The Spurgeons

Spring Band Concert

2009-05-14T19:22:00.001-07:00

Great concert Serena, Kelsey and Sebastian. Ya'll have really been working hard and the concert was great!

Kids Playing after Days of Rain

2009-05-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

The Tennessee River is overflowing its banks near downtown Florence. Here are some photos of Haley, Shepherd, and Sascha enjoying the sunshine after so much rain.

First Snow of Fall 2008

2008-12-08T07:51:00.000-08:00

The following photos are from December 1st, 2008 and our first snow fall at our new house in Florence, AL. (The house isn't new- but it is new to us.) The kids loved the snowfall (as did Jenise and I). The flakes were huge and wet- and even though the temp was closer to 40 degrees, the snow "stuck" for a few minutes as it was coming down so fast.

One comment about the photos- there is nothing like the first snow of the season to bring out the broad smiles and unmitigated joy in the faces of children. (And ahem, the parents, ahem.)

Spectacular Birding Day at our House

2008-11-14T16:30:00.000-08:00

This is our first year in our new home in the woods. So, we have been in for a few surprises as the seasons have approached and then left. We were pleasantly surprised this past week when, many different species of birds stopped by our yard in Florence, AL. We saw many different kinds of birds, including many, that we haven't seen in the yard before: the list for that Wednesday, November 12th included:

Cedar Waxwing
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Carolina Wren
Yellow-rumped Warbler
American Robin
American Goldfinch

It was our first time to see most of those birds at this location- I was especially excited to see the Pileated Woodpecker at a closer range than I have before, and also the Cedar Waxwings- as a flock had stopped by to eat the Black Gum seeds.

Below is a slideshow of photos of the birds from that day.

2008-11-02T16:36:00.000-08:00

Sascha, the not so fierce pirate girl, on Halloween night.

The Kids Love this Sign

2008-10-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

We pass by this Hardee's restaurant when we are going to Wednesday night meeting. We usually get stuck at the light at the intersection- so the kids get to look at it for awhile. Too long in fact as they usually start giggling and laughing because the sign says "Now Hiring Porkchop and Gravy Biscuit". (Click on the photo for a better view.)

A few weeks ago it had said, "Now Hiring Strawberry Biscuit". I guess they filled that position. :)

Musicians at Work

2008-10-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

Junior Explorers

2008-10-12T19:20:00.001-07:00

It is still warm enough to go creek walking. . . my junior explorers don't seem to mind the cooler weather. :)

Fosters 2008 and Fosters 2001

2008-10-10T17:07:00.001-07:00

Fosters 2008

Fosters 2001

Adoption Day!

2008-10-10T16:16:00.000-07:00

October 1st was the official adoption day!

Cell Phone Pics from July and August

2008-08-24T10:19:00.001-07:00

The following slideshow shows various photos taken with my camera cell phone during the months of July and August.

A Nice Saturday

2008-08-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

We met up with the Grandparent Johnson's this morning and then drove on to Huntsville, AL where we met Ms. Ruth Mouzon, Susan Henderson, and Hazel and Roman Borys at the Early Works Museum. It was great to catch up on the news with all the folks, as well as watch the kids have a lot of fun at the museum.

After we had a great lunch at Cracker Barrel, we stopped at the Grandparent Johnson's lakehouse. The kids enjoyed casting the cast net- and caught a few Bluegill as well as a large rock and some sticks. It was a great Saturday!

A Hummingbird Banding

2008-08-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

Today, Sebastian, Kelsey and I drove out into the country to observe a hummingbird banding. It was pretty interesting. The banding took place at someone's house out in the country- they had lovely gardens, grape arbors, as well as nice landscaping throughout. They also had lots and lots of hummingbird feeders and hummingbirds. A local professor comes out and bands hummingbirds every year and reports the results to the U.S. Department of the Interior. The hummingbirds are caught in traps, put into a little bag and brought back to the banding table where the professor would tag them, weigh them, determine the sex and size (all the information is recorded into a database) and then the hummingbirds are released back into the wild. Below is a slide show of the photos from today. Sebastian and Kelsey took many of the pictures- they got many good close-ups of the birds.

Visit from the Solomon Family

2008-08-09T09:50:00.001-07:00

Live from the Sheffield Swim Banquet

2008-08-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

Fun with Pool Portraits

2008-08-08T15:19:00.000-07:00

Trying to take someone's picture underwater isn't as easy as I thought it might be. For one- once the person goes underwater- they tend to float back up- as do I as am trying to frame the shot- typically we are both moving. But, it is fun and we didn't take it too seriously.

Another School Year Is Here

2008-08-07T20:15:00.001-07:00

Today was the first day of school for the kids. They got changed yesterday to a school nearer our house- so even though it was at the last second- that was good news. They seemed to like their first day of school- so that should help make it a little easier to get them up early in the morning. :)

Typical Saturday of the Summer

2008-08-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

The video shows how the kids spent most of the summer. It was hot and humid here on Saturday (what you would expect of Alabama weather in August). This was the kids last Saturday before school starts again this week.

Kids Ordering their Lunch

2008-08-02T13:37:00.000-07:00

Scene from our lunch today at Cracker Barrel. After we ordered, and were waiting on our food, a HUGE storm blew through. It really looked like a hurricane outside. Shepherd almost started to cry- but I patted him on the back and told him that everything was "OK" (although secretly, I wasn't so sure) . No one in the restaurant knew what to do except look out the window. But I am sure that everyone was thinking the same thing- "tornado". Fortunately, the wind quickly died down and everything returned to normal. When we left we saw a couple of snapped trees across the road, as well as a large shed blown over and away from the Lowes store that was near the Cracker Barrel.

I mainly take videos like that (this was with the cell phone) so that I will be able to remember how they talked later on when the years pass by. Especially Shepherd, he has his own unique way of speaking at the moment.

Sascha pretending to be a Sea Lion

2008-07-29T17:44:00.000-07:00

Sascha was pretending to be a Sea Lion in this video. Sascha is almost 3. She swims pretty well for her age. She is also a very particular swimmer. She has to have her goggles on before she will dive into the water.

Sea Lions are currently her favorite animal. In this video she is imitating a Sea Lion performing. The hoop is the garden hose held by Jenise. The video quality isn't the best- but not bad for a cell phone video. I was also able to upload it straight to this blog from the phone.

Old Video of Sven and His First Snow

2008-07-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

I just found this video on a CD. I had lost it for awhile. I'm glad to have found it again- it is pretty cute watching Sven walk around in the snow.

Going to the Creek

2008-06-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

The kids and I have enjoyed spending time exploring Cypress Creek the past few weeks. The creek is only about 1/4 mile from our house. We have also kayaked and floated down it on inner tubes a few times.

Creeks are a great place for kids to explore nature. There are all manner of fish (see many of them at my nature web site http://www.natureatcloserange.com/), snakes, frogs, insects, spiders, plants, etc. To help with the catching of the smaller minnows, darters, and shad- we use a cast net. We have found several fascinating fish- like the Warpaint Shiner, Banded Sculpin, Redlined Darter, and the Northern Studfish, and Long-eared Sunfish, just to name a few.

Happy Birthday Shepherd and Haley

2008-06-02T18:59:00.000-07:00

Shepherd and Haley celebrated birthdays in the month of May! This is my favorite photo from the birthday photos.

Thanks for all Judy

2008-05-01T06:40:00.000-07:00

If you have found this site as a result of a Google search regarding realtors in the Florence, AL and Shoals area of North Alabama- I don't think that you will find a more caring and patient realtor than Judy Young. She helped us to find the perfect house in Florence- and was patient with us as we looked around at different areas and different home styles. Her co-workers at CRC Realty were welcoming to our family as well- and didn't seem at all dismayed when we walked into their office with eight kids in tow- quite the opposite- everyone was quite warm and friendly.

Yesterday Judy came by (even though we closed on our house a month ago) to the house. She wanted to make sure that we were doing well and she also wanted to give us a house warming gift. She knew just what we needed- lots and lots of snacks! :) (as seen in the photo)

Seriously, if you need a realtor, we highly recommend Judy. The link to her website is: http://www.judyyoung.net/

If you are in need of a mortgage- Lynn Francis of Home Lenders of the Shoals was the best and most knowledgeable mortgage specialist with whom we've had the pleasure to meet.

Spring Flowers

2008-04-03T05:35:00.000-07:00

These photos were taken a couple of days ago. It has been raining every since. :)

Alabama Road in Spring

2008-04-01T18:49:00.001-07:00

Early Spring Images (March) from North Alabama

2008-03-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

Earliest Easter of our Lifetime

2008-03-24T05:27:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was the earliest Easter of our lifetime- and probably yours as well (unless you were living in 1913- the last time Easter was this early.) The next time Easter falls on March 23rd? The year 2160. (source)

Great Afternoon

2008-03-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a great afternoon at Mr. Fred and Ms. Ruth Mouzon's today. We enjoyed seeing Ms. Susan Henderson (sorry we missed seeing you, Owen!) and Stephen, Hazel, and Roman Borys. Hazel and Susan did a great job preparing for an Easter egg hunt for the kids as well as preparing the Easter decorations. Mr. Fred also made some lovely cooked snacks for everyone. It has been a long while since we have seen everyone- it was a very nice reunion. Enough of me blabbing- here are the photos! :)

(To see even more photos from today- along with witty captions- click here gently.)

Really Big Fish

2008-03-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

Last year I posted an entry of some big catfish that we were catching off the dock at Bay Village on the Tennessee River. I just read an interesting article on the National Geographic website where they are researching the world's "monster" freshwater fish. Here is the link. The pictures are interesting.

Here is a link to a video of a trout that grows up to 200 lbs and lives in Mongolia.

Added Video of Green Lynx Spider to You Tube

2008-03-16T21:33:00.000-07:00

I just added this video of a Green Lynx Spider guarding her nest and hatchlings. The female Green Lynx spider will guard the nest until she dies. I also updated my Green Lynx Spider entry on my nature blog with this video: http://natureatcloserange.blogspot.com/2007/10/green-lynx-spider-i-dont-need-no.html

Video Shout Out to Uncle George

2008-03-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

Hi Uncle George. We are providing this video by Tim Hawkins as a public service reminder to you- always fish with a buddy. :)

Funny You Tube Homeschooling Video

2008-03-15T20:13:00.001-07:00

A funny video by comedian Tim Hawkins.

Don't Give Up

2008-03-14T23:30:00.000-07:00

The following video was made of Sascha trying to learn to skate on Monday, March 10th at Sebastian and Lexie's birthday party. I like the fact that she never quit smiling during the whole time- even though she was strugglin mightily. She sure is a brave little 2 year old. :) On Thursday, I took some photographs of her skating without assistance- even with skates that were probably 3 sizes too large. I like her gumption! :)

At Joe Wheeler St. Park Resort

2008-03-03T07:08:00.001-08:00

Sebastian, Kelsey, Sascha, Haley and I ate Sunday lunch at the Joe Wheeler St. Park Resort. They have a great Sunday afternoon buffett. After eating lunch we went outside and the kids played on the swings. Here are some of the photos:

Next Generation of Canon Camera Users

2008-03-03T07:01:00.000-08:00

Sebastian and Kelsey enjoyed going out and taking photos with me this past weekend. It was a beautiful weekend here in North Alabama for getting out and taking photos. Sascha also enjoyed seeing herself after her picture was taken by Kelsey.

The Great Flu of 2008

2008-02-28T15:06:00.000-08:00

We all had the flu last week. All 10 of us. It wasn't a pretty sight. Or site. Jenise and Shepherd got the flu first- with an ear ache. They were both in agony. We all pretty much got it after them pretty quick. We went to the doctor and got antibiotics and Tamiflu to help reduce the flu symptoms. We also had strep throat. It wasn't a fun week to be in our house. :)

But we survived. The neighbors were very nice and helpful- they brought over soups and some other food to help out. Very nice. :)

Sebastian

2008-02-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

Sebastian's birthday is coming up at the end of this month. One of the following photos was taken this past weekend- and the other photo was taken in 1999. He has grown a bit since then.

Back to Ms Stella's

2008-02-19T09:41:00.000-08:00

Until we had our house fire and had to move to North Alabama, we went to Sunday morning meeting at Ms. Stella's. She knew we were coming down to work on the house this past weekend- so she invited us to spend the night with her- which we gladly accepted. It sure was good to get back! Ms. Stella is an awesome cook- she made roast with roasted potatoes and carrots, as well as had a German Upside Down Cake and Peach Cobbler for dessert.

She also has a yard full of daffodils. We could always tell that Spring was just around the corner- because early every February- the Daffodils would begin to bloom in her yard. I think that I have taken pictures of the kids sitting in those Daffodils almost every year. Here are the photos from this past weekend. I will look for some of the older photos of the kids and post them later.

Updated Kitchen

2008-02-18T19:37:00.000-08:00

Well, after all of the smoke had cleared- and the debris had been carted away from the fire- this was the final result. A beautifully restored house. The following photos are of the kitchen- all of the contractors and subcontractors did a really wonderful and quick job. Special thanks goes to Mr. Jim Martin- he was the contractor for this job- and he worked quickly and was patient with me as we worked through the complications of working with fire claims. A special thanks also goes out to Brian Jones of Alfa Insurance- as he was diligent in making sure that all of our needs were taken care of. Alfa Insurance really stood with us and supported us through this ordeal.

Work on House in Clanton

2008-02-18T19:33:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday- Feb.16, we had a great day working out in the yard at the house in Clanton. The kids all pitched in and worked hard. Special thanks goes out to Ron Van Houten for coming over and helping us out- big time. He personally hauled almost 10 cuyd of mulch around the yard. His help was greatly appreciated. (You can see a glimpse of him in the second photo- dumping off another load of mulch from the wheel barrow.)

The following photos show the yard with the mulch spread around, as well as some photos of the kids helping out.

Haircut for the Boys

2008-02-13T10:20:00.001-08:00

This past Saturday, I took the boys to BH's barbershop. BH was my barber when I was a kid. He said that he has been cutting hair now for 40 years. It was good to get back and talk with him again. The boys got a good haircut as well!

Waiting in the lobby

Shepherd needing his clothes washed as well as a haircut

The reading material in the barbershop was interesting- even upside down.

Prices. BH even does house calls. Flat tops are only a $1 more than a regular cut.

Sven ready for a cut. Boy, he WAS shaggy.

Shepherd getting a great haircut.

BH's Barber and Style

Play-Dough Master at Work

2008-02-13T10:11:00.000-08:00

The following photos are of our 2 year old daughter, Sascha (aka- the Play-Dough Master. ) She is serious about her creations. She looks very intense.

Snow Today!

2008-02-13T10:05:00.000-08:00

It snowed today! See the snow on the roof tops in the photo? Oh joy! Snow again in Alabama. The kids are excited- but they quickly got over it. :)

The last photo shoes how the kids would rather spend a cold, snow day.

Shoes

2008-02-12T16:01:00.000-08:00

We require the kids to remove their shoes before entering the house. When you have a family of 10, the shoes tend to stack up outside the door. This is how our shoes are lined up outside our back door. Hmm, I notice that there are quite a few pairs of shoes missing at least one shoe- a normal occurrence that keeps happening despite our best efforts. When we are ready to go somewhere, one of the kids invariably has to spend 10 minutes looking for a missing shoe. Aargh! :)

New Year's Eve at the Frederick's

2008-01-16T14:07:00.001-08:00

Jerry and Kathleen Frederick called us and invited us up to their home for a New Year's Eve get-together with them and others of the friends in the Chattanooga, TN area. So, we loaded up the 15 passenger van with 8 kids and ourselves and travelled North on New Year's Eve to their lovely house in the woods.

They really know how to entertain. They had a bonfire with a hotdog and marshmallow roast, a hayride, a rotten egg toss (eggs courtesy of their chickens- which the kids found wildly entertaining), a pygmy goat petting zoo, a gospel sing, etc. A great time and fellowship was had by all. The following was some of the photos from New Year's Eve.

It was nice to meet and make new friends in the Chattanooga area. It was a great night.

Christmas Season 2007

2008-01-16T13:48:00.000-08:00

Wow! I cannot believe that I have not updated this blog since December 3rd! Time has flown by even quicker than I could have imagined. We have been busy, busy, busy- but I suppose that is a good thing.

The following photo was our official Spurgeon Christmas Card photo this year. If you did not receive one- I apologize in advance. We were very lax this year in getting them out- completely my fault as I wasn't happy with the photos (getting a good photo of all 8 kids is a challenge)- so I kept trying to get the perfect photo until I just gave up and decided to send the cards out. It also didn't help that most of my address records got burned up and I was too lazy to lookup all the addresses! Again- my apologies!

We went to the kids Aunt Dawn's and Granny Smith's place for an early Christmas. The kids had a great time- Aunt Dawn and Granny had a great party for all of them. We all had a great time- so our thanks go out to them! The following photos were from our time at their house. By the way, the lovely little girl in the green sweatshirt in the photos is Dawn's lovely daughter, Madison.)

Before we travelled North to Ohio for Christmas, the kids made a Gingerbread house. I thought that they did a pretty good job. (As you may notice- some of the original trim had disappeared from the house before I could take a picture of it. I wonder what could have happened to those gumdrops?)

Once the kids were out of school for their Christmas break- we travelled up to Columbus, OH to spend Christmas with Jenise's family. This was our first time to travel to James's lovely new home- which he was brave enough to let us come and stay with him. We had a great time. Below are some of the photos from our time there. (More photos can be seen on our online photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/danielspurgeon

Sebastian and the Catfish

2007-12-03T06:43:00.000-08:00

We caught this catfish by tying a line with a hook and hotdog as bait to the dock. We let the bait sit overnight and then check it in the morning. We have caught several catfish this way. The catfish in the photo is about the average size that we have been catching.

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-11-24T15:51:00.001-08:00

We enjoyed Thanksgiving 2007 at MeeMas and PawPaws. Here are a few of the photos from the holiday. There are 21 of us in the photo.

New Aquarium

2007-11-24T15:22:00.001-08:00

We recently added a 55 gallon aquarium to our decor. I plan on eventually just having Tennessee River fish in it- but for the moment we have:

3 Spotted Puffer Fish

3 Algae Eaters

3 Exotic Catfish

1 Peacock Eel

5 Ghost Shrimp

We also added a drift wood stump and a large rock from the river to the aquarium. I have since caught 2 bream in the cast net and have also added them to the aquarium. They have already eaten a few of the shrimp.

Kelsey's Field Trip to Chattanooga

2007-11-20T16:22:00.000-08:00

I took Kelsey to school at 4:30am this morning so that she could go on a field trip to Chattanooga to Ruby Falls and then to the Tennessee Aquarium. She also saw a IMAX movie. I picked her up at 5:00pm. She said that she had a great trip. I had made the same trip when I was in school. The photo is of the buses lined up at the school this morning ready to go.

Visit with Charles Thain and Perry Pearson

2007-11-20T16:00:00.000-08:00

We went over to Wayne Whitley's for a potluck for Charles Thain and Perry Pearson as they were visiting through the state. We had a very nice time and it was good to hear some of Charle's experiences since he left the state over 30 years ago.

Shepherd and Sascha Having a Blast

2007-11-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite recent photos of the kids. Shepherd and Sascha were running out in the yard at Stella Camp's after we had our Sunday morning meeting there.

Catching Catfish

2007-11-18T19:37:00.001-08:00

This is a photo of the second catfish that the kids have caught this week. We have just been taking a treble hook and adding a hotdog piece or bacon to it and then tieing a line to the dock post and checking on it every few hours. This catfish was probably around 5 lbs- but we have caught them MUCH bigger using this method. If we catch a bigger one- I'll add a photo of it to this blog. The kids love going down and checking the line. (You can see the smaller kids in the background- they aren't allowed to come down on the dock without their life jackets.)

Serena's First Homemade Pie

2007-11-18T19:24:00.000-08:00

Serena did a fantastic job on her first Pecan Pie (or pie of any kind!) The pie not only looked great- but it was one of the best pecan pies that I have ever had. Seriously. She substituted maple syrup for the corn syrup- and it really made a big difference in the texture of the pie- it seemed much more moist. Serena is 12. Great job Serena!