Molly Talk

Molly is a very interesting character.
She has been telling me lately about when she was a grown up and I was in her tummy. hmmmm...
She does not like to go to the bathroom alone for some reason and either wants someone in there or leaves the door open.
The other day as she was doing her duty and I was keeping her company she comes up with, "I can't wait to be a grown up." sigh "I want to chew gum, eat peanuts and get some privacy!"
Not quite believing what I'm hearing due to the circumstances of this conversation, I ask her, "Do you have any idea what privacy is?"
"Nope", she replies, "but everyone around here is always saying they want privacy and when I grow up I'm gonna get some!!"
Knock yourself out kid!!

Merry Christmas

This was quite possibly the calmest and most enjoyable Christmas we have ever had. To begin with, I have been terribly sick with morning sickness and a sore throat. The throat would not get better because I routinely irritated it with stomach acid.... more than you needed to know right?? On Saturday the 23rd we decided that if the kids were to have anything in their stockings we really should hit the mall. I am so thankful for a capable almost 13 yr old who can watch 5 siblings for 5 or 6 hours. I've had adult babysitters who didn't do as good a job!!
Dave and baby Justin and I had a very relaxing time in the mall. I thought it would be crazy, but there were no lines at all.
God gave me a break for Christmas. Sat, Sun, Mon and Tues I was not sick once. Thinking the worst was over I was bitterly disappointed when it picked up again Weds again... I am so thankful for my reprieve tho.
Christmas morning was also a gift. The boys woke up at 5:30 and quietly played games in the dining room for 2 hours. They woke everyone up at 7:30 and calmly waited for us to get up. We sat down by the tree and read the Christmas story from Luke 2 and then all prayed before we even got into the stockings. Once again the kids were calm and focused. They opened gifts with the same restraint and played quietly and kindly with each other all day, and the next and the next. I am so thrilled with my children. Dave has been home all week as he took it for vacation and he is quite impressed too.
I think our Turkey may have been a little too large. We have so much frozen, soup has been made, hot and cold sandwiches have been enjoyed and we have tons left. I think more is going in the freezer!!
I think the very best part of this Christmas has been the healing of relationships in our extended family. Some very strained relationships have been made right, misunderstandings clarified, and we can finally enjoy each other again. God has been merciful.
There has been a situation at church that has made this month very difficult. Some gossip has been circulated that is completely false and some have believed it and have treated us accordingly. It has made going to church very stressful. A dear lady has been calling this week to encourage me through this. Knowing one person there cares about us, rejects the gossip and is praying for us makes the world of difference. Hopefully this trial will soon be over. There is a part of me who would love to see the perpetrators of this gossip brought to task over it. I'm pretty sure who it is since he royally told us off last month!! Some conversations are so ridiculous, they really should be taped somehow... anyway, there is also a part of me that is trying so hard to wait on the Lord here. At some point soon we have to confront this person and say that we have been offended by him. I'm sure that he knows this and hopefully is looking for an opportunity to apologize. We will see!
Dave should be home soon. Caitlyn and Courtney went to a birthday party, Matt and Connor are out playing with a friend, Justin and Jack are playing cars/watching Barney and Dave took Molly to do some errands. Everything is calm and quiet. Life is good.

Adam to Noah

I have the list I was looking for about the first 10 generations of man and their names. Thankfully someone was paying attention and took a pen last week!!
Here we go...

Adam === Man
Seth === Appointed
Enosh === Mortal Sorrow
Mahalalel = The Blessed God
Jared === Shall Come Down
Enoch === Teaching
Methuselah= His Death Shall Bring
Lamech === The Despairing
Noah === Comfort


Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow. The blessed God shall come down teaching. His death shall bring the despairing comfort.

What a testamony of God's plan for mankind. It was given clearly through the ancient patriarchs before the flood... written well before it came to pass. I love seeing how God works. I really have no idea how people don't see Him for who He is.
I am so humbled to know that He loves me. I know me... I am no where near being anything that God would desire outside of Himself!

The babies are up!

Off I go. Happy Wednesday!

God is on the move

This has been a very strange week.
We had a great weekend visiting my folks in Rothesay... played cards until midnight with great friends... my kids were actually in the Santa Clause parade with Mum and Dad's church... Sunday morning service was great... had a really good time in the afternoon watching the kids having a blast with their cousins... good time of fellowship with the folks... got home in time (well a little late) for Sunday evening service.. the kids had play practice after the service and then...

We saw a really nasty side of someone who has spent some time gossiping about us and spent a good portion of an hour making some ridiculous accusations to Dave and I. Thankfully there was a witness to this as no one would believe the maliciousness of this person. There is no pastor to take this issue to... its a church issue, this person has some serious problems... but we have a mighty God!!! He was able to take this situation and bring good. Dave and I were able to pray about this situation together (sometimes we forget how important that is). This morning we started a new tradition of getting the kids up early to have worship time before Daddy leaves for work! What a great start to the day. The girls were even able to cheerfully get their room COMPLETELY clean by 10:18 this morning. I didn't think that was even humanly possible!

Dave also got some news that has the potential to change the course of our life while freeing us from a situation here that isn't good... without offending anyone. Is it because our family turned to God in prayer knowing this situation was way beyond our control? Absolutely. We wouldn't have dreamed this solution up! It may not happen, but God is moving and when He does we need to get ready!! Its so exciting to see God's hand at work. I'm concerned for this gentleman at church because I don't know what it will take to humble him... God does. He viciously verbally attacked part of the body... and will most likely get a spiritual spanking. I've had some of them and wouldn't want to have another.

I'd best be off to have a shower and check some math...
I'm too excited for words to find out what God has in store for us...
Seems like the wind is starting to change...
God is on the move!

Lots to think about

Wow!! Its been awhile since I blogged last. These last couple weeks are like a blur. We had 2 sets of catalogs to deliver and Justin is teething. That may not sound like much, but Justin is not a great teether... lots of screaming and little sleep.

On a high note....

Dave, Caitlyn and I went to see Merv and Merla Watson tonight. They were so amazing!! I haven't heard music like that for a very long time. There are good musicians and then there are the truely gifted... Merla Watson is truely gifted... perfect pitch, rich tone, violin playing that sends shivers all over.. amazing. They live in Israel and spoke about its past, present and future. They are not Jewish by blood, but in heart. Merv sang the blessing Aaron would have sung over the congregation of Israel... I could never express how very close God was tonight. I'm ready to move right on over to Jerusalem, the Holy City. Caitlyn would like to visit. We all decided if God actually wanted us there, He'd let us know!! Merla has written over 500 songs and has composed music for them which blew us completely away!!

Tiszandra babysat tonight and for the first time in 4 yrs of living here we feel like we have a truely competant, godly babysitter. Matt was even happy and he's NEVER happy with a sitter!

What did I learn tonight?
I need to pray more.
God is much, much bigger, better and more wonderful than I thought before tonight.
Miracles still happen.
God moves fast, get with Him!!
Archaeology is making the rocks cry out to praise God.
Yeshua in Hebrew is the only word with 7 flames on it.
Truth in Hebrew is EMET which is the first, middle and last letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Truth being first, last and everything in between. The first letter in EMET also represents God, when you take it out you get the word MET which means death.
The first 10 generations of men from Adam to Noah have the whold plan of salvation in it. When I get a copy of it I'll post it. I should have thought to take a note pad.
Sometimes I get so caught up in everyday life I forget about the wonderful life we have in Christ. The hope and the future that we have. When Merla was talking about the people returning to live in Israel and the wonderful musicians that are arriving, she told of her dream to bring them together to play music that would be glorifying to Jesus when He returns.
She wants to actually be playing when Christ comes back.
All the other feasts were fulfilled in the New Testament on the anniversary of the feast day. For example the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost to free us from the law on the anniversary of the day the law was given to the people of Israel. Jesus became the firstfruit from the dead on the day the firstfruits were brought to the temple.
It's quite logical to assume that Jesus would come back on the feast of Trumpets, Rosh Hoshana. It is the only Biblical feast that has not been fulfilled in Christ. Its a day set apart to celebrate a new beginning with the Lord... and you blow trumpets!! Pretty cool.
I think I need to learn Hebrew.
There is sooo much to learn.

That is my long rambly blog for today.
It does not express my heart as much as I would like it to.
I do not want to forget tonight.
This was an evening of spiritual encouragement, refreshment and excitement!
I don't ever want to celebrate our pagan celebrations anymore.
Easter has been a sore spot for me after learning its based on the Babylonian cult and represents Ishtar. Christmas actually has nothing to do with Christs birth as he would have been born during the feast of Tabernacles which is in early October.
The Watsons showed a portion of scripture in Isaiah that was a blessing to those outside the Jewish family who partook in the feasts that God ordained. I need to find that verse again!!
Lots to think about.

There ya go South Africa Ruth!!! A long rambly blog.... with no static. Intercontinental phone calls are not always the clearest, eh?

SNOW!!!!!

I was so pumped to dive into the new school stuff today, but was usurped big time by the white stuff pouring from the heavens.... FIRST SNOW!!
I hollered for the kids to get up, fill the woodbox and go out and play.
There wasn't really enough snow for gazoodles of fun, but my kids are creative.
They got out the wheelbarrow and transported snow from all over to the steps in the front yard... and went sliding. What a hoot! There isn't enough snow to cover the grass.. well maybe by now... but we have a sliding "hill" out there!!!
The kids from next door came over and they had a ball.
I forgot about wet ski pants, mittens and boots everywhere.
But I also forgot how great a fire is when its REALLY cold and snowy out there.
I guess they balance out.
I'm glad it didn't snow yesterday!!
I'm thrilled it snowed today.
Dave called 4 times from traffic cuz he was bored.
I forgot about 1st snow accidents.

Muffin business is picking up. I need to get these kids on their school work so I can work on my brochure!! I'm so far out of my comfort zone. How on earth do you make a brochure?? Dave showed me where to go on the computer.. I have a degree in marketing and communications.. I love what I do... I love to write stuff.. How can this be so scary??
My good friend Diane will even put it together if I get her all the info I want on the brochure. I just need to be businesslike... a little more formal... choose my words carefully... and then scrap it all to just say what I mean and how I would really say it... I'm soooo formal after all!!!
Ok here I go...
stuff to do...
wasting time...

Mainiac Weekend!!

We just got back from having a wonderful weekend in Maine. I changed the babies, made sure they were tucked in and immediately had to catch up here!!
Ok, I had been away for 48 hours and had no idea of the conversations going on in blogland.
My oldest and dearest friend, Joy married a Mainiac and then became one... we still love her! They have 4 sweet daughters who are special friends of my kids. This is one family who exude hospitality. They sold thier large home and are living in a tiny 2 bedroom minihome until they can build their home in the spring, YET.. they welcomed us all to visit. Imagine 4 adults and 11 kids enjoying meals and fellowship in such quarters... BUT WE DID!!! We had a ball. Molly did not want to come home... neither did Caitlyn, her kindred spirit lives there!! Yes, Jade, that would be you!!
On the way down to Maine the clouds were very dark and low... snow clouds. We had to drive an hour north of Fredericton to drive down to Newport and I was a little nervous to drive in the snow. God had other ideas for us. He put on this incredible show of light showers. Y'all know about rain showers, but ever see a light shower?? Its when there is a perfect break in the clouds and a shower of light streams down bright against the rest of the clouds. Every time we saw one we told God what a great job He did... and He just kept outdoing Himself!! I had no idea there were SOOOO many different types of light showers!
Yes, it did snow. 3 little tiny flurries that got the kids wild about ideas of snowmen and sliding... but it was nothing that could sit on the road!
We are home safe and sound. Everyone is asleep except me.... Dave and baby Justin on the chair behind me... I could take a picture of that... I did.... and woke Dave up! ooops!

Can you help us, please?

Monday morning a phone call came in with a bit of a strange request. Apparently someone who had this catalog thing before us decided to dump thier catalogs in the woods instead of delivering them. People walking along a provincial walking trail noticed them and called Sears to arrange for someone to pick them up. We became the arrangement. This was to be a super easy job and we thought a walk would be nice. So, we loaded up the van, took our little red wagon and packed some work gloves. Who knew what shape these old catalogs would be? We didn't want to have to touch them.
The directions were clear take this road to that road, turn right, find the well marked walking trail, walk 100 meters to the beaver pond, 100 meters past the pond and voila, find the catalogs and truck 'em to the warehouse.
We left the house at 2:30 fully expecting to be home by 4:30 or 5 at the latest, ready to make dinner.
We found the walking trail with no problem at all, but just to be sure, Caitlyn, Matt and Connor ran down the path to see if there really was a beaver pond. Yep there was, but it was 300-400 meters down the trail. Matt, Connor, Courtney and I grabbed the gloves and wagon and off we went. Just past the pond, the trail split into 2 trails. We figured if the pond was further than we expected so were the catalogs. Lets suffice to say that we walked forever through muddy, swampy, hilly, nasty trails for an hour... no catalogs.
We were freezing and I was exhausted from trying to look like I was having fun for the kids. This was NOT fun! Meanwhile, back at the van, Caitlyn is watching the babies and having tons of fun of her own as Molly had to pee... and they were stuck there waiting for us!
Thankfully we had the cell phone. Calling the guy at Sears was no help. He insisted we were in the right place and if we opened our eyes we could see those pesky catalogs. They were, after all, OBVIOUS from the path.
To the boys great delight, an army guy stopped to see if he could help us. I guess a lady waving her arms around speaking softly, yet FIRMLY into a phone while who knows how many kids are jumping around a van denotes someone needs help. Thank the Lord for this guy. Not only did he make the boys day by talking to them... he had a map. So did I. In fact, we had the same map... but he knew something I didn't know... there were 2 streets with the same name and one of them wasn't on the map!! This should not be allowed.
We went to the other street with the same name about 5 minutes from where we were (after taking Molly to the bathroom) and quickly found the walking trail. It was the same trail we were on actually, just further down. This was a straight as an arrow, dry, flat trail that was a pleasure to walk on. This was my kind of trail. The beaver pond was about 100 meters down the path, the catalogs another 100 meters down in the most dense thicket of brambles and alder bushes and burdock things you could imagine.
"OK, Mom, what do we do now?", Connor asks. I really, really wanted to say, "Go home and cry kid" but I didn't. Like a good mom I let the kids stay on the path as I blazed many trails through those bushes and threw the very waterlogged catalogs at the path for the kids to put in the wagon. They were strewn quite far down the trail. You'd think whoever dumped them could have had the decency to put them together, but no.
Just as I thought we were done, and I was certainly done, this was a job for prison inmates, Matt noticed the other side of the path also had some.
At 5:35 we were finished. Of course the warehouse to which these were to be taken closed at 5:00, but the "quick and easy" job was done. On the way to meet Dave, Caitlyn pulled out some tweezers and pulled the thorns from my hands. The workgloves were great, but they just shredded in the bushes.
Pizza Delight sure sounded good!! We drove in (no way was I cooking after this!) and just inhaled the wonderful aroma of pizza and garlic fingers cooking... Stomachs were growling... kids were grinning in anticipation of our wonderful dinner. There was no line. whoo hoo... We stood there for a minute or 2 when a frantic manager came out of the kitchen with this line, "Tell all your tables it will be at least a 45 min wait." We weren't even at a table yet. We left.
Ponderosa was a good choice!! All you can eat buffet! We ate until we could barely move and got home by 9 pm.
At first I wanted to forget this day... but now I want to remember.
Our circumstances were awful...
but we were happy...
we laughed at the ridiculousness of it all...
the kids will never think money comes easy!!
Next time someone has a quick and easy job for me, the answer is no.
When they want to know why, I will make them read this!!!

Has this always been here??

I've discovered, if I journal a thought somewhere... on paper or here... I won't fall asleep right after my Bible readings. I'm a little surprised by this mornings Psalm. If I had read it last week THE RANT would not be on a previous post.

Psalm 4 (New King James Version)

To the Chief Musician.
With stringed instruments.
A Psalm of David.

1 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have relieved me in my distress;
Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
2 How long, O you sons of men,
Will you turn my glory to shame?
How long will you love worthlessness
And seek falsehood? Selah
3 But know that the LORD has set apart[a] for Himself him who is godly;
The LORD will hear when I call to Him.
4 Be angry, and do not sin.
Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And put your trust in the LORD.
6 There are many who say,
“Who will show us any good?”
LORD, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.
7 You have put gladness in my heart,
More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.
8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;
For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.


I remember all the "How long Lord.." Psalms, but this perspective was different.
"How long, o you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood??"
I have a problem. I seem to love worthlessness... worthless arguements, worthless stuff, worthless ideals... I keep bitterness and resentment like it was some kind of treasure in my heart. How long??? Thankfully the Lord is longsuffering towards me, otherwise I'd have been snuffed out loooonnngg ago.
"There are many who say Who will show us any good?" Remember THE RANT? I should not be looking for others to show God's goodness. It would be nice if they did, but I should be looking to God for that. "Lord, lift up the light of your countenance upon us. YOU have put gladness in our hearts."
Boy did that smack me today. If I am looking for others to take the place of God in my life I will always be seriously disappointed. I need to look for God to be God... God to be God... I'm starting to get it... God to be God... Lord lift up the light of your coutenance upon me. You have put gladness in my heart. No one at church, or the neighborhood, or in my family can put gladness in my heart... only you can.
That is really too cool, and lets a whole lot of people off the hook.
How long will I love worthlessness?
Only God should be where I look for good.
The Lord will hear me when I call.
He will relieve me in my distress.
I can trust Him.
I can rest.

I am a friend of...

There is one song out there that I am having a really hard time with.
The choir sang it in church Sunday morning.
I'm glad my glasses are so screwy that I can't see to drive at nights so I have had to miss choir the past month, because I would not have sung the song... and I would have let loose a pet peeve that they don't need to hear.



Friend Of God - Phillips, Craig and Dean
Genre/Lang. : Christian
Who am I that You are mindful of me?
That you hear me When I call
Is it true that You are thinking of me?
How You love me
It's amazing (Repeat)

~Chorus~
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
He calls me friend

God Almighty,
Lord of Glory
You have called me friend

(Repeat Chorus)

He calls me friend
He calls me friend...

Most people are rip roaring crazy about this song. They just eat it up. Maybe I'm a nut, but I always feel that it glorifies me more than God. I, I, I.... I am a friend of God... sing "I'm amazing" instead of "It's amazing" and that is the feeling I get every time I hear it.
Personally, I don't think I'm the greatest friend God has and I'm not going to sing about it... I don't spend enough time with Him and I'd rather dwell on what He has done for me and is doing in, around and through me. I'm in awe of who God is. He isn't my buddy, He is my Lord, Saviour, Redeemer and Perfecter of my faith.
I am not His buddy, I am His servant, a warrior and forever in His debt because He paid mine. I am made His joint heir.... which I do not deserve. What a wonderful, awesome, amazing privalege to have to God of all creation be my Father, protector, provider, sustainer.... there is nothing about me that He should desire to love me, yet He does. It is a most lopsided arrangement. All I have for Him is my sinful self, which is all He wants. He is everything to me.
There is one part of the song I do like,

Who am I that you are mindful of me?

I am not His friend. I am His child.

a withered leaf

Psalm 1 Blessed is the man.... But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

I must confess to being a withered leaf this week. Instead of delighting in God's word and studying daily, I've been busy. "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

I am so glad we have the same name (never used to be!). Jesus is speaking directly to me, with my name. I need to refocus on what is NEEDED, a close relationship with Christ. There is certainly enough to keep me busy here... when I am in close fellowship with Christ, I have the same number of hours in my day... yet somehow... things fall into place. My house is cleaner, the kids are more obedient, schooling is done, bills are paid... My priorities are His priorities, I'm so much more joyful and even the kids comment. I can't control the things that are out of control, God does that.

I don't want to be a withered leaf. When life gets really dry and hard, I need to be feeding from my hidden source of water that the world does not understand. I need deeper roots.

I'm so glad God is infinitely patient with me. Good grief!! The things I don't get sometimes... or just plain forget.

No Bible, no breakfast.
No Bible, no blog.
No Bible, no hot chocolate.
No Bible, no email.

These are my resolves.

I got a job!!!

Here we go..
For all of those times when I have said I will not go to work...
For all of those times I quoted from Titus 2....
For all of those times I was labled a wacko (love the term now that I know what a wacko is!)...
For all of those people who said I would work if the price was right and I was tired of home...
For all the times I said God would provide...
For all the times I said I would not work if it in any way detracted from what I do (or don't do) at home...

Yes, I have a job!!

I am making the most organic of organic, fresh milled muffins of various ancient grains for "my" physio/massage/pilates center. They are paying me what I want and think they are getting a bargain. Dave can't believe how much they will pay. 2 dozen a day to start, some might want extra dozens. I'll work 30 minutes to an hour a day and will get paid better than if I took in someone's kids for the whole day. In fact, the work will be done before the kids are up in the morning. God is soooo good!! Who knew this would happen. Its a gift! And I get to use my new oven every day and will now be able to pay for it!!

A big whoo-hoo for God. I don't even have to be out of my jammies!!!

I do have to be up early, while its still dark... to provide food... One step closer to Proverbs 31!! By the time I'm 75... maybe??

Help, God

Ok, I'm still not getting it. I've been up for 2 hours now studying your word and I'm confused. I know as a parent I have a responsibility to raise my children to honor you and love you... I realize that we all have different backgrounds, temperaments.. ya da ya da ya... but does anyone actually read the Bible anymore?? I'm reading all these blogs and websites of people all over the place that are striving to serve you and sacrificing their own wants to be what you want them to be. Why can't I find them here? I'm reading in John where if we love you we will obey you.. and in James where we need to act on what we read.. and Philippeans where we are to think about what is good, pure and praiseworthy... and how about the Proverb to train up a child in the way that he should go?
And here is my dilemma... christian parents who allow their kids to be nasty, malicious even, to other kids and think its cute because everyone wants to be friends with their kid... or parents who allow their kids to break the law because they think that law is silly and I'm the bad parent who thinks its wrong and doesn't want my kid influenced by this... kinda late since she already is influenced..
We have a wonderful, godly pastor who is leaving the church. He has taught us well, showed amazing love for his congregation and so has his wife. I have learned sooo much, been challanged, forced to choose to grow (or know I was choosing not too!). I have seen people petty and nasty to them, say horrible things to them and pretty much try to stifle their ministry. Did our pastor ever retaliate? I'm sure his knees are sore from the workout, he has only loved them more, and served them more. Yet, the people who are "the beautiful people" in the church have daily poisoned the church against their own pastor and his wife...
Not only that (I'm ranting but this is my blog!!) they fill their children with horrible movies which I wouldn't watch myself let alone let my kids watch, and then their kids put this filth in my kids minds AND THE PARENTS DON'T CARE.
We are exhorted in scripture not to forsake gathering together with his people, but where are his people??
Where are those that are set apart from this world? Where are those who hate sin? Where are those who are raising godly offspring?? Hello, God?? Where are they? You know what is going on... this is not a shock to you... you know my desire to raise children for you.. they won't be perfect, EVER... but I so want them to know you and love you and honor you in what they say and do...
and yet, as a woman, I need to stay back and pray and I have a hard time with this. I want to escape with my kids to a place where they will be nurtured and tended to until their roots are firm and they can withstand the attacks that are not supposed to come from the church. And this is considered a great church.
I kept my mouth shut. I did not tell anyone what I really, really wanted to. I would have only spoked what is true, but you didn't call me to be a Malachi, you called me to be a mom... a Mary.. a servant... your child... obediant and loving.. Please keep me in your word so that I will understand the lies of the evil one. Please keep my childrens hearts safely fixed on you, because I can't. Please help me to love your church, because right now I'm having a really hard time with that. Thank you for the gift of your son and for the loan of your servants who have led us and exhorted us to become closer to you these past few years... please bless the socks off them! Please help this church to know what they are throwing away. Please keep the minions of the evil one away from the children you have entrusted to our care. Please give me wisdom to deal with the parents in our church who don't seem to be doing a whole lot of parenting.... and then wonder why all the young people are not serving the Lord as adults. Please give me wisdom with the few people I know who are deliberately undermining our parental authority and mock my children's obedience... please take them out of the position of authority they have placed themselves in. I guess I should let you go God so you can get to answering this prayer. Oh, one more thing... please wake me up again tomorrow at the horrible hour you woke me up today... I really need to grow in you.. It was a pleasure beyond words to spend 2 hours just reading what YOU had to say today.
Please help the people who have the misfortune to stumble upon this blog today to forgive the personal nature of it.
I love you.

Whoo hoo!! I'm lumpless!

This morning I was up at 6:30 am. I'm never up before 8...:30....9... you get the picture. And why the early time on a Saturday morning?? To go under the knife.
I got to have my head opened up and some of the extras removed. Some people have a deficiency up there, but in my family... we have extras!! The lump has been removed!!! Hoorah!
The surgery took about 10 min. Just a freeze, slice, pop and stictch kinda thing. The lump was like a soft marble and now my head hurts. I'm not terribly fond of stitches and I refuse to brush my hair until they come out. Its only 10 days! The curly hair gurus say curls should never be brushed anyway, so I'll be trendy. I think I'll stay home for a while.
FYI its really a weird feeling to have half of your head frozen. Its hard to stay balanced. I mean that in a purely physical stay on your feet kinda way. Intellectually (and emotionally) I'm perfectly balanced regardless of how much freezing is in my head....
Yeah, that sounded good.

just ponderin'

Ever wonder why the smallest kids want to help the most?? Unless, of course its a much older child trying to get out of homework!!!
The kids are going out to stack wood for Dad. They want to get all of the split stuff stacked before he gets home to surprise him. This is Caitlyn's idea... Molly and Jack think its great! Molly is outta here, but Jack is drooling and his nose is running a marathon so he's confined to the house. Matt and Connor, who will be taking over all the wood splitting and stacking in the next few years, would rather do anything but help Caitlyn. She even has the little kids riding in the wheelbarrow on the way out of the garage!!
Its really cold today!! Time to switch the living and dining rooms around for the winter arrangement! The woodstove is in the 'dining room', but I need the couch in there so I can fall asleep over a good book in front of the fire. It might actually be warmer in here if we lit a fire.. no wonder Jack's nose is running!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I really should be doing dishes!! The kids are at AWANA, Jack is 'helping' Dad stack wood, Justin is happy, Dave's parents just left.... but I am soooooooo full!! Every year I promise myself I will not eat that much... Oh well, I did leave the extra piece of apple pie to eat when I watch 'The Amazing Race' with Dave tonight!!
I'm wondering if anyone else experiences the little extras that go with a really good Perry Thanksgiving. As we were setting the table, I realized the cranberry sauce had gone missing. Since Dave's mom and I are the only ones that eat it, no one else was concerned. I just bought it Saturday so I KNEW it was here somewhere... but it was definitely not in the kitchen... and we were not starting dinner without it. It seems that when the girls were putting the groceries away the put the sauce in the freezer with the cans of juice concentrate. Why I even bothered to look in the deep freeze for a can of cranberry sauce should tell you what kind of a house I live in.
The good news is cranberry sauce does not freeze. It keeps its jelly consistency, its just cold... so Caitlyn and Courtney were allowed to eat with us after all!!
Now Courtney is just a little thing, (Most people think she is 5, but she's 7) but she can sure pack away the food!! After 2nd and 3rd helpings she cut herself off to save room for dessert until she saw the drumstick!! Usually they go first, but for some reason there was a huge one with her name on it!
"Please, please can I have this?", she asks.
Being the kind Mom that I am I gave it to her. Next thing I know, this horrible shrieking comes out of the dining room. I thought she got a bone stuck somewhere, but no. She bit into the bone and one of her teeth fell out. It was loose, but not THAT loose. Dessert cheered her up though. Sugar is the best medicine!
Now Justin is playing with a doll on the floor, my coffee is gone, and Dave is still working on wood. I really should do some more dishes. I've only washed and dried 4 sinks worth... there should be 2 more to go. I'm so glad Verna did some before she left.
Lorne and Verna brought us an anniversary gift... its the swag chandelier from AVON that I loved in Verna's catalog. We have a swag lamp in our bedroom, but it shoots sparks when we turn it on. Actually, I think I'll go hang my new chandelier!!!

Our day at Kings Landing

Caitlyn and her friend, Brittney take Jack and Molly for a walk.








Can you tell who loves to get her picture taken??

Connor having a blast at the kids games!!!

We loved how this tree looked against the old barn.

Today is a banner day! We had a great day at King's Landing, I made my first batch of Mustard Pickles and learned how to post pictures on this thing!!!

I promise to never again post so many pics in one day.

This is our Matt coming up from the dock.

Courtney dashing up from the dock.
Dave took a pic of me and the kids. In fact, he took 135 pics. There are none of him today though...

Jack was interested in every little detail of his day. He insisted on walking the WHOLE time.... you'd think he'd be asleep at 1:00 am then, wouldn't you?

perfect days

I just had to stop in the middle of BUSY day because we are in the middle of the most perfect days of the year!!! I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't live here. If the beautiful colours of the trees weren't enough, now they are FALLING!!! Everywhere you look leaves are gently falling through the trees, piling up on the roads and "chasing" the cars. We are in the middle of the most perfect of settings, the sky is completely clear of clouds, darker blue straight up fading to white on the horizon. The river is the darkest of blue.
There is frost in the morning so the air is clean, clean, clean and smells like freshness. (Its actually decomposing leaves... I think 'Bounce' should add decomposing leaves as a new dryer scented sheet... Some of us would understand!!) We are off today to Kings Landing Historical Settlement which will be picture perfect today (I am determined to learn how to post pics on this thing tonight!!)... and because I am so full of energy we need to get out and do some walkin'!
Yesterday we picked 90 pounds of apples!! Molly and Jack were so excited... they knew apples came off trees but now the KNOW that apples come off trees!!
Tears keep coming to my eyes as I try to take in EVERYTHING.. the beauty, the excitement, my beautiful daughter as she has just had the perfect haircut... the kids think I'm losing it a little...
We are drinking in, and breathing in God's glory.
How will I handle Heaven?

hmmmm... grammar!

As I look back over the posts I have written, I can't help but notice the atrocious grammar that has been used. Yes, I am a homeschool mom. I even attended University where in first year scored in the 98th percentile on the English entrance examination. From there, I proceeded earn extremely high marks in all of my English courses. I have had professors keep my papers for extended periods of time because they needed to check my sources to ensure I had not "forgotten" to footnote some of my work. I've had "brilliant" and "wonderfully written" scripted across other scribblings of note so WHY do I use such pitiful language on my blog??

Because I can. I can even start a sentence with 'because' if I want to. I am no longer a gifted (or not so gifted) scholar, or a teacher ... I'm just me.
I don't have to be political here (though I love reading blogs of those who are!!), I have no axe to grind or statement to make (though I may someday)... I'm not looking to minister to others here (but if I do inadvertantly, hallelujah!), or start any debates. All I want to do is write whatever comes out. As long as it doesn't tear anyone down. I am still opinionated... I just usually write after most sane people are asleep!!! I type to the sound of a few snores and clocks ticking. I never hear clocks tick during the day EVER!!! If only we were closer to the shore so I could hear the waves crashing at night! That would be cool.

I am beyond rambling here and going to bed.

This is so much better that a journal... I can still read the really tired writing!!
When you write by hand the really tired stuff is just chicken scratches... not that you'd be missing much based on this post!

Wanna Sears Catalog??

So Dave gets this idea that the kids should earn some money so they can be financially responsible... y'know tithe, save and spend (a little)...
"I'm not doing a paper route!!", I'm quick to point out to him. I'm not an early bird and papers have to be completely delivered by 7 am. Who wants to be out all winter before 5:30 am?? Does Dave listen to me? Yes he does!! We don't have a paper route... we have a Sears catalog delivery route... oh, scratch that... one is NOT ENOUGH!! We'll take 2 please. Yes, we are now the proud owners of a combined 1200 home SCR in Oromocto!!! Yes, Oromocto is on the other side of Fredericton.
Of course if we moved there....
We spent two afternoons delivering and we are about half done. We need to do this 19 times a year!!
The idea was to take both cars for a full day on a Saturday to get them all out. Dave had to choose his delivery day to spend the day in bed doped up on morphine (for his kidney stones!!!).
I'm sure we are all learning something from this... right?

Puffers and Kidney Stones

How much more trauma can we pack into one week?? Tues night found us at the after hours clinic for the boys. The doctor looked very sternly at me and said Connor is completely clear, but the baby is a very sick boy. Haven't you noticed his fever and his rattly chest??? Ok, Justin has always been a noisy breather... we get it checked a lot... and he was teething. One popped through last Saturday and 2 more are on the move!! Dave was working late, so Caitlyn stayed with the kids in the van so I could go to get Justin Amoxill and a puffer. We did pretty good with the first 6 kids never needing a puffer. (slight break there so I could go and plunge the toilet for the boys!!) Justin fussed all day Weds and Thurs. By Friday the drugs had kicked in so he and I went to Sandy Cove Bible Camp for a ladies retreat.
I really thought for a brief period of time that I was going to have a relaxing weekend!!!
Being a good mom, I called home after breakfast this morning to see how things were going... Caitlyn answers the phone and says "We're great, but you might want to go get Dad at the hospital. He left at 5:00 this morning on the ambulance and might need a drive home. I think he has kidney stones."
I was at camp for 16 hours... glad I went early!!!
Dave is now home in bed, drugged to sleep. The girls went home with our pastor and his wife who came to watch the kids while I went to the hospital. Our friend, Rod, was coming to "help" Dave cut the wood this morning and ended up doing all the wood himself. Diane and Wes cleaned our house while they watched the kids this morning.
My head is still spinning.
Oh well, Billy Speer and the Dartts are coming to sing at our church tonight and I thought we'd miss them. Now I can go to the concert with the kids. Dave might go too if the morphine wears off.
Another day in the life of....
We are NEVER bored!!

Here Comes the Bride and other stuff

Yes, this was the weekend of my parents wedding. I wasn't sure what to expect. Sometimes my family can be kinda out there with stuff. Parents getting remarried is kinda out there actually. The service was actually pretty nice. My sister and I were ready to bolt out of there if it got too weird. I think people would have been delighted if we took out some very squirmy, giggling kids... After a couple of praise songs it went right into "Here Comes the Bride", vows were exchanged, the Pastor sang a solo and gave a little talk, Dad and Mom gave testimonies... then they sang to each other (which was a little strange since they don't usually do that...), there was a power point thing with lots of family photos, a prayer and then the reception.
My kids got completely sugared up and then all got sick the next day!! We stayed at Andrea's and had a blast with her family. The kids all did barn chores and are begging for chickens and animals so they can do the chores every day!!!
On the way home we went a different route and realized we were 15 min from Dave's parents so... we decided to visit. It was getting late so we decided to stay the night. While we were there a man was cleaning the chimney. He didn't wait until Lorne (Dave's Dad) had the bottom of the pipe covered with a plastic bag and, well, I don't know if any of you have ever been at the bottom of an open chimney flue when the chimney was being swept... if you haven't you have no idea the mess it makes!!
We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned the floor, walls, furniture, kids, baby stuff, feet!!.. we were so filthy. We breathed in all kinds of black junk. Our noses were full of it!
Connor woke up at 5 am and couldn't breathe. His lips were blue and he made horrible noises in his chest. He got back to sleep at 6 am just as Justin woke up barking. We are now home in the fresh air and trying to just relax.
I'll quickly mention that we almost missed out on all this excitement when we were run off the road on the way to Saint John. Since I am not a stunt driver on a regular basis I can only give thanks to the Lord for the amazing driving manouvers necessary to have put us back on the road at 115 kph. Dave missed the whole tire squealin', horn blowin' thing (we were following him)!!
We are so happy to be home!!

crazy neighbors and dogs

Ok, we officially live in La-la land!! The other morning we woke up to find a huge tree limb had crashed down by the dog's house. There was no storm... our dog is just a menace.. the trees are losing ALL the lower branches!!! Anyhow, I couldn't move it and Blackie was tangled up in it soooo... Blackie was off the leash! Move over Benji... here we come!
Because I am a great neighbor, I went next door to warn Christie and her 4 year old son. As we were over there Blackie attacked her dog (OK, thier dog looks like a cat and cats always attack Blackie) who was rushed indoors for the day, and then our big bundle of black lab/husky decided to leave a gift on her lawn. Christie was impressed that my 2 little pooper scoopers (Matt and Connor) rushed in with a shovel and dirt to remove the mess. The people across the street have 3 dogs that use mine and Christie's lawns as toilets on a regular basis and I know that is what I would like those neighbors to come over and do... y'know remove the messes.
Well, Blackie did calm down and the kids put him on the leash and walked him for awhile. They were all having a great time actually. I sat out on the porch with the little ones enjoying summer in the country when the neighbor across the street came screaming our way. You should have seen her hair just a'flyin!!! We all froze in shock as we wondered what horrific thing she was escaping across the road. Yes, we were prepared to help this poor woman UNTIL she grabbed our dog by the leash (that was still dragging from the last walk around the house) and brought him to the door of the porch where I met her. "What?" was all I could think to say. I was still a bit confused on the problem. "Your dog looked like he was about to dash right across the street!!", she shrieked.
Yes, this is the lady who owns the 3 dogs that are constantly fertalizing my yard. Of course I could think of many things to say to her 2 min later, but all I could think to do was laugh. Do you think she'll be back?
I do believe Blackie will be off the leash more often. I gotta see whats gonna happen next!

Angela's Birthday

Yes, I missed Ang's birthday. Let me tell you a secret.. I have a GREAT picture to put on this and can't figure out how to put it on the blog. I'm a techie mess!! As soon as I can do it, I'll post it! Love ya lots, Buff!! Happy Belated!!!

September, already?

I don't know where this summer has gone... but it has. We have had a lot of fun AND a lot of frustration!! The good news is, we licked the lice problem!!! Hooray!! Of course my kids have had an extraordinary amount of chemicals on them and will most likely grow extra appendages later in life! Last night we played soccer baseball, girls against guys, and Daddy's team smoked us!! Justin got screaming and we noticed about 50 little bugs eating him... now he looks like he has chicken pox... Oh drat, the game had to end before we were totally humiliated!
We have had our first week of crazily eating healthy. Lots of fresh ground flour (and of different varieties) for our bread and biscuits, salads, fruits and veggies, even molasses cookies made with fresh ground Kamut flour... The kids were asking when the healthy food was coming out! Its actually very tasty!! I think I'm losing weight too, which is great cuz I am eating like a pig. I love salads and am having extra snacks and not feeling even a bit guilty. Very soon we will be getting eggs and milk from friends with... you guessed it... chickens and a cow. We are still finishing up some schoolwork from last year and its not so bad. Life is good. There are some interesting people trying to drive us insane.. I think.. but that's ok too. Dave tells me that we are the only sane ones around. I'm going with that.
Oops! Published before I was done... like that has never happened before!!
Dr. Phil is looking for homeschoolers for his show. I figured I could use a vacation... so I applied. Of course a half a million people will probably apply and he will most likely choose from the U.S... and he wants people with STRONG convictions about hs'ing which I take as bold and controversial. I really don't think he'll pick me, BUT I tried! We'll wait and see.
Dave is BBQing steaks and I'm supposed to be doing veggies. Guess I should get back to it!!

psychic mail

I'm not happy. There is a new spam in town and they have my full name and mailing address... maybe they dreamed it... some psycho psychic (somehow that looks like its spelled wrong) is now sending me mail. As soon as I found out what it was I put it in the wood stove, but I read fast. I would never ever EVER go to get my fortune told and am not impressed that this woman would come up with a fortune for me and mail it to me!! Its hard enough in this world to stay away from such things without it chasing you down. Yep, I'm mad. But if she is really psychic she knows that!
Back to reality here! The kitchen is crackfilled and sanded and recrackfilled. Someday soon we will have paint on the walls... yee haw!
Caitlyn and I went shopping today. She needed black pants for our choir performance Sat. night. She found a pair for $15 and I made her put 'em back. There is ALWAYS a better deal!! We ended up paying $6 for a pair she loves and got 3 t-shirts for $3 each. These are great quality shirts too. Caitlyn's friends think she has no idea what REAL clothes cost. We laugh cuz Caitlyn buys new clothes at Frenchy's prices and Frenchy's clothes that look like they were straight from the mall.
I had a brilliant post in my head but thought I would post the little things first before I forgot them... now I forgot the real post. I'm turning into an idiot!! Can we say ... FLUFF!!! Oh, sorry Ang... I'm feeling like I'm going blonde!!! Oh, sorry Ang!!! You did see where I said I was the idiot right??
Ok, I'm going now.
The next post will be amazing!

spas, roadside assistance and mega choirs

Today was gonna' be the day to do things... oodles of things because Dave is home!!! Hooray! He is home all week and we are going to finish the bathroom cupboards and paint the kitchen and go on roadtrips and get lots of stuff done. This is Tuesday. I was up with Justin (such a sweetie!) last night and Dave finally took him and the crew out of our room at around 8 so Mommy could get some shut eye. I was up at 11:30. After a relaxing 3 min bath, the service guy came to fix the stove. Yes, our new stove needs a service guy.... another story!! At 3:00 Caitlyn and I head out because I am getting a haircut!! ... at Avalon Spa no less...
We walked into the spa and were delighted by the wonderful aroma of all the Aveda products that we can't afford to get and enjoyed ourselves immensly for about 1/2 an hour. I described ... very badly... what I wanted done and Jolene (my stylist) actually understood what I meant and I got the cut I longed for. Someday I will be able to buy all the gook she put in my hair and I'll be gorgeous for days!! As I walked to the car I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach... I don't remember putting the keys in my purse and I have no pockets. Sure enough, there were the keys... in the ignition and all doors are locked!! Who locks thier doors when they go to the spa?? Back in we went to call roadside assistance... We waited by all the lotions and makeup and candles and teas that we still can't afford... I did find out the eyeliner I liked was $17.95. "Are you going to get it?", Caitlyn wants to know... "Not now dear... maybe when we strike oil."
We managed to get home about 1 1/2 hours after we intended to. Jack was so happy to see me. Caitlyn returned a phone call from her friend Maggie. It was about 6:20 pm. "Are you coming tonight?" ooops.. we forgot about choir.
We are in a mega choir of hundreds of people singing in Officers Square this weekend. There are a couple of groups "The LaPointes" and "3 Season Ant" and us.
We jumped back in the car to go back where we just were!!!! It was a lot of fun and I'm glad we went.
I'm also glad we were home in time to cuddle Jack to sleep, for Connor to read us his "do you know this?" about the Old Testament questions and for Matt to tell of all that went on with him today. Courtney went to choir with Caitlyn and I and was just plain cute!
Great day, but I'm glad its done! Maybe tomorrow something will get done!

Another successful pigroast!!

Yes, this was the weekend of the 8th Annual Pork Roast. Dave cousins have a pig farm and have an annual reunion of sorts. More people come every year because it is a blast!!!! They had party people come to entertain the kids for 2 hours (what a treat to sit for 2 hours and only see kids when they are so excited they have to tell you right now what is happening!!). They brought a jumping castle, did face painting, relays, tug-of-war (kids against grown-ups and they beat us 2 out of 3!), fireworks, enough treats to put them in sugar shock for a month... and an amazing potluck dinner which, of course, centered around a massive BBQ pig. It was so much fun. Jack was the hit of the small fry set. He is so cute (he's 2) and all the little girls were helping to take care of him. He only came to see me when the girls didn't understand what treat he wanted next!!
We stayed for the weekend. Somehow the new pastor at church was more than cordial in hoping we would come back. Its amazing since Justin (7 mos) "read" the scripture louder than Pastor Irving (and he said, "blah blah blah blah blah" too... yeah), belched loudly during prayer (twice) which made everyone giggle.. and this man prayed so well... then in the middle of the missions presentation hurled all over me and the padded pew.... It was gross and smelly and then the kid laughed and laughed.. and then I took my irreverant, laughing, stinky kid and went to the nursery. They usually close the nursery for the summer, but they opened it for us!! The pastor and his wife said our visit was refreshing! I believe they meant, "Thank you so much for rounding out our list of humorous anecdotes for the year. Please come back so we can laugh at you next year."
We are now home and everyone is asleep... except me.
I think Dave's poor parents will sleep well tonight!

Mommy, I don't want to die!!!

This is how my morning started. My idea was to clean like crazy cuz my parents were coming for lunch. I know how long it takes to clean, feed kids, clean up after them, do laundry, change diapers, cuddle babies, etc., so my morning was off to a busy start. Enter one 3 year old screaming, "Mommy, I don't want to die!" Certain I was hearing wrong I foolishly asked her to repeat herself. She did... over and over and over again as she huddled up in our favourite, old, frayed, gold recliner in a fetal position because she felt safe there. In her words, "I just wanna be safe."
Oh Lord, please give me the wisdom for this one.. she's only 3!! I cuddled her up on Mommy's big bed with lots of pillows and told her that dying meant going to Jesus' house. I had never even remotely thought of heaven the way I described it to her today. Thank you Father God for telling her what she needed to know through my mouth. Now she can't wait for the angels to come and get her (she'll be taking a piggyback ride thank you very much!!!) so she can visit with Jesus. She'd be most happy though if Jesus would just get the horn blown so she could travel with Jesus and the rest of the family. She must have asked 20 times today if it were time to go to Jesus house yet. She asked her Gramma and Papa if they were going too and was quite delighted that they were.
No wonder we are to become like a little child. I need to be that excited to be going to Jesus' house and invite people to come with me. Are you going to Jesus' house?? Wanna come?

One screen porch... ready for summer

Yes, today we tackled the screen porch. Armed with a huge roll of screening, measuring tape, chalk and scissors, I confidently (ha ha) cut out our new screens for the porch and Dave knocked 'em up. You might have thought this would have been a great spring project so we could enjoy the porch ALL summer. But we felt that after the hottest weather was over would be a great time. Timing is everything. It actually looks rather spectacular. We only had to change 5 of the screens. The others only had to be fixed. All in all, it took us about an hour to do the deed.

On the other hand, we needed the time to deal with some unruly kids. While we all worked our tails off this morning doing chores everyone was happy. As soon as they were allowed to go play the ISSUES started. Do they WONDER why I want them to work all the time?? When we played as kids, that was our fun time. Lately, throw in an extra neighborhood kid and we have WW3. I'm ready for the neighbors to go back to school... in a nice way. How are we to juggle befriending these kids, witnessing to them and trying to save our own kids?? The kids around here are just running with no one to be accountable to. I think they like to play here because the Mom is here with house rules.. which they have to abide by... and seem to enjoy doing so. Unfortunately, my kids think it would be great to be able to just do whatever they want, when they want 24/7. They don't see the lonely kids behind the freedom facade that would love to see a parent.... who need Christ.

I think I need to pray more for my kids and the neighbors. We can't witness if we alienate them, yet they are pulling at my kids. At least my kids are home so we can talk about it. I think the boys are having a hard time. They aren't sure how to articulate what they feel and I don't want to put words in their mouths. I'd better go pray.

G'night

Connor Won!!!

Yes, Connor... Sunshine as the radio host called him.. won the call in today on "Remote Control.. where you control the songs". He giggled so much when he called in his song choice that she played the wrong song for him... but thats OK. He didn't really care if they played his song, he just wanted to win.
The boys had a friend over who just casually came in for lunch with my kids. I'm still not sure why he didn't go home.. but that's ok too. We have devotions after lunch together and this kid wasn't sure what we were doing.. they do not read the Bible at his house. My kids were horrified that this boy knew so little about the Lord. Unfortunately for Blaze my children have watched the Waltons too much lately. If you have seen the first episode with the new pastor you might recognize ... "Reeeeepent, reeepent". Connor did his best impersonation and Blaze looked completely confused.. and, dare I say, scared! Matt yells out "But that means you are a sinner and going to HELL!" One of the rare times that hell in a sentence isn't swearing for a 9 year old. Suffice it to say, my boys were shushed, a quick, loving presentation of the gospel was given (by me) and, quite suprisingly, Blaze elected to stay for the afternoon. Whether he mentions his lunchtime conversations to his mom (and if we ever see Blaze again!) remain to be seen. It took 4 years to get any kids to come over here, I'd hate to see it cut short in less than 2 weeks.
The killer of it was, in talking to the boys later, neither of them had a clue what Reeepent really meant. It was good to clear that one up. They knew the concept fully but had never connected it to the word properly. Each thought it meant something different, but they hopefully know it now.

Reeeeeepent!!!

New Pastor??

Today was rather a shocker at church. It started out great.. the VBS kids choir sang one of the fave songs.. we sang one of our fave choir songs... 2 decided had a new song... sermon was great.. I met a visiting family that were HOMESCHOOLERS (and not weird ones!).. the kids were so well behaved and then.. the bomb dropped. After the closing hymn, Pastor Wes stepped down with THE LOOK and said he had something to say... basically that even as Moses was brought to the edge of the promised land before being succeeded by Joshua who took them into the land, he felt he had led us to a point and we needed a Joshua to finish the task. He isn't leaving for a new church.. in fact in a months time he is unemployed. There is no dissension, we all love Wes and Diane. Simple fact is that God is moving in his heart and leading him to something else.... and like Abraham he is packing up and not knowing where he is going... and like Sarah, Diane is willing to follow. Now how do I give up my confidante and friend?? I am excited for them, but selfish for me. I'm not thrilled with change... however, who knows what the next few months will bring? I am waiting expectantly to find out.

What a gift!

"Can you fix my shirt, Mom? Y'know, like you did Molly's. I want to wear it to chruch tomorrow?", sweetly asks my 12 year old. I can fix spaghetti straps. As long as no one looks too closely, it looks fine. Caitlyn dutifully puts her shirt on inside out so I can tack it up... but the straps are fine. She wants me to put darts in her shirt!!! And fully believes I have the, ahem, talent to do the job. Just the fact that I know what a dart is impresses me. "You can sew it with me in it, right?"
"Caitlyn, honey, you know I can't sew."
"Yes, you can. Just put some pins in and sew it up. You want to use your machine? Can I stay up and watch? I love to see you sew." (Like she sees THAT a lot!!)
"I'll just use the longest stitch to make sure it fits and then tidy it up later.." (and its easier to rip things out like that too... lots of ripping out experience here which is why I DON'T SEW!!)
"I'm so glad I have a Mom that can do anything. Not all moms can you know." (REALLY?? and that makes me...)
The shirt turned out perfectly. She bragged me up to her dad and can't wait to brag me up to her friends tomorrow at church. I'm so blessed with a daughter who believes in me enough to stretch me beyond my capabilities. Isn't that what I should be doing with her?? What a gift of a daughter I have!!
Back when she was preborn I had a doctor who told me I would be truely blessed by this child. He was right.
I need to remember this when she is having a 12 year old MOMENT! What a gift!

He's Certified!!!

Dave and Matthew came home tonight at about 10:30 pm.. Dave wrote his Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in Halifax today and passed!! For those of you computer minded and management people, you would understand this was a VERY BIG DEAL!! Matt stayed at Dave's parents for a visit since they live just off the highway on the way to Halifax.
I'm so glad that the test and trip all went well. We needed some good news. Once again we found lice on the kids and had to treat them all again today. That is 6 little heads and a few more weeks of torture as we aggressively do laundry and check heads. They aren't as bad as the last time, so hopefully it won't be too terrible to clear up. I hope the other kids in church are getting treated. Nit pickin' kinda takes over our home and its expensive!! All the kids are sleeping here in the living room. I love seeing them all sleeping.
Courtney had more bloodwork today. She's getting more subdued. She tires quickly and her appetite is next to naught. 2 or 3 bites and she's full. She is also getting dark circles around her eyes. I'm calling another doctor in the office tomorrow to see if we can see her. Our doctor won't be back until the 8th of Aug..
Mom wants us to go to St. Andrews on Aug 7th for NB day. I don't think that is going to happen. Between having to take 2 vehicles (cuz we don't fit in 1!), Court not well and trying to ditch the little head critters, I think we are about done in. Someday I plan to ask God why we have lice. I am glad its treatable... at least in Canada. I can't imagine living somewhere where headlice is a fact of life for everyone. I am so thankful to live where I do. We are sooooo blessed.

Gotta' love physio

I used to think that going to physio and/or massage would be a fun thing to do. People who don't even need to go to these pay to go. Let me tell you... its no fun! We (Cait, Matt, Jack, Molly and I) were in an accident in December. We hydroplaned on slush and ended up in a ditch facing the direction we were coming from. It was a rather scary few min. Connor was upset for weeks that we do "all the fun stuff" without him. Cait was in near hysterics if there was even a smidge of snow coming down when we drove. Molly for months did the "we aren't going anywhere today, right" routine and .... I'm still in therapy!! Physiotherapy of course.. every Monday and massage... every Weds. They used to be gentle, but now I think they are trying to KILL ME!! I am so suprised my back did not break today. I guess I'll be better soon. Seriously, both therapists have been wonderful and have definitely pushed me to wellness. Hopefully this will be over soon! For a relatively healthy family we sure have a lot of doctors appointments!!

Dancin' Jack

Yesterday was our VBS finale at church. We had plenty of kids come who ususally do not attend church!!!! And... they brought thier parents. It was a great morning with the kids singing about half of our Fiesta songs up on the stage. We even took our Silly Chilis out of the nursery and up on the stage for the music. Jack, being only 2, was the youngest and we weren't sure how that would go... but he was amazingly cute. He did all the actions except for the song he doesn't like. His little arms were waving, he felt the music right to his toes and it showed. Everyone was watching him with huge smiles on... God must have been delighted. The verse we used in our text for the evening service was Zech 8:5 which speaks of the streets of the new Jerusalem being filled with children playing. When I see little children singing (and dancin') thier praises to God, I have no problem believing He wants His city full of them. Jack is totally unconcious of his effect on the whole church. He didn't for a second think of what anyone else thought of his style of praise. We need to be a little more like that... focusing on God in our worship and not of those around us. Its ok to cry in the middle of the prayer, or stop to bow and pray in the middle of the service or be moving in the music. Its all worship and its all good.

Oh yes... Bibbles is still here. The kids are working hard to show they can handle a pet.. they are actually working very hard... cheerfully!! I'm starting to like Bibbles!

Happy Birthday to me!!

Do you ever wonder how many crazy things can happen in one week?? I thought that after a rather zany beginning, the week would slow down. Yet again, I set myself up for disappointment.
Courtney started to feel ill on Weds.. She wasn't actually sick, just lethargic and achy.. the kind of sickness you almost like to see occasionsally on the wilder kids.. you know, for a break. Those of you who "have never felt that way" are lying!! She seemed to perk up again Thurs. and was thoroughly enjoying bossing around her siblings and being waited on hand and foot. When she asked if she could put on her princess dress, get her wand, and wanted to set up a throne so she could make Caitlyn her slave..... I got the inkling that perhaps she was on the mend.
We all went to VBS that night and everyone told Court how she was missed. She fairly glowed with all the love showered upon her. As we were about to go home I asked her if someone had beat her up a bit since under her eye and part of her neck were red and raised. That was a negative. Well, we have Benadryl and she had some when we got home. Let me just tell you that Courtney HATES Benadryl. Connnor will fake an itch to get some, but not my girl. She gagged it down and went to bed. Thankfully, we put he on my bed so we could keep an eye on her. As Dave was putting Justin down (yes, at 6 mos he still sleeps in a bassinet by the bed!) he noticed Courtney's face.. and who could miss it!!! Bright red with major rash... we have a pic if I can figure out how to add it on... one eye swelled almost shut. Her neck, shoulders and armpits looked like they were scalded and it was going down her back and chest. I gave her more of the Benadryl and then Dave thought that maybe she was allergic to it since she got so bad after the first dose. When she started with a whistling sound in her breath, I bundled her up for the hospital. Caitlyn wanted to come to and since I thought she could keep me awake in the way home, we 3 went to the ER at 11 pm.
The people at the hospital were concerned as the rash was still in full force when we arrived at 11:40. The waiting room was full and we bypassed them all... that was scary... they took blood and as we waited for the results Courtney commented on how nice it was that the signs kept changing. I saw the signs, they were not changing. They were just functional instructional type ER signs. That was a little more scary that my kid was hallucinating. Then the nursed decided she needed more of the B word. Courtney had taken that medicine at home and there was no way she was taking it again. The nurses tried cajoling, calling it princess potion, threating and trying to force it down her throat... nothing worked.
The bloodwork had come back not good, white cell count and platelet count very low and we decided to admit her. The ER nurses figured the pediatric nurses could deal with the Benadryl problem and rather happily sent her upstairs to the MEAN nurses who had no qualms about 3 of them trying to force it down her throat at once... Courtney spit it at the meanest of the three and I could see why she did it. Courtney did apologize later. Finally the nurse said "If you don't swallow this we will poke you with a needle and you will have to have a shot!!" I told her she was wasting our time and go get the shot ready. Courtney doesn't mind needles. At about 4:30 am we finally got some sleep.
She had more bloodwork done in the morning with not great results. The rash went down though finally. Oh yes, I almost forgot! The pediatrician, Dr. Swami, checked her in the morning and said it was not an allergy, don't bother with the Benadryl!! Like they couldn't have told us before. All that foolishness for nothing! They sent us home at 11:30 and we are going for more tests next week.
I just checked on the little sweetheart and her rash is getting all flared again... her face neck and ear are getting blotchy again.
I did get a nap today... and then was woken by a phone call from my sister in law Karen to wish me a happy birthday. Wow, forgot about that happening.. Dave suggested that todays birthday was a wash (since I got home for lunch, had a nap and got up to go to VBS tonight) and I could have an extra day of being 38 as we'll celebrate tomorrow. HELLO I just turned 38!!! Since we are the same age you'd think he'd get mine right. That's my day.
Then I saw Angela's blog.. I'd link you to it if I knew how!!... with a picture from my 12th birthday on it. That brought a smile as I remember that day. I loved that dress, on of the few I've really loved, and we went out to a Chinese Restaurant and tried to use chopsticks. We vowed they were utterly impossible to use and ate with forks. I love eating with chopsticks... who knew?
Well, I'd better wake up Dave and consult about Courtney. He took today off to be with the kids today!! .... and didn't complain before, during or after about being home or said anything negative about the kids... makes me remember why I married him... VBS closing was a blast. Jack did all the actions to the songs and made everyone smile.
While in hospital I saw a friend who I hadn't seen in at least 10 years, came in with her little guy. He got a stick stuck through the socket of his eye (I hear missed the eyeball) when he was roasting marshmallows. They aren't from the area and seeing them there was so surreal... I checked with Dici tonight and got the scoop from her. These little ones are so precious and fragile...
Gotta go get Dave. Pray for my Courtney and Dee Dee's Jacob.

What can happen in our home in 48 hours or less

I've actually been meaning to start a journal. This would be a great place to start. The past couple of days have been relatively uneventful. There has been only on physio appt.. and Dave was able to meet me and watch the kids. Vacation Bible School (VBS) started at church. We are having a Fiesta and enjoying every second of it! Jack (2) and Molly (3) are in the Silly Chillys group, Matt (9), Connor (8), and Courtney (6) are all active participants, Caitlyn (12) is a helper and I am a group leader. Justin (6 mos) gets passed around and we are all having a blast! Last night coming home we almost hit a huddle of skunks. I didn't know skunks can group thier little noses together and have all those tails stick out in all directions... missed 'em by about 6 feet. When we got home we saw another black and white critter in the driveway. Thankfully it was only a kitten... about 2 months old. The kids were sure God was blessing them in some miraculous way because we only have 7 kids, a crazy 20 month old black lab/husky, and a cat who thinks he is human and owns the house. "But we don't have a kitten!!!"... or do we? It is still in the carrier out on the porch. No one in the neighborhood knows where Bibbles (I know, I know!!) came from but they all agree its now ours. In straining to see if Murphy (our cat) would kill Bibbles in the great showdown on the porch steps, Matthew leaned over the kitchen sink while talking on the phone and dropped said phone into the pot soaking in the sink. As Dave attempted to dry the phone I found the need to get some, ahem, air... and 5 kids spilled out the door behind me. While thought I'd rescue the kitten and put it in a cat carrier, Matthew decided Murphy and Bibbbles should be better acquainted.... I'll leave it to your imagination to understand the catfight that happened on my hand, arms and face and to hear the shrieks of some wild kids and one wild momma as Murphy tried to kill Bibbles.
Are we entertainment for the neighbors or what!!!
Today we still have Bibbles because we are IDIOTS!!! The SPCA will take him/her (we aren't even checking..), but they are closed tomorrow and will reopen on Thursday. Molly can't believe we would want to give away "Murphy's Baby". She's a little confused about Murphy's love for little Bibbles.
This morning there were no Doctors appts!!!! What a banner day! The kids went out to play and I noticed the kid population double. We never have kids stop in here. Its hard to break into a new neighborhood... we've only been here 4 years!!! They had a great game of soccer baseball and all the kids were great. One even came to VBS tonight.
Again, we had a blast at VBS.. all my kids even had shoes on which didn't happen the night before, Dave met us at the church as we were getting ready to leave which was great. No critters on the road on the way home. Is all perfect? What could the neighbors possibly see tonight as we come home from church? A perfect little moon as Molly decides the walk into the house is much too long and pulls down her drawers to pee on the front lawn. They are all asleep now... everyone but me. The physio guy worked on my head again and removed the get to sleep switch. I decide I needed to check on the only blog besides Angela's I have ever submitted a comment on. I've commented twice before tonight. The first time someone responded in such a negative way the blogger had to remove thier comment. She'd never had to do that before!!! The next comment brought someone who I believe I offended... I had to apologize for offending her, but not for what I said... you know... then I messed up in the process and ended here. Dave was smirking when he went to bed. He still has the sleep switch.
I just can't wait to see what tomorrow holds!!! Glad I don't know in advance tho.
I'm sure you are all thrilled that the phone dried out and works great!

This was an accident

I didn't mean to start a blog. I pushed the wrong button and kept answering the questions so I could move on outta there. All I wanted to do was post a comment on another blog ... you know in response to a response to another comment where someone misunderstood me...
Its ok. I'll never be able to find this again!!!
Cheerio to anyone who got here by mistake or otherwise.