Aftermath of Ike

Here is a picture as promised of some of the damage caused by Hurricane Ike. In this picture you can see a tree down, the church’s steeple twisted and moved, the power line is down, and there was a stick impressively harpooned into the ground. Yes, those are the trees roots you see. It’s amazing how much damage can be done by a hurricane. We have other more detailed pictures of some of the damages but I thought this one made an impressive over all view of the damages.

We stayed with my parents for 2 weeks. When we arrived home we had to find a way to park in our front yard. The entire yard was covered with branches. We came home expecting the power to be out for only a couple of days, it turned out being closer to a week and a half. We were really happy when the electric company finally showed up in our front yard. It’s funny how much you appreciate something after you have been without it for awhile. We really appreciate electricity having gone that long without it.

The kids are doing well. We were doing our lessons over at the church during the week that we didn’t have electricity. We would go over there for breakfast and then I would get the older involved with a lesson, while I figured out what to do with the younger two. It was fine but it is a lot easier to keep them out of trouble in our own house.

It amazes me how much there was for my 3 year old to displace. I walked into a room to get something and saw a large stack of books where she cleared the bottom two bookshelves that she could reach. I, of course, commanded that she put those back on the shelf neatly. Later I found half the church sign numbers moved and set messily on another table. I told her to put those back and she said, “O.k. I’ll put my money back.” Then on another occasion she had pulled all the coffee cup holders out of one of the kitchen cabinets and piled them on a table. I first turned it into a lesson for her by having her separate the cups by colors and then count how many cups of each color there were. Then I had her put them back. That was only some of the things she found to unorganized.

Now that we are able to do lessons here again, I feel like I’m able to keep a better eye on all the children. At least, here I know what she could possibly be doing in another room. There aren’t as many surprises. I can also keep a better eye on Jonathan this way as well.

I have a lot to do this month. I plan to put some of the things the kids are doing in homeschool next time I write. We’ve been pretty busy. I’ll try to get some pictures of them doing some of their lessons. Until then…

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Cause and Effect…

As promised, I’m adding a couple more videos to my blog. I entitled my blog today “Cause and Effect.” See if you can figure out why.

I don’t know if I will have time to post again before we leave. We will be back home this weekend but we’re not sure what the conditions of our home will be. We should have water and phones. However we are not sure if we will have electricity when we get there.

Hopefully we will be able to get any problems repaired. I know that we will have a tree down in our yard. It’s a pecan tree and I do not know which one it is. So I’m looking forward to getting back home and seeing first hand what the damages consist of at our house. I’ll try to get some pictures and post them as soon as possible.

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Two’s Company…

This video is of Hannah. She ran into the my parents living room announcing, “I stood on the clock and I weighed 30 feet inches!” So we had to get this video so everyone else could hear her. She is so funny.

We talked to some of our church members and found that electricity is gradually coming back to our area. We were planning to make a short trip there and then come back to my parents, but now we are planning to go ahead and pack up and go back this week. I’m not sure which day. We may have to go a couple of days without electricity but it’s not as bad as two weeks.

My parents have graciously shared their home with us these two weeks. Two weeks is a long visit. Two’s company but eight can be a crowd when your used to two. So I’m sure they will enjoy getting their house and their routine back. I know I’m ready to get back to a routine again. I’m sure it will be quiet around here.

Since we will be going back this week and leaving fast speed internet behind, I will have another blog tomorrow with a few more videos. So check back later on this week for some more cute videos.

For now enjoy the above video and this video of Hannah and Ruth playing on Nana’s piano. You will notice that Hannah is chewing bubble gum in this video. She had bought the gum with her own money that she was saving for a piano like Nana’s. Obviously she has a little ways to go to have saving and spending figured out. Enjoy the videos!

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Baby in a Pot

I had to post this picture of Jonathan in a big pot. This was a pot Scott had bought when Joshua was just a baby. He liked it’s size, because you could cook a lot of food in it. It was funny when he bought it, since Joshua was just a baby he joked that he would fit in it. Of course, we would never really cook our children.

Scott and I had a real good discussion on that subject before we were married. He had studied Deuteronomy 28:56-58 in seminary, also 2 Kings 6:28-29. It is funny to look at that conversation that we had 12 years ago. I remember it started when we both saw a teenager steal a cookie from the bakery of the grocery store we both worked at. I was shocked to see him do such a thing in plain sight, and just before I let the words out, Scott said, “Don’t say you wouldn’t do that.” I was even more shocked that he would think, I would be low enough to steal a cookie. That of course got into a big discourse over the fact that I would not steal a cookie. He then told me about the women in the Bible that were so hungry that they ate their own children. I was shocked to even have that brought up, I told him that I would never eat my children. I would give my own fingers and toes rather than eat any of my own children. The funny thing is we both agreed, but we saw things in a different way. He thought I was saying that I wasn’t capable of sin. I thought he was saying that I can’t say I wouldn’t do anything like that. I firmly believed that if you follow the Bible and stay within those guidelines and you will never have to eat your children, because God will provide all your needs. After the strangest argument we have ever had, we both agreed that we were sinners and that we didn’t have to eat our children.

Of course, we still have to joke about our first argument, and when he bought that large pot, I just shook my head and reassured Joshua at the time that we would never eat our children. Of course, now Jonathan fits in it and thinks it’s the funnest toy around. His brother and sisters all had him in there and were adding toys and pushing him around the carpet like he were in a car. He just loves it. Hannah uses that pot to pretend she is cooking noodles.

I love my family. It’s amazing how much, we have all grown these past 12 years. God has really been good to us. I’m glad that he has provided for our every need, spiritual and physical.

Thankyou, Lord for all your blessings, especially my wonderful, precious family.
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What Do You Want to Be?

We spent a whole week in our new home. Scott’s back gave out on him while he was at work the week before last week. After seeing the chiropractor he took Friday, August 8, off and then after an achy weekend he called his boss and decided to take the rest of that next week to rest his back.

Monday night, last week, Hannah suffered a little bit of homesickness. We had rocked her world by not going back to our old house. She wanted her blanket that Mamaw made. My explaining that we would get it when we went back the next week didn’t help any. She was better the next morning, but still wanted her blanket. I did find another blanket that was hers when she was a baby.

I went to the store Tuesday, while Scott stayed home with the kids. He had asked them what they all wanted to be when they grew up. Joshua wants to be a zoo keeper, Ruth wants to be a veterinarian, and Hannah wants to be a Mommy with milk, and to eat chocolate cheesecake when she grows up. Whenever Daddy, gives me something that they do not get, he says it’s becuse I’m mommy. So Hannah has decided that being a Mommy is the best job in the world.

She was watching me give Jonathan a bath and she asked if she could help wash his hair. He was very happy and I did not want him to get shampoo or water in his face so I told not right now. So she watched a little while then she asked me, “When I get to be a mommy, will I get to give Jonathan a bath?” I explained that when she gets to be a mommy she’ll get to give her own babies baths. She was quite concerned and asked, “So I won’t get to give Jonathan a bath?!” I tried to explain that Jonathan will be big by then and would be giving himself baths. She can’t imagine him being grown, she thinks he will always be a baby. After finally conceding that argument she asked me, “Well will you get to give my babies baths.” I told her that that was another nice thing. When she gets to be a mommy, I will get to be a grandma and sometimes I will get to help give her babies baths. Another new concept.

“So will I get to be a grandma?” she asked. I explained that she had to be a mommy before she was a grandma. She then decided she would rather be a grandma and give Jonathan baths. As I’ve told the kids many times, sometimes you just can’t win an argument with a 3 year old.

I feel like I must be doing something right for Hannah to want to be a Mommy when she grows up. Of course it may just be all the special “privileges” she thinks mommies have. Of course she does not “see” the work. Right now, washing dishes in a sink looks like playing in a sink full of bubbles. Vaccuuming is fun. She especially wants to be allowed to mop, or rather sling water all over the kitchen floor with a big wet wig. I asked why their was a mop in the girls bedroom, they had been pretending that it was hair. I asked that when they were through pretending that they return the mop back to it’s rightful spot. Yep, being a mom, is a lot of fun. There is never a dull moment.

I’ve been working on my lesson plans for the upcoming school year. I’ll actually be starting the kids classes Sept. 1. I wanted one extra week after we move to get organized, before we actually start our lessons. I have a lot of work to do this week. We will be moving the last of our stuff.

Scott plans to substitute teach, while I am homeschooling the kids. Things should go well. I’m pretty sure he will get enough calls to supplement the income the church will be giving us and to pay the bills. We really don’t need much. We are pretty good at pinching pennies sometimes. We may have to pinch quite a few, but you can actually live pretty well on very little. I’m just glad that we were able to have enough money this summer to get some curriculum and a copy machine for homeschooling. That will help me a lot this year. We’re pretty much all set.

We haven’t got a phone line, nor internet access set up at the new house yet. I will get that sorted out as soon as possible. I may have to blog from the library a few times. I’ll try not to get too behind on my blogs.

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No Pictures…

Now I need to catch everyone up since my last blog. Jonathan now has 4 teeth. His fourth tooth which is his other top front tooth, came in last Friday evening. Now we’re just waiting to see which tooth will come in next. I’m not sure yet whether it will be a top or a bottom tooth next time. So stayed tuned for more on his teeth.

My Papaw died last Friday morning. My mother called me around 8:00 or so to let us know that he had passed away at 7:20 a.m. I called Scott to tell him. Then when the older two kids woke up before their sister, I told them. Joshua’s number one question when he hears that someone has died is whether or not they were saved. Thankfully, I knew for sure that my Grandfather was saved. This made my son feel better, and he said well at least he was saved, that’s good.

When Hannah woke up that morning, I knew I would need to be careful in how I explained it to her. I had asked her if she remembered how Papaw was in the hospital. She did. She always asks about shots, when we talk about because she attributes hospitals with shots. (She is actually thinking of the Doctor’s office where she has seen Jonathan getting vaccinated.) I explained that Papaw had had some problems with his heart. She might have understood some of that. But then I told her that Papaw had died. She just looked at me blankly. I told her that he went to heaven. That was interesting to her, she asked me if we would go to ___ (name of town where we are moving too, left blank for anonimity.) I realized that she just thought that heaven was just another city or state. Like Texas, Michigan, Florida, California, or even another country like France. So I then explained, “No sweety, Papaw is in Heaven and he gets to see Jesus.” That put a big smile on her face. I knew what was coming though. “I want to see Jesus!”

So I explained that one day many, many years from now, she will get to see Jesus. Then I told her, “But do you know what Jesus wants you to do right now?” She looked at me with anticipation. “He wants you to be happy, and do what he says to do, obey me and daddy, and when you get old enough to feel bad about the bad things you do, he will want you to be saved. Then once you are saved you will have Jesus in your heart, too. And when you get older and Jesus is ready for you, you’ll get to see Jesus, too.” She was fine with that explanation, even though I’m not sure how much she actually retained. I do know that she is excited about the fact that Papaw gets to see Jesus, and one day she will, too.

I think the only thing I regret, is that I did not take more pictures of Papaw and Mamaw with our kids. We’ve been to their house many times, we’ve had real enjoyable visits, but I never thought to bring a camera. I don’t have pictures of Papaw taking his teeth out for the kids. Nor a picture of them caught in the bear trap, or running from the claw. I do have those memories in my head but they are not in print. I am now determined to take more pictures and to not let those memories just be my memories. I want to be able to pass my memories on to my children as well. So I’m determined to record my memories. I want to record the memories from my childhood and stories that I remember my parents telling me of their childhoods. I also want to record my memories of my grandparents, Parents, Aunts, and Uncles. I want my children to remember our past. Because we can learn from our past, and which will help us shape our future.

My oldest daughter, Ruth just celebrated her 8th birthday this week. I took her and her siblings to a museum. They are getting older now and are actually interested in things that had happened in the past. I still have a little trouble with Hannah, since her attention span is short and her energy level is high. Thankfully she didn’t mess with much, and she did sit down for any videos that was available to watch. So I just took the kids through the museum section by section and let them watch the videos, and read the signs that were about different specific items that they wanted to know about. It was very interesting.

Next week is Church Camp. I have been working hard on my camp lessons and since my class size may be more than doubled, I am going to plan to teach at least 50 kids, just in case.

I may not get another chance to post until after camp, however I’ll try to post some pictures when we get back.

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Tooth Number 3!

Jonathan’s 3rd tooth has just come in. It is his top right front incissor. I thought it would come at any time. He had been a bit fussier than usual, and last night he kept whining in his sleep. It was hard for me not worry over him, but since he continued to sleep, I just went back to bed. This morning, he was extra fussy and so I decided to check his teeth. Sure enough it was there peeking through his gums. Ahh!! 3 teeth down and many more to come.

So far I haven’t had any trouble nursing him. He has been pretty good about not biting me. Hopefully this will continue now that he has a top tooth. I’m pretty sure his fourth one is real soon to follow. Three teeth with at least 4 more months of nursing to go. I think we can make it.

It’s hard to believe he will be a year old in 4 months. This has been a fast year so far. I guess, there has been so much going on that it has just flown by. This will be a busy month as well with Saturdays filling up with activities, Ruth’s birthday coming up, and Church Camp. I will try to get in some blogging during it all but if I lag behind this month, I may just be busy. I definitely won’t be able to blog during camp. I should be able to blog next week though. So please don’t give up on me. 🙂

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Growing Up!

Our firstborn, Joshua, had a birthday about a week ago. He turned 10 years old. It’s amazing how time has gone by. On his birthday, I told him stories of his past birthdays. Starting from the day he was born. I remember so many of his milestones. I remember his first laugh, his first tooth. I also remember the first time he road his bike without training wheels. Then this past April, he had driven a four wheeler all by himself.

Today he had another milestone. This was his first time to mow our yard with a powered lawnmower. He had used a reel mower before, but this is his first with the gas powered lawnmower. I had told him in the past, when he begged me to let him mow, that he could mow when he was big enough to crank the mower with the pull string.

Yesterday, I was trying to decide which of the many chores I needed to do while the baby was asleep. Joshua was outside as I was contemplating mowing. He asked me as we were clearing out the large sticks, and toys out of the yard, if he could try to crank the lawnmower again. So I agreed. After making sure there was plenty of gas in the lawnmower, he pulled the cord. After just a couple of pulls it cranked right up.

I explained to him how to start with a straight line. I had him mow a straight line towards the window of our house. I then showed him how when he turned the lawnmower around there was a grass line. A line where the grass is tall verses the grass that is short. I showed him how to put the tire right on the outside of that line. He did a perfect job. I was so impressed by his hard work that I took several pictures.

Looking at the picture above you can see how the lawnmower is as big as he is. So just imagine how much work it was for his small body. However when I asked him about half-way through our yard if he needed a break, he said “No, I can do it.” So I went and got him a drink, so that he would not get too hot. He mowed the majority of the grass that day. He came in hot and sweaty with a big grin on his face. My little boy, was able to do a man’s job. Where has the time gone?

Today, he told me that he had growing pangs, in his arms, legs, and hands. I explained that it was from all the mowing yesterday. He said, “But it feels like growing pangs.” I then told him that it was growing pangs. His muscles were growing from all the hard work they did yesterday.

Later on today, he came back to me, while his sisters were playing upstairs, and asked if he could mow the rest of the yard. I said, “Sure.” So out he went and I heard the lawnmower crank and start purring away outside.

I may have mown my last yard. From now on, my son will be taking on that roll. It won’t be long and his brother will be begging him to let him mow. I can see him telling Jonathan, “When you’re old enough to crank the mower, I’ll let you mow.” It won’t be long!

Psalm 144: 11-12 “Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood: That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:
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Like Mother, Like Son… Ouch, Painful lesson!

My brother and sister would probably remember the stories my dad used to tell of me and my stubborness as a young child. A few days ago, I was reminded of one of these stories through my youngest child.

My father used to tell how mad I would get when they would put me to bed as a baby. He said that one time, I got so mad that I bit myself. Then I was so mad that it hurt, I bit myself again.

Well, my son only bit himself once but it must have been hard enough for him not to want to do it again. The picture above is the perfect tooth marks of his only two teeth in his hand. At first I wasn’t sure what had happened to his hand. I saw the sore on it and thought it was too big for a spider. Then after taking a closer look, I realized that the two marks were the exact position of his bottom two teeth. The reason there are not a matching set above is that he only has the bottom two. So I hope he does not do this again when he gets more teeth. Maybe he learned his lesson with one bite, unlike his mother when I was a baby.

A lesson can be learned from this though. It’s always good to learn and grow from your experiences good or bad.

I have a lot more deep thoughts but they will have to wait for another blog. I will leave you to ponder on this lesson first. Check back real soon for more Thoughts from Stacie. 🙂

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Ouch! New Tooth!

This evening, I felt Jonathan’s first tooth. I actually felt it earlier today but did not think as much of it until I told Scott about it. So he got out a flashlight and spent a good bit trying to get him to show his new tooth. Then with a cheerful excited voice he says, “Ahh!! Jonathan has a new tooth!”

My response, “Oh boy, Jonathan has a new tooth. A bit early don’t you think?” Which got us discussing our other children. Joshua didn’t have a new tooth until he was right at 1 year old. Ruth was about the same at about 1 year old. Hannah, I thought was early at 9 months old or so. However Jonathan has beat them all with a new tooth at 6 months and 3 weeks old, and yes I still intend to finish nursing him until he is 12 months old. Ahh! I hope this will not be a long 6 months!

Actually, he has been fairly good tempered about it. I would have not known he was getting a tooth if it had not been for all his drooling and my feeling it this afternoon. I’m just not exactly excited about the next 6 months of his tooth scratching me when I feed him. However, I’m sure I’ll get used to it after a month or so. I hope.

Anyway, I thought everyone would be excited to hear about his new tooth. I’ll definitely get a picture as soon as it’s big enough to show when he smiles. Right now you have to actually hold his mouth open to see it. So no pictures yet! But just keep checking back. I’m sure I’ll get some before too long!
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