Poetry

The children have been working on poetry and I found this rhyming dictionary site that has been very helpful. I need motivators along the way - deadlines - you know, that sort of thing. . . so when a friend told me about a poetry contest it motivated me to give the children a crash course on poetry. We got "Poetry for Dummies" from the library as well as some works of poetry by famous poets and off we went. Their poems have great potential! hm hm that is a polite way of saying they do need some work but as the contest deadline was today they will have to do. I do wish I would have started them a bit earlier so we could have revised them A LOT more.

Suspended
The Hammock is light
In the breeze it sways
I feel I’m in flight
Warmed by the sun’s rays

A bird sings near by,
Perched up in a tree
High up in the sky
A white cloud I see
By Mary
False Banquet

Horses graze, gust howls, Far-off cougar growls.
Onward it lurks, the odor is meat, on it goes with no sound of its feet.
Like a mouse pursued by tabby, comes cougar petulant, crabby.
The odor draws near, he licks his lip; banquet approaches to taste, to rip.

But as he prepares, to spring, a sound, a neigh, horse does bring.
Like a flash of thunder, storming the prairie, away dash the horses, the wind does carry.
Off prowls the horror of the plane, and as for courage it remains vain.
Long legs sweeping, sweeping along, hooves sounding as a great palace gong.

The hooves ring the planes, which the cougar once reigned, now he knows; it’s no longer his domain.
The rabbits are eaten, the prairie dogs too, none remain but the horse for old cat to chew.
Woe to the glutton of old man cat, no longer shall he, be so fat.
He gets thinner and thinner each day; someday he’ll starve, he’ll waste away.
By Jacob

Tough Climb
Snowflakes are falling, mom is asleep, but as for me to the cookie jar I creep.
Up the shelves, quickly I go, silent as a cat, silent as the snow.
Slowly forward, one inch at a time, Oh my, what a very tough climb.
I near the cookie jar, creep, creep, creep, but then BANG! Down I fall in a heap.
By Jacob

The Bad Band

The band begins I plug my ears
And from the crowd come several sneers
But when the drums begin to play
Every one runs away
By Abigail

Snapshot Summary #31

Sunday
13 - February, 2011

Apphia and Cilla in their matching dresses

Davey and Ezra


For the past 12 years Drew and I have been driving 23 miles to church. After a great deal of thought, we have made the sober decision to look for a local church. We hope to find a fit at an assembly in town. Our search begins tomorrow (Feb.20.). Please pray with us as we seek the Lord in this matter.

Wondering if Red Neck would be broody with the baby chicks.She showed NO interest.

Monday
14 - February, 2011

We enjoyed neighbors and friends here for taco's tonight. I hardly had to prepare any food, Laura and Miriam made the majority. The kids enjoyed playing and we enjoyed sweet fellowship and yummy food. The above picture is the product of the children's quiet play during our family time.

Tuesday
15 - February, 2011





Our chicks are already three days old!

Wednesday
16 - February, 2011



Chloe continues to enjoy reading and singing as her favorite past times!

Thursday
17 - February, 2011



Baruch's day to help clean out the chicks pen.

Friday
18 - February, 2011

Friday snack - home made cookies!! Yummy Mommy!

Happy Valentine’s Day! 2010 flew by in a flash! In November we made an addition to the family - BANJO. The children were thrilled that we made good on our commitment to get a dog once Chloe was potty trained. Banjo, a black and white Havanese, seems a perfect fit for us. He has plenty of energy for a long walk, but not so much that he won’t settle down and enjoy someone’s lap. Chloe, however, has taken his presence as a threat and totally regressed on. She is finally (after 3 ½ months) remastering her potty skills – thankfully. Chloe keeps the dog hopping with her commands and doesn’t hesitate to let him know “I’M IN CHARGE”. Banjo isn’t the only thing Chloe aspires to command. We all work hard to not let her get away with disobedience, no matter how cute – and she is quite cute (yes, that is coming from her parents). Abram continues to astound us. His 4 year old brain is in overdrive!! He keeps us on our knees. He asks penetrating questions, unfortunately almost always at bed time (he always has “just one more”). Baruch just turned 7, lost his first tooth, started piano lessons and is constantly modifying his toys to find out how they work and make them “better”. Abigail has a tender heart, loves to dote on Chloe, and seems to be blossoming in her self-confidence. Jacob! We still use the same single word to describe Jacob – excess! There isn’t much about him that couldn’t be summed up in that word. He likes to earn money by walking the neighbor’s dog, mowing lawns and shoveling snow. We all take pleasure in his ability to play the piano and guitar (and anything else he tries). He is always looking for competition in ping-pong, basketball and any other sport. Mary entered her teenage years in October. She is maturing into a lovely young lady with unusual spiritual insight. She continues to surprise us with her creativity in sewing and needlework and enjoys playing the piano as well. She helps mom’s sanity with her culinary ability, by reading aloud to the little ones and is the only one patient enough to train Banjo . Banjo sits, fetches, goes in the kennel on command, is learning “leave it”, and is almost rolling over! Beth continues to strive to build up our home as she walks in grace, struggling through some days and soaring through others. Drew keeps trying to direct the whole tribe in a strategic way to honor the Lord. When people ask him how life is with 6 kids, he will say “when things are good, they are really good, when they are bad… oh boy.” Our aim is to make known the fame and worth of Jesus Christ in every sphere we can.
Love from Drew and Beth
on behalf of the entire Tribe:
Mary(13), Jacob(11), Abi(9), Baruch(7), Abram(4), Chloe(2) and Banjo(6 mo.)

Bye bye my sweet sister

Mingled sadness fills my heart at our parting.

Hugging.

Crying.

Rejoicing.

Thankfulness.
My sister Renee and her family leave to go back to Colombia soon. They came to say goodbye to us today. My emotions ran the gamut and I am sure will continue to for some time.

Snapshot Summary #30

A Snapshot collage with pictures taken from Sunday 6 - February to Friday 11 - February, 2011

Blizzard 2011

Here is a slideshow of our pictures taken during the blizzard.

Snapshot Summary #29

Saturday
29 - January, 2011
About 10 days ago Baruch got a nasty sliver while sliding across the dining room floor. It plunged beyond my reach and I just could not get the stinker out. As a last ditch ever to relieve him of it we took him into the dr. who numbed the area and dug out a 1/4 inch piece of pine. Baruch complained of the area hurting and I didn't think much of it as I figured the area would be sore. Then today he asked me to look at it "Is this puss mommy?" Sure enough, puss was pouring out as he squeezed from the bottom. I thought I saw something black below the surface so I pulled back the skin to get a better look when low and behold an inch and a half long piece of our floor came literally shooting out of his leg! So the question is, should we still have to pay the $234 surgery fee? Ugh!!!


I am praising the Lord it has healed nicely and doesn't show signs of infection.

Sunday
30 - January, 2011





We had a lovely time attending Laura's piano recital this afternoon. She did an amazing job expressing herself through some awesome music! We were privileged to have her parents here afterward for supper. I can see where Laura gets her bubbly personality! Then the children played their competition pieces for them while Chloe talked incessantly!!

Monday
31 - January, 2011
Our piano teacher picked the children up for a master lesson with a more accomplished piano teacher. The rest of us played catch up on laundry etc.

Tuesday
1 - February, 2011

Sining "Happy Birthday" to Baruch after lunch!


Opening his present after supper. . .

. . .and then it started to snow!


after playing in the snow for a while. . .

Drew and the kids worked on changing my old guitar (that my friend Mary gave me way back in Florida - thanks mare) into a slide guitar. the neck on the guitar for whatever reason was way bent so our teacher recommended changing into a slide guitar. this is done by adding a nut to the ah, what would that be called? bridge, no that's not right, where's Jacob when i need him, I'm sure he would remember. anyway, you add the nut to the what's it's name, raising the strings up and use a metal slide while finger picking it. Mary has played it the most and it sound really cool. a very nice addition to our "band" if you can call it that :-)


Wednesday
2 - February, 2011
Mary and I woke up bright and early ready to deliver the daily paper (we are subing on our old route this week) to find our back yard a winter wonder-land! I didn't see any tracks from a vehicle and wondered if the papers would be in there usual spot. Well, I thought if they were there - they were buried in a drift of snow! I shoveld out the area the papers are usually dropped off and didn't find them so I just enjoyed the snow for a bit. The wipping wind drifted snow supper deep in some spots while leaving bare ground in others! Amazing! Beautiful! Spectacular.

Everyone had fun helping Drew shovel while Chloe and I baked bread and make homemade pizza.






Saturday
5 - February, 2011
Drew's parents came to watch the little ones so Drew and I could both attend the piano competition Mary, Jacob and Abigial participated in. The judges were excellent, and overall the experience was positive for the children.





Drew's parents gave Baruch a parakeet for his birthday! It was delivered today!! He has the bird on his finger already, although I would by no means call the sweet little fellow tamed!

Happy Birthday Baruch!

2006(below)2007

2008

2009

2010