A Little Knock In The Head...

Ruby is setting the table.

Ruby hears a whimpering by the buffet.

Ruby sees Gabriel hunched over.

Ruby starts laughing.

Gabriel: "Ruby it's not funny! (whimpering) I... hit... my... head..."

Ruby: "I know... I saw... (sarcastically) oh Gabriel, it'll be okay! I'm sorry!"

Gabriel: "Stoppit! It's not funny! (tries not to laugh)"

Ruby goes over to Gabriel.

Gabriel takes his arm down from his head.

Ruby sees a little red spot on his shirt.

Ruby wonders: "How did he get that red spot there to make me believe he's really hurt.

Ruby glances at his head, and a moment later rushes him into the bathroom.

"Daddy, daddy! Look at Gabriel!"

Daddy looks at Gabriel.

Daddy says: "Quick! Get the camera!"

Hence the below picture...

As Monk would say....

"Here's how it happened...."

The sound of piano music from the family room drifted into the kitchen.  Pianist Brooke Hopkins was right in the middle of his third piano lesson for the day.  The young student was playing a Sonatina by F. Kuhlau.   Gabriel was in the kitchen... picking at anything that was edible.  He then thought that he would steal into the music room to check something on dad's computer.  The piano music kept on drifting... and drifting... Gabriel took big strides towards the family room, closing the basement door to get by.  But as he was closing it, it bounced off of his foot (he had closed it so fast that it bounced off of his foot...) however, he had kept his upper body moving, and he door hit his head, and penetrated ALL THREE layers of skin, arousing the blood found there, which flowed angrily down his face.  Gabriel put his face in the crook of his elbow and whimpered.  Because Gabriel doesn't cry.  But he does whimper. 


The End.

What A Day?!

Dear Friends...

My father and sister, Chloe, are in Indianapolis at the present moment.... Daddy had some concerts and a gig over there.  As a result of this, I was going to be left in the big, cold, attic room for the weekend... So last night, we made sleeping arrangements: Olivia slept with mommy, and I slept with Tirzah.  I studied late into the night, because I want so very much to get everything done on time.  I finally fell asleep very very late... I first woke up about 6:30, and thought: "oh! What a day! I can get up early... get stuff done... It will be so productive." But, of course, I fell asleep. Around seven I woke up to the sound of little pattering feet in the room.  The heaters had just come on and there was a delicious warmth that spread through the room.  Through my half open eyes I saw Olivia, standing with her eyes half closed (there is a big difference between the two... as one is partially awake, the other partially asleep) and she saw there was no room for her, so whimpering she left the room.  I felt a sort of inertia around my mouth, so I couldn't talk, and I snapped my fingers till she turned around.  I opened up my arms to her and the little blond-haired angel came straight to me.  We snuggled down together and I prepared to go to sleep again.  But Olivia is a restless sleeper... her arms and legs and head were constantly squirming.  So after awhile, when I became unbearably hot, I thought that I would go upstairs to my cold bed for a little bit.  So I stuck Olivia next to Tirzah, covered her up, and went upstairs, feeling the delicious cold air in my hot face... and my bed was so cool, and felt so refreshing that in no time, I was asleep.  I was aware of several little people scampering around my room during the course of the morning, but was never more than half awake to have the sense to wake up entirely. 

That is... until Olivia said: "Ruby! Ruby! Wake up! The carpet cleaners are here and they're coming up here!"

Oh joy....

So I hear them on my stairs (and I don't know why they were because they didn't even clean my stairs) and I completely froze in front of the mirror, looking at my swollen eyes, tired face, and wild hair.  I heard the men retreat all the way downstairs, and I hurriedly threw on some clothes, gathered up my books and notebooks, and a toothbrush, and went downstairs.  The carpet cleaner looked puzzled when he saw my face, but I only tried to open my eyes as wide as I possibly could and smile.  My mother laughed when she saw me.  "We were imagining what you would do when you found out that they were cleaning the carpets and you had no way to get down here."  I looked at the clock... it was 10 AM.  Three and a half hours had been spent sleeping... and not that that's a bad thing... just when it ends at 10 in the morning.  I sighed, and turned to finish an essay on Alfred the Great.   I only finished some of it.  When the carpet men were finished, and commented on how everyone in our family had grown since they had come last, I wondered if they thought that Gabriel and I were just more of those rebellious teenagers.  I hoped not.  Maybe the fact that all the little kids were sitting around the table talking with us did something.

We planned on getting Christmas tree, and decorating it while eating Jo Froggers and Eggnog.  We invited Peter over.  Mother left the house to do some Christmas shopping and get the tree.  I made the Jo Frogger dough, and then made lentil soup for dinner.  But mother came home without a Christmas tree. She couldn't make a decision.  As the day wore on, we decided not to get one.  We talked to dad, Uncle John and Aunt Kathy, found out that my cousin's wife (as of August) is just now expecting their first baby.  Then Peter called.  After that, we somehow decided to get a tree.  I don't know what the result of this day will be.  I'm about to go roll out the Jo Frogger dough to make the cookies, and the Eggnog.  But mother and Gabriel are out searching for a tree, Peter will be here in about an hour, and the carpets look white compared to before.  What a clean feeling! 

As we decorate the Christmas Tree, we'll think of Martin Luther, the great reformer, walking through the pine forest and seeing the moon beams come through, reminding him of the beauty of God's creation...and then going home and recreating it with a baby tree and candles. As we put up the manger scene we'll think about why we celebrate Christmas... because the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and how without his incredible birth, born below his state in the humblest of conditions, we could not have his death, and without his death, there would be no remission for our sins and our guilt.  So for this reason we rejoice, and look forward to 25 December as the day that we celebrate the Incarnation of Christ.... but let us not celebrate it only once a year, but every day, and every hour, and every minute, and every second.

I still am thinking about the blond-haired angel who came to snuggle with me this morning.  Nobody ever feels more loving than when he/she is snuggling with one of these little angels.

Reformation Day Prep!

This was sorta a cool picture... I like to play around with the color effects on the camera. :)

Tirzah organizing sand-paper.

Our little Sweeper. :)

 

This past week we've been preparing our house and garage and yard for our annual Reformation Festival that we celebrate in lieu of Halloween.  The event is tomorrow night - I will be sure to post pictures, though how soon after I don't know. :)

More coming!

A Week Of Work!

Note: This was written on Saturday, June 6th... We actually got home on Wednesday June 10th. But the pictures weren't uploading there, so I had to wait until I got home. :)

The Trip...

I am currently sitting in a nice chair at my aunt's house in Lewisburg, PA... Most of you probably haven't heard of this town, and so if you haven't, you may want to look it up. ;) Jk, I won't make you do that. It's somewhere near Williamsport, PA. Right outside of town there's a bunch of mountains, and the air is always fresh and clean here. Anyways. On Wednesday, Gabriel, Tirzah, Chloe, and I traveled up here by various ways....

First our beloved Father drove us halfway to New Wilming

ton, PA, which is where his mother lives. She met us, and drove us half way to Lewisburg. Our dear cousin Conrad met us there, and drove us to Lewisburg. Even though it was roundabout, we had a great deal of fun - especially since from the time we left to the time we arrived at our destination, it rained nonstop. It wasn't the kind of rain that would let up for a few minutes, but rather, it would pour, and then lightly rain for a few minutes instead of letting up. So we had fun with that :D.

My grandma recently bought a new car...

Our grandma's ride...

One funny story involving this car is that she had parked it in the church parking lot one day, because she was doing stuff in the church. Westminster college is right there, and the students aren't supposed to park their cars in the church parking lot. When the policeman saw the fiery red car, he inquired inside the church to find out whether it was one of the college students, and if so, to give them a ticket... Imagine his surprise on finding it was my 83-year-old grandma's!

At last we arrived safe and sound. One thing that makes me say so was this incident...

Gabriel: "Conrad, are you a good driver?" Conrad: "Oh, Heavens! no!" :P And also... Conrad: "Whoa!" Chloe: "What happened? Did we almost die?" Conrad: (cheerfully) "Yup!" But part of this was because the roads were awfully wet and slippery. :P

The Visit...

We went because my aunt had so many "to do" lists that never got done. Our cousin had just gotten back for the summer from Hampshire college, hoping to transfer to the college here where my aunt, his mother teaches. They are a very busy family, hence, why her to do lists kept adding up instead of decreasing. So she thought we could come help her out for a week. We cleaned furiously, passionately, wildly, lazily (only sometimes, and that's because we were tired from cleaning [the three previous adjectives]). Unfortunately, the only thing we hadn't been disciplined in was going to bed on time. Wednesday we were incredibly tired from our trip, but did some work before going to bed, and when we did we were so tired! Of course we never meant to get up at ten the next morning ;)... Thursday night we went to bed around eleven, but woke up at ten.... But Friday night everyone went to bed at two, and got up at 8:30! If you asked why, I wouldn't be able to tell you....

Sew, Sew, Sew, Sew....

A dexterous sewer...

Chloe's job was making slip covers for an overstuffed chair and couch... Later in the week we are painting the living room and hall! From yellow to a lightish blue! Yay! All these changes are so exciting! So Chloe's been sewing her poor young brains out....Gabriel built a scratching post for the cats, Teacake and Agnes, to distract them from the new upholstery. :P He also washed all the hardwood floors, helped clean the garage out, and helped Tirzah clean the bathrooms. In addition to all this, we re-organized the kitchen, have cooked many amazing meals, and have had a lot of good laughs and fun times. :D

...can only do things like this :D (for more pictures, go to here.

The Only Thing That Taints Your View Of Nature From The Inside Of Your House....

...Is dirty windows.

You see this newspaper?

...This is what it's for!

Thursday and Friday I cleaned every single window in the house... Windows which hadn't been washed for a few months at least... It was quite a job, but SO satisfactory to clean all the grime off, and know that your washing away dirt and making something clean! (Much like what Christ does to us...) I learned that we were not to use what most people use - or, Windex and paper towels... but hot water mixed with vinigar and a rag to wash the windows, and newspaper to dry it... Well, I suppose one is always learning new domestic tricks! My aunt informed me that she had at first been skeptical of this new method, and I was the same way when she told me of it. However, I was proven wrong. The newspaper (even though the ink comes off on the hands... :P) leaves the windows without any streaks, something which paper towels will do, and absolutely clear so that you almost feel as though there's nothing between you and the outdoors. :D

And that's it until I figure out my next post! :)

MORE Brotherly/Sisterly Affection!!

Hmm...

Cemeteries of Hickville

Today Rachel, Gabriel, Asher and I went on a confused ramble with the ultimate point of getting to an old graveyard. With every quarter mile or so we decided to change the direction we were taking. But we finally got there, after all. It wasn't even a cemetery, as you can see... Just a few graves scattered here and there, battered, old, unreadable, and probably forgotten by most people. They drifted from early 1800's to the 1900's. Gabriel immediately sobered down and observed, "It seems like we're being watched." Of course this was rather absurd, but we got that kind of feeling. I guess it was because we were on the top of a hill, surrounded by old barren trees, a bunch of dark clouds coming together, and the wind blowing ever so hard. But we did have fun after all, AND GUESS WHAT?! On the way home, it started raining really hard... And we weren't anywhere near the house at all. We got soaked, obviously. But that was really fun. :)

Gabriel meandering thoughtfully around with Asher "for protection against the ghosts" he said.

Okay okay... Gabriels the only one who really LOOKS like he's crying... Rachel and I don't really have a general idea of what we're trying to accomplish. :P

Explanation needed? Well... I was trying to fix my hair... Only place to hold my hat was... there. Gabriel thought maybe sitting on Asher would be fun. But he didn't end up doing it after all, despite of the picture.

"FINE RACHEL! BE THAT WAY!"

Little boy on a country road.

Just finishing telling Rachel what sort of place this really feels like.

Couldn't catch the full name, but this was our favorite grave. The poem underneath read:

"An obedient child,

A Sister dear

A faithful wife

Is slumbering here."

Studying the graves... Trying to read the dates, but this one was so weatherbeaten it was almost just a blank stone.

"Guys... Is this place haunted?"

Good ol' Asher.

He's straying from the straight and narrow path....

Rachel and I.

I really like this picture. She was laughing at... *cough*... Gabriel. He gave us enough to laugh at. :P

No comment.

"Oh, no, I'm not related to him at all. Really... I'm not." :P My wonderful brother...

I get really happy in the country.

We didn't plan that.

"Hi kids!"

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!

(Because, you know, today IS her 14th birthday!)

Brotherly Love

Chloe says I have to think of a clever title... But I can't. It's too hard.

"Hey kids!"

You Gotta Love the Steelers... And If You Don't, That's Your Problem, Not Mine...

Somebody's happy. :D

Way to go Holmes!! He made the winning catch for the Steelers in the end zone.

Nate Washington....

Roethlisburger and Hines Ward, who smiles through the whole game. Just like Davy Crockett "grinning down a bear" Ward grins down his opponents and it drives them nuts.

I am sorry Kurt Warner....

Boo looking like we just ordered a coffin for him...

"Wahoooo! That's my team baby! THOSE are the Pittsburgh Steelers!!!"

"Thank you so much Harrison!!"

Duncan is wondering why we're taking pictures while the game is on, Peter is enjoying itching his neck, Angela is nervously watching the TV, and Tirzah is bored.

Oh boy...

Now THEY look like Steelers fans...

And she's an adorable Steelers fan. :)

Well? We couldn't take a good picture of us smiling, so we decided to take a bad one of us not smiling... Doesn't that make all the sense in the world?

All us girls victorious... er, rejoicing with the victorious. :)

First quarter...

And Gabriel the Egyptian Pharaoh Steelers fan.