Life

Tomorrow is July 1. Already. We are 1/3 of the way through summer. This first third passed so quickly and crazily. Hopefully the next third will be calmer. Umm...yeah.

This week we've all been out and about. Randy is working. Autumn was at "Mini-Camp" (3 days/2 nights Summer Camp) from Monday - Wednesday. Janae went with her cousin to VBS Monday, Wednesday and tonight (Autumn went tonight as well). Since Josiah is older, the nights that it was just him & the little boys he got to stay out late (well, 9:00 or so is late at our house where we are normally in bed by 8:00) and hang out with his neighbor friends. So there have been multiple nights of kids getting to bed rather late....you'd think they'd soon start sleeping in... :-)

I'm ready for the weekend and us all together again.

Our first few weeks of summer were quite crazy with appointments and camping and such. Now that most of that is behind us, I am trying to get us back into a schedule that we should've been in to begin with. This of course includes chores for the kids. As they have been used to doing quite minimal chores for the past month or so this has not been met with great reception, but I have noticed that with less chores there was actually more complaining....like they were entitled to do nothing but play from breakfast until bedtime. I actually think the added structure may be helpful....plus we will get caught up on things that have been left go. Never fear, they will still have PLENTY of time to play!

Oh yes, in the reading department I have been reading books by Elizabeth Gaskell. So far I've read "Crandon" (okay, liked the movie better) and "Wives and Daughters" (excellent, really enjoyed it...appreciated how accurate the movie was). "North and South" is waiting for me to pick it up at the library. Last night I stayed up way to late reading "A Time To Mend" by Sally Johns and Gary Smalley. Enjoyed that as well....been awhile since I read a Christian fiction novel. I enjoyed it. Basic plot line - a woman leaves her husband because she is tired of playing 2nd fiddle to his business (after 30 years and 4 kids) and what happens afterwards.

Anyway, I should go to bed too... Good night.

Spruce Lake - Power Swing - "Challenge By Choice"

Derek & Zach

About 30 of us did "Challenge by Choice" at Spruce Lake. We were divided into 2 groups of around 15. "Challenge by Choice" (Or Power Swing) is where you wear a harness, sit on a wood board, are strapped in, and hoisted (by your teammates) up to 35 feet into the air (or less...your choice). Then the instructor counts, "3, 2, 1" and releases you and you swing like a pendulum for awhile. Randy, Josiah, Autumn, and I were among the ones who participated.

Josiah

Autumn

My turn.

waiting in line.

Ready to go.

That 3 seconds of just hanging there...

Swinging! Quite exhilarating.....especially for someone like me who is not real crazy about heights. For the first few swings I hung on for dear life....then I enjoyed it. :-) You swing back and forth for quite awhile and then the instructor stops you so the next person can have a turn.

Randy's turn.

Micah - modeling the helmet.

Wrap Up Time with our Instructor

Spruce Lake - Zach's Birthday

We celebrated Zach's birthday while camping.

Spruce Lake

Part 1 - I think these photos were taken on Thursday...or maybe Friday...

Josiah

Love my baby!

The falls...both from a distance (above) and close up (below).

I was surprised that the creek was not higher considering the amount of rain we had this year...and then we learned that the beavers had built a dam at the top of the mountain.

My boys

More Random

• It's different here tonight. Autumn is at camp (first time at overnight camp) and Janae went to VBS with her cousin and is spending the night. Different with only the boys at home.
• I generally like to bake the food we eat...but over summer when things are crazy and it's humid (we don't have a/c and humidity and baked goods don't go together well) I sometimes buy snack foods at our local discount grocery store. Anyway, I was reading a box label today of a local company and found it fascinating that they were touting that their building was "green". But the product contains high fructose corn syrup which has been getting a lot of bad press lately....hmm...which is worse?!
• Book Review: "It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh (yes, I was at the library again). This was a book on organizing...and the psychology behind why we keep to much stuff. Nice to know I'm on the right track. :-)
• Book Review: "Supersized Kids" by Walt Larimore, MD, Sherri Flynt, MPH, RD, LD with Steve Halliday. Excellent book on the obesity crisis. And again, it was nice to know that we have already implemented some of their recommendations (like family dinners together whenever possible, not eating in front of the TV, no TV in kids bedroom [well, we don't have one, but I applied it to our internet], and getting the proper amount of rest). Of course, there is always room for improvement.... :-)
• Tomorrow is Zach's occupational therapy. His original therapist will be back from maternity leave. Thinking about the above book....he's been a tad more volatile lately...not sure if it's from the vacation and varied schedule but perhaps the purchased snack foods contributed as well. I do try to keep that stuff to a minimum and/or as a very occasional treat and we've been eating more since our schedule has been hectic and it's been humid....who knows....
• Tomorrow is also the day my friend comes to clean...so I need to make sure the house is straightened up so she can do so!
• We are contemplating a trip to Maine next summer (yes, crazy with the preschoolers...but fun). Anyway, if any of you have been there and have any recommendations of campgrounds or places to see....leave me a comment or email me. Already on the list is the Portland Headlight (we neglected to see that on our honeymoon and intend to see it this time).

TFC Truck Rally

We're back from the Truck Rally Weekend. We camped there to eliminate running back and forth all weekend. Anyway, uploaded photos and will blog more later. Now we're taking the kids outside for a bit before getting everyone to bed early after the weekend. I was bummed that there was a smudge on my camera lens. Thankfully it was on the side so some of the photos could be cropped. Doris @ http://cerwindoris.xanga.com/ will have plenty of more photos coming up so if you're interested in learning more, visit her. I think she took over 1,000 photos!

Randy's Truck - Friday evening

Random

• It is hot and humid again today (I'm sure it's worse in other parts of the country!)....anyway, I am waiting for it to cool down enough to go to sleep. Most of the kids are finally asleep...it's hard to fall asleep when it's hot. Janae in particular has a hard time falling asleep. I have started waking her at 7:00 in the morning in an effort to make bedtime easier...limited success there.
• I read the book "The Time Traveler" by Andy Andrews. THIS blog had recommended the 2nd book in the series and I have that one on request at the library as well. It was quite interesting and thought provoking. I need to read parts of it again to think about it some more.
• I also read the book "Crandon" by Elizabeth Gaskell. It's set in a similar time period as the Jane Austen books. A friend had previously guided me to the BBC episodes on Youtube and after watching them I wanted to compare them to the book....there are similarities...and there are quite a few theatrical liberties. All in all, I enjoyed both the movie and the book.
• Today we packaged the registration packets for the truck drivers at the Truck Rally. Now I only have to print/cut judging sheets, pick up the trophies and pack all the boxes into the Expedition and everything will be ready. I think.
• Tomorrow Mark has speech therapy session #3. His therapist is quite sweet.
• Randy should be home in the morning....always excited to see him again. :-)
• And I am hoping to get some good photos of his truck this weekend. (Better make sure those camera batteries are charged.)
• Micah got 2 immunizations today. He's doing pretty good but was quite cranky for awhile when he woke up from his nap. He is growing nicely...around the 75th percentile in weight and 80th in height....can't remember the numbers though....
• The new header photo is from last year's truck rally.\
• Oh yes, and I'm enjoying the blog "Kids and Cabbages".

The humidity has returned.

And we are back from a lovely long weekend of camping with some of our church family. One of these days I'll get the pictures uploaded.

While we were gone we celebrated Zach's 4th birthday.

We had thunderstorms Thursday night and Friday afternoon including hail on Friday.

Thursday and Friday there was some sort of Amish family camping beside us. I say "some sort" because they had buttons on their pants and not all Amish use buttons. (If any of you are familiar with types of Amish...these had 3 buttons on the back of the pants where the suspenders connected to them.) They had 5 boys ages 2-11 (Alan, Paul, Marvin, Irvin, and Wilmer). Our boys enjoyed playing with them. The dad was working somewhere near there so they were camping so they could see him during the evenings. There were 2 other young men there also whom I assumed worked with the dad and were the drivers for the truck.

Saturday morning a whole bunch of us did something called "Challenge by Choice" or the Power Swing. You are harnessed and sit on a wooden seat. They haul you up to 35' in the air (your choice how high...and up like a pendulum to the far side), and then release you. Wow! Quite a thrill....especially for someone like me who is not overly excited about heights!

Mark managed to lock himself in the camper bathroom in an effort to escape from taking a nap. Thankfully our friends at another sight had a screwdriver so we could take the knob off and let him out. He also had the water turned on while he was in there....

Randy hiked Spruce Mountain several times. Once with our kids and the Amish kids and once with a group from church.

We enjoyed the Sunday morning service featuring John G. Elliot. He sings and plays the piano fantastically! He also preached on the story of Judah which is embedded in the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis (Holy Bible). The boys were quite ready to go so I didn't get to check out his CDs afterwards but his music was fabulous and I'd love to buy some at some point.

We had a lovely time! Now we are back to our regularly scheduled program. Randy is in the midwest again. Today I finished up the laundry. This coming Saturday is the Transport for Christ Truck Rally so we have registration packets to complete for that as well as picking up the trophies and other assorted preparations. Tomorrow Micah has his next well-child/immunization appointment and I hope to get groceries.

My newest nephew (Eric) was born on Friday. This morning we went to see him. Such a beautiful baby! And of course we all...well at least the older ones and me....enjoyed holding him.

Have a lovely day!

4 Years Ago Today....

we got a call from our county foster care agency asking us to take a newborn boy into our home. We said "yes". Our 4th child entered our family and we embarked on our first foster care placement journey. And in September of 2009 he became a permanent member of our family. We love you, Zachary!Autumn, Zach (almost 2), Josiah, and Janae in the bunk of Daddy's truck - May 2009.

Happy Birthday

Zach is now 4. Happy Birthday to our wonderful son!

Other blogs...

Some thoughts on my mind today from other blogs:

• On the importance of fathers - Father's Day in the US is Sunday.
• On kids that need homes. This site is looking for a family for 3 boys ages 3,4,5. Family must have completed home study. Prefer AZ or GA. Costs and Fees - $30,000.
• And then there was this site that mentioned children who need medical help, but can't get it, because of money.

Life is hard. God is good.

Transport for Christ and Leah's Day

There are a couple of events going on in our neck of the woods the last Saturday in June if any of my local readers need anything to do.

Transport for Christ holds it's annual Truck Rally at the Lebanon Expo & Fairgrounds. Walk around and look at lots of tractor trailer trucks, free kids activities in the afternoon, food, vendors, an auction to benefit TFC, and other assorted activities. In the evening there is an update on the TFC ministry and a concert (Southern Gospel). It's a great day of fun for the family...whether in the trucking industry or not. We appreciate Transport for Christ's ministry to truck drivers and those in the trucking industry.

Also, on the last Saturday of June is "Leah's Day". Leah is a little girl from our church family who was born with Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD). This day was planned to raise funds for a liver transplant which would cure her of the disease. There will be a softball tournament, pulled pork meal, auction, children's activities and such at Bowmansville Park.

Random

• Book Recommendation - "The Life Ready Woman" by Shaunti Feldhahn and Robert Lewis. At a quick glance I wasn't sure about this book. But when I took the time to read it slowly, I really appreciated it. Actually, I'm only half way through reading it thoroughly but am finding it quite challenging. I may blog some more about this when I'm finished....
• I have discovered Elizabeth Gaskell's books turned into movies on Youtube and have been enjoying watching them (Crandon, North & South, Wives & Daughters). I'd like to read the books now. I checked our library today but they didn't have them. Sometime I need to search and see if any of the other libraries have them.
• My wonderful husband took 5 of the kids along with him Saturday morning so that I could get some things done more efficiently. Autumn stayed with me. We did laundry and dishes and baked and cleaned out and organized cupboards. Then when the young ones were napping I went grocery shopping. Really is amazing how much quicker things go when the little ones are all occupied.
• Tomorrow is Zach's weekly occupational therapy.
• We went to Maine on our honeymoon and said we'd go back for our 15th anniversary. Of course, we didn't realize we'd have 6 kids 12 and under at that point. So we're thinking it may be more practical to take a family camping trip rather then just go ourselves. We'll see.... It would be fun to show the kids Maine. In addition to going there on our honeymoon Some friends and I taught Bible School at a small church there for a week for 2 summers. We also took a quick trip there one year...it's kind of hazy, but it snowed so I'm thinking it was November maybe? Anyway, I'd love to go back.

Monday

Today is a day with "nothing" to do...that is to say no scheduled appointments. Lovely. The weather is also lovely. Temps in the 70s and low humidity. Josiah is at a friend's house so we'll need to pick him up at some point. And we will go to the library at some point as well.

Laundry and general clean-up on the agenda for today.

We had a nice weekend.

Book Recommendation: Come Walk With Me by Melvin Cheatham, M.D. This book's about a neurosurgeon who does medical work in 3rd world countries. Very good read.

Friday

Haven't been in the mood for blogging much lately....been reading books instead. :-)

So, a few points about our life since the last time I blogged:

• Josiah got to go with Daddy on the truck Monday/Tuesday.
• Autumn got to go along Thursday/Friday
• It was very hot again Wednesday/Thursday but we had thunderstorms last night so it's now a bit cooler.
• My brother's wife graciously invited us (and my mom/sisters/sister-in-law/nieces/nephews) to swim at her parents' pool yesterday afternoon. Wonderful to cool off. And Micah even got into the water.
• We took Mark to an Ear/Nose/Throat doctor on Monday. Technically it was to check if he could hear okay, but I also wanted to ask about his chronic runny nose. They are recommending that his adenoids be removed (not tonsils). So at this point that surgery is scheduled for July.
• Zach had occupational therapy again on Tuesday (working on fine motor skills) and Mark had speech therapy on Thursday.
• A neighbor boy spent the night with Josiah last night.
• We have very few plans this weekend. So nice to have a weekend "off." We've had a lot of busy weekends here of late with more to come.
• I'm loving having the kids here for the summer....except for that minor detail about naps being more difficult.
• The little boys are (usually) doing better with going to sleep in the same room. It helps if I keep them up just a bit later so it's a bit darker. It also seems to be better on nights when it is not as hot.
• Overnight Caramel French Toast for breakfast this morning. (yes, not exactly the healthiest breakfast in the world...but so delicious!)

Adoption Party - May 22

I gave Autumn the camera while we were getting ready. She took some photos of the food and decorations. And then we forgot about the camera for the rest of the day. So now photos of all the wonderful folks who came to celebrate with us. But let it be known that we had a blast!

Mocha Brownie Trifle

Chocolate Strawberry Trifle

Colossal Caramel Apple Trifle

We also had a beautiful fruit/angel food cake trifle which was delicious as well as assorted snack items, hot dogs (to be roasted on the fire), iced tea, and coffee.

Kindergarten Graduation

Okay, well this was from a month ago...

Janae getting her diploma - my camera takes horrible photos inside the school gym.

Janae (back row, second from left) with her class.

I finally figured out a setting to take decent photos. Now if I can just remember until next time!

One day in the last week or so....

Gorgeous Day

This week has been quite hot and humid. Today we woke up to a lovely day, moderate, breezy, low humidity. Perfect! :-)

The new header photo is of a rose on the bush that some friends gave us in honor of Micah's adoption. Beautiful!

Because it's been so hot we haven't done much this week...so now we're catching up. Mark had his first meeting with the speech therapist today. Yesterday he went to the doctor for a follow-up on his ever-present nasal issues. He's now back on Claritin (I had stopped giving it when it didn't seem to help) and Nasonex. We'll see... Tuesday Zach had his occupational therapy. So we've had a bit of something every day this week so far.

Well, back to work...