Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Proud Mama

We recently finished our AWANA year. I'm proud to announce that our oldest completed his third year as an AWANA Sparky and completed the three Sparky books in that time period. This may not seem like much if you're not familiar with AWANA, but in completing 3 books he's memorized approximately 107 Bible verses, 46 of them were done this year.

He has and amazing memory and we can see the benefits of this memory work. He's gaining more than just Bible knowledge, he's gaining a heart connection with God. How AWESOME!

I'm thrilled with the program. For years I've said that I'd like to memorize scripture. Well this is the answer. I've memorized along with him and love it.

Our middle son just competed his 2nd year as an AWANA preschooler and will go into the Sparky program next year. He's done a lot of memorizing also. So cute!

And last, but not least, our littlest girlie will be able to go to the preschool program next year. Amazing to have them all involved! She's really excited. She wanted to go this year, but had to spend the time with mom. The girl time was good.

Don't Worry Dad

Read at your own Risk...

If you have issues with the discussion of bodily functions skip this entry.

We were on a walk the other day while baby girl was trying out her biking skills. Our dog was straining on the side of the road. He'd walk a couple of feet, strain and squat and walk on. Then the'd stop again. Well, Dad was getting frustrated with him because he'd do it on the road rather than on the side of the road. So as dad was instructing our beloved dog to get on the side of the road, Ari says to him, "Don't worry Dad, he just has Dingleberries." Needless to say, I laughed my head off.

She's on a Roll

birLast weekend we celebrated the many family birthdays that occur in the spring. One of which is our littlest one's birthday.

She's been asking for a bike so she can be like, and keep up with her biking brothers. Well, Papa brought up the cutest little Princess bike for our little Princess. Her new bike is equipped with horn, water bottles, a backpack (or handle bar pack), and fancy handle bar decor.

When she first got on she tried to figure out how the pedaling thing worked. Within the day, she was pedaling like a pro and cruising down the road. It was so cute watching her get the hang of it. She was so interested in watching her feet pedal that she would forget to watch the road. We had a couple near misses toward the ditch, but no accidents.

On her second day out she's cruising so fast I have to jog a little to keep up with her.

I must mention also that she is quite the site to see! She packs up her purse and puts it on the handle bars, she packs her water bottles (2 of them, because you know how sweaty a 3 year old can get), and her My Little Pony helmet. I love it! So cute!!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Scary Moment!

Well, I was just relaxing reading my email and enjoying a moment and through the hole in our sliding screen door bounds our declawed, overweight (close to 20 pounds), indoor cat. I thought he was just enjoying a few minutes on the back deck. Or maybe he was under the back deck.

He proudly pranced in with something dangling from his mouth. That something was a MOUSE!! The mouse was just stunned enough that I was able to run into the garage grab a shovel and shoo our cat away so I could scoop the mouse up and THROW him back outside where he belongs. OOOOOooooooooo YUCK!!! I'm not crazy about the things, especially when they are in our house. Definitely not where they belong.

How our cat managed to catch something that should be much quicker and agile is a mystery to me. No more hunting for the evening. I should have a talk with him, I don't mind him taking care of business, just don't don't bring your trophies indoors.

Schooling In The Garden

Yesterday we did school in the garden. It was such a beautiful day we couldn't stay cooped up in the house. So out the kids went with backpacks on and lunchboxes in hand. We sat in our arbor looking at the mountains and did our Bible time. We read about Paul on a ship during a terrible storm and about listening and trusting God in our tough times.

After Bible we read two books we checked out at the library. One was Pick, Pull, Snap! Where a Flower Once Bloomed, by Lola M. Schaeffer. It showed how a flower forms on a tree or a plant and it is from the flower that the fruit comes. After reading this book we went all around the garden looking at the flowering apple and cherry trees, the flower buds on the raspberries, the flowers on the strawberries, and the flowers on the blueberries. What great science and so much fun too!

After that we read, Who is in the Garden? by Vera Rosenberry. We talked about all of the great plants and trees we have in the garden/yard that are also in the book.

While the boys worked on their math I rototilled an area to plant some more beets. We love beets and I learned of a few new varieties that are supposedly sweeter than regular beets. We planted Blankoma beets which are white table beet, Chioggia which are an Italian variety with light red round roots and bright pink and white alternating interior rings, and Red Ace Hybrids. Some of these we will eat and others we will pickle. What a great treat for all!!

Saturday, May 06, 2006

First Harvest of 2006
















This morning I went out and worked in the garden and much to my pleasant surprise the radishes were already ready to harvest. I have quite a few so I think I'll be making a salad I recently saw that had pork, radishes, cilantro and a few other things in it. Yum!!

I also planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, artichokes and lavender. These plantings were in the 4th of the 4X12 foot raised beds we built. The other three were planted last weekend. I have strawberries in one, the other two are filled with lettuces, carrots, beets, herbs, melons, and more. I'll take some photos as things begin to grow.

Friday, May 05, 2006

What does daddy need for his birthday??


Daddy had a birthday recently and when the kids and I were out looking and trying to figure out what to get him our youngest son piped up, "I know what dad needs!"

I responded, "What does dad need?"

Now remember this little guy is post-Seinfeld and has never seen the show before in his life. He then excitedly replies, "Let's get him a Man Purse!"

Without hesitation I laughed my head off! That's just what our dad needs. We all got a good laugh from that one!

Happy Birthday!!





Be Careful!


It has been a season of accidents lately. Recently two of our kiddos were playing. Middle brother was pulling baby girl around around the wood floors on a fleece blanket. One can usually hear me saying, "Don't swing wide, slow down around the corners."

Well as I'm sure you can guess they got to playing and missed the "don't swing wide" lesson and "bam" baby girl hit the corner of the wall.

Needless to say, we made a VERY quick trip to the doctor's office for stitches in her forehead.

From a mom's point of view, I don't know if there is anything much worse than sitting by your child while they scream for you to make it better. We sat in tears together through this experience.

Then last week, while at a friend's house, our oldest took a spill off a bike and broke his hand.

After it happened, we suspected there was something wrong, but didn't take him in until the following day. He didn't complain about it, but it seemed much too swollen.

Well, Big brother now has a nice short cast on his hand. Never a dull moment!