Rink's Back!

After a January thaw that melted all my ice, I've got a decent slab out there now. It's still a work in progress, but it's enough to skate on now. The kids spend hours each day out there. Here are some pics and a video of the action.

Kids' writing

Cal's tree poem:

Beech Trees

Beech trees have gray bark.
Sometimes they have an arc.
Some leaves stay
On all year. You can hear them
When you’re near.
Their leaves change from green
To brown. And a few fall, fall,
Fall down.


James' tree story:

Birch Trees

Birch trees are yellow or white. If you peel some of the birch bark off, inside it will be pink. The bark is thin like paper. Birch bark is good for starting a fire. Birch trees are big and tall. They grow straight up. I like birch trees because they are good for starting a fire. You can hear the wind blow its leaves.


Leah's tree story:

Pine Trees

Pine trees are beautiful. Once I saw a pine tree on Christmas Day. It was covered with snow. It was a small baby tree. The pine needles were gone. I like this tree because it is so small and it will never die until it gets big and old.

Backyard Rink!

With the cold weather last week I was able to get a rink started. It was bumpy and uneven, but the kids had fun.

This is a bunch of homeschoolers in Phys. Ed. class.


Lily tried skating too. She didn't like it too much.
















The rink is all but gone now with the warm weather, but they got a little use out of it. Hopefully we'll get some more below zero temperatures soon!! Right?

Snow

We got some snow yesterday and there was a lot of snowblowing to be done. So I made Cal do it!

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.