In order not rant over the stupidity of this swine flu scare....I will do a picture post.


Dad of the year. This is on our zoo trip a few weeks ago. It was our first day of the year over 70 degrees...we were sooooo happy!


Picnic lunch at the zoo.


Tea time with Lele!


Our group shot at the Creation Museum. I love how the Frye girls are hanging on Joshua. Joshua told me the other day that some day, God was going to move Joshua back to Texas so he can marry Alyssa. Pretty funny since we've never talked about marriage except that he can't marry Leah or Hannah. He didn't say we were all moving back, just him. We'll see.


My first loaf of bread from my fresh ground flour. I used hard red wheat, hard white wheat(prairie gold) and spelt. It is a sourdough loaf and tasted good but didn't rise perfectly. I've made a better once since then.

Robert is down now too. I hope I don't get sick and if I do that it isn't until he is good and well and able to keep things afloat. I hate having to care for others when I'm sick myself. Ok, hate is a strong word, but you know what I mean. I'd rather just keep plugging along, caring for my fam.

Swine flu....maybe. Who knows? Who cares? My kids have had the exact symptoms for the last week...still coughing. Good thing we use our Young Living oils faithfully. I'm not worried, even though we were in the same town as a confirmed case last week to pick up some resale books.

Our media drives me crazy the way they sensationalize everything!

Random stuff.

Trying to be productive this week. Last week was entirely a nursing week. I was proud that we only ate out once...until I crashed on Friday, but that is another story. Robert has a dinner meeting with their board of directors tonight so I have over time today. We are going to run a bunch of errands and get some much needed purging and donating done. I am going to bake some bread since I won't have to have it in the over right next to the bulb to be warm enough for it to rise. I'm really enjoying baking bread and using my grinder although I haven't gotten to much and the whole process is still intimidating to me. How's that for a really long run on sentence?

Kids are doing better. They are all still coughing now and then. Leah is still sleeping really hot, but that is good to burn those germs off. Hannah only napped a tiny bit yesterday afternoon, so I hope today is a good nap day for her.

If you haven't tried Teeccino, you should. I love it and am sad that I am out right now, waiting for a shipment to come in. You can try their sample pack of all ten flavors for $12. It is a great deal. www.teeccino.com You should do it. So good and good for you, unlike coffee, which isn't. I like the Jave, we both like the Hazelnut and Robert loves the chocolate, go figure. There weren't any of them that I didn't like.

More on my health later...off to enjoy this beautiful weather and be productive. Praying for no headaches this week. We hit 87 yesterday, yippee!!!!! Hannah's feet were uncovered for the first time in her life.

Oh, and Hannah is super long, but the skinniest baby I've ever had. I've also lost weight faster than with my other 2, don't know if there is a connection. She still isn't crawling and has no teeth.

In the trenches....

Leah is doing better. Fever gone but diarehea here now.
Joshua has a really nasty cough.
Hannah is coughing some now too.
Mommy is bleary eyed but pressing on.
Daddy is I'm sure exhausted since he hasn't slept well either and has 2 back to back audits this week.

Hang on for the ride......

We are tired. I was up holding Hannah all night on Sunday night because she was running a high fever. Monday, she was fine but a little tired. Last night, Leah woke up throwing up and running a high fever. Up alot with her, although Robert got up and helped last night too. So tired. Hope it skips Joshua and Robert and I.

We have had a great weekend! I love weekends that are just family fun....of course, it helped that God blessed us with BEAUTIFUL weather on Saturday. I needed a beautiful weather day.

On Saturday, we headed out to the zoo. I packed us a picnic lunch and Robert loaded up the wagon and we got there shortly after opening. It was so fun to be there as a family. They've opened some more of the exhibits from the winter break, including the Australian Adventure, which of course I love. I miss waking up to roo's and wallabee's eating in the yard. The kids and Robert climbed up thru a huge treehouse and then slid down the giant snake slide. It was fun. Robert made the mountain trek up to the cats and gorillas pulling Leah in the wagon and Joshua on his shoulders, crazy! This path is sooooo steep and long. This zoo was horribly designed, but we were just happy to be out in the warm sun. We had our picnic at some tables on the swan lake and it was like it was our private area. No one else was around and we had a lovely little meal including fresh strawberries and Ningxia Red. We headed home about 2 when the zoo was getting really really crowded and got the kids naps. I got my grocery run in for the week, which meant I didn't have to do it today and got a nice nap instead. Last night we got the kids to bed and admired our pink arms from the sun and Robert watched nascar/baseball/basketball while I read and baked my first loaf of sour dough bread using my new grain mill. Lovely evening.

This morning we went to church and Pastor Will preached an awesome message. He did an over view of Romans, that we are going thru right now, and it was just great. One of the best things was when we got home. Joshua sat down at the table and started drawing out the chart that Will had drawn up on the white board while he talked. Joshua kept saying "there is a God and he HAS spoken!" This is why we keep our kids with us in church. Awesome! We came home and had lunch and family nap time, YIPPEE! Now the kids are in bed and we are winding down the evening...preparing for another week. Robert has a crazy busy work week and the kids and I will do our normal routine, although hopefully with a little more schooling than we've been doing lately. Joshua is really wanting to do more school, I guess his lazy Mama should be more diligent, but I figure we've got a lot of school years ahead of us...why rush.

I'll try to get pics of the zoo trip up tomorrow!

Our Trip to the Creation Museum

Last Thursday we all got up with Robert at 5AM and hit the road. Robert headed north to work and we headed south to Cincinnati. The drive up was uneventful. We made the 4 hour drive with only one stop, and that made me hopeful for a smooth trip home too. We pulled up to the Creation Museum about 10:20. Angela and I had been on the phone and so I knew that they were running off some energy waiting for us. We pulled up and I casually stopped the truck and asked Joshua who those people were. He said, calmly, the Frye's...and then hysterically THE FRYE GIRLS! There could have been tears in his eyes just from his voice, but I couldn't see his face all the way in the back of the truck. I told him he could unbuckle and get out. Angela came over and he JUMPED out of the truck and into her arms. It was such a sweet moment for me. I hurt for Joshua that he is so lonely here. It is hard on him and hard on my Mama's heart. I knew that we were going to have a FULL day of friends and fun.


I know that this picture is all blurry and horribly lit but this is how Joshua and Alyssa spent the day. Those two just have some kind of little bond that is so sweet. Joshua loves Amanda too but he and Alyssa just jive with each other.
We came in and immediately saw huge life size dinosaurs, moving. It was fun.


Here is a slide show of some of the rest of the day. Take note of the real and very life like Adam and Eve, in the garden before the apple....naked. We were getting a little nervous as we went into each successive room, especially when we came into the room where they were bathing...were a little worried about what would come next, lol! It was all so amazingly beautiful!

This day made something very clear to me. I've always nodded at good art but I can't say that I have ever really appreciated it. This museum is a gift from God. He had to have specifically created these artist to be able to produce such amazingly beautiful detail on such a large scale. It was stunning. The detail and beauty were just overwhelmingly true. There are families from GCC that I've always known were artists, but I must say that I am so thankful that God created families like the Cole's, Mucha's, Lichnovsky's, Woody's, Watson's and so many more. I could never even conceive of the creations that are just natural to them. Isn't wonderful how God created each of us for His own purposes.

We packed up to head home about 4:30. I had a headache that was getting pretty intense, but had a cup of coffee and hit the road. We hit downtown Cinci right at rush hour and I'm so grateful because I was in intense migraine pain and was pretty certain I was going to puke at any moment. Thankfully, all of the kids were sleeping so I could be in misery alone. I don't know how I made that drive home, except for His grace. We made it. Not near as quicly or smoothly as getting there, but we made it. Hannah was really fussy the second half of the drive and Mommy was too. All of that still didn't remotely dampen how awesome the day was!!! I highly recommend the Creation Museum, especially if the Frye's are there!

Resurrection Day 2009

Tax Day Tea Party, Medina OH

We attended the Tax Day Tea Party in Medina yesterday. I'll start updating our last crazy busy week in pics in a bit.

I will post updates soon but this morning I just can't. A friend here lost her 34 year old husband yesterday. He went to the gym and just died. They have three lovely children and she is pregnant with number four. I can't imagine her pain, but know it has to be unbearable because I hurt so bad for her and I never met him. Another friend in Texas lost her husband last week too. This hurts and it is scary. Neil was 4 years younger than Robert. I know we all have a time appointed by God and that these men are now with Him, but it hurts for us here. Bonnie posted that she wishes she just would have touched him more.

We are here and doing great. Enjoying a very special family weekend. I'll get Creation Museum pics and story up next week. It was fabulous and well worth the trip from any where. Absolutely beautiful.

What a wonderful day today. It is funny that I sit here and want to write that right now. My children were quite the challenge today, including a public bar room brawl at the library that left me shocked at their behavior and horribly embarrased that it came out for the first time in public. Nap time was extra challenging with Leah especially and Joshua is just a challenge right now.

But my God is good, all the time. Here are a few ways that He showed me His love and mercy today....in no particular order.

-We only have about a half inch of snow on the ground right now instead of 2 inches that were predicted.
-When the above library incident happened, I didn't loose my temper and kill my children right there in public, or in the bathroom. I calmly asked them both to come and we were leaving....and they did.
-My friend, Cara , got some really awesome news about her boys in Haiti, and I got to be on Facebook chat with her when it happened, which is really amazing because we've never FB chatted before. I mean, this is soooo exciting, you should go check out her news and pray with us.
-I just started my first batch of sourdough.
-In five days, I'll get to make my first batch of homemade bread using my cool new Bosch mixer.
-I've found a source for organic grains and they will even be delivered by their organic foods delivery service. How cool is that?
-I have a really awesome husband that loves me!!

Finally, and this one is the most important!!!!!!!!!! this week I get to celebrate that Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior died on a cross a horrible and mocking death. THEN, three days later, He ROSE AGAIN!!!!!! He reigns in glory and intercedes on my behalf to the Father. How cool is that. And how awesome that I live in a country where I can freely and openly celebrate!!!

We had a nice weekend. Saturday I got some sewing done, including liners on the kids curtains since the sun is staying up longer than they are supposed to. Sunday we did church and family time. We did get pretty Easter dresses and a little suit for Joshua. Yesterday, Leah and I found a very pretty hat to match her dress. All set for Easter. We get to start our family readings in preparation today. What a blessed week to walk thru each year!

I'm trying to keep a positive attitude this week, but I must say the fact that we are expecting 1-2 inches of snow today and more tomorrow is making that tough. It is a gloomy thing to be sitting in April, leading up to Easter and wondering how much snow we'll get. I need some warm/hot Texas days to cheer me up. The Lord has been merciful to us. Mr Tomek said that they usually get 18 inches of snow in March and this year we just had one inch. Thank you Lord. And we've even had a few days in the 60's. It felt so good to just walk around in jeans and a tshirt in the afternoons. One day, I even ventured outside barefoot. Soon. Right?

Kids are good. I have'nt broken the surprise they'll get this week yet. I did tell them yesterday that we are going on a trip on Thursday. I'm not telling them that the Frye family will be on the other end of that trip. I better warn Angela to tell the girls to brace themselves because Joshua will probably SCREAM and tackle them. And hold their hands all day! :-) I'm excited about seeing a friend too. And I'm pretty excited to see the Creation Museum as well.

We've had a great week and I am tired. We have half a cow in our freezer, yummy!!!! And finally got to have dinner with the Lohnes, although the boys were both working. My kids are worn out. Wed night was a late night with small group and then last night was late with the Lohnes's over and everyone is dragging today. Tonight is a nice quiet and EARLY family night!!!! It is rainy and cool here, but that is ok with me. I wanted a quiet down day today. They've also taken most of the snow out of the forecast for next week, and I like that too!!!! Happy weekend everyone! I've got to get some Easter dress shopping done and I hope to hit up the really huge and awesome nursery here. I need something to be living around here. Although, the grass is starting to green up and some of the trees have a few buds on them. Spring really wants to be here, but from what everyone keeps telling me, we have another month before we are officially done with winter. Crazy!

In limbo, I have lots of stuff to get done today and tomorrow but I'm waiting on one major thing to get scheduled before I know when I can do everything. Frustrating. Anyway, tonight we have small group, yea! Tomorrow, I think the pastor's family is coming to dinner. This is our third time to try and get together but things keep coming up for them, I think that is normal for pastor's, in my experience. So maybe this week. We also get our side of beef in this week, who hoo! One more step in my stocking up efforts. AND, I got my grain mill and bread mixer in yesterday. So, I can start grinding my own grain and making our bread soon. This is all really exciting to me. Can't wait to get going.

Kiddo updates.
Joshua- He's so big. He's reading really well and wants to read all the time. BE glad when he is reading totally independently because I think he is going to go nuts. He LOVES Hannah. I mean, LOVES her and I can see why because they are identical twins. It cracks Robert and I up. He's all boy. Loves playing outside. Loves to work. He's happiest when he is doing work with us. He's a good kid. Tests my patients with all of his never ending questions somedays but a good kid.

Leah- SPIT FIRE! This girl is crazy. She's hysterical funny and can crack anyone up but man she is HEAD STRONG. I have no idea where she gets that. Like my Daddy always says, I kept all of mine. She really is a mini me. I just love her.....and wish she were a tad bit easier to raise. lol! She likes Hannah but doesn't dote on her the way Joshua does. She sneaks her loving in when we aren't paying attention or she thinks we aren't. She keeps up with her big brother just fine and no one can convince her that they aren't the same age and size or that he is more advanced than her in anything.

Hannah- She's growing like crazy. She's about 18 pounds now but seems much bigger. Every time we are out people ask how old she is and then ask if she is big. Don't know exactly how they mean that, but all of my babies are big. She seems pretty normal sized to me. She's rolling over but isn't big on rolling all around the room. Not like she ever has to get anything herself anyway. She is starting to sit up unassisted, but hasn't quite perfected it yet. She gives me big big hugs when I pick her up and that makes R jealous. Of course, I don't think he's realized that she is really just trying to get to my hair that she loves to chew on. She babbles and chats all the time and she is a DROOL MONSTER. Seriously. She's really laid back and just tags along for the ride of the Lachney express. She's been a really easy baby and even sleeps thru the night sometimes. That is pretty cool in my book. She'll be 7 months old this week, that's crazy!