It has been busy around here with birthdays and school and cleaning and laundry and everything else. We collected sap and cooked it down into maple syrup in the last couple weeks. We have three quarts and I'm hoping for more. The sap slowed down and we were only getting two quarts a day the last few days. I decided to cook a small amount (a gallon and a half) on the stove and it boiled all afternoon. Jonathan told me to keep an eye on it when it was getting close, but I didn't realize how close it was until I saw the pot smoking. Oops, bummer. It looked like burnt molasses. It didn't smell like molasses though. All that down the drain. Oh well...
So our latest project is in the basement. We are finishing a bathroom down there for the boys. I built the walls for it and James secured them to the floor. I was a little rusty in my framing abilities. It seemed like everyday James would come home and tell me I had to fix this or that. The next day I would fix the wall and make another one. Almost everyday that week I was fixing a wall. I guess that's how we learn. I was waiting for James to get started on the plumbing and I found out a few days ago that he thought I should just do it. He's so busy and it could take a while for him to find time to do it. I did change the faucet in the kitchen by myself, but I had no idea how to do rough plumbing. The plumbing in our home is PEX, so it looks fairly simple. Thanks to the internet, I've learned a few things and I hope to start this part of the project soon (I still need a few supplies).
Today I chisled and drilled a hole in the concret for the drain for the shower. I can't wait to show James, I think he'll be surprised. It didn't take as long as I thought it would. I'm trying to include the older boys in what I'm doing, so they can learn right along with me. Josh was my helper today and he kept reminding me to put on my safety glasses. That doesn't seem like him, but I'm glad for his concern for safety.
We had the electric roughed in last week. We are going to finish the rest of it ourselves once the drywall is up. There are so many other things looming on the horizon, I'd sure like to get this finished before Spring. I don't see it happening, but I sure will try.
We are trying to get rid of our dog, Selah. We have a place for her, we think, but she can't go until Monday. James decided we had to get rid of her after she chewed the wires on the van and trailer twice! She jumps up on the little kids, so we have to keep her in her pen all the time. We are hoping she can go to a good home that will train her and have more time to spend with her than we do. The only ones who like the dog are Josh and Jay. Jonathan really doesn't like her. I'll be happy to not see dog poop everywhere outside and to not have to constantly remind the kids to feed and take the dog out.
I'll try post again sooner than this last time.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Wedding
Our neice, Heather Miller, became Heather Downs this past Saturday. Rachel was the flower girl. That was pretty cool since Heather was our flowergirl in our wedding over 16 years ago. We watched our wedding video Saturday morning and it was fun to see how we've all changed. Rachel was too nervous to remember to drop the rose pedals down the isle, but she did well and she was so pretty, with her hair all done up. She got to spend a lot of the day with Heather and the bridesmaids, which included her cousin, Leah seen in the picture above.
Here is Heather and Caleb with the Miller family
Rachel had such a wonderful time at the reception with her cousin Erin. She loved twirling in her dress.
Some day we'll look back on this picture and wonder where all the time went. Oh, that we would savor these moments. When we got home Rachel was so tired. She kept crying, as I was trying to get her ready for bed and get all those bobby pins out of her hair. I asked her why she was crying and figured out it was because the day was over and she didn't want it to end. How precious!In the Process of Training...
Our desire as parents is to train our children's hearts to love and follow Christ. That is a hard task, but we press on to reach that goal. We recently realized that some of the ways we have done things have fostered self-centeredness. In the earlier days of our parenting we came up with specific tasks for our kids to do. Jonathan often got frustrated because he'd be the only one cleaning up, so having set tasks for each child helped with that frustration. Jonathan was able to get done what he needed to and he was able to move on to more enjoyable things. Now we have had to make some changes because the words "It's not my job" was being heard in our home far too often.
Jesus was a servant and we want our children to have that same servant heart. We want them to put others first and to seek for ways to help those around them. With this in mind we have changed the way we do chores. Everyone still has their own areas of responsibility. When chore time arrives, we all start on our chores together. When someone is done with their chores, we have told them they have to go and find someone else to help. When ALL the chores are done, then everyone is done. I still sometimes hear, "I'm done MY chores," but it is getting less so. To encourage them to have a more servant heart, we took away computer priveledges until we see more consistant servant attitudes and actions. It has been a few weeks since we started this and they are starting to get computer back in small doses. If I had to do it all again, I would have implemented this a long time ago. Oh well, we may get it right by the time they are grown. By God's grace and His working in their little hearts, I pray they'll one day have a servant's heart.
Jesus was a servant and we want our children to have that same servant heart. We want them to put others first and to seek for ways to help those around them. With this in mind we have changed the way we do chores. Everyone still has their own areas of responsibility. When chore time arrives, we all start on our chores together. When someone is done with their chores, we have told them they have to go and find someone else to help. When ALL the chores are done, then everyone is done. I still sometimes hear, "I'm done MY chores," but it is getting less so. To encourage them to have a more servant heart, we took away computer priveledges until we see more consistant servant attitudes and actions. It has been a few weeks since we started this and they are starting to get computer back in small doses. If I had to do it all again, I would have implemented this a long time ago. Oh well, we may get it right by the time they are grown. By God's grace and His working in their little hearts, I pray they'll one day have a servant's heart.
Jesse Turns Three
Our sweet little Jesse turned three on January 20th. We celebrated with mint brownies and ice cream. The reason the sides of the brownies are missing is because James and Jonathan were not home yet and it was getting late, so we started without them. They were out clearing snow from a storm we had gotten.
Since Jesse's favorite thing to do is hike, we gave him hiking things for his birthday. He hasn't actually done a lot of hiking, but he talks about going all the time. He's been wanting to go, but he has to wait until the snow melts and that could take a while.Right after his birthday, Jesse started wearing thumb guards to help him stop sucking his thumb. He has done great and now only wears the guards at night.
Right now his favorite things are Bob the Builder movies, playing babies with Rachel, playing Legos and trains.
We just love the things Jesse says and does. He is so precious! He is at such a cute age and he doesn't give us too much trouble. We are so blessed by him.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Being Thankful
First of all I'm thankful for a Heavenly Father who gives us His Spirit to lead and guide us through the crazy things in life. He gives me peace and joy and patience and all the other things I need to live a life that glorifies Him.
James started reading a devotional book to us that he got for Christmas. It is about growing in thankfulness. He figured our kids could use some encouragement in being more thankful. Couldn’t we all? So here, in this first week of 2011, I am thankful for:
God’s protection. There were two incidents, that I know of, where God’s protective hand touched our lives this week.
Let’s go back to New Year’s Eve Eve. The conversation with James went like this: “I’m (Lori) not ready to take the tree down yet. I just love having it lit at night and I think I’d like to keep it up a few more weeks.” “I’m okay with that,” said James. Now onto New Year’s Eve. I’m in the kitchen, getting ready for the evenings festivities, when I suddenly hear a big crash. I look up and see this:
I didn't see Jay (he was helping me clean it up), but I saw Jesse standing there. He pushed that nine foot tree right over. That was the end of my idea of keeping the tree up. Down it came, but I am so thankful no one was standing under it. I am also thankful for the ornaments that miraculously didn't break. We did lose three special ornaments, and a bunch of others, but as Jay said, "Christmas is not about the ornaments". James was in the midst of changing two broken door knobs. He asked if I wanted to use them for anything, I told him to throw them it away (its those smaller, fake door knobs that Jay broke). One of the kids suggested I could make ornaments out of them. I made one for Elijah (the baby we lost) to replace the one I had made that got broken. The second I made for Jesse to remind him of this memory.
The kids got a basketball hoop for Christmas and we have had it set up in the livingroom. They weren't allowed to use it; we were just waiting for a good time to move it outside. We had a couple heavy wheat buckets weighting the back down to keep it from falling over. A couple days ago I was in the kitchen again and heard a big crash again. I looked up to see Rachel, Jedaiah and Jesse, all standing behind a fallen basketball hoop. I was so thankful none of them were by the hoop. Rachel said Jesse took the buckets off (I think she might have had something to do with it too). I have a chip out of my floor to remind me of God's protection.
I'm thankful Jesse made it through his first trip to the dentist. He got his first cleaning and cried a lot through it, but he didn't try to fight it. I'm thankful the dentist was able to fill Jonathan's first cavity right then in the office and saved us another trip.
I am thankful it is Friday. I've decided to change our schedule a bit for school. We are going back to Friday's off. It won't be a day off today because Josh and Jay still have school to do. It has been a rough week for them, trying to get back into the routine. They had some catching up to do from the week before Christmas and they still haven't caught up.
I'm thankful for the body God has given me. I am trying to do better to take care of it. I'm working on loosing a few pounds that I gained this past year. In trying to eat healthier, I'm learning about sprouting wheat. I learned this yesterday:
"According to research undertaken at the University of Minnesota, sprouting increases the total nutrient density of wheat berries. The nutritional content of the wheat berry quadruples in some of the vitamins and minerals through the sprouting process. For example, once the wheat berry is sprouted, vitamin B-12 quadruples, other B vitamins increases 3 to 12 times, vitamin E content triples, and the fiber content increases three to four times that of whole wheat bread!"
Also, the folic acid increases 278% and vitamin C increases 300%. I don't know how much it contains to begin with, but wow! I'm looking forward to learning something new and hopefully the process won't be too tedious. It doesn't sound too difficult. I'm all for increasing nutrients into our diet.
I am thankful for friends who are willing to watch our kids so James and I can go on a shopping date tomorrow. We have a few things to return and I want to shop for some birthdays that are coming up.
So that is week one of 2011. I am thankful that these are the stories I have to tell.
James started reading a devotional book to us that he got for Christmas. It is about growing in thankfulness. He figured our kids could use some encouragement in being more thankful. Couldn’t we all? So here, in this first week of 2011, I am thankful for:
God’s protection. There were two incidents, that I know of, where God’s protective hand touched our lives this week.
Let’s go back to New Year’s Eve Eve. The conversation with James went like this: “I’m (Lori) not ready to take the tree down yet. I just love having it lit at night and I think I’d like to keep it up a few more weeks.” “I’m okay with that,” said James. Now onto New Year’s Eve. I’m in the kitchen, getting ready for the evenings festivities, when I suddenly hear a big crash. I look up and see this:
I didn't see Jay (he was helping me clean it up), but I saw Jesse standing there. He pushed that nine foot tree right over. That was the end of my idea of keeping the tree up. Down it came, but I am so thankful no one was standing under it. I am also thankful for the ornaments that miraculously didn't break. We did lose three special ornaments, and a bunch of others, but as Jay said, "Christmas is not about the ornaments". James was in the midst of changing two broken door knobs. He asked if I wanted to use them for anything, I told him to throw them it away (its those smaller, fake door knobs that Jay broke). One of the kids suggested I could make ornaments out of them. I made one for Elijah (the baby we lost) to replace the one I had made that got broken. The second I made for Jesse to remind him of this memory.
The kids got a basketball hoop for Christmas and we have had it set up in the livingroom. They weren't allowed to use it; we were just waiting for a good time to move it outside. We had a couple heavy wheat buckets weighting the back down to keep it from falling over. A couple days ago I was in the kitchen again and heard a big crash again. I looked up to see Rachel, Jedaiah and Jesse, all standing behind a fallen basketball hoop. I was so thankful none of them were by the hoop. Rachel said Jesse took the buckets off (I think she might have had something to do with it too). I have a chip out of my floor to remind me of God's protection.
I'm thankful Jesse made it through his first trip to the dentist. He got his first cleaning and cried a lot through it, but he didn't try to fight it. I'm thankful the dentist was able to fill Jonathan's first cavity right then in the office and saved us another trip.
I am thankful it is Friday. I've decided to change our schedule a bit for school. We are going back to Friday's off. It won't be a day off today because Josh and Jay still have school to do. It has been a rough week for them, trying to get back into the routine. They had some catching up to do from the week before Christmas and they still haven't caught up.
I'm thankful for the body God has given me. I am trying to do better to take care of it. I'm working on loosing a few pounds that I gained this past year. In trying to eat healthier, I'm learning about sprouting wheat. I learned this yesterday:
"According to research undertaken at the University of Minnesota, sprouting increases the total nutrient density of wheat berries. The nutritional content of the wheat berry quadruples in some of the vitamins and minerals through the sprouting process. For example, once the wheat berry is sprouted, vitamin B-12 quadruples, other B vitamins increases 3 to 12 times, vitamin E content triples, and the fiber content increases three to four times that of whole wheat bread!"
Also, the folic acid increases 278% and vitamin C increases 300%. I don't know how much it contains to begin with, but wow! I'm looking forward to learning something new and hopefully the process won't be too tedious. It doesn't sound too difficult. I'm all for increasing nutrients into our diet.
I am thankful for friends who are willing to watch our kids so James and I can go on a shopping date tomorrow. We have a few things to return and I want to shop for some birthdays that are coming up.
So that is week one of 2011. I am thankful that these are the stories I have to tell.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wrapping Up 2010
Here are some pictures from our December. What a fun time we have had this past month, celebrating the seaSON.
We have had two snows this past month. I wouldn't really call this first one a storm. We got an inch or so, but the kids went sledding anyways. On Christmas Eve day we got a good storm that gave us four inches of snow. It is gone now, but the kids did play in it some (not as much as they could have though).
A week before Christmas we had our annual family Christmas program. The Hayes family joined us again this year and the kids sang and played songs. They got to practice some songs that they did the next morning in the church service.
Here are the younger kids singing. They did so well and they were quite cute!
Here is our audience.
At the end the kids did an improv, acting out the Christmas story while James read it. Here are the shepherds (Jon and Jay), reacting to the angel.
Here are the kids the next morning, singing in church. I especially enjoy watching Josiah sing, he really gets into it. Usually he strums along too.
Thanks to Mrs. Whitby, the kids got to make a gingerbread house. They were more interested in eating it, than making it look nice (that's boys for ya).
I just love this picture of Jesse and Jedaiah, playing with the tree.
Our annual Christmas Eve picture that will be made into an ornament for our tree next year.
Christmas morning. All healthy and feeling good, yeah! (if you wondering, see last Christmas' post)
Jesse got his favorite gift, an electric guitar, now we can throw the broken, baby guitar away.
James' parents shower us all with many gifts. Wow!
Josh and Maw-Maw
Josiah got a real mandolin! His Mommy has wanted one for many years, now she'll get to learn too (if she can find the time).
Rachel, with her doll and matching outfits. I loved helping to pick these out for her, so cute!!
She was very happy with her knock off American girl.
We have had two snows this past month. I wouldn't really call this first one a storm. We got an inch or so, but the kids went sledding anyways. On Christmas Eve day we got a good storm that gave us four inches of snow. It is gone now, but the kids did play in it some (not as much as they could have though).
A week before Christmas we had our annual family Christmas program. The Hayes family joined us again this year and the kids sang and played songs. They got to practice some songs that they did the next morning in the church service.
Here are the younger kids singing. They did so well and they were quite cute!
Here is our audience.
At the end the kids did an improv, acting out the Christmas story while James read it. Here are the shepherds (Jon and Jay), reacting to the angel.
Here are the kids the next morning, singing in church. I especially enjoy watching Josiah sing, he really gets into it. Usually he strums along too.
Thanks to Mrs. Whitby, the kids got to make a gingerbread house. They were more interested in eating it, than making it look nice (that's boys for ya).
I just love this picture of Jesse and Jedaiah, playing with the tree.
Our annual Christmas Eve picture that will be made into an ornament for our tree next year.
Christmas morning. All healthy and feeling good, yeah! (if you wondering, see last Christmas' post)
Jesse got his favorite gift, an electric guitar, now we can throw the broken, baby guitar away.
James' parents shower us all with many gifts. Wow!
Josh and Maw-Maw
Josiah got a real mandolin! His Mommy has wanted one for many years, now she'll get to learn too (if she can find the time).
Rachel, with her doll and matching outfits. I loved helping to pick these out for her, so cute!!
She was very happy with her knock off American girl.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
'Tis the Season to be Jolly...
I am loving this season of the year. It is my favorite. Our schedule is nice and light and so we have been enjoying lots of family time at home. I love sitting by the fire, watching a Christmas movie with the kids, with our Christmas tree all lit up. It is so peaceful and warm. We are doing school just three days a week this month. On our days off we are spending the time cleaning, baking, and other fun things (well, okay, the cleaning is not so fun, but it is nice when it is done). We are also preparing for our annual Christmas program that we put on at home. This year is our third year and the kids are getting better and better at their musical abilities. We invite some friends and family to come watch and it has become a great tradition that I hope to continue on into the grandchildren years. With my shopping almost complete and my wrapping just about finished, I am enjoying these days before Christmas with peace and joy. (Now, I've got to get to work on the yearly Christmas newsletter, I've put that off long enough.) Oh how blessed we are!!
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