I love my boys

 

In our front yard we have a tree with leaves that turn the most beautiful yellow every fall.

I love that tree and the color that it adds to our home in the fall.

Yesterday I noticed that the tree looked a little different.

(You may too if you look back at the previous picture in the top, left-hand side.)

Yes, that’s a rake in the tree.

That’s a rake in the tree about 15 (or so) feet off of the ground.

I’m not sure if he was trying to hide the rake or if he was just experimenting in his usual got-to-see-what’s-gonna-happen fashion…but I knew just who had done it.

My son admitted that he had thrown the rake into the tree but he did try to get it down.

I just chuckled.  I love my boys and their just-got-to-see-what’s-gonna-happen personalities.

My Country City Kids ~

Years ago, David and I began to desire a more simple lifestyle.  We began to search for land out in the country so that we could follow our plan of becoming more self-sustainable by growing our own food and raising animals.

For some reason, we feel that God wants us to stay here in the city on our little city lot for now.  And as much as we want a place out in the country, we know that we need to be where God plans for us. 

However, our desire for a home out in the country has never gone away.  Not only that, but that desire has been passed along to our children.  They often talk about “when we get our place in the country, can we have a horse, etc.”. 

We live in the city but we are what I call “country-hearted”.  We live simply here on our city lot.  We grow some of our own food.  We hope to maybe have some chickens in the future.  I’m trying to figure out where to put a new clothesline and David is trying to figure out how to design it like I want it. We are “blooming where God has planted us”. 

Last night, we planted our fall crops.  Kids were playing in the dirt.  Bats (!) were flying over our heads doing their echolocation thing.  (Which is very cool, by the way, but BATS!)  We were getting dirty but enjoying the pleasure that comes from growing your own food. 

 ~You think he had a little fun?~

And we realized that you don’t have to live in the country to live a country life. 

Start where you are.  Don’t wait until everything is perfect before you begin to live your dreams. 

Bloom where you are planted.

And if you want horses in your pasture…

don’t let little things like city ordinances or the lack of a horse stop you!

 

What to do if you’re bored…

Rarely do I hear the words, “Mom, I’m bored” around here.  Maybe that’s because my children know that means that I will find them a little something to do to help dispel the boredom.  Most of the time, the kids will try to find a way to pass the time.  Oh, that makes me so happy!  It causes them to use their imaginations even though it usually means a mess too.  (Which they clean up, for the most part.)

 

The other day I looked out and noticed that the kids were rearranging things behind & beside the garage in the areas where we store lumber, ladders, etc.  When I went out to see what was transpiring, I was asked to “Please wait, Mom.  We will come and get you when we are ready.”  So I went back inside and wondered what I was going to find when I went outside.

When I was called outside again, I was told to ride my bike through the back entrance and pay the lady at the gate for my parking.  There was even a little country music playing in the background.  :) 

I was given the rules for parking and the safety rules for the shooting range area.  The establishment was very particular about how you did things at their shooting range. 

The boss  (aka my oldest, Hunter boy) showed me how to shoot my rubber band gun at the targets.  There was a wild dog and some rabbit holes to aim at.

Over the course of the week, this shooting range has become a store.

I’ve even heard talk of a rodeo in the works as I type this blog post.

The way I see it, boredom may leave it a little messy around here but it’s not such a bad thing after all!

A post about random things ~

Hi y’all!  I am in the middle of working on our new school area and school supply shopping so I’m just a bit busy right now but I wanted to share a few things with you all.

My older boys have finally started their blog.  Actually, that should be that their mom finally started their blog.  My boys are reluctant writers and I am  hoping that this will inspire them to write a bit more.  (It was their idea too.)  I am planning on including this in our school time each week.  There are a few posts over there and a few in the drafts waiting for my approval too.  Here’s the address if you’d like to visit them:

The Adventures of Bryce and Grant

(click title for link)

~~~~~~

A few weeks ago I was trying to decide what to do about my blog due to some internet searches that concerned me.  After talking to David and some friends about it, I decided to wait and see what happened for a while.  David’s actual advice was to “wait and see what happens & then make a decision”.  So that’s what I’ve been doing and it seems that things have calmed down. 

My decision is that this blog will remain public.  I will check up on internet searches and my sitemeter to make sure that things seem to be staying ok.  I’ve also decided to move all homeschool posts over to a homeschool blog which I linked to earlier this week.   If I see any problems in the future, then I will make the moves that I need to make.   Thank you all for being understanding of my concerns and probably irrational posts that I posted earlier.  Sorry for any drama that I may have created.

~~~~~~

 

My Baby Boy makes me laugh so much.  This morning as we sat on the couch he was full of boundless energy.  His dad and I, however, were trying to keep our eyes from slamming shut again.  I looked at Baby Boy and said, “Can you give me some of that energy?”  To which he said, “Uh – huh.”  He took his little hands and cupped them like he was holding something.  Then he handed it (the energy) to me.  Of course, I took it!  But it made me smile that he was so willing to share his excess of energy with his tired mommy!

I hope you all have a day full of energy, giggles, and smiles too!

 

Some gardening links, a funny moment, and a prayer request

I am in the midst of a super busy weekend and need to go to bed here fairly soon.  But I wanted to share a little bit before I go to sleep.

~ Gardening Links ~

It’s that time of year when gardening consumes much of my thoughts.  I have come across some new blogs that I’ve been reading.  I’ve not completely checked them out but what I’ve seen looks good.  I’m not going to say much about these blogs/websites.  I’ll let you check them out and see what you think.  Here are some of my old favorites and some new to me blogs:

down – to – earth   

Garden Girl ~ urban sustainable living

Path to Freedom ~ also urban homesteading but very interesting.  They have a blog on this site too.

An Oregon Cottage

~ A Funny Moment ~

Sunshine Girl requested some cheese crackers the other day.  And David who is married to a teacher mommy came home, without prompting from me, with a box of Scrabble Junior Cheese Nips.  (He speaks my love language!)  We were searching through the letters and looking for the ones that Sunshine remembers when she found a U which was our letter of the week.  I reminded her that the letter U says /u/ (uh).  She continued searching and found another letter U at which she happily exclaimed, “Look Mommy, two uh, uhs.”  It made everyone in the room smile.  Now, she insists that the letter U is not actually named U, but is named, “uh, uh”.   (I wish I had an auditory recording of this because it was really funny.  It does not translate well to print.)

~ A Prayer Request ~

I need to ask a little prayer request please.  This might seem a little bit like a frivolous (really I can’t think of the word I need here right now) request but I need a little help right now.  I have to sing a solo in the morning.  It is a song to which we sing the chorus all of the time (May All Who Come Behind Us Find Us Faithful).  However, I am singing the whole song and I just really learned the verses today.  I am so super nervous.  First, this is to be sung at a women’s event honoring our Senior Adult ladies.  I would like to honor God and them by singing well so that they can focus on the message of the song and not my singing.  (did I say that right?)  Second, I have not been singing much since I had my last son and I’m not as comfortable as I once was.  Please lift up a little prayer in the morning and ask God to sing through me, to let His message be understood, to calm my nerves, and to help me keep the focus on Him. 

Like I said, somewhat of a not so serious request but on my mind right now, none the less. 

All right, I’d best get to bed because tomorrow is an early morning to a long day.

Have a blessed weekend!

Heard around our house this Sunday afternoon

We sat down for lunch today and bowed our heads as our ten-year-old son said the prayer. 

Then our twelve-year-old son asked if he could also say the prayer.

He started praying and when he was about on the second sentence of his prayer, we heard a little voice softly say:

“Mamen (Amen)”

Our son continued praying and after he finished his next sentence, we could again hear a little voice say (albeit a little bit louder):

“Mamen”

As I tried to suppress my giggles, our oldest son continued with his prayer and then we heard in a very loud voice:

“MAMEN”

On that cue, our oldest son concluded his prayers and the entire room erupted into laughter!

I guess Baby Boy was really hungry today!

Baby Boy eating his “bawberries”. 

 

Photographs by my children & some links

Sunshine Girl asked for permission to take pictures with my camera the other day.  It’s always neat to see the pictures taken from their point of view.  Here are her pictures:

A picture of Sunshine Girl taken by me:

Hot Rod was taking some potato planting pictures and he snapped a few others of the garden.  In my opinion, he does a very good job of framing an object in a picture.  (I did not crop any of his pictures.  They are posted as is.  Actually, I did not crop Sunshine Girl’s pictures either.  The only one that was cropped was mine!  :0)

 

~~~~

It always amazes me how God sends people along with words that you need to hear.  Of course, we read these words in His word but when you also hear them from a human… well, let’s just say that you sit up and take notice.  When God gives words that I’ve been contemplating to a human to say to me… it’s like I’d better listen because He really wants me to hear it.  I want to leave you with a few links that I’ve come across lately that have really spoken to me… in case you’d like to read them too. 

Raising Arrows – Slow Down

Holy Experience – How to Really Spring Clean  (Actually, anything on her blog is great!) 

Have a blessed and restful weekend. 

Doing the happy dance

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted about my new idea for a field trip?

Look what I received today:

And I’m soooo happy.  And not because I’m out of jury duty because that might be cool but because I don’t have to drive downtown!  Sad, I know…

Off to work around the blog -- it’s looking a little neglected so if it gets a little wonky because I’ve messed up an html code thingy, I apologize in advance.

And just because I like pictures and the one above is not very exciting even though it totally made my year day, here’s one of my sweet Sunshine and her buddy:

And this one of the mischievous little brother who can not (and will not and does not) let anyone sleep, trust me on this one:

Uh huh, job done…

You’ve got to love having a toddler around the house!  (Big sister looks like she does! ;0)

Heard around our house, part 3…or maybe it’s 4…

The Baby is learning how to talk and surprises us with new words every few days.  The other day when I was singing to him during a diaper change, he told me to “stop”. (Not sure how to take that ;0)

Of course, his stop sounds like “op” or even sometimes “top”.

Last night, Dave took the older kids to church for Discipleship Training and was coming back to get me because I was running a little (ok, a lot) late.  As he was pulling away from the church, he could hear a little voice from the back seat saying,

“top, top, top, top, top,….”

Please Mommy, no more pictures!

Christmas card photo session number 2 and a proud mommy

If you do not like proud mommy posts, you might not want to read this.  It will be unabashed mommy gushing.  Allright, you’ve been warned!  ;0)

So we tried again to get our Christmas card photo after our last fiasco.  I wanted an outside shot so we waited a few days for the rain to pass.  We finally had a sunshiny day, and I told the kids to get dressed in Christmas colored clothes.  We headed outside and man, it was cold. But the kids were troopers and let me take their pictures.  We just went really, really fast! 

We still did not get a group shot but we did get some great shots.  (ok, commence mommy gushing here…)

~ Apologies for the over abundance of photos.  I had trouble choosing which ones not to share.~

My handsome sons…

(You may notice that The Baby does not like to be held in one place or tied down.  This makes diaper changing a lot of fun and I’ve gotten quite creative with my contortionist son.)

What we usually saw of The Baby:

However, I was able to get this:

My beautiful daughters…

Still trying to get that group shot:

I think with five kids, the group shot may be a thing of the past!

So there’s my proud mommy post.  I think I have five handsome/beautiful, wonderfully great kids.

Christmas in our home – December 3

I saw somewhere online where someone was hosting a daily picture meme through the month of December.  I really wanted to participate but I can’t commit to posting everyday.  So I thought that I would also attempt to post a daily picture during December.  That’s the plan anyway. ;0)

 

My early Christmas present with our countdown chain, a basket of Christmas books, snuggly quilts, and the Gingerbread Baby. 

Just perfect for…

Just a little bit more leafy fun

I’m sure that you’re tired of the leaf posts. This is it because the leaves are all gone. That’s right, after posting about my love of leaves cluttering my yard, I cleaned them. I didn’t want my neighbors too mad at me or the city breathing down my neck so…

the girls and I headed out with our rakes. I needed help because I couldn’t get the leaves into the bags without help and the older boys were out of town. So I paid the little girls to help me by holding the bags.

They held the bag open and I stuffed the leaves into it. After I tied it, they carried it down to the curb. I paid them 25 cents a bag.

We had to pause occasionally to explore a bug or the helicopter seeds falling from the trees.

The Princess used a trash bag to help her move our little green friend off of the pile of leaves so that I wouldn’t rake him up.

Of course, Mommy made everyone pose for pictures.

Little brother’s awake!? Good, let’s make him pose too.

Not exactly what he had planned for after a nap.

Once last toss of leaves for this year!