I Have Learned Whatever State I'm In to Be Content

... And last week that was the state of Massachusetts.  :)  The day before a big snow storm it was bright, sunny, and simply gorgeous.  I took tons of pic while Liz and I were on a walk with the cell phone camera, which means they leave much to be desired.  Nevertheless... here is a smattering from our outing.  I know they are a bit on the small size but when I tried to enlarge them they became grainy.  Trust me, they look better this way.

The next day we had a wicked snow/sleet storm, but the day after that it was more of the same beauty, but deeper snow.  Yeah, I LOVED it!  Liz thought I was crazy.  

Whoa... is that a POST?????

Don't faint... yes, I'm actually posting.  It has been a LONG time!  So much has been happening, that I can't keep up with it.  It probably goes without saying, but this post will be picture heavy as I try to encapsulate over 4 months of our lives into one post.  Even though things have been out-of-control busy, we have still taken a few moments to enjoy some of God's beauty around, like this sunset.  The pic really doesn't do it justice.

For those who don't know, last Fall my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and has been undergoing some very intense Chemo treatments.  I have been making trips out to the Boston area to help her after the treatments, as they rough her up pretty good.  Then I come back home, and jump back into the circus of our crazy schedule. I'm happy to say that according to the last CAT scan the treatments seem to be doing good things, and hopefully after two more treatments she can go to radiation therapy.  

Meanwhile back at the ranch, life is going on with its' usual busyness.  Last November, the kids participated in the school play, which was a take off from Patch the Pirate Goes West.  Here they are in costume.  Ben was chief Halawasa, Josiah was a hilarious Cactus Patch, Jerusha was a prairie dog, Esther was one of the 4 lost girls from school, and the others were all Indians.  They did a great job!  

Esther's Solo  :)  She has such a pretty voice!

Benjamin had a solo too!  Nice deep voice for his part.  

Also, last November, our family did a concert for a church in New York for their Harvest Banquet.  We did 50 minutes of music...whew!  The kids did great, but I think it tuckered them out a little.

Sometimes Mr. Greene preaches for chapel and you can almost always expect the unexpected from him.  Believe it or not, the following pics were part of a devotional he gave last November.  

Ramp, obstacles, behind paper

Crazy teenager willing to participate (Nice outfit, eh?)

Here we go!

 He made it!

Thankfully the battery in my camera died there, so I can spare the rest of the story which had to do with rope and more boxes.  :)

Also in November, Benjamin, Esther, and Elizabeth, along with another girl from the school, Heather Greene, auditioned and were accepted into this year's Pennsylvania State Choir.  They practiced for many hours, then spent two days in Harrisburg and practiced with the rest of the 125 participants, under the talented Dr. Ledgerwood from Maranatha Baptist University in Watertown, WI.  Dale travelled down with them, and I went down for the concert on Saturday, taking the rest of the kids, on a 4 hour trip just to hear a one hour concert.  IT WAS WORTH IT!!!!!  They performed in the rotunda of the Capitol building in Harrisburg.  It was beautiful!

Bad shot of the choir... a couple dozen people missing on each side of the pic.

From left to right, starting in the back row:  Benjamin, Elizabeth, Heather Greene, Esther, Dr.Ledgerwood, and Dale.

Of course, if you are a grandparent, you already received the CD of their wonderful performance and Dale's letter with some background about the music and experience.  Hope you enjoy it!  We are wearing ours out.  Can you say, "Proud Parents"????

As has been my tradition, I had, in the midst of all the November madness, taken it upon myself to participate in NaNoWriMo.  I'm happy to say that I met the goal of 50K words!  Wasn't sure if I would make it or not, but just plugged away at it and "got'er done" as Dale likes to say.  

We have had a pretty cold winter here thus far, but that doesn't stop us from having a good time in the snow.  Benjamin and I are also in the ski club at school, but do you think I have taken any pics?  Something about a new skier (Benjamin) and a camera is irresistible, but I haven't brought it with us yet.  I missed two sessions last time I was out in Boston, so Josiah went in my stead, and seemed to like it!  

The twins are on the Girls' basketball team, and Jerusha is a cheerleader!  In fact, the only official cheerleader for the team.  Worked out that she was the only eligible girl in the right age group and had her grades up enough to cheerlead.  She is SO adorable!

I have a ton of blurry pics from actual games.  :/  None of them worth repeating here.  I really need to invest in a camera with a high speed feature!

Here is our Christmas Cactus in bloom.  We have tried our best to kill the poor thing, but it has proven to be quiet hardy.  Esther loves the blossoms!

I have been knitting and doing some quilting as well, but have taken no pics whatsoever of my projects. I'll see if I can change that soon!  

Congratulate yourselves if you made it through this "catch up" post!  Lord willing, I'll be able to keep a bit better.

Have a wonderful day!  Enjoy the winter while it lasts.  :D

Wonderful Goodness!

Finally!  After all those years in Willseyville, trying to get some corn to grow AND be edible, and never being able to, we have corn!  And you can eat it too!  We planted some Silver Queen as an experiment in our little garden plot. The seeds were given to us, and after treating the soil with lime and some fertilizer, and with a hope and a prayer, we planted corn.  We watched through the summer as the stalks came up, and hoped.  So far so good.  When the girls and I came home from volleyball practice this evening Dale had corn husked and cooking to go with supper.  YUM!  Our very own corn!  It was delicious.

Another wonderful gem we have added is farm fresh milk.  Just so happens that when I drive to school, I go right past this farm, and they sell their milk.  For just $2 a gallon, we get the rich, creamy, real stuff.  

We had black bean sloppy joes tonight, but the real stars of the meal were the corn and the milk.  We really gorged ourselves on those!  

The last few days have been hot, and so very muggy!  Today has been rainy, thundering, and more rain.  It is supposed to be ushering in a nice cold front.  The high just a day ago was 90, and the dew point was around 70.  Tomorrow the high is supposed to be in the 50's!  Needless to say, I am breathing a HUGE sigh of relief.  

Many blessings!

Does That Come With Earplugs? Please?

We are nearly three weeks into our school year, and I've already learned to expect the unexpected.  Like, two hours before our very FIRST match of the season being told that Mr. Greene had to officiate and I was the head coach for the day.  Oh yeah.  I went from wicked excited to a bundle of nerves.  It wasn't as bad as I thought, though I felt like a bull in a china shop most of the time.  Some of my instinct on what to do when were right on, but I kept second guessing myself.  I need to trust and make the decision more quickly.  At any rate, despite winning the first game in the match, we lost.  The girls were tight, and got frustrated and soon discouraged.  I could watch their countenances falling and their playing go downhill as a result.  They would make an error, and they let it get to them.  They need to learn to let it go, and press on, and not allow themselves to get flustered.  That comes with time and experience.  We had our second game this past Monday up in Buffalo, NY.  We are in for a lot of driving this season as we are the new kids on the block in the league so we have to go to the away games, but they don't have to come to us because this is merely a probationary year.

They lost the match on Monday, as well.  But, overall, I saw improvement.  They seemed more relaxed, and yes they made mistakes, but there were some really good plays too.  They are growing and learning as volleyball season progresses. 

Last Friday was our school retreat.  What fun that was!  We spent the day with horses, hiking, playing, and eating.  And it counted as a school day.  It just doesn't get any better than that.

"Buggy" on Thunder the mule

Isaac on Thunder.  He also rode Ginger (who is definitely preggo, yay!).  I had a hard time getting him off when it was time for lunch.  The big kids were going on a trail ride after lunch, and Isaac kept asking "Can I ride the horse again?"  Oh boy.  Another riding addict is born!

Emiliee on Thunder.  She is used to horses.  She has a pony named Charlie, and I got to see her ride at the Fair back in August.

When you have a group of teens together, there is always some sort of tomfoolery.  This time it started with Benjamin (almost 6 '6") asking "Hey Mr. Greene, can I ride a sheep?"  He told him "sure if you can catch one."  Let the games begin!

What is good for the goose (sheep) is good for the gander (pigs).

By the way, that muck right in front of the kids spread eagle against the wall is knee deep liquidy goo.  They were waiting for Benjamin to chase the pigs out of the door on the right.   

This one got out, and then the chase was REALLY on!  

Playing on the fort.

This is a mini golf course (all 4 holes of it) based on the story of Jonah.  The devotional I did after lunch was on the book of Jonah, so I had the kids (Pre-k through 7th grade) sit in the boat.  It was called the USS Ninevah.  :)

Swinging!  Who doesn't love a tire swing? 

While we were at the fort, the older group came back from their ride.

Benjamin on King.  They look alike.  Tall and bony.  I don't know if you can pick it out in the picture but Benjamin is eating an apple.  Quiet a few of them were.  They must have raided the orchard on their ride.

We also had school pictures last Wednesday, so grandparents, be prepared to receive something new for your dartboards.

Today I got a new student!  Matthew is joining our little group.  He is 4, will be 5 in November, so he is almost exactly the same age as Isaac.  But let me tell you, he is a big boy!  Very tall, and quite robust.  I found out very quickly, that as hard as it is to understand Isaac sometimes, Matthew is even worse.  Also, his mom speaks a lot of Spanish at home because of her boyfriend, so apparently he knows a lot of his colors and numbers in Spanish.  Not so much English, though he does speak it fluently.  Except for colors and numbers, apparently.  No one told me I had to be bilingual for this job!  Good thing I took four years of Spanish in school.  

I quickly discovered that Matthew does not like to sit at a desk.  He does not like to color.  Or write.  Or sit still for a story.  He isn't big on crafts either.  Oh, did I mention his broken arm?  Thankfully his cast comes off next week, and then maybe I can get a clear evaluation on his fine motor skills, which seem underdeveloped right now.  He didn't break his dominant arm, but I am still giving him the benefit of the doubt, so to speak.  At any rate, I have figured that he is a solid pre-schooler.    So, for those keeping track, I have a sort of pre-preschooler, a preschooler, a K4 student, and a solid Kindergarten student.  Whew!  Anyone want to come help?  Oh, yeah... and I might be getting another one!  But that isn't certain yet.  

So, after a hectic day with a new student, and  Pre-preschooler underfoot, I was looking forward to getting home, putting up my tired tootsies for a few minutes, and enjoying some real quiet time.  

Not gonna happen.

The kids started band this week.  Oiy vey.  Elizabeth started on my flute.  I know, from experience, that learning how to blow into that thing so it makes some sort of pleasing tone isn't easy. Elizabeth is finding that out too.

Josiah is playing trumpet.  Or trying to.   

Caleb is doing surprisingly well with the French Horn.  If you think sounding like an elephant blowing his nose is good, anyway. 

Jerusha started the recorder last year in the second semester.  She is working on that, and learning to sight read this year. 

This classy guy, with the flood water chaps on, is playing a bass clarinet.  It is almost the same as a saxophone, except it uses a reed as the mouthpiece, and the saxophone doesn't.  He has his chaps on because he was going to work to help clear some land right after he practiced.  

Budding musicians.  Glad I'm learning sign language, because the ensuing din will probably cause permanent damage to my ears.

This Saturday we have a volleyball tournament up towards Buffalo, of course, but not as far as we went yesterday.  It will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  We have to leave early from school.  That means we'll be up bright and early... say 5 a.m. or so, on a day off. 

Goodie.  

Have a blessed day!