Easter Sunday Afternoon

After church on Resurrection Sunday we all went over to my parent's house for the afternoon. We cooked out and the kids hunted Easter eggs. Everyone had such a good time. We visited and relaxed and played in the sunshine. It was a such a pleasant way to spend the day.

Last year for their Easter Baskets I really knocked myself out making a couple of handmade toys for each of my children. They loved finding their surprises in their baskets when they woke up on Easter. But I had worked so late into the night for the week leading up to that Sunday that I was exhausted by the time the big morning came around. That afternoon, as soon as church was over, food eaten and the kids hunted eggs, I slept the rest of the day. I regretted sleeping though it later while everyone else was visiting, but I was just too tired. {Being in the first trimester of pregnancy didn't help!}  

So this year, I decided to give myself a break. And you know what? It was just fine! I bought each of the kids a chocolate bunny, and I picked up a couple of slinkies for the  Claire and Emmett and a pair of nice yo-yos for Matthew and Ethan. Violet was too little this year to care about toys or sweets and Logan only wanted the chocolate~ thank you very much! The kids were thrilled when they woke up to find their chocolate bunnies and their toys. 

When my big boys were very little I would buy them those cheap-o kind of toys like you see stuffed into the pre-made Easter baskets at the grocery stores. The toys would break within a day or so and then the garbage would litter their bedroom floors until I threw it all away. I didn't really know any better. Eventually it dawned on me that those kinds of "toys" weren't really good for anyone. They weren't entertaining, or educational, or even pretty, really. Basically they were a total waste of money, I was buying the exact same little toys every single year, only to have them break long before the next year rolled around.  So I started making them toys and little games. I had fun making them, and they really seemed to enjoy playing with them. Plus they usually lasted much longer than 24 hours!

But here is the thing with having a big family and making or buying well made toys, those toys actually last. And that becomes a problem because you really don't need 4 or 5 much less 20 copies of each toy (one for each kid each year!) For example last year I made Claire a little memory game with sweet Springtime motifs painted on wooden disks. Well, all of the children played (still play) with that game. I sewed a little cotton drawstring bag  to store the pieces in, and now we have a fun memory game and honestly we don't need another. Just yesterday the little ones were playing with the set of wooden sorting toys I made for Claire when she was about 18 months old. So while I haven't run out of ideas for fun new toys I want to make for my kids, I have decided to limit the number of things available for them to play with at a time. They all seem so much happier and more easily entertained when they have a few well sorted toys to choose from, rather than a million different things with missing or mixed up pieces.

So while the above reason was a big deciding factor in not over-stressing myself to make a bunch of new things this year for their baskets. Another was during the month of April we had family come in from Guatemala to stay with us. So there was the 'pre-visitors cleaning of the whole house' and then the 'we have visitors lets do stuff to entertain them' that took up most of our month once they arrived. But most importantly is that chocolate bunnies and toys have nothing to do with the reason we celebrate Resurrection Sunday! I want to be sure they understand the real reason we choose to celebrate this day. 

That reason is the most important of all. This is the day we chose to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from death. His crucifixion, death and resurrection was specifically so that each one of us could receive forgiveness from our sins and be able to have a real relationship with with Him as our Lord and Savior. That is a wonderful thing to celebrate and it should never take second place to Easter Eggs or Chocolate bunnies!

At the same time I really enjoy the sweet little traditions our family has of dyeing eggs, and having egg hunts, and finding an Easter basket with treats waiting on Easter morning when they wake up. Those are fun things, and memories I cherish from my own childhood, and things I want to pass on to my children. But as I said, I am very happy that I decided not to go "over the top" with candy, or toys this year! 

P.S. Violet's dress is the one that Grandma made for Claire for her first Easter. You can see pictures of Claire's first Easter here.

The Emu Invasion

We have a pair of Emu chicks.  Actually, Logan has a pair of emu chicks in the house. Well, after that sentence I'm not really sure what else I should write about them.

I guess a bit of an explanation might be in order. The year after we moved here from Guatemala, in September of 2004 we took the boys to the Tennessee Valley Fair for the first time. Logan was seven years old. Of all of the animal exhibits there his very favorite thing was the petting zoo. They had a tame emu. Logan had never seen anything like it before, it was a giant 5 foot tall bird that looked like a dinosaur. He was smitten! All he talked about after that trip to the fair was that someday he wanted an emu. Every year we would go back to the fair and Logan would head straight for the petting zoo, and the emu.

 Any time we talked about getting a farm, or a pet or animals in general over the next 9 years Logan was sure to bring up emus. He wanted one, and he wasn't going to let us forget it! When we sold our house last summer and started looking for a small farm, Logan mentioned that he hoped it would have room for an emu. Rodrigo and I hadn't seen any emu chicks for sale in years so we nodded our heads and said, "Sure son." Haha, little did I know...

On Sunday afternoon Rodrigo and Logan were looking at the farm and garden section of Craigslist trying to find me a livestock guardian dog to take care of my goats and chickens. We've spotted coyotes in the fields across the road (in broad daylight ) and hawks are constantly flying over head scoping out the rabbit arks in the yard, hoping for an escapee. So I really need a good dog to help out around here! Well, they didn't find me a dog, instead they spotted an ad for emu chicks. And that, as they say, was that. The phone number was called and the directions given, and within a couple of hours Logan became the very happy almost 16 year old owner/ caregiver to a pair of adorable emu chicks.

For the moment they are living in a old baby play-yard converted to emu brooder in our dining room. The lady we got them from says that within two weeks they should be over two feet tall, so other arrangements will have to be made as soon as possible.

Honestly, this is just exactly the kind of thing that I would have begged my parents to let me do when I was a kid. They probably wouldn't have let me, they were pretty strict about the no weird livestock or pets. In retrospect they did let me have a pretty wide range of "normal" pets when I was a kid, but you know, I always had aspirations of starting my own zoo. Gerald Durrell was my hero, he traveled the world collecting animals and started a zoo! I read all of his books cover to cover so many times they became quite ragged and tattered after years of being carted around the globe with me. I always thought that when I grew up and had kids of my own and they wanted something that really and truly interested them, and we were in a place where we would be able to provide it with the type of home it needed, and it wasn't going to pose a threat to any little ones, or require a fortune to buy or for it's upkeep that we would let them have it. So here we are now with Logan's emu chicks in the house...

How I met my husband :)

Sometime in the mid 1990's we were living in Guatemala. My brother and I went there with our parents when I was 17 years old to live and work as missionaries. Our family founded a home for orphans and street children.

The first few years we lived there it seemed like most of our time was spent learning and perfecting our Spanish. After a while we could converse as easily in Spanish as we could in our native English. Sometimes we would go weeks at a time while only speaking Spanish, even with each other. My brother and I made friends with many Guatemalans during our time there. All of our friends only spoke Spanish so it was easy to get fluent in the language. We were invited into people's homes and to take part in their family celebrations. We began to feel like we really belonged.

One evening Erick (my brother) took me out to dance. I loved dancing! Still do! So anyway, he took me to this little place called Balcon del Cielo (Balcony of Heaven) and we danced for a while with some friends of ours. After a bit he took me over to get something to drink. Seated at one of the tables near the bar was a guy... Not just any guy... a really, really good looking guy!  The following conversation started in Spanish; translated here into English for the benefit of readers who might not understand :-)

"Hey Rachel" said my brother "Come over here, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine. Rodrigo this is my sister Rachel, Rachel this is a buddy of mine, Rodrigo"

Me, being all calm cool and collected, "Oh, OK. Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Rachel." We greeted each other, exchanged names, kissed*. And I tried to maintain the calm, cool, collected appearance while I fled to the safety of the bar to interrogate my brother about Mr. Tall.Dark and Oh.So.Handsome!!

*kissed! Yes, kissing! Hispanic countries have a lovely custom of kissing on the cheek as a very right and proper way of greeting even among strangers meeting for the first time. Men and women kiss cheeks and women kiss other women's cheeks as a form of greeting... men don't kiss men, they shake hands.

Once I was standing at the bar a few feet away from Rodrigo and I could talk to my brother without having to include our new "friend" I switched the conversation rapidly to English! "Why on earth have you never introduced me to him before?!?" I demanded of my poor confused brother! "That has got to be the best looking guy I have ever laid eyes on! OhMyGosh! He can't be from around here I've never seen him before, he is gorgeous!" I went on and on for about five more minutes in this same line... How good looking he was, who was he, how long had my brother known him, how good looking he was... you get the idea, it was pretty bad! But, at least, I was speaking in English so that way no one but my dear sweet brother would understand me! I was so distracted sneaking glances at "the guy" and talking about him a hundred miles an hour that at first I don't notice my brother going quietly to pieces, laughing at me! Finally I noticed that he was laughing and I demanded to know what was so funny!

In reply, Erick my darling brother, turned to Rodrigo and said {In ENGLISH!!!!} "Would you please tell this poor girl that you can understand every word she is saying!"

And Rodrigo replied{In ENGLISH!!!!} with a totally mischievous grin on his face "I guess so, but I was really enjoying listening to her..."

And that is how I met my husband. We've been pretty much inseparable since those first humiliating 5  minutes. :-) I even forgave my darling brother...eventually! {wink}

Happy Anniversary Mi Amor! I love you!

The Boys' Natural History Museum

Over the Christmas holidays the boys decided to create a natural history museum in their bedroom. Most of the things they have had in there for a while but the gifts of some gorgeous new playsilks from a dear friend and my mother-in-law's kind help in deep cleaning their room with them, fueled their choice to do something extra special with their space!

{Welcome signs and admission information as well as the Museum's curator's names. (I should clarify that the Natural History Museum was entirely Matthew's and Ethan's idea as shown by the bottom sign on the door. {see close up of said sign below, click to zoom on any of the pictures} Logan really had nothing to do with it, as in his very mature 14 year old-ness he was just happy not to be crunching 8 zillion legos underfoot!) }

{The ______ Boys Natural History Museum.  Do not touch anything. 25¢ Please Knock}

(Family name blanked out to protect our privacy :-) }

{The two _____ boys, Yes Matthew and Ethan No Logan) {Matthew explained to us that this was to avoid any confusion over who was responsible for the Museum}

{Matthew said that this is their dragon who was discovered by some friends of theirs. It appears legless, but he further explained, that is only because it was caught while in flight! Dragon's legs apparently tuck up underneath them while flying!}

{Mexican Rose Knee Tarantula... yes this is actually living in my boys' room, in a tank on their nightstand... sweet dreams my angels! Better them than me, having that for a room-mate!} 

*And for the record she has only escaped once. Back in 2009 when I was pregnant with Claire, Ethan had fed her some crickets and left the lid to her tank ajar... the next morning we realized she (the spider) was missing. Much frantic searching ensued with no luck whatsoever. After a few weeks we assumed she had died and forgot about her completely. Not terribly smart on my part... but you know, I was pregnant and had other things on my mind. One night a few hours after we put the kids to bed we went to bed ourselves. Rodrigo fell right to sleep but I decided to read for a while before going to sleep. I was laying there nestled all snug in my bed reading, the house peaceful and quiet, when suddenly out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a huge shadow move up across the wall right beside me. I turned my head and crawling above me up the wall was a very hungry, very huge and hairy tarantula. Honey, you have never seen a pregnant woman move quite so fast! I am actually not normally afraid of tarantulas or any other spider... but this was the middle of the night and I was really startled! I woke  Rodrigo up (by jumping completely over him and out of his side of the bed, while screaming!) and insisted that he catch that big hairy thing immediately, or I would never be able to sleep again! He did and she is happily back where she belongs~ bigger and hairier than ever! 

OK now back to the tour of the Natural History Museum. ;-)

{A white tail deer drawn by Matthew.}

{Genuine Australian Boomerangs. A gift from the boys' Australian great-Uncle Magnus} 

{Hammerhead Shark and Bottle-nose Dolphin drawn by Matthew.} 

{A silk pirate's treasure map and the world's largest "diamond" which it led to...}

{The Native American Indian area. Complete with dioramas, ceremonial masks, arrows, shields, and various other artifacts, displayed on a new rainbow silk.}

{The Penobscot  Indians, diorama by Matthew} 

{Cliff dwelling Indians, Diorama by Ethan}

{Pretty! Matthew had asked for a Leopard gecko for Christmas this year. His grandparents got him this little beauty!} 

{The Wall of Curiosities and Wonders. Top shelf: a handmade flute from a small village of river dwelling Indians from the Peruvian Amazon and Whitetail Deer's antler almost out of the picture. Second shelf: Drawing of American Goldfinch by Logan, and a wooden carving from Bali. Third shelf: a collection of skulls from our travels. Black bear from a friend here in the Tennessee Mountains, Dog Skull from the woods behind my mom's house, Agouti Paca Skull from a walk through the jungle in Guatemala, Raccoon skull from Kentucky, Wild cat (possibly Margay also found in the jungle in Guatemala, Coati Mundi skull found near Tikal National park Guatemala. And a real dart blow gun brought from Peru, by my parents for the boys. With real darts made of porcupine quills... it really shoots them. Thanks mom! Bottom shelf: Plaster casting of a raccoon's footprint, a raccoon skull, various seashells, and a cow's vertebrate.} 

{Candles from Africa, shells and another plaster casting of a raccoon's footprint}

{Close-up of a few of the skulls... Why yes, that is washi tape holding the raccoon's lower jaw together... what would you have used? ;-)} 

Adorableness!

I was astonished to realize this week that Emmett is now 3 months old! My goodness how time flies! I took these pictures on Wednesday afternoon. I was hoping to get a good shot for our Christmas cards this year... and yes, I do realize that pretty much everyone else has already sent out their Christmas cards and now the very day is nearly upon us. But I am a firm believer in better late than never!! ;-) I'll share the picture I chose for the cards in a few days.  

This is my favorite picture of little Emmett! He looks so happy and strong! He is such a wonderful blessing for our family. He really is a joy to have around.

 The shirt he is wearing has a special story too. It was handmade for Emmett's Daddy. When Rodrigo's mother was pregnant with him, she and her grandmother (Rodrigo's great grandmother) hand stitched these beautiful shirts for her baby. The embroidery and tiny little pin tucks are exquisite. I inherited 3 of these beautiful little shirts when Rodrigo and I were expecting our first baby and each our children has had a chance to wear them. But only for special occasions because I wold love to pass them on through the generations. Such a sweet inheritance.

 Logan humored me by posing with Emmett and even dressing up for the occasion! He is growing so quickly into a man! Every morning when he comes out of his bedroom, I think he looks even bigger than he did the night before! 

My boys... biggest and littlest. My heart is full.

Are they ALL yours??? Or where did those extra kids come from???

Those are two questions we've been asked a whole lot in the past month!

The rambling story of how we became foster parents or: Why I've not posted on here in such a long time, Why my garden is knee high in weeds (it's really bad, trust me!), Why my laundry has doubled in the past month, Why even though my workbasket is full of half finished dolls, sewing and other crafts that I really want to work on, and my brain even more full of ideas for more crafts and blog posts... not much seems to be happening on the creative front!

{B and J}

A bit of quick background about us: My parents where missionaries. I met my husband while living on the mission field with them. Once we were married we decided to become missionaries as well. My husband is from Guatemala and our oldest three children were all born there while we worked as missionaries. We helped run a children's home there. In Guatemala there isn't a foster care system in place like there is here in the USA. Children that are removed from their parents for whatever reason are placed in group homes or orphanages instead of with individual foster families like they are here. So most of the kids in our "orphanage" were not actually orphans, (though there were several that were) most of them were placed in our care due to abuse or neglect by their birth families. At one point I had 9 babies under one year in age including one of my own (Matthew) that I was caring for! At it's fullest the children's home hovered around 40 children under the age of 12!

Rodrigo (my husband, for those of you who didn't already know) did laundry for all of the children and we didn't have a clothes drier there for years, so all of that laundry was carried upstairs to the rooftop and hung on the line every. single. day. (The washer was located in a tiny little wash house situated just outside of the main big house and the clothes lines were all on the rooftop of the big house as the land the children's home was on was shaded by huge trees and that was the only place that got direct sunshine) Oh, the rainy season was hard! Some days he couldn't do laundry at all because there was no way to get it dry between downpours! Imagine what it was like with 40 pairs of socks to wash, hang out and then get off the line and pair up and fold each and every day! Then of course there were their underwear, shirts, pants, dresses, skirts, and on the "Big Laundry Days" Sheets, towels, and blankets. Because we spent pretty much every waking hour at the home, we also took our own laundry to wash there so he dealt with that was well! So my poor man has done more than his fair share of laundry, these days I never ask him for help in that area! :-) I guess I mentioned this because today I have about 5 loads I have to wash! Laundry on the mind today!! I try not to let it pile up, but somehow it always does! Excuse me a minute... I need to go switch loads from the washer to the drier and put another on to wash! I do have a clothes line and I use it a lot! But I refuse to let myself feel guilty when I don't use it. We have a clothes drier for a reason, and getting laundry finished on a very rainy Sunday afternoon is one of those reasons! I do actually enjoy hanging clothes out to dry though! It's one of my quiet times... I get to be by myself for just a few moments in the warm sunshine, listening to the birds, thinking, being calm(!), and getting myself back focused on what's important. Many, many prayers have gone up while I stand before that little revolving clothes line, and by the time I am done, I am better able to deal with the many "challenges" that every mama faces throughout the day.

In the Autumn of 2003 we moved to the USA. Ethan our youngest (at the time) was just a baby of 4 months old. He has no memory of living in Guatemala. Matthew was about 2 and a half and Logan was 6 and a half years old when we came here. Logan was completely bi-lingual in Spanish and English and very much remembers living in Guatemala and playing with the kids in the home. Matthew pretty much only spoke a few words of English and Spanish at the time and really doesn't remember living there either as he was so little when we came here. Fast-forward a few years to March 2009 Rodrigo had his vasectomy reversed and in December of 2009 our little miracle Claire was born!

{Claire "eating" her deviled egg, nothing to do with this post... just thought it was cute!}

Since moving to the USA we have talked about becoming foster parents. Last year we began to look into it seriously, and began taking classes towards that end in October 2010. We had to attend 12 weeks of classes in order to become state certified foster parents. We filled out mountains of paperwork, had background checks preformed, paperwork was sent to most of our friends and family members asking lots of personal questions about us and what kind of people/parents we were. Great fun and lots of red tape all around! Our classes ended on January 3, 2011.

About two weeks later we found out that I was pregnant with baby #5! We were thrilled, but at the same time I worried that it might affect our chances of becoming foster parents (in the DCS's opinion).

We waited for DCS to begin our home study. And waited... And waited some more. Finally, about 5 months after our classes ended they began the official home study, we had been told during class that it is Departmental policy to begin all home studies within 30 days of completing the classes! HaHa... just a taste of the Department of Children's Services efficiency! Thankfully once they actually began, it really didn't take very long to complete our home study and become certified. Our case manager called us to let us know that we were state approved, and the very next day we were being called by the person in charge of children's placement with 2 little boys who needed a safe place to live until their case can be resolved, brothers ages 18 months and 30 months.  So since the middle of May 2011 we have been foster parents to B and J. We suddenly had a house full of toddlers under the age of 3! (Claire is 18 months old now too!)

So for the past month, life has been full of doctor's appointments, therapy, visitations, and days spent at court with these little boys. We did take a vacation last week and took B and J along with the family. I'll post about that as soon as I get a chance! It was so wonderful to get away and not have to worry about referring to my planner several times a day, every single day! I knew it was going to be a bit more hectic once we had foster children, but some days the busyness feels almost overwhelming to this homeschooling mama that enjoys quiet days at home the best!

I plan on continuing to post on here as I have the time and energy. I am still planning lots of fun creative things to do with the kids and I've got about a million "crafty" works in progress right now, that hopefully I'll figure out how to finish now that we are so much busier with these extra little ones! And if I actually manage to find the time and energy to actually do something, maybe I'll even be able to find a few extra minutes to blog about it! I've been taking tons of pictures over the past month, but I have to be extra careful to protect these little boys placed in our care, so if a photo includes them either I wont be able to post it... or I'll have to figure out how to blur their faces. (Anyone have any ideas of how to do that? )

So for now I am trying to be more patient with myself and not stress the small stuff, and as much as I have fun posting on here, it is one of the much smaller things on my list of priorities right now, so I'll do it as I have a chance and not worry to much about it when I don't! I'll be online though, and I'll be sure to answer any emails that are sent to me! Comments too, if they need answering :-)

{The frog that lives in our lily pond}

My Grandma and Mother's Day

Mother's Day was hard this year.

My mom is wonderful! She is (and was!) a great mother, we talk every day. She lives close by so we see each other often. She is the person I talk to and share the most with in the world. (Other than my husband of course!!!) I consider her my best girlfriend!

My children honored me and hugged me and loved me all day. They usually do that everyday. They are such sweet, loving kids. I really enjoy spending my days with them. They each surprised me pretty handmade cards, full of colorful hearts and flowers and butterflies and lots of "I love you Mom" and "Your the best mom" in careful little boy handwriting.

My Grandmother Sadie Mae at Thanksgiving 2009

Mother's Day was hard this year because my Grandmother passed away very unexpectedly this past week. My Grandma was a wonderful Godly woman. She loved to sing and praise God, and could often be heard singing hymns while she worked. She prayed and read her Bible every. single. day. without fail. Her relationship with Him was the single most important thing in her life! She was a sweet lady who loved everyone she ever met. (Well, everyone except my Dad when she first met him maybe... he was a Yankee (a Northerner!) you see and every good Southern lady knew you couldn't trust those Yankees! :-) She got over that soon enough and spent the rest of her life loving my dad like he was her own son. ) She loved gardening and crafting and sewing, and more importantly she loved family.  We were always very close. I loved when my brother and I got to go spend time at her house as children, we would play and explore. She would let us help cook, and garden and craft with her. She taught me to sew when I was just 6 years old. Every year she had a garden and canned and preserved much of their food for the coming winter months. She believed in being as self-sufficient as possible.

This past week she was outside pulling weeds with my Grandpa, when she started feeling very poorly. by the time they got her to the hospital she had had several massive heart attacks. She lived for a few hours more, time enough for my parents to get to her bedside. I didn't quite make it before she had passed away, although I was able to talk to her over the phone, and tell her again how much I loved her. They lived in a neighboring state about 2 and a half hours from our home.

Grandma holding newborn Claire, her first great-granddaughter! She loved her great grandchildren.

We had her funeral service yesterday. It was a celebration of her going home, to be with Jesus. For the most part it was a joyful service in memory of a life spent giving of herself to others. Family and friends came from all over the United States and talked about how much she had meant to them and how she had touched their lives. She had prayed many times with each and every one of them, invited them into her home for a warm home-cooked meal and some company. She was a much loved lady, who will be missed by everyone that knew her.

The last day of the year

Today turned out pleasantly warm and even a bit sunny... So we spent lots of time outside playing together. The boys brought out some of the new toys we made them for Christmas and had a great time playing and practicing with their new things!

Claire enjoying the sunshine on New Year's Eve!

 Practicing with the whips I made for them for Christmas. They were really easy to make and best of all they really crack! I made one for each boy.

Matthew trying to get his whip to wrap around their zip line so he can swing on it "Like Indiana Jones!"

  

Sir Matthew with his new sword and shield. Rodrigo helped me make these... they turned out beautifully! (My only complaint is that with very rough play the cross guards are breaking off... next time we make them I'll choose a harder wood that should help prevent breaking along the grain of the wood at the cross guards. These are made of pine. But the boys love them, and that is the important part! )

Sir Ethan showing off his sword and shield too! 

 

His sister's brave protector!

Claire was fascinated with the remnants of Christmas day's now melted snow fort.

Ethan helping prepare for our family's New Year's Eve "party".

My kids are so much fun and so easy to make happy! I just make a bunch of fun finger foods, use special glasses, light a few extra candles and have some nice jazz music playing in the background and they call it a party! I have memories of many such parties from my own childhood. I know these simple family celebrations are things that they will always remember. That makes me happy!

Getting the table ready for our party...

My beautiful handmade Christmas Present... This table and a wonderfully long bench made to match just for me by my loving husband! I had been wanting a bigger table for years, but especially since our family was really outgrowing our other small table. We filled it completely and there was no room for any guests or (hopefully) future family members! So my sweety made this table for me! These pictures don't do it justice... it is really gorgeous! I am so happy with how it turned out, and now we have room for lots of people!!!

Claire playing with a music box that Grandma got her for Christmas. 

The boys goofing off...

Happy New Year! We have so much to be thankful for. This past year was filled with many blessings and wonderful memories for our little family. We pray that this coming year is filled with many blessings as well! There are so many new and exciting things that we are looking forward to in 2011... I can't wait to share them with you all! I pray that God places a special blessing in each of your lives and draws you closer to him through out the coming year!