#ETC15

In a little town in the eastern part of PA we dreamed of holding a Karyn Purvis 

Empowered to Connect seminar.

Thing was....the office space was still not painted

the floor was still "messed up"

the potties were still in the boxes

and the lighting wasn't finished.

AND there was no internet connection in the building.

BUT!

Some very energetic men

finished the last of the painting

on Thursday night.

A son who was willing to try some set ups and a lady who said "well if it doesn't work, 

we will watch the Karyn Purvis videos."

A dad who hadn't thrown away that old lamp yet.

We received the internet from across the street at my son's house via that beige box on the old lamp post. If the dumpster would have been moved back 12 inches or the pile of rubble had been 12 inches higher,or if our windows would not have opened, OR if my son's router had gone out on Saturday instead of Monday... We would have had no internet connection. (his router did go out on Monday morning and he quickly replaced it and borrowed a backup.)

 Below is a better picture of the little house across the street.

I think 20 families were represented in the 28 people that attended.

We were part of an audience of 20,000 according to the simulcast folks.

So much stuff to process and remember, this second time around was good for us.

 This afternoon we took advantage of the sunshine.

The girls picked some bluebells on the hill.

Motherhood is the Necessity of Inventions

So I thought I was so smart when I came up with the perfect hostess gifts for Zeke to 

take with him this weekend...

The school's Gospel Team is going on tour for five days and the students usually take a gift for the host/hostess. I usually am scrambling the night before because this is one thing we forget.

This year Zeke reminded me early, I ordered "hand poured soy candles" from our local soy candle manufacturer (otherwise known as son#1 and his wife)

I thought I would quickly find some easy gift box on Pin*rest....did I say quick?

So I dug out some burlap,

crumpled up some grocery bags for the lining

 Then decided they need something extra

 Even re-used the handles from the grocery bags

Then for some more inventions...

You would think we are adopting again, for all the crazy things that have been happening this week

We are helping to host a Karyn Purvis seminar this Friday and Saturday.

The wheel bearing on the van gave out AGAIN...

thankfully it was 3 weeks before the warranty was up.

We all came down with a wonderful-stick-around cold

The main drain for the gray water clogged and our bathtub has filled up with washing machine water three times now. We have hit the clog with some powerful stuff, but it is stubborn.

So am I

Zeke needs his clothes washed so he can go on the aforementioned tour.

I decided that the wash water can just get pumped out into the backyard via a garden hose

BUT

you can't just connect those two hoses.

So I spent 45 minutes wandering after a helpful hardware clerk

came home with $11 worth of connectors and clamps.

BUT

Their universal washer drain hose was a different size than mine

of course it was

so nothing fit.

So I found some stuff that was on the sink and managed to keep the two hoses together long enough to finish two loads of laundry.

Now hopefully the high powered stuff that hubby brings home does its thing.

He is Risen!

Happy Easter!

Resurrection Sunday!

The whole reason that Christians can face tomorrow. 

In the last week we had some additions to our family.

The post office called early and I went to pick up the babies. Put them in their cozy home but first I needed to remember to dip their beaks in the water in their waterer so they know where to find it.

Parker and Shekinah were highly entertained.

Then while I was doing book work Shekinah decided to play Apples to Apples. I figured it wouldn't get too bad....yeah, well there are 900 some cards in that box.

So I told Shekinah to help clean up...she didn't want to. I told her that is OK but, we won't be able to go see the peeps later if she can't help. It took her awhile to decide but she decided that it sorta looked like fun to clean up after all. Even Parker got in on picking up.

This is the snow we had left on Thurs afternoon. I am happy to say that it is all gone now.

On Saturday the cousins came! Faith told me she is glad I wasn't an only child.

Parker was impressed by the youngest of his daddy's cousins.

He said "arf, arf".

On Friday, dad and Zeke decided to used car shopping. Zeke's car was older than he was and was coming apart at various places, and needed weekly infusions of various fluids.

They settled on a 16 y.o. car instead.

Life is Crazy

Sometimes you just need your own wash basket!

And cleaning out grandma's cupboards is great fun.

I'm hoping this week is a bit more relaxed, last week I over-scheduled and left people down, so I'm hoping this week is better. 

Two weeks ago, I received an e-mail from a lady who wanted to order a quilt for her 83 y.o. grandfather. She needs it to fit on his hospital bed and really other than the size she know that she wants it in the color of blue. AND to help ease my mind (not really) she doesn't want to see pictures of the quilt in progress, she wants a surprise.

Oh, and since he is 83 and just coming home from the hospital....I think I'll work on that this week.

I only plan to teach ONE   CPR class instead of four- what's with that anyway? Why all the classes suddenly....ah well, keeps me out of trouble.

Science Fair project is finished...did you know that ...

these interesting designs are made with sound and water...called cymatics 

not sure  where the pictures are of the salt and sound.

Then...on the day Spring began! we were blessed  with more snow!

The picture is from Saturday afternoon...in the morning our drive was completely covered.

Thankfully even though the township opted NOT to salt the bridges or anything for that matter...Ezekiel and I made it to our destinations without actually hitting anything.

QOTD:  Joe to Zeke: " So why were you taking sermon notes in that weird hieroglyphics?"

Ben: "yeah, you still use that? Is it a 26 letter alphabet?"

Zeke:" No, now it is....32 I think...5 'O's' and then one for that sound the Scots make in the word loch...or like the the Dutchmen make when they say 'ach'.... just in case. 

Ben: " I dare you to hand in your physics homework written in that script" 

So Why? or What?

Did you ever wonder what God is thinking?
Like why does he take one family's young-very-much-needed father?
Why do some families seem to get hit with one thing after another...you know, illness, surgeries, things over which we really have no control.

We stand on the outside and look for the bright spots

"Well it could have been worse."

"At least _______didn't happen."

Then our minds go to...."maybe God is trying to tell them something."

We studied Job in Sunday School recently and Job's friends came to that conclusion too.

God wasn't impressed with their ideas.

Then my mind goes to something else....Job's friends were miserable comforters...

Do you think God is ever testing friends...churches... communities

Yeah, everyone rallies around during the first illness and maybe the second calamity

but what about the next time and the next?

What about people who live every day with high needs individuals?

Do we give them breaks?


Ouch, just stepped on my own toes here.

And just some snow pictures to enjoy....I would be happy to share some with those of you who don't have enough.

Now Let's Analyze

So if anyone was watching Ray and I on Sunday morning, I want to explain
why we were shaking with laughter... Missy Shekinah was drawing.
First she gave me #4 "it's for you mama." Ok how sweet! but more than
that...
this person has a body, hips and all extremities

Then she quickly drew # 1 and 2, this is where we lost it

#1 is daddy singing

#2 is mama jumping (but later she said I was singing too and that was a
hat on my head)

#3 anyone want to guess?

Why it's a caterpillar of course! complete with a chin!


We will have to work on drawing hair and those teeth need a dentist

Birthdays, and Growing Up

The growing up would be this guy, who just swiftly crawled up on the kitchen table this past week. He doesn't even walk most of the time! (He can walk, just thinks it's a bit slow.)

Shekinah thought he was funny...then I looked at the back drop of my lovely children...

Put them down for a nap and cleaned up my kitchen sink.

It's as good as it gets folks.

Then we had a birthday in this house.

He wanted sticky buns "with that good icing on" (he means buttercream with real butter)

I had seen a neat "cake" on Facebook where they used Nut*lla for the spread between the layers

and decided that you probably could do the same thing with the sticky bun recipe...

and you can!

The other thing he wanted was that expensive that he had to combine Christmas and birthday gifts into one....and add a bit of his own (young parents..it is a good idea for them to have to invest something into big ticket items like this)  ---that's your free advice for the day--

and no, he is not allowed to use the wi-fi unless he is supervised....old meanies we are.

I heard familiar music and realized that Faith is playing one of Zeke's old favorite games.

It should help her learn some logic....as long as she doesn't get too much help from the big kids.

Last weekend we visited with the family from OH whose son Tyler had external fixators on both legs. The feedback we got from the children was interesting. Tyler confided in his mom, "mom, that little girl doesn't have many fingers."

Mom: "Are you glad you have your fingers, even if they don't all work properly?"

His mother told me that he had been having quite a problem lately with the idea that he was going to need to be on a wheel chair for some time and was very sure there wasn't a child ANYWHERE as bad off as he was. Then he met my two children and suddenly felt that he didn't have quite as many problems...

THEN:

My children...

Shekinah: "mom that boy , why doesn't he have elbows that bend?"

Me: "Well, that's how God made HIM."

Shekinah: "Well I'm glad God gave me elbows."

A bit of background on this ...Shekinah has been talking about her hands quite a bit lately and wishing she had more fingers...."or hands like yours, mom." She usually comes to the acceptance "God made me this way, right mom?" So to hear her reason this through was interesting.

I mentioned the fixators to Joseph and said, "I looked at those pins and were glad they didn't live in my house. How about you Joseph?"

Joe:" Well his pins weren't as big as mine and they didn't go through the bone like mine, but yeah I'm glad I don't have to do that again."

I realized that the trauma of the ex-fix apparently affected his memory, but we'll let him go.

Have a good week! Rumor has it that the temps might hit the 50's, but as DH said "I'll believe it when I see it."

Mennonite Chinese New Year Party

It still involves food

fancy clothes, 

but just fewer people

and in this case people from further away.

We skipped the dragon and the bubble wrap in favor of lots of talking 

and discussing wheel chairs and external fixators.

So glad to meet Tyler and Rachelle tonite

Mr Gabe went home early and I didn't get a picture

Keeping Warm

 Keeping people warm and well-fed is a daily challenge.

Ben works outside/inside he never knows, but mostly he is in the cold.

When the weather was first getting colder he requested "something other than

cold sandwiches"

But there is no microwave in the work truck

So I bought another thermos not quite the same as the other kids have.

I ordered one for Shekinah awhile since the price seems to keep going up.

But ...

"Mom, it's not very hot when I eat it."

I came to realize that these thermos' aren't made to sit in a work truck in below freezing temps

for 5+ hours. So I made a thermos jacket!

I was quite pleased with the results....no not the looks

but it works!

Took some thinsulate, covered it with some waterproof fabrice (that whole bolt I bought a few months ago) stitched on some velcro and viola!

The other thing that helps keep this boy warm...besides the seven layers of clothes...

is something we call a neck ruff...?? 

It's a piece of fleece that is tighter than an infinity scarf, but looser than a turtleneck

Stitched it together real quick one morning and it is right up there with the credit card

"never leave home with out it"

 My friend gave me "wall words" and I finally got up the nerve to

read the directions and put them on my wall

Zeke: "you just couldn't stand and empty wall?"

Then...on to feeding these hungry people

40 pounds of sour cherries will start us off

The local orchard is selling frozen fruit this winter

along with a bunch of other close-to-date items.

It is sales like these that help the bank account.

And someone reminded me tonite that next week they will be half way to 30

Actually it was I that reminded him he is not only getting close to 16, but 

30 as well and that.....is a third of the way to 90.

Looking For Good

Last Sunday, I stayed home from church, with a friend's foster baby (he's supposed to stay out of crowds for a few months)

I listened in on our church service, while the sermon was on Barnabas and being and encourager, something the minister said struck me.

He mentioned how we are so programmed to think negatively of any given situation. Lyndon Johnson pointed out, "If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read : 'President Can't Swim'."

We read the weather forecast and cynically snort "yeah, we'll see." Do I give credit when the forecasters are actually right?"

In the international adoption world we first meet our child the day before adoption, parents are advised "prepare for the worst, and hope for the best."

It's way late for New Year's resolutions, but I thinkit would be a good idea to look for the positive in all the interactions with my children. A child makes themselves annoying by standing in my way...he/she is just needing some closeness with me and not actually trying to be annoying.

Then another child leaves yet ANOTHER load of laundry sitting in the washer, I am sure he/she is just so busy doing math or history homework that they really didn't have time to do their chores.

You get the idea ( I know those pronouns are off but they read my blog!)

This past week has been interesting, on Tuesday I took Parker and Shekinah along to do some banking and a stop at the post office. When I was getting Parker out of his seat I noticed a catch while I was closing the roll door on the van. I opened it and tried again and THE BACK PART OF THE DOOR FELL DOWN!  Thankfully I had already taken Parker out of his seat and the bottom roller stayed in its slot. Otherwise the door would have fallen on my toes or worse. The door was too heavy for me to put back in it's place. My dear hubby was able to put it back into place when he came home that evening. Needless to say everyone has had  instructions on how to PROPERLY open the van door and the replacement part is in the mail.

In other news: Shekinah is rising to the challenge of getting ready for Kindergarten. A number of times in the past few weeks I asked her to do something and she was reluctant. All I needed to say was, "well, you should learn that before yougot to school, but if you want to stay home another year, that's OK too."

We suddenly know how to open the van door from the inside (not the one that fell off), draw the letter "K", and recognize a bunch of numbers. Tying shoes and getting the letters of her name in the correct order are next on the list.

Then the big boys had a youth group function. It was labeled "color night"

The colors selected were pink and brown

If your birthday fell in the last half of the year, you got to wear pink

Guess which half of the year these boys were born.

This dapper young man left the house in his father's wedding suit coat

(he doesn't fit into the pants)

carrying his great-grandfather's cane and wearing great-grandpa's glasses.

Old-fashioned night with a different youth group

If these pictures should suddenly leave my blog, it would probably be because

 my children read my blog