the Mini Man! Little Caleb loves tractors, trucks, dirt, animals and giving hugs and kisses. LOL

Here is my one and only big brother! This picture was taken right before his 10 day camping trip he is currently on. He was completely EXCITED!!! And I'm sure he is now in his glory. LOL

This is Michael!! He loves everything a typical boy loves. LOL

Little Miss Emma! She just had her 6th birthday and loves playing house, pattern blocks, legos and more!

Anna Mae. She is the current bookworm in the family. She loves babies, piano, singing, writing and, of course, reading.

Rebecca and the twins. Our three redheaded gals. LOL Becki is interested in writing, writing, photography and more writing!

Here is a fun one of Rachel. This pose is totally on her own. LOL
Sorry, no pictures of me this time. We have a good one...on the camera but it took me an hour just to get these to upload, so it will have to wait. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Samantha
~*~*~*~*~*~*~

P.S. Rachel fell asleep by the time the first photo uploaded! LOL

My first ever blog post! Subject: Scenery

Hello Peoples! This here is Becca- Short for Bee Boppin Becca. ;) Always did wanna make a blog post, and just finally got the go.
My subject this time will be scenery. Now, I say "this time" cause I am hoping mother will like my posts so much, she'll beg me to do more. ;) Just kidding.


This here is from this past January or so. See the little snowman down in the corner? Ain't he a good lookin' little fella?




This is our tractor path out back. Great for walks!



One of the lovely old trees in our yard - only their hollow! Sorta.



Mom's flower barrel out front. This picture is pure awesomeness.




Same barrel, 'cept it was just slightly cold out for flowers. It's a very photogenic barrel though. ;)


We were going strawberry picking when I got this. I'm happy it turned out so well, because dad was turning the van around and this was out the van window. (With all the little kid finger prints on it, ya know.)


Our December. We were all dreaming about a white Christmas about then. But it did snow! Eventually....



The beautiful wind turbines. Some people think they're ugly, but I really think they look cool. Adam loves them. (Hey, Sarah, have you been to Wally's lately? They're all you can see from his area! We can even see them from here!)


And then there's yours truly, in a somewhat old looking picture. Maybe not SO old looking, but hey we tried! I mean, see the bike! Ancientness alone.


Hope you enjoyed the post! Signing off,


Rebecca.

Our Valentine's Day Dessert

This year for our Valentine's Day Cake, Michael and I (Samantha) made an "Emil Cake" (as named by Mikey after the person who gave us the recipe). One of our favorite CHOCOLATE cakes! It was the first time I tried layering it. Previously we made it in a 9x13, so I was just a *little* nervous. We ended up having lots of fun and it was a blast to frost. Mostly because it was so messy. LOL

This cake is best made a day in advance and be sure to read through it first and follow directions EXACTLY!


















We didn't have almonds so I used shredded coconut and topped it with frozen raspberries (all we had) to make it more “Valentiney”. :D As the berries defrosted, they left pink streaks down the sides of the cake. It looked so pretty!


Emil Cake
(or the Best Chocolate Cake EVER!)

1 pkg (8 squares) Baker's semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 pkg (2 layer size) Chocolate Cake mix w/pudding in the mix
1 pkg (4 serving size) Jell-O Chocolate flavored instant pudding and pie filling
4 Eggs
1 C. Sour cream (any brand will do)
½ C. Oil
½ C. Water
1 8oz tub FROZEN cool whip/whipped topping
2 TBSP. sliced almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to *350 f. Grease two 9 inch round baking/cake pans.
Chop two of the chocolate squares, set aside (you can chop these fine, or leave chunks..I like the chunks)

Beat cake mix, dry pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, oil, & water in a large bowl with an electric mixer, until just moistened. Beat on medium for 2 minutes (not 1 ½, but 2!). Stir in chopped chocolate squares. Spoon into prepared pans.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center, comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Loosen cake from sides of pans. Invert onto wire racks, gently remove from pans. Cool cake completely.

Place FROZEN cool whip/whipped topping and remaining 6 chocolate squares in microwavable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1 1/2 minutes, or until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth, stirring after 1 minute (it usually takes more that 1 ½ minutes for me. Check on it every 30 seconds or so, and stir). Let stand 15 minutes, to thicken.

Place 1 cake on serving plate, top with 1/4 of the chocolate mixture. Top that with the 2nd cake. Spread top and sides with remaining mixture. Garnish with Almonds and ENJOY!

Hope you all had a good Valentine's Day!

~*~*~*~*~
Samantha
~*~*~*~*~