Amanda

Please continue to pray for my niece, Amanda. Last Tuesday she had a shunt put in to drain the fluid building up in her cranium. She's been in terrible pain and has been placed back into the critical care unit today.

Thank you!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Lavender Girl!

The Lavender Beds
by William Brighty Rands

The garden was pleasant
with old-fashioned flowers,
The sunflowers and hollyhocks
stood up like towers:
There were dark turncap lilies
and jessamine rare,
And sweet thyme and marjoram
scented the air.

The moon made the sun-dial
tell the time wrong;
'Twas too late in the year
for the nightingale's song;
The box-trees were clipped,
and the alleys were straight,
Till you came to the shrubbery
hard by the gate.
The fairies stepped out
of the lavender beds,
With mob-caps, or wigs, on their quaint
little heads,
My lord had a sword and my lady a fan;
The music struck up and the dancing began.
I watched them go through with a grave minuet;
Wherever they footed the dew was not wet;
They bowled and they curtsied, the brave and the fair;
And laughter like chirping of crickets was there.

Then all of a sudden a church clock
struck loud:
A flutter, a shiver, was seen in the crowd,
The cock crew, the wind woke, the trees
tossed their heads,
And the fairy folk hid in the lavender beds.

Letting Go

While my Autumn Rain is revelling in her blossoming social life, this Mamablogger is having to learn to let go. And let me tell all of you coming along behind me, those of you who have only young ones at home, this day comes far to soon! It is very stretching to wake at 2 a.m. and realize that your child (she'll always be my child) is yet to come home. But I know my Autumn Rain, I trust her, I've raised her to be who she is, and I know that she is safe in my Father's hands. I've learned something else too, next time I'll send my cell phone along, just to make sure all is well.

Moving along!

This is the parking side and entrance to our house, not to be confused with the front.


The confusion coming from the fact that our home sits backwards on our property...to maximize the view from the living area, which in all the plans we looked at were found in the back of the house! The house looks equally nice from either back or front, however you choose to define them.


Looking up from the front yard.

Why the flowers, Mama?

Just because.....

While sitting here I'm reminded of another day, a different boquet. It must have been 12 years ago, before my friend "J" had left the outside work world or had any little ones of her own and I was looking like a Mama duck with four little ones in tow. My sweet friend dropped in during a downpour in the middle of the day, bearing a beautiful boquet.

"What for, dear friend?"

To which she replied, "Just because it's Tuesday."

Thank you, J, I'll always remember how you brightened that day!

Leisure

William H. Davies

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Friday's Musings

The weekend is just one sleep away.

This morning I hugged, kissed, and waved my scouts goodbye. They're off to test their skills against the rapids on the Rogue. Then the homefront became incredibly quiet. No music came resonating from the back bedroom of my home. No tall son telling me how hungry he is and asking what more he can snack on. No younger brother stick fighting in the front yard with the neighbor boy. In fact, even the neighbor boy is away and won't be ringing my doorbell asking for my sons all day, all weekend. And tonight, no love of my life to share my bed. I don't sleep well when he's away.

My big girls headed off to another day in the tea room...and a hot, sultry tea room it was today. My little girls disappeared into the back yard to their awaiting renovation project, turning the tool shed into a "hotel". They swept, dusted, threw out the junk, and created a wondrous world...complete with a cheery "fire" in the corner.

I swapped out the music selection in the CD player, carefully selecting for the mode I needed to enter. WORK MODE! I like jazz to work to, it keeps me moving. So in went the Wooden Nickel Jazz Band. The time had come to restore order, again, to my home. I put away the week's school books scattered about, dug out the hearth from beneath it's piles of newspapers and other sundry items that were dumped there in an effort to clear the table for dinners this week, then did the general sorts of things that are so easily neglected in the fury of the week. But I did it all at my own pace, stopping now and then to read another chapter in my book, which I finished this afternoon. I love a day to putter and see fruit and the end of it and not be completely frazzled in the process.

Now my Lavendar girl is off to a scavenger hunt with the kids at church, my Autumn Rain is taking time to restore her room, and my Moonchild and Ladybird are waiting for me to join them for a cuddle and movie time.

My home is clean, cozy and ready to be enjoyed throughout the weekend. And it will be ready and waiting for my hungry, dirty scouts when they return on Monday.

Sunday Morning Mist

A Whirlwind of Days

I've been caught up in the hustle and bustle of every day life ever since returning from our vacation days in Idaho. And there isn't much sign of the busy-ness letting up for a few more weeks yet. But they've been productive days, days that speak of order and routine returning to our lives after the varied rhythm of our summer days.

The first week of August was spent partially playing catch-up and partially in preparation for our new school year. I had MANY months of bank statements etc. hollering to be attended to and bedrooms needing to be dug out from under choas. Last year's school books needed to swapped out with the new. Binders needed to be organized with our new schedules.

Then the weekend arrived with a flurry of events. Friday night we very hurriedly and, sadly to say, not very ceremoniously celebrated Shannon's birthday. (Can we rewind and do it right?) Saturday morning, bright and early, 4 of us were up and out the door by 6:15 a.m. driving to the city for writing workshops and school testing. I brought Ladybird and Jabberwocky back home, went out for a quick look at the house progress, quickly threw together what I would need for my overnight with Autumn Rain, and headed back to the city.

Autumn rain and I had a wonderful weekend getaway. She was recognized at the Willamette Valley Writer's convention for winning the Kate Herzog scholarship and spent hours and hours soaking up the writing life at various seminars throughout the weekend. I, on the other hand, collapsed. I read, soaked in the tub, painted my nails and made another coveted trip to Trader Joe's. She filled the 1 1/2 drive home Sunday with the many new ideas spinning round in her head.

Monday brought one last day to clean up and prepare for the beginning of school. Tuesday was the grand kick off day, minus my Autumn Rain. Actually she's been here, just not studying with us. Everyone seems happy to have their books back in hand and their days filled with learning once again.

Now the weekend has come 'round once again and was packed with fun, exciting, new experiences! We shared the weekend camping with folks from our new church...and they have fun toys. Jet boats, wake boards, knee boards, biscuits...perfect fun for my growing kids and something more my pace, a sailboat. Of course, we've come home with a terrible case of the "I wants", but we'll just have to deal with that.

Today I'll restore order, again, and prepare my mind, again, for a few more days of school before next weeked's round of events. What's coming up? My guys are off for a long weekend of rafting with their scout troop on the Rogue River, the little girls and I will head north to spend some time with cousins, and alas my big girls will be busily working and saving for college expenses. It's hard growing up!

Building Update

Framing has begun!



The first two photos are from last Saturday, 8-5-06.



And this was the progress made during Monday and Tuesday of this week!

A Family of Friends

Deuteronomy 6:4-7
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."

My family has been gifted a wonderful treasure, a Godly Grandpa and Grandma who love their Lord and their family. My parents recent labor of love has been to create a wilderness retreat where the families of their 5 children can gather and share family time together.

Last weekend we enjoyed the fruit of that labor as pieces and parts of the various families melded as one for a whirlwind of activities. There were lazy afternoons at the river, tea parties in the woods, airsoft wars, little princesses all dressed up, and loads of food prepared and very quickly consumed.

Roll call totaled up at 27 this year: 2 Grandparents, 3 Aunts, 2 Uncles, and 20 (out of 27) cousins!


The Patriarch of the Clan


Grandma and Moonchild Making S'mores


Cousins Galore


Sweet Friendship

Please Pray

I'm pasting in a recent e-mail from my sister-in-law and asking all of you to please join me in praying for my dear niece, Amanda, who has been suffering for so long.

"For Amanda things are not looking as encouraging. In the last two years she has undergone so much!!! So many C.A.T. scans and M.R.I.’s, an M.R.V., an E.C.G., numerous x-rays, months of physical therapy, hundreds of Dr. visits to here p.c.p., back surgeons, neurologists, pain specialists, oral facial pain specialists, chiropractors, a deep tissue message therapist, an acupuncturist, optometrists, an opthamologist, as well as dentists and endodontist’s. She has had several root canals done to try to alleviate the intense pain, unfortunately only making matters worse, causing severe T.M.D., which makes here jaw lock so that it can only be closed manually,as well as adding to the pain she already was dealing with. She has had back surgery that has left her unable to walk on her own, although, for the last 3-4 weeks she has been able to use only a cain and she is able to walk with support, but without full control of the legs, sadly, she has not made any progress in P.T. since June. Oddly, one of the back surgeons asked her prior to surgery, when she had quit smoking because her bones are dried up like someone who has smoked all their life. Of course, she has never smoked, neither has she been around it. Her shoulders for no reason known just pop out of joint. She has to take inhalers on a daily basis for asthma she developed almost two years ago now. She has lost more than half of her eyesight, and sometimes her eyes blur altogether, making it impossible to see. This has been a help though, as it sent her to the opthamologist, who, suspecting intra-cranial hypertension, sent her to a new neurologist, who ordered a lumbar tap to measure the opening pressure of her spinal fluid, (it is supposed to top at 150, hers is 300 and something,) which gave another specialist another piece to the puzzle enabling him to give a tentative diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia. Below is a description I pasted from websight.

DESCRIPTIONTrigeminal Neuralgia (TN), also known as Tic Douloureux, is considered by many to be the "most terrible pain known to man." The electric shock-like pain generally is on one side of the face and is spasmodic, coming in short bursts lasting a few seconds. Several attacks can follow each other within minutes. There are often trigger points, places on the face which, if touched, trigger an attack.. Eating, shaving, applying makeup and talking can be triggers. There can be periods of remission when pain is completely absent. These periods of remission, which can last days, weeks, months, even years, are unpredictable and without medical treatment, the pain usually returns.1. TN is a very rare condition. Statistics vary, but TN occurs in approximately 150 per million people per year. Medical literature notes this condition is rare for anyone under age 50.

For over two years Amanda has not had remission, with the exception of a very light let up in August of ‘04.Other concerns are that since Amanda had the spinal tap done about five weeks ago she has only been able to stomach rice milk and a couple of times some gelatin snacks. She attempts to eat every few days, but is unable to keep it down. Plus, since her back surgery, April 5, she has had a headache of migraine proportions, only it can’t be a migraine because migraines don’t continue for so long. ( This headache is beside the spinal headache she had after the tap.)

So we continue on. Amanda, taking to heart very much the words of her boss from the Courier Herald, tries really hard not to let her pain affect others. This is a huge load for her to carry. Thank you for keeping her (and us,) in your prayers."

Yesterday, Amanda, had another lumbar tap and is experiencing excruciating pain. Will you remember her before our Great Physician?

Progress Report

The builder called Tuesday evening with exciting news...our foundation had been poured!



After weeks of waiting, and watching, and seeing nothing change the project is moving forward.



Hopefully, upon our return from Idaho next week, we'll see the frame of our new home on the hilltop.

Please return my brain!

One last accusation aimed at my dear friends who left us on Monday. Did you take my brain home in one of your backpacks? I've found the other lost items...the 288 patch and the headphones...but this critical item in my life still seems to be at large.

Here's the evidence...I'm trying very hard to do laudry today, very unsuccessfully. I loaded the machine with soap and water, but came back an hour later to discover I'd never shut the lid...so I did and left. Now I've come back to make the transfer to the dryer only to discover that I'd forgotten more than shutting the lid...I'd never put the sheets in! Okay, I'll try this over again soap, water, sheets,AND closing the lid.

Maybe the snooze I've been fighting off is a good plan afterall. But it's a bit late in the day for that, guess I'll see what a cup of tea might do for me.

Celebrating the 4th and Our Family

The day was tailor made for us.











We needed time to reconnect after the busy days of graduation, a houseful of friends, and brotherblogger's week away at Scout Camp.











We needed time to enjoy what God has placed in His wonderful world.













We needed time to play.










We needed time for each other!

Fun in the Sun

Life doesn't get much better than this.

Friendship,

conversation,

a sunny beach,

and shelter!

One more memory to treasure.

Shoes, shoes, shoes!

Precious memories are triggered by the simplest of things. Like the shoe pile by the front door last week while we savored every moment with our adopted cousins from A Circle of Quiet. This jumble of shoes is a symbol of the friendships forged in our loving home-group, of barefoot dancers in the back yard, of forgotten socks (whose are they?), and of the love and laughter shared among our families.
Thank you, dear friends, for this memory!
And when, once again, we say goodbye....don't forget your shoes...shoes....shoes.....

Highlights of Graduation Day

"Autumn Rain's Song" by Proud Daddy



A letter from Mamma



Presentation of Diploma


A word from the Autumn Rain

Dear Autumn Rain

This graduation day seemed unfathomable 13 years ago, when we opened that first exciting box of curriculum at our little house on Ganzan Way. And each year your eyes have sparkled brightly as we greeted the package truck bearing our increasingly larger boxes of books, books, and more books.

You’ve read voraciously over these years, all the while storing up your own tales to be told. Tales for you sisters and brothers, tales for Old Fashioned Daughters, and words of inspiration for your audience at the Autumn Rain. Now you’re ready to move on in this journey, to continue your learning life in a new setting.

I’m proud of the choices you’re making for your future. I’m grateful that those plans will allow you to live with us for a few years yet. But I will be sad come September when you will no longer be studying at my dining room table.

You’ve been our trailblazer on this adventure! Thank you for so willingly enduring all the trials and errors along the way. You’ve given me joy in the journey, a breath of afternoon.

I love you,
Mamma

Current Reads

While I haven't hopped on board the Summer Reading Challenge, I have added two new books by my bedside in the past week. "The Rock That is Higher: Story as Truth" by Madeleine L'Engle and "A Brighter Garden" with poems by Emily Dickinson and illustrated by Tasha Tudor.