The little white house

This is maybe a blog entry that Curt should be writing. The little white house, after all, was the one he was brought home from the hospital to. It was, in fact the first house his parents bought when they were married. When they moved in, the old man they bought it from, too old to look after himself or his farm anymore, cried when they pruned back the lilacs and begged them to let him live with them. It was an old lathe and plaster house with thin pine floors, a dirt cellar, an attic, and a bathroom that was tacked on as an afterthought. (The original outhouse stood broken down in the bush.) When Curt was 2, his parents built themselves a new home a few yards away from the little white house. It became a rental. Curt collected childhood memories surrounding the people and families that filled that place as the years passed. There was a young martial artist who would run the rough surrounding fields in bare-feet. Curt thought he was the coolest and toughest. Once he tied Curt and his sisters upside down in the barn and left them there. That maybe wasn't so cool...but it was tough. He had an orange truck that he abandoned when he moved out. Years later, when we saw him again, he gave the truck to Curt. There was a young couple that came from Newfoundland and started their family there. The husband, Charles was a quiet carpenter and a musician. He taught Curt how to make a small bench and a wood box when he was 8 and for those years the little white house was filled with music and little ones. I remember visiting and my dad playing east coast music with Charles. During the course of our married life, we lived there twice. When we were first married, we slept in a single bed on the main floor. Not long after, we decided to fix up the attic as our bedroom to make room for a nursery for our new baby Darren. The water pump made fantastically loud sounds all through the day and night and if i ran more than one appliance at a time, the power would go out. I would trudge out to the power pole and switch it back on again. Two weeks after Carrie was born, we moved away and the house was rented out again and again. One renter was busted for growing illegal plants in the attic and there was a gunned take-down through the fields after the man hopped out the window to escape. While we built our first home, we moved back into the little house. This time we filled it to the brim. We packed bunk beds in one room with a dresser which left a little alleyway for walking. The other room took the crib and dresser. We put another bed in the stairway to the attic. In the living room we crammed our king bed and one more child's bed. It was an interesting year of homeschooling and i don't think we missed any sleep-walkers/talkers or any seizures while we lived there that year! It felt like we were all sleeping in the same room! The reason this all comes to mind i guess is that tonight my kids sold 2 goats to the new renters of the little white house. They are a family from Malta. (Remember the Bible story of St. Paul being shipwrecked on Malta?...that's the one.) They were going to butcher some goats and rabbits tonight and the kids asked if they could go over and watch. Carrie would not go as it was hard enough for her to sell the goats in the first place. Darren stayed till the gory end and is still not home. The other girls came home telling me of how the Maltese prepare the tongue and the brains and were quite interested with those cultural facts. It fascinates me the idea that a house can stand and shelter a hundred years worth of people. How many stories and lives have shuffled through that little geographical place and called it home?

Sadie's new 'do

Despite having a recieving blanket tightly tied around her head as she helped paint the playhouse, Sadie still managed to get paint in her hair. She decided that instead of combing it out, i should just cut it. She had already given herself some bangs a couple months ago so I agreed to finish her job. :) I'm a big fan of the 3 year old "bob" haircut anyways. Less knots and...it's just plain cute.

The last few weeks at a glance... if i can remember it all!

When Robin was born 8 years ago, my cousin Autumn who was 13, came to live with us. She was planning on coming for a week and ended up staying a total of 5 weeks that summer and fall. :) She's only missed maybe one summer of visiting since then and the kids look forward to her coming with jumping, hyperventilating and high-pitched whining. We had a little over a week with her this summer so we took her raspberry picking and i forced her to help me frame the playhouse...even though neither one of us knew what we were doing.

-Curt took me and the kids to pick saskatoons. We picked 30 lbs in 45 mins!
We sold our dog to a breeder in Washington so needed to take a trip up to Blue River to make the trade off. During this time, we visited my sister Steph. Our families headed off to a deserted stretch of the Jasper National Park and let the kids run wild in the sand and icy water. It was peaceful and beautiful! She piled us all into bedrooms for a couple nights, and then kept 3 of the kids while we took the other three for an overnight just outside of Blue River. First time we haven't been turned away from a hotel in a long time! Usually they take one look at our 6 kids and tell us to get lost.

My sister Paige and I were talking on the phone about getting together and realized that our husbands were planning on being away the same week as VBS was happening at my church. We decided to join forces and make some memories. Paige, 16 weeks along in her pregnancy, drove all the way out and settled into the basement rooms with her 6 kids. We did a hike and picnic at a local wildlife park, a weiner roast, a quad ride to pick berries, garden raids, had an outdoor pizza pool party at my sister in law's place and had company drop in. I LOVED it. I find it hard when Curt goes away for any length of time. Having Paige come for a visit was just exactly what I needed. When he did get home on Thursday, he had time to take my niece Cairo riding which was a highlight for her. I did break my baby toe on the island the first morning and get stung by a bee on my eyelid but other than that, the week ran smoothly.



-As soon as her family left, Sadie and Robin got the barfs. *niiiiiiiice*.





The last week of August, we decided to take a couple nights a Meiette Hot Springs. The hot springs were incredible, the 2 hour walk through the mountains with the kids was fresh and beautiful but the 4 am wake-up time for Wes "tanked".

-I recieved 7 boxes of peaches from my inlaws. Carrie and I canned 25 litres and served up another 25 litres to cousins who dropped by.

-I got mastitis. *lovely*

-My niece Brianna came over and helped with the house while i nursed myself back to health and determined to get ready for homeschool to start.

-Carrie had 4 teeth pulled.

-Carrie got the flu.

-We finished the major part of the work on the playhouse, dragged it to the bush and had a painting day/weiner roast with the kids.

-Homeschool sort of started somewhere in here!

-We sold a Billy Goat.

-Our good hen hatched out 16 chicks!!!

-I got the flu.

Sitting it out.

Since my last post I've had tonnes of things to write about but no time to sit and write. It's been one of those months where I feel like I'm on the end of a line of kids playing "crack the whip". I remember playing that game in elementary school at the outdoor ice rink during recess and at the all-popular "roller rinks" of the '80's. In the case of the roller-rink, the music would be pounding, the disco ball dutifully twirling, creating a dizzying array of lights. The huge line of kids holding hands would get longer and longer. As we would near the turn, there was always a moment of sheer terror. The speed with which we were all blistering past the spectators and the generous sweat slithering between prepubescent hands always proved to be a bad combination. Especially for those situated on the end of the "whip". Out of control, I would scream and feel my grip tightening...to no avail. The next thing I knew, I was not part of the "party" anymore. Instead, I was the only roller skater hurtling off into the twirling oblivion of the roller-rink. That's the image that has defined the last month for me. Thrilling, fast paced, surrounded by friends but it ends badly. Here i sit, a lump of throbbing headache and stomach upset. I slept my morning away. Was woken up by a good friend calling in her last weeks of pregnancy worried about pain. (Being her only friend who has birthed 6 babies, i am her honorary "Dr. on Call") Then woken again by my father in law excitedly yelling through the empty house because he found that one of our hens hatched out a record batch of 16 chicks today. Then again by Curt. He took one look at me. "You don't LOOK sick." I still don't know whether to be flattered by that comment or offended. "When have i ever taken to my bed all day?" He smiled. "Maybe you just want a day off?" He took the kids to pick up hay, then to sell a billy goat, now for a rowdy run through the local wildlife park. Usually, i ache to be a part of the action, but today, I'm going to be content to sit this one out.

Like mother like daughter...

Here are the latest pictures of the playhouse. Curt helped me to lift the trusses into place last night, level them and screw them in. I'm starting to get excited. There are a couple things I'm going to adjust in my framing (the window which is not level and maybe the door opening) before i go on to roofing and siding it. Along the same kind of "do it yourself" thinking, my daughter Robin decided yesterday that she was going to start making clothes for her bear and dolls. She asked to dig into the scrap material I've used for quilting and started fooling around. All she had was cloth, scissors and yarn but this morning as we were getting ready to head into the dentist, Sadie and Ellie came down the stairs with full shirts that Robin had fashioned for them out of the scrap material. They begged to wear them to town (and Robin was beaming from ear to ear) so... i let them. :D They got a double take from the receptionist at the dentist but so what. So cute and fun when they decide to take something on like that and find a way to do it in their own way without help. She cut a hole in the material for the head, holes along the edges and then tied the edges together with yarn. Reminded me a bit of my attempts to figure out how to make this playhouse. (Sadie did wear pants with her "new shirt". :)

all the little pea pickers

We're *starting* to get produce from the garden! I know, I know, it's August...but it's also Alberta and sometimes the weather deals the gardens a bad hand. The frost hit it hard, (and potatoes, tomatoes started all over again!...cucumbers were totally wiped out.) then the drought hit, then the horses got in, then Curt rototilled snips of rows! (If you're reading this CURT, I'm still thankful for the help though!) Not sure what all will "make it" (as frost again has made it's mark) but the kids have been enjoying picking peas. The beets, lettuce and beans are all doing well too. Everything else is still trying it's best to make it in time before the cold hits again. For a few days in a row, Robin came in with flats of peas. She always attached a little love note for me. :) Finally, we picked all the rest and had enough to freeze 2 large Ziploc bags. This past week we finally got carrots and potatoes. The corn that is only about waist-high this year is actually producing ripening cobs and the zucchini that started so late has decided to make a few perfectly tiny zucchinis as well! So thankful for the things that succeeded in spite of the horrible gardening year. And I'm also thankful for all the little pea pickers! :)

Robin's flat of peas. A little "I love you."
A successful garden raid.

projects

I've learned recently that i love "projects". In the past it has been things like learning to play the mandolin or trying to make medicines from wild plants. :) I've been asking Curt for a few years now to bring me home scrap wood so that i could try to build a playhouse or something. He didn't know where to get scrap wood so came home with a few 2X4's and some plywood. At least I think it's plywood. I have to admit.... i know nothing, have never done this before, don't have the right tools and am getting all my information from the Internet. I finished the floor and ran out of wood. Curt came home with a more generous load of wood. I ran out of screws. Curt came home with a bigger box. I got to the "roof" stage and was stalled for over a week trying to figure out the simplest method. But this am, after a long conversation on the phone with Curt's uncle, i made the first truss for the gabled roof...and ordered up a few more boards in order to made a little loft section. We will see. Every time one of Curt's "handy" relatives come over and sees my monstrosity sitting in the yard, I shrivel up a little with embarrassment. You don't have to examine too closely to see that i missed a few braces, slipped a tiny piece of wood in to level things off in my framing, made my cuts a little crooked as i did it free-hand. etc... But hopefully I'll remember my mistakes and learn something out of this project. If this even partially works out, my next goal will be to build a little greenhouse for tomatoes. I've been forcing the kids to help me steady pieces, line them up and screw together boards and hopefully they will learn something along with me. I also wrangled my good friend Autumn into helping me with the framing. (She didn't know how to do it either.) :) I'll post more pics as it *hopefully* comes together. I'm so behind in blogging... so many drafts... i suppose getting caught up should be my next "project".



Darren offered to watch Wes while I finished up the last bit with Carrie. When we came in, He was watching sports on the couch and Wes had fallen asleep in his lap. So sweet.

immobility as a means of transportation?

Was reading "The Life of Pi". It's by no means a "Christian" book. It's more a book about our search and desire for God to be a part of our existance. There were passages i found myself marking off with little bright sticky notes as i went through. This one keeps surfacing:

I'll be honest about it. It is not atheists who get stuck in my craw, but agnostics. Doubt is useful for a while. We must all pass through the garden of Gethsemane. If Christ played with doubt, so must we. If Christ spent an anguished night in prayer, if He burst out from the Cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" then surely we are also permitted doubt. But we must move on. To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation."

It seems that in life every now and then, whether it is by doubt, despair, or confusion, I'm brought to a standstill. When Sadie got sick it was like God stopped speaking mid-sentence and I was waiting for Him to finish what He was planning to say. The days went on with unanswered questions, accusations, lack of sleep, and an abundance of worry and fear. Still, He remained silent. His last syllable still ringing a suspended chord in my head. I know this was my reaction when Darren was diagnosed with Epilepsy too. I was waiting for God to heal Darren, to speak to me, to somehow make sense out of it. I always knew in my head that God's love for us doesn't translate into peace and freedom from suffering, but even so, I realized that I had rediculously thought of myself as somehow one of "God's pets". That my life was going to be easy. Having something *horrible* unexpectedly explode into the life of my child caused me physical pain. I found that I lived with my muscles tight, my hands gripping white to the steering wheel as i drove, my shoulders pulled in tight, ready to be bombarded with more shocking pain. I felt like if God was going to finish that sentence... it was probably going to be bad news as our relationship had obviously somehow "changed"....I was wrong. God is not an evil ogre watching us from the clouds with his finger hovering over the "smite" button (as the famous Far Side cartoon suggests) any more than He is a magical Genie granting us our every whim and desire. He *does* however, desire relationship with us on a deeper level than faulty notions of "God's pets" or of being "forgotten" by God. I'm setting my mind lately on *abiding* in truth alone. May my God sing His truth and love over each and every doubt and sorrow and help me to *really* know Him for who He is and not what I have imagined Him to be.

James 1 ("The Message" paraphrase of the Bible)

2-4Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

5-8If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

9-11When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don't ever count on it. You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that's a picture of the "prosperous life." At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing.

12Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

13-15Don't let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, "God is trying to trip me up." God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one's way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

16-18So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.

Today I...

-Made breakfast biscuits for 9 people.
-Drank a STRONG coffee.
-Took 6 kids and a young adult to a 2 hour dentist appointment for 4 kids starting at 9 am.
-Had an impromptu weiner/marshmallow roast around a campfire with my kids, where the cat and the fire got the lion's share of the weiners by accident.
-Bathed/nursed/napped the baby.
-Made 2 batches of raspberry jam and 5 loaves of bread.
-Played in the baby pool with Wes while watching the other 5 kids try to beat our friend Autumn at Basketball "Bump".
-Made lemonade.
-Cleaned.
-Read to Sadie.
-Put the little ones down for a nap.
-Went out on a date with my husband and firstborn.
-Came home and quadded with Curt, Wes and Robin up to a cousin's new house to check the building progress.
-Had an evening campfire and talked.
-Bathed/showered 4 out of 6 kids... so far.
-Snacked up the kids.
-Tucked in the kids.
-Cleaned up the kitchen for the (hopefully) last time today.
-Turned on the dishwasher...for the 5th time(?) today
-Regretted not keeping up with laundry.
-Vowed to get my room clean tomorrow.
-Sat down and thought about reading.

losing momentum

We started off the day with a bang. We had my sisters' family over for the day yesterday so this morning had a big breakfast and waved them off. Curt announced that we were going to pick saskatoons at the neighbors U-pick farm. 45 mins later we came home with 30 lbs of berries. I started rinsing, getting them ready to freeze. Cousins dropped in as usual, I went grocery shopping and then we got a phone call that the next batch of company was coming over. The kids started their "chore packs", a little deck of cards they go through at different times of the day with their chores printed on them. I called to Robin that her laundry was ready to go up to her room. She shrugged, looked at the measly pile and groaned slowly... "Ummm, I guess I'll just give those clothes to Ellie..."

Wesley's biology lesson at the barn last night

Last night I walked out to the barn with Sadie (3) and Wesley (8 months) to watch Curt saddle a horse for his evening ride. Sadie was watching the other horses in the field and i guess decided to impart some of her wisdom on her little bro...
Sadie: "Guess WHAT Wesley?! .... The Stalion is gonna have a BABY!!!!! He's gonna have a BABY Wesley!! Isn't that good???......The Stalion has ONE LAAARGE Booooobie. Right mom? Right mom? Mom, right?"

swimming lessons

Ellie ~

Tomorrow is the last day of swimming lessons for the kids. The 4 older ones were in formal lessons while Wesley, Sadie and I puddled around in the kiddie pool for the week. We made a HUGE bucket of cookie dough for the fridge so that we could make fresh cookies each night for snacks after lessons. I'm thinking of signing up for another week as it was such a success. Keep your eye on your cookie Robin!!!

After lessons today, Robin found Sadie in the baby pool and got a huge welcome.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

In university, one night, the girls in the "North Upper" dorm decided to each write out on an index card, a verse from the Bible that meant something to us and then exchange them with each other. The dorm's Resident Assistant drew my name to give her card to. Her verse was 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. Not sure why some little scraps of notes survive the years and others don't but this one has. It was tucked away with other poetry i had taped all over the walls of my room and had saved when i went home from Trinity for the last time. Now it sits on my desk by my phone. I find that the words are starting to mean more to me as time goes on. With Sadie's strange illness and the frustration, confusion and worry that seem to follow me like a cloud these days, this verse has become a reminder to keep my eyes focused in the proper place. Not looking behind to see where I should have fought harder with the doctors and less with Sadie... not looking ahead at all of the unknowns and "what ifs".
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

You say tomayto I say tomahto...

Sadie and I were up making cookies tonight and she had the job of whisking the eggs in the bowl. She took a couple eggs out of the carton and began to sing: "....Butt--eggs.... Butt--eggs..."
I looked over and she was making the eggs dance to their most humiliating lyric.
"Sadie, put the eggs back in the carton."
"But mom, these eggs come out of the chickens' butt right? That's why they are butt eggs." I looked over at her and tried to be scientific. "Actually, it kind of comes out of the cloaca..." She stopped swirling the eggs and stared at me for a few seconds before announcing: "And that is a butt."

Baby Face

Family Update

Wes' feet after his morning splash in the baby pool.

Summer seems to have finally arrived just in time for the tail end of July. It is finally *hot* and *dry* and we are landscaping. Not maybe the best time for it but still exciting even as i watch the new gangly perennials wilt and break. I know that next year they'll come back full force and beautiful. Wesley is enjoying the baby pool, spending his mornings and afternoons splashing with Sadie. Robin dotes on the two little ones, painting Sadie's face with my make-up and doing her hair for her and when we go to ball she makes sure to pack a little purse of treats for the little ones too. I'm always surprised by each child's unique personality bends, and her motherly instinct is such an encouragement to me to continue to work on tenderness. And then there is Carrie. She is my encouragement to not forget that they are all just still kids. :)
Carrie, my practical beautiful farm girl turned 10 this past weekend. She was thrilled to receive Carhardt work overalls, 2 pairs of rubber boots, work gloves, a one man tent, and an ice cream sheet cake adorned with 2 huge stags proclaiming Happy 10th Carrie. Last night when i went to kiss her goodnight, i went in her room to find her crammed in her tent with her bearskin rug under her and her coyote skin for a pillow. As i went out, i walked right into her Sioux war bonnet that was hanging on her un-used bed frame. She adds so much fun to our home. Sadie is doing well on her hormone although I'm getting a clearer picture of how it will actually "work". There will still be days where it will wear off early or she'll be sick and it won't work. For the most part it has been good though and I'm so thankful that. Darren is having a great "low-key" summer, no more seizures and lots of basketball, swimming, fishing and horseback riding. Ellie signs up with whoever is having the most fun. Jumping in dad's truck to go pick up fence posts, staying up late with Darren to watch MacGyver, Playing ball with Carrie, planning a party complete with invitations, music, lights, balloons and gift bags with Robin in Robin's room, inviting herself over for a swim to auntie Shauna's house. :) She knows how to get things going.

The mystery of the missing eggs

It may be old news, but i had to add this story to my blog as i wanted to remember it for the kids' sake. I had great laying hens. They laid white, brown and green eggs. I never knew what i was going to get and i loved the beauty of the little pile of varying eggs that the kids would bring me each morning or evening. I would wash them, put them in a carton and they would usually be used before the case was filled. This is all in the past tense. There is perhaps a little bit of history that needs to be filled in. The last group of laying hens we got were "rescued" from an industrial egg farm and they looked like they'd lived 100 years in the 1 year they had survived their cramped quarters at the farm they came from. We let them roam free in the summer and they laid where they wanted. The kids would go out every day to find the favourite spots and bring in the eggs. We had roosters too and the kids always hoped that one of the "rescued" hens would miraculously decide to go against all they had lived up to that point and actually lay on her prize and become a "cluck" (mother hen). None of them ever did. We hatched out two more batches of laying hens in the living room incubator and bought some fancier varieties to mix up the hen yard, so ended up with more roosters than we wanted. Curt took all the roosters over to his dad's place. (I'm sure he appreciated that cacophony!) Eventually we took a big bunch of them to the auction and sold them to the thrill of the kids. Well, this spring i was enjoying my little handful of daily eggs. It was perfect. Not the HUGE bucket loads we used to get that i had to clean, but about 5 a day, all different. Suddenly though, the eggs quit coming in. The answer was always, "There aren't any out there." or "No eggs today!" I wondered what was going on and finally was informed that my husband and children had conspired against me, had taken the lot of my hens over to Grandpas place where they had access to roosters and were determined to get one of the laying hens to hatch out her own batch of chicks. Not long after that confession, there was excitement. Something had hatched over at Grandpas. Fresh chicks. No incubators with artificial heat and humidity set to the absolute perfect mix, rocking the eggs day and night in my living room, just mama hen, papa rooster and the perfect design of God. Life contained within that shell, sustained by the life of their mother sitting patiently and waiting. New life is so shockingly complex and yet so simply beautiful.

Who's yo mama?

Our Manx cats "Meister" and "Bulls Eye" were pregnant at the same time this spring. On Saturday morning, Robin went out to check Meister and her babies only to find that Bulls Eye had begun to deliver her new baby kits right on top of her sisters' litter! I guess Bulls Eye liked the look of Meister's little nest. Meister was beside herself with motherly care, licking off her sister, her sisters' new babies and purring to beat the band. We separated the batches when Meister looked like she was about to claim all of the kittens for herself. We made a cozy little nest for Bulls Eye in a box close by but when we came out later, Meister's kittens were alone and the two mama's were enjoying the fresh babies together in the new box. Still later the kids went out to find that Meister had switched spots with Bulls Eye and taken over the new brood as her own! We had to pen up the new mama and kits so that they would get their mama's first milk. I am not naturally an animal person but the whole display intrigued me. Funny how animals react to new babies. There is excitement even in the animal kingdom. :)

One of the new little kittens. Three like their mother in color and three white ones--all with tails this time.

Sadie: a water fight of one.

This is a picture of Sadie after a water fight but it closely resembles what she looks like most of the time around here these days. She has been sick with a hacking cough and stuffed nose which translates into ineffective hormone. The hormone is administered by me blowing it up her nose through a tube and it's just not gettin' through. I tried Dimetapp to clear her up before administration but it's still not great. Looking forward to this cold passing so that she can have relief from her "wet and thirsties" The fridge water dispenser is slopping water all over the front of the fridge and floor all day, I picked up 7 cups Sadie had strewn all over in her effort to get what she needs. She sleeps on the floor of our room because she is thirsty all night and needs her pull ups changed 4-5 times a night. (not as many as it was...but still) I was hoping she wouldn't catch Wesley's terrible cold. He's been battling the Dreaded Snots for almost a week but is finally coming out of it. (thank goodness!) Just a simple cold makes life so complicated for her. On a happier note, she is learning to read. :) She decided that she would like to read like the rest of everybody around here so i started her on the 100 easy lessons and we will see how far she goes. Lesson 6 so far so good and she's loving it. Such a happy little one.

John the Baptist and (needless) Wilderness Survival

The other day i popped my head out the garage door to call the kids in for chores. I was stopped short just as i started yelling the list of names when i saw Darren and Carrie standing just outside the door with huge grins on their faces.
"What are you smiling about Darren?"
"Nothing... Is it true that you can eat grasshoppers?"
"Unfortunately yes... now you'd bet.... " I looked down at Darren's hand. He was holding something.
"Darren, did you eat a grasshopper?" (He's 11!)
"Not yet....." (smiling) I stopped and looked at Carrie (almost 10). She was giggling and chewing something.
"Carrie!... Are you eating a grasshopper!??" She grinned at me and kept rolling something in her mouth! Darren laughed and popped the little something that was in his hand into his mouth!
*I screamed*
Darren chews and says
"What?! You just have to take off their wings, legs and head and they aren't that bad... i saw it on a nature show." He grimaced. I kept hooting disgust and Carrie opened her mouth to reveal a Wurthers butterscotch candy! She hadn't eaten a grasshopper after all! Darren didn't seem to care.
"They would be better with wild honey like John the Baptist ate them...now that would be really good!" I hooted again and forgot about chores and went inside. 5 minutes later Ellie comes in the house (she is the resident tattler) "Darren's eating grasshopper butts." "Thanks for the heads-up Ellie."

Nothing can separate us from His great love...

Had a dream about the kids last night. (For those of you who don't normally read my blog, you will need to know, for the sake of the dream, that i have a son with epilepsy and a newly diagnosed 3 year old with "partial central diabetes insipidus")
Was on a long journey to get help for the sake of my children.... sleeping in shallow ditches and hiding from the enemy at night. When we got to where we were going, it was a large open field we waited in. Darren and I were the focus of the dream at this point. We were sitting on a long, wooden bench. Behind it was a curtain where thieves were stashing stolen items. We were surrounded by thieves and robbers and they were a part of where we were coming for help. A loud speaker announced that Darren was buying something. A Daniel Boon lid for something we didn't need or want... 40$ (everyone around laughed.) We were shocked. We didn't ask for, nor want that item, nor want to spend that on a worthless item. The loud speaker announced that we were paying 50$ so our change was going to be one dollar! We were being cheated...over something we didn't even ask for. I took the kids to the "cashier/receptionist" to clear things up. It was confusing... and they didn't want to listen or help. As i was dealing with the lady, Ellie, my 6 year old pointed out a little boy who was standing by the doorway and said to Sadie, "Look, that boy is about your size." As my back was turned, trying to deal with Darren's issue, Sadie went over to meet him. I turned around and a crowd of people were sweeping out the door... and her with them. I asked the lady to wait and ran to get Sadie. When i came out the door, everyone was gone, Sadie was so tiny and in a hospital gown, smiling and gliding towards a nurse in an open doorway. I sobbed, knowing that she was going to die and yelled out "no!"... The nurse was kind and brought me along with Sadie, but when i went through the door Sadie was "gone"...all there was left was to find out why...the dream went on with the process of brain scans, extremely detailed pituitaries with salt crystals floating out of holes along it's scaly length, conversations with doctors with Wesley in my arms and the other children standing...waiting....
Today a package came with the kids' math books for next year and in the package was also a CD that I had ordered because of a song i had heard on our local Christian radio station. I put the song on repeat as i did laundry and sobbed. God's timing is perfect. He knows the fear of a mother deep in worry, who feels "robbed" by illness. Just a timely reminder from God that we are not separated from Him, even in our sorrow, even in our worry, even in our work. He is in the middle of it with us. We belong to Him. Here are the lyrics...I also added it to my playlist.
Not angels,
nor demons,
no power on earth or heaven
Not distance,
nor danger,
no trouble now or ever
Nothing can take me from your great love
Forever this truth remains
I belong, I belong to you
I belong, I belong to you
Not hardship,
nor hunger,
no pain or depth of sorrow
Not weakness,
nor failure,
no broken dream or promise
Nothing can take me from your great love
Forever this truth remains
I belong, I belong to you
I belong, I belong to you...

Tuesday's Filly

My good friend Andrea came over this morning and as she was leaving, noticed a wet little foal out in the field. Sure enough, a new baby buckskin. Here is a picture of Curt's sister Shauna, who dropped by later in the afternoon, and a van load of kids joining the horses in staring unashamedly at the new little babe. I love how horses gather round and stare. We couldn't stay long though as Sadie had to be in to the lab to re-do her blood work. The lab missed checking her sodium and potassium levels on Friday and only did the blood osmolality. I had to wake her up from her nap and take her in for 4pm. She was in a great mood by the time all of us filed in there and I was sure she was going to do a super job like last time. (She giggled all the way through at Ellie the last time.) But in the chair opposite her was a screaming little boy. The longer she waited for her poke, the more nervous she got. Her needle went over with wailing. *sigh*. Andrea, i forgot to tell you "Good Eye!" When someone spots something like a new babe, a deer or moose in the bush, a salamander in the mud, a yummy place to get ice cream they get a "Good Eye!" the compliment can be used to stop the child from repeating it 4000000 times and it can also be used to ignore the fact that you are *not* going to stop for ice cream. haa! In this case, you just have a good eye. ;)

More babies!

Well, the day just kept on building. After the litter of kittens, a second goat delivered another set of twins. Then I got a call from Curt's cousin Jeff asking if i would like to try to rescue 2 baby pigeons. He had a mother pigeon nesting in the roof insulation of the new house he is building. The roof was about to be closed in and he went up to destroy the nest... but there were babies. Darren and I watched videos online as to how to feed baby pigeons, designed a tubed syringe that would go down the chicks' throat to it's crop and gave it a go. It seemed to work fairly slick, but i guess time will tell if these very new chicks will be able to survive. I'm digging out the incubator tonight so that they will have a warm place to stay till their feathers start coming.

Mewling on a Monday

Yesterday, Curt's cousin Jeff and his wife Jessica Jespersen (yes, that's right... and there are more of us by that name too in this family :)) Came over to see the baby goats. Our Manx cat came up for some loving, rolling onto her back as the kids pointed out the bare spots on her tummy where she had shed in preparation for kittens. She looked like a hairy, hard little watermelon rolling around at our feet, so today was no surprise. I sent the kids out to play this afternoon only to have Robin run into the house breathless about 15 minutes later. Carrie had been walking past the pole shed and had heard loud mewing. She ran into the storage corner and sure enough, there were kittens. There was a problem though. Mama Cat had delivered on the wire mesh and the babies had fallen through to other levels and also to the floor as she delivered. Carrie gathered them all up as Darren prepared a straw box and rescued the lot of them to the garage. They were all still soaking wet, tiny and beautiful.

Fathers Day

Happy Fathers day to all you dads who carry little ones high in your arms,
coach their sports teams,
give good advice,
love your wives,
pray for your children,
hike with them in the bushes,
teach them to love Jesus more than any other thing in their life...and to never be ashamed of that love.
Curt you are my treasure. I love you.
Dad, thanks for giving me the kind of advice and example that helped influence me to choose such a great husband and father to these children-- your grandchildren. :) What a great heritage they have because of the life you have built with mom over them in love.