A Joyful Chaos

Post-it Thoughts

2012-02-02T11:13:00.000-05:00

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2012-02-01T08:22:00.000-05:00

1. It's that most wonderful time of the year...tax season! Do you complete your own returns or farm that job out to the professionals?

We get a CPA to take care of getting everything done properly. It's hard enough for me to simply have to sign my name on the completed forms.

2. Which do you think has changed you more-love or pain?

I will have to go with love on this one. There has been pain in our life but love got us through those times.

3. Tangerine Tango has been named color of the year for 2012. Your thoughts? Would I find this color anywhere in your house? How about in your closet? If not, will you be adding this color to your life in some way in 2012? If you're not sure what tangerine tango looks like click here.

I don't think the color could be found anywhere in my house and I am not planning to add it this year. Shades of orange are my least favorite color and thankfully I'm quite comfortable not following trends and fashions so I don't feel obligated to learn to like it.

4. Are you a collector? What do you collect and does it get admired, used, and/or dusted regularly?

I collect cookbooks and yes, I use them regularly. I really enjoy trying out new recipes and so far the rest of the family have been eager taste testers.

5. February is National Heart Month...besides a green salad what is one tasty heart healthy dish you like to prepare?

Most recently we have been enjoying fish baked to perfection and then drizzled with a lemon juice and olive oil mixture and sprinkled with salt and pepper.

6. When was the last time you had car trouble?

I think it was back in October. And I have no idea what the problem was. Mechanic vocabulary has a way of going right over my head while I stand there with a glazed helpless expression in my eyes something very similar I'm sure to what LV feels when I browse the fabric section in Wal-Mart.

7. Have you been more demanding on yourself lately or less? Is that a good trend?
Starting today I'm planning to be less demanding on myself. The past few weeks I was trying to get too much done and not being very successful at it which left me feeling frustrated and a little discouraged. I was trying to write for book three and little Buddy kept interrupting me every 250 words or so.

After talking to LV about everything last night he helped me put things into perspective a little better and I'm feeling renewed again. I have no doubts that I'll make my deadline but for the next few weeks I won't be dangling a daily word goal over my head that I wasn't able to reach any way.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Rosy and I finally made the first batch of Christmas candy yesterday. Since I wasn't able to make it for Christmas we are getting to enjoy it five weeks late. As a matter of fact I think we enjoy more than we would have on Christmas.

A Day with Grandpa

2012-01-31T08:24:00.000-05:00

As a child it was always a special treat when our grandparents on Daddy's side came to visit. They lived over five hundred miles and we didn't get to see them often.

One evening when I was nine years old we came home from school to find that Grandpa and Grandma had come to visit. Grandpa always felt a little intimidating to me. He was so big, in every sense. His voice, his hands, and he apparently loved eating. He had huge bushy white eyebrows and a long white beard and was totally bald. He wore round eyes glasses that looked as if someone had happened to sit on them and then he tried to straighten them out by himself. When ever he bunched his eyebrows together and looked sternly at me I always felt like hiding somewhere and took special care to try to be extra good when ever he was around.

He wasn't all scary though and loved to have us gather around him and tell us stories from the Bible. Stories we had never heard before and we were always in awe as he told them. He had a way of changing his voice for every character and he held us spellbound for hours as he told story after story.

Grandma was short and one of the happiest people I know and she had this delightful way of being able to connect with whom ever she was talking with no matter what their age. She always made me feel important and grown up.

In Somerset County the Amish school allows children to have three days off for something other than sickness or doctor visits. We hardly ever used those days but Daddy decided that this visit was important enough that we could have one day to stay at home and be able to spend more time with our grandparents.

It was the perfect day as Grandpa told us story after story before going with Daddy to visit some people. Grandma helped Mom around the house and baked a batch of her favorite cookies and taught me how to bake a simple milk pie that Daddy used to love when he was a little boy.

They left the next morning before we got up. School seemed dull and boring after such an interesting day.

I have often been glad that Daddy decided to allow us to stay at home that day because that was the last time we saw Grandpa. He passed away a few months later but I will always have those happy memories to cherish.

Weekends

2012-01-30T10:49:00.000-05:00

Attempt number five at getting a blog post written this morning. I don't like wasting your time coming to check for a new post and it hasn't been updated yet.

Our weekend was busy which seems to have had an affect on Buddy and his sleeping schedule and this morning he is more of a Mr. Fussypants.

Weekends are thought of as a time of relaxing, having fun, and recharging but I'm beginning to think the reason that Monday is viewed so unfavorably is because we are all worn out from doing too much over the weekend.

Saturday was busy, we didn't get quite all our things done we had planned and yesterday we had our usual Sunday activities. Going to church, and then in the afternoon and evening sitting and visiting with an older friend that has health issues. We enjoy it but somehow we're always very tired by the end of the day.

Now if you'll excuse me I need to care for Buddy again. In the meantime I would enjoy hearing how you spend a typical weekend.

Lil' Buddy's Arrival

2012-01-27T09:09:00.000-05:00

If you are comfortable with the idea, please tell us more about the time leading up to your baby's birth; I am wondering how it all went and if you had him at home.
Carolyn

After a long difficult pregnancy the baby welcoming day finally arrived. It was much like any other day where I was starting to wonder if I'm going to be pregnant for the rest of my life.

I followed my usual schedule for the day and planned to try a new recipe for supper. I was reading all the instructions for the second time and I noticed that it would need to bake for at least an hour. Something seemed to tell me that wasn't a great idea and I reluctantly put the cookbook away and opted to make an quick and easy stir fry instead.

Right after we were done eating I got up from the table and my water broke. Immediately I had the urge to push. I told LV we need to go right away. We called our friends to meet us on our way to get the children and I concentrated with everything I had to not have the baby born before we got to the birthing center. I refrained from telling LV that it wouldn't be long since I did not want to risk being stopped for speeding.

We got there in time and minutes later Buddy made his arrival weighing in at a healthy 9 lb 2 oz. Up until then I had no idea that a birth could possibly be so short, easy, and only very uncomfortable instead of excruciatingly painful.

Celebrations

2012-01-25T09:08:00.000-05:00

I see that in several of the previous comments you were already asked how the Amish celebrate Christmas and Easter I am also curious how they celebrate birthdays. And how about other holidays like Thanksgiving, Halloween, Valentines Day, Independence Day, and any other national holidays?
I described the celebration of Christmas and Easter in previous posts so today I will be sharing how some of the other holidays were observed in the community where I grew up.

Thanksgiving we always went to church in the forenoon. It was basically the same as regular church services. Everyone always seemed to be in extra good spirits and the sermons usually centered on blessings and things we have to be thankful for. The last hymn (The German version of Now Thank we all our God) that we sang after the preaching was over wasn't quite as slow and drawn out as most church songs and used to be one of my favorites and one of the first church songs I learned to sing on my own.

We always had a big Thanksgiving feast at home afterwards. Most years we invited all the extended family that was living in the same community.

We never observed Halloween in any way.

Valentines Day wasn't necessarily observed on Feb. 14th. Courting couples usually exchanged chocolates and gifts on the Sunday following Valentines Day.

Independence Day for the most part was simply another day. In the evenings we would sit outside in the yard to watch a local fireworks show.

Any other holidays like Labor Day and Memorial Day were not observed. We had our own special holidays. January 6th Epiphany was observed by fasting in the forenoon and often going to visit friends in the afternoon.

Forty days after Easter we observed Ascension Day again with fasting and then visiting and nine days after that we observed Pentecost.

Birthdays were celebrated differently in different families. In my family Mom always made a decorated cake and there would be a small gift or two. It was a day of fun and freedom from regular chores and we could choose our favorite food for dinner. In LV's family all they had was a verbal Happy Birthday in the morning when they got up and then the rest of the day was no different from any other day.

Troubles with the New Girl

2012-01-23T10:18:00.001-05:00

LV's memories continued.

LV hurried with his school work, he was working on making a little cardboard buggy in his spare time which was much more fun than the rest of his school work. Once the wheels were attached he spun them around and then had an idea. If he cut strips of paper and glued them together and then wrap them tightly around the axle the wheels would spin by themselves if he wound them up.

After spending a lot of time he finally completed it and carefully wound the wheels until the paper strip was wrapped tightly around the axle. He let it go and watched as the wheels spun in the air. He was happy that his experiment worked. Now if only he could test it out on the floor and see if it had enough power to roll across the floor.

He checked to see what Teacher Hannah was doing. She was busy with another class at the front of the room. He carefully set the buggy on the floor and let go. It went rolling across the aisle and crashed into the wall next to the desk where the new girl, Mary Ann was sitting.

Happy that the buggy worked he motioned to her to pick it up and give it back to him. She sat there and stubbornly shook her head no. What a stuck up little girl. All she would have to do was take a single step out of her desk and get his buggy. There was hardly any chance that Teacher Hannah would see her do that. He asked again but she still refused so there was nothing left to do but retrieve it himself.

Slipping out of his desk he crawled over and got it. He almost made it safely back to his desk when Teacher Hannah turned around and saw him. She asked him to give her the buggy and then stay after school. LV scooted down in his seat and scowled at Mary Ann. What an awful little girl. It was all her fault that he got caught and now had to stay after school

Exhausted

2012-01-21T11:11:00.001-05:00

After spending nearly all night last night trying to comfort a less than happy baby I'm still fighting waves of sleepiness right now. Not being able to get a wink of sleep until four in the morning has a way of draining me.

I love rocking Lil' Buddy though and singing lullabies to him. Some that my Mom used to sing and I had totally forgotten until I find myself started to sing them while trying to comfort the baby.

I love lullabies. Some sweet and gentle, others on the more humorous side. Our children's favorite was and is an old Pennsylvania Dutch lullaby about a group of rabbits sitting in the yard and what they are saying about the baby. That one is fun to sing to a toddler more than a newborn and I find myself crooning Hush my babe lie still and slumber, most of all.

To all you parents out there. What were some of your favorite lullabies?

A Question to Ponder

2012-01-19T07:17:00.000-05:00

Sunbeam, while holding lil' Buddy: Mom, how can someone so boring be so interesting?

I had never stopped to think of a baby that way before and couldn't help but smile. I wasn't sure how to answer her though since she was right, a newborn is boring in the sense that they don't talk, they don't play, or do anything that makes most children or people fun to be around.

But it's really hard to find something more captivating than a little baby and their sweet, helpless, innocence.

Helping the Helpless

2012-01-18T09:23:00.000-05:00

LV's memories continued.

It was time to do the evening chores and as LV's parents and his older brothers got everything ready to do the milking LV ran to get his wagon to play until chores were done. Being the youngest was starting to have it's advantages after all.

Making a circle around the barn he happened to round the corner in time to see one of the big barn cats tormenting a little chipmunk. He jumped off the wagon and stood watching in dismay. The poor chipmunk was terrified and LV knew that as soon as the cat was done playing and tormenting it the chipmunk would die. It was too horrible to think about. He dashed in, not caring that the cat was losing it's meal and rescued the little chipmunk who was trembling all over, bruised and battered from it's ordeal with the cat but thankfully still alive.

He went to show it to the others sure that they would help him doctor the poor little thing back to health. They looked at it but didn't seem to think that it would survive but agreed it wouldn't hurt to try since it was sure to die if they didn't help it.

LV found an old bird cage and made a comfortable nest in it and placed the chipmunk inside. He shelled some corn and put it inside and filled a little container with water. Day after day he spent hours talking to it and making sure it was being well taken care of. The chipmunk learned to know him really well and allowed LV to pet him and happily ate corn from his hand.

When the chipmunk was totally healed and healthy LV left the door of the cage open so it could go back to it's home in the woods. He was sad to see his little friend go but knew that a wild animal could never be truly happy anywhere except in the wild.

Home Remedies Winner

2012-01-16T10:37:00.000-05:00

After consulting with the Random Generator here is the lucky winner:

Comment # 31

April said ........

I would love to have this in my library. I had special K and girl scout cookies...maybe they balanced each other out??

Congratulations April! Please send me an email with your address and I will get this book sent to you.

Giveaway

2012-01-14T10:56:00.000-05:00

I stumbled across this book not very long ago and had to pick it up to see what kind of remedies were being offered here.

While I never even heard of 99% of the remedies offered and I won't be trying most of them I did find the book interesting and had to think of you, my dear readers. Anyone who is interested in learning more of the wide variety of home remedies that some Amish use will find this book interesting.

If you would like to have an opportunity to have this book leave a comment telling me what you had for breakfast this morning.

For an additional entry post a link to this giveaway on your blog and then come back and leave another comment telling me you did.

I will be using random generator on Monday Jan. 16th to choose a winner.

Disclaimer: I am giving this book away only as something interesting to read and would not advise anyone to try the remedies without consulting a doctor first.

Flashing Lights

2012-01-13T08:11:00.001-05:00

The morning had started much like any other mornings. We got up early to do the milking and all the other chores involved in a dairy farm.

It was a Thursday and I planned on spending my day at my parents house since their store wasn't open for business on Thursdays which meant Mom and I would have the day uninterrupted to visit and work on what ever projects she had going at the moment. LV was planning to take us and then work on some repairs that needed to be done.

Before we were done with breakfast someone dropped by saying that they really needed help and wondered if LV could leave with them right away. He dropped everything and left. He said he was sorry he couldn't take us to my parents but that we would plan on it for the next Thursday.

I started clearing dishes away disappointed to have to change my plans and then decided there was no reason why I couldn't walk to my parents. It was only two miles, we had a double stroller that would work great for Sailor and Rosy.

We were soon on our way. It was a beautiful morning and I was enjoying the walk while listening to Sailor's happy chatter. Rosy was lulled to sleep from the movement of the stroller until a siren sounded behind me and lights started flashing. I was surprised to have a cop right next to me and ask where I was going this morning.

I told him and then he said, "The reason I stopped you is because you dropped a blanket on the road." I have no idea how I missed seeing it drop from the stroller and I thanked him and quickly went to retrieve it while he headed on his way.

I couldn't help but be amused though and wonder how many Amish women can say that a cop pulled them over while walking down the road with two little children in a stroller? The lights and siren wouldn't have been that necessary but living in a very low crime rate area he might have been glad for a chance to get to use them.

Random Look at our Life

2012-01-11T10:02:00.000-05:00

1. What is being read in our house this week.

Great Truths of the Bible is an excellent workbook to accompany a thorough Bible study and we have really been enjoying it.

And as a family of bookworms these are the books that are currently being read:

Rosy is engrossed in The Only Sister

Sailor enjoys any books by Lewis B. Miller and is buried in the adventures found between the covers of When the Wemmikaw Levee Broke

I have been inspired by the book Uniquely His Love, Matilda and I'm also enjoying the latest book by Suzanne Woods Fisher, The Keeper

Sunbeam is working her way through a book filled with short stories, Storytime with Grandma, and then telling me everything she just read.

And the current read aloud for the whole family is an ancient book Valley of the Giants

And for cooking inspiration. The 2010 edition The Best of Country Cooking

2. What we are currently listening to.

Right now we are again going through the Pineapple Story Series by Otto Koning. Our whole family really enjoys this series and we laugh, become inspired, and always have a lot of food for thought when ever we listen to it.

3. What our house smells like.

Okay, so the entire house doesn't smell this way. But anyone who enters our living room can tell that a baby lives here.

I'm not burning any candles right now or using any other scents for the house. So really our house has an interesting combination of scents. Baby soaps etc. what ever food we are cooking in the kitchen, and desserts baking in the oven, the unique smell of wood and coal heat, so warm and cozy.

4. Games we have been playing.

Playing board games is something that gets done a lot in our family, especially in the evenings during the winter. These three are being played the most these past few weeks.

5. What we have been watching.

Sheffey ranks as one of the best movies in our house. The children enjoy the Little House series usually reserved as a treat for Sunday evenings.

6. Things that make us smile.

Ever since little Buddy has arrived we have all been amused and enjoy the many different expressions he has. Here he had just finished a bath and was still trying to express his feelings about it while be dressed.

Answering Questions ~ Continued

2012-01-09T10:17:00.001-05:00

Did or do you ever wish you could have had a higher education?

Right after I graduated from eighth grade I wished I could continue going to school. The Somerset County Amish do require students to attend their vocational classes until they are fifteen. Those were usually held every Wednesday forenoon.

Having those classes effectively weaned me from school and I soon viewed them as much more of a nuisance than anything else.

I didn't dream of becoming anything except being the best wife and mother possible and to receive that type of education I was much better equipped to learn to do all the mundane things cheerfully at home with my mother where I learned efficient housekeeping skills, the love of cooking and baking, childcare, gardening and preserving a year or more worth of food, and sewing among other life skills.

I do not regret that I spent my time like that rather than sitting in some kind of school. Having been given the choice I would probably have chosen to continue my education but I can honestly say I'm glad that choice wasn't mine.

I'm in no way trying to insinuate that having a higher education makes less than capable wives and mothers. I'm simply glad I got to spend as much time as possible at home with my mother who was also my best friend.

Resolutions

2012-01-05T09:36:00.000-05:00

Do you make New Year's resolutions? I usually don't spend a lot of time mapping out goals for an entire year it's enough for me to meet all my daily goals with out the extra pressure of having an entire year looming over me with high and lofty goals that probably won't be reached.

That being said, there are a few things I would like to do this year. One of them is take a lot more pictures and the other one is to lose all the baby weight I had gained.

I'm off to a good start. Having a baby in the house seems to provide a lot of photo opportunities. Like this one:

And the second goal.... oh wait, I reached it already! For the first time ever those extra pounds didn't hang around long after the baby arrived. I think I'll do a happy dance!

I enjoy reading every one's New Year's resolutions on the blogs I visit but my favorite so far belongs to my friend Cherie. You can hop on over and read her post here.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2012-01-04T12:35:00.000-05:00

1. What are three words you would use to describe your 2011?

Busy, happy, anticipation.

2. Do you like shrimp? What's your favorite way to have it prepared?

After years of gagging at the very sight of shrimp, 2011 was the year when I finally learned to really like them. Since learning to like them I haven't found a way that I don't like them. I'm especially fond of shrimp salads and breaded shrimp.

3. Is your house de-Christmased? If so when did you tackle that job? If not, when will the decorations come down?

Thanks to Sailor all the Christmas decorations came down and were packed away the day after Christmas.

4. Do you like to watch scary movies?

No. I much prefer watching feel good movies or something that inspires me.

5. Ice skating~sledding~skiing~snowboarding~of the four listed which wintertime activity do you most enjoy?

I try to stay as far away from ice that I can so ice skating is definitely out and since I really don't want to risk breaking a leg or arm I don't have a longing to learn how to spend time on the slopes skiing or snow boarding even though we have numerous beautiful ski resorts in our area. I haven't gone sledding for almost ten years now but of the four choices I think I would have to go with sledding.

6. Did you have a childhood hideout? Describe it.

I had several different childhood hideouts that lasted for different periods of time. The first one was an old crab apple tree that had very low branches. I used to climb up on one of the biggest branches and rest against the trunk of the tree and enjoy reading. It used to be especially fun doing that while it was blooming. I almost felt like a princess then being surrounded with all those lovely soft pink apple blossoms.

The hideout that lasted the longest from nine years old until I got married was an old graveyard tucked sweetly in the middle of a patch of woods. There was something about that quiet peaceful spot that I really loved. The soft moss, the violets in springtime, the way the sun shone into the graveyard. It was a great spot to read or simply spend time alone with my thoughts and dreams.

7. What's a place or space that motivates you?

When ever I step into our storage room I feel motivated to spend time sewing and doing other crafts. I have quite an assortment of projects waiting to be done. Another spot is the recliner when I'm up with the baby in the middle of the night and all sorts of story bits run through my mind for the books I'm working on.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I'm really looking forward to start deep cleaning the house. I didn't get the fall housecleaning done so I'm thinking I'll combine fall and spring cleaning starting in a few weeks.

Moments in 2011

2012-01-02T09:04:00.003-05:00

I think it's always interesting to look back over a year's worth of moments and see which ones stand out as worthy to be remembered fondly for years to come. This morning I asked the children what some of the things were that they liked the best last year and after hearing everything decided I would share some of it with you.

All three of them agreed that they loved when the power went out and after our assortment of candles were lit we would all sit in the living room to listen as their Daddy told them a continued story about the adventures of three curious children. Since he made it up as he went along we all enjoyed the many twists and turns of the story. We are waiting for the next power outage to learn what happens next.

Next up they agreed that our daily afternoon walks last spring and early summer where we would walk to the top of the hill behind the barn and along a little path in the woods where we would admire the latest blooming wildflowers and the pretty ferns. The conversations we had on our walks were a lot of fun as well.

The few days that our placid little creek that winds through the pasture before passing under the bridge and continuing it's journey to a much bigger river turned into a raging river sweeping everything in it's path away. Including a little calf. Thankfully the calf survived, the creek returned to it's normal size and we have only a handful of pictures and the memories to go with them to remind us of that flood.

Rosy and Sunbeam both agreed that all the baking and other cooking lessons they had was something they really enjoyed. Sailor added that eating the things they created was even better.

He thought the Saturdays where he could go to work with his Daddy were some of the moments he never wanted to forget.

The whole family enjoyed attending a baseball game even though our favorite team wasn't the one playing. Correction: After living in Missouri for over six years Sailor was a Cardinals fan and especially liked Pujols. We have hopes that since he was traded to another team that 2012 will be the year that Sailor will become a loyal Phillies fan like the rest of us.

~~~~~

One of the highlights of the year was when my Mom came to visit for several days. I couldn't have asked for a better time with her as we enjoyed working, talking, and laughing together like we used to years ago.

The children finally got to learn to know her and are already hoping she will come visit again and stay much longer.

They remembered the fun they had with the huge piles of leaves they raked together.

Growing up as an only daughter I have enjoyed capturing sisterly moments this past year. Here they were watching the Pilgrims Progress movie and Rosy was explaining the scary parts to Sunbeam to let her know they really aren't that scary. They had no idea I was listening to them

The whole family agrees that the very best of 2011 was welcoming our baby boy.

Related?

2011-12-30T09:35:00.000-05:00

I read somewhere that most Amish are related and have to marry cousins and second cousins. Are you and LV related?

No, LV and I are not related. As far back as I have been able to trace there are no connections. My parents and grandparents weren't related to each other either. LV's parents and grandparents can say the same about their marriages.

There are communities where there is a lot of intermarriage where there are hardly any options other than marrying your second cousin unless they are willing to marry someone from another community. So far I am not aware of any Amish community where it is acceptable to marry a cousin.

Canning Meat

2011-12-29T08:10:00.000-05:00

I have often wondered how Amish preserve meat since they obviously don't have freezers and yet do a lot of butchering.

Ah yes, the work involved in canning meat. Thanks for bringing back those memories of a week spent every winter in canning a year's supply of meat for the family.

We didn't do the actual butchering ourselves. After sending a fattened steer to the local butcher shop we used to come home with hundreds of pounds of ground beef and steak that needed to be taken care of as soon as possible.

For every 80 lbs of ground beef we would mix up:

40 Tbsp salt
20 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp black pepper
2 Tbsp garlic powder
1½ Tbsp ginger
1½ Tbsp paprika
1½ Tbsp ground sage

After making sure it was mixed well we would sprinkle it over the top of 80 lbs of ground beef and then mix it thoroughly with our hands until we were sure everything was seasoned evenly. Next it was packed into wide mouth quart jars and placed into a canner filled with cold water. Once the water started boiling we timed it for three hours and then removed the jars and let them seal before washing them off and placing them on shelves in the basement to be used when we were ready.

To use this we would slice it out of the jars and heat it often adding water and bringing to a boil and then making a gravy with it. It also made excellent sloppy joe if you chopped it up and added a few more ingredients. It was great to use to make sandwiches or if you were hungry between meals a cold slice hit the spot!

For "steak" we used to request very thinly sliced choice boneless cuts of meat from the butcher.

We would make a brine by boiling together:

1 gallon water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup salt

After letting it cool completely we put one cup of the brine into a quart jar and then dropped 2"x2" pieces of steak into the jar making sure not to pack it since we wanted brine to be able to be between each slice. It was then placed into a canner and boiled for two hours.

To eat it we would drain the brine and then fry the steak in butter and flour.

Corned beef was the most gross thing we made. It was very simple but something I never did after we got married. We used to take a big crock and pour a thick layer of salt in the bottom and place a layer of steak on top of it and then cover it with another layer of salt continuing this way until the crock was filled to the top. We would set in in a cold dark place usually in the basement for at least two weeks. In that time the salt would melt and the meat would turn pink. To serve we used to fish out several slices of meat wash it in clean cold water and then boil it for a few minutes. It used to be extremely tender but also salty. Not a big fan!

To can poultry we used to fill the jars with meat and sprinkle a teaspoon of salt on top before boiling for 3 hours.

Those were the main meats we canned although we usually made bologna, liverwurst, and a few other things.

A Thankful Christmas

2011-12-26T08:27:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas was especially sweet this year as we spent all day enjoying our little baby boy. Sailor is especially thrilled to finally have a brother!

Celebrating Easter Amish Style

2011-12-23T08:51:00.002-05:00

We are interested in the Amish celebration of Christmas, and Easter, too.
I shared how we used to celebrate Christmas while we were Amish here.

Christmas was my favorite holiday. Easter on the other hand was a long drawn out tiresome affair that as a child I used to be very glad once it was over.

In the community where I grew up the Easter holidays officially started on Thursday evening before Good Friday when we would have an extra big meal for supper and then a little snack yet before we went to bed. Extra care was given to make sure the house was in order.

On Friday morning we would get up, do what ever chores that needed to be done. Cows and other animals have this way of needing to be cared for no matter what else is going on. After chores were done we would wash up and then sit in the living room since Good Friday was a day of fasting it was more sober and solemn than a normal Sunday. We would read the Bible and the prayers in the little black prayer book and the German, Rules of a Godly Life book. There was no playing and any talking was done in hushed tones.

It was always a relief once the day was over. The next day always seemed to carry some of the previous days solemness with it as we hurried to do all the regular Saturday cleaning and preparing lots of food for the next two days so we wouldn't have to cook much.

Easter Sundays we would treat like any other Sunday except Mom would make soft boiled eggs for breakfast. Thankfully that was a once a year occurrence! If it was our church Sunday we would go to church. Otherwise we would stay at home and read, play games, write letters, and things along that line.

Easter Monday we again couldn't work it was a day treated much the same as any inbetween Sunday and by now we were all tired of having to sit around doing nothing.

Amish Stores in Somerset County

2011-12-22T07:33:00.000-05:00

I have read quite a bit of your blog already and have gathered that you grew up in Somerset County. I pass through that area occasionally but have never met any Amish people. Could you tell me where I could visit some of their stores or bakeries?

The Amish in Somerset County are not tourist oriented at all. You won't find a lot of stores or bakeries just by driving through the area even though there are seven church districts. The area is heavily wooded and most farms are tucked on hillsides and in valleys surrounded by lots of trees. While there are some Amish farms close to the roads many more are hidden from view.

As far as the stores go. There are Amish stores that sell fabrics and many other things that the rest of the Amish would like to purchase. How ever they are mostly known only to the Amish and often kept upstairs in their farmhouse in a spare bedroom.

I have not visited any Amish stores in the Somerset area for over seven years. There used to be one open to the public along Oakdale Rd in Salisbury but I have no idea if they are still in business or not. There was also a little bakery and variety store along Rockdale Rd in Meyersdale. In the twenty years of living in that area I never visited that store so I can't tell you just how it is or the quality of their baked goods other than that they must be doing something right to have been in business for so long.

There are a few Mennonite operated businesses in the area including Whispering Pines, a furniture business now owned by a Mennonite family after they purchased it from my parents. It is located along Route 669 in Springs.

The Amish Language

2011-12-21T06:45:00.002-05:00

Do all Amish speak German ?

If the Amish were to travel to Germany they would have a really hard time trying to understand conversations. Church services and the Bible they use are German but other than that they speak in what is know as Pennsylvania Dutch although some people refer to that language simply as Amish, Deitch, or Pennsylvania German.

There are some Amish that speak with a more Swiss dialect and the two groups Swiss Amish and mainstream Amish can not understand each other and have to speak English if they want to have a conversation.

Pennsylvania Dutch is for the most part an unwritten language and each community has some words that leave other communities scratching their heads. Even families in the same communities often have a word or two that seems to belong exclusively to them. After LV and I got married there were words that we had to decide how we would pronounce since his family had been used to one way while mine had pronounced it differently. I changed quite a few pronunciations and thankfully some of his weirdest ones were changed as well.

Amish Child Training

2011-12-20T08:46:00.000-05:00

Could you explain more of the process of how the Amish train their children to behave during such long church services? Did some moms take the children out for a time? Any other helpful tips? Also, along those lines, how do Amish women get everything done when they have very little ones?

I don't think any two families train their children exactly alike. And most babies went through a period of time when they really hated church, usually around the time they were learning to crawl and getting around on their own and the mothers had to spend time outside with them.

Thankfully that period of time usually didn't last very long. In our community when a baby was born and people came to visit the gifts they gave weren't ones you would find at a typical baby shower. But instead toys and special things the mother could use later to occupy her child during those long services.

A favorite that would probably have most baby "experts" gasping in horror was a cheerfully painted salt shaker with a dozen or so toothpicks. The mother would remove the toothpicks and then help her baby place them back inside through one of the holes on top until the baby had mastered the concept and tried to do it on it's own. There were other similar toys that kept them occupied quietly for quite a length of time and I never saw or heard of any babies that were hurt in any way playing with that type of thing under the watchful eye of their mother. Snacks were an important part as well.

In our family babies always sat on our lap at every meal for the entire meal from the day they were born until they could eat with a spoon on their own which I think helped them be used to being held quietly for longer periods of time.

About being able to get all your work done with a lot of little ones. I'm not sure that is even possible. Even though the children were really involved in almost everything I did there were days when the dishes were simply piled into the sink and had to wait until evening to be taken care of. The windows had little hand prints on them and toys were scattered across the floor while I tried to keep them clean and fed and get the most important things done. Since those days have passed already I can honestly say that those unfinished things and the clutter involved with little children was nothing compared to the fun we had at times laying on the floor coloring or putting little puzzles together while the dishes waited patiently in the sink.

The windows stay a lot cleaner now, the dishes get cleared away after every meal, toys hardly ever litter the floor, but every once in a while it is still fun to push schedules aside and simply take a day to do things we all enjoy.

Puppy Mills

2011-12-19T06:59:00.000-05:00

Is there truth about the Amish and "puppy mills"?
I've heard very bad things about the treatment and the connection to the Amish.

I have only heard a few tidbits through the grapevine about an incident in Lancaster involving an Amish family. I don't know the details or if the whole deal was blown out of proportion or not.

I do personally know an Amish widow who raises puppies to sell as her means of income but after visiting her and seeing how they are raised no one could possibly accuse her of doing anything wrong. She has ten dogs, each with a big comfortable shelter and a large pen where they can run around all they like. Everything is spotlessly clean and she spends hours everyday talking and playing with the dogs. Our children have really enjoyed their visits to her house where she always invited them inside the pens with her to play with the puppies and the mother dogs.

As far as I know there aren't many Amish people who raise dogs for sale.

Lately it seems all you hear is the importance of adopting dogs. I have nothing against finding a dog or puppy at an animal shelter but the people running those places aren't always the saints they would like to be portrayed as either.

Right now we don't have a dog but in the past we have adopted two dogs, and we have also bought a puppy from someone (non-Amish) that raised dogs.

Soon after LV and I got married and we lost our farm dog we went to the Humane Society in hopes to adopt one. We were both appalled at how those poor dogs were living and were feeling really good about rescuing one from those deplorable conditions and taking it home with us until we tried to go through all their red tape. Their adoption fee was ridiculously high, they wanted to know way too much personal information, and insisted we would have to take any dog we chose directly to a vet before they would even consider allowing us to think about taking it home.

We left without a dog and ended up buying a puppy somewhere else. I don't know if our experience was different from how it is at other shelters and agencies across our nation. I hope it is, because until they make adoptions easier there will always be people who would rather not try to deal with those agencies.

The Choice to get Married

2011-12-17T07:48:00.000-05:00

Do Amish parents choose who their children marry?

Will you be doing the same for your children once they are old enough to get married?

Amish parents do not arrange marriages for their children. If they have misgivings about the choice their child is making they will voice their concerns but it is ultimately the child's decision.

When LV asked to come calling I talked to my parents first before giving him the final answer. He talked to his parents as well and neither of them had any objections.

When he asked me to marry him I said yes, but still asked my parents for their blessing the following day.

In answer to your second question. Yes, we will be allowing our children to make their own choice once they reach that age.

Writing Project

2011-12-16T07:51:00.000-05:00

How is your writing project coming along and when can we expect to be able to buy your book?

I'm really looking forward to them and wish I could buy a boxful for Christmas gifts this year.

The writing project is coming along really well. The first book of the series is scheduled to be released in late summer 2012.

I'm feeling honored that you would like to buy them as gifts!

Will you be making your book available in other formats (such as audio) when it's done?

That decision is up to the publishers at Revell. So far I have not heard if they will be doing an audio but will certainly announce it on my blog if they do.

Amish Lifestyle

2011-12-15T08:38:00.000-05:00

Aside from your family and close friends, what sort of things do you miss from your Amish lifestyle?

99% of the time, not a thing. There are a few instances when I do miss little things like the delightful squeal that comes only from steel buggy wheels cutting through fresh snow when the temperature drops down to the single digits.

On the rare occasion when the power goes off I'm reminded how it was to never have to worry about that inconvenience.

I don't miss the dim noisy lamps we used to have, or the treks to the phone shanty when we needed to make a phone call, or having to pay someone $40. to take us to town, or the gas powered wringer washing machine and the all the hard work that came with doing the laundry. I don't miss the clothes, or really anything when it comes to the Amish lifestyle.

The reason we don't miss anything is partly because nothing forced us to quit any part of the lifestyle that we liked. We can still garden and preserve food like we used to. I can still use my sad irons if I want to and my host of cast iron cookware. We can still enjoy working and playing together as family, I have not felt the need to fill my house with pretty things that need to be dusted all the time.

If we talk about the bigger picture or community there would be a little more. Since the Amish applied the sermon on the mount directly to their lives there are things that I miss. There isn't as much trust and forgiveness found outside the Amish or plain circles and from what we have observed it seems people get their feelings hurt much more easily from simple little things.

Answering Questions

2011-12-14T10:02:00.000-05:00

Starting with today's post I will be working on answering the questions I received.

I am curious how you will be celebrating Christmas this year and how it differs from how you used to celebrate it while you were Amish.

While I was growing up Christmas was celebrated in a happy simple manner. We would get up a little extra early and the boys would go to the barn to help Daddy with the chores while I helped Mom prepare a special breakfast. Besides the usual fare we got to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate, an orange, bacon, and cold cereal.

While Mom and I cleared the dishes away the boys would heap the wood box to beyond overflowing to make sure they wouldn't have to carry wood the rest of the day. Daddy would sweep the kitchen and somehow it seemed we all finished with our chores at the same time.

Daddy would get the Bible and read the Christmas story to us and then it was time for us children to go upstairs and wait while Mom and Daddy got our gifts ready. We usually had handmade gifts that we dug out of their hiding places during that time so we could take them downstairs with us. Once we had them carefully in a bag we would all sit on one of the beds and read or talk until Daddy called us to come downstairs.

The youngest always got to go first and we would enter the kitchen to find little piles of gifts at every one's place at the table. Each one covered with Mom's prettiest dish towels. After we sat down we would take turns looking to see what was hidden under those towels. There was always a plate filled with nuts and candy and sometimes fruits. There would often be a new shirt or dress and usually a book or two and maybe some other small gift. There were times when there was another bigger pile in the middle of the table that would then be shared by everyone, like a new board game or two and more books.

The afternoon would be spent reading and playing together and in the evening we would enjoy sitting around the kitchen stove while eating freshly popped popcorn and apples.

After LV and I got married we enjoyed a special breakfast and exchanging gifts before we joined the rest of my family for a big Christmas dinner, and an afternoon of laughter, visiting, and playing games.

Since leaving the Amish we continue having a special breakfast. Usually with at least twenty-five different things. After the dishes are cleared away and the house in order we will all take turns reading verses to the Christmas story before we open the gifts. We don't do the kitchen table towel thing though. We wrap our gifts and have a small Christmas tree. We still take turns opening the gifts while everyone watches and then spend the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying each others company. Games and books are still a big part of the day and if there is enough snow; sledding and building snowmen are also fun.

So yes, there is a small difference in how we celebrate but the best part is still the same. The simple joy of spending a happy, relaxing, fun filled day with our family.

Taking More Questions

2011-12-13T09:09:00.000-05:00

There is something so cozy about being inside a nice warm house when the snow is piling up outside. It seems like the perfect time to take more of your questions. You can ask anything you like and then I'll work on answering them soon.

Monday Morning's Bits and Pieces

2011-12-12T09:33:00.001-05:00

I have enjoyed creating things with beads for quite a number of years already and when my sister-in-law gave this beaded baby rattle to Rosy I knew immediately that I wanted to learn how to make them too.

Life became busy and with moving several times I somehow can not find the instructions anywhere and my attempts to make them have not been exactly successful. So now I'm wondering if anyone knows where I could find instructions to make these? And yes, I realize they would probably not be deemed baby friendly but I would still love to make them even if it would never belong to a small child.

~~~~~

This summer we spent some time in the Lancaster area and while there we ate at Yoder's in New Holland. If you ever have a chance to eat there I would highly recommend you try it out!

I really enjoyed their breakfast selection. Among it was the best french toast I have ever tasted and I have been trying to find a recipe to recreate it ever since. Do you make a stuffed french toast that you would be willing to share the recipe?

~~~~~

We have often been asked about what we think of the changes we experienced when we left the Amish. While a lot of them came gradually we didn't really have a period of time where we experienced culture shock.

There is one little area though that I don't think I'll ever get used to. Let me explain. I have loved singing for as long as I can remember. Singing while I work, singing for hours every day, and during my teenage years I enjoyed spending two hours every other Sunday evening singing hymns with the rest of the youth. I still enjoy singing and listening to good music.

There is one kind of singing that I don't enjoy. The first time I heard it was a number of years ago, at church. The choir was going to sing as a special treat before the regular services started. I settled in to listen and enjoy the harmony and beauty of the words and voices until near the end of the song my ears were abused with unearthly screeching and caterwauling that totally ruined the whole experience.

I have sat through many choir performances since then and it seems every time they have to finish it off by screeching. Knowing that will be coming has me tense and unable to enjoy the lovely part and I always get the urge to squeeze my eyes shut and cover my ears once that last line or two is being sung.

I'm curious if I'm the only one who wishes church choirs would omit their screeching parts?

Passing it On

2011-12-09T07:16:00.000-05:00

If you are looking for a heart warming book to read during this Christmas season I would recommend that you pick up the latest from Suzanne Woods Fisher. Anyone who enjoys Amish fiction is sure to love this book and become attached to two different families when an unexpected winter storm brings them together at Christmas.

I have read my own copy twice already and when I heard that it's on sale right now I knew I have to pass on the opportunity for you to get a copy for yourself or as a great gift for that reader on your list. You can order it here.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-12-07T07:56:00.000-05:00

I have enjoyed reading other's answers to a fun weekly questionnaire for quite a long time already and finally decided that I would join in today.

1. Will you be hosting any house guests between now and the end of December? Does that thought make you happy or crazy? Do you do anything special for your guests to make them feel at home? How long should a house guest stay?

Other than having some friends drop in for a few hours at a time our December is looking very relaxing. I try to make guests feel welcome and at home, as for how long a house guest should stay.... I'll simply quote what Daddy used to say. "Always leave soon enough for your hosts to be sad to see you leave." In other words don't over stay your welcome.

2. Walter Elias Disney was born this week (December 5) back in 1905 ...what's your all time favorite Disney movie?

Personally, I am not a fan of Disney movies. We have watched several but they all seem to have an underlying message that we don't appreciate. Of the ones we have seen; Dumbo we enjoyed the most.

3. What was the last thing you purchased that you realized was a mistake after the fact?

A pair of shoes that I loved at the store but after a few hours of wearing them I wished I had never seen them.

4. What percentage of your Christmas shopping is done online?

This year probably around 20% with the remainder being done snail mail. No going to the mall or any of my favorite stores this year.

5. Amaryllis-snowdrop-poinsettia...your favorite winter blossom?

I really enjoy seeing a nice poinsettia. There's something so festive and cheerful about them.

6. What is one thing on your personal Christmas wish list? I think we all want peace on earth so let's make this answer an actual item.

What I would really love to have is a set of shelves built for our storage room so that I'd be able to organize everything in there.

7. If you could only use one word today what would it be?

That's really hard trying to narrow it down to only one word, a single phrase would be much easier. I think I'll have to go with fine. Which would work as an answer to a host of questions I get everyday.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

It seems my random thoughts all have a way of trailing down the same path and I find myself thinking of welcoming our baby.

The New Table

2011-12-06T07:55:00.001-05:00

After LV's Grandpa retired from farming he started a little woodworking shop. You could tell that his farming hands weren't experienced in making fine furniture but that didn't keep him from trying and with twelve children and many grandchildren he had grand ideas of making a lot of things for his descendants. Each family was to receive a table and a stand. Each grandson would get a roll top desk for his 16th birthday and each grand daughter a china cupboard, and if family had any special requests he would try to fulfill those as well. This goal would keep him busy for as long as his health allowed.

LV was only ten when his family got their table from Grandpa. They set it up and admired the nice glossy varnish and were pleased at how far it extended. With a dozen extra boards to add when visitors came it would make that everyone would get to sit around the table instead of having to wait or find some other place to eat.

For some reason having a new table made that setting it and clearing it off after meals was a little more fun as well.

Not long after the new table arrived LV's parents went on their monthly shopping trip and left their children at home. The teens had things they wanted to do outside but LV had his own ideas on how to spend the day. He loved drawing and had plans to draw a big semi just like one that he had seen in a magazine.

He spread all his supplies out in front of him on the new table, carefully studied the picture of the semi and sketched it. After it was done he decided to color it as well. Crayons seemed dull compared to how vivid he wanted the colors so after rummaging around he found his mother's supply of different colored permanent markers. Setting to work he carefully finished his picture and then held it up to admire it. But instead of feeling thrilled at how great his picture turned out he was dismayed to see that the marker had bled through the paper and now the new table had big ugly spots of red and black.

He quickly got soap and a wet dish cloth and tried to wash it off but when that didn't work he looked around for something else. A stainless steel scouring pad was sure to work. Rubbing it vigorously back and forth across the offending spots he was pleased to see them disappear. But now he was faced with an even greater dilemma. Not only had the spots come off, so had the layers of glossy varnish. The new table was ruined!

When his parents came home they weren't very happy to see what had happened when they had been gone. The table had to be used in it's ugly condition until his mother had time to refinish it.

Announcing the Winner

2011-12-05T06:36:00.001-05:00

I enjoyed taking a peek out of your kitchen windows. And now it's time to draw the winner for the sweet little Memory game. Turning to random.org ........ here we go .........

Comment # 52

65 Roses for Marcia said .......

I look out onto my back patio, retaining wall and woods.

Congratulations! Please email your address to me and I will get this shipped to you.

~~~~~

In answer to all the emails I received wondering where to get this Memory game. I shared the address where you can ask for a catalog in this post. Since it is owned and operated by Amish you won't be able to find them online. The two options available are visiting their store or shopping from their catalog.

Traditions

2011-12-02T08:34:00.000-05:00

There is still time to enter my current giveaway in previous post.

~~~~~

Last year one of my blogging friends shared a sweet tradition in their family where they wrap up Christmas books and then open and read one every evening until Christmas.

We won't be doing all our traditional things this year including having our usual 45 Day Fruitcake but, I think we will all enjoy this new one. As an added bonus the basket filled with those books looks so cheerful that I have to smile every time I see it.

What are some of the fun things you do each year for Christmas?

Little Giveaway

2011-12-01T10:31:00.000-05:00

Am I the only one who has finally learned to write 2011 and is now trying to grasp the fact that it's already December?

With Christmas just around the corner I'm happy to say that my shopping is done. Most of it from the comfort of our home. When ordering I happened to get an extra one of these sweet Memory games. Each set of pictures seems to be cuter than the next. And while I'm sure I could find a child who would enjoy it I decided to give you an opportunity to win one for yourself or to give it away.

If you would like to have one of these all you have to do is leave a comment telling me what you see when you look out your kitchen window.

To be entered twice post a link to this giveaway on your blog and then come back and leave another comment telling me that you did.

I will be drawing a winner using the Random generator on Monday Dec. 5th.

Disclaimer: The only compensation I receive from doing this giveaway is the warm fuzzy feeling I get from knowing someone else will get to enjoy this game.

Things You Really Didn't Want to Know

2011-11-28T09:17:00.000-05:00

The weirdest little things have a way of amusing me. Like this cow who decided to spend some time sitting when it's not the normal cow thing to do at all. As anyone who is familiar with cows will tell you a cow is hardly ever seen in this position. When they want to get up they straighten their hind legs first and then have an awkward forward lunge as they get to their front feet too.

Having lived on a dairy for a number of years I learned quickly not to be right in front of a cow when she wants to get up! There is an amazing amount of power behind that head if you happen to be in the way.

While I enjoyed living and working on a farm, most days I don't miss cows. My first introduction to a cow was when I was a little girl and Mom got Jenny, a little Jersey cow for her birthday. They are a lot more feisty than some of their cousins, don't give as much milk but what they do give is rich with lots of cream.

From the time we got Jenny to about six years ago there was always a cow in my life. Jenny was eventually replaced with another little Jersey and when we got married I was faced with becoming acquainted to an entire herd of Holsteins. They seemed huge compared to the Jerseys I had been used to. I soon learned that for the most part they are slow calm creatures of habit that made the little Jersey's look like scatterbrained teens.

But one cow among the herd was different. A Brown Swiss. Big, stubborn and very set in her ways. I alternated between liking her and detesting her. Her calves were equally as stubborn and we learned that if we ever want them to drink from a pail to never let them use a bottle. If they used one for even a few days they would rather have starved than tried drinking out of a pail. We never let one starve but were inconvenienced with having to bottle feed until they were weaned.

The only cows in my life now are beef cattle. They live happily in the pastures surrounding our house. I think I like them best because they don't belong to us and I don't have to worry about them. But I can still enjoy watching them graze, seeing their calves in spring, and like the picture shows, watching one of them pretending to be a dog.

2011-11-26T09:37:00.000-05:00

If you check the sidebar of my blog you may have noticed already that I have added a little button where you can sign up to receive a quarterly newsletter with all the latest about my books and bits of newsy news.

For Email Newsletters you can trust

Your email address will be safe and I can promise not to ever share or sell them.

Friends

2011-11-25T09:38:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday with a quiet day at home. We didn't have a turkey or a big extravagant meal. Other than our traditional Thanksgiving pudding the meal wasn't very Thanksgiving-y at all. But I'm not complaining about that. There will be other Thanksgivings in the years to come that we can make up for yesterday.

I could share a long list of blessings that were counted but I think I'll simply pick one and talk about it. Friends top my list of blessings. A person can never have too many friends and I consider myself very blessed indeed when it comes to friends.

First of all, I can call my Saviour, my friend. Without Him nothing else matters.

Next comes my husband. He's my best friend. He's everything and more than I had ever dreamed of.

Then there are those childhood best friends who know everything about you, the ones who stuck to our side no matter what happened. I will always be so grateful for those.

The friends that share our same views and values in life, the ones where you can sit comfortably and visit even if the windows aren't clean and there is a pair of dirty socks peeking out at you from under the sofa. The ones who don't mind all the odd little quirks about you.

The friends that you really don't know that well, but their smiles and brief conversations when you meet always leave you with a smile.

Then there are the friends that came as a result of this blog. A few that have become so close that it really feels as if we had known each other all our life.

When I think about friends there is one thing that comes to mind - the kind of friend I hope to be. One who is always ready to listen to what ever is being shared with out having a story to top or saying oh, I know exactly how you feel because I experienced so and so, something that isn't the same at all. One who knows when to simply listen and when to talk. I have been blessed with some friends like that and will always be grateful for their kind support.

There are so many different kinds of friends and I value all of them. And to all the readers of my blog, Thank-you for your friendship these past 2½ years!

Grafting

2011-11-22T10:43:00.002-05:00

In front of the big dairy barn there were two lonely rose bushes. One of them produced huge yellow roses and the other one a delicate pink. LV had a tender place in his heart for all living things and everyday he passed those bushes on the way to the barn he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them. They were so far away from the the dozen red rose bushes that marched in a neat line behind the house.

He wished there was something he could do for them so that they wouldn't be as lonely. Consulting an encyclopedia he read everything he could find about roses and when he discovered there was something called grafting he became excited. After doing all the limited research available he felt quite capable of giving it a try. He wasn't sure though what his Mom would think about the idea since he was only nine so he waited until one afternoon when his parents went to town.

Armed with a pruning shear and his head filled with grafting information he set to work. He carefully removed several branches from the red roses and grafted them to the yellow and pink bushes. He taped them carefully and now all that was left to do was keep an eye on them and hope that they would grow.

He wasn't disappointed. Those bushes readily accepted the grafts and the next year they produced a mixture of roses, beautiful big yellow ones, red ones, and best of all yellow roses that had red stripes running through them. His Mom realized something was going on and was quite pleased to learn that he had a successful grafting experience.

Today those two rose bushes are big and still each produce three different colors of roses all because a little boy didn't want them to be lonely.

Pumpkin Pie

2011-11-21T10:05:00.001-05:00

So far I have never had a pumpkin pie that I didn't like, but there is one that stands out above the rest. It may be a little more time comsuming to make but the end results are so worth it! It used to be one of our favorite pie while I was growing up. It even made it's way into the books I'm writing, in an unforgettable incident which I'm sure you will enjoy reading about later

With Thanksgiving knocking on the door it's the perfect time of year to make some. I was feeling overly ambitious on Saturday and actually managed to make these pie and then sought out my usual corner to rest and congratulate myself at my accomplishment. I think I understand now why my mother was so pleased with herself for baking 13 pie a few weeks before one of my brothers was born. And though I only made three it still felt like a major accomplishment!

Notice the layers?

Pumpkin Pie

1½ cup pumpkin

1½ cup white sugar

1½ cup brown sugar

4½ Tbsp. flour

1 tsp salt

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

4 eggs, separated

4½ cup milk

In a large bowl combine pumpkin, sugars, spices, salt, and flou. Mix well. Separate the eggs. Reserve the whites in a small bowl and add the yolks to your pumpkin mixture. Mix well. Add milk and mix again. Now beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold evenly into pumpkin mixture. Divide into three 9 or 10 inch unbaked pie crusts. I prefer using this recipe to make the crusts.

Bake in a preheated 350º oven for 45 minutes.

Delicious!

New Schoolmates ~ Part Two

2011-11-19T07:59:00.000-05:00

LV arrived at school well ahead of his brothers who were still patiently walking with the new children. He joined his friends out on the playground and was surprised how every one was looking forward to meeting these new children. That didn't really make sense. He had met them already and had not been impressed.

Teacher Hannah stepped outside to ring the bell and everyone hurried inside. LV looked up the road to see if he could see the others coming. There they were appearing over the last hill. They would never make it to school on time and his brothers would be tardy all because of those slow children. He went inside and sat at his desk. Teacher Hannah stood at the window at the back of the school house and watched as they drew nearer. The clock ticked loudly on the wall as every one was quiet and waiting. More than the usual two minutes had passed between first and second bell and still Teacher Hannah waited patiently. That wasn't really fair. She never waited on anyone else before she rang the bell. LV could see it already Mary Ann and John were going to be teacher's pets.

The school door opened and they stepped inside. Teacher Hannah went to welcome them and while Melvin and Vernon hurried to their desks LV watched as Hannah had to help Mary Ann out of her shawl. What a little sissy, she couldn't even dress herself. He turned away with disgust.

A moment later he was dismayed to find Hannah telling Mary Ann to sit in the desk directly across the aisle from him. How awful! He decided to ignore her and opened his desk and started working on one of his cardboard creations that he enjoyed so much during his spare time. As he worked he could almost feel her eyes on him. He glanced over and saw that she was indeed watching him with brown eyes that seemed to be much too big for her face. He stuck his tongue out at her. That would make her mind her own business instead of staring at him. It worked, she quickly looked away and got her reading book out of her desk and began reading it.

New Schoolmates

2011-11-18T09:42:00.000-05:00

LV's memories continued

Everyone seemed to be talking about the new families that were moving into the community. Four of them in only several weeks time. LV didn't pay too much attention to all the talk. It was boring and he had so much more interesting things to think and do and besides he wasn't very fond of strangers. He never knew what to say or how to act around them. Avoiding them was much more comfortable.

The first two families moved in. They were old, and didn't have any children unless you counted their Downs Syndrome girl. LV was relieved that he wouldn't be required to make any new friends. The other family was older too but they didn't have any children. This was starting to not be so bad after all. There were only two more families coming and he was hoping that they would all be old too.

The next family came. They were much younger and had two little children. They were still almost babies and wouldn't be going to school for a few more years. The last family arrived on a Monday morning and when LV's parents came home from helping unload their belongings and getting settled into their house his Mom approached them. "I need you boys to stop into the Swarey's home tomorrow morning and walk to school with their children so they know the way."

LV looked at his brothers this was terrible news. The last family had to come and mess everything up by having school age children. Melvin didn't seem to troubled at the news. Vernon didn't say much either but there was no way that LV wanted to have to stop in at those strangers house. He thought it wasn't necessary that all three of them had to do that when it only took one to show the new children the way to school. Melvin could do it very well on his own. Besides, he was the oldest.

His Mom wouldn't hear any of that idea and the next morning found all three of them on the front porch while Melvin knocked on the door. The woman that answered invited them inside to warm up while she helped her children get ready. She introduced them saying, "This is Mary Ann and John. What are your names?" Melvin and Vernon introduced themselves but LV's tongue seemed dry and he didn't say anything until Melvin gave him a nudge. "I'm LV," he said quickly.

After the children had been helped into their thick winter clothes it was time to go to walk to school. LV had never seen anyone walk as slowly as these children did. Melvin and Vernon didn't seem to mind as they walked along and talked to them. By the time they should have been arriving at school they had only walked about half of way. LV decided this was ridiculous. There was no way he wanted to be tardy and mar his perfect record for the year just because of these slow children. He started walking faster in hopes that he would get to school on time.

To be continued.

Molasses Crinkle Cookies

2011-11-16T10:24:00.000-05:00

It has been raining all morning which makes it the perfect time to bake some cookies. This time we decided to make these. I always think the lovely crinkled sugar sprinkled top enhance an already great cookie.

Molasses Crinkle Cookies

1¼ cup butter flavored Crisco

2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

½ cup molasses (your choice of white or dark, I used white this time)

4 cup flour

4 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

2 tsp ground ginger

Cream Crisco and sugar together. Add eggs and molasses and mix until smooth and creamy. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Using your hands shape the dough into balls slightly smaller than a golf ball. Pour ½ cup of white sanding sugar, or if you prefer regular white sugar into a little bowl. Place your dough ball into it and press to flatten. Place sugar side up on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake on middle rack in a preheated 350º oven for 10 minutes. Allow to cool for at least a minute before removing from cookie sheet.

Enjoy!

Christmas Shopping

2011-11-15T09:35:00.000-05:00

Not to make anyone panic, but did you realize there are only forty days until Christmas?

I usually like to have my shopping done early, that way I can sit back and enjoy the holidays with out the extra pressure of still having to find the perfect gift.

Other than our Christmas breakfast our celebration and gift giving is not extravagant at all. I have never enjoyed walking through stores trying to find something I liked because frankly, the things available did not appeal to me. We are not a barbie doll, action figure, electronic toys, and all the latest fads kind family in the least.

So I find myself turning to a few of my favorite catalogs from stores that have managed to wade through all the junk out there and select only the nicest things to sell. I decided to share the addresses of two of them today so that if you would enjoy browsing through one of their free catalogs you can send for one.

First up:

A.C. Sales Company

7792 Frease Road

Fredericksburg OH 44627

They offer a wide variety of household items, toys, games, books and other hard to find items. Almost anything you could think of.

Next up:

Yoder's Drieds & Gifts

7062 CR 77

Millersburg OH 44654

They offer the same kind of things A.C. Sales does but many different varieties plus they also include a craft section.

That Type of Day

2011-11-14T10:12:00.000-05:00

It's a dreary, drab, colorless type of day that November brings so often. The perfect type of day to go digging through a sewing closet and tackling some fun projects that have been tucked away for a day like this.

It's that type of day that makes me feel like finding a nice puzzle to put together or play some board games that haven't been touched for a long time.

That fun, lazy type of day when you feel like ignoring dust bunnies and having fun instead.

It's the type of day that makes me feel like brewing some hickory nut tea and enjoying it in some cozy corner while reading a good book and snuggling under a warm blanket.

I don't think I'll be doing any of that though. Hickory nut tea isn't even possible since I don't have any nuts.

It used to be a rare treat for us around Thanksgiving. Hickory nuts are a pain to gather and pick out of their shells, but the flavor used to be so worth it that one of these years I will have to see if there isn't a tree tucked somewhere in the woods that I can borrow a few hands full of nuts before the squirrels cart all of them away.

After toasting the nuts we used to chop them up really fine, just a little coarser than a powder and then cover them with water and simmer until the water is a nice golden brown. We would add several cups of milk and sweeten it with brown sugar. Once it was nice and hot it would be divided into small tea cups and served. The little nut bits floated on top in a deliciously tantalizing fashion. I could never make my cup full last long enough!

Good-bye Inspector

2011-11-12T09:30:00.000-05:00

Occasionally during the summer when I have a lot of fresh ripe fruit on hand I have a slight problem with fruit flies but, I usually get them under control with in a day or two.

This past month we having been battling fruit flies beyond what I had ever experienced before. No amount of making sure there was never any food left anywhere and keeping things sparkling seemed to help. And the place where they seemed to like living the best was in the bathroom. Which was very disturbing to me.

After googling for a solution the most common answer that popped up was that they were living in the drain and that boiling water should resolve the problem. I immediately got a big pot of water boiling and poured it down the drain. I could tell that it helped some but in a few days it was a bad as ever.

After more investigation I started blaming it on the bottle of hand soap we were using. Inspector Hector Dirt Detector was a new thing we had picked up over a month earlier. The children thought it was fun to use since it had these funny little particles in the soap that were supposed to change color once their hands were clean. To test my theory a little more I put a few drops on the side of the sink and it wasn't long before fruit flies were swarming all over it.

I put a new bottle of soap out and our fruit fly problem has vanished. Inspector Hector will not be welcome back into our house again!

Instructions from Rosy

2011-11-11T09:01:00.000-05:00

After receiving numerous requests for the recipe for these little turkeys I asked Rosy to write the instructions down since we had not used any having only studied a picture and tried to copy them. She set right to work and I must say I love her instructions even better than the finished turkeys.

So here you go Rosy's step by step instructions.

Turkey Candy

Step 1. Get all the supplies you need and spread them out in front of you.

You will need:

1 pack of double stuffed Oreos

1 bag candy corn

1 bag Reese's peanut butter cups

1 box malted milk balls (Whoppers)

a little bowl of frosting

a pair of scissors

toothpicks

And now you are ready to begin

Step 2.

Open your pack of double stuffed oreos and remove two. Take the top off of one of them and eat it or give it to your sister to eat. Leave the second oreos top on.

Step 3.

Place the Oreo that lost it's top in front of you with the frosting side turned up. Take your second Oreo and make it stand on it's edge and push it into the edge of the frosting of the first Oreo making a little chair.

Step 4.

Open the bag of Reese's peanut butter cups. Take one out. Unwrap it and place it in front of you. Take the scissors and snip the very edge off of one side. Now take a toothpick and dip it into your bowl of frosting and paint the cut side of the peanut butter cup. Stick it on the Oreo's frosting (the chair seat)with the bottom against the other Oreo (the chair back)

Step 5.

Open the box of malted milk balls. Get one out and paint the bottom with frosting. Stick it on top of the peanut butter cup.

Step 6.

Open the bag of candy corn, Get out one corn and cut the yellow top off. Cut the top in half and paint both pieces on the bottom with frosting and stick it in the Oreo in front of the peanut butter cup to make the turkey feet. They don't really look like feet close up.

Step 7.

Take two more candy corns and cut the yellow tops off. This time use the orange and white part. Paint one side with frosting and stick it on the sides of the peanut butter cup to make arm wings for the turkey. Put your candy corn scraps on a pile or in a little dish.

Step 8.

Take another candy corn and cut the white tip off and then cut it in half. Paint one side and stick it on the malt ball to make eyes. Next use the same candy corn and snip a little of the orange part off to make the beak.

Step 9.

Fill the Oreo in the back with frosting. On the top and halfway down it's side.

Step 10.

Get six candy corns out of the bag. Snip the white tips off push the tip less candy corns into the frosting you had put in the Oreo to make the tail of the turkey.

Step 11.

Divide all the candy scraps with your brother and sister and then sit and eat them while you admire the turkeys you made.

Step 12

When you want to eat the turkey fill a cup of milk because it is very sweet.

Candy Turkeys

2011-11-10T08:08:00.000-05:00

Several weeks ago we found a picture of cute little turkeys made with oreos and candy. Rosy thought they looked like they would be easy and ever so much fun to make. She showed the picture to LV and then we all kind of forgot about them until LV came home from town with all the required ingredients. To say that Rosy was happy about it seems a little understated.

Last evening she set to work to try and create some little turkeys. I thought they turned out cute! They have been declared too cute to eat and so far they have been set on a shelf in the kitchen to be admired.

Search Phrases

2011-11-08T08:53:00.000-05:00

Occasionally I like to check how people find my blog. Most google searches are for my blog name the second most popular way is when people search for Amish movies.

There are a host of others as well, a few more in the top ten are: why do Amish burp to show appreciation for their food, which then thankfully leads them to a post that dispells that myth. A lot of people stumble across my blog when they are curious whether or not the Amish listen to music.

There are always some slightly unusual phrases that make me chuckle and wonder what my blog has to do with that. But yesterday I found the most disturbing of all.... Home address for a joyful chaos blog writer. Thankfully there was no address anywhere on my blog for them to find. I have no idea what the intentions were behind that search but it did give me a creepy unpleasant feeling.

The Pines

2011-11-07T06:39:00.001-05:00

My parents owned a woodworking business which they had named Whispering Pines. The name was fitting because of all the pine trees that surrounded our house.

The business kept us very busy but we always took time right after lunch to enjoy looking at all the mail we had received. After there was an article printed in the WOOD magazine about us, we got a lot of letters from people who had enjoyed it and wanted to learn more about us and the furniture we made. The local post office made sure we got the mail even though our address had been printed wrong in the magazine.

Then there was always a stack of catalogs that were fun to leaf through and most days brought a letter or two from some of our friends.

There was always the junk mail pile as well that we looked at a little bit and threw away but, there was one item in that category I have never forgotten.

An official looking envelope addressed to Whispering Pines. When Daddy had read it he started chuckling and then passed it around so the rest of us could read it as well. It was from a company that printed genealogy books and they were happy to inform us that the latest Pines family book had been released and you, Mr. Whispering Pines are in it they claimed.

We talked about how ridiculous their claim was and how it would be fun to see who they thought the parents and siblings of our business were but, rather than wasting money on what we knew would be false information we pitched it into the trash. That little instance alone has made me leery of any offers we ever receive in the mail

Friday Night

2011-11-05T08:22:00.001-04:00

I have not been taking very many pictures at all during these past few months but last night when LV and Sunbeam were saying their good-byes I happened to have the camera on the end table beside my chair.

And here it is. Sunbeam had fun picking out her own outfit including the little pink bracelet for her turn going out with her Daddy for a special night of father-daughter time.

She came home excited about the shopping they did, even though it was mostly grocery. And then every little detail of the meal they had shared right down to how swirly her ice cream was. She saved most of her drink to bring home so the others could enjoy it too.

Next week will be Rosy's turn again. I think I'll have to take a picture of that too. These little moments pass so quickly and though I'm sure they will remember their special times with their Daddy I want more than just thought memories. I would give a lot to be able to have a picture of my Daddy and me together when I was a little girl!

The Ride

2011-11-04T08:48:00.001-04:00

LV's Memories

    Carl was an older man that lived in the neighborhood. LV and his brothers didn't know him personally but since he lived next door to some of their best friends they heard about him often. Many times when the weather was bad Carl used to give their friends a ride to school with his pick up truck.

One cold windy winter morning as LV and his older brothers were walking to school they could hear a vehicle approaching from behind them. It stopped next to them and Carl rolled his window down and asked them if they wanted a ride.

   They hopped on the back of his truck and sat with their backs against his cab and were on their way to school. LV was thinking that this was working out nicely. It was cold that morning and he would be getting to school so much faster this way.

      His brothers started talking. "We don't really know Carl," said Melvin. "
    "And Dad and Mom have always told us to never accept rides from strangers." added Vernon.
     "How do we know he isn't kidnapping us?" asked Melvin.

     LV was suddenly not feeling as happy about this ride. How awful that they had accepted a ride from a man that they didn't know very well at all especially after Dad and Mom had warned them never to accept rides from strangers.

     "If he doesn't stop at the school house we will simply have to jump off the back," said Melvin wisely.

      That was all LV needed to hear. It was time to jump. Clutching his lunchbox firmly he got up and jumped off the side of the truck. He stumbled and almost fell and got up feeling triumphant that they had outwitted the bad man. It was then that he noticed his brothers were still sitting on the back of the truck and just disappearing from sight over the hill.

    He started running after them as fast as he could calling. "Wait for me! Wait for me!"

    Carl had seen LV make that flying leap off the side of the truck. He backed up to make sure that he was okay and then told them that they had better walk the rest of the way to school.

    Melvin and Vernon got off the truck and scolded LV for jumping. They hadn't wanted to have their ride cut short. LV didn't think that was very nice for after all they were the ones who had suggested that they might be getting kidnapped and he had done the only logical thing in such a circumstance.

    Carl still gave their friends rides to school often but he never offered them a ride again.

Feelings

2011-11-02T09:56:00.000-04:00

Last night I was feeling about as low as I can recall feeling in years. Not being able to sit at the computer for longer than a few minutes I was doing all my writing for my second manuscript from the recliner in the corner of our living room.

But yesterday afternoon I lost it all. And the very thought of having to rewrite everything that I had spent so many hours on already was almost too much. Maybe I over reacted partly because I'm already at the stage of resembling a whale that waddles like a duck and this was the last straw. I was feeling all kinds of chaotic but the joyful part was missing.

This morning the manuscript is still just as gone as it was last night but at least I am feeling much better. It's beautifully sunny outside, everyone is healthy, and I have more blessings than I can count. Feelings and emotions are such fickle things and I don't want to let troubles and inconveniences rob me of the joy of life. So with a song in my heart I am ready to start tackling my writing project again.

Sleep Walking

2011-11-01T10:51:00.000-04:00

I have often wondered what causes sleep walking. While I was growing up I used to talk in my sleep a lot and it kept on growing worse to the point where I did weird things in my sleep with only faint memories of doing them the next morning after seeing misplaced items in my room or wearing something in an odd way.

The night I remember the clearest was when I woke up shivering on the top of our kitchen roof. I have never enjoyed heights and crept my way cautiously back to my open bedroom window and hopped back inside. From that point on I always made sure my windows were latched before going to bed in hopes that I wouldn't do a repeat and maybe even fall off the roof.

Talking and walking in my sleep have both disappeared since we got married which makes me very happy. It is rather unsettling to be doing things without being aware of doing them.

Have you ever walked in your sleep? And no, staggering into the kitchen for a cup of coffee in the morning does not count as sleep walking.

Finding our "Home"

2011-10-31T10:44:00.001-04:00

After sharing our search for a church we could call home when we left the Amish I had quite a few people asking what our final decision was and thought I would share a little more about that today.

After I was physically unable to travel the long distance to the little Mennonite church we had been attending we chose to attend a local church since we had been greatly enjoying all the messages we had been listening to on CD from them.

Once I was able to make that long trip we again traveled the one hundred and fifty miles north to attend that church. We liked the people the message was fine but it seemed as if the whole forenoon we were wondering why we were there instead of the other church. And on the way home we realized just how ridiculous our thought train had been once again. Thinking that we have to join a Mennonite church when Jesus isn't interested in denominational name tags. Having faith and trust in Him and being born again was all that mattered not a name tag.

That was the last Sunday we attended the little Mennonite church and we were so happy to have finally found a church we could call our own. Up until then we had never known it was possible to love a church that much.

When we moved half way across the country last year the hardest part of the move was leaving that church. It was the first time in our life when a move was not made because of church or church matters.

We are settled in now and have found a church but we still enjoy listening to sermons that our church sends to us each month. So now I guess you could call us blessed to be able to enjoy two churches.

Outside My Window

2011-10-29T09:19:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again. This morning when I looked out the window this is what I saw and I had to help the children do a happy dance. I have always enjoyed winters especially if they gave us a lot of snow.

I know this isn't a very popular opinion, but I would take winter over summer anytime! And now if you will excuse me I'm going to put on some Christmas music to listen to while I watch the snow pile up outside.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-10-27T09:37:00.001-04:00

We enjoy pumpkin related desserts year round but especially in the fall when it seems pumpkins and apples are begging for attention.
These pumpkin cookies have been making a regular appearances with several batches being made each week. We enjoy them that much!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter flavored Crisco
3 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups pumpkin
5cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
pinch of cinnamon
2 cups chocolate chips

In a large bowl combine Crisco and sugar. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin. Mix. Add remaining dry ingredients (except chocolate chips) and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by spoonful on cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Bake on middle rack in a preheated 350 oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for one minute before removing from cookie sheet.

These are delicious with or without the chocolate chips.

Enjoy.

Lessons from Rambo

2011-10-26T08:15:00.000-04:00

Over the years we have had a lot of animals, each with their own unique temperament. There was Sally the cow who always wanted to claim every calf that was born. She would march into the barn at the front of the herd when ever there was a new calf in the barn so she could spend a few minutes nuzzling it while the rest of the cows found their stalls.

There was Dolly, the cow that was so greedy and could stick her tongue out amazingly far to swipe her neighbors choice bits of feed while she ignored her own generous pile in front of her until she was sure she couldn't possibly swipe any more from her neighbors and then was full and satisfied before she got all of her own rations eaten.

There was Buddy, the horse who loved children so much and would do everything he could to unlatch the gate and spend time with them in the yard.

Alexander, the cat who loved catching a ride every evening on one of our horse's backs. He would climb up the side of the stall and hop on the back of one of our most gentle horses every evening when it was time to take him to the water trough and into a special pen where he could spend the night more comfortably. Alexander would then hop off his back and snuggle into the straw next to the horse. I really wish we would have had a camera back then!

Then there was Rambo the pig. We had pigs before without any problems who went about their life being content with all the good food they got to eat and sleeping and rooting and doing pig things. Rambo was different from the beginning. He was a squealer which in itself wasn't that bad but he was also mean, almost evil. He would have liked nothing better than taking a chunk out of anyone who dared step inside his pen.

One week LV was gone on business. Everything was going fine, the calves weren't giving me any problems, I was keeping Rambo's troughs filled with food being careful to stay outside his pen while filling them. Everything was going smoothly and I was almost ready to congratulate myself when Sailor came running into the house saying that Rambo is gone.

My heart sank as I went out to the barn and discovered he had somehow managed to dig a hole under the side of his pen big enough to escape. Following the trail he had made rooting across the driveway into the pasture and into the woods I finally caught a glimpse of him snorting and rooting happily under some trees. Pigs aren't the easiest creatures to herd to begin with and since Rambo was not anywhere near to being classed a pet I knew I was in for a challenge to get him back inside the barn. I could try the lasso on him but he was big and strong and I knew even if I managed to get him I wouldn't be able to pull him back where he belonged.

Nothing I tried was working as he went deeper into the woods. I remembered several of our neighbors had said if I needed anything at all while LV is gone to let them know. Now seemed to be a good time to take them up on that offer but after trying to call them and no one answered their phone I was back to square one.

Sailor was following me every where talking and worried we would never be able to get Rambo back and wondering what we were going to do. I knew there was no way I could possibly do this on my own so I said. "Let's pray." And we did. Nothing fancy at all but it came from the very depths of my heart as I said "I can't do this God, but I know You can." I walked back to the woods again. This time Rambo didn't run away but stood patiently as I walked up to him. I asked him to come and turned around and started walking back to the barn. Rambo was a changed pig and followed right behind us as if he were a pet kitten. All the way back to the barn and into his pen. There had never been a pig more tame or gentle anywhere.

I closed up the pen and patched the hole he had dug to make sure it never happens again. We went back to the house amazed and thankful at the direct answer to prayer we had received.

I have thought about it a lot since that happening. We have seen many answered prayers already but this is one of the few that the children still cherish and love talking about. I love those little faith builders and am glad our children have witnessed prayers being answered right before their eyes. It's something they can remember for the rest of their lives.

Monday Morning

2011-10-24T09:48:00.000-04:00

I love how refreshed I feel on Monday mornings and ready to tackle another week. There is something about having an entire day of rest and worship that does more for me as an energy boost and renewed focus and enthusiasm for life than anything else I know.

Yesterday was not quite as relaxing as a regular Sunday usually is when we discovered that true to the nature of old farm houses in fall our house somehow failed to keep out a little field mouse which in turned gleefully scampered across the kitchen floor and disappeared under the stove. The rest of the day I could almost feel the little creature run up my leg which is a very unsettling and not at all relaxing way to be feeling.

We have not caught it yet so I'm hoping it went back outside.

~~~~~

On a brighter fallsy note. It is that time of year when pumpkins are in season and many delicious pumpkin related recipes are being trotted out.

We love pumpkin desserts and have been enjoying Rosy's version of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. Another batch will be made today so hopefully I'll remember to take a picture of the finished product and share the recipe later this week.

~~~~~

We have started something a little different recently. We have memorized verses as a family for a while already but since we all enjoy poetry we decided to try memorizing a poem every week. I like finding fun catchy ones for the children that are amusing, touching, or something that holds their attention more than simply lines that rhyme. For example a poem about a hornets nest and a little boy who decided to get rid of it with less than desirable results. And another one where a little girl couldn't remember the answer to 6x9 and called her doll 54 until she thought she would never forget it until the day in school when she gave her dolls real name when the teacher asked her what 6x9 was.

Next week we will be learning "When the Frost is on the Punkin" by James Whitcomb and then I'll have to do more searching for some more that we like.

Misconceptions

2011-10-22T10:36:00.001-04:00

There are a lot of preconceived ideas and misconceptions about the Amish out there. One of the main ones is about rumspringa. But I won't be talking about that today.

Recently I had someone try to tell me a whole row of things that they know to be facts about the Amish and I was left smiling on the inside and wondering where ever they had come up with all that.

Among other things she made the remark that she was reading about someone visiting the Amish and they had toast for breakfast and how she immediately knew that wasn't true because the Amish don't have electricity.

The electricity part she got right. But the toast part. No.

We used to enjoy toast regularly while we were Amish. While growing up and the first few years of our marriage I made toast on a kerosene stove by placing a piece of bread directly on top of the burner. The flame was more than 12" away and the heat toasted the bread nicely. After turning it over and toasting the other side it was ready for butter. A lovely piece of toast made without the aid of electricity.

Another way we made toast, especially during the winter was placing several pieces of bread into the oven for a minute or two and then place it directly on the stove top to be toasted a delightful brown. Putting it into the oven first made that there weren't as many crumbs that would stick to the stove top.

Later when we moved to a community that had gas stoves we still enjoyed toast. There was a rack contraption that could be set over the burner and with the burner on low it worked quite well. And there was always the option to make a fried toast.

I'm sure Amish aren't the only ones that make or have made toast without an electric toaster. What methods have you used already?

A Favor

2011-10-20T11:10:00.001-04:00

As many of you know I have an aunt with Downs Syndrome. You can read more about her here. Her birthday is coming up on November 5th and I would love to have her mailbox filled with cards.

If you would like to help make that a reality send me an email and I will send you her address.

Picking Rocks

2011-10-19T10:38:00.000-04:00

A continuation of LV's memories

LV had turned four which was ever so much older than three and he was sure that he would now be able to keep up with his older siblings so much better.

There was a new church district starting 12 miles away and his parents decided to help it get started. They found a piece of bare land and made plans to build a large farmhouse and dairy barn as well as all the other buildings that they needed on a nice farm.

LV couldn't help but wonder why they called it bare land since it didn't look bare to him. There were fields covered in tall grass and several different patches containing several acres of woods.

It was fun watching the buildings grow but there wasn't much for a little boy to do except watch and play with the scraps of wood.

Between working on the buildings his Dad plowed some of the fields to plant corn. Since they were new there were lots of rocks and he decided to take several days to pick up rocks. He said LV could help them if he wanted to and he jumped at the chance. He was finally old enough to be able to help work in the fields.

While his brothers were lifting large rocks and tossing them on the box wagon LV was running around picking up stones that were more his size. He spied another stone and ran around the corner of the wagon just as his brother Mervin tossed another rock. It hit the side of LV's head knocking him down.

Sitting up he could feel and see blood gushing down his face. His Dad quickly picked him up and ran to find Mom. Together they cleaned him up and decided the gash didn't require stitches. After getting bandaged he once again had to stay with Mom while the rest went back to picking rocks.

The scar remains as a reminder of that day

Lists

2011-10-17T10:48:00.001-04:00

These past months have been, let's say interesting. I haven't been able to keep up with everything on my own so with the help of lists and eager helpful children things have kept on rolling along quite nicely.

The thought of handing the children a list of things that need to be done wasn't very appealing to me and with a little thought I happened upon an idea that works very well.

Here's an example of what a list looks like.

Sweep kitchen floor
Straighten rugs
Stand on a chair and sing your favorite song
Eat three grapes
Make your bed
Say something nice to your sister/brother
Wash your nose
Make sure there is nothing on couch besides the cushions
Clean vanity
Wash your hands
Read a chapter in the book you are reading
Dust livingroom furniture
Draw a picture of a butterfly

Adding a wide variety of odd little things to their lists have made them fun and they often ask me to make another list for them to do. A win-win for all of us!

Thoughts on Squirrels

2011-10-14T09:43:00.000-04:00

I feel blessed to be able to look out the window and see a waterfall. It is looking especially nice this fall since it's framed in gorgeous brilliant orange and yellows. This picture was taken several weeks ago just as the leaves started turning and while I would love to show you what it looks like this morning I don't want to step outside in the rain to take another picture.

Instead I took one of the little red squirrel that was busy gathering walnuts by our backdoor this morning.

We see chipmunks often but it is a very rare occasion when we actually get to see a squirrel. They are so much fun to watch. The walnuts were almost as big as this little guy and I had to admire his plucky can do attitude.

I think I may have to store this little moment away in my memory for future reference when things in life look overwhelming or impossible. If a tiny squirrel can tackle a huge walnut surely we can handle what ever gets placed in our path of life as well.

Customers

2011-10-13T10:30:00.000-04:00

My baby brother recently turned sixteen. I was old enough to go ahead with all of the work while Mom had the regular six weeks of rest after he was born.

It was an interesting challenge trying to juggle all the housework on my own and on top of that take care of all the customers that came to our store. I don't remember most of them since everything was ordinary enough as they wandered through the showroom trying to decide how to order their own unique custom made furniture or quilts.

There is one though that remains burned in my memory. One Saturday afternoon a young college student came to the store. He seemed very ill at ease as he pulled out a half finished quilt top from a garbage bag. His Grandma had passed away before she had completed it and he really wanted the quilt and wondered if we could finish it for him. He was blushing and stammering the whole while and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him as I looked at everything and told him what it would cost to finish sewing the top and then getting it quilted.

He agreed to the price and I was jotting down all the details when he reached out to tuck some of the quilt patches back was not at all what he had intended to do as he hastily withdrew his handinto the bag. For some reason I thought he wanted to shake hands to seal the agreement or something so I shook his hand.

It was then that I realized it was not at all what he had intended to do as he withdrew his hand as if I had just loaded him with germs and went hurrying out the door with a beet red face. I could have sunk through the floor myself.

Once the quilt was done we called him but he never did come to pick it up. And for the longest time I was sure that it was my fault because I had embarrassed him too badly.

Did You Say Fence?

2011-10-11T10:06:00.000-04:00

LV's memories continued.

Dad and Mom had to go somewhere and couldn't take my brother Vernon and me along. They made arrangements for us to stay with their friends Perry and Alma.

Perry and Alma loved children but didn't have any of their own and were always happy to babysit. It wasn't quite as fun for us though since they didn't have much for us to do or play with.

On this particular day we were following Alma and helping her the best we could with her work. After lunch she decided it was time to go gather eggs. Vernon and I both enjoyed gathering eggs and happily tagged along after her. It didn't take long for the basket to get filled with eggs as we checked all the nesting boxes. I was always sorry when the last egg had been found and we had to wait for a whole day before it was time to gather more. I looked around the chicken house and happened to see several eggs in the corner. It looked as if they had been there for quite a while already but I got them to add to the basket any way.

Alma looked at the eggs and decided they weren't fresh enough to take to the house. She gave them to Vernon and me and said, "Go throw them over the fence."

(I have to stop here and insert that in Pennsylvania Dutch fence is pronounced fence, and a window is pronounced fence-tah.)

Vernon and I looked at each other not sure that we had heard right. Why would Alma want us to throw eggs at a window? Vernon asked her which one and when she said it doesn't matter we headed outside with our eggs. This was going to be fun.

We walked all around the house trying to decide which window we wanted to throw the eggs at. After we settled on one we both threw our eggs and watched as they broke and slithered a slimy trail of yolk down over the glass. Alma had come around the corner of the house just in time to see the eggs hit the window and let out a gasp and immediately went to fix water to wash it off.

She explained then that she had said fence, not fence-tah. We felt sorry for what we had done but at the same time there had been a delicious thrill of watching those eggs smash against the window that it had been worth it.

Winner

2011-10-10T10:43:00.000-04:00

I enjoyed hearing all the things that you would enjoy learning how to do. One of the interesting things about life is no matter how old we are there are always things to learn and I'm already looking forward to adding many more things to my list of things that I can do.

But without further ado. Here is the winner.

Comment # 12

Nancy said .....
There are so many things that I would like to learn! I want to become better at spinning right now. Thanks for the opportunity to win this book!

Congratulations Nancy! Please email me with your address and I will get the book mailed to you.

Time for a Giveaway!

2011-10-08T07:49:00.000-04:00

Our family loves reading and we have accumulated a large assortment of books for our home library that keeps continuing to grow.

Yesterday Rosy boxed up several hundred books that we had in our living room to exchange with others that were waiting patiently in our storage room for a time like this. Among the ones that were being packed away I noticed this book.

The Prairie Girl's Guide to Life

It's filled with a host of instructions, written in a very pleasant engaging way on how to do anything from, making candles and perfume, growing a garden and preserving food, baking pie and bread, to almost anything you could think of to live a more simple life.

I found it interesting and thought you might too. If you would like to have a chance to own this book leave a comment telling me something that you would like to learn how to do. It can be anything at all from boiling water to sky diving.

I personally would love to learn how to crochet. So far I have been terrible at any attempts I have made at it.

As always if you want a second entry place a link to this giveaway on your blog and come back and leave another comment telling me you did.

I will be choosing a winner using random generator on Monday October 10th.
Disclaimer: The only compensation I receive from doing this giveaway is the warm fuzzy feeling I get to be able to give someone this book.

Indian Summer

2011-10-06T09:55:00.000-04:00

We are enjoying what people in this area call Indian summer. We had snow flurries last weekend but things have warmed up since then and the weather is absolutely delightful right now. I would love to be able to spend time outdoors but since I am basically confined to a certain spot in the house that isn't an option.

The children are enjoying raking leaves in the evenings after school. They have the perk of being able to enjoy the piles they create which is something I never got to do as a child. We had a lot of pines and other evergreens around our house and a giant horse chestnut tree. Raking all the prickly nuts, pine needles, and the few chestnut leaves together never made a pile that you wanted to jump into.

Did you get to enjoy playing in leaves when you were a child?

Vinegar

2011-10-05T08:14:00.001-04:00

Last year, shortly after we had moved to our new home some circumstances arose that required us to be out of state for quite a while. At first we had thought we would only be gone for several weeks at a time and only took things along to make that we could survive. An air mattress, a card table and five folding chairs, and enough blankets for everyone.

We arrived at our empty house and settled in as much as possible with minimal comforts of a real home. The local library became a very important part of our life, and days were spent reading and playing. There wasn't much to do since there was almost nothing to keep clean and organized. Preparing meals was interesting since I didn't want to buy an entire kitchen worth of things to work with. I had enough things to use that we managed nicely.

As things turned out instead of being there only several weeks at a time we had to stay for almost six months. During that time the children started with the sniffles and I could see us all dealing with a cold. I didn't have any of my usual things on hand to give to them. What I did have though was a gallon of vinegar.

I went ahead and filled a glass with water and poured a healthy splash of vinegar into it and handed it to them to drink. They liked how it tasted and much to my surprise within several hours there was no more signs of a cold on the way. From that point on at the slightest hint of a sniffle, sneeze, or sore throat we reached for the vinegar.

We have back to the comforts of a real home now for almost a year, but vinegar has remained a very good friend of ours. It's well over a year since any of us have had a cold and I'm hoping we can continue that way. It will be interesting to see what happens since another cold season is upon us.

A Preacher's Son

2011-10-04T08:46:00.001-04:00

Having a good dog is a big part of any little boy's life especially if he is living on a farm. The first dog I had was a big English Shepherd named Queen.

She liked children and I liked when she followed me around where ever I went. There was one place though that she couldn't follow me and that was to church.

When ever we got to church I had to get off the buggy with Mom and my sister Lydia and go inside with them instead of going out to the barn with Dad and my brothers like all the other little boys did with their Dads. Having to stand with all the women and listen to their chatter before church would have been so much better if I could have been petting my dog.

When it was time to go find a seat I had to sit with Mom. Sitting next to her on the bench I would watch as all the men and boys would file into the church house and find their seats. I thought it must be really nice to be able to sit with my Dad like the other boys did but I couldn't because he was one of the ministers. He had been ordained a few months before I was born so that was all I had ever known.

Some Sundays when he preached the first sermon Mom would let me go sit next to him once he was done and one of the other ministers was preaching the main sermon. But even that wasn't like everyone else since I had to sit on the front bench facing the rest of the church. That was still better than sitting with the women and I was always glad to be able to sit next to my Dad.

Another Favorite

2011-09-30T09:33:00.000-04:00

This happens to be one of the favorite things in my kitchen and I use it often. It works perfectly when ever I want to shred cheese or apples. Potatoes whir through the grater cone often to then be fried. Another cone slices things nicely and when ever we're in the mood for homemade potato chips I reach for it. The fine grater makes short work of carrots or anything else I decide to send through it.

I shudder at the thought of trying to make a coleslaw without it.

I started housekeeping without it, having only a handheld grater that I slaved over and hated every time I used it. It always took a long time, my arm got tired and I tried to avoid preparing food that required my using it.

When our first Christmas together came. LV gave me this King Kutter and I was thrilled and I have been using it regularly ever since. We have had quite a few Christmases by now and he always does a great job of choosing gifts but so far none has been used and loved as much as this one.

Too Little

2011-09-29T11:57:00.000-04:00

Starting LV's memories today.

The old farmhouse was nestled among some trees on the side of a steep hill. Just beyond it was an old dairy barn and if you looked around some more you could see a low ugly building with billows of smoke and steam escaping from it. In it Dad, cousin Wilmer, and my oldest brother Mervin were cooking another batch of maple syrup.

I wanted to go out to join them but Mom thought it was too cold and I was too little. "Too little," was a phrase I heard often and really disliked. I couldn't help that I was the baby of the family and as much as I tried to keep up with every one else there were always things they didn't want me to do. And today that happened to be going out to the sugar camp with Dad.

The other children were in school. I looked out the window. It didn't look really cold. There was still some snow on the ground except for the places that had a lot of traffic. The path from the house to the barn was muddy and slippery and all around the sugar camp there was even more mud.

Mom was busy at the sewing machine so I quietly went to get my coat and hat. After pulling on my boots and mittens I headed out the door. I walked right beside the path in the snow and admired the nice tracks my boots were making. When I got to the sugar camp I waded through the mud. It was even deeper than I thought it would be. It made funny slurping noises with every step I took. This was fun! I waded through the mud some more until I got stuck. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't pull my foot out of the mud. I tried kicking and jumping but nothing worked and after a particularly hard attempt I fell face down into the mud.

Somehow Wilmer heard me and came to my rescue. He held me at arms length in front of him and carried me to the house. After setting me inside the door he went back outside and Mom came to clean me up.

Once again I had been too little.

Apple Goodie

2011-09-28T11:24:00.000-04:00

After mentioning the Apple Goodie yesterday I received a lot of emails requesting the recipe so I decided to share it today.

Apple Goodie

3 large apples (a tart variety work best)

Peel apples. I like shredding them but finely diced or very thinly sliced would work as well. Spread in bottom of 9x13 pan.

½ cup butter

½ cup hot water

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

Melt butter. Add sugar and stir. Add water, vanilla, and cinnamon. Stir well and bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pour over apples.

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

½ tsp baking powder

2/3 cup softened butter.

In a medium bowl mix all ingredients together until you have nice uniform crumbs. Sprinkle over the apples and pat firmly.

Bake in a preheated 350º oven for 45 minutes. You have several options as a way to serve. Absolutely delicious when served hot with vanilla ice-cream. Or if you were serving it to my brothers they would request cold milk and practically drown the apple goodie in it. We prefer to eat it cold most of the time.

Enjoy!

Autumn Days

2011-09-27T09:01:00.000-04:00

As most of you know, fall is my favorite season. There's something about the crisp clear days that do something to me that no other season does and I enjoy it to the fullest.

A lot of the trees are starting to show a little color but the tree in front of our house is a little ahead of most and is losing a lot of leaves already. It did a great job of providing a delightful shade and keeping the house cooler this summer so it's entitled to getting to rest a little longer than most trees.

The flower bed in front of the house had a variety of flowers throughout this summer but most of those are gone. One plant decided to produce one last splash of color before a killing frost comes along. It's blooms are a lovely lavender and almost six inches in diameter. I have no idea what kind of flower it is but that doesn't keep me from admiring it.

Sunbeam came running into the house excited about the katydid on the front porch. We hear katydids all night every night but to actually get to see one is very rare since they live in tree tops and can't fly. This poor thing must have blown out when it was extra windy yesterday so now it has a long climb ahead of it to get back to it's home in the tree top.

The children were playing on the hill behind the house last evening and happened to discover several apple trees we had not known were there. Most times apples that grow wild and unattended are small, gnarled, and wormy. But these are huge, clean, and juicy. I think we'll be making Apple Goodie for dessert tonight. One of our favorites!

Church Decisions

2011-09-26T09:04:00.000-04:00

After three months of having Mahlon stay with us while he recovered from his accident he moved back to his home.

As he had been recovering we once again regularly attended the church 150 miles away and still listened to the other pastors sermons on CD on our way to and from church. Though we liked the church we were attending the best part of the day was listening to the CDs as we traveled.

As our first year anniversary of leaving the Amish approached I was starting to have serious problems with my gall bladder. I had dealt with attacks for years already but this was being so much worse and there were no pain free days. It got so bad that it was torture trying to ride in our vehicle since every little bump made it hurt worse.

LV wanted to take me to the hospital but I was sure that with enough time I would get over it. Days turned into weeks and I kept getting worse instead of better and so we opted to go to the church nearby instead of making that long trip every Sunday.

Finally it got so bad that I couldn't even keep a sip of water down and LV practically dragged me to the ER and by this time I was so sick I didn't care what happened. When we got there the doctors did a few tests and immediately a sense of urgency came up as they tucked me into an ambulance and I was on my way to surgery. My gall bladder had burst and needed immediate attention.

LV stayed with me as much as he could but the children also needed him so evenings he would head home to be with them. My sister-in-law showed once again that she had a heart of gold and spent several nights in the hospital. She made an excellent nurse and I was very grateful to have her there.

After a little more than a week in the hospital I was released and ever so happy to be able to go home. It took quite a while to recover from everything and once again we decided to attend the local church until I could comfortably ride that long distance to the other one.

Difference in Lifestyle

2011-09-23T08:55:00.000-04:00

The decision to leave the Amish was one of the hardest decisions we ever made in our life. Knowing that it would shatter relationships and tear our families apart. But knowing that we weren't free continue in our new found faith if we were to remain Amish sealed the decision for us and we left. We have never regretted making that decision.

Other than no longer attending the Amish church and now owning a vehicle our life continued much the same. Though we were no longer bound by the Amish rules our changes were much more gradual than some people who leave the Amish. Since I had made a lot of new clothes to go on vacation only two months earlier we saw no reason why we had to throw all of those away and immediately change what we wear. As they wore out or were outgrown we changed our wardrobe which by now doesn't contain anything Amish.

The quality of lifestyle does not have to change because of technology. Having family as your number one priority does not change simply because you now drive around in a vehicle instead of in a buggy. A simple more carefree life is not based on how you eat, what you wear, or what you use to get your work done. The quality of life depends much more on a heart condition rather than a pocessions condition. Taking time to enjoy the little moments, being content with what you have instead of always reaching for bigger better things, enjoying working and playing with your children and basically doing everything side by side, not thinking that you deserve the best of everything, not holding on to grudges, the list could go on for a long time.

Leaving the Amish did not change who we were or our basic home life, but it did give us the freedom to grow in our faith and being able to follow where God leads.

Question

2011-09-21T10:25:00.000-04:00

As most of you probably realize the journey I was chronicling from a happy little Amish girl to where I am today, still happy but no longer Amish has mostly been told. There were a lot of memories that I missed writing about from my childhood but those will be making their way into the book series I am writing so I don't want to share them on this blog.

After making so many friends in the blogging world I don't want to quit and walk away so I was wondering what you are interested in hearing about.

I will still be sharing bits and pieces about our day to day life every once in a while. And also sharing the occasional recipe. My time spent in the kitchen has been drastically reduced since I'm dealing with some pregnancy related issues so those will be a little slow in coming until after the baby gets here.

I also have bits and pieces of memories I could share from my teenage years and early married life that I am considering posting. Since most of my memories were shared in chronological order it would mess that part up but I would always add a label at the end of each post letting you know in which time frame that certain memory happened.

There is also one more option and one that I think could be fun. Sharing LV's story about his boyhood.

So now I'm wondering what you would like for me to do with my blog from this point.

Attending

2011-09-20T08:30:00.000-04:00

Several months after leaving the Amish we received a phone call letting us know that my brother Mahlon had a bad accident on the construction job where he had been working. He suffered from a fractured skull and other broken bones and needed a place to stay after being released from the hospital to recuperate for three months.

We were more than happy to let him stay with us and went to bring him home from the hospital. The next weekend we realized that we wouldn't want to be making our 150 mile trip to church with him not feeling the best and decided we would instead attend the nearby church that our neighbor pastored. We had been enjoying the sermons on CD for a while already and looked forward to attending.

Walking into the church LV and I both felt like this was the place where we needed to be. There was something there that had still been missing from the church we had been attending and it seemed as if something was telling us that our search for a church home was over. It was not what we had ever imagined we would do having thought joining a Mennonite church would be our answer and this was certainly not a Mennonite church.

We decided to attend this church until Mahlon was feeling better and able to join us on the long ride to the church we had been attending before he had his accident. We wanted to be sure before we made a final decision on what we would be calling "our" church.

The ABC's of .......

2011-09-17T10:23:00.001-04:00

Some of my likes and dislikes. I thought it might be fun to do a little list of things again. Things you may or may not know about me.
A - airplanes. I have absolutely no desire or plans to ever travel by air.
B - babies. So sweet, innocent, and adorable. What's not to love about a baby?
C- children. They make life a better place in so many different ways. I love listening to them play and sing and the times spent working and playing together are priceless.
D- dandelions. So it might be the accepted thing to not like dandelions but somehow the bright yellow cheerful flowers make me smile especially when I'm presented with a bouquet of them or see a carefully woven dandelion chain.
E- earthworms. Make me shiver with disgust and repulsion. Especially when they litter the driveway after a rain.
F- flowers. Almost any kind of flowers help cheer up a day whether they are in a bouquet displayed on the middle of the table or I see a wildflower blooming in a little unknown and hardly ever seen place.
G- games. Relaxing with the children on a Sunday afternoon playing our favorite board games is always fun.
H- home. The sweetest place on earth.
I- ice-cream. Sorry, I don't like it. It always looks good but a bite or two is always more than enough for me unless it's a McDonald's vanilla ice-cream cone. That is the only ice-cream I can enjoy.
J- jams. Love the kind you spread on bread. Detest the ones that involve traffic.
K- kittens. While I admit that they are cute I still don't want to hold or pet them. I don't know when that changed since I used to love them as a child.
L- lights. The more and brighter the better. I don't enjoy dimly lit houses.
M- mealtimes. Having everyone at the table talking and enjoying the food I prepared is always a great feeling.
N- nuts. Especially cashews roasted like my Mom used to make them.
O- olives. I have no idea why I like them so well.
P- parrots or parakeets. Not a fan. They're pretty but I don't like the noise they make or when they fly around a room I always have the urge to duck and run.
Q- quilts. Pretty ones, soft cuddly ones, thick ones, thin ones. I have a thing for quilts and in my opinion you can never have too many.
R- rainy days. There is something about rainy days that I really like. they are so relaxing. The rain splashing against the window panes and being inside where it's warm and dry. My idea of a lovely day!
S- sunshine. As much as I love rainy days I also enjoy bright sunny days that follow a week of rainy days.
T- tinsel. As far back as I can remember I have always enjoyed seeing tinsel. As a child that was only when we went to town during the Christmas season but now I get to enjoy it much more close-up.
U- umbrellas. Don't like them. I would rather dash through the rain than use one.
V- vacations and vegetables tie for the V. I really, really enjoy both of them. Being on a vacation and eating vegetables prepared in new delicious ways is great!
W- waterfalls. There is something so soothing about listening to the sound of a waterfall. I am blessed to have one that I can listen to and see from our house.
X- x-rays. Don't like them but glad they are available when needed.
Y- yo-yo's. I have a fascination with them but have never been able to figure out how to use one properly.
Z- zoo. I am assuming I would enjoy visiting one but have never been to one in my lifetime.

My Violets Need You

2011-09-15T10:01:00.000-04:00

I have always admired African Violets and was happy to get several five years ago. I did a little research on proper care for them and they did really well for four years which is amazing considering that houseplants aren't really high on my list of priorities.

But in the past six months they have gone from looking like this.

To this. And I don't know what to do for them. It actually hurts everytime I look at them and see their yellowish rust spotted leaves.

Do you have any advice on what I could do to get them healthy and flourishing once again?

Tidbits

2011-09-14T09:57:00.002-04:00

There used to be a time when I had the kitchen to myself and I really enjoyed cooking and baking unhindered. But since we have children I discovered it is even more fun to work in the kitchen with eager young cooks wanting to help with everything.

Here is Sunbeam trying to mix the batter for Lemon Poppy Seed Bread. While we enjoy pumpkin or banana bread I think I have to say that Lemon Poppy Seed Bread is our favorite. I'll have to share the recipe the next time we make some.

~~~~~~

We have quite a selection of good movies that we enjoy watching but the other winter when someone gave us a subscription to Netflix we really enjoyed the many options it provided and through it found even more that we hope to someday add to our home collection.

Last week we came to the conclusion that we really don't need it any longer since our busy schedule hardly allows time to sit down and watch movies so we decided to cancel our subscription. In order to cancel they wanted to know the reason why we are cancelling. Among the options to choose from they wanted to know if we will be only using bootleg DVDs from now on.

For some reason that really amused me. No we will certainly not be making or watching bootleg DVDs and I couldn't help but wonder if anyone would actually check that as a reason to cancel.

~~~~~~

The manuscript for the first book in my series has been turned in. Now the waiting until it will be released begins.

Listening and Learning

2011-09-12T10:15:00.003-04:00

We only attended the church in Arkansas three times before one of LV's friends suggested that we might want to visit a church north of us. The only draw back was it was 150 mile one way but after hearing more about it we decided to go visit.

We immediately liked the church. It wasn't very big at all but we were very encouraged by the services and everyone welcomed us. It wasn't long before we decided to try selling our home and move but until then we would be making that long trip every Sunday.

The day after we had visited this church LV was at one of the weekly livestock auctions. A man walked up to him and handed him a CD saying that he doesn't really know why but he has a feeling that we might like this.

LV thanked him and put it into his coat pocket. When he came home we looked at it. It was titled simply, "Burdens" It was a sermon preached by our neighbor, a pastor. The same one that had helped the Amish ministers on the evening they had come to talk to us. We had heard a lot about this pastor already and were curious how he preached.

The next Sunday we popped the CD into the player and listened to it on our way to church. We were speechless. We had never heard preaching like that before and loved every minute of it. After church we spent most of the afternoon with one of the families there before heading for home. We hadn't gone far before we decided we want to hear that message again. We again enjoyed it every bit as much as we had the first time. We listened to that message so often that it's a wonder the CD didn't wear out.

We wished we would have more of his messages to listen to and were delighted to find a whole stack of CD's at the local truckstop. We got one and listened to it and determined to check back often to see if there would be new ones added. As much as we liked the church we were attending there was something about these messages that kept us wanting to hear more and more. Our drives seemed much shorter as we listened to "When Dogs Bark" "Lessons of Life from the Eagle" "Let God Birth a Manasseh in Your Life" and many more.

Fried Cornmeal Mush

2011-09-09T10:06:00.000-04:00

Fall has arrived here in our little corner of the world. The cool days and chilly mornings always make me feel like making more hearty breakfasts. One of our favorites is Fried Cornmeal Mush.

Fried Cornmeal Mush

1 cup cornmeal (don't try self-rising)
1 tsp salt
4 cups water

In a large saucepan bring three cups of water to a boil. Meanwhile in a small bowl combine cornmeal, salt, and remaining cup of water. Pour slowly and carefully into the boiling water stirring well constantly.
Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Rinse a 9"x13" pan with water and pour the cornmeal mush into it. Rinsing pan and leaving the few water droplets inside help keep the mush from sticking to the pan. Smooth mush with the back of a spatula. Refrigerate overnight.

Next morning cut into ¼" slices and fry in skillet where you have already melted several Tablespoons of margarine. Fry until beautiful golden and crispy. If most of margarine has been absorbed add more before flipping and frying other side.

Serve with eggs, or enjoy plain. Every once in a while I also make a tomato gravy to spoon over the top but I like it better without.

Enjoy!

In Which We Leave

2011-09-07T10:01:00.000-04:00

Since we now realized that our relationship with Jesus had nothing to do with whether or not we were Amish and that the Amish did not appreciate or approve of the fact that we thought we can know whether or not we are saved we decided to leave the Amish.

LV asked one of his friends to take him to take his driving test. He passed the written one with flying colors and when the instructor asked if he wants to take his driving test right away he thought "Why not?" When he came home he was carrying his drivers liscense and had plans to go looking at a vehicle the next day. By the next evening we were the owners of a vehicle. It had all happened so fast that it was a little hard to grasp that this was all real and not only a dream.

Sunday arrived and we weren't exactly sure what church we would be attending. We had heard through the grapevine that a nearby Mennonite church had a policy of not accepting any ex-Amish (that was later proved to be untrue) and we didn't feel like going through another round of rejection right away and opted to attend a little Mennonite church in Arkansas.

It was a nice little church, but almost too little. Consisting mostly of elderly people, there was only one family there that had children. We couldn't really see much of a future there for our family but decided to attend there until we found somthing else.

Mama Bear

2011-09-06T09:23:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since we had a baby in our family. And though we are all really looking forward to welcoming another one there is one area that I am not looking forward to.
Sure the sleepless nights may be inconvenient at times but they don't bother me nearly as much as some other things. For example when we go out in public I used to really, really detest when people walk up to our baby and hold it's hand to talk to it. Babies have a tendency to get their hands in their mouth often and now they have who knows what kind of germs on them. Talk all you want but please don't touch my baby's hands. ~ My response was usually a firmly pasted smile and then trying to keep the baby from mouthing it's hand until I had a chance to wipe it.

Another thing that used to be irritating was when people felt they had the liberty to pluck the pacifier out of our baby's mouth accompanied with, "Oh, you don't want that." or "Let me see you smile." Our babies never liked that and instead of smiling at said stranger for plucking their beloved pacifier that they wanted very much out of their mouth they would usually start crying. ~ My response, same pasted smile while giving my crying baby it's pacifier again.

The third is something that most people don't give much thought but we don't tickle our children. Baby giggles are cute and sweet and there are ways to hear them without resorting to tickling. LV and I both never liked being tickled when we were children, sure we had to laugh but it wasn't a happy do it again kind of laugh. It was one of the things we decided to not subject our children to no matter how little they are. ~ My response, not worrying if I have a pasted on smile or not as I pluck my wriggling child away from who ever is doing the tickling and stating, "We don't tickle our children."

So there are three of my Mama bear type tendencies. Did you have any when you had a baby?

The Threat

2011-09-05T09:55:00.001-04:00

We were told to expect the ministry to arrive at our house by seven. We weren't really looking forward to having them there. I spent the afternoon baking pie and cookies as a way to try to keep my mind off of what was ahead.

We had our supper and got everything cleared away. The children weren't exactly sleepy yet but we went through our usual bedtime routine and then told them they could wait to actually go to bed until the ministers arrived.

LV and I sat in the living room not really sure what to do with ourselves while we waited. We read a little and kept waiting and waiting. It grew dark and they still weren't there. Finally it really was bedtime so we tucked the children in and decided to wait only a little longer before heading to bed too.

Before we made it to bed though we heard them coming into the driveway. They came inside and apologized for keeping us waiting for so long. They had problems on the way over and had to stop and get some things repaired. The nearest place they could get help was at the house of a pastor of a nearby church. He had kindly helped them with the needed repairs but it had taken a while.

They sat in the living room and discussed this pastor and his family for a while. Though they didn't approve of the church he pastored they all agreed that he and his family seemed to really have something.

Once they were done discussing that and the latest weather trends and other little no account tidbits they finally got down to the reason they were there. They were really concerned about our recent decisions and belief and wanted to give us a chance to change and make a confession in church. If we couldn't comply with this they would be having special excommunicating services after their next church service to give us over to Satan.

We told them we would not be changing our minds about our new found belief. While we realized this would have a major impact on our relationships with our family and friends we simply could not turn our backs on what we knew to be true. The part of being handed over to Satan did not phase us like it would have several months earlier because we now realized that they have absolutely no control over our soul and no after church ceremony like that could cause us to be torn from the safety of God's protecting hand.

More Windmills

2011-09-02T10:15:00.000-04:00

Day after day there has been different activity going on around here. It started when this ugly contraption labored it's way up the road and turned onto a narrow trail leading to a nearby mountain. All sorts of other vehicles joined it including a water truck that filled it's tanks multiple times a day with water from our little creek that was already reduced to little more than a trickle right here next to the house.

We have learned that they are planning on building quite a few of those huge windmills. While we realize it is good to be able to use wind to produce electricity we can't help but feel a little sad at all the land that will be swallowed and scenery changed because of this project.

The News Spreads

2011-09-01T09:31:00.000-04:00

News that LV and I had gone {bonkers} swept through the Amish communities and we became swamped with phone calls and letters from concerned bishops and people in different communities trying to discourage us from accepting this strange new belief.

It came to a point that I hated hearing the phone ring and when ever I picked it up and found someone wanting to preach a sermon on the other end of the line I would tell them to call back once LV was at home.

But in the midst of all those type of calls there were others, also from strangers that had heard about our experience and had felt an urge to call. It was so encouraging to listen to their words of kindness and encouragement as they talked about the greatness and goodness of God and encouraged us to keep our eyes on Him and be ever ready to follow where He leads.

Then the call came that we felt sure would be coming before long. From LV's parents. They had already tried to persuade us to not change our belief but now they had made arrangements with the bishop and the rest of the ministry. They would be coming over to talk to us one evening later that week. We had a feeling that this was not going to be good but there was also a feeling of peace knowing that we knew what we believed and no persuasions or threats they could dish out would change that.

Names

2011-08-31T10:13:00.000-04:00

Have you ever noticed how names that you didn't particularly care for can become pretty once you associate them with a sweet natured person and otherwise pretty names can lose their charm when attached to a chronically grumpy person?

I was introduced to the name Matilda when I was in forth or fifth grade and asked to memorize a poem about a little girl named Matilda. I can't remember all of it any longer but the first two lines have always stuck. Matilda told such dreadful lies, It made one gasp and stretch ones eyes, Because of her habit of telling lies something very horrible happened to her. The name Matilda became less than desirable to me then.

Several years later we had a van load of visitors drop by to see us. Among the guests was an older single girl. Her name happened to be Matilda. She was a sour person and always had something negative to add to the conversation that was flowing around her. The name was secured a little more firmly on the list of ones I didn't really care for.

Several weeks after we got married I was looking through one of my new cookbooks trying to find a recipe to bake a cake. Most of them were unfamiliar but when I came to one called Matilda cake I had to give it a try. I only ever made it once and it lived up to the name. It was a tough bland cake. Eating it was like chewing on a vanilla flavored shoe sole.

Lumping all of those experiences together when ever I heard the name Matilda it always made me think of unpleasant things.

Enter a very sweet elderly lady with snow white hair. Her hands and face lined with deep wrinkles but her eyes still held a happy sparkle, her smile lit up the room, and she had the sweetest voice. Her name I learned happened to be Matilda. With time I can now envision her when I hear that name and it makes me smile. And I think I have learned that it isn't the name, it is the person that bears it that makes it sweet or not.

The Morning After

2011-08-30T09:43:00.000-04:00

After spending most of the night awake and rejoicing at our new found joy of personally knowing our Saviour morning came and we went about our regular schedule.

I hurried through the usual morning work, eager to call my Mom to tell her our happy news. She answered the phone after several rings and we had a few moments of chit chat before I launched into the reason I was calling. "Jesus had found us last night and we have finally been born again," I told her happily.

Her reaction was totally opposite of what I expected. Instead of rejoicing with us that we were finally truly at peace with God she started crying and pleading with me to not listen to this strange new belief that Satan was trying to deceive us with. I of-course had to cry too as I listened to her because I knew what we had experienced, what we now had was the real thing. I couldn't renounce this new found faith in my Jesus no matter how much I loved my Mom and didn't want to hurt her.

When LV came into the house I told him about the call and we discussed what we should do now that we had found Jesus. We realized that we would not be able to talk about or share it with our friends that were Amish since it was not at all normal or accepted to talk about spiritual things. For now we would try to keep our happy news to ourselves and see where God would lead us next. We felt sure that our journey was only beginning and that He had been faithful in leading us to find Him and were sure that He wouldn't stop leading now that we had found Him.

Monday Ramble

2011-08-29T09:55:00.000-04:00

I'm back! My Mom's visit was everything I dreamed it would be. It was absolutely great to be able to visit, laugh, and work together like we used to do and the children greatly enjoyed getting to know her as well.

Other than the stories I used to tell them they barely knew her so they really enjoyed her visit.

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We live far enough inland that the effects of hurricane Irene were minimal. Our power was off almost all day Saturday. Thankfully it is back on by now and I can't help but think of all the people that are affected by the storm much more than we were and hope that their lives can continue like normal before long as well.

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At four this morning we were awakened by an awful noise. After sitting up and listening and peering out the window we couldn't see or hear anything else so tried to get our remaining thirty minutes of sleep before the alarm clock goes off.

As the first streaks of dawn were tinting the sky we noticed that the entire fence to the cow pasture along the road, beside the creek was wiped away. Somewhere someone has a pretty dinged up car! The fence has been replaced already and as far as I know none of the cows wandered out on the road because of this.

Happiest Night

2011-08-25T08:15:00.000-04:00

LV and I had tucked the children into bed and were once again reading the Bible. It got late and we laid it aside to try and get some sleep ourselves. But instead of falling asleep we talked. We discussed what we had been reading, discussed our life up until this point, we had never done anything we considered to be wicked or particularly sinful but somehow that night we could draw no comfort from that.

The longer we talked the more serious things looked.Almost as if layers of curtains were being pulled back and we could really see ourselves. It wasn't pretty and we knew without a shadow of a doubt that we were not good enough on our own to get to heaven. To fully realize that was the most terrifying feeling ever. We had to do something.

We got out of bed and cried out to Jesus to save us. That we were done trying to be good on our own and really really needed him. The peace that washed over us then I really can't describe. I had never felt so light and carefree in my life. It was as if giant burdens had been lifted and we knew without a shadow of a doubt this was real. Jesus had really saved us.

The rest of the night sleep was not on our minds. The joy we felt was much too deep and profound to be sleepy and we talked, praised, and tried to refrain from singing since we didn't want to wake the children. I couldn't wait until the next morning to call my Mom to tell her about our good news. The feeling of being forgiven that we had anticipated at baptism had finally swept over us and I knew she would be thrilled for us.

Renewed Feelings

2011-08-23T09:43:00.000-04:00

We had really enjoyed our time in Mew Mexico. There was something about this state that really fascinated us. The vastness of it with miles and miles of unspoiled untouched lands. The ancient cliff dwellings and ruins. It almost seemed as if you could feel the presence of something or someone much bigger than ourselves.

We went home but that feeling lingered and we once again buried ourselves in Bible reading. We knew there must be some explanation to everything we were feeling and a sense of earnest desperation of needing to know was once again pressing on us.

We read and read some more and talked about everything. There was so very much that we didn't and couldn't really understand but knew if it was in the Bible it must be important so we kept on reading.

My Morning

2011-08-22T11:11:00.000-04:00

So far my morning has been pleasantly busy. I'm not someone who enjoys spending a lot of time in waiting rooms or seeing a doctor but there is something about hearing that everything is going great that makes me happy and the visit worthwhile.

And when I came home the phone rang. It was my Mom calling which made me excited but when she told me her news I had to do a happy dance! She is coming to visit for several days this week! It will be the first time I see her in over three years. I can hardly wait.

Exploring

2011-08-19T09:02:00.000-04:00

Every day we saw something else of interest. There is so much to see in New Mexico if you take time to explore the state. My favorite places were the Aztec ruins, Bandelier where we got to explore cliff dwellings, and White sands. With many other points of interest tucked inbetween.
But it was at the top of a mountain in Sierra Blanca where one of my favorite photos from that trip was taken.

Little Bit Of This & That

2011-08-18T09:41:00.000-04:00

Blogger is acting up again this morning and I'm unable to upload the pictures I wanted to so instead I'll be doing another post of random things in my life that make me smile.

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I have a weakness for tongue twisters. I love finding them and getting others to say them. My latest I happened to discover quite by accident as I was looking through a recipe book and found a recipe for Braised Beef Brisket. I discovered that, that is one of the most difficult recipe titles ever to try and pronounce correctly. Go ahead and try saying it three times really fast.

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I look forward to a certain time every morning while I am preparing breakfast and Rosy stumbles into the kitchen still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She gets the plates from the cupboard and starts setting the table and then pauses and says brightly. "Mama, I have a feeling that today is going to be a really good day." At bedtime she will pause and say happily, "I was right about today. It was really good!" I would love to be able to keep my little girl like this always but since I know that children don't stay little very long at all I hope she can carry that positive hopeful attitude all the way through life.

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I love hearing the katydids sing their noisy songs every night. Here in our area once you hear them it is a sure sign that fall is just around the corner. My favorite season!

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I love Sundays. It's the only day I don't have to worry about packing lunch and we can spend all day together as a family. It never lasts long enough. An added perk is that LV always takes care of preparing our food in the evening while I don't have to worry about anything. I must admit it is rather fun being spoiled.