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Krissy, Our Introduction To Autism

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Krissy

Krissy is the daughter of dear friends of ours and received an autism diagnosis at age 2. Despite participation in various early interventions through the public school system, she made agonizingly slow progress. At five years old, Krissy finally began to talk, and at age six had developed a large vocabulary of words, but had very limited communication skills. For instance, if she wanted a banana, she did not know to come and ask for one. Instead, if you asked her, “Do you want a banana?” she would echo, “banana” if she did want it, or be silent if she didn’t. Occasionally she would stand in the middle of whatever room she happened to be in, and yell banana or whatever she craved at the moment. Mostly though, one had to guess what might interest her.

She repeated complete video scripts (often mumbling, as she didn’t understand the words anyway) but was oblivious to people around her, and never attempted conversations. Before her 8th birthday, she was on heavy doses of antipsychotic drugs to combat anxiety, hyperactivity, depression, OCD and self-injurious behavior.

Krissy Floats

What does this have to do with Timberdoodle? In 2005, when Krissy was 8, she spent a month at Timberdoodle, and by the end of that month, she was able to answer yes and no questions intelligently. She had developed some imitation skills, both immediate “do this” and delayed imitation such as showing us happy, sad, surprised, tired… faces. We started her on phonics and were thrilled to see reading finally making sense to her. Despite her initial fear of water, by the end of that month, she was obviously enjoying herself at the lake. She loved imitating the way others jumped into the water and liked simply floating around in her inner tube, watching what the other swimmers were doing. Regardless of what activity we involved her in, we made it a point to build communication skills, especially because at this point her primary means of communication was screaming.

At the end of our month with Krissy, we sent her back home in time for school. While her teachers noticed and appreciated the progress we’d made with her, because of the class size they were simply unable to make progress at the same rate, and she continued to be a huge challenge at home and school.


Krissy is incredibly musically gifted, and her percussion is awesome!

In May of 2006, Krissy joined us again, months before her 9th birthday. During the summer, with her physician’s support and skepticism, we were able to wean her entirely off both antipsychotic drugs, while seeing dramatic improvements in her behavior. (Just as a side note, her whole team and of course our family were prepared to leave her on the meds had she needed them at the time. Our goal was simply to be sure that she was at the minimum dose she currently needed.)

Laundry With Hope
Laundry With Hope

Krissy progressed rapidly, which was both encouraging and surprising, considering that she was already almost nine – long past the so often stated, “Critical age of 2-5 years old.” Knowing that Krissy needed to be a valuable member of the family we incorporated her into our routine as much as possible. She pitched in alongside each of us, doing laundry, garbage, dishes, cleaning, mucking out, hauling bark dust and so forth. Of course, to have her labor beside us was time-consuming, as we had to direct and insist upon almost every move she made. However, we knew that understanding concepts and learning to serve would probably be the most important things in her life right now, so we tried to keep that emphasis.

Krissy talking

Communication and language drills were a part of everyday life. We emphasized everything from nodding to prepositions, and loved finally conversing with her, no matter how cryptic and eccentric those conversations were! Her screaming also began to taper off as she learned to use words like, “Please stop!” or “Ouch.”

Questions worksheet

A month later Krissy grasped the art of answering questions. “Tell me five things you see.” “What is the horse doing?” “How many toys?” “Tell me three things you put on a plate.” “What does the cow eat?”

At The Beach

In June we met Krissy’s family at the Oregon coast and spent the day on the beach. The waves intrigued her, but also seemed cold and scary. She really wanted to play in them but was too frightened to do it on her own. For the first time, we had the communication, obedience, and trust to work through this with her. Soon Krissy was running back and forth in the waves and having a great time. Over a year later, Krissy still talked about this trip and enjoyed reviewing it in her scrapbook.

As her reading skills increased we found we could now begin to write out things we were trying to clarify, and she was able to grasp the written words. This was a huge help for Krissy, as auditory processing continues to be difficult for her.

We continued to see her language skills grow, and recorded many fun ‘communication moments’. For instance, after studying the plums on the kitchen table, Krissy asked for “Big, big, grape please.”

On another evening Krissy went to get a bowl out of the dishwasher and found that the dishes were still hot. To her surprise, she was hit with a burst of warm air as she opened the dishwasher. When we asked her what the problem was, she exclaimed, “hot!” This was the beginning of her ability to communicate problems. She then spontaneously grabbed the potholders, using them to get the bowl out. We loved seeing both the language and critical thinking skills develop.

In our quest to help her become productive, Krissy learned to do laundry. It was quite the thrill for us to be able to tell her, “Set your timer for 6 minutes and go do a load of wash.” A few moments later she bounded out of the laundry room asking, “What should I wash?” After finding that out, she dashed back to finish the load before the timer rings!

During the summer of 2007, Krissy continued to progress. She became a fluent reader, reading easily at a 2nd grade or higher level. She grasped multiplication and began to memorize her math facts. To our delight, Krissy began to comment on the world around her, and ask questions. She even began to understand what we meant by “why” and could tell us why she wanted different things.

Krissy loves to know people’s names now and is learning to ask them rather than guessing. A real milestone for her was when we had a guest from Texas visit. Krissy had been fixated on cockroaches for some time and was eager to interview the guests about that. We wrote out a list of questions for her, and Krissy eagerly asked them; this was her first information-gathering conversation of that sort!

Below is the video project we worked on with her during the final weeks of her stay. We loved seeing her creative side blossom as she spontaneously came up with six different introductions to her show. With the help of those video social-stories, Krissy began to complete an entire morning routine list on her own. This included eating breakfast, clean-up, changing her clothes, doing a few chores and then taking a break with her toys.

At the end of summer 2007, her family was ready to have her home full-time. It was heartbreaking to have her leave, but God had other plans for our family, and this certainly did not end our involvement in autism, the thrill of seeing progress is truly addicting!

 

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2005 – Disclaimer

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Quoted from the Timberdoodle Catalog, Summer 2005

Our children have teasingly suggested that Timberdoodle Co ought to run a disclaimer, akin to car and medicine ads, so here it is:
Nearly every product Timberdoodle Co sells has been thoroughly tested by one or more of our children and in all cases fulfilled the claim of the product. However, using the products in no way guarantees that said children have retained such knowledge for a lifetime. While they have all appreciated these products over others that were tried (but failed to pass the Timberdoodle Co criterion), they do not want others to suppose that they are bilingual, artistic, mechanical engineers. By God’s grace, they do love the Lord, and for that we are thankful!

 

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2004 – Teaching Textbooks

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Teaching Textbooks

Do you wish you could do math over again? I do, and it is not that I particularly struggled with math, but I never mastered it and instead just got by with doing the minimum. I think if I’d had Teaching Textbooks as a student, it would have made all the difference, and in reading your reviews, I see that MANY of you agree! In retrospect, adding Teaching Textbooks to our curriculum smorgasbord was the biggest event of 2004. It has played a key part in our curriculum recommendations and our own family’s math program (for those not yet graduated) ever since.

About Today’s Giveaway
The Teaching Textbooks series is written with home educators in mind, so it combines a teacher and a textbook into one. Since their textbooks were designed specifically for independent learners, they contain far more explanation than any others on the market, and the tone is friendly and conversational. Because the Teaching Textbooks series was designed for homeschoolers studying unaided, it uses far less irrelevant jargon than other textbooks, while still retaining all the terms that students need to know for those important standardized tests.
What ultimately sold me on this program for the more complex upper level math, were their computer CDs with down-to-earth, step-by-step multimedia solutions for every problem in the book, plus an additional CD-ROM with complete, step-by-step solutions for every test problem. The lectures — one for each lesson in the textbook — provide hours of instruction…
Read more about Teaching Textbooks here.

Teaching Textbooks is our most-reviewed item, and we have received hundreds of Teaching Textbooks reviews. Check any of the titles below to read other families’ thoughts.

Teaching Textbooks Math 3
Teaching Textbooks Math 4
Teaching Textbooks Math 5
Teaching Textbooks Math 6
Teaching Textbooks Math 7
Teaching Textbooks Prealgebra
Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1
Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2
Teaching Textbooks Geometry
Teaching Textbooks PreCalculus

If you win, you will get to pick your choice of any of these titles!

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6 Questions To Help Pinpoint Why You Have A Reluctant Reader

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“My 7-year-old is still not reading at the level I keep thinking she needs to.”

“My 14-year-old has been taught phonics but is having a very difficult time with applying the rules to spelling words and reading is slow–he will see a difficult word and just say something. I really think that he is being a very lazy reader”

This is a common concern, and one that is very understandable. After all, the single most important educational skill your child will learn is reading, and a student who loves to read will find he has a tremendous advantage in every area of study.

But not every child is eager to read, and when you are trying to figure out why, here are the first 6 questions we’d ask.

Does He Need Glasses?
The first question is the most obvious, how are his eyes? If he has always had blurred or double vision, he may not even be aware of it! If he has never had his eyes examined, now is the time.

Is Memory The Root Struggle?
Secondly, is he mentally able for reading? Can he sequence the sounds of reading in his head? If he sounds out words flawlessly but then puts them together in a way that makes no sense IE “f” “r” “o” “g” “toad” then this may be the culprit. See how many random numbers your child can remember in a row. “4 2 6” “0 6 7 2” “9 8 5 8 4” If he cannot remember at least 4 digits, then he isn’t ready for reading yet – by the time he sounds out the last letter in a word his brain simply cannot remember the first letter he sounded out just a moment ago. You can do frequent simple drills or if you prefer, you can purchase a program to do the work for you. We recommend (& sell) Brain Builder.

Does He Really Know Phonics?
The third question we would ask is has he mastered phonics yet? If he runs across a word he has never seen before, does he have the tools to figure out how to read it? If not, then he needs to go back to phonics. Depending on how old he is, he may just race through Phonics Pathway, but in doing so he’ll fill in gaps in his foundation and become a competent reader for the first time. If the work seems too easy for him, consider having him read to a young sibling, neighbor or church friend. They will benefit as much as he will!

Is The Real Issue Boredom?
If he is bored with reading, then it is no wonder that reading is a challenge for him. Have you considered whetting his appetite with graphic novels? Tintin is a long-standing favorite of reluctant readers nation-wide, and we have heard many men credit this series with their success as a reader. Beyond that though, pay attention to your child’s interests and find him books and magazines that will stretch and encourage him to keep reading.

Have You Made It The Priority?
Is reading your top academic priority for him? Does his school schedule reflect that? For him to invest the time it takes to become a good reader, you may need to strip away everything else from his schedule this school year, with the possible exceptions of math and thinking skills. Will it be worth it? Absolutely!

Is He Just Reading Too Slowly?
Perhaps he is a competent, motivated reader, who simply reads way too slowly. For that student, we would try a speed-reading program to literally bring him up to speed so that he can enjoy reading. We sell our absolute favorite, AceReader Pro.

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2003 – Credit Cards, Blessing or Curse?

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2003 Pictures
In 2003 we took individual photos for the Timberdoodle catalog, each with one of our favorite hobbies.

This letter is reprinted from our Fall 2003 Catalog:
Dear Friends,

Mail order has changed dramatically over the last 10 years. While we were never able to make the promised millions-at-home-while-wearing-your-pajamas, it has put food on the table, given our children honest labor and even allowed us to hire a handful of exceptional personnel. But as paper costs and postal rates continue to climb and internet sites proliferate, it becomes increasingly difficult to compete on a level playing field. As long as the Lord allows, we will continue to send out a paper catalog, but we encourage you to also take advantage of our website. As we go to press we are in the midst of a major website overhaul, but when it is complete we hope to be able to offer the following: discounted shipping, unadvertised sales, options of bonus items, and even to take payments by credit cards.
This last item has caused a lot of soul searching for our family. Concerned about being a stumbling block to the nearly 60% of families who cannot pay off their monthly credit card balance, we have for nearly 20 years refused to take credit cards. In 1990 the average family owed about $3,000.00 in credit card debt. Currently the average debt is more than $8000.00. It is not a pretty picture. Many of you have pointed out, some graciously and some not so graciously, we are not your mother and it is none of our business what debt you choose to incur. That may be true, but please bear in mind that if you do not pay off your credit cards every month, on average you will pay 14.7% more for everything you buy, which could wipe out any savings you enjoy when buying from us. On the other hand, credit card companies do offer incredible fraud protection, which unfortunately has become less of a thrill and more of a necessity, especially when ordering over the internet.
So you will soon be able to order with a credit card and enjoy greater security, while we concentrate on mothering only those whom God has given us.

Looking forward to serving you,
Dan, Deb, Joy, Hope, Grace, Abel and Pearl

About Today’s Giveaway
2003 was also notable as the year we introduced Mystery of History! This is by far my favorite history program, and I am not alone in that, judging by the dozens of favorable reviews our customers have left! You will get to pick your choice of any of these titles:
Mystery of History I, 2nd edition
Mystery of History I audiobook
Mystery of History II
Mystery of History II audiobook
Mystery of History III hardcover textbook
Mystery of History III companion guide
Mystery of History III companion guide CD

What is so amazing about Mystery of History? Here is what our customers say:

I, personally, want to read it 🙂
We absolutely loved the Mystery of History Series. It is a wonderful way to put world history alongside biblical history and see how they fit together. The first book had more lesson weeks than we have weeks of school, but we liked the bit shorter lesson lengths in that book. Both books are great for teaching several grades together. It has age appropriate assignments for various levels. Our daughter graduated in May 2008, but I still bought Mystery of History III!! I, personally, want to read it 🙂
Reviewer: Linda F. from Deary, Idaho

I would recommend to all homeschool families!!
The Mystery of History series has made teaching history in our homeschool very simple. The material including quizzes, exercises and semester tests is all in one book (NOTE: This is true in Volumes 1 and 2, Volume 3 is divided into two books, the Reader and the Activity). There are great activities for younger, middle and older students. I can pick which ones fit my child’s needs and interests at the time. The bibliography includes films as well as books. This makes it easy for me to go to the library to find the movies mentioned. Christ is the focus of the text and many events in Christian history are covered but other cultures who did not have Christianity at the time are covered also. I would recommend all volumes of Mystery of History to all homeschool families.
Reviewer: Mary A. from Florence, AL

It’s incredibly flexible.
You can use it as a springboard for older students, as is. I’ve used it for help with writing and studying skills–picking out important facts, writing a summary as well as imprinting an overall history timeline with my kids. It works with all types of learners as well with their variety of tasks to complete
Reviewer: Lynn F. from Ortonville, MI

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Taking Care Of Grammy

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Grammy
Grammy with the bottle-fed goat kid an employee brought to work here at Timberdoodle.

Like all businesses, Timberdoodle had to work harder in 2002 than we had in a long time. God was gracious though, and time and time again we saw Him at work. In August we were even able to take Grandma and Grandpa up to Alaska, where they had wanted to visit for years and years. This was even more of a blessing to them because they were taking care of Grandpa’s Mom, Grammy. While this was truly an amazing blessing for all of us, it was also a lot of work, as anyone who has done elder-care can attest! The break in the routine was blessing for all, and our Alaska trip is one we look back on with lots of good memories!

Grammy was born on the Isle of Mann and her family of 12 actually crossed the USA as part of a wagon train. After losing her husband, she lived alone until the year 2000 when she moved in with Grandpa and Grandma just after her 101st birthday. By 2002 her memory was failing a little, and she really couldn’t be left alone – meaning that Grandma retired from Timberdoodle work in order to be home with Grammy. Grammy was as spunky as ever though as she embarked on a cover-to-cover read-through of the Bible at 102. Despite being quite familiar with the New Testament and having much of John 14 memorized she couldn’t remember having read all the way through the Old Testament before and simply set out to do so!

Soon our family was down there every week for a hymn sing-along, and the richness of those hymns soaked into our bones. Eventually we took turns ‘babysitting’ every Sunday so Grandma & Grandpa could get to church. Grammy’s abundant stories were memorable and amusing, though I think the one we laugh about most was the time she told about her big family shooting a bird for Thanksgiving dinner – “a canary,” she said! We knew she probably meant turkey, but that didn’t stop us from laughing later, trying to imagine 12 people sharing a canary dinner!

Grammy never lost her affinity for sweets. One Thanksgiving we had a large chocolate turkey as a centerpiece and she couldn’t stop marveling over it. She also informed us that she would consider using a lift chair later, “When I am old!” The best thing about Grammy though? She was sweet, gracious and caring, long after her hearing and mental abilities diminished. Every time we helped out, from watching her for a few hours to the around-the-clock care of hospice, she smiled and thanked us. What an encouragement!

Grammy shaped us in ways we could never have imagined. I really don’t think I would be an EMT today if not for the time spent caring for Grammy and even bandaging up her fragile skin. Much more importantly, her gracious spirit even when dementia set in makes me want to be molding my character now so that when all the pretense that memory gives me is pulled away the “real me” that comes out is one that loves and reflects Jesus. At the same time, I am encouraged to know Grammy didn’t have to get there on her own. The same God who carried her through the loss of a daughter, widowhood and so much more, was faithful to carry her through old age as well, and will be faithful to us.

Elder-Care Gifts

About Today’s Giveaway Collection
Elder care is demanding, often overwhelming, and yet watching Grandpa and Grandma care for Grammy was a tremendous demonstration of Christ’s love. For today’s prize we have assembled our favorite tools, books and games to serve those of you in this role. Don’t think you have a use for them? I’m sure you know someone who would be delighted to know that someone is thinking of them as they serve the “least of these.”

Thinking Putty
We have used Thinking Putty to build hand strength by squeezing, or you could put marbles in it for him to find and remove. Or for cold hands, microwave Thinking Putty until it is warm and then knead.

Cling Thing
We used this with my other Grandpa, as a place for displaying the grandkids’ pictures, his birthday cards, etc.

Gobblet
A 3D version of Tic Tac Toe, most grandparents will find this game easy to learn and great for playing even with young grandkids.

Upturn
If your grandparents are into number games, as mine are, this game is perfect. Complex enough to work everyone’s memory, but intuitive enough that everyone can play. A personal favorite.

Paperback Lightwedge with case
For easier reading in poorly lit places.

Valley of Vision
A poignant treasury of prayers to help us draw close to Jesus.

Sunsets
This is the one book I really wish we’d had while doing hospice care for Grammy. We didn’t know what to expect or how to help her, and this would have been an invaluable resource.

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2001 – The Saga of Solid Rock Farm

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Solid Rock Farm Pictures

You may be wondering what our mini-farm has to do with Timberdoodle. A lot, actually! Solid Rock Farm was completely funded by Timberdoodle through the paychecks of us 5 kids. In addition to putting money toward clothes, gifts, tithe, treats, savings and more, we also agreed to put a certain portion of each paycheck into a group account, designated for Solid Rock Farm. Solid Rock Farm was originally founded with the planting of fruit trees. But since our family has always enjoyed animals we attempted to raise many different critters through the years. We started with Haflinger horses, and expanded to include miniature donkeys, Babydoll Miniature Southdown sheep, a Golden Retriever, quail, chickens, ducks, a Border Collie, cattle, alpacas and more. How did it go? Let’s just say that “financially profitable” isn’t the first phrase to jump to mind!

Haflingers – The Black Hole Lesson
We started with Lily, who never was able to carry a foal to term for us. Purchased our foundational mare (Sirikit) from a riding school in BC, added Gela from an Amish farmer in Ohio along with another mare we had for only a short time. Birthed 8 foals here and imprinted all of them. Lots of lessons learned, from stallion selection to cleaning fields daily. The lesson that stands out the most, though, is what a financial black hole horses can be, even when you do everything right and get good foals! We still have two Haflinger mares and love them.

Miniature Donkeys – Disappointments & Patience
Bought 2 jennets from a reputable farm in California; we were going to raise them for fun and profit. Unfortunately both lost their foals due to the stressful journey and we never pursued that again. We learned not only about disappointments but also how to cope with animals that need lots of patience and persistence. We hope to get another donkey soon.

Ducks – Thieves May Break In And Steal
We loved having ducks around, but didn’t get to experience it for long. They didn’t coop up well for us, and that gave the raccoons a feast. We also had a night where the coyotes came and slaughtered most of our flock right outside our door – we never heard them. Most gruesome of all though, was the morning the garbage truck rolled over a duck that was waddling down the road and left a spectacle few of us will forget.

Sheep – We Like Sheep… Is Not A Compliment
When it comes to animals we have a knack for getting into the market just as the bottom drops out. Our first little flock of sheep perished due to lack of care on our part – our vet (at the time!) told us we didn’t need to deworm, and that eventually killed our two ewes. With better counsel, we tried again, and successfully raised some adorable lambs – ready for sale just as the breed reached a point where availability was good and prices dropped. Lessons learned: persistence, market share, guilt from bad advice (When we called to complain about the vet, she had already been dismissed.) and how dumb sheep can be!

Dogs – When To Quit
See this article for the first Golden Retriever story. Our second Golden Retriever was not qualified because of her hips/eyes. Hope’s Border Collie gave us a great litter of puppies, but the Border Collie didn’t do well as a mom, so we didn’t repeat the experience. Lessons learned included screening buyers, how to ship a puppy, and when to quit.

Quail – Beware Of Your Neighbors
OK, so maybe that’s not a good lesson. However, after raising quail from tiny chicks, releasing them and reveling in their every appearance around the house it was pretty devastating to drive up our driveway one day only to see our neighbors crossing the driveway with a stringer full of quail. Those friendly little birds had no chance!

Chickens – Do You Really Want To Know Where Your Eggs Come From?
It seemed so sweet, organic and a terrific outreach to raise our own eggs. However, not only did no one want to wash the eggs, but having once participated in the egg-gathering/washing process most were reluctant to eat our own eggs. Are we the only ones who would rather buy a super-clean egg than avail ourselves of the pleasure of growing our own eggs? We also learned about B vitamin deficiencies the hard way. Possibly the best parts of the whole experiment were building the chicken coop with Grandpa, and picking out chicken breeds every few years to rebuild the flock.

Cattle – Make Sure You Have Buyers Before You Purchase Steers To Share
Chubby and Tubby were Hope’s purchases and responsibility, and we loved having cattle around for the first time. However, when it came time to slaughter them, we could not find buyers for the meat. That is very unusual around here, as grass-fed beef often seems to be in demand. We have the knack for this though, and are still eating them 3 years later!

While we have pretty much given up on raising animals for profit here, we will probably always enjoy a menagerie of animals and will definitely never regret all the lessons we learned during our career as farmers!

Pathway Readers

About Today’s Giveaway
As we were growing up, we loved the Pathway Readers series written by and for the Amish community. The children were part of a farming community, and the readers reflected that with sweet stories about new foals, large families and everyday adventures.

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What’s Growing at Solid Rock Farm?

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Solid Rock Farm Kids
reprinted from a Timberdoodle catalog

I wish I could say that when we settled on a name for our farmette that it was strictly ‘spiritual’ in nature. On Christ the solid rock we do stand, but our farm name was the result of a more literal bent. Our acreage is, for the most part, glacial till. Translated, that means that we are situated on a gravel pit, with just enough soil to make it interesting. To get anything to grow here we need to dig a large hole, removing the ‘native’ soil, and replacing it with topsoil enriched with mushroom compost. It is a lot of work initially, but as the plants establish themselves the workload should diminish. Contrast that to a tree plunked into the original soil. To make it a productive tree would require constant maintenance as you fertilize and try to provide above ground what you should have done below ground. Of course, eventually even the prepared tree root system will reach beyond this artificial island of nutrition. Hopefully they will be so well established by the time they encounter the ‘outside world,’ that with a little supplemental feeding, there will not be any noticeable decrease in their output.

I like to think that our fruit trees are not the only things that we have enveloped with the best possible environment. When people challenge us as to why aren’t our children living in the ‘real world’, I think of what could have happened to our fruit trees if we had planted them in the ‘real world.’ They may have survived, but their growth would have been suppressed and the quantity and quality of fruit they would have yielded would have been drastically reduced. Likewise, they would have been ill-equipped to resist any disease or insects. Children, too tender to face the corruption in the world, might likewise be stunted from reaching their full potential. The good fruits that they could have produced may be sparse and inferior. They may also lack the spiritual and emotional stamina to resist the schemes of the devil.

Admittedly, preparing a nurturing place for our children that is as untainted from as much depravity as possible is a lot of work initially. However, by providing a moral cushion during the years when the children are most vulnerable, we should find that our maintenance level will recede. Admittedly, our desolate soil is not poisonous; however, it lacks the valuable nutrients that result in a productive tree. Likewise, many of the things in the ‘real world’ are not necessarily evil; however, they can deny our children the opportunities to grow to their fullest potential.

So what is growing at Solid Rock Farm? Fruit trees, rose bushes, and, by the grace of God, so are our children.

Note added in 1997:
Since that article was written, not only have the children been growing, so has the population of the farm. The children are now the ever responsible owners of 4 haflinger horses, 2 miniature donkeys, 5 black babydoll sheep and border collie pup in training to herd them, a small flock of miniature ducks, a slightly larger flock of chickens, rex rabbits that roam freely about the property, a batch of quail chicks that will join them soon, and a fun loving golden retriever. We all have our personal favorites, but all of us agree that God has really blessed us with this incredible opportunity to ‘farm’.

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2000 –Lost Teeth, Too Much Y2K Preparation and Timberdoodle.

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Timberdoodle in 2000

Missing tooth pictures are awesome, but Pearl actually lost her first tooth at one year old. That was not because she was so precocious, but rather due to a scary fall in the bathtub, followed by dental surgery to pull out the damaged tooth. We later used one of these pictures of adorably toothless Pearl as a catalog cover!

Timberdoodle.com went from being purely informational to having an actual shopping cart, much to our delight. A decade later most of our customers order online and we simply can’t imagine life without the internet!

Perhaps the most significant thing about 2000 though is what didn’t happen. We weren’t sure what to expect after reading all the dire reports, books and even going to a Y2K conference. In light of that, we stocked up, particularly on wheat, beans and rice. We also felt responsible for our employees, and even went so far as to purchase enough potassium iodide (“radioactive antidote”) for everyone! Our family reacted strongly to the individuals we perceived as promoting purchasing a gun as well, to ward off others who might try to steal your food in the upcoming desperate times. Our response was instead to just purchase more of the staples, so that we would be able to share. Nobly intentioned perhaps, but when nothing happened, we ended up with lots and lots of food that took us most of a decade to use up!

About Today’s Giveaways
Back in 1999, (Y2K prep!) one of our biggest sellers was a simple dynamo flashlight. It was a wonderful concept, but offered weak light and assembly was touchy. Now LEGO offers a much bigger and better flashlight, that still recharges via hand crank (just as important for those of you looking to be ecologically prudent as it was for those of use who expected to run out of batteries in Y2K) and is a friendly LEGO dude as well! In addition to him, we are adding a LEGO Headlamp and a LEGO Keychain Light for the ultimate LEGO light package.

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1999 –Learning To Drive

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1999 Timberdoodle

We did not learn to drive through a regular driver’s-ed program. Hope and I tried it, and the experience was disappointing. Instead, Grandpa was the primary driving instructor for years.

Back in those early days, we really were a mail-order business, and most of our orders came to us through the mail. Since the mail isn’t delivered here until after noon and we wanted to be able to process orders as early as possible, we needed a solution.  Our remedy was to send Grandpa to the Post Office, 15-20 minutes away.

Every morning he would head into town, stopping to check on Grammy, his mom, who was still living alone. After that he would pick up the mail and bring it back for processing. Hope was an eager driver but really needed practice, so it made sense to have her join Grandpa for these daily expeditions. Grandpa was a great teacher, and the daily practice was an awesome thing. One of the most memorable highlights was Grandpa insisting that we depart stop signs and stoplights with “Alacrity!”

Also in 1999 Timberdoodle moved some of its staff into our former house, after it was remodeled to become the office. It was there that we hosted this Timberdoodle picnic.

About Today’s Giveaway
If your children aren’t quite ready to drive, they may enjoy making the 11 models in this Electric Vehicles Wind-Up Kit. Electric Vehicles models include an airplane, radar car, drilling car, space station, well-digging machine, and many more. The powerful dynamo allows you not only to fuel an electric motor to power your vehicles, but also to light LEDs…

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