Special Project: Made With Love

Marshall and Shaylen are turning into great readers. Of course, I'm biased, but for being just over six years old (Actually 6 years, 3 months and 25 days...but who's counting, right?), they're doing a really great job. One thing that they have really enjoyed doing lately is taking their big-kid Bibles to Sunday school, church, children's church and then bringing them back home to use during school. They had permission to do it before (they got the Bibles for Christmas last year from Grandma Sherry), but they didn't really have the ability to read it.

Now, not only can they read it, but they can read it with a little more confidence. Of course, they still have trouble with words like "Hezekiah," "propitiation" and "Jehoshaphat," but for the most part they're enjoying this new found joy. (That's something we want to capitalize on!) With the extra mileage that the Bibles were getting, I realized that we had better get Bible covers for them. I looked online just over two weeks ago and didn't see anything that really struck me. Why not ask Cathy (my step-mom) to make some? She had made Shaylen's baby doll a gazillion outfits for Christmas, surely a Bible cover would be easy, right?

I emailed her at work and asked if this would be something that she would be interested in and have time for. She jumped at the chance! I emailed her the dimensions and by the end of the week I had Shaylen's. Can you believe it? I snuck up to the classroom and tried it on for size. It fit perfectly. Cathy hadn't found any material that she really liked for Marshall so she had special ordered it. Wasn't that so nice? She whipped that Bible cover out likety-split and we had it in our possession on Thursday. I think I'll rename Cathy the "Sewing Fairy!" Not only did she make the covers, but also handles, a velcro closure (which is pretty quiet by the way...and added bonus for church services, in my opinion), a pocket for their pen or pencil AND a matching bookmark!!!

I put both Bible covers on and placed them in their desks for Friday morning's classes. We told them that there was a surprise waiting for them. Boy were they surprised! Marshall hugged his Bible over and over and was so excited that Grandma Cathy "even put [his] favorite kind of airplane on it (a passenger jet)." Shaylen loved all of the sparkly butterflies and the matching bookmark. They are so excited to carry them around safely. At church on Sunday they enjoyed showing them to their Sunday school teacher and children's church teachers. During the day, I keep catching them lovingly looking at the covers and opening and closing them.

What a special present for them to treasure for years and years. These Bible covers were made with so much love. Thank you Grandma Cathy!

Refreshing

Last night and today we were refreshed with a special time around God's Word and good friends at Trinity Baptist Church's annual Pastors & Wives' Dinner (Friday night) and Leadership Conference (today). It was a great meeting this year. We were especially excited because we were going to be able to reconnect with Mike and Mark Herbster and their older brother Matt. Matt and Julie Herbster (from the Wild's Christian Camp) were up from NC. Mike & Amy (the piano playing Amy...sorry that's the only way some of you can tell them apart as you read this) and Mark flew all the way out to NH from California where they are getting ready to hold meetings in San Leandro. What a treat!

The three guys did a sacred concert and all five of the Herbsters held workshops today. I only had two regrets: One, that Mark's Amy couldn't be here as well, and secondly, that I couldn't listen to each of their workshops. I cannot say enough how much our week of meetings with Mark, Mike and their families meant to me. It was a great shot in the arm.


Marshall and Shaylen stayed at home with our friends, the O'Lones. I can officially say that they were spoiled rotten. I'm wondering who had more fun: Daniel & Elisabeth or the kids. Seems like they stayed busy and enjoyed each other's company.

Woodwinds and...Real Men Wear What?

One day during our music unit, the curriculum discussed woodwinds. There was a discussion on clarinets, flutes, saxophones, bassoons, oboes and piccolos. The kids were able to see these instruments and hear them. Marshall wrote, "The clarinet is very dark because it is made of wood." (At least they used to be...hence "woodwind") "It sounds kind of low. They use a reed to make a sound. They push buttons to make a melody."

There were wide eyes however when the discussion turned to bagpipes. When they got to see and hear them, imagine Marshall and Shaylen's surprise when there were many men, all decked out in different kilts, playing away! They could hardly contain their laughter. In fact, they didn't contain it, they laughed heartily. Now of course, being the good Mama that I am, I explained why these men wear skirts (all the while swallowing my own laughter and smirks). It didn't help, they were still howling.

I love what Shaylen said in her composition, "The Bagpipe sounds like a sick duck. It is very hard to play. The man looked funny. They wore a funny hat and a special skirt called a kilt. The Bagpipes are very loud."

I'm not expecting to have to pay for bagpipe lessons any time soon. Whew.

Little Eyes Are Watching

We've started a new unit in our Phonics and English curriculum and it's all about music. I must say that I've been looking forward to this unit for quite some time. No big surprise there. It is also no big surprise that Marshall and Shaylen love it as well. In a family like ours, you can't help but be musical.

So far in this unit we've learned about the harpsichord & piano, strings, woodwinds, brass, harp, percussion, whistles, conductors and even music boxes (there may be more, but I've forgotten). I love how the curriculum links composition, phonics, English, handwriting and reading all together within the unit. I could not be happier with BJU Press (unfortunately, I'm not making any money from that free plug, though that would be nice).

One day the twins were asked to write about if they had ever been to a concert or had ever watched anyone play an instrument. They have been to concerts and recitals, but what they immediately thought of were the various musicians that help out with the worship services at church. What a neat thought, since music directed toward God in reverent worship is the most important anyway. (Note: Marshalls is on the left, Shaylen's is on the right.)

I Won't Grow Up! But Just In Case...

The kids have been talking for quite some time about what they want to be when they grow up. I bet each and every one of you know what Marshall wants to be. Even if you've only read this blog for a short amount of time, you know. Our church found out quickly too. Yes, Marshall wants to be a pilot. He rarely varies from that though I have heard him say once that he would be an organist and once a pastor like Daddy, but he always comes back to his airplanes. This day's composition reads "When I am grown up I will be a pilot. I will fly a Boeing 707."

Shaylen has longed for piano lessons for quite some time. She loved helping me turn pages when I was still playing for the choir. Shaylen watched Mrs. Amy (Beaver) Herbster with amazement when she played the piano. Imagine playing without any music! That motivated her even more. Shaylen's composition says, "I want to be a pianist when I grow up. I'm sure it will be fun. I know I'll like it." We're hoping to start them both this coming fall. We'll see if she still thinks it is "fun" then. I'm sure hoping so.

Evidence of Spring

Couldn't resist posting this picture of Shaylen from Sunday morning. Aunt Karen had sent this dress quite a while ago but it's definitely a Spring dress. It's been in her box of Spring/Summer stuff just waiting for warmer weather.

Even though the weather this weekend was perfect, today it's back to cold with a mix of rain and snow.

Entertainment in the Ring

This day the kids were to imagine that they were the ones IN the circus. They were to describe what they were doing or what they were wearing.

Shaylen's composition (on the left) says, "I am doing a clown show. And one was a knight and the other was a police. And I was the knight. I was shooting cannon balls at another clown. And the crowd was clapping."

Marshall's reads: "My clothes have green and red and blue and brown and purple and pink and orange and black dots!!!"

Circus Compositons

The kids have finished up a circus unit in Phonics and English and I thought I would post a few of their compositions that they did.

On this particular day, they were to write an invitation to a circus that they were going to host in our living room. They decided to invite Daddy.

Shaylen's says, "Dear Daddy I am planning a circus inside. Come see it after dinner. It will be the stuffed animals."

Marshall's says, "Dear Daddy, Please come to my circus. There will be tricks! Lumpy will stand on his trunk. Little Bongo will stand on his nose. Baby Snoopy will stand on his ear. George will stand on his head!"

(Remember, you can click on the photos to view them in larger format. Just click your back browser button to bring you back to the blog.)

Revolving Doors?

If you saw our house this past weekend and week-beginning, you might have thought that instead of a front door, we would do better to install a revolving door. While for some the thought of house guests would be overwhelming, we love it. The only "pressure" is making sure the toilets, tubs and towels are clean and the dust has been shooed away. We had four separate families in our house within the past seven days. We love the conversation, good food and lots of fun that it brings.

The Pileggi's were able to come up this past weekend and stay with us. Our friends, the Gauthiers, were holding their annual Sugarin' Party and we (the kids, Pileggis and me) were all going to head up there for the day on Saturday. It was a wonderful weekend, filled with great times and great memories. (8 minute showers, evening cat naps or chocolate chip cookies, anyone?) Take a peek at Lily at the top left. She is growing so much and gets cuter every day.

You might have noticed that Janelle wasn't in the equation this weekend. Isn't she always in the picture when the Pileggis are here? Well, she wasn't here because she was over in Michigan adding an especially sparkly accessory to her hand. Yes, you heard that right. She got engaged! We are all so very excited (and contemplating the Puffs investment). Jon and Janelle were originally not going to put pics and news on Facebook, but I think they couldn't contain their joy because they broke down and posted something. That means I can post one itty-bitty picture here on the left, right? Don't they look so cute together?!?!

Sorry it's been a while since I posted. My prayer warriors probably have thought that I fell off the face of this earth, but really, it's just that cleaning those toilets, sweeping, mopping, fixing dinner, doing laundry, enjoying fellowship, etc. tend to take priority over blogging. Sorry Marie and Gramylis! I'll try to do better.

Men's Annual Dessert Contest

The much-anticipated Men's Annual Dessert Contest was today. Taigen has been scheming and plotting for months. I had come across a foodie blog a while back and spotted a couple of desserts that looked fabulous. I forwarded the link to Taigen and he started drooling. When it came time to start baking, Taigen revisited the blog and decided on a Reese's Peanut Butter Cake.

Wow. That's all that I can say. It was SO good.

The men from Heritage didn't hold anything back again this year. Remember the desserts from last year and the year before? These guys take a contest seriously. They looked and tasted (at least the one's I sampled) incredible. Sooooo, without further ado, here are pics of this year's winners:

Best Looking: Campfire Cake by Michael (one of our teens)

Most Creative: Vegetable Cake by Allan Bishop

Best Tasting: Reese's Cake by Taigen. Hooray!

The Brave Little Peanut

When Shaylen's first tooth came out, we knew that her second one (right beside it) wouldn't last much longer either. I've been keeping tabs on it for the past couple of days because it was leaning further and further out of her gums.

Today I wiggled it and realized that it was holding on for dear life. I figured it would come out today, possibly in breakfast, lunch or supper if I didn't intervene. I had offered to pull it out like a good and loving mother (even though I didn't want to), but Shaylen courteously declined. At least she knew it was an option. If she started not eating like her brother did, I was going to have to step in and get the thing out of there.

After a make-up swim class today I took the kids to the store to pick up a few items we needed. I let Shaylen pick out her favorite kind of ice cream, just in case her tooth came out. I was hoping that would be appealing, thus motivating her to be proactive in this whole tooth extraction thing. She is, after all, our Carb Queen. Why not make that work for me, hmmm?

Tonight she told Taigen that she might let us pull it out. This was at 4:00pm and Taigen was getting ready to go and meet Jason for a Celtics game. I said, "Unless she has plans on you pulling it, like...right now, it's going to have to be me." (You all know how I cringe at the thought.) He laughed.

After Taigen left, Shaylen came downstairs worried that she would eat the tooth. I took a deep breath, pulled up my boot straps, and offered to help her get it over with.

The option of numbing her gums appealed to her. I told her that I would put the Ora-jel on and then let her wiggle it as much as she could. She did this, thus making my job of pulling much easier. (I was secretly hoping I wouldn't even have to touch it!) We numbed it once more for good measure, she closed her eyes and it practically fell out into my fingers. It was painless and, surprisingly all done without a shedding of a tear. What a brave girl. She looks so cute!

Spring is Just Around the Corner

It seems odd that it's mid-March and there is only a very small, itty-bitty, minute chunk of snow left on our entire property. Maybe "odd" isn't the right word. Maybe "sad" should be substituted instead. I think I prefer the feet upon feet of snow slowly defrosting well into April. I remember having the kids change out of their spring-y Easter outfits into snow gear in order to sled in our friends' yard our first Easter down here.


The kids haven't seemed to mind the warmer weather though. We went outside this week and played Pick Up Sticks. No, not the game with the multi-colored oversized toothpicks. We picked up the majority of the sticks and pinecones that had gotten blown down into our yard after the big storm. I raked the leaves out of the flower beds and trimmed down my clematis vine to prepare it for growth this year. Taigen took the Christmas lights down from our front trees. After we were done working we decided to go exploring in the back woods to check out all the big pine trees that had been blown over. It's amazing how the winds just snapped trees in two!


We were able to get the kids' bicycles down from the garage. Marshall was concerned that he might not remember how to ride it, but of course he did. I think Shaylen is considering taking those training wheels off and giving it a go once again, but not quite yet. Maybe when things warm up a bit more.

Missionaries to Mexico

Following Janelle and Jessica's visit, we prepared for more special guests: the Rodriguezes. They were coming to our church Sunday morning to present their burden for Mexico. Even though they were only going to be in our church on Sunday morning, they would be staying with us for two nights.

The kids and Taigen helped me prepare for their arrival. They were originally supposed to arrive shortly after 6, but because of an unfortunate wrong turn taken near New York, they didn't get to the church until almost 7:30 and at our home until after 8:30. Marshall and Shaylen were disappointed that they had to go to bed instead of getting to play hours on end with their new friend. (The Rodriguezes have two children, one is 3 and the other is 9 months old.)

It was really nice to get to know them and we especially enjoyed our very casual time of talking with them on Monday morning before they left. The Rodriguezes are hopefully headed to Mexico sometime this late spring.

Just Sit and Chat

Janelle and Jessica Krupnek decided to come down for a visit this past Saturday. Jessica promised to bring Gabe, her little munchkin. It wasn't for any occasion, just to sit and chat. We enjoyed doing just that and critiquing (that involves eating) Taigen's trial-run for the Men's Dessert Contest that's coming up tomorrow.

There was some discussion of an event that could be officially scheduled in the very near future and of a very lovely white dress that Janelle was going to be purchasing. (Remember by Puffs post?)

It's always great to just sit and chat with friends. Janelle is off galavanting this week in Michigan, where Jon lives. My bet is that Janelle is going to come back wearing a new accessory. A sparkly one. So exciting!!!

Grape-Aid

Taigen had the opportunity to preach at a retreat up in Maine the weekend of the Big Storm. He was gone Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning. Convenient, eh? So, basically, the kids and I weathered the storm ALONE. That's no electricity, up to 90 mph winds, rain, flooding and trees being toppled. No worries, I had Big Bertha beside me, candles, lots and lots of blankets to keep warm and a charged cell phone.

On Saturday, after a warm shower and a mug of hot coffee, the kids and I drove up to Falmouth to see our good friends the Gauthiers. We were going to crash at their house and enjoy lunch and dinner with them. Taigen was going to meet us there.

The Gauthiers were still without power, but they did have a generator. We enjoyed letting the kids play with each other while the rest of us kicked back and enjoyed each other's fellowship.

For lunch we enjoyed grilled ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches done just so by Susan. Whatever she cooks is a delectable delight. There was also fruit and chocolate covered pretzels. Yum! After the kids had started munching on their lunch and the adults sat down to enjoy theirs, one of the Gauthier kiddos came up to me with Shaylen and said, "I think Shaylen's tooth came out." I looked, and sure enough, the tooth was gone. I told Shaylen not to swallow. (Remember, Marshall's first loose tooth had been consumed with a side of burrito!) She spit out her grape into a paper towel. There nestled between bits of squished grape was Shaylen's itty bitty tooth. Hooray! It came out and Mommy didn't have to go through the agony of pulling it!

Shaylen was embarrassed to be the center of all the attention, but was oh, so happy to have it out.

The Rains Came, the Winds Blew and the Power Kuputzed

It is so good to be in my nice, warm, cozy bed tonight with the power and heat on in the house. Anyone watching the news the past couple of days knows that a HUGE storm hit New England. Depending on where you were, you either got rain or snow, but I think everyone got the wind. I have never in my life experienced wind like I did last night. According to my neighbors, the winds blew up to 90 mph! I believe it.

Our power went out about 11ish last night. The kids were already in bed and asleep, but the wind must've awakened Shaylen. When she awoke to a pitch black room and howling winds outside, she was terrified. Her cries woke up Marshall which put them both in our bed. None of us got much sleep. I think with every howl of wind Shaylen scooted closer to me. I doubt you could've squeezed a piece of paper between us.

When we dragged ourselves out of bed this morning I checked our yard. There was debris everywhere. In the back just behind the garage an extremely large limb or section of a pine tree had cracked off. I'm so thankful that it didn't hit the garage because it could've done significant damage. The break was wa-a-a-a-y up in the tree. I pointed that out in the picture below left and below on the right (after the "..."). Taigen's going to have a fun time chopping this up and getting rid of all the wood.

When we ventured out in the car, we were surprised to see huge trees snapped in two or yanked out of the ground entirely, roots and all. Pine needles were scattered all over the road. Small streams became rivers today and many roads were blocked because of flooding or trees lying in the middle of the road. Lots of businesses and homes were without power. The power at the church was out and we were unable to access the building because the road was blocked off. Hopefully everything will be back to normal by Sunday. Starbucks was open however. I was so thankful for this (and the gift card I had gotten for Christmas...thank you Sherry or Kyle). It was warm, huge and had caffeine...something very important since I was lacking in sleep and energy.

We were able to go over to our friends' house today (the Meroffs). It was nice to be in a heated home, check email and also recharge my cell phone. I was able to bring soup to be heated so we even got a warm meal tonight.

When we were on our way back home, the kids and I were watching for lights in homes to see if they had power. We got so excited as we saw lights on in homes even as we got closer to our own. When we pulled into our driveway and saw our porch light on, we all cheered! So thankful for all of the hard work our utility workers put in today so that we could have power. Approximately 300,000 homes were without power in NH today. That's a lot!

Life Does Not Slow Down

I remember thinking back in college at how busy I was. I would lay awake at night planning the next day. "Let's see. If I get up at 5:30, I can study my Doctrine's verses after I take a quick shower. Then I'll work at 7, and then..." I remember thinking how much I was going to look forward to "slowing down" once I graduated.

Life has not slowed down. It took a breather once we got off the BJU Musical Ministry Teams, but then I picked up teaching at Cornerstone Baptist Academy in Scarborough. It slowed down briefly in the fall of '03 when was I was pregnant with the twins and had been advised not to start another school year. Then the twins came and life has been a whirlwind since.

Ever notice how silent this blog sometimes is? It's because the Whirlwind of Life has come and decided to make itself at home here in NH. This past week was a prime example. Sunday we were able to have missionaries Eric and Barb Fisher (and their daughter Anna) over to our home for lunch. They have been supported by our church for many years, but this is the first time we had met them. What a delight they are! We were excited to meet them and get to know more about them and their ministry to the Marshall Islands.

Monday was semi-calm. Taigen went out in the morning during school and purchased two new lights for our entryway. One was broken and hanging limp from its socket. We had been to Home Depot on our date last Monday and I had spotted some that I thought would match our decor. I said to him, "You can get me one for my birthday and then one for Christmas." He had different plans. He left, came back and had my new lights all installed by the time we were done with school for the day! They look awesome! After lunch we discovered a new store just down the road that carries a truck-load of home-y decorations that make me drool. I know where I'm going to be getting my decorating needs met in the future. For a while we've been wanting to find something to go on either side of my wreath in our dining room. We discovered two wall sconces that would fit perfectly. To our delight, they were also on sale!

Tuesday afternoon & evening, we were going to head down to Fitchburg to see Mom and Dad Jorgensen, Brennen & Lydia Jorgensen and Stephen & Erika (Jorgensen) Wetterlund. The snow hindered our trip though. Even though we missed seeing all of them, it ended up working out well because we needed a "Catch up and Prepare for the Future" night.

On Wednesdays I usually go down and do choir for the little half pints (Marshall and Shaylen's class), and then run across the hall and do choir for the older children. The rehearsals run a half an hour each. This week however, when I walked into the older children's class, the Fishers were there sharing a missionary story. Eric and drawn a wonderful picture on the white board that fascinated me. He does marvelous work! The kids were enthralled. When they asked if the kids had any questions, hands were popping up like popcorn. It was such a wonderful time that I had no problem letting them ask away. When I looked at the clock, all of our rehearsal time was eaten up. It was probably a very memorable time for our church children though. Priceless.

Thursday after school, a friend came over for lunch and fellowship. I love sitting and getting to know people. Elisabeth has proven to be a joy and a blessing to me personally and to the church. We had a wonderful time together and the afternoon quickly passed. After she left, I got ready for the Fishers to come for a casual dinner. We were going to just have potato soup, salad and asagio cheese rolls. After dinner, we sat around and chatted and Eric drew (pictured above right) a picture just for Marshall and Shaylen and explained the story that goes with it. Isn't the picture so good (pictured left)? It makes me laugh just looking at it.

Friday I baked a double batch of sour cream cookies to bake and decorate for our Valentine's banquet on Saturday. I wanted each couple to have a set to take home as a "party favor." Although this is time consuming, I thoroughly enjoy doing this. Creativity can be an addicting drug for me. The house could be falling apart around me, but boy I can be creative!

Saturday was full of preparations for our Valentine's banquet. After lunch we all went in to the church and got everything all set up. We were going to have 16 couples come and Eric Fisher was going to preach. I prepared a quiz for the couples to complete during dinner and Taigen prepared a group game (complete with power point). After all was set up, I went upstairs and completed my secretarial work. I worked until time for the banquet. It was a busy day! Kids didn't get home and in bed until 8:30, but I think everything was a success. Praise the Lord!

Sunday the Fishers did Sunday school for our church and then he preached in both services (morning and evening). We were able to have them (and our friends the Gicks) over again for Mexican food for lunch. We have thoroughly enjoyed our times with them. The kids really, really liked them.

And there you have it. That was our whirlwind week last week. Here I am posting on Thursday and am four days behind on this week too. Oh well.

Life is good, but it sure is fast. Thankful for each and every moment that God brings to us.

A Fresh Coat

We got a wonderful, fresh, new coat of snow last night. The storm was supposed to start yesterday morning early. I expected to wake up to a dusting on the ground already. It hadn't. Then I expected it to start snowing during school. I expectantly watched outside to see the first flake. It didn't come and it didn't come.

Finally about lunch time the flakes started to fall. We were expecting anywhere from 4-8 inches so when the snow stopped shortly after lunch I was disappointed. It came and went all afternoon and didn't really pick up until dinner time.

It was still snowing when we went to bed late last night (due to the Olympics), but when we got up this morning, the sun was shining and glinting off of the beautiful snow. I LOVE living in New England!

Trek to Maine

Last Thursday, Taigen had the opportunity to go and preach in a chapel at Cornerstone Baptist Academy in Scarborough, ME. When Mike and Brenda Bowman heard that he was scheduled, she asked if we could all come, go to their house sometime after chapel and then stay for supper. How could we pass that up?

The kids were so excited and worked really hard at finishing school early for the day (it helps when we have two tests...the lesson time is much shorter). We packed a lunch and hopped into the van for the trip.

It's always good to go up and see everyone in Scarborough. It's amazing how much those teens change! I had to do a double take for many of them. Marshall and Shaylen turned a bit red from all of the comments about their growth! You could tell by the teen's comments that we hadn't been up in quite a while. Marshall and Shaylen are getting very tall!

After chapel, we went over to Grandpa Mac's for a visit. It was so good to be able to sit and talk just with him. He showed us pictures from his recent CO and PA trips and filled us in on all of his family's news. Being so far from Papa is hard because we can't have the frequent contact that we used to. We miss him (and Mom Mac) tremendously.

From Papa's we went to Westbrook for dinner at the Bowman's. It was so nice of them to invite us over after a long day of work. We love the Bowmans. They are close...like family. We had a wonderful and relaxing visit. Dinner was fabulous. They made lasagna, salad, out-of-this-world garlic bread and ooey-gooey brownies with ice cream. It was an army to feed too! There was Mike and Brenda, Paul, Tanya and their son Caleb, Janelle and a fellow teacher Bekah and then the four of us. It's so much fun to sit and laugh (and poke fun at Janelle and Bekah because of their new boyfriends).

I wish we could've stayed longer. It was a wonderful day.