Matthew 1:18 - 2:15

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows : when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife ; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 "She will bear a Son ; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet : 23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son ; and he called His name Jesus.

Chapter 2

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews ? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him." 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea ; for this is what has been written by the prophet : 6 'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH ; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.' " 7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the Child ; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him." 9 After hearing the king, they went their way ; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother ; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him." 14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet : "OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON."

Mary did you know...

I found myself weeping tonight as I listened to the lyrics for the song "Mary Did You Know" which was written by Mark Lowry (A man who I have had the pleasure of dining with! He actually was a fan of my mothers spaghetti sauce and meat balls - a meal my mother would make every time he visited the church we attended during my childhood.)



Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am.

Building Memories

Here are some more pictures of the 2 days the kids and I spent hunting together. Alex and I didn't see any deer during our day together in the woods but we did have a flock of more than 30 wild turkeys milling around our tree stand which was very entertaining and an experience that I'm sure Alex will remember for years to come. I wish I had more time this year to spend in the woods with the kids but at the same time I am extremely grateful to have a job during these trying times and thankful that we are busy. Despite only having 2 days to spend together hunting, I know that all 3 of us made memories that will last a lifetime. It's amazing how often I recall quiet days spent in the woods bow hunting and chilly mornings spent hunting rabbits with my dad . Those are memories that I cherish and I pray that my kids will have the same feelings when they are older and recall the days we spent hanging out from sunrise to sunset enjoying the great outdoors together one-on-one.

My Forest Ninja
04:00 and already smiling
Sneaking in a quick nap
11 hours later and still smiling!

Ginger Delight - A New Tradition

This year the kids asked if we could make a ginger bread house and Rebecca found a great kit while out shopping last week which made it a stress free experience! The kids sat at the table last night and after gluing the house together with frosting they took their time discussing just how they wanted to decorate their house. The kit had lots of candies and I was surprised that there were extras after the occasional treat and the actual decorating of the house. I think next year I would like to design a house for each of us and make a yummy little village. The kids enjoyed the project and we all enjoyed the new experience that will more than likely become one of our yearly traditions.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I look forward to the colder weather during the winter months and especially the beauty of freshly fallen snow. We decided to prepare for Christmas this year as a family with daily readings from a new Advent book I purchased. It has really helped us focus on the purpose of Christmas as well as inspire some conversation and family one on one time. Thanks to the daily reminders from Alex I finally put some time aside to put up the outside lights on the house and in the yard. This year the Spruce tree I purchased for the kids our first Christmas at the new house is finally big enough to decorate so we have expanded from just our icicle lights. Yesterday we cut down our tree and together as a family decorated the inside of the house. The snow was falling and we all were enjoying the white snow, pretty lights, along with the advent wreath and candles the fact that it was beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas. Our Annual tree felling video

Our family traditions

As we have every year since Rebecca and I got married we cut down our own Christmas tree. I have to admit this is one of my favorite activities during the year. There have been years when it seemed we would never find the "perfect" tree then others when we pulled into the fields and it almost seemed like a ray of light shown down on the tree we wanted and we knew before we even parked the truck which tree we would be taking home. This year we went to Wagon Shed Nursery and Christmas Tree Farm. They have a conifer tree that smells like citrus when touched and with kids in the house the tree is always getting touched so our house always has a nice pine and citrus smell throughout the holidays.

This year we went to the end of the farm and worked our way into the fields and found a tree shortly after arriving but I was not convinced that it was the tree I wanted much to Ariel's dismay. We ended up searching for quite some time when I saw the tree that would grace our home for the next month. We had a great time taking pictures and finally cutting down the tree (which for some strange reason the kids named "Steve") the whole time enjoying each others company while spending some time outside. While we were there it was lightly raining and when we arrived home the rain turned to snow which made our yearly decorating even that much better.

Thank You Lord for this Meat

Here are the results of my butchering. I am truly grateful for the food that I am able to provide my family. Between the deer I harvest, the generosity of my friend Seth this year and my friend Jayson in past years I have been able to save on our yearly grocery bill by using venison rather than beef in most of our red meat meals. Not only does it save money it's much healthier for us all. There is very little waste other than the hide of the animal. I cut all of the meat from the bones and the bones are saved for the dogs (I gave these ones to the farmer that Ariel worked for, she raises herding dogs for her sheep and I felt it was a fair exchange for letting me hunt their property.) The meat is separated into stew meat, steak meat and everything else that can be ground up into burger. If I get more than one deer during the year I will often save a brisket or the occasional roast but tend to stick to the 3 basic cuts mentioned earlier. Growing up I witnessed my Uncle and cousins butchering deer, they all worked as meat cutters in their 8-5 jobs and by paying attention to what they were doing (despite the fact I was usually stuck packaging) I have been able to save money by processing my own meat. I think the greatest part of this is I am teaching my family to be self supportive by hunting for meat, raising chickens for eggs and meat and the joys of growing fruits and vegetables. Now don't get me wrong we still rely heavily on our local grocery store but there is still a great deal of satisfaction knowing that if needed I can ensure my family will not go hungry.

Sneak attack turns into vacation venison

So yesterday was opening day of private land deer season and I decided to let Ariel have the day off from school and spend it with me in the woods. Ariel was up and dressed at 4:00am much to my surprise. She reminded me of my childhood when I went into her room to wake her up she was sitting in the dark, fully dressed with a big smile waiting to surprise me! After stopping for a drink and breakfast snack we were off to the farm. We were in the woods before the sun came up and were settled into our back to back stands. I had informed Ariel to watch the thicket behind me as the deer like to sneak past and have surprised me on more than one occasion. Legal shooting time began at 6:14am and it was 27*F. At 6:20am I heard Ariel whisper in a shaky voice "There it is!" I asked her, "there what is?" She then informed me "it" was a deer and with her hand shaking in excitement pointed towards our future dinner. I was able to place the cross hairs on it's vitals and in the blink of an eye it was all over. My shot placement was perfect and with a double lung shot the deer went less than 2o yards. I can't wait till next year when Ariel will have her hunting license and hopefully I will get to watch her shoot her own deer!

Some Like it HOT!

Growing up I always enjoyed spicy hot food. I remember eating nothing but pickled hot peppers with white bread for lunch in high school and my mother letting me have my own jar of cherry peppers in the fridge at all times. I have passed my love of all things spicy to my wife and while she was pregnant with Alex she craved my bread & butter hot pepper slices on just about everything. So it is no surprise that Alex has a complex palate and enjoys his food with a little kick. This past week we were all craving Buffalo Style Hot wings and as luck would have it we drove past Wings over Springfield several times this week in route to Alex's soccer games. Here are a couple pictures of Alex enjoying his "Red Alert" Boneless Wings and a nice cold glass of milk!

Your only as old as you act!

So here I am, reflecting upon another year of life and despite growing older and hopefully wiser, I refuse to act any older! This past year seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye. In the past 12 months I have enjoyed a great deer hunting season, I have watched both my children grow mentally and physically, I witnessed my daughter experience her first paying farm job, I went through tough times at my job earlier this year and then non stop business recently. I have expanded my obsession with raising my own food/livestock. I experienced the obsession with Facebook and the twisted people who enjoy invading peoples lives via site hacking. I have congratulated friends who brought new life into the world and grieved over the death of friends and loved ones. I experienced the Flu and got trapped in an elevator. I got to spend time with my brother and his family thanks to their New England vacation. I have said goodbye to multiple pets and welcomed new pets to our family, I have found out there are people who are even more crazy about chickens then me at Backyardchickens.com. I began my 15th year of marital Bliss with my 29 year old (forever) wife! I enjoyed a great week of vacation and since closing my Facebook account I have been faithful with my blogging. The past 35 years have been very eventful and I am grateful for each and every day that I have experienced during those years and look forward to many more. Thank you to all my friends and family who have not only made this past year special but have molded me into the man I am.

Awana Carnival Night

The Kids decided to dress up this year for Carnival Night at Awana Ariel wanted to be a kitty and Alex decided that he wanted to be Optimus Prime from Transformers. I think its great that my son's favorite toys are the same toys that I enjoyed as a child. (Transformers, Matchbox & Hotwheel cars and Lego's)
The nice thing about living in the country is we don't have to deal with Trick-or-Treater's and enjoyed a nice quite evening together as a family. We had an unplanned candle light dinner due to the wind storm which fell a tree and took down the electrical lines on the lower half of our property. We made the best of the night and after admiring all the pretty flashing lights from the fire truck, police car and utility vehicles we settled in for the night. I have to admit I am spoiled and don't really think about what life would be like without all our modern conveniences such as electricity and lights!

Don't be a victim - Protect yourself

This Class is being taught by my Karate Instructor-Sensei Mitch and is well worth the time and $$. Make sure you tell him you read it here on "The Wearne's in the Woods"

An Autumn Afternoon Race

One of the nice things about homeschooling is the ability to allow the children to take a break and organize an afternoon race on a beautiful autumn day. Alex took the time to make the tinker toy race flags which would be used during the race. Here is the green flag, red flag and caution (yellow) flag.

The contestants during pre-race ceremonies (we were hoping for our normal afternoon f-15 flyover - it ended up being about an hour late!)
The green flag came out and #212 took the lead #18 is closing back in after getting loose coming out of turn # 2 due to Navarre crashing into him causing a 3 lap caution.

The Jolly flag man displaying the green flag.

And the winner is...#212 Beautiful Blue Star (aka. Ariel)

#18 performing his post race interview he may have lost the race but still in contention for the championship

Forty-One for Freedom

We had our first family home-school field trip this week. The title above refers to the 41 Boats that served as the Real deterrent to nuclear war during the Cold War era. We learned about these specific boats on our trip to the USS Nautilus Museum in Groton, CT. The Museum is made up of the Submarine Force Library and Museum and the USS Nautilus (SSN 571) which are located on the Thames River next to the Naval Submarine Base. There is no charge for entry although donations are welcomed. The Museum is self guided and there are volunteer Docents in the Museum and when you tour the Submarine you can get an Audio wand that gives you lots of details and information about what you are viewing as you make your way through the belly of the boat. There is a theater in the museum that has a 50 minute movie that plays every hour on the hour - Trust me it is well worth watching, I was amazed at the new things I learned in those 50 minutes. The museum is split into 2 era's the left wing is dedicated to the Cold War Era and the right wing is dedicated to the WWII Era.
When we left the Museum we took the short drive to the US Submarine Veterans of WWII National Memorial East. It was moving to see the stones engraved for each of the 52 submarines that were lost during that era and the walls with the names of all 3,617 submariners who lost their lives defending our freedom during WWII.
The kids were moved when we explained to them what we were observing, and it was hard to control the many emotions that were welling up inside me as I thanked God for all those who served our country and paid the ultimate price. I hope to take the kids to our nations capitol some day so they can see the multitude of memorials that remind us of the sacrifices made to preserve our freedom and the freedom of countless others.
Before heading home I decided to take the family on a short drive to show them where Electric Boat - the company who builds these awesome vessels - was located.
It was a great day full of education, fun, admiration, and remembrance.

For some great information and pictures of the Nautilus (SSN-571) you can also go to the following web page: http://www.subguru.com/nautilus571.htm

Their not just for Pregnacy Tests any more...

In case you are wondering - Yes, that title popped into my head as soon as I realized I would post about our family outing.

Rebecca was feeling under the weather yesterday so I decided since we were not getting together with anyone today I would get up early with the kids and take a road trip to attend a Poultry Swap at the NorthEastern Avicultural Society monthly meeting which is held at the Westford Sportsman's Club in Westford, Massachusetts.

I woke the kids up early this morning and to my surprise Rebecca decided to go along for the ride. I found out about the event from my fellow BYC members and was excited to see the different types of chickens, ducks, geese, game birds, exotic tropical birds and lots of different types of bunnies.

Before departing I checked the web site one final time for the address and was thrilled to find out that they were going to have a Falconry demonstration / informational session.

We had no plans on purchasing anything today but our hearts were stolen by a pair of little girl bunnies (Yes I verified this when I got home as we don't want them to multiply!) who we named Sadie and Miley. They are a mix of Dwarf and Mini-Rex so they should remain small and seem to enjoy human interaction. Sadie is similar in color to an eastern cottontail and Miley has the white patches and blue eyes (in the pictures they are red from the camera flash.

Comfort in Music

I have often found comfort in music. I have songs that I love to listen to when I find myself missing a loved one - especially my father. These songs aren't always slow or sad and often times were written for a different purpose. I have songs that I love which were written to remember a loved on and others that were meant as love songs. I find that their original meaning isn't always important it is often the music itself and not always the lyrics that move me. This past week has been one of those weeks where I have found myself thinking about loved ones who are no longer here and one of the songs that has been constantly running through my mind and the music has always moved me. I can remember hearing it as a teenager not long after my father died and it has always been one of those songs that gives me chills but also brings a smile to my face when I listen to it. I have included a rough English translation at the end of the post.
As I write this I am praying for my Cousin Mertin and his family as they are dealing with the grief of losing a loved one. I pray that they will find comfort in the arms of God first and foremost but that they may also find comfort in music as I have.



When I'm alone
I dream on the horizon
And words fail;
Yes, I know there is no light
In a room
Where the sun is not there
If you are not with me.
At the windows
Show everyone my heart
Which you set alight;
Enclose within me
The light you
Encountered on the street.

Time to say goodbye,
To countries I never
Saw and shared with you,
Now, yes, I shall experience them,
Ill go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know,
No, no, exist no longer;
With you I shall experience them.

When you are far away
I dream on the horizon
And words fail,
And yes, I know
That you are with me;
You, my moon, are here with me,
My sun, you are here with me.
With me, with me, with me,

Time to say goodbye,
To countries I never
Saw and shared with you,
Now, yes, I shall experience them,
Ill go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know,
No, no, exist no longer;
With you I shall re-experience them.
Ill go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know,
No, no, exist no longer;
With you I shall re-experience them.
Ill go with you,
I with you.

A Fathers Dream Come True!

I saw a shirt this week that said:
"My kid shot a deer while your honor student was at school"
All my hunting buddies will understand the pride involved with being able to wear a shirt like this some day!

Saying Good-Bye...

Today we said good bye to our pet house Rabbit - "Kipper"I've learned that goodbyes will always hurt, pictures never replace having been there, memories, good or bad, will bring tears and words can never replace feelings. Thankfully photo's and memories help us cope as time goes on.

Even though I am a man I tend to be an emotional person and I have found that I have a very soft spot in my heart for my pets. There is truly a difference in animals that we raise for food and those that we raise as pets - I know this as truth as I have never shed a tear over an animal that was destined for my plate but as I sit here typing this I am fighting back those tears as I recall the years of enjoyment Kipper provided me, my family, and all the people who visited our home - both young and old.
Kipper was a great little bunny and like most of our family experiences there is a story behind how we got him.

While we were in the process of building the house we decided that we would eventually like to get a bunny and decided to go and price out everything we would need and check out the bunnies available at the local pet stores. During one of our trips the moment we entered the pet shop a large white cockatoo flew across the store and landed on Ariel's shirt. It turns out the bird was quite mean and as it was clinging to Ariel's shirt it reached up and latched its beak onto Ariel's nose and began biting and clawing its way up her chest. I was able to get the bird off of her and then one of the kids working at the shop put it in its cage. Ariel was bleeding from her nose (as it had been pierced - something she might want to do when she is a teenager but not as a toddler) and when I went to talk to the young man working at the store he got me so upset I actually when to the police department and filed a complaint. The next day the owner of the store called me after finding out what happened to apologize. He asked if we were looking for anything in particular while we were there so I informed him of my plans of getting a bunny when we moved into the new house. A few weeks after moving in I received a call from the pet shop owner telling me he got a bunny from a local 4H member and he wanted me to come pick it up for Ariel.

Kipper was a great bunny and enjoyed spending time running around the kitchen, hiding behind the couch, and relaxing on the deck during the nicer weather. He loved when people would spoil him by feeding him goodies out of the treat jar and would run to the opening of his kennel when he heard the sound of the jar opening! All of us will miss Kipper as much as we miss Goliath and Britney as they were all great pets.