Friday the 13th

What a busy day! First I had a field trip to the Stone Zoo. What a blast. I wish I was in first grade again! What a great time 10 kids, 7 adults. Lots of wild animals! (pictures to come tomorrow.) We had fun walking around looking at the cougars and the jaguars, spotted mountain lion, Himalaya mountain goats Canadian wolves...Reindeer(did you know they really can't fly?) llamas, boas...and a whole lot more. It was a great time, tiring time too. I think we walked 10 miles!

We came home to find out the girls soccer game was cancelled (secretly I was very happy!)

Megan is 10 today, and in our house birthdays are pretty special when you turn 10 double digits and all...so we went to the mall with Hannah, her very best friend in the whole world! and they had their pictures taken together in their matching outfits. (all the way to the flip flops.) Great pictures the photographer was having a blast with them, it was so much fun for them! We had a great dinner...then (drum roll please....) she went to get her ears peirced! oh what fun. A friend of the family Miss Crosbie came with us for the evening and she decided to get another set of holes done while we were there, so...Meg had company geting her ears done! what fun. (pictures of that will be up tomorrow too)

now it is almost 11:00 and they are still giggling and being little girls but I am very tired and going to go to bed! It has been a very long day~

Pictures will be up sometime tomorrow!! really once I can get it going!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN HOPE :-)

Leaf Peepers...

Well, we were off yesterday for our annual family adventure up to the White Mountains. Once again we are amazed at how many travelers come all the way to beautiful NE to check out the foliage. I was able to meet a couple from Valencia CA. That is just about where I was when I went to CA this summer! How cool is that? The lady took some pictures for us, Phil asked a random person to snap a shot of the family and she just happened to be a professional photographer. (ok, but when you are not in a studio that really doesn't help much!) Gotta work with what you have. :)

It seemed that when we were on the Kangamugas highway that the leaves were mostly gone. And unfortunatly that is where most of the pictures were taken :(

















We ate at a great restaraunt Banners it was wonderful! Outside they had some beautiful gardens and the mums were vibrant. The butterflies liked them too...look! They were covered with Monarchs and honey bees!

And this last pictures is a local picture. this is about what the color is like here at home, we are almost at peek! Beautiful!





I will get some more on later. Gotta go and read for first grade! :)

Deerfield Fair 2006 version...

Well, we went to the Deerfield Fair yesterday. I think that in all my life since living up here I have been every year with the exception of last year. (BUT the rest of my family went and I think that made up for my absence!) And let's just say that I have lived here for 28 years. (is that really right Dad?)

We take the kids out of school, I did ask one of the "in charge" people at school what I should write on the absent slip...He said "The Deerfield Flu of course" hmmmm...Sounds pretty good to me!

So, what so we do at the fair you may ask...Well Uncle Mike bought the kids arm bands for the rides yesterday. That gave them access to all the rides for about 5 hours. It was fun but I don't think we will do that again, we spent too much time on the midway and not enough time looking at all the great things. OH well live and learn right? The kids did have a blast on the rides!

We went to the pig scramble. Now that is fun to watch especially when your child is drawn for the lottery! :) YEP!! They called Betsy IN THE POURING RAIN...Well not really. It started to rain just when we got to the swine barn. We kept under cover and waited a bit, they called her and Phil and I went out to watch...She did great. That piglet didn't stand a chance! Well, the 3 minutes was up and there were still 2 piglets left so we waited. A big storm came through so we stayed in the smelly barn for a bit (10 or 15 minutes.) We had to wait for the next 2 names to be called, Betsy brought a friend with her he hadn't been to the fair since he was 4 of so. Well, you guesses it HIS NAME WAS CALLED TOO! So out he went in the wet arena for his chance at a piglet! And he bagged it right off! WAY TO GO!

We did the fair looked at fun things bumped into a lot of people! You know the ones you see only when you are at the fair! I even bumped into an old classmate. It was fun catching up with him while our kids were on the rides!

We ate GREAT fair food! You know the kind that you can only handle once a year! :) No one left hungry or lacking any of the fair experience.

When it was time to leave at 10:00 PM (with 8 kids!) We needed to get the piglets. hmmm...Imagine 2 bagged piglets in the back of the excursion! kinda smelly! Phil cleaned it out today! Thanks Honey!

and don't count how many kids and piglets were in the car. I think we must have looked like the circus!

All in all it was another great year at the Deerfield Fair! I will get some pictures up asap. My camera didn't get any of the scramble. So I will have to wait for Phils.

CAN YOU WAIT FOR IT?? :)

Bye for now!

ahhh...how cute

Nap time...I am not too sure who was asleep first Phil or Anna...my guess is Phil.

I think that there will be some stiff necks tomorrow! Just thought it was a cute Sleepy Saturday Nap time picture! Enjoy it...and let Phil know you saw him taking a nap at 3:30 on a Sat. afternoon! :)


  

Cammie and Larry

So, we have some new kittens. I know that some people think they are not the best kinds of pets to have but we have 5 girls. How can we not have kittens...we love them. I went out today and came home about an hour later and this is what I found!

  


YES!! that is a Longaberger basket that they are sitting in! hmmm...good taste!

If you have not figured out what there names stand for, just say it fast together and hopefully you will get it! and one more thing. Larry is Phils kitten. He was an anniversary present! That is how much he loves kittens! :)

Is Anyone Out There?

So, you see...I have been pestered of great lately to update the blog. And when I do it no one leaves me a comment. I am a little confused. Are people really reading this?? If you are just for my sake, let me know that you are reading it and I will continue! Beacause I do enjoy this!

Life is getting very busy again and I will be having more exciting things up on here. So, just let me know if you are really reading it...THANKS!

more jewelry coming soon! Parties, Parties, Parties! I am "teaching" beading at a girls night out AND doing a birthday party for an 8 year old! How fun will that be? And another one in progress but no details yet! Remember that is why I started this thing! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Well, the day is here. Claire is 2 today! What an adventure she has been. I can't believe it. From a tiny little peanut to well...a cashew! Glasses and all.

  


  

We have had an exciting past few weeks, and once again I did try to blog and put pictures up but I couldn't do it??? why!!!!!

But alas, they are on now!!


Happy Birthday Claire Mercy!

AND... IT'S A BOY!!

I can't be so jealous of Beth for having a little baby, I think that I may take this baby thing to heart too much! We seem to be overrun with females in this house...and well even ouranimal population seems to be more of the X instead of the Y. Go figure! Well, we had a little (big) bull born last night. These animals amaze me, one minute we are out there and nothing is happening and then you can walk outside an hour or two later and there is an animal nursing on his mom. I would love to actually see one born, but...that is the beauty of this type of cow that they can labor and deliver all by themselves. (I guess that is a good thing and we are not out there at 2 am delivering a calf right?) No weight measurements yet, name we can do, it is going to be Echo of Old Homestead Farm. Or the proper way is Old Homestead Echo. Is that right Phil? He is the cutest calf yet, ok so I think I am partial to the little black ones! We had one born in July and it is a bottle baby still, she is adorable and much more of a pet than a farm animal. I will get some pictures of her on here too. but for now I will put up pictures of Mocha the Mom, Lily the BIG sister and Baby Echo. (anyone who is anyone will know why Phil choose the name Echo.)



  

  

  


Click on the images to see them better if you would like and oh, Lily was born last year 2005 the week before Easter (that is why the name Lily) Notice the size of her? And look at the size of Echo not too shabby! (I didn't say shaggy)

ENJOY!

Update...

Well, I guess the exciting part of my summer was my trip out to CA. And I will just tell you that I am so glad it was a month ago and not this month...Have you seen the pictures of people standing in lines at the airports due to the new security? No thanks!!

So, my travels are bringing me to CT this weekend for the Women of Faith conference again. I hadn't even planned on going this year! I knew with all the other things that we have done this summer it was out of the question not to mention it is the middle of August this year instead of Oct. But, I had a ticket offered to me and the hotel everything is already paid for! All I need is money for my food and to help pay for the gas. I really did want to go but didn't even consider it. Isn't God so good in supplying us with all of our needs and our wants sometimes?

So, that is my short little post and I will hopefully be posting more next week about the conference!

And with that...Have a great weekend!

And Beth, don't have that baby while I am away please! :)

In N Out...

This will be my last California post, I needed to space them out. You know I didn't want to be needing bloggers anonomous. :-)

Nikki brought me to the best hamburger place in the west. (ok, so a little corny there but it was really good) I had been told that if she didn't bring me there then she would be in trouble. I guess that when someone was out of the country for a missions trip a few years back, when he was back in the states it was the first stop he made. Is that right Tim?

Well...we went to In n Out. It isn't really as fast as the name makes it sound. Actually I think they have to go out and heard the cows and then bring them to the slaughter house let the meat hang for a bit and then ground the burger cook it up, then they call your number. OK...not that bad, but certainly not "in and out" like the sign claims.

So here are a couple pictures of the place. and you can visit their online store at www.in-n-out.com hmmm...must be a good place to eat if they have a web site. I must say it was a great burger! and they made the potato fries fresh I even watched them slice them up! (french fries)

















Boy! I sure look tired in that picture!

Well, that is all the pictures of the trip that I am going to be posting! So, I hope that you enjoyed the trip, I know I did. Now next time, I am definitly going to see Tim and Leah! I promise (it may be 10 years or so BUT I promise!)

Hollywood...

After a wonderful trip to the west coast, I am home safe and sound. We landed and they opened the door in the back of the plane to unload the food and other things, I remembered what humidity was! (it hit hard) amazing how comfortable 95 degrees is when it is a dry heat! I have heard other people say that before and thought 95 is 95...Well actually NO it really isn't. If it isn't humid you can sit in the shade and get a break from it, or jump in the pool and actually feel a little cooler. BUT not when it is humid! I had lovely curls by the time I was off the plane! :)

Well Monday was a day of adventure! We headed to Hollywood. OK...So we went, walked around did a few touristy things and headed home. It reminded me of some bad parts of Boston. I don't think I would want to bring my kids there. (call me crazy) I did see parents there with little kids. (most of them lived in the area and were shopping, there is a great mall there) The tourists' for the most part were without kids. I think I would have a breakdown in mine were there...The traffic is FAST!

We ate at a great place for lunch called the California Kitchen (I think) Nikki will correct me if I am wrong. Right out side of the restaurant is a scenic view...No signs like we have here in NH, you just see it. Take a look!













We walked the "Famous" walk of the stars...

















AND...
















We also walked on the "hand prints" and "foot prints" of famous actors and actress' I only was able to get a picture of Mel Gibson's prints...There were too many people milling around and you really couldn't see them clearly (OK...There were some of older people who I didn't know so, why take a picture of them? ;) BUT...This is what I took.








This is also where all the premiers are and the Oscars...The famous "RED CARPET". It looks a little different without the carpeting. Sorry I didn't get a picutre of the whole front of the building. and oh, I forgot to mention...;) there was a premiere that night. They were starting to get ready for it when we were leaving the mall. We came out of the exit and looked to the right and saw....




YES!! It's the red carpet~too cool!!













So, Hollywood was a fun place to go and see so that I can check it off on the "list of things to do" but...The best part of the day was eating the Gelato!!!!!!

GREETINGS my fellow blogger from Sunny So Cal...

so...here I am in the great Golden State, WOW is it HOT!!! but...no it isn't humid (yeah)

We went to the wedding of Mr and Mrs Andrew (Happy) Gilmore yesterday! what a joy to see them and see the love that they share for each other and for God! I truly think that God was honored at the wedding! Here is a picture of the "Happy Couple"

It was a beautiful day...Hey Phil they even had OUR song! ahh...








After the wedding we decided to do something that you can only do in California...we went down to Sunset Blvd. I saw the PACIFIC ocean...and even got wet. A little more than I wanted to also!



Look...






wanna see some more?? OK...











I am not sure what the name of this road is but...YES I really am standing there with the PACIFIC ocean behind me! haha...don't I look like a movie star? ;)














This is Nikki running from the waves...
















here is a picture of the two of us just being cute! :)














AND finally, here I am standing IN the Pacific ocean... YES, those really are my BIG toes!!
















OK...now I feel like Mark with all the pictures, at least I haven't done it every day since I have been here...just today and maybe tomorrow after we go to Hollywood and see all the stars in the walk and the handprints...NO I am not a tourist! ;)

Hope you are all doing well! Good Bye for now!

Heading to the west coast...

For those of you that take the time to read this. (I really don't know if anyone does any more except for Kaptain.) I am heading to So California!! YIPEE... I am going there to see Nikki and find out what keeps her so busy that she can't update her blog! And also to see the "Happy Couple" unite in marriage! I am going in 30 minutes. So, I thought I would take a minute to let you know that when I get home I may put some wedding pictures of Amy and Andrew up for everyone, unless they beat me to it! :) and maybe a picture or 2 of Nikki being so "busy".

Have a great few days, I know I will!!

UPDATE!!

OK...So on my side bar is the link to the Hodges. These are the missionaries that we stayed with while we were in Guatemala (when we were not it the village) It is a new blog, and I am very excited about it and wanted to share it with you so...Check it out.
Update on the home front: summer is here and we hit the ground running when the kids got out of school. Their last day was June 9. We had a great pool party at a friends house to celebrate the end of the school year ice cream sundaes and all (it rained too) but that didn't bother the kids!
We gathered up our things and headed to VA for a few days that was fun! We went before all the rain started. We left Abby there for a couple weeks. She is coming home in a little over a week, boy do I miss her! When we got home it was go go go...Kids over kids going to other houses. Wow, isn't that what it is all about when you are a kid? No worries just mom taxing you all around for the fun of it!
I took Meg strawberry picking today! I can't wait to make the jam!! :) But, unfortunately the strawberries were a little tired of the rain too, so the picking wasn't the best. But we had fun still...
OK... I know but for the handful of you that read this I figured that I would just give a little of what we have been doing and just wanted to let you know that I didn't fall off the face of the earth as I think some other bloggers have!!
Off to the big Wal-mart!



Good Day!!

My devotions brought me to this today!

Col 3:1 If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth.
3 For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory.
5 Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
6 for which things' sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience:
7 wherein ye also once walked, when ye lived in these things;
8 but now do ye also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, railing, shameful speaking out of your mouth:
9 lie not one to another; seeing that ye have put off the old man with his doings,
10 and have put on the new man, that is being renewed unto knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11 where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
12 Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering;
13 forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye:
14 and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.
17 And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 18 Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing in the Lord.
21 Fathers, provoke not your children, that they be not discouraged.
22 Servants, obey in all things them that are your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord:
23 whatsoever ye do, work heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men;
24 knowing that from the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of the inheritance: ye serve the Lord Christ.
25 For he that doeth wrong shall receive again for the wrong that he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.


I just love this chapter (and book) I think thas vs. 17 should be one that ALL Moms memorize~so that while we are doing the mundane things of the day we should remember ALL THINGS!! even if it is the 13th load of laundry!

Do you smell carrots?

Anyone who is anyone knows what that is from!! OK...Really when we were in Guatemala in March that was the "joke of the week" And it was one of those jokes that the more you said it the funnier it was! So, when it was said last night we laughed out loud!! Good stuff...I am not going to turn this into the lost forum though so...If you are reading this BMT, get on it! :)


here are a couple new Clairisms...I thought they were cute and I would share them

Candles translation flowers
puppies translation puddles

I know short and lame! But hey at least I updated it...Oh, we still have a huge puddle in the back yard. Only about a foot deep now, maybe by the weekend it will be gone!

A little rain...

Well, unless you have been under a rock somewhere you have heard of the rain and flooding in NE. Nothing compared to other parts of the states in the past year, but it is unusual for us to get so much rain! We have had more rain in the past week than we usually get in a 4 month period, over 5 inches by Sunday night. I am not sure what the total was when it finally finished.

Craziness in the house, we were all going a little stir crazy, the walls were a little too close, and there were not enough rooms for the kids to be in! So, last night I had it and sent them out in their rain gear (some of them) to run off a little energy! It was sprinkling a little when they went out and about 20 minutes later it was SUNNY!!! Whoa... We all stopped and stared at the sun!

Phil put his row boat into the "pond" that we have in the back yard now, we are thinking of selling our house, it is water front property now, it should sell for a lot! :)

Check out some of the pictures, and just remember that we are pretty high up where we are, there was a lot of devastation in other parts of our little town and state. We didn't have any damage to any of our property!

Where do YOUR convictions lie?

Recent discussion on other blogs really made me think...

How do you feel about different areas in your life? Soap Boxes we all have them. We feel very strongly about an issue, give all of our points why everyone else should believe what WE believe. Don't get me wrong some soap boxes are good! Some however can just be too silly to even fathom!

So, here is the question I am sending out there. Where do your convictions lie? Are you holding the Bible to it's truth. Not taking verses out of context just to fit into your situation? Are you studying The Word to get the answers that you need to find out what God is saying to you. How is He speaking to your heart? Do you feel strongly about something and yet turn the page of the Bible and not think that God really meant to say what was written on that page too? Are we to pick and choose our convictions?

I know people out there believe that women should only wear skirts or dresses. I don't see it in the Bible. I know there are people out there who believe that we should not watch TV. I don't find that in my Bible either. I know there are people out there that don't believe in medicine. I don't see that in my Bible either. I know that the Curse and the Fall of Man are a BIG topic. We need to hold our convictions to what we feel the Bible states, and not just take it to what we feel it should say just for us. Yes, God is speaking to us and we need to listen to Him, we need to be sensitive to what our convictions are and what other people have for convictions as well. And respect one another for our different convictions. NOT try to make the other people feel that they don't know what they are talking about.

Don't get me wrong. Sin is SIN there is not getting around that one. BUT, just because I don't choose to homeschool my children and my neighbor feels that it is the ONLY way, God's way. Their convictions are different from mine. Am I going to try my hardest to convince them that a Christian School (or a public school) is where their kids should be (just because that is our conviction) NO...Just the same I don't want them to tell me that I must homeschool because it is THEIR conviction.

Using my neighbor just as an example my neighbor does not tell me I am wrong by not homeschooling! I don't think she would ever do that. Why? Because we both have different convictions.

Now, if my other neighbor was having trouble with a sin in her life. Let say she is shoplifting (just as an example) I know that she is doing this I have seen her. Do I leave her alone because she has a conviction about it and thinks that it is right for her? NO WAY...She is openly stealing breaking one of the 10 commandments. I would have to talk to her about it. Lovingly, and Biblically! Because it is what the Bible says to do.

So, where do your convictions lie? Are you only on a soap box for your own good or are you on a soap box or Gods Good?

What to post...

Yes, I have been trying to think of what to write about. There are a lot of things I could be on a soap box about BUT I will save you all from that right now! I am trying to think of some cute things that the kids have done, or some wonderful thing we did over vacation. Alas, I am at a loss...I have been cooped up in the house for nearly 2 weeks with sick kids...My mind is getting a little foggy! So, just for the few people who read this, I really don't want you to think that I have abandoned my blog. I have been trying to think of something...Maybe it will happen soon!

Bundles of Love...

Bundles of Love is an extraordinary opportunity to get to minister to the people of Guatemala. You can read more about it here. We are praying that Lord willing Phil (or myself) will take 2 of the girls down in December. Please pray with us, so we can clearly see the Lords direction in this.

As you can figure it out, it is going to be quite a bit of $$ We are trying to think of ways for the girls to earn the money for the trip. We choose as a family not to send out support letters for the money. God always provides and we know that He will! But, we need to help the girls along the way...Any ideas? I would love to have them do some sort of a "work project" to earn the money. Mothers helpers over the summer. Helping someone clean up the yard, house, walk a dog. Get the picture...Any other ideas would be a great help.

I am really looking forward to the girls being able to head down and see how much of the world lives, and witness the power of God firsthand! I think that they will be truly blessed on this trip. And anyone else who goes as well.

The one most important thing that I ask as you read this is to keep us in your prayers while we are planning this trip!