It's Been a While...

Hi all, I'm back. It has been a while since I've posted anything. I won't have any new pictures, as we've had more camera problems and I've given up on that for a while. At some point we'll have to get a new camera, but for now I'll just write.

October has flown by. Two weekends ago we camped on the property we hope to buy in January. It was a great weekend! The weather was so nice and it was great to be out there. We went on a big hike Saturday that took us 6 hours. It was pretty cold at night, but our heater helped to keep us from freezing.

We got our flu shots last week. Rachel was all for getting a shot (she wanted the promised candy). Josiah, on the other hand, had to be held down.

Our precious neighbor, Jo, is in the process of moving. The kids aren't happy about that. They just love her! She won't be too far away, so they'll still get to see her from time to time. They went over there (next door) for lunch today and I actually got a nap in while they were gone.

We are doing something different with school. Jonathan and Josh, who go to James' work once a week are doing double work that day. It works out good, because they were finishing too early. On the day they are home, I've been teaching them all kinds of useful skills (and things that will help me out). They've been learning things like laundry, dishes, cleaning different things, gardening, cooking, and chopping wood. There is so much to teach them and I'm enjoying coming beside them and letting them do some of my work. Sometimes they say they'd rather do school work (they both have been lazy this week), but the physical labor is good for them and I try to teach them some fun skill each week too.

One thing I wanted to share that really works in our house is what I like to call "Clutter Control". It is a great way to get your house picked up. You can transform the look of your living space in 5 minutes. I set the timer and say "On your mark, get set, go" and off we all go, picking up everything we can and delivering it to the right place. It is actually fun and we all get into it (most of us do). Sometimes one or two kids don't participate very well, but I tell you if even I get a couple kids and myself going, it gets done and the results are great. I try and do this twice a day. James has been impressed (when we do it that is). The problem is making a point to do it and sometimes I get to into something else and I forget. The great thing is that it only takes 5 minutes. I can spare 5 minutes, most of the time.

Things have been busier for James this week, the cold season has begun. We've even had a few colds going in this house. Jesse turned nine months last week. He is getting ready to walk. He stands for a few seconds and then sits down.

Well, that's all I have for now.

More Outdoor Work

Well another weekend has come and gone and it was beautiful weather wise! We wished we were camping. Instead we got to work around the house, continuing to spruce it up. James worked both Saturday and today on powerwashing the siding. I worked on staining the deck, with Jonathan's help. Both the siding and deck aren't done yet, but hopefully this week we'll finish up. I'm having a problem posting, so that's all I'm going to write for now.

Home Projects

Last weekend I was busy painting. (Friday the living room and Saturday the kitchen/dining area). Saturday I had my nieces over. It was hard to keep Rachel and Erin from touching the walls, although they did better than Jay, who put his hand on the wall twice when it was wet. In the picture you see Rachel and Erin fast asleep at the top of the stairs. I was at the bottom painting and I told them they couldn't put their feet on the stairs.
Well, Rachel didn't quite obey, but she did fall asleep and that was great!

There are lots of projects that we are beginning to work on to prepare the house to sell. Today we plan to dig some ditches for drainage piping. We also have to powerwash the house, stain the deck, replace the kitchen faucet and lots of other odds and ends.

Tuesday night we met with our architect for our second drawings. That all went well. We are looking forward to seeing the drawings as that will be close to our final. We are getting excited as we think about the reality of it not being far off. James said last night that he was planning on being in our new house by Christmas next year. Wow, wouldn't that be great! We'll see what God does. That would be a huge blessing to us.

Our plans are to buy land in January and sell the house anytime after that. We'll put it on the market in March if we haven't found a buyer on our own before then. (At least that is the current plan).

So other than that, not much going on. The more kids we have the fast the clock turns.

Smoky Mountains

We left at 3:00 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6, my birthday. We got down to our campsite about 10 hours later. We had a great site, right next to the creek. The kids really enjoyed that. We went for a hike that evening and saw a bear! We weren't expecting to see one so soon, it was pretty neat. It started coming towards us and we did scamper a little more quickly down the path. It didn't seem too afraid of us, I think it is used to people, since it apparently hangs out along the path quite frequently. We saw a nice waterfall too, but the bear was definately the highlight of that hike.







We went to Newfoundland Gap on Sunday. It had some spectacular views and we took lots of pictures. We went to a visitors center, a farm museum, and a grist mill and then did about a five mile hike to the Cherokee Indian Reservation. (We didn't go into the reservation because of time). After a picnic dinner, we went to Clingman's dome for a beautiful sunset. We even met up with a ranger on her day off. She was the only one left after sunset, besides us, and she walked back the 1/2 mile hike with us to our cars. We learned all kinds of things, especially about bears, as we questioned her. By the way, that hike way 1/2 mile and pretty steep, but paved. Poor Josiah was just tuckered out. We made it up to the observation tower about 5 minutes before the sun started to set.







Monday we moved our campsite across the road, as I decided to stay another night instead of getting a hotel, while James and the older three boys climbed Mt. Laconte. They had a great time climbing the 5 and 1/2 mile trail up the mountain. They stayed in a lodge at the top and were served dinner and breakfast. The boys enjoyed the all you can drink hot chocolate. The little kids and I had a relaxing time back at camp. Rachel and Josiah rode their scooters in the driveway while I got to relax and read (that was all after a couple hours of work, preparing lunch, setting up camp again, and washing myself and the kids up). We got lots of rain that night, but stayed dry enough in the tent.

Wednesday we packed up camp at Elkmont and headed over to Cades Cove and set up camp. I had Josiah trying to help me set up our rather large tent. It was a challenge to say the least. After that we went and picked up James and the boys and drove around a nature trail road, stopping to look at some old homesteads.
Wednesday we did our first trip around the 11 mile scenic loop in Cades Cove. We stopped and looked at more old homes, learning about the history of the Cove. We got to see a grist mill in action, grinding corn. We realized we left our tent windows open when it started to rain. We were only 1/2 way around the loop. It was pooring, but thankfully most stuff was still dry in the tent. Later that evening we hiked around the campground. We missed a bear, as we did a few times. We'd come along and people would say, "You just missed the bear by about 5 minutes". I think that happened at least 3 times. Apparently the bear was about 400-500 pounds and not afraid of people. We even heard the rangers shooting at it a couple nights. (rubber bullets). I guess I'm okay with missing seeing that bear. (we both were carrying our bear spray though)

Thursday we went on a 5 mile hike to another water fall. It was nice. The kids did okay, but a couple of them were a bit challenging, because they were tired. Rachel hiked a fair amount of it though. (she did better than some of her brothers). That night we had a big campfire and went to a ranger program in the ampitheater.

Friday morning we went on a 3 mile hike that was off he beaten path. At times, I wasn't sure if we were on a real trail (they don't maintain this one). We saw some old rusted up car remains, it must have been a road at one time. The kids had fun playing in the creek. We saw a doe and her fawn walking through the woods (and no bear following it, thankfully). All in all James and the older boys hiked over 30 miles for the week. Mom and Josiah only hiked about 20 (still not bad for a vacation).
We spent the rest of the day at camping, cleaning up and preparing for our departure the next morning (7:00 am). After dinner we did the loop one more time in hopes to see more wildlife. It was a very evenful drive. First we saw two wild bore (which are really a nuisance in the park - but cool to see just the same). Next we saw a doe and later two bucks. Then James and the older boys got to see a big bear way up in a tree. I saw him, but very briefly (it was hard to see). We saw wild turkeys and more deer. Lastly, we saw a bear in the open field, less than 10 feet from our van. It was up on a bank, so it was level with our eyes. It was very exciting, especially since it wasn't scary seeing it from the comfort of our van.

That was a great way to top off a wonderful week in the smokies. We hope to go back again some day. Next stop; Canyonlands and Arches National Park, sometime next spring.


Don't forget to check out my dropshots link for more pictures and video.

Birthdays, Hiking, and Other Stuff

We had a nice Labor Day weekend. The birthday party was fun. We sang "Go Tell it on the Mountain" (see dropshots) since we had a mountainous cake. The boys both got sleeping bags, which they used last night (although it was pretty warm) in the state park. James took all the boys on an overnight hike. They came home with so many ticks on them and they were tiny. I spend over an hour pulling them off each of the kids. They had a good time, but maybe next time they'll use more bug repellent.

I wanted to share a cute story about Rachel. Saturday James saw Rachel, rocking in her little chair with her baby. She was holding her baby with its head under her night gown. She said, "I feed my baby". Later I asked her about it and she told me the baby was eating from her belly. It is quite fun to be able to communicate with her better. You can practically carry on a conversation with her now.

We did get the pool covered up this evening as I had hoped. Now its onto packing for our trip. We leave on Saturday. I will be spending my birthday, driving in the car for many hours. I think we're planning on leaving at about 3:00 a.m.

End of Summer...

Yes, he's done it. This past week Jesse started pulling to stand and he's getting faster and faster at it. He is all over the house now. Crazy!

Today we made Jonathan's "hiker" birthday cake. (you can see a picture at dropshots). We made Josh's birthday cake too, as we are celebrating it this weekend also (he wanted a summer birthday party). He made a pineapple upsidedown cake.

One week until our vacation and I haven't done much to get ready, as I had hoped. I did go grocery shopping yesterday and got most of our food for our trip. With this birthday party this weekend and my hope to close the pool, I may not get started on packing until Tuesday.

Check out drop shots to see more pictures and videos from this past week.

A Precious Sound

I love the sound of a baby's laughter. Rachel got Jesse going one night this week and it was so fun to watch. You can see it at dropshots. Poor Jay tried to do it and wasn't as successful. We are so blessed to get to hear these wonderful sounds that fill our house. (sometimes I forget that when the sounds get a little too loud).

Anyways, today we got some more yard work done. We put a rock wall around the mailbox and tree in the front yard. We even had a few rocks left over. We also cut back shrubs. It was a hot, humid day and I had to take a couple dips in the pool while I was at it.

This school week turned out to be fine. Monday wasn't great, but after that it was much better. There is always day like that, and I'm glad it wasn't more than one this week.

Two weeks until our vacation to the Smoky Mountains. James is looking over books and pamplets, continuing to plan our trip. I need to take some time this week to get out some winter clothes as it will be cool. I'm looking forward to cooler weather (although it has been a relatively cool August). We will close the pool up Labor Day.