sweet pea...jr.(?)

about a week after sweet pea died, dustin came home from school with a kitten. a kitten that looks exactly like our sweet pea!! sadly, as soon as eden reached out to hold it, it jumped down and ran away into the woods. so much for the promised "tame" kitten!! during that week, my cousin's dog went missing. the kids prayed fervently for paisley's return, and at one point eden added the kitten into the prayer. thankfully, paisley did return home, and then poor eden couldn't figure out why God didn't answer her prayer about HER little animal. fast forward another couple of days. the kids heard meowing at the neighbors, and lo and behold, eden's new kitty had returned after over a week in the woods! it was still wild, so it took some maneuvering on the kids part to catch him/her, but finally they had the kitty in their arms. we had to let it stay in the basement for a few days to get acclimated to life with small children, but i am happy to report that "sweet pea" has adjusted wonderfully, and eden is thrilled to have a baby kitty once again. i really did try to get them to name the kitten something else, but they insist that his/her name is sweet pea.

judah nate is eight!

eight years ago today, judah was already six hours old. he was born just after midnight, missing pop-pop's birthday by 32 minutes. its cool for judah though because since he could vocalize his thoughts he's been enthralled with "the midnight"...meaning anything that goes on after dark. so, at some point "in the midnight" my boy turned eight. for months he has been planning his birthday party, which at this point, involves allie (his BFFFFFFF) coming over for a french toast supper and then going to church with us tonight and then his male friends coming for a sleepover friday evening. last year he had allie come WITH his other friends, but he said that this year he wants to have her come separately because the boys have gotten stronger in a year's time and might hurt her this year. earlier this week he said, "i'm supposed to keep her safe.". for now we have two parties planned, and we may add a third before its all said and done.

so today we celebrate JUDAH NATHANEL. my lone boy in a household of girls. when judah was eight days old we had a guest speaker at church who looked at him in my arms and began to pray over him. i got the tape and wrote down the prayer, and it is uncanny how the prayer has come to pass in his life. it was said that he would have dustin's mannerisms, which he definitely does. it was said that he would be such a combo of his mother and father, which is IS--frightenly so at times! and it was prayed that he would be a comfort to his mother, which he has been. judah has prayed almost nightly for me, for my health, for my babies to be strong and healthy, and for our family to be safe. he has a great, childlike faith that makes me smile and puts my heart at ease. his attention to detail, sharp mind, and logical thinking have caused me chuckle many times. judah is everything his name means...a "praised gift of jehovah"...god's gift to me.

Happy Birthday Judah Nate!!

a man after God's heart

in christian circles such as the one i'm in, you often hear of the scandalous lives of this big minister and that big minister and many make jokes about the plastic-faced men who color their hair to preach on tbn. i admit that my experiences in such circles have left me slightly jaded when it comes to "big" ministries, "pastors" spending more time on jets than in their churches, and prosperity as a theme of a message preached on sunday morning.

in the time i spent living in tulsa, ok, and in the years since, there have been countless stories of men and women that i heard speak as celebrity ministers or even knew personally that have been caught living a lie in one way or another. but through the years there was one man who i was honored to have as my pastor for two years that as far as i know has lived a life above reproach and has walked in as much humility and integrity as any minister i have known.

pastor billy joe daugherty.

in recent months pastor billy joe fought against cancer in his body and died last week. i was shocked. pastor billy joe preached multiple messages a week to thousands, traveled all over the world, reached out to the most down-trodden in his city, sat on boards of universities and some of the largest churches in the world, and yet still he knew my name in the hallway at church. he took time at school to ask questions about my life, my family, my dreams, and on more than one occasion prayed specifically for the issues most important in my life. before i ever had children, i remember him talking with me after class one day and praying that my children and my children's children would be lovers and followers of God. as far as i could tell this man loved God, loved his family, loved his church, and loved the people of his city and of the world.

as a minister in a "word of faith" church, pastor billy joe believed for the healing of his body. i can only imagine what kind of wholeness that death brought to him. as i watched his memorial service for three hours today, i was reminded of hebrews 11 that all those mentioned having faith "all died in faith, not having received the promises but having seen them afar off" and "were assured of them and embraced them". pastor billy joe may not have experienced the healing of his natural body here in this lifetime, but he died in faith, assured of God's promises and embracing them.

his life is a picture to me of integrity, humility, the hand of God reaching out to the hurting and unlovely, and authentic faith. i am thankful that i had the opportunity to learn from him.

thanksgiving break

its been a strange week here at the turners. due to thanksgiving break, we're all out of whack with our schedules, and this poor blog suffers. i haven't had a cup of coffee all week either. and no school for the kids. i've basically just enjoyed time at home with dustin and have taken the opportunity to do little things here and there with each of the kids individually. hunter dougie has taken up residence in the guest room for this week of hunting season, but so far there are no deer hanging in the garage.

today i helped ma ruth and pa prepare for our big dillaman thanksgiving tomorrow. i honestly have no idea how they have done it basically by themselves all these years. what a lot of thought and preparation. i had no clue. but, i am so happy that i was able to help out today and get some cooking lessons as a bonus. i now know the secret to ma's delicious chocolate pie! after being there today, i am a million times more thankful for my grandparents and what they do to make these big events happen every year. i can't wait for us all to have dinner together tomorrow!

besides having doug around all week, virginia and lily were also here for an evening. and luke, rachel, and the kids arrived today. my mom has officially moved, and tonight we all had our first dinner at "ma barbie's". i am just beside myself in excitment and thankfulness for all of my family.

hopefully next week, i can get back to my routine and will have more to say here and maybe some pictures to share.

happy thanksgiving.

Dog Show

Today Judah wrote his first "full length" story. I was soooo proud of him. One of my basic homeschool philosophies is to focus a lot on what the kids are naturally GOOD at. I just figure there will always be weaknesses, and it seems like too many people spend too much time trying to make weaknesses stronger. I'm sure that has its place as well, and I DO cover weak areas, but I have really tried to focus on each kid's individual strengths. Judah's strength is logic and math. We have skipped a grade in math, and he amazes me at his ability to understand and remember mathematical concepts. It just comes easy to him, which in turn, makes it easy for me to teach math to him. However, last year I began to dread teaching him language and writing. He just couldn't wrap his logical mind around the meaning of being CREATIVE when it came to writing sentences. We struggled and struggled. Then once he mastered the art of writing a sentence, he had difficulty expanding on an idea or making it more descriptive. So, we have practiced a lot, and today he wrote his very first story. I just figured any story would be some sort of progress, so I was taken aback at what he wrote. It is a fun, interesting story, and he thought of it and wrote it all by himself!!!! I am just so proud of him that I must share it with everyone. The story below is "as is" with no corrections made by me. I like that "Joe" is very logically spelled as "Joa"...like boat, coat, soak, etc.

Title: The Greatest Dog Show

On November twenty eighth a boy named Joa went to a dog show. It was in Califoria. When they got to the dog show it was his turn. He was very nervous when he got up on stage. Finily he and his dog started doing tricks. The best trick of all was when the dog rode a bike. After all the tricks all judges judged all the people in the show. They annouced that Joa won first prize of all the people in the show. The End. To Mom and Dad.



And while I'm bragging on Judah, let me just say that I LOVE how this boy cleans his room. Its a little different every time, but it makes me smile no matter what he does to organize things. Here is today:

soon enough

four people this week have asked me about when my baby is due. one asked if i am having a thanksgiving baby, another asked if it is a christmas baby, and the other two were just general due date questions. i can not imagine having a baby within a month or even two months. time is just moving too quickly. it seems like i *just* had a positive pregnancy test. i still have a test in my drawer, and i'm waiting for just the right moment to do and see my last positive pregnancy test ever. there's just nothing quite like seeing the pink dye move across the little window and leave TWO lines in its track. ahhhh... so, time...please just slow down. i'm not having a thanksgiving baby or even a christmas baby. i'm having a february/march baby, but even those months are coming too quickly! i wish there was something i could do to get ready for baby. but at this point, there is nothing i need or want. i figure at about 36 weeks, i'll just set the bassinet up in my room, wash the carseat cover, and get some little newborn clothes and diapers ready. i've been trying and trying to think of things that i need to buy...just something that i could put down on a "what to get for baby" list, and there's just not much. thankfully, because there is no need to make many physical preparations, i can just sit back and enjoy this time of "expecting". i want to remember the kicks and the rolls and to make as many memories as i possibly can as this season of my child-bearing years comes to an end.

11.12

when coherent thoughts and paragraphs fail me, thankfully i can fall back on list-making

--gorgeous day
--homeschool art gathering this morning
--sick baby
--fruit flies freak me out
--i'm way behind on pictures in albums
--my mom's house looks great. i've been visiting while its cat-free.
--simone is so cute when she wakes up
--i don't feel like cooking supper
--must do laundry
--25 week pregnant. wow.
--i need more hours in a day to knit
--can't wait till thanksgiving week
--too many options for tomorrow night. must decide what to do.
--simone says "ants live in little holes up there" (while looking at the textured ceiling)
--should drink some water
--and get off the computer
--and do somthing productive
--like laundry
--or shower
--laundry made the list twice
--speaking of, nadia finally needs new diapers
--oh...and i love my new purse (virginia). a lady at oglebay complemented me on it.