I am sorry …

I want to post more! There is so much going on! The main thing right now is: The Dunhams are in town!!

Romeikes

Please, fight for this family with me!!

https://go.hslda.org/HelptheRomeikes2023

This family attended ballet with us. They are real people and this isn’t fair!

Friday Funnies

“Anthropic Constants”

21% of the earth’s atmosphere is made up of oxygen. If that level were 25%, fires would erupt spontaneously everywhere and if it were 15%, humans would suffocate. 
The 23 degree axis of the earth, if altered slightly, would mean extreme temperatures one way or the other that do not support human life. Same with the speed of the earth’s rotation, tectonic plate activity, the thickness of the earth’s crust, and we’re just getting started. 

If earth’s atmosphere were only slightly more or less transparent, either not enough or too much solar radiation would reach us and life on earth would cease to exist. 

If the gravitational interaction between the moon and the earth were just slightly different, we would experience severe tidal effects and climatic instabilities that would render life on earth impossible. 

If the carbon-dioxide levels on earth were slightly higher than now, we’d all burn up because of a massive greenhouse effect, and if they were slightly lower, we would suffocate and plants could not photosynthesize. 

If the gravitational force of the earth were 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000001% different, our sun would not exist and neither would we! 

1 in 10138 = Chances of all 150+ Anthropic Constants occurring on any one planet of the 1022 in the entire universe 


“The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life.” 
—Stephen Hawking, Atheistic Cosmologist/Physicist 

“Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing and delicately balanced to provide exactly the conditions required to support life. In the absence of an absurdly-improbable accident, the observations of modern science seem to suggest an underlying, one might say, supernatural plan.” 
Arno Penzias, Nobel Prize Winning Physicist

Colossians 1:17 – He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

To be ...

Being a Mom is 

B

U

S

Y

!

Add to that homeschooling, and I feel like I truly canNOT keep up.

Add to that farming. Homesteading. 

You want a 

S

L

O

W

life. 

But how do you obtain slowness?

Why is it so hard to just

B

E

?

These are things I think about daily. 

Why can't life be simpler? We are a family striving for simplicity, and yet, it isn't simple. 

Our garden this year? We didn't keep up on it. Without a Wwwoofer here, we just couldn't do it? Is it possible? Is it truly possible to obtain simplicity in this world that we live in? 

I'm not sure. 

I think of ten years from now. Kids will be gone. But will it be slower? And will I be capable of doing all the things I want to do when I am 56. 

If the kids were in school, would I have more time?

Or would that time be filled up with other things?

I am so thankful for rural life. Farming. Nature. 96-acres. Peace. Noise-free life. 

When we were in D.C., for just that one night, Sidge hated the city. So did Gabe. Sidge honestly thought he might be snipered through the window. It's funny that he's more worried about guns in the city than he is in the country where there are bullet sounds frequently from hunters in the area. He wasn't used to the cramp feeling. The three story, narrow-house literally made him feel like he was suffocated. 

So I know where we are supposed to be.

But I wish that being could be more ... 

Time

I never thought I’d have less time to Blog and keep up on our life than I did when the kids were little. But here I am. Mother of four nearly teenagers just chugging away. 

It’s a beautiful life. Our life here is what I imagined. Not as slow. But beautiful. People use this place for respite and refuge. Unexpected guests show up needing a talk, some nature, some peace, some encouragement. 

I can’t imagine raising my children anywhere else. But man, are there are a lot of children. And a lot of animals. 

Vermont — another repeat

Got Gabe in the background of our 2023!

Vermont — our funny repeated photo

2016

2022

2023

Almost Back to TN

We are in the car, heading back from our nearly two-week vacation. What a time it is. I can't believe how much technology we are now capable of using IN our own cars. It's crazy! Your phone can just be a HOTSPOT. I can't even believe how we used to travel and how we travel now.

We are now just under an hour from Washington D.C. where we will spend our last night of vacation. It was so wonderful to get a break.

I am able to watch the U.S. Open Men's final on my laptop in the car. That's so cool.

I missed the two women's semi-finals because last night, our last night at the camp, there was a storm and we lost power. MAN was it something! Power went out around 5pm and didn't come back until well into the early hours of the morning. 

I had such a fantastic time with my family, with relaxing, with Gabe too. 

I MUST start eating better now that I am back. Trying to get ready for a wedding in December. Kelsey is getting married. The boys will be ushers. I'll be a bridesmaid. And the girls will be flowers girls!

Friday Funnies

So frustrated with Hannah and Abigail’s arguing, I tell them that at the end of the day, they’ll be required to tell me five nice things they did for the other person unprovoked. 

About five minutes later, I saw Abigail consider giving Hannah the first choice of a coloring book. “That could be one of your nice things,” I said. 

They both shook their heads. 

“We did those five things already.”

Apparently, the moment I told them this they sat down and agreed to pay each other five compliments. 

Sigh. 

You’d never imagine the fighting/bickering when you see photos like this: 

Positives

A really cool video

I want to post things here that I want my kids to see someday. I plan to show this to my students. Such an important reminder. We will often only hear the negative. But there is tons of positive that we do not hear.

Hannah is 10!

Here she is with her birthday gifts! She’s a big reader :)

Do Not Worry

I wish I did not worry. 

That's it. That's the whole thing. Why despite God's continual blessings upon my life, do I allow small trivial matters to dictate my mood and my day. It's been my biggest nemesis since I was small.

The worry is nearly always about people. It's about pleasing people. And pleasing people is pride. 

The number of times in the Bible God talks about worry .... he mentions it SO often.

And yet, when I am able to sit and BE sometimes I have too much time to let the worry come over me.

Vermont: Pictures on the Rock

This is our NINTH year with someone from our family coming to Vermont and our SIXTH year that our entire family has come together. It is the highlight of our year and truly, for all of us, the happiest place on Earth outside of our farm! 

2023

   2022

  

   2021  

  2020

 2019

 2018

 

 2017

 2016

Our entire family annual adventures begin!

 

 2015

Sidge joins the Vermont Brigade

 

  2014

Wendi goes to Vermont with Isaac

2013

Isaac goes to Vermont with Joni

Vermont then and now

In Vermont ... sit down and rest

For ten summers, our family has taken a break on Seymour Lake. Actually, for our entire family, it has been eight summers.

And while everything leading up to getting here is a challenge ... every time, being here is absolutely the biggest slice of serenity I have ever experienced. 

It has changed the way I vacation ... the way we want to vacation. 

John and "did all the things" for years. Now, we just want to be able to sit and BE. I like to color, to pray, to sit by the lake, to nap, to rest, to do some schoolwork for my classes, to read. 

John likes to bird and to cook and to read.

Isaac will sleep in and then stay up late talking to his Joni. Late to bed and late to rise every day. 

The other three will want to be on the water and outside as much as possible. Playing games, especially Ping Pong. 

Roy will sneak a nap whenever the house is relatively quiet. 

Today I actually just snuck into Sidge's room in the back of the basement to nap where no one could find me, overlooking the water. 

We came to Tennessee in search of a slow life in 2014. And what I've learned is that idea isn't as easy as you think. In order to live completely ... S L O W ... you have to never leave your farm. Which isn't really possible with children who would like to participate in activities it is tough. Even if we only let the kiddos do ONE activity, that's FOUR activities. :) And then, if you have a son, like Isaac, who is interested in music, you can't "put that off" until a later date. 

I'm sitting right now in the cabin just watching the US Open .... waiting for the temperatures to warm up!

Some snaps around the island

With the lovely Lela and Raquel!















History of Strong Island