Chalab Ez

Merry Christmas from the Lawton's

2011-12-19T21:22:00.003-07:00

Check out our eCard with the children in it.

Tags for Soap

2011-12-10T06:28:00.005-07:00

Well, I have handmade Goat Milk Soap to sell and I had a little tag that I taped on that told the name and ingredients of the soap. My good friend Raluca bought some soap and saw my slightly pathetic attempt of a tag and decided that it could be improved by using her Cricut. So she came up with one and then came over to help me make them for the rest of my soaps. I wanted to print the information on each tag instead of pasting paper with the information on the tag so I used my Graphic Arts skills to align the text just right for the Cricut machine to cut out my info in the form of the tag. We only had two slight mishaps with this method.

It took us about 4 and 1/2 hours. Thank you so much Raluca for coming and helping to improve the image of my new soaps. Tirzah and Azariah also helped by using the Cricut Machine and then punching the holes in the tags. Now to wrap all the soap and attach the tags.

Here are each of the tags for the six different kinds of soap.

The pile of tags that we made. Whew, glad that is done, but it was fun.

Three of the soaps all packaged with the new tags.

Oh, and if you want to purchase any you can check out my Etsy Store or email me.

Zuri Smilling

2011-12-10T06:27:00.001-07:00

It took awhile for Zurishaddai to start smiling and even now it isn't real common yet, but here is a picture I was able to capture of him doing it.

Family Pictures

2011-12-08T11:16:00.006-07:00

We had our family pictures taken at church a couple of weeks ago, here are the results.

Getting six children to smile and cooperate is not easy. Talitha for some reason would not smile for the Camera at all that day.

I love this one of my boys.

Review of the Game "Monopoly Revolution"

2011-11-01T14:01:00.006-06:00

My very gracious Grandmother and Aunts purchased the older children some games. They purchase Operations, I SPY Go Fish and Monopoly Revolution. Here I want to talk about Monopoly Revolution. I am very grateful for these games and am thankful that they thought about the children. I do want to make some observations about this "New" Monopoly Game.

The first thing that is obviously different is that the board is round and not square. This is kind of cool and looks modern. The property cards are smaller and the tokens just have pictures on them instead of being in the shape of the objects. The biggest change is there is no physical money. Each player receives a credit card in which their money is kept on (well kind of). The game has a machine in which you stick your card in to add or subtract money from it. You also use the machine to transfer money from one player to the other. All prices are have been adjusted from the 1930's game. The prices are now in thousands or millions instead of tens and hundreds.

Each player is given a "debit" card instead of money.

Another nice change in the game is that there is no Community Chest and Chance can either happen by landing on the board or randomly when you remove your card from the money machine. So you might purchase some houses and when you pull your card out after paying a Chance can come up applying to you. I do like that feature. The game also allows for you to force a trade with another player. This speeds up the game and makes it possible to get all of one color group when a player isn't willing to trade for anything. Over all some nice improvements have been made. The lack of physical money makes the game easier to deal with because you don't have a bunch of loose bills.

This is the cash machine that keeps track of how much money a player has.

All that to say, my biggest complaint is also the money issue. In order to add or subtract money from your account you enter the amount press if it is K's (thousands) or M's (millions) and the bank machine does the rest. For a game that I think is a good game to teach children about money, how to spend it and how to count it there is very little need for counting your money. You just plug in the amount to subtract or add and the machine does if for you. It does not take a lot of skill to do that. The game still has strategy but it is easy to just spend and not consider how much money you have left because it is in the computer. In my opinion this is a lot like what is said about credit cards "It is easy to spend more when you put it on a card instead of paying cash because it doesn't seem real."

The Property Deeds

My conclusion is that most of the changes in the game are an improvement to it, adjusting the costs, the way Chance works and being able to force a trade are all good. The biggest drawback to this new monopoly game is the fact that it removes the concept of cash and replaces it with Credit Cards. I want my children to learn to handle money wisely and learn to count it out and count back change, this game does not allow for that now. I believe it is a dumbing down of the game.

Zuri's Full Name

2011-10-28T12:04:00.005-06:00

After a week of trying to decide Zuri's middle name, we finally have it: Drum roll please...

Zurishaddai Alexander Lawton

As with all of our names it does mean something. It means "Rock of the Almighty, Defender of People"

Airsoft BB's and Ears Don't Mix

2011-10-25T18:44:00.005-06:00

On Sunday night, Gil was on the floor with Talitha. She found a green Airsoft BB and the next thing Gil sees is Tally pulling her hand away from her ear. Sure enough, she put it in her ear. This was not an emergency as she was not in pain.

Later that evening, she fell asleep on the couch and then Gil and I started working to get it out of her ear. We tried sucking it out with a straw. Then Gil used the outside casing of a pen to try to suck it out. We attached a hose to the end of the pen and still we could not suck it out. We did try to glue the ink part of the pen to it that night and it did not work. After many attempts of sucking, we decided that we sucked at sucking and we gave up for that night.

Yesterday, Monday, I looked and it was still in her ear canal. But since she wasn't in any pain we did not do anything to try and get it out. Both Gil and I continued to think about ways to suck it out. One of my thoughts was to use my milk machine vacuum to suck it out.

Today, Gil brought the milk machine in and we tried to suck out the BB with it. It did not work. We tried some different modifications for the suction but since we didn't want to hurt her eardrum either we were very careful about the amount of vacuum used and tried it on ourselves before tryng it on her. We really needed a better end attachment to suck to the BB. There may have also been a suction between the BB and her eardrum making it need more suction than we were willing to use. When that didn't work, we decided to try to glue something to it again. This time though, Gil used alcohol to clean and dry the BB before we tried to superglue a stick to it. Talitha also fell asleep on the couch so she was still and wasn't moving around.

A few issues we needed to make sure happened. One, when using super glue, we needed to make sure the glue did not come in contact with her ear canal. We also needed to be able to see what we were doing. Here is what we used.

A clear outershell of a pen with some of the end cut off. We were able to stick the pen casing into Talitha's ear and have it reach the BB. We first used it to try and suck the BB out on Sunday. Please note that we were extremely careful not to push on the BB at all as we did not want to lodge it further in the ear canal or even possibly rupture the eardrum.

We used a wooden paint brush with the end of it cut off to glue to the BB. This paintbrush fit perfectly into the pen case so that as we inserted the tip with super glue on it there was no way it would touch anything but the BB. Talitha was a sleep and so she was not squirming which would have made it hard.

This picture shows how the paintbrush fit inside the pen casing.

We also had a otisscope with the light shining on the side of the pen casing which allowed Gil to see what he was doing. We prayed to the Lord asking that we would have success in getting the BB out this time. Then as Tally slept we inserted the pen casing into the ear so that it was just touching the BB. I shined the otisscope light on the pen casing, then Gil put the glue on the paint brush and inserted it down the pen casing to the BB. He held it there until Tally started moving and he pulled out both the pen casing and the paint brush and the BB was stuck to the end. Initially, Gil thought it didn't work because she started moving, but the Lord was gracious to us and allowed the procedure to work.

This picture shows the BB on the end of the stick. We were so grateful for the success. The Lord's goodness indeed never fails.

I did use the otisscope to check her ear to make sure there was no damage to the ear drum.

A few vistors for Zuri

2011-10-25T18:32:00.005-06:00

Aunt Margaret with her new nephew.

Grandma Lawton holds her 13th grandchild

Raluca and Alina check out baby Zuri

Great-Grandma Barron holds her 16th great-grandchild at the age of 88.

Rebekah brought some yummy food and got to hold Zuri too.

Pictures of Zurishaddai

2011-10-21T15:37:00.002-06:00

Looking at the new baby.

Checking out the new baby with big sister looking on.

The siblings meet Zuri for the first time.

Dressed and ready to go...to sleep.

The Birth of Zurishaddai Lawton

2011-10-21T15:36:00.000-06:00

NOTE: This is a birth story, though I have not been overly graphic, it may not be suitable for some people. Birth is natural and a great time to see the hand of God as He allows a women to bring life into this world. It is amazing.

Zurishaddai was born at 6:04 AM or there abouts on October 21, 2011.

Yesterday I was tired and after morning Bible study I came home, feed the kids and went and took a nap from 2:20 to 4:30 in the afternoon. Thinking I would have this baby late, I was dreading the next two weeks of waiting. My due date was determined to be October 31, 2011. Last night for the first time I was miserable and ready to be done being pregnant. Usually I don't feel like that this early before my due date.

I have been feeling great in this pregnancy with lots of energy since changing our diet the first of September. I have also been doing 20 squats a day. So, for me to take a nap yesterday and feel tired like I did was a little unusually. Two things went through my mind as to why I needed a nap. 1) It was due to the fact that I ate a very expensive and "good for you" dark chocolate bar from the health food store on Wednesday afternoon. This was the first time in six weeks that I had any type of candy. 2) It did go through my mind that maybe my body was trying to get ready to have a baby and I needed a nap because I would be up all night. This thought was fleeting wish.

This morning at 2 AM I woke up and after getting a drink and using the restroom I could not get back to sleep. Then at 2:30 AM I had some twinges of pain. These fit the description of true contractions as they were low on my abdomen. However, having had Braxton-Hicks before I also know that if you change positions and they stop then it isn't true labor. So I started seeing how often they came. About every 10 minutes and they lasted for 15 seconds or so. I still thought they were Braxton-Hicks and would stop so around 3 AM I got up again went to the restroom because a full bladder has made me feel like I was in labor when I wasn't. I also got another drinking knowing that dehydration can also cause false labor pains. There was no bloody show, but there was mucus from the mucus plug at this time.

I went back and laid down again and tossed and turned trying to get comfortable and go back to sleep. I still didn't think I was in true labor. So I continued to see how often the contractions were and they now ranged from 10 to 6 minutes apart and I could not sleep through them only rest between them. At 5 AM I finally gave up trying to sleep and got up. Now I was thinking, I think I am going to have this baby. I estimate that I was 5 cm dilated at this point, but still no bloody show which has always been present with my other five births. The babies head was still floating above my pubic bone too. At 5:30 AM I told Gil he needed to get the birth tub set up and ready, I also called the midwife who lives 1.5 hours away. The midwife said he would be on his way. I then called the lady who is also a midwife who was assisting at the birth at 5:45. She lives less than 10 minutes away and needed to get dressed. She asked how the contractions were and I told her they were heating up...little did I know. I told her it would not be two hours before I had the baby and it would be good if she could be here in 20-30 minutes. I then squatted through a contraction which I think helped get the babies head in position. Gil was still setting up the birth tub. I tried to help but was in to much pain when I stood or moved.

He finally started filling the tub about five minutes before the baby came out so no birth tub for me this time. After having five I was very aware of my body and the fact that the signs were pointing to the fact that my body was going to want to start pushing any minute. At this point I told Gil to get the bags off the top of the dyer which had sterilized towels in them for the birth. He realized that it was time also and the tub was a total none issue. So he abandoned his tub efforts and helped get me the few things I asked for. I got off the couch and went and stood on the linoleum of the kitchen. I put the towel down, squatted and at the next contraction my water broke. I felt for a prolapsed cord (this occurs when the cord comes down the birth canal in front of the babies head. It is then pinched and cuts off the life support to the baby.) I said "There is not prolapsed cord, babies head is crowning..." then with the next contraction I gently pushed the baby's head out into my left hand and the rest of his body came out which I took with my right hand. I was holding him over the clean towel with his face towards the floor and his head slightly below the rest of his body to help any mucus in his airway flow out and not in. I asked Gil to get the bulb syringe from the birth kit and then we suctioned him a little, but he was already crying and looking pink and good. My guess for time of birth is 6:04 AM. The midwives and my husband were harassing me because I didn't look at the clock the moment he was born like I usually do. Gil said that I am always multitasking and I should have been able to do that too. We all had a good laugh about it. So I made the guess of 6:04 because that last time I looked at the clock before I started pushing it was 6:00 AM.

Side Note: (You may ask, "Why the kitchen of all places?" Our house is very small. The kitchen and living room are one room about 16' x 17'. The bathroom is not very large and we only have one. So the kitchen linoleum was only four feet away from the couch I had been sitting on and I didn't want to have the baby on the carpet. So while calculating in my head what needed done in those few minutes before I had him, I decided the kitchen floor would be the best place to be. Since towels were down it really wasn't that bad.)

I then stood up, Gil gave me a dry blanket to wrap Zuri in and I took the phone and called the midwife. I didn't want him to rush to get to the house when there was no need. He asked me if I had delivered the placenta and I said no but would after getting off the phone with him. I hung up with him, squatted once again and the placenta was ready to come out so I gently grabbed it and pulled it out into a bowl Gil put on the floor. We did not worry about the cord because we wait until the cord goes limp and white before we cut it so all the blood and stem cells from the placenta are transferred to the baby as a boost for the start of his life on the outside. It was a picture perfect birth. Aside from the pain, it could not have been better.

I then handed the baby off to Gil so I could take a quick shower to get cleaned up. The assistant showed up while I was showering. She walked in, looked at Gil and the baby and it took her a minute to realize that she had missed the birth. It was only 20 minutes after I called her that I gave birth to Zuri, and I didn't even have time during that 20 minutes to call her and tell her to hurry up, she would have missed it anyway. The only way she could have made it was if she had left the minute I called her and at that time I didn't realize I was as far along as I was.

It was not scary in any way, I have had all my children at home with a midwife and all my births have been wonderful experiences. This was another planned home birth, I just didn't call the midwife in time. All my babies have come easy and without any complications so at the point I realized it would just be Gil and me I started going through what needed to happen. Gil was great and did exactly what I asked. He was calm and a great support.

I have cut the time the midwives have had to arrive at my births with every birth, this obviously was the shortest, though not intentional. It would have been nice to be in the tub because it really does help with the pain of contractions. The only other bummer is that Gil wasn't able to take any pictures of the actual birth since we were both a little busy at the time.

Hershey Bars for Itchy Armpit

2011-04-19T20:06:00.003-06:00

Azariah and I went to Wal-Mart this afternoon. I allowed him to pick out a candy bar and he chose a Hershey Bar. He ate it on the way home. A little after we left Wal-Mart I asked how his Candy Bar was and he said "It was good." I then asked if he already ate all of it, because it had only been a few minutes.

Azariah says "Yes, it was melting from being in my armpit and so I had to eat it fast."
Mom "What do you mean it was in your armpit?"
Azariah "My armpit itched so I put it under there because it was cool and I thought it would help it to stop itching, but then it made it melt so I had to eat it fast and then lick off my armpit."
Mom "Did you put it under your armpit with or without the wrapper on?"
Azariah "The wrapper was off."
Mom "Did your armpit stop itching?"
Azariah "Yes."

I was about ready to laugh my head off but with held my laughter. That child of mine does some of the craziest things.

Family Mission Trip to Broken Arrow Bible Ranch

2011-03-21T12:05:00.008-06:00

All seven Lawton's went to Broken Arrow Bible Ranch on March 13 with 61 other people.We where on a mission trip with our church.We did a number of things. Here are some of the things we did: some people including my Daddy re-roofed a house, a shed and a play ground. Other people grated a go-cart track, Azariah helped work on the go-carts and fixed a truck. I,Tirzah, was able to paint a horse corral and spend a lot of time with a couple friends I made. I, made a sand castle in the sand at the play ground. I also had a sleep over with a couple of friends named Abby and her sister Hannah.

Tabby

Tirzah painting the corral bars.

The Sand Castle I Made

Azariah, David Ward and Daddy taking the shingles off the roof of the house.

Tabby

2010-06-29T16:50:00.000-06:00

Today I put Tabby on the floor. I put her on her tummy and she rolled over to her back, then I watched her and she was arching her back and kicking her legs. After a couple of minutes she rolled herself back over to her tummy. I was excited.

Bumps, bruises and black eyes...

2010-06-23T09:32:00.003-06:00

Last Monday Azariah was playing on the trampoline with some friends. He tripped over the friend and hit his eye on the metal edge of the tramp and this was the result. I was thankful that it happened last Monday since we have family pictures this Saturday.

Azariah's Black Eye

Later that day Tirzah was coming in side and pulled the door shut on her finger and mangled it pretty good.

Tirzah's finger

Then on Monday Caleb Lotze, our 27 year old nephew got back at us. Twenty-one years ago, Gil went to Washington to see his sister's family. They were on a hike and Gil dropped his five month old niece. It was an accident and she was fine.

Well yesterday, Caleb and Isaac, our nephews ages 27 and 25, took the four older children on a four wheeler ride. As they were coming back from the ride they had to go up a steep incline. Tirzah was on the front, then Zeb was first on the seat, Talitha was next followed by Caleb. Zeb popped the clutch and made the four wheeler jump forward. (Zeb was not the one driving he was just messing.) Talitha who had been half asleep the whole ride popped off the four wheeler and then her arm and leg her run over. She is fine, no broken bones or anything, just a little bruise on her face. Caleb was shaken up worse than Talitha I think. And now my daughter who seems to be the one to always have a bruise for pictures will have one for our pictures on Saturday. And Caleb got back at his uncle Gil for dropping his sister 21 years ago.

This is Talitha's bruise, not bad for being run over by a four wheeler.

"In it..."

2010-06-13T20:45:00.001-06:00

Gil is holding Talitha and they are looking in to the fridge. Tally is pointing saying "In it, in it." Gil is getting her some milk and he can't figure out what she wants in it. So he holds her up to the fridge and she points to jam.

He says "No we aren't putting jam in your milk."

The funny thing is that it isn't unusual for Gil to put jam in his milk to flavor it.

What's Happening

2010-02-10T21:15:00.002-07:00

Well, Tabitha is a week and 1/2 old and is doing well, though she has a slight cough and snuffles. We are praying that she doesn't get any more of a cold. All her siblings are sick and it is hard to keep them from being around her and giving her their germs.

Talitha is in the midst of potty training. She is doing well, but get very mad if anyone else needs to go potty. If one of her siblings says "I need to go potty" That is her cue to run into the bathroom after them crying "potty, potty, potty" and want to go at the same time. The hardest part about potty training her is that she can't wear underwear because anything next to her skin will make her go potty in her pants. So she had been running around half naked for the last week. Hopefully we will be able to put underwear on her soon. She is doing a good job of going in the toilet.

Zebadiah, continues to want everything that his big brother has. He also adores his littlest sister. I can't wait until everyone is well again so they can enjoy holding their sister.

Azariah, made a profession of faith on Saturday February 6th. Now it is watch and see to see if it was truly a heart change and so far, it does appear that it is. He has given up what he wants more in the last few days than he has ever done in the past. I am truly praying that this is a true reflection of a transformed heart.

Tirzah, loves school and continues to do well with it. She gets her math and handwriting out and does them without me needing to tell her most days. She gets the idea that if she gets school done than she can have some free time. This is a concept that Azariah hasn't quite figured out yet.

Gil is planning to go to Africa with our church for a couple of weeks in May and June. It should be a good experience for him as he hasn't ever been overseas. He is also looking for a job. He has one offer for work and we are considering that and continuing wait and see if any of the other places he has put an application in call him.

I am enjoying my new little one as well as my older ones. It is always nice to cuddle and hold a newborn. I have been taking it very easy since Tabitha was born and greatly appreciate all that my husband has helped with around the house. He is amazing.

The Birth of Tabitha Zuriel Lawton

2010-01-31T11:58:00.007-07:00

Tabitha was due on January 26th. However, she was very high so I wasn't surprised when I was late. If she would have been lower in my pelvis than I am sure I would have had her on her due date.

We were all wondering if this was going to be a January baby or a February baby. I was hoping for a January baby just because that would mean less days to be pregnant. Because she was so high, I had indigestion and her head was on top of my pubic bone which made things rather painful at times.

The last week and a 1/2 I walked about 1.5 miles each day and the last week I started binding the baby up so that she was off my pubic bone in hopes that she would drop down into my pelvis. Yesterday we went for a walk in the afternoon and I took a nice nap after we got back from the walk. Nothing really made me think that I would go into labor yesterday until the evening. I felt like I might be on the verge of labor.

Then at about 10 PM I started having some contractions. I was hopeful, but not too hopeful, because I had contractions like them off and on for the last week or so. But then at about midnight I started having regular contractions 6 minutes apart lasting between 30-45 seconds. This is a pretty normal pattern for my labors. I finally called my midwife at 1 AM and talked with him, but didn't tell him to come right then. He lives 1 1/2 hours away. I said I would call him at 1:30. By 1:15 I knew he needed to come. My contractions were more intense and I could tell the head had dropped behind the pubic bone into the pelvis. My midwife said he was on his way.

I waited until 2 to call the assisting midwife that lives about 7 minutes away. I told her to get here about 2:30 AM. Then at about 2:20 AM I called her back and said to hurry. At this point I was estimating my delivery would be at about 3:00 AM. Gil had started filling up the birth tub at midnight, but since our hot water heater is only 38 gallons, it wasn't very full. However, it was full enough for me to get in the tub after I got off the phone with Lydia. Gil started boiling water on the stove to add to the tub. The warm water really takes the edge of the contractions. It had enough water to help some and Gil was able to get some more into it right after I got in. (He is an absolutely wonderful husband!). Lydia arrived at about 2:30 AM , brought in her stuff and started checking everything BP, heart rate, questions, baby heart tones etc. I had called Bill at 2:20 after I talked to Lydia to see where he was and he was outside of Delta, should have been another 45 minutes. Well he made it in about 25 minutes. He arrived at 2:45 AM with one glove on, but it was rather ripped. I questioned him and he was trying to put it on in the car in case he arrived and I was pushing. It made me laugh. He made the 1 hour 40 minute trip in 1 hour 11 minutes. Lydia had things set up, Bill brought in a few more items and then at about 3:00 AM I was pushing.

Although her head was engaged, she was still very high. My contractions were a lot stronger, harder and longer then what has been normal for my other four. That is one reason I wasn't sure if my midwife should leave at 1 AM when I called or later because at 1 AM her head was still above the pubic bone. By 1:20 AM it had engaged and things really started heating up. I think that is because she was so high. I pushed about three times and out she came. (A little more pain than that, but I was glad to have her in my arms.) Instead of pushing on my ribs, stomach and pubic bone.

She was born at 3:08 AM. She weighed 9 pounds 2 ounces, 20 1/2 inches long, 14 cm head circumference. Large baby, but little head so it wasn't bad.

Gil was wonderful once again. He is a great nurse and dotting husband and father.

Tabitha and Mommy

Countdown

2010-01-02T08:13:00.004-07:00

Here we go, the New Year... 2010.

I have 24 days before my baby is due. Now, knowing that it could occur before or after that date, it isn't much to countdown, but we are all excited about the new addition. Talitha loves on my belly and is going to be thrilled to have a baby to hold.

At the beginning of December we went with my parents to California. It was a good time to go. We left the morning it snowed 12 inches here and for the whole week we were in California it was very cold back home.

The Children enjoyed Disneyland and Sea World.

Our Baby

2009-10-30T11:30:00.004-06:00

I decided to have an Ultrasound with this baby and here are the pictures they took of our baby.

The legs

A foot

A scary looking face
This pic is the standard 2D ultrasound image, the others are from the 4D ultrasound image

Baby's Face

Baby's face with arm and leg visible.

FedEx

2009-10-09T16:07:00.002-06:00

We were driving down the road today and Azariah saw a FedEx truck and then said:

"Those trucks are fed x's."

Tirzah agreed with him and I thought it was a pretty good joke.

Talitha and Markers

2009-10-03T11:52:00.004-06:00

Talitha has a love for markers. She finds markers and draws on herself or others if they will let her. Where does she like to draw on herself or others? On the bottoms of their feet of course.

You Never Know How a Child Interprets a saying...

2009-10-03T11:43:00.003-06:00

Tirzah started Piano lessons a few weeks ago. This week the teacher called and said they were getting hooked up to City Sewer so we would need to park down the street and walk to the house. No problem I said knowing that the boys being able to watch machines would be fun for them.

The boys and I went to look at the trench that was dug down the driveway the day before. We talked about it and then the boys watched the workers start to tare up the street.

Later we went and had art class. On our way home Azariah and Tirzah start to argue. Azariah comes to tears and I ask what is going on.

Azariah says "Was it OK for them to dig up the driveway at that house?"
I say "Yes, Azariah it was fine for them to dig up the driveway."
Azariah "Tirzah said they did it 'on purpose'"
Mom: "Yes, they dug up the driveway 'on purpose'".
Azariah "How can they dig it up on purpose if it's OK?"

I started laughing as I realized the only time Azariah hears the phrase "on purpose" is when we ask him "Azariah did you hit your brother on purpose?" "Azariah did you cut your hair on purpose?" "Azariah, you did to do that on purpose didn't you." No wonder the child thought the phrase "on purpose" meant something bad.

I explained it to him and we were OK from there.

Azariah My Science Guy

2009-07-11T19:46:00.002-06:00

My wonderful husband gave me the afternoon off from all my children. He took them to his sisters house and they mowed her lawn, watched a movie and went to the park. I had from about 10:00 AM until 5:45 PM all to myself. It was very nice and I was able to get pictures ordered to I can catch up on 2 1/2 years of scrapbooks.

When they arrived home I was feeding baby goats. Then I did a couple of more things and finally I walked back into the house. My son Azariah had a hand full of stuff and said "I am going to make an electric magnet."

I didn't think much about it since I didn't know what he was talked about. About 10 minutes later he comes in and says, "Mom look at this." He then shows me how my kitchen shears and another pair of scissors were now magnetized. They were attracted to a medal jar ring. He then explained, "I made an electric magnet." I asked "How did you do it?" Azariah says, "Well, I used these two magnets (They are two round magnets) and a small pin (which he couldn't find to show me) and the electric fence charger." I asked, "Where did you learn how to do this?" Azariah matter of factly says "Bill Nye the Science Guy."

Back in May we went on a road trip and I picked up some movies for the kids to watch in the car. One of them was on magnetism. But that was about two months ago. I was very impressed with his creativity and use of resources. I just don't know how useful magnetized kitchen shears will be.

Banana Bread

2009-07-05T09:53:00.002-06:00

We had Banana bread for breakfast this morning. It was left over from our camping trip and so instead of making muffins like I usually do on Sunday morning I just brought out the Banana bread.

We had all had two or three pieces and were finishing up when Azariah says:

"This tastes like coconut bread instead of banana bread."
I said "I know son, it has coconut in it."
Azariah: "Don't really like coconut."

At this point, Gil who was standing behind Azariah's chair dipping some bread in fresh goat milk reached his hand out to take Azariah's bread. But then Azariah quickly said "But I really like this banana bread like crazy."

Gil and I started laughing because of his expression and his comment. This is our child who is funny but only when he isn't trying to be.

The First Six Months of News Explained

2009-06-28T20:49:00.003-06:00

Monday's

2009-06-15T21:38:00.002-06:00

Well, I figure that since no one likes Monday's anyway why not make it cleaning and laundry day? My son, Azariah, many times wakes up on Monday and says "I hate Monday's..." with a whine... because he knows that he will have to work.

So Tirzah and Azariah have one of two chores each Monday. One of them sorts their laundry and cleans the bathroom and the other cleans their room and vacuums the house. I am not sure why I make them sort the laundry because to be honest I don't really wash darks and lights separetaly unless it is a new red shirt or something I think will bleed. So they don't know this but I just make them do it because I have always been told "You need to sort the laundry." So they have to do it because it is suppose to be sorted.

Well today it was Azariah's turn. I also make them turn clothes right side out. He had the two piles but they were not really sorted. Although I must say all the PJ's were in one and all the jeans in the other. It was the shirts that were all mixed up in both. He did it without complaning so I was happy. I started filling the wash machine with the clothes and I feel dirt hitting my sandled feet. Just about every pair of jeans I picked up had a ton of dirt in the pockets. So I dumped all the dirt out on the floor and then swept it up. I am glad my children enjoy playing out doors, but I could have filled a sandbox with all the dirt I emptied from their pockets. The bottom of the their laundry basket was also full of dirt.

I love my children.

Super Glue

2009-06-09T13:04:00.002-06:00

I was out hanging up clothes on the line when I came back into the house. I find Azariah picking white stuff off of his fingers.

Me: "Azariah what are you doing?"
A: "Well Mom, I was gluing my playmobil cannon and got super glue all over my fingers."

I then examine the cannon and the counter. Glue, not just glue but Super Glue is all over the cannon and the counter as well as Azariah's fingers. The good thing was that he hadn't allowed his fingers to be stuck together. So I took him in the bathroom and we worked on his fingers for about 15 minutes. Most of it came off so I went back outside. However, 30 minutes later when I came back in he was still running his fingers under the water. I told him to stop and to go play. This elicited a crying spell of "I don't want glue on my fingers..." I informed him that it would were off eventually and that I hoped he learned his lesson. And I told him that he may not use Super Glue without Gil or I helping him.

It could have been worse.

What do you think?

2009-06-07T18:05:00.002-06:00

This morning as we were getting ready for church Gil was brushing his teeth. Now this isn't a big deal, however he had no shirt on and was wearing some comfortable shorts while he was brushing his teeth. He sits down next to me on the couch and says "So am I a fat slob too?"

I looked at him and he stammered "That isn't what I meant..."
Then he says "How do you know the too meant you?"

I was rather comical to see him back pedal.

Check Out the Curriculum I Use

2009-05-26T16:54:00.001-06:00

Reprimand from my friend

2009-05-25T20:41:00.003-06:00

OK I had my dad comment "It hasn't been hard to keep up with your blog." and then a friend of mine said "You need to blog more." So here is my first blog post in two months.

Let's see, Carmel one of my goats decided to kid at 9:38 AM yesterday morning. This was 23 minutes after the rest of the family left for church. I was able to get to church by 10:45 for church service. I would have been there earlier but part way to church I realized I had forgotten my slip and the dress I was wearing really needs a slip. So I turned around and went back.

A few weeks ago I took the training wheels off of Zeb's bike and tried to get him to ride it without them. After a couple of days of him begging me to put them back on I did. Then today he asked me multiple times to take them off. I did and he can now ride his bike without training wheels, but he can't get started by himself. The bike is very small but when he is on the seat he can't stand flat footed on the ground to it is a little hard for him to get started. He is really good at bailing off the bike.

Talitha loves to carry the goat bottles to the barn. If she seems them sitting on the counter she points, and asks to have them. I then give them to her and it takes all of her strength to carry them. It is pretty cute.

Talitha with the goat bottles

The Lord has been so gracious. We had 6 goats kid, giving us a total of 18 kids. Two died so that left us with 16. I am keeping Three of the does and so I have sold or given away 10 kids. The Lord has been good. I am praying that I will be able to sell the kids from this next batch of kids also.

Well I need to go, I will try to blog more often.

2009 Kids

2009-04-03T16:17:00.002-06:00

Difficult Kidding

2009-03-13T11:56:00.004-06:00

Well, today Jiffy had her babies. I noticed an obvious waterbag coming out around 6:45 AM this morning. I figured she would have her baby within an a few hours from then. Well, around 8:30 she was having obvious contractions, but nothing was presenting and it seemed like it was still far back in the birth canal.

Finally at 9:30 AM I decided to put my hand in and see what was going on. When my hand got in there I was feeling ribs. I knew that the ribs cannot come out first so I started fishing for a leg, however when you put your hand in the uterus it causes more contractions. It was pretty tight in there and on top of that I had to push the kid back in order to get something besides the side coming first. Now she is a Nigerian Dwarf goat so it is hard to get one hand in let alone two, so I a, trying to push the baby back and fish for a leg.

I was finally able to maneuver the kid and find a hind leg. When he came out he gave a couple of gasps but then stopped breathing. I had Tirzah come in the stall and start stimulating him by rubbing him down which made him start breathing. Then in succession two more kids came out. They were doing fairly well. After another 45 minutes Jiffy started having more contractions. I figured there would be at least one more kid in her. I let her push for a little bit and she seemed to be struggling so I went in again. I found a head and two legs. I grabbed the legs and started to pull gently but it seemed like it was too much kid. I then examined the legs and realized one looked thicker than the other. I put my hand back in and felt around. I was pretty sure that two kids were trying to come out at one time. I found a big head and so figured the little leg must be from a fifth goat so I pushed the littler leg back in.

The head of the fourth kid came out and he was the biggest of all the kids. Rather vigorous also. Then I went ahead an found both front legs of the last one and pulled it out, I was ready to be done with the kids. It was a good thing I did because that kid was dead and had been dead for a while. She had some discharge a while back and I am thinking his waterbag may have broken and caused him to die. His eye sockets were sunken and his joints were all loose. With a dead kid, many times they don't come out on their own because they are all floppy and they get all tangled up so I was glad I didn't wait and just pulled it.

She had all boys, last year she had all boys also. I was really hoping to get a doe out of her but I didn't. The first kid still isn't doing well, he responds if I rub him, but hasn't been able to stand up. I finally fed him with a tube put into his stomach, but I am wondering if he has internal injuries because of how he was presenting. I let Jiffy labor like that for about an hour at least and then when I went in it was kind of hard to push him around so I may have hurt him also when I moved him around to get him out. We will see what happens.

This was my most difficult birth so far. I am just glad that this is my third year of kidding and not my first. Since I put my hand in with Spice yesterday I gave her an intramuscular injection of Penicillin G and now I will do that for Jiffy. Wow, I have learned a lot in the last couple days. This should be good training if the Lord ever allows me to be a midwife. A lot of what I have been reading recently about midwifery went through my mind at I was working with Jiffy.

7 New Kids

2009-03-12T17:05:00.005-06:00

Tirzah holding one of Spices little does

This morning the children, my mom and I went to Montrose and then the children and I went to the library. I had put three of the four goats who are due in the barn in case they decided to kid while we were gone.

I opened the car door and heard distressed bleating. I found Spice with the head of a kid coming out. She then proceeded to have three more kids. I actually put my hand in and pulled the third one out, it was backwards and though she had a few contractions, nothing was happening. All went well with all four kids and they are doing great.

Spice with her two bucks

At the same time I was watching Spice, Sugar was in her stall and pawing the ground. She looked rather uncomfortable, up and down, up and down. She finally had three kids. Her birthing was easier than Spices. All seven babies are doing well.

Sugar with her three girls

Spice had two bucks and two does. Sugar had all three does.

Zeb is Three

2009-03-07T10:41:00.002-07:00

Zebadiah being his silly self.

Blowing out his candles will a little added spit.
This is the reason Aunt Megan chose a piece of Talitha's cake instead of Zeb's.

Zeb enjoying his cake and "race car" ice cream. There was a race car on the carton of the ice cream thus the children called it "race car" ice cream.

So what is Zebadiah Tobias Lawton like at 3 years old. He enjoys making his brother scream. He likes to watch his "ABC" video and when I tell the older two it is time for school he says with a scrunched up face "Nooo, not school." However once I sit down and start reading to the other two, he is right in the middle of it all.

Zebadiah loves his little sister Talitha and calls her "yitha". She likes to annoy him and he likes to hold on to her longer than she thinks is necessary.

The end of Mark.

2009-03-07T10:37:00.001-07:00

In family worship time at night, Gil has been reading the book of Mark. Last night he finished reading it and said we are done with the book or something like that. We then started singing songs and then Gil noticed Azariah pouting and crying on the couch.

Gil: "Azariah why are you crying?"
Azariah (starts wailing): "We finished the book and I want to keep reading the Bible."
Gil: "Azariah, we can read it again and look we have the the whole Bible to read, we can always read Mark again also."

That seemed to pacify Azariah. I have no idea why he would think we wouldn't read it again because we read other books multiple times. I am excited that he desires to hear the Word of God like that. It is sharper than a two edge sword.

Toilet Paper

2009-02-22T08:45:00.003-07:00

In marriage there are many thing that you have to figure out how to deal with when it concerns your spouse. In 8 1/2 years of marriage this is the first time this came up.

Gil: "Why do you put the toilet paper roll so it rolls towards the wall?"
Taneil: "Studies say that people use less toilet paper that way."
Gil: "Well, in the middle of the night I can't find the end of the roll."
Taneil:" Can't you just run your hand on the wall and find the end?"
Gil: "Not when it's dark and i'm tired and i don't feel good."
Taneil: "I just figured with as much toilet paper as we go through it would be best for it to go that way, can't you just roll it back and find the end?"
Gil: "Not when it is dark and I don't feel well. Then I use more because I can't find the four squares I need to wipe or the two squares I need to blow my nose."
Taneil: (Amidst great laughter,with tears streaming down my face) "I am sorry I had no idea."
Gil: "If you are laughing that hard, you better blog it."

I had not idea how precise my husband was with the use of the toilet paper.

Eating At Our House

2009-02-21T19:53:00.003-07:00

The six of us sit around the table to enjoy our meal.

The first thing that happens is Talitha screams because Azariah insists on holding her hand during prayer while she would rather eat her food during the prayer.

Then Tirzah hands Talitha her food bowl and Talitha tries to drop it on the ground, mommy intervenes and saves the day.

Zebadiah who loved the onions yesterday won't touch them or the mushrooms, so he sneaks them into one of the two victim's bowls he is sitting in between. Tonight it was daddy or Tirzah.

Tirzah takes the parmesan cheese grater and licks the last few crumbs of cheese off the grater part. Daddy explains that she should not do this. Especially since she has been sick, and we shouldn't put our sick germs on things that are made for food, even thought it will be washed. He does mention that licking your bowl is OK though it is a food item.

Meanwhile on the other side of the table, Azariah has skillfully lined the rim of his bowl with the mushrooms he has picked out of his bowl so that he doesn't have to eat them. The funny thing is, is that he is sick and didn't eat any of the other stuff either. I guess he wanted to make sure he didn't have any chance of eating the mushrooms.

Then as the mom, I am up and down, up and down getting seconds and water and other things that need to be gotten in the middle of the meal.

Thoughts

2009-02-21T19:49:00.002-07:00

We bought a laptop last year. I was able to get the desktop and the laptop to network for a while, but now it is not working. When Gil asked me what I was doing I said, "Trying to get my stuff to print, but it isn't working."
Gil asked: "Wasn't it working before?"
Me: "Yes, but it hasn't been recently."
Gil response by saying this little quip: "I will not only share your pain, I will go beyond that and be more upset than you."

This coming from a man who has been sick for the last two days, pretty good for a brain fog man.

Talitha is One

2009-02-19T20:37:00.003-07:00

This evening we were going to have a party for Talitha, but she was running a fever and Gil aches all over so we called it off. It was just the six of us and we had a good evening, through we missed the Grandparents and Aunt being with us.

Eating ice cream.
Talitha wasn't sure what to think about the cold wet gooey but she warmed up to it and decided she liked it.

Talitha opens her present from her siblings. Tirzah graciously gave Talitha some of her Calico Critters along with the house. Azariah gave Talitha "Percy". I thought they were both very generous in the presents they gave their little sister.

This afternoon we made star cakes and the older three decorated them for Tally

A happy one year old.

My two thumb suckers with their blankets.

Pictures of the Little Peeps

2009-02-19T20:26:00.004-07:00

The Little Peeps

2009-02-16T18:47:00.005-07:00

Today we received our shipment of chicks. Last year we did meat chickens with another couple, and it went well. However the feed cost for the chickens was a lot. We saved some money in the project because I used every scrap of the chickens I could.

This year though, Gil wants to see if we can cut feed costs by having slower growing chicks and feeding them table scraps and such as well as allowing them to free range more. So we purchased 25 light breed chicks to raise. We will see how it goes. It is still a little cold here for the chicks, but I wanted to be well underway before the goats start kidding in mid-march.

Along with the birds for meat, I also ordered another Black Polish Creasted rooster because our first "Sir Topham Hat" drowned in the horses water on Tirzah's birthday. And then I ordered two bantam chicks that I am hoping are hens to go with our bantam rooster. Last year our banty hen sat on eggs and had three chicks. However, we lost the momma and two of the chicks. One survived to adulthood but about 6 weeks ago she disappeared, so I wanted a couple more banty hens.

We put the chicks in the barn, but the three in the video were not doing as well as the others. These are the two Silver Pincelled Bantams and Sir Topham Hat Jr. At the beginning we were thinking the bantams were going to die, they were pretty pathetic and so we feed them sugar water and mash. Tonight they are doing well and looking like they will survive, for now.

The neat part was that the children prayed for the chickens. Tirzah said she prayed that God would touch their beaks so they would live. He must have done so because they are still alive.

One of the things I have been thinking about is something I heard from Chuck Bentley on Money Life. He said "If God owns everything then we don't loose anything." This is something I have been pondering over the last couple days. I struggle with "loosing" things such as chicks dying, invested money and expensive light bulbs breaking. When I consider the fact that all these things belong to God and though I need to be a good steward, ultimately it is all God's and He can do with it as He sees fit and many times it is a way for Him to test me to see where my heart. Do I complain, which shows that I don't think God did what was best or do I respond with a heart of surrender knowing God is in control.

Azariah and Shopping

2009-02-16T18:24:00.002-07:00

At Wal-Mart today the boys were very good. I left the girls with Gil and just took the boys. Wow, it is amazing how subtracting a child makes a huge difference. They never fought with each other and both were obedient.

After I went through the self checkout lane Zeb had to go potty so we made our way to the bathrooms. Azariah was riding on the bottom of the cart laying down. I looked down at him as we arrived at the bathrooms and his face was red and he was starting to cry.

Me: "Azariah, what is wrong?" (I thought I had run over his finger with the cart because he was holding his hand, I did not feel a bump though.)
Azariah: "I bit my fingers."
Me: "How did you bite your fingers?"
Azariah: "I was sucking on these three and I bit them."

Azariah reminds me of a scientist...smart, but at times lacking in common sense. But like a scientist, he usually learns from his experiements and doesn't repeat the same disaster twice, usually....

He nursed his fingers all the way home and tried to get out of helping to carry in the groceries, but it didn't work. When I told Gil what happened I started laughing. Azariah even asked if he needed a band aid.

What mommy can and cannot do according to Zeb

2009-02-16T18:21:00.001-07:00

I stat down on the couch with my laptop.

Zeb: "What you doing?"
Me: "I am going to play Las Vegas Gold Miner like daddy." Gil was sitting at the desktop computer playing the above mentioned game on the internet. I haven't played it this year, but Gil and the children have over the last week or so.
Zeb: "You can't do that, daddy does that."
Me: "Oh really, then what do I do?"
Zeb: "You make lunch."

According to my children, daddy gets to have all the fun while I slave away in the kitchen. At least I have a few years to teach him that mommy's do more than provide food.

Tirzah and Talitha

2009-02-11T21:28:00.003-07:00

The Triple Decker Bed

In our house we have a new bed. It is a triple bunk bed. Tirzah on the top bed, Azariah in the middle and Zeb on the bottom bed. This allows for two things. First, I don't have to worry about pushing a trundle bed in and out each day and the second thing is that it frees up the crib for Talitha. Now instead of carrying her pack n' play from our bedroom each night, I just carry her and put her in the crib. (The other three are too noisy so she still goes to sleep in our room.)

Last night I put her down in her crib and she woke up. I shut the door hoping she would fall right back to sleep. Tirzah was whimpering because she didn't want the door shut and both boys were already asleep. Then after a minute or two Gil and I heard Tirzah singing to Tally. "Jesus Loves Me" and "Wiseman Built His House Upon the Rock". This evening Tirzah told us that she had gotten down from her bed, crawled into the crib and held Talitha while she sang. Then Tally fell asleep and she put her down and went to bed herself. It was such a sweet picture in my mind of Tirzah cradling her little sister in her arms as she sung her to sleep, what precious children.

Talitha at 11 Months (A Little Late...)

2009-02-01T20:57:00.003-07:00

Talitha is a little cutie, this month she has decided that walking up to five steps is OK but if she needs to get some place fast, crawling is the better method. Because of her siblings vocal tendencies to be loud, she has decided that in order to be heard she must be the loudest. I would say that she can be louder than the other three put together. If she doesn't like something, she has no problem letting you know it. She is saying "Mama". Tally can pick something up and stand up in the middle of the floor no problems. Notice the first picture of her squatting.

What a wonderful little girl the Lord has given us as a family. We look forward to what the Lord has in store for her. Zebadiah has met his match. They both love each other and torment each other at the same time.

The Breeding of Hagar

2009-01-30T20:54:00.003-07:00

Tirzah is starting to read more and more, and to my delight she likes to read the Bible. She would rather read it than some of the short little stories they make for beginner readers.

Anyway, she was looking in her Children's Bible and saw a picture of Hagar. She informed me "This is Hagar who Abraham bred before he bred Sarah."

I could not keep from laughing out loud. I guess that is what you get when you have goats that you breed. I did correct her in saying that men don't breed women but that was all I said.

Talitha Playing Peek-A-Boo

2009-01-07T20:03:00.003-07:00

Talitha at 10 Months

2008-12-23T14:25:00.002-07:00

Talitha is 10 Months old. She is growing like a weed. She now has 6 teeth with two more very near the surface. Talitha decided to take a few steps this month, though she isn't walking too far yet. I think by next month she will be. Her favorite activity this month is to be pushed around the house in the Little Tikes cart. She does not lack for people to push her. There are plenty of little people clambering for the opportunity. There were two times she wasn't happy in the cart. One was when everyone rushed out to talk with some friends outside and she was forgotten. Well, I didn't know she was left stuck in the cart until I came back inside to find her crying her eyes out. Azariah was the one who "forgot" her. Then the other time was when Azariah picked the cart and her up, put them in the wagon, pulled them over to Gramgees, picked the cart up again with Talitha still in it. He climb the two steps into Gramgees house without a problem. The problem came when he tried to take off his boots before putting the cart down with Talitha in it. Thus he dropped the cart on it's side and Talitha received a rather nice bump on the head. I told Azariah not to do that again and stepped him through putting things down before trying to take off winter clothes. Talitha is full of laughs and loves to smile.

Mystery Box Night

2008-12-17T22:23:00.003-07:00

Each night of AWANA we have a theme. Some of those themes allow the children to make guesses about something each time they say a section. For instance, we had M&M night and each group had there own M&M jar that the children had to guess how many M&M's were in it, the one closest to the correct number won the jar.

About a month ago Mystery Box Night was announced. It was December 16th, but they announced it and showed us the Mystery Boxes in November. Each week our Commander gave another clue about the boxes. There was a box for Sparkie Girls and one for Sparkie Boys.

Here were the clues:
Girls: Week 1: it is larger than most, Week 2: It is cuddly, Week 3: It licks and Week 4: It barks
After the clue on week 3, Tirzah just knew it was a dog. On week 2 I think she guessed a puppy dog, then on week 3 she had about 9 guess and each guess was different but the same it went something like this:

A brown and white dog with an electric licking tongue
A black dog with an electric licking tongue
A black and white dog with an electric licking tongue
A white dog with an electric licking tongue
etc.

It was rather comical because she was so sure of what it was and she stuck to it. Well on Tuesday when it was time to award the boxes Tirzah was given the box to open. This box was probably 2 foot by 1 1/2 feet by 1 foot. She opens the box and pulls out this huge puppy. You should have seen her face, it was priceless.

When we got home I found out that when Gil asked her what that nights theme was as we were leaving she said in her matter of fact way. "Mystery box night, and don't be surprised if someone comes home with the gift."

Tirzah with her beloved puppy.

What Child is This?

2008-12-17T22:11:00.002-07:00

The great Christmas hymn "What Child is This?" states on the first line of the second verse:

Why lies he in such mean estate, where ox and ass are feeding?

This prompted a discussion with Tirzah that went like this:

Tirzah: "What are ashes?"
Daddy: "An ass is a donkey."
Tirzah: "No it isn't."
Daddy: "Yes it is, it's another name for donkey."
Tirzah: "Donkey's don't like being called asses, because they are used to being called donkey's."
Daddy: "Donkey's don't mind being called asses, they have been called asses for a long time."
Mommy: "Ass is used in songs instead of the word donkey."
Tirzah: "I don't like asses."

Christmas Tree Hunting

2008-12-06T21:10:00.004-07:00

Today, we drove up the Grand Mesa to find a Christmas tree. It was a good time. Here are some pictures of our time.

The boys lying in the snow getting all wet.

Gramgee telling the boys to get up. Zeb would lay down and then ask for help. The only problem was that he only wanted Daddy to help him, so Gramgee kept walking.

Of course, when you have children and snow, the boots and gloves come off at some point and must be put back on. Here is Azariah after his boot came off. The good thing was that he didn't let his foot touch the snow.

Taneil and Talitha, Gil and Zebdiah
Azariah and Tirzah

Here is an action picture. Tirzah threw a snowball and it hit Gil on his coat.

Gil and the boys, cutting down the tree.

The tree falling down.

Time for Sushi

2008-12-06T21:00:00.003-07:00

Friday night, we had a sushi party. At a silent auction earlier this year, my parents bought a certificate for a Sushi demonstration party. So Gil and I were able to go to my parents house and learn how to make sushi. A chef from No Coast Sushi as well as the one of the owners came. It was a really good time. They taught us about the sauces, how to put together the sushi rolls and taught us about raw fish and fish quality. Each of us made our own rolls. We tried eel, raw tuna, raw salmon, crab, musculs and other stuff. I had a really good time.

Adam the Chef, the owner of No Coast Sushi and Megan

We talked with the owner and she told us all about where they get their fish and the high quality that it is. The Chef explained all about it and surprisingly the raw fish was really good. Like my dear friend Mrs. B always says, by the best quality of ingredients that you can afford.

Some of the rolled sushi

Cough Spit

2008-12-03T20:42:00.002-07:00

Azariah has the annoying habit of wiping his face, particularly his runny nose on the couch. Well this evening during family worship time, he sneezed into is hand. Gil had just told him not to wipe his nose of the couch and so now he was getting ready to wipe his hand that he had just sneezed into on the couch.

Gil said "Azariah, don't wipe your hand on the couch, wipe it on your pajamas."
Azariah looked at his hand then at his pajamas and back at Gil. It was obvious that he didn't want to wipe it on his pajamas. Gil then took Azariah's hand wiped it on his pajamas for him. Azariah immediately wailed in protest.

Tirzah and I were sitting on the other end of the couch and we both burst out laughing. It was rather funny. You kind of need to know how Azariah over reacts to everything. This was defiantly an over reaction.

A Six Year Old's Thoughts on Marriage

2008-11-30T08:47:00.001-07:00

Tirzah has informed us that when she gets married, she wants her husband to carry her and dress her. Then she wants him to put her to bed with bouncing (this comes from the fact that after Gil puts the kids to bed he bounces the bed up and down with them on it.)

We think she is one of those women who wants to sit around and eat Bon Bons all day. She doesn't want him to cook for her because he might burn the food. She does want him to go to work to provide as long as he makes log houses. She also wants him to shave so he isn't pokey. I am sure there will be more to come at some point.

Merry Tossmas?

2008-11-28T09:12:00.006-07:00

This is a great video, I have already had a Merry Tossmas.

Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-27T20:19:00.002-07:00

We have had a good Thanksgiving. I will get some pictures of it soon, but we enjoyed a restful day and Gramgee and Papa's house. We played their Wii and ate lots of food, we were not gluttons of course :-). That seems to be one of the acceptable sins in the Church.

I am thankful to the Lord for the will to believe in Him. What a wondeful savior I have.

Talitha at 9 Months Old

2008-11-19T20:04:00.005-07:00

Wow, nine months and still growing. Talitha now weighs a whopping 12 pounds 14 ounces. She gained a pound and 10 ounces this month since she is eating food. She loves to eat and she loves her mommy. We have finally started moving her bed out into the living room when we go to bed so that she doesn't wake up everytime I move in my bed. So now she sleeps through the night and gets up at 5 AM sharp ready to nurse and go back to sleep for another two hours.

Two more teeths are poking through and she stayed standing up in the middle of the room when I let go of her. She is a little sweet heart. By the pictures you will notice she has a bit of a personality.

A Potential Fire Hazard

2008-11-19T19:57:00.001-07:00

Azariah received a model rocket launcher with some rockets for his birthday. The first rocket we launched was on his birthday but it was windy and went about 1,200 feet in the air. The wind blew it a good mile away and we never found it. Then daddy and Azariah built two more rockets that came with the launcher. We have launched them multiple times and have had fun doing it.

Yesterday, Azariah asked "Mommy can I look at my rockets." I said "sure" and continued to work on my project. About 10 minutes later Tirzah and Azariah have the launch pad with one of the rockets on it. They are hooking up the launchers clips to the fuse. I think in my mind...surely there isn't an engine in the rocket, they are just hooking the clips up to an old fuse. Wanting to be safe and to teach them to becareful around rockets I get up and tell them that it isn't a good idea to do that in the house. I look and behold a new engine and fuse are in the rocket just waiting for the electricty needed to ignite it.

I was very thankful that I had the presents of mind to investigate what they were doing. They would never have done it on purpose, but I could see Azariah thinking "Oh look the little light is on that shows it is ready for launch, let's see what happens when we do it in the house." That would have been a disaster.

Isn't the Lord good!

A few pics

2008-10-26T19:57:00.002-06:00

Zebadiah bobbing for an Apple. The water was nasty!! About 15 people had already bobbed so there was gum and snot in the water.

Zeb finally gave up and grabbed one with his hand. He kinda looks guilty doesn't he.

Talitha eating beans...yuck!

Name Calling

2008-10-23T20:30:00.002-06:00

I am innocently changing Talitha's diaper while my other children are supposed to be in bed going to sleep. Ha ha

Zebadiah comes in crying and talking with his thumb in his mouth so I can't understand him. I go into their room and ask "What is going on?"

Tirzah says "Azariah keeps calling Zeb a Democrat."
Zeb pipes in (with thumb in mouth) "I'm not a Democrat."
I ask Azariah "Did you call Zeb a Democrat."
Azariah just smiles. I inform him that he is not to call his little brother a Democrat anymore.

Where, why and how I do not know. Gil says it must be Papa.

Try and Bite Me...

2008-10-22T20:40:00.002-06:00

Tonight as my perfect children, Tirzah and Azariah, are suppose to be laying down like good little children and trying there hardest to go to sleep. They start fighting. I am talking with my dad so Gil goes into to investigate.

"Tirzah did you hit Azariah?"
"Yes, but..."
Gil talks to Tirzah about how we aren't suppose to hit.
"Azariah what did you do?"
He wouldn't say anything
"He tried to grab me." Tirzah says
"Azariah, what did you do to Tirzah?" No response. "You need to talk to me or you will be disciplined."
Azariah starts mumbling something about Tirzah trying to get him.
Tirzah starts crying "Daddy I want to tell you what happened..."
"Tirzah, why did Azariah try and grab you?"
"He told me to try and bite him."
"So did you try and bite him Tirzah?"
"Yes"
"So, he tried to grab you to keep you from biting him?"
"Yes"
"And then you hit him?"
"Yes"
"Tirzah that was a really bad idea."

The joy of children...

Children's Church

2008-10-12T13:44:00.002-06:00

Today during Children's Church, I was teaching on God's attribute "Worthy". One of the stories we talked about was the Pearl of Great Price. I explained that the man in the story sold everything to buy one pearl because it was so valuable. We related this to the fact that God is Worthy.

While I was talking about the merchant and how he knew the pearl was valuable, a little girl raised her hand and ask "Was he a mermaid since pearls live in the ocean?" I didn't actually hear all that she said at the time so it wasn't until after class that Gil told me exactly what she said. It was rather comical.

Life Without Limbs

2008-10-11T10:01:00.000-06:00

This is a really inspiring story...

A Guilty Conscience

2008-10-06T22:29:00.002-06:00

There are times as a parent that I am very thankful the Lord gives me a glimpse into my children's hearts. Today we had one of those times...

This morning we went to Wal-Mart to go shopping. I told the children that as a reward for obeying well and obeying the first time that I would buy them a candy bar. Tirzah, had some of her own money so she wanted to know if I would buy her something and then let her buy herself something also. I said yes, but that she could only eat one of them today. So Tirzah bought herself a Laffy Taffy and I bought her skittles. She chose to eat the Skittles in the car and save the Laffy Taffy until Tomorrow.

Later in the afternoon, Tirzah comes in holding the Laffy Taffy in her hand saying in a distressed voice "Mommy, someone took a bite out of my Laffy Taffy." I saw the missing part and informed her that it wasn't a big deal and I would just put it on the counter for safe keeping. She was fine with that and went off to play. I didn't want to have to deal with lying boys, so I didn't even ask who did it.

Then as we were praying during family worship time it was Tirzah's turn and she turns to me with tears in her eyes and asks "Mommy if I as God to forgive me for something, will I get in trouble from you?" Desiring my child to ask for forgiveness, I assured her that she would not get in trouble. She then prayed saying "Lord, please forgive me for lying about who took a bite out of the Laffy Taffy when I was the one who did it."

This was very impressive to me. My daughter can be very deceptive which we are not blind to, but to see how the Lord convicted her of her sin and brought her to repentance was wonderful. There was no reason she needed to tell me of her deception because I didn't even suspect anything, yet the Lord brought conviction in her life so that she wanted to confess her sin. What a great God we serve. Tirzah has made a profession of faith, but we are still trying to determine if her profession is indeed a possession of faith. This little glimpse into her conscience takes us one step closer in believing that her profession is for real.

One of the reasons I think she prayed and asked forgiveness is that when we have our children pray at night, we tell them that they need to ask God to forgive them for their sins and we encourage them to be specific. Even Azariah tonight stopped and thought about what he needed to ask God to forgive him for. What encouragement we received tonight. Thank You Lord!

Salmon

2008-10-01T19:48:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I was getting ready for lunch. I came inside and opened a can of Salmon, drained it and put it a bowl. Then I sat down to nurse Talitha. While nursing Talitha, Tirzah came in and said "What's that smell." I explained it was salmon and didn't think to much more about it. Tirzah likes salmon. A little while later, Azariah came in and asked "What's that smell?" I told him it was Salmon and he says "No, not salmon." He doesn't like salmon. He goes back outside soon after.

I was nursing Talitha and doing something on the computer, so I wasn't really paying attention. The next thing I know, Azariah comes back in and Tirzah says "Azariah, what are you doing with the empty bowl?" Now this brought me to attention knowing he doesn't like Salmon. I look up and sure enough he is hold the bowl and it is empty of salmon. I ask "What did you do with the Salmon Azariah?" He says "I don't remember, because I don't like salmon." I told him to show me where he put it, I am thinking the trash outside. He reluctantly leads me to the side of the house and there on a piece of plywood sits the salmon. I pick it up, put it back in the bowl and take it inside. Salmon isn't cheap, so I rinse it off, mix it with some mayonnaise and serve it for lunch. Azariah had to eat the Salmon. After about thirty minutes he finally ate his salmon.

The Caterpillar

2008-09-30T11:59:00.003-06:00

Azariah, Tirzah and Zeb watch the Butterfly emerge.

12 days ago, Gramgee and Tirzah were on a walk and found a monarch catapillar. They brought it home to show everyone. Gramgee was going to let it go again, but I remembered we had a butterfly garden so we put it in that.

The empty crystalis

The next day the catapillar shed its skin and became a crystalis. What a neat thing to watch. Then on Monday, Tirzah was looking at it and said "Gramgee it's coming out." They watched it emerge from its cacoon and we had a butterfly. This morning we let it go for its trip to California.

The butterfly spreads its wings

Monarchs west of the Rockies migrate to California and Moncarchs east of the Rocky Mountians go to Mexico.

Eating some nectar for its journey.

Piper on Health, Wealth and Properity

2008-09-24T21:02:00.001-06:00

I saw this on Daniel Bennett's blog and had to post it myself.

Talitha is 7 Months Old

2008-09-20T11:33:00.001-06:00

Talitha swings for the first time.

Talitha is officially 7 months old. This past month, Talitha has had her four front teeth come in. She pulled herself up to a standing position all by herself and she loves her goat milk. Talitha also loves to eat anything we will give her and things she finds on the floor such as crayon wrappers, paper, legos etc. What a joy she is.

Talitha and Mommy

Little Boys and Little Girls

2008-09-18T20:26:00.002-06:00

My sons are great kids. Zeb jumps and runs around like none other and Azariah is always trying to figure out how things work. Today the children went and picked Cherry Tomatoes from the garden. Zeb came back with his pockets loaded but he didn't want to unload the pockets. That is Zeb for you...he likes to hang on to things.

Then I saw Azariah and Isaiah (one of Azariah's friends) chasing a chicken. Azariah had a golf club wedge and Isaiah a squirt gun. I stopped the boys because I could tell Azariah was going to take off the chickens head if I didn't. (He can't hit a golf ball that is not moving, but I am almost positive he could have taken the head off the chicken with one swing only because she is one of my egg layers.) So why were they chasing the chicken? She had an apple core in her beak and they didn't know what it was so they were trying to figure it out. My son...

My daughters are also great. Tirzah helps take care of Talitha and Talitha loves to smile and be in someone arms. Tirzah loves school and she worked in a workbook all afternoon. She is getting good at reading also. Talitha likes to crawl around and find the tiniest little thing and put in her mouth. She also likes to keep me awake at night.

Thanks you Lord for my children...may I treasure them as you treasure them.

Does she really not sleep?

2008-09-15T21:32:00.002-06:00

Every evening it seems my 6 year old, Tirzah, tells me she just can't go to sleep. I tell her to go in her room, lay down on her bed and close her eyes and she will go to sleep. Yet she always insists that it never works. I can not figure out why she doesn't think that it works. Every night she goes to sleep and every morning she wakes up. Usually she is asleep within a couple of minutes when she finally settles down.

It's funny how I, as a Christian, do the same thing to my Lord. Oh Lord, that doesn't work, you really don't want me to do that because it just won't work...Then I do what he tells me and it actually works. What about that? How stubborn I am to think that God's infinite plan won't work because my finite mind can't understand it or refuses to admit God is right. Oh Lord, help my stubborn heart to follow and obey you in all that I do.

Grandma is 85

2008-09-11T21:06:00.007-06:00

My Grandmother turned 85 today. Yes, I know it is the anniversary of "9/11" but long before "9/11" referred to a terrorist attack, it was my Grandmother's birthday. She was born in the year 1923 in Salida, Colorado. The actual house where she was born is still standing today. She has many great memories of her life. I am very grateful that I had such a wonderful Grandma.

She always loved us grand kids and there were no favorites. She is getting up in years now and doesn't always remember things like she did or hear them correctly, but she is still my Grandmother and I am proud of that. When she still had her car, she was able to buy one of the "Pioneer" License plates because her family ancestors settled in Colorado before 1900. That means I can get the same license plate and I am proud of that fact.

Sometimes it is hard to get Grandma to cooperate with pictures...so here she is smiling for the Camera. I just love my Grandma.

Here are Tirzah, Azariah and Zebadiah waiting for Grandma to blow out her candles. Tirzah asked why there were only eight candles on the cake. Gramgee informed her that to put 85 candles on the cake would be too hard.

The funny thing that happened tonight was that I told Azariah to run over and get my Camera. I told him where it was and he left. While he was gone I said "I will be amazed if he actually finds it." Not because it was hidden, but because he is blind when it comes to finding things. Well he comes back with the Camera and Tirzah says "Azariah, mommy is amazed." It was rather comical.

To my Grandmother:

I love you Grandma
I loved it when we waded in the river while camping
I loved it when I watched you do your funny exercises rolling on the floor.
I loved the funny little cover you would put over your hair so it wouldn't get wet.
I loved being able to come into your room in the morning with you and Grandpa and lay in bed with you two.
I loved eating the cherry ice cream with nuts you always bought.
It was wonderful watching you and Grandpa washing dishes together, I knew you loved each other.
It was wonderful playing pinuccle with you and Grandpa because I was the only one around and you needed a third player.
It was wonderful hearing your stories about growing up.
It was hard when the two of us found Grandpa that day, but even in that the Lord was so gracious. I am glad we were together when he died, that will be something I will never forget.
Oh Grandma, you are such a good Grandma and now you are a Great-Grandma to my children. I pray that they would learn from you and enjoy you as much as I do.

Love, Taneil

Pyramids

2008-09-11T21:00:00.002-06:00

Tirzah and Talith with "Pyramid" hats.

We have been having school. We are using a curriculum called "Tapestry of Grace". I like it and the first three weeks we studied ancient Egypt. We learned all about Pyramids, Mummies, and the area. This was all tied into what it would have been like during the Exodus. Well, Tirzah decided to make Pyramid hats. So here are the hats she made for herself and Talitha. Drawn on each hat is a Pyramid and Tirzah's have glasses on. I personally found it amazing that Talitha had not problems wearing the hat. Aren't the cute.

A Simple Conversation

2008-09-03T19:19:00.002-06:00

Gil: "Azariah, don't wipe your boogers on anything except a kleenex."
Azariah "I got them out of my nose."
Gil: "I know you, that is where boogers come from. Now don't wipe them on me."

Tirzah's Prayer

2008-09-03T08:25:00.002-06:00

Last night as we had family worship time, Tirzah prayed as usual, but a little bit different prayer.

"Lord I pray that you would have a good night and that you would have fun and have a good day tomorrow."

I glanced at Gil to make sure I was understand that she was praying this for God and not herself. He affirmed what I thought. It was a little comical, but then what a great show of the innocence of a child.

Labor Day

2008-09-02T17:58:00.003-06:00

Taneil and Talitha, Gil and Zeb, Becky and Tirzah, Brent and Azariah

This last weekend we had the joy of Brent and Becky being with us. They are Gil's brother-in-law and sister. We helped Gil's other sister, Margaret, clean her garage and move things around. We did that on Friday and Saturday. Then everyone came to our church on Sunday. On Monday, Brent and Becky spent the day with us at our house. The children have been wanting to hike the National Park, so we went hiking.

The National Weather Service said is was going to rain all day Sunday and Monday. One of the men who works for NWS goes to our church and when he said it was going to rain on Monday, Gil was excited because that usually means it won't happen.

We hiked Serpents Trail and it never rained on us. The Lord was gracious. It rained in other areas of the valley but not on us. The wind blew pretty good and the temperature was not too hot. Azariah, kept saying that he wanted it to stop "winding". Serpents trail winds around, but that isn't what Azariah was saying. He was adding "ing" to wind. We would say "I wish it would stop blowing" but he said "winding" instead.

I had packed some umbrellas incase in rained, and the children wanted to carry them. The wind was strong enough that we wouldn't let them open them so they wouldn't break or blow the kids away. Thus Azariah's comment, he wanted it to stop blowing so he could open his umbrella.

Tirzah and Uncle Brent head back down.

We figured out how to get Azariah to not lag behind on the trail. Aunt Becky had Azariah hold the end of her walking stick. This allowed Azariah to walk behind her, but not lag behind.

Becky with Azariah hanging onto her walking stick.

It was a great day! The Lord was good and we really enjoyed our time with Brent and Becky. To top of the wonderful day, we had Gil's mom, dad and sister over to have Tacos and our last summer dessert of S'mores.

Making S'mores -- Gil, Tirzah and Grandma Lawton

God is good!

The Water Fountain

2008-08-27T21:30:00.003-06:00

OK, it seems like this topic is coming up frequently, but I am sure it is the stage of my children.

As I was schooling Tirzah and Azariah this morning, I here the sounds of a fountain. Now I don't have a fountain in my house so this puzzled me. I decided I had better check the bathroom, since Zebadiah was no where under foot. I walk into the bathroom and Zeb is sitting on the toilet (yah) going potty (#2). However he wasn't aiming the other part into the toilet so he was shooting five feet out into the laundry room. Good thing we have tile floors in the laundry room as well. The bummer is that when he does aim himself he hits the little space between the toilet seat and the base which then causes his pants and underwear to get all wet. Somehow, no matter what he does he gets his shirt, his shorts or his underwear wet. He is getting good and going in the toilet though for which I am very greatful.

A Sorry Note

2008-08-26T13:23:00.003-06:00

My daughter and I had a disagreement today over her attitude. She decided that she could complain and whine when I asked her to do something. I left her in my room for a while to think through her actions. This is what she wrote to me:

Mom I wo to tily yo I Em SRE

Translation is: Mom I want to tell you I am sorry.

I was very grateful for the change of heart that she showed. Tirzah is a wonderful little girl, she is quick to help with Talitha and her brothers. She is a wonderful picker upper. I so desire for her to grow up to be a young lady who services the Lord. My daughter has a very strong personallity at times. Strong willed you might ask? Possibably, but her change of heart makes it evident that the Lord is working in her heart. My prayer is that the Lord would to take hold of her heart and mind so that when she is a teenager she will be ready to serve Him with a whole hearted desire.

Our 8th Anniversary

2008-08-20T10:05:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was our 8th anniversary. We decided to buy a laptop for our anniversary so we just went out to dinner. We went to a nice French restaurant. I decided to get the half duck and Gil ordered the leg of lamb. We also ordered an appetizer of meats and cheeses from France.

Gil said "Do I just tell the waiter I want #14?
I said "Actually honey, that is the price."
Gil's eyes then popped out of his head and I helped him put them back in.

I found it rather comical since the cheapest appetizer was $9 and all of the main courses were over $20. Gil has come a long way since we married and it didn't phase him like it would have a few years ago. The food was good and Gil said he wouldn't have added anything to his dish which means he really liked it.

We then went to Cold Stone Creamery and bought some ice cream. The evening was very enjoyable. And I thank the Lord for the privilege of marriage to my wonderful husband.

Talitha is 6 months old

2008-08-20T10:01:00.002-06:00

Talitha at six months. Her sister was playing with her in the play house and put her in the cradle. Talitha enjoys being with her siblings. This month Talitha has started to crawl. She gets around very well, though her crawl is actually an army crawl. I will not be surprised if she gets up on her hands and knees to crawl pretty soon. We have also given her some goat milk and she likes it.

Butchering Time

2008-08-20T09:46:00.003-06:00

Then this last Saturday (August 16th) we butchered 45 chickens with some of our friends. I raised them for 9 weeks and then we made a party of butchering them. I had never butchered a chicken before and so it was an new experience. Azariah wanted to watch one flop on the ground after its head was chopped off and he was not disappointed.

The butchering block that was actually only used a few times. The guys started hanging them up and cutting off their heads. Rebekah would put their heads on the ground, put a stick over their neck and step on the stick. Then she would pull their feet to pull their heads off. It actually worked very well. I must admit, I did not actually kill one of the chickens.

We decided to skin the chickens. So here, is a picture of Gil skinning the first chicken. We did pluck a few, but actually found it just as time consuming and I wasn't patient enough to get all the little feathers out. So Gil would skin, gut and hand the chickens over to me.

I would then take the chicken inside, cut off its feet and then either cut it up into parts or freeze it whole. I only cut myself 4 times with the knife. Isn't this a great picture of the chicken :-)

Our friends, Bough and Rebekah, who butchered half of the chickens. This is at the end of the day after all the butchering was done.

Gil and I after the day was over. Notice, I wore red so any blood would not be noticeable.

Would we do it again you might ask. Yes, we will probably raise chickens to butcher again, but probably a little differently.

Lots of Happenings

2008-08-20T09:21:00.006-06:00

It has been a while since I lasted blogged. The summer has really kept me busy. I have made Jam for the first time in my life. Let's see, I have made Apricot, Peach and Raspberry/Cranberry freezer jams as well as Peach, Plum and Jalapeño cooked jams with a batch of Zucchini Marmalade worked in there also. The difference between the jams is that freezer jams you don't have to cook or process, you just put the jam in jars and into the freezer. Tirzah has been helping me with the jams.

Talitha turned 5 months on July 19th

Talitha at 5 months, chewing on the Table. Her two bottom teeth came in. She is a little doll.

I was also in charge of VBS at our church. The Lord was so gracious as He brought everything together in 4 weeks. We used one of the "Children Desiring God" curriculum's. It was based on the Kingdom Parables and was wonderful. The children loved the week and I was amazed at how the Lord worked through it. The children raised just under $1,000 for Africa and with the adults we raised $1,432 all together to help Orphans and Widows in a church that our church planted last year in Africa. What a great blessing to see the Lord provide through the kids. We encouraged them to work for the money and they did just that.

Then Mindy and George came to visit after they returned from Thailand. It was good to see them and the children enjoyed them. This was the first time they were able to see Talitha .

Azariah, Tirzah, Talitha, Mindy and Zebadiah

They were actually here the week that VBS was going on. It was good to hear about their trip and spend time with them again.

Princess is Dead

2008-07-23T11:08:00.002-06:00

The above words were spoken by my four year old son. The words were spoken very calmly. Who you might ask is princess? It was a roly poly. He said princess died when he was trying to hold her. I guess that means that Azariah is the one who actually killed the poor roly poly.

Megan's Arm

2008-07-16T08:51:00.005-06:00

For those of you who know my sister Megan, she has been racing her "Quad" which is a racing four wheeler. This last weekend she was thrown from her Quad during a race and now has a hairline fracture on her radial head. That is the same bone that Gil broke, but he totally broke it off. Here is a picture of her arm at its worst.

Notice the smile, a guess a broken arm isn't so bad when you get it racing.

Potty Training

2008-07-15T21:33:00.002-06:00

So I have decided that I am tired of wasting money on human waste. That is to say, I am tired of buying diapers for my 2 year old, as well as my 4 year old (only for night). So when I went to cloth diapers for Zeb the 2 year old it was kinda grossing me out to rinse his yucky diapers in the toilet. Talitha's cloth diapers aren't bad, but Zeb's are nasty. So I have been working on potty training him. Understand that I am a very busy mom and am easily distracted myself. Well Zeb has gone poopy in the toilet a few times, but on the floor and in his underwear more.

Last night, Gil was talking to Zeb and praising him for having gone poopy in the potty chair that morning. However, when Zeb moved we noticed a nice little pile where he had been standing. While Daddy praised, Zeb pooped. Today no poop went in the potty chair, BUT he did tinkle in the potty chair twice, which he hadn't done before except when going poopy at the same time. And one of those times was this evening when he went into his room, came out with wide eyes and made it to the bathroom to tinkle in the potty chair. I was very excited because that means he is getting it. The only problem is that I don't have a guard on the front of the potty chair, so even though he is sitting down on the potty, I usually have to clean it up afterwards because it over shoots the edge. I am praying that the Lord would really allow Zeb to get it and be potty trained soon, that would be soooo nice.

Then for Azariah, he had been wearing pull-ups to bed, but since I have decided to "Go Green" he now wears some training pants and a plastic cover. Tirzah said something about it so after he went potty I checked to make sure everything was in place. He had put on a pair of is Mater underwear over the plastic pants. It was rather comical.

Observations of my Children

2008-07-12T20:38:00.003-06:00

#1 Mommy, when I swing Talitha really hard in her swing then she stops crying. (Azariah)

#2 Questions: "Mom, do animals have bones in their tales?" (Tirzah)
Answer: "Yes" (Mom)
Observation of Sibling: "That means I have bones in my ..." (I'll let you fill in what Azariah said)
Mom Corrects: "No, you don't have bones there son."

The joy of living with children.

Modesty

2008-07-09T08:19:00.002-06:00

We are working with our children on modesty. My four year old has the tenancy to take off all his clothes, run to the bathroom, run back to his room and get dressed. This causes problems when we have guests, since the path to the bathroom is through the living room. This morning Azariah took off his pajamas, ran to the bathroom, ran back to his room, shut and locked his door. Tirzah wanted to change and went to go into the room but it was locked. Azariah said he was changing. It was funny since he had just run naked through the house to go potty.

Sheep and Goats

2008-07-09T08:11:00.003-06:00

On the 4th of July while we were setting off fireworks, my mom wanted to know what fireworks to buy next year. So she said we had to tell her if we liked them or not and the good ones would be placed on one side of the driveway and the bad ones on the other. This brought to mind the Great White Throne judgement to my husband. After each firework instead of just saying yea or nae, we would call out "sheep" or "goat". If it was good we would say "sheep" and if it was a dud we would say "goat". There was always some contrary person who called out the opposite of everyone else. It was fun though.

Grandma's Missing Prosthetic

2008-07-06T14:43:00.003-06:00

My Grandmother who is 84 years old spent the fourth of July with us this year. We had the some friends with us from Texas, so we took them sight seeing. On the way, we picked up Grandma so she could enjoy the drive with us.

Grandma Barron

She had breast cancer about 8 or 9 years ago and they did a mastectomy on one of her breasts. Now she has a prosthetic. Well, she doesn't always get it placed correctly and I noticed that it was not where it needed to be. She asked me about it and we just took it out and put it in her purse. We were getting in and out of the van and walking around, so this solved the problem of it falling out and loosing it.

Near the end of our drive, we went to the visitor center and I stayed in the car to nurse Talitha. After about 20 minutes I see Gil and Grandma coming back to the van by themselves. Since they didn't have the other three children, I figured that something was up with Grandma.

They get to the van and she says "Taneil, I've lost my breast, it must have fallen out on a trail."
I reassured her that she hadn't lost it and reminded her that we had put it in her purse earlier. She was so relieved.

Gil had not known what we had done earlier so when Grandma went up to him and patted her chest saying "I lost it I need to tell Taneil." He brought her right out to the van.

Grandma and I were laughing as we walked back to the visitor's center because one of her friends had her prosthetic breast on the kitchen table and her little dog grabbed it and ran down the street with it flopping around. The lady was running behind him yelling as she tried to catch him. We were both glad that nothing like that had happened.

Later that day, my mom told me that Grandma told her that she had gone to the lost and found in the visitor's center to ask if anyone had turned it in. I would have liked to have seen the faces of those ladies when asked about this unusual missing object.

The Running of the Goats

2008-07-05T13:43:00.002-06:00

Since our goats started having babies in March, it has been Tirzah's job to take them from the Barn to the pen in the morning and then back to the barn at night. She has also been feeding them their milk. This makes the goats very excited about following her. So, here is the running of the goats...

Swimming Lessons

2008-06-25T11:56:00.001-06:00

Talitha is not happy

2008-06-25T11:48:00.002-06:00

I was doing chores outside and Talitha was on the floor in the living room. She can roll over now, so when I left her she was on her back happy. Well, she rolled over and happened to grab a piece of construction paper that Azariah had painted with Tempra paint the day before. The paint was dry initially. However, because of the grab reflex, Talitha would not let it go and she was trying to suck her thumb at the same time. So her saliva made the paint come off and she became very mad about the whole thing. This is a picture of how Gil found her with orange paint all over her face and arms.

Going for Goats

2008-06-24T08:16:00.002-06:00

O.K. I have a Raw Milk Goat-Share program which allows people to buy into my herd of goats, pay a monthly boarding fee in exchange for a share of the milk. I have Nigerian Dwarf goats which give me about 3 quart of milk/per goat/day. Well one of my clients wants more milk, so she and another lady are paying for me to get two more goats for the herd. So I am leaving on Wednesday evening, going to Denver with my dad, picking the goats up Thursday morning and driving home with three goats.

I will let you know how it goes.

Our Little Doll

2008-06-19T08:04:00.003-06:00

Our little Doll, Talitha, is four months old today!

Talitha in the last month has learned to turn over from front to back and back to front. She likes to coo and is trying to cut some teeth though they haven't come through yet. She is a real charmer and has lots of smiles for everyone! She is now 10# 1 oz and 23.5 inches long.

A Pretty Diaper

2008-06-10T09:58:00.003-06:00

On Sunday, we went to my parents church for their Heritage Days. They had BBQ, beans, salads, chips and later for dessert Ice Cream. The ice cream was Black Raspberry and it was black. I had never eaten black ice cream before, but my friend Rhonda thought it would make a good ice breaker because it turned your teeth and lips black. Unsuspecting people would eat it and smile. All you could see was black. Well, the next day I had a surprise while changing Zebadiah's diaper. I took a picture of it because it was unbelievable. His poop was a pretty shade of turquoise. I have never seen this before, I still can't get over what they must have put in the ice cream to make it black and then for it to come out as turquoise. It was good ice cream.

Mud on the wall

2008-06-10T09:50:00.002-06:00

My son was outside and when I looked, there was no denying what he had been doing.

Honoring Grandpa Barron

2008-06-10T09:07:00.004-06:00

Honoring Grandpa Barron
His wife Marguerite Barron, Daughter Susan, Granddaughter Taneil
Great Grandchildren Azariah, Tirzah with Talitha and Zebadiah

August 1, 1987 I was eleven years old. The day before my family had travelled to Montrose, Colorado to celebrate my Grandfathers 64th birthday. I was then allowed to stay with my Grandparents as I often did in the summer. My Aunt, Uncle and their kids were coming in a few days to spend some vacation time. I was to go home before they arrived so that they would have sometime with Grandma and Grandpa before my family rejoined them for some time together.

On July 1, 1987 Grandma and I went into town. We stopped at my Great-Grandmother's house to say hi and make sure she had everything she needed. Then Grandma and I went to the grocery store to buy food. We decided to have SPAM for dinner and I was excited since I hadn't ever had SPAM before (I still haven't ever eaten it.) We left the store and went back to their house. As Grandma opened the garage door and started to drive in I had a vision of my Grandfather in a chair in the living room and that something was wrong. Grandma got out and took a bag of groceries in while I hung back in the garage for fear of the vision I just had. Then I heard the call..."Taneil, get in here..." by the sound of my Grandma's voice I knew my vision was real. I ran in and Grandpa was sitting in the chair, I helped Grandma pull him on to the floor where she started doing CPR. I tried to call the doctor, but they didn't have 911 at that time and I couldn't find the number. I was told to run over to the neighbors house. I ran as fast as I could and Mr. Slee came back with me. He too pounded on my Grandfathers chest and helped my Grandma while the ambulance came. This was of interested since Mr. Slee was Christian Science and therefore didn't believe in medical treatment. I went outside to wait for the Ambulance. The fire chief showed up and I waved him down. He went in and then ran back out to his truck to call the Ambulance. I have always been frustrated that they didn't send the Ambulance right away.

I don't remember a lot after that. I think I was taken over to the Slee's while they took my Grandpa in the Ambulance. Then my other Grandma came over and I remember a three way hug between Grandma Barron, Grandma Gregg and Me in the front room. Grandma Gregg had to leave because she left food cooking in her oven. My Aunt and Uncle arrived the next day and other relatives. Then I remember the funeral where my cousin Scott reached down and held my hand while we were at the graveside service. Later on after the funeral we went to Mesa Verde with everyone and had fun with the cousins. We had a great time with them.

My family was worried about me because I didn't talk about what had happened. The Lord was so gracious to me by allowing me to be there when my Grandfather died. I was very close to him and loved him very much. I honestly believe that because I was there and saw him like I did that it allowed me to except his death in a very real way. Whereas if I had been with my parents and not seen him as I did, I think it would have been a lot harder for me to accept that he was really dead. I am still awed at times that the Lord allowed me to witness his death, it was so powerful in my life.

Grandpa, as we called him, was a great man. He served in World War II as a Pilot. He loved us Grandkids and didn't have favorites. I would go camping with him and grandma on the Cimerron. I remember watching him give himself shots of insulin for his diabetes. He was always patient and willing to answer all my questions. I am so great full to have had such a good Grandfather. Grandma Barron now lives in our town and we help her with her needs. On June 3rd we went to Montrose to put flowers on my Grandfathers grave. My mom was gone for Memorial Day so we waited till she was back to go to Montrose. It was good for the children to see their Great-Grandfathers grave and help put the flowers on it.

The Banana Thief

2008-06-06T16:34:00.002-06:00

Zebadiah awoke from his nap and wanted milk. But the milk had to be in a sippy cup. So I give him his milk and some side walk chalk to draw outside. He wanted to see Gramgee so he headed over to her house, but she wasn't home. I see the door shut, so I knew he had gone inside and I didn't get him right then because I was doing something. About three minutes later, here comes Zeb carrying three bananas. The milk and chalk have been left behind and the bananas stolen. He then wants milk and I ask him where it is. He says Gramgee's so he heads back over to get the chalk and milk. Now the little guy wants a stolen banana, but Gramgee is not answering her cell phone. So much for stealing when you can't enjoy the produce of your labors. It was pretty comical.

And then my mom informs me that Megan had a surprise in the bathroom yesterday like I did in the bathroom a week or so ago. She went into the downstairs bathroom and the seat was all wet. Good thing for her she noticed before she sat down. So mom discussed the situation with me and it was determined that since Azariah, Zebadiah and Gil are the only men around currently (since Papa went fishing in Canada) one of them must have done this. Zeb is out because he is still in diapers, Gil is beyond the fascination of making toilet seats wet for the women in his life. The only one left was Azariah. You know, I never would have guessed I would have to tell my son that ALL toilet seats are off limits for this purpose. I told him he could not do it at our house, but he didn't take that as meaning all toilets. So much for training a four year old.

Azariah the Detective

2008-06-01T21:02:00.002-06:00

Zebadiah, Tirzah and Azariah arrive at the door smelling of Vic's Vapor Rub. What is the meaning of the smell, greasy hair and slathered arms? I was informed by Tirzah the tattletale that Azariah had done this to Zeb and himself. Zebadiah's hair was smeared with a generous helping of Vic's Vapor rub and now it could be used to spike his hair. Zeb's hands were also covered with the stuff and white lotion was on his legs. Azariah on the other hand had a small amount of Vic's in his hair, but his arms were totally slathered with Vic's. If you had a cold, it would have been a good idea to be in the same room as them.

Questions #1 "Azariah, why did you do this?"
Answer "I was being a detective."

We were in the middle of a Bible Study, so I didn't pursue the answer and sent Tirzah and Azariah back to the room while retaining Zeb to wipe him down with a paper towel and hopefully forestall any more detective work by Azariah.

Later, Gil goes into the room to find Vic's, Lotion, Neosporin, and Hydrocortisone in a mixture on the floor. The culprit is given towels and instructed to clean it up. Now however there is also water because when Zeb was taken back to the room, Azariah decided to pour water over Zebadiah. Why you may ask? Because Azariah thought Zeb would like it.

I ask Question #1 again "Azariah, why did you do this?"
Answer "Because I was being a detective."

The children had been watching The Andy Griffith Show and it was a DVD of the best of Barney so I think to myself that Barney must have been a detective. So I ask...

"Azariah, was Barney being a detective or something?"
Answer "No."

OK that didn't get us very far.

Question #3 "Why were you wanting to be a detective?"
Answer "Because Dee and Cy were detectives this morning."

Now for those of you who don't know, Dee and Cy are fictitious characters from the Sunday School Curriculum they use at our church. I don't know exactly what Dee and Cy did, but whatever they did, it made Azariah want to be a detective also.

It seems like I am a detective most days and the days that I am not a detective is usually because my children were not with me.

A Bike Ride

2008-05-30T22:16:00.004-06:00

On Tuesday, we decided to take the children on a bike ride. Talitha and Zeb road in the bike trailer, Tirzah, Azariah, Gil and I road our bikes. We road all the way into our small town and back. It is 7 miles one way and the children road their bikes the entire way there and back. We ate lunch at the park and bought snow cones. The road was not very busy and the children did well. On the way home, it was more up hill so Gil helped Tirzah and I helped Azariah by holding onto them and pushing them. That was hard work.

Here is Azariah at the park finding a place to park his bike.

Azariah, Zebadiah and Tirzah play on a tree at the park.

The Chicken Project

2008-05-30T22:01:00.003-06:00

My friend Rebekah and I have decided to do meat chickens this summer. We are buying a total of 50 chickens. Twenty-five each of two different kinds. One kind will arrive June 16th the next group will arrive June 30 and our plan is to butcher them on August 16th. I have never butchered a chicken. I have only eaten them.

I researched it a little bit and wanted the chickens to be free range, but don't really want 50 chickens running all around the place. So I found a chicken coop design that had no floor and is moved daily to give the chickens the ability to scratch but still be contained. We started working on it a week and a half ago and Gil put the final touches on it today. He calls it "The Tank". I have decided that this is me fulfilling the Proverb 31 verse that talks about bringing her food from afar. I bought the chickens on the Internet and will raise and butcher them, that has to be better than buying chicken from Wal-Mart right?

Rebekah and I will split the cost of the chickens, feed and then our husbands and the two of us with our eight children between us will butcher the chickens. Sound like fun? We will see.

Here is Gil working on my chicken coop. We only bought a couple of hardware items for the coop, everything else was made from stuff around the farm. Gil had picked up logs from work which he cut down with his Chain Saw Mill that he received for Christmas. The logs were free and it worked well. And we are also using the saw dust for the stalls where my goats are. I insulated the coop because I don't really want roasted chicken before we have chopped off their heads. And Colorado summers can get up to 105 degrees.

I will let you know how it goes. The first batch of chickens arrive in two weeks.