A morning at the farm...

This tradition started when Logan was only 15 months old and we normally go with either family or friends. This year we were flying solo, but still had a good time. Every year we go to Thistledown Farms, ride on either a horse-drawn or tractor pulled trailer, then walk, trip and fall through the pumpkin patch until we find the perfect one. The one rule...you have to carry your own pumpkin. This used to be an inexpensive adventure, but as we have grown in number and STRENGTH it has gotten a little bit spendier (hee hee)....

The day was fun. The first thing we saw when we were walking out to look at the animals was a chicken. When we were camping, Uncle Harold, taught my kids a bunch of cute songs and one was about a chicken...so we kept singing about the chicken - and it was adorable - so I had to get a picture. For those of you curious the song goes like this:

I had a little chicken that wouldn't lay an egg
So I poured hot water up and down its leg.
The little chicken hollered and the little chicken begged
Then the little chicken laid a hard-boiled egg.

So, that is what you get when you go camping with folks raised in Indiana - I guess. Because I surely had never heard that song before, but I don't think we will ever forget it either!!

The kids had fun with the animals, even as I kept telling the girls, "now remember, you can't suck your thumb until we wash your hands real good". It's a bummer sometimes to be a germ freak...

The time was fun and now we are all looking forward to cleaning the pumpkins out and Phil baking the seeds to perfection. No carving for this family, we just enjoy the look of the pumpkins on our porch and the wonderful taste of the seeds once they are cooked!!

What a week...

I was looking through my camera last night, and realized I haven't done anything with the "pumpkin patch" pictures from last weekend...and I must say, they are sooooo cute. At that moment, I sat back on the couch and looked through them and thought, "wow, that seems like a long time ago - but it was less than a week ago."

You see, when we go camping, the first few days home are all about cleaning everything up OUTSIDE and getting laundry under control (or as under control as my laundry ever gets!!). So, by Sunday afternoon, I was either going to laugh or cry at the disastrous state of my home. Oh, yes, the trailer was clean and parked beside the house, laundry from camping was getting caught up (never mind the heaping basket in my closet), the bikes were washed, and one third of a cord of wood was neatly stacked beside the shed (the whole reason we currently possess 1/3 cord of wood is for a whole different post - but, a funny story I tell you!!). Phil was happy with all of our accomplishments and headed to work the next day and whew...I can get my house clean and start school with the kids. And then....Monday happened...

Phil calls at 7:30am on Monday and tells me his eye is swollen AGAIN (third time in a month) and he needs to go BACK to the doctor. He arrives home about 45 minutes later and looks like the elephant man. I mean, his eye is not just a little swollen, we are talking swollen SHUT. AND...his back hurts, maybe he should go to the chiropractor. So, my Monday turned into no school for the kids, no housecleaning, but running Phil to the chiropractor (because his back hurt so bad he could hardly move) and to the eye doctor (because he was currently not fit to drive a car!). The answer about his eye...they have no idea. Huh, nice to pay someone a couple hundred dollars (thank God for insurance) to be told "we're stumped!". The good thing is the swelling is gone - we will see if it decides to return in a few weeks! The back, well we figured it was just out and he would feel better within a day. Not so much.....

The rest of the week followed with another doctor's appointment, an MRI on his back, an appointment with a back specialist, numerous prescriptions for serious pain killers and muscle relaxers. And the end result...a herniated disc in his neck. So, those of you that read our blog are probably saying, huh, must be from those four-wheelers. Happy for us...NO. It is either from a tough round of basketball with the neighborhood kids (ages 8-12) and a 37 year old man that thinks he can still dunk a ball like a 16 year old - OR it could be from one of our lovely cherubs jumping on Daddy's back...because he looks so much like a trampoline (not!).

Needless to say, my week was chaos. The house is somewhat clean, laundry has gone hay-wire AGAIN, we missed two days of school...but my beloved husband might start feeling better. With a lot of pain killers and physical therapy starting on Wednesday, we hope he will be back to normal before the main holiday season starts (which does not start until Thanksgiving in our family!!).

As I sat back and looked at the pictures from last weekend, I thought about how life sometimes hands me a whole new deck of cards that I was not planning on. For those of you who don't know me that well, I am a focused, task driven, keep it as I expect kind of person. But, over the last couple of years, God has been trying to show me that sometimes He has other plans for me and I need to learn to roll with it. Once again, He showed me that He is in control and eventhough Phil is in excruciating pain, we will be able to get through this. God has allowed Phil to be in a position that he can decide how much "physical" labor he is going to do at work, He has put Phil on "salary" instead of hourly (which rarely works to our advantage, but these next few weeks it might!!), and we have good health insurance. So, just when I think God has completely forgotten my address, I am reminded once again, that He knows right where I am and He is going to help me through all those twists and turns He hands us....as long I trust Him more than myself.

As for the adorable pumpkin patch pictures....they're coming. But, since I can't post something without a picture, I hope you enjoy the beautiful scenery picture we took on our drive home from the coast.

Let the Sun Shine at the Oregon Coast!!

Okay, so I promise you it looked like this everyday except Thursday morning during our week at the coast. People always say we are making it up...but we truly enjoyed sunny days, star-filled nights and even the most beautiful full moon I have seen in ages. It was quite the week. The Park Rangers kept laughing when more people would show up to visit and hang out with us. Unfortunately, in all the chaos we didn't get a single picture with "everyone"...

Among our wonderful guests were, my mom and Michael, Phil's parents, The Kerns (long-time family friends), Rod, my grandparents and for one day Phil's brothers family came....Wow!!! Our kids had a blast with their cousins on Tuesday (Shanelle, the newest addition, was sleeping in the trailer at this point - sorry Shanelle - we'll get you next time!). Logan and Landen love to ride 4-wheelers together so this was extra special for them to be together. After the 'big' ride, the Dads took Victoria and Nathan out to do some more practicing on the smaller hills. Next time they may even get to ride out over the big hills on their own!!

My grandparents came to visit us Tuesday morning and my grandpa gave it his best effort to take a ride on the sand dunes. He made it about half-way through the "whoops" (in case you have never heard of these, they are serious speed bump like things made out of sand). After several of these whoops, he told Michael he didn't think it was worth it. So, they came back to camp. I think it is pretty cool that at his young age of 86 years old he was willing to try it. Oh how I hope I have that much life in me at that age!!

I think we have a lot of family convinced that riding 4-wheelers is pretty fun. My mom had a lot of fun riding with Michael, but once he let her loose on her own she had a blast. The first time going down a hill was a little scary (note the picture on the bottom left!!), but she loved it once she made it. They had so much fun that they are planning to come with us in April.

Then, Phil was able to talk his mom into going for a ride with his dad. This is a big step since my dear mother-in-law has battled vertigo since January 2008. It was awesome to see that she really is getting better (slow but sure!!) and was able to truly enjoy Phil guiding them on a personal tour of the sand dunes.





Needless to say, the trip was great and the kids had a blast. I am still trying to figure out how to post a slideshow of pictures, but it is taking me a while. So, this is it for now, but keep looking back...I am determined to get the slideshow on here.

Mmmmm....good!

The rule in our house on your birthday is you get to pick your FAVORITE meal. Victoria picks Chicken and Dumplings every year. We aren't sure if it's because it is truly her favorite or because her older brother completely HATES them - so much that he actually threw them up one time!! Yikes, I don't think I won the good mommy award that night. Anyway, Here is Victoria thoroughly enjoying her dinner, and her brother enjoying his cheese and crackers with chicken broth, and Mariah trying to force herself to like them....

Her last day of being FIVE

Okay, so I know she is not turning 18 or anything, but I have to say that I have always had a hard time the day before each of my kids' birthdays. Tomorrow, sweet Victoria Lanae Swank will turn the big "6" years old. No longer will she be able to show her age using just one hand...from now on she will have to use two hands (or more like a lot of us!!).

It is hard to believe the time has gone this quickly. It truly seems like yesterday we had our little infant in the car screaming her head off all the way from Junction City to church in Springfield!! Yes, for those of you that know this area - that is an entire 30 minutes of a baby SCREAMING!! Logan, at 3 years of age, would sit in his car seat and plug his ears. At that moment, we decided boys were definitely easier than girls!! But it didn't take us long (about 10 weeks - which seemed like a lifetime at the moment) to figure out something is not right with this child....we found out she was lactose intolerant and when I had milk....she screamed!!! AND SCREAMED AND SCREAMED. So, out with the milk for Mommy and hello to a nice, quiet, content, joyful little baby girl....Ahhhh, this is what we had hoped for!!

So, that was our start with Victoria. The first girl to grace Phil's family. But, no matter how much she screamed, that beautiful head full of black hair and those VERY dark eyes seemed to melt all of our hearts. And even yesterday, her beautiful brown eyes caused her Daddy to use his DEBIT card in the soda machine at his work. How on earth do you decide to use your debit card in a soda machine I asked.

You have your first daughter looking up at you saying "Daddy, do you have any money for a soda?"

"No, Victoria, I don't have any cash"

"You can use your debit card in that machine can't you Daddy?"

"Well, yes I guess I can"

And so she came home happy as a clam to tell her older brother that DADDY bought her a soda at Les Schwab..."guess you should have come with us, Logan!!" Oh, the joy she gets when she has a moment alone with Daddy!!

So, as the day goes on, I will remember it as the last day for her to be five. Next comes the lost teeth and with it the sweet little girl look gone and the "ugly duckling" stage coming. She will start reading entire books to us, learning to play the piano (because that happens when you are six in our house!!), and loving it because she is older than Mariah - and always will be!!

So, my sweet Victoria, just remember that you are loved beyond measure, not only by your Daddy and I, but by a God that created you just as you are. And as you continue to seek after the things of God your life will be blessed beyond measure. You are beautiful in every way and we thank God that He chose us to be your parents...You have brought our family such joy and happiness. And all that screaming as a baby just got your lungs ready for all that talking and singing you love to do now!!

Enjoy your day today, little girl, for tomorrow you will wake up and be SIX YEARS OLD....

CAUTION...Nine-year old present

Wow, I really thought I had this homeschooling thing figured out....and then we started the 4th grade with Logan. I should have known things were going to be difficult when in early September, Logan came downstairs wrapped in a towel, pleading for forgiveness. My first thought - this is not good. Well, I was right!! He went on to tell me that as he was getting ready for his shower, he looked up at the bathrobe hooks and thought it would be fun to jump up and hang from them. Okay, so the Olympics weren't the best thing for our family to watch!! Anyway, as you might expect, the hooks DID NOT hold my spindly little 60 pound son. Instead the hooks came out of the wall and Logan came tumbling down.

The consequence....well you have to tell your Dad. The anticipation of it nearly killed him; however, I knew Daddy would be more than forgiving...I have a feeling he might have tried this same trick as a child!! As they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!!

Logan's confession to his dad was full of tears and "I'm really, really sorry".

And Daddy's reaction??? "It's okay, Bud, I will see if I can fix it". And yes, he did.

My mommy words..."Son, this is why we tell you to think before you do something."

His reply, "Mom I did think. I thought it would be fun and that the hooks would hold me"

So, why am I surprised when I find him, during school time, doing back bends on the family room floor, playing ball with the dog, or making sure his sisters are playing okay. And then there are the history tests that just don't go so well, or the handwriting that is just too much, or the argument that the math answer he got is right - regardless of what the answer key says!!....All I know is I think I had too many years that were easy. I was the one that said to fellow homeschool moms, "No, Logan really doesn't have a hard time staying focused". Or to Logan "Wow, another 98% on that test!!". But, here we are in the muck of 4th grade and trying to learn how to work past those tough problems. My hopes are high that 5th grade might be easier...but until then I feel like I am stuck in the 4th grade with a nine year old that just wants to hang from the nearest bathrobe hook or play tackle football with the neighborhood kids!!

The encouraging thing is that one of my best friends fears that her 9 year old son will grow up and live in a cardboard box on the corner. My response...maybe he and Logan can share a cardboard box!!!

But with a lot of prayer, love and support we will make it through this year just like we made it through all the others. And during summer vacation, I will once again say:

I love homeschooling!!