It's a Girl!

I know I have been negligent in updating you all. We found out last week that our precious baby is a girl. She weighed in at 8 ounces so she is right on target. It is hard to believe we are halfway through this pregnancy. God be praised for this incredible gift!

I would post another ultrasound picture but they are downstairs and you all will forgive me for not hauling myself down there since well, I am pregnant and all. ;)

The day we found out the baby's gender, Peter and I wanted to be creative in how we told the kids. On the way home we purchased each child a pink heart balloons, strawberry milk and pink frosted donut (okay, we got a dozen of those). The kids loved the surprise and everyone is excited to meet this sweet baby girl. I look forward to when Peter and the children will be able to feel her move. It has been amazing to feel her little feet kicking every once in a while.

Goodnight all!

Life is busy.

Life is busy.

Children running.
Momma teaching.
Daddy working.
All are laughing, loving, learning.

Bills are coming.
House still dirty.
Rain is falling.
Time for a movie.

Wiping noses.
Feeding faces.
You're still hungry?
Time for a cookie.

Sick and tired.
Energy abounds.
Now your head hurts?
Time for some medicine.

It will end soon.
You'll feel better.
Need a snuggle?
Time for some reading.

Tired faces.
Fevered bodies.
Sneezing, coughing.
Time for some sleep now.

Kid Quote

Quote of the night:

As Daniel is trying to shoot bear that are charging him 2 at a time, he throws the gun to Peter and yells, "Save me Daddy!!!" Daddy once again becomes a hero. What a stud.

Kid Quote

It's been a while since I've posted a kid quote. We are a fairly health conscious family. I mill my own grain, we buy all our meat from Polyface Farms and we try to eat our daily veggies raw. The kids are getting a fantastic education when it comes to where our food comes from and why we eat what we eat. However, if I am really honest, none of us can really refuse a Snickers bar and my birthday dessert consisted of both a triple chocolate cake (thanks Dad!) and a Cold Stone ice cream cake (thanks Mom!). So as not to confuse you; my parents are still happily married after 38 years. They just happen to know I like chocolate and double dipped on cake! My faithful husband supplied the pizza in abundance (thanks Husband!). This has turned into quite an introduction for today's quote. So, here it is, as stated by 6yo Daniel.

Mom: Wow, that is a lot of people going to McDonald's.

Daniel: Those people are gonna die in a minute!


Well, at least we didn't eat at McDonald's for my birthday meal, ahem.

Bookends.

Bookends come in all shapes and sizes. We have a set of long ago used tail hooks from two F-14's that my husband flew. They have been moved from house to house and moved throughout each house trying to find a nice resting place. They have been my most memorable bookends, holding up large books about F-14's, Naval Aviation, F-18's and any other book we have related to the military. Although they are my bookends which escort me down military memory lane, they were only my most memorable until this week. This week my sister in law visited with her three children. Peter was out of town so the children and I journeyed to the airport to bring them home. As we arrived home one of my children, obviously disregarding my instruction to bring everything from the car into the house, made a run for the door and threw up all over the front door mat. Oh! So, you weren't disobeying! I spent the next several minutes hosing down my porch to make it passable for my waiting extended family who had been patiently standing with their luggage near-the-of-the-driveway. Welcome to my home, I announced as they made their way to the now clean door. I was positive that this particular child had just had something bad to eat as they felt better almost immediately. My sister in law got settled as I made the other child ready for bed. Said child came down the stairs, laid on the couch and all of the sudden made a dash for the bathroom and threw up in virtually every direction while I yelled for paper towels, Windex and Clorox Wipes. I will spare you the rest of the details, but suffice it to say that I had to strip my bed and I was up every hour on the hour until 2 am. The next day all was well, must have been food poisoning. We had a great time with the cousins and were able to have my brother in laws kids over to play as well. We continued the next day with a big field trip and all was still well. I was even more convinced it was just food poisoning. For the next few days all-was-still-well. We did a big family field trip to our nations capitol and hit Five Guys for dinner. And then it happened. My sister in law was leaving the next day to fly home. We had enjoyed a wonderful week together. I was so happy it had just been food poisoning! No. That night found two of her children ill and the following day found one more of mine not well. The rest of mine had stomach aches, so I deprived them of their normal food intake, warning them that it was for their own good. We have, so far managed to have only two throw up. (And there was great rejoicing!) My sister in law, however, made it all the way home with two having gotten sick here and the rest of their family becoming ill at home. Bookends. My very memorable bookends. I am so grateful that God gave us gorgeous weather, healthy children and time to talk throughout the week. We miss you and hope you are feeling better today!

Bounty.

We took the children for a 20 minute fishing trip last night. It turned into an hour and a half as we were with friends that we rarely see. Peter brought his new cast net and God brought a bounty of fish directly to him as He waited on the pier.
The children (and the adults) stood amazed.

Living for Him.

We are reading through the Bible as a family for the second time. Last year we read straight through. It was the first time my husband and I had both read through from cover to cover. We have both been Christians for a long time, but had only ever read a book here or a chapter there. It was such a different experience to read straight through and to share that with our children was a very powerful thing. We have wondered, since we finished, how many people in our church have read the entire Word of God. We are giving our children an incredible gift of biblical knowledge that we hope and pray will be heart knowledge as well. I stand amazed at how much they have taken in and how much they can recollect.

Our reading yesterday was from the book of 2nd Kings chapters 22 and 23 where Josiah reads the Law of Moses. He rents his clothing due to his sorrow at having disobeyed God as well as understanding that his forefathers had completely abandoned what God had told them. Josiah tries to honor God by tearing down idols, killing idolatrous priests, tearing down the high places, and cutting down groves. He then holds a Passover as had never been seen during the reign of the kings of Judah nor Israel. Verse 25 tells us,

"And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him."

It is heart breaking to read through the kings and see opportunity lost, defilement, and when a king decides to tear down an idol yet leaves up the high places and the asherah poles. I am reminded of how simple we are as we try to live for God. Today's Christian accepts a feel-good, watered down, simplified version of the Holy One and the Bible. We have exchanged the truth for a lie. Romans 1:22-25,

"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beast, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen."

We have prayed that the Lord would show us the high places, the idols, and the asherah poles in our lives so that we may tear them down for His glory, not to seek salvation through a set of rules, but to love Him, to honor Him and to walk humbly with Him. As though we didn't already draw attention just being the family the Lord has made us, now we are setting different standards for modesty, movie watching, sheltering of our children, teaching to serve, standing for truth, and going against the flow of societal and even Christian norms. We don't want diet Christianity. The importance of knowing God and His Word is the absolute. Don't those all sound like good things? But when they challenge a friend, or make someone feel judged just by being near us, even though these are our convictions, our standards, our choices and not imposed on anyone else, that is when it becomes a testing ground. That is when it becomes hard. That is when we remember: Who are we trying to live for? Who are we trying to please? Colossians 3:22-24,

"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God; And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ."

We know we live to serve God. That we, like Josiah, would love Him with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our might and that our lives would be a testimony to His faithfulness, His love, and His grace...that is my prayer, that is my hearts desire.

The last week of summer vacation.

The kids and I have been tackling a big item every day this week. It feels so good to get things cleaned up, organized, dusted and painted.

Monday--Finished sanding and painting the old blue chairs. They are now a nice flat black and will look great on the porch. We also sanded the rest of the deck and will seal it when the rain stops falling. Peter and the boys worked on what Peter calls the workout room (I call it the laundry room :). Things are looking good on the shelves and off the floor. Lovin' it.

Tuesday--The playroom overhaul. We were able to get rid of three bags of toys for giveaway and one of trash. We also pulled up the old car play rug and took it right to the curb. No more old rubber backing dissolving on my floor! They worked hard and were generous with their giving. I rewarded them with pizza for lunch. We all sat in the newly cleaned/organized playroom, snuggled around the boys little table, ate our pizza, and enjoyed "bubble water."

Wednesday--We tackled the pantry. The kids got into sorting like things to put back on shelves, read dates to make sure they should even go back in there, and enjoyed many still-good surprise snacks that had somehow made their way to the far reaches.

Tomorrow we unload the boys dressers and break down their captains beds. I sure hope my vacuum is in perfect working order for all the dust that is gonna fly. Pete has been gone for a couple days but will be home to help with this big chore. I have a feeling a little fishing and swimming will be on the agenda for tomorrow after Daddy is home again.

Friday we buy the boys their new beds. We are headed to Ikea. Ya know, the place where you really need one of everything?

So, that is how we have been spending our "last real week of summer vacation." Of course we homeschool pretty much year round as that is what works for us and Peter's ever-changing schedule.

Let's go see some ponies!

"Kids, maybe when we wake up in the morning we will see some wild horses."
God blessed us with 3 in our camp site on our first morning at Assateague.
John was so excited to be the first one to spot them!

Our five mile bike ride landed us in a parking lot with 6 wild horses roaming and grazing.

Early morning fishing, just Daddy and Daniel.
"Daddy, I was dreaming that we got up and went fishing
and now we are up and fishing so it was just like my dream."

32 inch Striped Bass caught on Daniel's light weight line!
The fish were not nibbling on the surf rod.
It was a good joint effort. Daniel's pole and Daddy reeled it in.
What a sweet blessing from the Lord.
He provided the poles (thanks to Uncle David and Aunt Barbara), bait when the kids dug up sand crabs with Daddy, and the huge fish for us to study and then enjoy for breakfast.
God is so good--all the time!

We met another homeschooling family this morning when Peter was walking up from the beach holding the fish. They stopped us to ask about it and we invited them down for Monday morning fish anatomy. The stomach of the fish had a small crab, in tact. We watched the heart beating and tried to name all the fins.

This is the standard "look how big my fish is" photo, simply for your enjoyment!

Mmm, mmm, good.
Broiled fish for breakfast (and donuts).
13 minutes before we had to be off our site, lest we pay for another night.

Kid Quote

Tonight at dinner...

Daniel: Okay. I want to tell you guys something. Want me to tell you something about snakes?

The group: Sure Daniel! Yes!

Daniel: Okay. Mom, this is gonna scare you to death!

Mom: Let's hope not Daniel.

Daniel: It's really scary. Cuz guys...guys...guys...

The group: Yes Daniel?

Daniel: I'm gonna bring a rattlesnake in the house. I really like rattlesnakes!

The snow is over.

I get a mixed feeling when the snow ends. It many ways it is great to get out of the house and back into the swing of things. However, at the same time it is so nice to watch that sweet blanket of newness fall, snuggle with my kids, read, watch a movie, eat lots of snacks and live in pjs.

Today was sunny and beautiful. Peter was on call for work but with the snow accumulation at the airport most flights were cancelled. He is back to work tomorrow.
This is how we spent today:





The kids had such fun sledding down the hill near my parents house. What precious memories they have been making this week. 2010, the year of the record snow storm!


Abi spent most of her time on the green sled. She has grown so much she looks like an adult coming down the hill. Also, no, that is my 9 year old.





It was amazing to see Daniel fly across the street. Every time he went down the hill on his red sled, he came flying, face first and taking each jump as if it were nothing!


I was hoping it would show up better, but the second mark that Peter pointed out (where Daniel said his face mark was) was actually a huge snowplow tire mark. :)

The marks that showed up after his red cheeks warmed up again.

You mean we can build snowmen taller than Daddy?!

To borrow a saying from my dear friend: I feel like a mole.
We have emerged from the house-cave into the sun and have enjoyed every moment of our day. Here are a few highlights...

Ashley, Isaiah and Abigail head out for an adventure.

We were able to walk to my parents where we visited with my Mom. She read to the boys for a while and they almost fell asleep. Please pray for her as she continues her battle with Lymes.

Dad walked us home and snow plowed our neighbors driveway. So nice.

This boy is usually moving too fast for my camera. He was doing a little dance in this shot but I caught his sweet face. He has a love-hate relationship with the snow. He looks happy enough here, but when his hands get cold he is a miserable boy. In this shot he was 10 minutes from my having to strip him out of his snow suit and wrap him in a warm blanket while I puffed hot air (no laughing here, okay?!) on his hands.

Everyone was pretty happy in this shot while they sat on their igloo. John is having a bit of trouble due to his boot coming off and his deciding it was a good idea to walk in his socks across the yard. I am giggling while I write that. By the way, Isaiah is 2 minutes from the whole blanket, hot air puffing thing in this picture.

What better thing for dinner than "Candy Bar in a Bowl?!" It's also known as oatmeal. Tonight we covered it with butter, sucanat and honey. Mmm, mmm, good.

No, they don't all use pacifiers, but they tried them out tonight. One of these is a real paci user (I am not telling which one) and the rest are test driving. This has to be one of the cutest shots of my boys. So sweet. They sat cuddled this way for Bible time this evening and then fell fast asleep after their big day.

Ashley is standing beside me as I write this. She will be twelve in two days. Where has the time gone? Am I old enough to have a pre-teen?! There is so much left to teach her... Happy almost Birthday Ashley. xo By the way, it's about time you started hearing a bit from her on this blog. That is part of my plan for the next year. Stay tuned!

Snow snow snow snow snow!

The snow has stopped falling and we have record amounts on the ground. I had to shovel my way in waist deep snow to get to our heat pump to make sure it was clear of snow drifts. Peter left on a trip before the snow began to fall. He was originally schedule to come home tomorrow night but his flight has been canceled. We hope to see him on Monday before the next storm comes. There is a chance for 6-8 inches of snow on Tuesday or Wednesday. Below are some photos from last night and this morning. Since then we have about 10 more inches on the ground. I shoveled the driveway last night but this morning doesn't prove it. The snow drifts are up to my door handle on my big van. The kids and I have spent the afternoon watching The Music Man. They love it and it just happens to be one of the movies on my list for school for next week. I can check that off the list. The picture below is of the girls standing in front of the shed. They didn't shovel it out, the drift just landed that way. Isn't that cool?!
Well, we have 20 minutes left of our movie. I think I will get everyone back together to finish it. Oh, here they come anyway! They are getting restless however if I let them go outside I may lose them in a drift. Just kidding, they will be headed that way in about 30 minutes now that the snow isn't blowing at 35 mph!

It's a new year...

I have not blogged because there has been too much to blog about! Peter was on call for Christmas so we celebrated early, then he wasn't called in. God is so good to let him be home with us all that time. He was able to join us for both extended family fellowships. After Christmas we rolled right into my cousins wedding, in which Daniel was the ring bearer. We had the rehearsal, dinner and then the wedding followed by Happy New Year! It was such an exciting time. Peter had us stay at a hotel near the wedding so that we would save a couple hours of driving with the kids. It was the perfect opportunity for the children to roll out their new sleeping bags. No one wanted the 2nd bed in the hotel room. I volunteered to stretch out in it but couldn't stand the thought of not feeling Peters feet all night long. Ashley decided she could take the bed. So there she was, our growing 11 year old, stretched out on a double all by herself while Dad and Mom cuddled in the other double. The other four were scattered here and there with no one blocking the way to the bathroom!

So now we are home and the temperature is a mere 25 degrees. We have a fire going, the kids are braving it after a long morning of back-to-school time and I am listening to the sound of laughing children along with pots and pans rolling down the back steps. What could they be up to? Probably wanting to freeze some more water to make ice. Peter has volunteered to take them on an ice run after they have a few blocks to use to slide down their grandparents hill. Though this will not be today as my husband picked up something during our week and has been laid out for 3 days. We are praying protection over the rest of us while we take turns waiting on him. He is up and about more today, but our sweet Daniel over heard that Daddy was going to drink water today and then showed up with one of his hot wheels cups full of water for Daddy. Oh when I see the precious hearts of my children, what joy!

We began last year with a decision to read through straight through the Bible in a year. We have read everyday, but with little ones we didn't quite make it all the way through. We are continuing this year where the 31st left off. We are in Luke. God's timing is good. If you have not read through the Bible we encourage you to do so. He still speaks and His word is right and true. We pray you will have eyes to see and ears to hear what He wants to reveals to you this year.
Blessings to you in this New Year!
We stand amazed at how the Lord has showered His mercy and blessing on us.

Kid Quote

As we are drawing:

Mommy: Daniel, I know what that is! It's a Teepee. That's great.

Daniel: No it's not. It's an Indian House!

Adoptive Mom

God's original plan for my kids was not what it is currently. God's original plan doesn't involve sinful, selfish and depraved people. It involves not eating from a tree and being fruitful and multiplying for His glory, to worship and fellowship with Him. My precious children are here with me because of the self-gratifying nature of this sinful people. And I rejoice because someone else's failures became my reward. I get to be their mom. I get to kiss their hurts, tuck them in, hear them sing and raise them for the glory of his Creator. But I ache. I am fallible. I am faced with the fact that I cannot make it all better all the time. I cannot be Jesus. I can show Jesus, love Jesus and walk within the boundaries of His word. But I cannot take away all the hurt that my children may feel. I can ask the Lord to protect them from the pain and I can teach my children to lean on Him to heal their wounds. That is my job. That is my calling--raising my kids for His glory and His alone. The Lord is faithful to restore what the locusts have stolen. He is Jehovah-Jireh (The Lord will Provide). He is Jehovah-Rophe (The Lord Who Heals). He is Jehovah-M'Kaddesh (The Lord Who Sanctifies). And in the midst of it all He is Jehovah-Shammah (The Lord is There).
Peace be with you all tonight.

What do you do with birthday balloons?

What are you doing for Halloween?

We don't do it. Usually we hide in the basement, lights off out front, gate closed to the porch, eating candy and watching a clean movie! This year we had planned to host a Reformation celebration, talk about Luthers 95 thesis and eat good German food. However, my husband is working. We were invited to a bonfire out in the country where noone but God and those invited know where we are! So, we may do that or we may do the usual. Either way we have a strong conviction that light and darkness have no fellowship together. Before we had children we would pass out candy and tracks. No more. We do not even frequent the stores that are decorated. We have been known to not go into certain stores for the entire month of October. Instead I would drive a little further to pick up whatever we needed.

Our almost 5yo son has a birthday this Thursday. Last year we went shopping for fun plates for his party. Where do you think we went? Yep, to the dreaded, fully decorated, Party City! I wasn't even thinking about the fact that it too would be decorated (I had already driven 10 minutes pass the store we were boycotting due to their decorations). We took a step in the door and a human sized half zombie-half man yard ornament "spoke" to my then 3 yo son. I covered my sons face, turned around and hurried from the store. My son has talked about it for an entire year!

We need to be aware of to what we are exposing our children. For us, it is not enough to "play down" Halloween. We just have to call it what it is and do something else. I understand the shying away from the "what are you going to be" or "do you want to hear my best witch laugh?" UGH. Umm, no thank you and Jesus loves you!

She Likes Scripture

It was right after breakfast when we noticed she was missing. Someone must have let her out to "do her business" and there she remained while we ate our oh-so-yummy scrambled eggs, sausage links and apple butter topped toast. Breakfast was over and it was time to let 'Minnie' have a couple bites of leftover eggs. "Minnie! Minnie! Come here Minnie!" She was nowhere to be found. After realizing we had not seen her since before breakfast we decided it was time to find her. We donned socks, shoes and bike helmets and proceeded to cover The Island in two different directions. Girls one way and Daddy with boys the other way, all yelling, "Minnie!" Mommy driving the Jeep and checking with neighbors. Over an hour passed and still no dog. She never goes that far so this was highly unusual. We checked at Papa and Gramommy as perhaps she wanted better food? No dog. We decided to give up and just wait as we were hopeful she would return. Daddy looked downstairs, Mommy looked upstairs checking each room thoroughly...one...more...time. No dog. No barking. Nothing. We decided to start Family Bible Time and in ran the dog, straight to her water for a big drink and straight to the door to go out for her "business," then back in to curl up and listen to Isaiah (the prophet, not the son). If only we had started Family Bible Time sooner...

The straws and lids can hurt the animals.

We took the kids to the zoo yesterday. The lion area was closed except for one section. The elephant house was closed for renovation. Supposedly there were orangutans somewhere to be found. The ape house was empty. The hippo had been sold to Minnesota. There were birds aplenty. We saw 2 zebras and 3 cheetahs. Mostly the cheetahs were pacing the pen watching the zebras. We never saw any feeding action. Not unless you count the time when we were going to see the lobster eat an oyster and we waited oh-so-patiently as the volunteer dropped the oyster right behind a rocky area where we couldn't see. We definitely saw our fair share of snakes. We caught a wild praying mantis but left it there as we didn't want to steal one of the main attractions of the zoo. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time and the kids loved seeing the animals that were actually AT the zoo. We finished our visit with a yummy soda. We paid and they handed us 32 ounce cups. When we asked for lids and straws (after all we have five kiddos drinking from these big cups) they informed us without apology that the straws and lids can hurt the animals. Peter and I were shocked! Is this written on a sign somewhere? We feel cheated. We didn't know. We wouldn't have bought them...okay, we would have. But what we really wanted to know was...Exactly WHAT animals were going to be injured by straws and lids?!