Happy Birthday Kim!!!!

If you ever want to really surprise someone on their birthday, get ten of their friends together and plan a party at 8:30 am at a "Nothin' Fancy Cafe".

First of all, we tend to be a night owl bunch of party people, so she had absolutely no idea that anything was up.

The resturant was packed, so she was more than a little embarrassed when we sang "Happy Birthday" not only once but twice. We had to sing the second time so she could blow the candles out on her birthday coffeee cake and blueberry muffin yummy cake.

I won't tell what momentous age that she has reached, but if you look carefully at the picture above you will get a hint. (Oops, I wasn't going to give out the age information.)


I made her an afgan so that she can cuddle up on chilly evenings. The temperature tonight is predicted to be in the 40's, so it may get used sooner than later.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIM. WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Friday Fun!?!?

Fifty years ago today my parents were married. They have had their share of ups and downs, and with God's mercy they have had many more ups than downs.

Today they renewed their wedding vows.

This is how they looked 50 years ago,

and as you can see in this picture, they share just as much love today as they did then.

All ten children were at church together for this occasion so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take a family photo.

Following mass, Grandma and Grandpa treated us all out to brunch. I have to say, I was very proud of all the children. They acted like perfect ladies and gentlemen.

Thank-you Grandma and Grandpa.

When we arrived home, it was such a lovely day we decided to take a trip to the zoo. I went and got the mail and to Laura'a excitement we recieved her "CAT" test results. Now, any homeschooler out there knows the stress these standardized tests put on a student, and Laura is know exception. She has been waiting for two weeks for the results to arrive and today was finally the day. We opened them up and found that she received an overall percentile grade of 81. She was very, very happy. So happy in fact that she ran through the house cheering, and eventually catching her little toe on the refrigerator grate, tearing her skin hard enough that it required 4 stitches to close-up the wide open wound.

So much for the zoo,

but Laura did get a milkshake for her pain. She also received french fries for the tetenus shot that she had to get.

This is where Laura will be sitting for the next 7-10 days-no swmming, no hiking, no flip flops. Basically we will put summer on hold for the next week just for her.

Something is happening to Grandpa's trees....

From Field to Freezer-A Photo Essay

Terrific Tuesday

Luke enjoyed his first movie at the theater today. Daddy took myself, Luke, Mark, Grace, Laura and Becky to the free Tuesday morning movie. Luke had a wonderful time. He thought that it was dark and big. He really enjoyed the popcorn.

We watched this movie and we all really loved it on the big screen.

After the movie we went to Barnes and Noble. Mark and Grace got to pick any book they wanted because they reached their goal of 50 books read. (I will reconsider the aspect of picking "any" book next time as it took about an hour to choose.)
We have been keeping track with a caterpillar crawling along the wall.

All their hard work was well worth it.

Here are the hard working children with their rewards.
GOOD JOB!!!! Mark and Grace.

Nature Drive

I had the camera ready and put the children on alert today to find me some wildlife to photograph on our ride home from a graduation party.(congratulations Emily!)

We were not disappointed in what we saw.

We saw the ever cute ground-hog (or woodchuck depending on what you want to call it.) We think that they are cute but the farmers definitely do not--way to many holes in their fields.

This white tail deer stood still just long enough to catch him on film. Dad gave a little whistle and he looked our way just at the right moment.

My definite, most exciting picture is of this great-blue heron. He was just hanging out beside a small pond looking for fish.

More Party Pictures

Becky made the beautiful cake and then proudly posed with her grandparents before it was cut.

Jenny, and her daughters Georgia and Josie, sang a wonderful song to their grandparents.

We had alot of dancing. Above is the YMCA(check out the cute baby in the corner) and below is my Danny leading the Locomotion.

One of the highlights of the evening was the reenactment of the garter belt scene from the wedding 50 years ago, but instead of having my Dad get down on the floor to put the garter on my Mom, four handsome men( two grandson in-laws, one son-in-law, and one son) lifted her up into the air in a chair. At that time, to alot of cheering, the garter was put on Mom's leg, ensuring many more years of happiness together.

Big Goings On!!!!

Today we celebrated the 50th wedding anniversary of my parents with a whopper of a party. It has been in the planning stages for the last several months and today it all came together for a wonderful event.

June 29, 1957

The marque at the reception center proclamed our happiness for everyone to see. The building is an old theater made into a venue for a great get together.

Now all we need are the guests.

The happy couple seemed to have a super celebration. May God bless them with many more years of joy together.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Yesterday, I posted a blog about our homeschooling picnic. It was a wonderful day, and everyone had a great time.

What a difference a day makes. I think that the temperature dropped about 20 degrees for the day today. I had to find everyone's fleece jackets to attend the Holy Cross's year end picnic.(yes, we go to alot of parties)

We bundled Kim and Luke up nice and warm. I guess a 20 degree drop in temperature is something to expect in northern NY.

Kim enjoyed getting to know a new friend, Sean Michael.

Amy took Luke into the water just to wade. I reminded her to let just his feet get in the water, I didn't want him to get chilly.

I guess Amy didn't hear me.

Quite a few of the Holy Cross students attended the picnic and they all seemed to have a very nice time.

2007 Homeschool Picnic

Today we enjoyed the 2007 homeschool day at the beach. Everyone had a wonderful time. The weather was lovely and the temperatures were perfect, not to hot, but warm enough to swim.

Thanks to "Aunt" Kim, I was able to bring the 7 youngest children. I don't dare bring the two babies if I don't have Kim to help.

Here is Kim lifeguarding Luke and Mark plus a couple others. Thank-you Kim!!!

Luke tried his luck at catching something with Aaron's net. He was very excited when he hauled in some seaweed.

Big brother Dan also helped Luke enjoy his day.

This lovely ringed billed gull looked like he was on sentry duty while we were on the beach, but I think he and about 100 of his closest friends were just waiting for the kids to drop some food.

After an hour or so of swimming I took my own brood for a walk around the park.

I love this picture. We are on Oneida Lake and these sailboats looked just like a painting.

Mark and Grace a looking good driving these cars, but I am not so sure about Danny.

How many kids can we fit on a dinosaur without breaking his springs? At least four I guess.

The party is almost over, now the chaos of sorting everything out and heading for home.

Let's all head for home.(until next time, which is tomorrow-different beach-mostly the same people)

On the drive home we saw a group of four birds that we couldn't identify. When we got home I got out my trusty Peterson's Field Guide and identified them as the double-crested cormorant.
It is a very interesting bird.