I Seem To Have Lost My Voice

No.

I'm not sick.

I can still talk.

It's my Bloggy Voice 

that I seem to have lost.

My blog has been very quiet.

Too quiet.

I have so much to say ... 

yet don't know where to start.

I am in the midst of much prayer ...

and pondering ... 

yet I am at peace.

My life is FULL ...

and BUSY ...

yet QUIET at the same time.

So, what has Mama been doing?

Mama has been loving on ...

her 4 Young Ones ...

her 2 Teens ...

her 6 Big Kids ...

and 

her 5 "Adopted Big Kids".

Last year was such a blur ...

with The Crisis ...

with moving to The Island ...

with moving back from The Island.

With all of the pain and 

confusion of this past year ...

(and with Papa gone so much)

my Young Ones are very needy ...

and my teens need me, too.

I am making a concerted effort this fall

to make homeschooling a MUCH bigger Mama- focus.

(the kids did a lot of independent workbook learning 

last year; whereas I want to be more involved 

in their literature-based learning this year)

I'm excited about what we are all learning.

I'm looking forward to ...

fun field trips ...

new books to read ...

new projects to tackle.

In addition to taking care

of the needs of my 6 kids at home ...

my 6 Big Kids need me too.

Oh my!

They are walking through 

EXCITING times ...

TOUGH times ...

FUN times ...

and CHALLENGING times.

I can hardly keep up with

these Big Kids of mine.

But ... I LOVE being

involved in their lives!!!

Several of the Big Kids

are walking through such EXCITING times,

 that I  want to shout it from the rooftop!

(but it's not time yet)

While other Big Kids are struggling with ...

Job losses ...

Financial concerns ...

The always looming question:

"What am I going to do with  my life?"

I spend many hours ...

working on projects for them ...

talking on the phone with them ...

texting ...

skyping ...

chatting with ...

and sending emails to,

Mama's 6 Big Kids.

Then ...

of course ...

there are ...

Mama's 5 "Adopted Big Kids".

They need Mama, too.

One has made some poor choices this summer,

so Papa and Mama have spent time with him,

encouraging him ...

and just loving him.

One lives 150 miles away,

but wishes she lived near,

and wants to come visit, 

whenever we can find 

a spare day or two.

One moved across the country.

Mama hasn't heard from her.

Mama is concerned.

Mama needs to make time

to phone her.

One moved across the state.

She has EXCITING news to share,

but some of her friends aren't excited for her.

Mama tells her that we are VERY excited.

Mama is going to drive across the

state to go visit in a couple of weeks.

One lives 1,000 miles away.

He is in town this weekend.

Mama hopes that he will

be able to come by for a visit.

Yes ...

That's what Mama has been doing ...

Mama has been loving on her kids ...

all 17 of them.

And that ...

must ...

sometimes ...

take precedence over ...

writing to ...

Mama's Bloggy Friends.

I'm still planning to write 

the last couple of 

Road Trip Stories.

I'm still planning to let you 

all know about my 

Road Trip Budget.

But ...

this week ...

I just needed to ...


spend time ...

LOVING MY KIDS!!!

I just realized that, in reality, I can't believe all that I've done in the past 2 weeks.  Seriously ... we just got home from our 6 week Road Trip, 15 days ago???  (It seems like it's been a month or two, so much has happened.  I just had to add up the dates to realize that it's only been 2 weeks.)  

In the past 15 days ...

...  we got the trailer cleaned out,

     organized, and put away for next year.

...  I got homeschooling set up and 

    organized for this year.

...  we showed the house to 2 realtors.

... we spent 3 days at the island with Papa.

... we took a 300 mile (round trip) drive 

    to spend the day at the State Fair (today).

...  Papa and the kids started their weekly

     Bible Study Fellowship 2 weeks ago.

...  Mama and Lindsey started their weekly

    Bible Study Fellowship 2 weeks ago.

...  Hosanna jumped back into volunteering

    2 services per week at church.

...  Hosanna was hired back at her old "job",

    working childcare twice per month for M.O.P.S.

...  Papa finished up his last summer painting job.

...  Josh came home (350 miles) to help Papa

     finish that last painting job.

...  Papa, Ben, & Hosanna got last-minute tickets

     to Mercy Me and Jeremy Camp, and (with 10

    minutes notice) jumped in the car and drove

    150 miles to the concert.

...  Jeremiah returned, after living in CA all summer,

    so we have all loved having him back in the area.

...  Lindsey lost her job, so she has been spending

    a lot of time at our place (which we LOVE).

I guess that's why my blog has been quiet ...

I hope to have time to chat with you all very soon!