Happy Birthday, Calvin!

Calvin turned 3 at the beginning of the month.  He is such a fun little guy!  He and Wallace are like two peas in a pod...they do everything together!  They keep us laughing!  Calvin is the quieter of the two.  He is tenderhearted and compassionate and doesn't like it when anyone gets hurt.  He is also what Daddy calls "infectious."  His laughter and excitement are contagious and you can't help but be bubbly when he is!

Unfortunately, several people were sick on Calvin's birthday, so we were unable to do a full celebration.  We are going to bake his cake when everyone gets well.

Birthday boy











Gifts

Calvin's FAVORITE: Camo coveralls!

posted by the blessed sister of 12 and aunt to 2 - Sarah

Adelina is Here!

Announcing Adelina Jubilee!

She was born on December 15! Mommy and Adelina are doing well! We are so glad to have her here! I'm having trouble posting pictures, but I'll post more later!
Sarah

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

November Wrap Up

So, I thought I'd finish up with a miscellaneous post from November.  We've had a lot of fun this month...lots of getting together with friends and great fellowship time!

We had a marshmallow roast at our house.  It was a lot of fun!  We also went to another one when our Homeschool group had a cookout...fun times!

Mr. "Henry" and Mr. "Ponderosa"
examine the perfect 'smellow

Mommy and Mrs. "Henry"

Homeschool Group Cookout

With the "Starbucks" children

With the "Henry" children

Savannah

Seth

Fun visits with friends!

Horseback riding with friends!

Stasia

Taylor

Elijah

Christian

Even Mr. "Henry" got in on the ride!

Some random pictures:

Beautiful sky with Sherrod and Knox

Beautiful skyline from our backyard

Fun brothers!

Here is a funny story that seems very typical of our family: when we moved into our 2 story house 2 years ago, Mommy placed the TV on the wall in the living room.  However, she was never happy with it's placement because the "stud" that she hit made it off center.  Finally she decided it MUST be moved.  She purchased some mounting brackets and decided to move it off of the "stud."  Well, when she moved it over she hit a stud right in the middle of the wall and didn't need the mounting brackets.  Surprised, we just went on about things as normal.

Slowly, we started noticing water on the floor under the piano.  We couldn't figure out where it was coming from and since the spot was so little we just decided something was being spilled.  After about 2 weeks, one morning we were getting ready for church when Daddy stepped in something wet.  Upon further inspection we realized it wasn't something spilled, as the entire floor under the piano was soaked and partially up the wall!  We cleaned up the mess, turned off the water, and headed for church.  Mr. "Brady" came over after church to help Daddy tear out the wall and floor and figure out the leak.  What they found surprised us all and made us laugh!  Our water line runs through the living room wall!

Mommy hit it when she first put in the TV and the screws plugged it, but when she removed the screws...GUSH!  Out came all the water!  At least it was an easy fix!  Mr. "Ponderosa" and his boys came to put things back together, since Daddy has to be careful what he does for now.  What a blessing our church has been to us!

Sydnee finished harvesting her honey and the new extractor we were given by Mr. Vic made it SO much easier to get the honey to it's final state!

We have yet to figure out our honey intake, but we've already used several pounds for baking and eating and we gave away over 24 pounds for Thanksgiving gifts!

It appears that the weak bees re-queened their hive!  Their queen was old and not laying well and we were afraid they wouldn't make it through the winter.  We were going to replace the queen, but we could never find the old queen.  We are very happy that the bees took care of the situation.  Unfortunately, the wind blew one of the hives over and it appears we may have lost the bees.  Sydnee is disappointed, but will work on rebuilding over the winter.

posted by the blessed sister of 12 and aunt to 2 - Sarah

Thanksgiving

We had a very peaceful and low-key Thanksgiving.  Since Daddy's surgery was only 2 days before, we stayed home and had our friends, the "Colonels" over.  We spent Wednesday in the kitchen, preparing all the food, as this was our first full Thanksgiving meal at our house.  It was so much fun cooking and working together!  There was at least 5 of us in the kitchen at any given point (sometimes more), chopping, mixing, baking, stirring.  Elly and Selah were very happy to get to help out a lot this year (and they were a BIG help)!

Abby, Sydnee, Sherrod, and I spent several days before Thanksgiving making placemats.  It was a lot of fun and they turned out well.  We only had about 8 of them ready for Thanksgiving, but by Saturday (a 2nd Thanksgiving dinner at our house) we had about 28 done!  We are working on another 12 or so for next year!

Mommy had us set the table with Mammaw's china.  It was so special to use it and think of her!  I miss Thanksgiving's at Mammaw and Pappaw's house!

Daddy even felt well enough to
carve the turkey!

Fun while setting the table and getting ready to eat!

The dessert table

Me, William, Savannah

All the children

After lunch all the children went outside to play.  Daddy was a little overtired, so he went upstairs to rest for bit while the other adults talked.  Mr. and Mrs. "Colonel" brought their cousin, Mr. "Bird"...it was so nice to be able to meet him!

Later that evening, we read from Of Plymouth Plantation, William's Bradford's journal.  I always enjoy reading it!  This particular evening, Daddy chose Chapter 4, which describes why they chose to set off for their journey to the New World.  It was a great reminder that we must be carefully watchful about what is going on around us and constantly aware of God's call and direction.  Then we talked about things we are thankful for.  We realized how much has gone on with our family this year, from life to death to strokes to illnesses...and more!  We have so much to give God thanks for, as He is our constant protector, defender, and strengthener!

posted by the blessed sister of 12 and aunt to 2 - Sarah