Turning 52

I woke up with You Make Beautiful Things, playing in my mind. A beautiful song - especially meaningful to me as it was a song I listened to a lot after the Tsunami in Japan. It was also the background to a slide show about the recovery/youth missions at chapel in that season.

Nothing was set in stone, but after our planned but cancelled, vision trip in July 2015 to Tokyo, I assumed we'd be in Japan by my 52nd birthday. Some days the longing is big - today is one of those days. I continue to rest in the knowledge that God has a good plan and He will reveal it step by step. 

Sunday mornings can be hard around here. If we run into another camper in the shower house - it throws us off. We actually MADE IT TO CHURCH BEFORE 0900 TODAY!!!!! I consider that a cosmic birthday gift. We enjoyed another wonderful morning celebrating Jesus with The Rivers in Yuba City. I'll need to say more about this church in another post. 

Back at the campground, I opted for a nap. Michael took the laundry and braved the hoards....the playoff game was a perfect time to wait for laundry. Go Broncos. 

I was able to chat with all the kids - that's always an accomplishment and a highlight to any celebration. 

I'm not currently eating sugar. I had decided before embarking on this season I'd break for birthdays this year - if I wanted to. Michael began asking what sort of cake I'd like and I realized I didn't want one. What I REALLY wanted was a night without rain so we could enjoy the kids' Christmas fire pit.... s'mores seemed the perfect stand in  for a cake. We were blessed to do just this. 

Alex helpfully held a flashlight so I could see who each gift is from. Stacia got me some ERASABLE color pencils. I didn't even know they made them. She and I have been coloring together. I love the thought that goes into her gifts. 

I kept "things" to a minimum in the Caboose. I inadvertently bought two hot pads that should have been tossed when we moved out of our house. Alex got me two really lush oven mitts. The hot pads have been tossed. The one of the right says, "Life is beautiful, enjoy the ride."

I've been putting kitchen towels over the stove top to let dishes air dry. I don't want a drainer in my limited space. Nolan purchased this drying mat - fits perfectly over the stove top. It's also a color other than brown. LOL

My baby Bosch spent both the birthday and Christmas budget for me. Michael got me a couple of things anyway. I've been wanting an instant thermometer - and am thrilled to have one now. The Super woman shirt....well.....I'm happy to have the kids and Michael view me that way. One does feel a bit egotistical wearing the shirt.

Check out the hat. Stacia knitted it for me. She's been "reading" an AWFUL lot this week with her curtain closed. I've checked on her often and she always looked a bit sketchy to me. I worried - but now I get it. She was making me a hat to match my sweatshirt as the one she made me before is "only white."  The sifter is another gift from Michael as the Vitamix leaves a few wheat berries.....

Yes, they sang Happy Birthday and then I attempted to blow out the fire. 

We ended the day by streaming an episode of Leverage. Don't judge. We finished Monk and wanted something to end our days. 

It was a great day to reflect on another year....I'm healthy, I'm happy. I'm going to be a granna this year.  The day was a good balance of worship, community, family and fire. 

Wake Up Call #WYFF

Old bones like the heat

She's a darling - but oy vey! - she has GI issues. She pukes, she rumbles, emits horrendous gaseous fumes and has the most disgusting looking diarrhea.....we've tried everything. Dry and wet dog food. Prescription - organic dog food....on some of them she'd lose a couple of symptoms for a few months and then they'd all be back.

She's been tested for parasites, a host of diseases and all the "old dog" labs and everything comes back normal.

I make her food now. When I do she doesn't have gas, she usually doesn't have terrible diarrhea and the puking is lessened.  She also has a shiny coat....but the vet doesn't like it. I've tried every dog food they recommend....but she gets all the symptoms....and finally I've decided bloody stools are worse than any vitamin she may miss in the food I make for her. She's happier when I cook for her. She doesn't lose as much weight.  She gets a chicken like stew/mash with a spoonful of pumpkin on top.

And still......she wakes me up at 0430 puking at my doorway. Precious. ::snort:: I've told her I prefer the shaking collar as she tells me she wants a walk over the puking.

Turning this into our #WYFF entry as we totally forgot yesterday. My feet were busy staying dry and warm in the trailer.

#WYFF (Where's Your Feet Friday) is sponsored by Fulltime Families. View more of our Friday exploits by clicking the #WYFF tab above. 

We Did It

Yuuki woke me up at 0430. In our S&B home I would have gotten an early start on the day's chores by baking bread......

But the Vitamix sounds like "throwing rocks in a transmission" and smooths out to the sound of a jet engine (according to Michael - he knows).  

Even running the Baby Bosch will wake my sleeping family.  

I wait. 

I neglected to store my Honey Oat Wheat bread recipe on the blog. The book  it's from - No More Bricks - is in storage somewhere and I'm too cheap to buy a second copy. I looked up Marilyn's Famous Whole Wheat Bread recipe. It's an old standby. 

Eventually all are up, the wheat is ground, I figure out how to attach the dough hook to the Baby Bosch and how to get it "un-parked" and I'm ready to try, once again, to make bread in the trailer. 

I was happy and comfortable leaving the Bosch alone - we are never too many steps from it in the trailer - but Stacia stood and held the lid on the whole 8 minutes it kneaded. 

Bread dough! It worked 

Window Test - could have stood a bit more kneading

 Here is my dilemma. I want the bread to rise.....but this rack is lowered as low as possible. It is below the "groove."  The brick below is resting on the plate directly above the burner - to even out the heat.  Can you see the top of the loaf is touching the top of the oven?????  Yes that is the depth of the oven - you see here the rack below the lowest groove for it and the top of the bread is the top of the oven.  I've enjoyed the challenge of cooking for a family of 5 with this set up.

No more bricks! 

 We'll just have to put up with the occasional caved in loaf because it rose to high!  Beats the bricks. ::snort::  I'll keep playing with the best way to bake in the oven but it's safe to say - We're HOME - fresh baked bread is possible in the trailer. 

Not sure why they look so pale in the photo

How Much Has it Rained?

Here are some shots from our afternoon walk - and they'll answer the above question too.  Earlier in the year (Nov/Dec) we walked along dry creek beds...they are no longer creek beds.

Dry Creek no longer

 

We stopped to enjoy the water, played Pooh sticks and examined some tracks. We think these are skunk? Anyone have a better guess?

This lake is full of trees - stumps and concrete at the bottom

This was before she slipped and whammed her tailbone pretty good - in the mud. When I checked to see how she was she wailed, "My hands are dirty!" After her hands were cleaned she was ready to continue the walk.

Alex, Stacia, Nolan

Nature Walk 

BreAnne and Bella enter Their 3rd Trimester

Today is the day! BreAnne is in her third trimester and we are thanking God for this baby every day - and praying for the remainder of the pregnancy to be healthy. This is a milestone......

Are the not ADORABLE? Izzak painted the nursery this darling pink and hung
the border as well! Go Izzak! 

And to celebrate this milestone - BreZaak (Bre and Izaak) are revealing our grandblessing's name - Isabella Michelle. Isabella means "consecrated to God," and Michelle means "who is like the Lord?" I love this name! 

 Bella (or Izzy if you are Izaak or Michael) is doing truly amazing things now. She blinks, coughs, sucks, hiccups and takes practice breaths. She is the size of a Chinese Cabbage and weighs 2 1/2 lbs. She is getting into position for birth and even has dreams at this point.

Sweet dreams, Bella. Granna and Grandpa are eagerly waiting to meet you in person. 

Tree - Caching

All the expected rain of the past two winters - which did not fall - has been dumping on Northern CA.  It's wet and windy and wet.....but yesterday - there was a break in the rain. We worked hard in the a.m. on school - commenting from time to time on how nice it was the rain let up for a bit.

Tailgating with Nolan and Michael 

 Michael came in with an alarming idea - he'd make a picnic lunch and we'd go out to the Spenceville Wildlife Area and plant our 2015 Christmas Tree.  He projected we'd be home in time for Nolan's Japanese lesson and we could finish school in the late afternoon. We did just that. We enjoyed our lunch amongst the cows, the trees, and the sun;  then we set out on a walk.

Note Charlie the tree in Nolan's arms - Yuuki refused to look

 Our idea was to buy a live tree for Christmas, and plant it after Christmas. We've marked the coordinates so we can revisit it when we're in the area in the future.  All participated in the transplanting and it was great fun.

Michael even went and found manure

Stacia insists she wants to be a farmer - so she got her hands in the dirt

Here are a few shots so we can be sure to find it again - and can compare it's growth.  It's located at  N39 06.628  W121 18.880.

Marking coordinates

I had taken a photo of this stump during lunch and knew that I wanted to try for a group shot here before we left.

Nolan, Stacia, De'Etta, Michael, Alex (ZANDER)

Some shots on the way out...... I was thinking it would be fun to boondock out here - but the road and this bridge are deal breakers. 

While Michael was taking photos of the above bridge, I noted this tree. I walked towards him to snap a shot before he was back in the car. He stopped and took the shot - and it is gorgeous!

Love it....

 It was good to get out of the campground for a bit of an adventure.  We're focused on school, school, school but we needed to get out and enjoy the sun. Good call, Michael. 

#WYFF - Living Present

Stacia gave me this canvas.  I love it - and it serves as a great morning reminder to live each  day fully engaged and intentional.

Today, living present, with intention, involves the mundane - but the mundane done exceptionally.

 

Yes, I've started and will master this pesky alphabet! 

As I work on laundry I can blog, work on hiragana and breathe a bit. I can also check in with my online Bible study group. I've done all.

We have finished two weeks of school again this week....while we schooled...Michael has worked on a Parenting seminar. He has taken material from a workshop I've previously done for women and added a "Father's" view point, his own material and I like the way it's all coming together.  I think we'll be presenting it in May....but maybe it was April? I'll need to change the slides as they are geared towards PWOC and women. LOL 

All in all - a good week. A bit of a boring week - but a productive week.  We like the way our Sabbatical is shaping up. We are finding our rhythm.

#WYFF (Where's Your Feet Friday) is sponsored by Fulltime Families. View more of our Friday exploits by clicking the #WYFF tab above.