Green & White Award Banquet

Jordana received the Green & White Award for good citizenship and academic success.  Two students are chosen from each grade for each marking period.  Of 120 students in 8th grade, Jordana is one of 8 who received this award for the year.  That is pretty amazing!  The principals said that the 48 total students (8 from each grade) exemplify superior achievement over the other students who are achieving at a very high level as well.  These students are the best of the best.  Congratulations and great job, Jordana!

Jordana receiving her award from Mr. Lorson and Mr. Colburn, the principals.  Check out the shoes she's wearing - they were an impractical birthday gift from her sister, Liberty.  Jordana just loves those shoes and they looked nice with the dress she wore.

Jordana with her proud daddy!

Jordana and me, her proud momma!

4-Wheeler Riding after the Memorial Day Parade

We had an impromptu picnic on Memorial Day using up the left over picnic food from Saturday.  Liberty, Tommy and the boys were home for the holiday weekend.  Jacob and Tommy got the 4-wheelers out and were riding around.  They took the boys for rides.  The boys were so excited.  Grayson called Jordana's old helmet, "My helmet."  He even wanted to take it home! 

Muncy Memorial Day Parade

On Monday, May 30th, Jesse and Classy particpated in the Memorial Day Parade.  The Civil War Road Show was in Muncy for the holiday weekend.  So the Muncy Historical Society had a civil war theme to the parade.  They called us looking for a black horse to do a tribute to fallen soldiers.  It was an honor for us to be involved.

Jesse and Classy in costume.

Jesse, me, Grayson and Addison with Classy.

Jordana with Classy.

Members of the Muncy Historical Society in civil war costume.

Jordana's Birthday Picnic

On Saturday 5/28, we had a birthday picnic for Jordana.  Liberty made a patriotic-themed cake for her - which survived the 4-hour drive from Long Island in the heat.  And Jordana's best friend, Maia, spent the night.  They slept out in the camper and watched movies for a great girl's night.

Happy 14th Birthday Jordana!

Jordana celebrated her 14th birthday today!  This little girl was so sick when she was a baby.  She was 11 months old before her kidney/ureter/bladder defects were diagnosed.  And she ended up having corrective surgery at Hershey on her 2nd birthday.  We are so lucky that she is happy and healthy today!  She has been a true blessing in our lives.  Happy Birthday from Mom and Dad!

Jordana in the middle, with Lakeisha on the left and Jackie on the right.  Two of her good friends!

Jordana, Lakeisha and Jackie on Lakeisha's John Deere.

Austin, Emma and Jordana.

HHS May Day 2011

Today was May Day at our high school.  The country kids bring tractors to school for display.  They are hard working kids who like to play hard too.  They have big hearts and I'm lucky to get to spend the day with them as a chaperone.

Jacob and his friend, Levi, standing by our Farmall M.

Mr. Toohey, Jacob, and his cousin, Curvin.

Some of the tractors and a 1955 Chevy.

Some of the other tractors.

Duckling Update

Our Momma Duck was doing a great job with her babies and ended up with 14 of the 18 trailing behind her the last 10 days or so.  I suspect a cat or other predator may have gotten the others - but God bless him because I'm sure he took a beating from Momma trying to save her babies!

But, it is time to open our pool.  And there isn't room in this here backyard for me and all the ducks.  The ducks have been swimming on top of our winter pool cover where the rain and melted snow accumulates.  I have not been happy about this at all.  Ducks are dirty and I didn't want to have a mess when we uncovered the pool.  And I didn't want to fight to keep them out of the pool once it was opened.  We didn't have too much trouble with Rodney and Momma last summer because Jacob kept a blue plastic kiddie pool filled for them.  But it sure wasn't big enough for 16 ducks!

So, we set out looking for homes for the ducklings.  Thankfully, one of Jordana's teachers has sisters who live in the country and were looking for ducks.  One of them even has a duck pond and duck house already set up.  Jordana's teacher came today after school and took the babies to their new homes.  We are so glad they are going somewhere to be pets.

Jacob and the Gram Weaver Cart

My beloved grandmother, Mildred Weaver, had a little cart that she used to haul things around with . . .  She would fasten the garbage can on it to make it easier to set out on trash day.  When she died 8 years ago, Jacob wanted this little cart.  He's always loved anything with wheels.  Back then, he'd fasten it behind his Rolling Delight wagon and drag this contraption all over the yard with any assortment of toys and yard stuff that he could compile.  Gradually, he grew out of this to my disappointment . . .  Today while helping to get the back yard ready for Summer, I saw him with the cart tied fast to the back of his Rolling Delight wagon.  I just had to get a picture for old times sake. 

Treasure the moments that you have while your children are little . . .  Time passes much too quickly and all too soon they will be nearly grown up.

April's Wedding Shower - May 22, 2011

Jesse's niece, April, is getting married in June.  Her mom and bridesmaids hosted a wedding shower today.  And just let me tell you - no one puts out a better spread than Jesse's sister, Sandy.  There were sandwiches, bologna & cheese, many different kinds of fruit, and pasta salad.  It was all very good!

This is the bridal party - April is 3rd from the right.  Melissa, 2nd from right, is April's sister and the matron of honor.  The 1st on the right is Sara, our nephew Levi's wife.  2nd from the left is our nephew Mike's wife, Mandy.  And 3rd from the left is Cristy, April's oldest sister.

Denise, wife of Jesse's brother Jim, always makes a handcrafted wedding photo album for the brides in the family.  They are so beautiful!

It's a family tradition to take the bows from the gifts and make a hat for the bride to wear.  April looks cute even in the goofy hat!

Pics from Addison's Birthday Party on April 9, 2011

A few pics courtesy of Aunt Dee:

The birthday boy wearing a Mario mustache!

The birthday brother with his Mario mustache!

Liberty and Jordana.

Ducklings - May 14th, 2011

Our momma duck has been sitting on eggs for quite a while.  We had almost began to think they weren't going to hatch.  On Thursday, May 12th, we noticed that one had hatched but the duckling was dead outside the nest.  We worried that the eggs weren't any good.   But on Friday, May 13th, in the afternoon, we saw Momma sitting on a squirming nest of babies.  We couldn't tell how many there were, but it sure looked like a lot!  On Saturday, May 14th, in the morning, Momma decided to take the babies for a walk.  I counted and there were around 18 ducklings.  There were two eggs still in the next unhatched and one egg had rolled down the bank while the duckling was trying to hatch and didn't make it.  So, she must have had 22 eggs total!  Later that morning, she took the babies for a walk again.  She kept pushing one of the ducklings away.  It looked like he couldn't walk very well.  Jacob and Jordana scooped him up and put him in a pet taxi.  We soon realized that he had just hatched as there was only one unhatched egg left in the next.  We warmed the little guy up and got him walking pretty good, but she still wouldn't accept him.  We had him in the house - taking turns holding him to keep him warm.  He was so cute!  Jordana named him Leroy.  He was eating but was really small.  On Tuesday, May 17th, I found him on his side in the pet taxi, not looking very well.  I think he strained himself against the pet taxi door trying to get out.  I picked him up and kept petting him, trying to stimulate him to perk back up.  But he just kept getting weaker and finally died in my hands.  I cried and cried.  We loved this little duck and were hoping he'd make it.  It just broke my heart.  RIP Leroy. 

Here is Momma and the ducklings.  She is very protective of them!  Ask Jesse about when he was near her and she flew into him!

I don't know how one Momma keeps track of so many little ones!

And here is Leroy in Jacob's shirt pocket.  He was so sweet and would really interact with us.  We miss him! 



Sandy's 50th Birthday Party - May 6th, 2011

Jesse's sister, Sandy, turned 50 on May 5th.  On Friday, May 6th, her husband and kids had a birthday party for her.  We took the horses and wagon up to give rides.  We got there late because I ended up working late.  So, Jesse only had time to give three rides.  But I think everyone enjoyed. it.  Sandy's kids took pictures and I'm hoping to get some copies to put with this post.

Jesse's New Truck - April 18th, 2011

On April 18th, we bought an '04 Chevy Silverado 2500 so we could pull the horses without having to borrow Jim's truck and trailer.  Last summer, we bought a horse trailer big enough for the girls.  We've pulled it with Mac or some small steers with my Trailblazer.  But my Trailblazer towing capacity is around 5,000 lbs.  With the draft horses weighing around 4,000 lbs together, it was too much to pull.  So, Jesse's been looking at trucks.  I sort of wanted to wait until next Spring, but he was able to find a good buy.  Jacob and I test drove it on April 16th while Jesse was selling our wagonette at the Amish sale.  And we bought it on 4/18.  It also has a matching cap which has come in very handy with all the rain we've been getting.

We are now independent with our horses.  It's a good feeling! 

The Wagon Story

Back in February, we made a trip to New York to buy the Jerry Brown wagon.  We loved that wagon - it was quite a statement because of all the chrome and the high seat.  We had some new hinges made for the storage area behind the seat because one of the original hinges was broken.  But about a month after we bought the Jerry Brown wagon, our good friend, Jim, asked us if we wanted to buy his white wagon.  We have been after Jim for quite a while to sell us that wagon . . .  We were torn a little bit - we couldn't keep both wagons . . .  But ultimately decided that we really loved Jim's wagon the best. 

We listed the Jerry Brown wagon and our green wagonette on the Internet.  As of mid-April, we hadn't sold either one.  So we took the green wagonette to the Amish sale on April 16th.  We had gotten some matching paint and spruced it up a bit.  Thankfully, we were able to sell it for what we wanted to get out of it. 

And we were contacted by some folks in Tennessee about the Jerry Brown wagon.  They decided they wanted to buy it, but in the course of planning a trip to PA to pick it up, they were hit with a series of tornadoes.  They decided to mail a check to us so we would hold the wagon (which we were willing to do anyway) - and the check never arrived.  Their electricity was on and off because of all the storm damage and they were just having a tough time.  So, we kept in contact and waited patiently for their lives to get back to some sense of normal.  By last week, the check had not come yet.  So, on Monday, they wired the money to our bank.  And then on Tuesday, their parents set out for PA to pick up the wagon for them.  They arrived around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 5/18.  We loaded up the wagon and gave them a quick tour of our place - and then they headed back to Tennessee.  You won't believe it - but the check showed up on Thursday 5/19!  We are sending it back to them. 

Jim was kind enough to wait for the money for his wagon.  So, we can finally pay him and the wagon will be officially ours!  Yeah!

Addison's 6th Birthday Party

So, on April 9th, Jacob, Jordana, my sister Dee, and I made our first trip to Long Island for Addison's 6th birthday party.  The trip isn't too bad except for driving through NYC.  That part is horrible.  The neighborhood that they live in reminds me of Montoursville.  Lots of family houses built in the 1950's.  They are right next to the school, which is really nice. 

Liberty made a cool Mario Brothers cake.  There were quite a few kids from Addison's kindergarten class there.  And Tommy did a great magic show which the kids really enjoyed.  I'm sorry to say that I took lots of pictures but lost them when I was transferring them to my computer  : (  - I've asked my sister to share some of her pics and I'll post them as soon as I get them.

Happy Birthday Addison!  And we are so glad you guys live closer now!

I haven't forgotten about the blog!

We've just been super busy.  On April 4th, we started the roll-out of a major project at work and I've been working out in the clinics much of the last 6 weeks.  We still have 6 weeks to go.  And I can't wait for this project to end!

I'll catch up on posts soon . . .  Including our first trip to Long Island for Addison's birthday party.  And a really neat story about horse wagons.