Loading Day - October 14th

John arrived on Friday evening just in time for our loading day on Sunday, October 14th.

We started at 9am. There were last minute boxes to fill of the things that we needed up until the last minute, furniture to wrap, floors to sweep, counters to wipe and then the obvious, loading everything into the truck.

We rented a 28' truck and thought we might use about 24'. But, we ended up using EVERY square inch of the truck. Our truck and suburban were filled to the brim also. And thanks to some careful organizing by the loaders, we didn't have to rent a U-haul and nothing got left behind. Well, almost nothing. I wanted to take our plants, but in the end, they got divied (sp?) out to the last remaining souls that stayed to the bitter end.

I say bitter end, but from the very first arrival (9am) to the very last thing on the truck, we were finished at 2pm (5 hours). And that included a wonderful lunch that the Kerley family prepared for us! We had BBQ beef sandwiches, homemade slaw, chips, drinks, and several homemade desserts from both the Kerley and Cook families including my favorite, brownies!

Melissa made a comment during the day that watching all the people that came to help us load the truck was a testament to how much we are loved. And, while it didn't come to the forefront of my mind, she is exactly right! We had friends from Morristown, Knoxville, Crossville, Livingston, and even one friend was moving his father in Lewisburg and came after he finished there to share a meal with us that evening. Altogether, we had 23 adults and children that helped move, yes the children helped move also. And even more came by to say farewell!

So, yes, we are truly blessed with the most wonderful friends anyone could ask for.

We will miss all of you so very much! We have lived here for 9 1/2 years and it seems like our friendships blossomed so much more in the last 1 1/2 years.

My husband said something to me while I was crying and saying the last farewells, "You have been touched by so many lives and they have been touched by you. Now you will go and touch and be touched by some more lives." He's right. I have been touched by so many lives. And I hope they have been touched by me.

Thank ya'll for your friendship and continued prayers for God's will in our lives.

Thanks to:

Kerley family: Anthony, Melissa, Miranda, Will & Andrew (we missed you!)

Cook family: Earnie, Leila, Hannah, Casey, Sophia, Taylor

Klett family: Reinhard, Emilee, David, Daniel

Fleming family: Glenn, Noni

Hinds family: Pat, Jeannie, Hannah, Abigail, Eli

Wade family: Tracey, Dominic

Blackwood family: Victoria, Jett, Raven

Brad Dunn and Tyree

Much Laughter, Many Tears - Our Going Away Week!

We have packed in as much as we can possibly pack in this week since we know, in some cases, we won't see some of our friends again. We left Florida on Friday, October 5th and returned to Crossville to wrap up our close. We will be leaving on Monday, October 15th. So these 10 days were jam packed. Daddy didn't come home with us. He left Florida and went to Texas to wrap up the close on our new home. What did we do these last 10 days?

A better question might be - what didn't we do? :o)

Sleepovers, sleepovers and more sleepovers! Thankfully, the public schools were out this week, so Dominic basically lived with us the entire 10 days. We also had Alex spend the night.

We went Autumn Acres for what might be our last corn maze.

We won't see many fields like this where we're going.

We had to make one last trip to Chuckles and use those last few coins and tickets we've kept.

We went to the fun night that the Cornwell's host.

And Renee and family hosted a meal for us there. Janine and kiddos came for our last visit together.

And how could we forget one last trip to storytime with Miss Patty.

We will miss her very much!

We went to Chess class for the last time. Thank you Dr. Brindisi for all of your hard work and dedication to the homeschool families of Crossville. Our family really appreciated your time and effort!

And then there were the many lunchs that we shared with friends like Miss Elsa.

It was a really fun week.

And it was filled with much laughter and many tears!

We hope to see as many of you that can come to see us as soon as you can possibly come!

A Good Time was had by all

Our family had a wonderful time celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. We saw some old friends and met some new ones. We had a bump in the trip when John's mom, Brenda, fell in the parking lot on the first day. While she did not break any bones (a miracle in itself), she was badly injured and had to be in a wheel chair for the entire trip. Thankfully, family was around to help her. I helped with the Junior Sabbath school where Micah attended, Caleb and Sarah attended their own classes, and John attended a few seminars in addition to all of us attending the sermons.

The guys went on a fishing trip. And Micah and Caleb were both able to go for the first time. While, they didn't catch any fish to keep, they had a great time being on the boat.

It is so beautiful at the ocean. I would live there if it weren't for hurricanes. You really do see the awesome beauty of God's creation. How the tide comes and goes, the incredible sunrises and sunsets, the smells, and the amazing animals.

And when you're laying on the sand, it really gives new and incredible meaning to the scripture in Genesis 22:17 "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as

the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;." I hope you enjoyed these pictures.

Feast of Tabernacles 2007

What is this Holy Day, anyway, you may be asking. Many of you know that our family has celebrated this Feast, actually all of them described in Leviticus 23 and other places, for over 10 years now. We are currently in Florida, in our booth, celebrating the first day of this wonderful Feast. I asked my husband, John, if he would write a post about this awesome time of the year! Here it is.

Hello from Florida. I wish you were all here with us at this great time of the year. Where to begin? I must say that this is an exciting topic for me to discuss with folks. Over the last several years there has been a resurgence in interest in the Eternal's holy days (I use the words Eternal and God interchangeably). I even hear them discussed on TV by televangelists. There are three family pilgrimage feasts among God's holy days described in the Bible. The week of Passover, the Feast of Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).

This time of year there are people assembled together all across the globe, coming together to rejoice and celebrate God's holy days.
In years past we have attended sites with anywhere between 200 to 1600 people. I estimate this year we will have more than 1000 at the site we chose.

One of my favorite sets of passage about this time of year is located in the book of John the seventh chapter. In this chapter we have Jesus at the Temple of God during the Feast of Tabernacles. In verse 37 we read:

John 7:37-38 37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

What is so exciting about this verse is that Jesus is declaring the fact openly that he is the Messiah. A simple reading of the text here does not do justice to the culmination of events here and how all faces in the Temple on this day would have turned to Him in amazement. Basically what is happening here is the water pouring ceremony (hence his reference to living water as opposed to the literal water that they were using in the Temple ritual). This was a very boisterous time in the temple. The singing of the Levites and dancing made for a very great spectacle. There were also candelabras of immense size that would have been burning. For greater detail on what was occurring in the temple on this day I will include the following excerpt from Alfred Edersheim's The Temple:
"We can now in some measure realise the event recorded in #Joh 7:37. The festivities of the Week of Tabernacles were drawing to a close. ‘It was the last day, that great day of the feast.’ It obtained this name, although it was not one of ‘holy convocation,’ partly because it closed the feast, and partly from the circumstances which procured it in Rabbinical writings the designations of ‘Day of the Great Hosannah,’ on account of the sevenfold circuit of the altar with ‘Hosannah’; and ‘Day of Willows,’ and ‘Day of Beating the Branches,’ because all the leaves were shaken off the willow boughs, and the palm branches beaten in pieces by the side of the altar. It was on that day, after the priest had returned from Siloam with his golden pitcher, and for the last time poured its contents to the base of the altar; after the ‘Hallel’ had been sung to the sound of the flute, the people responding and worshipping as the priests three times drew the threefold blasts from their silver trumpets—just when the interest of the people had been raised to its highest pitch, that, from amidst the mass of worshippers, who were waving towards the altar quite a forest of leafy branches as the last words of #Ps 118 were chanted—a voice was raised which resounded through the temple, startled the multitude, and carried fear and hatred to the hearts of their leaders. It was Jesus, who ‘stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.’ Then by faith in Him should each one truly become like the Pool of Siloam, and from his inmost being ‘rivers of living waters flow’ (#Joh 7:38). ‘This spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive.’ Thus the significance of the rite, in which they had just taken part, was not only fully explained, but the mode of its fulfilment pointed out. The effect was instantaneous. It could not but be, that in that vast assembly, so suddenly roused by being brought face to face with Him in whom every type and prophecy is fulfilled, there would be many who, ‘when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ.’ Even the Temple-guard, whose duty it would have been in such circumstances to arrest one who had so interrupted the services of the day, and presented himself to the people in such a light, owned the spell of His words, and dared not to lay hands on Him. ‘Never man spake like this man,’ was the only account they could give of their unusual weakness, in answer to the reproaches of the chief priests and Pharisees."
Here is an artist's rendering of this ceremony from the Temple Institute. Click on it to enlarge.


Basically, we have Jesus vociferously crying aloud, the statements of John 7:37. The whole temple ritual would have been interrupted and silenced. All eyes turned to Him and heard Him declare His reign and His gift. How powerful is this imagery?

Quite exciting!! Let's celebrate this Feast with this excitement!!

TN Aquarium Fieldtrip

We had a great day at the aquarium. It's the last time we'll visit this aquarium. The favorites are always the salt water life - sharks, jellyfish, and puffer fish. We love the penguins too. We even saw a few divers feeding the fresh water fish. We ate at our favorite restaurant, the Big River Grille. Then, we took a dip in the stream that runs through the sidewalks of the Aquarium grounds. It was such a beautiful, sunny day! And the cherry on top was we were able to see and visit with a few of our friends that we will be leaving when we move.

Coming of Age

Micah has come of age. Daddy was mowing the grass for the last time. We're moving to basically a zero lot. We have enough room to play catch, but not much else. A big change from our 25 acres! Micah has been taking rides on the mower since he was 8 months old. Well, today, he wanted to go solo. So after a few lessons and supervision to make sure he would be able to handle it, daddy let him go solo. I'm glad he got this chance since it will be a push mower in our new home!

"I will never forget this day" were his words!

"Can you take me to bed?"

I know Leila told me that she was impressed with how well Isaac went down for bed. He just hops up in his bed (it's a trundle) and lays down. He has a ritual. He wants his 3 certain stuffed animals (teddy bear that Gammy made, red dog that he inherited from Micah and this tiny little rabbit). He wants the sheet thrown over his head so he can pull it down and sometimes the blanket if it's cool in the room. Sarah and Isaac go to bed at the same time and sometimes the 2 older boys get to stay up a little longer, but not always. And while she goes without much complaint, she would like to stay up with the boys and feel bigger. Well, last night, it was a little past their bedtime and Sarah came to me and said "Can you take me to bed, I'm tired?" I was quite surprised. I can't recall her ever doing that. She had had a big day. It was her date day with daddy, so she skipped her nap. She had a warm bath earlier in the evening and she was just worn out.

Caleb, Caleb Quite Contrary

I love my little Caleb. He's not really little anymore (6 1/2yo), but he will always be my little Caleb. When he was a baby, I called him "my prince". My mom, Grandma, called him, her "little man". Caleb had a difficult day yesterday. He lied to daddy about washing his hair. So, back to writing sentences. "It is a sin to lie. I won't lie!" He graduated to writing this for 2 pages. But I didn't want to leave a post on a negative note.

Here is my real Caleb, the funny, happy go lucky guy! He is balancing 5 books on his body. This he did on his own while we were in the car waiting for daddy to finish up in the restaurant on our way home from Texas.

My Prince!

Hmmm, Hmmmmm!

I bet you thought this post would involve food, but not this time. My son, Isaac, LOVES, LOVES trains!! Thomas, in particular, but he's really not picky. Every time he sees a train, he says Hmmm, Hmmm. Now you have to imagine that he's saying Choo, Choo, in the musical way you would say it. You see, Isaac doesn't talk yet. He will be 2 years old on October 28th, and the only thing he's says is momma and that is only when he is so frustrated because he isn't being attended to. I'm pretty sure he CAN talk because when you ask him to say a word or sound and you look at him eye to eye and say the word or sound slowly, he just cocks his head, cuts his eyes and smiles almost to a giggle. It makes me think he's saying inside, "yes, I can talk, but I'm not gonna let you hear me yet!" Or maybe he just thinks the faces I make are so silly! So, here's to my train guy, Hmmm, Hmmm.

We love our Friends

The packing is almost done! And we've been trying to make sure we see all of friends at least one more time. Here are 2 of our friends, Jett and Dominic.

2nd Amendment - Alive and well!

Just thought I would share that the Cavender family fully supports the 2nd amendment. And we're passing it on!

Ladies First!

We had a busy house today. My friend, Jessica and family, came over to pick up a few things we are getting rid of and they could us. I love to "pay it forward". Well, between their first trip and their second trip, another friend of mine, Janine and 2 of her children, came by to help me pack and to sort some Saxon Math worksheets that she was sharing with me. I was in the middle of preparing lunch and it was actually a hot lunch, spaghetti with meat sauce! "All right" is what Caleb said when I told him what we were having. Actually he asked for it, and I was initially reluctant realizing I had 2 sets of company, but it actually sounded really good to me after not having anything to eat all day. So, lunch was in the making and it was late, at least for my kids. And, Jessica and family came back to help us move a counter to our neighbor's house. A very heavy island counter. Isaac was having a melt down in the middle of the kitchen because 1 - he was tired and over due for a nap, and 2 - the food was not ready! My sweet, little Isaac arrives in the kitchen as you are cooking believing that the food should be ready and on his plate. He has no concept of preparation time! So I began to serve Isaac first in hopes it would stop the echoeing crying. Echoeing because now that the kitchen walls are packed and the island was just removed, it sounds very echoey in the house now. So, I finish serving him when my darling daughter just realized she was not served. "Hey, why aren't you getting my food?" Okay, I realize this is not the way she should speak to me and she was corrected, but I knew why she had said it. So I asked her, "why do you think you should be served first?" To which she promptly replied, "Ladies first!" It got a chuckle from our visitors and even me. You see, we've been teaching the boys etiquette and manners around other people - opening doors, waiting for others to enter or exit first, etc. Table manners are still a challenge around here. Then my friend, Janine, said to Sarah, "Then your mommy should be able to go first." You gotta love it when you're kids are listening to what you're saying/teaching even when it's not for them. :o)

CONTINUE ON......

A woman once fretted over the usefulness of her life. She feared she was wasting her potential being a devoted wife and mother. She wondered if the time and energy she invested in her husband and children would make a difference.

At times she got discouraged because so much of what she did seemed to go unnoticed and unappreciated. "Is it worth it?" she often wondered. "Is there something better that I could be doing with my time?"

It was during these moments of questioning that she heard the still, small voice of her heavenly Father speak to her heart: "You are a wife and mother because that is what I have called you to be. Much of what you do is hidden from the public eye. But I notice. Most of what you give is done without remuneration. But I am your reward. Your husband cannot be the man I have called him to be without your support. Your influence upon him is greater than you think and more powerful than you will every know. I bless him through your service and honor him through your love. Your children are precious to Me -- even more precious than they are to you. I have entrusted them to your care to raise for Me. What you invest in them is an offering to Me.

"You may never be in the public spotlight. But your obedience shines as a bright light before Me.

Continue on.

Remember, you are My servant. Do all to please Me."

Colossians 3:23,24

Author Unknown

Creative Homeschooling

While packing an entire house in 2 weeks is in full swing, making last minute appointments with familiar doctors and dentists; trying to squeeze in all those visits and playdates that should have been occurring all along, and wanting to see as much of Tennessee before we leave it, homeschooling is going to be very creative, to say the least!

Yesterday was no exception. While I love spontaneity, I would classify myself as a person who thrives in a scheduled oriented atmosphere. Homeschooling for our family pretty much has a routine. It gets changed up a lot. How can it not when there are younger siblings! But, when we're all in a groove, it's pretty routine around here.

So, what I'm about to tell you may occur in your homeschool everyday. And it probably occurs in our homeschool more than I recognize, but yesterday was an epiphany for me.

We just returned from a week long trip to buy a house in Texas. You all know how trips go. No one sleeps in their own bed. The long trip (13 hours) home trying to sleep upright. Well, we rolled into the driveway about 930pm on Sunday night. We had to be home by Monday morning for a series of dental appointments on Monday morning.

The kids woke up the same time they do every morning. I was in hopes that the long, tiring day would help them sleep later, but not a chance! They wanted to watch some TV, something we don't do on school days until all school is finished. I said my usual no and informed them all that it was a school day and we were getting back into our routine. Micah scans the playroom and tells me that the school table is a mess. I turned to look and saw boxes on top of the school table, and various school books everywhere on top. It was discouraging to see the table and realize we had to leave the house in an hour for dental appts. Okay, it wasn't going to be routine today! I wasn't even sure, at this point, that school was going to happen at all. But, I was not going to tell the kids that!

With only minor frenzies, we made it to our dental appointments on time with clean clothes on and brushed teeth (very important if going to the dentist is why you're leaving the house) :o). It was a new dentist for our family and to top it off it was Sarah's first time to the dentist. She was very familiar with our old dentist's office, but now she was going to be the patient and it was a new dentist on top of that. This little tidbit is not part of the story, but I added it for a little more drama!

We waited, and waited and waited for our names to be called. We were there for over an hour before they called any of our names. The funny thing is, we really didn't even notice how long it had been. This is why. Right when we got there, we found a magazine on the chair next to where we were sitting. It was the only magazine (or so I thought) in the waiting room. It was a Town and Country. If you aren't familiar with this magazine, it is very thick. It was a travel edition. Sarah and I proceeded to look at the magazine from front to back, looking at each page carefully. I would ask her questions about what was on each page. After about 15 minutes or so, both boys (Isaac stayed home with daddy) started to get interested in what we were doing and wanting to contribute their observations and answers. Then I started to notice the people around us in the waiting room. I could here a few giggles from some of the teens that were listening to our conversation when one of the kids would make a comment about something on the page. We continued to look through each page and talking about where this or that was located, where do you think such and such is, would you want to go there. You get the idea. I continued to occasionally look up or around and noticed that we had become the center of attention in that entire waiting room. It was a long, somewhat narrow waiting room with about 10 people or so. Mostly younger teenagers with a parent here and there. These people had obvious facial expressions that told me there utter amazement at all the things my children were discussing and answering. I even heard one girl say to her friend when Micah answered what continent a certain country was located, "I didn't know where that was."

It finally came time for the 2 boys to go back for their appts. Sarah and I found the magazine rack which we did not see at first and looked through several more magazines before her turn finally came.

I don't know about you, but it really made me feel good to observe people observing us. I feel as if we may have positively affected some of those people in that waiting room. Maybe those parents will go home and read more with their kids. Maybe it will inspire some of those teens to want to learn more in school. I don't know! I do know one thing. I left the house thinking that the school day was already shot! But when I returned home, we had already had a full day of school! All from just a few magazines in a waiting room.

Now THAT'S the beauty of homeschooling!

BTW, Sarah did fantastic at her first dental appt.! A few gags trying to get the film in her mouth to take mouth pictures. But she didn't panic and was very brave. She had her teeth poked, polished and shined! And no cavities! Yeah! Both boys had a "no cavity" day also!

Back in Tennessee

We made it back from Texas safe and sound! I've had a coke and a chocolate bar, so I don't think I'll be going to bed anytime soon. I took care of the checking account (love that Quicken), and the snail mail (thanks to Miranda, Will and Andrew) and now I'm just catching up on emails! We will start packing tomorrow. I'm probably starting too early, but for all those that know me, I'm pretty much an organizational freak and do not have a procrastinating bone in my body! That's been very helpful in my marriage since my loving husband has many procrastinating bones in his body! :o)

Thanks so much for the response regarding our loving dog, Mitzi. She will have a new home with Jessica Whitehead and family! We will keep her until our trip to Florida, and then she will have a new home. We will miss her VERY, VERY much! I hope Jessica will keep us updated on how she is doing. (a few tears at the moment).

Lots of change coming around the corner. I want to say thank you to all of you that have continued to keep our family in your prayers. And thank you for your continued friendship. Hard times bring out the true friends! And I might add, moving brings out the true friends also. We 've had a double dose of both, and and found a double dose of friends!

Forney, Texas will be our new home as of October 12th. Come see us! We would love to have all of you come. Maybe not at the same time, but if it works out that way, we'll make room! The more the merrier!

And my motto through all of this has been

"Lots to think about, but nothin' to worry about"

From Tennesse to Texas

Well, it has been a whirl wind visit in Texas. We physically looked at 13 houses, but as many of you know, my husband has been viewing homes online for six months. He has literally looked at close to a thousand homes, if not more. But I am glad to tell you all (ya'll) that we signed a contract on a home in Forney, Texas (new construction) this week. It will be ready the second week in October. The home was at the drywall stage and no flooring or counters had been selected, so we were able to pick what we wanted. That was a lot of fun. It's a smaller home (2,800 sq ft) than what we have in Tennessee, but laid out very well with an open floor plan. Now the packing fun begins! If you have a free moment and care to come visit and fill a few boxes with me, I would really appreciate it! We will close on our Tennessee home on October 8th and are allowed to remain in the home up to 14 days after that. So, the physical part of loading the truck to move won't happen until the week of October 8th provided the home is finished. Yes, the timing may get tricky, but we know it will all work out.

Also, if you know of anyone that would like a wonderful, 9 year old, blonde, lab dog who LOVES to play fetch, please let me know. Her name is Mitzi and she is an awesome kid dog! We are moving from 25 acres to almost no yard. We will have to give her to a lab rescue if we can't find her a home on our own. That is if the rescue is accepting new dogs. I know that between all our efforts, we will find her a home.

Please take a moment and see if you can think of anyone that would like to have her.

September is Here!

It's hard to believe it is already September. The Fall Feast days are upon us! This final month of the civil calendar, Elul, which is a traditional intensification of a period of repentance begun in Av (the 11th month) and continues through Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). We should approach Yom Kippur with a lot of forethought.

And, boy, do I have a lot for which to reflect and be repentant. It's been a trying several months with John continuing to seek work since the middle of March, selling our home in Tennessee which as I type this we have a contract on it, and moving back to Texas. I have felt very weak at times and while my heart knows that God IS taking care of us and will continue to take care of us, I have had a hard time convincing my head! It's been an amazing learning experience, that, admittedly, I have not always been grateful for, but one that continues as I write this. I haven't always understood God's timing, but I will always trust that timing and pray for continued strength and continued mercy as I learn to put all of my trust in Him and none of my trust in this world.

I am grateful, thankful and humbled by the continued blessings that are bestowed on me even as I fail to trust and serve God in the way that I should. The mercy of God's grace for me is so "Awe"some!!! Praise be to our Heavenly Father for not treating us the way we deserve to be treated.

And praise be to God for His MERCY endures FOREVER!

Explorers and Pirates and Soldiers, OH MY!!

School started on Monday, August 13th. For the first few weeks we will be exploring the early Explorers. Both Micah and Caleb are studying American History. Each boy will be making their own scrapbook. Sarah started her phonics lessons. She already knows most of her letter sounds. We're concentrating on her writing.

Stay tuned for more adventure - I think this year is going to be fun-filled!

Check Mate!

This past Wednesday was probably our last Chess class before we move. Both Caleb and Micah have learned a lot from the generous gift of Dr. Brindisi who is a local chiropractor in town that donates his time for FREE to teach the homeschoolers Chess. Here are a few pictures that Micah took of his last class (sorry, he's not in the pictures because he was taking them!) :o)

10 Years of Wedded Bliss!?!?!?!?!?!

John and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on 6-21-07.

After 4 children, I don't think we look too bad!