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.

Movin on up - Just like the Jeffersons!

During my vacation the family and I took a trip to NY to pick up a coop I had ordered from a fellow BackYardChickens.com member. Alex and I assembled it and decided to give it a few upgrades, we installed a roost, a divider board for the coop/nest box as well as a vinyl floor in the coop, and nesting box as well as the floor of the attached run. We installed hardware cloth over the window opening and latches to keep out any nasty critters. I finally got around to leveling out the cement foundation blocks and moved the coop with Chip & Dale into it's permanent location (for now!) I considered attaching wheels to the coop and making it a chicken tractor that can be moved around the yard and into shelter during harsh winter months but I decided I can always make the changes later if needed.

Vacation Fun

I always strive to take lots of pictures when we do things together as a family but most of the time we are so caught up in having fun we forget that we even brought the camera! Here are a few pictures that we managed to take during my week of vacation - it was a valiant effort!