Snow Much Fun/Lumileikkejä

We are loving all this snow in Maine!



And what makes it even more fun is sharing it with our cousins!!



Fortunately the temps have been pretty mild for our Virginia cousins, and we've been outside pretty much every day. Some days as many times as we have dry snow clothes for:)




Playing in snow is hard work, though. Breaks are needed!

 

We also get to explore the nature. Fresh tracks and fresh deer droppings!



Hello, Mama! Hello Baby Sis! Hello, Auntie!

Hopefully these pictures show up without trouble. I made the mistake of changing my flickr settings, and most pics disappeared. Boo. I'm still working on it, but might be next week, as we are having friends over this weekend! Counting 24 people at our camp this weekend - yay!

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Nautimme täysin sydämin lumesta ja serkuista!! Ja tänä viikonloppuna meitä tulee olemaan 24 täällä:)
Vaihdoin flickr-asetuksiani, ja valitettavasti melkein kaikki kuvat katosivat blogista:( Yritän vielä korjata asetuksia, että saisin kuvat takaisin..

BusyBusy/Kiireitä

While the blog has been quiet, the Mothership Adventures continues to have... well... adventures!

I, (Sennie), left our Maine camp for about a week to first spend a couple of days with the Captain's Grandmother in Southern Maine. It gave the Captain's parents a chance to snowmobile up at our place, and a chance for me to escape renovation fumes (which tend to trigger migraines for me). It worked out beautifully, Nanny and I had a wonderful time together, and I trust Mom & Dad had a nice time up here, as well.


My crew survived just fine without momma, too:)

From there I flew to Virginia to my sister's house for a couple of days. Last Tuesday my sister and I left before the rooster crows to start driving up to Maine. We drove and and drove and drove, and her kids did amazingly well on the trip. We made it to our camp late Tuesday night (through rain and sleet and snow).

And now we've had a few days up here together. We are still missing Mr. T (!!!!), but very busy with our three (!!!) 14 year olds, two six year olds, one five year old, one two year old, and one (almost) 4 month old. Our Virginia cousins are loving all the snow God has provided (every day!) for them, and we all are just loving this time together!

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Blogissa on ollut hiljaiseloa, mutta blogilaisilla ei:) Puolitoista viikkoa sitten lähdin ensin pariksi päiväksi miehen vanhemmille isoäidin seuraksi, ja sieltä lensin siskon luokse pariksi päiväksi. Tiistaiaamulla aikaisin lähdimme ajamaan siskon, ja hänen neljän lapsensa kanssa pohjoiseen, ja illalla myöhään pääsimme perille - uskomattomia pikkumatkustajia!!

Hyvin oli kotiväkikin pärjännyt:)

Nyt on ollut ihanaa ja kiireistä kahdeksan lapsen kanssa (ikävä Mr. T:tä!!), meillä on: kolme 14-vuotiasta, kaksi 6-vuotiasta, yksi 5-vuotias, yksi 2-vuotias ja melkein 4 kk vanha pikkuinen. Onnellista yhteisoloa täällä lumisessa Mainessä!

Let It Snow/Anna sataa lunta

Beware of sudden snow falls as you hike through the woods!
Varokaa äkkinäisiä lumisateita metsässä tarpoessanne:)

Woods in Winter/Metsä talvella

When winter winds are piercing chill,
And through the hawthorn blows the gale,
With solemn feet I tread the hill,
That overbrows the lonely vale. 




O'er the bare upland, and away
Through the long reach of desert woods,
The embracing sunbeams chastely play,
And gladden these deep solitudes.



Where, twisted round the barren oak,
The summer vine in beauty clung,
And summer winds the stillness broke,
The crystal icicle is hung.




Where, from their frozen urns, mute springs
Pour out the river's gradual tide,
Shrilly the skater's iron rings,
And voices fill the woodland side.



Alas! how changed from the fair scene,
When birds sang out their mellow lay,
And winds were soft, and woods were green,
And the song ceased not with the day!




But still wild music is abroad,
Pale, desert woods! within your crowd;
And gathering winds, in hoarse accord,
Amid the vocal reeds pipe loud.




Chill airs and wintry winds! my ear
Has grown familiar with your song;
I hear it in the opening year,
I listen, and it cheers me long.

Woods in Winter by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 


 

Happy Valentine's Day/Hyvää ystävänpäivää!

Softly Snowing/Lumen sataessa

As we wait for winter storm Nemo to get to Northern Maine, the snow is softly falling.



It was a perfect afternoon for a snowshoeing adventure.



It was Mr. D's idea, and Little Miss is always ready for action. I am so glad I decided to go, too.



While it would have been fun to make a family outing, it is always special to do something with only one or two of the kids.

Here Mr. D is showing me moss that makes a great fire starter (as he had learned last weekend, when they started a fire with a Swedish fire steel. Another good starter is dryer lint! I might just start filling our jacket pockets with lint from now on, you know, for emergencies;-)



Little Miss is wearing Missy's old snowshoes. I realized we have four pairs of the same size (very typical in this household..), and I was thinking I might want to sell three pairs. But maybe not. When my sister comes to visit with her littles we have enough snow shoes for almost everyone!



This is how snowy it is today. Let's see what tomorrow brings!!



My kids enjoy giving themselves snow showers. Again, tomorrow their showers should be plentiful!



We ended up on the lake. Brrr.... The wind was brutal!



Still, we had a nice homeschool PE hour. And then it was great to go inside for a big mug of hot chocolate and a cup of turkey soup. Mmm...




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Odottelemme täällä pohjois-Mainessä talven isoa lumimyrskyä. Koko päivän onkin pehmeästi satanut lunta, ja niin iltapäivällä menimme lumikenkäilemään Pikkuneidin ja Mr. D:n kanssa. Kivaa oli, vaikka huomenna varmasti olisimme saaneet talsia syvemmässä lumessa:)

Subzero Sleeping/Yö pakkasella

This past Saturday Missy, Mr. D and Mr. A bundled up, packed up their gear, and headed to their youth group leaders' house for a special event. The girls had a warm and cozy sleepover inside the house.



But these crazy boys slept outside! In February!! In Northern Maine!!!



In a lean-to!



As they got started building their lean-to, the temps were not too bad. 19 F/-7C. At bedtime around 8 pm it had dropped to 17F/-8C. And as the night when on, it got colder, and colder. They had woken up at 6 am to -3F/-19C, and at 7 am it was the coldest: -5F/-20.5C.



Cozy!! The boys had had a lot of fun, but admitted they had been a little cold. Especially when they woke up in the morning. What a neat experience, though! Our youth group is so blessed to have their youth leaders, who are experienced in camping, survival, and in all kinds of Maine woods fun, and willing to share their time and know how.

(Thank you so much A&J!! For the pictures, too!)



No camping experience is complete without s'mores!

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Lauantaina teinit viettivät yön seurakuntamme nuortenryhmän kanssa vetäjien luona. Tytöt nukkuivat sisällä, pojat ulkona. Jep - ulkona pakkasella täällä Kanadan rajalla! He itse rakensivat laavun, ja siellä nukkuivat koko yön. Meillä on todella upeat vetäjät, jotka jaksavat opettaa nuorille näitä leiriytymis-ja selviytymistaitojaan. Hieno kokemus oli ollut, vaikka pojat myönsivät, että oli ollut vähän kylmä, etenkin aamulla. (Kuvat vetäjiltä.)