Give Me Your Two Cents

Cornerstone Baptist Church in Scarborough, ME was having Dr. Jerry Sivnksty and his wife this week for special services. We were able to go up last night to see the Sivnksty's and hear him preach. Being up at Cornerstone also affords us the opportunity to see our Maine "family". It's always so good to reconnect with them.

I did learn from several of you that are up there that you look at the blog. Hooray! I'm glad you found us. A couple of you mentioned that you've wanted to leave a comment on some of the posts but didn't know how. It's so easy! Let me give you some quick tips so that you can give me your two cents when you want to. I'm sure there are others that have had the same question, but haven't been brave enough to say so...

1. Go to the bottom of the specific post and click on the word "comments".









2. A new window will appear and look like this. Write your two cents.












3. Choose which "ID" you'd like to post as. Many of you don't have a blogger account, you could either sign up for one (it's free!), or you can just click on "Anonymous". If you do...just write your first name at the end of your comment (or at least come up with some code name that I'll understand so I know who's writing).









4.Click "publish".









And there you have it! Welcome to the world of blogging!

Thank you so much for your kind words about the blog. I'm so thankful that it seems you're enjoying it as much as I am doing it. Let me know if there is ever any way I can improve.

Belly Laugh

I wish you could have heard Shaylen's chuckle this morning when we were outside. I was trying to get a picture of her and she was squinting/scowling because of the sunshine. I said to her, "Smile, Shaylen. You look like a Grumpy Gus!" That tickled her funny bone so much and she laughed and laughed. I caught it all on camera. She cracks me up!

Inquiring Minds

Dad and Cathy gave the kids this Leap Pad shortly before we moved and Marshall and Shaylen figured it out very quickly. There's one book/cartridge set that emphasizes blends (sh, br, sp, sn, sl, etc.) and Shaylen picked up on it right away. I can ask her how a certain word starts and she can tell me the blend most of the time! Hooray for Leap Frog.

Making Themselves At Home

I thought I would share a few more pics of the "friends" that came to visit this morning. Some have even been so bold as to come onto the deck and snatch a few grains that Marshall left there yesterday.

If any of you have an idea of what kind of birds these are, please leave a comment or email me. I'm thinking the last one is a cardinal, but I wouldn't guarantee anything because I'm clueless when it comes to birds. It sure is fun however, to watch for them as I go about my business.

Note: The photos are a bit grainy because I took them from inside the house, through the glass patio door and then zoomed in via the camera software. It's not too bad though. Gotta love technology!

"Feed the Birds"

I've had this famous song from Mary Poppins stuck in my head since yesterday! When we moved in to this house, we noticed that we have a really nice bird feeder in our backyard. It is built in such a way so that squirrels cannot get the seeds at all. I looked at the store yesterday and saw that bird seed isn't that expensive and so the kids and I loaded it up into our cart.

The feeder had been empty for over a year and I hoped that it wouldn't take long for the birds to find out that I had refilled it. It didn't. This morning after my walk, I noticed a lot of fluttering in the backyard and I took a peek. There were about a half a dozen Chickadees flitting back and forth to the feeder. When I woke up the kids this morning, I told them that we had special visitors in our backyard. They were so excited to watch them after they ate their breakfast. There's been other kinds of birds going back and forth, but I don't know their names. I hear them chirping in the trees and think of what a joy they bring for mere "tuppence a bag".

Busy Monday

Yesterday was so nice (practically a heat wave for New England...a whopping 50 degrees!) that Taigen decided to tackle Shaylen's room. She had requested that we color her room green. Of course, her favorite is grass green, and since I'm not going to paint it that, we compromised and went with the "Dried Parsley" green from our Saco basement. It goes well with the green in her curtains and bedspread.

Taigen opened up her windows and I took the kids outside in order to keep them from getting paint on themselves and accidentally ruining Taigen's work. Here are the before and after.

Lest you think that her room didn't look that bad, you cannot really see the dozens of little holes in the wall and the nine years of scuff marks and hand prints on the wall. The paint really cleaned things up...it always does.

I on the other hand took the kids on an "Explore" of the backyard. It is all woodsy and I was able to show them the different textures of the evergreen trees in the back (some are soft and others are so prickly!), teach them what moss was and also point out new growth. They said, "That means it is finally spring!"

While they ran around with their mops and brooms, I raked out some of the flower beds on our property and gave some of the ratty looking bushes a trim. I'm paying the price for it today because my hands are actually swollen around the meaty part of my thumbs! But the flower beds look good. Judging from the amount of leaves on some of the flower beds, those leaves had been there for quite some time! I discovered a host of new growth. I'm unsure what everything is, but we'll soon find out.

Here are a few of the shots from yesterday.

I can finally see all the steps on the deck.

This is part of the biggest "flower bed" that I raked out. I'm thinking this one hadn't been done in years. I actually found the remnants of a small gravel path through it. Shaylen says that this bench is just like Cinderella's. I had to think about the movie for a bit, but she's right!

The kids of course had a great time. They "took naps" in the leaves I had raked and piled up (a really gross thought for me and odd seeing how Marshall is terrified of bugs right now), played baseball, basketball, kickball and golf, went on a walk for the mail (almost a mile and a half walk), had a "picnic" with their sippy cups and played hide-and-seek. We are just so thankful for this wonderful home that God has given us.

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."