Snowtober

Just when I was thinking that autumn was in full swing and the joy of the season was upon us, we were hit with our first winter storm. In October no less. We were in full Halloween mode, preparing for trick or treating when from out of no where came 10 inches of wet heavy snow. Now lets remember we are still in autumn mode and so are the trees, not all of them have lost their leaves. Enter high winds and heavy wet snow. We have trees that broke, some that came down and limbs and branches down. Power lines through out the town were on the ground and we were in the dark. Of course we were at the church when the power went out. Maybe I should back up a little. Saturday October 30th was the ward trunk or treat. I had finished costumes the night before and the day was spent carving pumpkins and doing hair.

With the emanate threat of snow coming the time was moved up an hour to 5pm. We were to have chili and cornbread, play games, decorate cookies and of course go from car to car to get those ever popular treats. Sister Faulkner said the snow wouldn't start until 10pm. So when it started at 3:30pm we simply ignored it because Sister Faulkner said it wouldn't start until 10pm. We carefully drove to the church and had one of the most enjoyed times we have had at a trunk or treat. Maybe because many stayed home due to the weather so there was actually room to move. We ate, paraded in costume and then proceeded to trunk or treat around the halls because there was already many inches of snow. After that we had the fastest clean up and take down of any church activity I have ever attended and then we drove home, slowly. The snow was flying wildly at this point and we listened to Christmas music all the way home. Yes, Christmas music before Thanksgiving. We came home to a dark and cold house. Started the fire, lit the candles and hunkered down for a long night. The youngest girls were thrilled with their candy and with lighting their pumpkins for light, that they hardly noticed the cold the first night. But by morning they were asking when the power would be back on. We were all asking when the power would be back on. We ventured outside to see the damage and were totally unprepared for the carnage that met us. Trees and limbs and power lines down everywhere. We cleaned up the need to get it off the fence or the road and left the rest for later. Monday afternoon and evening our small dead end street was filled with utility trucks. They pulled new wire, put up two new poles and replace a transformer or something. Dan was sure we would have power by that night. Well we didn't. We spent another night keeping warm by the fire and reading out loud from Charlotte's web. But by Tuesday afternoon we were back up in the lap of luxury. Warm and using the dishwasher. It was an early test of winter preparedness I don't wish to live through again this winter. It may just be a very dark, cold, wet winter this year. One that I am willing to for go. Here's to wishing global warming was actually true.

What else does one do in the snow with no power? Of course Tessa has made a recliner in the snowbank and is reading. She is a true New Englander.

Fall and Winter Wardrobes

The one thing you can count on is change. Here in New England the seasons are changing. The leaves are beginning to change colors and fall off the trees, acorns are every where, tour buses are making their way through small towns, apple cider is being sold on the town common, along with apple cider doughnuts (yum), the rains have started and the temperatures have dropped. I love the fall in New England. The other change that is taking place is the switching of the wardrobe. This is one of my least favorite things to do. We spend a couple of days going through every ones dressers and closets trying on all of last years fall and winter clothes, handing down what doesn't fit and making a list of what is needed for this year. And then the fun begins, a trip to the fabric store and a finger walk through the patterns and what do I end up with? A new wardrobe for kids, and hours of work for me. I hope I can get it all done before the snow flies.

I hope to show some finished products in the next couple of weeks. With any luck I just might be able to get it all done before they grow out of them. It is times like these I wish I had a sewing room where I could just leave stuff out all of the time. Instead we don't eat dinner. It's a trade off I'm willing to make right now.

I'M PUBLISHED

Granted I had to do the publishing myself. Here is a look at a fun little project I did recently.

On the last page you can slip in a picture of your favorite super hero. A really fun project for mommy's to be. I also made a little girl version but I don't have pictures, sorry. It has a cupcake, flower, baby doll, blue bird and something else. It is totally cute in pink and purple. For those of you who are wondering if my services are availible to provide you with your own copy of this very cute book the answer is no (unless you beg relentlessly and have time to wait for shippment). I will happily send you the pattern. Also for those of you who are close enough to little Mr. Wells, I made one about shapes and colors. Ask him if you can take a gander, maybe he will share. The best part about these books, you can chew on them and they won't fall apart.

New Phones

So this evening we made the big jump. We all have iPhones. Yes, I know what you are all thinking. However, Dan is only home for three days and he has had enough of Verizon. We all have the same numbers so you can still reach us if you really feel a need to. The home phone is going away very soon so feel free to lose that number if you wish. Needless to say Micah, Anique and I are all sitting here getting phones set up. I think that counts as quality time spent together. Mostly because Anique set up my phone and added some apps to my phone. I am grateful for the games that will now entertain me whenever I need entertaining. Micah loaded some music on his and had it clipped to his belt and says "it's like a digital Walkman" who knew? Yay for new phones that you can read your texts on.

Quotable Quotes by my Kids

Yesterday I heard from down the hall a lot of bickering and then this "so sorry, I meant to punch you in the gut." I knew in an instant it was going to be a long day.

This evening the same kid says, "You know what you need? A breath mint." What a sweetheart I am raising.

Dinner out with kids

It isn't often that we go out to dinner. First, it is expensive, second it is hard work to get that many kids looking acceptable for public viewing and third, it's expensive. When I am trying to keep the food budget below national standards taking kids to a family friendly restaurant does not make the list of to do's. But, last night I decided to take the four youngest out for dinner at a restaurant that shall not be mentioned and it was a nightmare. The girls were actually well behaved considering we had to wait over an hour for our food. After we were seated and ordered drinks, we looked over the menu and made our choices. We placed our order and started the waiting game. We played "I spy", "can you guess who", and colored the kid menus. This is usually enough to get us to the part where they bring out the food and all is well. That didn't happen, instead I got the "I'm so sorry but we have lost the ticket and we have to put the order in again" visit. So we waited longer, good thing I carry colored pencils and paper in my bag. We all proceeded to color and wait longer. In the mean time there was another family out enjoying an evening together. However you wouldn't be able to tell from all of the yelling that was occurring at that table. Sit down, sit still, keep your hands to yourself. Don't get me wrong, I have had and still have all of these "discussions" with my children. But really after the third "That's it you're not getting any dessert and I mean it!" I was ready to turn around and say, really do you really mean it? Both of those kids had dessert. Of course I was then serenaded with a chorus of "if you don't keep your hands to yourself you will not watch TV for a week!" To which my question is Really, are they really not going to watch for a week? It would probably be a good idea to limit their screen time but they did get that ice cream, remember. Honestly parents, if you can't mean it don't say it. Why would he stop, he is going to get whatever he wants. Finally our food came, we ate, we left a tip and finally we went home. Yes, I said nothing of paying for the meal, they were apologetic enough to give us our meal for free. I would have happily paid for it mistakes happen, however the unpleasant parenting that was happening behind us left me wondering how some people ever make it to adulthood and are useful people. I will be the first to say I am not a perfect parent nor are my kids perfectly behaved all of the time in every situation. They however know I mean what I say and there will be follow through.

Old Sturbridge Village

Think way back to May. Do you remember that far back? Well, Papa and Grandma Jubitz came out for a visit and we headed to Old Sturbridge Village. OSV is a living museum. We wondered for hours, the weather was perfect and we had a great time. Highlight of the trip the brand new baby lambs that had just been born a couple of hours before we got there. One of them was being rejected by it's mom and wouldn't let it nurse. The kids were worried and so was grandma. They said one gets rejected every year and they bottle feed them. Well of course we were going to have to go back and find out if that little lamb made it or not. More on that later.

We walked for miles and we enjoyed the weather and the village. We went to the store and saw all kinds of fun things for sale in the 1800's. Sorry some of these pictures are blurry but when you give the kids the camera you sometimes get blurry pictures. It's about the experience and the memories not the pictures. Or so I keep telling myself anyway.

We toured the saw mill, the grist mill, the carding mill, various houses and farms, saw the baby pigs, watched the potter and the cobbler. Ran amok in the school and on the town green, watched them weave fabric, learned how they died wool to make the yarn different colors. In short we had a mighty fine day.

The grist mill (that is grinding grain into flour)

The carding mill. That is the combing of wool to later be made into yarn.

Baby pigs.



You know what else you get when you give a kid a camera?

Butts and noses. Some of which you don't recognize as family members butts or noses.

More on our return trip to OSV later.