We actually didn’t have any plans for spring break when we started off the week, but the week ended up being quite full and busy, not that I was worried about being bored!
On Monday, Travis and Wyatt had over a classmate to play for a bit. The weather was rainy and dreary (as it was for most of the week). Ethan’s mom dropped him off, but she stayed for a bit to visit with her younger two boys. Although I enjoy chatting with ladies at church, I do enjoy the deeper conversations that can stem from having people in our home. We had a great morning with a house full of children, lots of snacks, and muddy feet! Ethan stayed for part of the afternoon, and then Travis and I took him home. Travis and I don’t get a whole lot of one-on-one time, and I realized this as he started talking to me after dropping off his friend. I had some errands to do, but instead Travis and I went and got a small treat and talked for a while. Sometimes he has a lot to say! It was good to spend some time with him, and it was a reminder to me that I need to make sure Roger and I keep up with our individual dates with our kids.
Tuesday was dentist appointment day, which is no ones favorite thing to do! Only two of the kids had dentist appointments, but since the office is over an hour away, they all needed to come along. For a change the dentist office was ready for them early, so that was a pleasant surprise. We hurried home from the appointments because I had a school board meeting in the evening. Chandler and Garett were able to go to the teen group while I went to the board meeting. Every year brings about new
changes, struggles, joy and challenges for every Christian school and ours in no exception. As we
approach the end of the year, there are more things that need to be discussed, but thankfully we were done around the same time as the teen group. I certainly count it a privilege to serve on the school board as this ministry is very near and dear to our hearts.
Wednesday- is that sunshine?! Roger had off from work, and we planned to do something fun with our family. It was a beautiful day, so I packed a picnic lunch (which consisted of a cooler full of food!). We decided to take the kids out to one of the islands. Although we’ve been out to Vinalhaven before, this was the kids first time to take the ferry across. Roger’s boss borrowed us a bigger van so that we would have plenty of space for the kids and the bottles and cans that we were planning on collecting. We picked up some donuts and coffee, and we were waiting for the first ferry by 6:30 am. The ferry was full of vehicles, and we were the last vehicle to get on. It's about an hour and one-half to go across to the islands, but it was a good time with our family. We spent some time talking about prayer requests and praises, reading the Bible, and praying before disembarking on the other side.
Of course the first stop was to find the bathroom! Thankfully, the ferry terminal had a bathroom. Then we were ready to collect cans and bottles. The island has 79 miles of roads, and a lot of them have lots of cans and bottles to collect. We had fifteen trash bags, and we filled eleven of them in 3.5 hours! The kids worked hard, and they were exhausted and muddy. In the first 30 minutes, Wyatt managed to find a puddle that went over the top of his rubber boot! His feet were soaked, so he wore his socks for most of the day. Emma stuck with it, and we all probably walked about four miles or more total that day. We stopped for lunch (and many snacks). We went to a land preserve on the island which had picnic benches to sit at. But why use a picnic bench!? The kids all went down to the beach, and made “stone” chairs with the rocks. That idea stems from reading The Boxcar Children books to the kids. The sun was shining, the weather was beautiful, and it was a fun day! Emma found a small skull of some kind in a ditch, and she was pretty impressed with her “dinosaur” head. Her
brothers kept telling her it was not a dinosaur head, but she was not convinced. It was pretty clear that
she has brothers though as she carried the thing around for most of the day, and had no qualms about
picking it up right out of the ditch!
It's not cheap to take a vehicle and a large family across on the ferry, and truthfully, we probably didn’t make any money. But that’s okay. We made a memory with our family; we spent quality time together; the kids had a great time; and I soaked up the delightful sounds of laughter and slopping, sloshing boots! We were surprised at how many full cans and bottles of alcohol we found. At one point, Chandler and I found four glass bottles that were full! Somehow I don’t think the “don’t drink and drive” law is effectively working!
The boys had a job to do on Thursday afternoon. One of my friends, Hannah, brought her three little ones over to play with the boys and Emma. Hannah had offered to let the boys watch her kids while she worked for a few hours (with me supervising, of course!). I was supervised at how well the boys did at babysitting! Garett helped the littlest one into a chair at the table, and then stood right next to him to make sure the little boy was safe. Chandler and Wyatt played farm with another of the children, and it really was a very smooth three hours. I think my boys overfed Hannahs children on goldfish, but overall, it was a good afternoon for everyone. I’m thankful for friends that give our children opportunities to work and to be responsible. I told Roger that with the ages of Hannah’s children that is what our life would be like with eight kids! :)
Friday morning brought about nine boys and two girls at our house. It was still a bit of an overcast day, and very wet outside, but that didn’t stop the boys! Chandler was able to have over the two classmates that had come last Saturday, and then a friend came by with her two boys and little daughter. Was it wild and noisy? Oh, yes! However, no one was hurt, and everyone seemed to get along just fine. Travis did get a scrape above his eye, and two boys managed to get locked in the tree house, but it was all good. Garett and Wesley managed to lock the door on the treehouse and they couldn’t get out. Emma came and reported it to Bethany and I, but when I looked out the window no one was crying. The tree house has a big see-through door in it, and Garett and Wesley didn’t seem to be too distressed. Bethany and I could’ve gone out to help them solve their problems, but Roger and I are big advocates of seeing if the kids can solve their own problems first. Sure enough, eventually
they got out of the tree house. Garett used his knife to take the door handle off, and they managed to
solve their problem! Bethany and I enjoyed a good visit together. We’ve missed their family, and it was good to visit. My boys were thrilled to see her sons, and a good time was had by all...and lots of food was eaten! These boys!
I have more I’d like to write about Saturday (a 5K race and Wyatts birthday) and Resurrection Sunday, but it will have to wait. I have laundry that needs to get done, and other responsibilities to take care off. It was a good week for our family.
This was the week before Easter Sunday. We’ve been reading through the New Testament of the Bible in chronological order, but we took some time this past week to read through the crucifixion account in each of the four Gospels. The boys have been asking some challenging questions as of late, and Roger and I need great wisdom from God. Chandler asked us this week, “How do we know that what we believe about the Bible is right?” That’s not an easy question to answer an 11 year old
boy without overwhelming him completely. Roger and I pointed him first to the facts. 1) The Bible is truth. 2) It is the written Word of God 3) Mankind and religions make mistakes, but God does not make mistakes 4) When we take God at His Word, we can rest in knowing the truth 5) We discern what is truth by finding out what God has said in His Word.
Oh my, we could’ve and maybe should’ve said so much more to answer his question. But he seemed to have peace of mind, and Chandler said that made sense to him. I can not even imagine all the questions that the boys are going to need to ask as we enter these pre-teen years. However, I do know that God promises that His Word will not return void. We need and treasure the prayers that are prayed on behalf of our children. It’s not just about raising our children to KNOW Jesus, it’s about pointing them to their Savior and the RELATIONSHIP that they need to have with Jesus. ...and so do you.
Our love,
Sarah
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