Got Chicken?

Well, spring has sprung... sort of. The grass is getting green, the trees are showing that they might actually grow leaves again, the lilies and daffodils are starting to sprout... and there is snow in the forecast! Sounds like March! Not sounding like March are mosquito bites, and yet a several of those have been felt during this unseasonably warm past week. If they're out already, woe to us come summertime!

Bambi (or more likely, Mrs. Bambi - what was her name?) was spotted wandering around on OUR property. Very bold, if you ask me. But she seemed to be checking out the neighborhood - and with as many people as make noise around our place and our neighbors, I'm quite sure she will not make it her home.

Another sign of spring is the future freezer filler that arrived this morning. Yes, the post office called us bright and early this morning asking us to come pick up a noisy box that had arrived...

They're kind of cute now, but give them a few weeks - about 10 to be precise...

In other news, the last few days have been major outdoor spring cleaning, yard work, garage and shed organizing days. It's looking great - and Joseph, Joanna and Josiah have been showing great character as they've tackled and stuck with the various projects, even after finding... well, never mind.

Today is a busy day as the Erberanteys have been asked to make an afternoon appearance at a local homeschool support group get together. Nothing like being in demand! They'll be singing (of course) and talking about jurisdictions, charters, and the Boston Tea Party.

This weekend also kicks of the conference season for Josh and Resounding Voice. He and Jessica will be headed down to Georgia for the weekend, then, like last year - but for a different reason - he'll be leaving her in the south for a couple of weeks before heading home.

Cello

So, what do you think of that cello & cellist??

Josiah has been practicing very hard lately, and recently received a 'reward' for his hard work! Someone donated a 3/4 size cello to the Rockford Music Academy (where Josiah takes lessons) and the Academy has given it to Josiah to use - free of charge - for as long as he takes lessons at the Academy, and uses that size cello! It has an amazingly better tone than his previous rented cello and he's having lots of fun playing it! For those who know the Suzuki method, he's working through book 5 at present, and sounding great! There's a lot of live music in our house these days and we're loving it all!

Jonathan

On March 25, 1991, Jonathan turned 3 years old. The above picture was taken on that occasion.

It logically follows that on March 25, 2007, Jonathan would have turned 19 years old. And he did. The above picture was taken on that occasion.

So here's a big Happy Birthday to Jonathan! May this next year be as fun and profitable as the last!


The day was absolutely lovely (an unseasonably warm 70 some degrees!). We enjoyed the late afternoon and evening hours together as a family - and mostly out on the back deck.

William

Well, we've been wanting to update this blog with something for the last week, but nothing of major importance or excitement or interest has happened. It has been a week of, well, of normal life - with its ups and downs, busyness and slowness, duties, correspondence, meals, laundry, laughs, family evenings, cleaning, music lessons... regular life, calling for regular daily faithfulness. The laughs included an evening of watching home movies. Oh, my!

Part of regular life for us, however, is having the grandkids over. Jeremy and Joseph were working on some remodeling at Jeremy's house yesterday, so nap time for the kiddos was spent at Grandma's house - and we convinced them all to stay for dinner, too. So here are a few pics of William taken last night. We think he's cute!

Birthday Ladies

On the morning of March 14, 1993, a young girl received a birthday present she had long been hoping for - a baby sister!


They're both 14 years older now , and grow more beautiful and more beloved with every passing year. We love you ladies!

Happy Birthday, Jeanine & Joanna!

Erberanteys

The Erberantey Quartet, made up of brothers Jeremy, Joshua and Jonathan Erber, and brother-in-law Nathan DeLadurantey, has been a popular humorous highlight of the last several Liberty Day Celebrations and is always demanded back. A glance at these pictures might give you an idea just why that is so. It's not just anywhere you can find such amusement - and not just anyone who will give it to you!

The song they are singing in the picture above is a folk song titled "The Young Volunteer" and is of a more serious nature. However, in the form of the next song came an old "parlor favorite" titled "Revolutionary Tea." Perhaps the first verse will give you an idea of the content:

"There was an old lady lived over the sea, and she was an Island Queen..."

"Her daughter lived off in a new country, with an ocean of water between..."

"The old lady's pockets were full of gold, but never contented was she..."

"So she called on her daughter to pay her a tax, of three pence a pound for her tea!"

A Dramatic Mr. Henry

Liberty Day Pictures

Pictures, pictures, pictures!!! Well, I have really spent much of the day working on sorting through pictures and trying to figure out the best way to post which ones where. The final (or at least current) plan is to post a bunch of them over on the Liberty Day site, and post some of the more fun, miscellaneous, or Erber specific pictures here! :-) If you want to see all 1200 of them, you'll have to come on over for a day. If you want to the reduced-down-to-only-500-pictures selection, than you'll have to come over for an evening...

We really like the photo above - there is something very dramatic about it. Should be the cover for a playbill or something. And again, we are very grateful to Mr. Rich Heki for capturing all these photos for us.


Dad did all the MC'ing for the conference




The Guys


Corrine with her Grandma Erber


"Oh, and did you hear..."



This picture would be very neat if the girls playing were the same as the girls in the slide show - it's still a neat picture, but it is a different violinist! You ladies sounded great! Thanks much!



Question - in the picture below, is Mom fixing Jonathan's costume, or is she bandaging him up from... well, the events of the picture above.


Above and below are a couple of cute kids from our church!








I don't remember the names of these ladies, but I really like the picture!


Ringing in the festivities!




What Was That? I Can't Hear You!





Technology & History Meet




Okay, more later! Watch for the Erberantey Singers and a dramatic Patrick Henry...