Winter Jam and an Awesome Weekend

The concert was so AWESOME!!!!!!!! Me and Emily got to have friends over to go to a concert in Charlottesville. I took my lifelong friend Sylvia and Emily brought her friend Kiara. We went with our youth group. We left at about 3:00 and got to Charlottesville at 4:00 and the doors opened at around 4:45. The line was really long when we got there, but our smart youth pastor cut in line. It took about 10 minutes to get to our seats once the doors opened. Plus we got really good seats, we were lucky, because once the concert started the whole John Paul Jones Arena was filled up! It was really fun to have Sylvia there! The groups playing were like Third Day, Newsboys, Newsong, 10th Avenue North, and some ones that were new. I liked Third Day the best. Everyone was dancing and clapping and singing so by the end everyone was whopped! Then Sylvia and Kiara spent the night and went to church with us! We had about an hour or 2 to rest after they left before play practice. I'm not in the play, but I am in charge of the costumes and props! I didn't do much except prompted people during the practice, but after I got all the costumes and props together and ended up staying until 7:00 when it was supposed to end at 5:30, but I like doing that kind of stuff so it was fun! And now I am really tired, but that is okay, because I was doing things I liked doing.

2 Straight Weeks of No School

Okay, so I know your thinking what they are homeschooled, how are they off for 2 weeks???? We actually get off of school when Anya gets off school which is a lot! So this is how it goes, two weeks ago (Saturday) we got about 6 inches that kept us out until Wednesday with a couple little snowfalls. Then Thursday they would have gone to school but, we had a teacher workday! Then Friday the big humongous snowstorm came and that kept us out for 1 whole week!!!!!!!!!!!!Yesterday, we had church for the first time in two weeks!!! Today was our first day completely back to work but we had a two hour delay. So ya know we thought we were gonna at least get 5 hrs. of school, but no it just started to snow and Anya is home again after get out at 1:30! After saying all this we did have a little bit of school during last week! I think almost everybody is just saying stop to the snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After emailing a couple people they were saying it should just magically disappear, and then turn into spring!!!!!!!! That is the weather and comments going around Harrisonburg! I still think snow is okay! I am just waiting until we can get back to normal schedule, and GREEN grass!

Making Supper Every Tuesday Night

Every Tuesday night for the past month I have been making supper! Emily makes supper on Monday nights and Dad on Friday so mom doesn't have to cook on the nights she gets home late. So I usually wait until Tuesday afternoon to decide what to make so it is something quick. I have made Broccoli Cheese Soup, Enchiladas and some other stuff. So last night I kept putting off looking through the cookbook, but finally at lunch time I gave in and looked through one of mom's cookbooks. I thought about doing Haystacks and Lasagna but I decided not to make(there were other factors hint hint sisters opinion) them, instead I made a Pizza Casserole. All we needed from the store was Pepperonis, and mom was going to the store so she could pick them up, so at 4:30 I went to work. I browned the meat and cooked the noodles. Then I added mushrooms and some other things that go with pizza and garlic salt and oregano. I have to give some credit to my mom she added some spices to make it take a little better! We had applesauce and green beans for sides. For dessert we had snow ice cream ( since we have a lot to use) and fudge sauce that Mom made at the last second! I guess it was really good or wasn't as filling because my mom had second helpings (of the pizza casserole) along with everybody else and that almost never happens.

Everything is Turning into SNOW!!!!

This is just outside our back porch!

We have got a ton of snow! I went out this morning and it was up past my knees! We had to make a path for Jessie to get from one porch to another because it is up to her head almost. I was IMing my friend and she said at there place it was up to their thighs and still snowing. We got to let Jessie in the house cause of the snow! Mom and Dad are walking over to Chad and Carmen's house (our neighbors) to get Anya who spent the night there after sledding! Here is just a few more pictures of the snow storm that is shattering records of snowfall.

These is our cars covered in snow!!

This is looking out right beside our barn.

This is the tree right by our front porch.

Snow, Snow and More Snow!

In December it snowed about a foot and a half, and for Virginia we thought that was a lot! I love the snow, but some people in Virginia aren't quite as crazy about all of it, and now this weekend we are supposed to get 20-28 inches of snow! Everything here is closed! i dont think any schools are still open even colleges are getting closed! This weekend we were supposed to go to my aunt's house and spend the weekend there so at the last minute the trip was canceled. One of Emily's friend said that on/by Febuary 28th we will get 5 ft. of snow! I'm not sure if that is the total amout of snow we have had or five feet actually on the ground. I guess I'd be happy with either. We have about 5 inches on the ground right now so the passed 2 days we went sledding on the big hill beside our neighbor Leo's house ( it is a field that the old order farmer owns.) It is the best! I can't wait to go again! Here is a picture of the weather right now!

The Visit to David Kline

I know, I know this is a long overdue post. David Kline is an Amish man who is the author of two books, Scratching the Woodchuck and Great Possessions. The visit to David's place was amazing! I learned a lot and enjoyed the time being with him at his house. It was just cool to listen to him talk with his German accent. He talked about nature and Anabaptist history with my dad. We mostly listened, but Emily brought up her favorite quote of his "a faint tinge of skunk," and he knew exactly what she was talking about. He even went on to tell us that it sometimes is fox when it is just a faint tinge. He had his wood stove going and his wife came in and had a rack for clothes close by and hung up the wash and turned a heat powered fan toward them! He has a chest full of books and a closet filled with books and two whole bookshelves full of books! I like to read, but that is a lot of books. Reading his book and then seeing him in person was cool. Plus, I think reading the book made me enjoy the visit a lot more. It was funny, because our Sunday School teacher said you have to remember to tell your dad that field trips are for you and Emily too not just him, but I think I liked it almost as much as he did (actually liking it as much as him is pretty hard to match.) David was a very kind and easy to talk to person (although I didn't talk to him as much.)

Christmas Break

For Christmas this year we stayed home for Christmas Day. Then we went to Ohio (my mom's side) on the 26th and stayed there for about 3 days. We got to go snowmobiling in the field! I love to go by myself and fast. When your the driver the wind is blocked by the wind shield, but when you are the passenger you get all the wind in your face! Emily rode with me and she likes to be in control so she wanted me to go really slow.... Boring! We also got to go to a pool with a game room! I beat my mom in Air Hockey (7 to 6) and if you know my mom and me (we are both very competitive) that was huge accomplishment for me... she will never hear the end of that. We left for Indiana (Dad's side) in Grandpa and Grandma Helmuth's van, because we wanted some space and our Honda does not give that to us. We had the best meals....... Michigan Meatballs, Pork Loin, Pancakes, etc. We had Christmas the day we got there. We all had Barnes 'n Noble gift cards so we went to Barnes 'n Noble and got books then we got some Annie Anne's pretzels! Our cousins have a video camera so we did a talk show ( I wasn't in it much because I'm not a good actress!) The four oldest slept down in the basement which was awesome because we can pretty much stay up as long as we want to. We went to Ohio for the night so we wouldn't have to travel the whole way in one day. We got home yesterday at 4:00. Now we settle in for 4 days then Emily, Anya, Dad and I are going to Ohio for a week, while my G-ma and G-pa H. are going on Mennonite Disaster Service Project.