Memories to keep

Like, Zach asking me if I was born back in 1842 when we was working on a history lesson this week, and if we had steam powered engines or motors.
Or, Noah eating a fortune cookie for the first time at a China Buffet, and after he took his first bite he said, "Look Mom, there's trash in it!" He then pulled out the fortune, and said,"I got it out, Mom".
Or, Josh saying, "If you had a full-sized job, we'd have to go to the school building, right Mom."
And then there was Zach at lunch today. =) I still smile about this one and the look on his face was priceless. He wanted more water, and when he saw the water jug on the table, he said,"Oh." Then he proceeded to be the funny guy, and pretend to drink right from the jug. As he tips the 1/4 full jug to his lips, off pops the lid, down pours the water, covering his face, some of his hair and ear, shirt, pants, and of course the chair and floor. He said, "Somebody didn't put the lid on!" as I smile and think I know what is going to happen, but it happens to fast to say anything (since I was the one who didn't put the lid on all the way, knowing I would be offering refills)!
And then there is Hannah, whom her Dad asked if the elevator wasn't getting to the top floor, and she replies,"I don't have an elevator" to which Shawn and I busted out laughing about, and is still a fun saying in our home. Aghh, these are the days.

Snow, snow and cold!

We have only had a few days in December without snow, and the temperature has been...., very cold! Like 5* F. We have made it almost to the 30's, and even one day was a little over 30*F, then back to 16*F the next day with a few inches of snow. We haven't had massive amounts of snow, like our friends to the north that had over 20". The most we've had at a time is 3". Makes me think back to when I was young and the snow fell in November and didn't melt off until March. We were so excited to see grass for the first time in the spring, after the thaw. Oh, I guess I'm turning into one of those, "I remember walking to school and home, uphills both ways," sorta gal. Sigh... =)

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

We enjoyed Thanksgiving here this year, with some of my mother's family. Shawn and I enjoyed some quality time in the kitchen, preparing the turkey..:) He was such a sweetheart and stayed up with me until 3:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving day, while I baked an apple and a cherry pie, cleaned the house, and then he helped me prepare the turkey for the oven. I got back up at 7 a.m. to turn the oven up and peel potatoes, and in between folded all the laundry I had let pile up this week.
We had a huge feast, so much food that it took awhile to figure out where to put all of it! My newest camera is officially broken, it had been acting up and now it only takes black pictures with purple lines on it, so,,, I couldn't get any pictures. :(.. I will just tell you what we had, (it may be boring to read all of this, but for memories sake I will record it:),,,)
A 21.66 lb turkey, that cost $19.33(thought in several years it might be nice to see how much things cost back then), a huge ham, homemade mashed potatoes and turkey and ham gravy(from scratch), stuffing, crescent rolls, sweet potatoe casserole, baked corn, corn, butter beans with ham, cole slaw, beets, jello with fruit, dirt dessert, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin pie, grape salad, and apple and cherry pie. I think that was everything. Our refreshments were lemonaide, sweet tea, Pepsi, Root Beer, and water.
Our guests included my Dad, sister Diana, brother Tad, and his wife, Sandy, and their child Emily. My Mom's Mom, Grandma Hattie, and 2 of Mom's brothers, Uncle Terry and Uncle Billy and his wife, Aunt Marilyn, and their 2 children( daughter Leigh and her husband,J.C., and son Will) and 3 grandchildren(Mariah, MaKayla, and Marshall). We had a wonderful time and it was very special to spend time with Mom's family. Makes me miss her so much, thankful for the time we had with her though.
Shawn's Mom and Dad had a nice get together for Thanksgiving at their house the Sat. evening before. We had a nice time visiting with his family too.
Special note of interest,,, Noah is binky free! I was sure I would have a hard time taking it away, and here he gave it up on his own, 2 weeks ago. He had fallen asleep with out it on Friday, the 12th. Then on Saturday we kept busy the whole day, and he didn't ask for it like he normally does, and fell asleep again without it, and didn't ask for it until late Sunday night. I told him he didn't need it anymore and he just said, "Ohhh" and that was the end of binky's in Noah's mouth! Now he is sucking his first finger,,, from one issue to another. On another good note, he is basically potty trained now, he just did that on his own this weekend. He started taking himself to the potty, even to poo! YEAH, NOAH!!! We are so proud of you, our last little baby is sure growing up fast and in a hurry.
Well, Shawn is reading a story to the older children, while Noah is piling my desk with toy dogs, and tractors saying,"Here's your toys, Mom", so I guess I will go play with him. Good night.

Weiner Roast 2010

We held our annual weiner roast on Oct.22nd. Enjoyed fellowship, cold weather, and hotdogs(and many other wonderful dishes). And of course, the fire. Wonderful job, Honey! We had around 35 here this year, one of the smallest since we started having them 10 years ago. However, we still enjoyed ourselves, and I enjoyed listening to Albin, Arlen, and Rick playing their guitars. I missed singing hymns around the fire this year, but maybe a hymn sing is in the near future??... I have a few pictures to remember the day by, lighting wasn't too hot(of course not since it was in the low 40's!). I also made a birthday cake for all the Oct. birthdays, including but not limited to Diana, Troy, Cody, Tabi, and Mary.This was a 5 minute decoration job, but hey, it was dark out, right??

Fall pictures of our children

We enjoyed a walk at a local park, and it made for a perfect photo shoot.

Hannah's violin recital; Zachariah's harmonica recital

Hannah had her violin recital (violin and cello students only) on Sunday, September 26th. She did very well, as did all the students. Her teacher, Mrs. Sax, is really a special lady that has a lot of patience for the little ones she teaches. Jerry accompanied Hannah on the piano. My camera shut off in the middle, so I've loaded the second half here.

Zachariah had his harmonica recital (with piano, cello,violin,voice and electric guitar students also participating) on October 17th. Zach had 3 songs he was playing in a row, and when he finished, his teacher, Mike, threw him a loop and asked him to play another song. Zach took it in stride, and continued with another song! He did very well too! I haven't downloaded his video yet, when I get it on, I'll post that. I do have a picture of Zach on stage so I'll share that. Great job to both my children!

Playing catch up, again

Well, I have managed to not take time to post, again. We have been busy the past 5 weeks, and I will try to touch on the highlights, if I remember all of them! It may be easier to use seperate posts.
Josh had a pretty serious bike wreck 2 weeks ago. He just started riding without training wheels on Sept. 12th. He tried to go down a small hill near our garage, and forgot to use his brakes. He instead put down his feet, and lost control. I was just coming from the barn, feeding the dogs and horses, and was too far away to help him. I watched him fly over his handelbars after he hit the swing set, and he caught his neck on one of the plastic swings. He ended up with bruises on his shoulder, knee, and a small bump on his neck. He even managed to rip the swing seat about 2", and his handlebars were left torn and filled with dirt! Thankfully, he recovered within a week, and had only a sore neck from the ordeal, nothing super serious.
Fall has also officially arrived, but without much color this year. We have mostly brown leaves, with a few red here and there. It was so dry, and then in October when we did get rain, most of the leaves fell off while still green. So, no pretty fall pictures to show.

Fun time camping

We took a mini vacation camping a few weeks ago with T.J. and Lindsey. We had a blast, and I especially loved the time off, just sitting and visiting near the campfire till 2 A.M. both nights we were there, the adults that is :) . The kids had fun playing at the park, and riding bikes. Josh became a pro while there, and his bike was well worn in by the time we left. We ate a lot of food, which is part of camping, right? That was our excuse anyway! On Saturday evening, Brent, Cody and Kayla came to visit. That was fun, sorry I didn't get a lot of time to visit with you guys. Moms sort of get busy that way. The best part of the camping trip was that no one ended up with croup! Yipee!!! We had perfect weather, cold Friday night, and cool with a few short rain showers on Saturday night. Saturday afternoon was perfect, and we enjoyed an airplane/car show. Shawn worked all day and night on Thursday,an he was off on Friday. We had a back to school picnic for the 3 school age children to attend Friday, and that was very fun and informative. Thanks for the wonderful time, TJ and Lindsey, and for the fellowship. You guys are special to us.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Then 1996,and now 2010`.Just married, so happy!

Today is our 14th wedding anniversary! Hannah put on an anniversary supper for us on Sunday evening. She bought flowers, paper goods, cupcakes, fruit, and had presents wrapped for Shawn and I (with her own money!). What a wonderful daughter I have, the best one ever :) I think. She also rounded up a pretty tablecloth and decorations. Her theme was red, and I didn't realize she was going to do this, and I had made a quick supper of tomato soup. So, unknowingly, I stayed with her theme color, with no suggestions from her. Thanks for 14 wonderful, and sometimes not so wonderful, years together Shawn. We've grown alot this past year, and I pray we'll keep growing closer many, many more years to come, Lord willing.

Noah and Paige

Hannah and Ryann

Shawn, Dora and Noah

Friends.

Noah doing school. Our schoolroom.

Teachers desk! Corn we harvested.

Happy Belated Birthday, Shawn

Happy Birthday to my darling! It was actually on Labor Day, but we were so busy moving our school room, I forgot to post. I won't mention age, but I will say he is getting closer to being halfway to being old! We officially have a neat school room, hoping it stays neat at least a few months after all the hours Shawn and I poured into it!
School has been going great, really long hours while we are in our adjusting period, but no regrets with our new curriculm. I forgot to take pictures of our first day of school, which was Aug 25th. I did take a couple of lunch shots, if I wasn't so lazy I'd go get the camera and upload the pictures to share,,,,well, I guess I'm going the lazy route and hope to post pictures tomorrow.
Josh started kindergarten this year, and is a very quick learner. The first day he learned about the continents, and he can quickly tell you how many there are. We have this cute song that is teaching him the names, after he has mastered them, I'll put on a video of it.
Noah's personality is really coming out, too. It is amazing to watch him learn new things, the things he comes up with at the tender age of 2 blows me away. He is in this cute stage where if I tell him he is funny, he reply's,"No, me Noah." Of course the other kids crack up over this and continue to say things so they can hear, "No, me Noah."
Today would have been my parents 50th wedding anniversary. 5 1/2 years since Mom's been gone. Glad to remember the good times now more often than the times of sickness and our acute feeling of lose right after she passed away.
Well, another long post with no pictures, sorry!

Long time, no post

Sorry for so long between posts. We are still here, just understanding a new level of busy. Lets see, our summer consisted of putting up hay, more hay, making salsa and pizza sauce, canning dilly beans, which Noah helped lose a jar of((I had them in a basket for Shawn to carry downstairs to our pantry, and Noah wanted the basket for a wagon for his tractor, so he started unloading jars, and the 4th jar out busted on our carpet, good news he didn't cut himself!)), freezing corn(we harvested about 150 ears this year), freezing tons of green beans(forgot beans continually produce, the kids got real tired of beans when we had to pick and snap/sort every week, finally pulled them the second week of Aug.), chopping lots of peppers, and making pickles(bread and butter, and dill). We loved the pizza sauce! We had some really good friends from our meeting over, and they said it was the best pizza they had eaten. I thought they must not have much pizza experience, but I do have to say it was really good. Sorry T.J. and Lindsey, we loved having you over, and can't wait for our trip with you! I think you know what I meant by that experience comment(if not, I don't consider myself a great cook).
The best part of summer, no question, convention. We had the privelage of 2 full time conventions, and are realizing just how blessed we are. I can't imagine going through life and missing out on these resting places. So good to see how God knows just what we need, when we need it. So many good things we heard, now to apply. The time spent with God's people was needed too!
We also spent a day at an amusement park with Shawn's Mom and Dad, his brother and his wife and 2 children, and his little cousins, Thomas and Michael. We then spent a night at a hotel, and went to a water park the next day. What a blast! Shawn and I liked it almost as much as the kids.
While we are reminiscing, I guess I should tell about what Josh had to go through this summer. He is allergic to bees, thus we have an epi pen. Well, we made it through last year without using it, and as you guessed, he got stung one morning while I was mowing grass. The kids came running up screaming to get my attention. I realized by looking at the terror on Hannah, Zach, and Emily's face, and seeing the tears flow down Josh's checks what happened. Turned mower off, and shouts of Josh got stung followed. I took him in the house to use the epi pen. Got all set to use it, pulled off safety cap(had Shawn on the phone for moral support) and positioned over Josh's thigh, when "OUCH!" That was me! I didn't realize I had the pen backward, and instead of injecting him, I gave myself a shot of epi. My thumb instantly locked into position, so I grab up all 5 of the kids, and off to the F.D. we go, with the spare pin. The guys on station were kind enough not to laugh until we pulled away! Shawn H. was able to inject him while Beam and I held him down. It was a terrifying experience for a little 5 year old , he was a trooper though, and now we have the memory of mom shooting herself. By the way, if you ever inject a digit with Epi, expect it to stay white and cold, have no feeling and look very dead, for 24 hours, mine did!
Lets see, oh yes, the kids school supplies arrived, and we have completed our first full week of school. This is a challenging program, and we are still adjusting to starting at or before 8. Josh started kindergarten this year, Zach is in 4th and Hannah is in 6th.
Zach had a pretty serious bike wreck right before we left Yellow Springs. He actually knocked himself unconscious, and bruised up his face. He felt sick to his stomach that night, and didn't remember what happened. The next morning when he refused breakfast, I knew we had problems. After finally accepting one bite, and severe pain that followed, I ended up taking him to the E.R. We thought his jaw may be broken, but xrays showed a deep bruise and they said he had a concussion. He mended fine after several days of soft food and slow chewing!
We had fun putting up more hay last night, and enjoyed the company and really appreciated the help,from my cousin, Will. I think we put up 230 bales, not a lot, but enough to sweat a little.
WEll, I wonder how many of you I lost after you tired of reading all of this! Pictures will come later, must finish school now. Dora

Garden 2010

Here are the garden shots I have been wanting to get posted. Everything is growing nicely, except the lettuce and onions(from seed!). Shawn has been enjoying the Hungarian peppers. This is from June 10th.

This is from today(July 1st). Here is Josh in the corn.Butternut squash with my brothers weeds in the background.Cucumbers.Baby cucumber!Bell peppers.Hungarian hot pepper.Green tomatoes.Josh and Noah in front of the sunflowers.Green bean flower.The tractor that "helped" me till the garden Tues. p.m., run by no other than Josh being chased by Noah.Boys playing, you can see how tall the corn and sunflowers are. By Noah is the silver queen corn, Josh is inbetween the super sweet corn and the sunflowers.One of 4 tomato plants that planted themselves in my flowerbed in front of house.And finally the kittens with beautiful blue eyes, who still need homes. Takers, anyone?