Fionn MacCool, my lovely parakeet

Here he is! This is Fionn MacCool. I brought him home yesterday. He sings beautifully and loves music.

In missions conferences gone by, each bus has chosen a country to represent: decorate the bus, dress-up, learn songs, etc. This year Bro. Caleb added the option of church ministries to represent along with countries. We considered Ireland, Germany, Scotland, prison ministry, addictions program, and camps.... Then he said "nursery"-- the vote was unanimous! And what fun we had!!!! The bus kids had a great time, but I think we had a greater time. Everyone participated and thought it was just the best thing since sliced bread.

Kyla and I spent hours planning, shopping and decorating... and sewing bibs for all to wear. :)

I was surprised (pleasantly), that even the adult and teenage guys on our bus could be convinced to wear a bib and a binky. The promise of a pizza party had a little to do with that.

Yes, even Bro. Bragg wore a bib. "Anything for pizza!" he said.

This, my blogging friends, is my dream kitchen.

A myriad of cabinets

An old fashioned fireplace graced by a mantle of wood

The dining area set well apart from the kitchen appliances yet still close enough to be convenient

And an island with four burners, a cutting board and extended counterspace.

What fun we had canning freshly harvested green beans! Mrs. Skow, the owner of the heavenly kitchen, is quite a dedicated homemaker proficient in canning just about anything. This is a wall of her cannng room where she stores the goods of harvest for the coming winter.

The Lord has provided the education of royalty. I have been trained by the best, so I have.

Joe loved putting the star on the tree. Christmas seems to be his favorite time of year. I hope he can share next Christmas with us.

Hmmmm.... penny for your thoughts?

Kaylie insisted on keeping her "baby" on the ball rack. It was cute but it made Kristy nervous every time a ball came out of the mouth on the belt.

Mom and Kristy kept somewhat accurate score.

Isaiah and I had great craic being kids again at the bowling alley. He really hasn't changed that much...neither have I. :) We're still painfully competitive with each other too. It was strike for strike and spare for spare. I think I beat him by maybe 5. He still kills me in one-on-one though.

What a great brother!

Yeah, I'm going a fair bit retro with my posts. This is Christmas 2009 with Isaiah, Kristy, KK, Uncle Randy and Aunt Tammy. It's so fun to watch KK (aka Kaylie) open gifts. She takes off as little a piece at a time as possible and then, realizing she hasn't gotten very far, says "Daddy, help. Help." She's pretty much the cutest little girl ever.

OOOO! Purty!

 

I’ve never done this before but it’s really cool! My dad got a picture printer (it’s the size of a makeup bag) and my mom recently purchased a camera that, coincidentally, is the very one recommended for the use of the printer. So, I fiddled around a little on it and had fun with this pic. It turned out quite agreeably.

MaryAnne celebrated her 18th birthday this past Saturday with cake, candles and presents. She had a great time getting older even though she refused to pose for a picture by herself.