PAPA festival

Well we made it back from papa fest and it was great! we drove through the night 13 hours which worked out OK but we were all pretty tired by the time we got there. We set up and then we were moving! workshops for us and the kids. The video is of Lillian drumming in the west African drumming workshop. what a cutie! There were bands and dancing. so much fun. the best part of the weekend was the people. It was so incredible to meet so many people on the same page as us. sometimes we feel like we are alone but these guys knew what was up. I always expect(as do most people) that people that look crazy must have some crazy doctrines but they were all so grounded and crazy about Jesus. It's so refreshing to meet people that don't fit the normal conservative christian mold. Christians can be pacifists, environmentalists, anarchists, and activists. They don't all have to be Republicans that are supporting the war in Iraq. We had some great discussions about community too. We are really feeling God moving us in that direction and it really seems like something is going to happen! It was great hearing from some of the more established communities and how it works for them. We are just so excited about what God is doing.

PAPA fest was held on a Mennonite community farm and it was so neat! The way they live is really beautiful. seeing how life could be made it really hard for Josh to head back to Kionix today! Then when he got to work he found out that they are moving to 12 hour days and that does not make him very happy at all! So we really need to pray.

The trip home took us a little longer (16 hours) but we made it and the kids did an incredible Job. so that is that. It was great just like i knew It would be. I also took a dread lock workshop so we will see where that leads :) ?

night invaders!

Here are a few new pics of my cuties! I can't believe how big Judah is getting!

We had a very interesting experience a few nights ago. The whole fam was sleeping when we hear some serious raucous coming from the kitchen. So i send josh down to investigate. he come down the stairs just in time to see 2 huge raccoons jump out the window. They had actually popped out the screen! They completely trashed my kitchen! It looked like someone had looted the place. food and dishes were everywhere! I was pretty mad. They ate my fresh baked bread, a huge bunch of bananas, several onions, garlic, and a huge bag of bird seed that they also scattered all over the place. I was about ready to hunt those little punks down! It took me a really long time to clean all of the footprints off the walls. Anyway we will now be locking all of our windows every night, no matter how hot it is!

Our house is gearing up for our big family trip to Chicago for PAPA festival! WOOHOO! I'm excited (mostly). I'm really looking forward to the festival but not so much the trip. It's going to take us about 12 hours! So that should be interesting. rather than me explain what PAPA fest is feel free to peruse the web site: papafestival.org

SUMMER!

I can not express the joy i feel over summer finally being here! today it was like 80 degrees! in upstate NY you have to take advantage of every nice day b/c before you know it they are gone!

we had a great trip to Pittsburgh to visit Megan. we went to the zoo and the kids loved it (mostly) Naomi was visibly shaking when she saw the lions and tigers but otherwise all was well. Judah was mesmerized by the jellyfish! figures. You pay all that money and your kids favorite part is something you can see dead on the beach for free! oh well. it was really good to get away.

it's crazy how expensive things are getting around here. 20 bucks gets us nothing! I try to never worry about money but the way things are going we may have to start. food prices are killing us! not literally of course, we are fine. I can only imagine what this is doing to people in third world countries. but anyway all of this is just pushing me to live more simply. I've started making all of our own bread. I figure if my meme could do it for 12 kids I can do it for 4. It's been going really well and it's a lot easier than i thought. a great place to start is the no-knead crusty bread recipe. You can find it at motherearthnews.com . it is so easy and seriously the best bread ever! also I've started buying in bulk. this eliminates too many trips to the store and is way cheaper. the catch is that you have to really plan and actually cook everything from scratch! i really don't know how those ladies did it back in the day! but it seems like even with all that we still are just scratching by. so what it comes down to is trusting God. the USA may not always be such a prosperous nation but God will still take care of us.

The picture I posted is onr that Josh drew for the Ithaca Pregnancy center. I love it so i just wanted to share it with all you guys!