Things That Make a Mom's Heart Glad

All of our children have started life with two basic fears: the fear of water, and of cats and dogs. Nothing else. It has taken time, patience, and regular exposure to help them overcome their anxieties.
I think Elizabeth has done better than the rest in overcoming, but she is still unsure in the water.
She hates to get water in her ears.

This week the neighbors kindly invited us over for an afternoon swim. We decided that Elizabeth needed to learn to let go of the side and still be safe. The time was right to move up to 'waterwings'
.

I wasn't swimming so I asked Mr. Boots to help her. He did it patiently and with a cheerful attitude! It was so sweet to see my big 17 year old carefully tending his little sister. At first she held on tight. Then gradually she started to try them out.

The breakthrough came when Mr. Boots thought to put on a second pair. Elizabeth is a very tall girl for being five, and one pair is just not enough to hold her up. She can actually get two wings on above her elbows. A bit more patience and she was independent! Yeah!!

She took off and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the swim. She was the last Mango out of the pool. The boys were out pretty quick as they got cold. She was cold also, but she was having such a great time trying out her new skill that she didn't want to stop.

Thanks for being such a great big brother Mr. Boots. You'll be a great dad someday.

~Mom

UPDATES

Elizabeth is doing great with her reading. She is managing quite well with her level 2 STEP books. This is a great relief to mom. I always feel that we have really accomplished something when one of our scholars takes off with their reading.

Our friend Lily is finally starting to show some good progress with her bone healing in her leg. The growth plate also seems to be staying open since the last surgery. This is great news. We are praying that she would be able to walk independently real soon.

(If you are new around here, Lily was struck by a big ATV and pinned to a tree in October. She had a number of severe injuries, but is recovered well except for her leg/foot. She is 10 years old)

Mr Boots sold his big commercial Scag mower last week. He was able to sell it for a little more than he paid for it, even after using it for a year. This was a real blessing! He is out of the lawn cutting business, although he does seem to be busy with mulching and yard clean up still. He can manage that with just a bicycle though. He has a good reputation as a hard worker, so people still want his services. We collected another big oak tree to add to our 'to be split for firewood pile' after a big wind storm on Friday. Mr. Boots will be a busy man this summer.

Our friend Angie is recovering well from her tongue cancer and radiation. Please keep praying that it would be totally gone. We are rejoicing that she has finally gotten the feeding tube out.

My nephew Joshua kneed himself in the head while jumping on a trampoline. What a shiner! Michelle dropped a log on her little toe and broke it. The joys of being alive!

Trust you all are doing well. Thanks for reading!

~Mom

The Job of a Vine Dresser

These are our neighbor's grape vines. He said we could take care of them since they were growing wild! We are looking forward to having grapes this fall.

This is the second year we have done grapes. They are very prolific but you don't want growth, you want grapes. First, you clear out the competition, weeds ,grass and maybe even a few trees.

Then you call in your friend, Brook' and Ulysses' dad, who has a vineyard, to come and help you. Together you trim of all the unwanted growth with good sharp clippers. Leave your main trunk with the four new side shoots (trim off the old ones). Off the side shoots, leave small branches with 1-3 buds on it to produce fruit.

When you are done, you should have 30-40 healthy buds per vine. It may seem cruel, but it is necessary.
The vines that are left are trained on the wires so that they have external support. Grapes are unable to support themselves. It looks bare, but by the end of the summer we should have nice looking vines, and even more important - Grapes. Vines need to be dressed or pruned every year.

All done.

Mr. Boots wearing Crocs.

John 15:1-5

1. I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser.

2. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it might bear more fruit.

3. You are clean already because of the word that I have spoken to you.

4. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

5. I am the vine, and you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in Him, bears much fruit; For without Me you can do nothing.

The Lord is the master vine dresser!
~Mr. Boots

December-January Birthday Party

JoAn and Mr. Boots had birthdays. JoAn is now 19 and Mr. Boots is now 17. We combined their birthdays and had the party on February 6th. Doesn't make much sense to me either. We had to find a date that the rest of the family could come. Mom and Dad are still in Florida, but we aren't sure when they are coming home. They are waiting for it to warm up down there. They haven't gotten into a pair of shorts yet.

My Nephew Ian had a rough evening. He spilled his strawberry shortcake on the floor. He was willing to eat it from there, but those mean adults wouldn't let him. He also managed to get into our craft closet and found a container of finger paint. He couldn't get the lid off, but that didn't stop the mess. He dropped the plastic container on the floor and it broke. There's a book about a purple crayon, but the book he read must have been about purple paint. Fortunately, it was on a wood floor and cleaned up easily.

JoAn and Mr. Boots had a homemade pizza and salad dinner and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Everything was delicious. Poor JoAn had to do all her own cooking for the party as I was stuck in the blizzard away from home.

We played 'The Great Dalmouti'. A fun card game that accommodates up to eight players at a time. It is a game that never ends, but the person who is winning changes with almost every round. My DH really likes this game. It is easy and a bright 6 year old can figure it out.

Heidi is growing up quickly and well. She is looking forward to getting her braces off before she leaves for the Philippines.

Todd is busy taking LOTS of pictures with the camera he got for Christmas. We are all well documented now.

This is my beautiful niece Sadie. No, I didn't touch up this picture. Her eyes are really this blue.

We enjoyed a nice evening of family fellowship.

~Mom

Mr. Boots has a Birthday!

Mr. Boots is 17! It is hard for a mom to believe that her children are growing up so quickly. I remember the day he was born so clearly. He was born right beside the Christmas tree. That is why we leave our Christmas tree up every year until after his birthday. He is a delightful young man and I am proud to be his Mom.

Michelle made him a chocolate cheesecake for his birthday. It was really yummy! She is doing really well with her baking skills.

What a fine young man!

We LOVE you!

~Mom
(this event occurred while the computer was under the weather and is a bit of a delayed post-)

Hot House

The red stove in the basement has exceeded its statue of limitations. We have spent the last three months waiting for different parts to arrive. The stove will work fine when the parts arrive, that's why we have patiently frozen in the house for the last 3 months. We had a different wood stove in the garage just sitting there unused, but the thought of switching stoves was rather unpleasant. They weigh about 600# and they have to go to the basement. DH and Mr. Boots combined weight is about 270 #. They have to be smarter rather than work harder. Here's how they did it.....

DH put his work planks on the stairs. Then they moved the stove via a dolly over by the stairs onto a 3/4" piece of plywood. They slid the piece of wood and stove onto the planks and using ropes they pulled it down. I thought it might just slide easily down a ramp this steep, but the heavy weight of it made it that the stove required a lot of force to get it to move down. It cleared the ceiling by about an 1/8". They moved a heavy set of drawers for the planks and then the stove to set on. It is something that my hubby built for the garage.

I was late getting my camera out and didn't get any pictures until the stove was at the bottom. I couldn't convince the guys to do a re-enactment. Wonder why....

This is a cast iron stove which is why it is so heavy. They took of all the parts they could to make it as light as possible. Here it is on its platform. Needless to say OSHA was not a party to this project.

They turned it around on its piece of plywood and started the big slide to where it belonged.

They had to make sure that it first sat on some 6x6" beams so they could reattach the legs without having to lift and hold it.

A lot of thought went into planning this step by step so it didn't get stuck or injure anyone.

This was a good manly man project. It required more brains than brawn. They got the legs back on.

Then JoAn came along and helped Mr. Boots put all the pieces and parts back on the stove.

Success was obtained. We had a hot fire on the hearth. The basement was soon toasty and gradually the first floor has warmed as well. We can no longer store the milk on the kitchen counter and not have it go sour. I can't see my breath any more in the living room and the snow has melted off the Christmas tree. I am seeing sweaters lying around and I think T-Bob is only wearing 5 or 6 layers instead of 8 or 9. Guests no longer have to step outside to warm up. It's a beautiful thing.
~Mom

Winter Meat

Mr. Boots was able to harvest two deer this fall. I think he has gotten every deer he has ever shot at. He was pleased this year that he saw so many. He only got shots at two small bucks. He was still happy. A friend from church helped him butcher his deer. Together Mr. Boots and I cut it up into roasts, steaks and meat to grind. Mr. Boots then borrowed Grandpa's grinder and turned the chunks into 'venison burger'. It does give one a different appreciation for food when you process it yourself. Dallas has been enjoying the bones ansd extra parts that we saved for him.
It is good to have a young manly man providing for the family.
~Mom

Mr. Boots is Funny, plus other things

Tonight at dinner, Mr. Boots made the following droll remark to his dad, "But Dad, what if there were no hypothetical situations?"
I know the line isn't original, but the timing, situation and delivery were perfect.

I am behind a bit in my posting. We had a wonderful weekend in Michiana for a Bible conference on Family Life. (Unfortunately, we forgot the camera at home). It was excellent and we had a good visit with friends. I will post a few things that really impressed me from the teaching in the next few days. Without my weekend planning time I have started the week a bit behind the eight ball. I am running to catch up. I am needed right now to go help Mr. Boots trim the fat from his venison. Sounds like a potentially interesting post. Stay tuned.

~Mom

P.S. The above picture is Mr. Boots holding cousin Sadie on Thanksgiving.

One Piece of Leftover French Toast, 6 kids?

Sunday evening meals are almost always fend for yourself in the leftovers or make a bowl of popcorn. Last night Michelle,Thomas, T-Bob, and I didn't want the single piece of French toast left from Saturday breakfast. Especially since Mr.Boots said that the contending party would have to arm wrestle him for it. Elizabeth, however, was up to the challenge. (I don't think she knew what arm wrestling was :).

They began. Strong Mr.Boots let her struggle against his seeming indifferent arm for a while, before closing the match. He was kind enough to share it with her though. So they fixed it up and ate it. One plate, two forks. It was funny. Whoever could cut quicker,eat faster and take bigger bites got more. (Can you guess who that was?) Elizabeth just enjoyed her bites.

Mr.Boots & Elizabeth have a great relationship, but sometimes they tease each other for the fun of it. But we are saving those stories for other posts.......

~JoAn

P.S. My most recent project? De-cluttering. I haven't gotten to the family room yet though. How can you tell?

Mr. Boots Writes a Funny Story

Mr. Boots really enjoyed his own writing assignment today. This is his picture as I read it to the class at lunch. He was laughing so hard he was crying and snorting. The assignment was to use the words "Texas, toilet, games, knife, grenade, horses". Each member of the class contributed six words randomly, and then each student drew six of those words out of a hat and had to use them in a story. Obviously there are more boys than girls in our school based on the words.
Here is Mr. Boot's story:

Texas is a place where there are many strange characters. One character was a guy named Jim who sold toilets and card games. You might not see the connection, but they both had a 'Royal Flush'.

He had an equally strange brother. His brother was a rancher. He would ride his horse long and hard all day, rounding up cattle and any other critter that would yield more than half a pound of meat. He would then grind the meat and sell it to Walmart. One day he was riding through Maine on the way to the bunkhouse, when he saw some cattle coming down a hill. He threw a hand grenade and suddenly he had a wagon load of lean ground meat (it was lean Mr. Boots explained to me, because it was on a hill). The only problem was that it was on the ground.

John, as his name happened to be, got out his Shindiawa pocket blower and blew his lean ground beef into his saddle bags and started home. On the way home he cut the cheese which he had brought along with his S.O.G. knife and sold it as well as the lean ground beef to Trader Joe's. When John got home his wife served him meatloaf, cheese, and Reduced Guilt crackers for dinner. The next day Trader Joe's sent him a contract to have him provide all their lean ground beef. With the proceeds he stopped sending the inferior ground meat to Walmart and only sold Grade A lean ground beef. He never did tell them how he got the meat so tender, but passed it on as a family secret for generations and generations.

If you go to Trader Joe's and buy Grade A lean ground beef, remember John the meat packer and his brother who sold johns and card games.

This story was Mr. Boot's lunch ticket. The high quality student I get to work with is amazing. Pray for home school mom's everywhere. Especially the one's with teenage sons.

~Mom & Mr. Boots

Yes, Mr. Boots, There is such a thing as a 'Booky'

When Elizabeth was younger, she was the typical toddler. She would add a "-y" to the end of many of the words she used. She had her "blanky", "dolly", and "jacky" (that's a jacket, for all you who are unused to baby talk). This drove Mr. Boots absolutely crazy. He hates baby talk. He would correct her time after time and she persisted in using it simply because she knew it bothered him. She loves to tease her big brother. She would sweetly ask him to get her some "milky". He would tell her that he would happily get her some milk, but that there was no such thing as "milky". Did she want some milk? She would reply, "Yes Mr. Boots, please give me some (short pause) milky." They would go back and forth like this for a long time. She would also sweetly ask him to read her a "booky". He would of course reply that there was no such thing as a 'booky', although he would be happy to read her a book. You can guess the rest. Anyways, at a recent book sale, I found a booky. There is such a thing. Sorry, Mr. Boots, Elizabeth was right all along.

There are also Froggys and Mouseys.

And Duckys and Birdys.

One of my favorite moments was in the middle of one of their 'arguments', Elizabeth put her hands on her hips and looked him in the eye and told him, "Don't argue with a three year old!" Of course Mr Boots retorted, also with his hands on his hips, "Don't argue with a fifteen year old!" It is all in good fun and neither one ever gets upset, they are just playing.

Elizabeth did come out on top one time. I am not sure where or how she came up with this... Mr. Boots HATES bodily secretions! He is very careful about washing hands, using clean silverware, etc. One night I came in to tell him good night. He sleeps on the top bunk and Elizabeth came with me and climbed up the ladder so she could also tell him good night. She then told him in a little girl whispery teasing voice as he snuggled under his covers, "Mr. Boots, I licked your pillow". He quickly flipped it over. She then quietly told him, "Both sides!" At which point we all burst out laughing. He laughingly told her just how gross that really was as he often drooled in his sleep.

I am not sure if she really did lick his pillow or not, but just the fact that she came up with it made me chuckle. Little sisters are really good for big brothers. I miss her baby talk already.
~Mom

Mr. Boots Pulled over by State Trooper

NEWSFLASH:
Today we were driving down the highway and a guy in the car next to us starts staring at Mr. Boots. He pulled ahead and then dropped back beside us and continued staring at Mr. Boots as he drove. I knew what he was thinking, "Is that kid old enough to drive?" He hurried on ahead and there was a state trooper running radar, we saw him pull in and talk to the trooper.
I told Mr. Boots, "I bet they are going to pull you over, watch and see if that trooper doesn't start following us." It was only a couple minutes later and sure enough the state trooper was sitting right beside us staring at Mr. Boots. I saw him reach for the computer and I knew we were heading for the side of the road. The trooper then proceeded to drop behind us and on came the lights. Mr. Boots sighed a big sigh and shook his head. He turned on the turn signal and pulled off to the side of the road.
The trooper came over and asked him, "How old are you son?"
Mr. Boots replied "Sixteen."
"Let me see your license."
He handed it over. The trooper asked for my license and compared them.
The trooper said, "Sorry, I thought you were only 10 or 12. Your son was driving very well ma'am. He is a good driver. Have a good day."
We did.
So our boy was very disheartened to be thought only 10 or 12. He did have a good attitude and it does make a good story. Our son was pulled over and told that he was a good driver. How many people can say that?!!
~Mom