Finally! Our first snow.

The kids have been waiting and asking and dreaming and asking about when we would get snow. Spiderman actually asks us what dates we will get snow as if we can request it or control it ourselves. Anyway, they were out running around building snowmen in their PJ's at 7:00 am today and again after lunch. They stayed out and played until dinnertime. They are truly in snow heaven! We'll see what tomorrow holds.

As for Thanksgiving, we had a relaxing time with Aunt Laura, who travelled in from Chicago to celebrate with us. Even better, she brought lots of pie (so yummy)! You can see here she even got to help the kids decorate our tree on Friday. We laid low this weekend and enjoyed our cozy little house while the kids wrapped presents (from the toybox) for their teddy bears. Christmas, here we come!

It was fun to see Aunt Laura again and she even started teaching Spiderman how to knit. :) He truly loves learning anything new and he never stops asking questions.

Guy Time

Every now and then it's important for me to connect with just my guys. This last week I got to do just that as I headed out of town with the boys and after completing our errands, we went spielunking at Rock Bridge State Park. OK, so it wasn't that fancy but we'd been studying caves and cave life for science and Spiderman had never been in a cave. This is a pretty simple one but it gave him a taste and he loved it.


The boys were a hoot and as it was early afternoon on a weekday, we had the park to ourselves - for awhile that is. All the yelling, exploring, and running was no problem and they really let themselves go. When the AARP crowd joined us on the path, they were quite amused by the dialog. Here they are "off trail" for a bit playing king of the mountain. Boys will be boys!

This is a handsome pair huh? Even though they have their moments, these two are best buds 95% of the time. As for the girls, they stayed home and had a girly day with Grandma.

What we've been up to

Well, we've been enjoying our family visits again. This time under the guise of hunting season. My man spent a week hunting in Ohio with his best bud from college. Even though he brought home a doe from that trip, the real perks for him were eating more than he should and laughing a lot! Despite some brake problems on his truck and a 6 hour repair delay, he made it home the same day his folks arrived from out East. Grandpa Charlie has been a regular hunter here since buying his "farm" last summer. This photo shows him with the first buck he's taken from his new place. Fun memories made between father & son here.

Speaking of family memories, Sunday afternoon my man took Spiderman out to the woods with him. Apparently Spiderman spotted the deer first with his new eagle eyes and Daddy couldn't help but harvest it for him. As the kids are usually a bit wiggly and noisey in the woods, this is the first time one of the kids got to SEE Dad shoot the deer we eat. Spiderman was pretty excited to see the whole adventure and can't wait til he's old enough to shoot his own deer now.

The proud hunters with their "trophy" doe. :)

My baby is FIVE!

Oh my, where has it gone? This is my baby the first day we met her in Guatemala. Probably taken after I finished sobbing. :) How incredible to meet her that day and study her every feature in person that I had already encountered in referral photos. Of course how could we not focus on her stubbornly STRAIGHT hair that we could not get to lay flat no matter what we did. We never saw her head of curls coming...

Boo had a wonderful time with her birthday this week from friends, parties, and presents to picking her meals and such. I have watched in a little shock and awe as I realize just how grown up she is becoming. We took a day off yesterday for a trip to the city and everywhere I turned I saw women with little toddlers and babies (that happens when homeschoolers go out in public during the day). It truly hit me that I'm way past that stage - diapers, sippy cups, tantrums, all of it - and I must admit that I don't miss it. :) Anyway, my baby is becoming a big girl and some of her favorite gifts were a purse filled with her own lipstick (chapstick) and chewing gum. She thinks that she's a grown up now.


Here are a couple of shots from her Hello Kitty party. I'm sure it's due to having older siblings but all the friends she invited were older by a year or two (or 3). They had a great time and as you see by the crown, she relished the role of "queen bee" all week. We made a fun trip to the dollar store and she purchased her own pair of reading glasses, I'll have to add a photo. She is competing a bit with big brother on that one - I hope it doesn't screw up her eyes!

Peace in the midst of politics

"Don't fail to rescue those who are doomed to die. Don't say, 'I didn't know it!' God can read your mind. He watches each of us and knows our thoughts. And God will pay us back for what we do." Proverbs 24:12 (CEV)


OK, I know everyone is aware that today is election day in America. I have spent much time in prayer this past year and especially these final weeks. I am enough of a realist to know that neither of the candidates is perfect and both will make decisions that I think are dead wrong. As a result, I think it's right to be a single issue voter and in order to get my vote, you have to be willing to protect life. Proverbs 31:8 says, "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves" and I firmly believe that if we as a nation will not protect the unborn children being slaughtered in their mother's wombs, God will not bless us. Scripture shows us that over and over that as God's people started following their culture and sacrificing their own children "in the fire" to the false gods, they incurred God's wrath. If America is going to survive as a nation, we have got to protect life. The Bible tells us "children are a blessing" and yet Barack Obama said that if his daughters "made a mistake", he did not want them "to be punished with a child". God is the giver of life and no child is a mistake or punishment in His eyes. I also know first hand that every child is a wanted child - yet not always by the one who carries them in their womb. We MUST speak up for them!

OK, so you know where I unapologetically stand on politics. Today we took a field trip to the polls and had some interesting conversations. I have spent the day in prayer and fasting for the future of our nation and over and over, God has reminded me that He is over everything and that no matter the outcome of this election, my refuge is in Him and Him alone. The peace that comes from that realization is staggering. No peace is to be had by politics. I can sleep tonight (and every night) because I know Who holds the future.

Even Superman wears glasses

So why not Spiderman? Well, the short story is that we casually took the boys to get their eyes examined only to find that Spiderman seriously needed glasses! Looking back now I can see the little clues he left that there might be a problem but I guess I rationalized them away. Now it's a whole new world for this handsome guy. He might as well be a celebrity at our house as the other kids are fawning all over them. I'm sure he is just thrilled to be able to see something!



We just finished up another family visit as Grandpa M & Great Aunt Liz came out for a week. Grandpa was busy working to get things ready at the farm for next month's hunting trip while Liz got to meet Spiderman and get reacquainted with the kids. The kids love having all the company and are now looking forward to Nov. when Grandpa comes back to hunt and brings Grandma along for spoiling the kids.

Oh, another note about Spiderman is that his new glasses resulted in him scoring 3 goals at his last soccer game. When you consider that they are the first goals he's made all season, you realize the glasses made a huge difference. He loved all the praise and attention. It's even more impressive when you realize that last year he wasn't even willing to practice with his team, much less play soccer because he just felt too "shy" (his words for it).

The Murphy boys playing offense. Goose prefers defense so she can sing songs to herself while waiting for the ball to come her way. :)

like a kid again

Our second round of family visits just ended this week. My parents only get to come out once a year so we relish getting to connect with them in person. The kids had fun showing off their new skills and playing games with Grandma. Spiderman even helped Grandpa remodel the hen house (guy stuff you know).


We usually have our visit at Thanksgiving but this year we decided to get together in Oct. to avoid the weather issues for travel and it worked great! Aunt Susie made it a Halloween theme one night and the kids had so much fun making the meal, decorating and eating this "dirt dessert". She is always full of fun projects to do with the kids

Get a load of these fun socks. One thing aunts have over moms is they can spoil kids and get away with it. :) Every day something new and exciting to do or make. Bring it on Aunt Susie, as long as I don't have to compete.

There was plenty of quiet and quality time too while everyone was here. I especially enjoyed feeling like a kid again. Having Mom & Dad here, watching The Brady Bunch with my big sis and singing silly songs from our childhood - yep, I'm pretty sentimental. It was sad to say goodbye and yet, we're still planning for a family reunion back out West next summer, Lord willing!