I think we were able to stop and breathe for the first time in a month, sometime last week.  It seems like we’ve been going non-stop!

For those who don’t know, we’ve begun the process of getting licensed to foster-to-adopt through a Christian agency in Lufkin.  We will be able to accept up to three children, between the ages of 0-6.  We’re going to do our best to stick to ages 0-4, but we’re willing to consider up to 6, maybe 7.  We’ve attended our PRIDE classes, Adoption Training, and PsychMed classes (just to learn about possible meds our foster children could be prescribed – for conditions like ADHD, ADD, etc. – we won’t be a treatment home).  Now, we’re getting down to the nitty-gritty.  We’ve got to get some things done outside to make it safer for children – things like rails on steps for the porch, locking up gas cans, chainsaws, etc.  Inside, we’ve still got to get the bedroom ready and get our girls’ new mattresses.  (Not looking forward to that expense.)  We’ll have bunk beds plus one baby bed in the spare room, and H will have bunk beds in her room.  H offered to share her room with a foster child, so after considerable thought, we agreed.  We don’t feel like A should share a room at all, since she is the oldest.

We still have to do other things like:  have a home inspection and fire inspection, complete our home study, get fingerprinted, get tested for TB, etc.  And this Friday & Saturday we have our final classes.  Lots to do!  Probably the biggest concern we have at this point is being ready when placements come – with such things as car seats, supplies like shampoo/soap/toothbrushes, pillows, toys (we have NO toys for this age group!), and the like.  We’ve been told to expect to spend around $200-500 per child when they first come to us….I think that is possibly a little exaggerated, but perhaps not.  This person said she buys each new child a comforter they have chosen, clothes, and other things.  I’m thinking that initially, clothes and a few personal items will be all that’s needed immediately.  I’m going to have to get sheets, mattress covers, and crib sheets.  It’s amazing the things you realize you got at a baby shower!  LOL!  The hard part is not knowing until they come through the door what you will need.  We’ve heard that some children come with some of their own things, while others will come to us with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

While we’re praying we’ll be able to eventually adopt the first child(ren) who capture our hearts, we’re learning to be sympathetic to the fact that our gain is another family’s loss.  It’s sad to think of what these children have gone through, and what the families must be going through.  I realize that many, if not most, of these families have made choices which have placed these kids in harm’s way, but we all know that there are families who have truly done nothing wrong, yet their family has been ripped apart.  Regardless of the circumstances, the children who will come to us will have endured more pain than their young years should have to bear.  Please pray for those children, and for the ones they’ll leave behind.

When you become a foster parent, you have the option to choose the race, ethnicity, age, and medical/developmental/physical status of the children you are willing to accept.  Some only take teens, while others only want babies.  Still others want only white girls between 2-7 years old.  We have chosen to accept ANY race, ethnicity, medical, developmental, or physically challenged child.  There were only a couple of areas we didn’t feel confident in accepting, and that was due to the fact that we have young girls in the house.  The agency we are going through does not handle medically fragile placements, so I doubt very seriously if we would get a child with serious medical issues – not to mention, we have not been trained for such.  But, this does leave open the possibility of us receiving a child with Down Syndrome, developmental or physical delays, minor physical challenges, autism, etc.  And, of course, it means we may accept children of a race or ethnicity different from our own.  We made these decisions based on the fact that “God is not a respecter of persons,” and “God looks at the heart while man looks at the outside.”  We didn’t feel like we had a right to discriminate based on race, color, or physical capability because God does not separate us that way.

We’re so excited about this new journey, and would graciously ask for your continued prayers as we navigate these unknown waters.  We’re getting to the part of the journey that gets very personal, and somewhat intrusive.  Tact would be a very good thing for me to have right now!  LOL  j/k

In other news:

A & H have begun taking piano lessons courtesy of one of the young ladies at our church.  They are learning to read music right now, and I was told today that they are both doing well.  H tends to play by ear a lot, which on one hand is good, but her teacher wants to stress that she learn to read the music and play by it so as not to limit herself.  They are both really enjoying their lessons, and it’s still the basics!

The girls are also writing their 3rd books each – the Author’s Party will be June 25 and everyone is welcome!  Alex has written much more this year than in years past, and is doing some amazing artwork for the book.  Hannah, for the first time, has done 99% of the physical writing part on her own (rather than dictate to others and it be written down for her).  Generally speaking, her brain works faster than her hands, so she sometimes needs a little help.  She is getting much better though.  Titles for this year’s masterpieces are:  Alex’s Best Friend and The Lonely Corn Stalk.  I’ll let you think about those for a while!

A is saving up money for horse camp this year!  She had wanted SO badly to go last year, but we found out very close to the last camp, and weren’t able to afford it.  So far, she has $143, so to stay at the overnight camp, she still needs $307.  Horse camp is July 18-21, so she is trying really hard to save the rest of the money.  She is making handmade cards to sell, and is trying to think of jobs she can do  – kind of hard for a not-yet-12 year old to do!  If you have any jobs you’d like to pay to have done, let us know!  She is so excited about going this year – this is going to be a dream come true for her!

They girls have birthdays later this month!  Can you believe they will be 12 & 10???? It seems like only yesterday…

John has been home the last two days – it’s always nice when he’s off work.  I’m going to post about this on my public blog, but just have to say this:  wives, PLEASE don’t publicly humiliate your husbands!  I recently read something by a woman who was complaining that her husband was unable to handle the everyday affairs of a household for even a couple of hours.  She spouted off all the things she did, and wondered why he expected her to do it, but he was incapable of it.

Ladies, I know we get frustrated sometimes.  But years ago I heard something that has made a HUGE difference in my marriage and my attitude towards John.  A woman’s husband, along with several other men, was up for a promotion.  (BTW, this is a true story.)  The supervisor wanted to speak to the wives of each of these men.  During the course of their conversation, he would point out a fault of the husband, then proceed to really complain about it.  Out of 10 (possibly more – it’s been a REALLY long time since I heard it) women, nine sided with the boss and added to the complaint.  “Oh I know – I hate when he does that!  And then he does so and so…..”  Only ONE woman stood up and gave that boss a piece of her mind!  She scolded him and told him that her husband was a great man and that she was not going to sit there and just let her husband be degraded and put down by anyone.  She fiercely defended him.  And, can you guess who got the promotion?  Her husband.  You see, the boss knew that the man for the job was the one whose wife stood behind him 100% because he would have the strongest support.

So, when I read what this wife had written the other day, it really bothered me.  We do need to vent sometimes – I agree.  It’s important not to let our emotions fester.  But,when we vent to others, we paint our husbands in a very negative light.  And, as mere mortals, it’s hard for those who hear it to distinguish anymore between the husband we complain about, and the one we see before us.  To me, it just seems like we’ve become so used to man-bashing that we don’t even realize anymore that we are asking our husbands to be and do something they weren’t created to do!

My husband is not perfect.  That’s a given.  But, hey, neither am I.  I have my faults.  And, he may not do my job here perfectly, but I know I couldn’t step into his shoes and do his job perfectly, either.  I do this everyday – he does his job everyday.

I guess what I’m saying is, if you must complain that your husband in complete incapable of folding the laundry the right way or that he NEVER rinses the sink after brushing his teeth or shaving, there is Someone you can talk to, and it will not only prevent your husband’s public humiliation, but will change your whole outlook.  Take it to Jesus.  He can handle our gripes, concerns, pleas, and outcries.  He wants to hear it.

So, it’s a challenge.  And guys, though you don’t generally do as much complaining, this goes for you, too.  Don’t put your wife down when talking to others – regardless of who you’re talking to.  (But especially if you’re talking to your mom!) 

Well, there you have it….our big plans and the low-down on the goings-on here at McDonald’s Farm!

December came and went, but not as quickly as usual.  We were deeply grieved by the sudden loss of Dennis, my uncle, whom we all loved and adored.  But, as hard as it was for us to let him go, we know that now he is complete and whole, praising Jesus in all His glory in Heaven, where Dennis now walks, talks, and is made perfect!  We mourn, for we do still miss him, but we rejoice, knowing he is home where he belongs, with our Abba, Father.

January brought the New Year, new goals, and new dreams.  This year we’ll have many great celebrations!  John turns 45 in February, and I will officially be in my mid-30s in March!  The girls will turn 12 & 10, and for those who haven’t seen us in a while – Alex is as tall as I am!  I’m guessing that by the summer, or at least by the end of the year, she’ll be taller, and she can’t wait….LOL.

In September, John & I will be celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary!!  We are truly blessed to have one another, and I’m so grateful to be married to my very best friend.  Because our wedding 15 years ago was in the Justice of the Peace’s chambers, and because we weren’t able to have any family or friends present, we’ve decided to renew our vows this year at our church here in Jasper!  We are SO excited!  We only have a few ideas so far, but one thing we will do is have Dad give us a Father’s blessing – perhaps with an added challenge for us as we continue our life together in Christ.  Whatever he chooses to say will be perfect, I’m sure.

More big news, and certainly more reason to celebrate is this…..John and I have longed for more children for quite some time now, but thus far, God has chosen not to bless us with more biological children.  However, we have for many years considered adoption, and within the last couple of years, toyed with the idea of fostering.  We have a dear Christian friend who has opened her home for many years as a foster parent here in Jasper, and we feel like God has used her to encourage us in this endeavor.  We honestly thought we needed to wait until this or that was perfect – bills paid off, bigger house, new car, etc. etc…., but God assured John recently that it was not His plan that we wait!  The exact thought He placed in his heart was, “Why not now?”  And so, we have begun the process of fostering to adopt.  We are excited about the possibility, as are the girls.  They both offered to give up their rooms for foster/adopted children to use, but we’ve chosen to use the office for that.  So, right now, we’re in the process of rearranging things to open up that bedroom.  We truly feel like God blessed us with this house for His purposes, not for our own comfort.  We’ll be putting up a baby bed, as well as bunk beds in that bedroom, since we have agreed to take on children ranging in age from 0-8.  We’re also going to be looking for a second baby bed in case we are given the opportunity to have two infants or toddlers.   Needless to say, we’re going to become frequent garage sale visitors!

We realize that fostering and adopting are enormous decisions, and we hope our loved ones will trust that we have not made such a decision in haste.  Indeed, it has taken us years to get to this point, and our prayer is that each and every one of you will be as excited as we are about helping, loving, and blessing another child who desperately needs a caring, Godly family to call his/her own.

Certainly, this decision has come with MANY added projects and much added to an already hectic schedule.  We have various projects to complete around the house including:  redistributing office furnishings to other areas in the house;  baby-proofing the house;  turning an office into a child’s room;  painting Hannah’s room (finally);  fencing in the front yard;  organizing and locking the storage building; and skirting the front porch, just to name a few!  We also will be taking about 4 weeks of twice-weekly PRIDE classes, as well as 1 class for adopting.  We’ll also be required to complete a CPR and First Aid class, which I believe the girls will also do – never a bad idea to know those things.  We’ve got to lock up all medications and cleaners.  Yep, there are LOTS of things we need to do.

The goal is to begin the next series of PRIDE classes in March.  John has a scheduled week of vacation in February, so we’re hoping to accomplish a lot that week.  (But, we’re not too proud to accept help, should anyone want to offer!)  We really want to stay on target to be ready to accept placements by the end of April.  But, this is God’s plan we’re working, so we’re prepared for it to be sooner, or even slightly later, though I don’t expect it to be much later.

The girls are doing great in school and 4-H this year.  We have community service projects lined up for the next 4 months, as well as some field trips that John & I plan to take with them.  In February, we’ll be delivering handmade Valentine’s cards to patients at a local nursing home.  Each of our 10 4-H members will be making at least 5 cards, so we’ll be able to bless at least FIFTY patients!  Then, in March, they’ll be serving the Human Society by helping with their booth at the Azalea Festival.  April has us picking up trash in one of the state parks just outside town, and in May, we’ll be doing a pre-order bake sale to benefit either one needy child, or a charity which supports children in need.  We’d love to have your support on that!

Alex really enjoys cooking and baking, and has taken on the responsibility of meal prep a couple of nights a week, as well as preparing most lunches.  Hannah helps with those as well, and can make her own quesadillas, scrambled eggs, and other simple dishes.  We are exploring the possibility of Alexis apprenticing with a local Christian woman who owns a bakery.  Alex loves to bake cookies and things, so this would give her wonderful experience in the kitchen, as well as responsibility, time management, etc.  She’s already an excellent helper when it comes to canning, which we hope to do lots of this summer!

Oh!  I nearly forgot!  We have a new addition to the family!  He stands proud at a kingly height of about 4.5″, head to toe, although, if you measure head to tail, which he’d likely prefer, he’d reach an astonishing 10″!  He sometimes wears a feathery crown of gray, and loves to sing for us all day long.  He’s pretty smart, too….he learned the Charge! whistle in no time!  He likes nuts, crackers, and potato chips, and especially loves to have his neck rubbed.  His name is Rocky, changed from Cocktail.  (The girls named him after their favorite Sly Stallone character!)  Here is a closeup family photo:

The newest McDonald family member - Rocky the cockatiel

As you can tell, God is working in our lives in big, new, exciting ways this year!  We look forward to the day when we can introduce each of you to our very first foster child/children!  We pray that each of you is having a fantastic start to a tremendous year!

Thanks for keeping up with our family through this blog….if you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe so you never miss a post!  (Check the top right corner of this page!)

Have a great end-of-the-month!

Toni

Let me try to give a quick recap of the last 9 or 10 months:

Last November, we were grieved by the death of my cousin, Robert, at much too young of an age.  We learned that life is truly fleeting, and we are not guaranteed another day or another minute.  Lean on Christ now, while there is yet time.

November also brought us joy, as we took delivery of the new mobile home we had wanted for so long.  We are in, finally sold the old home, and we’re working on making this home truly “ours.”  One thing that excited me about this home so much is the room!  We have 4 bedrooms, so I get to have an office/sewing & craft/guest room.  So, for those who come visit, we have the space!

We’ve painted Alex’s room – it’s blue and green, and will have a beach/ocean theme.  Unless she changes her mind again!  The colors are pretty – very calming and relaxing with white trim.  Hannah, of course, is doing pink, but with a twist.  She’ll have light pink walls + 1 darker pink wall.  The trim will be black, and the theme?  Elvis!  Nothing relaxing about Hannah’s room!  But, each room will suit it’s resident well.

John has been hard at work on the front porch – it looks GREAT!  He has also been tackling various other projects around here – we have a loooong list!  LOL.  We’re whittling it down. We still haven’t decided what to do with our room, but I LOVE my kitchen!  John has always loved red,though it was never my favorite.  Well, now, EVERYTHING in my kitchen is red!  And I absolutely love it!!  It’s a country-theme, but not too cutesy….looks great.  Just have a few finishing touches, and we’re all done.  So far, so good!

In the living room, we have some great furniture, as well as a piano…and no, none of us can play it – yet.  We’re working on that part.

The girls played softball this spring, and I served on the JYBA Board.  Although the girls will undoubtedly play again, I don’t think I’ll be on the board again.  I have the utmost respect for Dad doing it as long as he did, but I learned it’s just not my cup of tea.  More importantly, I think God has other things He’d rather me spend that time doing.  However, when the girls play, I’ll help out with teams, just not as a head coach.  That said, the girls did much better this year.  Hannah really can WAYLAY the ball!!  And when she concentrates, WOW!  Has she got an arm!  Alex improved this year also, but since we have so many kids playing in select leagues, unless they all do, many get left behind in the regular season.  So, the girls will continue to play for fun, but it doesn’t appear as though it will be quite the passion for them that it was for Mandy and myself, and that’s ok.

Spring also brought with it a garden for us!  We tried last year to no avail, but our garden did pretty well this year, for newbies…ha ha.  We have a shelf full of yummy home-canned goods to prove it!  Plus, we were blessed to receive some of the extra bounty from Mom & Doug’s garden, as well.  Right now, we’re getting ready to plant a fall garden, and look forward to what it will provide.

We’ve started 4-H again this year, and I’m proud to announce that Alexis is the club President, and Hannah is the club 1st Vice President!  Does that make me the First Mom?  LOL….we’ve got some great things planned for the year, and look forward to all the challenges and activities.  Between 4-H, home school, and church, we’re booked this month!  One project the girls are planning is raising rabbits for the livestock show and sale in the spring.  We’re thinking about raising a hog or two for next year’s show, but we’re starting small this year!

I’ve recently begun working with a health and wellness company.  For the last few years, I’ve become increasingly interested in natural methods of healing and natural health products.  So, when this opportunity came along, I had to grab it.  I’m really excited about helping people save money and get safer, more economical and environmentally friendly products in their homes and around their children.  You can check it out in the link on the sidebar under:  Health & Wellness.

I’ve still been writing for the Texas Logger, and in fact, had an interview this morning for an article about a State Supported Living Center in Lufkin.  I hadn’t planned on doing this as long as I have, but God is using it to fill a need for us, and until He releases me, I’m here.  It is quite gratifying to see my name in print month after month, though!

Speaking of being in print, the girls are working on another bookmaking project during the first two weeks of November.  Shortly after, possibly the week right before Thanksgiving, we’ll have an Author’s Party to celebrate and show off the books the students make.  During a brief 10-day period, each student will write, edit, illustrate, lay-out, and bind their own books – with limited help from parents.  They are so proud of the books they wrote during the first go-round with this project, that they’ve been trying to think of ideas to write about this time!  I hope everyone can make it to the Author’s Party….I’ll let you know the details when I do!

John’s job is going well, and we’re ever so blessed in this economy that he is still gainfully employed.  We’d love to have him even closer to home, meaning in the Jasper store, and would humbly ask for your continued prayer for that to happen.  However, all in God’s perfect timing.  Jesus promised to be with us always, and that includes while he works in Lufkin!  We pray for his safety driving back and forth each day, and have seen God’s protection more than once in John’s late-night or early-morning treks.

We’ve been schooling now since mid August, and are really enjoying the curriculum we’re using.  It allows me to teach both girls at once on core subjects, with Alex digging a bit deeper and taking on more robust assignments than Hannah.  Of course, on things like math, spelling, and language, I divide my time, and we’re getting into our routine for the year.  Fortunately, home schooling is flexible, and we can change things if and when it becomes necessary, and we can school as long during the year as we feel is needed to adequately cover the material.  Besides, if next summer is anything like this one, we won’t be outside much past mid-June!

The recent fall-like temps have been wonderful!  The girls have enjoyed getting outside and running around and playing.  It’s really helped them to release some pent-up energy!  It also is giving us a chance to work on some of the projects we wanted to do for our science work, but just couldn’t take the heat long enough.  Next week, we’ll be exploring a backyard niche, as well as an earthworm niche.  It’s also a time when we can start taking walks around the woods without running into too many snakes!

On a sad note, we lost our beloved Bobo this summer.  It was an accident, and no explanation is needed, but it was rather difficult for everyone.  Bobo has been around since before Hannah was born, so the girls have grown up with him.  And, since 2006, when we moved back here, he has been our dog as much as he was Mom and Doug’s, spending many of his days (and nights!) in my living room.  Although the girls were very upset (Alex still cries sometimes – even over a cat we had when she was 4), they understand that death, whether people or animals, is a result of sin.  And they know that one day, all of God’s creation will be restored.  So, while we mourn, we can also look forward.

John and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary this past Monday, September 27th.  God has shown me so much in the last few years just how truly blessed I am to be married to such a wonderful man.  There is no one more perfect for me, and I rejoice in honoring him in our home and in my daily life.  I give God all the glory for our marriage, it truly is a 3-strand cord.

Our family, immediate and extended, has experienced so much over the last year.  Some good, some not so good.  Some of it was just downright miserable for those involved.  But through it all, we know that God’s grace sustains us, and that His strength is made perfect in our weakness.  If you’ve never really considered that particular verse, I encourage you to do so.  “His strength is made perfect in our weakness.”  Think about it.

And have a great weekend.  I will do my best to get back to updating this a little more often, hopefully with pictures, soon!

His always,

Toni

We’ll be purchasing our new home within the next few weeks.  Just waiting on tying up a few loose ends, and hauling in some dirt.  We’re getting a 4 bedroom, 2 bath double-wide mobile home – no fireplace, but we plan to install a wood-burning stove, or something similar within a few years.  At least not until next year, but we’ll see.  I trust that between John & Doug, it can be safely and correctly accomplished.  Anyway, we’re hoping to get it in here soon, and pray that our house sells quickly, and that everything goes smoothly.  We’d appreciate your prayers on that matter.  (And, of course, we’ll never turn down offers to help us get moved in, either!  Hint Hint!)

The girls are really getting into 4-H.  Alexis is the Reporter and her job is to take photos and write short stories that will appear in the local paper.  She had initially wanted to be the President, as did Hannah!  But, I convinced them that they should start with being something a little easier to handle, and they finally agreed.  Hannah is the Health & Safety Officer.  Tonight, she brought something so each of the kids could make their own “Fire Box” using baking soda.

They are preparing Samaritan’s Purse boxes to send to other children, and I think they are both looking forward to it.  It will be lots of fun to fill the boxes and pray for the recipients.  We’ll plan to fill a few more before the deadline in November.  Check it out here if you are interested in participating!

Alexis also volunteered (along with various other projects, lol!) to be the leader of the Christmas Committee for the club, which will plan the club party in November.  So, she has to decide on games, activities, foods, drinks, etc., for the party, then call to delegate the info.  Great leadership potential!  She wants to lead, so I think activities like this will provide opportunities to learn.  So, between 4-H, co-op (which we’ll start back in either 1 week, or 3), homeschool in general, and church, we’re pretty full!

I’m really looking forward to the Holiday Season!  I’m calling it the Holiday Season only because I don’t want to leave out Thanksgiving.  I think John and I might earnestly search for a place and way to serve this Thanksgiving.  It is something he has wanted to do for years, and I have never heeded his heart and looked for a place.  So, this year, we’re making it a priority to serve together as a family.

I’m also looking forward to the service projects the kids have coming up as well as the fact that we’ll be making our Christmas gifts this year.  We have some fun ideas for gifts, mainly to be made by the girls.  I think gifts are so much more meaningful when they are made and prepared with love and prayer than only store-bought.  Don’t get me wrong, store-bought is great, and there are some things you can’t make….BOOKS for instance!  LOL….

Anyway, that pretty much covers things….I would ask for continued prayer for John’s knee.  He has patella tendonitis and the cortisone shot he got on Monday helped, but it is getting inflamed again, and is pretty painful.  He has to ice it down everyday, and it makes it hard to drive to work, and walk around.  Pray it heals quickly and completely, and that he has no residual pain from it.  Also, that it will not separate from the insertion point, which would require major surgery, and is apparently very painful.  All prayers are greatly appreciated.

Always in Him,

Toni

First, the praises:

I booked my first wedding!  Got a wedding booked at the last minute for the 29th of this month.  It will be an all day affair, but we’ll be compensated.  Going to be shooting with a friend from the photo club here in Jasper – and I’m nervous, excited, and anxious!  But, I think we’ll have fun!  Pray for confidence and great photos!  Thanking God for the opportunity!

Second praise:  When I had my surgery in March, I had to pay $400 up front.  When I went for ultrasounds a few weeks ago, they told me I had a credit, but they couldn’t do anything until insurance paid them for the ultrasounds.  Well, fast forward to today – and insurance paid it ALL!  AWESOME!  So, we’ll get back money from the doctor!  How cool is that?  God is so awesome!  We need that to pay off some past due medical bills, and it will cover a smal chunk of it!

Prayer request:  We found THE house.  The PERFECT house for us – location is perfect, space is perfect, land is perfect – its EXACTLY what we have been asking God for – exactly what we have said we wanted.  Right down to the HUGE carport John always wanted to have for big family gatherings!  It’s wonderful!  Four bedroom, three bath, plus a study.  HUGE fireplace made of stone, 4 (or more) car-carport, 7 acres, close to Mom & Doug, plenty of room for goats, sheep, chickens, guineas, peacocks, rabbits, a big garden, bees, VOLLEYBALL!!!  Ha ha…all the room we want!  The only problem is having a big enough down payment that we can easily swing the note.  We have come far enough in our financial journey that we refuse to put ourselves in a position in which we can just barely pay the bills.  So, we’re asking for prayer that the money will be there, and the financing will be approved at the right interest rate, the right monthly amount, and that we’ll know the right amount to offer.  There are two barriers to using the profit from the sale of our house to provide the deposit: 1) we can’t sell the house until we have a house to buy, and 2) the money from the sale of this house has already been earmarked to pay off all outstanding debt – we want the new house to be the only loan account we have.  No credit cards, no loans, etc.  This way, when there is extra, we can pay much more on the house, and get it paid off in record time.  That’s the goal.

So, we’d appreciate your prayers on the subject.  It’s going to take a miracle, but I just happen to know that God is in the business of miracles.

Prayer request #2 – there seems to be a rash of sudden emergency situations with the management at John’s store, and the Jasper store.  Within the last few months, four managers have been hospitalized for one reason or another, at least two could have very bad.  Please pray they’ll all heal well, and that this “outbreak” (though not anything contagious – I promise) would halt, and no more managers or employees will suffer.

Also pray that John’s store would continue to improve – he sees small improvements here and there, but not yet enough to make a difference.

Prayer request #3 – A long-time family friend’s (my godfather’s) Dad was recently diagnosed with Alzheimers.  He will be undergoing surgery this week to remove a mass growing on the brain that is pushing the brain off-balance, resulting in several recent falls.  Please pray the mass is not malignant, and that his recovery will be swift.  Also, please pray that his family can cope with the illness and its progression, as we’re told it seems to be fairly severe already.

Request #4 – My stepmom just had back surgery again, and we’re hoping for a speedy recovery, and no more pain.  Also, her daughter needs prayer on surgery she just had that the results will not come back positive.  One more, my stepmom’s granddaughter will be having a baby sometime in October.  Pray that her delivery will go smoothly, and that the baby will be healthy.

Also, a friend from church’s sister is in the hospital now and will be having emergency surgery this afternoon – pray for wisdom and clarity for the doctors involved, healing for the patient, and comfort for the family.  God can work miracles.

Thank you for all your prayers – we all appreciate them so much.

“What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer.”

Got our supplies, or at least most of them.  Still planning out our unit studies, so I’m not 100% sure what I’ll need for those just yet.  So many subjects we can cover!  Guess that’s the fun of it…getting to choose what to study next.

I think we’re going to study several BIG topics this year – Bible History:  Creation, Ancient Egypt, & Jewish People;  Trees;  Ants;  World Geography;  Pirates;  Columbus;  Astronomy;  and Gardening in the spring, along with a study on birds.

The World Geography study is one we’ll do only once a week or so, taking a break from our main study every other Friday.  Don’t worry!  We keep a world map in the girls’ room so we can review it from time to time!

My list is a little long, since each unit lasts about 4 weeks, roughly.  So, this may take us into the summer, but that’s ok.  Summers around here are too hot to do much outside anyway!

So, if you happen to have any books or resouces, or resource ideas for any of these subjects, including historical fiction, etc., let me know!  For instance, we’ll read The Secret Garden in the spring during the gardening study…

We’re looking forward to a great year – and hope to have some fun presentations of the girls’ hard work!  We may be calling on you to send us leaves from your trees in a few months!  Or, at least some close up pictures we can use to identify them!!

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Other than that, things are pretty humdrum…John is still in Lufkin ~ he needs your prayers…this store is pretty rough.  But, God’s giving him strength daily to handle it.

Alex and Hannah helped nurse a crippled chicken back to relative health.  She’s strong enough to have left the porch and is now hanging out with the gimp guinea!!

I think we may find new homes for the hermit crabs – need to talk to the girls, but we want them to go to a home where they’ll be taken care of.  We’re down to 5 – one died a little while back.

We’d also like to get some meat rabbits…although I’m not sure about killing them.  I’m not against it, just not sure I could stomach it…ha ha…don’t even know how you would do it!  Of course, when we get these, we’re also getting the girls their pet rabbits…just have to be sure we don’t confuse them… 

Then, there’s our recent interest in bee keeping, something Doug shares with us…he is planning to start keeping them also, so if we both do, gardens should be even better next year!

Working on Christmas gift ideas ~ Mom & I are making gifts, and we have a few planned out.  Just need to iron out the details…then there’s those hard-to-buy-for (or make-for) people!!  But, we’ll get it all figured out…and made!

Guess that’s the catch-up on everything….for those who somehow didn’t know, Jody got married last month – on Dad’s birthday.  Congrats to him and Robiayne.

Alright then…I’m off to bed – going to pick the girls up from Mandy tomorrow….leave me some comments!

*~*~Toni~*~*

On the upside, it looks like we’re about to slow down.  Softball is almost over, ballet has one more week and a recital left, and most everything else is about done.  We’re going to work on math and reading throughout the summer to keep the momentum going, but not so much that we don’t have a summer break.

I just started my photography business, and appears that it will be a short-lived deal.  John and I feel like the Lord is leading us in a different direction with my photos, and having a full-time business is not it.  Instead, and this is honestly something I have been silently thinking and praying about for the last year or two, we feel like there is something we can do with it to serve the Lord and give Him glory.  The biggest thing is we have realized already how much time it takes away from family between shooting and editing.  There are other reasons, but we’ll skip the details here.  Basically, we’re looking at pursuing it strictly as an art – producing income that we can live with or without.  Also, and this is the ministry part, we want to be able to offer quality photographs to people who would otherwise not be able to afford it.  Something like, offering the service and a CD for nothing more than enough to cover my expenses.  Single moms, families where a parent is in prison, NICU families, etc.  Situations where a photo will be something to be treasured, rather than just a luxury.  Perhaps for families of terminally ill patients – I have often thought of nursing homes, as well.  So, if you have any ideas there, drop a line and let me know!  God could use you to tell me what His will is for this business.

If you haven’t heard, Hannah has a ballet recital next Saturday – May 23rd.  I’ll be bringing her flowers that day, and likely make her something special!  I can’t wait!  There is also a surprise in store for those in attendance….only Hannah, Mandy, Alex & I know (not sure if I even told John!).  So, be sure to come see!

We’re having our annual dual-birthday party next month.  The girls will be 10 & 8!!!!  Can you believe it?  I certainly can’t…..seems like just yesterday they were babies….

Ok, going to clean up dinner dishes and then to bed!  More to come later!

Night all….

Anyway, somehow during the conversation, the talk turned to a game we played when Mandy & I were kids.  Like a kids’ version of Trivial Pursuit – it had some sort of space theme on the board, I remember.  Anyway, two questions were asked that will forever stick out in the minds of our entire family…now twice.

The first was:  Famous pairs:  Adam and _________?  Of course, the correct answer would be:  Eve.  The answer given by the child asked was (very excitedly, because this child just KNEW she was right!) Subtract ‘em!  Now, before you fall off your chair, read the next one:

The capital of Texas is ________?  Again, this same child was asked, and was excited about the answer she again, knew was right!  T!

Now, why is this so funny AGAIN?  Because the gene has been passed on to the next generation.  While eating, we laughed about this, and before giving the answer to the questions, we let the kids answer.  Adam and Eve were given due credit this time, by Alex or Hannah….Alexis, I think.

But, Texas’ capital still didn’t fare too well.

We asked the question, and got this answer:  T.  After we picked ourselves up off the floor from laughing, we asked the capital of Mississippi:  M. 

And, so it stands, Mandy has now passed on this amazing gene of knowledge to her son, Gavin. 

And, like his mother…..he knows he is right!

There was Gavin’s birthday weekend (be sure to check out the blog about my trip to the mall on ToniLyn18), which was lots of fun.  I always love spending time with Mandy.  We laugh the whole time, I think!  And the girls think she hung the moon and stars.  Well, of course this was no different.  Gavin’s party was at a go-cart racing place….and, I was so sad to see that Hannah couldn’t ride by herself!  (Tee hee hee…NOT!)  So, I did what any self-respecting mother would do – I rode with Gavin!  Mandy rode with Hannah and Mom rode with Alex….well, the first go round, John S. cheated and he and Gavin bumped us!  If he wouldn’t have cheated, Hannah and I would have won!  Anyway, the second race was when we had the arrangements I mentioned.  I had visions of riding our go-carts on Industrial Blvd. near the house growing up!  And of Monte flipping it at Mawmaw & Pawpaw’s camp.  And of Mandy & Robert running into the fence.  And of Dad scaring us to death by driving really fast and turning fast so that we actually slid into and out of the turns.  So, of course, I chose to take it easy and not do that with Hannah or Gavin……yeah right!

Hannah laughed the whole time!  It was so much fun!  Gavin finally laughed and then wanted to beat everybody!  And, we did!

Then we had guitar and ballet on that Monday, doctor appointments Tuesday, church on Wednesday, our first Keepers meeting on Thursday, and on Friday, we attended a homeschool co-op for the first time, then went to David’s Bridal to buy dresses for Jody & Robiayne’s wedding.

Then, this week was no different – Monday more doctor appointments (this time checkups for the girls), ballet and guitar, Tuesday softball tryouts and now I’m a coach, Wednesday brought the cat to be groomed (ever seen a cat have a bath??), Thursday for another doctor visit (seriously – these are all mostly checkups and follow-ups for each of us – no biggie) and then to Lisa’s to see the flowers she has made so far for the wedding - gorgeous by the way!  And today, I need to clean the house I haven’t spent much time in lately, and this afternoon we have softball drafts.  So, busy busy busy. 

Mom, Dad, did we ever tell you thanks for ALL the things you did and went to while we were growing up?  I never realized how busy we were!

Now for the news:

Dresses for the girls to wear are going to be very pretty.  We added a bolero jacket to Alex’s because it was a little too low in the back for my comfort, but Robiayne hadn’t known that when she picked it out.  In the catalog she was only able to see the front, so it was no big deal.  I called her to make sure she wouldn’t mind changing styles, and she was not worried about that at all.  Very sweet girl!  Hannah’s dress style had to change also, because the style Robiayne had picked out for her wasn’t available in the size we needed, in the time frame we needed it in (again, she had no way of knowing that!).  But, her dress is still beautiful!  I’ll be adding some beads to the front of her dress because it is all white.  The originally chosen style would have had a sash that coordinated with the other wedding colors, but we’ll take care of that.

Our homeschool co-op was great!  You know, when we moved from Sealy, I cried, and I had never been upset about any of our previous moves.  We had never really put down any roots before and made friends, but we had there.  And, in the past, it had been so hard to make friends in Jasper.  I realize now that God had protected me, and I wasn’t prepared for the tremendous system of friends we now have here.

I have prayed since we got back to Jasper that we would find families whom we could call great friends – some who shared our values and ideals.  God gave me a heads-up when Diana L. remembered me from a few brief meetings during our last stay in Jasper.  I should have know He was up to something big, but I was too blind to see it.  Fast forward two and a half years later, and we have more friends now than ever before.  And they are not the fly-by-night friends.  They are people that I know will be there for us, that we can confide in, that can help us grow spiritually, that share our values, and that we want to spend time with.  And we’ll happily do the same for them.  The folks at Homer UMC have been a blessing, and we know and love the people there.  The families at Jasper Bible Church are no different – God has used them to answer prayers in our lives, and its wonderful. 

Then there was the prayer for the girls to find friends.  Only, at first, I didn’t pray specifically for Godly friends who would be a good influence on them.  Once I changed that prayer to reflect God’s heart, He answered in no time.  Keepers Club has brought 6 new friends into the girls’ lives who are the epitome of the kinds of children and families we want our girls around.  And three of those moms told us about and invited us to the homeschool co-op they help run/attend in Fred.  God is so awesome!  The girls now have true, Godly friends in these boys and girls! 

When He answers, there is no question that it is His answer, and not our own!

Ok, well, that’s all for this post (orange you glad??  ha ha)….but, I have another that will just make Mandy cringe!

Anyway, while we waited for the van, we drove around Lufkin….stopped at a few places we needed to stop at, then headed back to Jasper at about 4pm for ballet, guitar (Alex’s teacher suggested getting her voice lessons, extended music, etc. – he said he sees tremedous potential in her!), and homeschool skate night.

Drove home, then tomorrow we have to drive BACK to Lufkin for a dr. appt. for John.  Wednesday he goes back to work, and I have to go to Beaumont to get the girls sized for dresses for Jody & Robiayne’s wedding.   More driving.  THEN, on Friday, we planned to go to our first Co-op Day in Fred….and still more driving.

I think at this point that all I want for Valentine’s is to stay home and NOT drivie anywhere!