Welcome

Welcome to our place...just two steps away from the funny farm! To explain this name, whenever things get crazy at our house, I always say "Well, we are just two steps away from the funny farm!" As a very busy homeschooling family, things DO sometimes get a bit chaotic. But we love this life of living and learning together and there is never a dull moment!

The picture of the beautiful Amish farm on this page was taken while we were on the Strasburg Railroad.


Monday, December 29, 2008

Happy Holidays!

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! And that you and your families will have a wonderful new year! I really love this holiday season after the crazy busyness and rushing around the weeks before Christmas. Now it is a time to slow down and reflect, savor and enjoy the wonder and peace and joy of Christmas! Our Christmas celebration is always spread out beginnng with two familiy parties earlier in the month. Then there were two Chrismtas Eve services at our church. What a beautiful night that was!

Joel and Ivy were involved in the Christmas Tableaux during the first Christmas Eve service. Joel was a shepherd boy and Ivy was a townsperson. Ivy also sang in the combined children's choir. Mark sang in the Matins choir. It was a beautiful service! Then we all went back to church for the late night Christmas Eve service, a beautiful candle-lit formal service with lots of music. Mark sang in the Senior choir for that service. Jaden went to church in his pajamas because the service didn't end until 11:30 PM.

Christmas was a nice relaxing day here at our house. My mom came over and we took our time opening presents, laughing together, eating a big dinner and just enjoying the day.

The day after Christmas, we all went out to eat at the Olive Garden for dinner and then to Sight and Sound's Millennium Theatre to see Joel in "Miracle of Christmas." That was a spectacular production and we were so proud of Joel! It is always such a joy to see him perform and of course, the shows are wonderful. Later this week, we'll all be going to the Living Waters theatre to see "Voices of Christmas" and hopefully I'll get to see Joel perform "Miracle" one more time this week before the show closes.

That night was the earthquake, which I already mentioned. Thankfully we've had no aftershocks that could be felt! Yikes! We drove by the epicenter yesterday which is 2 miles down the road from us.

Mark has off work all week so we are enjoying the week off, catching up on sleep, having fun and looking forward to celebrating New Years Eve. Next Monday, we'll start school again and ease back into the daily routine and rythyms of school days! I love homeschooling, but I also really love the breaks!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Earthquake!

Last night, well, actually early this morning shortly after midnight, we had an earthquake here! The epicenter was just 2 miles down the road from us - yikes!!! I happened to be in the bathroom, brushing my teeth with my mouth full of toothpaste... I heard the loud rumble that sounded like a freight train going down our street and everything shook for about 10 seconds. I threw down my toothbrush, must have swallowed my toothpaste and went into the bedroom where Mark was sitting up in bed..."It's an earthquake!!" Then I ran to the other side of the house where the kids rooms are and they were all sleeping soundly in their beds. I checked outside - no, the trees didn't come down! It took us a long time to go to sleep, we were so nervous. The last earthquake we felt was 10 years ago but that one was not as intense. I do not like earthquakes and I'm very glad we do not live in California! I don't think I could get used to them being a regular occurrance!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Do you have an extra Christmas card?

My cousin Brian would really appreciate a Christmas card from anyone who would like to send one. He is in jail for a crime he did not commit (see other posts) and is in need of encouragement. Just a brief note or Scripture verse would help to make his day brighter. Maybe your children could write a note or color a picture for him. Thank you!!!!!

Send to:
Brian Lamb
Dallas County Detention Center
204 Poplar
Buffalo MO 65622

"Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." Matthew 25:37-40

Jaden's birthday pictures



When I asked Jaden what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he said a BLUE cake! So this is what I came up with!



Jaden was so excited! See his puppy, Douglas, that Ivy bought him from Build-A-Bear?



He got mostly train things for his birthday. My mom got him the engineer's outfit.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

My "baby" is 3 years old today!!!!!

Today is Jaden's third birthday and I've been choking up over it all day. The time has gone so quickly! I will never forget the complete and total shock and amazement I felt on April 15, 2005 when we found out that we would be having a baby after so many years!!! (Joel was 10 and Ivy was 8 1/2 when Jaden came!) I am still amazed! What a wonderful blessing and gift he has been to us. I will never cease to be thankful for the surprise gift of Jaden!

Earlier today, we went to Build-a-Bear and Ivy spent her own money for Jaden to make a cute little puppy! He plays "Jingle Bell Rock" and he is so cute! Jaden named him Douglas.

Tonight, we'll be having a family party with hot dogs, cake and ice cream. I blew up tons of balloons all over the house and we'll have party hats and noise makers! I'll put up birthday party pictures later.

For now, here are some pictures of Jaden.

Here he is the day of his birth! December 18, 2005



Where did that little baby go?!











Wednesday, December 17, 2008

School Days

This week we are in Week 16 (TOG year 1) "Judges, Samuel, and Minor Neighboring Cultures." With Christmas quickly approaching and all of the busyness of the season, we are more laid back these days, but trying to include all the important things. Joel is enjoying reading "The Wanderings of Odysseus" and we are wrapping up our study of the ancient Greeks.

But I am especially enjoying our reading aloud of the book of Judges right now. So many lessons to learn from those ancient Israelites and their relationship with God. The cycle of disobedience, calling to the Lord for help, God's deliverance, peace and safety and then disobedience again keeps being repeated over and over again.

We've had some good talks about that cycle of obedience and disobedience. We all struggle with that. Sometimes as parents, we think that obedience is only something children must learn, but we must all live lives of obedience to the Lord. Am I a good example to my children? I need that reminder now and then as I get caught up in the day to day discipline of our children.

Jaden struggles with obedience in picking up his toys. He loves spreading them out all over the house but balks when it is time to clean up! "Mommy, just look at the ceiling! The ceiling is clean!!!"


Because he didn't help pick up the toys, Mommy had to take them away for a few days. Jaden is still in the training phase. He is still learning about what obedience means. I must be patient with him as he learns and also have a certain amount of empathy for him too - aren't I still learning and growing in my walk with the Lord? How often I still fail. But I am thankful for the grace of our Heavenly Father who lovingly forgives us.

The discipline and training of children can be exhausting. Sometimes they can be slow to "get it". But then I remember that these things take time. And God is working in their hearts just like He works in mine.

And then there are those wonderful moments that I see God's fruit in their lives and I rejoice! Like yesterday, after some hard feelings between the big kids, one of them asked the other for forgiveness and mended the relationship - all without being told to do that! And the other asked for forgiveness too and everything was happy
again.

Some of the saddest verses in the Bible, I think, are found in Judges 2 verses 7 through 15. "The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel....After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. The the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals..."

They had failed to teach their children to love and obey God and the result was great distress.

This week, in the midst of the crazy busy Christmas season, I want to focus on the most important parts of our schooling - our time reading the Word together and learning from the children of Israel as we read through Judges, Ruth and First Samuel. Learning about the Greeks is important too, but I love our focus on Scripture this week!

Winter Wonderland



Snow came yesterday, covering everything with a beautiful white frosting. So plans were changed and rearranged as usually happens in this kind of weather!



After bundling Jaden up, I took him outside and he watched me make a snowman! It was a lot of work rolling those snowballs all around the yard while bent over. Great exercise! But Jaden was very happy and I think the snowman turned out very well! I wanted to put some birdseed on the snowman's head for the birds to enjoy like we read about it our library book called Stranger in the Woods, a photographic fantasy by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoik. A wonderful book to read on a snowy day!

However, our snowman didn't last long.... Ivy and her neighborhood friends decided the snowman was too small so they got rid of ours and attempted to make a bigger one! Imagine my surprise when later I looked out the window and our snowman was gone! The new snowman is in a different location and they left it unfinished - did I say that making a snowman is a lot of work?! Especially a BIG snowman. So they gave up.

Ivy noticed that this squirrel was new to our feeder! How would she know that??!! She explained to me that this was a skinny squirrel and all the regulars here are quite fat!


The kids really enjoyed the snow... especially being able to play outside in the snow after dark with all the neighborhood kids! Joel doesn't think there is anything better than playing football in the snow in the dark!

The only bad thing about the snow yesterday is that we couldn't go to the "Comfy Cozy Christmas Cast Party" last night for the cast of "Miracle of Christmas". It was going to be a fun pajama party breakfast dinner with lots of goofiness - how could it not be crazy with all those actors?! But the roads were slippy last night with ice as well as snow and we didn't want to risk the 45 minute travel on winding countries roads down to Quarryville where the party was going to be.

So to make up for that sad disappointment, we had our own pajama party here!!!! I made breakfast for supper - omelets and a ham and cheese quiche! We all got our jammies on and played games and had a silly time together. We set up the card table by the Christmas tree, put on some Christmas music and played Scrabble Upwords. It was a hilarious time. We all laughed very hard at very silly things. I won, by the way! Yes, I love that game!







Monday, December 15, 2008

Have you read The Shack?



I just put up my first blog poll! It seems like everyone is reading the book called The Shack by William Young. A few weeks ago, I reserved a copy of it from the library and received it last week. I'm not finished with it yet.... and I'm not sure what I think about it or if I like it or not... It is a very different kind of book! I'll put a poll up later asking what you think about the book if you've read it.

Family Christmas Get-togethers

What a busy weekend it was! Friday night was Mark's company Christmas Party at Willow Valley. Saturday morning, Mark's sister Hope and bro-in-law Chad came over for breakfast. They drove down from New York to spend the weekend. Saturday evening we went to Mark's cousin Brandi's house for the annual family Christmas gathering. There were 30 of us....aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and Great-Grandma! It was so much fun - especially for all the little cousins! There were 9 kids in all.






Then on Sunday after church, Nana and Grandpa came over and spent the day with us. They brought down presents for Jaden's birthday and Christmas presents too! We had cake and ice cream to celebrate Nana's and Jaden's birthdays.



Thursday, December 11, 2008

Unusual Christmas Presents

At a Ladies Tea at our church, our pastor's wife told about the gifts that her husband chose to give their four young adult children last Christmas. He gave each of them and their spouses.... BURIAL PLOTS!!!! I'm not kidding!!!!

We have a wonderful pastor and this was a very generous gift - burial plots aren't cheap! Our church has a new beautiful cemetary and those lots were on sale last year. I'm sure to him it was a very good and practical gift. Not a practical joke, but a practical gift!

But it struck my funny bone for sure! One of his sons, after thanking his dad, said, "But Dad, how will I tell the guys at the office what I got for Christmas???!!!"

As my husband and I were laughing about this the other night, I said, "Only a Presbyterian pastor would give a gift like that!!! After all, Baptist pastors would never give burial plots to thirty somethings because the Rapture would make that completely unecessary!!!"

And then we thought about it even further, Baptist churches don't have cemeteries either!!

I hope that made you smile and didn't offend our dearly loved Baptists! But the whole thing made us laugh all week!

Something Very Funny

I know that my next post on here is anything but funny, so I wanted to also post some funny things to make people smile or crack up laughing!

Today at the library I overheard the librarian telling a woman that she could not check her books out because the computer alerted her that this woman had a rather large unpaid fine. A fine of over forty dollars! (wow! I thought my fines were big sometimes!!!) Anyway, the woman was flustered about it and asked what the fines were for.

"Well...." said the elderly hearing-impaired Librarian in a very loud voice,"Twenty-five dollars was to replace a book that you checked out back in 2001 and never returned!"

"Really?" asked the embarrassed woman,"What book was that?"

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Organizing Your Life!!!!!!!!

Prayer is needed

As I've written before, my 22 year old cousin Brian has been unjustly incarcerated in the Dallas County Jail in Buffalo, MO since November 8, 2007. He has not been convicted of any crime. He has no prior record. He is in jail because a cell phone charger belonging to him was used in a murder of his next door neighbor, an old man who was interestingly a drug dealer. Brian had nothing to do with this murder and there is no, and I mean absolutely no evidence that he was involved in any way except that the cell phone charger that was wrapped around this man's neck belonged to Brian. This man who was murdered as well as Brian and several other tenets had all recently moved due to remodeling in that apartment building. So it is very reasonable that that cell phone charger was left behind or lost in that move.

Anyway, Brian was falsely charged and arrested and has been awaiting trial which isn't scheduled until JULY 2009!!!!!!!!!!! (Can this happen in the United States??? Sadly, yes.)

Brian and the other inmates at the Dallas County Jail in Buffalo MO are not allowed to go outside. EVER. Brian has only been outside twice in the past year, to his two hearings. There are no windows in his cell. No sunlight. Also, this County Jail has no TV, no library, no exercise room.


Brian has had perfect behaviour - no bad attitudes and he is not angry or bitter. He struggles with depression at times but I think he is becoming a stronger and more godly person due to this suffering. I know that God has a reason for this but at the same time, I think it is time we do something about the gross human rights violations at this jail. A year without sunlight and deplorable conditions there are cruel and unjust. Please pray for Brian. Pray for Brian's release and that those responsible for the crime will be brought to justice.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

How many more weeks till Christmas break???

We are still plugging away with school. Many of our friends school year around so they can take off most or all of the month of December. We prefer to have a long break in the summer, so we usually only have a week or two off for Christmas. Admittedly it is hard to focus when there is such excitement in the air and such a busy calendar too!

This week we are on Week 15 of TOG year 1, "The Promised Land: Conquest and Settlement". I think it is a good week for us to be focusing on that since we need to press on in our studies as we learn about the children of Israel who had to press on to the Promised Land!

I really love how Tapestry of Grace weaves Biblical history with world history... for example, this week as we read of Joshua and the early judges, we are also reading The Wanderings of Odysseus and D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths. Joshua was entering the Promised Land at about the same time that the Mycenaeans were prominant in the Aegean cultures and the Trojan War probably occurred sometime during the period of the Judges. Fascinating! We love to see how it all fits together in history. There are so many interesting connections to make!

A visit to Great-Maw's house



Yesterday, we drove 3 hours down to Alexandria, Virginia early in the morning to go visit Great-Maw (my Grandma). It was so nice to see her again! We had a really nice visit with her and Lucinda, her pug which is remarkably similiar to a pig, but very, very cute!



We took Great-Maw out to lunch at Ruby Tuesdays and had such a nice time together. Then it was time to drive the 3 hours back home. The kids were really good in the car for all those 6 hours. It was a long day, but a very good day too.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

On Saturday, we all went to pick out the perfect Christmas tree. We came home with a beautiful Douglas fir just like always. (By the way, Jaden's middle name is Douglas because he's our Christmas baby!)






Here is the tree all decked out with hundreds of ornaments.



The only problem is that our two cats, Sasha and Starlet cannot resist the temptation of all those ornaments! Each morning we wake up to find a couple dozen ornaments all over the living room floor! We can do our best to prevent the un-decorating when we happen to be home and awake and near the tree, but when we are gone or asleep or out of the room, they go after that tree with tremendous enthusiasm!

Here is Starlet planning her next escapade!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Grand Prize Winner!!!!

Joel entered a drawing contest for Sports Illustrated for Kids magazine - designing a new mascot for his favorite team. Of course he drew a mascot for the Washington Redskins and I thought it was pretty good. He is very critical of his drawing and he wanted to throw it away. But I sent it in and it turned out to be the grand prize winner!!!!!!! Braylon Edwards of the Cleaveland Browns helped to pick the winners and Joel has won his autographed helmet! Today we received the newest issue and his drawing is featured on page 27! In a few days, it will be on their website at http://www.sikids.com/ Look under "cool stuff" - that's where the contest winners usually are. Until then, here is a copy of the winning mascot:





Saturday, November 29, 2008

Turkey leftovers

We LOVE turkey leftovers! In fact, today I'm roasting another turkey just to have some more! I bought a fresh 22 pound turkey on sale at the store today and it's in the oven now. The Thanksgiving turkey disappeared too quickly! Now we'll have plenty for sandwiches and we'll freeze some for later.

One of my favorite recipes for leftover turkey is Turkey Noodle Casserole. It is very good! Here's the recipe:

In large skillet over medium heat, cook 1 cup chopped celery and 1/2 cup chopped onion in 2 T. butter till tender. (I usually skip this step and do without the celery and onion). Stir in 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, 1 cup milk, 2 cups of bite-sized cooked turkey (or chicken) and 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Cook and stir until cheese melts. Cook 1/2 pkg of medium egg noodles and drain. Combine noodles and Turkey mixture into 13x9 baking dish. Top with 1 cup of soft buttered bread crumbs. Bake 35 minutes at 350. This serves 6-8 people.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday! It was really nice to have Uncle Bill, Aunt Janis, cousins Emily and Jacob, and Nathan, Ruth and their baby Ethan here as well as my mom. We were all missing Brian and wishing he could be here with us too. We were able to talk to him on the phone and pass the phone around the table. We got to spend a half an hour on the phone with him - 15 minutes on Emily's cell phone and 15 minutes on ours. Please pray for Brian, that he would remain strong and be encouraged as he is suffering a very unjust incarceration and that God would bring justice quickly. Please pray for his release. Even though he's been in jail for over a year now, trial isn't until July 2009. But we know that God is able to bring about good from horrible things as he did in the life of Joseph. And God is still in charge and we have to trust Him.


Here are some pictures of our day yesterday as visited together after the meal, playing games and enjoying the precious new baby!



It looks like Mark and Joel are sleepy from so much turkey!!!


Uncle Bill, Aunt Janis, Emily and Jacob

Ruth, Nathan and little Ethan

Uncle Bill and Aunt Janis won the Thanksgiving Trivia Contest! They got to take home the big prize, the Turkey wall hanging - see it in the background.

Ruth watching Nathan as he plays 20 Questions. Is he thinking of Batman??!

My mom enjoyed holding the baby. He is so precious!

My wonderful husband Mark






Ethan's bib says "Handsome like Daddy!"

Jaden loves to be a cowboy! We had a Rootin' Tootin' Good time!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

So excited about Thanksgiving!

We are busy getting ready for Thanksgiving at our house. I am really looking forward to having a house full! Every year my aunt and uncle and cousins come up from Virginia for the day and it is a great time to catch up with each other. This year will be extra special since my cousin and his wife are coming with their new baby! We will have 13 people around the table this year.

I found some great things online that I printed out to make the day even more fun! I found some placemats for Jaden to color as we wait for the meal. They would be great for a children's table at Thanksgiving! Go to http://www.bhg.com/holidays/thanksgiving/crafts/thanksgiving-place-mats and you can print out several different place mats for young children to color.

We will play a Thanksgiving Trivia game that I found at www.creative-baby-shower-ideas.com/thanksgiving-trivia.html I printed out the game and everyone can play this as I finish the meal prep in the kitchen. I even have a prize for the most correct answers! This game will be fun and have everyone laughing. We'll find out how fast a spooked turkey can run and all kinds of interesting things!

My son loves crossword puzzles and I found a great Thanksgiving one at http://akidsheart.com/bible/PsalmsofThanksp.htm There are 26 clues of words found in the Psalms about giving thanks. The references are included if you need the answers. This is KJV.

And just for fun, there is a word search at http://akidsheart.com/holidays/thanks/turkeyws.htm All the words are food words and will make everyone hungry as they wait for dinner!

For decorating the table, I printed out some nice napkin rings at www.countryhome.com/thanksgiving There are also other decorations to print out there too with a vintage Thanksgiving patriotic theme.

And I really like the patterns you can download at www.BHG.com/tabledecor There are beautiful leaf patterns and also labels in nice fall colors. You can use those for place cards and all sorts of things.

Every year, we use the same place cards that our kids made for the family when they were young. We put pilgrim and indian stickers on the card stock paper and Joel wrote the names on them in his 6 year old handwriting. They are so cute! And we can't help but use them every year.

We'll have the same menu as always too.

Roast Turkey with lots of gravy
Mashed potatoes
Yummy sweet potatoes (see recipe on the side of this page)
Lots and Lots of Stuffing
Baked corn casserole
Green beans
Cranberry sauce (my mom's homemade - yum! yum!)
Rolls
Pumpkin pies with whipped cream
Vanilla Ice cream
and new this year will be mini-trifles!
In small glasses, I will layer cubed pumpkin bread, vanilla pudding, whipped cream, carmel sauce and pecans.

Tomorrow will be busy baking, cleaning and getting all the last minute details taken care of. Joel and Ivy will still have school - thankfully they can do so much on their own independently! They will be mapping out Ancient Greece tomorrow and reading the Greek myths, working in their math-u-see books, language lessons and lots of home ec. time with pie making!

Have a great Thanksgiving! Psalm 106:1 "Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!"

Saturday, November 22, 2008

4th-6th Grade Homeschool Choir


Here is the picture from Ivy's choir concert last night! What a wonderful group of well-behaved, homeschooled children! It was a beautiful concert and the kids did a fantastic job. Can you spot Ivy in the picture?