1-8-12 Happy Birthday Levi

A special young man yes he is,

The eldest position is his.

He holds it with care,

Kind, loving, and fair,

A good example to eight younger kids.

So, Levi, after 19 years you are still the guinea pig. You were the guinea pig as a newborn, you were the guinea pig as a toddler, you were still the guinea pig as a preschooler, as an elementary student, as a teenager, and now as an almost-twenty-year-old!  I sure hope you’re used to it by now, because it’s not likely to ever change! Not that we have it all figured out at each of those stages, oh my no. But we have made quite enough mistakes that there are at least a few things we know not to do, even if many times we still don’t know exactly what it is that we really should do - - - thankfully we have a Loving Heavenly Father who wants to help us if we ask Him, and that we do quite often. So in spite of our mistakes and failures, we give God all the glory for shaping you into the fine young man you have become. With your many different jobs, interests, abilities, and activities, you have quite a few big roles to fill; with God’s help we are so blessed to see you making good choices in filling those roles.

But I’m getting quite ahead of myself.

This is your birthday post where I do a review of your life, and as you have the longest life (and the most abnormal too, for that matter) of our kids, this has the potential to be quite long.  Please bear with me and enjoy remembering your life!

So as first time expectant parents, Dad & I didn’t know what to expect when Levi was born, even though we went through the childbirth classes and did the exercises, etc. We were not prepared like we could have been, but we were the best prepared that we knew at the time. Levi was born with a few complications at birth, one being jaundice which put him back in the hospital for a few days – not a fun thing for a new mommy who had just recovered from giving birth and enduring a punctured epidural sac and its subsequent spinal headache. NOT fun memories. We lived in an old country farmhouse at the time, and the not-so-reliable furnace gave out a couple times during those first few weeks as well, making things all the more interesting.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that Dad was dog-sick (flu, fever) during Levi’s labor and birth. Aah, the memories. But Levi survived the trauma of his early days, and brought us much joy as we settled into life as parents. When he was three months old, we bought and moved to a house in Morton; other than that his first year was pretty normal as far as babies go. Things started to go abnormal on the day before his first birthday, and his life hasn’t been normal since. After a horrible month of doctor’s visits and tests, they sent us to the hospital for a test that would rule out a rare disease that I didn’t even catch the name of. Well, a long two minutes into the test, suddenly the room was filled with many people which as we soon learned was NOT a good thing. He was diagnosed with this rare thing called Kawasaki Disease which at its worst can damage the victim’s heart; Levi not only had a damaged heart, but his heart was at the worst possible damage level for this disease. Whew. What a road we were on, and still are. Promptly admitted to PICU for two weeks, Levi was sedated (as in he wasn’t really awake for much of that two weeks). Not fun, not fun at all. But God is faithful, and we all survived with victory, and we attained a new normal, a normal that now included daily medications and frequent doctor appointments and various medical tests. Then. I will never forget the details of August of 1994, but I won’t get into all that here because one, I already wrote it out in his baby book, and two, it’s pretty long and this will be plenty long enough by the time this tale is told. But anyway, our new normal changed yet again when Levi had an MI when he was 18 months old. Rather than write it all out again, I’m going to copy this from Jesse’s birthday post.

Back then we were told it was a heart attack. We’ve learned since it’s actually called an MI, or Myocardial Infarction (an area of tissue that has recently died as a result of the sudden loss of its blood supply, e.g. following blockage of an artery by a blood clot – Encarta Dictionary).  Levi was in PICU for two weeks while his doctors tried to evaluate the damage done and decide how to treat it.  His doctors were struggling to find the right balance of meds to help his damaged heart (one-fourth of his left ventricle (main pumping muscle) was destroyed), and consequently about every few weeks he was back in the hospital with heart failure. Or asthma, we weren’t sure which. His cardiologist was and is convinced to this day that it was heart failure, and his pulmonologist was just as convinced that it was asthma. So we were doing lasix and lanoxin and a few other medicines besides, and all those breathing treatments – every four hours, rain or shine. Meanwhile, I was very pregnant with Jesse. Levi’s health was unstable, I was very big, weary, and uncomfortable, and Dad was adjusting to a new job which is always a challenge. And we were young. Very young. Boy, looking back, it’s hard to fathom how young we were. Young in life, young in faith, young in marriage, young in parenting. Of course even now we are still young in the big picture, but 17 years ago we were, well, really young.  Of course our struggles were nothing like those who deal with cancer, other fatal diseases, losing a loved one, or other bigger life challenges, but at the time…. well, it wasn’t a walk in the park. But God is faithful and saw us through, meeting our every need and blessing us in so many ways in the midst of the struggles and stress. We serve a big God, and He isn’t limited by our weaknesses – indeed our strength is made perfect in weakness. So on October 6 (Jesse was due on October 3), we checked Levi out of the hospital after yet another bout with heart failure, and got home to our little house in Morton which we so enjoyed.

So things finally stabilized as much as they could with a little guy with a damaged heart and asthma or whatever it was we were dealing with. We moved here to the farm when Levi was almost four, Jesse was two, and Tori was six months old. Levi loved it out here, as we all did. He was about five when we noticed him limping all the time; a few doctor visits and tests later, and he was scheduled for a routine surgery on his heel which went like expected, and he was back to his normal activity a few months later. That fall he started kindergarten, and he did not like it one bit. Every day was a challenge to get him on the bus, and plus he was struggling to learn as well. We inquired as to what help he was going to be given (this was in October), and were told that when he started first grade, he would qualify for extra help. Eleven months of falling behind did not impress us at all; I started teaching him afternoons right away and, with daily one-on-one phonics drill and activities (about 30 minutes worth), Levi caught up with his class and was almost reading by Christmas. Meanwhile, he still dreaded school, and we started wondering why we were sending him; we started researching that strange and rare phenomenon called homeschooling. We only knew of three families that homeschooled at the time, and we didn’t know any of them very well – what we did know was that they were considered . . . kind of. . . well . . . different :).  Many prayers and research and study and talking and prayers later, we took the plunge and pulled Levi out of public school after Christmas. We’ve been in love with homeschooling ever since and praise God daily for giving us the freedom to teach our children as He has called us to do. And Levi always did fine in his schoolwork, although it was never easy and he never did like it (much like one of his certain older cousins who is also a very fine young man in spite of his dislike for all things academic!). Life moved on, filled with schoolwork, farm jobs, and all the busy activities of a growing young boy with a houseful of siblings always ready to follow his lead. Work abounded, but so did play and lots of fun, of course with the ever-present medications and medical monitorings going on occasionally too. Which led to a CABG in May of 2002, when he was about nine and a half years old (for you non-medical people, that’s a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft, otherwise known as open heart surgery, or bypass surgery). His RCA (Right Coronary Artery; one of the two arteries that supplied his heart with oxygen) was gradually closing; bypass was necessary to prevent another MI when it would completely close. His little brother Benjamin was six weeks old at the time, and again it really wasn’t a great time to remember. A lot of stress, and probably more worry than I should have had; keeping a nine-year-old off bikes and trampoline and everything else fun wasn’t that fun or easy. Plus there were other complications post-surgery that added challenge; but again, our Faithful and Ever-loving Father God carried us through, and we learned much about trusting Him during those difficult days. I cannot begin to fathom going through something like that without the strength of our Lord Jesus Christ, and without the prayers of those that love us. It was a difficult time, but it was a growing time too. We learned much, not the least of which is God’s faithfulness to His children. Truly we serve an awesome God.

Well, that was almost ten years ago, and aside from a few minor scares here and there, life has been blissfully boring as far as Levi’s health. He is monitored annually, as they expect his LCA to close up eventually too; that will require some sort of medical intervention but we’re not worrying about that as it hasn’t happened yet. Meanwhile, he has had a completely normal active life and we praise God for the miracle that has given Levi to us for so long, when there was a time where they kept us at the hospital overnight because they didn’t know if he would live through the night. Some people may say miracles don’t happen, but they are wrong. Levi is a miracle.

It was a few years after the CABG when Levi started talking to us about his soul’s salvation; he just wasn’t sure if he was saved or not. He knew what the Bible said about unrepentant sinners, and he knew he hadn’t repented for his sins. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23  But the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:16-18. So although his heart was always turned toward God and His will in his life, Levi didn’t make a public declaration of repentance until September of 2005, when he was twelve years old; we rejoiced with him when he was baptized on a wonderful day in January 2008.

Re-reading this text (yes it’s long but how to shorten it?), I see several times where I’ve written “it was a difficult time,” “it wasn’t a walk in the park,” “a lot of stress,” and so on. Don’t think that this poor kid knows nothing but suffering and doctor’s visits – oh my no, that couldn’t be further from the truth. In between the difficult times, his energy and enthusiasm for life has kept us on our knees and on our toes at the same time. He was a normal active kid with normal kid activities which included but were not limited to bovine chores, schoolwork, four-wheeler rides, swimming at Uncle Jerry’s, sledding, making fence, painting sheds, trampoline fun, and lots of soccer, basketball, & baseball games here at home with us. (Competitive sports weren’t ever an option, because when his body said stop he had to stop – not possible with organized team sports. But that was no big deal, because Dad was never in sports anyway and they were never a part of our lives). Many people who know Levi have no idea that his heart has such major damage to it and that at one time he was such a sick little boy.  For the most part he’s just like our other kids. True, his medical challenges have maybe made us more protective than we would otherwise have been, but who says that’s all bad?  And, we have not ever and do not ever take our daily health or any of our children’s health for granted. Neither do we take our children for granted; we appreciate each and every one of them and praise God for giving us the perfect family that He created for us. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:6

So today Levi is 19. He graduated from Meadowview Christian Academy a year ago this month; his transcript is ready to go if ever he would decide to pursue further education, although it is certainly fine and wonderful if he doesn’t. He loves all of his jobs and is always ready to tell us all about his day when he gets home; although oftentimes his youngest brother is hounding him to play the minute he walks in the door! He manages to fit in a few young group activities now and then also, but we’re glad when he stays home because he has a lot of little people who admire him greatly and love to spend time with him (us big people do too, for that matter).

Thank you Levi for the love you have for your Lord, the concern and care you demonstrate toward your younger siblings (usually, that is), the love & respect you have for Dad & me, and the humble, teachable spirit you have which makes you a favorite of many people you meet and work with. May God continue to bless you as you follow His leading in your life; and may He use you as He wills to further His work of sharing His love with others. We love you and are so glad God put you in our family.

Precious baby -

 

Sweet little boy with such big problems -

Handsome young man.

Happy Birthday, Levi!

4-30-11 Saturday Already

Well, internet was down for the first half of the week, so all the posting was done after the fact. That’s part of life in the sticks, I guess :)

It’s been a good week in spite of rainy cool days. Monday was catch-up day. Slow start and lots of laundry. Jacob had a busy day too :)

Tuesday we sang at Restmor and had some fellow singers over for lunch, fellowship, and play. I took the camera outside but never did take a picture. Jacob took these pictures later– everyone is convinced that this is the prettiest the crabapple tree has ever been. I think I agree.

 

Silly little girl!

Jacob’s self-photo. He took about a half dozen of them, each one goofier than the next. This won first prize.

Wednesday we ran around doing errands which included ortho for both Tori and Jacob. Makes for a busy day. Thursday Kate made bread, and Tori & I made 15# of Salisbury steak for the Kaisers we’re having tomorrow.

Joshua is happy with his loaf of bread :)

 

He has his own unique way of forming it.

Studying diligently.

Finally by Friday it warmed up a little bit!

Ducklings are fully enjoyed by all.

Cute little things.

Jewel borrowed Jacob’s shirt! :)

And this was today. Sunny and warm over midday, but by choretime the temp had dropped quite a bit.

 

2006 Braestar tree has lots of blooms but that’s about it. The Red & Yellow Delicious trees look pretty good too, but the rest are pretty sparse. Won’t be much spraying to do, but won’t be many apples either this year. Maybe not even enough to sauce. Meanwhile, peaches still look promising so far…  Time will tell.

Jesse built this table to put his tractor engine on.

Tori, Jacob, Kate, and Ben went fishing in the creek again – prize crawdad.

 

Prize tadpole.

More prizes – bullheads and bluegills mainly (I think).

We’ve been having these wonderful potatoes lately for supper. I’m always looking for new potato recipes, and this one was a hit. They always look so pretty and are SO EASY. And delicious!*

And we celebrated Dad’s birthday after supper. We all enjoyed the Malt Shoppe Dessert that Tori made this morning. Happy Birthday again Dad!

Dad’s new lamp is kind of goofy to look at, but it really lights up the room!

Josh kept busy during Bibletime :)

*Western Cut Potatoes (recipe from LaRae Dill in the Steiner Cookbook)

Wash desired number of potatoes, and cut in half lengthwise. Cut an X into the top of each potato. Place cut side up on a cookie sheet, and bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  Remove potatoes from oven, and spread butter over the top of each potato half. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, dill weed, garlic powder, or your choice of seasoning. Bake 30 more minutes or until tops are browned.

That’s all; good night!!

4-23-11 Happy Birthday Jacob

There once was a special young lad.

Growing tall and handsome like his dad.

Full of energy and zest,

Giving everything his best,

Our Jacob is the finest to be had!

Full of energy and zest, giving everything his best, oh yes those words fit our Jacob perfectly. Thirteen years ago today, it was, when Jacob Daniel Kaiser joined our little family of five. With two little boys and a little girl already, we thought we had this parenting thing pretty much figured out, you know? Well, God knew we needed a little Jacob to cut us down to size. Our little Jacob wasn’t a bad baby, no not at all. He was an adorably cute precious happy little guy, very very loved and adored by us all. His older siblings doted on him constantly, and he was rarely lacking for attention. And so he grew, cute as a button and twice as fun. As he grew old enough to be mobile, oh my, we soon noticed how he was different from our other kids…his batteries just didn’t ever run out! Jacob as a toddler was more energetic that his older three siblings combined, it seemed, and he was so curious about everything, way more so than the others. Why? Because that’s the way God made him, that’s why! He got into more things, took apart more things, emptied more things, and broke more things than we knew a little tot could do – and all with that incredible energy that didn’t end. Intense is how we would describe him; when he was still pretty little we predicted that he would be the one of our kids to invent something BIG. And he’s still working at it! He was still a really little guy, barely four years old, when he became addicted to butterflies.  His ability to focus on one thing and one thing only soon had him catching butterflies – with his bare hands. He would creep up on it, slow as a cat stalking a mouse, and then slowly, slowly, ever so slowly, reach out, and grab those tiny wings, not harming it at all. After a bit of study, he would let it go again, or it might spend some time in his bug box, depending on his whim. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before we got him a butterfly net, and soon his siblings were on the levee with him…and they still are, but it’s his younger siblings now instead of his older ones. Nowadays he doesn’t spend nearly the time that he used to, but probably only because he has most of the local species collected and labeled. He still grieves the zebra swallowtail that he accidentally let go when we were in Alabama a few years ago…they were common there in summer, so this one was an early one (we were there in March), but they don’t live in IL at all. That was a sad day. Anyway, Jacob’s interest in butterflies has led to interest in all things bug, and his general interest and curiosity about life is pretty much the reason our farm has been home to, among other things, turtles, frogs, snakes, praying mantises, countless bugs, mice, and voles. One summer the kids had a zoo in the hogshed – it was pretty neat. The older kids helped a lot, to be sure, but I suspect it was Jacob’s energy and interest that sparked much of it. For a long time we had a hard time directing that energy and interest toward schoolwork. While Jacob could name more butterflies than I even knew existed, he struggled to learn his ABCs! Was that ever frustrating!! But he did learn to read, although at a later age than the other kids, which shouldn’t have surprised us because he learned to walk and talk a little later too. Does it matter now? Not in the slightest.  He walks and talks a mile a minute now, and he’s very good at both I must add! Although Jacob does read well now and even somewhat likes it, more often he’d rather be living life than reading about someone else living it. And often if he is reading…he’s researching a new insect or varmint he’s caught. We suspect Jacob has a touch of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), although even the very name of it makes me cringe, because we prefer to interpret his lack of attention as not a lack of attention but rather a hyper-focus of attention…on something else than what we want it to be on. I also intensely dislike the Disorder part of that term, as it implies that there is something wrong with such a child. There is not anything wrong with Jacob or any so-called ADD child; they are the geniuses that are squelched by our society’s need for structure and quiet. Structured and quiet our Jacob is not! Our challenge has been to help him to re-focus at those times when his mind is flying, and to teach him to turn that perceived weakness into a strength. For example, he/we have learned that if he gets up early when the house is quiet, he can turn on his hyper-focus and do really well really quickly on his math. Waiting until later in the day, even if it’s still morning, is disastrous for him and very discouraging. So our job is to help him to set the stage for success. Usually he does a great job at getting himself up and started in the morning; only occasionally does he start late, and he’s learning how to succeed then too, by going down to his room and turning on the fan to disguise distractions.  Schoolwork is still difficult for Jacob (we also suspect some dyslexia due to a lot of saw/was, d/b, of/for etc. switches when he was learning to read), but thankfully it is getting easier the older he gets. I don’t know if I could say he likes his schoolwork, but he does have a terrific attitude and a lot more determination than some of our kids who just breeze through. He wants to do well and knows his best is good enough for us; his teachable spirit makes him a joy to teach. Chore-wise – every morning Jacob cleans up the laundry room for me. This includes not only the laundry room counters and floors (except for the blue rugs which Sarah sweeps) but also the closet and bathroom.  With his attitude and determination to Git ‘er done, it (usually) doesn’t take him long. Often he’ll ask Josh to ‘help’ him, and oh, the chatter is precious to hear. All of his afternoon chores are outside, and he is in charge of feeding and watering all the cattle, chickens, and now chicks (and ducklings!), which includes mixing feed for the chickens when they need it. In addition, Dad leaves him never-ending lists with such jobs as checking fence, staking up new trees, rotor-tilling for Mom, cutting up wood for stakes, making stakes, cleaning up various sheds, painting various things, fixing various things, mowing, and checking bees. And this list is by no means exhaustive!  Basically Jacob has taken over what Levi and Jesse did together when they were 11 and 13, or 13 and 15. Of course, he has help from Kate and Ben, and sometimes Tori, but by and large he is in charge, and he can get a LOT done in a short time. And it’s done well, too. One more thing – Jacob can sing. He’s been blessed with both the Steiner and Sauder gift and love of singing, and oh, I do enjoy hearing him. He also plays piano and has just started guitar and banjo while he patiently waits for the mandolin to get here (which is on backorder), which was his first choice to learn. He likes guitar, and really likes banjo, so we’ll see what he actually ends up focusing on after a few weeks of jumping around. Maybe he’ll choose all three!  It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest – our Jacob has the energy and determination to do just that if he so desires. Jacob, the enthusiasm, excitement, laughter, and fun you add to our family is wonderfully invaluable. We love you so very much and are so glad God blessed our family with YOU!!

Precious brown-eyed baby…

…handsome young man.

Happy birthday, Jacob!!!

4-10-11 Happy Birthday Jewel

Our Jewel is truly a jewel,

Smiling, precious, and sweet.

Happy to help,

With nary a yelp,

A happier girl you won’t meet!

Yep, our precious Jewel is five today. It’s hard to believe it’s been five years already, because I can remember so clearly when she joined our family. Oh, we were all so excited when we found out she was on the way. The boys were sure we needed another boy, but the girls thought we needed a girl to even things up. Well, the girls won, but Baby Jewel was equally loved by her brothers too. Around then I was reading a book to the kids about a family that had eight kids also, and the baby (eighth child) was Baby Jewel. I really liked that name.  We kind of wanted another Bible name though, and I didn’t know that Julia was in the Bible – but it is, in Romans 16:15. (“Salute Philologus, Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them.”)  So we were very excited when our baby Julia was born, and especially that she was a girl.  Sarah was of course excited about a baby sister, but we knew she would love even more having another little girl to play house with when she got older. And she does. Jewel has followed Sarah right into a love of dolls, doll houses, and playing house.  Although Sarah tends to be the leader, being older, Jewel is starting to have more and more of her own ideas and isn’t as readily a follower as she used to be. The two of them can play so nicely together most of the time, but they have their share of spats too which is all part of growing up and learning to get along with others. And when Sarah can keep up with the older kids, as she can do more and more, Jewel is pretty happy to play with Joshua too. They’re buddies too and can play pretty cute together, although Joshua is catching up with Jewel size-wise even though he is almost 3 years younger. He can be kind of rough sometimes but she holds her own pretty well for a petite little peanut. They like to play dollhouse, matchbox cars, and lately have spent a lot of time in the sandbox outside. I anticipate that continuing with the nice weather. Some of our kids haven’t known how to entertain themselves without a sibling, but not Jewel. She’s quick to get up from the table, clear her dishes, and then suddenly she’s gone, coloring, doing a puzzle, playing dollhouse, or whatever, perfectly happy. Because of her quieter nature, she’s one of our children that could get overlooked or lost in the hub-bub that daily occurs here; because of that nature, we are very determined not to let her get lost but rather are very purposed to give her the time and attention that she needs just as much as the rest do. Which is very easy to do since she’s such a snuggly, huggy, smiley little sunshine. She loves to help with anything, especially working in the kitchen. She’s a good little dish washer and likes to crack eggs and help with any baking that’s going on. Every morning Jewel makes her bed and puts away her pajamas. After she brushes her hair out, she brings me the comb and hairbands so I can do her ponytail. Then she collects all the trash in the house and puts it in the big trash can in the laundry room. After breakfast she brushes her teeth and we do preschool which is coloring, working on her letters (she knows all of them except Y; for some reason she can never remember that one!), or playing Go Fish, Old Maid, or Memory (her choice). Then she and Josh have some playtime while I do school meetings with the other kids. After lunch, sometimes she’ll have a quiet time on the couch with books while I walk, but she hasn’t taken a nap for over a year. She gets pretty tired by bedtime, but she doesn’t get grouchy, just sweetly sleepy and asks if she can go to bed. Jewel’s afternoon chores consist of setting the table for supper and folding all the kitchen towels and washcloths. She does a good job and is very careful. She’s also on the yard cleanup crew this year, picking up sticks, garbage, toys, and other stuff that somehow gets strewn about the yard so frequently. And she’s learning to help in the garden too this spring – she’s a good little potato planter and will be a big help with other things as we put them out. So…working, playing, smiling, giggling, learning, and growing all the while, our precious Jewel is Baby Jewel no more, but even better, she is growing into a sweet little girl. We love you Precious Jewel!

Baby Jewel, cute as a button…

  

Little Girl Jewel, sweet as can be!

Happy Birthday Jewel!

3-11-11 Happy Birthday Benjamin

There once was a young boy named Ben,

Who had a terrific grin.

We love him a lot,

Whether he’s good or not,

And if we could we would pick him again!

Yep, we sure would.  Here’s a little bit about Benjamin Daniel Kaiser, age 9. Ben was born at kind of a tumultuous time in our lives, as we were looking at heart surgery for Levi right then. We had sent to a Canada cardiologist for a second opinion, and were waiting, waiting, waiting for her opinion before we proceeded with the surgery that his cardiologists here were recommending. Levi ended up with a CABG when Ben was just 6 weeks old, and, although Ben was such a trooper during all the pre-surgery visits, the surgery itself, and the post-surgery appointments, we thought he was kind of a  a fussy baby. Looking back, though, we see all these pictures of his precious smile, and we realized that it was our perception that was a bit skewed. Stressed? Yes I suppose we were. Although Ben nursed very well and was a pretty content baby, the normal demands of a newborn plus the normal demands of a post-open-heart-surgery 9-year-old (and some abnormal complications which were also present) plus the normal demands of the other four children were…well, kind of stressful. I don’t remember being really maxed out back then, but I know it wasn’t a walk in the park, either. Anyway, Ben survived and thrived in spite of the stress he obviously picked up from me, and we enjoyed him immensely. He was an adorable baby who grew into an adorable toddler, with the biggest brown eyes we had ever seen. He still has those big brown eyes, and usually they’re accompanied by a grin. Ben’s one of our quieter children, but he doesn’t get overlooked; he can raise his voice and be heard when he wants to, and he often does. He just tends to not spend his days singing/shouting all the time like some of our other kids. Oh yes, he loves to sing, and he can mimic some of our favorite gospel singers perfectly, but he doesn’t do it at the top of his lungs which is nice. I love to hear him sing, but around other people he won’t be heard. Ben does really good at his schoolwork; he works very carefully and has the neatest handwriting of all our kids…which isn’t surprising since he is also our best artist. He spends some of his free time drawing (or reading) and does a really good job. He’s very careful in everything, and isn’t likely to be the one to spill his drink at the supper table (although I’m sure he’s had a few spills too). Ben’s our egg man. With collecting 4 or 5 dozen eggs a day, the opportunity to break some is pretty great, but he rarely does. (The post a few days ago with the broken eggs - - - it was NOT his doing…) Ben not only collects all the eggs but also cleans and packages them. He also takes all the trash to the barn for me every day and feeds calves, and his morning job is cleaning the big bathroom which he does VERY well…and best yet he doesn’t complain about it. He just digs in and gets ‘er done. Ben is our chief brownie maker, and can also make some really good pancakes when he’s hungry for them. He and Sarah can be best of buddies and have some great times together, but sometimes the sparks fly too. He and Kate too are good partners in projects, and with them it’s usually peaceful and productive. The older he gets the more he gets to do with Dad and the three older boys, and they’re doing a phenomenal job of teaching him all the ins and outs of growing up to be a young man…which he is quickly becoming. Ben, we are so thankful for the fine young man you are becoming. We love you very much!

From big brown-eyed baby… to…

 

… builder of forts extraordinaire…

BLINK!

Where did the years go?

Aunt Sarah’s birthday bars are always eagerly anticipated and enjoyed.

Fun mechanical pencils (on his list) and powerful magnet balls from Grandpa and Grandma Kaiser.

Ben wanted to help make his birthday dessert.

Happy Birthday Ben!

Joshua was awfully interested when Ben unwrapped this sand sifter (and you thought it was a pool screen!)(Nope, Ben’s been wanting a new sand sifter like the old one we used to have. This is also used to dig in the mud at the creek; it’s very handy for digging out crawdads.).

Joshua promptly walked away with Ben’s new tool, very pleased with himself.

Ben also got some books and Magz.

Poor Josh :( . Life sure didn’t seem fair to him…it’s tough to be two. He kept repeating “Mine. Mine. Mine…”

 

[But it’s so cute!]

That’s it!

1-8-11 Happy Birthday, Levi

 

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*Laughing

*Energetic

*Valuable

*Interesting

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Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16

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Levi, this verse brings you to mind because of your love of singing to the Lord.  God bless you always as you anticipate graduation from school and entering the next stage of life.  We love you very much and look forward to seeing where God leads you. Happy 18th Birthday, Levi!

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10-6-10 Happy Birthday Jesse

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Jovial

Enthusiastic

Smart

Special

Excellent big brother

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Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him… (Ephesians 1:15-17)

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Jesse, your humor, wit, and laughter are such a blessing to us. You’re such a fine fun young adult to be around, and we’re so thankful God put you in our family. We pray that you’ll continue to look to Him to lead you in life choices as you grow in your Christian walk. We love you very  much. God bless you always!

Another beautiful day – sunny, mild, cool. Routine school, with Jesse finishing around noon and then hauling manure for Uncle Randy. Levi did school early before going to Precision for the day. The rest of us did school and baking jobs; Tori made bread as well as caramel rolls to go with Jesse’s birthday chili for supper. Yummmm.  After lunch and meetings, I played with Joshua and Jewel outside – I do that far too seldom and enjoyed it oh so much. When Joshua napped, I took a walk, did emails and ordered photo prints online, and then read to kids for awhile after chores. Jacob, Kate, and Ben were on bikes a lot, and I think I saw them working on a bike jump in the shop; evidently they didn’t get it done before chores because it hasn’t made its debut yet. Which is fine with me. Seems like every time one of these things appears, somebody crashes… “Oh, but it’s fun, Mom.” Whatever. It was good to have everyone here for Jesse’s birthday supper of chili, caramel rolls, and apple salad; after all that, he (and we) was too full for his birthday apple pie. Dad and I walked afterwards. Home for Bibletime (Proverbs 20) and some free time; Jesse was still too full for his pie. So we sang Happy Birthday to him anyway, he opened his card/gift, and that’s about it for his birthday celebration. Beds soon because the boys milk in the morning, and I was wiped out tired too. A good day, but busy.

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Remember these pictures?

Well…

What can I say but “blessed be the Lord who hath daily loadeth us with benefits”?  (Psalm 68:19) We serve an awesome God! A note on the grape juice – it’s from Aunt Marcia. Our grapes didn’t do anything; birds found the 2 bunches that were out there. Maybe next year they’ll do better.

This is the very last of the honey straining and the final harvest for the year.

We think this is a 6 gallon bucket because it’s some taller than a 5 gallon, but we’re not entirely sure.

Total yield: 17 or 18 gallons, depending on the size of the bucket. We’re very pleased and thankful for that; it’ll last us for 2 years. Ideally we like to have 2 years on hand in case next year’s hives die, which is a very real possibility; with all the chemicals sprayed on fields bees have a rough go of it. Every year since we’ve started this project (4?), we’ve lost at least one hive due to one thing or other.

These cappings will be taken to the hives so the bees can clean them up good before I melt the wax.

 

More watermelon! And there are about 4 more this size out there still growing – not huge like earlier in the season, but seeing that it’s October and they’re still really sweet, that’s ok. There are still LOTS of tomatoes and peppers coming too for which I’m very thankful.

I’ve wanted to get this picture for several weeks now – it’s so neat with the kids silhouetted against the sunset while Dad and I walk. My camera just couldn’t get any better than this, and I didn’t want to take the time to adjust settings and improve it. I think it’s neat nonetheless. l-r is Tori, Jacob, Ben, Kate. I think my shutter speed was too slow, hence the fuzzy, but it had to be slow to allow more light in. So I maybe should have set the speed manually a bit faster and the aperture would have adjusted better (?). Not sure. I haven’t had time lately to practice much; hopefully when garden is done I’ll pick it up again.

That’s all.