Our Weekend

June is dairy month and every year we look forward to "Breakfast on the Farm" where an area farm hosts a breakfast for the county. It was not far from our house this year which was nice. We got there by 8:30 a.m. but it was already packed and we waited in line. (My husband had wanted to go earlier but someone in this house cannot seem to get her act together to allow for that. If he wasn't keeping me moving I don't think I would ever make it to places on time.)

Twin calves Vin and Vonnie

The breakfast was under a big tent and we had very kind volunteers who offered to help us out with carrying our children's plates and pushing a stroller which we were thankful for. We enjoyed "real" scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, bagels and cream cheese, donuts, yogurt and or cottage cheese with fruit and of course cheese in various forms. After a filling breakfast we wandered the farm to see how milk gets from the farm to the store. While we prefer to drink raw milk from pasture-fed cows this was still fun and educational. Did you know that a cow will drink a bathtub full of water each day? I also read that cheese is the number one craving, even above chocolate which isn't true in my case!

The boys watching the cows eating their grain

After a hot and humid morning everyone was getting crabby but resting under the shade trees and eating custard perked us all up.

Missy Blue enjoying her custard

That evening we celebrated my nephew's 3rd birthday and my sister made an adoreable train cake. If you need any fun cake ideas check out Coolest Birthday Cakes

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Daddy trying to get a kiss from his little girl

UPDATE: In my last post I asked that you would please pray for Jean. Not much has changed since that post and I ask that you would continue to keep her in prayer. She is still on a respirator and each time they try to decrease the level of oxygen her heart rate shoots up. The doctors do not want her on that any longer as it could lead to pneumonia which would not be good. We had thought she would have a tracheotomy today but they are now waiting to consult with the cancer doctor.  Praise the Lord that during such a trial there is a bit of happiness in that Jean's daughter had a healthy baby girl!

Urgent Prayer Request

I know there are more people than I know that read my blog and I have an urgent prayer request that I would like to ask all of you to pray for.

My Mom’s cousin Jean is in ICU and in the past week was diagnosed with lung cancer. First of all a second-cousin to some of you may be a distant relative but as my Mom was an only child this side of the family has always been close. Jean’s family has always attended the same church, we always are together on Thanksgiving and other get-togethers and we are a close family. The urgent request is for all of the things that have gone “wrong” in the past week. We are all amazed as last week Tuesday she was driving herself to bone biopsy, albeit in pain. She was kept at the local hospital because her oxygen levels weren’t coming back. They then found that she had blood clots on her lungs and then also fluid around her heart and so was taken to a larger hospital an hour away. The next day she was having trouble breathing and so a breathing tube was inserted. She is heavily sedated so that she can rest for her body to try and heal.

Yesterday while we were at church her daughter got a call saying that now Jean’s lungs were filled with fluid and the whole church body was shocked and came together to support the family. I do not think there were many dry eyes. Jean’s sister and her family was also there and after many hugs and a lot of crying they all left for the hospital along with the Pastor’s and their wives. I also ended up going down with a good friend and her Mom who is close to Jean. While I did not desire to see Jean this way as everyone had said how difficult it was I wanted to be there for all of the family. We ended up having a time of worship around Jean’s bed, singing (as much as we could through tears), crying out to God and hearing the Word of God.

Last night we had a “concert of prayer” at church which was a powerful service. I could definitely feel the presence of God as we lifted our hearts together in praise and supplication. Hearing God’s people coming together and praying all lifting the same request to the throne of God was an amazing feeling and being the prayer partner of my Grandpa, a prayer warrior, was a special thing as well.  We have a prayer vigil going now where everyone at church has signed up to pray for a 15 minute time period over the next two days so that we are pounding the doors of heaven on behalf of Jean without ceasing. I know that you do not know her but I am asking that if you could just take a moment and remember this special lady who has touched so many lives with her laughter and pleasant spirit and lift her before the throne of God.  We know that He can do a miracle! The immediate need is that the blood clots would dissolve, that the fluid in her lungs would diminish and she would be able to breath on her own. The cancer is treatable but she cannot receive any treatment until the other things are taken care of.

On a side note -- Jean's daughter is three days overdue with her fourth baby and may be induced sometime today. Her Mom had planned on being at the birth. I cannot even imagine the mixed feelings of such a joyful event surrounded by such a time of heartache. Please remember her as well. Thanks SO much!

Toilet-Training help!?!

A few months back I was so excited to be changing one less diaper as we had potty-trained Tank (known by some as Captain Chaos). Well, he may be potty-trained but we have yet to get him trained in the other bodily function. He has gone on the toilet maybe 4 times in the past months so we know that he can do it. Otherwise he has taken to just going in his underwear. Oh the joy! . We have tried a chart with the incentive if he could go on the toilet 3 times in a row he would get a new toy. Tank does not care. We got all excited when he did go. Didn't matter. Tried having him wash out his own underwear but that was too much fun. So I asked him, "Why can't you go stinky on the toilet?" His reply... "I don't want to!" Ahhh!  He will however take time out of his day to go potty when the need arises.

Where do we go from here? We have been disciplining him each time he goes in his underwear because he knows the right thing to do but refuses to do it. That also does not seem to phase him. In the past week we decided to go back to diapers as it is easier to change a diaper than to wash out underwear and is not quite as disgusting. I am wondering if any of you have experienced this and can give any ideas as we have run out of them.

Homeschool Conference

This weekend my husband and I were able to go to the homeschool conference in our area. We have only gone once before and then only to visit the vendor halls. This weekend Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis was the keynote speaker along with Buddy Davis and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to hear him speak!

Initially I had a difficult time leaving the children, even though I knew they were in good hands at my parents house. I am not often away from them and if I am the children are usually with my husband. Being away with only my husband was a strange feeling but once there I enjoyed every minute and being alone together for more than an hour was great as we could actually talk to each other without little voices drowning us out.

We agreed that we could listen to Ken Ham speak all day long and that is almost what my husband did as he took in all of Ken's workshops as I attended a few others. I came away with helpful tips and ideas to incorporate in our homeschool. I went to the vendor hall thinking I had decided which direction to take with history for the coming year but find that I am questioning that yet again. I am looking at both Mystery of History and Tapestry of Grace as they can be used with multiple ages and look interesting to me so if any of you have used either I welcome your opinion.

I wish I could summarize the things I learned this weekend but there was so much to take in! We really got excited about the new Creation Museum but unfortunately time doesn't permit a visit this year. If you ever have the chance to hear Ken Ham speak I highly recommend it.

Imaginations

I love the imaginative ways that my children play! They never cease to amaze me with the ideas they come up with and when I realize they are learning. Yesterday was a pretty warm day and the boys were out running through the sprinkler and having a great time. A short time later George comes in the house with his shirt on his head and I said that he looked like an Egyptian. I guessed right as that is what he was supposed to be. Apparently he convinced his younger brothers to be the Hebrew slaves and he was their taskmaster with some old caulking he found for a whip -- but NO he was not whipping them, it was just for show. I found them outside putting dirt into a bucket, filling it with water and dried grass and mixing it according to their "taskmasters" instructions. They were apparently going to make a mud pot. We have been studying the life of Moses in the past months so this was right on track.

My little Hebrew slaves and their Egptian taskmaster (you can't see the whip here)

Race Season has begun

 

My husband races a Super Buggy car off-road (on dirt but over jumps not just around a circle) and this past weekend we traveled to Minnesota for the first race of the season. We travel in a motor home which is great as there is no luggage to pack and unpack and there isn’t much of a need to stop since the bathroom is right on board. The scenery was beautiful as we crossed the Mississippi river with all of the hills surrounding it. The weather was good for racing although we did have storms keeping us awake much of Saturday night which made for a very muddy track.

Missy Blue at the races

The boys create mud pots from the mud off of Daddy's car each race

My husband had a great weekend coming in 7th in the first race even though he got bumped and ended up with a flat tire. At the beginning of that race he passed 6 cars to get to 6th position winning him a “hard charger” award. The next day he pulled out front almost from the beginning and held onto 1st by quite a distance. I made the mistake of saying “it was a boring race” as there wasn’t any action. Yes, I learned now that I need to be thankful for a great competition with little action as I recall the day before there were two cars in his race that rolled and were quite damaged. It is fun to watch how much the boys enjoy racing and see how proud they are of their daddy. Each year they get more involved trying to help scrape the mud off of the car and other odd jobs. George especially knows more about what goes on at the races than I do. Our summer will be filled with racing and while that may not be my cup of tea I enjoy the time we have together and am proud of all my husband has accomplished.

George helping Daddy put the new wheel on.

The boys proud of Daddy's first place finish!

Podium win holding his winning check.

Must-have book

I really enjoy the materials by Answers in Genesis but my favorite children's book written by Ken and Mally Ham is "A is for Adam". I have found what a tool this book can be in the lives of my children. While it does have cartoon type drawings the writing is biblically based teaching the gospel starting in Genesis. The rhymes for each letter are catchy so that the truths they teach become ingrained. I found this out today while the boys and I were going through our fields and seeing all of the things growing. We saw the wild blackberry vines and talked about the thorns as someone got caught on one. George said he knew why they had thorns, "Because Adam and Eve sinned. Thorns, thistles, and cursed ground for man's sake." (speaking of what happened when sin entered the world.)

This book has been wonderful in pointing my three oldest boys to Christ. It does not dumb down the gospel or gloss over scripture that we need to hear. It clearly shows God's plan of salvation while also showing there is eternal judgment for those who do not trust in the Lord. A few years ago George was convicted of his sin when we came to the letter "P" for God's plan. Then this past school-year we went through the book using the devotional guide in the back and this time God's plan for salvation brought Pete and Re-Pete to start questioning how to get to heaven. We have had many good discussions with them and in the past month both of them have accepted Christ as their Savior! Praise the Lord! I am delighted with how God is working in their lives already at such a young age and I look forward to all that He has in store for them.

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." 3 John 1:4