portraits of Grace, macaroni and cheese recipe, and what we’ve been up to

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Shanda

Tread in solitude your pathway,
Quiet heart and undismayed.
You will know things strange, mysterious,
Which to you no voice has said.

While the crowd of petty hustlers
Grasps at vain and meager things,
You will see a great world rising
Where soft sacred music rings.

Leave the dusty road to others,
Spotless keep your soul and bright,
As the radiant ocean’s surface
When the sun is taking flight.

from the German of V.Schofffel, read in a recent Streams in the Desert devotional by L.B.Cowman

Hello, friends.
How are you?
My family is passing around the stomach flu.
Seth began it last Thursday, a week ago now. On Friday he was well but we kept him home. Rich had his team from work here for an off site meeting on Friday.
I woke up that night sick to my stomach and was sick all day Saturday. And by sick I had thoughts of death being a pleasant alternative, it was awful.
Rich had Jacob, Ethan, Grace, and Sarah at a wrestling tournament. Coach D. had David, Seth, and Caleb at another one.
On Sunday Rich took the children to church and I was still recovering. While they were gone I opened all the windows, turned off the heat, and aired out this sick house.
On Monday, the children had the day off from school and I had to take Jacob, Grace, and Ethan to the school early for another wresting event, and then David (along with Seth, Caleb, and Sarah) to the orthodontist. Also on Monday, I took Seth, who was coughing nonstop, to the doctor’s office. He had an ear infection. So we also stopped at the pharmacy.
On Tuesday, Caleb was sick with the stomach bug and I fell down on the ice and hurt my knee. Thankfully, it was only badly bruised but my fiesta bowl smashed.
Wednesday, Caleb was still sick. I called Paula to tell her I had to miss CBS. Ethan stayed home from school because it is mid-term exam week and he didn’t have any testing. Jacob called me at 9 to ask for a ride home because he didn’t have tests either, and his girlfriend Emily did not go to school because she was sick. Sarah and I picked him up and we went to the library for a little while before coming home. At 3, I had to go pick up Dave from the middle school because he stayed after for math help. When I got home Rich and I met with the guys who will be replacing the floor and shower in our bathroom. Rich left with the boys at 4. They had a wresting meet which their team won. Rich came home briefly to get Dave for practice and then left again for the High School. I read a really long version of Hansel and Gretel to Seth in his bed and he played with my hair while he listened, and then had an hour of quiet (watched Hinterland) before going to bed myself, and falling into a deep sleep.

That is, in a nutty nutshell, what I’ve been up to since the last time I blogged.

Today is THURSDAY, (I think) and David was supposed to get his braces put on….. but when I got up this morning at 6:15, David was on the couch……..the next victim of the stomach bug.

Caleb is no longer throwing up but he is weak and weepy so he is home today as well.

Jacob, Ethan, and Grace are at school for mid-terms and I did 5 papers with Seth last night, trying to get him caught up on his Kindergarten work. He is at school today.

As for myself, I must say, it has been one thing after another as usual, but with sick kids at home I have not been anywhere all week except for the daily running back and forth from the schools and that nice little break at the library yesterday. It has been overwhelming to say the least but every day there are things to be thankful for, (like a hot bath) and I write them down in my journal. I am exhausted and last night I was yelling about tuna fish, but I think today will be a quiet day….currently, David is asleep and Caleb is playing a game on the iPad.

I did manage to read a book on the kindle….Etched in Sand, by Regina Calcattera.

I took these pictures of Grace on Sunday, in the misty rain, after she came home from church.

I love this daughter of mine.

*********

Macaroni and cheese comfort food, recipe here.

It went nicely with one of those marinated pork tenderloins that you can buy and just roast in the oven for half an hour, and a salad.

There has been a great deal of coloring happening. And a lot of playing with mama’s salad spinner (better than any toy). They spin their little animals in it, and marbles.

Sarah Joy colored this one. I love it.

This girl has been a bright and happy ray of sunshine during this crazy week. She’s happy and talkative, so cute, I’m so thankful for her (for all of them!!)

paper hearts

little things, around home, to be thankful for

Posted on January 15, 2015 by Shanda

The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life. ~Robert Louis Stevenson

1. boys love going outside
2. my beautiful billy-cat
3. dripping icicles
4. portrait of Seth (I was trying out a new lens)
5. portrait of Dave
6. portrait of boy and mom
7. children’s favorite way to eat a banana
8. Dave telling me about wrestling practice, when he got choked by his headgear.
9. drawing a secret picture on white paper for sarah
10. the secret picture, revealed with water color paint
11. not happy because mom tried to help, but painted it wrong.

“One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.” Iris Murdock

one step at a time

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Shanda

See how pointed and sharp the corners of this first place wrestling metal are? Hold that thought.

Thank you for the get well wishes for my husband. He still has groin and hernia pain but he is happily limping around and getting better by the moment. He went to school last night to coach, and he went back to work today for a half day. His spirits are such that despite any odd shooting pain he may feel, he is joyful because of the relief in having the hard parts over.

Somewhat ironically, on Saturday and Sunday when their Dad was recovering from his wrestling injury, all five of our sons were participating in wrestling tournaments.

Uncle Jason watched Jacob and Ethan both win their weight classes in the J.V. tournament on Saturday, while Rich and I were waiting to leave the hospital.

On Sunday, I left Rich at home with the girls and drove an hour away to watch David (12), Caleb (9), and Seth (5), each wrestle in their first tournament of the season. Ethan was there as an assistant coach.

The school was loud and hot. I was thankful for my tank top that I wore layered under a sweatshirt. I was thankful for the concession stand so I didn’t have to be concerned about food and drink. I was thankful for the bathrooms everywhere. I was also thankful that Jacob and Michael came later on in the morning, to watch with me. Finally, I was thankful that Sarah Joy was at home with Rich and Grace.

(Jacob, Michael, and Ethan, and Seth)

Seth was adorable. He had been itching to wrestle for over a year. Last year he was a spectator of his older brothers. Now he is finally an athlete on the team and he smiled the entire time. He was a joy to watch, in fact, I got a little sentimental at times watching him.

This is the video of his first match ever. I started taping right at the starting whistle and Seth immediately pounced on his opponent.

Caleb’s group wrestled in the morning, too, and he did well but lost each match.

Here is a video of a portion of one match:

Over several hours, Caleb wrestled three times, and Seth wrestled four times.

I am happy to announce that little Seth ended up winning all of his matches and was given a first place metal.

He said, “I knew I was a good wrestler!” and then later on, “I wish Dad was here!” He was as proud as a peacock and I was, too.

He never got tired. In fact, he never stopped moving.

He was so active that at times I sent him over to hang around with coach, so I didn’t have to defend myself any longer.

(Mike took this picture as Seth was trying to perform moves on me.)

He wrestled everything that day; the wall, the floor, his mom, his teammates, his coach, his brothers…….

…..and then……

Dave and I were talking, sitting cross legged on the floor. Seth was hanging around, swinging his metal (see first photo) when suddenly it accidently bounced sharply off the back of Dave’s unsuspecting head. (Seth felt terrible).

We immediately stood up and when Dave looked at his hand after holding the back of his head, it was covered.in.blood, my friends. Blood dripped down. I rushed for the paper towels…….poor Dave could not see the wound so he was scared, but after cleaning him up and looking at it we knew that he was okay to continue wrestling, it was a only a very small cut.

His coach is from the era of “brothers and boys throwing a punch now and then is healthy and normal” so to encourage and distract Dave I heard him say, “David, when you get home later, when mom’s not looking,” he punched his palm, “punch him in the kisser!”

Coach and I took Seth’s metal away from him.

David was a wreck. He was upset, pale, and had to struggle to hold back tears. My heart sank.

He lost his first match, and in the midst of it, they had to stop and wrap his head all up in gauze to stop the bleeding.

He felt so self conscious and foolish that right after losing, he went in the hall to hide. I went out to find him and encouraged him to use his feelings to be aggressive, rather than give up. I told him I was proud of him. His coach did a great job of motivating him, too, and I went back to the stands to wait for his next match.

He fought hard and to my surprise, won it. Coach didn’t know where I was, so when I went to the team to congratulate Dave, he said, “Did you see David? I couldn’t find you! He did great!” I had watched it all from the stands, sort of hiding, myself.

And, to make a perfect ending to a crazy-day, he also won his third and final match.

The relief was visible on his face, and he went to collect his hard-earned metal.

Well done, my son. You are well on your way to impressive manhood.

The wrestling for our family was done, but we stuck around to watch just a few more teammates.

Mike took the other boys in his car, so Dave and I had the car to ourselves. We stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts on the way, and he read a book while I listened to the radio and drove us back home again. It had been an exciting day. To say the least.

I was rather tired of all the excitement, to tell the truth. How thankful I am for a loving heavenly Father. We can trust Him completely with every moment of our lives, so that even during busy seasons of life, a peace that passes all understanding is there from above to nurture us along. He gets all the glory for everything and always and His loving hand is so blessedly and obviously underneath us all, holding and loving us, even during the most difficult of times.

“This is the blessed life—not anxious to see far down the road nor overly concerned about the next step, not eager to choose the path nor weighted down with the heavy responsibilities of the future, but quietly following the Shepherd, one step at a time.” F.B.Meyer

18th birthday

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Shanda

Today, for his 18th birthday……

….Jacob received more than just a football.

He was asked to the prom by Emily!

*******

Happy Birthday to our firstborn. We love you dearly.

madrigal feast

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Shanda

Good day to you. It is drizzling cold rain outside and as a matter of fact, the children had a two our delay from school this morning because of icy conditions…… and, it was quite the morning, let me tell you. There was a flurry of activity as the children did their best to enjoy the extra hours. They are now gone to school and Sarah is playing in her room, so I have a few moments to give a report on the Madrigal Feast.

The music director at our local High School has put on a weekend of Madrigal Feasts for the last 28 years. Grace was involved for the first time last year, as a Freshman, and I was so impressed by it that this year I bought tickets for Rich and I, plus Grace’s six siblings. The tickets were 15 dollars a piece and the kids perform three times over the weekend to a packed house. It is a great fundraiser for the music program, and they also donate money to a local charity. The first two Feasts were in the evenings. Rich and I went on the third day, Sunday afternoon, to avoid having the children out late.

On Sunday afternoon, while Rich (I love him) conveniently fell asleep and took a nap on the couch, I got the four younger children looking presentable.

Here is darling Sarah, all dressed up in her little dress, white tights, matching shoes, and itchy hair band.

After the 10 minute drive to school in the backseat with her brothers, she looked like this:

I mean, you just have to laugh, right? I took the itchy hair band off the poor girl and then everything was fine.

When we arrived at the door to the cafeteria, where the feast took place, we told the doorman our name and they called out in a loud fanfare, “The ‘Smith’ Party has arrived!” (only they used the correct last name; our last name is not Smith, by the way) and in we marched through two columns of choir children, to our assigned table.

We each had a name card at our place, where a salad and fruit plate were waiting for us. I sat in between Seth and Caleb. Seth did everything in his chair but stand on his head, but it was nice for the most part. David became cold and had no coat. Jacob kept making eyes at his girlfriend.

Grace and the rest of the choir were singing up front all during the salad course. I felt shy, so I asked if one of the children could walk up to take a nice picture. Seth was the only volunteer. Thank you, Seth!

When the singers filed past our table I took a quick picture of Grace, using the flash. LOL Ethan.

There was a wonderful song all about wassail. Every member of our table asked me what wassail was, including my husband, who was in attendance last year and should have remembered that it is a nonalcoholic hot cider drink served in a punch bowl.

Seth had three glasses of wassail and two full glasses of water, consequently he had to use the bathroom several times and was also too full to eat his feast.

The number of wonderful songs being sung one after another were like a lullaby to Sarah.

We ate chicken, stuffing, a baked potato, bread, and mixed vegetables. For dessert there was chocolate cake with cherries and whipped cream. As we ate, the choir performed beautiful songs, skits, dances, and jokes for our entertainment. There was a king and queen, a group of wenches, a jester, and so on….we were to imagine that we were in old time London.

In this picture, on the far left, you can see a door with a sign, “face painting”, which is where Seth was taken to sit and have his face painted like Spiderman (his choice).

Also, this is the picture I took during the final verse of “Silent Night”, when our Grace stood front and center to perform sign language.

There were many, many items raffled off. David had put tickets in several jars, trying to win things, but when he discovered that the winners had to go up front to claim their prize and perhaps do something embarrassing, he hoped and prayed he would NOT win. (he didn’t).

OVER TWO HOURS later, the feast was over. I had thoughtfully volunteered Rich to help tear down the sets so we hung around for another hour or so, until the cafeteria was a cafeteria again.

Mrs. Jones, the choir director (not her real name) is an AMAZING woman, so strong and capable, the children respect and adore her. She wrote a little poem about each and every senior and had it read in their honor…provoking tears from every mother’s eye. Grace is her assistant this year and she made sure to tell me how much she appreciates Grace and her work ethic.

I can’t begin to tell you all the little ways Mrs. Jones makes the feast special for everyone involved. It truly amazes me.

After the performance, every photographer took pictures of their children. 🙂

The yearly groups form a close bond and Grace was thrilled to see graduating students return to visit;

LOL Jacob (far right)

I took the little ones out to the hall and sat as they ran around, waiting for the clean up to be over.

I had to laugh by the end of the evening I had a huge stack of coats, purses, shoes, etc, in front of me on the table to “watch” for the kids……

Spiderman!! (make up remover wipes took it off just fine)

This was embarrassing. David, my magician, came to me with this plastic tie around his wrists and asked me to tighten it for him. Even though my inner motherly instincts were screaming “NO DON’T DO IT” I tightened it. “More than that, mom”. Okay, I tightened it more, as per his request. Well, he thought he could use magic to break free, but it never happened…..as he struggled, another mom came by to say hello to me, and to my horror, noticed Dave whose hands were turning an unnatural shade of pink, “Oh, that’s not good, David, you shouldn’t have that on your wrists.” “It’s MY MOM’S FAULT,” he replied, “She’s the one who did it.” Nice, Dave, nice. We finally found some scissors and Emily cut it off.

It was eventually time to leave and we all left like a herd, 10 of us, a big family full of never ending excitement, the stressful kind AND the good kind. Deep in my heart I appreciate each and every moment with these people.

We went home and decorated the tree (pictured in the previous blog entry).

*******

a proper photo, by another parent

a tree for Christmas

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Shanda

First, pour yourself a smooth, sweet cup of cocoa.

And gather up your favorite cat…….while I share with you, dear friend, some of our weekend happenings, namely; decking the halls with boughs of holly, and decorating the “O Christmas Tree”.

This morning, I awoke to the sound of my two youngest children arguing loudly over a cat. I was heavy with sleep as reached for the clock to look at the time. It was 6:47am. Caleb would need to leave for school in half an hour. I rolled slowly out of bed, and thankfully found the boys already dressed for the day. I served them peanut butter toast, passed out lunch money, made a cup of coffee, and after the busses came and left, I sat and looked at all the pictures we took this weekend………..

These are busy days for all of us. Some of us Moms are working on less than ideal energy. What a blessing it is to be tired yet still determined to love and nurture our families.

On Saturday, between a wrestling practice and a Christmas Ball, Rich and I had a small window of time to get our Christmas tree. We were determined to cut it down ourselves this year so we bundled up in our coats and asked the children who wanted to go with us? Out of seven children, we had two who were excited about going with us to get the tree; Seth (5) and Sarah (4). So off we went.

It was raining.

The tree farm was busy despite the rain. There were a line of cars with people tying up their trees. We couldn’t help getting excited about finding just the right tree.

It is simply amazing that we’ve been in love over the last 20 Christmases…..

We walked briskly along the rows of trees and it didn’t take long to chose one.

Just right.

“Not only green when summer’s here,
But also when ’tis cold and drear.”

While Daddy cut down the tree, Seth and Sarah ran around laughing and having a wonderful time as only 4 and 5 year olds can do.

Happily wet and muddy, our dear darling Seth. A cute note about the matching mittens; I dug through the mitten box and found two that didn’t match, yet more importantly were for the left and right hands. When we got to the truck and buckled up, Seth leaned forward with the matching black mitten (which he had discovered in the truck) and said, “Mom, you’re blind. The matching mitten is right here.”

Seth, ready to be a help, climbed up on the truck to pull the tree up with his Dad.

Then, even though I was right there ready, he insisted on jumping back down all by himself, thanks anyway Mom!

Christmas mud.

They wanted to get out while Rich returned the saw, but did you see that mud? We made them get back in.

We left the tree farm with candy canes. A few miles down the road Sarah spit hers out in my empty coffee cup, spitting and clearing her throat so much I became amused. Apparently she doesn’t like candy canes. (She doesn’t like toothpaste, either).

Points if you can name the title of my current read!

We returned home. Rich and Ethan set up our beautiful (but very wet) tree, and then Rich and I had to quickly get ready for our date. Grace left with a friend to go to school for the Madrigal Feaste, Jacob babysat the children for us, and we left the house for the evening.

And it came to pass that we decorated the tree 24 hours later, (last night).

Jacob turned on some Holiday tunes, while Emily made a Santa craft with Sarah and Seth. The children are to glue a cotton ball on his beard each day until Christmas, when his beard will by then be fluffy and white with cotton…….they loved it (thank you, Em!)

It was a flurry of chaotic activity to get the tree decorated and ~~all too soon~~ not soon enough, it was completed.

We followed the excitement up with early bedtime for the younger children and crashing in front of the Andy Griffith show for the rest of us. I went to bed at 9 and was asleep very shortly afterwards, thankful for another day.

******

keep calm and jingle on

xoxo

attitude of gratitude

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Shanda

If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until it gets so ugly you can hardly bear to look at it. A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely. ~Roald Dahl

Oh Roald Dahl, you are such an interesting person. I love how you take truth and get it down our throats with a spoonful of good humor.

Here are a few little happenings that I am thankful for:

1. A morning of sunshine

Got no checkbooks, got no banks,
Still I’d like to express my thanks –
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.
~Irving Berlin

2. We went to the day spa, Sarah and I.

She was so fascinated by the yellow goo being squirted in my hair that I had to get out the phone and take a picture. She loves watching me get my hair done.

Rich told me to relax at the spa and I said, “Yes, but, how can I relax if I have Sarah with me?” “Oh Shan, she’s adorable! You let her get her nails done. See if they can get her in.”

I did ask, but the ladies were all booked up so I asked Amy (my hairdresser) to take Sarah in the other room to pick out some nail polish. While my hair processed I myself gave Sarah her manicure, including base coat and top coat.

3. Seth had a program at school so I buttoned him up in a handsome dress shirt (over a t-shirt). I fussed quite a bit with the hair, too. (you can sort of tell by the picture that he was ready to be let go again, right?)

Later, when Sarah and I arrived to school for the assembly, in walked Seth with the dress shirt OFF and looking all ordinary.

4. Breakfast at the diner.

5. My two oldest boys; Jacob (in back) and Ethan.

6. Michael and Seth (Sunday)

7. Reading books to silly Sarah.

8. The ice melted on Monday. I sent Seth out on the porch to feel the air, “There IS no air!” was his observation. It was a windless, warmish day. When they came home from school we went outside. Before I could stop them, Dave and Seth had their shoes and socks off in the stream. It really wasn’t warm enough for it, and their little feet turned pink.

9. Dave caught a crayfish which was a joy because every other sign of life in the waters was missing (frogs, turtles, fish).

How many of my friends are in the kitchen this week in preparations for Thanksgiving Day? I’m in the kitchen as I type. My body is sitting on the couch in the living room, but my mind is over there in the kitchen thinking about what I need to do next!

10. Yesterday I made my roll dough using my Grandma’s recipe. After the first rise, I formed the rolls.

I placed them in their pans, wrapped them up, and put them in the freezer. Tomorrow I will take them out, let them rise the second time, and bake them.

11. Yesterday we also did our big grocery trip for everything we needed on this list:

I would rather stay in the kitchen cooking all day than go to the store! So I was very happy to get it done.

12. We had a mini-thanksgivng feast yesterday. Jacob and Ethan had to miss their football thanksgiving dinner because their game was moved up a day. They were disappointed about it so I decided to surprise them. When they got home from school at 2:30 everything was ready. I roasted a butterball turkey breast, made (frozen) mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, corn, and cranberry sauce. I saved out some of my roll dough in order to make a couple little loaves of bread, too.

Not only did my children come home (Dave, Jacob, Grace, and Ethan) but also two extras. I loved watching them fill up their plates and go sit down in the dining room together.

13. Last night was Senior night at the football game. It was cold, but we had a lot of fun watching Jacob play his last game.

This is one of those pictures that I look at and see him as my own little baby, behind those eyes and that face, he’s still there.

14. sisters

I hope you have a lovely day today!

There is snow falling outside and it will be a cozy day to make pies.

{this moment}

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Shanda

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. CSC_2096 admiring the first snow of the winter
6:30 am

quotes about love with pictures of the kids

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Shanda

“Our days are happier when we give people a piece of our heart instead of a piece of our mind.” anonymous

Sarah is outside. She saw the frost on the grass and asked for boots. I keep looking out the door to check on her, in fact I just sat down after leaning outside and calling her name. “I’m right here,” she answered in her little girl voice. “Okay! What are you doing?” “I’m tasting frozen stuff,” she replied while taking long licks from a bark-less stick. “Tastes like sugar! Wanna taste?”

We are thankful that we don’t have to go anywhere today. On Monday, we took Caleb to his Doctor’s check up. On Tuesday, I took David to an orthodontist appointment. He will be getting braces soon. Yesterday, we went to Community Bible Study for the day. Tomorrow we are serving Rich’s team a lunch here at home and going to the hair salon. But today? Today is gloriously free. I like being busy, but I like having mornings in my pj’s, too, tip tapping on the old keyboard, saying hello to anyone who may stop by here today……..

Veteren’s Day was Tuesday and the children were home from school. In the afternoon, I took my camera outside.

I recently read a wonderful book titled, The Greatest Thing in the World, by Henry Drummond. It was a book from our bookshelf, but it’s also a free book on the kindle. I underlined quite a lot of quotes that I wanted to share with pretty pictures. (pretty pictures that capture moments, not an entire day, we were not without a few ugly moments, too, but all in all the day was a wonderful one…..I love having all the children home).

“Have you ever noticed how much of Christ’s life was spent
in doing kind things–in merely doing kind things? Run over it with
that in view and you will find that He spent a great proportion of His time simply in making
people happy, in doing good turns to people.”

****

“Where Love is, God is. He that dwelleth in Love dwelleth
in God. God is love. Therefore love. Without distinction,
without calculation, without procrastination, love.”

“The most obvious lesson in Christ’s teaching is that
there is not happiness in having and getting anything,
but only in giving.”

“It is better not to live
than not to love.”
(Luke 17:2)

Do not grudge the hand that is moulding the still too shapeless image
within you. It is growing more beautiful though you see it not, and
every touch of temptation may add to its perfection.
Therefore keep in the midst of life.
Do not isolate yourself.
Be among men, and among things, and among troubles,
and difficulties, and obstacles.”

“Talent develops itself in solitude, character in the stream of life.”

“We love Him; we love all men. We cannot help it. Because
He loved us, we love; we love everybody.
Contemplate the love of Christ, and you will love.
Stand before that mirror, reflect Christ’s character,
and you will be changed into the same image from tenderness to tenderness.”

“Now abideth faith, hope, love, but the greatest of these is love.”

“You will give yourselves to many things, give yourselves first to love.”

“You will find as you look back upon your life
that the moments that stand out,
the moments when you have really lived,
are the moments when you have done things
in a spirit of love.”

“The test of religion, the final test of religion,
is not religiousness, but Love….not what I have done,
not what I have believed, not what I have achieved,
but how I have discharged the common charities of life.”
(yes!)

***

It’s taken me hours to write this. Sarah came inside and we read some library books together. Now she is in the bath. I’m sitting cross legged on the closed toilet watching her play. Grace’s rabbit is in the bathroom with us enjoying some time out of her cage. She keeps trying to arrange a towel into a nest with her front paws and teeth.

The sun is shining and soon Sarah’s frost will be melted away.

and they also went to Brussels

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Shanda

(The Atomium)

(The Grand-Place)

(Manneke Pis)

The World is a book,
and those who do not travel
read only a page.
~St. Augustine

Dave and Maria went on a high speed train from France to Brussels, Belgium. They spent the day wandering about, and exploring. They ate waffles and chocolate. In the evening, the buildings lit up and glowed like stars.

*****