Friday

I hereby promise to find something cute and fun to blog about by tomorrow.

I have been sick all this week and it bothers me for two reasons. 1. I do not like taking meds, but if I don't' take them, my head becomes so congested I can't hear. You know the feeling. 2. My husband kindly reminded me that the last four months of my last pregnancy were just like this. I called it pregnancy allergies(she was born in July), but who is going to develope allergies in the winter? Now I am starting to think it is pregnancy related(rhinitis of pregnancy) and I may have to live happily with it for my last 3.5 months. I can, if it is worth another baby!

Paul is FINALLY on a normal work schedule and is off at noon today...YEAH!! That means I get to go to Second Chance ALL BY MYSELF after stopping at The Woods for a mocha half the chocolate, whole milk, hold the the whip. That excites me.

Well, my bed isn't made, school isn't started, the children are feeding themselves and I have two loads of folded laundry sitting on my bedroom floor to put away and it is 8:28am...duty calls.

Still sick.

While sitting at my keyboard early this morning waiting for my head to unplug so I can hear and think, this lands in front of me.

For those of you who do not have boys of age yet, this is the too often seen Nerf dart.





And this is what sweet little boys use their Nerf darts for. From Jacob :)

Thankful

My husband almost got shot tonight, what did yours do?


I had no want to post for the next few days, but my husband is now one of the few who can say he has heard a 357 bullet whiz feet from his head. I am just thankful I still have him.

Paul and the boys were out shooting bow and arrow when Daniel came running in the house out of breath. He was crying and I asked him to calm down and tell mommy what is the matter. He said "Daddy is shot...I mean, Daddy almost got shot, he heard the bullet!" I asked him if Daddy was ok as I threw on my shoes..."Yes, he is o.k., he is not hurt" Daniel says through tears. Paul was out in our field target practicing with his bow and said he could hear people quite far away shooting off rounds from a gun. He heard a gun go off and then a couple seconds went by and he heard a bullet rush just over his head. He said it was a very distinct sound he will never forget. Immediately it hit something behind him.

He yelled at the top of his lungs "HOLD YOUR FIRE!" and I can imagine his voice thundered as we had a field full of children running around. The gunfire stopped and the countryside went silent. My white faced husband then jumped in his truck and left. I hear he found the guys pretty quick and confronted the practice shooters who had already moved their targets that were facing our house to facing away from our house. They had a talk. They said they heard clearly from over 1/2m away "HOLD YOUR FIRE!" LOL!! He must have really yelled! I startled all of them.

So he comes home takes a deep breath and we looked for where he thought the bullet had hit and landed but found nothing, at first. A gentleman said it was a 357 handgun, not a small gun, but we didn't expect to see that after traveling that far the bullet had gone just over Pauls head then went right through the exterior metal wall on his shop(the first picture I posted WAS of a rivet, lol, you were right honey, pregnant brain). It left a hole the size of a dime, over 1/2" in diameter 7.5' up on the wall. That was scary. The gentleman came over later that night and thoroughly apologized and even gave us a bag of prime elk meats and sausages. He even offered to pay to patch the hole in the side of the shop! He was pretty shaken, too. That made ME feel better as I was ready to call the Sheriff, but Paul said he made his point very well at their original *talk* and after the personal apology he felt very good about it all. Whew.

Life on pause...and thoughts

Life is on pause. I am sick, actually yucky enough to make me lay down for an hour or so, wow! Gracie, Micah and Emma are, too. I had *one of those nights* the other night. I had not slept more than a couple hours Tues and Wed night and was running on fumes during the days. Knowing our Big Trip was Friday, of course, Thursday night was rotten sleep too. We shopped aaall day Friday and just had a WONderful time. By the end of the evening my legs were well medicated and everything in me just wanted my bed! I arrived home at 11pm Friday night, took Sudafed, half a sleeping pill, and crawled in my nice warm bed. Aaaahh. No sooner had my head hit the pillow and Gracie was crying. She had come down with a cold, too, poor thing! Long story short, I got up and down with her until 4am which was hard working against that sleeping pill and all that self-pity. I went through Saturday in a haze. It was my daughters 12th birthday, I managed to get her birthday dinner done and that was about it. Her custom dinner was Stromboli, uncut green beans, fruit salad and garlic roasted shrimp. I bought an omelet maker at Second Chance for the children and Jess found out she could cook individual birthday cakes in it. So every one had a personal birthday cake!

I can not believe I have a twelve year old daughter! She is SUCH a blessing to us and the people around her. You know those older women who threaten you with "it only gets worse" then go on to discourage you with talks of rebellious teens? Well, I am not going to listen to them. I am standing on the edge looking over the cliff. Thanks be to God, he has shown me this is not the way He intended it to be. It is not normal and after coming to SBCC we've witnessed this odd phenomena. Teenage daughters leaning against their mothers shoulders during church, they hold hands or look into their mothers eyes for counsel and with that same sense of adoration you see from a 5 year old. Rebellion should be the exception, not the rule. I pray for this in my daughter and I want her heart like nothing else. She knows it. She appreciates it. I hope to be a woman who can stand in 10 years and encourage others to have godly teenagers like many I have gleaned from already. The Lord is our wisdom, strength and stronghold through these years I will joyfully take them head on with His leading.

Happy birthday Jessica!

P.s. My camera is better than yours. Brat.

Again the dog gone thing would not load properly.

Here is our 2008 family ornament, isn't it cute?!

Stats for the day..

1. My sister and I go on our annual bussed shopping trip with Sunrise Church tomorrow aaaaaaaall day in Seattle. I am giddy.

2. Emma and I are sick with our first head cold of the season. What great health we have had this year! The children are babying me with tea and hugs and kisses, but I am going to spend a couple hours on the couch.

3. I am finding nothing fits and have put up the white flag. I am officially wearing maternity clothes now. I waited as long as I could. Ugh.

4. Daddy will be staying home tomorrow with 6 children eagerly awaiting a day with him AND doing a half day of school! I tried to con him into a whole day, but he wasn't convince, can't blame him. I love coming home after our yearly shopping day, because I get smothered with kisses and flattery for the next week...from my husband.

5. Have a great weekend!

I had to chuckle. I was correcting the children's schoolwork for the week when I found this English lesson done with such enthusiasm! This is my Daniel. I do not have to check his work until the end of the week, he takes his assignments and everyone is completed. He is a perfectionist. Rarely is there a mistake and it is head down diligence with him. Can I order them all this way?! Just look at those happy answers! Every one has an exclamation mark!

Murphy's Law and mountains to die on

So, I had to run the children to piano lessons this afternoon. I threw my hair in a bun clip, no make-up & old jumper and out the door I went...so housewife, not thinking I'd leave my truck. But I passed by this quaint antique store in downtown Lynden and it called my name. Maybe this time it would have that wall oil lamp I have been watching for? I ran in and had a look-see...no lamp. Happily, I did not see anyone I knew...this is Lynden after all...remember the joke? I am related to most of them and unfortunately that is true...I am. I was walking the sidewalk back to my truck when two young men approached, and I immediately recognized one as Caleb Breakey from church...a writer for the Lynden Tribune. Oh NO. The young man approaches and I find myself being interviewed for their *talk on the street* type of article for the newspaper. Crud. And Caleb took pictures of me with a bun. A BUN, and my bad side at that. Not that I am vain...hmmm...o.k., maybe a little but I am dreading that paper. Maybe they will find my statement boring and not post the pic? Tomorrow will tell.

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Gracie, 15 months, is giving us glimpses of her sinful little heart. Unfortunately we knew she was born with this defect and there is nothing we can do to cure it. But we can work with it. She has been refusing to eat certain foods at the dinner table, then begging crackers after dinner. I have allowed(therefore trained) her to do this by GIVING her crackers after dinner. Well, tonight Daddy saw through it and put his foot down... thank you Daddy, I can be a weak one sometimes!





I offered Gracie banana, she ate it. Brussles sprouts, she ate them. Offered bites of my stew and she refused to touch the stuff...no matter what lay in the spoon. I told her in my sweetest mommy voice that she needs to eat her carrot(that is what my spoon pulled out of the stew) Gracie said/yelled "No! No!" Yes, like most children born with this birth defect, this is one of their first three words. I cut the little round carrot slice in three little triangles and lay it on her tray and told her if she wants her brownie for dessert, she must eat the carrot. She understood and reached for the brownie...I put the carrot up to her mouth and she pushed it away and said/yelled No! No! No! No!". Daddy said "This is a mountain worth dying on" & I grabbed my camera!! I have done this with five children before and when Daddy says he ain't giving in, he means it.

One stubborn ticked off little 15 month old. She was being doted on by me who hates to see her so upset, but then again she only yelled when you mentioned the word "carrot". She cried and cried and cried.

Do I need to explain what is being said and what she is doing with her hand? I think not.

Many minutes went by, like 20, and suddenly the lightbuld went on, she realized she was stuck in that chair until she ate her carrot and she picked one up and put it in her mouth with NO persuasion! I don't think we have had that happen that easily before.

But then again, we haven't had this large of a crowd of onlookers before either! We all clapped and with that she threw the other two pieces of carrot in her

mouth and ate'em up!

The room erupted in cheering and she was very proud...as was her Daddy.

MMMMmmmmm. And that brownie was worth it all........

And this is how you train your children not to be picky eaters.

Monday. Already living up to its bad name. ..

So I wasn't going to post for a couple days, but I thought this worthy.

I got up and really needed coffee. The children quietly do their morning bible reading right away. It is a very peaceful house for 15min and I seized this moment today to make coffee and snarf down my toast(I did my reading earlier!)

Pot #1. I added my four cups of water from our water pitcher, my two tablespoons of coffee grounds and hit Start. 4 minutes later I had a pot of coffee and grounds...shoot, the filter had caved in.

Pot #2 I empty the pot, wash the basket and fill the maker with the same coffee from the pot to re filter the grounds and recycle the coffee. Don't say ewe. I tap my fingers impatiently waiting. Finally, I pour my nice cup of coffee, grab my toast and head up the staircase. I plop in my chair take a bite of toast and a swig of coffee. YUCK!! It is nasty! I remember that I had put lemonade in our usual *water* pitcher for our Koinonia last night. Lemonade coffee. I am NOT calling Starbucks on this new discovery. Back down the staircase.

Pot #3. Fresh water, everything washed, fresh grounds(3rd batch) and as the children are all starting their morning bouncing off the walls, I quickly snarf down my cold toast and wonderful cup-o-coffee at the puter.

Gotta go direct energy.

Cuddles...

Gracie and *baby Jesus* cuddling this morning while the children put on their own play version of the Birth of Jesus.



I normally do not take pics of my kennels, but I found this adorable today. I have two litters totaling 9 puppies in one kennel. I had just added another bed as I found two pups sleeping on the newspaper. Instead of dividing up and sleeping in the two beds, they all piled on each other again in one bed. 9 puppies with Moose on top.

The Fate of Cuddles

Our family is known as being resourceful with our animals. If an animal can not be useful, it

A. Does not join our family

B. It gets eaten.

Some nice friends at church acquired a rabbit, Cuddles. Cuddles was a beautiful rabbit that grew to be quite large and never well...cuddled. This family tried and tried to tame Cuddles, but Cuddles just gave red swollen scratches. Over dinner one night Cuddles was jokingly offered to us. Paul made it clear we would love to have the rabbit, but only for one reason, and they knew that well. The family looked at their scratched up daughters and agreed our home would be wonderful! We have had Cuddles for a good six weeks and he/she has grown quite nicely. Here is a picture of Cuddles this afternoon...what do you think?

Can you say Shake n Bake?