Christmas Tree '07 (Part I)

We went to our friends Marty and Cindy's farm to harvest our tree. As always we had a great time. Thank you and Merry Christmas to the Glendon family!

Christmas Tree '07 (Part II)

Ice Rink

We started work on the rink last week.
The ground froze and it snowed pretty early this year and I wasn't able to get the boards up and the plastic down, so we're going to try the "snowbank" method. I'm not sure how it'll work, we've got a small base of ice now but nowhere near enough to skate yet.

Give Thanks

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2004028141_chapman22.html

Relevant for this time of year especially (but not exclusively).

Deer Season

See the deer?

Yeah. Neither did I!

School

We post very little about school....so for those wondering about it....here's all the kids doing some schoolwork. Yes, Lily too. She's getting very good at making circles!!

Cal practicing his piano lessons....

Our younger music/art club doing an art lesson on printmaking. The kids actually made their own stamps!

Our older music/art group doing a lesson on primary, secondary, tertiary colors. Here they're making mosaics with the colors.

Uncle Mark

In honor of Veterans' Day Cal, James, and Leah sang at their grandparents church for a special luncheon.
They sang "I'm proud to be an American."
Uncle Mark was there as well singing.

The kids (Mom and Dad too) were very happy to spend some time with Uncle Mark who is currently serving our country in Uiejongbu, South Korea. We're proud of you Mark and miss you lots!!

Royal Party

James and Leah had a royal party for their birthday's this year.
Here are King James and Princess Leah.

The entire royal party....

And the castle cake.

Happy Birthday Twins!

Happy Birthday James and Leah!!! James is now 6 years old and Leah is now 5 years old! James loves reading, hockey, Patriots football, tractors, trains, and being outdoors. Leah loves drawing, hockey, Patriots football (especially the QB!), princesses, dressing up, dolls, and dancing to Mommy's piano music. They are both wonderfully loving children that we are blessed to have and raise. We love you Leah and JB!!

Video

The other day we sat down and watched the DVD's my sister has filmed & produced for us. She does a great job and watching them brings back a flood of feelings and sentiments about our awesome family! So over the next few weeks I'll try to post short clips of them here on our blog. Right now I have 5 DVD's. This clip is from the first one, made shortly after James was born. Cal was a little over 2 years old. Enjoy.

ps - the original DVD video quality is much higher than this one which has been converted to a Windows Media File.

Making Cider

Some of the apples...

Pressing the pomace...

Collecting the cider...

and tasting... Do you think he likes it?

BIG Announcement

Cal can FINALLY ride a bike without training wheels!!!! I know, I know, he's 8 yrs. old, but we live on a 40-mile/hour road. He learned to ride in the driveway and on the grass in the backyard. He's been riding everyday and does great. He can even make tight turns! He's so proud of himself!!!
And.....do you think it's time to potty train the 2 year old when she sits on the potty seat, with clothes and diaper on, to go to the bathroom? Or maybe it's just time to teach her to take off her own diaper.

Plymouth Vacation - part 5 - Sturbridge

On Sunday we headed to Sturbridge for the Massachusetts Outdoor Exposition. The kids were able to try fly-fishing, shoot guns, use bows and arrows, go kayaking, learn about making bows, feel various animal pelts, and make crafts. The big bonus of the day - James had the winning raffle ticket for a $100 gift certificate to LLBean.

James and Cal in a kayak.
Where's Waldo?? Can you find Charlie and Leah's kayak? And Cal and James?
James shooting a rifle.
Pocahantes' turn.

Cal shooting an air pistol.
The new Pocahantes.
Cal shooting a shotgun.
James trying out a compound bow.
Pocahantes with her bow.

Plymouth Vacation - Part 4

We spent most of Saturday on the beach. It was very windy in the morning and chilly. The kids didn't care!! They play in the sand and yes, even went in the water!! We had a relaxing day at the beach.

Lily, the bathing beauty.
The kids semi-buried in the sand....look at Lily's hair to see how windy it was.
This is how they first went in, with their sweatshirts over the bathing suits.
Playing in the water and sand.

Plymouth Vacation - Part 3

The next morning we went for a walk on the stone breakers walkway. It was VERY windy and a rather narrow walkway - I think it seems narrower if you've got little ones.

This is the walkway....isn't it narrow? It wasn't a vertical drop on the sides, but it was all rocks and a rather steep incline.
Here you can see the rope to hold onto on the left side.
Cal's picture of the bay in the morning.
Proof that Mommy was on vacation....the only picture of me from the weekend.