tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77753838027433035792023-11-16T03:25:45.682-08:00Growing in Grace 2getherStriving to day by day grow in the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ along with my beloved husband and 7 children.Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.comBlogger139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-82553800895595278252020-12-22T11:51:00.001-08:002020-12-22T11:51:31.977-08:002020 Christmas letter<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Segoe Script"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Miriam Fixed";">I always find
it difficult to try to accurately summarize a year of life for 9 different
people in just a few sentences at the end of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2020 somehow seems trickier than ever to
capture with words. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried writing a letter
to send along with our family photo and updated address back in November, but it
just didn’t come together for me. I thought perhaps the addition of some photos
may help the letter come to life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So here
it is, imperfectly improved.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Miriam Fixed"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7GK_VDDcPTUWkeaLd8KE7dNS5ucIbklg3w7t4bn8mID1FzM3hdN67cJ287AodDrZQgHB3YQ8Ik7A5AqO62uR7VhLlThTGhyJa_Xd9GZBihoifozWk2K_pIkNyyra1rK6MQJge5iwtk8E/s5900/StoltzfusfamilySept2020%252825of61%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4214" data-original-width="5900" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7GK_VDDcPTUWkeaLd8KE7dNS5ucIbklg3w7t4bn8mID1FzM3hdN67cJ287AodDrZQgHB3YQ8Ik7A5AqO62uR7VhLlThTGhyJa_Xd9GZBihoifozWk2K_pIkNyyra1rK6MQJge5iwtk8E/w640-h458/StoltzfusfamilySept2020%252825of61%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><i><span style="font-family: "Miriam Fixed"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Dearest Friends,<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is by
no means a comprehensive view of the year, but simply a few notable events from
our lives as we somersaulted through 2020.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">We started
the school year with 5 children enrolled at FBCS. Due to COVID-19 regulations,
the last 8 weeks of school found us learning the ropes of homeschooling. Thanks
to the excellent coaching of our FBCS teachers and the grace of Jesus each of
our 5 scholars advanced to the next grade level.</span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuy9tOPA39KOH1df8aBdHVi06cKz4SXWUy5qwurWQ3UEjfik6aeAGtp2WR5_qRErp-zrZX716EdBc4PhDGoCOXIGvefG1BbYDPB6LxdPhPkew-7kOpFCRmHboOETzjYLpu_ITvxsT8Poc/s2048/IMG_3482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuy9tOPA39KOH1df8aBdHVi06cKz4SXWUy5qwurWQ3UEjfik6aeAGtp2WR5_qRErp-zrZX716EdBc4PhDGoCOXIGvefG1BbYDPB6LxdPhPkew-7kOpFCRmHboOETzjYLpu_ITvxsT8Poc/s320/IMG_3482.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlwUKBUjvkgwEn5_i0eYRjmBFuMuHQELNcynzg8QrnPlaAylAUS6qCpcnIuK-k7QYX-pFtnLwtI02WfYMrnhfkTgW_6QssMDV2AYZzVl3GDqMCAIFY3ture4jVCHPdkQ59tFvZqyfcdnQ/s3264/IMG_20200409_094130123%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlwUKBUjvkgwEn5_i0eYRjmBFuMuHQELNcynzg8QrnPlaAylAUS6qCpcnIuK-k7QYX-pFtnLwtI02WfYMrnhfkTgW_6QssMDV2AYZzVl3GDqMCAIFY3ture4jVCHPdkQ59tFvZqyfcdnQ/s320/IMG_20200409_094130123%257E2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Our weeks of
staying at home in the spring were certainly a mixed bundle of happiness and stress.
We were each on our own learning curve that pulled and pushed us to grow.
Leading a church during a pandemic has proven to be an ongoing stress for Amos.
Homeschooling 5 kids and helping teenagers process their loneliness and
disappointments of 2020, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>plus staying on
top of the daily physical needs of our family keeps pushing me into uncharted
territory. Our children have been amazingly resilient and creative and mostly
cooperative as we’ve navigated the challenges and joys of 2020. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwQQK-AngT9bv1oxhm4-5pAB-UfI3K99AbneCV6yx1l7nelgY6lj7yFsiuiJZf8HAJ7VXSOMuiuVAHn2Rqm-762N4y2DalToV34zjb0yznGQLPBS2PLIv4dUi_QAUTFTkDewJA8Ee4_c/s2207/IMG_20200319_123142553.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2207" data-original-width="2207" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwQQK-AngT9bv1oxhm4-5pAB-UfI3K99AbneCV6yx1l7nelgY6lj7yFsiuiJZf8HAJ7VXSOMuiuVAHn2Rqm-762N4y2DalToV34zjb0yznGQLPBS2PLIv4dUi_QAUTFTkDewJA8Ee4_c/s320/IMG_20200319_123142553.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62bu9Isu57bNlQKwLLZPY-jwnZOxdBKWwp51_6bj7Ea33v7Udlsl799Fc4C-XWOH85fCLSw_dnE4KnndfJ3hnwBHlfDhH0D-py1-NKn-rrK2RgtZdtjywkWdvK7jPv7xsDNZku6Vsj3c/s3264/IMG_20200326_113352127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh62bu9Isu57bNlQKwLLZPY-jwnZOxdBKWwp51_6bj7Ea33v7Udlsl799Fc4C-XWOH85fCLSw_dnE4KnndfJ3hnwBHlfDhH0D-py1-NKn-rrK2RgtZdtjywkWdvK7jPv7xsDNZku6Vsj3c/s320/IMG_20200326_113352127.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In early
March while browsing local real estate I found a property that nearly made my
heart stop because it met so many of the criteria we had previously set when
discussing the possibility of some day moving away from our town home. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next day Amos and I made an appointment to
see the house and two days later we took the whole family for a tour of the
property. After a few agonizing days of prayer, getting advice, pushing the
pencil, dreaming, and negotiating we found ourselves signing papers to become
the owners of a 15-acre property and a century old home. That day we also
married a boatload of work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrkgKL6RSUJji7a0ha_NQfiYuzKI1ortCpjwfUQoyfK0rb0vv2wx_E_e-0RN6v_LWbvqeD6iiaAH_usujZ5PwSFCKiSNATjLF8NzQU9FEUc9HSDLbRCbypciHrHf9O98y_4b4a7wjMxUA/s2450/IMG_20200516_103749588.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2450" data-original-width="1823" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrkgKL6RSUJji7a0ha_NQfiYuzKI1ortCpjwfUQoyfK0rb0vv2wx_E_e-0RN6v_LWbvqeD6iiaAH_usujZ5PwSFCKiSNATjLF8NzQU9FEUc9HSDLbRCbypciHrHf9O98y_4b4a7wjMxUA/w476-h640/IMG_20200516_103749588.jpg" width="476" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnC8ZFUG7Gl8lYcuVvgGCyLXmx7ki0oBMRuE7dB8Htf9_7WfwJ3jg5tQzyCWf1FZ2YlE_ejUrD5bNW_1U_rEGHRdHLskovBPscT14gtN1CrQyiHxM1ni0RuUT6lyEWYIeBgRmIBuZ6jVQ/s2048/IMG_3667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnC8ZFUG7Gl8lYcuVvgGCyLXmx7ki0oBMRuE7dB8Htf9_7WfwJ3jg5tQzyCWf1FZ2YlE_ejUrD5bNW_1U_rEGHRdHLskovBPscT14gtN1CrQyiHxM1ni0RuUT6lyEWYIeBgRmIBuZ6jVQ/w400-h266/IMG_3667.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxvy_ryjPsx5O8rqCfnMs6ZGJQxBdkf9zR0NH32o43Wd2mwFjGAIOJXmbV288oxH9jRjw_qha0ZPgIq9cr7V-ohcAV3tYmhyphenhyphenJ2OlTKekp3-8e2_JOIsJ2nlCqMnr8qb-cUUZQbkaT6mSA/s3264/IMG_20200607_102304053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxvy_ryjPsx5O8rqCfnMs6ZGJQxBdkf9zR0NH32o43Wd2mwFjGAIOJXmbV288oxH9jRjw_qha0ZPgIq9cr7V-ohcAV3tYmhyphenhyphenJ2OlTKekp3-8e2_JOIsJ2nlCqMnr8qb-cUUZQbkaT6mSA/w300-h400/IMG_20200607_102304053.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><br /></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nothing
about this process was smooth since we signed our contract just days before our
country shut down all non-essential business for a few weeks. Our attorney did
everything possible to keep the process moving a long and we ended up signing
the final documents in the parking lot next to our house. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1awb6LyggMPqeh7krkmrDKlLSPaRHO6tLJAgMWgcDpFDQaqCAoxyHwl_genQjhBHy77tamSrjrpIcqxFA4Y8kW9WwJujzDNFj7YijG2Ty_IPmryaaBonPVgk9Go3rui-denoKg7RFORc/s2041/IMG_20200427_110611684.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2041" data-original-width="2041" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1awb6LyggMPqeh7krkmrDKlLSPaRHO6tLJAgMWgcDpFDQaqCAoxyHwl_genQjhBHy77tamSrjrpIcqxFA4Y8kW9WwJujzDNFj7YijG2Ty_IPmryaaBonPVgk9Go3rui-denoKg7RFORc/s320/IMG_20200427_110611684.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
following weeks were full of remodeling parts our new house, going through all
our accumulations from 17 years of marriage and 7 children, getting our town
home ready to put on the market, hauling loads and loads of stuff across town, digging
up a big garden and just all kind of general transitioning from urban to
country. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg13_P0v0hnZtmItt486U-ztmilrEd3upq5-Y_w5MiBYPS8APHPzNYH_0naGsC5DgWs926dHqeDUkXnsYNH5ggWWv2HS-eUn31cwqKk9YnaujR7clWV2va1yB1ANaT-DpfznRlJ1ZGDuvE/s3264/IMG_20200505_184706133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg13_P0v0hnZtmItt486U-ztmilrEd3upq5-Y_w5MiBYPS8APHPzNYH_0naGsC5DgWs926dHqeDUkXnsYNH5ggWWv2HS-eUn31cwqKk9YnaujR7clWV2va1yB1ANaT-DpfznRlJ1ZGDuvE/s320/IMG_20200505_184706133.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6wsedpQdw6NkKUc5gIJnAWgult5YogKFakS4S5vlEN9qQcOy4atf5US9jwJvJ34FYEn5YZduWVKKSfWc5vy2lrMt1oF-PcPKe3_-tQm4oxiZroKS2tm_dnKM6OCgKxItai80tCt01EDk/s3264/IMG_20200612_130506761.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6wsedpQdw6NkKUc5gIJnAWgult5YogKFakS4S5vlEN9qQcOy4atf5US9jwJvJ34FYEn5YZduWVKKSfWc5vy2lrMt1oF-PcPKe3_-tQm4oxiZroKS2tm_dnKM6OCgKxItai80tCt01EDk/s320/IMG_20200612_130506761.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp6aKUiOrocU6iaO0dcxS2sXZnxaVkIJDoFce-BA_h6cadzScyy2e35fg7pVcp1Jh9-fDAPriiX16jN70LSVOAdct1kBMruZjl6-G1XP5u-rGMQMHNfIPWpYU3KO7hDNsrxPu3G4eWgQE/s3264/IMG_20200519_133014087.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp6aKUiOrocU6iaO0dcxS2sXZnxaVkIJDoFce-BA_h6cadzScyy2e35fg7pVcp1Jh9-fDAPriiX16jN70LSVOAdct1kBMruZjl6-G1XP5u-rGMQMHNfIPWpYU3KO7hDNsrxPu3G4eWgQE/s320/IMG_20200519_133014087.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Selling our
home on Pine Street ended up being a journey all of its own, but one that ended
beautifully. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After our original buyers
backed out, we were able to offer our home to family friends who were moving
from Pittsburg to Meadville. The timing worked out perfectly for them and we
were so happy to be able to pass our home (which we loved very dearly) on to people
that we know.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqMDAe2DvkBf5spAzEVOpWujlYrBLfUhvk4Ss5eSgVrZAELAS-h979xjCL12BeDpfqPjXdlLHkcc5jlbLop29iienCt3NWSjWAkSGL-fR3CNSUnScl6HwogPIvoBk3GZ6XA525b2Pa3vU/s3264/IMG_20200417_185103951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqMDAe2DvkBf5spAzEVOpWujlYrBLfUhvk4Ss5eSgVrZAELAS-h979xjCL12BeDpfqPjXdlLHkcc5jlbLop29iienCt3NWSjWAkSGL-fR3CNSUnScl6HwogPIvoBk3GZ6XA525b2Pa3vU/s320/IMG_20200417_185103951.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Early August
we enjoyed a 3-day trip to Michigan, along with Amos’ extended family, to
surprise his sister Linda for her 50<sup>th</sup> birthday party. Traveling on
a charter bus was a first-time experience for our children. The delight was
doubled by sharing the ride with a bunch of cousins. There was plenty of fun,
food, games, laughter, good conversation and memories to last a long time in
those 3 days spent together.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBc9tN6Hyx2Rr-CqDcz1rGu2-wrXGn15zG8CDCon8bi2cPV4f7uyLcZTu-gI33PO6CbGMG9i1AQA7CnTyGHBeiiCRqj780pGSOtA8cjXatqeDUT3-SI4BqTo8GyaEFxnses9ttXsYIOwk/s2048/IMG_4789.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBc9tN6Hyx2Rr-CqDcz1rGu2-wrXGn15zG8CDCon8bi2cPV4f7uyLcZTu-gI33PO6CbGMG9i1AQA7CnTyGHBeiiCRqj780pGSOtA8cjXatqeDUT3-SI4BqTo8GyaEFxnses9ttXsYIOwk/w640-h426/IMG_4789.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTbEL4J_9GxUq6tUU5ICSnJdq1iwXTxPlcW84EBSHto3O7VkbGqHoOfTfIxUhTWRo92vuR6R7h8csHASPZPCcvLvZ4rfzTS-ySSSy3u-qHKOgP75pLWPXMWoJUp33lWeOiM-pvC8cxSmM/s2048/IMG_4796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTbEL4J_9GxUq6tUU5ICSnJdq1iwXTxPlcW84EBSHto3O7VkbGqHoOfTfIxUhTWRo92vuR6R7h8csHASPZPCcvLvZ4rfzTS-ySSSy3u-qHKOgP75pLWPXMWoJUp33lWeOiM-pvC8cxSmM/w640-h426/IMG_4796.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our children were happy to head back to school
the end of August after what felt like a long break from the classroom. While
there is still uncertainty about the future, we are grateful for each day that
they can have in person schooling.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> <br /></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyXiDssCUsuGNeYVplUfEDIDnXJbGZsO4pQtNzSYw7PSDPVZ6IX1PFkkNvPC_4NISzqLToJPXn2yBU8GEH_H__Sx6fwl2pza8NIa-c0XToD72CWpre8A8-fW7vlLy8tVpwwuSpwl_EgQ/s2048/IMG_5059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGyXiDssCUsuGNeYVplUfEDIDnXJbGZsO4pQtNzSYw7PSDPVZ6IX1PFkkNvPC_4NISzqLToJPXn2yBU8GEH_H__Sx6fwl2pza8NIa-c0XToD72CWpre8A8-fW7vlLy8tVpwwuSpwl_EgQ/w266-h400/IMG_5059.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxHttNHeDNAvQCrYziFW3JrgfEgL1LpB6ttX0SQev5YRlrMkA2pasmwiY3G9sOzLsIRygfS_MB5HlPq1_YzORAQy2gv4oCarfdDY14_Ur1Tbxk8oYGHXH4b2mU_wx0x2Y9KvXZduGJUs/s3264/IMG_20200901_074636152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxHttNHeDNAvQCrYziFW3JrgfEgL1LpB6ttX0SQev5YRlrMkA2pasmwiY3G9sOzLsIRygfS_MB5HlPq1_YzORAQy2gv4oCarfdDY14_Ur1Tbxk8oYGHXH4b2mU_wx0x2Y9KvXZduGJUs/s320/IMG_20200901_074636152.jpg" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Angeline
turned 16 this fall. Amos lost a few more hair and I gained a few new grey
ones.<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> </span>Truly, we love having an extra
driver in the house and anticipate the day when she can drive independently. She
also was thrilled to join the youth group this fall. She is our in-resident
laundry lady, barber, pianist and deer slayer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8VLzh-IWvx2TevO-h8C7MYnmHsE7J_tQxf4amdnAw2xN1wa2eWjmGq_m43SQ4TZ_JfUl7aBZY7spVfoNaRqM0Esl_0NX2C34OUP2U_RmGipabapvDq8zjSiq4R_x0dbDBOquJPFLkkGE/s2048/IMG_5288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8VLzh-IWvx2TevO-h8C7MYnmHsE7J_tQxf4amdnAw2xN1wa2eWjmGq_m43SQ4TZ_JfUl7aBZY7spVfoNaRqM0Esl_0NX2C34OUP2U_RmGipabapvDq8zjSiq4R_x0dbDBOquJPFLkkGE/w400-h266/IMG_5288.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6FoPH8COWzDMw9ubVusPWa_b1ANvKvxcEDLeBN_WRDF2KaCBMULx2gheG4T0BQ-d4vTDQAroQvu8ewvW_NbpSF7P_S469Ts7scajREL77J6Hr7qwstCge8_CU77uUpXVWq1dB6VVXEE/s3264/IMG_20200709_132828915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho6FoPH8COWzDMw9ubVusPWa_b1ANvKvxcEDLeBN_WRDF2KaCBMULx2gheG4T0BQ-d4vTDQAroQvu8ewvW_NbpSF7P_S469Ts7scajREL77J6Hr7qwstCge8_CU77uUpXVWq1dB6VVXEE/s320/IMG_20200709_132828915.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nicholas is
14 years old and quickly passed me up in stature this past year. He is our
senior hunter, grounds manager and mechanic. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his spare time, he loves to work on scroll
saw projects, tear apart engines and read. He is enjoying a robotics class at
school this fall. This winter he plans to remodel his attic bedroom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVjIu9MccDnO-3GjHAA5KKVdMCA_UrG02HUmYM_etaWakNRafZ6XwL04BA-7mjWBQhwbbAldRwDLBTaTPu2SelbUlOJK6v3-iBMxEtjiJdeI2CJE2ID_NuGi0Ve-I1T9k6x1lDMUowRSY/s2048/IMG_2638+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVjIu9MccDnO-3GjHAA5KKVdMCA_UrG02HUmYM_etaWakNRafZ6XwL04BA-7mjWBQhwbbAldRwDLBTaTPu2SelbUlOJK6v3-iBMxEtjiJdeI2CJE2ID_NuGi0Ve-I1T9k6x1lDMUowRSY/w266-h400/IMG_2638+%25282%2529.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70wUVFoK1-tZJiiTKJ7hNNMQuX3oU47rFokNdqNUF_x06yUKHA6Q2sPoJrEF9BKS-MMAuFiQnZQ_tI51VpNkDVVI71Augfhh79NWkjls329Ks9hwy5LCJ1UfllIeDn-6H1FBDuL2YszY/s3264/IMG_20200402_193804704.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj70wUVFoK1-tZJiiTKJ7hNNMQuX3oU47rFokNdqNUF_x06yUKHA6Q2sPoJrEF9BKS-MMAuFiQnZQ_tI51VpNkDVVI71Augfhh79NWkjls329Ks9hwy5LCJ1UfllIeDn-6H1FBDuL2YszY/s320/IMG_20200402_193804704.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Joshua
joined the teenagers in our home just of yesterday. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was excited to finally be old enough to go
hunting with the older guys this year. Joshua is our quiet but dependable and
diligent workhorse. He has won Isaiah’s favor by devoting lots of time and
energy to him. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje4kjsEq-kIvXxHSCg8_clenQc-pSmKo9u4R4IHdEFI3y1TIoVr9jPjqPqqBKGtZryR07wnQVUtqcfBVr5CNkCutdO8zFJ4KRKu6AzkgkCak80S0KOaTcIpUzFupJQ3f-TMB5Z5hGqIZQ/s2048/IMG_6054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje4kjsEq-kIvXxHSCg8_clenQc-pSmKo9u4R4IHdEFI3y1TIoVr9jPjqPqqBKGtZryR07wnQVUtqcfBVr5CNkCutdO8zFJ4KRKu6AzkgkCak80S0KOaTcIpUzFupJQ3f-TMB5Z5hGqIZQ/s320/IMG_6054.JPG" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCJGuzcaDLbxKuTX27574LcVXw8chAkKeca1CigOEfXoQLp8QySqIFSiQOPhOB_8HNjc-0aloQRC74ENXt5j4pdcP4T04vprnEUM-iaWiNYlYkw7VN20Nkr0VAM-arjuvSuVIYTLXqT8/s2048/IMG_3509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCJGuzcaDLbxKuTX27574LcVXw8chAkKeca1CigOEfXoQLp8QySqIFSiQOPhOB_8HNjc-0aloQRC74ENXt5j4pdcP4T04vprnEUM-iaWiNYlYkw7VN20Nkr0VAM-arjuvSuVIYTLXqT8/w400-h266/IMG_3509.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Christopher
is our party animal. He is happiest surrounded by people and a swirling tornado
of books, craft supplies, games, good food and conversation. He loves pretty much
any sport and works hard to compete with his older brothers. He enjoys disc
golfing and has quite the arm for a 10-year-old.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZ1FqQpNGWl2A0BiXWlTJ09fgR9v_IBHIbldGW-ksGLwpIzx7B8yOBrKxznPKpdsotwJZBUXLzSDmoyPKsWpZutuhzqdswps4W_d1L4e9s7xLtQc_0tvz3PL2ESB4TWBerRspsTAb-eM/s2048/IMG_5098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZ1FqQpNGWl2A0BiXWlTJ09fgR9v_IBHIbldGW-ksGLwpIzx7B8yOBrKxznPKpdsotwJZBUXLzSDmoyPKsWpZutuhzqdswps4W_d1L4e9s7xLtQc_0tvz3PL2ESB4TWBerRspsTAb-eM/w266-h400/IMG_5098.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1YrrBidyj1uQJrZODmkE8G_VXdNE_uIuO_ikRYmQNsDj4Cuw7q8kRFR4oX8CJbj9n1_5qttU6sHXmfVMilFOzYnDn0x0-NjJMCW6-1FUBVzZloX65-bOTq4QMq3ekZoLj8PGMMCWCnc/s2048/IMG_5173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1YrrBidyj1uQJrZODmkE8G_VXdNE_uIuO_ikRYmQNsDj4Cuw7q8kRFR4oX8CJbj9n1_5qttU6sHXmfVMilFOzYnDn0x0-NjJMCW6-1FUBVzZloX65-bOTq4QMq3ekZoLj8PGMMCWCnc/w400-h266/IMG_5173.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Cassie is 7 years
old and enjoying 2<sup>nd</sup> grade. In fact, she loves school so much that
she often plays school with Elliana in the evening. Cassie is full of energy
and spirit. She likes spending time out in the woods by our small frog pond.
Fishing in our pond here on the new property has been a pleasure for her. I
think she would fall in the category of a “tom boy”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKUROBh6qim9lBo7OufxB-Szvsh1xd14Usux03tu4wNk2uPj0_VVh4bW95K8HY0608o9OYBdTV_xnBrRrWiGdYnZv4kescJHUGyezo-2-RFKbPsK4J2N3VEfj0uPy7JNSn5NTR1bpiQg/s2048/IMG_3636.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuKUROBh6qim9lBo7OufxB-Szvsh1xd14Usux03tu4wNk2uPj0_VVh4bW95K8HY0608o9OYBdTV_xnBrRrWiGdYnZv4kescJHUGyezo-2-RFKbPsK4J2N3VEfj0uPy7JNSn5NTR1bpiQg/w266-h400/IMG_3636.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixlAhcGK2rb7ChJ_xR_opYxZ6er-bm1nVlI1J2dv7ZWqyZEZfezna8d-vd1dfsqcA-9ShR2PzCVTtwMuuhUF8DJBHsNwj9yr4P2V7IuX2IWHJ6I44_pZmWsJCriNgEOO2yx_DHVAkc-xQ/s2048/IMG_5483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixlAhcGK2rb7ChJ_xR_opYxZ6er-bm1nVlI1J2dv7ZWqyZEZfezna8d-vd1dfsqcA-9ShR2PzCVTtwMuuhUF8DJBHsNwj9yr4P2V7IuX2IWHJ6I44_pZmWsJCriNgEOO2yx_DHVAkc-xQ/w266-h400/IMG_5483.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Elliana, on
the other hand, is our girly girl. She loves playing with her doll babies and
calico critters and writing letters to her friends. She spends a lot of time playing
with Isaiah and reporting on all his demolition projects. It’s a big responsibility
for a 5-year-old sister to stay on top of him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Ce7cyOdeFdc4SUFtP0Hhluxzj_QU2dUks891y_wot7Vc655lQb1_gdAj6kCw8QqCBJjQF6d_0V_n2jbVHKp6sFUl4yCq0SvCcL-uq7z7xZf4QzkRcRNgdaFu7aN7-S6YMJ7cIohyphenhyphenEk4/s2048/IMG_4990.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Ce7cyOdeFdc4SUFtP0Hhluxzj_QU2dUks891y_wot7Vc655lQb1_gdAj6kCw8QqCBJjQF6d_0V_n2jbVHKp6sFUl4yCq0SvCcL-uq7z7xZf4QzkRcRNgdaFu7aN7-S6YMJ7cIohyphenhyphenEk4/w266-h400/IMG_4990.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRVFUP-0WseUHM9aWOM__LGE_yrQvpeAzJ4IHHqRR0B5z8EemW6bCvJzWA7J3wmHS7HDYyZaOsTGe6TQvHQyL3iuWkCyD9OecrjvIJRWPnkmXzjXDJeRPuPImNOHQqJ7iWQWAXDTZULRQ/s2256/IMG_20200903_101739218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2098" data-original-width="2256" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRVFUP-0WseUHM9aWOM__LGE_yrQvpeAzJ4IHHqRR0B5z8EemW6bCvJzWA7J3wmHS7HDYyZaOsTGe6TQvHQyL3iuWkCyD9OecrjvIJRWPnkmXzjXDJeRPuPImNOHQqJ7iWQWAXDTZULRQ/w320-h298/IMG_20200903_101739218.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It is hard
to believe our baby is 2 years old. Isaiah’s greatest accomplishments this year
were getting potty trained and learning to talk. Currently he loves to talk
about the hunting accomplishments of his family. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has an exciting life being the youngest of 7.
He thrives on the attention of his family. Naturally, we all think he is the
most charming, intelligent and lovable 2-year-old in the universe. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZxLL1bh4ELxZJFE4oGdXKMDJB38I_Tm-cJwtQru-th_r0aQtotz9wkVbq9vgVvalFnM7drdNv2eAHRreoamgXoxh4JV76Az8Bee9xa5ho-MFc-mgawqOHIFpP3M-otc1FM9EbdY6Az0/s2048/IMG_4966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZxLL1bh4ELxZJFE4oGdXKMDJB38I_Tm-cJwtQru-th_r0aQtotz9wkVbq9vgVvalFnM7drdNv2eAHRreoamgXoxh4JV76Az8Bee9xa5ho-MFc-mgawqOHIFpP3M-otc1FM9EbdY6Az0/w266-h400/IMG_4966.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT-fLccNtnjWDjbEfeGBESzYyGOrw5-gi4gAiV62M9IlpERX6vqsDVppo-PfrIbmwttEZjeH825QmPgkxYFHW3LhJ5qGl2SfnRsn5EFWZc3VDsny2aqwNIFoMrjQmOSBNgJlybdSloIpk/s2048/IMG_4225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT-fLccNtnjWDjbEfeGBESzYyGOrw5-gi4gAiV62M9IlpERX6vqsDVppo-PfrIbmwttEZjeH825QmPgkxYFHW3LhJ5qGl2SfnRsn5EFWZc3VDsny2aqwNIFoMrjQmOSBNgJlybdSloIpk/w400-h266/IMG_4225.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This fall
Amos enrolled in Servant Institute, a 2-year training program that FBEP offers
for leaders. There are some opportunities for me to join him at certain times
in this training and development. While this does not feel like a great time to
be adding more to our plate, we are excited about the opportunity to grow as individuals
and leaders. Our hope is to become better equipped to serve our church and community.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7IFgzE6azB25mVoOdstpXOAolrABxj6xqiAnV5GfsBRgvtUmCA3pEEt2u8UgNm2mrh91dKjvuZddVZu7bryFfa1KMN6OFJrQAGqaatkYIyhmJ3I0Is2D41IB8imQhQGIUG5VFGUWtdc/s6272/StoltzfusfamilySept2020%252854of61%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4480" data-original-width="6272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7IFgzE6azB25mVoOdstpXOAolrABxj6xqiAnV5GfsBRgvtUmCA3pEEt2u8UgNm2mrh91dKjvuZddVZu7bryFfa1KMN6OFJrQAGqaatkYIyhmJ3I0Is2D41IB8imQhQGIUG5VFGUWtdc/s320/StoltzfusfamilySept2020%252854of61%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Certainly,
much more could be said about the experiences of 2020.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We are
grateful for the faithfulness of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are grateful for the ways that Jesus speaks to us through the faith,
love and works of His children!!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Lucida Calligraphy"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Immanuel.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_iMS1llgrtegbAjyeFu_GTE8tH4NZU1_ctuTv4gBXoWgZGcdiCIGgpEZiDPSpVzmEqrSHlGYf8OpXdDXD1Rlja0USI7GfZ3txLUwValqr200Mg5XaaVDkD6obsjkjLPTIYr1ywosahs/s6272/StoltzfusfamilySept2020%252821of61%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4480" data-original-width="6272" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_iMS1llgrtegbAjyeFu_GTE8tH4NZU1_ctuTv4gBXoWgZGcdiCIGgpEZiDPSpVzmEqrSHlGYf8OpXdDXD1Rlja0USI7GfZ3txLUwValqr200Mg5XaaVDkD6obsjkjLPTIYr1ywosahs/w640-h458/StoltzfusfamilySept2020%252821of61%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Lucida Calligraphy"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><p></p>Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-77045396979502876042020-12-08T13:38:00.002-08:002020-12-08T13:39:04.031-08:00Hunting CampThese days it feels like our home has morphed into some sort of a hunting camp.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis4pm2JnrBpO5NRWxgsVav_v8aW4Jzv7RNTIlRa3mgXHOfhKuCIkOV3iOOgfASXWtgTn9lonPPWVx8MIvFW6G97d6RZo9bLC2todMNzfF0b-NU6X01iWg9DYugSpcYnnXhBWnNM3imgPU/s2048/IMG_6025.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis4pm2JnrBpO5NRWxgsVav_v8aW4Jzv7RNTIlRa3mgXHOfhKuCIkOV3iOOgfASXWtgTn9lonPPWVx8MIvFW6G97d6RZo9bLC2todMNzfF0b-NU6X01iWg9DYugSpcYnnXhBWnNM3imgPU/w400-h266/IMG_6025.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhja_VuVmj5EHUKKFGkbpuayhxHTgHBFEsMtcGvN_zwBy79g1TpucvprmIDTkYCOYb8TedwbAufac1vb-mddBZ7Jp9tG2xQuDQdEcoIc0iFka7Y9YBu_h_a_cKGnQthAGmIxmGkW5F9arQ/s2048/IMG_6033.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhja_VuVmj5EHUKKFGkbpuayhxHTgHBFEsMtcGvN_zwBy79g1TpucvprmIDTkYCOYb8TedwbAufac1vb-mddBZ7Jp9tG2xQuDQdEcoIc0iFka7Y9YBu_h_a_cKGnQthAGmIxmGkW5F9arQ/w266-h400/IMG_6033.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9pXz10TRk9QOfgmmIJkZ9XzckvDwSfUOX0rUWgPYgqDOz4mE__vjvKeL3KhcxM_3lDETFY3uqFEn7QAtvJeNOb7x0oNxQJf_2z31DqjjOlDPfZ0c9kfQrW7zEXEIbj5oz1cnfxcBrJI/s2048/IMG_6034.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9pXz10TRk9QOfgmmIJkZ9XzckvDwSfUOX0rUWgPYgqDOz4mE__vjvKeL3KhcxM_3lDETFY3uqFEn7QAtvJeNOb7x0oNxQJf_2z31DqjjOlDPfZ0c9kfQrW7zEXEIbj5oz1cnfxcBrJI/w400-h266/IMG_6034.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><div>There are just 5 hunters in this household and about 2 more wanna-be's.</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of wann-a-be's....the littlest brother is completely overcome with talk of hunting and of deer. He carries his miniature buck with him everywhere these days and often fall asleep with it cradled in his hands.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ1ehJgfGD3Gp7anRLJt_tEqBt9NWXYvIjr2S79vh2yJ4y5YzCebBJGUZiXWD5_J6dPqybQVlN4R6eGGieqL843zhZuRAGPQDhp3UWjfso1WjI3Gt083U6IINs5g_iEmrFfBJRDnhVxMA/s2048/IMG_5981.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ1ehJgfGD3Gp7anRLJt_tEqBt9NWXYvIjr2S79vh2yJ4y5YzCebBJGUZiXWD5_J6dPqybQVlN4R6eGGieqL843zhZuRAGPQDhp3UWjfso1WjI3Gt083U6IINs5g_iEmrFfBJRDnhVxMA/w400-h266/IMG_5981.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>First there were 7 weeks of archery season.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now it is rifle.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think we just have one more week to go.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are still a number of tags that could be filled. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am already wonding about freezer space if too many more deer are harvested.</div><div><br /></div><div>I am getting more comfortable with running a hunting camp every day. </div><div><br /></div><div>I think my Grandma would be proud of me. She ran a stellar camp in her day. </div><div><br /></div><div>My own mother coordinates an impressive camp these days. She hosts hunters from hours away for days on end. She has coffee and all kinds of tasty morsels ready on demand.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now to be sure, I have not attained the level of competency, ease or selflessness of my kindred women folk, but I'm working on it.</div><div><br /></div><div>It helps me to keep things simple and straight forward when I think about my job during this season. I can't be all things to all people, but there are a few things I can do to keep my campers happy.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>1. Rustle up lots of grub. </b></div><div><b> </b></div><div><i>Fresh baked cookies and coffee may gain a few brownie points, but basically anything hot and filling will do the trick. Always be busy stirring something up when they come in the door, even if it's just left overs or microwave popcorn.</i><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><span><b><br /></b></span></div><div><b>2. Act like you understand their hunting jargon even when you don't. Join in the talk. It will make them laugh if nothing else.</b></div><div><span> </span><span> </span></div><div><i><span>"Of course you shouldn't over-hunt our 14 acres of woods. I simply can't think of a worse crime to commit!!!"</span><br /></i></div><div><i><span><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span>"Yeah, I agree. The barometric pressure today is just horrible for hunting!"</span></i></div><div><i><span><br /></span></i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>3. Never speak a discouraging word concerning the competency of the hunters in your camp. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><i>By nature, hunters are fairly hearty folk. However, they can become rather fragile when reminded of their weaknesses too often, especially when the reminders come the women folk who choose to spend their days in comfort by the hearth.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>4. Celebrate their victories.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><i>Yup. Celebrate. Hoop and holler and dance around when they are successful. Brag about their good shot to other hunters who may happen to enter your camp. Make your hunters feel like they're the best hunters in the world. </i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Admittedly, I am getting a little tired of this hunting business.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>I am sick and tired of all the camouflage and orange accents around my home. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am ready for a Saturday to go shopping.</div><div><br /></div><div>But. I am looking forward to that delicious deer bologna.</div><div><br /></div><div>There's an excitment and comaraderie about these days that I am going to miss when they're gone.</div><div><br /></div><div>To be sure, I am THRILLED that my boys and my girl like to spend time in the woods. I am thankful that my husband spends hours along side them in the woods. I am grateful for the meat that they harvest. I am proud as peaches of them and I will keep running this camp as long as they want me to. I hope that our home will be Hunting Camp Central for these Stoltzfus hunters for a very long time.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSwDHuOfqm96qitvEARwzzKyHiNxVZpStpQX3El0PyJHB7ugSoT68UmjRlEHU-P7t3eyiBW9RgIBWk5MhioQ5oOcTkrUXVz6XwZ4m7ZhyISHvTixvy_fso6NfO8dTCCwxwEArlHhg3eQk/s2048/IMG_6054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSwDHuOfqm96qitvEARwzzKyHiNxVZpStpQX3El0PyJHB7ugSoT68UmjRlEHU-P7t3eyiBW9RgIBWk5MhioQ5oOcTkrUXVz6XwZ4m7ZhyISHvTixvy_fso6NfO8dTCCwxwEArlHhg3eQk/w266-h400/IMG_6054.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-34869575645523141232020-09-25T10:54:00.001-07:002020-09-25T10:59:08.303-07:00Of kids learning to drive and potty training all in the same week<p> No.</p><p> Silly.</p><p> Of course I am not talking about just one child. I do have 7 of them, after all.</p><p>This past week my oldest daughter turned 16 years old.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWW4CdjbGWBI16hVicJLmJRSf5_RgZ_53wxQpB7eMnqCDz0MjHZCxVKj-x6YfoouMT_1DL9qMY7P2BldSJLbad5XicJrLCsp-M9UVoLbEypdc02UE6w6Xm2JTIdPk0hhs-XeQoRsNlwKw/s3264/IMG_20200917_175416721.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWW4CdjbGWBI16hVicJLmJRSf5_RgZ_53wxQpB7eMnqCDz0MjHZCxVKj-x6YfoouMT_1DL9qMY7P2BldSJLbad5XicJrLCsp-M9UVoLbEypdc02UE6w6Xm2JTIdPk0hhs-XeQoRsNlwKw/s320/IMG_20200917_175416721.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>She's been waiting for this day for quite some time. </p><p>Me too.</p><p>BUT. I wasn't prepared for how difficult it would be for me to breathe during that first ride with her behind the wheel.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYiw8jrdIFUS_qCrOORzCwOK25alfVzs3LWXxf8pxy6eluwDbkByhN9dh0j73H917bL-C0R6-WYrMR_zovh15z4FDya-wDs2mviiaCdQieDQ4WFPzF70onzsG9H7C120nnTis2Hu5c-jg/s2048/IMG_6671.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1401" data-original-width="2048" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYiw8jrdIFUS_qCrOORzCwOK25alfVzs3LWXxf8pxy6eluwDbkByhN9dh0j73H917bL-C0R6-WYrMR_zovh15z4FDya-wDs2mviiaCdQieDQ4WFPzF70onzsG9H7C120nnTis2Hu5c-jg/w200-h137/IMG_6671.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p> It wasn't exactly the most terrifying experience of my life, but it was one in which I felt like my life and the lives of my entire family were on the line and I had little to no control over how it was all going to end.</p><p>Thankfully, the first little drive ended at our home with a suburban load of intact people.</p><p>Thankfully, her dad is doing the teaching and most of the riding with her. He reports that she is doing great and improving every day.</p><p>I am happy to have another driver in the family. I am happy for her to be gaining her long anticipated independence. I am happy to have another grown lady to consult and brainstorm and work with here at home.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZcShabNe6mpRioXH4fbnNbt4NyfF7pFqKULTVVJ9j5OXMWwQcVZl-frDOy-nUcMFacNW6D8WMHOM1j3BjMqWnNSlEvSkslGa5h-oUkpLSvsYiqkdiCtwzX5InZeT2uwIvUrzJvh9o3k/s2048/IMG_2618+%25282%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZcShabNe6mpRioXH4fbnNbt4NyfF7pFqKULTVVJ9j5OXMWwQcVZl-frDOy-nUcMFacNW6D8WMHOM1j3BjMqWnNSlEvSkslGa5h-oUkpLSvsYiqkdiCtwzX5InZeT2uwIvUrzJvh9o3k/s320/IMG_2618+%25282%2529.JPG" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibab_WArxsnqhiw_RnaPN0SuPlH6vzDZXy0JoV3fhZXjIupVZAOFhwUPjuMscAy50vqYaU5XpIwrzfxS2m8oOKRo6da3-RHup2s1AYia9NYk7uYx9kDUQjSZzib4Csq6r3F1GEqFodTqM/s2048/IMG_20200213_112956518_BURST001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibab_WArxsnqhiw_RnaPN0SuPlH6vzDZXy0JoV3fhZXjIupVZAOFhwUPjuMscAy50vqYaU5XpIwrzfxS2m8oOKRo6da3-RHup2s1AYia9NYk7uYx9kDUQjSZzib4Csq6r3F1GEqFodTqM/w200-h150/IMG_20200213_112956518_BURST001.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>(edited to add that I did drive with Angeline yesterday and I agree with my husband. Her driving skills have more than tripled in the last week)</i></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>While my husband is out driving around town with the 16 year old, I am sitting (or maybe running) around the homestead trying to potty train our 22 month old son.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZxLL1bh4ELxZJFE4oGdXKMDJB38I_Tm-cJwtQru-th_r0aQtotz9wkVbq9vgVvalFnM7drdNv2eAHRreoamgXoxh4JV76Az8Bee9xa5ho-MFc-mgawqOHIFpP3M-otc1FM9EbdY6Az0/s2048/IMG_4966.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZxLL1bh4ELxZJFE4oGdXKMDJB38I_Tm-cJwtQru-th_r0aQtotz9wkVbq9vgVvalFnM7drdNv2eAHRreoamgXoxh4JV76Az8Bee9xa5ho-MFc-mgawqOHIFpP3M-otc1FM9EbdY6Az0/w266-h400/IMG_4966.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>There are some things that you just never really get to be that good at, even with years and years of experience.</p><p>Potty training is one of those things.</p><p>You can research all the latest methods* to potty train your child in just one weekend or you can try the method that your mother used to train you nearly 40 years ago. No particular results are guaranteed since every child has their own little mind and own little quirks.</p><p>I have learned a few things along the way that seem to make the process a little less rocky for the child and slightly more pleasant for the parent.</p><p>Here's my list of things that are very important to have in place when you embark on the toilet training lessons:</p><p>1. Set aside a week to <b><u>focus</u></b> on potty training. Don't feel pressure to do anything besides stay 100% focused on your child and keep up with the minimal needs of your family. It's a good idea to spend the bulk of at least 3 days at home. No one will die if you have hot dogs and popsicles for dinner once in a while.</p><p>2. Make a <b><u>commitment</u></b> to plunge into this and give no thought to turning back to diapers or pull ups. This is a big learning curve for a toddler and it requires<b><u> 100% commitment from mom </u></b>to be consistent. Switching back and forth between diapers and underwear sends all kinds of confusing messages to your child.</p><p>3. Make it a <b><u>fun and positive experience</u></b> for the child. Stickers. Candy. Paw Patrol shorts. Special snacks. Celebrate victories big time.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPL-KPQzhLY8pyhKQ4xjv5Fx3QP15GwFks5WNhjOaoMURz4vKQg_iT50Sv9TGGqtyZvcO1CqFa1fG4gm5lgB29LJBFTMY1bpk7MxeF-7DHWG13JobCtBE7D0hjJGEQNSokZ3krxPMXyA/s3264/IMG_20200922_133746719.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPL-KPQzhLY8pyhKQ4xjv5Fx3QP15GwFks5WNhjOaoMURz4vKQg_iT50Sv9TGGqtyZvcO1CqFa1fG4gm5lgB29LJBFTMY1bpk7MxeF-7DHWG13JobCtBE7D0hjJGEQNSokZ3krxPMXyA/s320/IMG_20200922_133746719.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>4. This isn't a good time to begin addressing the 47 other issues in your toddler's life. Remember, we're trying to <b><u>keep this as positive as possible.</u></b></p><p>5. Keep all cleaning supplies and clean clothes near by. You'll be needing them. Accidents feel more aggrevating to me when I have to run upstairs for a clean set of clothes and then go and find the cleaning bucket and rag. However, if I am prepared for the accidents and even planning on them, I am not so easily annoyed. Remember we're trying to<b> <u>keep frustration levels as low as possible for the child and mother</u>.</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRSh6k2JczRL3ix_uO8e5Q-W84ZF78xfXcPIoAy_oY-1ugdzzcI1PB6N-oHLMosdSnfHu7kW7WDEt9giookvHgedW1IowtUvjUicqK5fzpbIuu6nx4l6nnr71Lw_MGDmEob1snhU6USfg/s2048/IMG_5629.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRSh6k2JczRL3ix_uO8e5Q-W84ZF78xfXcPIoAy_oY-1ugdzzcI1PB6N-oHLMosdSnfHu7kW7WDEt9giookvHgedW1IowtUvjUicqK5fzpbIuu6nx4l6nnr71Lw_MGDmEob1snhU6USfg/s320/IMG_5629.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p>6.<b><u> Take a break when your toddler takes a nap</u></b>. This potty training process is intense and demanding. I don't really care what all is calling your name. Take a least 15 minutes to enjoy a little down time. He will soon be awake and you'll need to be back on high alert for the next 6 hours. You will be better prepared for the intensity of the rest of the day if you see to a few of your own needs along the way.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNWDF9taPl3i_17KNyelzbfcxvnJiMMeWZn8Js8n6D01woaV19BsYbSk9yxND1-IhqcBHuGcu6Ng7AStEEd3knajLXDho3DJK4JNhjX1ElEBehQ3nhBma_fWtR3jU4buZGGogEyrfZ4Z4/s3264/IMG_20200922_134513428.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNWDF9taPl3i_17KNyelzbfcxvnJiMMeWZn8Js8n6D01woaV19BsYbSk9yxND1-IhqcBHuGcu6Ng7AStEEd3knajLXDho3DJK4JNhjX1ElEBehQ3nhBma_fWtR3jU4buZGGogEyrfZ4Z4/s320/IMG_20200922_134513428.jpg" /></a></div><i>{ leather furniture and hard surface floors are your best friends during this training season}</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><p>7. <b><u>My mental preparation (which includes my insistence on keeping my schedule as free from extra obligations as possible) for this week of training is key to keeping the week low stress and happy for both me and my child.</u></b> I didn't make the connection between my preparation and commitment to the training process and our success rate in my earlier years of parenting. Now I know that we're in this together. And we're both going to stick at it until we are 100% successful.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe8OFhoF07sZf7KfDiSso7P96UTImozx4w_bA9DHonPr5a7O69BoA7bTE8NXh2uGuDV3J1B8Hh_4xnzJ3d1efcPlndBQaJjRsi1psia7zBjAh3kuTZif-0CxX7VcCJtl5Gphf8qTbzONw/s2592/IMG_20200812_101731203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="1944" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe8OFhoF07sZf7KfDiSso7P96UTImozx4w_bA9DHonPr5a7O69BoA7bTE8NXh2uGuDV3J1B8Hh_4xnzJ3d1efcPlndBQaJjRsi1psia7zBjAh3kuTZif-0CxX7VcCJtl5Gphf8qTbzONw/s320/IMG_20200812_101731203.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>My tips are not completely fool proof by any means. </p><p>But they are helping me stay positively engaged with my son. And so far, this guy has been a real champ!!!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimAvPLBcElhUnjJvlNL_obWu44JswsfDaUlyX7QFbw2E9OgPyexuu1bnHkCDwBG2sgQxkreON3Juk9YG6iuVYOEEDZC8vZH7h3v6jWFKRjb4huCMkvK9NXrtSmAeLhkx3pgBtYSEKSpyQ/s2048/IMG_4986.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimAvPLBcElhUnjJvlNL_obWu44JswsfDaUlyX7QFbw2E9OgPyexuu1bnHkCDwBG2sgQxkreON3Juk9YG6iuVYOEEDZC8vZH7h3v6jWFKRjb4huCMkvK9NXrtSmAeLhkx3pgBtYSEKSpyQ/w266-h400/IMG_4986.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><div><br /></div>So. There's my week of potty training and learing to drive. </div><div><br /></div><div>I have less to say about the driving since I'm on my first and steepest ever learning curve with that. One parent told me that it gets easier and less stressful with each child. I think I can believe that, at least if it follows my experience with toilet training.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's an exciting life.<br /><p><br /></p><p><i>* Lora Jensen has shaped some of my approach to potty training. While I do not adhere 100% to all her rules, I have found many of them very helpful.</i></p></div>Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-45678515249008797852020-06-26T05:29:00.000-07:002020-06-26T05:35:50.531-07:00Memos from a lady in the thick of itThings I am learning these days:<br />
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1. How to hold <strike>intelligent</strike> conversations with Sherwin Williams employees.</div>
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2. How not to let the above mentioned person(s) intimidate me with their professional advice when I KNOW which specific product I need for my particular project.<br />
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3. How to trust my 14 year old son as I navigate tight spots with the Suburban and trailer</div>
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4. How navigate the drive and the purchase of used furniture from a neighboring city without my husband. Yes, the kids all went with me. They were a tremendous help. I couldn't have done it without them. No, they did not ride on the furniture on the way home.<br />
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<i>*are you catching a theme yet?? Big vehicles. Tight spots. Smart teenagers...</i><br />
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5. How to survive more dirt and exhaustion than I previously thought possible. </div>
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6. How to scrape practically ANY product off the surface of any wall. Please don't ask me for advice yet on this. I'll probably need some therapy before I'm ready to talk about it.</div>
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7. My kids are an AMAZING work crew. We have all the normal behavioral issues and attitudes (plus some) of a family of 7 kids, but at the end of the day, it must be said that these guys have done at least 70% of the renovation and moving work in the last 8 weeks. I am immeasurably proud of them.</div>
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8. My husband has more stamina than I do. He's being both an early bird and night owl these days. I am basically an exhausted pigeon. I am immeasurably proud of him too.</div>
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9. I am not quite as chill about change as what I like to think I am. I am very sad about leaving our neighborhood of 15 years. I will always be grateful for this place and these people who have significantly shaped me. I will remember with fondness our years on Pine Street. I'm trying not to cry right now.</div>
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10. It is possible to feel a lot of excitement and sadness at the same time. I am truly excited about the opportunities and open doors that our new home/property will bring to our family. In spite of the previous point, I do believe this is the right move for our family right now. I am happy to embrace it.</div>
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*yeah, I know. I am the most sporadic blogger in the world. However, recently my children discovered my dusty blog. They had such a great time reminiscing and laughing together about the good and bad times.<br />
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<i> "Mom, you should keep writing about our current adventures!!"</i></div>
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So. I am going to try...for them as much as anybody. I have been failing miserably at keeping current photo albums or journals. Maybe this will be my future gift to them.<br />
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You're welcome to follow along if you like. </div>
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Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-4519399406876456592019-05-29T13:31:00.001-07:002019-05-30T10:27:39.026-07:00Meet the Erratic HillbilliesThis past Friday we went camping.<br />
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It was a modified repeat of a<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7775383802743303579#editor/target=post;postID=5931989978794390478;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=6;src=postname"> similar trip</a> we took 3 years ago.<br />
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The two modifications being:<br />
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-the addition of a 7th small person whom we all adore<br />
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-the absence of the one voice of sensibility since my oldest daughter was gone for the morning when the plan was hatched.<br />
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Something bizarre doesn't seem quite as bizarre when you do a re-run.<br />
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None the less we had a high time pulling all the details together in record breaking time.<br />
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By 2:30 pm we had all our supplies packed up and we were on the road.<br />
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By the time Amos arrived at the site we had camp all set up and a fire going.<br />
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Several people were lounging in their new hammocks.<br />
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Several people were digging in the dirt.<br />
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At least one small person was eating dirt.<br />
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Several people were congratulating themselves on the various successes of the day.<br />
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We all felt quite fortunate that we were able to reserve our favorite camping site at the local campground on the<i> Friday morning of Memorial Day weekend</i>.<br />
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We really like this spot because of its seclusive nature.<br />
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We had fun watching the campers begin to roll in for the weekend from our little nook in the woods.<br />
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We were reminded that we don't fit into the stereotypical American camping scene all that well.<br />
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We were glad to be tucked back into a site surrounded by trees and glad that our vehicle mostly blocked any passerby from even seeing our camp.<br />
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I am happy with how comfortable we are with our family's personal camping style.<br />
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It's pretty primitive and just a little rough around the edges.<br />
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It sure doesn't fit the cute camping pictures that you see on pinterest.<br />
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No hot rod truck. (at least I don't think a Suburban falls in that category😊)<br />
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No sleek camper or massive grill.<br />
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No charming string of lights or other trendy camping equipment.<br />
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Fine cuisine is none existent.<br />
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Instead you will find:<br />
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- tarps, ropes, knives, hatchets, machetes and marshmallows floating around our campsite.<br />
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-loads of wet wipes and paper towels<br />
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-a stack of books for just in case there are a few quiet moments.<br />
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-a Pat McManus story to be read aloud after dark.<br />
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-barefoot kids and one wearing a straw hat<br />
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-sticky and dirty little ones on the prowl.<br />
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-a family of nine making memories together<br />
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I decided a fitting description for our camping style would be <i>The Erratic Hillbillies.</i><br />
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We may not be the stereotypical American campers and we may not be pinterest worthy, but I don't think it's for lack of style.😂<br />
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* these last two photos are simply thrown in because I think my family -and especially my baby who just hit the 6 month mile marker- deserve a better representation than the cell phone pictures that were taken during our camping trip.Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-4644923502816646032019-02-15T12:07:00.000-08:002019-02-15T12:07:15.477-08:00meanwhile<br />
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Meanwhile, my life really hasn't been as quiet as this blog page.<br />
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Isaiah John came bounding into our lives one early morning in November with all 9 lbs 14 oz of himself.<br />
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We're all so thrilled to have this sweet little guy in our home.<br />
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All of life outside our home pretty much came to a halt and all our energy revolved around Isaiah for a few weeks.<br />
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While the rest of the family has resumed a fair level of normalcy, my life still revolves around Isaiah. I wouldn't want it any other way.<br />
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I already feel nostalgic looking back at these pictures.</div>
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Isaiah's trade marks are his funky stick up hair and his squishy </div>
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chubbiness. </div>
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He's a chill little guy and has been sleeping like a champ since his first days earth side.</div>
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Isaiah loves to interact with his family. It's easy to distract him from his momentary pains by engaging him in a happy conversation.</div>
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I call him my "Monster Baby" because he is just so big. I mean, really big. He outgrows clothes from the time they go in the dirty laundry basket until they get back into his drawers. (which by the way is usually a matter of a day or two)</div>
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In fact, he is outgrowing everything except his blankets these days.</div>
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I blinked and he went from this just a few days ago</div>
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to this today.<br />
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Happy 3 months, Big Boy.</div>
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You are our JOY BOY.</div>
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<br />Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-88020465636031379502018-10-23T10:05:00.001-07:002018-10-23T12:02:20.155-07:00Making life workI know.<br />
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It's impossible to get every detail of life to work perfectly.<br />
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I am learning though, that it is critical to know my own stress points and to be proactive in avoiding them.<br />
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I know.<br />
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It's not that easy.<br />
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I can't just jump in and out of life as I please, doing only the things that make me feel happy and alive and fulfilled.<br />
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But, I'm not a victim either. I do not need to live my life in one big wadded up ball of frustration and fury.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYiw8jrdIFUS_qCrOORzCwOK25alfVzs3LWXxf8pxy6eluwDbkByhN9dh0j73H917bL-C0R6-WYrMR_zovh15z4FDya-wDs2mviiaCdQieDQ4WFPzF70onzsG9H7C120nnTis2Hu5c-jg/s1600/IMG_6671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1095" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYiw8jrdIFUS_qCrOORzCwOK25alfVzs3LWXxf8pxy6eluwDbkByhN9dh0j73H917bL-C0R6-WYrMR_zovh15z4FDya-wDs2mviiaCdQieDQ4WFPzF70onzsG9H7C120nnTis2Hu5c-jg/s320/IMG_6671.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I can make decisions and take steps to minimize my points of stress.<br />
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The word stress for me is nearly synonymous with Walmart.<br />
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Walmart does nothing for me -personally- besides fill my cupboards with household and cosmetic products, rob my wallet, give me exercise I never said I wanted, overstimulate my mind, over-complicate small decisions, make me stand in hopelessly long lines and cause me to loose all hope in humanity (primarily myself).<br />
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I usually get most of my household and paper products and cosmetics at Walmart. I have figured out over the years that these are the items that I most hate spending money on, which is certainly a contributing factor to the angst I feel as I push and pay for a huge load of paper products and cleaning supplies that will all literally go down the drain in another month.<br />
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Admittedly, this is my own personal issue and not to be blamed on Walmart. But as I wrote earlier, it has been important for me to identify my own stress points and learn to minimize them as best I can.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirhwvJmVwdd34LYiMHIzpdoFiJ2P33q73r_AbGGVcoI769s2XRbYMe8u2_io7IINR8Xd0FJdJbwKZhIjR-JxTKh0K4POABUJ0YkzNZOfpt2K2hCsY9quUU6K_6QYSGCVEYiRsDIAppWF0/s1600/IMG_6282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirhwvJmVwdd34LYiMHIzpdoFiJ2P33q73r_AbGGVcoI769s2XRbYMe8u2_io7IINR8Xd0FJdJbwKZhIjR-JxTKh0K4POABUJ0YkzNZOfpt2K2hCsY9quUU6K_6QYSGCVEYiRsDIAppWF0/s320/IMG_6282.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I do the bulk of my grocery shopping at <a href="https://corporate.aldi.us/en/">Aldi</a>. I am an unashamed fan of Aldi's philosophy and functionality, not to mention their prices. They offer quality products at rock bottom prices. (a few exceptions, I know...) I love how uncomplicated it is for me to shop at Aldi versus Walmart, especially when it comes to doing all the price comparing for this brand, that size, different packaging, etc. I usually feel quite happily satisfied with the haul of goods that I bring home from Aldi's for the amount of money that I spent, all in record time too.<br />
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I also frequent <a href="https://www.valeskys.com/">Valesky's</a>, local grocery store, that's barely a mile down the street from my home. Valesky's is the only locally owned grocery store in Meadville. I like to give them as much business as I can afford. I buy my milk and eggs and fresh produce there on a weekly basis. Most of the meat we eat comes from this grocery store. I love that they offer some bulk food products, such as 50 lb bags of high quality flour.<br />
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I love the hometown feel of Valesky's. I know the cashiers and they know me. If I show up without a cartload of kiddos, I am often asked where the kids are at or how they're doing. Usually there is instrumental gospel music being played across the PA system. Sometimes there is live music coming from the grand piano set up on a balcony above the frozen items. I typically walk away from Valesky's happy with my purchases and feeling calmness in my soul.<br />
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However, there are a few products, especially household products and cosmetics that Walmart offers that are hard to find anywhere else at an equal price. So. I occasionally find myself scurrying through the great maze of our local Super Walmart, either frustrated or numb or - on occasion- surprised by the peace and happiness that is accompanying me. (it's called the Grace and Mercy of Jesus, BTW)<br />
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About a year ago, I was introduced to Walmart's online shopping options by a good friend from church.<br />
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I know that online shopping has been an option for quite a few years already, but typically I do not shop online, especially from local venues, because of the shipping costs.<br />
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Well. I came to find out that <a href="https://www.walmart.com/browse/0?cat_id=0&facet=pickup_and_delivery%3A2-Day+Shipping#">Walmart offers free 2 day shipping on orders over $35</a>. *<br />
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If you happen to do shopping for a family of 8 you probably know that you can barely buy a month's worth of TP for $35.<br />
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This is a win, win, win situation for me. Especially in the dead of winter when there are 3 preschoolers to tote along with me.<br />
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I know which products I like to utilize from Walmart. Walmart saves my favorites in my account. All my information, in fact, is stored in my online shopping account.<br />
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Ordering then is as easy 1-2-3.<br />
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My absolute favorite part of this whole process is having big boxes from Walmart arrive on my front porch 2 or 3 days later-- heavy with things like dish soap, napkins, toilet paper, laundry soap, laundry softener, contact solution, body wash, shampoo, paper towel etc.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgPaJK0d60afNXjKcNduR0IBfBqcTYo7hIJyyDWaMZrUa7ZTA9pyqPEdbLxlrhcmGEcQuzjH7Q0jxbrjDlSgz_dU0Ydpv6MQ5L5u75Z5s2LbJjuaZYBDLMYmIcl4JrTcJWHWZ5d-O0ig/s1600/IMG_20181009_095453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgPaJK0d60afNXjKcNduR0IBfBqcTYo7hIJyyDWaMZrUa7ZTA9pyqPEdbLxlrhcmGEcQuzjH7Q0jxbrjDlSgz_dU0Ydpv6MQ5L5u75Z5s2LbJjuaZYBDLMYmIcl4JrTcJWHWZ5d-O0ig/s400/IMG_20181009_095453.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's so satisfying... As long as I remember to reorder before the napkins, tissues, toilet paper and paper towel all run out on the same day.<br />
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I also like that I can talk about Walmart these days without gritting my teeth or getting heart burn.<br />
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I like that I can say that Walmart offers me competitive prices along with some good shopping options.<br />
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I like being able to give Walmart a big thumbs up.<br />
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*one note of caution: not every item at Walmart is eligible for 2 day free shipping. Just be careful.<br />
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<br />Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-2519273729051042932018-05-11T10:05:00.000-07:002018-05-11T10:05:39.055-07:00of small and cute cherries<i> For those who do not follow me on Facebook, I thought you may enjoy this little</i><i> update from yesterday. This may make more sense as to why I was hallucinating about a sleepwalking pregnant polar bear a few weeks ago.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have been calling Elliana "the cherry on top of our family" for the last 2 1/2 years. Come November she's going to need to move over a tad to make room for another "little cherry" to join her on the top. We're all excited, but I'm a little sad to lay down the CRAZY8 title for my family. Any name suggestions for a family of 9 ?? <span class="_5mfr _47e3" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 0; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle;"><span class="_7oe" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; width: 0px;">🍒</span></span></span></div>
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Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-81600346836280529882018-04-19T08:45:00.000-07:002018-04-19T12:50:27.724-07:00The winter that refused to endWhen I looked out the window this morning I just couldn't believe my eyes. I quickly grabbed my camera to capture the unusual sight. I was shaking so badly-either from the cold or from excitement or perhaps both-that capturing a sharp image was completely impossible.<br />
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But if you look closely, you might be able to make out a fuzzy figure....<br />
<br />
It was a pregnant polar bear sleepwalking through a snow storm.<br />
<br />
Have you ever in your long life beheld such a sight?<br />
<br />
Have you ever in your long life beheld such a long winter?<br />
<br />
I have lived through hard winters, but I can't remember any of them lasting this long.*<br />
<br />
I mean, today is April 19, 2018. We are headed into the last few days of April and still it continues to snow nearly everyday.<br />
<br />
I keep trying to pack our winter gear away for the season only to be forced into pulling out the winter coats again and putting the gloves on {hopefully} just one more time.<br />
<br />
Even my brain feels like winter has come to stay forever. In fact, the above image is just as likely to be my brain as a polar bear.<br />
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We're trying hard to be brave about the weather at this house, but honestly........this is how we feel when we wake up and see snow falling again.<br />
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*I'm reading "The Long Winter" from the Wilder Family series to my youngest daughters. I acknowledge that my perspective is limited and that my current long winter has been lived in comfort and luxury. I know nothing of true hardship in battling the elements.<br />
<br />Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-59319899787943904782018-04-13T06:57:00.002-07:002018-04-13T07:14:04.845-07:00The day I kinda lost my mindSay what??<br />
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'Doesn't that happen to you pretty much every day?' says my very sensible daughter.<br />
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Well. This was extreme even for me.<br />
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<br />
It all began on a mid summer Friday. The weather was delightful. It was warm but not stifling hot. There was a gentle breeze moving a very pleasing amount of air through the leaves. It was the kind of weather that beckons you outdoors.<br />
<br />
We were killing the cleaning in no time flat, me and my 4 big kids and 1 toddler and 1 baby.<br />
<br />
They were working so hard and so diligently that I felt like I should reward them somehow.<br />
<br />
At noon we discussed the possibility of going to a few garage sales or the thrift store, both of which would have been a rich reward for my kids.<br />
<br />
"Or we could possibly go camping" I said, kind of in passing.<br />
<br />
"CAMPING!!!! Mom, do you REALLY mean it!!???!! Did you really say <i>CAMPING</i>??!!?"<br />
<br />
<i>{you see, they have become quite agile at riding the waves of my wild ideas, many of which often do not become a reality}</i><br />
<br />
Suddenly every little adventurous nerve in my body was throbbing with excitement.<br />
<br />
"Yes. We could. WE COULD go camping if you guys are into it!!!" *<br />
<br />
<i>{Sometimes being an adult is so much fun....you know, when you realize you have the freedom to make a crazy decision and carry through with it.}</i><br />
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"Jump in the Suburban and we'll drive out to Woodcock to see if any camp sites are even available."<br />
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So off we went just like a wild group of Indians.<br />
<br />
On the road I had to process both positive and negative feedback for the entire 8 miles.<br />
<br />
"Mom, you are SO AWESOME!!!"<br />
<br />
"I can't believe this is actually happening!!"<br />
<br />
"This is the absolutely stupidest thing you ever did, Mom"<br />
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"Mom, you're going to regret this. It is going to turn into a fiasco!!"<br />
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"Keep going, Mom!!! Don't stop now!!!"<br />
<br />
"Don't listen to her, Mom!!"<br />
<br />
"You got this, Mom. Keep going. Don't turn back now!!!"<br />
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<i>{I had 5 supporters and 1 opponent}</i><br />
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We arrived at the campground and drove around until we found the perfect spot. We dropped by the office on our way out and reserved our site for the night.<br />
<br />
"We will be back in an hour or so to set up camp" I told the Park Attendant.<br />
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For the entire 8 miles back home there was no time for either positive or negative feedback because I was wearing my Biggest Bossiest Mama Hat Ever. Everyone had a critical role to play in pulling this together and I was letting them know exactly what I was expecting from each and every person.<br />
<br />
I dropped the kids off at home with instructions for gathering sleeping bags, pillows, blankets, chairs, tent and all other manner of camping paraphernalia.<br />
<br />
I drove to the local super market -just one mile down the street- and picked up all the essential camping foods.<br />
<br />
My list looked like this:<br />
<br />
Hamburgers<br />
Hot dogs<br />
Bread<br />
Bacon<br />
Eggs<br />
Chips<br />
Watermelon<br />
Apples<br />
Carrots<br />
Marshmallows<br />
Graham crackers<br />
chocolate<br />
Hot chocolate mix<br />
Soda<br />
Ice<br />
<br />
I was home within a half hour and there waiting for me in the front lawn was one enormous pile of camping stuff that was competing in size with our home.<br />
<br />
The kids loaded the truck.<br />
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I packed the ice chests and lots of paper towel and coffee.<br />
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We loaded our 10 week old puppy and her food and cage.<br />
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We left a note on the dining room table for my husband that read <i>"Meet us at campsite #32 at Woodcock. Please bring the sleeping bags on the porch with you" **</i><br />
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And just like that, we walked out the door and headed off again toward the campground.<br />
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We stopped and bought some wood along the way.<br />
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The Park Attendant nodded us right through when she saw us pulling up to the park office window. I guess we must have been a rather remarkable bunch.<br />
<br />
And then we set up camp.<br />
<br />
{with lots of sweat and groaning and some arguing}<br />
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When Amos arrived at 6:00 pm the tent was set up and the fire was blazing. We were grilling our supper of hamburgers and hot dogs.<br />
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We were all happier than he had seen us in quite a while.<br />
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<br />
Our personal satisfaction over pulling this together combined with Amos's pleasure and delight in this little get away all added together to make it one of the happiest days of our lives.<br />
<br />
We had the loveliest time.<br />
<br />
What is better than family time around a campfire?<br />
<br />
Or s'mores after dark?<br />
<br />
Or a family of 8 all snuggling together in a tent?<br />
<br />
Kids are happiest when playing in nature. I am happiest when I get to sit and watch my kids enjoy nature.<br />
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<br />
The vacation was short and sweet, but that was a critical part of what made the planning and execution easy for me.<br />
<br />
Less than 24 hours later with satisfied and happy hearts we were ready to head for home.<br />
<br />
My kind husband helped us with packing up camp and unloading and cleaning up when we arrived home on Saturday afternoon.<br />
<br />
My mantra that summer was "Work hard, Play hard".<br />
<br />
I am thinking maybe we need to revive the spirit of that summer again in 2018.***<br />
<br />
When telling this story to some of our friends, the man replied, "I would think my wife was on medicine or needed medicine if she pulled this number on me!!"<br />
<br />
We are good friends and we all had a good laugh about his comment. It was not meant to be negative toward either his wife or me. It was a simple observation of the differences in people.<br />
<br />
But I decided not to share this story too publicly until I had a few years of stable history to back up my mental health.<br />
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*I did put a little forethought into this before mentioning the idea to the kids. I checked the weather forecast carefully and thought through any plans or obligations we had for Saturday. On all accounts, I got a green light to go ahead.<br />
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**this was a big surprise for my husband when it actually happened, however, I had randomly mentioned to him one time that I thought it would be fun for the kids and I to take off camping sometime without telling him. His response was, "that would be cool". I acted confidently in this situation, because I knew that he would love it. I made sure to check his schedule too before mentioning anything to the kids.<br />
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***just in case you are under the false illusion that I am this super energetic and creative mom who is always pulling off fun surprises for my family, you should know that my family just survived probably the most boring and uneventful 3 months of their lives this past winter. If want to get an earful of the real deal just ask my 13 year old daughter.<br />
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<br />Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-62310685138854406492018-02-22T10:34:00.000-08:002018-02-22T11:22:05.071-08:00just going HOME...<br />
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Grandma,<br />
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You, who have always loved HOME more than any other place on earth...<br />
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You, who created a home that was a warm and welcoming haven here on earth...<br />
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You, who knew how to bring comfort with an extra chair at your kitchen table and rich chocolate chip cookies to share...<br />
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You, who knew the value of home and belonging...<br />
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You, Dear Grandma, keeper of one of the dearest homes on earth to me...<br />
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You are drawing near to your Final and Forever Home.<br />
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You will soon be home with Jesus, the one who loves you completely and perfectly.<br />
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You will soon be completely whole again, more alive and vibrant than ever before.<br />
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Unshackled from the tyranny of human disease.<br />
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Completely free from fear.<br />
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Free from sorrow.<br />
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Free from pain.<br />
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I feel sorrow at the thought of your physical absence here on earth.<br />
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I will miss you deeply because you have loved me so well.<br />
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My heart will be left with a gaping hole that was meant for you.<br />
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But you are just going HOME and I will not stand in your way.<br />
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I love you too much to ask you to stay.<br />
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Grandma, the end of my journey is not as imminent as yours is right now.<br />
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I am not sure when I will get to join you, but I am on my way HOME too.<br />
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See you soon,<br />
<br />
Shaunda<br />
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https://youtu.be/TvThHk-wMRk<br />
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxwN1pUJWsQ<br />
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<br />Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-79710363881625556312018-02-19T13:56:00.001-08:002018-02-19T14:05:47.133-08:00candid photography<br />
Currently I am in the middle of deleting and organizing my photo files from 2016 <b><i>and</i></b> 2017.<br />
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Somehow I fell behind 2 complete years. {not funny}<br />
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This is a huge job for me since I take probably 20 photos for every 1 photo that the ordinary person shoots.<br />
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It's also an enormous job for me because I mostly really like to take photos, but I mostly dislike the editing and organizing that really should follow the shooting.<br />
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The fun part about going through all my photo files a year or two later is that I get to relive some of the best and happiest moments of the year.<br />
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I also get to congratulate myself on surviving some really difficult moments.<br />
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I likewise get to blush <i>again</i> over that silly birthday cake that totally flopped.<br />
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I am reminded again of the tremendous gift of health and life while I sort through files that witness that Jesus has faithfully sustained me and my family during times when we felt unsure of what the next few moments held.<br />
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During my sorting, I have found that some of my favorite photos from the last two years are the candid shots rather than the carefully staged ones.<br />
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My very favorite candid shots from the year are the ones that I have shot early in the morning on my children's birthdays.<br />
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I'm not sure when I started this traditional shot, but I'm sold on it and plan to continue<br />
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for a long time.<br />
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Something about that early-morning-messy-hair-crusty-mouth-birthday-joy just totally slays me.<br />
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(a birthday candle glow photo is another favorite shot I like for documenting birthdays)<br />
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As you can easily observe, I struggle with having enough light for these early morning photos.<br />
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However, part of the charm of these pictures is that dark, grainy look that screams <i>"it's my birthday and I'm just too excited to wait for the sun to come up so mom can get top notch documentation of this moment". </i><br />
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One tip for dealing with low light and low end equipment is to MAXIMIZE the natural light. All of these pictures were shot right inside a window. I have learned to strategically place my children at places in my house that offer the best natural light for opening their birthday gifts.<br />
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You may suggest that I use a flash. That's a great idea........if your flash is functional.<br />
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Having a dysfunctional flash has forced me to be dependent on natural light.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*I did purchase an external flash about a year ago, but I haven't learned the ropes of using it yet. I enjoy working with natural light and have little ambition for learning to use the flash.</span><br />
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Here's a little sermon mostly for myself concerning candid photography:<br />
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1. Don't miss documenting the sweetest moments of your life just because you know that photo quality will be compromised.<br />
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2. When my children look through their photo albums, they are looking at memories not my photography skills or lack thereof.<br />
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3. A few years from now, photo quality will matter less to me than the fact that I have documentation of the darling expressions, the tight hugs, the crooked teeth and the dirty faces of these little people that are growing up so quickly.<br />
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4. There's not such as thing as taking too many pictures. Just keep them organized.<br />
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Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-71394992905857581142017-12-14T13:23:00.000-08:002017-12-14T13:32:01.582-08:00a few of my favorite thingsThe older I get the more I anticipate each changing season and my favorite things that I associate with it.<br />
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The contentment and joy I have experienced in becoming familiar with my own style and loving it and owning it has been a slow but growing phenomenon in my life.</div>
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So. We are now well into the month of December. </div>
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I still love all the things that I mentioned last year when I wrote about <a href="http://growingingrace2gether.blogspot.com/2016/12/a-simple-christmas.html">decorating for the holidays.</a></div>
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The things I am going to share now are not all new for me this year, but simply a few more staples that I look forward to using in the month of December.</div>
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1. I literally did a little happy dance when I saw this drink hit the shelves of the local supermarket in December. (the store was basically empty, I promise)</div>
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I typically do not even enjoy soda. But this stuff--wow--it's hard for me to stop at one cup.<br />
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It's beautiful and dazzling and festive. It's my favorite last minute add on to almost any Christmas party. And there is no mixing ingredients or forgetting that one important ingredient for the drink. It's as simple as dump and serve.<br />
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2. Printables.</div>
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I think I have mentioned these little nuggets of gold before. I especially love free printables. </div>
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I fell in love with this <a href="http://www.shadesofblueinteriors.com/christmas-nativity-printable/">sketch </a>as soon as I laid eyes on it. If I could change one thing about this print it would be only that it was an original piece of art created by a relative or friend. </div>
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This little arrangement is my favorite corner of my house this year.<br />
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Keeping Baby Jesus visibly central during this season is one way I like to keep my heart and mind focused on the incredible way our King came to us in such humility and vulnerability.<br />
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I have a tradition of wrapping this particular newborn baby in a swaddling cloth as part of our Christmas decor. He gets quite a bit of attention and tender loving care throughout the season. My heart almost bursts when I see my 2 year old rocking Baby Jesus or when I catch my 4 year old fixing his blanket just right or arranging the burlap so that he will be more comfortable.</div>
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4. This year I <span style="background-color: white;">discovered </span>how <a href="http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2012/12/how-to-make-glued-graham-cracker-gingerbread-houses-quick-easy-construction-plans.html">to glue a graham cracker gingerbread house together</a>. It works. </div>
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It's AMAZING. </div>
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I coordinated an event in which 22 youth club girls decorated these 'gingerbread' houses.<br />
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Several ladies helped me glue them together earlier in the day. </div>
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I was so impressed with their strength and stability.</div>
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The girls loved the activity.</div>
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There was an enormous mess to clean up afterward.</div>
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The girls each carried home a charming little cottage, heavy laden with icing and candy.</div>
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And. I just have to say it again, it really did work.<br />
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This will definitely be a repeated activity at my house in the coming years.</div>
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I unfortunately have NO pictures of our party. However, thankfully someone did an excellent job of capturing <a href="http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2015/12/gingerbread-house-decorating-party-kids-graham-cracker-holiday-houses.html">a similar event.</a> </div>
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I like to pretend our party was as orderly and perfectly coordinated as hers. </div>
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So. </div>
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That's my list of four simple staples that are helping to make this Christmas season simple and meaningful and festive at my house.</div>
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How are you celebrating this year?</div>
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Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-50437310171061452342017-11-28T07:25:00.000-08:002017-11-28T07:45:09.811-08:00in which the Crazy 8 decided they needed more excitement...I don't know how it happened, but at some point I guess my family felt like I barely had enough on my plate to keep me occupied.<br />
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So. A brilliant idea was born.<br />
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PUPPIES!!!! $$$$ PUPPIES!!!! Let's raise a litter of puppies.<br />
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Since everyone knows that I love dogs * it seemed altogether natural that I should give the next few months of my life to caring for and worrying about our pregnant pooch and then to caring for her darling puppies.<br />
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The long awaited day finally arrived in which we knew that Carli would soon give birth to her puppies.<br />
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Much to my horror, I realized I was going to be alone with a laboring dog and two little girls for the day.<br />
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Much to my horror, the labor didn't go as friends and google said it should.<br />
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Thankfully, I was not left alone with a laboring dog with complications and my two little girls for the entire day.<br />
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After texts and phone calls and googling and more texts and more phone calls my husband decided to come home and assess the situation.<br />
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Being smart and calculated and much more experienced with such situations, he decided to haul her off to the vet.<br />
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The story ended well when we got a phone call from the vet telling us that 4 healthy pups had arrived via c-section.<br />
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This was one excited house full of people when I walked in the door with Carli and her puppies.<br />
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The puppies are almost a week old now and we're having a great time with them. It's amazing to watch Carli be a momma to these wee ones. She's doing a great job!<br />
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I must give due credit to my son, Nicholas. He really is primary caregiver of our dog and he is also taking great responsibility for the puppies. I still am the primary worrier and photographer.<br />
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Just to answer the questions that are sure to come:<br />
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No. We are not planning to keep the puppies.<br />
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Yes. We are planning to sell them. <i>That was the whole idea in the first place.</i><br />
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Yes. We are hoping to make a good profit off of them.<br />
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It makes me feel happy when friends show interest in our puppies.<br />
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But I cringe because I know that they will cringe at the price.<br />
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So. I just warned you.<br />
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Having said all that, I am absolutely sure these puppies will make perfectly adorable and smart and sweet little house dogs.<br />
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The pictures of my children's delighted faces are just for any of you who possibly need a little nudge to take the plunge and get your child a puppy.<br />
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One last closing statement: If I am able to tolerate and be so fond of our house dog, probably just about anyone can do it.<br />
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But I do plan to keep myself occupied in a way that my family realizes I'm quite happy and fulfilled without the added stress and joy of puppies.<br />
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*<i>just for the benefit of those who do not know me well, I have never been known to be an animal lover. Getting a family dog was a huge hurtle for me. Now though, miracle of all miracles, I love our dog and she's just one of the gang. </i>Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-88677417528278979792017-10-06T14:11:00.001-07:002017-10-06T14:15:17.592-07:00embracing servant-hood<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Do you ever get sick and tired of this sight??</div>
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I mean. REALLY, <i>R.E.A.L.L.Y. </i>tired of it.</div>
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I do.</div>
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Those tasks that have to be repeated every day are the ones that get me the most.</div>
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No matter what strategy I use, I never gain the upper hand on them. </div>
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The dirty laundry piles up again before I ever get the clean clothes back into the drawers.</div>
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Before I put the last dish in the cupboard, there's already a little army of drinking glasses gathering on the counter top.</div>
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Even in the middle of mopping the floor, I've turned around only to discover more muddy tracks.</div>
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Really!!?! You're hungry again!!?! You've got to be kidding me. I just fed you several hours ago.</div>
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<i>More grass stains</i>??!! I just scrubbed your pants yesterday!!!</div>
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Clean windows? I try. </div>
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So much of what I do seems so small and insignificant and mindless.</div>
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To add insult to injury, I have been repeating these sames tasks DAILY for the last 14 years and it doesn't look like my job description will be changing in the foreseeable future.</div>
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<i>Wasn't I created for more than this!!??!</i></div>
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Would anyone even notice if I shirked? </div>
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I am tempted to call off sick. </div>
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Or pretend I can't see what needs to be done.</div>
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Praise the Lord if you do not struggle with growing weary in the mundane tasks of life. </div>
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I admire you.</div>
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You are miles a head of people like me who sit around trying to come up with new strategies every few weeks for coping with the gritty demands of life.</div>
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Speaking of strategies, I really have tried to approach my responsibilities from all different angles and perspectives in order to bring more purpose and joy to my every day life.</div>
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Some angles haven't helped much. </div>
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There is one perspective that has made all the difference.</div>
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At the end of the day, the only place where I find true sustaining power to get up and prepare another meal or wipe another rump or fold another load of laundry is in the fact that I am called to be a servant.</div>
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Being called to be a servant is not a less than job. Neither is it glamorous. </div>
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However, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+20%3A25-28&version=ESV">Jesus himself came to serve rather than to be served.</a></div>
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He calls each of his children to follow his example. In fact, He tells us to <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+20%3A25-28&version=ESV">imitate him</a>.</div>
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I rejoice in the fact that the realities of my life grant me ample opportunity to grow in servant-hood on a daily basis. </div>
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I am given opportunity upon opportunity to embrace servant-hood.</div>
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No job is too small or insignificant when it is done out of love for Jesus and for other people.</div>
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Embracing servant-hood as a Follower of Jesus is the way to find joy in the mundane.</div>
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Do I perfectly keep this perspective? </div>
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Absolutely not.</div>
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But my heart's desire is to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord. Every day, by His grace and power, I want to choose servant-hood.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lord, Make me a servant, Lord make me like you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For you are a servant, make me one too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lord, make me a servant, do what you must do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To make me a servant; make me like YOU!!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5KilH0lxU_g9iMfikkqHfMx54-hay8xlmxnJ8EEZYb_ml_LZxOf-cXfjWkYNc0P4Q9Xt9ez6bLj2EsiC1YcBQAdB3XiKnFuHUkzi8HxVGteUNfgUbZRVvqQnCZBWdqmSlTtfUnysDA1A/s1600/IMG_4616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5KilH0lxU_g9iMfikkqHfMx54-hay8xlmxnJ8EEZYb_ml_LZxOf-cXfjWkYNc0P4Q9Xt9ez6bLj2EsiC1YcBQAdB3XiKnFuHUkzi8HxVGteUNfgUbZRVvqQnCZBWdqmSlTtfUnysDA1A/s400/IMG_4616.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-34737375278495143472017-08-22T13:40:00.001-07:002017-08-22T13:58:47.451-07:00back to school, for momIt's that time of year again.<br />
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Back to school.<br />
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Excitement is high.<br />
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The kids are scrubbing lunch boxes and shoes and backpacks that have been left to gather dust over the summer.<br />
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Angeline is making the sewing machine hum.<i> </i><br />
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<i>{Good grief she out grew last year's dresses in a flash this summer. I'm prepared for her to pass me up like I'm chained to a tree here in the next 6 months.}</i><br />
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The new school supplies have been bought and carefully packed in their proper places.<br />
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On Friday morning my children will head back into the classroom for 9 months of study.<br />
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And I will begin my wild morning marathon of getting breakfast prepared and lunches packed and faces wiped and rooster tails smoothed down and papers signed and homework folders organized by 8:00 am each morning.<br />
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Ok. Really, I don't do e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. for my family in the morning. BUT I do need to makes sure everything somehow does happen.<br />
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I would feel ultimately responsible if my child didn't show up at school some morning for no other reason besides "mom didn't have my lunch packed in time".<br />
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LUNCHES.<br />
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I try all kinds of things to keep myself excited about packing lunches.<br />
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I try all kinds of things to keep my children excited about the lunches that I pack.<br />
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Some days I even try adding hilarious jokes to distract from the pathetic lunch. It buys me a little favor but it isn't long lasting.<br />
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Don't be fooled.<br />
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I really struggle with packing lunches.<br />
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Either I pack the same thing too often or I totally forget that Son A hates peanut butter but Son B loves peanut butter.<br />
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Or I pack things that I love to eat and forget that my kids don't necessarily share my personal preferences.<br />
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Or I send something that just doesn't really work. It takes way too long to heat up so they just don't eat it or it ends up creating the mess of the year on the front of their shirt.<br />
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Or whatever....you get it, right??<br />
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I have some years on my back and I know how this goes.<br />
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It only takes about one or two weeks of packing school lunches and all the above scenarios begin to surface.<br />
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And then I get in some for silly argument about school lunches with either child A, B, C or D.<br />
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They end up sad and crying and I end up feeling unappreciated.<br />
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I eventually repent because visions of my tear stained, hungry child at school with un-salvageable salsa dripping out of his lunch box along with a small bag of crushed chips haunt me when I am falling asleep at night.<br />
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This morning I thought to myself, <i>You know, Shaunda, you really could be more proactive in this whole lunch packing initiative. </i><br />
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So I began brainstorming of ways that I could prepare in advance for this whole morning rush and lunch packing pressure.<br />
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I decided to make these babies.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg147NEnfpURIEf8Ovxj9iHP1VB83Kn1PgXAVy-QPmVTy541ulHwA59Rpgc06tYNHwI8XYdIb1gq6Emlpa2qXagWQ_IqseC9pN5fCz5q1FxV-Yp85FvClnGR390S2ipA2NOUIw_87JtJp0/s1600/IMG_3893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg147NEnfpURIEf8Ovxj9iHP1VB83Kn1PgXAVy-QPmVTy541ulHwA59Rpgc06tYNHwI8XYdIb1gq6Emlpa2qXagWQ_IqseC9pN5fCz5q1FxV-Yp85FvClnGR390S2ipA2NOUIw_87JtJp0/s640/IMG_3893.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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They are basically home made hot pockets.<br />
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I mix up a batch of my french bread dough.<br />
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Roll it out and cut it into small squares.<br />
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Place some sliced ham. pepperoni and cheese inside.<br />
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Bring the corners together and pinch them shut.<br />
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Bake.<br />
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Freeze. (If you can keep from eating them)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-nfAoVH8z_wfxR0aCH-LEn-vcXUjXbvj2QpwyvrSqseQCmvUWD5xyFkkwNn3zIUXGDMSjGsf927qNYiB5PaNWS1LowNVNFtbBM62395GPK5u__mbDeR_KooriF3bloT-BU1vSRtv8jk/s1600/IMG_3889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-nfAoVH8z_wfxR0aCH-LEn-vcXUjXbvj2QpwyvrSqseQCmvUWD5xyFkkwNn3zIUXGDMSjGsf927qNYiB5PaNWS1LowNVNFtbBM62395GPK5u__mbDeR_KooriF3bloT-BU1vSRtv8jk/s400/IMG_3889.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRzd_eN_8j0WJGKXxfh-HUOYZICpw02AG-2ODocZvBWUOfz5c5zP26fokVlLUwucOs-hbvGADfcc8IJmKGPE-PCgUXs13x6ag1BeEUCl6OpsexjA6ODEVK3bK3-h8L46VeSBmKXLdkKjM/s1600/IMG_3890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRzd_eN_8j0WJGKXxfh-HUOYZICpw02AG-2ODocZvBWUOfz5c5zP26fokVlLUwucOs-hbvGADfcc8IJmKGPE-PCgUXs13x6ag1BeEUCl6OpsexjA6ODEVK3bK3-h8L46VeSBmKXLdkKjM/s400/IMG_3890.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD8QoqTHmCb-IeAeKHKBiQ_mRs-eVvhvbMOTK3ulU7D1jjm1md8rGwkv8gsFwXsh8n5yvkR0tqv8e1xVGeOcxp_DKZoWIrs2Hde6yxib6ikkzQzV1RPIQsX3UHnKIuy8cUfnECB25ufDg/s1600/IMG_3893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD8QoqTHmCb-IeAeKHKBiQ_mRs-eVvhvbMOTK3ulU7D1jjm1md8rGwkv8gsFwXsh8n5yvkR0tqv8e1xVGeOcxp_DKZoWIrs2Hde6yxib6ikkzQzV1RPIQsX3UHnKIuy8cUfnECB25ufDg/s400/IMG_3893.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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So they're a bit messy and time consuming to assemble, but it is like finding a nugget of gold in the freezer on a hurried school morning. Especially if you were thinking you might have to go out and butcher a chicken in order to have <i>something</i> to put in the lunch boxes.<br />
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For me these little hot pockets present a win-win situation.<br />
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Never once have my children complained about this particular item.<br />
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They are quick and easy for me to pack<br />
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They also offer an easy alternative for the boys to pack their own lunches. (My oldest daughter already packs her own lunch)<br />
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I want to work towards allowing the boys to pack their own lunches this year. However, I know that means that I need to have lunch items on hand that are not too complicated for them to pull together.<br />
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I am considering doing a baking day twice a month this year in which I will make baked goods and prepackage them for lunches.<br />
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Along with the baked goods, hopefully I will have the courage to prepare more of these sandwiches or other similar kinds of baked sandwiches or pizza.<br />
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I would love to hear any good ideas that you have for either menu suggestions for packed lunches or methods which have helped you sustain good momentum with packing exciting and nutritious lunches through out the entire school year.<br />
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So. Yeah. I am basically yelling "HELP" before desperation even has a chance to strike this year.<br />
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<br />Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-74966024789170596192017-08-10T09:55:00.001-07:002017-08-11T13:26:11.378-07:00birthday funCassie turned 4 this week.<br />
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What a great occasion for celebration.</div>
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This is her early morning birthday joy face.<br />
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Cassie had her first real birthday party this year. </div>
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She has been a long time fan of<a href="http://www.madeline.com/history.html"> Madeline. </a></div>
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The secret is that I am also a huge fan of Madeline.</div>
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It was fun for me to introduce her to the Madeline books when she was really quite young. I was secretly thrilled when she started toting around the Madeline doll that had just been lurking around our house for years and began bringing the Madeline books to me for story time. </div>
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It really is no surprise to me that Cassie has found such a big soft spot in her heart for Madeline since this tiny, feisty, spunky adventurer fits Cassie's personality to the T.</div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">For several years I have known that someday we would have a Madeline birthday party for Cassie.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">I've been tucking some ideas away in my head for this party. Occasionally great ideas would pop up on pinterest and I would save them on my birthday party board.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">When we began talking about having a Madeline party this year, suddenly new ideas came flooding to me faster than I could process them. I even had trouble falling asleep one night because my brain was in overdrive. *</span></div>
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It is hard to say who had more fun in the end with this birthday party, Cassie or Mom or the Big Siblings. :) This is a good dilemma to face.</div>
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Cassie's big siblings made an amazing team in pulling off her birthday party -- as you will soon see. They basically took my wild ideas and made them a reality.</div>
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Cake credit goes to be sister, Angeline<br />
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The awesome Eiffel tower -which was the perfect prop- was borrowed from my friend Shari.<br />
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I told her "I am begging to borrow your Eiffel tower because I feel like a kid with grown up dreams but no cash".<br />
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Cassie with her friends that she invited to her party. The little stinker on the far right didn't receive a special invitation, but she is Cassie's little uncooperative shadow these days.<br />
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Just a little note about their costumes:<br />
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I found the straw hats at Dollar Tree for $1 each. The capes were simply cut from a large blue plastic table cloth also purchased at Dollar Tree. I made small slits near the top of the capes and wove red ribbon through and tied it in the front to keep the capes in place.<br />
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The capes also doubled as a smock for the painting project they did later in the morning.<br />
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The best part for me was that since they were so simple and inexpensive to make it didn't bother me a lick to throw them in the trash a few days after the party.<br />
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It was best if I kept all thoughts of Super Man out of my head as I watched the kiddos gallivanting around the yard. Any such thoughts totally ruined the charm of my home made Madeline capes.<br />
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The<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline_and_the_Bad_Hat"> Bad Hat</a> even showed up the party and delighted the guests by being a genuine pest.<br />
Shooting marshmallows, stealing their pet puppies, dropping fake bugs and snakes out of the tree...creating an atmosphere of general mischief.<br />
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It was all pretty much genuine, no acting required for this Big Brother.<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Angeline planned (and created) this pin the hat on Madeline game.</span></div>
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Angeline also guided them in a painting project while I was getting lunch ready. (see, I told you...my older kids pulled a big load)<br />
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This picture makes me chuckle every time I look at it. If you look closely you will notice the girls are sitting on their stuffed puppies in a valiant effort to keep the Bad Hat from swiping them. </div>
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I have no pictures of the scavenger hunt planned and executed by Nicholas, but it was a highlight of the day. The scavenger hunt included finding these stuffed puppies which they toted around for the rest of the party.</div>
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Eating lunch together wasn't exactly the coolest or calmest moment of the day. :) No one ever said that birthday luncheons for a 4 year old and her friends would be exactly calm.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(no worries, I rescued those sheers from the little miss half a second after the shutter clicked for this photo)</span><br />
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I think the bottled juice and cheese balls were the favorite part of the meal. </div>
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<i>Pardon me as I gag just mentioning it.</i></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">All in all, the perfect moments and the not so perfect moments all together added up to a special and fun filled day for Cassie and her friends.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">I think I enjoyed it perhaps more than any other birthday party I've hosted in the last 13 years. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">I am seeing a repeat Madeline party in the future, maybe for Elliana or maybe for Cassie again in a few years. </span></div>
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I would be delighted to introduce you to these <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo472Cpxhw8">Madeline cartoons</a> if you have never watched any of them before. Beware: you may possibly fall in love with Madeline too.</div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">*this used to happen to me often before I was a tired momma. Now it's a special occasion for me to actually be able to have creative thoughts as I am trying to fall asleep.</span></div>
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Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-83424222903258910802017-07-11T12:37:00.001-07:002017-08-10T10:03:19.230-07:00Bloopers and lessons learned from traveling abroad with the Crazy 8Well. It has taken me quite a while to get around to writing about the bloopers and lessons learned while traveling abroad with our Crazy 8. It's not for lack of content that I have held back. It's an issue of time and other pressing matters.<br />
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So. Here we go:<br />
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1. For beginners, <u>make sure E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. uses the rest room before you set out on any expedition of any length</u>. The alternative is to make sure you pack plenty of undies and a barge full of wipes. I will not go into any lengthy explanation here but we did learn this lesson very early on this journey.<br />
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2.<u> Reserve one suitcase in which to pack your entire medicine cabinet</u> because one of the 8 will probably come down with just about every ailment known to mankind during your stay in a foreign country.<br />
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One alternative to packing your entire medicine cabinet would be scavenging your host's entire house in the wee hours of the morning looking for either medicine or home remedy ingredients.<br />
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Another alternative would be staying up for most of the night trying to soothe a sick child as you wait for the breaking of dawn and the opening of a local pharmacy.<br />
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Our medical issues while in Poland were really quite minor - but included a severe toothache, earache, fever, teething, headache and fatigue. Ok. Ok. Fatigue barely counts as a medical issue but it was rather debilitating at times.<br />
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The upside of the toothache was that one son came home with a Polish filling in his tooth for a fraction of what the same treatment would've cost here at home. We successfully convinced him that he brought home the coolest souvenir.<br />
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3. <u>Pack an extra set of clothing in your carry on bag </u>just in case your checked in luggage gets lost in Germany.<br />
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I (semi) rolled my eyes when my nearly 80 year old mother in law reminded us of this fact during our last minutes of packing. I confess that I felt annoyed and didn't really have time to think about one more thing. Besides, in my years of traveling I had never experienced losing luggage. However, thanks to my husband's insistence we did end up with an extra set of clothing for nearly everyone in our carry on bags.<br />
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There is a first time for everything.<br />
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Sure enough, when we landed in Warsaw only half of our suitcases arrived with us.<br />
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I keenly felt my own stubbornness when I had to borrow a pair of underwear from my sister in law.<br />
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4. <u>Always keep your passport within reach.</u><br />
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5. <u>A copy of your passport is worthless.</u><br />
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6.<u> Plan plenty of margin in to your trip schedule just in case you get in a tussle with border patrol.</u><br />
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7.<u style="font-weight: bold;"> Keep your passport with you at all times</u> (see #4)<br />
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So. Yeah. We had a minor run in with the Polish border patrol while on our 3 day trip to Northern Poland.<br />
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Amos decided that he didn't want the stress of carrying 8 passports with us for 3 days since he was already toting a load of other important tickets and reservations. He made a photo copy of each passport just in case we should need them for some reason. Keep in mind that we were not planning to cross any borders and we had already successfully entered Poland a week earlier.<br />
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There really shouldn't be a need for our passports, or so we thought.<br />
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And we really didn't need them, except for that one particular moment.<br />
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It was at the Malbork train station. We had just exited the train and were gathering our bags and children and trying to orient ourselves when I saw them out of the corner of eye.<br />
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Three of them. <i>Were they police??</i><br />
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Oh. Border Patrol.<br />
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<i>hmmm. well whatever.</i><br />
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They didn't rattle me at all since we had no slick tricks up our sleeves or anything.<br />
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We passed them and continued on our way to find a locker in which to stow our luggage while touring the castle.<br />
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We were messing with the locker when I realized they had followed us and wanted to speak to us.<br />
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<i>Well. Still....whatever. No big deal....we're just a big family fumbling around here trying to find our way to the castle. They'll soon figure out we're clueless tourists and we'll all go on our merry way.</i><br />
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First question put us in immediate suspicion: Do you have your passports with you for identification??<br />
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We were escorted to the waiting room in the train station for<i> a few minutes</i> while they looked at our documents (or lack thereof) and discussed what should happen next.<br />
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Thus began the long and tedious conversations back and forth and around and about and hither and yon concerning our very threatening situation.<br />
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The copies of the passports were basically irrelevant even though one could easily see that each of us matched one of the 8 photos, not to mention that our kids look very much alike and are very obviously our biological kids.<br />
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We gave them all kinds of detailed information about where, when, how we flew into Poland a week ago and how we're planning to leave in another week.<br />
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Until it was all over we ended up spending 3+ hours in this waiting room being guarded by 3 Polish Police Border Patrol Officers who seemed to take their job quite seriously. <br />
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Our bad situation was resolved by Shannon getting our passports from our bedroom in his home and taking them to the local police station in his town to get legit copies faxed to the border patrol in Malbork. After all these connections were finally made we only had to sign about 50 papers and then we were free to go.<br />
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The whole situation to me was laughable.<br />
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We were perfectly harmless.<br />
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I felt sorry that the Border Patrol wasted their time and energy on us.<br />
(Just for the record, Amos did not feel sorry for them one bit)<br />
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However, I will have to give them an A+ on doing a thorough job.<br />
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I only wish I had a few photos of those officers guarding the door to our waiting area. It was amusing to watch them trying to maintain their solemn and stern expressions for 3 hours straight. I suspect that as soon as they were relieved from their duty they went out the door and fell to the ground in fits of riotous laughter.<br />
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We really do not know why we were targeted by the Border Patrol.<br />
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Why did we look suspicious?<br />
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Child-traffickers?<br />
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Illegal immigrants??<br />
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Random check??<br />
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Our American friends who live in Poland and our Polish friends both were perplexed by the situation.<br />
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One thing I know is that we have an experience under out belts that we will not quickly forget. Next time we're in Poland, I promise, the passports will be securely carried with us wherever our feet do take us.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-5-5bEqYDPxgm5W_HwWUUMrQZyT4j9sFa6XiClWvHgTmVS5g2q3uo8rsUT5w2Hz_v7g96MwnsT85WBvrSQOUhFLA3XbHiv_CmrtsiRMO6xgy86nR61WO3p65Z7rn44D0wVbDbHS11sIc/s1600/KIMG2278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-5-5bEqYDPxgm5W_HwWUUMrQZyT4j9sFa6XiClWvHgTmVS5g2q3uo8rsUT5w2Hz_v7g96MwnsT85WBvrSQOUhFLA3XbHiv_CmrtsiRMO6xgy86nR61WO3p65Z7rn44D0wVbDbHS11sIc/s640/KIMG2278.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDQFTNhSae9XF-YgQGUXrQmeaW_4rerZSvourGgjS0tXTHcfE-H-iUUahBypfS3UgPT4TkzWAdoAHzowkC6A9WywEIAzygFC98xTpNAg00YYh3JZZViYW5_m80bj9HgMLDULOkgSouGE/s1600/IMG_5580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDQFTNhSae9XF-YgQGUXrQmeaW_4rerZSvourGgjS0tXTHcfE-H-iUUahBypfS3UgPT4TkzWAdoAHzowkC6A9WywEIAzygFC98xTpNAg00YYh3JZZViYW5_m80bj9HgMLDULOkgSouGE/s400/IMG_5580.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">just a random shot taken by Nicholas</td></tr>
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<br />Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-45195824811090443592017-06-23T06:57:00.000-07:002017-08-10T10:04:01.151-07:00Poland (Part II)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We had decided before hand that we would take several days as a family to do a little traveling during our stay in Poland. We thought it would be wonderful to take our kids on at least a little sight seeing trip and we knew that 2 weeks would get to be a long time for 2 families to live together.<br />
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The adventuring was wonderful for us. In addition, it provided a little breathing space for both families.<br />
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The options seemed almost endless when we began thinking about where we should go or what we should do for a few days.<br />
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Our well seasoned Polish missionary friends recommended a trip to Northern Poland. We followed their advice and couldn't have been more pleased with the variety of experiences we were able to pack into 3 days.<br />
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Early Monday morning, laden with backpacks and a stroller, we embarked on our expedition. First we needed to catch a train from Minsk to Warsaw and then from Warsaw to Gdansk.<br />
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Catching the correct train and getting 4 children with backpacks and 2 more in a stroller and our 11 water bottles boarded and settled into the correct seats was not exactly a small feat. The process got smoother for us with time, but there was always a level of intensity connected with ensuring a safe and at least semi sane boarding and then settling on the train. We found the train attendants to be kind, but their helpfulness depended somewhat on their command of the English language. Other passengers were also kind to us and offered to shuffle about on the train so that our family could mostly stay together.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAS2i8XlaSzYgWT37udEtPz8eEhvVK9IJ61GhAF1FpLxcbemCIJ8uHU9jIxwRPZXBegiz1FJNSHgasy49BdoxG-qD3Ka6Xo23oUPY4HNudpDphYw7FiHgu6QdDYCU_ORw_YKXfpe-Fa4/s1600/IMG_5890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAS2i8XlaSzYgWT37udEtPz8eEhvVK9IJ61GhAF1FpLxcbemCIJ8uHU9jIxwRPZXBegiz1FJNSHgasy49BdoxG-qD3Ka6Xo23oUPY4HNudpDphYw7FiHgu6QdDYCU_ORw_YKXfpe-Fa4/s400/IMG_5890.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The train ride itself was a new experience and of course a highlight for our family.<br />
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The 4 hours on the train went quickly as we spent time reading, eating, chatting, playing games, day dreaming and watching the glorious Polish landscape roll by at a fast speed. Some of us caught a few winks here and there but mostly everything was too new and exciting to spend time sleeping. Amos and I were really happy about the fact that we could kick back and enjoy the train ride rather than having to navigate our way North with a Polish map and Polish road signs that would be difficult for us to understand.<br />
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Gdansk turned out to be just as pleasing as what we had dreamed it would be. Upon our arrival we immediately set out by foot for the small apartment we had rented through AirBnB. We were ready to rid ourselves of the heavy backpacks we were toting before we went to do any more exploring around the city.<br />
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The apartment turned out to be a wonderful little spot for our family to rest and have just a few moments of privacy during what was otherwise a time of constant activity/interaction in public places.<br />
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Gdansk is one of Poland's oldest cities with a history going back a thousand years. It hold a prominent place in Polish history as the location of the start of World War II as well as the place where the fall of communism in Central Europe began.<br />
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We enjoyed an evening of strolling through the streets and catching a few important landmarks.<br />
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After a wonderful night of sleep, we met Marian Biernacki, the pastor at Gdansk New Life Christian Center. He showed us around an old pre-War World II Manor that his church is restoring and renovating to use for various ministries. Really quite an amazing story of God's provision and blessing as this church group labors hard together. You can listen to the story <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q2gKL9NwBg">here</a>. We were inspired and challenged during our time spent with Marian.<br />
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He believes that it is very possible that the manor could have been owned by Mennonites before the war since there was a Mennonite community in this particular area of Gdansk.<br />
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Amos and Marian<br />
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Tea time at the manor with Marian.<br />
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Here you can see some of the original walls still in existence. The destruction that came to many of the cities in Poland through the war is nearly unfathomable. We were intrigued with all the bits and pieces of history that Marian shared with us throughout the morning.<br />
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You can't see much of the gate here, but Angeline and Elliana are standing in the original gated entrance to the manor.<br />
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We also visited the new World War II museum that opened just several months ago. We easily could have spent an entire day in this museum, but our youngest ones began losing interest after about 3 hours. Wait. I'm not sure if they were interested in the first place, but their boredom began to get very distracting at this point.<br />
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So. On we trained to Sopot. Located on the shores of the Baltic Sea, Sopot is perhaps the most charming Polish town I have ever visited. Here we had the pleasure of walking out on the longest wooden pier in Europe and putting our toes in to the Baltic Sea.<br />
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The following day we trained back to Minsk, stopping mid trip to visit the <a href="http://www.imperialteutonicorder.com/id32.html">Malbork Castle</a>. This Castle is the world's largest brick Gothic castle and was a fortress of the Teutonic Knights. <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino";">The construction of the castle was complete in 1406 but it suffered terrible damage during World War II. Much restoration work has been done and today it is an amazing castle to visit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino";">Again, we easily could have spent an entire day touring this castle and the grounds. So much history. So much grandeur. We had a train schedule to meet so our time had to be utilized carefully. The littlest people in our clan were losing interest after 2-3 hours anyway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino";">After several more train rides we were thrilled to walk into Shannon and JoElla's home after 3 exciting but grueling days of travel and exploration. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino";"> I have to give my husband kudos for being Primary Navigator during this trip. He did an amazing job at keeping us all on track. I have valid reasons for believing our entire family would be lost <i>world without end</i> if I had been navigating.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino";">So you may be thinking at this point that everything about our journey to Poland went perfectly. Yeah!!??</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino";">Well. Next time I will tell you about Bloopers and Lessons Learned while traveling abroad with a family of 8.</span></div>
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<br />Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-36061832788716520922017-06-13T07:05:00.000-07:002017-08-10T10:04:29.600-07:00Poland (part I)Words completely fail me as I ponder how to sum up 2 weeks of traveling half way around the world and back again with our Crazy 8.<br />
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First all, I am incredibly humbled and grateful that our family was even able to dream of planning a trip of this magnitude at this particular stage of our lives. For a family who has never even spent a night at a hotel, the idea of a trip across the ocean really was almost unfathomable.</div>
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We began dreaming, planning, saving and keeping an eye on airline fares well over a year ago. </div>
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A really great family dynamic was born out of our dreams for this trip. The children learned some great things about delayed gratification. Each child's personal bank account became less significant as we all worked together toward one cause. Together we witnessed how each small contribution to the account really did grow into something noteworthy.</div>
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Even with the most careful planning and saving, I look back and say, "surely the Lord prospered our efforts!!" We give Him thanks.</div>
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The first leg of our journey began by traveling to NYC by car. We decided to leave one day early to do just a little site seeing in the city before heading to Poland. One of the benefits of this decision was the fact that we had all our work done 24 hours before our flight and we were able to get a good night of sleep at the hotel before our long day of flying.</div>
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The two highlights in NYC were riding the Staten Island Ferry and visiting Ground Zero. We explored a few remote areas of the city, mostly due to losing our way. (that's just a nice way of saying we got lost a few times)</div>
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Perhaps I should say here at the beginning that traveling with 6 kids was super exciting but very intense. I did not often find myself with a free hand for shooting photos. Part of me is disappointed with the lack of good photos. The other part of me is happy about the fact that I was able to enjoy many special moments without feeling stress about capturing the perfect shot of each and every experience. The oldest two children enjoyed special permission to use the camera. They captured some shots that I would've surely missed. We did a fair amount of video coverage which I think our family will enjoy many times over in the days and years ahead.</div>
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A highlight of our hotel stay for me was waking up to these beautiful girls in the next bed.<br />
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This bedhead makes me laugh almost every morning<br />
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The children enjoyed their first stay at a hotel. It was special to share this time together as a family.</div>
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"Hampton Inn just keeps exceeding my expectations!!" said Nicholas.</div>
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Everything went well for us at the airport. All the bad things that I tried to mentally prepare for did not happen. </div>
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The 8 hour airplane ride was smooth but almost completely sleepless for the parents. I am convinced that it is impossible to get 6 kids sleeping on an airplane. We essentially flew threw the night and landed in Warsaw at 10 am with no more than 15 winks of sleep.<br />
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My eyes were like 1/4 this size AFTER our 10 hours of flying.<br />
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Our biggest glitch was realizing that only 2 of our suitcases arrived with us in Warsaw. Thankfully the rest of the luggage was delivered the following morning. In the meantime we were overjoyed to meet Shannon and JoElla and family at the airport. They escorted us to their home in Minsk Mazowiecki via train. </div>
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Check out these happy cousin smiles. So delighted to get to spend time together again.<br />
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A huge highlight of our trip was simply spending time with Shannon's family. They hosted us in their very nice and large home. JoElla put hours and hours into managing a house full of 13 people for 2 weeks. I tried to be as helpful as possible, but truly, the lady of the house absorbs a boatload of extra work when her household size more than doubles in an instant.<br />
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Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of JoElla doing all her serving. She continually went above and beyond what she had to do to bless us. Just one small example: Even though she is not a coffee drinker herself, she prepared coffee to go for us just as we were heading out the door at 7 am for the airport. She inspires me!!!<br />
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We loved sharing many ordinary moments with these special folks. If the four us wanted to have any kind of significant adult conversation it basically had to happen late at night or early in the morning. The sleep deprivation was kinda starting to catch up to us by the end of the two weeks.<br />
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It was a delight to see the cousins enjoying each other and reconnecting.<br />
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We were blessed with nice weather during our stay in Poland. It was a blessing for our travel plans and a sanity saver for the parents. <br />
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I was especially happy that Elliana and McKenna were able to become reacquainted. They were young enough when Shannon and JoElla moved to Poland to quickly loose all memories of each other. Elliana still gets a silly grin on her face when I mention anything about McKenna to her.<br />
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Collecting and admiring snails was a happy past time for these young ones.<br />
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Spending late nights and early mornings together was certainly a bonding time for the cousins. This picture of Brayden and Cassie melts my heart. The house was full of guests and lots of activity for the evening. I went upstairs and found they had escaped the noise and were quietly reading together.<br />
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Early morning story time.<br />
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These two are different in just about every way, but both just as sweet and charming and lovable as can be!!! One thing that they share in common is a deep affection for their paci. Interestingly, they were both cutting eye teeth during our two weeks together, which meant some shared fevers and growling.<br />
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It was challenging to do a lot of activities away from home with our 9 kids, but we did manage to get out and have a few adventures together. Because Shannon's have a small car we either had to super overload the vehicle or walk or take the train if we wanted to go anywhere.<br />
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To market, to market to buy a few hats.....<br />
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and indulge in some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapiekanka">zapiekanki</a><br />
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Zapiekanka is a very unique Polish fast food sandwich. I LOVED them when I lived in Poland 16 years ago. I have tried making my own here at home but I've never quite pulled it off perfectly. And there is nothing quite like the experience of buying one at market and standing in the hot sun to eat it as people break their necks staring at you.<br />
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We enjoyed an evening together in Warsaw....<br />
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Exploring Old Town and visiting the<a href="http://www.warsawtour.pl/en/tourist-attractions/multimedia-fountain-park-multimedialny-park-fontann-161002.html"> Multi Media</a> fountain park...Click on the link to see some beautiful photos of this amazing fountain!<br />
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The kids really enjoyed running through the play fountain.<br />
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Our family struggling to pull it together for a picture<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-DvITDYD5pFQuyrEBs377aioMzfymuVbCTzU4hW9twcG0HRc7OXODuU4TpHUQKKjmUquYNItnqWxAYyHcOA7OSmlMvvaZpUW93uSkJ1zmVWcw-I3p8jys9v72Pi7pIlBysn-wLz-Y7bM/s1600/IMG_5836.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-DvITDYD5pFQuyrEBs377aioMzfymuVbCTzU4hW9twcG0HRc7OXODuU4TpHUQKKjmUquYNItnqWxAYyHcOA7OSmlMvvaZpUW93uSkJ1zmVWcw-I3p8jys9v72Pi7pIlBysn-wLz-Y7bM/s640/IMG_5836.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnL5YzyuFMEDY4kPQD5iiC1O8w3mGVeLTOkJ33qU687iW5hyFDOEVpo-0kLX2KfdHx5GDr4ElxM26FVba7NVxCDCULFzdIb3d8UXWyNXbBtwYTAMOovLgL9KiyQW-KNNNR2aELFo1uCIk/s1600/IMG_5839.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnL5YzyuFMEDY4kPQD5iiC1O8w3mGVeLTOkJ33qU687iW5hyFDOEVpo-0kLX2KfdHx5GDr4ElxM26FVba7NVxCDCULFzdIb3d8UXWyNXbBtwYTAMOovLgL9KiyQW-KNNNR2aELFo1uCIk/s640/IMG_5839.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
The sun was beautiful but very bright. I am sad that I over exposed these pictures. But seriously you gotta check out Brayden's cute little grin on every picture!!!!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1SLURwo0CbR9TR_MeYyFMCr-qTQ_P00eXrDUxo5JB2lnssYuskw1J0y1spzh4sajjTr5u88zl7YvRuD4kcZTaSuQljqTJdu1D8BhbF-bhDBBNsExoepOOfSushrIXY6INcd8U6S9sfQI/s1600/IMG_5844.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1SLURwo0CbR9TR_MeYyFMCr-qTQ_P00eXrDUxo5JB2lnssYuskw1J0y1spzh4sajjTr5u88zl7YvRuD4kcZTaSuQljqTJdu1D8BhbF-bhDBBNsExoepOOfSushrIXY6INcd8U6S9sfQI/s640/IMG_5844.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is a picture of the small car that I mentioned earlier. It's perfect for Shannon and JoElla and their 3 kids. However, just a bit on the small side for 4 adults and 9 children.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVOCqjYjr8H8ms6SD3rT3Jdj4Z_95iBR2YVEYqPbB6jL_K91bLqQVXnD1uzKFeK6j2yB_QrU29s-ickM7X4MPeNGFHikqNeZZndfwmQcKaL08C0m-gZXusqAaBg_bmFaodS_fQDb2KfqA/s1600/IMG_5743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVOCqjYjr8H8ms6SD3rT3Jdj4Z_95iBR2YVEYqPbB6jL_K91bLqQVXnD1uzKFeK6j2yB_QrU29s-ickM7X4MPeNGFHikqNeZZndfwmQcKaL08C0m-gZXusqAaBg_bmFaodS_fQDb2KfqA/s640/IMG_5743.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is just a small sampling of our time together. Much more living happened than what was captured on my camera.<br />
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We really did enjoy the ordinary moments of reconnecting with our far away family just as much as the wild adventures of exploring new and exciting places in a foreign country.<br />
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More on those wild adventures to come later.... <br />
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Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-56360652137298714382017-04-25T12:22:00.000-07:002017-04-25T12:25:12.639-07:00another small blastI really like the word blast.<br />
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I try to use it as often as possible.<br />
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It fits my life to the T.<br />
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Either I'm having a real BLAST* or else I am really having a<i> BLAST.** </i><br />
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I have a hard time defining what exactly I am doing with my time and energy these days.<br />
<br />
I feel like I have been functioning in these funky-little-unpredictable-blasts.<br />
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In work.<br />
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In play.<br />
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In relationships.<br />
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In thinking.<br />
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In processing.<br />
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In photography.<br />
<br />
<br />
I've basically become dysfunctional in this particular space.<br />
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I have discussions and even some heated arguments with myself about what I should or could do with this space in the future.<br />
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This photo depicts my personal life.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUmM7YEF3Kx4FCLle5Qd8VHaG3FlMCgSD4aL6u6ZnW0WdWSZrF_umJiwepdDFdnIkYiEsvJJvvxLo9Y7zXTpTfs0BF9ilVGUqubJUVsh6TtQw_VZrJlYa4GBRo60cE-zcCQsNNrmxcmM/s1600/IMG_4900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUmM7YEF3Kx4FCLle5Qd8VHaG3FlMCgSD4aL6u6ZnW0WdWSZrF_umJiwepdDFdnIkYiEsvJJvvxLo9Y7zXTpTfs0BF9ilVGUqubJUVsh6TtQw_VZrJlYa4GBRo60cE-zcCQsNNrmxcmM/s640/IMG_4900.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Full and rich and beautiful. Sometimes overwhelmingly so.<br />
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A little unbalanced. More so some days than others.<br />
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There are so many things I love to do.<br />
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Many things I want to do.<br />
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Many, many, many dreams on the back burner right now.<br />
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<i>Don't look at my pinterest boards or you may become overwhelmed for me.</i><br />
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So many choices everyday.<br />
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Yet many nonnegotiable tasks and responsibilities.<br />
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Probably one of my biggest fears is that I will reach the end of my life and realize that I floated along too much, blasting energy here and there and everywhere but didn't focus enough on the most important tasks I have been given to do.<br />
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The end.<br />
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* <span class="oneClick-link" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">a</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">party</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="oneClick-link" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">or</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">riotously</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">good</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">time</span><br />
<br />
**<span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">at</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">or</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">with</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">full</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">volume</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="oneClick-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">or</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">speed</span><br />
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<br />Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-55433168401429047802017-02-23T08:25:00.000-08:002017-02-23T11:01:43.314-08:00February Decor<br />
I know that often it is difficult to discern if I'm a few steps behind the game or leaping ahead of myself or if I'm just insanely random with my updates on this blog.<br />
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Maybe I shy away from all blogging trends and expectations. <br />
<br />
<i>Surely her next post will be include something about Valentine's Day since it is Feb. 1.</i><br />
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Whatever all the reasons may be, today -February 23- I intend to share some of my Valentine's decor.<br />
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I love seasonal decor for a number of reasons, but perhaps primarily because I easily get bored with looking at the same old thing for more than a few months at a time.<br />
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Typically by the end of January my Christmas/winter greenery is hanging limp and begging to be thrown back to the forest floor. It's still a little early to be thinking spring since I live in the uttermost northern corner of PA. Hence, I like to do just a little face lift with some Valentine decor for the month of February.<br />
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I have no deep affection for most of the red glittery Valentine decorations found at the Dollar Store.<br />
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Neither do I have a decorating budget that matches the cost of shopping Anthropology or Pottery Barn.<br />
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So.<br />
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I just kinda do my own thing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYUWnMVUvHUsRw-A42WIY7zmELVvB6WQ-gCt4cadF8ML87NIIwGCU0EYwhLuYPGj0fGW63uUYhIEInnGkbJ7HdT43upL7Hnouu1pilnP3_qdBfrpEke5Puy5hhXv4gfT0i9wV_YZNd90/s1600/IMG_4803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYUWnMVUvHUsRw-A42WIY7zmELVvB6WQ-gCt4cadF8ML87NIIwGCU0EYwhLuYPGj0fGW63uUYhIEInnGkbJ7HdT43upL7Hnouu1pilnP3_qdBfrpEke5Puy5hhXv4gfT0i9wV_YZNd90/s400/IMG_4803.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This year I was kinda totally taken with my grandparent's wedding photos and decided that they would find a prominent place on my fireplace mantel.<br />
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Two of my grandparents have moved on to their eternal reward. Two continue to live and love each other. Watching my grandparent age hasn't been pleasant, but I can't think of anything that spells love MORE CLEARLY than witnessing their love and care for each other even as their physical bodies begin to fail them in many ways.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rzSA1YkMUXC4MZEIG4Qb8iE1eJL8bXFZ-gQDsTuL1Q905C026KX_xVtjr-IZ1f8OsTq75udVMY6ve2sAw-WWb7jqSubEh5Nwp6OFylUafU6W8QV1RZMm-DQHGuprtzJWquEM5RLHDkM/s1600/IMG_4807.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rzSA1YkMUXC4MZEIG4Qb8iE1eJL8bXFZ-gQDsTuL1Q905C026KX_xVtjr-IZ1f8OsTq75udVMY6ve2sAw-WWb7jqSubEh5Nwp6OFylUafU6W8QV1RZMm-DQHGuprtzJWquEM5RLHDkM/s400/IMG_4807.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I very happily found an online printable to fill my clipboard that included a hint of spring. I added the green plant just because I couldn't totally suppress my spring fever.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KFFHNcmUze73JkNyaQc_OMQefZwNult3DELLIDm9FYX_Buo8bntyZxDtZQYOESWzJu0yDeJa-siJOF-MMaCqEURRO8ZoqB1FMQgN4Dpp6r8-0vtYOYm1ojrRWcc9yid2E9hus0JUnH8/s1600/IMG_4812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KFFHNcmUze73JkNyaQc_OMQefZwNult3DELLIDm9FYX_Buo8bntyZxDtZQYOESWzJu0yDeJa-siJOF-MMaCqEURRO8ZoqB1FMQgN4Dpp6r8-0vtYOYm1ojrRWcc9yid2E9hus0JUnH8/s400/IMG_4812.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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It was fun to fill this photo frame with pictures of people that I love who love each other. I threw in a few vintage valentines, which are also a current rage with me. My family doesn't quite understand why I'm so crazy over these outdated cards with quirky humor.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAxSVBK_bAwbBI1ImONi1J3vMhqmz9-jeLs29kYGoX5kpZXFclBZdu6WVFXL6fYLlEN0MMf613IMNPriVuKh62O_iRWrd6NrND6Y8yQ5BfZtcGIVoVuEQGBebeEXfs7Noi9NDqHPyAF_o/s1600/IMG_4810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAxSVBK_bAwbBI1ImONi1J3vMhqmz9-jeLs29kYGoX5kpZXFclBZdu6WVFXL6fYLlEN0MMf613IMNPriVuKh62O_iRWrd6NrND6Y8yQ5BfZtcGIVoVuEQGBebeEXfs7Noi9NDqHPyAF_o/s400/IMG_4810.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZxAllS5aqrawLZ4DSJMbkbF4klKEC32b8MbijFg6NUakh4AEPM2ecQkPQ3igSwh-50Xvzh0Ex-JDVY0l9vu33yA2Y_Vaek9TFudf9ilmgWjRPK-_BgsGCAZe_2y3lLzajfVjfhP5mUUI/s1600/IMG_4815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZxAllS5aqrawLZ4DSJMbkbF4klKEC32b8MbijFg6NUakh4AEPM2ecQkPQ3igSwh-50Xvzh0Ex-JDVY0l9vu33yA2Y_Vaek9TFudf9ilmgWjRPK-_BgsGCAZe_2y3lLzajfVjfhP5mUUI/s400/IMG_4815.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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It was fun to pull out some of my old photography work to put on display. This particular photo of my two oldest children has long been a favorite of mine.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNnBsdIGiZxMog0WDwpbGFHrbgelicKSxnJhyphenhyphennf9IyF1B5nFzcR9p31fbmcl66DyhyKvBwc4UaZ-9n6se2y_1WsraGRSa1Z8PC5jd6aE7vUhWoVqyESn4P1x73_lcSfHfTAMTUndr89wU/s1600/IMG_4516.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNnBsdIGiZxMog0WDwpbGFHrbgelicKSxnJhyphenhyphennf9IyF1B5nFzcR9p31fbmcl66DyhyKvBwc4UaZ-9n6se2y_1WsraGRSa1Z8PC5jd6aE7vUhWoVqyESn4P1x73_lcSfHfTAMTUndr89wU/s400/IMG_4516.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This particular creation has been a long time in coming. I first imagine and then talk about a project for at least a year before any real steps are taken towards completion.</div>
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And truth be told, I didn't do much more than talk a lot about my mental picture to my young, energetic, capable servants.</div>
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And then...</div>
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Nicholas cut out the pieces of wood and hammered them together. Angeline made the scrappy heart. I am very pleased with their creation, however I was imagining the letters to look a little more weathered and rustic. I'm thinking if I store them in the basement until next February that they will surely take on a more dilapidated look. Maybe I'll even allow the dog to chew on them for a while.</div>
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So.</div>
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There you have it.</div>
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A few photos. </div>
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A few free printables.</div>
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A few scraps of wood and fabric.</div>
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This is one way we keep from getting too bored around here in February.</div>
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Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-23252399397579221952017-02-15T06:32:00.000-08:002017-02-23T11:03:17.955-08:00a little more bread talkIf you wish to take your bread baking to a new level, allow me to introduce to you to<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Reinhart"> Mr. Peter Reinhart. </a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">“Peter Reinhart is the Leonardo da Vinci of bread; his recipes are foolproof, his research exhaustive and yet a delight to read and follow, and his hunger for knowledge and technique is boundless and infinite. He is without a doubt the definitive source of true style and information when it comes to all things baked and delicious, and my go-to guy for all things leavened and sandwichable”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">--Mario Batali, author of </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Molto Italiano</i><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I have his book<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Peter-Reinharts-Artisan-Breads-Every/dp/1580089984"> Artisan Breads Every Day</a> in my possession. I love it. It is filled with detailed instructions, time saving techniques all accompanied with beautiful, full color photos throughout that will make you salivate. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">One of my favorite recipes from this book is <i>The Best Biscuits Ever. </i> I never cared much for biscuits until I made these. I can serve my family pretty much any kind of soup as long as I pair it with these amazing biscuits.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">He has numerous other bread baking books that I would love to read sometime. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">He co-authored a<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607741164/?tag=kitchn-20"> book</a> just for those who are interested in gluten free and sugar free baking.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">My friend<a href="http://homejoys.blogspot.com/p/bread-baking.html"> Gina</a> has compiled a wealth of information on bread making on her blog. I didn't realize that she was a student of Peter Reinhart until today when I did a google search on reviews for his biscuit recipe. She has covered the bases well. I'm anxious to go back and learn more from her in the future.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">My mom is the one who first introduced me to Peter Reinhart. The only book of his that I have in my possession came to me as a gift from her.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Let me just say she is quite an amazing bread baker herself. I am sure that I've learned more from her than anyone else about bread baking. It is not unusual to be served some kind of new and tasty bread if you are privileged to enjoy a meal at her table. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">She is also a good teacher. I think she enjoys sharing her expertise with others, though not in the cyber world. :) </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I don't claim to be a good teacher myself, but boy....am I ever proud of this son of mine who took over my bread baking position this past summer. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAuIhU5KKhyphenhyphenhJNWlHgwhj4qFQGdY-71gRpqveEismfwXUEjDqIyxgtQ1CxU6eamm7mv5Az9tcffFUkTe8M8Jqe8yKY1w9QMgDaEWj9-sd64e35VKrrdfTM_qM4I6JgGJkqsxZ8M1BG6k/s1600/IMG_0634.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAuIhU5KKhyphenhyphenhJNWlHgwhj4qFQGdY-71gRpqveEismfwXUEjDqIyxgtQ1CxU6eamm7mv5Az9tcffFUkTe8M8Jqe8yKY1w9QMgDaEWj9-sd64e35VKrrdfTM_qM4I6JgGJkqsxZ8M1BG6k/s640/IMG_0634.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I knew that he really had progressed beyond simply following the recipe the day that he came to me with his dough and said "<i>mom,</i> <i>I think I got this dough just right....feel it". </i>And I pressed my finger into the most perfect texture ever.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Yes. He has the touch. I can count on him to produce nearly perfect loaves of french bread when he is in the kitchen.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Unfortunately, he is back to being a scholar for the winter months and I'm back to being the primary bread baker at this house.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuej7OxATj5mXghHgfFPLIXOV4ezUZHT8-tZqF47ot-QwP_RB0OSmNZ-FGIaNbAmgIasF_uxKjB3RLqj4wJ7Cvv-PyA9h6oknJfekZ6mYWPd3Oi9_pBWxd8awBuY1d9Ek-HD6vce942Nk/s1600/IMG_4282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuej7OxATj5mXghHgfFPLIXOV4ezUZHT8-tZqF47ot-QwP_RB0OSmNZ-FGIaNbAmgIasF_uxKjB3RLqj4wJ7Cvv-PyA9h6oknJfekZ6mYWPd3Oi9_pBWxd8awBuY1d9Ek-HD6vce942Nk/s640/IMG_4282.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"> I will conclude by sharing my mom's famous french bread recipe, which also happens to be the bread recipe that Nicholas likes best.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">MY MOM'S FAMOUS (NEVER FAIL) FRENCH BREAD</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">2 T. yeast</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">2 T. sugar</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">2 T. Crisco</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">2 t. salt</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">2.5 c. hot water</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">5-6 (give or take a little) flour.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Mix ingredients together in order given in your *Kitchen Aid mixer. Once ingredients are thoroughly combine use the dough hook to knead the dough for 3-5 min. Add flour until the dough no longer sticks to the edges of bowl. Allow to rest until doubled in size. Punch down and divide dough into two long loaves. Place loaves on a greased cookie sheet. Lightly score the loaves as you wish. Brush with a mixture of one beaten egg and 2 T. milk. Let rise. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 min.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">This recipe yields 2 large loaves of bread.</span></span>
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*I'm sorry if you do not have a Kitchen Aid. I love mine.Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-77868227314777999852017-02-10T12:31:00.002-08:002017-02-23T11:03:49.392-08:00My secret to keeping 8 people satisfied at meal timeSometimes I think about turning my blog into some kind of foodie blog.<br />
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You know, delivering new and amazing daily recipes along with detailed photographic tutorials.<br />
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Then I realize that there are 444,444,444 other food blogs on the web.<br />
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And when I actually browse other food blogs I realize that I'm not as much of a <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foodie">foodie</a> as what I once thought I was.<br />
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I'm actually a bit too practical to be a true foodie.<br />
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I love food. True.<br />
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I love preparing food. { mostly true}<br />
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1. As long as it doesn't take TOO long.<br />
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2. As long as my family not only approves but can't stop eating the food I prepare.<br />
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VERY. VERY TRUE.<br />
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So. I have this little trick that I am going to share with you for ensuring 100% satisfaction from your family no matter what dish is set before them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6G7XiLlsXfRYWUbsm1tJoU7jvi7V9V4BbrOvkHT6S844RMkvMhyphenhyphen3oyRKo2EQMPWJkONv5uYyt3hoN0LZnO32uBm-xcqrJRKYlKLRhdHoYKQIlyfYLmz5Dxz6ghz3KcJBfWv1PcN2-XP4/s1600/IMG_4282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6G7XiLlsXfRYWUbsm1tJoU7jvi7V9V4BbrOvkHT6S844RMkvMhyphenhyphen3oyRKo2EQMPWJkONv5uYyt3hoN0LZnO32uBm-xcqrJRKYlKLRhdHoYKQIlyfYLmz5Dxz6ghz3KcJBfWv1PcN2-XP4/s400/IMG_4282.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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B. R. E. A. D.<br />
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<i>Yes. I said 'bread'.</i><br />
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If just the mere thought of carbs causes your state of consciousness to be altered in a negative way then you may be better off not reading the rest of this post.<br />
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But to the rest of you,<span style="font-size: large;"> Learn to make good bread.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbW7z504j8MsnqcprumzA66CcXtEFjkwxIjMDdwt0AOqTkZeq6uY8LCI54l1OP5rP7kWLiOptrmCht8m7oCWK4MpEDpdNIJKuOlplMBXwx8RnvKm8ThTypS9eRDQT6L-sUHR-CeNN3pBw/s1600/IMG_3893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbW7z504j8MsnqcprumzA66CcXtEFjkwxIjMDdwt0AOqTkZeq6uY8LCI54l1OP5rP7kWLiOptrmCht8m7oCWK4MpEDpdNIJKuOlplMBXwx8RnvKm8ThTypS9eRDQT6L-sUHR-CeNN3pBw/s400/IMG_3893.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Your family will forgive a multitude of culinary experiments and mistakes if you consistently provide unlimited quantities of fresh bread and real butter.<br />
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Now it is important that you learn how to bake several different kinds of bread so that your family will not quickly catch on to your trick.<br />
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I'm going to share two of my favorites today.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx8qASXNxaVjzQFXj8PAHQj8IMEhzab7vxDYVxiZv8vlEziadW4MRuWDM_0h5_3iHffrUVOOI21ArnoaTRFQN-d2KNa-dUosZ6FUkwOW17Fp-zw-sqVEGSEsf3MdzDUyLAXQHuRfsp1sk/s1600/IMG_6409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx8qASXNxaVjzQFXj8PAHQj8IMEhzab7vxDYVxiZv8vlEziadW4MRuWDM_0h5_3iHffrUVOOI21ArnoaTRFQN-d2KNa-dUosZ6FUkwOW17Fp-zw-sqVEGSEsf3MdzDUyLAXQHuRfsp1sk/s400/IMG_6409.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This first recipe is what I call <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://momsdish.com/recipe/160/no-knead-bread#_a5y_p=1396309"> European bread</a> </span>even though the site I've linked here calls it something more boring like 'no knead bread'.<br />
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If you've ever traveled or lived in a European country you will never think about or experience bread in the same way again. <br />
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There was a reason that I gained weight during my first extensive stay in Europe. I couldn't stay away from the bread.<br />
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This recipe is perfect for when you're out of nearly every ingredient in the house except for flour and water.<br />
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While this recipe is super simple to mix up, it does require some advance planning as it requires extensive rising time.<br />
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This bread is perfect served with soup.<br />
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A slice of this bread toasted is just flat amazing.<br />
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What gives this bread its special European twist ( the super crunchy crust but soft interior) is the long resting period, the high baking temp. and the water bath.<br />
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My family of 8 has been known to eat an entire loaf of this bread in one setting. That was the time of course when they each ate like 2 teaspoons of the entree.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gGB_RQ_M-bh94VTcbYZxSq9GaCqqyKNgYeiPNJF7f1mmdAdi1aZ28FUZ7hFQlAc1Z_jBsS_nTPqHflZ7qVKgWdabx1ENZHlSXRbMGXf6RTXC6wJ5PHibETa1-tb__K_VgT5apd2iXus/s1600/IMG_4574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9gGB_RQ_M-bh94VTcbYZxSq9GaCqqyKNgYeiPNJF7f1mmdAdi1aZ28FUZ7hFQlAc1Z_jBsS_nTPqHflZ7qVKgWdabx1ENZHlSXRbMGXf6RTXC6wJ5PHibETa1-tb__K_VgT5apd2iXus/s400/IMG_4574.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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These<a href="http://www.averiecooks.com/2013/06/no-knead-make-ahead-dinner-rolls-with-honey-butter.html"><span style="font-size: large;"> Honey Rolls</span></a> are a close runner up to the European bread here at our house.<br />
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I love these because they're so stinking easy to mix up.<br />
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You may have noticed by now that I do not like to knead bread.<br />
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In fact, I don't like to even get my mixer out.<br />
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I am not sure why but I really get a kick out of mixing ingredients together by hand.<br />
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Anyway, folks (my family included) always rave over these rolls.<br />
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I slather them with honey butter before and after baking them.<br />
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I usually whip up some extra honey butter to serve with them at meal time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCekoPsgG7UXolhqstH1aQGrO5bZpeZ-4n2ZxtEaaMyeU5dggkYOLbujpNV6eiu005nXoJM5LSpz2DVpb29IRbKNV5-vOWwz4yTkJT1kxkYdC_yyWG2rdfNKBTQWFwZozYBHGugtIz-yA/s1600/IMG_6416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCekoPsgG7UXolhqstH1aQGrO5bZpeZ-4n2ZxtEaaMyeU5dggkYOLbujpNV6eiu005nXoJM5LSpz2DVpb29IRbKNV5-vOWwz4yTkJT1kxkYdC_yyWG2rdfNKBTQWFwZozYBHGugtIz-yA/s400/IMG_6416.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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So. When all else fails..............bake a loaf of bread.<br />
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*please accept my apologies for not having the correct photos to go with the recipes I shared today. The pictures are of another one of my all time favorite bread recipes.<br />
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<br />Shaundahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09229653374749238576noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775383802743303579.post-68312126582658242632017-01-20T11:47:00.000-08:002017-01-20T11:47:52.971-08:00colorWhen you're not sure if you're staring at your light grey bedroom wall or looking out the window...<br />
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When you look at the horizon and cannot tell where the sky meets the land because there is so little color variation...<br />
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When you walk outside and realize that the weather actually feels even MORE formidable than it looks...<br />
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When it's going on a week of this kind of overcast weather...<br />
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It is time to go on a color hunt.<br />
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What a feast for my color starved eyes.<br />
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