Blue sky

I saw blue sky today for the first time in over a week. It didn't stay all day but long enough to air out the house. And boy did it need it!

Today was a long, long day. My shoulder is really hurting this evening.

Down at 1:30am up at 6:30am and running all day. I went shoping today... Yes I know, not a big deal, but when you no longer do ANY of the shoping, it is a big deal. Probably why my shoulder hurts though, kids pulling on the cart. Good news is everyone came out of the store with jeans without holes in them,... at least for a good ten minutes, if they don't fall.

Andrew currently has an ear infection to beat all ear infections. They are using anti-biotic and anti-fungals, and they are thinking the may have to do surgery to remove some scar tissue. :-P

We are starting to pack for our trip to the sea... Should be fun. If I were not so tired already I think this would be exiting. :-)

Well, I am apparently so tired I can't think of what else to say, so...

Have a great day everyone! (or night, whatever the case may be!)

~H

Promised Pictures

Here are the promised pictures of the smoke...

~H

Smoke

Not much to update. It appears our home is still not in danger from any of the fires. The smoke is still here, but not quite as bad.

I will put pictures of the smoke on soon. I took them but I don't have them downloaded off the camera yet.

Here is some other pictures just for fun. Can you guess what we have been up to this week?

Duck Tape!

Here is the website to keep up on what is going on, although, I am learning there are no good sites to tell where we are vs. the fires and where the firemen are fighting. But these give you a good idea of how many fires we are dealing with here.

http://www.fire.ca.gov/index_incidents.php

Fire Update:

The fires continue to burn.

Our home still appears to be in a safe spot. I can't say I am totally relaxed because fires are so unpredictable and we are in such a dry area. So far though the Lord has given us total grace. One fire was blocked by a river otherwise we may have been in its eventual path.

I am watering the grass around our home when possible, prepairing for the next storm that is supose to hit later this week.

The smoke is really bad. It is almost completly blocking the sun. All we see is a red glow that looks more like the moon.

All of our allergies are not having fun. Jonathan had trouble sleeping last night due to breathing issues. The rest of us are starting to get sore thoats and stuffy sinuses. I am starting to hand out allergy meds quite regularly. The smoke looks like a fog. It is really weird to look at. The sad news is we can't really get away from it. Anyone we normally would evacuate to because of a fire, has a fire near them also and the smoke is just as bad.

So unless we want to leave the state, we are stuck in the smoke.

Hope all is well with you guys.

Heather

The straw that broke the camels back.

As of 6:45pm on Monday, we are ok and our homes are not in danger. However, there is one fire within three miles and another fire across the freeway from us.

We are currently at J.M.'s house. The smoke has taken us to less then a mile visibility and we are watching ash fall down around the house. So far no sparks.

So far our house and J.M.'s house are not in evacuation zones.

E.M. is out fighting fires that are up the road 45min or so.

So, please pray for E.M.'s safety and continued grace that our homes and lives will not be in danger. Plus the protection from the next lightening storm that is headed our way.


Now Think...

Does anyone else find it coincidental that these 900 fires come just days after CA legalized gay marriages? Or is it just me?

~H

I needed the reminder

Thank you Momma Bug and Blessed Quietness...

I needed the reminder.

Tired most describes us today,... All of us. Today was suppose to be a special day and here I am facing four tired kids and being tired myself. Today is one of those days where you just wait for night. I would put everyone down for nap but we are expecting company from Africa and I would be a little afraid that they might not sleep tonight.

Our bedtime has been sneakily been getting later and later without catching our notice until last night at 10:30pm, they were not down.

Anyhow, thank you guys for the reminder that bible/devo/one-on-one time with the Lord, is NEEDED. We are starting with a quiet time and then handing out bibles. I hope it helps.

Here is my passage from today:


Psalm 33:
10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth-
15 he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

It felt like christmas!

We celebrated Father's day, Mother's day and Anna's Birthday all at once. It was a great day. Here are some fabulous pictures.

Yesterday we meet up with Jonathan's Bio's again for the first time in quite a while. It went very well. We are having a little trouble with finding a good spot to meet. Restaurants are to difficult to handle this many children and too impersonal. Parks are too hot this time of year. And houses are tooooo personal. Any ideas?





I enjoy the lake, so that is my first pick... Prayer would be good, trying to decide if that is wise or not. It's right in there with tooooo personal. :-)

Today we have an I.S.P. for Anna (group of therapists deciding what the next plan of action is going to be). This of course is at my house, so I am going to be spending a lot of today cleaning.

Hope all is well with everyone. Type at you soon, I hope.

~H

On our feet

Well, we appear to all be doing better. However, I am finding my energy level lower then normal. Going back to bed sounds pretty good. Not going to happen with four little ones though.
I have pretty much been on my own for watching them the past couple of days because Spence has been tied up with other things.


Yesterday I tried to take the kids swimming. We were able to in the morning, but by afternoon the valley was filled with smoke enough that it was too unpleasant to be outside. Praise the Lord though the fire missed R&L C. house and K&C B. house. Came really close though, if I understand correctly it burned R&L C.'s barn and neighbors homes. And missed K&C B's house because firemen set a back fire. Still waiting to hear about others in the town (My old home town). A lot of my friends have been evacuated. Thank goodness for cell phones though, it has allowed us to check on people even when the lines were down.

Today we plan to head to church and then go to grandparents for Father's day. I am still trying to pry my eyelids open and I have to get four kids ready for church on my own. Keep praying for Spence to get Sundays off.

Well, hope all is well with everyone else.

Heather

Things you missed

Here are a few things we did that you missed while we were sick, just because I didn't feel up for blogging.

Here is Andrew and George sick on the couch:

Here is our new Chore charts:

Here is my bread which I have been meaning to show you a picture of for a while. I even have made a Cinnamon raisin bread with pecans in it (not in the pictures). Very good:

Here is my darling daughter:

Here is my babysitting project, and YES they are still alive:

This is ONE of the holes I have dug, as you can see our soil is soo nice. The wasps have been enjoying my mess.

Well the kids are wanting to watch Mr. Robinson Crusoe. I shall go, hope you all had a nice day. ~H