Who you are to us...

You are something different to everyone in this family...

To Noah, you are his very first sibling. The one who taught him to share. The one who would snuggle you on a cold night. The fearless brother who helped him break through his own natural cautiousness from time to time. Both the guinea pigs of parents who had no clue what they were doing. You were usually opposites, but still, so much love between you both...and so much history...

To Hannah, you are the kindred spirit. The one who would scoop up a snake or a cool bug that everyone else would walk by and not even notice. The one who'd smack his own self just to make her laugh. The dreamer, the brother full of imagination and always ready to play. So much the two of you have in common...

To Levi, you are the wild and crazy big brother. The one who would climb trees and jump bikes. The one who acts first and thinks later. The one who loves big, without boundaries. So much the two of you have in common...

To Esther, you are the big brother who could always make her giggle. The one who always had a sweet smile for "the baby". You share a love for people and animals. A little bit shy, a whole lot of fun...so much the two of you have in common...

To Dad, you are all boy. Boy who embraced dirt and adventure, skinned knees and spunk. No fear, a boy who loves to live loudly. You're the kid who taught him how important it is to be a Dad.

To me...oh, I'm not even sure I can put it into words. You were the baby who didn't ask for hard times or two houses. The child who ripped my heart open and then climbed right in to stay. The toddler who called me Mommy the very first time we met. The boy who brought me the world's biggest dandelions and told me 'Happy Mother's Day!' a week early so I would know I was important in his life. The sweet boy who loved me completely and accepted me fully into your life. The boy who had room in his heart for two moms and two dads. You are the boy who taught me that love is a sacrifice worth giving, that even when it hurts and you're far away, I can't love you with anything less than all of me.

You're 15 today. 3x5! You are loved by us all and you always will be. We'll never make up the lost time, but we pray you are healthy and strong through these days and hope for being reunited as you grow into adulthood in just a few short years. We love you, always and forever, and I hope you know this every single day. Happy birthday, Nicolas!

He LOVES me...

Did you ever just have a moment, when God does something so personal, just for you?  Something you never would have asked for, nor expected?  Something completely unnecessary but totally awesome?  Something that just about brings you to your knees with the knowledge of how very much He loves you and cares about every. little. thing. in your life...

First night of Kingdom Bound...4 days of Christian concerts as well as the crazy rollercoasters and other rides at Darien Lake.  First up...For King and Country.

We had settled into seats pretty far back and on the outside edge so that Brian could sit in his wheelchair and we could all sit together.  There was handicapped seating available, but only for the person in the wheelchair and one person with them.  That was okay, and we were happy to sit together where we were.

Then a staff/security volunteer came and talked with Brian for a minute...and asked us if we wanted to move to some empty VIP seats.  All of us, in the THIRD row!  I about started balling.  We moved up, My mom, Hannah, and I jumped up and down and screamed our lungs out.  Levi had a sweatshirt turban tied around his head and ears, and played Minecraft when he needed to "check out".  Esther...fell asleep.  Yes, in the third row.  And Brian and Noah spent the whole time grinning from ear to ear.  Simply amazing...

Some snippets from songs of theirs...in case you don't know them well...

"I've got a busted heart...hold on to me."
"You carry my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness all on Your shoulders...my help comes from You."
"Fix my eyes on You..."
"It's not over yet."

Thank you, God.  You give me more than I could ever ask for and certainly more than my feeble heart so often lacking in faith deserves.  Thank you for hope and that YOUR plans for us are only for good.  Thank you for loving me.

The Journey...Part 1

We are on day 18 of a 100+ day RV trip.  I spent hours planning and replanning, all the while knowing that I'd have to replan many times over on our trip.

Here are the changes we've made already...
*Staying an extra day in Richmond, due to weather.
*Going to Myrtle Beach instead of Pigeon Forge, due to weather.
*Boondocking our way from Myrtle Beach to Texarkana instead of staying a few days in Alabama, mostly due to weather.

As you can see, the weather plays a big part in our planning...and the weather is one thing we just can't count on ahead of time!

So far, the only place there hasn't been snow/slush/ice was Myrtle Beach.  The worst of it hit us in Louisiana, which cut our driving down to only 130 miles that day and had us all kissing the ground and praising God we were safe when we stopped for the day.

This trip, we opted to take two vehicles for several reasons...

*Ease of getting into cities or hard to navigate in areas.
*Ability to get parts and not be totally stranded if there is a vehicle breakdown.
*More room when traveling...6 people in a crew cab is pretty squishy on driving days, and the kids are NOT getting smaller!
*Fuel cost is really not higher, as fuel is cheaper everywhere but NY, and we'd be driving both vehicles if we were home, too!

The thing I failed to really consider is...driving two vehicles means Momma has to drive all.the.time.  We've gone just over 2,000 miles, and *I* have driven every single mile!  On our last big trip (51 days), I drove absolutely none of those miles.  Brian used to be an over the road tractor trailer driver, regularly running 1,800-2,500 miles every week.  I, however, reach my limit around 300 miles a day, which is about 5 hours of driving and 2-3 coffee/potty/fuel stops.  My limit also seems to be reduced with consecutive days of driving.

We had four days in a row of driving from Myrtle Beach to Texarkana (just over 1,000 miles).  The first day, we pushed hard, the weather was good, and we  made it over 400 miles.  The second day, we went just over 300 miles and the last hour was rough for me.  The third day was the 130 miles in the snow and freezing rain day, surrounded by people who are not accustomed to winter driving.  The fourth day was only 160 miles, on much improved roads, but by that fourth day, I'm not sure I could have gone more than 200 miles.

Ahead in our travels...mountains.  Big ones.  And I will need to drive through them...yes, this two vehicle decision was both a great and challenging one!

Another challenge related to driving is the reality that most of the time, I am behind Brian as he hauls the camper with his truck.  Every "near miss", I can't not see.  Every car that cuts in front of him makes me cringe.  Every time someone won't allow him to merge, my own anxiety increases.

 I fully admit to dealing with PTSD with car accidents/near accidents being the biggest trigger.  It's not fun, but I am dealing with this by listening to calming Christian music when we are in high traffic areas.  I also quote Scriptures as they come to me.  Most importantly, we are praying...a LOT.  We pray when we start our driving day.  We pray over the walkie talkies.  I pray under my breath.  And we praise God every day for a relatively uneventful journey.  God is stretching us all...and I pray our faith muscles are growing each day.

God is good...we are enjoying the journey.

Peace, out...

Homeschooling...think outside the box!

Encouragement to keep trying new things, if what you're doing is not working with one of your kids...

Hannah has a math problem.  And possibly an attention/focus problem.  She seems to not be able to memorize math facts at all.  Totally foreign to me, as I never have to teach  my boys math...they are always a step ahead of their curriculum.  It's okay...not everyone is good at the same things, and everyone struggles with something, right?

So...I held her back a year, just in math (3rd instead of 4th).  She just finished the second time through 3rd grade math.  She is currently working through three different 4th grade math programs simultaneously:  Kitchen Math (found online, free, no longer available), Mammoth Math 4, and Bob Jones Math 4 Review Sheets (I already had these).  She does 2 days of KM, 2 days of MM, and 1 day of BJU.  All have totally different teaching methods and goals.  In Kitchen Math, she can use a calculator.  In Mammoth Math, she is learning new concepts (this is rough...) and we are moving very slowly and using lots of manipulatives.  In BJU, often the concepts are ahead of MM, so we do it totally together.  There is also a lot of drill review.  She uses Unifix cubes for these drills and it does seem to be increasing her speed.

Ten years ago, when we started homeschooling, using three different curricula in this way would have never occurred to me.  But it's working for her!  The constant change in methods and levels seems to actually help her.

If what you're doing is not working...try something new!  Mix it up!  Think outside the box to do what each individual child needs.  Isn't that why we homeschool?

Baby Bottle Drive

January and February are usually the months we put all our change into baby bottles.  The contents of these bottles go to support the local crisis pregnancy center, Carenet.  Our whole family has fun finding change in the cracks and crevices of the van and the couch, and we love watching the bottles fill up!

This year, though, we have a dilemma.  We are about to head out on a 4 month RV trip.  What does that have to do with spare change?  Well, when we are at campgrounds, the kids buy treats at the camp store with change we have saved up for that purpose.  We will also be in need of rolls of quarters for laundry.  We've been saving our change since our last camping trip, last July.

Think, think, think...what could we do, to make our usual donation AND have change for our trip?

Solution:  Count and roll all the change (hello, real life homeschooling!).  Keep the change and write a check for that same amount!

We ended up with $78.50 in rolled coins, plus some more partial rolls!  Multiply our gift, God, and bless the ministry of Carenet, please!

One Word 2015

I realize we're about halfway through January already (how did that happen?!), but I have had trouble choosing my One Word this year.  Several have rolled through my brain and heart for days, but one of those has come up in the sermon for the past two weeks, so I'm going to go with that one and look forward to how God reveals it to me through the entire year.

My One Word for 2015...

REDEEM.

The story of 2014...He makes all things NEW!

Before we get too far into 2015, I really need to recap 2014...

What a year!  In my 34 years of life, I believe in 30 years or so, this one will still stand out for me.  So many amazing happenings, I'm not sure where to start, so I think  chronological order will work best...  Oh, and my one word for the year was "New," so that will be spread through the year, also.

January started with a wait.  The kind of waiting that makes even phone-a-phobes like me keep their phone with them at all times, fully charged.  The kind of waiting that makes you wake up several times a night and check your phone, just in case.  The kind of unpredictable waiting that involves the unpredictable nature of childbirth.  January 6th, right as the buttcrack of dawn appeared, I got a text saying it seemed this would be the day we had been waiting for!  I arrived at my sister's house to find her vacuuming and cleaning with fast purpose.  By late afternoon, I was so privileged to be present for the birth of my niece, Marlee Medora.  This is the only birth I have been present for from "this end."  Marlee was born at home, in a warm pool of water, AND with the amniotic sac intact until the very last moment.  Truly amazing...and my sister rocks labor and delivery!  NEW life!

February brought the usual in our family...lots of birthdays.  Levi turned 7 and took a bunch of friends to The Lego Movie and for pizza afterward.  Noah turned 14 and had a couple of friends over for movies and junk food.  Hannah turned 9 and had a sledding party that ended up being attended by only homeschooled friends, though others were invited.  Nick...he turned 13.  If you know anything about our past with him, you know that we haven't seen him in person in over 2 years.  On a whim, we brought his birthday presents to him (without warning, so his mother couldn't make sure he wasn't there).  I was actually opposed to even trying, out of fear of disappointment for myself and the other kids.  However, Nick was home and his mother did allow him to come out and see us for 10 minutes.  It was only 10 minutes, but it was 10 minutes...and we were so thankful!  We have been communicating with him almost weekly via Oovoo.  Things will never be the same as they were before "that day," but at this point, we are thankful for having contact at all.  NEW hope!

March had us finishing up trip planning for an RV trip to Texas and back!  We left March 25th and were gone for 51 nights.  We stayed in campgrounds or in the driveway of friends or family members.  We had several day stops in Viriginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.  We were in Texas for about 2 weeks. all the way from the Gulf Coast (High Island, TX) to DFW and Texarkana, where my husband has family.  It was the first trip to any ocean for the three little kids and me (Brian and Noah saw the ocean in Florida and Haiti when they went to Haiti in 2013).  One of the main purposes for our trip was to visit Brian's Granny in a Dallas suburb.  Unfortunately, there was some family drama when Brian's dad died.  We don't really understand why, but Brian's uncle hated Brian's dad and because this uncle is now taking care of Granny, he would not allow us to see her.  That was heartbreaking and there were many tears shed.  I will never understand...

All of April was spent on the road.  Amazing...  Part of why we took this trip was to see if we might want to be fulltime RVers once the 6 year legal thing got done.  We did, indeed, have this as one of our main plans, until something so clearly more awesome came up.  We did love our time in the camper together, and learned some things about what we wanted our next camper to have and ideas for longer trips in the future, even if the fulltime RV thing didn't pan out.  NEW dreams!

May brought us back home, the week after Mother's Day.  We were all exhausted, but proud of ourselves for doing something so big and kind of terrifying.  We did have some scary incidents, with tornadoes closeby, mountain travels, and a reoccurring fuel problem that we didn't figure out until months later.  NEW adventures!

When we came home, we realized that the house right next to my sister's new house was for sale.  But the whole house thing needs its very own post...so stay tuned for that!

June was not too exciting (sometimes, that's a good thing!).  We did loan our camper to my parents for an anniversary weekend getaway, and then got stuck at the campground for a few extra days when we went up.  The truck's fuel issues decided to flare up big-time and we ended up having parts overnighted to us from Buffalo and then my boys fixed it under the camper awning in the pouring rain.  Good times...

July...summer!  We had our usual week of VBS at church, where I was a crew leader for the first time ever.  The day that ended, we headed out to NW Pennsylvania, so Hannah could go to a new horse camp...Miracle Mountain Ranch.  She had a great time there and will definitely return!  We celebrated Brian's 6th tractorversary, the first one to fall on a Sunday, away from home.  Very nice...and we knew the end of the legal mess was coming soon!

August...my sweet Essie-Mae turned 6 and celebrated with a bowling party, which she won at the bowling league awards ceremony.  I started working for our church and Christian school, as treasurer's assistant.  My first paid position in my field!  Excellent learning opportunites for me in a wonderful environment, and I am thankful for that!  At the end of August, I graduated from Empire State College, with a Bachelor's of Science in Business, Management, and Economics, Concentration in Accounting!  This has been a very long journey and I am so glad to be done!  Who knows where God will lead me...  NEW horizons!

September started a new homeschool year.  The kids at home are in 9th, 4th, 2nd, and 1st grades.  What an adventure!  Soccer and Awana started back up, along with FLL (First Lego League...lego robotics), so our calendar was very full.  Hannah tried out the goalie position, which was terrifying to me, but she stuck it out all season and improved quite a bit!  Brave, strong girl...  Along with the business of fall, we spent all month going back and forth with offers to settle the 6 year thing.  Exciting and mentally/emotionally draining, all at once!  September 24th was the day we settled.  We got the call while we were on a homeschool field trip at Fort Stanwix...and I will never forget it, as long as I live.  Finished.  Done.  Finally!   NEW beginnings!

October...we bought a house!  More on that in the house post. ;)

November...we moved into that house!  More on that...

December...we have worked on making the house our own.  More on that, also!


It was a stressful year, with a lot of good mixed in.  When I think of the year as a whole, overwhelming gratitude is all that I come up with.  God has been good to us, so very good.  We don't deserve any of it, not really, and we are thankful.  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Happy New Year...and may the peace of God fill your heart and life with overwhelming joy and gratitude, also!