Crafting fun

The kids decorated this gingerbread house on Monday. The candy was truly disgusting, which cut down on the eating of the supplies. Guess where we bought the kit? Walmart, of course!

Christmas Cactus--finally

After babysitting this Christmas cactus for many years (it was a tiny start from my Mom's original), it has finally bloomed appropriately. For most of its life, it has not bloomed at all. Then, three year ago, it bloomed 2 blooms at Easter. The next two years it bloomed closer to Valentine's Day, each year producing more blooms. After returning home from our trip, I was pleasantly surprised to see the darn thing covered in buds. And at the correct time.

CVM

We'd like to introduce CVM a.k.a Crabby Vest Man. It seems that a certain Grandpa earned the original title, but Jon was eager to join the club when he discovered his own vest in his closet. The latter CVM looks a little cuter than the original.

Christmas tree hunting

After returning home last Saturday at 1:00AM, we still decided that we MUST have our Christmas tree that very day. We set out (for Farmville) about 3:00 PM. Happily, we discovered a great tree farm that had many varieties to choose from--we chose a Grand Fir. Or maybe it's a Canaan Fir. Anyway, the best part of the whole experience was that it snowed on us. And I mean snowed! By the time we left for home, there was nearly an inch on the ground. We had a nice dinner at our favorite restaurant, Charlie's, in Farmville. Our window seat afforded us a view of the falling snow. Now, if I could only find some presents to put under that tree.......

A flurry of sewing

Between overcoming a certain amount of jetlag, getting back into the routine of school, and just settling in, we haven't had much time for anything this week. Madeline and I took advantage of some unseasonably warm weather and spent an afternoon outside (while the boys played) sewing these cute bird ornaments. Easy and fast--my kind of project.

I'm leaving, on a jet plane

You know, that's one of the only songs that I know all of the words to. In fact, the ONLY songs that I know the words to are Peter, Paul, and Mary songs. My poor children have all suffered through my rendition of those songs. Maybe that's why Jack cried so much as a baby?! Anyway, that has nothing to do with this post. This post is about leaving. Leaving on a jet plane tomorrow morning at 8:00. I do know when I'll be back again though. (It's December 5th.)

Bill says he much prefers the John Denver version of the song. I say, "Yuck."

The Fort

Jack has been working on a fort in the woods for almost a year now. He has just recently finished it. So he went down in the woods and came back with several pictures, because of several blog reader's requests.

Wood burned signs.

Camouflage sidings.

The inside of the building.

The gate that leads inside.

And finally, a view of the outside.

The results are in

and it took exactly 3 days for my family to consume all 5 dozen (that's 60) cookies. I ate 2. I believe the standing record is 2 1/2 days.

Carter Mountain Orchard

Jon, in the orchard
Jack and friends
Just a picture of a bunch of apple trees.

Yesterday, our homeschool group took a trip to Carter Mtn. Orchard, outside of Charlottesville VA. This orchard is on the top of a "mountain." The same mountain that is home to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to get there, though it is a beautiful drive this time of year. We spent the day picking apples, learned about how apples grow (Jon called this part "apple school"), took a hay ride, and drank fresh cider. Apple snobs that we are, we decided that EZ Orchards or Daum's has better tasting cider and much better tasting cider donuts. These people here just don't understand the superiority of NW apples. I'm sure they'd all disagree. Now, what to do with all of these apples in this 90 degree heat!

This is a link to the Carter Mtn. website:

http://www.cartermountainorchard.com/

Making cookies, again

It seems that I'm forever making cookies. Particularly the chocolate chip variety. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy a chocolate chip cookie occasionally, but really, I prefer a nice, crunchy gingersnap. Too bad no one else in the house shares my taste in cookies. Here's our favorite recipe:

Cream together:

1C. butter (I use all butter, no margarine or shortening)

1C. sugar

1C. brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Add 2 eggs

Stir in 2 C. white flour

1 C. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 package chocolate chips (we prefer Ghirardelli 60% dark)

Bake @375 for 10-12 min.

Now here's a question: How long does it take my family to consume all (the recipe makes about 5-6 dozen cookies) of these cookies?

Under the weather here

It seems like everyone has or is currently suffering from some malady. Jack had a cold, which I then received. Which was passed on to Madeline and Bill. There was a brief bit of throwing up, also by Jack. That has, thankfully, not been passed around. Anyway, we've been down since last weekend. Hopefully though, we're on the mend.

Now for the exciting news. For my birthday, I'm getting the nasty noise (think fingernails on chalkboard) in my car fixed! I'm sure that no one can appreciate this as much as I do. In fact, everyone probably thinks this is a lame birthday present. But let me tell you just how awful and annoying the noise is. Gosh, to turn a corner and not hear a grating sound--it will be like heaven! Oh, and I bought a new burner for my stove as a birthday present too. One of the big burners. Really exciting birthday stuff around here--we pull out all the stops for birthday celebrations.

Baby Stuff!

This is Madeline, just so everyone knows.

For those of you who don't know, Mom is going to have a baby. So, Mom and I have started making baby stuff. So far there is this cute quilt that we both made in about three days.

Then the equally cute hooded baby blanket that I made by myself.

An then (this is my personal favorite), we made this adorable baby booties.

The booties and the blanket are made from fleece and the quilt is made of flannel. You can buy a book online called Sew What, Fleece. That's where these blanket and booties came from. Here a link so you can find it:http://www.amazon.com/Sew-What-Fleece-Carol-Jessop/dp/1580176267/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222624876&sr=8-1

Enjoy!

Occeneechee Day

We spent an enjoyable day at Occeneechee State Park, located outside of the little lake side down of Clarksville, VA. Our home school group goes there every few weeks. They have a large picnic area that we go to. There's the lake to play by and a giant playground for the younger kids. All of the boys, including Jack, spend time walking along the shore line. The moms and some of the older kids sit in the picnic area and talk. There is a gift shop/information center not to far from where we picnic. We all went shopping there and got some neat stuff. Finally, after a very long day, we went home. Now the boys have gotten back from baseball practice and mm and I finished some sewing.

Blackjack!

To celebrate the Autumn Equinox, we had a fire in the firepit this evening. Unfortunately, we were out of marshmallows.

Kids playing blackjack on the giant rock. Don't you love it that 4 kids can fit on top?!

Just the night sky.

Jon, being Jon.

The homemade firepit. Bill wanted to buy a moveable fire container (at Walmart even!), but I pressed forward with this design.

Have a nice evening!

Sunday Evening

What a nice, easy weekend we've had. We started with co-op on Friday morning, followed by Jack's baseball game in Clarksville that night. It was chilly enough that Jack wore sleeves and we all wore sweaters! Now that's a nice change.

Saturday we did very little. Bill took the kids fishing in the evening for several hours. I stayed home and copied school work for the week and worked a bit on a quilt I started a LONG time ago.

Sunday morning, Jon decided to get up at 6:42 AM. Bill and I took a nice walk after breakfast and ended up sitting outside until nearly noon because the weather was so nice. The kids just played and entertained us with their chatter. Bill decided we MUST eat lunch at Cracker Barrel. So we did. A nice afternoon where everyone took a nap was followed by a little excursion to see an old plantation in the neighboring county. When we realized our proximity to our closest Starbucks, we took a small sidetrack for coffee and treats.

Now it seems almost time for bed. I've been told we'll be watching "Napoleon Dynamite" until bedtime. Fun.

Just a few pictures from our yard last week. The growing season seems to be winding down.

JON

Obviously, this is Jon's name spelled out. What I don't think you can see is how cool the blocks are that he used to make the letters. There are large and small lines and large and small curves included in the set. He sets them out to make letters and words. Due to his age, his maleness, and his left-handedness, writing is pretty difficult and frustrating for Jon. These block have been a great asset to learning. You can find them here:

http://shopping.hwtears.com/product/Wood_Pieces_Set_For_Capital_Letters/prek

A better view of the pieces and my feet. Check out the tan lines.

3:00 Snack

Everyday at around 3:00, we share a snack at the kitchen table. Sometimes it's more substantial and sometimes it's just cookies and milk. Today, with the weather ONLY reaching 62.3 degrees with a steady rain, we had our first official fall/winter snack. Cocoa with marshmallows and whipped cream and snickerdoodle cookies. Now tomorrow it will probably be 90 degrees so we'll switch back to smoothies or something, but at least this reprieve gives us hope that there will be cooler weather in our future.Jack: More whipped cream than cocoa.

Almost finished. Notice Jack's finger getting the last bits of the whipped cream.

Rabid Bear

At diner Jon started to talk about lots of different things. Suddenly he informed us that his little black teddy bear is now named Rabid Bear. He later told us that he had heard it from his favorite movie, Over The Hedge. Just thought I'd share that with you.

Scenes from #12

New Virginia snow globe and Madeline's favorite, Junior Mints.
Felted purse that took FOREVER to knit.
Bill says that this is a dorky Jacoby thing to do (showing your age with fingers)
Ice cream cake.
Madeline, busily crafting something new.

According to Madeline, this was her best birthday ever. We started the day with Co-op in Henderson NC, had lunch at Chick-fil-a, and opened presents after Bill got home from work and Jon woke up from his nap. A quick dinner of baked potatoes per the birthday girl's request, followed by Jack's baseball game in Lawrenceville VA. It was hot and it was late when we finally made it home for ice cream cake. Today, the twelve year-old spent her time reading and creating. I think there's also a shopping trip to Raleigh in our near future.

Grumpy Old Men

Or man, in this case. It seems I need to set the record straight in reference to a certain Grandpa's upcoming birthday. It will actually be his 61st birthday, not the 68th as mentioned before. It really seems that some people are being a bit picky, because after all, does it really even matter after you've turned 60? Also, this particular person is still, like, double my age. Some people just have no sense of humor. Settle down, Grandpa, your SS will be here soon.

Happy Birthday, Madeline (and Lisa too!)

Happy birthday to Miss Madeline. The girl of much reading and much thinking. The girl who sneaks chocolate chips and blames it on her Papa. The girl who still dislikes animated toys and toys who make noise. The thoughtful, considerate, and patient-with-her-brothers girl. The girl with the easy-going personality like her dad, but with a dramatic flair like her mother. Curly-haired, matching-jewelry wearing, converse high top girl. The girl with the newly acquired interest in cool music, but who can't quite "get" musicals. The girl who can tell a story that fills up time and who loves to talk about anything and everything. Our sweetest, happy, fun girl who we all love very much. Happy birthday, Lisa!

New Blog Design

Madeline spent the afternoon designing this new layout. She loves the gadgets and such. There was a Pac-Man game on the sidebar for a while, but due to the creepy sound, she got rid of it. Anyone who knows Madeline can attest to her hyper-sensitive creepy noise issues. So, this is her new Autumn design, sure to be the first of many.

The Pennicks Go West

Big happenings around here. Yesterday found us on the Expedia website, finalizing a trip to Oregon. It looks like we'll be heading west on Saturday, November 8th. We'll have the opportunity to celebrate Grandpa Pennick's 68th (ha!) birthday as well as Thanksgiving and the subsequent Sunriver holiday my family takes annually. Mix in some tax-free shopping, a trip to the beach, some nice coffee, and you've got yourself a right smart trip! Pencil us in on your calendar.

On another note, Jonathan Pennick had a doctor's appointment today--the first in about a year and a half. I was worried about his, ahem, behavior at this visit as he doesn't usually take well to unknown activities. Well, he's a surprising little bugger because he was just great! He wowed the nurses with his outfit (rainbow shoes and his John Wayne hat) and his ability to talk to anyone about anything. Like how great the bathroom was and how great it was to pee in a cup. He was certain that the doctor (whom he had never met before) would be a giant, but was relieved to find that he was "just sorta tall, with black hair, and sorta loud." Anyway, I was proud of his good behavior. And I'm sure the bribe of a new light saber had nothing to do with it.

What a bust!

Well, the "hurricane" was pitiful. I mean, there was some wind and we had a few inches of rain, but woop-de-do. By 2:00 in the afternoon the rain had stopped, the sun came out, and the temperature climbed into the 80's. Oh, and the humidity was up around 95%. Lovely weather.

The kids and Bill spent the morning watching various movies and I spent the day sewing everyone's winter (boy, does it seem far away!) pajamas. I've got a blister on my thumb from all the pinking of the seams. Ouch.

Off to get everyone to bed now.

Hurricane Hannah!

So it seems that the governor of Virginia has declared a state of emergency due to the impending hurricane. Just exactly what IS a hurricane? I mean, it sounds like some heavy wind and rain to me. Don't we just call that a storm in Oregon? I'm feeling as if I should run out and stock up on batteries, water, and propane. Oh, and I've been told to fill up my bathtubs tonight too. I guess that's so we'll have a supply of water on hand. Anyway.....

Instead of hurricane-watching, we'll be heading to Victoria VA this evening to drink coffee and listen to live bluegrass music. The only bit of culture within a 75 mile radius. If you don't include Walmart as culture that is.

We'll check back in this weekend and update on any storm happenings.
StormTeam VA signing off.

Bill turns 75

Or at least you'd think he was that old by the look of his birthday loot. He received a hat from Orvis that looks suspiciously like the Indiana Jones hat, a pocket watch (!), a new razor, and a favorite book from his youth called "Paddle to the Sea." I was unable to procure season 4 of The X-Files for him. It was spotted at Walmart (always) several weeks ago and when I returned to purchase it recently, I was told that due to its unpopular status, it had been sent back to wherever unpopular Walmart items go to die.

For dessert, Bill wanted a pecan pie and a chocolate cake. Greedy sucker, isn't he?

This is my personal favorite. By the way, he's really only 35.

Baseball groupies

Yep, that's us. We like to hang out around the clubhouse, waiting for players to come out so we can ask for an autograph. The kids have even claimed their own pens for such a purpose. We have signed mitts, signed programs, and signed balls. It's how we spend our free time. Even on an night like this:

Yesterday evening found us in Zebulon, NC at Five County Stadium. We were there to watch the Carolina Mudcats. Check them out here:

http://www.gomudcats.com/

After a 2 hour rain delay, we were finally able to sit in our (rather wet) seats and start watching the game at 8:30. Despite the soggy conditions, it was a beautiful night for a ballgame. Cool, but not cold. Great fireworks afterwards too. It all left us wishing to live even a little bit closer, in order to watch more games next season.

The highlight of the evening was our rainy-time talk with Andy Jenkins. He's one of the Mudcat's players, originally from Salem. He talked with us about Oregon, and Salem, and funny baseball things. He knew many people who Bill had played with or been coached by. He told us about his family back in Oregon and how his dad had been in NC to watch a few games and had just left the day before. I think he might have been a little homesick even! He and Bill had a nice time chatting. I think the kids were amazed that this real, live baseball guy 3000 miles from home was talking about things they were familiar with. Andy was very nice to the kids and happily autographed their paraphernalia. Bill also talked with the Mudcats coach, Matt Raleigh. It seems they had some shared acquaintances to gossip about. Visiting with these guys made the delay and rain much nicer to tolerate.

Despite getting home at 1:30 (that's AM people!), we had a great time.

Sunday morning haircuts

Yes, we probably should have been in church. But Bill has been bugging me for a haircut for weeks, and complaining that the boys looked either Amish or like the Bad New Bears (the original). Personally, I love Jon's hair. I'm going for the look of Jayson's hair from a picture at the St. Boniface Easter egg hunt in about 1973. Dad, email me that picture, please! Anyway, Bill sits still, but his hair is awful to cut. Jack kind of sits still, and his hair is even worse to cut than Bill's. And last of all, well, these pictures say it all.

At one point, Jon screamed, "Oh no! Now there's snot coming out of my nose!"

Much better! Jon can still twirly-whirl his hair before sleeping and Jack's hair won't flip out from under his baseball cap. The jury is still out on Bill's cut.