These weeks . . .

So there I was, minding my own business, when I got a text... From my cousin Abby... demanding a new blogpost! So, I guess it's that time. I don't have any picture to post, so I'll do my best to draw a picture with words.

(Don't get your hopes up. I am no great writer.)

So, since I last chatted into the blogosphere, we have sold a dog (Cowboy - went to a big farm where he can run free!) and gotten a new dog "Tasha", a 5 yr old chocolate lab, that is kinda like Mary Poppins . . . Practically perfect in every way! She doesn't chew, jump on furniture, she is housebroken, and she doesn't run off from the house! She's lazy and loving and sweet, and did I mention she is housebroken?!?!?! It's fantastic! She's fantastic! She is also extremely overweight! She is the fattest lab I've ever seen! But she is getting tons of exercise here with the kids, and we have been rationing her food intake. I think she has already lost a couple pounds! Anyhow, we'll get her in tip top shape here real' soon.

Bacon, is now officially bacon! Actually, we pick him up from the butcher this coming Friday, so we are all excited for our first homegrown meat meal! When we took Bacon to the farm that was doing the slaughtering, they showed us their feeder pigs, and let me tell you . . . they are the cutest little pigs ever! There are pink ones and black ones and red ones and my personal favorites, the spotted ones! I think we'll be headed back to the farm to pick one (or maybe two) up in a couple weeks! It's fun to have a pig, and as much as I am looking forward to eating "Bacon", I miss going out there and watching the silly "dances" he did for attention and food! :)

Our guineas have decided that one of the four isn't allowed in the group anymore. Actually, we see the lone guinea every now and again, only once or twice a day, but we hear her all day in the woods behind the house, so we are thinking that instead of having been excommunicated from the group, we now think she may be sitting on a nest! Wouldn't that be fun! I guess it's time to google how long guineas brood. At any rate, we may just have some little ones running around the place before too long!

School! Yup, school is back in session. For the public schools in our area, today is the first day. For our kids, it was last Monday! We've been in school for over a week now, and while the first day left me wondering if there was still time to get them into the public schools, the last few have been pretty smooth sailing. We have our moments, but all in all, it's going well. We are studying Rome through the Reformation this year and the boys are eating up all the wars and heroes and whatnot, so that is great. Our main curriculum is called My Father's World. Same thing we've used the last two years, and we really enjoy it. We changed up our math curriculum this year to Teaching Textbooks. It is the best thing ever! All three of the older kids can do their math on the computer, and it grades itself! Less work for me, and they love it! Katy is 6th grade this year! Junior High! I can hardly believe it! Yikes, where has the time gone??? Hunter is in 5th grade, and I can't believe that in one more year, he'll be in junior high as well! Andrew is in the 3rd grade. He is in a growth spurt right now - eating like a monster! And then there is Josiah . . . my baby boy is in KINDERGARTEN!!! I can not even believe it! He is such a big boy, and loves school. We are currently studying the days of creation, and he loves being read to from the Bible, coloring, and singing. The hymn for the year for his curriculum is "This is My Father's World". And, you guessed it! We are using the My Father's World kindergarten curriculum as well.
The kids are excited for our homeschool fellowship to get back started up, and I am too. I love the support and friendship I get from all the moms there.

Some, or maybe all of you know that I had an endoscopy last week for abdominal pain that I've been having since early July. I just heard from the Doc this morning, and there is nothing wrong with my stomach. Which is good news, except for the fact that I still have the pain, and I have developed new pain since the procedure. He's going to reorder some labs just to double check, and put me on a new med to see if it will help/eliminate the pain. So, we're in a holding pattern for now. Thank you to everyone who prayed for me, and continues to pray for me.

Again, some of you may have heard that Karl hurt his back about 2 1/2 weeks ago . . . he has been in an insane amount of pain, and the meds they have given him hadn't seemed to help. He FINALLY had an MRI last Friday, and it seems he may have bulging disks from his L4 down. Not great news. They gave him some new meds (yesterday) that seem to be helping, but he can't take them and drive, so he is limited to the evening time to take them.

We have been extremely busy, and kindof broken the past couple of weeks, but hopefully, we'll be on the mend very soon! For anyone who reads this, please keep us in your prayers, and we will you.

Heat Wave

So, we've spent the summer largely in the house, which is unfortunate. We have had such hot and humid weather, that even the kids don't want to be outside for very long at all. :( So, we've had to find some interesting ways to occupy our time, so this puzzle is something that Katy drug our of the closet . . . Our friend Lucy had given it to us before we moved away from Maine, and we had yet to finish it . . . that is, until yesterday!!! All the kids worked on it, and I think Karl may have placed a couple of pieces too. I worked for hours on it, using the techniques (and teaching them to the kids) that my grandmother taught me years ago. She was amazing at puzzles . . . well, lots of things really, but puzzles was for sure on that list!

All the heat that has been hard on us humans, has been great for the garden! Our tomatoes are HUGE!!! We only planted 3 large tomato plants and 2 cherry tomato plants. (We didn't want to be over-run by them.) And yesterday, this is what Katy and I picked from our cherry tomato plants (2) 64 cherry tomatoes! I couldn't believe it! We have had an abundance, and they have over-run the garden, but we don't mind. Neither does Bacon, or the chickens, as they get all the rotting or bug eaten ones. :) So what did I do with all those cherry tomatoes you ask??? Well, I made pasta salad, with tomatoes and green peppers from our garden, and homemade Italian dressing (and a few more things too, but olives from a can aren't nearly as impressive as tomatoes from the garden.)

Josiah's Birthday!

I can't believe my baby is 5!!! Yikes! The time has flown! We had planned a busy day which included swimming and bowling and then "partying" until it was time to go work at the farm. BUT... Karl hurt his back the day before, so we laid low for the day (as Karl was still swimming out of the liquid brain pool the ER had put him in the night before - great meds. ) Swimming went on as planned, but bowling was off the schedule, and we partied after Katy, Hunter, Andrew and I worked at the farm. Karl and Joe hung out and watched a movie while we were away. It all worked out in the end, and in the end, we came home from the farm with ice cream treats for the whole crew, courtesy of our dear friends Ms. Chris and Mr. Herb (from the farm.) All in all, it was a great day, and No! I didn't freak out too bad that my "baby" is 5!

The more the merrier, right?!?!?!

The more the merrier, right?!?!?! Well, for those of you who are tired of butterflies, just hit the back button, and resume your previously scheduled web surfing. I am just loving the butterflies we are having this summer . . . they are magnificent and beautiful and amazing, and I can't help but to post pictures of them. :) Enjoy!

Swim Fun!

Andrew is a little water bug, and he loved his class and his teacher. He spent most of the "fun day" just hanging out in the deep end, showing off! :) The boys were trying to see who could make the biggest splash. The only unfortunate part is that being a mother of four, I missed (with the camera) all his amazing entrances! Just managed to capture his exit from the pool. :(



Hunter spent his "fun day" time back and forth from the diving board to the slide. He has officially migrated to the point of fearless when it comes to the water. I'm not sure if this is a blessing or a curse?!?!?!?


Josiah wasn't too sure about going down the slide, but once he did . . . Boy! He loved it! We couldn't get him off the slide the rest of the time! We managed to convince him to take a little jump off the diving board too, but that wasn't nearly as much fun as the slide!


I know, I know . . . you are thinking - where's Katy? - well, she was there, and she had fun, but somehow I didn't manage to catch any flattering pictures of her. She spent the entire "fun day" time trying to perfect her standing dive, and while perfection has yet to be achieved, we were super proud of her tenacity!

Deer, Don't, Do

Deer, for the deer
Don't, for dropping a weight on your foot
Do, for spending a whole day with your family in the kitchen.

We've had some visitors to the property! :) I've been practicing my bow, and if these lady visitors don't watch out, they'll be taking up residence in our deep freezer here in a couple of weeks! There are four who come regularly . . . hopefully they'll keep that up into the season!

So, as you all have heard, Joe successfully smashed his foot with a ten pound free weight. I am happy to report that all is well, and even this nasty bruise is gone for good! :)

Here's just a picture from a couple of weekends ago . . . "corn day". It was fun to hang out in the kitchen all day as a family. I didn't have to husk and desilk too much corn as I was the "cooker"! Lucky me! Standing over 3 boiling pots of water all day! :) The kids suffered through and are enjoying the results of their labor.