Double Dates, Hikes & Hurricanes

For Christmas, our dear friends from Washington sent us a gift card to one of our favorite restaurants: Red Robin. We absolutely love their burgers and fries, but particularly love the seasoning they put on everything. In fact, we always put that seasoning on our Christmas list if we start to run out (It goes great on anything grilled). Unfortunately for us, the nearest Red Robin is over two hours away in Massachusetts. Fortunately though, we also have friends down there that also got a gift card: Brennen and Lyd! We would make it a double date sans children. This was going to be fun! The hardest part would be nailing down a day and time. After whipping out their day planners, Brennen and Taigen were able to find a common free day and we both procured babysitters.

Marshall and Shaylen got to go and spend the time with friends from church (Remember their recent pool excursion? It's that family!).  They had grand plans for the twins. Bryan and his son Matt were going to take the kids on a mini-hike up Parker Mountain. Matt had some research to do for his upcoming Eagle Scout project. I didn't have any worries about this, really. Bryan has been a boy scout troop leader for...well, forever. If anyone is prepared for the great outdoors, it's Bryan. He has passed on his wisdom to his son Matt, who never seems to have an end to pockets or treasures within those pockets. I asked him once what was in his pockets, and he proceeded to show me matches, rope, a space blanket (in case he got lost in the woods), more rope, band-aids, pocketknives, and a plethora of many other useful & needful things. So we turned Marshall and Shaylen over with nary a worry!

Our time with Brennen and Lydia was wonderful. It's a great time for us to get together and find out how each other is doing in our respective ministries. Brennen is down in Fitchburg, MA as an assistant pastor. Lydia is a gem and one of my dear, dear friends. I only wish we were closer to each other. The fun we would have! We talked and talked. Unfortunately, a huge weather system was moving in and we needed to beat it home. Do you know which storm I am talking about? Yep, Hurricane Irene. You had to be living in a hole to not hear about it. We rarely get hurricanes up here in New England so when the weather reporters started talking about it, we knew it wasn't something to mess with. We planned on a wonderful time with Bren and Lyd, but we also knew we had our limits to how long we could stay down there.

Meanwhile, the kids were up on the mountain having a great time. Shaylen fell and scraped her leg, but was a trooper. Bryan slapped that boo-boo with a big ol' bandage...just like a pro! They were able to accomplish what they needed to up on the mountain and even found a little salamander! When they got back, they swam in the pool some. Marshall scraped his foot a (very) little on the side of the pool. He wasn't as much of a trooper. I think Bryan could definitely toughen him up some in the Boy Scouts! Too funny!

We came back and headed home to get our place all ready for Irene. We had deck furniture to put away, the bird feeders to take down and candles, flashlights and batteries to prepare. It was a busy, but wonderful day.

2011 Back to School Burger Bash

Every year we ease the pain of our teens going back to school with a Back to School Burger Bash. We did this activity up at Cornerstone in Scarborough and continued with the tradition here at Heritage. It's a huge hit! We had a great group of teens turn out for this year's bash and Taigen had a bunch of activities up his sleeve. Some tricks proved to be too easy, but others proved to be harder than they looked!


Marshall loves watching all of the funny antics of the teens!



Semi-Easy: The teens had to drop a Mentos into an 8 liter pop bottle.

HARD! Stacking nuts with a pencil. Whoever got to six first, won.

Shaylen cannot wait to be a teen and participate. The teens are sweet to let her play some though.

Too easy! Swing the tea bag up so it may land on the cap's bill.

HARD! Stack the Boggle cubes six high. Emmy almost got it!




They're On A Roll

A while ago, I was cleaning when I came across a bunch of old fax paper. It must've been from a long time ago because I could not think of any fax machine within our possession at church or school that had paper like that. They all used regular copy paper sheets. Knowing they would not be used for anything else, I turned them over to the twins instead of pitching them, and let their imaginations run. And run they did. They have created and colored and cut and pasted to their hearts content! I just had to take some pictures of their most recent creations and post them here.

This is Shaylen's rendition of me. Hilarious!

Happy Birthday to Taigen!

We were all so excited for this special day to come up! The kids and I asked Taigen for his requests for what to eat for dinner and what he wanted for dessert. What would it be? Steak? Chicken? And for dessert? Cheesecake? Kentucky Derby Pie? Cookie Dough? Whatever he wanted, that's what we would try to prepare. It was his special day!

Taigen's final decision came down to Monster Cookies. Of course the kids wanted to help make it because that meant they could lick the beaters. Even I know that's what they mean when they ask, "Can we help?" It makes a tremendous amount of cookies so really I don't mind if they lick some.

Taigen's special day came. I got him a new book that he had been wanting and the kids got him ladder ball to play in the yard. It was something he had been wanting. It's harder to play than it looks! Trust me!

Happy (38th) Birthday, Babe! We love you!

Cooling Off on Hot Days

 We have two dear friends at church that have a pool. We have enjoyed the Gessis' from time to time, and recently, our other friends welcomed the twins to come out and enjoy theirs. They wanted it to get some use before the end of the season. At this rate, and with all this hot weather, surely they won't need to close it up anytime soon!

We took them up on their invitation this afternoon. The kids had a blast. Their son was able to entertain them the entire time they were in the pool. The kids laughed so hard and enjoyed splashing, jumping, floating, taking rides, and swimming. Meanwhile, Jen, Holly, and I sat on the pool deck, chatted and sipped on lemonade. It was very refreshing. It's so rare that I get to sit and talk for such an extended period of time. This was a luxury! Jen and Holly are so sweet and I enjoy talking with them any chance I get.

Holly is a seamstress and makes the most beautiful, modest dresses. If you have a moment, you should go to her website and check out what she does. She has made several dresses for Shaylen. In fact, if you look closely, you might see our little peanut on the webpage. Perhaps you have a little girl that could use a Christmas dress? or maybe you could use a new skirt? Check it out!

The afternoon was a wonderful and relaxing time. I took the kids home all wet and tired...but extremely happy! Thank you, dear friends!

Sailing the Stormy Living Room Seas

A long, long time ago, a friend from church (Matt Dustin) gave Marshall a little Lego boat that he no longer played with. It was the basic shell of some kit, I'm assuming. Marshall caught the "Sailing Fever" from that moment on and that little boat has become one of his favorite Lego pieces. He builds and rebuilds ships, rafts, boats and ocean liners from that thing!

This has been a stepping stone to many other things with his imagination. I watched him one afternoon after school take all of the cushions off of the couch and build a nice, long "canoe" for him to sail on. He took his bat and used it as an oar. This kept him entertained for at least an hour before I had to interrupt and make him fulfill his other responsibilities for the day.

I love how my kids' imaginations work and I never tire of listening to them.

Saying "Good-bye"

Our dear friend and excellent babysitter, Ellen, is off for her freshman year of college. She got accepted into the illustrious Eastman School of Music! We knew this day would come and although we know this is the best for Ellen (she can't put off college just because we want her to stay with us), it's always hard to say goodbye.

Ellen gave the twins a parting gift. Wasn't that so sweet? Marshall got a "Friends" frame with their very first picture together. He brought it home and set it on his nightstand. Shaylen got a "Best Friends" necklace. She loves it and wears it often at church. These are great reminders for them to pray for her. We definitely miss her and are looking forward to seeing her at the end of the semester!

Twins' Summer Ministries in Music

While the kids didn't have lessons throughout the summer, they still took a little time here and there to practice and keep up what they learned the past nine months. Shaylen played "Jesus Shall Reign" last week... 

...and Marshall played "Be Still My Soul" this week. They both are doing a great job with the piano and I'm so thankful for their willingness to use their talents for ministry.



First Day of School Surprise - Bedtime Brain Freeze

We started 3rd grade in full today. I can hardly believe that we have two third graders on our hands. This year started off without fanfare. It crept up on us like everything else did after our Vienna trip. The kids fell to work quickly and blitzed through the first day. They marched down at lunch having completed all of their assignments for the day. Way to go!

Taigen and I wanted to do something special for this first day of school. We secretly planned a Bedtime Brain Freeze for tonight. Marshall and Shaylen's minds had been on ice cream for the past few weeks with all of the hot weather. We would get the not-so-subtle hints like, "Look at that long line at Golicks!" or "We haven't had a bedtime brain freeze in a loooong time!" Of course, we were not going to go get ice cream on a night when they had suggested it. That would spoil all of the fun of the surprise!

We did put the kids to bed and then waited about five minutes before bursting into their room and telling them, "Let's go get a brain freeze!" Shaylen at first thought something was wrong and quickly said, "What?! What?!" Then she happily bounced out of bed.

This was a wonderful tradition and a great way to end their "summer vacation."

A Fresh New Look

The Original Church Sign

For years, our church has had a small sign located right in front of the church building. It has been parallel with the road, so any person driving by wouldn't see what the name of our church is until they are already past it. Originally this was fine and did it's job, but over the years it's gotten weather-beaten and dwarfed by the shrubs that have grown up and around it. It was time for something to be done. The church sign had gotten a fresh new look but it just wasn't sufficient for the thousands of cars that drive by our building every day. This was something that we knew needed to be done, and in fact, several of our church folks have also mentioned throughout the years. We finally had the funds in the bank to do something about it, but we were finally able to put things in motion when one of our teen guys came to Taigen with a proposition.

He is in the Boy Scouts and was working on completing one of the highest, if not the highest ranking projects you can do (correct me if I'm wrong Jennifer). Would it be possible for him to undertake the church's new sign as his Eagle Scout project? He would need to plan it, bring it before the Boy Scout board to get it approved, raise funds necessary for his part of the project, and do all of the work. It was a fabulous idea and he executed it perfectly.

The church purchased the sign and he took care of raising funds for all of the landscaping, electrical and installation work. He also coordinated every step of the process, right down to the exact bricks and types of flowers in the planter.

The sign looks fantastic! I cannot say enough good about it. I'm sure I've left out major details, but you could say that we're very proud of Paul and the guys in his troop for all of the work they put into this project. The sign is now perpendicular to the road and lit at night so all may see that we are Heritage Baptist Church.

Thank you, Paul!

Trench for the electrical wires.

Guys getting ready to stand up the sign.

Getting the Sign level and ready for concrete!

All it needs is for plants to bloom! It looks fantastic!

This is made from some durable composite material and should last decades!

Our New Sign

Refreshing Day Off

We had a particularly hot summer. Today, while I was out running errands, Taigen mowed the lawn. The kids came out to play as well and since it was hot, and Taigen's day off, he thought, why not turn on the sprinklers and let them run through it? It would kill two birds with one stone: water the lawn and refresh the kids.

Vacation Bible School - Hit the Ground Racing!

I have no idea what we were thinking when we scheduled an international trip to Vienna with a return at the end of July with our church's vacation Bible school the first week of August. Regardless, we hit the ground racing. Not running, mind you, but racing, because not only is Vacation Bible School week one of the busiest, but our theme this year was a racing theme.

This year I got to do something totally different in addition to helping with the music. I got to help be in charge of the 4 year old through 1st graders. These are some of the cutest kiddos we get so I was excited. Not only would another lady and I be in charge of this group, but I also got to teach them their Bible story each day. I enjoy making the stories come alive for them.

Marshall and Shaylen LOVE VBS week and work really, REALLY hard on all of the activities and verses and extra points project. This year was no exception and each of them memorized the entire booklet of verses (not quite sure how many are in there, but it's got to be over 25 or 30) plus a few more in the second book. I was so proud of them. Many times now during our homeschool Bible class they'll say, "Hey, we know this verse already, Mom, from VBS!"

I could post a few hundred pictures from the week. I took that many, but it was because I wanted to do a slideshow at our closing program on Sunday night. I'll spare you and just post a few of my favorites from the week (of course, they are of my favorite people!).

Saying Goodbye

Jon and Janelle were such a blessing to us! It was such a relief to know that the kids were in good hands while we were gone. We were so thankful that they incorporated two cuties in their vacation time here in New England. Their "turn" was over on Saturday morning as they had to take off to drive back to reality in Michigan. I'm so glad they got one last picture with Marshall and Shaylen.

More Sand, Sun and Sweet Friends

Janelle and I have dear friends, the Krupneks. Jessica was the wedding coordinator for Janelle & Jon's wedding (she did a fabulous job, by the way). While Jon and Janelle were here, they HAD to spend some time with Matt and Jess and their kids. Marshall and Shaylen tagged along and got to enjoy the beach as well. I absolutely love the last picture of Jon and Janelle. Don't you just love that little baby pooch she's got going? The baby is due in November! Hooray!

A Trip to the Park

Janelle now lives far away in Michigan (*sniff, sniff*) so when she gets out here, she needs to make the most of it and try and see as many friends as possible. On Tuesday, they wanted to get together with Joni and the kids for some time to catch up. They met at a park. Again, it was unbearably hot. Coincidentally, the park's sprinkler system kicked on as they were there. My guess is, Joni and Janelle probably glanced at each other and said, "Why not?" and let the kids run to their hearts' content and cool off. It made for some really cute pictures!

Roasty Toasty

While we were enjoying beautiful weather in Austria, the weather in NH turned roasty! Not only did temperatures reach 100+, it was also humid. A terrible combination! Janelle's parents were in town and they decided to go and do a round of mini-golf. After golf, the Stokes decided to spoil the twins with some ice cream...before lunch. What a treat!