Tuesday Thoughts

So today is Tuesday. On Sunday, we played soccer in the snow, and saw a high school production of Les Miserables. On Monday we went sledding, and returned home to Hot Cross Buns, Hot Chocolate, and watch the Les Miserables movie, with a clear-play filter. (Can you see a running theme in our house?) And that brings us to Tuesday, which has probably been the craziest. Well, today started slow, and then picked up pace. I, Caroline, made spaghetti sauce, and then we all packed up and went to the dentist. So how long does it take for six kids to get their teeth cleaned? A LONG time. And I would be the last person scheduled. So I sat there, waiting for an hour, and read every single Highlights in the waiting room.  And now I'm typing this, and in a few minutes I'll probably hide some eggs for Susannah to find. Tomorrow I'll probably make bread, or dye some eggs for Easter. But here is my point. When I'm frustrated because I've been sitting in the waiting room for an hour, or because Susannah wants me to play Mexican Train, again, I'm going to try to remember this: The Lord has Blessed Us (or me) Abundantly. While I'm at the computer desk, and can just barely see into the kitchen, but on the kitchen wall there is a plate that says that. I'm going to remember that tomorrow, The Lord has Blessed ME Abundantly.
Adios,
*Caroline*

spring, spring, spring

So today is the offical 'First Day of Spring'. And, as a goal, I will try to update you on our happenings. And, just because I love bulletpoints, we will use those.

• Well, the garden is back, and so now the school-room is a full-fledged green house. We have peat pots all over, with everything from basil to zinnias. That leads me to the next, rather exciting part.
• It's kind of embarassing, but I haven't even told you about Scout. A few years ago, our dog Caspian died. This was very sad, and Elsie, his sister, was very lonely. Enter Scout. For Christmas 2012, our grandmother gave us a Great Pyrnees puppy. This is Scout.

         He is not this little anymore, and we do NOT make him wear ribbons. He is almost as big as Elsie, and not even fully grown. Unfortunatelly, he kills chickens. So far, only two have been killed, but the death of the first lead to a rather unusual birthday present for Dad.

• CHICKENS!!! He was in Washington D.C. a few days before his birthday (Dad), and so we (Mom and Kids), took the opportunity to head out and buy some replacement hens. We had planned on just getting Barred Rock chicks, because they look like this:

Susannah calls them Zebra Chickens. These chicks are growing up in the School Room bathroom. Adorable, but a handful of trouble. Excuse me while I go make sure they are not escaping out of the box. We were in the car, about to leave, when Mama got a call from a lady who has crazy hens. Crazy as in they look funny, or lay colored eggs. SO, Daddy got 10 chickens for his birthday. We got some, rather normal looking ones that lay green eggs, and then:

 Ricky

Lucy

I am not kidding. They do look like this, though these pictures are not of our hens. They lay white eggs, but are very sparatic layers. They can fly, which has caused a little excitement. On Monday, Dad searched the woods for 15 minutes looking for Ricky. She was a little wet, because it had snowed in the morning. This post is getting long, so I'll make another one soon. Soon as in THIS week. 

TTFN,

*Caroline* (who is now 12)

Oh what a beautiful day!!!!!

So today I woke up after watching Phantom/Les Miserables, till 11 o'clock p.m., finishing with

One Day More. I LOVE that song. 

Then I did all my school and THEN made bread for Mama. I decided to take pictures of my 

outfit. So here I am, in the middle of making bread. Yes, that is flour on my face.

I'm wearing a navy and white striped shirt from Lands End, and a hat from Emilie Elizabeth. Emilie

is one of my best friends. So ORDER A HAT! THEY ARE AWESOME!!!!!

Link here: http://simple-crafts.blogspot.com/2011/10/costumize-your-own-hat.html

ANYWAY, hope you like it.

*Caroline*

Happy Birthday Catherine!!!

Catherine's birthday was on the 8th, and we had a celebration that night.

 From Michael and Luke she got Jelly Beans.... One of her favorite candies.

Maddie gave her the 25th anniversary movie of The Phantom of the Opera. She loves that movie.

 Liza gave her a puzzle from Boston. She loves puzzles too.

 Catherine had her favorite cake. Yellow with buttercream frosting and raspberry filling. YUMMY!!!!

Joshua gave her Reese's peanut butter cups. I wonder if there are any left????

                                     

 

I, Caroline, gave her ladybug earrings, because look at the pictures above. She got her ears

pierced!!!!

 Susannah gave her popcorn, because the tin had Disney Princesses.

 Joshua, Catherine, and Susannah.

 More jellybean pictures.

 Michael, the man himself.

Catherine admiring her Phantom DVD.

Mama and Daddy gave her the soundtrack of Phantom, a Les Miserables concert DVD, and 

a recording of Les Miserables.

*Caroline*

Back on Blogger!

Hi everybody!
This is Caroline here. Mom and I've decided to hand the blog responsibilites over to ME!
So we will be getting a few more posts up.....
We'll start by catching up on birthdays, starting with ZuZu, which will be up in the next few days.
So don't give up hope yet!

Happy Birthday, Big J!

Joshua's long-awaited 5th birthday finally arrived after much anticipation.  October 2 fell on a Sunday this year, so we got up a bit early so we could have our special breakfast and open presents before going to church.

As usual, we began the festivities with the traditional t.p.'d bedroom door....

Then we moved downstairs for waffles and presents.....

He's a pirate!

Since Joshua's big day happened to fall on the first Sunday of the month, he got to have our church's First Sunday Lunch for his birthday lunch.  Nothing better than a church potluck!  Except maybe almost all of your extended family coming over for a birthday supper of fish sticks and macaroni and cheese.

Joshua gets ready for a birthday blessing at his party.

Besides fish sticks and macaroni and cheese, Joshua was also very adamant that he wanted a birthday cake decorated with the days of creation described in Genesis chapter 1.  This definitely tested the creative abilities of his mother and sisters, but we came up with a cake that made him happy.

The Days of Creation Cake

Susannah and Joshua loved playing with "Big John" - poking him with Joshua's pirate sword and getting him to chase them around the house.

We had a great time at the party and Joshua went to sleep that evening a happy and tired five-year-old boy!

Our Trip to South Carolina

This summer we spent a delightful week in South Carolina, visiting friends and family and enjoying the beach.

Our house is a block from the beach, and we are quite a parade with wagons, coolers, boogie boards, floats, etc.

The weather was nice for August, hot enough to make a swim in the ocean pleasant, though the water was warm.  Joshua, with his new swimming skills, spent a good bit of time out in the water with the older children, trying to ride the waves into the beach.

One tradition we all look forward to while we are on the island is a walk a few blocks down to the local ice cream "hut" at the pier.

 While we are in the neighborhood, we like to stop in the souvenir shop and visit the friendly parrot, "Bubba".

Susannah was fascinated by the very realistic pet puppies in the store.  Their chests moved up and down like they were really breathing, and she spent most of her time in the shop watching them and petting them.

Heading home....sticky, but satisfied!

One of our pit stops on the way to the beach is an outlet mall.  We bought this new bathing suit for Susannah while we were there.  She seems to like it!

We had many delightful visits with family and old friends.  One day we paid a visit to Cousin Beau's office downtown.  

He showed us around his office and talked to us about what it is like to be an architect.  

After we left the office, we enjoyed a walk through Battery Park.

Cannons that defended Charleston from the British during the Revolutionary War.  We learned a good bit about the city's defense during the war during our tour of Fort Moultrie earlier in the week.   Michael, Luke and Joshua strike a pose!

**********

Another much anticipated tradition is our meal at The Wreck of the Richard & Charlene.  This year Annie, Uncle John and Aunt Elle joined us, making for a delightful time. 

Caroline, Aunt Elle, and Annie

Catherine and Liza

Joshua!

Annie and Maddie

Susannah loved the fried shrimp and hush puppies.  Splendid!

After the meal, we went out on the dock to look at the creek.  The shrimp trawler in this photo belongs to Captain Tommy, who caught some shrimp for us earlier in the week.  We ate some that night, then froze a bunch to bring back home.

Aunt Elle and Joshua

Luke

The new bridge.

***********

On the way back home at the end of the week, we paid a stop at a family landmark, The Grey Goose.

Built by Uncle Bill and Aunt Jule early in their 60+ year marriage, this wonderful old house was the scene of many happy childhood memories for many of our clan.

Now Cousin Melody lives here with her husband, Bobby, and their wonderful dogs.  

Melody and Aunt Mary provided a delicious lunch, then we got a tour of the house and yard.

Susannah and Joshua loved the ice cream!

Uncle Bill's boathouse

I spent many hours as a child fishing off this dock......

watching Uncle Bill clean fish at this table.....

then gathering here with the family for a fish fry....

Thanks for a lovely time!  Until next year......