Quiet in the Middle of NOISE!!!!

Wow, we shall see how this goes! If anyone actually reads this, I will be so amazed! So, I am trying to do my first blog with the kids playing upstairs and wonderful hubby washing dishes! I told him he didn't have to, but he decided to do it anyway, and I have to admit that I am grateful!!! Sometimes I think it would be wonderful to have a dishwasher, but on the other hand, with the size of our family, I think it would run constantly!! LOL! Just like the washer and dryer! So, anyway, I am always grateful for a hand with the dishes. I prefer to wash them, have the kids dry and put away - this way I know that they are clean!

Anyway, I am preparing to try to share a bit about our life here and the things that are important to us.

First of all, our Savior. I am forever grateful for my Lord, and at times just cannot believe where He has brought us. God has directed us down such an amazing path, one we never would have believed had you told us about it a few years ago. So, that is the most important, and influences everything else.

Second of all, our family. I think we are approaching being a "quiverful" family, but we only have five children right now! We thought we had stopped with three children, then really wanted more, so became foster parents, and after years of that, and children coming and going, we were looking to adopt. But, of course, domestically, and from foster care. Well, then two sentences in a sermon brought our Ethiopian-born sons to us. I still am amazed that they are actually here, that we were able to raise the funds to bring them home, that all that paperwork actually got done, that we passed, and that I actually traveled to another continent!!! I am definitely a home-body! So, we are a family of seven. Steve, my wonderful, talented husband works in computers and keeps quite busy, though we are blessed that at least part of the time he works from home - though he may not always think it is such a blessing! Then our eldest, Alex, is 13, an avid musician - guitar, piano, singing, as well as all of his other activities!!! Zeri is 12, and a very structured individual, tries to keep his things in order, follow the chore charts exactly, practice every guitar and piano piece to the letter. Kiley is 10, type 1 diabetic since 6 years old- so that is always a challenge, and she is a very driven person, focused and goal-setting. Music is an important part of her life also - violin and piano, but she is not interested in lessons in piano, so she is teaching herself!!! Unbelievable!!! Solomon is 8, and a very active young man. He is always going, and I am just counting the days until he breaks his glasses! He is rarely sad, always upbeat, and just "bounces". Faith is also 8, and very sweet. It is hard to find another way to describe her, she has been easy going since the day she was born.

So, that is the crew as it stands today. May there be more? Probably, one way or the other. After eight years post vasectomy, we decided that we made a mistake, should have left our family size in God's hands - if we trust him with all the other areas of life, why not this area? And we know that we want more children one way or the other. I thought that this meant that we would do another adoption (though that isn't out of the question at all either), but hubby wanted to truly put things back the way they were, if you know what I mean. Whew. So, he is recovering. What an experience! And now we shall see what God does from this point. So, if you get an announcement that we are expecting again, don't be surprised!!! But, the hard part for me, is that if, after all this, God's answer is "no", then I need to be OK with that. I need to accept it gratefully. That may be hard for me, but our point in doing this was to put things back as God designed. I wish dearly that we had never made the original decision, I think we did it for very selfish reasons, and we certainly weren't where we are now in our faith walk. So, I highly recommend to others that they don't sterilize, but I know everyone has their reasons. Wow, that was way off topic!!!

So, with five kids, one with medical issues, two learning English, we are also a homeschooling family! We have been since Alex was in first grade, and love it, most of the time. I cannot imagine how else we would have managed Kiley's medical issues, or the boys learning English and a whole new culture and life. It would be ridiculous! So, that keeps our days quite busy.

We live on 9 acres in rural WI, kind of in the middle of nowhere. We have only been out of the city for a year and a half now, learning our way by trial and error. It has been very funny, our friends and neighbors sure do laugh! We have had chickens in the dining room and basement (in a brooder), a goat in the laundry room (I thought she was about to have her babies and it was -39 degrees and the heat lamp was broken in the goat kidding stall - what else do you do?), washed chickens before the county fair, learned to butcher chickens, lived for a week at the county fair as the kids showed animals in every barn except the cow barn, and in general learned about homesteading and being self-sufficient. We have horses (mostly ponies), dairy and pygmy goats (yes, we do drink the milk - it's great!), chickens (eggs and meat are awesome!), three sheep (didn't plan on that but they are here), three dogs, and seven cats (five live outside and keep the rodent population down!!). Oh, yeah and a whole bunch of rabbits - my Angora rabbits for fiber and sale, and the kids' rabbits for show. Our old garage is going to be converted to a rabbitry this spring and summer. And a crested gecko and one guinea pig. I think that covers it! This summer will be a big time for the garden as I hope to put aside lots of food for the winter!

Hee, hee! Four of the five kids are upstairs - very loud, but Alex is playing his guitar and they are all singing "One Way Jesus"!!! How cool is that!!! Very loud, but they are all working together (yaayyy!!) and having a good time that does not involve bodies slamming against anything - wrestling and rough-housing are big things with the three boys.

We are going to take photos of our baby Angoras to put on the website that Steve is putting together for us. I am hoping to put some fiber on the market and one of my cute babies! I will try to post one here.

Hey, did anyone else watch Extreme Home Makeover last night??? The family with the very talented blind musician? It was so amazing. I have worked with children with disabilities for so long, and have always been open to having a child of our own with disabilities. I was really reminded by the show that our culture misses so much as we focus on just the perfect. There is so much that folks with "disabilities" give to us, that we would not recognize without them. Maybe I am naive, but I really get on my soapbox about how we only value the perfect and the pretty. We miss so much when we don't open ourselves up to something else. Can you tell that at some point I would like to adopt a special needs child that needs us? We shall see, that isn't up for too much discussion this month. Maybe later.

Well, this was my first rambling attempt at a blog. I will try to post more often, if anyone ever reads it, but maybe just to clear my own head a little.
And we hope to pay back to the world and community. We have been so blessed, with health and family, with our lifestyle, our faith, we want to pay it forward.