Dallas the Dog gets a New House

NO, we are not sending Dallas to a different home, we are merely working on building his new house.

Dallas is an outdoor dog and he needs his own place. He weighs about 23# now. He loves running around the back yard and fetching. Thomas is planning on training him to hunt. He went after a squirrel and a groundhog in the last couple days.

The Boss is building Dallas a classical doghouse with the special feature of a hinged roof. That way we can open it up and clean it out and in the winter we can insulate the walls. Don't want our puppy to be uncomfortable. We still need to paint the outside and make it pretty. The roof will get some shingles as well.

Pretty Fancy! Thanks darling for an excellent job!

We'll show you some pix when it is finished.

~Mom

Grandpa M's Youth

Our family was so blessed by our visit with our parents/grandparents. It was good to talk with them and hear stories of their youth, To learn more of our heritage. Many of us we were hearing the stories for the first time. Bill's mind is still exceptionally sharp, it just moves a little slower than it used to. He is in his 80's now.

The one story Dad told was of his experience in the military. His goal was to be an aircraft flight mechanic. His mom didn't want him to leave high school early and join up so he 'missed out' on WW II. He obeyed his Mom and joined right after high school for a three year hitch. The recruiter promised 'Sonny' (that was his family nickname) that he would get whatever program he desired as long as he was qualified physically and mentally. That was no problem as Dad is a very sharp guy. He did so well that they assigned him into the program working with the very first IBM machines/computers. It was cutting edge work and he did very well at it, only it wasn't what he signed up for, it wasn't what Uncle Sam had promised him. Dad made this known persistently to his commanding officer. He spent almost every day in the man's office on his lunch break. The officer soon had to resort to sneaking out the back door at lunch time as my father-in-law persistently reminded him that Uncle Sam had promised him that he could be an Army Air Force Flight Mechanic . Dad soon figured out the officer's trick and began to meet him on the sidewalk. The officer was so tired of his persistent pestering that he sent him out to the west coast to a cutting edge flight base...... where they had him put in cooking school. Dad had NO desire to be an army cook. He explained all this to his senior officers- repeatedly until they shipped him out to of cooking school and put him in a program to be an MP (military police). Things had gone from bad to worse. He explained to anyone that would listen that Uncle Sam had PROMISED him that he could be a flight mechanic. He even tried to find the recruiting officer that had made the promise, but to no avail. They put him on guard duty around a bunch of deserted barracks five miles out in the middle of no where here in the States. He was so despondent that he laid down and went to sleep while on duty. Not a good move. He was arrested and thrown into the guard house. When he was brought up before the judge he was told that they could shoot him for sleeping on guard duty, as they were still under war time regulations, but that they wouldn't (we all thank them for their mercy), instead they would either give him a dishonorable discharge or they would make him the latrine officer. He knew that his mom would be terribly disappointed if her 'Sonny' was dishonorably discharged so he made up his mind that he would be the best latrine officer he could be. He polished those toilets and sinks until they shone. He did such a good job that the officers in charge started noticing and one gentleman even went so far as to investigate and find Sonny. His name was Barney Oldfield, (but not the race car driver), he talked to Dad and heard the whole sad story. The officer did further checking and found it to be all true. He took Sonny into his unit and gave him some less disagreeable work until he could get him into the Flight mechanic program. He was then trained as a flight mechanic on a bomber (B-17 ?) He never did get to actually experience a flight in that role as all the guys who came back from the war got first dibs on those positions. He did get to work on the 'new' rocket planes and the cutting edge flight stuff. He found it very satisfying. He says that his final 18 months of service were much better than the first half. He was able to go to college under the GI bill once he finished his term.

Dad did have some parting words to the children. He didn't want them joining the military! Uncle Sam is just not to be trusted. He also shared his testimony about how he got saved AFTER he left the military.

~Mom

Ghosts in the Graveyard

The children had a blast the other evening playing with their Mango cousins. It is so nice to have delightful family to play with nearby. The extra girls are my husband's younger brother's girls Julia, Joy and Katherine. The extra boy is his sister Debbie's son, Daniel. The children had a grand time playing 'Ghosts in the Graveyard'. It has nothing to do with the occult or spiritism. I overheard the directions explained and it is hide and seek in the dark with flashlights. The only thing is, that all the children are looking for the one who is 'it'. This game is not very possible until this time of year when the days are short enough that it is pitch dark at least an hour before bedtime. If you need to have further directions on this childhood favorite, let us know.
~Mom

A Godly Heritage

We are so blessed to have christian parents. It is truly a godly heritage. I am so blessed to have a wonderful relationship with both my mother and father-in-law. It was almost exactly 4 years ago that they spent 3 months living here while Dad had heart surgery and all the follow up. I really felt like we got a chance to know each other as adults. They both truly love the Lord.

My M-I-L is a wonderful mom and grandma. When she comes to visit she takes time to do something special with each grandchild. Here she is working puzzles with Elizabeth. She also take time one on one to visit and encourage her daughter-in-laws. It means so much to me to know that she prays and cares for us, even though we don't have much time together. She is one of the few people that cares enough to go through all the children's school books and wants to see what we are doing. There is never a critical word either. She finds things to affirm in everything. I know she has wondered at some of the decisions we have made, but she has always been supportive. She really shows God's love in a practical encouraging way.

I thank God for both of my in-laws!

~Mom

Just the Two of Us- after 21 years

We recently celebrated (last week) our 21st anniversary. I am blessed to have a godly man for a husband, and I love him very much!

He made arrangements for us to go away for two days to a house at 'Lakeside, the Chatauqua of Lake Erie'. One of his clients has a home there that they were willing to let us use for a nominal fee. What a blessing! It was wonderful. No responsibilities and no chaperones for 48 hours! This is a painting of the house we stayed at. It is a more complete representation than any camera shot I got of it.

This is the view from the front side window. You see some tennis court and then the lake. It was really calm and peaceful. The first day the lake was absolutely flat.


At Lakeside everyone gets around by either bike or golf carts. The house we used had two bikes. It was a lot of fun to cruise around this quaint little town.

Part of the charm of Lakeside is their daily cultural presentations. We were there for Civil War Week. They had a woman (Dr. Smith) come in and do a portrayal of Nurse Nellie Noye, a civil war nurse at age 23. Her letters have been recently discovered and also a photo album she had put together. Dr. Smith has transcribed them and uses that information in her portrayal.

Here is Dr. Smith portraying Nurse Nellie as a 60 year old civil war veteran reminiscing and telling the story of her days in the military. She was a widow at this point. She had married one of the young men she had taken care of. She lived into her 90's. Her home is still standing in Grand Rapids MI. This information tied in so well, after visiting Gettysburg the week before.

Lakeside has many beautiful flower gardens. All the downtown area is well maintained and landscaped.

It was so nice to sit and relax down by the lake. Hubby enjoyed the fact that they provided shade. Lots of quiet time to talk.

We enjoyed a round of miniature golf. I was winning handily until he got a hole-in-one on the last hole and I choked. It ended up tied. He actually got a hole-in-one on the first hole as well. I was more consistent, he was more spectacular. We both had fun!

For dinner that night we went out to the Crow's Nest. A very nice restaurant off the grounds. We got there by 5:45 so we were able to take advantage of the Early bird Menu. Roger had the lake perch and I had chicken oscar. Both were very good!

We checked out a nearby state park after dinner. It had a very nice beach. This is a picture of Lakeside from across the bay. It was so nice to be able to relax and talk together without constant interruptions.

Here's my handsome hubby at the door of the house we stayed at. We stopped in briefly before we headed out for the evening's entertainment.

They have an OLD concert hall. I am not sure how old, but it was fascinating. They passed out old fashioned hand fans and kept the large windows totally wide open to let in the night breezes. In some ways it felt like my Grandpa Reader's old airplane hanger, because of the shape.

My honey was fascinated by the all wood ceiling and trusses. There were no posts inside. It was really pretty in a structural sort of way.

The group that played was 'Shepherd's Folly'. A traditional Celtic group. They were from MI. They did an excellent job.

This was our breakfast on Wednesday morning. We had gone to a farmer's market on Tuesday morning and bought strawberries, peaches, raspberries and a cantaloupe. We ate it with homemade granola that we brought with us and milk. It was a totally yummy breakfast!

We enjoyed shuffle board again. Lakeside has about 30 courts. We played a couple games, one before and one after lunch. The weather was starting to cloud up and there were a few rain drops, but nothing that slowed us down.

We had lunch at Sloopy's. They had really good pizza! Everything was homemade. We ate it outside on a park bench. After lunch we rented a golf cart and toured the whole compound. I think there were about 800 houses and condos. Some of the really old houses were pretty neat. It was fun to cruise up and down the hills. A strong breeze started blowing of the lake out of the North East and there was a definite change in temperature. I really like the cooler air of fall. It makes me feel so alive!

We went back down to the lake and watched some small sail boats in the harbor race back and forth int he stiff breeze. It looked like fun to me.

We did take time to walk about the hotel there by the beach. It was built in the 1870's. I heard a bit about it when the tour guide was talking about it to her tour. They had a two story outhouse when it was built. Who would want to use the first floor? The porch is all screened in and they have lovely rocking chairs and checker boards. No one else was out there because of the wind. I loved it!

We walked around on the inside. They say every guest room is different in this hotel. I can tell you that the stairway is most unsafe. It is so old that all the stairs lean in to the center. Also the railing is way too low. I would have to bend over to reach the railing. Not real useful. There was also about 10 inches between the spindles. A small child could easily slip between them. It was about three stories down. They must not have to follow safety rules. It would make me nervous to have children there and I am not an old fuddy-duddy.

We spent the last part of our time there walking along the lake and sitting and watching the waves crashing. It was really relaxing. We only moved on when the rain started.

The lake may have been rough but it was peaceful with us. We thank God for the 21 years He has blessed us with. There have been rough times, but God has always given us 'more grace than we deserve'. (one of my DH most used quotes). It has been so neat to see the spiritual growth in my husband through the years. A good marriage truly does get better as the years go by.

Thanks sweetheart for planning a real special time.

~Mom

The First Day of School

Today the Mango Academy began their 13th + year. Over the years the method has evolved from regular book work type school work to more of a Charlotte Mason approach. (To see how this is done on a practical level see http://www.amblesideonline.com/ .) Our morning starts off with everyone praying, a devotional, a hymn, poetry, different books Mom reads, common knowledge quiz, and several other things. Then Mom works with Elizabeth while the middle four read a literature book for half an hour. After that is History and writing (I'm sitting in on this one. Mom is doing writing rather than English this year, because this is the weaker subject of the two for us.) Next, the middle four read for another half hour. This time it's a History book-right now they all have books on Creation. (They're doing Ancient History this year.) Mom has several other extracurricular subjects, that happen on different days, but that is the basic structure of our school schedule.

Last night as Mom and I put last minute things together I came across a story that T-Bob wrote last year. It was hilarious, at least I thought so.

There once was a spider called William Wallace. He liked to bite other spiders when he was young so the spiders got rid of him as soon as they could. He was a funnel web. Everything he bit died. One day when he was older he married a beautiful black widow. Since he was naughty he had another wife which was a brown recluse. They all bred together, and they came out with the deadliest spider alive. He was called William the Conqueror. He had a tribe of the deadliest spiders and conquered everything. Hence the name William the Conqueror. When his whole tribe died they didn't have any of those spiders alive. There was only three mentioned in my story. The end

It is strange to no longer be a part of school, though I do plan to sit in and work on handwork etc. (when I'm not working) for the school before the 1/2 hour of literature reading. I have a long list of books to read though as well as other subjects I've chosen, that I've never really had time for before.

~JoAn

Green Mob strikes Again

We stopped at a rest area along the Pennsylvania turnpike coming home from our vacation. This sign greeted us at the Stop. These reserved spots are right next to the handicapped spots. We did find a spot right next to them. We had no idea that Pennsylvania was so PC. We did appreciate a few of the other features at this rest area though. They had a farmer's market (with real farmers) right there under a tent. They also had a Mommy and Me stall in the bathroom. I laughed when I saw it and I would have taken a picture, but I thought that was a little weird. There was a bigger sized stall with two toilets in it. One a full sized toilet and then a small one. Probably only 12 " high with a special seat as well. I had never heard of this before. Has this been around and I missed it? Are they other places? It was very handy.

I think one of the reasons the car thing bugged us is that we think we are more efficient in our big van with eight of us traveling in it than the person driving alone in a LEFEV. If you divide the MPG or energy required per mile per person I think we would be more efficient. Oh well, since when did common sense count for anything.
~Mom

Dallas Adventures

Dallas has discovered the neighbor's dogs. He loves going over there and running with them. They are big dogs and no longer puppies. They are good for him as they won't let him be the boss. They make him submit. This does carry over to his training at home. This morning when I looked out the window, he had digged a hole under the fence and was playing with his doggy buddies. When we called him to come home he tried and tried to come, but the board that so easily allowed him out didn't move the same amount to let him come back. Finally, the neighbor kindly came out and lifted him over the fence.

Dallas is very good about sitting and has recently learned to fetch more consistently. He will go get the ball and bring it directly back to you. He used to try and run off. He has pretty much stopped the puppy nipping thing. He has grown a lot. He weighs almost 20 pounds now. He is now about 14 weeks old. He is a very bright pup.

Dallas has learned to walk on a leash. He is still needing some work in this department, but it's coming. He was very glad to see us come home after being away for a week.

He is thriving on his BARF diet. His coat absolutely shines. His eyes are bright and his ears are clear. We are noticing that his coat, especially on his head is turning brownish. No- it is not the cocoa powder residue. I think that it must be his hound roots showing through.

~Mom

EBC Reunion

While at Greenwood Hills Camp, we had a mini-EBC reunion. Dear Hubby and I met there in the fall of 1981. We have now been married for 21 years. EBC has an alumni website and many people keep in touch and meet there. Martain and Kim actually met on line there. They didn't attend school at the same time. They were married a year ago and are expecting a little one in about 5 weeks. They live on the grounds at Greenwood Hills. They invited all the alumni and their families over for root beer floats and good conversation. We had a blessed time.

Some of the ladies and one guy who keep on the website made blocks for this quilt. Dottie V. and her mom pieced it together and brought it to Martain and Kimmie as a wedding present. It really came out lovely. I didn't get a close up, but it was beautiful.

Dottie and her husband Alan were there with their two children Caleb and Rachel. Dottie was at EBC after 1983.

This is Carol T., also known as Mrs. Potato Head. She and her family were kind (crazy) enough to host us for a week last year when we went to Washington DC. It was really nice to see her again and her twins Joel and Lily.

Thanks Martain and Kim for a grand time.
~Mom

Gettysburg Battle Field Tour

We took a driving tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield area. This is the Gettysburg Cemetery where Lincoln gave his famous address. We borrowed a friends' (Thanks Carol, Lily, and Joel) Audio description of the driving tour. We had about 2 hours and made it through 2/3 of the 23 miles. We didn't have time to get out and look at things as this was definitely a 'drive-by shooting'. The only place we got out was on Little Round Top. There are some really neat rocks to climb on and the view is tremendous from there.

This is the eternal flame located in the 'Oaks'. It is a large memorial and the flame is on top of the tall pillar. On a bright day like this one, it is almost impossible to see the flame. You can get a feel for the size if you note the people in the picture.

This is the statue of Robert E. Lee. I would really recommend using either an audio tour or getting a guide as you go through the battle field. Otherwise, you will miss out on too much.

I could picture in my minds eye the troops coming together in the fields with their guns blazing and cannons booming. I think much of the countryside looks the same as it did back then (minus the cars in the distance, and the planes in the sky).

It was a 90+ day and Michelle needs the shade. She found it in the shade of a monument on Little Round Top.

Even Dear Hubby got out of the van and left the air conditioning for a few minutes to look around. Little Round Top is where one of the defining and last skirmishes at Gettysburg was fought. If the South had been able to take this position the whole outcome of the war might have changed.

The view from Little Round Top is stunning. Here you see in the distance, the Pennsylvania monument.

Mr. Boots allowed me to take his picture posing on one of the many rocks on the 'Top. I liked the clear blue sky as a background.

Michelle finally moved out of the shade and climbed on some rocks. She didn't move too far or too fast.

JoAn found the top of the rock. The children had a lot of fun climbing on these large boulders for a few minutes before we had to rush off to the next stop. We would like to come back here someday soon.

After we left the 'Top we continued driving through battlefields. We came by the Pennsylvania monument. It is the largest monument in the whole Gettysburg National Park. On such a hot day we thanked God for an air conditioned van. We felt for all the soldiers at the battle who wore wool uniforms as they fought on those long hot July days.

~Mom