Their Mom Was Out Playing

in the high tide too! This is after it had been going down a while.
Poor Bethany fell face forward and drenched herself. I had to wash all of the clothes they were wearing anyway...they started splashing each other! The neighbors with 4WD trucks enjoyed seeing the children. The children were more interested in the waves the trucks made though!

Clearly This Presents A Problem

for Clint's little compact car. 37 mpg makes it look better than a 4WD though.

"Daddy's Not Coming Home"

is what I said when I saw this.

Any Sign of Appreciation Would Have Been Nice!

Not so much as a nuzzle from the cocky pony for letting him out of his pen!

If you click the picture, you will see the headlights of a flooded out little sports car of someone who should have known better.

Neck Deep in Clothes

I am still neck deep in children's clothing, but only have to finish up Joshua's and do Amanda's. Thankfully Amanda is old enough to do most of her own wardrobe switch over. We have a longer list of clothes we need to buy this year than usual, especially for those two rough and tumble little boys.

Our road only had an inch or so along the edges Wednesday from the nor'easter, but it flooded yesterday. That only happens 2-3 times a year, if that, and is a good trade for the cooler summers we enjoy thanks to the constant breeze blowing off of the river. Then we have the phenomenal sunsets, rare birds, wildlife, seclusion, privacy, natural beauty, etc. It's a good trade!

Clint could not get home last night due to the high tides, so he stayed at work until 8. Then, he did the grocery shopping. He attempted to come home at 10 p.m. but a road connecting to ours was still too deep! So, he went back to the store and bought some of the clothes we needed for the children. Amanda and I drove my car down to see if it was clear to keep him from having to come home and go back on another errand. We got through around 11:45. He finally got home at 12:30 a.m. He woke up at 5 a.m. to get some overtime in at work.

When Amanda and I went to check accessibility, we saw a blue crab crossing the road in the couple of inches of water. Joking with her, I said, "Go catch it!" Princess Trapper opened her door to go after it before I could say anything else!!! I very rarely have the radio on in my car when I am with my family. I'd rather make the most of that time with conversation. Amanda and I enjoyed our moonlight "boat ride" together. It almost made me want the roads to flood out more often!

Hot Shot's pen got 1-2" of water in it from the very heavy rains and tide together. He was eager to see Brandon and I when we turned him out of his pasture into the yard so he could get to dry ground. Oh, he was whinnying and nickering like we were his long lost buddies....until we opened the gate and he sailed right past us like we were total strangers. That is a one person pony and his person is Amanda!

E-mail is piling up in the inbox and I will try to get to those asap. I am glad to see you are back online Denise!

A Day for Jarrett & This N That

Bethany had her cast removed today!! She is glad to have her arm free again. She came home and washed it so it would stop itching! Clint forgot the camera but took pictures with his cell phone. If he gets them to me, I'll post them here.

We are going through clothes and switching to cool weather wardrobes this week. The temperatures here have been cooler for the last two weeks and it has been wonderful! It's a big job to go through every one's clothes and takes me a while to do it the way I like it. So far, I have only Emily's done. I hope to get through more tomorrow. Since the bedrooms needed cleaning, I spent time listing books today while the children tidied up.

I have also been rearranging the master bedroom so I could get the treadmill in it. We ended up with more floor space which will be great for the children when we watch movies. They throw their blankets and pillows on the floor, pile on and spread out. Clint laughs and says "We have wall to wall children!"

Our dishwasher went kaput and then the backup I had from Freecycle went kaput as well. So, we had to go buy a new dishwasher which will set our plans for the bus's transmission back further. The new one cleans great though and is such a time saver.

We noticed Nala has seemed down a lot in the last several months. We thought she might have hearing issues but found out she is nearly completely deaf after we ran a series of tests. We've been working with hand signals and she already seems to be following directions better. It makes us sad to know our time with our fuzzy family member is nearing its end. Nala will be 14 in the spring. Interestingly, she still runs around like a puppy and her hearing issues do not affect her sense of responsibility. We had two strange dogs come in the yard over the weekend and she put herself between them and the children with teeth bared until all of the children walked into the house. Because we have had pit bulls used for fighting dropped off here before, we make the children WALK inside every time they see a strange dog to be safe. If I check it out and know the dog is harmless, they can go back out and play.

This weekend is the Guinea Jubilee Firemen's Parade, Guinea Jubilee and A Day for Jarrett. The children want to see the parade. Clint and I are very excited about A Day for Jarrett this year because they are raising money to build an all accessible playground. We are hoping it works out with Clint's schedule for us to go and support our community.

Please keep our dear friend Denise in prayer for a quick and easy recovery from the surgery she had on Monday. Miss you Denise!

I Wonder What the DEA Agents Thought

Thursday, when Caleb was trying to be vulture bait (read previous posts) DEA agents were also doing their annual flyover of our rural neighborhood looking for plots of marijuana. (If you live in the country, you probably already know pot growers hide their crops amongst other crops or in clearings in the forest.) I noticed they flew over our house much longer than usual but did not put two and two together until the weekend. I imagine the men in the helicopter wondered what in the world a little boy was doing sprawled out and unmoving in the middle of our field! Thankfully, Caleb can not be still but for so long. I'd have had quite a nasty scare with a helicopter landing in the side yard! Caleb sure would have enjoyed it though!

You'll be happy to know Caleb is bored with the vultures. I told you he could not be still for long! He came in the house beaming and told me "Mom, I taught the wild turkeys how to fly!!!" The six feathered visitors we have coming around came out of the brush and Caleb gave chase. He did get a pretty tail feather for his efforts. If you have troublesome wildlife around, give us a call and we'll send him over. :-D

We had to bring out the scissors and give Emily her first haircut yesterday. Clint held her still while I trimmed her bangs. The "holding her still" part was almost a deal breaker for her in our parent/child relationship. She was not amused, but we got the job done. She looks less like a baby and more like a little girl.

Please keep Luke in your prayers. God tells us in His Word the prayers of the righteous availeth much (are of great benefit). You have the ability to affect this child's and his family's life merely by bowing your head and interceding for them. Even the poorest Christian can have a very effective ministry because prayer doesn't cost a single dime.

Invasive Tests Cause Two Healthy Children to Die by Miscarriage for Every Three Down Children Detected

Before I knew I had the right to refuse these kinds of tests (Dr's don't tell you this when they ORDER tests for you), I had a positive result for Down's with the pregnancy with Amanda. I was told I was running out of time to abort her. It still bothers me that they wanted to kill her. They based their opinions on one test and what they thought life with a special needs child would be like. If we would have listened to them, we would have missed out on an incredible blessing!!! I can not imagine life without my Princess Trapper! While Amanda does not have Down's, we would have wanted her regardless.

A child is a BLESSING=GIFT FROM GOD (His Words, not mine) regardless of their health. He puts no conditions or disclaimers on the statements He's made about children being a blessing. It does not matter WHEN, WHERE, TO WHOM, etc or the child's RACE, GENDER, HEALTH, etc. A child is a gift. If we Christians would start acting like we truly believed this instead of saying negative things about our children and child rearing experiences, maybe the rest of the world would start listening and more babies could be saved from abortion. Instead of taking God at His Word, most Christians have adopted the world's view of children being burdens and curses.

found at: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/sep/08091801.html

By Hilary White

LONDON, September 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The invasive procedures used to detect Down syndrome in unborn children result in the miscarriages of two healthy children for every three Down babies detected, a British study has found.

The study's researchers, from the charity Down Syndrome Education International (DSEI), estimate that in the process of detecting and aborting 660 Down babies annually, screening leads to the deaths of 400 babies who do not have the disorder in England and Wales alone. Based upon their findings, the researchers are calling into question the ethical standing of the government's policy of offering screening to all pregnant women.

Women are regarded as being more at risk of carrying a Down syndrome child if they become pregnant after age 35. 6,000 women each year in Britain are offered screening by blood tests and subsequent invasive testing to assess the condition of their unborn babies. However, the researchers point out that 95 percent of women deemed to be high risk by the blood test will not be carrying a baby with the disorder, yet most go on to have the invasive tests, thereby greatly increasing the risk of miscarriage.

The organisation opposes the widespread assumption that Down syndrome children should be aborted before birth and works to provide assistance to families and does research and lobbying on behalf of people with Down syndrome. "Our vision," DSEI says, "is a world where all young people with Down syndrome are offered the opportunities that they need to achieve their individual potential."

Under British law, abortion for eugenic purposes is not restricted to the 24 week gestational limit, but may be legally carried out up to the point of birth for children suspected of having "serious" abnormalities.

The DSEI research, which authors admit is only an "estimate" of the number of deaths of non-Down children, is backed up by findings published last year by Dr. Hylton Meire. Meire calculated that for every 50 children with Down syndrome successfully identified and killed by abortion, 160 non-affected babies are lost by miscarriage after the test.

If a woman is suspected of carrying a Down baby, she routinely moves from screening to amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) tests. These involve inserting a fine needle through the abdomen to either withdraw amniotic fluid or tissue samples.

Dr. Meire wrote in the Journal Ultrasound that with about one in every 1000 children conceived having Down syndrome, and with amniocentesis carrying a one in 200 risk of miscarriage, as many as 3,200 healthy babies die by miscarriage every year because of testing.

The NHS admits of a miscarriage rate of only one to two percent following the invasive testing. However, the NHS only tracks statistics for Down syndrome children killed by abortion or who subsequently die as a result of miscarriage. The DSEI researchers said that the official statistics do not count the number of healthy children lost to miscarriages caused by the tests.

DSEI research also found, however, that more children with Down's syndrome are surviving to birth than in the previous 15 years, despite the increasing pressure on women to have the tests and to kill their Down child before birth. Their research found that births of babies with Down syndrome have risen 25 per cent in 15 years in England.

Frank Buckley, the charity's Chief Executive and co-author of the report, said, "At the same time, life expectancy and quality of life continue to improve."

"More people are living with Down syndrome than ever before with over 600,000 across Europe and North America and maybe 4 million worldwide. There is still much more to do, but people with Down syndrome are achieving more thanks to better healthcare, better opportunities and more effective teaching approaches."

Another article on tests for Down's Syndrome:

Canadian Doctors Group Worried Palin Example Could Pressure Some Women to Not Abort Down's Child

snip
The statistics for abortion amongst Down's children in Canada are stark: according to some estimates 80-90% of Canadian children with Down's syndrome are aborted.

"It's very dark," Flint said in the Globe and Mail report. "They hear a lot about the medical conditions that are sometimes associated with Down syndrome. They hear about the burden . . . it places on children and a marriage."

"They hear about things like shortened life expectancy. They hear a lot about the challenges of a life with Down syndrome. That's why Mrs. Palin has become an example that could possibly stem the tide of families who abort fetuses after a positive determination for Down syndrome," Ms. Flint said.

"We know overwhelmingly the message families get is 'Don't have this baby, it will ruin your life,' and I don't think people would look at Sarah Palin and see a ruined life," Ms. Flint said. "Regardless of politics, I think it's a good example."

snip
for rest of article see link given above

Brazilian Homeschoolers Score Surprise Victory in Showdown Against Government

"The tests given to the Nunes children were so difficult that public school teachers admitted that they could not pass them." I found that very interesting. It sounds like the school system did all they could to ensure these children would fail so the family would be prosecuted. PTL for the victory!

found at: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/sep/08090207.html

MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL, August 29, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In a surprise victory against government officials who sought to prosecute a homeschooling family for refusing to participate in the public school system, David and Jonatas Nunes have passed tests proving a high level of knowledge in a variety of subjects, including history, the natural sciences, the arts, sports, computing, and mathematics.

The tests given to the Nunes children were so difficult that public school teachers admitted that they could not pass them. The two boys, aged 14 and 15, had only one week to study for several of the tests, which were announced only a week in advance.

The exams were ordered by a local court in an attempt to determine if the Nunes had committed the crime of "intellectual abandonment", which could have resulted in a heavy fine, and possibly jail time for the two parents, as well as loss of custody of their three children.
While the boys were told well in advance they would be tested on mathematics, geography, science, and history, they were informed only one week before the test date that they would also be tested on Portuguese, English, arts, and physical education, including questions about the history of handball, basketball, soccer, and other sports.

Despite the short time they were given within which to study, both children passed their tests, David scoring 68% and Jonatas 65%, according to Cleber Nunes, the children's father. Although the government has not yet rendered a verdict on the scores, the minimum passing grade in Brazilian schools is 60%.

"The tests were very difficult," Nunes told LifeSiteNews. "There were questions that are given in entrance exams in the big universities. In addition, we were surprised with the addition of four subjects, one week away from the exams. They studied a lot in order to assimilate all of the material."

"For me, the process by which they passed was very strong evidence that they are, in fact, learning to learn," said Nunes.

"They studied a majority of the subjects alone. We had the help of a mathematics teacher. They studied the rest of their subjects on their own. I gave them very little guidance. That's the principle of the method that we use."

Nunes says that he now wants public school students to take the same tests his children did. He says he is certain that they would not come close to passing, and points out that on international tests Brazilian students produce extremely low scores.

The 2007 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which compares student performance in 57 countries, gave Brazil well below-average scores in mathematics, reading, and science. On its own Index of Basic Education Development (IDEB), Brazil's public schools score between 3.5 and 4.2, depending on the grade level.

"It's interesting that if these same tests were given to public school students, the vast majority would not pass them," said Nunes, who noted that if failing such tests is to be regarded as a crime, "then the government itself would be condemned since their agencies admit the total failure of the educational system that they are requiring our children to attend."

The Nunes' victory comes after a year and a half of struggles with Brazilian government authorities, who interpret existing laws to mean that people cannot educate their children at home. The Nunes say they removed their children from the public school system because of the low standards and immorality that pervades the system.

Although David and Jonatas Nunes had already passed law school entrance exams at the age of 13 and 14, the results were insufficient for local government authorities, who threatened to deprive their parents of custody and attempted to levy a steep fine. The Nunes say they have been fighting the case with the help of pro-bono attorneys.

Heard at Contentment Acres #2

For this to make sense, you need to read the post below entitled Heard at Contentment Acres.

Yesterday was Joshua's (9) and Bethany's (5) birthdays. On your birthday at Contentment Acres, you are free from doing any chores, but you must do your school work. Freeing the family member from chores allows the birthday person to enjoy an extra bonus for their birthday while the others get the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Christ by joyfully serving the loved one.

So, yesterday, Bethany and Joshua finished with their school work and were off to enjoy computer time. Caleb was bored stiff. He does not care for the computer and his best buddies were occupied. I was relieved when he asked to go outside because he finally settled on something to do.

About half an hour later, I thought he had found an activity to get plenty of exercise because he came running to me smelling of sweat, the outdoors and excitement just like an active little boy should. Then he told me what he was up to....

"Mom, I laid down on the ground real still for a long time and the vultures started circling over me. I think I can catch one!!" 

'ViewTube' a home-schooling resource

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=254306

Heard at Contentment Acres

Amanda was cutting the younger boys' hair on the deck yesterday when she noticed 14 turkey vultures in the tree near our house and another 15 or so flying over our open field.

She stuck her head indoors and said "Mom, it's kind of creepy out here with all of those vultures staring at me!!"

I offhandedly replied "They only eat carrion, so unless you stop moving and start to stink real bad, you are safe."

Caleb, 7, piped up and in all seriousness said "OH COOL! Can I stop taking baths and lay on the ground?! I can catch one when they come down to eat me!"

Clint has been having a hard week

at work. A machine (sleever thermoformer) has been giving them issues and they are not having any success in fixing the problems. In fact, they fixed one problem and got two more for their efforts. Then the first problem recurred giving them three issues to solve. This morning, he tried calling Germany to talk to the manufacturer of the machine only to learn his company has an error in the newly upgraded phone system; it will not allow calls to Germany!! He tried calling on his company cell phone, but they do not have international service activated. Earlier, Clint had called the stateside rep for the company who handles issues like this and he said "Hmm, I dunno how to fix that!"

Clint has had to work a lot of OT the past few months. I don't just love my husband; I like him as a person. He's my best friend on this earth. We've been inseparable since we got to know each other in high school. I have seen how God will give him OT just when we need it to prepare for a need we didn't know was coming. So while it is hard on the whole family, especially Mama, while Daddy is gone, we try to remember that this time of separation also serves a purpose and could be God's way of providing ahead of time.

Amanda got some sad news on Monday. Imp (short for Impressive), one of the horses she first took lessons on, died of an aneurysm over the weekend. Dee's iguana also died since Amanda's previous lesson. Dee followed up the news she knew would make Amanda sad by telling her Cody (Amanda's favorite horse) was saddled up and ready for her.

Thank you to Denise for the outfit for Emily, nursing bras, nursing pads, t-shirt and overalls!

We will be mailing out all of the beginning readers (offered free below) requested so far tomorrow. We still have plenty left.

Romans 13:13-14 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Printable Parts of Speech Chart & Free Christian Audio Books

One of the many things that makes homeschooling such a blessing is the way families help each other. I will try to share more of the educational freebies in the blog as they come my way so more families can take advantage of them.

http://nicholasacademy.com/printpartsofspeech.html Nice charts! I've printed out 4 of these for our children.

http://christianaudio.com/ They offer a free audio each month.

More Picts 2

Here they are with their bikes and opening more presents.
They rode the bikes until it grew dark and THEN they were ready to settle down to open the rest.
Our children lost all of their bikes in the flooding by Hurricane Isabel. We found them second hand bikes on Freecycle and those worked for a while but they started having issues (aka falling apart). This year we decided to get everyone a new bike for birthdays. We have one bike and birthday to go....Amanda's!

More Picts

Joshau with his cake. Emily in background eating hers.

Joshua and Bethany had to follow one clue to another to find their birthday presents.
They finally found their bikes hidden in the bus.

Amanda and My Favorite Blockhead

Princess Trapper in a dress given to her by Susan M.

Clint

Caleb wanted to get in on the silliness too.

I will try to publish more pictures soon. Picasa keeps locking up.

Emily and Brandon

Birthdays

Birthday kids get served first.

Caleb is patiently waiting for his piece of birthday cake.

Bethany and Caleb enjoying the ice cream cake.

Bethany and Joshua Blowing Out Trick Candles

The HG was bothering me all weekend so Clint offered to buy a cake for the children's party.
He found the ice cream cake was $2 cheaper than buying two small cakes so he got that.
Joshua turns 9 on 9/17 the same day Bethany turns 5. Both were hurricane babies.
I always breathe easier about the prospect of a hurricane after their birthdays.
We forgot the candles and only had 12 trick relighting candles, so we used two of those.
Joshua said "HEY!" when they kept relighting. Bethany was content to keep blowing them out!

Shuttle Bus Picts #3

There are 12 passenger seats with room to add a bench seat (which we have already) and we will add a passenger seat up front (which we also have on hand). We will probably replace the driver's seat with a seat we have too. Clint says he wants to sit in both and compare them for comfort and adjustments.

We have already put a porta potti in the back and will add a wall and curtain for privacy soon.

The chair lift works great but the door beside it needs the upholstery reattached to it. I think I can repair that with the hot glue gun.

We also found a current car seat (still in date) and a new stroller in the bus which will come in handy. PTL for the bus and the "bonuses" we found inside. We had been told everything would be cleaned out before we bought it, but the man did not have time to do it which turned out to be a blessing for us.

I apologize for taking longer to get the pictures than what I told some. The nausea has intensified and I have spent a lot of time lately lying down.

Shuttle Bus Picts #2

We have had several people tell us we were very, very "lucky" to have found this bus in this condition for this price. One of those was a bus salesman and the other works with cars. Our family wants it on record that luck has nothing to do with it. God provided!

We are thinking about doing something on the back to personalize the bus. We aren't sure what we want to do yet.

Shuttle Bus Picts #1

When Clint registered it, he found out it is a 1991, not a 1990 as we were told.

It was a challenge to find them in classified and car dealers listings other than bus dealers (where the prices are significantly higher). We found shuttle buses like ours listed under trucks, mini bus, shuttle bus, vans, RVs, school buses, cargo vans, mobility vans, wheel chair vans, people movers, etc, etc, etc. When Clint went to register it at the DMV, the clerk gave him guff about registering it because SHE did not know what to put down for it. Clint looked at the previous registration and it was listed as a van.

With the bus dealers, we were not impressed. When we told them what we needed, they'd ignore us and tell us what they thought we needed and try to get us to buy something bigger. Yeah, they wanted our family of 8 (soon to be 9) to drive around in a 40 passenger bus. We could drive the RV around for that! Their prices were much, much higher than the regular car dealers. We recommend talking with a small car dealer and asking him to keep an eye out for a good shuttle bus when he goes to the dealer auctions-or going to one yourself. That is how the dealer found the first bus we looked at. It is not uncommon to find one with the maintenance records if you purchase one used by a transit system, rental agency, etc.

Article: The ABCs Of Home Schooling

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/14/sunday/main4447823.shtml I found it very favorable.

Thank you to Lorraine for sharing!

God Provided a Shuttle Bus!

On his daily commute, Clint has seen a shuttle bus sitting in the back of a lot for months now. Every time he'd see it, he'd think, "That would be PERFECT for our family." It was not for sale, but it had not moved in months. Clint figured it couldn't hurt to ask about it. He called yesterday afternoon and the man wanted to sell it--bad. The garage doesn't have room for it and it is very much in the way.

It came from an apartment complex where the tenant who purchased it was violating their parking lot rules. The landlord told the bus owner to move it. The tenant ignored the landlord, who had it towed to this garage's lot. The tenant was forgetful and the lot fees grew to be more than he could afford to pay. Before that, it was a Ryder rental and has a good maintenance history.

Clint checked it out first and then took me to see it last night. There is nothing wrong with it other than needing two front tires and the a/c coolant charged (Clint is certified to buy the coolant and can do the work himself). We believe the brand new tires we saved from my white van will fit it. It shows some age which is not a big deal to us-we have children who will contribute their wear and tear to it. The driver's seat has a hole in the corner, but the seats look easy to reupholster. I've done that before. It has dust bunnies inside but I can clean those easy....plenty of experience!

It is similar to this 1989 one selling for $9,900 but is a 1990, has the light blue stripes (that blue that SCREAMS "airport"-ugh) and a diesel. Clint is excited about the diesel because he's been told time and time again the engines last longer, get better mileage, hold their value better than gas and have fewer problems. People have been urging him for years to try one and those who have had them seem crazy about them. Now he'll find out for himself. He's also going to look into a vegetable oil conversion.

It is shorter than this 1990 one that sold on eBay for $13,900 but again looks similar.

While he wanted at least $2500 of the $8,000 worth of fees (!!!), Clint talked the man down to $1900. They shook on it yesterday evening and Clint is going to pay him the cash, title it with DMV, pick it up and bring it home today.

Yep, it's big and ugly but PTL we'll have a vehicle big enough for the teens, car seats and groceries with room to stretch out, room for the portapotti (going to make a bathroom similar this one), snack cabinet and more. I shop at Sam's Club and there have been times we had to open boxes and stuff toilet paper or food around the car seats! It will greatly cut our expenses when we get books for our stores (we had to rent UHaul's trucks), pull our trailer for camping, make day trips much easier on everyone, etc. Most importantly, our whole family will be together to escort our newest addition home in January.

And, we found someone who wants to buy the engine out of the conversion van. We'll keep the van in case the home elevation happens...it has a queen sized bed and four sleeper chairs that will come in handy. Clint may sell the chair lift out of the shuttle bus, but might keep it to load the boxes of books.

We didn't expect to even be able to go looking again for weeks so this came as a total surprise and was so simple. God does provide. Thank you to everyone praying with us.

Particle Physics-Large Hadron Collider

I have been learning about particle physics in my "spare" time so it was exciting to read CERN turned on their Large Hadron Collider and tried the first experiment.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/09/080910-collider-success_2.html Large Hadron Collider "Actually Worked"

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/03/god-particle/achenbach-text/1 The God Particle

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/09/11/scicern311.xml Large Hadron Collider: Your questions answered

Still Searching for a Vehicle

The person with the deposit down on the shuttlebus finally committed to buying it today, so we will have to keep looking for a family vehicle.

After reading about 15 passenger van rollover issues, I am not too keen on buying one of those. Some insurance companies are refusing to insure them because of the safety issues. Clint found out some states will not even allow them to be rented. We also know of a homeschooling family who had a rollover in a 15 passenger van as they were traveling around a curve on a mountain. They rolled right down the mountain, but no one was seriously injured, PTL!

I do not know when we will get another opportunity to go looking again. Keep us in prayer that God will lead us to the right vehicle for us.

Power Lines Fixed, Goat Caught, Vehicle Prayer Request

VA Power came out today and fixed the power lines that were too low. We can safely move the RV in and out now that they meet code distance from the ground. The lines were so low, they were laying across young pine trees and would have hit our neighbor in the head while he was riding his tractor!

Amanda saw one of the wild goats, set a trap with Brandon's help and caught it! We do not know where the second one is, but will try to catch it too if we see it.

Prayer Request: We are currently looking at a shuttlebus that would be PERFECT for us as a family vehicle, our book stores and camping. It will answer a lot of needs in one. Someone has a deposit to hold it while they figure out if they want it or not. We should find out this week (which probably means next week) if they plan to buy it. If they do not, we will go down and get it. Please join us in prayer this works out for us if it is God's will for our family. It has an extremely good price at $6,000 (others in the same condition are going for $10,000-15,000 and up) and is in great condition.

There are not many material things I want enough to pray about, but this is something I'd really love to have for our family as we have been having a lot of trouble locating a replacement transmission for our current van. That's become such a hassle (after visiting several junkyards, dealers and etc) that we have given up on it. Our current van only seats 8 anyway so we'd have to add a bench seat.

We have to have a shuttlebus, 15 passenger van, an RV we can convert with seats or something big....we need room for all of the car seats, our teens and groceries/luggage/whatever. We'll add a portapotti (necessary with this many young ones) and snack cabinet to whatever. If this is God's will for us, it will work out. If not, He will open the door some where else.

Amanda's Heart

Cody

Cody is a more challenging horse for Amanda. He does not obey commands well and she had to learn to use a riding crop on him.It did not come naturally for her to hit him, but she got the hang of it! When I went to pick her up the last day, she was riding and smacking this horse like crazy. I think this will help her in handling Hot Shot who can get a bit of an attitude now and then.

Dee says if she can teach the girls they can handle a 1600 lb mass of muscle with an attitude, handling boys attempting things they shouldn't will not be a problem. I do not think that will be a problem for Amanda. She had one boy's father proudly suggest his son might try something with her because he was known as a Casanova. Amanda said she'd put the punk on the ground if he messed with her...much to her Daddy's delight. :-D The boy was a complete gentleman while he was visiting our home.

Tonto

Amanda was riding him before she moved to Cody. She is hoping to return to Dee's camp next year as a volunteer.

Amanda's Friends from Riding Camp