I had heard of strip poker, but not strip trampoline. Sure enough, the 4 year old invented it. Most of us were in the kitchen when suddenly one of them said, "Uh Mom, you better look outside....J has no clothes on. He's, uh, jumping in his underwear." I looked, started laughing as usual, then ran to the door to remind him if a police officer were to drive by at that moment, I might get in a lot of trouble. Please put your clothes back on. I went back to the kitchen. "Uh Mom....now he's taking off his underwear...and the two other kids are starting to take their clothes off, too!" Running back to the door, I quickly yelled, "Keep your underwear on!!!!! What are you doing????" "It's hot! We don't like being hot when we jump!" Seemed simple enough a reason. I quickly explained once again that it is probably illegal, so clothes on or jumping over. The clothes came on, but not before a few good pictures were taken. It's a comedy show here, I'm telling you.
He just came downstairs. I said to him, "I had a really bad sleep last night, do you know why?" He smiled mischieviously, "Because of me." Yup. Everytime he wakes up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he needs to be near someone to fall back asleep. Sometimes it's his older sister, sometimes it's me. We always check in with each other in the morning, "So was he in your bed last night, cause I didn't see him....?" So, it is literally a 24 hour experience parenting this little guy. I think I should start a separate blog just about him.
So, it's been another good week. My daughter said at the beginning of the week that it was going to be the best week of her life! It was definitely going to the best week of my husband's life - both girls got their braces off on Tuesday! The money drain is slowing down! The weird thing is that it seemed a lot earlier than first discussed with the dentist. Both girls' teeth were looking good, but he had said, maybe by January for at least one of them, not sooner. Each time we went in and had the quick meeting with the dentist, I would look at him and I know for sure, at one point, I came right out and said, "This is killing us." I'm curious if that was the moment he literally asked the hygienist to start tightening the screws a little harder to speed up the process as suddenly they both had them off way ahead of schedule. There were also times that I had to call ahead and say, "I've got to cancel the appointment - there is no money this week." They were very kind, kept the appointment and we paid when the money came in. Each appointment was unbelievably expensive. I tried not to have my eyes bug out of my head each time, as that has to be annoying to a receptionist who sees it from everyone, but sometimes I just couldn't help the gag reflex. I'm sure I was a topic of conversation around the office. Not to mention most of my children came with me each time, so it was a gentle reminder to everyone there that this had a financial impact on this large family. All that to say, it's nearly over. Only one more in braces - I'm so grateful.
Two days after the braces came off we had to do another visit to get a retainer for my oldest. It was an hour and a half of driving for a five minute appointment. Awful. I found myself feeling so frustrated and tired of being in a car, I couldn't wait to get home. But then I realized, I'd been listening to the Christian radio again, that perhaps God needed to get me in a place where I couldn't move and where I could just listen to message after message. I listened. The one that struck me the most was about a mother giraffe. David Jeremiah retold a story about how mother giraffes have to get their newborns to walk right away or they won't survive. The way they do this is quite something. It begins with a terrible drop, a 10ft drop, from the birth canal to the ground. If that isn't enough, the mother then starts kicking the newborn calf with hefty kicks to try to get it to stand up. The calf tries its best, but with all the kicking, I'm sure it isn't easy! Finally, with all the kicking stimuli, the calf finally does stand up, but what does the mother do? Kicks it again so it falls back down! Terrible! This goes on and on until finally it is strong enough to make it and walk with the herd. What is the connection? We are like the newborn calf. I am like the newborn calf. I need swift kicks from the Lord to learn how to be stronger. There are probably going to be jaguars and cheetahs ahead in my walk with the herd. If I don't learn to handle these little struggles, or kicks, now, then I'll never be able to handle the big ones. The kicks are necessary! They are very intentional learning opportunities created by the Lord to make me a strong giraffe! I loved it. It worries me in some ways....what is ahead??? What is God preparing me for? I'm not sure. The newborn giraffe didn't know either. All he knew is he better learn the standing up walking lesson or his mother was just going to keep kicking him! It makes me a little more appreciative of the kicks I get and helps me explain life's ups and downs to the kids better, too. Now, I'm grateful for those drives in the car....I usually get a direct message from the Lord that is such an encouragement to me for the rest of the day or week.
I also experienced Salsa Intervention this week. Ever heard of that? It is when you try making salsa to can for the first time and you make a desperate call to the friend who gave you the recipe. You then joke with her saying, "I wish you were here to help!!!" as it involved chopping up 20, not 2, 20 cups of onions! Next thing you know, there she is at your door, with her onion chopper, that saves all sorts of chopping hours, not to mention teary eyes. It was a great moment! Thanks to her Salsa Intervention, I now have more jars of salsa than I've ever had in my whole life. Once again, a great picture was taken of my 4 year old, with goggles on, helping her use her little onion chopper - very cute, very funny.
At the end of the week we hosted our "Not-Back-to-School" Picnic which has become a tradition with our homeschool group. I heard great comments this year as apparently it has become a highlight for a lot of families. It started out cold, but by the afternoon it was a beautiful fall day with sun and a nice breeze. I know there were at least 70 kids not including moms, so it was a great turnout! My kids, being ever social (I believe I am to blame for that), love that day. It is their favourite event next to the one we host at the end of the year! They are always so sore that night from hours of soccer, jumping from hay bale to hay bale and just general running around, but I never let them complain when they are sore from playing!
That afternoon, after everyone left, one of the kids checked the mail. This is often how it goes. I don't know how or why God allows this to happen, but there was a cheque in the mail. It was one we had been expecting, for selling some hay, but we never know when it'll come. When they arrive on a Friday, it is such a relief. It allows us to go through our weekend with just that much less stress and makes our weekend just that much more enjoyable knowing certain automatic withdrawals will be covered. If we were to trace back through the last 10 years of being in business for ourselves, I am curious how many cheques have arrived on a Friday. Many, many cheques have made their appearance on that day, and once again, we're so grateful!
Even last night, rain was forecasted, so Renaissance Man knew he was going to need to get the 2nd cut of hay in before the rain. It was perfect weather - windy and sunny. He and most of the kids went out to the field, even the two year was on the trailer, and worked like dogs to get all 250 bales of hay in. Suddenly, a hay angel came out of nowhere. This hay angel has been here before, but you never know when he's going to show up. He got off his truck and asked if he could grab 57 bales of his own, including all the loading himself. RM always says sure as it is immediate payment in hand and less loading for us! Then, just like that, he's gone. How does he know when to come by? We never let him know, we don't even know his name! He always appears the very day the hay is getting off the field. It's like he has a hay sense about him! That extra money that we didn't expect will help cover the costs of RM's little night away with our 8 year old, so once again, the timing is perfect.
I'm in awe of God's goodness to us, but I shouldn't be. Psalm 40:4 says, "Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord." Even with ups and downs of life (like being in the laudromat twice this week as our laundry was disconnected all week!), it's been a good week as I look to find God even in the "kicks" of life.
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