Another Installment

Here are a few pictures of the kids working on shoe boxes. Katie was very particular about stacking them just so.

James' official job is to load them into the truck. Katie and Tyler help carry them out.

He is an expert by now.

P.S. Beyonce the Monster Truck has now been used to transport not only our family, but these shoe boxes, and on Saturday, our ill-fated chickens. 

It's official! Tyler has a bike of his own. He...OK, I...dug into his coffers and used his cash to make the purchase. When I went to buy it, all the bikes were $80 and plastered with various licenced, trademarked, commercialized characters. I had a hunch that if I found a plain bike it would be cheaper. They had one, and it was $40! I am pretty sure I could buy a whole lot of Lightning McQueen stickers with that extra $40, but he doesn't know the difference anyhow. He just loves having his own wheels. Now if only his mother will get him a respectable bike helmet, so he can stop wearing his sister's purple princess helmet! 

And here is the generator box turned pirate ship I made for the boys last week. Did you know how beautiful a generator can look when it is coming up your driveway on a FedEx dolly? While it didn't help us during the hurricane, now we have backup next time the power goes off. We have finally joined the growing number in our neighborhood who are investing in generators due to fairly frequent power outages. But back to the boat, I saw the idea somewhere and have been looking for a good box ever since. This one worked out nice, and I used a broom handle and some PVC pipe to rig up the sail, which gets rolled up and down, depending on their navigational preferences. Argh, matey! Shiver me timbers!

Farm Hands And Shoe Boxes

Saturday James and I went to Farm Hands again. We missed a week because of the hurricane. This week, we made apple cider using old-fashioned equipment. There was an 'old timer' there who had what seemed to be every apple peeling device known to man. Surprisingly, today's apple peeler is much less efficient than those of the past. I am guessing this has something to do with safety. I'll tell you what, I want one of the old ones! They work so much better! He also had an old mechanical apple peeler that peeled 80-90 apples per minute. My favorite was an old apple peeler that he rigged up with the treadle of an old Singer, so you could use the foot peddle to turn the peeler. The kids got to make shriveled apple head dolls. Then we were on to farm chores, including feeding the chickens and collecting 5 dozen eggs. The kids also got to play in the hay loft again (I think one of their very favorite things!) and get bedding down for the lambs. At the end of the program, we all make a human fence and let the sheep go from the pasture to their pens for the evening. I think I have been designated the 'helping parent' since there is a large group, which I don't mind. I like being able to watch them having fun, and seeing the perma-grin on James' face. Other parents help around the farm as needed.

In other news, we spent the morning volunteering at our church. They are a Collection Center for Operation Christmas Child. Today, about 1500 boxes came in. We helped unload them, count and band them, and pack them into cartons. The kids LOVED helping! Katie and James just jumped right in and helped where needed, even going up to complete strangers to help them. Even Tyler was fairly helpful, helping me push the filled cartons across the room. The district rep came in and spoke briefly and showed pictures. It was both happy and heart breaking. Happy to see the smiles on those children's faces, big incredibly joy-filled smiles. Heart breaking, because she said that many of the children who received shoe boxes last year in a particular orphanage will probably not live til next Christmas because they have AIDS. I am so glad that they can have an opportunity to hear of God's great love for them. She also showed a picture of a child's flip flops in one village they visited. The flip flops had been so greatly worn down that the entire heel was completely gone, and the strap was tied on with some sort of twine. These are the kinds of things we just assume everyone has, but they don't. A 50 cent pair of flip flops may just be their most appreciated gift.