Choosing Joy in the Midst of Sorrow

How Can I Keep From Singing

I have so much to write. My heart is full. I won't be able to write much now. The room spins, I feel like throwing up and my limbs are shakey when I sit up...but I wanted to say something.

I had to go the ER last night and got home at 6 this a.m. We have lost our precious baby. God is still perfectly good. His nature, His Word, and Worship rang through my heart throughout this experience. He has been so kind and compassionate.

Three songs rang continuously through my mind yesterday and this a.m. "Blessed be your name" (above on my blog), "How Can I Keep from Singing" (above) and the gospel song "We've come this far by faith" (but I can't find a rendition of it that matches Rev. Harvey's to share - all the ones on youtube are too slow and mournful).

I'm still choosing joy!

BOOKS

I ordered Math U See Algebra 2 for Jamin. He's going to see how much of it he can test through. He's 1/2 way through Saxon Alg 2. He's been spending THREE HOURS A DAY and only made it through 1/2 the book. I think he can finish this in a year (maybe less) and get the remaining 1/2 credit for Alg 2.

Arielle has zipped through alpha (as I knew she would) and so I ordered Beta for her. That should be here soon. I was really impressed with the company's service. They sent me TWO emails to make sure I realized I'd not ordered the teacher's pack. The lady who bought my TOG is swapping the Beta Teacher pack for part of the TOG price.

I put two Nursery Crime books on PBS and BOTH are on other's wish lists.

All in all a good book day.

Happy Birthday!!!

Dear Arielle.......
Yes, the birthday goes on and on. We have been laughing that she's gotten presents every day since Sunday. We celebrated on Sunday, but we caught Krista by surprise so she gave Arielle a gift today.

CIA COOKIES

*Notes: today is a day when I decided I needed to mainline chocolate and there are simply NO M/Ms, Butterfingers, Snickers in the house. So Arielle and I made Cia Cookies.

These are called Cia cookies because my friend TriCIA gave the recipe to Adrienne and that is what she called them. These were a STANDBY in the dorms in the Philippines. We had them once a week. Adrienne adapted the recipe to use carob and honey and gave them to me. I thought they were "ok" with honey but they didn't set up like I wanted them to do...so I adapted them to use Rapadura.....and I have no idea what the original recipe is - maybe Tricia will share it with us in the comment section. {G}

Adrienne's Version of Cia Cookies
4 T carob
1 3/4 - 2 Cups Honey
1/2 C milk
1/2 C butter

Boil 3 min, take off heat and stir in
1/2 C peanut butter
5 C oats
1 tsp vanilla

My Version of Cia Cookies * Leave out the cocoa and these are great peanut butter no-bakes! 
1/4 C  Cocoa
2 C Rapadura
1/2 C milk
1/2 C butter

Boil 1 - 1 1/2  min, take off heat and stir in
1/2 C peanut butter
3 C oats
1 tsp vanilla

Lay out on wax paper until firm.

Arielle stirs...

Getting closer.... Ahhhhh....

Book Review: The Ministry of Motherhood, Ch 7

Chapter Seven - Inspiring a Sense of God's Powerful Presence (Emphasis mine - my comments italicized)
This is an awesome chapter. The main point is that we can see God's presence in nature, circumstances and we need to take the time to point God's presence out to our children. This made me think of several friends who seem to be naturals at noticing and appreciating God's creation. Several of you know Jodi through her blog and SHS. She and her family have led me to spend more time noticing the little things that God has created for us to notice and enjoy all around us. This is another excellent chapter that is very hard to choose a few quotes from.
"When I first became a mother, I would never have guessed that the words Come, look! would be so important to my children's faith training. But as we all grew together, I came to understand the importance of pointing out to them the abundant evidence of God's power and glory and presence that surrounds us." p81.
"God is more powerful, mysterious, and wonderful than we can even imagine. He cannot be contained by our thoughts or definitions and is in a sense wild and untamable and bigger than we are in every way. And yet he is also a God who goes to great lengths to reveal himself to us, to remind us that he is present in all the minutes of our lives. If we have eyes to see and ears to her, the evidence of his power and presence is all around us. And those moments when we see him revealed teaches us so much. Even in the darkest moments of our own small lives he gives us reason to trust him, to anticipate the miraculous, to dream of resurrection life and the hope it brings." p 82. YES! This makes me need to take a break and click on the youtube at the top of my blog. ::snort::
Sally speaks of how even the disciples had to remember to look beyond their daily lives to see God's power and presence.
"If we desire to pass on that gift to our children, we will always be on the lookout for opportunities to tell them to "look" and "observe" and ponder. We must be ready to point them to signs of his living presence in our daily lives - and also to point beyond our circumstances to him who is beyond the limitations of this world. This awareness of Divine reality helps open their hearts to God's will and pleasure at any moment and to lift them above the tedium of the mundane." p 85 This is what several of my friends have encouraged me to do. To take time to look, observe, ponder and discuss nature in the context of the Creator with my children. Not that I didn't do this - always on a camping trip - but in the busyness of life in a city....I'd forget.
"A child who does not have the opportunity to marvel at the bigness of God, the wonders of his creation, and the reality of his supernatural work will tend to measure the questions about "who God is" according to his or her finite, limited perspective." p 85. This is good. It's not about getting a break from the house or books....those park trips, lake trips, nature walks, camping trips are about broadening a perspective. LOL
All of page 85 is really good - but to long to quote.
"When we are ready to receive the grace of his power and presence into each moment of our lives, we cannot help but look differently at all our daily activities. When we learn to look and listen and ponder, our everyday moments can be transformed by the knowledge of a God whose companionship brings joy, "wind to our wings," and the possibility of a miraculous touch at any moment." p 86
"As we inspire our children to look for God's glory and purposes in their lives, we help the learn to expect the supernatural grace that is always available to us." p 86
I love this prayer:
"Creator God,
We praise you, Father, for the magnificent gift of your creation. Help us learn to find a quiet place in the midst of each day so that we may see the evidence of your fingertips. (Love that imagery). Teach us to lead our children to heaven's throne as we stop to observe the stars, the seasons, the birds, the storms, and all that you made. May we all learn to wonder at your greatness and worship you for your handiwork. Amen." p 86

Scenes from Tuesday

The washer is broken - again. They can't fix it until Friday. This is the second repair call on this NEW Kenmore. I'm not impressed. Meanwhile, we have to dump water into the tub before it will work. This is a LOT of work. The boys have been incredibly busy helping with laundry today.

Bre played Monopoly with Arielle and Nolan.

Arielle got one of the Mandie sets that I'd found online today.

Cy and Krista went and picked this up at Walmart for the younger ones.

I had ye ole' ARD appointment (below).

Cy, Krista, Stacia and I went to Sam's for the few things not in the pantry for this week's menu.

Jared did two more lawns today.

Jamin did more TOG and finished Culinary Arts today.

Dinner as planned - now that's a first in a while. I'm not nauseated today. That's a blessing.

Josiah went to work. The seller of the Toyota Camry that Cy wanted to buy called and accepted his offer. He was at work - but Mike called and let him know.

**Note - Blogger is messing up again. It's been a long time since I've had trouble. The message code (BX something) means that I need log in to blogger.com instead of beta.blogger....and then load one photo at a time. I only mention this in case others are having troubles too. Maybe I'll have Liz host my blog and then I won't be able to see my photos and won't care if they load. ::snort::

NOLAN'S ARD

Just back from Nolan's yearly ARD appointment. Whew - a full house today. They superientendent of special ed was there, the special ed coordinators from the school, the speech pathologist from the school and the speech therapist from the Rehab center where we receive services.

Upshot - we're making progress. He's at 70% understandibility in "unknown context" and with folks who don't know him. Our goal is 80% in unknown and 90% in known context by the end of next year. They are also watching fine motor skills and processing. It's a bit discouraging after the YEARS of speech we've had - but we began at 30% in context.

They suggest that I have Nolan begin doing his "written work" on the computer because there is less to process that way.....I said, "So are you saying just give up on pencils and HAND writing?" No - just let him do his writing assignments and such on the computer as they think it will be far easier for him.....I'm not sure. Mike and I will talk about it and think about this this summer. LOL

We aren't sure if we are going to continue services over the summer. Mike and I need to discuss that. The school won't pay for summer sessions but the Rehab center says that they will help us out if we need it.