Vacuum Repair Lessons

Austin was vacuuming the nursery today and accidentally got something caught in the vacuum cleaner resulting (we thought) in a broken belt. So Doug told him this was a good time to learn how to replace the belt on the vacuum cleaner. As it turned out, he had turned off the vacuum before the belt broke but since they had already taken it apart Doug went ahead and showed him how to replace the belt. My very important contribution to the whole process was to take pictures.

Catching Up Again - Our Somewhat Crazy Week

This past week has been a little crazy. In some ways not so great, in other ways wonderful, but either way very busy.

Tuesday we began our homeschooling year. We had a great day Tuesday and the kids really enjoyed it even though they weren't to excited at first. Math is our biggest challenge and it is done first thing in the morning and gotten completely out of our way before we move on to anything else. The other morning subject is reading and they are both loving the books they are reading. In the afternoons we are doing Bible, Science/Social Studies (alternating days), and Literature. We are also spending about 30 minutes each afternoon watching a video from Snag Learning. We watched 3 Points and I felt it really made all of us think about how fortunate we are and what role each of us has in making life better in some way for others.

On Wednesday we had two new kids start coming to daycare. Unfortunately I got up that morning and discovered that I had been hit with some kind of stomach but. There absolutely no way I could handle taking care of the kids so I had to call Doug home from work. I felt so bad doing that but Mona (my helper) had left early on Monday because she was sick and had not been able to work at all on Tuesday. I had no idea if she was coming in Wednesday or not but even if she was she normally doesn't get here until 10AM. This was 6:30AM and I new I couldn't handle things that long. Thankfully, Doug was able to leave right away and as soon as he got home I went to bed and stayed there until about 3:00 that afternoon. Also, thankfully, Mona was able to come in for a few hours and make lunch, clean up, and get dinner in the oven, before she had to leave again. I was grateful that the mother of the two new kids took everything in stride and understood these things happen and they were back the next day to a much more normal schedule.

Thursday evening shortly after Mona left for the day she had to turn around and come back because the radiator in her car developed a big leak. So Friday her son brought a new one and Saturday Doug put it in for her - with supervision.

Another wonderful fix-it project that Doug had to deal with when he came home from work on Friday was a stopped up toilet. It turned out that "someone" (translate that to Michael) had flushed the end of a paper towel holder (that I accidentally broke the other day and should have thrown away) and it was causing major issues. Lovely!

The church we attend just finished building a new addition and this weekend in celebration of that there were a lot of ativities going on all weekend long. We've had to miss most of it because of daycare schedules but we were able to go Friday evening to a concert by No Greater Love. It was great to get out for an evening and the music and singing were beautiful. We took our kids and some their friends and they had a great time as well. Michael was even out in aisle dancing for the last half of the concert. Also wonderful was getting see for the first time all the renovations and additions that have been going and I have to say the architects and builders did a wonderful job.

Amanda has adopted a stray cat the she originally named Lola. When we realized that Lola is a boy she changed the name to Toby. It was very malnourished and starving for attention and Amanda has been spending a lot of time nursing it back to health. She even bought him special food yesterday when she went grocery shopping with Doug.

 We have five daycare children so far today and three more scheduled to come later this evening but it has still been a pretty quiet and peaceful day. Hopefully the week is that way as well.

Catching Up

It's been almost a week since I've been here. I didn't intend to be gone this long but things have been pretty busy.

Austin's 14th birthday was Tuesday (8/31) and Michael's 4th birthday was Friday (9/03). We had a small party for them here at home on Sunday. It's amazing how fast they are growing up and I am enjoying seeing them grow and learn but at the same time I find myself wanting to hold on to each day as it passes, not wanting to miss a moment.

Austin had a friend here from Friday evening until this evening. Amanda had two friends here overnight Saturday night and then another friend came to visit for a  few hours Sunday evening.

Even though today is Labor Day we were open for business and had seven daycare children. My helper came in for awhile but left early because her allergies were bothering her so bad she just wanted to go home and try to sleep.

I spent a large part of the day doing the final preparations for our homeschool year which begins tomorrow. I had gotten all the materials we need but needed to organize a little and plan out our time. The current plan will probably take us about 2 1/2 hours a day. I'm looking forward to it and I think Austin and Amanda will enjoy their studies. Math may be an issue because neither of them like it but we will do that first thing in the morning and get it out of our way. We are doing a lot of reading aloud with me reading to both of them. We always enjoy learning this way, it gives us a chance to learn together. History, science, Bible and literature are all going to approached this way, at least at the beginning of the year. There will also be silent reading assignments for each of them.

So I guess I'll get some rest and get ready for our fun tomorrow.

Special Needs Links

Here are some links to some articles that I found interesting. Linking to an article does not always mean I agree with everything written there, but it does mean that I feel it has some good food for thought. Enjoy.

Co-Ed Resdidental Treatment Facilities  from Tips for Troubled Teens

Sensory Links from Hartley's Life With 3 Boys

Setting Up an Autism Classroom on a Budget from Autism Classroom.com

Five Benefits of Growing up With an Austistic Sibling from The Autism News

Helping Kids Manage Anger from Dr. Michele Borba's Reality Check

Shut Up from Both Hands and a Flashlight

Closed Doors and Hidden Rooms

We know what we are, but know not what we may be.

                                                            - William Shakespeare

I've had some lofty goals recently and quite often failed fantastically. Actually, most of the time, I've failed fantastically.  I've truly considered giving up. I've had quite a few days when I thought maybe I'm just asking too much of myself.

Maybe these dreams of mine are just pipe dreams, mirages, castles in the air.

Maybe I don't have the backbone, the know-how, or the determination to make them happen.

And maybe it's just selfish of me to want anything other than what I have right now. I have a husband I love, wonderful children, and a thriving business. I have a roof over my head (admittedly it's a sometimes leaky roof, but it's a roof), plenty to eat, decent clothing, health. I have friends, and am blessed with a wonderful church family.

And I love all the people in my life and am very grateful for the blessings that I have. And yet I often feel that I am choosing to crawl at a time when I should be walking, running, maybe even flying. There are nights when I have dreams that I am literally soaring through a huge mansion that is beautiful, well appointed, with more mysterious rooms, nooks and recesses than I can find, filled with potential . . . and yet unused. Other nights I dream that I am living in a house and suddenly discover there are rooms in this house that I have never opened the doors to, filled  with potential and possibility for many uses and again . . . unused.

I've been thinking a lot about these dreams and, while I don't often feel the need to interpret dreams I am beginning to feel that there is something here I need to examine. My life is before me. My house, my mansion is here and ready to be used.  It is well furnished with family, friends, and so many opportunities. And yet I am not making full use of these blessings.

So I ask myself - What are some of the unused rooms in my life? Which rooms have I only peaked into, yet never made use of all they have to offer?

My own home is one. While it is livable and comfortable enough there is so much more potential for beauty, for providing an oasis of calm, of nurturing and caring, as well as of creativity, love and laughter.

My business in another. Business is good and growing and yet I am getting a sense within myself that I have been looking at it too narrowly and missing opportunities for growth, for greater outreach and positive connection to those served directly as well to the wider community.

Writing is yet another. Yes I've dabbled in it, played around with it, but it's time for me to get serious and do what I need to do to make the time to write. I have so many thoughts, ideas, questions and stories, words just welling up inside with no place to go. It's time to get them out and go where they lead me.

These are just a few of the rooms in my life that I need to make full use of.  I know there are more but these are where I need to start now.

What rooms in your life remain unused, gathering dust, and hidden behind closed doors, waiting to be opened and used as they are meant to be?

Vacation is Over

We had a great vacation! Time to relax, time with family and friends, sleeping in (as much as Michael would let us), shopping, eating out, catching up on a few projects here around the house.

And now it's over.

But that's okay.

Today two of our kids were back. It was a slow easy start back into the routine. I got a text earlier this evening from another family saying their daughter was excited about coming back tomorrow. That's always good to hear and makes me happy to be back at work.

Doug is glad to be going back to work as well and anxious to see if the new machine they've been expecting at work has come in yet.

I guess we're lucky to have work we love and are excited about.

Genesis 15

1. After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your very great reward."
2. But Abram said, "O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?"
3. And Abram said "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."
4. Then the word of the Lord came to him: "This man will not be your heir but a son coming from your own body will be you heir."
5. He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars - if indeed you can count them." Then He said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
6. Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
7. He also said to him, "I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."
8. But Abram said, "O Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"
9. So the Lord said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."
10. Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however he did not cut in half.
11. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
12. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
13. Then the Lord said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
14. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possession.
15. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.
16. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."
17. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeard and passed between the pieces.
18. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates -
19. the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20. Hittites, Perissites, Rephaites,
21. Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.

My Thoughts:

Abram was so close to God that he had conversations with Him. And not just polite, religiously correct conversations that began with "Dear God" and ended with "Amen." These conversations were open, honest and direct. Abram was hurting and he told God about it. And he received an answer. But before he received the answer he was given some instructions. He carried these instructions out. And waited. And chased away birds. And waited. I'm sure during this time of waiting a lot of thoughts were going through Abram's mind. Maybe he questioned what he had just heard. Maybe he wondered if he had been to free with what he said to God. Maybe he thought God had walked away and forgotten him. The Bible doesn't tell us that part but we do know Abram was human and as fellow humans it's easy to imagine that the waiting was probably hard. But in the end - God answered. God answered and Abram believed.

Doug

Although I've written a little about each of us in the About Us page I thought I'd like to write a little more in depth about each family member. So I will be writing about one family member each Sunday for the next few Sundays.

I thought I would start with my dear husband.

Doug is one of the most gentle, calm men I know. He is very patient with the kids, and with me. I'm not always easy to live with.

Doug has worked as a machinest at McKee Foods for 17 years and enjoys his work there. He has an analytical way of thinking and is very mathematically inclined so is a natural at this job.

Doug is also an EMT and volunteers at our local rescue squad one evening a week as well as runs calls if needed throughout the week. His first aid and medical knowledge has been a wonderful asset here with the kids many times.

On Wednesday evenings during the school year he can be found at church, helping with the children and youth program. He is the fill in person there, helping out wherever needed.

Here at home he helps with the kids, does a lot of the paperwork for the business, takes care of all our finances, keeps all our laptops up and running, does the yardwork and the vehicle maintenance, and spends time with the family. He enjoys the Syfy channel when he has some spare time.

He makes me laugh, makes me think and makes me feel safe. I love you Dear.

Zoo Pictures

On Thursday Doug and I took the kids to the Natural Bridge Safari and Animal Park. We had a lot fun and I took a lot of pictures. Here, in no particular order are a bunch of them.

Day Two of Vacation

It's day two of our vacation and I am very much enjoying it. I love my work but am beginning to realize how much I need to schedule regular breaks to refuel. It's easy to think that since I work from home I don't need those down times but that's not true.

The kids have been enjoying it as well.

Amanda had a friend over Saturday evening and she stayed until early afternoon on Sunday. Today Amanda took Michael for a walk to visit the cows. This afternoon she went on a bike ride with another friend. Otherwise she's been busy on her computer playing WebKinz. And this evening she voluntarily cleaned up and vacuumed the playroom and living room.

Austin went with the youth pastor and a few other youth this afternoon out to eat and then to mow an elderly ladies yard. This evening he went over to the farm next door to help feed calves.

Since Doug didn't have to be up early to go to work this morning he agreed to be on call with the Rescue Squad all night last night. It was actually a quiet night but knowing that he could be called out any minute kept him from sleeping, so he's pretty tired today. But he still did some mowing and then took the van to the shop and had two new tires put on.

Later in the week we are taking the kids to the zoo one day and another day we are planning to visit Doug's parents who live about 80 miles south of us.

I told the kids that tomorrow morning they have to be up by 9:00 and we are going to finish the rearranging/reorganizing project we started in their rooms. They weren't excited about that but it has to be done and it's hard for me to help them when we have a house full of daycare kids.

As for me I've been doing a variety of things - writing, cleaning, napping. Just enjoying a slower pace.

As of today all my school age children that I provide childcare for are in school. So begins the days of waiting for the bus, arranging drop-offs and pickups and homework. No homework yet but I know it's coming.

The silence here was almost deafening today. Well, I guess that's an exaggeration because there are still my own three even if no one else shows up but it was much quieter without a houseful of school age kids - mostly boys. Although, honestly, some of the girls are louder than the boys.

This happened to be one of those days when the preschoolers were either home with their parents, parents were working a late shift or, as in the case of one child, were coming late because of a doctors appointment. So we took advantage of the extra time this morning and did a lot of work upstairs. Amanda still has things to rearrange from her room change. Austin needed to just do some general cleaning in his room. And I had lots of clothes to sort through and put away and laundry to do. There were four big boxes of clothes that were given too us to pass on as needed, use for the kids or do whatever with. I knew a lot of them were Michael's size or the next size or two up and needed to be put in his closet. I'm so glad that's done now.

Michael took advantage of the fact that I was busy and decided to give himself a haircut with Doug's electric razor.

I had to laugh every time I looked at him until Doug finally gave him a haircut this evening. He had to cut it down really really short, but it looks better than this anyway.

The salon that was in business right behind us has moved to a new location. Today the salon owners were back to finish cleaning out and offered to let us have four bookcases, and a small table that they no longer had use for. I was more than happy to give them a new home and now I'm full of ideas of how I want to rearrange the playroom. But the actual rearranging may have to wait until next week when we're on vacation and I won't have so many little ones to work around.

I can feel myself getting excited about vacation and feeling less focused on the day to day work. I can hardly wait to sleep in, read, write, and work on some projects that I've been looking for a chance to tackle. We are also planning a couple day trips - to visit Doug's parents and to go to the zoo. We've never taken Michael to the zoo and I'm excited about seeing his reaction to the animals.

As I'm writing this Austin and Amanda are outside with a flashlight looking at all the spiders that have shown up to take advantage of all the bugs that fly around our porch light every night. Because it stays on all night due to parents in and out picking up and dropping off their children their is a steady supply of insects to fly  into the webs. Amanda said there are about 12 spiders out there right now. And now Austin just came running in to tell me he found "a humungous gathering of slugs" outside.  

And on that lovely note I will say goodnight. I wonder what adventures tomorrow will bring?