M.I.A.

I wanted to jump in and let everyone know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.

It has been a really rough couple of days.

Our whole community has been devastated at the events that took place

on Thursday afternoon.

A classmate of Ty's was tragically killed in an accident 

when she was struck by a car while crossing a road.

She was only 14 and an amazing kid...athletic, smart, sweet.

We are a small and tight knit community and we are all reeling over this.

It just doesn't make sense.

A life taken much too early.

The song "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry comes to mind...

especially the lyrics

"Lord, make me a rainbow,

I'll shine down on my mother.

She'll know I'm safe with You

When she stands under my colors..."

Please keep this family and the rest of the community

(sadly, a group of Ty's other friends actually 

witnessed the accident and they will forever be changed)

in your prayers.

Thank you.

Family and A GIVE-AWAY!

Brothers

Sisters

Family

Guess what, y'all?
These Nine Acres blog reached a milestone yesterday...
It crossed over the big ole 37,000 pageview mark
and I am so honored that everyone checks in here to see
a slice of my life...both in words and in pictures.

So, to celebrate, I am going to have a give-away!
Woohoo!
I love giving things away.

The winner is going to get a
20 page coffee table Blurb book
that has some of my most popular
images as well as a few
hand selected favorites of my own.
It will be a hardcover with a dust jacket...
library quality.
I will write a note to you and sign it on the inside
front cover as well.

Examples of books from Blurb
Image from Blurb

If you are the winner,
you can select images of mine that you like
and would like to have included in the book.
To be the winner, all you have to do is
visit my Flickr site
(be sure to look through all the sets on the side of my Flickr page)
 and then leave a comment specifically telling me
one image you would like to have included
in the book and you are entered!
If you click the Facebook "like button"at the bottom of this post

OR

if you talk about this contest and link back to it on your Facebook page

OR

 if you mention it on your blog and link back to this post
tell me in the comment also and you will be entered TWICE!

The contest is open from now until Tuesday, August 2 at NOON!
At that time a winner will be drawn.
To win I MUST be able to contact you!
If your comment is not attached to an email address,
please leave an email address for me in the comment itself or I won't
be able to get in touch with you!
Good luck!

Little Chirpers

This is the gourd birdhouse I bought when I went to Blogfest last year.

I hung the gourd from the overhang on my front porch hoping one day

to host a family of birds.

My wish came true and right now we are hosting 

an eastern bluebird family

(our second bluebird family of the year),

a Mama, a Papa and 4 babies.

(Hmmmm...sounds like my family :)

The babies are now big enough to sit up and scream for food

(Hmmmm....sounds like my family)

and hang their heads out the peep hole to check out the world and be nosey.

(Hmmmm...no privacy?  Sounds like my family!)

Pant, pant, pant...it's hot in here!

I was a little worried about the little chirpers 

due to the extreme heat we've had (120 degree heat index)

but the little guys seem to be doing just fine.

Mama and Papa are busy going to and from keeping track of

and feeding their brood.

(Hmmmm...sounds like my family!)

I am looking forward to their successful fledging.

(Yes, sounds like my family! Just kidding...I will keep my brood kids for a while longer ;)

If you are interested in reminiscing about Blogfest,

that I still can't believe was a year ago,

you can check out the following links

(if you are new to this blog in the past year,

the posts are worth checking out, 

at least for the pics of beautiful Mathews, if I do say so myself).

A special hello to all my Blisters out there.  I miss you ladies!

Top Twenty Things I Learned at Blogfest

More Pics from Blogfest

Yup, Even More about Blogfest

Did I really post all of this about Blogfest?  Why yes I did!

OK, this is getting embarrassing...You guessed it, Blogfest

The Last of Blogfest

Whew!

On a side note, my blog is reaching the 37,000 pageview mark

(might even hit that mark today!)

and I am super excited to say that when it does hit that mark I 

will be hosting a giveaway!

So, keep your eyeballs open for that.

Have a good one, y'all.

Entomology

A face only a mother could love:

Perhaps a pine sawyer beetle

(Ergates spiculatus)?

For size perspective, there is an ant on its back on the bottom left image.

It was huge...

the length of an adult's thumb.

Ick.

Have a great weekend :)

Mosaic Fun

Created with images from my ipod

Created with images from my flickr set "Flowers and Blooms"

Thank you to everyone for the words of concern and encouragement for Ladybug.

She is doing much better since getting the big bulky cast off her arm that,

as it turned out,

was causing her more pain than necessary.

The ER nurses put the cast on too tight, 

not allowing room for swelling and so the cast

was pressing onto her arm and irritating the injury.

As soon as the orthopedic doctor cut the cast off

she felt some much needed relief.

Her pain is much more manageable now,

thank goodness!

She is now in a much smaller and lighter splint 

for the next four weeks.

The break is not horrible and it will heal well.

The splint is water proof so she can still enjoy the pool

and she can shower on her own.

We are hopefully on our way back to some normalcy...

well at least as normal as These Nine Acres can get ;)

Love you all

and miss you all!

And guess what?

My blog is nearing the 37,000 view mark

and when it hits that milestone, 

I think I might just have to have a give-away!

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

My Brave Girl

Ladybug is a brave girl.

She is a tough girl.

This summer has been proof of that.

She went away from home for 4 night and 5 days

despite worrying about homesickness.

She stuck it out at camp with a smile on her face 

and a song in her voice.

At the minor league baseball game, 

she fearlessly approached the players,

asking kindly for their signatures,

which they both obliged.

(To someone who is shy like myself, this is brave!)

And her braveness shown through in the last two days

when she had a horse accident and was thrown while jumping

at riding practice.

She took her first ambulance ride.

She had her very first Emergency Room visit.

(BTW, did you know that they now call it an ED, not an ER?

Emergency Department is apparently the correct term for it now and 

I was corrected more than once in the past two days)

She now knows how uncomfortable a backboard is.

AND...

she has her first, 

and hopefully last,

broken bone.

She has a fracture on her distal radius,

just above the thumb on her forearm.

Despite being in a lot of pain,

she has been incredibly tough and brave 

and I am proud of her.

She will see an orthopedic surgeon today

who specializes in arms

and hopefully she will be 

in a cast for a few weeks and 

literally

get back on the horse.

She has already said she plans on it.

While we are thankful she is ok 

and does not have any serious injuries

(we originally were worried about a back injury,

thus the ambulance ride),

it is still horrible as a parent to see your child in pain

and not be able to take the pain away.

And while I am throwing out kudos about my amazing kids,

I have to say that the twins were incredible

and went with a friend despite being worried about their sister and confused

about what was happening.

And Ty?

I can't say enough about what a great big brother 

and son he is.

Brian was out of town on business,

so on top of everything else, I was alone 

in making decisions and arrangements

for all 4 kids in a crisis situation.

Ty immediately stepped up to be the man of the house

and while I was at the hospital with his sister

he took care of the twins

and the farm

like a pro (without complaint!)

until I got home.

Special thanks to my dear friends

Jodie Otte who stepped up to help me out

and to A.D. who was there to give 

advice on a search for a doctor.

Props to the owner/operators of the riding barn where Ladybug trains

for quick response and their helpfulness in making sure

all the details were taken care of including 

keeping the twins occupied until they could be picked up,

calling an ambulance,

and making sure my truck made it to the hospital 

so we had transportation home.

And to Brian,

who despite wanting to jump through the phone to be with his daughter,

stayed put at his out of town location and 

collected needed information,

contacted extended family, 

and gave moral support to all us.

Please keep Ladybug in your thoughts and send

healing vibes her way.

I have no doubt she will be back in action

in a few days :)

Swingers

Not THOSE kind of swingers...

These kind of swingers:

T1...swinging in her snow boots, LOL!

Me, swinging in a dress and barefoot :)  I am a fancy hillbilly, after all.
(Those are not goggles on my forehead...they are sunglasses ;)

Is there anything better than a nice swing on a summer's evening?

*Pictures and video taken with my Ipod.

Oh, and BTW, I am not using Instagram if you are interested in following...my username is TheseNineAcres. :)

Wait...What?

As I said yesterday, 

when visiting my parents in Virginia,

we went to see the Lynchburg Hillcats.

The theme that night was 80's night,

 so in between innings they would do audience participation games

and the prizes would be VHS tapes of popular 80's movies.

The crew was also dressed in 80's themed clothing,

which kinda freaked me out before I realized 

that it was 80's theme night.

I was scared that the same fashions were coming back to haunt me,

but thankfully it was just a gimmick!

The reason I am telling you this is because it 

will explain why this was the entertainment

between a few of the innings:

You are not dreaming.

It is Michael Jackson.

A scary, lifesize Michael Jackson.

Back from the dead...can't we just let him go?

People, I am here to tell you that this is the thing of nightmares...

because not only was the puppeteer dressed as the King of Pop,

and the puppet was dressed as The Gloved One,

but there were more.  

Like 3 more

Five, count them, FIVE MJ's all together:

Click to enlarge.  You have to see the expressions of the people in the audience and dugout.
Bwahahahahahaha!

On a stick.

Line dancing Michael Jacksons.

Oh.  My.  Freakin'.  Gosh.

I haven't recovered yet.

*shiver*

And if you dare, here is a crappy video

(that I did not take)

so you can get the full effect:

Don't say I didn't warn you.

(Oh, and I believe this same guy does The Village People too.)

Now think about that all weekend ;)

You're welome. 

See you all on Monday!

Pre Game Preparation

While visiting my parents in Virginia,

we had the opportunity to see 

a minor league baseball game,

the Lynchburg Hillcats vs. the Potomac Nationals.

We could not have asked for better seats.

We were the first row behind the home team dugout.

That is one thing I love about minor league games...

it isn't difficult to get close to the action.

Before the game began, 

I enjoyed taking some shots of the pregame activities.

I won't tell you who won 

because I have some game time images to 

put up and I will give you the details then.

For right now, enjoy these warm up pics :)

I love it when they take the time to meet and greet the kids who support them!
The look on that boy's face is priceless!

This almost looks like a drug deal going down!  LOL.  The umps are discussing something with the Batboy...what is that?
A plastic baggie and some OFF?

Happy Thursday everyone!

Wordless Wednesday: Digital Paintings in Nature

All three of these photographs

were turned into digital paintings.

Since I am not an artist, 

I have to express myself digitally.

Maybe one day the process I use to do 

this will inspire me to pick up a brush one day.

Fear of failure holds me back.

Enjoy.

Here, There, and Everywhere

Imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered 6 postcards in my mailbox

when I got home from my parent's house in Virgina

(plus 1 that we had gotten previously in the week).

3 of those postcards were from Postcrossing,

but 4 additional cards were from various kind souls

who heard about our postcard/geography project

and took the time and effort to send a hug via the mail!

Thank you to all!

We have such a great time checking the mailbox

and finding these little treasures.

Thank you to Allison for taking time out of your vacation to mail us this cute card from North Carolina!

From New Mexico via Postcrossing

From Colorado from the in-laws of a dear high school friend of mine!  Thank you, Linda for the postcard and thank you Alaina for telling them about our project!

From a Postcrosser in Austria

From an anonymous sender in South Carolina!  Thank you :)

From a Postcrosser in Germany

Thank you to Jess, friend and fellow blogger, who had the chance to visit her deployed husband in Hawaii!
You rock for remembering us!  xoxo

And here is the updated map of the 11 postcards received so far:

You can click on the above map and it will take you to an interactive map where you

can click on the envelopes (cards received from Postcrossing)

or the blue pins (cards received outside of Postcrossing) 

and see the cards that are associated with each place.

If anyone is interested in mailing us a postcard from your part of the world,

please see the Contact tab at the top of the blog

for our mailing address.

It means so much to us!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

A Whole Lotta Nothing

Warning:

This post is going to be very discombobulated and disjointed.

I am writing this late Sunday night

after traveling home from my parent's house

all day today, so my thoughts are a bit scattered.

These pics were taken by Brian during his boat tour

of New York City.

They happened to cruise by a place where helicopters were landing

and taking off and he took the chance to grab a few images.

I did NOT put the helicopter in the image below in that sunbeam digitally.

This image, besides cropping and increasing contrast is 

straight out of camera.

If you look closely, you can see the pilot.

And this image below has NOTHING to do with helicopters...

(see, I told you it was disjointed and discombobulated).

I just loved the picture, so I thought I would share it.

And just to add more randomness to this horrible post,

I thought I would tell you that T2 calls

helicopters

"kella-hoppers"

because it is too dang cute not to tell you about.

The End.

I promise I will have my blogging groove on 

once I get some sleep.

It has been a long day.

:)

See y'all soon.

xoxo

Hanging Out In Virginia

I am blogging to you live from Virginia

where I am visiting my parents for a few days.

We are enjoying spending some quality time

with my parents,

although I am sure they will be sooooooo

happy to have their peace and quiet back when we leave!

Having my brood of 6 come traipsing in after a 5 hour drive

increases the volume of their life of 2 quiet retirees to the nth degree!

Today was a milestone for the twins.

It was their first boat ride ever.

At first T2 was not digging the boat.

He kept screaming at Pop Pop to 

SLOW DOWN!

He didn't like the wind and speed.

T1, on the other hand, was all smiles.

After a close call with sea-sickness,

T2 finally settled in and enjoyed the experience.

As a matter of fact,

both kids were comfortable enough to fall asleep

on our way back to the dock.

Ty and Ladybug also had a blast.

They both water-tubed,

played in the water,

swam, and picnicked on the boat.

We made it back to the dock

just in time before a thunderstorm hit.

And when we got back to my parent's house?

My mother had chocolate cake and ice cream waiting for us.

It was a good day :)

The Whopper that Wasn't

This past weekend we decided to take the crew fishing.

I told them that if they wanted dinner they had to earn it

by catching it.

That didn't go over too well, but what kind 

of mother would I be if not to motivate my brood?

So, early on Sunday morn we packed up the kiddos

and headed off of These Nine Acres to a neighbor's farm

where he has several ponds stocked with fish.

Hey, at least I was making it easy for them to catch dinner!

To our knowledge, this was the first time 

the twins have gone fishing.

They were very excited to catch a fish

and T1 wanted to "pet them."

Typical for her...my animal loving gal.

Brian setting up the little kids with their rods.

And they are off!  Who will catch the first fish?

Can I pet it?  Can I pet it?  Can I pet it?
Um, you have to catch one first!

I am happy that this year both Ty and Ladybug now bait and

remove the fish from the hook themselves.

Now we just have to help out the little ones.

While Ty was the first to catch a fish,

both T1 and T2 caught a fish too...their very first.

Neither of them wanted to touch it...

Even T1 who talked incessantly the whole time about petting one!

Check out my very first fish!

No brother of mine can out do me!  I got one too!

Ladybug caught MANY but I only have a picture of this little one.

I caught one too! (that is a henna tattoo on my hand, btw)

Brian didn't catch one but in his defense, he was baiting hooks for the little ones
faster than they could let the fish eat the worm off!

No one caught dinner...

we only caught about 12 small bluegill all together.

There were no whoppers to speak of...except the guy fishing across the pond from us

caught a huge rockfish.

Show off.

But that is ok...

at least we had fun trying.

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

A Little Hug in the Mailbox

Hey y'all.

I need some help.

The kids and I are collecting postcards again

and using them as an educational tool

by mapping where they come from and

learning more about the places they depict.

We started Postcrossing again, but

we also love to get postcards from people we know,

so we would love to hear from you if you

would like to send us one.

There is nothing like finding a hug in the mailbox

in the form of a postcard

among all the bills and junk mail.

So far from Postcrossing we have only received 3 cards so far...

one from Illinois, one from Coventry, U.K. and one from South Korea.

We are using the My Places feature in Google Maps

to keep track of where the cards are from.

If you haven't checked this feature out, it is really cool...

You can add all kinds of icons (including the envelope you see here)

and you can also add photos, descriptions, links...all kinds of stuff 

to personalize your maps.
You can see my map here
(if you click on the envelopes in the linked map you can see the postcard
that came from that place).

Of course, as we get more postcards
we will add them to our map.
I can't wait to see how many cards we get
and from how many different places.

Here are the three postcards we have received
through Postcrossing so far:

From Illinois

From South Korea

From Coventry, United Kingdom

If you would like to help the kids and I
collect as many cards as possible,
please think of us as you travel this summer
(or send us one from your home town!)
For safety, we are using a P.O. Box so we don't
have to post our home address.
You can send postcards to:


These Nine Acres
P.O. Box 133
Stewartstown, PA 17363

I will add this address to the Contact tab

so you won't have to hunt this post down again.

Thanks so much!

Independence Day 2011

Thank you to all of the members of our military,

stationed here or overseas,

for allowing the USA to remain free and independent and safe.

On this Independence Day my hats off to you

and your families who sacrifice daily for the good of the common people.

Our family celebrated the 4th of July on Saturday night

by going to see fireworks.

The twins were delighted and would screech

when the booms and sparkles flooded the skies.

Besides getting hit by falling shrapnel

(only heavy cardboard, thank goodness)

and ash,

it was a good time!

Cardboard Shrapnel from the fireworks next to SD card for size comparison

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th!