family blog addition

you can catch up with olivia-12 here (photo taken this fall at shannon lakes park)

change: school edition

new school: 2800 students

lunches: 6 brown bags each day

seeing their smiling faces at the end of the day (albeit silly): priceless
(karis-17, haley-16, nick-15)

many of you know that this fall, my kids went to school for the first time after being homeschooled 10+ years. it's still a huge adjustment for pete-3 and me. although it was never our plan to homeschool so long, we really just tried to follow wherever/whatever God was leading us to that year. i enjoyed every minute, and miss that old life every day. the relaxed pace, the time spent with my kids, the lifestyle of learning that was just part of our lives rather than "schoolwork" and "play". but i'm reminded of that Bible verse, "better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere" and for me this year, that means that it will be better for me to humbly submit to my husband's school choice for our kids (one day of obedience to the Divine Order set by God) than a thousand homeschooling days that i insist on.

change: weather edition

although florida is getting record cold this week, it's still a jolt to our southern thin blood. no one is complaining. we love it. i imagine heaven to have lots of snow, but without the cold or consequences (frostbite, hypothermia, etc.) it's just too beautiful not to be there. as well as a reminder of what Christ has done for me, "wash me and i will be whiter than snow" (thank you, Lord).

karis and olivia had fun with the camera while i was out rescuing robin and the boys from being let down by his dad's van on the side of the road in a snow storm

they pretended it was narnia--always winter and never christmas....

it doesn't appear as if she's thinking of florida right now....

the boys couldn't be bothered with pictures and pretending..there was sledding to be done!

is this a couple of newlyweds imagining how their children will enjoy the snow while watching ours? or are they empty nesters (ha) reminiscing about the joy of raising children?

86

robin's dad is 86 today. so what do you give a man who has lived through wars, inventions and the kidnapping of the lindbergh baby? his favorite meal, of course. his happens to be pig stomach (also known as hog mal to the locals). somehow the pictures got reversed. it's not as gross as it sounds. you stuff a clean pig stomach with diced potatoes and sausage and bake it. it gives the stuffing a bacon-y flavor. no one else but john eats the actual skin (it gets crusty like bacon when baked). but i can't eat it if i'm the one making it (yes those are my hands, and yes, barb, they do look like my mom's. oh dear....). there are very good reasons why i was a vegetarian and still don't eat much meat....

ah...the things you do for love. happy 86th birthday, dad ruhl. i'm so glad we were here to celebrate this year.

change: blog edition

(another one of the girls latest creations--last one, i promise. karis-17 on left, olivia-12 in middle, haley-16 on right).

we started this blog a few years ago as a way to keep our family in touch with the day to day events of importance (first steps, lost teeth, thank yous for birthday presents, etc.) since we were 1000 miles from most of them. since moving closer (though not close enough to the ones who read the blog...) we've decided to make it public as a way for our now distant friends to keep in touch, but also as a way of documenting our lives in a semi-permanent way.

i remember the wonder my grandma showed at the possibility of typing a few keys and getting information in under a minute from half way around the world. technology beyond her imagination. makes you wonder what our kids will have access to when they're our age.

Change: locale edition

the susquehanna valley is a beautiful blend of farm, rolling hills and distant mountains.












obviously not in florida anymore.

















we've had fun checking out the different farm houses and seeing whether they're amish (no electric lines running to it, buggies or kids in black cotton clothing running around) or not.








stay tuned for more changes....

Face in Hole

the girls have been having loads of fun at this site...check it out and send us your pics.

we're back!

after more than 2 weeks without internet, we are back. stay tuned for some changes!

"fall"

we do get brown leaves in "fall" which is usually the end of december.

our neighbor on the corner, jim, faithfully rakes his pecan leaves (we don't have any trees that lose their leaves all at once) so that the kids can jump in them. this year only olivia, jack and mike wanted to. pete probably would've, but he was taking a nap at the time.

Go Timberwolves

nick played on the freshmen basketball team for chiles this year

they were moving so quickly! sorry for the blur

we love number 15 the best. he looks so short in these pictures (he stands a bit above me around 5'7") and his best friend on the team, brad hill, is to his right, #13.

HPU

more pictures from thanksgiving.

game face on.


father/son moment before the game
too cool cousins moment
billy said he knew they were in trouble when he saw the flags. apparently, any time there are flags on the light posts, they know they'll lose big time. at least the pay off was worth it. i hope.
it's always fun to be with cousins, win or lose. this was before the game (we were SO early)!

Thanksgiving

thanks again Bill and Barb---we had a great time, as always!

no decorating for Christmas....

yet. we have to finish getting the house on the market (with realtor pictures) before we decorate. but with only 2 weeks left, and this being the latest we've ever gotten a tree and decorated (the one exception being 13 years ago when we forewent ALL decorating in favor of moving into the NY house on the 22nd and immediately leaving for Sherry's in MI), I couldn't stand not having something in the house that brought meaning to the season. so...i got this nativity scene by Fisher Price at walmart. besides the fact that bedlam broke out between the 2 youngest boys (it coulda been filmed for an episode of COPS it was that bad) they have enjoyed playing with it a lot! when you push the angel at the top it plays "away in a manger". i taught them the words to the first 2 verses last night as they were falling asleep. i love christmas through young eyes....

some of *my* favorite senior pics

this was a playful one, but it shows a side of her that i love...subtle, sweet and sarcastic all at the same time.

















she thinks this reflection pool is a big waste, so it's funny to have a pose of her in front of it. i imagine when she's older and has more on which to reflect, she won't remember thinking a reflection pool was dumb. i reminded her that back in the earliest 20th century when this was a vacation spot for the couple who built it, they didn't have wii video games or season 4 of the office to relax to.






i love the color of the one on the left--taken at the gazebo on the lake, but the one below is my absolute favorite. we don't know what that big, black urn-like think was exactly, but it adds a great architectural element to our beautiful first born girl. i can't believe she'll be 18 in 2 months.

boys

no matter what i do, it seems mike's hair is always messed up. but he's always smiling...which distracts from the messy hair--











pete adores all his big brothers--













this was pete's halloween costume this year, borrowed from a friend. they were soft, so he thought they would make good pajamas...










thanks, pop pop for giving us this growth chart--we love the philly phanatic. maybe someday we'll be as tall as he is (there is no carpeting on the floor because they spilled so much stuff on it it was gross and starting to smell. at least to my sensitive nose).

so long, farewell.

we sold the piano. i didn't necessarily want to, but knew it was necessary (does that make sense?). we put it on craigslist and it sold within a week. it's a nice young family with 2 daughters, the oldest plays and was ready for more than a keyboard, and her younger sister is following behind. i'm glad someone will love it. i didn't realize the habit i had of walking around the corner and playing a song or two and then moving on. especially since the bigs are all in school.