"He Who Cuts His Own Wood..."

"...Warms Himself Twice." So reads a sign that Bryan's Aunt Val and Uncle Randy gave us last Christmas. We sure proved it on Sunday, when we went out in the woods in this unnaturally warm weather. Bryan worked on cutting up trees he's cut down over the summer while I took truckloads of wood to the furnace and the kids played.





Berkleigh was the only kid who stayed nearby when we first got out in the woods. We had brought out snacks, and so of course she only had eating on her mind. In between putting crackers in her mouth, she covered her ears because the chainsaw was too loud.


Merlyn climbed into the branches of one of the fallen trees and then called to me to take a picture. What a girl!

Carter climbed up on an old stump and used a sapling as a monkey bars. And of course, it's "monkey see, monkey do" for Mr. Myles.

Here's Bryan working hard.

Isn't he cute in his bright orange hat?

I gathered and stacked four truckloads of wood by myself while Bryan kept cutting trees up. I was pretty sore the next day. Finally, here's a picture of me to post. Of course, I'm not actually working in the picture, but I really did stack all that wood I'm resting on!

We'll be very busy doing wood over the next few weeks. I only hope the weather holds so we won't be out there in the snow. It's definitely faster work this year with our outdoor furnace. The pieces are bigger and there's no splitting, but it's still a lot of work. At least it helps keep us in shape!

Painting

On Saturday Bryan went to a friend's house to help cut down some trees (which came to our house for firewood). He also got paged and had to go in to work for a couple of hours. Meanwhile, the kids and I went to Faye and Jerry's so I could stain the camp's porches. Two weeks ago I stained the camp itself, so now it's all ready for winter.

Faye and the kids both helped paint, but I had to do those millions of railing spindles by myself. As usual, there are no pictures to prove that I actually do anything, but you can see the kids in action! Merlyn was the best painter -- she stayed at it the longest and did the most thorough job. Even Berkleigh helped, although she's not in the picture. She still has paint in her hair to prove it, though!

Here's the camp before the porches were painted and then after:

The blue really spruces things up and makes the porches look fresh and new. Since I love to paint, it was a nice (but long) day for me. I was painting by the headlights of Faye's car by the end of the day. It's nice to be able to help Faye and Jerry with something since they help us out so much.

Empty Nest

It seems strange to think that coming back to the house in the mornings with three girls feels like an empty house! I started another daycare kid, Chase, who is in third grade, so some mornings there are ten kids and me down at the end of the driveway. Seven of them get on the bus, and afterward it's just the girls and me. Some days, like today, it's just Merlyn and Berkleigh, and then it's even weirder.

Our camera is in the truck, and I keep forgetting to get it, so there haven't been new pictures lately. I'll try my best to remember it tonight, and give you all updates tomorrow!

Grandpapa's Birthday

Yesterday was Jerry's birthday (I won't tell you how old he is!). After dinner, we gave the kids quick showers, then took them over to Faye and Jerry's in their jammies. We brought one of the apple pies I made the day before for a birthday dessert.

Here's Grandpapa with all his grandkids, who are quite the "Happy Birthday" singers.

Berkleigh loves her Grandpapa, and it looks like the feeling is mutual!

Merlyn has her sights set on that pie. Bryan had just moved it away from Berkleigh, who was sneaking samples (the camera caught her licking the evidence off her fingers).

For those of you who wondered about my apple baking products: this pie is all gone, and the other three are in the freezer. The kids gobbled up a whole quart of applesauce the night I made it. The other two quarts are safe in the freezer. I made two more quarts yesterday: one we had with mac and cheese tonight, and the other I froze. I divided two dozen cookies and a dozen muffins to send to my brother and one of my friends, who I won't name because I don't want to spoil a surprise.

That leaves a dozen muffins (in the freezer) and two dozen cookies. If I don't freeze things, they won't last long in our house. Those two dozen cookies disappeared quickly. My four kids and five daycare kids ate the last of them for afternoon snack on Wednesday. Normally we eat healthy snacks, but I figured they were apple, so they were okay for a treat.

Aleesa, who is four, has been coming to my house for over three years now. When she bit into her first cookie, she said to Merlyn, "Your mom makes the best cookies ever". I looked over at her and she said, "Carrie, you make the best cookies ever." I made a big deal out of hugging her and saying thank you (it was really cute) so of course Merlyn had to get in on it. She said, "Mommy, you make the best cookies in the whole world." I know she only said it because Aleesa's comment made such an impact, but it was still a nice feel-good moment!

Apple Picking

We decided to go apple picking since it was so nice out when we got back on Sunday. I didn't pick a single apple, but I got a lot of good pictures!

Here's Myles picking apples, and laughing after being hit on the head with a falling apple.

Merlyn posed with an apple branch. She tried her best not to smile, but I caught her in the act.

Bryan lifted Merlyn up to pick a high apple, and of course whatever Merlyn does, Berkleigh has to do, too!




Carter and Myles picked a lot of apples and had fun playing under the branches.


Berkleigh spent most of her time eating (she needs to eat a lot to fill that big belly!). Carter still has to bite with the side of his mouth even though his front teeth are finally growing in.

Yesterday I made four pies, four dozen cookies, two dozen muffins, and three quarts of applesauce. I made more applesauce today but it's still cooking. It felt like I spent all day peeling and cutting apples!

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend Bryan and I went to our friends' wedding near Plattsburgh. You may remember Annie as the friend who gave me the yarn bouquet. Pat and Bryan have known each other since elementary school, and Annie and I have become very good friends.

As an anniversary present (a month early), Faye stayed with the kids for two nights so Bryan and I could spend the weekend away. Bryan went out with Pat and his family and friends on Friday night, and went golfing with them Saturday morning. I spent time with Annie and her family at the inn. I'd never met Annie's family before, and I absolutely loved them.


















Here's the inn where Pat and Annie and their families stayed for the weekend. The ceremony was actually on the lawn, overlooking Lake Champlain. Cocktails, dessert, and dancing took place on the first floor of the inn. The picture on the right was the view from my seat while waiting for the ceremony to begin.

















Dinner was in the converted boathouse right on the lake. The decorations were white candles and little pine trees which were the wedding favors. Everything was simply beautiful.

This was the most personal and unique wedding I've ever been to. A perfect example: instead of a wedding cake, Pat and Annie had a three-tiered tower of cupcakes (carrot cake with cinnamon frosting -- delicious!). There was also an ice cream cooler filled with popscicles, fudgcicles, and sundae bars.

Bryan and I enjoyed our child-free weekend seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We of course owe a big thank you to Faye, who not only stayed with the kids, but also did all the laundry, cleaned the office, laundry room, and bedrooms, and trimmed our hostas for winter. We should go away more often since so much gets done while we're gone!

Firing up the Furnace

On Wednesday, the furnace guy came finish up the furnace installation. He ran the lines in the cellar and connected the heat exchanger to the new plenum on our oil furnace. The guy was impressed with Bryan's ductwork (tying the old ducts into the new plenum) so I guess Bryan did a good job. Even though it was warm that evening, it was supposed to get cold at night, and we were excited to see how the furnace would work.





The kids got in the furnace to give you some idea of how big the wood box is. It actually goes back four feet from the door. We all could fit in there!













We set the thermostat to 70, and in the morning the temperature inside was 71 even though the outside temperature dropped to the low 30s. When Bryan checked the furnace, only two pieces of wood had burned -- the rest was smoldering, because the furnace shuts itself down to conserve wood once it reaches the set temperature. So far, we are thrilled with the way things are going. It seems like we'll burn a lot less wood and still have a warm house for once!

Merlyn and Berkleigh

I haven't been taking very many pictures lately, so here are some more old ones. This was the first time I braided Berkleigh's hair, back in July. For some reason the girls laid on the floor after I was done with their hair. They were very silly that day.

I convinced them to hug each other, but even then they were too busy laughing hysterically to really cooperate. They look as if they like each other, though, and you can see how much fun they were having.

Relaxing by the River

These pictures were all taken back in July, when I had pneumonia. Faye took the kids and me down to the river so the kids could play while I relaxed. I figured I'd post the pictures to commemorate the end of summer.





















Berkleigh spent a lot of time sitting on the rocks to dip her feet.








Carter and Myles like exploring and looking for frogs.

Merlyn still loves frogs!

Myles would spend all day in the water if he could.

Here's Carter trying to float on his back.













Faye took the boys across the river.

Merlyn and Berkleigh played together while

the boys and Faye explored upstream.

This was the first time Berkleigh actually got her whole body into the water this summer. She held right on to Faye's leg and and a grand old time. Since this day, she's progressed to getting in by herself and even laying down on her back in the water.

We're lucky Faye and Jerry have such a nice spot to play, swim, relax, and cool off.

Booga Bags

I thought I'd show everyone the bags I've been knitting. This was my first attempt at felting (shrinking wool in hot water after knitting it). The first one is my knitting bag now. The handle (unattached in the first picture) is six feet long, to give you an idea of how big it was. The yarn had thick and thin sections. The first two pictures are before felting; the next two are after.

Next is the bag I made for our doctor, who we really like a lot. She is leaving for a new job and so will not be my doctor anymore. The bag was a thank you/good luck present. I used the internet to teach myself how to knit designs.

I took the pictures on the kitchen floor to show how much the bag shrinks during the felting process. The boxes on the bag became squares instead of rectangles. Thank you, Kelley, for telling me how to finger-knit the handles! This one was a lot easier and faster than my first one using knitting needles. Also thank you to Aunt Mary for giving me the idea to double the yarn for the handles; it worked perfectly.

Kelley's boyfriend's mother gave her a big bin full of wool yarn. Kelley generously gave all of it to me, with the stipulation that I knit a bag for her. I had to put it down while I knit my doctor's bag, but here it is so far. I made my own self-striping yarn by cutting pieces and felting the ends together before knitting. I hope Kelley likes it!