Catching Up

I apologize for getting behind in my updates. I'm feeling a little better, but still very tired and worn out. I had a headache that wouldn't go away until last Thursday, and that makes a big difference. I couldn't even read or knit or watch tv to pass the time. Now I've been using my down time to knit, so I feel like I'm accomplishing something. It's still hard to do anything, because it feels like there's a tight band around my chest when I breathe in, and even the littlest activity wears me out. Let me catch everybody up on the past few days.
On Saturday I drove to Saranac Lake to meet my parents and pick up Carter and Myles. I thought it couldn't be too tiring to drive (what's the difference between sitting knitting and sitting driving, I thought) Well, I was mistaken -- it took a lot out of me. I got home and slept the rest of the afternoon. The boys had a great time at my parents', and my mom has promised to send me pictures so you all can see them in action. For those of you who wondered why my dad's hand was bandaged: he burned his hand on hot tar while roofing. It was reminiscent of Merlyn's burn -- he had a big blister and second degree burn. We actually gave him some of the medicine and bandages we had left over from Merlyn's foot. He's doing better now and is back at work.
I'll leave Sunday's update to a later post, since this is getting long and I'm getting tired. Here are some pictures of Merlyn and Berkleigh from last week:


















The girls were on the lawn mower waiting for Grandma Faye to come pick them up.
Merlyn loves her new shoes. Now we all have a pair except Bryan. The girls look especially cute in theirs because their feet are so small.

Merlyn and Berkleigh were playing with a ball at Grandma Faye's house. They played very well together all week. It's not often that they are the only kids around -- even when Carter and Myles were at school, I still usually had daycare kids.

Family Movie Night

In our house, we don't watch tv during the week (until after the kids have gone to bed). Every Friday night is family movie night, when we all watch a movie together while eating pizza. It's a treat for the kids to eat in front of the tv, and even Berkleigh starts dragging chairs or tv trays into the family room when we say it's time for family movie night.

These pictures are actually from last Friday. We watched Saving Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season. Merlyn still has pizza on her face, which is not unusual. She always ends up eating on Bryan's lap. Usually Berkleigh does, too, but last Friday she cuddled up with Myles instead. Carter always watches the tv intently and zones completely out. We all look forward to Friday Family Movie Night each week, although it has been superceded by camping trips a few times this summer.

Sleeping Boys

So, this pneumonia has really thrown me for a loop. I didn't realize how sick I would feel. Thank goodness for Faye, who has been taking Merlyn and Berkleigh whenever possible so I can try to rest. Yesterday the girls went to our friends Loren and Merrell's house for a couple hours. They have two girls, one who's going into first grade and one who's six weeks younger than Berkleigh. This morning they are staying with Aunt Val until Faye picks them up. It's times like these when it's especially nice to be near such a supportive family network. My parents are also helping, even from far away, since it's actually good timing to have Carter and Myles gone this week. It's
made life a little quieter for me and it's made things easier on Bryan, who has taken on everything related to the house and kids. Last Friday I took pictures of the boys while they were sleeping because I knew I'd miss them this week. They are having a lot of fun at my parents', although Carter has occasional bouts of homesickness. Myles is such an easy-going, laid laid back kind of kid that he'd stay the whole summer without a moment's thought.
I'm going to take the rest of my tea and lay down now. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel up to another post.

New Additions and Pneumonia

The newest additions to our farm
arrived Saturday, when one of our
hens hatched five eggs. These
pictures were taken within minutes of hatching. For now mom and babies are confined to our old chicken coop. When the babies get a little bigger (and able to hop back into the coop) they will be able to go outside with the rest of the chickens.

On a more human note, for the past few days I haven't been feeling well. I went for an x-ray today and found out I have pneumonia. At least now I know I'm not imagining everything. Bryan will pick up my antibiotic on his way home from work and hopefully I'll feel better soon, although my doctor did warn me that it may take weeks to feel 100% better again. Faye is coming this afternoon after work to take Merlyn and Berkleigh so I can rest. Hopefully I'll still be able to keep up with posts here. I know some of you like daily updates! Wish me well...

Carter and Myles are away for a week

Sunday afternoon we drove to Malone to meet my parents at a car show. They took the boys home with them to stay for a week. We looked at all the cars, then went to Walmart and out to eat at Pizza Hut. It was a nice outing and a perfect day to be outside. Hopefully the weather will be just as nice this week. Carter insists he saw the weather channel (which we don't have) and it said the weather is going to be sunny there. My parents are at their rented house near my mom's job right now, and there's a pool there and it's close to a beach and a nice state park. Carter and Myles are excited to spend a week swimming, playing, and being spoiled by their grandparents!

While we were in Malone we bought discounted ride tickets for the Malone Fair. It is a family tradition to go to the Franklin County Fair every year. Two years ago Bryan had an ingenious idea to have a coffee can labelled "Fair Fund" for everyone to put their spare change in. The kids had gotten into habits of collectiong change and leaving it all over the house. Last year, the first year of the Fair Fund, we saved $60. Yesterday before we left for Malone we counted it all and it was $120. It's amazing how it adds up. The kids were thrilled, although we had to tell them we wouldn't spend it all on rides! The fair is the first week in August, which isn't far off now.

Merlyn's spills

Remember how I said Merlyn was our most accident-prone child? Well, now that her foot is all healed, she has had a few minor incidents (I guess she likes to keep us on our toes). On our way down to Syracuse last Friday, we stopped at Stewart's for gas. Merlyn fell out of the truck onto the parking lot and scraped her elbow. It bled a little but developed a road-rash scab. On Sunday at my sister's house, she fell down that big pile of dirt pictured in my last post. The dirt is actually clay, and very hard. Aunt Leigh put bandaids on Merlyn's scrapes -- both elbows, both knees, her back, and her stomach.
Then on Wednesday, Merlyn climbed onto the counter to get a cup. She fell off the counter, along with all the breakfast dishes. Nothing was broken (dishes or bones!) but then I saw blood dripping on the floor. Her scab from Friday's fall had broken open. I put a bandaid on it, and she was fine for a couple of hours. Then she got excited when one of my daycare kids arrived. She ran down the hall and fell right on her same elbow. The bandaid ripped right in two, and there was more blood. Since then, she's been accident free (knock on wood!)

Here's a picture of Merlyn hanging out in a window in the playroom. I'm surpised she didn't fall off the windowsill! This was actually back in March or April, as you can see from the brown grass and trees out the window.

More Pictures from the Weekend

Here are just couple more pictures and updates from our trip this weekend.
On Sunday afternoon we went to visit my grandparents (aka Madman and Buzzard). My old neighbor, Kathy, was sick, so we didn't get to see her. She also used to be my boss when I worked on her organic farm.

After bowling we went to my niece's school to play on the playground. She will be going into first grade this fall, and we enjoyed seeing her school. Rob made us another delicious dinner that night, then my sister and I took a walk to see some of the houses under construction in her development. The house next door has just the foundation done, and there is still a huge pile of dirt out in the yard that the kids loved to climb. Merlyn called it the big sandcastle.
This picure is actually from

Saturday after the beach. From the bottom are Ethan, Carter, Myles, and Isaac. Isaac loves to be naked and goes streaking whenever Leigh turns her back!

I love this picture of Bryan and the girls. We were at the bowling alley on Saturday and Bryan told the girls to smile. This is the result: Merlyn with a cute fake smile and Berkleigh with a pirate face that is her fake smile!

Bowling

On Sunday afternoon we went bowling with Leigh, Rob, Elizabeth, and Isaac. They had all been before, and Myles went once in December to a bowling birthday party. For my other three kids, though, bowling was a new experience. My sister wasn't feeling well, so Rob, Bryan, and I bowled on one lane and helped the kids on the next lane. We bowled two games in less time than it took the kids to bowl one. Everyone had a lot of fun.
Berkleigh insisted on carrying her ball to the line herself, even though it was almost as big as she is. I'm surprised she never dropped it on her toes.
Bryan and Merlyn were watching her ball roll S-L-O-W-L-Y down the lane. It took about two minutes to get to the pins each time, so they watched a long time!
Merlyn and Berkleigh are not typical "girlie-girls", but there are some things they love, like shoes. They were excited about the snazzy bowling shoes.










Myles tried to throw the ball down the lane, narrowly missing his feet several times.
I love Carter's look of concentration as he gets ready to bowl.

Here's Bryan showing them how it's done!

After bowling we had ice cream right at Marcellus Lanes, where the kiddie size cones are as big as an adult medium at any other ice cream stand. If you're ever in the area and in the mood for ice cream, this is the place to go. Not only are the servings HUGE, but the ice cream is delicious. Even though chocolate is my hands-down favorite, I have to say that the soft orange sherbet is definitely the best sherbet I've had.

Saturday at the Beach

On Saturday our family went to a nearby park with my sister and her two kids and my friend Marlene and her two kids. We had a nice picnic lunch, then spent the afternoon on the beach.


Carter worked hard to build a sand castle. Myles had fun in the sand, too, and managed to get even his face sandy. This was Merlyn's first time in the water this year because of her burned foot, and she really enjoyed it.

Berkleigh spent more time raking sand with Bryan than she did in the water.

Here are Merlyn, Isaac, Berkleigh, Myles, Brynne, Ethan, Elizabeth, and Carter testing the water. It only took them a couple of minutes to plunge in. After our day at the beach, my sister was brave enough to give all six cousins a bath in her big tub. Elizabeth and Isaac are the two in the middle

Our Weekend Trip

This past Friday we drove to my sister's new house in Syracuse and stayed until Monday. We wanted to visit my sister, my dad's parents, my old neighbor, and my friend Marlene. On Monday we drove back through Remsen because we wanted to see my mom's family, including the newest member, Corinne, who is my cousin Amber's first baby, born at the end of May. We got to see my grandmother and my uncle Leo and cousin Todd, but missed my Aunt Charlene and Corinne. We got home right at bedtime last night. Bryan left right away to play box lacrosse, which is a nice way to unwind after a day in the truck with four kids. I, of course, was home putting those over-tired four kids in bed! Today I'm trying to get everything unpacked and back to normal. I'll try to post pictures from our trip as I have time. For now, here's a picture of my sister and me:

House Update

We are very slowly making progress on our house. Our big project in April and May was the downstairs floors. I love having floors that are actually clean after I clean them! We can't see into the cellar through cracks anymore, so hopefully that will help keep the house warmer this winter. Here are some before and after pictures of the living room and dining room (which together make up my daycare play room) and a during picture of the kitchen where our table goes.

The Fourth of July Holiday

Our second camping trip was to my parents' house in Plattsburgh July 1st-3rd. My kids and my sister's kids were all excited to see a fleet of kayaks on the lake. Then all six cousins sat still long enough for a picture. My parents had their annual party on the 1st and my mom gave all the kids fun headbands along with other treats. The party was, as usual, a great success. It was quite a celebration, complete with great fireworks by my brother Ezra that night. Ezra has really improved his pyrotechnic skills over the years!

We went to Aunt Claire's house on July 4th for her annual party. Even though it was cold and rainy, the kids managed to get in the water and play on Aunt Claire's beach. Bryan's cousin Alison took Merlyn in after putting her burned foot in a plastic bag. The water was too cold for Berkleigh but Carter and Myles had great fun. We gathered all the cousins (Bryan's cousins' kids) for the annual picture. No one was crying this year!

Kids' Updates

Carter turned seven at the end of June. I can't believe he'll be going into second grade this fall. He had a wonderful year in first grade and has become a remarkable reader. This year was his second lacrosse season. He improved a lot from last year but is in it more for fun than competition. It's fun to watch him, too. Carter lost his first tooth on Valentine's Day. His top two teeth (3rd and 4th ones lost) were accidently kicked out by one of his friends. They still haven't grown back in. He's becoming quite a fisherman and can't wait until he has as many lures as Grandpapa.

Myles will be six at the end of November. He went to Head Start this year and all the staff claimed he was their favorite. Apparently he was very well behaved and was a pleasure to have there. He tied his shoes on Easter Sunday after only one learning session. We think he is going to be quite athletic. I was going to take him to the church parking lot to learn to ride a bike with no trining wheels. First I had to take the training wheels off, and then I went to put them on the porch. When I turned around, Myles was halfway across the yard. He had gotten on and ridden off all by himself! Myles is really looking forward to kindergarten and going to Carter's school on the big bus in the fall.

Merlyn will be four in October and is (according to her) a movie star and a princess. She has three imaginary boyfriends: OdieOdieOde, WadieWadieWad, Jeffery, and Spiderman. It seems that she is our accident-prone child. You may remember that she fell off a spring horse when she was just over a year old. Her nostril separated from her face and she needed 22 stitches. That left a slight scar that is barely noticeable. Her latest accident happened the second day of our first camping trip. Merlyn stepped into the ashes of the fire and got a second degree burn on the bottom of her left foot. She is healing nicely and finally gets to go barefoot now.

Berkleigh turned two in February. It's amazing how quickly kids grow, but I think her first two years flew by even faster because she is our last baby. There's nothing babyish about her when she stands up to her older siblings, though. She jumped off the porch at Bryan's parents' camp (about four feet high) after seeing her brothers do it. Her vocablulary is amazing for her age, and her "big fat belly" is almost as vast. Last November she had surgery to put a tube in a clogged tear duct. Her eye has been gunk-free since then. We still haven't figured out where she got her red hair, but we love it anyway!

Getting started

I'm learning (slowly!) how to set up this blog. It's a good thing Bryan's better with computers than I am or he'd be out of a job! I thought this would be a good place to post pictures and share updates of our family. You can visit when you want and keep updated as long as I can manage to keep up with it. This first post is just a test to see how it all works, and when I have time I'll do my first real one. I hope you all enjoy the site.