Didn't We Just Do This??

Last week I shared a crazy day, the central point of which was taking my youngest son Henry to Urgent Care with an ear infection.

Yesterday, it was my oldest son, Tony.  He managed to not have a common ear infection, though.  He has a circular pneumonia on his left lung.  I am going to have to google that to know exactly what that means, but I know a few things it means:

$112 worth of antibiotics, which took almost two hours to have filled because of the precise amounts of dosage and the times the two are administered.  Several phone calls were made between the pharmacy and the doctor, while four hungry boys sat in the waiting area at Schnucks.  I must note, they behaved much better than some of the adults who were in line and complaining about the wait, their insurance, etc. 

And......

His very first chest x-ray!  We got a bit of a scare, because the doctor wanted him to go to the hospital and have a CT scan to make sure it was pneumonia (What else could it be?  I did not even want to know.).  But, the radiologist at the hospital said it looked like pneumonia, and to treat it as such.

So now I need to call his regular doctor and get an appointment for late next week to follow up and see how he is doing.  I dread going to the regular doctor, because it is so hard to get an appointment, but hopefully if I call a week in advance I can get in!

All in all, the boys were really troopers through the whole event.  For four boys to not fight and be reasonably patient through a couple hours in a doctor office and then a couple hours in a pharmacy is pretty good.  While we were at the doctor's I left my two middle boys, ages 7 and 10, in the waiting area and just kept coming back to peek at them.  They were either talking, playing their DSs or reading medical brochures.  I saw other children whose parents were right there in the room climbing on the furniture, etc.  I was proud of my guys. 

While the boys were behaving so well, I was getting really, really tired and really, really cranky.  I'd left the house at 8:00 a.m. worked all morning, had a lovely breakfast with my friend Faith (I am so glad -thinking back over our conversation that morning got me through the afternoon!) ran some errands, took all the boys for haircuts (I know, he had pneumonia but that is not excuse for poor grooming!) and then the Urgent Care adventure began.  While we were waiting for our prescription I was listening to a lady who was really rude to the pharmacists.  They had problems with her insurance, needed more info, etc. and she was getting snotty.  "Well, isn't that YOU'RE job to call them?  Well, can't YOU take care of that?"  This reluctance to make a phone call from a woman who was sitting there with her cell phone out the entire time.  I watched her and thought, "Yep, that is how you sound too, sometimes - don't judge, learn!"  Everyone can be a lesson - some teach me what to do, some teach me what NOT to do.

After all that, we ate carryout for dinner.  I felt mildly guilty.  I bought a couple fried chickens at the Schnucks deli (actually pretty good), made instant mashed potatoes, microwaved a bag of frozen brussel sprouts and had applesauce.  Not a great meal, but no one cared.  Tony got both his medications down, which is pretty amazing from a guy who can take an hour to ingest 2 tsp. of Tylenol.  Now we just pray for healing, administer antibiotics and move on. 

More chicken stuff

Today the Hardy Concords are heading outdoors!
Maybe.

Today I decided to let the "chicks" go outside.  They were born 10/13, and have never been outside.  They lived in a nice warm cage in the garage for a while, and now they are in their own house, but while they were on chick food we kept them in.  Then it got really cold, etc.  But now, they are pretty big, and it is time to venture into the world.
They are not enthusiastic.

These are the older hens - they love to be outside scratching around, as long as it isn't snowy or rainy.

I tossed some bread into their run, trying to stir up some interest.  Got a little bit going, but still not quite sure what they are supposed to do.

Here's the whole flock of them inside, all trying to look out at once and see what is going on.

Okay, we can do it....maybe!

They kept taking turns going out, looking and going back in.  I swept the snow off the ramp, hoping to encourage them.  I am going to go back outside in a bit and see how they are doing. 

I have had a lot of computer work to do today, and I need frequent chicken breaks to keep my spirits up!

It was so nice yesterday to get up and see blue skies and sunshine on the snow.  I am not really a winter person.  I used to be, but now I think I am a spring/fall girl.  I don't like to be hot, but now that I have to take care of the chickens all winter, I am not too crazy about cold, either.  As long as it isn't freezing I am fine, but when there are all the details and complications of freezing chicken water/heated waterers, frozen hoses, etc. it is just a pain to deal with. 

But, for now, as it is warming up and the snow is turning to mud in our yard, I think I am going to look at the pictures I took yesterday, of a sunny, snowy day.

The view from the front porch - it all looks different with the blue sky behind it!

Chickens don't like snow.  I had to get in the house and chase them out, and even at that, as soon as I got out of the house most of them ran back in.  These ladies are White Leghorns (like Foghorn Leghorn).  When we first started raising chickens I was informed that "Leghorn" is pronounced "Leg-ern".   

Don't the henhouses look pretty in the sunshine!

And the view off our back deck.  Please note that the turkey next to the tree in the center, and the deer in the lower left-hand corner are not real - those are targets.

Right now I am finishing up the school schedule for the next few weeks, and I have to do some cabinet drawings today.  But while I do these computer chores I am thinking over schedules, priorities, organization and redeeming the time.  I will post some of those thoughts later this week, as they all begin to jell. 

And now, for something a little different

This year we decided to do something a little different for Christmas.  Usually Nevin takes the boys out one at a time to buy gifts for each other and me, and I take the boys out (en masse) to buy gifts for Nevin.  This has worked well for a few years, but we still find ourselves with a lot of gifts that are nice, but really, we don't need. 

Actually, we don't NEED anything.  We have more than everything we need - and we have pretty much everything we could possibly want as well. 

But there are so many in the world who don't even have clean water, a way to support themselves, or even a Bible.  So this year, we cut back quite a bit.  We asked each boy what one thing they would really like.  We got them each that one thing, and then we picked out a smaller item as well, and another small gift and some candy for the stocking.  We did not buy anything for each other (okay, Nevin did get me a box of chocolates, he knows the ways to keep me happy!).  The boys did not select anything for us or each other.

Instead, on Christmas Eve, we looked at the Christmas Catalog put out by Gospel for Asia.  Nevin checked into their ministry, and read the book Revolution in World Missions by K. P. Yohannan
 
(note - this is the book that has been handed out for free at The Greater St. Louis Homeschool Expo the last few years - and is available free at GFA's website).  One of the things that is different about this ministry is that the missionaries are not people sent to India from the United States or Europe - they are indigenous people, who have been discipled and trained to carry the gospel to their own countrymen.  They are also ministering to some of the poorest of the poor in the world.  Where $10 in our home will buy a small Lego set (that Ben can assemble in about 5 minutes), through Gospel for Asia it can buy a mosquito net, to protect a child from the biting insects that carry malaria.

With the kids, we looked all through the online catalog, and asked them what they would like to buy with their own money.  This is a new twist, also, because in the past they have "selected" gifts for the brothers and parents, which we then paid for.  This time, they were using their own money.  They kicked in $10-11 each ( the equivalent of two weeks' allowance for Tony and Ben, but 10 weeks' for Joe and Henry).  Nevin and I also put in what we would have spent on each other.  Together, for relatively little money, our family bought a pair of chicks, a pair of rabbits, a mosquito net, gospel tracts, VBS materials, a tool kit and a bicycle for a missionary.  Life-changing things for these people, with money that would have gone for nice, but unneccessary, items for ourselves.

This is not to toot our own horn, by the way - I want to share this because it was so easy, and yet so worthwhile.  So often we look for ways to help, ways to support missions (if you don't go yourself, you need to support those who do), we have a desire to do "something", but that "something" can be elusive.  This was something that anyone can do - it is a good start. 

Nevin and I have been reading Radical by David Platt, and it is really giving us pause, and causing us to re-think what is important.  What is enough.

What is too much.

But more on that later.  For now, Merry Christmas.  The traditional pictures of our over-indulged children will be posted tomorrow.  For today, we will bask in the glow of the day, prepare a Taco Fiesta for dinner, and a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting to celebrate the birth of Christ.

A New Day, A Snow Day

I woke up to the snow that I had been praying so hard NOT to get....and once again I see where God provides what I don't even know that I need or want.

Last night I went to bed grumpy - the kids had been snuffling around for days, and all they had done all day was watch movies on ABC Family Channel (which should change its' name, but that is for another rant).  Joe was the exception - he felt fine, and had no brothers to play with, so by bedtime he was literally bouncing off the walls.

All I could think about was, "Please no snow.  Please, everyone well.  I want to go to Christmas Eve service.  I want to go out to eat.  I want to drive around and look at lights.  I want my mom and stepfather to be able to come over for dinner Saturday.  Please.  No snow."

Sometimes I think God must just shake his head in wonder at our lack of vision, our silly little plans.

I woke up this morning to a text from Nevin, with a picture of a snowy field.  He is sitting in a tree with a bow, drinking coffee and enjoying the snow, hoping a deer will wander by.

The boys got up, looked out side, and immediately became quite well enough to go outside.  Surely, no one is too sick to play in the snow!  It is a miraculous cure!  They are still a little snuffly and coughing, but the weather didn't cause it, and it won't hurt, especially if I fill them up with warm, homemade cocoa when they come in. 

I asked, "If you are well enough to go outside, are you well enough to go to church tonight?"  They say they are.  Henry says he is definitely well enough to go out to eat!

So, whether or not we can get out tonight, we'll leave up to God.  If not, I have plenty of food for dinner, snacks to celebrate Christmas Eve, things to do, and I am going to do a little bit more baking today.  I am sure Mom and Dave will be able to make it over tomorrow, and if not, the food will keep and we will certainly be able to enjoy time together on Sunday instead. 

"Therefore do not be anxious about tmorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matt 6:34 ESV

And now, some pictures of our country winter wonderland!

The view from my front porch - the fire pit, playset and garden look much prettier than they did yesterday!

Our chicken condominium complex.  Chickens don't particularily care for the snow, so they are all inside where it is warm and dry

And the view off our back deck.  We live in a cleared spot in the middle of the forest, so yes, there are trees in every direction.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

I made these the other night and they are WONDERFUL - soft, with a wonderful flavor and just a little bit of sweetness - not sweet like cake or cookies, but not plain like regular white biscuits.

This comes from The Gooseberry Patch Country Baking cookbook, which I received at the homeschool mom party (Thanks, Shelley!).

3/4 cup sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled, mashed and chilled
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup milk
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

In a large bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, butter and brown sugar.  Stir in the mil and blend until smooth.  Sift together dry ingredients and add to sweet potato mixture.  Turn dough onto a lightly floured counter and knead 2 minutes.  With floured rolling pin, roll dough until 1/2" thick.  Cut out with a 2" round cutter.  Place biscuits one inch apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet (I used parchment paper).  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until light brown.  Makes about 1 1/2 dozen biscuits.

With 18 biscuits, I calculated the WW PointsPlus value (new program) at 3 points each - and well worth it!

A Father's Advice

This is another daily reading from On This Day: 365 Amazing and Inspiring Stories About Saints, Martyrs and Heroes by Robert J. Morgan.

December 23 - A Father's Advice

Heinrich Bullinger was a good pastor and a better father.  He was born in 1504 to a priest who embraced Reformation views.  Young Heinrich loved Luther's writings, Melanchthon's books, and the study of the Bible.  At the age of 27, he took the place of slain Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli as pastor of the Grossmunster of Zurich, on December 23, 1531.
     Bullinger continued Zwingli's practice of preaching through the books of the Bible, verse by verse.  His home was open from morning till night, and he freely distributed food, clothing, and money to the needy.  His wisdom and influence spread across Europe.
     No one was more affected than his own son, Henry.  When the young man packed his bags and set out for college in Strasburg, Heinrich gave him ten rules for living:

 1.     Fear God at all times, and remember that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
 2.     Humble yourself before God, and pray to him alone through Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate.
 3.     Believe firmly that God has done all for our salvation through his Son.
 4.     Pray above all things for a strong faith active in love.
 5.     Pray that God may protect your good name and keep you from sin, sickness, and bad company.
 6.     Pray for the fatherland, for your dear parents...for the spread of the Word of God.
 7.     Be reticent, be always more will to hear than to speak, and do not meddle with things you do not understand.
 8.     Study diligently...Read daily three chapters of the Bible.
 9.     Keep your body clean and unspotted, be neat in your dress, and avoid above all things intemperance in eating and drinking.
10.    Let you conversation be decent, cheerful, moderate.

     This advice was taken; and Henry Bullinger became, like his father and grandfather, a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Parents, don't be hard on your children.  Raise them properly.  Teach them and instruct them about the Lord.  Ephesians 6:4 CEV