Counseling with Dr. Archibald

. . . because I'm running out of things to post and my kids loved this!

Helping Papa in the Yard

He is holding a worm in his hand. He enjoyed this treasure that Papa found.

Our Houghton Visit

The Balloon Fiasco

Balloons and cars with windows down are no match for a 5 year old with pony tails.

Houghton Bound

Later this afternoon my wife and I, having dispensed our precious children to invaluable friends will get in the van and drive for Houghton. We're going so that I can take one of my last classes for ordination and Christine will have to drive for me so that I can read material the whole way.

I don't have time for this post.

But I just have to take the opportunity to remark on how much I owe Houghton. I received a top notch education, wise and unapologetic character formation, incalculable spiritual blessings and a wife who benefited from the same.

God bless the Alma Mater!

Hey Job

I got the mouse. How's the porcupine coming. Maybe you should try killing it with mind bullets. That's telekinesis, Job.

Vermont life loses it's charm when mice invade your kitchen.

The Rock

This Rock on which I take my stand

Alone resists the shifting sand

For it can not be swayed.

I cling to it when nations roar,

When hateful things erupt in war,

And I am not dismayed.

Corn Hole

I tried to download a video of us playing this game but it wouldn't work. Here are some pictures but they are kind of boring if you are not familiar with the game of corn hole. Dave made us this game for Christmas and it was the first time that we had set it up outside. It was loads of fun. Joel made sure that they played strictly by the rules and he even got out the measuring tape when setting it up. John and Job won against Dad and Joel. It was a match between the old vs. the young, the wise vs. the foolish, the married vs. the unmarried, or was it the men vs. the boys? Thank you, Dave!

Vermont Life

Bandana Dreams - The Soundtrack

I know it's a strange video, but this is the song I will use at the point when our young hero, beaten down but not defeated, finally takes his leave of the House at 20 Mile Stream. "Everything gets lighter, even if it never gets better." I love this song, and I'm really taken with the band.

The below video was Obadiah's pick of the week. He loves tractors!

Tractor Square Dancing

Household Tip # 2: Socks!

My Solution:

We have socks everywhere (dirty and clean) tucked into crevices in the house that would take an archaeologist to dig up and retrieve them. Sometimes, I find myself picking up socks that have been discarded in the yard, or in the van, or even at a neighbor's house.

In order to reign in the sock distribution we have tried to limit the variety and the number of socks my kids possess. I went through my kids room, dumped all the socks in the middle of the floor and sorted through them. We threw out all socks that had holes in them, all socks whose match was beyond an archaeologist discovery and gave away all socks that were never worn. I then went to Wal-Mart and bought three bags of girls white socks, all the same size, (I can do this because my three girls are close in age and size), with 10 pairs of socks in each bag. We then dumped them into a bin in their closet. The benefit to this is that I no longer have to pair the socks up or divide them by child but I'm still picking up socks throughout the neighborhood but this time they are always white.

The Ottoman Solution:

I have a friend who has a beautiful black leather ottoman in her living room. When I commented on it recently, in a sly whisper she said, "It's hollow and all my mismatched socks are in it!" I thought this was a great idea to find a concealing spot for these mismatched runaways located where everyone in the family can easily get at it.

The Mesh-Bag Solution:

"Give every member of the family two mesh bags to keep in their sock drawer--one for clean socks, the other for dirty ones. When the socks come off at the end of the day, they go into the dirty sock bag, which gets washed and dried on laundry day with the socks in it. It then goes directly into the sock drawer and becomes the clean sock bag. No more sorting, matching, or losing socks, or wondering who they belong to."

Simplify your Life with Kids, by Elaine St. James

Momma by Lucy

Princess by Grace

Buzzy Bear by Elisabeth

I like my fuzzy wuzzy bear

He won't give you a scare.

He is always always silent

and never ever violent.

He just loves, loves, loves, honey

and almost never cares about money.

Barstow Sap Run

Elisabeth, Caleb, and Sarah ran a 1 mile race this morning at Barstow. It was a terrible day for a race. It was cold and rainy. The kids did an excellent job. Out of fifty kids, Sarah came in 18th, Elisabeth at 19th and Caleb at 22th. Elisabeth and Sarah sprinted and competed for the 18th spot. It was fun watching them race against each other. It was close!

Elisabeth ran a mile in 11 minutes and 9 seconds! Good job, Elisabeth!