Blueberries, blueberries, blueberries

Sixteen and a half pounds of blueberries

James stirring the jam

Cal and James filling the jars with jam

Eight pints of blueberry jam came out of the 16 1/2 pounds of berries along
with 12 cups that we froze and several cups that we ate!!!

Lily is 3!!!!!!

Think back three years ago......Lily was born and then the day after we came home from the hospital with her we had to return. She had a high fever for a newborn at 102.5 degrees. I took her to the pediatrician when she was four days old and they sent me to the pediatric wing at the hospital. The doctors weren't sure exactly what was wrong. Lily had to have a spinal tap to rule out meningitis. It was a 48 hour wait for the final results of that test. In the meantime she was on oxygen and had a heart rate monitor attached to her. They had to take blood a couple times each day from her tiny little feet and hands and one time from her head. It was heart-wrenching to watch. She was also on antibiotics that were administered for a half hour three times a day. Lily and Mommy had to stay at the hospital for seven long days. We are thankful to God for taking care of our precious baby girl and how she has grown to be an adorable, healthy, cuddly, loving, three-year old "big" girl. We love you Lily!!!

Lily with her new dress-up shoes and showing off her party dress.

Since it was a rainy day on her birthday we went to the museum.....

and out to lunch of her choice..........

and back home where she's testing out her new princess pillow and showing off her new light-up Strawberry shoes.

July Birthdays

We celebrated Cal and Lily's birthdays in July with family and friends! Cal turned 9 this year and Lily is now 3.

Cal's Deer Cake

Lily's pink "baby" cakes

Cal playing with one of his gifts.

Uncle Dave playing with one of Cal's gifts. I think I know what to get him for his birthday!

Camping Trip in July

We went camping earlier this month with friends. We all had a great time....swimming,
fishing, canoeing, hiking, playing at the playground and at the beach area, sitting around
the campfire. It was a very relaxing weekend that went by too quickly.

Sisters

The girls are constantly together. It's cute (most of the time) watching an almost-3 year old follow around her big sister doing and saying everything she does and says.
Sitting on the porch steps.....
Going to the grandparents' church to sing.....

When we went in to check on them they were squished in one bed......

Cal's Birthday

For his birthay, Cal requested a picnic supper, fishing, and swimming at the Glen. We had a lot of fun playing and relaxing. The boys even caught a few small fish!

Cal taking a cast

Swimming!!

Love that smile!!

Cuteness The little mermaid

Happy Birthday Cal !!!!!

Nine years ago we welcomed our first child into the world.

At 6:30PM Cal was born.

We love you very much

and are proud to have you as our son!!!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Tree Swallows

Pictures from the bird box in our front yard.

This one's waiting to be fed:

Here's a video of one of the parents feeding a young one on the fly:

And here's one of Cal doing the feeding:

Positive Message

The Foundation for a Better Life is a good organization which is spreading positive messages. You've probably seen their bill boards around. Here's one of their TV Spots:

'07 - '08 School Year

Poetry by James

James has been writing poetry too. Here's two of his latest poems that he created at our recent book club meeting with our homeschool group.

Green

Green is grass
Grass is green
Green is leaves
Green is a tractor cutting hay


Giraffe
long neck
eating drinking, sleeping
I love giraffes
lovely

Cal's poem

We've been studying the American Revolution for a few weeks. I asked Cal to summarize our learning by writing. He chose to create the following poem:


AMERICAN REVOLUTION
POEM

The American Revolution was good and bad
Some kids had to fight with their dad
People just had to shoot
But they didn’t throw their boot

The Tea Party made it start
Patriots did their part
Taxes from Britain they wanted to stop
There was a battle on Bunker’s hilltop

There was a fight at Lexington and Concord
From somewhere the first shot soared
They fought on the village green
Some were kids that were only sixteen

They fought at day and at night
The Patriots won the whole fight
The Patriots wanted to be free
So they worked tirelessly

As they worked there was not silence
They wrote the Declaration of Independence
Their own country the Patriots got
And it all started with one shot

Maple Syrup

We boiled all day and made 1 1/4 gallons of syrup today.

Cal's pictures

Some pictures taken by Cal, including a self-portrait.

Cleaning out duck boxes

A couple of weeks ago on a beautiful sunny day we headed over to help Marty and Cindy clean out the duck boxes.

Checking for eggs.

Adding fresh wood chips

Ready for this year's ducks!!

APRIL FOOLS!

The last post was a JOKE! Ha Ha. It didn't get much of a response, though?

NUMBER 5!!

BIG NEWS! Our family is growing again. Our fifth child will be born in the end of November. This will make 3 birthdays within a week or so. Five kids! WOW.

Big brother

He's such a good big brother!!!

Boys' Writing

Maple Sugaring Day by JB

One morning we started to make maple syrup. The first thing we did was build a fire with wood. Then we put cement blocks around the fire. We put the big pot over the fire. When the fire was going we poured sap into the big pot. It started to boil. While it was boiling we sat around the fire, added more sap, and we had fun. For fun, we went sliding down our hill without sleds. We had fun sliding and going fast. When we went down we pushed snow out of the way so there was ice underneath.
Noni, Jidoo, Marty, and Cindy came to watch us make maple syrup. When the sap was almost syrup we put it into a smaller pot and boiled it over the propane burner. We boiled it until it turned dark brown and into syrup. Then we filtered it into jars. With some of the syrup we poured it onto snow and ate with pickles and kielbasa.
I had a fun day making maple syrup!!!

Maple Syrup by Cal


Maple syrup is so yummy
It is good in your tummy
It is sweet and very sticky
But it is not one bit icky

Maple sap looks like water
You can collect it with your daughter
Boiling it is takes all day
While you wait you can play

Maple trees produce the sap
And in the tree you put a tap
On each tap hangs a pail
And a cover to keep out hail

Maple syrup is used to eat
And it makes things really sweet
I like waffles, crepes, and pancakes,
Ice cream, French toast, whatever Mom makes.

Syrup

We made some syrup yesterday. Here are some pictures and a video of the day:

Oh yeah, the kids had time for a little fun too: