Nov. 9, 2009
A few things
Well, the posts have been infrequent and the learning unconventional, but we have certainly been busy.
We've driven across the country, learned the basics of reading maps, seen mountains and rivers and prairies.
We've met new people and slept in new places. Hiked through the woods, scaled cliffs, thrown rocks, watched seagulls and bison and geysers.
We've eaten home-grown food and picked our own berries. D3 is pretty convinced the world is a smorgasbord just waiting for her.
We've been reading *Little House on the Prairie* through all of this and felt much in common with the Ingalls' journey.
This week things are starting to settle down a bit. We got our library card today. D1 wanted to check out some books she could read, and we were excited to see this library has a full collection of Bob Books. I found several of the next level up, and was pleased to discover when we got home that she can now read books made up primarily of three-letter words with ease and only a little help on sight words and very similar words. (When we left Ohio, these were still quite a challenge.) D2 wanted to try, too, of course, but mostly was content just to repeat the sentence after hearing it. He can sound out a few short words, though.
Last week my dad picked up a baby-weighing scale at the thrift store. He had no plans for it, just couldn't resist the bargain. The kids had fun weighing themselves (it goes up just high enough to register D1.) Today D1 and D2 started weighing stacks of books, adding more and more books and watching the weight go higher and higher.
Nov. 9, 2009
Great Food Aids Mending
There is no doubt that meals brought over by angels disguised as homeschooling mom's do wonders when you are sick. For one thing, I'm clearly blessed by friends who cook better than me and who do fancy meals! 
It really does make a body feel better to have something wholesome to eat while not having to be on your feet to do the preparation.
Thank you so much to the wonderful friends who have helped us in this way. God bless you~
November 8, 2009
Happy Happy Joy Joy, Here's The Boy!
Samuel and Me
I'm In Love
Isn't he the CUTEST?!
©AmandaDixon2009
Nov. 8, 2009
A New Adventure for Our Family
We are in the process of adopting Kate from Latvia. She is a handicap girl who dresses herself with her teeth. She will be visiting us during Christmas. The orphanage doesn't want her any longer. They were putting her through training courses to learn "independent living" so they could ship her out. She is only ten years old. How do you live independently when you can only use your mouth to dress yourself, let alone use the bathroom? Her fate is certain death if she stays. The orphanage complained that she was too much for them to lift any longer. Our hearts hurt for Kate. If you would like to help us adopt her, send a check in care of Kate to :
Open Door Adoption
PHONE: (229) 228-6339 EMAIL: opendoor@rose.net
P.O. Box 4 218 E. Jackson Street
Thomasville, GA 31799
Thanks!!
This is a picture of her at eight years old. She is now ten years old.
November 7, 2009
Tickled Blue!
I am so excited and very proud to say I am now officially the oldest of 9 children! :) Samuel Ira was born today! We are 20 years and 12 days apart. He is just precious and sweet! A true gift from God! I'm tickled there is another newborn in the house! :D Altho... there are so many people to share him with. LOL! Trying to snatch him anytime I can! ;) Will get some more up about him and pictures soon! :D I am just soo happy he's here!
I am so blessed by God to have another sibling to love, to watch grow up and to TRY to be an example of how to live as our Messiah did!
Thank you God for the blessing of this precious babe! Such an awesome Shabbat this has been!
©AmandaDixon2009
Nov. 6, 2009
Grandpa and the Skunk
My grandpa, my Papafather's dad, was a country vet. He had a little office off the side of the house where he did small animal surgery, and exams. He made house calls all around the country, some trips taking him an hour or more to reach the animal in need of help, be it cow, horse, sheep, or pig. Very often he would have one of his children in tow. He had 10 of them so there was no shortage of helpers. It all sounds very James Harriot like, and in a way it was. James Harriot's stories are popular with that side of the family and each story reminds them of one like it that grandpa experienced.
Grandpa's office was, as I said, just off the house. Just off the kitchen to be exact. My grandma had a dutch door put in so that she could just open up the top half to talk to him and yet keep the little ones inside. Think about that. A vet's office, just off the kitchen. Do you recall how a vet's office smells? That smell still lingers in that office to this day and it's been over 10 years since my grandpa died.
Aside from the smell, I never gave grandpa's office much thought. We would traipse our way through it on the way to play outside, to gather in the clothes from off the line, to pick grapes, collect eggs, or to find grandpa. The office doubled as grandma's laundry room so I suppose that's why it didn't seem like a room that needed much attention. I never spent any time in it other than to get from point A to point B. Which is strange now that I think about it, all those fascinating instruments, chemicals, medicines, and the like just within reach. I never touched them or was ever tempted to do so.
One temptation I did give in to was a special barrel out back that held two skunks. Grandpa would warn us to leave those skunks alone. My numerous cousins and I would stand around the barrel peering in, and those skunks would peer back. The lot of us cousins would look for only a moment and then run away as fast as we could before we got sprayed. I didn't find out until I was much older that those skunks couldn't spray because my grandpa had "deskunked" them. I don't know if my cousins were aware of this at the time or not, they ran just as fast as I did. Grandpa's warning hadn't been for us, he had been worried that we would torment the skunks.
Skunks actually make a great pet and are positively darling, if you can legally keep them. My uncle kept one for awhile. She was just like a cat, had a litter box and everything. Her name was Rosie, and then some, but I won't repeat that part.
We have a family story, told every couple of years or so I guess, about grandpa and one particular skunk he was de-scenting. While in the process of removing the gland that contains the hideous skunk musk, it was ruptured. It squirted all of its contents right in my grandpa's face. He came into the kitchen to clean up and the only thing he said was, "It's such a beautiful color." Apparently skunk spray is an amber color, and my God fearing grandpa could still recognize the beauty of God's handiwork even in a skunk's musk.
Funny, while my aunts and uncles roar with laughter about this story every time they tell it, I don't remember anyone talking about the smell lingering in the kitchen or what on earth my grandma said or did. I'll have to ask them about that.
After the laughter dies down, someone will always mention how my grandpa was such a quiet, gentle, and patient man. Oh he had his moments when a cow would stomp him, but how many men do you know who would take it from a skunk and only comment on it's beauty?
Nov. 6, 2009
A Woman To Admire
I've got a friend that I would like to emulate in many ways. She is unassuming and if you met her, you would think, "What a lovely lady, she looks so nice." If you knew how she homeschooled, you would notice it is unique in some ways yet tailored perfectly to her student. Though chances are, you wouldn't find out a lot of detail in relation to this because as a genteel woman ought to be, she is quiet about certain aspects of her life. Aside from these things, deeper down is where you wish you knew her. She has a knack, a gift I believe, to reach out to others in special ways just when they need it...a little something to give some light at the end of a gray tunnel. And she finds ways to do this which are private, something that I admire and wish for in my own life. If you are privileged to get to know her, you will also find that she is extremely godly and wise, and uses discretion in her council. She is one person I can always go to for advice on submitting to George, and for this, she is priceless. I've learned to be thankful for this time we are friends because she has alluded that it will probably only be for a season. A lesson learned, no doubt, by experience. I feel this is a woman that the daughters of Jerusalem would rise up to call blessed. In her, her husband has a precious jewel. And me, a valued friend. I am not alone in this, I'm sure. She quietly goes about serving those in her life, likely not realizing how special she is. My children love her and her daughter. They both shine with His love and kindness, and none of our lives would be the same without them.
~So thank you RURTSY, for the gifts you left today. It was a welcome reminder that these dim days will pass soon enough, and the diversion is priceless.
Nov. 6, 2009
When It Suddenly Overwhelms
I'm writing to ask for prayer. The 'not feeling 100%' has swelled to the point I've been in bed all day. I look and feel terrible and can't do some things that NEED to be done; it is something when mom can't do what has to be done. I have to get enough energy to sit up sometime today, for several hours. George is holding down the fort on all other fronts, I am just needed for one section. I don't know what I have, but hope it doesn't go to pneumonia which is where I ended up the exact same time last year. Thank you for praying for me and us--for health, to grow as a family during this trial, and for energy--just for a few hours.
Nov. 5, 2009
Y.oung M.inds C.acophony A.lbum
When I was a young and silly girl I really wanted a certain record. Yup, I said record. They still existed even though cassette tapes were beginning to make their appearance. The problem was, I didn't own a tape player, I owned a record player.
I can't even remember now how this record made it to the top of my wish list. I'm guessing that what really happened was that I had seen it while digging through the records at the store and it called to my fickle heart. I trotted off to the nearest money source, which just happened to be my Aunt Sissie. I was spending a couple of weeks with her during the summer. Her children were all grown and possibly gone, that part of my memory is a little fuzzy. Anyway, I guess Aunt Sissie saw nothing wrong with indulging me and she bought it. Oh, I was a happy music lover! I listened to that album for years. Perhaps all of two-years.
I have no idea what my mother thought of this present. I don't recall her ever expressing it to me. I may have to ask her about that. I do remember that my aunt loved me and wanted to give me something simple, like a two week invasion of her home and privacy wasn't enough. She was just like that, quietly giving.
So what record sang to me and held my attention for so long? Irwin the Disco Duck In the Navy.
- In the Navy
- Macho Man
- Y.M.C.A.
- Music Box Dancer
- Last Dance
- Knock on Wood
- Le Freak
- Instant Replay
- I Love the Night Life
- Goodnight Tonight
I'm sure it was that dashing figure of a duck in his sailor uniform that caught my eye in the first place. I wanted to join the Navy after all! As one of those grown cousins that no longer lived in the house was in the Navy, it was probably what tipped the scale in my aunt buying it for me. I wouldn't buy anything like this for my own children, let alone my nieces.
It is however a somewhat fond memory, mainly because of my Aunt Sissie. I can't ever hear Y.M.C.A. without thinking of this record, and I can't think of this record without remembering her.
Nov. 5, 2009
Lyn's Baked Oatmeal
I got this recipe from my friend Lyn, but I put my own spin on it. We have it every Wed. for breakfast and often have the leftovers for a snack. We make it up the night before and store it in the fridge to make our morning as easy (and as TASTY) as can be!
Baked Oatmeal
3 C. Oatmeal
1 C. Sugar (we use less than 1 C... more like 3/4 C. of organic, unbleached sugar... I tried honey, but it didn't turn out as soft as we liked)
1 t. salt. (I use kosher sea salt)
2 t. baking powder (I use aluminum free from Costco)
6 scoops of organic whey protein powder (we use the kind sweetened with stevia and xylitol and either chocolate OR vanilla tastes great)
1 C. milk (actually we use 1 C. of kefir and sometimes add just a little more than a cup since the kefir can be quite thick. Rice milk also works well!)
2 eggs (organic, if possible)
1/2 C. oil (we use unsweetened organic applesauce instead)
I also sprinkle in a large amount (I never measure... maybe a scant 1/4 C.???) of organic cinnamon
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour into greased 8x11 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm topped with applesauce, warm milk, raisins, craisins, nuts, whatever you like.
We have also made this with eggnog instead of milk and it was yummy!
Oh, once I made it with choc. protein powder and added a couple heaping TBS. of raw almond butter and it was nice like that too!
Last Page | Next Page
