I get to buy all new clothes while we're here in Branson!  Even underclothes, which I really needed anyway.  And hubby will get to buy some new casual clothes, and Bethany will get new dresses.

Because I somehow arrived in Branson with nothing but the clothes on my back.  Even my dirty laundry was in my bag, not with the children's laundry.   Perry will have his conference clothes when he flies in this afternoon, but I don't think he wants to lounge on the lake shore in a long sleeve button down and khakis.  Bethany has an extra outfit or two in the diaper bag, but those won't go far.

I'm not assigning blame until I can confirm that our bag was left at our most recent hosts' home.  The alternative is that it was stolen from right under our noses while we watched fireworks out front, during the 2 minutes that the back door of our condo was unlocked while the inside was unoccupied.  But that seems highly unlikely since the camera in plain sight on the table was still there when I went around back to let myself in.

On the bright side, the vacation can only get better from here, right?

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I call this fast and furious game Ten Minutes Ago. The object of the game is for the children to take turns coming up with new complaints, increasing the urgency with each turn by repeating the word "really" one more time than the last player.  Each successful turn is answered by the moderator with a sentence that includes the phrase "10 minutes ago."

The first player says, "Mom, I'm thirsty!"

I say, "You can't be.  You just had a drink 10 minutes ago."

As quickly as possible, the second player follows: "Mom, I'm really hungry.

I say, "No you're not.  You just ate 10 minutes ago."

#3: "I have have to go to the bathroom really, really bad!"

"No, you don't.  You just went 10 minutes ago."

#4: "I'm sick.  I have to puke right now!"

Now #4 is disqualified because she didn't follow the pattern.  She was supposed to say "I really, really, really have to puke right now." I kick her out of the van and keep driving.

OK.  Not really.  But I did entertain some new uses for the roll of duck tape that I had spontaneously tossed in the back of the van as we packed.  "This might come in handy for something, " I had thought to myself at the time.  Heh, heh.

Recommended resources: Geneva Bible Pages - 400 year old Bible pages, starting at $12.99. Our family business!

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Day 1: We left on Thursday (July 2) at 5:00 am (really we did, as crazy as it seems, we actually left on time) we drove for 5 1/2 - 6 hours till we came to Glen Rose. We had lunch with some Facebook/blog reader/old church friends who own a blackberry farm. They were very generous with there blackberries (they gave us approx. 7 pounds). After lunch we drove some a few more hours and then had dinner and spent the night with Kelly and Andrea (Ah the Life) we had a great time.

Day 2: We ate a really good breakfast with Kelly, Andrea and their mom and we left and went to lunch with some other blog readers who lived about  an hour away. We played spoons, a fun and extremely semi violent card game  ate lunch, played with legos, and realized we were late for our own  "party"  Smockity Frocks, Karen and Paulette were there it was fun. After that we went to a 4th of July party with some friends from a sister church where I reintroduced myself to a some girls I met a few years ago. There was a little square dancing and I got to dance a some, a nice little seven or eight year old boy asked one of my friends named Amanda if she wanted to dance and she said that she didn't want to, but maybe one of us might want to because no one had asked us yet. Looking a little sheepish he asked Megan if she wanted to, she said she would rather not.  So he asked Deanna she said that she didn't really feel like dancing, after being rejected three times he hesitated not sure if it would be any good to ask me, when he did acted as if he expected me to say no. I immediately said 'yes' and we had a lot of fun. After the dancing there were fireworks and sparklers and soon after that we left. We stayed with Amanda and her family that night

Day 3: We ate breakfast with Amanda and her family that morning (It was one of the best breakfasts that I have had in a long time) and then Amanda went out to milk the cow. She let Megan, Natalie, Becca and me help, I think it was fun(I know that might sound kinda weird, actually wanting to milk a cow but I have always wanted to live on a farm and I love animals ). Any ways soon after that we left and have been on the road since that. When we were passing through Oklahoma it was kinda creepy, there was wind, lots of wind and heavy rainfall and lots of clouds that looked suspiciously like tornado clouds or, maybe we are just really paranoid.

Well that's all that has happened so far.

Recommended resources: Vision Forum - rebuilding Christian culture one family at a time

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We left the house right on time at 5 AM.

We made great time on the drive, and I didn't do it by speeding.

We had a wonderful visit and tour of Samantha's blackberry farm!  Her family also had ducks, chickens, turkeys, milk goats, lavender, figs, pomegranates, tomatoes, retired meat rabbits, a guard-pony, and border collies.  Nearly every one of those items were ideas that we are considering for our own homestead, so it was fascinating to see how their family is implementing them.

After the berry farm, we joined the Reins for dinner and lodging.  We've had a very relaxing evening getting to know them better.   We enjoyed a delicious dinner, played pictionary for our first time ever, admired their chickens, and noticed that they too have blackberries.  We can't wait to start some on our land!  Now I'm up much too late kicking myself once again for not getting the camera out.  I suppose I could get it out now, but snapping pictures of our sleeping hosts might not be the best manners.

We're looking forward to meeting some friends and readers in the D/FW area tomorrow afternoon, but now there might be a new twist.  Does anyone think the possibility of chicken pox adds a little excitement to the event?  Bethany woke up with a bit of a fever Wednesday morning, but it passed.  She's had a few bug bites on her arms and legs the last few days, but I assumed it was because we sleep with the windows open at home.  Now that we're away from home the bites should go away, right?

But maybe I should put bug bites in quotes, like this:  She's had a few "bug bites."  I'm suddenly not at all sure that bugs are to blame.  Instead of getting better, they seem to be getting worse.  One or two are beginning to look a bit blistery.  And my normally cheerful baby is very clingy and prone to cry.

Here are my observations:

Proof that it's not chicken pox:

1. She has few or no "bites" on her torso, where chicken pox typically show up first.
2. Although she may have been exposed to chicken pox, it was only in the last few days.  My little nephew was playing with a boy 2 weeks ago, and the boy came down with the pox a day or two later.  Bethany has spent time around my nephew who could be carrying the virus, but the incubation period is typically 10-21 days, so she wouldn't have time yet to be infected by him.
3. She also has something like heat rash around her neck and diaper area.  Maybe the bigger bumps are part of an allergic reaction?  We've been using up an old box of store-bought laundry soap, and she is wearing disposable diapers for the first time in months, though neither one ever bothered her before.

Proof that it IS chicken pox:

1. Her bumps are getting more prominent day by day.
2. She had a brief mild fever.
3. She may have been exposed to somebody with shingles about 10 days ago.   This particular carrier doesn't often hold Bethany, but though shingles carriers are not highly contagious, they can occasionally transmit chicken pox.
4. Murphy's Law.

My six oldest children have already had chicken pox.  In all honesty, I would be delighted for my 3 youngest to catch it while they are young.  I'm just not sure I would have chosen this week to do it.  But on the bright side, did you know that if you've already had the virus, each exposure acts as a booster to your immune system and reduces your chance of developing shingles later in life?

Does anyone want to join us for a chicken pox party tomorrow?

I'm not ready to proclaim a diagnosis, but it could happen.

Recommended resources: Princess Adelina : Our family project. An ancient Christian tale of beauty and bravery

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David Colbath Transmission came through for us.  A few days earlier, they had given us an estimate to replace the torque converter.  It wasn't the lowest estimate in town, but it was reasonable.  Nonetheless, we decided that we needed to save the money by doing the work ourselves.

That was Plan A, but the parts shop gave us the wrong part.  It looked right and it was close enough to fit, but it didn't work.   Not only did it fail to work, it damaged other parts.

When we finally brought it to them 3 days later, out of time and with 2 additional repairs needed, we were victims waiting to happen.

They knew we were in a hurry, and they knew we weren't paying the bill ourselves.  They knew we had practically been given a blank check for repairs.  But they are Christians, and evidently they understand that true religion extends beyond Sunday morning and affects every area of life.

Would you believe that even with the new problems created by our incorrect part, they came in less than $100 over their original quote?  They actually knocked $80 off the bill to keep it at less than $1,000.

We had intended to do the work ourselves and save several hundred dollars on labor.  Instead, God provided the parts and labor.

Man proposes, God disposes.

But you'll never guess what happened while I was driving the van home from the repair shop.

The plan was to get home, load up, and leave.  The children had everything ready and were waiting like a pit crew.  Then my sister-in-law in Waco called.   We were to spend tonight with them, but it's not going to work.  They had a mean bug recently, and relapsed.  We don't want it, and you don't want it.  We're keeping our distance.

The children are disappointed, but they're young.  They'll learn.  In the meantime, I consoled them with a dollar-menu lunch at Sonic in the nearby small town.  We ate late so we could enjoy half-price Cherry Limeades.

And so we move on to Plan B:  leave bright and early tomorrow.  We're planning to wake up and leave around 5 AM.

We are not early morning people, so this will be either a brave new adventure or mass torture.  Or both.  Who wants to suggest a cheap, fun place for breakfast?  Maybe a McD's with a big playplace?  We hope to be passing through the Austin area between 8 and 9 AM.  Unless something unexpected happens.   Nah...

Man proposes, God disposes.

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We're planning to hit the road Wednesday afternoon, and the last 2 days have been full of preparations.

• Book orders and Geneva Bible Page orders have been shipped.
• Extra feed has been purchased and animal care is planned.  The Yorkie has gone to visit her favorite neighbor lady, who lets her sleep on the bed.  The other dog is learning to use the auto-waterer in the outdoor run, which is in a nice shady spot.  She doesn't approve of the outdoor run, but she doesn't have a choice.
• Errands are done.  Lots of errands.
• Bags are packed.
• A few essential kitchen items are set out and ready to go: roaster, crockpot, 9x13 baking dish, 8 qt. stock pot filled with a small stack of plates/bowls/cups/silverware, baking powder, salt, coffee beans & grinder.  We'll buy groceries when we get there.
• I even bought a new card reader so we could upload photos again, and disposable diapers so we can have a little vacation from swishing things in the toilet.

We just need our van.  Will it be ready?

Our itinerary:

• Wednesday: drive to Waco to visit and spend the night with my brother and his family.
• Thursday afternoon: Press on to Fort Worth and stay with the Reins of Ah, The Life.
• Friday morning:  Visit our blog friend Jeana.  Descend upon her house at lunchtime like a cloud of locusts.
• Friday afternoon: Get together with any and all readers in the area at Grace Fellowship Church from 1-3 PM.  Bring a snack.  Children are welcome.  If you have more than 14 children, please call for reservations.  I'm kidding, though we might stare at you if you do show up with more than 14 children.  But you're probably used to that, right?
• Friday evening: Spend the night with friends in Weatherford.  I think.  We still need to confirm this.
• Saturday morning: onward and upward to Branson.  The girls would love to schedule a quick visit with a favorite author and friend of theirs in the Plano area on our way out of town, though we haven't contacted him yet.

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Any readers who would like to meet us in person are invited to join us there.  Just bring snacks and a sense of humor - and don't expect too much.   I'm a wallflower so it could be a bit awkward if you're shy and quiet too, but my children can talk the legs off a chair so they'll pick up the slack.  If you're a talker, please come.  We'll need your unique skills and abilities!  If not, I will have to force my children to sing for us as entertainment and they have threatened to sing every modern pop/rock song they know.  I'll be ruined.

If all else fails, we'll just sit and watch Bethany scootch around on her bottom.  It's pretty entertaining...especially when she's diaper-less and her bottom sticks to the floor...

At any rate, we would love to meet you.  Come see us!  No need to RSVP, though I'd love hear in the comments if you'll be coming!

Who is invited:

Readers of Life in a Shoe, friends, acquaintances, mommy bloggers, mother of many young children, aspiring mothers of many young children, children of any of the above, and benevolent onlookers who want to know what a family of 11 looks like.

NHMs are not invited. Don't worry.  It's an inside joke.  If you don't know what it means, you are not an NHM.   Even if you do know, you're not one.  Karen? Jenny?  No telling.

Time:

Friday July 3rd, from 1-3 PM

Place:

Grace Fellowship Church (view map)

1516 W. Pioneer Pkwy.

Arlington, Texas 76063

***go around back to the gym***

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Let me preface this li'l story by telling you that our vacations have always been a quick visit to out-of-state relatives.  We have never taken the sort of vacation where you check into a condo with your own hot tub, lounge around one of the 4 pools or walk down the lake to swim and picnic, and just generally relax.

Let me also emphasize that even though this sounds really fun, we never would have come up with the idea ourselves.  My grandparents, who live 1400 miles away, planned an entire family reunion and made it very clear that it was very important to them that any of their descendants who are able to attend do so.

So we planned to go in order to honor them.  It's a sacrifice we were willing to make. 

But we hit a few bumps along the way.

First, Vision Forum asked our family to drive to Boston and help staff the Reformation 500.   It ends the same day our family reunion begins, with about 24 hours of driving betwixt the two.  Try as we might, we simply couldn't see a way that it was going to work.  We would have missed the first 2 days of the reunion and arrived exhausted.

Plan B was for VF to fly Perry alone to Boston and send him to join us in Branson when the festivities were over.  Did I say Perry? I meant Lieutenant General Oliver Cromwell. You should see him.  If you're going to the Reformation 500, you will see him.  Send me photos, ok?

In Plan B, he kids and I would be driving up to Branson alone.  We would make a long slow trip of it, since Perry was leaving us several days early.  We would visit friends along the way, taking 3 days to make a 13 hour drive.  It was a beautiful plan.

But.

The van needed a bit of work before we left.  And then it needed more work.  And then it needed a torque converter.  Since we were conserving every bit of money we could for the privilege of selling our white elephant, hubby decided to do the torque converter himself.

My hero came home from work on Friday with a new torque converter and a rented tranny jack, and crawled right under the van.  With the help of my uncle and my 13yo brother, he worked straight through the night.  My uncle has changed many-a-torque converter, and my brother makes a good go-fer.  Together they pulled the drive shaft, unbolted the starter, dropped the transmission, and did a lot of other cool, manly stuff.

It was a lot of work but a straightforward job, and went very smoothly.  They changed the torque converter and put everything back together.  They stopped once or twice to run to town for more tools, a new gasket, a few more quarts of transmission fluid.  Finally it was done and ready for a test drive.

Then bad stuff happened.

Many long hours pass, in which my husband still does not sleep.  Counting his full day at work Friday, he has now been working for over 30 hours straight.

He made some calls and I made some calls, looking for someone who could offer a clue why the van wasn't fixed.  We consulted all the mechanics in the family, and those in the families of friends.  We consulted our favorite neighborhood redneck mechanic, a very nice man who once gave us 5 used children's bicycles.

At hubby's request, I called our pastor's wife to tell her what was going on, and that we wouldn't be at church the following morning.  I asked her to pray for us, because it looked like our trip was in jeopardy.  Hubby was flying out Monday afternoon and our van wasn't running.

He got some sleep, and the following morning he went back to work at pulling the ox out of the ditch on Sunday.

Finally, they realize that the highly reputable shop which sold us the torque converter gave us the wrong part. Close, but no cigar.  Just plain wrong.

He was willing to stay up all night again, but the parts just weren't available until Monday morning.  I made dozens of phone calls and it just wasn't happening.  He simply didn't have time to exchange the part and install the correct one.

We had resigned ourselves that he was not going to have time to fix it, and were wondering what to do. We sat down on the deck to think and talk about our options.

• Should we pay Big Bucks for someone else to do it?  Even though the funds were earmarked for the white elephant?  If so, would it be done in time?
• Should he put the old torque converter back on and let the kids and me take it on a road trip, far from home?  After all, it probably would have been fine if we had waited to fix it.
• Should we pay Big Bucks to rent a van for the trip? Then when we got back we would still have to repair it, but at least Perry would have time to fix it himself.
• Could he ask Vision Forum to move his flight back one day, so he would have time to fix the van?  It would probably cost them some money.  Would it be right to ask, and should we cover the add'l cost?
• Should he bow out of his trip to Boston, after commiting to go?  VF had already bought his ticket, and was counting on his presence and labor.
• Should we cancel the trip? We could always plan to visit my grandparents later, but it seemed important to attend the reunion.  This wasn't just a trip for our own pleasure.

The phone rang. The voice at the other end said to have it fixed, and forward the bill.

We were stunned, and grateful.  The van was towed this morning by a wrecker who arrived 20 minutes ahead of schedule, and the shop that is fixing it assures me that it will be ready in time.

Lately I've been reading 5 chapters in my Bible every morning.  This morning, I started at Psalm 20.  I was shocked at how appropriate it was.   I've purposely left out some details  of our story that make it fit even better.

Silly me.  Why would I be surprised that the God of all creation could orchestrate a little "coincidence" like that?

Psalm 20

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹ May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble;
May the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
² May He send you help from the sanctuary,
And strengthen you out of Zion;
³ May He remember all your offerings,
And accept your burnt sacrifice.  Selah

⁴ May He grant you according to your heart’s desire,
And fulfill all your purpose.
⁵ We will rejoice in your salvation,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!
May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.

⁶ Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.

⁷ Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
⁸ They have bowed down and fallen;
But we have risen and stand upright.

⁹ Save, LORD!
May the King answer us when we call.

Recommended resources: Geneva Bible Pages - 400 year old Bible pages, starting at $12.99. Our family business!

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Megan and I have some stuff for sale,

• 3 copies of The Family the lower right corners of the books are bent forward in the front and the back. Retails for $20.00 will sell for $5.00 2 PENDING; 1 LEFT!
• 1 copy of Backyard Ballistics like new condition except for a little bit of shelf wear. Retails for $17.00 will sell for $7.00 PENDING
• 1 copy of How to Build Tree houses, Huts and Forts almost perfect condition except for the top right corner is a little bent. Retails for $15.00 will sell for$7.00 PENDING
• 4 copies of  Backyard Homestead with minor damage on the spine.  Paper is a bit "chewed" in one small spot on each, but damage is not structural. Retails for $19.00 will sell for $7.00 each.  4 PENDING
  
• 1 copy of Backyard Homestead perfect condition retails for $19.00 will sell for $9.00  SOLD

• 1 Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary edges of pages are wrinkled in one spot from MAY thru RUD. retails for $75.00 will sell for $25.00.  PENDING
  

Note: Shipping is $3 for the first item, and $1.50 for each add'l. Please add $4-5 dollars for shipping to Canada.

Paypal is our favorite method of payment!

Remember to check the For Sale page for more great deals on Vision Forum products!

Recommended resources: Princess Adelina : Our family project. An ancient Christian tale of beauty and bravery

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The first several weeks were rough. My hair has always been very oily and I have shampooed daily for 25 years.  The baking soda/vinegar kept my scalp healthy and dramatically reduced my persistent dandruff, but it did NOT get rid of the oil.  It was difficult.  I was sure that eventually the oil production would slow down, but I didn't see it happening.

Then I discovered that because my water is very hard, the baking soda doesn't work the same for me as it does for those with soft water.  I started adding some baking soda to boiling water and letting it cool before I used it.  It made a world of difference!

Suddenly my hair was clean and soft! I still use the soda/vinegar every 2 or 3 days, but my hair is nice and soft, clean and shiny.  I can do this forever.  I would like to be able to go longer between washes, but I seem to be in a holding pattern.  Maybe in the winter, when the weather is cooler and drier.

My children have all made the switch as well though some of them switch back and forth, occasionally using shampoo/conditioner for the fragrance.  Some are old enough to have an opinion.  A few held out longer than others, but our discovery about boiling the water encouraged the reluctant ones to give it a try.

One daughter who has had eczema on her scalp for over 5 years found that her eczema was gone after a week of baking soda and vinegar.  When she shampooed the following week, it was back.  She is now a convert.

I would love to wrap up this post with a wise and witty comment, but my laptop is used for movies in our house.  It's Friday night.  There are about 5 smallish people leaning over me, whispering into both ears, "mom, turn the movie back on.  mom, can we watch the movie now?  how 'bout now?"

Quite understandably, my wit is nowhere to be found.  Instead, I'll find the "play" button.

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