Monday, January 30, 2012
Encouragement
I read this post on one of my favorite blogs today. It was an encouragement to me as a homeschool mom. I thought others might be encouraged by it as well.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Business Ownership: The Ups & Downs
Paul's little chicken egg business has not been all feathered fun for the past nine months. Nor has it been all bulging piggy banks. Paul has experienced a few set backs in his business. My first impulse as a mother was to step in and fix it all for him, but then I realized there is value in learning through hardship. (I'm sure Matt was ten steps ahead of me on that one.)
At that point, most of Paul's chicken flock was two years old or older, so the hens' peak laying time was ending. He needed to replace at least half of the flock in order to replace the birds that weren't producing as much. We wanted Paul to continue to be able to supply his customers with eggs.
So he and Matt went to the feed store and came home with a total of twenty sexed pullet chicks. They paid the extra price to ensure that all (or nearly all--there's always a mistake or two) of the chicks would grow into nice laying hens. Bear in mind that it takes at least six months for a chick to grow into a chicken and begin laying. That's a lot of coddling and a lot of feed for no return on your time, effort or money. Not to mention the fact that chicks are only available for a few weeks every spring. After that, one has to wait until the following year to purchase any more.
I'm sure you can see where this is going. Paul and Matt purchased fourteen Neon Browns and six Rhode Island Reds. Two of the Reds died early on and ELEVEN of the fourteen Neon Browns turned out to be cockerels (roosters). The tell tale cock a doodle doos beginning at four o'clock each morning were a dead giveaway. Not to mention their more prominent combs and tails and their bullying behavior toward the other chickens.
What to do? Matt called the manager at the feed store and she just laughed and said, "That's the way it goes sometimes." She did offer to "make it right" this spring, so we'll have to see if that offer is still on the table come April. Our usual way of dealing with roosters is to enjoy a good meal of them after they've been cooked on the grill, but this situation was different simply because of its sheer magnitude.
Then Matt thought of asking the woman who farms down the road if she might be interested in our roosters. We had heard that she sold cockerels to customers for eating. Matt and Paul loaded up the roosters in the dog carrier, put the carrier in the back of the Subaru and headed over there. The woman checked over the birds, decided they were healthy and robust and then proposed a trade. She would trade Paul some of her pullets for his roosters and even pay him a small amount once the whole deal was settled. It seemed as if things were finally starting to look up and the year's plans for keeping up the egg production would be realized after all.
Those new little adolescent pullets adjusted to their new digs quite well, but they didn't start laying until nearly two months after the woman said they would. So Paul suffered a set back in both time and money, but not nearly as badly as if he would have had to wait until this spring to replenish his flock.
Then another sort of setback occurred. Paul's chickens got mites. I've been told the reason why commercial growers don't allow their chickens on the ground is because of this very issue. Mites are in the ground and chickens like to muck around in the dirt. They like to scratch in it and they like to give themselves dust baths. So the chickens got mites and their egg production plummeted. It took us awhile to find the reason for the lack of egg production. We could never see any mites on the chickens, so we ruled that problem out at first. We wasted a few weeks fiddling with the food, water, bedding and lighting before we figured out what was really going on.
Matt and Paul sprayed all the birds and then two weeks later (per the package instructions) sprayed them again. They also cleaned out the chicken house, sprayed the inside of the house and put all new wood chips in the house and nesting boxes. We thought the problem was solved, but a few weeks later, we realized it wasn't. So Matt and Paul repeated the whole process all over again, this time dusting the soil outside the coop as well. Each spraying required that day's eggs to be thrown away (purely a precaution on our part). Our last option would have been to give them some sort of oral medication, but that would have required that the eggs not be consumed for two weeks. So far we haven't had to resort to that option and we hope we won't have to.
So all the weeks when the chickens were producing less eggs because of lack of maturity and the mites issue, I was buying eggs at the store for our own use so that Paul could continue to fill his egg orders.
The other setback to Paul's business has been the soaring price of feed. I was talking to a friend about this issue as she and her kids also have a little egg selling business. She told me someone said to her something along the lines of, "Oh you must make a tidy little profit on these eggs." (She sells her eggs for $3 a dozen, just like Paul does). I laughed when she told me that story. Paul is not making any profit on his eggs right now. (Matt is actually losing money, as he pays for Paul's chicken feed. Paul gives half of his earnings to Matt to offset the feed cost. Obviously, if Paul isn't selling very many eggs, Matt's even more in the red.)
Now that the egg production has come back up (we're getting almost 2 dozen eggs/day), Paul is having a tough time selling all of them. He made phone calls to his one of egg business buddies yesterday and asked if he might want to buy some eggs from him. (This is not an unusual practice. Paul's buddies sometimes buy eggs from him in order to fill their egg orders if they are running short on eggs for some reason.)
So if it's not one thing, it's another in the chicken business. Right now our refrigerators are burgeoning with lovely free range, expensive eggs. Even with all of our baking and egg casserole making we can't seem to make a dent in them. Matt plans to run another ad at work on Monday to see if he can rustle up a few more customers. In the meantime, I have eggs planned at least once for dinner and once for lunch this week, as well as the usual eggs that some family members eat for breakfast each morning. I guess it'll be another eggstravaganza week at the Macduff household.
We delayed ordering new chicks last spring as we didn't want to hassle with their more involved care when our family would be leaving for several days for the homeschool conference. This would have left us to find someone to care for the chicks while we were gone and we just didn't feel an inexperienced person would be up to the task, let alone the time commitment. So instead of ordering chicks through the mail, as we had done the year before, Matt decided to buy chicks at the local feed store after we returned from the conference.
At that point, most of Paul's chicken flock was two years old or older, so the hens' peak laying time was ending. He needed to replace at least half of the flock in order to replace the birds that weren't producing as much. We wanted Paul to continue to be able to supply his customers with eggs.
So he and Matt went to the feed store and came home with a total of twenty sexed pullet chicks. They paid the extra price to ensure that all (or nearly all--there's always a mistake or two) of the chicks would grow into nice laying hens. Bear in mind that it takes at least six months for a chick to grow into a chicken and begin laying. That's a lot of coddling and a lot of feed for no return on your time, effort or money. Not to mention the fact that chicks are only available for a few weeks every spring. After that, one has to wait until the following year to purchase any more.
I'm sure you can see where this is going. Paul and Matt purchased fourteen Neon Browns and six Rhode Island Reds. Two of the Reds died early on and ELEVEN of the fourteen Neon Browns turned out to be cockerels (roosters). The tell tale cock a doodle doos beginning at four o'clock each morning were a dead giveaway. Not to mention their more prominent combs and tails and their bullying behavior toward the other chickens.
What to do? Matt called the manager at the feed store and she just laughed and said, "That's the way it goes sometimes." She did offer to "make it right" this spring, so we'll have to see if that offer is still on the table come April. Our usual way of dealing with roosters is to enjoy a good meal of them after they've been cooked on the grill, but this situation was different simply because of its sheer magnitude.Then Matt thought of asking the woman who farms down the road if she might be interested in our roosters. We had heard that she sold cockerels to customers for eating. Matt and Paul loaded up the roosters in the dog carrier, put the carrier in the back of the Subaru and headed over there. The woman checked over the birds, decided they were healthy and robust and then proposed a trade. She would trade Paul some of her pullets for his roosters and even pay him a small amount once the whole deal was settled. It seemed as if things were finally starting to look up and the year's plans for keeping up the egg production would be realized after all.
Those new little adolescent pullets adjusted to their new digs quite well, but they didn't start laying until nearly two months after the woman said they would. So Paul suffered a set back in both time and money, but not nearly as badly as if he would have had to wait until this spring to replenish his flock.Then another sort of setback occurred. Paul's chickens got mites. I've been told the reason why commercial growers don't allow their chickens on the ground is because of this very issue. Mites are in the ground and chickens like to muck around in the dirt. They like to scratch in it and they like to give themselves dust baths. So the chickens got mites and their egg production plummeted. It took us awhile to find the reason for the lack of egg production. We could never see any mites on the chickens, so we ruled that problem out at first. We wasted a few weeks fiddling with the food, water, bedding and lighting before we figured out what was really going on.
Matt and Paul sprayed all the birds and then two weeks later (per the package instructions) sprayed them again. They also cleaned out the chicken house, sprayed the inside of the house and put all new wood chips in the house and nesting boxes. We thought the problem was solved, but a few weeks later, we realized it wasn't. So Matt and Paul repeated the whole process all over again, this time dusting the soil outside the coop as well. Each spraying required that day's eggs to be thrown away (purely a precaution on our part). Our last option would have been to give them some sort of oral medication, but that would have required that the eggs not be consumed for two weeks. So far we haven't had to resort to that option and we hope we won't have to.
So all the weeks when the chickens were producing less eggs because of lack of maturity and the mites issue, I was buying eggs at the store for our own use so that Paul could continue to fill his egg orders.
The other setback to Paul's business has been the soaring price of feed. I was talking to a friend about this issue as she and her kids also have a little egg selling business. She told me someone said to her something along the lines of, "Oh you must make a tidy little profit on these eggs." (She sells her eggs for $3 a dozen, just like Paul does). I laughed when she told me that story. Paul is not making any profit on his eggs right now. (Matt is actually losing money, as he pays for Paul's chicken feed. Paul gives half of his earnings to Matt to offset the feed cost. Obviously, if Paul isn't selling very many eggs, Matt's even more in the red.)
Now that the egg production has come back up (we're getting almost 2 dozen eggs/day), Paul is having a tough time selling all of them. He made phone calls to his one of egg business buddies yesterday and asked if he might want to buy some eggs from him. (This is not an unusual practice. Paul's buddies sometimes buy eggs from him in order to fill their egg orders if they are running short on eggs for some reason.)
So if it's not one thing, it's another in the chicken business. Right now our refrigerators are burgeoning with lovely free range, expensive eggs. Even with all of our baking and egg casserole making we can't seem to make a dent in them. Matt plans to run another ad at work on Monday to see if he can rustle up a few more customers. In the meantime, I have eggs planned at least once for dinner and once for lunch this week, as well as the usual eggs that some family members eat for breakfast each morning. I guess it'll be another eggstravaganza week at the Macduff household.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
3 Lil Boys
Joel, Jude & Isaac all ready for bed in their Buzz Light Year pjers. Cuteness in the third degree.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Blessed
Last Sunday was my birthday. I awoke to flowers on the kitchen table and my husband cooking breakfast. Not only did he make breakfast, but he doted on me all day. I felt like a queen. Grace put together a marvelous dinner--a knockoff of my favorite Italian restaurant's food. The bread she made was exceptional. It was a sourdough french bread that rivaled any of the fancy schmancy bread I've ever eaten from high end bakeries.
Elizabeth decorated my birthday cake with powdered sugar "snow." She knows how much I like snow, but at that point, our winter here had yet to provide any.
Paul engraved my name on a piece of wood with a wood burning tool and then wrapped it all by himself. It's a lovely gift. I have it on the dresser in my bedroom. After I opened it, Joel said, "I really like your name, Mom."
We didn't have time to do our traditional family dance to the Beatles, "Birthday" before church, so we got 'er done that evening--times two. Jude did his best John Travolta Saturday Night Fever moves. It was a great ending to a great day.
Elizabeth decorated my birthday cake with powdered sugar "snow." She knows how much I like snow, but at that point, our winter here had yet to provide any.
Paul engraved my name on a piece of wood with a wood burning tool and then wrapped it all by himself. It's a lovely gift. I have it on the dresser in my bedroom. After I opened it, Joel said, "I really like your name, Mom."
We didn't have time to do our traditional family dance to the Beatles, "Birthday" before church, so we got 'er done that evening--times two. Jude did his best John Travolta Saturday Night Fever moves. It was a great ending to a great day.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Elizabeth's 13th Birthday
Elizabeth turned 13 a week ago Sunday. We had a small family celebration for her that day, but we had a larger celebration for her this past Saturday evening. We had a similar party for Grace when she turned 13.
Our prayer as parents is that we would raise responsible adults who love the Lord Jesus. It's very common in our society for people to shrug their shoulders and say, "that's just teenagers." When Matt and I mark our childrens' 13th birthdays in a special and meaningful way, our intention is the set the bar higher than the very low standard Americans tend to have for teenagers.
Despite moving the party date up two weeks earlier than we had originally planned and despite the fact that it felt like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong (from the church reception area being double booked to discovering right before dinner was to be served that one of the electric roasters had malfunctioned and the contents it held were still raw), the evening was lovely. (It must be noted that our adopted "aunt," Suzy, was a lifesaver. While I was busy losing my mind, she and her husband, Roger, were busy salvaging the dinner. Many others stepped in to help set up and take down.)
After everyone had eaten, we had a time of worship and blessing for Elizabeth. We began by singing Elizabeth's hymn choice, "Rock of Ages." Our friend Sande very graciously stepped in at the last moment to accompany us on the piano. She did a fabulous job despite the short notice and the fact that she didn't even have all the music!
After we sang, Matt took Elizabeth up front so that she could sit in a chair next to her hope chest. Matt and I had a small brass plate engraved to attach to the inside lid of the chest to mark the occasion. It reads, "Handed down from Great Grandma Ethel. Presented to Elizabeth Macduff January 2012. Romans 8:37-39." A picture of Great Grandma Ethel was placed near the hope chest as a visible reminder of the woman who gave life to her family in so many ways.
After Matt explained the meaning of "hope," I got up and spoke for a bit. I spoke of fond memories of Elizabeth as a child, how her Daddy and I desire most for her to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and how she is beginning to display many of the lifegiver qualities that her Great Grandmother Ethel exhibited in her life time.
Matt then asked our family and friends to share the Bible verses they brought with them. This, by far, was the most special time of the evening. Friends and family got up one by one and shared not only their verses, but special words of blessing for Elizabeth.
Then Matt placed his hands on Elizabeth's head and pronounced more words of blessing over her. To end the worship time, we sang, "I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry." I don't think there were too many dry eyes in the house by the time the worship came to a close.
We ended the evening by enjoying dessert and perusing the contents of Elizabeth's hope chest. Before the party, Matt and I had placed books that our family has enjoyed (The Little House on the Prairie Series, Anne of Green Gables, etc.), a couple of our family's favorite cookbooks and a few hand embroidered and crocheted linens inside the hope chest. Someday, God willing, Elizabeth will be able to use these items in her own home with her own family. In addition to all of this, Elizabeth was given other special gifts to put in her chest which included old family linens, table cloths, a tea pot, a "Daily Bread" bread plate and some Fiesta Ware table accessories.By the time the guests left and our family started cleaning up, I realized all my anxiousness over the details was for naught. Despite all the little mishaps, as we sought to honor the Lord, He was faithful in providing a lovely time of blessing for our Elizabeth. She is continuing to grow into a young lady whose heart is seeking after God and her Mommy and Daddy are very proud of her.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Round Three
Yep, another snow day. Matt said this to me this morning, "Melissa, I hate to inconvenience you, but I'm going to have to report to work . . . . on Monday." Woo hoo!
Paul and Daddy discussed lashing and knotting this morning. Paul wants to be able to haul stuff on his dog sled. He had my kitchen twine and was all set to head outside with it. Mom to the rescue. I'd gotten some brand new marine rope at a yard sale this past summer--30 ft. for $2. Paul is now outside learning the fine art of lashing. Experience is a good teacher.
I may have to venture out today. Paul has an ear infection and I need to get the other half of his prescription (the pharmacy was only able to fill half of the prescribed amount on Monday). There is supposed to be more freezing rain today, so I'm hoping to make the trip before that hits. I'll have to pick up some more milk, too. We're down to our last jug. I'm glad we're not in a state of emergency here. We would have been ill-prepared.
Paul and Daddy discussed lashing and knotting this morning. Paul wants to be able to haul stuff on his dog sled. He had my kitchen twine and was all set to head outside with it. Mom to the rescue. I'd gotten some brand new marine rope at a yard sale this past summer--30 ft. for $2. Paul is now outside learning the fine art of lashing. Experience is a good teacher.
I may have to venture out today. Paul has an ear infection and I need to get the other half of his prescription (the pharmacy was only able to fill half of the prescribed amount on Monday). There is supposed to be more freezing rain today, so I'm hoping to make the trip before that hits. I'll have to pick up some more milk, too. We're down to our last jug. I'm glad we're not in a state of emergency here. We would have been ill-prepared.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Snow Day, Again!
Yay! Another snow day! Matt's work was canceled again. We spent the day playing games, taking walks, playing outside and working together in the kitchen. I'm sooo glad I decided to grab a couple of extra gallons of milk and some flour on Tuesday before the big storm hit. Our cars are still sitting in the driveway, covered in snow. No tire tracks on our property--we haven't left here in two days.
The girls and I made these Asian lettuce wraps yesterday for lunch. Last night we had an impromptu snacky dinner/movie night. All the littles spent the night bundled in their sleeping bags on the living floor in front of the fire.
Matt and Paul worked on Paul's dog sled yesterday. They added skies and a weight in the back to make it slide more easily. Paul spent the better part of today outside giving his younger siblings rides. Paul gave me a ride on the sled this afternoon. (I was multi-tasking by having a conversation with my sister-in-law at the same time.)
Matt also built a little lean-to in the chicken yard for Paul's chickens to congregate under so they don't have to be all "cooped up" inside their house while its snowing. I'm sure our feathered friends will be much happier once all the white stuff is gone.
The public schools are canceled again tomorrow. I can't imagine Matt's work being canceled again. In the twenty years he's worked there, I don't know that he's ever had two consecutive days off due to bad weather, so this has really been a treat for our family. We've had a blast just hanging out with no "to dos" except the dishes and laundry. Hip hip hooray for snow days!
The girls and I made these Asian lettuce wraps yesterday for lunch. Last night we had an impromptu snacky dinner/movie night. All the littles spent the night bundled in their sleeping bags on the living floor in front of the fire.
Matt and Paul worked on Paul's dog sled yesterday. They added skies and a weight in the back to make it slide more easily. Paul spent the better part of today outside giving his younger siblings rides. Paul gave me a ride on the sled this afternoon. (I was multi-tasking by having a conversation with my sister-in-law at the same time.)
Matt also built a little lean-to in the chicken yard for Paul's chickens to congregate under so they don't have to be all "cooped up" inside their house while its snowing. I'm sure our feathered friends will be much happier once all the white stuff is gone.
The public schools are canceled again tomorrow. I can't imagine Matt's work being canceled again. In the twenty years he's worked there, I don't know that he's ever had two consecutive days off due to bad weather, so this has really been a treat for our family. We've had a blast just hanging out with no "to dos" except the dishes and laundry. Hip hip hooray for snow days!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Snow!
By the time our kids went to bed last night, they had all convinced themselves that the snow storm that was predicted for our area would not happen. The older ones told the younger ones it would only rain and they shouldn't get their hopes up for snow.
However, I was up at midnight (I've been nursing a cold) and saw the first flakes begin to fall. By 7 a.m. we had between 4 and 5 inches of the white stuff we've been waiting for all winter. From the comfy coziness of my bed, I heard the thundering of many little feet running across the kitchen floor at 7:15 a.m. Squeals and shouts of "It's snowing!" reverberated throughout the house.
After seeing the snow out his bedroom window, Jude ran to the front of the house to peek out the living window. "It's snowing in the front, too!" he exclaimed. He was so excited that he just kept yelling, "It's snowing! It's Christmas!" He jumped up and down and kissed Daddy over and over.
Breakfasts were quickly consumed and by 7:45 Paul, Lydia, Joel and Jude were outside. Jude thought snow pants and snow boots were sufficient inclement weather attire, but Daddy made him come back into the house to put on a coat, hat and gloves.
Everyone played outside for about an hour and then decided they were too frozen to continue on. All except for Paul, who pulled his dog sled from the shed and began repairing it so that he could take full advantage of the snow. It's almost 11 a.m. and he's still out there.
In the meantime, all the other kids were treated to hot chocolate. It seemed to me to be the perfect time to bring out the "Snowman Hats" that I'd purchased on clearance after Christmas. The kids were giddy when I pulled the treats from their hiding place in the cupboard and started passing them around.
My Wednesday morning Bible study was canceled due to the weather. I just got word that Matt's work has been canceled for the day. Oh, I've just been longing for a day in which life is "canceled" so that we can just hunker down in the house as a family. Being snowed in just couldn't be lovelier.
Grace is having fun using her Photo Shop to edit pictures. In the picture of Paul--the dog sled is in the back ground, Paul is holding an old antique sled (found at a yard sale) in the foreground.
However, I was up at midnight (I've been nursing a cold) and saw the first flakes begin to fall. By 7 a.m. we had between 4 and 5 inches of the white stuff we've been waiting for all winter. From the comfy coziness of my bed, I heard the thundering of many little feet running across the kitchen floor at 7:15 a.m. Squeals and shouts of "It's snowing!" reverberated throughout the house.
After seeing the snow out his bedroom window, Jude ran to the front of the house to peek out the living window. "It's snowing in the front, too!" he exclaimed. He was so excited that he just kept yelling, "It's snowing! It's Christmas!" He jumped up and down and kissed Daddy over and over.
Breakfasts were quickly consumed and by 7:45 Paul, Lydia, Joel and Jude were outside. Jude thought snow pants and snow boots were sufficient inclement weather attire, but Daddy made him come back into the house to put on a coat, hat and gloves.
Everyone played outside for about an hour and then decided they were too frozen to continue on. All except for Paul, who pulled his dog sled from the shed and began repairing it so that he could take full advantage of the snow. It's almost 11 a.m. and he's still out there.
In the meantime, all the other kids were treated to hot chocolate. It seemed to me to be the perfect time to bring out the "Snowman Hats" that I'd purchased on clearance after Christmas. The kids were giddy when I pulled the treats from their hiding place in the cupboard and started passing them around.
My Wednesday morning Bible study was canceled due to the weather. I just got word that Matt's work has been canceled for the day. Oh, I've just been longing for a day in which life is "canceled" so that we can just hunker down in the house as a family. Being snowed in just couldn't be lovelier.Grace is having fun using her Photo Shop to edit pictures. In the picture of Paul--the dog sled is in the back ground, Paul is holding an old antique sled (found at a yard sale) in the foreground.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Isaac at One Year
Little Baby Isaac is one year old and cuter than a bug's ear. He came in at the 40th percentile for his weight and the 70th for his height at his one year well check. We've never had a baby who wasn't wearing size 18 month clothes at a year, so a baby who is still wearing 12 months clothes is new for us.
Isaac may be a little guy, but he's been walking since he was 10 1/2 months old. He is our earliest walker. Matt says that when he walks in the door at night from work, Isaac provides the comic relief in what looks like a movie scene. All the other kids are running, shouting and jumping in a cacophony of chaos in order to welcome Daddy home. In the midst of it all, wee little Isaac toddles through the jumble, narrowly dodging any number of flailing bodies that could easily throw him off balance and to the ground.
Isaac still sports eyelashes that are longer than the legal limit and he still is not sleeping through the night. We've never had a baby sleep through the night before a year (or even eighteen months, for that matter), so this isn't a surprise. It's just a bit wearing on Isaac's aging parents.
Isaac is just the sweetest baby. So easy going, except for when he's very tired. When he is tired, he sucks his left thumb and holds his right ear with his right hand. What a blessing God has provided to our family in baby Isaac.
Isaac may be a little guy, but he's been walking since he was 10 1/2 months old. He is our earliest walker. Matt says that when he walks in the door at night from work, Isaac provides the comic relief in what looks like a movie scene. All the other kids are running, shouting and jumping in a cacophony of chaos in order to welcome Daddy home. In the midst of it all, wee little Isaac toddles through the jumble, narrowly dodging any number of flailing bodies that could easily throw him off balance and to the ground.
Isaac still sports eyelashes that are longer than the legal limit and he still is not sleeping through the night. We've never had a baby sleep through the night before a year (or even eighteen months, for that matter), so this isn't a surprise. It's just a bit wearing on Isaac's aging parents.
Isaac is just the sweetest baby. So easy going, except for when he's very tired. When he is tired, he sucks his left thumb and holds his right ear with his right hand. What a blessing God has provided to our family in baby Isaac.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
One Year
Isaac turned one December 29th. It was a bittersweet day. We took Isaac to our pediatrician for his one year well check. The whole family went to this very special appointment. Dr. A has been our family's pediatrician for sixteen years. He was also the pediatrician that Matt and I had when we were little. After thirty five years, Dr. A has retired from medicine.
Our family went to say goodbye to him on his second to last day at the office. We came bearing gifts and hugs and some tears. Dr. A has been so good to us over the years. When Joel was in his spica cast, Dr. A somehow got a hold of the head of the pediatric orthopedic department at Children's Hospital in Seattle. The man called me personally to allay my fears over another recast for Joel. Dr. A has welcomed each member of our family with as much happiness as we have. He will be sorely missed.
After our appointment, I dried my tears and we got organized to head North to visit my Uncle Keith and Aunt Leanna. Uncle Keith's birthday is on the 28th of December. Last year my aunt and uncle came here to wait for Isaac's birth. I tried to have that baby on Uncle Keith's birthday, but it didn't work out. We all spent the evening eating birthday cake and watching movies here at home instead of laboring in the hospital. I had Isaac the next day and Uncle Keith and Aunt Leanna took excellent care of all of the other kids while Matt and I were away.
So we thought it appropriate that we celebrate Isaac's first birthday with the two of them. My parents drove to Uncle Keith's to join the party too. We feasted and sang "Happy Birthday" to the two birthday boys. Then we watched a good movie and Uncle Keith and Elizabeth made blena batter for the next morning. The recipe is taped to the inside of a kitchen cabinet door so that it can be easily referenced.
In all the years Uncle Keith has made blena, he's always had batter left over. Not this time. The big bowl was scraped clean. He was impressed. I've already received requests from my kids to make blena this weekend for Elizabeth's birthday. I've tried my hand at it before, but wasn't very successful. Blena making is an acquired skill. I guess I'll have to get to acquiring it.
After our blena and German sausage breakfast, we headed out to the original homestead. The kids loved exploring the house (complete with old wood burning cook stove), the root cellar, the barn and the extra little house in which my Grandpa Paul and his brother used to sleep in. The main house still has a working rotary phone. My older girls were positively giddy when Uncle Keith said they could use it. Elizabeth starting pushing the numbers. Uncle Keith had to show her how to put her finger in the holes and turn the dial. Then she put the talking end of the receiver up to her ear. Needless to say, the four of us adults got a good laugh. All of the kids are convinced our family could live on that farm and be quite happy.
We then headed back into town to eat lunch at the drive-in, but not before we saw the hundreds of sheep that are currently grazing on some of Uncle Keith's farm land. We watched the Peruvian shepherd and his dogs work to get the sheep into the correct grazing area. It was like a well orchestrated dance between the shepherd, the dogs and the sheep. The dogs were especially fascinating to me. Each of the five dogs had their own job and they knew what that job was. They were so excited to do the work which the Good Lord made them to do.
We had planned to return home that day, but we were having so much fun, we decided to stay another night. We headed home as soon as we could get going the next day. Uncle Keith's parting thought was that he'd sure like us to come visit after his knee replacement surgery so as to fight off the doldrums. Our big bunch would surely fight off the doldrums, but I'm not sure that's what the doctor ordered. Now that surgery has taken place, I'd wager a guess that Uncle Keith is relishing every bit of peace and quiet (and non-physical therapy moments) that he can get.
Our family went to say goodbye to him on his second to last day at the office. We came bearing gifts and hugs and some tears. Dr. A has been so good to us over the years. When Joel was in his spica cast, Dr. A somehow got a hold of the head of the pediatric orthopedic department at Children's Hospital in Seattle. The man called me personally to allay my fears over another recast for Joel. Dr. A has welcomed each member of our family with as much happiness as we have. He will be sorely missed.
After our appointment, I dried my tears and we got organized to head North to visit my Uncle Keith and Aunt Leanna. Uncle Keith's birthday is on the 28th of December. Last year my aunt and uncle came here to wait for Isaac's birth. I tried to have that baby on Uncle Keith's birthday, but it didn't work out. We all spent the evening eating birthday cake and watching movies here at home instead of laboring in the hospital. I had Isaac the next day and Uncle Keith and Aunt Leanna took excellent care of all of the other kids while Matt and I were away.
So we thought it appropriate that we celebrate Isaac's first birthday with the two of them. My parents drove to Uncle Keith's to join the party too. We feasted and sang "Happy Birthday" to the two birthday boys. Then we watched a good movie and Uncle Keith and Elizabeth made blena batter for the next morning. The recipe is taped to the inside of a kitchen cabinet door so that it can be easily referenced.
In all the years Uncle Keith has made blena, he's always had batter left over. Not this time. The big bowl was scraped clean. He was impressed. I've already received requests from my kids to make blena this weekend for Elizabeth's birthday. I've tried my hand at it before, but wasn't very successful. Blena making is an acquired skill. I guess I'll have to get to acquiring it.
After our blena and German sausage breakfast, we headed out to the original homestead. The kids loved exploring the house (complete with old wood burning cook stove), the root cellar, the barn and the extra little house in which my Grandpa Paul and his brother used to sleep in. The main house still has a working rotary phone. My older girls were positively giddy when Uncle Keith said they could use it. Elizabeth starting pushing the numbers. Uncle Keith had to show her how to put her finger in the holes and turn the dial. Then she put the talking end of the receiver up to her ear. Needless to say, the four of us adults got a good laugh. All of the kids are convinced our family could live on that farm and be quite happy.
We then headed back into town to eat lunch at the drive-in, but not before we saw the hundreds of sheep that are currently grazing on some of Uncle Keith's farm land. We watched the Peruvian shepherd and his dogs work to get the sheep into the correct grazing area. It was like a well orchestrated dance between the shepherd, the dogs and the sheep. The dogs were especially fascinating to me. Each of the five dogs had their own job and they knew what that job was. They were so excited to do the work which the Good Lord made them to do.
We had planned to return home that day, but we were having so much fun, we decided to stay another night. We headed home as soon as we could get going the next day. Uncle Keith's parting thought was that he'd sure like us to come visit after his knee replacement surgery so as to fight off the doldrums. Our big bunch would surely fight off the doldrums, but I'm not sure that's what the doctor ordered. Now that surgery has taken place, I'd wager a guess that Uncle Keith is relishing every bit of peace and quiet (and non-physical therapy moments) that he can get.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Cowboy Mustache
Our friend Julie knit Joel a mustache for Christmas. "Ya gotta have a mustache if you're a cowboy," she said. I couldn't believe it when Joel put on the mustache right after he opened it. The next day he asked me, "Mom, can I wear this every day?"
To celebrate New Year's Eve, our family attended a bull riding event (courtesy of my Grandma). There were cowboys in abundance there, but none so adorable as my own mustachioed rough rider. Joel even wore the mustache to church this morning. Several people wanted handshakes from a real cowboy. Joel gladly obliged and introduced himself as "Cowboy Joe."
To celebrate New Year's Eve, our family attended a bull riding event (courtesy of my Grandma). There were cowboys in abundance there, but none so adorable as my own mustachioed rough rider. Joel even wore the mustache to church this morning. Several people wanted handshakes from a real cowboy. Joel gladly obliged and introduced himself as "Cowboy Joe."
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