Throwback Thursday - Vacation, Maine 1979

One of the first vacations that we took as a family was a week in Scarborough, Maine. A friend of ours at church owned a 4 bedroom cottage just up the street from the beach. The cottage had a very small guest cottage, which is what we rented.



Mark was almost five and Kristen was almost seven. We had a wonderful time going to the beach, riding bikes, and going to the amusement park at Old Orchard Beach. We also met up with Paul's Aunt Marge and Uncle Henry who were staying not far from there at a Salvation Army camp.

A few years later, we heard that our friend was selling the cottage and guest cottage. For a little while, we really entertained buying it and moving there. Eventually, logic took over and we decided not to, but every now and then I think about what it would have been like to actually live at the beach!

New school year

Marley's first day of Middle School today, 6th grade. Where did the time go?

I Love Instagram!

Instagram is a photo app that I have on my phone. I have been using it to play with photos basically since I got my iPhone last October. It is a great way to display and share your phone pictures. It's fast, it's fun, and it's free.

Today I added a button on the sidebar of my blog so that you can take a look at my Instragram pictures.

A day at the Springfield Museums

Last week I mentioned to Kristen that we were going to take Marley to the Springfield Museums with Mark, Janelle, and Mason today. The Science Museum has been having a Castle Adventure Lego exhibit this summer and I thought Mason would enjoy this.

When they brought Marley over last Wednesday, Kristen gave me an early birthday present...a year's museum family membership. I was thrilled.

So, we went today. It took Mason awhile to not be afraid in the museum. He remembered the dinosaur room; he didn't want to go there. He remembered the big elephant in the African Room; he didn't want to go there. We finally made it up to the Lego exhibit and he really liked that.



It really was an incredible exhibit with Lego castles, knights, etc.



My favorite museum lately is the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History. They have quite a Dr. Seuss exhibit.



We spent a lot of time in the Hasbro Game Room.











What a fun time we had. Thanks Kris, you couldn't have given me a better present, and I get to go for a whole year any time I want!

Happy Birthday Kristen!

Today was Kristen's birthday and we had her OWN birthday party, just for her. She has always said that she has had to share her birthday with her brother, and for many years we have been having either a five or six person birthday party. The birthdays start with Big Baba, then Kristen, Mark, Janelle, Dot and me.

So....since this is a BIG birthday, and it fell on Sunday, Kris had her very own day.

I asked her what kind of cake she wanted and she said anything as long as it has cream cheese frosting!

The kids have their own jobs - Mason puts the candles on, Marley lights them and brings the cake from the kitchen into the dining room.





Happy Birthday Kris. I hope you enjoyed you day!

Big Baba's birthday cake

Tonight the kids and I made a cake for Big Baba. His birthday was Wednesday, so since both kids were here tonight I thought it would be nice for us to make him a homemade cake. He seemed to really enjoy it.

Mason was so excited to put the candles on his cake, Marley lit the candles and we all sang.





Happy Birthday Big Baba!

The Baking Club

The Atrium, where Dot lives, has a Facebook page and posted a picture of Dot mixing batter for muffins in the Baking Club.

The caption said "Members of the Atrium's Baking Club were hard at work this morning creating scrumptious confetti cupcakes for everyone to enjoy. Dot took the lead in mixing the ingredients while telling us that baking requires exact measurements unlike cooking where you can be a bit more creative with ingredients. We are looking forward to sampling the Baking Club's latest treat."

I was so thrilled so see this. It did my heart good. I love that they are so patient and kind to the residents there. Thank God that we found The Atrium!

Throwback Thursday - Professional picture

I was talking to Mark this morning and he said that they had just made an appointment to have Mason's third year picture taken.

I think that besides school pictures and wedding pictures, I have only had one professional picture taken. I can remember a man coming to our house. He had a rubber ball that he let me play with (it is in some of the pictures) and he took about 3-4 professional pictures of me. The date on the picture is 1954 so I was around 4 years old.

Shrub removal and lobstahs!

What a busy day today was!

I have been after Paul for years now to take out our front shrubs. They are HUGE and even when he trims them, he can't get them small enough. They were put in when our house was built in 1973!

One day last week I said to Paul that I wanted to take out all of the front shrubs and plant hydrangeas. Imagine my total shock when he said, "I'll give Ritchie's Tree Service (a local guy) a call and see if he can do it." Ritchie came last Tuesday to see what needed to be done and said that he could probably squeeze us in on Sunday.

They arrived at 8:30 a.m. and got right to it.







I think they had most of the shrubs out by 9:30. It was funny to watch the neighhbors walking by that early in the morning. It was a big event seeing that the Radtkes don't change things much!

Then they had to grind up the roots.



Paul also wanted them to take down a whole lot of vines and a small tree in the back corner of our yard.





They are also trimming the hemlocks.



In the midst of all that excitement, we left to go to Woburn at about 11:00. Stacia was having her yearly BBQ and lobster fest. What a fun time we had there.

We basically ate all day. We had four courses....first appetizers; then Stacia had two main servings trying to accomodate all the different likes and dislikes of hamburgs and hotdogs: then steak tips, Spanish rice, and lobsters; and finally dessert!







In between eating the different course, the kids and men played sports and we all played corn hole.







But....by far the funniest thing that we did was the group picture. Paul set the timer on the camera and had 10 seconds to....run down off the deck, across the yard, and into position for the picture. I think we had only two tries, but as you can see, it made for a good picture because all of us were laughing....except Paul, who was huffing and puffing!



What a busy, fun day.

P.S. Paul has since had Kristen change the timer default to 20 seconds - we all want him to live the next time we have a group picture!

P.P.S. Today marks 4 years of blogging. I started August 19, 2008.......and I STILL LOVE IT!

Honor Ceremony

Tonight Marley was crowned an Honor Star at the Girls Ministries Honor Ceremony at Bethany. For the younger clubs, it means that the girls have attended three out of four Wednesday nights and completed all of their badges.

For the two older clubs, Stars and Friends, there is a lot more to it.

This is what the leader read before Marley was crowned:

"WHAT IS AN HONOR STAR?

AN HONOR STAR IS A GIRL WHO HAS PROVEN HERSELF FAITHFUL TO GOD, HER CHURCH AND THE IMPACT STARS PROGRAM FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS.

MARLEY HAS EARNED AT LEAST 27 UNITS IN THIS TIME.

THIS MEANS THAT SHE WAS IN CLASS AT LEAST THREE OUT OF THE FOUR WEEKS THE CLUB WAS WORKING ON EACH UNIT.

SHE MEMORIZED THE SCRIPTURE VERSES, COMPLETED THE ACTIVITY PAGES, AND FINISHED HER PROJECTS.

IN ADDITION TO BEING FAITHFUL DURING CLASS, SHE WENT OVER AND BEYOND WHAT SHE DID IN CLASS AND EARNED 9 HONOR STEPS WHERE THESE STEPS HAD TO BE DONE AT HOME.

TO ACCOMPLISH THOSE HONOR STEPS, SHE HAD TO MEMORIZE SEVERAL SCRIPTURE VERSES AND ALL OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE, WRITE AN ESSAY ABOUT INTEGRITY AND MEMORIZE THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD STATEMENT OF FAITH ON WHICH SHE WAS TESTED.

MARLEY ALSO HAD TO READ THROUGH THE ENTIRE NEW TESTAMENT DURING HER STAR YEARS AND THEN BE TESTED ON 27 MEMORY VERSES UNDER A REVIEW BOARD.

MARLEY IS GOING TO BE RECOGNIZED AND HONORED TONIGHT FOR HER INCREDIBLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT SHE HAS WORKED SO HARD ON.

WE ARE PROUD OF HER AND CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THE WONDERFUL THINGS GOD HAS PLANNED FOR HER LIFE."


One thing I can say for my church is that they do so much for the children and teens. Tonight was just an example. It was a wonderful ceremony with refreshments afterwards.

We are all so proud of you Marley. You worked hard for this!

Throwback Thursday - Four generations - 1975 (Ramsdell)

Awhile back I blogged a picture of the four generations on Paul's father's side. This is a picture on his mother's side.

Left to right is Paul's grandmother Irma, the original GG; his mother Priscilla, Kristen (3), Paul, and Mark (1). This was taken at Kristen's and Mark's combined birthday party in 1975.

Last Day of VBS

Today was the last day of VBS. One of the other teachers that I used to work with asked me if I wanted to go to lunch with her and her granddaughter. Marley and I had given her cousin Zach a ride home every day so he came with us too. We were babysitting for Mason that afternoon and Paul picked him up and they also joined us there.

Tonight was the closing rally of VBS and I have to say that I was actually sad that it was over. I will really miss the kids in my crew. Yes, I'm tired but it's a good tired. I will definitely do it next year!

Throwback Thursday - Twilight Bible School

VBS was quite a shock to my system yesterday. I wondered what in the world I had gotten myself into. Today was much better.

It got me thinking about the only VBS that I remember going to when I was a kid. It was at night, and was called Twilight Vacation Bible School. The girl in the front with Kathy written on her was our Pastor's daughter.

Many moons ago!

Vacation Bible School

Today is the first day of VBS. This is my first time working at it. Wish me luck!

Berkshire Museum and Beauty and the Beast

Marley was with us today and we decided that we needed to do something fun. It was too hot and humid to go kayaking, especially with a chance of thunderstorms. We decided to go to the Berkshire Museum. Kristen had given us free tickets at the beginning of the summer and none of us had ever been there before. While Paul was looking up the hours online, he saw that Beauty and the Beast was playing at the museum done by The Barrington Stage Company Youth Theater. He bought tickets for the 7 pm showing.

We got a late start but found out that the museum was staying open until 7 pm because of the play; it usually closes at 5 pm. We had plenty of time. We even had time to go out for supper. We walked to a Mexican place not far from the museum.

The museum was really nice. One of the things there that I had never seen before was a living sea horse.

We also went to a Tea Party with the characters of the play.





Here are some of the characters' pictures.







The play was wonderful. We all LOVED it. Such a fun day.