Getting a Leg Up...

Well, maybe not a leg up, so to speak, but maybe getting a leg fixed. So many of you have been wonderful to call and check on Noah and his Dr. visit.... Well, here's the scoop.

We don't know anything yet.

Ha! It's true! And trust me, it's as frustrating for me to write as it is for you to read! We made our appointment on Wednesday for the initial visit (Hi, my name is Dr. Soandso... what are we going to do for Mr. Noah today?) and of course, he had to go for an MRI before the Dr. even knew what was going on. And since I had the opportunity to be in Jackson for 3 days, I made us available for appts. for those days. Well, the Lord always knows what he's doing, ya know? There was a problem with their MRI service that they couldn't get us in for an MRI until Friday afternoon - too late to have a follow-up visit with the Dr. I mentioned to the nurse that my brother in law is a radiologist and I could get an MRI at his MobileMRI probably that next day. The Dr. was perfectly OK with that and (God love my brother in law, Joe) we were in the clinic having an MRI that very afternoon. (I mean, no need to wait until Thursday, right?) My BIL was able to read the MRI as I stood in his office and he explained the whole thing to me, pointing out what he saw and letting me know what he made of the whole thing. Let me just tell you, I AM SO THANKFUL FOR THIS ONE THING!!! God knows me. Bless His Holy Name! He knows that I am in need of information whether I fully understand it or not. I am so thankful that my BIL was able to do this. Not only do I trust him completely, he took the time to thoroughly examine the film, explain it to me, and talk with me about it for nearly an hour. That was such a blessing to me. I am thankful the Lord loves me, warts and all. And that He loves me even when I don't have the faith of a little child. I fret so much when I don't know what's going on. I need information even tho I may not be able to do a thing with it. And bless the Lord, He worked it all out so that I would be comforted with having my nephew conduct the MRI (oh, did I mention that little tidbit? Isn't God good!!), my BIL reading and explaining the film to me, and with no waiting!! As my friend Cindy likes to say, "God's showin' out today!"

Okay, back to the knee...

So, Noah has a crooked leg. We knew that. But what we didn't know is that his leg is at a 20 degree angle and that angle is exhaserbating a torn miniscus. The miniscus tear probably happened at the original injury, but since Noah has had a growth spurt that made the leg more crooked, the bones are squeezing the cartiledge and tearing it more. (I think that's right) We also know that Noah will have to have surgery. He will require a sports medicine MD to repair the miniscus injury and the orthopedic MD to work on straightening the leg. And we do know that both these things will be done in the same surgery. What we don't know is what exactly the proceedure is for straightening the leg nor when it will be done. The doctor didn't want to answer any questions until he consulted with some other physicians and figured out the best course of action. Please be in prayer for Dr. McCluskey as he makes these plans. Pray that God will guide him in all things concerning this surgery. I do know that this Dr. is a believer (praise the Lamb), that he is a homeschool dad (that elevated his status immediately, didn't it??? LOL!), and that he has been forthright with us up to this point. I value that greatly. I appreciate his directness.

So now we wait. We'll wait until Dr. M calls us to talk about surgery options and we'll go from there. Please also be in prayer for us as we make decisions that will affect Noah for the rest of his life. I know the Lord has a plan for Noah in all this. I have known it since the beginning. I do believe with all my heart that the Lord will use this to grow Noah, to strengthen his character, and to draw him closer to Himself. I have such an assurance of that. I guess my prayer is just that I don't get in God's way. That I am seeking His will diligently and straining my ears to hear His voice and guidance in every decision.

Thank you all for your prayers, love, support, and concern. I promise to keep you updated.
I love you all,
Lori

In His Hands...

As many of you know, my DH began a new job yesterday.

And, to my dismay, I cried all day long.

I couldn't even tell you, precisely, what I was crying about. I just knew that every time I thought of him with that gun and badge back on my heart squeezed... and I cried. And every time a friend asked me, "Well, how are you today?" I couldn't answer for all the tears. I mean, how much more ridiculous could I have been yesterday? I was weeping as if he had died... But he was still alive and I was no good to him or for him because I was in such a GRIP of fear! What can you do when you feel like you are flying apart? No matter how much my dear, precious friends tried to comfort me, they just couldn't reach that part of me that held no logic and couldn't be reasoned with. That little child that was huddled in the corner, sobbing, with her face hidden and her thumb in her mouth, having sure knowledge that something wicked and awful was coming for her. I couldn't talk to her. I tried. I couldn't reason with her. I tried that. I even threatened her and berated her for her foolishness. I couldn't even take the "Mommy Tone" with her and bring about her submission thru authority. Again, I tried.

So I prayed.

And tho my authority was not enough to coax the weeping child from the corner, the authority of my King, Jesus My Redeemer was more than enough. And she ran, weeping and clinging to the Savior. And He just held her. He held her as she wept, comforted her with assurances that have no words, and reminded her of His promises as he read to her from His Word. And through the day as she would be fearful again, He would take hold of her and comfort her once more, giving her more promises from His Word. He gently and faithfully reminded her of His faithfulness and His love that has no end... And all day long He loved her in tangible ways that only she could see. Which made it all the more precious because she knew that it was only for her. And that the Savior of the World, the King of the Universe, the Lord of Glory spent His time to comfort her in her foolishness and insecurities... She had no words.

Now today as the little girl and I are one once again, I marvel at the fountain of GRACE that my Savior poured out on me. I am more than thankful... No, there are no words. I am more than moved... it can't be measured by space or distance. I am astounded. I am in awe.

I am His.

And He is mine.

And none can separate me from the love of my Savior for He said it was so.

"nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:39

And yesterday as I felt imprisoned and chained by the GRIP of fear, today I can see that it's not fear whose GRIP I'm in. I'm in HIS GRIP... In the nail scarred hands of Jesus my Lord who DIED for me! I know He will never let me go...

"...no one will snatch them out of my hand." John 10:28b

He will never leave me nor forsake me. He shall be My Defender (thank you E for being the word of the Lord and sharing that with me...).

And best of all, "Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken." (Prov. 3:25&26) He is My Confidence!! I am nothing of myself! There is nothing that can happen to me, my DH, our marriage, our family that He does not allow! It's ALL in His Hands. And nothing that is in His hands shall ever be snatched from it.

Stealing a line from my dear friend who signs her letters this way:

In His Grip...

L

Introducing the newest member of our family....

ELLIOT!!
Elliot is our new foster child. He was found under someone's CAR, in their garage. We think he's around 2 1/2 weeks old. He weighs a whole 4lbs and 4 oz.

We got a call that a friend of a friend had a fawn that needed someone to care for it. Well, of course, the nuts at the Corbin Farm and Petting Zoo were the first people our friend thought of! Imagine that....

And, as you would expect, my children are all but beside themselves about having Elliot with us. Everybody wanted to hold him. Everybody wanted to know when they could give him a bottle. Who was going to get to fix his bed... And, "Mama, can he sleep in MY room tonight??" They've been going around telling each other "Shhhh! You're being too loud for Elliot!" They're being very sensitive about frightening him with loud noises and too much boisterous activity. They were having some of the Chunn kiddos over tonight and I heard them giving them the low down on how to behave with the "baby" in the house! What a hoot!

They are having a hard time with the concept that he's only fostering with us until he can care for himself. They don't understand why we can't just keep him.

Hmmm... let's think about this, shall we? 120lb buck, sharp hooves, deadly rack of horns, and RUT... NOOOT!

But we're gonna enjoy him while we have him. He's already checking things out, being nosy, following us around and trying to figure out why his feet won't stay together on the tile!

You know, it's times like these, that seem to happen so often with us, that make me thankful all over again that we homeschool our children. It's just one more thing that my kids will have the joy of experiencing. One more thing to enrich their lives. One more thing that they probably would not have had the chance to experience outside of a homeschool environment. It really makes me wonder what the Lord has in store for me and my children. What is He going to teach us thru the raising of this little deer?
Sunday we read in the Psalms 42 "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." Do my children understand that the hart is a deer? That as a deer in the wild travels far and seeks diligently for the refreshment of the cool creek or stream in the woods, our heart should be seeking God's will, His "water" of refreshment? Will I be able to share with them the importance of the deer finding the good water? How it will die if it doesn't have the water? And how when it has gone too long without water it pants for that water? Will I be able to show and explain to them how like that deer we are? That we will die inside without our Savior? That when we spend too long away from Him we become parched, withered, and wilted in our soul? Will I be able to help them understand that when we don't spend time with our Savior EVERY day our soul pants for His presence?

Or is this all for me? To remind me that I need Him EVERY day, EVERY hour, and in EVERY situation? Whether it's for my kids, for me, or both I thank Him for the lessons I know we are going to learn.

Praising His Name,
L

"I need thee, o I need thee... Every hour I need thee. O bless me now, My Savior, I come to thee." -from the song I Need Thee Every Hour

The Mighty Hunters...

Remember I told you about the Labor Day dove hunt? The one where I killed the flying diet coke bottle? Well, here are my photos of the "mighty hunters". (just now getting them off my camera!)They're too cute!

Noah, Jonah, & Jesse are rip-roarin' and ready to go!

Now, where are those birds?!

"Hey Mom! You can't shoot birds

with a camera!"

"Sure I can! If I shoot them with THIS, then I KNOW I'll be getting them!" (so there smarty!)

And we're lookin'

for birds.....

And we're

STILL lookin' for birds...

And we're about

10 seconds from being ready

to shoot at the gnats

and mosquitos...

"Mama, are we ready to go yet?"

"Yeah, Mama... I want to go to the Hamilton's and play for a little bit..."

"There are, like, NO birds flying..."

Daddy, are you ready to go?

"Yeah, I reckon..."

THE END

Run, boys! Run!

I am so proud of what my boys accomplished today at the Sherman 5K.

Jonah is finding real success in running. He improved his time by nearly 5 minutes and he is so proud of himself. I'm sure most of you know that Jonah is dyslexic. And I have found, with him, that it really takes having some success in one area to encourage him to do better in another. He is really proud of himself and of what he's achieving thru hard work and pressing on. I'm very proud of him too! I see that he could really take this sport and do something with it if he continues to do as well as he has in the last 4 months.

As for Noah, I'm more proud than I can say. Noah, bless his heart, is inherently lazy - just like his Mama. I'm the poster child for the law of physics that states "An object at rest wants to remain at rest." I would be a REAL bum if I didn't push myself. And Noah, unfortunately, has that in him as well. But I watched him today in that race. I was behind him, OF COURSE, and I was (thru my own pain!) able to watch his determination to press on. I would watch him run for a while and then walk. It was easy to see he was hurting. But in just a minute, he'd pick up and start running again. In my mind I was thinking, "Way to go buddy! Push thru!" And seeing that crooked leg just makes me want to cry every time. But watching him hop on that thing but keep on running did something to me that I can't explain.

You know, there are so many people in this world that rarely succeed in life. Most of those people have in common the inablilty to control their own bodies. I speak from personal experience when I say that conquering your own body is one of the HARDEST things to do! For ANYone. Take getting up early if you're not a morning person. Or going to bed at a decent hour when you're a night owl and would rather stay up. What about putting that fork down and pushing the plate away when you know you don't need any more? (I'm preaching to myself, there!) Or exercising when you HATE to exercise? And even shutting our mouths when we REEEALLLLLY want to rip somebody to shreds... but that's a different conversation all together! Conquering our own bodies leads to a certain amount of intestinal fortitude in dealing with other areas. In a determination to "accomplish" that maybe wasn't there before. I guess that's why I'm so excited to see Noah pushing himself to run - to improve his time- to beat a crooked leg in order to succeed. I know, if he continues to run, this is going to be something that will shape his character for years to come.

Who would have ever thought that the person who said "Running just to be running is dumb!" (me!) would become such a proponent of the sport in such record time. And to see this kind of strength being born in my children - and in myself - well that just leads me to say:

RUN, BOYS! RUN!

"Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." 1 Corinthians 9:24

What a Messy Week...

Am I the only one that's had a totally messed up week? I seems like absolutely NOTHING has gotten done as it should. The "day off" on Monday wasn't worth the rest of the mess we've had this week!

Well, I don't know... I shouldn't say that.

Monday was a good day for being with the family. Monday morning Tommy took the kids dove hunting with some friends. They brought home 2 birds. Not much to celebrate over, but it was hunting, nonetheless. But in the afternoon, it was time for all of us to go. We spent nearly 4 hours in the dove field and brought home 5 birds... that our friends shot!! We were awful! My aim is about as good as my first try at challa bread!! LOL! My only claim to fame is that I shot that flying Diet Coke bottle that passed over! LOL! And boy, do I have the bruises to show for it! My poor shoulder... But the children loved it. We were all together, doing something we liked, and with the addition of good friends, well... I guess the day might be worth a messy week after all.

So I can say, "Thank you Lord for messy weeks!"

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;" Ephesians 5:20

Grateful in Grace,
Lori

Shabbat Shalom...

We had the best Sabbath celebration Friday night. After 3 weeks of trying to celebrate the Sabbath, it finally came together. I had tried soooo hard to make good challa bread for the Sabbath feast.... It was........ well, you saw my earlier posts. I couldn't even feed the stuff to my chickens for fear of choking them to death! But, turns out, I had a bad recipe. Realizing this, I turned to my handy-dandy search engine (aka, Google) and found a recipe that turned out to be so yummy, my kids are begging me for more. Jonah and Rebekah helped roll out the strips of dough for the parts of the braid, and Rebekah braided a whole loaf herself. She was so proud of it. (Hers is the one without the poppy seeds) I wish I'd thought to take a photo of them working the dough.... Anyway, at dinner, the family simply devoured that bread. (It doesn't hurt that I have a bread-lovin' family, but the bread really was good. We may make some more this week!)
So after the bread was in the oven, the children set out to make the table beautiful. It was so sweet. They used a table cloth, set out the first candlesticks they could find (a bit large, but we left them!), the red dinner plates (which Jonah and Rebekah decided stood for the blood of Jesus atoning for our sins! I was very proud of them for making that connection, but didn't want to actually think of that as we ate...), and Noah pulled down the stemware. Jonah even thought to wrap our silverware in napkins to finsh off the table. They were so proud of their work.


The ceremony itself was wonderful. I used two different books to learn the parts of the ceremony and I typed out what we would do. Here's what I came up with...


My Part
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘The Lord’s appointed times are these.” Following this text of Leviticus 23, God’s first appointment with us is for Sabbath. It’s number one on His list of holy days, both in its listing and frequency.

Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word Shabbat, which means “rest”. It was born in the very beginning: “thus the heavens and the earth were finished… and He rested… God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it He had rested from all his work which God created and made.” (Gen. 2:1-3)

Shabbat is for restoration. There is always more to do. Yet, without proper rest and refreshment, human strength and creativity fail.

Preparation Prayer

Blessed art thou, O Lord Our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by thy commandments and commanded us to be a light unto the nations and has given us Yeshua, Jesus, the light of the world.

The Candles (Light & Say)

Creation:
This candle represents creation. Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth light out of darkness.

Redemption:
This candle represents redemption. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” Our Lord said, “You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”



Prayer (cover your eyes and pray this prayer - Shabbat officially begins when the woman opens her eyes to view the candles that have been lit)
As we light these candles and set them to give light to all who are in this house, light our lives with the great love of Your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray… Amen.

Tommy's Part
Kiddush (blessing over the cup)
Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

Blessings over the challa (bread)
Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

Blessings over the Children
Boys:
May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. May He make you, Noah, _______________________. (Tommy filled in here, ad lib. I forget exactly what words he used for Noah, but I think it was Honest, Trustworthy, and Hardworking.)

May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh. May He make you, Jonah, _______________________. (Same here but he used Trustworthy, Hardworking, and Obedient for Jonah. I thought that was neat that he used obedient for Jonah since the Biblical Jonah had a problem with obedience as well. Hmmm.... maybe we should have considered that before naming him "Jonah"!!)

Rebekah:
May you be like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah. May God make you, Rebekah, _______________________. (For Rebekah he added Pure, Tenderhearted, and Noble. I teared up a little! That really blessed me to hear him blessing our children. Even though that is not a normal practice for our family, it shows me part of his heart and what he wishes for and prays for regarding our children.)

Blessing for Your Wife (Okay, here's the funny part... When I gave him these cards to read over so he'd be prepared for his part, he read this and asked "Did you come up with this?" Of course I had to laugh and say "Nooo! It's straight from the Bible and that book, thank you!" And when it came time for this part he asked me "Do I have to put my hands on your head?" I, of course, declined. So with a few chuckles, he read the blessing for the wife...)

(Proverbs 31:10, 27-30)
An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels.
She looks well to the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and bless her;
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:
“Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all.”
A woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

All in all, this was a wonderful evening for our family. My kids are all asking for it again. And they've been going around saying "Shabbat Shalom!" to each other and giggling as they all try to pronounce "challa" with the proper gutteral "ch" at the beginning. I'm glad nobody has been a fly on our wall. They'd have thought we'd all been trying to get something really nasty cleared out of our throats!! LOL! I'm so thankful that I have had a chance to teach these things to my children! What a wonderful experience for them AND for Tommy & me.

Thank you, Dearest Lord Jesus, for an opportunity to teach my children about You. About the feasts that You would have participated in for 33 1/2 years. Thank you for allowing us to be able to homeschool our kids so that my heart is turned to teaching them the "ordinances and laws, and... showing them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do." (Ex. 18:20) I know if they were in public or even private school my heart would have never been turned toward them in such a way. Thank you for your providence, your plan, and Your Presence... I love you my King.

Living by Grace,
Lori

Flowers & "Fotos"

Today I was downloading my camera onto my computer and I got a little surprise. Rebekah had asked me if she could take some pictures of my flowers with my camera. Of course, I told her to be really careful with my camera and she could take some pictures. I asked her did she get any good pictures and her answer was the non-committal "mmm hmmm..." I thought no more about it. I was busy with supper and all, you know. But I never thought she would have taken a picture like this. Actually there were two. The first with no zoom and the second close up.

I was astonished at how beautiful these photos are. I think I'm going to enter these in the 4-H contest. They look like something out of a magazine. I may even blow this up and have it framed for her room.

Okay, I know I'm the Mom here and I'm supposed to think my kid is great and that her accomplishments are the greatest that ever were. But unless I'm sadly mistaken, this is the bomb. I may not know much, but I know a good picture when I see one.

Hmmm.... Maybe I should give her the camera more often.

Dreaming of a wealthy child that can care for me in my old age....

Lori

Menu Monday!

I have looked at a couple of blogs I keep up with and Menu Monday seems like a recurring theme!! So here's my rendition of Menu Monday!

Sunday evening is always the best time for me to plan my menu for the following week. I plan meals for the first half of the week based on what I have on hand. I try to grocery shop on Wednesday mornings while Jonah is at therapy so I plan the remainder of my meals around what I have plus what I plan to buy. That seems to work well for me. Preparing that way helps me to plan meals from my freezer and pantry, using what's on hand as much as possible. And if I have most everything I need for the week, well yay me! My grocery list is short on Wednesday. That helps me save money. I know others that grocery shop first and fix what they find on sale. I wish that worked for me. It sounds like a great way to save money but I seem like I'm always wishy-washy when I do that. And invariably I'll not purchase some key ingredient to being able to use that sale item for a meal that week.

I used to want someone to just tell me exactly how to do things. Menu plan, house clean, get organized, make a schedule, etc. But as I'm growing older (and, God willing, wiser) I'm seeing that there is just not a cookie cutter that fits every household. You have to find what works for you and be like Nike - just do it. It takes some work to find out what works best for you. But once you do you can run like gangbusters with it.

Anyway, my menu has been updated in the side bar under the photos of my babies. Hope it's a help or inspiration to someone. Maybe someone can look at it and say, "If SHE can do it, I know I can!" LOL!

Many Blessings,
Lori

Two Days of Chicken Killing

Well, this is actually not what it sounds like. I haven't been in the chicken yard wringing necks, but if I'd thrown the challa bread I made at any of my chickens, it would have killed them for sure. And the first batch was such a consistency that I couldn't feed it to the chickens for fear of choking them! Yes, it was hard enough to choke a chicken. It's OK... go on and laugh. It really is funny. But I refuse to be defeated!! I'm coming home from church today and trying another recipe and I WILL make some good challa bread before next week's observance of Shabbat. Yes, I know we were going to celebrate that this past Friday/Saturday, but as my sweet friend Rina said, "Your Shabbat went to pot!" And it REALLY did. Plus, tomatos wait for no Shabbat, and the canning had to be done when the harvest was ready. So I canned all day yesterday. Spaghetti sauce and wonderful vegetable soup. Mmmmm.... I can just imagine that warm soup on a cold, rainy, winter day.... So, that, at least, was successful.

I'll get this challa bread right yet. I'll keep u updated on my progress. And when I get a pretty loaf I take a photo. I may take a photo of this second batch just for comparison. It doesn't look too bad, but I don't know that you could love me enough to get that down! LOL! Not with a straight face anyway!

Have a Blessed Lord's Day all my friends!
Love in Him,
Lori

A Three Year Old Request

Thursday was Noah's 13th birthday. I'll just stop right there. That's enough for a squall session. As a matter of fact, I cried quite a bit on Thursday. But that's another post... So the big birthday was Thursday and we asked Noah what he wanted. Well for 3 years he has asked us for one thing.

A lathe.

So we decided to get him one and you'd have thought we had given him gold. He has spent every available second on that thing. He's taken tree limbs and made spindles. He's taken chunks of kindling and made candle holders. He's taken several different woods and experimented to see which ones make the prettiest dowels. It's a hoot.

But I'm also proud for him because he is looking to the future, planning on making things to sell. He and my mother came up with a plan tonight. He's going to make old fashioned cedar rolling pins. He wants to sell them in the antique store. My sister has a booth there, so maybe he can work out a deal with her to sell some from there.

Tonight we went to my parents house for Rebekah's sewing lesson. The boys went to help Daddy pick up hay and then it was off to the woods in search of good wood for rolling pins. Of course, we ended up with several things that could be "really neat pencil holders!" (LOL! I love the enthusiasm of youth!) But they brought home some wood that is sure to become a lovely something... And they have a stack of more wood to get home from my parents house.

It was tough having Noah turn 13. It's nuts, I know, but fear and anxiety is most often not rational. It's hard for me knowing that I still have so much to teach him - so much that I know he doesn't know yet. So much he needs to learn before he can be the head of his own household. And the sand is running out of the hourglass! Time is growing short for me to teach him these things!! But I am much comforted today writing this post. Seeing these photos of him working so intently and thinking on his excitement over something to work with reminds me that it's not all up to me to teach him everything he needs to know. And my sweet friends at church reminded me Sunday that all I need to teach him is to love the Lord and seek His face. If I can teach Noah that, my God is able to redeem the time - in an instant! - and He can fill in the gaps. Am I going to teach him to read? Yes. Am I going to teach him to write? Yes. Am I going to teach him math? No. (I'm going to send him to Amy Blassingame's house!!! LOLOLOLOL!) But I know that if I trust the Lord with my child's heart, show him the way to the Father, thru the Son, guided by the Holy Spirit, then there is a promise in Phil 4:19 that is for him: "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Praise Him! Praise Him! I am not able to take care of my child's every need, but my God is.

I'll agree with Paul...

"Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. A-men."

(Phil. 4:20)

Blessed evening, restful night.

Lori

Ooops! I forgot to post my menu!

I said I would. I knew I should. I thought I could... but I never did. Sorry! Is it too bad to post the weekly menu when half the week is gone? Maybe not! I'd like to add this as some type of side bar, but I haven't figured that out yet! So here it is, menu time.

And by the way, tonight's smoked turkey was divine! I remembered that I had some squash dressing in the freezer and I got that out to have with dinner... Mmmm! Tommy asked me to pack a plate for his lunch tomorrow. I don't usually get any kind of accolades for my meals, but that's pretty darned close!

Ta, ta!

Oh wait! I figured out how to add it to my side bar! Yay!! So now it's posted after the pics of my hoodlums - I mean, my sweet children!

My Little Seamstress!

Rebekah has been taking sewing lessons from my mother this year.

She's only had 3 lessons, but Mom says she's progressing so fast that she's going to run out of things to teach her soon!

Oh, Rebekah's sooo proud of herself! She's already made potholders, learned how to cut out a pattern, and she'll be starting on making her first apron this week. Mom said that this was how she learned when she first started so that's how she's teaching Rebekah.

Anyway, I had bought some material a long time ago to make Rebekah some cute little cool sundresses for this summer. Well, u see I got that done. But I'm proud I didn't because my little girl has taken those pieces of material and has made her own dress! Of course this material comes already smocked at the top, but still she had to cut off the bottom, make straps, sew the side seam, and add the straps to finish the dress. As far as I'm concerned, that's not too shabby for her 3rd lesson! (Can u tell I'm proud of her?) And she did all of that by her-self! My mother only finished the hem at the bottom for her. She was able to wear her dress to our CHENM night of encouragement Friday night and to church Sunday. She's probably shown that dress to 75 people! Now she's planning on taking some of the other dress fabric and making matching skirts for her and I. I'm proud of her for being iterested in something that's going to be so beneficial to her for her whole life. What a blessing watching your daughter already beginning to emulate the Proverbs 31 woman. "She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple." (Proverbs 31:21-22) I pray the Lord that this will only be the beginning of that virtuous journey for her.

"Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all."

Funny Buddies...

A couple of weeks ago Jonah's friend, Austin, came over. As usual, they had a great time, after we got home! It was one of those days where I had 13 places to go - u know pop in and out. Those days wear you out. And the kids had to go with me. They were troopers. Very good - very little complaining... So when I made my last stop at the little grocery in Sherman, there was a quarter prize machine right at the check-out. (Whoever puts those things there should be tarred and feathered) And in the machine was these peel and stick mustaches. Well of course, I just had to get the kids one for being so good for me that day. They were so funny! I had forgotten that I had taken this photo until I started downloading my camera tonight. What a pair! International spies got nothing on these two! Ha! Well what was really funny was the "grandpa grey" mustache that Rebekah had on, but she gracefully declined to be in the photo!

O, to be a kid again! Where the only troubles I see are the agonizing decisions over which kind of ice cream I'd rather have... But wait. Maybe being grown up is better. Then I can just choose to have one bite of each kind! HA!

If all the problems of life were that easy to solve!

Hahahahahahaha.... Wipe Out!

Come on... I know you're hearing the song in your head right now. But that's not the kind of wipe out I mean. I mean the WIPED OUT that I have been today. I have felt like I've been walking through chest deep water all day long. And it just occurred to me this evening that I have been going wide open every day for over a week. I have rushed from one thing to another trying to knock out that never ending "to do" list and I am worn out. So, Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'm taking a break tomorrow. I'm actually going to sleep in. (gasp!!!) Yes, I will be sleeping IN tomorrow morning. I won't be getting up until 6:30!! Woo hoo, I feel just decadent!! Of course, 6:30 is also when my kids get up so I will probably be wishing all day long that I would have just gotten up at my normal time so I would have 5 minutes of quiet during my day. I may just need to go down to Anita's and borrow her tub! Oh, I mean, her "research library". Oh... my kingdom for a tub...



I digress.



So we'll do our normal school routine, I'm just not going running in the morning. We'll see if that makes much of a difference. I think we're supposed to be taking it easy tomorrow anyway - from a training perspective. I know one thing, though. For somebody who has such a great schedule going, I have done a LOUSY job of lesson planning. My kids have done almost EVERYTHING I had planned to this point and I haven't had enough time to sit down and gather up anything else. Add that to the fact that I had to wait so long to order curriculum that a lot of it isn't in yet and, well... I may just be bad and take the ENTIRE day off tomorrow. And it's only the first week of school.



Naaa...



We'll come up with something to do. There was something about painting a sailing scene with watercolors that I didn't do with them today. I'll send them outside with paint shirts, paints, and a huge peice of butcher paper and see what my little Picassos come up with. That ought to keep 'em busy for at least an hour. Then we may have a "cushion day" and read, read, read! That ought to be slothful enough! Hope all you racers out there are planning to rest up tomorrow. Don't know that it will actually help one that's hindered with corpulence and torpidity like me. Nonetheless, I will strive... (we've been playing with the thesaurus today)



I've been reading several things lately, but one thing I've read is about blessings. I have read that long ago it was common for blessings to be pronounced upon people for which you cared and wished good things to. And I would like to bless you. I know that there are a few of you ladies that keep up with me and read my ramblings with grins of indulgence on your faces. And I do love you my dear friends. So this is my blessing for you.



As you turn your heart to our Lord in the morning, may your day be filled with peace. May the grace and mercy of our Heavenly Father surround you and comfort you. May He wrap His arms of love around you tomorrow. And even though there will be moments of chaos, in the midst of it may you hear His Voice and be at peace. The blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you and all in your household, my friends.



In His Love,
Lori

Oxygen, PLEASE!

Oh, my, oh, my, oh, my.... One of the Johnson girls has a shirt that says, "Running's a mental sport... and we're all insane!" To that I say.... YEP!! I ran the Bodock 5K route this morning with my sister - well, in truth, I ran the "downs" and walked the "ups" of the 15 ups and downs along the route! The first half of the course wasn't so bad and I was feeling pretty good about myself... Until we turned around. The gradual incline starts just about at Becky Brock's old house and goes all the way to the hospital. Let me just say this: Anybody that can actually RUN that monster is a better woman, man, athlete, EVERYTHING than I am! That hill is not for the faint of heart. I asked Lynn today at cross country how long she thought that incline was and she answered "A MILE!" Well, I know it's not that long, but it sure feels that way! My sister told me that her daughter always said she knew she had it made once she got to the hospital. Well, I was looking for that hospital and by the time I got there I was thinking "maybe I have just enough steam to make it into the ER!!!" And then there's the funeral home. If you pass up the ER, you can always land at the door of the funeral home. They'll take REAL good care of you! My sister swore that was where she was headed after today! I was INCLINED to agree with her! (get it? the killer incline on the way back? Yeah, I know, that was bad. But give me a break - I'm tired!) But, anyway, I suppose you can see that I didn't die as I'm blogging the experience. So tomorrow I do it again with my boys. Yes, I know. I'm brain dead. Like the shirt says, "we're all insane".

Groan... where's my Tylenol?
L

That's Greek to me...

Who knew that Greek with my kids would be fun??? We started our first "official" day of school today and one of our new subjects is Greek. We're using "Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!" and it's fun! The kids liked learning the phrase "The Lord is my helper" and being able to actually speak a Greek phrase after one 30 minute lesson. And they like the ABC song (or, well, the alpha, beta, gamma song.. it's cute). I googled "Greek alphabet cards" and found a banner of the Greek alphabet that I printed to hang up in our school room. We're learning 5 per day until we can get the whole thing and sing the whole song. Then we'll be making some progress. I'm really looking forward to this.

U know, it actually makes me feel a bit more erudite to be learning a foreign language. See, I can even use some of those $2 words from time to time!

Well, keeping with the schedule... it's lunch time now. Gotta run!

Oh, hey!! I did run this morning. I met my sister at 6 this morning and ran. Tomorrow we're doing the Bodock 5K route. I feel like singing the Dora "We Did It!" song! Woo, hoo... we did it!!

Seeking His will,
Lori

Comments, please?

All you sweet friends that comment on my blog, I don't know how to comment BACK! Please don't think I'm ignoring you! I'm not ignorING, I'm ignorANT! How's that for today's spelling lesson!

L

Life's Little Lessons

What's UP with the socks???

Okay, I know we all have to deal with the sock issue. There are feet and feet need socks. But what's up with socks under the bed, socks IN the bed, socks under the couch, socks in the corner, SOCKS IN THE PANTRY IN MY KITCHEN!!!!!! (Yeah, somebody's goin' down for that one, trust me...) I mean the sock thing should not be such an issue. I have finally trained my DH to pull his socks together when he takes them off. That's GREAT! But my children, however, seem to be bringing new meaning to the term "resistance training". Ok, ok... let me go back so you can understand where I'm going with this thing...

See, I have this sock monster that lives in my washer and dryer. One day he's in the washer, the next in the dryer. Who knows where he's going to pop up next! So I got smart one day and decided that I was going to put a stop to the tyrannical rule of the sock monster. I started pinning my socks together before washing. It's GREAT! (You have to use the good safety pins that you get from the sewing dept. or from a fabric store. But once you have your pins, they will last you for years! I've been using mine for nearly 4 years now.) Pin them together, throw them in the wash, dry, unpin to pull together and you're done! No more searching the clothes basket for hours searching for that "other sock". It's right there, attached to its mate. (See, I'm smarter than I look...) But here's the catch: first you have to have BOTH socks to be able to pin them together. I have been just automatically pinning mine together before hitting the hamper with them. DH pulls his together for me so I don't have to search for them. But my kids... Arrrrrgggggghhhhh!!

Now flash forward to today. Here I am, having a hamper full (and on the floor and behind the hamper, etc.) of these socks to go thru and try to pin together - if I find the match- or just wash them and try to match them later. But if I match them AFTER they're washed, I have to fight the sock monster. See, he doesn't get the ones that are pinned together. (I guess he only likes one at a time...) So I decided to make the KIDS go thru those socks! Heh, heh, heh, heh.... (that's my evil laugh) It took an HOUR to go thru all those socks, match them, pin them, and get them ready for washing. That was one of the best hours I've had in ages. I could hear the kids fussing with one another... "You need to learn to put your socks together NOAH! Your socks STINK!" "Well, if you'd quit hiding all your socks under the couch, we wouldn't have 75 pairs to be going thru, JONAH!" "Both of your feet stink and I only have one pair of socks in this whole pile and I'm having to do this too so HUSH!" (that one was Rebekah) I was just SMILING as I folded the other clothes. Laughing a bit to myself, thinking 'Thank you Lord for life's little lessons... and humor.'

Hee, hee, hee... (that's my silly little "I did something funny and mean" laugh... he, he, he!!)

L

Anybody Remember Hee Haw?

Surely you can remember the old song, "Gloom, despair, and agony on me... OH!! Deep dark depression, excessive misery.... OH! If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.... OH!! Gloom, despair, and agony on me!" Yes, the words to the song are depressingly pitiful, it's true, but the whole thing was IMMENSELY funny as the different characters told outlandish tales to out-do the other one's bad luck.

So I'll let you know in the morning who wins the "Pitiful" contest... Tommy ran with us this afternoon. I was a SAD sight trying to run (it was some HOT out there!) and my husband (who hasn't run in 15 years) decided he was going to lay into running most of that mile without stopping and left me in the dust. So since my shoes have been killing my feet, I've been hobbling around the house all evening looking like I have had some form of torture done to them and my DH has been reminding me of Hee Haw every time he gets up... OH! Sad, gloomy, and depressingly pitiful... But immensely funny!! Hee, hee, he haw, haw, haw! Hee Haw!

Good night Lulu, Grandpaw, Minnie Pearl, and BR549!
L

Scheduling Woes!!

Ohhhh!!! I'm so flustered! The kids and I worked so hard on our schedule and we have hit a snag already! I'm beginning to think that the devil doesn't want me to have a schedule and he sure doesn't want me to have one that WORKS!! We had things going great until I found out that Cross Country practice was in the afternoons now instead of the mornings. Sigh...

Here's what we started with:

Monday (our ONLY day at home)
6:30 - rise and shine! (Morning routine)
7:30 - reclaim our home from the weekend
10:00 - Begin our school day...
10 - Bible
10:30 - Greek
11:00 - 3r's
12:30 - Lunch
1:00 - read alouds
1:30 - KONOS
3:00 - Individual Reading Work
4:00 - School's OUT!
4:00 - Life Application Science (in other words, Noah will be woodworking, Jonah will be gardening, and Rebekah will be sewing... We're all learning different things this year to benefit them for LIFE! I'm as excited about this as I am ANYTHING!)

5:30 - Evening Chores

8:00 - Reading and Bedtime Routine

9:30 - Lights Out

Now the rest of our week looks much the same... Factor in cross country on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4pm, therapy for Jonah on Wednesday and Friday at 8 am, and sewing lessons for Rebekah at 4:30 on Wednesday evenings and WHEW!!! We are packed! Does anybody else have a schedule like this? But here's the blessed thing about this schedule... Our Lord is not a god of chaos, but He is The God of Order and as long as He's ordering our steps it's all going to be alright!

Don't have a schedule mapped out yet? Let me encourage you to do so. It will make you feel better to just have a plan. I'm SOOOO not good with schedules (I AM Ms. Perpetual E. Late!) But having this schedule gives me a standard. A starting point. A map that I can return to when those days happen (and they WILL) that throw everything for a loop. I can go back to my map and start again thanking God for the order that He shows me every day in His creation. My failures remind me that I CANNOT... But He CAN.

Have a blessed day my friends,
L

Not Dead.... Yet

Hi-de-ho! No, I haven't fallen off the planet. Although I'll admit to falling off the deep end from time to time.... I have come to find that blogging is harder than I thought it was going to be, so I'll try again. Many things going on in the world of Corbin, but we have.... wait for it.........A SCHEDULE!! I'm so proud!

I'm headed off to Curves & I promise to post all about our family schedule when I return. Seriously! I even have time on my schedule for it!! HA!

Blessings,
Lori

Turkey Day Sisters Pictures... Update

Well, I forgot to tell you! Dear ol' sis had an ulterior motive for our "Sisters" picture. She gave us the picture for Christmas in the prettiest shadowbox style frame. It had "Sisters" printed on the glass above the picture. It turned out really good... Even with my "fluffy" self front and center. My sisters and I always exchange little happies at Christmas. But what's so funny is watching the twins every year. Every year they try to get something that the other one won't and they get almost the same thing every time. Last year it was watches, this year it was charm necklaces, two years ago it was really nice, super soft scarves and fuzzy socks. I'm telling you, it's a hoot! They are so weird about stuff sometimes.

Anyway, just thought y'all might want to know what was up with the picture that I didn't want to take... It turned out great!

L