The F-Troop Zookeeper

Last Straw

2011-03-27T12:01:00.003-04:00

I'm a visual person. I also like to rearrange the furniture. That includes on my blog. If I want to change the wallpaper or decorate for the holidays, I don't want to have to spend an hour (or more) trying to figure out how to make the old stuff go away. I have deleted html, reverted to a classic template, I have tried everything. I was going to keep posting here until I get my new blog looking "just right" but now that this one looks completely stupid, I'm just moving on over to Recipe for a Wild Thyme. Do come visit, not that I've encouraged much visiting here. I made a go of it. I'm outa here.

I May Never Pass This Way Again

2011-03-15T21:55:00.002-04:00

I haven't been blogging because I told myself that Quickbooks and Taxes are a priority and must be done first. BUT…I'm cheating by blogging that I'm not blogging for said reasons. I hope to have my part done by the weekend then dump it all in the accountant's lap. Pray for the woman.

(In my best Arnold accent) I'll be back….

Farewell Aunt Corky

2011-03-01T22:17:00.001-05:00

My Aunt Coralie died yesterday. Due to the fact that she hadn't been to church in years and didn't have friends, it was decided there will be no funeral. I have mixed feelings about my aunt and her passing away. She babysat me, came to the hospital when I had my first baby and brought a large, pink bunny due to Easter being the following week…I think she may have visited with at least one other birth. She was tickled each time I had a baby and just thought it wonderful we had so many. Somewhere along the line, she was introduced to alcohol and started drinking herself to death. When her health started to decline and she became near blind and housebound, unable to go out to get her booze, she replaced that addiction with food. She was already overweight but her drinking and dietary habits sent her body to the point of no return. I think she was 55. That's pretty young, IMO. I was angry with her for awhile as her health became a burden on my mom. My mom took care of my bedridden Grandma and Grandpa for years and she found herself trying to take care of a bitter, miserable, sick alcoholic who was ungrateful and witchy to my mom all of the time. Yes, she had been sweet and still could be but alcohol ruins people. Though I would get angry at her I kept finding myself just feeling sorry for her and praying for her. I prayed she would remember the seeds planted when she had sought after God, was baptized and attended a church. I am heartbroken that a person can go through life only to come to the end friendless and feeling so miserable you're willing to drown your sorrows in booze until it takes your life. I pray I live in such a way that friends and family will want a service of some kind to say goodbye not because I want to be popular, but because I want to be a blessing to others.

1 Peter 2:12
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

2 Weeks until Third Day!!!

2011-02-23T23:42:00.002-05:00

Moi with Jillian, Natalie & Lenae at a Third Day concert in 2006

So I posted on Facebook and Twitter that I observed on my calendar that I will be at the Indianapolis Third Day Concert and meeting the band in two weeks! I am SO jazzed. A friend asked how we are able to meet the band. This is the answer we concocted: "My brother's girlfriend's sister-in-law's aunt went to school with Tai Anderson's brother's barber's sister." The truth is, I am Wired. The whole family is. Meaning Craig bought me a membership to the coolest fan club ever and threw the family in to boot. SO, we get to sign up for any and all Meet and Greets we want to, we get to take advantage of pre-sale tickets, discounts in the Third Day store, etc. The sad thing is I've been waiting for years to join and even longer for my own Gomer shirt. Every holiday and birthday: "Mom, what would you like for Christmas?" Answer: "The newest Third Day CD and a Gomer shirt." "Michelle, what would you like for your birthday?" "The newest Third Day CD and a Gomer shirt." The wait made me appreciate my lovely orange shirt ever so much, but this is the last year for Wired! I could have been hanging with the band but, NO, we had to be frugal. Okay, I'm being pathetic. Libya is in the midst of mayhem, New Zealand has had an earthquake. I'm whining about Wired ending after this year. Attitude check: check. Grateful for wonderful gift from DH: check. Contentment reinstated: check. Totally ecstatic to be seeing Third Day after going through concert withdrawal the past 2 ½ years: check, check, check!

It's all good,

Michelle

Mom Sells Toys on Ebay for punishment! Love it!

2011-02-23T09:47:00.001-05:00

And this is being a bad mom why? Very creative!

NEWS OF THE WEIRD: EGYPTIAN FATHER NAMES BABY BOY "FACEBOOK"

2011-02-21T22:33:00.003-05:00

I found this endlessly amusing:

"According to TechCrunch, Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper reported the following:

A young man in his twenties wanted to express his gratitude about the victories the youth of 25th of January have achieved and chose to express it in the form of naming his firstborn boy "Facebook" Jamal Ibrahim (his name.) The boy's family, friends, and neighbors in the Ibrahimya region gathered around the new born to express their continuing support for the revolution that started on Facebook. "Facebook" received many gifts from the youth who were overjoyed by his arrival and the new name. A name [Facebook] that shocked the entire world.

Personally, I'm just glad the boy wasn't born in 2003, because then his name would have been "Myspace," and that would have been ridiculous."

When Birds of a Feather Have too Far to Fly

2010-10-24T22:18:00.003-04:00

Everybody showed up for church today. It was a packed house and it was so nice that the weather allowed us to open windows to welcome the breeze and rain cooled the air. When that many peeps pack a house, it can get mighty warm mighty fast. But today was pleasant and folks hung out later than usual. The small fries were able to run amuck outside and the older set played Ultimate Frisbee and some basketball. The dessert table included Pumpkin Rolls, Pumpkin Pie with Homemade Whipped Cream, and we made Pumpkin Crunch. The singing is always great and, though I'm dead tired and kept trying to fall asleep, there was a teaching time that was anointed. I was also blessed simply by the conversation shared among sisters. Very convicting. I was reminded of how a wife has the power to turn a perfectly decent husband into a monster. That's another blog post.

Today's biggest focus, besides Christ, of course, was the imminent departure of our friends, the Claassens. Walter, Elaine, Janna, Nadia, and little François. They have spent the past year with us as dear friends and members of our church. For most of the past year, Lenae took Autumn and Isabelle to the Claassens' each Monday to give a ballet lesson to help them learn English, have friends their own age and, of course, learn ballet basics. Lenae used what she has learned from working at Dance Techniques and it was fun to watch her put together lesson plans for them and talk about how each lesson went. There were days they stayed longer so the girls could play. The friendships made between the girls and the bond that Lenae developed with Elaine were precious to watch. We're already talking about sending Lenae to visit in South Africa after we can save up enough money.

It's been fun learning about the differences as well as similarities in our cultures. What's been especially enjoyable has been sharing the love of cooking with Elaine. She's a fabulous cook and always goes over the top. We're likeminded in the importance of presentation and experimenting. When we asked her what her likes and dislikes of American cuisine are, she said she likes it all. If she weren't moving back, we would put her to work at our shop. She said if she were staying, she would love to. Man, I wish we had opened earlier!

Elaine and I also like to laugh. We enjoy good humor and good jokes. Her joy is contagious and I'm going to miss having that around. If laughter is good medicine, I'm a healthier person because of Elaine. As it usually goes, I regret I didn't take the time to get to know her better earlier in the year.

So, this week, our friends will be heading back home on an 18 hour flight with little kids (pray for them!) and they have so many mixed emotions. They've missed their family and friends and country but will miss being here. My emotions aren't mixed at all. I've already had the tears fall a few times the past week (and tonight) and I would love it if all of their family just moved here. But, since that can't happen, we're already having serious discussions about saving for a trip to South Africa, preferably around New Year's because they have this way-awesome international fireworks competition at Cape Town! Who knew? Until then, thank God for internet. I'm gonna have to learn to use Skype.

I will stay home. You can’t make me leave…

2010-10-21T10:51:00.008-04:00

I don't have time to blog but feel compelled to tell somebody, anybody that I am staying home today. Every day that I purposed to be home for a day, duty has called me, demanded that I go somewhere. I have been trying for some time to explain to my DH, who is also frustrated with my non-stop running, that starting a business would require a huge amount of busy-ness and running to and fro is a part of the deal.I confess I've been anxious about this because I already have a full-time job being a homeschool mom of many. BUT, today, I am determined that I will be home, I will conquer the mountains, albeit organized mountains, of seasonal switchover, plan the menu for church on Sunday, have the house clean, pay bills, do some marketing, AND homeschool….all in a single bound. I do, in fact, take Supermom pills and something makes me think I should go take them…I'm going to need them.

I have been asking God over and over again how I am suppose to be a homeschooling mom while doing this catering thing but Craig keeps reassuring me that God wants us to do this and He already has it all figured out. Dear God, being the coordinator of all things homeschool AND business start-up, I really need You to let me in on the plan so I know how to do this. I realize our mornings are starting earlier and earlier and am counting on those hours for school but I need to know the rest of the game plan. Thank You.

Well, with the hub-bub of getting the day going, I cannot think to write so will call this one short and sweet. And that's okay, because I'm staying home with my precious hub-bub makers and I'm going to enjoy every interruption.

TODAY'S PRAYER FOR OUR CHILDREN:

God, Today I ask that our children and future CIL choose to be learners and walk with wise men and women. May they recognize wisdom wherever you place it. In Jesus, Amen

God’s Family Get-Together

2010-10-12T19:20:00.001-04:00

Last night, a small group gathered to hear the amazing teaching of Beresford Job from the U.K. who is travelling around the States this fall with his wife, Belinda, and daughter, Bethany. It's always a treat to have the privilege to hear someone who has so thoroughly scrutinized the Word of God, looking only at Scripture, its origins, it's language, structure, context and Divine inspiration without the influence of man's interpretation (or misinterpretation, as the case may be). That being said, what follows are from my notes from last night's teaching and I am just passing along these truths that have been misunderstood for way too long.

First of all, if we can know one thing about a church in the New Testament, we can, typically, know what is true of all the churches. i.e. scriptures addressing or referring to "all the churches," "As in all the congregations of the saints" -1 Cor. 14:33b, etc. We also know that the apostles taught the same thing about everything. They didn't each have their own version of how things should be done. There was consistency. In the NT, the test of if a church was truly a church was they were conforming to all the other churches.

So, 4 things in Scripture that characterizes the church of the New Testament:

Leadership – For any institution to function, some form of "government" is needed. Even in marriage, there is a form of "government" necessary. In the Bible, the church leaders are referred to elders, bishops/overseers, pastors/shepherds. These terms are synonymous for the same people. Beresford told us to underline this: Scripture knows nothing of the pastor/minister of a church. Especially one brought in from the outside. Church government and decision-making was by consensus. Elders were part of the decision-making process but were not the decision-makers. Also, the church leaders were raised up from within the church, not brought in from elsewhere. There's no "power pyramid" in Scripture. There are many little men, not a few "big" men and certainly no "expert" in charge of it all.
Whenever a church is located in Scripture, it's located in the home, without exception. The church, by its purpose and Biblical example, is meant to be numerically small, which will shock most Christians as today's church believes the bigger, the better. The design is small as opposed to big because of its purpose. Beresford offered the parallel of the purpose of an airplane. Its purpose is to fly people from one place to another therefore; it is designed to do so. If you remove the wings of the plane while it's over the ocean, it becomes a rather ineffective submarine. If you change the design, you compromise its function. The function of the church: it's an extended family of God's people – "the household of God" (Eph. 2:19, 1 Tim. 3:15). If you're a believer, you are literally my brother or sister; God is literally our Father. What is the church? A family. Again, another underline, Scripture has no knowledge of a church building. No church met elsewhere other that the home. Also, when joining the small church, you are delivered from two evils: a. churches in competition with each other and b. "Ego" leaders from the outside will go looking for other fish to fry.

3 & 4 address what happened when the church was gathered:
There was a time of worship, prayer, teaching, sharing, ministering of the Spirit, et al. Many as possible would make small contributions to the gathering time as opposed to a few or one making a large contribution. Scripture has no knowledge of a church service. The church service was created in the 2^nd century by church leaders and is not merely different from the original design, it is the opposite.
They ate a meal together. The Lord's Supper, the bridal supper, the love feast…it was a MEAL! The loaf and the cup were a part of the meal and stood in for the physical presence of Jesus. God's Word says He's there with us but until He eats with us in person, we remember His presence through the breaking of bread and drinking of the "cup" and we share a feast that looks forward to the wedding feast to come.

These four things define the New Testament church. Again, form follows function. The church's function – God's family. What do families do? They hang out, catch up, help each other, relate to one another, eat together, play together – this takes time! A church gathering is a family get-together. Picture a family get-together with Granddad at the front of the room in front of rows of chairs and he offers a pep talk to the family. A couple of others give a few comments, announcements, and then everyone goes home. Ironically, some family members will meet at a restaurant or home for lunch. (I think we know instinctively inside this is how it's suppose to be). Unfortunately, in institutional church, many "family members" are excluded from the cliques gathering for the Sunday lunch. That's because the family has become dysfunctional. Dysfunctional family = unbiblical church (remember – you change the form, you compromise the function). Today's church is the real church, it's just dysfunctional. Try having fellowship with 500 of your closest friends.

In the Bible, there is no salary for ministering. There are scriptures used to justify this; "a worker is worth his hire," etc. but these are NOT referring to the function of the church gathering. We need to get back to making the Scripture the final authority on church life. We've bought into the idea that the Bible is the final authority on everything but church life.

"What about digging into deep doctrines?" Daily study and teaching doesn't belong in the Lord's Day gathering. Teaching happened! But not on Sunday. There was sharing, testimony, singing, praying. Some make the argument that the New Testament church gathered in homes because they were underground. That's simply not true. Some were, but the persecution was spasmodic and had not become widespread until later. Not all churches were persecuted. There is no instance of the church gathering in a building. Some will say "but the church building is a lighthouse to the community." Um, that's not what Jesus said. We're to "live such good lives among the pagans that they see your good works and praise our Father in heaven." Paul would rent a hall for teaching. Peter would evangelize. Interestingly enough, every religion at the time worshiped in a building. Christians were considered atheists since they didn't meet in a building. They were asked, "Where does your God live?" They could have but didn't. And yet, there was no time the church spread more. Relying on a building is a mistake. They met in houses because that's what the apostles taught them. There were no denominations.

How can small churches "cough up" all of the ministries needed? "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Eph. 4:11-13 Word got out about Paul without a building. Churches in Greece got finances together to help the Jerusalem during famine. Ministry is NEVER hierarchal. We've made the mistake of relying on ministries to do the works of service rather than people…families working together as God's family.

A little history – in 95 A.D., Clement of Rome said, "Let's have a priesthood." Your relationship with God depended on your relationship with a bishop. In 150 A.D., the priesthood decided if you were a Christian or not. These are the roots of today's institutional church. No wonder it doesn't look like a family.

Beresford noted that whatever the current move of God is, it's considered bizarre, weird, off the wall, and peculiar. That's been the case throughout history. Home church, or house church, is considered the "lunatic fringe" right now, except in China where it's been growing at an unstoppable rate. And, wouldn't you know, China has more Christians than America, now. Hmmmm. Coincidence?

There's also something to be said for the house church's sustainability – "Divorce isn't' an option." You won't have fewer problems you will have more but you'll have the problems that sanctify you.

Evangelism isn't the job of the church; it's the job of Christians. The job of the church is the same as family – to nurture, love and support its members. Church growth should not be a measuring stick. Healthy church is measured by the Gospel going out through its relationships.

TODAY'S PRAYER FOR OUR CHILDREN: Father God, I pray our children will read Your Word with open eyes and open heart. I pray they are teachable and will love You and Your Word so much, they will earnestly seek Your Truth as they grow in wisdom and discernment. In Jesus, amen.

Ron Pearson - Worship

2010-08-15T09:55:00.001-04:00

Angels Watching Out for Me

2010-08-09T23:49:00.002-04:00

We left the chiropractor at about 3:10 and our 15-passenger "Big Blue" was at capacity – most everyone had had appointments today so we had to take the whole crew. Heading west on I-70, we noticed a bunch of rubber-neckers pass us on the left which we are completely accustomed to. Folks tend to try to count the heads bouncing around in our van whenever we are out and about. Now, in hindsight, we realize they were probably freaking out over the sparks that must have been flying out from under the van. Little did we know. They waved at us as they passed then changed to the right lane in front of us and wave at us again. I asked my olders, "Who do we know that drives a vehicle like that?" No one knew so I said, "Well, I guess that means we need to catch up and see who's waving at us!" So I gradually gained on said vehicle and as I did, we realized we were looking at Colorado plates. Hmmm. I quickly figured they knew something that we didn't because odds were…we didn't know these folks. (Either that or guys flirting with my girls – wouldn't be the first time). It's at this point of the story you need to pay attention to the fact that I'm driving a really big vehicle at about 70 MPH and changing lanes. I CHANGED LANES and came up to the "wavers" and told Lenae, who was in the passenger seat, to roll down her window. As I drove up, we could see this blonde, snowboard-type dude with dreadlocks lowering his shades as he looked in his side mirror at us. Definitely did not know him. We pulled up beside him and he rolled down his window and yelled that we had something dragging from our axel while pointing toward the front! We yelled thanks, gave him thumbs up, slowed down enough to CHANGE LANES again and pull into the right lane behind him. Then, I immediately PULLED OVER to the shoulder and came to a SMOOTH, GRADUAL stop. I had not felt any thumps or bangs. We had only experienced the usual turbulence that comes from driving a Big Bertha vehicle.

Lenae got out first to look under the front of the van while I waited for a break in the traffic. We saw her jaw drop and she came back to her door to announce, "THAT can't be good." I finally got out, went around front, looked under, my jaw dropped and Lenae and I discussed how THAT looked like a REALLY important part. Ben joined us, got down on the ground to look then informed us that it definitely looked like something necessary for steering. We decided we were hot enough and climbed back into the A/C. I called Craig to let him know our predicament then AAA. Triple A said they would contact the towing company but could not provide transportation for the 11 kiddos so I had to take care of that. Turned out our "big van" friends were out of town but my mom came to the rescue. Craig called me back to let me know that he had left work and was heading home to get the minivan to come help out. I figured the plan would be for my mom to take the kids in 2 trips to the gas station/Subway at the next exit then Craig could meet up with them there to get everybody home. Craig improved the plan a bit by coming to switch with me so he would be the one to ride in the tow truck to the auto repair and I would hook up with everybody at Subway. Well, before anyone arrived, our air conditioning was quickly turning to simply warm air blowing in and I prayed my children would not dehydrate before help arrived. I could see the next exit from where I sat but didn't want to chance walking with that many little ones in that heat! Turns out it was around 101° today. BUT, my mom showed up with her minivan and hauled the kids to the Subway in 2 trips. I then found myself thinking I probably should have kept Ben or one of the older girls with me as I was now on the side of the highway by myself. No sooner had that realization popped in my head then a state trooper pulled up and basically kept me company until the tow truck arrived. That is, after I told him our car problems and he thought I meant we were just dragging something we had picked up on the road. He looked under, shock hit his face and he asked I had had trouble steering. I said, "No," and he was surprised again. He said we should have. He asked about our kids after finding out how many had just shipped off, asked me if we had twins. I told him that was cheating then he told me he had TWO SETS of twins! LOL! I told him he cheated. SO, we talked about chaos management through child training, etc.

So, after God sent this friendly security, the tow truck arrived with a very friendly gent who took one look at the van and said, "Wow! How did you manage to get it off the road? Is everybody okay? Your axel tie rod is broken!" (I think that's what it's called – the rod that attaches to the steering shaft and steers the front left wheel). The driver and the officer then exchanged thoughts of amazement that I didn't have a ridiculous amount of trouble steering it off the road. I said it drove like normal. They had both used the word "lucky" but none of us could deny it – the officer said, among other things, "Someone was looking out for you. You should say a prayer of thanks tonight." (I told I had already started that prayer!) The driver said, "You're lucky. No, blessed. You're very blessed. This should have been bad. Real bad."

The trooper headed off as Craig arrived. I took off with the "Cream Puff," our white minivan, and Craig climbed in the tow truck. Craig told me later that the guy at the repair place made many of the same comments and when Craig told him I just steered it off the highway and parked on the shoulder, the man said, "No she didn't. SOMEONE steered it but there's no way it was her driving that big vehicle full of kids going that fast. Remember all the lane changes? I had been dragging that rod for awhile as evidenced by the hippy angels waving at us.

I have had a stressful year. No, an ongoing stressful 10 years and have occasionally wondered if God had abandoned me (I know, for shame, we're not suppose to think that but if we're honest, we sometimes do), or if He was just letting us deal because we needed these "growth opportunities." Or maybe I'm just not important enough. Today, God has reminded me that, "See! I will not forget you… I have carved you on the palm of my hand…" Isaiah 49:15

And if there's anyone out there who doesn't believe in God, you need to look under the front of my van.

No Animals Were Harmed in the Making of this Cheeseburger

2009-05-18T08:34:00.004-04:00

Kamakazi pork chops? They volunteered? This cracks me up! People are so weird.

P.S. I Love You

2009-05-06T10:36:00.002-04:00

My older daughters and I watched that movie last night and boo-hooed all over ourselves. It was one of those movies I should have previewed first – when will I learn?- and I wish we had had Guardian installed on our DVD Player – the language really was overkill, as usual in movies. BUT, the movie was otherwise, very well done in that it really tugged at the heartstrings and caused one to hate death the way we should. It was especially touching as a family in our area recently suffered the tragic loss of the husband and father after he fell from a ladder landing on his head. This father of eight died three days later. Yep, death sucks.

Sorry if that word offends but I chose it because “death stinks” isn’t heavy enough or exemplify the disgust I’m feeling so, death sucks. One thing that frustrates me about movies is when they ignore God in situations where even atheists would be forced to at least consider the possibility that God exists whether by pleading for help or yelling in anger to him. (Like Castaway! Any normal person stuck by themselves that long would at some point say, “God, if you’re there…”) P.S. I Love You did not pretend that God doesn’t exist and the main character, Holly, does ask, “Why did God kill my husband?” A valid question and I’m happy they included it among other questions of “Why?” And “why” do people have to die? Sin. Sin sucks, too. I’m sorry I’m not being very ladylike but I’m feeling ticked that MY sin is the reason people die, why I’ll have to die (should the Lord tarry) and why Christ had to die.

I’m also ticked that people choose sin instead of Jesus then whine about how God has been unjust. In a way, they’re right; it was unfair that Jesus had to die when He wasn’t guilty. It was unjust that he was tortured. It was unjust that He had to leave His Heavenly throne at all. But instead of being grateful, most folks are still hurling insults at Him and declaring “there’s more than one way to heaven!” If that were true, Jesus wouldn’t have had to come to die…duh. Many people say, “Why would God condemn the pigmies in Africa just because they didn’t get to hear about Jesus?” It’s not hearing about Jesus that condemns us – it’s our sin. Again, duh. If it was about knowing Christ, He could have stayed in heaven and saved us, and Himself, a lot of headache. IOW, if it was about knowing about Him that condemns us, His coming is what condemned us, not our sin. But, sorry, it’s our sin that does us in! Jesus has given us the way out. Without that, our “Why God?” remains unanswered. But with Jesus, the “Why God?” turns into “I understand….thank You. And, because of Christ, we can see our loved ones again.

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.”
1 Timothy 2:5, 6

P.S. He loves you.

Funduhwas

2009-04-29T02:25:00.002-04:00

After the rumble of thunder shook the house, my 3 y.o., Isabelle, came to me to inform me "it is funduhwas outside." I said, "Funduhwas?" She answered, "Yes, vewy funduhwus."

Did you see the episode of MASH where Colonel Blake’s wall is missing and Frank Burns has that priceless, hysterical expression of "what the heck is going on? Where’s the wall?" Well, my 2 y.o. had that same expression today as we walked by the window and he noticed the rain for the first time as a 2 year old. I was holding him as we walked by and he grunted "Monk?" Monk is milk and is what he asks for when he wants a drink, even water. I answered, "Water." He said, "Wowow." He stared and stared. SO, we went outside. I had Ben run to get the camera, this was too fun. We stuck our hands out in it then stood out in it. He giggled and blinked up into the rain until the thunder hit. He clung to me and pointed to the door pleading, "Side? Side?
Ease" which is baby-ease for "inside, please." And I almost missed out on enjoying the rain.

Glorious

2009-04-26T01:23:00.010-04:00

That’s the word that describes a day like today. Of course, during the morning rush to be ready to host our home church, I gave my traditional threats to never host again. But things came together, our church family arrived, a meal was shared, and the weather was hand-delivered from Heaven. Being able to, once again, be outside for our worship time was such a blessing! I wish I could describe the serenity that comes with home church. All of our members are still sinners, mind you, but having been over-committed and too busy for livin’ in my previous life in “regular” church, “doing” church as described in the New Testament has been such a sanctuary. Sanctuary is the very reason we started fellowshipping with this group; we were struggling with how involved with youth and children’s activities we should be. We’re already homeschooling and peer dependency/pressure was one reason we chose that route. Watching our young ladies struggle with there self-image, attitudes toward their siblings and parents, and basic respect and maturity caused us to prayerfully consider the possibility that all those books and homeschool convention speakers were right about the negative effects of youth group. (A brief trip down memory lane helped as well). Michael Pearl wrote and excellent article on Sanctuary that convicted us and led us to home church. In the article, he talked about how the church today is more of a mission field than a sanctuary and families need sanctuary; it’s how we’re wired and what God intended the church to be. The church was never meant to be an evangelistic tool, believe it or not. WE are the evangelists and the church is for, eh hem, the church. It’s for building each other up, teaching, singing praises to our Creator. But what about seekers? That’s what hospitality is for. But people are too busy doing church crud, school band and athletics, etc. to be hospitable. Nuff said.

I believe it pleases God when his church gathers as a family reunion and spends the day together. You get to know people when you spend that much time together, and they get to know you. There’s no faking it – problems can’t hide, sorrows will be shared, as will the joys. There’s no denying that God works through institutional church and that the Holy Spirit moves amongst His people wherever they are called to be. I just know that more and more folks are feeling the weight of doctrines and activities and division and activities and pressure and traditions and activities, and, and, and just want to be with God’s people. Winds are changing – this may be a part of it.

I posted on Facebook that I'm sure they played Ultimate
Frisbee in Corinth. A friend said,"They probably called it
Ultimatum di Fresbee."

Natalie and friend in
our "balcony seats."

Judah is all snips and snails. This time, he has a toad. He played with it for hours. Try getting away with that in children's church.

People confuse us all the time…

2009-04-23T22:14:00.005-04:00

I’m speaking of Angelina Jolie and myself….of course. As I checked out at Wally World, I saw the cover story – "Angelina is pregnant…again!" I just know that friends of mine who go through the check-out lane have to stop a minute and remember which name goes with which face. After all, they’ve said it many a time, "Michelle is pregnant…again!" Alas, this time it is not I that bears glad tidings but that rich, homely chic. One can only hope that her and Brad have read "To Train Up a Child."

Anyhoo, it has been VERY peculiar, not being pregnant or having a tiny one in my arms by now. Very strange. Some "friends" have likened me to a barn cat due to my predictability – every 2 years, a baby. I use to get the rude questions, "Don’t you know what causes that, yet?" "Aren’t you worried they won’t get the attention they need?" Some are just curious; "Are you done?" "How many are you going to have?" "What does your husband do?" "How old were you when you had your first?" The past year I’ve been getting, "Do you have any news for us?" "Are you expecting, yet?" A friend told me the other day that eventually, one does stop having babies without any external intervention. It really does stop. Most folks decide what size family best suits them, and that’s fine, we’ve just fallen in love with let God do what suits Him and have been abundantly blessed!

If we had done things "my way" (up until I was married, I wanted 2 and no more), we would have never met jolly Jillian with her incredible singing voice, cheerful disposition, peacemaking abilities and the ability to love anyone unconditionally,

or adventurous, tree-climbing Natalie, another great singer who loves to learn (on her own) about and how to do out-of-the-norm things like scuba diving, pirates & ships, and how to play bass. (She also enjoys memorizing useless facts like New Jersey is the biggest exporter of eggplant. That one won us a Papa John’s pizza so it’s no longer useless.)

AND, if we had stopped at 2, we would never have had boys! I could go into describing each of my children but will save it for the book (JK) as this would get very lengthy. You get the idea, though, especially if you know our family. If you know my children, you shudder to think of the world without them! They are incredible people!

And so, that is why I don’t feel at all excited at the possibility that I may be "done," as it were. I would love to have more. One of our answers to "how many are you going to have?" is "We’re collecting the whole set." It just doesn’t feel like we have the whole set.

My Life in Third Day Music

2009-04-22T16:29:00.006-04:00

This went around Facebook and I usually don't waste time on these things but I couldn't resist participating using my FAV-OR-ITE band!

Using only song titles from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions.
Artist/group/band: Third Day
1 Are you male or female: This is Who I Am
2 Describe yourself: Mama & I Believe
3 How do you feel about yourself: I Got a Feeling
4 Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend: You Make Me Mad
5 Describe your current boy/girl situation: ‘Til the Day I Die
6 Describe your current location: Took My Place
7 Describe where you want to be: Mountain of God
8 Your best friend is: You Are So Good To Me
9 Your favorite color is: Take It All (Green, as in the current administration’s plan for stimulus)
10 You know that: Love Heals Your Heart
11 What's the weather like: The Sun is Shining or When the Rain Comes or Sky Falls Down or Consuming Fire (We’re in Indiana, this could all happen tomorrow)
12 If your life was a television show what would it be called?: Alien
13 What is life to you?: Revelation
14 What is the best advice you have to give: Cry Out to Jesus
15 If you could change your name what would you change it to: Rockstar or Billy Brown

Don’t Take Them For Granted

2009-04-22T00:31:00.006-04:00

Craig and I met with friends one night last week and enjoyed some intense fellowship as we shared some pretty hearty laughs but also divulged deep hurt and loss that led to tears at one point. We’re not close friends with these folks but it’s impossible to not feel drawn closer to someone when you, and they, have become vulnerable enough to cry in front of each other and reveal a part of your heart that has been wounded by loss. Our friends’ loss is more recent – about 2 years ago, a young lady who may as well have been their daughter was tragically killed in a car accident (riding in a vehicle one mile to pick up drinks for a party. One mile. No, no alcohol was involved.) Their son and this girl had been friends since they were born fighting and playing like brother and sister into their teen years. My heart breaks for this young man as I experienced this pain 22 years ago when my brother died at the age of 16.

After we went home from the visit with our friends, I went to bed thinking about the heartrending loss of their young friend and as I drifted off to sleep, it hit me. All of my adult life I have longed for THAT friend. That kindred spirit that loves my kids as my own and I love theirs. That friend that I would take special trips with, buy gifts for, hang out with, argue with and not fear loss of their friendship, and call at least every 3 days. Some of you enjoy this kind of friendship. Thank God and don’t take them for granted. What hit me was that I haven’t been longing for a friend that I have yet to meet; I long for the friend I had and will never have again, my brother, Scott. Every time I’ve had a baby (reminder – 11 times), I have felt SO very sad that Scott wasn’t there to see his newest niece or nephew. Then I revisit those emotions I struggled with when Scott died like: "He was so young!" "We’ve only been close friends for a couple of years; why couldn’t you have waited, Lord?" Then there are new hurts: "Our kids would have been best friends." "He would have been SO much fun to spend time with." "Scott might have kept Todd, our younger brother, from becoming estranged from his family." "Scott would’ve homeschooled, too."

When you lose someone, many people offer, or try to offer, encouragement by telling you "time heals all wounds." I know this won’t be a huge newsflash for those of you who have lost someone close to them, but wounds like that don’t really heal. That’s how it should be. If you don’t hurt and long to see them again, then you weren’t really close. You learn to "deal" with this kind of loss but the hurt doesn’t go away. In fact, as I noted in the previous paragraph, new dimensions are added to the pain that can cause the ache to go even deeper. New "what ifs" make their appearance and there’s not a thing you can do about it. I give it to God and trust that He knows what to do with it but sometimes, I go through bouts of that helplessness. Then you find pictures, as I did today, and you lose them all over again…and again…and again. BUT, I have hope. I don’t know how anyone make’s it through without Christ. To lose my brother is bad enough but to not have the hope that I WILL see him again, I don’t know that I could function. I love him more than when he was here and I believe that’s because I am looking forward to seeing him again! Wow.

Loss also helps us tie heartstrings with others when they experience loss and it’s looking to the needs of others that keeps us from feeling sorry for ourselves. Our new-found friends’ suffering is still fresh and Craig and I have discussed our intent to reach out and encourage them. In the meantime, hug your friends. Tell your spouse you love them. Smile at and hug your children. I know it’s cliché but it’s so very true – you don’t know how much longer you have them.

"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words."
1 Thessalonians 4:12-18

Scott would have loved this:

Minister at a funeral service, "Friends, let us say goodbye to our beloved, departed friend. Let us remember that here lies only the shell – the nut has gone!"
Be blessed and hugs in Him!

Scott loved purple. His fave places to shop were the GAP and the Merry-Go-Round. This is the shirt and tie he was buried in.

My Calendar Is Nuts

2009-04-21T23:53:00.000-04:00

Last week was nuts. This week is nuts. I am nuts. We are all nuts. It’s not that we fill every minute of our calendar. It’s that when we put something on the calendar, we see how many other items can fit in that slot. It doesn’t necessarily happen because we intend to. It’s that I’m the kind of personality that knows we’ll "figure it out when we get there." And we always do…out of necessity. Last Wednesday, we had 2 sessions of dentist appointments, 4 girls in the morning, 4 boys in the afternoon, and Corinne, Natalie AND I went to the Richmond Tea party AND Lenae had ballet AND did make up for the Beauty and the Beast dress rehearsal AND did face painting for the Sunrise Center booth at the Home Expo. AND…we lived to tell about it. This week is looking pretty hairy as well but never a dull moment! Lenae and Jillian are doing props for Boxcar Children, Corinne is going to a Caregivers workshop w/ friends on Thursday then spending the night and helping with stripping wallpaper on Friday. Lenae is face painting at a Head Start carnival on Friday, working at Sunrise, zooming to the theatre to do Beauty & the Beast make-up with Jillian. I have a Thomas the Tank Engine cake and a Beauty and the Beast cast party cake to make this weekend, a few of us usher Saturday, and Lenae and Jillian do make-up again. Oh, and we host church on Sunday so we’ll be getting ready for that as well. And, once again, I keep saying we’ll start those 4-H projects next week. I think I started saying that in January.

My Life in Third Day Music

2009-04-21T16:29:00.000-04:00

This went around Facebook and I usually don't waste time on these things but I couldn't resist participating using my FAV-OR-ITE band!

Using only song titles from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions.
Artist/group/band: Third Day
1 Are you male or female: This is Who I Am
2 Describe yourself: Mama & I Believe
3 How do you feel about yourself: I Got a Feeling
4 Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend: You Make Me Mad
5 Describe your current boy/girl situation: ‘Til the Day I Die
6 Describe your current location: Took My Place
7 Describe where you want to be: Mountain of God
8 Your best friend is: You Are So Good To Me
9 Your favorite color is: Take It All (Green, as in the current administration’s plan for stimulus)
10 You know that: Love Heals Your Heart
11 What's the weather like: The Sun is Shining or When the Rain Comes or Sky Falls Down or Consuming Fire (We’re in Indiana, this could all happen tomorrow)
12 If your life was a television show what would it be called?: Alien
13 What is life to you?: Revelation
14 What is the best advice you have to give: Cry Out to Jesus
15 If you could change your name what would you change it to: Rockstar or Billy Brown

Top 10 Things You Hate to Hear on an Airplane

2009-04-21T08:49:00.000-04:00

1.This is your captain speaking. I don’t mean to alarm anyone, but if the child out on the starboard wing belongs to anyone, would you please alert the flight attendant?
2.I’m sorry sir but you have one more child than you have tickets for.
3.Boy, Dad, you sure made a loud noise in the bathroom…and what is that smell?
4.Dad, wasn’t there an engine attached to the wing when we took off?
5.Psst, Dad, this big fat lady next to me is squishing me.
6.I know I just went, but I gotta go again.
7.How much longer?
8.How much longer?
9.How much longer?
10. Honey, you take care of the kids and wake me when the plane lands.

and a bonus:
"This is your captain speaking. I have some bad news. We have lost all navigational & communication devices and and we have no idea where we are. We are almost out of fuel and the engines are failing one by one.But I have good news…we are making excellent time."

Dayton Tea Party Joke of the Day

2009-04-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

One day, a barber decides, as a service to the community, to give free haircuts to all his customers for the entire week.

First thing in the morning, a florist goes to the barber for a haircut. After the cut he asked about his bill and the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The florist was pleased and left the shop.
When the barber goes to open his shop the next morning there is a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.

Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replies, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The cop is happy and leaves the shop.
The next morning when the barber goes to open up there is a 'thank you' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

Later that day, a college professor comes in for a haircut, and when he Tries to pay his bill, the barber again replies, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The professor is very happy and leaves the shop.
The next morning when the barber opens his shop, there is a 'thank you' card and a dozen different books, such as 'How to Improve Your Business' and 'Becoming More Successful.

Then, a Congressman comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The Congressman is very happy and leaves the shop.

The next morning when the barber goes to open up, there are a dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut.

Tea Parties

2009-04-14T01:22:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow, no less than 2000 cities will host Tea Parties and/or Fair Tax rallies as well as the sabotage efforts of Acorn and other folks that believe you should be tolerant and have freedom of speech unless you’re disagreeing with them or voicing dissent against Obama’s spending spree. I plan on being one of the throng along with my friend, Heather, who celebrates her birthday on Tax Day every year. She is looking forward to spending part of her birthday standing up for what it is right and speaking out against injustice. She is a tenacious friend who I aspire to be like in that she is eager to learn…about anything and put it into practice. She retains more knowledge in her pinky than most so-called experts will ever hope to attain. In short, if you want to how make home remedies from homegrown herbs, how to raise chickens, homeschooling statistics, how to make diaper wraps, any and all gardening, the ins and outs of economics, gain nutrition knowledge, learn the stifled research revealing cures for cancer, diabetes, et al. and the reduced lifespans and quality of life caused by today’s methods of treating and preventing disease, and know all the fascinating facts as to why Obama should not be President, ask Heather. Media-suppressed facts like Mr. Obama tried to join the C.I.A. and the Secret Service but because of his background and connections could not gain the clearance necessary to join. But yet, he’s in the White House. And other facts like giving a speech from the porch of his friend, Bill Aires. Remember Bill Aires? He bombed the Pentagon several years ago, said he regretted they didn’t do more damage, and was glad for what happened to the Twin Towers. Yea, good friend for our President to have. I feel so safe. Oh, she has more where that comes from but she also is fully aware that most people don’t care. When Shawn Hannady interviewed people on the street who voted for Obama if they knew who our Vice-President is, the one they voted for, they didn’t know. When asked if the government should help them buy a house or a car, they said yes. When read selections from the Communist Manifesto, they agreed that’s how government should be. And when asked if they knew who Karl Marx is, they didn’t know. These weren’t impecunious indigents. Average people. And that’s what frustrates Heather and me so much. Average people are willing to give up their freedoms that other people have DIED for because they’re lazy, selfish, gullible, and willingly ignorant just so long as they can enjoy the current Obama fad. That’s what it has been – a "we are the world, change we need" fad and our country has become a nation of followers instead of the leaders that once made this a great nation. I had a bumper sticker once that read, "Ignore the media, think for yourself." If people would learn to think for themselves, we might just have us a country again. And, "If My people, who are called by my name, would humble themselves, and turn from their wicked ways, I will heal their land."
We thoroughly enjoy our chats and do not get together enough. For Heather’s birthday, I’m giving this "spout off." I know she would be glad she’s not the only one who feels the need. Happy Birthday, Heather.

What I learned at 4-H

2009-04-09T01:20:00.000-04:00

An interesting tidbit: we went to a 4-H Sharp Sh--ters meeting (they’re still legal…for now) and discussion was introduced on whether to continue having sh--ts at the current indoor rxnge which is having scheduling conflicts but provides all the a-mo, or move to another rxnge and the club buy its own –m-o. The latter r-nge is preferred but the free a--o is too big a deal to pass up. Especially in light of the fact that every place in town sells out of azmunision almost as soon as it’s delivered and places like Wal-mart have instituted a 2-box per person limit. This is due to the fact that dealers are buying IT up and reselling it at flea markets and u-know-what shows at a mark-up AND folks are stock-piling for fear of impending loss of liberties. Wow. The Revxlusionary Waar was fought with ilxegal w—p-ns; will we have to witness a repeat in our lifetime?

Getting back in the groove

2009-04-08T00:56:00.000-04:00

It has been so long since I’ve actually blogged. I am so busy making memories and learning life lessons that I haven’t had time to jot them down. I also have been through some yuck, not unusual for a human, and haven’t felt like hanging dirty laundry. I’m also a procrastinator. The only reason there’s not a good excuse for procrastination is because I haven’t had time to think of one, yet. A big problem with not writing it down is I have had Pregnant Brain Rot one too many times and I keep having to go through repeat lessons I didn’t like having to go through the first time. I also have a lot to share; I just can’t seem to remember what it is I have to share when there’s an interested, listening ear available. I’m a visual person. I have to write it down. Once I write it down, it’s apart of me. It’s also easier to share when in print so here I am – I’ll give it another go.
I am suppose to be working on menus and grocery lists but can’t concentrate until we get these little munchkins to bed. Isaiah is currently screaming at a babydoll because its PJs won’t fit right and it won’t go into the carseat the way he wants. Yes, the carseat is sitting in the middle of the living room right now; part of our crew went to The Truth Project study at friends' and had to make room in the van for riders. Zah-man just said he’s going bye-bye and blew me a kiss. The almost 2 y.o. is quite the cutie.
Lenae, Jillian, Natalie, Benjamin and I spent 4 days at Equine Affair in Columbus, Ohio over the weekend. We don’t own horses but after going to this event since 2004, I think I might know what to do with a horse if I am ever blessed with one. I get very impressed with myself at EA as I can’t stand to walk near dog poop, spit in the parking lot, worms in the driveway, or smashed grapes on the dining room floor but I can tromp all over horse crud for 4 days straight without batting an eye. There’s hope for this city girl – I might even be able to muck a stall some day!
Alrighty, I’m going to get off here and drop-kick some kids in bed. My hope is to start a blog imparting my vast wisdom and experience with homeschooling, big family management, and the struggle to be a great wife while married to a loathsome sinner (and being somewhat imperfect myself). I also want to have a blog just covering our adventure into catering. We’ve been working for 3 years to start a family catering business and it’s just been a hoot following God’s leading and being a part of His "coincidences." Eventually, I will probably also have a blog that will tackle living with a rebellious child and my hope is that you’ll be able to rejoice with us as we witness to God’s provision and protection as I tell you the secrets to success. Right now, they’re still secrets but we’re hoping we’re close to victory. I’ll keep you posted!

2009-02-19T16:42:00.000-05:00

2/19/09
Still in the Midst
I keep putting off blogging. I love to write and would love to have a unique niche that blesses somebody but our lives have been so consumed with "what to do with our rebel" that I constantly put off posting until "things get better." I want to be able to exude humor and encouragement and hope but that’s so hard when you’re "in the midst" and the "midst" has lasted eight, long, non-stop years. I’ve often contemplated deleting the posts about our rebel child and perhaps will someday. I don’t want to alienate her further, on the one hand, one the other, I don’t think that’s possible. If I can help any parent prevent their child from becoming rebellious, it will have been worth the time taken to jot down my thoughts.

Some out there have given suggestions as to the source of the problem and we have investigated everything. After Fitzilla spent EIGHT weeks living in another family’s home where the parents are being trained in counseling, they observed no indication of bi-polar or any other abnormality, just a young lady who somewhere along the line started believing satan’s claims to truth. She quite often loses touch with reality and her twisted perspective on events as they occur. Some would try to diagnose that as something or other but we, believing Scripture is all-sufficient, see her believing her lies to be truth as she sees fit and the Bible calls her a fool. I am the mother of a foolish daughter. That grief is about as unbearable as losing a child. I hope I never experience that grief but knowing that if my daughter were to die in her rebellion, she might be lost forever, I don’t know how, without God, I could endure that.

So, my DH and I have been talking to a nouthetic counselor for several months and have learned quite a bit about what we’re dealing with here. Fitzilla is living out what is called a "wrathful lifestyle." Because of years of not being on the same page with training and discipline with her, she’s had her own set of rules from early on (we do not have any problems with any of our 10 other children...knock on Formica). When a child sins, they know and when they don’t experience consequences for that sin, they carry the burden of guilt. If this goes on for years, the frustration of that guilt leads to the wrathful lifestyle. The anger that mounts up give the devil a foothold as God’s Word warns us and, voila, instant rebel. As parents, we made mistakes early on with her but are on the same page and striving to be obedient is what God wants us to do now. It may be too late (for now) and our young adult child may have to make a lot of stupid mistakes before she comes back to what we have taught her. Until that time, it will hurt to watch, we will pray non-stop, and we will train our other children in the love and admonition of the Lord. We also have a burden for other parents to not make the same mistakes. Smokey Bears tells us "Only you can prevent forest fires." I’m here to tell you that only you, not the youth group leader, not their friends, not anybody else can prevent rebel fires. Yes, all kids are wired different and some have a predisposition toward defiant tendencies. I don’t believe God gives us children then says "good luck with that one." All children’s hearts are pliable, don’t believe psychobabble. God’s Word is all-sufficient.

Advent "Storms"

2008-12-04T01:33:00.000-05:00

Every Advent season for several years, now, the Fecher family rotates between three Advent stories to read from each night of the season: Jotham's Journey, Bartholomew's Passage, and Tabitha's Travels, all by Arnold Ytreeide. This has become a favorite tradition. Depending on what's going on in our lives, the message from these stories affects us differently. This year, as we started Bartholomew's Passage, we were all amazed that God, in His Goodness and Wisdom, planned ahead so that we would be reading this particular story THIS season of our lives. I just wanted to share the devotion part from day 2 and I hope this encourages you as it did us:
"Storms come and storms go, but every once in a while comes a storm so big…
Is Bartholomew ready for the storm that has struck? Are we ready for the times that test us, tempt us, rip away the life we know and the ones we love?
We can be. God has promised us all his strength and all his love. He showed us, through Jesus, how to face the most terrible moments in life and still emerge victorious. We can’t do it on our own strength, of course. And we can’t do it by turning to him only when we want something. Se prepare ourselves by purposely building a relationship with him, trying to be the person he wants us to be, doing our best to love others as unselfishly as he loves us.
Building such a relationship with God is not an easy thing to do. But God took the first giant step by sending Jesus to teach us and demonstrate love for us. No, it’s not an easy thing to do, but when we finally decide to let go of our pride and our ego and our selfishness and allow God to teach us how to love, then we are ready for both the wonderful, happy times of life and the terrible storms as well.
‘I will never leave you or forsake you,’ God said. That’s a promise you can count on during the Advent season – and every day for the rest of your life."
God bless all of you this Christmas season! We love you all!
Hugs in Him,
Michelle

RE: President Elect Barack Obama

2008-11-05T01:36:00.000-05:00

Now, don’t panic. Now is not the time to panic…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!
Seriously folks, it’s time for a Word from our Sponsor…from Romans 9:
"What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’
It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh (or Obama, as the case may be): ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’
Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
One of you will say to me: ‘Then why does God still blame us? For who resists he will?’ But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? ‘Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath –prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory know to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory – even us, whom he also called, not whom he prepared in advance for glory – even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?"
The plagues in Egypt were not for the Egyptians, but for the Israelites. Egypt was about to be plundered and her glory was coming to an end. It was for Israel, the object of God’s mercy, that Pharaoh was established, and it’s for us, the object of God’s mercy, that Obama has been established. Here at the Fecher estate, we’ve made
2 Cor. 5:9 our family verse, "So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it." That’s our concern, our "worry," in a nutshell – to please God. No worries – God is in control!
God Bless,
Michelle

Stopping in

2008-05-28T01:44:00.000-04:00

In the midst of cleaning/ de-cluttering, seasonal switchover for 11 children (glad the older ones handle their own for the most part), and getting ready for a busy June, I found myself drawn here using time I should be getting things done. I miss blogging. I need the therapy and should probably come back for regular sessions as I feel like I have something to say and someone might be interested! :o) Sorry, was that too pathetic. JK
I have my email window open, my Creative Memories Network open, HSB, and I'm hopping between the three as I research Ausperger's Syndrome and Bi-Polar disorder and maybe excorcism in regards to a child of mine. Anyone interested in that "living with a rebel" blog? Well, as I told a friend earlier this week, we're hanging in there but I'd rather be soaring as with wings of eagles.
I hope to get back here soon!

PREOCCUPIED

2008-04-15T01:50:00.000-04:00

So I’ve been preoccupied. I have a lot I could blog about but I’ve put it off, as I’ve mentioned many times before, waiting until I get the nerve to be honest. "Honest about what?" you wonder. Well…honest about the fact that I cannot offer a blog about how to be the amazing Christian homeschooling mom of many who has it all together and can show you how, too. Honest about the fact that I cannot inspire you to live a perfect life by my perfect example. Honest about how homeschooling will not prevent you from having rebellion in your home.
So, I’ve decided to offer a portion of what has had me preoccupied and not at my "blog post." Some time ago, I posted about "Fitzilla," http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Zookeeperof10/321887/ my second oldest. We’ve decided that, besides a spiritual imbalance, there must be a chemical imbalance. I don’t know if one causes the other, if they’re both one and the same, but I know this child, this young woman, needs help. Dweller-of-the-Crag (that’s what Craig means and we like the idea that his name means "lives in the Rock") and I have held on to our faith and trust that God made us her parents and we are, somehow, equipped to help her. Well, we try to hold onto that. But we sure do feel inadequate.
Anyhoo, I’m considering starting another blog dedicated to just this subject so other moms-of-rebels can come together and figure this thing out. Does anybody know of any other blog like that? I’ve found the funny ones, the inspirational ones, the here’s-how-to-homeschool-the-right-way blogs (gag me), the "here’s what I fixed for dinner and can you believe American Idol last night?!" blogs (puleez), and others with various struggles yet have courage to inspire you i.e. the gals with cancer, children who have died or are handicapped, etc. But is there anyone else struggling to do the right thing for their troubled youth while holding together their precious family?? And have time for them, and do laundry, and feed them, and plan birthday parties, and sleep????
Well, up until 8pm last night, Fitzilla was planning on leaving home. Grandpa was already on his way to pick her up and give us some time so we could have break and figure things out. She was bound and determined to move in with some friends but, out of the blue, asked if it was too late to change her mind. She wanted to stay. I was confused before but now…I’m pretty loopy.
Well, let me know if you know of anybody else dealing with this. This is so draining. I have cried more in the last 2 weeks than I did when my brother died. The heartbreak is, well, must be what God feels when we turn against Him. Father God, forgive me when I have rebelled against You! I’m sorry I made you feel this way. In Christ, Amen.

KNOCK, KNOCK. ANYBODY HOME?

2008-03-24T01:47:00.000-04:00

It’s been about 4 months since I’ve been here. I’m not sure why I’m dropping by or if I’ll make it back anytime soon. I know I’ve wanted to say hi to some kind folks and I’ve been asked where I’ve been. I find writing very therapeutic and the sharing, the affirmation, the likeminded friends have been missed. Maybe I’ll try again but I can’t seem to find the time and I am SUCH a procrastinator. I keep putting off email and blogging until I have 2 free hands to type with – it’s SO much easier and faster. Isaiah has gotten so big and likes to help type when he nurses. He’s snoozing right now so we’re good until he’s done then I’ll need self-discipline to stop and put him to bed then get on with business.
Another huge hiccup the previous months was I managed to get a part in a play, believe it or not. That sucked the time right off of the calendar. I’ll blog about that later if I make it back. Anyhoo, that was an amazing fun time but I didn’t have spare time to begin with.
The final straw that broke my blogging back was my lousy dial-up internet provider besides getting slower than it already was, started this nasty habit of closing down whenever I would have more than one window open or have certain websites open such as HSB. It also shuts down my favorite cake idea website, several blogs, 2 favorite recipe resources, and several others I use for homeschooling. I was thinking of moving to Blogspot before this started so I can post photos without my whole post getting rearranged but this situation may force the matter.
I hope everyone had a blessed Easter. Did it come to early for anyone else? We "accidentally" booked ourselves for working a birthday party on Saturday without realizing it was the day before Easter so the day was spent mostly on that and NOT on traditional Easter activities. The little kids got gypped and I was also up until 2am prepping for our family gathering at my FIL’s on Sunday. AND while a lot of folks were making their bi-annual visit to church, we had to play hooky in order to get ready. Whine. We had a nice day even though it snowed at one point! On Easter! The nerve! The kids road ATVs and got covered in mud. I’ll decide after laundry if I’ll be the "stick in the mud" and demand dry ground for future rides. Even 4 y.o. Autumn got to ride with Daddy and liked it FAST. Does anyone else have the problem at family gathering of some dipstick turning on the TV? I loathe that. You can watch TV at home! Play! Visit! Talk to somebody, for crying out loud! My 18 y.o. happened to be the first dipstick to turn on the TV though she knows I despise that so I had to make, yet another, rule and declare that no child of mine shall turn on the TV at a gathering. I should write my own rulebook and sell it so new moms will have a head start.
Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake, news at 11.
Feeling rather blah, sorry if I sound it. I’ll try to make my rounds and visit!
Have a great week!

The Meaning of Life?

2007-11-20T02:22:00.000-05:00

I’m letting myself get bummed out again. I need a kick in the bum, I suppose. Our dog dies then I find out Richmond’s way awesome coffee shop, Sacred Grounds, is closing December 1st. Starbucks just opened recently so I blaming Starbucks. Yea, they have good coffee but I preferred Sacred Grounds. Their chillers were the best, the mouth-watering menu one-of-a-kind, the ambiance cozy and classy, and the coffee, oh, the coffee. I’m sorry, but Starbucks with their anti-God cups can’t touch local coffee shop coffee. It was made with love. My faves- Café Mocha and Mocha Latte for my sweet tooth and my brew of choice was called…."The Meaning of Life." Oh, man, I’m SO BUMMED. But, perspective kicking in, I’m THANKFUL I’ve had this blessing while it lasted and I’m THANKFUL I have a coffee maker and International Foods and Coffee Mate creamers and I’m THANKFUL we still have Charlie’s Coffee Shop where they will be setting up the Christmas Train Display very soon.
I’m still going to miss Sacred Grounds and my dog, Gomer – gonna have to just be honest here. Wha – I’m such a whiner! Sorry…
Our house is still a disaster from the seasonal switchover so worked on that some. Life will be easier in the future when we have to go through this again due to getting rid of so much but it’s not easy now. I took Natalie to the orthodontist who gave her an ultra sonic toothbrush. He told her it’s not available in any other countries and I asked her if that means they were BANNED in all the other countries or just not available. My daughter putting something called "ultra sonic" into her head just doesn’t sound healthy. Will it clean better around the braces or will the combination of the braces and the weapon cause our power to go out, dry up our well, and her hair to change color? Am I exaggerating just a bit? Well, after that trip, we made another drop at Goodwill and another Wally world run even though I just bought a month's worth of groceries Friday. I crashed and burned when I got home – altostratus day – can’t function – must have happy lights. We really do need to invest in those sunshine lights throughout the house. I get that S.A.D – seasonal affective disorder, I think it is. Whatever it stands for, it IS SAD. Anyhoo, as soon as Craig came home, we set out to see our friends’ 1830s house they are restoring and getting ready to move into. Craig mentioned our friends are in their element but that is SO not him. He’d rather pay twice what a house is worth and not have to fix a thing! LOL! We ate din din, came home, here I am now before I collapse trying to make sure I don’t’ procrastinate with my blog again.
Well, that’s as deep as this post is going to get tonight.
God Bless! Hugs in Him!

Gomer is gone

2007-11-16T02:23:00.001-05:00

I had taken the time this morning to jot down some inspirational reflections on a passage of scripture but, alas, it will have to wait. This evening, while my DH and DD were out on a date, a neighbor came to our door to inform us he saw our dog laying alongside the state route that our road comes off of. He walked me to the spot and sure enough, it was our dear, dumb Gomer. Somehow, he got out without us knowing it and anyone who knows about Basset Hounds knows you cannot train them to stay in the yard. I had to break it to the kids then Craig and Lenae when they got home. We’re all so depressed. I know he was just a dog, but he was the family pet. Thank you God for our "pretty smart for a dumb dog", Gomer.

Light at the end of the tunnel of Rubbermaid

2007-11-15T02:31:00.000-05:00

We’re almost done however, my DH went out to the storage shed and found more containers and old forgotten bags of stuff so, instead of less in my house, I have more. I was going to go out and check for myself but he beat me to it. Am I the only one with kids who say, "yes, we got it all in" but they didn’t? Or, "Yes, we have plenty of diapers" when you’re making a grocery list, but you don’t? Or, "We’re all out of ketchup" but when you bring the groceries home, there’s 3 bottles where none had been 2 hours before? Well, for having brought in everything, my DH sure found a lot more. Thankfully, most of it is going right back out. The hardest sorting job I had was for my 2 y.o. and 4 y.o. girls. They had SO MUCH and all of it cute. Some of it, my older girls had worn but, with their help, we pruned it down to just what we needed and maybe a couple extra. I love dressing up my babydolls; what can I say?
Tonight, the older girls and I sat together in the living room and worked on a grocery shopping strategy. Each girl will be responsible for a store and it’s ad. We went through our Thanksgiving shopping list and the girls made a game of whose store had the best price for each item. Whoever "won" with the best price wrote it on their list. We will finish tomorrow and I’ll type it all up on my pooter for an early morning shopping trip Saturday. We were so tired and the girls just got slaphappy. The competition for having the best prices became ridiculous and we laughed till we cried. I thought we were just working on a much-needed system for catering (and for us) but it was a hoot!
Hopefully, the mess will be gone tomorrow and we can reward ourselves this weekend. This consumed our lives this week but most of it’s my fault for having accumulated so much without sifting through and purging each season. We have 3 boxes of just snow boots we get to bless others with not to mention a boatload of coats! I didn’t know we had all this! It will be so much easier in the future – I just wished we had taken care of this a long time ago.
Learn from me! Share your stuff and save your sanity!
Hugs!

Taming of the Shrew

2007-11-15T01:58:00.003-05:00

Comments about the play my daughters were in – very cool:
Beth (one of the actor’s wife) brought the homeschool co-op group that she teaches, they are reading and discussing "Shrew"
I thought you all might like to read their comments.....these young folks are12-17 yrs of age.
Renee'
Here are the comments my class made about The Taming of the Shrew for Becky:
I never thought that I would like Shakespeare. When we saw the play, it came to life - it was real. It was cool. Thank you for making the play so great.
~ Zac
We went to see The Taming of the Shrew on the 17th of October. I enjoyed it thoroughly. There was so much energy. After reading the play, I was unsure of what the couple thought about the whole scene. After seeing the play, I knew exactly what everybody thought of everything. Thank you very much.
~ Zach
I loved your play (The Taming of the Shrew). It was my favorite play that I have ever seen. It was funny, romantic, and great. It’s just too awesome for words. My favorite character was Kate. She just played the part perfect. I was a little unsure about it being set in the 50’s. But it was great. It actually made me feel like I was there. Everybody was just fantastic. Oh, and I loved the dancing at the end with the disco ball!
~ Rosie
I very much enjoyed seeing The Taming of the Shrew. The cast was wonderful! Seeing it helped me understand the play much better. I was also very happy that we could come at a discount. Again I thank you for the wonderful experience. As I have been reading The Taming of the Shrew, I didn’t realize how funny it was. Biondella was one of my favorites! Keep up the great work.
~ Mahriah
We went to see The Taming of the Shrew on the 17th of October. It was the best play I have ever seen! I loved how you got such good actors. Lucentio and Grumio were the most funny. I hope everyone loved it as much as my class did. Thank you for making such a wonderful play.
~ Cassidy
Watching the play was much more vibrant than reading the book. It was a lot easier to study the play after watching it. The actors were all really good. My favorite part was the danger of the food flying around at Petruchio’s house! I enjoyed the experience a lot. Thanks.
~ Lucas
We are grateful for the performance of The Taming of the Shrew. As a class we went to a showing. It was fantastic to actually see the play. We have been studying the play and absolutely adored how enthusiastic the actors were. They looked so happy to be performing. It is great to follow the story and see it. Thanks for having a school performance. I hope to see another

performance soon. I loved how humorous the entire play was. I laughed until the tears came. It is great to see the actors taking their parts to the next level. Biondella and Grumio were always moving or doing something hilarious. Kate and Petruchio were fantastic in their conversations. Each character helped bring out the best in the play.
~ Katie
Thank you very much for the great performance of The Taming of the Shrew on the 17th of October. It was great. All the actors acted like they were having a good time. The tickets were affordable and that made it fun. The set design was well done. In a little while, we are doing a play for my family and the set gave me some ideas! Everyone working there seemed very friendly. Thank you again.
~ Caitlin
We went to see The Taming of the Shrew on the 17th of October and it was so cool! The actors were great! They did a great job performing it in the 1950’s. The set and props were awesome! My favorite character was Kate - she did a great job performing her feelings. Thanks a lot for everything!
~ Tacy
As a homeschooling parent and teacher of a Shakespeare class at our Co-op, I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the opportunity to take my kids/ students to the school performance of The Taming of the Shrew at RCT. Being exposed to theatre in general is so important for kids, but it is essential when studying Shakespeare. RCT gave my students a chance to see a wonderful, high quality Shakespearean production close to home. It was a valuable educational experience and a really fun afternoon as well! Thanks again and keep up the good work. ~ Beth

Our closests overfloweth

2007-11-14T23:05:00.000-05:00

Well…we have worked with only breaks and the end-of-day meltdown but our house is still a wreck. We did, however, remove 2 trunkloads of excess clothing and shoes to be shared with others as they have been shared with us. I told the girls they could have a garage sale Saturday if the weather permits but after that, everything goes! Somewhere, I don’t care where. But, hopefully, to someone who needs them.
Even though we’re up to our eyeballs in sorting, I find myself in the mindset and "heartset" appropriate for Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for the abundance! We DO NOT have the finances necessary to dress our kiddos in even the cheapest clothes but, yet, God fits them in pretty snazzy attire. My spunky, funky 13 y.o. seems to have a steady flow of the necessary items for her personality. Though I have 4 girls in a row, then 4 boys, they don’t all share the same build. I thought I would be able to pass stuff on down the line but, NOOO, my oldest boy is thin, the next on husky. The oldest girl is full-figured and short like me, the next girl tall and thin. But wouldn’t you know God was all over that the whole time? Whenever we have lacked what we needed, we either prayed and waited or went out a bought the needed pair of jeans or snow boots. But you know what would show up either way? The needed pair of jeans or snow boots. And if we had not trusted God to provide and went shopping, do you know what our Abba would do? Make sure his stuff was better than our stuff.
I was going to post pics of our mess and blessings but itty bit woke up so I’ll have to do that another time. I figured I’m not the only one who’d like to see someone else’s house a wreck! LOL!
While I’m here, may I direct you to homeschoolingmommaof4’s Blog?
She’s having a 155,000 Clicks Giveaway Celebration giveaway!
Congratulations, JoAnn!
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolingmommaof4/
Well, I’ve posted 2 days in a row. Maybe I have found a time slot that works for baby and me. We’ll try again tomorrow night and see if we can’t keep the ball rolling!
God bless!

Santa - watch your mouth

2007-11-14T02:34:00.000-05:00

Santas warned 'ho ho ho' offensive to women – see link for ridiculous details:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071115/wl_asia_afp/lifestyleaustraliachristmasoffbeat

The Seasonal Switchover – The real reason October is scary.

2007-11-13T08:29:00.003-05:00

Every mom of many must go through the same thing I do when the weather changes from hot to cold then back to hot again. It’s been the same thing for years. It’s called…freaking out. This just takes over your house! I’m WAY behind this fall. I usually have it done by the end of October.
I know there are some noble folk out there who don’t keep anything; they just give away outgrown clothes and trust God for the next season’s replacements. We DO trust God for outfitting our crew but we also feel led to be frugal and recycle. SO, that means packing and unpacking clothes for 13 people. I pray for faith to move this mountain of clothes! Sometimes I wish we just unloaded the clothes every fall and spring but, on the other hand, I’d still have the character flaw of sentimentality to contend with. Isabelle is wearing outfits her 19 y.o. sister wore! Why did I keep those? I’m not talking about 2 or 3; I’m talking about a box-full! They’re just so adorable and the memories attached, well, I’m still learning this world is not my home. Moth and rust HAVE destroyed so I’m getting it, don’t worry.

So, anyhoo, HOW TO SURVIVE THE SEASONAL SWITCHOVER:

No cardboard boxes. Use Rubbermaid containers or the like. Cheap plastic cracks, especially if you have to store your stuff in an attic or outside storage shed like us and if it has other containers stacked on top of it. If you must store clothes, you can’t afford to NOT invest in appropriate containers. Examples of cardboard box storage fatalities: a.) Storage roof leaked – major mold – 5 boxes pitched b.) Cats found a way into storage, used several boxes for litterboxes, gave birth in one c.) Bees built hive in large wardrobe box – that was fun… SO, please trust me on this, NO CARDBOARD. Plastic bags rip and spill all over – don’t even think about those.
Pack freshly washed and dry clothes. Try to have several major laundry days prior to the switchover so you have most everything ready to pack.
We keep 3-4 "season neutral" outfits out at all times. These are clothes that would be comfortable to wear during that transitional weather. Something one can stay cool in if it’s warm but throw on a jacket if it gets cold. These are worn during those laundry prep days (in theory) so you don’t have to wait for the stuff to be packed to get through the wash.
Clear your schedule and forget about school for 2 or 3 days. Plan on breaks and rewards for getting the job done. Weather permitting, we’re going Letterboxing!
Bring in your containers. All of them. Just bite the bullet and line your hallways, dining room, wherever you have bare walls. We’re also bringing in the coats, the boots, mittens and scarves; there’s a ton of stuff to go through. While you’re sorting clothes, kids can be trying on coats, etc.
Line up the clothing containers in birth order. I start with the youngest and let the older ones take care of their own.
We also set up 1 or 2 folding tables in the living room to sort on. We empty all shelves and drawers and pile everything in birth order
Because I’m OCD about outfits being matched, kids' clothes 10 and under are put away matched and packed matched. No pants drawer and shirt drawer. We have outfits, pajamas, socks & underwear. That’s how I pack so when it’s time to unpack again, it’s ready to go on the shelf.
We try to keep just what will fit on the shelf or in the drawer. It’s hard when so many kind people give us some great items but I’m learning to "GROC" with more frequency. GROC is our own invention. We have a Get Rid Of Can. SO, GROC is a noun and a verb. "GROC it!" is heard a lot during the Switchover.
Back to switching- unpack child’s clothes, put away.
Sort through their to-pack pile getting rid of (GROC-ing) excess and outgrown items; pack clothes.
Repeat for each child.
Don’t forget yourself – I did this one year-extra time was needed to repeat this process for the mama.
DON’T CLOSE THE LIDS! I leave the containers lined up with the lids behind them for 2 or 3 days until I feel that everything needing packed has made it through the wash. You KNOW if you pack the containers too soon, clothes are going to turn up that needed packed!
While you're going through this process, kids can be given missions. Make a checklist or just have them report in when they don’t know what to do next. Missions can be: try on coats and hang up what fits & get rid of excess, find mittens and scarves and put in pocket (we use a door-hanging pocket shoe organizer for mittens and scarves in the winter/swimsuits in the summer), clean out from under beds to look for lost clothes and shoes – same for closets, pack sandals, try on shoes, etc.
Ready to close the lids? Throw in 2 or 3 dryer sheets before you do. This will keep critters out. At least mice. When my FIL purchased a camper, he was told to stash dryer sheets all over the camper when closing it up for winter to keep the mice out. It also keeps the clothes smelling fresh and clean so they can go right back on their shelves or in the drawers next season.
A word on promoting. Promoting is what we call it when something gets outgrown and is given to the next sibling. When it’s time to promote, the tag or other visible spot on the waistband or collar is given a slash or dot. The boys get slashes and girls get dots. When my 12 y.o. boy outgrows a shirt, a slash is added to the slash he already had and and it goes to the next boy. This way, we can keep track of what belongs to whom. Promotions tend to happen during the unpacking and I sometimes assign the "dotting" to someone or let the child dot their own clothes.

There you have it. If anyone else would like to add their recommendations for this, DO SHARE!
HTH
GOD BLESS!.

Structured Flexibility

2007-11-09T05:07:00.002-05:00

We don't "do" Halloween but I thought this was funny:

I can’t believe I’m awake. The baby has nursed back to sleep. Isabelle has NOT awakened in a screaming fit (a regular occurrence these days), and none of the other youngins have stood by my bed and stared at me from six inches away until I wake up to tell me they’re scawad (scared). Nope, it had to be a cat. 3:15am. I’m awake because of a stupid cat meowing to get in its bathroom. We have 3 cats, Tiger, Buster, and Akala, who, if they’re not partying, are chasing each other across the hardwood floors all night SO they get put to bed for the night just like everybody else. Three different girls are responsible for each cat so I know WHO to wake up when I get woke up because THEY have forgotten. I can’t find the meowing culprit so I don’t know who to wake up. I’m pretty sure it’s Akala but I can’t find the cat. Anyhoo, I’m awake so I thought I’d stop in to say hi.

We have a full life. So full, I don’t get to blog like I want, as I’ve mentioned before, and I really miss it. I’m trying to figure out a time or way to make this happen and I’ve been trying to get up before Isaiah gets up for his morning nursing (this is TOO early). I was getting up at about 5:30 for the last couple of weeks but was puttering around getting dressed, etc. trying to figure out my routine then daylight savings kicked in. Well, it kicked in for everybody but Isaiah. He was getting up between 6am and 6:30am. He’s getting up between 5am and 5:30…of course. I have determined our lifestyle includes “night owl” activity whether it be school, hospitality, or, in the near future, catering, so getting up at 4 or 4:30 is asking a lot of my already worn out bod. I’ve tried getting up with him to nurse while typing but it’s such a pain with one hand, literally, and I am suppose to wear that brace while I’m on the keyboard.

That being said, it’s time for catch-up: The Tapestry of Grace curriculum is a very jam-packed course of study, for those who haven’t seen it. It was a big hairy deal for us to invest in it after 16 years of homeschooling with me writing most of our unit studies. My DH asked me before our purchase if my pride was ready to use something that I didn’t write. He knows there was a time I felt I had to be AMAZING MOM and make all these amazing things happen in our home. Well, wisdom is not attained easily and I have learned that there’s nothing amazing about getting fried and wandering aimlessly through academia and not enjoy it.

Part of my problem is all the housekeep involved with a big family. I could spend hours in the laundry room alone. If I get sidetracked by cleaning or folding, it can be afternoon when we start school! Then I have to crash and burn for an afternoon nap because a child, or cat, woke me up in the night in addition to the regular feeding of my baby boy.

I wake up, it’s time to think about dinner and, ugh, the time gets away from me.

The TOG manual warns that there’s a 4-week-fog newbies go through when first starting this overwhelming curriculum. I have a feeling ours will be a 4-month-fog. When we started, I said we’re going to take it slow and take 2 weeks to do the first week. Wouldn’t you know it took 4 weeks for us to do one? Of course, we started in the midst of the performance of Taming of the Shrew, which included helping painting sets and late nights. This week, we haven’t done much out of the curriculum, mostly math, phonics, etc. It’s so hard to not get discouraged but Craig and I have found that if it takes us 2 years to get into a routine with this, we’re not the first and there’s so much in one year, it could hardly be considered “behind.” We are definitely in the “other” category with educational style. We’re “structured unschooling” or "rigid flexibility" as my DH would call it.

Today, we’ll finally paint those salt dough maps we started 3 weeks ago. Before or after HS drama troupe? We’ll just have to wait and see.
A-HA! It IS Akala. Jillian is so dead.

Enjoy this cuteness:

Meet "EYEBROW MAN"! He's been called that and "Judah-man" a la "You da man" since he was born.

Isaiah has been dubbed "CT" because when he's not smiling, these huge eyes make him look paranoid. SO... CT - Conspiracy Theory.

Isabelle, the cyclops.

Isn't she a princess?
God Bless you on this beeyootiful Autumn day!

When I'm Broke, I'm Broke!!!

2007-07-10T07:05:00.000-04:00

No time to blog right now - I need to run my 4 y.o. to the chiropracter. But enjoy the following while I'm gone:

A little old lady answered a knock on the door one day, only to be
confronted by a well-dressed young man carrying a vacuum cleaner.
"Good morning," said the young man. "If I could take a couple of
minutes of your time, I would like to demonstrate the very latest in
high-powered vacuum cleaners." "Go away," said the old lady. "I
haven't got any money, I'm broke!" As she proceeded to close the
door, the young man wedged his foot in the door and pushed wide open.
"Don't be too hasty," he said. "Not until you have at least seen my
demonstration." And with that, he emptied a bucket of horse manure on
to her hallway carpet. "If this vacuum cleaner does not remove all traces of this
horse
manure from your carpet, Madam, I will personally eat the remainder.
The old lady stepped back and said, "Well I hope you've got a darn
good appetite, because they cut off my electricity this morning."
What part of broke do you not understand?

Pray for Amy

2007-06-26T23:31:00.000-04:00

Amy has been told there's nothing else they can do:

http://wilhoite.blogspot.com/2007/06/beginning-of-end.html

Lift her up in prayer.

Cliffhangers

2007-06-25T09:51:00.000-04:00

Now where was I? Oh, yeah. The "No, I understand you're going out of town but we just can't send one of our helpers to the location that you gave me in such succinct detail it would be impossible to miss it to retrieve and hold in the office your daughter's photography record sheet until your friend comes to drop off your projects for you." And I quote, "I pledge my HEAD to clearer thinking, my HEART to greater loyalty, my HANDS to larger service, and my HEALTH to better living, for my club, my community, my country, and my world." EXCUSE ME? Am I not part of the community? Are we thinking clearly here? "Ma'am, it would be better if the record sheet and project were kept together." Yes, I understand that. That's why I called. It was left in the bag my daughter's drawing was in and she accidentally left it in there. We are leaving for a convention in Columbus, Ohio and need to leave." ""Sorry, can't help ya." Larger service? I gotta tell ya (excuse my grammar, or lack thereof), my HEALTH was compromised greatly that day as I zoomed BACK to the fairgrounds, then BACK to my friend's house to keep the form with her color prints (which got CHAMPION for her age group, BTW), then BACK home to finish loading the camper and van then zooming off ALL while trying to maintain the PROPER attitude. I know you know what I mean. Natalie already felt bad enough and I confess, I threatened to turn around and go home at one point, I was so stressed. I did apologize, however. It was, yet, another growth opportunity for mommy. Those are so fun.

I'll finish catching up later - these days, I blog while feeding baby and he is done. (I took so long to get back to this because I kept hoping for time to type w/ 2 hands. Yea, right! Forgive my procrastination and for not pledging my head to clearer thinking.

I leave you with some of those Champion photos that so desperately needed that form kept with them:

Hugs in Him!

Sorry to leave ya hanging like that. I had to stop, drop, and sleep! We were that tired.

Didja miss me?

2007-06-23T19:17:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been quite awhile since I've been here. It's been a whirlwind of activity and I haven't had a moment to tap away. I don't know if anyone grieved my absence but I sure missed being here and hope I won't be gone that long again.

Right now, I am coming to you, LIVE, from Columbus, Ohio after wrapping up a tremendous half-week at the Christian Home Educators of Ohio convention. WOOT! What a blessed time we had. Our adventure began with elevated blood pressure and a frenzy of activity, though. Just trying to recall all that has transpired in the past weeks causes me to get confused as to where to begin. Plus, I'm so tired, I'm sure I'll come back and read this later and wonder if I was the actual author or if one of my children played a practical joke on my blog.

Anyhoo, I will probably be doing some retroactive blogging to catch up if for no other reason than to put in order the recent events that have caused my current state of volatality.

Real quick, before I crash and burn, I will bullet events I remember from the past couple of weeks:

Work on 4-H projects
Make cake for Civic Theater Awards
Work on 4-H projects
Do all laundry so we can pack for trip and kids at home have clothes to wear
Work on 4-H projects
Turn down "opportunity" to make Black icing wedding cake with red roses for pirate themed wedding in high humidy weather - yikes!
Work on 4-H projects
Discover that Creative Memories will not be represented in the homeschool convention vendor hall. Inquire to see if it's too late to get in on this.
Work on 4-H projects
Reconsider 4-H as a positive experience for our family
Work on 4-H projects
Nervously mail in check to reserve booth at convention - first- time vendors.
Father's Day get-together at FIL's, bring home his camper to borrow for homeschool convention
Work on 4-H projects
Pack for trip, plan schudule and menus for both those staying and those going.
Pack camper
Wed- deliver 4-H projects to 4-H frenzy fairgrounds, drop off photography projects at friend and upline's and borrow product for booth
Realize Natalie left record sheet in bag at fairgrounds
Get Home, call fairgrounds to see if someone can retrieve and hold Record Sheet in office. Big fat no...
AND...I'll finish the saga later. I must needs sleep.....

Those Were The Days

2007-06-03T10:32:00.000-04:00

Another good onel:

Comments made in the year 1955:

"I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's
going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20."

"Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long
before $2000 will only buy a used one."

"If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a
pack is ridiculous."

"Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to
mail a letter?"

"If they raise the minimum wage to $1, nobody will be able to hire
outside help at the store."?

"When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday
cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the
garage."

"Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible
to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as
long as the girls."

"I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let
Clark Gable get by with saying '****' in 'Gone With The Wind,' it seems
every new movie has either "hell" or "****" in it.

"I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a
man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows
they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas ."

"Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for
$75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday
they'll be making more than the president."

"I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be
electric. They are even making electric typewriters now."

"It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married
women are having to work to make ends meet."

"It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone
to watch their kids so they can both work."

"Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more; those Hollywood stars seem to
be getting divorced at the drop of a hat."

"I'm just afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole
lot of foreign business."

"Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes
half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best
people to congress."

"The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously
doubt they will ever catch on."

"There is no sense going to Lincoln or Omaha anymore for a weekend. It
costs nearly $15 a night to stay in a hotel."

"No one can afford to be sick any more; $35 a day in the hospital is too
rich for my blood."

"If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it."

Carpal Tunnel

2007-06-02T20:49:00.001-04:00

Yep, I have the beginnings of Repetitive Stress Injury a.k.a. Carpal Tunnel. So, my DH has been closely watching over my shoulder to make sure I'm not making it worse by, duh, blogging. Repetitive Procrastination Disorder doesn't help with keeping my posts current. Besides the good news my chiropractor gave me about this annoying tingling, pins and needles down my arm and fingers, x-rays revealed that I don't have the curve in my neck like normal folk. So, now traction and weird exercises for that commence. I still have pregnancy rash though Isaiah is now 10-weeks old and we are looking into the possibility of Candida or some such condition. And for the first time, instead of losing weight after having a baby, I gained. I'm really not whining. I know it could be worse. I've just been amazed at how fast a body can fall apart!

I'm sure birthing 11 children has contributed to my body's ailments but spiritually, emotionally, the kiddos keep me young. It just seems like my body doesn't "fit" me. How can I play mud football when my hip hasn't recovered from playing 5 years ago? How can I crawl around on the floor with my toddlers when I might get stuck there? Well, I'll just keep looking to the Great Physician for healing and strength. Good grief - I have at least 18 more years of homeschooling! I can't get old, yet!

Okay, this time, some of Corinne's way cool photos from her Color Prints 4-H project:

Anybody can take a picture of a flower.

Remember snow?

Corinne's clone, Autumn, watering the flowers.

The viewer is mesmerized by Isabelle being mesmerized...

TOODLES!

Kersplash!

2007-06-01T06:48:00.000-04:00

I watched Poseidon last night with the girls and couldn't help but think that I saw this week coming like a rogue wave and tried to take evasive action but you don't get enough time to turn your tub around!

We had our friends from NC in Sunday - Tuesday, Luau to have friends in to visit w/ NC friends on Monday, Craig left for Wisconsin on Tuesday, Lenae took Jillian to pottery class, I had training on Memory Manager in Muncie on Tuesday evening, Wednesday was a dentist appointment for half of us, pottery again, and yesterday, I refused to leave the house but my mom came over for half the day.

Okay, that's just logistics. We saw the wave of activity coming but did not anticipate the height or weight that was to hit. Emotions from our friends being here then leaving, I've been sick due to my diverticulosis for a couple of weeks and it's getting worse (yee haw), I have a cake to do this weekend (but that will be fun), 4-H meeting today (more minis than regular 4-H - it's nuts), and I'm suppose to have a crop today. Oh, and not to mention the personal, emotional stuff that families have that I can't mention here but I'm sure you have "stuff," too.

It doesn't end there! A grad party Sunday - should be fun, FINALLY, a new roof next week, not fun but a blessing, we have 3 birthdays in June, Father's Day, and the homeschool convention which we are camping in my FIL's camper during so it's a double whammy. Oh, and of course, 4-H fair the same week as the convention. (Does anybody else regret 4-H every year and swear it's the last year?) AND, we are schooling through the summer since we took off around birth of baby.

Whew, baby! I'm tired just thinking about it. I'm seriously considering taking out a loan to buy "disposable" clothes from the thrift store so we can just wear and toss.

Philosophy

2007-05-28T08:07:00.000-04:00

No time to blog! House full of people in a few hours. But a friend emailed me this and it's too good to not share:

GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:

1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.

2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.

3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.

4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.

5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food.6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.

7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.

8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.

9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.

10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.

GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED:

1) Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.

2) Wrinkles don't hurt.

3) Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts.

4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.

6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.

GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT GROWING OLD

1) Growing up is mandatory; growing old is optional.

2) Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

3) When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there.

4) You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.

5) It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.

6) Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.

7) Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.

THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE:

1) You believe in Santa Claus.

2) You don't believe in Santa Claus.3) You are Santa Claus.

4) You look like Santa Claus.

SUCCESS:

At age 4 success is . . . . not peeing in your pants.
At age 12 success is . . . having friends.
At age 16 success is . . . having a drivers license.
At age 35 success is . . . having a big mortgage.
At age 55 success is . . . having no mortgage.
At age 70 success is . . . having friends.
At age 75 success is . . . having a drivers license.
At age 80 success is . . . not peeing in your pants.

Always remember to forget the troubles that pass your way; BUT NEVER forget the blessings that come each day.
Have a wonderful day with many *smiles*

ANTICIPATION

2007-05-27T07:53:00.000-04:00

We learned a long time ago that the waiting is just as important and enjoyable as the getting there and, in fact, adds to the gratification of whatever it is you have arrived at. Most folks understand how to relish the preparations that are involved in celebrating holidays but the F-Troop believes that any activity or event can be just as memorable by adding a little excitement to the time period preceding said event. Whether it be home improvements, a unit study, going to Home Fellowship, or waiting to see friends, getting ready is exhilarating.
At the moment, we are awaiting the arrival of our long lost friends, the Buchanans. They moved away several years ago and miss them dearly. We also miss Mick’s answering machine messages. (Examples of messages: "The Fechers…going boldly where no family has gone before…" "Fechers, Meet the Fechers…"sung to the Flintstones tune. "Here’s the story of a lovely family…" Brady Bunch, of course. And the one I have yet to forgive Mick for as he made the call 2 days after the 9-11 tragedy and used a heavy accent: "My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." The only part I understood was the "prepare to die" part. I thought, for a split second, that terrorists were now using telemarketing techniques to freak citizens out. I was freaked out but embarrassed when I was told it was just Mick.)
Anyhoo, we have been cleaning and cooking and looking forward to their arrival. The anticipation level has been raised a couple of notches as they were supposed to come last weekend but a death at their church caused them to postpone their vacation. To add to it, we have no clue as to when they are due to arrive. For weeks, the kids, even the ones that don’t know them (a few born after thet left), have been asking "how many more days?" Today, it’s been a constant "have we heard anything?" Benjamin has prayed for the years since they left that we would get to see them. We went to visit them awhile back but that wasn’t enough; Ben has continued to pray they would come here and that Jake, his buddy, would get to stay with us.
Now that I say that, prayer can add to the expectation as answered prayer causes one to celebrate and praise God for loving us and providing for us the blessings of family, friends, and memories made with them.
Anticipating sweet fellowship (and the boys undoing all of our cleaning).

The OTHER curriculum style

2007-05-25T06:38:00.000-04:00

When I first signed onto HomschoolBlogger, I was asked to choose my curriculum style for my profile. I chuckled at the "Other" option as I thought to myself, "What on earth could the ‘Others’ be teaching and how?" Is it like the movie, "The Others," where Nicole Kidman’s character thinks her house is haunted but finds out it’s not her house that’s haunted? Her whole world was rocked when she became aware of the shocking truth that SHE was the visiting OTHER (I usually avoid ghosty movies but I was trapped in a hospital room and this was SO interesting). Are the "other" homeschoolers under the assumption they know what they are doing but then, one day, really figure it out and have to start over?
So, I started to check classical but that wasn’t right because we throw in unit studies here and there. So, I started to check unit Studies but that’s not right either because we use text books for certain subjects. I used to think unschoolers were a bad lot because the only ones I knew or heard of were doing NOTHING to teach their children ANYTHING. I have since met others and have learned more and realize we do a bit of "delight directed studies"ourselves. So, as I pondered being identified as unschoolers, I realized that after 15 years of homeschooling, I still don’t know what the heck I’m doing! WE ARE OTHERS! We do a little bit of everything, sometimes organized, sometimes not. I read about teaching each of my children according to their learning style and am tempted to throw them on the big yellow monster! I don’t care what the experts say; there are NOT 4 basic learning styles. At our house, there are 11, not including the parents.
Is there anyone out there who can describe what the "Other" homeschool means at their house? I was recently informed that I’m considered a "veteran homeschooler" but that doesn’t mean I don’t still need encouraged. I’m still learning and am new to homeschooling my younger bunch.
Would you look at that! Another benefit of large families; you experiment on the first 3 then the rest will be geniuses. (JK, kiddos – you older ones are a pretty clever band of smarty-pants).

I IS STUPID

2007-05-24T11:14:00.000-04:00

I just heard on the radio why I go stupid when I have a baby. I understand the prenatal problems – pregnant brain rot – but why can’t I get it together after having a baby? And why does it get worse after each child?
Well, I just heard the results of a study in some European country (I just heard this report and have already forgotten the country). It seems that love causes people to do weird things and lose concentration. Fairly intelligent people lose concentration when shown photos of loved ones.
I AM IN SO MUCH TROUBLE! An amazing husband, 11 beautiful, awesome children, throw in a wonderful church family, great extended family, and being surrounded by friends and I just don’t stand a chance of ever being intelligent again. To add to the problem, I’m a part of the scrapbooking cult so I constantly have photos of loved ones in front of me so concentration is out the window. (My DD did just point out the fact, though, that I have so many loved ones running around, my concentration is constantly being interrupted by them.)
I have also heard of another study that shows certain chemicals are released each time you have a child that make you MORE intelligent. Why does God do that? Give you the potential for genius but then causes you to love so much it hurts and you lose rational and just go half-witted.
I know it’s happening to me: Lots of things like I can’t remember what day it is day-to-day, I feel confused and in a daze, I use to know ins-and-outs of current politics but now I just tell my husband to tell me who to vote for, and, the biggest confirmation…I’m starting to like the dog.

The Dog Next Door

2007-05-21T11:04:00.000-04:00

Our neighbors must hate us. We don’t cause trouble. We keep the lawn mowed. We’re friendly. The music isn’t loud. Okay, sometimes we crank it for housecleaning purposes, but we are decent neighbors to have. Except for our dog. As I type, the pathetic whine of our basset hound is causing an irritation that can be compared to poison sumac of the eardrum. We are trying to teach him that he cannot come in until he’s quiet. I figure if my 6-month-old babies can learn that about getting out of the playpen, that dumb dog can at least learn to shut up. I swore we’d never have an indoor dog but we have a pet that proves evolution is only a theory and COULD NOT survive entirely out-of-doors.
I had a nice day as Mondays go; 7 loads of laundry, Luau dishes almost done, working on new homeschool management software, my DH took me out to Red Lobster – a very nice day! But I had to come home to that whimpering dog and it just made me want to throw rocks at him! "Do everything without complaining…" "Give thanks in all circumstances…" I’m thankful for shrimp. I’m thankful for my Neptune washer and dryer. I’m thankful Lenae gets to go to the neighbor’s and learn how to move a swarm and I pray she continues to work with bees without becoming allergic. I’m thankful Isaiah was so happy all through dinner (and, of course, fun to show off). I’m thankful dogs don’t live forever. There – I’m back to the right Christian attitude.

Kudos to my Kiddos!

2007-05-20T11:01:00.000-04:00

My daughters are awesome! We pulled off Memoranza and had a great time doing it. The ladies were so tickled to be treated like it was THEIR day and it was mostly due to the hard work and big hearts of my four lovely daughters. Isabelle and Autumn were with us, too, and added to the day by making appearances and being adorable. Autumn helped with the cooking, as well. You know, "can I stir?" "Can I sprinkle the nuts?" At 3, she has started learning how to cook and how to be a part of the party. All of our kids love to be in the kitchen and don’t do too bad of a job cleaning up…for kids. I better stick to how awesome they are! They are the ones that insisted on serving smoothies and NOT having little paper umbrellas in the glasses was unthinkable! We couldn’t just serve fruit in a bowl; the fruit had to be skewered and stuck in a pineapple. I enjoy doing all this stuff, too, and that’s where they learned it, but I spend much of my days taking care of a newborn and could not have pulled it off without them.

To Stress Or Not To Stress

2007-05-18T03:13:00.000-04:00

I want to cater when I grow up. I love to cook, entertain,
organize, fellowship, and make people feel special. Our
whole family prefers to be in the kitchen and to partAY.
We delight in celebrating and the preparations that go
into the gala. We have prayed about and discussed for some
time God’s leading toward a family catering business as a
learning/growing-together/blessing-others experience with
the added benefit of extra income, but I really thought it
would be years for this to come to fruition. This past
December, after our traditional Leftovers Party (see, we
celebrate anything), my DH informed me that he has been
sensing the Lord nudging him and that we are suppose to
start into this venture sooner rather than later. So there
I was, pregnant with #11, wondering how I can keep up with
laundry much less homeschool, and we’re suppose to start a
home business?! Which is not really a home business, BTW,
because here in Indiana, a licensed caterer’s cuisine must
be prepared in an approved commercial kitchen and I can’t
stand the idea of having to leave the house to do one more
thing.
Don’t get me wrong. I WANT to cater or do something similar
someday like a scrapbook retreat center – catering AND
scrapbooking – now that’s dreaming. BUT, I have an issue,
at least one, that I thought I needed to overcome before
even thinking about a family business. I stress. I freak
out. We approach the deadline and I tend to start yelling,
barking orders, I get so overwhelmed with my to-do list, I
don’t know where to begin so I go to the laundry room and
fold then I’m up until 2am trying to get everything done.
There’s NO WAY I’m ready to cater.
So, here I am, the day before my Memoranza scrapbooking
event, not getting anything done because I "have" to nurse
this adorable baby, and the thought occurs to me that, in
the same way I could NEVER have been "ready" to be a mom
of 11 without going through the process of BECOMING, I can’t
"get ready" to do anything God wants be to do. I can be
willing, but I don’t know what it takes until I exercise
the muscles necessary to be strong for the task.
So, today I’m exercising my patience muscle. I am remembering that I don’t stop being a mommy just because scrapbookers are coming tomorrow. We started the day with
family prayer and my goal is for us to have fun getting
ready, not to have everything ready. I’m mindful that if
I don’t have everything ready by tomorrow, it’s not my
kids’ fault so I should not let loose on them. I’m also
learning to not micro-manage and to bask in my children’s
willingness to help and they’re creativity. I WANT to make
the Hawaiian Meatballs, but my girls can cook just as well
as me (in most things ;o)). I WANT to prep the Flip-Flop
Make-It & Take-Its, but Natalie enjoys doing that, is good
at it, and it’s one less thing I have to worry about. For
some reason, I feel like I should be the one to run out to
get more bananas for the Tiki Bar Smoothies, but Lenae can
drive! Perhaps I’m a little OCD. Whatever it is, I believe
God is doing His Thing in me again because I really am off
schedule on our menu flow sheet and prep countdown checklist
and would normally be having a meltdown. But, instead, I’m
feeding my sweet baby and telling you all about it. Well,
I’ve made myself accountable so I’ll let you know if I make
it through the day.
Hugs!

Mystery Vaccines?

2007-05-17T03:12:00.000-04:00

This wouldn't have a whole lot to do with our homeschooling family except that I have 5 sons who may want to go into the military someday AND we have had issues with vaccines for some time AND we are American and care deeply about what goes on in our country and to our nation's service men and women AND I'm holding my 5-week-old son as I type one-handed, watching him smile in his sleep and praying his precious body is never violated like this. Read 'em and weep...

Click here or read below if the click has lost its click: http://www.wlwt.com/news/13271378/detail.html

Former Marine Claims Illness From Mystery Vaccine Military Source Believes Experimental Shots May Have Been Given

POSTED: 3:03 pm EDT May 7, 2007 CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio -- Target 5 has discovered that an alarming number of U.S. troops are having severe reactions to some of the vaccines they receive in preparation for going overseas.

"This is the worst cover-up in the history of the military, said an unidentified military health officer who fears for his job.

A shot from a syringe is leaving some U.S. servicemen and women on the brink of death.

"When the issue, I believe, of the use of the vaccine comes out, I believe it will make the Walter Reed scandal pale in comparison," said the health officer.

Lance Corporal David Fey, 20, has dialysis three days a week. His kidneys are failing, his military career is over, and he feels like his country abandoned him.

"I can't look at my old pictures. I really can't," said Fey. "I start looking at my old pictures, and I start crying."

Fey grew up amid the farm fields of Clermont County.

"I never missed a day at school," he said. "I was never sick. I was never sick." A passion for sports and a sense of patriotism prompted the Blanchester High School athlete to join the Marines the day he turned 18.

"I looked at every branch, but I wanted the Marine Corps, because the Marine Corps was the few and the proud," said Fey.

Fey said he loved every minute of boot camp and combat training at 29 Palms in California. But on Nov. 28, 2005, his life would change forever. Fey was one of a group of Marines who lined up for an undisclosed shot.

"They asked us our name. We stood on these yellow footprints, and they gave us this shot, and we got the rest of the day off," he recalled. "After that shot, I started swelling up. I gained 30 pounds of water. My eyes swelled up where I couldn't see. I started snoring. I developed a rash on my hand."

Three weeks later, Fey was back in Clermont County on his death bed at Clinton Memorial Hospital. His kidneys were failing, and his body was so swollen that it left stretch marks.

"I would pray a lot," said Fey's mother, Cindy. "I would pray a lot, 'God take him.' When I couldn't hug my son because he would scream in pain or yell at me for touching him and stuff, I used to pray to God, 'just take him tonight.'"

Cindy Fey began pouring over medical records in search of answers. She said the shot was never listed in he son's medical records. The military claimed he never received a shot.

But as Target 5 discovered, the military's story would change.

The Department of Defense stated that "all service members' vaccinations are documented in the individual's permanent medical record." But Fey's military medical records revealed no shot on that day. Another Marine in Fey's unit told Target 5 that there is no shot listed in his medical records either and also said that the people who administered the shot never told his unit what it was.

When Cindy Fey called the U.S. Marine Hospital in 29 Palms to find out what kind of vaccine her son was given, she was told that the information was confidential.

Eleven months later, her son's medical records were mysteriously changed with a handwritten notation indicating that the mystery shot was a flu vaccine.

The military official who spoke to Target 5 on the condition of anonymity said that it was not surprising that nothing appeared originally in Fey's records.

"We have a lovely term for that," he said. "We call it C.Y.A. That's unfortunately an S.O.P. in the military."

Fey is one of a growing number of U.S. servicemen and women who are getting sick after receiving vaccines. And the highly praised Department of Defense medical officer who spoke with Target 5 said that the number is up in the thousands. The symptoms range from joint aches and pains and arthritic symptoms to death.

The Department of Defense said that it encourages "healthcare workers and vaccine recipients to report adverse (reactions) events." But the military never reported Fey's reaction to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FDA.

"I see the way the propaganda and information war is waged against America's sons and daughters and how patients are treated who claim to be injured from a vaccine," said the unidentified health officer. "That's troubling. That should trouble America." The officer said those who have claimed to have had adverse reactions to shots are treated like it is all in their heads.

Asked whether servicemen and women are receiving experimental vaccines, the officer said, "I would hope to God not. But from what I've seen, I would have to say yes."

The Department of Defense maintains that the vaccines given to U.S. troops are safe.

Meanwhile, Fey is still waiting for a kidney transplant.

"My biggest wish -- just to get up and be without pain," he said. "To get up and just be happy again."

Fey's mother has been in contact with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in an effort to receive some answers. Target 5 contacted Brown's office and received the following statement:

"My office is in frequent communication with the Marine Corps and the family, and we've requested answers to the family's specific questions. I have also assisted Mr. Fey in receiving his VA benefits for health care, service-connected disability, and education assistance. His mother has been a strong advocate on his behalf, and I look forward to continuing working with her to resolve outstanding issues. It is imperative that everything possible is done to keep the brave men and women serving in our military safe."

What Mothers Teach

2007-05-14T12:26:00.000-04:00

In honor of Mother’s Day, enjoy the following if you haven’t already received this as one of those fun email forwards:
My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE. "If you’re going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."
My mother taught me RELIGION. "You better pray that will come out of the carpet."
My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL. "If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!"
My mother taught me LOGIC. "Because I said so, that’s why."
My mother taught me MORE LOGIC. "If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you’re not going to the store with me."
My mother taught me FORESIGHT. "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident."
My mother taught me IRONY. "Keep crying; and I’ll give you something to cry about."
My mother taught me about the SCIENCE OF OSMOSIS. "Shut your mouth and eat your supper."
My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM. "Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"
My mother taught me about STAMINA. "You’ll sit there until all that spinach is gone."
My mother taught me about WEATHER. "This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."
My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY. "If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times, don’t exaggerate!"
My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE. "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. "Stop acting like your father!"
My mother taught me ENVY. "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have wonderful parents like you do."
My mother taught me ANTICIPATION. "Just wait until we get home."
My mother taught me about RECEIVING. "You are going to get it when you get home!"
My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE. "If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."
My mother taught me ESP. "Put your sweater on; don’t you think I know when you are cold?"
My mother taught me HUMOR. "When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me."
My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT. "If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up."
My mother taught me GENETICS. "You’re just like your father."
My mother taught me about my ROOTS. "Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"
My mother taught me WISDOM. "When you get to be my age, you’ll understand."
And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE. "One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you."
I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day.

ONE PERSON’S JUNK IS ANOTHER PERSON’S…IT’S STILL JUNK!

2007-05-13T08:37:00.000-04:00

When we lived in Troy, Ohio, we had a garage sale and, if memory serves me correctly, did not do as well as we hoped. When we moved from Troy to Eaton, we transported boatloads of stuff that was to be put in a garage sale someday. We had a garage sale and the only stuff that really moved was the tacky rubbish my mom contributed. When we moved from Eaton to Richmond, we brought the same stuff and then some with us to put in another garage sale which never transpired after living here for 8 years. After re-reading Don Aslett’s Clutter’s Last Stand and moving on past my Fly-Lady baby steps, I started hauling everything to Goodwill and pitching. I was groomed by a professional pack rat so this has been quite the growing experience. I love my mom but she keeps everything! She’s getting there, though. She’s been getting rid of stuff, something that’s very hard for her, and me, to do. She’s more practical – "I might need it someday." I’m just sentimental – "Lenae wore that, and that, and that…" But the one thing from Mr. Aslett’s book that won’t leave me alone is where he states the truth that we spend so much time caressing our STUFF that we don’t have time to touch the people in our lives.
That being said, my daughters decided to have a garage sale. So I said, "Go ahead, but whatever’s left goes to Goodwill. No saving for the "next garage sale." Aren’t you proud of me? For the past 2 days, we have watched people come and take some of the weirdest stuff. We’ve learned what people want:
I use to put my designer clothes in garage sales, the ones from when I was a fashion major and wore a size 7. Nobody wanted them. They want the stained, faded, missing buttons, and/or torn clothes.
The stuff my kids bought at garage sales when they were small. Corinne bought a ceramic cat for $.25 when she was younger. She sold it today for a dollar. Junk appreciates.
The art kits they received as gifts that they never used did not sell. However, the baggies of "art supplies" that Natalie made up did.
Good clean toys did not sell near as well as the ones that are missing pieces, are broken, or that grew mildew after being in a leaky storage shed.
Some knew a good deal, though. My mom brought home tons of camouflage and hunting gear from my dad’s place in Kentucky after he died last May. Several fellas showed up with a determined look and you could tell SOMEBODY told them about this here garage sale with camo for sale! They made a beeline for that stuff.
So, back to stuff. It amazes me how we can accumulate SO MUCH! And it’s embarrassing to think we brought it into our lives, embraced it, wrapped our time and energy around it and made it apart of our family. Especially when it spent most of its life in a box in storage shed waiting to be worth 50 cents and sold in a garage sale. I could have started naming everything after relatives had I not finally figured out it’s just stuff!
On a positive note, I’ve decided to grow a dendrite or two so that whenever I see a garage sale, I’m reminded of Philippians 3:7, 8 and 13b & 14 – "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ… But one thing I do know: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

MOPS TESTIMONY

2007-05-11T06:44:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the last MOPS of the year. I have come across more than one person who has been living under a rock so in case anyone here has been as well, that stands for Mothers Of Preschoolers. Anyhoo, we had a "Tea and Testimony" and I was asked to share my testimony with no restrictions as to what to testify to. I did not realize until I was finished that there were only to be 2 of us sharing so I was bewildered and honored to have been asked. I had to follow a very passionate testimony, though, that had us all in tears. I deal by cutting up ‘cuz (we’z homeschooled) I don’t like to cry so the class clown had to follow the valedictorian of testimonies. It’s hers so I can’t share for her but her story is a testament to an amazing God.
Knowing most, if not all, of the members were curious about what "caused" us to have eleven children (was I dropped on my head as a child, do I know what "causes" that?, and I homeschool??), I focused my testimony on that little subject. I borrowed some of my material from earlier blogs so forgive the repeats. Here’s basically what I shared after a few examples of God’s provision in response to prayer (shoes, new oven, clothes, etc.):
20 years ago, if you had told me I would be homeschooling and have 11 children, I would have been ROTFLMBO. Not only did I have my future planned out, I knew I was destined to be a terrible parent due to my upbringing and therefore, should not be one. I lacked faith that I had a Father in Heaven who loved me dearly and had greater things planned for me than I could have ever dreamed. Just 4 short months after my 16-year-old brother died from a gun accident, I found myself an unmarried pregnant teenager and my whole world rocked. Right away, I felt that God was trying to get my attention and, though I had been told I was stupid, immature, and irresponsible my whole life, I knew He was telling me that right at that moment in time, I was mature, responsible, and smart enough to be a mommy. I had asked Christ to be my Savior when I was 16 but I had not made Him Lord of my life until that time. I needed Him desperately then and that desperate need has never diminished.
When Craig and I first sensed the conviction that God wanted us to trust Him with planning our family, it was not a difficult decision. We believed and still do believe children are a blessing, that God will provide, and that the Creator of the Universe might know something about family planning and what we can and cannot handle. Where I have struggled with most has been in what I can handle but God has proven faithful through the years. It’s when I come to the place that I can’t do it and I have nothing left that God reminds me that’s right where He wants me and can use me. I have to daily rely on His love, strength, creativity, and be listening for His Holy Nudges in order to be able to be a mom. You don’t have to be a mom of many to be busy or to need patience or to be organized or, or, or. Many Christian folk tell they couldn’t have a bunch of kids like me, they just don’t have the patience. If I’m on the ball, I’ll ask them if they have the Holy Spirit residing in them. After the funny look they give me, they say, "Well, yea."Then I ask them what the fruit of the spirit is. They usually know right away what I’m getting at. Galatians 5:22 &23 says, "But the fruit of the Sprit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control." If we have the Holy Spirit then it is Christ who gives us the patience with everything else we need to be a mommy. I am convicted that what I am doing as a mother is supernatural and has eternal value. I am always mindful that I carry the heavy responsibility of being the example my children will see the most of so I better be walking in the spirit. Verse 25 of Gal. 5 says, "Since we live by the Sprit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Receiving God’s spirit is a gift but keeping in step with the Spirit is a choice we must make. It’s trusting He will provide and loving in faith even when the loving is hard that has enabled me to be committed to our family and not feel discouraged when I realize I will at least be homeschooling until 2025!We are enjoying youth group as God intended and together we are learning, celebrating, struggling, ministering together and making memories that are more precious than any career or church or school or club involvement could afford. I will have a season when other activities will be available to me but I intend to be busy as a grandma someday and helping young women in the fine art of mothering. To me, there is nothing more worthwhile that I could be doing.

Better not blog tonight...

2007-05-09T22:11:00.000-04:00

Though I have a moment with free hands and could blog, I don’t want to tempt myself to whine so I respectfully submit the following:

A MOMMY’S INCARCERATION

2007-05-09T07:48:00.000-04:00

Remember when Hillary Clinton likened stay-at-home mothering to slavery? Well, she did, if you miss that. I’ve decided that she was right. At 3:30 this morning, I could have been asleep. Isaiah is undergoing a growth-spurt which means it’s nurse-a-thon time and after hours of the nursing, burping, changing cycle, he was finally sleeping soundly. I was SO TIRED but, even though he was snoozing, he was keeping me awake! I was held hostage. I was being restrained and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Well, except take a picture.

Hillary was right; I’m being held prisoner and there is no place I’d rather be.

Retirement - just for fun

2007-05-08T13:00:00.000-04:00

RETARDED GRANDPARENTS (this was actually reported by a teacher)

After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent
their holiday away from school. One child wrote the following:
We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa.
They used to live in a big brick house but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Florida.
Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass.
They ride around on their bicycles and wear name tags because they
don't know who they are anymore. They go to a building called a
wrecked center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now,
and they do exercises there, but they don't do them very well. There is a
swimming pool too, but in it, they all jump up and down with hats on.
At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man
sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape.
Sometimes they sneak out.
They go cruising in their golf carts! Nobody there cooks, they
just eat out. And, they eat the same thing every night --- early birds.
Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house.
The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck.
My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his
retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too.
When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house. Then I will let people out so they
can visit their grandchildren.
PRICELESS

What a deal!

2007-05-07T13:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, this could have something to do with homeschooling, I suppose, I guess I could talk to my kids about stewardship but they’re pretty smart and it would be a short class. Heck, you don’t have to be "real" smart to figure out this price is a little steep and that you can’t take it with you. Just in case you didn’t hear about it, seeing is believing:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dodge-Charger-Charger-R-T-The-General-Lee-by-Bo-Duke-himself-John-Schneider_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6199QQihZ015QQitemZ250108256198QQrdZ1
John Schneider’s General Lee went for $9,900,500.00. But it did say low monthly payments were available. Sorry y’all missed out on this one.

The weekend was gorgeous and we enjoyed a full weekend:
On Saturday, Lenae and I went to Keepers at Home, a gathering of women to benefit from the blessings of Titus 2, Craig took Benjamin to a 4-H shoot (not to shoot 4-H members but to learn how to handle a gun), then, after a nap, a friend and her kiddos came to visit the baby. Everyone got ready for Sunday. On Sunday, we hosted a small gathering of the saints. We are members of the Home Church "cult," a movement that I’m thankful we are a part of but wishful that we had jumped on board a long time ago! The fellowship was sweet Sunday and the neighbors had to wonder what on earth was going on as there were 24 youngsters running around with ice cream cones, swinging, playing in the sandboxes, they were everywhere! And that was just 3 families including ours. And how relaxing to not have to worry about the kids our children are playing with. I know how they’re being raised and the other parents feel the same way- aaaaaaah. The moms and dads keep an eye out for safety but we don’t necessarily have to hover to monitor the conversations or be paranoid about what trouble they’ll be led into like we do in "those other" situations.
Anyhoo, we had a wonderful day but must get back to this wonderful day.
BTW, update on the play, the girls said that it did, in fact, come together and not only did the crowd not heckle, but they LIKED it!!?? Go figure.

The Play's the Thing...Just Not Sure What Thing It Is...

2007-05-04T07:20:00.000-04:00

Our oldest 4 daughters and our 9 y.o. son, Noah, are all involved in Richmond’s Civic Theatre and, due to the "interruption" of baby, had to take a hiatus from any theater activities. It was especially hard to miss out on the current Stage 1 play (children’s theatre group) as it is a compilation of stories-turned-into-plays by area students and Corinne’s was chosen as one of the plays. It was actually a group effort with ideas thrown out by other students in the homeschool drama class but Corinne put them into story form and boy, was it a hoot. Betcha didn’t know Humpty Dumpty was pushed! Yep, a Nursery Rhyme whodunit. It was a scream. The play turned out pretty good- had me laughing.

Most of the stories performed took us back to the days of beatniks and poetry that you’re not sure what the point of is – high schoolers being artsy fartsy. Our youngsters kept asking daddy, "What’s that? What did he say? What is he suppose to be? What did she say? Why are they doing that? What did they say?" Craig just kept saying, "I don’t know." A couple were hysterical, though. Besides the Humpty thing, the 12 Days of School was a hoot as was a music video that had me rolling.
And, by dress rehearsal, everything and everybody is suppose to be completely ready by this time, a lot of folks didn’t know their lines. I bet the director is beside herself. There were a lot of newbies, though, and they didn’t do half bad. Okay, a couple did half bad, but they’ll learn. Stage One plays have always been incredible and even the ones that didn’t look like they were going to be ready have always come together. I hope this one does. Jillian and Natalie have gone back to work with this one as the only costume and make-up people and are getting ready right now to head out for the school performances. I feel for the kids and the director as they’re sure to be heckled. (Humpty Dumpty – The Other Side of the Wall was still funny, though). A few years ago, they performed "I Never Saw Another Butterfly," a very sobering play about children in a concentration camp during the holocaust. Very well done, very sad…and students disrupted that play! Of course, that school isn’t allowed to come to school performances anymore, but it’ll be hard for high schoolers to not make fun of this one.
The hardest part of having been out of the loop for awhile is we just found out yesterday that a dear lady and friend from theater passed away. She just loved Lenae, treated her special, and was always asking her to help with costumes or make up. She and her husband are special people and our heart goes out to this dear man.
We’ll miss you, Velda.

What the little big brothers and sisters said

2007-05-03T00:21:00.000-04:00

I said I’d share the hysterical comments some of my youngsters made when Isaiah was born and plum forgot. (Is it plum or plumb? Oh well…)
Anyhoo, here they are:

Elijah, age 7 – After welcoming his new baby brother, Eli meandered about the room (we had a homebirth) looking in the laundry and trash bags, around the bed, etc. obviously investigating with a purpose. The midwife asked what he was looking for. He answered,"Where’s the blood? I don’t see any blood." He knew blood was somehow involved.

Later, after I had cleaned up and changed, I was sitting on a chux pad on my bed to eat my well-deserved eggs benedict from Bob Evans (I was SO HUNGRY!). After I was done and got up, evidence of one of those "gushers" you get after having a baby was left on the pad. Of course, Elijah had to be in the room: "Eeeuw. Blood…..Cool."

Judah, age 5 – Coming in after his 3 older brothers were already oogling over the baby, he made his way through the crowd, got a load of the small presence before him, and said, with the "this-is-so-heavy tone, …"Wo!"

Autumn, age 3 – "Is there another baby in Mommy’s snumuck? She’s still fat."

Elijah – "He has zigzag hair."

Isabelle, age 21 months – While pointing at the baby’s ear: "Eye." We’re off to a good start.

Autumn - Before the baby was born, one of my daughters was babysitting at our house. I carried the 3-month-old, fully-dressed baby into the room where Autumn was. When she turned and saw me, her eyes got as big as saucers and she asked, "Did that come out of your snumuck?!"

Elijah – Sounding so cute….at first, "Look at his teeny toes!…….They look like worms!"

FITZILLA

2007-04-30T08:27:00.000-04:00

I’ve noticed lots of folks give their kids nicknames for their blogs and have played with the idea but it was hard enough coming up with “real” names for everybody so I’m sticking with the names that took so much work. BUT, if I were to use nicknames, I would have one for my second child set. It’s almost a given. Fitzilla. Yep, the fitmeister.

She’s been throwing fits since before she was born and hasn’t stopped at 17 years of age. I swore when she was small that I wouldn’t let her grow up to be like “those” teenagers but, alas, what you have at 4 you get at 14 and we didn’t know about child-training until a lot of damage was done. I’m tired from the battle, tired of seeing the other children hurt and confused, and tired of “hiding” the elephant in the closet so here I am unloading on whomever.

I really don’t intend to sound hostile towards my lovely daughter, but the spiritual battle has brought our whole family to the end of our wits. I feel discouraged at the moment but know that since we have nothing left, God has us right where he wants us. My DH likens this struggle to the labor I experienced with Isaiah; it was long, it was hard, painful, excruciating, exhausting, I had nothing left. All we could do was continue praying and trust that God was in control and would bring us through. When it was time to deliver, God delivered the contraction we were waiting for to get our little man out safe and fast. That’s what we need now. Push us through, Lord, hold us up, and deliver my daughter and deliver our family! TMI to go into the history at this time… just pray for the F-Troop.

A Sappy Read

2007-04-27T05:16:00.001-04:00

I can’t believe Isaiah is already 2 weeks old! Would you believe that little stinker already rolled over last night?? (Front to back.) Each time we add another child to our family, HA – oops…who do I think I am?? Each time GOD adds another child to our family, time goes by faster and faster. There’s a reason I have joined the scrapbooking cult – they only stay memories if you can REMEMBER them!! I like counting my blessings but lose count when they’re moving and growing at the speed of sound. These times are so precious but time goes by so quickly; it’s bittersweet. I love watching my children grow and become the unique individuals they are but I get teary-eyed as they lose their baby fat and get beautiful/handsome figures, their chubby fingers become strong hands to help haul wood or cook on their own, and I am no longer their favorite person on the planet. Heck, right now, Isabelle and Autumn crawl up on Lenae’s lap more often than mine. But that’s our family – most 19 yo young ladies are too preoccupied with themselves, boys, etc. to have time for toddlers. I don’t need to be jealous – what a blessing!

Recently, our home church ladies were sharing via email why the season of raising babies, toddlers, and youngins could be called the "Golden Years" and how to "have" joy in the midst of it all. I’m feeling sentimental so I’ll share my 2 cents that I shared with them:

It's golden because of the trail I blaze running through the house to get things done!! HA! That being said, I have a lot to say but not enough time to say it all at once.

My daughter (15 yo), Jillian, commented that I'm lucky - I get to have the little ones while having "big ones." That is such a blessing. I'm blessed by watching them grow into young ladies and, now, I have a young man (!!!!!!!) coming up who all agree that our babies and toddlers are the cutest, funniest tots on the planet (sorry folks, but facts are facts). There's not a day that goes by that we don't laugh... a lot...together because of little ones, middle size ones, and the big ones bring quite a bit of laughter, too. Yes, it can be crazy here, but the good kind. :o)

And later I added:

Wow - everybody is anxious to get in on this one! I don't have time to read the other ones right now which brings me to one thing I (selfishly) enjoy about having babies - READING! I didn't get to do that as much with Isabelle since she wasn't able to nurse well. VERY SOON, I will have an "excuse" to sit and read as many emails as it takes to nurse Isaiah or Cherish. OR I can read the Homeschool Companion cover to cover instead of bite-size pieces in the "Oval Office." OR I can read a "grown-up" B-O-O-K in less than, hmmm, 3 months. On joy - I am NOT a joyful person by nature. BUT, I am not in my old nature. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation! I need that this week as much as anybody. It's going to be hard to be joyful today. Autumn has been having nightmares every night for awhile and has added sleepwalking to her nightly routine (please pray - under spiritual attack over here). As if I'm not tired enough with being great with child, I haven't slept well in DAYS! We were awakened very early today due to a screaming, fearful fit. SO, I'm too tired to be "happy." What's to be happy about? I want to go back to bed! BUT...do I have patience? Do I have joy? The Fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE...... MANY Christian folk tell me on a regular basis that "they just don't have the patience like I do to have a lot of kids." If I'm on the ball, I tell them they're right and I don't have patience, either, but Jesus does. I'll ask them if they received the Holy Spirit, they say yes, and I say, "Well then, He gives the patience - you don't have to have it!" That tends to leave them mumbling to themselves. Me, too, for that matter. ;o) That also makes me accountable - mostly to my children. And we ARE accountable to our children. What a burden but what a privilege. Jesus gives us joy, which is not dependent on a full night's sleep, how pretty my kitchen is or is not (struggling with contentment on this end), how well-behaved my children are at the moment, or how clean the house is (or is not). Joy comes from knowing who we are in Christ and that our training, cooking, cleaning, playing, cutting and pasting have eternal value in the eyes of our Father. Now, I need to jump into the Word real quick (yes, real quick, I'm a mommy, for crying out loud) for a booster shot, myself! One more thing, I'm going to miss it when a Hello Kitty Band-Aid and a kiss have supernatural healing powers. :o) Hugs to all!

The 8th Day

2007-04-23T13:53:00.001-04:00

Woo Hoo! Praise the Lord. He is sure taking care of us. Craig had been trying to find someone since Isaiah was born to do his circumcision. It’s very difficult to find someone when you have a homebirth and we really wanted Isaiah circumcised as close to the 8th day as possible so his vit. K would be up. We were getting discouraged with all the dead-ends we were running into and, well, here’s the email Craig sent me Wednesday at 1pm:

I am striking out on finding ANYONE to do a circumcision. Could you get a hold of T...... (the midwife who assisted mine) to ask who in this area will do one? Urologists in Richmond wait until the baby is 1 yr. old. Urologists in Eaton say June is the earliest. Dr. H (the O.B. I use to have) won't take a new patient. Rabbis are saying the mohels are imported form out of the area and won’t do gentiles.

Here’s the email Craig sent Wednesday at 1:37:

I have it taken care of. I have a mohel (pronounced moil) coming to the house tonight to perform a strictly medical procedure at 7pm. He is coming from Columbus OH. He will be in the area anyway. He says it takes about 2 min. and he does about 5 a week.

WOW! Craig said that once he stopped worrying and decided to just see how God was going to work it out, everything fell into place. Praise the Lord!

We asked the Mohel if we could share his name and number with our midwife and he said, "Please do!" He does A LOT of the Amish/Mennonite circumcisions and travels all over the place. He was just in Muncie this past week. He was also a delight. Though the procedure only took 2 minutes, he was here about an hour. He started by sharing with us the history of circumcision back to Abraham. He was a hoot and we could tell he loves babies (after he was done, he held Isaiah and Craig said he could tell he was blessing him – just no "official" prayers – we are gentiles, ya know!). He shared his background: He was being trained by his father who died suddenly of a heart attack in ’93. After trying to continue training under a conservative/reform Jew, he decided that wasn’t going to work since he is Orthodox. SO, he continued to train in ISRAEL and is certified by the board in Jerusalem. How "way cool" is that? Oh, and the kids think he has an awesome accent. Needless to say, we have been truly blessed and Craig was so jazzed Wednesday night, he couldn’t get to sleep even though he had to be at work at 2am. He’th tho thilly.

Welcome Isaiah Joseph!

2007-04-14T16:25:00.002-04:00

Sing with me!:

On the blog again! I just couldn’t wait to get on the blog again! Sharing stories with my friends – I just couldn’t wait to get on the blog again!

I use to blog regularly when I was on MySpace – don’t know why I quit. I have procrastinated on doing anything with this blog for some time but I just can’t contain myself anymore! I don’t have spare time for blogging but declaring the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord is worth setting aside time for. He has been SO GOOD!

Praise the Lord – Isaiah Joseph Fecher was born Wednesday, April 11th, at 3:48pm after my most excruciating labor, yet! Baby number E-L-E-V-EN weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce and 21 inches long – my smallest baby, thus far. He was also my first baby that was on time (due date was the 12th) – everybody else, save my first, has been overdue. I told everybody to look towards the 20th but here he is and he is gorgeous!

So, in the movie, Cheaper By the Dozen, the mom is interviewed and states that, after the sixth, they just walk out." Well, my friends, just ask any mom of many and she will tell you that is just not true. The uterus gets tired, Alzheimer’s even. It can’t always remember what it’s suppose to be doing. My womb still has it, though, because uterus and I decided a crowing head wasn’t enough after being in labor 3 days; we shoved little Isaiah’s whole body out. I just wanted to be done! I had a "unique" pain this time that wasn’t a part of labor. Isaiah was elbowing me causing a constant pain "down south" that radiated through my lower abdomen. By the time I was pushing, the pain went all the way around me causing nasty back labor. We know, now, that it was his right elbow as he keeps putting his right hand up by his ear with his elbow out, the little stinker. It’s not all his fault; his cord was under his arm which, of course, caused heart deceleration issues during contractions. My midwife had to call in back up "just in case." He also came out in his sack (I have the thickest membranes ever) so they had to rip that off real quick so he wouldn’t aspirate the fluid. Oh, and did I mention I had a pregnancy rash? First time in 11 pregnancies. Never heard of it? I hadn’t either – see itchymom.com. It’s for real and comes in so many varieties to choose from! I’m thankful mine wasn’t as bad as some ladies.

Needless to say, this pregnancy and birth has been a spiritual growth experience. I have prayed for years to get my "spiritual gift" of complaining under control. I whined for awhile when the itch first kicked in but just had to get used to it. I read Supernatural Childbirth and the idea of a pain-free childbirth experience sounded incredibly enticing! Oh, how I prayed. Learning not to question God was another growth opportunity as it became apparent that my labor was going to, indeed, be painful. I figured God, the Creator of the Universe, was still in control and I’ve been through this before. Then THE PAIN started causing difficulty in even walking. My hips are still messed up – time for the chiropractor. The pain was SO HARD to push against and my midwife and friend had me breathing through the "pushy" contractions while she waited for the other midwife to show up. I was in so much pain I would start crying which caused my DH and mom to cry which worried my 4 older daughters who were with us. But what a blessing when my buddy, Nan, stopped everybody to pray and they held hands around the bed and covered me with prayer. I was in pain but not worried. This birth was as much a miracle as a pain-free birth because Craig and I had come to a place of despair and could turn nowhere but the Lord. I could not request an epidural or a c-section for a quick rescue (although I knew we had a gun in the garage attic for hunting and thought about asking Craig to go get it) ;o) As Craig said, this was the "prayinest " we’ve been through. He prayed over me the whole time.

If we had been at the hospital, they would have pumped me full of pitosin (sp.?) and my midwife confirmed that they would have panicked and rushed me in for a c-section which would have been unnecessary. I know there ARE times when it is necessary but this wasn’t one of them and the euphoria we experienced when he was delivered just would not have been as sweet.

This is long enough for now. I’ll come back later with the hysterical things my little ones have said.

BTW, Isaiah means "God is my Salvation" or "God is my Helper". We picked these names out 2 years ago and could not remember the meanings. So, we had a good laugh when we found that Joseph means "an addition" or "God multiplies!" How fitting for #11!

Join me in welcoming my new son, Isaiah Joseph. Thank You, God!

2006-08-24T09:18:00.000-04:00

Well, I don't know how you folks find time to blog or read others' for that matter. I know there are some wonderful folks out there to meet and lots of wisdom to glean. I want to connect but... I see the Titus 2 "thang" happening - a great way to use the WWW. I'll try again....we'll see....

The Letterboxing Bug

2006-07-22T23:37:00.000-04:00

Have you caught the bug, yet? It’s catching. It’s such a fun family activity but I’m wondering it might be better if I just take one or two at a time just to have some get-to-know-you- better adventure time. I’ll let you know if I try that. It was a hot one though. As we were dragging our youngins all over Glen Miller Park, sweating and searching, the thought occurred to me that, though we were wearing out fast, we were having fun! Why is that? It was work! But we were on a mission. We were together, enjoying each others company. We stopped for serendipitous events such as a visit from ducks, one the kids named “Darth Maul Duck” due to his, um, attractive and colorful facial features. The day made me think of being in the “heat of the moment” when trials hit and the refining fire is cranked up hot. My nature is to grit my teeth and muddle through but that’s not living victoriously. There is joy in the mission – just ask Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego. When you’re going through “it”, as we have over the course of the past year and a half, looking toward THE GOAL gives us a vision, a purpose for the junk we’re going through.

Looking for those Letterboxes gave us a purpose for enduring the heat. It didn’t seem as hot though we did not take for granted the breeze or shade. If we had been there just to be there, we would have gone home. But we had a treasure to find! God provided the breeze and the trees for shade. We also went prepared with water, lunch, and sunblock. So it is with trials that come. God has told us in His Word that the trials WILL come and how to be ready. He has also told us there is great reward for those who overcome. We have directions to follow, an end result, relief from the heat at just the right time so we can keep on, and the thrill of having reached the prize.

I’m so spoiled with AC but I don’t grumble about humidity near as much as I use to.
I’ve learned to be grateful for the area I live in; one of the pay-offs for those “85 with a heat index of 105” days is we have seasons here. I enjoy having all 4 seasons. I heard someone say, though, that we have 3 seasons: fall, winter, and construction. ;o) That being said, our fun day of treasure hunting made me think of all the heat I’ve been through on my adventure with Jesus. I use to grumble and whine a lot more than I do now about those times God raised the “heat index.” I still complain, don’t get me wrong. Old habits die hard. I wish I was one of those people that never complain but I’m not. I’m trying , though! That being said, I am learning to endure the refining heat without fighting it and know that the pay-off is there are the other seasons. My favorite season is autumn which, of course, follows the hot & humid days. The crisp air, the colors, the sunsets… the beauty is there because we endured the summer for a time. There’s something about fall that’s conducive to learning, exploring, and just taking walks. It’s sort of like that relief in the air after a storm. The rain was needed but, boy, did those clouds look scary! Whew, that was tornado weather! Summer gives in to the relief of autumn and so it is with trials. If we are wise we take our time after the season of heat and take a walk to contemplate how God wants us to grow, what He wants us to change, and just give thanks.

Confession

2006-07-20T01:15:00.000-04:00

I have to make a confession: I have been hanging at MySpace. I set up this blog site some time ago but was still "hanging out" there. I tried to be "In the MySpace but not of it" to be a city on a hill and visit friends at church but there’s NO WAY to eliminate the yuck. You can have private settings but you cannot avoid explicit ads and avatars that are present and porn is transmitted through "innocent" joke bulletins (my last straw). SO, if you were thinking of going there to be an example, network, reach out, whatever, DON’T – it’s too yucky and it’s not going to get any better.

I’m here, now. I hope to meet some of you and hope, also, to gleen wisdom and share any I might possibly have. With 10 children, I’m sure I’ve learned a few things!

Howdy!

2006-07-18T16:53:00.000-04:00

I am the very blessed wife of Craig and mommy of 10 incredible children whom I love very much. Though it is assumed by many that because of the numbers in our home, I am supermom and have "it all" figured out, we are still very much flying by the seat of our pants and learning as we go. Through this site, I hope to try, with you, to figure out at least some of "it all" out as we are on our forever journey that draws us closer to Jesus each day. Like you, I still have a long way to go but am enjoying the ride, though bumpy at times. BTW, for those of you who think you DO, in fact, have it all figured out, please don’t visit here often as your pride tempts us who are growing at a slower pace to feel inadequate and inferior. Besides, people who think they know everything really annoy those of us who do. :o) JK.

RESIGNATION

2005-12-06T06:48:00.000-05:00

RESIGNATION : I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year-old again. I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star restaurant. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks. I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them. I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer's day. I want to return to a time when life was simple, when all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care. All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset. I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good. I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again. I want to live simple again. I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones. I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind,and making angels in the snow. So . . . here's my checkbook and my car keys, my credit card bills and my 401K statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood.

(Not original to me but I share the sentiment).

Pringles

2005-11-15T07:33:00.000-05:00

Judah, my four y.o. has shingles. We call them pringles.
Ya know how some people love to peel sunburn and pick scabs? Judah has become the inspiration for a new gross-out toy we'll have out next Christmas. What looks like a normal doll becomes covered with thick, nasty, stickin' out, hard scabs after you pour in the special "scab concoction" and turn on the doll to heat up and it cooks up its own platelets (batteries not included). Bookoos of platelets.
Yuck! The poor kid can't keep his hands off the scabs. I nice bath this morning helped loosen many but I'm afraid he's going to scar. We're trying to come up with some sort of "I was attacked by an alligator" story for when he's older. ;o)

WAL-MART APPLICATION

2005-11-14T06:50:00.000-05:00

(I considered ommitting portions that may be offensive, but this old fella has learned to not take himself too seriously. Maybe we could learn a lesson. Enjoy!)

This is an actual job application that a 75 year
old senior citizen submitted to Walmart in Arkansas.

They hired him because he was so funny.........you
gotta love it!!!

NAME: George Martin

SEX: Not lately, but I am looking for the right
woman (or at least one that will cooperate)

DESIRED POSITION: Company's President or Vice
President. But seriously, whatever's available. If I was in
a position to be picky, I wouldn't be applying here in the first place.

DESIRED SALARY: $185,000 a year plus stock
options and a Michael Ovitz style severance package. If that's
not possible, make an offer and we can haggle.

EDUCATION: Yes.

LAST POSITION HELD: Target for middle management hostility.

PREVIOUS SALARY: A lot less than I'm worth.

MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT: My incredible collection of stolen pens and
post-it notes.

REASON FOR LEAVING: It sucked.

HOURS AVAILABLE TO WORK: Any.

PREFERRED HOURS: 1:30-3:30 p.m. Monday,
Tuesday, and Thursday.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL SKILLS?: Yes, but
they're better suited to a more intimate environment.

MAY WE CONTACT YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER?: If I had one, would I be here?

DO YOU HAVE ANY PHYSICAL CONDITIONS THAT WOULD
PROHIBIT YOU FROM LIFTING UP TO 50 lbs.?: Of what?

DO YOU HAVE A CAR?: I think the more appropriate question here would be
"Do you have a car that runs?"

HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY SPECIAL AWARDS OR RECOGNITION?: I may already be
a winner of the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes, so they tell me.

DO YOU SMOKE?: On the job - no!
On my breaks - yes!

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DOING IN FIVE
YEARS?: Living in the Bahamas with a fabulously wealthy dumb sexy
blonde supermodel who thinks I'm the greatest
thing since sliced bread. Actually, I'd like to be doing that now.

NEAREST RELATIVE....7 miles

DO YOU CERTIFY THAT THE ABOVE IS TRUE AND COMPLETE
TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE?: Oh yes, absolutely.

***Old People Rock!

Things They Didn’t Tell Me In Lamaze Class

2005-07-27T21:14:00.000-04:00

Whenever I hear one of my friends is expecting her first child, I always have good intentions of telling them all things I wish I would have known before my 8^th month of pregnancy. I keep thinking of and learning things to add to the list so check back; you may find just the thing you would have wished you had known before you had your baby. Some items are related to pregnancy and childbirth. Some things just have to do with itty bit once he or she is here.

Red Raspberry – drinking red raspberry tea or taking red raspberry gel tabs during pregnancy tones the uterus.
Braxton Hicks – maybe they tell moms-to-be about these stinkers these days but they didn't tell me….ever. I didn't really have them until baby 3 or 4 and still hadn't heard of them. Braxton Hicks are allegedly "painless" practice contractions that, for me, start 2-3 months before my due date. Sometimes they're once in awhile; sometimes they're all day long. They usually just feel tight and I feel like I've been running laps without going anywhere! They wear me out! Closer to due date, they do start to smart a bit.
Evening Primrose Oil – get these gel tablets at a health food store. The last month of pregnancy, take two or three times a day, I believe, AND, this is weird, you can insert one up to your cervix two to three times a day and this stuff softens/ripens the cervix. Faster, easier labor, ladies. Your doctor will probably be clueless and may be downright skeptical if you approach him or her about natural stuff like this so you can ask your doc about this is you want to but I've learned that I can read, I can read blogs and websites and books, and I'm smart enough to figure out what works and what doesn't (something it seemed like in my Lamaze class they didn't think possible).
Pressure points – 3 to 4 fingers above the ankle is a pressure point that will encourage labor. Someone just needs to massage it once in awhile. I'm sure there are others pressure points. Google.
Okay, this one ticked me off. NO ONE, NO BODY bothered to tell me it hurts, hurts, hurts like crud AFTER having the first baby. I felt like I had slid into home on my crotch and I walked like Robo-cop for a week! Stock up on Tucks and Hydrocortisone Cream. Also, get one of those condiment or dessert squirt bottles. They might give you one at the hospital or they might give you a sitz bath. I found that by the time I set up the sitz bath, I was about to wet my pants! Too much trouble. Whenever you have to use the pot, fill the bottle with WARM water then while you're going, squirt yourself with the warm water to relieve the sting. They did tell me when I had my first baby that it would sting to use the restroom but they didn't mention walking, sitting, standing….The good news is after your second, it doesn't hurt near as much. I was only sore for a day and was strolling the hospital halls just hours after giving birth. Now-a-days, I hardly feel like anything had happened just shortly after giving birth.
Right after getting out of the hospital, Craig had to run out and get pads, his favorite thing to buy at the store. Yea, it's goofy looking back, now, but I was 19, and only had the births in movies to go on. In Lamaze class they said there would be "some bleeding" for a "short" time after birth. Excuse me? A month is a short time? Longer as I've had more children. Invest in Always or Stayfree.
The Crockpot – they tell you in Lamaze class that you might require an episiotomy. The fact is, hospital births have more to do with what the doctor wants than what the mommy wants. Episiotomies have more to do with convenience for the doc than safety for the mom and baby. Even if a mom tears, she heals faster and with less scarring than with a cut. What would be even better is if the skin is able to stretch. Lamaze did instruct our class about perineal message but I had to have 5 babies before I was told about the Crockpot. If you're having a hospital birth, you'll have to ask about his way ahead of time. They may say absolutely not. But, if you can talk them into it, heat some water up in a slow cooker (some midwives add herbs), toss 4 or 5 washcloths in it, and when it gets near to delivery time, your midwife, nurse, mom, DH, whomever can start applying the hot compresses to the perineal area and swap them out when they cool off. At the hospital, they may insist on a fresh washcloth for each application. If not, just drop your cooled off washcloth in the slow cooker and pull out a fresh, warm one and apply. Do this all the way up to delivery. This works miracles. A water birth is probably even better but I've never done one of those. Anyhoo, I was given an episiotomy with baby #4 (she was 9 lb., 15 oz. and wasn't coming out fast enough for them) but I haven't had so much as a paper cut delivering my little ones since then.
At the hospital
They don't let you eat…anything. No matter how long you are in labor, you must be prepped for a possible C-Section meaning no food in your stomach. I believe there is a place for c-sections but they are way too routine and planning for a c-section that most likely won't happen is borderline unethical. A mom in labor needs her strength. She eventually gets to a point that she doesn't feel like eating anyway so telling her she can't have so much as a cracker is cruel. I can understand it for high risk pregnancies for planned c-sections but give the mom a break! After my first, we started sneaking in crackers just to settle my stomach because…
…..some moms get nauseated during labor. I threw up with the first half of my deliveries…before snacking on crackers!
Vitamin K – God does know what He's doing…really folks. With baby number 7, just after bringing my beautiful baby boy into the world, some nurse was shootin' up my lad with Vitamin K without even asking us if the little guy would be getting a circumcision. Craig asked the nurse in question what she was doing, she said Vit. K for the circumcision. He informed her that we would not be doing a circ that day and she got this confused look on her face and was like, "Oh." We wait until the 8^th day. Because were Jewish? No. But we took the time to find out why, if at all, we would circumcise our boys if and when we had any. One thing we did learn was that a baby boy's Vit. K is really, really high on the 8^th day. Go figure. WHAT a coincidence. I wonder if God knew about that when He told His chosen people to circumcise their boys on the 8^th day. Hmmmmmm…….
Circumcision – I was told in birthing classes that, unless one is Jewish, the only reason people circumcise their boys is for cosmetic reasons. Really? I used to wonder what God was thinking by making circumcision mandatory for his chosen people. As with everything He does, He knows what is best:
1. The American Academy of Pediatrics used to give you the facts about the medical benefits of circumcision but in recent years changed their stance completely and now say there are NO benefits whatsoever. Really? 1. So they know better that God? 2. Doctors and people you know have story after story of problems that arose because a boy was not circumcised. Just in my circle of friends and family, I have heard no less than 2 dozen tales of problems i.e. chronic urinary tract infections, infections of the penis, etc. And 3. Follow the money. The AAP just like the FDA and others receive a lot of "donations" from interesting groups. That's a whole other blog post. Their change of heart coincides with advent of political correctness. Another coincidence, I'm sure.
2. Circumcised boys are less likely to get a urinary tract infection (UTI) compared to uncircumcised boys
3. Circumcised men are less likely to get cancer of the penis anytime during their lifetimes compared to uncircumcised men. Infant circumcision gives almost 100% protection, and young adult circumcision also gives a large degree of protection.
4. Balanitis is an unpleasant, often recurring, inflammation of the glans. It is quite common and can be prevented by circumcision.
5. Human papillomavirus (HPV) lasts longer in uncircumcised men http://doctor.ndtv.com/storypage/ndtv/id/004375/HPV__circumcision.html
6. Cancer of the cervix in women is due to the Human Papilloma Virus. It thrives under and on the foreskin from where it can be transmitted during intercourse. An article in the British Medical Journal in April 2002 suggested that at least 20% of cancer of the cervix would be avoided if all men were circumcised. Surely that alone makes it worth doing?
7. Circumcision may lower risk of genital wart virus, among other things.
8. I could go on but there are so many benefits that outweigh the risks and so much politically correct info being disseminated, you can do more homework here.
Gas drops – I think they're Simethicone anti-gas drops. I find them at Wal-mart or Meijer. Get 4 bottles: 1 for the diaper bag, 1 for the nursing basket (I'll get to that in a minute), 1 for your nightstand (assuming you keep itty-bit in your room the first 3-6 months like we do), and 1 for the medicine cabinet as back-up for when you realize you've run out of gas drops. THESE WORK! They're safe for baby and relieve gas pain almost instantly – keep a burpee nearby incase of spit-up.
Lansinoh – get Lansinoh if you're nursing. Trust me.
Nursing hurts – every time with every baby for the first couple of weeks. It takes getting used to but it's worth it. I've heard some moms say it only last a couple of days, others two to three weeks. Any longer than this, baby isn't latching on right or something.

That's all I can think of for now. I hope this helps somebody!