Wild by nature...Romans 11:24

Hi! Did you miss us? The past few weeks have been very full. Last weekend we were backpacking (I'm uploading pictures to Facebook right now). G turned 10 months old last week. Yesterday G decided to do more than move one foot and took an actual step. Today I noticed that his first top tooth is starting to push through to join the 2 he has on the bottom. There. Now G's babyblog has been updated!

Our summer is winding to a close. Tomorrow we are starting school! It was supposed to happen last Monday, but life wouldn't allow it. We're still waiting for some books to arrive, but we have enough to start.

We've spent the last two weeks sorting out a schedule for M (10th grade). We've settled on a tentative schedule that we'll try for 2 weeks. After that, parents and student may feel the need to adjust some things.

I spent 2 hours this afternoon making sure everything was in order for the other 3 school-aged children. It wasn't, but a quick on-line order took care of that. If only all our problems could be solved so easily.

We're praying for a very non-eventful first day of school. I'm sure you'll hear about it if it's not.

Just a few pictures of our summer...

This is The Man helping me remove a garter snake from a canning jar. I happened to be carrying the empty jar into the house when the snake was discovered in the grass. I caught it myself. Yes, I did. I really did. I even held it. I don't know why I did such a thing, but I think that I might have enjoyed it.
Sacagawea picked up this preying mantis while she was playing outside.
The Man and J built this raft while they were on a special father-son backpacking trip in July.
G loves books just as much as his siblings. This is M reading G one of M's very favorite books (ok, it was his favorite a dozen years ago)...

"No more pictures, Mom! I want to go to bed!"
Good night!

Began to make excuse...Luke 14:18

I almost stole my last post title for this one...we have been busy...but four months? Yes, it has been nearly four months since my last post. Dreadful. Terrible. I am ashamed. I am so, so, so sorry. Please forgive me.

I really don't have any good excuses, other than my limited computer time has been spent over on Facebook. Most of that is while I'm feeding G, so I really can't type a blog post. I should be doing something else right now, so I'm just going to give really quick updates. Ready?

G: The sweetest baby. Really. He is so intense, and smart, also. No, I'm not biased a bit. Since I've last posted, he started rolling, crawling, got his 2 bottom teeth, standing on his own, and any day now he will start walking. Whew.

We are still waiting for the remainder of his second round of blood tests we had done for allergy testing. He's had a rash for several months, and after ruling out all other factors, we had the blood testing. It turns out he is allergic to a lot of the things that I eat. So, until he quits using me for his main source of nutrition, I'm not eating: soy, wheat, gluten, oats, eggs, cashews, almonds, and peanuts. That's a small list, but I quickly discovered that those items are in almost everything I (used to) eat.

I can have rice, corn, apples, oranges, potatoes, tomatoes, yeast, and cow's milk (although I'm slightly allergic to that!), and black beans. We just found out today about the black beans and we are still waiting for the results for other beans, seeds, and nuts.

Sacajawea has lost her two front teeth and has them mostly grown back in now. She has taken up crochet and will be happy to make a hat for you if you send her the size of your head. Color and style will be her choice!

S is thrilled that we actually TOLD him to dig in the front yard. We've spent the last 6 years telling him not to dig in the yard since he has 50+ other acres in which to dig! He helped dig out around some pipes that needed replacing. He also got braces in April.

J's mouth is now metal-free (for now), including his retainer, since some other teeth grew in. We'll re-evaluate his situation in six months.

The biggest news of our summer is that J made the decision to be baptized. The Man baptized him in the same pond in which M was baptized on July 11 surrounded by friends and family. It was a very special day as G was dedicated the same day.

M is growing taller. He's still working doing lawn care for the same place he worked last summer. I can't believe he'll be in 10th grade this year. We are in the midst of ordering all of our books for the new school year.

The Dog is now living outside. He got sent to the back porch when I was painting the inside of the house. Since then, G's blood test also showed he was allergic to dogs, so...sorry, Dog!

We're in the middle of Financial Peace University at our church. The county fair starts next week and our church will once again have a booth there.

I really hope to get photos up of our summer, but the battery in my camera is dead right now. Hope you all have had a good summer, thanks for being patient waiting for an update from us!