Sunday Duds

My apologies for being the delinquent blogger lately. Life is rushing by. Thankfully, there are digital cameras that can capture moments and remind me of what's gone on in the past two weeks (when I get around to downloading them to the computer) so that I may relay it to you. Thanks for faithfully checking in to see if there is any new news.


Here are two pictures from Sunday, April 18th. Shaylen was wearing a new dress Aunt Karen gave her. It is adorable. (Mwa! to you Karen!) I'm thinking that Aunt Karen bought it with next summer in mind (it's a size 8), but I checked the length and determined that if she was going to get any use out of it, she had better wear it now. Some of these spring dresses were obviously made for the Caribbean because it is too chilly at this point here in New England for Shaylen to be wearing it sans sweater. Regardless, she looked so cute!

And how could I take a picture of Shaylen without taking one of my little man? Marshall is in need of a haircut (my neglect of the blog also is reflective of my neglect in cutting his hair! Ahhhh! Is there a pause button?). He looks cute nonetheless. I could just gobble him up. He's my tall skinny boy.

Last Sunday night we were able to have a S.N.A.C. Activity at our house for the teens. These are always a blast. S.N.A.C. stands for Sunday Night After Church. Of course, it does also mean food, and lots of it. Teens are bottomless pits. I made a layered chip dip and cookies and another mom also contributed cookies. I'm glad we had two batches for them to consume because I found out one of our teen boys (who will go nameless) ate eight of them! See what I mean about them being "bottomless pits?" We ate, played a game, and then enjoyed a devotional from "Dr. K," one of our visiting missionaries.

It was a busy but full day in the ministry here in New England.

Swim Class Super Slide

Marshall and Shaylen wrapped up their third session of swimming last week. On the last day of homeschool swim, they turn on the giant slide and let the kids go down. For the first time, the teachers said that Marshall and Shaylen could go down. That means they were confident that they would be able to go catapulting down the slide, plunge into a deeper pool and come up swimming rather than sputtering! The teacher's had forewarned me the week prior so I came with camera in hand. Marshall and Shaylen were so excited! They've been looking forward to this for eight weeks. (Pictured top left: Marshall and Shaylen are waiting at the top of the slide. They are about to head down.)

The twins are currently in level three. Their fourth session started yesterday and they swam in the lap pool for the first time. They had to swim the entire length! I am happy to report that they both did a great job. Of course, they have a ways to go before their strokes are smooth and satisfactory, but I think they have improved a ton (considering they didn't know how to swim this past fall)! They really enjoy swimming and I'm thankful for the local gym making these classes available for homeschoolers.

The twins aren't the only ones having a great time during swim class. Of course, being a proud mother, I enjoy watching the kids, but I have a friend from church whose son is also enrolled in the class. We pass the time chatting about various and sundry things. What fun! I especially cherish this time because it is approximately 45 minutes each week when I get to be still and enjoy conversation with a good friend.

Caution! Imaginations At Work

I thought I would post this hilarious picture from the other day. Many times you all will call (or email) and ask, "What are the twins up to?" This picture pretty much describes it all.

One of their favorite things to do is play with their stuffed animals. They like to load up all of the larger vehicles with the stuffed animals, line up all the couch pillows into "roads," and then make a large caravan. The caravan then goes through all of the house while they make up different scenarios to with them.

Shaylen will say something like, "...and Baby Snoopy didn't realize that Baby Bongo was hopelessly lost and following him very closely!" And Marshall will say something like, "Lil' Small Wee Bear gasped in astonishment that the bridge was gone and they were ready to fall down into the river!"

It's funny to hear snippets of their audiobooks make their way into their conversations, imaginations and free time. What a fun age!

Happy Easter!

Hopefully you all had a wonderful Easter. It is such a wonderful day for us. Without the Resurrection, there would be no joy, no hope, no eternal life. So thankful for what Christ did on the cross for us, but more importantly, that He rose from the grave conquering sin and death.

We enjoyed a great Sunrise service. This service starts at 7:30am. Believe it or not, we have a great turnout for this in spite of how early it is. This year, Marshall and Shaylen had learned a new hymn in their Bible class. It is entitled "Golden Harps Are Sounding." The words and music were written by Frances R. Havergal. As we sang it every day in school, the more I thought the words would be great for Resurrection Sunday. They read:

Golden harps are sounding,
Angel voices sing,
Gates of pearl are opened,
Opened for the King;
Christ the King of glory,
Jesus, King of love,
Is gone up in triumph
To His throne above.

Chorus: All His work is ended,
Joyfully we sing:
Jesus hath ascended! Glory to our King!

He who came to save us,
He who bled and died,
Now is crowned with glory
At His Father's side;
Nevermore to suffer,
Nevermore to die,
Jesus, King of glory,
Has gone up on high.

Praying for His children
In that blessed place,
Calling them to glory,
Sending them His grace;
His bright home preparing,
Faithful ones, for you;
Jesus ever liveth,
Ever loveth too.

So, to make a long story short (or longer), I talked to Taigen about it and we decided to sing it as a family during the sunrise service. We've sung lots of times together in nursing homes, and at home, but never before as a family in church. It was a special, memorable moment on this blessed day! The kids did a great job and sang right out.

Not only did they sound good, but they also looked fabulous. Thank yous go to Grandma Sherry who outfitted them with the beautiful and colorful outfits. I snapped up these photos of them in our backyard after the morning service. (I would have snapped them before we left for church, but it was cooler and very early...6:45am!)

After lunch today we went over to our friends' house. This makes the third Easter that we have spent with them. Our church does a sunrise service, Sunday school, a morning service and then no evening service. We enjoy going over to the Meroff's and enjoying a relaxing time all afternoon.

Amy is a great cook! We had ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, carrots, and rolls. For dessert, Taigen made his award-winning Reese's Peanut Butter Cake. That cake gets more and more delicious each time I eat it. I thought I would share this photo of this trio eating theirs. This is Matthew with the twins. He is seven and in second grade. Matthew is a great friend to Marshall and Shaylen (and, I might add, is super cute). We hardly see any of the five kids when we are there because they have so much fun together. Eventually though, they get hungry and then they make their presence known.

It was a wonderful day! After we came home from the Meroff's, we went outside and enjoyed the wonderful weather. We're seeing signs of life underneath dried leaves and old mulch. Thankful for the New Life which Christ gives. Happy Easter to you all.

Thank You's Make Great Compositions

With the special new Bible covers, the kids wanted to write "thank you's." I let them forego the "topic of the day" and take the time to write Grandma Cathy their notes of appreciation. They took so much time to get it right (wording and spelling) and then took extra time to make sure their handwriting was neat.

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.