Like Father Like Son

A while back, Marshall got a hand-me-down tie from our good friends Steve and Susan Gauthier. We came across it again while unpacking and organizing and Marshall asked me this past week if he could wear it and be "like Daddy". I promised him that he could.

Now, Taigen dislikes ties. His opinion is that no man in his right mind would invent something that you tie around your neck. You could hang yourself! He thinks a woman invented it so she could yank him in case he gets out of line. Nice. With that in mind, Marshall has never worn a tie and Taigen has not been in a hurry to put one on him.

I forgot my promise to Marshall and got out his Sunday clothes on Saturday night. It was a lovely sweater with an airplane on it that Marshall had gotten from our other good friends the Grays. It had belonged to their son. (I LOVE hand-me-downs.) When Taigen went in to wake Marshall up Sunday morning, he was all dressed in his suit. Marshall noticed Taigen's tie first thing and said, "Mommy said I could wear my tie!" So he did. I couldn't resist getting a shot of father/son. What a cute pair they make.

Kids' Bathroom

We currently have a very long, large brown and black diamond sticker on the wall of the kids' bathroom posing as a wallpaper border and hanging on for dear life. It is a losing battle because I think Taigen and I both strip some off when we are in there. It is bubbling up and irks you like a disgusting sunburn that is peeling. Yuck. The former owners decided to put in a black vanity as well. Interesting. It is in good condition and since I don't have money to be replacing it, we decided to work around it in order to make the bathroom more kid friendly.

We went in search of something at Target. Target stuff is pretty cute and affordable. It had to have some sort of black accent. I was thinking lady bugs, Taigen was thinking just plain bugs. Marshall was thinking airplanes (surprise, surprise) and Shaylen was thinking princesses. The bathroom had to work for both genders since Marshall and Shaylen were going to be sharing it. Taigen came across this really cute penguin shower curtain and bath rug! Perfect! Aren't those penguins so cute? Not to mention cool. It instantly perked up their bathroom and we all love it!

True Thankfulness?

We were having dinner guests last night and I was finishing up the preparations for our smothered burritos. Marshall saw the beans and said, "What are those?"
"Beans." I replied.
"I don't want that. I only want what I like." (Surely he knows by now that this is NOT how we function in our house.)
"You will be thankful for what Mama gives you."
"I will be thankful for the cheese, lettuce and the white stuff [sour cream]...uh...wh...wh...whipped cream, Mama?"

By the way, he did eat everything that was given to him and had seconds. Too cute.

Fellowship Time

Our good friends Brennen and Lydia were able to come up last Friday and spend some time with us. For those of you who don't know "Bren" & "Lyd", Brennen grew up with Taigen out in Washington and then they both ended up going to Bob Jones University. Brennen married Lydia who is a true gem and she and I became fast friends. How ironic that two western boys are now serving in a pastoral capacity within an hour and a half of each other in New England.

Bren and Lyd brought their five munchkins and so our children were elated to have someone new to play with. They absolutely love Robby, Molly, Toby, Timmy and Natalie. I think the kids might have played with every toy they own, but the biggest hit was this toy my sister gave Marshall and Shaylen for Christmas called "Honey Bee Hop." All seven kids got in on the action. The purpose of the game is to jump over the bee as he spins around. The kids however chased the bee around and around and attempted to avoid the bee hitting them on their heels. It kept them entertained for quite some time.

We had a great time. We always love getting together with them! The time flies by.

(By the way, Timmy had a blast with the markers. Can you tell?)

Deck Pics

The snow has finally completely melted off the first two tiers of the deck so that I stepped out onto the deck for the first time today. We were excited to move the grill from the garage to the deck! How fun it will be to sit out here on a cool evening and chat with family & friends.

Mommy's Little Helper

We have in our entryway and dining room this hardwood-looking stuff called Pergo. It is basically laminate flooring. Not the real thing, but who's complaining? I was cleaning it the other day when Shaylen offered to help. Help?!?! Of course she can help. This was the perfect job for her and she did a great job of getting underneath the table and chairs. I think I have found her a permanent chore. She also looked super cute doing it too! So grown up.

A New Dictionary Entry

monthscles - formally muscles; n. A tissue composed of fibers capable of contracting to effect bodily movement.

This morning we were eating our breakfast and I was encouraging Shaylen to drink her milk. I told her it would make her strong. She took a few big swigs and said, "Look, Mommy! I am getting strong. Look at my big muscles!"

After a while, I looked over and Marshall was finishing his milk..again. (We call him the "milk man".) He said, "Mommy look at my monthscles!

Some Serious Fun

Every year the excitement builds for the huge competition between the men of the church. I am not talking about a football game, a basketball tournament or even softball. I'm talking desserts.

When we first heard about the Annual Heritage Baptist Church Spaghetti Dinner and Men's Dessert Contest, we were figuring that there were a few cakes or pies and the occasional chocolate chip cookie or brownie. Little did we know that our men possess quite the talent at making desserts. Buckle your seat belts Betty Crocker, Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray!

Taigen made a batch of Sand Pudding and cleverly put it in a sand bucket and put a sand shovel in it. I thought it was a great idea! When I came downstairs for dinner at the church, Taigen gave me a serious look and said, "I don't stand a chance!"

I thought, "Sure, he's just being modest about it all. Surely he'd win in the creativity category." I said, "Why?"

He replied, "These guys take it seriously. There are some awesome entries in there!" And there were.

We started off with a delicious dinner of spaghetti and meatballs (nicknamed "Power Balls"), salad and garlic bread. While we were finishing up dinner the judges went in and "had" to examine and taste the entries. What a job!

There are three categories: Best Looking, Most Creative and Best Tasting. The best tasting dessert was made by a man in our church who is a taxidermist. I would have never guessed he had it in him, but his dessert was out of this world. I pictured it on the left. It was a divine black forest brownie creation and it was RICH. I loved every bite.

What blew me away though were the following two creations. One by Marshall and Shaylen's Sunday school teacher and the other by our head deacon. They were incredible. They won hands down. The baseball field won for best looking and the castle won for most creative. Aren't these just great?

A dessert contest! Who would've thought. It made for some serious fun!

Time Outside...Finally

Yesterday the weather was nice enough to take the kids outside and let them play in the driveway. They had a glorious time. The sun was shining and it was nice and warm on my back!

Marshall and Shaylen were pretending to fix their bikes and cars and also pretending to be driving on the road. It was cute to see them wave hello to each other as they passed.

Well, so much for the nice weather. Today it has been snowy and rainy. Spring will come eventually to New England.

More Pictures

Since I am already on the computer and posting pictures, I thought I would also give you a look into our living room. Aside from the leafy wallpaper, a few coats of paint and a lack of curtains, I love it. It is bright and cheery and perfect for having people into our home.And here is a picture of the half bath on the first floor.

A Sneak Peek

Here are the first few pictures of our new house. The guest room was going to be used soon after we moved in so I really focused on getting it ready ASAP. If you want to see more of the guest room, you'll just have to come and stay in it yourself! You're more than welcome.

The guest room bathroom still needs a mirror (someone from church is giving us their old one, isn't that sweet?), and we need to have a larger hot water heater installed before you can soak in the 70 gallon tub...unless you want only 30 gallons of hot water and 40 gallons of cold! Brrr!

We are so thankful that God has given us this beautiful room. We have already had the opportunity of using it twice!

Dinner Table Humor

Last night we cleared the table and started loading the dishwasher. We had promised the kids a cookie for dessert. When we took away her plate, Shaylen said, "Are you going to get us new napkins?" (Hers was a bit marred from the baked ziti.)

Taigen told her "no".

She replied, "Now...I know that cookies have crumbs in them, so we will need napkins."

"Snow" Much Fun in March

Yes, this picture is of our Saco, ME driveway..in MARCH. Before we moved, Taigen needed to clear a pathway from the shed so that things could be easily moved from shed to moving truck. While Taigen did that, the kids were able to go out and enjoy the mild weather. It's hard to believe that the snow was almost as high as they are tall, but it actually was higher. (It's hard to tell in the photo, but the snow is up to Shaylen's elbow.) The melting and rain has caused it's level to go down some. We've had a doozy of a winter here in New England, and I've loved every flake!

A Couple Pics

We finally got our computer back and so many of you have gotten our updated email and address. Thankfully, the Geek Squad was able to fix our computer for no charge (other than the diagnostic fee!). That is a huge blessing.

Here are a couple of pictures to tide you over until I have some time to adequately post something of significance. To the left is a picture of one of the two brownies our friend Amy Meroff made for us. They were delicious and the moving crew enjoyed them as well!

The following two pictures are to give you a better perspective to what we woke up to on Saturday, March 22nd. Thankfully, Jason, Joni and Janelle came to help us. Jason got our computer all set up and helped move heavy items. Joni did the entire dining room, including the hutch! Janelle conquered the kids' closets and rooms. What a huge blessing they were/are to us!

Marshall in the basementThe living room

We're In!!!

Well, we're in, but things are not quite set up yet. Let's just say that we're functioning within the house but accumulating quite the mountain of cardboard in the garage. Taigen was able to clear out at least one side of the garage so that the van could fit in. There is much more to do.

We had a huge crew from Cornerstone in Scarborough to help us load up the two, yes two trucks up in Saco and another huge crew down here to help unload. The ladies of our church came at two o'clock and scoured the house so that when we got the keys after our four o'clock closing we could come and unload. The place looked great and smelled great too.

The kids have transitioned really well. Marshall was a bit fearful in his new room the first night but once Taigen found his really bright nightlight, all was well.

Our computer didn't make the transition well. It wasn't recognizing the USB ports or the LAN connections, so I am temporarily working from the church's laptop. We're hoping Best Buy's Geek Squad can fix it soon!

We are still accessing our email from the old email address, but eventually, when we have our computer and Outlook Express again, I will send out a mass email with our new email address.

Thank you for your prayers.

Looking Ahead

The next time I will post something for the blog, we will be in our new house!!! The computer is going to be packed up late tonight or early tomorrow. Check in next Monday for an update! Thanks for your prayers.

Almost There

We got our radon removal system installed last Tuesday. After he left we had to place two containers out to re-measure our levels in the basement. We were able to send those off on Saturday. We got the results back today and they are well below the EPA's standards. Praise the Lord that this will be acceptable to our buyers and we can proceed with our Friday closing.

We have final paperwork to get all in order, but things are looking great for our four o'clock closing in NH as well. Thank you for your well wishes and prayers. We start loading the moving truck at 2 o'clock Thursday.

Only a Few More Days

We were thrilled to get into the car on Sunday night and know that it was our LAST Sunday commuting to and from Maine and spending the whole day away from home. What a wonderful thought. We have last minute paperwork and packing to get done. Pray for us.

If You Give A Munchkin A Muffin

Julia Pileggi after enjoying one of my chocolate chip muffins! I could just gobble her up!

Bare Necessities

Earlier this week Joni gave me a call and asked if I could use some help on Friday. Could I use some help? Of course I could!!! Marshall and Shaylen were elated to have Enzo and Julia come up and play with them.

As usual the basement and living room looked like a bomb went off with toys scattered every which way. What was abnormal was that the rest of the house matched it. We tackled and evaluated the necessity of every thing in sight. If it wasn't needed, it got boxed up.

After school, Janelle came over and joined the chaos. She boxed things up and wiped things down and we all tried hard to keep an eye on the kids and keep Julia out of things that weren't child-proofed.

My cardboard jungle is growing by leaps and bounds but I am a whole lot more prepared for moving day. Thanks Joni and Janelle!

Marshall and Enzo are enjoying the sound of spatulas on my steamer and also love watching the end of one spatula go flying every so often.

Enzo brought one of his hats and Shaylen loved wearing it all day.