Going For A Drive Out In The Country...

Every now and then I load up the car with whoever wants to come along and we go for a drive to see what we can see.  Today we did just that.  This is the top of our driveway.

Not too far down the road, we encountered a small flock of turkeys.  (This is not the greatest picture, but you get the idea.)  A few days ago, we came across a much bigger flock of around 20-24.

A little further down the road, we came to a small group of deer, most of them ran off before I could get the camera out and focused, but these few brave ones remained to pose.  I was in such a hurry to get the picture that I wound up not focusing completely.

We love taking the road less traveled.  We see the most beautiful sights.

Sights like this gorgeous sunset that greeted us on our way home. 

Ahhh, the joys and simple pleasures of living in the country.

John Wesley's Egg Hatchery...

If left unattended, it's untelling what John Wesley and Grandpa will have gotten into in a day's time.   One of the reasons I'm loving having Mom & Dad living on the same property with us is that our children have the opportunity to pop over there when they come up with an idea, and usually Grandpa can help them figure out how to make it work.  On this evening, Mom & Dad were keeping most of my crew while I took one of the kids for an appointment.  When I went over to collect the kids, I found that John Wesley and Grandpa had created their very own made-from-scratch egg incubator.  John Wesley's been looking at them to buy online and had decided he didn't want to wait till he'd saved enough to buy one, so he (after much research online and with a little help from Grandpa) came up with a way to make one.

They used a styrofoam cooler, parts from an old lamp, glass from a picture frame, an unused dimmer switch, a random container to hold water, and a thermometer/hydrometer.  Voila'! An incubator for around 11 dollars.  Much "cheep"-er (ha ha) than the ones they were offering for sale in the catalogs and online.  Resourcefulness is next to Godliness, I always say!

Now, the incubator lives on my living room counter ready for eggs from Erma (The chicken, silly--doesn't every child name their chickens after their grandparents??? That's true love, I tell ya'!) that we'll all watch with bated breath until they hatch.  John Wesley, of course, will be the proud "Papa" Hen (or whatever), turning the eggs 3 times a day, and keeping track of the temperature and humidity.  We may have to wait till spring to begin our EGG-citing adventure.  I can't wait!

Home is Where My Heart Is...

Wow!  So happy to be home.  We were released on Sunday around 5:30 or so.  I believe I posted on the last FaceBook update from the hospital that MaKenzie, immediately on the word "release", began complaining about her head hurting again and spiked a slight fever.  Well, that all got worse as we were driving out of town.  She vomited twice and just laid over in the seat crying that her head hurt so badly. 

Not sure what to do, but absolutely positive that we didn't want to get all the way home and have to come rushing back, we called the Neurosurgery doc on-call. He said to be safe, we should probably re-scan her to be sure it wasn't her shunt.  So, we turned the little bus around and Harold and the rest of the crew dropped MaKenzie and me off at the ER door.  Chagrined that we had to be exposed once again to the nasty ER germs, I begged for mercy from every staffer we encountered, from the sign-in girl to the triage nurse all the way up the line to the neurosurgery dude.  They worked us through in about an hour and a half.  During that time we had a ('nother) CT scan which told us that, in fact, it was not her shunt causing the symptoms she was continuing to experience.  Well, praise the Lord for that--but what IS the problem, then?  They couldn't answer that one, but sent us on our way with some anti-nausea meds and Tylenol suppositories.  Yay.  So, I called Harold, who had taken the rest of the crew shopping at Meijer's to pass the time, and they met us at the door, and we were on our way home.

MaKenzie has continued to have bouts of headaches, but that doesn't totally bother me--after all she DID just have two surgeries ON HER HEAD!!!  I think a bit of head pain is in order, don't you?  But I don't like the fever that comes and goes, nor do I appreciate the bouts of nausea she experiences.  However, all in all, those are decreasing day by day. 

We have decided in light of everything going on with her and the recent flu "scare" that we aren't going to be taking her for the LocoMat therapies right now.  We asked them to put us on the list for the spring.  She is just so very susceptible to every little bug that goes around and she gets so much sicker than the average kiddo that we didn't feel it was wise to expose her twice a week to so much, since it's a voluntary treatment.

In other non-MaKenzie news (did you know there was non-MaKenzie news in this family????), there was an accident in front of our house in Van Lear, which caused a lot of damage to our front deck. 

The car was coming from the left side as you look at the picture above.  It somehow jumped up onto the hillside and took out the corner of the deck, clipping off several 4x4 support beams.  Then it rolled over and took out our mailbox.

Then it came to a stop in the middle of the road.  Another car came over the hill and smashed into the first car.  The driver of the first car wound up in the middle of the front yard of the house across the road from us.  I'm not sure what became of the other passenger or the driver of the second car, but I know, the last I heard, they didn't expect that first car's driver to make it. 

In surveying the damage, I found lots of car pieces and lots of items that I'm sure had been just sitting around on the floorboards or the seats.  A halloween wig, a gospel tract, and a couple energy drink cans.   Things that spoke of a life in the process of being lived.  Maybe he and his girlfriend were anticipating going together to a halloween party in a week or so?  I'm sure, just like you and me, he had plans, places to be, people to see...a life to live.  It's one of those times that make you aware that we are SO not in control of our lives.   We make our plans, but the Lord orders our days. 

I'm sure, now that we are home and getting back into the swing of things here, we will be finding out about how that young man (he is 22) is doing.  Then we will need to find out things like--did they have insurance???  You know, there is just something about trying to get that house SOLD!  Every time we decide, "This is it.  We're going to go ahead and sell it." Something (or someone) comes along to interfere with that plan.  Oh, I would SO love to get it sold.  Now it looks like it will be a while again.  Well, I'm sure it will happen in the Lord's timing.  So, we'll just wait.  (Like we have a choice, right?  :) )

De Ja Vu'...

So, I guess I jinxed things by posting the last post.  However, the good news is that you can just look at those pictures and it would be just like looking at MaKenzie right this minute!  In fact, her little gown is exactly the same.  We're in UK awaiting the final word from her neurosurgeon as to whether or not she will be having surgery.  At this point, we're about 95% sure she'll be having another shunt revision.  Last night, in the ER, a shunt tap (like a spinal tap, but they tap her shunt tubing in her scalp rather than her spinal fluid), they discovered that her shunt (that was repaired 2 months ago) has stopped working.

While we're mostly at peace about the surgery, more concerning to me is the chance of being exposed to other bugs while we're here.  While they are admittedly trying to do their best to keep visitors to a minimum across the board, and they are cleaning everything they seemingly can, I just have to wonder if it's enough.  So, I would ask that you all would pray for God's protection for her while we are here.  Ours too, so we don't take anything home to the other children.

If they gave an award for "Cutest Patient"...

If they gave a "Cutest Patient" award, MaKenzie would surely have won it this day! I took these a few weeks ago, back on October 1st, when she had her ear tube removal and ear patch done. She's become a pro at being a good patient. She even knows what kinds of snacks the nurses are likely to have on hand and what kinds of activities she can count on them having available to keep her busy. I counted her surgeries, and can you believe she's had more than 10, if my count is correct? Poor baby. I don't know anyone who smiles through it all like she does!

And since we're talking about how cute she is, I might as well add this snaggletoothed shot of her from this morning after she discovered that the Tooth Fairy had somehow managed to NOT forget her!  We have a notoriously forgetful Tooth Fairy at our house!  Okay, the real truth is that the Tooth Fairy DID forget, then remembered after MaKenzie woke up.  The Tooth Fairy's husband was instructed to make a fast move to put something in there while Mrs. Tooth Fairy kept MaKenzie busy and distracted.

My poor kids have taken to coming to me with their newly extracted tooth saying, "Here, Mom, is my tooth.  You can just go ahead and give me the money, then you won't have to feel bad tomorrow for forgetting!"  Ouch!  Even worse, is that they have a friend whose Tooth Fairy puts out $25.00 a tooth.  Our lousy, stingy fairy only gives a measly ol' dollar!

The Seasons, They Are A'Changin'...

Here's the gorgeous view we are enjoying right now out our windows, which we can keep open most of the time. I LOVE this weather. There is no sweating and yet it's warm enough to not have to bundle up to go out.

Is this not the CUTEST little flower you've ever seen? It makes me think of the little buds that Denise Spencer used to bring to various folks on the Oneida campus in little miniature pill bottles. Lena brought this to me one day while we were out enjoying the weather one day.

We've got lots of beautiful bright red trees on our property. They are just vibrantly gorgeous during the fall.

I was so afraid I'd miss the colors changing being gone this past weekend. I was supposed to rain a lot and I was worried the raid would knock all the leaves off and we'd miss them. My favorite "weather day" of the whole year every year is the day that the leaves fall. It seems that the past 3 years or so, we've been able to point to one day when the leaves fell en masse. So heavy and thick they fell, like pepper flakes from a shaker, that I told the children to put away their books and go outside and play in the falling leaves. What a blessing to get to make those kinds of executive decisions for my family. Why should they be stuck inside when there is such beauty to experience first hand in God's creation on days like that?

Thankfully when we got back from Trade Days, things were only more beautiful than when we'd left. So now we wait for the day the leaves will fall. You can bet your bottom dollar that books will be put aside for a while and if you were a bird in one of our trees, you'd see children outside dancing and playing in the falling leaves.

Trade Days Treasures...

As I said in my last post, amongst all the "junk" at Trade Days, there were a few treasures to be found. John Wesley is wanting to do some experimenting with cross breeding some of his chickens, so he was looking for a specific breed of chickens called Cochins. He found this pretty black rooster, and a nice buff (tan-colored) pair.

We also found the "Three Little Pigs." Our new little piglets are named "Bacon", "Sausage" and "Chops", in anticipation of their future er... occupations. They really are kind of cute, even if they are quite smelly, so we're all having to work really hard to not become overly fond of them.

For now they all fit together nicely in the abandoned dog house, but I don't imagine they will for long--at least I hope not!  I see full freezers and delicious, albeit a bit sad, breakfasts and dinners in our future.

Cody found a pretty white rabbit and two kittens to bring home.  The rabbit will be a mate for our black rabbit, Victoria.  I'm not sure what we'll do with the rabbit babies.  Perhaps we should name them all "Stew"--what do you think?  I'll have to show you the kittens another time since their picture turned out too blurry.  One's black and one's white, just like the rabbits.  Very cute--and FREE, of course! 

I never really thought of myself as a farm girl.  Never anticipated having pigs, for sure.  But we're all enjoying it, especially the kids.  Having so many animals definitely gives us lots of opportunities to teach and learn responsibility and stewardship.  It also provides me with lots of good opportunities to get out my camera and look at cute creatures.  So, I pass along my good fortune to you... Enjoy!

Our Trade Days Trip...

We camped on the fairgrounds and walked to the vendors' area.  Only about a 4-5 minute walk.

I'm not sure how many vendors there were, but I know it was about like our local flea market times about 100 at least.

Folks were selling everything from sweet little burros (which, frankly, I'm surprised did not come home with us!) to tables full of scissors.

And HUGE turtles and old hound dogs.

And, of course, just plain ol' chickens.

The fun part was sifting through all the junk and coming up with a few treasures.  Those treasures are coming up next, so stay tuned...

Trade Days...

• 4 Dozen Pumpkin Muffins
• 24 Deviled Eggs
• Tuna Salad w/ all the Fixins
• 2 Loaves Wheat Bread
• 3 Loaves Cinnamon/Raisin Bread
• 8 Pounds Chicken Cooked and Deboned
• About a Gallon of Chicken Stock
• About a Gallon of Macaroni Salad w/ Chicken and Apples
• 3 Pounds Pinto Beans (2 for Dinner and 1 to make into Baked Beans)
• 24 Corn Bread Muffins
• About 40 Pancakes made and Frozen
• Butter made into Spreadable Butter
• Gallon+/- of Very Yummy Apple Cider (made by John Wesley)
• 3 Dozen Apple Cider Bites (little mini apple turnovers--also made by John Wesley)
• Plus today's meals for us all

So this was the reason for all the dirty dishes I washed today!  All the food I'm making ahead for this weekend to take with us...

Tomorrow we're leaving to go to "Trade Days" in Lucasville, Ohio.  It's a swap meet / livestock sale / flea market / "whatever" that happens 2 weekends a year--once in the spring and once in the fall.  That's where John Wesley bought John and Erma (the chickens) back in the spring.  We're going to be taking the RV up there and settling in to browse the vendors for a couple days.   

My washer and dryer and my stove/oven have been humming non-stop today getting us ready.  Once we park the RV, we won't be going out for groceries or anything until we leave, so I'm trying to think of everything we will need.  I made a menu earlier listing what we'll eat for each meal while we're gone, and I've been working on fixing as much ahead as I can so there will be less work while we're gone.

It's after midnight and I've got the last loaves of bread in the oven, and the stock is still simmering on the stove, so I'll need to get that taken care of as well.  Then I'll just need to finalize my packing list and my grocery list and I'll be all ready.  So, I should surely be ready by noon tomorrow if I don't sleep any tonight, right?

John Wesley and Lena are the only ones who are up keeping me company while I finish up the last minute details.  They're watching a movie--everybody else conked out on me.  I'm surprised anybody can sleep with the scent of cinnamon/raisin bread and the savory chicken stock permeating the air.  Mmmm, yum. 

Don't be surprised if I have pictures of a cute little piggy or three or some such new addition/s to our farm when we return!  Wonder how many piglets will fit in the RV's bathtub?  Oink!

Look What Lena Found!!!

One of our new Rhode Island Reds laid us an egg yesterday. Wish it showed up better in the picture, but the lighting is off. Anyway, hopefully it's the start of something good!

Range of Motion and Free Range Chickens...

MaKenzie's appointment yesterday in Cincinnati went very well. The therapist who decides whether the Lokomat therapy is appropriate for her gave us her stamp of approval. So now we move to the next phase, making sure insurance will cover it. If not, $6,000.00 out of pocket is a bit steep...  The Lokomat machine is very cool.  It literally locks her legs into the robotic legs, and moves them for her in a correct pattern.  She can "help" the movement, but it will not allow her to bend her knee inward or rotate her foot incorrectly.  The appointment lasted for about an hour or so, and we were back on the road.

William and Lena went with us yesterday, while Cody, Jonas, Jared and Matthew stayed at Mom and Dad's. John Wesley had an appointment in Lexington at the orthodontist and it just happened that Harold had to be in Lexington to pick up a prospective volunteer from the airport, so he took John Wesley to his appt. John Wesley is a little sore today. It was even hard for him to eat biscuits and gravy this morning, so he must be sore.

Lena, William, MaKenzie and I had a fun time and some very interesting conversations. All of our farm-y happenings such as the puppies being born and being nursed by Anna, talking about milking the goats, and the chickens laying eggs (and whether or not they need a rooster to do that and why), have given us lots of opportunities for "facts of life" type conversations--and that's a good thing, but it sure can be comical sometimes.

Lena asked me why dogs had so many babies and humans and goats only had one or two. The quick, off-the-top-of-my-head answer was that it must have something to do with how many little ones the mommy had the capacity to feed. Goats and people only have 2 "teats" and dogs have like 8, right? I thought that made perfect sense. Lena, having evidently been deep in thought, piped up from the back seat after a couple minutes, "Mommy--do YOU have TEATS???? Where are they?" William and I busted out laughing. I finally regained my composure (without wrecking the car, thankfully) and told her it was a woman's chest. That's why we have nipples, etc. So then William pipes up, "So, Mom, why do MEN have nipples?" Goodness, that one I can't answer. Sorry. Someone more knowledgeable than I will have to answer that one--so that's exactly what I told him. So, Lena goes one step further and asked me HOW the milk gets into the mommy's "teats". I told her you just open them up and pour it in. Just kidding! It really has been a great opportunity to point out how creative and really SMART God is. His designs really are amazingly complex. Intelligent creator, indeed.  How anyone can believe it all "just happened" is simply beyond my comprehension.

In other farm-y news, John Wesley sold his black Japanese chickens (for twice what he paid for them, no less--what an entrepreneur!). We now have a nice little flock of Rhode Island Reds, who hopefully will soon be providing us with fresh brown eggs for our breakfasts. Today we got brave enough to let them out to peck freely around OUTSIDE their coop. We were worried the dogs would bother them, but they just laid there dozing in the autumn sunshine. I think they realize that fresh chicken is a meal that takes far too much work for them. If they just wait and lay around long enough, they'll get their chicken--cooked and deboned--straight from our leftover scrap pile. Why should they break a doggy-sweat chasing chickens when they'll eventually get their dinner handed to them on a chrome-plated platter?

Isn't Jumbo a handsome rooster? I think so.