Happy Halloween!

This year for Halloween we were excited to get out in the community and enjoy the festivities. Unfortunately that wasn't a possibility due to Jakob being sick. But we didn't let that stop us too much when it comes to having fun.

I went to the video store (yes, I went to the store ALL BY MYSELF! Thanks Love!!) and rented a couple of little kids Halloween movies. Then I went to the grocery store and bought the fixins' for Chicken Enchiladas and Magic Cookie Bars. I topped it off with some sparkling Apple Juice and a Pumpkin Pie for Leif. MMM!

Earlier in the month we purchased two of the biggest pumpkins at the store. So we had a lot of fun Halloween afternoon carving them. Let me rephrase that, LEIF had a lot of fun. All I did was draw the basic Jack o' Lantern face on the pumpkin at Leif's insistence. Jakob drew a dinosaur on the other pumpkin and Leif carved it so we could see the light through it. Fun! Fun!

Since we had planned the kids costumes ahead of time we decided to dress them up anyway. They thought that was a great idea of course! Jakob changed his mind three times this year when it came to what he wanted to dress up as. First it was a spooky Halloween Cat. Second it was a Dinosaur. Finally, he chose a sailor. This followed right along with his obsession with the military. The costume is an antique made from my grandfather's official sailor uniform from WWII. My father wore it when he was Jakob's size, my brother Jason wore it, and now Jakob's worn it. So needless to say I am protective of the costume. But I'm grateful that Jakob thinks it's neat. Caleb wore a Tigger costume that Jakob wore when he was Caleb's size. I must say he was adorable!

So all in all, we had a Happy Halloween, as it should be!

Swine Flu Update

Well, Jakob and Caleb seem to be better. No fevers this morning. But all I want to do is lay around or sleep. My head hurts. No fever. Other then that, we're alright. I have A LOT I want to write about. But like I said, I'm tired. So hopefully after nap time... Let me list what I want to blog about so I can remember when I feel up to it:

Caleb's 18 month update
Jakob update
Raising Chicken stories
Halloween Night

Swine Flu's Hit Home

Well, as Leif put it, "the Piggy Cold has hit the Baron family". Jakob woke up on Wednesday with a high fever, terrible headache, deep chest congestion, and a few rounds of throwing up. So I called the doctor. He had three out of the four Swine Flu symptoms that they look for. He just needed a sore throat. Well, that hit today. Luckily he hasn't been seriously sick. It's just lasting a long time and put a serious damper on our festivities.

So far the rest of us haven't been knocked down by it. But Caleb started acting like he has a sore throat today and my throat is itchy and feels like it's on the edge of something. But we're praying that it passes.

We're surviving. We did have a nice Halloween. I'll write about it and post photos tomorrow. It's time for bed!

Three Years Have Passed

From Jakob and Rhea

I was sitting in our little nursery with the kids the other day and we were admiring the curio filled with all of the little mementos from our girls. I then realized that the anniversary of their delivery was coming up. They would have been three years old yesterday.

Time does truly heal. We still talk about the girls in one way or another on a daily basis. But the pain of their loss is not constant. I am now able to be grateful that I can raise them in a perfect world. Throughout my day yesterday I reminisced here and there about some of the memories I have of the time with my girls. I had very little time with LeOra. But I had 8 days with Rhea.

After the emergency C-section I instinctively knew that I needed to spend as much time with Rhea as I possibly could. So either I was blessed with a quick initial recovery, or I fibbed and was able to go to her hours after I delivered. That was a special day. My in-laws had come to be with us and care for Jakob. The veil between this life and the next was very thin. I remember feeling almost as if we were all in the midst of heavenly clouds. Wrapped in a peace and comfort. This was the spirit of the Lord and His comfort. My father in law tells of his experience of actually being allowed to see his mother (who had passed away years before) bringing LeOra (grandma's namesake) to visit Rhea in the NICU and then to me in my hospital bed. I can sense their presence when they are near though I have never seen them.

Yesterday I was looking through books online for the boys. I came across the original version of the book "The Little Engine That Could." That was the book that I read out loud to Rhea as she lay in the NICU. I need to buy that book...

Jakob asked the other day if he was ever able to hold Rhea. He actually held her on the day that we took her off of life support. But the picture we took of them turned out fuzzy. But the memory is clear. Jakob held her and tried to give her his binky. It was a precious time.

Though we would rather have our girls with us at this moment. It is a true blessing to know that the Lord can heal our hearts in time. I am ever grateful for this knowledge and the comfort that it brings me in this life. I look forward to the day when we will be with our girls again.

So, my sweet Rhea and LeOra. Thank you for your precious love and memories. We are doing our best to live worthy to be with you again.

From Jakob and Rhea

From Jakob and Rhea

Precious Moments in the Fall: Photos

My precious boys playing together in the leaves:

From Fall 2009

From Fall 2009

From Fall 2009

From Fall 2009

From Fall 2009

Jakob's Photo of our Ginger Bread Haunted House

From Fall 2009

From Fall 2009

Mama's Projects and Pass Times

Sandra (my cousin in law) asked me what projects I have been working on lately. I thought that was a question worthy of a blog post. I'd like to answer that question for myself. I feel like I have a lot of "projects". But what exactly am I talking about? Let's see... Since I DO NOT want to do the dishes in this free moment of time I have I'll answer this question.

The number one thing that I do in my short moments of "Mama Time" is reading. I am currently interested in novels relating to the Amish faith and lifestyle. They are uplifting and interesting. I am pretty picky about what I spend my time reading. Some people read for the pure entertainment and enjoyment. I read for those reasons too. However if there is nothing uplifting or enlightening involved in the story, for me, it's a waste of time. My time is too valuable. I also find myself taking on the attitudes of the characters that I'm reading about. So if they're not good I'm in trouble.

The next thing I do is blog. As you may have noticed I haven't been blogging as much. This is mostly due to the fact that my "Mama Time" is taken up or non-existent.

And then there are my "Projects." These are my ongoing things that I dabble in when I know the kids won't let me alone, or I feel guilty because I want to get these projects FINISHED. My main project is the ongoing process of home school planning, preparing, and presenting. The every day lessons for the next while aren't really my focus at the moment. But I am trying to plan ahead and have a supply of lessons on hand to use if need be. My goal is to have 30 school days worth of "Bedside Lessons in a Packet" completed and ready to go when I need them (yes, this in preparation for weeks 6-10 of pregnancy.) My plan is to have these packets in a file box next to my bed. They will have everything needed for that day in the envelope. Jakob can choose a packet and we can work on them together. Jakob loves dinosaurs and jets. So each packet will be themed around dinosaurs and jets. There is a series of books called The Value Tales. I grew up reading these books. Each of them overviews a certain value by telling a story about a person who has made a great impact in the world. I will include one of these books in each packet as well.

My next ongoing project is our family prayer rug. It's coming along slowly but surely. I have set up a play group two days a week. I try to pull out my rug during these times and work on it with my friends.

And finally, my upcoming project is going to be planning and carrying out a Ladies Night Out each month for myself and any of the ladies in town and around who want to join us. There are certain things that I like to do each month for the holidays and such. But they're often not as fun to do alone. So, I thought I'd invite others to join me. Each month we'll work on something and enjoy a themed refreshment. For example, in December I'm actually planning two nights. The first we will make a Christmas Countdown Candle along with scriptures that we can read by candle light with our families leading up to Christmas. That night the refreshment theme will be Anything Cookies. The other night in December we'll have a gift wrapping night where we can all come together and wrap gifts, visit, and eat Anything Candy. I think it sounds fun and I hope it sounds fun to the ladies.

So Sandra, that's what this Mama does in her moments of Mama Time. Thanks for asking!

Rollin' Along At The Baron Homestead

My blogging hours have been drastically reduced. One of these days I will set aside several hours and write to my hearts content on all of my different blogs. Until then, I'll take a moment here.

Life is rolling along. Is it REALLY almost Halloween? The end of October? Unbelievable! Life for the Baron family is full and happy. I concluded today that I am content with the fact that I do not have the time I used to have for myself anymore. I used to spend hours working on MY projects. Ever since I made the choice to shift my complete focus to teaching my children full time at home rather then sending Jakob elsewhere, my life has been full and content. I am busy. I have A LOT of Projects. But I am happy. I love watching Jakob AND Caleb progress daily. I love to know that it was all of us working together that resulted in the progress. I used to give the credit where much of the credit was due, to Jakob's teacher. But now, Leif and I are the teachers. I LOVE IT!

This last week something has clicked in Jakob. For weeks he has been stuck in the habit of immediately saying NO! or WHY?! to any request from myself or any authority figure. He has finally found the word OKAY in his vocabulary. It is Beautiful and so peaceful. Now, I am not so naive that I believe we will never struggle with this issue again. But I relish in the moment.

My Caleb is growing up. I absolutely love the age that he's at. It's filled with exploration and giggles. He loves to make-believe along side his brother or on his own. It is not unusual to find him in a corner somewhere with an airplane in hand sputtering through the air. It is a joy to see his personality bloom. At the moment he is in his bed singing and jabbering to himself. Leif made the comment the other night that our boys love to hear their own voices. We were driving down the road and both Jakob and Caleb were in the back seat jabbering away to know one in particular. Most of the time I consider their voices music to my ears. And sometimes...:)

Leif... ahhh, my Leif. I love this man! We just spent several hours on a day trip to and from SG with a lot of shopping in between. Now he is out in his office (the trailer) writing a paper for one of the several classes he's taking. And the thing is, the man just accepts his lot in life. When I had a paper to write, one paper, Everyone knew I had a paper due. I walked around with a neon sign strapped to the front and back of me informing everyone that I was feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment so they had better not ask for my assistance. Leif, he has two or more papers, a chemistry test, AND the everyday homework, daily job, church, family, and chickens to balance on a daily basis. And he just does it. No questions asked. He will naturally show signs of being tired or occasionally overwhelmed. But 90% of the time, someone who doesn't know him well would have no idea how much he carries on his plate. He has a gift. I only pray that I can follow his example as well as be the help that he needs and deserves.

Lady, well, our little Lady is still with us. she's still up for sale, even though Jakob has prayed that we won't sell her;) Nice huh?:) So for now we've actually found a doable solution to the majority of our issues. We keep her outside during the day. We have a nice set up and she seems okay with the situation. She stays out there and WE visit her. So when she comes in the house, she is visiting and doesn't cause as mush disruption. So, we're okay until it starts getting really cold. What we'll do then, I'm not completely sure.... Unless we find a new home for her, and then it's not an issue.

We've set up a cute little homestead here in our small part of the world. We have many chickens now and get at least a dozen eggs a day. We have our Lady outside, and our little family. Leif's brother who lives not too far away now has pigs along with their chickens and several dogs. And soon they plan to purchase a cow. So together, we all have a lot of fun. If not together, we at least have a lot of fun sharing stories. If we are ever tempted to get other farm animals it would be a couple of female Pygmy goats. But that's not on the agenda. Just an occasional joke here and there.

As I said in the beginning, life is rolling along singin' a song. And simply by the sillyness of that last line, I can see that it is time for bed for this mama. G'night all!

I Need Fall Season Recipes

We have two weeks left until Halloween. Then a few more weeks until Thanksgiving. I am hoping to spend some time in the kitchen throughout these upcoming weeks making some YUMMY food.

Last night we ate a WONDERFUL Potato Cheddar soup (with our homegrown potatoes) and an amazing Pumpkin crunch cake. They were wonderful! Now I need your help. Send me some Fall Season recipes!!!! Any and All... I look forward to hearing from you!!