Blog Archives
On The Road Again…
One thing that is consistent in this blog is its randomness. We now jump from spiritual truths that convict me to our trip to Spring Creek, Pennsylvania. We left Friday to meet up with friends in Springfield, Ohio then caravaned (is that a word?) to Miracle Mountain Ranch for our 3rd Family Camp. I just wanted to share a few pics before I crash ‘n’ burn.
First, we have the seating chart. This is necessary as personalities and small-fry needs all have to be taken into consideration for a 7-9 hour road trip. We have a regular seating arrangement for every day (which changes as the kids grow…and new kids are added….) but a long trip becomes even longer if we don’t think this through!
OH, how I wish we could have decked out the Great White Beast to look like our guys’ dream van. (I later noticed our seating chart had items added to the empty seats like “Ammo.”)
Isaiah, the 5 y.o., asked every day, “How many more days til we leave?” So, Nat put this little countdown on our wipe-off board. X marks the spot and the arrow showed him how close we were getting. He took me to the board each day to inform me of “how many more days.” We learned a long time ago, anticipation is part of the adventure! Play it up!
It’s the day! And…we’re off!
This is our catering trailer. Guess what it used to be used for. Three guesses, first two don’t count. The plan is to paint it some day with our logo, etc. Natalie said we should just change our name to “Harley Davidson Catering” because the trailer is so cool.
And….we’re off! It’s tradition – I take a “we’re on a road trip” pic and see if I can fit everyone in. NOT easy.
Do-over – some people like to ham it up.
Lunchtime! Does anybody else remember how nasty and rundown rest areas used to be? We’re talking outhouse smells. Most are so nice, now! Anyhoo, our three families took over this picnic area.
And does anyone else just chuck sanitation standards out the door when having a picnic? Clean the table first? Why? No need – it’s a picnic. Wash hands? What? And ruin the experience? I think there’s a chance I have a slight case of germaphobia. I once thought I had O.C.D. but I actually have C.D.O because O.C.D. isn’t in alphabetical order.
Playtime!!
SO, this only brings us to lunchtime on Friday. I will stop here and leave you wondering, “What did they eat for dinner? Did they get to the ranch before sundown? Did they, in a 15-passenger van hauling a trailer, pass a Black 2012 Ferrari ? No pics were taken so I’ll just answer that – yes…yes, we did. As did our friends, also driving a 15-passenger. (We’re pretty sure the driver of said Ferrari was shamed and decided to speed up and pass us. Ferraris should never be driven in the right lane. Just sayin’.)
I’ll try to get back with more of Fecher Family Adventures after this “short” break for sleeping, eating, laundry, phone calling, menu-planning, lesson-planning, finishing unpacking, etc.
What’s not shared is lost,
Michelle
Third Day 20th Anniversary Cake Part 3
Several folks had asked for close up shots and pics of us making this cake via Facebook and Twitter so that’s why I’m taking the time to journal the making of said cake with more detail than I usually would. It was an especially fun cake to do so I don’t mind a bit. Having several family members contribute to the creation of this edible work of art makes the memory worth keeping so I’m happy to “scrapbook” this here. I have a lot of pics so I’m not going to try to put it all in one post – you have stuff to do and other blogs to read.
If you missed it, visit Part 1 and Part 2 then you’ll be caught up to speed.
First of all, we had to make Cake Pops for some Gomers who have heard about them and have seen our photos of them. We also like to take some for Lott, the tour manager, as he seems to like them quite a bit. If he’s just faking it for our sake, he’s doing a good job. We’ve learned that the band doesn’t usually get the treats folks bring them (bummer since that’s one of our “love languages!”) but Lott acts like he’s going to steal them when we bring them. SO, we gave him his own and the band got stuck with cake.
FINISHING THE CAKE BEFORE TRANSPORTING
I forgot to include the cake board when I started this. One of our signature elements: folks get a kick out of serving out cake to discover a message or picture hiding beneath. I was hoping to use the Come Together symbol with a photo but ran into technical difficulties and didn’t have time to make it happen.
Back to the drum: Before I took a good look at what instruments we’d be putting on the cake, I purchased Opalescent spray for that “sparkly drum” look. THEN, I asked for help from Gomers for good pics and did my homework. The realization that David Carr’s Craviotto Drums are wood grain left me wondering what the heck I was going to make sparkly cuz I was bound and determined to use my spray paint! Darn.
I went to work on the last of the hardware attaching pieces with Piping Gel. Jillian and the small fries had already made the smaller pieces so it was a “simple” matter of assembly and painting. Cakes can be so….stupid. Sometimes, I swear they’re living, breathing, evil creatures just waiting for us humans to try to shape them into something fabulous but they decide to be “in control” and rebel against their maker!!! Okay, I’ll calm down. Enough of that…stupid cake.
I made a couple of shades of vodka paint with brown icing color for the wood grain. Icing color tends to deepen or darken as it dries so I kept working with the colors trying to get them to match David’s drums expecting the paint to act like icing. It doesn’t work the same, I found. I made a vodka paint with luster dust and used that Opalescent spray for the hardware. I tried the sliver metallic spray and was not happy with the results. I’ve used the gold before and that looks great but the silver looked blue. Luster dust for silver. Write that down.
This was where we stopped on the cake on Wednesday, May 16. We loaded the layers in a Cambro carrier with he exception of the 14″ bottom layer which didn’t fit so it was placed on top of the carrier. Each layer was placed on a piece of foam covered with a “grip mat” and the cakes survived the trip with minimal damage. Some pieces slid out of place but I was thrilled that we drove a cake from Indiana to North Carolina and they made it! Our first long-distance delivery. Yay!
Thanks for taking a gander!
What’s not shared is lost,
Michelle
This day in 1988
It’s not just Lenae Michelle’s 24th birthday, it’s the 24th anniversary of our lives being turned upside down. Just like anyone else who becomes a parent, everything changed overnight. Literally. She was born just after midnight (12:22 to be exact). From March 29, 1988 on, things that didn’t matter that much before took on a whole new meaning. Politics mattered, who was on the school board was of most importance, nutrition, child training, making a home, being a better person, the list goes on. Most importantly, things eternal trump all things because of the life-changing event of becoming a parent. Thank you, Lenae, for being the catalyst for all the changes that matter. Yes, I know this was God’s idea – I thank and praise Him first and foremost for each and every life-change known as a baby He has given us. I love being a mom.
I was told throughout high school that “these are the best days of your life.”
1. Thank God that’s not true because my teen years were tumultuous at best. (I often wondered, “If these are the best days then what is there to look forward to?”)
2. The years I’m in right now are the best days of my life. They lied. “They” just wanted to sell lots of memory books, yearbooks, and class rings.
I am the mom of toddlers, youngers, middlers, olders, and young adults. It’s a new season having young adults and I’m still a little nervous as a mom as how to “mom” at this stage but it is such a privilege to see all the years we’ve muddled through together come to fruition. Lenae is a blessing and I am so thankful as I watch God work in her life. I am grateful God placed her in our family.
Happy Birthday Lenae!
What’s not shared is lost,
Michelle
Love Potion
I thought I better get this out before it’s too late in the day for you to go get supplies. A family Valentine tradition our family enjoys (and for which I have been in trouble for when forgetting previous years) is Love Potion. It’s easy, it’s tasty and it’s pink.
What you need:
- Raspberry Sherbet
- Pink Lemonade
- Sprite or 7-Up
- Pretty glasses
- Crazy straws
This is very complicated so pay attention: Place a scoop or two of sherbet in the pretty glass. Fill 1/2-full with pink lemonade. Fill the rest of the way with your sody pop. There you have it. The straw makes it more fun. Kids love this, it’s yummy and just one little thing we can do to make the day more special. We also make pink, heart-shaped pancakes. What Valentine traditions do you have? Please share!
What’s not shared is lost,
Michelle
Photo & Video Scrapbooking
I feel so geeky. I came up with this here idea and if it’s already been done, don’t tell me because I’m feeling all smart and stuff. If it hasn’t been suggested before, you’re welcome.
I love digital scrapbooking. It’s fast. It’s easy. It’s fun. The thought occurred to me that it would be way-cool to have a smart phone, which I don’t, and, while looking through a digital album, be able to watch the videos that go with the story in the album by scanning QR codes on the album pages with that phone I don’t have.
BUT, if you have a smart phone and digital scrapbook, you can enjoy this lovely memory-keeping luxury.
QR stands for Quick Response and I know you’ve seen QR Codes on bill boards, in magazines, on business cards, etc. and they look like this:
This particular QR Code takes you to the YouTube video, “Is Anybody Cuter Than Seth?”
I found a couple of QR Code Generators you can use so you, too, can place a link to your YouTube videos in your scrapbooks. The first one is Smarty Tags and is what I used to generate the above QR Code. It was SO simple. Again, you’re welcome. The other one is Kaywa and is just as simple. Copy and paste the link, click, voila – you have your code. Download your code then you’re ready to add it to your scrapbook page.
FYI, I use Storybook Creator 4.0 for my album-making. I made the following page on Storybook Creator and I just grabbed the first page I came to so the video link is a little misplaced as it’s from January 2010 and Seth wasn’t born until the next month but I just wanted to give you an idea of how you could use this.
You could label the Code, if desired. You could have a page set up comic book style that’s one QR Code after another. There are so many possibilities! You could make a digital cookbook and add how-to videos. Gift albums for grandparents would, of course, include videos from the grandkids. I’m hoping that I will be starting an album for a special group of people with thank you messages from folks from all over the country (and from a few other places) scattered throughout the album. A wedding album would have all those well wishes included throughout the candid pages. Or a simple miss you message at the end of an album sent to a loved one serving in the military abroad. You just got choked up at the thought, didn’t you?
I hope you’re inspired. Like I said, I was feeling all clever and stuff and thought you might enjoy playing with this little idea. Enjoy!
What’s not shared is lost,
Michelle
Goodbye, Big Blue
Instead of "cheese," I told them to say, "Big Blue." Can you tell?
A family makes a lot of memories in their vehicles. The “Big Blue” packed a lot of miles as we packed a lot of kids and stuff into it. We’ve take family vacations, field trips, trips to Grandparents, wrote birth announcements on the windows, Christmas shopping trips, you name it. Just like you, I’m sure, and if you’re the least bit sentimental, you’ll understand why we wanted pics taken with this van that’s been with us for many years before she was sold. Craig told the guy who bought it that the Cheerios and crayons on the floor were his, no extra charge. Now I feel tear-eyed because I forgot to take a picture of those….
What's this button do?
Seth will be growing up in another 15-Passenger - The Great White Beast.
I really wish this could be the photo on Isaiah's drivers license...if we ever let him get one.
Farewell, bumper stickers....
Judah saying goodbye in his own goofy way.
- Besides the monkeys in the back, you can see 2 girls upside down in the front bench seat. They were just being SO silly!
So…I’m a Nana
Autumn Rose
It was surreal. I was holding this precious little girl that looks SO much like 6 other tiny baby girls I’ve delivered but it wasn’t I that labored; it was one of those baby girls. My daughter. My first granddaughter. I had asked Corinne if I can be “Nana.” One, because I’m too young to be Grandma and two, so the grandbabies can differentiate between grandparents. And, third, because I’m too young to be a Grandma.
Craig, Jillian and I arrived at the hospital on Wednesday, July 19. Corinne had been experiencing “labor light” and was enjoying it. She was already at 5 cm so the hospital was keeping her. She had been permitted to eat pizza before we got there since she was going natural and not using any pain meds. She had been laboring since the day before and was starving. That didn’t make any difference when I was in the hospital. They didn’t even like me to eat crackers! The reasoning was that if I needed a C-section, they didn’t want food in my stomach. I was glad she was able to eat but jealous at the same time as I am still bitter about having to starve to death.
Anyhoo, for those that know the journey we have been on with Corinne, you know that this was emotional for many reasons. It’s so hard sometimes to trust that certain events in your life were really meant to be in God’s plan. But one thing I have no doubt of – there is NO child conceived without His consent. And so, I’m waiting with anticipation to see what God is going to do with this new season in all of our lives! It only occurred to us just before Little Autumn’s birth that our near future includes weekends with Autumn staying over playing with her Uncle Seth…who is only 1 1/2 years older than her. When she’s 20, Isabelle will be 26. They might just be hanging out! It’s strange, I tell ya.
So, back at the hospital, Corinne’s labor actually began to hurt and I could tell it was the kind of pain that gets the job done. She still managed to crack jokes and gab her head of in between contractions. Josh’s parents arrived that evening and we decided to leave Jillian at the hospital and we went to a hotel. We had asked Corinne & Josh if they wanted us there and they didn’t mind either way. We decided to get out of the way and let them have this special time. It was hard to leave but we knew she was in good hands. And Greater Hands.
Autumn Rose was born at 3:50am on July 2oth, 8lb. 1 oz., 22″ long. And she’s 
perfect. She’s beautiful. And she’s too far away, dang it. Okay, I don’t have to get in a plane to go see her so I am grateful. She’s only 2 1/2 hours away. But newborns don’t stay newborns long.
We took the whole herd and my mom up yesterday to see the new family. We crowded into the tiny apartment. It was like “how many people can we fit in a VW?” We managed and had a good visit. And I held Autumn. I have pics of everyone holding her and it was so precious to hear all of them ask, even my macho men, if they could hold her again.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.
Psalm 127:4
I’m a Nana! Let’s do this!!!
What’s not shared is lost.
Michelle
Isaiah -God My Salvation
He had his arm up and elbow out. It was excruciating. For me, not him. Four years ago today, I endured my second most painful childbirth experience because the little guy’s elbow was stuck outward and that pain made for a very emotional birth experience. After our little Isaiah Joseph made entry into the world, my husband and I melted into sobs.
AND, if I had to do it all over again…I would in a heartbeat. Isaiah, as it turns out, is a dynamic personality and we love to chat with him, watch his antics, and we enjoy the anticipation of what he’s going to do next as well as what kind of man he will turn out to be. We’ve known he’s a command man since he was small (see Created To Be His Helpmeet by Debi Pearl) and we’re praying for his wife now (she will never be bored).
Isaiah means “God is Salvation” or “God my Salvation” as well as “God is my helper. As with all of my little ones, God gives me a special lullaby to sing to each of my babies as I rock them. This is Isaiah’s:
Your name, Isaiah,
God my salvation,
Your name gives hope
To a hopeless world.
Little man, Isaiah,
God is my helper,
Be a help
To a hurting world.
Great man, Isaiah,
Grow strong, be brave.
Be a hero in a desperate world.
Great man, Isaiah,
Grow wise, live God’s Word.
Be a light in a dark, dark world.
Little man, Isaiah,
You are so precious.
Share Jesus’ love
With His precious world.
Happy Birthday to my little man!
 |
 |
| This free digital slideshow generated with Smilebox |
Play with your food!
Michelle
Stomp the Wombat
My day started with Jillian making green cream of wheat and me rushing out to Mid-America Labs to have Seth’s blood drawn once again. The last time, the important” stuff came back normal but his lymphocyte count was up. Just a small thing, really. A brief Google search resulted with scary words like “cancer” popping up so I quickly closed the window. I went through freak out phase with his earlier issues that turned out to be non-issues. (See earlier posts…after I transfer them here.) Before I left, I told Ben to tell Lenae to take The Big Blue (our 15 passenger) and that I’d meet them at the shop. He told Lenae but somehow the message was missed plus Lenae’s alarm didn’t go off so my “staff” was still home when I returned. The soup was not heating up in the kettle and Reubens were not warming in the oven. That was fine, we were still okay on time so I didn’t spaz. That could have been the start of a bad day but the sun was shining; it was all good. Add to the hustle and bustle of the morning, the pain in my shoulder became worse (pulled something – and I have a high threshold of pain so if I notice pain, it’s worse than I think it is) and I fought the urge to become….grumpy. So I went to the chiropractor after driving the crew home after work. I can’t tell if it helped, yet. I feel worse but that’s not abnormal so we’ll see tomorrow.
All that being said, all of that craziness made the laughter of the evening’s card games a welcome release. The outlandish things that came out of the mouths of my DH and kids kept me posting on TweetDeck all evening: ”Okay we need a glass of water, a sharpie, and a very sharp spoon.” Natalie helping make up rules for a new card game. Craig’s card game rule: “and you can’t touch the table.” Noah: “And it’s called ‘Stomp the Wombat”(thank you, Penguins of Madagascar). Craig: “What part of don’t you understand don’t you understand?” Whacked. They’re all whacked. We don’t need TV. We’re our own sitcom.
Play with your food,
Michelle
St. Patrick's Day Cream of Wheat. Ew. The kids loved it!
Isabelle is Irish!
http://thethinkingcloset.wordpress.com/
Recipe For A Wild Thyme 