Another " Should I Be Days"........

My track, like this track affected by an earthquake, needs a line up. Too many of these "Should I Be Days" in a row are fatal to my momentum. I am off course. Today was one of those days. I explained these funk kind of days before, just a few days ago.

I have not had a slew of these days because Lynn knows how to talk me off this cliff. But something went haywire today. Ah, now I know what it was! I was on Facebook at 5:15 a.m. looking at pictures of a young girl who is now in college. Her mother is an old friend. Early in the morning I was looking over somebody else's fence and wondering if my children were getting an adequate education. And all this just from looking at pictures, on facebook. How p-a-t-h-e-t-i-c is that? Say it, go ahead!

The Bible Study tonight I attended was on God's sovereignty. We are studying Daniel. This was the tonic I needed to kick me out of the slump. (sounds so dang spiritual, but the truth)

I am good to go for tomorrow. In fact I was so relieved after Bible study I decided it was time for a celebration. We headed over to Walmart and purchased the necessary fixings for nachos! I could eat a plate full of nachos with cheese, refried beans, etc. till I am blue in the face. Now it is 12:28 p.m., I am going to be exhausted. My day is full, I might be prone to more fence peeking because of being tired........

So, welcome to my world.

Grand Canyon, PA

Field Trips, can one ever do too many? Small children for over twenty-two years and now the youngest almost seven???

"She's out of the gate with a start, folks, heading down the tracks. Looks as if she has been couped up for a while, just look at her, that old mare just might win, ladies and gentlemen! Just look at her!"

Thursday morning, against conventional wisdom, we piled into a van and headed out to the Allegany Plateua region of PA, straight toward Potter County. The drive was breathtaking, for as much as I saw while awake. Dale the driver, thankfully was alert.

Our first stop was the Grand Canyon of Pa. As you can see on the picture, taken by Dawn, the other mother along, the Canyon is beautiful. A river winding its way through the hills on either side calls you down. Down is where we went zig zagging back and forth down the mountain. Up is where we had to return. That was a bit more of a challenge.

The following day we went to a Lumber museum and learned about the deforestation that took place and the conservation that developed after. Guess what I read more about? The American Chestnut Tree! I do not have time to write about it now but I will. When I start dreaming of American Chestnut saplings that is when I will start therapy.

We returned on Saturday. Short and sweet and to the point are my favorite trips!

Halloween, uh, I Mean Harvest Parade

As a little girl I grew up celebrating Halloween. My favorite costume was that of a nurse. I was five and knew that I could probably walk into a hospital and they would let me hook up an IV. I looked that good.

I love scary stories and I know how to scare the "bajupies" out of my children without even telling a scary story to the end. Truth be told, and do not tell them, I know not one scary story. It is all in the presentation.

Elverson has a parade. When our first three children were young it was called the "Halloween" parade. We can not go to that parade with a title such as that. These were our thoughts of long ago. We can not have hanging over our heads the thought of leading our children down the road to witchcraft, no way!

Many years ago Elverson renamed their parade, Harvest Parade. Here we go, that sounds a bit better to my sensitive conscience, we can go. Off we hike with Geoffrey, Nicky Sue and Jesse too. Love it! If they change it back to "Halloween Parade" we do not even care. We love this home town parade with two local High school bands, a local fife and drum, bagpipes, trucks, fire engines etc.

Tonight our son, on the sticks, along with very talented boys playing fiddles and a guitar won first place for a non business float. Our daughter and her friend and our youngest son threw out candy to the crowds. We sold coffee along the road in front of our friend's home.

This was a night to remember at the Hall...Harvest Parade. Too much fun!
Thanks to Terri Leamer for the photo, mom of two of the boys.

Field Trips

We listened to a woman talking to us about when and where she became passionate to save American Chestnut trees. We were on a field trip at Joanna Furnace. This day was a bit of history and science all in one. All eyes were on her as she is relaying to us their plight. The American Chestnut trees need help.

I force myself to pay attention, my mind wanders. I see an SNL skit in the making, something my children find amusing, "You always see everything as a potential SNL skit...????" I have to go to the back of the crowd, I fear I might break out laughing. To see so many interested in a tree amuses me. I can hardly be serious about myself let alone a tree.

Yet what she is telling us also intrigues me. God cares for not only the details but also the big picture. The details tend to bore me but I do recognize that if there were no details I would be totally bored. It is my pathetic lack of discipline to focus that leads me to boredom. I rely on the speaker to engage me instead of jump starting interest on my own.

Everything on this planet matters. The Creator created everything for a specific purpose and this particular woman telling us of the plight of the American Chestnut Tree gets it! I need more field trips to let it sink in!

I still think there's a good skit to be had!
(TACF Pollination Photos (June-July, 2008))

Yikes, The Day is Almost Gone!

A man has dropped out of heaven and has been coaching me with writing. He has also been pushing us with our businesses and encouraging us to stop creating more businesses but move forward with the ones we have.

"How many more children do you have to home school?" he asks with squinting eyes. My answer makes him flinch and groan. I smile, he just can not understand our lifestyle. Do I understand our lifestyle? He agrees that the family, our family is important but be also sees it necessary for me to be involved with our three businesses, I agree.

Many of my friends are off having fun in the afternoons either because their children are in school or in college. As well ,many of my friends are working to pay for their children's education.( I should add they are not all having fun all the time, they are doing their daily chores, I must be fair!) Lynn and I are smack dab in the throes of all this and raising a young family again.

Grace will see us through. God has not told us to stop homeschooling. In fact with our businesses it is a great learning tool and experience for these last three. They might actually see some exciting things happen. One never knows!

However, it is now noon, my meeting with this man lasted over two hours, two hours of just good stuff! What now, brown cow? First, I will take a breath. Secondly, I am writing. Thirdly, I will pull out my log book and see if I can pull something together for these turkeys.

While away a sculpture was created and pasted together and a horse corral was pulled together with living room furniture. So be it!

It is a good thing it is grace to grow the children, grace to grow our relationships, grace to grow the businesses! It all boils down to grace. What a relief it does not boil down to my abilities.

Guess I Have to Do It!

My husband three weeks ago complained that it seemed like it was going to default to him to start the stand, the coffee stand. I stared at him, eyes squinted at his eyes, hearing more than he was saying. Default to him? Where was he going with this? Was I suppose to feel sorry and raise my hand to rescue him from the default pit he was falling into? Those who know me know full well that mercy is something I always have to ask for!

We live along a busy road, we roast coffee, we sell coffee and for years he has wanted to sell coffee along our route. He even made a stand two years ago. We have used that stand, had to right that stand when the wind blew it over, tweaked that stand and have waited to use that stand.

Lynn knew the time was right and now he was bemoaning the fact. I was confused, I thought this was the awaited moment. I have been wrong before. Maybe it was looking more real, he could feel the pain of waking at 5:30 a.m., stumbling out to the studio to brew, and setting up the stand in the dark.

We have been selling our wares at a local Farmer's Market in Elverson, PA. The market was ending in October and people were wondering where now they could go for a cup of TwinValleyCoffee. We wondered too.

We came to the market like a dog being led to his crate when all he wants to do is play. Elverson has a newsletter and our names appeared in it with a request that people ask us to be apart of the Market. They wanted coffee. All we could think of was the commitment of every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. However, we were honored and realized that after all was said and done we would probably shudder at the thought of not doing it. Sometimes we are just plain dumb!

I wake up to a stellar cup of coffee everyday and how wonderful it was to share this with all the people we served at our stand. What a privilege to meet the residents of Elverson as well and serve them their Saturday morning cup of coffee. Surprisingly and really not so, it interrupted not a thing, we are just not that busy.

Now it was time and Lynn knew it. Time to pull that big old heavy clunker of a thing (don't tell him I said so)out to the side of the road and open up the Coffee Shack! And here he was complaining. Aye Vaye...what to do with this guy. We discussed this for a while and when we ended our discussion, let's just say, he was good to go.

I hauled off to Rhode Island to help my mother recuperate from an operation and Lynn stayed home and during that time opened up the Coffee Shack. The picture on this post is what he sent me via cell phone. I just smiled.

We are having fun. We both look forward to the wonderful people who stop and chat and purchase the best cup of coffee in town. We even let our friend Keith Grant stand there with his Dunkin Donuts stryofoam cup. Hey, you gotta start somewhere. We'll get him eventually. He likes the stryofoam, we like the paper........

Default, yea buddy, I guess it did default to you. You were the one with this coffee dream.

"Should I be?" Days.

These past couple of days need a name. Maybe they should be called "Should I be?" days. I have traveled this path before in the home school scheme of things. Yes, I accomplish learning experiences with the children. No, I am not losing my patience with them. But there is a looking over the fence on days like these, should I really be doing this. Everyone else is surely doing it "way much" better. I am convinced of it during these kinds of days. I go through the list of "shoulds." I should be reading this to them, I should be doing this with them, I should have them involved with this, with that, with EVERYTHING IN AND UNDER THE SUN!

I was talking with my father yesterday. Another couple from their apartment complex complimented his grandchildren,our children, the three birds we home school. They commented on their politeness and kindness. This was yet another compliment from our recent visit, a number of people had spoken to my parents along the same lines. This affirms our vision of true education which encompasses more than knowledge and ventures deep into the land of values.

"Should I be?" days are actually good for me to slog through. It never hurts to self-evaluate. I often come out the other end convinced that the course we are on is the course we are to be on. This world is shifting, knowledge is increasing at such a rapid rate we have to be wise and prudent as to what we believe is to be the knowledge base for this period of time.

But this I know to be true, even during my "Should I be?" days, the Word of God stands true and unchanged by the changing times. Though the knowledge base is changing like the speed of lightning, God is not. The daily practice of Bible reading with the freedom to discuss what comes up during the reading is something that should pull me quickly out of the "Should I be?" days!