Happy Halloween

I have to admit Halloween isn't my favorite holiday. I totally adore the fall leaves, the scarecrows, apple cider and donuts, hayrides and such. Halloween to me is just a lot of thinking and work. I have been avoiding pulling out the costume bins all week; I knew it would cause chaos in the house. About noon I had all the kids do a quick clean up of the whole house, so at least it started out in order before it all began. About 1:00 I allowed the bins to come out of the attic. I can't even describe the scene to you........13 kids and costumes flying everywhere. What you picture in your mind right now, is exactly how it was!! They had to try them all on, even though they were too small, too big, totally girly, or rather boyish. It took me 4 hours (and I am not even being sarcastic!!) to have everyone settled with something they weren't going to cry about 5 minutes later. The ward had a small party up at church, the kids loved the Haunted House. We decided to head home a little early, so we missed the actual trunk-or-treat. We all decided it would be fun to have a family party at home instead with John tomorrow night, since he had to work tonight. We have done this other years, and the kids have all loved it.

A Sigh of Relief

Still a little chilly out today; snow slightly covering the ground. I think the slightest bit of sun would melt it all away. We started up the fires again, we will most likely keep them burning now till spring. It is a nice cozy feeling to have them up going. The kids enjoy pulling out the board games, or sinking down into the comfy couch with a good book about this time of year. We made it through another day of school. I even had Isaac and Joshua teach a lesson of History, Health, and Science to the younger kids today. They enjoyed this very much, especially teaching about bees, and why it is not a good idea to step on them. So the little kids have explained and told me to no longer kill the bees. Hmmm......we will see what they think of this idea next time there is a wasp in their bedroom. I am thinking they will have a change of heart. This afternoon I met with the counselors which whom Shannon, Joshusa, Cassidy and Nathan will be seeing. It was such a relief to have this finally happen, after trying and searching for the right ones for 6 months. They will be great for them.......they were so nice, and dealt with me just fine!! I explained to them just basic information about the kids, and what they are like and enjoy. It was a relief to also have them back up and affirm the observations we have seen. All in all, it is a huge stress off my mind. I feel a little more carefree. We now have the attorney to deal with the legal things, and the counselors to deal with the emotional things. And I can finally focus all my efforts back onto raising, guiding, teaching and caring for all the kids. No more worries--all is good! As dad would say "Happy Days!"

Snow

Woke up to a yard of snow. YUCK!!!

Tag your it

Tag your it!!

Posting for Joshua. Responding to Johnathon's Tag.

Three names I answer to:
1.Josh
2.Joshy
3. Joshua

Three resturants I like:
1.Maple Gardens
2.McDonalds
3.Pizza Hut

Three trips I have planned for the year:
1.Scout Camping
2.Hiking
3.Pennsylvania

Three things I really want:
1.Paintball Gun
2.Pocket Knife
3. My own soccer field

Three pets I have/had:
1.Max & Smeagol (dogs) Pip & Squeek (love birds) Oreo (cow)
2.Cinnamon & Canada (cats) 24 Clucky's (chickens) 5 Donald's (ducks)
3. 3 Porky's (pigs) Patch & Taz (sheep) Earnie (rabbit)

Three things I did yesterday:
1.Church
2.Played in forts
3.feed my dog

Three things I ate yesterday:
1.Banana
2.Tomato soup & Garlic bread
3.Chocolate chip cookie

Three fears I have:
1.Heights
2.Being in the woods alone
3.coydogs

Three things I plan on doing/did today:
1.School
2.help make dinner
3.go to bed

Three things I plan on doing tomorrow:
1.play chess
2.organize something
3.go to the bathroom

Three holidays I love:
1.Christmas
2.Halloween
3.Thanksgiving

Three beverages I like:
1.Rootbeer
2.Apple Cider
3.Milk

Three people I tag:
1.Erin
2.Kristy
3.Brooklin

TAG YOUR IT!!!!

For John on our 17th Wedding Anniversary

What do I love about you?

From you that question came.

Apparently I don't tell you why,

And myself I have to blame.

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So I feel that I should list,

Some qualities in you that I admire.

And put them down in written form,

To cure your deepest desire.

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I hope you honestly like this,

Because they are all equally true,

I really want to tell you what,

I honestly love about you.

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I love you for not only what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out. You give me the confidence to do anything I want to do. You appreciate the things I have done, and accomplished. Your encouragement helps me to make it through each day. You never give up on me, and that's what keeps me going. Your love brings out the best in me. You help me to reach my highest potential.

*

I love that you always say what I need to hear. I appreciate that, whatever mood I am in, you can always make me feel better and happier that I was before. Sometimes, even the way you look at me, or just having you by my side is enough to make my heart swell. Your love is patient and kind, and gives me faith and hope. Our love is perfect, even when we are not. You are perfect for me!

*

I love you because you give me the feeling, that the best times are still ahead. We have come to realize that being married can still be fun and exciting, just as when we were dating. This definitely thrills me. I look forward to growing old along with you, and enjoying each others company throughout the years. I honestly think the best is yet to be.

*

When I think of you, my heart is filled with the wonderful feeling of Love. The greatest joy of my life is falling in love with you. I realize that the love I feel for you,in my heart,is the best feeling to have in this whole world. I don't ever want to be without it. My heart is over flowing with love for you.

*

You and me, we're a perfect match! I love that we go so well together. I think we are the perfect couple. We enjoy very much the same things, whether relaxing, or working. And I love how we are able to complete each others thoughts and feelings. I feel that we have the same goals, dreams, and motivations in life. Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.

*

There's only one thing in this world that's worth having--LOVE! You love somebody, and somebody loves you. John, I can promise you,that there is no one else in the world who I would rather be with. There is only you! You mean the WORLD to me. The best thing to hold onto in this world is each other.

*

I love you for the way you treat me. You make me feel like a Princess. I love that you are very gentle and soft with me. I love that you are protective, and watch out for me. I love that you are understanding of my feelings, whether happy or sad. You make me feel that I am very special person. I know that you would do anything in the world for me. You have given me everything that I could ever want or need. And even more.

*

And of course, I love your intelligence, cause you were SMART enough to fall in love with me. You are a very smart man, very much like your dad. I love how you are eager to learn all you can, and apply things in our lives. Falling in love is the beginning of all wisdom, all sympathy, all compassion, all art, all religion, and is the only thing in life worth learning.

*

I love that I can be myself when I am with you. I like that I don't have to try and be someone I am not with you. That I can be myself, and that you will love me anyway. There is comfort, and I feel safe when I am with you. I like that I can tell you anything. That I don't have to weigh my thoughts, or measure my words, but that I can just pour them out to you with no worries. The most fulfilling gift of life itself is to know that we are loved unconditionally.

*

Real loves stories have no ending. My dream.......is to fall in love with you over and over again. To have a fabulous life adventure with you, and no other. It doesn't matter where we go, what we do, or how much we have, I just know I want to be with you. My dream is to be with you for the rest of this life. Even better then gold; the best is to be sweethearts with whom we can grow old with. I dream of continuing our love through out the eternities. I dream of only being with you in our castle above. I dream of the many children we will have together. Of the joy and the tears we will share. Just the two of us. Of the smiles and the laughter we will still share together. I dream of dancing with you forever. Your love is a dream come true for me. Love is the best feeling we can have in this world, and I am happy to have yours. Love will be Love's reward in Heaven.

*

Why do I love you

I love you for so many reasons.

Big and small

And all of them are wonderful.

*

I love you for all the special qualities

That make you one of a kind...

The only one in the world for me.

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I love you for the things you do,

That bring such special meaning to my life.

I love you for the silent times

When your eyes and arms tell me all I want to know.

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I love you just because I do!!

*

"You are my beginning and my end, you are my dream and my reality.....

You are the love of my life."

A Day Out

Saturday morning Middie came over fairly early, and took me to spend the day with her. This is the first time I have been away from all the kids and John in 7 months. Pretty strange. I was alright with it until around 2 p.m. and then I was kind of ready to get back to things at the house. It was hard to not think about how things were at home! First thing in the morning we went to an estate auction. I haven't been to one since last year, so it was kind of fun. Not really the best auction ever, but it was interesting to see how much people would pay for things. We came home with only a few things, they were 5 wool blankets for Shannon's, Joshua's, Cassidy's, Nathan's and Brenna's beds during the winter. They are excited about that. Then she took me to lunch--I got to eat out!!! I even got fries, and made fry sauce--mmmmm! After, we went to the mall and found Christmas presents for the girls. They will absolutely love them. Then back to Middie's house to wrap them up. Good news also, Middie is letting me store the Santa gifts at her house--that is a relief because I was wondering where to hide them here with 13 kids around. As soon as I got back home, the power went off. We lit the candles and the oil lamps. John played banjo, and Elijah the piano as we all sat around an listened. The kids love it when the power goes out, they enjoy the bonding time together and realize how much electricity plays a role in their modern lives. All in all, it was a good day. And I am happy to be back home! Oh, and girl's got their new winter coats in the mail today--totally cute! Power was out for 17 hours--Yuck!!

Another Day in Paradise

Today started out very early. I had an appointment in Concord (2 hours away) to schedule Brenna's up coming dental work. After Brenna's appointment, I took her out to lunch. I am pretty sure she enjoyed the one on one time. We try our hardest to give each kid one on one time with us alone at least twice a month. This helps us to know how everyone is doing. We enjoy it as much as the kids do. Brenna also got in good nap on the way home. Once home, we spent the afternoon outside getting a few things done, that are still needing to be done. The kids had fun playing after, and enjoying the 54 degree weather. Not many warm sunny days left. So I get them out when I can. It is suppose to rain again tomorrow afternoon.....anyone want it? We still have a few puddles from the last rain!! The kids had fun tonight, after John got home, making pyramids. They want me and John to join in, then we would form the perfect pyramid. But them we would need someone to put Brenna on top, and take the picture. So I don't think it will happen. Right as we were about to go in the house, we spied 3 moose in our yard. We ran to get the camera and get a picture, but moose and 13 excited kids don't mix. Those moose were out of here pretty fast. But it was fun to see. Everything else is going great!

Jacob's Happy 8th Birthday

Jacob's Birthday is actually tomorrow, but tonight was the only night John was home, so we decided to celebrate tonight. Jacob picked his birthday dinner of chicken drumsticks and mac and cheese. I was a whanny, and went to Walmart and bought his cake...I feel bad, but school was extra long today, and I ran out of time. Grandpa Frank, and Grandma Middie came over for cake, and they brought the ice cream (chocolate of course!) Middie also brought all the kids a birthday gift over, they had to all give her a hug in order to get it. Thank you Middie and Frank!!Jacob then enjoyed opening his gifts. He got 2 pairs of much needed pajamas, as he has been wearing jeans to bed. He got a Lego set, a coloring set, his favorite candy, reading books, and a game to play with the whole family. Tonight is his night to stay up and enjoy his gifts. Jacobs favorite gift was the candy of course. And now, as is tradition on your 8th birthday, he gets to make a plaster mold of his hand print to put on the shelf with the older kids. Jacob is officially able to stay up after the little kids go to bed for an hour longer now also. Becoming 8 is a giant step in our house--so many more privileges. Jacob definitely feels all grown up now. He is anxious to now be baptized which his dad will do in the next couple of weeks. Oh, and don't forget the exciting thing of about becoming a boy scout.

Very Long Weekend

We had an extra long weekend of splitting firewood. I am so sick of firewood; I think the girls are too. The boys were happy and content to be able to use the splitting machine--it made them happy just to hear the engine run. We split the 4 cords of firewood that Brett had gathered for us, and an extra cord of wood that me and the kids gathered from down the road after a windstorm blew over a large tree. Then we had 5 trees down in upper field that John cut, and the rest of us split and gathered, which came to another 2 cords. Then there was a large birch tree over at the neighbors that we cut, split and gathered which was another cord. So altogether now we have stacked in the garage is a total of 11 cords. Our goal was 12 which was counting 2 cords for maple syrup.......so we have enough now to heat the entire house by wood alone for the winter. Cassidy thinks it is kind of alot of work to just burn it all up so fast. One day she will understand the money part of it all. I just remind her that because of all of our work, we will all be warm this winter. We all enjoyed working towards the same goal though and being together. Oh, and there's more...the kids all decided that they wanted to do something nice for the neighbors. They had 2 cords of wood that needed to be split also, and since they are only here one weekend out of each month, the kids wanted to split and stack it up by the back door for them. So that's exactly what we did. They were very proud of themselves, and are anxious for the neighbors to come and be surprised.

A Week with Dad

For those of you who have been watching for pictures of Brett and his kids, a few are finally here. I had to get my house back in order first before I could justify sitting around. I had kind of let things slide a bit with the house while Brett was here. I tried to relax and let the kids just be able to spend time with their Dad. Shannon, Joshua, Cassidy, Nathan, and Brenna want their dad to know how much they enjoyed him coming, and playing with them. They had a wonderful visit together; already looking forward to the next. I also enjoyed having my lil' brother here. This is the first time I think I have actually spent a quality amount of time with him. I have always in my mind pictured him as a 14 year old kid--since that was the last time I was really around him much. It was so nice to get to know him and his personality. He is a very fun person to be around; tends to be a little quiet at first, but his true self eventually comes out. This is for you Brett--remember these were happy times!

More Leaves

This is for Mandy! She wanted a longer leaves video, so here it is. This was so way fun!! And we only used a smigen' of the leaves--we could make it so big one day, and loose all 27 grandkids. Now there's an idea for an afternoon. Below is my still action photo series, it shows the whole fun process of how to loose your kids.......well all but one that is. Sam wasn't ready yet, so he threw a fit and didn't join in.

Fall Leaves and Square Dancing

The kids spent their last day with their dad making and playing in the biggest leaf pile I have ever seen. It was so fun to watch them go in, and struggle a bit to come out.

Tuesday nights are our Square Dancing night. Me, John, Elijah, Zachery, Caleb, Shannon, Hannah, and Joshua are part of the Conneticut Valley Swingers Club. Do you realize we alone have enough people to make a complete square, that is if one of the boys were to dance the girls part. Me and John actually graduated in May to Main Class. As for the kids they are the new beginners this year, and will graduate in May. Al Monty is our instructor, he is excellent with the kids, and we all love him. The kids have been dancing for about 6 weeks now. They are actually picking up on the calls quite quickly. They were invited to attend their first real official square dance on November 14th. The boys are anxious to put on their boots and western shirts for this. And as for the girls, they can't hardly wait to put on their skirts with pettipants, and petticoats underneath. Should be pretty fun....anyone want to babysit the other 7?

Joshua's Happy Birthday

Friday we hung up the Birthday flag outside to celebrate Joshua's 11th Birthday. We spent the morning chasing Jacob ram sheep around a field trying to catch one to bring home. We definately got our exercise in, and managed to bring home the smallest of the bunch. They are a very lively bunch of sheep--he might just end up in the freezer yet. They kids spent the rest of the day playing and exploring in the woods. After coming inside and cleaning up, Josh received a phone call from his mom, which he grinned from ear to ear about, wishing him a Happy Birthday. Joshua then quickly quizzed me, to make sure everything was in place. Pizza, Rootbeer, Cake, Presents?? I gave him the thumbs up, and the celebration began. We ate Pizza, Chips & Dip, and Rootbeer for his Birthday Dinner; his choice. This led to the long awaited time of opening the presents. I would say his favorite gift was a tie between his MP4 player and the cool basketball shoes, which coincidentally matched the basketball outfit. Wednesday he will be the coolest player there, everyone will want him on their team! Joshua received lost of hugs, and enjoyed the rest of the night checking out his gifts. In our house, Birthday kids get to stay up an hour later then the rest--so he felt pretty special.

What a day

Today was very good day. Started out by everyone wishing Joshua a Happy 11th Birthday. We will actually celebrate it on Friday, so John can be here with us. We had a Court Hearing this morning--which did happen even though Mandy was not there to present her case. Not much came out of it though. Brett made the trip to be here for the hearing. After the hearing I went home and gathered the kids to take them to the DCYF office. We surprised Shannon, Joshua, Cassidy, Nathan, and Brenna with a visit with their dad. They were all so excited to see him, and all gave the cutest little smiles. It was a good visit for everyone.

The other exciting thing that happened today, is that Cassidy lost her two front teeth. She came running outside to me when I got home from court, grinning ear to ear, "Ahhh, I look so different with my front teeth gone!" But she was extremely proud of herself. She carried her teeth up to the church tonight for scout meetings. She had to show her favorite people: Sally, Sister Burkholder, and we wouldn't forget her most favorite person in the whole wide world Zach Cochran. You just say his name, and she blushes and smiles.......even though he is 14.....she has intentions of marrying him someday. Young love....lol. She's a goof!!

Fire Warms- Fire Burns

Today was a nice cloudy day. The sun would poke it's head out long enough to warm you up a bit, and then hide again. Once again we took advantage and cleaned our chimney out. It's been pretty chilly in our house for the past few days. I have officially pulled out my "grandma" sweater ,as the kids call it, and have been wearing it around the house. After a few days of chasing kids around, trying to get them to keep their socks on, I am ready to start up the fireplaces. Enough is enough!!

While the kids played in the leaves, John took advantage of the fair weather and borrowed a big ladder. He took a trip into town, and bought a ladder hook, a cleaning brush, and some poles. Then came home and set to work. By evening, we both looked like the chimney sweepers on Mary Poppins. But work in the end pays off. We have ashes set in our garden for next years potatoes, and the kids have a nice warm fire to sit in front of and warm their little toes. So long "grandma" sweater!