Around Home

We hung around home this weekend and it was so relaxing to putter around the house, working on little projects, and enjoying each other.
Annaliese spotted this creepy crawling fellow and her papa picked it up with a stick, as it tried to bite and poke. Our chickens thought it was a tasty snack. :)



I love being witness to our children learning to read and loving to learn. Aiden is zealous over reading and just finished his eight books to earn a free one from Barnes and Noble through their summer reading program. If your kids have been reading, the book program extends through next week, I believe, and they did have a nice assortment to choose from.

And the papa... the poor sweet papa has been a sneezing headaching sort of mess for a week or so now because of ragweed. Sean stays off allergies the rest of the year by eating some of our local honey each day, but it seems bees do not pollinate ragweed. His doctor sent him home yesterday with two epi pens, an inhaler, and a prescription allergy med to take along with his over the counter one. He's also been doing the neti pot regularly.

The epi pens are a relief to my thoughts since the last time Sean was stung by wasps, his whole self swelled right up. All this goes in the face of Sean being the hardy, outdoorsy husband that he is, so we are all wishing and praying for relief for him

On Sunday he took time to re-string the hammock we bought him last year for Father's Day in between sneezes.

Andrew brought me grape vines as I sat and watched Sean, which I wove and twisted into wreaths. This is such a simple, enjoyable project and I have time to do more before winter.

Today we are staying indoors, out of the heat and humidity, enjoying lots of fruits and water. We'll head to the farm tonight, jugs in tow, to pick up some cold milk.

Enjoy your family and your evening,

Hannah

More at Home

Stitches in a sweet cotton mattress, layers of batting and fabric for the coming baby to lay his or her head. And thoughts as I sit and sew and stitch, small and precious body parts wiggling just inside my belly.

We are so thankful for God's blessing of this child.

It is true that His plans are higher than ours and while in the many folk's thinking we might seem foolish, even heartless, for welcoming a sixth child - a child that had a chance of inward deformity, imperfection - we know that God is sovereign and every life He creates has a purpose under heaven, whether they are born in a hovel in another nation, born to an addict only soon to end up in the nightmare of foster care, or born into a loving family.

Chase quickly tried out the new mattress with one of the baby dolls. He is delightfully fascinated with all things related to the coming baby and I know he is going to be such a sweet big brother.

As he plays, I begin to think what our lives would be like if we had followed the wisdom of the world and the statistics given to us by modern medicine - we would have stopped having children after our third child. There would have been no hilarious Ella warming our home with her unique humor and snail pets or the cuddles of Chase with his blue eyes and grins who echoes his Papa's laughs.

Because a life without the guarantee of perfection in body and perfection in environment is sound reason to terminate life...or prevent it altogether - this is the sad logic of man.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future." Jer.29:11

Perhaps not so ironically, is the fact that God sent this message not to His people in a time of blessing or rosy happiness but when they were in the midst of seventy years of trial and pain. Those children, small babies born to parents in captivity, born in some of the worst enviroments, surrounded by hopelessness - this was the message God gave them - that they weren't born without purpose.

I have thought about what would happen to our children should the worst ever happen to them. Should they lose both of their parents in death, should they be abused, split up, neglected, suffer... Not pleasantness to dwell on but still, I think if all that happened - I would not be able to believe that their lives did not carry purpose or worth, that they didn't deserve a chance to glorify God with their lives.

Neither could I hold and cuddle and look into the eyes of the three foster children we've cared for over the past year: one born to an addicted fourteen year old mother, one the thirteenth neglected child of an addict, and one the third generation in social services and think even for a second, with the painful lives ahead of them, that God allowed them to be created without purpose. Instead of shaking a fist at God for their suffering, I found it encouraging and hopeful to pray scripture over them. The living, breathing Word of God does not return void, we are told.

And now I'll set down my heavy thoughts and show you a fun project that Sean quickly helped me put together this morning.

This piece of moulding came with the house. I love the patina, the paint colors, everything about it and when I saw these hooks so cheap at Hobby Lobby (yes! we have a new Hobby Lobby!) I bought three and asked Sean to screw them in for me...

...and hang the new cute rack that looks like it's been there forever and an age on the inside of our kitchen closet door. This closet is loaded with games on shelves and rollerblades and jackets and not so tidy, so you don't get a peek in today.

...for my aprons! And the girl's aprons. And the boys have aprons that will go up there too when they're scrounged up from drawers.

Resources:

For healing after an abortion and one woman's story here.

To give children in hopelessness a chance to fullfill their purpose, to glorify God and know His grace and love...

At Home

Ella turning crab apple mush to apple butter
steaming crabapples, cinnamon sticks, cloves, vinegar and water

Dripping jelly juice

onions from the garden, apples from one of the trees

chocolate croissants made by by talented husband

Another batch of crabapples. In twenty minutes the older kids and I picked 15 lbs off a loaded tree on our road.

Aren't they beautiful?

Homeschooling with Toddlers Activity 3!

I remember watercolor books from my childhood but they seem to be harder to find now-a-days. These are the good ones, with little dots of paint all over the picture. My kids decidedly do not like the ones with the paint palette at the top of the page.

I tend to find water color books in the most unusual places, like drug stores, and most recently, Joann Fabrics. Whenever we're in the coloring book section of a store, I take a quick peak for them.

And do you notice which hand Chase is using? Could it be I actually have my first right handed child?!!!?

Wind Power

What was just once remote countryside in upstate New York, not far from where my husband grew up, 32 windmills are being errected. Now some people are totally against windmills, personally, I wish I had one of my own. The farmers who own the land are being well paid with a yearly stipend and I am happy for them! When we visited Germany, we saw wind fields like these and I thought they were beautiful.

A Special 60th Birthday!

When I was a little girl, I loved going out surveying with my Dad. We'd tromp through fields (it always seemed to be wet out), following old barbed wire fence lines, looking for that special mark on a tree, or stone at the corner, or pipe sticking from the ground. He could identify every plant and tree and animal trail and I was fascinated.

He'd buy me an orange soda. Which must have cured me of that love because I can't stand the stuff anymore. :)

After my parents divorce, my Dad and I drifted apart as is often the normal sorrowful effect of divorce. When Sean and I began spending time together, Sean would say, "Why don't we invite your Dad along..." whenever we went on a hike or canoeing.

And my Dad came.

I'm so thankful for beautiful gift Sean gave me in helping restore my relationship with my Dad. I'm so blessed by the part my Dad and my beautiful spirited step mom Pam play in my life and the love they have for our children.

On Sunday, my Dad turned 60.

He's such a hardworking, incredible gardener sort of man and I hope he's blessed with many more years of abundant life.

Love you, Dad.

Green Lakes State Park

My mom and younger sister joined us last Friday for a day at Green Lakes State Park by Syracuse, NY. Such a pretty lake and our kids had a great time hanging out with their aunt and Grammie!

Toddler Homeschool Activity #2 - Stickers

It may seem simple. Maybe even mundane and silly - but stickers and toddlers love each other, especially if you have one like mine who loooves fine motor activities.This would be great if you have a toddler who needs some help with fine motor skills too.

I buy the pack of like 500 stickers from the dollar store and ration them out over the school year, so this has to be one of the least expensive activities ever.

A few sheets of scrap paper and stickers is all they need. I use this (and other activities) for blanket time and haven never had any resistance from Chase. Who wouldn't enjoy a soft spot to sit and a fun activity?