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We are glad you stopped by, we hope you are blessed, and enjoy your stay. We discuss a little bit of everthing here, from homeschool, parenting, adoption, farming, our faith, and our plain lifestyle. May God Bless Your Day!!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving

















It has been a crazy fall, but Kendell has summed it up well for us-we just need to get used to it, life is just always going to be crazy!
So, I guess I will try to swallow hard, and take my daughter's advice-"Get used to it" Life goes by in whirlwind procession, and we just need to hang on and do the best we can with each hour of each day!!
Today we had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. It was very cold outside, but inside, yummy smells and hot ovens kept us toasty and completely full by the end of the day.
Aside from cooking a full turkey dinner, we also made time for some family photos-finally, in good clothes, something suitable for a photo card at Christmas-FINALLY!!
So, the next job will be a long-overdue letter to family and friends-I think I skipped last year, but we have so much to talk about this year, I probably won't get any awards for brevity.
The boys are doing very well, Isaac will surely be walking by his 2nd birthday. Isaiah is trying very hard to speak all the time-his want to is great, we just need to channel all the energy in the right direction now.
I am so not ready for cold weather, but I guess it is time-goodness, Christmas will be here in 4 weeks, and I haven't done anything about that either-I can really tell the difference between 3 kiddos and 5-wow, where do the days go?? The only hours I seem to have are after they are all in bed and Chuck is milking-he milks the night shift 3 nights a week-I don't like it, but it gives me some computer time, otherwise, there wouldn't be any during the day-Isaac just won't allow much time for anything but HIM!!!!
I still have some posts I want to do from the fall activities, but who knows-I also want to update the blog with a new look, since we aren't farming right now-but I don't know when that would happen-maybe that will be my New Year's resolution? Goodness, 2011 is just around the corner- I really feel like life is passing me by, but I am also loving it-
We are so blessed, life has been good, despite the changes, and the children are true gifts from God. As long as we have a roof over our heads, plenty of food in the freezer and pantry, and clothes to wear, what do we have to worry about?
Ok, time to head to bed, and no, I am not doing Black Friday shopping-I prefer internet-it's safer and cheaper-not so many impulse buys-when I get the time to do it!

Some of the things we listed on our gratitude list last night include:
-friends
-family
-Our Savior's Blood, shed for us
-God's Word, the Bible
-A home
-A job for Chuck
-A church family
-solid Biblical teaching we sit under each Sunday
2 boys with healed hearts (Nick and Isaac)
school is going very well this year
our farm and land
our co-op group and the time we spend together studying Astronomy
our health
food and clothes

Blessings
Chris and family

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

family fun at the deer park

This post is really a continuation of the one below, so I will save time and let you enjoy the pictures of my lovely family enjoying a beautiful fall afternoon at the deer park!!
A picture is worth 1000 words!! Here are a few more than one, but they are just so darn photogenic!!
I just love my family-they are so precious to me!!

Tyler takes time to pet the deer, and they love it

Isaac was not too sure about all this, but he was game for anything!!

What a tender, sweet little boy
we are soooo blessed



momma and her little darlings



Are they sweet, or what???





Our first family picture!!



A close-up view for Isaiah


NIck, my serious, intense young man

Kendell loves animals-my only baby girl is growing up


father and son time!!


Ahem, is this really necessary????I think that's close enough Miss Deer


Everyone likes feeding the goats too!!



What a day!!

Some end of summer fun

we have had so many changes this year, it is almost too much to assimilate, much less write about.


Selling one farm, renting a small home in a very small town for 2 months, a 10 day grip to PA and the Creation Museum, followed by a very fast purchase of another farm.


Flying to Colorado one week later for my aunt and uncle's 50th, and the same day getting our travel news for our boys!!!


Breathless, and we ain't done yet...


home again, trying to make this old house into a home, and also trying to get ready to add 2 new boys within a few weeks-can you say nerve-wracking???


Time to travel, my computer crashes, the house is still not really ready, flooring is going in as we head out the door, children staying home with a lovely young couple from our church-the reason we went to PA, their wedding in March-


still with me?


A new farm, lots of issues, lots of rain, way too much rain, way too much mud, Chuck is in over his head with mud and chores, I'm swimming in tears, how can this be sooooo hard??? and we thought we were down-sizing???


Nick is outside all day long helping his dad, he is such a wonderful son, so eager to try anything, so wanting to please, and make life a bit easier.


10 days in Taiwan,


2 new boys, a baby that was all baby, a 3 1/2 yr old that was much better than we were expecting, home again to more rain, and then the HEAT, and MORE RAIN, and more mud.


Half way through the summer, Chuck decides we are selling the cows!!


NO!!! How can we do this? What will we do? I love cows, and milking them, and the lifestyle!!


BUT...


In a day and age when jobs are hard to find, he has a job, we can rent our farm land and buildings, and he can be home a lot, as he is working for the couple that bought our big farm in January.


So, Sept comes, and the cows are going-


Hence, school is postponed until October, because, we are going to take SOME TIME to be a family for at least a few days before the new job starts.


The kids are going to go visit their grandparents and cousins for a much-needed break, and we are going to take time to slow down, and heal from the pace of the last 5 years, or maybe the last 15, which is how long we have been milking.


I still cry when I think of the change in our lifestyle. I love his employers, they are like family, that is not this issue, it is the loss of a lifestyle, the letting go of a dream for our boys, the empty feeling I have with no reason to go outside each day and work hard for part of my day.


Not that mothering isn't hard, or home-schooling (that's another post)


Which brings me to this post-some downtime for our family at a motel overnight, lots of fun in the pool-all 7 of us, and then, our annual trip to the deer-park.


Blessings


Chris


It was definitely a time for smiles and laughter for all of us!!




Isaiah is doing so well, and loved being in the water-he really got the hang of walking and floating and could even get himself upright when he fell or tripped-he had so much fun!!



Isaac is changing before our very eyes-each day brings new tricks-here, he is studying everything, with his tongue out-we were sure he would bite it off in all his excitement in the water


He is such a water baby-LOVES it!!




Isaiah really had a great time playing in the water-he is game for about anything!!
I'll be back soon with an update on the boys-there is so much to tell!!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Seal!!

We have a boy who can do something no one else can. He scoots around on the floor in "seek and destroy" mode, looking for his next victim, and when he finds something that meets with his satisfaction, he will put his hands down on the floor, push himself up like a half a push-up, grin from ear to ear, and then clap his feet together behind him,

and it is SOOOOO cute. The video does not do him justice, but I had to try to capture this at least once, before he learns to walk, and all these cute little baby ways are gone forever.

Fun at the creek

We have a little creek that runs across the corner of our property. It can be hardly a trickle, yet at times it is more like a little river. One 95 degree sultry day in July, Chuck thought we should take the kids down there for a dip in the COLD water. They were thrilled, and I was so glad I came after them with the camera.
We had recently had a torrential rain, one of MANY over this past summer, and there were signs that our little creek had been a raging river for a short time, as grass and debris were scattered all over, and you could see how high the water had been on our culvert, actually, running over the road-now that was a lot of water!!
The kids had a grand time exploring the water, and were shocked at how cold it really was. But it felt good on a humid, hot day, and it was good clean fun for our family for the afternoon.

heading down the road a 1/4 mile

2 sun-dried little boys


our boxer Sadie had to get into the cool waters too

along with Reggie our adopt-a dog



and Princess, our 2nd adopt-a dog-she came with the farm we just purchased this spring, and we are so glad to have her



How can you love someone so much???




It is very hard to get 5 children looking the same way at the same time






Baba and his baby boy


This gives a pretty good shot of the height of the water a few days earlier


I think Nick was stunned by the coldness, but loved the chance to cool off after working so hard on chores all day long

Tyler had to get completely wet-such a fun-loving boy!!

Isaiah had to sit down too, but was not too sure about that coldness

Isaac said NO WAY am I getting my feet into that

Water ran over the fence between our property and our neighbor's pasture, and I was standing up on the road looking down at them having such a good time



Kendell takes such good care of her little brother
It was a fun afternoon, and I can't believe it was 2 months ago, and now we have 60's during the day, and 40'2 at night. Such a change in such a short time.
Until next time
Blessings
Chris

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Where did the summer go?

I apologize for the photos being newest to oldest. If it wasn't so long in between posts, I would remember how to do it the right way, and I also would not have so much to do all at one time.
Hoping for another catch-up post later this week!!

My baby wearing his heart monitor for 24 hours-I am thankful he was such a good boy during the time, it really never bothered him, or slowed him down one bit. The beauty of being 17 months old!!
We had to move the box from front to back several times a day, depending on play time, eating time, or sleep time!! Kendell was a very good helper, and takes such good care of both little boys anytime I need help!


Isaac can really have some wild hair after a bath!


The magic of digging in mom's cupboards-and the joy of pots and pans!!


It's not very often that they both get into the pots, but sometimes, they will play together.

Daddy and Isaiah having a father son chat during Grandpa Chuck's birthday party in July.


Tyler getting in on the fun with his cousin Cassie-he has felt a bit left out, but overall, has adjusted very well to having 2 little brothers who are getting ALOT of everyone's time and attention.

Cassie enjoying time with Isaac-she is a senior this year, and I remember when she was BORN!! Goodness, where do the years go?


Isaac and Chuck's sister Jan, better known as Aunty JuJu --Kendell donned her that when she was 2 years old and spending her days with Grandma and Aunty while waiting for us to come home from Russia with Nick. The name has stuck ever since!

Grandpa Chuck and most of his grand and great grand children-there are a few missing!

My Dad and stepmom made it over for a visit in July. It seems everyone is all smiles for that first visit!
My brother's 2 daugthers, Alicia and Mirissa, enjoyed meeting their cousins. The overnight stay went very quickly. They made it back for another visit before school started when my mom brought them in August.

My brother Kyle and his wife Sara, and all the cousins!

3 little boys having a blast with Legos!! Aren't they a boy's best friend?

Isaac spending some time with Grandma Margie. He has changed so much since this picture, it is hard to imagine how fast they grow.

We are still here-in case anybody has missed us, and been wondering. The world of farming, and 2 new children has really decreased my computer time this summer. And it was so dreadfully hot, and we were always so busy, but now that I was forced to upload all my summer's photos due to a 3 month report being due, I thought it would also be a good time for an update on us.

Life is going very well, with our 2 new additions. Isaiah is really showing us his little, sweet disposition, except for 2 little issues he has-being told no, and sharing. But that will come with time, I am sure.

Isaac has had a wonderful summer and come so far, and we are thrilled with his progress. The best news of the summer was from our ped. cardiologist. She ran him through numerous tests, including a 24 hour heart monitor test, and repeated 2 blood tests, and we have found out that he is HEALED!! Praise the Lord! He has no irregular heart beat, his liver, kidney and thyrhoid are all functioning well, and he is off all meds!
We were thrilled to get this news, for sure, and now we are busy about the work of getting him caught up developmentally. We are going to be using Birth-3, a state program, and will have therapists in the home once a week until we are content that he is caught up with his age.
While he is not crawling more than a few steps, he will crawl the final 3-4 "steps" to his destination, and pulls himself up very confidently to a standing position. He loves looking at life from an elevated position, just can't figure out how to stay that way for the long haul.
He has no real desire to feed himself yet, but is putting a spoon or toothbrush into his mouth, and chews on his finger quite voraciously. He has been teething most of the summer, and to say momma is sleep deprived would be putting it mildly. I have faith we are nearing the end of the toothing stage for awhile, but now we have a new battle to overcome, the waking 3-4 times a night for the accustomed bottle. While teething, it was "anything that works" to calm him back to sleep, but now, wow, what a screamer he can be when the desired bottle is not brought forth at midnight, 1 or 2 am.
Isaiah has had a fun summer of tractor rides, skid steer rides, and lots of playing time with his siblings. He is content in the sand for hours, and we are used to our yard looking like a used Little Tykes sales lot again, as he has more toys to ride than he could possibly play with.
Tyler is very happy to show him the ropes of all the riding toys, and loves keeping his little brother busy in the sand pile when the rest of us are milking cows. They are fast buds, and Isaiah has really bonded with Tyler from day one.
I hope to add a few more posts later this week, with lots of photos from the summer. BUT, you never know, it could be another month of so at the rate I actually sit down and do this.
We are enjoying a beautiful September, and tomorrow our little man turns 4. I will try to post pics asap!
Blessings
Chris