Canning

So not a ton has been going on around our house lately.
With the cold arctic air flowing through my yard, we've opted
to stay inside mostly.
I've been cooking more soup than ever this winter, and realized
that I should really be making larger batches and canning some.
So that's what I did today. I had homemade chicken broth made up,
and made lentil soup. It's nice to pull out a jar that's ready to eat and made
just how we like it.
We are enjoying the foods that we canned over the summer still.
We are still going through the tomatoes that a friend gave me, along with
apple and peach butter on our toast. Yummy!

What is your favorite food to can?

David's First Beethoven's Fifth

David is learning piano, and he has decided that he loves Beethoven. I think it's because Schroeder from The Peanuts TV special like Beethoven, but hey... he must really enjoy it to stay engaged for an hour and a half symphony performance. The RPO was playing Beethoven's fifth and Gary (one of the brothers from church that I meet with) suggested we take the older kids.

Well, your truly is not exactly the epitome of culture and high society but I managed to fake it for an evening :)
It was a great show, and the Eastman theater is quite a work of art in itself. The photo is the only one I thought to take, (Rachel is the family photo journalist) and it is of a glass sculpture that looked like a big mess of balloons. Pretty cool.
The kids did great considering this wasn't a very kid friendly place. They managed to make it through the whole experience with only one rebuke from an usher who thought that 5 kids drinking from a fountain should be a silent event. My guess is that he didn't have children of his own :) I was just glad the water fountain was still attached to the wall.

Luke's Baptism

Luke was baptized into the life of following Jesus at the beginning of January.
He had been asking questions, and trying to understand what it meant to take the Lord's table and later declared that he believed and wanted to be baptized. For whatever reason I delayed, and didn't make it a priority but was provoked by the Spirit when I heard Luke defending his faith and protesting to his sister that he did know Jesus and that she couldn't tell him he didn't. (Gotta love sibling bickering, but hey this quarrel bore good fruit :)
So what hindered him from being baptized...well nothing...so off to the bathtub we all went.
The rest of the church is behind the camera so the children could have front row seating.
Praise the Lord for young believers!

Another word about the Fruit of the Spirit in Luke's life:
So one evening in the not too distant past, Rachel and I had a sharp disagreement over a silly thing like whether a musical "whole note" could be referred to simply as a "note". (yes we actually fought over musical terminology...we are lame)
After we had walked away with the issue unresolved, my "little brother" / son quite plainly pointed out that I didn't have fellowship with Jesus because I was arguing with mom. What could I say to that? Not much...
So I just went and reconciled with my wife :)

Thank you Lord for putting your Big Spirit into little packages!

Jenga Nationals Here We Come

Please note the missing block on the bottom right :)
That tower is at 8' so far!

Winter Months

Winter months come with all sorts of things to do around here.
The kids have been doing great. Matthew is growing so fast!

We've been doing our best to enjoy the snow when it comes.
Maggie and John always want to make snow angels.
I shiver looking at them when they lay down in the snow.

David is doing great in school. He is also taking piano lessons.
He is have a great time learning about music.

We've been doing many indoor activities too. Luke is my budding artist.
He amazes me with his creativity! 

We visited a local conservatory recently. Isn't that cactus behind Johnny huge?

So not too much going on around here! The Lord is good. We've

been busy learning and growing. I hope to get back to blogging regularly this year.

Happy New Year!