October Snow

This is weird....even for native New Englanders. Snow before Halloween is unheard of, especially this much snow. Our friends and neighbors here say it's a going away present from God....We think they're right.

Rainbow Cake (Promise Cake)

This is a very fun cake to make. (Thank you Ju-Rita for the idea!) Again, there was no reason to make this cake...I just felt like baking. My neighbors ended up with rainbow cake too...there is plenty to share! We renamed it Promise Cake...the reason is obvious. God remembered Noah...He remembers us.

this calls for celebration!

Joe's Rock Wilderness on Zibby's 3rd Birthday about a month after we moved here.

Typical school morning a few weeks ago (10, 8, 4)


Last night we ate a pot roast dinner together, with cloth napkins, and flickering taper candles in the dining room. We shared chocolate covered strawberries (made with love by two very precocious four year olds), and popped open a bottle of bubbly champagne.

Wednesday, October 25th

Our family calendar reveals the normalcy of the day.

No holiday.

No birthdays.

Last night we celebrated our Thanksgiving to God.

We returned to give Him praise....

The reason:

Our house here in New England has officially sold....under new ownership.

We know what that means...

We are going home.

Moving date set: November 12&13th

(We will be living with Papa & Gramma for over a month...that means all of us, dog & cat included! Adventures await:)

photos above: notice how much the kids have changed in just a year and a half...it's truly shocking.

Mystic without the Pizza

Aaron was working in Seattle for a few days so I decided to take the kids down to Mystic, Connecticut. It's only an hour away and I'm not sure why it's taken us this long to finally go. I'm so glad that we did. The kids and I explored the Seaport, which is a seventeen acre parcel of land along the old harbor. There are only dirt roads, no cars, just horse and carriage. Walking through town is like taking a step back in time, to the whaling days of Mystic. There is the old church, schoolhouse, saltbox houses, ships, barns, etc. There is also an aquarium in Mystic that we've heard is amazing. I think we might have to take one more trip down, with Daddy, before we move. Truly a New England experience to treasure. The sky was like an old painting
Can you find the kids?
Old schoolhouse..Ben looking knowledgeable.
Zibby said, "Oh my gosh mommy, that's my bed?" I think she thought we were house hunting.
One of the best parts of the Seaport was the people who worked there. One of the ladies cooking an authentic lunch in her kitchen patiently answered every question the kookies had for her. Personally, I loved her fireplace.
I love them.
I want to make a table like this...so fun.
Ahoy!
Garden
Church
Seaport
While the girls were rowing Ben went exploring. I let him tour the ship (in the background) on his own. It's weird to me how independent they are becoming.
I love the sky in this one..."hurricanes a'comin'!"

When the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...

Elizabeth Jane,

So quiet. So serious. So independent. So perceptive. So free.

~So loved.

"Mama, can you hold my lollipop...I need to go do some cartwheels out there."

This is what you said today in Mystic, Connecticut, at the Seaport. A huge open field of freshly mowed grass stood before you. Cartwheels over lollipops any day of the week...

My kind of girl.

My Daddy

I came across this poem that Abby Sue wrote in class at the end of last year. She read it to Daddy in Maine while we were camping. Tears ran down her cheeks and her voice shook with emotion as she carefully spoke each word. Daddy cried too.

My Daddy is an all-in-one, cook, musician, athlete, and a fun loving daddy

He wonders, "What is it like to be a hockey player?"

He hears the voice of someone in need.

He sees the heart of a friend.

He wants me to do the best in everything I do.

He is an all-in-one cook, musician, athlete, and a fun loving daddy.

He sometimes pretends he is a rock giant or a bridge when we wrestle.

He feels my happiness and joy I bring to him.

He touches my rosy cheeks when I'm sick.

He worries when I'm not happy where I am.

He cries when I feel bad.

He is an all-in-one cook, musician, athlete, and a fun loving daddy.

He understands when I make a new friend.

He says what he needs to say.

He dreams of owning a restaurant.

He tries to make me happy when I'm sad.

He hopes I will be good and do everything he taught me when I grow up.

He is an all-in-one cook, musician, athlete, and fun loving daddy.

At the Farm

Barn with purple door and wreath
Father & Son
Oh Brother! (insert preteen sigh here)
Boy running...always.
Lots of golden
Got it Mama!
Muddy Tracks
The Bunny Hutch I want to build at the Old House
More purple doors
Fall
Abby Sue caught a chicken...of course.
Indian Corn in sunlight
Corn Maze
Yay!

Totally Awesome!

Don't you love a costume party!

Ben: Mad Scientist

Zibby: Winter Belle

Abby Sue: invited to spend the night at a friends house...so weird without her.

My beautiful friends: Janice~ Velma (love the wig!)

Helen: Mrs. Potts (her daughter was Belle and her husband was the Beast...so cute!)

Aaron: Where's Waldo?

Me: 80's Girl...neon fishnet gloves included!

Where His Heart is we find Home

"Oh, how great are God's riches an wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways! For who can know the Lord's thoughts? Who knows enough to give Him advice?...For everything comes from Him and exists by His power and glory. All glory to Him forever! Amen." Romans 11:33-36 (NLT)

This sums up the way I feel about life lately.

In all my wondering and planning He is there loving and overriding my will for His.

Fair trade? I don't think so.

I live indebted to this kind of grace forever.

The place He provided...

http://www.trulia.com/homes/Oregon/Silverton/sold/620902-515-W-Main-St-Silverton-OR-97381

Looks like we will be moving home around November 12th. Then moving into our beautiful place just after Christmas.

The Kookies can't wait!

Apples of Gold

"Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket." Proverbs 25:11 NLT

Last Christmas our small group at church had a "Yankee Swap". This is the New England version of the "White Elephant" gift exchange we are familiar with in the west. Anyway, when my turn came around, I picked up an unexciting bag filled with very cheesy trinkets. Among them was a little devotional calendar titled, "A Mother's Prayer". I'm not really into stuff like that. To me these things are usually predictable and sappy. I put it on the kitchen window sill anyway. Wouldn't you know it, that darn calendar has encouraged my heart on a number of occasions over the past year.

October 5th reads: "We are not called by God to do extraordinary things, but ordinary things with extraordinary love." ~Jean Vanier

I'm finding that unexpected blessings are often wrapped in second hand ribbon.

The Magic Sweater

I think I bought it on the clearance rack.

I fell in love with the primary coziness of this precious sweater.

Abby Sue loved it first and wore it in preschool until second grade.

I washed it...a lot. But it never seemed to fade. The Magic Sweater grew with her.

Now Zibby is four and fits into it perfectly.

I'm no wizard when it comes to laundry...but this sweater hasn't faded a bit. It looks as new as the day I bought it.

This old clearance rack sweater that wears like iron has buttoned up precious memories for my mommy heart....now if only it would keep our girls little a bit longer, then it truly would be magic I'm sure.

Have Kids, Will Travel

We love to take the kids everywhere possible. It hasn't always been smooth sailing, but it's never boring. (Hey people, if you have a problem with my child bouncing around and loving every bit that life has to offer, get over it!)

I love the travel channel. A few years ago I mentioned to Aaron that I thought they should have a show that would feature a family discovering new places together...rating family friendliness...budget saving tips, etc. It would be called: Have Kids, Will Travel. Wouldn't that be the coolest show ever!

This is what we did today:

Welcome to Boston Children's Museum

http://www.bostonfiremuseum.com/

This is where we ate:

http://flourbakery.com/ (homemade oreos...need I say more?)

http://bostonlocalfoodfestival.com/

And this part of Boston is related to Portland...I just know it:

http://www.boston.com/travel/boston/gallery/Fort_Point/

So there you go, a perfect day in wicked awesome Beantown.

I will miss this city.