Homestead Haven Beginnings

The little old man...

So many times in the grocery store, I get those evil eyes becouse my kids are running, talking a little too loud and many times I believe it is just because I have kids.  My children have been scolded and yes even cursed at in stores, and many times I dread going to the store not because my children misbehave (they love the grocery store) but because of the grief we all get when we go there. 

Well, my last grocery store experience was a whole different story...as always shopping is going rather smoothly.  No candy bars "accidently" opened, not "accidently" spitting on any customers, no laying flat on their bellies looking for what is under the isles, like I said, going smoothly.  We get to the check out lane, and of course my 3yr. old claims he "has ants in his pants" when I ask him why he is getting a bit destructive.  There is a little old man in front of us who keeps turning to look at us.  Only this time it is not a frown I see, nor the evil eye, but rather is that a glint I see, a sparkle of amusement?  I soon come to find out, he kept turning around to wait for the perfect time when my 3 yr old has his back turned to him.   All of the sudden quite unexpectedly, the little old spry of a man turns around and does that quack noise (you know the one like Donald duck) and grabs my son by the ticklish sides of his tummy!  My son squealed and toppled to the ground where he laid face up with a look of I got caught, then one of disbelief, and finally a look of relief before he gave in to a nervous giggle.  That giggle finally erupted in a burst of belly laughing...then I realize that not only is the little old man quite tickled about what he had just done, not only were the kids and I laughing, we had gained the audience of the entire store!!  Everyone was standing around and laughing at the situation that had just occured and this little boy laying face up in the middle of the grocery store!  

I just want to say thankyou to the little old man and all the people who show tolerance to us mommies out there.  The grocery store is often times a place we would rather not go with our little ones, but we don't have much of a choice.  This instance has givin me a new perspective on grocery shopping, and  I am going to be sure I make it a fun time for not just me but for all the mommies out there.  And I hope when my children are all grown and gone, and as I age, I will always remember this little old man and how it made my children and I feel when he showed us some love in the grocery store! 

A family night success!

I don't know if family night could ever not be a success, but last night was really neat!!  Gabrielle and I have really been learning about having a servants heart, and I wanted to put it into real life practice (the boys have been learning about respect, so I will have to think of a creative way for them to practice...open to any ideas!)  Anyway, I rented a couple playstation2 games for daddy and the boys to play.  This is a real treat, the video games are put away and only brought out for special occasions.  This was to keep them busy while the girls layed out their plan for a special dinner, Gabrielle just blew me away with her creativity and thoughtfulness.  She was the chef of the night, and I her humble helper.  Sporting her apron, she made an appetizer of mini pigs in a blanket and served to the "men" while they played, and then  returned to the kitchen to give me my orders.  She whipped up BLT's, homemade fries, salad and a cherry cheese cake.  She decorated the table in a festive valentine's theme complete with candles and  place cards.  Here I thought I was going to teach her a thing or two about having a servants heart.  I am amazed and humbled as a mom, how the Lord must love me to bless me with these children!!

Oh how I love family night!

Blessings, Rossie

Ezra update.

Well, my family planner will have to wait till tomorrow.

Please keep my 3 yr.old son Ezra in your prayers today as we have to go back up to the children's hospital and have his stitches and bandages removed.  The surgery was traumatic enough, but at least he wasn't awake for that!

Thankyou in advance for your prayers, and have a blessed day!

Rossie

The not so old woman...

There was an old woman

who lived in a box

She could not leave, no one enter

for it contained a 40 lb. lock

The lock was not as you may think

but rather a 3 year old who thought

he was king

Due to an illness he's bound to his couch

Giving orders all day

and shouting about

Demanding...Commaning...Milking

this woman for all she is worth

If not for good friends

it'd be the assylum for her!

Thankyou for letting me vent this morning!!  Although in the midst of all the shouting and hollering, I am thankful for my healthy son.  He is alive and well, and that is a blessing!  I think the meds as well as the location of his sore spot are causing him to be a bit moody, so I am trying to be as tolerant as possible.  Please pray for my patience and endurance, and for his quick recovery.  I know it cannot be fun to be a three year old boy spending ALL day long on a couch!  Thankyou for those of you who are already praying...you are all such blessings to me!

Rossie 

Ezra is in the wagon, they are wheeling him away to surgery.  Abraham is closely following behind.  They let us all go back while they were preping him for the operation!

Thankyou for your prayers!!

Thankyou for all your prayers!  The surgery went great, and he is doing well.  I will post pictures a little later today.  It was at a children's hospital, so they catered not only to him, but our whole family.  They included us all and that made the other kiddos feel a special responsability for their brother.  Even at home they are all making sure he is comfortable and stratagizing how they will keep him occupied while laying down aaaalllllllll day long for a week. 

Please pray that he is able to keep down his pain medicine today.  That is our only struggle thus far is his vomiting.  He seems to be doing better today, so hopefully we will get the pain under control!

Blessings all,

Rossie

Please pray for Ezra today!

My 3 year old is going in to have surgery today.  Don't worry, nothing life threatening, however neccessary.  Surgery is a scary thing, and these are times I am so thankful that I am a child of God, and that He has givin me such wonderful friends that help carry the burden!  My trust is in Him.

Along with the actual surgery, please pray for his recovery, it is rather long.  He will not be able to run, ride bikes or rough house, and they do not make straight jackets in a size 3T!!!

We don't have family here in Bakersfield other than an elderly FIL but we have been so blessed with our "heavenly family."  We will be taking our other children with us, as we have to go out of town and don't know what to expect nor how long it will all take, but I have recieved offers to watch my children even over night!  And my MOPS group will be bringing meals for us.  God is so good!

Anyway, just wanted to take a moment to seek your prayers and to give my praises.  It is awsome to see the Lord at work even before a trial!

Blessings, Rossie

Better than a birthday!

Today marks one year since we almost lost our Abraham!  So, I thought it would be appropriate to give our little testimony of how our Heavenly Father healed our little boy.  In September of last year, I began bringing him to the Dr. because he was having severe stomach aches, and the Dr. kept telling us it was either constipation, gas or milk allergy.  I must have brought him in at least a dozen times.  Finally one night, I think it was the 2nd of October, I waited till the Dr. office was closed and took him to emergency, I knew they would not let him go until they knew what was wrong with him.  By this time, the pain was so terrible that they were giving my 4 yr. old boy shots of morphine just so he wouldn't be able to stand up on the bed and try to pull out his IVs.  Even with this pain med. he was thrashing around on his bed.  We waited in the emergency room 16 hrs. until the surgeon finally came, and within a half an hour he was in the OR.  The surgeon was sure it was an appendicitis and the surgery would last about 45 minutes.  6 1/2 hours later, the Dr. emerged, I cried when I saw him.  When they opened him up, he was full of infection and a wierd murky fluid, and when they got to his appendix, it was enlarged but hadn't ruptured so they knew it wasn't that.  They removed it anyway and then did exploratory surgery where they found a Diverticuli (sp?) He had diverticulitis, which is VERY rare in children, even more rare, his was ruptured in 2 places which is virtually unheard of.  They had to remove over a foot of his intestine.  The Surgeon said he would not have lived but a few more days.  Not only this, they overdosed Abraham with anesthsia (sp?).  They gave him an adults dose, and he had a 90% chance of going into cardiac arrest.  Do you know what I told the Dr. when he said this to me??  I said,  "That's okay, everyone makes mistakes, God will heal my baby"  This was totally God!!!  I was a mess, how did this forgiving comment come out of my mouth??  Later, the Surgeon told us that this comment had touched him, and he was prepared to be slapped with a lawsuit.  Even the nurses several times said they were touched by Abraham.  Everytime they would come in to draw blood, Abraham would tell them, "Don't give me pokies, Jesus healed me."  Even at 4 yrs. old, he was a light to those around him.  To make a long story short, after almost 1 month in the hospital, Abraham was released.  And as if God wanted to reaffirm that He is in total control, in one year, Abraham has been so protected that he hasn't even gotten a sniffle, fever, tummy ache...nothing in one year!!!  God is good, and still in the business of miracles!!!

Happy Birthday Gabrielle Marie!!!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABRIELLE!

Gabrielle Marie was born on September 4th 1999 at 1:20pm.  She was a whopping 8 lbs and 9oz, trust me that is gigantic, and 19 1/2 inches long!!  She was 10 days late, and I couldn't wait for the day she would be born to come!  Little did I know that time would pass much too quickly...where has 7 years gone??  We are having a special party for her tomorrow, and I always put out their scrapbook for everyone to look through.  This year I have been a little behind on my scrapbooking so I was updating this morning, and crying over every page.  I am thanking my Lord that I am able to stay home with my children and homeschool, time just goes too quickly, and wouldn't trade one single minute! 

Being my first born, we have learned and grown alot together, unfortunatly much was through trial and error.  I know God gives so much mercy to a mama who is not perfect, but wants to be, because Gabrielle has turned out to be a jewel of a young lady.  She has a gift for writing and drawing, and loves to play the piano.  Her current piano piece is "One Way" by Hillsong, and I could sit and listen to her play and sing all day...It is music to my ears!  She is passionate about the lost and considers it her responsability to tell everyone about Jesus.  She has a servants heart, especially while we are in San Francisco at her Nana and Papa's rescue mission.  She is a mother hen (a huge help) to her brother's and sisters, and has been known to say,"I am going to have 27 kids when I grow up."  I don't really doubt it because along with all this softness, God has balanced it out with a very fierce determination.  We are lulled to sleep with her bedtime stories, and rolling on the floor with her sense of humor (which she gets from her daddy)  There is never a dull moment with our Gabrielle!

Anyway, my baby is 7!!!

A slave to the schedule...

Yes, I am guilty as charged, but the good Lord is dealing with me in this area!  He has been faithfully using my DS3 to challenge me in this area, and teaching me to plan for flexibility.  Daily I am like a drill sergeant...chores, breakfast, table time...I even schedule my fun time with the children.  This is good and it works for our family, however, I have been struggling in the area of being flexible.  I want to be in such a place of maintainence that I am able to steer a little off my schedule to allow chat time when I have visitors, and when something like my DS3 swallowing a battery comes up, I am able to adjust!  You heard correctly...Ezra swallowed a battery last night and I have been in the Doctor's office aaaaalllllllllllllllll day long!  Bye Bye schedule...hello flexability!  This child, is constantly furthering my flexability, and that dreaded word "patience"!!!  So in this entry, I am asking you for your prayers, not only that the battery would pass on it's own, and that I would be able to see it without too much "digging" UGH...but also that I would be more flexible. 

Blessings my friends!!

My day...

Well my day has been a little wierd so far.  We were supposed to go swimming today, but my son Abraham started throwing up, I think he has low blood sugar, because as soon as I gave him toast and milk he was just fine.  He has a lot of crazy things going on since his surgery in October.  Hopefully it smoothes out eventually.

I am going to clean out the fridge today, since tomorrow is my big grocery day, and I need to plan out my 2 week menu.  I have already mopped the floors and done 2 loads of laundry, so I am on a roll, and gonna keep going while I still have steam!!

My quote for the day comes from my DD6...if you don't know we just got a puppy, and everyone is very protective of her.  I was in the kitchen when I heard the children discussing whom Lucy (the dog) belonged to, and I heard my daughter sigh... and say,"well she is mom and daddy's now, but when they die, I get the dog"  Ugh...they are already anticipating my death!!! 

Hope you all have a wonderful day.  I will be posting my menu a little later today!

Blessings, Rossie

House Rules

After years of trying to get my children to treat each other with love, I decided that it was time I stop nagging and set some boundaries!  Thus became,"The House Rules."  When one of them is broken, I bring them to where they are posted, and ask them to show me which rule has been broken.  They know there are 8 specific rules, and they are to be followed to the best of their ability.  Consequences depend on the child and the level of disobedience.

HOUSE RULES

1.  We do not put our hands on one another in anger.

2.  If you don't have anything nice to say do not say anything at all.

3.  Use manners.  Saying please, thankyou, excuse me and so forth when speaking to each other.

4.  Always use a gentle voice.  No yelling at one another.

5.  Respect other's property.  Ask before using someone else's things.

6.  Treat others as you would like to be treated.

7.  Serve others before serving yourself.

8.  Be an example of Jesus.

Anyone whom breaks these house rules will be disciplined.  We are a family and need to treat each other as so, always having a servant's heart, and treating each other with love.

Most of the time, all they need is to be reminded of the "House Rules", and many times they remind us parents of them.  It has sure brought about much peace to our home.

The Potter and the Clay

I was up all night for some reason, tossing and turning.  A scripture verse kept running through my mind.

Isaiah 64:8

But now, O Lord,

You are our Father;

We are the clay, and You our potter;

And all we are the work of Your hand.

We have been made a potter of sorts too.  Our children are so moldable when they are young.  What a heavy responsibility, and one to be taken very seriously!  If you are not constantly working on the clay and shaping it, it becomes hardened.  If you leave it out in the open too long, it will dry up.  If you are too rough and harsh, it can become too sticky or clingy.  If you add too much water, it will fall apart. 

How careful we must be with our clay, so that when the day comes that our children make the Lord their potter, they are still moldable and softened to what the Lord wants to make them.