Singing In The Rain

Stacy inspired me with her pictures of her kids in the rain...though I did stop at the mud! ;) We seem to have had endless rain this summer. During a break in the rain Ryan ran out to play basketball. He was back in before the other kids could even get their shoes on to report it was raining....again. Thinking of Stacy I sent them out and told them to have a great time-which is what they did after they got over the initial shock!




They played hide and seek until I discovered they were hiding in the vehicles. It is not a good thing for the church vehicles to have muddy footprints all over the seats when it is time to pick up folks for church on Sunday morning!



Our wonderful piano tuner made his yearly visit to our home. We look forward to his visits. He tunes the piano, collects all the small toys that have fallen inside the piano over the year, tells us tidbits about when and where our piano was made--and my personal favorite--plays a piece or two when he is done. We think of him as a dear friend and we hope he does not retire for many years to come. (And he said to say hello to my Dad!! Daddy, he speaks so highly of your influence on him!) By the way, we learned that our piano tuner has worked for many famous people including Liberace. Pretty neat, huh?



Still thoroughly enjoying our time with our friends who are home for the summer. They came over this week for fun, biking and ice cream. Isn't that what summer is all about? Wish you could hear all the laughter and merriment!





The only type of shot I can get when Joshua is eating. It is ALL about the food-no posing and smiling! This picture is especially fitting as those are his fingerprints in the background. We wash the window often, but can never keep up. But I'm not complaining...




Wish we could share some ice cream with you! But I appreciate the time we just shared together. Have a great weekend!

And I am SO looking forward to my sister's upcoming blog post. Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by,

Basketball

If you have followed our blog you know that Ricky became the proud owner of a basketball hoop for his birthday this past May. It was a very wise investment on our part! Everyone has loved it! I am cleaning through all the pictures I have stored on my computer (Ugh!!) and found his very first basketball picture. I love this little boy who is not so little anymore! And we were Chicago Bulls fans back then. (Go, Michael Jordan!)

I am happy to be on-line again. I have enjoyed catching up with my favorite blogs. I am also really enjoying seeing old friends on Facebook. I like it alot better than I thought I initially would.

It is hard to believe that July is coming to an end!! I have loved our summer and am not ready to see it end....maybe August will drag by....

And we tried a new recipe today called inside-out burgers. My husband says that those are a repeat performance. ;)

It is not too late to give me your ideas for a secret pal night theme. I have enjoyed the ideas that have come in so far! Thank you!!

And if you are someone who stops by to visit and you have a blog, tell me about it!

Hope you are having a great day!

Thanks for stopping by,

I Need Ideas...

Just a quick note....

We had an amazing thunderstorm late Monday afternoon. It did some minor damage here and there-one result being the loss of our internet. A repairman is coming Wednesday so hopefully will be back on-line then. For now I ran to my library outpost! :)

Anyone have any good theme ideas for Secret Pal revealing night? We love to use a fun theme that the ladies use as they tell who they had for the year. We have used flowers and food items to name a few. I would love to hear some inspiring ideas. Please do not hesitate to leave a suggestion. I will be very grateful!

Hope to be back on reading all your blogs soon!

Thanks for stopping by,

A Perfect Day

Are you ready for a looooooooooooooooooooooong post? You may want to have your drink of choice nearby for a bit of refreshment. If you decide to read this post, you will be here awhile! :)

First of all, thank you for the great advice with photo storage! For those who recommend on-line storage....is there the worry of something happening to the company doing the storing? Or are your pictures protected in some way? Just curious! And feel free to give me your tips for organizing and storing your digital pictures if you haven't already.

For those of you familiar with my hometown here in Maine there are two exciting pieces of news to share. One,our library reopens in 3 weeks! (I LOVE my library!) Thanks to a bored arsonist we have had a makeshift library for months. Secondly, the new grocery store opened this weekend. A full scale grocer in our little ole town! The place was packed!! I stood in the middle of the store and just wanted to laugh out loud! All those groceries available without having to drive 10 miles. I will probably continue to do most of my shopping in our city, but it is delightful to know I can get anything right in my own town when I need it!

I haven't posted long posts before this past week, but we had such a busy and exciting week with so many wonderful pictures to share I can't seem to help myself. Anyways, my sweet sis loves them all and in fact, says I don't post enough! The last nine days alone have contained nursing home services, our annual ladies' retreat, Patch Club performance, Vacation Bible School and a trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Add that to all the "regular stuff" and we have had an amazingly busy time! Our kids have had soooo much fun. They have several activities they are looking forward to, but I am happy to report that they are more evenly spaced out.

So....onto the real reason for this post....

If I could pick one day of my life and bottle it up....and send it to you to take for encouragement as needed...I would send you Saturday. Saturday was--in my opinion--the perfect day.

The winners of our Spring Program were treated to a day in the White Mountains region of New Hampshire. I was looking forward to this day with a great deal of anticipation as it would be like a vacation for us. We deal with tight finances (who doesn't?) and very car sick kids so travel is rarely an option. We have mastered how to travel the four hours to my sister's home after much trial and error and a whole lot of roadside stops for "deposits." (If you don't know, don't ask!) So, my children haven't traveled much. They have young cousins who have logged more miles individually then my crew has combined. That does not bother me as I grew up car sick and know how extremely unpleasant it is. I should have stock in Dramimine! (Amy, remember me sleeping all the way to N.Y.?)

Our kids were thrilled with a bus ride and adventure-and that Mrs. Droullard was coming! (a.k.a. world's coolest babysitter) Also going along was Mr. Droullard (a.k.a. balloon man), Jason, Alyce and Bunny. I have known Bunny ever since my first days in Maine years ago, but have never had much opportunity to socialize with her.

We set off in our mini-bus which the kids loved. (What kids don't love riding in a bus?!?) We would be traveling all back roads so there was much to see. Our first stop of the day was Dunkin' Donuts-obviously a great way to start any day! Pastor said we were in no hurry and we could do what we wanted, so our next request was--yard sale! Ha! Bet he didn't see that one coming! We got a Nerf gun and several candles and got to pass out a tract.

We laughed and joked. Donna sang some funny songs with the kids. Several I was not familiar with and enjoyed hearing them. I thought I knew every bus song known to man, but I guess I am wrong! My personal favorite was about the worm in the straw. Made me want to avoid straws the rest of the day....

After a few hours of beautiful scenery we made it to ....(Drum roll, please!!).....Pirate's Cove!!! The best miniature golf experience ever in my opinion. Definitely plan on taking my Patch Club there in the future. This place is a feast for the senses! Hearing the waterfalls, feeling the spray, seeing all the pirate stuff everywhere, enjoying the beautiful flowers and greenery, and on I could go!


Entering the course and preparing to golf...but fooling around first....



The men had not even made it into the course and they are already in trouble! Looks like it is going to be a long day!







For the first hole we all lined up and played, but quickly discovered it wasn't going to work that way. A line was fast developing behind us. So we split into two teams: the girls plus Jonathan against the guys. The girl team went ahead and we left the guys to catch up.




We planned on working really hard as bragging rights were at stake...




One hole was inside a cave...



Ryan was really scared about it! ;)



We were behind the waterfall-so fun!



There was a room in the cave with skeletons and treasure...



Jack made a hole-in-one! Way to go, Buddy!



More pics...




My cute boy Jonathan made a hole-in-one! Wish you could have seen and heard his initial excitement!



Jonathan posing with one of his new found buddies...



We are way ahead of the guys...



Joshua was given a plastic club. Originally I wanted him to walk the course, but there was water everywhere! Several times our balls went into the water and had to be retrieved. Joshua was safely belted in our stroller and I breathed much easier!





The only downside to the stroller was the stone stairs. What gracious men we have who so kindly helped my husband with the stroller throughout the course.

Hold on, Josh!



I LOVE chipmunks! I have asked God several times for good chipmunk pictures this year-and he gave me a bunch! I narrowed it down to two. You should be impressed with my self-control. ;)







Shiver me timbers!







After the guys beat us at golf (and yes, we are still hearing about it! Is there an expiration date on bragging rights?) it was off to lunch at a cute country restaurant... By the way, Bro. Bruce got a 40 which is several shots under par! Donna had the best girl's score.





And that is all I'll say about lunch. (It was a loooooooooooong experience. I wonder when we ordered hamburgs if they still had to butcher the cow?) Off to see some scenery. My pictures obviously do not do it justice, but I included them nonetheless.








My kids were fascinated with this map of the mountain ranges. I never have understood how they figure all that out...




OOOOOOOHH! Who is that good-looking man???




Then we found a train museum. The museum has sections in the train depot and in the train itself which is now permanently parked. We got the last tour of the day.





Every group needs a comedian. Guess who ours is???




The wonderful photographer who is always on the look out for a great photo opportunity (me) sees a ramp. "AH HA!" I say to myself. "Wouldn't it be fun to do a "stairstep" shot of the children?" So, I instruct the children to go on the ramp in birth order. Great idea----if Jack was taller..... :(








Did you know trains had snowplows? I didn't! (So don't tell me you already knew!)






Our gracious guide...




This kid is always looking behind him! Never at where he is going. Lots of spiritual application here...



The children each received a pin, hat and coloring book. We saw and learned so much here and I will not bore you with all details. Suffice it to say that my train-loving kids had an excellent time.



Across the street was a park and Bro. Bruce led four people to Christ! Praise the Lord! Then it was off for a leisurely drive home. Bunny said that we HAD to have ice cream on the way home and the kids lost no time jumping on the bandwagon and telling Daddy that we had to make Miss Bunny happy!

He gladly obliged...

Bunny with her raspberry sundae...



It is really a trash can....



Are you really that messy, Donna? (Just kidding! He was letting her taste his.)





Want to share?



How I saw my husband for most of the day. Thanks for driving, Sweetheart!




I sat behind these two all day and laughed more than I have in a long time. What a delightful marriage. They joked and flirted with each other all day long. May my marriage grow as sweet as theirs...



Here Donna is playing Tetris. Bro. Bruce called it "brain waste." I asked him what it is called when he fishes then just throws the fish back in? His reply? "Skill!" ( I should have known....)



My seat buddy! We talked and held hands all day long!



It is hard to explain in a blog all the fun and pleasant experiences that made it such a perfect day.

We saw alot: a moose, horses, turkey, llamas, elk with the velvet on the antlers, geese, cows, ponies, a GIANT telephone, goats, cars driving up a mountain, the Buckfield Mall (one gas station store in the middle of a very small town-who named it the mall????), covered bridges, a ski slope, a zip line (Donna wants to try it?!?), a stretch limo, where the mill burned down and on the list goes.

We tasted Frippes.

Ricky fell in love with banana chips-thanks, Bunny!

We went on a squeegee hunt. Everyone should do that once!

We learned crows mate for life. (Who figures this stuff out, anyways?)

Ours ears popped as we reached higher elevations. My older children were so tickled that Mommy relented and let them chew gum.

In honor of Bramma and Lew, we sang "I've Been Working On The Railroad" and put our hands up in the air when we crossed the bridge. (Lew, I won the song!!)

But more that that, I think it was the happy comraderie of spending the day with people you love and whose values you share.

And a whole day with nothing to do but look at God's beautiful world and talk with the ones I love the most-my family. I am an organized, multi-tasking perfectionist. I had nothing to organize or clean all day! And I cannot multi-task on a bus or I get sick. So I simply enjoyed the moment-and the next moment-and the next moment-and eventually that all added up to the perfect day.

And to finish my day, I took inspiration from my dear friend, Missy. Took me about 40 shots, but here you go....me! ;D





Well, if you are still with me, I am impressed! And if you are new to my blog, please know that I am not normally this long-winded. Must be all that think time on that long bus ride!

Have a great day! And always remember I really mean it when I say...

Thanks for stopping by,



Note to Missy.....I tried to buy Hot Salt, but couldn't find it. Where do you find yours???

Note to Sarah....Tag! You're it!! Time to post.... Love ya!

Thank you to my family who prayed for my kiddos! Only used Dramimine in the morning. No one was sick all day! Yeah!!

And a final note....I took well over 500 pictures on Saturday. Aren't you glad I narrowed it down? ;)