October is over!

It's November already! A lot has been happening in the last two weeks. I'll have to think hard to fill in any important blanks between the last post and this one.

Life Chain was scheduled for Oct 4th but it was raining (and had been raining) really hard. Some people in our area had no power. So, as a county, 5 towns, we rescheduled to the 25th. It was a big hit!

As we came to a stop in the driveway at the end of our big, monthly shopping trip I had an epic flat tire.
Thank you smallish persons who like to play with EVERYTHING, including but not limited to bricks and cement blocks, and who were told REPEATEDLY to not have such things in the driveway because your mother thinks she can straddle such. She can't.

At least we were home.
We only had one spare.
Its time for new tires anyway.

Papa was scheduled to have knee replacement at the beginning of the month but it got rescheduled several times and was on the 19th. Everything went GREAT! But the last two weeks I've had to be devoted to Papa nearly full time (and when I do get to be at home napping is the thing that happens).
He went to stay at a local Rehab place until his get'along gets along better.

Breakfast with Papa 10/22/2015

The week of surgery I was also teaching at Community Bible Study. I'm still in wonder at how God worked all that out. He really was in my comings and goings and interactions with others and my time. He brought the whole thing together - and once again - it was not me. Ain't it grand to be a vessel used for God's glory.
And I'm sure, I learned the most that week. (and I quoted Shakespeare to make a point).

from Community Bible Study, Romans Lesson 10

Papa gave us a scare the next Sunday evening. His leg was HUGE and swollen and tender. So, just in case it was a blood clot we had him carried to the ER.
By the way, when I grow up, I now want to drive ambulances, cause they GET to go fast - I had a great time following Papa to the hospital in the middle of the night - FAST! Woohoo!

I did NOT have a great time at the hospital. I was pretty sure by the next morning that they would soon have to treat at least two people for dehydration and starvation. It was a LONG sleepless night.
Thankfully, it was a bad case of cellulitis. That's a new word for me. It's an infection of the skin and tissue just under the skin. Which was really painful, but with some antibiotics not life threatening.

Last week, the children and I were going to learn (again) lots about the Protestant Reformation leading up to Reformation Day!
What's Reformation Day? Well, on October 31, 1517 . . . you can just read more about there here & here.
But between all of the doings with Papa - and subsequent naps, and praising God for a helpful, loving husband and BIG kids, we didn't.
BUT . . . a sweet friend told us about some other like minded theologians.
So we went and partied with the folks at Heritage Presbyterian in Royston.
It was GREAT, easy on Mama's, well done games and some humorous drama with "Tetzel and Martin."

Stained Glass - because "the church" was the Roman Catholic Church (Catholic = universal)
There were a few "heretics" (like Wycliff & Huss) but they didn't live long.

Luther was studying to be a lawyer but got stuck by lightening,
prayed to St. Anne (alleged mother of the virgin Mary)
and became an Augustinian Monk.

Luther, through study and teaching the scriptures, found fault with the teachings of "the church"
- especially when a dude named Tetzel came around selling indulgences.

Illuminating Scripture with a Monk
& the humorous exchange between the indulgences hawking Tetzel and smarty-pants Luther.

Knock down the False Teachings & the 5 Solas Toss

 There was also a throw the Papel Bull in the fire - but I didn't get a picture of that.

Hunting in the shooting gallery (Black Forest?) & Translating Scripture with Martin Luther

The Cat Game (see below) & our two biggest sticks in the mud.

The little kids were in the Wartburg Castle bouncing up and down while the big kids and I were playing Bingo in hopes of winning fresh baked goods (I'm still a little miffed we didn't win the Black Forest cake).
Suddenly, there was a pretty gray and white kitty cat under our table. (Looked a lot like Henrietta Mama Cat I had when I was little). Of course this pretty kitty caught the attention of several smallish persons.
Then, it caught the attention of Josiah who ran over to me, "I want to pay da tat dame!"
"What?"
"I want to pay da tat dame!"
A wave of understanding washed over me, "Son, the cat is not a game."
But he played it anyway, until the cat got away.
That's Jorja in the purple with her back to us in the picture above (Josiah is on her left in red).
You can see the cat's head and front paw reaching over Jorja's right arm.

And then there's today.
Jacob played a rousing game of hide-and-seek with his "stuffies" this morning.
Of course, stuffies can't hide themselves. He even counted and pretended to forget where they hid (even the ones in plain sight).
Then he had Josiah "take pictures" of himself with his lined up stuffies.
So, Josiah is standing there with hands boxed in front of his face, "click, click. Click, click."
And Jacob begins to jump and wiggle and move in front of the "camera."
"You know what these are called? Motion pictures."

And the crowd went wild. (The crowd being two biggest sisters and the Mama).

We finally hit the reset button on our school lessons and began again this morning.
So, we are back at it. A new normal.

September in Review

September flew by fast - but it chock full of FUN!

We spent Mama's Birthday weekend in Tallulah Falls doing His Last Days Passion Drama.

Lunch and Play at the gorge

His Last Days actors

 We began preparing in August for a BIG Yard Sale the second weekend.
Everyone pitched in to help clean out every room in the house (even Grandmother!)

Getting Ready for the Yard Sale - the house was a disaster (we are still recovering)

We had a great turn out. It was our most successful yard sale ever (also, the 3rd ever for me).
Research and hard work go a long way.
The little kids had a Lemonade stand.

Friday morning vs Saturday morning (it got a little chilly)

After our trip to VA this past summer, the big boys came home and made wooden guns, like those we had seen in a gift shop in Williamsburg. You can see the fun here. 

The big boys made wooden guns to sale at the yard sale. They were disappointed they only sold 3 or 4. But now they do have this nifty little gun rack full of toy guns. Those are popular items here.

Handmade wooden guns by Elijah and Alex

We also celebrated the last two Brown birthdays of the year.

Jacob turned 7. He loved his Legos and his little vacuum cleaner. 

Elijah turned 14. His birthday was the first day of the yard sale so we celebrated the next day.
He was a very good sport about it. He also got Red Velvet cake again - the best looking one I've ever made (actually looked like a cake rather than a tasty explosion).

I had a Georgia Right to Life state board meeting and we elected new officers.

Secretary Charlie Greenwald, President Ricardo Davis (we are going to think we are cousins), Vice President Shannon Vogt (the brash Southerner), Delegate to Personhood Alliance Karen Lebarr, Treasuer Linda Powell, and Administrative Director Zemmie Fleck - it's a great group! Can't wait to see how God uses each of these people in GRTL and in the advancement in the sanctity of human life.

Some GRAND Briscoes came down Maine and gathered with other GRAND folk. We didn't want to pass-up the opportunity to be in the presence of such GRANDness so we went down to GRANDmother's house.

Grand Uncle Larry, Grand Uncle Anthony, Grand Aunt Juanita,
Grand Aunt Audrey, Grand Uncle Dougie Poo, Grandmother, and Cousin Daniel

Grands and Grand spouses

There's always that one kid . . . they just don't out grow it (it was a different one in other pictures)

I might look like a Dunagan
(when I tried to tag these faces on Facebook, it "recognized" them all as GeneandErin Brown)

 AND it was time for school pictures. Our homeschool group does a yearbook each year, so a REAL photographer takes everyones pictures, then, because we don't spent a bazillion dollars on professional pictures we go to the Lake and take our own.

Those girls

Those boys

Silliness reigns.
Everybody made faces, except Autumn, so everybody made faces at Autumn

Peek-a-boo

Everybody Jump, Jump!

At the Hartwell Dam, the Savannah River & climbing the dam

One of these will be our Christmas card - feel free to cast your opinion of the best, card worthy picture in the comments.

Happy October to you all!

Love ya!

Ketchup

There is no ketchup in this post.
But there is food that my darling children created.
And I happily ate. And it was WONDERFUL!

Having big kids is a total plus. I don't get this whole "wow, I can't handle my teens (or pre-teens)."
I'm not bragging (much). Mine are just great.
What were we afraid of? (Lets not talk about what we were like or did as teens. Don't poop at my party!)

Don't think like a Philistine!

And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 

~ 1 Samuel 17:42 ~

Think like Paul,

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

~ 1 Timothy 4:12 ~

Teach and train so that they may say, 

For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

~ Psalm 71:5 ~

O God, from my youth you have taught me,

    and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

~ Psalm 71:17 ~

This is a catch-up post. Cause I only posted once in June and that was a story about our big trip in May!
We haven't had in more real "big" stuff happen. But we are keeping ourselves amused (all.the.time.)

In June:
We went to a local church to hear Ugandan Thunder. They were awesome!!!
Church members volunteer to house them until it's time for them to go to the next town/gig. Our friends (with three girls) took home three girls. The next day we had the privilege of playing at the lake with three of the girls from the Ugandan choir. What wonderful young ladies.
I will say that there was dancing before the Lord like you don't normally see in a Baptist church.
Here's a video with their choir director (who is a famous artist somewhere)(this wasn't taped where we were)

Singers and dancers alike say, "All my springs are in you.”

~ Psalm 87:7 ~

We had sweet friends come visit. Lovely!

Top: Local Ashworth girls
Bottom: playing games with the red headed Gilbert children who moved
far away to Oregon - but blessed us with a long awaited visit.

We are still going to the nursing home every Friday night and we began Church at the Park again. 

Every Sunday, June-August, 9:30 am, Victoria Bryant State Park.

The Daddy has Set up a YouTube channel to post his sermons.

I happen to think the last two weeks sermons have been fabulous! (And I'm his biggest critic). Alex is our videographer. I lead the singing (we don't record that - Praise the Lord!)

Reverend The Daddy is preaching through Psalms this summer (he did deviate for Father's day). This is Psalms 3. (Subscribe to his channel). 

School was (is) finishing up.

Lora made 3D shapes
Littlest brother made one also. And here is a recent rendering by that 5 year old of Bob and Larry.

Ava and Elijah are taking a cooking class. It's slow going because it's fancy gourmet stuff (i.e. it's expensive).

Lora made mile-high fudge-brownie pie. Yummy! (these people know the way to my heart).

The Daddy got his REAL diploma in the mail. HE'S DONE! (why doesn't he seem to have extra time?)

Jacob is still plugging away at kindergarten work. Slow and sure wins the race.

And Ava has been accepted to Toccoa Falls College for duel enrollment!!! AND we just found out that the program covers the cost of her books!

We got to spend some time in Helen with our Papa Shriner.

And some time at the park with Grandmother.

The four littles and I joined some friends at the Library for a movie. We saw the Incredibles. The big kids stayed home and entertained themselves (another bonus of having teens!).

On another day, I took the kids to see Cinderella. We waited until it was at the Value Cinema in Athens. $2.50 each = $22.50 for me and ALL the kids. It was Jacob and Josiah's first time at a real movie theater.

Waiting for the movie to start.

Big boys are silly. 

Alex and Elijah
Notice Alex got his bottom braces off!!! He has a clear retainer.

But sweet and creative.

Alex's "old-timey car" with goggled driver.

And sometimes The Mama has to take one to the emergency room to make sure he's not broken himself.

(At some point we've gotten into July).

Not broken! Just weird, gross, goose egg on his leg.

Today, after my nap while watching Sunday afternoon movies. I looked up to see all the sweetness.

Autumn was helping The Daddy fix the toilet and learn how to post his videos to YouTube.

Top: Lora, cousin Nyk, Jorja, Jacob - on the couch
Middle: The Mama and Josiah, Autumn and The Daddy, Elijah loves beach balls
Bottom: Ava and Alex - a little fuzzy.

And here's Jacob's recent drawing of his family. Perspective is complex.

And that's it.

Currently - like right this minute - I'm being edited (while typing) by Ava and Jorja.

The Daddy is helping Lora put together a model car she got for Christmas. This will take a while.

Elijah and Nyk are getting in trouble for running and aggravating each other (and 9 other people).

Jacob & Josiah are playing cars. Autumn is unaccounted for (and Ava has disappeared). 

So all is well.

Homeschool Day at the Capital

Our state homeschool group, Georgia Home Educators Association (GHEA) coordinated a day at the capital for homeschoolers.
Several from our local group went "together" (we signed up as a group and did stuff together).
We were supposed to take a picture with the governor at 10 am. We all hurried to get there. We waited around. We watched other groups (of adults who could have waited!!!) get their picture made. We, those of us who could see over a few shoulders and heads, saw the governor bustled in and out of the area for each picture.  And finally at nearly 11 am, it was our turn (well, the kids turn).
So ALL those homeschoolers hurried to find a place on the grand staircase. And wait.

Left: Kids waiting on the Governor
Top Right: close-up of kids waiting - mine are in there
Bottom right: I was tickled by all the parents with their cameras and phones in the air to get a picture
(I was one of them and was standing on the base of a column to see better - something I had just told the children not to do).

And finally, before we hardly realized he was there, there was Governor Nathan Deal.

And then he was gone again.

Then we took a tour. 

Clock wise from top left: Our tour guide, Paul Smith,
Baptist minister and Religious Freedom Lobbyist;
The sign;
In the governors outer office;
Bust of Oglethorpe

Then we had lunch where I was reminded that taking 8 children through a cafeteria, especially children who don't know if they want a chicken sandwich or chicken nuggets, might give me gray hair, creates a line where there hadn't been one, and requires way to much irritation. There are no pictures.

Then we were supposed to go to a legislative class at the Presbyterian church across from the capital. We caught the end of it - then we got to visit the supreme court of Georgia and learn about laws and court and how Jesus is our advocate. 

Left: In the church
Top right: Kids in the church
Bottom right: In the Supreme Court

The wall over where the judges sit says, "Fiat justitia ruat caelum."
That means, "Let justice be done though the heavens fall."

After that I had a short conversation with that lady up there with the yellowish scarf. She is the leader of the new National Right to Life (NRLC) group in Georgia. Georgia Right to Life (GRTL), of which I am a part and strongly support, is no longer affiliated with NRLC. 
The difference, in a nutshell, is that NRLC support exceptions* to pro-life legislation, they are all about politics and media. GRTL believes that ultimately this pro-life/personhood issue is a Heart issue. We may change a few minds but only God can change hearts. We hold to NO exceptions*, and while we do support being involved politically, that isn't the end all of everything - but answering to God is.

At last we explored the capital on our own.
We saw lots of doors, old flags, bust of dead guys, and the museum on the 4th floor. The children were very interested in the historical things in the cases (AT LAST!!)
We learned the difference between the Senate and the House of Representatives; the size and the color of the carpet (Senate = smaller & blue; House = bigger and red).

And here are those kids!

We stopped on the way home to kiss and hug Grandmother. Then came home where the children fell out in the living room watching Daniel Boone and the Mama crashed in bed and SLEPT soundly until Daddy came home. Then she went to back to bed after tucking in the littles.

It was a fun day!



*exceptions = saying abortion is okay in cases of rape, incest and life of the mother. 
These are NOT good reason to have an abortion. 
"Rape" and "incest" refer to the manner in which a child is conceived, the child is innocent and should not have to pay for the sins of it's father. Also, how a child is conceived has no bearing on how/when/if that child feels pain. These children are just as worthy of protection as any other.
"Life of the mother" is a VERY broad term to cover a multitude of issues in the mother's life. She may think (or have been told) that she can't afford a baby, that a baby would "mess up" her life/career/studies . . . not just her physical life. AND I can't think of any cases in which a mothers life is actually in danger because of a baby (with the exception of a tubal pregnancy which could take the life of the mother and child). I know mothers who have had chemo during pregnancy with no ill effects to the child. I know mothers who benefited by the stem cells passed naturally to them from the baby. Life of the mother is NOT an excuse. We would support "physical life of the mother - in the case where death WOULD occur naturally for the mother and/or child if the child remains in utero." BUT this is so rare! - and if the child is for some strange reason a threat to the mother life, it would be less traumatic, for the mother and the child, if the baby was delivered and every effort was made to save the child's life as well as the mothers.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland and other tales

I'll get to the Ice in a minute. First a word from . . . well, some other stuff.

While I was at a meeting last Friday, the Daddy took all the children to our homeschool group's Valentine party. He was the only Daddy there and stayed with the little boys to help them. 

Last Thursday, the children and I took paper products and whatnot to the A New Walk, a homeless center in Gainesville. Homeless in Gainsville
They had posted a need on Facebook and we felt lead to go meet a little of it. They were open all weekend and will probably be opened all week as a warming shelter for homeless. They aren't a shelter but the city allows them to shelter people when it gets really cold. They feed them and love them and share God's Word with them. 
This little church is makeing a BIG, eternal difference in their community. Many of their friends now attend church regularly and are beginning a New Walk in their lives.

I didn't get any pictures. 
I'm not bragging. 
Just hope to show how easy it was to give. 
It was a blessing!

We had just learned that week that when David heard Goliath speak he got a little passionate that someone would defy the God of Israel. How dare they!!!
When it got time to fight the giant, David went out, as a shepherd, with his staff and sling - the equipment he was familiar with. That big fella got up, amused at this twerp with a stick coming to fight him and lumbered toward the battle line. 

David RAN.

He ran toward the battle line. He ran toward the giant. He ran at the enemy. He ran with the intent to kill the one who defied the Lord of Host. 
He RAN.
He didn't stop to pray about what God would have him do. It was apparent to him that itt is not God's will that evil prevail. 
He boldly volunteered to get the job done. 
He knew that if the Lord could save him from pesky lions and bears (oh my!) He could certainly save him from this beastly man.

"David ran quickly toward the battle line"

1 Samuel 17:48b

So, we took what God had blessed us with and ran to throw our little rock at the giant of homelessness.

Sometimes war is fought on our knees, and sometimes its fought in motion.

Now for the icy part.

Weatherman should feel blessed that they aren't stoned for falsely predicting the weather - or continuously changing their mind. 

We knew a storm was a'comin!

It it rained ice Monday afternoon and most of the night. And when we got up it was lovely except for the tree that split in twain and fell down in two directions (East and West).

Most winters when it snows (or we get the crunchy white stuff) I make the children line up near "the tree" to take a picture before they go play in the wetness (aka "frozen mud")

Top: The Downed Tree - fluffy
Bottom: the part the fell West fell on the phone line - we still have phone service.
It knocked a board off the house where the phone line connected.
The downed boards.

 The Daddy and some kids cleaned up the tree and fixed the boards.

I tried unsuccessfully to keep a fire going and write on this blog (well, that last part's success is objective).

After assessing the damage (minimal) we walked in our winter wonderland

Nature in Ice

We took a walk through the woods - the still stinking dogs went too.
(the dogs got Skunked on Sunday afternoon - it's too cold to bathe them outside and Gene doesn't want them in the house - so when he goes back to work, they will get a warm bath. Shhhhh..... I really am a good wife - mildly opinionated - this isn't the best example of submission. Let's move on.)

cold can be pretty - but warm is prettier

And now, just for fun. Tales from Jacob and Josiah.

Josiah's Train - turn your head to the Left

Jacob's Racetrack -
I don't think it matters which way you turn your head.

And last but not least - those baby weirdos! (aka "Gene's kids")

Yes, Josiah is wearing a grocery bag.
No, there is no good reason. Just part of being a boy.