September 2011
September means lots of pictures for me. I offer a school type picture special, but have to limit it to a little over 200 kids. Ethan was my helper in doing a sample picture.
I have many random pictures of the kids taken in the studio with dirty faces, dirty shirts and/or without their hair combed. Sometimes it is because I want a subject to test my lighting set-up. Other times it is because I get a volunteer when I happen to be in the studio. Rebecca volunteered for this impromptu session. I purposefully said "say CHEESE!" so I could capture her funny "picture smile." We aren't sure why she closes her eyes, but we all get a kick out of it.
Rebecca and Larry (cat) both like to hang out on the window sills. Our windows have a lot of fingerprints from Rebecca and noseprints from Larry!
Along with the usual harvest busyness of canning, freezing and dehydrating, we had our first honey harvest. It was pretty exciting for us! First, Todd used a special hot knife to uncap the honey.
A special tool is used to uncap any comb that is missed.
The frames are then put into the extractor which spins the honey free.
The honey flows out of the extractor into a strainer to remove any debris from the bees or comb.
We ended up with about 50 pounds of honey from our first year hive. We were quite pleased with that amount, but it isn't enough honey for our family. (I use honey in our bread and am learning how to substitute it for sugar in many of my other recipes.) Now that we kind of know what we are doing, we will add a few more hives next year.
Jared has done a good job as deacon's quorum president. Being a leader has been a good experience for him. This night he presented the other boys in his scout troop with their earned merit badges.
I was able to go with Ethan's class on a field trip to Salem Pond. They explored and examined different ecosystems.
With our grandmas living so many miles away, Joshua invited our adopted Grandma Hill to his grandparents' program at school.
Amanda and Megan's class performed part of the Odyssey with their class writing the script. At times it was quite comical. Amanda was a narrator and Megan was a statue striking dramatic poses to go along with each scene. (In the second picture, Megan is on the right holding the green flowers.)
Notice Megan's cute new glasses. She was having a hard time seeing the board at school clearly. Also I don't have a picture, but Todd took these three friends (not including Rebecca) on a father/daughter church campout and they had a great time.
Todd's friends threw him a surprise birthday party. You know you have good friends when they go through the trouble of throwing a 40th birthday party even though they know you are really turning 39! I didn't plan the party, but I was an accomplice and made sure Todd came home right after Ethan's baseball game. The presents were pretty funny and gave us a lot to choose from the next time we need a white elephant gift. (Dave, Chrissi, Brett, Trisha, Greg, Gayle, Matt and Jeanne--watch out because I'm sure those presents will be coming back around to you! Although Todd did eat the Junior "Senior" Mints.)
They made sure to let the neighborhood think it was Todd's 40th birthday by putting signs on both garages and the front door, along with paper plate signs throughout the front lawn. It was pretty funny the next day at church when people wished Todd a happy 40th and he told them he was really 39. They probably just figured he was lying and trying to hold on to his youth!
This pretty much sums up how I felt by the end of September!
