Boys and Football

We have entered the arena of football parents this year as John (our 9 year old) joined the rec football league. The first day he came home saying he did not like it, the second day was better because he hit someone, and after the third day it was all go.

As a mom I was not really into him playing football. You know he might damage a growth plate, it feeds aggressive behavior, practice is almost every night interfering with dinner and our family rhythm. When John's highlight for the day is that he hit someone hard...something does not seem right. Thankfully and to my delight joining football has been a great outlet for John's passion. He has come alive and it shows in more then just football. His coaches have great things to say about John every game. He reminds me of "Rudy" but with the talent. He is small but surprisingly "hits" the big guys. Above you can see him playing nose guard (the green guy in front and in the middle), and he is ready!

One day at a game one of his teammates got hurt. When John came off the field he compassionately asked if he was okay. The boy was not (in his estimation though I could see nothing wrong) and went into a long story why he was not. John listened and then reflected back to him what he heard. The boy was heard and I was proud to see the softer side of John. I am even thinking I will miss it when the season is over...but certainly not as much as John. This second picture is John (number 20) getting a pep talk from one of his coaches.

Nice Try - Not!

Well we harvested our grapes and a friend and I tried to juice them with my champion juicer while our husbands were ripping our roof off. Well neither one of us had ever done this and the result was something that resembled grape pudding. We did not taste it. We decided we needed to stop and figure out a better way. I was really hoping for the process to be as easy as putting the grapes through my juicer but no. I was deflated. With the help of the internet and my friend taking the initiative we (she) were able to successfully juice the remaining grapes using a whole different method. Chalking this one up to a learning experience. Maybe next year I will even can it.

I have some pictures of the kids and Ken harvesting the grapes. I will try and post them in the future...but don't hold your breath. I need to contact Papa Joe about how to care for our vines so they produce again for us next year.

Bekah did make a yummy apple crisp with our apples. Go Bekah!

An Awakening

About a week ago the former owners of our new home in Oregon gave us a welcome basket. It was full of information about Pendleton and such and of course food! :) Homemade bread, gourmet popcorn, homemade jam and homemade grape juice. It was this gift that woke me up to the treasures we have on our property. The jam was made from our plum tree and the juice from our grapes. That is not all the fruit we have either. We have an apple tree (unlike our crab apple tree we had in Jersey) and two rasberry bushes. How fun! Tasting the goodness from our land suddenly has me wondering about how I can help foster the growth of these fruits. Today I tried one of our concord grapes...they are just about ready and I hope to juice them as the former owners did before me. They actually used the grape juice for communion in their church. Fun. I feel so uneducated about the fruit on our property but before I tasted it I did not have much of an interest in it. Now I want to know. There has been some spiritual parrellel here. :) "O Taste and see that the Lord is good...(Psalm 34:8)" And He is good. The rest of the verse ends with," blessed is the man who trusts in Him."

All New Plans

Most know by now that our plans have done a complete 180. Most who know us know that is normal for the Burcham train. :)

After much thought, prayer and discussion we have decided that Ken will hold off from going back to school. Instead we are planning on moving out west to Oregon where Ken's family is. This will be our first time living near Ken's parents. We are looking forward to that. We are also anticipating quite a tearing from my family and the friends we have here in the East. We are in the preliminary phases of this move and Ken is deciding on what kind of work he will do out there....there are different options. Also, what kind of property do we want and will we buy or rent? So many decisions. We are just about ready for this adventure. And it is always an adventure!!!

For now I am plugging along in gaining my degree and only have 2.5 classes and 237.5 counseling hours between me and my diploma. Amazing. The schedule is a bit intense and we will all breathe a deep sigh when it is over. Moving here and living in this home has been an important part in my being able to actually finish. Though it is small and with only one bathroom we could not have done this otherwise. We are enjoying having our walk and driveway plowed and shoveled by the school. We were able to sell Ken's commuter car because his commute is walking across a small lot.

The kids are in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe this March. Rebekah is Susan and Andrew and John are both Edmund. They may use Andrew as Peter on one of the nights he is not playing Edmund. That would be the night to come and see because they would all be the leads together and their good friends will also be leads that night playing Lucy and Mr. Beaver. Sam may be in the fight scene as an extra and Ken is both Father Christmas and Aslan. :) The boys are starting up baseball this spring (the playing field is literally in our backyard). Rebekah will be finishing up her choir with her last performance in April.