Our New Van - Name Suggestions Requested

In October 2010 the Lord provided an amazing vehicle for us to drive. 

There does come a point in the life of a vehicle when it must be retired, however. The "Tuecke Tank" as it became known served us well for four great years but alas Drew began thinking about replacing him. He started looking on craigslist after narrowing down what he wanted, a 12 passenger van with the rear wheels set far back on the chassis, as low mileage, as good condition as possible & about $5,000 (tall order)! Today he took the plunge and drove to see one that he thought might fit that description.  He traded in our vehicle for this 2000 Chevrolet Express Van with 114,000 miles. I am truly thankful! Our other van was getting a bit scary to drive. It stalled regularly enough to set me into a cold sweat just about every time I drove it. I would be turning at an intersection, usually a busy one, when it would conk out, causing me to lose power steering.  I would throw it into neutral, frantically pulling on the wheel to keep us all safe, then crank it over yelling back for the kids to PLEASE stop fighting and start praying! When we took it to the mechanic he could not make the problem reoccur. Ugh! The 2000 Chevrolet Express fit the description and Drew and Jacob drove it home! Now I am thankful for a new problem: Backing up this beauty! Isn't she LONG!!  

Abram, you may not drive! Remember what happened the last time you drove??

Interior with 4 buckles in back row, 3 in middle and 3 in front row.

The Man!!Thanks for working hard on behalf of the entire family!!

What should we name her?  Leave a comment if something comes to mind. I expect a name will kind of grow on her but the ideas have to come from somewhere!  Here are the names the kids have come up with so far:
Scarlet
Red Rackham (from Tin Tin)
Bob the Tomatoe

July 14th, A Day to Remember

Baruch in his cast. Haven't had time to post the whole story behind the cast. Here goes. . .

Sunday afternoon we headed out on our bikes to take the NW Arterial hill challenge up to the Arboretum where there is "music in the park" on Sunday nights.  We were getting a bit of a late start and the whole trip felt slightly off.  We often start with prayer, not tonight. Anyway, Baruch and I were well ahead of everyone, but not yet to the big hill when we stopped because I got a text from Drew.  I read Baruch the text "go ahead up the hill, we will catch up." So we started off. Baruch standing to get his speed up. His speed increased quickly when suddenly his bike went out of control, he sped off the path and into the ditch. Screams of "It's broken" and "just pull it back into place" met me as I threw my bike aside and raced to him. After looking at his arm and seeing the bone, still beneith the skin, but definately not where it should be my instinct was to dial 911, then I thought, no call Drew, but I found myself talking to the 911 operator instead. The sherrif arrived and I hung up with the operator who said she would be sending an ambulance. Some time between the fall and the sheriff's arrival Mary and Abi rode up and I sent them to get Dad as quickly as possible. Baruch thought his arm would feel better if he had something hard under it so I fished around in his backpack and grabbed his notebook. We put it underneath and that alleviated some pain (not much though). By the time Drew arrived I told the sheriff I didn't think we would need the ambulance. He said once they have been called they come and follow through on the call.   Drew took off to get our van, which was thankfully parked at the bottom of the bluff. He showed up shortly after the ambulance. While the EMT's looked over the arm, and said they would not be held responsible for any further damage should we refuse the ambulance ride, Drew got all the kids engaged in bringing all the bikes and helmets to the van and efficiently loaded them on the tailor. We signed a waiver, taking full responsibility for our actions and somehow, (I honestly don't remember if we carried Baruch or he walked) got Baruch to the van. It wasn't until I thawacked my head getting into the van that I realized I still had my helmet on. Good thing too ; ). Drew drove skillfully to the ER while I called ahead so they would be expecting us. From there is was: See the Dr. on duty.  Start an IV and give morphine for pain. Take x-rays. See the orthopedic Dr. on call. See the anesthesialogist. Prep for surgery. Go into surgery. Have succussful surgery, ending with a cast put on. Go into recovery. Then take forever to be brought from recovery to the Pediatric Unit.* Spend night under the watchful eye of a diligent nurse. Come home. . . 

The surgery. . . He underwent closed surgery which means they manipulated the bones without making an incision. I guess it is still surgery because they put him under and he was in the surgery room.  Hey and then we get charged a full surgery bill + the anesthesia bill. Surgery involved putting the ulna, which looked sort of crumbled in the x-ray to me, about 1 inch long just below the elbow, back in place. It also involved reducing his radius which suffered a monteggia fracture (meaning basically it came out of the socket). Reducing means putting it back in place. 

All I know is I am extremely thankful to the Lord for competent medical care and a husband who drives better than an ambulance any day of the week!

Oh, and yes, his cast is really that big!

As Mom used to always say, "There you have it!" 

I sure miss that Momma!!

Baruch Catches a Bird

 Baruch caught a bird this morning out in the alley behind our house. It sure is a pretty bird.  The kids have identified it as a male house finch.

It has already been released. And flew immediately to the top of our roof.

Living Room Improvement Pictures

Suspended by Grace

We Worked on two main things in our home over the coarse of last week. #1 put off grumbling = put on thankfulness/rejoicing in accordance with Philippians 2:14,15. and #2 put off selfishness = put on serving one another in accordance with Philippians 2:3,4.

There are many life cycles. Our family cycles through high and low times. Times when the pendulum is bouncing a steady rhythme. Drew and I setting everything in motion for better or worse by our action or reactions to LIFE.

The family hums along harmoniously ~ Drew leading ~ Me respecting him ~ US working together, clicking together, the tribe in between us being bounced along, trained ~ memorizing scripture together ~ hum, hum, melodious, harmonious, steady swinging. We rise to the peak of the cycle AND THEN. . .

I'm not sure where the discord begins. We slip, slightly at first, an unkind word unchecked. I'm just too tired or too distracted to deal with it.

Slip

Slide

Down

Worse still, I am the one speaking the unkind word, thinking a wrong thought, assuming ill motives of another.

Whoa

Slip

Slip

Slide

The pendulum

S

L
O
W
S

lowers slows almost to standing

How did it get to that slowest of all slows, our melody engulfed in discontentment, selfishness and complaints ~ unrecognizable discord?

I call out to God the Father in the name of His Son "I need you! Help me obey Your Word, I want to 'rejoice always', I want to be 'quick to listen and slow to speak', I want to be a servant leader."

I read that portion of scripture to the children and ask, "How can we 'rejoice in the Lord always" and why would we want to?" No one is quite sure how to rejoice but they ALL want peace. We ALL need His peace, HIS PEACE - "guarding our hearts and our minds."

I read on ~ everyone eager to discover how we can have this peace. We discover, as if for the first time the thing I have long known and am ashamed I have not been doing. WE MUST "dwell on these things". . . HIM. Our minds MUST be filled Up to Brimming . . . Abiding in . . . Meditating on . . . Be completely saturated With "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, things that are excellent and worthy of praise." Philippians 4:8. I pose the question, "Where is the single place we can find things that are true, honorable . . .?"


"The Bible"

"God's Word"

"Scripture"

three answers cascade on top of each other!

YES and then we look up John 1 "In the beginning was the WORD and the word became flesh"

It's ALL HIM ~ we recommit to memorize, meditate on the Word, on Him and the pendulum steadies as we come full circle.

Breakfast Time This AM

Tents in the Living Room

We literally live in our living room during waking hours. Our living room transforms into wonderful things during all hours of a day!I am so thankful to have all this little people surrounding me to fill this house with life.

What to do when Lego's get Sprayed with Up-chuck

Snapshot Summary #3

Another wonderfully busy week as a wife and mother!

Tuesday 06 - July

A package arrived from Aunt Terry. It was a slip n' slide! The weather was wonderfully hot and the kids played hard all day.

Well, they didn't all slip n' slide all day. They played in waves with various things. Cob practiced with his drum set quite a bit too. I finally got some pictures of him practicing. They also played with the tinker toys Pa and Grandma brought on Monday. They have enjoyed those immensely!

Wednesday, my sister Renee's 45th Birthday dawned beautifully. We ran to tennis lessons in the AM, talking - them talking, me praying - on the way about how to encourage the little boy, who takes every opportunity to course jest, not to. Or how to avoid being drawn into that behavior yourself, as one of the children was prone to do a couple lessons ago. We all prayed, they left, I followed, the little three following me. Then we picked up a lovely box of organic produce that was a gift from my dear friend Laura. Then we were on to the library where we did end up getting a hard copy of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Got home, as I was preparing lunch Abi began to get nauseous. Poor thing ended up very sick with a stomach bug. When Drew got home he was feeling a bit off. Poor man ended up with a bad case of the aforesaid bug himself. Then Chloe vomited ALL NIGHT LONG, with me lying on the floor between her and Abi's bed holding the bucket between winks. I was so worn out Thursday morning I slept all day. The children just laughed when 8 PM rolled around and I said I was so glad it was time for bed. I slept all night long but still only felt a bit better. I didn't feel my old self until later in the afternoon.

Friday - 09-July

We took a short walk just to get out of the house and catch some fresh air! Baruch did a bit more than just walk.

After the walk I even had enough energy to trim the bush by our back gate. Chloe helped. She was so precious bringing branches back to the brush pile one little stick at a time.

Saturday 10 - July

We got a LOT done around the house. Cob had one mowing job.

Abigail held a "manners" class for Baruch and Abram in hopes of teaching them a thing or two. They paid $ .25 to be a part of the class, which included a tea party with treats at the conclusion of the class. They were suppose to dress up for the class. Here is the outfit Abram chose.

Sunday 11 - July

We practiced last week, Friday and Saturday in anticipation of playing a song during the worship service at our assembly Sunday. Everyone woke up eager to greet the day. It was soon apparent, however that Drew was in NO condition to be out and about. His intestinal track was WAY off. He had delivered papers with Mary's help, feeling o.k. at the outset. He went straight up to bed when he returned from the route and slept until about 10 AM! Then he and the kids enjoyed a dvd from the library.

Wind in the Willows dvd followed the book very closely. It gets a five star from our easily amused crowd.

Monday 12 - July

Chloe is constantly on the go. As I have been typing this post she took off her swimsuit (they were on the slip n' slide again) and put on Jacob's. Then she climbed on a chair and started singing Yankee Doodle Dandy. Very Sweet.

A Day In Our Life

We had a lot of fun at Grandma Rose's house today. The kids pulled each other in the wagon.

Baruch made a dragon fly into a pet :-) Poor little dragon fly. When Baruch showed it to me sitting so serenely on his hand he announced, "see mom it's my pet. I clipped his wings so he can't fly."
They loved stomping in the creek that runs through her lot.
After naps Baruch showed me a robin's nest by our front porch,

Some baby bunnies in a nest near the tree fort. They are so well camouflaged I am amazed they could be discovered.and these baby birds - grackles we think - which is a bummer because they are so mean to the nice song birds. This nest is in our front bushes. We really have tons of nature in our little paradise here :-)