Lead me, O Lord...Psalm 5:8

It is certainly a rare morning that I am done with Bible reading AND the house is quiet.  I thought I would share a bit of what I gleaned from my study this morning...

I enjoy taking a whole chapter in the Bible and using my colored pencils (I use the Crayola erasable ones, by the way) to mark/shade/color/draw pictures of the words.  This morning I was studying Psalm 5, which the publishers of my Bible have titled "A morning prayer." It was a pretty straightforward chapter for me.  There was nothing new or surprising until I got to verse 8:

Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.

...because of...
 
Can good come from evil? Yes, if we ask God to draw us closer to Him because of  it.

I don't watch the news, and I can barely stomach more than just reading the headlines on the news websites. There is so much evil in the world today, and I don't think it is a stretch to say that the evil is our enemy.  Ask God to lead us today because of the evil in the world!


*****

In family news...
"Toddler" S is 2 going on 16.
G is trying to learn to read (if only everyone wasn't too busy to teach him!)
S will be graduating from 8th grade this Friday night.
S and Sacagawea will be baptized Saturday afternoon.
J turned 16 last week and can now make some recognizable songs come out of his trumpet.
M is home from college until next week, then he'll return for a summer job working for one of his professors.

Whew. Yes we are too busy, but I hope to check in here more often!

Bring forth frogs abundantly...Exodus 8:3

Now for an update on the next son! J will be in 10th grade this year. He will be taking Algebra II, Chemistry Botany/Zoology (I knew that, but was confused when writing this post), History (medieval), English, music lessons (most likely trumpet this year), foreign language TBD, p.e., and other various activities. It will be after Labor Day before we start our school year, so we still have time to figure out a few things. I think he will be interested in starting driver training, but that will probably be in January or later.

J rolled his eyes when I asked him to go weigh himself and measure his height. Hey, I need this information for the baby book, right? His height measures 67 3/4", which is about 5 inches taller than my height. His weight is 118 pounds (he hasn't passed me up there :P ). With a shoe size of 10 or 11, he passed up M's shoe size.

He has grown a lot this year and is dealing with the problems that can come with that, including, but not limited to, knee joints locking at inopportune times and pants that resemble tattered capris. I'm only sort of kidding about that last part.  We do have him properly clothed most of the time. He is just about at the point that he can no longer receive M's other hand-me-downs, and he does like to wear his familiar, comfortable clothes no matter how small or worn out they get. I usually don't mind what he wears here around the ranch, as long as he is presentable when we "go to town." 

The Man told J to just be careful how he bends and twists his knees since his problems usually occur when he is kneeling on the couch and shifts around. Yesterday he came in the living room to sit down on the couch beside me and I told him to be careful with his legs. "I should probably just cut them off," he said. I raised my eyebrows in surprise at that declaration. Then he realized that I was more concerned about his knees than the gaping holes in the knees of his pants!

We have so many tree frogs this year. In the evenings we can sit on the front step and watch the frogs hopping all over the yard. We've even had quite a few make their way into the house (ick!) which we've never had issues with before. 

I'll end this post with a picture I took in our front yard this past week. I'm sure the tree frog was very thankful for his long legs as he was able to escape the jaws of baby garter snake. 

As I said on facebook, maybe the snake will have better success next time. If you only go after the ones you're sure you can get, you'll never know your potential!

End of the year...Exodus 23:15

No more apologies for not writing more here. When I'm at the computer I usually only have one free hand to type, which doesn't make for effective blogging. The Man has taken Baby S to be changed and put to bed. As soon as she's asleep, I'll put myself to bed, so hopefully this will be a short post!

I suppose it is trite to say that I don't know where this past year has gone...but I'm not even sure what happened to yesterday. Twenty-ten has been a very eventful year for our family. I hope that 2011 brings more time to enjoy the everyday pleasures.

I'll try to give an update since my last post. All of these items are very deserving of their own separate posts, but that's not going to happen...

M: Got the results for the PSAT he took in November.
> > BRAG ALERT < <
He scored in the 99th percentile of juniors who took the test. That was his very first standardized, non-mommy given test. I've always known he was a smart kid, but it is nice to get some valid confirmation of that. I was quite relieved that I haven't totally ruined him academically by homeschooling him.

J: Almost as tall as me now. He's been told he can no longer wear my garden shoes to make quick runs outside since he's been stretching them out.

S: Backyard Ballistics was finally available to be checked out from the library. There are PVC weapons in the entryway and I found two potatoes under his bed when I vacuumed today.

A: The Man made her a loom for Christmas so she's learning the fine art of weaving. She LOVES singing and rocking her baby sister to sleep.

G: Cute, cute, cute. And he knows it. Very smart kid, but he still isn't talking. He got a Candy Land game for Christmas so we could "teach" him his colors. He beat me yesterday. I guess he already knew his colors! He absolutely adores his baby sister. Unfortunately he hasn't learned the difference between sharing a doll with her and whacking her on the head with a doll. "Gentle!"

Baby S: Smiling, giggling, cooing, and sleeping well through the night. She is a very sweet and happy baby. I can't believe that she is quickly outgrowing clothes that were swallowing her up a few short weeks ago. She had her first bite of real food yesterday. She was sitting on my lap next to G's high chair. While my head was turned G stuck his spoon into her mouth. Wild rice soup seems to agree with her!

The Man: Over the course of a few weeks, he replaced some rotten boards on our bridge so we had to drive through our pasture to get to the road. He still has a bit more to do, but it is functional.

The creek started flowing again on Christmas. It has been rather wet the past month. A bit of snow is still on the ground outside and it has been getting down into the teens the past few nights. Brrrr.

I still hear Baby S, but I'm yawning and ready to go to bed anyway. May you have a blessed and happy new year!

Waiting...Proverbs 8:34

I was hoping all the posting I did during the month of July would give me the momentum to keep blogging. Oh, well...I had good intentions!

Baby is growing just fine. Hopefully we will get to meet baby soon. The doctor says any day (hour?) now.

The kids are all doing ok. J and S had sore throats and fevers last week, but seem to be all better now. The Man came down with the sore throat and fever within the past few days and even stayed home from work today (rare occurrence). Tonight he did a strep test which was positive. I'm praying the rest of us stay well.

M is now a few weeks into his junior year of high school. Pre-calculus and Chemistry are the new courses for the year in addition to the standard English, History, PE, Music, and Spanish. He spent a few hours this week with a missionary from Costa Rica to practice his Spanish dialogue and vocabulary. We need to get him over to the local high school soon to sign up for the PSAT coming up next month.

We are still easing into all the subjects for the 3 middle kids. We are trying to work on a routine that enables all the kids to get the varied help from me, the very pregnant mama, while keeping G out of all the "fun" stuff the older kids get to do.

J is in eighth grade this year. S is in fifth grade and claims he loves school more than any of the other kids do. Sacagawea is in 3rd grade and doing very well despite the fact that she has so much more work this year than in years past.

G has tins of cars, animals, blocks, and puzzles that had been in storage. These "new" toys are keeping him quite occupied while the others do their school work.This is the first time we have had a single toddler while trying to full-time homeschool everyone else. It is a new learning adventure for all of us.

Given my most recent blogging history, this is likely to be my last post as a mother of 5! I will try to get pictures up of #6 as soon as possible. They will probably appear over on facebook before here, and we've already promised grandparents that they get a call before info goes on facebook!

I'm trying to decide whether to go to bed now or stay up timing contractions...how's that for a cliff-hanger?

Eat the herb of the field...Genesis 3:18

A few days ago I mentioned that J took some interesting items to the church potluck last weekend. Can anyone identify these weeds specimens from our garden?

The first is purslane and the second is lambsquarters. They are definitely an aquired taste, in my opinion. Lambsquarters would make a pretty decent spinach substitute, and my internet research shows that some people actually prefer it to spinach. I think everyone at potluck at least gave them a try. It didn't hurt that those were the only things remotely resembling salad that showed up last week...and there was plenty of salad dressing. Ranch dressing covers a multitude of peculiar tastes! There was even a hint that there might be more wild edibles that show up to future potlucks!

Here are some of the other things growing in our garden that everyone should recognize...

Zucchini just starting to blossom:

Peppers:
(Sorry, M just informed me I should have rotated that photo. Oops! I think I need glasses, but that's a whole 'nother post!)

And an actual tomato:
I picked what I think was the last of our sugar snap peas last night. It was getting dark, so I'm not sure I got them all. I was astonished that they were still tender. We have had temperatures near or over 100 for about a week.

This morning when I got up it was 67 outside and 78 inside. I opened a few more windows and a few minutes later the temp outside was 69 and 76 inside! When I noticed the inside temp had crept back up to 77, I shut the house completely down. All the windows and shades were closed and I made sure the lights were off unless absolutely necessary. By mid-afternoon the outside thermometer said 102, but it was only 82 inside. We've opened up the house again now that it has cooled off for the evening.

Hold fast...Job 27:6

We went to the city today to pick up S's new retainer and to get impressions made for J's next retainer (some molars coming in made his old one unusable). I was surprised to see S's...it looks just like this one. Out of all the choices, he wanted one just like J had. Awwwww. J was still getting his impressions made when S joined me back in the waiting room. I asked why he had chosen J's watermelon design.

"It was the only food design, but it doesn't taste like watermelon," he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. Somehow with all the conversations he'd overheard of other people talking to J about his retainer, he had gotten the idea that it actually tasted like watermelon.

J said he had picked out a glow in the dark retainer. I don't even want to think about it!

Teeth...Deuteronomy 32:24

Guess what? S got his braces off today. Exciting news, isn't it? I just realized that I never told you folks in blogland that he got them on in the first place. I've been such a slacker with my blogging! He and M both got braces the same day. It's been over a year. I would tell you the exact date, but I'm too tired to go in the other room and retrieve my appointment book to find the date. Somewhere I have some "before" pics, but I'm just too tired tonight to go to the other computer and dig find them. Another time! Anyway, here are his pictures from today...and then I'm going to put my tired self to bed!

Before he left for his appointment...
A few minutes ago when I told M to go get an after picture...
He has to go back in next week for his retainer. Hopefully his will be more useful than J's was while waiting for phase 2 of his treatment. J had to quit wearing his last summer when some of his molars came in. Today the orthodontist decided he needs another one to keep what he has in place. We're still waiting on the rest of his molars before starting phase 2 for him. Good night!

Family...Esther 9:28

Thought I should do a quick update of our family. We've been crazy-busy...really. You probably wouldn't believe half the stuff I could tell you, so I'll just hit the believable items.

G will be 15 months tomorrow. He is continuing to grow and develop as he ought. He's not saying many words except "Hot!" (complete with the spread-legged stance with outstretched arm toward the word stove), "dog," and the sign for "milk." He definitely understands what we say and can follow simple commands. He loves playing with Benjamin and Rachel, the dolls formerly known as Shue and Da, and all of Sacagawea's play dishes. She thinks that G is almost as good as a baby sister since he likes playing with all her stuff.

Sacagawea is my eager learner. She is days ahead and her school work. She is already planning the type of cake she wants for her birthday in April.

S celebrated Gerald's belated-birthday last week. Yep. Crazy stuff around here. He enjoys talking to relatives on the webcam. He is always checking to see who is available for him to call, and trying to do the math to figure out what time it is in their time zone.

J keeps checking the thermometer to tell us how many tenths of a degree the temperature is falling. He is hoping the intermittent snow and rain we're having this morning changes to just snow and we'll get some of that 20-40" of snow that we were promised by the weatherman last week.

M is continuing to improve his driving skills. I'm eager for him to be able to drive without me putting a death grip on the passenger door handle. I'm contemplating how much it would cost for us to have brakes installed on the passenger side of the van, especially since we'll have to do this a few more times after M. Speaking of the van, we are one of those families now. Yes, it is white (most of the time).

We just started another Depression Recovery Seminar at church. Another health series is due to start immediately after that.

That's about it for the believable stuff! Give us a call if you need to know the rest! I will make an effort to update here more often. Since I've gotten out of the daily/weekly habit, it's been hard to discipline myself to jump back in regularly.

Give thanks...Psalm 92:1

"Mommy, is there a way I can cool this up?" inquired Sacagawea last Friday. Apparently the just-made almond milk was too warm for her. I told her that things are cooled down and warmed up.

"But it can be cool up in the mountains," explained M.

"And it can be warm down in the valley, " added J.

I have such helpful boys! They are such quick thinkers...someday I may appreciate it more!

Speaking of appreciation, Sacagawea handed me this note last Friday...

"You aer the best mommy teacher. I Love you."

We will work on spelling later.

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!

Birthday...Genesis 40:20

I love you, J. A lot. The fact that later this week you will be 11 years and 2 months old, and I am just getting around to doing your

Happy Birthday!

post just means that we had sooooo much fun for your birthday this year that I've been procrastinating loading all those pictures!

Your birthday celebration started off a few weeks early when we were in Indiana. Grandma and Grandpa got you cupcakes, ice cream, and your very own digital still/video camera. Unfortunately, I was in my inertia mode and I don't have any photos of that celebration on my camera. Grandma?

On your actual birthday, June 22, we celebrated with a family picnic with some ice cream cone cupcakes. Notice it looks like "11." Yep, that was planned!
We weren't at home, and I forgot to pack the matches. Fortunately Daddy had his magnesium/flint fire starting tool handy and lit up a napkin to light the candles.
Unfortunately, the napkin was a bit hard to "blow out."

You got a new Lego set from your siblings and instructions on how to build a air car/hovercraft from Mom & Dad.

That next week you and Daddy collected all the miscellaneous supplies and worked on putting it all together.
Daddy was skeptical that it would actually lift a 200 lb. person with just one old vacuum cleaner motor.
He was right, although it did work (a little) with the 2 1/2 year old guest at your birthday party. We're on the lookout for a heavier-duty motor to replace the current one.

I had fun making a skirt for you for your birthday! OK, so it was a skirt to go around the edge of the hovercraft to keep the air where it is supposed to be, but I had fun telling everyone that I was making a skirt for you! I couldn't find any nylon thread in our local stores that the directions called for. Fortunately I found some in the stash from the sewing cabinet passed down from your great-grandmother.

We put off your birthday party until the Sunday after your birthday. You requested tomato sandwiches! We had the same lemon cake that M had for his graduation, but instead of icing, we just put the raspberry jam on top. You made the ship with smoke stacks resembling "11." Of course, there was homemade strawberry ice cream also.


You got lots of fun noisemakers (it's kind of fun to have a birthday near the 4th of July), squirt guns, and water balloons.
A good time was had by all the little and big kids. No pictures, I had to keep my camera dry! Thank you for being so patient waiting for me to finally do a blog post about your birthday!

A great feast...Genesis 21:8

I spent last week recovering from the previous weekend, gutting the younger boys' room of all things that didn't belong in preparation for the seasonal clothing changeover, and getting ready for the end-of-year homeschool potluck/party which was supposed to be held at the local park last Friday. The clothing changeover is on hold since the weather turned very cool last week. And it rained. At 3:00 on Friday afternoon I finally called the other person that was helping with the homeschool party and we agreed that the weather didn't look promising for an outdoor party. I offered the use of our home.

This is where everyone that knows me can dissolve into a puddle of hysterical laughter.

I don't handle surprises or spur-of-the-moment events very well. "Are you sure you want to do that?" asked The Man. He knew better than to call me crazy, but it was not something I would normally do. I had already cleaned the bathrooms Friday morning, the living room and hallway had been vacuumed, Sacagawea vacuumed the bathroom and kitchen floors and J mopped. Sure! Invite dozens of people over! Why not?

The other lady that was helping asked if there was anything I needed. Well, yes, I had just put my last roll of toilet paper in the holder...She laughed and said she would be more than happy to accommodate my just-in-case very reasonable request. She also promised that everyone knew I was pregnant and no one would do a white-glove test on top of my door jams. Phew!

There were 26 children (counting our own) in attendance, ranging in ages from 6 months to 15 years old. Those children were representing 6 families, and with all 12 parents in attendance that brought the grand total of people to 38. The official kid-count by families: 9, 5, 5 (only 3 in attendance), 4+, 3, & 2.
Look! TWO white 15-passenger vans in our driveway, along with the blue 12-passenger and other vehicles. We were definitely having a party! Fortunately the weather was cooperative enough that most of the folks stayed outside on the porch and lawn. When everyone was gone, all I had to do was run a damp mop over the floor to wipe up the spilled lemonade. I didn't even have to haul all of my food around. That wasn't bad for a huge party, and I didn't have to stress about it all week!

Yesterday the younger three kids and I went up to big city and did the shopping. We did remember to buy more tissue. A few more rolls need to be taken out of that package then the remainder will fit nicely in the vanity of the 1/2 bath.
I walked in the bathroom this morning and saw the wrapped tissue on the holder. I laughed, grabbed the camera, and took some more pictures...
Does that wrapper look like someone tampered with it?
Hmmm...hanging against the wall...I just asked the three younger kids who are at home if anyone knew who hung up the roll of tissue in the 1/2 bath. The oldest of the three younger (who wishes to remain anonymous, but I won't let him) admitted to it. He said he put the roll on the holder, used it, then replaced the paper covering as a joke.

Do you put your tissue on the holder with it hanging down in front or against the wall? I hang it in front, but I'm not the type that will go to the trouble of changing it if I happen upon a roll that is hanging against the wall.

Their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth...Job 29:10

J woke up this morning with a bad sore throat so he and I are staying home from church. He's here sipping some Throat Coat tea and he wants me to tell you all about his new retainer.

Two weeks ago his braces came off! Here is a picture we took right before they came off...
It is a big difference from when he first started treatment with his high pull headgear last April...

The orthodontist said that J is one of the best headgear patients he's ever had. He left the brackets on the back teeth so that J can still wear the headgear at night. The orthodontist hasn't made any adjustment to the headgear in months, but he doesn't want his jaw to shift back. After the braces were removed, the impressions were made. J got to choose from a variety of retainer designs, such as an American flag, glow-in-the-dark, different colors, speckles, stripes, and even a photo of himself! He chose a watermelon design, which we went and picked up last Wednesday. He said Grandma told him she wanted pictures so here they are...

I couldn't figure out why the assistant came out and told me he would have a hard time talking with the watermelon in his mouth. I had no idea that he had picked out a special design. They've come a long way since the days our only option was a clear gray!

J spent the west o da day tokkin ike is, but now that he is accustomed to the retainer, his speech is back to normal.

Give earnest heed...lest we should let them slip...Hebrews 2:1

Good morning! I'm sitting here on the couch at 5:30 in the morning with nothing better to do than tell you about the last 24 hours.

Yesterday I decided to go to the big, big city and finish up the last bit of the holiday shopping. J asked to go with me. When all four kids accompany me to any store you would probably pick J out to be the one "least likely to ASK to go shopping with mom." However, when it is just the two of us, we both have a grand time.

Two years ago our December trip to the big city was extended when the freeway was closed due to weather while we were up there. The kids and I spent the night in the home of one of The Man's co-workers (who couldn't make it home himself) and went home the next day. Yesterday morning was beautiful, though, and it promised to be a good trip.

We hit Barnes and Noble first. We could have spent all day there, but Target and the mall beckoned. Then we went to Lowes to get a tub/shower surround similar to the cracked one The Man pulled out of our bathroom Saturday night. The Man bought one last week that was nicer, but then discovered that our atypical bathroom can't handle that one. We briefly considered a full bathroom remodel to make that surround fit, but we opted for just getting a different surround.

J and I did take coats with us yesterday, but they stayed in the van while we went in and out of stores. Even when the slight drizzle developed late in the afternoon (can you see where this is going?) we didn't need our coats. We finished up our trip with a few grocery stores then we finally headed home about 8:00. The trip usually takes just over an hour, but that was not to be.

As we headed south I saw a lighted sign on the freeway. Chains required 9 miles ahead.

We always carry chains...2 sets. I knew they were in the back, buried. I got off at the very next exit, pulled into a gas station and found the chains. J retrieved the wind-up flashlight from under his seat and then I called The Man. He checked the internet for me and confirmed that chains were being required over the mountain pass.

I pulled out the handy instructions that came with our chains and read them over carefully. I had attempted to put them on one other time in our driveway when we had over a foot of snow. It didn't work out well and I ended up using the chains just for traction under the wheels. I noted in the instructions that it said to try out the chains before they are actually needed. Next time. We set out again. A few miles later we came across another sign. Chain up area.

I pulled over and J got out with me to hold the flash light. We both headed back in the van to get our coats. It was getting pretty nippy, especially with the semis going by. I did notice that only a few other folks were chaining up and most were just speeding by. One hour after first calling The Man from the gas station, I called him again to let him know we were all chained up and ready to go over the mountain. I will admit that I was slightly disappointed that I didn't have my camera with me so I could show you my wheels!

We bumped along at 22 mph. Several minutes later another sign came into view. Chain inspection point--Prepare to stop. I was ready! But...no one was there! I called The Man again and he again checked the internet. In the time it took for me to carefully read the materials and chain up, the restriction had been lifted. Chains were no longer required. Hmph. Since it was still drizzling, I decided to keep the chains on anyway.

As we were approaching the top of the pass, it was obvious that I was one of the few people on the road using chains since everyone else was speeding by me. I was planning on stopping and removing the chains once I got over the pass, but right at the summit I could feel the front tires slipping. Hooray! The chains weren't for naught! At that time two other cars came up behind me and decided that my 22 mph was just right for them also. They followed for a few miles down the mountain until the roads weren't quite so slippery. I pulled over to remove the chains, but I noted the shoulder was rather icy. I got back in the van and we bumped down the mountain for a few more miles.

The snow finally disappeared so I pulled off again to remove the chains. A nice man pulled over to see if I needed help removing the chains. I figured if I could put them on then I could take them off. I was right, although I will say that putting them on was a much cleaner job than taking them off.

A few miles later I had cell phone coverage again and I called The Man to let him know we were over the pass. It had been one hour since I'd chained up. Once I made it to the city I called again to see if there were any restrictions over our local mountain pass. There weren't, but I noted that there was a lot of snow up there that wasn't there when I left in morning. We finally made it home at 10:45. I washed the road grit off my arms and hands while The Man unloaded the van and I went to bed about 11:30.

I turned off the alarm so I could sleep in this morning.

At 4:00 J came in our bedroom to let us know that he was sick. The Man got up to clean up the mess. A little while later I got up and started the laundry. The Man went back to bed, but I stayed up with J.

That sums up my last 24 hours. Now it is time to get the rest of the family up and put some quilts in the dryer. Maybe I'll get a nap sometime today. I do need to get 5 or 6 packages in the mail today also.

Notes on tire chains:
-Pray!
-Have chains and rubber tighteners already in the vehicle. Don't wait until you need them to buy them at premium price (if any are available).
-Read directions carefully.
-Practice putting them on before you need them (I skipped that step). Don't assume you can just pay someone to do it for you. In the hour it took me to put them on, nobody stopped to see if I needed help (I would like to think that is because I looked quite capable, but I'm afraid it was just because no one else wanted to do it).
-Read directions again.
-Pray some more.
-Follow directions.
-Drive slow (don't forget the hazard light blinkers to let the crazy people know you are driving slower than they are). The instructions said not to go over 30 mph, but anything over 22 was too bumpy for me.
-Clean them up and put them away carefully so they'll be available for the next time!
-Pack some (fingerless) gloves in the chain box. I wish I had had some gloves with me last night! I am thankful that we had our coats with us. It would have been brutal without a coat.
-Pack some paper towels or something to clean up with afterwards. Trying to drive while covered in road grit isn't fun.

Dust thou art...Genesis 3:19

Our church had a booth at the county fair again this year. We had another good year and lots of great conversations with people. Fortunately, the VeggieTales people weren't right next to us this time.

Grandma came and stayed with the kids for the week. She even brought them over to the fair so they could make some dirt babies for her to take home.

Here is A posing with her baby:
S:

J, notice the headgear:

Speaking of headgear...The orthodontist was very impressed with his progress at the last visit. He now only wears it 12 hours a day (rather than 20). He puts it on right after supper and takes it off before breakfast. The orthodontist also put brackets on his upper 4 front teeth so he has braces now also.

In the tenth year...Jeremiah 32:1

Happy Birthday, J!

(Yes, I'm adjusting the date stamp again so the date will say it is J's birthday.) Ten years (and a few days) ago J was born.

I was sitting in church, June 21, 1997, quite uncomfortable, in spite of still being 4 days from the best guesstimate due date. Even though the clock said 12, the pastor wasn't ending his sermon. I decided to alleviate my discomfort by getting up and walking around. Before I reached the door I realized something was strange...the back of my dress was wet! Hmmm. This complicated things.

The Man, M, and I had been invited, along with a few others, to the pastor's house near a lake. He was going to take us out that afternoon on his boat. Not wanting to disappoint M, we decided to go along anyway, taking necessary items with us "just in case."

A few contractions during the afternoon adventure, but nothing major. I ate lightly for supper, anticipating that I might not want to deal with a full stomach later. We made it back home without incident. We put M to bed and went to bed wondering...

About 1:30 the next morning I awoke. This was not unusual since I had been plagued by insomnia for the past several weeks. A few more contractions, but I wasn't sure it was time to wake The Man. I tried to relax, but the contractions were more intense, and actually painful, as I tried to go back to sleep. I finally woke up The Man and told him we needed to go the hospital NOW. The contractions weren't that close together but they were painful. We dropped M with The Man's step-sister and proceeded on to the hospital. On the way I discovered that life was much better when I was sitting up.

We made it to the hospital about 4:30 a.m. I spent the next few hours fighting with the nurses over the controls for the bed. I wanted to sit up, they wanted me to lie down. They would come in to check on things and lower the bed. When they left the room and I would raise it back up. Down, up, down, up, down, up...

I had a discussion with my doctor in her office regarding the fact I wanted a natural childbirth. She said that was great. No problem. I discovered early in the morning of June 22 that it was not a problem unless she wanted me to do something that I didn't want to do. So after arguing over an IV, the reason she was holding a pair of scissors in her hand (I yelled over that one), and various other things (Sometimes I'm sure this is why J is my most obstinate child), he finally arrived. Quick and easy.

Not long after he arrived my breakfast was delivered. Since I had my full night's sleep and a meal, I was ready to go home. After all, the church had a baby shower planned that very afternoon for several new babies in the church. Nope. My doctor was cranky from being called from her bed so early on a Sunday morning and was in no mood for anymore of my arguing. Pbbttt.

A little while later The Man went and got M so he could meet his new brother. They walked in the room and came over to the bed. M looked longingly...out the window.

"Where is the cherry picker truck?" the 3 year old, truck-obsessed boy wanted to know. Ha! The last time M had been in the hospital was six months previous when his cousin was born. That day workmen were busy repairing lines outside the hospital that had been downed by massive storms.

M soon noticed his new brother, and life hasn't been the same for him since.
J continued to grow, and grow. I loved those chubby little cheeks. Both sets.We got him a box of rocks for his birthday, just like M. Also, he got a book and a squirt gun.


He couldn't make up his mind what kind of cake he wanted. We finally settled on a 2 layer white cake with each layer topped with whipped cream and berries.It was messy, but good. Kind of like J.

Here is J's "birth minute" picture. He is still chewing his breakfast, which is why his face is the way it is.From those jars in the background you can see that life has been busy here. More on that later.

Whatever your hand finds to do...Ecclesiastes 9:10

J had a loose tooth. Right before bed he decided that it needed to come out or he might swallow it during the night. This time, he thought he would do it himself. He ran and got his pliers.

Maybe with the lovely teeth genes we gave him he should consider a future in dentistry. He seemed to enjoy the whole ordeal a bit too much.

His teeth are terrible...Job 41:14

J approved the use of these photos. He thought the text above was a perfect description of his mouth. He's had the high-pull head gear for just over a week now and he is doing great with it. The first day or so his teeth were quite sore, but they are ok now. He's getting to be quite a pro at putting on this contraption by himself...even without a mirror sometimes.

First he inserts the metal thingie in the brackets on his top molars. Then he puts on the other part and hooks up the side straps.
The ortho said he needs to wear it twenty hours a day for the next year. Then his teeth should be less terrible and ready for 2nd phase of treatment.

We had our last visit with the speech therapist yesterday. He praised J for being so quick to pick up new skills such as whistling and gargling. His current jaw placement had made it easy for his tongue to rest against his top teeth. With the therapist, we have spent the last several weeks working on exercises to correct that tongue thrust habit. He's learned a whole new way of swallowing AND slurping. Yay!

The seed should sprout and grow...Mark 4:27

A few weeks ago I started my annual seed starting extravaganza. No seed cataloges this year. Last fall I hit the clearance sale at Walmart. All of their 10 cent seed packets were on sale for 2 cents each. I felt sorry for the cashier who had to scan each and every one of the seed packets. At that price, I let the kids pick out anything they wanted. We used some for our botany projects and the rest I sealed in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. Of course, I had to buy a few more packets this spring, and then there is the collection I have stashed away from all the years when my eyes were bigger than our garden space. I do have some packets that are marked for 1995 (that was the year of the ground hog).

Our botany book had the plans for a light hut to grow some herbs. They did so well that I made a few bigger ones for our seeds this spring.

All you need is a big box, aluminum foil, plastic lid, light socket, bulb, the dirt, seeds, and somewhere to put them.(That is M sitting there behind the box dutifully doing his schoolwork.)

I love using those clamshell packages to start seeds. We mostly save the ones from our strawberries. It doesn't matter what they are from, as long as they have drainage holes in them. We save all one type to make storage easier in the off-season. The lids keep the soil from drying out and protect the seedlings if I happen to be starting some outdoors. I simply open them up when the plants reach the top.

I lined the bottom holes with a piece of newspaper to kept the dirt in, but still allow for water to pass through.

Here are two of the boxes in the utility room. The one on the right contains two old cookie sheets with 6 clamshells on each tray. One tray has 6 different kinds of tomato plants and the other has various pepper plants and eggplants. The box on the left is various herbs I'm starting for the window sills.
Inside the tomato hut...Beefsteak tomatoes...The plants seem more robust than when I try to start them just from natural sunlight. They don't get too leggy reaching for the light since the light is all around them, even bouncing off the foil on the sides. These are reaching slightly toward the light, so I just added the foil "door" to give more light on the front side. The directions do say to do this, I just hadn't done it yet.

I'm about ready to snip off the excess plants and probably within the next week or so I'll replant the tomatoes we wish to keep in individual spaces.

J actually didn't get his high pull headgear yesterday. He was supposed to get it a few weeks back but the office called me the night before to tell me that it hadn't arrived. We re-scheduled for yesterday. Yesterday when we got there they told us it STILL hadn't arrived. It seems he's getting some highly-specialized type that happens to be back ordered. The orthodontist went ahead and put the brackets on his back teeth and adjusted everything so as soon as the headgear arrives we can go in and get that fitted.

The purpose of this part of his ortho treatment is to move his top jaw back. If we didn't do it now, he would probably have to have surgery to fix the problems. We do want to avoid that if we can! The ortho office was relieved to hear that we homeschool. They said they can expect much better compliance with homeschoolers as many kids don't want to wear their headgear in public/to school.

Before your feet stumble...Jeremiah 13:16

We hope you all are having as glorious of a Spring as we are! Well, ok, it's not quite Spring yet...one more day! The daffodils are blooming, the birds are singing, and the hawks are gone! They finally gave up, probably because there are so many more birds and squirrels to prey upon now. Sunday morning M let the chickens back out into the orchard. Oh, they were certainly excited. We enjoyed watching them roll around in the dirt giving themselves dust baths.

Yesterday afternoon we took the washer and dryer we've been trying to get rid of to an appliance repairman here in town. He'll either fix them or recycle the parts. Whatever, at least they are off the porch and out of the barn.

While we were out and about we went to the feed store to get some chicken feed. While there we picked up some old pallets they were giving away. We've arranged them in the orchard to make some air raid shelters for the chickens. We couldn't fit them all into the back of the truck so The Man will pick up the rest of them today.

We had just started unloading the pallets at the orchard when I noticed the horse coming around to the barn for a drink. She mostly stays on the other end of the property near the neighbor horses, but she'll make a few trips over the hill each day for her hay and water. As she got near the chicken coop she started sliding and stumbling around. She made it to the water trough by walking sideways. That's not normal! I ran to the house for the cell phone and phone book while The Man got her halter and lead rope on her. Fortunately the vet was almost done for the day so he came right out to see her.

Diagnosis: Old age. The vet said she looks a lot closer to 30 than 24. We were told when we got her a few years ago that she was "about" 22. Her kind is supposed to have a lifespan of 30-35, so, well, it looks like we're nearing the end. By the time a horse like her goes through 4-5 owners, the "age" can go down quite a bit, especially if each owner shaves off a year or two at each transfer, either accidentally or otherwise.

The vet said she was otherwise ok. We need to start giving her "old horse" food, and we probably will make sure we're on nice, even ground if the kids are going to ride her, but she's ok...just old!

The man took off Sacagawea's splint last night. All seems well. We'll put the splint back on her when she goes out to play for the next few weeks just for some extra protection, but she seems to be healed completely. She giggled because her arm was so light without the splint. She immediately started doing windmills with her arm.

I was glad to get it off of her. The sling was almost impossible to keep clean, especially since she's been feeling so great. I had last washed it on Friday afternoon (it had to be clean for church). That's just a lot of good dirt from outside and there are even a few specks of Play-Doh on the bottom.
I made that out of white (my mistake!) duck cloth the morning after she got the splint. It was what was handy, being that I was pretty sick that day. It served its purpose, so I'll wash it and put it away.

We're getting ready to leave the house to go up to the city. J is starting orthodontic treatment today. Phase 1: Head gear! Our dentist referred us to the orthodontist for M over a year ago. We are still in a wait-and-see mode for his teeth, but the orthodontist suggested we go ahead and start on J.

We were back at the dentist last week. He suggested we go ahead and get S started also with the ortho...and Sacagawea seems to have a crossbite...