1-7-11 One Year, Blink

Yes, hard to believe, but 1-7-10 was my first blog post. Sometimes in the blogosphere they call this a Blog Birthday – so I guess it’s the first blog birthday for Nuggets Along The Trail.  How can a year go by so fast?

Besides that milestone, today was anything but routine. For one thing, Sarah was still sick, and the other thing was a doctor’s appointment with an ENT in Peoria. This doctor seemed convinced and thus convinced me that he can help my voice/throat issues, and so I came away VERY encouraged that I will be able to sing like I used to. Once again, only time will tell.  ASK had the day off and so we had lunch and did a few errands before we came home again. Kids got along well while we were gone; no puking, thankfully, and Sarah even played a little. Hopefully she’s on the mend.  ASK and I took a pretty cold walk before she headed home, and then I caught up around home for the rest of the day. Supper was late again, and Levi wasn’t home but did another late shift for PP. The rest of us had a quiet evening here.

Jacob made this huge marble run for the girls.

More barn work.

 

Joshua’s always quick to share anyone’s supper.

What a precious punkin!!!!!

Two precious buddies.

That’s it.

1-6-11 Calm & Cold

That about sums up the day. No running (well, almost no running, anyway), and cold outside. Sarah still had fever and just didn’t feel good, but the rest of us did school and life as usual.  Boys milked twice, with Levi at Precision in between and Jesse studying here. I walked solo after lunch while Tori watched Jewel and Joshua in the shed, and then I did another farm walkabout with Ben helping push. Sunshine was pretty. After a late supper, Dad and I took Levi some supper, as he did another late shift for Precision. Home to beds, and that’s it.

1-5-11 ICC

Today was anything but routine as I went with Jesse to ICC so he could take some placement tests. We also met with an advisor to discuss his college options. Dad met us for the meeting, and I think we all were kind of overloaded with all the stuff we learned.  But we did get him registered for one online class which will give him a taste of college, and it will be credit towards his Associates Degree in Engineering Science from ICC as well as his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Bradley University, which is the course he’s pretty firm in pursuing. We weren’t home until almost 2:00, just in time for me to rock Joshua to sleep. Yeah, quite a shift in gears – college planning to rocking my baby (except my baby will be two in about three weeks so he’s really not a baby at all…). Where does the time go???  Meanwhile, back home, Levi went to Precision all day, and Tori ran the show quite capably here.  Sarah caught a little something and wasn’t feeling the best all day, and my amazing crew even did a great job of cleaning up a (very small, I was told) puke mess. Almost unbelievable, but yes it’s true.  Anyway, I took a catnap to sufficiently recover from our ICC adventure (which of course included getting lost once), then a solo walk which I thoroughly completely enjoyed; it was an absolutely beautiful day. I did a little school, some emails, and supper prep; supper was a little late but Kate did a great job of getting it on. Bibletime, rowdy time, a little ponging of the ping pong balls, and beds.

My Kate can be a little sassy sometimes, but she’s usually a great kid – she made this fort while I was gone, and then took these fun pictures of it, and THEN…by the time I got home, everything was cleaned up and put away again! I didn’t even know this happened until I looked at the pictures of the day!  Is that great, or what!?? 

Joshua was loving his little house.

Here’s the proof…note that they’re even smiling. I see a lot of character being built in this picture…

 

Guess who’s going to help?!

(I think Ben took the last 2 pictures.)

After I walked – a beautiful day.

Studying Sodom and Gomorrah on the timeline of Biblical history…

And that’s it.

1-4-11 Tuesday

Another pretty routine school day except that Brooke came for a walk after lunch; it was some colder than yesterday due to the biting wind. The sun was still shining though, and the blue blue skies were beautiful. Levi and Jesse milked twice, with Levi at Precision in between and Jesse here studying. After milking in the evening, Levi stayed to do another late shift at Precision, and Jesse came home with Dad.  Due to all that, supper was a little later than usual, followed by baths and Bibletime, then beds for littles and ping pong for the older kids (and parents) until bedtime for all.

This was a loaded 4 wheeler – which was some emptied when the kids wisely got out the wagon and some of the kids went in that. I think they all had a good time!

Looking at our nativity barn, Ben sure wished he could make something like that. We just so happen to have a nice collection of balsa wood in the storage room, so his project is well on its way.

 

And that’s it.

1-3-11 Routine

After a good night’s sleep, Dad was much better and back to work like normal. We were back to full school again; and I must say it’s good to be back on schedule again. With no snow but pretty cold, the kids will hit the books hard and attempt to get done before spring. Sometimes they make it; sometimes they don’t. Levi & Jesse milked in the morning, and then Levi worked at Precision after bringing Jesse home. Levi’s school is mostly done; he worked on some in the evening then. Jesse spent some time working on his tractor when his studying was done. Jacob was up early and got a chunk of school done before going with Grandpa Steiner to get 4+ tons of gluten. Jacob finished his work after lunch then, while I walked with Karol, and was soon out with the rest of us and working on his chores.  With beautiful sunshine and no wind, it was a pretty day for another walkabout the farm. I had Joshua in the wagon again, and Sarah and Jewel helped to push it up the hills; that was more good exercise. Inside for choretime and supper prep; Bibletime after supper and time for some ping pong and general rowdiness before the house quieted down for beds for all.

They are playing Derek and Meaghan.

Love my boys.

That’s it.

1-2-11 Sunday

Yes, Sunday again and I finally got to go to church with everyone.  Enjoyed sermons, enjoyed singing, and enjoyed fellowship immensely.  After church Dad wasn’t feeling very good so went straight to bed. The rest of us did ping pong, read, and played games until choretime. I sent everyone outside while I started supper; then Tori finished up supper while I did a farm walkabout with my 4 littlest, Joshua being in the wagon we got him for Christmas.  That’s some good exercise for sure, pulling that wagon up a few hills.  ASK came for supper and more games until bedtimes. Not much exciting, just how we like it; but we missed Dad and wished he was better.

1-1-11 Happy New Year

I have a cousin (once-removed, to be precise) who has a blog that I enjoy; Alyssa has a gift for writing which not only delightfully chronicles her family’s life but also eloquently expresses her love for her Lord. This week, writing about a new year dawning, her post took the words right out of my heart, so I have taken the liberty of sharing them here. They are Alyssa’s words, from her heart, but they echo the plea of my heart, and I hope they fly straight from this screen to your heart as well.  My son [and daughter], hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother (Proverbs 1:8):

Lord willing, we have a beautiful new year ahead of us, and I pray that we will make the most of it. Every day, every moment, is for Him. I hope in this upcoming year, I can be very conscious of that. Savoring each moment and taking the time to recognize what I'm doing, what I'm saying, what I'm thinking, instead of just functioning. I hope to keep at the forefront the idea that every breath I take has been sovereignly ordained by God and that I am accountable for every idle word and action. I hope all I do will be honoring my Creator.

Thank you Alyssa, for sharing your heart, your love for God, and the talent He gave you. It has blessed me, and I know it will bless others also.

We all slept in today and had a late brunch before starting our duties. Dad and the boys, including Joshua, did outside work, and we girls did kitchen work. The temperature dropped about 50 degrees last night; with a stiff wind, we are back to icy winter weather. But with the sun shining and blue skies sparkling, it was so pretty, with a spectacular sunset to finish out the day. Dad and I took Sarah and Jewel with us to return the first sink attempt to Lowe’s and do a few other errands; when we got home it was time for chores and getting ready to go away. As a thank-you for doing Our Family Circus, Grandpa and Grandma Kaiser treated us to supper at Avanti’s, which we all thoroughly enjoyed… except for Joshua, who, at one point, let out a cry and buried his head into my shoulder with his eyes squeezed shut.  I pulled him onto my lap, but he never did relax and eat his supper. We think he saw the shadowy reflection in the window of all the people behind us and just got scared. He had a bite of cheese and a bite of pizza and one fruit chew, but other than that, he kept his eyes squeezed shut and his head buried in my chest covered with his blankie. It was the strangest thing I’ve ever experienced with our children…and we’ve had quite a few experiences. Back at Grandpa’s house, he was his normal jolly self again – ate a lot of crackers but that was no mystery! We had a fun evening of playing games with Grandpa & Grandma and Aunt Joyce before coming home to beds for all.

And that’s it, with prayers for a blessed 2011 for all.