Summer Update

It's not fall yet and I am pulling out all the energy for the last of the summer activities . The last to be our vacation to the ocean. We have finally posted some unorganized pictures of our summer projects and happenings. We are so blessed!




I finally have a place for chickens after living here for 7 years! Inside of the chicken house -made in the corner of our little barn. It needs roosting bars and laying boxes.

entrance of chicken house with installed old sliding door for a picture window. Soon to be painted red with white shutters. With a little help, I worked for a week or so in the afternoons to complete this project. I felt accomplished!

Sarah-the master duck catcher with arched cattle panels behind her for the outdoor chicken run.

Kenny's idea- a puppy for John-we all love her

Joshua 16 years old

Kenny and John after a tennis match

Joshua, Hope, and Aaron- 4th of July playing music at our friend's house

4th of July - Joshua and Luke with Grandma Lenz

In trouble again ....mom's make-up

Paul's 12th birthday breakfast

goat pen

Lily with Suede

John ,seconds after we gave him this birthday present

We are packing the car and heading out early for Myrtle Beach. We will start school on our return. Josh is taking his Chemistry and Algebra 2 from tutors. One lady is a homeschool mom college math teacher and the other took two years of Chemistry in college. They both love these subjects and their passion is contagious. I am so thankful to know these women and feel honored for the opportunity for Josh. We celebrated Joshua's 16th birthday yesterday ....AMAZING! and Lily will have her 14th this Saturday. The kids are anxious to take this vacation and I hope to make an extra effort to notice all the little things about them that I have missed lately in my busyness.
Our little farm is now established and our german shepherd Lacy has found a loving home in spite of her messes. This intelligent dog has found a place in my heart already. She always seems to be clean and smell nice which has encouraged more affection from me. I released all five of our ducks down at the lake at the bottom of our property because the goats were always into their food no matter what contraption I tried to build to keep them out. Sarah is truly in love with the baby ducks. We saw Priscilla off to college last week and Danika has taken over the office with a little help here and there. The shop should be finished in October sometime and we will see big changes around here. I truly have not minded the people in and out but I am sure I will relish a calm cozy winter.
Paul has begun his 8 week Monday night golf tournament and the sport has become a favorite of not only his but Joshua and of course Kenny's also. I am starting to play more often. (if you can't beat them join em)It dawned on me recently (and it has already started happening) that wherever there are people than there is a chance to show God's love. My eyes were opened to the opportunities we may have as a family out there on the golf course. The boys are already well known and have made several acquaintances with the old and young fellers out there on the course. It is so beautiful out there that I can understand the stress relief that it has provided for my Kenny. I have a much happier husband.
I keep up with world events and marvel at all that is going on. Sometimes I feel things to deeply. I heard about a 12 year old boy being pulled under by the strong currents and lost yesterday. I just hugged Paul and cried. Maybe I am a little nervous going to the beach but I was really feeling for the parents and I realized I have been on Paul's case a little to much lately. He is going through a forgetful, out in space , stage. PUBERTY!! ugh.
Life is heavy but we keep on loving everywhere we go! Right!?

Lots to say... to tired to say it all.

We have been so busy that I have just been to tired to blog at night. We had relatives here for the 4th of July, I helped with a fund-raiser f0r Levi's family the next weekend, put fencing around our back yard the following weekend so we could give John his german shepherd puppy for his birthday, and this weekend we are getting the two pygmy goats, three ducks, and 10 chicks all settled into their new home. The extra fencing we had motivated me to finally get the petting zoo in operation. The kids are really enjoying the animals and I am too if not more so. We celebrated John and Paul's birthdays this last week and now I am a bit tired. We will post more pictures of all the happenings around here later. I put these family pictures up for all the grandparents to see. We will be sending the actual photos your way soon. Miss you all.

Spider

After a trip to dump a bucket into the compost pile John came in and was squirting dishwashing detergent into the dishwasher as I noticed a black widow crawling up his back on top of his white t-shirt. I quickly but silently took my dishrag and killed it. He was a little shook up after I told him what I had just killed. They can deliver a nasty bite.

Beautiful June

We have had this pair of rarely seen Scarlet Tanagers hanging out in our yard. The male continually and deliberately runs into our windows. I am looking into this strange behavior. It may be attacking his reflection in order to protect his female? We are enjoying seeing the male up so close and the female was even hanging out in the Japanese Maple right outside our window.The look exactly like the birds in the image above. They are very beautiful.

June 8-Shop is up and running. Work is coming in and we are blessed to see this after only two weeks since the fire.

June 11-I just finished rocking 2 1/2 year old Joseph to sleep after his bath in a silent house. It was nice. John is being given a drawing lesson by Pris and the older boys are with Kenny. The first few hours of calm in over a week gave me a chance to think about the younger mom I was in those simpler days of watching the children run around content with their toys and outdoor time. I guess I am missing those days a little. I know it shouldn't be that way but to be honest it is such a scary transition time with my older ones. They are looking for their life, their purpose, and their desires to be met. If "there is no greater joy than to know that my children are walking in truth" than there can be no greater sorrow than to know that they are not walking in truth.

Of course we enjoy watching them grow and we want nothing more than to see them mature and make good decisions on their own. But I know they will make mistakes like the rest of us. Learning to trust- that is one of the keys. We are endeavoring to not be naive parents so we can know how to pray for and guide our kids. This is serious business -this parenting thing.

June-20 We took the kids out to Fort Loudoun see at http://fortloudoun.com/ ( a restored fort from the French and Indian War) yesterday in the 97 degree heat. They tolerated it quite well especially since we took some time to swim at the end of the day. Later in the evening Joshua, Hope, and Priscilla did a great job performing at a local downtown coffee shop. I especially love when they sing their own songs that they have written. It 's amazing to hear the lyrics that come out of Hope's heart. I am blessed! Go to www.myspace.com/hopeector and listen for yourselves.

The older boys went to jump off waterfalls, Kenny is golfing, and Lily and I are enjoying listening to music. I hurt my neck somehow and I am having a hard time turning it. I have never been to a chiropractor but this pain might push me to do so. The cause may be from straining it while working outdoors. I have excitedly started 4-5 different projects-building an entrance arbor, starting the greenhouse, digging in steps on the hill, digging out a decorative fish pond, and a chicken house and coop. I just had the vision and wanted to start it all at once. I guess I will have to rest since this pain is making me feel sick.
On another note. I want more of our Father right now. I want to see the Lord move in my life and those around me. HE is truly the satisfier of our soul and I want to know Him in a personal way because religion is tiring but His spirit is like water to our souls. I get tired of distractions that pull me away from what is important. People are important, prayer, and walking in peace.
Just wanted to remind myself of that today. Let's remember to keep praying for eachother!!

Big Fire

Last Friday (almost a week now) the sign company owned by our brother-in-law caught on fire and is now considered a total loss. While they were drying letters at the end of the day Kenny and my nephew in-law saw smoke and by the time they approached the area it was to late. After calling 911, they grabbed the computers and then found it impossible to save anything else but a plotter. (I'll post pictures later-our camera and cell phone were lost in the fire)
Meanwhile at home, we hear a few fire trucks but we are now hidden by trees from any view down below that I didn't bother to look out to see where they may be going. Joseph even said, "Hey mom, what's that sound?". "Fire trucks, Joe." 15 minutes later my neighbor and friend calls my phone and yells "Lori, did you know that the shop is on fire?" Fear struck me since I hadn't heard from Kenny so I jumped in the car and immediately tore down there. It crossed my mind that an explosion could have taken place and the neighbors might have called 911. I wondered if Kenny was okay. Even after I saw his beautiful form outside the building I couldn't help shaking. I couldn't believe the fire was out of control. Somehow Kenny and I both seemed to still have some kind of idea that he could conquer the beginning of a fire but the hose wasn't going to cut it as our nephew tried. They were amazed at how fast the huge place filled with black smoke and toxic fumes. There were about 10-12 fire trucks on the scene and they used 15,000 gallons of water out of the nearby pond/lake.
Ford and Lisa were on their way home from a vacation in Colorado and we were just sick at the thought of what they were about to face. They were and have been amazing about the whole thing. Even though they have insurance the amount of work in setting up temporarily and the stress of keeping clients is incredible. They are setting up shop in our carport which is now a closed in wired shop with machines all set up with production almost on its way. The office (our old bedroom we were already moving out of) is connected to the shop by our transformed plotter -room breezeway.It has turned out to be a nice set up. It hasn't been easy but it has been neat seeing everyone ( and I mean from 10 years old and up) buzzing around here as hard and fast as anyone can go. Taking our meals together has been one fun aspect of it all. Grandma and Grandpa have done an amazing amount of work pressure washing, painting, cleaning, cooking dinner several times for all of us and even helping me catch up on my laundry. Thanks to everyone for your work and prayers.

Scattered News

Been so long that there is no way I could stick to a subject or even find a suitable title. I always feel revived in the Spring and it is definitely beautiful but my family is still going through the reality of my brother's death and that is painful to watch and feel. Please continue to pray for Stacie and the family.
Well, we have had a busy spring with John playing soccer and Paul playing on a travel baseball team again. They did well. We took a weekend to go camping with Kenny's sister and husband and their 3 kids in Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky. It was great to see them and we even survived a 6 hour severe lightning and rain storm the first night. I realized I liked camping more than I thought I would. The hard work in preparing pays off when everyone is relaxing around the campfire and eating Smores. The kids will always remember.
Joshua is working and schooling off and on. He is hanging out on Friday nights with some great kids. They started their own Bible study and He is liking it. Music is very important to him and he just purchased another guitar. He is taking part in the music his cousin Hope writes and they sound beautiful together. He is also running and lifting weights a few times a week with some encouraging young married men .
Kenny is working and playing ball with the boys. When I say ball I mean all kinds of ball- basketball, golf, football and oh yeah, does frisbee count as ball.? He keeps the boys busy several nights a week. This gives me time to do what I love and that is to work out in the yard or garden. I am stranger than most when I realize that I actually enjoy having a shovel or wheelbarrow in my hands. I love this kind of exercise. This week the garden is really looking spiffy. (can gardens be spiffy?) The younger kids run around outside till almost dark and then we go in for baths. We sleep well.

We are attending a new church where the whole family really listens and enjoys the speaker. We don't really care where we go as long as we are in God's will.
This week we have an 18 year old friend of the family coming to stay with us for a few weeks from Mo. We will enjoy showing him the beautiful sights and I'm sure he'll love joining the guys in their activities.

So much is going on with our friends and family. So many people hurting. Hope we are salt and light to these loved ones. ONLY IN HIM

Life

Nephew Ben, our Joseph, and Levi's Sam

Lily's new bird

The Boston Terrier-A gift from my brother Judah- we love him. Formerly Scooter now Goob

Baby Judah Samuel- one day old

baby Cousin Joseph James (Ben's # 2)with our Joseph Peter

John with another new pet

I can't believe it has taken this long for me to blog again. I think I have been extra tired at night. So much has happened since January. On the 29th of January my brother, Levi died suddenly from a blood vessel eruption in his heart while talking to my Dad late one night around a bonfire just after he arrived home from work. At only 31 his widow and the rest of us were shocked. His little two year old Sam will still remain close by as his mom has choosen to stay here in TN. Levi is buried just across the road from where I live. During the month of January our family had spent time with Levi in Bible study and worship together. My boys were able to throw a football around and play games with my funniest and easy-going brother. His funeral was meaningful as people full of faith shared their songs and memories. My dad shared how he felt honored to be there in the beginning and the end. (He delivered Levi at home) Please keep praying for my family as daily life has brought the constant reminder of his absence.

A nephew was born two weeks before Levi passed away and another nephew was born just a few weeks ago. New life brings an awe of the power of life and death and I cannot express how I feel about the mystery of it all.