In Memoriam

Last week we were shocked and saddened with the news we received. Alex Sutherland, a dear man from our church, passed away suddenly on December 3rd. He was 57 years old.

I didn't know him well. I knew him by reputation from his family and other dear friends. He was a jolly Scotsman through and through and a Godly man who loved the Lord supremely. He would sometimes lead worship, and would regulary read scripture as a call to worship. I loved hearing him read scripture. He did a great job helping me focus and prompting me to worship (and I must mention that he had an adorable Scottish accent, which was so sweet to listen to!! : ) ) His last call to worship, only hours before his death, was very moving to me. He was speaking on the topic of citizenship. To realize how instantaneous citizenship really is. Like he said (speaking of US citizenship ceremonies) . . . "You have a room full of aliens, and then a few words later they are full fledged citizens, with all of the rights, priveledges and responsibilties of a citizen." It is the same thing for those of us who are in Christ. At one point we were aliens, and then in an instant we became citizens of heaven. I remember when he was done talking, thinking, "It's just a shame that we carry on here for so long, as aliens in this world!" Little did I know that Alex would soon experience his heavenly citizenship to its fullest. I can just imagine that sweet accent praising our Lord, never to leave His presence again!

For more on Alex, you can visit www.alexsutherland.com

To read (and contribute to, if so desired) the memorials that have been writtien about Alex you can visit www.alexsutherland.blogspot.com

The "Throw-up Vacuum Cleaner"

Today has been "one of those days" . . . though not in a bad sense, just a busy one. The hardest part of homeschooling to me has been trying to figure out how I'm going to keep my house clean. This week we were able to get ahead a bit in school and today all I had to do was read with Emma and give Ali a math test. So, today has been cleaning day. I decided that I really needed to get into all three bedrooms and do a thorough purge of all unecessary items. I love to throw things away . . . almost to a fault. : )

So, right now it's 2:30 and I'm still wearing my pajamas (I tend to do this on cleaning days). I have finished Meg and Julie's room, and am almost done with Ali and Emma's. They did help me with most of it, but when it comes down to nitty gritty organizing and throwing things away, that's a job that I really need to do on my own. I even steam cleaned Meg and Julie's room . . . hence, my title.

I brought the steam cleaner up from the basement and Meg piped up with, "Oh, you're going to use the throw-up vacuum cleaner?" The reality of the matter is that the only time she sees me use it is when someone has barfed. Any large-area steam cleaning happens once she's in bed. So as I chuckled to myself, I responded with "Yes, I am" and left it at that. Then a few minutes later I called her upstairs . . . she came into the kitchen and very matter-of-factly asked, "Oh . . . did you throw up yet?" This time I laughed out loud and told her that no one was going to throw up (at least not if they know what's good for them). The she looked at me like a was an idiot and asked, "Then why are you using the throw-up vacuum cleaner?" Duh, mom!

Well, I'm off again. More fun stuff to throw away!

Our Budding Author

This week for language arts, Ali had to write a story using the different characters from a book she recently read. They were all animals (i.e. the badger was called Badger, etc . . . ) She did use them all, but she gave them different names. I couldn't help but to laugh and I thought I'd share. Everything is typed exactly as written, with a space separating pages. The illustrations aren't finished yet . . . I may add those later.
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Forist Friends
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By Alison Patton
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Sam the Rabbit was new in the forest. He thought everything was strange. But Amber the badger was watching.
"Why are you so sad." She said
"I don't knoe anyone." He Said.
"Well I am quite lonely. Maybe you could keep me comony. My name is Amber.
"You should meet Andrew." "He is a beaver.
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So Sam and Amber went to see Andrew. When he opened the door he said to Sam. "Who are you". "I am Sam". Said Sam. Princess Patricia doesn't like rabbits even if they're friendly. Uh-oh. Said Amber.
Andrew said. Maybe we could go to the Plum Palace and convence
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her to like rabbits. Maybe said Amber.
But first we need to get everyone else.
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But Prince Patric and Princess Patricia both don't like rabbits. So they got: Police Polly, Anglina the artist, George the Garbige-man and Tofoo the guy who dilivers newspapers.
But soon it was night time and they had acorn stew for dinner.
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They made beds of leaves. When it was morning they made nutmeal for breakfast.
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When they came to Paddle-Pond Amber noticed the acorn slippers.
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She Put them on and wished them to Plum Palace. Soon they were there in front of Princess Patricia.
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She gasped. She yelled "A RABBIT!"
"Patric! Patric!"
"Come now!"
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A rabbit said Prince Patric
"Please alaw him to stay and be nice to him or I'll throw you in Jail Said Police Polly.
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"All right I will." She said "But don't eat my carrots."

Black Friday

Well, we made it through Thanksgiving. It's been a crazy week, and now it's time for us to enjoy Black Friday.
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No shopping for us . . . our family tradition for today is to do our own Thanksgiving dinner, at home with just our family. It's a nice change of pace, and so great to just chill out and enjoy some time together. We can hang out in our jammies all day long if we choose. We also get the house decorated for Christmas. Aaron puts the tree together while I work on dinner, and later we all decorate it together. This year I was way ahead of the game. I had almost all of my side dishes ready and refrigerated. It's really been kind of wierd, because I'm usually on my feet all day long working on dinner and Christmas Tree stuff.

This morning I had nothing to do. Aaron was working on the tree, the girls were all in roomtime . . . so I got to lie down and read for a while. Quite a treat!!

Dinner turned out great! I had plenty of time to clean up as the day went by. We didn't finish getting out all of the Christmas decorations, but it sure was a great day!!

Daddy adding the star before ornaments go up!

We pose this one every year!
(This is the first time I've had all 4 girls in it though!)

I love this one of Jules!! She had a hard time hanging ornaments . . . here it's like she's saying, "Maybe if I just set it here it will stay put!" No such luck . . . sorry baby!

Time for dinner!

World Bird Sanctuary

This past Monday we had quite an adventure. Aaron had stayed home for the day b/c he had a project for his Master's class that he needed to finish up. He was nearly finished so we decided to call the Alligoods and see if they'd like to have an impromptu field trip to the World Bird Sanctuary, since both Dads were home and we were just finishing up a bird unit in science. That all sounded great until Amber mentioned some weird abdominal pain that she was having that had kept her up the night before. Fearing that I was hearing appendicitis symptoms, I suggested that she call her doctor (which she did). He had the same concerns and sent her to the ER. The good news is that the kids are all doing the same stuff for school right now, so we just had a larger than normal homeschool class. After we were done with most of our school stuff, Aaron and I decided to be adventurous and take all seven of them to the Bird Sanctuary anyway.
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(All 7 kids crowded around the chicken who later tried to peck Aubrey in the face - completely freaking her out!!)

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It was a wonderful day for an outdoor field trip. Highs in the 70s, gentle breeze. We looked at a few birds inside, then spent the rest of the time looking at outdoor exhibits. Some of the birds they had were massive . . . it really was shocking to see them in person. It was cute to hear the kids shouting "Look at those sharp talons and his curved beak . . . that's a bird of prey!" They were able to observe some of the bird facts that they've accumulated of the past few weeks and also get out some extra energy.
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(Then, of course, I can't resist the big group shots. Having a super speed camera is wonderful . . . when you can take 20 shots in 5 seconds, you're bound to get one where everyone is looking at the camera!!)
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We ended our trip with lunch for 9 at McDonalds - boy were we a sight! The little ones took good naps, the big kids enjoyed a movie together and I went to the gym! Jason and Amber were home just before dinner (No appendix problems - a hemorrhaging cyst on her ovary. Painful, but not urgent.) and the kids were sad that they didn't get to stay the night!

Recital

Last Sunday we had an early Thanksgiving with the Patton side of the family. Aaron has an aunt and uncle who had to leave to to head back to Brazil the next day (where they are missionaries) so, this was our opportunity to include them in the Thanksgiving festivities. Well, Aaron's mom (who gives Ali piano lessons) decided that Thanksgiving was going to be the day for a recital. She only does lessons for 3 of her grandkids, and therefore has never done recitals of any kind . . . but this was a performance opportunity with a captive audience of 40 people! : ) Ali was the first to play (followed by Blake, then Bekah). She played three songs and did a great job. She has been learning on a cheapy keyboard ever since she started, so actually playing on a real piano was a first for her. Thankfully, she had a bit of practice time before everyone got there. Grandma also talked to her about some "recital etiquette" (i.e. if you mess up, keep going, nobody knows you messed up unless you tell them) She did a great job, and we are very proud of her!

A Pleasant Surprise!

Last Thursday I received a phonecall from an old friend of mine. Anne Long (then Biebel) is an old youth group friend, who now lives in Washington State. The last time we saw each other was 5 years ago. So I was pleasantly surprised when she called yesterday, saying that she was at Clarkson and Manchester (A nearby intersection for those of you who aren't local). She was in town for 72 hours and had about a half an hour to kill, so she was able to swing by.
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It was such a treat to be able to see her and her girls . . . She has 3 - Alli - 9, Emma - 6, and Lily - 3 . . . She also has great taste in names. Alli wasn't able to make it, but the other girls had a blast together. We were able to sit and chat - it was like being in highschool again (except for the 6 girls in the other room : ) )

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Fun on the swingset

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Quite a crew!!

(L-R Meg, Ali P., Emma P., Emma L., Lily and Julie)

Merry Christmas to Me!

My sweet husband recently surprised me with the early knowledge of my Christmas present. Fearing that he couldn't keep such a big purchase a secret, he let me in on it. It just arrived via UPS this afternoon and I am now the proud owner of a Canon Digital Rebel XTi! Needless to say, I'm shocked and thrilled. Aaron has never dropped such a big surprise, and I'm touched : )

The Rebel has been a kind of pipe dream for me for a little while now - I actually used one that a friend of mine had . . . until then I didn't know what I was missing out on! Unfortunately, my current camera was still quite new, so I never would have dreamed of actually asking for it. Now I'm excited to be able to bestow my "old" camera on some missionary friends who are headed to Africa. Certainly it will be put to good use.

So, now I'm enjoying fiddling with my new toy and taking pictures of everything in sight! It's amazing how fun a picture of your entertainment center can be when you have a new camera!! : ) Many more pictures to come . . .

Owl Barf

Yes, I know it sounds appetizing, but this was the story of my afternoon.

Right now we are doing a chapter in science on bird diets. As a hands on activity they had us dissecting owl pellets . . . which, yes . . . is owl vomit. All of that yummy stuff that their bodies can't digest . . . they cough it back up. The really sad part is that we pay for it and let our kids pick it apart. : ) The Alligoods joined us for this activity (they are using the same science curriculum) - Amber said that I had to be in charge b/c she refused to touch it.

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I expected Ali and Karis to be the squeamish ones - I was wrong. Here we have Ali and Jonah proudly displaying the rodent skulls they dug up! . . . We'll have to display this one at their wedding!

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Amber ended up participating - but only with gloves on : ) Karis was actually willing to dive right in!

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Emma was the last of the 4 to actually touch the stuff with her fingers. She tried her hardest to pick it apart with a plastic fork and knife - but she eventually gave in. She was actually the last one to stop, and that was after I told her that her time was up.

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And here we have a sample of our findings. The pellets did come with a bone sorting chart, and in the end, we were pretty sure that Karis had a mole and the rest of them had rodents of some sort. They were all very proud of their findings and I still have rodent bones sitting on my counter!

Life . . .

We are now settling in to "life" - trying to get back to normal. We are all so routine dependent, and when that is disturbed, we pay for it! : ) I really have a love/hate relationship with holidays . . . I love all of the fun that comes along with them and the family traditions, etc . . . but I hate trying to recover. Thankfully, we are done with Halloween. But as I look at the calendar, Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away (So early this year!!), and after that, we are thrust into Christmas. I remember the days when Christmas took forever to get here . . . and now here I am in the beginning of November, bracing myself to deal with it. Sigh . . .

Really, "recovery" is going well. We jumped back into our normal routine with school this week (last week was one of "those weeks" - the kind that I was afraid of back before I started homeschooling.) but now we're back.

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Ali's new thing in her day is handbell practice. She and Emma are both going to be a part of a Christmas handbell choir at church. Emma is just doing chords (which requires no practice), but Ali is part of the melody. She was chosen for this b/c she is one of the older kids in the group and she can "read music." When I say "read music," I mean that she recognizes a quarter note, half note, etc . . . The poor child has very little sense of rhythm. Counting appropriately and clapping her part was a major undertaking for her . . . but I have to admit, she's getting there. Rather than clapping (which, strangely, tends to slow her down) I just have her play her note on the piano. She is very proud of herself, and ought to be. So many things in her life come easy to her (math and music would be the 2 exceptions!) and aside from learning her part, she is learning the life lesson of diligently working at something that is difficult.

Emma is quickly becoming a little bookworm. When she finished her reading lessons, it was like light came on and it all in the sudden dawned on her that she could read . . . funny, b/c she's been reading (at varying levels) for a long time now. For school she is reading a Pathway Reader. It's a hardback reader with chapters . . . she just beams as she talks about "the chapter book" she's reading. She knows that Ali reads chapter books and her goal in life is to be just like Ali. I have also been purposeful in noticing Emma's strengths here lately. She tends to be my . . . how should I say it . . . "Intense" child. That can be quite frustrating on a regular basis. So I decided to pay more attention to her strengths . . . they all have strengths and weaknesses, right? Well, I have been greatly encouraged as I have watched her. I have noticed amazing compassion and care for others and a willingness to stand up for what is right. We're still working on some problem areas (as we are with all of the girls) but it's been great to see this in Emma.

Megan is in the middle of "Spankfest 2007." Do I really need to say more? We're getting there . . . : ) Really, Meg tends to be a rather emotional child . . . which means that it doesn't take much for her to burst into flames. So, we're working on some major self-control issues with her. But, the upside is that she is mostly an abundantly sweet and happy child . . . she really is hilarious. She loves to laugh, whether she gets the joke or not, and is the source of constant conversation.

Right now, I think that Julie must be learning French (or some other language that I don't speak : ) ) She is at a point right now where her speach is changing a lot, which is really very adorable. Some words are sounding more like they are supposed to (i.e. Miss Sherry (neighbor across the street) use to be "sassy" now she's "she-wee" or Grandma used to be "ma ma" and is now "me ma") but much of what she's saying I am not understanding. Even simple things like "drink" or "more please" . . . I find her repeating herself a lot with a tone in her voice that is saying "What's wrong with you lady, don't you understand English?" Strangely, Megan has been quite helpful in translating this new language. No doubt I will catch up on her new language just in time for it to change again! Julie is also quite a "laugher" if that's even a word. . . she almost makes a sport of it. She does what we affectionately call her "serial killer laugh." It's a hilarious, but also pretty creepy laugh that is really throaty. You can often find Julie hopping around the house like a kangaroo and laughing like a crazy person. :)

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So here I am looking at my wacky kids . . . they really are a riot. I have been very challenged with regard to my parenting here lately. I have been reading what Tim Daniels has been posting on his blog about Elizabeth as she walks through this horrible experience with cancer. I have been humbled. I look at my sweet girls and think about the everyday fun as well as the challenges . . . then I'm reminded not to lose sight of our long term goals. I wonder . . . "if my 13 year old were having to walk through something like that, could she do it righteously?" (or, for that matter, could I do it righteously?) Would she have the self-control to deal with all of the things she doesn't want to deal with? Have we laid a foundation such that she would trust her mom and dad as we make decisions regarding her care, or would she butt against that, thinking that she knows everything? It's been a good reminder to not become burdened by my daily tasks, but to see them as part of the whole . . . to remember why I'm doing what I'm doing.

Halloween Fun

Well, last night we did the "real thing," turtlenecks and all. Poor Emma came down with a cold yesterday and just as we were getting ready to trick-or-treat, I noticed that she had a fever. Oh well, the show must go on. Thankfully, she was feeling fine (by her own confession) even if she did look horrible. They all had a fun night. Everyone recognized Dorothy and Belle. Elizabeth, not so much, though many called her a colonial girl (not knowing her name). Little Julie (who was a sheep) was consistently referred to as a bunny . . . an idea that was probably helped along by the fact that she hops everywhere she goes. Jonah, Karis and Aubrey (dressed as a knight and two faeries) joined us, as usual. We also enjoyed a bit of a Halloween party across the street in Miss Sherry's garage, complete with hotdogs, donuts, chips and juice pouches . . . and they wonder why I woudn't let them have any candy!?

Here they all are trick-or-treating at Mrs. Bedo's house - What a crew! (And who's that handsome fella with all those kids?)

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Here we have Ali and her future husband! (wishful thinking on the mommies' parts, I know!) : ) Hopefully once they're older she won't stand almost a full head taller than him!

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And here we have all seven with "Maw Maw." This is Miss Sherry's mom, who lives with her. Last year for Christmas we gave her a framed copy of last year's Halloween picture . . . so now for the past 3 months she's been talking about wanting to take another one this year. : )

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Then finally we have the whole group, newly costumed. Really, are they darling, or what?

Join Me In Prayer

Please check out the new Blog I have just started. It's the Daniels Family Update, and for those of you who are interested, you can catch up on how things are going with Elizabeth and her family as they walk through their battle with cancer.

Happy Halloween!

Yes, it's a bit early, I know. But last year we started a tradition of doing 2 Halloweens! All of our family lives locally, and everyone wants to see the kids (and for that matter, we like to show them off!) Starting with Ali's first Halloween we have always made the rounds to Aaron's Grandma, then his parents, then my parents. As the kids got older (and there were more of them!) we realized this had to stop. We were spending all evening in the van. So we decided that we would do an early Halloween each year. We dress the kids up and make the rounds the weekend before Halloween and then just spend the 31st trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. It seems to be a really great arrangement . . . the kids get to dress up twice and I get pictures early. They also get to dress up without turtle necks, coats, etc . . . when they go to grandma's house b/c they aren't outside much.

Well, here they are . . .

Yes, Ali was Dorothy this year. She was especially excited to wear short sleeves and socks to Grandma's house . . . on Halloween she'll be wearing tights and a turtleneck . . . she knows it's necessary (she's ALWAYS cold!) but still feels that it isn't really authentic.

Emma was Elizabeth. (Elizabeth is her American Girl doll for those of you that are out of the loop there. Revolutionary war period, daughter of a Loyalist, friend to Felicity) Yes, this is the dress I made her for her birthday . . . so nice to be able to use it for Halloween!

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Meg was Belle (from Beauty and the Beast - ironically a movie that she has never seen!) This was just an old one from the dress up box, but she thinks it's wonderful b/c she got to be a princess.

And this costume wins the award for being used the most, having been worn by Emma, Meg and Julie. I made this little sheep when Emma was one. Ali was Little Bo Peep and Emma was the sheep. I sold the Bo Peep dress at Once Upon a Child several years ago, figuring I would never be able to use it again. They wouldn't take the sheep b/c it had a tiny hole in it. This year I really mourned the loss of that dress . . . Meg and Julie would have been adorable as a set. None the less, Julie made an sweet little sheep . . . and what's really great is that it's a warm and cozy costume!

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And finally, we have all four girls together! They are quite a bunch!

In the Depths of Despair . . .

Many of you know of my friendship with the Daniels family. Tim was my youth pastor when I was in high school and he and his wife were like second parents to me. So much of what I am today is because of their involvement in my life. They have 4 children, all of whom I babysat. They called me Miss Andrea : ) Elizabeth was the flower girl in our wedding. They moved to Washington state about 6 years ago.

Please excuse my dramatic Anne of Green Gables title . . . my despair is sincere.

We just found out that their daughter, Elizabeth (age 13) has a rare malignant tumor below her eye. It is at either stage B or C (they are still investigating that) and more testing is being done. Because the tumor is so rare, the doctors aren't even sure how to proceed (radiation, surgery, etc . . . )

Please be praying for this dear family. Pray for wisdom and peace for them as they proceed. Also for wisdom for the doctors who will be treating her.

I've been in a sort of stunned silence all afternoon. There are so many different parts of me that want to scream and cry. As a friend I want to hug Tim and Deb and make it all better. The wife in me just wants to cuddle up with my husband and cry. As a mom I feel freaked out - first of all thinking about how their daughter has such a rough road ahead. How are siblings going to deal with the reality of what is happening (and what could happen?) And secondly, I think of my sweet girls . . . I can't even go there. Then the taskmaster in me wants to freak out over details! They live on an island . . . which means the time and expense of ferry rides back and forth, still having to take care of 3 other children (ages 8, 10, and 14) and then the mundane things . . . dinner, laundry, etc . . . That's hard to deal with when everyone is healthy.

So yes, my brain feels overloaded and my emotions feel raw . . . I'm not used to this . . . I'm usually pretty thick skinned and even keeled.

Then come the questions and protests. If only I were two and could throw myself on the floor screaming "it's not fair!" There have been a couple of times today that I've been doing that on the inside. How is it fair that horrible people can live long healthy lives, yet this sweet little girl has to deal with something like this? Yet, I know that my protest is out of line. I know the character of my creator. I rest in the fact that this is all within the realm of His sovereignty. It's no accident . . . many would like to say it is . . . that it would be cruel to think that an all powerful and all knowing God could allow something like this. It may seem that way, but we don't see the big picture . . . He does. He saw the big picture when He sent His Son to be tortured on the cross. Cruel? Heartless? No. Salvation. "For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever belives in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Here I find my resting place and choose to be thankful that He sees the big picture.

Another One Bites the Dust

Well, our crazy little tooth puller managed to yank another one out this evening! So sad . . .