Fantastic Zoo Trip

Erika put this slide show together of our family Zoo fieldtrip! All the animals were awake and busy today. I have never been so close to a Lion! Wow. The Dallas Zoo just opened a new Africa exhibit. It is so neat. The animals have plenty of roaming room and it is so wonderful to see them looking happy and healthy. We also saw the Anaconda AWAKE and moving! This thing could swallow Sarah whole! I have never seen it move in all the years we have visited the zoo. But today! It was awake and moving!

I think Erika did a great job!


the only thing that could have made this trip better, was if Daddy could have joined us. :)
And Katie and Lilly too. :(

Adoption and "The New Colossus"

We are studying poetry and Mike came across this old poem. I had not heard it for awhile. It describes the Statue of Liberty and what she represents. This poem is written on a plaque under the statue. :)

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Emma Lazarus, 1883

I never thought of this poem in light of Adoption.... until, well, now. :)
"Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore."
These are the Orphans of many lands. Our precious gifts were viewed as the throwaways of society, the locked up, dying to get out and breathe the fresh air of freedom.
They are the homeless, the tempest-tossed, the lost children.....






Many of them have crossed oceans, suffered hardship and lived in conditions you or I cringe at. THEY are NO LONGER LOST!
They ARE AMERICANS! Our Americans! FREE AND BRAVE!
And Here are OUR 3 little Americans:




Would you consider opening your heart and home to one of these?
James 1:27

Language Arts Woes

I'm trying to find humor in this today. I am grading papers for language arts. Now I realize that the curriculum we are using isn't easy, but.... if nobody asks questions when I ask if they have any, I'm going to assume they are understanding. So, since I was sick yesterday, I didn't grade anything. When I looked at what was turned in today, I must say, my temperature went up abit! ugh!!!!

1. Erika was supposed to circle all words in a paragraph that required capitalization.
The paragraph had no capitalization or punctuation. After circling each word, she was supposed to write it down, and then say WHY you capitalize it.
Her answer:
You always capitalize the first word of each sentence. The others you capitalize because you are just supposta! SUPPOSTA???? LOL She had the correct words circled, but her definition was defective!

2.Anna: Directions said to read "My Evening Prayer", (copied in her book), and then to write a 3rd stanza for the poem with the same rhyme scheme and rhythm.
"Mom, I need to use the computer." Why? I need to find the 3rd stanza for this poem.... Ummm Anna, you are supposed to write it yourself...."How can I do that? I don't know what it is! LOL

3. Sarah: She is learning about rhyme schemes and rhythm. Is the poem, iambic, anapestic, trochaic, dactylic... they explain it pretty clearly using DUMM-de--de
etc.
Her first poem was "Dum-de-Dum-Dum.... LOL
NOT!

Needless to say, we will be repeating these lessons for next week until we get them correct. :)

Preparing for Winter

My friend Michelle and her husband are adopting once again in Ukraine. She graciously let me use this photo for my blog. :) Thanks Michelle. Ok, I had to use the other one too to see the whole scope of this pantry. :)

I was so fascinated with this well stocked pantry! WOW~! I have canned foods before, but never on this scale! I wonder how long this much food would last? If we grew our food and canned it all, I wonder if we would come up with this much food? Would we be tempted to go to the grocery store anyway? :)

I would love to have a full scale raised bed garden and then in turn start to can my own foods. It is a big idea, I know. This year, we got our famous tomato and that was it.
With all the chemicals and junk in foods these days, and the prices of organic foods not being cheap, I just wonder if we did this on a large scale, and took it seriously, how much food we could really grow?

Any ideas?

The Passage From Childhood to Youth

Here are some of the first arrivals. :)

The girlies are all in the 6th grade. When you are in 6th grade, you are ready to go to the SDG (Sola Deo Gloria) Bible Study every other Wednesday night. This group is for 6th -12th grade.
I can honestly say, I never in a million years thought I would ever put any of my children back into a youth group.
We had some rather bad experiences with youth groups, and I certainly didn't want a repeat of those years.

But here we are at a new church, with a very different focus. They are serious about studying the word of God, and this group is run at homes of the parents. So parent involvement is big. I like the focus being on scripture and life change.

The girls were so excited. They were all ready with bibles, notebooks and pencils.

My last words to them were to be gracious with their speech, to not speak foolish words, to not say anything that you would not say in front of your parents or God himself, and to have an enjoyable time.
I told them to be like the 5 virgins in the story of the 10 virgins, who are prepared with their lamps full of oil, not like the foolish ones who didn't prepare.
And then, I took their picture and drove away thinking.... wow.... they are growing up to be such beautiful, sweet, young ladies. I can't wait to pick them up and hear what they learned tonight. :)

Acting Out....

Hmmm. I wonder if the Beverly Hillbillies is the best influence..... :)

So What Do YOU Consider Disabled?

Aaron just landed his first double. You can see it on his website:

Sometimes You Need the Widsom of Solomon

Ever have one of those mornings? :)

We started out just fine, except the girlies left their room in a mess before bedtime last night. I told them that I wanted them to clean it up before we started school today.
So they were prepared when they got up that cleaning was on the first of things to do after breakfast.

So, this a.m. they were all cleaning and then I heard "No, that ISN'T yours! IT IS MINE!"
For a minute I had to check and see if I had 2 two year olds instead of an 11 and 12 year old.

All of the girls had identical book bags last year. Erika's is clearly marked "do not touch" on the outside. Sarah left candy in hers and it got all nasty so we sent it to book bag heaven and she did without.

Anna's bag lay dormant, because she has another bag she prefers. So this a.m.
Anna said to Sarah, "You can have this bag, I don't use it."
Erika got upset and said, "You gave that bag to me! I used it once last year!"

Anna has no recollection of giving it, but letting her use it.
Sarah says, "You already have one just like it! Why do you need 2?"

Erika begins loud sobs.

ugh

So I start to think: We are reading "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" and I wondered if there was any wisdom in there for me. :)
When Susan and Peter doubt Lucy's story, the professor asks them.... "is she prone to lying?" Lucy claims, "I ALWAYS tell the truth!" Which was true.

So I looked at my girlies faces and said, "There is no way, for me to solve this. You have all told untruths in the past so there is no way for me to know if you are telling the truth, trying to get something that isn't yours or if you have just mis- understood. Therefore, I will make no decision. You will have to work it out.
(I actually thought about dividing the book bag in 1/2, but I don't think that would have gone over so well. LOL)

So the sobbing child, the mad child, and the child who was rather bewildered that her kind gesture had turned into conflict went into the bedroom. Alone! And me, I stayed out of it. I actually made myself a nice omelette.:)

No more than 5 minutes later, I hear giggling coming from the bedroom. Then I hear down right cheerful voices.... and now, it is all settled. Erika has her book bag that says "do not touch", Sarah has Anna's old book bag and Anna has kept her alternate book bag that she has been using all along. Everybody is happy, and we have moved on.

Let the week begin!

Saturday Fun

It is never a dull moment around here. Having an autoshoppe is always fun on Saturdays. Customer's kids come and wind up playing games like Hide and Seek and Freeze Tag. Today, our little customer Conner came to play. :)

They all had a great time.
So how many pictures does it take to get 4 excited game players to all look at the camera at the same time??

Well this time, SIX! :)
Thank goodness for digital cameras.

Beautiful Post from a Beautiful Family

This post was written so well,from the heart. And she is 100% correct!

http://baseballsbutterfliesblessings.blogspot.com/2010/09/you.html

Family Life.....

We never had to deal with naked dolls when we had boys. We didn't do barbie dolls all these years, and figured we would get past them, but we didn't. We used the "Happy Family" dolls but they really are too childish now, yet the girls are still doll players.
They presented the question so nicely.... "Mommy and Daddy, If we make DECENT outfits for our dolls, can we have barbies?" We made concession. They have held up their end of the bargain, and made all sorts of wonderful clothes to keep the girls covered. And then.... I walk into the bathroom to see this! ACK!!!!! "Mommy, of course they can't take baths with their clothes on! We are drying them off! :)

Sarah decided to be a "stray animal caretaker" before school today. I thought about spraying endust on the bottoms of each animal, and my job would have been done! :)

Sarah's bestest friend Sarah called today. Those two are real chatter boxes. They made up this new way to hang up, because neither can say good bye. So, when they have to go, they count 1, 2, 3 and then, click. :)

The Minich Brothers

After our mom's memorial service 2 weeks ago, we all gathered around the hotel pool to spend time together. Unfortunately this picture does not include our Jim, as he is gone.
But it represents brothers who love each other but live in 3 different states! We all agree that we need to stay together and make a point to stay in contact.
I just thought this was a great picture of the guys. :)

9-11

You know, it is funny, I sometimes have to remember the year, but NEVER do I have to remember the date. The actual DATE of 9-11.

I know exactly where I was. Mike and I had opened up our Auto Shoppe for business. The first thing I did every morning was go online and read some CNN. All of the boys were at college and the girlies were not in our home at this time. We were official EMPTY NESTERS!
I had finished my career as a Home schooling mother, and had moved on to Secretary of Texas Auto Service Center! What a hard transition. That same year, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and was eating rabbit food for life. :) Literally.

So, off to work I went with My Mike, every morning.

That morning was like any other. And then, I checked CNN. A plane had crashed into the World Trade Tower. It was thought to be a small plane. Unidentified at that point

I got a call from my oldest son..... "Did you hear some idiot crashed into the World Trade Center?" He thought it was a small plane like a Piper.... and then we talked for a moment and that was it.

Not long after that..... we were listening to the radio in the Shoppe.... and the words "Terrorist Attack" were heard. "What is that?" I thought to myself..... so naive.
As we listened in DISBELIEF.... another plane hit the other trade tower, and then there was one that hit the PENTAGON!!! This one, sent shivers of fear into me.
And then, all planes were grounded..... and they kept talking about the ones unaccounted for, or headed for the White House....

And I felt sick.

I got a call from Son #2 asking if we had heard. And then son #3, and then son #4.
I noted that it was very interesting that they had all called in "birth order." :)

We worked our regular day and headed home, knowing that George Bush Jr. was going to address the Nation at 7:00. We didn't have T.V. hooked up, so Mike was on the roof trying to get the Antennae hooked up and by the time he did....The speech was over. LOL
George Bush Jr. was certainly not as long winded as Bill Clinton!

At that time, Mike and I were waking at 5:00 a.m. and walking 4 miles a day! It was part of my treatment plan. :) The first thing we noticed was how quiet it was in the sky. There were only stars. No planes. NO Plane for several days!!!

I was glued to the news reports about how things were progressing.... was anybody saved??? Not really. Only 2 people who were buried from debreit who were first responders. How AWFUL! HOW SAD!

My oldest son called back after 2 days of worry, on my part. He was terribly upset by the entire event and spent his time talking to some veterans of previous wars about things. He also had 9-11 tatooed on his neck as a memorial.....
I was surprised, but thought it was rather touching.

And then, the video of Osama Bin Laden was played of him Cheering the downing of the towers was airing. Who in the world was THAT GUY???? I had never heard of him, and had not payed too much attention to Islam in general.

There was a huge mosque not far from our home, and our church ladies offered to help escort Muslim women to the store and back if they were afraid. We were told no.

We had meetings later with the ladies there, but nothing really came of it.

It is interesting how that day is so vivid in my mind. How 9-11 will forever be a memory of tragedy and destruction.
Our girlies are too young to remember, even tough I teach it to them, it is like teach ing me about WW2, our our boys about Vietnam......

As I was looking at the news tonight... I was once again disturbed..... The Mosque fellow that wants to build a Mosque near ground Zero says, if it doesn't happen, National Security will be at risk???? And then there is the nut job wanting to burn Korans..... and is causing risk to the troops???? What kind of world do we live in now? Certainly not the one I lived in as a child. I didn't know what a Muslim was.
I didn't know about people who would threaten others because they didn't agree with the placement of a mosque, and I didnt' know of those who would burn books......
WOW. Alot of changes have taken place in the last several years.

We will always remember 9-11 as a terrible day, where EVIL people took over planes and murdered our citizens. I hope that they do not prevail and continue to propagate their ideology here.

I am all for feedom of Religion... but........ not all religion is good.

Oral Reading

One of the things we love to do at our house is to read a story together out loud. It is a great habit to get into, because we can learn to read with expression out loud, and mom can tell if we are going through "stop signs" (not stopping at a period) speeding through caution signs (commas) and being bland when there is something to get excited about! (exclamation point) Also, do we read a question like a sentence?
This oral practice is very good for ALL of us!
AND.... it is FUN.

Last year we read Noel Streatfield's books, "Ballet Shoes, Theater Shoes, Dancing Shoes and Party Shoes." We also read C.S. Lewis's "The Magician's Nephew".

This year, we are starting with C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe."
We plan to finish the Chronicles of Narnia Series this year.

We read 20 minutes every day before lunch, and sometimes we even illustrate what we have read in the afternoons.

What books are you reading this year?

YUM!

I just found a new GLUTEN FREE product! Can't believe it! There it is in beautiful letters right on the front of the label. "GLUTEN FREE".... Oh joy!



Tortilla chips here I come! :)

Just Another Ordinary Miracle of a Day

You know, every day is a miraculous day. Even ordinary days. Because life just isn't that ordinary. :) You know, I can't imagine what our lives would be like without our sweet girls, nor can I imagine what their lives might be like. It would be too painful to even think about our sweet Erika in a mental institution, wasting away, in constant pain, and lonely. It would be awful to think of where Sarah might be, and Anna too. The Lord brought them to us for a purpose. He wanted us to love them and to guide them into adulthood. He has a plan for their not so ordinary lives. And he has taken OUR ordinary lives, and made them, well, just plain fun! Thank you Lord!

So, here are some highlights:

Erika was doing school work in the kitchen.

She solved the "paint on her shirt problem", but putting a sticker over it. There, solved!

Anna was busy studying poetry.

Sarah decided to do her work in her room, after setting up a boutique, putting up a "help wanted" sign, and arranging all her lip gloss, all for sale of course. :)





Anna was pretty pleased that she had a great school day. :)

All the miracles of an ordinary day. :)

The "Get Me An Egg" Followup

Following up on our Egg Post
Honestly, this was so out of the blue... we couldn't think of a particular reason for it.
There really WAS no reason for it. She just got up and was on the wrong side of bed. :)

We sat down and had our talk, and she was regretful at what she had done. She apologized and said she didn't really even know why she did it.

So, we moved on.

Since then, we have had a rather uneventful and happy day! They all worked on various things around the house, after all this is, "Labor Day", and attitudes have been MUCH better.

Now, honestly, here I am typing this and feeling a little gripey myself. :) I had to go shopping, and I am just not a shopper. It stresses me out. So it is my turn to have someone be patient with me. :)

The same little girl who was so offensive this a.m., came up to me in the store and said, "Mama, you look like you could use a hug." LOL
She was right.
And an escape to the nearest exit sign. :)

We did find some very good deals for back to school clothing. Today is the day we take all the stuff that is too worn, or too small and toss it into a sack and then, hang up the newer items that are in much better condition and fit. :) I found a nice winter coast for Sarah for 5 dollars! I found a dress for myself for 3.00 and 2 Christmas Dresses for the girls for 1.50 each! One still had the tags on it.

We are working on making sure we are dressed modestly, and not TOO casually. I have been a little concerned about just how casual we can get when left to our own choices. ME INCLUDED!!!! :)
But that is another post. :)

So, I guess, my question would be:
If the offender in the first post, has apologized, repented, and changed her ways, and has had a great day since...... is there really anything else that should be done?
I can't see it.
I think it is the same with our Lord. If we come to him and ask for forgiveness, turn from what we are doing and get in right relationship, he doesn't turn around and say, I'll forgive you later, or choose not to forgive. He is faithful and just to forgive us every time. And there are things I have to repent of, every day!

Parenting, even after all these years is a scary endeavor, wanting to make sure we do what is right for each child, making sure we are spoiling, being too harsh, or leaving them to themselves too much, or being too rigid.
And it is a new deal with each and every kid. Not one child is the same.
They are ALL DEMO-MODELS, missing instructions! :) So are husbands and wives, but at least you only have one model. :)

"Get Me An Egg!"

It didn't work. We do not demand for our breakfast. Saying things in a kind way will always get you an egg, as long as we have one. :)

Soooo, after an explanation of what a kind way to ask for something is, she said, "I don't need an egg."

So, daddy and I continued our morning coffee and conversation. I made him and egg, and me an egg and we had cheerful conversation. I asked our daughter once again, "are you sure you don't want an egg?" "No. Not if I have to say please."

Ok, just letting you know that the kitchen will be closed at 10:00 a.m. after that, you'll need to wait until lunch. Just so you know. :)

9:57---"Mama, would you please make an egg for me?" In the nicest voice. :)

Why sure!

10:00- kitchen closed, everybody fed. :)

Amazing Efforts

Erika spilled her candy today. Since she can't bend, it is very hard to pickup little baked beans that are everywhere. She gave us all a look like, "Help!"
I told Anna, "Hey Anna, I bet Erika will happily give you some of those baked beans if you pick them up for her!" Anna agreed and headed over to help......

And then, Erika said, "HOLD IT!" "I'll do it myself!"
LOL And she did! It is amazing what a kid will do to protect her candy! :)

Mr. Adorable jr.

Our Sweet Grandson Charlie.... his daddy is our youngest son Marcus. Someday, Charlie will know how GREAT of a daddy he has. :) He is awesome, and looks exactly like his daddy. :)