Happy Birthday Joseph

 He started his morning very early and headed out for breakfast with daddy.

 Daddy dropped him at school well before 8AM. 

He got home to mom baking his requested birthday cake...pineapple upside down cake.  I never made it before and learned a few lessons....had a little trouble with the up-side-down part....but it tasted just fine and if you covered it with whipped cream the cracks weren't so noticeable. I had warned him ahead of time that decorations do not work with that type of cake...

Zeke had something goofed up with the camera settings....

I was busy trying to light candles with so much help! Hope blew some because the match flame was getting too close to my finger and she just couldn't stand it....then Shekinah got in on it because she figured ..."if Hope can blow them, so can I"

 I lit some of the candles for the third time!

Then on to the real reason for birthday's....gifts!

He didn't believe the "new socks and underwear" threat....he got a new rip stick and since it was a well known brand, it passed muster.

Happy 13th Joseph,

 may you continue growing into the fine young man that we see more and more these days.

A Not-Quite-Free- Book Giveaway

Another chance to do a book review! I will say up front that the only gain I get from doing this is a free book. I did buy one for the give-away, so you will receive a never-before-read-book!

Joey's Story-

I am not sure how much to tell you about this book...guess I'll aim for

 just enough to make you want to read it.

This is the story of Joanna Heger's childhood. It is a book that is difficult to put down and yet I found myself needing a break. There was so much to process.

 It is the life that many children are living today....She was

 "one of those kids"

  "a welfare brat".

 She and her siblings were the ones that people wanted to help, but weren't sure how to go about it.

It has a father that loved his kids, he really did but.....

He needed to live his own life and the children fended for themselves

and were prey for others.

This is not a book for children to read.

The children fended for themselves, until some interfering people reported them and then they were "foster kids"

"a sibling group"

" a tough bunch of kids"

In reality, Joey knew more of the world at eight than some adult know at forty.

After a few foster homes a naïve young couple made the

"leap of faith"

and adopted them.

I call them naïve, because listening to Joey's description of her new parents lets me know that they were unprepared for the whirlwind that was about to descend on their home.

I was so afraid the story would end badly that I read the last chapter when I was 3/4 of the way through.  I hate sad endings...so rest assured, it is a happy ending.

Read how Joey ends up being a conservative Mennonite...this is a real story, not one of those fakey Amish/ Mennonite romances that are cluttering the shelves these days.

I had to laugh at her description of her first Mennonite church service. It made me think that maybe we really should print an "order of service" for visitors.

Joey often wondered why God allowed so many tough things to come into her life. She finally decided to use the diary that she kept for years to tell her story in hopes that she can help another child. The story isn't for the children to understand...it is for the adults.

So I will start with this give away...

In order to get a chance to win this book, send me a comment stating how you plan to help the "Joeys" out there. It can be praying, doing respite for a busy foster mom, taking a meal to a mom with a houseful of "Joeys", or maybe actually adopting or fostering a child that needs a family.

Let me know...if you comment on blogger, makes sure I have your e-mail address. If you would rather e-mail your entry, send it to  raychris@dejazzd.com   by March 4th.

Now, if you don't win the book you can buy it here  or here



Good News and Bad News

Good news first....

A book give away very soon, but I have to sit down and think about what I want to say about the book. Every time I sit down to do that a certain little someone climbs between my back and the chair's say 'tsu-na-mi"   (it sounds like that, but it means 'excuse me')  Typing with a monkey on your back is sort of distracting.  

Bad news second....

 I also can't concentrate because my sister-in-law is loosing her best friend, her life companion, her husband  and it makes me want to cry. So I keep busy all day flitting from one job to another, trying not to think how it would be. So thankful for my noisy/needy children to keep my mind occupied.

Seize the Moment!

A little more than two weeks ago, my brother-in-law was probably thinking about spring planting, his 52nd birthday, and how much more snow they would get.

Then he started with some chest pains, bad enough to make him stop chores and come in and rest. Now if you work in medical field at all...you are trained that "pain" means different things to different people. Thankfully his doctor recognized that this man's "pain" was not a hysterical reaction to a hang nail.
He was scheduled for a stress test and failed it. Then he went for a cardiac catherization  on Wednesday. By late afternoon they had made the decision and completed a quadruple by-pass.

Sadly, he has not woke from his anesthesia. At first I was not terribly concerned, my grandfather did the same thing when he had his open heart surgery; he waited about 4 days to wake.  But after two days they did an EEG for, my brother-in-law and then a second and found no brain activity.

My father-in-law had a heart attack at 53 and open heart surgery.  My husband is on cholesterol meds and turns 50 this year....somehow I'm a bit worried. I know that I'm supposed to know that God is ultimately in control here....but....

It gives me new urgency to pay attention to each moment, savor it...take more pictures....not waste time with irritation...I know- good intentions - every day living makes you forget.

I don't know what this week holds, other than some really tough decisions for my sister-in-law and her children, please keep them in your prayers.

on a lighter note: Miss Shekinah loves meat. It's that bad that I  remove the meat platter after everyone's been served or she will keep asking for more and skip the other things on her plate. Trust me, I'm not starving the little sweetie!
 So the other night I removed the chicken legs and asked her to eat her peas. Daddy got up from the table to get coffee and on his way snagged a small piece of chicken and popped it into his mouth. When he sat down Shekinah handed him her fork and said "some?" 
I pretended to ignore, while daddy got a forkful of chicken and handed it to her.
When I glanced sideways at her she had the classic grin of  a two-year-old that thought she got away with something.

Happy New Year! Chinese That Is.

Plenty of Chinese food, new clothes, and seeing friends that we only see once a year.

 The highlight of the evening are the "fireworks"   bubble wrap taped to the floor for the children to stomp on.

Waiting to start

Then lots of giggles

The people who live in Asia would laugh at our fire works, ah well everyone has their eyebrows and fingers intact after our version.

How Do You Know?

 The pictures actually have nothing to do with the post, just tried to get a shot of the 'great pretense'. The first picture actually came after a few shots. Most of the other shots looked like the second picture. Can't wait to take her for professional pictures- should be a blast.

Anyway, so how do you know when you should allow a child to do_____ and let him possibly injure himself. Or should you let him just go ahead and try the high jump and ...well really?

I mean, about 10 months ago I was "encouraging" him to walk down the stairs with a fully loaded basket of laundry and that was dangerous at the time

The other morning the child in question told me that he wants to do the high jump this year in track and field. The first pictures that flashed through my mind were of older brother jumping and overshooting the mat and smacking his head against a cement wall. My mind recoiled.

But really? If a child can't get more than 10 inches off the ground can he throw himself over the high jump bar? I was assured that was not necessary, he can do the "scissors jump"  Umm, OK!

So when Nick Vujicic's parents heard that he wanted to surf, sky dive...whatever...did they just let him?
 and stand by to  pick up the pieces when he wrecks?
 Maybe my imagination is too good.

Not sure why God thought we would be good at this.

I probably goofed, but I informed the young man that I need to see him do a hurdles (10" high) obstacle course on the driveway....first.
I will not be hounding him to do them, it is up to him.

Anyone out there with wisdom?

Happy Groundhog's Day! and cereal update

Happy Groundhog's Day! Enjoy my flowers. It's a family tradition for me to get flowers on Groundhogs Day.

 On the cereal....well it takes time and patience to make nice thin flakes. My cereal was roughly as thick as tortilla chips and a lot harder. The flavor is very good though. Joseph said it was very good with milk. I didn't feel like cereal this morning. It was a peanut butter toast kind of a day.

 Might need to give the flakes another try.

Cereal

OK, I'm on a mission. I'm going to make cereal. I already make baked oatmeal, hubby eats it cold, but the kids are stuck on pancakes and some mornings I'm sick of pancakes...even if I don't eat them.

So I went searching and found a ton of recipes...now I'm not THAT healthy minded that I'm going to soak my flours and sprout my grains...tried it already and I just - well I guess I'm lazy.

Granolas are good, but quite frankly they get expensive till you buy the nuts and all the special stuff for it.
I like yogurt mixed with raw oatmeal and frozen fruit, but that looks a bit too natural and healthy around here, plus the frozen fruit is a bit frosty this time of the year.

But the cornflakes and wheat flakes sound sort of easy and ? fun?

Wheat flakes here  cornflakes here

See if I can please the masses...stay tuned.