Credit to Whom Credit is Due

Lest anyone think that I am conquering the world here and at the same time finding more time to blog than ever before...I'll just state right now that "it ain't so"! Therfore, without further hesitation let me proclaim far and wide and high and low that "my husband is wonderful"!
I don't know how I rated to get such a great man, but I feel like one of the most blessed people on the planet and here's some of the reasons why- just this week...

1. Willingness to keep the children ALL DAY LONG, multiple days in a row.
2. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner in bed for almost an entire week.
3. When he doesn't know what I want, he walks in and in an elderly, raspy voice says, "Dietary".
4. The laundry is done- I fold it, but he has washed and dried it all, including two rounds of Jonathon ?!? wetting his bed- all of it.
5. He has kept the kitchen clean.
6. He has kept the living room picked up.
7. He even cleaned off the clutter "hot spots" a time or two.
8. He changes dirty diapers.
9. He makes the children clean their rooms and make the bed.
10. He has sent one child up at a time to me this week and thus we have had a continuous week of school!!!!!!!!!!
11. Somehow he managed to squeeze in almost 30 hours of "real" work. (Not without help from friends and neighbors, but nevertheless...)
12. He made SALAD to go with dinner tonight!
13. He makes me laugh.
14. He is teaching the children to love me. Jonathon comes up one day and says, "Dietary. Mama, what's a dietary?"
15. He stopped working and went to town so I wouldn't have to go one day.
16. He has been my servant many times, fetching things from downstairs so I would not have to climb them or do without.
17. He drove 5 of us (Jonathon, James, Joseph, Brandon and myself) to Joseph's circumcision appointment and held his little hands during he operation.
18. He let Jonathon watch #17 and thus we have a budding doctor in our midst- at least a child who is fascinated with all manner of dealing with human ailments and blood and guts and such.
19. He has put his comfort and rest last and the children and my needs first.
20. He cares about me and lets me know it.

Anyway, the disclaimer is that I have had a tremndous amount of help from others as well and I don't want to discount their efforts, but the brunt of the responsibility of running the house has fallen on him and he gets an A+ for his efforts.

Oh, and the children are happy!

Attempting the Impossible

Here's one or the results of our attempts at a group shot. I think five is the number at which we might have to stop trying to get everyone looking at the camera, with no fingers in their mouths, and happy, but not fake smiling, and no falling over or looking the other way or leaning back on the pillow, or ....arh! Anyway...they are still charming when they are out of trouble and at this moment none of them were in trouble so life was good and I'll take it!

In Times Like These...

…all the world seems to be a peace. This week of recovery has been quite productive and I have found rest for the whole of me, not just the physical side, but emotionally and spiritually as well.

First, I have been blessed to have a wonderful friend- DR- who, took two of her four personal days (per year) to stay home and help take care of our family while I rested! I remember days in years gone by when I prayed that God would supply me with “real” friends that I could enjoy, trade encouragement with, and be moving together towards God. I haven’t been on the asking side of that prayer for a while now, but there are many times when I find myself thanking Him for supplying that need in my life. So, this week, even though the baby wasn’t suppose to be here yet and thus threw us for a bit of a loop preparation wise, we have had help. I should mention that DR is not the only one who has assisted. I’m sure to skip someone, but there is ES that came on Thursday when the midwife left and Brandon was at the airport and she stayed the day to babysit “Mary and Joseph” (hehe- I didn’t think about that combo until after he was born) . Then there was GP- who in my hour of social thirst came and filled my cup to running over with all manner of conversation, laughing, day dreaming, and general talkativeness. And ER, usually with many children in tow, who has stopped by several times to see me and always lifts my spirits- even if we don’t talk about much of anything. ER has 9 kids and sometimes my strength is renewed just by seeing her alive and knowing that it is possible to have that many children and not be dead from the work of it, but she usually has a smile and a laugh as well- which makes it all the better. And of course, there have been many others who have stopped by to see me, the baby, and say hi. For me, that’s like drugs. I’m practically addicted to people and the worst part of being away in my bedroom is the lack of company. So, thanks to all those people out there who have come to visit and all of you who wish you could…that helps too.

Second, I have been way productive. I feel like I’ve climbed mountains. First and foremost, I’ve been able to read my Bible and have virtually no excuse for not getting it all in. So, that has been a huge boost. I also managed to sneak into the school room yesterday and tidy it up a bit so I could walk in there. When it isn’t in use, it quickly becomes a dumping grounds for all things without a home. Now it’s tidy. I’ve also managed to write up a family letter for this year and hopefully I’ll actually get it sent as well. Among other things, I’ve also finished two books I was reading, cleaned up my room- more thoroughly, made some necessary phone calls, received some books in the mail for school next year and glanced them over, done some long overdue blogging, taken plenty of naps, given orders for the fridge to be cleaned out, done some school with James and Jonathon, put puzzles together with Rachel, gotten my birthing supplies packed away and ready to be transported back to the attic until the next round, had plenty of prayer time, updated some pictures of the children, and numerous other little tidbits. The great thing is that since I have had several days of bed rest recently due to the kidney stone issues, I have actually crossed off lots more of those little nagging things that need to be done than I ever anticipated. I never have much time for work that I need to sit for, because I don’t sit for much, but now I’m caught up with tons of it!!!!! WHOOOOOHOOO!

Third, physically I’m doing pretty good. Joseph has had a bit of trouble eatting due to engorgement issues and the fact that his mouth is so tiny, so that has been tough, but other than that, I’m feeling pretty good and every day find I have more energy. I’m especially thankful now for the disgusting diet I’ve had to be on for my blood sugar issues. For the first time in all my pregnancies I only gained 25 lbs. and lost over half of it at the birth, so getting back down to a decent weight seems more realistic than ever. Two thumbs up for exercise and healthy eatting even when I hate it…it is paying off! Hooray!

Spiritually, I’m doing pretty well. I was just recently feeling discouraged and like I could pray, but felt convinced that God wasn’t really able to respond to me in a way I could hear it. Perhaps you have felt that way about something- like the idea that you want to call God up on the phone and talk to him about a particular matter, but even though you talk and talk and then listen, there is no voice that comes out of the phone saying: “I will send you money tomorrow to pay for the car bill.” Then you say, “thanks, that’s exactly what I needed to know.” So, I was basically griping about a host of things that I didn’t have answers for- that was Saturday night- before the baby was born.

It’s too bad that I am such an impatient person, but Sunday I received answers to several of the things that I was frustrated with and once again I was reminded that God DOES hear, he DOES respond, and even though it may not be through a phone or maybe we don’t ask and then find: GO TO TOWN THIS AFTERNOON written in Matthew, he DOES lead us! So, not only did I get answers to at least three concerns, but I also got a gold nugget from a George MacDonald book I was reading. The idea I got from that, though I don’t remember the quote exactly was,

When we reach the end of the land of possibilities and find ourselves stepping out into the realm of impossibilities, that is just where God dwells.

I was so encouraged to be reminded that God is the KING of conquering impossibilities. And somehow it reminded me once again that he wants to be the KING of what I think is possible too. He would rather me fall flat on my face, than bring glory to myself by doing a thing solo. He wants me to need him for EVERYTHING, to trust him for everything, so that when I get to the end of the day, I can say that God did it.

The other nugget of truth I have been blessed by this week came from listening to “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” on DVD, thanks to a particular CS here at Fairwood. I was listening to the part where the children are discussing Edmond’s recent fall in with the witch and they were despairing over his fate. One of the girls looks to Aslan and says something like, “Surely, something can be done to save him.” And Aslan replies, “All will be done…” And I rejoiced to be reminded that when there are those we know who are stumbling along in their faith, or perhaps it’s just a bad habit that I cannot conquer within myself, I am reminded that God doesn’t stop after he’s tried a couple of tactics. NO! ALL WILL BE DONE! He would not stop until he has given up all of himself and more for every single one of us! He doesn’t throw in the towel after “experiment #4” and say he’s done with it. NO! ALL WILL BE DONE! He keeps going, keeps knocking, keeps pointing, keeps leading, keeps going, and keeps himself on the cross long enough for His death to be the necessary answer for everything we have done, and could ever do, and ever will do.

I’m a bit inspired…

Anyway, I was thinking along those lines for those people out there who want to be following God on one hand, and yet more and more find that they want to be following the world at the same time. I am so thankful He is not content to leave us in such a state!

Well…I guess you got your sermon for the day! I wasn’t really planning on going on that tangent in the beginning, but now you have it. Praise the Lord for rest on all sides!

In the midst of the storm...

So here's my attempt to recreate some of the details for those of you who want more.

I've sat down to post several times since my last posting, but always found myself with more hands at the "wheel" than what I can manage.

Anyway, most of you know that yesterday, February 15th, we had #5.

Joseph Zachary Aldrich

My story is that I started with mild labor on the 14th at about 5am when I couldn't sleep anymore due to contractions and the fact that I was cooking breakfast for the students that morning for Valentine's Day. So, I got up and began. It was a great breakfast if I do say so...we had scrambled eggs, beef sausage links, strawberry yogurt, granola, strawberries, homemade cheese danish, cran-grape juice, and lots of fancy dishes to round it out. The contractions were mild enough that I could work right through them, but they were very regular and hard enough that when I tried to take a nap later that morning, I could really sleep much- about every 6 minutes apart.

For those of you who do not live in the north and thus might be ignorant of our recent weather patterns, Wednesday was also a VERY BIG snow day. We got close to 2 feet of snow before the day was out! So, have snow...must have baby! I called our midwife around 10:30 and apologized over and over that I thought I might be in labor in the middle of a blizzard. She was very comforting and told me numerous times that I was doing the right thing to call- even if this wasn't the "real" thing. (Note: for those of you who don't know...even after four children I can't really tell when I'm in labor in the early stages unless my water breaks first- which it did not.) So, on I went with life...lunch and such and then the midwife (MW) came around 3. She did a few checks, said she thought I probably was in labor and hung around to wait it out. A few applications of some evening primrose oil helped things move along in the right direction, but only very slowly. The short of it is- by 1am I was only 3-4 cm and somehow I have to get to 10!

In fact, I thought I was slowing down afer that and called my mother around 5 to say that I didn't know what was going on, but I seemed to be "circling the runway" with little intention to land any time soon. At 5:15 am on the 15th though- that's 24 hours into this for those of you who don't want to do the math- things changed and I could tell we were going to actually have this baby. It was rather interesting timing however because Brandon was supposed to leave at 7:30 to go pick up my sister Amy at the Boston airport- 2 hours away and then retrieve our new living room furniture (more on that later) on the way home. So I was a little nervous that he would either miss the birth or Amy would have to wait at the airport for us for a while.

But God's timing is perfect- as I am realizing more and more with this child. Brandon stayed and the baby was born at 8:09am. For those of you who appreciate some of the gory details, the midwife broke my water about 2 contractions before I was ready to push and then I had one warm up push and Joseph came out in the second really long push- everything in one great heave! It was not pleasant...and that's all I'll say about that other that, I'd do it again if I could avoid kidney stones!

So Joseph was born, Amy's flight was providentially delayed, and Brandon did his airport and furniture run and Amy didn't have to sit at the airport too long on this end waiting for him.

Now he's here and you might want to know what he's like:

Well, Jonathon insisted that he was still named "Isaac"- a name we considered for a while after being suggested by him on numerous occasions.

James exclaimed that his hands were very small and they were smaller than Rachel's.

Jeff smiled- which was a big improvement to his reaction over Rachel's birth- and just looked on.

Rachel is quite taken with all of Joseph and loves to sit and rub his hands and feet and head and talk about all his parts and say "Baby Joses" over and over.

I think he's pretty cute myself and I think he looks kind of like my paternal grandfather. He had a rounder face than the other children and I could almost imagine him with a balding head of gray hair and some glasses! He was quite a sleeper for most of the day and didn't really want to try to eat anything. I don't often think of the work the baby must do to be born, but I think I just wore him out! He whimpered tiny little whimpers while he slept- kind of like someone who snores with each breath, only his were cute...and he managed to sleep a good part of the night too. He's awake wide and early this morning and has been trying to eat almost nonstop, so the two of us escaped the bedroom to give Brandon a little more sleep before he had to be functional.

For all of you who know and believe in God's timing of events, Joseph was named for the meaning: God will add (and not because it starts with "J") He was a little of a surprise to us from the beginning, though we were very thrilled! He also came after a longer break between children and after the wedding of my brother- which I had specifically prayed for. And the timing here at the end of his birth has just seemed to be perfect as well. I never dreamed I'd have a baby 2 weeks early, but I had prayed that way and God was gracious and answered.

Now, I'm excited about the rest of Joseph's life and wondering what events God has in store for him down the road that might look big or crazy, but in reality are just perfectly put together in God's plan. Whatever it is, I hope I will remember why we named him Joseph and be able to focus on God's big picture of adding things to our lives when He wants to- whether it all makes sense to me or not.


Hooray for little miracles...we have a nice new one here and you should all come and see him! He truly is a blessing from our heavenly Father!

Picture of the Kids

Brandon posted a picture of the kids over here.

24 Hours and Counting

Ok, so here's the scoop...for those of you who are in the dark, or are in the light, but wanting more of it...

CAUTION:

Some parts of this post are more detailed than the light stomach reader would prefer,

proceed with care.

I started having some pain in my side on Wednesday morning- enough to make me just want to lay down with a heat pad. It was similar pain to what I had in November just before Thanksgiving, with the exception that this pain was on the left side and the previous pain was on the right. At the last hospital incident, the diagnosis was that the baby was just putting a lot of pressure on the right ureter (tube from kidney to bladder) and causing me discomfort. I think it was a kidney stone personally, but what do I know...anyway, the pain went away suddenly in the night the last night I was at the hospital, and I haven't had it return since.

This new pain lasted the entire day, Wednesday, and found me taking a prescribed narcotic called Oxycodone- "one of the most powerful medications for pain control that can be taken orally" (according to Wikipedia)- which by the way is safe for the baby since it only messes with your brain. The meds managed the pain and that night the pain went away and I had a good night's rest.

On Thursday, I awoke to find myself somewhat exhausted and rested most of the morning, but in the afternoon, the pain came back, I went back on the drugs and went back to bed with my trusty heating pad. All the time I continued to drink copious amounts of water thinking that this was in fact a kidney stone that needed to pass. It was certainly painful enough to be one and the pain was located in the correct area to be caused by such a thing. Again, in the night, the pain went away and I was relieved.

Friday, I had no pain, but was very exhausted and worn out and rested most of the day. I had very little appetite and found I was cold and tired. In the evening, around 7pm, the pain began again and at 8:30, I took another dose of drugs. By midnight, I was in an intolerable amount of pain and could only lay on my left side without feeling nausea or more discomfort. At 12:30 when I tried to take my next dose of pain medications I found myself in quite a state. I couldn't take the meds because I was throwing up everytime I rolled over or went to the bathroom, I couldn't get comfortable, I was in terrible pain, and I was having false labor contractions on top of it all (that silly baby felt the need to excercise for the delivery right then!?!) At this point, I was beyond being rational and I told Brandon I couldn't deal with it anymore. Actually, I was in so much pain that I couldn't walk and when it came time to put me in the car to go to the hospital, I sort of piggy-backed down the stairs on Brandon. I was in tears! I have never felt so awful in my life!

Fortunately, one of the seats was out of the van and Brandon spread a blanket on the floor and I was able to just lay down flat the entire way to the hospital. He called them on the way so they would be expecting us and when we got there, I was almost immediately wheeled into a bed and given an IV. Me- the person who has always had a very BIG issue with needles was ASKING for an IV. They even messed up the first one and had to do a second one and I didn't really care! All I wanted was drugs! Just make the pain go away!!!! So, pretty quickly, I got some relief and spent the day Saturday in the emergency room. Actually I was in the ER until about 3pm in the afternoon.- the weekend is NOT the time to have a problem! I had an ultrasound to see what there was to see in the morning, but I didn't see the doctor about the results until after 10:30 that night! It wasn't all his fault- he's an OB/GYN and had 7 women in labor that day, so he delivered 4 babies and still had 3 to go when he came to see me that evening. I couldn't help but have some sympathy! Besides, by that time my pain was under control, if not gone and I was able to at least rest some.

Sunday, the pain was almost none that morning, but around noon it came back. At the hospital they put me on a different narcotic called Dilaudid, which is a synthetic form of morphine and a anti-nausea medication called Zofran. Between the two of them I was pretty much knocked out when I was drugged. I don't especially like feeling dopey, but it was better than the alternative for sure! Most of the time I couldn't keep my eyes open, though I could stay awake for a while- even if they were shut. Part of it was that the meds made me dizzy and sort of see double of things some, so it made my head hurt to have my eyes open a lot, but I could shut them and talk still. So, Sunday evening, that pain went away and at that point they had me on an oral dilaudid and were shutting down the fluids on the IV and making me drink. I should mention at this point that both Saturday night and Sunday night I had trememndous volcanic activity in my intestines and had to visit the restroom quite a bit- which is NOT a know side effect of the meds and in hind sight might have very well been a virus on top of all of the stone issue.

Monday, I was having no pain, but hesitant to leave for fear that the pain would return, but the hospital seemed ready for me to go and they covered their bases with the appropriate prescriptions and paperwork. Brandon picked me up and we came home in the afternoon. I had some pain that evening at home, but it was minimal and took only a little of the meds.

Tuesday, I stayed in bed and had some pain in the afternoon and evening, used the drugs, but it went away that night. In the night, I noticed that the pain was completely gone and that mostly I just felt worn out.

On Wednesday, I slept in and rested during the day, doing to lap work on the bed and watched commentaries to movies I had already seen. The pain did not return and I had a good nap. So good in fact that when I went to bed Wednesday night at 11pm I couldn't sleep and I spent the next hour and half laying there wide awake, praying for people and wondering if I would ever sleep. So, I got up marked the 24 hours of no pain and now you have this lovely post for your reading pleasure.

Future Plans: So far, this month it has not worked out for me to plan much of anything, but currently, I am anticipating feeling better tomorrow and possibly spending some time around the family- something I haven't done for a week! This weekend promises to bring some interesting scheduling puzzles to work out and I hope that things will continue to improve as the days progress. Afterall, I only have 6 weeks until I end up in bed again recouping from the baby! I'm not positive that the stone has passed, but it does feel different at this point and I am hoping and praying that means it's gone.

Brandon has done an awesome job of managing the house, the children, and his work. And we have WONDERFUL friends who have also helped make him successful in his efforts. Many people have watched the children, cooked meals, folded clothes, cleaned up, washed dishes, and prayed. I have had many phone calls and felt a tremendous amount of love and support this week. Never could I ever pay everyone back for their kindness to our family. I only hope that in time I'll be able to pass some of the kindness along to someone else who needs it.

And now, for your amusement, some interesting facts from Wikipedia about kidneys stones:

-In 271 BC, the Greek Philosopher Epicurus died from a kidney stone blockage lasting 2 weeks.
-British statesman Samuel Pepys also suffered from kidney stones and was operated on, pre-anesthesia, to remove a large stone which he carried with him and used to try to persuade fellow sufferers to endure the painful surgery.
-Dutch blacksmith Jan de Doot is remembered for having his portrait painted with the large stone that he removed from himself in 1651.
-Astronauts often get kidney stones because of an increase in the amount of calcium in their blood due to a loss of bone density in zero gravity.
-In his book "A Year at the Movies, Mystery Science Theater 3000",writer/performer Kevin Murphy describes his ordeal with a kidney stone: "Being gut-stabbed with a dirty spoon in a prison cafeteria is less painful."
-Lyndon B. Johnson suffered from kidney stones at various times in his life.
-On October 19, 2005, actor William Shatner was taken to the emergency room for lower back pain. He eventually passed a kidney stone, but recovered and soon returned to work. Shatner sold his kidney stone in 2006 for $75,000 to GoldenPalace.com. The money will go to a housing charity.
-John Hart, signer of the Declaration of Independence, died of kidney stones.
-Peter Baulman (Australia) had a kidney stone removed from his right kidney in December 2003 at The Gold Coast Hospital, Southport, Queensland, Australia, weighing 12.5 oz and measuring at its widest point, 4.66 in. It holds the Guinness world record for largest and heaviest kidney stone removed from a human being.

Family Update Revisited

Ok, so I did get sick afterall, though thankfully I avoided the vomitting part of the sickness. Brandon got it too, just after I recovered and thus we finished out the week last week with everyone just barely well.

Monday was an awesome day. We had school with the children, things got done, we stayed on routine and I was excited about the potential of getting back on schedule. Tuesday was off to a good start, but I had a doctor's appointment in the morning and then went to Manchester for some errands that afternoon, so as far as the schedule goes, the day was shot. Brandon took care of the children for the afternoon and evening and then has basically had them the rest of the week as well. Wednesday, I came down with a case of trouble with kidney stones. This is what put me in the hospital back before Thanksgiving, but since I had been around this block and had proper medication for it, I decided to brave it at home. Wednesday evening, I felt much better and thought that perhaps I had passed the stone, but Thursday afternoon the pain returned and I have been drugged ever since. Even now I'm in sort of a daze with a slight feeling of the room spinning, a good headache, and a bit of nausea, but the pain in my side is minimal, so I suppose the meds are doing their work- even if I hate the side effects. I will put all your minds at ease and say that both the doctor and my midwife told me that the drugs I am taking will not hurt the baby, so don't worry, but if you think of us you can pray that this will all go away. Pray for Brandon too, he's very busy this month and being sick and having to play househusband is not helping his work load.

Actually, my list of things to do in the near future is kind of overwhelming as well, so keep us in your prayers. I'll try to post if things change around here. Right now the good things are: great friends to help us out, the kids are happy, and I have been able to rest. Praise the Lord for His goodness to us- even when it looks bad.

Well, I think that's all my head can take of looking at words. We'll keep in touch...

Family Update

Here's the lastest report on our activities and status:

Brandon is currently en route to NH and should arrive sometime Tuesday morning. Perhaps he will be all perky and ready to take over the sick ward....maybe??? ok....maybe not.

I came home with the kids from Maine on Sunday morning- a day early, when Rachel threw up and J1 and J3 were sounding VERY congested. We have managed to survive, thanks to some planning, coming home to a clean house, and some reinforcements today for dinner prep.

Rachel seems to be feeling better today. She only spewed twice yesterday and has been scarfing down the food ever since. Jeff was sick this evening with a grand total of 5 rounds. Unfortunately, he hit the bed- everything on it, so that had to be washed, and he also disliked the activity so much that he would hide from me when he was about to vomit. So, I had to fight with him to get him to hit the bucket. We succeeded mostly and thus minimized the mess. Jonathon's stomach was feeling icky tonight, so he did not have dinner. He said he wanted it, but then just pushed it around on his plate for 20 minutes, so I took it away and said that perhaps the good soldiers in his body needed to concentrate on fighting off the bad guys and if he put food in there, the soldiers wouldn't be able to do their job as well. (Did anyone else think they had little men in their bodies when they were little besides me?) Anyway, all three of the boys went to bed with buckets by their sides, but so far, no one has had to use them. I'm glad. I hope it stays that way all night. The only reason James went with a bucket was because I just thought that anyone who ate about three hotdogs for dinner was bound to loose it if their stomach got the least bit queasy.

SO, I'm thankful that the house is pretty clean, I"m not sick, and Brandon is on his way home. The house is pretty peaceful and as I recal, we were sick when ringing in the New Year last year as well, so maybe it's just tradition...but I don't think we need to keep up with this one.

Tata.

Prayers for Protection

Normally when our family gets into the car we pray for protection on the road as we travel. Jonathon almost always is willing to pray and James occasionally chimes in with, "Dear Jesus, help us have a good time." I suppose that is also a valid request. Anyway, today, for a change to our normal stay at home for Sabbath, Grandpa A. and Auntie J. and I took the kids to the Children's Museum in Portland, ME. As usual, we prayed on the way there for God's protection in our travels. I think Jonathon and James both prayed- but the important part is that today, more than other days I noticed God's blessing in this area.

This afternoon it was predicted 1-3 inches of snow starting around 3pm, but when we left the museum at noon, it was already coming down. I think it's about 41 miles from the museum back to the house, but it took us almost 2 hours because of the driving conditions. We kept track of how many cars we saw that had accidents or had run off the road into the ditch- way into the ditch, or were in the emergency lane going the wrong way from having spun out. I will say I only saw one of the ones just turned around, all the rest were either wrecks or in the ditch far enough that they couldn't get out and we passed 14 of them on our way home! Every time we went by, my thoughts were, "Thank you Lord for protection." It's not every day that it is so clearly obvious to me that he is watching over us, but I know it to be true. You could argue that those were just dumb drivers or people who were inexperienced in the snow and that might be the case, but I bet some of those people were just run into by others and actually had almost no part to play in their unfortunate circumstances. So, while I felt we had an excellent driver behind the wheel- Grandpa, I was also very aware of an excellent God watching over us.

And as a side note, I was glad to see that of all the accidents we saw, not one of them appeared to be fatal. Which I will also give God credit for. So, as you leave your house today, maybe it isn't snowing in your neck of the woods, but He is still there and can guard your vehicle too. Be sure to give Him the opportunity!

That's my sermon for the day.

12 Days of Christmas

You must all now sing for my pleasure:

(Ahem..disclaimer: while most of the gifts were received, it is not necessarily the "true love's" fault)

OK, now SING:

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me
-a week of cleaning house without the kids.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me
-two stuffy nostrils and a week of cleaning house without the kids.

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me
-three fussy boys, two stuffy nostrils and a week of cleaning house without the kids. (Haha)

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
- four tangled slinkies, three fussy boys, two stuffy nostrils and a week of cleaning house without the kids.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
- "FIVE bowls of mushy cereal, four tangled slinkies, three fussy boys, two stuffy nostrils and a week of cleaning house without the kids.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
- six runny noses, FIVE BOWLS OF MUSHY CEREAL, four tangled slinkies, three fussy boys, two stuffy nostrils, and a week of cleaning house without the kids.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me
- seven wakes from snoring, six runny noses, FIVE BOWLS OF MUSHY CEREAL, four tangled slinkies, three fussy boys, two stuffy nostrils and a week of cleaning house without the kids.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
- eight broken train parts, seven wakes from snoring, six runny noses, FIVE BOWLS OF MUSHY CEREAL, four tangled slinkies, three fussy boys, two stuffy nostrils, and a week of cleaning house without the kids.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
- nine dolls called "Baby", eight broken train parts, seven wakes from snoring, six runny noses, FIVE BOWLS OF MUSHY CEREAL, four tangled slinkies, three fussy boys, two stuffy nostrils, and a week of cleaning house without the kids.

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me
- ten thousand castle pieces, nine dolls called "baby", eight broken train parts, seven wakes from snoring, six runny noses, FIVE BOWLS OF MUSHY CEREAL, four tangled slinkies, three fussy boys, two stuffy nostrils, and a week of cleaning house without the kids.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me
-eleven stinky dishrags, ten thousand castle pieces, nine dolls called "baby" eight broken train parts, seven wakes from snoring, six runny noses, FIVE BOWLS OF MUSHY CEREAL, four tangled slinkies, three fussy boys, two stuffy nostrils, and a week of cleaning house without the kids.

ON THE TWELVETH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME......


-(deap breath here) twelve different battery operated toys playing at the same time, eleven stinky dishrags, ten thousand castle pieces, nine dolls called "baby", eight broken train parts, seven wakes from snoring, six runny noses, FIVE BOWLS OF MUSHY CEREAL, ,four tangled slinkies, three fussy boys, two stuffy nostrils, AND A WEEK OF CLEANING HOUSE WITHOUT THE KIDS!

Whew! Now wasn't that fun!?!

Picture Updates

Here are the recent events in the Aldrich house according to pictures:

First we have the birthday of Jeff last Friday. Once again the Strawberry Pudding Cake came out and it was gobbled up.

Second, we have the castle and the friends over to play. The castle was the big gift from the relatives this year and the boys are still having a blast with it. They got it on the first morning of Hannakah. (It took their mother about 3 hours to put together. The instructions said 2 hours, but I watched a movie too.)

Third, Jeff and Rachel enjoying cookie swap cookies on the floor in the kitchen.

Last, Jonathon and James with their gingerbread houses that they made in Ms. Randall's class! We had tons of fun and the houses are still intact right now, though the drool ratio in this place is multiplying by leaps and bounds.

Have a great weekend!

Cooking Madness

I think that while I am usually VERY fond of cooking...this week I've had just about enough. Actually, I think that I might enjoy being a caterer in another life or something, but with the amount of things that I have worked on lately, I think my creative juices for the kitchen are at an all time low.

For the dessert banquet I had a great time making all sorts of things:

Apricot Nectar Cake (an old family recipe that is absolutely delicious)
Baklava (a middle eastern dessert full of nuts, honey, and flaky crust layers)
Almond Sugar Cookies (the best sugar cookie recipe I've found so far)
Mini Peanut Butter Pies (creamy peanut butter filling in minature phyllo dough crusts)
Chevre Grapes (round globe grapes, seeded, dipped in pistachios and stuffed with goat cheese)
Lemon Chicken Salad in Poppyseed Tartlets (just about what it says)
Ye Olde Christmas Cheese Ball (a mixture of cream cheese and smoked gouda rolled in toasted pecans)
Crudites (basic veggies and dip- a fresh dill and cream cheese dip, and a dip of beet juice and cream cheese)

I was going to make something else, but I didn't really have time and it had asparagus in it and mine went bad before I could use it as well as I forgot I had to thaw out my pastry for 2 hours before I started on it, thus I nixed that one.

THEN...we had the funeral for Mr. Page- an elderly man who lived here at Fairwood and passed away last week. So I opted to make the dessert for the reception- Coconut Cake.

It went great. At first. A friend came over in the morning to help me make the cakes because we needed 3, 3-layered cakes and we had the cakes baked by noon. Then I began working on the icing in the afternoon. It was an old family recipe once again, but one that was not clear on some of the instructions and I basically spent the rest of the day Wednesday working on that icing- until around 7:15pm. But I finally got it to work and the cakes were beautiful before I went to bed that night.

Yesterday I just recovered the house somewhat in addition to it being the day of the funeral and the last day before Christmas break for the students, so they had a party in the evening that we attended.

Today is Jeff's 3rd birthday which involves...you guessed it...a cake. I"m making one of my favorites- I'm not sure what the official name of it is, but we call it Strawberry Pudding Cake and it is super easy and super yummy. A recipe from my mother. It's a layer of cake, yellow, white, or something similar, topped with juicy strawberries and juice that soaks into the warm cake, then a layer of vanilla pudding spread across and finally a layer of Cool Whip sprinkled with nuts. Mmmmm! Jeff likes it, so that works.

I'm also making Chicken Casserole for dinner since that seems to be a family favorite around here.

Tomorrow I will prepare another cheese ball for Sunday refreshments since that's the day of our church party and then Sunday night I'm hoping to make some cookies for the Cookie Swap on Monday night. I think I've settled on an Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie that has a creamy peanut butter filling and looks somewhat like a little sandwich.

Then I will run away from the kitchen and not look at it until...breakfast the next morning I suppose.

So that's what I've been doing lately- cooking tons!
Of course this next week is suppose to be cleaning week here in our house. Brandon is keeping the children each day for a while so I can "spring clean" the different rooms of the house- one room each day. Today I have tackled the boys' room and I'm thrilled with the results. I couldn't believe how much dust and dirt was in there, but it's gone now. I think the dirtiest spot was the toy box. I don't think I've vacuumed it out since Jonathon was born- it's always had his blocks in it, but today it is clean. The other bad spot was the fan. Of course I am allergic to dust, so I wore a dust mask and thus I am having virtually no reactions to all my cleaning so far. I hope I can have the same results next week when I do 5 rooms in 5 days.

Ok, better run get the cake out of the oven and feed the kids lunch. Have a great Sabbath one and all and as we will begin celebrating Hannakah this evening, Happy Hannakah to all!

Exciting things for this week

Just thought I would share the top 10 most exciting things this week in our house- that I could think of right this second, that is... We've been on duty and preparing for the dessert banquet, so things are super busy. Oh that Sunday would come!

10. We're on duty this week for the Bible School and nothing scary has happened.
9. The Bible School girls and I decorated the dining hall Monday and Tuesday- a first for me to be running the operation, but they had great attitudes and worked hard.
8. I've had plenty of "opportunities" to walk this week since that is the fastest way to get my blood sugar to come down. It seems to be getting more sensitive as the months of pregnancy drag on.
7. Rachel went to the doctor on Wednesday for a rash around her mouth, but the doctor thinks it's just dry skin and irritation to saliva. Hmmm...ok....
6. I went shopping yesterday and hit a record 8 stores, with a child in tow before coming home, all in the name of picking up items for the dessert banquet.
5. Rachel likes shopping.
4. After going to bed close to midnight for several nights, last night I made it in bed by 8pm and was asleep less than 30 min. later. I think I need to do this for a week.
3. "Cars" is a full 2 hours long and that means I can almost clean the entire house without being disturbed! I'm looking forward to that this afternoon.
2. I've decided that while I usually think of cooking as my hobby, this week I think it's more the idea of cooking is the hobby. Somehow the cooking isn't quite as appealing, but I haven't really started yet, so maybe I'll change my mind.
1. Jonathon poked James in the face with a tomato cage- the pointy end. Thankfully, he missed his eye by a 1/4 inch and the wound seems to be healing well.

Hope your week has gone just as well, if not better than ours. See ya!

Picture of the Day

So, today's story is we had a pine tree taken down right outside our house. A VERY LARGE TREE. The crane came. The men chopped, the crane picked up

the chopped part of the tree off of the stump and put it down VERY CAREFULLY. After putting said tree down on the ground some men marked parts of the tree for saving for various reasons. They marked it with neon orange spray paint. As you can see from the picture, James found the paint and decided he should mark himself. He actually got his head, his jacket, his shoes, Jonathon's jacket, and the two slides on the lawn, but I didn't feel the need to put all of that here. The head pretty much says it all. Of course, after I get the paint out of his stuff, then I can work on all the pine tree sap on his pants...isn't life with boys fun!?! Never dull...that's for sure.

P.S. I place no blame in this particular situation. I did not know the paint was there, James found the paint just outside our house and it was therefore fair game, and the men were just doing their job, so we just chalked this one up to a "wonderful" accident.

P.S.S. The paint did come off his head, so I'm sorry to disappoint any of you who where hoping to catch him with the orange still on weeks from now....nail polish remover.

Thankful fors....

Here is a list of ten slightly generic, but nonetheless important things to be thankful for today:

1. A great family that loves me.
2. God has richly supplied our needs.
3. My children are happy and learning to love Jesus.
4. Plenty of humor to go around with friends.
5. I am not in the hospital.
6. I have lots of friends that I regularly feel loved by and overwhelmed with their generosity.
7. We live at a wonderful place and are enjoying raising our children there.
8. Godly parents and in-laws who support our desires for living godly lives and encourage us along the way.
9. Jesus' love for me.
10. Heaven is a day closer!

And now...10 things that might not normally show up on a list, but I am still very thankful for:

1. Dental floss.
2. Cordless telephones.
3. The ability to whistle very loudly.
4. Poached eggs on toast, and steak for breakfast.
5. Socks.
6. Indoor plumbing, especially in the winter.
7. Strawberries and whipped cream.
8. Liquid naps. (Coffee in the afternoon)
9. Toilet brushes.
10. Latex foam rubber form pillows. (They are the best in the world!)

Hope your thanksgiving is equally filled with both large and small things to be thankful for.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

So Far So Good

Ok, this is a very uninspired post- one that is being written primarily so that I can alleviate tha guilty feelings in the back of my mind.

First off, I am feeling much better since my hospital visit last week. I had three days in the hospital with a blocked kidney. The doctor said that it was due to soft muscles and the lack of them functioning properly thanks to pregnancy hormones and possibly aggrivated by the baby "sitting" on top of my organs. This means I had plenty going into my right kidney, but nothing coming out. Anyway, thanks to many prayers and, mainly a direct answer from the Lord, the pain is completely gone. I am so thankful- especially since the doctor said the remedy was to manage the pain with drugs until the baby is born -and that is still three and a half months away! If you wonder why I thought this was unreasonable, for pain comparison (according to Carol Burnett) you should take your bottom lip and pull it over your forhead. Yeah! Doesn't that feel great! So, bottom line- no more pain...this is good. And I am recovering from the hospital visit as well and regaining my strength.

Second, we had a great familly reunion on Saturday. This is my mother's side of the family and quite a few of her cousins are true Southerners. In fact, some of you would probaby want to have a translator present. There was plenty of good food, lots of laughing, and when I didn't have the energy to chase kids anymore, there were plenty of willing hands to pitch in and help with the work. The younger people rode 4-wheelers all across the property and some people engaged in games on the lawn. My brothers brought Bocce and there were also a few games of horseshoes and disc golf.

The children had a good time as well. There was a nice little slide and swing set, a trampoline, a little play house, and the highlight for Jeff: the swimming pool. The pool still had water in it and he was caught at one point standing on the edge, throwing all manner of objects into it. Somehow during the day his socks and shoes got wet. I never found out how, but that might be a good thing.

Sunday we went to church at ODC and enjoyed seeing the Georgia crowd again. Afterwards we caught some McDonald's for lunch and had a little down time during the afternoon. Then for dinner we headed to Bryan and Sarah's. That was quite a riot with 4 parents and 7 children 5 and under. They had a good time and we had a good family visit.

Monday- that would be today- my SIL and good friend Kate and little Rachel went for a shopping trip and had great success. We had a few things we were specifically looking for and prayed before we went that we would be successful. And we were! I cam home with a bag full of maternity wear and I am really looking forward to enjoying some new things. The blessings of God and the generosity of others are two things that I have been overwhelmed with lately, thus I am greatly blessed and feel very loved.

Funny thing of the week so far: Yesterday I told James to stop doing something and he looked at me with a gleam in his eye and replied: NO! You backstabbing murderer!

Excuse me! I am your MOTHER! Ok, well I didn't really say it like that, but his Daddy did remind him quite clearly that he needed to be more respectful in his responses to me.

Ok, I need to sign off for tonight and go to bed. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

PS: You know you're in the South when:
You get out of the car at the store and the lady in the car next to you says: "I hope ya'll brought a strolla, cause if you ain't, you gon haf ta lug her aroun'. They ain't got no buggies in thar."

Harrumph!

Ok...so I haven't forgotten all my readers out there...really...I just can't seem to work in the whole computer time on the schedule these days. You needn't feel ignored. I actually neglect to check my email some days too- much less do anything else on the computer. INSTEAD...I've been:

- teaching school to the kids
- being on duty with Fairwood
- reorganizing our entire family schedule to work in training times for the kids on chores
- going to a Bible study
- being pregnant
- dealing with blood sugar issues and various other ailments
- teaching Sunday School- which doesn't take up much time during the week except some key computer time
- and the one day I tried to post last week, I couldn't get a single page to load on the screen, thus I was forced to come up with an alternate activity- more scheduling efforts

On the side I have been cleaning up after our resident monkey (Jeff) who just this week got himself stuck on the bookshelf halfway up the wall in the living room, climbed a book case in his closet and discovered all my sewing supplies and threw them all over the room (think mass of tangled thread and stick pins everywhere), and emptied the almost full vaporizer onto the bedroom floor. He also is obsessed with a puzzle lately of shapes. Unfortunately the morons who made the puzzle didn't make the circle an actual circle and neither is the square a "true" square, and the triangle actually only fits one way into its slot. Thus I am force to frequently unstick his puzzle pieces because rather than turn them around until they go in smoothly, he insists on pounding them in, jumping on them, or anything to make them smash into the slot the way he wants and then he cries because he can't get them out. Arg! We should burn that puzzle...except he really does like it.

Rachel has taken to the tearing up books stage and that has left me with the repair job. She also loves to dump out toys and pick them up again, but she always seems to tire of the routine on the dumped out part and not on the picked up part. Hmmm....WHY???

James is intense as ever- especially when telling stories. Here's a good example:

This is James imitating the frozen fish in "Ice Age". For those of you who are not familiar with this famous pose, he is quite similar to the real thing. The funniest part about this pic is that when he was telling the story, he actually made this face for about 30 seconds straight and remained totally oblivious to all the hysterical laughter round about him.

Jonathon is doing well. Schooling is going good too. He has learned to sound out words and is flying through his reading, feeling successful and for the most part enjoying it. He goes back and forth between being very creative (attaching a jump rope to his box of chalk and saying that is his electricity box and he is going to go wire things), to ridiculous (hide his shoes and socks in the leaf pile..or was it the dirt pile...or maybe the sand court...he can't remember- but we do have to find them!) to sweet ("I'm being as good as a flower...and a tree!). Anyway, he's interesting these days and I'm having a good time teaching him all sorts of things.

Brandon and I are doing well and gearing up for a Thanksgiving trip South. Yayah! We are planning to be gone for about a week and hopefully see plenty of family and friends while there. So...with that in mind..once again I have LOADS to do and I should be off doing them and not involved in such frivolities as blogging...although it does keep you in touch and there IS value in that...ok...see ya.

Never Read to Your Children

Well...ok, maybe not ever...but you should avoid Calvin and Hobbes at all cost! Lately, Jonathon and James have been enjoying looking at Calvin and Hobbes comic books. Most of the time they don't know what the words in the pictures say, but the pictures are enough to occasionally make them laugh- the sign of an excellent illustrator! When they don't understand what's going on, or they know it's a REALLY good one, they beg, plead, and groan for someone who is literate to explain the sequence of events.

So, I have occasionally induldged in a few stories, and much to their delight, one night I read C&H for and hour straight! All was well until they became too familiar with the stories. Then comes the reenactments...

Jonathon stealthily creeps up on the unsuspecting mother: "I"M HOME!!!!" He yells in her ear! And then cackles gleefully knowing that he just scared about three years out of her!

Or, James says: *Blow, blow blow* "I'm blowing up my balloon (imaginary)." *Blow, blow, blow* "AH!!!! I blew up my head instead!"

Jonathon with playdough in Sunday School: "Look, Mama! I'm making little snowmen!" (Calvin makes minature snowmen and then pretends to be a giant dinasaur and stomps the villagers to smithereens!) Then Jonathon, without warning, crushed them all flat with his fist.

So, I'm waiting for the time that he tells me that his stuffed dog tied him to the chair, or that it was the dog that wanted food in the middle of the night, or he decides to run the water in the bathroom, but not actually take a bath. Perhaps Calvin and Hobbes should be put away until the ideas in the books are more just funny and not necessarily GREAT ideas!

Living Room Activities

Everybody reads....sort of... :-)
 

Exciting Events in the Aldrich House

Since I have not posted recently and I can't think of one single moment to expound upon I thought I would tell you of a number of things that have happened recently to keep our family busy, having fun, and avoiding dull moments. I will say that these are in no particular order, but just as they come to mind.

1. Jonathon and James are back working on school stuff. Both are making progress in their reading, though James is able 3 lessons ahead of Jonathon. It has been very interesting seeing the different strengths of each child come out. Jonathon seems to pick up more quickly in the writing as well as most hands on projects.

2. Jeff continues to want to go to the potty and if I would ever pay attention to him, he would probably already be potty trained. He is eager and can go on command, but I have neglected the regular process of taking him during the day, hence, he is permanently in pull-ups right now.

3. Rachel is beginning to talk and says all kinds of things- "Thank you, hi, bye-bye, Amen, I want it, mine, mama, daddy, rachel, no, yeah..." There are tons of words that she can mimic- various nouns and phrases, but those are the ones she uses without being prompted.

4. Yestereday was applesauce drive. We did a smaller amount of applesauce this year than in years past and we were finished with cutting apples around 11am! I think they were done boiling jars in the earlier eveing, whereas, in years past it has been 10 or 11pm before things have finished up. I personally am not a big fan of applesauce in general, but I love the big work day and the fellowship- and the kids like the stuff, so there is that benefit as well.

5. We are planning to be in Georgia for Thanksgiving! Whooohooo! I realized not too long ago that this will be the first time we have gone to my parent's house for any holidays since moving to New Hampshire! All of us are flying down, thanks to the generosity of some wonderful family members and so it becomes a double excitement for the boys. They are looking forward to being in Georgia, but they are also thrilled about the adventure of riding on an airplane! I'm just happy that we aren't driving that whole long way this time! Praise the Lord!

6. Jeff flooded the kitchen yesterday. Well, not the entire kitchen, but probably a quarter of it. This is the first time that the water dispenser on the outside of our fridge has become a problem. I thought he was taking a nap, and instead he was in the kitchen, holding down the water button and watching it run all over the place. It took 4 towels to clean up! Perhaps this could be the last episode of playing with the fridge water...but I doubt it.

7. 3/4 of the children are upstairs now, leaving only Rachel and myself in the living room, so I better run...hope your week is going well all you wonderful people!

Making Good on a Promise

Here are the pictures from our hike that we took about amonth ago now. Sorry it took so long. I have a dislike for posting pictures due to our dial up condition. Nothing ever works right. But here they are.

Announcement

This is a warning ahead of time for all of you out there...

Attention:

Friday is Brandon's Birthday!!!!!!

He will be a whopping 29 years old. Please be prepared to shower down loads of affirmation on him when it comes! You can all be thinking of the thousands of reasons why he's so wonderful and write your long list in here for him to read.

Thanks for being such wonderful family and friends.

What would you do?

So, Jonathon came home with a snake today. Brandon finally found one for him and he came right up to me and held it in my face and said, "Look Mama, I have a snake!" I wasn't really prepared for this information and in response said, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" Perhaps you would have said differently, but I think that is about all it takes to respond to the 5 year old holding the snake!

(I promise the pictures of the hike will come)

Sorry it's been so long.

Ok, I realize that many of you have checked my blog a few times now and found nothing new. This is not due to a lack of activity around the house to blog about, but rather a lack of ability to sit down and tell you about it. So I'll give you a basic synopsis of some interesting events recently- which, due to the short nature of the post, will not do justice to the experience, but you will KNOW about it.

Activity 1: We went on a family hike last Saturday. Up the mountain...all of us...and made it to the tree line. (I should have some pictures to follow up on this one, but I'm too lazy to go upstairs and get the camera and come back down and load them.) We had a great time and I was only majorly sore the next day instead of incapacitated. It took 2 1/2 hours to get to the tree line for a view and then we stopped and had lunch- muffins, cheese, and pistachios, oh...and plenty of water. Then we came down and that was about an hour and a half. How did we get up there you ask? Well, Brandon carried Jeff a lot of the way in a pack on his back and I carried Rachel in a Snugli (a baby carrier) on my back. Jonathon carried the muffins in a little back pack most of the way up and the rest of the water and food I carried in a back pack on my front. I'm sure we were quite the site, but due to the slow pace we took, I hardly ever was close to short of breath. We spent a lot of time looking a critters and old trees and sticks that resembled sling-shots, and seeds, and rocks. Yes, Jeff especially liked the rocks. In fact, when he was walking he wanted to climb to the top of every rock sticking out of the ground and jump from it. For those of you who have taken the Dublin trail before, you will know that this was an extremely time consuming procedure as there are many rocks every foot of the way and he was determined not to miss any. So, we hiked and they loved it and I came home invigorated, yet tired, and a happy mama who had spent some great quality time with the people I love most!

Activity #2: I cleaned house this week. I've been working on getting some clutter out of the way for a while, but always it seems that I accumilate it faster than I can get rid of it. So, for the last 3 weeks I've been working on various areas of the house trying to get them to look a little more tidy. Then, this week, I ordered a cleaning video- partly to watch again and partly for the Bible School- and watched it to remind myself of all the good tips on how to thoroughly clean something fast. I was reinspired and found myself reorganizing the cleaning supplies, ordering some new ones, and of course, cleaning the house. I dusted and scrubbed and by Friday, things around here were shining more than they had in a while. Some of you may think...A cleaning video? Well...I can only say that I watched this video when I was about 12 and found myself so inspired that I asked for cleaning products and tools for Christmas that year. It really is a helpful tool and I enjoyed being excited about it all over again. The particular video is put out by The Clean Team (www.thecleanteam.com) and they have some great methods and tools to help speed things along and still do a great job. Sometimes I wish that they had a program like Pampered Chef or Tupperware or something so I could sell their products to people because I would! But, alas, they keep all the money for themselves- and I suppose that since they don't have a bunch of middle men, it makes the prices more reasonable, so that's good too. Anyway, it any of you ever want to get excited about using a toothbrush on the toilet seat, this is for you. I honestly believe this is the closest anyone can come to "loving" to clean the bathroom! ANd if you want encouragement to clean, just get me started on the subject and I'll have you inspired in no time!

Activity #3: We had a relatively normal week in which Jonathon came home with 13 caterpillars in his shirt pocket one day, asked me to help him catch 2 snakes he found another day (I did NOT help), and came in with a bucket of wild apples, for me to make pie another day. James only went to the bathroom outside 3 times this week that I know of- and both he and Jonathon learned to read a few little words this week. Jeff is still trying with all his might to be potty trained and thus takes his pants off at any given moment and then goes looking for a potty. Brandon says this routine will cause him social issues later in life, but I'm hoping that we'll conquer the problem before it's seen as a social issue. Rachel is babbling lots of sounds lately that sound like they should be words and she thinks they are. She will come up and say some sort of sentence that no one can possibly understand, but then look at me expectantly as if I'm to answer her question logically. Actually, Jeff does the same thing, but I do recognize his words occasionally.

Ok, so that's some of the happenings for this week and hopefully I can come up with some for next week soon.

Top Ten Things I've Learned This Week

1) Alcohol gets red permanent marker off a green duvet cover, but it does not get it off of white plastic drawers.
2) Itty bitty syrofoam balls go a long way when dumped outside.
3) They also find all sorts of places to hide inside and take a while to vacuum.
4) Rachel really likes sweet potatoes and fresh corn and can eat as much as I can.
5) Tree surgeons (or removal services) are fascinating to watch- especially the crane.
6) I never want my child to be a tree surgeon.
7) You can never sweep the kitchen too many times after Brandon has cut the grass.
8) Half a bowl of cereal and milk can create a puddle on the floor at least 2 feet wide as well as soak an entire bib and skirt.
9) Diapers don’t change themselves.
10) There will NEVER be enough hours in the day for me to get EVERYTHING I want to do finished. I should just make shorter, more realistic lists.

Superwoman Does NOT Blubber!

It’s true, I watched a few episodes of this particular superhero when I was younger and never to I recall tears running down her face! She also doesn’t seem to loose her temper. Even in the event of a world crisis, she stays calm, collected, and rational- fighting the enemy with poise, intelligence, and strength. She can also change into some snazzy clothes by spinning around really fast, and for some reason I still find myself in need of a closet and a changing room. I say all this to point out that I came to the conclusion that I am indeed not superwoman and…while that’s ok- this is a post to declare the other side of our story- the “everything isn’t great all the time” side.

For those of you who are faithful blog readers, you will notice that I posted my last post on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, the world came crashing down around my ears and I failed to do the spinny thing, change clothes, and go defeat the evil powers that be. I waited until today to post so that it wouldn’t sound so despairing that you would be depressed afterwards, because I was helped out of the chaos also.

I always speculate about what causes such events and maybe it was the fact that I had had the children almost all by myself for an unusually long stretch- from Thursday evening until Wednesday morning. Brandon was involved in retreats, meetings, and other such business. Perhaps it was the struggles of character issues with the children as previously mentioned. It could have been that I was just tired. Some would chalk it up to: “Oh, she’s just pregnant.” Possibly, a horrific trip to town Tuesday afternoon did it, or the fact that the muffins burnt in the oven Thursday morning while I was trying to stir the eggs, flip the bacon, get Rachel out of the cupboard, and keep Jeff from getting burnt by bacon grease. Whatever it was…I lost it- and superwoman was not there to tell me how to properly deal with the situation. Since she was not there, I resorted to my childhood tactics- which my family knows all too well of yelling, name calling, slamming things around, and storming out the door. Unfortunately, I stormed out at the same time Brandon was supposed to be LEADING the 9am meeting and thus he was obliged to go put someone on the spot to lead it since he had just been stuck with the children quite unexpectedly.

I found myself sitting in the car (it’s quiet, away, and somewhat sound proof) praying and telling God all of my woes and distress. After pouring it all out, I came back inside and Brandon listened to be pour it all out again. We prayed and then that was it. I look back and my practical mind says that nothing really happened and that I didn’t get many answers for my issues- yet we did pray and somehow, that met the need all by itself. I did feel much different, nothing about my situation changed, but somewhere, something changed- and made a difference because of prayer. I still was a bit discouraged and later that afternoon I was lifted from that as well thanks to the Patch the Pirate CD in the car. The children and I were headed to a play date with some other moms and while we were riding a song came on with words something like this:

Walking on the water-
Stepping out by faith upon the sea.
Listening to my Savior,
When above the storm he calls to me
Trusting in his power
When the waves are crashing all around
Walking on the water.
Stepping out by faith.

It occurred to me that when Peter became frightened by the waves that quite possibly they were “crashing all around”. In fact it was the first time that I visualized the wave he was scared of as possibly close enough to crash ON him while he was walking. Yet Jesus said for him not to look away and to trust. Hmmm…the wave IS crashing on me and yet I am still to keep my eyes on Jesus and trust Him not to let me drown!

Somehow that met my need and I prayed again asking for help to trust even when it didn’t seem like it was the logical thing to do anymore. It met the need and while things aren’t espcially different, having a different attitude changes all sorts of things.

So, I did have a bad day- or a bad morning- a REALLY bad morning, but Jesus got me through it to the other side and I am trusting that he will continue to do things like that.

Besides if I were Superwoman- I wouldn’t need God and that doesn’t sound appealing in the least! Hmmm…I don’t think Superwoman had clutter either, but I can work on that.

"I aaaaammmm Ssssaaaammmm. I am Sam.

Actually, we haven't learned the "I" sound yet...

Three days down, 177 to go. Actually, I think the school calendar I’m using only has 170, so that would be 167 days to go. Whatever it is, I’ve done three days of school with my two little kindergarten students- Jonathon and James and it seems to be going okay. For those of you who are trying to think if they were really born close enough together to be in the same grade, they were not. Jonathon is currently 5 ½ and James just turned 4 August 3rd. So, they are in fact 15 months apart- as they have been for quite some time, though James would like to see that change soon. Anyway, James is very quick verbally, and I just thought that maybe he could pick up on stuff faster and perhaps get something out of Jonathon’s lessons too if I spent the time. And, if it goes well, we might just keep it like this and then I wouldn’t have to teach them separate stuff all the time. I know later some subjects go together fine for different grades, but right now, I don’t want to have to do different math and reading for each, so the same thing for both seems to be working so far. James has a shorter attention span, but Jonathon gives up practicing quicker so that makes them about even.

So what have we been doing, you ask? Well…we’ve been working from the famous “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons” book and using “Right Start Math”. The first is a reading program that takes between 15-30 mintutes a day and teaches the child the sounds of letters before they even learn the names. It also incorporates some writing and my kids hate all writing utensils- especially if they have to use them. So, after several days of slaving away on paper, I broke out the shaving cream (Diane R.’s idea) and squirted it all over the dining room table (not especially delicate) and let them write their letters in it with their fingers. We put on aprons so they wouldn’t get too dirty and they went to town. I heard very little complaints and I think they actually learned something. We did the entire reading lesson in shaving cream as I just wrote the sounds from the book on the table and had them read them in the cream instead. Jonathon sounded out his first blend “ma” ( “a” as in Adam) by himself today and that was exciting.

The Right Start Math uses lots of games and things to teach counting. The basic premis of this program is to get the child to recognize sets of five and thereby making it easier to count and add in sort of groups. Right now they are learning to recognize numbers one through five without counting it. For example on your fingers or with items in a line, 1 is one because it is alone. 2 has a partner. 3 has a middle and partners, 4 doesn’t have a middle, and 5 has a middle, two ends and something inbetween them. It sounds like it’s counting, but really when they glance at it they are starting to recognize the amounts without having to actually say or think, “1…2…3…4…”. We use popsicle sticks, little colored blocks, toys, screws, nuts and bolts, and all sorts of things. We’ve counted, sorted things, made patterns, shapes and learned a little about ordinal counting. (I only know what the word “ordinal” means because I’m teaching my children- it means counting, “first, second, third, fourth, etc.) Anyway, that has been fun and the material has very specific instructions for each lesson.

Other school that we are doing, though we don’t always do it at the same time: reading the Bible and learning some Bible songs, reading some literature- right now we are on the last chapter of “Farmer Boy” and I need to find another book from our literature list.


Let’s see…oh, we are watching Monarch caterpillars turn into butterflies and that has been completely fascinating, so there is our science. We are supposed to start some history, art and music soon, and there is also a French course for kindergarten, but I’m not sure if I’m that brave. I have not looked into it yet much and I’m a little hesitant, but we’re just getting started and I’m not worried about French. So, it’s been fun, even if it’s been tiring and just in case you think this is taking all day, it isn’t. Right now we are usually doing about an hour and a half in the mornings and then I read to them in the evenings for about 15-20 minutes. So, really it isn’t that much. I also hope I can gradually incorporate more life skills into the day- like cooking or cleaning jobs, or working with Brandon. They just got pruning clippers so they could help him trim bushes and they are really exciting to help him when they can. I hope they can do more of that sort of thing in the future, they are so much better behaved when they’ve been having a good time working and come home tired.

Well…that’s school for you and at the risk of sounding too boring…I’m going to end this. We’re having fun…hope you are too.

P.S. Lest you think all life is fun right now, we’re dealing with several attitude and character issues with the boys these days that are not fun, but hopefully they will learn those lessons soon and we can enjoy more of the day and not just the school part. Please pray, if you have a minute, for them to be honest, kind, and responsible.

Happy Birthday, Mary !!!

This is Brandon sneaking in here, under cover of ye olde closed door. Although it has been my custom to refrain from posting on Mary's blog, so as to avoid charges of blogging nepotism, on this special occasion, caution must be thrown to the wind, the powerful anti-blogging nepotist lobby must be resisted, and natal celebrations must abound.

I'm taking these brave steps because I love her.

Why, you ask? Well no, of course you wouldn't, since its so obvious.

But I'll tell you anyway...a top ten at least:

1. She wants to obey Jesus as much as she knows how.
2. She's willing to do #1, even when it meant I would be halfway across the world for three months.
3. She is patient with her clumsy husband even when, in the midst of conversation, he's halfway across the world.
4. Big dreams, and enough energy (so far) to chase after them.
5. Toilet fix-it know-how.
6. Forget converting those God-hating neo-libs...we'll just outnumber them.
7. Goodies that are...good.
8. She takes practical steps to help make me successful.
9. Think...Proverbs 31 object lesson.
10. This will make her cry...in a good way.

Hope this year is best yet!!

Long Over Due

I think I must be incapable of blogging correctly these days. I'm not sure what's going on, but I can't seem to put a write up with a picture and actually have both appear on the blog. They just disappear out into the computer neverland. Oh, well, until I figure it out, you'll just have to deal with all the seperate "posts". Here's the posts for the previous pictures.

I have failed. I had good intentions- really, but it seems as though my time at the computer lately has been close to nil. I was going to tell you an awesome story about the water pipe breaking on the front lawn and the guys having to shovel out muck and bail out water for hours and hours, but I wasn’t able to get it all written before my computer had a little issue with a small child and came crashing to the floor, making it necessary to send it in for repairs. Fortunately, we had the warranty and it was no additional cost to have it repaired, but I have now lost most of my enthusiasm for the story that is now about 2 ½ weeks old. Alas, I know I have let some people down, but I will post a picture and here’s the main point of the story anyway:

The water pipe going down the lawn to the Murrays sprang a leak and it was so bad that it took ALL the water away from the other buildings. ALL the water pressure. There was none. Shawn, the back hoe, Brandon, and Dan dug it up and they were all about 6 feet down in a hole of about 8-3 feet wide and long and digging out the muck to get to the pipe, but the valve to shut off the water wouldn't close down all the way and they had to bail water every so often so they could see what they were doing. From 1:30pm to 7pm on Sunday afternoon they shoveled out that heavy muck- some was done with the backhoe, but alot had to be done by hand so as not to break the pipe. They finally got it exposed, cut it and found that they had the "EXACT" length of pipe on hand, and not an inch more! They put it together around 9pm and wala, the grass seed is already sprouting on the dirt patch out there. Brandon had the dirt cave in on him one time while shoveling, which was kind of scary, but it only came up to his thighs and thankfully it was one time that he was not bending over. Shawn and Dan dug him out , but they were all mess when they got done. The End.

And the other story that I had wanted to write up was about mice. But it too seems like old hat at this point. I’ve been trapping a few mice in our apartment. So far I have trapped two and seen one more, but the other day I realized that I was more of a murderer that I thought because Brandon found four little babies starved in the basement. Apparently, we got the mommy…I almost was feeling guilty…almost.

Ok, the last thing is that Jonathon came up with his own joke this past Sunday. He said, “I couldn't untie my shoes because they were “knotty”. Haha! He came up with it all by himself and laughed and laughed. Most times I would roll my eyes at such things, but coming from a 5 year old, I guess it has to be funny.

That’s all folks.

The Mice