Yeehaw!

The Ole Daddy Rabbit got us up and running so here are the Fireball's birthday pix!

She wanted "chips" for her third birthday dinner. So we went with nachos. They're chips, right? She got some "clipper-clopper" shoes, which is her name for those plastic dress-up shoes. She also got a toy cell-phone with its own purse. She got a special stuffed bunny with a handmade backpack from Oma. She was thrilled with her gifts. She enjoyed the cake and ice cream, but she was more interested in her toys.

This princess was one of the most easy, memorable births. When we got to our midwife's about 1:00a.m. She was ready to come out. She was born twenty minutes later. Her labor and delivery was relatively easy. She was the only one of my babies that I remember crying for any sustained amount of time. I was kind of worried when she cried so much. I wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. She is quite a whirlwind, but so full of life that we wouldn't trade her for anything in the world. She is a most precious gift.

The Curse of Technology.

I love some of the things technology provides. Answering machines and microwaves and some items that make life easier. I enjoy the contact I have with friends far and wide on the internet. I am stymied, however, by the fact that I am technically challenged. I have run into some trouble with loading pictures from our digital camera to our computer. I need to see if our neighbor and friend has time this weekend to show me how to get around the problem. She said she was willing. So until then our Fireball's birthday pictures are sitting irretrievably on my technological torturer. We dearly love her and she is very special, but she is going to have to wait for her birthday post.

The Ole Daddy Rabbit's Blog

Okay, I think I can insert this link to The Ole Daddy Rabbit's Blog. Well, here goes...

Boys, bugs and things.

I have been reading Where the Red Fern Grows to the boys. We are almost on the last chapter. They also like to listen to stories as they go to sleep. It is hard to find books that have heros boys can look up to or identify with. It is also hard to find books I would WANT them to identify with the main character:) So I looked up our local library for some new reading/listening material. I am so glad that I looked up the classics for all ages first. There was some really good stuff to choose from. Authors like Robert Louis Stevenson and Mark Twain. I requested quite of few books and audio books. I then looked up the top children's book list from 2005. Yeesh, nothing looked remotely decent. I didn't even want to waste my time "previewing" such stuff. Well, C.S. Lewis held that if we are to be well read that 2 out of 3 books we read should be from a different century than ours. That makes it easy because Lewis wrote some great things and he wrote in the last century:) I find that I enjoy the classics myself. Some authors are just too morose for me. I know they are very good writers and my children will have to read some of their works in high school (ugh, which means I will have to read them again). They might actually like them.

Today is the Fireball's birthday. I will take pictures tonight and post pictures tomorrow or Monday about her. We have some fun things planned for her so we need to go get on them.

Colds and patience.

I sure seem to have an abundance of one and not the other! I used to think I was a patient person and then I had chldren. I read some where that each child we have helps us be conformed to the image of Christ. When I have a cold I find that I am more short tempered than usual. I need to be praying. I don't want my children to grow up and remember how grumpy mom was. I hope they grow up remembering they were allowed to shoot BB guns and dig holes and get dirty. I want them to remember listening to the Bible with their daddy. It helps me to gain perspective when I think about the fact that one day they will all be grown and gone. I will have clean cabinets (that are shut) and no ring of dirt in the tub. I might be able to harvest fruit from the vine because it wasn't picked before its time. I won't be peppered with requests to help find the nasty bug that got loose in the house or have to wonder what Fireball is doing. I am sure I will look at my small pile of put away laundry and call the kids to beg them to bring the grandkids over.

The Ole Daddy Rabbit has started his own blog. I am not too sure how to link to it. I know I can get there from here, but I don't know about the rest of our vast reading audience. It is pretty neat though. He is especially smarmy about his wife. When we were first courting (or whatever you want to call it) he was memorizing the Gospel of John. We would drive in his truck and he would quote all he had memorized. He is now working on it again. It sure takes me back to those days. Of course, we have windows in the van and quite a few more kids. I think we need to remember those times as couples. It is so easy to dwell on the negative and we can get stuck there. The Bible says to think on things beautiful, lovely and noble. I need to do that with my children and also with my husband. The more I think about the good things the more handsome he looks and the more I believe in him for good things for the future. Most of all I need to trust the Lord. I can do nothing, my husband can do nothing etc., etc., etc. without the Lord. We only have good intentions. My friend and I have gone through the Excellent Wife book. Martha Peace suggests a list of good things to do for our husbands. The top of the list is pray for him. I think that is an elementary one, but I know I don't do it enough. He has such a hard job-not the one at the mill. He is to lead his family, love his wife and train his children. That is a heavy responsibility. I need to uphold him in prayer first and foremost. The others on the list are important. I know some which would really energize him:) I am challenged anew to pray for my family and do some nice things for them despite my cold and crabbiness.

I wash them in hot, but they don't shrink!

Whenever I clear out the laundry from the dryer the smallest fry climbs in. Here I have a couple of cuties in there. They look like they are just emerging from a lunar module or something.

I wish washing them in "hot" would keep them from growing up too soon. Alas time flies by so quickly. Carmon is right. She has been posting about making memories with your children. They sure don't stay little long.

I am made thoughtful by friends that just had their son get married and leave their house. He is a great young man. I want to be like them when it comes to our children leaving the nest. They are very excited for him and his wife. They feel a big hole in their home that only he could fill. It is bittersweet. So many people can't wait for their children to get out so they can live life. Why aren't we living life with our children? How else will they learn to live it? If we are doing so many things that are not child-friendly, why are we doing them? I don't think our whole world should revolve around our children. R.C. Sproul Jr. points out that the Bible does teach "date night." (That was a joke:) It brings up questions though. Why did we have children if we don't want them around? Seriously, little dogs can be loving and demanding. You can also put them in a kennel and go on a trip. You can leave them home all day and they are still happy to see you. I guess that is why so many in our culture are leaning towards dogs instead of children. I know the number of children I have is demanding. I am pushed to my limits most times. It forces me to be less selfish and more prayerful. I would miss so much if I didn't have them. Oh how worthwhile they are. Granted dogs will not grow up and be in a twelve stelp program blaming their parents for everything wrong in their lives. They also will not grow up to be part of a treasured legacy.

Draggin'

AAAAAAAA! We have gotten hit by colds. Yuck. I have been trying to think of something fun and/or amusing to post about. I am stuck. My brain has frozen and I need to spend all my brain power on getting life going here. I am soooooooo thankful that the Mister washed dishes last night and I made banana bread last night for breakfast this morning. The former makes me feel so taken care of and treasured. The latter makes me feel frugal and that I have foresight (probably neither of which are completely true:)

I just don't belong.

Have you ever sat in a crowd of people and known that you were peculiar? That happened to me last night when I took our oldest daughter to soccer practice. The parents sitting around got off into the troubles their children and children of their acquintance are having in public schools. I did add some comments when I just couldn't take any more. The comments had to do with the "process" of math as compared to getting the right answers. I finally piped up that I wanted my car mechanic to get the right answer to the problem and I really didn't care about the process he uses to get there. My car mechanic was in the crowd and seemed to get a big kick out of that. Now we have our reasons for homeschooling and some people might agree or be agin them. That is all fine. This whole conversation bothered me extremely because the teacher in the group made the point that since they switched to the new math they didn't have any discipline problems anymore. As a disclaimer, I am all for switching curriculum if it doesn't work for students. We have done that three times now with spelling. The underlying thing seemed to be that answers don't matter as long as we are all happy on the way. What if we applied that to our medical professionals, car mechanics or law enforcement? What if the dr. couldn't diagnose your cancer or do anything about it, but you both enjoyed the process and felt good about it? What if your car mechanic fixed the wrong part of your car and you and your family were in a horrible accident because of it? What if the police came and arrested you because they thought you were a horrible criminal, but if they had made the right connections it would have been your neighbor? I mean seriously, we don't apply this logic to real events. Why do we apply it to classroom logic. We have a whole generation of children we are just raising to be another brick in the wall. Days like that and I am so aware that we are not bricks in that wall. We are strange and peculiar. That is okay because we are being built into the temple in which God will dwell.

Well, I tried.

I did try to upload a video on our blog. I don't know what I did wrong, but it didn't work. It is a really cute clip of the Ole Daddy Rabbit rockin' out with one of his little groupy babes:) I wanted to post it for his birthday entry. Oh well. Maybe I'll get it figured out one of these days.

Anyway...

The Ole Daddy Rabbit celebrated his birthday on the 11th again this year. The family got him the Ligonier Regional Conference. He and his brother-in-law are there right now. He called me last night from the book store. I could hear the saliva hitting the phone as he drooled over the clearance rack. They even had John Piper stuff there! I know the menfolk will have to return home when they finally close the doors:) I am sure they will be energized by the great teaching and the wonderful stuff they bring home. I know both families will benefit. What a blessing that my sil and I have men that get more excited than little boys with their first set of army men about John Piper and R.C. Sproul. I don't think they will ever recover. I can live with that:)

We also got to see a wonderful wedding this past Sunday. Two of the young people in our church committed to becoming one flesh during our church service. One of the most beautiful things was their first kiss. That was sweet, but I think even more beautiful was when Ole Daddy Rabbit turned to me and said, "Our kids could have that too." That was so wonderful to me. What a thought! We have been through so much, but God willing, our children can be the benefactors of us struggling through sanctification. I do pray that one day we can witness our beloved children savoring their first kiss like we witnessed this couples'. We also had a lot of fun. It was potluck. Lots of good food-I was stuffed when I got home. The Ole Daddy Rabbit was pretty funny. He is quite witty. He made me laugh a lot that day. They even played a worship song that we played in our wedding. Ah nostalgia!

We also have dear friends hit with a tragic providence. Those of you that know-lift them up in prayer. I don't know what is harder; enduring personal tragedy or watching a beloved endure it.

This past week or so has brought much to celebrate, congratulate, and mourn for. All of it to be brought before the Sovereign Lord of the Universe's throne in prayer. The longer I live the more I find that life is so bittersweet. I also see how much I depend on the Lord for everything. I heard of one believer accused that he just used God as a crutch. He replied that God was not his crutch, but his wheelchair and oxygen tank. How true!

Happy Birthday!

Back to School

It is that time of year again. The time when the school bus rumbles down the street.
Every morning at 7:30a.m. or so I remember how thankful I am that I don't have to have my kids dressed and ready to get on that bus. There are so many reasons that I am thankful to homeschool. Most of them are not so shallow. We did officially start the book education part of homeschooling this Monday. In the wider scheme of things we never quite homeschooling. We also don't have an age that we "begin" with either. We have six children and we homeschool them all. From the moment they are born they are learning from us. The challenge is for us, their parents, to be learning from God the lessons He has for us. The biggest thing we can teach our children is a relationship with Jesus. One day our children will graduate from "school" just as we did. Hopefully, they will learn that there is always further and deeper to go with the Lord. That lesson begins at birth and extends on into eternity. So Happy Homeschooling to all of us that are on that path.

Our First Princess

On September 4, 2001 we were blessed with our first girl. We try to make each child special and do something personal for their day. Our Butterfly Princess and I went shopping and out to lunch. She picked where we ate. She got to pick out a comforter for her bed in her new room. We made a pit stop on our way out at our midwife's house. She has the cleanest bathroom in the county, I think:) Our midwife, Laura, gave the birthday girl ten dollars. She also let her make a necklace and bracelet. Butterfly Princess picked out a new Barbie (we do the "princess" Barbies, but the short-skirted, red-light district ones are out). She wants to take it to our appointment tonight to show Laura what she purchased with the money.

Last night our birthday girl picked chicken, potatoes, corn and carrots for dinner. Each child gets to pick the menu (within reason) for dinner on their birthdays. Our girl got an air-soft pistol. She also got a beautiful wedding dress from Oma. The top photo she is sporting both. The Ole Daddy Rabbit had to remind her that she doesn't get married unless he says so:) The poor man has four daughters (so far). I don't know how he will survive their courtships and weddings. I bet Steve Martin won't have anything on him.

What a special day. What a special girl.

The Sunrise Princess

Four years ago on the second of September we had a baby daughter born just as the rose. She looked like a china doll. She has added to our lives so much. For her birthday she got to pick a movie(The Twelve Dancing Princesses) from the video store. She picked hot dogs and fruit salad for her special birthday dinner. She wanted cheesecake instead of regular cupcakes. She got a new quilt and heart-shaped pillow from Oma. The family got her a little view master with Charlotte's web and some princessy one slides. She also got a bunch of girly-colored play-do. She was ecstatic. We managed to video tape a good deal.

So Happy Birthday Precious Girl.