Oh my, I am almost too busy to blog now that we are homeschooling again.  I am happy to say, though, that our new schedule, that I mentioned in my last post, is working great.  We are all eating breakfast together at 8, and school starts at 9 on the dot.  Unless we can’t find Grace.  Then it will start when she is found.  At 9:10.   Then, we all sit around the kitchen table and sing our hymn of the week (“Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” is this week’s hymn).  (I’m very thankful for our printer/copier…I copied out the hymn so that each child has their own copy.  David finally understands how to follow along the verses and stanzas.)

After our hymn, we do our history reading.  This morning I was reading along and then stopped to ask Caleb, “What is a drought, Caleb?”  He said, firmly and confidently, “It’s a FISH.  A BIG FISH.”  I was taken by surprise and almost began to laugh long and loud….but I just laughed a little (Caleb is five and does not like to be laughed at)..and explained that he was thinking of a TROUT.  A drought is a time of no rain, when the land gets very dry.

After a morning of school, we clear the table and set it for lunch.  We eat around 11 and after lunch the kids play and I put Seth down for his nap. This is our new morning routine and the time simply FLIES.  We get a lot done, but there is always a little more school to do in the afternoon.  There is one thing I will never give up and that is a QUIET TIME FOR ALL.  At this moment, all seven of my children are either sleeping (the 2 babies) or quietly playing (the rest of the children).  I absolutely need a little bit of down time for myself.  I’ll blog, or read, or nap, or sip coffee on the porch…. for a good solid hour and then everyone will be up again to finish school.

I’ve wanted to blog for days now because Rich and I took the kids on a walk this weekend and I took along my camera and got some neat pictures.  It is such a lovely time of year, with clear, bright skies and fresh cool air.  It is such a blessing to have a small state park not far from us.  We went to Dunkin’ Donuts for coffees and donuts and then went to the park.  I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!!!

Isn’t it amazing that Seth is this big now?  I love his curiousity, his crazy toddler antics (and, sometimes I don’t!!).  He sure enjoyed his big donut.  The sweatshirt used to be David’s…then Caleb’s…and now his. 

We put Sarah and Seth in the double stoller and started walking up the mountain.  It’s a small mountain, but pretty steep.  I could never push the stroller up, but Rich enjoyed the work-out.  Here is a picture of David and Caleb.  Caleb got up on the rock like a billy goat, and told me to take the picture.

Caleb took this picture of us, once we reached the top.  Rich and I sat and watched the kids explore.

It was pretty dangerous, I was afraid that Seth would fall, so he had to sit in the stroller.

He’s got glazed donut crumbs all over him, but those eyes!!! are gorgeous!!

Well, I got all soft and decided to let him out after all. 

And of course.

He fell.

The older kids went and collected these prickly things.  We wondered what sort of nut was hiding inside.  I say beech nut but I still haven’t looked it up.  They were as sharp as cactus!

Rich is going through a terrible time at work.  One of his friends committed suicide at the end of last month.  It’s been so hard for Rich as he was good friends with this man, and is now directly involved in the process of getting the office through the grieving and moving on……..in fact, today they have to clean out the man’s office, and this Saturday is the funeral, in North Carolina.  Rich is going to it with a couple of his co-workers.  Please pray for Rich, he is not sleeping well at night and I know it’s from stress.  Our family life is not suffering, thank the Lord, and he is getting a lot of comfort from me and the kids here at home.  I feel bad for him, but the Lord will get him through………it’s just hard to watch and wait.  I love my husband so much.

My husband, with our beautiful babies.  Mind you, Sarah needs hair.

One of the whole family~

These wonderful boys of mine…..they are the best of friends and it is a delight to behold.  We all laughed and talked about all sorts of things.

This picture is especially for my friend, Christie~

Well, I suppose I must be done here.  I’m going to make myself a cup of coffee and finish up the book I’ve been reading.  Maybe have some ice cream?  It’s QUIET TIME after all!  A wonderful interlude for the hard workin’ Mama……

Once upon a time a girl met a boy and fell in love. A few years later, they got married. In the course of time, they had many adventures together, and seven beautiful children. Time flew by, and before they knew it, their 15th wedding anniversary rolled around.

September 16th, 2010

Rich surprised me by suggesting a trip to New York City. I was surprised because I had mentioned going with him several times in the past, but he never seemed very enthusiastic about it. Spending any amount of time in THE city was not his idea of relaxing. Apparently it just wasn’t the right time yet.

Yesterday was the perfect time for our first visit to the city, a special and memorable way to celebrate the 15 years of marriage that God has blessed us with. We are both so thankful to my friend Kathy, and my sister Amanda, for babysitting the children for us so we could go.



The drive to New Haven, to get on the Amtrak train, was great. We picked up coffees and breakfast sandwiches on the way and talked the entire time. We were both light hearted and laughed constantly.



On the train ride, we continued our non stop talking. We had a very productive conversation about our home life. We brainstormed ideas about how to make my mornings run smoother. Next week I will try to have a better routine in the mornings; breakfast with the children, a clean up/laundry time together, and a 9:00 start time for school each day. I have never liked working with a set schedule, I like to drift along according to my mood(s) and priorities at the time, but I am beginning to realize that having more of a predictable schedule will help our home life become more peaceful, less stressful. We are starting with a new morning routine, and after that is established and the kinks worked out, we will work on the rest of the day, too. It was a relief to tell my husband the areas in my day that were the most complicated, and to have him help me come up with good, POSITIVE solutions.

We’ve been so busy that we haven’t talked like that in a very long time. Having a day to ourselves showed us that we need to take more time to really talk and listen to one another. We are a couple, a team, on the same side….and it was a blessing to reconnect on the train. He wasn’t distracted by driving, we could sit side by side and talk. We also did some reading.


We eventually arrived at the city. Rich carried his backpack with our needed supplies for Sarah, and I carried Sarah in my arms. We brought the Ergo, but never needed it. She is still small enough that I didn’t mind holding her, and when she was too heavy, I just passed her over to Rich and he carried her for a while. Sarah got a lot of comments and attention.

We decided to eat at Rockefeller Center and began our walk along the busy streets of NY City. On the way, we passed a bakery that I really wanted to go in…the Magnolia Bakery. Because we were hungry and on a mission for lunch I didn’t mention it to Rich. But I never forgot about that bakery and knew it would haunt me a little, if I didn’t get a cupcake. LOL

We had a very relaxing lunch at Rockefeller Center, outdoors by the waterfall. The weather was gorgeous, cool with a light breeze.



We shared an appetizer…fried calamari…it was light, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.






I ordered a delicious lobster salad. The chilled lobster was served on top of a cold corn salad. It was seasoned with a dressing made with one of my favorite herbs, cilantro.


I am a meat and potatoes gal so I also enjoyed a bite or two of Rich’s yummy cheeseburger, and some fries.



A nice young lady agreed to take a picture for us.



Rich wanted me to take this picture.



Rich told me he was going to take me to Tiffany’s to get me an anniversary gift. I said, “Well…if you insist….”

Just kidding. I was overwhelmed and VERY HAPPY! We went in and didn’t even leave the first floor. After gushing over baby Sarah, a lady named Karen helped us and together we narrowed the choices down to two beautiful necklaces. I left the final decision to my husband, knowing that if he picked it out it would mean more to me. Also I could not for the life of me make up my mind.

The decision was made. I was gifted with a beautiful, dainty diamond, set in a thin gold necklace.

We sat and watched her put it in a box and wrap it around with a satin ribbon. When she snipped off the extra ribbon from the ends of the bow, I asked her if I could have it. I told her I was going to give the ribbon to the girls for their hair. Some very special ribbon from Tiffany’s. She got right up and got another big handful of it from the roll and put it in the bag for me.



As we got up to leave the wonderful place, I reached for my blue bag and knocked over a champagne glass and smashed it to smithereens. I like to make dramatic exits like that.







We did a lot of walking and window shopping, simply enjoying the exciting atmosphere of the city. At times we weren’t sure where we were going, but there was always a crowd to walk with….we could pretend we belonged and knew exactly what we were doing. *smile* I’ve been to the city before, with girlfriends, and I was so happy to finally be making some memories there with Rich. It was a wonderful day.



Back at the train station, we bought our tickets to go back home. With just minutes to spare, God had a little surprise anniversary gift for us. To my joy, I noticed a Magnolia Bakery stand and we quickly bought a piece of red velvet cheesecake, a coconut cupcake, and a coffee. We shared the treats on the way home. They were very delicious, especially the cheesecake. Rich couldn’t get over how good it was. The perfect ending, a yummy dessert, after our special day.

Today, the girls wore their new pretties~

We went home to NY this weekend, to visit family.  By the time I got things packed and ready for the trip, I was exhausted.  I remembered my camera before we left, I looked at it sitting there on the shelf, and decided not to take it with me this time.  Our weekend away was slightly calmer without my camera in tow.

There is one picture that I didn’t take, because I couldn’t take it, that haunts me.

So I had to draw it instead. 

I started a nature journal a few years ago.  It is greatly neglected, but I do try to update it now and then.

For instance, I have a page on feathers.  I pick them up as I walk in the woods and a few of them I pulled out of dead birds.  It is a creepy feeling to do so, but “Tasha Tudor would do it”, she is one of my inspirations, and so I go ahead and pull.  I got feathers from a female cardinal and a flicker that way.

My mom and I went for a walk on Sunday and found the dead Flicker.  It was beautiful.  God knew it fell and the two of us also mourned it.   We think it got hit by a car, we found it in the road and pulled off a couple of long feathers and a couple of downy feathers.  The long ones are brilliant yellow on one side, black on the other, and have a pointed top.  The downy ones have a black dot on them.  God could have given them plain ol’ feathers, but He didn’t.  He decorated the birds…..each feather is a work of His amazing creation.

Joanna sent me nature quotes and I glued them in.

One time a Pottery Barn catalogue was filled with nature quotes so I cut them out and sewed around the edges and glued them in, too.

I draw and sketch sometimes.

That’s what I decided to do about that one picture that I couldn’t take, as we drove along the back country roads to our family reunion on Saturday.  It was a bright red farm gate, open and pressed against a backdrop of thick, wild goldenrod.  The red and the yellow were a stunning combination.

Why did that farmer paint his gate bright red?  I’ve never seen one painted like that before.  He’ll never know the happy moment it gave me, and that I came back home and drew it in my nature journal.  It just goes to show how you can inspire others without ever dreaming that it was even possible.

This is a picture of the room I got at a local Hampton Inn on Friday.  I got up that morning tired to tears, Rich had taken the day off and I told him that I needed to go to bed and stay there….life seemed too hard, too overwhelming.  He was pleased to let me get away and told me I could even go to NY to my parent’s house.  I was too tired to drive that far, I settled for Sturbridge, MA….one of my favorite little towns ever.  Sarah and I crashed and rested all afternoon on Friday.

Saturday morning, after a good night’s sleep, Rich and the children met me at Crackerbarrel.  I walked in to find them all sitting at a table, waiting for me, and I felt such love as I looked at all their dear little faces.  We had a nice breakfast together, talking and laughing.   I was surprised to see that my 7 year old, Davy, showed up with bare feet.  They couldn’t find his shoes and thought maybe I had them in my vehicle (I didn’t).  After breakfast we went and got him some new sneakers (he needed some anyway).

Rich encouraged me to stay out on Saturday, to recharge.  I kept my girl, Gracie, with me.  She was a blessing, a friend, to me all day.  We shopped and walked and enjoyed each other’s company.  We went to a bakery.

We went to a bird store.  Mom, have you been here?  I have to take you!!

We went to a coffee shop and we both had an iced mocha (her’s was decaf).  YUM.

It was the best memory-making day with my daughters…Sarah-dear was with us, too, of course.

We were back home by late Saturday afternoon.

We have a lion in the family now.

And a dream come true for me, a PINK PIGGIE~the cutest pink pig you ever saw.

My friend Hannah sent Sarah the most beautiful quilt. 

Caleb laughed and laughed at Sarah this weekend.  I had left her sitting up on the couch, propped against the cushions, so I could get Caleb a drink.  When we came back, Sarah was flopped on her tummy.  The surprise of it tickled his funny bone.

I had such fun on Sunday, talking to my older lady friends and showing them my doll baby with her new blue shoes.  How I love those encouraging ladies…..they adored my baby and held her and talked to her and made me feel so good.  One of our older men in the church even asked to hold her. 

Sunday afternoon:

Rich wasn’t feeling well after church on Sunday and Seth had ruined his own nap by sleeping on the drive back home….so, I went for a walk with all seven children.  I got hot and tired out, but it was fun to watch them play and explore the peaceful shaded woods.  We stayed away for a while, and Rich took a nice long nap in the hammock on the porch.

They were trying and trying to break off “swords” from this fallen down tree.  It was hard but they finally got a couple.

Whenever I find a fungus growing on a dead log, I break it off and draw a picture on it.

The boys broke open a log and found an ant mansion.  The ants had tunneled and completely populated this log.  We felt terrible for disturbing them.  There were thousands of ants, we could hear them buzz around, working to recover from the calamity…..

The wood was sort of like swiss cheese.  Jacob chose a couple of chunks to bring home and then we turned the logs back over, hoping that the ants could salvage their home.

Caleb has been asking me to make him badges.  He tells me exactly what to write, and then tapes them on his shirt.  I get so much amusement from him.

Rich and I ate fresh tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and herbs…drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

We ate outside in the cool evening air, on a blanket.  Fought off chickens, who kept coming over to try to see what we were eating.  Laughed at the children playing and wrestling around on the grass. 

We all ate watermelon together outside.  It was fresh from Mr. G’s garden, and the juicest melon ever.  The chickens ate the seeds and the rinds.  Seth was drenched with water from pressing his face into his slice, to eat it.

Rich took me on a ride on the four wheeler.  My first time ever.  I sat behind him and put my arms around his waist.  It was QUITE romantic, to say the least.  We went around and around the pond while the children jumped on the trampoline.  When the ride was over, we kissed.  

We had a lovely long holiday weekend together and I miss him today. 

“I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name forever and ever.  Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name forever and ever.  Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is UNSEARCHABLE.  One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.  I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.”  Psalms 145:1-5 (the rest of the chapter is wonderful, as well…..)

Over the last month, I’ve taken some pictures that I now want to put on my blog, family photo album style.  A hodge podge of moments and days….

Like when I caught David and Caleb naked down in the muddy (very muddy) part of the stream.  They were having the time of their little lives.  Pure messy joy!

Sarah’s chickie outfit inspired me for a little photoshoot.  Someone from Rich’s work gave us this outfit, which I think is so sweet with all the ruffles going on…and the pink chick.

Uh OH….can you guess what’s coming?

Seth found some paint and painted himself.  I was annoyed until I realized that he matched my pretty flowers.  Then I rolled my eyes, said oh well, found my camera, and took a picture. 

One of those unplanned moments when I realized that “someone HAD to take a picture of this”!!

I love my clean babies and the way Sethie is touching Mama’s pretty necklace.

A very joyful moment for me.  Sometimes I am overwhelmed with how happy I am with my children.

Another sister picture.  The other day I took Grace and Sarah out to lunch at McDonalds (Grace and I are trying to collect the dolls from the Happy Meals.)  It felt so good to be with my GIRLS (plural!).  Anyway…..just look at the darlins.  We were upstairs in Grace’s room on this day…..

Rich and I were going stir crazy in the house one rainy weekend.  Took Seth and an umbrella out for a little walk:

Then, I went for a walk on a chilly morning with Seth and Davy.

I love this picture of David.  He was hitting trees and branches every moment with the stick he carried.  I was scared.  (not for him, for me and Seth!)

Seth saw me take the picture of David so he ran right over and sat himself down, too.  SO adorable!!!  There was no doubt in his mind that his turn was next.

I did a little holy tree bark graffiti while I waited for David to be done smashing tree branches.

We found a seat for Seth.  This was the last picture I took before his incident at the hospital.  So glad now that THAT’s over with!

This was taken yesterday.  I sat on the couch reading up on homeschooling and let the kids watch a veggietales movie (The Pirates who Don’t do Anything)….they made themselves cozy, not on the couch, but IN LAUNDRY BASKETS lined with pillows. 

Incidently, I read in my homeschooling book that the inventor of the television wouldn’t let his own children watch it.  Then I felt really guilty.  oooooo, but not enough to turn off our goofy movie!

I had an adventure today.  A milestone, sorta.  Rich and I have been completely buzzing the boys’ hair right off here at home for years.  Jacob and Ethan have decided that they want to style their hair now.  They’ve been growing it out and it was looking pretty shaggy.  There is a teen activity at church tonight and suddenly I knew I had to take them someplace to get their hair trimmed up.  They were so cute at the salon as they explained just what they wanted and marched (some more timid than others) over to the chair to get it cut by a complete STRANGER.  I sat and patted Sarah, buckled Seth into Sarah’s carseat to keep him in one spot, and watched over everyone with a sleepy smile on my face.

They cleaned up so handsome.  I’m downright proud.

Jacob, (13 years)

Ethan, (12 years)

Caleb got his cut, too.  (5 years old)

My sister Amanda and her husband are in charge of the teen group at our church.  Amanda came over to visit this afternoon and then took Jacob and Ethan back home with her so they can just ride along with them to the activity (bowling!).  I took this picture of Aunt Amanda, with Sarah.  This was right before Amanda was attacked by all the other children who wanted to tell her stuff and show her stuff and of course she could NOT leave without going outside to see the chickens!  I sent her home with a dozen eggs.

And that’s that.  We’re all caught up.  Feels good. 

Now say hello, tell me your favorite picture and what’s on your mind, and have a wonderful evening!

(hugs) ~Shanda (who is sleep deprived and feeling sort of silly at the moment, better than crying like I was this morning, right?!)

First day home:

Three months old:

Growing nicely but way too fast.

Last summer I read a biography about Abigail Adams.  It was extremely interesting for many reasons, but I found myself charmed by the little quotes from her letters about her love of home…and her obvious delight in little things, including her “hens and chickings.”

We purchased our first chicks last year from our local Agway.  From day one it has been a very rewarding, and yes, even educational, experience for our family.

We, believe it or not, love our chickens.  Each one is special, with her own personality.  Even when we discovered that one of our hens was a rooster, we didn’t mind at all.  George has been an interesting study, too, to say the least.  In fact, I can’t imagine having a flock of chickens withOUT a rooster.  He spends his entire life taking care of his flock.  He keeps the girls on a strict daily routine, answers them when they are in distress, thanks them when they lay an egg, calls them when he finds some tasty morsel, and protects them from dangerous creatures, like Caleb (whom he attacked one day with vengeance and almost caused Rich to remove his head), and Seth (whom he jumped upon just the other day).

This is a picture of our first flock, as babies.  We kept them in a cage in the garage and brought them outside to explore during the day.  I picked them flowers.

Now they are grown up, with their own coop.  I don’t even have to ask the children to let them out.  It’s one of the first things we do every morning.  Our chickens are free to roam around the entire property.  When one wants to lay her egg, she leaves the flock outside and goes back to the coop.  She sits for a little while until the egg emerges and then sometimes she’ll sit on it for a little while.  But even in this particular area, they show distinct personalities.  For instance, Maria just gets up and leaves as soon as she’s done, while making the “I laid an egg!!” call.  Wherever George is, when he hears the “I laid an egg” call, he answers it, while running to the coop to find his girl and bring her back to the rest of the flock.

When we are outside, the braver chickens of the flock run up to us.  They want to know if we have a treat.  The other day, we ate watermelon outside and boy did they love the seeds and rinds.

Jenny, one of our black hens, doesn’t obey George’s orders, causing George to get irritated.  He actually gives up giving her orders….and leaves her to do her own thing.  Sometimes Jenny pecks or jumps on George’s little hens (the aracuna’s), she wants to be #1 in the pecking order.  Jenny is a little too rough and George punishes her by chasing her away, jumping on her, and pecking her.  It is quite the sight.  Lately, we have noticed that Jenny seems to be settling down some, and George is allowing her to spend some time with the rest of the flock.  For now, the children have nicknamed her the “outcast”.

Margaret is too slow.  She’s the slowest chicken of the flock, so Caleb prefers her.  She is the easiest chicken for him to catch.

Star is a kindhearted chicken.  If one of her sisters makes a distress call, she makes it too.  She also keeps Jenny company sometimes.

Ellington loves treats and is one of the first to coming running for them.

Maria sounds like a sheep when she makes her distress call.  She is the most timid and usually stays very close to George.

Joanna, a red chicken, never stops talking.  She walks around clucking all day. She is very similar to a certain friend of mine, who she is named after.  Ha ha ha ha ha !

They lay us wonderful golden eggs every day.  Collecting them is rewarding, the coop is a productive place and soothing to visit with the hay, the warm wood, and the bright sunshine through the windows.  I gather the eggs like I’m gathering little treasures, thankful for each one.  I keep them in a basket on my kitchen counter.  We have an abundance of eggs.

Red is a motherly chicken, she always has been.  So when she started getting broody and wanted to sit on eggs, we were not surprised.  The children wore me down, and I agreed to let her sit.

Her eggs hatched out recently.  She had 10 chicks.  Red is a good mother, but for some reason she tried killing three of her chicks, so we took them away.  One died and the other two live by themselves in a cage with a stuffed animal for a mother.  She lost another chick, Fluff, when Caleb stepped on it.  We’ll never forget you, Fluff.

It is the sweetest thing, to watch Red and her tiny chicks.  They go under her wings as she sits and every once in a while a chick will pop out.  The chickens are warm and secure and hidden under their mother’s wings.  It’s no wonder that God uses that beautiful imagery in His Word.

“Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me:  for my soul trusteth in thee:  yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.”  Ps. 57:1

“How excellent is thy lovingkindess, O God!  therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.”  Ps. 36:7

“He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust…”  Ps. 91:4

The chicks peep constantly and are busy and curious.

We let Red take her chicks outside.  They stay close to the coop and Red teaches them many lessons, including How to Take a Dust Bath.

Here is a little video that Jacob took, of a Dust Bath lesson:

The chicks stay close to Red, and when she walks off, they follow.

Sometimes they hop on their Mama, for a ride.  So cute!  So precious!

Red is on guard the entire time, making sure there is no danger about.

The children insist that this is a baby rooster.  They have named him George Jr.

We’re not sure what we will do with eight more chickens, we certainly don’t need more eggs or any more roosters.  We are hoping that my parents start their own flock, and take some.  For now, we are having lots of fun watching them grow.

Happily, Grace wrote this blog with me.  She and the boys know more about the chickens than I do.

What I know for sure:  Everyone should keep a flock of chickens!  It’s easier than I ever imagined and more rewarding, too.