Raylene's 7x7

Here goes..

7 things I want to do before I die.

1. Get married and have many children (fifteen children sounds about right:)
2. Support my husband fully in all he desires to do
3. Write a book
4. Run a Civil War era bed and breakfast seasonally
5. Travel the East Coast
6. Write historically-based unit studies to teach my children
7. Learn to be a discreet woman of God

7 things I don't do well

1. Act
2. Talk on the phone
3. Wait patiently for longer than a few days
4. Run
5. Learn math without a teacher
6. Fly (in a plane. It gives me a horrible headache)
7. Approach new people

7 books I enjoy

1. Passion and Purity
2. The Little House books
3. The book of Philippians
4. Mere Christianity
5. Jane Eyre
6. The Last Battle
7. John Adams by David McCullough

7 things I say a lot

1. I didn't know that was optional!
2. It's time to eat.
3. Come on, guys.
4. Daddy, can I please have a kiss?
5. Don't eat that! It's for Daddy.
6. Jordan, stop it!
7. We could handle more kids.

7 things I would look for in a husband

1. A thinking, growing Christian
2. Someone who wants as many children as God will give us
3. Someone who wants his children homeschooled
4. A visionary man
5. Someone prepared to be the leader of his household
6. Someone who doesn't mind live music that is much less than perfect
7. Somebody independent of other people

7 movies I enjoyed

1. I don't really like movies, but if I had to pick one it would be "Gods and Generals"

7 people I tag
There isn't anyone else to tag!

Jordan's 7x7

Things I want to do before I die.

1.Get my degree in engineering
2.Learn old world skills like blacksmithing, leather working, carpentry, etc
3.Learn to play as many instruments as humanly possible
4.Memorize the New Testament
5.Get my pilots license
6.Own a traditional farm/ horse ranch
7.Be completely debt free

Things I dont do well

1.Take things slowly
2.Let other people lead
3.Golf( partly because of 1)
4.Follow specific instructions
5.Tolerate invasions of personal space
6.Eat health food
7.Tolerate invasions of personal space!

Books I enjoy

1.The SAS Survival Handbook
2.Build Your Own Acoustic Guitar
3.Modern Technical Drawing
4.Popular Science
5.Popular Machanics
6.The Book of Modern Warplanes
7.Avation Fundamentals

Things I say alot

1.Can I get a horse
2.What's for breakfast
3.What's for lunch
4.Whats for dinner
5.When I start blacksmithing . . .
6.Pretty much everything else

Movies I enjoy

1.The Chronicles of Narnia
2.The Incredibles
3.The Fellowship of the Ring
4.The Two Towers
5.The Return of the King
6.The Last Samuri
7.The Patriot

Things I look for in a spouse

1.Extensive knowledge of the Bible
2.Willingness to follow me (no matter how crazy I seem)
3.Desire to homeschool our children
4.Work ethic
5.That she be an experienced cook
6.Desire to farm
7.Joyfullness in the Lords blessings and work

People I tag
1.Anyone who is interested in being tagged

Kayla' s 7x7

My first post! Well here goes



7 things I want to do before I die
1. Become a women that pleases God.
2. Get married.
3. Raise many Godly children.
4. Live on a farm.
5. Learn to do many kinds of dances.
6. Travel Europe.
7. Visit the East Coast.

7 things I don't do well
1. Wear socks.
2. Finish a project.
3. Sweep the floor.
4. Do French knots.
5. Make bread.
6. Read out loud.
7. Sew strait.

7 things I will look for in a husband.
1. A good relationship with God.
2. " " their siblings.
3. Want to have many children.
4. Will lead the House.
5. Wants to be a farmer.
6. Wants to home school.
7. Has a good sense of humor.

7 things I say often
1. Can I get a dog?
2. Can we move to land?
3. (quickly followed by) Can we get a horse?
4. What are you talking about?
5. We're going to the Parish's in ...hours:)
6. Huh
7. What did I say?


7 books I like
1. Stepping Heavenward
2. Me and Nobbles
3. Teddy's Button
4. Swiss Family Robinson
5. Raising Maidens of Virtue
6. The White Knights
7. A Basket of Flowers

7 movies I like
1. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
2. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
3. The Incredibles
4. ?
5. ?
6. ?
7. ?

7 people I tag
1. I can't think of any that haven't already been taged!

Nicole's 7x7

7 things I'd like to do before I die
1. to make a difference in someones life
2. travel Europe
3. be an accomplished cellist
4.get my motorcycle license
5. get married
6. learn to snowboard
7. go bungee jumping

7 things I often say
1. Toodles
2. Why would I do that?
3. I like that... oh that's expensive
4. I want to go shopping
5. What's for dinner?
6. It's one of those things
7. could you change the tape Jordan?

7 movies I enjoyed watching
1. Sky High
2.Pride and Prejudice
3.The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
4.Robin Hood (with Errol Flynn)
5.Lord Of the Rings
6.The Last Samurai
7.Spiderman 1

7 thing's I can not do well
1.Follow sewing instructions
2. yard work
3.Finishing projects
4. trying new food
5. playing the piano
6. embroidery
7. writing papers

7 books I enjoyed reading
1. Ivanhoe
2. A tale of Two Cities
3. The Giant Killer
4. The Book of Esther
5. The Voyage of The Dawn Treader
6. The Hobbit
7. So Much More

7 things that would attract me to a husband
1. devotion to God
2. a sense of humor
3. willingness to be different
4. who knows that 1 can't wear 2 shades of black
5. someone who wants all the children God will give
6. a man who wants to homeschool
7. someone who likes animals

7 People I tag
1. Raylene
2. Jordan
3. Dad
4. Shelby Jacobs
5. Kayla
6.Bethany Moster
7. Mom

Spoons!

After being re-introduced to the game of spoons recently, it has become our new favorite card game. We started playing to help Kendra practice. After the first time we played at a friend's house, Kendra said that she was so nervous her stomach "had butterflies and nerves". She has gotten much better and now knows to watch the spoons and her cards. Today all the reflexes were so fast that the only person who ended up without a spoon in one round was Kayla, and she had the four cards.

They couldn't resist playing with the spoons in between rounds. Now if we could just learn to use them as musical instruments!

Fairytale Princesses

Mommy made the the girls cloaks a couple of winters ago, and the girls love them. Since this spring has been cool, the girls have been getting a lot of use out of them. When we were still at our old church someone told the girls that they looked like princesses out of Grimm's Fairy Tales. They love to wear things that make them feel girly, and the cloaks really fit the bill.

Unit Celebration

On Saturday we had an end of unit celebration for school. Nikki, Jordan and our friend Peter are studying history together, and they just finished a unit on the Civil War. We had a Civil War style picnic dinner, a "just war" discussion, and some wonderful Civil War era music. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" was especially thrilling with the guitar and piano. Our three students/musicians.

Peter's parents, Mrs. and Mr. Thronson.

Time to Smell the Roses

Okay, so only the first one was a rose. They are all beautiful, though, even the tomato plant. They are all growing in our garden right now, and we were very blessed with rain today (rain at this time of year is fairly unusual where we live). The sun has come out, and and the day is lovely. "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Popcorn Balls

Directions for popcorn balls:
Melt a stick of butter and two bags of big marshmallows in two pots, divided evenly. Stir constantly until smooth. While it is melting, pop two cups of popcorn, then take the unpopped kernals out. Pour the marshmallows over the popcorn and stir until fairly evenly coated. For best results, use five small children with clean, greased hands to shape into balls. Squeeze the balls tightly together, or they will come apart. When all the popcorn is formed, let the children lick the spoons, then wash the dishes quickly so the sugar doesn't get caked on the equipment. Finally, serve to parents and enjoy all together.

Yield: Enough for two large families.

Adoption Process

Well, this is our family as of April 8, 2007. We have completed the paperwork and will be turning everything in on Tuesday to get certified to adopt. As some of you may know, this process started over 7 years ago with God laying on the hearts of Owen and me the desire to adopt children. Not that we haven't tried, but so far we have been unsuccessful. Graciously, God has used that time to teach us many things. Hopefully this is the time. This picture is the one we are going to put with our application to represent our family to counties in California with waiting children.

We are excited to see who God has in mind for us.

Random Family Pictures

I can't figure out how to put a family picture on our profile, so I am just putting some on the blog. This is, of course, our wonderful parents!

Our only boy, Jordan. Isn't he handsome?

Daddy and the little girls enjoying themselves.

Me (Raylene) and Shauna.

All of us kids on my nineteenth birthday.

Shauna, Nicole, Kendra and Kayla, looking lovely together.

Update on Kendra

As you can see, she is feeling much better! Her mouth is already looking less scraped and bruised.

Kendra's Teeth

When we were at a friend's house yesterday, Kendra fell off a bucket while she was getting down from the trampoline. She knocked one baby tooth out and loosened another, along with scraping up her mouth and cheek. After Daddy got the bleeding to stop, she was able to go out and play some more, but she was pretty sore this morning.

Last night, though, Daddy told Kendra that she could sleep in his bed with Mommy while he slept on the couch. She said that she would rather sleep on the couch and let him sleep on his bed. When he asked her why, she quoted Romans 12:10 (Be kindly affectioned one to another, in honor preferring one another). This was one of our memory verses from March, and she not only memorized it, but applied it. She said that she wanted to prefer Daddy to herself. Praise God that Daddy led us in the memorization, and that Kendra has such a teachable heart!

Fun Spring Days

On Friday we were able to have some good friends over and enjoy the beautiful spring weather together. It was such a blessing to have our friends for the whole afternoon! Kendra and Lili got to blow bubbles.

Jordan, Simon and Jeremy got to practice with their knives and home-made spears. Jordan has enjoyed these boys so much. It is nice to have somebody to do guy things with.