Hello everyone,

How do you write of ordinary life, an everyday existence, and make it interesting?

How many people actually want to read, in a nutshell, what we did at every hour of the day?

It is just what everyone else does. We get up in the morning and get dressed, eat and play or do school. Nothing distinguishes it from any other family's life. We can only do so many exciting things a week. But still, some of you would like to read of the mundane things that make up our life, so we will try to make them as enjoyable to you as possible.

Mom planned school lessons. It was as stressful as ever it has been.

Holden and Jacey made pancakes for lunch. The kitchen was full of rambunctious singing and laughter - Otherwise known as rowdiness. Of course they were discouraged from such things as it was a bad example if they wanted the younger children to behave.

Seth and Ian rode scooters and bikes in the 'great room' as the heavens were again pouring water upon us. It has rained for much of this day and looks as though it might rain again tonight. They do say that cloudy days make for brilliant sunsets, and it does appear to be true here. Most every evening, the sky is filled with brilliant colors and the pungent odor of rain.

Mom and Dad ordered pizza online and picked it up in town for supper. After black olive, cheese and pepperoni pizza, we all watched City of Ember. Seth wasn't quite sure if he was afraid of the movie or not, but was sure Mom would be scared of the giant mole. She wasn't worried, but assured him that she would sit next to Daddy, just in case. Mom wasn't scared, but she also wasn't impressed with the ending, she hardly ever is.

Jacey has been reading Jane Eyre and studying english today. She is preparing to take the English Composition with Essay CLEP (College Level Examination Program) test. She does not feel ready, but there is still time.

Holden has been reading, playing guitar, and being Holden, which only he does best.

Ian has been reading a version of Robin Hood to himself and is reading in his head, though he often skips the words that are unfamiliar to him and difficult to sound out.

Seth has been Seth. Is there anything else to say about him? He enjoys playing Uno with whoever might play with him and building forts with the boxes.

Everyone is in bed but Mom, Dad and Jacey and the house quiet for the night. The windows are open to let in the night breeze and, hopefully, not the rain. The crickets are calling and the frogs are sounding lost in the rising mist.

It is truly one of the most beautiful places that God has created and we feel priviledged to live here. We hope that all of you will come and visit us soon. We miss you all.

Your friends,

-The Daughtons-

Salutations!
The Daughton's are just settling into quieter things as it as it grows late.
This morning was quiet in order for mom to sanely plan the school year. The boys played outside or in the 'great room' while Jacey watched, or read to them. She is currently reading the Hobbit to the younger boys, mainly Seth, and they are enjoying it.
Lunch followed (leftovers) and then we were off the the Owl Pen Book Barns. It was quite amazing that we didn't get lost going there, or coming back. Owl Pen Books is really just a barn full of books, but it is mysteriously charming all the same. In Holden's opinion, it was a good bookstore because the door squeaked, or was it the door squeaked because it was a good bookstore. The whole 'store' was made of a barn and an old house which had been lined with rows of shelves. The books were mostly antiques, lending a wonderful smell to the air. We came away with minimal damage to our pocket books and some good books to read.
After our excursion to the book barns, we made for home and put together a picnic dinner. We then picked up Daddy at work and took him to his volleyball game so we could watch. While Daddy was being a ref, the boys played 'lacrosse' with their new sticks.
We traversed home after Daddy's games and the boys are in bed now, as we all should be soon.
Thank you everyone who has left comments, we have greatly enjoyed them.
If you would like to drop us a letter by snail mail, our address is:
215 State Line Rd
Eagle Bridge, NY 12057

If you have White Creek as our town name, that is correct also, they share a post office.

We miss you all and always will.
Your Friends,
-The Daughtons-

Good Evening.
The Daughton kids, and mom, started out the day with cinnamon toast, strawberries, and orange juice for breakfast. After cleaning up breakfast, Holden, Ian and Seth played in the backyard while Mom and Jacey moved moldy hay out of the tack room to use for mulch. When it got too warm to complete this task, we started in cleaning the 'great room'. To create a more organized space, we all moved furniture, boxes and bikes around the room and the house.
When this was accomplished, lunch was served (leftovers), and the family split off into seperate areas of the house. Jacey finished, for now, her messenger bag, and the boys played or read.
Then the family packed up and headed for the library's children's program. Jacey checked-out Jane Eyre and hopes to actually finish it this time. The boys checked-out comics.
Mom met another home-school family at the library; their oldest is only 6.
After the library, we ran home, checked on and added to the soup in the crockpot. Then we ran back out in to the rain (yes, it is raining again) to Goodwill. We were looking for the boys' shoes, but we didn't find any. The boys did buy lacrosse sticks and dug out Daddy's old lacrosse gear as soon as they got home. Jacey also found a Folkwear pattern that she had seen and really wanted, but couldn't afford, nor could find anywhere else, for 79 cents. Needless to say, she bought it and will be sewing it as soon as she can find fabric for it.
Payless Shoe Source was next on our list of things to-do and we found Holden a pair of High Tops and Ian a pair of Sneakers.
After a hot dinner of vegetable soup, Jacey went for a walk, the boys played 'lacrosse' inside, and mom and dad talked.
It is still raining, even now, so the Daughtons will be spending the evening indoors, even though it is still light here later than eight o'clock. Dad and Mom had talked about going out together tonight and Jacey will stay with the boys. Maybe we'll watch a movie, we unpacked the vhs/dvd player today.
We are still missing you all terribly!

Your friends,
-The Daughtons-

Hello to everyone from bonnie New York.

It didn't rain today so the boys played outside for awhile. They had the most fun riding down the hill in Seth's dump truck. Falling out and flying through the air was the ultimate goal.

Holden also tried to live up to his nickname, Houdini, and had Ian tie him to a chair.

Jacey finished sewing a quilted messenger bag but has not finished decorating it yet. She also rode Zora bareback a few times around the paddock; Zora's attitude has greatly improved.

Ian has taken to carrying his medic bag everywhere. This is a good thing because Seth fell down on our hike at McCullough Mile-round woods. Seth was very brave and Ian promptly bandaged him up.

We are missing air conditioning, even though it is no where near as hot as Missouri. The windows have been wide open and the fans on high all day trying to keep us cool.

We miss you all and always will.

Your Friends,

-The Daughtons-

Good morning all,

Sorry there was no post yesterday, so let me fill you in on what we did Monday.
Ian and Seth played president and agent. Then the president became an agent too.
So it became two agents in disguise.

Mom, Ian and Holden got the lawn mowed before it rained - again.

It rained ALOT and our windows leaked. Jacey's bedroom got it the worst. She had to vacuum and then blow-dry the carpet because the house has no A/C and is prone to mold.

Because it rained and because their car was still in the shop at noon, we didn't get to see the other home-school family.

We looked among our CD's for some good dancing music to use to introduce Contra dancing to the local homeschool group. We found a few songs.

We miss you all!

Your Friends,

-The Daughtons-

Hello friends and family of the Daughtons!

This morning we all got up early and drove the hour to church. Everyone went to their appointed sunday school. Being a small church, the youth group is rather small also. Holden was in a class mostly full of girls and Jacey was the only girl in a class of boys.

After church, we went to Pizza Hut for lunch and swung by the tractor and farm store in Bennington for a mineral block and fencing supplies for Zora.

Ian and Daddy worked on expanding Zora's paddock this afternoon, while mom and Holden flew a kite and Jacey baked a blueberry cobbler. Daddy and Ian also worked on the riding lawn mower because it wasn't working and found the source of the problem in the form of an electrocuted mouse. Poor thing.

Funny Daughton moments of the day

-Jacey was scrubbing the downstairs toilet with a pumice stone and Seth asked why she was using a whet stone to clean the bathroom.

-Holden contemplated the fashion possibilities of bell bottom shorts.

We miss everyone and will forever.

Your Friends,

-The Daughtons-

Another day in the New York Daughton's Household

Seth made no-bake cookies for us today. He also drew on his face and is now forbidden from using markers for a long time.

Mom has decided not to wash any socks until she has the match. She gets sort of fed up with our numerous socks.

It's been a little warm for the boys to play Arizona Smith outside. They had set up falling limbs and spiked traps for Arizona Smith to conquer and defeat in the little sumac grove out front.

Holden has finished both Alex Rider books and Jacey just finished reading The Chronicles on Avonlea. We unpacked some more books today and have filled up most of our shelf space.

Jacey and Seth went for a walk down the road and played in the little creek.


Daddy finally got home safe and sound around 6:00pm. He brought kites for all the kids, but it hasn't been windy enough for them yet.
We miss you all terribly!

Your Friends,

-The Daughtons-

Sorry about not posting yesterday, here's what we did.

The kids made a box fort in the basement and it's not done yet.

Jacey found a mouse in her tack box and caught it, but she didn't have the heart to kill it(even though it chewed a whole in her saddle pad).

It rained last night. It rains ALOT here. About every other day.

Mom, Holden and Jacey stayed up late playing tin whistles. We really need another D one.

Seth is still full of advice and comments on life. We talked to one of our friends who is getting married in the spring and Seth told him to make sure and take his phone out of his pocket so it didn't ring while it he was getting married.

We've met another christian homeschool family at the library. Only the two younger sons were there, ages 11 and 9. Apparently they also have a 15 year old son and a 13 year old girl. We'll see how it goes. we might get together with them on Monday.

Daddy comes home late tonight and we CAN'T wait to see him. But I guess we'll have to.

Nothing very exciting forecasted for today, but we'll keep you up-to-date as best we can.

We miss you all and always will.

Your Friends,

-The Daughtons-

Good evening everyone!

It's 6:34pm here and we're getting ready to make chili for dinner. A perfect meal for a rainy day. If it rains as much here in the spring, as it snows in the winter, we're going to be buried in snow drifts this December.

Daddy is still in Utah and we haven't talked to him yet today.

We went to Northshire Bookstore. It's a pretty neat place, as most bookstores are apt to be. Holden got the next two books in the Alex Rider series and the little boys each got Playmobil with their gift cards. Jacey got a notebook and a birthday present for someone else and mom got some note cards.

We then went to the farmer's market in Manchester, VT. There were some gorgeous produce and baked goods. We bought a pint of blueberries so Jacey could make a cobbler or some other tasty treat.

Holden was kind enough to make lunch for us, but forgot that egg salad isn't made with pickle relish, so we had frozen pizzas instead.

Seth is still intent on moving out with Jacey when she gets married. We thought that perhaps he had forgotten his idea but were reminded that he doesn't change his mind so easily today when mom was looking for a new bed for Holden online. Seth asked if he could have a new bed and mom said that he didn't need a new one, but maybe he could have Holden's new one when Holden moved out. Seth started crying and said "But I will be gone with Jacey by then." Mom explained to him that he would probably be too little to move out with Jacey when she left the house. Later on, Seth asked Jacey if she would please wait till he was old enough to move out with her to get married.

We cleaned a little bit more and unpacked a little bit more today. Jacey repacked her brown dishes into smaller boxes that she could handle. They're still not the most attractive dishes, but no body cares what the plates look like if the food on them is good enough.

Sorry there are no pictures today, but they take a long time to load with our internet.

Thank you guys for keeping in touch with us and making this move easier.

We miss you!

Your friends,

-The Daughtons-

Hello everyone!

Sorry we have not been able to keep everyone as up to date as we'd like.

Daddy left for Utah on a business trip Tuesday and will return on Saturday. We'll all miss him but he'll have fun fishing. Gotta love the job where you can go fishing on a business trip. : )

We finally got internet. YAY! What a blessing.

We finally got water yesterday after they drilled our well 3ooft deeper. Another blessing even though we can't drink it till the water is tested.

We had a free car wash after church on Sunday to "show God's love to people in a practical way" as Pastor John Westfall puts it. We all had fun and got tans/sunburns.

It's beautiful here and we wish you were all here.

To our friends in the Buffalo and Fair Grove area, we're sorry we missed the freedom ball but we're so glad that everyone had a great time. If you have pictures of the dance, we would love for you to share them with us at mom's new e-mail address

cathy.daughton@gmail.com.

Your friends,

-The Daughtons-

Sorry again that we haven't kept you all as up to date as we would have liked, but we finally got around to visiting the local library for a few minutes.

Here's a really quick update on our lives.
Sunday we cleaned the house. There was mold in some of the cabinets and in the basement and the stove was disgusting, but other than that it wasn't too bad. Jacey discovered which valve does NOT turn on the water to the spigot by the deck, but sprays water ALL the way across the basement. Don't worry, she got it turned right back off with no damage to the basement, but some soaking wet clothes.
Monday the movers came in the morning and we unpacked in the afternoon. The boys enjoyed having their bikes unpacked and found a mud puddle to ride them through before the end of the day. We slept in our own beds for the first time since moving and slept very well.
Tuesday morning at 4:15am Miss Zora came in. She was very happy to be off the trailer and was very good when Jacey took her for a trailride later that day. Seth and Ian woke up sick and Seth threw up. Mom got a migraine. The pressure pump broke and we had no water to the house. We unpacked more boxes and then ran around to a few stores and went to bed.
Wednesday we unpacked and cleaned some more. Still no water. Zora was horrible. We picked some blackberries off our property and found the best grocery stores. Over all, not a bad day.
Sorry to cut it so short, but the library is closing.
We miss you and always will.

Your friends.
-The Daughtons-

July 15th, 2009

Good Morning all! Sorry we haven't posted anything new in a couple of days but we don't have interent access at the house as of yet. Our stuff arrived on Monday and now we are living in a sea of boxes and various pieces of furniture. Cathy and Jacey have been cleaning and unpacking while the boys and I have been fixing and installing various items around the house. Everyone is pitching in and that makes for light work.

The kids really love the new house and the neighborhood and have spent most of their first few days here outside. The boys have been riding their bikes up and down our dirt road and came back the other day covered in mud and sporting huge smiles. Jacey's horse, Zora, arrived Tuesday morning at 4:15am (that made for a really, really long day) and is doing great. The boys and I cleared her pasture and Jacey mucked out the barn so she has a great new home just like the rest of us.

We miss all of you and want you to know that our doors (9 to be exact) are always open.

May God watch over and keep each of you.

Tim

This morning was fairly exciting for the Daughton family.

After almost missing breakfast, again, we loaded our stuff back in the rented U-haul trailer and back of the truck while Seth and Ian played around, next to, and on the trailer. Little did we know that Seth had accidently slid/sat in grease. The picture below is after he was halfway cleaned off. We still don't know for sure where the grease came from.

We didn't find out that he was smeared over with gunk until after he sat in his car seat. By then there were bits of grease smeared everywhere. Thank goodness we had an extra car seat in the trailer. We cleaned him up as best we could with our germ-x handy wipes (Thank goodness a friend had stuck them in our travel bag). We were only about ten minutes from our friends the Westfalls' house and we cleaned him up there.

It was great to see the Westfalls again and Mrs. Westfall made us chocolate chip pancakes for lunch. Yum.

We then drove on to our new house. It was about an hour away from our friends house and we arrived at our destination somewhere between 1:30 and 2:00pm. It has been very interesting to see how much like Missouri this area is. It really didn't start changing until about 20 miles from our house, and even then, the changes have been very slight. The scenery is wonderful and the air is amazingly fresh.

The house is really hard to describe but it is our house and so we like it. The house has no less than 8 exterior doors which makes it an amazing rat maze for the boys. Mom has had to get on the them a few times for running in one door and out the other doors on the other side.

We were pleasantly surprised to find mail for us from the Ross' in our mail box. Thanks you guys.

We took a quick trip to Home Depot for a shower head and other odds and ends and Wal-Mart for some cleaning supplies. It's safe to assume the house hadn't been cleaned well in a long time. It was not as disgusting as it could have been though and we are extremely grateful. Mom, Dad and Jacey cleaned while the boys played out in the summer rain.

We left Haydn in the house for the night and are spending the night at a hotel nearby. Hopefully the cat won't get too lonely.

We will not be able to keep the blog up for awhile because we have no internet at the house yet. Nothing amazingly exciting is forecasted to happen in the next week or so, just cleaning, un-packing and the like, so you won't miss much. We'll be sure to fill you in once we do get internet.

We miss you and always will.

Your Friends,

-The Daughtons-

The day has passed fairly quickly for the Daughton family, considering we went from Ohio to Pennsylvania to New York. We are now staying in a hotel in Albany, NY that is right next to the airport and a juvenile detention center. This has the potential to be a very sleepless night. (Especially since Holden and Ian are sharing a bed again.)

Haydn has turned out to be a great little traveler(with the exception of a 5am wake-up meow requesting that he be let out to explore the rest of the hotel.)

This morning we slept in a little and almost missed breakfast. Oops. We made it though and had waffles,doughnuts, and cereal. Yum!

Unusual for the Daughtons on a road trip is the fact that we have stopped and gotten out to eat EVERY meal. What a treat! :)

The trip has really been quite relaxed and slowpaced compared to some of our other road trips. (Daddy used to drive straight through and we were lucky to get a stop for ANYTHING.)
So far, New York is just like Missouri, only with more hills and less cows, so no excitement there.

We listened to The Silver Chair and enjoyed it. We also listened to the audiobook Seth got from the Wendy's Kid's Meal and didn't enjoy it so much.

We will be in our new house tomorrow and are all trying to make the time pass as quickly as possible.

We miss everyone and always will.

Your Friends,

-The Daughtons-

P.S. Thank you Storer family for the Glow Sticks. They have provided some great entertainment and lightsaber wars.

Well, the Daughton gang is that much closer to New York than they were yesterday.
We left our grandparents in Rolla, Missouri around 9:30am this morning and arrived safely in Colombus, Ohio at 7:30pm. The trip has been fairly uneventful, though we have seen some unusual things to tide us over and keep us from losing our minds to boredom.

We passed an erratically flying blimp,

A giant white cross in Effingham, Illinois,

And a giant kid statue climbing a billboard.

We had an hour-long lunch break, which is almost an unheard of on a Daughton road trip. We enjoyed ourselves.

The boys set up a temporary cockpit in the backseat and kept the airway safe for our trip.
We miss everyone still, as we always will.

May the force be with you.

Your Friends, -The Daughtons-

The Daughtons are finally together and on the way to 215 State Line Rd.

We had a fairly busy morning with the movers coming, but enjoyed a pleasant evening among much loved friends. We are currently staying at our grandparents house in Rolla, MO for the night and are hoping to make Cleveland, Ohio by tomorrow night if all goes well.

Holden has started reading Journey to the Center of the Earth to Ian, and Seth is figuring out the comfiest way to sleep in his car seat. So far, his favorite way to sleep is to lay his head in Jacey's lap. Mom and Dad are looking forward to a full night's sleep and the whole family is anxious to get to the new house.

We miss everyone SO much already. Thank you for all your support and help, and most of all, thank you for your prayers.

Your friends,

-The Daughtons-