Washing Machine Surprises

With boys you never know what you are going to find in the bottom of the washing machine. Normally I will find nails, candy bar wrappers, rocks, toy cars, sticks, and such.

This took the cake....

Yup! It's an Eyeball

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More Boy Stuff

We have a fence and it had one piece missing for months. One day, I saw there were two pieces missing. It sat like that for a long time. Then last week, a friend came over to drop something off, and he said to me, "What happened to your fence?"

 

I looked over at it shocked to see there were now about ten pieces missing! I shook my head and replied, "I have no clue. Probably the boys building a fort." 


This man is like a Grandpa to our kids. He shook his headed and laughed. It sounded like I didn't care. I do. I just know that boys being boys I am probably right. Why get mad? Just get them to fix it. But I didn't check out my theory right then.

But later that afternoon Cooper called me and asked me to check out the fort they had built....

There Be My Fence Boards.... Oh, and The House Siding.... (lol)

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Pianos, Boxes, and Little Boys

When Colt and Dane were little we lived out in the wilderness. We were forty minutes from town and there were no piano teachers near us. Besides, we had no money and there was no hope of having lessons, even if a teacher was available.

My sister was an amazing musician and I remember the sound of music in the house. I always wanted the same for my home, but it didn't seem to be going to be possible.

Then about five years ago, we found a teacher in town and we managed to coordinate the lessons with shopping trips. It worked out. Colt was now 'too old' at 15, but Dane at 13, and Cassidy at 9, were perfect. We did it for about about six months, and then for some reason it stopped. Can't remember what happened. Perhaps it was when we were moving and building. Could have been about money.

Anyhow...

I still really wanted my kids to learn an instrument, and I knew the piano was the best place to start. Last year, when the girls were home, and I had school money to spend I looked into lessons. But it was too difficult. I had heard that the piano teacher I was interested in did home lessons if there were four students. I figured that would work. Turns out she changed and no longer does that. I put it on hold again. I couldn't see myself fitting six children into a music waiting room and sitting there for two hours.

Then this year, I reapproached the same woman and asked her again about lessons. The break finally came. She offered me four half-hour lessons for a total of $40. Not only that, my children were now old enough that I could take them, some schoolbooks, and set them up in the piano room for two hours.

The child that needs the most attention stays for a lesson, and then I leave and go shopping with said child, plus Savannah and Briton. The other three stay behind for another 1.5 hours. One child plays, while the other two sit quietly with schoolbooks. They each have a predetermined seat, and an order in which they play. This way there is no confusion, and they are wonderful children. They sit quietly, do their schoolwork and wait for their lessons. They are loving the lessons and it is beautiful to hear the tinkle of music in the house again!

It was such an exciting day when the piano we ordered arrived!

Here is Our Piano Arriving!

Cassidy and I Building the Piano

Completed Piano

Once the piano was built the little boys asked if they could have the box. For sure! I know how wonderful a box can be. There are so many things to build with a cardboard box! So off they went, struggling and straining to carry that huge box up the stairs.

They Had a Plan...

They Built a Dog House.

 And of course, the two little 'dogs' had to sleep in their dog house that night! *smile*
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Back on My Feet

When I was driving home yesterday from the Big City, I opened up a new CD I had bought. It was Wow 2011. The third song on the was What Faith Can Do. (the first song on the playlist down on the right hand side of my computer side bar). As I listened to the song, while driving through mountain passes, tears crept into my eyes and rolled down my cheeks.

I have always claimed faith as my spiritual gift. This last week though, I have felt it pummelled. It has been hard. Two weeks ago, while discussing with a friend how many huge things had hit our family in the last two months, I said I didn't know what God was teaching me through it all, because I had not seen myself change in anyway. She had told me she was excited for me, because I would get to see what wonderful things God was going to do through it. Either by changing me spiritually or some other way, I would see God.

But really, I had not seen myself change in anyway. And then Monday I just reached the newest low. That was when I was a puddle on the floor. I can take pretty much anything, but when it involves my children it knocks me for a loop. The material things can all come and go, and I would go on. But when my son's fears, stresses, and hurts, wounded me so harshly, that crushed me beyond belief. It really is harder to parent grown-up children than little ones. The love I have for them is all the same, but the job is so different. That will be a post for another day! lol

So when I was driving home I heard these words and they spoke to me. It was like someone understanding and giving me a big hug.

I want to thank you all for your loving words. It is truly amazing how we make such friendships through something as unusual as a blog! Not only did I receive blessing by Comment, I also received emails and phone calls. So thank you for your support!!

When I arrived home yesterday it was not to relax much as I might have liked to! Regular life doesn't stop even if you want it to because you are dealing with bigger things. You still have to deal with the small stuff.

• I had to deal with two little children who had been lying. This seems to be something that I am working on with two children in particular. Don't lie around me. I am a ferret. I will get to the bottom of it. I was a child that lied. I detest lying. My children will grow up knowing that truth, trust, honour, honesty, and integrity are very, very important. But in the meantime, I could not let these situations slide. I do want my children to *ever* think that a lie is something that will be excused.  

•  I found out that my two smallest children had been naughty and could have been badly hurt. Thankfully, it happened when there was an adult in attendance. One little monkey had climbed to the top of the five foot tall dresser and then sat perched on top. He then decided he wanted to get down but didn't know how to do so. At this point, monkey number two, who is 2 years older, decided to 'help' him, by opening the dresser drawers so that he could climb down. 

Can you visualize what happened next? Yes. Imagine the weight now in the drawers hanging out of the cabinet. The cabinet begins to fall forward. Little monkey up on top of the 5' tall dresser takes a flying leap out of the way of the huge dresser and lands safely out of dangers way. His sister also jumped to safety, after trying in vain to stop the falling dresser from falling on its face. Neither child was injured in any way, but trust me, we talked when I got home!!!
The poor babysitters in the house had heard this almighty crash and went flying up the stairs to find what could have been a very tragic accident! Thank God for His angels that probably dragged my naughty little children out of the way! I think of the Three Little Kittens who lost their mittens when I think of those two...

Three little kittens they lost their mittens, and they began to cry,
"Oh mother dear, we sadly fear that we have lost our mittens."
"What! Lost your mittens, you naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie."
"Meeow, meeow, meeow, now we shall have no pie."

The three little kittens they found their mittens,
And they began to cry,
"Oh mother dear, see here, see here
For we have found our mittens."
"Put on your mittens, you silly kittens
And you shall have some pie"
"Meeow, meeow, meeow,
Now let us have some pie."

The three little kittens put on their mittens
And soon ate up the pie,
"Oh mother dear, we greatly fear
That we have soiled our mittens."
"What! soiled you mittens, you naughty kittens!"
Then they began to cry, "Meeow, meeow, meeow"
Then they began to sigh.
The three little kittens they washed their mittens
And hung them out to dry,

Yes, that is my two! lol

• I received a phone call from my mortgage company. That had to be dealt with.

 By now, I could feel the pressure mounting inside me. I could feel my hands beginning to shake and knew I needed to unload some pressure. It was the impending call to the mortgage company that was undoing me. I had Cassidy make me some camomile tea, and took my Bible in the office and just sat and prayed.

I then opened it to Isaiah 52:12 and 21, 22

I, even I, am he who comforts you and gives you all this joy. So what right have you to fear mere mortal men, who wither like the grass and disappear. 

But now listen to this, afflicted ones - full of troubles and in a stupor (but not from being drunk) - this is what the Lord says, the Lord your God cares for his people: "See, I take from your hands the terrible cup;



As I sat there I felt my shaking slow down, and a peace come over me. I knew that I had people praying for me. Why? Because even after I talked to the mortgage broker I was calm and relaxed. I was able to be with my children and not worry about this *impossible* situation we had going on. I watched some tv with the big boys and then headed to bed knowing that even if the worst came to the worst and they didn't advance us the money, God would help me to figure out how to pay the bills and continue the house. Even if I had to use a child for collateral I could do it! I certainly have enough of them! lol

Regarding the mortgage company the mistake was uncovered and it was clear what had happened. It was a combination of having a very nice, but disorganized mortgage broker, a new plan in our bank, and our thinking we understood something that obviously we really didn't.

So the short version is that sometime ago all the underwriters were let go in our Big City and all the dealings were to go through Toronto. There was one man that was not let go. He was given a job in Toronto. He worked his way up to second in command. Credit Manager.

For the last four days, my mortgage broker was working with her Rep, and they were arguing with the bank, stating that the formula they were using didn't make sense. It didn't. She told them that we had years of experience building houses and working with bankers on builders mortgages. This new method was outrageous and noone could build a house with it. They couldn't. Not unless they had all the money up front and then wanted a mortgage at the end. Who needs it then?

Well, the banks are getting scared. Houses are not getting finished, and builders are walking away leaving the banks holding the loan, so they have changed it to make us pay for most of it up front and then they will secure a mortgage once the house is finished. But that wouldn't help us! We couldn't finish it.

Our broker hadn't read the papers and understood this new change and so she didn't explain it to us, and we thought we understood it (but we were misunderstanding), so we had a huge, huge, mess.

Anyway, today, she called to tell me she had spent the last hour on the phone with this Credit Manager. He had decided he would make an Exception for us. He would take it back to the original way they did builders mortgages - the way we knew: multiply the amount they are loaning you by the percentage of work you have done on the house. We have done 42% of the building and so multiply 42% x the amount we are borrowing. A simple equation, but not the way they are now doing it.

We are so incredibly thankful to you all for praying. As I said, in absolute unbelief, to the mortgage broker: "It's a miracle!" She replied, "Yes, it is. But you always get miracles!"

This is a woman that has heard me share so many stories of God working in our lives, and she is in awe, but yet, sadly, she doesn't claim the God that is providing these miracles. It is always amazing to me when people watch my life in awe and speak of the faith that they *see* me show, and they tell me how miracles happen to *me*, and yet, they are afraid to take a chance on what I believe. They don't know what they are missing!

This is from the email she sent me later that day:

Thanks so much for your patience, Justine!!  You Have Faith!

I wish people like her, who claim to see miracles and wonderful things happening in my life, would take a chance and see if there really is a God that loves them. Not just a faceless, impersonal God, but a God that loves them individually and wants the very best for each of them. 

I feel like I might be at the end of my long list of burdens. I can see God's hand on each of them:

Car accident: 

• could have been so much worse
• got my van towed to our town when I had no 'Road star plus' which covers that 
• had two witnesses who saw the accident making it cut and dried
• the woman took immediate responsibility
• my van was not written off - $10,000 + but not a write-off
• I am covered for 12 deep muscle massages for stress 
• offered us a non-medical settlement that is very fair

Cooper's trip to Children's Hospital:

• all tests came out with no problems
• was able to get into the CT scan immediately
• Loving Gramma Rusty stepped in and took care of my children

 My husband's Gramma dying:

• Ray got a chance to visit his family and travel with his two brothers for one week
• Ray got the first days off that he has taken in over four months

 Very dysfunctional visitor turned our family upside down for a couple weeks.

• This caused my husband to reveal to me something I wasn't aware of: That the thing that he thought about the most was that the Bible says to take care of the widows and orphans. This has caused some real interesting thinking and action to take place in our home since that time. Soon there will be a post on that. Keep tuned in.

Discovered some of our children had been through something terrible.

•  Saw God's protective hand on them, as He revealed this to us.

Hubby lost his upcoming winter contract.

• My hubby has been freed up to work on our new home. Granted there is no money for bills. lol. but we can pay him very minimally for working on our home. This will increase our mortgage, but it does create work for him.

Terrifying teen crisis.

• God revealed something that needed to be addressed. 
• Our son's life was protected because of this.

 Wonderful house guest from Switzerland for three weeks.

• This showed me that I can, indeed, have a mother's helper. I thought I wouldn't like sharing my space, but this situation fell in our lap and it showed me how wonderful it could be. More on that later.

Small son experiencing strange flashes and shapes in vision for several weeks.

• While he was being seen for the bullet in the eye, a specialist happened to be in town that week, causing my worries to be laid somewhat to rest. 

 Same small son shot in the eye.

• His eye should have been pierced. These bullets are not toys. They travel at many feet second. 
• His vision has restored to normal

Mortgage company made huge mistake putting us at great risk.

• A Credit Manager decided to do us a huge kindness fixing the error we made.

 Son could have been killed.

• God protected him and he awoke before his car hit the oncoming car..

A personal crisis.

• This caused my hubby and I to make time to go out for a beautiful, intimate dinner and talk.

• At home we talked about deep important issues and it was so good.

An adoption situation.

•  Waiting to see the miracles from this one. You'll have to wait to... *smile*

Today, once the mortgage company called to tell me all was worked out I felt like I could just enjoy life again. My family is alive and well, my van is being repaired, my son is settling nicely into college, my little son is doing 'fine', our finances are being worked out. I can catch my breath until the next thing hits.

In the meantime, what did I learn?

That my faith didn't waver, but it did get shaken up. Did I question God? No. I just felt very overwhelmed by it all. I always knew that God would be with me, no matter what. Yes, he might have let our mortgage fail, but He would never leave me nor forsake me during that time. And He showed His presence in every other situation through the abnormal peace I felt in each situation.

I also felt the love of all my friends, when I got weak.

Thanks to all my friends. I feel almost ready for the next round. Almost. lol
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Have Boys? Lock Up the Pam!!

Pam Makes a 'Great' Floor Polish!

Are you aware how long it takes to wash Pam off a laminate floor?

One day, my dear impulsive son, decided to spray Pam into the air. How much air? Oh, just the entire kitchen air.

What did this do? Well, it caused him to spend the next four hours washing and rewashing the kitchen floor until all the grease was gone.

 

As he was coming to a finish, I asked him if the fun of spraying the Pam had been worth it.

Given his sweet, repentant (though very impulsive) heart, he replied with a sheepish grin, No.


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Valentine's Party 2010

Dane and I talked about him having a few friends over for a movie night and pizza, and before I knew it, I had Austin and Cassidy inviting a bunch of their friends, we had games planned, decorations organized and it was a full-fledge Valentine's shin-dig!

The wee ones had a little visit in the beginning and then headed upstairs to their own quarters to hang with their dad and have a pizza and movie for themselves.



It was a lot of fun and a big hit with the tweens and teens!

Dane and I had a game plan of what would happen when they came over. Most of the kids knew each other, but for many it was the first time that they would be mixing ages. We had youth here from 9-16. As it turned out later, I heard one mum tell me that her daughter said in almost a baffled tone, "It was so much fun. It was weird cause it really felt like family."

From what she said, her daughter didn't realize how much fun she could have with such a variety of ages. The sad thing is that the world misses out on the interaction of their siblings with each other and their friends; there is such indoctrination of 'age segregation'. I think part of the reason the party was such a success was because it broke down some of the rules of socialization.

Because we wanted everyone to feel comfortable we had a few things 'planned'. Planned meaning, if the youth walked in and seemed awkward then we had a backup plan. But as it turned out we certainly didn't need that. They took over and had a ball.

The girls did a fabulous job of getting into the theme and came thoroughly dressed up. The boys were a little more low-key, wearing their black clothes with spots of red. *smile* I think Dane was a little shocked at the girls. You see, when I suggested to him that he call his friends and give them the heads up that it was a Valentine's Party, he thought it was a silly idea. Meanwhile, the younger two boys cheerfully called their friends and told them to come in red, white, or pink.

So when the girls showed up looking like this..... Dane realized his mother wasn't so nuts after all.

Actually, I scored a few points for my generation in a number of ways. *grin* I also told him that the kids would likely want to use the juke box and the karaoke machine. He told me there was *no way* they would do that! (you know those teen years when it is important to do things 'right'.)

YMCA

Well, he was partly right. The boys didn't. *grin* The girls were very entertaining, though!

They Loved the Juke Box!

The Guys Found Other Things to Do

My plan was to break the fourteen youth into two groups. Group 1 would make their pizza first, followed by Group 2. Also, when they played the game of Babble they would divide again. I broke the group up in such a way to introduce one set of kids to another and it worked wonders. What a racket they made!!


The concept of the game is to read all the names on the card out as loudly as you can to be heard above the rest of the group of up to eight people. Basically they were yelling or screaming. You have two cards, so you are whipping through about 12 words one after the other. You are listening to the others read their cards as you call out yours, hoping to hear one word that matches one of yours. If they match, the game stops and the group checks the match. You roll a dice and one of the two people win the cards. You can imagine what an ice-breaker this very loud game can be!! I may be posting some short videos at some point...

When this game was over the kids just naturally rolled into the game of charades. Well, that was funny!! Some were more natural at it, having played many games in their families.


The older boys were the last to get involved, but yes, they finally did and had a good time.


PIZZA TIME: It was interesting when I called the first team into the kitchen and informed them that *they* would be making their pizzas from scratch. They kind of looked a little unsure and dithered around a bit. I stepped in and showed them the sauce, peppers, onions, meats, and cheeses and said if they needed me to give me a shout. It was funny cause shortly after Dane came to find me and told me he didn't know what to do with the oven.

Funny. Why? Because we make pizza every weekend and each of the kids makes their own. I think in the madness of the moment he just forgot. *smile*

So, I went back in the kitchen and commandeered a girl that I could see looked like she knew what she was doing, and suggested she take charge and delegate. She jokingly took on the role and began dispensing orders. I then turned to a boy near me and said, "Jesse, how'd you like to cut up the green peppers?" He immediately stepped up with a smile and took over.

And the rest is history. They just needed a gentle shove.

The results were interesting. I would hear a request, "Mrs. L. is it okay if we put pretzels on the pizza?"

Hey! It's your pizza. You gotta eat it!! LOL!! And so they did. And potato chips. And some of the pizzas were very oddly made: a few pieces of meat strewn on one side of the pizza and nothing else. Others were more elaborate.

The Final Results

The Feast

During the course of the evening, I fell across this Valentine lying on the stairs. I knew at once that some small boy wanted to give this card, but didn't have the courage. *smile* The night before the children had all been making Valentines, and this was the one that was made for someone other than a sibling, thus rendering one child without a card from their brother.

By the evenings end, he had worked up his courage to gift his little friend with his sweet card. Austin is a very loving boy with a big heart. Ever since I can remember his life's goal has been to get married and have children. It frequently comes up. Actually, I remember specifically over four years ago, when he was six years old, him telling me, "I can't wait til I'm a daddy." That came from the pleasure he received from his baby brother, Briton.

This desire has not waned, and I have full belief in it, because ever since I was a tiny child that was my life's goal, and look where I am today! God will give us the desire He puts in our heart.

After the pizza time, I let the youth know that they were responsible for the cleanup. Probably another surprise! *grin* There were no complaints, as they moved into the work. But what was the most surprising was the who actually did the work! The guys! The girls did a minor amount and then headed off to the TV room to romp and wait for the movie, while the men did the work. After a fashion....

Ever seen a counter cleared with a dustpan and brush? Hey, it did the trick! It was nice to see Dane in his element. He is my kitchen dinner man, so he knew exactly what he needed to do and he roped in his male counterparts. You can see him at the sink clearly at home! LOL


The kids all found seats in our smallish TV room - on top, beside, near a friend, squished or otherwise.

Dane had bought a few movies, so I figured I was good to go. It was 8:00 PM, and I figured it would be relatively peaceful for rest of the evening. The little ones were now in bed and the teens were being picked up at midnight. My chaperoning was done, and all was quiet. Or so I thought!

Naive Me sat down in the livingroom to watch a Walton's episode by myself. Ha Ha! That lasted all of an hour or so. They decided they weren't keen on the movie choice. They discussed it further, took a vote, and decided to ride it out for the ones that did like it.

As they emerged from the TV room at just after 9:00 pm, I thought in a mild panic, "What am I going to do now?"

You HAD to see these hyper teens in the 5-8 PM slot when they were bouncing off walls, furniture and each other! LOL!! And you all told me BOYS were noisy!!! Seriously, it was the GIRLS!! I have never heard such squeals and silliness.

It was all good and they were just awesome, but seriously. All you adoptive mums who signed up for girls, because you thought they were calmer. Okay, so you may be right when they are little. But watch out for those teen years. Oh my goodness!! LOL!! The boys were extraordinarily calm, standing around chatting, playing games, and the girls were... well, you saw the photos up above! *grin*

So you can imagine why I had a mild panic thinking WHAT will they do from 9-12??? LOL Thankfully, they quickly figured it out when they decided to go out into the dark night and jump on the trampoline, climb in the treefort, chase each other around the yard, and play hide-and-seek. All things that I had no clue they would end up doing. They did this until 10:30.

At which time they came in and decided to arm wrestle in my fancy livingroom. *grin*


We then moved on to icecream sundaes, and this evolved into another movie. As it turned out boys and girls don't always want to watch the same type of movie, thus the girls took the TV room in the garage, and the boys took the TV room in the house! But all were happy and they played and watched TV until 12:30 when they were all picked up.

It was a roaring success, and I am hoping to do another one for Easter. I figure a Back to School Party and a Christmas Party would also be great themes. My plan though, is for the next one to be more of an outdoors party complete with hotdogs and bonfire...
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