The best part of opening gifts for me, the mother, was when Briella gave him one of her old toothbrushes. It was such a genuine token of generosity and she was so pleased with her gift to him. When he opened it, we weren't quite sure if it was used or not. Then she proudly proclaimed, "And I gave Titus one of my old toothbrushes!" I could not contain the laughter as I hugged her tightly. She loved that toothbrush ... and she unselfishly gave it to her little brother. Fortunately Titus had a visit from the dentist at Story Hour the very next day and was given a brand new toothbrush!

Grandma Jody gave Titus the "Little Man of the House" t-shirt. The clothes fit perfectly & Titus certainly lives up to the tee. He loves the pick-up & trailer because it matches Daddy's. He hauls his little tiny CAT on it ... just like Daddy. I had to chuckle to myself that night as I looked over the arrangement of toys before bedtime -- he had everything all lined up & that CAT was on the trailer. The next day he was in heaven playing with his new airplanes from Grandpa Verlin & Grandma Jane ... and filling them up with gas whenever they ran out. At least it was free gas! Thanks for all the generous gifts from all :)

Titus had a very yummy chocolate cake made by his big sister, Marci. It was the recipe off the Hershey's chocolate cake box and boy, it was good!

Titus talked on the phone to Grandpa & Grandma just before the gifts were opened.

This weekend we had the Luce's over for dinner. Mrs. Luce brought a chocolate cake, so we sang to Titus. We had planned to sing to Ben too since I had his birthday marked as last Wednesday, the 13th. I called him & everything thinking he was certainly teasing me by saying, "Hey, it's not my birthday!" How did that get recorded on my birthday list last fall, Benjamin!??

And, then Christie helped Briella get rid of that last front tooth!! So, she's got the cute toothless grin now :)

This evening we took the youth group to serve at the Scranton Rescue Mission.

Testing out a scrapbook page.

Look! I’m 40!!
Come celebrate with me!
Wednesday June 13th 5-7:30pm, Liberty Park
We’ll have hamburgers, hot dogs, cake, etc. Wear your creek-playing clothes! Fun games for all!
R.S.V.P. 967-0976

We drove over to Kessler's Tree Farm for a Christmas tree today. Unbelievably warm weather, so it didn't quite seem like "Christmas weather." More importantly, it's not suitable for hunting deer. Today was opening day for rifle season, so the orange could be seen throughout the surrounding woods. Dan was lamenting the fact that there was no snow and that the deer would not be about, but I saw a dozen on my jog up the road and about nine on the way back down. Who knows?!? What would you do to cool the meat down with temps in the 50's?
Tomorrow we hope to get some lights & ornaments on the tree. Our deck has some lovely clear lights decorating the railing. I love cheery lights! The more the merrier!

Thanksgiving 2006. We had such a nice, quiet day at home -- just the seven of us. Wednesday I spent a good portion of the day in the kitchen making jello, cranberry bread, pies, sweet potatoe souffle, etc. It would make the next day more restful! Wednesday night we attended the Thanksgiving Service at church where we looked at Deut. 8. This passage was in my Beth Moore study. It would come up again during the 30-hr Famine. Was the Lord trying to tell me something or what?!?
The girls played with their American Girl dolls. The boys played nicely as well. I was able to get some photos in an album before 11:00. Then we started to work on mashed potatoes, fresh bread, setting the table and baking all of the side dishes. The turkey was smelling GOOD! We ate about 1pm. Later that day we enjoyed a game of dominoes. Briella was excited to make her own train and she ended up winning the game! Daddy followed with a close second and Jared came in third.
Although we desparately missed being with family, it was restful and relaxing to have a quiet day at home.

Biography Dress-up Night was Monday, November 13, 2006.


Here we have Johnny Appleseed, whose favorite book was the Bible and favorite place was being alone in the woods; Marie Curie, the scientist who invented radium and the first woman to win the Nobel prize;
Johnny's big sister Elizabeth Chapman who took care of him when their mother died while the two youngsters waited for their father to return from the Revolutionary War in NY; and Willa Cather the author who spent her formative years in Red Cloud, Nebraska.

Briella's cast is removed! Nov. 10, 2006:

The latest in fun at the Rose house : "Rock-n-Roll in my car jammies!"

Haven't had much time for keeping you posted. Here's a quick photo from a family camping trip with several friends from Iowa. 

Jared's birthday bash was Friday afternoon. He didn't want any presents except for a cap gun. He wanted all of his friends to come over for a party. So, we went all out on a great big guy party. Look for all the photos on dotphoto.com. In the meantime, here's one of the guys at the mess hall. If you are looking through dotphoto, you might wonder what in the world is happening with Marci & her friend, Olivia. Well, Drill Sargeant Daddy decided to take the new recruits out in the woods for a search & rescue operation. It was great fun for all, except when one of the rotting pieces of wood snapped & the rescuers nearly dropped the rescuees! The boys had fun on the tire swing to close the festivities. It was a great time of visiting, playing, and eating for all! Grandpa Nelson, you'd be proud to know that we baked apple pie instead of cake again this year.

I let each one choose a favorite activity outdoors for picture time. This caused Emily to have to think hard. Daddy finally found something for her to do outdoors! She LOVED it, of course.

What beautiful faces, eh? Okay, I'm just a little biased :) It's a great time of year and we finally got a sunny day, the mowing was completed and it was a fun time to romp around to each child's favorite spot for a photo. Next, look for each one doing their favorite thing...

Back to school photos! Here's the first happy student :)

Okay, here are the rodeo photos!

Briella milks the cow. Part of playing Farmer for A Day at the Harford Fair. After all of her hard farm work, she gets free Frito Lay chips & milk!







Well, the latest excitement in Susquehanna County is, of course, The Harford Fair! Pictured above you'll see the kids posing with the queen and her assistant. They helped hand out Fritos for a photo-op.
You'll also notice the Kiddie Tractor Pull contestants working hard. Briella came in 6th, Jared participated with a large crowd of six year olds and Marci ranked 2nd in her age group! Wooo-weeee!
The fair marks the official end of summer. It's cool & rainy now ... and school begins tomorrow. We've readied our school rooms with a little change this year: Elementary in one room, middle school in another. I hope this provides some peace and quiet for my diligent middle schoolers :). Daddy left for a week of teaching in Iowa this week. It was sobering hearing about the ComAir crash early this morning. Dan called tonight to let us know he arrived safely. PTL for his watch care over us. Goodnight all!

Oh, one more of the Ronald McDonald Magic Show. Ronald entertained us all with several smooth magic tricks. Nothing slipped by those kids! Ha ha! Keith was chosen to go up on stage and he entertained us all with his performance --- what a ham he was! (He's wearing the mask, in case you're wondering.)

Friday night we took in the rodeo. Here are a couple shots of us in the bleachers.

Recent excitement in the Rose household includes a bike ride up the dirt road to take in the beauty of a nearby campground. The weather here has been absolutely perfect. It's very difficult to be indoors preparing for school! The garden is finally yielding an abundance of tomatoes and cucumbers. We also have zucchini, yellow squash, hot peppers and baby watermelon. We'll see if any pumpkins make it!

Yesterday we enjoyed the Harford County Fair. We spent time in the barn, played "Farmer for a Day," and rested in the grandstands while we watched the tractor pull. The boys were mesmerized by the tractors, but the girls were a little restless. We ate at the infamous Youth For Christ pizza tent. The entertainment this year was a team of trapeze artists and a juggler.

We're all fighting the sniffles -- sore throat, yucky nose, etc. Not sure if it's seasonal allergies or a change-of-season type cold.

Here Marci rides Tag.
Emily completes her arena work on Captain.
Briella scores a goal!
The Rose kids play soccer! Go Team!