March Goals: Book #1

I have had this book on my reading list for a few years.  I am just now getting around to reading it.  I think as always Dr. Dobson does a great job of sharing information.  The first few chapters were a little hard to get through.  He shares lots of medical terms and research information.  The two things that stood out to me most when I finished the book are:  the importance of fathers in the lives of their daughters at every age, and fear of the teenage years with my emotional, drama filled daughter.   He covers several chapters on dad/daughter relationships.  I have already asked Trevor to read it.  The teenage years terrify me.  We spent so many years doing youth ministry, I have see the good, the bad and the ugly.  Dobson talks a lot about hormonally what is going on in teenage girls. They sometimes make decisions that make no sense to us and no sense to them.  He pointed out they,  like toddlers, need strong boundaries and for you to be the parent not their friend.  I am writing this down so I can read it again when my daughter is a teen.  One thing he mentioned only once but struck me as odd, was he stated the days of slumber parties are over.  I totally understand where the thought came from but I am not sure if I agree.  Since Eliana does not go to school we know all of her friends.  We also know all of her friends parents.  I am sure I would feel differently if she was invited to a stranger's house.  He suggested one scenario that I had never thought about. We may know the parents and the child but we do not know the other girls at the slumber party.  We have no idea what their lives are like and what influences they have been exposed to.   He says to protect our children, the era of the slumber party is over.  I would love to hear your thoughts on this.  I am still praying about it and seeing if I agree or disagree with him.

Eliana's take on the Shelbyville Dam

The Dam was made by an Army of Engineers.  The first thing we did was go across a cat walk.  The cat walk was over water.  The cat walk was metal and it was scary.  We went down 102 stairs on a twirly staircase.  We went all the way to the end of the tunnel.  The wall was cold and we could put our ear against it and hear the water.  I thought the dam  was made by a beaver but I learned humans can make dams too.

We also got to see reptiles.  One of the reptiles was a snake.  It was a corn snake.  I thought it ate corn because it is a corn snake.  We also saw turtles.  We got to touch both of the reptiles.  That was fun.  Then it started raining.  Then we went home.

The corn snake

Josiah touching the turtle

Hanging out at the visitors center

Eliana with her friend Emma

Welcome Spring!

Today is officially the first day of Spring. 

Happy Birthday Bryan!

As the rest of the world celebrates St. Patrick's Day today, our house celebrates something else.  32 years ago today my life forever changed.  I became a big sister, a role I still take pretty seriously.  Ask any of my brothers, I am still as bossy as I was when I was five.  Watching Eliana with her brothers is a constant reminder of my childhood.  So today is full of happy memories of dinosaur and baseball parties.  Today is the day  I should be eating green angel food cake with my brother but I am not.  God chose to call him home two years ago.  With Bryan gone I am always trying to think of ways to help my children know who he was.  So today we will have green angel food cake and maybe I'll let the kids have some Mt. Dew (Bryan's favorite drink).  We will tell stories and look at old pictures. 

My kids have heard some stories enough that Eliana tells them like she was there when it happened.  Her favorite is probably that Bryan was a terrible loser.  When we were kids he once threw the Sorry game across the table.  After that Kevin and I refused to play board games with him.  As an adult we all laughed about it.  He did get better the older we got.

Bryan was an aggressive basketball player.  Once at the hangout (the church's youth center) he ripped his ear.  He didn't even care.  Trev and I had to make him go to the ER.  My mom's favorite part of that story is they thought she was Bryan's girlfriend.  I am pretty sure Bryan did not find that funny! 

Bryan had a big heart and loved the Lord.  He spent many of his college years going on mission trips.  The children in Brazil always had a special place in his heart.  Bryan was a man of few words.   My mother says that was my fault.  As a child I never let him talk.  There is some truth to that.

Bryan loved the outdoors.  He loved his family.  Our last  Christmas he spent weeks making Eliana a doll house just because I asked him to.  He spent many summer days fishing at the pond with Eliana.  Those are the things she will always remember most. 

Those are just a few of my memories.  I have 30 years of them!  Even though God chose to call him home much sooner than anyone wanted,  I am thankful for the brother he was and that God let him be a part of my life for the time that he did.  I would love to hear your memories of Bryan.  I would love to be able to tell my children stories that I may not have heard before.  Please leave a comment!

If you are reading this today the 17th, say a special prayer for my parents.  Today is harder on them than they let anyone know! 

Syrup is done

The most difficult part of the process - keeping the fire burning!

We added wood every hour.

This is the sap after it has cooked on the fire.

Final step simmering it down on the stove.

The finished project - canned and ready to store.

Eliana thinks it is the best syrup she has ever had!

Trees Step 2

Time to collect the sap

Almost full bucket of frozen sap

Two buckets  full only 20 more to go!

This afternoon it was a 4 generation job!

Tapping Trees with Grandpa!

This year in school we are studying the Laura Ingalls Wilder series.  Last fall, the books talked about making your own maple syrup.  Eliana really wanted to try it.  She didn't understand why we couldn't do it in the fall.  She informed grandpa that come spring she wanted to learn how to make her own syrup.  Well, my dad didn't forget.  Last week he told her I'll be coming over this week and we will go tap some trees.  One thing my dad has always been really good about was teaching us how to do things.  As a girl, I learned how to change a tire and my oil.  I know how to bait my own hook & take a fish off.  I also know how to make maple syrup.  I'll be honest none of these are things I really enjoy.  But I do like the fact that I can say my dad taught me how to do it.  Trust me, as a teenager I did not enjoy learning how to change a tire.  But now as an adult I am amazed at how many people don't know how to do it.


So here is the beginning process of making syrup.  When we get to the next step,  I'll take some pictures and show you how it goes.

First you have to clean the buckets!

Then you head to the woods and start drilling the trees.

Now you put in the pipe

Time to wrap on the wire to hold the bucket to the tree

Now you wait & let God do his thing.

Thomas Jefferson Report

Thomas  Jefferson and Adams were  friends .  Washington, Adams and  Jefferson  look the same.   The reason they look the same is because they all have white hair and black outfits.  Jefferson had six children.  Four of his children died.  Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.  His wife's name was Martha. 

In Continuation...Choice

  I have to return to an earlier point that was made in my discussion of the situation in the garden with A&E. In reference to God knowing beforehand that A&E would make the choice to sin, I have to throw out a thought here and see if any one can offer me an answer that I find acceptable. (This is not a challenge, but a request.) By the way, thanks for your input on the last post, Cory; I hope you can help me with this one as well.

  A few weeks ago in the midst of a discussion on the fall of man I put together this scenario in my head. To begin, we have to place ourselves pre-creation. God, who we all know exists eternally, was putting together a plan in his head to make a created place called earth and place a man in a garden. I have no idea what he was really doing, but my guess is that he has always been creating and working. I don't have a picture in my mind of him just sitting around waiting for the time when he would create us. Back to the plans that he was putting together in his mind. So God, in his infinite wisdom thinks up the laws of the universe, the rules that make everything work. He comes up with a design for all of the many varieties of life that exist on our planet, and perhaps other planets. Once he has planned it, all he must do is speak and it will be. In the midst of his thinking it out, he already knows how it all will go. He sees the end and the beginning together. He knows exactly what will happen to each and every atom of his design.  He knows his son will be sacrificed to ransom a rebellious race. My question is the question of every two year old that speaks, "Why?" He knew before he made A&E that they would fail and fall based on their disobedient choice. And that fall would resound throughout all of the time of man. All fall short, all sin, all suffer because of it. Who is responsible? We are. I am not trying to shirk responsibility for sin. I choose to sin, A&E chose to sin, all save one have chosen to sin. But who set it all in motion? Could it have been any other way? The first answer resorted to is typically the robot argument. "God didn't want to make us robots, he wanted us to choose to love him." Agreed. We all want someone to choose to love us, not be forced by design or dread. God gave us choice, but why, when he knew what a disaster we were going to make of that gift. If I give my boys a box of tools and turn them loose in the house, I do not know what would happen. I am wise enough to their machinations to realize that they will not use those tools for good, however. For every screw they tightened, there would be two doorknobs or light fixtures missing. They are not mature enough to handle that gift yet. Mankind, in the same way, is not mature enough to handle the gift of choice. Look at the nightmare of human history. Death, destruction, disease, war, famine, enslavement; where does it all begin? In the garden, with man's choice. But pre-garden, God chose to create beings that could choose. Wouldn't a different design have been preferable? I speak as a fool, I know. I am asking questions beyond my ability to comprehend perhaps. It does seem to me, however, that non-existence for man would have been preferable. Or even robotic man, who would have done what God wanted, thereby avoiding the colossal mess of human history. Why was choice so necessary a part of his design that knowing in advance the heartache it would cause, he still chose to do it this way? I have to believe that the final outcome will be so great, so fantastic, so unfathomable, that all will look back and praise him for setting it in motion. What other choice do I have?

Eliana's John Adams Report

John  Adams  was  seckent  president   of  the  USA .  His  frends  name  is  Thomas  Jefferson.  Adams  and Thomas  died  on the  same  day.  Adams  maried  A  woomen   named  Abegil.  The  Adams  family  had  five chilgin  but one died  yun .  Adams  was  the  vise  president for Washington.

February Goals!

If you regularly read our blog you know I (Bethany) have a list of books I am planning on reading this year.  2012 Books to Read  If you read this post you will see I was suppose to read Choreganizers by The Steward Family.  I looked every where for this book used and through inter-library loan.  It was no where to be found.  I finally ordered it from CBD.  Upon arrival I realized why I couldn't find it any where, it is basically a chore chart.  The book has a grand total of 4 written pages.  The rest is a large chart and money to pay your kids with.  I quickly returned it !

So in its place I read a book I got free from Amazon on Trevor's kindle: Have a New Husband by Friday   By Dr. Kevin Leman.  I have read several of Leman's books.  If you have ever had a conversation with me about birth order you know how much I LOVE  his book,  The First Born Advantage.  I will not go into great detail about how I feel about the New Husband by Friday book.  It has been a long time since a book made me so angry that I didn't finish it.   I gave Dr. Leman the benefit of the doubt and finished the book.  I have read a lot of marriage books.  I normally find at least one thing I can work on after reading the book.  This book left me thinking "Dr. Leman is a quack" (which is how Trevor feels about him anyway). 

The second book I read this month was The Art of Simple Food by Alice Water.  I really enjoyed this book.  It was more of a cook book than a reading book.  The entire second half of the book was recipes.  I borrowed this from inter library loan, so I didn't have it long enough to try the recipes.  If you are not a cook this would be a great book to read. She uses simple recipes without a lot of ingredients.  She talks a lot about what we eat and how good, "real" food tastes great!  I think she finally convinced me to stop buying the cheapest Olive Oil and get the expensive, good stuff. 

My other goals for the month:

Kids read aloud book:  We are currently making our way through The Hobbit.



The craft thing I tired this month was a dish towel with velcro on it.  It cost me less than $3 and took me less than 5 minutes.  I bought the self sticking velcro because it was cheaper than the sewing kind.  It has worked great on the stove.  I am not sure what is going to happen when I wash it.

Cleaning/organizing:  I was suppose to wash all the stuff on top of my kitchen cabinets.  I didn't get it all done.  I am hoping to finish it up this weekend.  We will see if that happens.

Marriage:  Trev and I finished The Scarlet Letter.  We went to the city dinner without the kids but I'm not sure I can call it a date.  It is the only time this month we were without the kids.  So I'm pretty sure we failed this month too!

New Recipe:  Molten Lava Cookies
I found this pin on Pinterest.  I made my normal Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I put the dough in regular sized cupcake pans.  I then used Dove Dark Chocolate as a center.  I put another layer on top of the chocolate.  I cooked them for about 25 minutes until they didn't look doughy in the middle any more.  They were super yummy!  They were a little big for the kids.  Next time I will probably do them in mini muffin tins!

DIY: Make my own fabric sheets

The site says it will last 40 washes.  Mine did not last that long.  More like 25 before my clothes started sticking together again.  I let it soak longer the second time I did it.  I'll see if it lasts  longer this time.  It will soon be spring and I won't be using my dryer any more!  In fact this week it was so warm one day, I had 2 loads of laundry on the clothes line!

Out of the Mouth of Eliana

My daughter and I had a great conversation the other night on our ride home from Casey. She asks me some of the best theological questions from time to time and I always love to hear her thoughts on God. It appears that she really thinks about some of the same things that I do, and I am so pleased with the fact that she really tries to understand what it all means. The conversation started with a question about the nature of the relationship between God and Jesus. She asked how they can be the same person while still being separate. We had already discussed the fact that God is a spirit, and that no man has ever seen him. But she was confused about how God, as a spirit, and Jesus as a human could be one and the same. I gave her a five minute answer that will suffice until she has a few days to stew on it, but the stumper in the conversation came as we were getting out of the car at home. She had thrown in a thought about Satan after I gave her the trinity preliminaries, but then she revealed this beauty, "I know Satan works for God, cause if he didn't then God would just get rid of him." If you have ever watched a cartoon in which a character is astounded by something and their jaw drops to the floor, you will have a good picture of how I was feeling. Satan works for God? Where exactly did she come up with that? I chuckled a little bit after I recovered, but needless to say I have been ruminating on that statement for the past few days. Could she have been speaking heresy, or did she hit on something that has a nugget of truth within it. Is Satan a rogue agent wandering about trying    to foul up God's plans, or could it be that he "works for God" as Eliana surmised? This question really fits right in with a debate I have been having with a brother from church. We have been discussing the fall of man in the garden for a few weeks now, and in the process I have found that some of my fundamental understandings on the origin of sin have been challenged.  For instance, in relation to Eliana's proposal about Satan working for God, is it possible that God sent the serpent to test Eve's obedience? He did such a thing to Job. He also informed the Israelites that from time to time HE would send false prophets among the people to test their obedience. And I can't forget the wild story in 1 Kings 22:13-28. Back to Eve; obviously God knew beforehand that Eve would fail the test, as would Adam. If he sent the serpent knowing as he did that man would fail the test, why did he do it? I know the easy answer is that he wanted us to choose to obey him, as opposed to us being robots who simply obey because we were created to do so. But that answer does not take into account the fact that he could have prevented the serpent from tempting while still giving man the choice of obeying or not obeying. He had already laid out the one rule: don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Until the time of temptation, however long that may have been, man had chosen to be obedient. So what changed? Eve was tempted by an outside entity, and she fell. Adam was persuaded by a desire to remain with his wife, and he fell. To be continued...

Seed Update!

The seeds are ordered; here is what will hopefully be growing in our garden this summer:

Beef Steak Tomatoes                                   
Tender Sweet Carrots
Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
Ruby Queen Beets
Blue Lake Beans
Cilantro
Strawberries
Black Beauty Zucchini
Bloomsdale Longstanding Spinach
Snowball Cauliflower
Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes
Yellow Pear Tomatoes
Sweet Bell Peppers
Pickler Cucumbers
Golden Bantam Corn
Country Gentleman Corn
Express Broccoli
Maestro Peas
Red Onions
Red Potatoes

The new things we are going to try to grow this year are sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts.  Our kids love both of these, but we have never  tried growing them.

Eliana picked Moon & Star Watermelon.
Josiah picked a yellow tomato named Tye- dye.
Jeremiah picked Caracas Carrots, which look like a baby carrot.