Zadok, the oldest son, reads to his siblings.
Iqara, the youngest, but not for long. Evangeline is expecting No. 10 in June.
Arrow, with their new puppy, still un-named, but I like to think of him as Patch.
Sharar foot-locking in a tree by their home. He is also carrying weights in his backpack. The children do a lot of exciting things in this tree. The boys are always in training. At this stage of their lives, their dream is to become a FREE BURMA RANGER, helping to rescue lives in Burma who are being killed and persecuted by the Burmese government. Or perhaps one day become part of THE DELTA FORCE team, the most elite force in America. It is winter time but the boys often sleep outside--the other night Zadok and Crusoe slept outside when it was only 2 degrees!I think they would align themselves with this poem by Hamlin Garland.
Do you fear the force of the wind?
The slash of the rain?
Go face them and fight them,
Be savage again.
Go hungry and cold like the wolf,
Go wade like the crane:
The palms of your hands will thicken,
The skin of your cheeks will tan,
You'll grow ragged and weary and swarthy,
But you'll walk like a man!
Or perhaps the poem, Courage, by Edgar Alan Guest, one of my favorite poets.
Courage isn't a brilliant dash,
A daring deed in a moment's flash;
It isn't an instantaneous thing
Born of despair with a sudden spring.
It isn't a creature of flickered hope
Or the final tug of a slipping rope;
But it's something deep in the soul of a man
That is working always to serve some plan.
Courage isn't the last resort
In the work of life or the game of sport;
It isn't a thing that a man can call
At some future time when he's apt to fall;
If he hasn't it now, he will have it not
When the strain is great and the pace is hot,
For who would strive for a distant goal
Must always have courage within his soul.
Courage isn't a dazzling light
That flashes and passes away from sight;
It's a slow, unwavering, ingrained trait
With the patience to work and the strength to wait.
It's part of a man when his skies are blue,
It's part of him when he has work to do.
The brave man never is freed of it.
He has it when there is no need of it.
Courage was never designed for show;
It isn't a thing that can come and go;
It's written in victory and defeat
And every trial a man may meet
It's part of his hours, his days and his years,
Back of his smiles and behind his tears.
Courage is more than a daring deed:
It's the breath of life and a strong man's creed.
Not be outdone, little Sahara does some repelling inside. 
