Back!

Hi all! We've been super busy as I've started my training and new adventure with Greenstar Cooperative in Ohio -- just came back from doing a trade show at the MN Fruit & Vegetable Conference in St. Cloud, an event Tony and/or his father tries to get to each year -- good results, we'll see how this all REALLY results in the upcoming months...and I'll blog more about it later. Super tired, missed writing about "regular" happenings, and we still have several busy days this week (including Susanna's third birthday party on Friday with cousin Maggie Kay's birthday party on Saturday...her birthday is actually today).

More later!

COLD!!!

Okay, just when we thought we'd finally be getting a bit warmer weather, we realized...nope, not for awhile! Once again, the temperatures are subzero. On the weather report tonight at 10:00, they reported that the entire state of Minnesota was below zero. Right now, the temperature is 15 below with a windchill of minus 40. ARG!!!!

At least we aren't in Alaska. Friends at church today told us that their friends up there are reporting temperatures of 70 below. I asked if that was wind chill, and Jim told me they never even factor wind chill in when reporting temperatures.

Snuggle time!!!!!!

Life in the Carter House

I have despaired in ever having a clean house again (wait, does that sentence make grammatical sense, Liz? help me out!). I have an almost 3-year-old and a 4-year-old and some grandparents that love to fill our house with all kinds of STUFF (we've had a talk...hopefully, it's changing....although lots of our current stuff will be going to a local charity rummage sale...). Oh, we've also moved two full sets of toys (gears and Rescue Heroes) down to the Blakes' home since they're back in the Phillippines for now.

It was nice being gone Sunday thru Tuesday this week as I could go without seeing the mess, figuring Tony would take care of it each day. I was delighted when I got home Tuesday night to a very clean, freshly vacuumed floor, clean kitchen, etc....then Tony told me they didn't clean anything up until Tuesday night! He figured, "why bother before?" Arg!!!! I told him, it's good discipline for the kids to learn to pick up after themselves daily, keep things tidy....then he wanted to know why my philosphy didn't apply to OUR room. I'm still trying to come up with an answer......

Here are a few shots of what our main living area looks like EVERY DAY. The kids clean up every night before bed time and occasionally during the day when I finally cannot take the mess any more.

One of the things Luke enjoys doing is emptying out all of his toys into the middle of the floor. Just because. Susanna lately has started taking after her brother (although there are many times he just goes to her toys and starts emptying them out....just because.).

Well, at least they clean up after themselves (with constant prodding....) Hard to believe I've always had a neat, orderly, organized home and life....before kids. I'd say I wouldn't change a thing, but it would be so nice to have at least one area always clean and organized!

Blast from the past...

Aunt Kath, Tio Jorge and their beautiful flower girls

Martha, Traci, Dianne, Liz, Me (Linda)

No idea wherethis was, but the date was 1975. From the far left...
Roger, Liz, Martha, me, Tim with Ron behind him, Karen, Traci
1978
back row: Tim, Liz, me, Mar, Ron
middle row: Roger, Terra? Traci, Karen
front row: Dianne? Phil?
1974
back row:

back rown: Endre, Peg, Russ, Phil, Adena, Liz, Martha, Karen, Carole, Ralph, Bonnie, Ken
front row: me, Ron, Tim, Kath, Traci, Grandma, Roger, Grandpa, Aunt Janet, Rich, Mark
19

Years ago, my Aunt Kath sent me a great letter which included many old photos scanned on to one sheet. I carefully scanned each one into an individual file and thought I'd share some of them with you. This was an especially treasured letter as all of our old family photos burnt in a house file more than 25 years ago. The quality is poor, but the memories are dear....

Getting ready to leave for a few days...

Well, I'm getting ready to fly to Ohio for some job training for two days. I am both eager and apprehensive. Eager to start my new venture, eager to have almost three full days of no preschoolers fighting and screaming -- yet apprehensive about being without my family during that time. I think I can speak for most if not all mothers of young children when I say that it's hard to even imagine a day without some kind of battle of wills, without the arguing, without the mess that's created in the blink of an eye...



Tony is an awesome father -- he does so much more than most dads do, partly because he doesn't have an "office job" and can pop in and out of the house throughout the day when he has time and can take the kids with him to "work" on the farm at times. He doesn't mind changing diapers. He does bath time. He will often get breakfast for the kids while I steal a few more minutes in bed or check email in the morning or catch up with some accounting or other such work.



But he's not a mom. I worry...will he remember to put menthol-camphor salve on Susanna's chest at bed time if she continues to be sniffly? Will he give hugs and kisses when "owies" happen, even when they're just imagined? How will he deal with Luke if Luke gets on his "I only want Mama" kick that he occasionally has been pulling during the day? Susanna has been terribly fickle and willful lately (early training for teen years? early doses of hormones?) -- will he be able to stay loving and patient and understanding while at the same time not letting her run the show (okay, I often have problems with this one myself!)? Will he be able to deal with them by himself during church? He's a sound sleeper...what if one of them wakes up with a bad dream and cries during the night....or gets sick....will he hear them? Will they get well-balanced meals (I have everything in the fridge for him to fix...quick and easy and stuff they all like, like venison). What's going to happen when he has to run down to the farm in the evenings to stoke up the furnace and check on the animals before bedtime...when the kids are already in bed? I remember when I was at a conference last year and got snowed in an extra day...and some of the things he experienced. For a mom, we're used to dealing with that stuff (even if we don't want to)....for anyone else, it's often a shocking eye-opener on what a child can do/damage/get into in a very short amount of time.



Then there is the husband part of this. I'm gonna miss Tony even though it's "just" about three days that I'll be gone. Who is going to snuggle me at night? Keep me warm on those cold nights (although Ohio IS predicting warm weather in the upper 40s while I'm there!)? Look at me and laugh at the different antics the kids pull, the funny things they say? Help me stay sane just by being so stable and constant? Who will rub his back as he is falling asleep? Yeah, we survived over 35 years of being on our own, but we haven't HAD to be on our own for almost five years now!



How do couples who have one spouse that travels manage to survive this? I have a friend at church who has seven children....her husband is a trucker and she did most of the child-rearing and home maintenance herself -- how did she manage it?



If you remember, pray for us while I'm gone...that I'll have safe travels, that the kids will be well-behaved, that Tony will get much accomplished with his work AND my work while I'm gone.

Now for Luke

Lining up the Philistines
getting the sling ready...
What did I do????
Tired little Indian...

Here are some shots of Luke from January. Luke got a David and Goliath set for his birthday and loves to play Israelites and Philistines! It's so funny watching him line them all up then have them go after each other. He also loves acting out the David and Goliath story, preferably with Daddy, and they'll quote whole passages of scripture at each other (Am I a dog that you come against me with a stick? Do you defy the Lord God of Israel? -- Luke is usually Goliath so that he can wear his armor while fighting....after all, Saul's armor was too big for David to wear!). He also has created his own sling shot...a shoe string with a foam bead on it for a stone (he also carries around another four "stones" since David had five stones with hime). He discovered a foam bead made the best stone when, one day, he was twirling his "sling shot" around, having used some small round plastic toy with a hole in it for a stone when he bonked himself in the head. Thankfully, the end result was NOT the same as it was in the Bible!

The many sides of Susanna...and playing "Jesus"

Princess Susi
I put on make-up by myself!
God's soldier
Lil artist
My wild indians

My kids love to play pretend. Above are a few shots of Susanna in some of her favorite roles.

Two of their favorite things to pretend are being Laura and her family (from the My First Little House books...all of which Luke pretty much has memorized) and "being Jesus."

Let me explain. Our kids have always been fascinated with the Easter story from the time we started using the Resurrection Eggs last year. We got a video from church called The Easter Promise....it became such a huge favorite that after checking it out about ten times, we finally got our own copy. They cry when Jesus is beaten and put on the cross, they cheer when the empty tomb is found, they get so excited when they realize that JESUS IS ALIVE!

A couple weeks ago, Tony and I watched, amused but even more fascinated, as they acted out the story of Christ's death and resurection. First, Luke started by bending Susanna over and "beating" her back with his favorite blankie, just like Christ was bruised for our transgressions. He then "crucified" her by putting her on the ground, spreading her hands, and carefully threading some shiny red pipe cleaners between her fingers so it would appear that blood was falling from her hands. He then repeated his actions with a silver pipe cleaner at her feet, "nailing" her feet to the cross. Meanwhile, she was quietly moaning and whimpering (acting, honestly!) while Luke called her "King of the Jews" and said "Crucify Him!" After "nailing" her to the "cross," he then lead her to the "tomb," some chairs that were side by side," laid his blankie over her (linen clothes), and place a "stone" (his toy storage bin) in front of the grave. A few moments later, she popped out shouting "I'm alive!" as Luke happily joined her in shouting, "Jesus is alive! He isn't dead!"

I was frustrated that the video camera isn't recording right now and we couldn't get it on tape...but they've acted out this little scene several times. They also take turns in the different roles.

My heart sings when I see them portraying in such depth and with such accuracy their favorite stories of the Bible (there are others they act out, too)...and I am thankful they are ingraining these images into their minds. I am also very thankful that both are careful not to hurt the other while "whipping" them with the blanket, "nailing" the other to the cross, or "laying" each other in the tomb!

Susanna also loves to be "Mary" and has a doll that is "Jesus." I've wrote about this earlier...and there are still many times when she gets bored that "Jesus" goes flying across the room. She, however, keeps on her "Mary" garb while going about her every day business.