Long awaited...

Well, I sent an e-mail to a friend of mine, giving her an update on our family. When she replied, she said that it would have made a good blog post. So, (a week or so later) I've decided to post it here... in case there is anyone who faithfully checks in to see if I'm still here. Sure enough! Here I am! For now, that is. And here is a little update on our family!

Lets see - Abigail just turned 7. She is an avid reader; i can't keep her supplied with enough books! This is, of course, wonderful. But it has its set backs as well: unfortunately she is like her mother in that once she is immersed in the world of a book, she is lost to this world! Ah well, we can work on that! She still adores horses and dreams of the day when she can have one for her own. Right now she has quite a toothless grin; as soon as a new one grows in, she looses another baby tooth.

Phinehas is 5 1/2. He has officially started unofficial homeschooling. When we began in the fall, he was soaring. Then he hit a plateau and refused to budge. Reading was a drag and jumping into quicksand was preferable to math. So, we set aside the 'formality' of it all and have been reading library books (somehow, he seems to be taking flight again in the reading department! Hurray!) As for math, we do a lot more 'playing' with manipulatives and working with concrete concepts: when i say, "What is 4+2?" Phin answers, "5! 7! No! 10! 8!" But as soon as I say, "What is four kids plus 2 adults" he shouts, "6!" So, math has slowed down... but I think we've time. For now he spends a lot of time outside hammering nails and building things.

Liam is 4 and totally disinterested in learning his letters. Which is fine. He is working on the normal kid foundations - kindness in action and speech, preferring others, helping mama, learning how to be diligent. He is my most imaginative child, always lost in a dream world. When he tells you something it takes him FOR-E-VER and if I'm not careful a lot that is precious in him can easily be ignored and set aside in my haste. I'm working on stoping to look into his worlds and enjoy him. Actually, I am ever seeking to learn how to enjoy all of my kiddos!

Lydia is 2 1/2. She is definitely my biggest helper, always wanting to do whatever I am doing. If only, when Abigail was little, I had known what I now know! I could have avoided some of my most sorrowed mistakes! Ah! Thank God for His ceaseless grace! In my life and in the life of my children.

Andrew and I are ever more in love. He is my hero and my favorite place. He loves and cherishes me in ways I never imagined. How wonderful to laugh with my dearest friend! I am so glad to be his!

We have 13 'big' chickens and 16 'chicks' that are just about as big as the older ones. The 'babies' we hatched in incubators. That was a lot of fun! We might be getting a piglet from Andrew's brother in a few months - that would be nice! i've gardened for two years now; learning a bit more each year. Presently I have 3 - 3 1/2 x 8 beds full of garlic! Yippee!

Well, that's about it in a nutshell.

I've been wanting...

I've been wanting to tell you about all the wonderful things going on here... but I haven't seemed to be able to find the time! You see, we've been too busy picking bouquets of wild flowers, inhaling their light sweetness.

We've been too busy eating fresh cherries, just picked from the tree in our yard. Granted, they sure aren't sweet - they are very tart! - but they are fresh! And to get them the kids have to climb! You can't beat that!

We've been too busy chasing chipmunks and butterflies and watching the little brood of bluebirds, now that they've ventured from their hidden nest. They flit from branch to ground, from ground to limb, learning how to catch bugs and delight their eager observers.

We've been too busy reading books and riding bikes, weeding the garden and harvesting it's goodness.

We've been too busy watching the fireflies and gazing at twinkling stars.

We've been too busy enjoying life!!

Hope you are enjoying yours!

The Power of a Vow

We are eating chicken tonight.

We are eating chicken because of a rash vow made in anger. By me.

You see, while I was out yesterday, the gate to the garden either blew open or was left open and some of the chickens came in and decimated my carrots and some of my lettuce/swiss chard. I was really, really mad. Probably more mad than I should have been. Anyway, I sent a message to Andrew saying, "May the fox eat your chickens. So be it." I knew as I typed that had I left it with the first sentence, it would have been merely dramatic ramblings. But as I typed in the 'so be it,' I knew in my little inner knower that I was crossing the line. Unfortunately, in my anger, I didn't care. I wanted vengeance. So much so, that last evening before I went to bed, I purposefully ignored the little voice that said, "Go shut the door to the coop" (You see, we've left if open at night for a long time... and nothing had happened).

So, this morning shortly after 5:00, we were awakened to the distressed cries of one of our young chickens. As my eyes were snapping open, I knew what it was and I knew the cause without a doubt.

We scared the fox away - probably not permanently (as in, we didn't get any lead into it); I was shaking too hard to hold a gun and Andrew's eyes and glasses weren't cooperating with the scope.

Only two of the chickens are dead. Thankfully. My only fear is that the power of my vow still holds. But, there is repentance. I am very sobered by the recognition of the power of words. I also am very thankful that I learned this lesson first hand, but that the only cost was the life of a couple replaceable and edible chickens.

There is much power in the words we speak. There is more power in vows we make.

Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to You!

Joys of June

With the warm days of June have come many delights that have filled our waking moments, and even infiltrated our sleepy nights! First, my favorite: the Multiflora Roses! I know - they are invasive and tough as all get out to remove, but MY! the fragrance is intoxicatingly sweet! Earlier in the spring, I thought nothing was better than the lilacs. Then the honeysuckle. But now, unquestionably, the roses are my favorite. All roses should smell as sweet!

Other delights that have flown in on the wings of June are the humming birds, the oriole that sings from the top of the cottonwood tree, the flying gems or butterflies that flit too and fro across the yard. And don't forget the fireflies that silently blink in the night!

And thunderstorms! I love the earthshaking booms that rattle the windows and make everyone jump! The brilliant flashes of lightning that strobe across the sky! The torrential rains that pour from the sky! The kids are gradually beginning to enjoy them, shakily casting aside their fears to behold the wonder and the power of the Almighty!

Then, delights from our garden have started finding their way to our table - green onions, fresh lettuce, swiss chard. Yum!

And the best delights are the shining faces and goofy grins of my wondrous children as they romp and play outside, their creative imaginations running wild!

Welcome, summer!!!

We Are Alive!

Well, its been what? Two months since I’ve written anything? That and more! And it hasn’t been for lack of writing material, that is for sure! For one thing, I think some of you may be wondering how Andrew has fared since his accident: He is all healed up and back to work… for two months now. The kids cried when he started up again! Well, who am I kidding? I did too! Though we don’t recommend parking your car next to a telephone pole at 30 mph, it sure provided a wonderful season of family time.

Since that time, a lot has been going on in our neck of the woods!! Abigail lost her first two teeth, we’ve expanded and planted our garden, built fences, chased chickens, and added a trampoline for added chaos. We’ve put away the winter coats and hats and boots (well, almost! They are washed and ready for the tote – if I will ever go stuff them in!), we’ve brought out the bikes. The kids have started building a fort in the woods, there has been much digging in dirt, moving stones, jumping in mud, and splashing in our very full and bubbling brook. (For a time, I was washing 2 EXTRA loads of laundry a day, just to keep up with the wet and muddy clothes! Now that the mud is basically gone and the heat of summer is here, we let the wet things dry on the kids.) We’re plodding on with the school work – math lessons are a-l-m-o-s-t done for this year – and we’ve enjoyed our hands-on science lessons that the spring had ushered in. Fortunately, there have been enough rainy days to make it easy to keep up on reading. One day at breakfast last week, Abigail said, “I prayed to God last night that he would make today a rainy day so that I could curl up with a book all day!” Yeah – like mother, like daughter! I’ve been getting materials together and making lists of things to order for the next school year, and I’ve started preparing our final quarterly report. Hooray!

Spring has also brought the arrival of many new babies! We’ve friends and family that have either had new little ones or are impatiently waiting for the arrival overdue babes. (Waiting to hear, Lacey!!)

So, here we are! Spring is almost past, Summer is around the corner! I can’t guarantee that I’ll be any more faithful in writing, but I would LIKE to be! I have lots of lovely pictures that I’m planning on adding to our SmugMug account; I’ll post a link when I get that done (hopefully before snow flies!) Oh! And we have a budding photographer! Abigail has demonstrated a keen eye for beauty, and a steady hand for snapping photos – most of which are in focus! I’ll add an album of her masterpieces on SmugMug as well.

We hope the warm weather find you well – and drying out! And Oh! Guess what! Today is our anniversary! We’ve been married 9 years! Can you believe it? Nine years with my best friend – it has gone by in a flash… yet its hard to recall a time without the Carpenter in my life. He is so good to me! And look! Four beautiful babies as evidence of our love! Its been a good nine years!

Sourdough Bread

The delicious smell of baking bread wafted through the house, reaching my nose as I gave Lydia's hair one final rinse. Yikes! The bread! Quickly, I pulled Lilly out of the tub, wrapped her in a towel and carried her down the stairs. I tossed her to the Carpenter and bustled into the kitchen. Pulling open the oven door, my eyes beheld a sight of beauty: four golden-brown loaves of bread, their tops climbing as high as they could without flopping. I could almost see the good smell curl out of the oven in mouth-watering billows. Perfect! I pulled the loaves out, grabbed my faithful spatula and started the delicate process of removing the loaves from their pans (I use glass - never fear! A little greasing and flouring always helps!) As always a delectable piece of crust stuck in the corner of the first pan. Ahh! The privileges of being the Mama and the Chef! I pulled it off and popped it into my mouth...

... and my resolve to eat less bread was renewed with ease.

ALAS! I had forgotten the salt! Oh, woe of woes! Four lovely loaves of yeast-free sourdough bread made with fresh ground whole wheat flour and home-cultured buttermilk utterly RUINED!

*sigh*

I bet these loaves will last a l-o-n-g time.

Twitterpated!

Today, thanks to the Carpenter who noticed first, I saw my first Pileated Woodpecker! Actually, there were TWO! And they were definitely twitterpated. How exciting! I do hope they stick around this spring and summer! Oh... I am getting SO excited for warmer weather; I'm dreaming of bird watching and flower picking and gardening and herb gathering. I think spring cleaning should be done in the winter so that all of spring can be spent out of doors!!!