Foto Friday.... non photo post today!

Well today is supposed to be Foto Friday and I know it still is over at Renaissance but this week I took a holiday from photography! It has been such an event filled week that I felt it would be more productive to center my attentions on other things!

Let me see... where to begin. Tuesday, Sean called from school to say he was seeing a black line running through the middle of his left eye and could see nothing above it... The school nurse was concerned so he and I made a whirlwind trip to Fairbanks. The optomistrist was wonderful and got him right away! After much testing it was determined that Sean had lost all vision in the upper left (outside) quadrant of his left eye and a bit in the upper right quadrant. So off we went to have an MRI! Let me say this much... He was a TROOPER through the whole thing. By the time we got home he was a bit tired and was sound asleep about 30 minutes before his normal bed time. Tuesday morning Sean was up bright and early with his vision restored. The doctor called back to say the MRI showed no anomolies! We are so thankful God restored Sean's vision! We are still in the dark concerning the cause but just praise God daily that his vision has been returned.

My sweet hubby had to go back up to Fairbanks on Thursday for a root canal! He was in the dentist seat for 2 hours while they worked on him. All in all it was a good appointment as his tooth is now fixed and he had a nice nap. Yes, dear hubby sleeps in the dentist chair even during a root canal! They ended up putting in the bite block as his mouth kept closing... I wonder if he snores while in the dentist chair?

Friday was a mad rush back to town as we discovered the boys had outgrown dress pants and have a band concert next Tuesday. It was amazing as we stopped off at 6 different stores and got lunch to go in 1 1/2 hours! We left the house at 10:35 and were back home by 1:50. Not bad considering we had a 50 minute drive each way! The sun was shining, the wind was gone, and there was wonderful conversation!!

The remainder of the week has been filled with cleaning, cutting out magazine pictures, and crotcheting! It is so fulfilling as I see the projects being completed... We are getting the house ready and are hoping to start putting "For Sale" signs up around town on Monday.

I don't know if I told anyone but as of right now we will be leaving around the 23rd of January! Once Chris gets his orders we will begin the process of scheduling movers, etc. We are so excited and so thankful! It was exciting watching God's hand in the whole process! I know I am NOT the most patient person in the world but it is so comforting to know that everything is in God's timing... Yes, I still felt that way even when I was chomping at the bit! :)

This week's Foto Challenge: Dress-Up really was a CHALLENGE! We had our dress-up session last week and some how no pictures were taken... The guys really aren't that into dress up. I wonder why? Have you ever noticed when "boys" are little they are right in the midst of the "dress-up"? But when they get older (especially as teens) they seem to baulk at the idea... Henceforth my dilemma... but last night my husband came to the rescue! No it wasn't intentional, just him being his normal silly self.
(The thing on his head is the cover off the heating pad, we were folding laundry... ha ha!)
And all these years I wondered why our boys were always putting things on their heads!?! Apparently they came by it naturally!!



My sweet Babboo trying to squeeze himself into a queen size pillow case.. "LOOK Mom, I'm an Evan in a Bag! you know like a Jack in a Box..."

Drop on over to Renaissance to view all the other participants and to join in! Next week's challenge: LEAVES! Hmm, I am thinking this will have to be a week of true creativity as our leaves are mostly gone... OH I know!! Okay, so hopefully I'll see you next week!

I know this isn't part of the challenge but I am looking for information! So maybe it is a challenge of sorts... We are looking for information on the area around Peru or Kokomo, Indiana. If you or your families have ever lived in the area or you have friends in the area... Any information would be greatly appreciated! We still don't know when we will be moving but are planning as if it will be during the last two weeks of December (better safe than sorry) as it could be a very last minute move!!

INDIANA HERE WE COME!!

Yes you read that correctly! Chris got the job in Indiana! And I am totally overwhelmed... but that is a great thing. Okay I have to be honest, I haven't told anyone at church. Chris asked me not to say anything to anyone locally so we have kept it very hush, hush here. I still have not called any of my friends here as I know I will break out in tears... They are such wonderful, dear friends in Christ and God has truly blessed us with their friendships! I know the USPS will be getting a lot more business from me! My mom would probably laugh if she heard me say that! For years I was terrible at writing but am trying to make a concerted effort to be more faithful in my written correspondance. In fact I need to sit down and write her a letter today.

About the move... Well, we don't know when we will be leaving as yet. Chris has to fill out additional paperwork and speak with the Colonel who was the hiring official. I think he will know better by the end of today! Thankfully the military pays to move us or I would be daunted by the tasks ahead. As it is we will go through each room and sort, seperate, and discard. The "professional" packers will LITERALLY pack anything! We opened a box once and found a full trash can which had been wrapped and packed... Go figure! This last time they took the attached drawer inserts that fit into the panels in front of a kitchen sinck. They were screwed in and everything. They even tried to take down the medicine cabinet until I stopped them! Ha ha!!

Please keep us in prayer as we prepare for this journey. At present our list of to-do items includes:
-get passports (have to drive through Canada)
-sell house
-sell pick-up
-sell flat bottom boat w/ trailer
-sell snow machine
-get dogs current on vaccinations/paperwork to travel
-sort out severe winter clothes
-empty barn
-look for either rental or house for sale via internet
-contact schools

There is a possiblity we will be travelling over Christmas but don't know for sure yet. I will most definitely let you all know as we find out more!!

I want to thank each and every one of you for keeping us in your prayers as we were waiting! We have prayed so hard about this move. Firstly, that if it was God's will that Chris would get it, and secondly, that if it was NOT his will that we would have the grace to accept it graciously!

I promise I will keep you all posted on our activities in the coming weeks!!

Foto Friday: Motion

I have to admit this had my stymied at first... We have great motion pictures of Sean during soccer season but that season is now over. We have great pictures of Ian and Evan "practicing" their TaeKwon Do courtesy of Sean. Once again those were photos past... What to do?



Then inspiration hit Saturday afternoon as Evan as I did a little cooking... Ok, so he taste tested and I cooked but every good cook needs an able-bodied taste tester! Someone with refined taste buds which haven't been dulled by age. We hope you enjoy our motion pictures.... We found them to be quite steamy but don't believe they will cause any kind of eruption!







So sorry for the pun! And yes it was intentional, nothing that bad could be otherwise! We are a family who loves a good pun. In fact my husband likes to see how badly he can make the boys groan... okay maybe they may not ALL appreciate the fine art of the pun but they are getting there! ha ha

Please come and join us with Rebecca at Renaissance to join for the FOTO FRIDAY Challenge. Next week's challenge "Dress Up," either in costume or all dressed up! I personally am looking forward to this challenge!

The first of many projects...

I was so tickled I more or less finished the first of many projects.. All I need to do to this bag is make a button hole and add two buttons. I really like this bag but am going to make a few changes, mainly make the strap longer and make the whole bag slightly smaller. In fact, I would like to make one with an adjustable strap but will have to wait until we go to town next week.... Considering I didn't have a pattern and wasn't sure what I was doing, I was really impressed with the fact that it only took 3 1/2 hours to make. Plus it is reversible! Now that I understand the concept (Thank you Michelle) I can see more of these bags in varying sizes in the future.

Snow, snow, and more snow!!

Where did the week go? I had planned to sit down on Monday to post Multitude Monday and well now it is Wednesday! In all honesty, I do not remember much of Monday. Chris was gone most of last week which resulted in me not sleeping more than 4 hours a night. Boy do I miss that man when he is gone!! After 19 years of marriage he is still my best friend and I look forward to every day God gives me with him!! Ok, some days I don't look forward to as much as others but I still am grateful God has given me such a wonderful, kind, loving, gentle man for my husband. I look back and think of how disobedient I was at the time and marvel! As some of you may know I went through a time of rebellion. I'll spare you the details as they aren't pretty... Just know that I wasn't living in God's will and was miserable. Even my dating Chris was rebellious as Chris was NOT a christian and I was.. (We were most definitely unequally yoked!!) However God blessed me... Chris accepted the Lord as his personal Lord and Saviour within 6 months of our getting married and my heart was softened. No I DO NOT recommend this route for others!! But I think it was also a means to turn my life around! I do NOT know where I would be if it hadn't been for those events! When we got married, well it was for life! And it still is for LIFE! I thank God daily for this man I call my husband!

Oh my I digress!! Nothing like a little bit of "soap-boxing"!

It is snowing! It started Monday evening and has been gently snowing every since. At last count I would say we have about 4 to 6 inches of the fluffing white stuff! And... drum roll!! The temperatures are absolutely gorgeous! 25 to 30 degrees!! I try to ignore the fact that it is still October!



This week has been a busy week so far. I've made two breakfast casseroles, a batch of gnocchi, 6 lbs of chicken "nuggets", 4 lbs of barbecued chicken legs, 4 lbs of teriyaki chicken legs (I thought I grabbed the chicken wings on sale but got these by mistake but they were even cheaper at .65 a lb!!), and 4 lbs of shredded barbecued chicken all for the freezer. We also made a nutella filled brioche loaf. Good but next time I think we will shape them as croissants. Did I mention what the "little" dog did last week? Caleb knocked the container of our whole wheat fruit hand pies off the container and ate every LAST remaining one! I mean we are talking a cute little 14 lb dog here and it was 11 fruit hand pies!! I was only gone for 10 minutes and thought I could leave him in the house for that short of a time. Who knew he could jump up and knock them off! So now I have the dough in the refrigerator to make another batch. And no he didn't get truly sick! His belly was beyond FAT and he just laid around for about 12 hours and then was up like nothing was wrong!!

(Yes I know there are those of you who knew of my "no animals on the furniture" policy.. It is the thing he is allowed on, and he is really good about not getting on any other furniture!)

Speaking of projects...

Here are the fabrics for the shopping bags and reversible book bags! The book bags will have denim on one side (BOYS thank you for all the holey "worn-out" jeans!!) and the cool girlie print on the other.




I love stripes, polka dots, and flowers! Once they are completed I will post a picture...







Oh,oh,oh... It looks like we may find out something official this week about the job in Indiana. I feel so bad because we just found out that the hiring official has been out with the flu! Poor thing... I pray she is feeling better now!!

Well I better get a move on as the sewing machine is beckoning me as well as a HUGE pile of magazines. I am determined to get them sorted and find a new home for them, preferably in the hands of someone else who can enjoy them!

Foto Friday: Berries

I must say I was really skeptical about this week's challenge. I mean, where was I going to get berries? Chris was going to Anchorage for the week and I had no plans to drive to town until today. Ok, so I won't be driving to town, Chris will be driving me to town since he is now home! Yes, once "winter" gets here I kindly relinquish all driving responsibilities to him No snow yet (or even in the forecast) but there is the possibility of ice so... NO Thank-you! I'll leave the hill driving to someone else, like my wonderfully capable husband. Who, might I add, has been through a government sponsored/recognized tactical driving course where he learned to drive in CRAZY conditions. Like when are you EVER going to need to know how to ram someones car off the road. Maybe if you live in LA? Road Rage anyone? Ok, I digress!! Where was I? Ah, the berries... Then inspiration hit... Or maybe it was the realization that I still had a 1 gallon bag of wild cranberries sitting in the refrigerator waiting to be processed (where they still wait!) And what about the bags of raspberries in the freezer picked from our garden earlier this "summer".


















Oh so delicious, lingonberries!
(aka lowbush, wild cranberries)





Lingonberries and wild raspberries from our "backyard."

























And LAST BUT NOT LEAST!

THe HUMBLe CACKLE BERRy!



So I hope you enjoy this weeks Foto Friday! Drop on over to Rebecca's at Renaissance to see all the other photos, pick up some great ideas, and possibly even add a submission of your own!