Live Nativity

Old Zion Church's Live Nativity was this past Sunday night. We all helped once again to help kick off the Christmas Season.

The Shepherds

My  Shepherd

The Angels

The Manger

Little "Boy" Jesus

One of the Kings (he's looking pretty good)

Kings presenting their gfts

Without the Cross there wasn't a reason for the Manger

Kids having Kids!!!

Today was the day!!! My kids were having kids. (I'm not old enough for that!!!) Okay my boys' goat had kids today. We had been watching her since late yesterday and through the night, but this morning we had checked on her around 10AM and nothing, then when Gary went back out at 11:30 there were 2 babies! The boys are very excited that they were home from school for this event. Both bucks seem to be doing fine. One is standard Boer goat colors while the other is a dark brownish/red color. The boys were like "Wow they are little" - I'm not sure what they were expecting. Then came the questions about how all of this happens... it has been an interesting day, but all are well and happy!

Happy Thanksgiving

I have been watching Haylee this week and last weekend, Garrett and Haylee were here together and so we made Indian costumes from brown paper bags. Didn't they turn out adorable?

Have a Happy Thanksgiving from our house to your!

Building a Goat Shed

We have been busy, busy, busy here. We are trying to build a new shed for the goats so that when the new "kids" show up that they have a warm comfy place. But here are a few pictures of the building progress. The shed isn't done yet and the little ones are due on Monday (Ugh)

Robert working on the framing

Garrett working on framing
Framing was about a week ago

Yesterday working on the roofing, the whole crew is here

Robert and Gary in the rafters

The boys want to help with "their barn" so we have been working after school and weekends when we get a chance. It's slower than planned, but the boys are excited about learning how to build and getting to hammer lots of nails.

Election Day

With all the hype of election day around here, I took the opportunity to involve the boys in the election. I knew that yesterday they would be doing their "elections" at school so at breakfast we talked about what they knew about the candidates. Robert had been talking  a lot about the elections and when we discussed this I was surprised what he really did know about them. Without, influencing them about how I was going to vote I asked some questions.

1. So who would you vote for?

2. Why?

3. What do they stand for? (Robert understood this one- Garrett not so much)

4. Does what they stand for and what you believe match up?

To this Robert answered "Doesn't Obama believe that guys and guys and girls and girls can marry?" To which I replied - "yes, why? Do you believe in that?" He looks at me with all seriousness and says "Mom, God says that it is to be a Guy and a Girl, that's not how God wants it!"  (And inside I'm going YEAH!!!!!!! he has it, now to make sure he continues to understand that)

So yesterday afternoon, I picked the boys up at school so we had enough time to let them accompany us to the voting polls. Gary took Garrett and I took Robert with us. They each got a sample ballot to look over too. Then this morning they were up watching the TV for the results (they needed the answer for school), but they were interested in what our government is doing. Even if it is just a little bit of interest, it's a start. For Robert it is part of him learning about our government and where "we the people" fit into the chain of command.

Even if the elections didn't turn out the way I had hoped, at least it was an educational opportunity for the boys. If you get the chance talk to your kids about what they believe!

Halloween Fun Food

Our Witches Fingers

The Red Wiggler sandwich and the spider warts

Okay we usually have a "Halloween Meal" with Andrew each year before the Trick or Treating or the Community Party. Well this year, with crazy schedules, we had it on Saturday afternoon. Sometimes, I make gross looking things and then have to talk them into trying it, other times, I just add weird names. This year, it was a combination. We had "Red Wiggler sandwich", "Spider warts", "Witches fingers",  slices of "frog eyes" and "Bat Bodies" I explained that when witches prepare their brews they had to have unusual ingredients, and that our meal was from their ingredient list.  The red wiggler sandwich - hot dogs sliced length-wise and then cooked with BBQ sauce all served on a burger bun so they kind of fall off the sides. The "spider warts" were just Tater tots. Then the "witches fingers"- cheese sticks with "V" shapes cut in at the knuckle area and then an almond placed in the tip for the finger nail and our "frog eyes" were just grapes sliced across the grape. And finally we had the "Bat Bodies" - these were just Swiss cake rolls that I used M&M's for eyes and a nose at one end of the Swiss cake roll.

Halloween at Our House

Halloween at our house this year was kind of busy and a little sad. As a big 6th grader, Robert's class isn't permitted to dress up at school, with the last flag football game under the lights the same night as the community Halloween Party, Robert choose not to have a costume this year. Which is the sad part as that means he is growing up :( But he was still into a few of the other things that we do with Halloween. Garrett on the other hand, played football, (2 touchdowns and the extra point) and then quickly changed clothes and made it to the Community Party. So we did have Jack o Laterns, and Garrett's costume.

The Sheriff

Carving Pumpkins

Carving...

The Owl

And the Bat

Pastor Appreciation Month

It's not too late to be thinking about Pastor Appreciation month! October has been set aside as Pastor Appreciation month - so have you told your Pastor "Thank You"? There are a couple of ways to thank your pastor, it all depends on your relationship with your pastor and their family and your family budget. You could offer to watch their children for an evening out if they have children. Maybe a gift card to their favorite restaurant or bookstore. A handwritten thank you note goes a long way that you took the time to say "thanks". You could deliver coffee & cookies or donuts to the office one morning or try to find a way to bless your pastor once a week or 1 day a week throughout the month. I know there is only 2 days left of October, but it is never too late to say THANK YOU! We are having a little fun with our Pastor this year, with it being near Halloween and making sure he gets his share of candy, here is our Pastor Poem. Where appropriate there is a candy bar included in the gift bag! Make sure you take the time to say Thank You!!!

This may not be a 100 Grand, a Mint or Payday,
But we have something we would like to say.
You have given us a few Snickers in your sermons.
You have improved our Bible Smarts
We have Leaped for Joy (Frogs)
You've helped us think beyond the Milky Way.
For these things we are Beary Thankful.
Thanks for being our Pastor!
Hugs & Kisses,

Our gift bag will include the following: A 100 Grand candy bar, A York Peppermint Patty, A Payday candy bar, A Snickers candy bar, A handful of Smarties, A bag of Gummy Frogs, A Milky Way candy bar, a bag of Gummy Bears and a bag of Hershey Kisses. A really simple, but a fun way to say Thank You!

Salem Township Halloween Events

Salem Township will be having Trick or Treat from 5-7 on October 27 (Saturday) with a Community Halloween Party to follow at 7pm at the Community Building. There will be treats for all of those in costume. Costume judging will be conducted along with games and treats. A good time is to be had! Hope you can Make it!!!!

Conclussion of 4-H year

Tonight was the final awards for this 4-H year (I think). Robert had turned in his books for the Development Committee and Farm Credit Awards. He received 3 awards for his project books. One for his Dairy book, one for his Goat book and one for his Fire Safety book (which was in community development category)  So he received a little bit of money this evening. We are very proud of his achievements this year. Nice Job Robert!  Now to see what he has planned for next year.

Diaper Cakes

Sometimes the best part about being invited to baby showers is getting those creative juices flowing. I had that opportunity this past week.  I started making just a diaper cake. I had made one before and it wasn't too difficult, so I figured a simple 3 layered cake would be fun. And so I made the simple diaper cake.

 

But something didn't seem complete. So I was looking around on Pinterest at other diaper cakes and then the light bulb kicked on. The grandpa(to be) of this little one is a mechanic and a tow truck driver. And what little boy doesn't love - MATER the tow truck? So here was the idea, but how to pull it off. Well, my friend, Kellie stopped in and offered her assistance on Monday and we ended up with the basic shape before she left. Then it was the outside coloring and wheels. The coloring came from 2 flannel blankets, that I made so they were close to the right color. And then the wheels. After several attempts that made it look like a monster truck, after several phone calls to friends to give suggestions,  I figured it out that the wheels went into the fenders and that they had to come up over the blankets for the correct shape. So here is my MATER in diaper cake form!

First Cub Scout Meeting

In his uniform and ready for his first Cub Scout Meeting

This week, Garrett got to start the path into Scouting. He attended his first Cub Scout meeting. He had been counting down for 5 days until he got to go to the meeting and wear his uniform- just a little excited! His den has 25 boys, hopefully they all stay involved and have a great time. The Pack has about 50 boys, so we are off to a great year.

Flag Football Mid Season

Flag Football season is half over and I have only taken pictures a couple of days because we have been sitting in the rain on a regular basis! With the rain it seems that Garrett easily finds as much mud as possible. The boys are both improving and enjoying the game of football this fall.

 

I might know why he didn't make that catch...hmmm

Ready, set...

I will catch him

After a game - lots of mud, it was even on his face and in his ears,
 but he had 3 touchdowns this evening!!!

Where's the ball?

Run....

HE ran faster than I thought - ran right in/out of picture

Going in for the touchdown!

 Both boys have made a few touchdowns so far and are doing great. Thanks to the coaches from the Keystone area for letting these kids have a great time while learning about the game. Thanks!

Zookies (zucchini cookies)

Earlier this spring, I tried this recipe called zookies as I was trying to find recipes that my boys would eat that included zucchini. This recipe I found on Family Fun and the boys loved them and we have made them a couple of times. So I thought I would share the link for "Zookies"  http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/zookies-zucchini-oatmeal-cookies-784955/

Discussing 9/11

Recently Robert decided that he was going to read the book "I Survived The Attack of September  11, 2001"  ( you can check amazon for this book)which I thought was a great idea and timing, but when he finished it this week, he had questions as he was only 9 months old when it happened. As he asked questions, Garrett had looked at the cover of the book and then he asked questions about "Well what is 9/11?" "Why would they do that?" and "How did the towers fall?" When he started to ask these questions, it dawned on me that the school wasn't really discussing this topic (which Robert confirmed for me) and that neither of them had seen the events of the day. So we discussed it a over a couple of days this week. We have magazines from that 9/2001 that we pulled out and looked at the pictures and the stories and then we searched 9/11 videos.  As we sat here by the computer, watching the events, I tried to explain what we knew when it happened, how scary it was and some of the aftermath.

IT was a very god learning experience, but I made sure that we had lots of time (not a deadline) so that we could discuss as much as the kids wanted to. If you haven't discussed this with your kids, you might want to take that opportunity. It was a good time of discussion, learning and sharing. It let me boys know that I am real and that yes I was scared that day. And most importantly that we will be okay.

This book was a good starting point and maybe we should have read it together all three of us, but I'm not sure that Garrett was ready for separating the fiction and the real life events. But remember we were there and experienced the tragedy but our kids maybe weren't even twinkles in our eyes or were too small to even know that anything had happened.

Studying Spelling Words

Well we have started off this year on the right foot, but I have been required to remember ways to make spelling fun for Garrett. Since this is the first year for him to have spelling words, I have to go back into the "vault" and see if I can remember some of the fun ways that I used for Robert to study his spelling words.  I have also thinking about how Garrett has learned his letters and numbers and how to take those ideas to spelling. So here are a few that we have tried so far and Garrett has had fun practicing.


Magnetic Letters on the refrigerator
Dry Erase Board (just using a different surface makes it fun)
Color writing ( Pick 3 colors of markers and have them write the words in different colors)
Scrabble Tiles
Crayola Washable Window Markers or Crayons
www.spellingcity.com


Ways that we want to try yet:
Shaving Cream( http://schickfunideas.blogspot.com/2010/04/shaving-cream-fun.html )
Writing in the sand
Rubber Stamping the words


We have had fun with moving the letters around to see how we can change 1 word to another. With spelling words like pig, pin, win. It has been easy so far, but I am always looking for ways to make learning FUN!

PA State Jr Dairy Show

Got home last night from a weekend in Harrisburg with Robert and his calf Dazzle at the State 4-H Show. It was a busy, crazy fun weekend (with a few frustrations) but a good experience for him. On Saturday he showed in the Spring calf class and placed 10th out of 14. 

Then on Sunday he participated in the National Jr. Showmanship Contest. There were 440 kids (under the age of 21) showing in the contest. There were approximately 160 Jr's (8-11 year olds) divided into 8 heats. Robert showed but wasn't pulled for the next level. He wasn't disappointed, just excited that he had participated in such a big show and he got to show in both the Equine Arena and the Large Arena at the Farm Show Complex.

Dazzle returned to Cochranton following the show and we packed up and headed for home after the boys went swimming at the hotel for a bit. We ate an early supper and the boy's slept almost the whole way home.

The "Barn Crew"

Robert in the 4-H Show on Saturday

4-H Show

The whole class that Robert competed in

Andrew in the State 4-H Show

And and Panda Paw in the 4-H show

Andrew showing in the showmanship on Sunday

Robert in the Showmanship Contest on Sunday

Andrew and Panda Paws    Robert and Dazzle 

The kids at State 4-H Dairy Show

So ends Robert's 2012 4-H year (I think), he is already checking out projects for next year and we have 1 goat expecting in late November/early December. Here's to next year!!!