Anything from cows to church...

Okay. So this post is really strange. You just have to bear with me. It took me awhile to get it ready and now it's old. I wrote it on Feb 15. Enjoy it if you can.

The cow had a calf Jan 14, 2015. Oh wow! Is it 2015 already? For real? Yep! And a month and a half is gone now! What is happening? Slow down life! Oh back to the cow... Now we have plenty of milk. Enough to make some cheese occasionally plus drink all we want. I am not a big milk drinker but Thomas and the boys are.

A lively baby

My family- Daddy & Mama, all my siblings and all but one of the nieces & nephews- got together in TX toward the end of Jan. My three youngest sisters live about an hour south of Dallas and they hosted a family reunion. Rather their landlords and they hosted it. They did a super job of keeping the clan fed and entertained. Never a dull moment.

Parents and children

The brothers

The sisters in age from youngest to oldest

Spouses and grandchildren added (6 missing)

Large amounts of food needed!

We came back home, got settled back into our routine here and worked hard to get ready for a history fair that the school children were putting on. They gave that this past Friday evening. There was a list to pick up, at the beginning of the displays, with the names of the history characters. Then you needed to guess which student depicted which character.

Stephen gathered information on William Boeing since his main-most interest is airplanes.

Stephen

Austin was Henry Ford. He did his best to dress up as Mr Ford but we absolutely couldn't find a knee length suit coat. He forgot to take his dress shirt along to the fair so he just wore his polo shirt. It worked okay.

Austin

Matthew spent many hours gathering information about George Handel and creatively displaying it. I think all his things were hand-written. I spent some time getting his clothes together. We found a ruffly women's shirt at a thrift store, sewed some lace to an overcoat, cut old khaki pants short and tucked them into long socks. We added belt buckles to his dress shoes to complete his outfit. He had part of The Messiah playing behind his board.

Matthew

Melvin took an interest in Benjamin Franklin whose accomplishments were many and varied. He made a little cardboard shelf and stood a Lego man holding a string with a key and a kite attached. Too bad it didn't get into the photo. I had to help him a lot because he struggles to read and write. I would read things to him and then he would dictate to me how he wanted them written up. We also had work to get him out-fitted in colonial style dress. The canes they used were borrowed from their Lapp grandma.

Melvin

Christopher wanted to represent Galileo Galilei. He found his experiments and discoveries fascinating. He read information and took notes but then I had to keep him on task to get it written up and on his board. He loves to play with Microsoft Word so that is how he wrote up his information. We found thrift store clothing to dress him in plus I added a big white collar to his shirt.

Christopher

They all did so well. It was a good exercise in reading and writing as well as history.

Last evening the young people at church and their advisers gave the couples a Valentine supper complete with a little sermonette by Elmer Stoltzfus of Plain City, OH. They did a good job of setting a cozy atmosphere and feeding us an amazing meal. Salad bar, linguine with Alfredo sauce, a choice of chicken cordon blue or ham balls, corn, dinner rolls, punch and cheesecake.

We had an unusual church service this morning. It is so cold right now. Single digits. The furnace quit working and the sanctuary was cold so we moved to the basement and had a service minus Sunday school. The devotional spoke to our need of contentment and the message was about facing the giants in our lives.

Christmas Week

This has been an interesting week! My brother LeRoy with his wife Anna (Ania) and 2 daughters Sarah and Naomi were with us from Saturday night through Tuesday morning. Sarah and Naomi are 21 mo old twins. I am sad that I didn't take any pictures of them while they were here! It was nice reconnecting with LeRoy and Ania and beginning to know the girls who I never saw before in person.

Friday, the 19th we took Matthew to the dentist because he was experiencing such pain in a tooth that we knew had a hole in it. Dentist said, "Abscessed tooth. Needs to be extracted or a root canal done." We didn't want either option. We had some time ago gotten the book Cure Tooth Decay by Ramiel Nagel, because of a friend's recommendation. Well, we got serious about following this book's advice this past week along with following our natural doctor's advice. A whole new venture in cooking that will need a separate post. 

The main thing we need to do right now until the abscess is healed is to avoid all processed sugar, grains, beans, nuts and seeds. Take 1 teaspoon cod liver oil twice a day.

Sunday evening was the annual church Christmas caroling. I think we went into a total of at least 21 homes that evening. We divided into three groups. A snack was served for the church afterward in the church basement. 

That concluded our two year stint on the food committee. I am responsible for one of the food groups at our monthly sisters' sewings and am responsible for the food at some of the picnics that the trustees are responsible for so it feels like I almost never get a break from food assigning. I am wondering if I will know how to act now. It just feels real good to be free from that responsibility. It was one I never desired to have and didn't enjoy it. Just did my duty without feeling any real confidence.

Monday evening we were scheduled to have Bible study at the jail for the women. A freezing rain was forecast-ed so I called it off and was so glad I did as it got pretty icy that evening. I hope the ladies at the jail had some blessing that eve!

Overall we haven't had the bad winter weather that some predicted. Thankfully. It has been really mild the last few days. Yesterday it was 58 degrees! So different from the last two or more winters. Happy me!

Tuesday afternoon the school children did a bit of caroling in the community. I worked on cleaning the upstairs of the church house while they were gone and the boys helped me finish when they returned.

Tuesday morning LeRoy & family headed to my parent's place and we followed Wednesday night, leaving after the evening milking. Christmas Day was spent there with the men working on cutting wood for my parents' outdoor furnace. None of us children live in their community and we usually try to get the wood pile done annually. 

In the evening we enjoyed supper with the Soukup family who live close by. They came to my parents' place. Peter Soukup (17) and our boys got involved in a table game while the adults visited. It was 11:30 until we got to bed that night. 

Friday saw the wood pile completed and a water leak from the furnace fixed. My sister Verina and family came that morning. We left for home in the afternoon and Verina's family took our vacated beds.

Yesterday I spent most of the day running errands. We needed groceries and I also picked up 40 lbs of meat that was butchered for us while we were gone. They saved a nice amount of soup bones for me also, for which I am most grateful. One of the recommendations of the tooth healing diet is bone broth.

Austin was sick with a bad cold yesterday. Most of the boys have colds to some degree. I have been putting sliced onions on their feet at night. Stephen stepped in a thorn that left his foot painful and swollen. He stayed home from church this morning.

We didn't do much school work this week. I was in school myself, researching and cooking for this tooth healing venture. I think I'm getting the hang of it. The boys helped with things that needed to be done in preparation for traveling.

Jesus is coming soon! Quote from the message this morning- "If you are not experiencing glory in your life today there will be no glory for you in the great beyond."

Storytime

This is the book I spoke of in the last post. A down-home type of story that makes you laugh and cry. The main character is a priest who struggles with diabetes, loneliness and a feeling of inadequacy. Many other characters add to life in Mitford and make you feel like you are at home with them. Barnabas comes into his life, is stolen from him and reappears later. Dooley makes him wonder how to deal with young boys whose hearts are full of pain. Then Cynthia moves in next door and he wonders what he is to do with her.

 Almost Home was our first read-aloud this school year. A story of the Pilgrims leaving their homeland, of their voyage and their beginnings in the new land. Written from the life of Mary Chilton, a young girl who wants to know where home really is. She begins life in the new country "alone", her parents having died from the rough voyage and her siblings left behind in Holland. Fictional history that includes actual happenings. It made the things they went through so much more real than just reading the facts in a history book.

 Our second read-aloud was Amos Fortune, Free Man. The story of his capture in Africa, his life as a slave and his life as a free man. This book made the boys angry at the cruelty the blacks faced. Amos, fortunately, was taken into a good home, was taught from the Bible and though treated unfairly he kept a good attitude. He worked to free himself and then bought a wife who soon died. He bought a second wife who also died. His third wife and her daughter outlived him. Of course it took years to save up money every time he wished to buy freedom for one person. I cried a number of times as I read this book.

We are nearing the end of Madeleine Takes Command. The true story of a young girl who with her two young brothers, an old servant and three other men (two who can't be trusted) work to defend their fort in New France against the Iroquois. Both parents are away on a business trip, the Indians attacked suddenly, killing or capturing all the men in the field and woods. The only strategy the few in the fort have is to make lots of noise & keep ceaseless vigil. When help finally arrives six days into the siege the Indians have still not attacked, believing the fort to be well defended, and the little troop is utterly exhausted. A statue of Madeleine de Vercheres can be found in Canada today in honor of her bravery and wisdom.

We now begin reading of what goes on in George Washington's world. Stories of his life and the lives of others who lived at the same time he did; in the U.S. and in other parts of the world. A full report may follow later.

A quote for you today-

Leap, and the net will appear. JOHN BURROUGHS

First week of December

December 1, 2014
I rolled out of bed at 5 am today. The call? It is time to go home! After dressing myself and packing up the rest of our clothes, lunch packing occupied an hour of my time. Apples to clean and cut, ham and cheese sandwiches to prepare, banana bread to slice. A bag of potato chips and leftover raw veggies from last eve completed the fare.

We fed our faces with cold cereals, loaded the vehicles and rolled out at 7:35. Austin and Thomas were the drivers today. I usually try to stay awake for the driver's sake but today I succumbed to sleep for awhile. For maybe half the way I read to Thomas from the first book of the Mitford Series, At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon.

We got to Mom's apartment at 12:35 - exactly 5 hours. We unloaded her vehicle and stuffed ours with boys. And then HOME - blessed home! The day was a balmy 60 degrees. We emptied the van, emptied our suitcases and then relaxed awhile. The younger boys' "relaxation" involved a football. We had a little history time this afternoon but otherwise no book lessons.

Christopher and I planned our menus for Dec. We cook on Monday & Thursday. We had leftover vegetable soup for supper, accompanied by Herbed Onion Focaccia and raw veggies with dip.

I washed a load of shirts and dresses and feel like I am on my way to conquering the laundry.

Now that we are home, another storm is moving in. The forecast is for a wintry mix tonight and tomorrow. Snow, sleet and freezing rain. We will see how that affects things.

My nephew Mervin is here for the night. He and the boys are wanting to try their luck at shooting deer. I would be so very GLAD for some freezer meat! I have no burger in the freezer right now and that is not a happy feeling. I may have to go out there and get some myself yet. Ha.

Exciting news yesterday was the birth of a new niece in Texas! Sister Doris, husband Arnold and daughter Maxie welcome Gwendolyn Regina to their home. She was a hefty 9 1/2 pounds!

Dec 2, 2014
Another gray day. I declare, I don't know when I last saw the sun! Probably on Saturday. The predicted ice and snow turned out to be just all rain, thankfully.

Thomas was at work all day, beginning another phase of renovation in a house he has been working on periodically for a good while now. Soon she (the owner) won't have anything more for him to do . He is replacing carpet with hardwood floors and doing painting. He had Stephen and Austin help him this forenoon to move furniture and tear out carpet.

We did a full day's work of lessons and then worked on regular household things like laundry, cleaning and cooking. The boys filled out the menu calendar (for Dec) with their choices of meals. The lack of burger in the freezer makes it harder to plan meals. It is hard for me to pay grocery store prices when there is so much meat running around in the field. I keep dreaming up ways to raise beef of our own. All the cattle here belong to my sister's family.

Austin and Melvin served us soup (Cheesy Chicken Chowder) and salad for supper. Good food!

This evening I took Melvin out for mother/son time. We went to the Goodwill to see if we could find him some snow pants. We didn't find much but the cashier said she would keep them back for him if some come in. We tried getting a few groceries at Food Lion but had to leave the cart sitting there full of food because the debit card was denied. Ouch! Embarrassing.

I found a game of Probe at Goodwill. It brought back memories of family times when I was growing up. Maybe we can get some happy family times out of this one too. Other finds included small clogs (Crocs) for one of the boys, a few shirts, a couple pairs of pants (always in demand!), a coat and pajama pants for Melvin, and shoes for me. Every time I think everyone is fitted out with pants one boy or another will declare he has no pants without holes to wear. Or they've outgrown everything.

Dec 3, 2014
We actually saw some blue sky and sun later this afternoon! And a big moon tonight. It isn't full moon yet, though. The Geminids - a meteor shower- begins just soon and peaks on the 14th of December. Keep your eyes peeled when the night sky is visible! There can be up to 80 falling stars per hour. The last ones can be seen Dec 18 at the rate of one per hour.

Austin helped Thomas at work today, hauling furniture to the thrift store and loading flooring for the job. They came home mid-afternoon. 

Lots of laundry occupied my non-school hours. Stephen and Matthew cooked up supper, leaving me time to get other things accomplished. They served us macaroni and cheese (made from scratch with real cheddar- for real!), green beans, chunky applesauce and cottage cheese. 

The boys are still hunting (but not full-time). They seem to be learning some things and getting wise to the hunt but so far all deer have escaped their stalking.

We had Bible study/prayer meeting at church this evening. The main thought of the study was concerning choices. We choose to forgive and be happy or we choose to remember the hurts and be miserable. We choose to let someone take our joy or we choose to keep it. We choose to use the talents we have been given or we choose to bury them. We choose to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us and give us spiritual gifts or we refuse to acknowledge Him and we hoe our own row. 

Dec 4, 2014
The sky had color this morning! So beautiful. Now this evening it is snowing. The kind that will probably turn to all rain.

The boys had music classes at school this afternoon. Stephen gives the students scale practice. Mervin came home with them again for more hunting. 

I waged more war on the laundry and did kitchen work. I served Comforting Chicken Casserole, cranberry salad and peas for supper.

Here's my recipe for no-sugar-added cranberry salad.
1 bag of cranberries
1 can of apple/raspberry juice concentrate
1/2 navel orange
5 small apples, peeled and chopped
1 20 oz can pineapple (I used slices and made them into tidbits)
2 packets Knox unflavored gelatin
1 cup water
1/2 cup pecan pieces

Put cranberries, juice concentrate and orange, thinly sliced, into a blender pitcher. Blend it to your desired size. Let it set for an hour. Add apples and pineapple with juice. Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water in a small saucepan and let it set for a few minutes. Heat it just enough to dissolve the gelatin and add it to the salad. Chill until firm. Pecans are optional. Put them in or on the salad or leave them out entirely.

I whipped up some cream (from off our raw milk) added a bit of stevia and lots of vanilla. We scooped that on top of the salad. Yum!! I should have taken a picture of it. You wouldn't want to see it now.

I've been on a search for tickets for my brother Paul's family to fly from Honduras to TX in Jan. Thomas is helping his mom go over her money matters. The boys are "flying"- with the simulator. I think I will go put clean sheets on my bed and climb in. I may read awhile.

Dec 5, 2014
The most significant things today-
P.E. at school for the boys. Chiropractor and shopping for me. Thomas accompanied me to town and we had a couple subs afterward with some time to talk about important issues. 

The sun didn't even shine and it was a great day for ducks!! 

Austin took aim, fired and.... missed! -a deer. Just about we had some meat for the freezer. 

I didn't have the groceries on hand that Austin & Melvin needed for their planned meal so they made cornbread and ate it with peaches and milk.

Dec 6, 2014
Another duck day. Oh the rain!

I ordered tickets this morning for brother Paul's family in Honduras. They will be flying to TX on Jan the 20th, Lord willing. We are all getting excited to be together as a family after years of not all being together.

A few more loads of laundry today and that job will resume on Monday. Thomas ran lots of errands, the boys did dishes, cleaning, bread baking and helping with laundry. Stephen & Matthew made supper- haystacks and baked apples with whipped cream. When the boys cook, it is a tremendous boost to me. I am able to catch up on some other things I don't have time for when I'm cooking.

Austin determinedly sat in the cold rain today, hoping for one more chance to shoot a deer. No such luck. Aww!

Dec 7, 2014
A sick day. But sunny! Had sunshine all day! Makes you almost forget the rainy, dreary, gray days. Notice I said "almost". 

I woke up feeling  like I couldn't get up. When I finally did make it out to the "crazy room" (family room/kitchen in a finished garage) overwhelming waves of nausea hit me. I managed to hold it in but had diarrhea. I got the turkey into the oven for lunch but then crashed. The others went on to church. Late morning I sat on the toilet and held the trash can with the sickness coming out both ends. Misery! Twice that happened and I am weak and hungry tonight. Lying here sucking on crushed ice. 

Everyone left me and went to church for the annual Christmas community singing at church. Lots of friends and neighbors usually come for that and there is a snack afterward. I wasn't able to fix any food but sent a couple jars of pickles and some fruit for a platter if they need it. Mom Lapp said she would make enough so I don't need to make anything. I was a bit worried though because out of the 8 ladies who usually bring a sweet snack only 3 will be there this evening. 

Being head of the food committee I feel like I am majorly slacking my duty this eve. My partner will do well though. After-all she will need to take over in a few weeks. I am looking forward to being free! Will I know what to do with myself? Oh yeah!

Lots of people are traveling. Winston Millers flew to OK rather suddenly because his brother Dwayne is in the lot for ordination there. 

Before the others left this evening one of the cats brought a chipmunk into the breezeway through the pet door. Christopher caught it and put it out in a tree but the dog is just sure it is still in here. She's been running herself ragged trying to find it. Too bad she can't understand what we try to tell her.

Venus

Venus is a hot volcanic planet. Thus the information was recorded on the clouds of a volcano. 

Now are you curious enough to do your own research to find out how long a Venus day is, what it's atmosphere is like and what phases it goes through? 

Quote for today- "Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers." - VOLTAIRE

Fall photos

I just couldn't resist posting these fall pictures. It was such a beautiful fall. These were all shots around our yard. Enjoy!

Orchard on right (fenced)

Dogwood by parking lot

Beside the lane

The boys' "climbing tree" (large one)

Along the edge of yard/woods "Climbing tree" on right

Close-up of trees in photo above

Well I have regressed. Something happened to make me busy I guess.

We are in PA. We came very early Wed morning this past week, trying to beat the storm that was predicted at home. We were grateful to have escaped. Reports from home said close to 2 feet of snow. We are hoping that by the time we get home tomorrow it will have greatly decreased.

Carl & Yvonne Shaum have graciously hosted us in their big house these days. Matthew said today that he thinks he has gained weight with not much exercise and big meals. I can't imagine it would be anything permanent for him. The 3 youngest went out after lunch and played football for awhile so he's probably worked it off already.

We have occupied our time with cooking, games, walks, building a snowman, shopping, sewing, a tour of Wendell August, laundry, going to a church service, puzzles, singing and sharing. It has been a good week and we are ready to go home in the morning.

What will we do when we get there? Get back in the swing of school and housekeeping. The boys dug some potatoes before we left. Some of them (potatoes) are partially frozen and I don't have a good place for storing the others. I will need to can or freeze them to preserve them. There are also apples waiting to be sauced and frozen or canned. I think I have plenty to do!

It's time for soft pretzels and veggies & dip so I will leave this and return at a more convenient date.