Field Trip to Lynden City Hall Sept 10

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Our city has a new City Hall and we are excited to go visit with Mayor Scott Korthuis on September 10 at 10am. City Administrator Bill Verwolf is pleased to have us come see how a city is run, meet and thank those who run it and take a look around. We have 30 student places to fill again. I encourage you to go to the City's website and read over the 7 council members names & read Lynden's Vision Statement. What are some questions you'd like to ask? Let's come prepared to ask questions and learn. I will write my child's question on a piece of paper and stuff it in their pocket so they do not forget it ;)

Driving directions are here or the address is 300 4th street Lynden.

As a show of honor and respect to our governing officials at the City Hall, we ask that the young men wear pants and collared shirt(or tie) and the young ladies dress nicely, too ;)

Here's a little website trivia for you - any child who comes and can answer this question for me when we meet will get a piece of red licorice. "What did our council members do after the Call to Order on June 21, 2010?"

See you there! Please leave a comment, email me or call to reserve a spot.

In case you've ever wondered...

Yes. A 1 lb BOX of macaroni DOES cook to perfection in a normal wash cycle using

warm water and colored clothing for those of you need-to-know-it-alls.

It is VERY time consuming to separate it from the clothing,

so next time, it's just easier to cook it on the stove(or don't store the macaroni boxes on the shelf above the washer). FYI.

Nearing the end

of Summer. The mornings have a chill with a bite, the corn has it's tassel on top, the prunes are turning purple, the weeds have reached their height and sent forth seeds, the spring chicks are laying eggs, Tom turkey is looking mighty fine, full hay wagons are going by, the raspberry pickers are shined up and being parked in the barns, the *You Pick* signs are disappearing from fields, The Fair is over.



I think for me the biggest signal that Summer is closing is the tassel on the corn. We watch as the corn goes from a stubble in the field to knee high green, to waist high full thick plants to that wretched tassel springing out the top, it happens so dog gone fast! It always, always coincides with the first foggy morning and evening chill.




Another sign made clear this week - I picked up my Intent to Homeschool Form from the District Office in Lynden. Every homeschooler is required to fill in this form and we do. This year it was re-written and had an extra question or two. On any other form it would be no big deal, but it's just the frog in the pot of boiling water thing, ya know? Their forms are already illegal and ask more questions than state law requires.




Whaddayadoo. I took the form home, I'll re-write it back to the form required by the state and sweetly take it in....again. The lady at the desk will point out to me I need to complete it and we will go around(kindly) about it until she hauls out the RCW from her file cabinet and says "I guess your right". Their fingers do not belong supervising my children's schooling to begin with...not to mention our property taxes alone this year fund the public school system an amount twice our cost to homeschool all 5 of our children...O.k...deep breath. It's all good. Just one of those things that makes me go "uhg".


We are so excited for school to start this year...I must not be pregnant or have a little baby? I am excited, the kids are excited and especially my new kindergartner is VERY excited. I like taking a Dr Seuss book and showing it to my new student then ask them what it says. They look it over and can not read a single word, it is all gibberish. I tell them that in 5 months you will be reading this entire book yourSELF and they get so excited I LOVE that!

Too much writing, not enough pictures. Coming soon.

Flashbacks

The phone rings early this morning, it is a dear friend of mine, She said her and her two daughters are spending the day at the Northwest Washington Fair and they asked if Jessica could come too. What an honor. Being the eldest of 7, she rarely leaves the homefront as she stays with little ones when I run errands. This is a good thing as there will be a short time in her long life as she waits for another child to grow responsible enough to share this caregiving with her and things will loosen up.

We are not going to attend the Fair this year, the first time since having a family and the second time ever since being born 36 years. In Lynden the NWWF is a tradition, you know the cows by name(jk), you know a lot of the people by name, the rides, the smells, the dahlias, the memories, and many of your childhood friends are there...who also happen to be your relatives(again, jk, it's a Lynden joke - though not too far from the truth). As much as I would have liked to keep her all to myself(she helps me a LOT throughout the day and is my own personal cheerleader) I called Daddy and we decided this would be fun for her.

Off she hurried to dress and gather *stuff*. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I remember the summer I was 13. I remember my friends, my dress, my make-up. As I watched her fixing her hair just so, I remember the hairspray and the hairdryer I used to poof my hair, real 80's style, as high as it would go. Jessica threw her hair in a ponytail. I plastered make-up on, she grabbed a washcloth to wipe the goat-dirt off her face after mamma pointed it out. I had boys on my mind, she has fun with Christiana and Hannah on her mind. Man....God is so good. I still look at her amazed and intrigued at who she is. I would have made such fun of a girl like her..ok, I did.

God truly, truly takes the foolish...incredibly foolish things of this world and makes them wise. What a fool I am...I was....I am. God teaches me through his Word how to raise these children of His that He has so graciously given Paul and I. I can't bear to think what Jess's heart would look like had the Lord not intervened.

I have picked up my guitar again and we have been singing hymns more around the house. My favorite right now is Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed (Same song as At The Cross - only the chorus was written later by another man) not the revised version in which they make it less offending...but the old version. I collected old, old hymnals and found the ending of the first line was originally wrote "For such a worm as I?" most hymnals today have changed that to "For sinners such as I?"

I guess calling ourselves worms is too degrading...too pointed? Everyone is a sinner, but don't call me a worm...that is too personal...there you are stepping on toes. Well, here is a confession...I am a worm. There is no good in me, I can produce no good, anything good that comes forth from my life is Christ and Christ only....or there may be actions that appear good, but my heart is in it to puff up my flesh...there is no good in me. Zip. I am but a worm saved by grace.

Sorry for all this rambling. Just watching Jessica getting ready for the Fair caused me to worship God. It effected my whole day. To God be the glory.

Alas! and Did My Saviour Bleed

Alas! And did my Savior bleed, And did my sovereign die?

Would he devote that sacred head, For such a worm as I?

Was it for sins that I had done, He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity, grace unknown,And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide, And shut its glories in

When God, the mighty maker, died, For his own creature’s sin.

But tears of grief cannot repay, The debt of love I owe;

Here, Lord, I give myself away: It’s all that I can do.

Fireball - The Man of Many Words.

This is just a teeny morsel of a conversation Micah had with me on the way home from Safeway today. Micah is one of the those boys who is wired to talk as much as a girl. He talks incessantly he schemes, invents, hypothesizes, exaggerates, his world is open to all who will listen. It can make me yearn for his bedtime or bust a gut listening to him. Here is a little sliver of what I purposed to remember.

Micah - “Mamma? Are you going as fast as you can go?”

Mamma - “No, I am obeying the speed limit, it's 55mph, which is fast enough.”

“Can the van go 100mph?”

“Um...I think it could.”

“Wow...that's fast. Is there a road that you can you go as fast as you want?”

“No, not in Washington.”

“Is there a road somewhere else in the world?”

“Yes.

“I know why mamma.”

“Why”

“if you go too fast the police say that you will crash and kill your kids.”

“Yes, that is right, that is why we have speed limits.”

“Go karts can go as fast as they want on a track and bikes can go fast and so can Fireball.”

“Fireball?”

“Yes. Fireball. That is what my name is when I am on my yellow bike. When Fireball is on his bike he has no speed limit.”

“Interesting.”

“If there was a girl and she decided to fall off a cliff....I mean...if there was a cliff around...I'd get on my bike and Fireball would jump OFF the cliff, Mom, OFF it...and because Fireball has springs in his bike he can do ANYTHING Mamma.”

<8 second pause>

“What are roads made of mamma?”

5 year olds are the BEST. Lord help me to slow down, enjoy the chatter, the 503 questions a day, and turn these little annoyances into moments I can enjoy my children instead of, by default, shooing them away.

Sister + rock – common sense = Not good

 

Danny comes walking in the house nonchalantly “Mamma, when’s dinner ready?” 

Mamma yells “Daniel! What happened to your head!!!”

Danny, “Oh, this?(rubbing his forehead) Emma threw rock at my head and hit it square on.”

Mamma, “Danny, you need ice! Go sit down”

Danny, “Mamma, it doesn’t hurt, really, it’s fine.”

Mamma, “Emma!! Git in here!”

Emma, “I was aiming for the ground next to him”

Mamma, “Go to the bathroom Emma, we need to talk.”

 

I called him my unicorn child, but fortunately, the swelling was next to nothing in an hour.

Swirly Stones

1. Each child gathers 1-2 inch smooth stones, washed them and places them on a foil or paper lined cookie sheet.

2. Pre-heat oven to 225 and bake rocks for 15 minutes.

3. Give each child one rock at a time and let them melt crayon wax from old broken crayons on the hot rocks.We learned quickly that Crayola crayons are BEST and have vibrant color whereas cheap crayons are watery. Raise your hand when you are done and get new hot rock!

Even the older children loved it. Camo rocks for the boys. It is neat to see each child's unique artistic interests come through. Some liked one color, others mixed, some made patterns, some pictures.

Some had the word “hot!” reinforced through hands on experience.

I liked this one.

I am so not an artsy type with the children. Cindy P had shown me this craft while we were at the campout and I decided I must try it.

They will hang around the house for a while until I kick them around one too many times, then out the door into the garden they will go. This was a great activity and everyone was asking to do it again. I made it very clear that these rocks were hot and everyone did great, only the 13 yr old got burned. ;) And even at that, they are not hot enough to cause injury. Grace did 5 rocks of her own. Try it!

Cara commented "We've done something very similar with paper! I line an electric griddle w/ foil and then let the kids melt crayon pieces either directly on the foil (pressing paper down over it when they've finished) or place a paper on the foil and draw a melty picture. They love this activity! "

Monday.

Back from camping. 6 full days of fun. Children bicycling and campfire fellowship. Lost my camera the week before the campout. S'mores and watermelon. Indian Pipe flowers. Mushrooms. Salmon berries. Road rash. Huckleberry pancakes. Thunder and lightening. Olympic Games in the pouring down warm rain. Coming home to unpack the trailer. Do the laundry. Scrub the children. Catch up on phone calls. Phone isn't working. Dryer isn't working, how am I going to make this work? The little children are all tired and crabby, lots of tears this morning. Catching up on animals - clean bedding, feeding, milking. Found my camera this morning. Coffee pot is calling, I'm saved by Christ, it doesn't get better than this.