Monday, December 13, 2010

He's 4, with Christmas around the corner...

Today we celebrated Matthew, rejoicing that he joined the ranks of the Bernhardt Boys just 4 years ago. There were presents, lunch at McD's, "cereal chicken", and chocolate cupcakes. With Christmas so close, he has been getting confused about why he's getting presents today.

Speaking of Christmas, we've been doing some preparing for Christmas around here. A bare wall was screaming for some pizazz. So on splashed a bold new color, and some really beautiful pictures by Andrew. Here are the before and afters...with Christmas tree--only half decorated to keep the carnage down to a minimum with a 13 month old on the loose....




Next will come a piano...Oma's old piano. It will fit just perfectly under Andrew's pictures.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanking God for...

the most beautiful sunrise I've ever seen....(wish I had taken a picture!)
a husband who sees me at my very worst and still tells me I'm beautiful...
little hands, and not so little hands, helping, hugging, loving, creating....


healing...
mercy...
grace...
a dear friend...sister...who inspires me to try my hand at cozy, beautiful home decorating...
family to share turkey with...
homemade cinnamon buns...
peaceful, refreshing rest....

My heart is full these days of gratitude for God's love, visiting me in my needy, selfish state. I'm ashamed to say I too easily fall in with the nine who neglected to say thank you, but I'm growing in gratitude, learning to count the fish.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 4, 2010






A year has passed since Sarah B. made her entrance into the world. She was born with such a huge personality and she is just finally growing into it. The similarities between her and Jon are simply amazing--her looks, food preferences, stubborn persistence, sleep patterns, head banging...she's so much like him. And she's so affectionate. She'll see her brother or sister across the room, reach her hand out to them and make a noise like, "Awww", which means, "I want to kiss you and love you." She loves the stairs, the trampoline, and being pulled around in the wagon. She is very rarely fussy, and when she is it is short lived. Sarah is a joy and a half, and we are so glad God added her to our family one year ago. Happy Birthday, dearest B.


Saturday, October 2, 2010

The princess turns 9


I was so excited when the ultrasound tech said the words, "It's probably a girl." The name for my first girl was picked years before she was even conceived, and it fit just perfectly the first time I held her and cried and sang to her. Emma Leigh.... joyful, enthusiastic, fearless, tender, strong and larger than life, never wants the day to end and begins planning the next day's adventure before this one has ended. She loves horses, her little sister, and people---the more the merrier. Which is good, as she tells me she will have 21 children when she gets married! She has much of her Papa in her, because she is someone who can do anything once she sets her mind to do it. I admire her confidence, and her love for God. It's genuine and real. As is her infectious laugh and beautiful smile.

She blesses our lives in so many ways.


Much love to my Emma as she celebrates birthday number 9!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Fridays are for...

Friends










playing football
















and princesses











playing with princesses










and such



at Mermaid's house


Thursday, September 23, 2010

Happy Birthday, Andrew!




In a moment of despair in November of 1993, God promised He would send me a son. And in January of 1994, I discovered He had kept that promise. The joy I felt during those days is indescribable. 16 years ago, today, Andrew entered the world...beautiful, strong. And he has been nothing but blessing ever since. From his earliest days he wanted to work. "Trucks, tractors, rocks and dirt" was his motto. He was mowing the lawn at 6 years old. Helping to pour concrete at 8. He's one of the guys now on Ken's jobs. He is gentle with the younger ones, ever helpful, always willing to hold baby, read to Matt, throw the football with Jon.
And he is artistic....
with an eye for capturing the beauty of nature and people that I will never have. The drums have been an outlet for the rhythm he was born with and does it surprise anyone that the toddler who sat on Pastor Dan's lap and held onto drum sticks would grow to be doing the same with his younger brothers today? We could not be more proud of this young man and his commitment to follow God and serve Him. It's been an absolute privilege to watch him grow to be the man he is today.
Thank you, God.

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

What's working, what's not...


If I've learned one thing in his season of parenting young children, it is that what worked last year, last month, last week or yesterday will not necessarily be what works today. And so I find myself in a constant state of evaluating what works and what does not. Thankfully, as I get older and wiser, I am quicker to do away with what is not working once I figure out what may better work in its place.

Going to bed late, and getting up with baby during the night, and trying to get up early to exercise was not working for me. So, I'm trying to go to bed earlier, and rethinking how to get in the exercise time with the least amount of damage to the routine of my day. Still working on that one...

I have, however, changed the function of two rooms in the house, after considerable thought to traffic and bottle neck areas and such. This is the result..and it's definitely working.
Above is where our dining table used to be. Now it's a nice sitting area...sunny, open, right next to the cooking area. It's already a favorite spot for napping, reading and quiet play.

Grandpa refurbished this old rocking chair. Isn't it beautiful? Daniel
and Sarah love to sit in it! It's the perfect addition to our new sitting area.

And this is our new dining room. We still have the computer in there, and all of our school books are within arm's reach of the table. Very convenient and cozy. And I think it is less steps to the table in there than it was to have the table in the other room! Yes, this definitely is working!
Enjoying dinner with Grandpa every night this summer definitely worked for all of us. Time spent with him made even more precious as I remember how, a year ago, I said goodbye and kissed Oma's cheek for the last time, ever. There are no guarantees... each moment is a gift. I missed Oma terribly this summer, which wasn't working too well for me. But there are somethings that cannot be made better by creative solutions.....

I started the year thinking I would have an older child read history to a younger child. Worked nicely in theory, not so much in real life. That idea got canned. So I'm enjoying reading with the younger one myself. School, in general, is working as I try to tune into the natural rhythms of the little learners in the house. I always start out the school year with a half hour by half hour schedule all made out, and wind up with more of a routine that responds to mood and need, with the schedule there to help me through rough patches if I lose my way. Like when two little boys just keep fighting and I've not given thought to how to keep them busy and I need "someone" to just tell me how to keep them from brawling--I look at the schedule and remind myself, "Ah, yes...they probably could benefit from a rest time right about now." That too, often works more nicely in theory, but it's a work in progress! Andrew has much freedom this year to get done what he feels should get done in a day, and week. And that is working very well.

No garden this year. Just couldn't work it into my days, which wasn't working too well for satisfying our craving for garden ripe tomatoes. But God is using some very generous people with over-productive produce to keep us in corn and tomatoes and such. Our freezer and tummies have been filled, and that is working.

Some resources I use that have withstood the test of time and children's tastes:

Leading Little Ones to God by Marian M. Schoolland
Ergermeier's Bible Story Book
First Language Lessons by Wise and Bauer
Explode the Code phonics series
Sonlight Curriculum

These things work for me.

Whiny preschoolers who didn't get enough sleep don't work for me too well. So I end here to implement some creative solution to that problem. A nap would most definitely work for me just fine.
:>)


Monday, August 30, 2010

We're off...

to a rocky, but determined start to a new school year. My goal over the next few weeks is to stop hurrying all the time. Everything I do is rushed, it seems. I will accomplish less, this I know...but I will feel less stressed and maybe even enjoy a thing or two along the way! I will take reading breaks during the day with Matt and Sarah, I will go outside at LEAST once a day to breathe the fresh air and throw a ball, I will look up from time to time to gaze at the blue sky, I will pray when I feel overwhelmed....and I will come back to read this post about 10 times a day to remind myself that I said these words.


Monday, August 16, 2010

Discipline looks like...

An alarm clock, newly set. I'm in training mode and need to acclimate my system to rising at the same time. Dressed and eager I head out for a walk which turns to a jog from time to time. New ambition, fresh inspiration, in need of self-discipline I jump in and take a few steps. Desperate need for order has birthed vision for routines and schedules, which sounds so rigid but there's freedom in those boundaries set by time.

So thankful today for
*new routines
*grace to face the failed routines of yesterday
*mercies that are new every morning
*the people who inspire me
*tomato, cucumber and cheddar sandwiches
*banana blueberry muffins
*seasons
*moments of quiet in a whirlwind of children
*gray hairs--the Bible says they come from Godly living!
:>)

Friday, August 13, 2010

11 years ago

We told Andrew he was going to be a big brother on Christmas Day, 1998. He was 4 years old. He jumped up, pointed his finger at me, and shouted, "It's a boy! And we're naming him Samson!" To say he was excited is an understatement. Why he picked the name Samson, I'll never know. But the following August, 1999, Jonathan Alex was born after a short, but painful back labor. And he had a will to rival the strength of Samson to be sure.




From the time he was a little newborn, Jon knew what he wanted and how he wanted it. So determined to keep up with Andrew, he was pushing himself around in a walker by 4 months and started practicing his walking long before he was able to catch himself well with his hands, leading to many a bump on his head.



Thankfully, God provided him with a nice, hard skull as it has born the brunt of many a bump over the years, including a face-off with a brick wall, and most recently, the abuse he can't get enough of during football practice!


He is strong and confident but tender hearted. The kiss of a younger sibling can bring tears to his eyes, and I love watching my favorite movies with him because he just "gets it" and we tear up at the same scenes. He's a leader by nature with a great sense of humor and the most fabulous smile. Can you tell I just love him?

So thankful are we for JonnyB! Happy Birthday!



Monday, August 9, 2010

Short and Sweet

Thanking God this Monday evening for:

*Daughters. 2 of them!
*Sleep.
*The clearance rack at Old Navy
*A date night with Ken to look forward to
*Wisdom and creativity
*Healthy kids

Friday, August 6, 2010

The Day the Butterfly Came to Visit

We played with a butterfly the other night, Andrew and I. Or rather, the butterfly played with us. Fluttering ever so close, landing on our arms, our heads, my neck! It came and stayed for over an hour. I felt like a little girl again, giddy with the anticipation that it might just land on me one. more. time. So much fun!








Monday, August 2, 2010

We like to grow things


There is a bit of the farmer in Ken, a desire to see things grow, to help things grow....to grow things. And this is what it looks like here on our almost farm...

Wheat! Our farming friend grew wheat in our fields! I hope to bake some bread with it soon!



A rock garden that I finally paid some attention to this spring. And Ken stands guard against the weeds....


Pigs to be taken to the butcher in the fall.....


He likes to grow other things, too. We both do.

Children...Minds...Spirits...Vision...Dreams...

We may not always be able to measure their growth, but I know our efforts are not in vain. God will complete the work begun in each one!