Because of Isaac Launches Tomorrow!!!

Our fourth Because of Isaac auction launches TOMORROW (Sunday) morning!! Please consider any last minute donations you may have to help raise funds for the adoptions costs of Chris and Renae. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of your money goes directly toward the adoption costs of Chris and Renae. Please send any donations (picture and description) to: auction@becauseoifsaac.org. 

Once the auction is complete, we send you the address of the winner and you mail the item. That's it!! We keep it as simple as possible.

We also need your participation by bidding so click here to see the over 100 items we already have up for auction!

Friday Funnies

JB: "Sidge give me that tape measurer. Tape measurer are not toys."
Sidge: "No, but they sure are fun to play with."

*****

Abigail got five splinters in her foot that I was unable to remove. I sat her up on the counter in the bathroom and told her not to worry.
Me: "When Daddy gets home from work, he's going to get those splinters out of your foot."
Abigail: "We have the best Daddy ever."

*****

Sidge: "Did you know that at one point here were only 22 California Condors left?"
Me: "Wow! And then they got them back?"
Sidge: "Yeah. Do you know where I learned that from?"
Me: "Your Homer program?"
Sidge: "Yep."
Me: "You learn everything from them."
Sidge: "Not exactly."
(Mr. Literal!)

*****

In the bathtub, Abigail splashed a rag around and it flung at my face. I had water drops all over my glasses.
Me: "See what happens when you do that? I get water on my glasses."
Abigail: "Oh."
Me: "Do you see the water on my glasses?"
Abigail: "I don't see it actually. It may be camouflaged."

*****

While preparing to make a trip from the farm back to the house, we asked Sidge who he wanted to drive with -- Papa or Daddy. Sidge sat for a moment, crinkled his face and said, "Who has the best food?"

*****

In the van I discussed with the kids the Bible verse: "The last shall be first and the first shall be last."
Me: "Do you know what that means?
Sidge: "It means that the last shall be first and the first shall be last."

*****

While discussing kindness, I asked the boys for a way we could be kind to another kid that might not be as popular or might be getting picked on a lot.
Me: "What if saw another kid who was always getting picked on. He was the slowest kid and always losing. How could you help?"
Sidge: "We could be .... really ... s-l-o-w!"

*****

Here are a few of the funny things Abigail said to me this week. As her little vocabulary expands, the humor revs up!

• When referring to hot air balloons: Can we go see the hot air baboons?
• When talking about her teacher Ms. Hancock: My teacher's name is Ms. Handcuffs.
• When asking again if she can get ears pierced: I really want to get my ears peeled.
• While being kicked by Abigail: Hannah keeps kicking me. I just can't deal with it.
• While trying to ask me how many miles it is to her speech class: How many aisles is it to speech?
• When I told Abigail she asked a lot of questions: I know. Girls talk a lot.

Triathlon time!

I've been training to run another triathlon the past few months. My race is schedule for May 9th. It is a 5K run, 17 mile bike, and 1/2 mile swim.

But I got wind of another race THIS Sunday and have decided to participate. It is shorter than my May 9th race, and I feel like it will be good practice for the bigger event.

No big surprise, I am fighting feet injury. My body just doesn't handle a lot of running well. JB is telling me to watch it as it appears I have some achilles tendonitis setting in. So I'm cutting back on my running and really focusing on the biking and swimming for a bit.

I'm really excited to get to do TWO races. Once we get to the farm, training for the swim portion will be very difficult so this is definitely the last time I will get to do this for quite some time.

Can't wait!

We Bought a Farm: We Have Named our Farm!

It is impossible for me to share the "full version" of our family farm. 

One of those reasons is, the vision is still very big, and we don't know exactly which directions things will move. We have a lot of ideas and a lot of dreams, but we also know that God will direct our steps. We plan to wait on him to show us exactly where we should go.

The other is that a lot of the vision is in my husband's brain, and because he knows my brain holds explosion possibilities if too much information is presented to said brain, he limits how much I know. Or he tells me, and knowing I can't hold that information, I let it slide ride back out.

But one of the things we have definitely had a vision for is using this land to educate. We want other people to be able to share in this land both in enjoyment and learning.

An opportunity arose for JB to host a conference on the farm in September and after a lot of discussion between the two of us, we decided to go for it. On September 25 and 26, a very prominent permaculture speaker, Greg Judy, will be coming to our land to speak on "Risk Free Ranching -- Starting from Scratch." This course is truly designed for beginners. (JB tells me that even I could sit in on the course which is really saying something.)

I encourage you to visit this link to check out the course details and costs. Even if you don't want to attend, it will give you an idea of the types of things we plan to do on the land.

But even cooler is that embedded within this link is the new NAME of our farm. YES! WE HAVE NAMED THE FARM! I'll do a post on it at some later time, but for now, scan away to find the name for yourself.

A Piece of Work

Oh this little munchkin of mine!

I finally snapped a photo that I felt accurately illustrates what we see everyday in our Tennessee home. I've just never felt like she comes through in pictures. This shot combines the mischievousness, sweetness, silliness, and exhaustion that is present in one little ball of Hannah Joy.

She is talking up a STORM -- repeating nearly every word we say. She's stringing words together rapidly as well. We had to take down the gate blocking the stairs because she was climbing it so easily. She loves her big siblings, and they are completely smitten with her in return. (Although they do call her the "human destructo.")

She is such a challenge to me every day, but she truly makes my heart burst with joy to be able to call her my daughter. JB and I often remind each other that she was frozen for eight years! She has a lot of pent up energy to make up for.

It is hard to believe that ten years of trying to have a baby resulted in one successful IVF.

And that one successful IVF is Hannah.

Why Nature is the Best Extracurricular for Your Child

I recently stumbled upon an article entitled: Why Nature is the Best Extracurricular for Your Child and was blown away by a few statements mentioned by the author.

I don't think any of us would argue that being outside is not good for kids. We all know it. I've never met a parent who says, "I do not want my kids going outside. I really want them inside in front of the television as much as humanly possible."

But this particular article mentioned a few things that were really profound. I did not research their precise validity. They don't have to be perfectly true to be interesting things to think about. I was especially moved by the following passage:

• According to Brain Longevity, nature affects memory by sending your body into a “relaxation response”.  The relaxation response is opposite of the “stress response”.  When you head into nature your brain can turn off – because the environment around you is inherently interesting.  There is no effort required to pay attention when you are in nature – unlike the effort that is required when poring over new text, a new concept, or a new trumpet passage.  These are many benefits of landing in the relaxation zone.  You will experience a decrease in blood pressure, a decrease in cortisol output, heightened immunity, a decrease in muscle tension, and an increase in alertness. The blood flow to the brain will increase by an impressive 25 percent.  In a long term sense, if the relaxation response happens regularly, your body will be much less vulnerable to the stress response to begin with – even when you aren’t outside.

The author encourages parents to schedule time for children just to be. Allow them time to experience the "relaxation response" that is so good for them. Avoid over-scheduling that results in no time for kids to play and relax after going to school all day.

Buying our farm has really indicated to me how healthy it is to just be. Each time we drive up to the farm and I walk the hills, I find myself instantly less stressed. There is no comparison between driving in traffic and hiking. We all know which activity is healthier. And yet we spend so much more time doing the things that are not bringing us the peace we know we need and want.

So why don't we do more hiking?

I intend to, and I am hoping you'll hike along with me. I hope you'll visit me. And I hope you'll learn with me. I hope my blog and the new direction it is taking inspires you to find ways, wherever you are, to learn to love the outdoors and animals and nature.

P.S. If you have not sent me your email address to keep reading my blog, please do. As a reminder, I am going to be changing privacy settings on my blog in the next few months. Even if you don't know me personally, you can still keep reading as an insider if you contact me. If you don't contact me, you'll still have access to the blog but not the more personal posts. Just send me an email at flakymn@hotmail.com with your name and any pertinent details!

We Bought a Farm: A Different View

This might be my new favorite view of our farm. And what is so amazing to me is that I didn't know this view existed!

It's hard to explain to someone how big 100 acres is. For example, when I tell my friend Kristi who lives in New Mexico and grew up on a 25,000 acre ranch that we bought 100 acres, she thinks I sneezed. However, when I tell most people around here that we bought a farm and then they ask me how big it is and I say 100 acres, they think that we are having some sort of allergic attack with all that sneezing.

Are you following me here?

When you are on the farm, it feels both very small and very large all rolled into one. You look out the window of the farm house and you can almost see the end of our property in all directions. And when you can do that you think, This isn't all that big.

But then you get out of the farmhouse and start walking and you realize, this is a really far walk! 

You start to head up to the ridge line, and you quickly realize how little of it you can see from the bottom.

Or your husband comes back from checking out some trees (as he was doing when he snapped this picture) and he takes a photo of your land from a viewpoint you have never seen before. A whole new angle and a whole new way to take in God's greenery.

JB also discovered a road leading up to the top of the ridge that we never knew was there. That was equally exciting. New things all the time. Enough space to be surprised by things but not enough space to truly get lost. 

For us, it is perfect. 

Six weeks to go!

Legitimately Defeated

She may be home sick, but she still had her game face on.

Today we were supposed to meet my friend Stebbs and her two boys at a science center halfway between our homes. (We live four hours apart.) This is the fourth time we have tried to schedule this, and the fourth time it had to be cancelled. Two were for the ice storm that barreled through Tennessee a few weeks back. The third time was a conflict at Stebbs house. And then last night, Abigail busts out with a fever. Ugh!

But that meant a schedule-free day at our house. Lotsa time for games and reading. 

Today I was flat out, legitimately defeated in Princess Matching by Abigail 19-17. I gave her one freebie early on and then realized I shouldn't have done that. I played as hard as I could from that point onward and could NOT catch up to her. Seriously! Trying hard! 

This means WAR!

Here is a video of her talking all about her defeat of me:

Sunday Sermon

Family Fun Magazine (FREE!)

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Military Moments: Homecomings

Visitors to our home in TN

When I lived on Eglin AFB, I kept track of the visitors we had to our home.  There really wasn't great need to keep track of visitors to Turkey or the Azores. They were very few as we were VERY far away.

But now that we are back in the States and life is starting to slip into more of a routine, we have begun to be open to having visitors. We are still trying to keep the bites small -- small stays and a laid back adventure while they are here -- in order to not overwhelm ourselves. But we have not seen many of the friends and family we love dearly in over four years. Lots of catching up to do.

So I will continue to update this blog post each time we have someone from our past stop in and see us -- if only for a few hours. Here's what we got so far:

JULY 2014

In July of 2014 our friends Nick and Kristy and their three boys stopped in to see us on their way to a musical festival. They only spent a quick lunch with us, but it was still so wonderful to get to see them. Nick and Kristy were one year ahead of us in residency and we were therefore together in Eglin, Turkey AND the Azores! Nick isn't pictured here but he'd probably prefer it that way.

AUGUST 2014

Just yesterday, JB's childhood friend Craig and his beautiful wife and children stopped in to see us for a night. They are an Air Force family as well and were going on TDY (basically a short assignment) and were passing through. It had been YEARS since we saw them. Erin and I have never actually been friends -- we've only just seen each other on periodic visits, but we both agree that we would be VERY good friends if life crossed our paths. She is one awesome lady!

AUGUST 2014

How awesome to have my mom's sister: Janet, come and visit us for a few days. It was so wonderful to catch up with her. Her son has a home not far from where we are looking at moving with our new farm. So I'm hopeful I can see her and my Uncle Ed more.

SEPTEMBER 2014

So technically they didn't visit us at our home. Instead, they met us about 4 hours away for a little visit while we were farm shopping. But oh to see Michelle after so long! Can't believe there are seven kids between us now. And what sweet kids they are. Hershal and Michelle will always hold a very dear place in my heart, and it was wonderful to share our hopeful new farm home with them FIRST!

SEPTEMBER 2014

Our friend from medical school -- Tara -- along with her husband Kelvin (not pictured) came to TN to spend a few days with us. I haven't seen Tara since before we went overseas and it was wonderful to catch up and meet Kelvin. The next time I see them, there will be a baby included in their life!

OCTOBER 2014

Our backyard neighbors when in Turkey -- the Ellis family -- was driving through on the way to a new job for Tommie, who recently retired from the military. They decided to stop a night and hang with us. How wonderful to reconnect with Christina and her awesome boys!

OCTOBER 2014

Our friends Craig and Erin (and their two cutie pies) stopped back through our house for two nights on the way back to their home in Montana. Love helping out fellow military families. Scrubs and the girls LOVED Craig!

OCTOBER 2014

My friend from the island, Claire, drove up from Montgomery (about 4 hours) to visit with us for two days. Here are pics of all of our kids (except Abigail). In the top picture are, from left, Jacob (9), Sidge (5), Gavin (4), and Isaac (6). In the bottom pic are Hannah (1), and Bria (2). We had the ages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 represented in our home!

November 2014

It's been so cool that my good friend Sarah "Stebbs" lives just 4 hours from us. We have actually gotten to see her and her family four times since coming back to the USA. In November, she and her husband and two boys made the drive to see us. Never a dull moment when we get our six together -- and this was no exception. A visit to Jack Daniels Distillery (for the guys) capped off a fun Veteran's Weekend.

November 2014

My parents drove up from South Florida to spend Thanksgiving with us. We hadn't seen my Dad since Hannah was born. My Mom and I did a day drive to the farm so I can show it to her.

December 2014

Joni comes for a visit! 

December 2014

Grant and Liz fly in to spend Christmas at our house with their awesome twin boys: Ethan and Eli.

December 2014

My brother and his wife drive up from South Florida with their two little girls. We went to an indoor swimming place, the science center, Chik-Fil-A, a Princess Tea Party, and a weekend at the farm.

January 2015

My cousin Ryan's wife, Briana, comes to spend a week with us while JB is out of town. What a great time we all had!

February 2015

JB's younger sister, Katie, spends a short visit with us on her way to visit her older sister.

April 2015

My Dad visits at both the farm and our home in near Nashville.

Our Papa Coach

My Dad works at a Christian school in Florida. So he used his Spring Break to spend it with us in Tennessee! He actually drove up to the farm, spent a few days with us there, and then made the drive to our house in Central Tennessee.  

What I love so much about my Dad is, all he wanted to do is play with my kiddos. They played at least a dozen games of HOTELS and tons of cards. (He taught them "Spoons" and they taught him "Kings in the Corner.") My little men absolutely love to play cards and games. 

He also did some reading with Abigail. She would bring her big Princess Encyclopedia-like book and give him lesson after lesson on who was who in the princess world. 

My Dad also told me the first day that he'd get Hannah to sit on his lap. It only took about 2 days, and she was hooked. She walked around calling him "Coach-ey." Too sweet.

So glad to be back in the USA where we can see my parents more often. South Florida to Tennessee still isn't close, but it sure beats Asia or Europe to the USA.

Bye Papa! See you in a few months!

Friday Funnies

No Hannah isn't potty-training. I found her like this, holding the paper, saying "WIPE" and also holding a shoe. No idea why she has a shoe. I told her to "stay right there" so I could take a picture instead of getting frustrated!

*****

During March Madness, Abigail said to me, "Mommy can we watch a different movie than bas-et-ball. I don't wike watching bas-et-ball very much."

*****

Sidge has been very into playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. While playing with Isaac the other day I heard him say. "I have a secret move in that game. You want to know what it is? It's Rock!"

*****

Sidge: "Did you know that at one point here were only 22 California Condors left?"
Me: "Wow! And then they got them back?"
Sidge: "Yeah. Do you know where I learned that from?"
Me: "Your Homer program?"
Sidge: "Yep."
Me: "You learn everything from them." (I should have known better than to present an absolute to my very literal boy.)
Sidge: "Not exactly."

We Bought a Farm: Our First School Room

This new house on the farm is the smallest house I have lived in in quite some time. We have always talked about living with less, but when you actually try to make less work for a family of six and a big ol' dog, it ain't so easy!

Don't get me wrong. The house isn't tiny. But with three bedrooms and only one living room, it is going to take some careful configuring to fit well. 

If I wasn't homeschooling, I think it would be fine, but I am really shocked by the amount of things it takes to educate children.

When we bought this farm, we liked the house, but we didn't love the house. As we searched for a property, we quickly became aware that if we wanted to stay within a certain price range, we were going to need to give up some things. We couldn't have it all unless we wanted to spend it all.

This house has a lot of issues that will have to be improved upon if I am going to raise four kiddos to adulthood within its walls. Some examples of the things that are challenging about this home include:

• The house is sort of put in backwards. This means you enter through the kitchen. SOLUTION: Deal with it! No way to turn the house around, and we don't want to add a driveway to the front of the house.
• There is no closet or any area for shoes, hats, coats, etc. by either the kitchen entrance or the real front door. SOLUTION: We eventually want to add a mud room off the kitchen. This will make the backwardness more okay for us as well.
• There is only one living area, and it is not very large. SOLUTION: We eventually want to eliminate the vaulted ceiling in the living area to put a second living room upstairs. This second living room will eventually be the school room.
• There are only three bedrooms which are all very modest in size. SOLUTION: We can't add a bedroom, but we will have a guest area in another building on the farm. And we will do some unique building in the kids rooms to maximize space for them.
• The kitchen is a bit too small for us. SOLUTION: We eventually want to convert the formal dining room (which we are currently using for a school room) into a bigger kitchen.
• The beautiful view out of the house is blocked by a garage. SOLUTION: We eventually want to add a three-seasons room off another corner of the house that would allow us to partake more in our view.
• There is no community shower in the house. (The only shower is in the kids room or are room.) SOLUTION: Deal with it. This I can overlook if we have a separate place for guests.
• Our bathroom area does not have a door (although the toilet is sectioned off with a door.) SOLUTION: Add a door, or at least a curtain right away.

But these are all long-term, way down the road things. For now, we have to make this house work with what we have. 

We decided to convert the formal dining room into a school room. I never thought I would have a formal school room, but the dining room is just too small to continue to make that work. Here is a picture of the school room:

This is still a work in progress but thanks to my brother-in-law Ray's great ability to find items online, I managed to snag two school desks for the boys. I also purchased all of the bookshelves second hand.

We also got a desk for Abigail. It was supposed to be her birthday present in July from Uncle Ray and Aunt Gabbi, but it was accidentally discovered amidst the chaos of the move. She LOVES her new school desk.

I truly always just thought we'd sort of do school all over the house. But this house just isn't big enough for that. I am actually really excited for everything to have a place and for us to know where we are going to do the school thing. We practiced school a bit in this new room, and we really enjoyed it. Time to get started for real in May!

I am also excited to be joining a co-op on Mondays in our local town. I am on the waiting list but have been told we should get in. We will go for half a day every Monday. Hannah will be in the nursery, Abigail in preschool, and the boys in first grade. I will help wherever they assign me. This will give us the opportunity to meet some people and learn some new things. 

Let the adventures continue!

We Bought a Farm: Extremely Excited. Slightly Overwhelmed.

I am busy posting pictures.

I am documenting this huge change of lifestyle that we are in the midst of undertaking -- feverishly -- not wanting to forget a moment of where we were, who we used to be, where we are going, and before long, who we will be.

JB and I were raised in the Fort Lauderdale suburbs. Neither of us really had a backyard to speak of. We are used to living in the midst of things and having neighbors on all sides of us.

We are used to always being around people.

And I'm realizing that that feeling makes you feel like you are not alone.

We are preparing to move to a 100-acre farm where our "neighbors" are actually the only houses we can see from the hills on our property.

And as I post all these pictures, it'd be very easy to pretend that everything is as picture-perfect as the pictures I post.

Take Sidge (above) wide-eyed with excitement about a new plant he discovered by the pond we have named "Chicken Pond." (It looks like a chicken running if you squint your eyes real tight and turn your head 87 degrees.)

Or Abigail (right) excitedly showing off one of the worms she has just found while munching on her graham cracker -- completely oblivious to big brother photo-bombing in the background.

These pictures make my heart happy. They assure me each time I snap one, that we have done the right thing. More than wanting a farm ourselves, we wanted our children to grow up in the country -- with plenty of space to roam.

Goodness knows they have that space.

But in the midst of pictures of farms and hills and trees, there are moments of fear and doubt.

In fact, the biggest emotion that circles around me right now is FEAR. I fear my ability to live out in the country. Will I miss neighbors? Will I grieve the ability to run down the road for what I need? Will I covet those of you who can pop from activity to activity because you are close by and those activities are plentiful?

And even more than the fears of living removed is a fear of not having friends. I've moved many, many times during the last twenty years of my life. But each time I felt that friends had sort of been prepared for me. When I went to college I had my team. When I went to Minnesota we had the medical school. When JB started residency he had the families of the fellow residents. Turkey. Azores. Prepared friends.

But not here.

Here we do not immediately belong to any group. And what if I don't make any friends? What if I am alone?

And what about the amount of effort that meeting and making friends requires.

I know all the answers to these questions. I am not alone. I have four children and a set of grandparents and a husband here with me. And a dog of course. Yes, always my dog.

And we have so many people intent of visiting us here. In fact, the month of July has already been nearly filled with visitors scheduling their trips. I'll be seeing many of YOU and that isn't lonely.

I have always supported my husband's dream of this farm. And as we walk the grounds, I have no doubts that this is where God wants me. And way down, in the deep spots of my spirit, the Lord is assuring me that everything will be okay. That this is where I belong, and He will take care of the details.

But it would be a false representation of the truth if I didn't share that doing something new is scary. JB likens it to the story of the young boy who threw his hat over the fence. He was afraid to cross a field but knew it was the only way to go. So he threw his hat over the fence knowing that he'd have to go into the field if he did that.

We have thrown our hat over the fence. We are giddy with excitement with what that means. We love the land, the house, the location.

But there is fear. There is doubt.

When we look around and see cattle roaming we think: "Holy cow. What did we do? Can we do this? How will we do this?"

When we found out we were eight weeks pregnant with Sidge when Isaac was only six weeks old, a friend asked me how I was doing. I was speechless so she said, "Extremely excited? Slightly overwhelmed?"

Yes, that's it.

That was the emotion then. And that is the emotion now.

We've thrown our hat over.

Time to walk through that field.

Wee-Wind Wednesday

This video makes me smile. This was the first week we were back in America last Summer. We went to Mt. Vernon with Stebbins and her William. He is obsessed with the Air Force song, and there was an awesome military member playing it on his flute-like instrument. William was singing along, and I felt so proud to have stood alongside my husband and he served in the U.S. Air Force for 7 years.

Book Review: The Berenstain Bears: God Made You Special

The Berenstain bears books were originally penned by Stan and Jan Berenstain. They are no longer living, but their son, Mike, has been keeping the tradition alive through a new series of Berenstain books. The "Living Lights" series are a relatively new series. The books go beyond discussions of just being a good person and actually share spiritual themes and faith.

God Made You Special is part of the "Living Lights" series. In this 8x8 softcover title, the Berenstains are joined at a cookout by the Bruins family whose cousin, Tommy, has special needs. I thought the book did an exceptional job discussing how people who are different are just as special as everyone else. When Sister asks about Tommy, Mama takes the opportunity to talk to sister about how God makes each of us unique in our own way. She explains that we all have special gifts and talents to share with the folks around us.

Mike Berenstain grew up watching his parents working together to write and draw these lovable bears. Eventually, he started drawing and writing about them too. I was totally not expecting, despite the title, to see this book so vividly discuss God being our creator. Bravo Mike for going a step further!

This is a great book for anyone but especially recommended to help explain special needs to children in a thoughtful and caring way!

Booklook Bloggers provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

We Bought a Farm: Our First Tree

We just returned home after a week at the farm. JB had to do some practice shifts at the new hospital he is going to be working at, and we decided to use the week to try to get a bit more moved in and get the house closer to ready for our end-of-May arrival.

We packed up a twenty foot truck with everything we thought we could live without for a few months, and drove it to the farm. Military life overseas means constantly putting stuff on a truck and not seeing it for awhile so this felt very familiar to me. While it will cost a bit more to move stuff over in spurts, the trade-off of lessened stress is definitely worth it to me.

One of the first things we did was plant our very first tree. JB's sister gave us three trees for Christmas. I've learned a lot about trees. Buying them "already started" can shave half a decade off the time you have to wait for fruit.

An online reader suggested taking a picture by this tree every year around Easter. We are going to try and do that. I'm going to try to document how much our kids grow and how much this tree grows. So make sure you stay tuned to the blog as I flashback year after year to this post.

4th Because of Isaac Auction

So exciting to announce that we are going to be doing another auction for Because of Isaac.  

This auction will be held from April 19-26. We will launch it at 10am EST on Sunday, April 19th. It will close at 10pm EST on Sunday, April 26.

Our sixth BECAUSE OF ISAAC couple: Chris & Renae

Our first three auctions were a HUGE success. We raised over $1,000 on auction 1, just over $2,000 for auction 2, and then kept the ball rolling with just over $3,000 for our auction 3. 

Each of these auctions have benefited a different couple. This particular auction will help raise money for Chris & Renae. You can read all about them by clicking on their name!

This auction will once again be held via Facebook. The items will be put up on a page and people can just leave a comment to bid on them.

What can you do to help? Well, when the auction starts, you can BID and you can ask all your friends to bid.

But prior to that, you can consider something you can donate. Wee need ALL KINDS OF ITEMS. The key to the success of this auction is to have many, many items. We'd really like to see if we can break $4,000 this time. It is possible with YOUR help.

I am asking everyone who reads my blog to try to think of ONE thing you could donate. It can be something you got for Christmas that isn't your taste. It can be an old picture hanging in your hallway that doesn't match your decor anymore. It can also be something that you go out and buy just for the auction. 

All you have to do is email us at auction@becauseofisaac.org and send a picture of the item (or a link to a similar one online.) Then, when the auction is complete, we will provide you with the name and address of the item winner so you can mail the item to the person who won it. That's it!

Please think about how you could help make this auction a great success. I can't wait to hear from you.

Sweet lesson

We Bought a Farm: Our forever house

Now that we have purchased our "forever home" it's fun to start coming up with ideas that might be more permanent and not so temporary in nature. I am really having to adjust my thinking from, "I wonder if I could make that work?" to "How could I make that work?" My ideas don't have to revolve around getting a house livable quickly without spending too much time or money on something that we will only be in for two years. Now I can thing big picture! I'm really enjoying thinking about ways that we can make this house work for us.

I thought this idea (above) was really fun!

While our new house appears very large from photos, it will actually be the smallest house we have lived in since we first brought the boys home to Eglin AFB. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath house with just one living area, a very tiny laundry room, and no basement. The kitchen is a bit smaller than we would like as well. However, it does have a formal dining area as well as an eat-in kitchen. We will be using the formal dining room for a school room for the time being. 

But we have some big plans for the house which include transitioning the vaulted lower living room into a second room upstairs that can become the homeschool room. The homeschool room now will hopefully make us a bigger kitchen. And we also want to add a mud room since the entry door to the house goes right into the kitchen. 

It is exciting to think of all the possibilities that we can take our time in achieving. 

Settling down is really fun!

Dinosaurs!

Have a child who LOVES dinosaurs? Click here for a great website featuring all kinds of really cool This activity says K-1, but my boys, who are kindergarteners, are probably too mature for most of the activities in the packet. So I personally think it is great for ages 4-5.

While I wouldn't say he is obsessed, Sidge is the dinosaur-lover in our family. I still remember when he was about 4 years old telling me, "Volcanoes and dinosaurs are what I'm into right now." Love that kid!

10 things you really shouldn't say to moms of multiple children

With JB's truck in the shop last week, I had to drop him off and pick him up from work. One of the evenings, we went into the ER to wait for him. However, when it is really hopping in the ER, JB will text me and ask that we just wait in the car.

So there we sat waiting at the car. And while we waited, I saw a lady walk by with four children. They looked to range from ages 1-7.

I remember thinking to myself, "Wow. She has got her hands full!"

Later, when JB got into the van, I asked him about the woman I had seen with all the kids. He told me that she was one of his patients that day as one of her kids was sick.

"Super nice lady," he said. "A really good mom."

"Man," I said. "She has got four little kids. I wonder how she does that!"

JB looked at me and burst out laughing.

"What?" I said. "What's so funny?"

"Wendi, she is YOU!"

I sat there for a moment, dumbfounded. While my goodness she really IS me. That is what people see when they see me take my little crew into the library, the grocery store, or the doctor's office.

I tell you that story to tell you that I really am not offended when people make comments about the number of children I have. (And not just the number but the fact that I have our children who are all so young.) Okay, so the guy who asked me if I was running a daycare service and the man who asked me why I was pregnant again when I already had three did bug me a little.

But generally, I enjoy these comments.

That said, I did find a post floating around Facebook recently that provided a list of things you shouldn't say to a mom of many. You can click here to read this article in its entirety.

And here, is the list (with my peanut-gallery comments out to the side.)

1. "Boy, you sure have your hands full!" My response is always You should see my heart.
2. "I don't know how you do it." I don't know how I do it either. I really don't. 
3. "You know how that happens, right?" What's funny is that in our case, one-half of our brood did NOT arrive via sexual intercourse (Isaac is adopted and Hannah was born via IVF). For that reason, I find this comment hilarious. 
4. "Looks like Dad needs to get a fishing pole." I actually haven't heard anything this egregious. However, I did have a woman once say to me, "I guess you didn't wait six weeks," when she saw me pregnant and holding little Isaac. These comments also make me smile at how incredibly outspoken some people are and how clueless people can be about the WHOLE story.
5. "Are they all yours?" I actually find this comment appropriate. It does seem unbelievable that I have four children within five years. I'd find it interesting too. This gives me the opportunity to share that God's plans are often not our plans.
6. "These all from the same lot?" Sort of.
7. "Lots of helpers!" And lots of work that needs helping for!
8. "Are you done? Are you having any more?" I actually am not shy about the fact that we are currently calling it quits on more children. (We may adopt again but no more biological kids for this mega-pregnant-sick mommy.) While I don't think it is anyone's business, I don't get offended by this question.
9. "Enjoy these days. They grow up so fast."I actually LOVE hearing this. It is a reminder to me while I am trying to wrangle my brood through Kroger to enjoy the moments. I appreciate the reminder from veteran moms that all-too-fast you find yourself on the other side. I NEVER want to forget this.
10. The silent stare. I don't get this much in Tennessee. Here, I feel big families are appreciated. But in South Florida I did get this quite a bit, and I admit, this one can bother me a little bit. 

What God Really Wants for Moms with Young Children

To read this article in its entirety, click here. 

Gentleness. That's what you need, dear mom, gentleness.

Her answer was so unexpected that I didn't know quite what to make of it. 

Then she softly explained, "He gently leads those with young. If you're a mom with young children, He desires gentleness for you."

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in his arms; He will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. ~ Isaiah 40:11

Isn't that beautiful to know? That our God doesn't want us running around until we drop. He doesn't desire for us to take on more and more until we can hardly see straight. We were not meant to buckle up our little one in his car seat, unbuckle, and then buckle up again. Over and over. Running to this meeting and that appointment.  Pressures everywhere we turn.

Slow down, dear mom.  

Your God wants to lead you tenderly and carefully. He would never drag you around at a pace you can't keep. He is a good Father who cares about you and recognizes the precious work you're doing by loving your little ones. 

This is not a season to take on more, but to live with less.

Easter galore!

Click here for a free activity pack for your preschooler. Also click here to jump back to a previous post I did featuring all kinds of christ-centered Easter ideas. Also, to see all past posts I have ever done featuring Easter, click here. 

We Bought a Farm: Our New Life

Wednesday Wee-Wind: Easter in the Azores

Can it be that this is the first Easter we have celebrated in America since 2010? Truly, it now feels like ages ago we were living in the Azores, but when I thought back to what we were doing last year at this time, my thoughts brought me back to this flower basket. Our garden was blooming, and JB and the kids collected all the flowers above just from the yard outside of our home.

Click here to flashback with me to the Easter Egg Hunt I hosted for the amazing moms of our Azores MOPs group.