The Hayek Homestead

Vacation

2010-07-09T20:17:00.000-07:00

Working on the church.

Fourth of July Sunday.

The boys on Sundial bridge in Redding.

Anna in an apron I bought her. Isn't she gorgeous?

We went up to Washington for vacation at the end of May and beginning of June. We enjoyed time getting to see all of our family. I just thought I'd post some misc. pictures that I've been taking from our vacation, time at the river, etc.

Jeremy has been doing a lot of physical work on the church. We discovered several months ago that having a nursery without a bathroom attached does not always work well!! So the board okayed some changes. With some help from 2 other men, they switched the nursery with Jeremy's office, which had a bathroom right next to it. So they cut a hole in the bathroom to give it a door right into the new nursery, filled in the hole of the old door, cut the old nursery in two parts - one part Jeremy's new office, and the other part the new copy/storage room. We even painted the new nursery and Jeremy's new office with paint that had been hanging around the church. I think we had to buy 2 pints of paint! We are in the middle of planning for our VBS August 2-6. We're also knee-deep in planning for our new AWANA club starting in mid-September. Please be praying for us as we have our VBS and start this new ministry at the church this fall!

Village Missions conference

2010-07-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

Rob and Josh with two of their friends from conference. Their dads are both VM pastors.

Josh riding in the canoe.

Rob's team with their boat.

In June, we got the privilege of going to the VM Southwest District summer conference in Graeagle, CA. It's in north eastern California, an hour or so away from Reno, NV. These are called mini conferences, and really mirror the conferences that the Mission used to put on for us. The only difference is that instead of the Mission paying for us to go, we pay for it - but our church reimbursed us. But the kids really enjoy going, because they each have their own classes to go to, and have friends that they know that they only get to see at these conferences. We all had such a good time! One of the golf courses in the area give a free round of golf to those pastors and wives that want to golf while we're there. Jeremy got to go both this summer and last summer, and really enjoys that time. Apparently it's a really nice golf course (about $150 for a round of golf usually). We found a really nice little lake right in the middle of town. I guess it's called Mill Pond. It's got a nice swimming area with a long shallow area for the kids. And right next to the swimming area, it's grassy, so it's nice to sit and watch the kids. The only downside is the only restrooms are port-a-potties. I hate those things!!!

Rob was in the youth group at conference this year. The youth pastor of the Graeagle church teaches the teens. They have their own class during our morning sessions, but join the adults for the worship times in the evening. This year, the youth pastor split the teens into three teams. Each team was assigned to make a boat out of cardboard and duct tape. Then on Thursday after lunch, we all met at the Mill Pond to watch them race across the pond. They had two canoes out in the pond for anyone that might sink halfway through. Josh got to ride in the canoe with the youth pastor. Rob was so disappointed because his team's boat sank as soon as he got into it in the water. He already has plans for a different boat for next summer, should the youth pastor decide to do it again.

Rob's 12th Birthday

2010-07-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

I am going to play catch up. I didn't realize it had been over two months since I'd last posted a blog. So I have lots of events to add pictures from and share about. The first one is Rob's birthday, which happened to only be 6 days after Josh's in May! Oops! But since he doesn't read this, I don't think he'll be upset!

Usually every year, the weekend between the boys' birthdays, we have a combined party and invite all of their friends. We had to cancel this year because everyone was sick. So we didn't get to do that. It was a little disappointing, because we even had some of their friends from Washington coming. But we still had a quiet family party for Rob. He got a Seattle Mariner's pillow case from Mom and Dad, a new outfit from Nana and Papa, and a PSP from Mom, Dad, Nana and Papa. He had been saving for one, so we helped him out. He had to pay us back for $40 of it, though, but the rest was paid for. He was so excited! Also, when we went into Redding in May, we had a little party for Rob, Josh, and two kids of some friends of ours whose birthdays were also in May. We had fried chicken and jojos, and an ice cream cake. It was fun. (Don't worry, Mom, you'll get all these pictures!!!)

Pioneer Club trip to Laser Tag

2010-05-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

We took the Pioneer Club kids on an outing to laser tag in Eureka on April 25. We had it all set up for someone in the church to come watch Zeke, Micah and Anna so that both Jeremy and I could go and help chaperone. But that's the day that Annalee got sick, so one of us had to stay home. Jeremy graciously let me go, and I wanted to share some of the pictures with you. The kids had a blast. We took them to McDonald's for lunch (we got some looks from other parents in the play area when we came in with so many kids!), then to laser tag, and after they played, then they got to play video games.

Joshua is 11!!

2010-05-08T22:05:00.000-07:00

I feel like such an awful mother. Josh had his 11th birthday on Monday, and I am just now getting to blogging and posting pictures. We have had 2 - 11 year olds since Monday. Now Rob will be 12 tomorrow, and I would post pictures of Josh before I had to do them both!

We have a long-standing tradition in our house to let the birthday person pick all of the meals for their special day - as long as they know ahead of time so I can get the ingredients. So for breakfast, we had omelets (one of Dad's specialties!) and for dinner (we don't do lunch) we were supposed to have taco soup. But on Josh's birthday, I had to run a woman from our church into town to see a Dr. for her back - she couldn't drive herself in. So I left, and was expecting Jeremy to throw dinner together. It was a crock pot meal, and just needed everything thrown into the crockpot. But I had forgotten that I didn't have any tomato juice (the base for the soup), and Jeremy didn't have a car to go to the store and get some. Poor Josh! I went to the store in town, got the tomato juice (for the taco soup for the next day!), and all the fixings to go with the impromptu hamburgers we were going to have instead! I even bought the kids Cheetos to make up for being so scatterbrained. Josh was very understanding about it, though. He even had to put up with store bought ice cream to go with his chosen bundt cake! He has such a heart! He didn't even complain about any of it! He was just excited to get to his presents! He got a violin - he has been wanting one since taking a week-long violin course in Galena (now we just have to get him some instruction books!) - and a homemade pillow case from Mom and Dad. And he got new clothes from Nana and Papa. He was so excited that he wore them the next day.

I can't believe how old my kids are getting! Time seems to be flying when I think back to previous birthdays when they were younger...Like the one we had for them in New York. We cooked hot dogs and had Capri Suns and cupcakes for all their friends, and got to play at the playground at the campground we were living at. Such fun memories! Or the one in Yale when we had most of their K/1st grade combo class there, and watched the Incredibles and had magic vanilla ice cream that was colored red, blue and yellow! What fun!

Happy birthday, Joshua! You are very big-hearted and so creative! I love to see how you're growing!!

Hello, Again!

2010-04-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday - the best picture I could get!

Annalee and a baby doll my mom made me when I was little. She has it wrapped in a blanket.

Anna with a Viking hat - the horns are no longer attached!

I forgot to mention that Zeke now has glasses. Don't they make him look cute?

I can't believe it's been so long....Too much happening to try to keep up with this blog. Things are just hopping right along at church. We are planning a Mother's Day breakfast before church on Mother's Day. We are looking forward to summer conference in June, and trying to plan our family vacation that month, too. July 4 is on a Sunday this year, and Jeremy would like to have a church BBQ in the afternoon. And August brings us to VBS, and the baby. I had an ultrasound a few weeks ago, and we think this one is another little girl! We plan to go with the name Naomi Joy. In September, we will begin AWANA's. We are really looking forward to that, too. We have new newsletters that will be coming out in the mail, and email. So I really just wanted to get back on and share some recent photos. I think I will have to ease back onto this blog. Right now I can't think of much to say - but that could be because it's late, and last night was a late night with a sick child.

2010-02-27T22:05:00.000-08:00

What a gorgeous day we had here! The weather was absolutely beautiful!! We took a family walk down to the Trinity River (there is a river access spot right across the street from the church). It's right by the old airport (which isn't functioning). The boys all brought bikes and scooters, and we walked half of the paved runway. The river is pretty to look at, but is very high and rapid. We have been told several times, by those that have lived here a long time, that it is dangerous to go in the river before 4th of July. So of course, we didn't. But it was so warm, we all had to take off our sweatshirts and roll up our sleeves.

Tonight we went to a fundraiser for the Christian school. We had pizza, ice cream sundaes and played some Bingo. We even won a prize - after I won't tell you how many games! But we figure it all went to a good cause.

Jeremy and I are getting ready and excited to launch into AWANA's this fall. We have the area AWANA missionary coming in March to share information with potential helpers. We have been a part of AWANA's many times ( I even attended when I was little), and we are excited about what it could do here. I hope to even start a family dinner before AWANA's.

I had an ultrasound last Monday, and measured right on schedule at 14 weeks. My due date is August 23. We have tons of family birthdays in August, with my dad's on the 21st, my nephews on the 22nd and my mom's on the 25th. Not to mention quite a few earlier. So the chances of having this baby piggyback on someone else's birthday are pretty fair. We'll have to see what happens.

I think that's it. I'm off to bed - church tomorrow, and Oriental potluck after. I just wanted to share some info with you all. Can you believe that I shopped in town, and got everything I needed to make wontons, but nobody had the wonton skins???? I was so disappointed! I might have to look in Redding, but won't work for tomorrow. May you all have a blessed Lord's Day!

Micah James Hayek, Age 3

2010-02-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

Micah blowing out the candles on his birthday cupcake.

His new pillowcase from Mama.

The hood of his Batman towel from Dad. Doesn't he look cute?

The rest of his hooded towel - I think Jeremy did awesome!

His new quilt from Nana.

Micah is 3 years old today. Where has the time gone? I can still remember the day he was born - waking up with contractions and going to the hospital only to be sent home, Jeremy being sick in bed, my Mom and I shopping with the kids through my contractions, until finally going back to the hospital and having Micah an hour and a half later. Micah is the first and only baby so far that I have had to deliver without having my husband there. Jeremy mentioned today that maybe that's why Micah looks so much like me - because he wasn't there. He actually suggested that if maybe he wasn't there when the new baby was born, maybe it would look more like me, too! I told him to forget that one!

So Micah is now 3. We had homemade sugar free chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese peppermint frosting (I'm not sure it was my favorite - I like cream cheese and peppermint, just not together!). We also had homemade chocolate mint ice cream. I think Micah liked his presents. He got a new quilt from Nana and Papa, a new homemade train pillowcase from Mom, and a homemade hooded Batman towel from Dad. We also got to go to the movie store in town and pick a movie to watch tonight. Micah wanted to see Monsters vs. Aliens...again. So here they are, at 10 pm just finishing the movie. But they only get to stay up late once in a while.

I'm trying to think of some funny things about Micah to post, just to give you a glimpse of this cute little guy. When we get to go outside (when it's not raining), he loves to hang a light saber from his pocket, get on his trike and ride. It's very cute. It's just not the same without his light saber, I guess. He has this thing for shoes. He loves to switch in and out of them just because he can. He has a pair of church shoes that just slip on that he loves to play with. A few weeks ago, he wore them to church (hence the name "church shoes"). But after church, I saw him in the fellowship hall with his rain boots on! He must have slipped over to the house when Rob and Josh came to let the dogs out, and changed his shoes before coming over for refreshments! What a character! He loves to play playdoh, and destroy his brother's pictures. He loves to play with Thomas trains, but throws a temper (and the tracks) when the train track gets broken - even if he is the one who did it! But for all of his aggravations, he is a delight - especially when he toddles up to me with a wide grin, and outstretched arms and says, "Mommy, I love you!" There are no sweeter words to a Mom's ears.

Happy birthday, Micah!!!

No news is good news

2010-02-02T15:19:00.000-08:00

Hello! I thought that was a good title since it seems like such a long time since I've written. But after looking at the last date, it hasn't really been that long. It just seems that way since so much has happened! Let me share....

On January 22, we drove into Redding with our trailer and stayed the night at some VM friends house outside of Redding. On Saturday, we picked my mom up from the airport. We were all very excited to have her come. But we were a few minutes late to pick her up. The boys couldn't wait to eat (her plane didn't get here until 6 pm), so we stopped at Burger King so they could use the gift cards they had been given for Christmas. But they were SOOO slow!!! It was unbelievable! However, I got to meet and visit with a neat Christian woman who also homeschools her 4 boys (that always seems to happen to me - people stop me to ask if the kids are all mine, then they ask if we homeschool, then they assume that we are Christians! We must look like a stereotype!).

After picking my mom up, we drove home to get ready for church on Sunday. Jeremy had to preach from the notes in his Bible, since he didn't have time to get his Powerpoint ready for the day. I think he still did a great job, and we have some people in our church who feel that his sermons are more Spirit-led when he doesn't use Powerpoint. Anyways, after church was our monthly potluck and board meeting. Since board meeting usually goes pretty long and it takes a lot out of Jeremy, there is no evening service on such nights. So we got to spend some time with my mom. Then Monday morning, we left for our couples retreat. We went south by way of Eureka instead of Redding, which we had planned on, because there was a woman from our church having surgery in Eureka. So we were able to stop by and visit with her and pray with her before her surgery. I think she really enjoyed having us both there. We heard later that her surgery went well, but she was in a fair amount of pain.

So Monday night, we drove to Santa Rosa and stayed there for the night. Then Tuesday, we finished the drive to Merced, CA to attend the VM couples retreat. It was held at the the church in Merced that our DR attends. It was a wonderful conference. We were able to visit with many of our VM friends - a lot of whom we get to see on a monthly basis through our VM fellowships, but also many that are outside of the driving distance. Jeremy & I both really enjoyed the fellowship that we enjoyed. It was so refreshing! Also, the speaker that they brought in was a man who has started a ministry doing taxes for pastors and missionaries. We heard about him when we first came into the Mission, thankfully, so we have been sending our taxes to him for several years. But it was nice to have him there to ask our many questions to - he even talked about life insurance and retirement. That was nice for Jeremy and I to hear. We learned some things that we need to be doing now for retirement, and that it is not sinful to plan for the future, but good stewardship! I did learn something very interesting. I know not many of you who read this are pastor's, but it might help for you to know about your pastor. Did you know that if, as a church, you want to give your pastor a love gift (say for Christmas), and everyone gives personal checks to the pastor made out to him, that is considered just a gift and not taxable. However, if the church takes a collection for their pastor, and the treasurer collects all the checks (made out to the church) and writes one collective check to the pastor from the church, it is now considered taxable! So just FYI, if you feel like giving your pastor a gift, make sure to do it personally and not through the church!

The weather down in Merced during our conference was beautiful. The mornings were overcast, but the afternoons were sunny and warm. I don't think I wore a jacket at all. In the afternoons, Jeremy and I enjoyed some free time together. One afternoon, we got to go see a movie. We saw the Tooth Fairy. We found it to be pretty cute and fairly clean. Another afternoon, Jeremy wanted to shop for an electric guitar with some of the other pastors. One of our VM pastor friends from Redding area was teaching Jeremy a little bit of guitar (besides what he has been trying to learn from a book we have here at home). He ended up buying one for a very good deal from a dealer whom we discovered was a Christian. So now he is going to work very hard to learn the electric guitar to play at church. I will see if I can pick up the acoustic that we have here, too. And Rob is working on learning the bass.

Then we came back through Redding (my mom brought the kids and met us in Redding). We stayed in our trailer again Friday night, dropped my mom off at the airport Saturday, and drove down towards Sacramento with our trailer and the kids for two nights. We got home yesterday, and are very glad to be home after being away for a week. We were very refreshed from our conference, and now are excited to be back and thinking about new ministries at the church. We are thinking and praying about starting AWANA's this fall. And of course, we're thinking about what to do for VBS, too.

One more bit of news...we found out we are expecting baby number 7 at the end of August! We are all very excited - the boys were ecstatic when we called and told them. They all think it's hillarious, because when I was little I wanted 5 boys and 5 girls. They tell everyone that we have the 5 boys and now it's time for the 5 girls. We will see. Rob says if this one's a girl, he will laugh. We are thinking about Naomi Joy if it is a girl. Jeremy's not discussing boy names right now, because in his mind, it's another girl.

Thank you for reading my ramblings. I hope you were able to make sense of some of it!

Zeke's new quilt

2010-01-15T21:53:00.000-08:00

I had to post a picture of Zeke's new quilt for Nana to see. She did a great job, and he is grateful to have a new blanket for his bed to replace the one that the dogs destroyed! :-( Grr!

Ezekiel David Hayek - our 4 year old!

2010-01-15T21:25:00.001-08:00

The Flash hooded towel that Jeremy made for Zeke.

Zeke, in the birthday hat, with the pillow case that I made him.

Baby Zeke

Zeke is 4 today! I can't believe how time flies! It just seems like yesterday that he was born! I remember it so well - from having my water break at Wendy's (that was so embarrassing!), to him being caught by the nurse (the doctor didn't quite make it on time!), to Jeremy having to miss preaching on Sunday because that's when Zeke was born. I've had two of my children born on Sunday - Zeke and Anna. It was so cute this morning, when the boys all woke up and Micah remembered it was Zeke's birthday. He gave him a big hug and said, "Happy birthday, Zoodoo!" (that's what he calls him - we all call him Zekerdoo, and that's as close as he can get!) We let our kids pick the meals on their birthday - they all really think that's special. So our fare today consisted of blueberry coffee cake and scrambled eggs for breakfast, and spaghetti with garlic bread for dinner, followed by homemade, sugar free chocolate cupcakes, and chocolate ice cream. However, the ice cream didn't quite harden up enough, so we decided to save it until tomorrow or Sunday. So we just enjoyed the cupcakes tonight. All in all, I think Zeke really enjoyed his birthday. He got a new quilt from Nana and Papa, a homemade pillow case from Mom, a homemade Flash hooded towel from Dad and a color book and crayons from a woman at church who came over for dinner and cupcakes. After we finished our cupcakes, Zeke put on the hooded towel, and ran all around the house.

I am so thankful for all of our children, but today I am especially thankful for Zeke! Happy birthday, Zeke!!!

Field trips, earthquakes and such

2010-01-12T20:49:00.000-08:00

Silas after jumping into the blocks at Flips for Kids.

Jeremy, Rob and Josh in our new trailer.

Ever notice how hard it is to get a good picture of everyone - especially kids? ;-(

Happy, happy new year! I hope you all are enjoying the refreshment that a new year brings. Kinda like a clean slate. I really enjoy the new year, and all of the opportunities that it brings, but I dislike making any resolutions. I have done so in the past, but have never held on to any for a long length of time. Then the guilt sets in because I have not followed through. So I try not to make resolutions anymore. But some goals that I have are to be more faithful in trying to teach my kids about the Lord. I've noticed that sometimes I get so busy, that when one of them brings up a question about God, or a Bible passage we've read, or something similar, I'm quick to just throw out an answer so they'll leave me alone to finish what I was doing. I plan to change that. Before Christmas, I also had Rob and Josh memorizing a verse or passage a week for school. They had to copy it so many times each day, and the goal was for them to have it memorized so they could say it in Sunday school. I have had so many people stop me, and tell me how much they love to hear my boys recite their memory verses in Sunday school. But with Christmas, we have slacked off on that as well. I plan to start that again this next school week. And I got frustrated this last year with running behind on making Christmas presents, and not even getting to make everything I had planned, that I'm starting Christmas presents already for next year. Call me crazy if you want, but I have 3 done already!

Sorry - I had to pause to go help my husband fill the bobbin on my sewing machine. Zeke's birthday is Friday (he'll be 4!), and Jeremy and I have decided to make him a hooded towel. I have made many of them for our children, and my nephews and nieces, and they turn out so cute - with big wooden eyes, and whiskers, and all. And the ones that I have made for our kids are many years old, and are missing button eyes, and the towels are faded and ripping apart. So we thought we'd make new ones for all of our little ones this year on their birthdays. But Jeremy's idea was to make it a little different than I usually do. He bought red and yellow towels, and is going to make one that looks like Flash (some super hero, in case you - like me - did not know who that was!). Instead of button eyes, he wants to cut holes out and hem around the circles so that Zeke can see through them. It should turn out pretty cute, and I'll have to post some pictures. Anyways, then we can see if we like how it turned out before we have to make one for Micah next month - he'll be 3. My babies are getting so big!

In signing in tonight to update this blog, I was dragging my feet. I told Jeremy that I couldn't think of that much to be able to update about, but things keep coming to mind. For those of you who didn't know, we lived through our first California earthquake last week. The coast was hit with a 6.5 earthquake on Saturday afternoon. We felt it here, too, but not sure if it was a 6.5 here - we are 45 minutes from the coast. But I was going through material to make some pillow cases for Christmas presents (see above paragraph), and the lights started to flicker. That's not too uncommon out here. The power does go out occasionally - but I could feel the ground moving under my feet. It only seemed to last a few moments. I had a moment of indecision. I didn't know if I should go yell at my children to get under the table, or what to do. But about that time, it stopped. Then I stood wondering if there would be any more movement or not. I honestly didn't think it had been that bad, and didn't know until Sunday at church that it was a 6.5 (and then again when my mom called to let me know on Sunday afternoon!). We even had some friends from The Dalles call to make sure we were okay, because they had heard about it on the news! One of the ladies from our church had been in Eureka (or on her way), but didn't notice it, until she got to one of the grocery stores in town. She got up to the door and was told they were closed. When she asked if they usually closed for the day at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the person told her that there had just been an earthquake and they had to clean up. We went into town yesterday for Jeremy's day off, and noticed many stores that had boarded up parts of windows and storefronts made of glass that had shattered. I guess many of the grocery stores had big messes to clean up as lots of things fell off the shelves. As far as I know, no one from our church was injured, nor lost any material possessions. I haven't heard about any injuries out on the coast, either. But while I was in Joann's yesterday, I overheard someone telling someone else that the epicenter had been 60 or so miles out in the ocean. But our family is okay, and I don't think that any of the kids noticed we were in an earthquake until we told them afterwards. They noticed the lights flickering, but I don't think they felt the movement.

And we have a praise to share as well: God has provided us with a travel trailer! We have been praying, looking, talking and researching about trailers for over 6 months now. We noticed on our trip here last February that we were not able to stay in hotels anymore. When we stayed in Grants Pass, OR, there was only one hotel that we could stay in that didn't charge us for two rooms. Apparently we have too many kids for that anymore! So we began thinking about and researching trailers. After some extensive research, we decided that what we would need would be one with double bunk beds. But they are hard to find. We checked a few times at a dealer in Eureka, but their comment was if we wanted to be able to go inside and see one, we would probably have to go to Utah - or somewhere that actually stocked trailers with double bunks. We kept checking on Craig's List and online at RV stores for used ones. We finally found a place down in Santa Rosa that had one on their lot. It was a brand new one, but they quoted us the same price that another lot had quoted us for one that was 3 years older. So for the same price, we decided to go with the brand new one. Anyways, we were looking for one that, like I said, had double bunk bed, a wrap around table (for more seating for the kids, and it makes into a larger bed for sleeping), a separate main bedroom with a queen sized bed, and a sofa that pulled out like a hide-a-bed, (that didn't pull down like a futon). The trailer that we found had everything we were looking for. So we drove down to Santa Rosa on the 4th, stayed at the fairgrounds down there with our new trailer that night, and then drove home the next day. Our plan is to take it into town with us on Jeremy's day off, even if only to find a day use area and enjoy family time away from the church. We've discovered that when we stay home on our days off, inevitably we start to get phone calls, and sometimes visits, too - before too long, it's not really a day off. So we go into town, but end up shopping when we don't want to, etc., simply because we have nothing else to do. Then of course, one meal for all of us gets pretty expensive - even if it's Taco Bell. So we plan to use it when we go into town to just hang out together, without having to shop, and to fix our own food. Also, once a month we drive into Redding for our VM fellowships, and it will be nice to take with us there, too, to put the younger ones down for naps during the long day in Redding. We are sure, also, that it will be used for ministry purposes. Some ladies from our church have already talked about maybe using it for going to women's conferences, etc. And several have talked of having a church family camp now that the pastor's available to go! We felt apprehensive at first about owning a brand new trailer, even if we got it for a great deal. But when Jeremy brought this up to one of the board member's wives, she questioned why pastors should feel bad about owning nice things. Jeremy said that we felt bad because we were in ministry. She asked Jeremy whether we thought they should start voting on our shopping lists as well. That was encouraging to hear that they agreed with our decision. We have showed it to many people from the church, and they all love it, and think that we made a wise decision.

Onto different things: Does anyone know what a "blue moon" is? We just found out that it is when we have a full moon twice in one month. They don't happen very often - I think I heard once every 30 years or so. Anyways, we just had one on New Year's Eve. Interesting, isn't it? Well, now you know!

My mom comes in less than 2 weeks! We are all looking forward to her visit! And Jeremy and I are getting excited for the couples getaway in just a couple of weeks.

Yesterday, we took the kids to a homeschool field trip/play day. They rented out Flips for Kids for an hour. It is a children's gymnastic center - including trampolines, beams, rings, etc. There was no formal instruction or anything, the kids just got to play around with whatever they wanted. Our kids had a blast. And last night, in Eureka, Rob and Josh finally got to use some free movie passes they had won at a fishing derby back in June. They went with Jeremy to see Alvin & the Chipmunks 2. They really enjoyed the movie, and also really enjoyed their time with just Dad.

I think that is all the news I can squeeze out of my little brain. If you haven't noticed yet, or read my past blogs, I am posting the Village Missions prayer spotlight on my blog. I post the picture, and the couple's name and location. If you want to read more about them, including some prayer requests, just click on their picture.

Gold, Frankincense and Goggles?

2009-12-26T14:26:00.000-08:00

Annalee loved the fleece blanket I made her!

Rob's favorite gift - his Leatherman! (a very handy tool!)

Josh's favorite present - this church jacket (he has been asking for one for months!)

At the airport, seeing Auntie Amy off! :-(

Auntie Amy opening her quilt and goggles!

Merry, merry Christmas, dear reader! I hope you and your family had a wonderful celebration, and that you were drawn closer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Our family had a fun Christmas. Jeremy's sister came to visit us the week before Christmas. And we, being the very unconventional parents that we are, allowed our kids to open presents while she was here - being that we wouldn't have any other family here during Christmas to open presents with. So they got to open their presents 4 days early. But we still saved stockings for Christmas morning. We had Amy this year for Christmas, and I have been working since May on a quilt for her. I should have taken a picture to post on my blog, but forgot about it. I didn't want to before Christmas anyway, since the possibility that she might see it early was pretty great. But a funny thing happened when she opened her quilt. Apparently one of the kids had put their snowmachine goggles (from in Galena) in the box with her quilt, and they were wrapped with it. We all had a good laugh when she went to pull out her quilt, and the goggles fell out. Too funny!

Last Sunday, the boys had their Christmas play at church. It went really well. I was in the very front, and could hear most of it, but I'm not quite sure how far back their voices actually carried. But they were all so cute! The wigs were a little too big, the masks didn't stay on too well (and Silas kept trying to take his off!), and a little bit of the myrrh (or olive oil!) spilled on the floor. But all the kids remembered their lines, and I was proud of all of them. I was in the front, in the corner by the piano, and I couldn't see Zeke. I wasn't too worried, since he didn't have any lines, but wanted to find him nonetheless. I looked in the back to where the nursery worker was sitting (she had brought our two babies out to watch the play), but Zeke wasn't with her. But when the play was finally over, and the kids started to file down from the platform, Zeke was the last one to come down. I was so surprised to see him up there. He hadn't moved a muscle or made a sound during the whole thing - which is pretty hard for a 3 year old. I had been told by the woman in charge that he was having some difficulty during practice, so I was very surprised that he had been so good!

For Christmas Eve, we went to the service at the Nazarene church here in town. Our church didn't have a service, and it was very nice to be able to just go to a service, and not to have to plan one! Most of the time was spent singing Christmas carols, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The pastor then shared a message. After the service, the kids all enjoyed some cookies and hot cocoa in their fellowship hall. Then we drove up to Hoopa to look at some Christmas lights that some women at our church had told us we had to go see. Christmas day started with the kids all opening their stockings. Annalee even got a couple of new hair barrettes. Then after getting dressed and ready for the day, we started getting everything cooked for our Christmas dinner. We only ended up having 4 people from church over here. We had invited several others, and had expected to have more than that, but we enjoyed the fellowship of those that came. Rob was sick most of the day. He was so excited when he went to bed Christmas Eve, and I think he worked himself into it. He just had a headache most of the day, and he said his stomach hurt. He was still able to eat, and never threw up, but did end up taking several short naps throughout the day. And today, he is perfectly fine. I mentioned this to my mom last night when we talked on the phone after the kids had gone to bed. She told me that when she was little she had the same problem, and that her mom couldn't tell her anything exciting that they were going to do (like vacation, etc) until 2 days before they left. So maybe that's where he gets it from. But other than that, we had a very enjoyable day.

Now that Christmas is over, Jeremy and I are getting very excited about our trip next month. My mom will be coming at the end of January (our retreat is the 26-29). I'm also getting a little nervous about leaving Anna home. I know my mom is capable of taking good care of them all, and Rob and Josh are very big helpers, but there's just something about leaving the baby home. I had a hard time when Jeremy and I flew up to visit Alaska before going there, too, and we even took baby Micah with us (but Zeke was only 13 mos at the time). So if you think of it, please pray for us that we will have a wonderful time, and not spend all of it worrying about the kids. And that my mom and kids will all do well together.

If you haven't noticed, I have started putting the Village Missions prayer spotlight on the side of my blog. Each week, there is a different couple that we pray for. I have included a link to the Village Missions webpage that tells their name, field, and a little bit about the community and church that they serve, as well as some things to pray for. We pray for these dear couples in our church every week, but I wanted to put them on here, so you could be aware of them, too. This week, the spotlight is a couple just out of Redding that we really enjoy fellowshipping with at our VM fellowship days in Redding. They are a really neat couple. If you think of it, please lift them up in prayer.

Thank you for reading my blog. I wish you and your family a wonderful new year!!!

Twas Weeks Before Christmas....

2009-12-07T21:42:00.000-08:00

Everyone in front of our homemade tree - they are proud of their accomplishment!

Our homemade wreath - made out of everyone's hand cutouts. We stapled them to a paper plate with the middle cut out. I think it turned out very cute!

Annalee with her new hair barrette - doesn't she look so sweet? They're magnetic and stay in very well - as well as they can with but a wisp of hair. We highly recommend them!

Do you ever get to the end of your day and realize it was a whirlwind? Today was like that for us. It started out as a normal day off. Jeremy and I rented Night at the Museum 2 last night, and let the kids watch it this morning before we had to return it. But by mid-morning, we realized we would have to be travelling into Redding. We order our bulk food from a co-op that delivers in Redding, and the pick up was today. We had arranged it for another VM couple to pick it up for us, and we would pick it up from them at the VM fellowship next Monday, but got an email this morning saying that this woman's mother was very ill, and she had flown to Minnesota to be with her. Then we got another email saying that the VM fellowship was cancelled for this month. So we decided the best thing to do was to go in and pick up our own stuff from Redding. We didn't leave here until around 1pm and got back around 9pm - and each way is about 3 hours. And since the highway between here and there is pretty curvy, we had complaints of headaches and tummy aches - topped with Rob getting sick in the car on the way home. I told all of the boys before bed that we would not be leaving here for Redding again without everyone having taken something for car sickness - some Dramamine or ginger or something. . . And on top of that, I think I have caught a cold and am stuffy and pretty much miserable. Oh, and the dogs ripped Silas' hood on his coat (am I glad it's a zip off one!), and the front of Anna's pretty brown and purple coat. Jeremy was not happy at all about that one! Boy, am I glad to be home!! Moving on...

We have been having a little trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year. We had to sell our fake Christmas tree in Galena last year. We were blessed to be able to bring most of our Christmas things that had meaning to them - like my collection of Precious Moments ornaments, the boys' ornaments from past years, and my Christmas village given to me from my family. But we weren't sure what to do about a tree. We didn't feel like paying over $100 for a fake Christmas tree when we could wait until after Christmas and get one half off! (call me cheap, I know!). And we weren't too keen on paying half that for a real tree. So Jeremy decided that we would put up a paper tree on the wall. No, really, it ended up turning out a lot cuter than I thought it would. He put some white art paper on the wall, and cut green construction paper to make the tree. Then we used all sorts of different colored construction paper to make ornaments to decorate our tree. Jeremy made a beautiful star out of cutouts of the boys' hands, and we even added a popcorn string to our tree. The popcorn turned out to be not a good idea, though. The bottom of it ended up being in Anna's reach, and she has since pulled that portion of the string off the wall, and eaten the popcorn! But it was beautiful nonetheless. Shortly after we were finished with this (on Saturday), one of the board members and his wife showed up here at the parsonage with a real Christmas tree! They had gone to cut one down for themselves, and got one for us as well, too!! Not only did they bring us a tree, they brought a stand, and three boxes of Christmas lights! We cut it to size, and set it up in the stand, ready to decorate on Sunday after church. Then we headed up the hill to the Bigfoot Museum to attend the tree lighting/Santa arrival there. Santa arrived half hour late, and we got pretty chilly, but the hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies helped us bide the time. At the close of the service on Sunday, one of the board members came up to the front with a bag, and said that they had all collected and got us some new Christmas ornaments, because they had heard that we had to leave most of ours behind in Alaska! It was so sweet! Then today in the mail, we got two Christmas boxes from our home church in Colville. They send us these every year - with such goodies as granola bars and hot chocolate, even to hats, gloves, scarves, and Adventures in Odyssey! We were thrilled! It was a good way to pass the time to Redding today, with some new Adventures to listen to. We are so excited to see the way that God is caring for us here. We still have some days of frustration that our ministry there ended so abruptly - like when we pulled out our Christmas ornaments and saw the ones that we had gotten in North Pole, Alaska right before Anna was born. But all of this helps us to see that God was in control of our ministry in Alaska, and He is in control of the ministry here as well. It helps us to see God's hand in bringing us to where we are - even if we don't understand the whys.

We are opening our house this Christmas to a few people from church that we know of that don't have anywhere else to go. They have family, but not here. They have been fairly faithful to services - even Sunday night and Wednesday. They come and hang out with us often, so they are beginning to feel like family. We also just found out that Jeremy's sister will be coming to visit right before Christmas. She can't stay for Christmas, but we will enjoy her company anyway. In January, Jeremy and I will be going down to Merced for a VM couples getaway. We are really looking forward to it! The church is not only paying our way, they are sending us with gas and spending money! It will be about 2 weeks before our 13th anniversary, so we are considering it an anniversary trip. My mom will be coming down to take care of the kids for us. Please be praying for her! Six children are a lot to care for when you're not used to doing it everyday! But she is willing, and for that we are very thankful! And Rob and Josh are getting to be such big helpers.

For Thanksgiving this year, we helped out at our church's community Thanksgiving dinner. Or should I admit that I helped serve while Jeremy babysat our kids at home? I had signed our whole family up to help serve, but it is difficult to do that with so many little ones. Rob and Josh would have stayed to help, but they really weren't needed. We had plenty of help. It was a nice time, though. We expected more people than actually showed up - I think we served 80 or so. But all in all, I think it was a success. I got to visit with the two ladies that clean up afterward. Apparently they have been doing this now for several years. They come to eat, then stay and do all the cleaning and dishes. But they don't come to our church. I enjoyed getting to meet them, and talking with them, and will be praying that they come to church.

I think the other thing I wanted to share with you was that I never got sick with the flu. In my last post, I talked about the flu that went through the whole family - Jeremy included. But I never got it. I think the Lord knew that I needed to be able to care for everyone else. I figured I would just get it after everyone else was done, but I am so thankful that God kept me healthy!

Merry Christmas, dear reader! May you discover and celebrate the true heart of Christmas this year - our Savior, Jesus Christ! Much love from our family to yours...

Dates and Goats and Flu - Oh, my!

2009-11-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

Anna in her winter hat - isn't she beautiful!

Jeremy, Rob and Josh with one of our roosters. The boys' job was to pull out the feathers.

I tried to take a picture of Anna waving, but either she wouldn't wave for the camera, or it was blurry.

Rob helping serve at the community spaghetti dinner that the Pioneer Club kids held.

Whew! Where have the last few weeks gone? I think they passed without my knowing it!

Last month, for Pastor's Appreciation Month, our church gifted us with a night out. Not only did they give us a $75 gift certificate for a nice restaurant in town, but they also provided us with gas money and two women whose husband's are on the board to watch our kids! We had it all planned to go last Friday night, but one of the women ended up getting sick, so we weren't able to go. She told us that we could go Monday instead. But Sunday, the other woman got sick, so we knew we wouldn't be going anytime soon. Monday morning, we got a call from the first woman asking if we were going out that night. I told her that the other person was sick and wouldn't be able to help with the kids. She told us that she could watch all of our kids with her hands tied behind her back! Apparently she used to run a daycare in her home. So we figured why not? We left at 5, and went to dinner. It was a nice restaurant. It was on the second floor, and had a nice view of the town (although it was dark!). Since we don't usually get to go on dates because we have so many children, Jeremy decided he wanted to use all of the gift certificate - assuming it would be a while before we would be able to go back and use the rest of it. I will refer you now to the amount at the top of the paragraph, and the fact that we have never spent that much on dinner! But it was fun. We ordered 3 appetizers, two entrees and one dessert to split, and still had enough left for the tip! We took over half of what we ordered home for the boys to enjoy as well. After that, we headed to Costco to pick up a few items and our Christmas cards with our family pictures from the photo center. When we got home, everyone was asleep, and the house was quiet. So we snuggled on the couch and watched Up (a gift that we got the boys while at Costco). The next night, the boys got to watch it. They were so excited!!

However...Tuesday night, Josh started complaining about his stomach hurting. In the middle of the night, we were awakened to him throwing up. Ugh! I dislike sicknesses, simply for the fact that they usually rampage through everyone! Sure enough, by Wednesday night, Silas was throwing up, and by Thursday, it was Anna and Micah. Jeremy drove into town on Thursday to purchase a much-needed carpet cleaner, and then proceeded to clean the living room floor that afternoon. By that time, Rob was laying on the couch, not feeling well. As I write this post, Jeremy is sacked out on the bed. So much for his sermon prep time! It's a good thing he's preached through Genesis before. He might have to preach his sermon as it is from the last time he preached it up in Galena. I suppose that would mean I'm next...I hate getting sick. I am so thankful, though, that this sickness has been a fast moving one. The kids have only been feeling sick for about 12 hours each. I am also thankful that I have not gotten sick in the middle of the whole thing. At least I am feeling good to be able to take care of everyone else.

We have 8 chickens from our flock in our freezer. Jeremy and the boys learned from a field trip how to butcher and package them for the freezer. They did a very good job! We are all excited to try them. The plan was to have some of our chickens for Thanksgiving, but we will be going to the community Thanksgiving dinner at our church. So we will have to have them later. I guess they have been doing this dinner for several years. People from the church sign up to bring the items for the dinner, and then they open the doors to the community to come as well. I think it sounds like a great outreach opportunity.

We have been planning on getting goats for a couple of months now. There is a man in our church that we were going to partner with. The plan was for us to house them, and do the milking, and he built the milking station and the goat pen. Everything was finished last week, and we got the goats. The first night (we didn't get them until it was dark), the mama screamed so loud that we got a phone call asking if we had goats in our backyard. Later that same evening, as Jeremy and I were putting the kids to bed, and the guy from our church was working on finishing something in our shop....the police stopped by for a visit! I guess they had gotten a couple of phone calls that someone was being tortured. So we told them it was just some goats, and they couldn't believe it. But after seeing them for themselves, they drove off. We had them and milked the mama for 6 days. But after talking about it and praying about it, we decided that it probably was not the best thing to have them here. The church board had told us it was okay with them, but we were concerned about annoying the neighbors with how loud they were. And we figured that having neighbors annoyed with the church was not the best way to share the Gospel! So we are back to just our chickens. And now, they should all be hens! We are looking forward to getting some more in the spring time, to be able to get more eggs.

The boys have been having lots of fun with home ec for school this year. They have been helping me with baking bread and muffins for several months. But a few times, I have asked them to make muffins for breakfast by themselves - and usually I have them double or triple the recipe just to get enough for everyone! They really enjoy doing it, too! For Wednesday night prayer, we have turned it into a small group at our house, and have now started serving dinner for the few that come - it's usually not more than 3 or 4. But this last Wednesday, I had Rob bake our corn bread and our carob brownies (both sugar free, of course!). I also made some sugar free vanilla ice cream. One of the men that was there Wednesday night is diabetic, and I think he really enjoyed our dessert! Besides the benefit for our family, being able to cook for someone who has allergies makes it worth it for me.

I think, dear reader, that you are now up-to-date on the happenings in the Hayek household. Two of my little ones are awake from their nap, and so my time to write is over anyways. Thank you for taking the time to read of our happenings. I enjoy all of the responses I get from you that read and comment. Thanks!

Oh, and by the way

2009-11-02T21:35:00.000-08:00

Boys playing in the freshly raked leaves - what fun!

Ever notice how life has a way of getting away from you? Things don't always seem to happen the way I think they will - or should. Last time I blogged, I mentioned that we were going to pick apples for a field trip the next day. That's not what actually happened. We got up early the next morning, with every intention of making it there (the field trip was 2 hours away from our house). But by the time we got into Eureka, we only had 20 minutes to get there, and were still an hour away. So we decided not to go, and took the kids to the Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka instead. We had a really good time, even though it wasn't what we had planned. The weekend after that, we went to another field trip with our homeschool group. It was a butchering field trip (which was at the same place as the apple trip had been - so while we were there, we also got to pick some apples to bring home!). The kids got to watch a turkey and goat being butchered. Josh didn't want to see the animals being killed, but once that was over with, he helped pluck out feathers, and enjoyed the anatomy lesson. It was a great experience for us, because it taught us how to prepare our chickens for the freezer as well. Jeremy and the boys butchered 3 of our roosters on Saturday, and now they are in the freezer. Rob told me after they finished with the chickens that he really enjoys our lifestyle. He told the kids in Sunday school about what they did with the chickens. One boy said, "Why'd you do that?" Rob told him that it was because we had too many roosters.

Last week, our Pioneer Club hosted a community spaghetti dinner. I don't know if anyone got a real count to know how many people they served, but it was a lot. And they all did such a great job. They were courteous, helpful, and happy to be serving. Most of the kids in Pioneer Club don't go to church anywhere, but did such a good job serving dinner - I wonder if we should do it again! Our church does a similar thing for Thanksgiving - the church members sign up for the Thanksgiving dinner (potluck style) and then open the doors to the community to come and eat as well. I think my boys will enjoy serving at that dinner as well. I know they really enjoyed serving at the spaghetti dinner.

I made sweet potato pie without sugar last week. And it was a hit! Jeremy and Rob fought over it. Between the two of them, they ate at least half of it. And Anna thought it was yummy as well. I didn't even realize my family liked sweet potatoes, and have never served them before! Everyone loved it, but Silas. He doesn't seem to like potatoes at all - except for French fries, but I'm not sure they count as potatoes.

We got another puppy two weeks ago. Her name is Peach. She is now 7 weeks old, and is a Daschund/Jack Russell terrier mix. Most people think I am a glutton for punishment, but we actually wanted her to be a companion for Daisy. We thought they would keep each other company and be good playmates. They are doing really well together. They do enjoy playing with each other, and Daisy doesn't bite at the boys' toes so much! ;-)

We are blessed to have wood for the winter. A man in our church had wood on his property that he told us we could have. And another family had a splitter that they let us borrow. So Jeremy, Rob and Josh spent 5 hours splitting wood with this man one day, and they ended up getting about a cord and a half. The man still has more wood at his property for us whenever we need it. The Lord is providing for our needs!

I don't know if I mentioned that Jeremy is back into preaching in Genesis. He really enjoys studying the Law. He fills his sermons with so much information that it's hard to take it all in. So he has started using Sunday evenings as a question and answer forum. So far, we have had a good response. Those that come enjoy being able to ask questions about the morning's sermon that they obviously can't ask during church. And Jeremy enjoys being able to share more of what he has learned that week. He learns more than he can possibly put into a 45 minute sermon. Before Jeremy went into the ministry, I don't think I ever really appreciated how much work pastors put into their sermon and how much I took their knowledge for granted. I, like so many others, expected the sermon to only last 30 minutes. And if it was much more than that, I would keep checking my watch with disdain, and start thinking about everything on my to-do list for that afternoon. I have such a different perspective now, being the wife of a pastor. Watching Jeremy come home every day with exciting new tidbits about what he is uncovering in his studies is so much fun. But he does get disheartened with not having time to share it all. And he even stretches his sermons out to 45-55 minutes. I heard of another pastor telling a visitor of his church what a shame it was that we expect our pastors to spend 15-20 hours a week on sermon prep, and expecting him to present all of the information in 15 minutes. Sigh...I will now climb down from my soap box. I'm so sorry - that just took off without me! ;-) But I really do think we should appreciate our pastors more. They work so hard to share God's Word with us, not to mention all the behind the scenes work that we will never see (unless we happen to be married to one!). And this coming right after Pastor Appreciation Month (No, I didn't plan this). If you appreciate the work your pastor does, and you didn't get a chance to thank him last month, send him a card and let him know how much you appreciate him! And on that note, I will close...

Fall is here!

2009-10-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

Annalee with her proud daddy!

Beautiful hat! Notice the straps - that's the only way to keep it on!

Annalee around 2 months - while still in Galena.

Our family picture taken at Cannon Beach this summer.

I love fall! I love the crispness of the early morning, with the wet grass (though I'd be happier if my shoes stayed dry!). I love the smell of fires burning bright in the fireplace, and snuggling up with loved ones in front of the roaring blaze. I love the thought of apple cider (though I try not to drink it much anymore - too much sugar!). I love the colors of all of the deciduous trees, and I don't even mind raking up the leaves - once or twice. Dear to my heart is going out to local farms and picking pumpkins and apples...maybe because I have fond memories of doing just that with family in Spokane when our oldest two were little. I love the hay rides, corn mazes, and even the fun little carnival games that some of them have.

Last time I wrote, we had just gotten back from the pumpkin patch. Well, we are finally almost finished processing those pumpkins. Phew! What work! Yesterday, I even had Rob and Josh write a few paragraphs about how we get pumpkins from the field to pumpkin pie. They did pretty good remembering, since they helped us cut up the pumpkins, scoop out the seeds, and watched us cook the pumpkins. It's a lengthy process, but I am sure looking forward to having pumpkin bread and pie from the pumpkins that we fixed ourselves. Maybe it's just the pride of accomplishment...

Tomorrow, we go to get apples. It's another field trip for the homeschool group - and I am looking forward to it.

Jeremy has another funeral to do in town tomorrow. We have had a few people pass away here in the last few weeks. It's the less desirable part of his job - as it's never fun to watch someone die. But we are praising God that the two that he has had to do funerals for have known the Lord. That helps with the grieving.

Our baby girl is now 1 year old. She turned 1 on Monday. I can't believe it - where has this past year gone? And yet, thinking about the past year since Annalee has been born is bitter sweet. It brings back fond and painful memories - which is difficult because I don't want to dwell on the painful memories, but yet that is the time when she was born, and for that it was beautiful. But the Lord is faithful, and I am thankful that He walks beside me all the way. That's especially nice to remember during the times that I don't feel Him - because I don't always feel Him near. But my feelings are nothing compared to His many promises to love me always, to never leave me, and to never give me more than He thinks I can handle. That is an especially wonderful promise!

Well, it's time to close. Steaming tea awaits - Madagascar red vanilla - one of my favorites!

Runaway Baby

2009-10-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

I just had to share what happened with Anna today. It was our day off, and as usual, we went into town. We had a wonderful day in Trinidad...we visited the marine biology lab of HSU, took a hike by the beach, and met the homeschool group at the park in Eureka to let the kids play. Then while at Costco...we had just gotten a few items, and were back at the van. I was loading the things into the trunk, and Jeremy was correcting one of the kids inside the van. I turned to get something else out of the cart, but it wasn't there! The cart had started rolling away and was several parking spots away before I noticed it - and Anna was still sitting in the front seat - as if nothing was wrong! I yelled at Jeremy and we both took off running after the runaway baby. Thankfully, no cars were hurt in the transit, and baby is doing fine, too. She didn't even realize what was going on. Phew!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

Beautiful sunflowers!

Our pumpkins

Rob holding his pumpkin

Zeke, Silas and Josh holding their pumpkins.

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch yesterday. We went with a local homeschool group out of Eureka. We had a good time. The rule was that the kids could take a pumpkin that they could carry to the car (not our rule, but the farm's since the pumpkins were free). I thought we did pretty good picking out pumpkins that Silas, Zeke and Micah COULD carry to the car. However, they didn't WANT to carry them to the car, so Mom got stuck carrying three pumpkins. It's a good thing they were small ones! Rob and Josh got bigger ones, and Jeremy and I got one, too (we paid for ours, though!). The field trip was fun. The tour guide talked about different animal tracks that they have on the farm - beaver, racoon, fox - and how to identify them. She also told them about how pumpkins and corn stalks grow - very interesting! There were lots of homeschool families there, and we got to meet a few. It will take a while to be able to really get to know any of them, especially since we live so far out of town. Jeremy was the only dad there. I told Jeremy we should make this whole thing into a school project. From them going and picking the pumpkins to slicing, scooping out seeds, and baking the pumpkin so it's ready for pies and breads. We even like to roast our pumpkin seeds and then mix them with olive oil and salt. I love fall! I also saw online tonight that we are in effect for a frost warning - you know what that means? Apples!!!

My Son, the Ewok

2009-10-03T22:20:00.001-07:00

Josh and Micah dressed up as Star Wars characters.

Micah, the Ewok.

Our kids have all loved to play dress up. Rob is a little old, and doesn't dress up anymore, but the rest still do. Jeremy and I were outside last week, when Micah wandered outside. The first thing I thought of when I saw him dressed like this was that he looked like an Ewok. He is wearing a costume that our Nana made for Rob when we lived in Wishram (aka "Snake Man"), and he put on the mane that Nana made for Josh's costume from the same time (aka "Lion Man"). As you can see the pants are a little long for him, but he doesn't mind one bit! The picture above shows Micah with Josh, who is dressed up in a clone costume from Walmart that we got for the younger ones - yes, as you can see it is way too short for Josh, but he doesn't mind one bit! ;-)

We have been seeing some great things here in our church lately. We have had several new people coming, and coming pretty faithfully. I don't remember if I mentioned that we had a temporary assistant pastor. He is gone now, and we are looking to see what the Lord will do to fill that need. Jeremy has been doing videos for Sunday evening service for a couple of months now. He started out with a series by an ex-terrorist (Walid Shoebat), who is now a Christian, giving his testimony. It was fascinating. The next 3 DVDs were of him teaching a new concept about the end times religion. For those interested, I would recommend these DVDs wholeheartedly! After that series, we showed Lee Strobel's Case for Faith. We bought it at Costco, of all places. We found it very powerful. Now we're starting on a 4-disc series on strengthening your faith. We have heard from several people that they have enjoyed the videos we have been seeing, and how they have helped them in their walk with God. We also have an American Heritage series that we might show next. I know I'm looking forward to seeing them.

We are going through a bout of sickness right now. Three of the kids are coughing, complaining of headaches and being tired. I think it's just that time of year. It has been chilly here (I guess not compared to some). But we went from high 90 degree weather one day to low 70 degree weather the next. Add to that a few trips into town for Jeremy to do hospital visitation (which also meant long days, and getting to bed late). So we are laying low, and the kids and I will be staying home from church tomorrow. Oops...I hear one of the coughers now. Gotta run!

Exhausted, but not defeated

2009-09-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

The boys after getting to view the inside of this fire truck - and try on the gear!

My Joshua

Joshua enjoying the arts & crafts time at VBS in July.

The cross on the top of the church's steeple. I love the white cross with the blue background.

It has been a very long few weeks. It has been so long since I have updated this blog that sometimes I wonder if I really have time to manage it! But I will try to keep up for now...

We had our new Village Missions DR and his wife come visit last weekend. We had a really good visit with them. We enjoyed the Wilkinsons (our DRs in WA and AK), and only got to meet with the Doebler's twice before the districts were changed. So now we have the Jacoby's. They travel with a travel trailer, which is wise. That way, they can take their own home with them on the road. Our boys really enjoyed getting to tour the inside of their trailer. Three of them wanted to use the bathroom! But we had to draw the line somewhere. We played Wizard with them Friday night. They picked it up pretty quick. Walt even beat us all - which he enjoyed!

Monday, Jeremy's day off, we stayed around the house until mid afternoon to get some things done around here. Jeremy wrote everything that we have been wanting him to do up on the white board, so he could physically see his "to do" list. He was able to mark 4 or 5 things off by the time we were done on Monday. Then we called some people from the church to ask about any hiking trails nearby. They told us that we could visit their property which is right on the Trinity River, and hike their trail to the river. So we did. We let the boys wade around in the river, which had a pretty steep bank. They could only go in a few footsteps. At one point, Micah had climbed on an underwater rock, and lost his footing. Jeremy had Anna strapped to his back, and was sitting up pretty high on the bank. I had rolled my pants up, and was wading, too, but only to my ankles. Anyways, I saw Micah go under the water, and then pop back up. But he couldn't regain his footing and went under again. The next time he came up, he was farther out. I knew he would soon float out into the middle of the river. I lunged at him, and grabbed him as quick as I could. My heart was beating so fast! I am so thankful that I saw him in time, and that the Lord gave me quick reflexes to catch him before it was too late. After I got him back to shore, and he had stopped crying, the man who owned the property (and came with our family to the river) said that he could hear my heart beating! I wouldn't be surprised if it was beating that loud.

Today was the second week of Pioneer Club. I forgot to count how many kids we had again this week, but I'm guessing around 20 or so. Quick update: Jeremy says we had 27 today for Pioneer Club. Silas gets to go this year, and is very excited about that. Today, the leader's husband came to teach the oldest group (the Trailblazers) about how to use a compass. They all thought that was pretty neat. And Robert (as he likes to be called now) informed me that he told them compasses are pretty reasonable at Big 5. He said, "I don't know how much 'pretty reasonable' is, though."

This morning, Jeremy spoke at the chapel at the Christian school. We took all of the kids. They did fairly well. I had to take the younger 4 out about the time Jeremy started talking. But they were quiet during the flag pledges, singing, and prayer time. Josh said he wants to go again the next time Jeremy speaks for chapel.

Our school seems to be going okay. I seem to be really having a struggle with Joshua. He's really dragging his feet when it comes to Math, and he is usually very easily distracted with everything else. I get so frustrated when everytime I come through the room to check on them, he is not paying attention to his schoolwork. I've been getting so discouraged, even wondering if I'm doing the best thing by keeping them at home. But Jeremy reminds me that he would be doing the same thing even if he were in school, and they would give him labels, and maybe even give him medication. I know he is 10 physically, but I don't think he is quite 10 mentally. I'm wondering if I am just being too hard on him. It feels like he is just being lazy about his schoolwork, but Jeremy thinks that maybe I need to let him go at a slower pace. I am worried about him getting too far behind on his math book, and other things. But Jeremy seems to think that he will catch up eventually when his mind catches up with his body.

Annalee is getting so close to walking. She is trying so hard to take steps. I can't believe how big she is getting. And we have been working with Zeke to potty train him, and he is doing a very good job! He gets jelly beans for going in the toilet, instead of in his underwear. He was dry all day today, and yesterday, too, I think. It is such a relief for me. Any time we would forget to change his diaper, and he was in it too long, he would start to get the spots back that looked like his staph infection. It is nice not to have all of those red spots in his diaper area.

I think that is all for now. I just wanted to update you, dear readers, on the happenings in the Hayek household. And to vent frustrations about school not going the way I think it should. But even just getting it out, I feel better. When I brought my frustrations to my husband, he reminded me that he wouldn't do any better in a public (or Christian for that matter) school. And yes, we want them to learn the academics, but we feel that the Christian influence is so much more important. Also, most of what Jeremy and I remember learning has been since getting out of high school. I remember bits and pieces of my formal education, but not nearly as well as what I have learned since. So I know that God has still called us to homeschool our children, and knows what is best for them. And so I will continue on in faith that He will use my efforts, as feeble though they seem, and turn them around for the best for my children...and especially His glory.

My Shadow

2009-09-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Jeremy took this picture yesterday of Annalee. I was trying to make a pot of coffee, and she found me in the kitchen and used me to stand up on. She was content to just stand there, so before she could move on, Jeremy took a few pictures.

We officially started school this week. We try to school during the summer, so that the boys don't forget everything, and it's not such a shock in the fall. But this summer, we took a break for the VM conference in June, and never quite got around to doing school again. So Tuesday and Wednesday, the three boys watched movies that we have borrowed and needed to return. The Planet Earth series is excellent, and we really enjoying watching them. They seem to learn a lot from them as well. The photography is excellent, and the boys like watching the diaries part where they talk about filming the movie. We groan and roll our eyes every time they talk about millions of years, but overall the series is very good. Today, they actually did some bookwork. Rob did some math, and bemoaned the fact that he missed 7 on his math lesson today. So I encouraged and reminded him that we haven't done school in two months, and that he will get the hang of it again soon. Before we quit in June, he was doing all of his lessons with only one or two wrong. He really seems to do good in his math...a lot better than I remember me doing! Oh, yes, I said three boys - Silas is now in the bunch! I let him stay up from taking naps with his younger brothers, and he and I work on his school. I have a couple of books that I use with him, and he is so excited to be doing school like his older brothers. I just have some workbooks, but think I will need to work with him on letters, etc. He is really wanting to learn his letters, and wants to know what everything spells. I'm not sure he's quite ready to learn to read, but I think he's getting close.

As for our new, healthier diet, Jeremy just found a way to make us milkshakes with no sugar or ice cream! He blended up a drink for me the other night, and it was delicious! So we shared it with the boys, and they loved it, too. He uses bananas, frozen grapes, lemon cucumber, milk, ice, cocoa powder, and vanilla. For Silas' birthday, he wanted a cake with no sugar (he remembers when he had too much sugar, and it made him throw up!). So I found a recipe in one of my cookbooks for a chocolate cake without sugar, which was really yummy! I didn't have all the ingredients on hand for the icing, so we had to use store bought icing, but once in a while is okay. We also made ice cream using agave syrup instead of sugar. I found a recipe for single serving ice cream, so we put the ingredients into Ziploc bags, put them into a bigger Ziploc bag with ice and rock salt, and shook them for 10 minutes. Then we put them in the freezer to harden up a bit more. That was also a hit with everyone. Jeremy and I liked it so much we had to make some for our friend from Yale when she visited us this weekend.

My husband just came over with another milkshake. Gotta go! ;-)

Visitors, Visitors and More Visitors!!!

2009-09-08T20:57:00.000-07:00

Annalee in the new dress Nana and Papa bought her. Isn't she beautiful?

Silas, with the birthday hat on.

Silas, with a big 5 year old grin!

All of the kids with cousin Erin. Oh, and Daisy, too.

The last couple of weeks at our household have been a whirlwind of visitors and activities. About a week and a half ago, my parents came down to visit us for a week. While they were here, we celebrated Silas' birthday - he turned 5. (Where have the last 5 years gone? It doesn't seem that long ago that we were living and ministering at Yale!). The day before Silas' birthday, we took the boys to Bounceapalooza. It's a place in the mall that is full of bouncing castles. The boys all had fun. But Silas tends to overheat quickly. He spent at least 15-20 minutes of the hour we were there laying on someone's lap. Last Thursday, my nephew came up from the San Francisco area to visit with us and my parents. It was great to be able to see him, too.

My parents and nephew left here Saturday morning. Later that morning, we went to the parade that was here in town. Labor Day weekend was Big Foot days. It was a fairly short parade, but afterwards, we went to the park. They had a fair type thing going on. It's as much of a fair as our small town has. There were vendors, and lots of food vendors. They had one bouncy castle, and one booth of games. But we had fun anyways.

Sunday afternoon, our friends from Yale came to visit us. So far, they have been down every few months. They only come to stay for one night, but they make stops along the way. The boys really love their visits! This time, they stayed Sunday night, and Monday we all drove into Redding together. We let the boys play at a park that had a water volcano. They really enjoyed that. After lunch, we went to Turtle Bay - a hands-on discovery place similar to OMSI. Jeremy and I purchased a family membership, so that anytime we are in Redding, we can take the boys for free. After that, our friends left for home, we finished our shopping and came home. The next hurdle is school....

Canning

2009-08-20T10:49:00.000-07:00

Josh and Zeke enjoying watermelon at the church's 4th of July picnic.

Robby and Josh taking turns holding Anna.

The boys (minus Micah) at the sign to a hiking trail we found near the park in Eureka.

Phew! We have been very busy lately canning all of the goodies that are coming our way. I am enjoying it very much. It is so rewarding to see that we are not wasting the bounty of food that the Lord has provided. Last week, Jeremy and I were working on harvesting all of the blackberries on the church property. It is disheartening to see all of the bushes around the community where the berries have gone to waste. Over by the river access across the street, there were just thousands of berries (literally) that were not picked, and are now dried and shriveled. We hope to get out there sooner next year to pick lots more. We got quite a few from the bushes on the church's property, but they were pretty overgrown. So as we picked, we also cut way back. So we hope to have more next year. Also, a man from the church has been bringing us lots of things. He brought a bunch of tomatoes (4 boxes) that we turned into seasoned spaghetti sauce, and also yummy salsa! We got those canned up last week. Then this week, he brought over a bunch of peaches. We all enjoyed eating lots of fresh peaches. Yesterday, I even turned some of them into peach butter! And I experimented with only using half of the sugar and half apple juice. Yum! Jeremy and I think that living in Alaska has taught us to appreciate "living off the land." If there is food growing, we should do something with it, so it doesn't go to waste!

Annalee is getting so big! Everyday it seems she is trying new foods. Yesterday, she tried pieces of Jeremy's chocolate chip muffin. She made quite a mess of it, too. It was so cute - she looked like she had a goatee - a chocolate one. But Jeremy fed her peach yogurt after the muffin, and she didn't have as much chocolate on her face afterwards. So I missed the great photo op. We are still making her homemade baby cereal. I had to make more the other day. This time, we just made it with brown rice flour and a little white bean flour. And as often as they can, Zeke and Micah stand right beside Jeremy while he feeds her to glean any little bites that their daddy might afford them. It is really funny to watch them!

The heat has seemed a little easier to bear ever since we have returned from up north. I'm not sure why that is. The boys do very little playing outside - at least during the hot part of the day. But if I don't cook, the house stays fairly manageable. We were doing our canning outside on the portable grill that Jeremy bought for camping. It worked pretty well so that we didn't have to heat up the house. It was supposedly 114 on Monday - or at least that's what the forecast said. I have no idea how hot it really got. But today and tomorrow are supposed to be 107, before it starts to cool down to the mid 90's on Saturday. That will be nice.

We are having company again starting next week. My parents are coming down to visit us a week from Saturday. And the kids are all excited! They will be here for Silas' birthday, which will be fun for him. Sometime after they leave, I think our friends from Yale are coming down to visit again. It is always fun to have them. I think they are on their way to Disneyland, and we are just the stopping off point! ;-)

Anyways, our summer has gone well - except that the boys haven't gotten as much school done this summer as I wanted them to. Right now, we are gearing up and trying to get ready for fall. We will probably start again once all of our company leaves.

From Cranberries to Blackberries

2009-08-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

There are several blackberry bushes on the property at the church. We have been enjoying their fruit for several weeks. It has been so much fun to just go out the front door and pick some fresh fruit to go in our yogurt! But yesterday morning, we went out and picked a big plastic container full of them. We had all of the boys out there helping, too. When I say helping, I mean watching. Well, Rob and Josh helped, the rest watched. And Jeremy was out there with the snippers, snipping back the bushes with no berries. But we thought back to last fall when we were in Alaska picking cranberries. So we went from picking cranberries to picking blackberries. There are lots of blackberries across the street by the river access, too. Last month, the access was closed as it was being used as a helibase for the forest fires. Now it's open, and there were lots of berries there last time we saw. So we're hoping to go this week, and that they're not all picked over. I hope to be able to make jam with them. Does anyone know any good blackberry jam recipes without sugar?

Vacation

2009-08-11T20:02:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel and Anna - the boys all love their sister!

Our roosters!

I think I forgot last time to tell you about our new roosters! After Jeremy was finished building the chicken coop, the boys had fun climbing up in it before we put the chickens in. And they looked so cute with their feet dangling out of the bottom of the coop, too.

Shortly after my last entry, our family took off north for a vacation. We went to Cannon Beach to meet up with Jeremy's family that was there for the week. We camped in Seaside, just north of Cannon Beach, and really enjoyed our time camping! Jeremy's parents helped out so we could go to the sessions if we wanted to - but it was more for the boys to be able to go to the children's sessions and play in the game room. We enjoyed the time on the beach. We got to see our new niece, and we even got to see Jeremy's sister before we took off. We drove through The Dalles, OR, stopping to see our friends there. We even got to see my friend's husband, who has been deployed since last Thanksgiving. He was home for two weeks. It was great to be able to catch up with both of them. From there, we went to Baker City, OR. We got to visit with my two brothers and their families. My parents also came down to visit with us there. My nephew, who has been deployed to Afghanistan for the last year, was there, also. From there, we went home, but not before stopping by quickly to see two other sets of friends on our way home. We had such a good time of visiting. And the camping was really relaxing for us, too. We discovered while we were out just how badly sugar affects our kids. We have been virtually without sugar for a while - we still have some on occasion, but not nearly as much as we did. While we were out on vacation, one night my brother gave Silas a cookie shortly before bed. It was after most of the week with sugar in various places. Anyways, not 10 minutes after having the cookie, he complained of a headache - with crying and fussing. So he went right to bed. He was better by the next morning, but was difficult for him. The next day, as we were driving through Portland, visiting some friends, we took our kids to Costco for dinner. I bought my kids hot dogs, which came with pop, and frozen yogurt. In the middle of the night, we woke up to Silas throwing up. Too much sugar for him. So after our nice trip, we are glad to be home with our healthier diet. For those of you that we got to visit with while we were gone, we really enjoyed our time with you! I got some pictures, and will try to post them later.

Catching Up

2009-07-21T22:37:00.001-07:00

Our new chicks.

Our first dozen eggs from our chickens!

The chicken coop that Jeremy built (didn't he do a good job?).

Our new puppy, Daisy.

Annalee standing tall. She can pull herself up on things now.

I can't believe that I haven't blogged since July 2. Lots of things have happened since then, and I guess I'll have to share them all with you now. My heart is heavy tonight, because I lost my temper with the boys tonight - several times throughout the day, actually. I apologized for my anger, and told the boys that even when I lose my temper I still love them, but I still get angry at myself. On days like today, sometimes my mind even starts wondering why God has given my children and allowed me to be a mother. I feel like all I'm going to do is ruin them. So I try to remember to rest in the Lord (once I have asked forgiveness for my temper and bad attitude), knowing that He is in charge, and my kids will turn out to be what He wants them to be. I don't know if anyone can relate with me on this or not.

On to brighter subjects...I think I last shared that we had been given two chickens. Since we knew that two chickens (even if they were both hens) would not provide us with enough eggs, we picked up 11 more. We now have 4 laying hens, 7 older chicks, and two that we believe are roosters. We are really enjoying them. The boys are, too. They enjoy checking for eggs. Not so much the helping to feed and water them, but they help anyways. We have been advised by several people in our church and community that we need to have a dog to help protect our children from the cougars in our area. So after thinking and praying about this for some time, we started researching which would be the best breed, etc. We also didn't want to spend a small fortune for one. But the Lord provided. We were given a puppy last week from someone in the community. They had had a litter, and at 5 weeks, the mama dried up. So they started giving away the puppies. We got the last one. It's a girl, and we named her Daisy. She is such a cutie, and is so tiny right now! Her mama had yellow lab, black lab, red nose pit and blue nose pit in her. The daddy was a mix of Chihuahua, Pomeranian and Jack Russell terrier. So she has the genes to be big or small. It will be interesting to see.

Our church had VBS last week. Our biggest day was around 57 kids. We were excited with the turnout. Jeremy helped with the daily skit, and we both chaperoned a preschool field trip to the helicopter base across the street on Thursday. They took the kids to see the helicopters that are used in helping to put out the forest fires down here. It was really fun.

Next week, we are heading up north for a little bit of vacation. We are going to Cannon Beach to see family, and then over to Baker City, OR to see more family. We will get to see a brand new niece, and a nephew back from a military tour overseas. We are also looking forward to a visit from my parents in September. They are coming right around Silas' birthday, and he is excited about that. We have told him that maybe we'll have his birthday party at Bounce-a-palooza. It is a place in the mall in Eureka that has lots of blow up bouncy castle things. They want to go every time we go to the mall, but at $6 per child, we have to say "no". We thought maybe it would be okay for a birthday party.

I think I forgot to mention that the church has a temporary youth/associate pastor. The man that was here as an interim before we got here stayed to finish off the school year (he was teaching at the Christian school). The board decided to hire him on during the summer to see if the church could afford his salary, and also to see if they think the church needs a second pastor. Whatever happens, we are enjoying having him here. He used to confuse my mom when she would call, because his name is Josh - and she didn't remember our Josh sounding like that!

I think I will close for now. I feel much better now than I did when I started. I guess I get to see everything that the Lord is doing right now, and that I still have so much to be thankful for!

Of Hamsters and Such

2009-07-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

The boys trying to keep cool in the sprinklers.

Our family - taken in front of our house in May.

We have lost our hamsters. Josh's hamster, Obadiah escaped out of his cage on a few days ago. We looked high and low for that hamster (he did this about a month ago, also, on a Sunday morning. But after looking for a while, we finally found him). All to no avail. But we found him early yesterday morning. We had a big box fan in front of our room trying to keep cool while sleeping. At 5 am, Jeremy and I woke up with a start. We had heard a loud thump. We finally found the cause of the sound. Obadiah had found a hole in the fan into which he climbed in, and was hit by the fan and knocked to the side of it. Poor Obadiah is no more. Josh was so sad, but we told him that next time we go into town, we will buy him another one. Then later yesterday morning, Robby tells me that his hamster, Ginger, is also missing now, too. We haven't found her yet either. But Jeremy was smart enough to cover up the hole in the fan so that she wouldn't meet the same fate as Obadiah.

We are planning on getting a dog soon. A woman in our church told Jeremy about a week ago that she thought we should have a dog. She made us aware of the cougars in the area, and thought that it would be better to have a dog to help protect our kids when they go out to play. So we thought that maybe that was a smart idea. However, now we are trying to figure out what kind of dog would be best for our family. We found a border collie puppy on Craig's list, but now hear that maybe they're not the best with kids. So I thought if anyone out there can tell me what they think of particular breeds as far as kids go, that would be wonderful. Does anyone have a preference about what kinds are better than others?

New Chicks in the House

2009-06-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

Our new chickens: Tawny and Pepper (for obvious reasons!)

The limb that fell off the tree next door. Can you see the hollow inside?

Silas and Micah in front of our tent.

No, not actually in the house. But we were given some chicks - 6 week old ones. We don't know yet if they are hens or roosters. We have been talking about whether or not to get some chickens. Last Monday, a lady from church called us and said she didn't want her two chickens, and asked if we wanted them. So here we are. Our plan now is to get a few more when Jeremy builds a bigger coop. Two chickens won't provide enough eggs for our family - especially if one ends up being a rooster!

I had some more pictures I wanted to share with you. We camped one night on the way to our conference last month, and really enjoyed ourselves. By the time we got into the campground and set up the tent, we didn't have time to build the fire and let the boys roast marshmallows like we had promised, so we did it after breakfast the next morning. Nothing like a lot of sweet early in the morning!

Our church will be having VBS in July starting on the 13th. We are getting ready for that. We are doing Son Rock camp (I think that's what it's called). We might even set up our tent for decoration. So far, we have enough workers that I won't need to be involved. I don't mind helping, but trying to lead or teach is difficult when I have so many little ones that can't go. But I think we have all of the teachers we need.

We are planning a big 4th of July picnic here at the church this year. Jeremy has been making big plans, and from what I hear everyone is excited about it! It will start at 10 am with a ping pong tournament inside the fellowship hall. Around noon, there will be a BBQ/potluck. The church is providing the meat and buns with the church family bringing sides, etc. During the afternoon, Jeremy is planning on having lots of different games available for people to play - like croquet, kick ball, frisbee golf, etc. Then in the evening, they will be showing a movie outside (with the movie being projected up on the outside wall of the building). I think they will show WallE or something like that. We are hoping for a big turnout of church people, and hopefully they will personally invite their friends to come as well.

Jeremy's mom and sister came to visit us a couple of weeks ago. We really enjoyed our time together. On Jeremy's day off while they were here, we took a hike behind the park in Eureka (Robby ended up with a tick), and then we walked around old town Eureka. We had a good time. The day before they left, part of a tree right in front of the business next door cracked and crashed to the ground. It was quite an interesting sound. We are grateful that it didn't hit the church or our house and that no one was hurt. When we went over to investigate, we saw that the inside of the tree was completely hollow.

Annalee has gotten her first tooth. I can't believe how time flies. I don't know that it's ever easier to see how quickly time flies than when you have a newborn baby. It seems like she was born just yesterday! She is not crawling yet, but rocking back and forth on her hands and knees. And she loves her homemade baby cereal. We started making her cereal out of brown rice flour and white bean flour. We mix them together, then cook them in a dry pot until slightly brown. Then we keep it in the freezer. It cooks in just a minute in the microwave, then we add fruit. Not only does Anna really enjoy it, but also Micah and Zeke. They are constantly asking Dad if they can have some, too.

I posted a recipe for dishwasher soap a while ago and mentioned that I also had a recipe for laundry soap. Well, I had someone email me and ask me for the recipe, so I thought I would post it for anyone else that might want it. I have been using this laundry soap for 4 years now.

Laundry Soap

1 bar Fels Naptha

1 cup washing soda (not baking soda)

1 cup Borax

Grate the Fels Naptha soap into a pan; add 4 cups of water. Cook over medium (or low) heat until soap is dissolved. Pour into a 5 gallon bucket and add 3 gallons of hot tap water. Stir in washing soda and Borax. Stir until well mixed. Let set up over night. This only takes about 1/3 cup or so per load. I don't measure it - I just use an old laundry scoop. I find Fels Naptha, washing soda and Borax at WinCo (can also be ordered online).

Conference at Graeagle

2009-06-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

We're home! We had such a wonderful time at conference this week! It all started Sunday when we tried to leave around 3:30 pm to find out that our battery was dead! I had plugged in our cooler (in the van) before church so that it would be cool for us to put food in by the time we were ready to go. Combined with the boys leaving the doors open the whole time we were trying to pack, we ended up with a dead battery when we were finally ready to leave. So we ended up having two board members come over to help us jump the van. So we didn't really get to leave until around 5 pm. We drove to Redding and camped just outside of Redding on Sunday night (the little town was actually called Whiskeytown). We got there too late to have a fire and roast marshmallows like we had promised the boys. By the time we set up the tent and got everyone ready for bed, it was around 9:30pm. So we let the boys roast marshmallows the next morning after breakfast. Monday morning, we left Redding around 10:30 am, and arrived in Graeagle around 3:00pm. Lots of driving - however, the drive was beautiful. I love the rugged beauty of the Sierras! We stayed in a hotel for the week (as did many other VM families), but instead of a hotel room, we had a little cabin. That was wonderful! We didn't have to worry about waking up those underneath us, etc. Tuesday after the morning session, Jeremy had the opportunity to shoot a round of golf. He loved it, and said the course was amazing! They normally charge $130 per round, but allowed those that wanted to golf, to do so for free! What a blessing! The kids and I spent the afternoon in the green grassy area behind our cabin with the wives and kids of 3 other VM pastors. We had a great time of fellowship while we sat around and watched the kids play. Wednesday after lunch, our family drove into Portola and looked around downtown (very cute and quaint) before driving back to the cabin and letting the older boys go swimming in the pool. We decided to leave Thursday afternoon and miss the barbeque so that we could get home and get things ready for Jeremy's mom and sister coming on Saturday. We're so glad we did. The grass really needed to be mowed, the house cleaned, the van emptied, and the boys' hair all needed cutting.
Back to conference, the messages were great! Instead of having a speaker come in, it was set up so a different VM pastor spoke at all of the sessions about different topics. One was about vision in ministry (which I also felt could be applied to vision in family as well), pain in ministry, longevity in ministry. Jeremy and I both really enjoyed the speaking, and it was really neat to hear the difference in preaching styles. We are already looking forward to next year's conference - if they are able to get one together. We appreciate all of your prayers for our safety and refreshing. God answered mightily!

Wonderful Days of Summer

2009-06-03T20:01:00.001-07:00

On our way down to the tide pools at Patrick Point State Park. It was quite a climb!

A pulley that Jeremy and the boys rigged up in our backyard. The boys all love it!

Micah after watching a family movie. We thought this looked like he had been shot down, and had to take a picture!

I wrote the title tongue in cheek. We have had a break from the heat for the last few days, yesterday and today actually being cloudy. This afternoon, the sky broke open with a hailstorm - pretty good-sized hail, too. And it was really loud on the roof. Silas told me today that he doesn't like storms. I told him that God is showing us how powerful He is! It must have stuck a little, because he told his older brothers about it later.

Next week, we are going to a conference in Graeagle, CA. We will leave Sunday afternoon, and spend the night in Redding, before heading down on Monday. We are all excited! It gets over on Friday, and then we will be heading home. Jeremy's mom and sister are coming down for a visit on Saturday. So the next couple of weeks will be a whirlwind of activity, but we are very excited - both about the conference, and about our company.

I got a recipe from my mother-in-law for dishwashing soap. It has been so much fun to find all of these homemade recipes, and to see how we end up buying less and less from the actual grocery store! We have started making homemade laundry soap, dishwashing soap, cereal, granola, baby food; I still have recipes for different kinds of crackers, but just haven't tried making them yet. I thought I would start posting some of these recipes just in case someone else is interested in saving money, and making things from home.

Dishwashing Soap:

1 cup borax

1 cup washing soda

1/4 cup citric acid

I found the borax and washing soda at WinCo. The citric acid we found at the health food store, but is a little pricey - $7.99 a pound. But with the little bit we use for the soap, it is still at least comparative if not cheaper than what you can buy at the store. My mother-in-law just told me to put vinegar in for the RinseAid.

Grow, Baby, Grow

2009-05-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

By the time I got Anna to smile, everyone else had decided to look away!

All by herself! Isn't she getting big?

I just have a quick minute to update you, dear reader, on the growth of baby Annalee. I hope soon to be able to have some time to update about all the boys, too, but right now, it's Anna. She is growing like a weed. Jeremy weighed her on the scale the other day, and we estimate that she is about 16 pounds. She can sit up by herself when we put her in that position. And she looks pretty cute doing it, too. She is also getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. I think she'll be trying to crawl really soon. She also likes to gnaw on anything she can get her hands on. I don't feel anything teeth coming in yet, but probably pretty soon. We started her on baby cereal about a week ago. Homemade baby cereal consisting of brown rice flour mixed with white bean flour, and then some applesauce or bananas added. She really enjoys it. We feed her cereal right before she goes to bed for the night, and it helps her sleep a lot longer, too. Last night, she slept from around 11 pm until about 10 am.

We are really looking forward to the conference here in California at the beginning of June. The SW district rep and his wife are putting together a Summer Connection in lieu of Village Missions conference. It is June 8-12, and will have something for all of the kids as well. We are very excited.

Sweet baby Annalee

2009-05-17T15:45:00.001-07:00

Annalee enjoying some noses with her Daddy. Isn't she sweet?

I am going to try this again for the third time. I have tried to update this blog twice now, and something has happened both times. Jeremy finally got his new laptop, so I am using his old one, and I think there are too many programs on here. He is going to take the time to delete a bunch of his files, and things, but he hasn't yet. Anyways, all this to say, I've tried twice, and had it fail, so we will try again.

Anna is such a cute, cuddly baby. She loves to snuggle - at least with mom and dad. We have been giving her noses (nonees as we used to call them with the boys), but she will just sit there. It really is so cute. I got a picture of it a few nights ago, and got one picture before she was more interested in the camera than giving daddy noses. We also started her on some baby food a few nights ago. We have been making our own baby cereal, and she seems to really like it.

Last weekend, Robby and Josh got to go to a Christian concert at Great America. The board chairman took his son, Rob, Josh and two other boys from church down to San Jose to see Mercy Me, Lincoln Brewster, and two other bands. They really had a good time, and even brought me home a Mercy Me cd for Mother's Day.

Yesterday was the end of the year bowling party for Pioneer Club. We took 20 kids into Eureka to go bowling and have lunch at McDonald's. It was quite a riot! We had 3 cars and 5 adults to oversee everything. I think the kids all had fun, though. We are starting to plan for VBS this summer. It will be in July.

We are going through another heatwave. It's supposed to be around 100 today. Whew! Right now, we are just kind of staying in the house in the middle of the day. Quite a difference from the Alaska summer that we had just last year!

Beach Pictures

2009-05-04T23:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a star fish that someone found and showed to our kids. Rob and Josh held it.

The boys and I - and the beautiful ocean.

Jeremy and the kids on a climbing rock at the beach.

The boys all having fun in the warm sand.

After we finished at the beach, we stopped at the marine laboratory (part of the Humboldt State University). We got to see an octopus that tried to attack us, but then realized he couldn't get to us, so he condensed his body back down to fit in his hiding spot, then a few minutes later, he had spots on his body to hide himself and blend into his environment. We also saw a flounder, some eels, and other things. They also had a touch pool where the boys got to touch starfish and sea anemones. We had a great time!

Wonderful Times, Wonderful Friends

2009-05-04T23:03:00.000-07:00

What a weekend we have had! Rob and Josh have birthdays that are only 6 days apart, so we usually have their birthday party together. We had a party for them on Saturday. Some friends from Yale, Washington drove down for the party. We have heard that there are those that think they are crazy, but we really enjoyed having them down. They have 4 boys, which our boys love to play with, and had a great time while they were here. They even caught a brown toad while playing outside on the playground by our house. But Mom eventually made them let the toad go...

The party went really well. They also had a few friends from the church come. One girl, and the rest boys. It was quite a party. Jeremy took them over to the church to play games. We had planned to have the games outside, but, as so often is the case with well intentioned plans, it was raining cats and dogs. As for gifts, the boys were added a lot of cash to their savings - they are each trying to save for a hamster, so they were thrilled. Our friends from Washington left Sunday afternoon. Jeremy left for the church to work on his Sunday evening lesson, while the boys and I cleaned house for another carful of company Sunday night. Our friends from The Dalles, Oregon, arrived shortly after evening service started. Today, we took them out to see some of the California Redwoods. If you have never seen them, they are awesome to see. Huge, huge trees! However, it was still pouring down rain today. But we drove through them, anyways, and even stopped at one spot to get out of the van and take pictures next to the Immortal Tree. It is a tree that has survived a fire, two floods, and an axe, and is still growing. Colossal tree. Tried to take a picture, but couldn't even get all of it. Other than the rain, we had a pretty good time. We took all the kids to McDonald's for lunch (and met another homeschool family with a son with Silas' name - first and middle!), stopped for a while and let them play at the playground in the mall in Eureka, and even went to Costco for dinner. We spent less than $20 for dinner for 3 adults and 9 kids (okay, only 8 of them can actually eat, but I still think that was impressive!).

Jeremy finally got his laptop today. Hooray!! Now I get to keep the old one. It will be so nice for him to have his new one for preaching and study. The old one has shut down on him a few times on Sunday mornings - not a good thing. And tonight, I ordered a new set of encyclopedias online at e-bay. I got a 2005 set for $335 with free shipping. It will replace the set we had to leave behind in Galena. God is helping us replace the things that we left in Galena, and teaching us to live with things we didn't need.

The church is staying pretty steady at 80 in attendance. Some weeks we have more, and some less. We are discovering that larger churches are much busier - which is a good thing, but is a new learning curve for us. Galena was a very slow pace of life, which we grew to love while we were there. Now we are learning a more hurried pace, but praying that the Lord will help us not to get too hurried. Pioneer Club is over for the school year. They will have an end of year bowling trip next week. The teacher plans to have a summer service group for the kids. They will serve the elderly in our community with whatever they need to have done. I think it will be good for them to help meet the needs of others.

We went to the beach in Trinidad a couple of weeks ago. The weather was beautiful - a bit breezy, but walking in the hot sand was wonderful. We even got to see a star fish that someone had found - the boys held it a little, and then it was thrown back into the ocean. Such fun. I will try to post some pictures, also.

I don't know how many of you keep up with Village Missions, but they have recently lost $40,000 of monthly support. We have heard of a grass roots idea started by members in two different VM churches. If everyone being served by a VM church/pastor commited to $20 a month support to Village Missions, they would be able to more than make up the $40,000 a month that they have lost. If anyone is interested in becoming a part of that, please contact Village Missions - www.villagemissions.org.

Micah

2009-04-28T00:07:00.000-07:00

Here is Micah getting very messy with his PB&J sandwich.

Micah in the middle of a haircut (we called him Two Face off of Batman).

I wanted to share something funny that happened with Micah last week. There was a woman from church here visiting while her son (and some of ours) was at the church for Pioneer Club. As usual, she was holding Micah. Her and her husband have taken quite a shine to him. They say he reminds them so much of their middle son when he was that age. Anyways, Micah was demolishing a honey muffin that I had made - literally. It was crumbling in his hands and all over the floor as he tried to eat it. This woman thought it was funny, and said, "You go, Micah! You go, eat that muffin!" She was saying it like she was cheering him on, but he just heard the words, and got very confused. He scooted out of her arms, and came running to me with big tears building up in his eyes. Then he started crying. This woman and I were trying so hard not to laugh. He had misjudged her words, and thought she was angry and telling him to go. After he was finished crying, he worked his way back over to this woman, and let her pick him up again. It was so cute!

Worrying solves nothing

2009-04-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

I am a worrywart. I try so hard not to be, because I know that I am to be "anxious for nothing." So I try, but I end up worrying. Lately, I have been worrying about the future. There are a lot of things to worry about looking towards the future - whether jobs will be stable, income secure, housing available...the list could go on, and on. But I have to remember that I don't know the future - can't even imagine it. I have to remind myself to pray, and let the Lord worry about the future. It's not future to Him, He knows it all. The Bible tells me that today has enough worries of its own. So I am trying to rest in Him, and quiet my heart. God is so faithful, and I know that whatever may come my way, He will give me what I need to get through. His grace is sufficient!

Jeremy & I have been working our way towards healthier eating lately. I have been doing some research on food and nutrition, and have discovered a world of healthier eating with grains and beans. We have cut way back on our sugar intake - we have started using things like honey and agave syrup to sweeten foods. A few weeks ago, I baked some cookies with honey - no sugar - for Pioneer Club at church. The kids loved them! Some ate six of them. Last week, I was going to make soup with our leftover chicken, rice and veggies. I discovered that my chicken was bad (smelled yucky), and I wasn't sure what to do, since I had already started the base. So per Jeremy's suggestion, I made it with rice, barley and garbanzo beans instead of chicken. It was a hit! Even the little ones liked it, and asked for seconds. I was so surprised! So this morning, we had muffins with honey, and for dinner, I made a new soup with black-eyed peas and brown rice with veggies. Jeremy and I are really enjoying the energy that we have discovered by eating healthier. We have noticed that even when we get to bed late and get up early (which has been sort of a routine lately - and not on purpose), that we don't feel groggy. We have also been eating less meat...and enjoying it as well. Beans are so much cheaper than meat, and have more protein and fiber. So if anyone wants a lesson in nutrition, I would be glad to share what we have learned!

Our New Home

2009-04-05T23:09:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the playground on the church property. The boys really enjoy playing on it!

Here is the front door of the church. The doors are beautiful!

This is the front side of the church. The sanctuary is on the right side of the double door. To the left of it are the library, nursery and Sunday school classrooms. Jeremy's office is also to the left (althought, it's along the backside of the church).

This is the front of the parsonage. The windows are very nice. The whole inside has been newly remodeled, and is very beautiful!

I got some pictures of our new home and church yesterday, and thought I would share them.

2009-03-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of us working on the bookcase. The first two are of the boys being big helpers! And the last two are of the finished product. I am so excited for my husband. It has been great to see him be able to be creative again and enjoy it. It has been so long since he has been able to do any artwork, but I think woodworking will be good for him. And we were able to empty about 7 more boxes - they were all books for the boys, but we didn't have anywhere to put them. And they all fit on the new bookcase with room to spare!

Wrestling

2009-03-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Rob, Josh and Silas at the wrestling tournament. They write their weight right on their arms! We learned this week that wrestling is not for families with lots of children. When we signed the boys up for wrestling, it was $40 each for the season. We were surprised, but signed up anyway. When Jeremy took them to the tournament this last weekend, he learned that not only is it $40 each, it is also $8 each for each tournament! Besides that, Silas was bored silly before they even started. I'm glad I kept the others home. I can't imagine trying to keep that many toddlers off of the wrestling mats. It works well for some, but maybe we'll try basketball or baseball next time!

2009-03-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Just so you know, dear reader, that in this blog my plan is to share my heart. I was thinking about it this morning, and the Lord laid it on my heart that if I am going to have a blog, it should be to honor Him. So that said...

Robby and I had an issue last night. He was caught looking at his football cards when he had been told to get ready for bed. Oh, he had his pajamas on, but had not brushed his teeth, nor come out to tell his Dad or I that he was ready for bed. Needless to say, I was not happy. I lectured (yes, Mom, soap box and all) that we would ground him from his football cards if we needed to. I also asked him if he had not felt guilty at all sitting there looking at them, knowing that he was not being obedient, and he told me no. So he walked away, and I started sighing and praying in my heart, asking God to get a hold of him. I know that I can share the Lord with my kids, but I can't make them choose Him. That they have to do for themselves. So anyways, I was disappointed and frustrated. Then after he had brushed his teeth, Rob came back to apologize to me, and told me that he had lied. He had felt bad about what he was doing. I told him that was the job of the Holy Spirit - to convict of sin. Then I gave him a hug and sent him to bed. But that was so exciting to me. To see that the Lord had been working on his heart. I prayed that God would continue to draw him to Himself. I just thought that was too exciting not to share!

Girly Girl

2009-03-19T22:27:00.000-07:00

And this picture, simply because I had to show my little girl in a dress! This was taken in Alaska on Christmas (notice the informal attire!)

Pictures

2009-03-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

Here is all 6, right after moving into our new house in Willow Creek.

Here is Annalee at 5 months. Her brothers are being very generous and sharing their stickers with her!

Here is a picture of all of the kids with their Auntie Amy. This was taken while we were staying in Camano Island.

Willow Creek

2009-03-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

Hello from beautiful Willow Creek! We are at our new field in California, between Redding and Eureka on Hwy 299. We have been here for about three weeks now, and are still working on getting everything settled. The kids all got the Humboldt bug when we first got here, and we are still working on getting over it. (named after the county we're in). We currently have three kids with snotty noses, but other than that, we are doing better.

Rob, Josh, and Silas have started wrestling. Silas just likes the exercise, but the other two are really enjoying it. There is a playground right here at the church that the boys are enjoying getting to play on. And the parking lot is completely paved, and allows them all to ride their bikes. We are officially a Christian school. To homeschool in the state of California, you have to register as a private school. Annalee is getting so big. She is 5 months old now. She is such a good-natured baby. She hardly fusses, unless one of her big brothers is invading her personal space! But she does allow quite a bit of kisses from them.

We are getting into the swing of things here at Willow Creek Bible Church. This is a fairly big church - at one time there were over 100 people attending. So naturally, there are a lot more activities going on here than we are used to. But we are adjusting. Jeremy has enjoyed getting back to preaching again. I think he really missed it. There are also several women willing to help take their turn in the nursery. The last pastor recently renovated the parsonage, and it is beautiful. This place reminds us a lot of Yale. I can look out my front living room window and see the back of the church, and up behind it, the mountains full of evergreen trees. And right across the highway from the church is the Trinity River. It truly is a beautiful place.

Annalee Grace

2008-11-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

For those of you who haven't heard yet, Annalee Grace joined our family on October 12. We found out later that it was Pastor Appreciation Sunday, and Jeremy said he really felt appreciated! We all love our baby girl - especially the boys. They are always wanting to hold her. Silas likes to call her a "beautiful princess." She was 8 lbs. 3 oz. - our biggest one so far. It sure is different to be able to dress one in pink. It will be interesting to see the other differences that will come from her being a girl.

My Mom and Dad were able to come up and visit us right after she was born. This was the first time that my Dad has been here. My Mom was able to come up last fall. We had a good visit, and showed them around Galena. It didn't take long... We are hoping that next time they come to visit, it will be in the summer or fall, so that my Dad can enjoy going fishing or hunting with Jeremy.

2008-11-22T15:11:00.000-08:00

I didn't think that I would ever start blogging. But I was reading one of my friend's blogs this morning, and thought it might be a perfect way to show off pictures of our family and keep our family and friends up to date. Now if only I can keep it current...