Kids awake by 4:15am... (No, I am not a morning person...and, yes, I got called "grumpy" by my 11 yr old. She was right, and I am not proud of this...but I did straighten out my act after being called on it. Go, Mom!)
Much excitement...(just picture a 3 yr old little girl running through the house in pink fleece footie pj's at 4am)
At one point, the "moon gazing" evolved into "star gazing", b/c the clouds kept covering the eclipse...
Part of my moon-gazing, star-gazing crew...
The outside light was on only briefly,
b/c I couldn't get my camera to take a pic in the darkness.
And, the Ritz cracker box -
this was a homemade pinhole box we made several weeks ago
to view a SOLAR eclipse.
Samuel grabbed it with excitement and thought we could view the moon with it.
Nope, little man, sorry. You can see the moon much better with your own eyes.
So Gregg showed them Jupiter (and 1 of its moons) through the telescope.
At the time of total eclipse there was complete cloud cover, and we were very disappointed.
"We waited 2 hours for THIS?"
"Ummm...this is interesting...but highly overrated."
"Well, at least I TRIED to make school fun. Do you understand what a big deal this is? Even when an eclipse occurs, it's rare to be able to see it in YOUR town. And, even then, the weather conditions have to be just right. At least we were able to see part of it, right?" (I did well keeping my grumpiness at bay...Go, Mom! I'm not sure they were convinced it was worth it, though.)
But...then the clouds parted for about 30 seconds! (Thank you, Lord, for answering my spoken prayer from just minutes before!)
We were able to behold the "blood moon" just after 6:30am.
Honestly, I think the kids were tired by then and less enthusiastic than I had hoped. (and naptime will not come soon enough!)
But, we managed to grab a few photos, and we discussed the physical logistics of how an eclipse occurs.
We talked about how God does, indeed, have an order to our universe, and He gives us glimpses of this every day in "ordinary ways" and sometimes in some "not so ordinary ways."
The heavens truly behold His glory...it's no accident.
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
It was the perfect day to start work on our model of the solar system. My younger kids are all studying Astronomy this year. Soooo much fun! Seriously. It's going to be great - I hope.
I admit it...I don't do well when it comes to little people and PAINT...or little people and CRAFTS for that matter. I want to stand over them and tell them EXACTLY what to do - what colors, what brush strokes to use, what materials they need, and how we need to put it all together JUST RIGHT.
And, when it turns out not-as-neat as it could've, it stresses me out!
But, 9 kids has a way of teaching you to let go of some of the CONTROL FREAK in you. At least I feel like I'm getting better at it.
I'm trying. I really am.
So, today, we went outside and started painting our sun and planets. (Outside...in our faded bathing suits...on a plastic-covered table...b/c, did I mention that I don't do well with kids and craft paint??)
Sometime between yesterday afternoon and today, we managed to lose Uranus. Have NO IDEA how that styro ball disappeared! One of the kids probably ate it. We'll try to replace it the next time we make a run to the store...or maybe we'll just pretend Uranus just got catapulted out of our Solar System all together! ;)
They managed to use an exorbitant amount of orange paint - even for a star as big as the sun. But, hey, I love the color orange - so it's all good.
Jupiter turned out red with black stripes. Cool. Different...but definitely cool, right?
All in all, they did very well - AND they had a blast.
They can even tell you where the missing Uranus is supposed to go in the order of things.
Success. :)
Hopefully, we'll finish putting it together tomorrow. (minus Uranus, of course)
It's gonna be great...just wait and see!
Oh, how I LOVE Kedesh's face here!! Didn't even know
I captured that look until I was going through the photos afterwards. :)
She really did have fun - promise!
This past Saturday evening, March 8th, Gregg and I had just finished sending all the kids to bed, and were breathing that last sigh of "some peace and quiet and rest" when we heard Eva start screaming...
"Momma! Daddy! The dog pen is on FIRE!!!"
I snatched up the window shade to see into the back yard, and there were flames greedily licking up the building we refer to as our toolshed and dog pen.
Taken from just outside the back door
Eva had noticed a strange glow from the side window on the house, looked out, and realized quickly what she was seeing.
Gregg grabbed jeans, t-shirt, and shoes...
Nathan ran out wearing only his long pajama bottoms...
Caleb forgot his shoes.
I immediately called 911 and tried to calm my younger children while confining them to my bedroom. There, they frantically watched from the window until I could try to calm myself and them.
As I talked with the dispatcher, I tried to explain exactly what I was seeing, gave specific instructions the firemen might need to know upon their arrival, and frantically talked about what Gregg and the boys were doing.
I couldn't see Gregg b/c he was behind one of the other storage sheds. Gregg was shutting off the electricity to the out buildings. Caleb was running to the greenhouse trying to get more hoses. (He busted open his toe in the process - no shoes, remember?) Nathan was desperately spraying the hose...and losing the battle quickly.
At some point, Nathan ran inside and grabbed an insulated hunting suit, b/c he said the fire was just too hot for his bare skin.
Everything felt so much like a strange dream. I was amazed at the power of the flames.
Nathan trying desperately, in vain, to spray the flames...he seemed so small...
The flames were beginning to climb nearby trees
I was scared to death that the gas cans, paint cans, or other flammable items might explode...or that the flames would turn and envelope my precious husband or my sons.
I couldn't keep my legs from shaking...and I kept asking the dispatcher "Where is the fire truck!?!?!" When I told her it felt like it was taking forever, she said we had been on the phone just 3 minutes.
Really?!?! It had to have been longer than that...it sure felt like about 20 minutes already!
Once I yelled at Gregg and heard his voice, and saw both boys, I was okay. Precious material items were burning to ash...but those things could be replaced.
Naturally, I grabbed my camera and snapped a few photos from the back door. (As a photographer, I've begun to see life in pictures, and I know that they really are "worth a thousand words.")
...Miraculously, all of the adult Beagles were able to be rescued as soon as Gregg and the boys got to the shed. They were unable to find the puppy that had been born just a few days earlier...
When Gregg realized how intense the fire was and how quickly it was spreading, he instructed the boys to try their best to keep the adjacent buildings as wet as possible - in hopes to keep the fire from enveloping more of our out buildings.
The intensity of the heat shattered the glass on the door of the building to the left, and melted plastic play equipment and a trashcan inside the door of the building to Nathan's right.
Within approximately 15-20 minutes, the fire trucks arrived. (I'm not quite sure of the timing, b/c I had lost all sense of time.)
When the fire trucks arrived, I felt SUCH RELIEF!!
Gregg and the boys stepped out of the way, and I joined my husband outside.
The firemen immediately sprayed water along the two front buildings and surrounding area, and then attacked the fire. Within just a few minutes, the flames were diminished to smoke and ash.
It took a couple of hours to fully extinguish the fire and complete the inspections. The structure and its contents were deemed a "total loss."
A couple of our nearest neighbors came to see what was wrong and to be sure our family was safe.
One of the main wooden beams along the left-hand adjacent building had been charred, but the fire did not enter that building or the other one. The fire also reached a couple of the nearby trees, but there was no significant damage or spreading of the flames.
Gregg, Nathan, and Caleb had held the flames at bay until the fire department arrived. And the firemen quickly did their job with skill and poise, keeping the damage confined as best they could.
The toolshed contained almost all of Gregg's hand tools, chain saws, lumber, plumbing supplies, etc. And, when one of the firemen asked if there was anything of great value in the building, Gregg told him there was a hand saw that belonged to his great, great grandfather. It had been hanging on a nail on the wall.
I knew how hard this was for Gregg...my heart broke for him...I knew he was thinking of the heirlooms that were surely lost.
Do you know that one of the firemen went into the remains of the building with a flashlight and looked where Gregg told them the handsaw should be hanging? There were hopes to retrieve it.
Indeed, it was still hanging on the nail. It was on the one wall still intact after the fire...The handle was severely charred, but the initials of his great, great grandfather were still visible.
And, although most of the tools and other items can eventually be replaced, there were several other sentimental items and heirlooms lost...things Gregg had planned to pass along to our boys one day. Things like small knives, hand drills, and saws.
Each of the boys' tackle boxes and fishing lures we've bought them over the years...the fishing rod Gregg bought me when were dating...fishing lures that belonged to Gregg's grandfathers and were passed to him...
But, I couldn't help but think of what could've happened...
What if Eva hadn't noticed and we had all gone to sleep? Thirty minutes could have made an enormous difference. Would the flames have reached our home? Would the fire have burned the woods and reached other homes in the night? Could we have lost each other in the night?
When the fire trucks finally left and the night was quiet and dark again, we told the kids that "stuff" can be replaced. It's hard to lose things, but they don't mean anything compared to what we have in each other.
The past few days we've had more inspections and have begun sifting through the ashes for anything that could be salvaged.
The shattered glass on the door - it was double-paned
The charred beam of the nearby out building
The kids' toys - melted
All-consuming devastation
A few metal items that may be usable again
Some hand tools that are sentimental - found in the ashes
Where we believe the fire originated...Jan's dog box was along the outside of this wall
Shelves, that once held items, burned and dumped their damaged contents below
Items literally melted or disintegrated as they hung on the walls
I was amazed at how things had been rearranged by the power of the flames
and by the water used to extinguish those flames
The flames had not reached this area when Gregg arrived at the shed,
so he was able to get our male dogs out and to safety.
Nathan and Caleb found our 2 females trapped at opposite corners of the kennel to the right of this photo.
They were able to free both girls before the flames consumed the rest of the building.
Nathan found Jan at the furthest corner of the fence in this picture,
pulled up the fence and dragged her underneath.
The puppy was found along the fence 3 days later, just beyond the gate.
We are almost certain the fire was caused by a light placed inside a dog box where we were attempting to keep a mother beagle and her puppy warm for the night. We think that somehow the light may have gotten knocked down and ignited the straw inside the box.
Three days after the fire, we found the tiny puppy near the edge of the fence...just a few feet from where Nathan had dragged Jan, the mother, underneath the fence in order to rescue her from the flames. There was no way for any of us to know the puppy had been there. Jan was such a good mother...she had tried her best to bring her puppy to safety, and I couldn't help but think how desperately a mother will try to save her children. It's truly a natural instinct.
Now, we begin the process of clean-up, rebuilding, and replacing. Many people don't understand that it really wasn't just a makeshift shed with a few hand tools that burned up. What was inside wouldn't really be of a lot of value to most people...
But, inside that building were the things that my husband used to make memories with our children. Those tools were the items that he used to teach our boys how to be men...how to work with their hands, how to fix things instead of just throwing them away...
They were the tools he attached training wheels to bikes, the saws used to build tree houses, rakes used to build piles of fallen leaves into which the kids could jump....
Those items represented TIME Gregg spends with our children.
Many of those items are things Nathan, our oldest son, has used to learn much about small engines and working with his hands.
So, it's strange not having so much as a hammer to use right now.
Please pray for us as we go about replacing the many things that can be replaced...
And praise God with us for the things we still have that simply can't be replaced - memories, time with each other, and the future.
This holiday season has been different for us than any other year.
Thanksgiving is routinely spent traveling to see extended family and returning home late at night exhausted and grumpy.
This year, due to John's impending birth, we stayed home.
We decided to spend the day preparing a meal together (all the kids were involved), listening to our Thanksgiving CD: "A Time To Remember" that tells of the very first Thanksgiving (it's a tradition we listen to it in the van as we travel on Thanksgiving Day), and truly giving thanks.
Several of the kids were heard saying, "This is the BEST Thanksgiving EVER!"
Eva made a homemade coconut pie...
here, she's cleaning up from making the crust
Silas helped clean up the flour that Eva dropped :)
Kedesh helped Nathan stir the vanilla pudding
Several of the kids helped set the table
with our good china, crystal glasses, and utensils
Isaiah wanted to prepare the jellied cranberry sauce (his favorite)...
but Eva had to make sure he made accurate cuts :)
Then, he was released to try it himself...
under the watchful eye of his perfectionist sister
Caleb prepared the macaroni, and loved on his little sister
Samuel helped with the fruit salad...
and later enjoyed his food with a thankful heart
Everything set up buffet-style on the counter
Eva cutting the bread
Elijah prepared the corn on the cob,
and was a super helper washing dishes along the way
Nathan getting his plate...teenage boys eat a BUNCH
Kedesh didn't get a tall, crystal tea glass...
but she got a dainty coffee cup instead :)
Yes, Isaiah DID eat all that he put on his plate...
Sitting down together...cloth napkins in our laps...
special occasions make special memories
Of course, they missed playing with cousins and seeing other family members. But, we all really liked just being able to be home and spending unrushed time together.
The day after Thanksgiving, we took down Thanksgiving decorations, cleaned the house, and put up ALL of our Christmas decorations. The following day, we wrapped most of our Christmas gifts.
I was determined to get "everything done", so we could really enjoy Christmas this year.
Have I mentioned that I really despise the hustle and bustle of Christmas every year? I always seem to get to January and realize that I am a cynical ball of nerves. Uggghhh! I wanted this year to be different...
The December calendar was virtually cleared...a newborn affords the perfect excuse to step away for a bit. :)
And, then...just a few days later, John was born.
Gregg has been home...rainy days have forced us to stay inside more than usual. Nathan keeps a cozy fire burning...
There seems to be PEACE ON EARTH.
At least within the security of our home.
The truth is...outside our home, a war still wages.
Bitterness seems to reign.
Misunderstandings...
Fake smiles...
Words mumbled under our breath...
Gifts are given grudgingly and sometimes even selfishly...
Tension is high...
And Christ is little more than a name we mumble at the church's Christmas Eve service.
In many ways, it's the hardest time of the year. It's the time of year when past hurts rear their ugly heads and threaten to choke the life out of you. When you can't bear the thought of biting your tongue one more time...but you DO...so there will be PEACE ON EARTH.
Normally, no matter how hard I try, Christmas depresses me more than it encourages me. It's so hard to focus on Christ and all that He did for us...when our focus is on STUFF.
Meaningless, we-don't-need-this gift, we've got to get this person something, run-around to make this party, appease this person, STUFF.
Please don't misunderstand...I LOVE giving gifts.
Gregg and I don't buy our children a lot of things during the year. Christmas is the one time of the year we allow ourselves to splurge a little, and we LOVE giving them good gifts.
The part I DON'T like is coming up with lists for grandparents and coming up with expensive gifts for extended family when they actually complain that you didn't get them something else. Or they want to know, "What did you spend on this? Was it the same as we spent on you?"
Really?? I'm sorry. I forgot, momentarily, that Christmas was about STUFF.
Gregg and I have actually been told that we "keep having more young'uns so we can get more Christmas gifts." WOW! We must be REALLY SHORTSIGHTED if that's the case. Because no amount of battery-powered JUNK could make up for the work and responsibility it will take to nurture, train, and care for a human being for 18+ years. (Talk about a demeaning and hurtful misunderstanding!)
Ironically, we've even suggested that we not exchange gifts at all so others wouldn't be burdened with buying for such a large family...and we get that "deer in the headlights", "are you crazy?", "what would Christmas BE if we didn't exchange gifts?", "you're just being cheap" look...
Misunderstanding after depressing misunderstanding.
So...each year, I try to get past the muck and see PEACE ON EARTH.
And, honestly, I don't do very well at it. I hate that about me.
I'm quick to hold a grudge, quick to get my feelings hurt, quick to replay a conversation over in my head and hear all the insinuations there...
I'm quick to wish extended family would be different, quick to miss what I think life should be like, quick to see the negative...
And slow to see the good.
This year, the timing of John's birth has, no doubt, been from the hand of God. This little guy has forced me to slow down...to cherish what's more important...to sense the peace I so often let slip away.
In his birth blog, I mentioned listening to a Casting Crowns Christmas CD. It has become my favorite arrangement of songs this year. The first song on the CD is the one I heard while preparing to give birth to John.
"I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day"
I heard the bells on Christmas day Their old familiar carols play And mild and sweet their songs repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men
And the bells are ringing Like a choir they're singing In my heart I hear them Peace on earth, good will to men
And in despair I bowed my head There is no peace on earth I said For hate is strong and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to men
But the bells are ringing Like a choir singing Does anybody hear them? Peace on earth, good will to men
Then rang the bells more loud and deep God is not dead, nor doth He sleep The wrong shall fail, the right prevail With peace on earth, good will to men
Then ringing singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day A voice, a chime, a chant sublime Of peace on earth, good will to men
And the bells they're ringing Like a choir they're singing And with our hearts we'll hear them Peace on earth, good will to men
Do you hear the bells they're ringing? The life the angels singing Open up your heart and hear them Peace on earth, good will to men
Peace on earth, Peace on earth Peace on earth, Good will to men
Music has such power to stir emotion, elicit thought, and to impart a new perspective.
This song has become my anthem this Christmas season. The following video is Casting Crowns' lead singer, Mark Hall, sharing the story behind the song - which makes it even more meaningful for me.
The writer of this song found himself in the middle of a trying time in history - the Civil War. When the Christmas bells were ringing with the sound of Peace On Earth, it didn't FEEL like there was peace on Earth. The writer contemplates this and ultimately comes to the conclusion that, with Christ in our hearts, there is Peace on Earth - where He is.
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men"
This Christmas, when it doesn't FEEL like a celebration...when it doesn't FEEL like there is PEACE...when family relations are strained...and meaningless STUFF abounds...
I will hear the bells on Christmas Day. I will hear them ringing that "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep."
I will do my best to spend time with the Savior and not to simply go through the motions for another year...
I will do my best to put away my fake smile and put on a real smile - because I will hear the bells on Christmas Day...
And I will know that there is
PEACE ON EARTH.
Be sure to listen to the end, past the song. Mark sums it up well.
