The Reynolds Nation

I couldn't let time go by without talking about the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. I know, some have heard enough about it. For those of you who don't personally know me, I have been the biggest Royal watcher...since about 1987. I have read/bought hundreds of books, magazines, memorabilia over the years. It started out with a fascination of the Duchess of York visiting Los Angeles (where I lived at the time) to a major crash into British, and then European History. I became a history lover since then...and the fascination continues. So, with the upcoming wedding....I made plans to get up at 4 am to watch the wedding. Crazy...some say yes. I on the other hand couldn't wait. Funny thing is that I heard from countless people saying they remembered getting up with their mom when Princess Diana got married...and now, one day my daughters will say the same. It's all about the memory making and time together. I had two girls who wanted to join me. He...

I have had a lot of little helpers around here. My kids have always wanted to peel carrots, but I didn't like them using the traditional peeler. I asked my friend over at Owlhaven and she recommended the peeler that you see in William's hand. They are much safer to handle and easy for the little kids. So, these two got busy while Caleb finished his schoolwork and Bryn was practicing piano...and though Judah is in the picture, I told him that he has to wait until he is at least five. So dinner tonight will be a roast and carrots and potatoes peeled by my youngsters. Joining all the kitchen fun is better than the best of toys.

On this special day, we wish a time of peace, love and joy. He died on the cross for you and me...and was risen for us to live a life more abundantly. Be blessed!

This post has been on my heart for awhile. I have thought about it...dismissed it...wrote it...and even rewrote it. It is about one of the biggest journeys of my life. A journey that I never expected to be on. One that I got on and there is no turning back. It's the journey of being the mother of a handicapped child. If you have read my blog for a period of time, you will already know that our adopted son Caleb is mentally handicapped. He also has a list of other issues...possible Autism spectrum, ODD, OCD, PICA, along with the issue of being mentally handicapped. As with your own birth children, when you adopt you also don't know what your end result will be. You assume, and hope that your child will be "normal". You pour your life into them as they grow and change. They bring you so much joy. When I look back to early photos of Caleb it brings a lot of great memories back. He was an easy baby...happy, smiley...a pure delight to have. It was an easy transition from o...

I am feeling weary still from the past weekend. The first day this week I actually took two short naps. And yesterday was when I felt somewhat human. Nothing exciting going on this week...just hanging out...getting prepared for Easter Sunday and trying to move along in school work. Only a few weeks left with school...so we are down to the last bit. William's soccer is going really well. Though not a natural soccer player, he has improved every week and is not afraid of the ball and has even got a little aggressive with it. Matt has has a three day weekend coming up, so we are excited to have a few days off. He is finishing work on our new chicken coop...we are calling it Alcatraz...because he has made it a fortress that no one can get into. I think he may have stopped the raccoons finally. We order chickens today, so we will be back in business with our chickens. We are still looking for a new goat, but haven't had much promise with that yet. Matt has been busy watching video b...

I first want to thank Owlhaven , for inspiring me to do this in the first place. I got the idea of the 40 bag, 40 day challenge from her...and she, I believe, got it from another blog. This has been one of the most awesome experiences I have had in a long time...cleansing and cleaning. I normally clean my house over the summer, while school is out...but I have never had the intention to get rid of this much stuff. I usually just clean out and straighten, but never with the intention to remove this much. I am posting a picture of the garage sale that we had this weekend...that is all mine. Can you believe it? So here is what was eliminated: 26 bags thrown away 1 dresser 1 sofa table and 2 night stands sold on Craig's list Multiple plastic buckets that held items out Multiple things out of the shed (an old dolly, stroller, bikes, kids tool stand, fold up chairs, 2 large metal trashcans) 2 full loads in my Expedition and 2 loads in my husband's Tracker to the garage sale at my mo...

Her request for the day was homemade donuts for breakfast and then a Chick-fil-A luncheon date. I surprised her by having Matt meet us there for lunch. So, here we are...my girl and I...with eight great happy years behind us...and many more ahead of us!

Here is our girl. Eight years old...born on April 18th at 1:33 in the morning. She has been a delight since she was born...a great baby, and easy child. She can entertain herself for hours and is so loving. She loves to snuggle right up against you and has the sweetest personality. Esther and I are total opposites...which actually makes us get along so well. We feel blessed to have her in our life. Here is another one of Matt's cake creations. Esther picked out the yellow frosting, with the orange trim. Esther has never been known to be conservative, lol. Our Essie Roo, eight years old. How did it happen so fast? She was so excited all day! Esther opening her presents. William had prepared her present two weeks ago...he was so excited to make her multiple cards, a few homemade airplanes and a dollar of his own money. Love his giving heart. Here they all are...so happy to celebrate together. The kids had fun...eating cake, playing with(and popping) balloons and just being toget...

...that I most enjoy. Busy morning here at the Reynolds Nation. I had pumpkin bread baking in the oven, and the older kids were working hard at their schoolwork at the table. I turned around and saw William working hard on a puzzle on the floor. I love having these types of educational toys for the kids around the house, to be used at their leisure. And I love even more that my kids are drawn to these type of things. If you haven't made your home open for your kids to play and learn, then make some changes. We have so many things for my kids to pull out and enjoy. I love that my kids are not in front of the television or video games all day. I love that they use their minds to construct things. It's a good life.

You must love this face...Mia Mia!!!

At a high school in Montana , a group of students played a prank....they let three goats loose inside the school. But before turning them loose, they painted numbers on the sides of the goats: 1, 2, and 4.School Administrators spent most of the day looking for No. 3.........

When I look outside to the pasture today, it looks a lot different. We sold two of our mama goats today to another local farm. One, Kerry, was born here at the Reynolds Nation and Baby was bought from a herd. Big thing we learned...only buy animals that have been raised by people, not in a herd. Baby was sweet, but she wouldn't come near us. So, when she gave birth the last two years, her babies would run away from us with her. This is not what we wanted. So after some discussion with Matt and other friends, we decided to sell the two mamas. We got a call in one hour of being put on Craig's List and they were gone. I felt sad to see them go...I get attached to my animals....but it is all for the best. So, now we only have Shirley (our original Pygmy goat) and we plan to keep her. We also gave our friends our bunny rabbit, Brownie. The kids bought her two years ago, but they haven't spent much time with her. Our friends needed her for breeding, so off she went. Quite happily...

The temps almost reached 90 degrees today..in the beginning of April! Not quite sure if I am ready for this yet. Even so, we still had work to do outside. We continued to do some painting in the back of our house...and I got the gracious job of ripping poison ivy off the side of the house. I am the only one not allergic to the stuff, so I get this job. Matt won't even go near where it is...he has a major reaction to the ivy and it spreads like wild fire all over his body. Matt continued by cleaning out the gutters, in preparation for the spring and summer rains. We then moved Olive, our last baby goat, over to the Coslow Homestead...in hopes that she will stop running from us like her mama does. Esther went over with me, since it is her goat. Anyway, the kids played all day...and did some work too....cleaning up the property and moving palm branches to the goat pasture. By the end of the night, the house was clean, laundry done and the yard was looking good. We got all this done in...

Today, I officially take a leave of absence from my job as a lactation counselor at the health department. I am needed to take some time off to give my kids more of my time...specifically Caleb who is needing it. Our behavioral analyst had suggested me taking more time off...it is such a pivotal point with Caleb's health right now. We are progressing so quickly with changes...it has been awesome. The work between the analyst and the psychiatrist has been life changing. So, my goal is to be home for now....very excited, with a tinge of sadness because I truly love my job. We sold three of our baby goats this past weekend...Dominic, Otto and Oscar found new homes in Bunnell. The family who took them were so excited and so were we. They were getting into all of Matt's new plants in the garden, so it was a good time to leave. Having the goats was such a fun experience for us...they loved holding them, feeding them...and then later on, chasing them. The weather is getting warm arou...

He is always there for a little love...my boy Judah. Brings joy to my heart every day...and a few gray hairs. Yesterday he painted the toilet seat with silver lipstick...today, it was a roll of toilet paper in the toilet. Earlier, I found him walking along the edge of the back of the couch, like a tight-rope. Oh my...thank God for his little kisses.

After hearing our pastor speak about the Sabbath a few weeks ago, it has been on my mind. In our busy world of jobs, five kids, a small farm, homeschooling and all that comes with it...it is hard to take a break, a rest. With fourteen loads of laundry a week, who can take a break? But I feel the Lord calling for this from us. We have been on this adventure this last year of jumping off the treadmill and this is one of those steps. Our family is making it a priority to take one day off a week. Our goal is for Sunday, but that could change. Our intention is to spend the day together..eat simple meals, leave the laundry for the next day, and not start (or finish) any new projects. We hope to watch movies together, play games, go to the beach...whatever we need to do to rest. Our pastor had specifically talked about crop rotation...after six years of one crop, you rest for one year. After six days of creating the world, God rested on the seventh day. So, we are taking a cue from him and st...

Here he is, in the full glory of being SIX! He loved his cake, and the whole day that was his! Matt and his creativity! Here is the cake that William asked for, made by his daddy! I love his smile in the picture...so happy and joyful. He is my boy! William opening his presents..Judah was a bit excited and tried to open them for him. His favorite presents...everybody heard he wanted money, so most people added a few dollars to each present. He ended up with thirty dollars! Me and my boy! I love his goofy smiles and his great laugh...I am so blessed to have him as my son!

He is the first to tell me that I am beautiful. He still loves to hold my hand. He gives tons of kisses and hugs. He is my William Luke, born on April 2nd at 1:03 a.m...starting an amazing adventure. He has been all boy...100%...jumping, climbing, throwing, kicking, running...anything that entailed his body to move. He talks the loudest...he insists on being heard. He is so much fun to have around the house. Especially when he cuddles with me on the couch at the end of the day. This is his first year of school and he has done brilliantly!!! His reading level is way beyond where he should be, as is his Math. But my favorite part is that he loves to sit with me and learn. He is truly a little sponge. Which is amazing, considering he wouldn't sit still for one book until he was four years old. My favorite part of being a mom is watching their individuality come alive. Though William is rough and tough, he is super sensitive. You have to be careful how you deal with him. That's th...