Best Little Brother Ever!

Sweet little Benjamin cracks us all up with his antics... the other day the children were outside at the picnic table working on their school and Benjamin was with them.  Joshua took these pictures and videos on his iPod of our adorable little boy.  He was making himself laugh and it was making us laugh!



Summer Experiment

Every summer when the Queen Anne's Lace is abundant along the roadside,
there is a little project the children love to do...

 

If you drop dye into the water the flowers will change from white to whatever color dye you put in!

 

We had lots of Queen Anne's Lace from the tea party so the children dropped their dyes in and the next day were thrilled see red, yellow, and blue flowers!

 

 



:: Tea Party ::

This past year our sweet Amish neighbors, Becca and Lillian, came and helped our Keeper's club make taffy.  Mom asked them what she could do for them as a payment and they asked her if she could have a tea party at our house.  One of their Amish friends (who is also a friend of ours) had been excommunicated and shunned from the Amish church a few years ago and they really wanted to see her.  Since she couldn't go to their house and they can't go to her's, our house was a neutral meeting place.  So Mom sent Lillia around to the different Amish houses with invitations to come to an afternoon tea party the following week.  We were going to have it outside but the weather decided that we should probably have it inside, since no one really likes to sit in the rain and drink tea!

 

Our buffet was the perfect place to set up the tea's and coffee...

 



I had fun taking plaques and decorations from around our house to decorate the tables

 



Mom went and picked Queen Anne's lace for our flower decorations...

 

Lillia and I decorated mason jars for the flowers. 

The suitcase is something I picked up from the store where I work. 

 

Old books and pearls are always perfect centerpieces!  Mom wanted to go with a bird and nest theme so we had little nests with eggs and birds perched around the table.

 



We also had some cold beverages...

 

Lemonade... there was mocha punch as well.



fruit...

 

Mom took tile and glued two pieces together to make a little sign. 

Tile is actually dry erasable so you can write on them over and over again. 

In the background you can see our watermelon bowl.   Mom cut it out and put a bowl inside of the watermelon "shell" so the fruit wouldn't leak all over the platter and onto the table.  Inside the bowl were watermelon and cantaloupe balls. 

 Pickle pinwheels are large pickles smothered in cream cheese, then wrapped in ham.  Refrigerate overnight and then them slice just before serving.

 

Everyone brought delicious desserts...

and we also made chicken salad...

 

It was a wonderful afternoon and all the ladies were so happy to see Rachel again.  I didn't get any pictures of the table in full array because there were some very old order Amish ladies there and I didn't want to offend any of them.  Sorry!

 

Have a blessed day!

~Kaitlyn, for the Sanger Family



I know what you're thinking! ...

..."Well, it's about time she posts again!"

Yes, I am aware that there has been a major lack of posts on my blog for the past few weeks.  The summer is nearly over, school has started, and life is truckin' along. We've enjoyed many different activities in the past few weeks so here I'll try to recap a few for your enjoyment.

 Early morning math lessons & coffee...

Everyone is getting used to the idea of having to do school everyday...

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Earlier this year, Tommy and Angelica were married in Canada, where Angelica is from.  So in July they had a reception down here in PA for those who weren't able to attend the wedding.

 

Angelica took this photograph of the two of them...

 

 ...and painted this canvas for guests to sign at their wedding!

 

 

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 A few weeks ago some of us went to a concert by the Bontrager Family Singers.  I found a video (below) of their "Sibling Cooperation".  Recently they've added the three younger children as well, as you can see in the picture!

 

 

 Lillia, Joy, and Elainah with Allison, Liz, & Hudson

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David was concentrating so hard on not letting the toad he caught hop out of his hand...

 David has learned to ride a two wheeler with no training wheels!  Of course there are many accidents like the one pictured above :)

 But he is getting the hang of it!!

Great job buddy!

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Garden produce...

squash twins

Lemon balm...

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 Last weekend's project was getting the deck stained... it really needed it and looks so much better now!

Lillia, Joy, & I did the railings on Friday then Saturday Hope and Lillia finished it up.

 

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No summer is complete without numerous trips to go swimming in the pond...

Jumpin' Joy...

Dad and Benjamin brought Sargent down one evening... he didn't know whether he wanted to get in the water or not!

Hope diving off the high dive!

 

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Will and Renee, our youth leaders, got a youth group camping trip together one weekend.  Joshua went with everyone on Friday afternoon, but since I had to work Saturday, Lillia and I went down early Sunday morning.

 

 Sunday we went hiking...

Jason and Joshua...

 

Most of our group...

 

Lillia and I had a blast for the day that we were there, and Joshua had an awesome time. 

Thanks to Will and Renee & Mark and Kayla for all their efforts during the weekend!

 

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 I got home from work on Wednesday night and Mom told me I had gotten a complaint on my lack of posting so I put this post together...  Thanks for being my faithful viewers! :) There will be a few more posts within the next week...

 

God bless and have a great day!

~Kaitlyn, for the Sanger Family

 

 

Baby Benjamin's Birthday Bash!

Our sweet little baby boy has turned one year old...

Wow time has flown!
I remember when Mom and Dad told us we were getting another brother or sister, then it seemed like forever for him to arrive! 


Now he is crawling all over the place...

...talking (da-da-da-da!)...


...and getting cuter every day! 
We all love him so very much and are so thankful he's our baby brother!
 

"Why does she keep taking pictures of me??" 

 

He loves blueberries!

 

He thought the wrapping paper was awesome...



But his presents were pretty cool too :)

 David was afraid he was going to reach for the candle and burn himself :)

 trying to get the whole blow-out-the-candle thing...

 So cute!!

Happy 1st Birthday to our silly little guy!!!