Adam's fishing weekend

Saturday night the girls went to spend the night with my mom so Adam and Doug went fishing. It was a great chance for them to hang out and be guys together and for Adam to try out the rods he got for his birthday. Here they are casting and waiting for a bite. Adam did get bored at first and went swimming in the pool in between bites.But then this really big fish took a worm and almost pulled the rod off the pier.






a huge channel catfish, Adam caught, this was a pretty good sized fish, Adam could not pull him out of the water by himself, he was very excited and had to let it go himself- we catch and release here,most of the time-.





after rebaiting they threw the lines back in to see what else might be biting this evening.





baby rock fish, or small-mouth bass as they are called as well. Adam and Doug actually caught several of these, there must have been a small school of them swimming by us.

a lovley sunset

when we got home last night the sky was a pretty pink and purple from the setting sun. Grace was so enchanted by it she asked if she could take some pictures, and here they are, it really was a gorgeous evening.

homeschool review

we did our review this afternoon and are good for another year:-) We use an umbrella to oversee us so the state really has nothing to do with what we do and I like it that way. We march to our own drum and sometimes it can seem like we aren;t doing anything, but when you hang with us and talk with us and see what we are doing we are doing so much, it often surprises people- myself included.-.I am often surprised at how much we did every year when I write up our resources, books read , field trips etc and put togehter our reports and projects.

We do peer reviews in our group which means one of the other families reviews us, and one of our dear friends - who I grew up with- meets me at the park and we do each others review. And the kids play and we visit and lunch a while and recharge ourselves, sharing stories of the adventures we have been on and trading ideas and how tos, it is a most enjoyable day and I look forward to it each year.

Now to start planning next year I want to begin Latin and am looking to get Latina Christina, or Prima Latin- which is for younger kids-. I think we re also going to dabble in Greek I found a study of the book of John and it is using the Greek translation so I thought it would be interesting to explore a bit and learn the gospels a bit better too. Same with sing-language we have been learning that using verses and hymns.I love the planning process of school and love pouring over material it is so exciting to me.

three little surprises

we went to a local garden center yesterday to visit. - they have a petting farm there and some play structures to climb on, -. When we left we walked in the greenhouses and i purchased a dill plant, I love dill and its hard to find some years, and these where nice sized and healthy. So we purchased one to take home an add to our garden.




upon getting the plant into the car the kids discovered three hitchhikers. Three swallowtail caterpillars, they are very pretty, I had never seen them before up close.So very cool to watch them. We came home and planted our dill plant in with our tomatoes and we shall see how the visitors do.




if nothing eats them this is what they will be , very exciting, and unexpected . I just wanted some fresh dill, and got a very special surprise. The kids are very excited and watching them very closely and also watching Lydia who loves bugs, and caterpillars alot. They have been named Snap,Crackle and Pop,btw. Cannot tell you who is who they all look the same to me.

Dancing in The Streets

Grace had her recital this weekend, she does tap and ballet- she will do jazz as well in a couple of years-. It was a fun hot couple of days. She looks so grown up all dressed up in her outfits. My mom said when she came out and did the ballet she was in tears at how pretty she was:-) I am the room mom so I see most of the girls from behind the stage- I also change clothes, do hair and makeup and run to the potty a dozen times:-)-.





Grace and some of her best girlfriends smiling for me. She has some great friends she dances with, this is a long week of rehearsals then the show,but it is so worth it - although it will take me till next year to recover from it:-)








in their ballet outfits waiting to go on stage, and with two of the girls who help in the class. The helpers gave each girl a white rose after the recital. Which was so sweet. I couldn't;t photograph the actual recital so don;t have any of those.

Happy Fathers Day

to my wonderful hubby from ALL his kids- Bandit included-, and to all the wonderful dads out there. And to all the great men in ourl ives. Happy Fathers Day you deserve it for all you do for us.

count your blessings

Lately things have been a bit stressed around here because of finances, with everything going up except our paycheck our budget is so super tight, it hurts. My hubby is very stresses and worries, he is our soul provider and likes it that way, but he wishes to be able to do more .But we have much and wanting more sometimes causes us to overlook that.

I have been reminded of the bible verse- cannot remember which exact one it is - that talks about God clothed the flowers in the field surely he will take care of you-.

So i have been counting our blessings instead of thinking of what we don;t have I instead think of what we do and thank god everyday for all he has given us, he will provide what we need. He has always come through for us- though he does sometimes wait till the very last moment to do it, he never forsakes us.

The blessings I have been counting include:

I got up today, which means God has given me another chance, I can see my kids, I can kneel to pray- thoguh getting up is harder these days-, I can smell the rain and cornbread in the oven, I can think and feel and read . God has given me a day to be the best I can be FOR HIM. To reach out to ohters, to do my best.I try to remember when god has blessed us so much he expects something in return, its not a free for all ride, with nothing expected from us.

Our kids are healthy and strong very energetic but they are all here with us and doing wonderfully, that is a great blessing.They are our greatest gift of all.I can read stories to them, play soccer or wiffle ball in the yard, blow bubbles or finger paint. Or just sit back and watch them create.

Jesus who walks with us everyday, theres a line in a song I keep singing it goes- 'Keep Walking Your not Alone in This World'- and I know no matter how hopeless it seems he is right here all the way.What better friend is there then that.

my family who is very close to us, takes the kids everywhere and is always doing wonderful things and blessing us in wonderful ways. My mom, sends watermelon and all kinds of treats and stuff for the kids ,or my uncle who supplies us with bread- he is a district manager for Martins Potato Bread- .My cousins who always help us out with childcare, or other things.
And just having them to be with is wonderful they are our best friends and who we hang with the most in our free time.

Our house and neighborhood, we live in the type of neighborhood where everyone still knows each other and helps each other out, we have bon-fires and picnics and the kids are abel to ride up and down the street and many eyes are watching them. My kids know every dog,cat, frog, turtle etc in the neighborhood too:-)

There are many more some are small or silly, my pantry and freezer are filled, we have some red tomatoes on the vines already, going to the playground , getting a slushy etc..
But a blessing does not have to be big to be felt or counted.

Look around I bet you will find blessings in places you had not ever looked before:-)

Pancake Picnic on the porch

All the kids are big pancake eaters, so when everyone was under the weather, this weekend they asked me for pancakes for dinner- it was unseasonably chilly too. so I granted the request- if they want to eat its not a problem for me-. Then they asked if we could have them on the porch and have a picnic, what could I say:-) But of course, the fresh air did us all good, and it was a fun way to perk up a weekend that was not so perky

Lydia is growing

Our sweet little Lydia has been with us three weeks now is not so little anymore. She eats alot and is growing fast. It is such a pleasure to raise her and watch how serious the kids have taken this responsibility of raising her.I know when she decides to venture into the river and swim with the other ducks they will be misty eyed, but, they can be proud .She would not of made it without them.




Madeline and Grace loving on her. She follows them like they are her mother. Very cute.





swimming in the pond we made her in our step 2 kiddie pool she loves it eats tons of mosguitos while in it dives and scoots all around. Nice to see her being a duck:-) She is growing big her adult feathers are begining to come in, so in the next few weeks she will be ready to venture into our river , she has been back to a pond in the fields across the street and is liking that alot. She likes eating the tiny tadpoles and pond grasses.





building her a pen so she can be out in the yard without us all the time, it is moveable so we can move it around a bit and keep it interesting for her. She is out in the yard all the time with the kids she goes in here when they are not with her so she can be safe .

Under the weather

It has been a rough two days here, Grace ad Shawn have been sick. Madeline twisted her ankle at softball Friday night and Adam pinched his leg on the swings at the playground.

So everyone has been laying around and watching movies- thanks to god for the huge collection of DVDs we where gifted with earlier this spring-., reading stories- we read alot yesterday-, and listening to the radio. We have played cards, and checkers, and colored and used our play dough. WE did go for a walk last night just to get fresh air.

Oh well we are on the mend and will be ourselves soon.

Baseball Trophy Day

we recently went to the season end party/trophy ceremony for Adam's tee-ball league. It was a fun muddy day- it poured the days before so it was very wet.Adam enjoyed getting to see his pals and getting his trophy.

My 13 year old daughter was busy looking at the teenage players who where there handing out the snowballs- geesh when did that happen-.



eating his free snowball each player got.


Doing the pitch , Hit, and run, games.


a team picture I have five of these and all of them have someone not looking or in someones way this was the best of the lot:-)


Posing with his trophy



Adam getting his trophy from his coach. He is very proud of it.

What a Friend We have in Jesus

after reading a sweet blog post today this hymn has been in my head so I had to share it here with all of you. This will also be our copy/memory passage this week.I pray we never forget we are never alone and he is the one friend who is always with us.