Daily Photo Journal Tuesday January 25, 2011

I couldn't resist this taking a picture of our spoiled rotten cat, Scout, snoozing on the back of the couch this morning. This is probably the best cat we've ever had and we love him dearly.

Austin's new laptop came in today and he was so excited about it he could hardly wait for Doug to help him set it up. I'm excited too because now I don't have to share mine. I'm a little selfish like that. Here Doug is helping him get it set up and ready to use.



I really didn't take a whole lot of pictures today because we had more kids than usual. Plus, Landon's therapist came by this morning to work with him awhile so our day was very full.

I did get a couple pictures of the kids playing though.

There's snow in the forecast for tomorrow. Some forecasters are predicting six to ten inches by the time it ends tomorrow night. I'm hoping for it. We haven't had nearly as much snow this year as we had last year and I'm disappointed. I love snow. Of course, I don't have to get out in it to go to work, my work comes to me so I have it easy.

Daily Photo Journal Monday January 24, 2011

 Today was one of those days when it was completely obvious it was Monday.

Michael started his morning by tripping over the baby gate (because he was trying to look one way while walking the other) and scraped up his knee. Thankfully Lauren and Jocelyn were suitably impressed and sympathetic.

We tried watching a Veggie Tales DVD on my computer but didn't make it all the way through because no one could hold still. And little finger kept pushing the keys on the keyboard and finally wae just gave up.

Then Doug came home from work early (because he was called into work yesterday on his day off) and saved the day.

He took the children outside to run off some energy. Then he got the idea to rig up this contraption and give the kids rides on it. They LOVED it.



And then this afternoon the new stereo that Doug ordered for me for the playroom was delivered. Doug set it up for me with plenty of supervision from the kids. I'm listening to the radio on it now as I type this.

Here are some random pictures of other fun we've had throughout the day.

So after a bit of a rough start our Monday turned out pretty good after all.

Proverbs 31:11 - Can My Husband Truly Trust Me With His Heart?

The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. Proverbs 31:11

Thinking about this verse this week here are some questions I will be asking myself.

Does my husband feel that he can truly trust me with his heart?

Am I a source of gain or am I a liability?

What are some ways that I can make my husband feel he can truly trust with me with everything he thinks, feels and values?

Why is this important?

McDonalds

Doug got called into work this morning because of a breakdown and I had four daycare kids here. Austin and Michael went to spend the day with grandparents. Doug got home from work around 2:30 this afternoon and three of the daycare kids left soon after that. Since that left us with just one daycare kid and Amanda we decided to treat them to an early dinner at McDonalds. We really don't often have this chance so they really enjoyed it.

Goofy girls!

Happy for My New Memory Card

As I've mentioned before I ruined the memory card to my phone by accidentally running it through the washer. And since I use my phone camera to take my pictures I haven't been posting any pictures lately. I'm not a great photographer but I do love to take and post pictures and have really  missed.

Well, I finally have a new memory card so now I can take and post pictures like these pictures of two of our kids playing this morning. 

Yay!

In the Kitchen - Making Homemade Croutons

I love to make bread with my bread machine. Freshly baked bread served with our meals has been a real hit. But we always seems to have a few slices left over that no one would eat later. I felt like I was wasting so much good food.

We also love chef salads and croutons are a necessity for a good chef salad.

So I started brousing through one of my favorite recipes sites - allrecipes.com after reading through a number of recipes decided that making croutons from the leftover bread would be pretty easy to do. Basically I simply cube the bread slices (I also use the crusts from the loaves of whole wheat bread that we buy for sandwiches), pour melted butter over the cubes, and sprinkle it all well with Italian Seasoning, and put it in the oven preheated to 350 degrees. I let them bake until they are nice and crispy and then serve them with salads. My family loves them and often just eat the croutons as a snack without any salad.

Genesis 1

1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3. And God said, "Let their be light," and there was light.

4. And God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

5. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day.

6. And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water."

7. So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so.

8. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning - the second day.

9. And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so.

10. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

11. Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds."

12. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

13. And there was evening, and there was morning - the third day.

14. And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,

15. and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so.

16. God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light ot govern the night. He also made the stars.

17. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,

18. to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.

19. And there was evening, and there was morning - the fourth day.

20. And God said,"Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanseof the sky."
21. So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thnig with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to it's kinds. And God saw that it was good.
22. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."
23. And there was evening and there was morning - the fifth day.
24. And God said,"Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: lovestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so.
25. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the ceratures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.
28. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29. Then God said, "I give you every seed bearing plant on the face of the whiole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
30. and to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air andall the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day.

It's amazing to me to think that God created humankind in His own image. The implications here should be a big encouragement to anyone struggling with self esteem. In some way, God created us to be a little like Him. I do not believe He created us to be little Gods, but that each of us in some small way represents some of the characteristics of God. I was made the way I am for a reason, and I can either allow myself to make the most of who I am or I can try to become the person someone else wants me to be. But if I choose the latter I am thwarting the plan and design that God had for me from the time I was born. If I choose to be the person God made me to be I am choosing a way of life that brings satsifacation - knowing that I am embracing the life that God has for me.

We had a total of eleven daycare kids today but at the moment there is only one here. All three of my children are at grandma's house and will be home sometime after 9:00. I am expecting two more children any minute who will stay for the night and then leave around 6:30 in the morning.

We made it outside to play for about 45 minutes this morning but by this afternoon the temperature was starting to drop. There's a chance of some snow tonight although the forecast says little or no accumlation. Tomorrow's highs are only supposed to reach the mid 20s and it's going to be windy.

I had fun cooking today and made this macaroni, chicken and cheese casserole for lunch. I made triple recipe and was able to put enough in the freezer for two meals later. For dinner I made a huge batch of chili and was also able to put enough of that in the freezer for two meals. I love having premade meals in the freezer and it's really not hard to double recipes and put some back for another time.

My other accomplishment of the day was to finally clean my refrigerator. Strange and unusual substances were found in there that defy explanation. But they are gone now and the refrigerator shines.

I somehow forgot that I was going to fold the three clean loads of laundry sitting in baskets and sat down and read emails and blogs instead. I guess the laundry will be there tomorrow. And when I tried to sit down and write this afternoon while the kids took their naps I fell asleep myself. Not much writing got done but that sure was some good sleep.

And so goes another day.

Today was even warmer than yesterday and we made the most of it spending almost two hours outside. I'm still comprehending the fact that this place is really ours and dreaming of the things I want to do here. I enjoy walking around looking in all nooks and crannies. I look at the trees and dream of tree houses. I look at the front yard and porch and imagine flower beds,porch swings, and lazy summer evenings. I look at the very back of the property and imagine a garden full of healthy plants and a large chicken coop full of laying hens. Dreaming, I know, but hoping too make those dreams reality.

We had seven daycare children today (not all at once but spread out over all three shifts) and really had a relaxed day. Besides playing outside we had circle time, played Winter Bingo, and read stories. The younger kids spent quite a bit of time building with wooden blocks and playing puppy, which is their favorite pretend game right now.

Amanda was in charge of dinner this evening and made cheesy shells, peas, and served applesauce with it.

Doug and Austin worked some more on cleaning out the shed and then Austin went to youth group at church and Doug worked on some minor repairs around the house.

I finally got the kitchen floor scrubbed good. It was getting pretty bad and it was so nice to see a  nice clean floor again. I also made a double batch of the Cheddar Crackers that were so popular last week.

All in all it was just one of those days that make me glad to be alive and grateful for all the blessings I have.

This morning started out with a light cover of snow and sleet on the ground causing some schools in the area to call a two hour delay. By this afternoon it had all melted and was so nice outside that we took the kids outside to play for over an hour. Getting out of the house for awhile and getting some fresh air and sunshine and exercise did us all good.

Our day went really well. We had a total of ten children today ranging in age from two years old to ten years old. We got out the art/craft supplies and they had were busy for a long time creating all kinds of things with these. Some of the supplies we used were wooden craft sticks both large and small, stickers, construction paper, glue sticks, pompoms, plain white paper, safey scissors,  crayons and markers. I just let them use their imaginations and make whatever they wanted.

We read a lot of stories, had circle time (twice, once in the morning and once in the evening), colored pictures, played Winter Bingo, sang songs and just had a good time.

Austin was in charge of lunch today and made strawberry pie, baked some frozen pizzas and served fruit cocktail with it. The pie ended up not being quite firm enough (it had to be frozen) for lunch, so we had it for dinner instead with the broccoli chicken casserole I had made. It was delicious and there were no leftovers.

While we were outside this afternoon Doug and Austin loaded up the trailor with a bunch of junk that was left in the shed behind the house when we bought it. Doug will haul it away sometime in the next few days and it will be nice to see it go. We're planning to do some work on the shed and turn it into a playhouse for the kids.

After they finished loading the trailor Doug gave Austin some driving time around the yard. He's been trying to spend time whenever he gets the chance giving Austin driving lessons. With some of the challenges Austin has we want to make sure he gets plenty of practice before he gets on the road for real. Austin is doing well and I'm proud of him for the progress he's made and proud of Doug for all the patience he has teaching him.

Besides her schoolwork and daily chores Amanda was kept busy, as usual, taking care of all her animals. She cleaned the rat and guinea pig cages, played with the cats, Toby and Scout (they demand a lot of attention), and fed them all including her chicken Ryan. I just know that someday she is going to have some kind of career working with animals.

In a little, after Michael falls asleep I will go read with Austin and Amanda. Three or four evenings a week we spend an hour reading together. First we read a portion from the Bible, then a couple chapters from The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child (we're reading the first volume). Then we read another book of our choice. Recently we've read several Agatha Christie books and now we're enjoying The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter.



Still Here

I started the year with high hopes and seventeen days into it I feel like I am already way off track.

We've decided to work things out so that we don't have to depend on a helper. It's frustrating to think help is coming in and plan the day around that and then not have her show up. I really don't want to have to hire and train someone else since we're in the process of downsizing anyway.  So last week I spent a lot of time rearranging my daily routine and the kids routines to accomodate this change. We can do it just fine on our own if we are planning for it, especially since two of our kids have left in the last week - one because our move made his mother's daily drive quite a bit longer and one because her mother dropped her college classes and doesn't need us anymore. These two were two of the younger children so it is making a big difference.

Anyway, I say all this to say , I really do hope to be back in the swing of things next week. I still have all these ideas in my head but just haven't been able to get to the computer to write them down.

• 06:57 Snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Looks like only a couple inches but still . . . snow. :-)

• 07:11 Can anyone come start the coffee for me? Too lazy too do it myself but need it badly.

• 07:28 Michael's personal mission seems to be to annoy everyone in the house this morning. It's not even 8AM yet he's almost succeeded.

• 07:42 Okay, going to go start the coffee now.

• 08:01 Darn it. Out of milk in here. Have to go to the garage to get some from the extra frig. And it's COLD out there!

• 08:02 Ouch, somebody put toys in my boots!

• 10:01 This is turning out to be a very slow day.

• 12:58 My computer is doing strange things. It must not die. It must not die.

• 13:23 I think it's going to live (my computer).

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• 09:33 We had a light dusting of snow last night.

• 09:35 Michael keeps making me sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" over and over and over this morning.

• 09:52 Austin & Amanda still asleep. Doug and Michael grocery shopping. Hunter and Khristian watching tv. Time for me to clean the kitchen.

• 11:00 I'm making homemade croutons. They are in the oven now and smell wonderful.

• 15:44 My kitchen smells like coffee, brownies and bacon. :-)

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There are days when it feels like everyone else's burden is trying to sit on my shoulders. And while I am very willing to lend a helping hand and a listening ear, I have to learn to draw a line between sharing the pain and carry and fix it all myself.

Since I am involved with so many families every day I find myself a part, in one way or another, of a lot of different stories. Just a few from this week are -

The single mother who took her child to the Dr. today for an ear infection and bad cold and was unable to fill the prescription for antibiotics because the Medicaid coverage for her child was dropped for some reason unknown to her.

The mother of three who is trying to grasp the diagnosis of Autism for her two year old and what it means for him and the family.

The grandmother who has custody of and is raising her grandson who was told yesterday that the two rounds of radiation treatment the she just went through for cancer in several parts of her body did not do what they had hoped. Now they need to explore other options - chemotherapy and surgery being two. This is the her second fight with cancer after five years of being cancer free.

The single mother of a two year old who has been told that her job is in jeopardy due to cutbacks where she works.

The single mother of three who has had her hours severely cut back and is struggling to make ends meet and feeling like she's fighting a losing battle.

When those who come into my home every day, people I consider friends, are having struggles like this, I want to be able to fix it somehow. And many times I have nearly made myself depressed and anxious trying to find all the answers. But I am learning that even though I can't always help in the ways I wish I could there are things that I can do.

I can listen.

I can provide a safe haven for the children who are affected by these situations. I can make sure that when they are with me that there is a peaceful, loving, supportive and wholesome environment.

I can pray. This is the most important action I can take. Pray for wisdom, strength and peace for all involved. Pray for healing. Pray for miracles. Prayer does change things. It's not my job to fix the problems, I simply need to take them to the One who loves each of us more than we can imagine.



Impressions

Sometimes days seem to go by in a blur and when I think back over them I feel like I'm just left with impressions. Here are some of my impressions from today.

Lots and lots of little people

Phone calls

Dishes

Diapers

Laundry

Lots and lots of big people

Books

Building with blocks

Laughter

More little people

More diapers

More dishes

The Annoying Orange on YouTube (compliments of Amanda)

Runny noses

Whining

Hugs and cuddles

More laughter

Bedtime for little people

Big sigh of relief

Now I'm looking forward to some read aloud time with Austin and Amanda in a few minutes. This is one of my favorite parts of the day.

Just Plain . . .

Tired!

That is all.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos by Ambro

Yesterday was quiet but today definitely was NOT. It was busy, it was sometimes chaotic, it was often loud and most of the time it was fun.

I still haven't gotten a new memory card for my phone (that I use for my camara) or the adapter I need for the computer so still no pictures. I miss posting pictures.

Right after breakfast the kids and I got busy in the kitchen. We made Oyster Snack Crackers and Applesauce Bread. And while we were at it we went ahead and made the roast beef sandwiches for lunch.

I was glad we got those things done because my helper never showed up today. Doug had talked to her on Saturday and told her that I would be texting her with the schedule once I knew what the week was going to look like. I texted her yesterday and never got an answer. I talked to her daughter this morning and she had no idea whether her mother was planning to come in or not. And she never showed up. Since we are planning to downsize over the coming year anyway I am not planning to look into hiring anyone else but simply deal with things the way they are until we reach a point where I don't really have to have the extra help anyway.

And since I mentioned downsizing - Doug and I had some long talks over the holidays and decided the best thing for our family is for us to let this business naturally downsize over time. We are not planning to turn away any kids we currently have, but as they leave, for one reason or another, we will simply not take more. The goal is to get us down to five on each shift.  Once we reach that point we will no longer be required to have a state license. Not having a state license will drastically reduce the amount of paperwork, the somewhat mind boggling rules and regulations and with it the overall stress level. It looks like by the end of summer we will probably have reached that point. One child is moving, two will be going to school, and one is leaving for a childcare provider a little closer to them (our recent move lengthened his mother's daily drive considerably).

I have no desire to stop this work. I love it. But I feel like maybe I have been stretching myself a little too thin and everyone will benefit from these changes.

Anyway, with that little detour out of the way -

the rest of the day we were busy playing, reading, doing crafts, enjoying some outside time, and playing games and playing with
playdough.

Austin and Amanda started back into the school routine - a little reluctantly, but without much complaint. Michael was a bit out of sorts, and I think it was mostly because Daddy was back at work after being on vacation for two weeks.

Postscript - I started writing this last night but I'm posting it this morning because Austin wanted to use my computer. His is having issues and I think we're going to have to buy him another one.



My Last Day Off

I thought today we were going to be "back in business." We had a sibling group of three scheduled to come (including our two year old, L., with autism), but they never showed up.  We had decided to stay home from church because sometimes that's just easier when L. is here.  So it turned out to be a very quiet day. I do still have one child coming in around 11:00PM but he will go right back to sleep.

Amanda spent the night with two of her friends (sisters) and then they came here for a few hours this afternoon. It was nice outside, and the girls went out and took Michael with them. They rode bikes and went for a walk.

This morning Doug, Austin and Michael went grocery shopping. We definitely needed to restock because a lot of kids will be back tomorrow.

This afternoon Austin walked down to Grandma's house and was there all afternoon and evening. He brought back some delicious cookies (Peppermint Melts) that one of his cousins had baked. I'm going to have to get the recipe for them because they were just awesome.

Doug spent the afternoon doing end of year paperwork. This evening he is at the Rescue Squad for his regular Sunday evening shift. Unless they are out on a call he should be home anytime now as his shift was over at 9:45.

I enjoyed the unexpected quiet day. I baked a cake, made fingerpaint for this weeks upcoming activities, read lots and lots of blogs, did a little writing, played mahjong, and set up some activities in the playroom for tomorrow.

Knowing this is probably my last day off until Easter weekend made me treasure it and enjoy every minute of it.

A Wife of Noble Character?

A wife of noble character who can find, she is worth far more than rubies. Proverbs 31:10

Honestly when I read this I'm not sure whether to laugh hysterically or sit down and cry. I don't feel like there's is whole lot of noble character to be in me some days. Most days if I'm honest. It seems like an impossiby high standard.

But this is not written for women to beat themselves up with and then to give up in defeat before even getting started on the journey. Along with high standards there is also Grace, given freely to all of us who will except it. With that Grace comes strength from beyond our own ability. Strength to get up and try again when we fail and strength to reach a little farther, climb a little higher, stretch a little more.

The Hebrew word for noble is chayil which carries the meaning of noble, virtous, a strong woman of substance, depth and character. She is capable in the work set out before her.  A woman of this character is valuable to her her husband because she is not a weak and passive woman who allows herself to be swayed by every passing fancy. Neither does she allow herself to be run over by those around her but stands firm in her convictions.

I found some interesting resources and articles on the Proverbs 31 that I thought I would share.

Proverbs 31: Portrait of a Godly Woman

Proverbs 31 Ministries

A Virtous Woman

I will continue to update this post throughout this week as I focus on the first verse of this passage this first week of the 2011.  2011 Resolution

The holidays have been wonderful and I have enjoyed the change of pace but I am really glad to be getting back into normal routine. Because I like routines.

We had a quiet New Year's Eve at home and another quiet day today. Amanda went to spend the night with two of her friends tonight.  Doug and Austin spent the afternoon working on building a chicken coop for Amanda's two chickens. Michael enjoyed watching the process and trying to help.

I made homemade cheese pizza for lunch, black eyed peas and corn bread for dinner.

I worked on my blog and had a great time enjoying the peace and quiet in the house while everyone else was either gone or working in the garage.

I feel refreshed and ready to face a new year of adventure.