Happy All Hallows' Eve!

 Well, we made it through the sugar induced craziness of the night and everyone had a blast.  The kids were saying and Ken and I agreed that this was an exceptionally fun Halloween for the kids.  Last night we carved pumpkins, today we made green rice krispy treats, and tonight we joined the neighborhood in lots of family fun.  

All of our neighbors came together for a potluck in the courtyard this afternoon.  All the kids were dressed up and there was food galore.  We all ate and let the kids play until it was time for the trick or treating to begin.  Once it began, our kids along with all the others, began the candy free for all.

In no particular order, here were the characters at our house this year.  Claire was a ballerina (or a ballerina princess, depending on the day you ask her).  This should really come as no surprise to anyone.  She was made for this.

Hannah, after much deliberation, was Pocahontas.  I think she  made a cute blond-haired, blue-eyed Indian.

Grace, staying true to her creative side, went as a skunk.  She decided this on her own, and I did the best I could to make a skunk costume.  This outfit was inspired by the crazy number of skunks that roam around here....including in our backyard... but more on that later.

Nathan went as an adorable baby boy in Halloween PJs.  He's already a pumpkin, even without a costume.  

And Jakey was our race car driver (Nascar to be exact).  He loves this outfit and has worn it most of the week.

Gracie said tonight that the best part of Halloween was that the next day is November and that means Thanksgiving is coming soon.  Claire said the best part of Halloween is the candy.  To each his own.    We now have everyone's teeth brushed and have tucked them into bed.  

Now off to set the clocks back an hour. Am I the only one who thinks that totally pointless and very inconvenient?  Extra hour of sleep?  Whatever.  That's only for people with no children under 5.  All it means to me is that my kids will be up at 5am for the next week and I have to bring them inside an hour earlier at night.  I think we should just keep it the same time all year round.  You know, now that we have electricity and all.  I'm just sayin.

Anyway, I hope you had a fun All Hallows' Eve and that you have a fun All Saints Day tomorrow!  We'll be celebrating that too.... starting at around 5am.

the cranberry festival

While we're living in this part of the country, we want to try to soak in as much of the local stuff as we can.  There are definitely a lot of things to do here that are very unique.  So, a few weekends ago, we headed up to MA for the day.  The colors there were pretty and close to peak foliage time.  We are now getting those colors here, and it really is something to see.  I grew up in Alabama.  Green and brown were our Fall colors... and our summer, spring and winter colors too, come to think of it.  Anyway, everything is glowing reds and oranges and yellows here.  I wish I had more chances to take pictures of all this, but the weather hasn't really cooperated.  But, back to the trip.

We went to Edaville, Massachusetts to go the the annual Cranberry Festival.  Yep, this is where they harvest cranberries.  And it's pretty cool.  Just like the Ocean Spray commercials.

We got to take a train (which Jake thought was the best thing ever) through 18 acres of cranberry bogs and watch them harvest the cranberries.  I've seen lots of peanuts harvested, but never cranberries.  The kids were really interested and so were we.

The farmland out there was really pretty and it looked almost surreal, all of the cranberries floating and waiting to be harvested.

As fun as it was to see the bogs, that wasn't the only thing to do in Edaville.  As part of the festival, they had a full carnival with rides and everything.  They had lots of trains and old-fashioned toys for the kids to play on.  They had a really neat playground in the middle of a grove of pine trees and trains they kids could pedal with their hands.  So much to do and explore.

And as it all that wasn't enough, there were full on carnival rides that were the perfect size for the kids.  It was so sweet to see all of the kids riding without us (except for Nathan of course).  They seemed so big.

Of course, some of the rides needed an adult and we were more than happy to step in.  I think Ken should get some kind of special Daddy award for riding the elephants, don't you?  Although, he does look like he enjoyed it, too!

We went early in the morning so it was none too crowed and no lines.  The kids just got to bounce from ride to ride.  It was like Six Flags for tots....only better.

I got to ride the Ferris Wheel twice, each time with 2 different kids.  I have to say it was alot of fun.  They thought it was the coolest thing ever and I haven't done that in years!

Here's another train ride, with the girls in the back and you can see Jake and Hannah in the engine.

Do you notice the train theme here?  Jacob is so into Thomas right now, so he thought all this was pretty great.

And, of course little man was there too.  Not riding rides, but he did get out of the stroller long enough to share a sandwich with Gracie.  I think he had fun too.

It was a fun day and was light years better than our trip to Plymouth last month.  It was one of those rare times when everyone just has fun and it doesn't feel stressful and you think, "Hey, we can do this!"   Good times!

my monkeys

The kids and I went to the pumpkin patch last week and soaked in some of these nice Fall days.  The colors are beautiful here right now.  We met some friends there for lunch and let the kids romp around for a while.  Their favorite part was by far an old tree that was just perfect for climbing.

All my little monkeys climbed...

and played...

and laughed...

and hid...

and watched...

and smiled...

and peeked.

Except for this little monkey.  He just relaxed on the grass and ate leaves... and didn't seem to mind at all.

  I love all my little monkeys.

the happiest baby in the world

Remember the baby boy who refused to smile?  Remember when I dressed him up and plopped him down in a patch of pumpkins and he absolutely would not smile?  Well, I discovered the secret to making that baby smile.  Just dress him in a drool covered, unbuttoned t-shirt and place him in a food caked high chair.  Then let him slather himself in Graham crackers.    

Then, he's happy.  

Really, really happy.

In fact, he just may be...

the happiest baby...

in the world.

Like butta

This week we've been playing in the kitchen.  With the cool Fall weather arriving, I'm ready to get cooking and the kids are more than excited to help.  Since we have been studying Pilgrims lately, we decided to make butter. We don't exactly have a butter churn handy, so we decided that baby food jars would work just fine.  I filled the jars 1/2 full with whipping cream and sent the kids outside with them to" shake them all about".  They were more than happy to dance and shake about, but I think they were a little doubtful that all this activity would produce butter.  But, lo and behold, about 15 minutes later, we had beautiful creamy balls of butter!  Pretty neat learning experience and we enjoyed our nice little homemade snack on crackers.

While all this butter making was going on, I also tried my hand at apple butter.  I had never made it before but reading about all the fall cooking with apples (thanks Jen and Jessie!) really inspired me.   I found a recipe here and varied it a little to taste.  The best part is that it is made entirely in the crockpot!  It turned out yummy and smooth and delicious!  It makes a great snack or lunch spread on bread and could be a good substitute for peanut butter for those who have allergies.  And not only does it taste good, but it makes your house smell sooo good while it's cooking!   Like butta!!!

Fall photos

After days of wind and rain (I've now experienced my first Nor'easter), we finally had a crisp, sunny Fall day.  Not wanting to miss the opportunity, I brought the kids outside for some fun fall photos.  I just love pictures of my punkins with punkins.

However, the little man would have none of this.  He doesn't seem to really care that it's his first Fall season, and he wasn't too excited about the pumpkins either.  He tried to gnaw on a few, but wasn't the least bit interested in smiling for the camera.  In fact, I think he was downright annoyed that I was taking his picture.

Now, if you've never tried to get a decent picture of 5 little kids together, you should try it sometime.  You know, just for fun.    However, the other kids were most excited about hamming it up for the camera.  We didn't get any "great" pictures, but we'll settle for cute.  The moment was sufficiently captured and that's good enough.  

The girls are always full of smiles, Jake usually seems a bit perplexed by the whole process and Nathan just tolerates it all as he tries to wiggle away.

I'm not sure if Jake was signaling a touchdown or if he's just stating that he's #1.

But this is one is my personal favorite.

"It's all for you, Jesus!"

horse and pony rides

We went to a fall fest a couple of weeks ago here on base.  MWR and the community housing here is great about providing fun family activities for families in our neighborhood.  At the festival they had a haystack, games, prizes, a concert by someone who really wanted to be Hannah Montana and, best of all, horseback riding.

The kids had so much fun riding the loop with the horses.  Only the girls were interested.  Jake was slightly afraid of the horses.

Hannah and Grace rode the big horse and Claire rode a pony.  And regardless of the expression on her face in this photo, she did have a good time too.  :)

a change or two

You may of noticed, if you made it to this blog today (which you obviously did since you're reading this) that I've made a couple of changes.   Most importantly, I've changed our blog address to:

 www.jensfamilyview.blogspot.com. 

 The reason for the change is that I'm wanting to have a little less personal information out there, particularly our last name and such. I've also changed our blog title to "the view from here" because that's pretty much what our blog is about... life as we see it from here and the pictures we take as we go.  I still love blogging and taking pictures so there's lots more to come.  Thanks for following us on our journey!

we need a Savior

Like most of the free world, I was surprised to wake up yesterday morning and hear that Barack Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize.  Of all the people who were nominated, how could such a previously prestigious award have been given to someone who met so few of the standards supposedly considered for such an honor? It is not really a secret that I disagree with most of President Obama's political and social views.  But, truly, this is not about that at all.  I must say that I feel sorry for him in this situation.  This award was not of his choosing, yet it draws undue attention to a bigger issue that has plagued him since his inauguration. It is an honor that has been bestowed on him that speaks volumes about the spiritual condition of the world in which we live.

President Obama was given this award based on the promise of change.  Our country and our world are looking to this one man to give them hope, to make things better.  It is a burden too large for any man to bear.  In a time when hope is all that many people have, they have placed it all on a fallible man who isn't capable, try though he may, of giving them the change or fulfillment that they seek.  As we see the world clamoring to pin their hopes on anyone who is eloquent of speech and swift to promise, we can be reminded and assured that we do now, as we always have, need a savior.  This savior, however, is not coming in the form of a world leader.  Not in the form of a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a mediator, a liberator or a dictator.  The hope that we so desperately seek has already come.  God has provided this Savior through His son, Jesus Christ.  It is only through Him that we have hope.  It is through Him that our daily bread will be provided, that peace will be accomplished, that evil will be defeated.  It is in Him that we can find refuge and rest.  Forgiveness and healing.

No man, no matter how powerful, will ever be able to be the Savior that we truly seek.  We were created to long for that salvation, yet we have turned from the One that can truly provide it.  I do pray for our President.  He has been placed in a position that no one could envy.  He is being asked to provide a world something that isn't his for the giving. 

Yes, we do need a Savior. I pray, as the world watches and waits for this great hope, that it will be found.  Only not through a man, but though Jesus Christ.  

A picture is worth a thousand words...

highlights

I so love to blog and so miss when I can't do it, but it's been a busy few weeks here at our house.  As much as I would love to go into way more detail than anyone actually cares to read, I'll hit the highlights because I'm very, very sleepy and am heading to bed soon.  

So, here they are.

In no particular order.  

With some pictures.

Again, in no particular order.

School is going well.  I am learning lots.  We made wigwams and tepees and learned what a Calumet is.  The girls then made leaf outfits for their pet-shops so they could live in said tepees and wigwams. We studied pilgrims and stars and we're growing kidney bean plants and an herb garden. The kids started art class with other homeschoolers on base.  Way cool.

We've done more playing at parks and walking on beaches.  We've visited a fall fest and rode horses (pictures later) and checked out the libraries.  Ken and boys found a starfish, the girls found crabs.  Fall arrived and it's chilly outside.  The wind blows here like crazy.  We saw a skunk in our backyard.  It sprayed our neighbor and his dog.  We also still have lots of raccoons, but after reading this story we decided to leave them alone.

We found a church we like.  It's Evangelical Free and more contemporary than we're used to, but the teaching is good and there is lots of good fellowship.  I have been questioned by a few I have met there as to whether or not I am "the lady with 5 kids."  Yes, I am.  And I still wish the church (read, protestants) was more open to life.

Hannah and Grace are spending lots of time riding their bikes.  Our fearless little Gracie, who just took off the training wheels is even riding down steps now.  Claire burns rubber, or plastic as the case may be, on her big wheel.

Jake and Nate are really beginning to bond as brothers.  Nate just loves watching his big brother do everything.  They "play" blocks together and Jake loves to make him laugh.  They take a bath together now and there is lots and lots of splashing.  We're getting the firsts tastes of having "boys".  I think it's going to be fun.



Nathan is all over the place.  He army crawls like a pro and easily gets from lying down to sitting.  He's even beginning to pull up on things.  Definitely a mover and a shaker.  He's as sweet as ever and has spunk.

Ken is working hard as a student.  Tests and papers are now part of the norm.  This is a somewhat busy trimester for him, but things should ease up in a few weeks.  Either way, he's a student and that's pretty great.  We're still liking base housing.  Made lots of friends.  Joined a homeschool group here on base and lots of mommies and kids to hang out with.

I'm still taking lots of pictures.  Of everything.  And I love it.

The older 4 kids are all in one room now.  It's like a slumber party every night.  They are really liking the arrangement and doing really well.  Nathan is now out of our room and we finally have our own room again.  Stand by for another baby.  

Just kidding.  

I think.