Snow...in October?

We got a little bit of snow when Tammy was in town, but what we didn't expect was a major snowstorm before the end of October! This storm barrelled in and packed a punch! Because a lot of the leaves weren't off the trees yet, the snow weighed everything down. Branches fell and there were many power outages.

We got a call late in the night saying that the power was out at the church. Early on in the morning, probably around 1:30am, we woke up to discover that our power had finally gone out. The house was dark and quiet. Taigen made the call around 7am to cancel our morning service, potluck and afternoon service. While it's not the ideal Sunday, we made the most of it. We bundled up and had a wonderful day here together. We played Life, grilled up some soup (it was the only way we could heat it up), and enjoyed the special memories big storms bring...even in October.

Time With Tammy

Do remember way back two years ago when the kids got their Melissa and Doug puppets from their grandmas? Those puppets have provided hours of entertainment for Marshall and Shaylen. We recently had our friend Tammy Detwiler at the house and the kids decided to put on a puppet show for her.

Tammy is in the states on deputation, trying to get back to Austria where she helps out the Hudsons. She is a gem and I know how valuable she is to Todd and Sarah. We were so thankful that Tammy made a small detour over to our house for a couple of days while she was in New England. Our kids fell in love with her when she was in town with the Hudsons last fall. It was a very short visit so we were thankful for the extended period of time to spend with her.

While she was here, we took a road trip over to the Nubble Light and braved the cold, wet elements to get a few pictures. The wind was blowing so hard I couldn't keep it off the camera lens and out of the kids' eyes. It made for some very funny pictures!

On Thursday evening, it started to snow! We couldn't believe that we were getting snow already in October, but Tammy liked it. I think it's neat that it's in this last picture with her. We threatened the Hudsons with not sending Tammy back and just keeping her here in New Hampshire all to ourselves, but they replied that there was no way that was going to happen, so we had to say goodbye. Pray that Tammy can raise all of her support soon so she can head back to Austria.

October Ministry Opportunities

Homeschool Apple Ciderin'

Do you remember our Colon Dough friends, the Meroffs? They are constantly a blessing to both us and the rest of the church. Scott's parents have a cider press and graciously allowed our homeschool group to use it today for a special day.

The kids and I have been to many ciderin' parties before, but none of us have ever had to turn the crank that squishes the life, uh...the juice out of those apples. I think the kids have a deeper appreciation for the work that goes into fresh, pressed apple cider. It takes a lot of effort for one gallon of cider, but the fruit of our labors is delcious!

We came home and ran it through a tiny strainer to get out any miscellaneous floaties and then I cooked it a bit with mulling spices. The whole house smelled amazing and the cider tasted fabulous!

3rd Grade Photos

I wait every year until the leaves change in hopes of having a beautiful backdrop for the kids school pictures. We could go to a studio and get them done, but that would cost beaucoup bucks that we don't have. We aren't too picky so I just take the photos myself. We went up to Ft. Williams in Cape Elizabeth, ME and had a wonderful picnic. I then took the kids off to various and sundry parts of the park and snapped away. Fortunately for me, they are photogenic and (mostly) willing participants in my zillion photos.

I cannot believe I have third graders. They are getting so big and cuter as the days go by. Don't you just want to squeeeeeeeze those cute faces? I cannot overemphasize to you how truly blessed I am to be able to stay home with them. I never, ever wish for it to be any other way.

Colder Weather

Every Fall, we attempt to keep the heat off as long as possible (or as long as bearable). And, since we currently have a ban on "Drill, Baby Drill," (Okay...that probably opened up a HUGE political can of worms, but please don't start a discussion on it...*insert sigh, half grin, and eyeroll from me*...I don't have time for that kind of thing), I don't see oil prices going down any time soon. So, we layer and postpone the inevitable.

I must've made some passing comment on Facebook about the cold, because shortly thereafter, the kids got these wonderful vests from my mother in law, Sherry, to help them stay warm during these chilly Fall days. Isn't she thoughtful?

The kids look so cute and grown-up! (*sniff, sniff*) Thank you Grandma Sherry!

Caramel Apples...Kindof

Part of my reasoning behind taking the day off and picking apples was because in a journal entry (Spelling class), Shaylen had mentioned how wonderful it would be to go to a vendor (during Dover's Apple Harvest Festival) and purchasing a caramel apple. Our church participates in this every year and it's a great way to get the word out about our church. There are thousands of people that pour through downtown Dover! Unfortunately, the majority of things being sold are overpriced and it's hard to justify it when you're on a tight budget, right? My thought was, "Why not go apple picking and then make caramel apples at home?" So I did. We went apple picking, and then came home to make the caramel. I've seen my mom do it twice now, so I know it's time consuming, but I figured the end product would be delicious and cheaper than at the vendor's. Marshall ended up wanting his cut up because of a loose tooth, but the taste was just the same. Delicious!

(Note: You might have noticed that Shaylen's apple isn't on a popsicle stick. I have to admit that I realized too late that I hadn't gone up and gotten some out of my school supply drawer. I do think that the table knife proved a sturdier holder anyway. Regardless, it all got eaten.)

Apple Picking

For the first time in our four years of homeschooling, I decided to take off Columbus Day and have a little fun with my two favorite students. It was going to be a beautiful day and I determined that it would be wonderful to go to a local orchard and pick fresh, delicious apples.

The kids had no idea, and had determined in their minds that it was just another school day, so when I told them that we would take the day off  (like the public school kids do), they were thrilled!

The drive there actually took longer than it took us to pick the apples. The trees were just dripping with delcious goodness! We were able to take our time, snap up some pictures and be fairly picky (pun intended) with which apples to put in our bag.

Corn Maze 2011 - Homeschool Field Trip

Every year we look forward to making our way through a local corn maze with our church homeschool group. It is a blast!

This year the theme was a turtle. We split the kids up into teams (both young and old) and timed them as they walked through, trying to answer the clues along the way correctly. After going through once, we had a little snack, celebrating the birthday of one of our teens, and then the kids went through several more times. My thrill with the corn maze field trip is trying to catch memories. We have the cutest kids in our church!

Rub a Dub, Dub! A Peanut in the Tub...Somewhere.

Every great once in a while, as a special treat, I'll let the kids go on over to the guest room to take a nice, long, bubble bath in the ginormous tub. They especially love it when we turn on the jets and let the air make tons and tons of bubbles.

HBC Ladies' Retreat

Two of my friends warming by the bonfire.

When we got a brochure from The WILDS Christian Camp in New England last year, I saw that there would be a ladies retreat with guest speaker Mardi Collier. (Mardi has written a wonderful easy-to-read book that has truly changed the way I read the Scriptures.If you haven't read her book yet, you NEED to. It is entitled What Do I Know About My God?) I knew at this point that I would be doing a ladies' Sunday School class around this book and so I looked forward to taking our ladies to this retreat to hear her speak.


After our hike

We all booked early. In fact, the demand was so high for this particular weekend that I had the ladies reserve their spot as soon as possible. A dear friend of mine reserved my spot while we were in Austria. Wasn't that sweet? I vividly remember getting her email at 1:00am at the Hudsons.

Taigen laughed when he saw the weather report for that weekend. It was to be cold. Very cold. Normally, this isn't an issue as I love cold weather, snow, blizzards, ice, etc. But I have to tell you about the condition of the cabins we were staying in. The camp is in it's infant stages and the renovations are still a work in progress. It's um...rustic. Very rustic. As in no-insulation-just-plywood-walls rustic. They don't call it "camp" for nothin'! It would be cold. I packed a sleeping bag, fuzzy socks, flannel pants and longsleeved shirt and sweatshirt. I would surely be warm during the night.

I hitched a ride with some of our other ladies and we made the two plus hour trek up there. It was a gorgeous drive. The camp is nestled up in the hills of Deering, NH. It's in a perfect location and the history behind the property, and how The WILDS acquired it is amazing to hear.

Before dinner. The food was amazing!

We got checked in, moved into our cabin, and laid claim to which bunk we would sleep on. Many were thankful because the bathhouse was right next to our cabin. The mid-night trek to the bathroom, should we dare venture out of our warm sleeping bags, would not be a far one.

The food, the games, the skits, and the teaching from Mardi were amazing. She told us about her recent study of finding things about our 100% God. Things like "I will never leave you nor forsake you" or "My God shall supply all your need." Those are promises you can count on. I love those all inclusive words in the Scripture.

Self Portrait of Two Exhausted & Sleep-Deprived Friends

Nighttime came and we hurried to the cabin, quickly got ready for bed and dove under the covers. The long night began. I wasn't cold at all and the beds, weren't bad. After all it's CAMP! However, we didn't count on one person in our cabin snoring. Loudly. I heard rustling from the other bunks and the midnight excursion to the bathhouse woke me up too. Our screen door creaked and our plywood thin walls allowed me to hear the crunch, crunch, crunch of their steps all the way there and back. I buried myself in my sleeping bag, enjoyed the warmth and eventually slept.

I didn't need to bring my alarm clock because I didn't need it. I was awake when 6:00 came. I jumped out of bed (brrrr!) and went to take a nice HOT shower and get ready for the day.

Were it not for the hot breakfast, multiple cups of coffee, and invigorating hike during the day, I might not have made it without a nap. All in all, it was a wonderful, wonderful time, full of hilarious memories, laughs, and a new perspective on how I study God's Word.

Annual HBC Labor Day Picnic

Every year we host a church picnic on the Saturday before Labor Day. It is a fantastic time for us. We pray for good weather, put out sign-up sheets at church, clean off all of the patio furniture (especially after Hurricane Irene came and went), buy lots of pop, hot dogs, burgers, buns and condiments, get the outdoor games ready, clean out the horseshoe pits and scour the house. We can almost guarantee that the day is going to be awesome.

We love how God gave us this house so that we have the opportunity to do things like this. Even though we didn't build this home, we feel like it was meant just for us! The kitchen island seems like it was designed with church potlucks in mind. We can have two rows of people going through the kitchen, getting their food items. It's perfect! They then find their way outside or down in the basement where it is cool (the teens usually go there). Once they're done eating, it's more relaxing and chatting or possibly convincing someone to play a game of friendly, but competitive horseshoes! The kids are always running around getting sweaty, coming up asking for more pop and sporting the cutest, rosiest cheeks!

I thought I would post a couple of photos from our wonderful day. We always finish the day exhausted but completely joyful at the fun we had!

Time to eat! Come and get it!



Watching the game of horseshoes.

Who's is the closest?

Marshall's head is already sweaty!

The prettiest little church member at the picnic!

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!