Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (in 2008 on May 26). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who perished while in military service to their country. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War, it was expanded after World War I to include casualties of any war or military action. All of this, of course, is from Wikipedia.

This day is usually a day that people have cookouts, parties, or gather with friends and family to celebrate. Sort-of an excuse to have another party. Annually, I do this as well. Most of the time we spend the day with one other close family friends of ours, and we cooked on the grill and spend the day talking and relaxing. Today, however, we spent the day in a very different way than we have done before. We traveled north up to Caswell county and helped some friends bale some hay. The fields were beautiful, the patterns of the hay laying in the field was artistic, and the weather was perfect; sunny, small breeze, and extremely quiet. Notice the horse drawn rake in the distance.


Asher had a time with the bales in that they were as big as he is. Nolan spend most of the day stacking them on the wagon. All together we got around two-hundred bales in the barn today. It would be nice if we were able to go back tomorrow to help them finish putting the rest of it up.


May God bless all of those that have served in our military and have given their lives so that I have the freedom to attend a barbeque, have guests over for dinner, or bale some hay with some friends.

an email posted...

This is an email I sent to a friend that says most of what I wanted to post about today. I tried to eliminate all the specific addresses to him and make it more general here.

it seems that I am selling my house!

I had a lady call me a few times about it and wanted to work me down to a frightening number. I thought she was another scammer so I dismissed her and just spoke bluntly to her. Nearing the end of the conversation, she told me that she was an investor and wanted to buy the property. I gave her the bottom line and said I would not take anything less than 500k for it. She agreed to buy it. Over the next few weeks, we talked a few times and she said she was still interested. I ended up writing up a contract and mailed it to the escrow company to look over. Long story shorter, I mailed it to the wrong place so it was returned. I then mailed it out for the agent to look over again before forwarding it to the investor. Before she received the one I sent, she faxed me an agreement she made up that was all wrong. Wrong name, wrong price (for more!) and wrong info. I thought for sure that this confirmed that it was a scam. I told the escrow agent I am working with to call her and ask a few questions. You know, kind-of play dumb about the situation. She did call a few times but the lady never replied. So, last week I called the agent again to see of she returned any of her calls. She told me she didn't and again it was a confirmation. After I hung up from talking though, the agent called me back and said she had just gotten in touch with her and that she had received the agreement that I made up, was going to sign it, and remit the 3% deposit to open escrow. I am hoping that she is going to buy it. :)

We are closing down our time here in NC. It's hard to believe that we have lived here for almost a year already. I still haven't secured a position in Ohio yet but in retrospect, I hadn't secured a position here in NC until mid July. I actually didn't even fly out here to interview until the end of May. I have sent several resumes out and am checking the job boards regularly. Ildi has encouraged me to apply for a couple of part-time positions in the city of Westerville, OH. She says it is the Pasadena of Ohio :) The pay scale there is outrageous as well. She said after I work a few months part-time they will be sure to pick me up for a full time position. Sounds good to me. It's either take a full time job in a small community and living somewhere in the country with a guarantee that I will make a decent salary, or work part-time for a bit making a little less than that with the potential of getting hired for a full position at a large sum. All for 180 days of work a year! At this point, if this house sells, we will still be able to buy a farm cash without me making any more money.

Which all brings me to the question I have for you (all). Remember one of the conversations we had about our children growing up and that we wanted to provide for them? I remember talking that night about the plans you all have for your children. It is not too far away. What is reminding me is that I just picked up the book I started several years ago called The Power of Focus. It is the kind of book that makes you think of why you are doing what you are doing. Anyway, it reminded me about goals that I had set many years ago that I have already accomplished. (ex. debt free, MA degree, have more children, live frugally.......) And now, I am starting to think about some of the things that I want to accomplish as we move into a more agrarian life. For example....I am thinking about having our family farm a tourist type of place equipped to accommodate school children visiting, community visitors, and possibly over night stays in a Wall Tent. Mary Jane Butters gave me the idea:) Sort-of like a bed and breakfast but on the farm. You know, a tent/cabin that you stay for the weekend listening to the crickets chirp with a small fire on a warm summer night. The morning comes with a hot /fresh cooked breakfast that includes milk and eggs that are from our animals. The day is spent leisurely touring the farm, milking a cow, gathering eggs, weeding/planting in a garden, and eating great home-cooked meals. The draw would be that it is a place AWAY from the rat race and a time to really relax, get your hands dirty, and feel part of a family farming vision.

Sounds like a huge plan. I better start writing all this stuff down before I forget it!

And, as a side note, long posts are VERY BAD. Sorry. :(

discipline again?...

Disciplining children seems to be an endless task as a parent. Sometimes we wish that they would just "get it" and not bother us with the same old bad behavior. With this in mind, I want to share a few things that I have been reviewing in the book I just finished reading called Teach Them Diligently by Lou Priolo.

These are evaluative questions we should be asking ourselves concerning correcting our children. I have shortened them and changed a few of the words to make it a quick list.

1. Do I teach them in the moment?
2. Do I talk to them about why I am disciplining them?
3. Do I confront them regularly or wait until I am mad?
4. Do I communicate with grace?
5. Do I correct in private?
6. Do they understand why they are being disciplined?
7. Do they understand biblically what they have done wrong?
8. Do they agree that they need discipline for their behavior?
9. Do you apply practical and predicable discipline?
10. Do you use this time to proclaim the Gospel?
11. Do you discuss alternative ways to respond to the problem?
12. Do you use scripture to instruct and correct?
13. Do you require the child to make restitution?
14. Do you comfort and pray with them when it is over?
and lastly,
15. Do you ask for feedback on your disciplining to correct some of your bad behaviors?

more signs of life...

As most are aware, childhood is a time to experience the wonders of life. From killing flies in the house, to collecting bugs, children find all sorts of ways to interact with God's creation. Most recently, the children have been interacting with the small animal and plant life that surrounds this house we our living in. They used an old fish tank that was cracked to make a home for some new signs of life. It started as a moss terrarium and now has evolved into a frog and turtle enclosure.

family video

Nolan enjoys technology so we accommodate him by letting him play the computer games like Word, Excel, and of course Windows Movie Maker. Here is an example of his most recent work on Movie Maker. The song he chose comes from a young group of musicians called West Coast Revival that are affiliated with the Sovereign Grace Ministries group. The movie chronicles this past year moving from "West to East."

Another one of the emails that I am forwarding.

Please read before viewing picture - it's worth it!

A picture began circulating in November. It should be 'The Picture of the Year,' or perhaps, 'Picture of the Decade.' It won't be. In fact, unless you obtained a copy of the US paper which published it, you probably would never have seen it.

The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner.

The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not survive if removed from his mother's womb. Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta. She knew of Dr Bruner's remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Med Ctr in Nashville, he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.

During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile.


The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity The
editors titled the picture, 'Hand of Hope.' The text explaining the picture
begins, 'The tiny hand of 21-week-old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges
from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life.'

Little Samuel's mother said they 'wept for days' when they saw the picture. She said, 'The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person.' Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percent successful.

Now see the actual picture, and it is awesome....incredible....and hey, pass it on. The world needs to see this one!

Don't tell me our God isn't an awesome God!!!!!

making choices...

In addition to the last post.

Please don't think that I am not in favor of doctors or that I have had bad hospital experiences that cause me to be cynical of medical professionals. Actually, the opposite has been true. Just a post to make us think about what we allow into our lives. An email I received from a friend the other day gives some startling statistics.
Doctors

(A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is

700,000.

(B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians

per year are

120,000.

(C) Accidental deaths per physician

is

0.171.

Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of

Health Human Services.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Now think about this:

Guns
A) The number of gun owners in the U.S.

is 80,000,000.

(Yes, that's 80 million)

(B) The number of accidental gun deaths

per year, all age groups,

is

1,500.


(C) The number of accidental deaths

per gun owner

is

.000188.

Statistics courtesy of FBI

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

So, statistically, doctors are approximately

9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.

there're here...

The robin chicks started hatching the other day and it didn't take long for all of them to follow the natural pattern of birth and quickly join each other in the nest. It is certainly a wonder to witness and our children are getting a first-hand experience of the whole process. In some cases, it is hard not to be bothered by the incessant "can we go see the chicks again" question. We have had to limit their visits so that the mother can actually feed them! Speaking of mothering, birthing, and visiting, that reminds me of a documentary Ildi and I watched the other night called The Business of Being Born. If you haven't seen it before, and you are in the part of your life where you are still having children, it is well worth your time to watch.

In the past, I have not been an ANTI person. You know those people...anti-taxes, anti-government, anti-this and anti-that. I have not always been resistant either of doctor's and hospitals. However, over the last few years, I have come to a place where I have desired to become more self-sufficient and that has had an effect on my thinking concerning other areas of my life. For example, as a family we rarely see the doctor. When we are sick, we just let our bodies fight off the infection and allow our immune system to do its job. And then there is Gresham. Two years ago Ildi decided that she did not want to go through the whole hospital thing again with giving birth. So, she had him in the comfort of her own home.

This documentary is really eye-opening for many reasons. Besides exposing some of the real catastrophies that happen in hospital situations, it reveals some of the huge benefits of women taking responsibility for their birthing and the power that women possess when accepting it. It also demonstrates how far we have meandered from doing things ourselves. Here is a list of a few things that come to mind.

1. We let the Sunday School teacher teach our children the Bible.
2. We let teachers teach our children how to live.
3. We let doctor's tell us what is best for us having only looked at our throats for a moment.
4. We listen to news and let it influence the way we live.
5. We buy food from a store not knowing where it came from, or what is really in it.

Anyway, before I get ranting and raving about "the way we live" now, (which is a good BBC movie by the way), the documentary is a good one to watch. :) In a few nights, we are going to watch another one that is lighter in content. Frank Lloyd Wright and his influence as an architect.

tid bits...

First off, we celebrated Gresham's second birthday today in the traditional Fout family style. We all sit around and sing to the birthday child and then eat an EXCELLENT home made dessert. Macy made a cake and it was topped with strawberries and vanilla ice cream. This year, for some reason, we didn't buy any gifts for the children for their birthdays. It is sort-of a strange feeling not to give gifts during a birthday celebration. We have not decided to eliminate giving gifts all of the sudden, it just worked out that we did not purchase them this whole year for the children. They have been extremely mature about it, and on occasion made things for each other. It is very sweet to witness brothers and sisters wanting to give gifts to each other of items they make. Reminds me of the family values coming alive.

Next, we are officially a two bird family now. Ildi baked some chicken for us the other night, adding some baked potatoes, and some skillet fried corn. Our family has grown so much that we polish off two of them for one meal. Scares me to think of our future food needs. :)

The Ohio teacher job fair trip was outrageous. Partly because I ran over a tire rubber on the road and damaged the rental car so much that it was inoperable. I did get a switch-out car in WV and it only took about three hours out of my travel time. At the job fair I was one of eight hundred people applying for the three hundred or so open positions. I waited in lines for over forty minutes to just meet and talk for three minutes and introduce myself. Reminded me of a farmer's market gone bad. We'll see if I get any calls from it.

I also got an almost full price offer on my house in Rowland Heights. An investor has offered on the property and I am excited to write up the proposal and mail it to her. With the house selling, we will be able to buy a larger plot of land this summer. In addition, the renter who I had there returned from Taiwan and is interested in renting again. Either way, renting or selling, it will be a good deal.

change is in the air...

Spring is a wonderful time of change. Physical, mental, and sometimes emotional changes. These changes remind me of the passages I have read so many times in Ecclesiastes. Even though no time period or author is mentioned in the book, we can all relate to the timeless truths that the author points out as he takes stock of the world he has experienced between the horizons of birth and death. The point of it all being that there is a time for everything.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear, and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace." Ecc 3: 1-8

Here is an example of changes that are occurring around the house. The children built a nest on the wreath that hangs on our fence. A few weeks later, a bird built her nest and placed her egg there. Not only will we get to see the whole Luna moth life cycle, but now we get to watch the season of birth of the Robin.

In addition to the change of seasons, I have to undergo some changes as well. It's that time again of the season that I need to interview for a new teaching position! With new interviews and a potential new position, I have to do a "little" changing myself. I let the children cut my beard off to have a cleaner look for the job fair I am attending in Ohio this next weekend. It will probably take a few days for them to get over the newness of seeing my face again. :)