The Accidental Blogger: Happy All Saints Day!

Today in church we sang one of the songs in our hymnal which always makes me chuckle. It is just so very, very British -- all I can think of while we sing it is a church full of English children warbling away. But at least everyone knew it, which was more than you could say for the first hymn.
And here, for your edification, "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God" (#293 in the 1982 Hymnal)

"I sing a song of the saints of God
Patient and brave and true,
Who toiled and fought and lived and died
For the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
And one was a shepherdess on the green:
They were all of them saints of God --- and I mean
God helping, to be one too.

They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,
And his love made them strong;
And they followed the right for Jesus' sake,
The whole of their good lives long.
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,
And one was slain by a fierce wild beast;
And there's not any reason --- no not the least
Why I shouldn't be one too.

They lived not only in ages past,
There are hundreds of thousands still,
The world is bright with the joyous saints
Who love to do Jesus' will.
You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea,
In church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea,
For the saints of God are just folk like me,
And I mean to be one too. "

Isn't that just jolly? And if you click on the title link it will take you to a YouTube video of a church choir actually singing it!

The kids had a good Halloween. It drizzled all day and all evening, but we didn't let that slow us down. Travis dressed as a black cloaked character with a silver, skeleton-y sort of face, and Katie was Hermione Granger.

Travis was eager to carve his pumpkin, but he did not enjoy reaching in to pull out the seeds & goopy.

Katie, on the other hand, does not object to slimy pumpkin goop.

Watching Travis carve made me nervous, but he did it, and finished with the same number of fingers he started with.

Here Ed is giving fatherly advice.

Katie's scowl here is not due to touching pumpkin slime, but because she suspects (rightly) that her daddy is horning in on her picture. Ed loves having his picture taken.

So here we'll let him have all the glory.

Travis did not give his pumpkin a nose. I don't know why, but judging by its expression the pumpkin was not pleased.

Last Wednesday we got home from a lovely week in Maine with my parents.

Mostly the weather was beautiful, if a tad on the coolish side. We got in some beautiful hikes. Above is the view from Blueberry Hill, and also Katie, dressed so as Not to look like a turkey. My mom served us fabulous gourmet meals every night, and wonderful desserts too. Here she is bravely letting Travis sift ingredients together for Whoopie Pies.

And Katie, with a fingerful of Whoopie Pie dough...

My parents and I climbed Hornbeam Mountain. The path up was a bit iffy, but the view from the top was glorious!

During our visit my poor dad was dealing with a defective table saw (actually a couple defective table saws). The saw saga did not have a happy ending, but Katie had a great time helping tighten screws.

My parents took us to lunch at a very yuppie little restaurant in their little town. Delicious and substantial as the lunch was, it still did not fortify Travis and Katie enough so that they could walk the three miles homes without complaining. Fortunately my dad, who drove home, knows his grandchildren well, and met us partway home with the car to give my little wimps a ride home. My mom and I had a much more pleasant walk without them.

Did I mention that my mom made us wonderful meals? We had Beef Wellington, a rib roast, turkey, ham, brisket, etc. So good.

Here Travis is eyeing the Wellington lustfully.

My daddy took Travis kayaking on Long Pond. I have no pictures, but apparently Travis kayaks as though he is playing bumper cars. He says this is how they did it at camp. Katie was too young for kayaking, but tackled her Paba every time he thought he might sit down for a little peaceful reading. He read us half of The Little White Horse, and I am looking forward to finishing it.

A friend of my parents recommended the view from Belgrade Lakes golf course. None of us golf, but it is a beautiful course, and the views were beautiful. (And there was a very sweet yellow lab puppy named Tonka who would have liked to come home with us.)

My parents have a stream running through their property, and Katie would happily have spent hours playing in the water, despite the chill. Here she is, inviting disaster by standing on a log.