Family That Works Together

While neighborhood living is not the life for us, we know it's temporary and when we need our "country fix" we load up and head to our property.

All 10 of us met Grandma and Grandad up at the property the first Saturday of Christmas break and enjoyed a long, muddy, fun-filled day of good, solid, manual labor at our future farm.

We even drove to the local country store for lunch and put all the Fish kids in the back of the truck.

They climbed mounds and mounds of dirt dug up to make a basement.

My Man burned an enormous pile of trees.

Can't wait to be there for good!

You Get What You Pay For

My Man loves long hair and so we women in this house all try to accomodate him.

Occasionally I get this crazy, whim for something new.  Since I want to keep the long hair to please My Man, I'm somewhat limited in the "new" hairstyle.

I decided to take AB to Great Clips to get layers that she had been asking for.  As a last minute decision I decided to have my turn in the chair and tell her, "Give me something different, just keep it long."  I showed her several photos of long, layered hair (one being Carrie Underwood) and she whacked WAY too much off of my bangs.  They were not long, swooping bangs like my photos or even like she said she would cut.  I didn't know what to do with them.  Not happy.

I sent this text to my little sis and said, "HELP!"  She asked, "Can you just make them straight across and wear them as bangs?"

"Um......NO"

"Then maybe trim them up a bit and see if that will look better."

I trimmed 1/2 to 3/4" off and got this.  BLAH!!!  

I've gone from bad to worse in a few hours.

My sis suggested touching them up with some hair product....

 

Better?  Not really, but not much I could do at this point.

EVERY family member let me know that bangs were not desired and why did mommy do that to her hair and can't you pin them back or something and what happened to you and isn't there something you can do to make your hair look like it used to and on and on.

Oh and by the way.....I just learned that My Man has 2 hair preferences......Long hair and NO bangs.

Oh well -" no crying over hair" has been a long time rule of mine for my girls.

Humble pie is always a good thing.

I paid for a $16 haircut and got a $16 haircut.

Priceless

What can I say?  I homeschooled him!

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

One really good thing about moving into a small town in a neighborhood is for the first time in 13 years, we are convenient to shopping.  In this small town where we temporarily live, there is a thrift store with the best of prices (remember, I told you about shopping there for creative Christmas play costumes?).  So when the Fish Sticks told me they had ugly Christmas sweater parties coming up, I went quickly and snagged all the ones they had in about every size.  Why not?  They were only $1 each.  I remiss to not have taken photos of all the Fish Sticks sporting their ugly sweaters, but thankfully this snazzy-looking 16 year old posed for my camera in his flashy Christmas vest.

Middle East Yumminess

We have some friends from our community group at our old church 7 years ago whom we keep up with.  She is American Pakistani and her mother came to visit over the holidays.  The first time that we had met her mother, she offered my Fish Sticks some of her Pakistani food.  They wolfed it down like a regular, middle eastern kid and amazed our new friend.

This visit, she asked my friend to call us up and let us know she was making our family a Pakistani feast, remembering how well loved her food was to us a few years earlier.

We were the very grateful recipients of a delicious meal of lentils and curry chicken with basmati rice.  So glad my Fish Sticks appreciate all kinds of cuisines!

A Country Christmas Parade

Tim and Caleb have been working countless hours on the old truck to restore it to its original glory.

As the Leiper's Fork Christmas parade date approached, they worked even harder to get it finished so that we could, as a family, join in the parade.  Our mission was to advertise for My Man's business but most importantly to add Christ to the Christmas parade as there are very little floats who point to the REASON we celebrate.  The night before the parade, I stayed up late painting verses on boards to hang on the side.  We borrowed a manger from Sunday School and the Fish Sticks piled in with pounds and pounds of candy to throw.

We were #74 with Santa closing out the parade as #82.  It was a long wait but the day was unusually warm and beautiful.  It was lots of fun.

In our little country community, there's always lots of creativity in the Christmas parade.

Fish Sticks loving on sweet puppies

Our friends at Erie Insurance - bringing us a good laugh!

Patiently waiting

Sew With A Mission

AB is taking Impact Arts at school this year.  It's Home Economics with a new, cool name.  She's loved the class and learned a lot.  They all made these adorable little monster, stuffed animals and then mailed them to missionaries in Papua New Guinea for children there.  I love how our school uses missions and service woven throughout the education of the kids. 

Add It To My Resume

The kids handed me this mess and said, "Mom, can you get this knot out for us?"

I tried and I succeeded.  

Add that to my resume!

Just Like a Fireman

I took the boys to the car wash one day when they were home with me.

They thought it was awesome.

"It's just like we're firemen!" they exclaimed.

Yes, it is.  Now scrub away and make my vehicle clean.  ;)

2 Stars, a Cat, an Angel and a Magi

This year GCA did a traditional Christmas program - like the kind of Christmas programs that were standard when I was a child.  Nothing flashy, no big drama production - just the simple story that changed the world.

Each class was assigned a costume to wear and each class performed a song as the Christmas story was told by the children in Luke 2.  Ruth was a magi.  Josiah was an angel.  Lydia was a barn animal and she chose a cat and Jeshua and Jedidiah were stars.

Since half of our possessions are packed and stored right now, costumes and craft projects don't come as easily as they used to.  I have to get creative.  Thankfully there is a thrift store just 2 miles away with prices cheaper than Goodwill and I can let my creative juices flow....for cheap too!

Ruth wore a 3X size shimmery woman's skirt that I transformed into a dress.  Her robe was a shiny, blue window valance.  Her head pieces was a scrap of wrinkled chiffon (that I found in the curtain bin) wrapped in a strand of beaded Christmas garland.  I am kind of picky about the angel perception that the world has created....naked, chubby babies and beautiful women in gowns were not once portrayed as such in the Bible.  For my 8 year old BOY angel, I repurposed a pair of white pants and shirt from the women's section and added a garland halo and neck line.  The kitty cat was easy...I found a brown velor jump suit just her size and added cardboard ears, a tail from pantyhose and painted her face.  My 2 stars wore women's gold clothes - one was a nightshirt, the other a satin blouse.  We made a star from a cardboard box (which we have an overabundance of) and covered it with garland....all from the thrift store.  Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Memoirs

Getting out the huge box of Christmas ornaments and adorning the tree is always such a fun, much-anticipated activity in the Fish House - sure helps that popcorn and egg nog are always included.  The Fish Sticks love looking at all the ornaments and walking down memory lane with each one.

Although there are no ornaments of Jeshua and Jedidiah's little baby faces in the middle of the paper plate angel or little thumbprint ornaments from their toddler years, we do have ornaments that tell their story of becoming Fish Sticks.

2012 ornament says Waiting (im)patiently.  We spent the Christmas in Turkey with family and our agency had told us we could expect to get the boys home by February upon our return.

The top right ornament was made by a fellow adoptive parent as a fundraiser for her own adoption.  We were in the midst of the suspension in 2013, losing hope that our boys would ever come home.

The Forever Home ornament was made by a fellow adoptive dad as his fundraiser to get his child home from Ethiopia.  It was in 2014 and was our first Christmas with Jeshua and Jedidiah home!!

This past years was made by a waiting DRC family as well.  Their young daughter makes baked clay ornaments to help bring her sibling home from Congo.

Each year I've committed to buying an ornament for J and J that signify Africa or support adoptions in some way.  This is part of their story - a rejoicing in their homecoming, a reflection of the trials that brought them home and a remembrance of those families still waiting.

Football Banquet

This year's football banquet was extra special for GCA because this was the first year we participated in the TSSAA and it was the first year that GCA had seniors to celebrate.  Our school has added a grade each year since it's conception and 2015-16 will be our first school year to have a graduating class.  The day of the banquet, this mama enjoyed taking Caleb shopping for his first coat, tie and dress shirt.  He looks so grown up!

Caleb with Coach Bech

Caleb and his buddy, Sam

Caleb with Coach Rusty

So proud of this young man!

I'm Oily

Anyone who knows me knows that I've been a natural remedies chic for a long time.  Almost 13 years to be exact.  It all started from living 2 years in Asia as a family of 4 and taking 53 trips to the doctor in one year.  That is over 1 trip a week.  I wasn't the sick one, but my family was plagued with standard sicknesses.  I soon learned (a bit late, in my opinion) that drugs can be used as a last resort and with a bit of knowledge, any person can better treat themselves at home with home remedies using the plants that our Lord put on this earth for our benefit.  Our forefathers all knew this, yet this knowledge has been less common due to pharmaceuticals.

While I am not anti-doctor or drugs, I do feel that we use them as a last resort - like pulling out the big guns only when necessary.

So over the last 13 years I have loved educating myself on home remedies.  While some of my readers might think that is a bit hippie and out-there, the proof is in the pudding.  Check the medical records of my children and you will find that we are a healthy bunch of folks who rarely go to the doctor.

I have been a user of dried herbs from the get-go.  I purchase them and make all kinds of concoctions out of them....salves, glycerins, compresses, teas, salts, tinctures.  It's been fun for me, and my family often teases me for the cedar chest I have filled with dried herbs.  Although I've had a small collection of essential oils in my stash and used them over the years for warm baths, I have not dove into their uses.  As many folks know, essential oils have become the craze.  Even the most non-traditional moms use oils now for home remedies.  I began researching, went to a few classes and quickly realized that essential oils are the same plants that I've been using dried, they are just more convenient to use and eliminate the time of making the concoctions that I was struggling finding the time to continue making.  I had the head knowledge already of these plants, just lacked the convenience in using them.  It didn't take long to sell me on using essential oils.

So now this is what my counter looks like when cold season came upon us just as school was wrapping up before Christmas break.  We had a daily regimen before all 8 Fish Sticks headed out the door with every attempt to knock those germs out before we had to pull out the big guns.

I'm not in the home business of selling oils and I'm not partial to any particular company although I've researched several of them and have my favorites, but this I know, natural remedies work and this grunge mom is sold!

Jester

AB got the main role of jester this year in the Madrigal Dinner production.  She did an awesome job.  We enjoyed an evening of good food with all 4 grandparents watching AB take the stage and do what she is gifted in doing.  So proud of her.

Her sweet Bender Buddy, Caroline, joined us too.  So special

Labeled

Re-Post from Instagram

I went on a long, overdue date with My man.  At the close of the evening, I went to the restroom.  As I washed my hands, I noticed this label taped to the belly of my shirt.  Lydia had given me a name tag before I left the house.  So thankful everyone knew who I was during the evening.

Survivors

2nd grade enjoyed a day in the "wilderness" after reading a book called "My Side of the Mountain" where a boy learned to live off of the land.   They built shelters in the woods, made clay pots of our mud and enjoyed fishing and cooking their own lunch.  

Wheat Thief

I have 2 sets of Jesse Tree ornaments and I love them!  Each individual ornament is so unique having been done by different families.  Between my 2 sets, I have 50 different ornaments made by 50 different families.  Each year I love remembering who made each ornament.

A few years ago a mouse found my wheat ornament representing the story or Ruth.  It really made me mad.

This year a mouse found my 2nd set of ornaments and ate my wheat on my other ornament enjoying the Spanish moss it was glued to as well.  I had it bagged up and boxed up but that stinkin' mouse was determined.

My sister came to the rescue with this beautiful gold wire and pearl beaded wheat ornament.

Eat on that, you filthy mouse!

My Fish Sticks

Loved seeing my kids school picture proofs.

They are all growing up so fast!