Put On Your Excited Face

I have this little hero-worship thing going on. When I grow up, I want to be Debra Bell. I think she is the COOLEST. HOMESCHOOL-MOM. EVER!!!!! (and if you find that very idea an oxymoron, I don't want to hear it)

I loved her Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling, and I have been privileged to hear her speak (yes, in person, squeal) on two different occasions. I even own a couple cassettes (yeah, leave me alone, I still have both cassettes AND players (plural, yes) on which to listen to them!) of her talks.

She has so much energy and wisdom and I want to be her when I grow up. I know, I already said that, but I just want to make sure you understand it. She just gets it! She has the vision for why we do this, day after day (after day), and she keeps the grace of God right in the middle of it all (right where it belongs!).

Well, she has a new book out. . .and I ordered it a few weeks ago. And it arrived last week.

Tee hee and shudder of joy.

I was pretty excited.

I sat down to devour it, but am making myself slow down and chew it like a lady while taking reasonable bites (and without drool running down my chin).

How great is this book going to be?! It is all about homeschooling teens (of which I have two, you know) and addresses everything from why to homeschool teens and how to prepare them to how to discern your teen's giftings and map out your high school classes to taking AP courses and even college at home.

Since her children are all raised now she says "I'm going to write as much as I can to help other families continue homeschooling because I'm so grateful for the marvelous means of grace it was in our lives"(43). I just love her heart!

Oh, I am absolutely beyond excited about this book.

And so are my teens.

All Dolled Up

Kiana's favorite hairstyle is a ponytail puff. It looks darling, but doesn't last long and easily tangles. On this day she chose her fancy ponytail holder and asked to wear makeup like her fairy doll. We had fun with some girl time that included purple eye shadow, a touch of lipstick and some fun crackle nail polish! She wanted me to take a picture when we were done--and she's workin' it! :)Her most recent hairstyle was piggy back braids. These are relatively quick to put in, and they are really cute, but they just don't last as long as other braids, such as cornrows.
They always get fuzzy within just a few days, which is frustrating as they start to look messy.
It took about an hour to fix these braids and they stayed in about two weeks (although the last few days they were looking pretty rough).
I gave the ends of her hair a break and didn't put any beads or other accessories at the bottom of the braid, but instead just let the ends curl up (which I think is adorable anyway).

Fun in Learning Never Ends

We've had another busy and productive school week. Briana and Destry are studying Biology and got to "play" with the microscope this week, which they thought was great fun and kept coming up with new things to examine. Next week they will be collecting pond water and culturing the microorganisms.We also started our worldview course, Starting Points, and I'm looking forward to the conversations that will be prompted this quarter by our readings of How to Read Slowly, Answers for Difficult Days, and Know What You Believe. We're coming along nicely with our memorization of Kipling's "If" and Briana was thrilled to finally complete the knitting of her sweater vest.

Easton loves to do his schoolwork and thinks he is pretty big stuff. He's likes to make books about what he's learning (here he's working on a book about the creation of the world) and is picking up reading pretty easily.
Kiana would love to "do Kindergarten" but she's just not ready, so her four-year-old-self is being content with more preschool work. It's most fun when big sis takes a few minutes out of her day to help her! :)Books, books, and more books. I am so happy that my youngest has joined the ranks of book-lovers in this family. If he gets suspiciously quiet, the first place we look is beside his book basket where we usually find him surrounded by a pile of books as he intently examines one on his lap. The only things that keep him still and quiet in church these days are books, some dry cereal, or being snugly tucked in mama's sling. He frequently toddles toward a parent or older sibling with a book held in his outstretched hand appealing with his trademark gibbon squeal (heard in the first few seconds of this clip of gibbons) for someone to read to him.
He's had some great examples. This is an example of what our house looks like as soon as we step in the door from a visit to the library.
Finally, Destry was delighted to receive sheet music for his birthday last weekend and has had a blast learning songs such as Floyd Cramer's "Last Date." It's been a productive week!

Our Memory Work

When we started school last month, we started with a reading of Rudyard Kipling's classic poem and my announcement that we were going to mine the jewels from its depths and commit it to our hearts and minds in memory. Copies of this poem are hanging all around our house.

I find the timing interesting--why THIS YEAR was I moved to focus on Kipling's "If"?

If
By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Updates

Time for a quick update of how things are going around here.

Weight Loss
You may remember my wake up call when I realized how grossly overweight I had become. Here it is six weeks later and I have lost a total of 21 pounds.
I know that's great, and I can see a difference in my face and neck especially. But when you know you need to lose 50-60 pounds, well, I just want it *all* gone right now! Lesson for those of you who are in shape--STAY that way! It's a lot easier to put on than it is to take off!! Seriously though, I'm encouraged to have lost that much in my first round with the hcg and now it's time to maintain while minimizing my carb intake for a few weeks, then I will do another round of the hcg. (Sorry, I can't figure out how to get those pictures side by side, but I think you'll see the difference just the same).

Organization
You may also remember my desire to compile a household management book using the systems recommended in Large Family Logistics. Hip, hip, hooray, I got it done!! It's not as beautiful as SOME people's I've seen online (!!!!) but I'm determined not to be a perfectionist about this nor to covet her beautifully fun binder (my purple Trapper Keeper from the 90s is just fine, sniff, sniff).
We've implemented lists which hang in each room to detail what constitutes clean for that area. We've (inconsistently) implemented an afternoon 15-minute clean up to get the house nice and tidy with a few quick cleaning jobs (like dusting, vacuuming, or wiping down sinks) thrown in before the evening begins.
We have routines for the morning, lunchtime, naptime and bedtime typed out and in place. I have an "ideal" typed out to focus on a specific area of my home each day (but am not good at sticking to this--I'm more of a "put-out-the biggest-fire-for-today kind of a person at heart). I started a list of household items I need to save for to purchase (like bath towels--my 19-year anniversary is coming up next week and these towels are RATTY!--and a large cast iron skillet). I have a list of recipes I'd like to try, and several meals to cook this month that I can make entirely from what's in my freezer and pantry.Isn't it crazy that I can make all those meals without going to the store for a single ingredient?!

Job Change
But what a blessing, especially right now while my hubby is still just kinda waiting and investigating to see what avenue will best provide for our family. As to an update with the job situation, he slept much better last night (smile) and enjoyed cleaning up and hauling some junk away from our farm today while collecting nearly $250 for his few hours of honest and stress-free work. He's still in wage negotiations with the formerly mentioned job possibility and is waiting to hear back later this week from another resume he has out. He's had a few calls and even a couple visits that have reaffirmed his decision as the right one and is filled with peace and confidence. Hopefully I'll have more of an update soon, but all in God's timing.

Briana's big Knitting Project
This isn't the greatest picture, but Briana finished knitting her first sweater! She started it about a year ago and has paused several times to make other projects. It was quite a challenge for her, and she took out nearly as many stitches as she made. But her sweater vest is completely finished and looks darling on her. I'm quite proud of her, yet again, for her initiative and persistence in developing this skill her mama has absolutely no knowledge of.My Desk
And, just for fun, here is a picture of my desk one month later. I'm hopeless.

The Certainty of Uncertainty

I've been revisiting some old favorites lately.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding. In all thy ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. (Proverbs 3:3-5)

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:38)

After giving seventeen years to his employer, first as a lineman, then as line superintendent, and most recently as operations manager, my husband has resigned from his job. Things have been difficult since his promotion into management. It started five years ago with the malicious spraying and subsequent killing of several trees in our yard by a jealous fellow employee and the surprising betrayal of some who had been considered friends. But one can just continue on, even in the face of these difficulties, doing the job you're asked to do, daily learning and growing.

However, the recent complete turnover in the board, closely followed by the early retirement of the manager, has resulted in a drastic change of vision and philosophy which he cannot in good conscience go along with. The final straw came last Friday in the form of a directive to break a contract. Though imperfect, my husband is a man of the Lord, and consequently a man of his word. While he is unsure of legal repercussions should he obey this assignment, he is equally certain that breaking his word by reneging on his agreement to hire a company to build a new line would haunt his conscience and betray his commitment to the Lord.

And I'm proud of him for doing what he knows is right and not giving in to a temptation to compromise in order to keep a paycheck coming in.

That doesn't make it any less scary to think of providing for our five children. I have this niggling thought in my mind that it would be easier if this just would have happened a little bit later--just a few more months to a year later and we would have had our adoption loan completely paid off. I can't help but think it would have been easier if it could have happened when he already had a perfect replacement job lined up. . .or what am I saying?! I can't help but wish it wouldn't have happened at all!!

Yet even in such trials, I see the blessings of the working (and timing!) of the Lord. It was shortly before his first promotion that we started the process which led to Easton's adoption. In the five years he worked in management with this employer, the Lord has blessed us with the adoption of three children. The higher salary which came with these promotions has been a blessing as we pay for the adoption costs. At the same time, the expense of the adoptions has kept our standard of living from increasing as more than 20% of his annual income has gone directly to our adoptions. This means we aren't dependent on that specific salary which frees him considerably as he is faced with seeking employment in the current economy.

Was it just for a season? Was the promotion merely an avenue the Lord provided temporarily to bring our children home? Was it a test, to see whether we would use the blessing to lay up treasure on earth or in heaven? Obviously, the season for him to work for this employer is simply over. But why? And what does the next season hold? I don't know.

And in case you haven't been along for the adoption journeys (or you've forgotten) I'm not the world's greatest at not knowing. Nor am I great at waiting. :)

But the Lord is so merciful to me, even in my struggles with impatience. Less than 72 hours after Alan receiving the above-mentioned directive, the Lord has provided Alan with another opportunity to manage a business for a local company beginning as soon as today if he wants. We are unsure what the future holds, but have confidence the Lord is providing both our physical needs and our spiritual growth along this journey. Your prayers are earnestly requested.

Harvest Time is a Comin'!

We have a beautiful crop of field corn! I hitched a ride with Daddy and Tyrell as they headed out in the pickup to see how it's looking and they were very pleased with what they found. The corn is looking beautiful and is going to provide some really yummy, healthy (organic), and cheap food for the animals this winter.
After all the work of planting and cultivating this beautiful field, Alan is especially glad it's done so well. That's a good feeling and rewarding in and of itself, but harvesting is one of his favorite jobs on the farm. We've been picking a few ears here and there to feed the pigs and the cow (although the cow isn't crazy about it--she knows it's not ready!) and Alan and Destry even made some silage last weekend.

We're all looking forward to the corn being ready because we are going to try making one of our favorite foods--hominy! I don't know how many times my kids have requested pork chops with fried hominy as a birthday meal, which I know is a rather strange "favorite food" (especially for kids). According to my research, hominy is made by boiling field corn in a baking soda water until the hulls are loose enough to peel off, then continue boiling in regular water. If it works, I'll probably either can or freeze some for the winter. It sounds like a fun project for our crazy family and you know how my hubby is--always wanting to try (learn) something new!
It's such a great crop, it looks like it will be more than enough to feed the dairy cow, the pigs, and to fatten the steer--we might even be able to sell some to put a little cash in the bank.No, raccoons, you are not some of the animals we are excited to feed! But I guess there's plenty to share. . .(and come trapping season, Alan will reap another harvest--not that furs have been worth anything lately!)
A barnloft full of hay, corn for the winter. . .looks like the animals will be in good shape as the seasons begin to hint of change.