Jun. 7, 2008 - Seasons of Change

     What's that old saying?  "The only thing consistent in life is change".  Yeah, that's my life in a nutshell.  And while it's nice not being stuck doing the same old thing every single day, sometimes I wish that we had a little more of the same ol' same ol'.  I suppose that life has it's seasons and there have been many times that I've whined about everything being it's same old boring self.  I guess I'm just struggling with my life being so chaotic.  It has been for some time.  I try to roll with the punches and console myself that things will become more stable in time.  But the months just keep dragging on and I'm getting a little discouraged.  My only consolation is that the Lord is the ultimate scheduler of my days and that this is where He wants me right now.  I look for the beauty in the chaos and see His hand moving in my life in the little things--our new kitties, messy toddler smooches, the frequent thunderstorms, and the many distractions that come my way through the day.  Everything is filtered through the Lord's loving hands.  Each moment a precious gift--crazy as it is.

     Our friend Chuck has accepted our job offer to come bail us out of the mess we've made in our business life.    Steve hates and avoids paperwork whereas Chuck loves it.  Our books are "messy" and he's going to help us clean things up.  It feels good to have some help but it's going to take time and effort to get things to where they need to be.  I'm hoping to work myself out of a job with the new computer program that we've bought.  Chuck should be able to coordinate it all and everything should work smoothly without me needing to be here in the office so much.  It will be good to focus my time and energy on the home and children again.  Much has slipped through the cracks that need my attention.  I look forward to the challenge. 

     With the economy being the way it is, I don't see how we will be able to take a vacation this year--either as a family or just Steve and I.  I'm missing the quiet grand beauty of the beach and I feel terrible knowing that we aren't going to make it there this year unless something really wonderful happens.  So I'm holding out hope!! 

Sunset on the California Coast

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Jun. 2, 2008 - What's Growing On Around Our House...

     Summer has arrived around our little homestead.  Hot weather, thunderstorms, popsicles, and the catching of frogs, lizards, snakes, turtles and whatever other wildlife mistakenly wanders within the reach of my little guys.   

What could be better than two boys and their frog???

     Our garden is still not in and I'm hoping to get it all done this week.  In between raindrops, of course.  Sigh!  Over the weekend we put in the new kitchen herb garden.  It is so nice.  After the seeds emerge I'll take a picture and post it.  Sigh.  I also got the rest of the blackberries planted, moved my bird feeder to the front yard and planted a Japanese Maple in the back yard.  I managed to get a nasty sunburn on my lower neck on my back and also on my face that is causing me a lot of pain and frustration.

     I have yet to put in the medicinal herb bed, weed all the flower beds and work out what we're planting in the back yard.  My two youngest daughters want garden spots of their own this year.  I love that the kids are showing an interest in gardening.  Lilly (13) has always had a green thumb and whatever she plants automatically grows--I'm so envious.  And Hope (11) is a hard worker and loves to help.  We have a lot to do and not nearly enough time to do it in.  I'm so thankful for my garden buddy Josh who I could do none of this without. 

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May. 21, 2008 - Vincent Mandino: December 13, 1959---May 11, 2008

     This past week and a half has, by far, been the longest of my life.  My Mother's Day (May 11th) was shattered with news of Steve's brother Vincent dying of a heart attack at his workplace earlier that day.  His wife Mae came to our house and delivered the news personally.  Steve's parents (Vincent's mom and step-dad) were visiting for the holiday weekend as we usually do a special dinner for Mother's Day. We were all shellshocked but thankful that we were all together for support. 

     Vincent was 48 when he passed away.  He lived a rough life involving substance abuse and several stints of jail time.  We loved him anyway.  He was rough and gruff but was a real softie inside.  Steve had made it a point to witness to him from the time that he was a young boy because he was concerned for his big brother who was always in trouble.  It all started with a dream that Steve felt the Lord gave him when he was 11 or so about his brother dying when he was 32.  As often as Vincent would listen, Steve would share with him that he needed to get right with the Lord.  Vincent would always tell him that He understood what Steve was saying but that he wasn't ready yet.  He would say, "Little brother, I've done some really bad stuff.  I'm trying to do better."  Steve would say that God loved him the way he was but he was pretty knuckleheaded (it runs in the family!!!).  Needless to say, Vincent didn't die when he was 32 but we calculated it up and it has been 32 years since Steve's dream.  Interesting.

     Vincent began hoving trouble with his heart about 12 or so years ago (give or take) and had two heart attacks over the course of those years.  He had several surgeries to put in stints and whatnot.

     Last Thanksgiving was the last time that we saw him and we learned that he was going back to jail for a while.  He was released April 18th and he immedietly went back to work not even a half hour before he had gotten home.  He worked hard to take care of his family.  His wife Mae had been having trouble with working and keeping bills payed so he was happy to be home taking care of them again.  He loved working as hard as his body would allow.  He had not even been home for a month before he died.

     On Mother's Day, as I lay in bed, not really praying but just talking to the Lord, I expressed that I had hoped with Vincent's dying breath that he finally accepted the gift of salvation and I had a sort of vision flash through my mind of Vincent praying and praising God with his hands in the air.  I felt a sense of peace and fell asleep shortly afterwards.

     All the next day I wanted to share my "vision" with Steve but there was never a proper moment.  When he came into the house where I was working in the kitchen he told me that he had found out a lot more of the details of the whole thing.  He explained that they had found Vincent lying on his back on the floor with his socks and shoes off, his shirt partly lifted and his hands lifted over his head.  Because of the way he lay there, they had at first suspected foul play since it was a rather unnatural position for a person having a heart attack to die.  At that point I told Steve of the "vision" that I had and we were both so happy.  A few days later Steve had the opportunity to share the story with Mae and she was really excited too.  Their son Anthony was happy beyond words because he had been really concerned for his dad as well.  Mae had been really confused about him having his hands raised that way and her mind was then set at ease.  All signs pointed to a heart attack and the coroner agreed--but that was the one thing that didn't make sense.  Now it does. 

     The funeral on Monday (the 19th) was beautiful.  Our friend Chuck and his family came out from Virginia to officiate the service.  Chuck had known Vincent from when they both were working for our business. 

     The cemetary where Vincent is burried is right down the road from a place where his family used to go swimming in the summer and he loved that area.  It is a beautiful place and very peaceful--as a cemetary should feel. 

      We will be working with Mae to get her on her feet and be her support for as long as she needs us.  She will need someone to come alongside her as she raises her two children left at home--Anthony (who is 15 or 16) and Rosemarie (who is 5 and was the apple of her daddy's eye).

     I will miss Vincent.  I miss his big booming laugh, his down to earth ways and the love he wasn't afraid to show for his family.  I regret that we didn't get to see him again but, providing that my vision was correct, we will meet again in Glory someday.

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May. 9, 2008 - Odds and Ends

     Do you ever have days that you can almost catch yourself as you're running around in circles?  It's been that way for me these past couple of weeks.  Sometimes it feels like I meet myself coming in and going out of the door.  Cloning technology would be great at this point!!   

     The move to our new office has went very well but there is still so much to be done.  Steve is in heaven with his quiet little organized work world.  He says that he can get so much more accomplished now.  On the other hand I am a woman divided.  When I am at the office all I can think about is all the things that need to be done at home and thinking about the children.  When I am at home I think of all the stuff that I haven't finished at the office yet .    I have always enjoyed working amoungst the chaos of our daily life, being able to easily take off my secretarial hat to put on my mommy one.  This has been a big adjustment for me.  Not to mention that my Internet access is now only in the office.  That's been hard to deal with as well--not being able to just look up something when the whim strikes or chatting with friends and checking my e-mail. 

      The children have felt my absence as well.  I think that things will fall together as the new routine becomes more familiar.  My plans are to only work 3 days a week for about 4 hours a day.  But I have to get to the point where that is possible--which means getting caught back up and staying there.

     School has been on hold.  We have been working on the new schoolroom on the weekends.  We've gotten it all cleaned out and have painted the ceiling and walls.  This weekend I plan to clean the floor, put down the foam moisture barrier and lay the carpet tiles.  I am just thrilled at the aspect of getting all of our books/bookshelves and school stuff out of our main living area. 

         A couple of days after I posted my last entry we had a bunch of hail.  I was distraught that all of the bucks and our ram was out in it and Josh mustered up the courage to run out and put them in the barn when the hail let up a bit.  What I should've been more concerned with was my trays of seedlings that I had been hardening off and had completely forgotten was outside on the back porch.  Sigh.  The hail came down so fast and hard that it beat the paint off of the front of our house and made a mess of the trees and plants with leaves everywhere.  I lost all but 2 of my echinacea seedlings and most of my canning tomatoes.  I figure that it was about a $50-$75 loss. 

hail on the back porch

     With all of the rain my remaining seedlings still haven't found their home in the garden yet.  I did manage to get out all of my canning tomatoes that survived, but that's been it.  And we had to use our little Mantis tiller to put those in.  My only wish for Mother's Day this year is for my big tiller to get put back together!!!

     As mother's day rolls around again I am thankful for each and every child the Lord has blessed us with.  I am thankful that the ones that I can hold in my arms are all healthy and doing well and I feel a strange gratitude also that I will have my own little welcoming committee when I arrive in heaven one day.  I pray that our quiver is not full yet--greedy woman that I am!!  I so long to grant our children's desire for another baby.  But I will rest content with the children the Lord has blessed us with if He does not send another.  His will is all I truly desire.

     I hope that all of you moms reading this have a wonderful Mother's Day!!!

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Apr. 23, 2008 - This and That

     Wow!  I can't believe that it's been this long since I've posted.  How the days seem to fly!!!  We have been busy, to say the least.

     For our daughter's birthdays (April 4th & 5th) we bought them a nice little piano and when we went to pick it up and bring it home dh Steve put his back out.  Also in the midst of that, his doctor changed his medication (he's bipolar) and for 2 weeks he was out there in the twilight zone (as he called it).  He really was messed up between the pain meds, muscle relaxers, and the new medication.  The new meds made his blood pressure skyrocket and he was sick and pretty much unable to function for the two weeks he was taking them.  He's off of those now, thankfully and getting back to his old self again.  Whew!!  It was terrible.

     We have also been looking at rental property for our business.  We had been talking for some time about putting our office somewhere other than here at home.  Steve has a terrible time being able to concentrate and our little guy Eli (who's 4) loves and wants to be with his daddy all the time.  And while there's nothing wrong with that at all, we do need an income.    We've decided that we definitely need stronger boundaries between work and play time so we have pretty much narrowed our options down.  The building we've settled on is just 10 minutes away from home and in our little town on the "main" street where all the cute little shops are.  We will have space for each of us (Steve, myself, and our oldest son Stevie) to have our own offices, which is so cool.  We also have a spare room to put all of our exercise equipment that we don't have room to use here (thus sitting, collecting dust wherever we can find a place to stuff it).  We will have a big area for a showroom--something we've never had before in our 15 years of business but have always wanted.  You can't imagine how excited we are!!  The best part --to me--is that I'm going to convert our office here at home into a schoolroom.  I'm a bookaholic and have shelves and shelves of books.  But I also have boxes and buckets of them that I store when we aren't using them.  The new schoolroom will allow us the room to have everything on shelves.  Which means of course that I need to buy some more shelves!!  And to not have school stuff strung out thoughout the house...  Heaven!  I'm so excited!!

     In March we traded our big "box" truck (like a moving van) and an extra little pickup truck we had for a Jeep Sahara with 4 doors.  We've been having lots of fun with that.  We like to take the 3 little boys out for fun rides through creeks and climbing hills and such.  They love it.  Every time we splash through water Eli will yell "Do it again!!  Do it again!!.  On Monday I took our oldest daughter to a dentist appointment and when we drove past Bagnell Dam we saw that they were letting out lots of water.  Later that evening we took the little boys out to check it out.  It was really cool.  They loved it.  

Daddy and little boys with dam in background.

A closer view of the open floodgates.

A view from the top.    

The "Jeepsters"

     We had a bit of excitement earlier this week here at home.  Steve and I were going to run to town to look at another rental unit and I was kind of standing there outside waiting for him to get off of the phone.  I heard this strange noise like a horn honking.  It just kept going and going.  After he finally finished his call we hopped in the Jeep and headed down the driveway only to discover there was a car on fire a little down our gravel road.  From what we gathered from the neighbors, a couple of guys stopped their car on the road and then hopped out and tore out across the field that borders our property.  Not too long after, an SUV (possibly a Bronco) was seen roaring off down the adjacent road.  The sherriff said that there was a call about an hour afterwards of a reported stolen car.  He thought that it seemed a little fishy and we agreed.  We had quite the show though as there were policemen and firefighters all over trying to get the fire put out.  The fire had caught dead grass and trees ablaze as well and that was dealt with first.  Another neighbor had an interesting theory about the whole thing.  He said that he figures that the guy's bank payment and insurance payment must've been rubbing together pretty hard and the friction of the two caused the fire.    Our concern though was that the men had ran off toward our house so Steve and the older boys kept a vigilant watch over the house and our outbuildings.  The police even brought out dogs to see if they could sniff their trails.  Interesting.  After a couple of hours they all left and things got quiet again.

     We still haven't been able to work in the garden with all of the rain that we've gotten.  Every time that the ground almost dries up enough to get in there it rains again.  Our tiller has been broke down anyway so I haven't been too upset.  And now that we do have the new parts in I'm starting to get a little antsy.  All of my seedlings are growing huge!!
     We had a nice surprise this morning when the kids went out for their farm chores this morning.  Two adorible little goat kids had been born (probably in the middle of the night) and were hollering.  They were dry, standing up and nice and strong.  They had obviously helped themselves to their mommas yummy milk.  Not that we're opposed to that but all the experiences that we've had with kids raised by their mommas haven't been all that great.  The kids are really skittish and the mommas are more ornery.  So we like to bottle feed them--and they let us join their herd. 

     And that's what's been going on around these here parts!!

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Apr. 4, 2008 - Sweet Sixteen

     Today our second oldest daughter turned 16... our rough and tumble tomboy.  She can dress up and play the lady or take you out in a hearty game of air soft.  She is beauty and she is rugged wilderness.  Smart.  Artistic.  Fun.  Exasperating.  Stubborn.  Thank You Lord for the opportunity to be a mother to such a daughter.  My own mother always told me that she hoped I would have a daughter just like me to understand what I put her through.     It's been a wonderful journey so far.  Not always "peachy", but certainly "sweet and spicy".            Happy Birthday Beth!!!

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Apr. 1, 2008 - I'm Back...

     And I bet you didn't even know that I was "gone"!!      

     March was another unfriendly electronics month for me.  My computer obviously has something wrong with the hard drive and I was unable to access the Internet for much of the month.  Talk about frustrating!!!  You never realize how much you want to do something until you can't do it!!  Honestly I wanted to just chuck the whole computer into our neighbor's pond.  We spent hours upon hours trying to fiddle with this and adjust that other thing--all to no avail.  If it were not for my friends that I IM/email and my blogs I would have given up completely.  I ended up having to wipe my hard drive and reboot it ~AGAIN~.  Sigh.  Now my printer isn't working (can you even homeschool without a printer???).  I am resisting the urge to stomp my feet, jump up and down while screaming at the top of my lungs and pulling all of my hair out.    It eats away at me.  But at least for now I'm back online.  I don't know how long it will last but I'm enjoying this little bit of victory while I have it.

     Right now our house is bursting at it's seams with children.  My neice and 5 nephews (ages 18-7) are visiting.  That makes 17 people under one roof.  It's great!!  They were only supposed to be here for the weekend but we decided to make it a week long visit.  I had planned to let them stay for a week this summer when they can play outside freely but realized that the oldest boys will be working again and won't be able to stay for that long.  And since this week is 2 of my daughters birthdays--well I figured that this is as good as time as any.  Actually it was all of their begging and sad faces they gave me when I told them I had to take them home that clinched it.  What can I say, I'm a softie!!  The cousins love spending as much time together as possible and they get along very well.  After ps hours are over they play outside.  The older children play with their "air soft" guns in our field while the younger ones play in our playground bouncing on the trampoline, swinging or teeter-tottering.  (When it's not pouring down rain or hail, that is!!)  And there are baby goats to play with and feed as well. 

     I can't believe how much rain we've had these past few weeks.  I have no hope of getting into the garden any time soon.  My seedlings are coming along nicely though.  I have broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage waiting to go into the garden when it gets dry enough.  My warm weather seedlings like tomatoes, peppers, herbs and flowers are growing wonderfully.  I planted peas a few weeks ago but they didn't make it.  Too much rain, I guess.  I was so hoping for a nice crop of peas.

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Thought you all might enjoy this picture of Stevie and little Silas (who isn't really so little!!).  He's 3 months old now and so adorable!!! 

     If the Lord leads you, please pray for Silas who has been having a bit of blood in his stools for some time now.  The doctors don't really know what's causing it and suspect that it might be allergies--most likely milk. 

     Also Hannah's grandpa was out walking around their neighborhood in SC--he really loves walking--and a neighbor accidentally ran over him as she was backing out of her driveway.  She is deaf and couldn't hear him yelling at her to stop.  He's very old and doesn't move the fastest.  Anyway, this happened Easter weekend and he is stable but his pelvis is fractured and they are fairly certain that he'll never be able to walk again.  So sad.  Please pray for her grandpa and their family.

     And (finally!!) here are a couple of pictures of the goats...Hope with a few of the goat babies and our black Shetland Sheep ewe.

The gang.  They love to romp and play outside on a sunny day.

     That about sums up much of what's been going on around here!  
       

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Mar. 10, 2008 - Another Goat Update

     On Sunday afternoon our other doe delivered a set of twin kids--a doe and a buck.  She's a big bodied girl and has only ever had as many as two kids--but they are always pretty big.  Again they were surprisingly gorgeous.  I'm really happy with how well it all turned out.  My big sigh of relief. 

     We have hopefully 2 more does left to kid but it will be some weeks yet.  The bucks broke into the girls field.  That happens occasionally and we are usually able to avoid pregnancy but a couple of the girls are looking unusually plump. 

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Mar. 9, 2008 - I've been tagged!!

Ashley at http://helpmeetintraining.blogspot.com/ has tagged me!!  I love getting tagged!!

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Kris' Facts...

1. I was married at the tender age of 15 and gave birth to my first child before I was 16.  

2. I have been pregnant for 9.5 years of my life and have been breastfeeding for a total of 16 years.

3. I am a "crunchy" mom.  I nurse on demand (my 4 year old is still nursing), co-sleep, wear my babies who aren't claustrophobic (most are), and "attachment parent".

4. I love alternative Christian music.  My older children and I listen to the same music--some hard, some rap, some acoustic, even a little bit of screamo. 

5. I believe in a Saturday, 7th day Sabbath.

6. I was an underachiever in school.  Wait, I think I still am!!

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Mar. 8, 2008 - Goat Update

     Well, we had our first batch of kids this afternoon.  I was napping with my youngest and one of my daughters woke me up, announcing that one of our does had kidded.  And they are absolutely gorgeous!!!  These are the best looking kids we've ever had and just the sweetest little things!!  2 does and a little buck (which we will probably wether... aka castrate) so far.  They are all standing on their own and eating well. 

     Evidently everything went well and the momma just popped them out with no trouble and is doing very well.  Her bag hasn't completely filled up yet and it is a struggle to keep up with 3 kids.  But in a few days everything will even out.

For the first 24 hours we feed them 2 oz. of their momma's colostrum every 2 hours which means that my oldest daughters will stay up all night with them.  They love this special time of playing computer games with each other while everyone else is sound asleep.  They will wake up my 2 youngest daughters at 8am for the morning feeding on their way to bed.  We are hoping that our other very ready doe will kid yet tonight so that the girls will only have to stay up 1 night.  Usually it never works out that way and one year we had 3 does kid a day apart each so the girls were up for three nights in a row!!  That was a pretty tough year for them.   

     The funny thing about our doe kidding today is that goats very rarely ever give birth during the day.  They love to wait until bedtime or the middle of the night!!  It's just what they do.  So this was very welcome to us.

     Hopefully I will have time for pictures tomorrow!!

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Mar. 6, 2008 - Goat Ramblings

     It won't be long now until our new kids start arriving--Goat kids that is!!  We're all very excited.  I should receive my order from Hoegger Goat Supply today for the last of my supplies.  Since I was so sick, I didn't get my order in as early as I would have liked and that has put some stress on me wondering each evening if "tonight" would be the night and I wouldn't have my supplies.  But we've made it, so that worry is a thing of the past now.

      My basket of general supplies is ready and waiting.  Clean fluffy towels to dry the kids off with, a bulb syringe for suctioning mucusy noses, iodine for dipping cords, baby bottles waiting to be filled with their momma's nourishing colostrum and other odds and ends.  After the delivery I like to fix the mommas up some tasty fiber cereal and molasses mixed with Goat Nutri-drench to eat after they birth to help regain their strength.

     We bottle feed our kids.  Our herd is closed (meaning we don't show and don't bring in new animals without quarantine) so we aren't susceptible to CAE.  I don't pasteurize the milk so the kids are getting good raw milk, which of course is better for them.  We like to bottle feed because it makes the kids far more friendly and easier to sell--everyone wants a goat that isn't afraid of them. 

     I confess that I worry about kidding a lot.  My mind conjures up a million and one ways things could go wrong.  I worry about the kids being positioned properly because I hate having to turn kids or lose them because they are in the wrong position.  This year I bought some coated steel cable in case we have another kid in that horrible position of the front legs coming out but the head is stuck, pushed backwards up inside.  In that position you need a "kid puller" to loop around the head and pull it down (it wants to keep folding backwards up inside unless you help hold it steady so that it can come out with the front feet).  We've only had that happen once but it was very traumatic to me. 

     I also worry that they will kid in the middle of the night and not survive the cold temperatures.  We've only had that happen once and was actually able to save the kids because I heard the kids bleating in my sleep, woke up and ran out to find them. 

     Then, once the kids are born I worry that they will be OK.  I worry that the mommas will be OK.  We keep our kids in the house for the first 3-5 days (generally in our bathtub) so that I am able to keep a really good eye on them and make sure they are eating and eliminating properly and that they continue to act normally.

     Sometimes I think that I worry so much so that when things don't go badly I have a huge sigh of relief that things went so well.  And if things don't go well I am mentally prepped for the worst case scenario.  I prefer the sigh of relief though!!

     I'll let ya'll know how things turn out!!

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Feb. 29, 2008 - Recovering from the Flu

     For the past 3 weeks our family has been sick.  Apparently our area has two different flu viruses going around and, lucky us, we got both.  We hadn't even finished recouperating from the first round when the second one hit.  And we even had some stomach thing in between.  I'm figuring we're good for quite some time now!!! 

      Somehow, I missed out on the first round but got hit pretty hard with the second.  I hate being sick.  When I get sick, I GET SICK.  Our life stops while the children have to manage the house and take care of me.  I've always suffered with bronchitis and often get pneumonia when I get sick.  Fortunately I didn't get pneumonia this time but I did manage to get mammoth cold sores on and inside (yes inside!!) my nose and mouth.  The children cringe when they look at me.  They are very painful!!  But hey, at least I'm able to get out of bed now. 

     The children have, at their daddy's request, been scrubbing and scouring the house in efforts to rid ourselves of all the flu germs.  Soon I will have the strength to help out!! 

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Feb. 19, 2008 - Our Quiver Full Testimony

Our journey to becoming “Quiver Full” started in 1988 like many of my other “journeys” have started… with a good book.  I had bought Mary Pride’s “All the Way Home” at the Christian bookstore, took it home and devoured it.  Dh, Steve was less than thrilled.  We had been Christians for only about 6 months and, never being one to swim against the current, this concept of allowing the Lord to plan our family seemed outright bizarre to him.  Children are demanding and expensive.  Our marriage was quite unstable.  What would people think???  We were already considered strange for home schooling but this was just more than his mind could comprehend.

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Feb. 16, 2008 - New Links

     Yes, I know that it is shocking that I would post twice in one day--don't faint!!    I just wanted to let you know that I have put up a couple of new links that are special to me...

#1  My ebay store grammyKscloset.  I usually have books there but occasionally other misc. stuff that I find and want to pass along to someone who could have better use of it than I do.  I'm a packrat and have loads of stuff that I need to list but not near enough time to do it. 

#2  The Bird HotLine.  After losing our dear cockatiel Polly I've learned a few things--namely that we are not the only ones who have lost a bird!  This website is dedicated to reuniting lost birdies with his/her family. 

     Due to the terrible weather that we've had and the lack of food/water available, I am fairly certain that our Polly is no longer alive.  Nevertheless, I still call for her and pray that if she is alive the Lord would watch over her.  I've posted on the "lost bird" section of the Bird HotLine site in hope that someone will find her and contact us. 

     It's important that the word is spread about the Bird HotLine so that if someone loses or finds a bird there is a way to get that bird back to his family.  

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Feb. 16, 2008 - If History Remembers Me...

    Recently, on one of our weekly date nights, dh and I saw National Treasure 2.  It got me thinking about my life and how history will remember me (as if my life is that significant!! giggle!!). 

     When people learn that we have 10 children their first exclamation of wonder is usually a breathless "HOW do you do it all?!?!"  I assume they are wondering how we manage "everything" and try to explain that we DON'T do it all.  In today's society where children must own the newest, latest, most expensive _______ (you fill in the many blanks) and be chauffeured to this class and that lesson--well, yes it is a bit boggling to their minds. 

     On our anniversary trip last August, we met a nice older couple on our Rogue River Mail Boat trip.  When the wife learned about our large family she told us that she wished she could be a fly on our wall.  My first thought, of course, was that that probably wouldn't be a good idea since we'd probably swat her dead.    But I knew what she meant.  Our house is pretty crazy most of the time.  I'm one of those touchy, feely moms who loves hanging out with her kids more than scrubbing toilets.  School is life more than lessons.  My children remaining at home are between the ages of 24 and almost 4.  Such variety!!  I love it.  

     If history does remember me, I want it to be for the love I gave to my family and the life that I joyously surrendered to care for those who mean the most to me.  I hope that all who know me know that I am who I want to be, where I want to be.  There is nothing else I love more than being who God has made me. 

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Jan. 17, 2008 - Grammy & Silas

     Stevie and Hannah got into town today.  The little girls and I tagged along with Scott and Josh to the condo they are renting.  The boys were helping move their things in and we wanted to see Stevie and Hannah and get our hands on the baby!!    I admit that he's completely adorable!!

Grammy (me) and Silas   

   I knew that Lilly would cry when she saw the baby.  She still mourns deeply over our little Aaron and is sad that we have not yet had another baby.  I'm still praying for more children so we're just waiting to see if the Lord blesses us. 

     Anyway, it will be great having Stevie and Hannah back for awhile.  Dh, Steve really needs a break from the business and I just enjoy having them around!! 

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Jan. 16, 2008 - Goodbye Polly???

     Our family is very sad this week.  Our cockatiel Polly flew out the front door on Monday.  We heard her off and on all Monday and on Tuesday we heard her and saw her perched in a tree in the back yard but a hawk scared her and she flew off into the woods.  Today we haven't heard or seen anything of her.  It's cold with the lows dipping down below freezing every night and tonight it is supposed to rain changing into snow.  I whistle (call for her) each time I go outside--which is several times a day.  It's hard to sleep knowing she's out in the cold.  I've been praying that the Lord will keep her safe, warm, fed/watered, and bring her back to us.  At first my prayers were demanding and I felt so distressed.  Now I am asking for the Lord's will in this whole thing and praying that He will give us the grace to withstand the loss--especially the children.  I know that He cares for our hurts not matter how small.  I will continue to call her--the Lord is capable of working a miracle. 

     Last week she started darting towards the door and I knew that I needed to clip her wings.  We've never taken outside since the last fiasco.  I was planning to do it over the weekend but just didn't find the time.  A painful lesson in procrastination. 

     I realize that our "loss" is so insignificant in light of so many other hurts in the world.  I confess that I feel a bit guilty for even mentioning it.  Sigh.  But this blog is about letting friends and family know what's going on in our lives.  I sure hope that 2008 gets better cause, so far, I'm not real impressed. 

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Jan. 4, 2008 - Our (belated) News...

     Does anyone else, like me, have weeks on end when things are just horribly "off"?  Our family was without power for 4 days one week due to the ice storm that roared through the Midwest, without Internet service for a couple of weeks due to something going bad in our phone line, and then a few days before Christmas, I got sick--and I'm still struggling to recover.  The kids have been catching it one by one as well.  Everything is behind and backed up.  My "new year" didn't ring in as happily as I had hoped!!  But I suppose it's not as bad as it could be!!!

Our news....

     I am officially a grandma!!!  Baby Silas was born on December 20th at 3:47am.  He weighed in at 7 lbs 5 oz and measured out at 19 inches.  Stevie and Hannah couldn't be happier!!!  In a few weeks they will be moving back here for  a while (6 months to a year) and I will be able to hold him in my arms and welcome him into our crazy family.  The little girls will be in baby heaven.  Everyone is very excited.

1 day old

I had decided not to make New Year's resolutions this year but I do hope to be able to blog more often than I have been able to these last few months.

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Nov. 16, 2007 - Our Trip to the Nature Center

     I thought that I would post a few pictures of our trip to the Runge Nature Center last weekend.  We had a great time walking the trails (actually we were nearly jogging them just to keep up with Eli) and checking out the exhibits.  They have a lot of neat live displays and stuffed ones as well.  There is a stuffed cougar that was hit along the highway about 40 miles from our home.  The little boys thought that it was really neat because we had a cougar roaming our neighborhood a couple years ago.  Hannah and Bethany saw it's tracks, our neighbor saw it running through our field and Jordan saw it running through another neigbor's property.  Sure wish I would've been able to catch a glimpse as well.

A happy but tired group!!

The little boys checking out the freshwater aquarium!! 

Scott took this awesome picture of this beautiful savannah. 

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Nov. 15, 2007 - A Bad Pet Month

Last Sunday our cockatiel, Polly flew away. Dh had her outside. He had taken a walk down to our orchard and had set her on the fence. She has been growing her new flight feathers over the past few months and has been experimenting with flying about in the house. I had warned all of the children not to take her outside--just in case. Well, she flew off the fence, swooped down low, gathering up momentum and then up over our house and out of his sight. We spent about an hour or more calling and whistling for her but she didn’t fly back or whistle back to us.

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