More Ira Pictures

Remember the film crew that came to town to film the movie Ira Finkelstein's Christmas ?  Sue Cocoran, the director, asked a friend to document the whole film making process by taking pictures.  Not to long ago, the photographer put all of her pictures on cd for anyone who wanted to purchase them.  I bought the disk that held all the pictures of the extras who participated in the film.  My kids made it to some and I thought I would share them with you.

Bonnie and her friend, Emily, were excited to get to pose with Connor (Spike) and Jenna (Jessica).  Connor and Jenna are great teens and very talented.  I never got to see Connor without his makeup on, but I did find his studio picture and he is quite a handsome young man.  The girls all liked him because of his British accent.  Connor and Elijah, the main actor, are both homeschooled.  I had a lot of fun talking to their mothers.

I can't wait for the movie to come out this fall.  They are trying to have it out by Thanksgiving.

Gardening

 A friend from church is sharing her garden plot with me this summer.  Yesterday the kids and I went to Wenatchee to purchase our garden plants.  We got 20 tomato plants, 4 zucchinis, 4 cucumbers, 4 green peppers, 4 red peppers, 4 jalapeno peppers, and seeds for corn and green beans.  Today we went to plant our garden.  We managed to put in our seeds but were told to hold off in putting in our plants.  Last night the temperature dipped down to 31 degrees and there was a frost on the ground.  I had been watching the mountains around because they say when the snow is off Wedge mountain it is time to plant.  I found out today I had been looking at the wrong mountain.   Oops!  Wedge mountain is still covered in snow.

Since I can't plant my tomato plants, Bryce and I transplanted our tomato plants into bigger pots and we are going to put them inside the breakfast nook every night to protect them.  Hopefully in two weeks we can put them in the garden.

I am a little nervous about maintaining a garden that is not at my house.  I figure I will need to make sure to schedule to go out everyday to water, weed, and maintain it.  It won't be very convenient but the end result will be worth it. 

Praises

Yesterday, I did a very hard thing. I paid another mortgage payment not knowing if we will have any money this summer.  It was a big step of faith for me to let that check go out in the mail.   It is funny how when we surrender everything over to God that He shows us how faithful He is.  A few hours later my husband called up to inform me that he finally checked on our pay schedule at the school where he teaches.  You see, we didn't know how the school paid...whether it was on a nine month schedule, ten month, or if they paid year round.  I assumed we would only get paid for the ten months that he was teaching and would be without income over the summer.  I saved up money to cover us during the summer months but these unexpected mortgage payments were using up all of that reserve.  My wonderful husband gladly announced that he would be getting paid all summer long.  Our financial problems were solved.  I felt God  telling me that I only needed to trust Him.  Once again He showed me that He is my Jehovah-Jireh.

Another praise is that our house is being shown to potential buyers tomorrow.  In fact, there are two showings scheduled.

Bits and Pieces

Cleaning
Today the kids and I spent the day cleaning. 
The four of us washed walls, vacuumed and steam cleaned carpets and wiped down everything we saw.  I was so proud of the kids and how well they worked together.  Especially proud of Bonnie who had no problem visiting with our friend who is suffering from Alzheimers when she finished with her cleaning.  We are not done with all of the cleaning but the end is in sight.  We will head back over to our friends house again tomorrow morning to finish up.  School will be put off until the afternoon.

I am so thankful for this small job that we have been given to do.  The kids are excited about the fact that they can earn so money themselves.

Weight Loss
Today at the gym I was asked how much weight I have lost.  Can you believe after two months I haven't lost anything!!  I am obviously doing something wrong.  I do feel toned and more fit but I would love to lose a few ( a lot) of pounds and some inches.  I feel that I really need to work on my diet and change up my exercise routine.  My workout partner came up with some new exercises for us to use tomorrow.  We will see what works.  I really need to sit down with my brother's website, www.slimjimmenus.blogspot.com, and write down a week's worth of his menus.  He has lost over thirty pounds by changing his eating habits.
I don't know.  I am feeling really frustrated right now.

Vehicles
Todd started working on fixing his Blazer today.  He is tearing an engine out of another Blazer that was conveniently wrecked in the canyon last weekend.  I don't know how long this process is going to take.  Todd really doesn't have any spare time but he is trying to squeak out an hour or two in the afternoons to work on it.  My van is still in pieces and, well, who knows when we will get it back together.  I think the Blazer has taken first priority.

NC House
Our house in NC had a showing today.  Keep praying that we get a buyer.

Ok... so get this.  I lasted posted how I was struggling with how God was going to provide for us this summer with a no renter, a house that needs to be sold, and two broken vehicles.  Well, within minutes of telling my mom that I need a job this summer, a friend stopped by to pick up her grandson and asked if I would be his childcare provider and she would pay me.  Less than twelve hours later my neighbor walked by and asked if I would watch her daughter as well with pay.  Few hours after that, some friends that I have helped move earlier this week asked if they could pay me to clean their house.

Now all of this won't take care of everything but for me it is reassurance that God is going to provide for our needs.  There is a lot of hard work ahead with extra kids around and a house to clean and get ready for renters but I am willing to put in the work to help out our family. 

Stepping INTO the Box

Last weekend I attended a ladies retreat at Camas Meadows Bible Camp.  The theme was "Stepping OUT of the Box."  It was about how at various points in our lives we find ourselves facing situations that are out of our control or out of our comfort zone.  During those times we "wrestle" with God.  We go into our "closet" or "box" and voice our questions, concerns, and/or doubts to God.  The speaker was a pastor's wife from Eugene, Oregon named Mary Cross.  She shared about her own box moments as a pastor's wife which really hit home to me.

Right now we are going through some moments that sent me INTO my box yesterday.  I guess you could start with a month ago when we realized our renter was not going to pay rent and we were going to have to dip into our summer reserve to cover the mortage that month.  Last week we loaned out Todd's car to some friends and got a report back that the car was making lots of noises and they were scared to drive it.  After coming home from the retreat I was informed that the engine is gone and needs to be replaced.  (My children cheerfully informed me in this bleak moment that someone had a wreck in the canyon and totalled their car but their engine is a perfect match for ours. Bad for them, good for us.)
Now for yesterday.  It started off with me finally getting the bill for the well back at our NC home - the one that our renter said was no good but the techinician said was fine.  Well, his assessment that our well is in working order took almost all of our security deposit that we were expecting back.  But that was just the start of me finally climbing into the box.  Up to this point I have been ok.  I have been at peace that God is in control, but my knees were starting to get a little shaky.  The final blow was yesterday when the kids and I took the van into Wenatchee.  Bonnie's glasses were in and we went to pick them up.  I figured while we were in town I would get the oil changed on the van.  Todd usually does these things for me, but he has not had any time so I thought this would help him out.  The techinician at the quick oil change was quite alarmed at the status of my rig.  He saw right off the bat that something was leaking and once he opened up the hood saw that I had no fluids in my vehicle.  How I have been able to drive is by God's grace.  He advised me not to drive any further.  He changed my oil and replaced my filters, put fluids in my vehicle (but they kept running back out - not  a good sign) and then asked if I knew who Job was in the Bible.  Ha ha.  I came up with a plan and decided to park the van at the mall which was around the corner and ride the Link bus home to Leavenworth (25 miles away).

Throughout all of this the kids did great.  The loved the adventure of riding the buses around town and back home.  By the end of it I was able to stay composed and not totally lose it.  I am "out of the box" and on my knees trusting in God.  His peace still surrounds me and for that I am thankful.

Last night, Todd and Dan towed our van home.  Eventually he will get it fixed.  Thank goodness for Tim's old truck and fortunately we can walk to everything we need.  

I don't know of anyone who likes to move.  Oh, there are some aspects about it that are cool, but the actual process of packing and unpacking can be overwhelming.

The kids and I have been helping some friends move over the past two days.  They are actually only moving next door.   In fact, you can walk out the back door of one house and twelve later enter the back door of the other house.  The reason they are moving is to have more room for their daughter and son-in-law to move in with them.

Right now my throat is dry and scratchy from breathing dust and my body aches from carting furniture and boxes back and forth.  Everything is almost moved over so now it is down to cleaning the other house to make it ready for renters.

On the school front, we are just about done.  Today we finished history, Bryce finished math which means he is done with everything.  We will spend his school day practicing ready and I downloaded a bunch of 4th grade Jump Start games for him to play.  Brian is done with language and is on the home stretch for math.  Bonnie is still working through math and language. Both kids decided that they are going to finish reading their Apologia Science book.  All the kids are working on a writing project, but the end is near!!