Already

He’s still faithful to deliver 

Mighty as ever to save 

He’s still good on His promises 

And His love still never fails 

He’s not moved by perfection 

Or how well we look the part 

... 

He’s already bought our freedom 

He’s already paid our debt 

He’s already done the miracle 

He’s already conquered death 

He’s our light and salvation 

He’s our rock solid hope

My day was interrupted... and I was quickly realizing that there weren't as many hours in it as I had planned.

I drop the boys off at 9 (well, I'm supposed to drop them off between 8.40-8.50, but even our departure time was interrupted by big emotions).

I dropped Little Miss off at 9.30 (across town).  She was eager, very eager, to go have fun with toys and friends!

By the time I filled up with gas, reached a friend's house where I was going to work, realized they didn't have heat, and then drove to a nearby church, it was probably 10.30.  And I had an 11.30-12.20 appointment, and needed to pick LM up at 1.30.

This church is not one I would attend, due to theological differences, but I love its welcoming spirit and cozy atmosphere. For being a big church, there are lots of little alcoves, all pleasantly arranged with comfy furniture.  Even the bathroom is nicely decorated! For Christmas, there were small evergreen wreaths hanging down on ribbons above each sink!

Today I situated myself in the cafe at a lunch table to work on some projects and make some phone calls.  I enjoyed the quiet environment, a flat workspace, heat (!), free wi-fi, and uplifting background music.

I was engrossed in the details of calling insurance or some such exciting task, when I noticed the words, "... already ... already ... already."  The song was ending, and I quickly googled it to read the entire lyrics.

He has indeed already done all the things listed above in the quote! He is worthy! He is the Babe who is the Risen Savior & King!

What aspect of the Christmas story is moving your heart this year?

Snow day

I called a snow day this morning.  (See this post from last year about the process.)

The roads are worse near us than near our carpool friends. But after I made our decision, our local schools announced a one-hour delay, so that helps validate my decision.

We have about 3-4" of powdery white stuff. :)

But everyone in our family either has a cough or runny nose or post-nasal drip.  And we're all exhausted.  The working man among us has had too many days of working til midnight or 2 AM, rushing to finish fall fieldwork before the ground freezes. (It was a rainy spring, thus a late planting season, which meant a late harvest, so there has been a smaller window between harvest and the ground freezing.)

Except for the windchill of 19*, it would be a perfect day to play in the snow!  I have a long list of activities to keep us occupied indoors, including

• making banana bread ("Rotten bananas make GOOD banana bread!" is LG's mantra!), 
• several rousing rounds of laundry basketball, tossing clean clothes into baskets to sort them, and
• some Christmas crafts from Hobby Lobby.

And there is always a box or two we could pull out of the garage to play with. :)  Seriously, if anyone is planning to give our children a gift, might I suggest a big cardboard box so they don't have to fight over the one they played with all day Saturday? 

Where?

Where am I? Where do I live?

Those questions fit this week.

It has turned into 4 days of driving to school (65 miles away), one day making the round trip twice.

It has turned into 2 days of coming home after Little Miss's bedtime.  She falls asleep in the van, and I just put her in bed.  Then I wake her up in the morning to put her in her carseat to start all over.

After-school activities have included / are planned to include swim lessons, allergy shots, two pediatrician visits, our first home visit for Theraplay, a failed Walmart grocery pickup (left after waiting an hour), and a successful pickup 24 hours later.  [Disclaimer: in 2+ years, that is my first bad experience.]

This week is brought to us by:

• our wonderful church & being recharged on Sunday morning,
• the soul-stirring truth of a sermon on Sodom & Gomorrah and the song, "His Mercy is More," 
• an amazing school that collaborates so well with families and is flexible with our situation,
• an angel in disguise who gave me her day on Tuesday (from 9 AM - 5.45 PM), to give the gift of her presence during my IVIG, and to drive all over picking up my children when my body was filled with 4 Benadryl tablets (!),
• God's grace that my IVIG treatment went smoothly,
• Walmart grocery pickup (how ELSE would we have food in our house?!?)
• the laundry couch, where we all scavenge for clean clothes 
• the consignment store credit which I used to buy a rare find - a Playmobil horse barn set, which has kept Little Guy occupied in the van, at my allergist appointment, and at the pediatrician (Have barn, will carry!)

And, in all of these situations, where we are more apt to sin due to busy-ness, lack of sleep, unmet expectations, frustration, etc., HIS MERCY IS MORE.

I hope you have time to watch this video:

His Mercy is More!

4G

In the early morning rush to get out the door, I didn't even have time to make a list (paper or electronic) of my to-do list for the day.  As I kept repeating it to myself, so I wouldn't forget, I realized it was a 4G list.

Gas,
Granola bars,
Gallon bags, and
Gum.

:)

Holiday

The day after Thanksgiving - our bonus day - felt like all the days I had imagined I would have with a preschooler.  It felt like all the days I grieve not having with Little Guy, due to his starting school at 3 1/2. 

We all ate well yesterday (Thanksgiving).

We all had our love tanks filled yesterday, spending 8+ hours with extended family.

We all got enough sleep (no alarm clock; no reason to wake up early).

We all woke up happy.

We had nowhere to go, nowhere to be at a certain time, no morning rush to get in the van with backpack and lunch.

We relaxed.  {Sigh!}

LG and I played a board game before LM woke up.

I had time to be creative and finally made the morning & evening routine charts I mentioned here. (LG said, "This is so cool, Mom!" LM recited the steps in her routine all day.)

The children played in their imagination for hours and hours, with no request for screen time.  They acted out The Sugar Creek Gang in great detail.  I was called upon at various times to be Bill's mother, or Mrs. Thompson, or Miss Lily the school teacher.  I was reminded to refer to LG as Bill and to LM as Charlotte Ann (or Poetry, as the case may be).  We all stayed in character through lunch.

We made a craft (!).

I did the bare minimum of online shopping to snag some deals.

By 2:00 we had eaten lunch, and packed Jim's lunch, and LG had gotten his barn clothes on & gathered his barn jacket, hat and gloves.  He did his post office chore (of running in and getting our mail) ... and suggested that we train LM to have the chore of bringing in any packages that UPS leaves on our front porch. :)  We dropped LG off at the farm to work for 2 hours, and LM and I ran an errand and then visited Grandpa.

Such a leisurely day! The type of day I dreamed we would have regularly.  The type of day we rarely have. 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #96

951.  Thanksgiving ~ a time set apart to give thanks for all God's goodness

952.  holiday from school!! 

953.  children sleeping in

954.  time for me to enjoy the quiet in our home (even with sleeping in myself!)

955.  some really sweet kindnesses of the Lord lately, shown through the very practical kindness of His people

956.  the Barnes & Noble gift card in my purse, LG's prize for reading (or having read to him) the most books (in PreK-1st grade) in summer reading program

957.  Aldi's gluten-free breads (bagel for breakfast; stuffing for lunch)

958.  these cards that have spoken deeply to my soul

959.  although LM's singing can seem incessant and loud, the words are filled with Truth and Hope!

960.  even if we miss all the sales on Black Friday, we have enough!

1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #95

941.  Thy great salvation so rich, full, and free!

942.  Christian heritage, especially thinking of my grandfather who would have turned 141 last week

943.  And my fourth-great-grandmother about whom it is written:

"It was said of FBR (1764-1850) that in her prayers she always asked God's blessings upon all her descendants to the end of time."

944.  The rhythm of Sabbath, the Word and prayer being instilled in my being

945.  Hymns, hymns, hymns!

946.  Sunday school teachers, youth group leaders, Bible camp staff, and campus ministry volunteers investing in me

947.  challenging words from friends, even this week:

948.

"Never take the name of God on your lips if the flame of His presence does not burn in your heart."

949.  a few hours respite at the nearest coffee shop (albeit 16 miles away - it was either that or the nursing home lobby!) on Sunday afternoon after a long week (that included my first IVIG as well as 6 nights of interrupted sleep due to a toddler with a cough)

950.  hope

Worlds colliding

Jim was part of a singles' group decades ago that has morphed into what they refer to as "Friends group."  12-18 remain close. We see each other at funerals.  Two came to our wedding 600 miles away.  All the others came to our local wedding reception.  One family always hosts a Christmas party.  I led a Bible study with 3 of the girls for a couple years.  In the past year, they've started meeting for supper once a month.  Quite amazing!

A few weeks ago, we went to the funeral of one of the ladies, whom I had only seen once.  When I signed the guest book, I saw a few lines above our names, that one couple had written "(Japan)" after their names.  You can bet I made a beeline to find them afterwards!  We know a lot of the same people and they had just visited my Japanese home church a few weeks previously.  They "just so happened" to be in Chicago that weekend, so were able to make it to the funeral of this lady, who was the Japanese missionary wife's college roommate.  I almost felt my head swirling.

This past week, a friend stopped by for a 24-hour visit.  I have known her for 25+ years in her role as counselor for the mission agency I served with.  But she is also related by marriage to my sister-in-law! Her son married my SIL's sister.  What a small world!

Earlier this month I attended a home luncheon as part of our church's missions month.  As I conversed with the missionary to South America, sitting next to me, she asked where I am from, and as soon as I answered, she said, "There's a camp near there that my family went to."  Lo and behold, her parents (and even grandparents) were friends with my great-uncle, who directed that camp for 50+ years. He had even visited them on the field back in the 50s or 60s!  This dear lady's sister had just emailed their whole family the previous day, reminding them that it was my Uncle M's birthday.  My mind was really swirling with that one!

Carpool Daze

Two weeks ago on my carpool day, I was planning to take Little Miss to drop-in childcare.

We arrived in time to drop the boys off in the carpool line (HUGE sigh of relief!).  But, since the commute is not conducive to potty training, we immediately pulled into the circle and parked, and LM and I hurried into the restroom in the lobby.  The lobby is the waiting room for the ENT & audiologist's office, and as such has chairs, toys, and books for little ones to enjoy while they wait.

We used the restroom, and on our way out, I got into a conversation with the receptionist and another mom.  Then it was time to go.  LM was running, and, in a freak accident, fell (on a very age-appropriate toy) and started spouting blood from a gash in her forehead. 

L-o-n-g story short, she had 3 sutures at a convenient care clinic, and I did NOT take her to drop-in childcare.  She was understandably clingy, and I was shaken. We ran in Walmart for a few things ... including a $3 Build-a-bear on Clearance, as her consolation prize.  I had to make a return in a big box store, and we pulled the Ergo out of the trunk for the first time in months or maybe a year, to provide close comfort. 

Last week on my carpool day, we did not make it in time to drop the boys off, but I parked in the fire lane, as opposed to the circle drive (to reduce my stress), fished for LM's shoes, and made it upstairs to their teachers (through 3 doors, a code, an elevator, and a hand wiping station), whereupon LM began SCREAMING that she wanted to go to HER class with HER teacher. 

On our way to the van, we had to walk through the lobby, where she ran straight to the scene of her accident the previous week (!).  We skipped the restroom there (remember: fire lane!), and found the restroom at Walgreen's which was our first errand-stop of the day.  Next up was gas at Sam's Club (for 20c/gallon less than anywhere else).

Then we went in Sam's and l-e-i-s-u-r-e-l-y walked up and down every aisle. :) [She could not go to her much loved drop-in childcare due to her up-in-the-night-for-4-nights-and-counting cough.  Thus we had visited Walgreens.] After eating (and drinking - lemon ginger tea!) our way through Sam's, finding our toilet paper (and many other items), and getting a fountain drink for me and a hotdog for her, I buckled her in her car seat while I first re-arranged the back of the van, before unloading my shopping cart.  By the time I myself got buckled in, she was asleep.

Hmmmm.... I parked in a quiet corner of a parking lot, with the van idling, sipping my Root Beer, but afraid to open any package of snacks (as she is very sensitive to sound)... for ... two ... long ... but ... quiet ... hours.

We had just enough time to run by a friend's house to use the restroom and make a fresh cup of hot tea for the road, before picking up the boys.

Hopefully she can go to drop-in childcare on my next driving days. :) (Normally every Wednesday, plus other days as needed.  Thanksgiving week, I'm on the schedule for Monday & Tuesday.)

1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #94

931.  God's sustaining grace

932.  people who pray

933.  the amazing power of a sugar-free sucker (carrot on the end of the stick) to reduce carpool screaming (Hooray!)

934.  I got half a dose of IVIG

935.  the reaction I had (which ended the procedure at the halfway mark) was NOT an anaphylactic reaction

936.  a 24-hour visit from a godly, gracious friend I had not seen in 9 years

937.  her wisdom & professional insights

938.  harvest is complete! 

939.  Little Guy's enjoyment of his second round of nervous beginner swim lessons

940.  we hung the Christmas lights in the van today!! That's one of our favorite traditions! And since we spend so many hours there, we might as well decorate it, right? ;)

Sugar Creek Gang

We spent a week listening to the first book in The Sugar Creek Gang in the van.  I love hearing the adventures of Little Jim, Poetry, Circus, Dragonfly, Big Jim, Bill Collins and Little Tom Till.

First I checked it out from the church library, and then I realized that an audio version would be better, so I (in a rare move) paid money for an audio book (mp3 format).

We have now listened to the first five (out of 36) books.  We spend about a week on each one, listening to it over and over. :)

When I was a child, I could read the book.  Or I could be by the radio from 3-3.15 pm and listen to the dramatized version.  Period.  If I missed a day, I missed it. I couldn't go back and listen to it again.

But now, Little Guy can have the print book read to him, or he can listen to the audio book.  Or he can listen to the dramatized version (I assume it's online somewhere).  Or he can watch the video, as he has done in the past week, thanks to Amazon prime.  I was planning to hold off on the videos until we had finished all the books, but Mom needed some screen time in our day. :)

People

As an introvert, I do not need much people time.  But, as many moms of littles do, I feel isolated alot in this season.  I mainly see the two other carpool moms (for 5 minutes or less twice a day) and the teachers or staff at school (once a week for 5 minutes or less).  Other than that, the adults I see most often are the Walmart employees who bring my online order to my van and the receptionist at the allergist's!

I don't even see the post office clerks much anymore, because I'm rarely in town when it's open, and going in to the post office is Little Guy's chore.  Same with the library.  (When LG was LM's current age, we went to the p.o. and library and IGA almost every day, if only for a diversion!)

But ... the Lord is good to provide.  While I can think of lots of scenarios for time with people that might be better for my spiritual or emotional health, the Lord gives what is good.

He has given me:

a morning at Starbuck's with a mom who adopted from the same agency we did,

a morning at a cafe with a mom preparing to adopt a newborn,

an afternoon at Starbuck's with a chaplain for the post-adoptive program we're enrolled in,

lunch with a fellow mom from LG's school,

a weekday lunch with two missionary couples and five others from our church during missions conference,

a Sunday morning elective discussing the why, how and what of serving in our church,

a planned morning with another adoptive mom who has insight to share,

a planned time of fellowship with a mom who used to be in our Moms in Prayer group for LG's school,

two or three sessions with the social worker at LG's school, who has listened so well to me and infused me with hope and joy,

a "chance" encounter with another adoptive mom in a store, where we stood and talked and testified of God's goodness until we both had to go, and

another "chance" encounter in the same store with one of the staff from my GYN's office.  My sister in Christ, she was part of the medical staff who helped me through multiple surgeries, and she rejoiced with exceeding great joy to see our family picture on my phone.


He knows what I need, and He provides.

Photo dump

It's 9.30 pm.  As we drove home (at dusk) at 5 pm, combines, grain wagons, and semis hauling grain were working hard in fields we passed by.  Apparently my farmer is still working hard in some field, also.  A farmer near our house is working loudly right now.  (Lots of beeping for going in reverse, plus it sounds like he needs 10 or 20 gallons of WD-40!)  Thankfully the children are sleeping through it!

Below are several random photos.

We have tried a nighttime routine visual in the past. It's time to start up again, and this is my favorite one I've seen.   It's simple - a file folder and some velcro and stick figures.  The child can check each item off by sticking the velcro together.  And it seems like something I could actually make! (That's the best part.)

One day Little Guy came home with a baggie of slime he had made at school.  He proceeded to lovingly make cupcakes for me in his 'oven.'  I assured him they were the most delicious cupcakes I had ever eaten!

His speech therapists are amazing! This came home in his backpack one day during the time he was working on final -l sounds.  "Another wheel," was the phrase that his therapist was modeling and he was repeating as he glued wheel after wheel after wheel onto the truck he made!

We had a record-breaking snow the last day of October.  LG absolutely loved riding his bike around in it, and pulling a sled behind it.  The next morning the bike (that had been left out all night) looked like this:

My husband loves me well, and I have a new dishwasher.  After several weeks, I read the instruction booklet, and am *loving* the 3rd rack!  Emptying the silverware and putting them in the drawer is super easy!

One afternoon Little Miss fell asleep in the van, and LG and I drove around for awhile to delay waking her up.  I just had to stop on a country road and take pictures of this amazing fall day!

Little Miss is fully two. Enough said. :)  In her defense, she will also sit and leaf through books for what seems like an hour at a time.  This just happened to be less of a sitting still moment.

I snagged this in the Dollar Bin at Target.  LG has really become motivated.  I had no idea it would be such a wonderful fine motor activity!  Thankfully he's motivated to do it first thing every morning.  He is also having fun observing and comparing different coins that he uses to scratch off the leaf.

Books this week

I learned recently that our local grade school is a no-homework school.  In lieu of homework, everyone is to read 30 minutes each day.  Well, at least that won't be an adjustment for us when we transition! :)

This week, Mom even read a book! {shock!} Hooray!

Charles Martin's "Long Way Gone" was introduced to me by a friend from church who learned about it through her town library's Blind Date with a Book. :)  It may be considered Christian fiction, but it didn't feel that way. It's well-written, solid literature. The book I read is based on the Prodigal Son.  I'm looking forward to reading more of his! Bonus: this book is set in towns that we drove through this summer.

During our commute we've moved on to the audio version of book three of The Sugar Creek Gang.  Little Guy would love to be in the gang! And he's already decided which boy he would be, "because I'm mischievous." :)

Bedtime reading continues to be re-runs of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, though we can only read half a chapter, and it counts as two of our three bedtime books. 

Our church library has so many new books for children!!  This week we checked out:

1. God made me unique, by Joni & Friends (part of an excellent 4-part series on diversity, gender identity, disability, and protecting our bodies),
2. Jesus and the Lion's Den (we haven't read this one yet, but I'm excited at the premise of showing children the connection between the Old Testament stories and Jesus!),
3. Goodbye to Goodbyes (the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead, a good intro to our eternal hope!). 

What are you reading this week? 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #93

921.  the sun coming out at noon after a dark & stormy morning

922.  the retired (award-winning) kindergarten teacher who volunteers to lead story hour at our library once a month ~ she is amazing and Little Miss is learning so much in just 30 minutes a month!!

923.  the Sugar Creek Gang and all the preschool hymns on Spotify for our commute

924.  Miss Megan who watches LM two days a week

925.  God's sustaining my health, during the last two weeks of sinus/ allergies/ head cold/ cough

926.  new children's books in our church library!!!!!

927.  Little Guy's progress in a 3-lesson Nervous Beginner swim program!

928.  perfect afternoon for our annual fall Sunday afternoon adventure ~ clear blue skies and crisp air for exploring a new place, being out in nature as a family, hiking, running, and making memories

929.  reading my first Charles Martin book

930.  grace to resist the call of oh-so-many-chores and just rest today

Annual Discussion

At Little Guy's school, the October monthly meeting with teacher(s) and therapist(s) focuses on transition plans. 

It can seem a little shocking since it feels like school just started, but it's important that we all be on the same page, and some of these things take months to get into place.

The biggest piece of the puzzle is the IEP.  His IEP meeting isn't planned until March, and he already has one (albeit inactive) in place, so a lot of the groundwork for that has already been laid.

He will probably use an FM system at "big" school, so in a few weeks, the audiologist will start setting that up, and his speech therapist will work through a checklist with LG over the next months, to ensure he can independently use it and troubleshoot it, and that he has the vocabulary to let the teacher know if her mike isn't working properly or if his system isn't working properly.

Below are some of the questions the teachers, therapist, and I discussed this month.  I cannot express how thankful we are for his school!  I do not even want to think about leaving it :( ... well, except for the 3/4 mile commute instead of the 65 mile commute. :)

**********************************************


1 - As you look forward 5 or 10 years down the road, how and where do you see your child? What does success look like for your family?

2 - One day your child will leave this school.  Tell me about when you see that transition happening.

3 - Where do you envision your child attending school after this school?

4 - Are you familiar with IEPs and /or 504 Plan development?

If child is transitioning after this school year ...

5 - What questions/ concerns do you have about transitioning from this school to a new school?
      a.  About your child specifically?
                 i.  Academic -
                ii.  Social - 
               iii.  Communication
                iv.  Auditory access
                 v.  Self-advocacy
    
      b.  What grade level do you envision your child going into?

      c.  About services / supports that might be available for your child?
                  i.  IEP/ 504 Plan
                 ii.  Speech
                iii.  Hearing (Deaf Educator, Audiology Support, FM System, etc.)
                 iv.  OT/PT
                 v.  Social Work

      d.  How our school & hearing clinic remains a part of your child's future
                  i.  Visiting the school when you come back for appointments
                 ii.  Outreach support - support for IEP goal development, school visits, direct services, etc.
                iii.  Annual testing
                 iv.  Audiological follow-up

Frozen

I was flipping through the Kohl's ad the other day, and Little Guy asked me to turn back to a certain page.  The page had lots of Frozen-related toys.

"Did you know they're making a next Frozen?" he asked.

"How'd you know that?!" I wondered outloud.

He had been talking with a staff member at school during lunch or recess about listening to Frozen, and she had told him.

His next statement surprised me. I thought he'd say, "Can we watch it?"  Instead he asked, "Can we listen to the next Frozen?" :)

"Maybe. I don't think it's available yet."

"Yeah, because they're still printing it."

:)

Station wagon

While reading Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle the other night, Little Guy stopped me to ask what a station wagon is.

What did we do before google images?!?  

Then he said, "Joe & Alice had a station wagon in the Mystery of the Yellow House."  Yes, they did! [Boxcar Children]

...pause...

It kinda looks like a hearse.

Yes, why, yes it does. :)

Fall

It was a weird spring, so it was a strange planting season.  Crops were planted during three windows of time. And there were weeks and weeks between those windows.  So, that makes for a strange harvest. 

I pass the same farms four times a day.

Some crops are already harvested, and those fields are empty.  So the horizon is much bigger than it has been all growing season.  And intersections are safer, because you can see cars approaching.

Other fields are still quite green.  Definitely a strange growing season.

One field has recently had a bunch of tires and pipes delivered to it.  Soon we'll get to watch them build a pivot irrigation system.  Maybe we'll see them digging a well. Last week, the well-diggers were at a farmhouse on our route. 

A few fields on our route have had drainage pipe installed. That is quite the logistical operation!

One section of road (near a field that floods badly) had a pipe put in underneath the road yesterday (without digging up or closing the road!).

As I drove south on a narrow road one day this week, the combine in the field next to the road was driving north ... on his first pass through the field.  So, he was VERY close to the road.  Shelled corncobs were flying behind him ... onto the road.  And one fell down onto the roof of our van!  Jim says that he was supposed to stop, just like when mowing ditches, farmers are supposed to stop when a car comes by.

When ...

When it's just a few hours before bedtime and you realize you really need to take a prednisone.  (At least I was able to sleep! Well, 'til 3.15 AM!)

When you take a prednisone and then are home alone most of the day and do MASSIVE amounts of housework!

When your house has the nice autumn smell of s'mores on a bonfire ... because you boiled a pan dry while attempting to make cooked carrots.  :-O

When it's the second week of October and you haven't thought about or discussed trick or treating costumes with your almost 6 year old.  (Maybe last year's bumblebee costume will work for a second year?!)

When it's the second week of October and you still have a browser open in your computer to remind you to renew the car registration (which expires Oct. 31).

When you finish morning drop-off and then really need to find a restroom, so go in McDonald's and the restroom is closed for cleaning.

When you sit at the nearest table, waiting (without any food) and the nice cleaning man asks if you'd like to go in, while he waits outside.

When you live 65 miles from your son's school, but one of the moms in the parents' FB group asks to be your FB friend, and you make a lunch date to meet!

When you have to list on your son's school application each year three family activities that you'd be willing to share about with his class, and you rack your brain and write "harvest" each year, but then discover there's a ready-made Ag in the Classroom lesson on "pigs," so change your lesson to pigs, and pretend to be a porcine expert - ha!

秋晴れ

秋晴れ or akibare is generally translated "fine autumn day" or "clear autumn sky."  See photos here. 

We are in the season of 秋晴れ.

These gorgeous fall days are what farmers wait for all year!  It's thrilling to drive country roads from town and see combines, grain wagons, seed corn harvesters, and semis hauling grain.  They remind me of many bees working together busily to get a big job done.

For many people, these gorgeous fall days mean all things FALL! Pumpkins! Apples! High school football games! Cozy blankets!

But these gorgeous fall days also come with a downward shift in temperatures, 40s in the morning, 60s in the afternoon ... and all things SINUS!  Sinus headache, sinus drainage, sinus infection, sinus rinse, etc.!

I happily drop Little Guy off to ride in the combine or tractor, but I stay inside the van, with the windows up. ;)

1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #92

911.  all the interactions on a Sunday morning

912.  rejoicing with those who rejoice and mourning with those who mourn

913.  spontaneous Sunday picnic lunch with friends

914.  four little children running, laughing, exploring, and jumping after lunch

915.  Little Miss's requests to pray for seemingly random people each night <3

916.  the cup of the new covenant and the cup of God's wrath - and a good sermon about the contrast

917.  Rev. 22 ~ concluding months (?years?) of an adult Sunday School series

918.  hope of the new heaven & the new earth

919.  waking up long before anyone else (thanks, Prednisone!)

920.  peace & quiet and time to reflect

Week in review

This week ...

I finally bought a water bottle.  Happy hydrating!!

Our audiobook of the week, after finishing a 6 or 7 hour Boxcar Children Collection, has been Frozen.  Who knew there was an audiobook version?!

Harvest has started!!

My new packable harvest lunch is chicken sandwiches, made by grilling boneless skinless chicken thighs on the George Foreman.

I drove one of the seven days I'm scheduled for October. 

Little Guy had field trip #2 of his 3 in a row (+ a fireman visiting their school, so more like 4).  This week's was a dramatic presentation of a classic children's story, that ended up being an adaptation that was not age-appropriate.  His comment was that it didn't seem like the book.  Yes, buddy, that's how it will seem all through life.  Read the book first. :)

Little Women (this version - a 28-page board-book edition by BabyLit) came home from the library with us, to prepare for the high school play in a few weeks.  LG has truly enjoyed the plays he has seen - Mulan, Jr., Alice in Wonderland, and High School Musical. As we leave, he always asks when we're coming again. :)

Insurance has approved my infusions, so hopefully we can get three scheduled this calendar year.  And hopefully that means they'll eventually approve allergy shots, also. 

LG's school has been a great sounding board and practical help as we negotiate a community resource that isn't as helpful as we all thought it would be. We LOVE his school!!!

We finished another Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle book at bedtime. :)  LG was elated to see the list of all the books in the Boxcar Children series.  He had no idea there were so many of their adventures that he could follow along on!  I wish our library had Sugar Creek Gang play-aways or audio books!

For the first time since I started receiving text alerts (almost everyday) from the library, letting me know that I have books to renew or return, I racked up $1.20 in fines this week.  I must not have replied to those texts.  Oops!!

Little Miss is working hard (and well) on fine-motor skills - Melissa & Doug repositionable sticker sheets, books with flaps, "painting" with tempera paint sticks (like glue sticks), and her beloved Do-a-dot markers. 

Everyone cooperated and slept in on Saturday morning, and we had a leisurely time at the park, swinging forEVER! and chatting with a friend who was driving by so stopped to catch up. 

It's been a good week.

Barnhouse on the Fruit of the Spirit

Love is the key.
Joy is love singing.
Peace is love resting.
Long-suffering is love enduring.
Kindness is love touching.
Goodness is love’s character.
Faithfulness is love’s habit.
Gentleness is love’s self-forgetfulness.
Self-control is love holding the reins.

Donald Grey Barnhouse on the fruit (singular) of the Spirit as love (Gal. 5:22), and what that divinely produced Spirit wrought love looks like toward God and others as we walk by faith in the Spirit rather than the self produced acts of the flesh (Gal. 5:6).

As quoted by Rose Marie Miller, Nothing Is Impossible With God, Ch. 12.

Urban Geography

In college I took a 400-level Urban Geography class, in which a guest speaker told us of a new world, where we wouldn't go to the bank (we'd do it from home on a computer), we wouldn't go to the grocery store (we'd order it on a computer at home and it would be delivered), etc.

I (and all my classmates) sat incredulous in the class, wondering what planet this speaker was from.

Welcome to 2019, except we don't do it on a computer, but on our phones!

Despite my being an introvert, and being happy to avoid unnecessary interactions with people, I appreciated this article:  "I Miss Talking To Strangers".

Et cetera

Gift idea alert: 

• 10 Bible Resources My Kids Love - Some of these we have, but I also learned about some great resources in this post. 

Deal alert:

• Save on Everything and Nothing

Favorites on Spotify these days:

• Hide 'Em in Your Heart
• Bible Study Fellowship (the preschool songs!)
• SING 2019! (if you search under Getty Music, there are several SING 2019! playlists, including the annual Nashville HYMN SING!)

Favorite meal of the past week:

• barbecued chicken, hash brown casserole, oven-roasted green beans

Looking forward to:

• coffee with a mom an hour away whose baby was adopted from our same agency
• swim lessons for Little Guy!!!

Best moment of the past week:

• watching Little Miss's big eyes, happy smile, and "movin' to the beat" as we sang, "When we all get to heaven" with about 50 others at the annual reunion of descendants of Jim's great-great-grandfather (?)

Friday morning

What I'm drinking: Anthology black tea

What I'm watching: the sky slowly become light, as the sun rises through the clouds

What I'm reading these days: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle boxed set (!) and the Little Lights biographies (to Little Guy) and, to Little Miss,  The Story of Daniel (LG never glanced at this series I bought at a garage sale, but LM "reads" them every day!), Prayers for Little Hearts (Little Blessings), and LG's A-B-C book.

What I'm listening to these days: "Sing! Most Requested Hymns" and "Hide 'Em in Your Heart" on Spotify

What's on my project list: Little Miss's A-B-C book!   This is a Shutterfly photo book I made for LG just before LM was born, introducing the story of his life ... B is for birthday, D is for dedicated, F is for extended family, G is for grandparents, N is for namesake, O is for official (when his adoption was official), etc. It includes the name of the city/state where he was born, etc.  LM reads LG's, but declares that the baby in each picture is her!

What I'm saying 'no' to:  the BEST townwide garage sales today (I spent yesterday inventorying the clothes I have purchased ahead for LG, and he's in good shape); and participating on a parent panel of special needs children

Who I'm praying for:  the birth mom of a little newborn baby, whom friends are adopting

What new app I'm using: Snore Lab

What new goal I have: to walk on the treadmill every day for two months, for a total of 60 miles

Ornery

I don't remember hearing this word until we were dating, and Jim used it.  Obviously I had heard or read it before, and knew the meaning.

Since then, I have heard it exponentially more than I ever heard it in the previous decades of my life.

When our pastor used it this week in his sermon, I wondered, "Is this a Midwestern thing?"

Google assures me (if it can ever assure you of anything!) that it is.  See this site. 

Do you use ornery? Are you from the Midwestern USA?

Keep your eyes peeled

I told Little Guy that we needed to keep our eyes peeled for something (I forget what).

His response (after asking what that meant) was, “Mom, how did you learn ‘keep your eyes peeled?’”

His little mind is going all the time. Not only does he want to know what new words mean, but he wants to know how other people learned those words.

He’s amazing!  And it's fun to have a front-row seat, watching him learn!

1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #91

901. church library

902.  Sunday School teachers

903.  Little Miss jumping out of her skin with excitement talking about her teacher and her class!!

904.  Little Guy telling us that his teacher is tricky because she erases one word at a time from the verse on the whiteboard, but that his class is VERY smart and can't be tricked. :)

905.  Adult Bible Fellowship (adult SS) teachers, too!

906.  garage sale finds - View Master with 3 reels (50 cents) and Otter Box ($2.50)

907.  answered prayer, as we prayed for good deals & that we'd resist unnecessary ones!

908.  growth in Little Guy's ability to take care of his "devices," i.e. HAs (or hearing aids).  A baggie of HA batteries now lives in both his SS room and Children's Church room, so that he can change the batteries himself, whenever they die, instead of having his teacher text me to come and do it. Hooray!!

909.  other moms walking the same path I am

910.  unexpected visit from a cousin, that left LG & LM bouncing off the walls :)

What we ate

What we ate one morning in September

Tim Challies periodically writes a blog post about his church, e.g., "How We Worshipped One Sunday in September."

This isn't as weighty as a subject, but he inspired this title. :)

Mom - leftover roasted baby potatoes, boiled egg, string cheese, apple slices, hot tea

Little Guy - chocolate milk, yogurt tube, applesauce pouches, granola bar

Little Miss - toasted frozen waffle, granola bar, water

All of this in the van while hurtling down the backroads toward our carpool spot.  We try our best to eat semi-healthy, while eating (mostly packaged) on-the-go breakfasts. 

 

Groceries & dishes

I'm a great fan of online grocery shopping.  It's not hard to understand why a mom of a baby or toddler (or two or more littles) would prefer to just pull into a parking space, have someone fill her car with her groceries, and then drive home.  Who would want to add in all the buckling and unbuckling, snacks, potty breaks, training opportunities, etc.?

But, there is a cost.  Little Miss doesn't know how to go grocery shopping.  She's missed out on all those training opportunities.  She hasn't learned how I shop.  She isn't getting to help find a can of peaches, etc.

And I?  I have missed out on miles and miles of walking in the grocery store over the past 2.5 years. 

Hmmm... Maybe I need to start grocery shopping in the store???

While groceries are the prologue to a meal, dishes are the epilogue. 

And our dishwasher has been put out of service until the new one arrives (hopefully today), in order to prevent large puddles of water on our kitchen floor. 

The podcast, A Slob Comes Clean, is where I first heard of dishes math.  If you do your dishes everyday, let's say it takes 10 minutes.  But if you skip a day or two, it doesn't just take 20 or 30 minutes; it takes more like an hour. 

Not being able to use my dishwasher has taught me another principle of washing dishes.  If you use your dishwasher primarily, it's easy to let just a few pans, etc. sit in the sink.  You might be running your dishwasher once or even twice a day, but if you leave the pans in the sink for days on end, you could still have a sink-full of dishes.

So, not having a dishwasher, has meant that I wash ALL the dishes, which means that my sink is clean. 

Hmmm... Maybe we need to stop delivery of our dishwasher???

Issues in Missions

I commend each of these articles to you, and would love to hear your thoughts. 

 

An open letter to the question - are missionaries just modern colonialists or white saviours? 

 

Dear Tanzanian Friends, I'm Sorry for Being a Jerk Sometimes 

 

Missionary Money: How it All Works

 

Netflix Is Making It Harder to Be a Missionary

 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #91

901.  both a dental and eye exam successfully completed by the 5 year old this week.  Hooray!  Thank you, Jesus!!

902.  examples of so many family members who are lifelong learners!

903.  articles or books they recommend

904.  opportunities for me to learn: by reading, by observing LG's teachers in action, etc.!

905.  quiet Saturday afternoon with LG "working" on the farm and LM giving in to sleep during "quiet time"

906.  rest

907.  the help that our new mattress is!

908.  the weekend, to stop, pause, and be

909.  slowly but surely, finding a few options for babysitting at times we need it

910.  an emergent reader "book" sent home from school, with instructions to have LG read it to us several times this weekend :)

Parking lot adventures

We meet at the same parking lot

     morning and afternoon,

          5 days a week,

               11 months a year.

We notice others in the parking lot ~

     construction workers carpooling,

          golfers carpooling,

               high school students coming for a snack in the afternoon,

                    the coffee crowd in the morning, etc.

This week ...

     one morning after we watched golfers get into the biggest vehicle and pull out, we noticed that one golfer had left his trunk up, so one mom and two boys walked over and closed it before the rain came,

     one morning after the carpool had left, and I was still meeting LM's needs, a member of the coffee crowd called out to me across the parking lot, "Are you all still carpooling? How's it working out?" and proceeded to tell me his daughter's woes, after years of homeschooling & now enrolling her older ones in a Christian school 30 minutes away with a carpool plan, but the other ladies dropped out, and she can't be there to pick them up and also pick her kindergartener up near home at the same time [proving yet again that Americans share their life details with strangers!],

     and one afternoon I pulled in early to see the highway patrol doing a field sobriety test on an unkempt person (in the very spot where we park!).  I parked farther over, and texted the mom driving that day, to alert her.  She kept it mum (from three little boys who would love nothing more than to see a policeman in action!!!), pulled in on the other side, and helped them out of her van in such a way that they did not see the man being handcuffed (!) and taken away. 

You just never know what you'll encounter in the parking lot!

1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #90

891.  Wednesday carpool day

892.  four precious & delightful children, their interactions with each other, and their active imaginations

893.  a day of errands for me, between drop-off and pick-up

894.  used bookstore with 50-cent books (!)

For 50 cents, this is worth saving til Little Miss is into arts & crafts. :)

We love Maurice Pledger books!

These stickers are nicely repositionable.

895.  70% off this $7 dress

896.  $5 beauty

It's hard to tell in the photo, but this is black velvet with a white Peter Pan collar, and pretty pink flowers embroidered around the waist. 

 897. This is a picture of love - homemade freezer meals from friends, to help lighten my load.  Mini-meatloaves were frozen and in a ziplok bag.  This morning I took them out and let them thaw in the baking pan in the fridge all day.  The 8x8 pan has mashed potatoes with cream cheese in it and can be baked from frozen. Yumm!

898.  the $1 Dayspring cards at Dollar Tree ~ They have such good biblical messages, and are not $4.99 or $5.99 as most greeting cards are :-O

899.  Eric Liddell: Are you ready? book that Little Guy loves right now!

900.  God's Little Guidebook ~ the perfect size and style for Little Miss to learn the 10 Commandments!

Notes

My favorite 5 year old asked me if I would write a note everyday in his lunch box that says,

"I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always. Love, Mom."  

Then he said sadly, "I didn't notice a note in my lunch box today." 

I guess this mom has fallen down on the job. 

Onward & upward!

1000 Gifts, Volume 5, #89

881. Cousins and their emails and our shared history

882. Aunts and uncles and years of memories and their loving care

883. Carpool friend who drops everything and picks everyone up early when the school calls because MY son is sick

884. A 5 year old who can go in the post office by himself to check our box and get any packages

885. A 5 year old who can go in the library by himself and return books and pick up our inter library loan books and choose one or two more

886. A 2 year old who loves to clean up

887. A 2 year old learning to ask, "Help me, Jesus."

888. Early fall weather (nice for me, but not for the crops that need more heat degrees)

889. Imaginations

890. Siblings playing together using their imaginations

Bless the Lord, o my soul

At 6:15 am my phone buzzed to remind me to read Psalms and Proverbs. 

This is what my eyes saw. But my ears could hear the voice of Jim's 92 year old uncle who was just promoted (to heaven) this summer. How many times in 9 short years of knowing him on earth did I hear him recite these verses?!

^yBless the LORD, O mysoul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!

2  ^yBless the LORD, O my soul,

and ^zforget not all his benefits,

3  who ^aforgives all your iniquity,

who ^bheals all your diseases,

4  who ^credeems your life from thepit,

who ^dcrowns you with steadfastlove and mercy,

5  who ^esatisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewedlike ^fthe eagle's.

Amen. 

More audio books

I asked a mom who has older children what other audiobooks she would recommend similar to the ones we have been listening to see previous post, and these are her recommendations.

I am posting them here so that I do not lose them, and BONUS! Any of you looking for recommendations will have them also. :)

A few recommendations...

*The Penderwicks series

*Winnie-the-Pooh

*Stuart Little

*Charlotte's Web

*Homer Price

*Ramona series

*Pippi Longstocking

*Magic Treehouse series

*The Boxcar Children series

*A-Z Mysteries series

We are always open to suggestions, so keep them coming.

A month in the life

Our appointments during a 4-week period:

• Early Intervention paperwork (required 4 phone calls to set up)
• Early Intervention evaluations
• possibility of regular speech therapy for Little Miss (or not ~ we shall see) 
• Post-adoptive services intake appointment
• Post-adoptive services weekly appointment
• Monthly teacher/ speech therapist meeting 
• Every 5-weeks hair appointment
• Prompt care, allergist, and 2-week follow-up (also many phone calls in there) (Mom's asthma flare)
• Annual physical (mom)
• Dental exam (both dad & LG - requires my driving carpool an extra day and taking him out of school an hour early, in order to make it to the dentist in time)
• Kindergarten eye exam (This is an early Saturday morning appointment.)
• After-hours pediatrician visit to check up on Little Miss who had a virus (or succession of viruses) for 18 days - all clear! 
• Home appointment with agency that helps families (with a child with hearing loss) navigate insurance
• Monthly adoptive moms' group - skipped this month due to schedule conflict
• Weekly play group - had to skip every week this month for various reasons
• Moms in Prayer has not started yet this school year (waiting on me to start it).
• I'm not in a Bible study.
• LG really needs a hair appointment. Hmmmm.
• Lord willing & pending insurance approval, I will be starting infusions once every 4 weeks.  (4-6 hours at a time) 

It's no wonder that Little Miss calls out from her carseat almost non-stop, "Go to Mommy's doctor."

People tell me to cut back.  We have already cut out prayer meeting, Awana, grocery shopping (I order online), and probably other things I'm missing.
The months FLY by! And are FULL!

late summer evening

5 pm, Sunday
 

village park (the small one, with a sidewalk that wraps around it in a circle)

5-year-old on big wheel
2-year-old on tricycle
tired mom on bench

76*F, 65% humidity, nice breeze, signs of the coming fall

waiting to pick up pizza ordered online from the gas station ;)

after last year's long winter, I want to be outside every moment we can

smell of evening rain

5-year-old who can load up and unload the toy vehicles into the van

More books

The children spent an evening at the farm recently, and Little Guy was ELATED that their aunt read them a chapter in a new-to-him Mrs. Piggle Wiggle book!!! And she loaned us a 4-box set of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle!  Seriously, his teachers & therapists have been trying for months to get him to "tell me 3 things, okay just 2 things, you heard in that paragraph we read." Impossible.  But, riding home from the farm, I heard spontaneous, excited retelling of two things in the chapter he had just had read to him. Yippee!!  Thank you, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle!! :)

 

Little Miss loves to sit and look at books. Her favorite right now is "Head... Toe!"  She can "do" it without anyone reading it to her, but of course it's more fun when someone reads it, and it's even more fun if Daddy reads it, and LM and Mommy stand up and do the actions.  Highly recommend this book!

 Saturday we dropped off another load at a local church's thrift store.  And then, ironically enough, we went in to see what we could find. (Ahem!)  We LOVE the Read-aloud Bible Stories, and I will re-gift this one.  LG read The Kissing Hand in school last year and loves it.  (It's good for separation anxiety.)  He likes Little Critter, and this is a hardback collection of "I Can Read" books.  Trying to set him up for success when he can indeed read. I always fall for the Alphabet books that combine great art or photography and history or geography. ;) And we found four more of the Sweet Pickles books (see earlier post).

I haven't quite done the work of finding which books we will get rid of to make space for these, but I do have a goal of "one in, one out," and am hopeful that it will force out lesser quality books first (or board books, but LM isn't ready to give those up yet).

And this may be the last book we receive from Paperback Swap (it's been a good 10-year run...). I love the Georges' children's books, and this one is really sweet. 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #88

871.  Despite decluttering (or maybe because of it) we're being wiser about what we bring into our home.  In this season of decluttering, we have accumulated some really nice free and almost free toys.  A bunch of Rescue Heroes for Little Guy, and a sweet doll cradle for Little Miss.  :)

872.  It was good to be in the house of the Lord Sunday!

873.  The lady who told me she prays everyday for my health.

874.  The older ladies whom I have gotten to know and who have margin and wisdom to listen and speak.

875.  The way the Lord worked out a scheduling issue that looked like it wouldn't work out, but it did.

876.  Rejoicing with a mom of a new college student who is building a friendship on a faraway campus with a new college student whom I know and love.

877.  Knowing when the prednisone is kicking in.  For the first four days of high dose prednisone, I wasn't even up to normal energy levels.  On the fifth day, when I caught up on dishes and wanted to clean the car, I knew that it was working and maybe I was ready to reduce the dose a bit. :)

878.  Tazo Wild Sweet Orange Tea, with green tea and honey - yumm!

879.  my coffee bar for guests coming in handy, as coffee helps with asthma

880.  making baby steps in being smart in the kitchen & using the Instant Pot for more food prep help

Audio books

We've done books on CD (though only before we got our van).

We've done books on Audible (though that can get expensive).

We've done books on Playaways (though that involves headphones, which distracts from family togetherness).

And now we've discovered books on Libby.  The Libby app is linked to our library cards, for ebooks and audiobooks that miraculously disappear after 14 days, thus assuring no late fees - hooray!

We've listened to:

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
Mr. Popper's Penguins
The Mouse and the Motorcycle.

Currently on Libby we have:

Geronimo Stilton, Books 1-3
Fortunately, The Milk

And, on hold on Libby, we have:

In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
The Reluctant Dragon
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Toy Story 4 (probably not classic literature, but sounds like fun, right?)
The Boxcar Children Collection (7 hours worth)
Little House on the Prairie

What others would you recommend?

A week

One week ago ...

I visited prompt care, aided by two little helpers, one in a stroller, both bribed by the Chick-fil-A breakfast menu. :) 

We were home pronto with some meds, which it turns out, were not enough or the right kind, for my congested, tight, wheezy lungs. 

Monday our new fridge was delivered.  (You can imagine the logistics and lost food.)

Tuesday we got a new mattress.  And it is so much better.  It's old-school ... like us. :)

Wednesday I didn't drive carpool, and LG had to miss school. 

Wednesday I saw the allergist, and got stronger medicines, and felt immediate relief.

Thursday we ordered a new dishwasher.  It should come in 18 days.

Friday I finally had breath to have a conversation with my friend at carpool pickup and to read bedtime books to both LG and LM. 

One week ago was a scare.  I'm much better but still not out of the woods and still taking more meds than I have in past asthmatic episodes.

The life of every living thing is in His hand,

as well as the breath of all mankind. 

                                                      ~Job 12.10