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.

Living and Learning

Living life has become all encompassing this week as I acquire a new skill, one that should be very useful over the next many years, the fine art of organizing and hostessing a graduation. I've attended a few homeschool graduations in the past few years, but this is very different territory being on this side of the celebration!

So, as much as I'm anticipating the grand event and as proud as I am of Miss Autumn Rain....I'm feeling a bit frantic (because I waited so long to pull the pieces together), a bit overwhelmed at the number of details yet to be taken care of, and a bit teary eyed at what all this signifies...the end of this young woman's days under my tutelage. Some professors out there are about to inherit a gem of a student, one who lives to learn, one who is passionate about whatever she sets her heart towards.

Northern Lights

The books referred to in my previous post, "Ulaq and the Northern Lights" by Harriet Peck Taylor and "SkySisters" by Jan Bourdeau Waboose, are both delightful picture books that relate legends that have stemmed from the northern lights.

Ulaq is a curious fox living in the cold north. His enchantment with the northern lights sends him on a quest across the tundra to discover what they are. His arctic friends join him, all telling him their own explanation of the lights.

"SkySisters" tells the story of two young Ojibway sitsers who set off across the frozen north, to Coyote Hill, anticipating the dance of the SkySpirits. The illustrations (by Brian Deines) in this book are especially dazzling!

I picked both books up at my local library. Keep in mind that these books approach the lights through mystical/spiritual legends and are not scientifically based at all. There is a factual note from the author at the end of "Ulaq" giving some explanation about the aurora borealis.

Enjoy the read!

The Journey Continues

Greetings, Friends!
The journey around His world is progressing quite nicely. Since our last postcard home we've travelled far and wide...through the layers of the atmosphere...around the globe naming the continents...and now learning of the 5 oceans that are really one!




















We've built a model of the atmosphere, done some additional reading of the Northern Lights, and the highlight of the study for the youngest traveller....scrapbooked our postcards home. The adventure is exciting and there is so much more yet to explore.






















We'll be in touch soon!

Sunday Tea

The front porch of Grammy's farmhouse was bathed in sunlight and warm smiles as we sipped tea together and shared our Sunday afternoon. It's always a treat to go visit my husband's Grandmother on the other side of the mountains. Grammy is 87 this year, still living in her own home, still knitting treasures, still serving tea when we drop in for the day.

It's so easy to let the busy-ness of our days keep us from making time to share an afternoon with Grammy...yet we are the ones to gain so much from the visit.

"Thank you for having us, Grammy," we say as we hug good-bye. "I'm the one who wins," she whispers in my husband's ear.



Front Porch Tea



Grammy and Autumn Rain



Grammy and Lavender and Old Lace

Going on a Journey

Summer is hovering very closely on the horizon of our days and with it comes a change of pace. To keep us moving along in our Learning Life this summer, my younger children and I will be journeying through Ann Voskamp's A Child's Geography.

The journey has actually already begun and so far has been a joyful excursion. I'm not generally a hands-on sort of teacher or learner, really I'm more the read-aloud sort, but while the pressure of other school work is low I thought I'd try to do as many of the included (although not required) activities as possible. And so as the children have been busily building globes and scrapbooking this adventure, I've been busily snapping shots of our travels to share with you.

The Paper-Mache Globes

Shaping globes

Hanging out to dry

Drawing the continents


Painting the globe

Adding the finishing touches

Proudly displaying the finished globe

We'll be sending you postcards of our journey all along the way....so keep your eyes on this postbox.

Celebrating The Autumn Rain

A Learning Life
is delighted to announce
the high school graduation of

The Autumn Rain

Commencement celebration to be held
Saturday, June 24th, 2006
4:00 p.m.

"Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage." Ps. 84:5

This Week on Homestead

I'm not sure exactly what is taking shape on Homestead this week, but something is in the works and progress is what we like to see.

Snapshots of our Weekend Friendship Fest

Castle Crags as seen from the Vista Point


Fellow bloggers from A Circle of Quiet, The Autumn Rain, A Learning Life, and Lavender and Old Lace.


The parents responsible for all of the following.....


The Barefoot Dancers.

Basking in the Afterglow of a Beautiful Weekend

Yesterday, as I aired sleeping bags, returned unused food to the cupboards, and sorted filthy laundry--all the aftermath of a glorious weekend in the wilds-- a hymn kept knocking on the door of my heart..."For the Beauty of the Earth". Usually it's the first verse of a song that comes to my mind, but what was running through my mind while cleaning up was instead the third verse.

"For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise."

Today I'm grateful for....

...my friend who calls my young daughter "sister",

...young men of three families uniting in friendship,

..."best friendships" that survive the distance and months between play days,

...and the joy of a shared moment while watching our young daughters explore God's creation.

The scenery was beautiful, the campfire cozy, but nothing compares to the beauty of friendships renewed and continuing to grow and enrich our lives.