Flase Accusations

Have you ever been falsely accused? If so, how did or do you react?

Dry Heaves

Sierra was rudely awakened around 12:30 with an incredible stomach problem. She depoisited the contents of her stomach in her bed. The good mother gave her a bath and did several loads of laundry in the night. About 1:15 I was rudely awakened by this incredible wail coming from the office the location to which Sierra had been moved. Rachel was out of the bed in a shot. After several more strange noises I went to investigate. Much to my dismay she was having dry heaves. I don't htink I have ever expierenced this and based on the wails she was emitting I don't think I would relish the expierence. When I returned to the house after milking Sierra had received another bath and looks extremely weary and weak. How many of you have had the dry heaves...

Nascar

How many of you pay any attention whatsoever to Nascar? Do you think it is a silly sport? Personaly, don't you like my honesty, I love it...

Rats

Well, things didn't turn out the way we were hoping last night. The King's Singers were stuck in SC trying to fly to Dulles. After sitting on the plane for a while they decided it wasn't gonna leave. They got off of the plane and boarded another to Charlotte. They landed around 2 and had a 3 hour lay over. They landed in charlottesville right around 7. The concert was pushed back to 8:30 . But because of these things their was no rehearsal. That was disappointing. The concert was good but, in my opinion, not great. They appeared weary and tired. They are very nice guys and I was able to get their autographs after the concert. After the day they had I am sure they were wishing for a bed but they were willing to visit with those who stayed around to visit.

Valentine's Day

Today is the day set aside to love on the one you love. Maybe that should be plural. You know, children, friends, and family. Anyway, it this day is usually spent eating chocolate and staying in fancy hotels. Tonight Rachel and I had planned on going to hear the King's Singers in Charlottesville VA. We were really looking forward to it. Free tickets always helps. It is nice to have a brother who seems to be in the know... Anyway, yesterday Rachel seemed quite ill. Aches and pains and things of that nature. Aches associated with the common cold only this one seemed quite worse than normal. She just said she feels good except for her throat and her ear. So, I don't know what is going to happen yet but I am hopeing we can spend our evening enjoying the superb talents of this amazing group of singers. They just released a new album titled The Quiet Heart. This album is a collection of Salvation Army Hymns and is very good. I am hoping they will include several of these in their concert tonight. I am sure they will also include a few titles to help people celebrate this day of love. We are looking forward to a high class evening.

Grumpy Kids???

Every afternoon at 3:15 the county scholl bus passes the farm. I am usually getting the cows in to milk and 90% of the time I am close enough to give a friendly wave. I have never seen my act of friendliness reciprocated. Is this a common problem? Why do these children seem so listless and uninterested? Why do they stare out the window and see nothing? Am I the only one who has had this expierence? Quite frankly I find it annoying. Like a slap in the face. An attitude of disrespect and unfriendliness. Of course I may be wrong.

The Week Ahead

Sonny is off to Ministers week at SMBI so I will be holding things down here. I have two or three loads of litter to spread in the morning then I plan to sit back and only take care of the things that have to be done. My wife and I are headed for a King's Singers concert on Wed. evening. I am really looking forward to it...

Weekend Plans

My folks are coming in this evening and will be here until Monday forenoon. This morning I hauled a few loads of litter. Truck is working great now.... I have to milk this evening so feel free to come and give me a hand...

Sierra's Return

Rachel just left to pick Sierra up in Harrisunburg. Sierra went home with Uncle Rod's and spent the week with her Grandma Kauffman. Aleya missed her greatly and is anxious for her to get home. Speaking of Aleya, her and Rachel got into a very deep discussion this morning about the heart. Jesus wants to clean your heart. Aleya told Rachel "If you get run over by a car and Jesus cleaned your heart then your heart will go to heaven?" "Yep" said Rachel. A second later Aleya said "If you get run over by truck your heart will go to heaven?"

Biblical Names

What was Saul/Paul's last name? Why are last names never or rarely mentioned in the Bible? I can't think of one person who is known by his last name. Am I mistaken???

Hydraulic Difficulties

We have been engineering an ash/chicken litter spreader for the last several months. We have been trying to get our first load off for a week. Today we spent all day trying to get the thing to run. We mounted it on a truck and are running the hydraulic system off of a pto unit. We have put in relief valves, variable speed control valves and return lines and we still have not figured out why it will not work. It appears that our variable speed control valve box didn't work. However, we then discovered that our pressure line was not the pressure line but the return line so we had oil traveling through the system backwards. A few minuets ago we tried again and everything was running backwards. So in the morning we will switch a few hoses around and we should have it.
we hope...

Broken Bones (almost)

This forenoon I was making up some hydraulic hoses with my hose machine. This machine uses reuseable fittings and is really slick. Well, like a dummy, I got my hand caught between a stationary pice of tubing and one that wasn't stationary. My hand was stuck and was sending a series of painful feelings to my brain. I was able to reverse the rotation of the metal piece and back it off of my hand. To my knowledge their are no broken bones. Just a swollen and sore hand.

Judgement Day

I was told the other day that judgement may occur between Feb. 6-8 or 22-24. When I heard the news I instantly began to take an inventory of things. Things that needed to be addressed. Things that may affect the judges decision. Would I pass the inspection? What happens if I don't pass? Okay, I knew the answer to the last question but it still made me think. I came to the conclusion that their were many things to do. I had one room that needed an amazing amount of attention. So to this room I strolled armed with the tools I would need to win this battle. Tools that would increas my chances of passing the judges inspection. I have done my home work. I am ready. Come and inspect every nook and cranny if you wish. I have nothing to hide. I don't know if he will come on those specific dates but I was told he would. I have to trust the one who told me these things because he is suppose to know. He has the inside track and fills me in on these yearly inspections. Once a year I am warned that the judge is coming. You see, it is required by law that my dairy is inspected every so often and tommorrow may be my judgement day.

YCC

YCC stands for Young Cooperative Conference and no this is not a new Mennonite Conference...
This is a conference that is sponsored or put together by the co-op we sell our milk to. This co-op is known as Maryland & Virginia. The YCC is for people between the ages of 18 - 40 who own or work on a farm who sells their to milk to the co-op. This years conference is being held in Athens GA at the University of Georgia. I want to go and if we can work out babysitting arrangements we will be going. Here is the really cool part. The co-op pays up to $400 worth of travel expenses plus they cover all food and lodging cost. They have a speaker scheduled for one day and then one of the days they are palnnning to visit a 1200 cow dairy. This dairy milks in a 60 cow raotary parlour. I want to go...

Deer

My nephew, Kyle, wanted to go spotlighten. So tonight we went out for about 30 min. We saw 23 deer. One of the bucks was very nice, 8-10 points. The event was a huge success.

Company

Rod's are here as is Aunt Carla. Is family ever company? Anyway, they will be here tommorrow and leave Sunday for home. Should be fun, the house will be full of kids. Eight kids six or younger. Ah yes, don't you wish you were here?

Let's See

My mind is currently rather blank, not that you would notice. My mind appears blank quite frequently. However, in this period of blankness I had a thought. This thought was one that concerns you, the reader. I ponder at times what to post about and so I usually just go with the flow. Basically the first thing that strikes me and I think it may be of interest to someone so I peck out a few random thoughts. Now I am asking you what you would like to see me post about. Trust me I have opinions on lots of things and may be willing to share them with the blogging community. Whether I do or not will depend solely on the topic. Ooops I better go my lunch may be burning...

Expansion

Why is water the only thing that expands when it is cold?

Kids

Rachel was taking some pictures Sunday morning. Don't they look studious?

 

Frigid

Today's temperature was the kind that would make some men scoff. I realize we do not live anywhere close to the north pole. In fact we don't live near Canada. We live where the normal high is around 40-45 degrees. Today we got no where close to those warm temperatures. At 2:00 this afternoon it was 25 degrees according to weatherbug. Currently weatherbug is reporting a sharp 28 degrees. The wind was blowing also which made it feel colder. I find cold weather rather invigorating and I rather enjoyed the blustery day. How do you react to cold weather?

Disjointed

I was informed yesterday evening that yesterdays post was, and I quote, Extremely disjointed. To which I responded, Oh well, it is what it is. Have you ever been told your post's are disjointed and do you care if they are? If you don't post anywhere I hope you don't mind my disjointed thoughts.

More Paint

We decided to use a Property Manager for renting our other house. She suggested a few things and one of them was painting. So we painted the basement floor and walls today. They were concrete and they look much nicer now. She said our house is worth $950 a month rent. Who knows whether or not she will be able to get it but we were happy. She is responsible for taking care of everything. Her fee for this is 8% of the rent and she only gets this if someone is living in the house. We will also be doing a little work upstairs but not much.

Kitchen

Here are the cabinets I put together. I helped on the upper ones. I am very pleased with how well they turned out.

Snaggle Tooth

Don't you want to yank that loose tooth right out of her mouth?

 

Big Mess

The girls found a toy yesterday afternoon while the parents were busy with other things. The little white things are those packaging peanuts. They discovered they are fun to jump in, like leaves. The only difference was they had to clean them up...

 

NFL Coaches

I was amazed this morning when I discovered the age of coaches in the NFL. As always coaches are being hired, fired, and quiting. The ones that are being hired, are you ready for this?, are younger than I am!!! I always thought these coaches were in their 50s but this is changing. The Oakland Raiders hired a young lad who is 31. The Pittsburg Steelers new coach is 34, I believe. These guys are my age and younger. How can they possibly be ready to coach in the NFL? Time will tell I am sure. I would not knowhow to handle these athletes that is for sure. I think I am just startled at the age of these fellows and the money they will be making...

Winter Storm?

Yesterday they were predicting a winter storm. 90% chance of some sort of accumalation, mostly ice. This morning we had rain.This afternoon we had rain/freezing rain. This evening it has finally turned to sleet. I still have not seen any snow. I must admit that whent they go to all the trouble to warn me of a storm I would like to see it actually do something. Maybe by morning we will have lots of snow....
but I doubt it...

Today's Activities

Let's see, what have I done today... I am sure your dying to know...
First I laid in bed until 7:30-8:00. This is unheard of for me...
Second I fed all the kids.
Third I went to check on the cows.
Fourth I started draining our old waterbed at the old house.
Fifth I went and cut a little wood for our fireplace.
Sixth I finished the waterbed and went to the dump with it. It was a complete joke.
Seventh I moved our spare bedroom bed over and set it up.
Eighth I checked email.
Ninth I ate some fresh homemade bread.
Tenth I typed this.
To do yet I have
One Eat more bread.
Two Read my book.
Three Milk this evening.
Four Do as little as possible.
Five Go to bed early...
What did you do today?

An evening Feast

This is the simple fare of a man who doesn't know what he wants to eat. The man in question takes three pieces of homemade bread. He then spreads crunchy peanut butter over them, thickly. He then places them in the oven and broils them until the peanut butter begans to turn to a liquid. He will then place them on a plate before giving them a soak in Maple Syrup. He will wash this down with long swigs of ice cold milk.
Author's Note
The author has never tried this with any form of bread except for homemade. Any other style of bread may be a complete failure.

The Pianist

I mentioned some time ago I had finished a book entitled The Pianist. The author of this book was a Jew and survived Hitler's invasion of Poland. He wrote this book immediately following the war and you can tell the man is a state of shock. The author is kept alive by a German soldier who is at odds or doesn't agree with Hitler's regime. The book also has some excerpts from this German soldiers diary. Among these excerpts is this thought. If people live like they don't won't anything to do with God at some God will decide they will have to live without Him. When this happens they turn into animals. The soldier's point was, I believe, that the Germans had begun to treat the Jews like an animal would treat another animal. Worse actually because they were killing innocent people. Soldiers would fire the pistols into crowds of people for absolutely no reason. They had an unexplainable joy in killing. Without God we are nothing we live like heartless creatures...

Author

Out of the following list of authors who is your favorite?
George McDonald
James herriot
Janette Oak
C. S. Lewis
None of th above...

Saul/Paul

I was reading the account in Acts concerning Paul and his desire to go into Asia but the Spirit didn't allow him to go. Maybe I have a strange thought process but here is the process of my thoughts. What would the world be like if Paul would have ignored the Spirit and went anyway? Why didn't God want him to preach in Asia? Would my life be different if he had done what he wanted to do? If so, how would it be different? Paul probably had no idea whether this was a major decision or not. Of course, maybe all of Paul's decisions were major. How do my small or insignificant decisions affect my future and those around me, my family.

Zehr Drive

This is the only draw back in this house. We don't care for the long hall but we did need a way to travel from room to room. This is why we have our own private drive.

 

Dining Room

A shot of the dining room. The view from the window is beautiful, some times. Right across the drive is the baby calves in their hutches. Then comes the pre-fresh group. Cows close to calving. The view of the sunset from this window is astounding. I will post a picture of it sometime. You would have really good view of the horizon, at least a 150 degrees, if that makes sense....

 

Living Room

We have discovered that this room is very cozy. I like it...

 

Alive

They connected our phone line about an hour ago so our line is no longer dead. It is amazing how much we use the phone. It is a pain to try talking to people on the cell phone when you don't have good service.
We are now looking for someone to rent our other house. You interested?

Still Dead

We still have a dead phone line. Hopefully it will be fixed tomorrow evening. We are settled. I have been working hard on upper cabinets this week. I really have enjoyed it. I did not do any cutting. I have put all of them together. i will finish sanding them in the morning and we will stain them on Friday. Maybe I will take some pictures for your enjoyment. I am thinking I should be able to post from my own computer tomorrow night.

Dead line

Our phone is dead STOP
I am updating from a remote location STOP
We are moved & settling STOP
More details when phone line comes to life STOP

Today

We are hoping to move tonight. At this point it is pending on our electrician showing up this morning and getting finished. It is also pending on the inspector telling us we can move even if everything isn't perfect...

Glad

How many of you have ever listened to or heard Glad's Acapella Projects? What was your opinion of them? Like them or not? I love the first one. The second one doesn't do as much for me but I still like it.

To Town

At the last minute we decided to run into town. I told Sierra we were going to Lowes and this is how she responded. "Lowes...??? We go to Lowes almost every evening!!!" We don't go every evening but we have gone more than I would like. I think we have been there three times in the last month. I know that isn't alot but it is for us...

2007

Wow, who'd a thunk it....
I do wonder how much longer our Lord will allow this world to keep spinning...
Have any of you read the book entitled The Pianist? It is an excellent book and I plan to do a post on it in the near future.

New Years Eve

How many of you are planning on staying up until it is officially 2007? If you are will you be alone with your immediate family or will you be participating in a "party"?

Blog Titles

I must admit that I have puzzled over the amazing blog titles. I am sure their are long stories behind the titles or maybe not. For instance, where did Bool's Blog come from? I know there must be story behind that one. Another question, why (D)rivvel Supp? Is this PA Dutch or some form of German? What does it mean? It sounds like some kind of soup...

Long & Short Of It

Here is the deal. We are hoping to get a final inspection next Thursday or Friday. We are also hoping they will let us move even if they don't pass it. I must admit it slows us down to be trying to finish up around the holidays. Everyone needs time off so it drags on out. I keep telling myself "Hey man, what's a few more days..."

Slowly/Quickly

It feels slow but I believe it is quick. I am referring to my recovery. I feel quite a bit better this morning. I was not nauseas (sp?) while milking this morning. Now I am very tired and weak. I look forward to my nap. I believe this little big has been some what active. I am aware of three or four people who have been sickish. Rachel and Jackson have both made the bug feel welcome.

The Flu

I think I have the flu bug. I feel like I could, well, never mind...

Gifts

I am wondering what gift has meant the most to you? I can remember several that have been special. However, it wasn't the gift itself. The gifts that have meant the most to me have been the unexpected ones. Has this happened to you? I remember one time when two young guys from church brought me a gift. I was shocked. I didn't realize they liked me enough to spend money on me. It meant alot.

Quote Of The Day

Aleya went with me too get some milk a few minuets ago. As she was getting into the van she hollerd "MAMMA AND SIERRA, I AM SORRY BUT I CAN'T BE EVERYWHERE" She was sure they were sad she was leaving them for a few seconds.

Box

Boxes make grand houses...

 

House Update

Let me see, the upstairs is trimmed out except for the master bedroom. We had a fairly major misunderstanding concerning stain colors on the master bedroom trim. So we will be changing this. The electrician was here today and we now have a few lights in the house. The shelving guy was out today and roughed in the upstairs shelves. My cabinet man was here today as well. The base cabinets are set as are some of the vanities. He will be back in the morning to bolt the counter top together. Busy day...

Life

Sonny is heading for IN in the morning. He will be out their for a week. This means I will be taking care of the chores this week. We are slowly/rapidly moving towards moving. Some things are going really well and then some things are not. This whole thing is making me weary and I want to get it over with. I am currently listening to an album Jack Veazy recorded while he was singing with the King's Heralds. He is probably the best baritone I have ever heard. He must be really good at golf also because when he retired from singing he became a golf instructor. Anyway, enough about life for one night...

Tea Party

Grandma had a tea party with the grandchildren...

 

Town

The men are headed off to town to shop for a little . Not sure what this day will hold. Games, coffee, and discussions have been the agenda thus far. We are heading for home in the morning. I would have to say this time with family, in laws included, has been very good.

Light

In Sunday School yesterday morning we were discussing walking in the light. How do you procalim the light on a day to day basis and how are you procaliming the light this Christmas season? What does it involve? Is it more than living the quiet lifestyle that Mennonites have become known for? Have the Mennonites become to quiet? Have we moved from being the quiet of the land to being the silent of the land? This would then lead us into another issue and that is the issue of a Christians involvement in goverment or politics. Thoughts anyone?

Change Of Venue

We are headed to a Christmas program at my brother-in-law's church. I have some nieces and a nephew who will participating in this event. After this program we will be driving on over ro my parents place located in Guys Mills PA.

VOP

Last evening our first tenor, Josh, sent an email with yet another request for us to sing. In the past 10 days we have had more people ask us to sing at their church or church sponsored function then we have in the past year. Several of these contacts were a direct result of our singing at Pastor's Christmas Banquet. We are excited about these developements for several reasons. The first and most obvious reason is related to scheduling. When they call us we don't have to call them. This makes life much easier. The second reason is a direct realationship to our ministry and our goals. The busier or more active we are gives us confidence in what we are doing. That God is in our ministry and is blessing us. That we do have a place or ministry in this world regardless of the denomination. The third reason has to do with money. The more active a group becomes the healthier the groups bank account will be. We have some rather lofty goals for this next year which includes recording another album and our reunion tour. To make these goals a reality funds need to be available. Our basic goal is to draw people to Jesus the ONE who came to break our oppression.

Similiar Taste

We arrived in Middlefield last night about 4:30 and soon after entering the house we made a discovery. The light fixtures Rachel's parents purchased for their house are the same as the ones we are going to install in our new house. Rachel's mother made the comment "Yeah, we have similiar taste." Of course they have similiar taste, they find the cheapest thing they can and then they buy it.

Away

We are planning on going away today. We will be in OH, Rachel's parents, until Sunday evening. We will be in PA, my parents, until Wednesday morning.

Editing

For those of you who read this blog you are unaware that I have english skills. I do not know when to use these , ; : I also do not know if something is their or there or they're. Okay, so I do know they're is similar in meaning to youse or youins... But I digress. My motherinlaw, or is it Mother-In-Law is a world renown author. She has written four different books and is in the process of penning another. The book she is currently sweating over is a children's book. The characters in these stories will include her three daughters. For more information on her previous books click

here

Middle Of The Week

What is it??? Since we started remodeling the house I have had people tell me they will be their the middle of the week. If I'm lucky they will show up on Fri. but sometimes it ends up being Mon. What sense does that make? I had a fellow tell me he would be here to talk to me about my cows and the ration on Monday. He still hasn't come. Oh, by the way, the Monday he was talking about was two weeks ago. What sense does that make? Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that the middle of the week is Friday.

VOP

Tonight we were off singing at the Halifax Southern Baptist Association Pastor Christmas Banquet. First they fed us and then we sang. The meal consisted of steak and potatoes. The singing consisted of Christmas songs with a few other themes thrown in. An enjoyable time was had by all.

Christmas Tree

In most conservative Mennonite circles Christmas trees are shunned. I am wondering why this is. Is this opinion biblical? I am of the belief this idea is based solely on the appearance of affluence. In other words, people who take the time to decorate a tree are spending to much time on the monetary or materialistic side of Christmas. Basically, someone who has a tree is missing the true meaning of Christmas. If this is your opinion I must respectfully disagree with you. I have this dream of taking my family deep into the woods and finding the perfect tree. We would then fell this tree and carry it back to the house. (In some parts of the world this would be done in a foot of snow. However, this is highly unlikely in our part of this world.) We would then put up this tree and spend the evening decorating our tree. I found this article concerning the Christmas Tree.

By William V. Rauscher

The Christmas tree comes to us from Germany. Martin Luther is credited with being inspired by the starry heavens one night, and expressing his feelings to his family by bringing a fir tree into his home, and attaching lighted candles to its branches. Fir meant fire, and fire is an ancient symbol for spirit. The tree also pointed toward the heavens.

Evergreens were thought to represent the ever-burning fire of life. The color green signified the life force through the year. Eventually decorative balls represented the planets, while the star that radiates from the top reminds us of Bethlehem. The entire tree and decorations teach us that the universe is witness to the Incarnation.

Red at Christmas reminds us of the fire of the Spirit. Green affirms nature, and the ongoing life. And in the Incarnation, Spirit unites with nature.

In fact, the Christmas tree symbolizes to us a further appreciation of Jesus' birth. It is a means of retelling a miracle in a colorful and beautiful way so that we can further understand and appreciate Jesus' entering our world.

Actually, the tree is a reinterpretation of pagan rites, along with the use of other greens and decorations to commemorate in ancient times a celebration of the feast of Saturnalia - the birth of the Sun in the sky at the Winter Solstice. Along with the giving of gifts, the feast was later Christianized with the selection of December 25th to announce the birth of the Son of God to the world.

The tree also tells the story of a cosmic event - a mystery. In personal celebrations of Christmas the tree begins its use in the 16th century, and is later brought to America by German immigrants.

The heavens and earth rejoice in the coming of the Lord of Life. Our decision must be either for our Christmas tree to represent the celebration of the birth of Christ, or simply an acknowledgment of the pagan festival of the Winter Solstice.

What does the beauty of the Christmas tree say to you?

In my opinon, not having a Christmas tree will not keep you from missing the true meaning of Christmas. Neither will having one cause you to have a pagan Christmas...

Day Off

After several weeks of hard labor I have the privilege of a day off. Sonny had hernia surgery on Nov. 13 and was laid up for several weeks. This past week he started working again, however, he was still in considerable pain and needed to gradually work himself back into shape. Anyway, he feels well enough to be in charge of things this weekend. So today I am going to use my school sale golf passes. I need to see how many trees I can hit. Two of my cousins are going along, Lowell and Eldon Yoder. We are planning on having a very good but chilly time. After this exuberating activity I believe we will be going to town to purchase a few more housy items.

Merry Christmas

This is for those of you who are not on our mailing list.

Merry Christmas

I have slowly come to the realization that this merry letter should be written. I will try to give you some of the more interesting facts from the past twelve months. Like most years this one began in January but since the writer is unable to recall what actually happened in January… He will indeed need to jog his memory for any facts that may interest the reader. It appears that this letter may be rather short. Hmmm let me see….
Ah yes, lets begin with work. My long time employee, Lyndon Yoder, decided to pursue a different occupation. This caused me great pain and stress in two areas. One, he was a great employee and two; I had to find a replacement. This turned into quite an ordeal. After several months of searching I found the best replacement possible. Lyndon’s father, Ernest Yoder, better known as Sonny, agreed to come and work for me. However, he was unable to start working until July 1st. Lyndon’s last day was February the 28th. I found myself working alone until June when school ended and my brother Jon was able to relieve me of some chore duties. In July Sonny started and I have found him to be extremely helpful. He has worked on a farm all of his life and knows more about it then I do.
Let’s see… Oh yes, I almost forgot. Okay that’s a lie, I didn’t forget. I am still singing with Voice Of Praise. In July we recorded another album. 2007 is VOP’s 20th anniversary and we thought it would be fitting to do a Reunion album. We are also planning to go on a Reunion tour in July.
Oh my, I almost forgot this, seriously. We have been remodeling the home place. This project began in May and we are getting so close to finished I can taste it. We are hoping to move between Christmas and New Years day. This project has brought me very close to an emotional melt down. Well, that is an exaggeration but it has been a lot of work. I am really good at demolition but rebuilding is not one of my strong points. So I did the demolition and several fellows from church have done the rebuilding.
I think that might be all… No wait… I think I forgot my family. No, I didn’t forget them I just wanted you to think I did.
Sierra: Wow, she turned six this year. I find this hard to believe. She started school this year, home school. She is very sharp and picks things up easily when she wants to. She doesn’t enjoy math but does find science and social studies very fascinating. She has found birds very interesting creatures.
Aleya: My energetic three year old. She is an amazing imitator and does everything her older sister does. She is definitely a girl and loves to play with dolls but she is also an animal lover and gives our cat, Cup Cake a very rough time occasionally. The other day she was trying to hit the calves with a stick and yet couldn’t understand why they would not let her pet them.
Jayden: Jayden turned one in May and is our cuddle bug. Jayden is also an animal lover and enjoyed the dog, Blackie, until Blackie got to close to our van wheels.
Jackson: Jack is quite a bit like Aleya when it comes to the energy department. Jack loves to race around and appears to be going close to 100 mph at times. Jack turned one in June and his most recent hobby is singing. He will sit and sing and I must say he is very good for 1.5 years old.
Rachel: I find it very difficult to cram all of her amazing accomplishments into one small paragraph but alas, this I must do. She is my wife, which takes quite a bit of time and energy, then we must add school teacher, home maker, mother, Dr./nurse, taxi driver, diaper changer, and a host of other things. I fall in love with her more every year.
Well, I have run out of room and must bid you adios. I trust that you will find peace in the One who came to break our oppression.
Shalom

Kitchen Floor

The children are playing on the new kitchen floor.

 

Master Bath

Here is a glimpse of the master bath floor. Not that you can tell much from this but we like it....

 

Flooring

The vinyl flooring folks are suppose to be here in the morning to start laying the flooring. The painting is done except for trimming out four basement windows. We are weary but feel very good about our accomplishments this week.

On a different note. My dear one and only sister, Juanita, came this morning to watch the children so my wife could work at the house. She then made our supper and mixed up some christmas cookies.
Thanks so much...
From the Zehrs nearest the bridge....

Master Bedroom & Bath

I don't know if you can see the colors or not. The light color is Globe Thistle and the dark is a purple color. I can't remember what it is exactly...

 

VOP Christmas Banquet

Tonight is our second annual Christmas banquet. We are paying two families to take care of the meal. This means we are able to relax and enjoy our time together. Aside from steak I am not sure what is on the menu. Last year it was seven course meal so I assume this one will be the same.

Christmas Concert

This afternoon VOP had their first Christmas Concert. They announced it as a Christmas Concert. I always feel uncomfortable with this term and I am wondering why. Are concerts generally viewed differently than a program? If so, why? Should I feel uncomfortable with this terminology? If so, why?

HMMM???

We are hoping/planning on reusing this toilet. I needed to get it out of the way of the guys doing the dry wall. The fireplace was the most obvious place to put it. I have tried to come up with a good caption but so far it has escaped me...

Paint

One of my aunts took my post Iffen Ya Want literally and came to help us paint this morning. I want to publicly thank her, Kathleen Gilbert, for her help. Also, my wife's parents came to help us out as well. We should easily finish the upstairs tomorrow. Well, it will be a big day but we should get it finished.

Library

How many of you go to the library and how many books do you check out when you go? This may vary depending how big your family is. In times past we used bags to carry our books back and forth. These bags didn't hold up very long and we have begun to use a box. Some folks have been seen leaving the Library with an apple crate full of books.

Iffen Ya Want

Iffen ya want sumpin two do in the next several days youn's can come on down to de home place an give us a han. Hit peers like we dis gonna haf a gran ole time. Sum of us will be rollin an others will be brushin. We wuld luve to see ya stop in an give us a han, iffen ya want. aPeers to be bout fiddy galluns or so thet need to spread all roun da house. Ya can take yor pick as to what ya wanna be a doin. Whether ya be brushin or rollin dis stuff roun. As for me, I ten to slop it roun kinda like I'm feedin dem der hogs I use to have back yeers ago. Well, dat's bout all I's got to say dis time. Before I sign off a here let me remine ya dat dey is gonna be some paint a flyn da nex couple a days or so down on de ole home place. You can stop in an help us aiffen ya want...

Loving It...

Sierra was rubbing Rachel's back tonight with this back rubber thingy... After Sierra was done, Jayden decided it was HIS turn. He laid here on the couch and waited until Aleya came and rubbed his back. He laid there and smiled the whole time, when she quit he would wiggle his back begging for more.

 

House Update

The dry wall fellows are coming to do the final sanding today which means we should be able to paint tommorow if we want to. I must say this crew of mexicans did an incredible job. I was assuming we would be scraping dry wall compound off the floor but these fine people did it for us. They spilled, or splatted, very little on the floor when they were texturing the ceiling. When I thanked them for cleaning up they acted surprised. I told them in my little expierence they were the first crew of any kind that cleaned up after themselves to this extent. The guys that hung the dry wall carried all the extra pieces outside and then swept the floor. Is this unusual? I was assuming I would need to clean up after them.

Da Boys

What fine young men...

 

Attic

When I realized remodeling the house I grew up in was going to be a reality I decided I wanted to sheet the attic. My decision is based on the fact that it is a complete waste of space if it is not used. Also, you can never have to much storage space. However, when a certain lady discovered I was spending the money to sheet the attic she was somewhat skeptical. I believe her exact words were something like this Honey, we are not going to put anything in the attic!!! But if you think we should sheet it then you go ahead I don't mind... If I am not mistaken her mother was in agreement with her and everytime the sheeted attic was being discussed they seemed to find it highly amusing. What I find highly amusing is how many items I have hauled into this sheeted attic in the last couple days. My wife told me at lunch today, while I was snickering at her pickup load of things for the attic, that she had the ability to Admit when she is wrong. I am wondering how many of you have an attic you can tread in heavily. In other words is your attic floor sheeted or do you tip toe around on the rafters hoping you don't slip.

Jackson

Jackson enjoys wearing this hat...

 

Hunting

How many of you spend time deer hunting?

Thanksgiving

I must admit I spend most of my time wishing I had more instead of being greatful for what I have. For instance, this morning when I was getting in the cows I noticed a new calf in my prefresh lot. I go investigate the situation and discover three things. One of which was that this heifer decided to have her calf in the mud. (I would guess we had at least three more inches of rain yesterday.) The second thing I discovered was that the calf was a heifer which was going to cost me some time. We have instituted a heifer calf protocol. Which consists solely of feeding the calf freeze dried colostrum as soon as possible. We purchase this product from an AI company. This product has saved many heifer calves but it is time consuming and I hate it when I get started milking late. The third thing I noticed was that the mother was partially paralyzed. Her back legs were very floppy. She would try to get up but would just fall over. I moan silently. After milking and feeding calves I take the skidloader down and roll her into the bucket. I then carry her to sick pen. I gave her a shot for the pain but I must admit I am rather doubtful she will ever stand up again. So, I was tempted to feel sorry for myself. I would like nothing more than to not have to work today but that isn't an option. Not only do I have to work I have something that is out of my control happen that costs me lots of time and makes my job harder and more tedious. So, what do I have to be thankful for? Well, I milked 84 healthy cows this morning. I fed about 20 healthy calves. I then came home to a happy family. I have help this afternoon which will all0w me to come home early and have supper with the family. There are many things I am thankful for but I must mention my hired man. Sonny underwent hernia surgery on Nov. the 13th. This has made me more aware of how much I depend on him and his wisdom in helping me make decisions. God Bless us all as we remember to be thankful for the things that are most important in life.
This has gotten very long and I don't know if I have said much of anything...

Deja Vue (sp?)

My day was rather uneventful, at least till supper time at which point several interesting things occured. I was unable to arrive home in time to eat with the family so the table was laden with used dishes and cups half full of water. When I sat down at the table I calmly knocked Aleya's cup of water over onto the floor.
I have this ritual of taking a final drink before I leave the table. I had begun this ritual and had my glass half way to my mouth when it slipped out of my hand and crashed onto the table, spilling water over everything in my general area. This little incident reminded me of my first official date with my wife. In that particular incident I had a glass full of Ice Tea slip out of my hand and cover our table. I was somehow able remain very calm and collected. By the way, how do you spell Deja-Vue???

Discipline

Sometime ago I posted a few thoughts on spanking children or, if you prefer, disciplining your children in such away that causes them to have some physical pain. I realize this topic is one that people are scared of because we don't want to be charged with abuse.
Last week while listening to the radio, ESPN, I learned that Bobby Knight had slapped one of his players in the face or jaw hard enough to make him rub his jaw as if he was in some pain. What I find ironic is the fact that no one involved in this incident thought it was a problem. The player, his parents, the school president, or Mr. Knight. Some people seemed to think it was fine for him to discipline his player this way. Apparently Mr Knight was telling his player Look at me when I am talking to you!!!
My question is this: Why is it okay for Bobby Knight to pop a player in the jaw? Yet some parents have gotten into trouble for spanking their children. In the past Bobby Knight has used some very bazarre methods of discipline. Appearing to wip a player with a horsehide wip as well as swinging a metal chair. Here is another interesting thought. If Bobby Knight wasn't winning at Texas Tech would this have been more of a problem? I think so. If they would be losing lots of Basketball games I guarentee Coach Knight would have been suspended or fired. Our society is in the process of becoming very twisted. I wonder why Social Services didn't step in when they discovered Coach Knight had once again struck a player?

TV

I was listening to ESPN radio today and the host, Colin Cowherd, was talking about watching TV. Specifically a big screen TV. He mentioned the fact that he didn't see his family all weekend because he was watching college and professional football. My first thought was, I wonder what his wife thought... While I was thinking this he said that 90% of people that have a big screen TV end up divorced. I am not surprised. If I had a TV of any kind I know I would be watching sports all the time. Evidently time isn't the only downside to owning a TV. He said he was given a really good to TV that was worth about $4,000. I believe the company gave it to him for advertising purposes. I am assuming this but I have no idea why else they would give someone a $4,000 TV. So it appears that money would also be an issue. I must admit I was surprised that the percentage was that high. Are you?

Family Portrait

 

Dry Wall

A crew of five mexicans showed up this morning. They were very interesting to watch. They didn't look like they were working hard or fast but they sure got a lot done. They made every move count. The upstairs is three fourths hung and they started hanging the basement ceiling. It is starting look like a house with rooms. Like a house nearing completion. One of these days I will take some pictures but I don't know when...

Mid Life Crisis Group

Some folks in our church started a young marrieds group several years ago which we were part of. As time went on the group got larger and some of us didn't feel so young any more. Thus was formed another group of people. I think everyone in this group has at least three children. Their was a lot of discussion concerning what we were going to call ourselves. I thought we should be called the Mid Life Crisis Group. I was the only person with this idea because we are call our selves the Young Family Group. This is really not accurate because when you get married you are a young family regardless of children. Anyway, this group is coming over tonight. Two or three of the families are gone so here are the numbers. Tonight we will have nine adults and nineteen children.

Appliances

I am wondering what brand of appliances you think are the best. Maytag, Hot Point, GE, Frigidaire, or a different brand. We were told this evening that Maytag appliances are junk. What is your opinion?

Insulation Part II

It's finished... Hip hip hooray... We have scheduled an inspection for the insulation in the morning. Our drywall people are planning to have all the drywall hung by Sat. evening. How cool is that???


Today while I was bringing the cows across the road (The field they are grazing in is across the road. I put a fence up when I am bringing them across.) I noticed there was a vehicle parked in the road. When I went down to drop the fence and let the vehicle pass I discovered it was a Fed Ex truck. The driver was out with her cell phone taking a picture. She told me she was taking a picture to show to her manager. This way she could prove why she was being delayed. I bet her manager would found it hard to believe she was held up by a herd of cows in the road...

Insulation

They started insulating the house today. Should finish tommorow. We are hoping the dry wall fellows, a crew of mexicans, can start this week.
It has been a long day and I am weary.
Sleep good.

Time

Christ's Life is in us, and that makes it all possible, but we MUST CHOOSE IT. I must CHOOSE to put my book down, get up off the couch, and make cookies with my girls helping. I must choose to let the dishes wait a minute and go pretend to be a bear and chase my boys down the hall.

The funny thing is, it's so HARD to choose to get down there with them, but when I'm with them, cracking up so hard I'm belly-laughing, and looking into their eyes and down into their hearts, and just enjoying them, I am so greatful I got off the stinkin' couch! No matter how relaxing that book was to me, it can't beat being WITH them. The book is nice to my flesh, but being (really BEing) with my children brings Peace and Rest to my heart.

But it doesn't start out like that. At first, it's you making the choice via sheer will-power to do what you know you OUGHT to do. God is responsible for changing your heart, but YOU are responsible for changing your actions.

This is not original with me. My wife found it on the internet. I must admit this is what I struggle with. I don't seem to have energy to BE with my children. I try to tell myself that when my children are 14 I want to have a relationship with them. But I forget so easy. It is much easier to say no... I am tired and don't have the energy to play hide and seek. But when I do it I have fun and they have fun. Isn't that what family is all about? Learning to have fun together?

A Thousand Words

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So I guess you have your thousand word post for the week...

 

Tragedy

Yesterday evening my wife was leaving for town. While she was leaving Blackie was traipsing along beside her. When Rachel turned at the end of the drive the van felt like it had gone over a rock. She then heard this yipping sound and Blackie was running for the farm house like he was shot out of a cannon. Naturally she assumed all would be well. I was unaware of these events when I backed my truck up to the farm house porch. I noticed the dog was lying beside the steps but was far to still. I nudged him with my foot and he took no notice. I was surprised and wondered what had happened. I called Rachel to break the news to her. She then told me what had happened. Sierra was somewhat distressed. This is the first death she has had to deal with and she shed a few tears on her mother's shoulder. While we were working in the house she would tell me she was "Thinking about Blackie". This morning she is singing away and said that she slept well last night. I am sure cupcake will be very happy to have such a thorn in the flesh removed from his life. Blackie found much joy in harrassing the cat. Sierra says she wants another dog but I think we shall wait and see...

Prayer

The last several days Aleya has started to "mmhm" while I am praying. I don't know what started this or where she got the idea. I also heard that her first cousin, Alyssa, was doing the same thing only she was doing it in church. Her parents found it quite amusing. At one point she said, "Yes Lord" in a very reverant and respectuful tone. In a lot of ways this sounds funny, which it is, these girls are not yet four. Are they listening and agreeing or are they just doing it to do it. The funny thing is; no one else in our family does this, at least not on a regular basis so I don't know where she learned it or why she is doing it. Makes me wonder if I really pray when other people are praying. To my shame I don't think I do. Maybe I need to start vocalizing my agreement with the one who is praying to help me pay attention...

Cider

A lady, Wendy, stopped in to visit Rachel yesterday and brought with her a gallon of HOMEMADE Cider. Her parents made it from apples they picked off of their tree. This Cider is very good. Cider in general is good in moderation. Once,when I was a child, I drank as a child and the result was a very serious. This serious condition causes one to occupy the restroom much more frequently then one would desire. It is most commonly referred to as Montezuma's Revenge. I now use better judgement when partaking of this nectar.

Grazing (Sort Of)

I have this lovely field of Matua hay growing beside my house. It has gotten too late in the year to attempt making hay. So this morning we put a fence around it and chased the cows towards it. The biggest draw back was when we were trying to get the cows to cross the road. It took them awhile to make up their minds but when they did they all took off at a gallop. Once they calmed down they spent most of their time nibbling at the incredible hay. We are intending to put the cows out their every day for several hours. We are still feeding them a TMR in the barn. We are just cutting it back a little and hoping they will fill up on those tender green shoots. I must say herd of cows grazing is a beutiful thing.

Housing Update

Saturday the electrician was here and began to pull wires. I believe he has the upstairs half finished. We are hoping to be insulating and doing the drywall by the end of November. We may be able to move before Christmas after all. I am not going to hold my breath. I must say the contractor is doing a great job at keeping things moving and calling the people that are not doing what they said they were going to do. The rough in plumbing was finished last week. Maybe I will post some pictures in the next day or so.

Tour

Tommorow we will be leaving for a short weekend tour. We will be in Floyd Fri. evening. The great thing is we are planning to come back home for the night. Sat. evening we will be at Faith Mission and Sunday morning we will be singing at Believers Fellowship in Waynesboro. Sunday afternoon we will be participating in a mens choir in Harrisunburg. I am unsure how many groups will be their. I believe this event is promoted by the Virginia Conference. We are planning to be home Sunday night.

Photo Prints

Are you still going into Wal-Mart and dropping off your film or have you upgraded to online photo print ordering? We have upgraded and really like it. We will like it more when they finally get DSL in our area.