For those who may not have gotten our Christmas letter this year, I provide it now :) Merry Christmas to all!
(by the way, Tim is the author of our annual letter)

December 18, 2006

Perhaps it would have been wise to include a tardy slip from the principals office with this years Christmas letter. I suppose it would be just as appropriate to write a theme paper on the topic of tardiness, as it seems the arrival of annual inspiration for this letter is somewhat later than usual. Today is rather wet and brown and very Monday; hardly an inspiration of Christmas joy. But, the good news in all of this regularness and plainness is that Christmas is a simple celebration of a birthday. Feelings are nice, sentiments often enjoyable, but the fact of the matter is that God Himself became a little baby and was born into our world with all of its everyday brownness. Majesty reaching into Monday mud; a cheerful thought indeed.

This year is marked by a number of contrasts: ending of life and beginning of life. On December 25 of last year Dad called to let me know Mom was in the hospital with pneumonia. Thirty days later on January 25 we laid Mom to rest at the end of her earthly journey. Her body was simply rendered unusable by the feisty spirit it contained. The cancer in her lungs made life here too un-life-like. Among her last words to me a week or so before her passing were “…my Jesus will see me through this…”. Clearly, He did. Trivial words to some perhaps, but eternal treasures to me, her youngest son, now overlooking age forty. I am glad Jesus makes it possible for me to say “See ya later Mom.” As you read this, please have the wisdom and courage to own Christ as the one “…to save His people from their sins.”

This local branch of Bergeron Inc. received child five into the fold on March 2 of this year. Quinton Thaddaeus Bergeron (“Fifth Courageous Shepherd” or “you need guts to have five nowadays”) came from nearly the same mold as Jot and Emma; blond hair, blue eyes and of considerable size. He crawls now and shows a clear preference for real food over that yucky baby stuff. Hannah walked on her first birthday and Quin may just do the same. The lad is healthy and fits in with the rest of the crew pretty well. We plan to keep him.

Faith passed the four year mark about a month ago. Her vocabulary is on the way to catching up with her zeal for life. Dresses and tights and hair pulled up “like bear ears” identify this smaller version of Hannah. Brown eyes add to the attitude don’t they? Faith is likely the most independent of the lot. She will disappear for hours on end simply to play with her ponies or Barbies. Never short on opinion or the eyebrow action to back it up, Faith will be one to stand on her own regardless of what you think of her. (Rental contracts for Faith are available on the family website. Reduced rates for ’07.)

Emma continues to live out her middle name ‘Joy’ most of the time. She is in constant transition between Faith and Jot (typical for a middle child?). The teams switch back and forth regularly, but it is unlikely her allegiance to Jot will ever be truly swayed very far. Jot was away from home recently for a few days and Emma spent most of the time worrying over him. “Will he get enough to eat? Does he have his pillow and blanket?” I guess if neither of them finds good matches for marriage they will have each other. They certainly squabble like old married people now, so they have plenty of practice and would do just fine it seems to me. Emma is facing birthday seven in Mid-March and carries herself pretty well for being six-almost-seven.

Everyone needs a Jot. We have one and I can’t imagine life without this nearly-ten-year-old. He is still devoted to the essentials of life and shows no signs of wavering. Cereal, toast, Buzz Lightyear, Rescue Heroes, Sunday School and evening Bible stories are the life sustainers for the second of five in our home. He is tender hearted and mostly gentle (unless he can get his hands on sticks from the woods). He is reading like a champ and does pretty well during the school day in our home. Medical issues are still a part of life for Jot and consequently the rest of us. It is about time to revisit some of the issues with his left eye area now that nearly nine years have passed since his initial big surgery. No major concerns at the moment, but it’s time to have a look again to see how he is doing.

Still commanding the position of eldest is the tall and slender Hannah. She is growing into quite the responsible young lady as she rounds the corner to age thirteen in early February. Hannah is occasionally left in charge of the others while Mom & Dad get a few minutes out of the house. Quilting, baking, making, inventing and the like are still a big part of Hannah’s favorite activities. She also has opportunity to hang out with some folks her age a few times each month in Philly at the Junior High activities at church. She seems to like those quite a bit. Occasional part-time work for a lady in the Pocono church puts a few dollars in her pocket. She is a terrific help to everyone and a good kid all around. The little ones in the church nursery like her as do the adults she helps each month. She is coming along in her school work and learning how to learn here in the Bergeron home school. Seventh grade is just about half-way over at this point.

The entire family still functions best on regular routines. School happens during the week at the kitchen table. Jen has everything organized and running pretty well. In spite of our best efforts, there always seems to be something out of the ordinary happening that keeps us all on our toes. Church, school, chores and the like fill our week and keep us grounded in reality. This season of life sees a lot of the same stuff each week. We have made some excursions here and there. A visit to Ohio over the summer was full of sitting around, crafting, quilting and coloring. The heat kept us indoors nearly the entire time. It was good to simply spend time with people. We have hopes of a trip or two in 2007 but those details have to wait until next year’s letter.

Anniversary seventeen was the marker for Tim and Jen this year. The Lord has been gracious and has allowed us to grow and learn together for these years. We are approaching the 20th year of knowing one another. Married life is terrific and gets better with each passing year. We are learning from past mistakes and hopefully gaining wisdom as we move forward. Date nights are a regular part of our week and are often just a few hours of togetherness with a book or a game after the gaggle is in bed for the night. In fact, tonight we may actually go out somewhere and leave Sgt. Hannah in charge.

As I close the annual epistle, I hear little feet thumping, the dryer running and the rhythmic sounds of math and phonics lessons upstairs. This is the good life, carefully hidden directly in front of us. There is belonging, purpose and plenty to do. All of that goodness is granted to us by our Maker. Please set aside a little bit of time today as you read this fine piece of literature and assess what is happening around you. Are you pleased with how your life is going right now? Are you ready for eternity? The contrasts of life have faced us this year and by the grace of God we have grown in the midst of it all. Our prayer for you is for the free operation of God’s loving-kindness and mercy to overflow into each area of your life. May God richly bless you in the upcoming year.

With love and fond affection,

The Bergeron Family

The Nativity Story and Jot Update

Tim wrote:
Dear Friends,

Thanks so very much for covering our family in prayer. We deeply appreciate your efforts and concerns.

Jot and I saw several doctors earlier today with good result. In a nutshell, the bleeding Jot experienced in his eye was explained pretty easily. His long standing condition (venous lymphatic malformation) can occasionally cause blood to spread to various neighboring tissues around his body. This time the blood presented itself in the layers of the left eye. A little bit of blood is released and then compressed between the clear covering of the eye and the white portion of the eye. A small amount of blood looks terrible but will be reabsorbed by the body over time. There is no immediate danger or concern with this issue. Watch and wait is our current mode.

The MRI results were reviewed today. The optic nerve is supported and surrounded by the proper type of tissues and does not appear to be compressed at all. That is just about the best we could have hoped for in this case. Jot may experience some more bleeding episodes from time to time, but they are not a very, very serious concern presently. This may change over the next few months as we watch and wait. An additional MRI is tentatively planned for sometime in a few months.

For now, Jot is permitted to ride most of the fun stuff at Disney World with the exception of really intense stuff like super big roller coasters and Mission Space.

Again, please accept our most sincere thanks for your prayers and concerns over the last week or so. It is a privilege to be a part of the body of Christ and receive His love through your lives.

Tim and Jen Bergeron

Now about The Nativity Story ...wow! I really enjoyed this movie. Tim and I went and saw it (at the ONLY showtime) last night. One review I read said it focused too much on Mary??? Umm, how can the story of Jesus' birth NOT include a lot about Mary? In truth, there was only one small thing that could have been criticized and that is that they had the wise men at the stable at the time of the birth, which is sort of inaccurate. But you know what? to show the family waiting a few years for the wise men to appear would have made the movie really long! Honesty, to me it wasn't a big thing at all, it made it a nice picture ending and didn't distract from the main point of the story in my opinion. I thought the casting was super and really liked the characters a lot. For one thing, they were actually Israeli-looking...not a blonde in the bunch (contrary to many pictures we see of Jesus and Mary!) My favorite parts I think were Mary and Joseph's conversations on their travels to Bethlehem. In one, Mary asked Joseph to tell her about his dream. Joseph details that the angel told him to not be afraid and that the child was conceived of the Holy Spirit, etc. Mary then asks Joseph, "So are you afraid?" to which he replies "Yes, are you?". She says, "Yes." It was so realistic. I think they did a great job of showing how real these people were... the relationship of Mary and her parents....their response to their pregnant daughter. Lots of neat details that I was pleased to see. I was as touched by this movie as I was by The Passion, really. I think mostly because of the fearfulness and almost despair Mary seemed to feel at times. I could relate. The pains she felt at disappointing people and not being understood. We all can see ourselves in that. And even Joseph and his doubts. At one point he wonders aloud, "Will I be able to teach him anything?" Human emotions... from real human beings walking in faith. I think we too often think Mary went through her life skipping for joy that she was called to this enormous responsibility, when I believe more often she was unsure, confused and feeling alone. Anyhow, for what it's worth, I give it a thumbs up. I think it is one to have in our DVD collection of Christmas movies. Go see it :) I wouldn't recommend it for young children though. Herod's orders to kill all the young boys of Bethlehem is pretty powerful as is Rome's treatment of the Israelites. There are also some images of crucified people and violence.

A Visit to CHOP

I'm recovering from the week. I haven't really felt too great all week, but managed through. Jot's eye has been giving him trouble and Tim took him to the ER at CHOP Thursday morning. Most of you reading this probably got updates on all that... but in a nutshell: they admitted him for testing, he had a CT scan and an MRI and was released late on Friday. Essentially, there is concern, but nothing critically urgent, so he will see his specialists on Tuesday morning. I drove all the kids down to Philly last night to drop off Hannah and pick up Jot. Hannah and Tim had planned to spend the night in Philly so he could work and she could attend the junior high gym night last night and the Salvation Army innercity outreach this morning... so I took her down and Tim stayed too. It was a lot of driving last night. I didn't sleep too great but we're doing OK. I'm looking forward to having everyone home tonight.

All the medical stuff has pushed our Christmas cards off again. I had hoped to have them out last week, but Tim hasn't had time to write our letter and I haven't made time to sit down and get the things addressed. Some are nearly done now as I worked some this morning on them and Tim said he'd do the letter tomorrow, so hopefully all will go out on Monday. I still have gifts to mail as well. Oh well, it'll get done eventually.

It has been unseasonably warm here and it is starting to be depressing :) It has been in the 60s and for December in the mountains that just isn't right! I'm ready for cold weather and snow. We've usually had a big snowfall by now. Maybe next week?

I've been hit.

Well it was bound to happen. I've been hit with the sickness invading our home. My throat aches and I feel run down. The run down part might be lack of sleep, but the sore throat seems to indicate illness :( I don't feel totally out of it yet and am praying I pull through quickly, but if not, at least I've got my Christmas shopping done :)
Today the ladies from our church were invited to a Christmas Tea in Pottstown with the Calvary Chapel down there. It was a wonderful event: the food was amazingly good, Jean McClure wonderful as always and worship was beautiful. It was a nice day out even if I am feeling sick now. I had some good conversation on the drive and though we did get lost on the way down, weren't so late to have missed too much.
Nothing much more to say really. I just felt like writing a bit.

Oh I nearly forgot... Quin's latest weight from the doctor is 24 pounds. I really thought he weighed more than that but evidently not!

Wow, I have fallen in with those who forget to blog :)
Life has been busy lately. Most of the kids have been sick and we've been working on the house again. You know... normal stuff for us.

First we had Faith's fourth birthday. It's hard to believe she is four already. She is just a hoot to listen to. She comes up with the most profound and hilarious comments. "Dad, we could kill a rooster and put it on the roof to see which way the wind blows". And just today, as she scurries to her room... "you'll have to excuse me, I have important business to return to". Love her.
This picture is her with "bear ears". It began with Mulan II. One of the princesses has her hair in these little ponytail bun things and Hannah showed Faith how cute they look on her. And don't they? Faith now calls them bear ears and requests them quite often. The grin is just too much too. What a beauty! The dress she is wearing is actually a hand-me-down from her cousin Megan. It has been featured prominently in many photos over the years!

Our little man is now crawling and so enjoying his new freedom. For a time, he hated to sit and would purposely just fall over so he could crawl. Poor thing had bruises for days! Well now he is quite happy to sit and crawl and even beginning to pull up. Tim dubbed him "touch-it" as his little hands have to feel everything. It's a good thing he is so stinking cute, because he started waking up in the middle of the night again and it is driving us nuts!

He eats and eats and eats... just like Jot at that age. Loves mom's chicken and noodles and pretty much anything else we are eating. Baby food is quickly becoming a thing of the past. He chews his food and is eating table food way earlier than I remember any of the others doing. He has six teeth at this point, the two center ones and one upper and one lower both on his left. The sort of lopsided grin is too much.

Our tree is up and all of my gift buying is complete. It is a great feeling of satisfaction. Nothing bought on credit and everything within our budgeted plan... what a feeling of freedom and power. I've made one batch of peanut brittle but nothing else at this point. The sick kids and housework has invaded my holdiay baking. I might get some more stuff done this weekend, but I'm not stressing about it. Lord knows my body doesn't need any extra calories.

The kids may very well forget that Christmas is even coming this year, because after the new year, we are all going to Disneyworld. They are beyond thrilled. Mom and Ron are giving us the trip as a gift and joining us for nearly a week. We leave on Jot's birthday (he'll just be unglued I'm sure) and return the following Saturday. Reservations and plans are made... and certainly a good time will be had by all. I'm sure I'll have pleanty to share!

Here is Hannah and some of the apples we picked a couple of weekends ago. Yes, it has been awhile since I've posted :) Jeanne, Nancy, Hannah and I went to the orchard near us and picked apples. It was a cold morning, but thankfully it doesn't take long to pick apples. Hannah and I got over 100 pounds in less than an hour. You read that right, one hundred pounds. And yes, it is a lot of apples, but they are nearly all gone now. I have a freezer full of sauce, some cut for pies and frozen, some was made into apple crisp and we even ate a few as they are (and with caramel dip... yum.)

It has been a busy few weeks here. School always keeps us busy, but there has also been a lot of extra stuff going on. Nothing earth-shattering, but just stuff of life. I had a dentist appointment, Tim had a men's retreat, there were a couple of Ladies Book studies, a visit from the Swansens.... just stuff that keeps me going.

It has definately cooled off here. We have had a couple episodes of flurries, but nothing has stuck yet. It is a wonderful time of year in my opinion. I love wearing my bulky sweaters and my boots. I love the smell of Joe and Joanne's wood stove (across the street neighbors). The leaves are always pretty too. We had a lot of wind over the weekend, so nearly all the leaves are down at this point, but they were nice while they lasted.

Hannah enjoyed her first Junior High event with the Philadelphia youth group last Saturday. They went to a camp in New Jersey for a really cool event. She saw kids that she hasn't seen since we moved, so of course that was a joy for her (and them). We prayed about ways of getting her involved with some kids her own age since the church here just doesn't have much for youth. While looking at Philly's website I came across the dates for the Junior High winter retreat. We thought sending her on that for her birthday might be a fun surprise (it is the weekend after her birthday in February). After emailing Gil (the youth pastor) he also suggested the monthly Bible Study group and the occasional activity (like Saturday). So we are giving it a try. The retreat will be a surprise, but just going to the studies and these events has been a thrill for her I think. She has kept in touch writing letters and talking ont he phone, but actually hanging out with friends will be even better. I spent the time scrapping with Dorothy, so it was fun for me too.

And finally, we have Mr. Quin. He is up and rocking, but as of yet, not going forward. He managed to get himself under just about everything, but still goes backwards. He is quite frustrated by it and for some reason seems to think he needs to put his head down and his arms up in the air. He may do a flip-flop before really crawling.

Interesting Article

Cal Thomas' article today was brought to my attention... here it is in part:

As one who watches some - but less and less - TV, I observe a growing acceptance and promotion of violence in network "entertainment" programs.
The "CSI" series, which enjoys high ratings on CBS, as well as other crime shows on other networks, depicts graphic violence, blood and smashed brains. In an apparent effort to capture the necrophilia demographic, autopsies present naked bodies for the medical examiner (and the camera) to go over. In fact, murders appear to be rivaling situation comedies in the competition for our attention. One is banal, the other brutal. Local TV news is drenched in crime and blood.
Roberts did not have a profile that might have caused merchants who sold him the weapons and ammunition, or the police, to become suspicious. He had no criminal record, no documented history of mental illness and police say he methodically purchased his weapons and ammunition at local stores over a period of time, so as not to draw attention.
The 2006 school year is barely a month old and already there have been three fatal shootings, all within the last week.
The Bush administration has announced it will shortly convene a school violence summit to discuss possible federal action to help communities prevent violence and deal with its aftermath. Short of placing metal detectors and armed guards in every public and private school in the country it does not appear much can be done to guarantee the safety and security of students from sick minds that look for vulnerable schools to prey upon.
The danger now is that other unstable people will see this horror on television and think they can replicate the carnage in their towns to redress some past grievance or to give themselves a few seconds of significance or notoriety.
People who educate their children at home are likely to think they made the right decision in the face of tragedies like this one. Not even a seemingly safe Amish school can guarantee a child's protection from outside threats. Perhaps in addition to exploring ways to make schools safer, the Bush administration's summit on school violence might also recommend ways to make it easier for parents to educate their children at home. Individual states might join in by giving tax credits for home-school parents, since children educated at home do not cost taxpayers money in public schools.
Any analysis has to conclude that life is uncertain and that protection against evil is always problematic. No parent knows what might happen after a child leaves home for school and no child can be protected from every possible threat. But one does not expect something like this to happen in Amish country where education is an extension of the home.

Tax credit for homeschooling? Oh that it would be so. I've gotten so used to paying for something that we take no part in (public school) it seems hard to imagine that common sense would take over. We pay for public service for Jot, but legally the state does not have to provide them if they don't want to do so. They require us to jump through hoops to educate him at home because of his special ed label; the distict gets more tax money for him because of that label; but they won't provide any services. How is that right?

Co-Op and County Junction

We visited a new homeschool co-op today and I think we finally have found one that will work for us. It was a beautiful day to be outside. The group met for a monthly organizational meeting while the kids played at the park. It seems like a good group of folks and I'm encouraged that it might be something we can fit into our schedule. We had tried one last year, but it just was too far and too rigid in their structure to work for our needs. This one is very family driven and full of opportunities for just about any interest one might come up with and be willing to plan. There is a good sized "senior" group which is essentially middle and high school age and tons of elementary students. I think I was told that there were about 35 families involved. That seems like a good size to me.

It was at this meeting that I was shocked and sadded to learn that Country Junction had burned down this morning. We were planning to go there and get our pumpkins again this year. It was such a cool place and I actually did several layouts of our trips there. We even bought our leather recliner there. It is totally gone and so sad. Many of the animals both outside and inside died. It's sad to know that the $1.00 hot dogs and free movies won't be there now... not too mention all the cool stuff there was to see just wandering around. It was the first and largest of the Country Junctions. I hope they do rebuild, but even so, I can't imagine it could be the same.

Food and Fall

Quin has graduated to Cheerios (well, actually the generic ones from ShopRite). For the last few weeks, his intake of solid food has sharply increased (in direct proportion to his increase in size). He's been downing two containers of baby food with oatmeal pretty quickly and it's just getting out of hand! So at lunch today, after his regular baby food, I decided to attempt something else. Tim gave him a cookie earlier this week, but I thought the nutritional value of Cheerios was probably a bit higher than cookies, so I opted for those. Quinton is not even 7 months old yet and has no teeth... he is barely sitting. All of these are good reasons to not give him finger foods. Perhaps the fact that he still hasn't developed a pincher grasp is a good reason for not giving finger foods either. But, he cries when we eat and seems to always be hungry... so, Cheerios he got. He loved them. Ate a small custard cup of them... one at a time. I put them in his mouth and he chewed/gummed away. He cried when the bowl was empty. So I gave him some cheese. He liked that too. He likes lasagna also.

Tim is at a pastor's conference in New York until tomorrow night. When we spoke last night he said it was very good and he was eager for me to hear the teachings. I am sure I will also enjoy them as they are typically very good.

We've been plugging away with school and it is going pretty well. Planning ahead has definately made for a better year already. It took some time to pull together, but using this new software for record keeping is already wonderful. Homeschool Tracker Plus is what we bought. They have a free version that is good too, but we opted for the Plus version that includes Lesson Planning, which is a great time saver when you will be reusing curriculum with other children... which with five, we will be doing that. It was a bargain at $35, which includes lifetime updates and customer support. It was a bit of work getting it all set up, but I now feel pretty confident using it. Since Hannah is now in 7th grade, I want to make sure our record keeping is stellar. All of her work will appear on her transcripts and aid in acheiving her diploma (which will probably come from a state program in which we will enroll her).

The leaves are changing and I'm daily reminded of the beauty of fall. This is my favorite time of year and I'm trying to be out and enjoy it as I'm able. We all are out on the deck for several lessons during the day. Quin loves it outside too. We put his exersaucer out on the deck and he watches the birds and the leaves for hours. I tried him in his backpack carrier yesterday and he loved it, so that will open up more hiking for us as a family :) I'd love to get to Bushkill Falls in the next few weeks to see the falls and the folliage. And take some pictures!

Also, a note for family and friends that still use the telephone... we cancelled our landline service effective October 6th (I think) and will only be using our cells. Look for an email or letter with our numbers if you don't have them already. We have a Cingular plan, so if you also have Cingular, it shoudl be a free call!

I was editing some pictures...

It's Friday night which means my weekend officially has begun. Not that I'm too excited about it, 'cause I have a horrible cold. But, nonetheless, I don't have to teach school tomorrow and have hopes of getting some "non"school items knocked off my to-do list. That has me feeling pretty good. I spend an hour or so, unloading and manipulating pictures from August and thus far into September. I'm uploading to Winkflash as I type (gotta love multitasking :) ). This is one I took a few days ago on a rather warm afternoon (it's been in the 50s!). Would you believe this is the only one that came out where one of the kids isn't looking at themselves in the sliding glass door? Do we have vain children or what? *Ü*
It was library day today. Everyone picked out a few books and Hannah did some school work while there as well. She had some reference materials to look up in the various resources available... sort of a "get to know how your library works". I loved all the indexes and cross referencing; just hordes of information. I think I would love being a librarian. Not only would I get to be around books and information all day, but for the most part it would be quiet! Especially lately, that aspect is looking mighty good.
I actually scrapbooked a layout last night. It was the first one in over a month, if not more. This was for a ad challenge at LifetimeMoments. I like how it came out and it was nice to actually get something done after such a long time... I guess I didn't entirely forget how to scrap, eh? For some reason the scan is crooked, but you get the idea.
If it doesn't rain tomorrow, I (we actually, as everyone will help) plan to work in the yard getting things cleaned up before winter. I have more rocks to move and would like to get some more dug out from near the shed. I keep twisting my ankle on them as I take stuff to the compost bin. If anyone has a dumptruck full of topsoil handy, please send it our way. The mountain is in desperate need of dirt :) I'll gladly trade rocks for it. Maybe if we compost long enough, we'll make our own dirt?

Wow... where did that month go?

No, I didn't fall off the planet.
Guess what? School started. And with it, nearly all of my time is spoken for... yes this is the life of a homeschooling mom. As we are settling into routines things will become easier, but this new year stuff is so tiring! By dinnertime, I'm exhausted and just want to sit and enjoy a good book. Which is exactly what I've been doing. I've not been online much at all and have scrapped next to nothing. That is, at times, depressing, but I know this is just a season and it will pass.
We finally made it to Rickett's Glen on the 1st. It was chilly, but we had a lovely afternoon with the Gauglers and the McAndrews. Hannah and I hiked the back mile or so of the Falls Trail and saw several of the many, many falls at the park. It really is a beautiful place!
I had a birthday (38) and we had an anniversary (17 years)... I don't really feel sad at getting older, but I do feel tired at the thought! Tim bought me a dozen roses for my b-day, and we went to a super, nice dinner on the Friday before our anniversary. Many people had recommended Terra Cottage, but we hadn't gone and decided to give a try. It's off of Lake Harmony just a few miles from us. The food was fabulous (I had lobster ravioli with skewered shrimp and Tim had Mountain Fillet... raw meat served on a hot stone... you cook it yourself as you eat it and wow, it was tender!) and the place was really nice. It is done is a Victorian style and was comfortable and fun. We will surely go back. It was Hannah's first try at babysitting in the evening... she did great and was paid nicely for it :)
So that is some of what I've been up to the last few weeks. Quin is working on teeth and has been up at night (another reason for me being worn out I think). Faith hurt herself this morning on the corner of her bedside table... cut open a big spot inside her mouth... but required no stitches (it'll grow back on it's own) and the dentist thinks her teeth will be fine too... that's a good thing. The others are all well. No complaints at this point :)

Ohio and Life Thus Far into August

Well we made it to Ohio and home again. Though it was insanly hot while we were there (and most everywhere in the NE of the US) we did have a nice trip. Getting there was longer than we anticipated, though we should have expected as much with five kids and five little bladders. We did end up leaving on Saturday and also missed the wedding. It was disappointing to not be there, but everyone seemed to understand and obviously it couldn't be helped.

The surprise for my Dad (his 60th + six months b-day) went well. Again, it was hot, but the shade from Dad's trees and an occasional breeze made it bearable. My sister and her family, two sets of uncle/aunts, my Granny and my step-brother and his wife were in attendance. It was fun to see everyone and catch up. I hadn't seen some of them in 7 years. Sad isn't it? I guess that is how it is though when we live this far away. Dad loved the album I made for him. It was so quick and simple to put together since taking the Big Picture class. I made it using a slip in style photo album. I like how it turned out and was pleased that he like it as well. I had included several pictures made from our childhood slides and they prompted many stories from Dad. That in itself was well worth the time to make the album.

The party was on Sunday. We spent the next several days indoors mostly because of the unbearible heat, but found fun things to occupy our time. Hannah and Sharon (my Dad's wife) spend most of the time sewing on antique machines (which seem to run much nicer than our newer ones). They made doll clothes, some quilting things and Sharon worked on pillows for the kids (with a bit of help from Emma). Jot watched TV and ventured outside for a few minutes at a time to play in the fort and wander through the barn. Tim and I set up croquet which usually draws the kids outside, but even Emma said it was too hot to play and went back in. Obviously the air conditioning spoiled them :) . Tim managed OK with the cats and his allergies weren't too bad...stuffy but OK. He went to Andy's and spent some good time with him and also stopped by to see his Dad. Tim and I took Quiton out to his Dad's for a few hours and had a nice visit. It was a shame that everyone wasn't able to get together and I think Dad B. would have enjoyed it, but it just wasn't planned this time. I felt a bit bad about it but realized that there was just no more we could have done to plan something from out here. We tried, but it seemed to come to nothing, so we made the best of the time we had. Dad B. seems to be doing well, or as well as can be expected, since Mom's death. He is playing music more often and has friends that he gets together with regularly... all that seems helpful. He did offer us their china, which we happily accepted. It was interesting packing it all to get it home, but everything fit (barely) and made the trip unscathed. It is a 12 place setting of Noritake "Bessie". Dad bought it in Japan and had it shipped home. It really is lovely and I'm so glad to have it. He also gave us the old Singer sewing machine which I'm thrilled to have! It was another interesting item to get back in the van, but we managed.

I love this picture I took of my Dad's neighbors bees. They have an orchard and along the back are several rows of bee hives (or whatever the box things are called). The kids thought they were fascinating to watch; I did too :) I'm not exactly sure why I like the picture so much other than it is just interesting to look at with all the angles and colors.

Tim and I took Quin out to the mall one afternoon. Nothing too exciting really, but he needed new pajamas, so we found some on sale at The Children's Place. Nothing at Target or Wal-Mart was big enough for him. I still wanted sleeper type jamzies (as Emma calls them) with zips (which is what Faith calls them...just zips). We found what we needed and stopped at Guitar Center to get new strings for Tim's guitar. Exciting stuff isn't it? Well, maybe not, but it was nice to have a few days without a ton to do.

Wedensday evening we drove up to Julie and Paul's house in Columbus. We got there in time for a snack and got everyone settled in bed. On Thursday we took the kids to the Waterpark... came home in a torrential downpour and then returned when it stopped. The kids, as always, had a great time.

Here is one of the pictures I took before the rain began. Emma and Faith were obviously elsewhere, but there is Jot, Alex, Megan and Hannah. I ended up not returning after the rain as Quin was napping (finally) so I stayed with him and read a book while he slept. He hadn't been feeling well and was just exhausted. It all turned out fine though.

We left early Friday and made good time getting home. It was a busy week and took me that long to get caught back up on laundry. I had good intentions of starting school, but that just fizzled when the week began to play out as it did.

Tim was asked to do a sight survey for the sound system at Calvary Chapel of Chester Springs. We've known the pastor and his wife since before the church and before kids, so it turned into an all family event. The kids and I stayed and swam at their place while Tim went to work at the building. We stayed for church and drove home late that night (it is about 2 hours away). They gave Tim a generous honoriarium, which was very appreicated (and helpful). That was Wednesday. Thursday we went to the Carbon County Fair for the day which was fun for all, though by that evening we were completely exhausted. We rested up on Friday and headed to a birthday party on Saturday and then another after church on Sunday. Needless to say, we were worn out and have been playing catch up this week.

Yesterday Jot saw a new opthomologist for some issues that resurfaced with his left eye. Everyone went to Wilkes-Barre and we got some necessary shopping done while there for the appointment. With gas over $3 a gallon, we're trying to group our shots! Tim had to do an emergency repair on the hot water heater that began leaking 45 minutes before we left... but thankfully was able to get a replacement part for $5 and take care of it last night. We discovered a broken seal on the refrigerator too...ugh. It never ends does it? Tim planned to finished Jot's room today (yes, it still isn't complete... the black hole of home repair is what we have here), but was offered two or more days work doing some network wiring and set-up at the O'tooles new office (drywall business... friends from Philly who moved up here a couple of years before us). So the work is appreciated and needed, so Jot's room will wait.

I'm trying to get scrapworld cleaned up and the house in some kind of order. We emptied my scrap closet to hang the shelves and it is still all over everywhere. I'd like to get some scrapping done, but working in the mess is just impossible... so I must clean first. The entryway still needs major attention too. I moved the cedar chest out of the closet to put the china in (since I don't have a china hutch) and need to pick up/sort/throw out all the junk that was being stored there. This post was intended to be a break from cleaning. Sorry it is so long, hopefully it makes up for the lack of any posts lately :)

by the way.... 23 ladies are signed up for our Book Study. While I'm totally excited to have that many ladies interested, I'm going to have to find another group leader. Leading a discussion group of 23, 24 including me, seems like too much for little ol' me. I continue to pray that this book is as powerful for them as it was for me when I first read the book. Yikes though, 23 people!

Our plans changed...

What a week. As you may have read below, we were to be on our way to Ohio today. However, as sometimes happens... our plans were changed. Monday evening the mother of a lady at church was found dead. She was only 51 and obviously, the family was quite shocked and surprised. This is the part where "the job" takes priority of necessity. Tim is doing the memorial service and burial today so we will leave tomorrow for Ohio. It means we will miss the wedding, which is a shame but under the circumstances, it is really unavoidable. We talked about driving part way tonight, getting a hotel and then finishing the drive tomorrow but there are several problems with that... 1. Tim won't be home until dinnertime, so we really couldn't get on the road until 6:30 or 7 tonight.... driving at night with the kids, we could only go three, maybe four hours... then spend a fortune for two hotel rooms (7 people can't stay in one room)... get up and rush out the door in order to make it in time to shower and leave for the wedding... it'd be crazy. I'd feel beyond stressed to get there in time and everyone would be miserable. So, we are not spending the money for the hotel (which we don't have anyway), not killing ourselves by packing for a hotel stay (which is more involved than packing to stay with my dad) taking a leisure drive tomorrow and not worrying about getting there. We'll get there after dinner tomorrow and call it good enough.
I have thus far today, finished the laundry and finished packing the kids things (with Hannah's help). My stuff is packed as well... mostly. I have cleaned the camera of pictures so I have fresh, empty cards to fill and charged batteries. I need to load and charge my iPod and print the bulletin for church on Sunday (Frank from Philly is teaching for Tim).
We plan to return late next Friday and I'm sure I'll have pictures and stories to share!

He Rolls!

This was from Wednesday. He first rolled over the Wednesday previous (the 12th), but I was only able to do the sequence pictures this week. He's getting incredibly big, but still cute as anything!

The Mountains are Good

This is one of the best things about living in the mountains. I just adore the fawns at this time of year. Their little spots are too cute and if you've never seen a real live baby deer, go watch Disney's Bambie, because that is just how they behave. They bounce and bounce and bounce everywhere. Most does give birth to two fawns and I've decided it is so they have someone to chase besides their mother, because that is what they do. This one's little brother or sister was more shy and stayed back a bit when I got out my camera. The deer feeder that Tim and the kids made last fall has been great! I'll never get tired of seeing the deer :) I need to go dig up my picture of the eagle's nest too.... another very cool thing!

Here is the promised picture of Jot's room. The lighting makes it hard to tell the color, so you'll just have to take my word for it. It looks better! The baseboards will be done this weekend (hopefully) and then we'll do the big move.
We will be traveling to Ohio next weekend for Tim's niece's wedding. We're staying with my Dad and the kids are beyond excited to go. On the way back home, we'll stop and stay with Julie and Paul in Columbus. We'll take the kids to the waterpark and great fun will no doubt be had by all. I'm not looking forward to hours in the car with five kids, but I am looking forward to seeing my family again.



Lastly, I'll leave you with the picture of my beautiful cherry pie. I was quite proud of it, even if the crust didn't bake entirely :) It was mooshy, but still good. And with some ice cream, how can anything not be good?

The Paint Saga

This is our attempt at using what we have :) The time has come to move Quinton into the room with Jot and this picture tells the story for me. I'll share it with you too... It began when I saw a room with a horizontal stripe painted in it and like it. When we moved, Jot wanted an orange room with red carpet. Tim and I vetoed that choice. I suggested blue with an orange stripe to which Jot liked the idea. So off I went to Lowes and chose some colors. Well the blue I picked was too dark in hindsight and the horizontal orange stripe made the room look small and confining. It was that way for nearly two years though, so at least it wasn't a total waste. Before moving Quinton in, we decided now was the opportunity to repaint. Tim primed and rerolled the ceiling while we discussed colors (this time only giving Jot a bit of choice in the matter). I thought we should paint it the green tea color like the family room since we had three gallons left over and wouldn't be wasting the money on more paint. Tim agreed that we shouldn't spend more money on paint when we had so much, but wasn't keen on the green. He liked blue better. The only blue we had was really bright (the left over of what I chose before) or a nice blue (from our bedroom) but not much of it.... so we set out to begin mixing colors. We lined up all the paint we owned and played for a couple of hours... finally mixing our bedroom blue, with some green tinted ceiling paint and the green tea to get a nice very subtle teal color... what a compromise! His room is now painted (pictures forthcoming)and is only waiting for baseboards, new closet doors and a new door. We are replacing all the luan doors with white panel doors as we do each room. I will say the his room already looks tons bigger and better. Soon Quinton will join him in there and Tim can finally reclaim the office. We have already begun (well Tim has) to repaint the office as well. I had painted it a lovely teal and yellow (2 walls of each) when it was my scrapbook room, but Tim wants it tan. It will be another home mixing job to get his paint right, but we have the paint already and are determined to use what we have! I have two gallons of $5 oops paint from Lowes in a light tan to which we will add the left over Ralph Lauren Burlap from his study closet... all together it should be a nice color (I hope.). It's been a busy few weekends, but as we keep reminding ourselves, progress is being made. I look at pictures of the final walk through on the house and am reminded that as disorganized and unfinished as it looks now, it is a zillion times better than when we first moved in.

The Pictures From Before

Look I got them to load! Here's Hannah and her cherry picking adventure picture....



Tim talking to the group before beginning the baptism...



And our friend Cathy. Lou is helping Tim here...

So Far This July....

I'll begin by saying that I've been working on this blog entry for about four days now. Evidently there is a problem getting my pictures to imbed within my entry and I kept getting frustrated with it and giving up. So I finally decided to just post the thing without pictures and later add them if I can get it figured out. I also thought it a good idea to post this before it got any longer!

So I come back from some errands on Tuesday and Tim says to me that Michele Wysong called. I at first though he was just making up some name and kidding around as he is known to do, but I'm a bit taken aback because I actually know a Michele Wysong. In fact I graduated with her and indeed she did call. After thinking about it, I'm shocked to realize that 20 years ago I graduated from high school. Wow. Michele called back a bit later and we had a nice chat. It was rather odd talking to someone you haven't seen or spoken to in 20 years, but we managed a 30 minute conversation so I'd say I did OK :) She caught me up a bit on the plans and after we hung up I got to thinking. I haven't stayed in touch with one single person I went to high school with. And I wonder, is that odd? In so many ways I feel so, so different than who I was 20 years ago, but after speaking with Michele, I realized that everyone else is somewhat different as well. It was kind of fun to catch up a bit and remember my friends from school. I'm not sure if we'll attend the reunion or not, but it made me think I might have fun if we do go. Does that mean I've arrived at a comfort place with myself that I'm not afraid to "return"? Hmmmmm....?

The fourth of July came and went here with just a handful of calls to security. I'll not bore your with the details of our reckless weekender neighbors.

Thursday night, Tim had finished verse by verse through Exodus and did an overview of the Old Testament. It was fabulous and I recommend anyone that is reading to listen to it online . This week he's doing the New Testament. This stuff was so helpful to me as a new beleiver. I was amazed that I had gone to church for much of my early life and didn't know some of the most basic information about the Bible. Hannah stayed upstairs in the sanctuary for it and said she learned a lot even. Good stuff.

The next day, Friday the 7th, Hannah, Jeanne and Nancy went cherry picking. Sour cherries fresh from the tree...mmmm. Hannah made a pie that night and I made one a couple of days ago. More good stuff.

Saturday Tim had men's prayer in the morning and I got a head start on totally emptying the garage. By the time he got home, the kids and I had it about a quarter of the way empty. We all cleaned and sorted everything and boy what a lot of stuff! Tim and I removed the back shelf that the previous owner had put in and moved his work benches around. It took nearly 12 hours to get everything back in and cleaned up, but it does look a ton better. Tim seems glad to have his garage in more workable order. I had a pile of stuff to freecycle and thankfully, nearly everyone has already picked up their items. Everyone was very tired that night.

Sunday was the church picnic and baptism after the service. There was a chance of rain forecast, but the day turned out beautifully. Sunny, warm and perfect. In all, eight people were dunked this year. I love baptisms. It is so neat to see people take that step of obedience. It always makes me think back to my own baptism 19 years ago and how new it all was then... even more good stuff. The pictures here (that should be here :) ) are of Tim explaining to the people what baptism is all about and what was going to happen. Then there is one of our friend Cathy. Cathy is such a neat person and she was able to have much of her family there with her. She has had some difficult times these last few months and this day was so important to her. We were all glad to be there with her. Soon the other pictures will be on the website if you'd like to check them out. The guy helping Tim is Lou. Tim baptized Lou and his wife, Danielle, two years ago. What a glorious thing it is to see him serving now. God is really cool. I need to remember when things are difficult that days like this are great reminders of His faithfulness to complete the work He has begun.

The Sun, History and Geography

Amazingly, I woke up this morning to birds singing. I haven't heard that in several days with all this rain! If you a weather follower (like me), you'll know that we've had something like 110 inches of rain in the last several days...OK, really it is around 4 inches but seems like feet!. Torrential downpour is an understatement. It does make me wonder where all that water comes from! I am very thankful that we are on the top of the mountain, because the plateaus and those on the side are really getting hit hard with flooding. The Lehigh River was four feet above flood level (forecast to be nearly six feet above by this afternoon) and Jim Thorpe (the town, not the guy :) ) declared a city emergency. Roads are destroyed and homes are full of water. It is just a mess. Up on the other end of the county, the Tobyhanna is flooding in Blakeslee too. We are safely here in the middle, but going anywhere is quite an adventure. I wanted to go to the Salvation Army this afternoon for their half-off day, but I don't know of a way there that isn't closed. It is just weird weather.

Yesterday we were all stick indoors again. Now I might occasionally let the kids go play in the rain, but it was actually storming with lightning and wind and black skies, so inside we all were. Cabin fever in the summer... who would have thougt?

I spent the majority of the day planning out our school schedule for next year and researching history and geography curriculum and materials. I just haven't settled into a history curriculum I'm in love with yet and that works for us. We started with The Mystery of History last fall and though I thought there was some great stuff in it, I didn't LOVE it. It was a bit too puffy. I know that doesn't mean much, but it is hard to explain so the word puffy meets the need for a word. I actually like the premise of the book and the author has done an amazing job gathering information into one place, but the activities were pretty involved in my opinion but also pretty necessary to get the information into the kids. It bordered closely to twadle for us. I loved the timeline idea, but the method describe (using a big sewing board) just wasn't working for us.

I love this part of homeschooling! We can change whenever we need to do so until we find what works best for us. The freedom to tailor to the needs is a big reason we are doing this. If something isn't working, we find something that will! Yes, it is work, but necessary. I will interject here, that if the local school was better or there was a local Christian school (and that if there was, we could afford it), our kids would most likely be there. We are not a militant homeschooling family :) We've done private school, public school, charter school and homeschool... each has advantages and disadvantages. There are things I really don't like about homeschooling and I'd be lying if I said otherwise, but for our family, for this place in life, this is the best thing for now. Nothing is perfect this side of heaven. Just thought I should clarify that point...

back to my rainy Tuesday and the hunt for history....

Mid-year, we moved Jot and Emma to The Story of the World which is a nice curriculum if used with the Activity Book. It is similiar to the k12 curriculum they had in the charter school but still came close to busy work and wasn't covering American History for many years which I wanted them to have. I love chronological history, but the Story of the World was repeating much that they had already been through and since Jot will soon study PA history, I felt some American history was needed and would be a bit more enjoyable.

Also mid-year, we moved Hannah into using the A History of US series. This is an awesome series. I love the way Joy Hakim writes and the material covered is balanced and thourough in the series. Hannah began using this when she was enrolled in the charter school, so I was familiar with it. Personally, since I love history, I knew these books would get used. I got the teacher's guides that Amazon sells too and these are working to some extent for us. The material is interesting, but Hannah seems to not like it too much. Now that doesn't necessarily mean we need to change anything, but having her enjoy history is more important to me that forcing information into her. I want to develop a love of learning and an enjoyment of history in her. I've seen her excitement with historical fiction and non-fiction as well, so I'm leaning more towards going with a literary based curriculum... in other words: real books. There are tons of book lists broken down by time periods, but I was looking for a bit more guidedance until I have more confidence of my ability to put together enough real books to fill out a year. And there is always the PA homeschool law of "the portfolio" and having something more than just a book list in there seems safe. Not that I think real and substantial learning isn't occurring without "paper evidence", because I know it is... but I really don't want the district on our case about anything and having a few worksheets in a portfolio is easy enough to do and satisfy the state as well. I also need some structure in the planning for my own sanity... so off I went to search history curriculums with a literature base.

Cathy Duffy's Top Picks book and website have been so helpful to me for various things and I highly recommend her stuff. In her book, I found TruthQuest History and we are considering giving this a try. I like that it provides an overview of the historical time period (chronological) and lots of information about the books that are listed (it includes some films as well). It is very flexible for our schedule and also has some writing activity ideas and quesitons for our use (and the portfolio). I think we'll start Hannah on Ancient Egypt/Ancient Greece mvoing her through a six year track and begin Emma and Jot with American History for Young Students at a slower pace so Jot can begin the second level stuff in sixth grade. Emma will repeat the lower level stuff with Faith or possible join Jot for the second level stuff...time will tell. Hannah will revisit American History in her later High School years so we will be reading our "A History of US" books still. I may use them for her composition copying work as well. I'll be reading them for my own enjoyment regardless!

We considered having them all work together for history, but the gap is so great between Jot and Hannah and it hadn't worked well for Science last year, so we're leaning toward two different tracks for history. It does make me wonder if everyone second guesses curriculum as much as I do?? All this was just over history... geography was another mess. I'm leaning at this point towards the Trail Guide series from Geography Matters , World for Hannah (to go along with her history) and U.S. for Jot and Emma. Thankfully, I think we're settled on the other subjects. For now anyway ;)

Another time perhaps, I'll blog about the stress we endured to initially decide on other subjects :) Nothing has created more sweat in prayer thus far in my life than how to educate our children. I often wish the Bible were more clear on which of the options was right and which was wrong.... would it be easier that way? All this decision making is hard work. Being grown up is much more trouble than I ever thought it would be than when I was 12.

Rained Out and Rambling

Our day at Ricket's Glen had to be cancelled. Bummer. A big cold front is moving in and bringing storms from today through the weekend. Everyone was a bit disappointed (me especially... I was looking forward to seeing this park) but we'll reschedule for another time. Instead, Tim took the kids (the oldest four) to see Cars. They were beside themselves and barely ate any lunch. I stayed home with Quin. Though I would have liked to gone, no one was available on such short notice to watch the baby and taking an infant to a theater is just something I won't do. We'll head to the library afterwards as the kids have been itching to go for two weeks since we missed our last trip there.

I'm sorting pictures still for my BPS class... totally loving it too. Our assignment this week is to find two of our categorized photos and make a connection that you wouldn't have been able to make if everything was chronological. This is mine. Hannah and Jot both had the same injury at nearly the same age and honestly I do believe that both bandaides came out of the same box. The experience I had when Hannah had stitches directly led to Tim banishing me from the exam room when Jot had his. Stitches on the kids was worse than Jot's surgery for me. Eventually this will become a layout. For now, it's just one of many connections I made in categorizing my first 100 pictures for class. This is just an amazing class and I'm so impressed with Stacy's commitment to her students. She replies to emails quickly, is incredibly encouraging and open with her own struggles and ideas AND she has broken down into manageable sizes what took her years to put together on her own. This was definitely money well spent.

I tried to get some cool lightening pictures last night but we have too many trees to get a good view of the sky. Not complaining about the trees because I do love them, but I am eager to try to get some lightning shots too. If the expected storms are still around tonight, I think I'll try going out to the shed and seeing if I can get a better angle there.

My First Post

Well, I've jumped into the world of blogging evidently. Not that I have loads of time to keep up with this but we'll see how it goes. My thinking is thus... I have family all over the place with none being near here, maybe this will be a way to keep in touch. I hope to keep everyone supplied with pictures of the kids and peeks into our life here in the mountains.

Currently life is moving along here in the mountains. Quinton is pushing himself around on his back and no longer stays where you put him. Faith can't decide if she wants to nap still or not and often we find her rocking on the couch (she's rocked since birth) and eventually she is out cold for 45 minutes or so. Emma is adjusting to being the true middle of the five kids and alternates between being Jot's best friend or Faith's best friend. Hannah is discovering more freedom with her new bike and is now allowed to ride to our friend Jeanne's house. Tim is still working in Philadelphia about one day and then gets his remaining hours in at home the rest of the time. What a blessing it is for him to be able to work from home. Computers can be good! Me? I'm enjoying my time off from teaching school and trying to get a few projects completed around the house... though truly just keeping up with laundry is sometimes a full time job lately. I'm taking Stacy Julian's Library of Memories class at Big Picture Scrapbooking and just loving it. We're in our second week and I already feel like I've learned so much. I'm enjoying scrapbooking again!

This Friday we are supposed to be going to Rickets Glen State Park. We hope to meet up with the Guaglers and the McAndrews, both pastors and families from North of here. I roomed with Maryann and Julie at the East Coast Pastor's Wives Conference for the second time this spring, so it will be nice for us all to get together again. We've planned to grill lunch and just hang out. The forecast if for rain so I'm hoping that we don't have to reschedule.

Here's a couple of pictures, this first one is the kids at Boulder Field and a recent one of Quin just for fun.