On The 3rd Day Of Christmas...

I have been inspired to take on the challenge of doing something special for my husband on each of the 12 days before Christmas.  The fun and challenging part is doing something that correlates with, or is significant of the number of each of the 12 days of Christmas.  I have had such a great time planning and surprising him so far.  I cant wait for the rest to come.  Today, December 15, 2011, is day 3 of the 12.  So today I have decided to praise him and thank him for 3 attributes I have seen in his life.  The hard part for today is to keep it limited to 3 as the list is quite extensive.  Here goes...

1. Adventure!

Being the wife of Stephen Wayne Herzog is quite an adventure!  No day is ever the same.  We wake up in the morning as a family and cant wait to see what Stephen/Papa is doing for the day.  Life is full of surprises and the way Stephen handles those surprises is in such a stress free and fun way, it makes every day a blessedly delightful day!  Sometimes Stephen is the one that has those surprises for us.  For example, a sudden change of plans...and then change of plans again...pulling into a restaurant at the last minute while in town to take us on a family date...hiding behind something, and then scaring either one or all of us and anxiously awaiting us to get him back with a surprise of our own (which are never as impacting as his surprises are to us, but we try :) and the list goes on and on.  Needless to say, we love our life and the adventure and excitement Stephen brings to us every day!

2. Love

Stephen has such a real way of showing love to so many.  He has so many to love here in our family, and he does so to each person according to the way they love to be loved the best.  With some it may be tickling and playing together, while to others it may be spending time cuddling together, and for another it is working together, and still for others it may be just getting to talk together.  He is constantly giving of himself to show love to all of us.  We all need him so much and are so grateful for the daily investment he makes in each of our lives, and for pouring his love out to all of us.

3. Vision

Watching Stephen think is always mysterious to me.  His mind is so busy thinking of new ideas and plans.  Just when I think I can guess what he is thinking, he shares with me something totally different from what I was predicting.  God has given him such an awesome mind that can visualize, retain detailed information, notice small detail, as well as see the big picture.  He has such dreams that are always large scale and beautiful! 

It takes real courage to lead your family in a way that is not normal to so many others.  He has vision of his sons being manly men who are not afraid but rather equipped to lead, and his daughters being feminine ladies who find joy in being mothers at home with their own children.  He seeks the Lord`s will, and with confidence leads us as a family in that way.  It is so comforting as his wife to embrace his dreams and vision, and rest in his decisions for our family.

Stephen, I love you so much!! Merry Christmas!!

Quick Update 11.2011

Here is a quick photo of all the kiddos.  November was a relatively warm month which we were so grateful for, so the grass would continue to grow after the little bits of rain we have been receiving.  One beautiful afternoon the kids and I went to play on the hay bales.  Here are the pictures...

Lydia

Elaina

James

Bella

Millie

Martin

Gus

Gus didn't play on the hay bales that day, but I put in this picture of him smiling in his little Fuzzi Bunz diaper. 

Our Family 10.29.11

We are so blessed to live such a wonderful life!  Here are the latest pictures of our growing family.

Stephen and I

Martin, James and Gus

Millie, Bella, Elaina and Lydia

Our happy family...The Herzog Herd

Visit from Mamageese 10.24.11

Mom came recently to see Gus.  She came bearing gifts as she often does.

She gave James 2 trucks.

Martin got some dinosaur magnets.

The girls got some pots and pans to play with together.

Lydia got a little farm set to put together.

She made Gus a beautiful rag quilt!  She has made one for Lydia, James and now Gus.  They are all so precious and treasures the kids will have forever.  

She also brought a fun fall craft for the kids to make with her.  She and Papa Carl are so generous.  We always look forward to her visits.  Thank you so much mom!

Utility Room Cabinetry Work 10.17.11

Stephen and I were recently asked how we "work" with our children and how do they "help" us.

I thought I would take this opportunity to show some pictures of our little "helpers".

Stephen has taken on the challenge of building shelves in our utility room!  I am so proud of him.  He has done an excellent job!!  It has helped me out tremendously in more ways than one.  I am so excited to organize things better and have a place to put things in a nice neat order.

At one time he asked me if the girls were busy because he needed their help outside.  I took some pictures of the things they were helping with...

Elaina sitting on a board as Stephen chizzles out a notch in one end.

We are so grateful for this time in our life when we teach our children why and how we do everything.

James`s turn to sit on the board as Stephen saws on the other end.

We have fun as we "walk along, talk along" as it says in Deuteronomy 6:7

The 3 big girls standing on the end of the plywood as Stephen cuts on his mark

Therefore the kids think working and chores are fun and are always willing to help us with whatever we are doing.

Millie handing him screws as he finishes with one and is ready for another.

Sometimes it is challenging keeping them all busy with something to do when they want so bad to help out.

I actually got to help a little to...I held up the finishing board as he screwed it on.

We are so blessed with an army of little helpers!

Martin didn't get to help much as he was instructed to sit down with his foot elevated.  You see, the day before he was playing hide and seek with Aunt Margaret and in the process of running to base, he stepped on a branchy bush stump and poked his foot in 3 places and could hardly walk after the fact.