Mementos of Stories Untold (Snippets)

Here are some photos which I took with great plans of blogging... Life has been so busy if I can capture just the facts, I feel GREAT about it.  

And there are no photos for the hours of curriculum planning, zooms with various colleges as Allie firmed up her fall schedule, Allie registering for fall college classes (she'll be taking 15 hours from 2 different universities - Go Allie!), or all the little projects which keep us so busy this time of year. 

There are, however, a few random photos which show my good intentions. 

This little chickadee loves the birdhouse as much as I did. We were sure a bird had turned the yard decor into his home...and I finally got a photo. I love watching him from the kitchen and nook windows. 

This is how I build self-care into the morning routine...I start green tea steeping when I start Dad's eggs, bacon and potatoes...I've started putting fresh mint leaves into the mix and it's YUMMY.  I get two mugs this size. Note the mug has photos of all the grands, a gift from BreZaak. 

Bella capture Izaak's glasses 

Astronaut Annie -

An old photo I found of Millie in her longing to be running free phase after surgery. LOL  The t-shirts DID work better than the cone. 

I've been harvesting....tried my hand at making Kale chips and Michael ate some. They're pretty good...bit salty. 

Michael took apart my first instant pot and FIXED IT! Yes...actually, he figured it out. He then showed Alex how to solder it as Alex has steady hands. Teamwork at its best. 

We have found it HARD the last few weeks to fit in individual breakfast studies. We've been meeting together through July and now August. This week we grabbed a Saturday lunch as we were determined not to miss a second week in a row. 

Stacia was excited to try air brushing a cake this week...this could open up whole new worlds. LOL 

She made this cute cake for an event on Sunday. 

Stacia, Allie, Michael and Me

One last note...termination dust! The top of our mountain peak has been dusted with snow several mornings lately. At this point it still melts during the day....but winter is coming...and soon...fall will be here...maybe it is here. I still don't know. For SURE this is the RAINY SEASON. 

A Funny

 I received a text from Arielle which cracked me up! 

They've worked hard with Benny from a young age for him to know not to carry on for things at the store, but to save his money and buy them. He does extra chores to earn money.   He often shares his heart with me. "Bachan, I want a fishing pole. I'm working for it." 

📷by Cory 

Let me tell you - this Bachan wanted to run out and buy him a fishing pole. HOWEVER, I KNEW that would sabotage the life lessons they were teaching him. He earned his pole, and that smile was worth the work he had to do. 

Benny is a giver - sometimes he says things like "I'd love to get Honey (Arielle) a pretty hair tie," and he and I run to Whimsey and find one...because I encourage love languages. 

I don't know what prompted this conversation, but Arielle asked Benny what he needs to do when he needs extra money. She expected he would answer, "Ask for extra chores." 

He replied, "Ask Bachan. I don't know why but sometimes that works!" 

::gasp::  ::snort:: I do not EVER remember him asking me for money, and I've never simply given him money but there you have it....Ask Bachan - sometimes it might work. LOL 

A Perfect Rainy Day or The Day I Became a Real Alaskan Woman

 TODAY is a momentous day! We have been in our house for five years. We got to Alaska in June but lived in the RV until we could close on this property.  AND today is the day I became a real Alaskan woman.  

Benny had won tickets and a pony ride to the Reindeer farm. He had four tickets. He and Cory and Arielle needed a ticket. Danny is free. We had thought C would be in their home and he would be free too. Benny had an extra ticket and they invited me to go with them. 

It was RAINING this morning. Not a NW drizzle....SERIOUS rain. I was going!!!! I had my thrift store rain jacket....and I was trying to figure out what shoes to wear. Michael suggested the xtra tuffs he bought me four years ago. Hmm...today is the day I wore xtra tuffs and became a real Alaskan woman. 

Check out the boots! 📷by Arielle

Those drinks? They stopped and brought me a hot tea...they know how to bless Bachan. Those drinks were a life saver! LOL 

Danny was not sure about this adventure at first! 

Bachan gets you, baby! 

It didn't take him long to "warm up" to the experience.

There's something therapeutic about thrashing through puddles in rain boots. I will be wearing the xtra tuffs regularly. 

Cory, Arielle, Benny and Danny 

Not letting a bit of rain spoil the fun! 

Danile preferred puddles to posing! 

📷by Arielle

📷by Arielle

📷by Arielle

📷by Arielle

Look how BIG that moose is...and he is NOT a huge moose by moose standards. Out in the yard one doesn't notice how big they are...of course, I've never gotten this close either. 

📷by Arielle

📷by Arielle

Musk Ox 📷by Arielle

Reindeer 📷by Arielle

Did you know Reindeer turn WHITE in winter? I need to go see this in the winter. 

Puddle stomping 📷by Arielle

It was about this time someone commented this would probably not have been a great first family outing for C. One has to work up to this sort of craziness. LOL Seriously, it was great fun to spend the day with CoRielle - rain or shine. 

I got home and discovered I was WET ....from the inside out. That rain jacket was USELESS, but MY FEET WERE DRY. 

I had just enough time to dry off, visit with Michael and the girls, take Allie to work, get a pot of chicken vegetable soup started, and head out to meet a friend for tea.  It was a good day. 

Foraging in the Backyard

I am embracing it. I cannot keep control of the weeds outside of the raised beds without herbicides and I won't use herbicides.  This year I hopefully put down the straw to keep it under control...it has made pulling them easier. ::snort:: Instead of beating myself up for not spending an hour or two a day pulling weeds in the rain, I am simply embracing the adventure. We don't garden - we FORAGE IN THE BACKYARD! 

However, when we get a morning that isn't rainy - we weed. LOL I am NOT joking about foraging...today we pulled weeds around the spot we had planted pumpkins. Success, we found the pumpkin patch. 

See those weeds behind Stacia? Yes, THAT is what I mean by WEEDS.  When you buy a place with a horse pasture do not glibly think it will make an "easy garden" spot. You need a HORSE to keep the weeds in check. LOL We got into stinging nettle - which stings for days afterwards. One whole row of plants disappeared...I guess the chick weed murdered them. 

I have my doubts these little guys are going to mature before frost. We shall see. 

Next, we turned to foraging... the Kale I planted (much less than typical) fed us well and amounted to a gallon of dried kale on the shelves to sneak into food and soups. 

We harvested the rest of the radishes and discovered they needed to be harvested earlier. I don't know if it was the rain or how big they got but they were all nasty when I went to use them. Lesson learned. I will plant much less next year. 

Ye Old Baptistry is filling up with dead and useless things...new life on it's way. I love having a lasagna bed to work on each garden season. It makes dealing with the overabundance of green after we harvest much easier. 

Millie had a grooming appointment today. The groomers thought she should be seen every 6 weeks. We liked the way she looks now. They didn't even really trim much...but we tried it their way this time and in six weeks we try a new groomer. We don't like her having to be shaved to the skin due to matts....but seriously, it seems to me they simply blew her out...ah well, we'll figure out what works. At this point I'm thinking 8 - 10 weeks may be a better bet.  It's CRAZY to me that we've had to wait 3 months to get into the new groomer. Grandpa HAD to come with us to pick up Millie as Michael had an appointment at the chiropractor. I think it did him good to get up and move. LOL 

Stacia is working on a new cake. It will be shaped like a question mark. Rumor is she's going to try the air brush kit she got for Christmas. She usually has specific requests for cakes, but she is playing with this one. 

I made pesto.  The basil is doing well. I hope to move it inside when it becomes too cold in the greenhouse. I love fresh basil for pesto. I made pesto - so I could make homemade pesto chicken artichoke sundried tomato PIZZA. 

In my on-going rubber band challenge...Michael had a brilliant suggestion. He thinks I should outfit others with bands and snap them when they irritate me instead of snapping myself.  Come to think of that is the norm I'm trying to change. ::snort::  I am getting better. I'm discovering I need to find the line between wit and sarcasm...AND FIND IT FAST BEFORE MY ARM IS TOTALLY DESTROYED. Who knew renewing a mind, taking thoughts captive could be so painful. LOL 

Flowers and Scones?

 If one were to look at the photos one would think the day was all about flowers and scones. LOL 

At this point it would seem I am not going to have any traditional, yellow sunflowers.  There are more buds about to bloom and I'll take the success where I can get it. It's taken me 5 years to successfully grow sunflowers up here. 

The highlight of my day was a visit from a young mom and her little one.   As we sat and shared, I reflected on how very faithful God has been to transform my character. As a young mom "explosive rage" were words which characterized me.  I was insecure and fearful and THAT could not be shown, so I raged and bullied, AND there are quite a lot of hormones associated with being pregnant - which I often was in those days. It's one thing to know God has done a good work, has slowly step by step transformed that aspect of my character, it's another to sit and answer the question HOW - HOW did God lead me out of that mess? 

It was good to reflect, and I continue to reflect this morning (Thurs/4th).  Believing and internalizing the truths of 1 Cor 10:13 were my launching pad. Believing God is faithful, he DOES provide a way of escape from my temper, and then looking for the escape and choosing it...surrendering to the small voice of the Holy Spirit, the impression to stop when all I wanted to do was explode, vent, wound.   God was faithful in providing a husband who gently pointed out the fact I was "harsh" with the children (and everyone else in my circle at that point). Mike helped me see it was possible to change "the way I was."  I had to surrender to God's escape plan rather than my desire in the moment. I had to learn to recognize when I was about to give full vent to my flesh and stop. I had to learn how to interact with the children I loved rather than simply bully them into good behavior. It took time...but God knew I would love these kids enough to do the hard work. He knew he would use marriage, parenting, and homeschooling as tools to transform me, to lead me slowly, step by step along the road of holy transformation. I am blessed to have had people along the way who encouraged me to keep surrendering, rather than beat me up for getting it wrong.  While God did not make me quiet, demure and passive....I have learned to be passionate is not to give in to fits of explosive rage. This journey of transformation began in earnest when my oldest was a bit older than hers is now...God is faithful. He uses even our past failures to encourage others.   I'm NOT where I'd like to be, but praise God I'm certainly NOT where I was.  

I shared I am currently wearing a bright pink rubber band on my wrist. It's to remind me not to be impatient. These days I am not prone to explosive fits of rage...but I realize the exaggerated eye roll, the caustic sarcasm, and negative thoughts are finding their way back into my life way too often.  I snap myself when I catch myself being impatient with the reality of our lives just now, or entertaining negative thoughts.  It's a silly way to be more aware.... and God provided an opportunity during this visit for me to think deeper about HOW his grace showed up in the past and shows up now. It's also progress that fits of rage are not the issue these days...impatient sighs...that's progress. 

We brainstormed situations and reactions and I was blessed by the love which motivates my young friends' determination not to stay stuck ...she reminds me of me 35 years ago. Dad is still talking about how he's never had anyone call him "Ma" before. He is smitten big time with her little guy. He sort of thought he was another great grand, but we cleared that up. 

The pink accessory on my wrist? I am learning to cheerfully repeat things I've said several times already in a day with grace...because if a person can't remember, they can't remember. My impatience only makes things worse. 

And, yes, I DID try Mary Berry's scone recipe...weighing instead of measuring...and they are good. Still not exactly what I want...but yummy.  I will use a smaller cutter next time...these got huge and then toppled over.  They are flakey and not overly sweet...

They are disappearing from the counter at an alarming pace. I took Stacia to youth group and promptly fell asleep in the car for 90 minutes. I guess that was needed. 

While the day could be summarized as slow...filled with flowers and scones...it actually had potential for kingdom impact in my life and the life of others.  It had an element of community, iron sharpening iron, and isn't that what community is about? 

The SECRET We've Kept This Year

We've had a secret for about a year now...It began as a nudge from the holy spirit. They shared their thoughts with us. We all began to pray. They began a year-long process with its ups and downs, but it looks like it IS going to happen....I have had a photo on my phone in the grandblessing file for a couple of months...it's the front facing copy of the one below. We've prayed, believed, been frustrated and now.... I asked Arielle if I could just copy her thoughts for the blog...

From Arielle: We’ve been working on something incredible and life changing for almost a year now. As of end of July, we are officially licensed as foster parents! We’re excited to have a little guy about D’s age join our family “sometime soon” as we work towards adoption.

His story is all his to tell when and if he wants to but he’s truly a miracle and blessing, one we can’t wait to have join our family, adventures and life. It’s been a God thing from the beginning, and I fell in love the moment I saw him, and I’ve been getting all teary eyed about it frequently

I could write a whole book on my thoughts, emotions, prayers and dreams, all the things I’ve been learning, but for now We’d love prayers for our little guy and his people. Prayers as we transition to a family of FIVE. Prayers for the next legal steps and all the ups and downs we know it will involve (Hollywood makes it look so simple and rosy). Prayers for me as I navigate having two toddlers- three energetic wonderful boys

Boys and Blooms

I walked into CoRielle's home this morning and immediately knew there was a different kind of busy-ness today! The vacuum was whirring, the chairs were stacked away from the table, and the boys were nowhere to be seen. Benny was busy vacuuming. "Honey" (Arielle) was having a meeting today....and company tomorrow. LOL  Unfortunately, the photos of our industrious crew were all blurry. 

Monday, when Benny stopped by for respite care, he burst in the house saying, "Bachan! Guess what? There were TWO Boss Babies and I got one so there is only ONE Boss Baby."  He told me today that they were mean babies but if I wouldn't be afraid, we could watch it together. Which we did. 

Next on our agenda was a quick trip to the park and a mile walk around the neighborhood. I pointed out it may rain on us if we left the house. Benny assured me it doesn't hurt to get a little bit wet to go on a walk. This seems to be a truth one could live by. 

LOOK! In the midst of that horrible weed patch/garden is a single bloom...further investigation revealed the rest of the row still working towards blossoms, and the artichoke plants. 

Blooms everywhere this morning.  I realize the summer is nearly over, but I grew these from SEEDS. Next year I'll know to start the seeds earlier...next year I'll have the greenhouse established before the growing season and can begin getting things going before the last frost. 

Michael, the girls and I took a break right in the middle of the day to read a chapter from "Inkheart" and to watch an episode of "Manifest." These are things we want to do WITH Allie and since she is working - we are learning creative scheduling. 

Girls? Let me brag on them a bit. Stacia took a test in her last Japanese class and ACED it. Kim said she believes she is the only one of her students who has ever made 100% on that test. AND Allie took her English assessment for college and is going to be able to CLEP freshman English. Go girls!