Singing in the shower

Last night I walked up stairs and Caleb was singing in the shower.  I asked him if he could give me another rendition.  He didn't know I was recording it.  I chopped the end off because Ben threw the door open and things got a little PG-13.

Molly Pearl

There are some people in the world that seem to have two very distinct personalities.  There is the private and the public.  Molly is one of these.  At home, she is a complete chatter box.  She is funny, vivacious and creative.  Invite some people over or bring her out in public, and the transformation happens.  She becomes shy and introverted. 

To proved this to all of you who only know the public Molly, I shot the video below.  Molly has been composing some of her own music.  It's hilarious.  It's mostly on the topic of God and the cross.  Very interesting.  Lately Ben has taken to accompanying her while she improvises.  Enjoy.

First Skate at Providence Pond

The boys tried out the pond for the first time last weekend.  We are excited for what the winter will bring.

Lucy Update

Lucy and the mule deer

Check out the mule deer.  Lucy loved it.  She wanted to get a little too close.

Little bit, little bit

The boys call Lucy, "Little bit, little bit."  They sure think she's special.  I do too.

New fun

This weekend my friend Jason came over and we pulled apart a tin roof that had collapsed on one of the out buildings.  We threw around the sledge hammer and the boys stacked all the wood into piles.  Then we needed to pull down a large branch that had fallen (about 14" diameter) and was leaning against a tree.  We weren't going to be able to pull it down by ourselves so we tied a rope around it and tied the rope to his little Saturn car.  We got it down, but the limb got the better of the Saturn.  It just wouldn't pull it. 

I got my new chainsaw yesterday and limbed and bucked  the limb.  It was so great.  I then pulled all the limbs over to our fire pit and stacked them to burn.  This is the kind of work that I've been looking forward to since we got the farm.  Anyone want to come over and play with my new toys?

UPDATE:
I'm with Bill and my mom.  I think I do need a new John Deere tractor.  What my research, the JD 2305 would be a good choice.  Click on this link to see what one of these runs you.  I should put a donate button on the side.  Then watch the videos below to see this thing at work.  Looks like fun.

 

What is God doing?

Sometimes life hurts.  Sometimes we question what God is doing in the midst of this hurt.  I just listened to this excerpt from a sermon from when our pastor had cancer.  I love the truths here presented.

[8] For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. [9] Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
(2 Corinthians 1:8-9 ESV)

Read Aloud--Paddle To The Sea

Paddle to the Sea  by Holling C. Holling is a great book, especially if you grew up on the shores of one of the Great Lakes like I did.  Our kids have spent enough time in Michigan and on the lakes to enjoy it as well.  It is the story of what happens when a young Indian boy in Canada carves a canoe and an Indian paddler.  Paddle to the Sea, as he is named, then makes his way from the small brooks of his home, through all of the various Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.  Along the way he meets loggers, ore boatsmen, children, and people playing in the various lakes.  Each time they pick him up and read his hull that says, "I am Paddle to the Sea.  Please put me back in the water."  The illustrations are all really great.  They have small drawings in the margins about the place that Paddle is visiting.

Apparently there is an old school film about the book.  I found it on Youtube.  I think the kids would love to see this.  We'll have to carve out some time some weekend soon.

Read Alouds--Johnny Tremain

As I've stated before, this year's read alouds are mostly historical fiction centered around American history.  I have really enjoyed the vast majority of the ones we've done so far.  We have made it to the period of the American revolution.

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, takes place in Boston at the very beginning of the war.  Johnny is a young boy who through many circumstances comes on the side of patriots like Paul Revere, Sam Adams, John Adams and others.  The story follows Johnny as he assists the secret rebellion of the colonists, climaxing at the battle of Lexington and Concord.  This was a long book, but everyone enjoyed it.  Johnny is an interesting character and Forbes develops him well.  When we first meet him, he is a selfish and prideful teenager.  At the end, he has become a young man who is ready to give his life for his friends and his country.  I would definitely recommend this one.

When we were reading this, it made me think of the School House Rock song, "Shot Heard Round the World."  We listened to it this morning and the boys thought it was great.

Fun with Gigi's new computer

Sick as dogs, snow up to our arm pits and no Vikings game

Sick as dogs

For the second or third time (depends on how you count) in the last couple of months everyone at the Gammons house was sick this past week. First Lucy, then Matthew and Molly, then Ben and Caleb, then Amanda and on Saturday it was me. It involved various combinations of vomit, diarrhea, fever and headache. Thanks be to God, we are all now fairly healthy.

Snow up to our arm pits

This weekend we got dumped on. Saturday while I was laid up, Amanda was out shoveling the drive. She was able to keep up with half of the driveway so that we could at least get out. For some reason we decided to get Papa John's on Saturday night. As soon as I left our driveway, I knew it was a bad idea. They hadn't even plowed our street. Thankfully, I grew up in Alpena and have driven in that kind of mess a time or two. The main rule is whatever you do, DON'T STOP. When you stop, you get stuck.

I was feeling better by Sunday morning so Ben and I finished the other side of the driveway and the end where the plows dumped the whole street. Our neighbor waited to do anything until Sunday and it took him hours to go through all of it, even with his snowblower.

No Vikings game

Mom gave us tickets to the Vikings vs. Giants game for Christmas. We prayed on Saturday night that I would feel better so that we could all go to the game. Then the Giants got stranded in Kansas City on their way to MSP. They postponed the game until Monday night. No problem! That actually was great. Then on Sunday morning the roof of the Metrodome collapsed. If you haven't seen the video, watch it.

They moved the game to Detroit. I called Mom to see if she wanted to meet us there. It's a twelve hour trip for us, but she said it was really bad weather there. It would have been a fun road trip, but not if we had to drive into what we just had. We are supposed to get a refund for our tickets so we'll see how that goes.

Prayer

We're studying prayer on Wednesday night at church with the 2nd graders.  I'd love to be able to show them this video.  If this dog was for sale, I'd be buying.

Bev sings "The Love of God"

For Dave. Enjoy everyone!

Lucy Ruth

Shube has written songs for each of our kids.  Here are the kids singing the latest installment.

Wilco at Austin City Limits

This is my second music video in a row. I will get back to posting fun stories about the kids and the life of the Gammons family soon. Until then, enjoy this Wilco video from Austin City Limits. I especially love the guitar solo at about 25:30. I'm no guitarist, but it's pretty fun to watch that dude. It's great how even when he is totally jammin' out, you can still tell that he has the melody in mind.

Watch the full episode. See more Austin City Limits.

Dancing in the Mine Fields--Andrew Peterson

I especially appreciate when art depicts both the good and the fallenness of our world, the beauty and the ugliness, the here and the not yet.  I saw this video today and I think he does a great job of that.



I am so thankful that God gave me Amanda with whom to dance, minefield or not.

Swagger Wagon

For all you mini-van moms and dads out there!  REPRESENT!

Things you do in college when you have some time on your hands

From Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan

LipDub at Calvin College from Rachel Kuyvenhoven on Vimeo.

Matthew riding his bike

Matthew is really getting good at riding his bike. We went for a walk/bike ride last night and he made it all the way around our neighborhood. He's still got to figure out getting started on his own and breaking. But once he gets going, he does great. Way to go, Matt!