The Chape1 Family

Arianna turns ONE!

2010-08-06T16:59:00.002-04:00

2010-08-03T09:08:00.001-04:00

2010-07-15T21:09:00.003-04:00

The weekend of July 4th was the Chappell Family Reunion. Below are pictures others have posted (and I stole!) More to follow!

The entire George Chappell Family

Our Family

Dad, Duane, and Dean

The entire Carl Chappell Family

Grety and Pappas with all the grandbabies!

2010-07-15T15:47:00.002-04:00

Lily graduates from Kindergarten!

Calista's girl scout troop got to see a special showing of The Wizard of Oz at the Boys and Girls Club. They got to meet the cast after the show!

My 10 year reunion from high school was this year! We had a nice night out at Mile Away, got to see lots of people I haven't seen in 10 years!

Our first ride on our new motorcycle!

Lily the Monkey

2009-05-28T21:00:00.000-04:00

Since beginning Gymnastics classes in October, Lily has attempted to climb the rope every week. Every week she got a little closer to the bell until FINALLY! SHE DID IT! If you listen real close you can hear one of the girls in her class say 'that's the first one in our class who can ring the bell!'

We're really proud of her!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-28T20:47:00.006-04:00

Since Duane and I have been together this was the first Memorial Day we weren't able to go to camp. It was kind of dissapointing but it was also special to spend 3 days with just our little family. It was really hot so we spent a lot of time beside the pool, went to the parade, and got in some fishing and of course...yard work!

Yes, Lily caught a frog... not quite sure how that happens, but it did! And the bad videographer is Mommy. Shilo had pink eye so bad I caved and called the Dr. on Memorial Day Weekend!

Calista's School Play

2009-05-28T19:14:00.004-04:00

Calista was the duck in the Little Red Hen Skit

Chickens

2009-05-28T18:00:00.000-04:00

Earlier this year we ordered poultry chickens and have been waiting for them to arrive.... we got a call on Friday morning telling us they had arrived only to recieve another call later telling us that they had died from heat stroke 'due to the way they are shipped'. So sad. Since we had already told the kids we were picking up the chicks we begged and bartered with Blue Seal to let us have ANY chicks, so we wouldn't have a house full of crying kids. So here they are. 3 little roosters,(who will meet the fate of the other poultry chickens who are due to arrive next friday) they are cute!

Pool Party

2009-05-28T17:45:00.000-04:00

The week of May 17th we had mutiple days that reached 90*! Boy was it hot! Lily and I decided there was nothing else to do but have a pool party and invite all our friends! I thought I had taken more photos but I guess not. Shelley and Johanna escaped the lense!

Mother's Day

2009-05-28T17:30:00.000-04:00

For Mother's Day we bought some subs at the Meat Shoppe and ate by the river at the Boys and Girls Club. It was such a nice day we decided to walk over the bridge to Keyes Field. We had a lot of fun and it was very enjoyable for everyone. On the way home Calista asked to push the (empty) stroller back across the bridge and since she had pushed it down on the way over we saw no harm in it. So we were standing on the bridge waiting for Calista to come up the handicap ramp when we heard an awful crash and Calista scream. We ran to her as fast as we could and found her lying at the bottom of the steps and the carriage just about in the river. The remains of our lunch and any other items in the carriage were scattered about the stairs and ground. Turns out she couldn't see over the carriage and she was concentrating so hard on pushing straight, she went right past the entrance to the brige and down the stairs. She tried to save the carriage and it took her with it, bouncing on top of her on the way down. She was pretty brusied and bloody but she came out of it without a trip to the hospital luckily.

THE STAIRS

THE VICTIM

Turkey Hunting

2009-05-28T17:14:00.004-04:00

Duane took out Alex Parkhurst during youth hunting weekend. They heard a lot but came home empty handed. Duane came home with his turkey from Scott's land in Lyndeborough.

Shilo has decided her new favorite toy is the turkey decoy. She can even say 'turkey' now.

80* in April!

2009-05-28T15:20:00.003-04:00

This was the week of school vacation. We opened the big pool, but we shocked it right away so the kids weren't able to swim in it on sat. (they did jump in real quick friday night just to say they'd been in). So we filled the 'baby' pool and invited over our neighbor Maddie.

Yard Clean Up

2009-05-28T14:54:00.008-04:00

Our first project of the year was to get the island in front of the house done. We had left some shrubs in the front and back of the house for the winter so we could decide if we really wanted them or not. After having to look at them for the last 6 months we decided they had to go. The only thing we left on the island were the two blueberry bushes which are blossoming very nicely and are looking to have a lot of fruit this year, otherwise, everything came out. We planted a weeping cherry tree, a plum tree, and a peach tree in place of everything else. We also transplanted hostas from various places in the backyard. We are super happy with the end result!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-04-01T10:09:00.002-04:00

For our first anniversary (and my 27th birthday) Duane and I went to Mikata for supper. Duane gave me the band I've been wanting and Duane got his much wanted two-man tree stand.

All Dressed Up for Special Meeting

2009-04-01T10:01:00.002-04:00

Gorgeous in Gloves Tea Party

2009-04-01T09:48:00.002-04:00

2009-03-01T17:16:00.002-05:00

There may be another 12 inches of snow on it's way tonight... but that didn't stop my family from playing like it's summer! Even Shilo went for a quick dip!

2009-02-26T20:14:00.005-05:00

Shilo had quite the morning one day back in December..... She found a marker before Daddy and Mommy had gotten up out of bed, and found she's quite good at taking the covers off and experimenting.

Soon after the marker experience, she climbed under her crib and found the potty seats. She thought they were much more appropriate as jewelry.

Happy Valentine's!

2009-02-14T09:53:00.004-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I'm going to try and 'update' our lives for the last few months.... we've been super busy and it seems like there's just never time to update the blog! Hope this post finds everyone happy and in love! xoxo

2009-02-14T09:00:00.000-05:00

In keeping with the LOVE theme.... I haven't officially announced that my sister Chrissy and her boyfriend George got engaged while they were home for Christmas! We are super excited and happy for them! We can't wait to have George as a member of our family and hope they share much love and happiness all their lives!

Up to Camp with Auntie Steph!

2009-02-14T08:46:00.000-05:00

We were really excited to have Steph up to camp with us after Christmas! We had a great time!

Merry Christmas!

2009-02-14T08:45:00.000-05:00

FORTS!

2008-12-11T14:31:00.004-05:00

Lily has decided that the best place for a fort is her bed. So every night she builds her fort with as many blankets as she can find.

Lily hiding in the fort

Cali hiding in the fort

The girls posing in front of their fort (lily's idea for the pose)

Setting up the Christmas Tree

2008-12-11T14:17:00.002-05:00

We finally got our tree up and decorated. Yes, we've opted for a fake tree! I was against it at first, but after having it last year I have to admit it is so much easier. No mess on the floor, no watering the tree all the time, and no tree dying the week before Christmas! I'm sure when the kids are a little older and the nostalga of picking out our Christmas Tree means something to them, we'll do it, but for now, this works perfect!

Calista and the Smelly Markers

2008-12-11T14:11:00.002-05:00

Look really close, can you see the blue marker on Calista's nose?

Okay, maybe not. But the story is worth telling. Calista came home from school last Thursday with blue marker all on her nose. When we got home I asked her why she felt the urge to color on her nose at school and she says 'I didn't color on my nose at school'. So I asked how all that blue marker just magically appeared on her nose. She informed me 'oh that's smelly marker. Kids aren't allowed to use them.' I further inquired as to how it got on her nose, and she said 'when I got my paper back I rubbed my nose on the paper as hard as I could to smell the marker, Katie got it all over her face worse!'

The First Snow Fall of The Season!

2008-12-06T19:06:00.004-05:00

It finally snowed! November 30th! This is our house as we were leaving for gospel meeting.... by nightfall it turned to rain and nothing was left on the ground by morning. We are supposed to get snow this weekend, so we'll hope that stays around!

Thanksgiving Up to Camp

2008-12-06T07:56:00.013-05:00

The Thanksgiving that almost wasn't!

Sally put the turkey in a counter top oven early in the morning so that the oven would be available for side dishes. At 10 am Jobe went to make toast and the toaster wouldn't work and we realized we had blown a fuse! The turkey was stone cold! We quick threw the turkey in the oven and thankfully it had enough time to cook and dinner was served at 1PM instead of the planned 12:30 PM.

All the girls in the tub getting ready for Thanksgiving! Natalie is missing, next year she'll be big enough!

Molly and Shilo

The kids table

The adult table

Natalie all dressed up

Cali, Lily, and Shelby

Lily and Shelby had meeting in Carl and Sally's bed. They were signing hymn #1 and using Sally's romance novels as their meeting books!

After Thanksgiving Carl got a great fire going outside and we all went out to enjoy the beautiful night.

Gretty ended the night by reading the kids P is for Pilgrim... and alphabet Thanksgiving story.

After Thanksgiving a bunch of the family came up to stay at the camp on the hill. On Friday night everyone came down to play some games and try to get rid of some of the left over pies!

The ladies started the night off with an intense game of Jenga! We reached 27 rows and 2 blocks before our tower toppled!

The guys thought they could 'out build' the ladies Jenga tower. Too bad! They only got 26 rows!

Then they all headed downstairs for a game of Foosball

The kids and Jobe enjoying a game of Backgammon

Lily enjoying a book in front of the sunny window

Shilo was NOT okay with Daddy holding Molly, so poor Daddy, he got to hold both the babies!

Sorry this post is so late (and so long!) We had a great time and took a lot of photos! Many of these are Sally's as my camera has been on the fritz so thanks Sally for the use of your photos! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Side Notes

2008-12-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

The week of Thanksgiving was somewhat of a comedy of errors for our family. The Thanksgiving turkey ordeal just added to our list:

While Duane was changing Shilo (in front of the window on the changing table) Shilo decided to flail her arms.... punching one of the panes of glass right out of the window and sent it flying to the ground. When it reached its destination it shattered into a million pieces. Thankfully none of the kids (or adults) were under the window when it happened. Boy was it scary!

Before we left for camp Calista and Lily were playing in the bathroom and when Lily went to run away from Calista she ran right into the knee wall outside the bathroom... with her face! She got an awful black eye which is still going away two weeks later. I took this picture the morning of the 28th, just before heading up to the hill to go sledding with everyone....

Lily took one run down the hill and was going so fast towards the trees she tried to turn and ended up bailing out instead! ON HER FACE! There wasn't a lot of snow and what was there was mostly ice. The ground and her face was pretty bloody by the time I got to the bottom of the hill. Poor Lily, she looked like she went a couple rounds with Mike Tyson! We nursed her back to health though with lots of hugs (thanks Jody and Jill!) and lots of lotion!

Beautiful in Bonnets

2008-11-23T21:29:00.003-05:00

The Thursday before Thanksgiving we hosted our 2nd Girls Tea Party.

Here are the beautiful in bonnets crew!

Shilo and the Stairs

2008-11-23T21:15:00.003-05:00

Shilo figured out how to do the stairs this week and she is quite proud of herself. She is especially happy because if she moves fast enough she can get to the toilet without mom catching her!

2008-11-23T21:12:00.001-05:00

Shilo refused to nap on Wednesday... and this is what happened while waiting for dinner. Needless to say, she didn't eat until Thursday morning!

Scott's Trophy Buck

2008-11-23T21:00:00.003-05:00

All season the 'boys' have been after the monster buck that had been seen in Milford. There have been sighting all year but no one had gotten close enough to take a shot until last Sunday. Scott saw him.... and shot him. He was 190 lbs with 12 points.

Congratulations Scotty!

Saturday November 15th

2008-11-15T20:14:00.005-05:00

This post is a little silly but one that deserves recognition. Today Duane and I got motivated to do the list of 'we can do that later' things.... so here are some pictures of all we accomplished today!

Paper Towel Holder on the Pantry Wall

Paper Towel Holder by Kitchen Sink

Towel Hook in Our Master Bathroom

Door Knob on our Master Bath

Door Knob on the Girls Bedroom

Door Knob on Shilo's Bedroom

Door Knob on the Living Room Closet

Mirror Over the Love Seat

Mounted all 5 of our 'talking' fire alarms and got them working... absolutely hilarious, each one is programed for the room that it is in, so when one goes of they all start yelling! (for example)

'EVACUATE, EVACUATE, SMOKE DETECTED IN THE CHILD'S BEDROOM!'

And Last but not Least, we hung the Big Buck next to the Fireplace!

Lily and Daddy's Trip to Hunting Camp

2008-11-15T15:45:00.007-05:00

This year Lily decided to go to Grampy's hunting camp with Daddy and everyone. It was a little bit of a shocker to mom that Lily was willing to miss gymnastics and a birthday party to go hunting, but she was! So Duane and Lily left Tuesday night for camp and didn't return until Friday night. We sure did miss them!

Duane and Lily with the Buck....

Lily was really happy for Daddy. After they got done taking pictures Lily asked Duane "daddy why are your deer's horns so tiny?"

Guess he'll have to do better next year!

I love this picture for some reason....

THE DEER

Duane and his Deer

Jason and Amanda

Donald and Don Jr.

Grampy got special permission to use the mule to go hunting with everyone. Duane thought it was great, and it sure was a help getting the deer out of the woods!

Lily and the Deer..... Our little camp girl

Jason, Duane, and Don Jr. with their deer.

Grampy
Dean, Lily, and Cooper
Sarah, Natalie, Cooper, Amanda, Dean and Lily
Grety and Natalie
Lily and Cooper hanging out

Lily and Cooper all ready for the hunt!

Thanks Sarah for these great pics of Cooper and Lily!

2008-11-14T16:25:00.003-05:00

Two Saturdays ago we decided to take the girls to Chunky's for lunch and a movie. Madagascar 2 had just opened and Duane and I were more eager to see it than the girls I think! We arrived at 11:20 for the 12:00 show but it was already sold out! So we got into the 12:30 show instead and by the time we were done having lunch the movie was starting. It was a blast and of course I left my camera phone in the car so we had to make due with Duane's phone.

There was a picture of Mommy and Calista.... but Daddy deleted it while trying to transfer the pics to Mommy's phone.....

Oh The Things You Learn at Ladies Night Out!

2008-11-12T18:24:00.004-05:00

Joey & Rory

More CMT Music

More CMT Music Videos

BRRR!

2008-11-05T13:28:00.003-05:00

Monday morning it was a chilly 27 degrees! Good thing we have our winter gear ready!

SHILO IS WALKING!

2008-11-05T12:46:00.002-05:00

Halloween

2008-11-05T12:33:00.003-05:00

The girls and I went to Halloween at the barn as Cat in the Hat, Thing One, Thing Two, and Sally (sally is the little girl in the book). We couldn't get Duane in on it!

Halloween at Jacques

2008-11-05T10:09:00.006-05:00

OUR LITTLE WITCH THE WITCH AND CINDERELLA

KAMRYN AND CODY WILLETTE

AVA

Getting Ready for Winter

2008-10-30T13:33:00.002-04:00

We have the wood stove moved to the basement at last and are hoping to hook it up this week. In preparation Duane had a load of wood delivered. The girls actually think it is a special treat to help Daddy stack wood! We'll see how long that lasts! They wanted to know why I wasn't 'so excited' to go help daddy!

FINALLY!

2008-10-28T10:36:00.004-04:00

Duane has spent a lot of time and effort in getting our hot tub up and working. After getting it on the deck, wiring it up (thanks espo), and cleaning it out, we discovered a pipe had cracked in the moving process. So after fixing the pipe (and attempting to remove his finger in the process) we were able to fill it up Sunday. Last night after the kiddos went to bed we were able to finally enjoy our first 'dip' in our hot tub!

It was very relaxing!

One for the Fam

2008-10-24T09:24:00.004-04:00

This post is Kokko family specific...

Wednesday night I was making dinner and Lily was running in circles through the kitchen and living room yelling and shaking her arms and head. After about 10 mins of this I realize Calista is nowhere to be found so I call her. She answers and I ask "what are you doing?" She replies "my hair." Holy déjà vu.

This was the end result. I let her wear her hair to meeting because she was so proud of herself. Lily, well I did her hair, and put her clothes back on as they got all untucked in the running around. :-)

Calista and Her Bike

2008-10-23T10:10:00.005-04:00

I should have posted this a long time ago... Two weekends ago on Sunday Calista told Daddy that she wanted to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels. So Duane came in and got me outside to help. It wasn't unsuccessful, but I wouldn't call it successful either. She kept tipping over the minute we let go of her, but I'll give her this: she was a determined little bugger. The minute I picked her up from school on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday she said "Mom when I get home I'm practicing how to ride my bike." And she did - every night until I called her inside for supper. This is her on Thursday:

She was so proud of herself, she came running in the house yelling "I can do it, I can do it!" Daddy was screening loam for our yard at the farm so we packed up the bikes and went down to show him. He was truly amazed. She rode around the dirt piles and over the bumps like she'd been doing it for years.

We're so proud of our big girl on her big girl bike!

2008-10-23T09:24:00.004-04:00

After last week ( ladies night out, the tea party, and hosting the Engine 2 Party) I vowed this week would be filled with nothing to do. The week started out really well with apple picking on Sunday and a little hectic Monday with gymnastics; once in the morning for lily and then again in the afternoon for Cali, (and they don't heat the place I think so Shilo and I freeze!) and Duane had rescue drill so he didn't come home until 10:30pm. Tuesday work was not as good a day as I had hoped for and I can admit I was pretty cranky all evening, but we did get good news that Tom had got his first deer, and that was exciting. By Tuesday evening I was already feeling run down and not as stress-free as I had planned. On Wednesday Lily, Shilo, and I paid Shelley a visit in the morning and ended up staying until the girls got out of school. It was a wonderful day of coffee, pumpkin muffins, salad with feta cheese (which my family won't let me make!), and a roaring new woodstove! In that time Shelley and I hashed out the world's problem...ie: everyone should get over that Palin took her family on business trips....laughed a lot, and looked at our dream homes on the internet. Thanks, Shelley, for a such a relaxing day! Today Lily asked if she could have a play date with Shelby so Shelby came to our house instead of visiting Georgia. Right now the girls are in Lily's bedroom dressed as Pocahontas, headdress and all (lily) and Cinderella with a pink cowgirl hat (shelby) coloring on the floor in the Princess book. I plan to make something nice for dinner as my husband has promised me he won't be going hunting tonight and he has nothing planned for the first time this week!

Could life get any better?

Tom Willette's First Deer!

2008-10-23T09:20:00.003-04:00

(thanks for posting this on facebook Tom!)

Congrats to Tom! He finally got his first deer!

Tom shot this doe in his backyard with his bow on Tuesday night. Duane was so happy for him he could barely finish his dinner before running out the door to go see it.

Duane got some awesome shots of Tom with the deer, but he either covered up the flash or turned it off by accident because they are all black. This photo is from Duane's cell phone.

Apple Picking

2008-10-21T19:40:00.008-04:00

On Sunday we went apple picking. Duane fought it big time at first... but he came around! It was actually his idea to check out Paradise Farm in Lyndeborough. Many years ago Chappell Farms cleared the hill for the owners and since then, they have planted more apple trees as well as cleared the land for other uses. This was the first year the farm opened for pick your own apples. We had a blast and we had the whole orchard to ourselves which was awesome! We had more fun chasing each other around and taking pictures than we did picking apples!

Pushing, Pulling and Dragging the apple cart up the hill!

Shilo enoying her apple!

Shilo after she dropped her apple!

Cali and Lily with their baby apples

All of Daddy's Girls!

The girls ran ahead of Duane and I and were swinging on the swing when we finally caught up!

Daddy and his girls

Calista, Shilo, and Daddy racing back to the carriage
Lily running down the big hill

To finish off the whole day turkeys were crossing the road just before Fitch's corner. It was perfect!

Girl Afternoon Tea

2008-10-21T18:34:00.004-04:00

So the girls and I wanted to start a play date that would be a monthly get together with their 'girlfriends' and would be tons of fun!

Tons of Fun = Tea Party!

This month's theme was Pretty in Pink!

All dressed up and ready for the girls to arrive!
The table all set for Tea!
Molly, Calista, Shelby, Kamryn, and Lily

Waiting for the rest of the girls!
Time for Tea!
1/2 the girls Lily and Shelby

Kamryn and Molly
Breanna and Ava
Ellie and Calista
the other 1/2 of the girls
Coloring in the Princess Book!

Ladies Night Out

2008-10-20T14:01:00.008-04:00

This month was my turn to host Ladies Night Out. I made a supper with a Harvest Theme. It was a lot of fun and supper was yummy!

The Table

I stole this picture from Jody's blog because I didn't get one of my own!

I've posted the recipes below....

Hummas

Harvest Pumpkin Soup

Pork Tenderloin with Cider-Shallot Sauce

Acorn Squash With Apples

Twice Baked Mashed Potatoes

Sauteed Garlic Asparagas

Sweet Potato Pie

sorry ladies! You'll have to twist my arm to get this family recipe!

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Pumpkin Festival

2008-10-20T13:36:00.006-04:00

Setting up. I like this picture because it has Great Grandpa Kokko, Grandpa Bob and Lily all in it.

Painting Pumpkins!

Calista wrote 'wich' on the back of her pumpkin

Posing with the Giant Pumpkins. This year there was a pumkin wieghing over 1200LBS!
Shilo staying warm with Yaya
By 8:30 Lily had had enough and crawled into Shilo's carriage and fell fast asleep. It was so cute!

We couldn't blow the balloons up fast enough before everyone bought them, it didn't help any that the wind picked up and started taking them from under the tent. Here are girls are saving the balloons from the wind.
Rachel and Shilo

My sister Rachel was able to make the trip from NYC to be with us this weekend. We sure had a lot of fun with her and it was nice to have her all to ourselves for a change! (no offense Kevin!)
Calista and Lily
Holding down the balloon!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY SHILO!

2008-10-20T13:15:00.004-04:00

Checking out her new ride from dad, mom, and sisters
Molly modeling the cowgirl hat
Guitar from the Miles crew. Payback for Brody's 1st birthday present from Duane. A little unfair seeing as how mom is home all day with Shilo and the guitar!!
Snowsuit from Grety and Pappas.... need to stay warm on the snowmobile!
Showing everyone how good we are at riding our toy!

Shilo could not decide whether to cry or laugh while we were singing Happy Birthday. She clearly was uneasy about everyone staring at her and singing! She just stared at us all the whole time without moving!

Trying the cake!

Pumpkin Picking

2008-10-20T12:56:00.003-04:00

THE PATCH

All the years growing up it was always a task to pick the pumpkins for Pumpkin Festival because it took so long and for years we had a hard time getting people to help! For the past three years we have had super help from family and friends and it turns out to be a fine time! My dad is always amazed at how fast the whole patch gets picked!

Last year the boys enjoyed throwing rotten tomatoes at each other... this year it was the mud puddles!

Dad and Grandpa Kokko would drive the tractor to the piles of pumpkins and we would all throw the pumpkins in. The girls thought it was pretty neat to ride on the bucket while the tractor was moving.

Aerial view of all the kids who helped out!

Shilo telling mom in no uncertain terms that she's ready to go home for supper.

Just Some Thoughts

2008-10-09T19:49:00.004-04:00

I wanted to share some thoughts on Lily while they were still fresh in my mind, all my kids amaze me on a regular basis but I find often times I am in awe with the things that come out of Lily's mouth, and always at the most random times. So over the last week she has had two things that I wanted to share.

1. "mom, come in here quick and feel my foot!" why do I want to feel your foot lily? "mom! it's buzzy!" Her foot had fallen asleep and was buzzing and she thought everyone would like to feel the 'buzzy feeling" on their hands.

2. (while sitting at the kitchen table coloring) "mom, do you know what iridescent means?" do you know what iridescent means lily? "yeah, it means white sparkly" how do you know that lily? "aunt betty told me when I was making Calista's birthday crown. I put iridescent glitter on her crown." What amazed me so about this particular conversation was how easy it was for her. She pronounced iridescent like she'd been saying it since she was born and everyone should know what it means.

I guess it may seem silly that these things take me by surprise, but I'm glad that they do. These little conversations or my children's' explanations of things make me realize and appreciate their innocence and their youthfulness.

Calista's LAST birthday party!

2008-10-09T19:37:00.003-04:00

On Sunday we had the Kokko side of our family over for pizza and cake for Calista's birthday and mom's (yaya). It was much more quiet than all the other parties and Great Grandma and Grandpa Kokko were able to come. It was Great Grandma's first visit to our house, we were very happy to have her!

Happy Birthday Cody!

2008-10-09T16:48:00.002-04:00

Our weekend sure was filled with birthdays! Friday night was Calista and Paxton's Birthdays, then off to Cody's on Saturday for his 6th birthday! Then Sunday was Calista's Kokko family birthday at our house! And Shilo's is only a week away!

Cody showing off his masculine side!

Happy Birthday Cody!

Cody getting his butt kicked by the Monster Lily!

Cody with his favorite gift of the night! His sister's barbie doll!

Happy Birthday Paxton and Calista!

2008-10-09T16:24:00.004-04:00

Calista and Paxton's birthdays fall just a few days apart so this year we decided to have a joint birthday party with all the family and friends at the barn!

Paxton's Cake

Calista's Cake

The Laptop Computer!

The Barbie Car!

Molly enjoying the ice.

Paxton was a real sport, he let Calista open all her presents while he waited patiently. When it was finally his turn he was very animated!

Happy Birthday Calista!

2008-10-09T16:11:00.004-04:00

The Big 6 Year Old!

Oops! Shilo stay away from my presents!

Pretty Princess Shirt!

The most important... the Mermaid Barbie Doll!

Lily made Calista a Princess Calista Crown for her to wear at her birthday party. It was very nice.

Calista's Birthday at School

2008-09-27T16:21:00.004-04:00

On Calista's Birthday Mrs. Waris let Lily, Shilo, and I bring in a snack so Calista could have a party at school. In Ms. O'Malley's preschool class we were only allowed to bring healthy snacks so we always brought corn muffins dyed pink with pink cream cheese frosting. Calista has always LOVED them. So when I told Calista she could have whatever she wanted for her school party she said pink corn muffins with pink frosting! Her class really liked the snack! We had a good time visting Calista's class and getting to meet all her school friends!

Singing Happy Birthday to Calista!

Calista's teacher, Mrs. Waris, is the woman standing next to her.

Monday

2008-09-23T20:41:00.005-04:00

Here's my other little gymnast!

So on Monday I told Mamie I would watch the Miles Crew for her, completely forgetting that Calista had gymnastics! So all 7 of us hoofed it over to Gymnastics Village to watch Calista! All the kids were great amazingly enough and we sure did fill the waiting room! Her class was pretty neat this week, they're already doing balance beam work! Here are some pictures of the crew.... Brody was watching a movie, he thought it was boring sitting at gymnastics!

Shelby modeling Calista's gymnastic skirt.

Our Weekend up to Camp with the Willettes!

2008-09-22T14:08:00.007-04:00

We spent this past weekend up to camp with Kate and Tom Willette and their two kiddos Cody and Kamryn. Cody is 4 days apart from Calista and Kamryn is about 6 months younger than Lily. Since it was the first weekend of bow hunting season we bent all the rules and dismissed Cody and Calista early from school on Friday and headed up north. The boys had hoped to be in the treestands to hunt that night, but that didn't happen (not entirely the girls fault). Instead we reached camp about 5:30 and the boys were able to spend the evening hanging a treestand and setting a ground blind for the morning. We had beautiful weather the whole weekend. We had a lot of fun with the Willettes and can't wait to do it again! Here's to a weekend to remember filled with good food, good friends, and great memories!

I don't think anyone will be able to see this, but when we arrived at camp the field by the pond was filled with turkeys. We hoped it meant a weekend full of wildlife! The turkeys are the little black dots in the distance!

Calista's catch of the day!

first morning at camp, the boys relaxing after getting up at 5am in hopes of the trophy buck. no such luck this time!
everyone enjoying breakfast
shilo thoroughly enjoying breakfast!

FUN AT CAMP!

Cody LOVES the baby dolls at camp, which freaks his father out (and I find hillarious), but best of all is that I caught his father making fringe for the scarf Kate was knitting!

daddy with shilo in a head trapper

lily and kamryn helping out with the stew

kamryn told everyone they were the little bakers and i was the big chef

On Saturday afternoon we all went for a ride on the 4 wheelers, it was a beautiful day and the sky was so nice and clear. We went all through the field and brought the Willettes up to the camp on the hill to check out the view!

Shilo getting suited up for the ride

Shilo and Tom waiting patiently for Duane to fix the flat tire on the 4 wheeler Lily, Tom, Cody, and Kate
Cali, Me, Kamryn (the pink arm), Shilo, and Duane
Don't think for one minute I know what I'm doing!

The Willettes Photo Shoot

2008-09-22T13:30:00.004-04:00

Cody decided when we got to the top of the hill that photos was not on his 'to do' list for the afternoon. It took a little threatening from mom, but he took his hands off his face!

2008-09-22T12:49:00.009-04:00

While we were on our ride we took some time for photos at the top of the hill... here they are!

all our precious little trouble makers

shilo thought the camera was better suited in her mouth than in mommy's hands

The Chappell Family Photo Shoot!

daddy, shilo won't look at the camera if you won't... cali what are you doing?
Shilo... please just look at the camera
this one will probably have to do!
okay now what are you all doing?
cali where are you?

the big girls of camp
bestest girlfriends
the kids didn't want to hike up the hill so tom gave them all a ride!

here are some pictures of kate and i at target practice!

we thought we did well for a bunch of girls!

here calista and kamryn are learning proper bow technique from kate!

silly girls in the tub!
all clean and dressed up in our 'towel dresses'

last night at camp! playing before bedtime

2008-09-21T21:02:00.001-04:00

On Monday the girls started gymnastics. Lily goes in the morning while Calista is at school and Calista goes after school. Both girls LOVED it. They couldn't stop talking about all the neat things they got to do, examples are : using the chalk on their hands so they don't slip, climbing the rope and almost reaching the cow bell, rolling down the mats, swinging on the bars (but no flips yet!). I'm a very bad mother and only brought my camera to Lily's class.... I will post Calista's picture soon!

Lily at Home

2008-09-21T20:56:00.000-04:00

Since Lily and I are now home with the baby during the day we try to have some one on one 'mommy time' while Shilo is taking her morning nap. On Wednesday we decided to bake cookies and Thursday we made meatballs for our weekend trip to camp. Here are some pictures from our cookie day!

I think Lily likes cleaning up from making cookies almost as much as she loves eating the cookies!

September 15th

2008-09-16T22:33:00.000-04:00

Bow season opened today and at 6:19am Duane sent me a text that he had shot a doe! So here she is! She was right in our backyard... Duane was very happy and we sure are proud of him!

Up to Camp

2008-09-16T22:29:00.000-04:00

I forgot when I did this post that I had taken some photos on my camcorder after the camera broke. They aren't the best but here they are. Carl and Sally have done an amazing job on the pond up to camp and Calista and Lily were the first grandbabies to swim in it! They were pretty cold by the time I got the camera out though so I didn't get any pictures of the first swim...

Labor Day Weekend we went up to camp in Clarksville. Because of the house we didn't get to go all summer and it's been killing Duane. On the way up the girls asked us if there would be snow on the ground when we got there because the last time we were at camp there was tons of snow!

I was planning on taking lots of pictures of the girls while we were up there because the scenery is just so beautiful, but right after this picture my camera broke! So this is it... but I think it came out really nice anyway!

The First Day :-(

2008-09-16T22:16:00.001-04:00

The first day of school was hard for everyone except for Calista! I had a hard time because I wanted my baby back at home with me and Lily had a hard time because she wanted to go to big girl school too! So we went to Greenfield where Daddy was working on a job and had lunch at Dick and Nancy Blakemore's camp. It was so beautful and what a great day! Brody had come up to work with Pappas so Lily got a short play date in too!

The view of the lake is so beautiful we just had to get a family picture minus a few members~

Up in the tree house or fort.... I never had one of these so excuse me if I don't have the right term!

Looking for FISH

Shilo wanting OUT of the radio flyer!

Enjoying lunch in the shade.......

Calista's First Day of School

2008-09-16T22:07:00.000-04:00

All dressed up! Calista had to wear her knee socks with her shiny black shoes!
Everyone was really excited about Calista's first day!
ON OUR WAY!

Dropping Calista off for her first day! What a big girl!

Our First Post in 3 months!

2008-09-16T21:54:00.000-04:00

Sorry everyone for not posting sooner. No excuse I know! We've just been so busy and in all fairness, I didn't have internet for over 4 weeks!

So to catch anyone up who isn't privy to our lives the last few months, we closed on Beech Street at the end of July, I was very sad to sell the house but I knew our time there was over and we were moving on to bigger and better things. We wish Jake, Kim, and Abby much happiness in our old home!

Since Osgood Road wasn't ready for us to move into yet we stayed with Grety and Pappas for a little over 2 weeks! Thanks to Grety and Pappas putting up with us for so long! We were good though, we only broke the toilet.

We've been in the new house now for a little over a month and we are SO HAPPY! There is so much more space and we are really enjoying our big backyard. We are still sleeping without curtains and hoping they will arrive soon since I finally ordered them! The slider off our master bedroom lets in a little too much light for my liking but Duane says it makes him feel like he's sleeping under the stars! The girls are loving their new room and bunkbeds and Shilo is finally sleeping through the night in her own room! (That's the best thing so far!)

Calista started first grade this year at Jacques! I find myself not knowing what to do with myself and just two girls.... although we are still unpacking so that keeps us busy! Calista is really loving school and tells us she doesn't miss us at all. She has been begging us to go in to school to have lunch with her so we told her this Thursday Daddy and Mommy would join her for pizza lunch. I'm eager to see the school during a normal school day!

The weather is turning quickly although we've been having silly weather, 50 in the morning and 80 by 3 pm. I'm ready for mother nature to decide if she's ready for fall or summer!

Deer season is officially open. On Sunday Sept 14th I took Bowhunter Ed and passed so I can now bowhunt with my hubby. Duane's been out already this season.. I'll wait for the pictures to fill you in on how that went! Scott gave me a bow to start with so Duane and I have just been practicing target shooting in our backyard so I can get used to the bow. I thought my arms were in shape from carrying Shilo around but I was wrong! It's not easy to shoot a bow!

So I'm going to do a little everyday with picture to update everyone, but please be patient and check back often!

~andrea

Lily being Lily

2008-06-06T21:42:00.000-04:00

So the other day Calista and Shilo were taking naps and I was cleaning. Lily had asked if she could play outside because it was so nice out, when I came around to the dining room this is what I found.... Lily dancing to her 'tunes' having a 'good time' in the backyard. Had to share.....

2008-06-06T21:12:00.000-04:00

So these are some pictures of the trees that lined the pool and shaded our whole backyard. Duane and I decided we wanted our new kitchen (and pool) to get as much sunlight as possible... so we called our local logging company and had them over for an afternoon!

This is Uncle Dean in the TimberPro.... Thanks Uncle Dean!

The yard looks amazing with the trees gone, we are so happy we did it! I will do my best to post new photos of the yard soon! I stayed home this afternoon so I didn't get any pictures, it was just too rainy and cold to get me outside again!

The whole family hard at work!

2008-06-06T21:08:00.001-04:00

2008-06-06T20:47:00.000-04:00

After a year of no hunting, Duane is back in the saddle!

He only went out a few times this year because with all the work on the house he was just too tired to get up early for turkey hunting, but he finally did it and boy was this Tom worth the wait! Duane was able to hunt for this turkey right behind our new house!

The girls sure were proud of Daddy's turkey!

More House Renovations

2008-06-06T19:10:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day weekend Tom and Kate Willette spent A LOT of time helping us tearout sheetrock and rip up floors! We can't thank them enough for all their help! Here's some pictures of the four of us showing off our demo skills!

Shilo and her FIRST cookie!

2008-06-06T19:03:00.000-04:00

Don't mind the whining fighting sisters in the background!!!

Cali's Graduation

2008-05-17T10:01:00.001-04:00

So the day finally came... my 1st baby graduated from Kindergarten last night.

Unreal how time flies.

Cali and Ava before the Graduation

The theme for Graduation was Safari. The kids did a little play and then we had a 10 minute intermission for them to go and change into their graduation gowns!

Each child had a part when they told the audience what they learned this year. Cali's part was: "4 O'clock, the big hand is on the 12 the little hand is on the 4, or four dot dot zero zero, Four O'clock"

The students all gave a flower to their parents to say thank you.

Calista's class with Mrs. Gosselin

OUR GRADUATE!

We are so proud!

and the most special thing of all..... mom and dad gave in and bought Cali a Webkin for graduation, now we just have to figure out what to do with the silly thing!

More on the House

2008-05-17T09:55:00.001-04:00

Work had been progressing steadily so here are some pictures to show you all how it's going!
Duane and Carl have been at the house practically everyday working as hard as they can to get the house ready for us. The drainage around the house is almost entirely complete and the kitchen floor and living room floor are now gone. The Town of Milford came knocking this week wondering what was going on up on Osgood Road! Apparently the extent of our cosmetic work requires a building permit! OOPS! The riping and tearing is almost done and I can't wait for the repairs inside to begin! This is all very exciting!!

The House

2008-05-05T21:25:00.000-04:00

This is the house before the renovations started....
These two pictures are the only exterior pictures I got before Roger showed up with the excavator!
The kitchen that was
We took the kids over the day after we closed to help us start the demolition!

Vacation

2008-05-05T21:03:00.000-04:00

Daddy and Girls on the Beach... it was so windy our first days there the girls could barely stand up!

This was daddy's fishing friend....

On the plane

Our last day in Florida

Lily and Cali enjoyed Scott's pet snake... mom and dad weren't so thrilled...

Our Manatees........

Having a silly lunch before our trip to Sea World!

More Wedding Photos

2008-05-05T20:53:00.000-04:00

The Ceremony

2008-04-30T12:28:00.000-04:00

The girls walked before me and Dad

Me and Dad

The Vows

The Rings

Lily gave Daddy Mommy's ring and Calista gave Mommy Daddy's ring

Mr. and Mrs. Duane Chappell

This is my favorite picture of all.... I think it's one of those cadid moments where we both look happy and no one told us to smile!

THE WEDDING

2008-04-25T14:00:00.000-04:00

So here we are! The Happy Couple!

Wait? Did I say happy?

Newlyweds with 3 kids and a complete renovation on our new house.... happy??

YES WE'RE HAPPY!

Duane and Dad all suited up before the Wedding

The Kokko Family before the Wedding

I had my Daddy drive me to my Wedding in his shiny sports car... thanks Dad :-)