but wait, there’s more!

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Shanda

“From first to last it was crowded with delights.” LM Montgomery

My go-get-’em daughter Grace is on the hunt for a college and she made the decision to go to a Christian one. Weeks ago, it came to my mind that perhaps she would enjoy a college that was very familiar to me as it was a popular option for church students in the area that I grew up. In fact, my father took a few classes there, and Rich’s aunt also attended.

I was especially excited about it because my dear friend Joanna (who is mentioned on this blog about a thousand times) lives not far from the school. So I thought, “Wouldn’t it be neat to visit the college with Grace and then get to see Joanna?”

We went on their website and chose a date to visit: November 11th. Conveniently, this was a vacation day for Grace from school. I emailed Joanna to see if she would be in town that day.

BUT WAIT, there’s more! Not only was she in town, but she was SPEAKING at a ladies conference and asked if Grace and I would like to go with her. Of course we would!

About a week later, as I was preparing our trip details, it came to my knowledge that…..

BUT WAIT, THERE’s more! My son Ethan (who is a Freshman at a college in Vermont) was going to be IN THE SAME AREA for a wrestling tournament!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What???? are the odds? The tournament was on the same day as the conference so I was conflicted. After thinking about how to solve this problem, I thought that perhaps Ethan’s girlfriend would like to come along with us. SHE could surprise Ethan by showing up at his meet and that way I wouldn’t feel bad for being at a Bible conference while my son was literally only 30 minutes away from me (my heart!).

So, eventually, I received a “yes”from Tessa, but she asked if maybe David could go along as well, so she wouldn’t have to hang around at the gym alone.

Our little trip now included two extra teenagers=the more the merrier! I made reservations at a hotel situated in between both events and had good reviews, and a reasonable price.

We headed out of town in the darkness of 4:30 a.m. on Friday morning.

Grace was blessed over and over by the people of this school, and during the tour she was shown many things to be excited about. She enjoyed every minute.

BUT WAIT, THERE’s more!

While we were sitting in the dorm listening to our tour guide explain dorm life, a familiar face walked by. I recognized this young lady as the daughter of an old friend of mine! It was a joy to see and speak with her, and for Grace as well, especially after realizing she was the cousin of her friend Kyle and a best friend of her cousins. “It’s a small world” & “church connections” are the best!

Our tour at the school was over at 3:30. Joyfully, Joanna was able to finish up her work and texted me to ask if we could go to her house for pizza dinner. This was another unexpected blessing: to be able to see her entire wonderful family, see the things she’s done in her home since the last time I was there, and also allow Grace and Dave to meet her husband and children.

Before we went to her house, we decided to head to our hotel to relax for an hour. We checked into our room and dove on the beds, each of us with our own electronic device.

But wait, there’s more! I checked our group text (between my husband, myself, and our three oldest) and saw that Rich had questioned Ethan about where the wrestling team was staying that night. We hadn’t asked him before because we didn’t want him to become suspicious about us going to his tournament.

GUESS WHAT???????? The team was driving to our VERY SAME HOTEL to spend the night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can imagine the squeal of shock as I leapt out of bed in my joy. Tessa and I were beyond amazed and thrilled to learn that we would actually SEE ETHAN THAT VERY NIGHT!

You have to realize, we were in a very populated area in PA, there are probably one hundred hotel options, and God put us in the SAME EXACT ONE!

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WITH MY FRIEND AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! after two years!

love you, Josephina! 🙂

Steve and the kids were just the sweetest and nicest and we had delicious pizza together before heading back to the hotel.

Using the handy dandy “find my phone” feature on our iPhones Rich was able to let me know when Ethan’s bus was within 10 minutes of the hotel. Grace and I sat in the lobby, and I was still in denial that this whole thing was happening. I felt like “I’ll believe he is truly staying in this hotel when I see the bus pull up.”

AND IT DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grace ran off to get Tessa for Ethan’s surprise #2 and I wasn’t aware of it so I didn’t get that one on video. But he was thrilled to say the least. After the team settled into their rooms, Ethan was able to come back to us and we were able to see each other until almost 11pm.

The next morning, I drove Dave and Tessa to the college to watch the wrestling tournament. Grace and I continued on to Joanna’s house. We picked her up and had time to go through Dunkin’ drive thru for tea, and then to the church where Joanna was one of three women speakers.

Right off the bat, my soul was being soothed by the songs, the women, and the atmosphere. It was just what we needed to make this weekend away from home PERFECT.

And to see my daughter and my dearest friend together…..Bibles open…..learning, growing, singing praises, loving…..it was such a gift. God ministered to me and my children over and over in the most tangible ways. It was overwhelming, to say the least. I’m still feeling the adrenaline rush as I type.

Joanna’s talk was Christ centered and soulful, I was in tears. One of the stories she told was about the time she and her husband adopted their daughter from Ethiopia, and how moving it was to be able to take the orphanage clothes off her new baby, and, as her new mama, to dress her in a handmade, beautifully smocked dress (made just for her by dear Dawn). This continues to serve as a beautiful reminder to her of the very same way that God clothes us as His dearly beloved children, showing us that we belong to Him.

She even had the dress with her to hold up and show the women. Tears!

(Dawn made Sarah Joy a dress with the same pattern)

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sisters in Christ, friends for over twenty years, soul sisters, always and forever

Joanna came with Grace and me to the remainder of the wrestling tournament. This was the first meet she had ever watched, and it was fun to share with her something that is a HUGE part of my life each winter. We had missed out on Ethan’s two matches but Tessa was kind enough to record them for us. He lost his first match by points, and won the second by a pin.

I was able to meet one of the other moms of the team, and two of the coaches as well. It was fun to watch the matches and it made me excited for the upcoming wrestling season for my younger boys.

The meet ended and we took a few photos before Ethan got on the bus for Vermont.

(David took a 2 hour nap in the hallway during the meet, LOL) And Grace (although you can’t tell) was in tears and starting to feel shaky and sick. The excitement was starting to catch up to her.

So Joanna and I dropped them off at the hotel and the two of us were able to go out to eat. She took me to a Greek place that she and Steve go to on their dates. (Thank you to Steve for the suggestion!)

You can just imagine all the talking we did.

I took her home and continued back to my hotel room, completely filled up with the goodness of the day.

The next morning we allowed ourselves to sleep in a little. We left by 9 and made a stop at Krispy Kreme donuts before entering the highway for the three and a half hour drive home.

This post doesn’t even begin to describe all the ways God blesses our lives. But it does give a taste of how what we think will be an ordinary life can become abundantly and richly touched by His hand. It was a *praise and thank you Jesus* sort of weekend! And it is a *praise and thank you Jesus sort of life* for all those who believe on His name.

“May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” Numbers 6:24-25

But there are also many other things which Jesus did–so vast a number indeed that if they were all described in detail, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would have to be written. John 21:25

restorative

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Shanda

This is going to be essentially a silent blog post other than what I’m typing right now because the photos are so beautiful….I want them to pull you in….I was outside for two hours this morning. I walked over roads and woods and fields. I took photos of every interesting sight I saw, the loveliness pulled me in and as I wandered along on my feet, and in my thoughts, I felt myself getting quieter and somehow, melancholy.

I came home, ate lunch, and this busy mama of seven took a three hour nap.

Restorative is the word that comes to mind.

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*****
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want….He restoreth my soul….He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake.

You have put gladness in my heart, more than their grain and new wine abound. In peace I will both lay down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.

You are loved, my friends.

we are surrounded by towns and surrounded by dentists….and yet….

Posted on October 19, 2016 by Shanda

“The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

“….your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

Almost five years ago to the day, one year old baby girl Sarah tripped and fell on her mouth, pushing one of her front teeth back up into her gums. I was going through a time of serious depression, trying so hard to take care of my family while fighting exhaustion and anxiety, both spiritual and mental. I was running on empty and this just added to my sadness and stress.

We immediately called the doctor about her tooth but the doctor said it was the dentist’s job and the dentist didn’t return our call (it happened in the evening after hours). The next morning Sarah was acting like nothing had ever happened and was happy, so, with my eyes puffy with crying, I proceeded with my own doctor’s appointment that had been scheduled for weeks and Rich didn’t want me to miss.

While I was there at the clinic, I had a friendly nurse asking all about the children, so I opened my phone (flip phone!) to show her a photo of my seven young offspring. The first picture to appear was of poor Sarah’s mouth and the injured tooth, so I ended up explaining what had happened to the nurse.

She right away wanted to give me a referral to a wonderful pediatric dentist. She knew of him because he came to the clinic often to do dental services (his office was in another town half an hour away). She walked me out to the desk after my appointment to get me his number and just at that moment, the man himself walked out into the hallway! She stopped him and explained Sarah’s story right then and there, and I showed him the photo. He told me to bring Sarah to his office that afternoon at four!! It blew me away how God worked this out for Sarah. We went to the appointment and the whole experience felt like grace, he was so kind and professional and put our anxieties to rest in regards to Sarah’s little mouth injury. As we already had our own dentist, we thanked him and went on our merry way…….thankful for this unexpected help from a stranger.

Fast forward five years………

Sarah had her six month cleaning last Monday and we found out that the very same front tooth is abscessed. The hygienist guessed right away that it had been injured at some point. The doctor came in and said that as Sarah also needed a frenectomy he could refer us to someone to have the tooth extracted and the frenectomy done at the same time to save Sarah from extra anxiety (after her year of kidney woes she isn’t a big fan of dentists or doctors).

I called the number he gave us as a referral and was told they could do the extraction but not the frenectomy. I called a few more pediatric dentists and was told the same thing. I called back our dentist and explained what was happening and asked the receptionist to figure it out and make the calls for me, as it was more of an urgent case and I didn’t have the clout of being a physician in expediting the appointment or figuring out what to do. She agreed to make the calls and I congratulated myself for letting go of control.

It took a full 24 hours to hear back from anyone. Last night, as I waited in the dark car for Grace to get done with drama rehearsal, my cell phone rang. The lady on the phone explained that she was calling me because she was contacted by my dentist in regards to Sarah , and she began telling me about the office and where they were located. To make a long story short:

IT IS THE VERY SAME DENTIST THAT HELPED US OUT FIVE YEARS AGO WITH THIS TROUBLESOME TOOTH. This guy must be a super hero?

She has a consultation appointment today at 10:50!

***
We got back home a little while ago and the appointment was great. He said that her tooth was wriggly enough that she can get it out herself. He put her on antibiotics. He said that she could wait on the frenectomy for several years and it would be better for her psyche if we waited. Rich and I totally agreed. 🙂 Oh and they remembered her!

thankful, so very very thankful

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Shanda

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These mashed potatoes are soooooooooo good!

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I’m still using my Grandma’s potato masher.

fiesta potholders
martha stewart pot

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The potatoes were a snack for these fine young men. (By the way, I took all these photos last week but didn’t post them yet). Ethan had a week home from college.

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Rich was away on a business trip for five days. I took this picture of the boys for him after their football practice….as you can see, Seth is full of energy STILL!

This morning he was showing me how his shorts didn’t stay up and I said, “Dressing you is like trying to dress a broom stick.” and he said, “That’s because I’m skinny.”

He also said, “When I grow up I’m not going to get married so I can still live with you.” “You don’t have to get married but you could still have your own place,” I replied. “I’ll be your neighvor.” he said. (exactly how he pronounced it)

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WHAT??? All I did was walk out the front door when I discovered this very very cool green insect on the dresser on the porch. Isn’t it amazing?

You can make discoveries at any time and any place. Keep your eyes open.

I want to draw this bug. Wouldn’t it be fun to draw this bug?

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I have a fascination with the Salem Witch Trials but this book was disappointingly difficult to read. It put me to sleep every evening. I finally put it down and read reviews on amazon — gratified to see the majority of them felt the same as I did. I bought this book at Costco and will be returning it.

The Trouble with Magic, by Ruth Chew (my latest read to Sarah book)
Little Women
The Little’s Surprise Party
Young Amelia Earhart
Tales of Peter Rabbit and his Friends
Heidi (full of illustrations)
Art book
Charlie Brown book

I love having books everywhere I turn here.

Sarah reading to Mama.

Seth reading to Mama (with Sarah next to us).

Little Bear books are the best. You know they make me tear up? Heartwarming stories. And then she wrote Hunger Games, can you believe that? (I did read Hunger Games and enjoyed it but got bored with the rest of the series, haven’t seen the movies.)

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Dress up

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Another homegrown pumpkin (we had four)

Kids are the best

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a bunny bee and soft flower petals

(isn’t it so cute?)

To be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars; to be satisfied with your possessions, but not contented with yourself until you have made the best of the them; to despise nothing in the world except falsehood and meanness, and to fear nothing except cowardice; to be governed by your admirations rather than by your disgusts; to covet nothing that is your neighbor’s except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manners; to think seldom of your enemies, often of your friends and every day of Christ; and to spend as much time as you can with body and with spirit, in God’s out-of-doors–these are the little guide-posts on the foot-path of peace.

Henry Van Dyke.

((David caught a snake.)) Yesterday Michael and Logan walked to our house to visit and said they rescued a snake from the road, it’s tail was run over so they put the hurt snake in the woods. I was so happy with them.

Our cats love sleeping in laundry baskets.

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DAVID!!!! getting so tall and changing daily…..drinking that yummy raw milk does wonders. He’s been on the Rip Stick (see it behind him) a lot lately. He loves to go to football practice with his brothers and while they are on the fields, he is on the parking lot with the rip stick (for 2 hours!). Last night he was hungry and made himself a little pot of rice for a bedtime snack. He’s the best at making rice and has a scientific precise way of making it. He’s also been eating tortilla chips and salsa on a constant basis. It always amuses me to see the kids to through “their favorite snack” stages. I remember when Grace would eat a can of corn every day.

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In a weak moment, I let Parker take a nap next to me.

GLOWING GLOWING GLOWING…….the outdoors is simply dazzling.

“Early in the morning, my song shall rise to Thee.”

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Ethan and Tessa making pasta for dinner.

Is there anything more cozy than being outside and looking at the bright windows of YOUR house, with YOUR family inside???

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Last night Seth looked back at me as he was going downstairs to bed and said, “Mom in the morning I want eggs for breakfast,” and he pointed his finger at me like Gary George, and continued, “Fried. Two.” Then, a thumbs up. I was smiling, “Okay Seth!” So this morning I put a healthy amount of butter in a cast iron pan and fried him up two eggs, served with whole wheat toast.

He said to me, he said to me with his mouth full, “This is a good breakfast, mom.”

little walk

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Shanda

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Rich normally arrives home from work around 6pm but yesterday he arrived at 4:30. I was just taking dinner out of the oven, I had made an early dinner not for the reason I believed (I was so hungry) but because Father-God arranged it that way so we could eat together.

I made a big casserole of about 5 pounds of browned hamburger, plus lots of taco seasoning, a big can of enchilada sauce, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of creamed corn, and cheddar cheese all mixed together. I baked it in the oven until it was bubbling and melty. It was sort of like a thick soup. My thoughts were that we could each have a bowl of it, with a dollop of sour cream, chopped tomatoes, and black olives on top. With a huge bag of tortilla chips, this was a dinner everyone loved. Basically glorified chips and dip.

We had a nice meal together around the table with Dave (14), Caleb (11), Seth (7), and Sarah (6). We were missing the three oldest children but I happily noticed how much David was talking and realized that with the three oldest growing up and not around to eat dinner with us as often, he is able to be the respected, listened to, older brother at the table. It’s all good. In a large family the middle children can let lost (or the youngest….but in our case Seth and Sarah have no problem being seen and heard). It’s that middle one, Dave, who hasn’t had much to say with the older ones in the room. He’s moving up in ranks, so to speak, and it is good.

We finished dinner at 5 and I said “let’s go to the school and go for a walk while we wait for Grace to be done at 6!” The children scattered while I yelled, “Get a jacket !!!” after them, 25 times.

Still, Seth and Sarah had no jackets when we got there.

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The only thing I stressed about was that the typically quiet school road ended up being a lot busier than we expected. Every three to five seconds there was a car going by us. We kept the running, skipping, happy, offspring in the grass on the side of the road, trying to reduce their chances of running into the street. Rich was relaxed, but I was on heightened alert. MOTHERS! Can’t relax. *sigh* It’s all good though. (said a little less confidently).

He wasn’t concerned in the least……I love him…..we balance each other out.

Other than the traffic, it was lovely in every way. Cool crisp air, all of us together in a pack, and a nice walk up the hill and down. Great for the leg muscles.

Oh and did I mention Dave was catching Pokemon? He loves that game.

Seth and Sarah’s arms were like ice. Poor babies!!!! They insisted they weren’t cold!

It’s a very rare occasion when Seth gives me a sweet smile for the camera. He looks so handsome (and cold) in this photo.

We picked up Grace and went to McDonalds for 49 cent ice cream cones.

Incidentally, I bought Grace the shirt a week ago and she wore it for the first time yesterday. I said, “Grace, you wore your shirt today!” and she said, “I LOVE this shirt! It made me feel fabulous!” (tip for blue days!)

Even though I went out and had my nails and hair done yesterday, this little family walk was the highlight of my day by far.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

praising

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Shanda

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This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long.

For almost a year we have been taking our youngest child to doctor’s appointments for what began as a UTI that kept coming back. Because of the UTI, we were sent to a specialist and learned (after tests) that by the age of five, she had a large amount of kidney stones in her right kidney. She endured an 8 hour robotic surgery in January to have them removed, then another procedure a month later in which she was asleep for 2 hours to remove the stent they had placed and to check to make sure every stone was indeed gone (they were).

A month or so later, during an ultrasound follow up visit, we were told she had hydronephrosis of that same kidney, which may or may not have occurred because of the stone removal surgery. However, two of the doctors had also been questioning why that kidney ended up with so much stone and believed that she had an intermittent blockage and/or kink in the ureter. So we went for more tests. The MAG-3 (in which she was put to sleep) showed that the right kidney was at 14% function, while the left was at 86%. We also learned from another test that she had reflux on that same side. Therefore, another robotic surgery was necessary, to remove the part of the ureter that showed the blockage. She had this surgery, which was about 6 hours long, on July 6.

A month later, we went in for another “magical sleep” so that she could have the stent removed which was in place after the surgery in July. While talking to us afterwards, the doctor was optimistic, but very cautious, with her report– leading my very vivid imagination to imagine the worse (although hoping, in a very small degree, for a good outcome).

We got a call two days ago telling us that the doctor who performed Sarah’s surgeries had left the hospital to pursue a private practice and I was absolutely floored. We had formed an attachment to her and I never dreamed she would “vanish”. I almost cancelled the follow up appointment because I didn’t want to see a doctor that was unfamiliar with our case. There was an opening for next week with another doctor that we’ve seen many times before, but I was so anxious for the results of the appointment that I decided to go ahead with the unfamiliar Doctor.

It turned out for the best (God) because low and behold this Doctor had indeed been there for us–the very first time we had walked in the doors of the medical center with the “UTI” issues. Although I did not remember her, she remembered us. We had come full circle because this time, instead of passing us along to the Surgeon, she was able to give us much better news.

THE KIDNEY LOOKS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She wasn’t able to see all the images from radiology, (which was the first time she had this “glitch”), but with shining eyes she showed us the one image she had — and also shared with us the words from the Radiologist who had studied ALL the images, “It looks so much better”.

I spent the rest of yesterday exhausted from so many months of anxiety suddenly gone. Happily, tearfully, radiantly, thankfully, exhausted. After the appointment, Sarah and I went, as is our habit, straight to the gift shop and the cafeteria right there in the hospital. Then we went shopping at the mall where she selected things with sparkles and glitter on them. We held hands. I texted Rich, Mom, and Dave to give them the report, but I didn’t proclaim anything from the rooftops (so to speak) because the Doctor had said she would call me after she had seen the rest of the images, and depending on how she thought things looked we would be back in a month or three months.

She just called.

Everything looks great and we don’t have to go back for three months.

Everything really does look great!!!!!!!!!!!!!

((Will Sarah get another kidney stone? Probably. She is definitely a “stone maker” but with the kidney draining properly she is more likely to pass them before they get to be a big huge problem like last year. She’s drinking a lot more and they also told us to give her an orange a day.))

Sarah was nothing but a bouncing bubbling little girl after her appointment. She’s only six but she knows happy news when she hears it.

I’ve been taking photos of these early fall days;

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shades of light pink and deep pink

The whiteness in the berry cluster in the middle is a spider’s nest….what a nice place to live.

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mushroom

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brown moccasins & wool socks

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the stream is low and shines like a mirror

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

another creature home; is your door surrounded by lovely green moss? I wish mine was!

orange rainbows on a dead log

food for the birds

chickadee on a sunflower

Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

this is my story
this is my song
praising my Savior
all the day long

“He who gives you the day
will also give you the things necessary for the day.”
Gregory of Nyssa

just a little walk with caleb.

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Shanda

You may not realize this, but I have a son named Caleb. He is son #4.

I cannot imagine the family without our Caleb. He respects everyone; man, woman, child, and animal. He notices things; beautiful things. He not only holds my hand but it’s all his idea. He is 11 years old and likes to hug and lean against his mama, still, like a much younger child would. He knocks me off balance when he does because he’s such a very strong, solid boy. When he walks we can hear him stomp. When he jumps he lands with a thud. When he laughs the sun comes out. When he sleeps he buries his face in pillows. He tells the truth. He chews his nails off to the quick.

He and Ethan had cleanings this morning at the dentist in town. They both hate the dentist so I had to go along to give the poor babies love and moral support. Caleb had his teeth cleaned first and when he came back I asked him if he would go outside with me to stretch our legs while we waited for E. Even though he was all set to read about football he readily said yes.

I’m thankful for my son Caleb.

He’s a great kid. I can tease him, say no to him, lecture him, or love on him and he never complains. This summer he has listened to JR Tolkien audio books every night and he is currently reading several books, including The Hobbit. He goes to football practice every afternoon and during the day he plays with his siblings. He loves to play video games. He likes his things to be neat and organized and gets very upset when his siblings disturb his legos. He sneezes a lot so I give him Zyrtec in the morning and that helps. I think his favorite color is green. Sometimes when he is silly he makes a “buck-hack” sound like a chicken, which is super annoying. Seth does it now, too. Caleb is always asking to have friends over. He absolutely loves the family dog; Parker gets a lot of attention from his boy Caleb.

“YOU’VE MADE THIS DAY SPECIAL
JUST BY BEING YOU.
THERE’S NO ONE IN THE WORLD
QUITE LIKE YOU, AND
I LIKE YOU JUST THE WAY YOU ARE.”

We discovered a nice stream by the dentist office. It was shady under the trees and the water was warm. We studied the sumac plant (first pic), admired a tall mushroom, sank our feet in soft moss, and showed each other our best jumping skills.

It was much better than sitting in a waiting room.

a little bit of this a little bit of that

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Shanda

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I made my way to the kitchen in order to make that first cup of coffee. Sarah was on the couch in the living room and the boys were still asleep.

Our nineteen year old son Jacob had left in the wee hours of the morning to go on a road trip and as I poured Sarah’s drink of milk I was touched to see that he had left me a note. It was on the other side of the counter so I had to reach across to pull it toward me, turning it right-side-up in order to read it.

What was it going to say? Perhaps; “I’ll miss you, dearest mother”?, or, “Don’t worry, I will drive safely, God is with me.”? how about, “Give my siblings a hug and kiss for me when they wake up, I’ll miss them!” ? or “I did the laundry before I left” ?

I was so surprised when I read it that I just had to laugh!

What sort of 19 year old leaves notes of remorse about finishing up FOOD?

And that “I love you” tacked on the end. Even his name made me smile! “Jake” not Jacob, but “Jake”. My little Jake, not so little…..but still as sweet as ever.

Does he not know, has he not heard? Mothers want the children to eat ALL the ham salad! Mothers eat lots of ham salad only if they have a sneaking suspicion that the children don’t like it and it will go to waste!

His mother would gladly give him ALLLLLLLL the ham salad!!!!!!!!

The note should have said, “I’m sorry I left the empty ham salad container and little bits of it on the counter for YOU to clean up instead of throwing it away myself!” Am I right? No, maybe not. I saw more of his priceless self and heart in his own quickly written, 3 o’clock in the morning, sincere, paper-towel written love letter than anything else he could have written.

(((my heart))) just never knows what God will give it each day…that little unexpected boost to brighten the moments. So many each day that I lose track. My heart gives grateful praise. A ham salad note. I can’t even……what next? I can’t wait to see.

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A song for Friday:

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truths to make your heart sing:

“So, we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without His unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:16, The Message translation

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Strength for today is mine all the way,
And all I need for tomorrow.
My Lord knows the way through the wilderness,
All I have to do, is follow.
~Sidney E. Cox, 1950, (from the baptist hymnal)

**Have a very blessed Friday, you are loved!**

what my brother did for me

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Shanda

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About a week or so ago, while my poor brother Dave was in pain passing a kidney stone, he read my blog post about how and why I was a fan of Rosemary Wells.

And guess what that thoughtful guy did without me knowing a thing about it?

He emailed Rosemary Wells with the blog link and she read it!

She emailed him back and said thank you for the once in a lifetime review and asked for my address so she could mail my family the newest books.

They came today!

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I love how she wrote “For Shanda’s family”.

I will treasure these books for the rest of my life.

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I already read them out loud to Sarah, of course. She liked the Warthog’s wedding story best because it had an *ibunny phone* all throughout out it, with a flap she could lift in order to see a map. The green dot on the map was where Max and Ruby were in the hotel as they searched for a lost wedding ring.

Anyway, aren’t brothers the best? I’m so thankful to have three of them and Dave is now my absolute favorite because of what he did. (((LOL) only teasing, Nate and Isaac!)))

To think, she saw my post!! And sent me two hardcover books!

It was just the uplifting mail we needed today because………..

…….tomorrow little Sarah bird is going back to the hospital for another surgery.

This one is to fix a “congenital obstruction of the ureteropelvic junction.” The surgery is a “robotic UPJ/pyelopasty”.

It is expected to last 6 hours, or more.

This obstruction is what the doctors believe caused the large amount of kidney stones which they removed in January. She also has reflux but they told me that as a rule they fix the obstruction first…..so…..ugh. (hoping we are reaching the end of this adventure but I know we have a few months and procedures left)

Gratefully, Sarah is happy. We are all acting like it’s an exciting sleepover with Mama. She knows that she will get to watch movies in the middle of the night if she can’t sleep. And during the day she can go to an art class and the family resource center and the toy room, so in the knowledge of these joyful prospects, we conveniently forget about the surgery part. And besides, she’s asleep the whole time and it doesn’t hurt when you’re asleep! (that’s what we overheard her telling Seth in a very authoritative voice).

We have our bags packed.

The best part for me is that Rich has the entire week off and will be with us the whole time with no pressures to get back to work.

little bouquets by the kitchen sink

hugging the best cat ever

a soft sweet neck and little whisps of blond

a pair of cardinals that I photographed this morning from the porch, while it was raining

surprises, gifts, and blessings

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Shanda

I was going to blog yesterday but ended up with a typical full day even fuller.

My son crashed his bike going fast down the road and we had to get him checked out in the ER just to be sure he didn’t fracture anything and thankfully, he didn’t. He has sprains, aches, scrubs, and pains.

When we got home there were extra people here who Jacob had brought over with him and my husband was away for the night because he has a business meeting in NYC.

I made dinner for 9 teenagers (7 of them boys, 2 girls) and 3 children. And then made milkshakes. We watched a movie (Goosebumps) and it was fun but I have to be honest and say I was really tired by the end of the day and went to bed early, as soon as I put Seth, Sarah, and Caleb to bed. (it was 9pm).

Isn’t the shagbark hickory tree interesting? I came across one the other night as I rambled in the woods.

Just look at the bark shagging = God-art. Living, real, true, and quiet. Never asking for attention. People with the hearts and eyes to see go searching and even then don’t witness all that God does in His creation. But they see enough to feel gratitude, peace, and are fed spiritually.

Just days after I confessed to my sisterinlaw Cassandra that I hate making pie crust, I made pie crust! I just did it differently this time, which is to say without fears, and with confidence. Very quickly the crust was made ( life is exciting, even in the kitchen making pie)

We had quiche for breakfast.

And I made a homemade, *I picked the berries myself and the rhubarb came from the garden*, Strawberry Rhubarb pie for tomorrow! (ethan’s graduation party)

They did this all on their own but I did tell them with the voice of an experienced Mom not to go too far into the woods. Seth and Sarah put on their backpacks. Seth’s had one big water balloon it it (yellow), and Sarah had food in hers. They took along walkie talkies. And left side by side for an adventure! Grace and I watched them from the porch. They did just great and came back before I could worry.

David found a formula on youtube for lightening his hair. It consisted of lemon juice, salt, shampoo, and not sure what else. He did it the other day. I’m not used to it yet but I don’t mind in the least. I like what he does. He also found a walking stick from the woods and has been working on it. Sanding it now and then painting it soon. Look at his toe keeping the stick still.

Seth took one look at dinner (Shepherd’s Pie) and said accusingly, with a grimace, “You put eggs on it.” Home-raised chicken eggs, when scrambled, ARE that yellow, but this was in fact, cheddar cheese.

Table full of loved ones; my kids and my kids’ friends who are also my kids because I love them allllllllllllllll……….

Isn’t she lovely? She made the daisy wreath for her hair and when I saw her walk into the house I said, “Wait let me get my camera” the flower wreath on the door made it even better.

two wreaths when just a moment before I was in the living room tidying up!!!!!

Life is full of surprises, gifts, and blessings!

Some of the surprises aren’t that great though!!!!

milkshakes for everyone

scarlet tanager!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

another gift. I like to wander down to the end of the yard by the bushes and stream at the end of the day because the sun is still shining on the treetops.

and there are a lot of birds

This morning I witnessed tragedy. I was sitting on the wooden bench on the porch facing the road and the trees across the road. Gypsy moth caterpillars are continuing to eat leaves and Baltimore Orioles are up there eating the caterpillars. I was drinking my coffee in my nightgown and robe and looking through my camera photos with the bird book because I take pictures of any bird I see so I can identify them later on. Well, I heard a *bird scolding sound* and looked up just in time to see this mother oriole chasing a crow up the road. I quickly lifted up my camera and miraculously got a clear picture of them. I wasn’t expecting them to return, but moments later I looked up again just in time to see them SOARING BACK DOWN ABOVE THE ROAD BUT THIS TIME THE CROW HAD A TINY BABY BIRD IN IT’S TERRIBLE BEAK. The mother was still scolding and chasing it out of my sight. I didn’t see them come back.