Category: What We’ve Been Up to

Today we had to euthanize one of our two remaining pet rats.  Her name was Ms. Bianca aka Snowball.  I’m pretty sure that you can figure out why such names were chosen.  Ok, I’ll tell you she was all white.  Snowball was the sweetest, calmest and most gentle rat that we have owned.  She sadly began to develop tumors that growing to the point that it was making it very difficult for her to get around and eat.  Even though her tumors were probably sapping her almost that is required to live she remained a lovely rat and would even work up the energy to groom your hand while holding her.  She will be greatly missed by our family along with her remaining rat pal Tulip.

If you are ever in the position to be decide on a pet for yourself and your family.  May I suggest that you look at the rat.  They are the most fun and social critters that I have had the privilege of owning.  God’s creation is so beautiful and I am so thankful that I’ve been able to enjoy some of His creation close up.

I wish that death was not apart of this world that we live in.  Unfortunately sin brought with it the curse of death, broken relationship with our creator and broken relationships with each other, along with mistrust and destruction of God’s beautiful creation.  Fortunately there is light.  God’s perfect sinless son Jesus Christ.  Not only can we be rescued from eternal death, but our relationship with others can be restored in the light of God’s forgiveness and love of us.  When it was time to bury snowball I grabbed a few of the coffee filter snowflakes that we had made to place over her.  I look forward to the day when we all (all of God’s creation) will together sing praises to our God.

~Laura

Today is my oldest baby’s birthday. Its hard to believe that in one more year I will have a child in the double digits.  I’m not old enough for that. Our Abigail is a strong and beautiful girl that came into this world wanting to express herself auditorily.  She picked up language very quickly and has never been afraid to use it.  She is ever ready with an answer or an opinion on everything.  She is like her father that way.   I am frequently amazed by her knowledge and love of her savior and the boldness with which she speaks of Him.  Her love of others is loyal and honest.  She is socially outgoing and friendly to all she meets.  I am frequently amazed by her knowledge and love of her Savior and the boldness with which she speaks of Him.

This year on Saint Patrick’s Day Abigail was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.  I am a anxiety ridden fear filled momma.  Every time middle child took a step as a toddler I would experience a rush of adrenalin.  That can’t be good for the human body.  My heart broke the day that I knew it, before it was even diagnosed that my daughter had type 1.  I don’t want this for my daughter.  I don’t want her to have to live with this for the rest of her life.  Her life was almost care free until then.  She has always been mature beyond her years, this is bound to age her even faster.

It has been almost 4 months now since that frightful day and it feels like a lifetime already.  I don’t know what all this disease will bring into her life and ours but I hope it will strengthen our love and dependence on the one who loves us so much that he would suffer in our place.  May it also increase our hope that we have in Him who died for us that we will one day be with Him in heaven, when all pain and suffering will come to an end.

My prayer for Abigail today and everyday of her life on this planet is to continue to grow in her love and knowledge of Jesus and to continue to tell all those she meets of the love of her Savior with the boldness that she already possess.

~Laura

Welcome to my home on the worldy widey web.  I’m so glad that you have chosen to stop by when there are so many places you can visit these days.

I’m a homeschooling mom that loves arts and crafts.  I do on occasion enjoy doing arts and crafts with children, who I also enjoy.  My twinges toward perfectionism and high expectations have been a stumbling block to doing arts and crafts with my girls every day.  But they do love creating and I do want to foster a love for the arts and crafts in their little hearts, so I will cave in and try to reign in my expectations.  I have occasionally been pleasantly surprised on how the experience goes.

I recently started to dabble in the craft of embroidery.  In my previous post that my friend Anne guest posted to her blog http://www.patheos.com/blogs/preventingrace/ I had discovered that there was 3 additional books to The Giver series and that my favorite was Gathering Blue.  It was this book that my interested in embroidery was piqued.  Another lovely woman, named Anne who attends our church, aware of my interest gifted me a book on the instruction in many embroidery stitches.  I am not a practiced artisan in embroidery as of yet but I decided to give it a try.  It was hard for me to begin at first.  What stitches do I use? and where do I use them? I didn’t know.  Once I relaxed some and decided that I was just going to have some fun, I enjoyed it.  The experience was like coloring in a coloring book, using different colored threads instead of crayons.  I had cut out some fabric with Japanese geisha printed on it and decided that I would attempt to embroider one of the figures.

I think I’m finished and will be turning it into one of the bags that I’ve been making.  What do you think? If you like it I may put it up for sale, if I can figure out how to do that.

~Laura

Once upon a time a boy and a girl met fell in love and got married.  Soon after they decided to buy a house.  To the girl buying house meant the opportunity to grow her fury family.  The girl convinced her young husband that they should get a dog.  Thus begins our story of Zander.

Before we had even closed on our house Eric and I made a visit to a local Humane Society.  There we met a handsome 10 month old German Shepherd/Husky mix named Zander.  We left the Humane Society that day without Zander but I was convinced that Zander needed to become ours.  Zander was no small dog and was terrible at walking on a leash and remained that way for his entire life.  He certainly loved going for walks.  At some point in our story I decided that I should try to go for a 15 minute walk in the morning and would take Zander with me as a walking buddy.  Remember he has never been super at walking on a leash, part of my route was up a hill, and just as I had gotten my momentum, he would decide that he needed to stop and water a neighbors curb.  He was never a cuddly lap dog but he loved being with his humans.  He being the 75 pound dog that he was would try to crawl into bed with us in the beginning of our relationship but soon discovered that was not going to work.   He especially loved his Eric.  I think Zander was often Eric’s late night pal when Eric couldn’t get to sleep.  Zander  was also our traveling companion.  He traveled to Virginia with us to visit Eric’s grandma.  He went camping with us and when he could not go with us he would stay with grandma and pop. There he would get to go on daily walks with pop.  Zander being such a large dog was sometimes referred to as our pet horse. and was often called bubba.  He may have been big and awkward but he was gentle and friendly to all he met human and animal.  Zander  was our baby for approximately 4 years until I became pregnant.

As the years passed life got busier with the addition of two more little girls.  Zander was good with the girls and dealt well with them grabbing at him and even sitting on him.  We did do our best to include him in our activities if we could.  Much of his enjoyment in the last few years of his life was lying out in the back yard soaking in the suns rays in the snow or in the green grass.  It was always enjoyable to look out our sliding glass doors while doing school with the girls and to see him sun bathing and rolling in the grass.

This past year Zander started to go down hill in his health.  He lost weight and developed some arthritis in his back hips.  He was changing mentally too.  There would be times he was confused and didn’t really seem to recognize me or any commands I issued.  He totally disregarded the wireless fence that for so long gave him the freedom to wander most of our small property.  This unfortunately led to us have to place him on a long leash just this past fall.  My first thoughts were maybe he was experiencing doggy dementia, but in the back of my mind I wondered about a brain tumor.  This past Tuesday April 4th 2017, I went to let Zander  in before going to be, only to discover him unresponsive lying in stomach fluids and blood.  I thought he was gone but he was still breathing.  Eric and I moved him into our garage and tried to clean him up some.  We have been trying to put pieces together because at first we couldn’t tell where the blood had come from.  We determined that he must have had a seizure on our concrete pad and scraped up one of his toe pads.  By Wednesday morning Zander awakened, his eyes were open and he was somewhat responsive to verbal and physical stimuli but unable to move.  We tried to make him as comfortable as we could but it was evident that he was going to leave us.  Today the morning of Thursday April 6th Zander died.  This was not the way that I would have chosen for him to go.  In my imaginings I had hoped that when it was his time to go that he would go peacefully in his sleep, possibly while he was doing what seemed to bring him much comfort, lying outside sun bathing.  Suffering is sadly a part of this life because of our sin.  But for those who believe in what Jesus Christ did for us, there is hope in a day when there will be no more suffering.  My oldest has been the one most deeply affected by the loss of Zander of our 3 children, but one of her hopes and responses during this has been that we shouldn’t be too sad because just maybe the special creatures in our lives will be waiting for us along with our friends, family that have gone on before us and their creator.  I hope so.  We will so miss our Zander the most handsome, crazy friendly and gentle giant.

~Laura

Hello out there.  I’m going to try to write/post something at least once a month, so I better get a post up before March arrives.  I’ve been lugging through life as far as getting through our daily routine of homeschooling the basic necessities and maybe accomplishing some very little household chores.  I feel like every time I clean something its cleanliness lasts for a fleeting moment. Then my children and our animals take over like little tornadoes and undo what I’ve just done.  I’ve been on the verge of throwing in the towel ha ha.  There is always Piano lessons on Wednesdays, which is just enough to motivate me to do some cleaning.  Instead of the disappointing task of cleaning and never ending loads of laundry and dishes I tend to get lost in my world of crafting something.  Thankfully my position as one of the Catechists at our church allows me to use my love for all things crafty and creative.  And so far I think Reverend Anne Kennedy has approved of several of the items that I have created for use in the Vineyard.  I’ve also been busy making bunches of beautiful bags that I occasionally make to give as a gift.  Most of the beautiful bags that I have made have gone to their recipients before I had the thought/chance to photograph them.  I have three remaining that I decided to take a photo of and share with ya’ll today.  I think in total I have made….maybe 15.

In case you didn’t know Ash Wednesday is coming up on March 1st, which means the beginning of Lent, which also means that if you are really holy you do something great like give up something and submit yourself to greater amounts of time studying God’s word and prayer.  I unfortunately like most things that require any amount of discipline, fail.  Thant’s ok though because that’s why My Savior Jesus Christ had to die.  God in the form of man, a man that was able to live a sinless life.

Because I will probably fail (it pretty much assured) I can rest on Jesus’ work on the cross and get up tomorrow hoping and praying for the strength and discipline that I so desperately need to press on.  Maybe you could pray for me too because I will probably fail to fall on my knees before Him asking that He give me the strength and discipline I so desire.  If you would like a good explanation of what Lent is all about check out Reverend Matt Kennedy’s Video here: https://youtu.be/Tg5VGNQTMEA 

~Laura

Tomorrow is another Sunday and it happens to be Daylight Savings.  I guess that means I get to sleep in for an extra hour.  Maybe I should get up at the same time though and start off the day a little less hurried?   We shall see if that happens.  The odds are not in favor for such an event.

Tomorrows lesson in my catachesis  class is taken from Luke 11.  Have I mentioned how much I selfishly appreciate being able to participate in this program.  Like so often I don’t spend enough time on small sections of scripture and miss out.  Well, this lesson is on prayer, something I fail at too.  Sometimes I get hung up on the thought that He God already knows my needs and desires and He already knows the needs and desires of everyone else.  So why do I need to pray?  Hmmm…Jesus does tell us to pray.  So, I guess I should start there.  He wants me to pray, but why?  Does He want me to be aware of what I really need and what I really should desire?  Tomorrows lesson zooms in on the parable that Jesus tells his disciples because they had asked him how they should pray.  The story in case you don’t know  is about a man that receives and unexpected guest in the middle of the night.  Late at night.  This man is unfortunately unprepared to provide nourishment for his guest who has been on a lengthy journey and is probably very hungry and tired.  The man unfortunately does not have easy access to a local convenience.  So the man determines to go to his neighbor and request bread from him in the middle of the night.  The neighbor is not pleased with being disturbed, but does eventually give the man bread, BUT not because he considers the man to be a friend.  “I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend,…”

I think the reason I don’t pray as often as I should for things that I may desire is out of fear that my prayer will go unanswered.  I don’t doubt Jesus hears me.  I just know that His timing is not mine and His ways are not mine.  This is my struggle.  Regardless I am told to ask.  So, I am going to resolve to move past my fear, the fear of an impatient child, and ask, and seek and knock.  I know that what I see as unanswered is really God saying “wait.”  So, I shall in my waiting cry out to Him for not only what I desire but also for what I need maybe some help to bear with my impatience and of course wisdom.  If you have a hard time praying too, Jesus tells His disciples and us how to pray and what to pray for just before he tells His story.  Check it out at the beginning of Luke 11.

This evening while I was rummaging through a drawer somewhere in my house I came upon some jewelry that my mother-in-law gave us that belonged to her mother who had passed away.  I was reminded of a time when we had visited with her and were saying our goodbyes and before letting us go she prayed with us and for us.  I can remember how blessed I felt to have been prayed over.  I am ever so grateful for those persons in my life who have prayed for me and with me, especially when I so often fail to do so.   Thank you Grandma and other family and friends that knock at the doors of heaven for my sake and for the sake of my needs and desires.  ” For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

Footnote:  I usually have my most wonderful husband proof read posts before I put them up, to make sure I make some sort of sense, but he happens to be in bed hopefully sleeping.  So if I don’t make sense then please forgive me it is late, and I’ve been on the mend from a sickness excetera, excetera.  🙂

~Laura

I’m really not a prolific writer.  I do ponder things and think that I should type it up into a post but then life distracts.  It is good to sit down it put things down on paper or the computer screen.  It forces me to think through my crazy thoughts.  What am going to try to put down into words probably wont be profound, but who knows I might surprise myself and hopefully anyone who chooses to read this.

We are now in a new season, one that I thoroughly love.  Cool leaf filled breezes blowing, golden pathways, warm blankets, welcoming scents, just feel so right.  With the new season came a new homeschooling year and also a new year of performing the roll of catachist  for our churches fall Sunday school program Catachesis of the Good Shepherd.  I love the program and the philosophy behind it.  It is not the normal way educating is done in our culture, the pouring into the children mere facts.  It is an opportunity for the children to hear the gospel of Jesus and to hopefully be provided the space to wonder and ponder the stories He told and His life and to encounter their creator and savior.  The space that the children are provided begins with a time to work with materials that are often created by the catechist him or herself.  This is a part of this program that I also thoroughly enjoy as well.  I love to create.  I love working with all things considered crafty.  I have taken upon myself to help create some indispensable materials for our churches program.  Catechesis of the Good Shepherd has caused me to see my need to wonder and wrestle with God’s word, something that I so often fail to do.  I find that whether I’m creating an item to be used in the class or working through the lesson that I am forced to wonder about things I that I haven’t paused to see or ponder upon.  I began to create a nativity set for the room and found myself thinking about Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men wanting to hold their infant messiah.  We often see nativity sets that have Mary holding her son, her savior but not so many where the shepherds are seen embracing the infant Jesus and gazing into their infant saviors face.  Gosh, If I was told that the messiah had come, would I a lowly shepherd want to hold my savior in my arms?  I am forever grateful for encountering Catachesis of the Good Shepherd and the friend that introduced the program to me.  I want to ponder the magnificence of my God, my Savior just as Jesus’ own mother did.

“When the angels went away from them into heaven the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us, ‘ and they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured up all these things , pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”  Luke 2:15-20

~Laura

Today I made hubby an apron from the fabric that I purchased from IKEA. I asked my oldest child to take a picture of mommy wearing the apron for me to send to her father. Before sending I took a look at the picture and remarked out loud how I did not like how huge my belly looked. to which my eldest responds “Oh mom you look better than normal” What a bugger she is. I would have never said such things to my mom. Ok, I’m probably receiving my due. Sorry mom for all the awful things your brat daughter did or said that was less than kind.

It’s a good thing that this momma still loves her girlies even though they can be such buggers at times. Better yet I’m ever so grateful for the love that God gave by sending his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for mine and everyone else’s wretchedness who believes in Him.  And although it seems like a painfully slow process I hope that I am becoming “better than normal.”  That I am being constantly changed as God works on this life through His word.

Here’s hoping for better than normal days ahead.

~Laura