10-Jun-2009 - Been on a long, long trip!

We went on a month-long roadtrip out west!  I blogged it in Blogger.  The address is www.10-4-the-road.blogspot.com if you want to take a peek.

Maybe I'll get inspired and start blogging more than just once every blue moon.  We'll see...

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27-Mar-2009 - Spread the Word to End the Word!!!

Spread the Word to End the Word!  AMEN!

I came across this video today while I was looking for TV listings for Jon & Kate Plus 8 on Discovery Health channel's website.  I don't know much about her, but I think it is very classy of Bonnie Hunt to air this on her show. 

Please take a minute to watch, but don't forget, you'll need to pause the pink music playlist in the lower right hand of the sidebar.

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26-Mar-2009 - Early in the morning here on our mountain...

John Wesley shot this picture at the top of our driveway early one morning last week before the fog had burned off.  I could look at this picture for hours, I think it's so pretty and peaceful.

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25-Mar-2009 - Meet Daisy...

This is Daisy, Lena's new bunny rabbit, and the proud inhabitant of the hutch John Wesley built.  The plan had been for Lena to save up her money to buy the rabbit, but John Wesley just couldn't stand seeing the hutch sitting empty.  Besides, every day, several times a day, Lena would go outside and stare longingly into the empty hutch.  Then she would open the doors and caress the various parts of the interior of the hutch.  You could just see her dreaming of the day when there would actually be a fuzzy little bunny in there for her to hold and pet.

Well, Harold took the kids to the stock yards this past Saturday morning and John Wesley couldn't take it a minute longer.  He and Lena went over to the man that was selling rabbits and they picked one out and JOHN WESLEY bought her the rabbit. 

Now, she goes out to the rabbit hutch even more often and pets the rabbit and makes sure she has plenty of food and worries over whether she's drinking enough water.  It's where she goes first thing every morning as soon as she gets dressed, even before she eats breakfast.  I had no idea how sweet she would be about her bunny!

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23-Mar-2009 - Ah, Spring!

Spring has indeed sprung here in Kentucky!  Beautiful daffy-dum-dillies (Didn't you know that was the proper name for daffodils?  Well, according to my dad and now my children, it is!) are blooming in patches everywhere!  My sweet Cody brought me a beautiful little vase, er...water bottle of them yesterday!  They are so fragrant and bright.  Can't help but perk up my day just looking at them.

Today, my Harold and the older boys worked on this composting bin made from pallets.  Now, we'll see if we are able to get together a garden to use the compost on....

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21-Mar-2009 - Seasoned with Salt...

"Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt..."           ~Colossians 4:6.

Ginger has a wonderful blog post up right now reminding us of the impact of our words and the responsibility we have to use our words in constructive, edifying, God-honoring ways.  I couldn't agree more.

Of course as a mother, my days are FULL of opportunities to practice guarding the gates of my mouth!  I find myself letting loose with a little more criticism than I'd like on a too-often basis.  Then sometimes, I will think something pleasant or praiseworthy about one of my children or my husband, and don't bother voicing the thought.  Why is that??? 

Words are SO important.  Words have the power of healing.  They also, unfortunately, have the power to decimate the ones we love in seconds.  They can build up and tear down.  They have the power to create war and to elicit peace.  We have that power right there within our little vocal chords.  Amazing, isn't it?

With something so powerful within our grasp, we have a responsibility, friends.  Of course we have freedom of speech.  We *can* say whatever we like.  But that doesn't really mean, as Christians, that we should.  After all, we're the bondservants of Christ.  We are bound to the law of kindness and grace.  Called to season our words with salt (preserving, life-infusing), to administer grace to the hearer, to edify and to honor our Lord who is THE WORD.

So, this week, I'll be measuring my words a little more carefully.  I'll be biting my tongue a little more often (I'll carry a tissue in case this becomes bloody!), and I'll be voicing those pleasant and praiseworthy thoughts to my husband and children.  Care to join me?

By the way--the pretzels in the picture were a treat made by my boys yesterday morning!  YUMMO!  It's so nice to have older kids who can whip up yummy stuff!

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15-Mar-2009 - New Wheels...

Actually, not so new.  We bought our little bus back in the Fall of last year, but I never got around to taking a picture of it.  So here it is now.  A bit dirty on a dreary day, but at least I finally remembered!  Love how it accommodates all of us and all of our most important treasures.  It's also got a wheelchair lift (on the other side) that we are SO going to be making use of before long.  Jared's just getting TOO big to lug around.  We're looking for a chair for him, and this little bus will make it all so much easier for everyone! 

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15-Mar-2009 - What a great big brother!

Lena (7) has been wanting a rabbit for a long time.  We've been looking (very non-committally) at hutches, but knew it would be a while before we bought one because they're just, well, expensive!

John Wesley decided he felt sorry for Lena having to wait and all, so he looked around our yard (and our neighbor's yard) and found everything he needed to build a rabbit hutch--for free!  Luckily, Grandpa lives next door to offer technical support!!!  I'm so proud of John Wesley's creativity, but mostly I'm proud of his sweet and loving heart!

Here's John Wesley (13) getting ready to show Lena the rabbit hutch he built for her.  We were all very excited to see what her reaction would be!

We were certainly not disappointed!  She was SO thrilled.  She just kept twirling around with that sweet grin on her face, saying, "This is the best surprise of my whole life!"

It's one of those times that you just can't imagine not being there for.  So glad I'm home with my kids!

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21-Nov-2008 - My birthday party....

My mom and I have birthdays one day apart--back in October--I know, I'm late.  Mom wanted all of her children to be born before she was 30.  Being the sweet, compliant person I am (okay, where's the rolly eye emoticon?), I was born one day before her 30th birthday.  Harold & the kids decided to take us to the park for a cookout.  It was a beautiful, blustery fall day.

The kids had a ton of fun!  Jared & MaKenzie loved climbing on the slides.

Jonas & Lena chased each other down the fireman pole.

John Wesley was a very sweet big brother and helped Matthew swing.  I am so thankful for how sweet & patient the bigger kids are with their little brothers & sisters.

Here is William helping MaKenzie.  Another sweet brother.

Cody moves at the speed of lightening.  I think this was the only opportunity I had to catch him being still.

The park is situated just under a dam.  The hillside formed by the dam is a great place to sled during the winter (if you're careful), and the kids love to roll down it in the warmer months.

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19-Nov-2008 - Sick Days...

As I mentioned in my last post, my family has taken a beating with illness the last few weeks.  Poor MaKenzie had her fill this night (pic taken last week)!  She fell asleep taking her neb treatments.  Thankfully she is much better now and has been able to discontinue them.  I would never wish for any of my children to be sick, but there is something very sweet about the tender fellowship with my little ones when they are under the weather and just want to be near Momma.  It's such a blessing and a privilege to be able to comfort and hold them during these times.  So happy that I don't have to worry about missing work or school or whatever in times like these.  I am so thankful for our homeschooling lifestyle and for the togetherness and flexibility it affords our family.  I can't imagine it being any other way.  I pray I won't be in the position of having to any time soon...

We got word recently that our current adoption is sort of stalled.  I spoke with his worker earlier this week and the word is that we are looking at mid to late January for placement, as long as things proceed as they are expected to on their end.  What a bummer!  We were hoping for placement in September.  I'm not really stressing though, as I know that it's all in God's timing anyway.  I keep wondering though, if He's closing the door a little at a time on this adoption.  Trying to keep myself from nudging things one way or the other--I want to KNOW that God is in charge and that I haven't tipped the scales!  It's hard to keep my nose out of His business sometimes.  I pray for Him to do His will, then I try to help him out--like He needs ME???? DUH~I think not!  I'm a slow learner sometimes.

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17-May-2008 - Have you read this book?

If you are an adoptive momma, you should.  Especially if you've adopted from the foster care system...

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11-May-2008 - Awesome Mother's Day...

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I sure did!  Harold and the kids made a delicious lunch (potroast, veggies, Oreo cheese cake, cherry cheese cake, Turtle Tracks ice cream--yep, mostly dessert, my kind of meal)!  They set the table, took care of all the details and I didn't have to lift a finger!

We also had my parents over for lunch, which was nice.  They have been such a support to us, especially these last few weeks.  We've been passing around strep throat and have had several doctor appointments for other things, and they are so sweet to keep the kids (the ones who don't have to or want to go) for me when I have to be on the go. 

After my wonderful lunch, we visited with my mom & dad for a while, then after they left, the kids played and I took a nap--talk about a blissful day!  This evening we watched a movie together and now everyone is in bed.

This will be another busy week with three or four appointments and working to keep up with our school work between times. 

Church was awesome today as well.  I say awesome because I just LOVE the way our church does Mother's Day.  We DON'T do it.  Now, don't get me wrong.  The pastor does wish a Happy Mother's Day from the pulpit, and he does recognize the worth and work of moms.  BUT, we DON'T put the spotlight on old, young, new and most children.  And we certainly don't have all the moms in the congregation stand up to be recognized and give them a flower or whatever!  Why?  Well, have you ever been sitting in the pews on Mother's Day, childless, and longing so much for a child that you think you are going to die, wishing with all your heart you could stand up and be counted among the blessed?  Now, THAT's miserable, I know.  And I think it is so wonderful that we don't put women through that.

Well, that's my soapbox for the day.  I'll step down now and give someone else the floor! :)  Have a great Monday!

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9-May-2008 - These are a few of my favorite things...

Ginger tagged me with this meme.  I'm supposed to list 3 of my favorite things.  So here you go...

1.  My favorite color, like Ginger, is ORANGE!  It's bold, bright, and happy and looking at it makes me feel energized.  I wish I could bottle the feeling I get from looking at the color orange, I'd probably get more done in a day!

2.  My favorite way to spend a relaxing evening is curled up on our huge sectional couch watching movies with my hubby and all the kids.  (Currently we're working our way through season 2 of The Waltons.)

3.  My favorite person in the world is my hubby.  He's a true servant-leader to our family.  He's the spiritual leader of our family and He takes that responsibility seriously.  He's wise and strong.  He loves us more than anything and gives his best self to his time with us.  His family is his priority and we know it.

There you have it and now you know.

I tag Mommaofmany, and Letitia (SandBetweenMyToes).

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7-May-2008 - Kids and Fish and Sibling Love...

We spent last weekend at a camp retreat and the kids got to go fishing.  They had a ball, and they all caught catfish.

Here's one of John Wesley's... 

And here is one of Cody's...

Here is William's.  He was dying to catch a fish, but didn't want to hold it very badly, so Cody helped.  :)  Please ignore the shirt.  It was a hand-me-down from a friend and I normally wouldn't let him wear this one out in public, but I knew he'd be getting nasty.  I don't like to advertise our shortcomings... :)

And here is Jonas'.  Unfortunately you can't see his shirt, which says, "Yes I am a Jesus Freak."  Much better advertising!

And here are a few of Lena "helping" John Wesley catch one.  He's such a sweet big brother. 

And, of course, no fishing story would be complete without the tale of the "one that got away"...

It was THIS BIG...  (It really was the biggest one of the day.  It broke the line...)

We had so much fun.  It was so nice for us all to get to spend time out in the beautiful Spring weather.  Isn't this a beautiful green scene?

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28-Apr-2008 - Hummingbirds are here!

I put out our hummingbird feeder on Saturday afternoon.  Within an hour or so, we had a steady stream of visitors.  I am suprised they found it so quickly!  The kids and I have really enjoyed watching them.  They are so very tiny.  These were two of our first visitors.

I think I'm going to get a couple of other bird feeders.  We have a great place to birdwatch next to our dining room window.  At our other house, we didn't really have a good window for observing the birds without being intrusive.

Spring has definitely sprung!  It's been a beautiful day.  Harold & the boys worked outside sprucing things up and doing a few repairs.  I caught up on laundry and cleaned out the pantry (doesn't that sound like fun?). 

Our dogs already have had several ticks on them.  I'm afraid it's going to be quite a year for that.  I'm going to need to keep the kids hair cut or their heads checked regularly. 

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14-Apr-2008 - I love this!

I found this on DeeDee's blog and I love it!  Just like DeeDee, I had a VERY MEAN mother :) growing up!  Somehow, as I grew older and wiser, she became much nicer too.  So here's to you, Mom!  --and to ALL you mean moms out there! 

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12-Apr-2008 - A Good Reminder...

Today as I was standing at the sink washing dishes from breakfast, pouting and feeling sorry for dishwasher-less self, my sweet MaKenzie comes to me and says, "Mommy, can I help you?"  I brushed her off, not answering, but thinking in my mind, "What can she do?  She's too little, and besides, with the CP, she can't stand on a chair or manipulate the stuff to wash."

MaKenzie continued, "Mommy can I wash the spoons?"  I thought, "Okay, she can maybe put the washed, rinsed spoons into the dish drainer when I'm done, then she'll feel like she's accomplished something." 

So, I said, "Yes, you can do the spoons.  I'll tell you when I'm ready."  Thinking silently to myself, "Now, go play so I can get this done."

That's when God used her to remind me...

"Can you teach me how to be a Mommy?" came her sweet voice. 

And however obvious it should always have been, it hit me afresh.  I am.  Every day.  I'm teaching--whether I mean to or not.  For good or for bad.  I'm teaching my girls how to be a Mommy.  It's such a sobering thought.  *I* am what my kids will think of when they think of "Mommy" and it will become their standard--their measuring stick--their plumb line. 

Lord, help me to be a good mom, a loving mom.  Help me to find ways to reach out and help me to find ways to help my children who CAN'T reach out to do so.  Help me to encourage and accept their help even when it's not really help, but more work--help me to find these times of fellowship with your gifts of my children more precious than a clean sink ever could be.

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9-Apr-2008 - A couple of fun videos for your viewing pleasure...

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9-Apr-2008 - Love this video I stole from Ginger!

At first glance, this is a funny video--but when you think about the true implications, it's really not funny at all, it's very sad.  I'm so happy my children are home with me and we are free to pursue things that aren't on the test.  (Oh, is there supposed to be a test? :) )

I've edited this entry because I just felt the need to say that this is not at all what I experienced during my school years.  In fact, I'd have to say that if anything, my school erred on the side of delight-directed.  I did, of course, have the obligatory math, English, science, civics, history, etc.  But, I also had at least 2 classes each day of either music appreciation, band, choir, piano, etc.  I know of at least one year where I had all 4 of those classes.  So out of 7 classes in my day, 4 of them were delight-driven.  Is that awesome or what?

(Just a side note here, looking at that last paragraph, you'd think I would be able to play the piano well or at least carry a tune--I don't know WHAT happened!)

Having said that, I do realize that if I were to put my children in public school at this time, this WOULD be the reality.  It is really very sad that things have changed so drastically in the past 20 years or so.

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25-Mar-2008 - Public School Rant!!!

Last Wednesday, a friend from church got news that her mother had had a stroke.  She asked if we would mind if her 5 children stayed with us while she went to be with her mom.  We said, "Of course not!" 

That makes 15 of us, which has been interesting considering our space limitations.  But with some structure and creativity, it's working.

The kids are in public school.  One of them has to be on the bus (bus stop is 20 minutes away from my house) by 6:15 each morning.  Then I have to come back and get the other 4 ready for school and have them there at 8:30. 

Like I said, it's all working, but my heart breaks for them. 

The two boys are both 7 and they are in 1st and 2nd grade and they both have ADHD and IEP's.  Their school participates in the Accelerated Reader program.  Both boys have learning disablilities, yet they are expected to participate fully and successfully in the A.R. program.  They are assigned a book to read, then they take a test on the book. 

Here's where I have issues.  If they don't pass the test, they aren't allowed to go to recess.  Well, they go, but they're required to sit on the bleachers.

I just want to go to whoever made up this system and say, "Ummmmm, if a child has a learning disability, it might be possible that reading and test-taking might be beyond their ability.  Then, if the child has ADHD (remember the "H" in that?  HYPERACTIVE!!!) and they are not allowed to blow off steam by running around during recess, aren't you creating a vicious cycle?"

Inability to focus + learning disability = poor test performance = loss of recess = even more inability to focus due to not having the opportunity to "get the energy out" = poor school performance in general + poor behavior = CHILD WHO IS FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS!!!! 

Unfortunately, it's not just these two.  Imagine how many children deal with these kinds of silly "rules"!  I would just love to see these kids homeschooled.  There would be so many positive outcomes for them.  They could wiggle their way through their school work if they needed to.  They could take breaks when they needed them to blow off the buildup of energy.  Their diet could be determined by someone who cared.  Rules blindly made by someone who could care less about their wiggle needs would no longer apply to them.

I'm so glad my wiggly boys are home with me every day!   

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