2nd Grade School Photo Sneak Peek

Yesterday the weather was beautiful. I had been planning on taking the kids' photos for 2nd grade when the leaves were at peak, but the weather and our schedules didn't always cooperate. Finally, yesterday I had the good weather and the time to throw the kids in somewhat coordinated outfits and snap up a couple of pictures. I won't let you see all of them (especially the ones some of you might be receiving soon), but I will let you have this little sneak peek. I typically don't let the kids make faces, but in order to get the humor in the shoot (and natural smiles), I let them have a bit of fun.

The Continuing Cat Saga

Once upon a time there was a mama cat that decided to live under the deck in the backyard that belonged to a wonderful family. This suited the family because they didn't particularly care for mice.

Mice, you say?

Well, the mice had also, for a time, taken up lodging under the deck and occasionally attempted living within the house adjacent to the aforementioned deck. This resulted in traps, poison and horrific ends. (I shall not go into detail. There might be children reading this tale.)

However, when the new tenants (i.e. the cats) moved in, the mice moved out, or met with some unsavory...(well, at least for the mice it was unsavory) uh, shall we say..."circumstances." This pleased the family who owned the deck and the cats have been welcome stay in their Deck Abode ever since.

The End...kindof.

The cats still continue to linger around. We don't see them for the most part. They are very skittish around us, so don't get your hopes up that we're going to get one and lovey-dove on it. Every once in a while we'll throw out an unused leftover of chicken or pork and they will hesitantly come up and eat it. Today however, I looked out on the deck and the cutest one, the runt of the litter was just sitting there looking in our patio doors. There were some "dead" leftovers ("dead" meaning they were still fine, but just past their prime...I wouldn't purposely try and make the cats sick! I don't dislike pets that much.) so I cut it up, placed it on a plate and put it out. He scooted a little bit away, but quickly came back to eat up the snack I provided. He lingered for the rest of the afternoon which is very rare. After he munched, he must've been warm, full and content because he hopped up onto the railing and fell asleep. The kids LOVED it and enjoyed checking in after swimming lessons, during their piano practice, and after dinner tonight.

The kids have named him/her "Oreo." I know, I know, they've named it, which is just as good as having a pet. Let's hope they're content with keeping this relationship at this level. No litter boxes, no cat food, no vet bills, no shed hair, no allergies...

Time Flying By

May I say that time has flown since last Wednesday? And can you believe that this Sunday marks the end of October? Christmas decorations are already out in stores and soon I'll be baking for Thanksgiving!

On Saturday, the kids and I piled into the van and headed down to Jason and Joni's for Enzo's sixth birthday mini-party. Since we needed to get back early Saturday evening in order to be ready for church Sunday, we went down early and caught his soccer game. This kid is good. Either that or he was just excited that we were there to watch him play his game. Regardless, he did a great job. I got to talking so I have no clue who won, but Enzo enjoyed doing his part.

We came back and ate lunch. The kids played hard and then we celebrated by digging into a birthday cookie that Joni had made and decorated. We wouldn't be there for the official party that night, so Joni had made two cookies: one to celebrate with us and one to celebrate with the rest of the gang that was coming that night. Wasn't that sweet?

Jason and Joni are somewhat in a limbo situation. Their house was under contract and ready to close on when the potential buyer backed out due to financing. So, 75% of their stuff is packed up. This was made very evident when they went to light Enzo's candle. There were no matches and no butane lighters. Jason pulled out a small blow torch. It was so funny to see. When we started singing, Joni accidentally blew out the candle so Jason had to pull out the torch again to re-light it. I laughed so hard. You had to be there. Anyway, we're praying for the sale of Jason and Joni's house. This needs to happen soon too. Why? Well, I am SO thankful to say that Jason applied for and received a really great research-y, biology, science-y type job right in DOVER!!! He starts next week, so there is a sense of urgency. Would you pray with me about this? We are eager to have them near.

This past Monday night and Tuesday, we headed up to Maine for the FBF Regional Conference. The theme for this conference was Spiritual Discernment in Worship and Music. Dr. Mark Minnick was the keynote speaker. He was our pastor while we were down at BJU and we enjoyed learning under him so much. It was great to see him again. Taigen and I were able to sing Monday night and Tuesday morning, and then Taigen sang a solo on Tuesday afternoon. I was given the opportunity to speak for a ladies' session and I enjoyed the study that this involved. The kids stayed with our friends, the Gauthiers during the day, so they were able to play with friends, get spoiled by Sue's great cooking and join us for the evening service on Tuesday. It was a busy two days, but worth every bit of it. I felt like I was eating steak while listening to the preaching. Okay...steak and some rich dessert too! If you want to listen to the sermons, you can click on this link. Be ready to sit with your Bible, a pad of paper and a pen because you're going to need it. The whole conference was so encouraging.

Coppal House Corn Maze

Every year, our homeschool group takes a trip to Coppal House Farm to go through their corn maze. The kids really enjoy it and it makes for some really great photos. Every year the farm has a different picture that has been carved out of their corn field. Our first year was the dragonfly. In 2009, they had the skunk and this year's theme was the Great Horned Owl. The kids head into the maze and get clues as to which direction to go by answering clues correctly. The top teams this year made it through in 15 minutes. After the first time through, the kids all went through many more times and some even tried to get lost. Marshall and Shaylen were actually split up this year (with absolutely no tears at the thought). I went through with Marshall's team and Shaylen got to go through with her dear friend (and one of our babysitters)Ellen. Marshall was excited because he was on Paul's team (Ellen's brother). All in all, it was a fabulous, sunny day and a perfect field trip. I love these pictures below of Marshall and Shaylen (especially with the chocolate remnants of a cookie on Shaylen's face.)

Leaf Peepin' Via the Internet

Someone commented that I keep talking about the fall colors but haven't shown any pictures of them. I deliberately took photos of the foliage today on our field trip through a local corn maze (that post will probably come tomorrow at some point).

We just recently had a nor'easter blow through here so I think some of the vibrancy was lost in the storm, but you can still get the jist of just how beautiful it is here. Add to this beauty some crisp air and some fresh-pressed apple "cidah" and you have New England. Don't you just want to come and visit?

A New Fall Tradition?

When Jan Reimers was here for our Young(er) Pastor's Wives Mini Conference, she left a small gift for me. In the bag was a really nice cookie cutter in the shape of a leaf, some fall sprinkles and a leaf candy dish. I was really excited to receive these because I was actually looking for a leaf cookie cutter! Taigen had gone to Michael's and found another fall-type set for me so we had plenty of variety. We had plans to make sour cream cookies while Dad and Cathy were here, but we ran out of time. I had promised the kids that we would make these, so I finally fulfilled my promise yesterday.

Boy, did we make a mess! There were bowls, cups, spoons, knives, flour, powdered sugar, sprinkles, food coloring droppers, cookie cutters, frosting tips & bags and baking sheets all over my island and in the kitchen sink. Of course, some of it spilled onto the floor too. It's overwhelming when you look at the mess to clean up, but of course we had gobs of fun while in the middle of our creative project.

I loved using the fall colors to decorate our leaf and acorn cookies. We made sure to use only colors that we would have found in our area. If you have never seen New England in the fall, you need to come. You'll find reds, greens (dark green from the evergreens and lime green on the leaves), yellows, oranges, rusts and browns. It is spectacular! You really need to come and see it for yourself. Be sure to book the Jooses' Bed and Blessing ahead of time (around Columbus Day is always best).

The cookies turned out great. We used toothpicks this time so that we could get a swirly, vein-y look. AND, I might add, they tasted wonderful too. I took some to my ladies' meeting last night and they were devoured. What a wonderful afternoon with the kids. It just might be the start of a new tradition.

Our Beautiful Church (Inside and Out)

I love our church. By that statement I mean our people. They are a great group of friends. Can you believe that we've been serving at Heritage for three years? Taigen and I marked our third year here on Sunday, August 29th. We are so thankful to be serving in Dover. The end of August marks another special time too. Way back in 2000 we pulled our moving van into Maine to begin serving at Cornerstone in Scarborough. I believe our first Sunday there was August 27th. That means that we've been in full-time ministry for 10 years. Time sure has flown! Of course every ministry has it's bumps, but the tremendous joy in serving the Lord in this way quickly blots them out. I cannot imagine doing anything else.

On Saturday after apple picking, we went to the church to get work done. It was such a beautiful day, I decided to get an updated picture of the church. It is such a beautiful building, inside and out, but it's our church family that makes it so special to us.

A Bushel and a Peck

I've been thinking of a snippet of a song my parents used to sing to me when I was a kid. This is all I know because it's all I ever heard. It goes something like this:

I love you,
A bushel and a peck,
A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck,
A hug around the neck and a barrel and a heap.
A barrel and a heap and a talkin' in my sleep about you.
About you.
I love you,
A bushel and a peck.
You bet your pretty neck I do!

Why am I singing this song? Well, because on Saturday the kids, Taigen and I picked a half of a bushel of Golden Delcious and a peck of Empire apples. Our church folks got together at Butternut Farms on Saturday morning for this fun activity. It was a little late in the season for this, but we had a great time nonetheless.

After apple picking, Taigen took a long, scenic route to the church so that we could enjoy some of the fall foliage. The leaves' colors are just popping! It is gorgeous this time of year.

When we came home from getting our work done at church, Taigen planned on mowing the lawn. I rolled up my sleeves, put my apron on and got busy making homemade applesauce with lots of cinnamon. The house smelled amazing. I must say, the applesauce turned out sooooo good. I used a new contraption that Cathy bought me while she was here. It's a fancy-schmancy food mill that works like a dream. I foresee apple picking in my future for many years to come. Too bad I didn't have it when the twins were babies. It would have made my baby-food making a whole lot easier!

Pampering the Peanut

I almost forgot to post about this! Shaylen had been wanting to go into the local beauty supply store for a while now so that she could pick out a fingernail polish. She usually isn't very froofy and frilly, but when it comes to pretty toes, Shaylen loves this girly activity! I'm looking forward to the day when we go and grab a Starbucks and then head over to get pedicures together.

We all marched into the store and Shaylen made sure she picked out just the right color. Then, Friday morning, Cathy patiently worked on Shaylen's toes & fingers until they were picture perfect...and hot pink.

Memories Made, Photos Taken

A photographer that I know said recently that "A photograph is neither taken nor seized by force. It offers itself up. It is the photo that takes you. One must not take photos." Well, unfortunately for Dad and Cathy, I had to take photos everywhere I went. I want memories to place in photo books so that we can look back and remember these times forever. I'm not a photographer, but I am a memory-maker/snatcher.

We snapped up a few memories in the yard on Friday morning before the van was done. You might be wondering why they are all in black and white. That's because, like I said, I am not a photographer. A real photographer would have remembered to look at the settings on his/her camera and would have changed it from "Indoor" to "Auto" or "Portrait" before snapping up over two dozen photos. So, the color on them was bad, but they made for some pretty nice black and white ones (with a little help in my editing software) for my photo books.

Beauty School Candidates

Maybe the kids were a little wound up after a trip to the candy shop? Either that, or Grandpa was too tired to really care.

A Change of Plans

On Thursday we thought we would take a relaxing, short trip up the highway to check out some fall foliage. It is gorgeous this time of year and a trip to New England wouldn't be complete without some Leaf Peepin'! We planned on just driving north until we got tired of it, eat some lunch and then drive back. We didn't want another long road trip since we already had gotten in several of those. No use in taking a vacation if you're so busy you need a vacation after your vacation, right?

On our way up, Cathy spotted an old diner (complete with a candy shop next door) off to the left of the road and said that it looked like a great place to eat. We hadn't even driven that far, but the clock indicated that it was past lunchtime. We found a place to turn around and stopped in.

The Miss Wakefield Diner is just a hole-in-the-wall place with incredible food with lots of nostalgia too. We ordered comfort food and enjoyed a relaxing lunch. When they brought our check they also gave us a 10% coupon to the candy shop. This was great because Cathy had already decided to head on in there after lunch.

The shop looks deceptively small on the outside, but inside there are three rooms chock-o-block full of candy. I cannot imagine how many different kinds there are to choose from. You should have seen the eyes of Marshall and Shaylen! It was so hard for them to decide. Marshall finally chose gummy bears and Shaylen chose orange flavored gumdrops in the shape of an orange slice. Those are so good! (Side Note: My Grandma LeDoux used to have those at her house all the time in a special jar. Now Dad and Cathy have that same jar in their house and it always contains orange slices.)

After making our selections, we hopped into the van and started back up north to catch that foliage. We didn't make it that far until the van started making a queer noise. Now, several of you know that our van has lately been making lots of noises (struts & steering), but this was a new one. I told Cathy, "Taigen will be thrilled to know that the van is making yet another noise." When we stopped temporarily for a construction zone, the noise got louder and there was a funny smell accompanying it. We pulled off and Dad got out to check under the hood. It didn't look good: fan belt.

Our plan now was to not pass GO, not collect $200 OR take a peak at the fall foliage up north. We were to take it back down the highway to the nearest auto mechanic. I turned around and started driving for home when the temperature gauge started inching up. This made me very apprehensive about driving. Cathy suggested Dad drive. Gladly, I got out and let Dad take over the wheel and he coaxed the van back home by switching between "Drive" and "Neutral." We pulled into the first auto shop that we saw and the van was smoking. Thankfully they were open, honest and available. He was going to try and have it done by that night. (It ended up being done at around noon today...but we weren't complaining at all. Our former mechanic in Somersworth would have taken days!) I'm not sure what all was wrong with the van, but I remember him saying something about the fan belt falling apart and the water pump seizing (whatever that means...I just know that the guy said he couldn't move anything on that part and that we were very lucky to make it back down and into the shop).

Our day was longer than we anticipated, but having Dad and Cathy there made it so much more enjoyable (and in much more capable hands).

Back in the Old Days

While Dad was here, he had the twins walk on his back. This can feel quite good if you've got a few kinks to work out (Of course, the kids aren't yet 60 pounds...who knows where that line is between "feeling good" and "torture?"). I remember doing this as a kid with Dad when I was their age. Seeing my own kids participate brought back some wonderful memories.

Tour de Maine

One of the things that Cathy really wanted to do while in New England was take a ferry over to Peaks Island, ME. She had a truckload of ideas to fulfill! She wanted Taigen to be able to enjoy this day with us, so that meant Monday was the day. Fortunately for us, there was good weather forecasted.

With camera in hand, we drove up I-95. The fall foliage wasn't yet at its peak, but that didn't stop Dad and Cathy from snapping up photos left and right. It is a beautiful drive and I love that there are no billboards!

We arrived at the Old Port shortly after 9am in order to catch the 9:30 ferry. One of the many advertised stops at Peaks Island was a restaurant famous for their cinnamon rolls. Cathy said that we had to stop there first. We abstained from breakfast at home, eager to sample these delectable delights! However, when we got off the ferry, we soon realized that everything was closed up. This was not because of the time of day, but more because of the time of year! No one was willing to let us take a tour, no restaurants were open, so we had to settle for an itty-bitty deli with a minuscule menu. Poor Cathy!

Not to be discouraged, we thought about our next plan of action. Fortunately, the deli had wi-fi so I was able to research a few things on my iTouch while waiting for the 11:15 ferry.

After getting back off the ferry, we spotted a trolley tour of Portland. This turned out to be a wonderful choice! We saw a lot more of Portland than we ever could have just driving around (without getting lost). We saw Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's home, Victoria Mansion, and many other unique areas downtown. After seeing all of the important sights of Portland (including the ever famous Portland Head Light), we went to dinner there in the Old Port and ate Brazilian style! We walked out well-fed, but with just a little bit of room to eat at Martel's Ice Cream in Saco, ME. It was a wonderful day, full of spoiling from Dad and Cathy.