Life is happening.

Well to say my blog has been neglected recently would be a bit of understatement.

 

So what have we been up to?  Well.

 

Working, actually.  Jason started a new job at the beginning of September that allows us to be with him a lot of the time.  And we help him with his job.  He is the caretaker of our local arena.  A couple of years ago the rink burnt, but we have a new one now, and Jason takes care of it. :)  So almost every morning the whole family treks the couple of blocks.  We let the little ones run around, play and stay out of trouble.  The big ones help – checking trash cans, recycling, toilet paper, soap, even scrubbing toilets (although the novelty of that wore off way too quickly in my opinion).  It takes us a couple of hours.  Then it’s home again for lunch.  Mid-afternoon Jason (and sometimes one of the older kids) go back to the rink, for the evening practices and activities.

 

Sit-down school work is not a high priority, but just the other night (9:30PM) three of the kids pulled out their math books to do a few pages.  I wanted to go to bed, but who am I do deny learning.  Sleep can happen later.  So we did math.  (As soon as interested waned the slightest, I had them head to bed.)

 

Our discussions are interesting.  On top of learning about bodily functions (cleaning toilets….), the girls are listening to the Little House series on CD at night while they are going to sleep.  We are hearing all about the adventures of Laura and Mary and Baby Carrie.  We get to listen to the songs their daddy sings to them.  We talk about the construction and the husbandry.  We talk about death and sickness.  We talk about how life was different in 1880 versus now.  Lighting is another topic that has come up – kerosene versus electricity.

 

Our cats disappeared this spring, very early in the spring.  We suspected they were long gone (DEAD).  And the children mourned a little.  I rejoiced a tad.  However, one afternoon, Franklin appeared.  Jason figures he got into a truck or something to get warm and ended up miles and miles away.  Will a cat find its way home??  Apparently Franklin did, from wherever he ended up.  He has been outside once, maybe twice, since his return.  He is now Cora’s indoor cat.  She has taken the litter cleaning and such as her responsibility.  She doesn’t want him disappearing again; if she has her way, Franklin won’t be leaving the house again!  Should we start hoping that Tweety will return as well?

 

We have our second round of chicken pox.  When Wyatt was born, the oldest three girls had chicken pox then.  Rayna has a pretty intense case.  She has been MISERABLE this week!  Matty has about 10 or so spots, and is less cranky.  I thought I saw some spots on Wyatt but they’ve disappeared, without developing as chicken pox develop, so I’m not sure what to think about that.  The older girls are perturbed because they can’t go anywhere or have anyone over until we are through this.  There is never a good time to get chicken pox, but I’m just glad we have this stage of life over with now, rather than later.

 

I love the fall.  Although I’m not terribly fond of having to dress 6 kids for outdoor play in the winter, I do love the holidays the fall and winter bring.  We have three birthdays in October.  Thanksgiving and Halloween.  And Christmas.  While we continue to celebrate the “regular” holidays, I am continuing to study and learn about the Biblical holidays found in the Torah or Old Testament.  It’s a long process because it’s so different than how J or I were raised, but so exciting because they are holidays we are commanded to celebrate in the Bible.  I often wonder why or how we got away from celebrating and fasting as God directed His people to do.

 

I am without a vehicle, again.  My bus has been causing problems, even to the point of DYING DEAD while on a test drive.  And the people were SUPER interested in purchasing it too!  I was not impressed.  Jason is still working on finding the problem.  He’s closer, one $300 part closer.  UGH!  I hope that I have a vehicle by the time the snow flies.  I suspect that we will keep the bus at least through this winter, but I could be wrong on that.  We are very indecisive when it comes to selling or keeping the bus.

 

So that’s my craziness in an elongated nutshell.

 

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,