Vacation 2024 in the Books!

 Good morning!  I am determined to stay semi up-to-date with my blog for a few months at least.  :)  So here is update number one!  This past month, we were able to go on our family vacation for the year.  We usually go in the fall, October....but since that is a month that usually has lots of church events and plus, the start of hunting season, we decided to do earlier in the year.  

We decided to keep closer to home this year, and went to New Hampshire which is roughly a 3 hour drive.  We were able to hike mountains, spend time at the lake, and also take a day trip to Maine! 

My 3 little hikers.

The Lakes region of NH is beautiful!

Dan and the girls, building a sandcastle on the lake beach right near where we were staying.

The girls absolutely LOVED swimming at the pool at the resort where we stayed.  I'm thinking swimming lessons are in order!

On our way out of town one day, we stopped at the Kellerhaus, which is a neat, candy/ice cream shop.  Apparently the oldest in NH.  The ice cream was good! ALbeit , very overpriced.  :) 

The Ocean.  In the very far distance, you can see Goat Island and the lighthouse there.

Another day, another castle built.  Of course this was more authentic because it could be decorated with seashells since we were at the OCEAN in Maine.

The best kinds of messages in the sand.

The cutest Clarabelle!

Nubble Lighthouse

Endicott Rock where there are inscriptions from the 1600's

Downtown Laconia.

We all voted this years vacation as one of our absolute favorites so far.  We also spent one day just relaxing, and one day exploring antique shops and a few thrift stores.  I made almost every meal (except one) at our resort kitchen and so we were able to save a lot of money.  

It was a good week!

Baby was born.....A long time ago :)

Life has flown by and I thought of my blog yesterday and recalled that the last time I posted, I said that I was due to have my fourth baby GIRL.  That little girl has since joined our family (I should HOPE SO! 😁)  and we love her so much!

She was born the end of October and we named her Clarabelle.

The girls love her and so do we.

I'm going to slowly begin updating my blog.  It may take me quite a few weeks to catch back up, but we'll do it!  Hang with me folks!  Those of you who have continued following my blog despite my neglect for it deserve some prize.  Drop a comment below if you are still following!  

You'll Never Believe it!!!!

 

I apologize for the terrible video quality.  Perhaps you are still able to see from it though, that we are indeed having................

ANOTHER GIRL!!!!!!

Baby #4

 

We announced to the rest of the world several weeks ago that we are expecting our 4th baby the end of this year! 

We are quite excited, as you can see from this photo of the kids. 

On Sunday, we will be sharing the fun news of whether we'll be adding another girl to the tribe, or if we'll switch things up with a boy.  That gives me a very good reason to need to update my blog again on Sunday!  So stay tuned for the new update.  :-) 

Fun PA Trip

 

Well, I figured since it has been a very long time, that it was finally time to update my blog.  The good old blog!  One thing is for sure: if anyone should chance upon my blog after a 4 month hiatus like I have had, they will not sit around waiting for my NEXT post.  It could be tomorrow, it could be 2 years from now....who knows?  

Anyway.  We took a lovely little trip down to PA this past week just for a few nights (3 to be exact).  I wanted the girls to be able to go to Knoebels Grove once this summer, and the rest of our summer and fall is filling up and looking like it'll be very busy.  So I quickly planned this little getaway.  We left NY Sunday afternoon and made it down to PA to a place called Pine Grove to spend the night.  It was a fun little spot, semi-exotic (for us at least), since it was on an old airfield.  The Hangar was nearby and there was an older airplane model sitting out in the field.  The place we stayed in had a loft that was perfect for Gwen and Lucie to sleep in.  They loved it so much.  When they saw the loft with it's ladder to climb up, Gwen said "Now we're just like Laura and Mary (Ingalls), because they always climb a ladder to their beds too!" 

Monday morning, I made breakfast and Dan and Gwen tried out the jacuzzi, though Gwen claimed it was too hot after dipping just her toe in.  We packed up and left, heading for Hershey's Chocolate world.  We rode the free tour ride twice and then headed for Lancaster area.  The only thing I REALLY wanted to go to in Lancaster was to Shady Maple Smorgasbord (where we had our wedding reception).  We stopped at a huge playground and the kids played for an hour or so, then we got to Shady Maple, where I really enjoyed eating.  

When we finished, we headed back to Selinsgrove, where we would spend the next two nights.  We were staying at a lovely Bed and Breakfast where there was a pond and lovely walking trails.  We took a walk, the girls went wading in the pond, and we played a few rousing rounds of hide and go seek before retiring for the night.  

Tuesday morning, we ate the delicious breakfast that was prepared by our hostess, and I packed up our cooler of picnic lunch and we headed for Knoebels. 

I had already purchased our tickets online (buy one get one free) and so we got to start riding rides pretty quickly after getting there. 

Just a few pictures of some of our favorites. 

Eliza, standing in front of the fudge shop. 

It was a fun day, and one the girls will talk about for awhile.  

On our way back to the bed and breakfast, we stopped at Hoss's to eat and I discovered that Eliza had a tick on her upper leg.  It must have gotten on her during our walk or hide and seek the previous evening.  THANKFULLY, Dan is skilled at removing ticks fully without leaving the head and such.  After that, it was a nice dinner.  

Wednesday morning, we packed up the van, ate the last breakfast of our stay, and said our goodbyes.  We drove straight back to NY and were home in time for me to teach the ladies Bible Study at church and for my husband to have a counseling meeting with someone that evening.  

It was a fun trip, but it's also good to be home.  

Okay, I'm determined to not be such a stranger this summer.  I'm recently a HUGE fan of writing to-do lists and my days have been extremely productive of late.  Perhaps I will add "edit blog" to my lists to ensure that 4-month gaps in posts are not the norm.  

February comes to a close.

I'm back after taking a few months break from posting!  My January has been all about catching up on cleaning, organizing my schedule and my house, and teaching the children.  I have taken seriously my decision to not eat out but once a month.  And last week, I enjoyed going to a diner with my family for the first time since Mid-December.  

 I hope all of my readers are doing well and having a safe and healthy winter.  

Family year-end update

Here is a Shedd family year end update to catch you all up on the many months of sparce (or no) posting! 

 Dear friends and family,                                                                                                                    

We hope this Christmas greeting finds you well and excited to celebrate Jesus’ birth in a few short weeks.    As is probably true for many of you, 2022 has been a busy, fun, and also crazy year for us.  In March, we re-homed our German Shepherd (Chula) to my parents’ home in PA.  I simply wasn’t able to take her for walks like she needed, and she needed more freedom to run around.  She is happy, healthy, and THRIVING living on my parents 5 acres. Plus, I think my dad kind of spoils her 😊 

In March, Dan began building a tiny cabin on our “farm”.  

In April we had a renewal conference at church on a Saturday thru Wednesday.  Included in those nights were a men’s night, teen night, and regular services as well.  It was a blessing.  At the end of April, I fell down our library steps (how embarrassing), and didn’t even look around to see if anyone had noticed!  I never went to the doctor, but I couldn’t put any weight on it for over a week.  It still bothers me when it’s cold and rainy.  We went that week for a few days on an anniversary trip with the kiddos.  I hobbled about on crutches and Dan even pushed me around in a wheelchair at Aldi.  Nothing like being reminded that our vows were “in sickness and in health”.  

In May, we did all of our garden planting.  I expanded the garden by about 8 feet this year in order to plant potatoes.  Because we re-homed Chula though, the rabbits and deer went to town on our garden.  In spite of that, we had a great green bean crop, corn, and cantaloupe.  Cucumbers, squash and zucchini, watermelon, carrots, onions, and basil, dill, thyme, and parsley did awesome.  The potatoes were pretty small (probably due to the deer chomping off the flowering tops of the plants in late July), but still tasty! We got some baby chicks as well in May and began raising them out.   Dan completed the tiny cabin and we furnished it, he made an outhouse with composting toilet etc., and then we began renting it out as a short-term rental.  Mostly to city folks who wanted a weekend to “rough it” with no electricity.  

In June, July and August, I kept busy with gardening, managing and cleaning the short-term rental we have, and also was faithfully going running every day.  We went to a conference in NJ in July and returned home refreshed and ready to win some battles for Christ.  It was right after that that we experienced one of the hardest blows in ministry we’ve experienced so far.  Through it all, God has been good though, and we know that God has a plan and a purpose in what He allows.  

Progress on the farm has come along steadily, and though Dan is working solo, he has finished working on the barn roof, re-doing the whole back of the barn, and also, fixing the holes in the house roof(which is slate).  He is now beginning the arduous task of gutting the house.  One friend came over to see the house and skeptically said “I don’t know…I’d probably bulldoze this place and start from the ground up.”  However, I love the history of the place.  It was built in 1810 and while it needs tons (TONS) of work, I believe it will be worth the hassle of fixing.

In September, we did something crazy…and bought 6 pigs- 1 sow and 5 piglets.  The sow we butchered right away.  Now we have been enjoying sausage and hams.  We sold 1 piglet, and still have 4.  

Gwen (4) LOVES school, writing, learning to spell words, and leads her sisters in singing all the time.  She plays the piano quite well for her age, and I’ve already told her that if she keeps it up, she’ll take my spot as church pianist.  😊 She is also very motivated to learn the piano “to proficiency” so that she can begin the violin and trumpet.  Gwen is in kindergarten.

Lucie (3) loves to help with things.  She gets very excited when Dan takes her to work.  She likes to help wash eggs, and make scrambled eggs for breakfast.  Both girls are learning to fold and put away their whole load of laundry.  Lucie also loves school and has already finished 2 sets of preschool books, and is currently in her 3rd.   

Eliza (18 months) is our “joy bell”.  She is happy almost all the time, and we love hearing her say words.  Her favorite words are “candy”, “crackers”, “soup”, and “mommy”.  

We were able to take a trip to Georgia to see family right after Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving Day, we stopped for a night at my parents’ and then had a lovely meal with them.  In our journeying, we toured the Mayfield Dairy, the Jamestown settlement, and visited the church in MD where we worked for 2 years while newlyweds.  Dan was given the opportunity to preach in Spanish at the church plant he assisted in while in his late teens/early 20’s.  

In our church, I have been leading a ladies Bible study now every Wednesday.  We’ve studied verse-by-verse through Galatians, Ephesians, 1 and 2nd Thessalonians, Colossians, and James so far.  It has been such a learning time for all of us, and I love seeing the ladies’ grow in their faith.  I am also currently meeting with 3 different women throughout the week for personal discipleship (a 26-week course).  Dan is currently meeting with 1 man.  

We set up a booth in Granville for our annual tree lighting.  We gave out brownies and hot cider.  It was a great outreach opportunity.  Many people were thankful for both as well as the tracts we were giving out.  We are participating in the Granville lighted tractor parade on the 9th as well.  Dan will be building a float and decking it out all week in preparation for that.  Gwendolyn and Lucie are both playing the piano in my piano students’ Christmas recital on the 10th.  They don’t know it yet, but I’ve gotten them and myself tickets to go see the Nutcracker that evening after the recital.  I think they will enjoy that.  On the 11th, Gwen will be an angel and Lucie will be a shepherd in the church’s Christmas program.

  Dan got his first deer two weeks ago.  We did the whole thing into steaks this time.  We discovered that our creek at “the farm” has a beaver dam in it.  Thankfully, a trapper pointed it out to us and asked if he could trap our beaver for us.  We agreed.  

In June, I was asked to accompany the Granville Area Chorus for their summer concert at the park while their pianist was recovering from an injury.  It was mostly showtunes and patriotic songs, and I had fun with that.  In September I was asked to be the permanent accompanist, so I accepted.  Our Christmas concert is coming up in a few weeks.  We are doing a few of the songs from Handel’s Messiah…and those have required more practicing than I’ve been used to.  Very good for me! 

Well, I had better sign off and let you get back to your Christmas traditions, whatever they may be.  As for me, I’ll need to crack the whip if I expect to have the house decorated before Christmas.  Please have a wonderful Christmas with your family or friends, and don’t forget the real reason why we celebrate this time of the year!  

Much love, 

The Shedd’s