Just wanted to add a note about our "new" vehicle. It's so easy to get excited about a provision like this and then, as months go by, to forget all about it. Both of our cars were having problems at once. The kids' seatbelts were broken in Stephen's commuter car, and the little Hyundai I drove started making some startling noises (sounded like the bottom was going to fall out). That left us with NO family car. We couldn't even drive to church and had to go through all sorts of gymnastics to borrow my mom's car for weekly commitments. I felt more discouraged than I had in a while, knowing that there was no way we could afford to fix our car AND think about buying another vehicle that would fit our growing family. It was no mistake that the kids and I read in Exodus that week. It occured to me that my prayers must have sounded like those of the Israelites. No sooner were their feet dry from the Red Sea then they were whining to God about their need for food and fresh water. It was as if the miracles hadn't even happened!

Well, we received a call from one of the deacons who "just happened" to have inherited a nice, new vehicle from a family member and didn't know what to do with his 6 passenger Taurus wagon!!! He said that he had been the recipient of so much generosity over the years and that he wanted to GIVE the Taurus to us!!! Can you believe it?! It was so neat to be able to show the kids this tangible example of God's provision. If this gift hadn't come our way, we would have had to take on another car payment when we are already tight financially. That would have added YEARS to our debt-elimination plan...

This incident was such an encouragement to me and Stephen. We went over the "history" of our last 8 years together and the ways in which God has provided for us against all odds. We realized that we have lived in 6 homes, have been in 4 churches, have lost 6 cars, have worked 7 jobs and have juggled classes for most of the first 5 years together (while having a few children, I might add :).

Good Thing These Kids are So Darn Cute...

Every now and then I just have to run for my "funny quote notebook" to record some of the things these little rascals come out with.

The kids were watching "Sound of Music" yesterday. The nuns bowed their heads, and Sis asked what they were doing. Buddy answered, "They're praying to Allah!"

Sis and I were having a heart to heart during one of our Mother/daughter outings. She was chattering in the backseat, and somehow the subject of schools came up. She said, "If I ever went to school, I'd want to go to one of those biblical schools like Aunt Krista's kids. That school would be good 'cause I KNOW she wouldn't send them to a trashy school."

We were reading in Exodus about when God wrote the 10 commandments. I said, "Guys did you know that God wrote them with his finger?" Buddy piped in, "Well, not REALLY his finger. His SPIRITUAL hand..."

I told the kids that it was really hard to keep the secret about my pregnancy during all of those early months when I was so sick every day. Sis said, "Yeah, I wondered what the heck you were doing..."

Buddy (always one to conserve energy) said that he would not want to work on a farm when he grows up because it would be "way too much work for him and all of his WIVES." ?!?!

Baby Boy was trying to snuggle up to me in my bed, but his brother had stolen his spot. He didn't miss a beat, crawled over Buddy and said, "SHOO BUG!"

He does have a softer side. Yesterday he rewarded Sis when she carried in a load of wood with a heartwarming, "Thank you, dear girl!"

Baby Boy is also our most cautious and fearful child. He was TERRIFIED of sitting in our new car the first day after we got it. We tried to coax him into his car seat, and he got so upset that he threw up! We abandoned the cause and put him back in the Camry where he immediately calmed down. I said to him, "Were you a little scared?" He answered, "Mmhmm. I frew up!"

The other night, Sis was chasing Buddy around with a medicine dropper, saying, "Just take it! Just take it!" I snapped to attention and asked her WHAT ON EARTH she was giving him. Buddy rolled his eyes and said, "She makes me take my cold medicine EVERY night, and I don't even have a SPECK of sickness."
I remembered that Sis had been allowed to measure his cold medicine weeks before that. Evidently she thought she was treating her brother for a chronic condition...

Baby Boy has been singing up a storm lately. His favorite song has been "Christus Vincit" which he learned from our Latin CD. Recently he has been working on "Let's Go Fly a Kite" which he sings quite well (with Sis' constant encouragement)
Another one of his favorite activities is cleaning. He follows me arround with the swiffer saying, "Too messy! Too messy!!"

When his brother or sister call to him, Baby Boy often responds, "One sec, I'm BUSY!" He keeps a pretty tight schedule for a 2 year old. :)

Buddy was asked to make his bed. He came to me in exasperation, saying, "Mommy, I CAN'T make my bed because my sheets are off course!"

Sis was eager to share the news from our last ultra sound. She called up her cousin Lydia and informed her, "Daddy's pretty sure our baby has a penis, and girls don't have those!"

Buddy came to me with a look of concern the other day. He had been reading the bottle on Sis' allergy medication. He said, "Mommy, why does this say that it 'May Cause DISEASE?'" I explained that it said "dizziness," not disease. Sis was quite touched by her brother's concern for her wellbeing and said, "Oh, Mommy, you should put that on the blog!"

The Thanksgiving Story By Sis Age 7

The Pilgrims did not agree with the church in England!!!!
So they went to Holland.
That was also too crowded so they made a deal with merchants and they made a trade with them!!!!
So they then went to America on the Mayflower which the merchants helped them buy!!!!
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Pilgrims arrive in America with no homes no nothing they did not know how to plant anything.
They did not know how to hunt either.
They prayed for help. GOD sent Squanto to teach them . . .
He taught them how to plant and he showed them also how to plant corn . . .
He showed them how to poke a hole in the ground and then put fish in the hole then finally you put in the seed.
The Pilgrim's also thought Lobsters were a gift from God!!!!!!
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Good crop and then they decided to celebrate with a feast!!!!
Cheif Massosoit brought deer as a gift.
(Because the Indians also were there)
Some of the foods they ate were these. . .
Venison, duck, seafood, cabbage,
onions, corn squash and No Turkey!!!!!!!
Almost a week long feast!!!!!
They played games and maybe some of the Indian children and the Pilgrim children played Blind Man's Bluff.
_____________________________________________________________________________
By Sis Age 7

Charming Fare Farm By Sis Age 7

We went to Charming Fare Farm!!!!
It was Mama's Baby's Birthday!!!
We were very glad to be there!!!
We saw these following animals . . .
Goats, Lions, Bears, Wolves, Reindeer, Camels, Horses, Baby horses, baby ponies, donkeys, porcupines, racoons, swans, ducks, rabbits, oxen, a kind of cat I forget,
a fox, pigs, baby pigs, lama's, oh there were so many animals!!!
LOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mama's Baby got soooooooooooooooooo excited!!!!
He loved it!!
The mother goats were pushing there babies off cliffs!!!
We bought a bag of grain!!!
We gave some to the goats!!!
They loved the grain!!!!
And we got to go on a tractor ride!!
We were on the first row!!!
And we saw a mouse!!
A woman offered him some grain and he hid his face and put his hands over his face and she said I'm sorry!!!
He was led by a lady holding his hand!!!
We saw a pumkin who did not have a name!!
So he hated every name we tried to give him!!
But a man said "Give alllll your names to the office and by the end of the day we might have a name for him!!
And oh!!
I forgot we saw an owl too!!!
Well we had a ton of fun topped on by a magic show!!
By Sis Age 7

All Sorts of News

It has only been a few weeks since I've written, yet I hardly know where to begin to catch up on all that's happened...

I'll start with our biggest news: We are expecting!! This isn't "new news" to us, but, after a very sick and exhausting first trimester, we are sharing the joyful announcement with others. What a delight it was to hear this Little One's heartbeat and to enjoy the kids' reactions when we told them. Buddy was ecstatic. Sis was reserved initially; it always takes her a while to process big stuff like this. Now she is as pleased as could be and shows her care by bringing me breakfast in bed each morning. She did say, "Mom, it would really stink if you had another boy!"

Baby Boy turned two today. We celebrated this occasion by bringing him to a petting zoo/farm yesterday. He was breathless with delight over all of the animals he could touch, feed, and hug and the tractor/train ride through the corn mazes. He repeated the animals names (including llama and camel). This adventure was second only to his last birthday which we spent in Disney World. :)

Stephen was in San Diego last week on business. It was the first time we have been separated as a family in over 7 years. Buddy wept and clung to Stephen for about an hour the night before he left. Sis made heartbreaking comments like, "Daddy, we can hardly bear to wait until 6:00 for you to come home from work. How are we going to wait 4 days?!" Baby Boy was quite forlorn as well. Once he discovered the wonders of speaker phones, he kept running up and pressing the button, hoping that his Daddy would be on the other end. Our reunion on Thursday was as joyful as our parting was pitiful. We calculated that we had about 160 hugs to catch up on and got right to work. Baby Boy said again and again, "Plane all gone! Daddy home." Stephen can have no question about how much his family loves and appreciates him.

This week marks the end of soccer season. We have enjoyed seeing the kids' progress but are more than ready for a calmer schedule around here. I'm going to do my best to include some pictures; however, my computer has rebelled at previous efforts.

The Day At The Apple Orchard By Sis Age 7

We went to the apple orchard!!!!!!!!!!
It was a lot of fun!!!!
We went on a tractor ride and Mama's Baby got VERY SCARED at first but then he knew he had a car like that because we brought his toy tractor and he got excited because he saw that the car in his hand was the one that he was on!!
Last year the tractor ride we went on was not so good!!!
There were Noooooooooo SIDES!!!
And we were squeezed in with oher people and on top of that we almost fell off!!
But this year we had sides and we were not squeeze in with other people!!!
We were glad about that!!!!
And we did not fall off!!!!
We got enough apples we could make apple Dumplings enough for everyone and then we could have like 7 other apples to eat!!!
It was great!!
And we learned they had a fan that blew on the apple trees like a windmill!!!
It was a ton of fun!!!
And we got maple lollipops and some fudge!!!!!!!!
Whhhooooo!!!!!!!!!
Well that was a fun day!!!
The Apple Orchard By Sis Age 7

The Day And The Life Of A Fire Fighter By Buddy

We went to see real Fire Fighters!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We saw their Firetrucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then then they showed us their equipment!!!!!!!!!!!
We saw some pretend smoke!!!
(No poisonous gases)!!!!
Then we learned that smoke travels up!!!!
Not down.
We saw a smoke detector and heard it beep!!!
It was loud!!
And they told us to crawl if their was smoke!!!!
We should feel the door with the back of our hand and then feel the handle!!!!
Peek out if their is a tiny bit of smoke close the door!!!
Then put a blanket in between the bottom of the door!!!!
And then get a sheet a Yellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Help!!! Help!!! Fire!!!!!!!!!!!!
And climb out the window if you can!!!!!!!!
Me and Buddy could jump out since our house is one story!!!!!!
And they showed us a fireman in his suit!!!!!!!!!!
Then they showed us the ambulance!!!!
And they were nice!!!!
We had fun and got a coloring book!!!!
We had a lotttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt of fun!!!
Fire Fighters Life By Buddy!!!
Age 6