Taking requests.

Prayer requests that is. I'm heading over to the Meetin' at Significant Source and you are welcome to join us. She has written a very moving opening and there are several prayer requested listed. If you feel inspired to join us in prayer or need some yourself, please click the Prayer Meetin' button and join us today or tonight.

I would like to ask for prayers for our Lizzie. As she is a fairly private person, I will not give any detail here, just that she is hurting and needs to be lifted up.

Thank you.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry!

News from the Realm

Years ago, when looking for something to do that would interest all our children we stumbled upon the Georgia Renaissance Festival. Our family has a love of European lore and the Renaissance time period. I mean, who doesn't love knights in shining armor, sword fights, jousting, British humor, royalty and meat-on-a-stick!?

It all started, for us anyway, in 2004. This is Parker's jousting ride on the hippogriff ! All the wonderful rides are man or gravity powered. This ride starts by climbing stairs to the hippogriff and climbing on board. You are then given a jousting lance and the hippogriff on a wire is let go. Your ride swings down where there is a target and you try, usually in vain, to get the lance through the target!

Here is our fairy princess Isabel, from the 2005 experience!

The princess this year! Wow! She has grown!

Excellent rides from this years experience!

In our travels, we have been fortunate to see many performers. We watched singing nuns, sword swallowing comedians, balancing acts and more! What could be more fun than watching a Washing Well Wench climb on top of your husband's shoulders and announce to your children that she's going to be their new mommy, blacked out teeth and all? Oh, yes she did!

Paul and Isadora at the 2006 GA Ren Fest!

There are many Washing Well Wenches but Isadora and Eureka are our favorites!

How 'bout hearing your son's name from across the grounds only to find out that he's now on stage with Hack and Slash during their sword fighting comedy?

I don't have pictures of them in the Hack and Slash routine but here we see Parker, Lizzie and some cousins, Brooke and Brianna, being lassoed by one of the Zuchini Brothers in a rare solo act!

And what could be more satisfying that watching your child devour a turkey leg or seeing your sons fence against each other until it is announced that they have both died in the battle! HUZZAH!

2006

Or how about seeing your daughter bound in the stocks in 2007! What fun!

Yes! We've had lots of fun over the years and we've shared the love by taking our nieces Brooke, Brianna and Megan and our nephew Christian. This year was only different because we decided to try a different Faire. This weekend, we attended the Carolina Renaissance Festival for a change of pace.

We were enchanted by this lovey wood nymph who sprinkled our princesses with fairy dust.....which is not likely to come off until they graduate high school!

We quickly found out that the two biggest differences in these Festivals is the size of the venue and the size of the crowd. Both Faires offer similar entertainment, activities, shopping and feasting choices. However the Carolina Faire is much larger and much, much more crowded! If you ever decided to try a Ren Fest for the first time, I highly recommend you go to the Georgia Festival first! The slower pace of that faire gives you the chance to try a little of everything. I also liked the shopping at GA better! I actually came home empty handed this year.

It's a proud moment when your husband is singled out by the King because of his axe throwing skills! Wonder if that will be useful one day?

Now the children have a fall back plan too....because they have mastered the fine art of plate spinning-thanks to this guy, whose lofty ambitions

have made his mother proud.....I'm certain of it!


Our newest Princess!

We had a great day-those smiles say it all!

Look Mom.....

No Hands!

Claire's newest skill is trying to balance while standing! I don't have to tell you what it would mean if she ever masters this! Every day I marvel at how boldly determined this child is and how far she has come in such a short amount of time!

Here is another example of her new skills. When Claire began to walk with her walker she could not turn it at all and would walk as far as she could into something and just stop. We had to help her at that point. Miss Independent did not care for that to continue, so she quickly mastered the art of turning her walker in which ever direction she desired to go.

Here she not only turns the walker, but manages to haul herself and the walker over the driveway hump. Not an easy task!

Get a look at this.....

Claire had a follow up with her Orthopaedist on Tuesday. Dr. H did x-rays of her back and pelvis area and gave us the thumbs up! Praise God, Claire's spine looks straight right now and her hips look really good. It is common for spina bifida patients to get scoliosis and have hip issues so these are things that will be monitored as Claire grows. But, one of the things our dear Mrs. Denise noticed during physical therapy is that Claire does not straighten her knees completely. This is due to tightness of the hamstrings and the remedy.....

These lovely knee immobilizers! Now Claire has to sleep in her Dobbs brace and these contraptions!

Just the fact that there is still as smile on her sweet face after being put to bed this way should give you an idea about the fact that this chick is one tolerant girl! I noticed she had a little trouble settling down last night but not so much that she fussed or anything. She did not even attempt to take the immobilizers off until she had permission this morning.

Let me just say that between cathing, dressing, and fastening all her braces on, we are going no where in a hurry in the mornings.... and don't get me started on her bedtime routine! Actually, do let me get started because if I don't start at 8pm there is no way she is getting in bed on time! I wonder if there is a full body brace they'd like to put her in.......because we don't have enough Velcro in our lives right now! Count them people, that is 16 Velcro fasteners-3 on each foot and 5 on each leg! Add that to the Velcro on her AFOs and shoes.....I wish I'd invented that stuff! Genius!

For those of you interested...I looked it up. Yeah, I'm just that geeky...hey I am a teacher! The multi-million dollar industry of Velcro was the brain child of a Swiss mountaineer named George de Mestral. He discovered the hook and loop idea after getting burrs all over his clothes on a walk with his dog. He took a look at the burrs under a microscope and noticed the small hooks clinging to the loops of the fabric on his pants and the idea was born. Of course he was laughed at....but whose laughing now?! The name Velcro comes from a combination of the words velour and crochet. By-the-way, that stuff was patented back in 1955! Who knew!

Come Pray with us.

I am not skilled to understand

What God has willed,

What God has planned

I only know at His right hand

Stands one who is my Savior

These are lyrics from the Aaron Shust song My Savior My God. As a drove around doing my errands today, I was thinking about the outcome of yesterday's elections and the liberal tilt of our country at this time, when this song came on the radio. It served to remind me how true it is. I am not skilled to understand God's plan but you know what I do understand.....my God is the same today as he was yesterday. My Jesus is the same Jesus today and tomorrow and forever. It's no secret that this election did not pan out the way I would have liked....the way many, many conservatives would have liked. But, it is over and our country has chosen. To Barrack Obama and all his supporters, I say congratulations. As a Christian I am called to "love your neighbor as yourself". There is no provision in that command for whether or not I agree with my neighbor. I am to love him regardless. I for one, will commit to pray for our new leadership and this great country which we live in.

"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."-Matthew 18:20


Won't you join us over at the Prayer Meetin'. Click the words or click the button.