FINALLY! SOME NUTCRACKER PICTURES! I was not backstage or in dressing rooms this year when my kids were in their costumes. These pictures are from a friend. We DID have a professional photog take some pictures and I DID have him take a picture of my 3 in their costumes...I'll have to see how to get them and if I can post them here.

Nolan (Erik's friend), Erik and George in their Party Boy outfits.

These are some of the Gingerbread Boys

Emma and Erik in their Party Clothes. Emma was also a Soldier and a Chinese Tea, but we didn't get pics of those costumes, either.

Now you know how Emma got that curly hair! I'm not sure WHO that woman is with her LOL.

This is our Ellie, right before dress rehearsal. Her costume is just darling...my friend didn't get a picture of her in it, but someone did and gave me a print...now to get the scanner out and put the pic on...don't hold your breath ;-)

Can you name this mystery food? A friend of my parent's here is a cotton farmer. They also grow all kinds of veggies, and some fruits. Three times a week, Mrs. S sells her goods at the farmer's market. Often, she drops off her leftovers at my mom's house (just a couple of blocks from the market). 2 weeks ago, she dropped these off at my mom's house. Since my mother was busy with a garage sale, she gave them to me and said, "They make great cakes and cookies." I've never seen these. Ever. Had to look up how to eat them. The ripe ones are really s-w-e-e-t! The rest are ripening in a paper sack on my counter. Do you know what they are?

PERSIMMONS!

The settlers of Jamestown described persimmons as "very sweet and pleasant to the taste, and yields on distillation, after fermentation, a quality of spirits." When Captain John Smith was not busy with Pocahontas, he is quoted as saying, "If it be not ripe it will drawe a mans mouth awrie with much torment; but when it is ripe, it is as delicious as an Apricock."

**Update, I should have mentioned that the above information about Jamestown and Capt Smith was from my research on how to cook persimmons.

What happens when your children and your camera disappear?

I love Texas in November! The weather has been great. In the 70s during the day. Nights have progressively gotten cold and we finally turned the heat on 2 days ago. We seem to need it for just a couple of hours, though. Tonight will go down to 30! Funny thing is that Emma's Morning Glories from this spring are still blooming! And I still have tomatoes! Better go throw a sheet over them before I forget.

Elisha just discovered the sandbox last week. I don't think he has put any in his mouth. He saves crayons for that LOL.

Not much to report, besides the regular crazy schedule of school, ballet and basketball. And that Nutcracker schedule keeps us on our toes! Opening night is just 15 days away!

I was interviewed by our local newspaper yesterday as part of an article on families involved in the production. The paper will be doing a series of stories over the next 2 weeks. The interviewer, "I have down here that you have five children. What's with everyone having five children?!" She had just interviewed another Nutcracker family. That homeschools. That has five children. Close to half the cast are homeschool families ;-) One of many perks to 'small' town living.

Thanksgiving preparations are underway. We're hosting again. I think it will just be the 7 of us, with my mom, Tom, Ponda (Tom's sister), Jason (Tom's oldest son, just out of the Marines this spring), and perhaps one of Tom's daughters. So a small group, compared to the 11 guests from last year.

Life has been busy over the past week...I think I'm still recovering from the weekend.

Saturday's schedule:
9:30-10 Ellie Nutcracker rehearsal
11:30-8:00 Emma Nutcracker rehearsal then to Stephanie's house
12:00 drop off Doug and Erik to caravan to basketball tournament
4:00 take Ellie to birthday party, little boys to the mall to get shoes for Elisha
5:30 Little Caesars for dinner
6:00 eat and watch The Jungle Book with younger set

I realized that the day was hard on me, not because of the running around but because my 3 helpers were gone!

Emma has been feeling under the weather for the past few days {I still haven't had one of my helpers!} Today she seems to be back to herself. Good thing, too. Today's lineup is crazy! I'm so glad I have 2 stay home days to recover from the crazy days.

The basketball tournament was hosted by a homeschool group. Doug's team played 2 games. Erik got a lot of play. And he didn't get hurt! No shots, but he did a great job setting screens for the bigger kids on the team. This was HUGE, as most of the players were 12-14 years old! MY 9 year old son played basketball with 12-14 year olds, didn't get hurt and held his own! They won a game and were crushed in another. All in all it was a good experience. They have a game tonight...if I have my act together, I'll have some pictures!

"Dad! Everson just hit me with his Barbie!" yelled Emma this morning.

Am I the only one, or is that just a hoot?! A few days ago, my mom came over with a Ken-like doll for Everson to use when playing with Ellie. The guy had an earring. Doug wanted to toss it. I managed to cut off the earring and give the doll a stay of execution... Never have Ellie and Everson played so well and so long with eachother. Something happened this morning in the girls room which caused Everson to strike Emma. With his Barbie...

Everson loves to pretend to be someone else. Indiana Jones. An NBA player. A soccer player. A boy named Toby. A boy named Nathan. A dog. A knight. Luke Skywalker. Anakin Skywalker (before he went to The Dark Side). Obi Wan Kenobi. A regular jedi. Here, he's being a cowboy. Not one to shy from the camera...Everson has a million expressions just for the camera! I can't believe he'll be FIVE in a month!

What do you do when you see this?

"I" grabbed the camera, because I knew that he was serious about something. You see, he had already emptied the entire lower part of this cabinet...and was in hot pursuit of something...Remember my comment a few days ago that he liked things with cords...

My blender base was in the middle cabinet...so he had to climb in and get it. I let Elisha play with it, until he tried to pick it up and carry it around. I was worried about his little toesies.

Stay Home Day

School. Housework. Mirrors cleaned (Emma). Dusting (Ellie). Sheets changed in boys room (big boys and mom). Swept kitchen floor 3 or 4 times (mom). Played with kiddos outside. Watered Cherry Trees. Visited with my mom for a few minutes outside while she dropped off some baskets and ginger. Watched as Elisha tried to climb into the just-discovered sandbox. I helped him in and he played and played and played...until I brought him in for a nap. I think it must have been somewhere in the 70s this afternoon! Just beautiful!

Made a pan of granola bars and a pan of granola for breakfast (yummy over yogurt!).

What's left of the pan of granola bars...

Made a double batch of Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken...one for dinner tonight, and one for the freezer. I'm trying to make double batches of as many dinners as I can, because the next 4-5 weeks are crazy with basketball, Thanksgiving and The Nutcracker.

Doug and Erik will be gone all day Saturday at a Homeschool Basketball Tournament 90 miles away...and I'll be home with 4 kids...schlepping to Nutcracker rehearsal, taking in the Veterans Day Parade, taking Ellie to a birthday party and feeding them all...I think Doug will have the easier day ;-)

BAPTISM!

What an exciting day for us to have Emma, Erik and Ellie baptized. They met with our Pastor last week, and were all ready for this morning. We had some good friends come for the service, as well as my Mom and Stepfather, and my 97-year-old Grannie. Grannie has been waiting and waiting to see the kids get baptized and actually left her house to witness it. She is basically housebound, so we knew how serious witnessing the kids' baptism was to her. The water in the baptistry was up to Ellie's shoulders. She's standing on a cinder block!

I think Emma was happy to be in the warm water and out of the cold hallway.

Erik actually went first, but the pictures loaded in reverse order.

Ice Cream Election

Yesterday, while picking up our weekly produce from the coop, the 4 kids participated in an election...for their favorite flavor of ice cream.

Their good friends, Arielle and Nolan were doing the election for school, and, you know, because there IS a bit of election coverage going on.

Arielle was quite the shutterbug during the collecting of votes and managed to capture all 5 of my kiddos in the election process.

Okay, Elisha was just an onlooker, since he can't articulate his favorite flavor of ice cream...yet. But if he could, I'm sure he'd say Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip...don't ask me how I know.

Anyhow, my friend De'Etta (Arielle and Nolan's mom), has a blog...with my kids pics on it. Thought you might want so stop by her blog and see kids placing their votes. Scroll down to Friday 10/31.

It was exciting, since we had just calculated WHEN the kids will actually be able to vote for a president...Emma: 2016, Erik and Ellie in 2020.

A Father's Dream Come True

Emma had long been lobbying to ride the mower. Erik's legs aren't quite long enough yet. But Emma's are...Here's pictures of Emma mowing the area outside our fence (because there are no obstacles). The funny thing is that Doug wouldn't let her drive in high gear. She was going very S-L-O-W-L-Y! I think Elisha could have run faster than Emma was driving ;-) Erik can't wait for his turn to drive the mower. Of course, he'll have to wear goggles and a mask because of his allergies! And Doug is just counting the days when he will no longer be responsible for the yard (I'll find something else for him to do...)

Pear Butter

Last spring, Emma and I took a canning class. We were anticipating a great harvest from our first garden. Well, the tomatoes didn't cooperate...although Everson enjoyed picking tomatoes as soon as they were ripe...and eating them right off the plant!

Last week, I split a case of 150 pears with someone from our produce coop. They weren't ripe when I got them. But it seems that my 75 pears all ripened at the same time. After forcing pear upon pear to each of my family members, I decided to actually put my canning class to good use. I had made pear butter before, only to have it eaten immediately by my children. Ellie and I processed a TON of pears. My wrists were sore from peeling. Poor Ellie's hands were tired from wrangling slippery pears so she could slice them.

At the end of the day, I had made a whopping 7 half-pints of pear butter. One was used at dinner on fresh bread, served with chicken noodle soup. One is in the fridge and the remaining 5 are in my pantry. What a great feeling! I can can anything! Last night I found a recipe for a marmalade that uses carrots, oranges, and lemons. I think I may just try it on my unsuspecting children. They DO like carrots, but the thought of spreading cold, mashed carrots on bread gives them the shivers.

Fortunately for me, my mom has done 3 estate sales this fall...and I have benefitted greatly...I have many many canning jars and rings.

We learned a lot from our garden this summer...how to grow things in the hot hot Texas sun...how our compost has to be more diverse...how strawberries need to be planted in the part of the yard that has more shade...

Next summer, I want to make and can spaghetti sauce and salsa!

An update on some close friends of ours: Many of our NY friends and family know David and Becky Pence. Pence Camp. "Parents" of Napoleon the Hedgehog...Ellie's first cousin ;-) Becky was diagnosed with thyroid cancer a few years ago. She has annual cancer screenings involving an iodine-free diet and radiation. This past winter, Becky was treated with her radioactive iodine...and then found out that she was pregnant. Before treatment, a pregnancy test was run...and the tech didn't read the report. I've pasted her email to this update so you can know and pray. Also, last Christmas (before the radiation and pregnancy), David and Becky completed foster parent training and were called with a placement for an infant. So in the midst of all of this, they have been parenting Aimee...and planning to adopt HER. I'll leave the rest of the information to Becky to explain. I'll keep you posted.

1. Madeleine Elise Pence was born on Monday, October 20th at 3:59 pm. She weighed in at 7lbs 4oz and was 20 inches long. We still do not know what, if any, effect her prenatal exposure to radioactive iodine had. So far she's been a bit of a human pin cushion as they draw (or attempt to draw) blood to run tests. She will see a pediatric endocrinologist on Monday for further evaluation. We're hopeful that, by then, they will be able to run the appropriate blood tests so that the doctor can give us some information.
2. Aimee turned 1 on September 17th and started walking not long thereafter! Her new daycare center also finally opened...just in time for her to start daycare before Madeleine arrived! It seems hard to believe but she will soon be with us for over a year now. She's getting so big and has quite a little personality of her own.
3. Aimee's parents had a crucial court date in early October. At that time the judge heard testimony and ruled them negligent parents...the first step towards terminating their parental rights. The next court date is scheduled for December 1st. On the 1st the judge will rule as to whether or not her parents have abandoned her (since they will not have seen or attempted to see her in over 6 months by that time). If the judge rules that they have abandoned her then their parental rights will automatically be terminated and she will be freed for adoption on the 1st! Once that happens, it's just a matter of filing the proper paperwork and waiting for a court date to finalize the adoption. We're hoping that it will be finalized in early 2009!

A recent conversation prompted me to give consistent blogging another try. Regardless of whether people leave a comment or not. Regardless of whether people send me newsy emails...though it would be nice to hear how your life is going...

We're in the throes of ballet and basketball. 3 hours of basketball practice (homeschool jr high boys) coached by Doug. Erik goes to practice and gets quite the workout. 5 ballet classes and a total of 7 hours of Nutcracker rehearsals last week. Plus AWANA.

And, oh yes, school.

And legos for Everson.

And Demolition Activites for Elisha...That kid is B-U-S-Y. His current favorite toy: anything with a cord. My blender base. The electric pencil sharpener. The handle to my electric knife (minus the blades, of course). Oh, and he likes remote controls too.

The kids participated in a History Fair last Thursday night. It's an annual event for our homeschool association. Erik and Ellie made a display on Lewis and Clark. Ellie even dressed up as Sacajawea and Erik was Meriweather Lewis...complete with coonskin cap and paper moccasins. Emma and her friend Stephanie did a display and mini-speech on The Great Depression. They even dressed up in 'depression-style' dresses and went barefoot.

We've been watching The Waltons on Wednesday nights after AWANA. The kids look so forward to popcorn, apple slices and The Waltons. Last year it was The Brady Bunch.

Monday and Wednesday are my stay home days. Today I'm doing some baking. I've already made homemade graham crackers - YUMMY and will be baking some bread this afternoon.

NUTCRACKER NEWS

If you have ever remotely considered coming down to TX to see Emma in the Nutcracker, you might want to consider coming this year. Not only will you see Emma as a Party Girl, Soldier and Tea - you'll see Ellie make her Nutcracker debut as an angel (on stage TWICE) AND you'll also see a cameo appearance by ERIK as a Party Boy and a Gingerbread Kid (the ones that come out from under Mother Ginger's dress).

Contact me for performance dates and to tell us when to expect you.

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY

MISS ELLIE CHRISTINE!

As our youngest daughter,

she's more than we could have asked for or imagined.

Our lives are full of laughter and joy because we have Ellie.

In case you were wondering...

ERIK IS STILL ALLERGIC TO MILK!

Last night at the dinner table:
"Mom, this soymilk tastes funny."
"Erik, that's rice milk, not soymilk. Just drink it."

Upon watching Erik take sip #2, I realized that he was sitting in Everson's seat. Not his regular seat. Drinking Everson's milk. Not his rice milk.

"Erik! That's cow milk!"

Up he ran to get his allergy bag and drink 2 teaspons of Benadryl...then started coughing. And coughing. And saying things like, "My throat feels funny." Lips started swelling. Eyes started watering. Ears started feeling funny. Coughing progressing.

"Erik, get your shoes on," said his father.

Upon entering the lobby of the Emergency Room, I tell the nurse that we were in early anaphylaxis. A moment later, she reappeared with a pulse-ox meter and said, "We'll take you right in."

An hour and a very big and painful steroid shot and 2 back-to-back breathing treatments later (and jittery from the drugs), we are discharged with an rx for a steroid to take for 4 days.

"Tomorrow, we re-establish our dinner table routine," said his mother.

(Bald head happened 2 weeks ago)

Happy 1st Birthday Elisha John!

Weather Forecast for the week...

H-O-T
B-L-A-Z-I-N-G
S-C-O-R-C-H-I-N-G

101 today. 103 Monday. 100s all...week...long...
Nighttime lows...mid 70s.
(But still better than a New York Winter)

We'll be swimming many many times this week. Everson wants to go swimming 11 times today.

A week of milestones...

Elisha began crawling...

BOTH Emma and Erik conquered their fears of falling and taught themselves to ride a bike.

Erik can finally enjoy the 2 wheeler he bought himself LAST year with birthday money. Doug took Emma out on Saturday to buy her own bike.

Ellie continues to develop as a swimmer and bike rider and Everson still loves to jump in the pool and swim underwater across the pool.

Hi y`all in NY.
Emma here. I`m just going to tell you about what`s going on here. It`s so hot here! I am so tan it`s not funny. I look like a peanut ! LOL.
Ballet is good. Ballet summer intensive starts soon, it`s when we do ballet classes for one week in the summer , Ellie and I both are doing it!
VBS is tomorrow. It`s hawiain theme ! I am exited!
This year I am trying out for Nutcracker AND THE WIZARD OF OZ!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can finally ride a two wheeler bike! $I earned ten dollers for it!$ : )
Thats really all. Bye!

LOVE
EMMA

Pictures from May in no particular order...

This picture of Elisha is actually from late April...my how he's growing!

My Three Sons...looking clean and spiffy for church. Of course, Everson has on flip flops ;-)

Everson loves to climb the ladder of our new pool, then jump off and swim across the pool. Definately a water lover!

Everson is making his best "I'm-Indiana-Jones-don't-mess-with-me" face.

The older three spend LOTS of time in the pool! With temps in the high 90s for 3 weeks, they are quite tan...and they sleep well at night!

THE GREAT WALL OF WEST TEXAS

Since we moved in, I have dreamed of a brick patio next to our house. Kept it in the dream category, since I was not going to spend the $$ to buy bricks. Tom came across roughly 2000 clean, used bricks. He loaded them onto his trailer...all by himself...in 3 trips. Doug and the kids unloaded them. Then Doug got to work on clearing and leveling the ground between our house and garage. Forkful by forkful, the job was completed...mostly by Doug with some help from me and Erik...Erik did a super job with the bricks and the pattern...just like using legos!
This is just the beginning. The patio will go past the blue stroller all the way to the basketball hoop. If you scroll back to the top picture, you can make out the basketball hoop by the tree...just to get a sense of the S-I-Z-E of the patio that is getting put down. I'm sure Doug knows the exact dimensions, but all I can say is that it's BIG.

Update: Doug says it's about 15 x 30.
All we need now is a truckful of sand to be delivered so we can fill in the cracks and level out any wobbly bricks.

Kids on Easter Sunday. My mom had bought the dresses a year ago for the girls.
Cute...even though he's sideways. I'm too busy to fix it right now LOL
Bathtub buddies.

My mother and Tom bought us some fruit trees...NINE of them. 2 pear, 2 plum, 3 peach, 1 gala apple and 1 fig. So this weekend, Doug and the kids got to work on digging holes. Here's some pictures of their work. They are all a bit sunburned...Doug is the worst off, but seems to be faring well. Looking forward to the day that these little trees help lower my grocery budget! Come on down to Armstrong Farms!
Behind Emma is Tom's Chuckwagon-building-site.

Elisha enjoyed some snuggle time with Daddy at the Airshow on Saturday. The USAF Thunderbirds performed. INCREDIBLE! Didn't get any good pictures...it was my turn to hold the baby and cover his ears from the noise. Next year, we'll bring earplugs for him.