Perspective

I think one of my biggest pet peeves in life is Kaleb fussing. He can be the cutest, sweetest kid in the world. I haven't been feeling very well these last few days (I think I accidentally got some gluten, so I've been weak, + a cold hit me--like I used to always get!).  Kaleb was so great yesterday morning "Mommy, I can help you with whatever you want today, since I know you're sick" and "whatever you ask me to do, I'll do."  Wow.  What mom could ask for more, right?  By lunch time he was whiny because I told him to get bologna (coupon deals) instead of hot dogs.  He stomps his little feet and gets a high pitch sound in his voice. It's a little restrained these days (he's *trying* to hold back), but still reminiscent of his toddler days!  (Of course, there are consequences for such actions, even when Mommy isn't feeling well).  We had a busy morning today--echo cardiograms, and out to lunch with Grandma, and well, it's just hot out there. :) I was tired, they were tired, and we got home and I wanted them to get to nap/quiet time and let me rest too. But Kaleb fussed about--oh what was it this time?  It was--"but Mommy--I wanted to play in the pool!!!" and he stomped his little feet again. Ugh. That can put a tired Momma over the edge! ;) 

It's not ok, and he did get disciplined for that, but I was just thinking about this perspective:

That little guy came out fussing, and we were delighted by it.  Ok, not just fussing, SCREAMING (like I said, he's a little restrained now).  We were so thankful to hear his strong voice. There was so much emotion flowing out of me because of this. In the beginning of his pregnancy I thought I'd lost him. He was still there but there was an empty egg sack, so I did lose a twin. But I thought for sure I'd miscarried completely--and he was still there! I was delighted by his heart beat when I saw it! And before Isaac was born, we'd lost 2 babies--early miscarriages, but hard, nonetheless!  And with this little guy, there had been so much struggle through the pregnancy--a cerclage (my cervix was stitched shut), months of bed rest, midnight trips to the hospital for a shot of turbuteline to stop my contractions, and lots of worry.  When Isaac was born, I didn't get to hear his voice. They stuck a tube down his throat to make him breath, and didn't take it out for the next 2 months. And after that, he still didn't make a sound because his throat had to heal from having a tube down it for so long. And THEN, his cry was such a tiny little whimper.  1 week before Kaleb was born, I had an amnio (they were going to deliver him early to keep him & me safe), and it said that his lungs were still too weak. The doctor warned us that when they delivered him (a week later), his lungs could still be weak, and he may need some oxygen.  But this little guy came out *SCREAMING*! :)  Our doctor said the amnio was wrong (there's no way his lungs would've developed that quickly!), and oh were we SO glad!

So--a little perspective!  6 1/2 years ago I was proud to hear this boy fuss. It was a sign that he was healthy, and everything would be ok.  :)

Fixing my (black) daughter's hair :)

I think it only took an hour and a half tonight. I didn't wash it. I only do that every 3 weeks, and I think I did that 2 weeks ago. Today the braids were looking matted, and had pretty much turned into knots.  

I started at the dinner table. I don't have a set schedule for when I do Ruby's hair. It's just--when it hits me, I do it. Sometimes at the worst times. We have 8 am echo cardiograms for 2 boys tomorrow in Portland. Which means I have to have all 4 kids ready to go by 7 am at the latest (earlier for rush hour)...Yeah, it wasn't the best timing!  But when it hits me, it just does--and I can't help myself (so I say). :)

Everyone was finishing dessert, and then I pulled out the sprays & lotion.  I use: John Freida Detangling spray, Motions hair lotion (and another more natural brand--but I couldn't find the bottle today), and something called "Braid Spray."  I found the bags of beads, and the little black pony holders (the stretchy throw away kind), and the combs.

I had Ruby's hair in 4 big sections with pony-braids, and then 2 strands of cornrows across the front (with beads--only--she pulled them off of 1 braid). The cornrows were looking ok (why mess with something that's going well!) but the back braids looked bad. 

I took out one of the 4 sections at a time. I use scissors to cut out those black elastic pony holders. Then I use a comb that has a metal pointy end (almost like a knitting needle but finer), and I use that to take out the braids. Ruby freaks out if she sees it coming towards her head (funny--that's not what hurts), so I have to hide it from her.

Usually, I play a show for her while she sits in her high chair. She LOVES "My Friends Tigger & Pooh." If she fusses, I pause the show, and ask "is this going to be a problem?" and I play the show again when she puts her hands down and sits quietly. But today, like I said, I started when everyone was just finishing up dessert and Karry was pop-quizzing the boys on Bible facts (who were Noah's sons, etc., etc.).

After I got the braid out (oh, I sprayed detangler all over the braid as I was taking it out--it really does help!), I put lots of hair lotion in the hair and rubbed it through the dryest parts first and all the way up to the scalp.  Then I held that section of hair near the head & started combing at the end. She doesn't like this part. I use a big wide wooden pic for this. She screams. Poor girl!!  I used a little more lotion and rubbed the scalp to make it feel better.

After that, I used that metal pointy part of the comb to make straight lines in her hair. This time I divided each of the 4 sections into 4 more! Then I did twists, and since twists never look tight enough at the top to me, I put little elastic pony holders in.  I clipped big flower barrettes at the end of each twist and sprayed "Braid Spray" over each section as I finished it.

Noah was gracious and went to find some toys for Ruby. I let her spray braid spray & detangler on her Cinderella doll.  Ruby enjoyed spraying & combing her doll's very plastic head!  

Ruby is also learning her colors as I fix her hair! I let her play with a big ziploc bag full of pony beads.  She LOVES them.  Yes, this makes a mess at the end (the boys like cleaning up this kind of mess--the only problem with this kind of mess is the dog eating the beads, so I have to keep her out!).  I let Ruby play with the beading tool & she strings beads onto it.  She picks out colors and says proudly "Geeen!" and "Papal!"  Her favorite colors are definitely purple and pink, but tonight she also liked orange. :)

When I'm done fixing her hair, I spray it one more time with braid spray, and then I bring her to the bathroom mirror and show her how pretty it is. And everyone in the house tells her it's beautiful. She loves it! I don't have any pictures from tonight's hairdo to post. :( Well, it's cute--you'll just have to trust me. :)

Simplifying

I think my definition of the word "simplify" is different from what a lot of people think.  For example, if I said I wanted to simplify our meals, people might think--buy ready-made stuff, or make meals with 5 ingredients or less. Right?  (Those 5 ingredients usually contain products that contain 50+ unknown ingredients :).  To me, simplifying meals means making meals with simpler ingredients.  

Since doing the coupon shopping, I've, as Karry put it, "sold out."  I used to be strict about ingredients. I was making as much as I could homemade. It's not simpler to do that. No--it takes time. It especially hits me when we're preparing for a trip (making everything homemade in advance).  Is it simpler (time wise, budget wise) to pick up that free Kraft BBQ Sauce and dump it on my chicken? Oh yes....Is it simpler on our digestive tracts?  No.  I talked to someone on our church camp out (who teaches Nourishing Traditions classes!) and shared this struggle I'm having--loving the cheap/free food--loving the challenge of coupon shopping--but knowing that it's not good for us. She reminded me, look at the ingredients--it's *not food.*  Wow. 

I talked to another lady about this, one who does coupon shopping in moderation. She simply reminded me to do what's best for my family. I'm not sure this coupon-shopping thing is what's best for my family. The frantic one-day a week shopping, dragging the kids all over town with my stacks of coupons, getting frustrated when they're silly in the store because I can't "think."...Staying up 'til the wee hours planning my "deals" and cutting coupons, and then living like a sleep-deprived momma the next day. Blah...I'm not sure it's what's "best."

So, all of that is going through my mind, and:

we keep coming back to (always) wanting land...Wishing we could farm some land and work for our own food.  This is something that's been a desire of ours ever since--ever, I think!  We almost bought acreage within our first year of marriage (first 5 acres, on an airport property, but it would have been too much for us per month, and then 3 acres--and it was on an Indian reservation---probably wouldn't have been the wisest investment).  We're wise (is it foolish to claim we're wise?) in that we know we can't do the farming thing with a lot of debt. And we can't get much more than an acre or 2 without a lot of debt. We also know we can't buy land waaaayyyy out there and have Karry still driving in to his job in Lake Oswego (if his commute was long, when would he farm?).  This is our dilemma. We're not sure we can (even in this economy) afford to live the dream of owning land in this state.  We'd love to be debt free (or have very little debt--small debt with an end in sight!) and have 10+ acres and learn to be as self-sufficient as possible.

Ever since we were almost married (July 4 weekend 1999) when we drove out to Karry's grandparents' farm together, we've talked about the possibility of living in Montana someday. We said maybe when our kids were 7 or 8 that would be good timing to get a farm out there.  Isaac is 7--almost 8--Kaleb is almost 7.  Karry's grandparents have both passed away now. There are 240 acres out there that belong partially to Karry's mom and partially to his 2 uncles.  If we wanted to, we're sure, we could rent the farm house, or buy a few acres and build our own house, and work the land. We're pretty sure that the family would be delighted to see the farm being worked again....

Every time we go out there, we think about moving there again (and some times in between :).  Everytime we go camping (like we've been doing for the last week!!) we're for sure convinced that we want to downsize and have land.  We LOVE the closeness of our family in our little trailer (it's a bit crowded--a little bigger would be nice :) and we LOVE the kids getting creative with sticks, and trees, and dirt out doors.  They have barkdust and rocks in our backyard...and skinny fruit trees that they're not allowed to touch because they'll break. :)

Karry's mom would like to move to MT to retire. She'd like to build a small cabin out there, but she’ll be all alone.

Our biggest issue--family (my family) is here.  And friends (all of you!) are here. So everyone want to move to MT with us?  Pleeeaasseee?  It's beautiful! The sky is really bigger there! The mountains are incredible, and you can sit back on the front porch of the farm house and stare at them (and listen to the wolves--or coyotes or something howl). :)  You can wake up in the morning and watch the wild turkeys in your yard! You can enjoy Flathead Lake, the largest freshwater late east of the Mississippi!  The 240 acres includes fields, woods, a lake (there may be multiple! I have only seen 1 but on a google map it looks like there are more), a big garden area....It snows in the winter! Lots of snow! You’ll at least come visit us, right? It’s 10 hrs from here...Only 4-5 from Spokane, WA...You’ll come, right? :)  Ok....Now we just have to convince everyone we care about to move there. :)

Here are some pictures of some of our trips to Montana.  The bottom ones are of our most recent trip, last Nov. for Karry’s grandma’s funeral.  We wished we could’ve stayed longer. We want to go back again soon!

This doesn't even capture the view! 

I just thought this was sweet & I'd throw it in here. It's Noah with Great Grandma Lee after Great Grandpa Lee's funeral. She was delighted to see him!

The barn--our niece & nephew are there--this nephew just graduated from high school. :)

Complete with a Sears catalog (you know, for toilet paper!). There's a real bathroom inside the house, too! :)

On a wagon ride (behind the tractor) out into the woods. We saw some kind of wild cat (maybe a fox, but I think it was bigger) run by us as well as some deer.

Noah's the one who wants to be a "farmer" the most. He really wants a horse. He was so excited to find out that Karry's uncle (up in Arlington, WA) has horses & welcomed us to come riding there. He has one that is gentle with kids, and Noah started asking immediately "when can we go? Do you know directions how to get there?" :) :)

Family Camp was Great!

...though, I'm exhausted! I've got GF pizzas (homemade) in the oven and Karry has all of the kids with him, getting a movie for tonight. :)

We went on the Household of Faith (Milwaukie--aka Gladstone--it's confusing) "Family Camp" this weekend at Metzler Park in Estacada. We had a very nice time. But first,

The cons of camping:

• We signed up late, so our site wasn't with the majority of the group.
• The site wasn't long enough for our trailer. We used a tent for the first time since Kaleb was a baby!
• We had no water or electricity in our site.
• It was a teeny tiny site. Our tent was butted up against the one in the site right behind us (a lady with a 2 year old who didn't like to sleep ;)
• The site was in *full sun* all day. Ok, maybe part sun--just enough shade for our 2 coolers. :)
• Ruby peed through her diaper & clothes and onto my lap TWICE this weekend!!! Oh that is noooooo fun!!! 
• Our car died & we had to jump it! 

The pros of camping:

• First, just look at the pictures!

• Kaleb & our old "8 man" tent. Yeah right!

• Pretty Ruby in her chair.

• Noah is our critter catcher. This was a huge bug that he got in the car. He cuddled it like a stuffed animal and fell asleep that way the first night. It was buzzing so loud that I threw it out of the tent. He eventually let it go to catch other critters. He was bummed we didn't get a tadpole at the creek!

• Isaac dressed himself and he was oh so cute (flashlight on one side, magnifying glass in another pocket, and his "fishing hat").

• Food time!

• We did dutch oven cooking over the campfire for the first time ever! And in the foil is zucchini + yellow squash with olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper.

• Oh, here's the other "part shade" area of our campsite. The dog liked it there. It wasn't part shade most of the day, so she hid under the car (or came with us to the water). Noah loves our dog. So does Ruby. Ruby pets her & hugs her and says "hi, hi, hi, hi, hi" in the cutest little tone.

• Nap time. Yeah right. It was hot. That tent was in full sun. Karry wasn't feeling well. The nap in the hot tent, we're pretty sure, made it worse. He rested with his damp shower towel on his head. :)
• In our tent, we had 2 queen sized mattresses. We had all 4 kids lay across the one on the right, and Karry and I had the one on the left.

• The water was very, very fun. We hung out there pretty much all day (sun up to almost sun down) the 2nd day, because then we could stay out of the sun. Lots of people had the same idea so there were plenty of people to chat with.

• Some of the food I made--with gravy on top of the meat & potatoes. :)

• Noah and Kaleb both got brave enough to take their training wheels off this weekend (all of the other kids were riding around a big loop. We said that maybe if they had their training wheels off they could do that too.  Well, for Kaleb--he wanted to ride to Emily Rouse's site--and that motivation alone was enough to practice without those training wheels. The practices didn't last long, they got pretty frustrated. But we'll keep trying!!).

Other positives:

• We got to meet everyone who was there from HOFCC, I think.  By yesterday, I could recognize who was at the campground who was a part of the group and who wasn't, and I at least knew everyone's name.
• We had really, really awesome worship last night. Some people had Christmas lights all over their site and everyone hung out there and worshiped. The information white board said "bring your instruments," and people did. There were adults and kids playing bongos, violins, a banjo, and a some flute-like "whistles" that are from Ireland (very cool).  
• Ruby loves worship. We've been singing this really upbeat song at church "Oh, happy day, happy day, He washed my sins away," etc., and I think it's Ruby's favorite song! She makes her beads bang together and make a "click click" noise, and puts her arms in the air and bops around with her eyes closed. She is sooooooo cute!!!
• There is a couple who was really sweet to us, and who we've been connecting with. We met her the first day we went to this church. We saw them become deacons of the church (and they are a perfect fit!!). They're sweet and gentle with our kids. Their youngest is 12, and their 4 kids (up to 17) are pretty independent. So when they saw us trying to walk somewhere with all of the kids  & stuff (chairs, etc.), they'd come beside us and help us. They came to our campsite to play games w/us last night after we put the kids to bed. They're very nice! (Oh, and before she was married 20+ years ago, she worked for Noah's Grandpa's business! And, they met in the college group at Good Shepherd! Yes! Small world!). :)
• The kids at this church (even teenagers) are the most polite I've ever met...Ever!  We've always taught our kids to call people "Mr." & "Mrs." and then their last name. Some people have thought that was weird, or maybe just dumb. Oh well. We still did it. :) I think every kid at this church addresses adults like that. And they're just kind--and they genuinely want to get to know the adults. Which is different from a lot of places in life, right?
• Another thing I've noticed at this church, that I love: people really, really care about getting to know about each other's kids. In most places in life, when we meet people & mention our kids, people don't care *much* about their names & ages. They might ask--but they don't make an effort to remember. Which is ok--it's hard. But here, people really try to remember it. And there are people with a lot of kids!  But they really care about learning about our family.  Not only that--in most places in life, when we're talking to adults, if our kids try to talk to the people, the attitude is kind of like "ok kid, hurry up and talk, I want to talk to your parents." Nobody says that--but you know what I mean. I think I'm guilty of that attitude. Really.  But it's not like that here. I noticed the first week we were at church. Martha (the lady who I mentioned above, who is so sweet and went to Good Shepherd, etc.) introduced herself to us and asked about us, and Isaac talked to her, and she got down to his level and really cared to listen to him. And she asked probing questions to get him to talk more. It was very sweet. And soooooo unusual, right?  Right! :)
• Today we had service at the campground, and it was nice. Some people came for the service who weren't camping. When we were eating lunch (with Laurie, another very sweet lady who was chatting with us at the picnic table), my friend Becki and her husband Tim stopped by our site. And then we chatted and chatted and chatted and chatted and could have kept chatting! Very fun!  Ruby was being too shy to play with Gracie (silly girl!!), but Gracie and her brother had fun playing with the boys. It was Karry's first chance to meet and get to know Tim, so we were glad for that.  Gracie was adopted from Hatti (and they want to adopt again!).  Ruby and Gracie stare at each other during church, and when they showed up at service today, Ruby said "oh!" and pointed at Gracie. It's so cute! 
• We scoped out the campground after that for what spots we like (which ones are shady & long enough for our trailer!) for next year. We like this church a lot. At this time we're thinking that yes, there will be a next year. :)
• Oh, we camped right next to a couple from Portland who has 5 kids (3 adopted), and their youngest (16) from China was with them. They were not a part of our church group, but we really enjoyed being next to them. They were a really cool family to get to know.
• There was a family talent show on Friday night, and there were fun skits as well as singing and instrument playing. There are a lot of talented people! Isaac thought of a skit for our family for next year. :)
• This morning at service, the kids were asked to raise their hand if they knew what was a part of the full armor of God (Ephesians), in order. Kaleb raised his hand at one point, and went up to the microphone and he was asked his name, and he said (sooo cutely!) "Kaleb Scott," and then he said "the helmet of salvation." Ohhhh soooo cuuuttteee!  I was proud of him! 

That's all! The end! We have 1 day to wash all of the clothes and get ready for a trip to Canada! That's alllllll!

Search Engine Issues?

Anyone else having troubles while searching the internet? For the last few months, I've noticed that if I try typing in anything about government issues or Obama, etc., all that comes up (for the first several pages) is good stuff. Nothing bad, ever. As if it doesn't exist.  I've typed in specific issues that were going on, and nothing--as if the issues weren't really going on.  Pre-O presidency, I could find negative press about him online with simple Google searches. Now, it's like it's being hidden.  It's had me thinking, is someone filtering what we see??  Seriously...And then, I thought about it again today....

Ruby woke up from nap and threw the biggest tantrum of her life. She was screaming and pointing at things (like the walls) and wasn't making any sense, and it went on for over an hour. I started thinking "OH NO! She had shots 1 week ago!". And you know, this is when kids start showing signs of Autism, just after the 18 month shots (Ruby got her shots late). So I did some searches on that. And guess what? I've done searches on this kind of stuff before, and no problem, found what I was looking for. This time, official government sites pop up as the first several. You know, the ones that never actually admit to any side effects of the vaccines? (or no major ones, at least).  Isn't that weird?  Anyways...Try it...Search for things and tell me what you find!!

A Sign of the Times

Prediction: Obama doesn't want there to be a private sector anymore. Obama wants the government to own everything. Loans will start to be called, just like in the Depression. Just like World War 2 Germany.

It's happening.

A family member's business loan was just called, out of the blue. They have owned this business at least since I was a toddler & the loan has never been called. Commercial loans are written something like this: "if the bank believes the loan holder will fail, the bank has the right to call the loan." It's really up to the bank's discretion.  This person is up to date on payments and has been doing well.  They argued that with the bank, the bank said "doesn't matter, we're still going to pull it."  

Unless this person gets private $$, they will lose everything--their business, home, etc., because they have to sell all collateral to pay off this loan (and still will be short, I am sure).

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have."

Thomas Jefferson

There will be more of this, friends.....There will be more......

Isaac & Fun, and Ruby's Religion :)

Isaac is not allowed to play with any toys today. Yesterday at the potluck he acted like he was entitled to play with toys. He opened doors and got things out without permission.  He whined and said "I need toys!" It was out of character for him. All of the other kids were playing ping pong or jumping on the trampoline. Anyways, because of that, Karry said that Isaac could not play with any toys today...

So, Isaac's fun: he pulled out an allen wrench (his). He grabbed a little wooden chair. He started unscrewing it, and then screwing it tight again. And he kept doing that for quite a while. He told me if the chair ever comes apart, he knows how to fix it now. :)

And I also wanted to share this: the other day I had the kids take a quick nap because we were going somewhere. I said "no toys" (they usually bring a small toy), and I told them to try to just rest for a little while.  Ok, so fast forward to the next day:

I was driving with the kids in the car, and I said I wasn't sure if they were going to get naps because it would be a busy day. Isaac said "ohh--I love naps, I get to play." Then Noah announced that Isaac had brought a toy to nap when I told him not to the day before.  My response:

"Oh, Isaac, did you do that?" ("yes"). "Oh no....just for that, you're not going to be able to take a nap today" (I wanted to laugh so badly!!).  He got so upset "oh---but mommy, nap is my favorite time, I love nap."  "Well, Isaac, next time you need to obey me." :) :) :)

What kid complains about not getting a nap??? Especially a 7 year old??? :) :) :)

 

Ok, Ruby's religion:

I just realized that she calls Dog and God the same thing: Gog.  So whenever we ask questions to the kids about the Bible, and she keeps answering "Gog, Gog, Gog," she might be a bit confused!!

A Good Weekend :)

A very long, but good weekend!!

Karry's sister and her husband & their daughter Hope were out from Georgia. They used to live in Illinois, before that. Anyways, we all went to the children's museum in Salem, the AC Gilbert House. We bought a membership--2 visits make the price worthwhile for our family, + we got free guest passes (one time use) so we could bring Mike & Leeann in and they didn't have to fork out any dough. :)  If you have never been to the AC Gilbert House, I highly recommend it, if nothing else, for the huggggeee play area. We dressed our boys in orange just for the occasion, because it's easy to lose them there! It's a big fort, with places to climb up, places to duck under, big slides, little slides, some swings, etc., etc.  Very fun! We packed a picnic lunch and spent several hours at the museum.

The menu this weekend (I know, I'm dorky like that :):

Friday evening~

Zoupa Toscanna

Salad with yummy dressings (you know, coupon deals!)

Gluten free spaghetti with sausage & tomato cream sauce

Marshmallows over the firepit for dessert :)

Saturday morning~

Waffles & Bacon (made by Karry & Mike--go guys!) :)

Oh, then Leeann and I went to the Canby Farmer's Market for a little while.

Saturday lunch~~

picnic at AC Gilbert House

Ham & Cream Cheese rolls (our gluten free "sandwich" alternative these days!)

Pirate's Booty

Cherries & Raspberries

Ice Cream Bars, thanks to Uncle Mike :)

Saturday dinner~~

Whole chicken in the crock pot

Mashed Potatoes

Gravy

Peas & Carrots (Peas from our own garden + our CSA)

Swiss Chard (sauteed w/garlic, then simmered with chicken broth)

Sunday morning breakfast~~

Blueberry gluten free Scones. I love these...Mmmmm....

Mock devonshire cream (cream cheese, whipping cream, powdered sugar)

Scrambled Eggs

Mike & Leeann came to church with us, and we ate a real quick picnic after church. We usually stay a lot longer and chat with people, but we had to get going today.

Sunday picnic~~

Salads made with yummy lettuce from the Farmer's Market, roast beef, turkey, havarti, cucumber & carrots, with yummy dressing (Litehouse Ranch or Blue Cheese for those who like it! :)

Kettle Chips

The kids had meat, cheese, cucumbers & chips.

I really, really liked Steve Rouse's teaching today at church. He was talking about Colossians 3, and reminded us all that it's not in our power--that would be legalism. And that our natural tendency is to want a list--but he didn't give us a list. We're not supposed to rely on our own power and check off a list.  I'm not explaining it well, but it was good. :)

After the short picnic, we said our goodbyes to Mike & Leeann & little Hope (who's almost 3).  We drove home, they drove towards Seaside. We'll see them again in a week & 1/2 in Canada!! :)

Karry dropped me off at home so that I could bake cookies (quickly!! SO thankful for a double oven & convection to boot!). :)  I made the dough earlier in the morning. Karry picked up more cherries at the store, and some newspapers for me (miss coupon-a-holic these days :).  We let the dog play outside a bit. Poor doggy. She was alone most of the day.

Then we left!  We drove 1 hour out to Hillsboro for a potluck with a group called African American Families Through Adoption.  What a cool group!  

At church, I invited my new friend Becki, who adopted her daughter Gracie from Hatti. We have a 10 minute break between worship & the sermon at church & I'm usually talking to Becki. :) I say "Ruby, want to go see Gracie?" and she gets excited and says "yeah!" but then she gets shy when we are actually near her. :) Anyways, I invited Becki to come to the potluck with us this afternoon, and she came!! Just she and Gracie, not her husband & son, but it was so great that she came! :)  

Also, we got to meet a new family tonight, the family who was hosting. They weren't at the last potluck. I knew they had a big family when I saw their dining room table! Wow! And then the man who lived there, Ron, explained to Karry how he built it with cheap pine, and it was his first wood working project. Karry got really excited about that. :) They have 11 kids, some biological (1? 2? 3? 4? I'm not positive. 2 were away on a missions trip, too). She is a counselor & works with RAD kids, part time.  But she also home schools her 11 kids. Many of their adoptions have been kids who were adopted by other families & the adoption was disrupted (which means, the kid had behaviors the family couldn't handle, and they wanted to get the child out of their home). This family took in THOSE kids. Their family seems very healthy and like it's functioning well. Their kids were respectful and kind.

At a potluck like that, with kids who come from so many different histories, and with the huge amount of sexual abuse that happens in different countries as well as in our own state foster care system, there have to be a lot of precautions. I liked it that Linda, the lady who lived there, sat all of the kids down and set down some rules. Like, 2 kids never go off alone, there always have to be at least 3 kids together. And, all dress up toys go over clothes.  And, nobody should ever touch you where your swimming suit goes.  Those are great rules....And very good to remind the kids of, since you never know.  Their home was equipped for these kinds of things, too. They also do respite care, like right now they have a girl for the summer, and her family is considering disrupting that adoption--so they took her in while her family figures it out.  So, since they need to keep an eye on their kids, and there are 11 of them (plus other kids for respite care), they've hooked up alarms on several doors (so that they can set them & know when particular kids leave their bedroom at night, etc.). They've also set up video cameras all over their house that are recording all the time, so that they can see what the kids are doing when they're not in the same room (she has a tv screen to watch them while she cooks dinner, for example). This way, too, they can rewind and find out who stole something that's missing, rather than having a debate with a child over whether they did it or not.  

I loved their cute school room with the slanted ceilings (an older home). I enjoyed meeting their kids. But one thing that really stood out to me & has me feeling challenged is this: we were talking about the cost of adoption. We are partially choosing to adopt through the state because of the cost of adoption through an agency.  Partially--partially, also, we see a great need and we really want to meet that need.  Anyways, when the cost factor came up, the people with 11 kids said, with every single adoption they've done, they started out with maybe $500 to $1500 for the home study fee, and that's it. That's it. And they just trusted God (they were believers, too!) that if He was leading them down that path, He was going to provide the funds for them. And He did. Every time.  11 kids later, and they didn't start out with 25k sitting in some bank account somewhere, with any of those adoptions!  Amazing!! Really amazing to me!!  

At the potluck, Becki shared with me the heartache that they faced in trying to adopt through the state--having a little girl for 18 months & then suddenly long lost relatives came out of the woodwork & threatened to sue the system if they didn't give her to them...And they caved. And they didn't think about what was best for that child, or that family. And that's heart wrenching. And *all too common.*  I know we are going to need to be very, very strong to do this state adoption thing......I am very glad that we don't have our hopes set on any particular child right now. It will all be in God's timing.  But for now, both of us still feel like this is the path we need to be on.  We keep hearing a lot about Haitian adoptions and we're very interested in learning more, but maybe that's next--maybe after this.  We'll see how God leads us. :)

Becki also shared with me about her son being damaged by immunizations, and how he has "special needs" now. After getting shots when he was younger, he suddenly couldn't hold his head up anymore (and he could before). And he developed a rash on his leg that looked like a sign of some neurological diseases (that are all deadly). He doesn't have those diseases, but he can't hold his head up straight and suddenly developed "low muscle tone" after those shots. He has no official diagnosis, and they can't explain it. The doctors are amazed he's able to walk, and swim (with all of his strength), and ride a bike. She said she just never held him back & said he could try everything.  I loved her testimony in that, though. One of the little girls who lived at the house we were at was telling us that her sister can't walk on one side (she has CP), and I said "oohhh" (like, that's sad), and then Becki said, very excited, "but you know what? God made her that way, and that's great, because God makes everyone special to glorify Him." The little girl just smiled and nodded her head. And Becki said to me "I can't wait to see how God uses my son to glorify Him. I'm excited about that."  I think He already is. :)  That was pretty cool. :)

Anyways, good weekend. :)

Honduras & the President

Another crazy, scary move by Obama. There is no good reason for this. His justifications don't make any sense.

The president of Honduras decided, towards the end of his term, that he was going to re-write unchangeable documents to end term limits, so that he could keep ruling over the country.  The Supreme Court of Honduras declared this unconstitutional. Congress met. All of the branches of government were against what their president was doing. They decided to impeach him. They handled it through the system--the proper way. He wouldn't step down--he refused to move. So they brought in the military to get him out of office.

The system was working the way it should, to prevent dictatorship. Exactly why that kind of system is set up.

What did Obama do?  Sided with the president of Honduras. Told his government to put him back in office.  Claimed that bringing military in to take out a president *who wouldn't leave office* was not democratic, and was moving back to "dark" ways of doing things.  

This doesn't make any sense at all!  Unless---unless Obama wants to do the same thing.

In January, Rep. Serrano D-N.Y. wrote a bill, which proposed amending the 22nd amendment, removing term limits for the president.  
On another note, Karry is reading a book that happened to have a section on Adolph Hitler. Scary, really really, really scary how similar the conditions were that brought these two guys into office. Economic problems. They came in to office using the word "CHANGE" as their big slogan....Wow....This book was written pre-Obama running for president. So, Hitler was able to rise to power *because* of the economic times. It fit his agenda to keep the economy in a poor state however he could. Interesting.



My brother & sister in law are here from Georgia. They recently moved there & have lived in Illinois for the last 9+ years before that. They said Obama’s rise to power is very, very strange. In the state of Illinois, they all thought that he was going to be impeached. There had been some sketchy money transactions involving a house and campaign funds. The guy who worked with Obama and who did the fund raising for a lot of his campaign is now in federal prison for the methods he used. Obama still owns a house in Illinois that was purchased fraudulently. He didn’t have to give back any of the campaign funds that this other guy raised for him, even though the methods were declared illegal (and the guy went to jail for it). There is soooo much money that was given to Obama that is unaccounted for, and nobody questions it. So anyways, it’s really strange for a couple from Illinois to see this guy become president. They were amazed at how kindly he was treated in the media, when the state of Illinois was about to impeach him and his buddy, who he worked very very closely with is now in federal prison....



Ahhhhh! What are we coming to???

Ruby learned a new word today

So, add this one to the list...

I was driving along, talking to my mom on the phone. The call dropped. I tried to dial again & accidently hit the wrong button (on 99E of all places--it's hard to hit the "mom" button with my finger while I drive). I whispered "crap."  Then Ruby whispered "cap."

Oh no. Watch what you say Mamma!!! :)

I should've said shabuda, which according to my Grandma, means "onion" in German--but Google doesn't agree...I think I believe Google (don't tell my Grandma! :).  Well, that's the "swear" word I use most often. :) That, and "frappucino." :)

Ruby's word count

Ruby & Noah had well-child check ups tonight. Our Dr. asked how many words Ruby is saying right now. That always stumps me! Ok--I can get it when the child is just saying "Mommy," "Daddy" and "up" or whatever...But when a child is repeating (or at least understanding) nearly everything we say, it's hard to count!!  I guessed 30-50 words.  I wrote a list when I got home, and I'm sure I am missing several. There are also many concepts I know she understands, but I can't remember if she's said the word. She knows where to put the recycling, and the garbage--but I don't think she has said those words, for example.  Here's what I came up with:

Words:

1. Daddy
   
2. Mommy
   
3. Hi
   
4. Hello (heyyo)
   
5. Bye
   
6. Me
   
7. Mine
   
8. Excuse Me (Me Me)
   
9. Eye
   
10. Nose
    
11. Teeth
    
12. Ear
    
13. Hand
    
14. Foot
    
15. Hair
    
16. Pretty (pree)
    
17. Flower
    
18. Dress
    
19. Diaper 
    
20. Wipes (dipes)
    
21. Basket (bupet)
    
22. Bucket (sounds the same as basket)
    
23. Kitty
    
24. Meow
    
25. Puppy
    
26. Doggy (goggy)
    
27. Kizzie
    
28. Happy
    
29. Swing
    
30. Play
    
31. Yay!
    
32. Plate
    
33. Cup
    
34. Sippy
    
35. Milk (gilk)
    
36. Num Num
    
37. Food
    
38. Snack
    
39. Cracker
    
40. Chip
    
41. Cheese
    
42. Berry
    
43. Yogurt (gogurt)
    
44. Waffle (affle)
    
45. Juice
    
46. Water
    
47. Syrup (up up)
    
48. Chair
    
49. Wash
    
50. Dry (dye)
    
51. Hot
    
52. Cold
    
53. Soap
    
54. Ewwww
    
55. Dirty
    
56. Potty
    
57. Shoes
    
58. Sock
    
59. Car
    
60. Book (gook)
    
61. Bed
    
62. Pooh
    
63. Darby (Pooh Bear’s friend)
    
64. Bear
    
65.  Ru
    
66.  Rabbit (babbit)
    
67. Eyore 
    
68. Up
    
69. Brother (brober)
    
70. Isaac
    
71. Bubby (what she calls Kaleb)
    
72. Noah
    
73. Grandma
    
74. Mmmmm
    
75. Yummy
    
76. Ok
    
77. Yup
    
78. Yes
    
79. Yeah
    
80. No
    
81. Ouch
    
82. High Chair
    
83. Table
    
84. Nap
    
85. Snack
    
86. Dinner
    
87. Breakfast (bepast)
    
88. Lunch
    
89. Bib
    
90. Outside
    
91. Holy
    
92. God
    
93. Almighty (amighty--when she’s singing “holy, holy, holy”)
    
94. Spider
    
95. Rain
    
96. Star
    
97. Light
    
98. On
    
99. Off
    
100. Piggy
     
101. Floor
     
102. Chocolate (chocate)
     
103. Color
     
104. Jammie
     
105.  Say
     
106.  Bandaid (bambaid)
     
107.  TV (teee)
     
108. Baby
     
109. Cry
     
110. Pray
     
111. Night
     
112. Paper
     
113. Plate
     
114. Napkin
     
115. Buckle (a guckle)
     
116. Walk
     
117. Bible
     
118.  Boots (boops)
     
119. Spray 
     
120.  Blankie (E)
     
121. Cook 
     
122. Cheek
123. Toe
124. Strawberry (Stabebby)

Two & Three Word Phrases:

1. Bye Bye
   
2. All Done
   
3. What’s That?
   
4. How are you?
   
5. Love you
   
6. Night Night
   
7. A Doggy
   
8. Ah Ah (after Karry says “Belly Button”) :)
   

WOW. My little girl is growing up!!!! :)

The other day we drove to the place where we store our trailer, just to get "outside blankets" on our way to see fireworks. As we drove up to the trailer storage place, Ruby shouted "YAYYYY!!!! Bye bye!!!"  So she associates going there--and trailers--with going bye bye.  Isn't that great?  Big concept for a little not-quite-2 year old!!! :)

Ruby knows all the right answers...

Karry has been reading the Bible to the kids at the dinner table for quite a while now. There are "table talk" questions regarding what we learned Sunday's sermon in the church bulletins each week.  They're for using with our family, or to spur conversation with people we invite over during the week.  We're finishing up Ephesians, so this time it was about the sword, helmet, etc., etc.  Tonight Karry asked the boys "the helmet of what?" and quizzes them.  To every question, Ruby answered "God."  It is sooo cute!  I should say, Ruby *thinks* she knows all the right answers!!! :)

Just to capture it, part 2...

Karry is teaching the boys about the parts of the violin. They're going to the violin shop today to get Karry's 2 old violins (a 3/4 and a full size) in working order, and to see about buying some smaller ones (1/2's). We may do a trade (with our 3/4) with another family who has a 1/2 size--for a while. Karry is going to teach the boys Suzuki method, starting this fall.  

Anyways, Karry was teaching the parts of the violin, and he said "this is called the hair, because it's made out of horse hair." Isaac, very seriously, asked "are you true?"  That's his way of asking "are you telling the truth?"  I never want to forget how cute he is when he asks that---are you true? :)

Just to capture it...

We worked with Ruby tonight, to get her to eat foods she wouldn't normally eat. It's been too long that she's been demanding of cheese, chips and fruit as the main foods she would eat (with very few exceptions--like crackers, cereal, dry fruit, and candy!).  Tonight we got her to eat salmon (and she liked it!! and took more bites on her own!!) and potatoes, and peas.  So she got a little scoop of ice cream for all of that hard work!

Kaleb and Noah ate all of their food last night and earned ice cream (we didn't warn them about the reward--we just rewarded the ones who ate well...). Tonight, Isaac, who really doesn't like potatoes, said "if I finish all of my potatoes, can I have some ice cream tonight?" And then he finished his plate off!

Ruby keeps saying "yep" to everything. "Did you eat salmon tonight?" "yep." "Did you like it?" "yep." :)

Ruby is infatuated with anything Winnie the Pooh. Her favorite tv show is "My Friends Tigger & Pooh." I got Huggies Baby Wipes ($1 each at Albertsons w/coupons!) and didn't even notice that the container had Pooh characters all over it. She picked up a container this morning and started shouting "Pooh! Pooh! Pooh!"

Karry got a Wii fit with b-day $$ (thank you mom & dad!). The kids *love* it!! Ruby did the running game today, and it weighed her & Karry checked her height. It said she was overweight!!  All of our boys are below the 5th percentile in body mass index (per recent doctor visits!), but Ruby is over weight. Hee, hee! :)

Ruby is also obsessed with dogs. She wants to pet every dog she sees. She's afraid of the owners, but she loves "a goggy" or "a puppy." We have 2 books about dogs, and they're going to be all worn out/ripped/bitten, etc., very soon, I think. 

She sings "Holy, Holy, Holy" everywhere, including through the grocery store (loud!). Today she picked up my hymn book, opened it and started singing it!

Isaac had a hard time eating a nectarine today because he's missing his 4 top front teeth!

3 cute things Kaleb said today:

"When I'm a man, I'm going to save up enough money for an airplane and a Wii, and also, I'm going to do coupon shopping." :)

and

"Mommy, when I'm a man, I'm just going to marry the one wife that God tells me to marry. And if Satan tries to tell me to marry someone else, I'll say 'Get away Satan.'"..."and Mommy, I hope my wife doesn't choose to work. I want my kids to have their mother at home."

and

He said he wants to have 8 kids when he's a man, and he said he's going to adopt most of them from England. Karry said "oh, if there are any left" (you know, the birth rates). And Kaleb said "God is always making babies, and when He puts it in my heart to adopt some babies, I will write to them, and then I will go to England." :)

He's thinking an awful lot about these things!  

Ruby calls milk "gilk" and says "me me" for "excuse me," even when someone else (like a brother) burps. :)

We taught the kids "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" and I showed them my little dance for that song. Isaac wanted to learn it.

Isaac, about ice cream: "mmmm....isn't this delicious?"

Noah is the only one of the kids who can even come close to doing a cartwheel, and he likes doing it. When he was littler he did somersalts and said "look Mommy, I made this up, it's called a 'frog'". :)

Kaleb: "just think of all of the wonderful things we did today...." =>

(um--cleaned their room, did some chores, read some stories, ate meals, took a nap, helped with laundry, read more stories, played in the backyard, picked up the family room, played the wii, ate ice cream, listened to Daddy read Narnia...yup, that's pretty much the day!!)

I just earned $8, and other goodness...

I just completed 2 surveys at Opinion Outpost. I've earned a total of $18 so far, but I just spent about 30-40 min and made $8.  Not bad. $16 per hour?  For a stay at home mom? That's great.  The first survey had me look at a web page, and then it asked me questions about what ads I saw on the page & what I thought about those ads, and how likely I am to buy Oral B products after looking at that page. :)  The 2nd one had me comparing Parents' Choice products to national brand baby products. How nice! I got to offer my opinions about things like Parents' Choice Formula (it's more clumpy than other brands--not as fine--not easy to mix) and diapers (they leak at night). I'll be getting a check for $8 in the mail in the next few weeks. Awesome!

I've been feeling a little under the weather today. Maybe a lack of sleep? I went to bed at around 10 last night though, which is early for me.  I took a really long nap and was thankful that Karry got home a little early today so that I could do that!  My shoulder (left side) has been hurting super bad since yesterday afternoon. The only thing I can think of is that Ruby climbed on it. She's been doing that a lot lately--climbing on me. And she's heavy--bulky.  I was laying on the couch yesterday and she sat on my arm/shoulder. That could be it.

It wasn't that long ago that I was worried about Ruby not attaching to us--that she wasn't into hugging & pushed back. Well, these days, it's just the opposite!!!  It's almost annoying, how much she wants to be right next to me, on my lap, or at least touching me.  I'm glad for it, don't get me wrong! But I've been asking Karry for breaks from her ("please take her into another room for a little while, please!"). :)  I try to cut coupons--she hops on my lap.  I try to make dinner--she wants to stand right next to me or have me hold her.  It's hard deciding how much of this to let her get away with (for her own good) and when it's time to say "ok, that's enough kiddo."  When we go from thinking she's not attached to this, we don't want to stop this/let it go...But she needs boundaries, too. Mommy needs to be able to sit on the couch once in a while without Ruby on her lap! :)

Oh, and she's been saying "ewww!" lately when she sees icky things. And twice now, she's pointed at my mouth (my breath?) and said "ewww!" Once was today after I'd just eaten leftover rice with lemon, peas & green onions in it (it was so good!). I was talking to her, close to her face, and she pushed away and pointed at my mouth and said "ewww!" She's starting to sound just like Noah, Mr. Strong Sense of Smell! :) :)

Today was almost a repeat scenario of yesterday w/the boys, only, their room this time. I was getting frustrated. I made a good breakfast--popovers. Mmmm...With homemade strawberry jam.  Anyways, I decided to bring a big empty tub up there and just calmly start picking up whatever was on the floor.  That solved the issue.  The room was clean. They didn't like it. But I think it will stick.  They just helped me get more garage sale goodies!

New Veggies & Consequences

First, consequences:

The boys made a horrible mess in the bonus room today. They're supposed to take out one basket at a time and costumes only after they get permission.  When I was in the shower today, they took out some of everything, pretty much, and scattered it around the room, and made tents with their blankets, etc. I've been pretty calm about it (hooray!), but there have been clear consequences. We all got a really late start today. Breakfast was at almost 10 am (they got up super late). I didn't give warnings, I just told them to clean up. And then Ruby and I sat down and started eating. Bummer. They kept playing and didn't work. Bummer. Sad choice!  It's 12:30 and they're just now eating lunch. They started working really hard when they heard me say "ok, Ruby, go to your high chair, it's lunch time." They started running around like crazy, getting the place cleaned up. So they came downstairs. I cooked hot dogs and gave them some carrot sticks and said "that's all, sorry, sad choices today..." None of the free chocolate milk I got yesterday (with coupons). No chips. No yogurt. No leftover brownies. Not 2 hot dogs like Isaac would choose to eat. Just 1 hot dog and a handful of carrots. That's all. Sad choices. :(

Kaleb's telling his brothers that he wishes we had a tiny house and lots and lots of land so that they could just make messes outside and never have to clean up big messes inside. I have another solution: less toys. Little do they know, this afternoon, I will be weeding through the toys to get ready for a late-summer garage sale.  I was eyeing which toys might go while they were "cleaning."

New Veggies~~

We're doing a CSA program this year, and I have to figure out what to make! I know 1 good recipe for kale, I need more. I need to get creative with peas. I'm thinking some rice with lemon & peas tonight with salmon quiche.  What do I do with bok choy?  I saw a recipe for stir frying it w/ginger & onions--does that sound right?  And red cabbage?  German cabbage salad? Maybe? And my swiss chard recipe is good, but anybody have any more? Help!

And misc~~

I found frozen (whole!) salmon at Thriftway last night for $1.99/lb, which is nothing short of an amazing price! :) I got two whole fish for $5 to $6 a piece. NICE.  I also got Western Family cheese for $2.99, for 2 lbs. I never get that kind, I always get Tillamook, but it was cheap. And it's super good--it's a really soft, creamy cheddar. Yum! Ruby and I have been munching on it for lunch. Oh, the boys didn't get any of that either. :( So sad. Maybe tomorrow.

Ruby and I put her teeny baby clothes on her 3 dolls today, and she read them a story (her favorite, The Itsy Bitsy Spider--she sang it and did the hand motions), and then she put them to bed (her bed), put blankies on them, gave them stuffed animals (every single one of the ones from her shelf), kissed them and said "night"....Oh she is soooo soooo cute!!