alot of snow and a little bit scary...

well finally posting some pics of our big snow we had last week....we got 5-6 inches which for tennessee is ALOT! our big girls missed 3 1/2 days of school, which they were very happy about! and jeffrey stayed home the monday of the snow's arrival which the girls were also very happy about! their daddy pulled them around on a sled behind the tractor which emme grace loved....rayley beth, not so much! she never lasts quite as long outside as her big sister. i knew as soon as i heard the door open quietly that miss rayley beth was done with the winter wonderland :)

but along with the snow that came early that monday morning came something else...

emme grace came in our room at 7 am very excited about all of the snow and also wanting to know if we had been outside. still half asleep i said ...

'no baby, we have not been outside yet!'

'well, then why are there footprints all in the snow mom?'

so i hop out of bed and run to the windows.
and i am looking out the windows down at our yard and see very obvious footprints in the deep snow. they start at our fence by the road....then go to jeffrey's car first....then over to my car....then up to our glass doors. then back to our fence.

so i knew exactly what happened but i wanted not to believe it. you see we live on 7 acres in the country. and by country i mean half a mile down the road our neighbor has chickens that run on the road. that country. i have always felt safe and secure and closer to God when i am surrounded by all of His amazing creations. i grew up on a farm. my parents milked 100 cows until i was 13 and always knew i wanted my children to grow up in the country. i remember my sisters and i having picnics on the hot tin barn roof and playing by the stream and driving the go cart with a teddy bear strapped in ( it was my baby of course!) going in circles around the cow trough. so many wonderful memories that i have of growing up on a farm. i wanted that for my children. so i was thrilled when i met jeffrey and he wanted the same.

so 11 hears ago this may jeffrey's parents found our land up for auction. it was 7 acres with a 100 year old barn and house. jeffrey's granddaddy worked as a very young boy throwing hay in our loft...how cool is that? the barn we have restored...the house was too far gone so we tore it down and built our carriage house....1200 square feet over the garage to get on our property and thought we would live there for 2-3 years and then start our house. well....here we are 9 plus years later... but we have had to make sacrifices like a bigger house for me to be able to stay home with our girls....and it has been worth every crowded little minute!

so i have always just felt very safe at our home. many days i have left the back door unlocked to run and pick the girls up from school. left the keys in my ignition in my car . just never thought much about it. but that is all forever changed.

because while we were sleeping someone was right outside our windows taking what was ours. they were apparently only interested in cash. because they left jeffrey's ipod and my wallet and credit card...but they got all of the cash out of my wallet that was in my car in the diaper bag. which was actually alot because i had cashed some checks to us and our girls that were Christmas gifts. on a normal day the robber would have been sadly dissapointed.

so jeffrey called our 2 closest neighbors and neighbor #1 had also noticed footprints...and neighbor #2 had noticed the window smashed out of their car because unfortunately for them their doors were locked.

and so i do hate that this person took our money, but even more that they took our sense of security. it is just not the same. we are getting an alarm system...but i hate that we feel the need to do this to feel safe, or safer.

and it just scares me. what the world is coming to. it scares me to think what the world will be like in 10 or 20 years. what will my baby girls think of as 'normal'? because someone walking in to your yard and taking what is yours...from your car or your home...is definitely not what i think should be considered normal. but everytime we tell what happened to us we hear even more stories....

'well my so-and-so said that 8 of their neighbors got robbed...' or ' my friend's friend...someone broke down the door while they were upstairs sleeping in the middle of the day but when they turned on the light the robber ran off'.....

this stuff should not be considered 'the norm'...maybe i have just been very naive for a very long time as to what goes on. but i liked feeling safe leaving my door unlocked.

so i am just praying that the Lord will restore some peace, some security. and that i will not jump everytime i think i hear a noise when maggie and i are home by oursleves. and that i will eventually not be scared to go into our home if i get there before jeffrey. because 'stuff' can be replaced...but the thought of anyone hurting my babies....it hurts just thinking about it.....

so...now on to the positive part of monday morning! my girls having fun in the snow...well my big girls anyway :) miss maggie was not to thrilled about the cold and being wrapped up! for now i think she is happier playing in a warm house!



:: miss maggie looking at the snow from 'inside'!














:: our fence that jeffrey spent MANY weekends building...



:: it was a beautiful snow...the kind that makes you feel closer to heaven :)





















and some pics of miss maggie playing inside where it was nice and warm ;)...


'you sisters can have that snow....i am happy inside with mom!'






:: oh how i love those tiny feet :)



:: our girl is getting so good at standing....



:: and miss maggie LOVES the bath....if she even hears water running she starts crawling toward the bathroom signing 'bath' then 'please'...our girl had such good manners, everything is followed by the sign 'please' ....eat please, more please....it is the cutest thing ever!


also remember my post about sweet olga? well the family that was going to rescue her
...the adoption fell through. she has over $13,000 in her adoption fund, just waiting on her forever family. so please spread the word any way that you can. we need to find this angel a home before she is transferred to an institution. please go to patti's blog to find out more....


http://babynumber10.blogspot.com/2011/01/heart-full-of-hope.html