Tuesday Tidings

In spite of a broken arm, our week is going so well, for which I am very thankful. The Lord has given me added strength and I have felt so much better lately. My pastor told me about something called Rhodiola and it is AMAZING stuff! You should look it up online sometime. The Russian Cosmonauts used it. It supports the body under stress. When I ask my husband if it is helping me, well, let's just say that he thinks the answer is VERY obvious. My "handler" is handling things much better and more sanely.

Another original idea is that we have actually been going to be during the times that normal people go to bed...IMAGINE THAT! We are actually getting some sleep which I am sure has something to do with Mama's outlook being much better.

All that to say, the days are full and busy, but this little train continues to plug along. School is so enjoyable. I am learning to view school as a privilege to enjoy, rather than pages to check off. It has only taken me 8 years to learn this (actually still learning). Instead being so consumed with how many pages we can check off, we are learning how to learn, and enjoying all that the Lord will teach us. Instead of snapping at my child when they ask a question (Son, we are doing grammar, stop asking me how an oyster has babies). I am learning that the impromptu opportunities may be the best education there is. "Children, stop LEARNING so we can do school, ok?) This new outlook for me is allowing us to actually enjoy our times, and maybe even allowing us more productivity.

For dinner tonight we had crockpot lasagna and I thought I would share the recipe with you. It was so easy that I think it's a keeper! Lasagna is a family favorite, but in this busy homeschooling house the normal way "ain't gonna happen". So here is the crockpot rendition and as my son put it "It's better than Stouffers, Mom". Now, I am not saying it is better than my mother-in-laws, but....

Spoon a liberal amount of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of your crockpot

layer the following into your crockpot:

uncooked lasagna noodles (it does not have to be the quick cook kind)

spaghetti sauce (I used Classico)

ricotta or cottage cheese (I used Ricotta)

ground beef

Mozzerella Cheese

Keep layering all the way to the top of the crockpot. The recipe did not give quantities, but it did say be very liberal with the sauce. I used a whole pack of lasagna noodles, 2 jars of sauce, a tall thing of Ricotta, 3 lbs of ground beef, and one of those big long packs of cheese (very precise aren't I?) It made a full crockpot and I have alot of leftovers. It was really yummy. Next time, I think I am going to add another jar of sauce to make it even juicier. I have even though that putting spinach in there would be good.

Oh, yes, the recipe said to put it on high for a couple of hours and then cook on low for another 4-6 hours. Mine burned at the bottom, though, so I plan nextime on just cooking it on low all day.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. It was a winner for this house!

We are leaving on Friday to go up to our dear friends the Myers family for an extended weekend. We have not seen them in YEARS. Even though we have known them since before either of us couples were married, our children have never met each other. We are SO excited! They live in Virginia. We are going to drive to D.C for a day all together and have a wonderful homeschool field trip. I think we are also going to make a trek as a group to Maryland for a psalm sing one of the nights. So a busy weekend is planned. Grandma, I will not be able to call you on Saturday, but I love you! We hope to leave Friday morning, arrive there for dinner on Friday night. Spend Saturday-Tuesday with our friends. Leaving Tuesday morning we plan on heading home, but stopping over at another friends home for dinner on the way into town. You can be sure that I plan on having a slideshow of pics from our trip that eventually I will try to post. I still have several slideshows I am behind in (Father's Day, S's birthday last June, not to mention the first few days of school). But, that is for another time. For now, I will say Goodnight!

B is for Broken Arm

For E's journal she was writing a page of B's for "Broken arm" There is her picture of her broken arm. Notice the two bones that she drew with the little breaks in them. The bracelet is just like the one they gave her in the hospital, complete with little smiley faces on the beads. She decided to add the b-b-bread on her page too. I just had to post it.

Many are the plans of man, but the Lord directs his steps...

Well, our weekend was very different than we expected. We had some friends over playing on Saturday and our dear little E was playing on the trampoline, fell over and went to catch herself...and broke two bones in her left forearm. So off mommy, daddy and little E went to the emergency room. After getting xrays to confirm (mommy could tell even before anyone else interpreted the pictures), we were sent on to another hospital, because she needed to get her arm "set" (can you say OUCH?) So on to the big downtown hospital we went. After two tries with the IV stick, she was ready (and poor mommy was traumatised). They heavily sedated her and it only took under a minute to actually do the job. Dear E was so upset as she was coming out from the medication "Mommy, I see two of you and I am not even crossing my eyes!!" But, we comforted her that she would only see one of me soon. (anyway, is it so bad to have TWO of Mommy?) She was such a dear trooper through it all. And after she could keep juice down and sit up herself, we were allowed to bring her home. We did not get home till around 12:40am. She has pain medication, and a temporary splint. On Thursday she goes in to get her actual cast which will be her new friend for about a month.

Yesterday she was very tired (as were mommy and daddy) but we did make it to the lunch fellowship and afternoon service at our church. She was the star attraction when we got there, and friends had made get well cards and presents for her. After all the attention and treats she had gotten last night her assessment was, "It's kinda cool to break your arm". Her biggest sorrow now is that she cannot suck her thumb. Thats hard for her cause she is so used to going to sleep that way, and the other one will not do.

It's hard for parents to see their little ones suffer. But, the Lord is lovingly dealing with our little children. I told E in the hospital as she was having such a hard time, whispering in her ear, "Jesus is here with you, and caring for you as a gentle Shepherd". May these things be used in our children's lives to drawn them to their Saviour.

Slideshow from July

It has been awhile since I have posted a slideshow, and I have gotten behind on some of them. So I quickly put together this one of J's bday last month. We spent part of the day enjoying our beautiful downtown, then came home and had a nice grilled dinner and celebrated. Enjoy the slideshow!

Homeschooling Highlights

Highlights of our first week of homeschooling:
-A FABULOUS tour of the printing press and HomeSat facilities of Bob Jones University
(A three and a half hour tour that I will put up pics of at some point)
At this same tour getting to meet one of the teachers that they had when we used HomeSat
(for those unfamiliar, BJU has satellite classes that we used with the children a few years ago)
-My 11 yob in his spelling placement test placing in 11th grade!!
-My 9yob in history, being amazed as the light bulb went off in his head that the people in the Bible were living during the ice age!
-My soon to be 8yog taking off on her own with her reading and writing (her penmanship is sooo neat!)
-My 6yog feeling the vibrations on her throat as she hums during science lesson
-She also told me at lunch that she loved Ki-weed (when I served her Kiwi!)
-This same 6yog saying that her favorite part in Robin Hood was when Robin pushed Stuart Little (Little John) into the water!
-My 4 1/2 boy telling me that "It's nice for you to have me, Mama".
-My 2yog using a glue stick under her arms as deodorant!!!!!
-This same 2yog almost completely potty trained and deciding that she would go "Peeuu" in the potty chair as well.
-This same 2yog clearing her own plate at lunchtime. (it must be time for another baby).
-All the children building a pyramid like a football team would. "W is digging his knees into me!"
-Hearing them say to me "I love school"
-Being able to buy enough crayons to stuff a 5 quart ice cream pail for under $4.00
-My two older boys getting right to their math first thing, at their own initiative.
-Making a timeline together that we will add to through the whole year.

-The joy of getting to explain to the children that the animals were created in Gen 1:24 and 25 and it wasn't until vs. 26 that man was created (AFTER the animals) and that the Lord did not make the animals after His own image...thus the incredulous folly of thinking that we came from monkeys. I love how even a little child can comprehend this.
-Realizing that Adam and Eve lived in Iraq--can you say MESOPOTAMIA?
And did you know some of the very earliest societies had TOILETS?

-Getting to research about a Shaduf (the first irrigation system) on the internet and printing out pictures for each of them to put in their history folders.
-Sitting all in a row learning how to play our recorders in unison
-Getting to field all kinds of questions that GOOGLE can answer..."Just how do oysters have babies???" This spawned (excuse the pun,) a science lesson on pearls using Google (What did we ever do without the internet?) Did you know that oysters have intestines? And that an oyster can produce as many as 100 pearls at one time?

-Getting to stay in my robe while I taught school till mid afternoon (I won't tell you which day it was/is)
-Having my 9yob call his imperative sentence in grammar, an "imprecatory sentence" (we just heard a sermon a few weeks ago on the imprecatory psalms!)
-My 11yob saying the his baby sister was being a "pain in the thorax" (they get that from Miss Spider)
-My baby asking me to read her a story
-Singing together with my children
"Behold how good a thing it is
and how becoming well,
together such as brethren are
in unity to dwell..." Ps 133 metered version
-The "we made it through the first week of school" celebration (going out for CiCi's pizza and getting to have pinwheels too!)
-The fulfillment in realising that we are learning everyday together as a family.


It's been a busy first week, but we are loving it!

No Comments?

Ok, so NO one answered my question in my post a few days ago "In Our Home Right Now..." Come on now, I know I have lurkers out there reading this blog...is there no one who will tell me what their home would be like if I were there right now? Stay tune for a "First Week of Homeschooling Highlights" post in a couple days as well. :)

So True...

This is from another website blog that I have been enjoying lately. I cannot speak for everything she writes, but I have found such profit in some of her poinent writings....

Thursday, August 21, 2008

What a Mother Must Sacrifice...
Houses may be bought, built, or borrowed. But homes can only be made, and that with bits of ourselves. Or so the ducks told me. They told me without a sound, just simply as they preened and nestled, a painting, oil on canvas. The children press in close too, for a better look at Alexander Max Koester’s painting Ducks, and I read aloud the caption below the brushes of color. “Mother ducks pick feathers from their chests to line their nests.”
(Koester's painting: Moulting Ducks)
I pause and the children gaze thoughtfully at a clutch of plump white, blizzard of feathers fallen down. But it’s those words that mesmerize me: “pick feathers from their chests, to line their nests.” Eyes fixed on a duck breast puffed, mother plunging beak in deep, I question wondering self: “How else did you think nests were lined?” With leftovers. With feathers discarded, the molted, the not-so-necessary feathers. I thought mother ducks picked feathers up from what was laying about, scraps, lining nests with what simply could be mustered after the fact. But no. (Is that only the way of human mothers?) No, a mother duck plucks each feather out from the heart of her bosom, warm and soft. She lines the nest with bits of herself. The best of her, from the deep spots. She cups her young in her sacrifice. Children pull at the corner of the page, anxious to see the next painting, and, reluctantly, I move on. But for weeks, part of me lives among Koester’s ducks. (Koester, captivated, painted dozens of duck paintings throughout the course of his life. I’ve come to understand.) Days later, I am scrubbing out the arches of muffin tins after breakfast, the clock ticking insufferably loud in my ears, time running down. Children need books and learning, and I’m tuned for the expected chime of the doorbell, a service personnel’s scheduled visit. And the words rise near to the surface, “I don’t have time for this! No muffins tomorrow morning!” Pluck. The words sharply sink. And I, learning, line this nest with a feather. Not a leftover. But one decidedly plucked. The service man meets me with muffin tins still in the sink, and a circle of happy young. Whose tummies next morning fill with another batch of muffins. I will make time. As the sun’s perfect globe of glow sets nears the horizon, these boys, glint in eyes, recalibrate vacuum cleaner to fire socks. Weary, I have food to find, laundry awaiting escort, math sheets to mark. They fire sock cannons. And I Pluck. Bellies jiggle, peals of giggles, as old mother chases after future men, wrestling them down, tying them up in tickles. We warm here in laughter. It feels good, wild and alive. So again they fire, and again I pluck with feathers of my time, bits of me, and we pile high, one atop the other, nesting down into sacrifice, soft and small. Some feathers for this nest, the parts of me and time I have sacrificed, have hurt, pain of the plucking lingering long. But why speak of the details? And was it really sacrifice, or just this too-tender skin? It’s done, it was necessary, it was for something better. Some nights, when all sleep, I feel along the hidden bald patches. There are times, too many, when they call, “Read me a story?” “Wanna play a game with me?” “Can you come help me?” And this mother refuses to pluck. Something, some task, someone (me?), rates as more pressing, more important. I deem our nest acceptable just as it is. I don't want to sacrifice more of me.
Then comes the pecking, the scratching, the squawking. With feather lining wearing thin, the nest chafes hard. We hurt and cry. Nests need feathers deep. Someone must pluck. When will I learn that down sacrificed settles and soothes?
For scraps won’t suffice. Snippets of time, leftover me, a trinket, a diversion, tossed. Mother ducks don’t line nests with feathers, dirty and trampled, the molted and unnecessary. Why would I? Nests need feathers fresh, warm with mother’s life. Night descends and calls children to dreams. I lead them to their bed-gate, arms and legs under quilts worn from the ride. I read stories, stroke hair, say prayers. Prayers to Him who plucked hard from His own heart.
A sacrifice, staggering and true, for love of His very own. We learn love from His laid down. Tired heads nestle into pillows, pillows of down. On feathers plucked, we rest.
Lord, help me today to pluck, to lay down my life for others. Like You did. Related: May the Children Eat First The original Koester painting, "Moulting Ducks," is part of the collection at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle http://www.fryemuseum.org/
a repost from the archives of the CWO column
Posted by Ann Voskamp @Holy Experience at 5:14 AM
Labels: Children, Family, Mothering Prayer, Refiner's Fire

Text of our new school schedule

SpringMeadows School Schedule

And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strenghtened their hands for this good work. Neh. 2:18b

7:30 Up, Dress and Worship
8:00 Breakfast and Family Worship
8:30 Chores
9:00 Math
10:00 Break
10:15 English/Writing
10:45 Reading/Literature/Phonics
11:30 Recess and Lunch Preparation
11:45 Lunch and Clean up
12:30 History
1:00 Science
1:30 M,W,F Spelling - T,Th Music
2:00 School Clean up
2:15 Nap/Rest Time (Biggles Homework)
3:30 Up and playtime
4:30 Dad Home
6:00 Supper and Family Worship
8:00 Bedtime Littles and Middles (Biggles math/w Dad)
8:30 Bedtime Biggles

Here is a copy of the first page of our school schedule. Pending S's approval tonight I will take it to be laminated tomorrow. My Dad helped me put it together with the graphics...we had alot of fun! I will post the text of the schedule in a seperate post so that you can actually read the schedule, but I wanted to put up the pictures so you could see how it looks with the graphics.

In our home

If you were at my house right now...

You might see:

Three little children settling down for their naps
Herbs on the counter with little measuring cups for the littles that have gotten runny noses in the last couple of days
School books laying around in different places, ready to be put to use soon
A half cleaned out closet that will hold school supplies
Clothes and sheets to be folded on the rocker in the living room
My three older children on their knees around the coffee table, sorting through all the crayons, pens, markers, colored pencils (throwing out the old broken dried up ones, and putting the active ones in their respective bins)
My dad and I working on the computer putting together graphic touches to the daily schedule I have made.
Messes all around that speak of a houseful of love

You might hear:
The chatter of the olders as they are discussing their respective project ("face all of them up on end and then you can see them" "This is erasable" "But they don't write too good")
The whirr of the fans in the sleeping children's rooms
The washer and dryer in full activity

You might smell:
The linger of our breakfast of eggs and toast
The aroma of the coffee I made for my Dad and I this morning as a treat (we made a deal: he was given this delicious coffee with butterscotch and chocolate flavor in it. If I made him a cup this morning, I got to have one too. :) )
The leftover salmon patties reheating in the toaster oven that Dad is having for lunch

If you were at my house right now you would behold a family with each one building up their own little places of the wall (see Nehemiah). Each little task is significant for the Kingdom of Our Lord. Each little one is precious in His sight. Each labor done for His glory is of eternal value...including the labor of the one not here, but at his calling, plying his trade for the support of his family. If you were in our home around 4:30 this afternoon you would see and hear ecstatic little children and loving wife running into the arms of their favorite man. This is our home.

So leave me a comment and tell me what you would hear, see and smell at YOUR home right now??

Just guide gently

Monday, August 11, 2008

How to Parent: Just Guide Gently
Thoughts I am thinking on as we gear up for a new school year....I am by the stove cutting warm loaves of dark bread, and my mother is at the window, gentle drops pattering the panes, sewing new and vintage fabric pieces together. I listen to the hum of the machine, thread lacing down, through, up, through, to the watering of the rain upon the earth, and to her.“Now you try, Hope. Just slowly. Take your time and really focus.” Her crown of white hovers over Hope’s shoulder.
“Like this, Gram?” I turn to see Hope’s furrowed brow lit by the machine’s glowing light. They are stitching up bibs for the new Carrere baby, the sixth child, fourth son. The needle stitches crisp new cottons to a backing of reclaimed, familiar flannels. Hope’s eyes are fixed on that quarter inch seam allowance, the curving arcs of the material.“Yes, that’s it, Hope. Now if you’ll stop a moment…” The machine drones to a halt. Butter melts into the steaming warm slices. I ladle garden vegetable soup into a circle of waiting bowls, filling fare for rainy autumn evenings.“If you’ll look closely, do you see how it puckers here, when you push the material through? Don’t rush, or push the fabric along. If you push the material through, you’ll end up with wrinkled, disappointing handiwork. You just guide….”“Gently?” Hope offers.“Yes! That’s it precisely: no pushing…or you’ll wrinkle everything. Just guide gently.”My ladle hangs midair. Empty bowl waits in one hand. I have ears to hear.Rain streams in rivulets down the glass. The needle again begins to purr. I close my eyes, breathe deeply, and finger write those words on soul sand: “Just guide gently.”Push and it will all pucker.Don’t I know that too well. How many perfectly good days have I wrinkled because I pushed, arms heavy with an agenda? How many happy faces have I wrinkled into distress with pushing words: “Hurry up! We could have been finished this by now if you hadn’t dawdled here…” I don’t even want to consider how many bare, beating hearts I have crinkled and crumpled with my pushing for more.Pushed and puckered.I come to, fill the waiting soup bowl, and whisper it again, etching it deeper, “just guide gently.” The Spirit nudges: “This is what I meant the other morning. You underlined it, remember?”I find black ink marking the words: “Therefore, although in Christ, I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love.” (Philemon 1:8-9).I could be bold and order you. Push, push, push.Yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. Just gently guiding. Gently serving. Gently leading by caring, encouraging, edifying.Wasn’t it Mama who also pulled me up on her lap as a four-year-old and told me the fable of the sun and the wind, arguing over which of the two was the stronger? I can still feel her leaning close to, her voice rich with story:“The Wind began to blow cold blasts, but the man only drew his cloak closer, tighter about him to keep out the cold. Then the Sun took his turn, shining warm and full. Under the sun’s rays, the man released his grip on his coat, then threw it back, and, at last took it off! The Sun’s gentleness accomplished what the Wind’s force could not.” She turned me to look me in the eye: “Remember that, girl of mine: gentleness can do what force fails to do.”I could be bold and order you…yet I appeal to you on the basis of love.To release a child to be all that he or she was meant to be requires the sun, requires guiding gently with loving words of encouragement. Recent research confirms it. A study of twenty-two grade eight students found that those who were kindled with positive feelings generated significant more creative and problem-solving ability than the group of students in which “a neutral mood was induced.”Fail to encourage, abandon children to a slush of neutral feelings, and settle for dismal, uninspired handiwork. Sloppy work, dragging feet, shrugging shoulders, glassy far-off glazes. Push, order, and rush will result in worse: puckers and wrinkles. Tears, pouting, stomping, surly sullen glares, and explosions of defiance.Appeal on the basis of love, with a light touch of guidance and the warm igniting of encouragement, and watch hearts and minds creatively, joyously thrive. The gentle guiding reaps far more than pushing.Can I take up this mothering fabric, and smooth out the wrinkles?Bowls served and dinner bell waiting to be rung, I survey the trail of rainy day pursuits: strewn legos, a blizzard of paper snippets, scraps of material flung about for good measure, counters offering up a trifle of smudged markers, pooling glue and a sprinkle of crayons.Take a deep breath, O Heart. Push and the day—no, more than the day--- delicate hearts, will pucker.What if I were to just guide gently? So I try.“What a day we’ve had, best beloveds! Such grand creations here! Made in the image of Your Creator Father, you are! Come, show me your work!” Books are set aside, scissors left, and masterpieces presented. I appeal to you on the basis of love; true, genuine love.“Such color! What a design! You made that by yourself?” Hearts embroidered with tender, edifying words shimmer.“Let’s clean this up together, so your work will be in its best light when Dad comes in.” No bold ordering. Moments gently threaded with positive encouragement. A love appeal.My hands, their hands, we sort, organize, gather. Laughing, happy bodies pile around the table for soup and bread. I run my hand across the clean counter.No puckering, no wrinkles. My mother smiles. This girl of hers remembers the fable. This mother in Christ turns from blustery, bold ordering and appeals on the warm basis of love.Yes, just guide gently. A pucker-free pattern for hearts.
Lord, today let me not rush those around me, pushing, pushing, pushing. Cause me to guide gently. Appealing on the basis of love.
Photo: my mama guiding grandchildren gently...From 2007 archives of Christian Women Online
Posted by Ann Voskamp @Holy Experience at 7:00 AM
Labels: Family, Homeschooling, Morning Gathering, Mothering Prayer, Slow

Rich Fellowship

These last few days have been very busy ones for us, but very rich ones for us as well. Our church has an annual conference in Virginia, which is the highlight of the year for many of the families. It is a time to get together and fellowship with many other likeminded brethren, as well as wonderful sermons and teachings throughout the week. While we were not able to go to the conference this year, due to S's decrease in vacation time, we did reap some of the benefits. One of our Scottish ministers, Mr. William Macleod came over for the conference (he is from Glasgow) with his wife. They were willing to come and visit our local congregation afterwards. So this Lord's Day Mr Macleod preached for both the services, and we also had a special Monday evening service where he preached a sermon on Prayer. We enjoyed their visit to the church so much, and the added fellowship of the Monday night service was such a blessing as well. In addition, two of the older children of the M family came from NC to be with us as well as another young lady from our church that is living with them. So the three young people stayed in our home for three nights. It was a wonderful couple of days of true spiritual feasting. I continue to be thrilled with the richness of the place where God has brought us.

So we are feeling very blessed today, but also very tired. It has been a quiet day for the E family, as we napped, did some laundry, and "chilled". Yesterday I picked up stage two of the school books and tomorrow at prayer meeting I am supposed to get stage three. :) That should complete the supplies for the most part. My dh has told me to order a homeschool organizing 6 ft high "station" that is on wheels, so that is in the process of being made, and hopefully shipped soon. Later on this week, I want to do some more organizing to gear up for next week. Monday is a field trip (tour of Bob Jones' facility and printing press) and then Tuesday we hit the books, Lord willing.

S and my dad today were privileged to meet and have lunch with the founder and owner of sermonaudio.com. What a wonderful ministry this is. They said that there are about 1,000 new sermons put up there per week! Sermon Audio has been a wonderful blessing to us and I know for many other people as well.

The children are doing well. I mentioned that J got a yellow jacket sting last week, well, today R got one on her foot. S went looking and found their home and exterminated them tonight. She is doing fine, and she did not have the reaction that J did, for which we are thankful. They are growing so fast. D told me the other day, "I am growing AND changing!"

That's about it for now--

Friday Evening

This could be me after a week of heavy homeschool planning. Nah, it's not really that bad, but I sure have been in the thick of it. (No, in case you are wondering that is NOT me.)

This would be our dear darling children tonight during our "End of the summer reading program celebration." They were so excited about getting their medals at the library, and since that did not work out (we went on the wrong day and getting all of them back in there the next day wasn't going to happen, plus, I don't think they actually read enough to qualify for the medal part) we had our very own rewards night. So, they each got their medals, a book mark and we all piled in the van for an ice cream treat! Whoo Hoo! It was great fun and the children were so thrilled. Oh, for the simplicity of being thrilled with a dollar general plastic olympic medal. These are the memories. We ate, ate, ate on 8-8-08.

Oh, and a couple more quotable quotes.. as I mentioned poor J had a yellow jacket bite that caused his whole hand to swell. It made him pretty miserable, and he told me "Mom, this is offending me, I mean, like if your right arm offends you, cut it off." I remember a time when someone years ago said "the boy speaks in King James" I mean, years ago when waiting for a baby, he asked "Has she come forth yet?"

Then tonight, S was surprising me with a miniature rose and D in the checkout says "This is going to knock Mommy's socks off!" It cracked the checkout lady up! I was wearing sandals, by the way.

Tomorrow I am off all by myself for a day of shopping to gather materials for this year. I have one friend that works at BJU that has picked up several items for me, to save me a trip. Then, there is a consignment shop a bit away, where the lady is setting aside several things and giving it to a friend of hers who lives in our town, so that saves me another trip. Then tomorrow I am going to another store that seems from the website to be really good size, to fill in all the gaps. Then on to Walmart for all the paper, ink, pencils, notebooks, staples, tape, glue, paper clips, markers, well, I think you get the picture. So, Daddy will have what they call "dadventures" with all the children and I will be by myself (can you imagine?)

TTFN!

If you wonder where I have been:

I am still here, under the pile of papers and textbooks, with numbers and prices, schedules and routines spinning about in my head. I am in that mode where it's kinda like hibernation, I emerge now and then with an Einstein type look in my eyes (and hair maybe). But, it's coming together!

the child in the wheelchair could be W after he cut his toes so bad that two butterfly bandages and hobbling around on crutches later....he is ok. Or maybe it is Sissy, who fell last night at church and made me wonder what labor pains will be like for her...she is ok. Or maybe it is J who got a yellow wasp bite yesterday and whose hand is all swollen today and he is groggy from Benedryl...but he is ok. TTFN! (Ta Ta for Now)

Union with Christ

My new favorite blog has had another wonderful reminder of abiding in the Vine of Christ Jesus. May you be blessed today by her thoughts....

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Union
"Union with Christ is really the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation not only in its application but also in its once-for-all accomplishment in the finished work of Christ." --John MurrayI had felt like a fool out there in our garden right off the front porch.A picket fence frames the rows of tomatoes and peas, lettuce and beans. Sunflowers march along the periphery. Standing at attention in the garden’s center, a miniature windmill silently whirls, morning glories entwining up it sides. And there I bent over, twist ties in hand, tying the pole beans’ sprouting runners to rough wooden stakes.
“Smile, Ann. This is fun!” Darryl grinned as he drove in another of the branches he had cut from the woods.I frowned. “I feel like a fool. I envisioned the pole beans climbing up bamboo poles…or the swirling steel stakes from Lee Valley. Not these…” I gesticulated, fumbling for the right word… "not these trees!” I glanced over the fence to see if any of our neighbors were driving down the road.Darryl laughed and picked up another limb. “Oh, c’mon! This is an experiment that hasn’t cost us a dime. Let’s find out what happens!?”I muttered something about there probably being a reason why I had never seen any Mennonites with tree limbs staked for their pole beans…and waved limply at the passing Mennonite neighbor who drove by slowly, neck craned.Our breakfast ritual soon included Darryl and I checking for any progress on the pole beans. Would they entwine such thick “trees”? Were the neighbors thinking we were preparing to burn multiple guilty parties at the stake?This morning I leaned over the porch railing and shook my head. The “trees” were completely curtained in verdant leaves; the bean and the stake becoming one. The runners had wrapped themselves the full height of the 6 foot “trees” only now to be arched in mid-air, stretching, reaching, seeking to climb even higher.There is an old rugged Tree I seek to wrap my life around, with which to become one. The world may slow to stare and think it foolish.
But entwined around this stake of death, I discover bountiful new life. And find myself stretching, reaching, seeking to climb higher up and deeper in.
To Him who hung on a Tree for me.Lord, forgive my preoccupation with appearances. May I be a fool for You. For a life wrapped around the Tree finds itself seeking to grow higher up into the Son.
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Photo: Caleb snapping our heaps of beans Post from the archives, July 2006
Posted by Ann Voskamp @Holy Experience at 6:32 AM

BBQ

Good Morning everyone! This a funny video on BBQ across the country, sung by a couple of true rednecks! I don't like the line in the chorus about when they die, but other than that it's cute. To get to the link, click HERE

Today I will be buried in school books and heavy into planning. S and I got a good plan underway last night and it's petal to the metal for this mama!

Have a great day everyone!

Happy Birthday E!

Happy Birthday to our dearest E today! I can hardly believe our little princess of the covenant is 6 years old! She is a joy to our family and daily brings us such delight.

I am sorry the pictures are not in order, but thats how blogger did it. :) We are going to be busy today in preparations. Tonight we will have our little family gathering at dinnertime, and then tomorrow we are having some families over to celebrate. Three families from our church are planning on joining us...(six more little girls, and one boy (whew! our boys are glad at that!) We are really looking forward to it! One more big news item....E gets to graduate from naptime to resttime (depending on attitudes of course)..she is thrilled! H just walked up and saw this picture and exclaimed "Oh, that's ME!" They really do look like twins! How blessed we are!