Happy Fourth of July!!!!!

I know that it isn't the fourth,  but I thought I would post while I could.  Technology is amazing!!!!  I am sitting here around our bonfire and putting together a post!  LOL!  The kids are currently joking about the size of vehicle we drive, what might be next.  There is lots of silliness going on.

You have to understand, it has been a long couple days, and my thought processes may not be up to normal.  Can I back up???

A dear friend died a few days ago, and the funeral was on Friday.  Our best man's dad passed away and we were blessed enough to be able to be of help as they work on the next steps.  It is hard to see, and reminds us all that there is some point at which we will be doing the same thing for our own families.  At this point, our parents are independent and healthy, but we are not foolish enough to think that this will always be the case.  it was a reminder to take advantage of every minute we can have with our loved ones.  (LOL!  The kids just were being silly and erupted into a version of "In the Garden! - turns out we do know it by heart!!!!)

And also we were reminded of our own frailties!  I was riding one of our horses, and he was doing really well, I was beginning some early lessons with Tsion and just about to consider putting her on him, when we realized that he was kicking at flies on his belly.  So I asked Kiley to spray him for me - well, I was on him, had been riding for some time.  Turns out he doesn't like fly spray - he seems to think it is something that will eat him.

Riding a horse, you always have to recall that you are riding a prey animal.  In other words, when something scares them, they are convinced that whatever it is is going to eat them.  And they tend to respond fairly dramatically when something scares them that bad.

So, I went from a very gentle, simple ride on a very gentle horse - to suddenly being launched all over the place - I hear he bucked or jumped or whatever at least five times.   I recall at least two or three, at which point I realized that I could not grab anything to hang on to, and I wasn't quite sure how to get off.  In all the haze, I do recall that.

I understand from the kids and hubby that I was unconscious in our round pen for "three minutes!.  I really don't remember much until we were on our way to the hospital.  For me, as a speech therapist, it is scary to realize how little I can recall.  I do those tests on folks all the time.  It was spooky to not be able to tell someone what day it is or whatever.  My memory has come back for things that are going forward, but that period of time is missing.  The doctors say it is normal, I tell people about that all the time, but it feels way different when it is me.  (No, I wasn't wearing a helmet, but I didn't hit my head according to everyone - I know that I am justifying it, but anyway....)

So, I have all sorts of pain medications to get me through - makes me totally useless, but comfortable through the headache.  Ugh.  Having to concentrate hard on things but can get it done.  I know that it will be okay, but it is frustrating.  I have been banned from horseback for two weeks - they don't want me to fall again and jarr my head.  Sigh.

Anyway, the end of the story is that we are sitting around our fire pit, roasting marshmellows, and my laptop signal reaches this far!  Yay!  No one will let me do anything  much right now, keep trying to get me to sit down, and even encouraged me to take a nap today.  The headache comes and goes, but does seem to get better slowly.  My elbow is really bruised, and my right ankle definitely took some of the brunt of the fall.

So, that is  a very disjointed introduction to our evening.  A bonfire, burning up branches from our yard clean up, marshmellows, hot dogs and lawn chairs.  The kids are in fine form, very silly.  It is a lovely summer night.  It really got dark at almost 10PM.  The kids are laughing, Steve is home with us, I am planted here, there are barn kitties visiting us, life is good.  Steve took some photos of Alex today: Take a look!!!!!

Aren't they great?  Doggone it, he looks older and older all the time.  Not too ready for my firstborn to be growing up so fast!  I don't know if you ever get used to it.  We are doing portraits on July 10th, check out our facebook page "portraits for a purpose".

Well, I hope that this wasn't too disjointed, I know it wasn't my usual style.  I am tired and ready for bed.  Only a slight headache which is a good improvement.  I think a nap will help.

Tomorrow we get a replacement washing machine - used, but new to us, and as long as it washes clothes, then I am good!  A month without a washer - for a family of ten - is  a very long time. The laundromat costs a fortune, and still only does some of our stuff.  I will happily be washing and hanging things on the line - drying whatever I need to, letting as much line dry as will fit.  I never took it for granted before, but I surely won't at all anymore!  Imagine the joys of being able to do laundry as we go through life!  Many loads of laundry going through!!!  Yay!!!!

I have kombacha going too!  The challenge is that several of the kids love it!  One of those health drinks that I expected to have to bribe the kids to try, now they drink it all down!  I have to limit them to one a day!  So, I got three batches going now - I love the pina colada batch, that is my favorite so far, but I tried a cherry juice one - will try that tomorrow.  Three more batches going, ready tomorrow!  And the same friend who started me on that, has got me gleaning whatever I can from my fairly unsuccessful garden this year.  Dandelion root is my current thing.  Supposedly I can dry it and grind it up to brew with coffee (or instead of it) and it has great health benefits.  I would settle for finding something useful in that mess that is supposed to be my garden.

Well, I am about done, headed to bed.  My kids are very funny, but I am beat.  Life on the farm never ends in its entertainment!

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

A nonsense post...

Okay, so maybe it isn't nonsense, but it my Sunday night recap of life!

So, on the adoption front, we have assembled the papers for our dossier, minus the items that are still in process.  Our social worker will review them tomorrow and let us know if anything needs fixing.  I don't know if that means that we can send what we have over to Ethiopia for translation, or if we have to wait for the other documents to catch up.

I do know that today I am aching for our little girls.  It is a good thing I teach the three year olds at church as I really got to lavish love on them - loving on a toddler/preschooler is a bit different than my older kids to say the least!  I could use some serious baby snuggles though.

We also now have two sixteen year olds in the house now - Zeri turned sixteen this weekend!  He had a great bonfire party at home with quite a few friends.  It was fun, loud, and no one got hurt - even playing football in a field!  I think he enjoyed himself!  So, the current rundown of ages in our home is 16, 16, 15, 14, 12, 11, 11, and 11.  One more birthday coming up shortly!  Then we will have two 12 year olds and two 11 year olds until fall.  It is so funny to say all the ages to folks - they try to figure out how many twins or triplets we have!  But seriously, the kids are all enjoying that spring is here, that we can be outside, that soccer season started last week, that horse show season is here.  Needless to say, it will be a busy summer, as always. 

Tonight I am looking over more items as we renovate the upstairs - we are sorting books from up there, and most are school related books.  Those are harder to get rid of!  I have several new ideas for us for this week, based on what we pulled out.  Love homeschooling, we all learn so much!

I have borage drying in my pantry - it will serve several functions as a herb.  I am learning lots about whole foods, natural health and all.  Taking it small bits at a time, but using what we have.  This weekend I started two batches of dandelion wine.  I always wondered about it (who hasn't who has a yard full of dandelions!), but got to taste some last week, and it reminded me of my husband's homemade honey mead (a honey wine, absolutely delicious, and basically needing to be sipped).  So, I gave it a try - sent several kids out to pick dandelion flowers from my garden - no herbicides or anything on that, so it should be good.  Turns out the medicinal qualities of dandelions are pretty amazing.  Hey, worth a try!  We pulled the yellow parts of the dandelion flowers - needed six quarts of the yellow to make what we wanted to.  I figure if I am going to do something labor intensive, it better have a good yield!  I got to watch a good movie while I plucked and various family members joined in with me as I did it!  A tedious task, but made better by conversation, a good movie and good company!  I completely understand how settlers got by with all their work!  We actually end up having quite a good time doing these kind of things!

I am hoping that things are dry enough now so I can get some more things planted in the garden.  I have some of the root crops in, but need to get more going, and get our beans and tomatoes in.  I would like to can a great deal, and the kids are already requesting that we make apple butter again this year.  I am learning how to manage herbs, and the medicinal properties.  I love teas, and am learning to dry leaves to make some things of mine.  It is very simple, very very simple things that I am trying to do.  I have a friend who is quite accomplished and very good with whole foods too, so I am learning, but she really encourages people to just try what you can, don't be overwhelmed, and that any positive change is positive change.  So, that is what I am working on.  I do love my time in the garden though! 

We have found a loving home for four of the equines we rescued last fall.  They are very sweet, and this is the best home ever for them that they are going to!  I am so pleased!  We never really planned on keeping them indefinitely, but would only let them go if we found a phenomenal home for them.  God has provided that and I am so glad!  So, hopefully this week I will be driving them to their new home!  Though we are taking a six year old paint gelding in trade!  But it still puts us down three head of horses overall!  We have gotten to play with the animals more since the weather has been nice, and it is amazing how each individual horse learns differently, has a very different personality from another, and generally loves to learn.  We have been able to open up some more pastures, and divide up the horses more, and it balances things out better. 

Summer time means building time on the farm as well as planting time.  We are renovating our horse barn this year and maybe the summer kitchen.  We are big on using what we have, so we aren't really putting too much money or materials in it, just doing a lot of rebuilding, and then adding in things.  I cannot believe all that we learn! 

Well, this mama is tired after a long weekend of celebrating Zeri!

Remember, we are still doing our puzzle fundraiser, puzzle pieces are $2 a piece, your name is placed on the back, and when the puzzle is done, we will put it between plexiglass and frame it to hang on the little girls' wall - a true example of how loving people were "part of the puzzle" to bring to orphaned girls to a loving home.  We have a chip in button on the side bar here.  We have about $400 more than is listed there - I cannot figure out how to add donations that we have been handed to the chip in bar!!!!  But it is there!  Our goal is to get to the last document we need to send to Ethiopia - the puzzle pieces totally cover that amount, and then our next goal is $1000 to send the dossier over to Ethiopia for translation and processing!  Getting ready for court!

I am working two full days a week, and three shorter stints on other days, to help cover all this.  It all adds in!  We have been blessed to sell some items (generally small, but every dollar helps!), and keep working!  God is so good and keeps us going with reminders that this is the path he has set us on, that these two girls are HIS children first, and we are excited to be able to parent them.  Of course, I want to be there TODAY, but that won't be, so we keep going with working on getting there, and loving our life here.  It isn't simple, it is hard work, but it is wonderful.  To see our children thriving, growing, learning and loving.  To enjoy so much the gifts of our family.  It is challenging - seriously, we have four teenagers!!!  But teenagers aren't the horror that they are made out to be.  They need the same intensity of guidance as our toddlers did, but at an intellectual level as we balance getting them to be more and more independent, making good choices, being grounded in faith and good values.  We cannot stop parenting - it is way, way too soon!  But it is different also.  They are all so amazing in their own ways.  Some days I swear they will turn my whole head grey, and then the next day I am totally laughing constantly.  That is life! 

Anyway, now I am really rambling, so I am heading to bed!  Hugs to you all, thanks for reading my ramble, I hope it spoke something to you somehow - even if it is just brutal honesty about the day to day challenges of raising kids, walking the adoption road, raising a large brood, living in a rural area, all of that!
God bless you!

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11