Yesterday afternoon Rich and I took the children on a walk in the woods.  It was a beautiful time for it.  The sun was shining so nicely on the colorful trees.

~ David played football with his Daddy and brothers~

~Caleb picked mama some flowers~

Clover.  Dead and alive.  Still beautiful.  I sat in the grass and watched the family play.

Then we headed for the woods.  Caleb got his Daddy to carry him for a while.

A spot of yellow in the woods.

Ethan peeled off a big piece of bark from a dead tree, then threw it in the stream to see if it would float.  It did, after breaking into four pieces.

 E has one sock on and one sock off (sore toe).

~David had just run through a giant mud puddle~  This picture makes me laugh, I think he was impressed with himself and hoping to get a reaction from his big brothers. 

~walking sticks always remind me of my Grandma, who also loved walks in the woods~

~Grace walked with bare feet!~

~my favorite picture~

My sweet Ethan, giving Caleb a ride. . . .

Rich took this next picture of me/my tummy.

I’m officially five months pregnant today!  Only four more months to go.  What will we name the little guy?  Time will tell!

I am so grateful for each day, and especially the quiet time I just got to spend today at my desk, sipping hot coffee, and looking through family photos.   It’s a beautiful beautiful autumn day.  Rich is sleeping outside in the hammock, Caleb is napping upstairs, and the rest of the children are outside *somewhere* having fun.  Soon we will go back to church for evening service.

Hope you are having a blessed day!

~Shanda

Today, I finally accomplished something I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while now.  Using a pattern from a book that my cousin gave me for Christmas, I fashioned a long skirt for Grace.  She picked out the fabric herself, a soft pink with sparkles all over it. 

It didn’t take long to sew, and Grace stayed with me as I worked.  I think she looks as pretty as a princess.

We have been doing simple embroidery this week, for the fun of it.  Yesterday Jacob and Ethan made beanbags, about the size of their hand.  On the front is a picture that they embroidered, of their own design.  The backs are a different, color coordinated piece of fabric.  The one pictured above is Jacob’s creation.

Today, Ethan completed a pillow, with a castle on it.  I took a picture of it along side the pillow that Grace made yesterday.  She embroidered a flower on hers, the pink center is barely visible in the photo.  Grace and Jacob still each have a work-in-progress that they will finish tomorrow.  Ethan has been voted “least likely to need me to get a knot out”. . . . .what a nice boy.

I made another pan of that awesome apple crisp.  I took a picture of it today as I was pulling it from the oven, it was bubbling and so delicious looking.  In each of my pregnancies, I have always had single month in which I would gain a shocking amount of weight.  This just might be that month for me.  LOL

We all worked on a 300 piece puzzle this week.  I enjoyed leaving it out on the table for the family to work on as we got in the mood.  Rich, Grace, and I finished it tonight with a din of conversation going on around us.

Today I went outside with my bowl of apple crisp, and tried to find a quiet spot.  Caleb joined me.  I was feeling stressed out at the time, but it ended up being a nice *all too brief* peaceful interlude for me, with his little hand on my knee. 

After a while, we were surprised to see David coming out of the woods with his toy gun.  And bare feet.  Now that’s a boy for ya. . . . .just coming back from a hunting trip.

He dared to take aim at me!

And then he joined us on the hammock, too.  It was nice to have him on one side and Caleb on the other.  We had conversations but I can’t remember what we talked about now.  Maybe I wasn’t listening too good.  That happens sometimes when you’re a mama.  I do know that I was trying to keep bees away from my apple crisp.  (and silently wondering why I can’t have any peace today?)  “It just figures I would be attacked by bees when all I wanted to do was enjoy my apple crisp outside in the beautiful fall sunshine”. . . .I ended up quickly gulping down the last bites and flinging my bowl away from us.  Caleb must have thought I did it accidently because he quickly and helpfully said, “I go get it for you.”  I laughed and told him to just relax and never mind the bowl.

Me and Davy-do:

Later on in the day, I had a surprise.  Rich had long stem roses delivered to the house.

I think they are lovely, but sure wish they weren’t sent to me because of the argument we got into last night!

All is well now.  And not necessarily because of the flowers, although they did help.

Today I took all the children to get their teeth cleaned at the dentist.  I wasn’t going to tell the ladies there that I was pregnant.  One of them especially has always been very curious about whether we would ever have another and I just wasn’t in the mood for comments.  I guess I am officially “showing” because they noticed my round tummy and asked me if I was expecting.  It ended up being nice, though.  They were happy for us, and didn’t seem surprised at all. 

I actually enjoy taking the kids to the dentist.  It cracks me up to spy on Caleb getting his teeth cleaned.  I’m even laughing now, when I remember him watching and listening carefully to the lady’s instructions with his mouth already hanging open and ready to be checked.  Jacob went and spied too, and came back to tell me that the dentist was saying to Caleb, “Open your teeth!  Open your teeth!”  LOL LOL

I am plum tuckered out so I’m going to bed to read a book.  Rich is downstairs running on his treadmill.  Davy-do doesn’t have school until Tuesday and I’m happy about that.  Maybe my brain can rest a little bit in the next few days.  I’ve been stressing out a bit this week. . . .it’s nice to go to bed tonight and not have to worry about trying to find his sneakers in the morning, for instance– (those things are ALWAYS missing, no matter how hard I try!)

I started out this day wondering how I would get through it and it’s nice to be here at the end of it and know that once again God pulled us through.  It’s been a nice day.  I still wanna vacation though.

And that’s all I have to say.    Love, ~Shanda~

Jacob Richard, age 11

Ethan Gregory, age 10

Grace Lillian, age 8

David Lloyd, age 6

Caleb James, age 3

I took advantage of the fall background colors and snapped a few individual portraits of my treasured jewels today. 

They are all tucked in bed now, and the house is dark and quiet.

Time for me to curl up in bed with a good book, ignore my raging pregnancy related heartburn, and wait for my husband to get back home from his business trip.

,

~Shanda~

It was an early Saturday morning here in New England.  My husband and I walked together with our oldest son, Jacob.  The air was cool and crisp, making our noses pink and our cheeks tingle.  The drying leaves beneath our feet, the ferns, the woods, filled the air with perfume, with the scent you can only enjoy at this time of year.  The rushing forest stream, pouring down over the rocks, gave off it’s own coolness, and the sound of it was loud and full.  Sunshine was cutting through the trees in beams, wherever it could, adding a bright yellowness to the pictures around us.

Why is it that such beauty so often fills my eyes with tears?  God seems so near to me here, even though I know He is everywhere.  His blessings are all around me.

C.S. Lewis says it so well, “This sweet air whispers of the country from whence it blows.  It is a message.  We know we are being touched by a finger of that right hand at which there are pleasures forevermore.”

So, nature reminds me of my Creator, but it also makes me long for the future, for Heaven itself.  The beauty I see here on earth, is only a taste of what is to come.   I notice a sense of longing in myself, a magnetic pull of God drawing me close.  Each day I’m nearer than I was the day before.  I get that same sense when I read my Bible, as well, the Word of God grabs at my heart and pulls. . . . .and the result is contentment, joy, peace, trust, love, thankfulness, worship, and more.

Psalm 16:11 says,

“Thou wilt show me the path of life:
in Thy presence is fullness of joy;
at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”

If that verse doesn’t make you smile and your heart sing, I don’t know what will!

Find a way to enjoy God today, is really what I’m trying to say.

It’s strange to be blogging early on a Sunday morning, but Rich left at 6:15 for a flight to Chicago.  It doesn’t seem like a normal Sunday anymore.  He will only be gone until tomorrow night, but when he told me last week about this business trip, I got mad at him.  I was so angry inside, mostly for selfish reasons…..”I” have to go to church with the children by myself now, “I” have to take the boys to music lessons by myself now, “I”, “I”, “I”, etc. . . . .I was bitter inside.

But now, I’m sitting here with tears of gratitude in my eyes because the Lord gave us such a beautiful day yesterday.  He used an early morning walk, our children, a beautiful sunny day, bright sky, and apples, to tenderly knit our hearts together again.  Our relationship was renewed, and Rich and I both felt so one, united, and close as we said our good-byes just an hour ago.  All is peaceful again.

Rich has to work a lot.  Sometimes on a Saturday his blackberry will keep going off and he’ll have to check it over and over.  He was gone an average of 12 1/2 hours a day last week.  But yesterday, his work seemed far away and all we did was concentrate on each other and the children.  It was a much needed blessing.

At about 9:30 in the morning, after a stop at Dunkin Donuts for a breakfast sandwich, we drove the back roads to the Sturbridge area.  We like to go on drives, the children are such good travelers that Rich and I can talk and enjoy the scenery as we go.

Jacob did get carsick though, poor boy.  But soon we arrived at the apple farm and the fun could really begin!  We took the children last year, too, and I’m sure it will be a yearly tradition now.

David, more than any of the others, has been wanting to go apple picking since spring!

We took home a total of 1 bushel of apples and I didn’t pick one!  I let the children have the pleasure, I enjoyed watching and taking the pictures. . . . . .it didn’t take long for them to fill our bags.

My husband, not surprised to find me under an apple tree.

Ethan loves to shine his apples.  It was chilly outside, thankfully moving around kept us from getting too cold.

Rich took this one, of me and the children.

Davy has to run to keep up with his Dad.  I love how his arm is swinging way back in this photo, you can just tell he’s determined to keep up.

We also bought a dozen fresh, hot, cider donuts and passed them around in the van on the way home.

Caleb is wondering whatever are we going to do with all these apples?

(with his mouth STUFFED with donut)

Thankfully, the children were all too willing to get their mama to bring on the pies!

I was so tired, I needed their motivation.

We made three apple pies and a 9 by 13 pan of apple crisp and barely made a dent in our supply.

Schoolhouse Apple Crisp
from my Aunt Mary Ellen’s recipe collection

1/2 cup water in the bottom of a 9 by 13 pan
Layer the apples in the pan as thick as you like.
Combine 2 cups brown sugar, 1 1/2 cup flour,
and 1/2 cup cold butter in a separate bowl to make a crumb topping.
Sprinkle topping onto the apples, and. . . .
Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, until apples are tender and topping is golden.

My Grandma’s French Crust Apple Pie

1 nine inch pie crust (homemade is best, but I bought mine yesterday)
Filling:  3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon, dash salt, 6 cups sliced apples
Topping:  1 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup cold butter (combine with pastry blender until crumbly.)
Mix apples and filling together and place in pastry lined pie plate.  Sprinkle on the topping and bake for 50 minutes in a 425 oven, cover with foil the last 10 minutes to avoid over-browning.

Today my sister Amanda came over with her two little ones, and our mutual friend Trish came, as well.  We had a nice time together talking and it was great to finally share some of my coffee with friends!  We went on a little walk, too, and I thought I would put a few of the photos here. . . . . .

Amanda took these two of me:

And then Trish took a few of Amanda and me.  I’m so thankful that my sister lives nearby, she is such an encouragement to me.

This next one is my favorite.  By the way, Amanda brought over her hair straightener today and I sat in a chair in my bathroom while she straightened it for me.  It was fun and relaxing.  I needed to spend some time with her today,  and having Trish come was a blessing, too.  I feel so good after a satisfying gab-session with some girlfriends!

Typical, normal day here.  We had home school, I ran to the grocery store to just get a couple of things but ended up with about six bags worth of stuff. (typical!)  I made cookies (not pleased with the recipe off the bag of chips, my cookies spread too much.  Kids don’t complain, however).  I finally roasted that pumpkin that I had meant to roast on Saturday. 

Here’s a picture of it.  I feel strange gazing at my halved, roasted pumpkin.  I think it will taste good but it does look sort of sad.  It was such a happy pumpkin (it’s the one pictured in my header) and now look at it:

I cleaned up the seeds as best as I could (they’re slippery little things!) and roasted them, too, after tossing them with melted butter and some salt.  They are good, hard to swallow down a mouthful (there’s a lot of fiber, shall we say), but tasty.  Jacob brought me the leaves earlier today while walking the dog, and the candle is one that I had bought at that outlet.  It’s “Frosted Pumpkin” scented, and very yummy.  Oh I must say a word about my roasting dish.  It’s actually one dish that divides so you can use it as a bottom and a lid, or 2 separate pans.  It’s enameled cast iron and I just bought it recently—it was originally close to 100 dollars, but I got it for 30!!!  It’s my first piece of enameled cast iron, and  I am getting SO much use out of it. I’ve done a pork tenderloin, a couple of chickens, scalloped potatoes, and now this pumpkin.  It’s easy to wash (I spray it generously with Pam before using it).  I had to laugh, though, because when I brought it home both Rich AND Jacob told me “it’s not fiestaware!!!” in shocked tones.

I went on a walk not too long ago with four of the children.  Jacob was busy typing so he stayed home.  It was a short walk, we just walked up the “dam trail” (it’s what we call it because it leads to a watershed area up in a big field beyond the house) and then down to the stream. 

This is Ethan, after taking the time to go through the tunnel under the road that the water travels through about 5 times, and then hanging upside down on the metal barrier at the entrance of the trail.  He was quite busy during the whole walk, breaking dead branches off trees, and beating things (like stumps) with them without mercy. 

Davy do brought along his new “shot gun” (caps) and also took the time to catch himself a little critter out of this puddle which, by the way, rarely dries up.  He certainly doesn’t mind getting his feet wet, does he?  And of course Caleb was quick to follow his example.  5 minutes into the walk and ALL my children had their feet wet already.

I had Ethan snap a picture of me with Grace and Caleb.  As you can see, I’m still squeezing into my normal shirt and sweater, LOL.  David had already disappeared to the stream and we all made our way down there, too, after this picture was taken.

There is still an abundance of mushrooms in the woods.

As I was standing under some evergreens, I noticed how pretty they looked with a scattering of red leaves in their branches.

Ethan found that a fallen down log was the perfect way to cross the stream.  The water was moving fast and would have been past his knees if he had slipped in.  He was a little unsure and crawled across it the first time.  Notice the foam of the water and the pretty leaf on the bottom of his foot.  He’s so funny.

But then on the way back, he felt more confident, so he walked.

This is our pond, on the side of the house, you can see the tippy top of the house in the upper right corner.

Caleb was soaked from head to toe by the time we got home.  We went in the house and I was astonished to see that my coffee order had already arrived.  We have a Keurig coffee maker and Rich has been buying K-cups at Costco that make such strong coffee it makes my teeth buzz in the morning.  Being pregnant, I really didn’t like the idea of drinking something so potent so I went online yesterday and ordered my own coffee.  Yesterday!  And it already arrived!

I guess I got a little carried away.  Rich is sure going to have fun picking on me when he sees all this:

Hey, the hot chocolate is for the kids at least!

I’m drinking the Pumpkin Spice right now.  It’s decaf and compared to the stuff Rich has been serving me, it tastes sort of weak, but I know I’ll get used to it.  The flavor is fine, and perfect for the season.

So, Shanda’s coffee shop is open.  Any takers?

((HUGS))
~Me

Typical, normal day here.  We had home school, I ran to the grocery store to just get a couple of things but ended up with about six bags worth of stuff. (typical!)  I made cookies (not pleased with the recipe off the bag of chips, my cookies spread too much.  Kids don’t complain, however).  I finally roasted that pumpkin that I had meant to roast on Saturday. 

Here’s a picture of it.  I feel strange gazing at my halved, roasted pumpkin.  I think it will taste good but it does look sort of sad.  It was such a happy pumpkin (it’s the one pictured in my header) and now look at it:

I cleaned up the seeds as best as I could (they’re slippery little things!) and roasted them, too, after tossing them with melted butter and some salt.  They are good, hard to swallow down a mouthful (there’s a lot of fiber, shall we say), but tasty.  Jacob brought me the leaves earlier today while walking the dog, and the candle is one that I had bought at that outlet.  It’s “Frosted Pumpkin” scented, and very yummy.  Oh I must say a word about my roasting dish.  It’s actually one dish that divides so you can use it as a bottom and a lid, or 2 separate pans.  It’s enameled cast iron and I just bought it recently—it was originally close to 100 dollars, but I got it for 30!!!  It’s my first piece of enameled cast iron, and  I am getting SO much use out of it. I’ve done a pork tenderloin, a couple of chickens, scalloped potatoes, and now this pumpkin.  It’s easy to wash (I spray it generously with Pam before using it).  I had to laugh, though, because when I brought it home both Rich AND Jacob told me “it’s not fiestaware!!!” in shocked tones.

I went on a walk not too long ago with four of the children.  Jacob was busy typing so he stayed home.  It was a short walk, we just walked up the “dam trail” (it’s what we call it because it leads to a watershed area up in a big field beyond the house) and then down to the stream. 

This is Ethan, after taking the time to go through the tunnel under the road that the water travels through about 5 times, and then hanging upside down on the metal barrier at the entrance of the trail.  He was quite busy during the whole walk, breaking dead branches off trees, and beating things (like stumps) with them without mercy. 

Davy do brought along his new “shot gun” (caps) and also took the time to catch himself a little critter out of this puddle which, by the way, rarely dries up.  He certainly doesn’t mind getting his feet wet, does he?  And of course Caleb was quick to follow his example.  5 minutes into the walk and ALL my children had their feet wet already.

I had Ethan snap a picture of me with Grace and Caleb.  As you can see, I’m still squeezing into my normal shirt and sweater, LOL.  David had already disappeared to the stream and we all made our way down there, too, after this picture was taken.

There is still an abundance of mushrooms in the woods.

As I was standing under some evergreens, I noticed how pretty they looked with a scattering of red leaves in their branches.

Ethan found that a fallen down log was the perfect way to cross the stream.  The water was moving fast and would have been past his knees if he had slipped in.  He was a little unsure and crawled across it the first time.  Notice the foam of the water and the pretty leaf on the bottom of his foot.  He’s so funny.

But then on the way back, he felt more confident, so he walked.

This is our pond, on the side of the house, you can see the tippy top of the house in the upper right corner.

Caleb was soaked from head to toe by the time we got home.  We went in the house and I was astonished to see that my coffee order had already arrived.  We have a Keurig coffee maker and Rich has been buying K-cups at Costco that make such strong coffee it makes my teeth buzz in the morning.  Being pregnant, I really didn’t like the idea of drinking something so potent so I went online yesterday and ordered my own coffee. 
Yesterday!  And it already arrived!

I guess I got a little carried away.  Rich is sure going to have fun picking on me when he sees all this:

Hey, the hot chocolate is for the kids at least!

I’m drinking the Pumpkin Spice right now.  It’s decaf and compared to the stuff Rich has been serving me, it tastes sort of weak, but I know I’ll get used to it.  The flavor is fine, and perfect for the season.

So, Shanda’s coffee shop is open.  Any takers?

((HUGS))
~Me