we really did it!

a last minute study session on monday night. (ignore the date- M's camera is not set right)

our happy little mascot!

all this studying finally paid off! we got 5th place in the oral component, and 5th place overall!

just a little while ago we all got home from penn state, after spending 2 days there for the state envirothon competition. it feels like it was a long journey, but all that studying and nagging finally paid off!

the oral component of the e-thon was a scenario about the Appalachian trail, and the negative impacts from the variety of recreational uses. they had to come up with solutions to 2 critical recreational impacts, and how to implement those suggestions. they worked hard all week, brainstorming, preparing, researching and perfecting their speech and delivery. dave and i were able to go in with them into the room as they gave the speech in front of 6 judges. they did very well, with minimal nervousness, and answered the questions the judges had at the end very confidently and intelligently.

on tuesday (which was a very cold, damp, cold, rainy and cold day in state college) was the rest of the testing. dave and i spent the day in the car with B (which was not as bad as it sounds!) around 2pm, we bundled B up, and headed for the awards building. we met M coming down the hill, and she was a little discouraged (and alot wet and muddy!) and she told us that she didn't think they had done so well. i was disappointed, but knew that they had done their best. so off we were to wait until it was time to give out the awards.

first they announced the winners of the oral component. i was fairly confident that they had done well, but when the 10th place winner got a overall score of 92, i was a little worried! however, we were very pleased to receive 5th place, with a score of 95! for this achievement, we all received nice little fanny packs from REI, a $15 gift certificate, (even our little mascot got her own gift certificate!) and a trophy.

then came time for the real nail biting waiting. after what M had told me, i was no longer sure what to expect. they started announcing the winners one by one, starting with 10th place. our friends from snyder county got 9th, and we were so happy for them! then 8th, 7th, and 6th (another homeschooling team from westmoreland county) place were announced. i was just turning to M to say that we didn't get in the top 10 like we had hoped, when they said 5th place "union county homeschoolers" !!!!!!!!! we were shocked, amazed, thrilled and ecstatic! back up front for more picture taking, and more prizes- a wooden plaque, a bag, flash drive and disposable camera.

after we were home we made a few phone calls to brag and share the happy news with friends and family. maybe if we're lucky we'll be in the daily item. (we don't hold out too much hope for that after their lame article about the county competition.) so now life will get back to a more normal pace and expectations. we've had alot of things on hold, to give the kids time to prepare for e-thon. tomorrow morning it's nose to the grindstone. we've spackling to do, a dumpster to fill and a ditch to dig. no rest for the weary!

trouble in paradise!

looks like the girls are not happy!

lest you think it's all fun and games around here....

settling in (sort of!)

well, we've been here for a week now, and we're slowly settling in. we have been blessed with ALOT of stuff, and thank goodness this is a large house- i don't know where we'd go with it all if it wasn't! we have made several trips back to new berlin, and with the exception of a few odds and ends, we have all our belongings here in monroeton. now, it just remains to find a place to put it all! organization is key. shelves are helpful, too! i can see that i will need to read a few books about managing my household! there is much household to manage! and after organizing all my canned goods on the shelf in the basement, i can see that we will be eating alot of tomatoe products! chili, spanish rice, spagetti, rabbit stew...

all major projects are on hold. we are concentrating on envirothon- mainly the oral component. this is a mandatory speech that must be presented to a panel of judges on a given scenario. this year it is about problems with the Appalachian trail. the kids have all been working hard on it, and it's coming along nicely. just a few finishing touches, and then we're off to penn state on monday. thankfully, dave can come along to help, as i will also be taking B along. it should be interesting!

in between all that's going on, i have managed to start my flower garden. M helped me on sunday, and so did N. dave and i also planted potatoes last night. and there is still mounds and piles of laundry, and i have to make dinner every once in a while....

here is a google map link for an aerial view of our house. it was taken a few years ago, but it's still pretty accurate. you should be able to cut and paste it into the address bar. now that you know where we live and how to get here, stop in and visit us for awhile! you could stay for dinner- we'll just add another quart of tomatoes to the stew...


http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=41.712476,-76.468728&spn=0.000843,0.001499&t=h&z=19

moving day!

our first "family dinner" in our new home and kitchen

M is getting settled into her room

N and G are ready for bed

D's corner (can you tell he likes the navy?)

you can tell it's official- the cat is asleep, and the baby is happy!

yesterday was the big day! after nearly 5 months, we moved into our "new" house. we had lots of help on both ends loading and unloading our truck. we pulled out of new berlin at 2:30, and by 6pm we were unloaded in monroeton. not too bad! now it just remains to unpack the 4,257 boxes scattered all over the house! that should take us 2 years at least. (i'm not exaggerating as much as you might think i am!) i was working on unpacking the kitchen most of the day. that is almost done. we are steadily making progress on the house, and every day is an improvement on the day before. it will go even faster now that we are living in the house, and can work on it more consistently.

so for now, we all have our work cut out for us. we begin the next chapter in our family story, building memories one day at a time. and remember- anytime you'd like to drop in, we'd be pleased to have you!

homeschoolers kick butt!

the union and Snyder county envirothon teams

gabriel

micheal, daniel, nathaniel, matthew

miriam, paula, kelcie and barb

Tuesday was the regional competition of the envirothon, and my kids represented union county, as the union county homeschoolers. our friends were representing snyder county, as future hope. between the 8 of them, they beat (whooped) all other 292 public and privately schooled kids there. (a total of 56 other teams!)

it was alot of work preparing for this competition. there are 5 subjects to study- soils, forestry, wildlife, aquatics and a current issue, which this year was "recreational impacts on the environment". we started studying in january- mostly 1 hour a day. i will say, however, some of my students studied harder and more diligently than others! if you want more info about envirothon, you can go to www.envirothonpa.org there were definitely some grumblings in our house about the amount of extra work that is required to prepare for this, but after our homeschoolers sweep, every one is psyched again.

we won the top scoring prize in soils and current issue. future hope won in forestry (with a perfect score of 100!), wildlife and aquatics. each of our teams was the top scorer in our county. the overall score was tied at 468, and the tie breaker was current issue, so we took the top prize overall.

we are thrilled to be going to the state competition on may 19 & 20! there we will compete against 59 other teams- the best from each county will be represented. we have more work to do preparing, and we will need to prepare a speech on a given scenario. all this will take place on the state college campus of Penn state. we went last year, and the kids had a great time, so they are getting excited again.

I'm very proud of my kids- so bear with my proud mama bragging! they worked hard all year, and deserve alot of credit and recognition.

down to the wire!

well, we're one week and counting! hard to believe that it's almost here! I'll be glad to move, and finish the transition that we've been working on for almost 6 months now. Dave has been up at the house for the last 3 weeks- his transfer went through, and now he works at the Sayre Lowe's. ( i may have mentioned that.)

we were up at the house yesterday, doing some last minute stuff. N and i worked on cleaning some more, and moving stuff into storage areas, instead of in the main living area. that in itself makes a big difference! we also cleaned some more floors.

Dave and N re-hung the drywall in the bathroom, and Dave has set the goal of having the bathroom basically ready to paint when we move in. he's got the toilet and sink up and running (we got a new septic tank this week) and the bead board is also up. i also took up all the bathroom hardware for him to install, as well as buying the paint while i was at Lowe's- a lovely blue dusk color.

we also finished hanging the drywall in the back living room. that's not an easy task, since the house is nowhere near level. one piece was a parallelogram! but Dave is very patient and methodical, so it fit nearly perfectly! there is one more wall in the front living room to drywall, but unfortunately that will have to wait. I'm a little disappointed, as i really wanted to have that done, but it's not the end of the world.

Dave has been fishing alot during his breaks. last night he called me and told me about his latest fishing adventure. seems he was fishing for trout, but there were so many pesky small mouth bass biting that he never even had the chance to catch any trout! he caught 6 bass in 10 minutes! N has bought himself a fishing license and pole, and he's eager to catch some fish, too. we tease him that he's spoiled for life for fishing. a few years ago when we were camping at little pine state park, he caught a 20" rainbow trout! it was so big that it was pulling the canoe, and dave was sure that he had snagged a tree trunk or something!

anyway... right now i'm trying to "catch up" on my scrap booking. i know that when we move, there will be no opportunity for that until at least the fall. I'd like to do a little more in B's baby book today, and then that's it. just last night i finished scrapping the story of the renovation of the high street house. i used one of creative memories pictfolio albums. that was certainly worth the little bit more money. it came with journaling cards and mats, and it was very quick and painless. i would definitely recommend one if you'd like to make some quick progress on a specific event. one thing though- if you are one of those people who never takes a vertical picture (all the pictures you shoot are horizontal) this album would not work for you. on each page there is room for 10 pictures- 6 horizontal and 4 vertical.

so now a large part of my life is putting things in boxes. that is, after i've run all over creation to find some. we're becoming acquainted with the state liquor store people- we show up regularly to beg for their boxes! weis' is stingy, and won't give any out, but wal-mart does. just in case you wanted to know.

rolling right along!

I'm happy to say that things are rolling right along in Bradford county! lots of things to report since i last posted. Dave's job transfer went through, and as of last Saturday, he is the newest employee at the Lowe's in Sayre. now he will be up in monroeton 5 days, and home for 2- just the opposite of what we've been doing all winter.

we have spent 6-7 days working on the house this month, and i feel that we are really making alot of progress. i was able to go up 3 days, and got alot accomplished. one of my first projects was to clean upstairs. the boys and A helped with that. we washed down all the walls, as well as mopped all the floors. that really made a big difference! we are under no illusion that it will be the last time to clean- not even before we move in- but it felt good to get it done. now it smells really nice, and we know that all the dirt is ours, and not left over from some previous person! (btw, it should smell very nice- we used 3 40 oz. bottles of mr. clean!)

another special thing about that day was that for the first time, A came along with us. she had her cozy coupe car upstairs with us while we worked (plenty of room for that!) and between car rides she grabbed a rag and helped scrub the walls and floor. she also spent time down at the creek with dave throwing rocks. they had a great time doing that, and she still talks about it- "creek. Dada. stone. splash!" A loves to be outside, and she has also discovered worms. she has a little red enamel pot, and along with a spoon that she found, she goes around trying to convince different brothers to find worms for her. last week we weren't even there for 5 minutes, and G, D and i were turning over rocks for her to see if we could find some worms! after having A there with us for several days, and working around in the house on different projects, i have a pretty clear vision of what my life will be like once we move. i will spend half my time trying to keep the house (particularly the floors) clean, another half looking for whatever it is i need to use (since my family doesn't apparently believe in putting things away), and the other half looking for A. she seems to have a knack for disappearing. we put bells on her shoes, and that seems to be helping a little bit!

there is a big difference in the house now, even from just a few weeks ago. we have some more drywall hung in the living rooms. i would like to have all that hung before we move in, and i think that it will get done. it will be nice to have the main living area somewhat presentable when we move in. always good for the morale! there are also lights in most of the rooms, too- and not of the flood light variety, either- a real, honest-to-goodness light that you can turn on with a switch upon entering the room. never underestimate that luxury! and even better, they are really nice lights from Lowe's- not just bare bulbs hanging. we bought lights that will match- for the living rooms, kitchen, hallway and landing. they have a nice leaf scroll work on them. the front living room and our room will have fans, though. also purchased from Lowe's (need you ask?) the bathroom is moving forward again, with some of the bead board installed, and the sink is up and running. the toilet will be next, sometime next week. we will be getting a new septic tank early next week, to replace the one that rotted out and collapsed. my kitchen is functional= i have a sink, stove, dishwasher, and counters and shelves. we'll limp along like that until the fall, when the sill is fixed. the best part of the kitchen, in my opinion, is the floor. D ripped up all the old floor, and underneath is wide pine planks. i love old wood floors, and we spent considerable time and watter scrubbing the floor to clean and bleach it. it has really made a difference, and i love it! when the kitchen is done, we'll sand and finish the floors. it's very old and farmhousy looking. another step forward has been the laundry room- one of the last things we needed to do before moving in. dave has installed the light, and has the plumbing pretty well along in there.

we've even found time to begin on things outside. dave started tilling up his garden- over 100' long! it will be several years in the making,a s the soil is not too good, and filled with rocks, but he's looking forward to having another large garden. today when he went back, he took along bud, our red bone coonhound. bud weathered the ride well, and seems to be happy and settling in his new home. and on Tuesday, i went to pick up our chickens at the feed store. we have 36 peeps in our basement- destined for our freezer! A of course loves them, and wants to go down to see them often. she's going to be her dada's farmer girl!

life just continues to gallop along, and everyone is doing well, and fairly busy. we're coming down to the wire of when we will actually move, and i'm realizing that we'll need to start putting things in boxes again! we have a nice collection of them in the garage, just waiting for all our stuff...

consider yourself warned!

yesterday was a milestone in our family- both D and N are licenced to drive! here is a picture of them after their proud moment. they both did really well, and passed on the first try, despite being very nervous. D got his licence, and N got his permit. this was the day that the nurses warned us about the day that we took them home from the hospital- "two boys; just wait until they're 16 and they both are learning to drive!" i seem to remember them also alluding to insurance rates going through the roof!

now that D has his licence, he of course thinks that he should be allowed to drive everywhere, (i think he would drive to the bathroom if it was possible!) despite the fact that he doesn't have a car. i see a few battles coming on that front before too long!

Dave now has one more teenager to teach how to drive- and this is another reason that I'm really thankful for him- i don't think that I'd be able to do that chore without major ulcers or hair pulling on my part. I've also heard the kids mutter that they'd rather Dave teach them, as he's much more patient, as well as calm, cool and collected. they've done some pretty hilarious "skits" imitating me in the passenger seat while they are driving. and since i have more grey hairs than I'd like to admit, I'll gladly leave that task to him!

please hold...we'll be with you shortly

there is not much new news to report on the house, but i thought that I'd just jot a few things down, in case anyone is wondering what happened!

Dave has not been up for several weeks, since he and M just got back from a week long mission trip to Haiti. that went very well, and made a significant impact on them both. you'll be hearing more about that in a future blog. the "crew" will be up at the house next week.

right now the big hold up is waiting for Dave's job transfer, which we have not heard anything about. ideally, we'd like him to transfer several weeks (but no more than a month) before the family plans on moving. that way, he can get more stuff done, and have more time to do it. hopefully we'll hear something about his transfer soon!

the last time Dave and N were up there was a bit of a set back. someone (who shall graciously be allowed to remain nameless) put a hole in the roof. after some locally heavy rain, several pieces of drywall in the bathroom needed to be replaced, as well as in both hallways. quite discouraging, as the bathroom had the first coat of mud, too! Dave and N spent time ripping that out, and getting it ready to be re-hung. the roof, while disconcerting, is not that big of a deal. we planned on replacing it, but maybe not this soon. for now it is patched, and not leaking, so there is no urgent rush. we'll just put that project on the short list for this summer. Dave also worked in the kitchen, while N continued digging the ditch for the piping for the wood heater. i have not been up in a while, but I'm told that my kitchen is semi-functional ( in the most optimistic sense of the word!) there is a stove, dishwasher and sink. so with a few well placed tables for counters, and shelves for cupboards, I'll be set to go. of course this will all be temporary, until the foundational issues can be resolved.

I'm looking forward to the next time we can all go up to work on the house. we need to get back into the groove, and be encouraged with more progress. so until then...

how old are you? a quick on-line quiz

if you've been wondering if you qualify as "old", you can take this short quiz and alleviate any lingering doubts.

#1- do you find yourself ripping up small cardboard cartons (i.e. mountain dew cases) into smaller bits so they don't fill the garbage can as quickly?
#2- are the only rides that you still enjoy at Knoebel's the Grand Carousel and Antique Cars?
#3- does practicing parallel parking with your son give you a stomachache?
#4- does the loud, repetitive music from aforementioned son give you a headache?
#5- does watching your teenage sons dancing the YMCA make you feel old?

if you answered yes to more then 2 of those questions, I'm afraid that i have bad news for you. you are either already old, or gaining on it quickly! I'm appalled to admit that I've experienced all of these warning signs- most within the last week! however, of some small comfort to me, my husband received in the mail (just the day before yesterday) a membership application the the AARP! ha- there is justice in the world!