Okay, twist my arm...I"ll go

Aaron and I leave for Hawaii!! tomorrow morning...(he has to work a lab in Honolulu). We will only be away through the weekend and as hard as it is for me to fly away from these three little souls I love, I think that my excitement (for sand, sea, and sun!), is over riding impending death and the fear of walking around in a bathing suit. This kind of Daddy & Mommy getaway is a treat...even if Aaron has to "work" a little. 

Honestly though, it's because of Grandparents that we can go knowing these kookies are safe, sound, loved, and "spoiled" while we are away. (THANK YOU Papa, Gramma, Nana, & Grampa.) 

Come to think of it...I think we are all about to be a little "spoiled"....

Some One sure loves us.

understanding

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/03/caring-for-your-introvert/2696/

Aaron~ Extrovert

Jennipher~ Introvert

AbbySue~ Extrovert

Ben~ Introvert

Zibby~ Introvert

I'm not crazy about personality tests and all that stuff...but this article was eye opening for me...a classic introvert married to a true extrovert. It speaks to my heart about how to better understand our kids and their unique personalities too. I obviously admire what I'm not and sympathize with what I am.

Greater Love

You remember our little hen Speckle? You know, the one who would roost on my slop sink and pretend to be a mother hen. She was the bird that survived. The one who waited for a gentle stroke of her feathers. Speckle was special.

I know what you are thinking.

This is a chicken Jenn.

So ask me how this chicken, of all things, made me see Calvary love...

ask me how this chicken made me cry.

We left our little flock to themselves for just one day.

One day.

Our older birds decided to pick on the little ones.

Speckle would have non of that.

When we came home on Sunday I found her huddled in the corner of our chicken coop,

wings outstretched, three little hens resting under her broken body.

Her back was pecked open...bones exposed...not giving up.

She would not save herself for those chicks.

"Peck away, tear into me...but you won't get my babies."

I'm not trying to see too much into this.

I know it's life and death and farms...

whatever.

She woud not give up until those chicks were safe.

My heart broke.

I knew what had to be done.

Aaron gently carried her out and we thanked her before putting her to rest.

I still cry thinking about it.

A chicken sacrificing her life for the sake of three thankless chicks that weren't even her own.

Can you see it?

"Greater Love has no one than this; to lay down one's life for one's friends."

John 15:13

4-H terrariums and you,

looking like a girl-woman...

Mama & Daddy are left grasping at the straws of childhood.

Why today is Good

"...who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree..." (1 Peter 2:24)

"The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason salvation is so easy is that it cost God so much. The cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way of life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God."

April 6th~ Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest"

There is only one way to identify with the suffering that Christ withstood for me....

not by works....not by religion...not by culture or creed...

by Faith.

"Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed me white as snow."

Can it be so easy? Is it really that simple?

For me, yes....because HE did the whole of the hardest part on

Good Friday.

I never thought I'd say...

There is a large bird living in my laundry room.

She was the only one of five pullets (teenage chickens) that survived real life on the acre.

We are new at this and I take the blame for their untimely death.

Now I know the difference between 1/4 and 3/4 size farm wire fence. (Thank you crusty Silverton farmer at Wilco.)

I also know that raccoons can seek and destroy.

And I know that "Speckle" is a survivor.

We never saw one tail feather of those four birds...

but we did find Speckle...cowering under a bush, battered and bruised...but alive.

Speckle, always the friendly one, cooed her way into AbbySue's arms and back to the laundry room.

Poor bird was shell shocked and lonely, so Ben brought down a fuzzy dinosaur to keep her company. "It was the only thing that I could find closest to her size and shape mom."

Speckle cozied up near that stuffed animal and recuperated.

A few days later I surprised everyone when I brought home three new baby chicks.

Heck, I even surprised myself.

You know that whole..."try, try again" thing?

So, I gave it a go.

Now Speckle is the size of a falcon but thinks she's a mother. She fusses over those chicks like a an anxious Hen.

All of this drama unfolds in my laundry room.

Speckle has gained her strength and the use of her leg. Even friendlier than ever before, she perches on the slop sink watching me change loads and sort socks.

She waits for a hand to stroke her charcoal feathers and flies down to the pink princess pool filled with bedding, bird crap, and her fluffy brood.

I never thought I'd say that this is "Okay."

Whatever the Weather

"Will it ever stop raining?"
Our Easter Garden....the kids wanted the rock to be in front of the tomb until Easter morning.
AbbySue made a daffodil angel for the Easter Garden.
"Will it ever stop snowing?"
The kids were studying ancient Africa in history and along with an african dinner and dessert (sweet potato pie), they wrote a fable called, "The Monkey's Fruit of Color", designed masks, and preformed for Daddy and I....(I think Charlotte watched too...it was raining.)

It's Spring...time for a fire and...more snow!
Blue Sky!
Rosy cheeks.
Rainbows & Daffodils...Greenest Grass....and Sunrise Glow. No room to complain.

happy to be "living with it..."

One thing that will never change...the original french doors with amethyst glass knobs...beautiful character.
Sometimes we just start tearing down wallpaper...this blue gingham made us seasick.
Trying to brighten up the fireside room....so I blew the dust off the sewing machine and made a few new slipcovers.
The coffee table was one of a few very dark pieces that came along with The Old House. Never underestimate the power of spray paint....80's coffee table transformed to white with a little distressing....just to fit in with all that is weathered and worn. Favorite color combination for the fireside room...red, white, blue, & mustard yellow.

Sometimes I walk through The Old House and think to myself, "What have we gotten ourselves into?" There are days when I can only see endless projects. The peeling wallpaper, the outdated light fixtures, the blue Formica, the checkered linoleum, the variety of doorknobs, the royal blue trim, etc. We know that under it all The Old House is a gem. Even for all her lack of style she has character and character can't be bought, it's made. Time creates character and for what she's lacking in style she has more than made up for with personality. Aaron and I have decided that the renovations we make will not break the bank. There are more important things in life. So, updating over a century of style will take time, frugality, contentment, and my favorite...creativity.

Here are a few updates so far!

War and Peace...and Worms?

Typical snack time.
"Mom! I found these for you....to keep you company in the kitchen, they're the perfect pet, you don't even have to feed them anything but dirt."

Thank You Bill Gates...

http://www.khanacademy.org/

More than one friend or family member (thank you Nana & Ronda) directed me (a very poor math-lete) to the above site for extra help when it comes to teaching math concepts to AbbySue & Ben. Both kids have a knack with numbers and more often than not leave Mommy in the dust. We have been faithfully plowing through our Everyday Math curriculum from Massachusetts, but it seems so vague in it's application. Visual tutors are at the core of Khan Academy and best of all it's free. It's intended for all ages and stages. If you have a hankering to brush up on your calculus then check it out. I'm looking forward to math in the morning....well, almost.

(the above critter is our schoolroom mascot: Go Winter!)