Farm Time

After church last Sunday, we loaded up and headed to my uncle's farm.  Grace and Matt both had Monday off, so we decided to make the trip an over-nighter.

My mom and dad joined us for dinner that night.  After they left, we took the kids, Rachel and Arie (my aunt and uncle's black lab) out to the farm.  We witnessed a gorgeous sunset and Rachel and the kids had a blast running free through acres and acres of land.  Poor Arie.  Rachel decided to be her personal trainer and made her exercise more than what she is used to.  Old doggies don't appreciate puppy antics.

The next day, Uncle Keith took Elizabeth for her first driving lesson.  Joel got to "drive" a telehandler.  Matt got to brainstorm with my uncle about farming dilemmas and I pretty much spent my time making sure no one got hurt.  Except I didn't do a very good job.  Isaac fell and split his chin open.

Thankfully, that teeny tiny town has a hospital.  So while Isaac and I got some one-on-one time with the doctor in the ER (who, quite frankly, seemed delighted to have something to do), Matt took the kids to the cemetery to attend a Memorial Day service.  Isaac was such a good little patient while getting four stitches that the nurse gave him a stuffed dog as we left the hospital.

We weren't five minutes out of town on the road home when six of the eight kids (and the dog) were completely conked out.  That's how you can tell you've had a good time on the farm.  Isaac gets his "whiskers" out tomorrow, which is a good thing because at his age, he doesn't want them.  He was quite sure I should have taken him to the pediatrician the day after he got sewn up to have the stitches removed.  "Mommy, I don't wike the bandaid.  I actwually feel better wifout it."

Paul's Confirmation

Paul affirmed his baptism vows the Sunday before last.  Paul studied doctrine in confirmation class every Sunday for two years.  Knowledge is not faith, but knowledge provides a firm foundation for faith.  Paul and I spent hours discussing what he would write for his essay.  The essay, "What Jesus Means to Me," was required and was presented by each confirmand before the pastor, the elders and the parents on the Friday evening preceding confirmation Sunday.

While preparing his essay, Paul and I talked about how from a very young age, the Holy Spirit has been working in Paul's heart.  He has convicted Paul of his sin and brought him closer to Christ.  We discussed how much hymns have meant to Paul and how from the time he was a little boy he has sung himself to sleep with hymns.  I also took the opportunity to share with Paul my desire for him to be a man of God, one who will stand strong in the gates despite the ravages of our current culture.

I also talked with Paul about how confirmation is not a "graduation," but more of a leap into even greater faith in and work for Christ and His Kingdom.  The time we spent discussing these things was a gift from God, one that was more easily received because we homeschool and we had the luxury of large (mostly!) uninterrupted times together.

                            We had a table with a display of Paul's "faith journey" box, given to him by his godparents when he was baptized, as well as my grandfather Paul's confirmation certificate and photograph of his confirmation class.  We framed both Great Grandpa Paul's confirmation verse and Paul's confirmation verse.


Paul chose Romans 15:4 for his confirmation verse.  "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." The elder who interviewed Paul on Friday night told him that he has kept his confirmation verse close to his heart for the many years since he was confirmed.  The Lord has used that verse to minister to him many times throughout his life.  He prayed the same would be true for Paul.

When Paul knelt in front of the entire church that Sunday morning, all of his friends and family surrounding him, I was brought to tears.  It's very powerful to see all of those praying hands on your firstborn son.  What a gift.  All praise be to God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit!  What glorious things He has done!

A Tale of Two Dishwashers

I suppose I should have written this post over a year ago, but I didn't.  I guess the benefit in the delay is that time has given me a very good idea of how much I truly love having two dishwashers.  Love, love, love.

I resisted the idea of adding another dishwasher for over a year.  Matt came up with the idea.  He knew it needed to happen.  I knew I'd have to give up some cabinet space in order to make room for another dishwasher and it seemed like too big of a trade off.  But the dishes finally got the better of me.  The dirty dishes that is.  Always, always dirty dishes in the sink.  I couldn't take it anymore.

So we took the plunge.  I had a cabinet guy take out one cabinet and one drawer and I rearranged the kitchen.  I got rid of a bunch of stuff and found new places for the stuff I wanted to keep.  It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  

Christmas dinner.  No problem.  Passover Seder.  Gottcha covered.  Canning season.  No problemo.  I have thanked the Lord many times over the past year for giving me another dishwasher.  We run between 3 and 4 loads of dishes per day.  I no longer have the stress of needing to decide if I should run the dishwasher before dinner or wait until after dinner, knowing that not all of the dishes will fit and I'll have dirty dishes in the sink when I go to bed, again.  Waking up to a dirty kitchen makes me cranky.   

The main problem now stems from the arguments that arise over who unloaded a dishwasher and when.  We're all about fairness around here.  The kids haven't a clue how spoiled they are in not having to wash and dry the dishes by hand.  In fact, the other day, Lydia didn't believe it when her older sister told her that Matt and I were alive before the internet.  Maybe our family should get radical and go off grid.  Only problem is that Mama loves her modern day amenities as much as her children do.       

A Quick Trip

The weekend before last, our family took a three day trip out of town.  We visited my grandmother, who is the last surviving grandparent between both Matt and myself.  She was so pleased to see all of the kids.  They were quite good all in all, thought the little boys had the bouncies after the long car ride to Grandma's retirement home.

We took a ferry ride, that is after we missed the first ferry by 2 minutes and then traveled another forty minutes to catch a different ferry.

We visited Trader Joe's where I did a major stock up on dark chocolate, sea salt, organic stevia and salsa verde.

Matt treated the family to Top Pot donuts.  I've read about these donuts in a couple of my foodie magazines, including Bon Appetite.  They definitely lived up to all of the hype.  Matt liked the salted caramel cake donuts the best.  Surprise, surprise.

In addition, we got to spend some quality time with friends and family.

While we were away, my sister and brother-in-law took care of Rachel.  My sister's chihuahua was not a fan of our big, energetic puppy.  But Rachel took no offense.  She made herself at home and even fell asleep in, or should I say on, the little dog's bed.  What a nut!

You Know You Might Be . . .

The mother of a cosmetology student if you find heads in your entry way . . .

under the beds . . .

and other random places . . .

bags and bags of heads . . .

Or you might have crossed over into the Twilight Zone.


(Through no fault of its own, Grace's cosmetology school shut down about a month ago.  She has transferred to a different school.  For the months of May and June, her school is giving either a free manicure or pedicure to their clients.  Ask for Grace when you book.  Contact me if you'd like to get the school's phone number.)