Hope's Piano Recital ~Oct. 27, 2009

Please turn off music at the bottom.

Hope played a song called "Malaguena" at her piano recital this past week. It was difficult to see her over the music stands but she is more visible as she does stand at the end of her music piece. She did an excellent job! She continues to bless us with her ability to learn an instrument. She has a beautiful singing voice too. One of these days maybe she will let me video her, singing as she plays the piano. We are very proud of our little lady!

Birthday Blessings

(Jenny in the middle)

My precious, dear friend Jenny, celebrated her 48th birthday with a bunch of us ya-whos! We love her so much! She is such a godly encourager, a fantastic wife & mother, extraordinare friend and a hilarious blast to be with! She is also my walking buddy, sister-in-Christ and confidant. I admire her in so many ways. I am blessed to have her as my dear and precious friend. I love you Jenny! Hope your birthday was great!

Hope's new desk

Thanks to Meme & Poppy, Hope has a new desk. She has been wanting one for a while now. It came like this.

Hope & I successfully put it together and it now looks like this. Not bad for 2 gals, a screwdriver, instructions & a whole lot of parts.

Applesauce galore

On the 7th, I got together with 2 of my highly domesticated friends. We had 4 bushels of apples that needed to be turned into applesauce. For any of you that have a Kitchenaid mixer, the food grinder and fruit & vegetable strainer attachments, are a sheer must -have!! It made making applesauce so easy and quick. All we had to do was wash our apples, quarter them, cook them and put them thru the attachment and applesauce comes out one end, the seeds and skins come out the other. We had two of these babies going and we flew thru the sauce making!! These attachments are indeed on my Christmas list this year!! Of course, I forgot to get a picture of the finished product but if my memory serves me correctly.....we finished the day with about 70 quarts of applesauce. Despite the fact that we had a houseful of kids running around and helping, not bad at all for a couple hours work.

Field Trip ~October 6, 2009

We went to Kercher's orchard for a field trip on Oct. 6. While we were out in the field on our hay ride, it poured down rain! Oh well, no lightning, no thunder, no problem. The kids were soaking wet but able to pick apples and gourds. They learned about the different varieties of apples that Kercher's grows. We went thru a "corny" corn maze and sampled some homemade cider! What a wet but wonderful field trip.

Our trip to NC, WV, and the Creation Museum

We traveled to Harrisburg, North Carolina to visit Greg's cousin, Lonnie & his family. We always have a hilariously fantastic time whenever we are together. Let's just say there is never a dull moment when the two of them are together. Greg was able to get a few little jobs around their house done. He and Lonnie worked on putting bunk beds together, tightening the kitchen sink down, adding some ceiling fans, regrouting the shower and other manly jobs. They did find some time to do some serious road-biking (hence the matching biking outfits), played crack the egg on the trampoline, rode the "zappy", and laughed until they hurt. Angela and I are on a little more of the serious note, not by much but we try. We were able to do a little shopping, go to a ladies bible study, ride the "zappy" and just talk. Our kids are so close in age and had lots of things in common. They went swimming, rode bikes, played basketball and jumped on the trampoline.

We then headed to Beckley, West Viriginia to visit our nephew at Bible College. We tore Jacob away from studying and off on a little hiking adventure at a park in the mountains. We topped the evening off with a steak dinner (something that college kids don't get very often).

We were able to go to the Creation Museum in Kentucky near Cincinnati, OH. It was great! What a terrific place to for our kids to learn more about biblical creationism.

Homeschool picnic~Sept. 25, 2009

Our homeschooling group had a family picnic on the 25th. We are blessed to have so many families that homeschool their children and can support each other. The Lollis's were so gracious in hosting it at their home. We had a rainy evening but that did not stop 26 kids and 1 husband (mine of course) from swimming in the pool. The kids played in the pool, in the yard and had lots of great things to eat. The food and fellowship was great that evening. Thanks everyone for your Godly encouragement in the way we teach and train our kids!!

September 19~American Girl Day

On this fine Saturday, a dear friend of mine along with our girls, went to Michael's to do some American Girl crafts. The girls were pumped! They knew that this was a special day because after our Michael's excursion we were heading to the Essenhaus. The Essenhaus puts on an American Girl themed something every year. This year was a cooking demonstration with lunch and a few crafts and the whole ball of wax. They had little booths set up to look over some of the American Girl books and the other accessories that Mattel markets to our little ones. The girls were in the height of their glory! They are both homeschooled and involved in a History Co-op that just happens to be using the American Girl curriculum. With all this said....they had a great Saturday! So did the "Moms".