Building a Strong Christian Home (Step 1)

As I promised, a blog on how to build a strong Christian home based on my experience and Biblical understanding. Here are the essential components for building a strong Christian home.  By the way, if you are single, this applies to you too.  I have had  a strongly held personal belief since I was about 18 that a single person is a unique family of one.  I personally wasn't waiting to build a Christian home environment for when I had a husband or kids.  The truths below are from the Bible and are applicable to a family of 1 or a mega family of 21+.

To build a strong Christian family the following is needed:

1.  There MUST be at least one adult Christian:  I'm not being flip or funny.  Its just that it is impossible to have a Christian home without at least one Christian adult. 

 So what makes one a Christian? 

• Believing that God exists? Nope!  Even Satan believes that God exists.
• Trying to be a good person?  Sorry!
• Living a life a sacrifice?  No...that is not it. 
• Loving everyone?  Umm...good luck with that...but no.
• Living at peace as much as is possible?  Afraid not.
• Doing more good than bad?  No, not a Christian, even if the scale is loaded with lots of good!

According to the Bible, none of us are perfect enough to be in a relationship with the holy God.  It is a bit like when our own children get dirty playing in the mud that they weren't supposed to go near.  We love them, BUT while they are muddy we probably aren't going to hug them tightly or invite them into our formal dining room until we get the mud cleaned off.  We don't love our children less because they got muddy! And God doesn't love the saint (forgiven cleaned up sinner) more than the sinner!  God simply cannot enjoy a full relationship with us until the sin is out of the way.  However, like our children will need our help to get clean, we ALL need God's help to get rid of sin that is keeping us from a close relationship with Him. 

In I John 1:9, the Bible says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  The "He" in this verse is Jesus.  If we tell Jesus that we want forgiveness, believing in His power and authority to cleanse us, then we can be pure.  Completely pure and able to have a relationship with the Holy God.

In Romans 10:9 reinforces this simple path to being rescued from our sin, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." 

You may be wondering how does someone ask God for forgiveness. Do you put it in a letter? Do you do something in return for Him forgiving you?  Do you need a minister?  The simple answer is you just pray to Him.  You can just talk with Him in your mind or right out loud.  He sees our thought and intents of our hearts so even if you pray silently in your mind, God hears and forgives!  There is no price to you. You couldn't earn this type of pure relationship. There are no special words.  Its just you being honest and humble before an awesome God who already loves you, but wants to clean you up so you can know Him better.  If you haven't done this before, you can even do it right now!  That is the most awesome thing about God, no prerequisites, no appointment needed, no special words...its just you and Him getting started on a loving long term relationship.
 
So after we ask forgiveness, does this mean that we will never sin again?  No!  In fact when I was a new Christian as a young person I didn't even understand many of the sins that I would commit along the way as I grew in my faith and maturity.  I would need to keep confessing my sin and learning about what is sin and what isn't and what my God expected of me.  This learning process is often called discipleship.  This is Step 2 in building a strong Christian home.  I'll discuss it in my next blog entry.

BTW-If the term Christian is offensive to you because of "Christians" you have met, then I have good news for you.  Jesus never called his followers Christians!  Christian is not God's word for us!  In the Bible, words like follower of Christ or believers were used.  You can have a relationship with Christ and reject the World's label!  As long as you don't reject Jesus in your description, you have great freedom in how you describe your new awesome relationship with God.

BIG Bad Cyber-Bully Mommy Bloggers

I have had my fill of it!  I can't stand to read another blog article by a "lovely Christian mom" who would probably never say a harsh word to a friend, BUT who feels loosened, compelled and perhaps God ordained to blog harsh criticisms telling other Christian mom's how to do things right.  I'm not talking about scriptural based advice or heart touching stories of how things work for them.  I'm talking about personal bias and opinions being passed on by Christian women as more important to share than the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  For some reason, encouraging each other in the Word has fallen out of blogging style.  Now, my disgust IS with expert Christian moms slamming life paths of others and professing to know God's best direction for ALL Christians.  Furthermore, they make it sound like not following THEM will destroy a Christian family.  

In case you haven't had the pleasure of reading some of this unloving, paranoid propaganda, let me summarize the issues that Cyber-bullies know will ruin your Christian home.  Some are the following:

• not having a home birth
• not breastfeeding  
• not homeschooling every child in your home (& no one writes a better persuasive blog than a home school mom...we teach persuasive writing!)
• working outside the home
• squandering money by getting a tattoo or piercing
• using day care or preschool
• letting government services in your life/home (like early intervention therapists, Parents As Teachers or WIC)
• letting your older children date or pick their mate
• studying world religions, philosophy or learning about other cultures
• and not disciplining your child with swats

I must disclose for the sake of honesty that I am a home school mom.  I work from home. I don't have money for tattoos or cruises and I hate the pain of needles.  I'm not saying there aren't good ideas for some people in the list above.  However, to present the ideas as being superior or inferior in the Christian walk is to deny God His proper place as Lord of our lives.  We as Christians are not all called to the same purpose in the "body of Christ".  1 Corinthians 12 covers this better than I can.

I do think certain things work well for our family such as crock pot meals, owning a bus, and not having credit cards.  However, the most important "thing" in our home is to be submitted to God and living a lifestyle that He has called us to, which is set apart from non-Christians.  Hopefully this set apart lifestyle is recognizable by our love for the Lord our God and others...ALL others. 

When I see these "preaching rants" on subjects like the ones above, it makes me sad because I can name the Christian women who upon reading these posts might feel discouraged, defeated or even doubt the path that God has placed them on.  It makes me think of  Proverbs 3:6 and Psalms 119:24. 

I'm going to blog in the future on what makes a strong Christian home.  My blog will be based on my own experiences, short comings and understandings of scripture.  As a fair warning, none of the bulleted items listed are on my list....nor will you be required to start using a crock pot, buy a bus or shred your credit cards.

For he that will love life,

 and see good days,

let him refrain his tongue from evil,

and his lips that they speak no guile

~~I Peter 3:10

Stay-cation Trip 4: Finally!

Well, this past weekend we finally completed Stay-cation number 4 by going to the farm.  Two of our previous weeks Stay-cations were cancelled due to changes in doctor appointments and an adoption court date.  We are hoping to do a couple more trips this Fall to make up for the fun that had to be cancelled.

However, this final big outing of Summer was a great time away for three days and two nights.  Our helpers Amber & Angela went with us and everyone had a wonderful, but exhausting time.  We came home Sunday night, and Nate slept until 1pm on Monday afternoon!  They all played hard!

On the way to the farm, Angela and Amber showed them how a Yakov brochure can be entertaining.

Then Saturday the extended family was at the farm and the kids played with cousins, ate, rode horses, ate, swam, ate, took a trip to Ava Drug*, played with the dogs and finally watched the film "The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry" and ate popcorn before bed.  (A few girls stayed up and watched an episode of the Waltons.)

Sunday was more of the same fun for the kids and their cousins, while we cleaned up the house and did the laundry/bedding.  We finally headed home later than planned. 

We stopped for dinner at Pasta Express.  Mr. Workman and I had not ate there in years and they have recently started opening new locations in Springfield again.  The long ago closed, Drury College location is where we had our first meal after we were married...so "kinda romantic"...well, as romantic as cheap Italian can be!  The kids loved it and it was VERY affordable!  Feed 14 with leftovers and everyone was full for $74 plus we had salads, some sodas (usually we all get water), rolls, toasted ravioli and pizza plus entrees so YES, we REALLY splurged!

*No trip "home" to the farm is complete without a trip to the Drug Store for a dime or nickel ice cream.  Check out their web site and read the history.  Its a great little place if you're in Ava, MO!  We had double scoop cones and dishes and some sodas.  I was the big spender with a $.75 tea.  Our total for 13 people was $2.25!  Plus the jukebox is still 3 classic fifties songs on vinyl for a quarter!  You'll love it as much as we do if you stop by!

Now our summer trips are done.  School starts next week and we have four doctor appointments (over 800 miles to go) before the first day of school.  We'll be busy!  However, so much to be thankful to God for this summer...including a bus with a lift and great memories!

(These pictures are great so you know Angela Covington took them.  Check out her note cards and other great stuff at http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/LaMarie)

BUDGET:
$150.00 of diesel
$    2.25 ice cream
$  74.00 dinner out
===============
$226.25 TOTAL or $16.16 each

Shoe Boxes & Candid Camera

There are days that some of the conversations and happenings at our house are so surreal that I expect the Candid Camera crew to reveal themselves....Its like one, two, three...where are those camera guys?  They MUST be here....somewhere?  Today was one of those days.

While Mr. Workman & I were at a meeting this morning, David calls and leaves this almost completely unintelligible message...we could make out the words dead, food, & I got it.  We called back and couldn't understand much better so we asked for Angela (our house helper) and she explained that David fed the chickens but one seemed to choke on a crumble and died.  We told her to tell David that we would be home soon.

We get home & had JUST pulled in the driveway when David came running to tell us again what Angela had told us.  As I was going up the ramp to go inside, David hands me the box that Matt has been carrying his new shoes in.  As I am taking it inside, David pulls the box lid back showing the dead hen, which he has placed there for burial.  I ask him to close the lid and hand the box back to him.  I directed David to leave it closed in the garage until Daddy can help with burial.

About 2 hours later, David and Daddy are ready to give our chicken a proper send off, only for Matt to start throwing a huge fit.  As I try to find out the problem, the meltdown continues!  Finally, through tears and sobs and shudders, Matt explained that he wanted HIS shoebox back!  David had taken it without asking so I offered him 2 identical shoe box for 2 sizes smaller of the twins' shoes, BUT NO!  Matt wanted the box back, which had held a dead chicken in 95-103 degree heat since 9:30am  and it was around 3:00pm!  For the next 45 minutes, Matt threw a fit while I dug out and offered him many shoe boxes of ALL sizes...this whole time I'm thinking "Candid Camera must be nearby."  Finally Matt went to sob silently with the occasional shudder as he watched TV.  We have had several break through tears all evening....and Candid Camera is still not here....BUT the shoebox and chicken are now buried in a location non-disclosed to Matt and I!

I tried to think of a verse to "council" my young Matt, but all I could think of is,

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."~Matthew 6:21 

I have several for my David!

Camp Kivu

Grace got home from Camp Kivu on Saturday afternoon.  She has had lots to talk about this year as usual!  I am so appreciative that she has had this experience for 3 Summer's now.  In fact, if you are ever looking for an amazing experience for your teen, I would strongly recommend the camps and trips offered by Camp Kivu.

If you send your teen to Camp Kivu, you can expect the following:

• Your teen will not be bored.
• Your teen will have a teen's dreamland of activities for teens and sports to try out.
• Your teen will be challenged about what they believe and why.  They will know what makes Christian's world view different.
• Your teen will come home with lots of stories, new FB friends, new ideas and new understanding of their parents/others.
• You can also expect the UNEXPECTED!  This years' camp was very diverse with even some campers from Muslim countries...AT a CHRISTIAN camp...HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!

Here is a http://vimeo.com/46126797.  She is in it twice at least (once fishing & once dancing) so watch close!

Well we're movin on up....To a deluxe apartment

No we're not moving!

Corrine's chickens are moving to their new fancy house that her and Grand-dad have been building.  No more playhouse Country Cottage for our chickens!  They have much better accommodations now.

Grand-dad and Uncle Fred helped set the deluxe coop in our backyard and helped Corrine get the roof on it today.  Then Corrine moved her seven hens and one rooster.  (Yes, our little pullet who grew into a rooster!....So much for needing 8 nesting boxes.)

Last week Corrine bought them their second 50 pound bag of feed and some cracked corn and NOW  our chickens are living in style, SO I must insist that even in this hot weather, I should be getting some eggs!  When we finally get eggs, these will be some expensive eggs!

Jon is 8 today!



Getting ready for help blowing out
the candles.

Jon loves birthday cake.  It is probably his favorite food.  I dare say that he especially likes birthday cake when it is HIS cake!  Tonight we celebrated age 8 with cake and presents and a whole lot of Jon being the center of attention.  

I had hoped that Jon would break the 40 pound mark for his birthday, but he weighed in at 39 pounds.  Oh well, maybe he'll get to 50 pounds by age 9!

Schools Need to be Good Stewards of Parent's $

To send a child to school without the requested supplies stigmatizes the child with peers and sends a message to the teachers that school is not a priority for a family.  Yet each year the school list seems to get longer, more brand-specific, and more of a test of our family budget.  For example, this year our district has added ear buds to the list of needed supplies and kindergarten needs, not just glue sticks and scissors, BUT 12 sticks of Elmer's purple glue and Fiskar scissors.  When I mentioned this concerning trend to our superintendent a couple years ago, it was suggested that I should talk to the teachers about what I "can" supply.  A friend suggested I go get help from a church that was having a back to school giveaway.  However, what the superintendent and the friend failed to consider is the message that these actions send to my kids.  First it suggests that supporting their schooling is not a top financial responsibility in our family.  Second it teaches my children entitlement and that others should sacrifice and be responsible to meet their need for supplies. 

The superintendent and my friend failed to get the point of my observation.  When I send 7 children back to school this August, some of what they will be taking includes 11 boxes of crayons, 55 glue sticks, 11 boxes of wipes, 16 dry erase markers, 15 boxes of tissue, and 192 sharpened #2 pencils.  Yet I am sure that my cildren will not need or use each of these items during the first week like they might the 23 folders.

Teachers need to consider the following when creating classroom supply lists:
1.  Trust the family to buy good quality items.  There are good scissors, glue, pencils, etc that are not Fiskar, Elmers, Ticonderoga or Crayola. 
2.  Set a year long schedule of when you need which supplies so families don't have to buy a year's worth of supplies at one time.  Plus it will reduce what you have to store in the classroom.
3.  When something new is added to the list, please consider what can be removed.
4.  Please return our child's non-consumable supplies at the end of the year.  Scissors, rulers, and pencil pouches are all easy to clean up and re-use.
5.  Do the math and see how much the supplies on your list costs realistically.  Don't use the 10 cent sale prices that were the week before our family got paid.  Use real prices and if the list costs more than $15 (which is more than 5% of a minimum wage earners weekly pay), then please revisit the list. 
6.  Remember, many of us are needing to use these lowest sale prices to buy our kids much needed backpacks, underwear, shoes, and a few new and/or new-to-us thrift clothing items to make our kids feel personally prepared for a fresh start too.  We also have band rental fees, lunch/snack money, elective course supply fees, and soon school pictures and the first school fundraiser of the year.   The classroom supply list is just the tip of the iceberg of expenses.
7.  Don't forget that our child getting ready for your class, may not be our only child.

Oh, and my husband is a teacher so I know about the out of pocket that teachers pay to get supplies that they need.  However, I STILL believe that more families would provide the requested supplies, if the total costs of the list was within their grasp and aligned with the purchasing values of their family.  Currently, I feel bullied by a list that is out of control and out of touch with what my kids really needs to start the year.  Yet like last year, I feel I must pass this first "test" by my kids' teachers and spend the money to get my first mommy "A" with Avery binders and Expo dry erase markers.

Stay-cation Day Trip #3: St. Louis City Museum

When we plan an outing for our Stay-cation or any other fun day, I usually contact each place that interest us and look into group ticket prices.  I also in my 4-5 sentence introduction email, I explain the age and ability range that we are bringing to their location.  Occasionally, I get an enlightened venue employee who understands that an aquarium is not going to entertain a blind/deaf child like Hannah OR that a host of inaccessible thrill rides are not for Vanessa or Jon OR...well, most of my readers understand.  We do family things as a family, BUT some of our family is NOT impressed by the activity due to physical or mental ability differences.  It is easy to say that the admission cost for those who won't enjoy the activity is "just part of being a family" until the admission fees get high enough that the outing is just wasteful. 

So about a month ago, I contacted St. Louis City Museum and was surprised when they offered for us to come as their guests!  They explained that there is a wide variety of activities and they encouraged us to explore and see what interested us.  We had never been to the City Museum and were not prepared for how huge and diverse its activities were!  It was like 4 Wal-Mart Stores full of fun collections stacked on top of each other with an amusement park on the roof!  Obviously a lot more energy and maturity than our group had would be required to get completely through, but it was well worth the experience to see such a neat reuse of an old industrial shoe factory and found art/treasures!

We were going to St. Louis because Jon and Vanessa had doctor appointments so this gave us the opportunity to divide the kids for a couple hours so Amber and Angela had only the kids who could climb, crawl and jump.  They spent this time doing the activities that might be too hard for Jon, Vanessa and Nate or that might not interest Hannah.  When we were there together, we checked out a hall of mirrors, toddler town, art corner, and several other areas.  Hannah was overwhelmed by the crowds and noises, but she loved an old beat up grand piano on the 2nd floor.  Even though there were keys that did not work and missing pedals, she made it turn out some pretty good tunes!  She had never played a grand piano before and probably could have stayed at that piano a lot longer.  If we had discovered it sooner, I also think she would have LOVED the slide from the 3rd floor to the 1st, but sadly it was closing time when we noticed it.

Grandma and I packed breakfast, lunch and snacks, but we stopped at White Castle for dinner because no trip to St. Louis would be complete without those little burgers!  It was even more fun that Amber and Angela had never ate at a White Castle so we HAD a duty to introduce them. 

It was a crazy, long, tiring day and we didn't make it home until after midnight.  We had planned another day trip to St. Louis around another set of doctor appointments in August, but we may rethink that and see if a two day trip could fit in the budget.



BUDGET:
$200 of diesel
$    0 admission
$    4.20 post card (to Grace at camp) & souvenir
$  33.00 White Castle
===============
$237.20 TOTAL or $18.25 each

Not your typical househelpers

Since 2000, our family has had many talented housekeepers, babysitters, and househelpers...Many of our great helpers stayed with us for only a year or two and others stayed four or more, but they have all put Alice on the Brady Bunch to shame, making her look unskilled and lazy. 

Each of our kids have been little and considered a different helper to be their special friend.  For Grace it was Sherry Riddle.  Grace worried to death that Sherry wouldn't be at her Kindergarten Birthday Party, but we worked it out where Sherry could come and help me with the party, even though it wasn't her usual time to work.  Grace was thrilled.  Then there was Jane whom we still miss her good cooking, followed by Nina who believed in killing germs by ironing.  We still laugh about our ironed towels, socks, underware and sheets, but we were never sick while she worked for us!  Ms. Pat Pennington was Corrine's pre-school babysitter and our housekeeper.  Corrine took many field trips and little adventures with Ms. Pat that she still remembers all these years later. Plus Ms. Pat would rearrange the furniture in different ways all the time and is probably a huge part of why Hannah is so good with getting around in new environments.  Catherine Valentine was here when David and Vanessa arrived home and when Nate arrived home and when Matt, Mark, Luke & Jon came home.  She was only with us a couple years, but our family sure grew under her care.  We teased her that it was all somehow because of her that we kept adding new blessings.  Catherine is a talented writer and left us to finish her degree at Berea.  After Catherine, Leigha kept things going for a year while she attended the local community college.

Now for the last year, Angela Covington has been using her talents at our home and learning new skills like African hair care and cute styles for Vanessa.  However, Angela is very creative and has lots of awesome photography projects that she does on the side.  Now she and a friend have completed an awesone photo book of the alphabet with a picture for each letter sound and a short poem.  The book is really top notch!  If you would be interested in a visually appealing alphabet book with great poems using lots of literary fun that kids love like consonancy, rhyme, and onomatopoeia, then the link to order and for more information is below.  It is only $10 per book plus shipping/handling.    FOLLOW THIS LINK TO ORDER.

Stay-cation Day Trip #2

Matt, Mark & Luke ready to
lead our group.

Matt has been waiting for today for over three weeks.  We have showed him on the calendar a million times.  Today was the day that we go to Grandma and Poppy's house to show them our bus and then we get to go to the zoo and then to the dentist!  (Okay so he wasn't really excited about the dentist, but he does like to go to the dentist.)

I think Matt was a bit disappointed that Grandma and Poppy didn't want to ride in our bus with us nor did Poppy want to go buy his own bus.  (In Matt's mind, buses are the coolest and everyone should want one.)  However, after donut for breakfast at Grandma's, Matt was ready for the zoo.  Plus our matching shirts had arrived from Creator Designs so the kids were excited to wear them.  (Grace is at camp for 2 weeks so she will have to wait to get her shirt, but at age 16, she thinks my matching Summer T-shirts are out of fashion.)

Jon need Amber to
protect him from the geese.

At the zoo, the boys were running from one cage to the next.  The big spots of interest being feeding the fish, geese and swans AND feeding the goats and cow in the petting zoo AND feeding the giraffes.  Notice the common activity of FEEDING that was the hit.  They also enjoyed riding the train and using the zoo key to get silly songs and facts about each animal.

Hannah LOVED feeding the giraffe.

After the zoo, we went back to grandma's for a late lunch.  Then 7 kiddos headed to the dentist and had excellent check-ups! 
Angela and Amber went along on our outing.  Amber took excellent care of keeping Jon involved in each activity and she kept care of him at grandma's while the other kids were at the dentist because Jon and Hannah go to a specialist dentist. 


Angela on the train with Vanessa and Nate.

Angela helped Ed and I keep track of the rest off the crew at the zoo.  Without Grace, I kept panicking when I counted 9 instead of 10 kids so Angela's extra help with the busy boys was appreciated, especially with the twins potty training and wanting to checkout EVERY restroom.

Before we left Grandma's, she sent us with snacks so the kids snacked and snoozed all the way home.


Matt on the way home.  I think I'm going to need
to make some "bus pillows".

BUDGET:
$96 zoo membership for 1 yr, train, feeding animals & postcard to send to Grace
$70 Diesel
$  0 Eats thanks to Grandma
==========
$166 or $12.77 per person

ALL PHOTOS ABOVE EXCEPT THE 1st ONE ARE BY ANGELA COVINGTON.

Stay-cation Day Trip #1

Today was the first of our Stay-cation Day Trips.  We were to go to Big Brutus and Fort Scott, but due to the heat, we only took in Big Brutus.  We got a bit of a later start than we had expected because Nate had, had some trouble breathing last night.  He was finally resting well this morning so we hated to wake him until he had made up for some of the sleep he had missed. Plus Jon's physical therapist had come unexpectedly so we used the extra time to get everyone extra clothes, snacks, and other things that might make the trip more enjoyable.

Our group watching the movie.

The kids were so excited to be taking a trip in the bus.  On the way to Big Brutus most everyone stayed awake and enjoyed the views out the big windows.  At Big Brutus, the little kids had minimal interest in the museum, but the older kids enjoyed it.  We all watched the movie about Big Brutus.  It is an impressively large and amazing piece of engineering.  We all got a bit of a laugh when the video referenced people getting married on Big Brutus since our helper for Jon is newly engaged and planning a wedding.  I don't think we will convince her that Big Brutus is the perfect place, but we had fun imagining it!

In the operators seat.

After the museum the kids went out to inspect this big machine for themselves.  Mark asked the very smart question, "What is coal for?" I was so proud of his big boy question and for talking so plainly.  He has had a lot of Speech Therapy and it was great to see him using words! 

After a complete inspection, we went back inside to say our good-byes and the clerk remembered Grace from our visit 6 YEARS AGO!  (This was Grace's pick for our Stay-cation because she enjoyed talking to the volunteering retired miners when we went last time....6 years ago!  Grace STILL loves Big Brutus and I think she would consider getting married on it.)

Lower left edge is Vanessa then Daddy to the
right in black and in front of Daddy is Matt
(the really small blue dot).

Big Brutus facts:

• largest electric shovel in the world
• 16 stories tall (160 feet)
• weight is 11 million pounds
• boom is 150 feet long
• shovel capacity 90 cu. yards (up to 150 tons)
• maximum speed .22 MPH
• cost $6.5 million (in 1962)
• required as much electricity to run it as a town of 18,000!

Not so sure about that....

After Big Brutus, we headed to the well air-conditioned Pittsburg, Kansas mall to enjoy a great meal at the original Cafe Del Rio restaurant.  We had not been there in years!  Okay, we hadn't been there in a decade!  Still great Mexican food and still great service!  Since we hadn't planned to need recovery time, we had not called ahead, but Kassandra was our server and handled our group of 14 very efficiently and effectively!  I doubt very many of the servers wanted a sudden table our size with 10 kids!  We appreciated her great attitude and professional skills.  Having a waitress who can anticipate, even the needs of kids, is rare!

Corrine ready to enjoy her meal.

We then headed towards home as the temperature continued to climb.  At one point the rear A/C in the bus started to smell, and we realized that we had frozen up the unit so we opened the window vents for the rest of the trip home and let the A/C unit rest.  Surprisingly the air flow kept the bus very tolerable.  It was not as nice as air conditioned coolness, but it was far from miserable too.

I think we made some good family memories today.  It was so nice to travel together rather than in several cars.  It was even nicer to have every one's wheelchairs.  The bus continues to be a great blessing!

All pictures above, except Big Brutus were taken by Angela Covington.

Budget:
$100 Diesel
$100 Good eats in great air conditioning
$  60 admission (group prices)
$  13.80 in souvenirs
======
$273.80 or $19.56 per person

At Home during planned vacation week

Today would have been the last day in San Antonio if we had gone on vacation as planned, but it turned out to be a good idea to stay close to home. 

On Wednesday last week we got the van back and took it to get washed up.  It looks great!  We were all impressed with how much a good wash improved its appearance.  Then on Thursday we had to take it back in with a coolant leak which turned out to be a hose needing replaced. 

Daddy driving the littlest Workman's around the block.

Finally on Friday night we took the bus on its first outing with all the Workman's aboard.  We all went to Amber and Angela's house to celebrate their surprise birthday party.  The bus rode a lot smoother than I expected and on the return trip we had 6 kids asleep by the time we got home.  The bus has amazingly cool air conditioning and the lift loaded the wheelchairs with no problems.  This bus is truly a huge blessing!  It was worth the two years of waiting and praying.

We didn't go far over the weekend or do too much outside because the heat has been almost unbearable!  On Sunday evening, we went along while Amber & Angela took the balloon ride that we gave them for their birthday.  I was really neat watching the process from start to finish!  The kids were really impressed, except Mark who was worried that they weren't coming back. 

On Monday, I took Hannah to the local nursing home to play piano.  As usual, she did great and she will play for them again next Monday.  Vanessa turned 10 on Monday too so I took the older kids to see the movie "Brave".  Then we came home and enjoyed cake and watching Vanessa open presents. 

Birthday girl Vanessa with her crown.

Today was busy with errands to the post office, Matt's speech therapy, pay bills, send packages, and such.  Angela and I sorted coupons, and I almost have a full box to send my friend from high school  (Amy) in Turkey.  Her husband is in the air force and they can use coupons that are upto 6 months expired.  If you have any that you want to toss in my box to top it off, please let me know.

Tomorrow will hopefully be a bit cooler as we still have lots to finish outside this Summer.

Stay-cation

Our last minute new design for
matching 2012 T-shirts. I got a
great price at Creator Designs!

As you may be aware, our bus is still getting improved upon at the mechanics so we have decided to make the tough adult decision and cancel our trip to Morgan's Wonderland in San Antonio.  It has waited for us for 3 years so it can wait another.  By the time we go next year, the bus will be well tested and ready for the long trip. 

So after getting family input tonight, I changed our matching Texas vacation t-shirts for matching Stay-cation t-shirts and we made a list of activities we wanted to do.  Then Daddy and I packed these around open dates and doctor appointments. 

Right now our Stay-cation schedule is for one-day trips using the following schedule: 

1st week of July:  Big Brutus & Fort Scott
2nd week of July:  Dickerson Park Zoo
3rd week of July:  St. Louis City Museum
4th week of July:  Rutledge Wilson Farm (& maybe zoo again)
1st week of August:  Cousin's Reunion at the farm (& maybe Wilder home & Baker Creek Seed Co)
2nd week of August: Purina Farms & Grant's Farm
3rd week of August: Crown Center in KC

We'll fill in with some trips to the creek; few visits to the park, hook up the sprinkler; do the summer reading program at the library.....and we should all get through this summer with some affordable fun while giving the new bus a good testing within the mileage range of our new AAA tow insurance. 

Want to join us on one of these outing?  Just email us.  I have arranged group ticket prices for the activities that co$t.

Adults with a Bus



Prayed & waited for over 2 years, but it was
worth the wait.  Its a great looking bus!

GETTING THE BUS:

I am pleased to report that we are bus owners.  I'm not as pleased to report that the bus is in the shop.  However, we got a great 2003 bus with seating for 14 plus 1-2 wheelchairs and a power wheelchair lift for $3150!  Yes, you read that right $3150.  However, the bus was in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Friday night when Mr. Workman got home from being at the National Debate Tournament in Indiana, we left for Minneapolis to pick up our bus on Saturday morning.  We drove all night long, but 628 miles later, we got there.  The owner had misplaced the bus when we arrived, but in the end it was found with extra detailing working being done and a full tank of gas!  So our trip home with the bus started by driving it in downtown Minneapolis traffic, but Mr. Workman did an awesome job driving the bus in all that traffic and construction.  We had planned to stop in Des Moines for the night, but by the time we crossed the Minnesota-Iowa boarder, the giant coffees were no longer keeping us awake enough to be safe drivers.  We stopped in Clear Lake to eat dinner, and I was trying to fall asleep at the table!  We got a room at the Super 8 and dropped in bed.  The next morning at the complementary breakfast a few people were complaining about hearing the I-35 traffic all night.  We have no idea what they were talking about!  Apparently, they just needed to be more tired!

Okay, so the bus is a little less attractive when
being towed ;)

The trip through Iowa and nothern Missouri seemed to take forever, but we finally reached Kansas City.  Then just south of Kansas City, the bus jerked and the odometer/speedometer quit and the overdrive light started flashing.  We took a break and checked fluids and couldn't find an obvious problem.  Then just north of Nevada (city in Missouri, we weren't on a detour through the West) the vehicle started overheating.  We looked into a tow and discovered that our road and tow doesn't cover anything over a ton.  Then we discovered the tow price.  The tow guy came to check on us and directed us to a small rural diesel mechanic within a miles of where we were stopped.  It was his opinion that we could try to get home.  Well, we made it 8 miles and lost all the transmission fluid.  So $420 cash for a tow, but Phillips Towing did a great job and gave us tips on what road and tow policy to get for the best coverage in the fture.  He towed the bus to our favorite mechanic who works on buses like ours for OATS (Rural Transportation for Senior Citizens) too!

Our mechanic is still looking over the bus but it needed a new emergency break and apparently the transmission may be okay.  After the break is installed then he can tell us more on Monday. 

Mr. Workman and I have decided that we may be getting a bit old for creating "crazy kids" stories, but when we are in our sixties, I guarantee you that the Minneapolis bus trip story will start with, "We were such crazy kids..." Obviously, that bus could have broken down in Minnesota rather than within 80 miles of home, and we NEVER considered that our road and tow wouldn't cover it.  Needless to say this could have been even a more expensive life lesson!

KIDS VISIT THE BUS:

These guys are happy just to sit in it on the
mechanic's parking lot!
Photo by La Marie Photography

On Monday we all went to visit the bus at the mechanic's shop.  The bus was parked out away from the shop so we didn't disturb the mechanics other than possibly for them to snicker about us visiting our bus.  The boys think Mr. Workman is cooler than ever because Daddy owns and drives a bus!  It is so fun to see the kids excited and appreciative of what we were able to get. 

ADULT DECISIONS:

On Monday, we will know how extensive other repairs might be such as we think the air conditioner has a leak.  Needless to say, we are praying that the fixes are affordable.  However, on Wednesday we are supposed to leave for San Antonio.  Mr. Workman and I hate this part of being adults, but we have to decide if we want the bus' second outing to be so far and what if it breaks down again.  We have to consider how much money we have in reserve and decide if going to San Antonio could have the potential to be a "crazy kids" story.  Please pray for the bus and us the "adult" owners as we make tough decisions over the next 5 days.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God,

and He will give it to you.

He will not rebuke you for asking.~~James 1:15 NIV

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live

  —not as unwise but as wise,

¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity,  

because the days are evil. ~~Ephesians 5:1-16 NIV