Celebrations

Cherry season! Ruby is a surprisingly dedicated cherry picker

One morning last week Sapphire gave me a hug and kiss and wished me a "happy Mother's Day." This seemed so sweet, I saw no need to correct her. Later that morning she said that she wanted Mother's Day to be "perfect," and going out to lunch would make it perfect. I wasn't too against this idea, so we tried to figure out if we could pull her daddy away from his weed-wacking project to go to Roburitos. This wouldn't do for Sapphire. She was sure Mother's Day (Part II) would be better if we went to the Chinese buffet.  In the end we tried it her way. I didn't mind the extra attention, though I started to see a pattern when she wished me "Happy Mother's Day" the very next morning.

The Black Jack team in a huddle.

For Father's Day we cheered their daddy on through two Ultimate Frisbee games, then we enjoyed some frozen yogurt at Sweet Frog.  This had been Pearl's plan all along.

This month has tons of celebratory importance in our house. We were able to celebrate Daniel's birthday with his parents, who also surprised the girls with an Easter egg hunt. With moving, we haven't all been in Chester County much lately to visit, but the girls thoroughly enjoyed their late Easter treats.

Finally, our little orange belt was promoted and received her first stripe this past Saturday.

We discovered a leak in the pond yesterday, and the water level has dropped a bit. The ducks don't seem to mind, but I wish they would figure out how to plug the leak. It is beyond me. 

Cherished

Last week on the anniversary of D-Day, we had a chance to chat with a veteran who was there. He is a kind neighbor in our old neighborhood, a retired policeman.  He initially said he wasn't really there because his troop transport was hit by two mines and sunk before it landed on the fateful beach. He made it out of the water eventually.

I asked a friend to repair the large mouse holes chewed in this quilt made by my great-grandmother. The crazy quilt is amazing, but very delicate.  Now that it has been repaired, we can put it to use, since that is what quilts are for.

My friend Bev did a lovely job, and my husband couldn't even find the repairs.  You can see that Capitola, the initial artist, worked on her quilt for years. She has added several 'notes' about her age as she finished this full size quilt. 

With all of our things around us in the new house, it really feels like we have been there a long time.  The frogs have been entertaining the girls. They go on frog walks around the pond to count the frogs (or, in Sapphire's case, try to catch them).  This requires a weird kicking-out-over-the-water way of walking that they tell me scares the frogs into jumping into the water. 

I finally saw a tiny frog sitting on one of our lily pads. I didn't get a picture of him, but I did catch this blooming water lily in the fish pond. 

Baptized into the Family of God

We have been looking forward to baptizing Ruby since before we brought her home.  This was one of the milestones that we could all enjoy together.  It seemed too much to throw the water at her when she first arrived, and, since her sisters had all be baptized in the summer in our historic eighteenth-century church, we wanted to continue that tradition.  We tried scheduling it for last fall, but the very day we had planned, her daddy was in the hospital learning he had an operable brain aneurism. This Sunday she finally got baptized.


We had talked about what it would be like, so she was ready for some water. I explained that it would be a sign that she was God's child, and that Mommy and Daddy were promising to teach her about God, and all this sounded fine to her.  During the baptism her daddy shared her life verse, held her, and scooped water over her head. Her Nana was able to assist, since she is an elder in our denomination, just at a different church.  Afterward Ruby had to tell me how the drops dripped down her back, but she wasn't upset at all by it. 

Later, our extended family joined us at the new house for a lunch.  Ruby knew that the cakes and food were for her party, so she was looking forward to it. We got to give tours through the house and celebrate this big event with our family. Thanks to all who could come! 

My very strong husband brought nearly the last load of random items from the old house.  I would not have imagined this was possible last summer when he was wracked with Lyme disease back pain!  Our calves and biceps must have gotten stronger during this last month of going up and down steps.  The last items seem to be the toughest, because they don't have an obvious spot. Another aspect of the transition is the fact that our home will be without internet for two or three months, depending on how speedy our provider is in connecting us. 

Here's a sight I love, and one that is perfectly timed for our library's summer reading program. 
These two have been bonding in a beautiful way over the last few weeks. 

Memorial Day 2014 (and still moving)

We've been moving for two weeks now. By Memorial Day we were ready for a break, so after a morning of work, we ran away to the creek for a very relaxing picnic.


On Tuesday a passel of very kind friends helped us haul the biggest, heaviest things. Now we are living and sleeping at the new house, and it is starting to feel normal. Sadly, my dryer didn't fit into the second floor laundry room. Even sadder, we didn't figure this out until it was up on the second story.




This is our smokehouse. It might be perfect for smoking things, but I suspect we will never actually discover that for ourselves.  I did find out that it holds three little girl bikes very nicely. 

Our family will be joining us for Ruby's baptism this Sunday. The service starts at 9:45 in the old church, but it will be crowded, so arrive early!

porch number 3 got some red paint this week

Still Moving

Our church family has had some fantastic Saturday plans these last weeks. The final one in the string was the church Fishing Derby. I probably could not have kept three girls in worms, but we had some very kind preteen helpers.


We only caught one fish between us, but the two smaller girls seemed to enjoy hanging out by the pond, donuts in hand, fishing pole laying by their side.

The move has been going well. One retired couple stopped by to give us invaluable help, and another church family loaned us a truck. As a result, we have many of our small furniture already in place, and boxes everywhere!

Our ducks do not seem to want to bond with us. I'm not too worried, since they are pretty from a distance. We like to watch them roam around the yard and pond in their very orderly row. Ruby shouts "Ducks!" every time she walks out the door and sees them.

The gold fish pond needed attention, so I cleaned out a winter's worth of decaying leaves and twigs this week. Reaching into murky water to pull out slimy detritus took some getting used to, so I'm thankful this is only a once a year job.

The kitchen is now a pale, modern green, and my blue and white china collection can all hang out together in sight, versus in attic storage as was previously the case. The old kitchen cabinet even has an antique sliding teacup hanger, and each afternoon the girls and I sit down and share a cuppa.

What we have left to move now are the larger items and the random bits that just baffle me.

The goldfish pond

The big move is scheduled for next Tuesday, if the weather is agreeable.

Our New House

Our church praise team organized an amazing day of outdoor worship with a picnic and bouncy house this last Saturday. The worship team set up on the site of what will be our new worship facility. They had staked it out and spray painted the outline of the new building, then they set up on what will be the stage. It was such a nice day! My kids bounced for hours, and they also enjoyed some face painting bliss.


Three days later my husband and I went to settlement on our new house. It is six minutes from our current house, and Ruby calls it the duck house, to differentiate. This new one does come with twelve koi and four ducks. All the girls have gotten to name them. Pearl quickly named hers 'Thomas'; Ruby named hers 'Black', I named mine 'Caspian', and Sapphire petitioned to also name hers 'Thomas' or 'Tom,' but so far her petition has been denied. I don't think she is letting that stop her, though, and boy, does that bother Pearl.

The house was built in 1875. It is mostly stone with a wooden addition. After weeks of packing the old house up, I have realized that I much prefer unpacking, because then you get to sort and organize, and that is something I love.

We now have one outbuilding for each member of the family. There is a duck house, a very tidy hen house, a hog shed full of wood from past projects, a picturesque stone smokehouse, and a two-story stone building with a weird lift inside that we cannot figure out at all. 

So far I've painted Pearl's room and mostly unpacked the kitchen. The rest is tougher, since we are waiting for the big move to get the dressers in place. 

My husband has not been able to join in unpacking because he had his six month coiling check up. They said the aneurism looks just as it is supposed to, and all is well.  This time they scoped it through the femoral artery, so he is now restricted to lifting five pounds or less for the next ten days.  Of course, none of the boxes I have packed weigh less than five pounds. 

We plan to have the big move and relocate ourselves the week of the 28th of May (maybe that Wednesday, but I'm not positive yet).

Happy Mother's Day!

Sunday will be busy for this pastor's family, so we decided to celebrate Mother's Day early. This week we took some sushi and noodles to Perrydell Dairy for a picnic and a visit with the newest members of the herd.

Later we sampled the dairy's ice cream. This type of day is one of our very favorites.

Today was Field Day for our homeschool organization. Over a hundred kids came out to a park for about eighteen events. Pearl enjoyed the games, and I came in to the kitchen to find a very proud display shown below. Sapphire ran alongside the big girls, and Ruby stayed by my side.

I have been very busy packing up our house, since next week we will be settling on our new place. There are boxes everywhere, but it does not seem to make a dent in the possessions I still see un-boxed. Tune in next week for some photos of the new place.

Must go pack something!

a proud little long-jumper

the playground was hopping after Field Day