Thanksgiving

This year the family got together for Thanksiving at Faye and Jerry's again. Since some people have moved away or had other plans, the number attending was lower this year, but as you can see, there was still quite a crowd.

We discovered last year that since Faye and

Jerry's house was renovated, it's the perfect

place to have a sit-down family Thanksgiving.

Aunt Kelley helped the kids play "Pin the Hat on the Turkey". I got a kick out of the hat she used instead of a blindfold.

Berkleigh never takes a nap usually, but

the festivities wore the poor girl out.

The kids got to play outside since it snowed all day.

Merlyn is sitting inside watching Myles play outside.

Later in the day, Emma and Berkleigh were

watching their reflections in the glass door.

After everyone else left, Merlyn sat with Grandpapa while Berkleigh made a train out of chairs for herself and her babies.

We had a great day eating too much, playing games, and enjoying spending time with all the aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, great grandparents, great aunts, great uncles, etc, etc...

Myles' Birthday

Yesterday afternoon I went into Myles' classroom to bring the kids funfetti cupcakes baked in ice cream cones. Myles rode home in the truck with me instead of on the school bus, which is always a special treat.
Grandma Faye and Grandpapa came over for dinner, dessert, and presents. Myles requested my homemade macaroni and cheese, which just happens to be Jerry's favorite mac and cheese. I feel quite flattered that Jerry likes one of my signature dishes, since he's lived so many years with such an excellent cook.
















Myles wanted the ice cream sandwich cake. I like it because there's no mess of baking, and it sure is delicious.






















I got Myles some nice bulky yarn to help him learn to knit. He's been trying for a while but hasn't had the right supplies. Speaking of encouraging addictions -- I mean hobbies-- Myles also asked for and received a camera for his birthday. Now there will be two knitting camera hogs in the family!

Happy Birthday to Myles

Six years ago today, Myles Raymond was born in Burlington, VT at 5:35am. He weighed 8lbs, 13oz. I had a drug-free, quick labor after weeks of bed rest. It's hard to believe the tiny baby in these pictures is a kindergartener this year.



Bryan looks pretty tired -- I don't know why, since he slept all night while I was in labor. We played Enya and our bedroom was dark and peaceful. Faye sat in the rocking chair to keep watch since Bryan was sleeping.

Here's Myles ready to leave the hospital.

And here are my three boys.

Carter, of course, was enthralled with his little brother.

While looking for pictures to scan, I realized that even way back then most pictures don't include me. There's some of me pregnant and some of me in the hospital, but other than that I hardly ever appear in photos. I guess I've been a camera hog for a long time.

Bad News and Good News

Well, I finally got around to transferring pictures to the computer just now. The card reader thing that I use malfunctioned. I could even smell it burning (gross). Then I had to find the cord to attach the camera to the computer, which I've never used before. Well, it ends up that the card reader malfunction lost all the pictures on the card. There were a ton, too. I took a picture of Berkleigh this morning and it said I had 962 pictures left, and it holds about 1200. I don't even remember all the pictures that were on it. There were some of my parents' house and my dad's motorcycle that he wants me to sell on ebay, and of course pictures of our visit there. There was a beautiful sunset which turned the snow on the Green Mountains pink across the lake. The other day we got our first snowfall. It didn't stick, but Merlyn and Berkleigh were so excited. I got a picture of them standing on one of the windowsills watching the snow. The one this morning was of Berkleigh with Mr. Potato Head's teeth in her mouth and a lego on each finger. I can't get too upset since there weren't pictures of a birthday or something on there. I'll take lots of Thanksgiving pictures to make up for it. The good news is that all my bloodwork was perfect (especially my cholesterol) and my CAT scan was normal. The doctor thinks that since I am so slim (as she put it) that my organs are more pronounced when she feels my abdomen. So, I guess the bad news could be worse and the good news is good, so I'm grateful and looking on the bright side.

Random Pictures

Last Saturday I took the kids to my mom's house, then went to get Bryan from the airport. I do have some pictures of our visit, but this has been a weird week and I haven't gotten the pictures off the camera yet.
On Sunday the whole family went to Home Depot and Walmart, which of course is always a production when the kids outnumber the parents two to one.
Myles got a cough on Sunday and was up in the night crying with ear pain.
I had an appointment with our new doctor on Monday, so he came with me. I like the new doctor a lot, and it's less than five minutes away (versus 45 minutes for our old doctor, who was worth the drive). Anyway, Myles had a double ear infection. I had to go up to Massena to get his prescription Monday evening.
Monday night Merlyn was up twice throwing up. Luckily she's a good sick girl and makes it to the bathroom even in the middle of the night. Tuesday morning I had to go have a CAT scan. During the day I got the stomach bug from Merlyn and had to take care of myself as well as Merlyn and Myles.
Wednesday afternoon was my second Odyssey of the Mind meeting, this time at the school.
This morning I went back to the hospital for fasting bloodwork. Bryan had to put the kids on the bus for the second morning this week.
Tomorrow morning a nurse is coming courtesy of the county to review my daycare's health plan and give me an overview of the medication administration requirements (I have to have a new health care plan, a a nurse consultant, and an eight hour class to give any medications, including Tylenol, to my daycare kids).
















This was the view of the fall foliage from the back porch in the middle of October. The leaves are gone now, so it's not as pretty, but now we can see Mr. Bernard's tree stand near the right end of the tree line.

Here's what we see when we go

out to do wood. The barn is on the

right, and then there's the road

leading to the rest of our property.

A few weeks ago a storm seemed to be heading our way. We thought there might be snow, but thankfully there wasn't. In fact, we didn't even get rain from those dark clouds. I took this picture on our front porch. I loved the gray clouds behind the trees that were brightened by the sun still shining from beyond the clouds.

Piper was resting patiently the day that the girls were painting outside. One parent who came to pick up an Odyssey of the Mind student last week asked if Piper was half lab, half cow! I told him he got the lab part right, but the other half is mastiff. She certainly is huge, but she's the best dog I've ever seen around kids.











One day I looked into the playroom while I was doing the dishes and saw that Berkleigh had made herself a taller chair. She put the antique kids' rocker on the antique "rose chair" that my mom gave me, and sat by the window reading for about half an hour. It was pretty cute -- she reminded me of a princess on a throne!

Boys

I seem to be posting more pictures of the girls than of the boys, probably because the girls are home with me all day so I have more opportunities for photo shoots. Anyway, I found some of Carter and Myles that are a couple weeks old but still good.

The new thing at school is spiked hair. I don't have a picture of the first time, when the boys had lots of spikes all over, but the second day they had dinosaur hair, with one long spine in the center of their heads. This was a special treat, and they haven't had their hair spiked since. Carter doesn't want a haircut because he wants to make sure it's long enough for spikes.

The weekend before Halloween Bryan took Carter and Myles on the Cub Scout trip to Bonesteel's, which is a big farm, greenhouse, and nursery nearby. Even though it was a rainy day, they enjoyed their hayride and learning about potatoes, apples, and bees.

When they got back from the trip they weren't quite so clean, but at least they were happy!

Budding Artists

A couple of weeks ago it was such a beautiful day that the girls and I didn't go back into the house after taking the kids to the bus. I brought out fingerpaints for them and knitting for me and we enjoyed the warm sunshine.

Merlyn and Berkleigh spent over an hour busily painting. They started with the big rock, then the porch steps. Soon they moved on to their faces ("We look pretty like this," they kept telling other and me).

Here are their works of art:

Pretty faces...

The big rock step...













The garden rocks...

And, of course, their hands!

Busy Night

Yesterday we had an early 4:45 dinner so we could go ice skating. One of my daycare mothers and her son came to pick up Myles and Merlyn at 5:15 as a special treat for CJ, who finally got a good note at school (he's having trouble adjusting to preschool). Carter and Berkleigh and I followed them to the arena.

All the kids are pretty good considering that they just started skating last year, and we only went a few times. Merlyn and Myles especially are impressive. The hockey coach tried to convince me that they should play hockey, but I'm not that crazy.
Carter was proud that he didn't even fall once. Merlyn held my hand for about two seconds, then refused any help. As Christina said, she sure is independent. At 5:45 Faye came to help me out. She stayed with Myles, Merlyn, and Berkleigh while I went to drop Carter off at cub scouts at 6:00.

Berkleigh actually did a lot better this time than she did last year, when she refused to even stand up most of the time. She even used a walker by herself for a while and got quite steady. She didn't last the whole hour, though, but still did great for a two year old. I had brought the wrong skates for Myles, so he spent the first half an hour falling down because his skates were too big. I put Carter's on him at six, and then he did a lot better. He was still happy, though, except he was hot and sweaty. Next time we'll skip the coat, I think.

At 6:30 we got everyone loaded out of their skates and into the truck, which took fifteen minutes. Faye followed me down to cub scouts so that I wouldn't have to get the kids out of the car when I went into the parish center to find Carter.

When we got home there was a message on the machine from Mrs. Bernard, who had left venison in our fridge while we were gone (yummy!). I gave the kids a snack and had to make some phone calls (not an easy feat when I'm alone with four tired, hungry kids who are up past their bedtime). I've managed to commit myself to coaching an Odyssey of the Mind Team, as if life weren't chaotic enough already around here. Our first meeting is today after school, so in addition to Merlyn and Berkleigh, CJ will be getting off the bus at noon, then I'll have nine kids getting off the bus at 3:45. Seven of them (including Carter and Makenzie and Grant) are on my OM team. Starting next week we'll be meeting at the school, so it won't be quite so insane here.

Bryan made it to Orlando safely late Monday night, in case anyone was wondering. In the truck on the way to get Carter last night, the kids asked where Carter was. I told them we were going to get him, and Berkleigh asked, "And my daddy?". I told her Daddy wouldn't be back for a few more days, and she said, "I really want my daddy." She's such a daddy's girl!

Elizabeth's Birthday

My sister's daughter Elizabeth turned six today. Leigh, Rob, Elizabeth, and Isaac came to visit on Saturday. Since Myles and Elizabeth are just 20 days apart, they each got to open presents. Aunt Joyce stopped by with presents for Merlyn and Myles, so it was a fun gift-filled day.

After six years of trying to get pictures of all the cousins without someone crying or running away, the six kids actually held still for several pictures. Maybe this trend will continue and we'll get some good holiday shots this year.
























Rob went hunting before dinner but didn't see any deer. He did see a beaver in a trap set by Bryan's friend who is trapping our property so the beaver won't dam up our driveway again. Mr. Bernard shot a spike horn on Thursday night, so maybe he scared the deer away. Rob will have another chance once deer season starts in the Syracuse region. I'm looking forward to having venison again.
Bryan made great spaghetti sauce for our dinner on Saturday, and Leigh had baked apple crisp and an apple cake with apple cider frosting. We also got to sample her apple cookies, which were the best I've ever had. I'll have to get the recipe.
Leigh's family left pretty late Saturday night, especially considering that they have a three hour drive. Luckily we got an extra hour of sleep when the clocks "fell back". Since the kids were up past their bed time, they woke up late on Sunday morning, and so we didn't have trouble adjusting to the time change. Now we're just adjusting to the parenting change.

On My Own

Yesterday afternoon Bryan left for a training class in Orlando, leaving me on my own for the week. Last night the weatherman predicted snow, so of course this is the week Bryan's in Florida! Bryan took the big kids down to the bus yesterday while I stayed in the house with Berkleigh and Alison. Merlyn wanted to go down with Bryan. I got some pictures of them walking back to the house.


You can see the beginnings of my stone wall fence by the mailbox. After more than four years of having rocks from part of the house's foundation piled at the end of the driveway, I finally started building the rock walls. Now that we've got the bus stop timed almost to the minute, I don't work on it as much, so the wall is not getting too much bigger.


I think this week will make me appreciate all the things that Bryan does around here. First of all, he's usually my alarm clock, and he'll get up with kids in the night (both Merlyn and Berkleigh were up last night). Last night I went to Stewart's to pick up bread and milk. This morning I had to put wood in the furnace, feed the chickens, fish, cat, and dog, and make the boys' lunches. I guess Bryan does more than I realize.
Saturday morning I'll be taking the kids to my parents' house in Plattsburgh, then I'll go to Burlington to pick Bryan up from the airport in the afternoon. Wish me luck as a temporary single mother!

Trick or Treat

This year, Halloween preparations were made easier by one of my daycare families, who loaned us costumes for everyone but Carter. Berkleigh was Snow White, Merlyn was a butterfly, Myles was a dragon, and Carter was Frankenstein. On Wednesday afternoon we got the girls dressed up to go to school to see the Halloween Parade.

Carter doesn't like being in the parade -- he says he gets embarassed. I think it stems from his kinergarten year, when he was a piece of candy corn. Everybody laughed at his cuteness, but he felt like they were laughing at him. Myles enjoyed the parade, though, as you can see by his expression.

The principal of our school led the parade in her Principal Princess costume. Two of my daycare kids (the ones who lent us the costumes) were in the parade, too. Grant was a piece of pizza and Makenzie was a witch.

Normally on Halloween we trick or treat at Grandma and Grandpa's, then their neighbors' house, then at Faye and Jerry's, where we stay for a pizza dinner. This year Faye had to drive a friend to Burlington, so our routine changed. After school we trick-or-treated at two friends' houses, then at Grandma and Grandpa's, where we stayed until Faye got home from school. We trick-or-treated thereat Faye and Jerry's, then headed to Massena, where we stopped at Uncle Phil and Aunt Mary's, and at Uncle Randy and Aunt Val's.

The kids had fun climbing Phil and Mary's tree and playing in their front yard while we visited with Phil and Mary and Uncle Phil took pictures. When we got to Randy and Val's, Andrew, Erica, and Emma were there, so we got to see Emma in her cute witch's costume.

We took the kids to Ponderosa for dinner (sorry Aunt Kelley!). They were exceptionally well behaved, even though it was almost bedtime by the time we got there. Back at home, I gave each kid a speed shower so they could get to bed at a semi-resonable hour. The speed showers weren't too speedy, though, since I had to wash their hair two or three times to get the dye out.

It's amazing how much candy the kids got after only going to six houses. I guess when we go to relatives' houses, the kids get special treatment. By special treatment, of course, I mean spoiled rotten!