May Garden

• Nov. 28, 2008 - Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Tree -the kids decided what they were thankful using hand print leaves. We also have done some letter T activities with the girls. We had Thanksgiving dinner over our neighbors house! It was great to just visit. Can't forget their littlest fella. They are also expecting a spring birth of their fifth baby.

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• Oct. 16, 2008 - Our Day in the Big City

• Sep. 9, 2008 - Safety Fair

One of the highlights of our county fair is the safety exhibit put on by the firefighters and EMS. We always pick up lots of activity sheets and coloring books for our yearly safety unit. The girls especially liked this little fellow. Then inside this model they had a video playing for older kids about bike and skateboard safety The little girls enjoyed the mobile safety house where a talk was given about dangers in the home Here they are thinking about what to do if they were in an upstairs bedroom and had to escape from a fire Lina chose to look for a ladder to take. This was great because we have one for her room.

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• Sep. 9, 2008 - Our County Fair

A glimpse of a Draft Horse We look forward to the fair each year and have attended I think three or four times now since living in this rural town that has the fair grounds located just a mile or two from where we live! Mike has dropped me and the children off before and we've just walked home after we were done. This year Daddy went with us and it was great! Though this meant we had less time to see everything we enjoyed ourselves more because he was able to join us! And I really needed him there since I  am in late pregnancy. The children were really well behaved and we were able to move through rather smoothly. We brought apples and lunch and Mike treated us each to a great  little doughnut freshly made right there. Thanks DAD!

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• Sep. 9, 2008 - Fair Cows

She looked like she needed milking! Her Calf

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• Sep. 9, 2008 - Fair Sheep

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• Sep. 9, 2008 - Pony Rides

We were pleased the fair had pony rides available again this year. We don't ever do the carnival rides and we'd never done the pony rides with the younger ones before. Luke rode once when a little guy while visiting an orchard and felt too big for such a thing this time. They REALLY enjoyed the few laps around the ring!

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• Sep. 9, 2008 - Fair Foul

We took a few minutes to see the foul entered into the 4 H judging. Small foul Large foul A Pullet with a rooster in the back round Timmy was excited to discover an egg! He even mentioned it after we were home and I asked what did he like about the fair.

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• Sep. 9, 2008 - Fair Babies

This year I think we were able to see more BABIES then ever before. Here they are! Pigglets Chicks Ducklings Bunnies Calves

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• Sep. 9, 2008 - Fall apples and pears-2008

We have had a great time getting pears from our neighbor's tree. And I am hoping to get up the nerve to ask a family in the neighborhood if we might pick some apples and pears from their trees. They have three full trees and they don't seem to be picking them. That would be great to enjoy picking without traveling to the orchards. We will offer to clean up the fallen apples and pears in return for what we carry away! Here are the girls enjoying store bought apples which btw are priced much higher lately! Update Sept.17: We  took a walk last evening and stopped by the neighbors house. A daddy was home with his two young boys. We introduced ourselves and got permission to pick! This morning that is all the kids could talk about! This is the result of our first picking. We also got many grapes as their grape arbor was overflowing! This has been such a blessing because our fruit trees and grape vines are still in the process of maturing. Newest Update Sept. 20, 2008 Here is the apple crisp the girls and I made to go with our family meal. It was a great compliment to pork chops! And we have plenty left over for a few days having made 4 recipes out of the tart apples we picked. We may take one to the family that owns the trees.

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• Sep. 2, 2008 - LABOR DAY WEEKEND

On Friday we shopped and went to a Chiropractic appointment. On Saturday we did some practical chores and had fun moments like finding our table grape clusters ready to pick. Hummm so sweet. Can't wait until years to come when we get many clusters! We'd also found our local Kids Garden Full of RIPE produce. Our kids had participated in the planting and  we had the time I guess the PS kids' parents didn't have to come back and enjoy the HARVEST. So Mike and I made tomato sauce with Italian Sausage.   We won't have to buy any cucumber, melon, peppers, zukes, potatoes and beets for a few weeks between our garden and the kids'. I also started making that slide show that I mentioned wanting to do for our upcoming birth. It is coming along nicely and WOW I had a really fun time using the program... it was my first  attempt to do so and it really wasn't hard but rewarding. I'll share the show when it is finished. And we were able to go to a garage sale in our neighborhood finding... YAHAAAY  2 little girls bikes! A COOK-OUT WITH THE NEIGHBORS On Sunday. We had a great time eating dinner with our new neighbors. Time went really quickly but  a few hours chatting was nice! We took things over to their home as they have a deck set  up. The kids ate and played and ate some more. The girl's enjoying Tim's birthday cupcakes. Doggie friend with little mistress. Tim and I had a great time making his cupcakes together. Putting the sprinkles on was the BEST! The boys always have fun with a hot grill... they find little pieces of twig and leaves to toss in and see them crackle and burn. We also got some work done on our to do's... on Monday. FINALLY! Drum roll... Putting the tile down in the enclosed front porch so we can set up to enjoy school there this Fall and using it for a hot house to start seedlings in the early Spring. I'll be excited to add a picture everything finished. I'd taken the 20 plus year old carpeting out of the porch the first year we were here so coming to completion three years later is really rewarding! We replaced an old bay window our first Spring here two years ago. But hadn't finished the woodwork. Mike worked on sanding and staining while I did the tile on the porch. A few more steps to go  -looking great! We then had leftovers for dinner from the cook-out with the Boston Cream Pie Tim picked out for his treat.

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• Jun. 2, 2008 - Lil' Pioneers

Sauder Village has a special section for children to explore the pioneer life in. Here are some photos from the log cabin, barn, and small garden. Riding in a wagon... Waking for chores out in the barn... Sweeping out the stall... Gathering Eggs Tending the Animals... Milking the Cows... Dinner Bell Play after Dinner... Some quiet chores... And a walk... A wonderful day on the homestead.

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• Oct. 21, 2007 - Sauder Village in the Fall

Luke and Me Journaling about our visit. Timmy took the picture!

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• Sep. 21, 2007 - VBS and summer church in the country

Our Family July 2007 Inside the church singing Children during VBS Running some energy off... Luke and Timmy left corner getting ready to leave

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• Sep. 21, 2007 - Sauder Village

Sophia in mama's lap inside the little log cabin. We are seeing what her embroidered pillowcase dress looks like on her. Spring of 2007 A trip to Sauder Village We had some friends coming through our area to visit this 1800's German village. We joined them there for the afternoon. Here are some of the photos we took. TRAIN RIDE Photos of Horse drawn carriage while riding on train Girls eating the cookies Luke bought with his birthday money from grandma H. Saying goodbye ...

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• Sep. 14, 2007 - A Lovely Fall Walk

We had a lovely walk this afternoon to the bank, carry out, and library. It's breezy and comfortable even a bit cool! I'd been hoping for such weather for the last 3-4 weeks so frustrating that our August and early September have been yucky here. Too much rain and humidity after a very dry summer brought out the blood thirsty bugs. I have been so discouraged with bug sprays and home made stuff as well. My babies take weeks to heal from the welts they leave. So last night the village sprayed and I planned an outing in my mind. This morning went fairly well as I'd baked a yummy jewish coffee cake last night for our breakfast. Batter: 1 stick butter 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 lb. sour cream 1 Tbsp vanilla 2 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder Mix together. Topping: 1/4 cup sugar 1 tsp cinnamon Grease and flour bundt pan. Layer: batter, topping, batter. Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Very rich and filling I didn't add the extra sugar and cinnamon but made a strawberry puree to go over the top and sliced a melon from our garden. So a pretty healthy and fun meal! We took some pictures before and during the walk as I had a cute outfit for Sophia that I'd never taken a picture of her in. I actually had bought it for Lina but she grew so fast I must have gotten too busy and never put it on her. The Lord knew another little girl was going to be added to our family... here she is. The girls were enjoying the last of our sunflower blooms. These are the ones we planted 'late' all others are dried up now; note for next year plant some sunflowers in late July so we have some in the fall to enjoy! BTW I am finding with myself and the girls sometimes wearing sizes that are ( too big ) provide the modesty we are looking for without looking too frumpy. Also the Lord provides... a lot happens for our need for humility. I picked up a pair of 'granny' shoes at the local FREE store that were new and they give more support than any store bought shoe I could have afforded. It makes me look a bit Amish or Mennonite but I don't mind. To not have my arches and knees hurting by the middle of the day has been more than enough to help me swallow my pride! We went strait to the bank and stopped in the little garden in the alleyway that the village designed a few summers ago. It really perks things up! I stopped at the carryout to get bananas since we were out and walking past on the way to library. We eat a lot of bananas! I also knew that it had taken us too long to get out the door ) a whole 'nother story LOL ) and we were hungry! I'd brought drinks and carrots, apples but decided maybe I'd get something else ... the only thing I could find that was a decent choice was a loaf of wheat bread! The kids were more than happy with that; they know we usually don't buy candy or treats when we go into those places. I thought how sad it is though that many people on the run will have no choice but to grab a pop and a candy bar! Maybe, maybe I will develop my nutritional cookies and try to market them in town?? Something to pray about. I wonder what kind of arrangements you make for $$ commission to the store in the case of a local baker doing something like that. I know the donut shop puts their donuts in a small display case their daily. We have only the grocery bakery for homade breads or cookies... We loaded up with new books and a few videos one on the body's skeleton and two other kids features one about boy and dog and Dumbo. I am not a fan of Disney but I have let the kids watch some features. We stopped to smell the lavender in the little sitting area at the base of the bridge we walk to get back to the side of town where our home is. Luke is getting to be a great camera man. Sophia doesn't always want to stay still! I think Luke will get real good at using the camera. There is definitely one huge benefit to having a digital camera because there is no waste when he makes a mistake and I can relax . I do usually wrap the camera loop around his wrist so he doesn't drop the camera. Well that was our big adventure for the day.

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• Jul. 22, 2007 - Parade

Yesterday we attended our town's annual summer parade. It was fun to walk into town and see the floats. Our favorites included the Dr. Suess float that was encouraging kids to read and the Sparky the firedog character on top of a huge fire truck. We've used Sparky materials in our homeschool safety lessons. I used a disposable camera so I'll have to post pictures later

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