Big boy

Cal lost one of his top teeth finally...it's been hanging loosely for awhile.

Old Sturbridge Village

Yesterday we went to the Homeschool Day at Old Sturbridge Village. It was a great day! We learned a lot about what life was like in the early 1800s. We also experienced the different jobs and buildings around the village. Cal especially liked the blacksmith shop while James was fascinated with the broom maker. Leah liked dressing up and "cooking" over a fire. Lily was so good...she walked on her own for the first half of the day and slept in the backpack carrier for a good part of the afternoon. It was a rainy day, but we had so much fun!
Lily getting ready to milk the cow.

Leah being shown how to participate in the hoop races.
Leah dressed up and ready to cook.
The whole crew with a plastic sheep...before this picture Lily was standing by herself next to this sheep patting it on the side and talking to it. It was very cute, but of course she stopped when I took out the camera.

Fun with Gracie

We all had a fun day visiting and playing with Gracie and Jake and Lauren! She is such a cutie!
The boys showing Gracie what it's like to have a big brother...

Isn't she cute?? We love you Gracie and had a fun day with you (and your mom and dad too!)

First Day of School

Last week we officially started school again. The kids were excitedly looking through their new books. James and Leah were eager to start school. Cal, while not being as eager as the others, at least was willing. Even Lily was in on it and tried to help James with his math.
My first grader getting "help" from his 2 year old sister.
My big boy, now a third grader...
First time schooling....Leah is now a kindergartener.
***NOTE... the boys matching shirts made by their very talented grandmother. Thank you Noni!!

Labor Day

We spent a beautiful, fun, relaxing day at the "beach" with Jidoo and Noni....Lily loved the water and playing in the sand....
Cal went canoeing and fishing with Jidoo and Daddy.....

James, my he's needs a tan....

and Leah, the bathing beauty. We spent almost all day here and the kids still weren't ready to leave!

Cal, J.B. and I had a fun time yesterday watching the Pats "smoke" the Yets. While all the talk is about Randy Moss, Tom Brady and Ellis Hobbs, this cartoon from ESPN's Page 2 sums up the real MVP's of the game.

ps - there is something wrong with this picture. Post a comment if you can find it.

Yearly Check-ups

Cal and Lily went to the doctor's for their yearly check-ups. Both are in excellent health and growing well!!
Lily is quickly moving from baby stage to big girl stage. There are so many things she does herself. She can put her own sandals on, get undressed herself, put things in the garbages without being told, help clean-up, and help empty the silverware out of the dishwasher. She's so willing to help, it's great! She's talking constantly and repeating everything that is said. She's also singing. My favorite is "I a doodle nana" (I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy). She also sings "This little light of mine", "America", and "Happy Birthday". Newest saying, when Daddy walks out the door is "have fun".
Cal is such a big helper. He is a great big brother! He's always playing with his brother and sisters. If Lily needs help she often goes to Cal for it. He planted cucumbers seeds a few months ago and today picked his first cucumber. He grew them from seed in a pot on the porch and took good care of them. He's so thoughtful....he shared this rather small cucumber with his brother and sisters. He'll be starting third grade soon.....it seems just yesterday I was taking him to the park for the first time.

Fish story

OK so I'm gonna post a picture of myself. There's an interesting story here. Jesse, Cal and I went fishing in the Housy on Sunday, and I caught this nice bass. Notice the bite or notch out of the tail. Well, Scott, Jesse, Leo and I went back to the same place on Wednesday and within the first few minutes of fishing I latched onto another good bass in the same area. When I held it up it had the same notch in the tail and a small scar in the corner of the mouth where my hook from Sunday had been! I wish I had taken antoher picture.

Beautiful girls

Just because they're beautiful.....

Tennis Pros

The boys took tennis lessons this summer. They did great!! Here are a few pictures of our tennis pros. Anyone want to play doubles??

Camping Trip

We spent the past weekend at Winhall Brook Campground with some friends. We had a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures.

Birthday Girl!!

Lily is 2!! It's hard to believe two years has gone by already. She is a happy, healthy, loving, cuddly little girl. She's makes us laugh and smile every day! Think back to two years ago... Lily was only four days old and we had to bring her to the hospital because her temperature was 102.5 . The doctors weren't sure what was wrong and had to take lots of blood samples and do a spinal tap. It was awful being down the hall from her closed hospital room and hearing her cry while they did a spinal tap. She had to have oxygen and heart and breathing monitors hooked up to her for several days. She also had to have an IV hooked up to her three times a day as well as blood taken from her tiny body each day. (Trying to nurse a baby with all these wires was quite interesting!) It was a scary time for her mom and dad as well as brothers and sister. It was a very long seven days before she (and Mommy) were able to come home. Thank God she is now a beautiful and healthy two year old!!

Happy Birthday Sunshine!! We love you so much, you bring so much joy to our lives!!!

Funny things

Okay, I know, I went a little overboard with the posts today.....this will be the last one for a few days, I promise. Just had to post this cute picture taken on our last camping trip and tell you of the funny thing Leah said last night. We were on our way home from an outdoor concert and she had us laughing. We're driving along and all of a sudden she says, "I just saw a sign that says no hoola-hooping across the road." :) She's very imaginative!!

After further thought I think Leah must have seen one of these gag stickers:

What we're doing with our summer vacation

We've been enjoying our break from schooling and doing many things that we don't often have time for during the school year. We've been doing lots of fun things - spending time with friends and family, going on outings, painting, playing games, making pickles and jam, going to concerts, taking tennis lessons, spending lots of time outdoors and in the stream. Here are some pictures of our resident artist using oil paints. Their pictures are now on display on the fireplace mantle in the living room for all to enjoy.

Frogs!!

Our eggs have gone from eggs to tadpoles to frogs since May. Here's some pics of the kids with the frogs. We have released all but six frogs that we're raising as pets. As you can see from the pics they are very small frogs.