End of Summer

Well, I obviously don't blog much anymore.  Maybe that will change with the kids going back to school?  Maybe not.  Now that the kids are older, it's just so much harder to blog without stepping into their stories and privacy.

We had a lovely but busy summer.

• Our daughter got married!
• Camping with our church family
• Cabin with extended family
• Time at the beach
• Church
• Jobs, Appointments, errands
• And all the normal life stuff...cooking, cleaning, laundry, yard work, etc.

And now we are headed back to school.

1. Janae - Homeschooling.  Senior Year.  She is working and focusing on the few remaining credits she needs:  Government/Econ (City on the Hill program + Notgrass), English (British Lit), and Biology.
2. Zach - Grade 8 @ GMS
3. Mark - Grade 7 (Learning Support) @ CMS
4. Micah - Grade 6 @ GMS
5. JH - Home with me for 1 more year.  He's doing Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and has an IU13 Special Ed Teacher.

As the kids head back to school, I'm hoping to get caught up on things around here that need done.  Not homeschooling any of the boys should help, but we'll see.  I also want to do some canning now that I've finally found lids a few weeks ago.  And I imagine JH will need plenty of attention as he withdraws from having his brothers with him every day.  I'm also looking forward to the humidity breaking and fall weather (but not winter so much).

Have a lovely day!

Blessings,

~Karen

Random Reflections

 Greetings to whomever is reading this!  It is cold and chilly and breezy outside of my kitchen.  Speaking of my kitchen, it's gradually coming together.  We decided to update it by painting the cupboards, getting new door & drawer fronts, hardware, and counter tops.  We also took out the drop down ceiling above the cupboards so that I can set things on top of the cupboard.  We painted the walls and the trim.  (When saying "we", I really mean "Randy" as he did the majority of the work.  Our friend who coordinated our kitchen cupboards/counters part of the project is coming tomorrow to hang the doors.  While having them off has been handy, I'm quite ready to block out all of that visual clutter!

I see I only blogged about 11 times last year.  I find blogging more difficult as my children have grown up...I don't want to step on anyone's privacy!

I did, however, intend to blog about 2020 back in December...but we were busy and then my laptop screen shattered and so here we are, the middle of January and I'm finally getting to this!  When I looked at my schedule for next week, I realized that my life is pretty much back to normal as I have 10 varying appointments/events scheduled for the week.  😀

So without further comment, here are the highlights of 2020:

• January - mid March - Normal life.  Homeschooling.  Working.  Church.  Reading.  Watching TV. 
• Mid-March - end of May - Life kind of ground to a halt.  Stayed home except for getting groceries.  Wrapped up School.
• June - December - Resumed normal life as much as possible considering cancellations and accommodations.
• Randy - Continues to drive truck and work hard to provide a living for our family.  We were blessed that he was able to work all year long.  Quarantine projects included making us a beautiful new bed.
• Karen - I continued with homeschooling and household & child management.  I read whenever possible.  I continue to help Randy with his business bookwork as well as sharing Young Living with others.  In the fall I taught a class on the Israelites at our local Co-op.  I'm homeschooling Janae and Mark for the 2020-21 school year.
• Josiah - This year Josiah & Marisa got married!  The plan was to get married in September, but Covid happened and plans changed.  He bought a house in February, got married in June at a very small outdoor ceremony, and had a larger reception in September on the original wedding date.  He also changed jobs and Marisa finished her schooling.

• Autumn - Autumn continues to work at Half Dozen Cafe in Reading.  In November, she and Derek (Marisa's brother) got engaged!  So we are looking forward to another wedding in 2021.

• Janae - Finished 10th grade and started 11th grade.  She continues to homeschool.  She also works at a hatchery vaccinating chicks and with a butcher packaging meat.  She turned 16 and is looking forward to getting her license in 2021.
• Zachary completed 6th grade in May and returned to Gehman's Mennonite School in the fall for 7th grade.  He is enjoying back at school after 3 years of homeschooling.
• Mark continues to homeschool.  We had planned to send him to our local public school this year, but with the varying regulations, we decided to keep him home another year.  He continues working with a tutor and loves to play with trucks and paint.
• Micah completed 4th grade at Gehman's Mennonite School last spring and moved on to 5th grade this year.  He's into all things Star Wars.
• John Haydyn keeps us on our toes.  He is now 4 years old and enjoys playing with his siblings and watching "Shaun the Sheep.''
• Vacations:  We were able to work in a cabin weekend in the spring (our family) and summer (my extended family), Camping with our church family, and a week at the beach.  I was so thankful we had not planned any road trip as the dynamics would have made that challenging.
• Other:  We celebrated Randy's Parents' 70th Birthdays and 50th Anniversary.  We stayed home a lot (those of us who are introverts didn't mind terribly much.)

Happy Belated New Year!

~Karen

Staying Home

I've been thinking that I should have been blogging or journaling our experiences during this period of staying at home for future reference.  But what do I say?  We stay at home.  I cook, I do laundry, I help the kids with their school work.  We rarely go anywhere, we just see each other.  While I see some people getting projects done, for myself, I bounce between being busy taking care of the normal household work and having little motivation because "there's always tomorrow".  The days stretch out with very little to look forward to other than more of the same.  We watch church on Sundays...and it's good...but it's not the same as actually being physically with others.  Zoom can help bridge gaps, but there's still something different when you're not in person.

Anyway, it's mostly been good.  The kids are doing better than I expected they would.  We have a loose rhythm to our days.  Monday-Friday we do school, laundry, cook, straighten up the house.  On Fridays I take Micah's school work to school and pick up his next week's worth of work.  Then we stop at the grocery store to get what we need.  Saturdays we do chores and clean.  Sunday mornings we watch church.   We are blessed with space to run on our own property so I haven't taken the kids out to go hiking or anything (yet).

Last weekend Randy finished the new bed he made for us out of cedar.  It's beautiful and our room now has this subtle cedar scent which is lovely!  He and the kids also worked on the flower beds and getting them weeded and mulched.  Sunday we celebrated Easter.  All the kids were here for lunch.  We hunted Easter Eggs as well.

As much as I had longed for time at home and less appointments, I'm finding it rather monotonous.  But I truly think it is more the idea that I "can't" go anywhere than that I actually want to go anywhere.  I'm used to doing what needs done (like groceries) during the day at my convenience instead of having to plan it around when Randy is home to stay with the kids.  It's working out though, even if it's not my preference.  Maybe I'm even saving money without the kids influencing my spending?!

I'm enjoying watching the world turn green around me.  The grass in the pasture is growing lush and thick.  The dandelions are sunny spots in the lawn.  The daffodils have been blooming and now the tulips are as well.  The flowering trees are losing their blossoms and turning green.  It's a beautiful world around me.  If I need to be stuck somewhere, I'm glad that I can be stuck at home.  💓

Blessings,
~Karen

Weeks...

I see that I have not posted since mid February.  February-beginning of March was busy as normal.  Our lives revolved around tutoring, other appointments, and homeschooling.  All that changed with the coming of the Corona Virus/CoVid-19.  It truly is rather hard for me to believe how much has changed in the past few weeks...and yet how much stayed the same.  Part of me debated about even blogging.  But I finally decided I should write it all down for the sake of remembering in the future.

So here are my random thoughts for today:

• Both everything and nothing changed.
• Randy continues to work as normal.  We are nervous about this as he has an underlying health condition that affects his lungs (sarcoidosis).  But not working means no money.  No money creates it's own set of issues.  So he is working.  As a truck driver, he's alone in his truck, but is washing his hands as much as possible and using lots of hand sanitizer when he needs to pump fuel/use truck stops.
• My life is so strange without the normal appointment schedule.  The first week when things were just starting to shut down I got in 4 final appointments.  Now we are down to a weekly chiropractor appointment.  We do still hope to do our psychotherapy and psychiatric appointments via video, but haven't had one yet.  Next week we get to try that.
• I am trying hard to keep our schedule as normal as possible.  Micah's school is sending home daily assignments now which helps.  Homeschooling helps too.  Our live revolves around homeschooling and housework.  I'm glad that we have a large yard for the boys to go outside and get out some of their energy and I sure will be happy when the weather warms up just a tad bit more.
• Our kids still have their jobs but their hours got shortened.
• I realized that had we not decided to have Autumn graduate a year early, we would have all of the Senior stress...so in a way I'm thankful that it worked out the way it did.
• We had to cancel our annual TFC Global dinner concert...hard but necessary.  700 people is rather to much.
• I'm glad I had decided to get Disney+.  It's been helpful to have more options right now.
• The cooking NEVER ends.  Neither do the dishes.  Or the laundry.  (But that's all normal...)
• I've been going to the grocery store and shopping strictly off of my list.  This usually comes back to haunt me in the long run as eventually I need a lot of groceries!
• I'm thankful that we have meat in our freezer.
• Speaking of the grocery store and all the admonitions to have only 1 person and 1 cart, I can only say that is easier said than done when you have a large family + children that can't be left home alone.
• Walking through the store is a bit of a mind-blowing experience.  I am fascinated by what is out of stock and what is fully stocked.
• While our income has remained unchanged (at least for now), I'm caught between "spend money to help out the local businesses" and "don't spend money in case of economic collapse".  yeah.
• I'm thankful for online shopping.  Yes, I know many people believe that we should not shop for any unnecessary items right now and that people have vastly different ideas of what is necessary.  
• Boys grow quickly.
• I now know that I should have birthday gifts purchased 6 months in advance "just in case" and the next size of jeans waiting "just in case".
• I don't think I've tackled any of my projects yet because homeschooling, laundry, cooking and lack of motivation get first priority.
• Our new flock of chickens started laying eggs at the perfect time.
• I appreciate our church live-streaming their service.  It's nice to see familiar faces.
• I continue to read everything and anything as I'm able.  

Well, I hear beds creaking so my boys are starting to wake up...gotta run!

Blessings!

~Karen

Dreary Days

Winter has been rather dreary here...not terribly cold but not warm.  Hardly any snow, but damp.  I think I read that we've only had 10 sunny days since the beginning of the year.

I see that I last posted on January 3rd.  At the time, I had all sorts of posts rolling around in my head.  Now I can't remember any of them.  I do seem to remember wanting to post on my "Word of the Year" for 2020 which is Faithful.  Maybe I'll do that yet.

Life continues to roll along.  This week Autumn got her wisdom teeth removed.  I'm strongly considering sending the boys all to school next year and resuming my original plan of only homeschooling high school, so I've started talking to schools about doing evaluations and what not to see about making that happen.  Part of me feels like I "should" feel guilty about sending them back to school as if I failed.  Part of me feels relieved at the thought of having some extra time to things around here that need done.  Another part of me feels some trepidation at having to once again deal with high anxiety over homework every evening.  But I never really felt "called" to homeschool like some people.  It's just something I evaluated every year and did what seemed best per child per year...so I'm okay with however it works out for next year.  We will see how this develops as we continue, but so far it has changed one thing...I'm not looking at curriculum for next year!  I will need to do this for Janae, but she's my third high school student so I pretty much know what I do for them.

In the spectrum of large family living, I'm frequently thinking of what style of dress I want for my oldest son's wedding...while simultaneously gradually potty-training the youngest son.

In January we dropped OT and added weekly tutoring for one son.  He continues with ST as well.  We are working on adjusting meds for another son and resuming talk therapy as well.  We had taken a break after his last counselor unexpectedly quit.  We are in the midst of our winter semester of our home-school co-op.  I'm supervising/teaching Typing this time.  These things are necessary, but do take a lot of time and driving...I'm glad we bought a car so I don't have to take the big van everywhere.  :-)

Considering how many viruses have been around, we've been relatively healthy.  Four of the kids did get mildly sick and we've missed and canceled a few events/appointments, but still, it's been relatively mild compared to what I've been hearing from others. 

As always, I continue to read as much as I can sneak in.  But right now I'm blanking out on what I've read since I last posted.  I know I read "Detached" which was a fascinating story of a man who was diagnosed with RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder) written by him from his perspective.  I recently purchased "20 Life-Changing Choices Adoptees Need To Make" by Sherrie Eldridge.  I've been blessed by Sherrie's writings and am finally starting to add her books to my collection after years of wanting to do so.

Randy and I went out for the evening last Saturday night while our friends kept the kids.  It's always nice to get away for a few hours and be able to talk without interruption from anyone other than a waiter or cashier.  :-)

And my final random thoughts...I'm looking forward to warmer weather and spring flowers.  I've been thinking about Lent and whether I want to "give up" anything this year...but nothing has come to mind so far.  Fasnacht Day is late this year so I guess Easter is late as well.  It will probably snow in March since we haven't had much yet.

Blessings!
~Karen

It's Raining, It's Pouring

It's already November!  How the year is flying by for me.  After a lovely fall day yesterday, the rain came in over night.  I expect it will be cooler as well.

Yesterday I officially started Christmas shopping!  I have picked up some things throughout the year, but am now getting serious.  Last week I made an official plan.  Yesterday Autumn and I went shopping.  Next plan is to go online shopping over Thanksgiving weekend.  Then in mid-December, Janae & I will go wrap up any last minute purchases.  Once it is colder and dark mornings and evenings, I love the lights of Christmas.  I do refuse to play Christmas music until after Thanksgiving though.

This past weekend I went to a business training in Maryland.  I took 2 friends along to hang out with when I didn't have classes.  It was lovely to get away a bit and sleep all night without interruption.  We went to Havre de Grace, MD for supper.  We ate at a little Italian restaurant.  I was amazed at how many little shops were open on a Saturday evening...I think they may have been having some sort of event?  Anyway, we went into a used book store...so many books!  I restrained myself and only bought one--The Clocks, by Agatha Christie.  My copy had fallen apart years ago.  I look forward to reading this again.

Appointments, appointments, appointments...I think my life revolves around them!  Today Mark has Occupational and Speech therapies.

Last week I had parent-teacher conferences with Micah's teacher.  He seems to be adjusting back to going to school very well.

Sunday we had our first family gathering of the season.  Randy's Dad's side of the family got together.  Our gatherings are spread out, stretching from now through March.  It's nice that they aren't all on a pile.

Well, I soon need to get Micah up to get the bus.

Enjoy your day!
~Karen

Still here!

Wow!  I can't believe I haven't blogged all summer long...totally missed June, July and nearly half of August.

So...randomness from June & July:

• TFC Truck Rally in June.  It went well and we had fun as always.  Transport For Christ International has changed their name to TFC Global.  We spent much of June preparing for this event.
• June - We went camping at Spruce Lake Retreat for a weekend with our church family.
• July - We enjoyed a weekend at the cabin with my (Karen's) family.  The weather was beautiful and we spent hours in the river.
• Also in July - August, Randy, Josiah, Autumn & a bunch of others went to Alaska with LightShine Ministries to Globe Creek Camp to work.  They built a log cabin and did other maintenance work.
• July - Backyard Kids Club (VBS)
• In between we had the normal appointments:  OT, ST, Tutoring, Dentists.  We went to the pool.  We did laundry and cooking and occasionally cleaning.

Summer's been good.  August 1 we started schooling again...but I think I'll make that another post!

Enjoy your day!

~Karen

In lieu of a Christmas Letter...

Years ago I would write a Christmas Letter and mail it to our friends who lived away from us (not usually those locally).  Somewhere along the line, I stopped doing that.  Facebook Memories tell me that last year I just updated my blog and posted the entry on Facebook so this is my attempt at doing that again.  :-)

And now, the official (brief) update:

As a family, we continue to live where we lived, attend church, homeschool, have some animals on our little farmette (a few chickens and a steer at the moment).  We love to travel (camping) and went to the Adirondacks this past June and Watkins Glen in September...although our kids are getting older so the oldest did not join us on those travels this year.  We also spent a week at the beach in August and went to the cabin with my family in July.  We continue to be involved with Transport For Christ (Annual Banquet - March, Truck Rally - June).

Fort Ticonderoga in the background.

Randy continues to drive truck, traveling to the Midwest & Canada every week.  He continues to enjoy riding bike and biked the 145 mile BR2RB and Hershey Chocolate Tour this year despite his diagnosis of Sarcoidosis (a lung disease).

Karen continues to read voraciously, homeschool, and manage the home and schedules.  She also love chocolate and essential oils.  (website:  www.karensauder.com, Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/KJSauder/ ).

Josiah got his CDL as soon as possible after turning 18 and drives truck within PA (due to rules and regulations prohibiting him from driving out of state until he is 21).



Autumn is working on her Senior Year of High School.  She recently got her drivers license.  She enjoys working part time at Half Dozen Cafe & Bakery.  She occasionally plays violin or sings at church.

Janae is enjoying her 1st year of homeschooling and likes to read as much as I do.  As she recently turned 14, she is now in possession of a working permit and wants to work (with the desire to buy a nice road bike and save for college).  She also enjoys biking, especially biking with Dad on the Tandem Bike.

Zach is in 5th grade.  He has recently taken over caring for the animals which has been so helpful.  He enjoys listening to Adventures in Odyssey, watching Dude Perfect, and playing with Legos.

Mark is in 4th grade/Life Skills.  He loves to go to the neighbor's house.  He continues with Speech and Occupational Therapies.  I am constantly thinking about ways to help him learn as it is such a struggle.  He loves to help us and enjoys cleaning and playing with toys.

Micah is in 3rd grade and working on mastering multiplication.  He misses his friends at school but seems to be adjusting to being home.  He loves Legos and all things sports.

Haydyn is our delightful toddler.  He loves "Old McDonald Had a Farm", playing with toys, playing with his brothers, and going away.  He is in Speech Therapy as well and is getting more and more vocal. :-) 

 

And that wraps it up.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

November Randomness

November 23rd...only 32 days until Christmas...and a week after that is the new year.  Where did this year get to?!

Yesterday we enjoyed spending the day with my family.  We also celebrated my Dad's birthday as well as 2 of my brothers' birthdays (I'm having trouble with what the proper punctuation is for that).  Before going, some of the kids enjoyed watching some of the Macy's Day Parade.

Normally today I would get out my boxes of Christmas decorations and decorate.  But with Thanksgiving falling so early this year, I decided to wait until next weekend.  But this morning I'm feeling a bit nostalgic and second-guessing that decision.  Autumn is working today, though, and she usually helps me so I will wait for a day that she is home.

The kids did minimal school work the week of Haydyn's adoption as I was spending some time doing a bit more thorough cleaning than normal, so today (or at least this morning) we will be doing school work.  I will also be mentally thinking through if there is anything that we need (like jeans or snow pants) that I should be buying this weekend with all of the sales.  This afternoon (and/or Monday afternoon) I will probably do some online shopping.

The sky is getting lighter as I type...it's a beautiful, cold, clear morning just as last night was cold and clear with a full moon.

Time marches on...last year my "word of the moment/year" was "Hope".  I've started thinking about that again.  The word that's been coming to my mind is "Strong".  I've contemplated "Courage" as well, but "Strong" keeps coming to me...as when Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians, "When I am weak, then I am strong"

"But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."  2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I don't delight in all of those things...but I'm working on giving thanks in all circumstances, I'm inspired by the men & women who persevere in their faith under great adversity, I'm convicted of my own shallowness.  And I'm very aware of my weaknesses.  There's a song by Legacy Five from many years ago with the line "Strong in the strength of someone else" (referring to God)...so that's "my" word for the coming months/year (I don't feel bound by a calendar year...I have a "word" until I have a different one).

Happy Thanksgiving!

And Little Man makes 9!

I see that my blog has been quiet...even quieter than normal!

In September 2016, our boys' brother joined our family.  We had thought we were "done" with adding children, but not so!  Friday, he became officially part of our family.  I'm happy to be (once again) finished with the paperwork (well, almost...) and caseworkers visiting our house. 

In other news, we have another licensed driver!

I can't believe it's the holiday season already...and Thanksgiving is next week!

Homeschooling is going better than I expected.  I love the flexibility of working in all of our extra appointments.  We have 3 more weeks of homeschool co-op for this semester and then we have a break until January.

My reading has slowed down a bit.  Today I was reading a little booklet about "Restorative Practices" for schools. 

Homeschooling Year #5 - Part 1

Part 1 - Our Homeschooling Story 

This past Monday we officially started school.  That means school every day.  We've dabbled over the summer...some math here, some handwriting there, a museum here, a cooking project there...but now we're officially switching from "summer mode" to "school mode".

As you may know, I had no desire to homeschool.  None.  Our kids went to a local, Mennonite school and we liked that.  I was looking forward to the day when all of my kids were in school and I could clean a room without having another room destroyed in the process.  :-)  But when my oldest was in Jr. High, he started petitioning me to homeschool him for high school.  The plan had been for him to switch to the local Public School.  I finally caved and agreed to try it for one year.  So for 2 years, I homeschooled a high-schooler.  Since he was self-motivated, that went pretty well.  He worked hard and ended up graduating in 3 years instead of 4.

My daughter also decided to homeschool for high school.  So year 3 was supposed to be all of the kids were finally in school every day/all day except for the two oldest who would do their work under my supervision, but basically independently.  At the last minute, we decided to add our son who has some special needs and was in a Life Skills class.  But that's okay.  We can do this.  So Year 3 had me homeschooling 3 kids.  And then, Surprise!  A month into school, a little guy joined our family.  Homeschooling with a baby had not factored into my plans...but there it was...so we did that.

Year 4.  The oldest had now graduated.  But our one son was having some challenges (which I'm not going to go into in this forum. 😊  So we decided to homeschool 2 of our sons in addition to our high-school aged daughter.  About February, I decided that I was not doing this very well...this balancing of kids at school and kids at home.  So by the end of last school year, we made the decision (for varying reasons) to pull all of the kids home for this year. 

And that brings us to this year.  Year #5.  This year we are homeschooling 5 children from 3rd grade - 12th grade (yes, my daughter also plans to graduate a year early).  Mid September we will start our Co-op classes.  We will see how the year goes...and by February will be thinking about the next year!

And that's the story in a nutshell.  I kind of fell into this.  And it's good.  A different path than I had expected, true, but it's where we belong at the moment.

~Karen

July?!

How did it get to be the middle of July already?!

Since I last posted...

• We wrapped up the school year, got our evaluations, planned next year, and turned everything into the school district.
• We took a Road Trip to New York & Vermont
• We participated in the annual Transport For Christ Truck Rally
• We spent a weekend at the cabin with my side of the family.

The first 6 weeks of summer were crazy, so I really enjoyed last week...multiple days with no appointments or plans and only 1 appointment.  This week, however, is a bit different...8 appointments!  And then VBS (well, they call it "Backyard Kids Club" these days) starts next Sunday.

This summer Randy usually has a passenger with him on the road.  The kids have been taking turns going along with him.  Now that we are in July, they usually take a bit of school work along.  We do not "officially" start school until August 27, but unofficially they have all started doing some work.

As always, I've been reading voraciously.  A recent book was "The Mitford Six"...a book about an elite, British family and their lives.  Fascinating.  I've also been enjoying reading some books from my childhood again...Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Trixie Beldon...

This month I'm focusing on the book of "Luke" from the Bible in the quiet moments before the children get up.  I'm also reading "The Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie O'Martien again.  Each month I'm working through "The Life-Giving Home" Experience workbook as well.  In Sunday School we are studying "Adorned" by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth.

Well, I need to get the children out of bed...no leisurely sleeping in on a day when we have an appointment at 8am!

Enjoy your week...and I'll try to not let so much time elapse between this post and my next one!

~Karen

Life...

January continues to move along.  We continue to not have a typical schedule (although I am longing for it).

Monday - Randy had a bronchoscopy so we spent much of the day at the hospital for that procedure.  We expect the results to confirm his current diagnosis of Sarcoidosis, but go back to find out for sure next week.

Tuesday - Our dog died.  We were very sad.  Spent the day dealing with grief & loss.  Also had our home inspection to recertify for another year of foster care.  Janae home sick.

Wednesday - Homeschool Co-op.  (It was nice to get out!)  The kids seem to be enjoying their classes.  Josiah has severe back pain so he went to the doctor while I took another child to a therapy appointment.  Janae home sick again.  Josiah in severe pain...stomach unsettled as well, although not sure if from pain or virus.

Thursday - We will see what the day holds!  So far I was awakened around 3:00 by Zach, who now has stomach cramping as well...and he proceeded to wake me about every 20-30 minutes until it was time for me to get up.  Little One has a visit so I do need to make that happen, otherwise we will be here.  Those who are well will go to school (or do homeschool).  Those who are not, will continue to rest.

I will drink coffee...and tea...and coffee...and get through this day!

I am also taking an online course on Savvy Minerals.  I've never used much make-up...just dabbled a bit.  So I have a box of fun samples here and am excited to learn more (I am getting older...)!  I'm a bit behind on watching the videos, but hopefully can catch up today or tomorrow!

Enjoy your day!
~Karen

My "Word"

My word this year (or until I get a new one) is "Hope" (Hebrews 6:19).  I actually started with this word in October or November when I knew it would be my next "word" and decided I didn't need to wait until January.  :-)




















I used to be amused by people and their "words".  But a few years ago, I felt God impressing me that "restore" was what he had for me.  I looked up some scriptures and focused on them.  Last year my word was "remember".  This past fall, "Hope" came to the forefront and I switched to Hope. 

I have been blessed these past few years with focusing on one particular word for a period of time.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  Time to start writing 2018 (or /18) on all your dated items.  :-)

It's Ice-Skating Season here in the Northeast!  Where we are, we haven't had that particular season in several years.  Sometimes it's only a day.  Sometimes we have to much snow.  Other times the temperatures just hover in that miserable 30ish temps...to cold to be comfortable but to warm for fun winter sports.  But this year, it all came together perfectly.  Randy took the kids skating this morning.  Then we went to an extended family gathering.  Now they are skating again.  I'm enjoying the quiet with the baby.

The year ended on a bit of a tougher note for me.  The family gatherings were lovely and a nice break in my week.  But one child has been struggling.  It's hard to continue to stay upbeat when 1 member of the family just spirals into negativity...and when most words out of said child's mouth are negative...and especially towards mom.  So, I've struggled with that this week.  I'm hoping that by next week (after 4 days this week of working towards normalcy) we are a bit more stable emotionally!

Overall, though, we had a pretty good year!  But I am ready to move on to see what 2018 holds...I think.  "Little One" has been with us over a year now.  I expect that 2018 will determine whether he becomes a permanent family member or not.  Of course, I thought that 2017 would have us farther along in that decision as well...so we will see!  I am hoping to continue to transition us to healthier eating, with more foods that we can ALL eat (because cooking separately for one is just extra work).  I am on a quest to find recipes we all like that we can all eat.  Unfortunately, I have a few children who, before taking a bite of any food, will ask suspiciously, "Is this gluten free?!"  Even when I say "no" or "yes, just like it always has been", they sometimes don't believe me!

I want to learn to drink more water.  I want to start taking some supplements (I'm getting older, after all, and should really look after my own health as well as my children's!)

Other Areas of Life:

• Household - Getting a better handle on managing everything would be good!  :-)  Figuring out what I can delegate to children would probably be helpful for all of us.  Meal Planning would help with meal prep (*Note.  Figure out a way to schedule in time for meal planning.)
• Homeschooling - Get it done!  Have fun!  Learn things!  :-)  Our Winter Semester of Co-op starts next week.  I'm looking forward to hearing about the kids' classes.  Zach will be learning about Winter Olympics, Wagon Train West, and continuing learning Botany.  Autumn will be adding (something with computers) to her Geography and Ancient History.  Mark will have classes in "Sensory Discovery", Natural Disasters, and Creative Movement.  I haven't heard yet whether my schedule will remain the same or be changed.
• Business - Trucking - I'm hoping to do better with scheduling regular time in the office every (or every other) day so that I not only get done what "NEEDS" done, but keep up with the little stuff that can so easily slip through the cracks.
• Business - Young Living - Same with above!  And create a specific plan to be more efficient in regards to offering classes, sharing with my team, growing professionally/personally, blogging and posting to my Facebook page.
• Internet - Do a better job of having specific times to do both business and pleasure on the internet (blogging/Facebook/business/shopping etc.).  Minimize using the internet as an unhealthy coping technique to life stress (although a funny video may be just the trick to keep a positive mindset...provided it's just 1 or 2 and doesn't morph into minutes/hours).  :-)
• Spiritual - Some years I read through the Bible (as far as I get).  Other years I work through a devotional guide or Study guide.  Last year I split between doing some book studies and reading 4 chapters a day (Old Testament + Psalms/Proverbs/Prophecy + Gospels/Acts + Romans-Revelations).  I think this year I'm going to study a book (or possibly 2 if they are short) for a month at a time.  I had done this a few years ago and appreciated the focus that brought.  So, what 12 books shall I study this year?  I think I will start with Genesis (January) as my kids are quizzing on that book.  And we'll go from there...I should make a list and blog about that another day.  :-)
• Simplify - A household of 9 just seems to always be overflowing with "stuff".  I am in no way a minimalist (nor do I intend to become one).  However, January is a time when I like to go through closets and cupboards and pass on what is no longer needed/used.
• Other Obligations - Facebook Groups.  I  want to focus on the ones that are important to me personally or in a business sense, and drop the rest.  (This goes back to minimizing time spent in cyberspace instead of the people in my household.)  I want to be able to give my best to a few rather than less mediocracy to many.
• Learning New Things - I'm doing a study with a friend on "Homeopathy".  I love to learn about new things and am interested in what she has to teach!
• Family Life - We are looking at what vacations to schedule for this year.  We've enjoyed our extended camping trips in the past years and are thinking about what we could do this year!  Randy & I have a weekend away scheduled as well (adding a second one could be a nice thing if we can work that in).

Okay...blog post is way to long already...

Happy New Year!

~Karen

December already?!

I can't believe how this year has flown by!  I'm sitting in my living room.  The kids are tucked in bed.  The Christmas tree is glowing as most of the lights are off.  "The Voice" is providing me with background music.  I just checked and I need to blog 4 times to tie last year's amount.  Not sure how I got out of the habit of blogging regularly...perhaps it's just the press of life...and the ease of just checking facebook and getting lost there instead of in blog world?

Today I finished reading "The Women Who Flew for Hitler".  It was a very interesting book contrasting two amazing women.

The promised update:

My days are full:  homeschooling, laundry, meals/meal prep, driving to a appointments, squeezing in a bit of Young Living business, keeping the books for Randy's business and our personal finances.  Randy is busy driving his truck and providing for us and keeping up with the never-ending tasks around the house.

Josiah is working full time and biding his time until he is old enough to get his CDL.  Autumn is working hard at her schoolwork (homeschooling) and is an immense help to me at home.  Janae is in Jr. High.  She loves to read and listen to music, particularly along the lines of Toby Mac and Mandisa.  Zach and Mark are both homeschooling with me this year.  This makes their schedules much more flexible as we need to work in various regular appointments for both of them.  Micah is in 2nd grade and takes pride in choosing to like whatever sports team the rest of us are not cheering for.  :-)  Baby is a delight to our family...and that's all I'm going to say about that.

Animals...we currently have a dog, 2 steers, and two flocks of laying hens...and older flock and a younger flock.

We have been working at eating healthier.  Unfortunately, while I have done lots of research and have great ideas, I'm not as far down that road as I could be simply because it takes time to sit down and menu plan, make grocery lists, and shop.  It's a continual struggle and a continual area that I'm working on.  I am also trying to make healthier choices for myself (as I sit here eating red & green m&ms).  Today I even drank 40 oz. of water!  Zach drank 64 oz.  In the taking care of me department, I'd also like to get back into walking on the treadmill.  I did well for about 4 days, and then stopped again...another thing to figure out how to fit in.

Homeschooling:  We are at a new Homeschool Co-op this year.  The fall session wraps up this Wednesday.  We have been enjoying it!  Winter session starts in January.  This Co-op has a Performance Night after each semester.  So that's this week as well.  Otherwise, the kids' schooling is going fine.  For the most part the curriculum choices are working out.  I probably should've gotten Zach a level more difficult in Math, but I'm hoping to finish this level and then start the next level.

Appointments:  We continue to have appointments with various therapists (occupational, speech, psychologists), chiropractors, dentist/orthodontist, doctors (mostly for physicals).  We also have the appointments associated with foster care.  At the end of the year I like to add up all of the mileage for all of these appointments and see how many miles I traveled!

Young Living:  I've "accidentally" ended up with a (very) small business.  So I'm trying to support others in their Young Living journey by offering some online classes.  Right now I'm doing about 1 class a week, but I will probably take a few weeks off over Christmas.  (If you want to learn more about these, you can find links on my business website or follow my Facebook page.

Well, this has gotten long enough!  I hope to be back and see if I can top the number of posts from last year!  :-)

~Karen

Sunday Morning

It's a chilly Sunday here in the Northeast.  Because Mark is still sick, Baby and I stayed home from church with him.  Two of the other children were not interested in going to church, but we managed to persuade them.  There is a Fellowship Meal after church and the one kid say "Well, I'll go but only for the food!"  :-)

Zach is now done with his course of medicines.  We are watching closely to make sure the allergic reaction is truly gone.  We continue to work with his diet and plan to visit the chiropractor again this week.  Speaking of this week, it looks to be busy due to rescheduled appointments from the past 2 weeks.  We will see if we can get them taken care of or if they get pushed off again.

In place of church this morning we watched a preacher on TV for a bit and now I am listening to a live-streamed local church service on our local radio station.  I was a bit disappointed to miss church as a woman from our church was going to be sharing about her work and the needs of the school district she works at in a local city.

I've drank 2 cups of coffee and a cup of chai tea.  The baby took over my egg and toast so I should probably eat something.  :-)  Maybe a piece of leftover birthday cake--a delicious chocolate cake with peanut butter icing that my daughter made!

School work for this week is planned and schedules are printed.

The gluten-free chocolate cake with chocolate ganache that I made so that Mark could eat cake as well is delicious!  I'm all in favor of finding recipes that we can all enjoy.  I did over bake it a bit so need to tweak that a bit.  I'm really liking this newest recipe book that I got.  It's called "Amazingly Simple" and the recipes work well for Mark and Zach.

Baby is taking a nap.  I've been working at getting him to one afternoon nap, but today I could tell that he needed a morning nap today.  Mark is sleeping a lot as well.

This week we canned pears.  I have not canned pears in several years but agreed to try again this year.  I canned 9 quart on Wednesday and 9 quart on Thursday.  Then canned 25 quart yesterday.  And decided we will just eat the rest that are left.  :-)  So Autumn and I are having fun looking for recipes that incorporate pears.

Tomorrow is Labor Day.  We have no special plans...but to be fair, since we started getting sick, all plans are held rather loosely.  If I was homeschooling everyone, we'd probably just do school.  But since 2 of the kids are not homeschooling and they will be home, we will probably all take the holiday.  Do laundry and clean up the house I guess!  Other year's we have gone to the pool, but we can't do that if someone is sick...maybe we will just have a movie day?  But the kids do get buggy with to much TV.  Perhaps they will stay occupied with their Legos...I guess we'll see how things turn out!

Enjoy your weekend!

Wrapping up August

August has ended in an absolutely crazy manner!

Two weeks ago we enjoyed a lovely week long vacation at the beach.  Fun with friends, fun playing at the beach...and then I got sick.  Randy had been very sick the beginning of the month for about a week.  The day before we left for home, I came down with whatever virus or flu it was and was sick for about a week as well!  My daughter did an amazing job of keeping our household running while I was down and Randy was on the truck.

As I was starting to recover, school started (last Thursday)!  Two of my kids went off to our local private school.  Three of them officially started homeschooling.  Thankfully I had previously organized things so I could get them started as well!

Saturday morning, Zach woke up having an obvious allergic reaction.  It did not really respond well to the meds and he was even worse on Sunday.  So Sunday afternoon we took a quick trip to the Quick Care and he got a shot of something (a steroid?) and a prescription for Prednisone.  So this week he continues to take Benedryl and Pepcid and Prednisone.  He is finally looking better.

Sunday night was our annual picnic with my mom's side of the family.  While there, my daughter came up to me and told me she was sick.  So she has been down with this illness all of this week.  One of our other sons came down with it as well.  4 Down, 5 to go (but let's hope they stay healthy and don't get it!).  All of last week and this week appointments are moved to next week...previously empty but now stacked full!

Tomorrow the kids have a half day of school (and then off on Monday for Labor Day).  Baby has a visit with his family followed by a Doctor visit (rescheduled because I was sick).  Randy and Josiah both have dentist appointments.  Our pigs are going to the butcher.  It should be a crazy in-and-out, coming-and-going sort of day!

Back to Zach.  We have done the allergy thing before with both Randy and Mark.  This time I am going to try the Chiropractor route.  We had our first appointment this week.  They suggested he avoid a lot of foods and that his inflammation is through the roof.  I don't know how chiropractors work.  They seem a bit crazy.  But I've heard good things about this and after trying the medical route unsuccessfully with 2 members of our family, it's worth a shot.

I did call the allergist as well...because I do want to be a good mom.  :-)  They are scheduling in November, December and January and do not have those schedules yet.  They will call me when they can schedule me.  I've been through this before.  They will do skin prick testing.  If anything shows up, they will tell him to avoid it.  (For both Randy and Mark the results were inconclusive even though they were obviously reacting to something!)  And we will get a prescription for an Epi-Pen.

In the meantime, we will try the Chiropractor's suggestions...should be interesting getting a strong-willed 10-year-old boy to give up favorite foods!  It is interesting, though, that some of the "avoid" foods were ones he already was "picky" about.  Perhaps he knew that those foods didn't work for him, even if he couldn't explain it to us?!

While this looks to be a difficult challenge, I can truly say that God has prepared me.  I'm familiar with allergies because of Randy's challenges in that area (He no longer has these issues.)  I'm familiar with food issues and modified diets because of Mark's gastrointestinal issues (and friends' with similar challenges).  Because of that, in the past year I've bought several cookbooks and read a lot about the "Trim Healthy Mama" diet and similar diets that are supposedly good for kids with ADHD and/or Autism.  I even have many of these foods in my cupboards.  So I'm prepared.  I don't really like it and it seems overwhelming, but I can't say it's either terribly unexpected (I've always thought there were underlying systemic issues in this child, but didn't know where to start) or undo-able...

In the meantime...I'd welcome any prayers on behalf of all of us!

Enjoy your day!
~Karen

Break Time Randomness

I am taking a break in those Road Trip posts for a random post.

• It is pouring down rain (again).
• I'm starting to have a twinge of sadness every morning when I get up.  It's not quite as light as it used to be and I know fall is coming.  Summer can be very challenging with everyone home, but I do love the relaxed schedule (although some of my kids do better with more structure), the warm weather (no coats or shoes!), and the time away (vacations!)
• our VBS started last night.  It rained.  We do VBS outside at a park under tents, but due to thunder/lightening we all crowded into a pavilion.  It was loud.
• Half of my kids are now to old for VBS.  (Or Backyard Kids Club as they call it these days.)
• Reading.  After reading through my Agatha Christie collection, Emilie Loring collection, and Louis L'Amour collection, I was at a bit of a loss to what to read next.  I'm now reading through L.M. Montgomery's works (other than the Emily and Anne books).
• It is 7:00 and no one is up yet (although since I typed this I'm sure they will be in a moment).  Josiah even got up and went to work without anyone stirring.
• I have a rare week with only 2 appointments (+VBS).  1 Speech Therapy appointment, 1 visit for Baby.  What will we do with all of this free time?!  :-)  (Cleaning might be a good place to start.)
• I've been reading other books as well...but right now I'm blanking out as to what.  Oh yes, I have recently read and highly recommend "When Parenting Isn't Perfect" by Jim Daly.

Enjoy your week!

~Karen

May!

And another month wrapped up yesterday.  May is now upon us.  This week is fairly open (which is wonderful!)...next week, not so much.  So, random thoughts about May:

• The last of our biweekly Adoptive/foster mom coffee & play dates.  We take the summer off.
• The end of school for kids at school and kids who are home-schooled.
• Our first high school graduate!
• a trip to the cabin
• 1 child to the eye doctor
• 5 children to the dentist/2 getting orthodontic checks as well...1 of those getting braces on the bottom teeth.
• Make-A-Wish Truck Convoy
• Baby's appointments
• 2 kids with field trips
• 2 kids with Well-Child/Yearly check-ups

And then it will be summer! I love the relaxed schedule of summer while at the same time am not so fond of the extra busyness (yard work, freezing, canning).  

Well, I need to do some quick clean-up and figure out what we're doing for supper before the kids get home.

Enjoy May!