Halloween cancelled....{gasp}

OK--Halloween is not my favorite holiday. I would ignore it completely except that I remember how much I liked dressing up and getting candy when I was a kid.

Well, when the storm knocked out power here, it was decided by our town--and most surrounding towns--that it was too dangerous to have the kiddos out trick-or-treating. Kinda hard to see where you are going in the pitch darkness, not to mention that some towns still have live power lines down.

Our neighborhood had power, so when an email was sent out explaining that the town had decided to reschedule trick-or-treating to Friday night, there was a flurry of email response. It seems that some parents didn't think their children could handle the terrible disappointment of having to wait an extra four days for Halloween.

Seriously?

Your kids can't understand that there are people in their community with no power (aka...freezing cold) and that the holiday is just going to take a few extra days to arrive?

You know what? If our kids cannot handle such a small disappointment, what will they do when a true hardship befalls them? What are we teaching them if we never let them experience any discomfort? UGH.

It was decided that our neighborhood would have two nights of trick-or-treat...last night and the official night this Friday.

Jeff and I were disgusted. And didn't participate. What was really funny is that when I was explaining everything to our kids, and mentioned that they might see a few trick-or-treaters out, Molly said, 'I think that is ridiculous. We don't need to trick-or-treat twice." Thank you, Molly. Out of the mouth of an 11 year old.

OK--stepping off my soap box to post some pictures, because we have Internet this morning!

Tree branches down in the town center. This was a common sight.

No matter the circumstances....God is love.

My favorite barn...{swoon}

Our Winter Storm

As I'm sure you have seen on the news, we got slammed with a bizarre October snowstorm on Saturday night.

I am happy to say we have power. Ecstatically happy.

I'm not so happy to say that many of our town, and nearby towns, do not.

We do not have cable, Internet, or home phone, so we didn't know how to find out of there was church yesterday without driving over to see.

It was cancelled.

School is cancelled. We have been told that most areas should not expect to receive power until Thursday. Yikes!

The teen has decided to sleep all day because he is bored out of his skull.

There are so many trees down. It's amazing. And seems much worse than the aftermath of Irene. The power outages from that are so fresh in the minds of everyone here. I don't think anyone was really up for round two. I know I certainly wasn't. Our lights started flickering on Saturday and all I could do was hold my breath and pray, "Oh God, please have mercy. I can't take the kids out to the backyard to poop in the snow." ha

I really feel for those without power because it's cold. Like in the 30's at night kind of cold. Not good for babies and kids who can't keep covers on. Not too much fun for crews out trying to restore power either.

And let's not forget how early it gets dark this time of year. Yeah. 5:30 and it's dark with nothing to do. Yippee.

Like I said...I'm deliriously happy to have power.

I'm using some kind of AT&T apparatus to get Internet but it's slow as a snail (think dial-up) so I'm not sure how many pictures I will have the patience to upload, but I'll give it a try.

I drove around yesterday taking photos because....well...despite the awfulness of the situation, the color of the leaves set against a back drop of snow is quite beautiful. It definitely made me think of the Majesty of the Creator and how all this beauty was just a little foretaste of heaven.

{OK--scratch the picture idea. They won't upload. When we get Internet back, I'll post some.}

Doors of Israel in two sizes

Finally getting this done.... {but I made it in plenty of time for Christmas!}

Here are two sizes of the Doors Of Israel print. I have previously offered the 16x24 and now have an 11x14 available.

The 11x14 needed an extra row of doors to make it work--so it is slightly different than the original print.

Here is the 11x14 priced at $35 + $4 shipping.

And here is the 16x24, priced at $65 plus $4 shipping

ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO Morning Star Foundation to help the babies. If you would like to purchase, please leave a comment below with an email address and I will contact you for payment details.

Thank you so much!!

It's here!

Zoey's new leg that is! It's so cute.

Unwrapping it...

Checking it out...

The difference... (guess we should have taken the soccer sock off first... She wanted to be a

'soccer guy' at school for dress up day so she was in uniform when the package came)

Trying it out...

Constipated smile for the obligatory-for-mom shot

Look out world!!!

She is actually struggling with it a bit. It is so different for her to have a foot that has so much give in it. The ankle still doesn't bend but the foot has a lot of give, which enables her to bend the middle of it. She tends to limp instead. She's trying--but it will take some getting used to. Her knee seems to be holding up just fine so that is a positive sign.

Miss Zoey is getting a new leg!

Well, Miss Zoey has grown enough that she is needing a new leg! For the past three weeks, we have made a once-a-week trip to Shriners for fittings. We were excited to hear that she is going to be able to try a below-the-knee leg this time! Yay! Her current leg goes up over her knee with kind of butterfly sides so that she can bend it. However, she cannot bend her knee completely and it's annoying to her.

Her new leg will allow her to bend her leg enough to sit crossed legged. Woohoo! She is also getting a higher tech foot that gives a lot so that it feels more like a real one. Cool! Her current leg has a completely stationary foot. She just knows that the new one will enable her to run faster and jump higher!

We are expecting her new leg to arrive in the mail any day now. She chose a plaid fabric this time and we are anxious to see what it looks like. ( Mama is going to miss that adorable flowered one but it has gotten pretty battered and scratched!)

Week One...Chloe went too for a check-up. There were sailor's there visiting the kids. So cool! I was very proud of our military when I saw them interacting with the kids.

Time for the saw after getting a casted model of her leg.

Zoey hates the noise of the saw!

Week two--Mommy forgot the camera. Ack!

Week three--This time they had dogs available for the kids to play with. Zoey loved it!

First glimpse of her new leg! It's much shorter and look how clean that foot is! The fabric will be added last.

Lots of walking when you get a new leg. Zoey was getting very disgusted with how many times she had to walk back and forth, back and forth. So funny!

Our last trip was so pretty because all the leaves were changing. Enjoy!

A Little Excitement Around Here

A few weeks ago, I got a very exciting email from a staff member at Give Kids the World.

{GKTW is where we stayed when we were in Florida on SaraGrace's Make-A-Wish trip.} Anyhoo...the staff member had stumbled across my blog and contacted me to ask if I would be willing to let them use any of my photos.

Seriously?

I was totally flattered...excited...thrilled because I know that they have volunteer staff who use some very nice equipment to take advertising photos for them.

So I sent her some.

Today she sent me their first completed project--a large banner with SaraGrace's picture on it. It's so cute! And because I love to advertise for GKTW, I am going to post the photo she sent me as well as encourage you to go check out their website. It is not part of Make-A-Wish, but MAW sends a lot of their kids there. GKTW is only for families who have a child with a life-threatening health condition. We loved our time there--so many amazing children and families. GKTW depend on volunteers and donations to keep operating. It would be such a great place to volunteer for a day if you were in FL on vacation.

They have some more advertising projects that they told me they would share with me in November. I can't wait to see them!

Saturday in Vermont

We {ok..."I"} have been wanting to see the covered bridges of Vermont since the day I found out we were moving to New England.

However...taking a bunch of small children in two vans and driving around all day didn't seem too appealing to anyone in my family.

Party-poopers.

Just kidding.

Our kids' school was supposed to have a Harvest Fair on Saturday but it was postponed due to rain so Jeff suggested we make our much anticipated trip to Vermont.

Yes, it was raining. But better to see the bridges in the rain than not at all, right?

Right.

So everyone piled in two vans and off we went. We were five minutes down the road and Jake asked, 'How wong til we get dere?"

Sigh.

Our first stop was the Vermont General Store. I had looked it up online and was all prepared for it's coolness.

It didn't disappoint. If you like all things nostalgic, you would love this place. You really should visit us so we can take you there.

Come on...you know you want to.

Our kids were able to see things like: Mrs. Beasley, metal kazoos, tinker toys, penny candy (for real--not $25 ea), old brands of soda pop, cast iron stove, etc.

And then it was on to the bridges. Oh my goodness...the countryside...Swoon! It was so beautiful. I tried to take photos through the car window but with the rain, the wipers, and trying to drive and shoot at the same time....well....most of them were blurry or just not that great.

These photos were taken in a small town--Grafton, I believe. There were two bridges there. At the second one Jeff pulled up next to me and said, "Do you want to photograph this or are they all starting to look the same?"

ACK!

Why did I get the feeling that this day was going to be way more exciting for me than for some members of my family?

I started brainwashing the little kids in my car. "Isn't this cool? Isn't this fun?"
"Yes! Yes!" they all agreed.

So cool...a REAL covered bridge. Wheee!

Same bridge....antique processing.

And here is another one! Are you on the edge of your seat waiting for the next one?

Neither was my family.

I, however, was thinking that the scenery was a little piece of heaven.

Same bridge...different processing.

And here is another one. OK--I admit this is getting a little bit redundant but I promise you that it didn't seem like it when we were driving to each one.

At least...not for me.

I'm starting to understand the older kids' less than thrilled reaction to it all.

OK--now this one was cool. It was still in use. We drove through it and the little kids were all yelling about how amazing it was. The older girls told me later that they thought it was going to fall down and they were scared.

Last one...and thank goodness it's red.

Because everyone knows that all Vermont covered bridges are SUPPOSED to be red.

Every calendar has RED covered bridges right?

Who would buy a calendar with brown or weathered gray ones?

This one is not in use for vehicles but we were able to walk through it--which was fun.

It was only sprinkling here so most of the family was willing to pose for a photo.

It was worth every minute of the drive. I was in awe of the beauty there.

I was also a little in awe at the rudeness of the drivers in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Good grief!

I'm pretty sure that they keep their hands on their horns at all times just in case someone might be thinking of any type of rule infraction.

Never let a good infraction go to waste.

If there is even a hint that someone might be considering slowing down in front of you, be sure to honk.

In All My Spare Time...

Sorry to have been AWOL from the blog. Sigh...

It's all the free time I have now.

Yeah.

That.

It's funny how it never materialized.

At. All.

Now that the kids are in school and they know I won't have tag-a-longs, they are quick to ask me to run errands for them.

So now I spend all day in the car.

Every. Day.

Well, at least it seems like it!

So I get nothing done.

It's frustrating.

If you have emailed me and I haven't written back, please do not be mad. I will get back to you.

I will.

It's just that writing emails while driving is generally frowned upon.

The coming weeks don't look much more promising for extra time to blog or email, however.

God has been keeping me extra busy lately with a little side job.

Photography.

So fun! I love it!

And so time consuming.

Also not possible to do while driving.

Speaking of photography....

Looking for an early Christmas present? The Doors Of Israel photo is FINALLY available in size 16x24. That is currently the only size available for order, but more will be coming soon! The reason for that is because each size has to be completely redone from scratch. It isn't possible to just resize the entire image. Soooo.... It takes hours of work to make each one but I plan to work on an 11x14 size soon.

I ordered one to preview and it looks great! The colors are a bit richer than the sample below, so the sample doesn't do it justice. The final print has a larger amount of black edging on the sides and a tad bit more on the top. I can't wait to get it framed and on the wall. I just might have to do a Doors of New England to hang next to it.... Hmmmm.......

A large portion of the proceeds will go to Morning Star Foundation to help take care of the sweet babies who live there. Because of the cost of printing and the fact that this is a fundraiser for them, we ask for a minimum donation of $65 + $4 shipping (total $69) for this print. If you would like to give more, 100% of every dollar over $69 will be donated to Morning Star.

If you would like to order a Doors of Israel print in size 16x24, please leave a comment with your contact information or email me and let me know. I will send you an invoice via Pay-Pal and as soon as I receive your payment, I will order your print for you.

Also...if you order more than one print, you only need to pay once for shipping.

Let's go to the fair!

Saturday there was a fair in our area. Whee! Let's go! Even the teen went along.

It was amusing to see the ticket booth with "ATM money tree" signage. As usual, the fair rides were ridiculously expensive, so the little kids only got to ride one ride. They were fine with it and had fun watching each other pick their favorite ride to try.

'Pass out the tickets, Dad!"

I am kicking myself for not buying this sign!

"Tina, you fat lard, come get some dinner." -Napoleon Dynamite

{Sorry. I couldn't resist. I love that movie.}

Poor SaraGrace was not tall enough to ride any of the big kid rides. She is just so tiny. She is too old to want to ride the kiddie rides, so she chose not to ride at all. She was disappointed but handled it really well. She got to have a treat instead. Daddy took her to pick one out.

A good time was had by all.