Happy SWEET Sixteen to Our Wee Lass!!!

Maddelyn Claire was born on 5-5-95.

She was born at home, at Our Hearts' Haven.  In fact, she was born in the room she now occupies.  My labor with her was my favorite.  I wish I had time to write the story....maybe I will tell it to her for her birthday. 

She was named for her grandmother, Marty's mother, Marilyn Claire.

There are so many things that I love about Maddelyn......the thing I love the most is that she will always get to be our little girl....and so easy to hug and hold. 

Not sure how the years have passed so quickly that our youngest girl is so old........

I have a few pictures to share....and while they were upright when I uploaded them.....I cannot get them to cooperate.  Ah, blogger........

So, if you could please enjoy, with just a turn of your head.......  :)

This is one of our favorite photo stories...and it is SO Maddelyn!

Picture One:




 

Picture Two:

Picture Three:

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Maddelyn broke her leg when she was 5 years old...uh, I mean...someone broke her leg.  Here she is with her best friend since birth:  Talullah.

Not sure how old she is here......but she sure is sweet!

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This is Maddelyn this year........the year she reaches 16 years of age. 

She is shown here with her other best friend, Catherine,

at the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco.

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Happy & Blessed Birthday,

dear Maddelyn,

little girl of our hearts!

We love you!!!

Your family.........of Hearts' Haven

Happy 18th Birthday to Sarah L'il Beth!

Our beautiful daughter Sarah Elizabeth was received into our family on this day 18 years ago. 

From birth, she was such a uniquely, beautiful baby....all of the nurses ooh'd and ah'd over her...strangers always noted her beauty.

Named after a couple of ancient grandmothers on both sides of her maternal side and her Aunt Elizabeth, she always thought her name was

"Sarah Little Beth"

.......but of course, being little, it always came out lil Beth.

Congratulations, Sarah L'il Beth!

We love you!

And, we promise, we will let you maintain a part of your childhood for yours to come......we won't make you give it up yet!  ;)

This next year will be full of so many new experiences & adventures, just for you!

Have an amazing year!

AND..........

we must not forget to wish my niece a

VERY HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY

to Alexis!

We love you!

Have a beautiful day......and wear the one green, one purple stocking!

What a treat to have two cousins share the same birthday!

Love, Mama/Aunt Chari

PS:  As I write this, Maddelyn is fingering a lovely rendition of Happy Birthday on the piano.

Oh, and Alexis's dad and I share the same birthday, too!

A Little Ballroom Dancing!

Here are two videos of the four younger children and their friends dancing on an August Saturday night at "open ballroom" held in a hall built in 1906...where generations of people have danced....and where the swing was danced in its hey day! They had only had one lesson as of that night...and have since improved....more videos later.....

I am still trying to figure out why I have no sound on my videos......sorry about that! Just play any song on your computer......it will work! Even if it is Lynyrd Skynyrd...ask me how I know! :)

The first is Malachy, 7 yo, dancing with Peggy, one of their instructors.

Looks like Garrett, 12 yo & Sarah, 16 yo are dancing below.....followed by Dan, 19yo, dancing with the instructor, peggy.......and then Sierra, 16 yo & her brother Kyle, 15 yo....and my Maddelyn, 14 yo, dancing with Gavin, 17 yo. You may notice a cute little 7 yo "waltzing" throughout the video....he was partnerless....and wanting to dance....so...what's a fella to do, but dance with an imaginary partner!

Have a blessed Sunday!

Love, Chari

There's been some good news around here.....

Let's see, where do I start?

How about pregnancy announcements?

Having kept mum for almost three months, we are finally allowed to share: my friend Louise is pregnant! Her birthday is this week...and then she and I will be the same age.......this is is her second baby....and my kids, who just found out last week, are absolutely estatic! I do believe they believe, the next best thing to me having a baby (don't panic, Grandma! :) ), is Louise having a baby.

We also have another local friend due the same week...and she is over 40, too! Yay, Victoria! This will be number 4 for her family.

And, we just found out today, that our dear friend Erica in San Diego is expecting baby#8 the exact same week....and she is over 40 also.

Isn't this exciting!

Congratulations to all three of you........and I am excited that I will be able to share Louise's birth with her.

You are all added to our daily Memorare for expectant moms!

Next good news, it looks as if I have actually found a Certified homeopath, who really and truly does live and practice in my town!!! I will make an appointment shortly to see if we can get these asthma symptoms cleared up once and for all! I met her yesterday. She has been a nurse practitioner for over 28 years and seems to fit the bill. Please pray this is so!

And, more GREAT news! I have not found my way here to mention that one of my close friend's husband had lost his job two weeks ago. We have all been scheming and praying........and on Saturday, he was offered a job.....and, from an employer who had told him almost two weeks before that there was no room for him at their place of business! We are so grateful to God for this opportunity!

And, our community good news.....THERE IS SNOW!!!!!

Our poor little community was so hurting, being a tourist town. We depend on snow for the businesses to make money. This feels so much better.

There may be other good news......but I am at a loss to remember anymore, right now.

So, onto HAVEN HEARTBEATS:

I have finally got the Christmas newsletter finished.......I just need to finish proofreading...and then I can get copies made and mailed. I will not be finishing that project, till I have all of the college & scholarship application stuff cared for........so, a couple of more weeks, I guess! I am getting closer....and will look forward to when this batch is done!!

We have TWO graduates this spring!

Anne will be graduating with her AA.

Matthew will be graduating from high school.

One on May 15 and the other May 28th. And in between? Well, they have college finals and a show........that Anne is directing and Matthew is starring in....plus doing all of the set design and building. And, three other siblings are in the show as well!

I am having these few moments to post because I am waiting for 13 year old Maddelyn, who is in a 50 minute class here at the college. It is a music fundamentals course.....and ugh, it is FIVE days a week! Thankfully, Anne can drive her and Matthew and Sarah three of the days. Marty has been good about driving Maddelyn on one of the days.....so, that leaves only one for me. Phew!!

I am in the college's library.

Garrett, aged 11, for only another month or so, has been on a REAL basketball team. Our little charter school was able to form a team this season. Some weeks, this has meant basketball 6 evenings a week! We have an amazing coach, with amazing experience. He also happens to be the director's husband. that is how we got such a great guy.........he has two boys on the team. We combined with another small team from a private Christian school after the season started......and doubled our game schedule! It has been so good for Garrett......and Malachy loves going to the games. Me, too. They finally had their first win last Friday, in a tournament. It was a great comeback!

I guess the biggest drawback, besides the busy schedule, is the fact that our sparsely populated county is so big...and we have to do a lot of driving for games......most over 30 minutes away from home...and some over an hour!

Last bit of news.........Sarah will be 16 years old on Sunday!!!!

Well, time is up! Maybe I will come back here next Tuesday!

God bless your week!

Chari

Haven Heartbeats

Kids say the darndest things............





Maddelyn just came in and said: Malachy is kind of funny.





I ask why......





....she says.....





.....that he said.........

You have rootbeer eyes.

Is that cute or what???

Well, she does! :)

Maddelyn, 13, and her newest cousin, Jaylen Reeves, born on September 14, 2008.

Now showing............the kids open their show today! Pray for them!

Have a beautiful day!

Love, Chari

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR SWEET little GIRL!

Our youngest daughter is 13 years old today. It is bittersweet since she is the last little girl in this family. Thankfully, she intends to keep her youthful manners for years yet. :) So far, so good....but, we know someday, it must end. :(

She was the only one of the offspring born at home in this house.....in her own room as a matter of fact. She loves to say that. She is also my favorite labor. I will have to tell her story someday.........I will have to tell all of their stories, someday.

Please leave a note of celebration, if you can.

Maddelyn is the one in the middle....her cousin Kaydance is to her left, and her closest friend. Tallulah to her right.......taken last April 19th when we all went to see a Broadway version of "ANNIE" in Reno. They kind of look alike, don't they! Maddleyn and Tallulah, who are NOT blood-related........have always looked like each other.......and their families sometimes could not tell them apart from the back........especially if they were wearing matching clothes, which is often the case!

With love,

Chari

TODAY WAS A BUSY DAY!

We started by attending a birthday party for one of our little friends. She turns 4yrs this week. Her sweet and wonderful mother made a birthday cake for Maddelyn, too. Though it was sunny, it was a bit brisk today, with a north wind blowing. The candles were lit on Maddelyn's cake......and she was nowhere to be found! So, we just sang to her while the wind blew her candle flames side-ways. I guess she could hear our singing, as she was on the other side of the fence with her brother. :)

Then, another dear friend whisked the three girls to Redding to see BYE, BYE BIRDIE at a high school down there. They should be home any minute.

I worked on details of our New York City part of the itinerary (trying to figure out how to afford tickets to see BOTH Wicked AND Les Miserables), while the boys put up our new tent, so we can get used to its workings BEFORE we leave on our trip. It is a really cool tent! I am so glad we got it. It has three separate tents, attached by a tunnel (optional). You can leave the rain covers off and look at the stars. Should be fun in Yellowstone!



Then, the boys stayed home and watched a movie together while I went to a dinner at a nice restaurant for a friend's retirement get-together. It was a really sweet time.

Now, the boys are outside in the dark, trying to get the tent put away so the dogs do not do anything bad to the tent :)


Oh, of course, I came up with a few more things to add to our to-do list:

Clean the schoolroom----luckily, it barely needs help It is the place to store the trip stuff!
Wash cars (will MAKE the kids do this actually.......supposed to be in 80*s next week....only days after our snow!:))
Clean out purse. :)

Keep praying about the tooth! :(

With love,

~C~

PS: Thank you for Maddelyn's birthday wishes! She appreciates every one of you! I am SO glad I have at least one more year before I have no "little" girls left....next year, FOUR of them will be teenagers! How is THAT for strange!

Countdown: 17 days till we fly from here!

A BIRTHDAY IN OUR HOUSE!

PS: Shhhh! Tomorrow is Maddelyn's 12th Birthday!

Join me in wishing her a very happy birthday!

Love,

~C~