Today is David’s ninth birthday.  If you have followed my blog since the beginning, you have watched David grow from a three year old to a nine year old….such wonderful years for a little boy!  It’s so exciting to be alive, learning about hammers and nails, fishing, and all that stuff that boys absolutely adore!

David is an expert frog, toad, and turtle catcher.  He could tell you just how to do it.

Don’t forget to ask him to tell you about the big snapper!~

Little league awakened a love for baseball.  We watch him now, playing catch with his brothers, and we love to see how light and quick he his…..there is something beautiful about a boy who has a knack for a sport.  He makes it look easy.

Davy loves to fish.  He spent most of his summer turning over rocks to look for good bait.  He made his own fishing poles and when he ran out of hooks, he got some from the neighbor up the road.

He has lots of fun in his life!

Rich and I recently went to David’s school open house.  This is his locker.

Incidently, he is wearing his favorite shirt.  He wore this on the first day of school, and he’s wearing it today for his birthday, too.  He’s so cute!

David’s third grade teacher.

I simply must show you the organization Dave’s teacher has.  The whole classroom is tidy, but here is a picture of all the books (naturally, I would gravitate to the book corner, yes?)…..He has them all nicely arranged.  I loved the idea of using bins with labels.

David currently has a passion for the Magic Tree House books.  He said one of the goals “in his life” is to read them all.  They are his FIRST “real” (longer, less pictures) books and he’s so proud that he can read them.

He has requested a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, so I will make that today, with lots of love added.

He also requested a spaghetti dinner.  This will be an easy request to grant.  Spaghetti is harder to clean up than it is to make and serve.  The whole family likes a spaghetti night.

He requested to stay home from school.  This request was not granted, because my heart told me that he would spend the day wandering around wondering what to do with himself and the two babies of the family, with no other siblings about! 

He got to open three gifts this morning.  Then, all I heard was the shooting of a “storm blaster”. 

He loved his new penguin that his sister bought for him.  It’s name is Penny, and it got taken to school in the backpack.

Oh, and he got a card in the mail from Uncle Dave (he’s named for my brother)….it had money in it, SO very important to a little boy.  His Dad said, “Your Uncle Dave is so nice and thoughtful to send you that.”  And David said, “Yep.  If it’s from Uncle Dave I just KNOW there will be five dollars!”

He spent that money on a baseball and now that he got another card (from Great Grandma) he has more money burning a hole in his pocket.  He pulled it out to show the neighbors yesterday.  “Oh, that’s wonderful!  Do you save some of  your money?” they asked.

 “Yes.” 

“You put it in the bank?” 

 “No, in my pocket.”

Eight was great, nine is fine.  Happy Birthday, to a wonderful boy.

You are my SONshine.

I sewed this dark green skirt during Sarah’s naptime.  I could hardly wait for her to wake up so I could try it on her.

My cousin Elisha (who knows what I like) gifted me the vintage crocheted pink lace a couple years ago.

I was thrilled to finally be able to put it to good use, as a trim around the hem of Sarah’s new pretty skirt.  Amazingly, it was a perfect fit around the hem.

Soft, comfortable, and very easy to make.  A child could sew this, really.

The idea was born in my mind as I was getting all set to throw away……….

……..an old t-shirt of Jacob’s.

Sarah sat on my lap as I worked on this little skirt for her.

((Her first sewing lesson!))

Once upon a time;

It was a Saturday morning and my heart was full.  There would be no school that day and the house was already cleaned.  I could focus entirely on enjoying my family.

We woke up to one of the first chilly mornings of Autumn.  It is a beautiful thing to see our ponds “smoking” from the change in temperature.  I couldn’t resist putting on some shoes and walking down to take a few pictures.

The sun slowly rose; burning the fog from the air, leaving it bright and clear.  It was going to be a beautiful day.

I lit some yummy smelling candles.

We stayed in our pj’s for hours.

Caleb held Socks.

Sethie watched a morning cartoon as he ate a bagel.

Ethan and Jacob played downstairs in their room on their DS’.   They are very involved in “stop animation” these days.

Here is Ethan, working on a little video with his DS.  He moved the lego man little by little, taking pictures after each change. 

In the video, a lego man climbs the stairs, jumps into the water, disappears, and then comes out of the water to go right back up the stairs again.

Good job, E!

This is the area over Davy’s bed (8 years old).  He drew the bats (much to Papa’s annoyance at the time)  a couple years ago, inspired by studying them at school.  Ethan helped him wash the squirrel tail.  There is a tiny mouse tail there, too.  He hung up some Charlie Brown drawings he did (with bandaids).  And after Seth woke him up too early one morning, he posted a Do Not Disturb sign.

All these things say to me, “You have a darling DAVID-son here!”  He is so special and unique, they all are.

I have a feeling Rich will never paint over those bats.

Grace, Jacob, Caleb, Ethan, and Sarah were all downstairs together.  The children all like to spend time in the boy’s bedroom; it’s large and very cozy (when it’s clean) and biggest brother Jacob always has music going.  I go down there with them sometimes, and it makes me happy to hear them say, “Come back!’ when I have to run back upstairs for whatever reason.

It feels right/secure to be together.

Sarah had her lavender horse nightgown on that Grace found and “made” me buy the last time we were shopping together.

Gracie and her kitten, Snickers.

So we all had a relaxing morning and then we got ready to go APPLE PICKING.  Everyone in this family gets so excited about picking apples. It is one of our important family traditions.  In the last five years, we only missed one year (last year when Sarah was a small baby)…….and it was good to visit the orchard again.

Seth did a great job finding good (vs. rotten from the ground) apples, after a lesson from Papa.

And Sarah also got a lesson, when Papa showed her how to eat a sweet apple, all by herself.

Davy is in this tree somewhere.

Every year, Ethan helps fill up the bags AND attempts to find The Most Perfect Apple, which he then shines like rosy red glass with his shirt…….

Sitting in an apple tree

The whole gang (thank you to the kind lady who agreed to help us take a family photo).

We ended up taking home one and a half bushels of Macintosh apples. 

Caleb pulled the wagon back, himself.

Before we left the orchard, we took the time to enjoy some warm, crispy, cinnamon-sugared donuts.

And honey-sticks filled with sticky sweet local honey.

And soft, fresh-baked pumpkin cookies, frosted with spiced cream cheese frosting.

The good eatin’ continued, because as soon as we got settled back at home, Grace and I got to work on a pie.

(Bob, I thought of you as I loaded apples in the crust….I still didn’t get it nearly as high as you get yours!)

“Good apple pies are a considerable part

 of our domestic happiness.” — Jane Austen

We ate the pie at an “already dark outside” 7:30pm, while piled on the couch together in the livingroom, watching one of my favorite movies; “Driving Miss Daisy”.  It was the first time the children saw the movie, and they liked it, too.  Caleb was so sleepy that he fell asleep while we cuddled on the couch.

It was an especially wonderful day.  Rich and I cherish the times we spend all together.  The children talked and laughed and goofed around, and so did we.  The weather was stunning, too. 

Thank you, God, for these special times. 

I love it when this day rolls around.  It’s my wedding anniversary

Rich and I were married 16 years ago and what a special day that was for the two of us.

I am continually thankful for my husband.  We LOVE our relationship and belonging to each other…….. 

I put this picture on my blog a few months ago.  It’s still one of my favorites.  Jacob took it as we were driving home from a family adventure. 

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The two of us, plus our two littles ones, are getting ready to go out for the day.  It’s a perfect weather day–cool and sunny, fall is in the air just like it was the day we got married.  It’s gonna be a happy happy day!

Rich + Shanda

True love always.

This is a picture of my house, as I stand on the lower driveway that leads to our garage.  There is a little boy running to me, from the garage, see him?  I’m so thankful he was running to me, and not away from me, when he noticed I was standing there.  (We’re friends, you see.)  (And, he probably wanted something.)  (LOL)

On Saturday, the weather was so nice that we went outside as much as possible.  I carried my camera around for a little bit, gathered the eggs from the coop, and then decided to just sit for a while, by the edge of the pond.   As a lifelong lover of nature walks, I am quite possibly starting to become just as much of a lover of nature SITS.

Nature Sit – when a person sits down outside for a prolonged period of time, for the purpose of observing nature.

Flower  name:  CLOSED GETIAN

This is a wild flower that grows by our pond.  I took the picture this way because I thought it was beautiful, the way I saw it surrounded with bright yellow goldenrod (so common, the goldenrod, that I won’t discuss that today as a find, just use it as a photo prop).

One time I saw a closed getian (named “closed” because the flower is fully bloomed, yet interestingly remains shut) being pollinated by a bumblebee.  The bee was amazing as it forced it’s way inside to reach the pollon; the only part of the bee showing was it’s end and it’s legs sticking straight out from the flower. (I even got a picture of it, it’s buried someplace in this big blog of mine).

On this day, there were no bees around.

This is a closer view of the plant.  I read online that it is a difficult plant to purposely add to a garden, it needs a lot of time to grow, perfectly suited soil, and also sunshine but not too much.  It’s a good thing mine were planted by the Master Gardener Himself.  A whole patch of them, that grows bigger every year!

I simply HAD to know what was inside that closed, secretive flower.  First, I squeezed it and found a drop of sweet water.

Then, I peeled the flower apart to look inside.  (Nature study can be mildly violent.)

So it would appear that this closed getian wildflower would be enough to fill my nature cup?  Yes, yes, it was.  But, then I saw something else that made it OVERFLOW.

I saw……BIG HAIRY CATERPILLARS!

Right by the Closed Getian!

Oh I was so surprised.  They were there, silently waiting for me to go away so they could resume munching on leaves.

A caterpillar, underneath a very generous, and beautiful, white fur coat.

And it’s mate?  Or friend?  Are they male and female, is that why they are different colors?  I imagine it must be so.  I haven’t tried researching these yet….I hope I can find some more information.  If I do I will be back to add it in.

Anyway this yellow one………..

MATCHES THE GOLDENROD!

It was very exciting.  I grabbed the nearest child, it was Ethan, and I showed him, but he said “Oh, yeah, I saw one of those yesterday.”  You did?  You didn’t even come get me!  God knew I would like to see them on my own, I guess.

So I ask you, when you see things like this, do you bend down and take a closer look?  I just want to know, am I strange?!?  (it’s okay, don’t answer that.  LOL)

This is a line from one of my favorite hymns:

“Holy, holy, holy!  Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, holy, holy!  Merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity.” 

It’s just so fun to see God’s handiwork, the more I see and admire, the more I have to praise Him!

Have a wonderful day!

This was the morning view out my door a few weeks ago, stunning isn’t it?

Friends, I am so happy.  We are loving school.  The children are learning so much and we can’t be happier.  Most of all, can I just say, I am very um, happy to have room to breathe, in my day.  Now that it’s been almost two weeks (and don’t get me wrong, last week was emotional, getting used to them going)…I can honestly say (now that I know better)— that I’ve spent the majority of the last 2 years of my life nervously OVERWHELMED and just holding on for dear life, by the grace of God.  

I am turning into myself again, and *it’s been so long* that I feel like I’m a totally new woman.  I LOVE my mornings with the two s’s (Seth and Sarah).  I have time to do whatever I want with them, I can devote all my attention on them and I find them both very entertaining and delightful.  The other children start coming home at 2:30, so you see, we still have all afternoon and evening together, the same as always.  Our time together is even more precious.  We’re giving out lots of loving and hugs on Davy and Caleb, lots of positive words, pats on the back, hugs when they want them, and good food for the older ones.  And my older children are just blown away with all the stuff they need to keep track of and get done ON TIME & ON SCHEDULE, they are learning more and more how to be responsible for their own selves.  Of course all you who have sent your children to school know all this already, I’m just saying, I’m a happy girl.  (how many times will I use that word today, sorry!)

This morning I went to Costco for a much needed restocking of the cupboards.  I actually had to fill one cart, pay for it, load in in the vehicle and then go back inside to do it all over again.  Seth and Sarah sat in the front of the cart and were so cute…several people asked if they were twins!  When we came home boy did I have a lot of things to bring in and put away up and down stairs.  I also had to walk/run the dog!  I got quite a workout, and even put together three meals for the freezer to have on  hand.  Tonight we are having baked beef stew.

I’ve got Seth and Sarah down for naps and the kittens are entertaining me now.

They love windowsills.

They are named Socks (the dark tiger) and Snickers (the gray and white).  Grace and I took them to their first vet appointment last week and they are doing so good.  It’s nice to have kittens in the house.  I’ve always loved cats.

Please let me know how you’re doing and what you’re up to.  I love hearing from you.  And if you want a reply back or have a special prayer request, please message me instead of leaving a comment.  I try very hard to respond to all messages, I wish I could reply to all the comments but it’s just not possible.  But please know I read them and smile over them.

Here is the verse from my calender this morning, it really struck me when I read it:

The Lord’s promise is sure.  He speaks no careless word; all he says is purest truth, like silver seven times refined.  Psalm 12;6 TLB 

I try to remind myself to read blogs and books for inspiration and entertainment, like visiting a friend.  The only shining, pure truth is God’s word to us, the very best thing to read and study; THE BIBLE.  No other source can come near to it.  There are several beautiful blogs out there that have become popular spiritual websites;  don’t forget that is just one woman’s/man’s experience, God has a completely different (but still very VERY good) journey for you and me.  We are all unique and special, (although we do share common graces and common promises in the Bible), but we are also fallen creatures who *sometimes* share things that aren’t exactly meant to be shared publicly with others. It is wonderful to read a testimony of what God is doing in a friend’s life, but intimate relationship with the Lord means that we do need to keep some things private….publicly sharing *too much information* turns our intimacy into something altogether different, and can possibly cheapen the relationship.  It’s okay to keep some things to ourselves and could possibly be best if we (sometimes?) stay away from studying other people’s close walk with God.   

What do you think?  I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

((hugs))  Love, Shanda

We have spent a lot of time in the last couple of days, watching the news shows that are replaying all the heartrending events of 10 years ago.  I cry, it’s too sad….although it is very important to remember and honor the lives of victims, families, and friends.

The newspaper this morning held personal stories from people greatly affected by 9/11.  A few things sang out from the stories; love of family  “I felt helpless as I asked if there was anything I could do.  Hug your daughter, she said.  I did.”  ~U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd (his daughter Grace was born 2 days after the attack).

prayer:  “I went to the restaurant across the street and watched the television in disbelief as another plane crashed into the second tower.  I began to pray.”  ~G.S. Iloani, president and CEO of a company in CT

and the way tragic events remind us of the value of living life with ‘seeing’ eyes, the importance of appreciating and acknowledging those sweet moments in life that are often overlooked:

“There are no words to describe the pain of loss for thousands of friends and family left behind.  Within the last ten years, life has continued.  Other family members have passed, babies have been born and we all continue to have happy and sad times.  While the deep sense of loss will always linger, I see the joyful moments in my life with greater clarity.” (from a woman whose sister died in one of the plane crashes)

My family did not have to say goodbye to loved ones because of the attacks 10 years ago.  My heart aches for those people, and for anyone who has suffered great loss.  I am thankful for the lessons learned from this morning’s reading of the newspaper, that remind me once again of the important things in life. 

Today I will hold my husband and children close.

Today I will take the time to pray to the One Who cares for me more than I can imagine.

Today I will thank Him for His many, abundant blessings that are always there.

“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”—Isaiah 61:3