62-Year-Old Blind Great-Granny Gives Birth

Feb. 21, 2006— "A 62-year old blind great-grandmother has given birth to a healthy baby boy, becoming one of the oldest women ever to bear a child, US media reported Sunday. Janise Wulf, already a mother of 12, grandmother of 20, and a great-grandmother to three, gave birth on Saturday to son Adam Charles Wulf via Caesarean section. Wulf, a resident of the southern California city of Redding, said she was compelled to attempt motherhood once again to fulfill the wishes of her current husband Scott, with whom she already has a three-and-a-half-year-old son, Ian." http://tlc.discovery.com/news/afp/20060220/granny.html

Energy Saving Tip: Dollar Stretcher http://www.stretcher.com/ had a good tip in their newsletter 2/24/06 called "Get It While It's Hot." A lady unhooked her electric dryer vent hose and covered it with a panty hose to warm their house. They saw a significant savings in their heating cost and it helped keep the humidity levels up. They sell boxes to vent the heat from dryers through hardware stores, but this tip is almost free. If you have excessive moisture condensating on your windows during winter, your humidity levels are already too high, so more would encourage mold growth. But, for those whose homes could use more moisture and free heat, this is a good way to save money. You can not use this tip with gas dryers.

To my friend Michelle who says she won't ever go camping with her family...if I can go again after our horrible trip, you can too! :-D

What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Mark 8:36

Here's a picture of Nala after...

she was given her new bed. She was on it before we could straighten it out. She went with us to pick it up from a fellow freecycler whose dog would not use it. We bought her a hot dog from Sonic on the way home so she's feeling pretty pampered in this picture. Nala, a half German Shepherd half Golden Retriever, is a big part of our family. We try to include her as much as we can in activities. Nala has more priviledges than our other dogs. She's earned them. She's been guardian over our children, family, home and livestock and has proven herself reliable and trustworthy in many situations. She has put her own body between us and danger. I know if I have to run in the house a minute, she's going to watch over the children. We expect her to reveal she can read and write any day since she sits in on so much of our homeschooling. :-)

The weekend was alright, but Clint had several call ins. The change they made did not affect the number of his call ins at all. We are still praying and seeking guidance. Right now, it still looks like God wants him here, so we are praying God will help us to get through it with good attitudes.

Clint did put up two pieces of plywood on the wall in the addition. We had a wonderful learning time of family worship on Sunday. Clint and I have some Bible studies planned for this week in the evenings, so we are looking forward to that.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:12-13

Caught being good! (picture)

Yesterday afternoon, Bethany and Caleb were staring at the chihuahua pups with longing looks in their eyes. They kept to our rule about not handling pups unless an adult is with them though. So, I rewarded them with some puppy time to encourage their good behavior. Bethany is chattering away to her puppy and Caleb wouldn't look up for more than a split second for the picture.

Last night, our errand running was interrupted by a call for help from another man on call, so Clint had to stop by and help solve the problem. Bethany and I danced and sang in the car and then we played tag and hopped around the parking lot. If any of Clint's co-workers were watching, I am sure they thought I was a nut when I was making goofy faces at Bethany, but I wasn't about to let that stop me from collecting giggles. None of our play compared to seeing her Daddy's tired face light up with pure joy when she ran to him when he came out of the building.

Clint is responding to a call in from this morning so our plans to work on the addition walls are on hold until he is free. I have plenty of housework to do to keep me busy until he returns. Our munchkins are headed outside for some playtime.


The pups have grown quite a bit in seven days! I put the CD in so you could compare it to the picture I took a week ago.

Our Homeschool/Homeschooling Resources

Homeschool: Caleb has decided learning a letter's name and sound is a good way to stay up later with the older children each night. He's on a roll and has learned eight letters in two nights.

Brandon started 9th grade work including Algebra on Monday. He is impulsive and likes to rush through things so he often has to redo his work. I have to slow him down and make sure he perfects each skill before he moves forward. Now, he had done the same kind of work with his other program, but because this was in a different medium, he had "knotheadedness." In otherwords, he had a knot in his brain that I had to get in there and straighten out. We got it though.

For all of the locals reading the blog, a fellow homeschooling family has an entry in Walmart's photo contest. They took the picture of the owl. Be sure to vote when you go shopping again.

Homeschooling Resources:

Create a Crossword Puzzle allows you to make crossword puzzles using words from your lessons. You can use it to make foreign language study aids (give English translation and have them write foreign language answer in the blocks), science and math terminology, history events and places, literature titles and authors, vocabulary words and definitions.

Look Listen Learn is a website with free educational resources ran by "Danny Carlton, a homeschooling stay-at-home dad, as well as an accomplished web programmer, uses his skills in programming to assist in the homeschooling of his children. Rather than keep the tools he's built only for his family, he's placed them online for others to use. The site is always free, and all are welcome to use the resources freely." Thank you Danny for stopping by the blog and sending us a copy of your newsletter.

I thought this picture...

is a good indication of how a homeschooling mother's day sometimes gets. I got out of bed realizing I had lost a sock overnight, started to look for it and then life happened. I became busy with breakfast. "I'll go get it in a minute." Then one of my littles needed some cuddles. "This is more important." Then it was the day's lesson. "This needs to come first." Then I had to do laundry. "This can't wait." Every so often, I'd look down and think, "I need to go back upstairs and find my sock." Life would happen again and there went thoughts about the sock. Before I knew it, it was 3:45 and I still did not have my other sock on.

I thought the other homeschooling mothers who read this would get a chuckle out of it and maybe some encouragement too.

The next time you have a very busy day think of my barefoot, keep plugging away at what is really important and remember...."Sometimes you never do get that other sock on!" :-)

That is one of Clint's wool socks. Brandon, Amanda and I love wearing his socks when it's too cold to go barefoot. :-) And yes, I wear them floppy like that.

We almost killed a man last night...

or rather, he almost used our van to kill himself.

Clint and I were headed out on a quick trip to the store. All of a sudden, a man in dark clothing was standing in front of us. We were so close to him that I could see the strings in his tennis shoes, the wrinkles in his jeans, the designs on his jacket and the big, crazy grin on his face. Clint swerved into the left hand lane. Praise God no one was coming. I'd like to think he would have chosen the ditch on the left if a car had been there, but he said he can't even recall if he looked for traffic. It was just a involuntary reaction on his part to keep from hitting the man.

What was my reaction? The man appeared in front of us so quickly, we think he jumped from the ditch beside the road. There was no time to tell Clint what I saw, so I pointed with my right hand, grabbed his shoulder with my left hand and gave two of my best, Academy Award worthy screams.

While Clint drove, I called 911 and gave them a detailed description of the man. On our way back home, we saw two deputies' cruisers on the side of the road. They had him in the back of one car under arrest. He looked bewildered as if he did not know how he had come to be there. From my conversation with the dispatcher, we got the impression he had been doing the same thing to other drivers last night. Praise God he didn't get his wish for death. We are hoping we can get his contact information so we can tell him how fearfully and wonderfully made he is by a loving Creator Who has plans and a purpose for his life and can free him from his hopelessness.

Update on goings on...

The cats are doing pretty good. They seem comfortable with our family and enjoy the attention they are getting. We have bathed and groomed them. Holly, has an infection where the tears drain from her eyes into the folds of her face. I put comfrey/goldenseal on that and it is clearing up. She also had very irritated/infected private areas where her fur was matted with urine and fecal matter. I shaved her rearend to help it.

At this point, we are not certain with what we will do with the cats. They require a lot of attention to maintain their fur properly. If we find that we can't give them the proper attention, we will find someone who can.

Congratulations team #48, Lowes, Jimmie Johnson, and Hendricks Motor Sports on their win at NASCAR's Daytona on Sunday. We enjoyed the race!

Clint is on call this week, but only for one plant. Things are slowly improving.

Bethany has made up a song she sings to me called the "Mommy Song." It goes like this "Maaah-meee, Maaah-meee, Maaah-meee, my Maaah-meee." I love it, of course!

Caleb is also making up songs and he builds me things or draws me things nearly every day and gives them to me as a gift. I keep nearly all of them in my memory box so I can pull them out later.

Brandon and Amanda have started their new school year. They are pretty excited about using books. Joshua is still doing his first grade work. Caleb is still fairly obstinate about learning his letters.

Homeschool Tip: We have had good success with making the children learn Spelling/Vocabulary words in order to stay up later each night. Their normal bedtime was set back from ten o'clock to nine in September when we implemented this plan. Each Spelling/Vocabulary word is worth 15 minutes of extra time and they can spell up to four each night. They learn them willingly because staying up later is such a big deal. This has stopped me from having to constantly remind them to do their Spelling work. It has turned something they did not like into a game with rewards.

Lending a word of encouragement to other mothers...

I was able to share with and answer questions for two women who were very interested in homeschooling over the weekend. This happened when one lady's children saw ours and came over to stand with us in the checkout. Both mothers were very frustrated with their local school system and one was concerned for her daughter's welfare. Her daughter was rejecting her mother for new "friends" who are leading her into big trouble. As we were leaving, we almost left Joshua. He was engaged in a very animated conversation with the three children and did not notice us leaving. Homeschooled children "lack social skills though." (That was me being sarcastic in case you missed it.) :-)

If you see a tired-looking mother with a baby in a store, walk up to them and tell them how beautiful their baby is. Tell them how very blessed by God they are and watch their tiredness disappear from their face. I did this Saturday while we were eating out and it blessed the mother so much, I'll make sure I do it more often. She went from tired, worn out and frustrated to joy-filled, proud and smiling with renewed energy in less than one minute. She looked noticeably younger also. Her baby blessed me with so many precious newborn smiles, Clint went over next to see the darling little girl. That got a man, who was eating alone, laughing and commenting on how we MUST love children as he pointed to our five. You say you are looking for ministry opportunities, well, this is a simple and quick way to minister to another mother and it will bless you too.

Giving a word of encouragement, understanding or acknowledgement of the situation works well with mothers struggling with misbehaved, tired or sick children. Just make sure your word's can't be misconstrued as judgemental by an already sensitive mother so you don't add to her problems. Saying something encouraging is a much better alternative than sitting in judgement, rolling our eyes with other shoppers at their child's unruliness and creating a judgemental, hostile atmosphere for the mother. Sometimes it will help diffuse negative attitudes in the people around the area as well. I encouraged a mother with a horribly behaved child in a store one day and by time I was finished, she was smiling and the child was standing still and listening quietly (probably taking notes :-) to the other people in line regaling their own "misbehaved child in public" stories. None of our parenting skills are so perfect that our children haven't caused us public embarrassment along the way.

I was eating out one day when I saw a child with cerebral palsy having a birthday party. His whole family was with him, but his mother was looking very self-conscious as her child clearly stood out among the other diners. Other people were looking off and on and she was visibly uncomfortable with all of the "sneaked" looks of curiosity. On my way back from the bathroom, I stopped by and knelt down beside her son's table and told him Happy Birthday and how wonderful his big family must have known he was to throw him such a grand party. Then, I told him he was beautiful and that I was glad I got to meet him. The boy was grinning ear to ear, happy someone else noticed he was having a special day.

When I stood up, the mother was in tears and expressed her gratitude. No stranger had ever made a fuss over her child or called him beautiful before. Doesn't that just break your heart? How sad that we put such limitations on beauty when God calls all of His creation "good" and tells us children are a "blessing", a "reward", and a "heritage." Scripture does not say "Children are a blessing if/until/when..." It says they ARE blessings without limitations or restrictions. We are all created in His image and fearfully and wonderfully made, regardless of our health or appearance. Shame on us for only offering a kind, encouraging word when the child meets our criteria for "beautiful." Shame on us for trying to redefine what beauty is.

Now, by nature, I am an introvert. I had a lot of rejection as a child and it costs me personally to speak to a stranger and I have to force myself to do it. Clint will often see me struggling inwardly and say something to get me moving "God put that on your heart for a reason, Wendy. Go, speak to them or you will miss an opportunity." If I can do it, you can also.

I have only had one person react negatively towards me. An elderly man in a wheelchair was being pushed through a grocery store by his daughter. She was in a ferocious mood, but he caught my eyes with his as I turned down the aisle. Being from the south, if I make eye contact with a person, I generally will nod or say hi or something as way of polite acknowledgement of a fellow human being. When I said hi to him, he engaged me in a short conversation and wished me a good day. He was such a kind man and he gave me encouragement as he uplifted my spirit.

As soon as we finished speaking, I said hi to her and then SHE started up with venom and said something very nasty to me for speaking with him. I told her she was blessed to have him to care for and walked on. Her shockingly unkind comments lost their sting when he made the great effort to turn and make eye contact with me again for I saw the shame and misery in them. I was crying for him by time I left the store. I have never forgotten him or her. I prayed for them both for years.

Clearly she thought caring for someone in need was beneath her and she was very angry about it. We have to be careful not to adopt this attitude of pride while caring for our husband and children. I think he was just looking for a kind word and a kind face. May none of us ever fall ill or frail and have to suffer abuse at the hands of the unloving and incompassionate. But, consider this....it would be far, far worse to be the abusive, unloving and incompassionate person whose soul is so void they can't show kindness to someone weaker in health.

I just shaved a cat...

We took over a cattery from a lady who could no longer keep them last night. The male was in horrible condition, so we had to shave him today. He was heavily matted with urine, feces and cat litter next to his skin which had developed a rash. He smelled. It was not a pleasant job. He submitted to the clipping with a grateful attitude, but he heavily protested the bath that followed. He came with two beautiful calico females, both of which have championship bloodlines. Now he's clean and smelling great and I'm....well, I'm not. I am headed for a nice, long, hot shower after I get the kinks worked out of the computer and get this posted.

The weather has been beautiful the past few days, but a change is headed our way. We are expecting temps to drop rapidly sometime soon as a cold front comes through bringing rain and later a wintry mix. I need to get our clean clothes in and get the woodstove ready to be fired up again. I bring in wood and stack it in the addition so I don't have to go outside as often. The rest of my day is going to be spent making our home a pleasant and comfortable retreat from the world. (That sounds much better than "housework" and keeps a positive mindset which makes the task more pleasant.)

The seeds I planted in trays have sprouted and the seedlings are doing great. I always have such a hard time keeping them going, we'll see if I am any better at it this year. I hope to plant more in trays this weekend.

Shysie is taking breaks from her pups now and coming to join the rest of the family again. She doesn't stay long before she is back to the nestbox checking them over. Here the pups are at one week old. This picture was taken just a few minutes ago. They could curl up and sleep on that CD.

Daytona is Sunday!!! I'll be hoarse on Monday! We will have our annual Daytona Party with good food, fun and games after our worship time. I think Clint has a couple of chores planned for Saturday.

Enjoy your time with your family this weekend. The children that are demanding on (and so deserving of) your time and energy will soon be grown. Make the moments count. This busy season of our lives will far too soon be past.

On being a great help meet...

I do not think I am anything great or spectacular, in fact, I feel quite the opposite. I have many of my own insecurities just as anyone else does. Clint is very happy with me and uplifts me to his friends and co-workers though. Several have told him, often in front of me, they wished they had a wife like I am to him. All of these men are married to great women. It's a very nice compliment to receive.

What do I do that pleases Clint so much and wins the admiration of his friends? It's pretty easy, I often try to go the unexpected mile.

Matthew 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain (two).

In Biblical times it was required by law that a Jew carry a Roman soldier's bundle a mile. Many Jews despised this and met their obligations grudgingly with poor attitudes. Jesus taught that if you wanted to show true love, you went the extra mile. Jesus taught them to give more than expected.

Many times in our relationships we become use to doing only what is required of us. We meet expectations but rarely go beyond them. Think about what is expected of you from your spouse and then how you can exceed those limits to show them your love for them in tangible ways.

On Tuesday, I split wood for Clint with the wood splitter to take some of the burden off of him. I am pretty sure he had an idea I would since I was so keen on learning how to run it Monday night. I split enough with the children's help to keep our family warm several days.

On Wednesday, my children and I wanted to show him how much we loved him by going the extra mile. This is the new stack of wood we started and finished on Wednesday. You can glimpse Tuesday's stack in the right hand corner.

How did it work? The work involved was a very low price to pay for the look of amazement, delight and thankfulness as he looked at it the first time. He thanked us and then ordered a favorite take out supper to thank us for showing our gratitude to him. He praised the children for their hard work. He rubbed my back and couldn't keep his hands off of me all night long. He probably said thank you twenty times or more. I'd say it worked pretty well. :-)

I am not saying you should split wood all day. I had five great helpers and three of us are able to take turns running the splitter. I enjoy "girding my loins with strength" with physical labor. Not all women are able to work that hard for that long.

If you want to strengthen any relationship, including your marriage, look at what is expected of you and find ways to go beyond those expectations. Going the second mile makes being a help meet enjoyable. No longer are you meeting limited expectations or doing the same things in the same way day in and out. You start looking for ways to exceed them to express your love for your mate and to be the biggest blessing to him that you can be. It will grow you in Christ and bless your marriage.

Being a help meet...

Clint appreciated his Valentine's Day surprise of the split wood. We got a nice pile stacked for him. When he came home, we split and stacked more together. You can see pictures of our smaller children splitting wood (with guidance and safety goggles) here.

I am thankful I was able to help him with this and lighten his load. It was very difficult for me to watch him come home from a tiring day and have to go outside to split wood with the maul for an hour or so. I was just physically unable to swing the maul for long.

Being a help meet means helping your mate meet his responsiblities in whatever capacity he needs help in. That can mean having his meals prepared, shirts ironed, briefcase in the car, sermon notes printed out or cutting the grass when he's having to do other things. There is no his or her work in our home. It's "our" work and we both help each other where ever we can. When I have been very ill during pregnancy, Clint has cooked and cleaned house. If I am worn out in the evenings, he will cook supper.

Whenever a couple adopts the attitude of "his and hers" over being "ours" it becomes each person out for their own. If two horses hitched to a cart sought their own direction, they would not get very far, very fast. Their journey together would be a struggle and would end in failure. But, if two horses are pulling a heavy load in the same direction, working together, giving each other their best, they go a lot faster and are a success because they are helping each other. When one missteps, the other saves the cart from tumbling. When one is a step behind due to exhaustion or illness, the other helps take up the slack and keeps them moving forward. Having an attitude of servanthood towards each other is so lacking in Christians today, but it is what God calls for and is what will bless your home with deep, lasting peace and joy.

And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. -Genesis 2:18

Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. -Proverb 14:1

I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. -1st Timothy 5:14

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry... -1st Samuel 15:23

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. -Joshua 24:15

Her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life ... Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. -Proverbs 31:10-12 & 28

So many women want to be called a Proverbs 31 woman, but do not want to obey the rest of what God commands in Scripture. So many husbands want to be respected and adored by their families, but they too ignore what is laid out very plainly. They wonder why their lives are such a mess and why they are so unhappy. Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Seek God's way for your life first and the blessings will follow. (This doesn't mean do whatever you want (your goals) in the name of Christ. Some people use a ministry or "calling" as an excuse to neglect their families. God doesn't ever ask us to do something contrary to His written Word.) When Clint and I married each other, we asked God how did He want our marriage set up and found the answers in His Word. God was faithful to His Word and added much more than we expected!!

Matthew 6:33 is saying-if you want God's blessings (gifts, rewards), do things HIS way and the blessings will follow. His way is laid out in the Bible.

God also has plenty to say to husbands in how they are to relate to their wives and children too. Here are just a couple...

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. Ephesians 5:25

Christ died for the church and won her love. He didn't beat or verbally abuse her into submission.

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4

You can not do that by being an abusive tryant towards your children. Christ had an attitude of a humble servant helping those around Him.

What do you do if your husband isn't living right?

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33

Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; -1st Peter 3:1 (conversation in this verse means "manner of life.")

In other words, do what you are suppose to do, pray and let God take care the rest. Your husband's disobedience doesn't free you to live like you want. You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:9-20 NIV

Happy Valentine's Day!

Praise God, we were able to get a wood splitter for Clint last night. He and I spent a little time splitting some together and it does a great job. The children and I hope to get some split for him today as a surprise. We'll see if I can get it started.

If you buy anything from Lowe's in the near future that is already assembled, be sure they charge you for the correct assembly price. They just increased prices for assembly throughout the store. If your item has the old assembly price you are entitled to it. Clint's watching the register closely saved us $15 last night. Not a lot of money, but still, why give it away?

I took Clint out to eat for Valentine's Day last night. This morning, he left me a gift bag filled with CHOCOLATE, a card and the song for mothers "Somebody's Hero" by Jamie O'Neal. I have the url for that in an earlier post.

Clint was offered some more free wood from a man at work, so he's going to try to pick that up this week.

Peanut took the homemade formula so he's getting a little something extra now. He's growing!

I plan to order our next year's curriculum for Brandon, Amanda and Joshua today. They will be ready to start it as soon as it arrives.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. I Corinthians 1:18

Monday, Kitten/Bunny/Puppy Formula

PTL! Clint is off call until next Monday morning. My tired husband is upstairs catching up on his rest. He had 7 call-ins and 3 phone consultations last week. Most of the call-ins were in the middle of the night, so we are both pretty tired.

The housework got very behind last week, so I'll spend the better part of today trying to catch it up.

For Valentine's Day tomorrow, we are going to make chocolate covered peanuts as a family. It will be fun to have all seven of us in the kitchen together.

Here's a free online textbook on the digestive system in humans: http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/index.html

Peanut, the tiny puppy, is holding his own. We are still concerned for him because of his size, but he's gaining weight. He is about 1/3 the size of the other two. We are not sure if he is a true runt or just was conceived later in Shysie's fertile week and born earlier. A true runt is a puppy of the same size and gestational age of the rest of the litter that does not thrive well. In other words, he may just be a preemie.

We tried supplementing him, but he turned his nose up at the commercial formula. Today, I am going to try a homemade recipe that I have had good success with in the past. The commercial formula has the advantage of giving them colostrumm, but if they will not drink it, it doesn't benefit them one bit.

Kitten/Bunny/Puppy Formula
1 can evaporated milk
1 tsp corn syrup
1 egg yolk (remove stringy thing for ease of swallowing and to keep bottle nipple clear)
1 can water (same can as evap milk)

Now, if you use this, you need to remember to make sure the little one you are feeding is eliminating their bowels and bladder. If you do not have the mother to do this for you, you can use a moistened q-tip to rub gently over both areas until you reach the desired results. Little animals like this can not go on their own and need the stimulation. If you don't do it, their bowels will become impacted and they will die. Puppies and kittens will usually make noise when they need to use the bathroom, which triggers their mothers to cleanse them.

Puppies and new pictures are here...

http://members.cox.net/contentmentacres/shysiepups.htm

We've had a long, sometimes trying, but mostly joyful night!

Picture of Shysie; no pups yet

Here's Shysie in a picture we took 2/7/06. She's due today, but we think it will be another 3-4 days still. She's laying around a lot and enjoying all of the extra attention & special treats she's getting.

Her temp tonight is 99.6. Dog breeders expect puppies within 24-48 hours after the temp falls below 100, but hers has dropped twice and then risen again. They say after it goes below 99, to expect puppies within 4-6 hours. Their normal temperature is 101-102.

There is not much else to report on around here...we are wiped out from early morning call-ins the past couple of nights. I get more sleep than this when I have a newborn...no kidding around. We just laid around today resting for what may come later this week.

Looks like a chance of snow for the weekend....

On Call Blues

Clint is back on call again as of this morning and will be on call until next Monday morning. We tried to prepare for it as best we could. On Sunday, we turned off our phones, computer and his pager for some relaxed, uninterrupted family time. We had some fun and then watched a movie. We made sure everyone was given lots of tickles and they gave us lots of laughter in return.

We changed the look of the blog because it reflects where we live. We really like this template called Harbor.

It looks like the two puppies will fly out in a couple of days. There was a delay in the payment getting here, but it arrived this morning and the pups will soon be in NY.

Better Homes and Gardens has a free online program which allows you to arrange a room with your computer instead of your back. It is very helpful in creating rooms to scale and then measuring to see if that new couch will fit or if moving the china hutch will work. It's fairly simple to use and you can save the rooms. It remembers your rooms with cookies, so if you delete yours, you'll lose your work.

Check out this inspiring Plan of Salvation page. It turns the pages a bit fast, so read quick, but it's worth the visit. You need to be Java enabled to view it.

Here is a video which has captured an uncanny optical illusion with a paper dragon whose head seems to turn from side to side and up and down as you walk around it. This is really, reallly neat! And, here is where you can get the dragon in the movie for free.

Cool Optical Illusions has some more optical illusions that you can explore. I have not visited every page, but what I saw was child friendly.

Isn't this good to know?
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9 KJV

God Said No

God Said No

I asked God to take away my habit. God said, No. It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.

I asked God to make a handicapped child whole. God said, No. His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary

I asked God to grant me patience. God said, No. Patience is a byproduct of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned.

I asked God to give me happiness. God said, No. I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you.

I asked God to spare me pain. God said, No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow. God said, No. You must grow on your own! , but I will prune you to make you fruitful.

I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life. God said, No. I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.

I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me.

God said...Ahhhh, finally you have the idea.

Thanks to Thur for the help

with the left hand column!

HELP!!

I need help adding the webrings, links and other stuff back to this new template. Every time I try to add something it sends everything in the sidebar to the bottom of the page. I'd like to add the blue dividers with headings for each.

Any help is appreciated. contentmentacres@yahoo.com

We were hoping to get outside...

to enjoy the higher temps, but it's raining. So, we're having fun inside. We worked hard mid-week to get our school and house work ahead so we could relax a little today. A change in pace is always appreciated and is good for boosting spirits.

I'm airing out the house a little. I am a fresh air freak...I will leave the window cracked in cold temps a few times a month so we will get fresh air. My paternal grandfather is the same way about fresh air. When he was younger, he'd run the air condition in his car with the windows partially opened.

We don't have much planned this weekend other than hanging out around the house with each other. I have a few crime scene Science projects to do with the older three and they plan to work on their Drawing Basics Art course for a couple of hours. There's a review for that here.

We hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!

Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

It looks like it will be a beautiful day

here. The temps will be in the mid to upper 60's so I am hoping to get some outside chores done. Clint plans to chop wood when he gets home in anticipation of the much colder temps the weather man is predicting for the middle of the month.

Congratulations to the Sander's family on their adoption of another little boy! Kade is absolutely beautiful.

You can find free printable calendars here: http://www.incompetech.com/beta/cal-monthly/

You can find a free copy of Deduction Pro 2005 or 2006 here. You choose which year you want to use it for. I asked and was told "no purchase necessary" to download or to use. http://www.hrblock.com/assets/partners/dpro_giveaway.html

Here's a picture of Pepper, our foot chasing ferret.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Romans 1:16

Wednesday is shaping up to be a

...very productive day. Clint and I called it an early night last night and we were able to get the rest we were behind on from his busy call in schedule. So, we feel much better today. I have already knocked quite a few things off the to-do list today.

Over the weekend, we were pulled for expired license plate tags. With the every other weekly call in schedule, we had forgotten they needed to be renewed. We asked for mercy and the trooper granted it to us. We asked God to bless him that night as we prayed together before bed. Clint renewed them online the next morning.

We bought day old bread from the bread store. We can't get up there often, so we buy a lot of it when we go. We dried it out beside the woodstove so it would keep longer this time. If it turns moldy, you can't feed it to the goats or rabbits. It went really well. Most of it dried out in a few hours time and we have it in airtight containers. I thought you'd get a kick out of the picture above. :-)

It's time for Joshua to read to me while Bethany and I fold the laundry.