An Update

The guys are gearing up for deer hunting the next couple of weekends. Meanwhile the girls are gearing up for girl parties. Gotta keep busy while the guys are having fun! :-) Dot has a birthday party to go to, and Deer has a scrap-booking party upcoming here. I'll be busy keeping the men fed, and Darling out of the guy and girl's gear.

My brother is in Ecuador kayaking. Isn't that cool! He works like crazy and then takes off to enjoy a different part of the world. He said his buddy and his kayaks broke, but they have fixed them up. He described it as pretty epic. Knowing my brother - that must have been some crash for him to describe it in that way. He usually is playing things down. I am looking forward to seeing pictures at Thanksgiving. Please pray for his health and safety, if you think of him. Thanks! :-)

Dessert has been under the weather occasionally and we're wondering what's up. He occasionally wakes up with aches and pains in different joints. One morning he had to crawl to our room, because he said his knees hurt so bad. Another morning his hand hurt so he had trouble grasping things. As he's up, the joints loosen up and eventually he feels better. We took him in and they did an x-ray of a couple joints, but don't see anything. He did have one of those small ticks this summer, but no red ring. I'm wondering about lymes, but the Dr. didn't think so, and didn't do the blood test for it. I'm planning to take him back in for a second opinion, but it will be a couple weeks. We are praying for God's guidance.

I've got a few book reports coming up. It has been fun reading them!

The kids have been working on cutting their speeches for speech club. I'll be glad when they are all cut and written, and all that is left is memorizing them!

Dime & Dessert have finished with vision therapy this week. They have a checkup in a couple weeks to make sure their eyes are still working together. I'm excited for them and have noticed improvement in reading, etc. The other two boys have another two weeks, and then we'll see where they are at. I'll be glad when I don't have to make that 40 minute one-way trip twice a week, but it sure has been fun being with all my boys! I really liked that part of it. I think I'm going to have to think of something to do that gets just my boys and me together. I like those guys! :-)

Occasionally, we brought Darling along, and one person commented about seeing 4 brothers and one little sister together. They thought poor little girl with all those boys. I thought - No, so blessed! They all watch out for her and dote on her! :-) And share candy with her. If they don't give her what she wants, or pick her up too much, or pat her on the head too much, she screams, and then they all take heed! :-) She can hold her own! I think she will be much more of a tom-boy than the other girls. She loves Duke & Dessert and wants to do what they do.

Dot's been working on an essay for a contest. It's all done, and she'll be entering it today.
Well, I better get to cooking and cleaning. We have a number of families coming over later today for a Fall Festival. I raked and raked to clean up the yard on Wednesday, only to have the last few leaves come down the next few days. I could spit on that tree! We have had rain, rain, so I needed to rake when it was dry. I'm hoping to get those leaves up today, and maybe mow a little (if it dries out enough). Otherwise, we'll just have to do with a leafy lawn. And Drum will have to pooper-scoop with extra care!! - Hard to see it in all those leaves. (sorry for the yuck) Some days I really would love to not have two dogs.

One last fall quote from the e-mail:

A woman was asked by a coworker, "What is it like to be a Christian?"
The coworker replied, "It is like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff.
He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."

Fun in the Rain

We have been experiencing a lot of rain lately, so lots of rain puddles. The other day, Dime took Darling out to enjoy the puddles. She had a blast and was ready for a hot bath, when she came in.

No More Braces!

Last Tuesday, Dot had an orthodontist appointment. Here is the before:

Here is the after:Yeah!! No more braces!!

Darling Sure Has Fun!

Here she is with her bunny, Pearl, in a big nest of leaves her big brother, Drum, made for her. Big brothers are awesome!
She loves to organizes her dollies and teddy bears in rows. Here are all her dollies. The pink one in the middle she calls, "Giggle Baby". The second one from the left is Baby Moses. He is her bath time doll. I don't know what it is about dolls that makes kids want to take the clothes off of them, but it is a hopeless case to keep them dressed. Which makes Giggle Baby my favorite - the clothes can't come off! :-)Enjoying a cup of hot cocoa with Mom.

Our pond is filling up for the winter! That's our positive way of looking at the rain this morning. It was basically a big mud hole, and now is steadily filling back up. We are really hoping that it freezes smooth this year, before we have a slushy snow that wrecks the ice. We really enjoy ice-skating!

The fall leaves carpeting the ground are really beautiful! I have a few pictures I hope to post, but someone keeps taking the camera - ahem, Dh. Plus, Dot got her braces off!

I made a huge pan of apple strudel the other day. Sooooo goooood! I hope to make some more today. We'll see if I get the time.

The Sound of Sleigh Bells - A Book Review

Cindy Woodsmall's new book "The Sound of Sleigh Bells" is a fantastic book for the upcoming Christmas season. Snuggle in with some hot cocoa. The characters are so well done, the story so moving, and such a wonderful ending! :-)

Beth Hertzler works for her Aunt Lizzy at her dry goods store as a contact between the Enlischer retailers and the Amish craftsmen. She enjoys her job and people she meets. But, ever since her fiance died over a year ago, she's been unable to rise above the sorrow and remorse of that day. She continues wearing her black mourning clothing, and doesn't want to discuss anything personal.

Duty calls and Beth needs to make a buying-and-selling trip. On her trip she discovers a wood carving that catches her heart. Unable to meet the carver, and discouraged by her bishop to pursue this kind of product, she is left with enjoying the one piece she owns. The piece tugs at her heart and she encourages her Aunt to meet the old woodcarver and see what options might open for them. Her Aunt wonders at her love of the carving, but encouraged by a ray of hope in her neice's bleak outlook, she decides to meet the woodcarver and see what happens.

Meeting the young-looking woodcarver who has dealt with a loss of his own, opens a plan that Lizzy is afraid will fail, but is worth the risk to try. She lets the woodcarver think she is Beth and asks him to keep in touch by mail. Puzzled, he agrees.

The next few months are filled with letters back and forth from Beth and Jonah (the woodcarver). Lizzy's well-intentioned deceit requires her to open Beth's letters from Jonah and black out any lines that reveal Jonah has met her before. Beth starts opening up to the "old" woodcarver and starts growing out of the depression she has been in. Would Jonah be safe enough to share the unbearable burden weighing on her heart? If she just shared her secret, would it help the burden to lift?

I know you know that Beth and Jonah eventually connect. Would it be a great story if they didn't? But it is such a twist to hear how it happens. Each one needs to face a "fear". In our lives, we each have fears and difficulties we deal with. God knows how to orchestrate our lives to help us deal with those issues that we need to, but eventually we have to decide to co-operate and do our part for the healing and growing that needs to happen.

Author Bio: Cindy Woodsmall is the author of When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and The New York Times Best-Seller When the Soul Mends. Her ability to authentically capture the heart of her characters comes from her real-life connections with Amish Mennonite and Old Order Amish families. A mother of three sons and two daughters-in-law, Cindy lives in Georgia with her husband of thirty-one years.

To purchase your own book, visit:

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307446534

You can also purchase the book at waterbrookmultnomah.com

Would you like to win your own copy? Maybe you need a gift for Christmas? One you have time to read before you wrap. :-) Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing on October 25th.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Snow in October?!

Last night it snowed! It's still white this morning as you can see. Deer keeps saying she feels like it's Christmas with the cold weather. This morning she greeted me with a "Merry Christmas!" :-) I guess I need to go bake some squash bars so that it smells like fall.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work He Goes!

Today, Drum joined the work force! He enjoyed the job at Merlin's, and it went well. Yeah!!Drum in his work shirt. It has the restaurant name and town on the back.
Darling was in a rare mood and kept telling us to take a picture of this and that pose. Too funny!Being silly with the tongue.

First Step to a Dream

Today was the first step in a dream of our family. Someday we'd like to travel overseas and visit our friends in China and Papa New Guinea. We realized we can't even dream about tickets if we don't have a passport. So, to that end, we all saved since last spring towards the goal of getting passports. This month was a special on passport photos and everyone had their money, so we set the date. Today!!
First stop was the photo lab for the passport photos. Darling did great! It took a couple shots, but with her phobia of cameras, I was really worried we wouldn't get one at all.
Next stop was Vital Records at our county office.

These ladies were sweet and so patient! What a blessing!!
We had to check everyone's height. Darling wanted her baby's height checked as well. Cute! :-)Finished Product!! We couldn't find Dh's birth certificate, and he is from out of state. So, we will need to do some more checking. The rest of us have our passport applications in!! (Dot already has her's from last year's mission trip.) PTL!!

A Great Weekend!!

We had a great relaxing weekend! Everyone did well at their respective places. Dh and I had a very restful time with lots of visiting and no working. We ate at Olive Garden on the way up - delicious!! - and had leftovers for Saturday. We went and played tennis, visited my Aunt and Uncle briefly, watched a gorgeous sunset, and just hung out, read, and talked and talked and talked. I still like him and love him after 18 years. :-)

Darling did so well at Grandpa & Grandma's. No crying or carrying on. I was so happy and relieved when Mom called on Sat saying she had slept so well. Duke & Dessert were great boys and made us proud. The only one who got homesick was Deer. She called late on Sat and early on Sun. It was ok though. She was having fun, but just eventually got homesick. I feel grateful to only have one out of seven call. :-) Dot had a blast at her party (at our house) and the house wasn't even trashed when we got home. :-) The older boys had a good CAP event. They got home an hour before we did and seemed so relaxed when we got home. Very nice. PTL for a great weekend! We appreciated the prayers on our behalf. They definitely were answered.

This Weekend

This is where I'll be this weekend. I'm looking so forward to it. Dh and I haven't gone away overnight since before Dessert was born. I'm only nervous about how Darling will handle it, but I know she will be in good hands and having fun. It's just at night where I worry she'll keep her Grandparents up. Pray for them. :-) Our kids will be parceled out at five spots for the weekend. They are all as eager for their activities and friend fun.

My boys had Vision Therapy progress checks yesterday and they are all moving at a steady clip forward. I have noticed that schoolwork for the younger two (whom I sit with - I don't sit and watch the bigger guys work - so I wouldn't notice the difference as much) is going faster than it used to. I told my big guys yesterday, how sorry I was that I didn't pursue this for them when they were younger. They just reminded me that I didn't know about it. They are right, but I'm still sorry. It would have helped them and me so much. I was amazed how well Duke is doing with reading compared to where he was last year. I was going to have him read all summer to keep him from losing ground. Then they told us not to have them read before we started Vision Therapy to give their eyes a break. It took a couple months to get started with the process, so they all had a good long break. Duke picked up reading for school reading better than he ended last year. I was flabbergasted. It sure helps with the speed of school! I am hoping by the end of Vision Therapy and the end of the school year, we can have him at his proper reading level. Lord willing.

We've been waaaay busy the last couple of weeks, but I just have a couple more little major things to finish, and then I think we'll settle back into busy-but-not-crazy-busy. I am looking forward to that. I slept in a little this morning, but I better get myself and the crew going so that we can all get to our parties on time!! :-)

Let's make it a GREAT weekend!!

If God Is Good - A Book Review

If I had taken the time to realize the size of this book, I might have been more hesitant to accept it for a book review. I'm so glad I didn't!! I'm only part way into this book, and I think it is excellent! A must read for anyone who suffers from something or might suffer someday. :-)

In the book, Randy Alcorn states, "Our failure to teach a biblical theology of suffering leaves Christians unprepared for harsh realities. It also leaves our children vulnerable to history, philosophy, and global studies classes that raise the problems of evil and suffering while denying the Christian worldview. Since the question will be raised, shouldn't Christian parents and churches raise it first and take people to Scripture to see what God says about it.
Most of us don't give focused thought to evil and suffering until we experience them. This forces us to formulate perspective on the fly, at a time when our thinking is muddled and we're exhausted and consumed by pressing issues. Readers who have "been there" will attest that it's far better to think through suffering in advance."

I totally believe we need to teach our children and growing teens about these issues. It is so sad to see young adults enter colleges and be swayed by the world's talk into accepting illogical assumptions about life. They should be better prepared to understand logically and mentally what and why they believe in God. I am so encouraged by the Truth Project put out by Focus on the Family. It is a great basis in understanding the Christian Worldview. This book will help cover another basic area about the evil and suffering in the world we live in. God is not afraid to cover these tough subjects, and "the Christian worldview is the only one that adequately deals with evil and suffering."

To illustrate the value of discussing these issues with our children, let me quote this story:
"Bethany Hamilton grew up surfing on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. At age five she chose to follow Jesus. When she was thirteen, a fourteen-foot tiger shark attacked her, severing on of her arms. Bethany returned to surfing one month later. A year later, despite her disability, she won her first national title.

Bethany says, "It was Jesus Christ who gave me peace when I got attacked by the shark. ... And it was what God had taught me growing up that helped me overcome my fears...to get back into the water to keep surfing."

She continues, "My mom and I were praying before the shark attack that God would use me. Well, to me, 1 Timothy 1:12 kind of tells me that God considered me faithful enough to appoint me to his service. I just want to say that no matter who you are, God can use you even if you think you're not the kind of person that can be used. You might think: why would God use me? That's what I thought...I was like thirteen and there God goes using me!"

Bethany and her parents had given careful thought to the God they served and His sovereign purposes. Obviously not every tragedy leads to winning a national title, but Bethany began where all of us can, by trusting God; in her case, with a support system of poeple having an eternal perspective. Hence, she was prepared to face suffering when it came, and to emerge stronger."

Book Summary: "Every one of us will experience suffering. Many of us are experiencing it now. As we have seen in recent years, evil is real in our world, present and close to each one of us.
In such difficult times, suffering and evil beg questions about God--Why would an all-good and all-powerful God create a world full of evil and suffering? And then, how can there be a God if suffering and evil exist?
These are ancient questions, but also modern ones as well. Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and even former believers like Bart Ehrman answer the question simply: The existence of suffering and evil proves there is no God.
In this captivating new book, best-selling author Randy Alcorn challenges the logic of disbelief, and brings a fresh, realistic, and thoroughly biblical insight to the issues these important questions raise.

Alcorn offers insights from his conversations with men and women whose lives have been torn apart by suffering, and yet whose faith in God burns brighter than ever. He reveals the big picture of who God is and what God is doing in the world–now and forever. And he equips you to share your faith more clearly and genuinely in this world of pain and fear.

As he did in his best-selling book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn delves deep into a profound subject, and through compelling stories, provocative questions and answers, and keen biblical understanding, he brings assurance and hope to all."

Author Bio: Randy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries and a bestselling author. His novels include Deadline, Dominion, Edge of Eternity, Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, The Ishbane Conspiracy, and the Gold Medallion winner, Safely Home. He has written eighteen nonfiction books as well, including Heaven, The Treasure Principle, The Purity Principle, and The Grace and Truth Paradox. Randy and his wife, Nanci, live in Oregon and have two married daughters and four grandsons.

Sadly, I have no give-away copy for this book, and I'm definitely not giving away mine! :-)
But, you can find options for purchasing your own at http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781601421326 I know it is available at www.waterbrookmultnomah.com. I'm sure your local Christian bookstore will have a copy as well. The back of my book states that it costs $24.99. This is a hardcover, 500 page book. It is well organized, and has a great topical index in the back.

Happy Birthday Dot!!

We celebrated Dot's birthday today! She's such a delight.
Here she is with her four brothers:
New popover pans from G&G K & us. We are all looking forward to her trying them out!Her special cake. She had a dream, and I helped it become reality. It has alot of her on the cake. The blue dragon is Saphria from "Eragon", there is a red book with an "I" on it - stands for Inkheart and imagination, the winged horse Flinn - from a fantasy she is writing (not made from Fondant), her special chain from her trip to Mexico, a mermaid - she is writing a book that has mermaids in it, a red scarf from Padme and Rahab, a small dragon charm on the top of the cake, a golden ring from the ring in "Lord of the Rings", Lucy's vial from "Narnia", a kitty which stands for Aslan, a mouse which is Reepicheep from "Narnia", the candle is for the beacon of Gondor, her Chinese ring (on the back of the cake) a brown book that is one of her many journals, a sword for Peter, and flowers which stand for each member of her friends and family who are beautiful apart and beautiful together. If she explained it, it would be a whole lot more complicated, and have more meaning to the symbols - but ya get the drift. :-)
It was a project! But, she was worth it! :-) Love ya, Sugar, Mom :-)

September Karaoke

Last night the crew went to Karaoke at church. They had a blast. I went for a little while, just enough to take a few pictures. :-)
We sure appreciate all the work they do to put on such a fun time!!

Darling's First Ponytail

She's so sweet!! :-)

Sailing with Uncle John!!

This past Thursday, we headed up North for a fun visit with my brother, John. We got a chance to view his workplace. This is John's corner of the busy office. Here he designs and works on projects.

The center of the busy office: They were resurfacing the front deck (out the windows) so the furniture and prototypes they've made were set inside. They chairs are made from recycled milk cartons. Very cool.
Enjoying the view from the front deck:


Then we headed down to the docks to go sailing! First we ate lunch under the trees in the parking lot. Then, refortified, we headed walked over to the marina.
This was parked next to all the sailboats: The kids were in awe of its size.

Unloading the spinnert sail:
Here are all the sailboats lined up in the marina:

Pardon the order, this is John's workplace. I couldn't get it in the right place.Directions before boarding:
Helping unstrap the mail sail:

Checking out the cabin below deck:The last rope to untie:And we are off!

Going under the lift bridge for the marina:
A great ship heads out to the Great Lake before we do:

Sailing, sailing!!
The lakeshore view:


The great lake awaits:

Life on deck:

Colorful sail!

Dime cools his feet:

Drum is feeling the water off the front deck.

Our climber finds something new to explore:

Moving about aboard the sailboat:

Something else to climb - the mast!

Mastering the feel of the ropes:

So pretty and blue:

A still lake. The breeze died down.

Having to bring in the sail, because of the lack of breeze:

Dime takes a dip! Brrrrr! Of course, he said the water was just fine.

So beautiful!

Pointing out sights along the shore:

Yep, I was on there too.

Thumbs up for a great ride!

Trolling for ?

A big Barge entered the area. They beat us back to harbor.

Mighty Dot hold the ship in her hand:

Checking out the wind arrow at the top of the mast:

Fine homes along the shore:
The barge travels under the lift:

A great day!!
Hosing down the deck:
Goodbye, Straw Man!! Hope we get to ride you again!!
We finished the day with pizza, and then headed on our trip home.
Thanks again, John, for the fantastic day!!