last hannukah night

hey there, yes here are some photos!! my husband is so happy that i got my camera back, 'cause now he doesn't have to buy me a new one!! he is so happy!!

last night we feasted on fresh veg, plenty of fruit (like in the movies) and cold meat.. yes, yesterday was a scorcher!! so, we couldn't stomach hot foods!! it was refreshing and very healthy!

Matyn got the opportunity to light the candles and say the blessings, not in Hebrew, but maybe next year!! Dagan was so excited about his pirate suit, he wanted to sleep with it on, go to school with it, bath with it!! i think he unpacked that little box about 40 times!

matyn got the 'High School Musical 2' and the screaming was deafening!! she was so happy! she's been waiting for the movie for such a long time! so we all got to watch HSM and Shawn had to mock and had matyn in tears 'cause he wouldn't take the movie serious! it was funny!

Tamar got some shakers, that we had to listen to the whole night! lovely!! and as you can see on the photo she has developed a new 'cheese' look for photos! i have like 10 photos with her pulling the same face!! i think it works for her, adorable!

so, life on the farm is good! I'm thankful that God has granted us every day! granted us time to spend with our family and our friends and that in His goodness, He has blessed me with the life i live! He is good, and His faithfulness is everlasting!

I hope you all have a wonderful festive season! may God's grace and goodness flow through and over you! may you be the tool He uses to change the unchangeable!

i feel special!

yes, i do! and why you ask, well, just because you make me feel that way!!
shawn found my camara, just in time for our last Hannukah night!! i'm so very happy! i know hannukah only ends tomorrow, but tonight is the last lighting of candles! so i'll post our stunning Manorah and my gorgeos kids for you tomorrow!
and last night we played games (Cashflow) till 12 with friends. so this morning we overslept. shawn missed out on his gym date and then i did also, cause we didn't have time to look for my gym clothes, cause we needed to leave so shawn could go to his prayer meeting!!
and my bus to JJS is still 8 places short.. since you guys all prayed so nicely for my camara, maybe now is a good time to pray for my bus!!
love you, talk tomorrow

3rd day of Hannukah

well, yesterday i was busy.. ok!! that's why you didn't get any updates!!

but here i am back again today with your minute by minute update!! well, last night we lit the 3rd Hannukah candle.. we've changed the formal settings of the Hannnukah rules, as i don't want my kids to learn the rules, but for them to learn the love!!

so, you wanna know?? well, we tell all kinds of stories. the first 2 nights we told of stories from the old testament, the next 2 stories of the new testament, then we have a mix night, when we'll tell stories of what ever and the last 4 nights, we will break up into.. telling stories of what God has done for our family and fro each person in turn and the last 2 nights, we will talk about miracles across the world.. that way, our kids learn that the God that did miracles in the old testament and the new testament and in our lives and in the whole world is still the same God!! can you imagine if they learn this and remember this all their lives, then they will not get all fluttery, (like their mother) when thing need some faith!! i'm liking this thing!! i could live with them learning faith in a miracle working God and less of the world beliefs and the worlds standards for this time of year.

deep hey!!

so, matyn is growing up so fast, she litterally needs clothes every few months!! it's just insane! so monday we are going to take her clothes shoping!! yes, we!! shawn insists he is going with, 'cause he doesn't want her to wear shorts that are more than 3 fingers above her knees!!! anyone seen the length of her legs lately... where am i gonna find shorts that are that long!!!

so, still desperately looking for my camara and starting to get real nervous that it has been stolen!! please pray! thank you

talk soon

a single candle burning

wow, last night was so much fun!! and no worries, I'm so over my small house blues!! we had such a great time last night!! it truly is amazing how easily we adapt to God's plan!! anyway, your not here to hear about me blabbering on about nothing!!! here is the scoop..

so we did it!! we had such an amazing supper, chicken, steamed veg, potatoes, rice, gravy and yes, for pudding, we had some things fried in oil.. you guessed it, we had donuts!!! i am going to like Hannukah!! after supper we lit the Shamash (the serving candle) and then used it to light the first Hannukah candle!! then i said the 3 blessings, which by the way are beautiful and then i even said the one in Hebrew!!! how cool am i?? then we told the children about the festival, why, who, when and then came the Dreidle!! actually in our case it was just a dice, 'cause the dreidle matyn and i made didn't work!! my bad! but we had so much fun with the dice, that i might just continue to use it!! oh, did i skip a part, did i mention the gifts... no, i didn't!! all the children (even those visiting) got a gift!! every one took part in the game and it was so much fun!! we had Hannukah Gelt and sweeties and laughing, singing, story telling, losing Gelt, getting Gelt.. just fun, fun, fun!! my kids are excited and i have to say, i enjoyed it so much!! so tonight we'll see the lighting of the second candle!! can't wait! God is so full of surprises!

so, you remember my little Risk dilemma?? well, here it is.. i did end up playing with!! couldn't get out of it, no matter how hard i tried, but then i WON!!! yes, readers, the day has arrived, maryna, the ultimate not-winning-risk-not-even-playing-risk, maryna, has won! i was so excited, that i sommer called everyone that had ever before been forced to play with me and told all of them that i won!! the only drawback is that in this triumph i needed to take out 2 of my friends in order to win.. really not a nice game! i truly would rather laugh and loose than plunder and win!!

anyway, no camera yet, will carry on looking!!

come on, sing it with me

(blues beat)
ta da da da da.....
ta da da da da....
i've got the blues..
ta da da da da
i've got the big house blues
ta da da da da da
i've get the baby, baby, baby,
i miss my big house blues!!

well done to you, well only if you sang the song, not if you just read it!! if you only read it, go back and sing it!!
and yeah, i got the 'i miss my big house blues'.. please take note, i don't have the 'i miss the being stressed out of my brains about fininces blues'!!
i love my cosy, homy, safe house, but December holidays my big house seemed small some times... now it's just half insane!! we're playing games every night, with a whole bunch of people and guess who get's to clean up after all of them.. you guessed it, Katrien.. well, that's probably not so bad, but weekends it's me!! and my husband is such a socialite!! he just invites every one!! and guess who cooks, well, Romans!! no just kidding, just had to make you laugh.. no, the cooking is all me!! work my cute, littele, pettite butt off (had to make you laugh again).
so, yeah, tonight we light the first Hannukah candle and the kids are super excited! we have some friends coming and we're all gonna join in and celebrate. then when the kids have had their Dreidle games, we grown ups will play our Risk games!! i still need to find a way out of playing, but it'll come to me!!
so here i go, off to do more work!!
talk 2morrow!!
hopefully i find my lost camara, so i can take some picks for you!!
love you