School Prep update

We completed our first full week of school!!
This year promises to be a good year. I am in my 7th year of homeschooling. 

This year Lee is in 7th grade. He is doing bible, history, science, geography, language arts and civics online with Alpha Omegas Monarch. He is doing his 6th year of Teaching Textbooks Math. He is also going to be doing some "woodshop" classes as I teach him to build goat milking stands and hay feeders. This will be his little business, so he will be learning accounting and business management too.


David is going into 6th grade.  He is going to be doing KONOS this year. I am excited to try this for him. This will cover language arts, science, history and geography. We struggle fiercely with math for him. So as usual I am tossing around several things. He will be doing some "Keys To:" workbooks along with CLE. He has a strong foundation in the basics but just struggles with math.  He is also running his own little calf business so he is learning to be responsible, how to manage his money etc.. He will be helping teach bubbie too. He helps me out with babysitting and is my excellent helper. 

Elizabeth is also in 6th grade and is  doing Alpha Omega's Monarch. She is doing history, science, geography, bible, language arts and Career Exploration. She is in her 6th year of Teaching Textbooks. Yes, I have 2 6th graders working two completely different curricullium. Matia also has her own goat and hopes to start her own goat herd. The girl is ambitious and dreams big! She will be helping teach Bubbie and Nesiah. She does 1/3 of Nesiah's program for me.

Fayth is in 5th grade. She is doing KONOS with David. We are hoping with the hands on learning she will be able to catch up. She is doing CLE math, finishing up from last year. We don't break up her math into school years. We work steadily (with some major battles) year round because she is so far behind. Fayth loves to help with Nesiah. She is not an animal person and does not enjoy going to the barn, so she has been enlisted to help with Nesiah. She hopes to grow up and be a missionary who works with special needs kids. 

 
We attempted circle time.. lol

Nesiah is in 3rd grade. She is doing NACD this year. Yes, I am homeschooling her. My goal is to try some alternatives and see how they work for her. So far she loves being home and we love having her home. She has made some great strides and we are happy with her progress. She does NACD which covers all her therapies, plus she does equine therapy. We also include her in when we do preschool circle time with Bubbie. She does her PT outside and is learning to enjoy being out and about in the community with us. 

Signing Time videos while standing... 

(notice the shoes? He wore them until they were falling off his feet and then he still insisted on wearing them until I hid them!!)

Bubbie, my baby.. He is doing preschool this year. We had fun making a homemade curricilum for him. He is learning a new letter, sound, shape, color and bible verse every week. We are very informal and make it fun for him. He loves having school like the big kids. The big kids take turns doing circle time with the little ones and we all work to point out things as we go through daily life. 

Nesiah loves her horseback riding! She gets all excited when we pull into the farm! Penny is her favorite horse!

I am looking forward to this school year. The kids are on the brink of middle and high school. They are moving into the teen stage. I want to savor these moments. Enjoy the schooling, the parenting and the relationships with my kids in this stage. 

Canning

The beginning of summer this is what my can shelves looked like..
I prayed that God would fill them...
Now We all know that God is a God of miracles but he expects us to do our share in the work. So we have been working HARD!!
 But he provided lots and lots of cheap and low cost produce for us!! 

So far, the 2 different neighbors provided us with free corn because..
1. her husband planted too much corn and she did not want it. We were quite blessed by her extra.
Second neighbor, her friend went on vacation and told her to pick the corn. We got another 100 ears.
Then ANOTHER friend offered us some extra of her corn..
We found cheap organic tomatoes from a local farmer, which we made in tomato soup, tomato paste, tomato juice and salsa. Neighbors also brought us some of their extra which I turned into tomato paste.
On Friday we will go pick MORE FREE tomatoes at another friends and turn those into ketchup and barbecue sauce.
We found some expensive peaches, some seconds peaches and have been canning and freezing as we can. I hope to find more seconds at the end of the season.
My garden has over produced cucumbers, so we have lots of pickles and some pickle relish.
Neighbors gave us free green beans and we bought a basket of green beans.
We canned red beets that we bought from an amish farmer.
We had neighbors bring us watermelon and corn on several occassions for fresh eating.

my shelves are slowly filling and overflowing. My freezers are filling.
God is faithful.

Fun Run

Life is busy.. Summer has been grand... We have played hard and worked hard. 

The kids ran in their first Color Run. 

They ran for an organization called  We help Children at  www.wehelpchildren.org

They had a total blast!! 

It was HOT and STICKY!! 

I could not imagine any fun in being covered by this messy, colorful mess! 

1 st Race

My kids decided they want to run a 5 mile race. They worked hard at building up their strength. For the past year they have been running laps around the property to earn screentime. So when they decided they want to run a 5 mile race we just expanded their running area. They had exactly 2 weeks to train for their 5 mile race. They would wake me at 6 am and beg to go running. I am not a morning person. at.all.

Honestly, I did not think that they could run a 5 mile race, especially in this heat. But they like to prove me wrong. Jeremiah and Journi are natural born runners. They run with joy. 

The day of the race, I had the girls running together and David was given freedom to run at his own pace. I was rather concerned with giving my preteens the freedom to run 5 miles without an adult. I know the organizer of the race and they reassured me that there were ambulances and police officers everywhere. So I prayed and trusted. (I am learning this is my current stage of parenting. Praying and letting them test their wings)

I had them do a practice run on the route so they could become familiar with the route along with easing my concerns. I generally follow them in the van when they are running outside of our immediate neighborhood. Eventually I hope to join in running but for now I support  them by supporting them.

David was running alone, the girls were running together. I prayed frevently that David would be safe and that if he faltered that God would provide someone to run with him. (we discussed safe adults vs unsafe and how to ask for help etc..) 

He ran strong, finished the 5 miles in 45 minutes. He came in and soon this wonderful lady came up to me. She shared how she had encountered him at the 3 mile mark. He was running out of steam. She ran with him and talked to him the last 2 miles. She was quite flustered when I informed her that she was a direct answer to my prayers! I was so thankfulf that God provided this wonderful person to run alongside David. This random stranger that saw a young boy and sought to encourage him.

The girls came in 15 minutes after Jeremiah. They ran strong. They had  a total blast. It was like 90 degrees out but they totally enjoyed it. The girls came in back to back, 3-4th place for 18 and under girls. Fayth won the 3rd place medal. 

The happy crew after their run. Lee, Bubbie and Nesiah were the support crew. They cheered and  waited patiently in the hot sun. Lee has been a huge help with the little ones as I help the runners etc..

The benefit of running, aside from the obvious self esteem booster and health benefits. Is that one of my kids has been borderline depressed. This child snapped at everyone, everyone complained about the grumpy attitudes from this one. But since this child runs regularly this child is happy, fun to be around and I have not heard anyone complain about their attitude! 

Conowingo Dam

In July we decided to take a short "staycation". We had quite an interesting first day. It was the kind fo thing that you will never forget, the chain reaction of disasters. We ended up at home, watching movies. On the 2nd day we took a trip to Herr's Chip Factory and the Conowingo Dam. 

I did not get any pics at the Chip Factory, but it was sooo much fun. It was very handicapped accessible and they were so helpful.

We had a beautiful day for our picnic at the Dam. 

Our staycation was a fun relaxing time. I love that we have so many wonderful things to do for free in our area. 

Summer Fun..

The boys had a total blast playing ball this spring. Even tho they never once won a game. They played hard and had fun. 

Because I am a firm believe in a fine balance of hard work and lots of fun!! 

We picked and froze over a 100 quarts of strawberries for smoothies~

We got up at 6 am and picked tons and tons of strawberries. It was NOT my idea of fun. But we do eat a lot of strawberries and they were the cheapest I could find.

It really did not take long once we got started.. We stem them, wash them and bag them up. One bag makes one family sized smoothie for us!
We also froze a bunch of blueberries  to add to our smoothies~

My current favorite THM smoothie is, plain greek yogurt, a bit of cream cheese, strawberries, Glucci and a bit of water!
Bubbie's favorite smoothie is goat milk kefir, strawberries, blueberries, coconut oil, and raw local honey.
The big kids love goat milk, strawberries, a dash of vanilla and a bit of honey.

Racial Issues and Baseball

Last night was my boy's last baseball game. (We have play offs next week yet). I am not a fan of sports. I am a homebody. But I promised the boys, one season of baseball, because they have worked hard to be responsible and respectful.

They are playing on a local league, not competitive. Most of the coaches are strong christian men. Many of the kids are Mennonite, some are not.

They had practices for a number of months then they had games starting end of May.

Towards the end of practices and beginning of games, one kid started bullying my son. He befriended my son then turned around crossed the line with questions about birth parents and racial name calling. My son was heartbroken.

With the help of a woman, I greatly admire, I helped my son to see that he was strong enough to stand against this bully. We role played, we discussed his strength. His brother stepped up and stood by him.

The kid continued, despite my son speaking up. So I contacted the coach and vaguely shared details. I asked him to be aware of what was happening. My boys did not want more attention drawn to themselves. But they also could not (nor would I allow) allow the bullying to continue. The coach had a chat with the team about bullying. (My boys did not know I had contacted him) He handled the situation with wisdom and discretion that empowered my boys.

The bullying stopped, once or twice again this kid would pop out with a comment and my son would respond with "Stop that!" which ended it.

My son came out of the whole situation feeling strong and proud of himself. He had with the help of his brother, coach and mom, handled this bullying situation.

The bully has a very angry father that would often yell at him. If he missed a ball or messed up, his dad would step in and chew him out. The kid was so tense he couldn't hit the ball. His eyes were often full of hurt. He also told my son on more then one occasion "I HATE MY DAD!".

This was such an excellent lesson for my boys. This kid was reacting out of his own hurt. His heart was hurting, so he spilled that out on the first victim he could find. It was not ok, at all. But the incredibly amazing thing where I am si incredibly proud of my boys.. by the end of the season they were often cheering for this boy.

My baby....

 3 years ago, this month I was busy loading a pile of boxes into my van, when my phone rang. Caller ID showed my foster agency. I was shocked because I had closed my home and was working on transferring to a neighboring county..What she asked me, shocked me even more..

It was a beautiful summer day. I had been praying and trying to set up a meeting with a caseworker from County B, so we could work on getting re licensed with the county vs a private agency. We had discussed and prayed over taking another child. I was done adopting but wanted to foster a toddler or two. The kids were on board.

When that call came in from my private agency.. it was the intake director, she asked me if I would be willing to take another child. Kinship, as it was a sibling to my children. She had zero details, except that they were from county A and had just been born. I told her that I was very interested. I went about my day, in a  daze. Newborn babies are not really my thing. I prefer the older kids. But this was a sibling.

I called the county myself because I know sometimes communication sucks. I wanted them to know I was serious about this child and I wanted details. I have been a foster parent long enough that I knew how to get the caseworker I wanted. I specifically asked for the caseworker for bio mom #2, got his voicemail and left a message. The fun part started when he called m back. He was totally confused. Because yes bio mom had 2 kids in care. But they had been in care for over 2 years. They had no need for me to take them.  After picking up my jaw, I explained that apparently then I must want bio mom #3. The woman who had tried to kill my daughter, it never crossed my mind that she would have another kid.
But first I really needed to know more about THESE 2 kids of biomom #2, because they are after all bio siblings of my kids. (Are you confused? We have 3 birthmoms. Biomom #1 was in prison, Biomom #2 is young and apparently has had quite a few kids since I adopted, biomom #3 is very, incredibly mentally ill)
So once we had that all straightened out, I asked the caseworker what he knows about biomom #3 and this new baby. He knew lots.. He was able to connect me to that caseworker. I left a message.

Meanwhile.. my house was on the market to be sold. My landlord was selling it right out from under us, as he had some financial troubles. The photographer was scheduled to come the next day. It was also my oldest son's birthday.

The next morning we cleaned the entire house from top to bottom. I gave  Lee his birthday cake for breakfast, just in case the new baby would come that day. I wanted to make sure I celebrated him too.

I left the house to take the kids for a trail ride at the local stable. The photographer came to take pictures. I decided to stop by the local consignment shop to pick up a couple onesies and a bassinet. I had ZERO baby stuff. I never had a baby before!!

It was now around 10 am. I had not spoken to anyone since 4 pm. I had no more info then the siblings caseworker had given me. I had no idea what to expect.

I stopped at the grocery store and picked up a pack of bottles, a pack of diapers and a can of formula. While I was in the store, I got a call from my private agency. She asked if she could come out ASAP. Her office was 1.5 hours away. She would be here in 1.5 hrs. I asked if I was getting the baby..
She stopped, dead silence, then "no one called you?" Me:Nope! Am I getting the baby?!?! She said yes!!!

I hurried through the store, arms loaded with baby supplies while talking technical stuff with her. I had to get an emergency kinship license. I had to get my house up to code. Atleast it was clean!!


I dropped the kids off at riding lessons. Called all my foster mama friends. Dashed home to make sure the realtor's photographer was done. Miss A pulled into my driveway..

We did the paperwork and discussed what the plan was. So because foster care is always interesting. They told us mom and dad were both black, something I believed for 2 weeks until the very first visit when I met a very "white" dad! They would go straight for termination of rights. No visits. No drama.

They would not allow me to go to the hospital to pick up the baby. There was some talk of dad, his criminal activities and my safety...

Mid afternoon the county caseworker finally arrive with the precious little bundle. I had been sooo nervous about taking a newborn. But the moment I saw that tiny little 6 lb bundle, strapped carelessly into a carseat. No blanket, not warm cute outfit. Only a stiff little hospital gown. My heart attached.. That was MY baby. One I would spend many many sleepless nights praying over.. 

                                     

The kids first words "Mom, HE is WHITE!" :) 

Suddenly in less then 24 hours, I was once again licensed as a foster parent and had added a newborn baby to my family. This was only the beginning of a long incredible journey. A time of trusting God. Of being pushed to my very absolute limit and beyond. But the most incredible blessing of the sunshine of our lives. He has brought so much healing to my big kids hearts. He has brought us all closer together. 

We found out that the judge had plans that no one else agreed with. This case was supposed to be short and sweet. The parents were originally not supposed to know I had custody of this child. There were and are concerns for our safety. My neighbor is a police officer in this county. I had a little chat with him, prior to meeting the biodad. Sadly this police officer IMMEDIATELY recognized the name of this couple, apparently they were frequent flyers with that police dept. My neighbor suggested I make a safety plan.  It was a long and rough road. But God protected us and at the moment, that very last moment of panic,(after 16 months of visits) bio dad was returned to prison.. for a very long time. 

This case brought so many emotions for me. This woman. I knew what she had done to my daughter. I knew what she was capable of. I see my daughter suffer every day from the choices her biomom made. I had to take my tiny newborn baby and leave him with her for an hour every week. It was a tough emotional journey for me. Two long hard years of fighting the system and this precious child became mine forever..

                                   

Biological siblings

Last month we celebrated the 1 year anniversary of his adoption. We praise God for his protecting hand on us. We praise God for the blessing of this sweet child. We praise God that for this season we are totally done with fostercare! 

                                            

Happy 11th Anniversary..

The question remains...
How do you celebrate your 11th wedding anniversary when your husband is no longer living? You can't ignore the day. Nobody really gets why you want to celebrate the day. So it's the anniversary of one of the most amazing days of your life, but there is no right way to celebrate it.

Life has moved on. God has blessed me abundantly. I am living a life I could never have dreamed of. My children are an amazing blessing in my life. They bring me joy and chaos. But it is possible to be lonely and alone in the midst of many people.

I struggle to find the balance. God has blessed me so much, I don't have anything to complain about. But my heart aches. The desire to curl up under a blanket with a good book and block out the world is overwhelming. The desire to dream for hours, remembering what was and no longer is..
But is kinda hard to do that with 6 little people who need attention.. because we all know that a closed bedroom door means a crisis must happen.


God is good all the time. For tonight, I will allow myself to think of what it would be like. To have him here with me. To go to bed and have his arms wrapped around me. To him rejoice with me over the victories in life. To have him hold me when life is hard. To have him pick up the pieces when I lose it. To have his strength beside me on this journey through life...


Tomorrow I will get up and resume normal life. I will soldier on. I will lean on Jesus when I get lonely. I will read his Love Letter that strengthens and encourages me. I will rely on Jesus for my strength. He does not fail me. He will never leave me.

I am also going to enjoy some massive banana splits, made with all the goodies the kids and I picked up today.  These precious kids of mine, understand loss. They understand pain. We cry together and we heal together. Together tomorrow we will celebrate this special day. We will all miss this amazing man and talk about the what ifs.. Then we will tell our hearts to beat again.




                                

A little bit of life...

Life has been incredibly busy this spring! Lots of babies on the farm! Lots of fun and new exciting things happening! 

Our 4 momma goats had a total of 9 babies! We have had so incredibly much fun with these baby goats! 

This kid did so well this winter! He had one awful illness but no hospitalizations! 

Spring has sprung! Starting pumpkin seeds! 

Babies.. oh, so many babies.This is Freddy one of the triplets. 

Will

Flossy

Roy

Lee's momma bunny had.... 11 babies! 

This kiddoe loves goat milk and free range eggs. We are so excited to see him eating more! A friend has blessed us by making yogurt from our milk!

We did the usual homeschool testing for my 5th graders! They did well! 

My word for 2016 is "healthy".. 

The kids have joined me in the smoothie making! Everyone morning everyone gets one. 

Even the munchkin.. 

I have a whole pile more of baby goat pictures. The cuteness is never ending! Spring is def coming and going this year. Warm days, cold rainy days, warm days.. But I love it!