Easter Week 2011

Last week we were *supposed* to do school work. We were not planning to take the week off because we’re taking a week in May when we go on Vacation. However all our public school friends had the week off and well, you know how it goes … we ended up taking the week off and just enjoying having some play dates with friends.

In a way it was nice and refreshing to just relax and take some time off to spend with friends and family. And the beauty of homeschooling is that we can easily catch up this week!

On Monday we went to our friends house and had lunch and an Easter egg hunt. There were about 5 Moms and about 12+ kids. It was really fun to just relax and talk with the other Moms while the kids all ran around outside and had fun together. My kids were SO tired that night!

On Tuesday we visited one of my best friends who lives about an hour and a half from us. We don’t see them often enough because of the distance and because we all have such busy lives. But it was great to go see them and have lunch and once again for the kids to just play and have fun together. Her daughter is Joy’s age and her little baby boy is almost a year and is simply adorable!

On Wednesday the girls spent the day with my Mother in law and I ran errands and did some cleaning and organizing around the house. I desperately needed some spring/summer clothes that FIT me so I was able to get some shopping done with NO kids in tow! That night the girls had Awana and then spent the night at a friend’s house – woohoo – night off for Mom and Dad! We lead a super exciting life and we went for a run together, then picked up grinders and came home to eat them while we watched Survivor! hahaha – told you we were exciting people!

On Thursday my hubs took the day off to spend with the girls and I – we drove out to pick up the girls, went out to lunch, ran a couple errands, then came home and worked out in the yard and garden for hours. It was finally warm and sunny and beautiful out and it felt SO good to get out there and get my hands dirty.

On Friday we met our homeschool friends for a fun field trip {see previous post} and then had a quiet night at home together and decorated our 2+ dozen hard boiled eggs.

Saturday morning the girls and I made our traditional Resurrection Rolls in anticipation of Easter. It’s always nice to have traditions in place that reflect our faith and help the girls remember the real reason for these holidays.

That afternoon my Mom, my brother and my niece came to visit and  since it was very rainy we pretty much visited indoors while the girls played together. My niece is ALSO Joy’s age. =)

Sunday morning dawned early! I haven’t been sleeping well and also knew I needed to be up early for church and so my silly internal clock woke me up about an hour before I would have liked it to! But it was nice to get up and enjoy my coffee and quiet prayer time as I reflected on the amazing gift God gave us in allowing His Son to die on the cross for little ‘ol me.

We always give the girls some sort of ‘basket’ for Easter – this year I was short on baskets so I simply used gift bags which worked out just fine. We sent the girls on a scavenger hunt to find their bags – with different clues leading them all over the house and eventually outside to the playscape where they found the bags.

I decided this year I was NOT buying junky toys and I was NOT buying candy – so instead they got some useful things for our coming trip and the summertime – new summer PJ’s, beach cover-ups and new flip flops … I think they were still pretty happy about what they got!

We dressed up and headed off to church for the 9am service which was wonderful. I always love the worship time but something about the songs surrounding Christ’s death and resurrection always get to me!

Here are some after church pictures – the girls and my niece…

My Mom and her 3 Granddaughters

My family {with a weird blurry spot on my lens above my head!}

And my brother Matt and his daughter Becca

After church we headed home and took a few more pictures together …

By then the day was warming up and we chose to change into casual clothes {and pick up the food we had made for Easter dinner}, then head out to my Brother in law and Sister in law’s house which is about an hour from here.

We had a fantastic dinner prepared by my wonderful sis in law. And then the kids did an egg hunt. And we played relay games – yes even the adults!

All the grand kids with their Great-Grandpa

Hunting for eggs …

 

My beautiful sis in law and I …

My Mom and I …

The men of the family all ready to do an egg relay game … {they are such good sports!}

The gorgeous White Chocolate cake my sis in law made!

My Mom and Becca …

It was a really fun afternoon with 10 adults and 6 kids. I looked around the table at dinner time and thought about how truly blessed I am to be a part of such a wonderful family. We’re certainly not perfect, holy or faultless – but we are blessed and there is an indescribable amount of love between us. 

Sites Around the State Series – Lebanon, CT

Last week we had the privilege of taking a fun, history-filled field trip to Lebanon, CT to see the Lebanon Historical Society Museum and the Trumbull Cemetery. Before you get freaked out that we visited a cemetery, you should know that it was VERY cool, filled with graves of men who fought for our country during the American Revolution.

Before I get to all our pictures of the day here is a little historical background about Lebanon ---

The archaeological record is not clear whether Native Americans lived in this region continuously, but by the time of European settlement in the late 1600s, the land was occupied by the Mohegan Indians.  The Mohegans, an Algonquin-speaking people, inhabited the upper Thames River Valley near Norwich and used Lebanon primarily for hunting.

Mohegan sachem Uncas began selling parts of what would become Lebanon to settlers from Norwich in 1663.  By 1692, most of modern-day Lebanon had been transferred to English settlers including members of the Mason and Fitch families.  The General Assembly of the Colony of Connecticut incorporated the town on October 10, 1700.  Tradition suggests that the town was named because early settlers compared the “height of the land and a large cedar forest” to the Biblical description of Lebanon.

A prosperous farming community during the colonial period, Lebanon reached its greatest importance during the American Revolution.  Governor Jonathan Trumbull, a resident, used a store house on his property for meetings of the Council of Safety.  This council organized Connecticut’s defense and participation in the War.  After the arrival of allied French troops in Newport in 1780, the French light cavalry set up winter quarters in Lebanon.  The French commander, the duc de Lauzun, commented that “Siberia alone can furnish any idea of Lebanon, which consists of a few huts scattered among vast forests.”

In the years following the Revolution, other eastern Connecticut towns thrived as mills and factories were built to take advantage of abundant water power.  In Lebanon the economic focus remained agricultural and the town became something of a backwater although four additional Connecticut governors (Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. 1797-1809,  Clark Bissell 1847-1849, Joseph Trumbull 1849-1850, and William Buckingham 1858-1866 and the first governor of Wisconsin (Nelson Dewey 1848-1852) were born there.  By the end of the 19th century, Lebanon’s agricultural nature attracted immigrants from Italy and parts of Eastern Europe.  The center of town retained the original mile long green, common land used for grazing while the business center moved north to Liberty Hill.

--------------------------------------------------------

Pretty interesting history there, huh? I had no idea that a town just ‘up the road a bit’ had so much rich history!!

It was free to tour the Historical Society building – they have many interesting artifacts and such from the history of Lebanon. We were also able to watch a short, 8 min video describing the history of the town during the war. Then we went down the hall to the room the kids REALLY loved …

It was an interactive room meant to help kids see what it would have been like to live during that time. They had costumes to try on, activities to try, timelines full of history across the walls, etc … the kids stay there and ‘played’ for about an hour!

Then we headed outside and across the street to walk Lebanon’s mile long town green – it was the longest town green I’ve ever seen! A beautiful packed gravel path goes the whole way around the green and would be a fantastic place to get in a good long walk!

We walked over to check out a few of the historical buildings on the green – the Wadsworth stable was originally situated on the Jeremiah Wadsworth estate in Hartford. Wadsworth, a close friend of the Trumbulls, served as commissary general of the Continental Army and later as chief agent supplying the French troops.  He also hosted the first meeting between Governor Trumbull, General Washington, and the French commander, the Comte de Rochambeau. The original stable on the Wadsworth property was razed in 1801 as a fire break and a new stable in the Palladian style of architecture erected in its place. This building was moved to Lebanon in 1954 because it was threatened with demolition.

 

The Dr. William Beaumont Homestead

Dr. William Beaumont (1785-1853) is often referred to as the “Father of Gastric Physiology.” He is famous for his experiments on the effects of the digestion process. His 1833 book about his work became a staple of the medical community and is still used today. He was born in the house his father Samuel Beaumont had built around 1750.  The house was moved from its original location by the Beaumont Medical Club of Yale University Medical School to its current location behind the Governor Trumbull House.

The War Office

After the beginning of hostilities between the American colonies and Britain in 1775, Governor Trumbull converted his former store into his War Office.  Here he met with the Council of Safety, which was empowered to manage all of the State’s affairs related to the war effort. Although the Council often met in Hartford or elsewhere, more than 500 of its 1,000 meetings took place in this building. Many important national leaders, including General George Washington, General Henry Knox, the French commander General Rochambeau, and the Marquis de Lafayette passed through its door. The war office is now a museum owned by the Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

The Jonathan Trumbull Jr. House

In 1777, Jonathan Trumbull Jr. purchased this house, which he and his family had been living in since 1769.  Master-joiner Isaac Fitch then remodeled the interior with elaborate woodwork that remains in place today.  The younger Trumbull was a Harvard graduate and a merchant dealing in whale oil, flour, and ship building.  When the Revolutionary War started, he served as Paymaster General for the Continental Army and the first Comptroller of the U.S. Treasury.  From 1781 to 1783, he served as General George Washington’s military secretary. Later in life he became a Congressman, U.S. Senator, and governor of Connecticut.

To walk around and imagine that the General George Washington {among many other great men!} walked those very steps and stood in those very buildings was very, very cool and fascinating to me!

After walking the town green we headed down the road a bit to the Trumbull Cemetery.

We saw the gravesites of MANY of the Trumbull family members.

And the grave of William Williams who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence {and also married to one of the Trumbull’s daughters}

This is William Williams’ grave {below}

It was amazing to see all the graves of men who fought in the Revolutionary war – really makes you appreciate the sacrifices our military men and women make for us!

The kids, being typical kids and all, fully enjoyed running through the grave yard playing hide and seek – well, I guess you can’t really blame them, right?!

But my friend Cindy and I were enthralled reading the inscriptions on the graves! Some were so interesting and so many of them had amazing things written about them being men of honor and integrity. We were also saddened at times to see ones where a young child or baby had died or where a Mother had out-lived ALL of her children. It made us wonder who these people were and what their stories were.

All in all it was a very interesting and educational day. Here is the link for the Lebanon Historical Society in  case you’re ever interested in going there or checking it out.

Blog Post Alignment

OK friends I'm about to lose it .... why can't I get the alignment of my paragraphs just right on my posts lately?? I change the paragraphs over and over and over again and each time I hit publish it gets all screwed up again. UGH!! I have tried {and do like} Windows Live Writer - but didn't like the size of my photos when I used that. Maybe I'm missing something and just haven't figured out how to make the photos bigger? Either way, I'm frustrated and would love to know how any of you fix your paragraphs or what you use to write your posts .... THANKS!

1,000 Gifts {Apr 5th-Apr 14th}

First of all thank you to those of you who commented on my last post about being in a 'funk'. I SO appreciate your kind words and responses! The funny thing is, it's not hard to pinpoint the reason for my funk - I KNOW these things happen when I'm feeling far from the Lord. Which is certainly not HIS fault, as HE loves me deeply and NEVER strays from my side - indeed it's always ME who falls away and selfishly spends my time pursuing what I want while leaving HIM out of things. Anyhow, ironically that day I had a few minutes of quiet and I sat and read Ann Voskamp's post for the day and was blown away at how perfectly timed it was. You can read it by clicking the link above, but basically she is talking about how to raise grateful kids - funny thing was that I felt *I* needed the message more than my KIDS did! Funny how God always knows what we need to hear when we need it, right? He knows me so well. I noticed too that my list of 1,000 gifts had been pushed to the wayside and I hadn't counted gifts in a few days. Her post also reminded me the importance of giving daily thanks and “Participants who kept gratitude lists were more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals (academic, interpersonal and health-based) over a two-month period compared to subjects in the other experimental conditions.” So on I go ... pressing forward, ever grateful ... * a nice visit from my Canadian relatives that I hardly ever get to see * seeing them made me miss my Dad since my Uncle is his brother and reminds me a lot of my Dad * a fun day consignment shopping with my girls for summer stuff * carpet cleaner, rubber gloves, a bandana for my nose and disinfectant ;) * field trips with friends * sunny days * the girls playing outside more

* a great {new to me} desk for FREE

* getting my seeds in the mail

* garden planning

* making pudding with Joy * playing basketball with my family * dinner together around the table * playing Qwirkle together * seeing the first signs of spring * forsythia FINALLY starting to bloom * neighbors coming out to work in their yards * chalk drawings on the driveway * a nice, big, paved drive which is great for the kids to play on * blowing bubbles * a 2 yr old's squeals of excitement over seeing the bubbles and trying to catch them * pink Converse on a 2 yr old - so cute! {and yes, with chalk on the pants!}

* going outside to do my run without having to wear 5 billion layers

* the grass getting greener by the day

* the warmth of the sunshine - it's like a balm to my soul - kinda like the SONshine is, ya know?

* flip flop weather

*finding healthier recipes for things I like

* springy stuff on the driveway

* learning to love fish

* fragrant daffodils

* new growth every where I look

* our Made to Crave Bible study group - it's wonderful to meet with people facing similar struggles and gain encouragement from one another!

* inventive little girls creating their own rope swing

* and the mud cakes and other such things they create as well ... =)

* that "our children are learning more than academic subjects in the home. They are learning at a young age that their brothers and sisters are their best best friends." ~~Tom Eldredge

{One Thousand Gifts #536-570}