What a mighty castle this was in its’ day!!  We saw a drawing of what it was way back then – it had a huge moat and drawbridge.  I kept envisioning the battles that must have taken place right here.

Psalm 18:2       The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, [and] my high tower.

Psalm 71:3      Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou [art] my rock and my fortress.

I love these verses – I love knowing that God is MY fortress … As the verse says, I can CONTINUALLY resort in the strong refuge of God almighty.  How many people sought refuge within the castle walls of Rokvere?  There had to be a sense of security for the people that sought refuge here.   God is our refuge … if we allow Him to be.    We may not be fighting against swords and spears, nor flesh and blood, but we are wrestling against the darkness of this world, against  wickedness.  I feel the Enemy of Satan even today in my own journey of life.   I am just so thankful for the High Tower that we can run into and be safe.

Okay … onto lighter and brighter things … my family!  : )

Lots to do at this castle!  There were quite a few people dressed up to make it more festive and fun.

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This castle has BOYS written all of over it!  I mean, is there not a boy alive who doesn’t like knights and castles to explore and swords??

Okay … this castle has LITTLE BOYS and BIG BOYS written all over it!   Just a little sword fighting thing going on here.

I mean seriously, I think Bob had just as much fun as Samuel!  How fun!

My sweet family.  I am blessed!

Ahh … my strong prince.   Sophia finally gets to lead her brother around, so she announced.  : )  These two are so much alike in personality.  They both want to lead and Sophia just had to rub it in.

My little animal lover.   Sarah played on this horse for a very long time.  I can’t remember what she named him, but I am sure she will remind me tomorrow when she sees this picture.  Maybe some day she will get a real horse of her own.

So, my Sophie girl thought this was going to be like a petting zoo.  It was NOT!  This poor little goat.  Can you see the terrified look on this little goat’s face??

And yet some more tortured animals …

and some more ….

and yet even more unfortunate animals!!

Sarah is “making stew” over an open fire.  And this is when I told my family that I am so glad to be living in the day that we are living in.  I just cannot see myself cooking a meal over an open fire like this.   Do you ever feel like you make the same meals over and over again?  Well, back then, I would imagine that really would be the case!

Just had to add this one.  I love this man!  : )

Well, Sarah has changed her mind about being a vet.  Since she was just a wee little girl, she has wanted to be a vet.  But, that changed this week.  Now she wants to be a “zoo nursery worker and feed the baby animals”.  Yessssss – she is MY girl!  : )   If I could choose any job in the world, it would be working in the maternity ward, giving babies their first bath and handing the clean, wrapped babies to the mamas.   Sometimes I just look into the green eyes of my daughter, and I see myself through and through.

Sarah is “training Rosebud”.  She loves running with Rosebud and taking her leash off and teaching Rosebud to stay along side her.

Every morning at family devotions we pray together.  Sophie prays for her little friends Esther, Ashton and Diana and her Mamas and Papa.  Samuel prays for his Uncle Jesse, Uncle Tim and Uncle Stephen.   Sarah Grace prays for the little boys and girls that don’t have a mommy and daddy and for the ones that don’t have any food to eat.  There have been times she has prayed for the less fortunate with tears in her eyes and a shaky voice.   Sarah remembers the visits we made together in Brazil, bringing food to children that didn’t have anything to eat; delivering milk to homes where the babies were crying from hunger.   She remembers.    I pray every day that Sarah stays close to God every single day of her life and that this girl of mine will yield herself to whatever God has for her.

Ahhh, my sweet Sophie girl.   I just cannot get enough of this one!   Do you ever get overwhelmed in a good way with what you have?  The other day I was doing dishes and looking out the window at the clouds passing by and I heard Sophie on the couch, “reading” a book and I just got this overwhelming feeling.   Just as those clouds were passing by, so were those seconds passing by – I will never get those seconds, minutes, hours, etc. back.  I dried my hands, realizing that time passes by so quickly.   I plopped down on the couch next to Sophie and read to her.  I kissed her chubby cheeks and twirled my fingers around her pigtails.    I get so sentimental when I think about the time passing … the moments passing.   I just do not want to take for granted what God has given to me nor do I want to miss a moment savoring my children.

Well, Sophie and I made a blueberry pie together the other night as we had some wonderful guests visiting our home who work with the Billy/Franklin Graham Crusades.  (There was a great turnout here for the crusade last weekend – thousands of Estonians present with over 1,000 desisions. )

I thought I would share the recipe if anyone out there would like to make a blueberry pie soon.  It turned out pretty good although I am not sure if the picture looks very appetizing.

* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 5 tablespoons cornstarch
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 5 cups fresh blueberries
* 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
* 1 tablespoon butter
DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over blueberries.
3. Line pie dish with one pie crust. Pour berry mixture into the crust, and dot with butter. Cut remaining pastry into 1/2 – 3/4 inch wide strips, and make lattice top. Crimp and flute edges.
4. Bake pie on lower shelf of oven for about 50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

And as I write all of this about my girls and they have been asleep now for a little while, my son is singing in his room next to me.   He is singing “Holy, Holy, Holy – He is Holy, Holy, Holy … I want to praise You …. I want to praise You”.  I am truly blessed.  I think I will go snuggle with him and read to him about snakes.   Life just doesn’t get much better than this!!

I love the chirping birds;  the cool breeze;  not getting my kids all bundled up to go outside;  the entry way of our home stays relatively clean;  the long hikes and bike rides with my kids; the tulips and lilacs that are blooming.

I love the blooming flowers and the green grass in spring.

I love the smell of the flowers.

I love watching my children be carefree … exactly how childhood should be!

My son brings me so much joy …. his endless questions about nature and science …. he is just one great little guy.

Enjoying the simple things ….

I love these little girls!  Notice the bare little back??  I delight in every detail of my sweet children.

I love the early mornings in spring when the dew is fresh and dripping off the newly budded flowers.

Ahhhh … my favorite color!

Just a reminder:  let’s bloom where ever God plants us!!  For those that may be the only one in their family that knows Christ:  bloom!  For those that are amid negative people at work:  bloom!   For those that are hurting or among the hurting:  bloom!    Through Christ, we are ALIVE in Him and no matter what kind of circumstances ( or people ) that surround us, we can bloom and be an example of Christ’s unfailing love.  ( I know, for I have been in many different situations.  God is so GREAT and MIGHTY! )    When my kids saw these flowers they said, ” Mama in Florida would love these flowers”. ( I had to remind the kids not to pick the flowers!!! ) So, Mom, these flowers are for you because they are purple.  We love you and miss you!

Hope you’re all having a wonderful spring day!

So, the kiddos ran and had a great time for the first 1 1/2 hours.  We climbed trees and each of the kids took turns being the leader.  Samuel really did not like following his younger sisters, though.   He kept saying he knew of a short cut and tried to be in charge.  It worked for Sarah but not for Sophie.  ( Sophie has a take charge kind of spirit. ) : )

Samuel had been collecting empty papertowel rolls and he used them for animal/bird calls.  To our delight, the birds started answering his call.  He is a little nature boy and he was definitely in his element.

Collecting treasures.  Aren’t boys just great?!

Her little rosy cheeks and the look of contentment on her sweet face … I find such pleasure in Samuel, Sarah and Sophia.

We climbed down steep rocks to the shore of a small river.  I was telling the kids to not get stuck in the mud when I noticed these beautiful yellow flowers all by themselves,  growing in the middle of muck.    I immediately thought of how at times we are surrounded by “muck” – sometimes it is because of our bad choices and sometimes it is just what is dealt to us ….  but no matter the circumstances behind the muck, we can flourish because of God’s never ending mercy and love.   We can be like these flowers and grow even if the circumstances around us are muddy and grim.  We can bloom where we are at no matter what because we have God’s promises!!!

One of my weaknesses is that I have next to zero sense of direction.  It is right up there with my geography skills, I am afraid!    So, after about 1 1/2 hours, Sophie starts getting tired and she wants me to carry her.  I have my big camera bag so that wasn’t an option.  So, I said, “Okay – let’s head back to our car.”  I looked around and had no idea where we were.  My husband and I have joked often saying that if I go exactly opposite of what my instinct tells me, that is the right direction.  I should have heeded to that on this day.  We WALKED AND WALKED AND WALKED for well over an hour and we came to a hill.  Samuel points and says, “Look Mommy – there’s Prisma! “  Prisma is the grocery store I shop at which is miles from our house.   I had forgotten our cell phone at home.    So, this is the final picture I took for the day as I told the kiddos we had been walking for the past 1 1/2 hours in the wrong direction.  The kids slumped to the ground and took a break.  We walked MILES to get back to our car.  The girls both fell asleep at 6:45 pm for the night.    I asked them yesterday if they wanted to go exploring again and Sarah said, “Will Daddy be with us this time?” : )   I think I may have to earn back their trust!

I decided to put the school books away for the day.  I put three chairs at the counter and sink and schooled my children in the kitchen.  It was a lot of fun.   Samuel read the recipes to us and he also practiced his fractions with measuring cups.

The first thing we made together was Cream Cheese-Olive Roll-ups

* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1-2 teaspoon fresh minced garlic
* 1/3 cup mayonnaise (do not use salad dressing)
* 1 (2 1/4 ounce) can pitted black olives, finely chopped
* 5-6 green onions, finely chopped
* 1/2-1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (or to taste)
* 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (might use more or less)
* 8 (10 inch)  flour tortillas

Directions

1. Hand-squeeze out as much excess moisture in the olives as possible before chopping, and make certain to chop finely.
2 In a bowl combine cream cheese with garlic, mayonnaise, green and black olives, green onions and black pepper; mix to combine well.
3. Spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture over each tortilla, then sprinkle a small amount cheddar cheese over the top of the cream cheese.
4.Roll up each tortilla as tightly as possible.
5.Place each tortilla onto a plate.
6.Cover with plastic wrap and chill for a couple of hours or up to 24 hours (a longer chilling time will only improve on the flavor)
7.  Slice each tortilla into about 1-inch pieces.

I have been wanting to make these for a long time but I needed to wait to have company over since my husband won’t touch these roll-ups.  He hates mayo, cream cheese and olives!    The last thing I need is to make these and end up eating all of them!  Our company really liked them ( and so did Samuel and I ).

I just love Sophia’s little hands.  Often I look at them and kiss them and say to her, “I wonder what you will do for God with these hands!  Who will you help with these hands God has given you?”   One time she answered me and said, “I am going to rock my babies with these hands, Mommy.”   And I kissed her some more …

Yummy!  We are tripling this recipe and making them this weekend.  We are having 35 people at our house for a cookout!

The next thing we made:

Dreamsicle Jello Salad

* 2 (3 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding
* 1 (3 ounce) package orange Jell-O
* 1 1/2 cups boiling water
* 1 (22 ounce) can mandarin oranges (with juice)
* 1 (16 ounce) container Cool Whip

Directions

1.Combine the pudding, Jello and boiling water and dissolve completely.
2 Add the Mandarin Oranges (with juice).
3.Fold in the Cool Whip.

I had to make my own cool-whip … didn’t taste exactly like it but everyone liked it.  I tossed in some mini marshmallows that I had been saving and also some crushed pineapple.

For the main course we made Sweet and Sour Meatballs.  I made both rice and noodles for people to choose their preference.  I doubled this recipe and we had leftovers the next day.

* 3/4 lb ground pork
* 3/4 lb ground turkey or hamburger
* 1 tablespoon onion, minced
* 1/2 teaspoon parsley
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon garlic salt
* 2 eggs
* 1-1 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

Directions

1.In a large mixing bowl add the meats and blend together with your hands.
2. Add the onion, parsley, pepper, and garlic salt. Mix again with your hands until all the seasonings are well blended with the meat.
3.In a bowl beat the eggs until well beaten. While mixing the egg into the meat mixture, add the bread crumbs 1/2 cup at a time until the meat begins to feel slightly firm.
4.Form the meat into 1 1/2″ balls with your hands.
5.Gently place in cooking pan so that the meatballs are close but not touching.
6.Cook in pre-heated oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes or until browned.
7.The meatballs will not be fully cooked yet.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

* 1 (14 ounce) jar chili sauce (like Heinz)
* 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
* 1 (32 ounce) jar grape jelly
* 1 (4 ounce) can chopped mild green chilies
* 3 tablespoons dried onion flakes
* 1 tablespoon garlic powder
* 1 teaspoon of your favorite curry powder, to taste
* 1/2 teaspoon dried ancho chile powder
* 1/4 teaspoon dried chipotle powder, to taste (optional)

Directions

1.Put all the ingredients but meatballs into the crockpot and mix well.
2.Add the meatballs and stir to coat well.
3.Put the crockpot on low and let cook for 4 hours on low.

These were a bit spicy but even my picky eater loved them!

The secret ingredient is grape jelly!!  Sounds strange, I know.  It is really good, though!

I noticed now that Sophia is the one in most of these pictures although all of the kids were in the kitchen with me.  Her favorite place to be is right at my side in the kitchen and if I let her, she would take over!  : )      I made an angel food cake, too, with strawberry whipped topping but didn’t get a picture.  I am pretty sure angel food cake is a pretty basic recipe.  ( Don’t substitute lemon juice for cream of tarter – I found out last month it does NOT work! )

God Bless!!

My handsome boy.   I have so enjoyed the weather warming up here and watching Samuel play outside with sticks and playing Ninja against an imaginary person.  He likes to set up plastic army men and dinosarus outside and have an all-out battle with them.   He has been training our puppy to do tricks.  Last night I laid down with him for a few minutes before he fell alseep and we read a book about weather and all of his questions were making me dizzy.  : )

Now, how in the world can I deny these eyes??  I am in the kitchen so much and when Sophia looks up at me with her dark brown eyes and says, “Mommy can I be your helper?” how can I possibly say no??  This girl has such a spunky personality and is eagar to please.   I am in love with this girl!!

My sweet, sweet Sarah.  My angel girl.  My daughter who states daily that she is “God’s Little Girl”.  She has been such a joy.   I just love snuggling with this precious girl at night … hearing her pray for our puppy and for her Mama and Papa.

I LOVE doing my girls hair!!   I have always had this motto: “No Bow, No Go!”.  Ever since these girly girls were born, they had bows and ribbons in their hair.  Last year we had a little incident with Sophia’s hair and a pair of scizzors … well, she ended up with bangs from ear to ear … it is finally growing out.

I just love this picture … the girls are best little friends.  Sometimes when they are whispering to each other, my husband will sneak up and pretend to be eavsdropping on them and it sends them running and giggling.

God bless you all!

The girls bedroom.  Sarah loves puppies so she has her little puppy corner and Sophia likes butterflies.

Samuel’s dinosaur room.

Samuel’s friend Chad.  He is the son of a missionary couple here.  I am so thankful Samuel has this little friend!

My Love.                                                                   Best buddies!

Best Friends.                                                                Sophia Faith – age 3.

I have been wanting to give Samuel a recipe and let him make something on his own for him to learn measurements.  I had to wait for the perfect opportunity, though.  My little Sophia LOVES the kitchen and she takes it over every chance she gets.  And she is only 3!!  So, the other day Sarah and Sophia were watching Lady and the Tramp and Sophia fell asleep so I jumped at the chance to get Samuel in the kitchen by himself and not have his little sister hanging on him ( and telling him what to do – you’d have to understand Sophia’s personailty to understand that ).  So, I asked Bob to print out an M&M cookie recipe and Samuel made them just about all by himself.   So, I will share with you our yummy recipe!

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup shortening
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups candy-coated milk chocolate pieces
• In a large bowl, mix sugar, eggs, shortening, and vanilla thoroughly.
• Add flour, salt, and baking soda to creamed mixture. Blend well. Add 3/4 cup of M&M candies.
• Drop dough by teaspoonful onto cookie sheet. Slightly push a few candies on top of each dough ball with remaining candies.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 9 to 11 minutes, to your liking.