A Fishin' We Will Go.....

On Sunday afternoon, after service and lunch at our place, we all went to Thames Grove Conservation area to do some fishing with the kids. Picture it with me.... six adults and nine children all along the river bank with fishing poles and squirmy worms. The warm air, a slight breeze, sunshine glistening off the surface of the water..... and the chaos begins....
"I want to sit down my legs are tired!" "Can I throw my line out again, it's back here already?" "My line is stuck in the tree up there." "Ask Papa to get it unstuck for you." "He can't, he's trying to get his unstuck from the other tree." "I got a fish, I got a fish.... wait, no I didn't, it's a stick." "Can you put my worm on the hook?" "Are we done yet? I am getting bored." "Where's the needle nose pliers? Who took the pliers?" "Is there a bathroom here?" "I don't want to pee on the tree." "Why is it called a cat fish?" "I'm gonna play in the sand, can you hold my pole?" "They're catching fish down there, I want to move down there." "B2 hold the fishing rod still, stop swinging it all over the place." "but I'm bored, I'm not catching any fish..." "of course you're not, you keep swinging that rod all over the place and pulling the worm out of the water." "mooooooom, can you take my fish off?" "Who has the pliers?" "Ewww, worm guts! It's on my hands...." "I don't know how that blood got all over my legs, I was just standing next to the fishing pole...." "I'm hungry, do we have any food?" "Who has the worms? Go get me a worm please." "Cut the worms in half, we're running out." "There aren't any worms left....let's try blueberries." "*Sigh* Don't EAT the blueberries, use them as bait!" "Pick up the baby's soother please." "Are the brakes on the baby's stroller?" "Don't eat the leaves!" "Can you give the baby a cookie please - NO you can't have a cookie too." "Did Papa get his fishing line out of the tree yet?" "Is aunt Cherie's line still stuck in the bushes?" "What do you mean Papa's sinker flew into the water and the hook stayed in his shirt sleeve?" "Do fish breathe underwater?" "Why are the fish opening and closing their mouths?" "I'm NOT putting my finger in THERE!" "Can you carry the fish for me PLEASE!!!" "Papa, you just hit the baby!" "What? What do you mean I just hit the baby?" "With your fish.... you threw it at grandma and it smacked the baby in the leg... you hit the baby with a sheep head! (and she's still fast asleep.)" "I need another blueberry, someone ate mine." "Are we done yet? I want to go home now." "Why is everyone else catching fish except me?" "pick up your fishing rod, get it out of the weeds, tighten your line and sit STILL." "SIT STILL!" "I SAID SIT STILL!"
*What in the world were we thinking????? The kids thought it was great though. We all smelled nasty and needed soap but we had fun and we made some memories as a family. That's what it's really about isn't it?

More funnies from my kiddos this week:

* I had a car muffler sitting on the picnic table and the boys were fascinated with it. B1 asked "Is that an engine?" I answered "No, it's a muffler." then B2 said "Does it make the car go faster?" (Hmmm, they spend far too much time around Papa....)

* Two of the boys were discussing bicycles at Canadian Tire. B1 said "Those bikes are cheap!" To which B2 said "What does cheap mean?" B1 replied "I don't know?"

* B3 sat paralyzed in his chair on the porch screaming "A bumble bee, a bumble bee!" Until B1 & B2 looked at him and sighed, "it's a spider."

* B3 wants to know if we can buy a "jumpoline" for our yard "'cause he really likes them."

* "B3 has a really big bump on the top of his head." B1 brought to my attention. "That's his skull." I said. "Ya" replied B3 "I always have skulls right mom?"

* I had to stop by the play group the boys were at one day last week to drop something off for B3. "Hi guys!" I said as I entered the gymnasium "How's your day going?" I asked. "Hi mommy" replied B2 "How's it going at home?"

* I really wish my little ones had better pronunciation skills. Sometimes it takes me a few minutes to catch on.... little G2 just finished lunch when she looked at me with her big brown eyes and said "mommy, my s**t is sticky." I sat there with my mouth open, eyes wide and pondered what was just said, then she patted her CHIN and repeated herself! (Hahaha silly mommy - what was I thinking?)

* At the dinner table little G2 started shrieking and screaming "The dog is eating me! The dog is eating me!" It took a few minutes to convince her that the dog was NOT trying to eat her, she was merely helping to clean up the kitchen. The dog was under the table licking up the crumbs that had fallen onto her chair.


* At lunchtime we had large demi baguettes (big crusty rolls) with our meal. As B2 bit into his he said "hey, this is just like what Jesus gave to the guys." (you know - breaking bread and sharing it with His disciples at the last supper)

* B2 thought he'd have a little fun today... while playing in the backyard he fed little G2 a worm. When I reprimanded him for it he replied.... "What? It was only a half a worm anyway." Ewwww!
As I mentioned in my previous blog - our family dynamics are changing as we leave fostering behind and become a permanent family. The transition is strange for us as it feels like we've fostered forever..... and now things are different - but in a very good way.


We look forward to this time of transition and
welcome all the changes and adjustments that come along with it.

Introducing little G2 & little G3 ... our newest permanent additions :)
Here are four of our seven little darlings.... aren't they so beautiful? They sure do provide me with an abundance of things to write about.... there's always something happening in our house. Whether it's fishing with worms or eating them... there's never a dull moment :)
Until next time,
embrace change - it keeps you alive!
God bless you

The End of One Chapter and the Beginning of Another

Some books are just too good to put down. The stories are so rich and full - they make an impression on you that remains. It's those kinds of books that you don't just read a few pages and stick it on a shelf for later. No, you gotta read it all the way to the end of the chapter. There's something about finishing a chapter that brings a sense of accomplishment and closure. And although you've not yet finished the book and there are many more chapters to go, you can't begin a new chapter until you complete the previous one. Funny how that works eh? There's an order to everything in life. This past April our family came to the end of a chapter with the passing of my grandfather Edsel. (or "Pipi" as all the grandchildren affectionately called him.) Grandma had passed away a little while earlier so with Pipi's passing it left a terribly lonely void in the lives of our family - especially his children. Losing one parent is tragic enough. There is change, but it is bearable because you still have one parent to help keep things "normal." But once you've lost them both I imagine the sense of loss is so great - everything changes - nothing feels normal again because you are now charting new territory, facing something you've never had to face before - life without your parents. The ones who were your biggest fans, your source of strength and wisdom, your first love, your protectors and providers, the ones who loved you enough to discipline you, the ones who gave you life, raised you up and not only gave you a history but hope for the future too. And when they're gone, everything changes. For our family that chapter in our book came to a close this past week with the sale of Grandma and Pipi's home. I can only imagine what it must have been like in the days and weeks leading up to the sale of the house. Having to sort through years of history and memories in the midst of your grief must be an in incredibly emotional experience. What a painful process. A tragedy in itself but very necessary in order to finish the chapter.... and you can't begin the next chapter until you finish the previous one first. So with the closing of this chapter, despite the pain that still lingers, we look forward to the future and the hope that a new chapter holds....knowing that the book is not finished being written yet.
In our own immediate family we too are experiencing the close of an old chapter and the beginning of a new one. I still cannot divulge all the details yet but I can give you enough to keep you wondering and waiting with us. This will be the year our family stops "fostering" through Children's Aid and begins a new chapter as a "REAL" family (as one of the kidlings called it.) So in the meantime as the foster children leave and the "permanent" ones move in, you may get confused as we re-number the herd in this blog. Bear with us, the transition will eventually pass and we'll be on our way to new things as we begin our next chapter!
I just wanted to share a few "funnies" from my kiddos this past week:
* The boys were watching television while I did some house work. As I walked past the living room into the kitchen I was shocked and appalled to hear B2 say to his brother; "They're "coloured" right B1? Who coloured them?" I raced into the room to find them watching cartoons with characters that looked "coloured" - like with coloured pencils! Hahaha

*As we drove down some country roads enjoying the rare occasion where we all fit into the van at the same time (a few children were away at the moment), we passed by a few farms. As we rounded the corner B3 squealed delightedly from the backseat "LOOK AT THE PIGS!" He wasn't even embarrassed when we pointed out that they were SHEEP. Our kiddos are oh so sheltered! LOL

* One night as the boys were getting cleaned up and ready for bedtime a fight broke out in the bathroom. Out rushed B3, quite upset and blurted "B2 is going to tell on me!" "Why?" I asked. "Because I wasn't going to spit on him." explained B3. Poor kiddo, always gets himself into trouble, no one else has to even try.

* Grandma Cathy was on the back porch when B2 wandered over to her. "Are you sigaring? Sigaring is bad for you ya know. Sigaring hurts your lungs ya know. Are you gonna quit? Hahaha out of the mouths of babes.

* Little G2 was walking around the yard with a large button on a string that she took from one of the boys. She came up to the porch and G1 asked her what it was. Little G2 replied "Is it a belly button?"
I feel like a bit of a heel sharing this but it is such a good life lesson I can swallow my pride and lay it out there. I sent the boys outside to play in the backyard while I got some house work done indoors. It was a busy morning and I was rushing to get things caught up. The boys had been running in and out as I was trying to get the floors washed and I was getting frustrated. I was at the boiling point when B3 came to the back door AGAIN. I opened the door to find him holding out a tiger lily that had been riped off my plants in my garden. I snatched the flower from his hand and said "B3, what did you do to my flowers !?!?" {and then I caught myself - a little too late - and realized it was a gift for me} B3 said "I got you a pretty flower." Feeling like a fool for reacting the way I did, I smiled brightly, thanked him for the lovely flower, told him I loved him and asked him not to pick the flowers in the garden without asking first. I slinked back into the house with my tail between my legs. Why do I do that???? Why do I react first and think second..... Thank God I am not finished, the Lord's not done with me yet - I am a work in progress (boy do I need some work some days) Anyway, that whole scenario reminded me of a great email forward I came across many years ago. It really spoke to me then and still does today - obviously... I wanted to share it with you:
Family

I ran into a stranger as he passed by. "Oh excuse me please" was my reply. He said "please excuse me too: I wasn't watching for you." We were very polite this stranger and I. We went on our way and we said good bye.

But at home a different story is told. How we treat our loved ones, young and old. Later that day, cooking the evening meal, my son stood beside me very still.
When I turned I nearly knocked him down. "Move out of the way." I said with a frown. He walked away, his little heart broken. I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said, "while dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use, but the family you love, you seem to abuse."

Go and look on the kitchen floor, you'll find some flowers there by the door. Those are the flowers he brought for you. He picked them himself, pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise, you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."
By this time, I felt very small. And now my tears began to fall. I quietly went and knelt by his bed: "Wake up little one, wake up" I said. "Are these the flowers you picked for me?" He smiled, "I found them by the tree.

I picked them because they're pretty like you. I knew you'd like them, especially the blue." I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today: I shouldn't have yelled at you that way." He said "Oh mom, that's okay. I love you anyway." I said "son, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."

*Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, many of us pour ourselves more into work than into our own family .... where are you investing your time?
Until next week .... Cherish the things that matter most.

The Ponderosa Steak House Predicament

More often than not these days my life feels like an overstuffed sock drawer. You know what I mean don't you? The drawer you just keep cramming socks into until it can't hold anymore and when you need to open it to find something all it's contents kind of explode all over the place leaving a big mess? My life is so full.... rewarding and overwhelming at times but definitely full. Speaking of full..... we are re-numbering our herd this week. I think I mentioned before that some exciting changes are coming to the Koppes household... well the change has begun. G2 moved on last week and no longer lives with us. We are really going to miss her uncanny ability to make even the dullest scenario something hilarious. Here's a final funny moment with G2... while eating dinner on her last night with us, G2 held a serrated edged knife carefully and examined it's shiny blade. "What are those bumpy things on the knife?" G2 enquired. "They're called teeth" I said. G2 looked at me quizzically, her brow furrowed and stated, "but they're not white!" That's the kind of innocent humour I am going to miss from her. But with so many other children in our home some one's bound to have something funny to say once in a while .... G2 seemed to have it down to an art though.
Please keep us in prayer as our family goes through an exciting "change" this week and watch for upcoming details!!!! I can't wait to share my joy.



On June 27th my hubby went Paint Balling with our Youth Group ... as you can see from the picture, he wasn't very good at it. He did have fun, right up until the point of impact. Poor guy. He was so pumped about going and unloading a few rounds on a certain "pastor friend" of his. His injuries could have been so much worse than they were. When he saw him that afternoon B3 said "Daddy, you look like a pirate." Hahaha. His eye continues to heal and he is expected to make a full recovery ... and yes, he would jump at the chance to do it all over again!

The Canada Day Celebration was just as spectacular as ever. Our whole family enjoyed every minute of it - right down to the fireworks display at the end of the evening. With so much going on that evening you'd think no one would notice little things..... well I have to congratulate B2 for being so observant. He had been sitting on the blanket laid out in front of our chairs playing with a friend of his from church. Suddenly B2 was in front of me, staring into my eyes with great anxiety in his voice he said "I think Makirah got stolen!" I turned to look in the direction he indicated and chuckled to myself when I realized the "thief" was actually a grandparent.

My children can be pretty protective and nurturing at times.... except when it comes to back yard BBQ's and roasting Marshmallows. We built a fire in our back yard so that the children could roast marshmallows. Things went alright until they started to compete to be the one to roast the "best marshmallow". A little while later they had a knock down drag out " firefly hunting competition. Each child had an empty water bottle and their goal was to collect the most, or brightest fireflies. They ran from one end of the yard to the other each determined to outdo the others..... it was an interesting evening to say the least. The event finally took a weird turn and the kids all used their plastic water bottles to hit each other with. They chased each other through out the yard smacking each other with bottles - what fun! They didn't catch any fire flies - the only thing poor B3 caught was "skeetoes".

Baby G3 or should I say Baby G2 (new order to the herd) is sprouting her first couple of teeth! There are two white razor sharp chompers in that mouth now.... a very dangerous situation. It's similar to a puppy teething .... chewing and slobbering on everything! The frozen teething rings have become her favourite toys and she has acquired a taste for oragel. She has been cranky and uncomfortable.... Hmmmm, sounds like G1, I wonder if she's teething too? (Just kidding)

Mike took the boys to EB Games the other day to look for a couple new video games for the PS2. He found some new ones and brought them home. The boys were so excited and could hardly wait to try them out. At dinner time B2 was praying and he said "Thank you Lord for daddy getting 2 new games, bless it as use to our bodies, Amen."
My hubby and I were away this past weekend in Sault Ste Marie for the Teen Challenge North Golf Tournament. Thank you by the way to everyone who sponsored us for this tournament. The two of us combined raised $2240.00 for the Teen Challenge North Program. The total amount raised this year from all participants combined was about $88,000.00. We had such a nice time away. It is always a little stressful for me to plan and prepare to leave the kids with someone else. There are so many thing to consider and so many arrangements to make. Access visits have to be rescheduled and drivers have to be arranged, appointments have to be booked for alternate dates, prescriptions need to be filled, daily schedules need to be written down in detail, social workers need to be notified well in advance and proper permissions obtained. Sometimes it just seems easier to stay home. I am so glad I didn't stay home this weekend. We left on Friday and drove through the USA. In all our arranging we had forgotten an important bit of information.... it was the July 4th weekend and we were driving through the USA.... on a holiday weekend!?!?!? What were we thinking??? Obviously we weren't ..... We were late but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.... next time we will check the calendar before heading across the boarder. So we arrived later than planned and went right to Teen Challenge to pick up our Bigger Boy. We haven't seen him since April 20th. He looked great - and so much taller. He regularly spends time at the gym and it shows. He is much more relaxed and "together". Already he is such a different young man than he was only two and a half months ago when he went into the program. He still has a long way to go but we are very proud of him and the progress he has already made. Our Bigger Boy was able to spend the whole weekend with us - even staying in our hotel room. Saturday was the actual day of the 50 hole golf tournament. It was hot and sunny and we didn't think to put on the sun screen until we were already a pretty shade of pink. I was privileged to be the golf cart driver and after a little practice I got the hang of it. I was also the official "lost golf ball finder." We are not the serious "quiet on the green" golfers..... of the three of us, my hubby is the only one who has ever really played golf before. I find it a little boring and well, I don't know....
I am just not a golfer. I am not good at it, I am not even "okay" at it, I pretty much stink when it comes to golf. Our Bigger Boy had never picked up a golf club before ... so our team's reputation and success depended upon my hubby. Thank God he knew what he was doing. Can you imagine the three of us out there without a clue? Although I didn't golf, I was the best golf cart driver, lost ball finder, and caddy going. By 36 holes we were tired. By 45 we were wandering around aimlessly looking at geese, chasing a snake through the trees, and looking for golf balls I'm still not convinced even existed. We were all more than relieved when it was all over. We enjoyed a well deserved meal and awards banquet and then went back to the hotel for some R&R. My hubby and Bigger Boy went swimming while I stayed behind in the room to chat on the computer with G1 who was really, really missing us. (I am going to remind her of that someday)

On Sunday morning we attended church service with our Bigger Boy and then went out for a quick lunch. We dropped him off after lunch and began or long journey home. It took us even longer to get home. It was an American holiday weekend - what were we thinking??!?!?!

On the way home my hubby got a phone call letting him know that someone had passed away and the family has requested that he do the funeral. The funeral would be held the following day. So that was the topic of conversation for a while.... until we got hungry and pulled in to a Ponderosa Steak House for dinner. I had never been to Ponderosa before. I don't eat steak so I really have no need for a steak house do I? This was not what I expected. I assumed it would be much like The Keg or other places that promote "steak dinners." Well you know what happens when one assumes...... I was really disillusioned (for lack of a better word) at our experience. Have you ever been to a Ponderosa Steak House?!?! It is like a fast food/buffet style restaurant guaranteed to clog your arteries with every plate ... and you can go back up and get as much as you want! What a bargain! You order your "steak" or chicken in my case, at the counter and choose your silverware from large bins (real sanitary), grab a cafeteria style tray from the rack, then push it along the counter top until you reach the pop machines where you fill your own cup (careful, not too much ice), then continue along to the smiling cashier at the end of the counter who happily takes your money and tells you to grab a table and show your receipt to the server when she comes. Before you sit down in your booth you should look for things that may have fallen off the plates of previous diners. A big fat greasy stain across your butt cheeks isn't pretty and neither is the ketchup or gravy marks across your elbows and forearms from leaning against the edge of the table. There's nothing I despise more than "unclean" restaurants..... regardless of their level of "class." Except...... maybe ones that are designed to kill you with every fork full of food! Our server came to the table to check our receipt and told us to go ahead to the buffet. We grabbed a plate from the stack and started with salad.....hmmmmm....suspicious......warm salad.... too close to the heat lamps keeping the rest of the food above bacteria growing levels??? Moving along I noticed that everything appeared to be cooked in butter (or some sort of oily substance) there was a whole section for fried chicken and fried fish, mountains of mashed potatoes, a whole section for sauces and gravies, desserts.....puddings, fruit swimming in syrup, and a weird looking whipped cream concoction with crushed cookies in it. Then came the veggies - OH how I longed for steamed broccoli or baby carrots..... instead what I found made me gag. a large bin of soggy cut up green beans (looked like they came right out of the can) in some watery stuff with an oily sheen to it, and a mountain of corn soaking in the same watery stuff. Where the heck were the vegetables?!?!?! I need roughage!!! I have been away from home for a few days and am so tired of "foreign food" I want something I'm used to - my body is craving steamed veggies! So I reluctantly scooped up some soggy beans and tired looking corn. (Every ladle/serving spoon handle was nasty.... sticky and dirty, Ewww) We sat down and prayed - we felt a strong need to ask a blessing on our food. The salad wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - but it may have just been my need for greens that made it seem better than it looked. I dug into the beans and almost spit them out - they tasted like hotdogs!!!! Not that I regularly eat hotdogs, but they had that essence.... you know. Like they were cooked in the same water a dozen wieners had just been boiled in - so nasty! I was afraid to eat the corn because they had been swimming in the same watery substance... yup, they were tainted as well. The chicken breast was "different" all curled up on the ends, like it had been sitting under the lamps a little too long. I ordered Chicken Montery. My hubby looked at my plate with a raised eyebrow and asked, "what makes it MONTERY?" I told him I figured it was the smear of bright orange sauce along the top of it but I couldn't be sure. We ate in silence.... both too disappointed to say a word. I could almost feel my arteries contract with each forkful. I tried to wash it down but the pop was just as disappointing. The pop tasted watery and I figured it was like that with ALL the beverages in the USA because I can recall having another type of canned American beverage before and discovering the same thing. Who EATS this stuff!?!?!?! I wonder if heart disease is the number one killer in the USA, it wouldn't surprise me if it was. My hubby gave up on the food (which really is amazing if you know him) and resorted to eating dessert foods only .... yup, that pile of whipped cream with crumbled cookies in it. He topped it off with a sticky ladle of vanilla pudding. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I'd rather sit in the back up traffic along the highway and discuss funeral service arrangement rather than spend another minute in that cholesterol-laden cafeteria. So we did.

We finally got back home after 1 am and spent about half an hour unpacking and being debriefed by my in laws who graciously agreed to stay with the herd while we were away. It was soooo good to be home! It had taken us over 12 hours to get home and all we wanted was our bed and out own pillows. I was almost giddy slipping into the fresh sheets (yes I changed the sheets and made up our bed at 1:30 am - and yes I DO have a few idiosyncrasies) and sleep came easily.
Then the phone rang at 3 am.....
It was my sister Cherie calling to ask for a ride to the hospital as the ambulance had just picked up her husband. Al had a heart attack. I could hardly believe what she was saying on the phone - I thought I was so over tired that I just wasn't hearing it right. He is not even 40 years old yet.... how does a young guy like that have a heart attack? (*Then I thought of the Ponderosa Steak House..... and wondered how everyone WASN'T having heart attacks.) As Mike was getting ready to pick up Cherie and take her to the hospital, someone from the hospital called to speak to Rev. Koppes - I hate phone calls like that - it's never good news. They said that Al Brundritt was just brought in and is having a heart attack asked for Pastor Mike. So Mike picked up Cherie and they went to the hospital to be with Al. I can't remember what time it was when he got in... but he sure hadn't had much sleep. The herd started rousing from sleep around 7am. I had no choice but to get up and tend to them. Baby G2 was especially excited to see me and squealed loudly.... it's her new skill. Poor Mike dragged himself out of bed and put on his best pastor face :) then started making phone calls to find out the funeral arrangements for the day. He picked up Cherie and the kids and brought them here so the kids could stay with us while Cherie tended to Al in the hospital. Thank God I am used to large numbers.... the three Brundritt children moved in temporarily and that brought our kid count to 8. Then on Tuesday when little G3 & Little G4 arrived we had a whopping 10 kiddlings in the house. It was interesting and certainly entertaining.
Mike did the funeral he had to do and tended to the grieving family that afternoon.
I am always amazed at my husbands ability to "do what needs doing." Even as he's running in and out of the house taking care of things that need to be done, he still stops to tickle a grumpy 5 year old or give kisses to the baby. I really respect a man who takes time out of his busyness to just cuddle with one of the kids. When I was a boy-crazy teenager listing my turn ons and turn offs in a guy, "kind and gentle to children" was NOT one of the turn ons on my list.... but it sure is now. Pardon me for my forwardness - but nothing is sexier to me than a man who can love his God unashamedly, play with his children gently and cherish his family above his own interests. *Ya, and I can hear my hubby now "who's the man?" *You are honey :) And I thank God for you.
On Tuesday Al was airlifted to London hospital and Mike drove Cherie there to be with him. The kids thought it was very cool to be able to stand out on the back porch and watch the helicopter carrying Al fly by.
My sister Kim was able to go to London to visit with Cherie one day - which I know she appreciated. Speaking of appreciation ... I just wanted to say Thank You on behalf of Cherie and Al and their children for all the generosity and kindness many of you have shown. Some incredible people have been dropping off meals and gift cards for the grocery store, and even giving Cherie long distance minutes to be able to use the phone while she's in London. All of these things to help alleviate some of their stress at this time - The Brundritt family is truly thankful for what you've done - God bless you.
As I sit here writing, it is Thursday (I know the blog entry date is different but I began this entry a couple days ago and have been working on it in between diapers, lol) anyway.... I just received a phone call from Cherie in London. The doctor is releasing Al from the hospital today and Mike has just left to go pick them up. Their children will likely stay here for a few days yet while Cherie gets Al settled in at home. So far things have been running pretty smoothly around here - at any rate I am never at a loss for things to write about with a herd this size.
Enjoy your week and stay healthy!
~God bless you~