They Know Me!

It always surprises me when people know who I am. It doesn't help that I am HORRIBLE with names and can never remember the names of half the people I have met before.

Anyway, I took Brett and Greyden with me today to run errands. We had to go to the bank, the post office, Aldi's, and Sam's Club.

First stop - the bank. Yep, they know me there. Our bank has a popcorn machine in it. Every time I go with all the children, we empty out the popcorn machine. There have been several times they pop some just for us. Ok, I'll admit there have been times that as we're leaving the house someone will say, "I'm hungry." And I'll reply, "Don't worry, we're going to the bank!"

Next stop - the post office. I ebayed some stuff so I had several packages to mail. I was chatting with the post office lady and she says, "So where are the other children?" I didn't realize she knew me by sight. Now, I probably shouldn't be surprised. This nice lady has several times given the children the post office coloring books to color in.

Third stop - Aldi's (a small grocery store). We didn't have to buy too much stuff today, so we only got 2 carts instead of our normal 3. When we headed toward the checkout, Kim (one of the managers) opened up a lane just for us. We had a nice chat. Kim is a new grandma, so we talked about what we do for the children for Christmas. They definitely know me at Aldi's.

Sam's Club - Nobody knew me here! At least, nobody said anything to make me think they knew me. Hmmm..... I guess we'll have to work on being a bigger spectacle at Sam's. Although now that I think about it, a month ago we took the whole family to Sam's. All those ladies who cook the free samples - I bet they remember me. ;-)

It's definitely difficult to be anonymous with a large family. Good thing I'm not shy.

PJ

Preparing Our Jesse Trees

One of our family traditions is doing Jesse Trees during the Christmas season.

A Jesse Tree is just a series of scriptures that takes you through the Old Testament and shows you how the Old Testament points to the birth of Jesus.

When we do our Jesse Trees, we read a Bible Scripture. We have a little drawing that depicts the Scripture. They then cut the picture out and hang it on their Jesse Tree.

In this photo, the children are all coloring their Jesse Trees. I take a roll of brown paper, cut out pieces for each child and draw a tree on it. They then color the tree in. We tape it somewhere in the kitchen (sliding glass door, cabinets, refrigerator). Each day, they glue an ornament to their Jesse tree.

It's an easy tradition that the children love. I enjoy seeing each year how much better the children's drawings get. Last year, we had the oldest 3 draw a picture rather than just coloring one in. We'll probably do the same this year.

This photo was their finished Jesse tree from 3 years ago. That was the last year we had just one tree for them to put their ornaments on. You couldn't even see the tree when they were done! But they were very proud of it.

I love our traditions!

PJ

Project Drying Rack

We've been line drying clothes for at least 2 years now. It's pretty easy in the spring, summer, and fall. But more difficult in the winter. It's not like I'm hanging laundry for just Jim and me - I'm hanging for a family of 10!

So we ue a lot of drying racks. And just like everything in our household, they break. Jim and Colter spent some time this afternoon, disassembling and reassembling drying racks.

I love watching them work together. Jim is such a great teacher and Cole is so serious and capable.

They managed to get 5 complete drying racks out of all their pieces. That may not seem like much of an accomplishment to some, but they did it amidst much chaos. They had little feet running through their work area. And little fingers picking up and playing with all their pieces. (Drying rack rods make great spears, don't you know?!)

But, I must say, from my perspective, the best part was the fact that they not only put together the drying racks, but they hung the wet laundry on them, as well!

Wow!

PJ

Siblings

I mentioned before that Brett and Emery are splitting the cooking duties with me. Emery is still a little handicapped as he isn't reading on his own yet (but he's getting close!)

In this photo, Brett is helping Emery to read the recipe for coffee cake (breakfast for tomorrow). Don't you think they'll make great future chefs?

I just love it when my children work together. Let me rephrase that. I just love it when my children work together without bickering and fighting.

Right now, Greyden and Fletcher are probably the two that are having the most trouble working (and playing) together. It seems like everything ends up in either one of two ways. Either Greyden is laying face down on the floor screaming like a baby. Or Greyden is sitting on top of Fletcher, whacking him as hard as he can.

It's actually pretty funny to watch. Especially if you are wearing ear plugs. They're still young enough that they aren't hurting each other too much physically. It's the emotions that are being injured.

One of our family goals is that the children become each other's best friends. That means they spend lots and lots of time together. So inevitably there are disagreements. And they're in the process of learning that the correct way to handle a conflict is not to pin someone to the ground and whack them.

I still remember the first time my younger brother got the upper hand over me. He pinned me to the ground and whacked my head against the hardwood floor, repeatedly. It made quite a lasting mental impression (pun intended). My younger brother was now stronger than me. So I had to make some adjustments in our relationship. I only remember him ever physically hurting me that one time (although I'm sure there were others).

For the most part, I don't doubt that Greyden and Fletcher will be great friends. After all, I remember when Brett and Emery fought all the time. So if I ever despair that the children don't work together well, all I have to do is remember my two future chefs.

PJ

128 Pumpkins!!

It's time to take down the Fall decorations and put up the Christmas decorations. And once again, the Jonas animals are benefiting.

Jim came home with his pickup truck full of pumpkins and squash for two days in a row. Colter counted them (since he got to unload them) and he counted 128 pumpkins and 12 squash.

Wow - that makes for some happy goats.

The boys have had quite a lot of fun launching the pumpkins into the pasture and watching them splat! (I've got to get a picture of that).

When Brett was a baby, I fed her too much sweet potato baby food, and she turned orange from all the beta carotene. I wonder if my goats are going to turn orange?

PJ

Piggy Banks Everywhere

Our local bank ran an advertisement in the newspaper. Fortunately for us (and unfortunately for them) we saw it. It said something like this: Bring in your child or grandchild and get a free piggy bank. The first time you fill it up and bring it in we will match the funds up to $25 dollars each.

Yee hah! $25 x 8 children is a free $200. All for just cashing in the children's change. I work harder just getting out of bed in the morning.

Eager to claim their banks, the children pressed Daddy. So, Jim stopped by the bank on his way home from work. When he got there, only the drive through was open. He pulled up and asked them for eight piggy banks. Apparently she thought he was just trying to get some free piggy banks, because she gave him the run around and then told him he would have to come in during regular hours. But for some reason she asked Jim his name. When he told her, "Jim Jonas," she said, "Oh!!! You're the one with all those kids. Just pull around to the side and I'll bring them right out for you." (See, we're famous ;-)

Jim brought the piggy banks home and was greeted with lots of squealing (from the children, not the piggy banks). This was followed by a stampede to find all the change they could. We later had a "bank day" where mom let them cash in their dollar bills for all the change I had in my change jar. I think the children have even managed to get Grandma to bring her change jar when she visits near Christmas.

So now the piggies sit. All lined up in a row. They are currently on Jim's dresser and they stare at me all the time. It is very disconcerting to be stared at by 8 piggy bank eyes. I think I may turn them around to face the wall. But then Hewitt will probably demand they face the right way again. I think we need to put up a dedicated piggy bank shelf in the boys' room. Then the piggies can stare at the boys.

PJ

Oatmeal, anyone?

At our house, we go through a LOT of food. I mean, a LOT of food.

I've got a new system that is working out really well. Right now, all I have to cook is dinner. Emery (7) makes breakfast. Brett (10) makes lunch. And I make dinner.

So far, Emery has mastered pancakes, sweet breads, baked oatmeal, cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, and oatmeal.

But Emery has a few restrictions. If he's going to bake something, he needs to do it the night before. He can only make cinnamon rolls when I've made bread and saved some dough for him. He has to start pancakes before everyone is screaming that they're starving. And he makes scrambled eggs when the chickens have gone into overtime and we're swimming in eggs. So, what he makes the most is oatmeal.

Hence the 50 pound bag of Rolled oats on my kitchen floor. I buy them from a food co-op I organize.

But I have to admit, 50 pounds is a lot of oatmeal. But what is the alternative? Could you imagine if I had to buy those little Quaker Oats canisters of oatmeal? I'd have to have a single cart full of them. After all, we go through about 50 pounds every three months. Sometimes quicker, sometimes slower. But I buy about 4 bags a year.

Emery has gotten very creative with the oatmeal. He puts all sorts of different things in it. Mostly good stuff ;-) Applesauce, canned peaches, raisins, cinnamon, honey, sugar, coconut, to name a few.

But I have a confession to make. I detest oatmeal. Not just dislike it. Detest it. It is horrid stuff. I can't even eat the baked oatmeal. Now, oatmeal raisin cookies, those I can handle. But I'd never make them just for myself. I have found one way though, that I will actually eat oats.

It goes like this: Melt an entire stick of butter. Add heaping handfuls of brown sugar. Add a whole bunch of raisins. Toss in a few rolled oats. Stir and eat with a spoon when no one is looking!

See, I do my part to help finish off those 50 pounds :D

PJ

"UH OH"

I think those are two of the most dreaded words (or are they just sounds) that any mother hears.

I was greeted to those sounds the other evening. Now, when a mother is aware that there has been an "uh oh", she has three choices:

1. Go investigate
2. Send the children to handle it
3. Pretend you never heard the "uh oh" and live in ignorance as long as you can

I was pretty much busted on this one, and had to go investigate. I entered the dining room (the source of the "uh oh") and found milk spilled all over the floor.

It turns out that Indigo had asked Greyden to get her some milk. Being a super big brother, Greyden did. But why was there milk all over the floor?

I admit to an accusing tone of voice when I said to Greyden, "Why didn't you put the lid on Indi's sippy cup?"

The reply??

"But YOU said she didn't need a lid."

"When did I ever say that?"

"Last night - YOU said that she didn't need a lid."

Then I remembered, Indigo was drinking water out of my glass. Someone (I don't remember who) tried to get her to stop, and I said, "that's ok, she doesn't need a lid."

Oh well, I'm not going to cry over spilled milk!
PJ

Apple Picking

One of our annual traditions is apple picking. We usually pick 200-300 pounds of Fuji apples. We can apple sauce, apple juice, apple syrup, and sliced apples. We store the rest in our root cellar for eating throughout the winter. They stay fresh and usually last until early March.

But this year has been a DISASTER. Not only did we have a drought all summer, we had a hard freeze in the spring. It killed most of the apple blossoms. So there were NO u-pick fuji apples this year. Oh the horror!

We did go and pick about 100 pounds of golden delicious apples. But it just wasn't the same. We still canned a bunch. But golden delicious apples just do not store well in the root cellar. So we don't have any fresh apples! Brett was crying about it one day, and I told her not to worry, we could buy some fujis from the grocery store.

"It's not the same," she cried. "They taste horrible!" She's right, they definitely do not taste anywhere near as good as those we've picked ourselves.

In this photo, Indi is enjoying her apple, while Daddy is performing quality control on the apples the children have picked. Jim never actually picks any apples when we go apple picking. He plops himself on the ground and inspects what everyone else has picked. It's a challenge for him to keep up!

PJ

For Want of a Clothespin

I stopped using my clothes dryer completely over a year ago. In fact, it isn't even plugged in right now. In general, I enjoy hanging the clothes up to dry. But it isn't my job to hang the clothes (although I do help). It is the children's job. Unfortunately, it is not something the children enjoy doing.

This summer it was Emery's job to hang up the clothes. Emery HATED hanging up the clothes. It was a battle every time we had a load ready to be hung. Well, one day, I assigned Greyden to help Emery hang up the clothes. They had only hung up a few, and I caught them playing. So I asked if the laundry was finished (knowing full well it wasn't).

Emery said he couldn't hang anymore because there were no more clothespins. To which Greyden immediately responded, "Yes there are, you hid them in the playhouse, remember?"

Emery immediately shot back, "No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did." To prove his point, Greyden ran to the playhouse, and brought back a basket of clothespins.

Let's just say that after an appropriate punishment, Emery had to hang the rest of the clothes by himself. And I'd like to say he learned his lesson. But I'm afraid the lesson he may have learned is to be careful about who you choose to be your partner in crime.

PJ

Garbage Gleanings

Guess what Jim brought home from the garbage? Four crates (maybe 100 pounds?) of cabbage! One of Jim's customers runs a food ministry and often sets out food for us. He also knows we have animals, so will set out any produce that he doesn't have an immediate need for.

This photo was actually a picture of one of the cabbages that I grew in my garden. Isn't it pretty? Farmer Frazier's wife had given us about 100 cabbage seedlings in the spring. They didn't do much then, but a bunch managed to survive the drought and we got lots of beautiful cabbages this Fall!

Now, I love sauerkraut. I made it for the first time this summer, and it was very easy to make. You simply shred the cabbage, add some salt and whey (optional, but helpful). Then you stomp the cabbage until it releases enough juices to cover itself. (And if the children are stomping, it often covers them, as well). Then you pack it tightly into a canning jar, put the top on loosely, and set it on your counter. In a few days... sauerkraut!

Problem is - I'm the only one in the family that likes sauerkraut. Which doesn't bother me - I don't mind not sharing ;-) But I am on a quest to get the family to eat cabbage. So, anybody got any easy, family friendly cabbage recipes?

As for the hundred pounds of cabbage Jim brought home, well... I'll use some of it, but the rest is probably destined for the goats. They adore cabbage!

PJ

Isn't She Just So Cute?

Ok, I'm completely biased. But I just think Indigo is way too cute. She's at that age where she has realized she can make us laugh. So she just goes around entertaining everyone.

Someone recently gave Indigo a toddler bed. She was very excited to play in it. She even took her nap in it. But when it was time for bed? Well, she wanted no part of it. She wanted to sleep with Brett just like she always does.

Brett and Indigo share a queen size bed. But as anyone who has ever slept with a toddler knows, toddlers expand to fill whatever size bed they are placed in. Poor Brett, she sleeps with Indigo's feet in her face, Indigo's head on her stomach, or Indigo's butt on her pillow.

But apparently it works for the both of them - because right now the toddler bed is made up very nicely and is the sleeping spot for two well dressed dolls.

PJ

Teaching Logic

I have a logic curriculum for the children. I believe it is called Building Thinking Skills, or something like that. Problem is, it is a workbook. And a fairly expensive one.

Workbooks don't work very well for my family - because there are eight children needing workbooks. Normally what I do is cut out the pages to the workbooks, and stick each page in a plastic page protector. The children have their own dry erase markers and they do the problems/questions on the page protector. When finished, we wipe it off. This is how we do their math, handwriting, and vocabulary workbooks.

But I really don't feel like doing that for these logic books. My solution? Let the children play free cell on the computer. It is a great logic builder.

In this photo Brett is playing free cell. She's holding the mouse because it doesn't work very well. It is actually easier to roll the mouse ball with your hand than to move it on the desk. (Which is another skill, b/c you have to move the mouse opposite to the direction you want to go). Fletcher and Emery are watching her, shouting out moves for her to make.

As for Jade, she's asking me, "Aren't I a bit young to be learning logic?"

My answer - "You're never too young to learn!"

PJ

I Told You To Put Your Shoes on the Shelf...

Last night, Jade woke up in the middle of the night, so I got up and sat on the couch to feed her (it was the quickest way to get back to sleep ;-) All the lights were off, so I couldn't see anything. However, I could hear. And what I heard made me tuck my feet into the couch cushions.

Georgie, the cat, was chasing and playing with something. Now normally, that wouldn't bother me. The children are forever leaving things on the floor, so Georgie is always playing around with something. However, this something he was playing with let out the occasional - squeak!

I was of course convinced it was a mouse. I finished feeding Jade and was faced with a dilemma. There was no way, I was putting my bare feet down on the floor and walking in the dark from the living room to the girls' room, and then all the way back to my room in the dark! But I wanted to go to sleep!

Jade was asleep in my arms, so I carefully crawled on the couch to the light switch and managed to get the light turned on. The coast was clear - so I dashed to the girls' room, gently laid Jade in her bed, and dashed back to the couch.

Now for the tricky part - I had to turn the light off, and get to my bed. Well, all I can say was I ran as fast as I could and leaped onto the bed. (And even then Jim didn't wake up!) I was safe, and went right back to sleep.

In the morning, Jim was getting ready to leave for work. Everyone else (including me) was still in bed. I told Jim that I thought Georgie might have gotten a mouse and could he look for it, because I didn't want Indigo to find it. He came back a little later, and pronounced, "You and me and Georgie got a mouse!" Then he told me this story:

"I went out to look for a dead mouse, and couldn't find one anywhere. Georgie kept running back and forth to a shoe that was in the living room. I finally thought, hmmmmmm..... So I went to the shoe, picked it up and shook it. A mouse head popped up!"

Me: "ALIVE????!!!"

"Yep, so I quickly popped my hand over the shoe, and..."

I'll leave out his detailed description of how he disposed of it, for any of you who are fond of mice.

When the children woke up, I related the story to them. Turns out it was Emery's shoe. I told Emery the mouse had spent all night in his shoe and had probably peed or pooped in it. Emery immediately sniffed the shoe, and pronounced it smelled like... his foot!

The moral of the story - put your shoes on the shoe shelf where they belong and you won't have to worry about mouse poop in your shoe :)

PJ

The Case of the Muddy Footprint

I think I mentioned before that we do a lot with dirt. Me? I like to garden in it. But my kids, they just like to play in it.

We still have two large dirt piles sitting in front of the barn. The children have placed boards across the tops (from peak to peak). It has been the source of hours of enjoyment. I haven't actually seen them walking on the boards, but I suspect it has been done.

I caught Hewitt out there the other day, covered in dirt from head to toe. I would have posted a picture of it - but I can't. Why? Nudity. You see, Hewitt is potty training and he was butt naked. And covered in dirt from - from head to butt to toe ;-)

What does a naked Hewitt have to do with muddy footprints? Not much, I just thought it was funny.

So anyway, our back door enters into the laundry room. I have put a bookcase right next to the back door. The children are supposed to keep all their shoes and boots on that shelf. They are also supposed to always wear their shoes or boots when going outside.

Now, I've been a mother long enough to know that what they are supposed to do is not necessarily what they always do. Sometimes it is easy to catch them. Like when a child has chocolate breath and chocolate all in their molars and denies having gotten into the chocolate chips :) Other times it is not so easy.

But with the case of the muddy footprint, it was pretty obvious that someone was playing in the mud without their boots on. But the mystery of course is - which child? or was it multiple children? And why are there two muddy right foot prints - and no muddy left footprints? Were they wearing just one boot? Did they lose a foot? Did they place just one foot in the mud and keep the other on dry ground?

Alas, I fear I will never solve the case of the muddy footprint. Why? There simply isn't enough time!

PJ

My Backyard

This is a partial view of my backyard. In the foreground is one of my gardens. We call it our trellis garden. This photo was taken on October 19th, so the garden is winding down. Remaining in this garden are turnips, peas, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, lettuce, basil and parsley.

It was our first big year with sweet potatoes and we got 118 pounds - not bad for a drought :)

The pasture is beyond the garden, it's pretty brown because of the drought. You can see the black pigs, the white and red chickens, and the white and brown goats scattered throughout. You can also see some of Farmer Frazier's round bales of hay.

The white triangle thing is what we call our Pigza Hut :)

This is another garden area. We call it our square foot garden. In it are carrots, strawberries (we're still getting a few in October!), kale, turnips, lettuce, onions, jalapeno peppers, spinach, and asparagus.

You can also see part of our barn. The sliding door opens to my garden shed. You can see some of the greenhouse on the right. In the greenhouse we'll harvest spinach, kale, lettuce, carrots, radishes, parsley, broccoli, cabbage and rosemary throughout the winter. We'll also get some peas this winter. The building beyond is our neighbor's garage.

I took both photos while standing in the kids' playground area. It is 32' x 32' and has two swingsets and a playhouse in it.

We grow almost all of our vegetables year round. I buy some extra carrots occasionally, and I had to buy some more potatoes (the drought) but that is about all. I even grew enough onions for the first time to last us the whole year. And we just ate our last watermelon the first week of November!

Fortunately I love to garden, and so do the kids. All the children have their own garden beds. But Emery has the greenest thumb. Gardening in Indiana has been a challenge, but I'm finally getting the hang of it!

I love my backyard!

PJ

Got Milk?

We just dried up our last goat for the season - that means no more fresh milk for the winter :(

Now for those of you who doubt, goat milk is great - no, not the nasty goat milkyou can buy at the store. Real milk. Fresh from the goat.

We have 9 goats, 8 of them females. That means that we could have LOTS of milk come spring (at their peak they can give anywhere from 1-2 gallons a day).

But of course, they all need to be bred and have babies. Last year we only had 2 goats have babies. And no babies means no milk. So we're praying for lots of babies. Our buck was just a youngun last year. But this year he's super studly (at least for a goat ;-).

Normally we don't drink any milk for the winter and just use dried milk for baked goods. But this year we're buying milk for Indigo. She's so tiny that we try to give her as many calories as we can. Since she loves her milk and asks for it, we decided to buy her some. Last time I bought a gallon of milk it was $1.99 - it is now over $4 a gallon! Oh my! Talk about sticker shock :) My milk costs me less than $1 a gallon.

Thanks, God, for my dairy goats!

PJ

Two Mickels?

What is a mickel? Well, it is Hewitt's word for nipples. Hewitt is convinced that he only has one mickel. Doesn't matter how many times we point out his two mickels. Doesn't matter how many times he counts, "One mickel, two mickels." Nope, if you ask him, he only possesses one mickel.

Everybody else has two mickels, but not Hewitt. As he often tells me, "Daddy two mickels, me one mickel."

I couldn't find a picture of his mickels, so I figured I'd show you his one belly button. (He agrees he has just one of those).

Why am I writing about this? Just so I can tease him about it one day :)

PJ

Eighth Child Syndrome

Have you seen that thing that goes around the internet about multiple children? It goes something like this:

First child: you boil and sterilize the pacifier

Second child: you wash the pacifier under running water

Third child: you wipe the pacifier off on your sleeve

People are always sending me stuff like that (I can't imagine why :) I get a general chuckle out of them since they are very true.

Here are two photos that show how bad things can get for the eighth child :)

In the first photo, Brett had been holding Jade so I could take a video of Jim and Colter playing together. Apparently she got bored and set her down in the mulch on the playground.

In the second photo, it was Jim who set her down on the concrete.

Lest you worry, she was always being supervised. But Brett never would have been set on the ground in such a manner.

Of course, my children also now run barefoot through the animal pastures. Maybe I should boil and sterilize their feet?

PJ

Playing in the Hay Field

Farmer Frazier has about 100 acres that he uses for hay. It is beautiful land. You walk through some woods and then you enter the hay fields. You can't see a single house out there.

Brett and I always have the same impulse whenever we walk out there. You fling your arms wide, spin around in circles and yell in a high pitched tone, "The hills are alive, with the sound of music."

As a mom, I always get a kick when Brett does the exact thing I'm thinking. Well, sometimes she gets the kick if it's something inappropriate ;-)

What do you think of our family's first attempt at making a pyramid? Not too bad!

The children are all wincing in this photo because I made them face the setting sun so I could see their faces.

We had a bad drought this summer, but we've had rain this Fall, it's good to see Farmer Frazier's grass looking good. I'm having to conserve hay this year, but am blessed that Farmer Frazier saved enough for us. He brings the round bales to us on his tractor and drops them right in our pasture.

Not only do we get to play in the hay field (it's like our own private park), but it feeds our animals too!

PJ

Fall is Officially Here

You know, it just doesn't seem like Autumn until you've raked some leaves.



When we bought our 3 acres, there were no trees on it - except for a few pines in the back corner. We've planted many fruit trees and several nut trees, but they are still very small and don't produce enough leaves to make it even worth raking.



Yesterday, Joyce (Farmer Frazier's wife) called to ask if the children could come and help her rake the leaves out of her yard. I had about a million and a half things to do (and another two million things for the children to do), but put a smile in my voice and told her we'd be right over :)


The children were working great until Joyce made the mistake of bringing out a bowl of tootsie rolls. Then of course, jumping in the leaves was not nearly so appealing. There is a verse that is often repeated at the Jonas house, "You don't work, you don't eat!" So despite many trips to look into the bowl of candy, the leaves were eventually finished.



Leaf raking gave another opportunity to draw insights into the way our family works. The leaves had to be raked into a pile, loaded onto a sheet, and transported to the dumping area.


Cole would rake into a central pile, working in a circle around the pile. Brett raked in lines. She had a perfect row of leaves and a nice clean rectangle of yard when she was finished. Cole was efficient and raked twice the area. Brett raked her leaves twice as far, but it was neat and orderly when she was done.


Emery and Greyden raked with Daddy and helped transport the leaf sheet. Fletcher mainly jumped in the leaf pile and threw leaves into the air. Hewitt mostly sat in the swing. And Indigo walked around whacking people in the head with her rake.


Jim just kept working getting the job done. Me? I sat and held Jade. And kept the children out of the candy. No, I didn't eat any candy - it wasn't chocolate ;-)


PJ

At the Playground

Yesterday, Daddy and Fletcher had some special time. The brakes went out on the truck, so the two of them drove the truck to the mechanics. They left it there and went exploring. Guess what they found? A bridge. Being intrepid explorers, they crossed the bridge and followed the path beyond to... The elementary school playground!

Today, Daddy took us all back. We had a blast. It was completely empty and we had it all to ourselves.

We played on the slides, had running races, played basketball, attacked the swings, climbed everything that could be climbed. Jim rescued Jade from the ground where Brett had left her and let her play too!

And we ended the day with a geography lesson. How's that for successful homeschooling? A year ago, I taught the children the states song. "Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, etc. etc." We sang the song while Daddy ran to stand on the state we were naming. Then of course, Mom had to have a turn, then Brett, Cole, and Emery. Here is Emery in Indiana.

What a fun day!

PJ

Ode to Farmer Frazier

We love Farmer Frazier. He lives half a mile from our house. We buy our hay from him. He and his wife are absolutely wonderful.

But I admit it - the first time I met Farmer Frazier, I was terrified of him. Not because I thought he would hurt me. It was because he didn't have his teeth in! And he was sitting on his tractor. And the tractor was running. He was asking me questions and I couldn't understand a single word the man was saying. I felt like an idiot. But that was the only time he didn't have his teeth in - so it has been fine ever since.

Saturday morning there was a message on our answering machine. It went something like this, "Mornin, blahblahblahblahblah Jack mwamwaaamwaaamwaa blahblaahhhblahablha mwwaaaamwaaa let me know!"

Now, I don't know if he had his teeth in or not. I do know that even after listening to the message 3 times, I had no idea what he was saying. So I called Jim. Jim called Jack. Jack's wife called me. It turns out Jack was putting the plow on his tractor and wanted to know if we wanted our garden tilled.

We mostly use raised beds, but we do have one area where we plant corn (for animal and people food). So Jack generously came and plowed the area for us. I gave him 2 dozen eggs as he doesn't let us give him money.

This photo is Cole and Emery sitting on the swingset, keeping an eye on Farmer Frazier. They're making sure he's doing a good job.

PJ

Ode to the Garbage Truck

We do a lot with dirt. We dig in it. We play in it. We garden in it. We eat it (well, not all of us, just the little ones). The dirt in Indiana is lousy. It is solid clay with lots of shale. Not very good for gardening. So we do raised beds. But making raised beds requires lots of dirt. So for now, we've had to buy compost.

In New Jersey, we got compost for free from our ecological facility. It was beautiful (if you like compost :) I was very disappointed to discover that nobody in Indiana sells real compost. They may call it compost, but it's not very good stuff.

Anyway, compost usually runs about $25 a yard. One yard completely fills the back of Jim's pickup truck. The dirt place is about 30 miles round trip from our house. So altogether it costs us about $30 and two hours (by the time we unload it) to get a yard of dirt.

Coming home from work the other day, Jim saw that the dirt place was running a compost sale for $5 a yard! Jim had a brilliant idea (he often does) - he took his garbage truck home by way of the dirt place. He filled the truck up with 5 yards, backed into our driveway and had the garbage truck empty it. Then he went back and did it again! So, instead of $300 and 20 hours worth of hard work - it was $52 and 1 hour of easy work.

Who knew that having a garbage truck at our disposal would be so handy?

And yes, the pun was intended.

PJ

Garbage Gleanings

I tried, really I tried not to allow these two into the house (the chairs, not the children :)

Jim brought them home with a guilty look on his face. I banished them to the front porch for a while. Then I stuck them on the back porch. Then I tried to fit them under a bed. But nope, they were destined to become a part of the family.

These two chairs now belong to Jim and me (mine is the one on the left that Colter is in). They are stuck upstairs in the school/clothing/tv room. Whenever Jim and I watch tv or a movie (which is pretty rare), these are our chairs.

I busted Brett and Cole the other day. They decided to hide and read where I wouldn't think to look for them. Cole is reading, The Golden Fleece, the Greek mythology story about Jason and the Argonauts. Brett is reading about George Washington. Colter is completely oblivious to my presence, but Brett is (of course) totally aware of everything going on around her. She's going to make a great mom some day. She can read a book, follow two conversations, and hear me mention her name from the other side of the house. She's such a mini-me!

PJ

Two Fingers

You would think that with 8 children, they would have covered it all by now. But nope, they keep coming up with new things. Out of my first seven children, I had 2 pacifier babies, 4 thumb suckers, and 1 bottom lip sucker. I wondered what Jade would do. I had hoped she'd be a thumb sucker (they've been my easiest babies). But nope! She had to be unique.

There is something so cute about a little baby sucking her thumb. But two fingers? Personally, I think she looks kinda goofy. But goofy or no, she's still my sweet, snuggly baby.

Oh and yes, sucking two fingers still makes for a very good baby :)

PJ

Speed. I am Speed.

When Hewitt was in the hospital we watched the movie Cars. Then we watched it again. And again, and again. Twelve times we watched that movie.

I blame it on Grandma :). She had gotten Hewitt a Lightning McQueen t-shirt. And then she got him Cars sneakers. Hewitt spent days (actually, he's still doing it) running around the house yelling, "Me SPEED! Vrooooommmm!"

Shortly before Hewitt's birthday, the older children found this pillow. It was on sale for $6.99. They pooled their money and they got it for Hewitt for his birthday (hence the Birthday crown on his head :).

Hewitt sleeps with this Speed pillow every night. He still runs around saying, "Me SPEED. Vrooooommmmm." I'm just glad that for Hewitt, speed means Lightning McQueen racing around a race track and him racing around the living room. I'm not ready for him to grow up and start driving on his own!

PJ

Name Those Feet

I was sitting on the living room floor in front of the fire while everyone else was having breakfast. I should have been eating too, but I had slept in late and wasn't very hungry. I looked over and saw this. It tickled my fancy, so I ran and got the camera. The children thought I was crazy snapping pictures of their feet. Jim thought... well, by now he knows that I am crazy.

So, here's the challenge. Starting at the left with the white socks, and going around, can you name what kid belongs to what feet? If you click on the picture, it will open a larger copy.

They are all there but me - Jim, Brett, Cole, Emery, Fletcher, Greyden, Hewitt, Indigo, Jade

Leave your guesses in the comments section, and we'll see who is the first one to get it right!

PJ

Tools, NOT Toys

At my house, there are many phrases that are repeated over, and over, and OVER again. One of Daddy's favorite phrases is, "That is a tool, not a toy." He's been saying it for years. Of course, the children would much rather make toys out of tools than out of any toy ever made.

One of their favorite games involves putting Indigo in a laundry basket and racing her around the house. She slides very well on the kitchen linoleum. She doesn't move so quickly on the carpet, however.

Lately, Hewitt has taken to spinning her around and around in the laundry basket. It wouldn't be so bad, except for the fact that he usually ends up dumping her over.

Needless to say, Indigo has decided that the laundry basket is a wonderful playhouse. She was having quite a lot of fun tonight until Emery decided to join her. Here she is deciding not to share and telling him to get out!

Good thing Daddy wasn't around to tell her that laundry baskets are tools, not toys.

PJ

A Sign of Respect

We had a sad week last week. Byron McGuire, a good friend of the family, went home to be with Jesus.

Many years ago Byron took his wife and children to be missionaries in Ecuador. While there, he and his eldest son, Duvon, both became extremely ill with a water born disease. Duvon later invented and patented a water purification system that can be used by entire villages to create safe drinking water. Byron founded and ran New Life International, www.waterfortheworld.com which is where we met him several years ago.

After Byron's funeral service, we were in the procession driving to the burial. Jim and I were amazed to see that every car in the opposite lane heading toward us was pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. During the entire 15 minute drive to the cemetary, there was only 1 car that did not pull over. We had never seen this behavior before. Where we've previously lived (on the east coast), you weren't always sure people would even allow you to go through a traffic light as part of the funeral procession. We wondered if this was a midwestern thing?

Later on, we asked somebody about it. He told us that no, people didn't usually stop like that. He said that Byron was so well known and respected in this area, that people knew it was his funeral and stopped as a sign of respect. Wow.

We'll never forget Byron.
PJ