It's been an interesting 15 years!  I've been blessed to be married to this wonderful man for the past 15 years.  There were people that thought we wouldn't make it.... guess we've proved them wrong.  I'm sure that if we didn't have God in our lives, we may not have made it.  He has kept us together.  The love between us is strong & I pray we will have many, many more years to come!

It's hard to believe that 13 years has passed since my  little guy young man was born.  He has always been ALL BOY!   He still is.  Although, he has been a rough, tough little guy he still was and is a snuggle bug.   

When he was born his face was bruised something terrible.  In fact, they wouldn't take his picture and asked us to bring him back once his face cleared up.  (I was so young... 21)

It ended up he was put back into the hospital a few days later because he had jaundice so bad.  Before he left the hospital they took his hospital picture.

DH was so young too!  There weren't many times he had a mustache, but here is a time he did!  I guess he would've been 23.  It almost doesn't look like him.  lol  DS was a big baby.  Here is is 5 months old.  He usually ran in the 90th percentile for height and weight.

This has always been one of my favorite pics of DS.  Just shows how much of a boy he was.

DS has always loved to put together puzzles or brain teasers. 

I think this one below is from his 3rd birthday!  lol 

Here's a big skip in time.... It's definitely easier once digital cameras came out.  lol 

Oh, did I mention how talented he is?

Happy 13th Birthday Buddy!  We love you. 

One of the neatest things... I think... my brother (and only sibling) also has one son.  Both of our sons have the same birthday only 4 years apart.  What are the chances?  Happy Birthday Dear Nephew!

We were blessed the other day with a trip to an amusement park.  We don't get to go away too often, so I was excited.  We had a wonderful day. 

dd8 wasn't easy to convince on going on roller coasters.  She just wasn't sure.  ds12 was easier to convince, but yet he was still unsure.  dd14 was all for it!   You couldn't keep her back.  We managed to get them all on this roller coaster, which was fun.  The best part was for me to take pictures & later being able to look at them to see their reactions.  It made me laugh!

dd8 enjoyed a ride that was much slower... but the florescent lights were cool.  dd14 had her fingernails painted bright orange & they really glowed.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of them.  Here's a few pictures I was able to capture. 

How cool is my shoe!

ds12 and I both liked this picture.  I love the way it streaked.... as though we was going really fast.  We weren't... it was a very slow moving ride. 

A friend of mine (you know who you are!) emailed and said I must be busy because I haven't blogged.... So, I'm going to try to catch up a little.  Things have been fairly busy, but definitely do-able.  I just haven't taken the time to blog.

dd14 went away last weekend to stay with her grandparents for a couple of weeks.  A friend of hers went along with her.  From what I hear, they are having a grand time with my parents spoiling them both. 

ds12 was picked again this year for the All Stars team.  He does love baseball.  So far they won 2, lost 1.  Tonight they have another game.  If they win, they play again.... but if they loose they are done for the year.  So, we'll see how that all goes. 

dd8 has been planning to get bunnies from her aunt.  She has things all planned out.... She is planning on naming the girl bunny, "Custard".  She apparently wants a boy bunny and a girl bunny so they can have babies.  Is this a smart choice???  I'm not so sure.

Let's see.... other than that we've have been busy with a few parties:  graduation party, baseball party, & an anniversary party.  Thankfully I didn't have any of them, just had to attend.  They all were very nice. 

My garden is coming along beautifully.  It's getting very full and green.  I'm finally getting blossoms on my tomatoes.  I've seen a snap pea.... & have debated about snatching it early just to taste it, but I've been able to contain myself for a little longer. 

DS12 built me a few more boxed beds.  I wanted to plant strawberry plants in them.  He did a wonderful job building them with the help of his dad to arrange them into the ground where I wanted them.  Unfortunately, all my strawberry plants died, but one.  DH brought home a huge chive plant.  So, we planted that in there.  I also was able to dig up some milkweed plants & I through them in there for the time being.  The chives are doing well.  The milkweed went into shock and all the leaves have died except for on one plant.  I'm hoping to have better luck in those boxes!   I'm now debating about turning them into an herbal garden.... ones that will attract butterflies. 

DH has been busy with his own ajenda.  He has finally decided on a rice coal furnace.  We have heated with 2 furnaces (propane and fuel oil).  Our goal has been since we bought this place was to change the heating system.  Soo.... what a better time to do it than now.  The gas prices have been soaring.  I'll look forward to see how well it heats up this place.  We've heard a lot of good things about them.  So, time will tell.  So, he needed to come up with a coal bin and also build a chimney.  Seems as though there is always projects going on around the house.  So, far he has the footer poured.  The coal bin will be attached to the house (more like a cellar way, but without the steps.  Where middle gravel is... it will be a door into the furnace room.  The bigger section is the coal bin & the smaller section attached will be the chimney.   I'm blessed to have a husband that is quite the handy man. 

School wise.... We are finished up for the year.  Our portfolios have been turned in.  I have my affidavits done and ready to be turned in.  I will turn them in when the school calls and says to pick up the portfolios...  Kill two birds with one stone.  This is the first year that I have had to get anything ready for dd8.  I think we'll be ready to start school.  I only have a couple of more things to purchase for the year.  We are looking forward to the new school year!

We have a game tonight, as long as the weather holds off.  It's been raining off and on all day.  We are hoping to get to see the fireworks tonight.  Tomorrow we have a couple of parties to go to.  I do like Fourth of July!  I enjoy the time with family and friends.... Not to mention that I love picnic foods! 

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Fourth!  Many blessings. 

Family Fun is my favorite magazine.  I'm always anxious to get it and see what kinds of crafts etc. that they are going to feature for the month.   This month they had several crafts for the Fourth of July.  One was a tshirt.  DD8 had some ideas of her own & together we implemented and came up with our own.  (DD14 is staying with her grandparents for another week & DS12 was at allstars practice) I liked how they had splashes through theirs, but dd8 didn't want that.  Here's her shirt.  I didn't get a picture of her wearing it yet, because it is still wet.  Maybe tomorrow....

We made it through another year!  We are finished with the 2007-2008 school year.  Evaluations are done and have been sent back to me.  I now need to take the portfolios and drop them off at the school for them to review.   Next will be preparing the objectives for next year, filling out the affadavit and having it notorized.  Then we'll be ready for a new year.

Today has been a quiet, peaceful day.  The girls and I went out looking for a couple of yardsales this morning.  We found two, but couldn't find the other.  dd14 will tell you that I got lost in the woods, but I knew how to get back out.... I just didn't have a clue where I was or where I was heading!  lol  dd8 was scared.  They have no sense of adventure. 

This afternoon I tinkered around with a few different things.  The house was quiet.... except for the sound of the keyboard playing in dd8's room.  The kids were all occupied with different activities. 

ds12 has been trying to figure out his rubiks cube since coming home from camp last weekend.  Apparently there was a kid there that could solve it in under a minute.  He finally solved it!  (with the help of www.rubiks.com)

dd14 loves to color.  So, when we were at the library the other day she grabbed one of their color sheets.

On Thursday I ran to a huge yard sale that they have annually to raise money for an organization.  I love to go to this one, because I usually find something good. 

As I was looking there was a sewing machine that was built in a stand, but it was an antique to say the least.  They were only asking $5.00 for it.  However, I was more interested in the stand than I was the sewing machine.  The sewing machine would be a bonus.  I liked the stand to just have it.  As I was looking at it briefly, one of the attendants came over and said that they had another one and showed me where it was.  This one was old also, but not as old and they were asking $10.00 for it.  I looked and debated, and debated some more.  I decided not to get it.  Later I walked by the first one and it already had a sold sign on it. 

We walked around and found a few other things & then went home.  I couldn't stop thinking about that sewing machine.  How nice it would have been to had that stand!  The second sewing machine would be nice too if the kids and I were working on a project.  Why do I do this???  Why didn't I just get it for $10?   I even dreamed about the thing.  I thought about it off and on & figured since the other one sold, it probably was gone also.

This morning I woke up and still couldn't stop thinking about it.  So, I prayed about it.  If I was to have it let it still be there... and if it was gone then it wasn't meant to be.  DH and the girls went with me.  I spotted it as soon as I walked in!  I couldn't believe that it was still there.  The best thing was, it was 1/2 off today!!!  So, I bought it for $5.00!

From what I can find on the internet it was made in 1967.  Not sure how accurate that is....  But I really like it.  Here's my stand.

Here's my sewing machine.  It came with a box of accessories.  This thing purrs like a kitten.  It does a lot of cool different stitches & button holes.  I'm sure I'll be using this sewing machine more than my other.  God is good!

Here are the accessories that came with it.  It was well taken care of.  I'm so glad the manual is included!  It has cams that are included to make the other stitches.  I wouldn't have had a clue how to use them.  I had fun this afternoon trying it all out.  One of the stitches is hearts with zigzags in between.  dd8 likes that one. 

The kids spent the morning riding horses & I spent the morning taking nearly 500 pictures.  (Wow!)  We had a wonderful morning.  A friend asked us to come down to let the kids ride the horses.  We needed to be there early in order to beat the heat and humidity.  They taught the kids soo much.  What a blessing. 

They had to retrieve them from  the pasture... actually, the horses came pretty willingly.  Then the kids (well the younger two anyway) helped brush them down & get them ready to ride.  dd14 claimed she had to hold the reigns on the one horse that was eating.... in reality, I know that she was a little afraid of getting dirty.  lol 

Here's a few pictures of the kids riding horses.  The horses were so gentle & good with the kids. 

DD8 & I are looking forward to studying the Little House on the Prairie this fall.  We will be using the Prairie Primer as a guideline. 

We decided to make her an outfit.  Now, it's important to know that I'm NOT a seamstress.  As a matter of fact, I don't believe I've personally used a pattern since I was in school.  I've tinkered around a little with things, but nothing major.  So.... this was a big deal for me!  It's almost done.... I still have the hem and a few buttons to do.  It was done enough to take pictures & get it on the blog.  I do have to say that the dress is supposed to fit dd8, but it fits dd14!!!!  It's huge on dd8.  lol  She has already made it quite clear that it was okay and that her sister can NOT have it.  I didn't realize that the patterns can run big.  I had bought the next size up to make sure that it fit her & would last a little while.  lol  It should last for years!  She picked out the material that she wanted for each.  I think she did a good job. 

Here's a picture without the sleeves, so you can see the material she picked out.

I really enjoyed doing this.  I found it to be relaxing and rewarding.  My husband has always said, that he loves carpentry because when he gets done, it's a sense of accomplishment.  I now know what he means.  It's a good feeling knowing that I did that.  Mistakes and all!  lol

Here's how it fits dd14. 

I've decided to start another blog for my photography.  I will continue to use this one as well.  So, if you get a chance stop by and let me know what you think.  Click here:  Our Homeschool In The Woods

Many Blessings!   ~Our Homeschool

Last weekend, my dd14 was in a play.  It's been a long couple of months of practices, but it was all worth it!  The kids did a fabulous job.  Our local high school has a play every year which includes the community and younger kids.  This is the 3rd play she has participated in there.  I'm always amazed at the end performance & how everything comes together. 

She was a town's person:

We curled her hair in ringlets all 3 nights of the show and one of the dress rehearsals!  Lots of hairspray! 

She had many "fans" come to see her, including Grama & Grumpy.  I'd include other pictures, but I'm not sure who would mind their pictures put on here and who wouldn't.  So.... best not. 

We're all so proud of her.  She did a great job. 

I have found that since moving here in the woods 2 years ago, that I find watching birds very fascinating.  Today when I was out and about, I found a Bird guide at a used book sale.  I now can identify some of the birds that I have been taking pictures of!  (Also, with the help of a friend that stopped by today... she knew without looking them up.... hhmph!) 

I think I told you about me climbing up in a ladder a week or so ago... (if my neighbors would have seen me!)  Anywhooo... I was able to get this picture.   I believe from what others have said, that it is a sparrows nest. 

If you look at the top of this next picture, in the center you will see a little black dot.  That is the nest I had to get closer to!

We've had a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.... (sorry about the picture quality.  I was taking it from my kitchen window and couldn't get a good close up.)

and an Indigo Bunting... he's been out there almost every day.

I usually see him hanging out with a Chipping Sparrow.

This little fellow is called a Purple Finch. 

We've also been visited by the very selfish and paranoid Blue Jay. 

Of course there's usually always many Mourning Doves.

I'm very fascinated with the hummingbirds.  I have many, many pictures that I"ve taken with little changes in between.  lol 

For Mother's Day, DH and the kids bought me a bird bath.  I got to pick it out. 

So, I put it in my Cemetary Plot.... DS12 agrees that it is starting to look like a flower garden.  I still have more work to do, but there's improvement. 

Well.... off to bed.  Blessings to you! 

This morning there was a breakfast at the church for the women at 8:30am.  This worked out perfectly because dd14 had practice at 10am. So, we went to the breakfast.  DH thought he was going to spend the day at home, until he found out that a friend was putting on a roof.  He had told him he'd help.  So, he dropped dd8 off at church with me.  This worked perfectly because I wanted to take her to yard sales with me.  We dropped dd14 off and went looking for yard sales.  We found some good deals, but dd8 was most happy with hers! 

She loves to wear hats!  She found this cowgirl hat at a friend of mine's sale.  She has been wearing it all day!  We came home and decided to work in the garden & dd8 was right there with.  Oh... she had to change her clothes to make them look more like a cowgirl with boots too! 

Watch out!!!  She may get ya!  lol  She had fun.  (don't tell her it was work!)

When she was playing with the water she discovered that if she would do it in the right direction of the sun she could make a rainbow.  Saturday... and we did school?  Earlier we were wiping the patio table off that was covered with pollen!  This opened the discussion of trees and bees, etc.  How cool is that?

We are still working on the Pioneer Unit.  It's been interesting.  The kids made covered wagons the other day.  DD14 helped DD8 and DS12 worked on his alone.  There were instructions, but they each decided they had their own ideas.

The girls made theirs Barbie sized...  As a matter a fact, they are outside playing with it now! 

DS even had diagrams drawn on the white board.  It's neat to see how they think. 

Here's DS12's covered wagon.  He likes hot glue!  lol 

We're not sure if we're coming or going lately...  Between trying to finish up school, play practice (dd14), baseball (ds12), softball (dd8), church activities, DH working overtime (rare... so can't complain).... I honestly don't know how people do this all year around!  I'm exhausted!  As for homecooked meals... their very few and far between right now.  I love my family meal time.  Right now, it's grab something when you get a chance and your blessed if it is warm.  lol 

Here are some photos of what we've been up to.  Oh... dd14 was just complaining that there aren't many pictures of her lately.  Well, when she has been gone to play practice 4 hours a day, it doesn't give me much time to take pictures!  lol  Next week her practices will be 5 hours a day.  Don't ask me how the public school kids do it with homework, etc.  The play she is in, is the local high school play.

Baseball....

Softball....

I was so excited the other night because DH and I were finally getting to go to a game together!  Usually he was going one way and I the other.  As we were sitting there dd8's coach came over and asked him to be the outfield umpire!  So much for getting to have a little time with him. 

DS12 did go fishing the other day and caught 5 fish.  So, he cooked the fish for us. 

 Unfortunately, just as he was starting to pull them off the grill to bring them into the house his ride came to get him to take him to his ballgame.  DH was going to meet him there.  So... DS12 didn't get to eat his fish until he came home and of course it was cold.  To top it off our microwave quit and so, he didn't get to warm it up!  lol 

Today we had a treasure hunt to go along with our lessons.  Many people in the early 1800's decided on becoming pioneers.  The Pioneers would use maps and guides that people were making and selling (didn't matter if they had tried them or not!).  This caused confusion at times and weren't always accurate.   

We made teams.  dd8 and myself vs. dd14 and ds12.  This was a lot of fun.  I gave them their first clue which was to follow a bunch of steps going N/S/E/W.  Then they had to figure out what the US flower is.  Once they figured it out (dd14 had to go and use the Encyclopedia) they found their first egg with another clue. 

The second clue was something like, "In the book by Beatrix Potter the character got into trouble for going here."  ds12 insisted he never read that book!  lol  Until he realized and dd14 went back into the house to use the internet to find out it was Peter Cottontail!  They dug and dug through the garden to find the egg with the next clue.  ahhhh.... It's one way to get the garden dug up for planting! 

The next clue was Mark 9:50.  So... back into the house they went to find a Bible to see what it said & right away it triggered where to find the next clue.  "Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another."

Another clue was "One has said it is a place of death, but another claims its a place of life."  (This is my butterfly garden, that my family calls the cemetery plot!)  It took them a little while to figure this out... I think they were thinking too hard.  lol

Another was, "When things come to me they are claimed to be spoiled, but give it time and I'll become usable"  This was our compost bins.  & yes, the egg was inside! 

Another was, "Up at the North Pole some claim there is snow... but as for me, I don't believe.  Hidden below you'll find the 7th egg."  (This was our property marker at the North side.)

There were 10 eggs in all... & through time and persistence they found them all. 

They did one for dd8 and I too.  Dh helped us because he was home when we did ours.  They did a great job coming up with clues.  They didn't take any pictures because we had to hurry and eat and run off to our evening activities.  I liked the one they did, that said that it looks like a peninsula, but yet not... you're higher than ground and can see the driveway.  Where am I?  We have a bank that in a way is shaped like a peninsula... It took a little bit to find considering it was a big area to look, but we found it.  They had ones that had math problems that needed to be figured out and then we had to take that many steps.  They were creative! 

Imagine that they learned AND we had fun.  Can we really claim this as school???  lol  Got to love homeschooling!

It's getting to be the end of the year and things have been dragging.  I decided to try a different unit study to stir up a little of excitement.  I decided on doing a unit study I got from CurrClick.   It is called "Great Pioneer Projects".  We have been studying the Lousianna purchase & Lewis and Clark's expedition.  Our first project was to make a 3-D salt dough map.  We've never done this before, so I thought it would be fun.  Here's a few pictures of the process.

First they mixed the salt dough.... We now understand why it is called SALT dough!

ds12 mixed the land....

dd8 mixed the water....

dd14 mixed the mountains...

They all worked together to form the United States.

Together they worked on putting in the mountains and the bodies of water using maps.

Once the map dried they routed out Lewis and Clark's expedition,

I'm not sure what we'll do with it now, but it was fun learning! 

There has been many things going on in the past week.  Last week I spent several days with my Grandma while her husband was in the hospital.  He's now home and recovering from pnemonia.  I enjoyed my time with her.   I had forgot that my camera was in my van through the night, so in the morning I brought it in to make sure it was okay.  It was a little fogged up, but it's okay.  Here's a picture of my Gram. 

DH and ds12 went on a camping/fishing trip over the weekend.  There were 5 families that went (all guys).  They had a nice time.  So, when I came home on Saturday, I picked up my girls and we had some girl time.  We went and picked up Chinese, because that was what dd14 was hungry for.  dd8 was hungry for ice cream.  So, we stopped at Walmart and picked up supplies and made sundaes.  mmmmm.... were they good! 

Then we snuggled up and watched Little House on the Prairie. 

In the evening we decided to make a movie with the camcorder.  We had children's church on Sunday.  There was a skit they recommended on doing.  Instead of doing the skit live, I had the girls make a movie.  I'm sure it's something we'll always remember!  It was about the good samaritan.  Quite comical!  dd8 was the traveler and dd14 was everyone else. 

I was so excited to see that my daffodils came up that I planted last fall.  I had to take a picture!

Last year I started (tried) to make a butterfly garden.  My family makes fun of me and calls it the Cemetary Plot!  Soo.... here is the picture of it now.  I plan to work more on it this year.... That way I'll have something to refer back to.  There will be improvements, I hope! 

Today DH and I have worked and raked up some leaves around the place.  We had someone come and look at our garage to pour the cement.  We're hoping this will be done soon.  DH washed his motorcycle while dd8 washed her bicycle.  I did grocery shopping... that's always fun!  (not really)  I even hung some sheets on the line.  It's been a productive day. 

Along with the beautiful spring weather, we also have all the activities starting back up.  dd14 tried out for the high school play and made it.  She has practices 5 days a week, 2 and 3 hours a day.  ds12 is in baseball for his 8th year.  He has practices 3 days a week that are 2 hours long.  dd8 is in softball this year.  Her practices are 2 days a week and 2 hours long.  So, between those 3 activities... we're hopping. 

dd14 has been doing a book study while using LLATL.  She has really enjoyed this one.  It is on Eric Liddell.  One of the recommended activities was to either go out and eat Chinese or make a Chinese dish.  Eric was born in China and also moved back as an adult to do missionary work.  I am not sure if it is authentic, but she made a dish that my mom has always made.  It's called Chop Suey.  She did a good job making it & dd8 and ds12 chipped in and helped her out. 

This is what it looked like.  We cooked the mushrooms seperate and added them later.  dh doesn't like mushrooms & I didn't want to give him an excuse not to try it.  However, he's not very willing to try different things.  ds12 gets it honestly!

We even got chop sticks for the kids to try them out.  ds12 wouldn't try the Chinese.  The girls seemed to like it okay.  Here's a few pictures of the girls eating with their chopsticks.... or at least trying.  lol  (these pictures are blurry... not sure what I did)

dd8 tried eating it with both hands...

dd14 was doing a pretty good job. 

dd14 decided she knows now why the Chinese use chop sticks.  She said it's because they want to have more family time at the table!  She decided it would be much easier to start shoveling it in!

Tonight.... we're having Italian.  ds12 made the dough for the pizza.  I'm not sure what he did because the dough was bubbling up over the pan in the bread machine and it still had 26 minutes to go.  I need to go and get the pizza going.  Have a blessed evening. 

.... I do believe!  I love this time of the year.  (Why am I in here on the computer anyway?)  Today is DH's birthday.  So, I had asked him what he wanted to do on his day.  He hadn't known until yesterday. I couldn't believe when he told me he wanted to go furnace shopping.  So... okay, it's your day!  We got up this morning, dh always works for about an 1 1/2 on Saturday mornings.  When dh came home ds12 had egg pancakes (DH mom's recipe) and sausage ready for his dad for breakfast.  ds12 loves to cook... especially pancakes.  We got ready and went shopping.  It was a nice morning.  We then went out to eat & came home. 

DH was itching to go out on the motorcycle.  The weather is beautiful and we passed many motorcycles... dh couldn't resist!  So, we came home and he taught ds12 how to drive the 4 wheeler.  We picked up an old 4 wheeler about a month or so ago for the kids, but they haven't been able to ride it yet.  So, ds12 is making nice ruts in the yard going around and around!  lol  I came in to make dh an apple pie.  He didn't want cake for his birthday, but has been asking for apple pie instead.  So, that is what I set out to do.  Unfortunately... but fortunately for dh I was missing an ingredient!  So, dh couldn't have been more agreeable to go for a ride on his motorcycle to pick me up the ingredient.  lol  He decided to go take a ride out and visit his dad while he was out and about. 

So, I went walking around the yard.  I love to see things start to grow.  I could do without the dandelions, but I suppose, it's color!  I had planted bulbs last fall and they are starting to come up.  I even found an Easter egg left from last weekend!  ds12 found one too.  I put bird seed in my feeders.  I'll be anxious to put my hummingbird feeder out in a couple of weeks.  I just went online to verify when I should put them out.  Seems as though it should be at the end of the month.  I love to watch birds, hummingbirds and butterflies!  I get so excited.  I even seen bees flying in the yard. 

off to enjoy the weather.... Have a great day!  

PICTURES ADDED DAYS LATER:

ds12 on the 4 wheeler... just before he went in to get his helmet on!

dh's pride and joy.... his motorcycle.  He has been getting it ready for the summer by putting a new seat on it and having the tank painted with a new decal.

A picture of the apple pie that I ended up making for dh's birthday.  It was too runny because I forgot to add the flour to the apples, but they said it tasted good.