The children are watching a home movie we made in Germany. I can not belive the chaos that goes on around me :0) OK I can believe it! I am like a British Barney.. an all singing, all juggling moving momma. The chidlren are 6, 4, 2 and 1 we make birdseed apple treats for the brids, go to a zoo, make paper bag puppets and go through the alphabet one activity at a time. I miss those simple days of total exhaustion, where every day is an adventure and circus act.

I am so glad I have the video because it reminds me of the fun times. My brain appears to have blanked most of the childrens childhood, I am too busy in the moment of now.. managing the rest of their childhood.

The toothless grins, the sticky faces, the digging in the dirt, the simple crafts and complicated explanations. I miss those moments of togetherness. Somewhere over the years I went fom being in the middle to orchastrating from the outside, conducting rather than being in the band... YET hearing my children remember those times and talk of their days now, it would appear they haven't noticed.. maybe..just maybe I could sneak back in, take up my part and keep on playing.

So along with my summer challenge to myself.. to speak more postiviely to my children I am going to add, have a circus moment regularly, play in the dirt, get in the mele, laugh more and not forget the camera! After all I will need something to remind me of these fun days in a few years :0)

Wendy

December, DECEMBER! That was the last time I sat down and blogged. Where does the time go? I suspect to the same place the odd socks flee and the sanity vacations during phonics lessons.

We have had a busy few months here in homeschool land.

In January we add a little one to our home through the foster system. She is a joy and delight and we have now had her in our home for over half her life. We don't know if she will be here permanently and are praying for her biological parents and extended family. It has been a deep learnig time in trust and peace. God is good and we trust Him for her outcome.

February was spent adjusting to life with a baby and taking her to mutiple doctors visits, some over an hour away. Praise God all testing came back negative and in the process I learnt a lot about the head and brain development!

March was spent gettingthe garden ready and saying good bye to our good old Bulldog Henry. He had been with us for 11 years but was sick and in pain. Another hard life lesson in saying goodbye. A few weeks later we said hello to our energetic lab Jack. A puppy he is full of fun and as cute as a button! We also said good bye to Kristy as she headed off to her next adventure in W.VA

April saw my husband interviewing for a job workig in the White House fo rhte President. It was a bit intense as he got the the final two. Anotehr great experience but he will not be working there as another capab;e candidate was chosen. It would have been a wonderful opportunity for him but this way he will be home more :0)

May saw two birthday's and a visit from my parents from England. We took our "Spring break" while they were here and visited many tourist areas in the locale. It was nice to get out and explore and the children ate up the attention!

And here we are in June, another birthday month and more visits from family and friends planned. The sixth month and I'm back to bloggin. We will hopefully see another blog here before January.

So that is our update, testing is upon us and then Summer!!! Laxy days spent weeding and tending the garden. (Compared with teaching reading for the fourth time battling bugs and weeds seems like a breeze :0) ) I forgot to mention my knee surgery whch I am recovering slowly but surely from, it makes getting down a bit hard so it is a truly family affair getting the garden weeded.

Now i am off to catch up my blog friends :0)

Wendy

December, DECEMBER! That was the last time I sat down and blogged. Where does the time go? I suspect to the same place the odd socks flee and the sanity vacations during phonics lessons.

We have had a busy few months here in homeschool land.

In January we add a little one to our home through the foster system. She is a joy and delight and we have now had her in our home for over half her life. We don't know if she will be here permanently and are praying for her biological parents and extended family. It has been a deep learnig time in trust and peace. God is good and we trust Him for her outcome.

February was spent adjusting to life with a baby and taking her to mutiple doctors visits, some over an hour away. Praise God all testing came back negative and in the process I learnt a lot about the head and brain development!

March was spent gettingthe garden ready and saying good bye to our good old Bulldog Henry. He had been with us for 11 years but was sick and in pain. Another hard life lesson in saying goodbye. A few weeks later we said hello to our energetic lab Jack. A puppy he is full of fun and as cute as a button! We also said good bye to Kristy as she headed off to her next adventure in W.VA

April saw my husband interviewing for a job workig in the White House fo rhte President. It was a bit intense as he got the the final two. Anotehr great experience but he will not be working there as another capab;e candidate was chosen. It would have been a wonderful opportunity for him but this way he will be home more :0)

May saw two birthday's and a visit from my parents from England. We took our "Spring break" while they were here and visited many tourist areas in the locale. It was nice to get out and explore and the children ate up the attention!

And here we are in June, another birthday month and more visits from family and friends planned. The sixth month and I'm back to bloggin. We will hopefully see another blog here before January.

So that is our update, testing is upon us and then Summer!!! Laxy days spent weeding and tending the garden. (Compared with teaching reading for the fourth time battling bugs and weeds seems like a breeze :0) ) I forgot to mention my knee surgery whch I am recovering slowly but surely from, it makes getting down a bit hard so it is a truly family affair getting the garden weeded.

Now i am off to catch up my blog friends :0)

Wendy

My school day began with a bell... as did every event at boarding school :0) The ushering into our seats, locating the right desk. Sometimes finding your desk could be a problem. We had the wooden desks with lift up lids. All our school work resided inside to be used through out the day. Soemtimes teh school girl pranksters would get it into their head to move a desk and if you weren't ready it could prove disasterous. Lifting you lid to get your math book out only to find you are sitting at someone elses desk.. or all your stuff is gone but there is a bowl of water, a lilly pad and a frog in your desk.. or somone taped an egg to the desk and lid so as you opened it the egg cracked .. that was no yolk I can tell you! And of course you don't say a word.. to tatle tale would be social death! While the concept of no one talking to me for days at a time seems like adream come true now, as a nine year old it was enough to keep you quiet and blundering through the best you could :0)

I'm sure I learnt lots of other things at school but surviving children was #1 lesson learnt!.. that helped a lot when I was a high school teacher myself and makes me appreciate the learning enviroment my children have now... though I have to confess to an itching desire one in a while to tape some eggs to chairs/desks or throw wet toilet tissue on the cieling so it can dry out during the school day and randomly drop on the childrens heads as they study ..

Our school days look different every day. some mornings we are reading stories on the couch  in our jammies and other days we are up, dressed, chored and sitting at desks. Some things however stay constant.. we are together, as a family, and we are at home.

My school days looked different from my mother of homeschooler days (as I am sure many can relate to). I schooled at home and home was school but I was not with family and I was not "at home" I was at boarding school.

My day started with the ringing of a BIG brass bell as a house mistress proceeded down the hallway opening doors ringig the bell in each dorm and turning on the lights. Then if you can imagine 50 girls trying to get through bathrooms and showers in half an hour you have a very vivid imagination :0) and an idea of the aftermath of the bell ringing!

The bell rings again and it is time to get out of the house and walk to breakfast. My house was about 1/2 a mile I think from the main school building which is where all our meals were served. Come rain, snow, sleet ot heat we wlaked to breakfast. We took our name tag off a large baord and walked through the buffet line having breafast put on our trays as we did so. At the end of the line a housemistress took our tag..checked we had enough food (anorexia ran rife) and we were free to seek out a space to eat. Imagine school cafeteria three time a day, who should you sit with? Who were you not going to sit with if you could at all help it?

Breakfast swallowed you took your tray out into a long grey hall and scraped the food off, put your plates in their stacks and filed your tray. Later in my school life we ended up doing kitchen duty too and then you had the joy of loading and cleaning everyones plates inthe huge dishwashers.. you got clean plates and a facial at the same time.

Then it was the long walk back to the house to make beds, clean the dorms and get ready for the next bell.. school time.. and the walk BACK to the building we had just left. I did a LOT of walking :0)

... to be cont.

To cut a long story short.. I got my MRI moved upand I know have to go to the next town to get it rather than the next State :0) God is good!

I'll let you know as soon as I know what the results are.

Wendy

A week ago I knelt to plant some bulbs in the front garden and heard and felt my knee.. spludge .. not a good feeling but finished the plantings and get up to get dinner ready. Walking accross the kitchen my knee shot backwards and hyperextnded. Seriously not good feeling followed by shooting pain!!.. I deployed my "labor natually through pain" techniques..which worked until I could get to the docotor. Now motrin and tylenol 3 are my new best friends.

I think I have torn up my miniscus again. I have had two surgeries on this knee already. An MRI planned the week before Christmas will give us a better idea of what is going on. Meanwhile it HURTS to sit, bend, do anything on uneven ground or up and down hills/steps. I'm getting a LOT of knitting done!

I'll not be on the computer much because just sitting for this short periood of time is like having knieves pushed through my knee cap.. andI can't think a straight thought on the tylenol! whicih is why I only take it when Steve is home.

Wendy

I realised I hadn't bloggeds about our home study.. so here it is :0)

The house was reasonably ready.. it's usual state of several things needing to be picked up but school needing to be done was more important. I had the timer on and the plan in place. School, baking, lunch, pick up, study..

School migrated from the school room ot he dinning room table so I could give instruction and dispose of several pounds of apples into an experiment cake and apple sauce. I LOVE it when school work sticks together and you could literally eat it up!

Jacob was on a mission to finish as much history as he could, Emma was finding several ways she needed help so she could come over and get instruction and apple slices, Benjamin and Hannah were pretending they could play Othello and making up a game all of their own .. and for once NOT arguing. I had just got eh cake out of the oven and while it was cooling had popped into my room to dispose of the pile of cloths on my bed that had been washed between peeling, teaching and listening that morning. The last sock had been thrust into a door and the buzzer had gone off to let me know the cake was cool and I still had time before the study to feed the children and pick up when the door bell rang.

Jacob burried in school work called out.. "She's here.. quick.. look like you are working!" I passed him on the way to the door and reminded him that he WAS working :0) "oh yes.. " he said as he put aside yet another sheet of history facts.

On the door step was the social worker and one dog torn between giving her a true labrador/shepherd welcome or rushing off to chase the cars that were passing.. she opted for entertainment choice two , for which I was extremely grateful and rewarded her with not buzzing her for chasing cars! Anne the social worker was most apologetic. She had been int eh main town near us and was on her way back to the office, she was very early, she is never early she told me. but she was passing .. I told her to come on in and not to worry about it. So she walked in to our home, little ones had discareded the game and were sitting at the counter munching celery sticks, peanut butter and apple cakes, Older ones surrounded by history work sheets and colorig pages and so the visit began.

The children shook hands and introduced themselves adn then told her they were ready for her to ask them questions. Anne was a little taken aback and told them that children were usally at school when she came to visit. The children were quite disappointed as they knew why they liked each other, they liked me and they wanted to be foste brothers and sisters. Anne told them that if she were to place an older child in our home they would have to go to public school. Hannah began to cry and Benjamin told her he didn't like that idea. She asked why? Benjamin told her that if a child was going to come into the home he wanted that child to stay at home and enjoy all the fun things they got to do during the day and be part of the love of the family, he didn't like the idea of them going off without their new brothers and sisters. :0) The social worker looked a bit surprised and we explained that that was the rule, Jacob then asked what if the family was already homeschooled.. what then. Once again she looked a bit surprised and told us that teh homeschooled families didn't usually need foster care and she had never thought about that before because it had never been an issue. Meanwhile Hannah is still sobbing LOL! Anne starts to look a little uncomfortable so I cheerfully joked with ehr.. "way to go Anne, come early, traumatise my children.. would you like some apple cake or shall we look at the house." Then she spied my spinning wheel "oh do you spin?" andwe find out we both love to knit, she looks at my yarn, we swop information in projects we are working on right now. Hannha stops crying and we go to look at the house.

Again to cut a long story semi short.. Jacob give the grand tour of his room.. complete with opening his closet for inspection and telling her that he has some special things he'd rather a child not break so he will be putting them up in a chest we are going to get with is nameon. The other children will have special thing chests too and we will have spares to fill for other children who come to stay with us, These will be their's if they stay a day or a lifetime. Again Anne looks astonished and comments on what a nice idea that is and that this is obviously a family project. I tell her what we ahve done to try to prepapre the children for what may be ahead.

We go into the girls room, again a guided tour of speical things and Jacob opens the girls closet. Emma had actually had a cleaning spat that moring and organised her closet of her own accord.. Jacob steps back in amasement and says "wow it is amazing how much tidier girls closets are than boys".. at that point I manage to encourage them to other activites or this is going to take all day!

We look at our room (Ididn't show off my closets!) and then head down stairs. She just wants to see what room we have and states that we have plenty.

She asks me a few questions about why we want foster children, she specifically asked if we are trying to build a large family. I told her that I thought we already had a large family and that we were open to as many other children in it as was meant to be. I explained that I had wanteed to adopt since I was 8 years old and that the thought of little ones not having someone to read to them, play with them and love them unconditionally was a hard thought to have and not do something about.

She seemed happy with all our answers, kept saying how vibrant and socable the children were and that any little one would be happy to be part of our family. I thought that was a nice thing for her to say.

As she got up to leave the children came to the stairs and asked if we had passed. She told them we had indeed. "So are you going to give us children now?" they asked. She said she would try to place children in our home that would be a good fit here.

We have told her that for now 0-3 year olds are what would work best with the home schooling and ages of our children.

And so now we wait....

OH and she actaully commented on our path way!!!! She said it was fun how it curved and snaked.. I told her she needed to come back after we have planted the lavenders and lemon grass.. :0)

So thank-you for praying, it was a great visit, she got to see our house and our home and the hearts that reside here.

Hey there friend!!!!!!!!!!!! For the record I'm not overly keen on lady bugs but I truly miss my Lanabag! :0)

So can you please link me to your blog???? pretty please :0)

Wendy

The children have started horse back riding lessons. There is a stable near by that we are trying out. We arrived at 1.15pm for our two hour lesson and the children were taught how to groom and act around horses. I had a hard time elbowing my 8 year old daughter out of the way so I could pitch in and help groom her pony so I commandeered Strawberry Shortcake and battled the two youngest for a curry comb and hoof pick. Those ponies were gleaming!! Then our instructor disappeared for a while so we brushed the ponies again... and again.. now they were positively shinning! I think we were the first family to have ponies cleaner than our house!

The insturctor came back before the ponies were transformed into hairless beasts and tacked up for us. Then out the children went with clear instructions to not let any of the ponies get too close because they all hated each other! and would kick and hurt each other if they got too close. I think next time I come I will bring our "if..then" chart so those ponies can learn the joys of  using gentle happy hooves :0)

To cut a long post short.. the children ended up with a two hour riding lesson. I think time is a relative term for our instructor but she is good and I loved how she had the children riding with out stirrups or reins to gain balance. It got a bit hairy when a few of the dogs ran out to join in the fun and J's pony started cantering and bucking.. he kept his seat even without stirrups.. all those Roy Rogers movies have finally paid off.

After the lesson they had to groom the ponies again and put away the tack, then lead their ponies to their stalls.. it was dark by the time the lesson ended and animals and children both were ready for a feed and bed.

It was fun hearing the children get up this mornig and swop stiff leg storeis and even funner watching them try to walk downstairs to school. Brought back good childhood memories of a day in the saddle for me.

Like any good mum I made sure we finished school early today so we could do some yard work before the rain came in. Then we headed for the paragon Gym. The children have been taking lessons there for the past two months. The first session was rock climbing, the second archery adn today was tumbling and trampolining. Just what you need after a day in saddle.

Our hens laid eleven eggs for us to collect today. I am giving them away and we are eating more scrambled eggs than I ever thought possable.. just what you need after a day in the saddle.

The leaves are off the trees and on teh ground. I need them off the ground and in my garden so we sepnt a good part of yesterday (before riding) and today (before gym) raking, mowing..re mowing and sprading mulcehed leaves on the garden beds. I am covering the leaf mulch with chicken droppings and lime and by the spring I hope to have bionic beds! My oldest son went before me with one lawn mower and I came behiind with a mower and leaf catcher. I tried the tractor lawn mower but it has this habit of dying half way through the job, it was true to form today so the hand pushed mowers came to teh rescue. it is good for team work and those leg muscles.. nothing like pushing a mower up adn down the hills to get the muscles working and blood pumping.. just what you need after a day in the saddle.

The children were fed and I headed off to our final foster class. It has been a tremendous experience learning the ropes of  the foster system. We are just waiting now for our finger printing to come back and we will be certified. Today we had a marvelous lady talk to us about teen communication and challenges. Just what you need after day in the saddle.

I have enjoyed the past few days on the "range" watching my children enjoy new experiences and work towards family goals and I am very proud of the way they have buckeld down to the hard work and play. One lesson I learnt a new from both the riding and the foster classes is.. when the horse acts up or life takes an unexpceted leap sideways.. make sure you are balanced in your seat, hold with what you have and if you are still with it after the experience give God all the glory.. after all He is the one who keeps you  day after day in the saddle.

Ladybugs, can't live with them..can't live with them.

One is sitting on my space bar and won't fly away home to her children no matter how many rhyms I try to scare her with!

We have an infestation and they have lost their nursery association charm and are just plain bugging me now! Punn intended.

End of message.. no deep thought :0)

Wendy

Tomorrow weare hainvg a home study.. I know I know!!! These are the things we usually call HSLDA about and refuse on our constitutional rights.. BUT we WANT this one. We are opening our home to children who need one and because of that the Social workers would rather like assurances that it's..well .. Alright!

Still, I've been walking in circles all day wondering how you can study a home without living in it. So far the answers my children are going to give to any questions they are asked leave me wondering if I am doing a great job or we are derranged ..

Q:How do you know your Mummy loves you?

answers.. she feeds us

ummm.. yes.. anything else?

Q: How does your mummy know you love her?

answer.. we are her children! (said in a DUH! kind of tone)

oooooooook!

Q: What would you change about your family if you could?

answer.. we'd have more children

Q: anyone hungry? how about some bread and butter?.. hot out of the oven.. first child of mine to the counter who can give me more than a "duh" answer get's a piece :0)

Yep totaly crackers the lot of us!

So passing by quickly on that one I moved to essential things to get done around the house before the visit... after I'd dug out the rest of the front pathway,( dug 4 inches trenches..laid ground cover, sand, slates and hauled several pounds of grit up the hill) so we now can get to the front door without commando training I turned my attention to other essentail issues.. and rushed back inside to finish canning the multiple quarts of apples we picked last weekend or the weekend before. Yep that soical worker is going to look at those rows of apples and think " we have SO got to give this couple children!!!" hehehhehe

Going on with the checklist of essentails to do before said study I have spent the rest of the day looking for my camera so I can take my "after" picture for the Boggest Loser Competition some friends and I are doing.. still haven't found it.. wondering if a stick figure drawing of myself will surfice.. I WISH!! but setting my goal is a good thing..think the social worker will appreciate that attribute.

And finally.. to assuage that underlying nagging feeling and to purge myself of feeling like I have let the whole homeschool community down by inviting such an inspection of my castle.. I have had the children on math, reading, spelling drill for the past week.. they are almost done with college credits.. I have it all charted and highlighted and ringed in a huge binder.. (I'm kidding..the kiddos are 10,8,6 and 4 and barely making it through the grade below where they should be due to Home Being where the AirForce sends us back to back moves! but I digress..) I'm ready!! I have impressive charts of the world and infinity and beyond on the walls.. the desks in a straight line and I'm searching the recycle bins for that art work they have been working on when they should have been doing their master courses!

So .. all this to say.. I'm ready.. pray for us please that the Lord be glorfied.. that the socail worker NOT trip on the slightly uneven pathway to our house and that she like apples.

Wendy

You move to a new area.. you meet someone you really enjoy, you like their sense of humour, thier ideas, the project they are working on.. etc..

You remove a little mouse from the box you always carry around with you for such like occasions..

You squeeze the mouse..

voila.. the person you just met is now a friend.. you know she is because she is on your friends list..

If she ever stops calling, stops talking to you or whatever.. you can just get out that little cute mouse.. and one squeeze and she is gone.

Whats more she can be your friend and nver even know it.. unless she has a mouse in a box she likes to squeeze too.'

SIGH.. in real life it isn't quite that easy. There are some people that become instant friends.. just add coffee or tea.. stir with a phone call or visit and simmer for years type friends. They are more prescious than gold! They love you, take a risk that first meeting to befriend you and stick with you even when you are having major hormonal fluatuations!! or even flactuations.. but htat is a whole 'nother topic.. moving on...

But most people seem to need to check you out.. there appears to be critieria for a freindship.. what kind of friendship is it going to be? How long? Is it worth the trouble.. Often by the time I really feel like I have been added to this persons friends group I have moved!.. never mind hey.. they didn't know it but I squezzed my mouse the first time we realised we both had seen Mt Rushmore.. or had a child with seizures.. or liked tea.. or didn't like sugar in coffee. ... or whatever it was that we did share.. they have been on my friends list ever since :0)

Thanks again to kathy for telling me how to REALLY add friends to my blog friends list.. and for spraking this thought.. yep you can go give her feedback for that hehehehhe.. just check out my frinds list..

OH and while you are there check out Prariecrafts!!! I am so glad to have found her sight!!!

.. right.. off to feed my mouse incase I need it later.. I'll be out at WalMart and you never know who you'll meet who likes the same things as you do there!!!!!!! :0)

Kathy is SO GREAT!!!!!!

She sends me messages of encouragement and she finds my humour funny.. that last should earn her a medal or a weeks recuperation some place calm and quiet!

She even sends me cool bear links LOL!

My only problem with kathy is... she's not on my specail friends page adn Kristy doesn't live here right now to show me how to do that...

SO!!!!

KATHY!!!!!

How do I link to your blog from my blog?

AND

KATHY!!!!!!!

THANKS!!!!!!!!!

Love Wendy

Today we have a new roof going on.. yep.. for a few brief moments the children and I don't have a roof over our heads! I thankful everyday for this home we live in and having a roof that won't leak will be nice. I'm always mindful though as we do these renovations of how blessed we are to be able to. So taking a moment today with each hammer blow to pray for those who don't even have walls to keep them safe let alone a new roof to keep them warm and dry.

I've asked the roofers to please keep our old skylights so I can use them in the garden next year. The workers are from Mexico ( I asked them) and so they are not sure of my accent and I'm not sure of theirs! I finally gave up telling them what I wanted them for and just said I needed the old shylights left behind.. then they thought I wanted the old sky lights left IN the roof! We finally got it straight.. I'm spending some time with the hammering going on to pray not only for the homeless but for our foreign missionaries as well!

Of course.. why some old English batty lady would want to plant skylights in her garden is a bit mind boggling.. I am planning to use them as cold frames :0)

Or maybe we should instal one in the chicken house..doesn't seem right that we have new ones and they don't have one at all.. maybe I'll suggest it to Steve when he gets home :0)

Wendy

Steve came home a couple of months ago with news for the family... he had ordered 12 chickens. I have to confess I was not thrilled to start with. We had just moved in, I was feeling a little overwhelmed with starting a new home again and getting school started in a State that has more laws than anywhere esle we have lived. Another project I though I did not need. The following month saw my husband and two church friends, Roy and Wade, working over time to build a coop and a chicken tractor.. every weekend day from sun up until sun down for a month Steve has been concreteing posts in place, building a delux coop and stringing fencing.

Yesterday the children and I went to pick up the hens. Twelve hens were caught by their feet and popped in boxes we had brought. Twelve hens clucked as we drove home and settled them in their new home. As I type four children have spent over an hour in the chicken area just watching the hens peck around.

Then a shout of excitement and the first egg was carried ceremoniously to the house, warm and brown and well..egg shaped. We have our first egg!!!!

This is one of those humbling moments when I realise that I have let my anxiety of "another thing" over take the joy I could have been having in this project. I am humbled and thankful I have a husband who puts up with my attitudes. note to self..quit the attitudes!and note to hubby... no more surprises for a while :0)

Well it has been..umm way too long since I lasted blogged so let me see if I can get caught up here. You may want to pack a picnic, make sure you have a few free days to read this entry.. me thinks it shall be LONG!!!

So.. January Steve deployed and Kristy came to stay. What a gift she was to our family and what fun we had!!!

IN may Steve returned and and we got busy preparing for our move. Kristy and I had a trip to CA before Steve got home and Kristy stayed with a family in CA.. went home and returned to CA before coming back to Idaho in the nick of time to help me out with a hectic and stressful move!

The packers came and packed all our stuff up and we had less than 24 hours to prepare our home for a white glove inspection. The children got sick and so did Kristy but not before we had made her clean her fingers to the bone!

We passed our inspection and I promptly followed the good example fo family and friends and got really sick too. BUT we were all healthy in time for you trip accross America.

Enroute to VA we saw teh Craters of the Moon.. yes I know a bit of a detour..outer space and all that :0) .. Craters of the moon is a volcanic field the pioneers had to lug their wagons over in search of freedom and land. We hauled our Grand Caravan behind our 15 passenger van but I had a whole new respect for those hardy folk by the time we saw green Montana!

We stopped for a day with Steve's grandm Millie and her son and his family. Kristy and I had our hair done and very nice we truned out if I say so myself and I do! We all had a chance to hold a snake and a pet tirantula.. I have photos to prove it! and we had fun visiting with family.

Next stop was Wyoming and a lovely day meeting a friends new baby and saying hello ..goodbye to Andrea and clint and baby Jessica.

Then a LONG haul to South Dakota where we visited with the Presidents in their stony office. Mount Rushmore up close was more than I could have imagined! and another lesson for me in the vision and magnitude of American Pioneers..this time Rock face carving literally!

A brief stop in Minnesota gave us a chance to check out a pioneer home, a sod home made of dirt and a fort and learn more about the dangers of bygone years.

Finally we reached Wisconsin and a bitter sweet time. We had a wonderful visit with Heidi and family in Wisconsin but had to say good bye to Kristy as she started her next journey in her year of staying with various families. I have to say both Steve and I were totally impressed with this young lady who could cheerfully sit through hours of car travel with four children and a dog in close quaters!

A slight geographical goof on my part sent us whizzing into Illinois thinking I was going to another friends house. When we arrived int eh town I THOUGHT we were meant to be going to I called Cathe. After turnign the van around several times to find a landmark both she and I could idnetify I finally asked.. if there was more than one town of hers in Illinois..at which point she said.. "Illinois?? I live in Wisconsin!" OOOOOPPPPPPSSSS!!!!! right town wrong state. Luckily she is a grascious and forgiving woman and we have promised to try to get it right on our next accross America trip. We headed instead to friends in Illinois and arrived in time for tacos, icecream and circus peanuts.. don't ask!

What a great time we had visiting with Lisa and Lori and their family!!! My face hurt from laughing so much and I came away with some gems of wisdom and as well as some great memories!

Heading East again I had arranged to meet another friend in Indiana. This time I got the town, the State and restaurant right.. I had just spaced the time difference! So thinking I was on time I was actually and hour late so we had a all too brief lunch with Jenn and her boys before she had to leave.. one day I'll get it all right!.. no I will!

We made good time through Ohio and ended up ahead of ourselves a day so we pressed on to Cindy's and managed to catch her the day after she had been commissary shopping.. great timing!!!

We were eager to get out and see our new house and once again missed the boat on timing.. this time it was DC traffic timing that tripped us up. We were able to see the house in dusk and diner was late but we had arrived!

The last few months have flown by! We had airconditioning issues.. like NONE! Which with outdoor temps hitting high 90's.. 100's and indoors getting to 80 slowed the painting.. unpacking process but those seem to have faded into the distant past now. We are in, settled and have had visitors, friends and family over several times already.

We have found a lovely church that we feel like we have been part of forever. My friend Melissa and her family have been fabulous at making sure we are kept in the loop..though she has got to think I am LOOPY! Roy even came over to help Steve build a chicken tractor.. but more of that later...

It is so wonderful to be close to Cindy and Doc and the children again. The cousins are just eating up their time together! Last weekend we took the kiddos apple picking, this weekend Cindy is bring the children here to meet our chickens :0)

We have been swimming and have spent hours watching the children and their amazing imaginations!!!

Marcia and Joe have been out to visit and the weather was great! we went to George Washington's Ferry Farm and to teh pool several times. The grandparents were there when Jacob decided he could dive off the HIGH high board.. and then decided he would do it over.. and over..and over..Yes he is getting older and loves to swim!

So that is our catching up in a nutshell.. so much has happened.. visits with Meoldy and her four children here, bethany came with her three, bonfire get togethers with families from the area and more smores have been eaten that I can count!

Thank-you Kristy for prompting me to get caught up.. next to blog about those tractor driving chickens..

It's been a month since I blogged but we have not been idle. Our family has been spun round a few times and stretched a lot. The end product though seems to be that a stronger thread has entwined itself in our lives and added color and texture. BUT I digress..

Since my husband deployed we have had good week bad week:

Good week.. we biked to the library, went ice skating and had general active fun

Bad week..flu two down two up

Good week.. back out and about walking the trails, reading, learning, enjoying and visiting..

Bad week..Flu again.. other two down..

Good week..sking.. visiting..catching up..

Bad week.. mini flu re-emergence

Good week ..back on slopes great day sking with the three oldest children

Bad week (actually hit the day after sking but htat would ruin the flow here) Oldest son comes down with appendicitus and has an appendectomy two days before we fly to Orlando for a once in a life time holiday/anniversary celebration with my family who flew out from England.

Good week ..Sea World, Busch Gardens, Leau Gardens, Honeymoon Island, beach, Sea shell collecting, back yard pool, sun!

Bad week..well not for me but I supervised the homeschool standardised testing here so it wasn't fun and I disliked being away from the children for three mornings straight.

Since that last bad week we have had two great weeks!!! Catching up on chores, getting out and about. AND I learnt how to spin wool into yarn! What a wonderful experience and so relaxing!!! I seriously considered buying a wheel and seeing if Tricare would pay for it for me as therapy :0) 

It has been a challengeing couple of months but when you spin things good stuff happens. Spin your clothes the water flies out and you get dry clothes! Spin paint and the colors fan out and you get art. Spin wool and the fibres bond and catch and produce useable beautiful yarn. Spin a deployed family and you get a family that sticks together, friends that bond and add color and texture, dross is flung away and what is important is left to wear, endure and sustain.

God has been our provider and protector and a very real help in the ups and downs. He has ordained our life to have the right people at the right time in the right place and I ahve been blessed beyond measure by the beauty of HIS grace and plan for our life.

May this week find you spun, stretched but not broken.

Wendy