Hidden Haven Homestead
Leanne’s Mission Trip, Part One
There is no way I could give you a quick and simple overview of Leanne’s trip. Last night our family began the journey through over 900 pictures she took while gone! We made it half way through and it was time for dad to leave for work so we will continue our tour today some time. So what I have decided to do is to share with you about her missions trip in parts. That way I have time to digest all her info, resize pictures to post and share a little more detail with you. I hope you enjoy this mission trip to Egypt with Leanne!
Leanne began her experience with Teen Missions by leaving on a plane from the West Coast and flying to Orlando Florida. She along with several other who were on her flight were met by a Teen Missions representative and taken to Merritt Island Florida for two weeks of training that they call “boot camp”. The term boot camp has a couple of different meanings. One is simple and straight forward.. every team member buy’s a pair of boots and wears them. No other types of shoes are allowed other than water shoes. The other meaning is more like the military term in the fact that there is a lot of training and group work going on. They learn not only necessary skills for when they are on the field, but how to live without common luxuries like showers and toilets that flush, but they also begin learning how to work together as a team through a lot of physical training. Boot camp is primitive, difficult and according to Leanne was a real challenge to get through.
Here are some pictures of the kids arriving at boot camp:
They were issued a lot gear such as hard hats, water canteens, carry on bags, duffle bags, etc..
Here is Leanne’s some of Leanne’s team members assembled. There were 31 kids on her team.
Living conditions at boot camp were primitive. Here is laundry and bath day:
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Here is the water used to flush the toilets:
There were no showers so they swam in the lake you see in the picture at the top until it got too dirty and then they closed it down and switched to Alligator Lake and no one went swimming in that one! 
Much of their day was spent with classes in brick laying and cement. They never did lay any bricks but they definitely put the cement classes to use!
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As I said earlier the only shoes they wore were boots.. 6 or 8 inch lace up leather work boots. Leanne took this picture of one of her team mates all dressed and ready for church in her work boots! 
Now purely as a side note… the mothering side of me got a kick out this photo:
You see the brick in the girls hand? Well the kids could not leave their belongings laying around. If you did leave something behind the next day you carried a brick around with you all day long as a reminder to pick up your stuff.. I loved the idea and told the kids I need to come up with my own version of this! Think how this would solve the clutter problems! LOL… (they were not thrilled by my excitement over this new found idea.. 
)
) That is all I have time for today but I will be back to share more of boot camp and their departure to Egypt!
Updates from my Homestead
We have had an action packed time around here lately. A week ago Wednesday I put Jacob and Sierra on a plane to WashingtonDC to see my daughter and her family. They had a great time. They toured DC and the zoo and enjoyed lots of R&R with Carolyn and her family. On Friday of the same week I put Emily and Isaac on a plane to Chicago to go and visit my sister in law in NW Illinois. They also had a fantastic time and were well pampered by their aunt and cousins. Emily also got to meet up with her College Plus coach and enjoyed that quite a bit.
So that left Tobin and me with an “empty nest” for a week, which we thoroughly loved! We got a peek into what our life will be like a few years from now and we did like the look of it. A few things I observed while my kids were gone:
I have no IDEA how to cook for two people! LOL.. good thing they all came home and started eating up the leftovers!
I vacuumed the floors 2 times in one week instead of 2 times a day.
I ran the dishwasher a handful of times while they were gone instead of 2 to 3 times a day.
After I cleaned a room and came back into that room a few minutes later.. low and behold it was STILL clean!
I closed the bathroom door even when I was the only one in the house… old habits die hard…
I actually had the time to make progress on my never ending list of details..
I washed 3 loads of laundry in a week instead of daily!
And finally… I did miss them despite it all!
So after our week of an empty nest they started coming home… Jacob and Sierra came home on Thursday.
Then the most exciting part: LEANNE IS HOME!!!!!! She was scheduled to arrive home on Thursday night at 11:30pm but her plane was delayed for 3 1/2 hours in New York. There was a storm that delayed them for 2 1/2 hours and then they sat on the runway for an hour waiting for their turn to take off. So it was 3:AM west coast time before I could go and pick her up. She had been up for over 24 hours already. She had left Switzerland then flew to Paris and then NYC and finally home to Washington state. She has shared so much about her missions trip with us and soon I will have more details and pictures to share with you all. She is quite happy to be home now.
Finally yesterday (Friday) evening I picked up Emily and Isaac from the airport and all my chicks were back in the nest again.
We came home and dished up ice cream with yummy strawberry syrup (thank you Erica!! ) and I went to bed and I know my girls talked until late into the evening. Emily and Leanne were so happy to see each other. They are very close and missed each other something terrible so their reunion was a most welcome close to all the summer adventures.
) and I went to bed and I know my girls talked until late into the evening. Emily and Leanne were so happy to see each other. They are very close and missed each other something terrible so their reunion was a most welcome close to all the summer adventures. I do know I need an airport break! LOL I have been to the airport 5 times in 10 days and been through security 3 times.. I think I have become a pro at it! LOL.. Now it is time to start thinking about fall, grandbabies due and starting school with my kids.. oh and Leanne will be working to get her drivers permit. Just when I finished one it is time to start the next..
I am looking forward to being back to my regularly scheduled blogging now and sharing more info from the homestead!
Blueberry Muffin Recipe Correction
I got a couple of comments on my blueberry muffin recipe asking how many blueberries to add. I can’t believe I missed that! It was a busy baking day that day I guess! LOL.. Here is the corrected muffin recipe:
It was a busy baking day that day I guess! LOL.. Here is the corrected muffin recipe:Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
Crystal Miller
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 t baking soda
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
1 egg
½ cup honey
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
In a medium sized mixing bowl combine flour and baking soda. In a small bowl combine the rest of the ingredients, melting the coconut oil slightly before adding. Add this to the flour and baking soda and stir until just mixed. Stir in the blueberries.
Spay a muffin pan with non-stick spray. Spoon batter into each muffin cup. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 12 muffins.
The Topeka Hook-in
It's hard to believe that it was just a week ago tomorrow that we braved the rainy weather to go to the Topeka Hook-in. And I might add the key word here is "rain"! Within minutes of starting the one hour drive the rain had started and it continued until we got home that evening. This added not only another three inches of rainfall to our total for the week but also made it to where when we arrived at Judy's we looked like drowned rats!
Upon entering Judy's gorgeous home, the pouring rain was forgotten. Where do I begin...There are so many great things to talk about! I guess the first thing would be Judy's home itself. If ever a person needed inspiration to hook, her house is the place to go. I'm not kidding when I say one can't look at anything in it without seeing her rug hooking talent. She not only had rugs laying on the floor, hanging on the walls, draped over anything with a flat surface but she had a whole baby cradle with rolled up rugs in it!!!! Everywhere you looked there was a gorgeous rug. So many, it was hard to see them all. (And trust me girls, we all tried!!!)
Once we got settled in our chairs a trip to her "shop" in the basement was in store. Of course I was like a little kid in a candy store, grabbing fat quarters of wool by the handful! I ended up walking out with a pile that will keep me in wool until the next hook-in! HA (Ok, not true, I have five more yards ordered but it's not due until the end of the month...Hopefully by that time Keith will have forgotten about this pile! HA)
I'm not sure how many girls were there (Betty, Jo-Jo, do you know???) but I would have guessed around 40! Everywhere you looked there was someone sitting (Even on the floor!) hooking. And the rugs...They were out of this world!!! Just when you thought you had saw the best one yet, someone else would pull a new one out and the drool would start all over. As with the Lenexa Hook-in, I was amazed at such talent! A lot of the rugs were done in a Fall theme and since that's my favorite time of year, they really won my heart.
Although the girls attending all came from different walks of life, their love for rugs all made them sisters at heart. They were so willing to share their experience and talent with those of us who are "hooking challenged". I know I came home with many new friends (Jo-Jo, Robin, Leslie, ect...) and look forward to seeing them all again next month and of course I can't wait to see what they'll be working on.
Along with wonderful rugs and great company the food was out of this world! I'm not a salad person but the salads at the Hook-in were wonderful! They certainly hit the spot for a hot, humid, rainy day!!! Heck, the food alone was worth the one hour drive! HA
All in all it was a wonderful day. One filled with beautiful rugs, great girls, good food and yummy colored wool. To those of you who love rug hooking or want to learn, I would definitely recommend you look up a rug hooking group in your area and attend their next meeting. You too will come home filled with inspiration and a smile in your heart. Blessing, Sher
Blog Awards
I'd like to say thank you to my dear friends Ellen and Amanda for sharing these with me!
The hardest part is picking only a few others to give these to as there are so many wonderful blogs!
Jessica at Trivium Academy
Candace at His Mercy is New
A Rainy Thursday
Good Morning!
Once again we have awoke to dark skies with the hint of rain in the air. According to the weatherman, we are to have a week of this. The nice thing about knowing it's coming, we can better prepare ourselves. Yesterday was spent getting all the farm mowing caught up and then a trip to town to mow my sisters front and side yard. (She had surgery yesterday so we'll be doing her mowing for the next few weeks.) It's nice to know it's all done and hopefully we'll have a few days to mow between showers so it won't get completely away from us.
It seems as if it's been months instead of weeks since I've had the chance to update. One reason this is the case is because we've been having such nice weather we've all been spending more time outside. It's such a blessing to be able to actually breath when you open a door to go outside. The mornings have been so cool that you know Fall is just around the corner. We're all soooooo ready!!!!!
With the cooler temperatures comes getting ready to go back to school. Monday is the big day and the kids are so excited. (So are Mom & Dad! HA) Earlier this week we received letters from the school saying which class the children would be in and the minute they were opened, the phone calls started....I swear, Jeni was on the phone for one full day calling all her friends to see which class/teacher they would have! HA So far, she's only found two little friends that will share the fifth grade with her. I'm sure once she gets there, they'll be more students she knows. Of course Drew being all boy could care less. All he cares about is getting on the bus and finding his class. Doesn't matter one bit to him who's in there with him. HA
So, part of my days have been spent getting everything packed and ready for them to leave bright and early Monday morning. Drew is 100% ready to go but I've still got to go through Jeni's closet. That's on my "to do" list for today. I know she's outgrown 80% of her clothes (She hasn't grown "out" but "up"!) so I know when I get through with her closet they'll be tons of room for all the new clothes we've bought her. On a side note, I'm NOT looking forward to going through everything, which is why it's been put off for so long!
Since Keith and I will soon be having a day to ourselves, my mind has been whirling on what I want to do! HA Part of me wants to stay home and hook in a house that I know is going to stay clean more than a couple of hours, part of me wants to go to my favorite Chinese restaurant (Our little ones refuse to go there!) and part of me wants to hit my favorite flea market. I guess I'll let Keith make the decision since I can't decide! ;-)
I haven't written since the hook-in last week but since that was such a big, fun day I think I'll just make one whole entry on it alone. On that note I'll sign this off, do some house-work and hopefully post again before the day is over. I hope all of your are enjoying cooler temperatures and you too are feeling the hint of Fall in the air. Blessings, Sher
Olympic Study Links
We are working on a Olympic unit and the girls have had so much fun! They love watching some of the events in the morning.
Here are some of the sites we've found helpful.
Homeschool Share Olympic Lapbook ~ This is one of the best sites I've found so far. We are using it as a spring board for our study.
The Official Website of the Beijing 2008
Learn How to Write Chinese Numbers
National Anthems Around The World
Farmsitting in Gainesboro TN and Update on Us
We arrived here after dark on Monday August 4th, we pretty much drove straight through with Mark doing all the driving of our RV with the Horse trailer on the back. We had our tiny mishaps but we are here and well, as are the goats.I can say one thing for TN, there isn't anything flat about this state at all and it is beautiful with its mountains and
deep revenes with rivers and creeks running through them. I think so far I love TN and only pray that Yeshua allows the
brakes to hold up on the RV and that we can find a home to call our own in the near future. We are farmsitting for
a family that has made a long trip to Isreal for 3 months. Please pray for the Varelas , Emily is due to have a baby
in Oct arround the 21st while there. This will be 8 children for them. We are farmsitting till they return arround Nov 4th and
then we are planning to move to Perry County TN near to some friends there. Here we are caring for 33 goats, mostly of the boer cross and one Sannan doe. 12 yearling cattle , 20 something chickens, 6 Ginny Hens, 2 Great Pyrenese LGD's, one Benji type Mutt and 4 cats and 4 kittens. (Plus my own 4 goats I brought with me) Making the trip with me are
Magnolia ( who is due in Sept) Manessah my doe from Magnolia, who will be due in Dec., Levi my buck from Magnolia and Rueben my non related line buck sire and dam were from WI. All made a good trip and no one stressed at all.
I think the only thing I won't be able to get use to here in the South is Cock Roaches, any hints tips on riding the house of them would be appreaciated greatly.... We are using Boric Acid and Combat Roach Gel thus far.
Blessings
Linda
Jump Start Games?
Has anyone used the Jump Start computer games? I was thinking of getting some for the littles but want to make sure they are worth the money.Supper Tonight
I'm REALLY tired today, so that calls for an easy supper. Tonight will be:
Chicken balls and cherry sauce, Rice, Stir fried veggies.
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