Campfire Cooking

by Megan

Last night the four oldest kids camped out in the backyard yet again, so that Nathan can check off March on his way to his Scouting Year-Round Camper Award.  (We camped out at the very end of February and just left the tent up until March.  Saved us the effort of taking down and putting up again.)  The temperature was just below freezing, but we all stayed warm enough in our layers of clothing and piles of blankets.

We woke to a beautiful morning- the birds were chirping, the air was clear and crisp, and the sun was just peeking over the horizon.  Planning to cook breakfast, we decided to start a campfire.  However, the ground was covered in frost.  Wood hadn't dried out after the recent rain, instead it had frozen.  We tried for almost an hour to light our damp twigs.  We were nearly ready to call it quits when we finally succeeded in maintaining a flame.  An old tin can served to boil water and hot cereal was made.  Aside from a little ash in our food, breakfast turned out well.

Later in the day, I decided to try baking chocolate chip cookies in the fire with the Dutch oven.  Hannah helped me mix up the dough while Nathan built the fire.  We covered the oven with coals and waited.  When I checked it, it was underdone and the coals had lost most of their heat.  We placed the oven back in the firepit and Josh helped me build a new fire around it.  When we checked it again, the cookies had slid together into a burned mass, which looked nasty but actually tasted pretty good- crispy and sweet.  Josh, Ben, and I devoured the entire batch.

We resolved to try again with the remaining dough, hoping that we had learned enough the first time to improve our technique.  This time the cookie bars came out less burned.  Nathan made nasty faces while he ate his and complained that he was gagging on the wretched taste.  The rest of the family didn't seem to mind too much.  Josh and I thought they were yummy, but not as good as the first batch.

We will continue to experiment with campfire and Dutch oven cooking.  Eventually we'll learn how to make food Nathan can eat without gagging.

Hiking in Mud & Ice

by Megan

The whole family went for a short hike this afternoon.  The trail alternated between squishy mud and slippery ice.  Everyone had rubber or waterproof boots- except Mommy.  Daddy had to carry her piggyback over the muddiest sections.  I wish I had brought my camera.

A cold breeze was chilling my unprotected ears, so I asked Hannah, who was riding on my back, to cover my ears with her mittened hands.  This worked so well that Nathan begged to carry her as well so his ears could be protected.

When we reached the end of the trail, we were treated to the sight of the waterfall, swollen frothy white from the melting snow and yesterday's rain.  We had to keep a close eye on Ben and Hannah to make sure they didn't fall in.  Stubborn Hannah insisted she wanted to put her feet in the water.  She couldn't seem to comprehend that it would be over the tops of her boots in an instant, despite my repeated attempts to show her the depth.

Another Hannah Haircut

by Amanda

Hannah kept getting food in her hair, so she was given two choices: 1.  let me put it back or 2. let Megan cut it.  She refused to let me do it so Megan cut it.  However, problems arose.  One side was shorter than the other.  In the process of fixing it, her hair ended up an inch shorter than intended.  It's still very cute.

Snow!

By Amanda

We have at least a foot of snow, which makes for pretty good sledding. 



When asked if she was scared going sledding Hannah replied, "No, I just close my eyes."
"Why?"  Daddy asked
"It's to scary."
But that didn't stop her from going down the hill constantly.



Daddy and Hannah wiped out

Santa Claus Hold-up

By Megan

Here's the lastest installment in our famous series of Life is Good pictures.  This one is drawn by myself and Christmas themed.

Throw them Away

Amanda

Tonight we opened up ornaments from Grandma and Grandpa Siebert, after we had opened, the little ones got up to go, leaving behind the wrapping paper strewn all over the floor.   So Mommy calls "Wait, what do you do after opening presents?"
Ben looks around and declares, "Throw them out."
He meant throw out the wrapping paper, but he failed to specify that. 

Snowman Day

By Amanda

Now you are probably wondering what snowman day is.  That is an excellent question.  So I shall explain.  Snowman day is a Nisly holiday, the day we all dress up as snowman and eat snowman food and be generally snowmanny.  Reference pictures for what snowman food looks like and how to dress as a snowman.

Amanda's snowman pancake



Ben's snowman pancake



Megan in costume, making pancakes

Amanda and her dinner snowman

Megan's snowlady

Invasion!

The Great Animal Invasion began on Tuesday when friends dropped their dog and 2 cats off for us to watch over Thanksgiving.  So now the total score is 8 humans to 6 animals, 5 cats and 1 dog.  Humans in the lead. 

The next day Mommy brought Daddy to work and then ran some errands.  Us children back home had a pretty typical day, until Mommy calls and tells us to open the garage door because she has a large stray dog in the car that she wants to put in the basement.  We all looked at each other and made a mad dash for the door, schoolwork forgotten.  Sure enough sitting in the car is a large dog who looked part english pointer part beagle.  Score 7 humans (Daddy being at work) to 7 animals, 2 dogs 5 cats.  Tied! 

The stray dog had a collar on so we called the number, but no one answered.  Since it was the middle of the afternoon the owner was probably at work, so we left a message.  Then we looked at the address.  The dog was from the far side of a neighboring town, 14 miles away!  This unfortunately leaving us with alot more questions than answers we settled down to wait for the owner to call back.  That night the owner did call back and explained the dogs presence.  The dog, who's name was Buck, was being trained by the mans son who lives right around the corner from us and had escaped while the son was at work.  The son was already looking for him.  So we gave him our address and he came and picked up Buck.  Score 7 humans to 6 animals.  Humans in the lead once again.

Amanda

Scouting News

By Nathan

Last weekend, my Boy Scout troop and I went backpacking at the Durland Scout Reservation in NY.  It was only two miles in to our campsite, which was right on the lake.  We hiked up to a nearby peak where you could see all the way to New York City.  After that we went on another hike. 
My Scoutmaster is obsessed with group pictures.  Whatever peak we come to, or whenever there's a nice view of the lake, he always makes us stand there and he always takes a group picture.
After every trip my Scoutmaster gives a long speech about how well we did and what we could improve on.  Sometimes he doesn't even talk about the trip, he just gives an inspirational talk on life.
We made two fires at camp and had a great time despite the cold.  We hiked up to the peak again that night to see New York City all lit up.
The next morning the wind was very strong.  We packed up and hiked out quickly.  Nobody wanted to hang around in the cold.

Also, yesterday  I earned the rank of Tenderfoot.  For the last requirement you have to attend a Board of Review.  A Board of Review is where the adults review the requirments with you to make sure you met them.  I went into a side room with three adults and my patrol leader introduced me.  Then they analyzed my uniform to make sure I was wearing it correctly.  Then I sat down and they asked me questions to make sure I had met the requirments and since this is my first Board of Review they explained how it all works.  I passed and achieved the rank of Tenderfoot!

May the Force be with you

  

Han Solo

  

Daddy







 



   

Mommy



Shmi Skywalker











Megan

   

Leia Skywalker








Amanda



 

 

Emperor Sidious







Luke Skywalker




Nathan



      









Darth Vader

Joshua



Obi-Wan Kenobi



 

Ben









Hannah



Ewok



Sorry about the small pictures.  I had to shrink them to get them all to fit next to each other.  You can click on any picture to see it larger.  











Baby's First Haircut

I'll let her tell you about it:

Cleaning House? Bake Cookies!

by Megan

Mommy and Daddy were gone on Friday night, so the kids were keeping house.  I wanted to have the house clean and surprise Mommy when she came home, so I got up on Saturday morning and baked chocolate chocolate chip cookies.  I told everyone that they could have one cookie for every cleaning task they completed.  It worked like a charm!

An hour later, dishes had been washed and the trash was empty.  Toys were put away.  Mirrors, toilets, toasters, sinks, a shower, and the kitchen counters had been cleaned.  Floors and stairs had been swept or vacuumed.  (Ben and Hannah were actually fighting over the vacuum!)  Ben was in tears when he could think of any tasks he could do, and I had to think fast to come up with something.  When they were done, everyone had earned around 5 cookies.  (It's sadly indicative of the state of our house that there was still a lot of work left to be done.)

Just so no one thinks I was being a lazy tyrant, I'll explain myself.  I didn't force anyone to do anything; they could earn as few or as many cookies as they wanted, or they could do absolutely nothing.  It was up to them.  I wasn't doing nothing this whole time.  In fact, I was chaotically busy.  I had to mix up cookies, scoop them, and bake them, while coming up with age-appropriate chores, checking the kids' work, answering their questions, and instructing them on how to clean mirrors and floors.  After that, I had to do a few chores myself, since I wanted some of my own cookies.  I wasn't making others do my work, I was providing positive and effective motivation.  :)

Beware the Loch Russell Monster!

I just realized that we haven't posted anything on our blog in weeks, though we promised to.  I offer sincere apologies for this lapse and shall attempt to make it up to you by posting about our camping trip to New Hampshire.  I love the roads in NH, especially the Kancamagus highway.  You can tell you're close when you look out the window and rather than the tunnel of trees that you see in CT, you are driving along the side of a mountain, overlooking the valley below you.  It is a gorgeous view. 

This year, it was a bit warmer, so we could enjoy the Russell pond to it's fullest, even though we were worried about the Loch Russell Monster, affectionately known as Russie.  I think the videos and pictures will explain better than I can.

 Amanda

Technology Obsessed Americans?

I'm finally back!  Our internet connection has been out for almost two weeks.  Daddy had a terrible time with AT&T to get it back. 

When I first complained about the lack of internet, Mommy launched into one of her 'evil society' rants.  She said it would be good for us to go without our computer for awhile; that we're just like the rest of Americans who can't be away from their internet for even a minute.  That got me thinking.  Is that true?  Are we addicted to our computer?  Is that a bad thing?

Over the next two weeks, we all repeatedly turned to our computers several times a day to look something up, only to remember with frustration that we couldn't. 
On Friday, there were several things from camping that we wanted information on.  Does Google Maps have a bird's eye view of the campground we were in?  Are there any news stories about the rescue helicopter and vehicles we saw?  How many satellites are there in the night sky?
On Saturday, my great uncle visited.  He said I look like Scarlett Johansson.  I wanted to find a picture of her and see if that was true.
On Sunday, I wanted to check the DMV site to see how driving regulations change when you're over 18.  Am I allowed to drive with siblings in the car now?
On Tuesday, Nathan needed to check his email to find out the time of his first Boy Scout meeting.
On Wednesday, we wanted to check Google Maps again to see if I could walk to the house of the kids I'm babysitting.  (Turns out they're practically our next-door neighbors.)
And so it went.  Nathan wanted to check out some Boy Scout infomation.  I wished I could research the facts behind several books I read.  Mommy needed to know if the insects swarming on our steps were termites or ants.  And of course, I wanted to check my email, post on the blog, and read the news.

So, are we addicted?  Yes.  Is that a bad thing?  I don't believe it is.  The internet is a source of information.  Some of the things we wanted to know were merely to satisfy curiosity, others were useful or practical, and some were educational.  I think our addiction proves that we're curious.  We're used to having a wealth of information, an answer to every question, just seconds away.  I don't like having that cut off.

By the way, I will hopefully be posting every day for the next couple days to catch up.  Expect camping, kittens, and more!

~Megan~

Why Go Camping?

I don't know why camping is such an attraction.  After all, it's completely illogical.  Why would anyone want to pack up half their house, drive out into the woods, get eaten by mosquitoes, covered in dirt, and sleep on the ground?  Yet we still love to camp.  We like waking up on a chilly morning, listening to the birds, watching the sun rise and burn off the mist.  Bacon and eggs fried on the camp stove taste better than ones made at home.  The whole thing doesn't really make much sense.

Last week, some of us took it to an even more illogical level.  We forgot the girls' tent when we went camping at Macedonia Brook State Park, so Amanda, Nathan, Joshua, and I elected to set up our air mattresses outside, alone with the stars, mosquitoes, and wild animals.  (And those evil park rangers who take delight in sneaking up on unsuspecting campers and scaring them to death, but that's another story.)

Our campsite

Hannah and Ben listening to Nathan tell a story

When we got to the campground on Tuesday evening, Mommy and Daddy had the rare pleasure of sitting at the picnic table watching while the kids set up camp.  We put up the tent, unloaded the car, inflated the air mattresses, and filled the water jug while they ate supper.

The next day we mostly just relaxed.  We played Monopoly for most of the morning.  In the afternoon, I got in a little driving practice to run up to Kent to get ice cream, Sprite, and chocolate.  (I know, we were in a weird mood.)  Most of us took naps, read a book, or carved sticks until dinner.  It was a pretty lazy day.

Thurday morning we took a short walk and played around in the brook a little before packing up and heading home.  I think the following pictures will describe anything I missed.

Hannah cuddling with her Daddy

Ben with a Rice Krispie treat

Josh playing with burnt sticks and getting his hands messy

Nathan and I practicing sign language

Amanda coaxing Mommy across a fallen log

Hannah with her hair in a ponytail 

(She took it out shortly after.)

~Megan~

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for us.  Amanda worked with Ben a bit and Mommy worked with Josh.  Then Mommy had us all doing stretches in the kitchen, which turned out to be rather amusing.  I finished drawing schedules for Amanda and Nathan with my new colored pencils, but I still have to do ones for Josh and Ben.  I think we've gotten a pretty good start on the year.  I tried to interview my family to get some comments on the subject, but no one had anything to say except Nathan, who says, "So far I've had fun.  I look forward to the rest of the year."

~Megan~

Kayak Tipping and Runaway Kites

Mommy gave us a valuable and fascinating lesson on Thursday- how to right a tipped kayak.  We were at the beach, kayaking on the bay.  When Mommy and Daddy came back from their kayak trip, the rest of us thought it would be fun to go out to meet them and hitch a ride.  Apparently, while trying to throw Josh off the back of the boat, Daddy leaned too far over and tipped the kayak.  Fortunately, the water in the bay is only 2-3 feet deep and most of us were wearing our life vests.  

Mommy took advantage of the opportunity to show us something she had learned at camp as a child- how to turn our boat back over again.  It's a lot harder than I expected.  You have to get underneath it and push straight up, or else you only get more water in it and risk sinking it altogether.  Kayaks full of water are heavy.  It took us multiple tries before we got it upright with only an inch or two or water inside.  It was fun though.

On the beach side, we broke out the kites.  The boys each had a new kite, so when added to Amanda's and Daddy's, we could have had five kites in the air at once.  It turned out that one of them was broken, so we ended up with four.  As it was, they had to spread out quite a bit to keep from tangling their strings.  

Kites escaped from their fliers several times, leaving someone scrambling down the beach after them.  Hannah let go of Amanda's once, and Nathan's string broke.  It flew a ways down the beach before it landed, and then he and Amanda had to go retrieve it.  Nathan almost got hands tied up in the string when he tried to wind it up.  I wish I had a video!

~Megan~

Boy Scout Summer Camp

From August 1st-8th I (Nathan) went to Camp Yawgoog in Rhode Island.  We arrived there late on Sunday so I missed supper.  I moved my stuff into my tent.  Then the whole troop went on a tour of camp.  I was very nervous that first day.  Over the week I got two merit badges: Swimming and Pioneering.  Swimming involved us doing strokes, dives, floating, and a great many other things.  In Pioneering we do knots and lashing.  I also took a program called New Frontier.  It focuses on earning rank advancement.  I had some very interesting teachers.  The food was bettter than I thought it would be.  I got to know a lot of the kids in my troop and I had a great time.  I earned a lot of badges :).  I look forward to going back next year.

Nathan

My 18th Birthday

Sunday was my 18th birthday.  Despite having a nasty cold, I enjoyed my day.  Amanda, Nathan, Josh, and Mommy worked together to set up a treasure hunt for me with 18 clues.  Nathan designed a menu, took my order, and made me lunch.  For dinner, Mommy baked picnic chicken and Daddy fried up yummy sweet potato fries.  I chose fried ice cream for dessert, and unfortunately it took me two breaths to blow out all my candles. No wishes coming true this year.  :(

My first gift was a rocking clock; it has a rounded bottom and when you rock it, a light comes on so you can see the time.  Funky, huh?  More importantly, the numbers are big and clear enough that I can read them without my contacts.  No more excuses for sleeping late!

Aren't they gorgeous?

My other present was a 48 set of colored pencils in a nice tin.  I carefully arranged them all in rainbow order.  Daddy thought I was nuts when he caught me gazing at them, just soaking up their beauty.  My fingers have blisters from hand-sharpening 48 pencils.  It's a joy to have such a selection of colors.  I can't wait to use them more!

Hannah (with Mommy's help) made me some chocolate raisin clusters and wrapped them herself.  Amanda, Nathan, and Josh got me a cool t-shirt.

I think that's all the news from my birthday.  We have several other updates coming up soon though!

~Megan~

VBS Mayhem

Today was the third day of VBS (Vacation Bible School) and for me (Amanda) It was the most difficult.  I am a crew leader, meaning, I lead a group of kids from one place to another.  My crew is named Jump for Jesus, thus named by one of the girls in my crew.  I was supposed to have 6 kids in my crew.  But for the last 2 days I only had 4 kids, 2 didn't show.  Today they finally came.  One of them, a 2nd grade girl, is hyper.  She can't sit still and does not understand the concept of no.  Disciplining her is a balancing act.  She definitely presents an interesting challenge.

  The rest of my crew is fine.  I have 2 four year olds who are adorable, 2 older girls, and the poor lone boy in my class.  My crew is usually the last to leave crafts, as my entire crew are extremely creative perfectionists.  Who will not leave if something is incomplete.  Overall I am greatly enjoying myself and look forward to tomorrow.

Amanda