A Long, Happy Weekend

FRIDAY:We had a long weekend and it's been a quiet Sunday afternoon recovering. On Friday Tad took the day off and traveled with us to Mt. Vernon, George Washington's mansion and estate. I've been looking forward to this trip for years and we finally made it after I decided to take the bull by the horns and organize a homeschool trip. After I chastised all our fellow travelers to please make it down there on time, we found ourselves a half hour late due to unbelievable amounts of traffic passing through Baltimore and DC at 7:30 in the morning. So, lesson number one is if you want to experience Mt. Vernon expect lots of traffic.

We spent lots of time in the wonderful museum, watching an introductory movie, working our way around the time line of the life of our first president and stopping in the "Please Touch Me" Room which I thought was a real hoot. It was staffed by people who didn't seem to like children and designed by people who didn't seem to know what it means when you invite a child to touch something. The chairs were covered with notices reminding adults not to sit in them because they are child-sized (any adult who has spent 10 minutes with a child usually has a desire to plop down in those chairs in order to get face to face with their playmates). There was a big dollhouse replica of George Washington's mansion with furniture so fragile it could only be "checked out" room by room by the child's chaperone and used while the child was very closely supervised and the museum staff hovered nervously over them preventing any miniature furniture faux pas. There was a board with buttons that lit it up (not sure what that was for since my children repeatedly got reprimanded for pushing the buttons so I finally just kept them away) and there was a tall thingy with spinning panels. Again, not so sure what that was since the children got chastised for spinning the thingys as well. The only thing they didn't get in trouble for was sticking their faces in the Washington family portraits and sitting at the table making letters out of the letter dolls which Ben and Philip and JM spent quite a bit of time doing.

Moving on from there, we approached the mansion only to find a long line which nobody wanted to stand in (it was *hot*!) and so we meandered through the gardens (flower gardens and vegetable gardens which Ben and Philip enjoyed) in hopes of a finding a shorter line later. We encountered a costumed docent who told us all about George Washington's spy ring, the Culver Group which we thought was lots of fun but I'm not sure the kids were so impressed. On the other side of the gardens we found sheep which made the girls beg to go to the pioneer farm site which was down a steep hill which I had run out of enough steam to navigate. So they left me sitting on a bench whilst the rest went in search of sheep and horses. I guess the only thing they found were sheep and chickens - and a long, hot walk. On our return trip, the mansion was still a long line away so we gave up on it. We never did see the inside of the very building we had traveled for 3 hours to see...sigh...oh well...

We hopped in the van and traversed the three miles to the Gristmill and Distillery which may have been the highlight of the day. JT was fascinated with the mechanics of the mill and Tad was delighted to see the inner workings of the distillery. That was a great spot for the kids who got a break from the heat in the stone gristmill building, had a wonderful docent who answered every question great and small and experienced lots of loud and interesting machinery. On the return trip we broke up our stay in the traffic with a trip to Five Guys for french fries for the ride and arrived home in time to tumble into bed and prepare for the next day.

SATURDAY:
Saturday we got up and went to Hershey Park. Adora and I debated long and hard and fished around for a sitter for Miah and Nate and finally decided to just bring them along. Adora was excited about seeing Miah get on some of the rides and was looking forward to being the big mom in the little Busy Bees. It was a great trip for everyone as it worked out just fine for Adora and Tad to take turns with the big six going on the coasters and rides while Tali and I sat on benches watching the mini carousel and the Ladybug coaster go round and round. I let Nate navigate us around the park until he and Miah crashed in the afternoon. I brought my pillow to lighten the load on my bum and we managed to run into Aunt Great and crew a few times. It's obvious who had the camera since all the pictures are of the very little people. Although, not wanting to spring for the $15 post-ride picture of the roller coasters, Ben and JT reenacted Philip's reaction for me when we met for lunch. I have been dreaming, though, of the day when I'm not pregnant or nursing and I actually get to run around an amusement park with my bigs and jump on some coasters....I suppose by then my bones and my bladder will be too worn to make it much fun...If only the kids understood the sacrifices we moms make for them!

SUNDAY:
On Sunday we had a visit from our bishop. We had to get to church a bit earlier than usual to allow for the traditional manner of greeting the bishop at the door. Once we were seated, David took one look at the hat the bishop got to wear and the array of seminarians he brought with him and whispered in my ear, "Mom is it his birthday and are those all his friends?" I've written about that visit in more detail on the other blog.

It's been a long, tiring weekend but we had lots of fun. I'm glad for a Sunday afternoon rest. Tomorrow it's back to the grindstone...

Crazy Weather

Typical to MD, the weather has been rapidly cycling from cool to cold to downright hot over the past week and a half. Last week we had temps almost to the 80's which prompted the big Clothing Shift. This is when we pull all of the containers out of the attic and make them vomit clothing all over the upstairs hallway. It's a harrowing time of year, trying to decide just how many of the long sleeved shirts need to hibernate in those boxes and at what point we can narrow down the pants collections and replace them with shorts. Right now all the kids have an eclectic mix of Summer and Winter clothing gracing their drawers and closets. The biggest problem, then, is teaching the kids (particularly the already learning challenged ones) how to gauge the weather. The day after the Clothing Shift the temperature dropped to 50 something and three days later was back into the mid-60's. After another day of low 70's there is a frost warning in the county for tonight. Even Nehemiah has had trouble figuring it all out and yesterday we found him wearing this outfit: No, we're not sure where his pants are but this is not unusual for him. Today David was outside in his bare feet and winter coat. I'll sure be glad when the weather decides to settle down for the season and I can clean up the mess in the hallway and clear the confused aura hovering over the closets, drawers and coat hooks....

Playing with Video

I wanted to see if I could figure out how to put videos here so I had JM make me a movie. Let's see how it works... He made one for Grace too but I'm not sure the public is ready for that one...

After I had JM make his movie, Nathan wanted to try it too except he couldn't understand that he needed to be on the other side of the camera. He spent the whole time trying to chase me around to get to my side of the camera...

So Long Sydney

I'm sad to say Sydney, our cockatiel, died sometime today. He was chirping and hopping about this morning but when we got back from our counselor, he had died. He'd been acting a bit funny lately but, this being our first aviary experience as a family, I guess we missed the signs that he wasn't feeling well. He will be missed. He was a funny bird. I never could get him to say "Go Ravens" but he would proudly proclaim himself a "Pretty Bird" (a trick his former family taught him) and it was many a day when one of the young ones would get chastised for running their electronic toy noises for the 8000th time only to discover that the bird was the one making the exact noises (why, oh why, couldn't he learn something CUTE?!). He also whistled better than the average 7 year old so that I never could tell whose tune was wafting through the house.

He hated our school reading time. I guess he felt that his voice should be heard over mine and every time I would pick up a school book to read he would begin making noises. The louder I read, the louder his noises until we would give up trying to compete and cover his cage over with a blanket. He loved Tad and would ride around the house on his shoulder or his head even on days when he was in no mood to be coddled by anyone else in the family. He and Philip had a special relationship. They would spend about a half hour every day talking and bowing to each other. Philip actually cried for about 2 minutes when he realized Sydney was gone. Somehow Philip has always been touched by animals - he had a special relationship with our cats long ago also.

I think, though, I will remember Sydney's private antics the best - the things he did when he thought no one was watching. He once had a week long battle with the living room wall clock after we moved his cage so that it sat just under the clock. Every morning and evening for a week he would sit on the top of his cage and peck at it. He finally stopped when we moved his cage about 3 inches to the right of the clock. That's all it took. Lately he had taken to lining up the seed hulls from his bird food along the length of his perching rope. Maybe he learned the lining things up thing from Philip. He was very meticulous about it. On many an occasion we rescued him from narrrowly escaping the jaws of Pooka the golden retriever. He would get the wild idea that he could fly far, far away and then would land on the floor right in front of the dog's nose. Fortunately, the dog is much older than he and the reflexes aren't so good anymore...

Well, Sydney our friend, you will be missed. You provided our family with many a laugh and your crazy companionship. May you rest in peace.

“You must be having a party.”

Well, he's done it. Tad's first guest post on my blog follows here. He spent a part of his afternoon hunting down a year's supply of soda for the family and he's recorded his fun for all of us to read. He's big on the links - you don't have to click on all of them if you're really not interested in various varieties of grains or the subtleties of hotdog bun styles. This posting may finally reveal the best-kept family secret - that my husband really is one of the funniest people I know.

“You must be having a party.”

I hear these words just about anytime I go shopping for the family, approaching the checkout counter with a dozen and a half each of five or six different items. Since some of the best purveyors of food “on the diet” are near my workplace, I’ll often stop by on the way home to clear Trader Joe’s shelves of whole wheat hot dog buns and other delectables, like a one-man locust swarm with a discerning palate.

Someone watching an older female do the same thing, with a couple of kids in tow for effect, would probably reach the logical conclusion that she was stocking up on groceries for the immediate future. But those eying me as an unaccompanied man with a cart piled high full of food automatically assume that I must be throwing some big debauched bash. Really! As if I had that many friends, not to mention friends close enough to part with my Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat New England Style Hot Dog Buns (no artificial flavors or preservatives).

I probably do this about every month or so. But the big excursion, the party to end all parties comes once a year. No, it’s not the post-Valentine’s day chocolate raid. It is the Passover Coke Round Up.

As some of you may know, during Passover Jews must avoid grain. Some Jewish traditions extend this prohibition from the traditional varieties (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye) to include others such as rice, soybeans, and … corn. Yes, Ashkenazi Jews must avoid what is probably the most popular American subsidized staple food. This is especially a problem when one really needs to take advantage of “The Pause That Refreshes”, because since 1985 Coca-Cola is made in the USA with corn syrup instead of regular sugar. This makes it a big no-no for lots of Jews.

Corn syrup is also a no-no in our house as well, as it is eliminated by many adherents to the Feingold Diet. Once you investigate where corn syrup comes from, you would think twice about it too. Essentially, corn starch is partially digested by mixing it with sulfuric acid or various enzymes in large vats. The resulting goo is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, spiking blood sugar and driving the metabolism into overdrive. Coincidentally, the spike in childhood obesity also begins around 1985....

So, what's a God-fearing Feingold family to do, Jewish or otherwise? Well, both Coke and Pepsi noticed the potential loss of market share around Passover time, and they filled the gap with soda made with good old-fashioned sugar. Sucrose. The way God intended a cola to be made.
So if you look in a grocery store in a Jewish neighborhood around Passover time, you will find specially-capped (yellow for Coke, white for Pepsi, both with Hebrew symbols) bottles of cola made with 100% real sugar. And you also might find me, filling a shopping cart with a year's supply of soda for the kids' birthdays, holidays, and just-because days. And, as I wheel the cart into the checkout line, you might hear someone observe:

"You must be having a party.”

Have you thanked a coach today?

We've been through a lot of coaches in our years of parenting. There's the tball coaches, baseball coaches, soccer coaches, special needs league coaches, lacrosse coaches and gymnastics instructors. We've had homeschooling mom coaches, basketball coaches, Alpine climbing coaches, jumproping coaches and a riding instructor. Currently we have 2 playing tball, 1 playing baseball, 1 playing lacrosse, 2 playing on a special needs soccer program, 7 kids riding horses and about to sign up 3 more for gymnastics. I've always made it my habit when I get those late night emails from coaches with wet field conditions or make up game instructions to send a quick email back with a "thanks for coaching our kids" message. Sometimes they respond with gratitude, sometimes I never hear from them but I feel like it's one small way to "pay it forward". Tad and I just don't have the time to commit to any one team and I certainly don't have the skill to be a coach of anything (except maybe an olympic diaper changing team or the world Special Diets championship) so this is one small way I can spread a little encouragement to the parent who *is* giving their time and energy so my child and his or her teammates can have this team competitive experience. Give it a whirl - be sure to thank your coach today!

For Better or For Worse

A friend of mine handed this to me yesterday and leaned over and quietly said, "I thought of you when I saw this." I wonder why....hmph..

Business

I'm afraid I haven't been posting as much lately because life just happens. My computer has been having one temper tantrum after another and I have become fearful of angering it lest it take my words and spew them into cyberspace never to be seen again. My camera has also had a mind of its own as of late and my own addled prego brain has forgotten to take it along to many an important event...including Ben's play. Grammy is rather up in arms about the lack of coverage here of Alice In Wonderland and I must admit to a woefully difficult period of Bad Mommyitis where I forgot my camera, did not manage to blog the Big Event and left family flung far and wide in the dark about the whole event. So sorry. It went well. Ben enjoyed it and did a whizbang job. JT ran the light board and loved it. There will be more theater in the lives of my children. I may even be alert enough to blog about it sometime in the near future.

The next item of business is a name for this baby. Yes, supposedly it is a girl - at least the sonographer seemed to think she saw more girl parts and a distinct lack of boy parts - so we have been calling the baby by the pronoun "she". There is a name in the works which is weird but my husband picked it out and, quite honestly, it is growing on me. Of course it must be either scriptural or fashioned after a saint to make the list of names in this household (how Nathan was allowed my dad's middle name of Lee is rather comical) so this one's name comes from the book of Mark (chapter 5, verse 41 to be exact):

⁴¹He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" ).

This is referencing a girl who had died and, in the midst of her mourners, Jesus came to her bedside and raised her up calling her by the affectionate term for Little Girl - Talitha.

The one in utero will be Talitha Hope and has already been shortened to Tali by her parents and sibs. I'm sure at some point it will occur to people to call out to her (and this must be called out, it cannot simply be spoken) "Tally Ho!" but once again we've riled the grandmothers by suggesting such a thing so we'll make that a private affair.

And the last item of business is to introduce my new Orthodox homeschooling blogger friend, Deb. She gave me a wonderful little intro on her blog and I feel compelled to return the favor. I love Deb's blog - she's much less tongue in cheek about her faith than I and I'm sure I'll be learning a lot more from her as we go down the road into cyberspace together.

Night at the Movies

Ben worked diligently all day today to prepare the basement for the evening's family entertainment. He was planning a viewing of our latest Netflix pick, Enchanted. He made tickets for everyone (which were perforated), set up the sofas in a theater configuration (littles had to sit on a sleeping bag down in front), popped popcorn and found enough cups with lids to serve soda to everyone. Then he decorated the basement with a Fairy Tale theme - lots of castley type things around. Once the theater doors were "open" he stood at the foot of the basement steps collecting tickets which he then placed in the cars of his younger brothers' electric Thomas trains. As soon as everyone was seated, he started the train which chugged the tickets along the track and disappeared into the door of a small castle. It reminded me of my years with Mr. Rogers and his Neighborhood of Make Believe. Once the train was safely parked in the bowels of the castle, Ben made the popcorn appear through the hole under a coffee table. He served up individual servings in paper cones he'd made just for the occasion.

We were allowing the viewing of the movie to happen sight unseen which was a bit unusual for us. Generally, Tad and I like to preview even G-rated movies before we show them to the littles but this had gotten enough thumbs up reviews from reputable sources that we made an allowance for Ben's evening of fun. We did all enjoy the movie. It was heavy on the various Fairy Tale themes which we have never over-emphasized with our children so some of the humor may have been lost on them. JT was disheartened that there were kissing scenes (how can you have a Fairy Tale movie without the obligatory kiss of true love?!). Ben paused the movie about halfway through to run the train down the track again, this time carrying coins that each of the children found in the bottom of their paper popcorn cones, and distribute seconds on the snacks. The littlest ones were frightened by the rather dramatic witch scenes which is one element of Fairy Tales we have always tried to avoid but this witch definitely made evil look like evil and she was vanquished in the end by the triumph of Love.

It was a wonderfully inventive evening and Ben made a very gracious host. It was fun to be the beneficiary of his imaginative energies!

Letters from the betrothed...

I love you, Grace. When we get married we'll have the cake and pie that I am making in my food store. Grace, I'm sorry David broke your necklace. I love you I love you I love you. Grace, I'm going to have pineapples in my food store.

Love,

John Michael

John Michael,

I like pineapple. Do you have strawberries in your food store?

I really do love pineapple, and I like grapes too. Strawberries are my favorite fruit. Do you have carrots,cauliflower and broccoli in your food store. I like those.

I liked your email. Why did David break the necklace? I asked my mom if someday we could visit you. I really want to visit you because first I have to meet you.

Love,

Grace

Grace,

I'm going to have cookies in my food store and cake, pie, apple pie, blueberry pie and ice cream and pasta, macaroni and cheese and bananas and Cheerios and tomatoes.

Good bye,

This is from John Michael



John Michael,

I like all the foods you are having in your store. Will you have broccoli and cauliflower in the store? I love those!

Yesterday was Olivia's birthday party. Here is a picture of Olivia and me with our cousin Giovanni. My aunt got us beach chairs.

Love,

Grace

Great Lent

Well, as most of you are walking through the last days of Holy Week, the Orthodox are only in the second week of Great Lent. Since we are just catechumens and not yet full-blown Orthodox we've decided to wade into the fasting thing slowly. The Orthodox fast every Wednesday and Friday of the year (with a few exceptions) as well as a few longer fasts throughout the liturgical year, including Great Lent. Fasting to the Orthodox means no meat, fish, eggs, dairy, olive oil or wine - basically a vegan diet. We have way too many protein issues in our household to be able to sustain a completely vegan diet without living off of nuts and tofu daily so we have gone no meat, fish, olive oil or wine for the main days of the fast and on Wednesdays and Fridays we are removing dairy from that list as well. We're keeping eggs, though. I just can't get rid of the eggs. Of course, Philip's diet remains unchanged. He's the only carnivore in the family throughout this great Great Lent experiment. We've also cut out the Sunday evening ice cream for dinner mainly because it just seems like too decadent a tradition to sustain throughout Lent.

The no dairy days are really rough. I think as a household we must consume about 3,000 lbs of cheese annually - we're big cheese eaters. But on those no dairy days the kids get up to muffins or dry toast - no cereal with milk. And, with our additional Feingold limitations we also have trouble with the more traditional substitutions. Since we can't do tomatoes, pasta is a tough one. We usually eat it with olive oil and cheese and some spices - but all that is out. Last week I discovered a wonderful substitute that will probably end up a keeper even after Great Lent - cashew butter sauce. Unfortunately I can't find the recipe we used but it went something like this:

big blob of cashew butter
white vinegar
crushed garlic
a little white sugar
Bragg's liquid aminos (Feingold approved soy sauce)
water to thin

We mixed it all together in a sauce pan and heated it up and all thought it was Yum City.

We also tested out our first taste of tofu. I bought 4 lbs of tofu, cubed it, breaded it and fried it (in vegetable oil, not olive oil) and called it Yummy Nuggets. We ate them with honey and some resorted to ketchup and all but Ruth decided they were, indeed, Yummy. I think Miriam ate one pound all by herself.

Besides the dietary restrictions, Great Lent also seems to be about fasting from toilets and showers for us. The toilet in the master bathroom is currently sitting in the shower rendering both objects nonfunctional. It will probably take Tad the duration of Great Lent to repair the flooring under the linoleum and replace the toilet with a new seal. That's ok, I thought, it's just a short hop down the hallway to the girls' bathroom...Which would be true if some unknown member of the family didn't have waste the consistency of Elmer's glue which keeps that toilet perpetually clogged as well. Fortunately, I have a husband who understands well the needs of a pregnant woman and has yet to go to bed without creating an opening in the slog sustainable enough for a flush or two throughout the night. But, well, if I had to travel down the steps at 3:00 am...so be it. This is, afterall, Great Lent

Highway Lions

There's lions in the trees along our highway. Really. Just ask David. Every time we drive the major thoroughfares between our house and the big city he hears them roar. This past week he saw a big daddy lion and JM spotted a baby lion. And we all know that wherever there are baby lions there must be a momma lion. The roaring sounds suspiciously like a 15 passenger van driving over one of these:









Ok, so it is a 15 passenger van driving over one of these:









But please don't tell David. He really thinks there's lions on the highway and we'd hate to disappoint him. JM is beginning to realize it's all a ruse but he's been playing along anyway. Don't shoot me, we are the Santa Claus, Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy kill-joys - we have to have something to lie to the offspring about. So why not lions on the highway?

Snowflake Company Business

The Snowflake Company packed up their first (and probably only) order today and prepared it for shipping. From the dining room factory, it went to the delivery vehicle (Dad's car) where it will be closed up and shipped via UPS. Here all the company employees pose with their first shipment and photo of their customers - JT, Luci and Bryan.

Speaking of Grace...

I got an email from Grace's mom last night:

When I was tucking Grace into bed last night she told me that she has been thinking about John Michael, "you know, that boy from the computer." She has decided to meet him before making a final decision about marrying him. If she meets him & he bites her, the answer will be no! If he doesn't bite her the answer will be yes. She didn't care to share the reason for this decision.

Apparently Grace has been thinking about this necklace as well. When her mom told her JM had a necklace for her, she asked if he had a wedding ring. It might be a good thing that she isn't all that interested in the necklace since David broke it anyway. JM was quite miffed with him for it and wanted a trip to WalMart to replace it. Today Grace hauled out the old Christmas picture for another look at JM's mug.. I have no idea how much therapy all this is going to require in about 15 years. You can back track through this on-going saga by following these links:

The Grace Post that started them all

The Necklace

Common Sense from Grace

Ok, Then...

John Michael and David decided to repeat their duel this evening...but with a twist. They undressed for their tubby and then donned their armor and took up their weapons. I have pictures of this duel as well but I've been forbidden to post them here...can't imagine why. Then, when Nathan's and Noah's tubby was taking a bit too long they had to think of something to bide their time so they decided to make letters out of their naked and armored bodies. I had my back to them when I heard JM say, "David you have to stand up straight. You be the straight line and I'll be the other part. We're making a 'k'." I was laughing so hard I wanted them to do a repeat performance for their dad but this time David bent over a bit too much which made more of a butt-cheek to butt-cheek 'x' instead of a 'k' for which JM chastised David, "No David stand up straight! We're not making an 'x' we're making a 'k'!" This is one of those moments I just had to record for posterity. I can pull those pictures out and show them to Grace some day....

The Duel

It's not who dies the first...
It's who cries the first!

Do you Freecycle?

A few years ago I discovered a wonderful subset of people in my county - the Freecycle community. My life has never been the same. I joined Freecycle so that I could start getting rid of some clutter and maybe find a few new treasures along the way. I've found lots of treasures - and many of them in the form of new friendships.

After our house fire almost three years ago (Yikes! Where has the time gone?!) It was the Freecycle community who pretty much single-handedly clothed our family of (then) ten members within about 2 days. The response was immediate and completely overwhelming. The donations piled up on my neighbor's carport (remember Mrs. Scout?!) and we had to call a halt to the generosity lest we get over run with clothing. But they didn't stop at clothing. We also got a replacement for Miriam's most favorite stuffy at the time - a stuffed Dory from the Disney Store, church clothes and shoes, golly the list goes on and on most of which I can no longer even remember because the response was so overwhelming.

A couple of months before Christmas I got an email from one Freecycle friend who said she makes dollhouses and she wanted to provide one for the girls. It was her contribution to the house fire fiasco in order to bring a little sunshine into our lives. About a week before Christmas, she handed off a wonderful little house, complete with furnishings, window boxes, little dishes and miniature food and 3 dolls - one Asian, one Black and one White for the three little girls. They received that as their big Christmas present under the tree in the little rental house the Christmas we were exiled from our home. I couldn't have imagined such a blessing would come from this group! That person has become a dear friend and the continuation of our friendship might be another post...

The other day I picked up a sewing machine which is fast becoming a favorite item of the girls'. That is a gift that will keep on giving over the years, as they hone their skills and keep making new things. Ben once acquired a wonderful mountain bike which served him well for about 6 months before it was stolen. I sure hope the thief is getting lots of use out of it because Ben was sure heart-broken over that.

The Bradley birthing books I got are on their second pregnancy. I'd love to remember where I got those and give the giver a big, fat smoochie. Two simple, outdated books have completely changed my labor method. Somewhere on this blog you can read about Nathan's Bradley birth which was my best labor and delivery yet.

Most recently I responded to a post offering a whole list of books which have been on my Amazon wish list for years. It seemed too good to be true - mostly books about adoption and about parenting kids who come from difficult backgrounds with difficult issues. It was like the list of books was tailor made just for our family. Well, in corresponding with the offerer I found that she also has 10 children - 5 homemade and 5 adopted with special needs! Her children are older - her oldest is a few years older than I - but how neat to connect with someone who has lived a parallel life! I'm hoping I can keep up that friendship and glean lots of wisdom from her experience.

Getting isn't the only way we've benefited from the Freecycle community either. One of my favorite "freecycles" was our old dining room table. The table had been in Tad's family for years, hosting him and his four sibs and their friends and family throughout the years, and when it was time to get a larger one, we decided (after conferring with all Tad's sibs) a well-placed freecycle would be the best home for it. A wonderful young mother came forward and requested the table. She and her husband are a young Catholic couple just getting started on their family and hoping for lots of children. It was a perfect fit. They have since also been the recipients of Tad's breadmaking machine since we've been doing all our breadmaking by hand.

Then there was the woman who came to take some fencing we had. She was going to use it for her goats, it was no longer keeping Pooka from running away. Turns out they are also a homeschooling family, her son is friends with JT and she later put us up in her Chincoteague cottage when Tad and I desperately needed some time away together.

I have a neat friend I made just exchanging small things along the way. The last time I picked up some things from her, we had a wonderful chat and lots of laughs as we exchanged her family anecdotes for my experiences with Extreme Makeover. My sil used to live across the street from her and she is a sweet soul with a great family. I am blessed to have her among my friends.

After we played with it for a couple of years, the atari system we acquired through Freecycle (yes, the ooold one - including Ms. Pacman and Space Invaders!) was passed on to a friend who provided us with the two rocking armchairs Tad and I use in our prayer corner. I'm hoping she'll re-freecycle it once she's had her fun and we can watch it bounce around the county blazing a path of nostalgic joy. The kids said I should have saved it and sold it on ebay for a gazillion bucks but that's just not how Freecycle works. We were blessed by it - it was time to bless someone else.

This doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the many, many friends I've made and the wonderful exchanges I've had. The moderators for our local group are a very committed group of folks who should be commended for their efforts in bringing a friendlier spirit into the community.

The Freecycle Network can be found nationwide which means there is probably one in your neighborhood too. I've put the link on my link list so check it out and start your own Freecycle adventure.

There's a Sheep in my pantry..

and half a pencil sharpener and the letters G, W and E. There's also one dirty sock...oh, and lots of food but all the bags of pasta are on the floor. I seem to have a pantry elf and I think his name is Nathan but I'll be able to identify him when I see him easily enough - h'll b the pint sizd prson missing a sock and carrying a staff.

Sewing Lesson

I hit the freecycle jackpot today and acquired this sewing machine for the girls. Ever since the movers returned mine after the fire I've been afraid to look at it. Mr. Burly tossed it to his buddy who tossed it off the truck to me and announced, "Here's your bowling ball, lady" and he was serious! At any rate, this machine is a much older model and doesn't have all the fancy electronic programming the newer ones have. It is a perfect learning machine for the girls. They had their first lesson on it tonight. We reviewed the parts of the machine, learned how to thread it and wind the bobbin and then they each tried their hand at sewing a couple of straight lines. It was fun. Our first big project will be sewing curtains for the babies' room for which Adora and I bought the fabric last Summer. We'll just make a bunch of straight forward panels - lots of straight lines to practice. As you can see by the smiles on their faces, they were thrilled with their surprise.

This Post Dedicated to the Willingham Family

I was just visiting my (Southern) friend Susan's blog where she was exclaiming over their recent snowfall of three collective flakes. Well, Susan, have I got a deal for you! My children have been working all week on snipping and creating this whole bag of snowflakes with the express purpose of selling their work. Name your price and they can be shipped to you in no time!

Five Minutes in the Life of Nathan Lee

I followed Nate around with my camera this morning and thought it would be fun to record just a few minutes of activity. This is about five minutes' worth. If I only had his energy! If I printed these photos out, it would make a great flip book I think. I would do the same with Nehemiah but my shutter speed doesn't go that fast...


He suddenly realized he was being photgraphed:


Exploring the drawer:


Exploring the bottom drawer:
Found the MagnaDoodle:


Announced the presence of a stinky diaper in the room:
Trouble opening the pail:

Found the trains next to the diaper pail:


Drove the trains to David's bed so they could all jump on it:
Discovered his brother across the room in Time Out:
Tortured the brother in Time Out:
Back to jumping on the bed with the trains: