12 Years of Sheer Bliss

This month, we celebrated our 12th year of marriage.

A little B&B, an expensive restaurant and a movie.  We are so creative!

It's fun to think of the ways we are similar, and the ways we are different.

Like toast, for example.

We both like the french bread toasted with butter.

But!

Shane likes it sweet and fruity.

I like it with heavily salted avocado. 

According to the kids, here are some ways we are alike and different.

SAME:

L: You are both married.  Your fingers both turn white when you get angry.  

A: You're both adults.  You are both parents.  You are both humans. You both speak the same language. You both quiver when you are cold. You both go on errands.(I'm glad we both speak the same language.  Could be a real downer in a marriage not to.)

J: You both have the same color of eyes. You both have red lips.  You both spank us when you are annoyed.  You both like to sleep in. You both smooch when you are happy.(I guess we spank based on how we feel; not on how the kids behave...)

DIFFERENT:

J: You are loud and noisy and Papa is quiet.  And you don't look the same. I think Mom's huggier. You cook and Papa doesn't.  And you make strawberry shortcake and water the plants.  Papa's funnier than Mama.  Papa treats us calm, Mama treats us grouchy.  Papa has a goatee, you don't.(well, I guess there are points there for both of us)

A: The way you look.  Dad's hairy, Mom's not. (thanks, son) And mom has longer hair than Dad. Your voices are different.  How about your mind? Dad's smarter than you, Mom.(indeed)

L: For one thing, you are not a man and a man, and you are not a woman and a woman.  Papa does necessary work and you don't.  just kidding!  (hardee har har) 

Colorful Chickens

Well.  I guess I have to confess to some chickenly dabbling.

I've been dabbling in chickens again.

I continually tired of finding eggs broken and eaten, so got rid of most of my chickens.  Out of pity, I kept Red, she's such a good little girl.  And simply because Shane and I couldn't catch her, we kept Marshmallow.  Or Freckles.  Not sure which one she is.

Then we stopped by the feed store and checked out some baby chicks.

Ack!  Never stop to check out baby chicks!  Especially if you have a baby chick yard all ready for them!

We bought seven little ladies: 

2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Australorps and 3 Barred Rocks

Swiftly glossing over most details, ravens got all but two Barred Rocks.

Tears were shed, entrails were buried.
(this is part of the reason so many tears were shed; bonding)

A month later after trips and such, we lucked out and our feed store shaman stocked his last batch of chicks: Buffs and Australorps!  Yay!
(incidentally, less bonding has taken place)

We now have 4 Buffs and 4 Australorp babies that just moved from the bathtub (pee yew!) to the fully enclosed chick yard outside.  They are so cute!

We have two teenage Barred Rock survivors that just moved from the fully enclosed chick yard (we quickly learned after 4 deaths to put a roof on) and are now with the "old" two chickens.

And two old ladies in the big pen; a Rhodie and a Delaware.

A grand total of 12 Chickens!

And I said my limit was 9.

Time for a new coop!

I have tried to get rid of my old coop, but I can't give the silly thing away.

I have big plans for a new one.

Shane's going to weld me a frame, the walls will slide off and on for easy cleaning and access, I will use an antiqued picture frame to make a screened in window 'cause it's cute, and it will be OFF THE GROUND!  So many amazing things about this new, not-yet-made coop.

My current crop in moving pictures:
(baby talk required)

School is a Learning Process!

As we very slowly, very painfully and very LATEly wrap up the school year, I have a few things on my mind for planning the coming school year.

#1:

Start before the last week of October.

Last year, I was making my new school room, and as I had to travel out of state to get to Ikea, it just held up the process... and we started abysmally late!  And then took our share of vacation, too.  Yes, we can count our extra curricular activities as this or that subject, but we still have the actual school materials to finish.  And finish them we shall!

#2:

Take one week off each month.

Yay! Such a great idea in my head.  I'll let you know if it goes all wrong.  But the math is so friendly! 52 weeks in a year, 36 weeks of school, 16 weeks of no school.

That's 12 weeks for the months and 4 more to beef up the summer fun.

The truth is that we don't have to take 36 weeks, either.  This year, almost all the schoolwork will be done by week 33.  Most subjects are not "five days a week" type things.  More like 3 or 4.  Especially with subjects that are 3 x per week, we can throw in an extra lesson every other week and really whittle down the time spent, without harm to learning.  I refuse to do multiple lessons per day for the core subjects, though, just defeats the purpose.

#3:

Change the History/Science Schedule.

We do History MWF, Science TTh.  Instead, I want to do whole weeks with each.  A week with one, a week with the other.  Maybe a few more weeks with History than Science, since the workload is heavier.  But both subjects have a lot of FUN activities that go along with them.  And if I take a week, we can do the reading, questions and narrative thread at the beginning (least fav. part) and then spend the rest of the 2 or three days reinforcing with the games, experiments, activities, etc. and finish with the chapter test. =)  Sounds great to me!  I'm tired of trying to rush through the chapters, let the kids read the activities and then not have time to do them.

#4:

Time management.

I always need to work on this one.  The particulars aren't set in stone yet, but I've been thinking about what time we get going in the morning (way too late), streamlining chores, and juggling my 2nd and 3rd graders (soon to be 3rd and 4th!) with their subjects.  They have both independent work and instructional time with me.  I have two great tools that have worked well this year; a dry erase board with their daily work to be crossed off (which is then deposited in my correcting bin) and allotting 2 hours to Lucas, then 2 hours to Julia and Aidan for instructional time, while they complete independent work in the other time frame.  Group work of Science and History are done after that.  So I've got part of the battle won, just needs a little more fine tuning.

The New Toothless

Our third child experienced a first: losing his first tooth.  Sometimes, when a first happens for the third time, it isn't as new or exciting, and I have to pep up the enthusiasm for it.

Not so losing teeth!

We have been enjoying the cute evenness of Aidan's baby teeth, as we are surrounded by huge honkers and big gaps on the other two.  But true to our weird family, his bottom two adult teeth showed up behind the babies.  And not too long after, the babies started to come loose.  We quickly prepped by sewing him a "tooth pillow" and it was none too soon.  It came out the next day.

Aidan's story is a little... odd.  The routine runs thiswise:  The tooth fairy grants your wish on the fist tooth, then gives a dollar for all teeth following.  In the past, I have suggested that the kiddo write a private note to the tooth fairy with their wish on it.  True to form, we forgot to take care of it and Aidan woke up the next morning without a visit from the tooth fairy.  Luckily, it was Saturday morning and he was more interested in his computer time and forgot about it too.  So Shane snuck in his room and retrieved the note.  And this is what he showed me:

What do you DO with THIS????  No biggie, Mom, just a simple request to make all my dreams come true.  HA!  Shane reaches for his wallet and says, how about a $5?  In the end, Shane used a trip to town to snag a nano bug (look it up) and we stuck that in Aidan's tooth pillow pocket.  Later, after the booty had been found, we hear this conversation between Aidan and Julia where she gives him an education.

Julia: What did you wish, Aidan?

Aidan: I wanted the tooth fairy to make the things I dream about at night to happen in real life!  I have really cool dreams and I want them to come true!

Julia:  Oh, that's too big of a wish for the tooth fairy! (She had wished for a horse on her first tooth.)  You have to wish a tooth-sized wish!

So, Aidan was happy with his nano, and he played with it for awhile.  Later in the day, they got their allowance.  It was kind of a lot, since I had skipped a few weeks.  With his wad of cash in hand, he ran into his room, and ran out again telling me: I gave the tooth fairy two dollars, Mom!  She is so nice that I wanted to tell her thank-you and I hope she will accept it! (italics, mine)

What in the WORLD am I to do with this kid?  With a kicker line like that, how can I not take that money out of the pocket?  So I did, but I think I'll just smuggle it back into his wallet.  I certainly don't want it!  =)  Any ideas?  Maybe a note from the tooth fairy?  

I should have just stuck to a simple quarter per tooth.  I could have made sure it was a state or national park quarter, since they are collecting those.  KISS!  (keep it simple, stupid)

Adoption

I recently found out about some friends of ours beginning the journey of adoption.  And it's made me think about the subject once again, in all it's sweetness.  Be warned, I'm not well versed in adoption and the common faux pas that people say on the topic.  I'm a little worried about ignorantly saying something stupid.  So if you read on, please read with a measure of grace in your heart for me.

Growing up, we knew a few families that adopted children.  It was always a positive experience as an on-looker, although never easy because child-rearing simply isn't easy.  With one family, I got to meet each little girl the day they came to their new home, watch them become part of their new family and even attend their adoption ceremony at the courthouse with family, friends and workers present.  For those of you who know Paul Boyd, it was special to see him shed tears of joy at the ceremony and then speak often of adoption in gospel meeting.  Those little girls would just beam with joy, tapping their parents and whispering, "I'm adopted!"  It was a good kind of special, with good associations.

We have some dear friends that adopted their first child from Korea.  It was beautiful to watch them all take to each other so naturally and lovingly.  Both sides of the extended families were so eager to welcome the little guy and shower him with "grandparent-ly" enthusiasm and love.

I have some neighbors, with two boys biologically, that are doing "foster-to-adopt" and it's been a difficult road for them.  It's clear to me that they feel guided by a larger Will than their own in the step of adoption.  It's a daily act fraught with pain and heartache because of the uncertainty and children coming and going, but they are so motivated by the needs of children and their desire to share a loving family.  It's inspiring!

I had wished to adopt, but in the early married years, it wasn't a shared dream.  Now that we exceeded our capacity of two children, adopting is something that I have to wrap up and put on the shelf.  But I have little dreams of foster care that I'm saving for future days, if possible!  And someday, maybe I can be a Grandma to children born in the heart, as well as under it.

And now, more dear friends from back in the "single days"  have decided to adopt.  They have two bio daughters who are ready to open their hearts and home to make more family.   I can think of three other families I know who have adopted, one started with adoption, the other finished with adoption and the third only adopted.  I love how each adoption story, each journey is so unique yet motivated by the similar things: the desire to share in a family, and the needs of the children themselves.

Although I realize adoption is not exclusively a spiritual decision, I do enjoy thinking of it in that light.  That God wanted a family, so He adopted us.  That God loves us in our need, and gives us gifts beyond compare.  That He even sees us as worthy of adoption, we who are so much less than He.  Like marriage can be a type of Christ and the church, natural adoption is a type of us being spiritually adopted in the family of God.  I'm thankful God adopted me, and I'm thankful for those who show this great gift to children in this world.