Happiness

Happiness is when you give a gift to someone. It is when your car stops beside the road and someone picks you up. Happiness is when you have joy. It is when your cow has a calf. Happiness is when you get your hay in before it rains. It is when you tractor starts when it usually doesn't. Happiness is when you get to drive the golf cart. It is when you get a 100% on your work. Happiness is when we go to the sale barn.
-Lyndon Yoder, 4th grade

I was looking for a paper I had written when we used to go to the Mennonite school. Mom and I were flipping through an old newsletter and found this by a boy in Katie's class. Is this not priceless? I have such sweet memories of those years. =) I will leave you to determine for yourselves who the kids are in this picture. See if you recognize any of them.

Smelly

Anyone hungry? Today I cleaned out the refrigerator and freezer. This is a singular event in itself for many households and I'm sure most of you are used to the sensation of pulling out SOMETHING that has been tucked into some corner for months. Something that you just don't know what it is or where it came from. I had one of those experiences when I pulled this glass jar out of the freezer. It is a stinkbug, in case you can't tell. When we saw it Mom and I went off about Ben's tendancy towards cruelty to animals etc. etc. (Which is not really true, btw.) We made plans to confront him, and eventually did. But no, we were mistaken. It wasn't him, why would he freeze a bug? Good question. Finally I asked Dad if he knew what it was. And yes, my FATHER froze a bug in a jar for months. We can't get a motive because he doesn't remember why. 

 The new van! It's used, but still in very good shape.

 Surprise, surprise!! The other new car. =)

 A VW Rabbit, isn't it great? It is supposed to be for me, I think, but I've only driven it once. It's a standard, so it may be a while yet.

 Mama's birthday was Wednesday. We usually do fruit platters for birthday breakfasts. They are  a hit all around.

 Daddy was in charge of the fruit. That is his area of expertise, anyways. =)

Final bit of news. Katie dropped a piece of firewood on her foot yesterday morning, so she's rather incapacitated. It is very large and purple. She'll be on crutches for at least a couple days. It's not broken but Dad says the tendon is damaged. Worst case scenario is that she'll be hobbling around over Thanksgiving when the cousins are here. Hopefully she'll be fine by then.

New Ride

This week has been fairly low key, which is nice. The only major thing that stood out was the new van that we got last Saturday. Our old one was having some problems, so we decided it was time for a change. I'll get pictures soon. For right now I need to go help mom with something. =)

The Big 12

For those of you who don't have kids living in the house anymore, maybe this post will be a small reminder of the big fun and insane BUSINESS of birthday parties. Nathan turned twelve last week and we had seven boys at our house Friday night; all between 9 and 12.

 Every one of these boys lives in mortal terror and admiration of Ben. He is their absolute hero and model but I have to say something about the fact that he can beat all of them put together in any game of football, wrestling, or snow balls.

 The day was spent going from the wii, Lego's, and outside.

Mom made ice cream cake at Nathan's request and it was amazing! She pulled off two cakes, one sherbet and the other chocolate mint ice cream. It was as good as it looks. =)

 Friday night we got about three inches of snow, which caused a fair amount of excitement at our house. For the first snow to come this early was great.

To the knob again!

 This year at Labor Day our family packed up and moved out to go camping on our Granddad's mountain. You may remember my blog about the last trip in 2009.

 Here is the old cabin up there. It was built right after the Civil War.

 Katie at the front door. All of us kids have taken small pieces from a log that had to be replaced in the cabin so that we can have  a souvenir from the 1800's =)

 The ladder up to the attic.

 The last remnants of wallpaper. We like to try to read the newspaper articles.

 We ate really well: beanie weanies.

 We don't sleep in the cabin because we know that SOMETHING is leaving all of the snake skins in the attic.

 The asparagus from the old garden. We always forget to come up here and collect it, though.

 The door leading to the original cabin and kitchen.

 Mmmm. My least favorite part of the trip...

 But it's got a nice view!

Sunset on the knob. =)