Careful with those Glasses Baby!

Guess who has started to grab and hold on! Little brother had his eye exam the other day, he reminded me he wanted to pick out frames BEFORE they dilated his eyes. All went well, we'll pick up the new glasses in a couple of days. Now, if only these glasses hang on 'til then. They've been bent, broken and chewed on.

Sassafras

We try to identify trees as we walk in the woods. One of the kids favorite is sassafras, because of the "mitten" shape. We try to talk about uses too, for sassafras: tea and rootbeer. I was checking the spelling and was dismayed to read on Wikipedia of some of the more unscrupulous uses of Sassafras. Leave it to man to corrupt what God made perfect. I'm not telling my kids about the bad stuff, but I will tell them if you crush the leaf it will repel insects, so also says Wikipedia.

Are there . . .

Gatorades in that pond Daddy? Little Sister asks as we walk past a pond at camp. There are gators in some Southeastern NC ponds but not this one, Daddy assured Little Sister. Poisonous snakes, yes, but no gators.

Tapped Out

Last night was Family Night at Summer Camp. The families of the scouts brought dinner. The boys were starved, and lined up as we moms were putting the food on the table. Everything was yummy. After we ate, we took a "look see" at the camp site, collected wet, dirty laundry and went to the campfire. Daddy and Big Brother were both tapped out to join the Order of the Arrow. Next, their ordeal. It was a beautiful night at camp, there had been some rain so, it was cooler and there was a breeze and no bugs to speak of. See you Friday night Daddy and Big Brother!

Grace like Rain

Thank you God for rain.

Waiting for Porch Rockers. . .

We moved into this home September 2005. The wicker set was a house warming gift from my parents. I always knew I wanted a couple of rocking chairs for the front porch but we were doing one thing at a time. When we knew for sure that we were moving I went right out and bought my rockers, and I've sat in them every day since! Last night, in fact, Daddy and I enjoyed a cool drink in the rockers, with the fan on, after the kids were in bed. I'll miss this house but "Home is Where the Heart Is" and my heart is with Daddy, and although he is here this week for scout camp, he'll soon be back in Minnesota. The rockers will go to Minnesota, but there they'll have to wait for a porch.

. . .and to our Fathers. . .

Happy Father's Day! We love you. Thank you.

Happy Father's Day!

Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children are a reward from Him. Psalm 127: 3

Speaking of extreme sports. . .

Big Brother left for Boy Scout Summer Camp today. He is looking forward to Climbing, Kayaking, Rifle and Shotgun Merit Badges. We'll miss him, but get to go up for a picnic family night(Wednesday) and stay for the campfire.

Little Brother is Home!

Little Brother and Daddy went to WEBELOS resident camp. They had just put in a skate park and a BMX course at our Scout Reservation. The boys had a ball doing extreme sports, working on Activity Badges, cooking yummy desserts and just generally being boys! Welcome home, we missed you!

Growing up so Fast!

Had to put Baby's bouncy seats away, he was trying to sit up in them and pushing backwards. He seems to really like his exersaucer, though!

Push me Mommy!

Even though you can pump your legs and swing by yourself, you love it when I push you. But, I draw the line at "underdogs". Love you my swinging girl!


Underdog-pushing the swing er so high that one can run under the swing after the push.

What blue eyes you have!

This dress makes your blue eyes seem even blue - er.
Love you, my blue eyed girl!

Magnolia in bloom!

Party in the Grove

It was a sweltering day for a party, but we sat in the shade and there is always a good breeze in the grove. Even though we had celebrated cousin's actual birthday today was the party, our family needs little excuse to get together and eat! After we ate, a tremendous thunderstorm took us by surprise. It soon passed,we then enjoyed the ocean for a couple of hours.

Back to Work

Back in the fall, Bey was sneaking into Bourbon's pasture to steal hay when the wind blew the gate shut on his leg. He ended up with a nasty cut. He was supposed to be still to help it heal and ended up foundering. He is recovered and working again even though his front shoes are still on backwards!

Moving Day

My youngest sister moved to NC. We all helped for while, then had lunch, then my younger sister and I took the littles to the beach while the men, the biggers, my youngest sister and my mom finished moving, unpacked and set up beds. . .It was a wet and chilly day at the beach but the kids had a ball. Afterwards we went back to her new home and had supper and a birthday party for younger sister's dear husband.

Happy Anniversary, Baby, I've Got You on my Mind. . .

We've been married 18 years! We started to date to go to our senior prom, 22 years ago, and we are more in love then we ever thought possible. The bracelet matches a necklace and both are freshwater pearls on ribbon, beautiful. He bought them in Boston a couple of years ago for our anniversay. The outfit, a skirt and blouse I found while shopping with a friend, but thought was too expensive, was another anniversary gift. This year he bought me a new house in Minnesota. We went out for a yummy steak dinner and then to another spot for a decadent dessert, then home to watch a movie.

Happy Birthday Cousin!

What a great place for a party!

The Birthday Girl

is three!

The reasons why. . .

the slide in the previous post was crooked. They like to dig holes, craters actually. Rowan is an Irish Red and White Setter, Raven, obviously, a Black Lab.

Just Hanging Out!

The kids' Grampas built this swingset to my specifications. It is well used. Can we swing until(fill in the blank: supper, bedtime, schooltime. . .)

Surf's Up!

We had our end of the year homeschool party at the beach.

Ahoy Mateys!

We were at the underwater archeological exhibit at Fort Fisher. They are turning the capstan from a wreck recovered off the NC coast.

The well traveled man

He slept both ways and missed his whole first fight. I'm sure our fellow passengers were glad.

The road less traveled. . .

This was a beautiful piece of property that we saw while on a job interview/house hunting trip to Minnesota.

Cub Scout Fishing Derby

Little Brother was camping with his den and participated in a fishing derby. The winning fish was sort of a group effort, someone cast, someone reeled, someone landed, can you guess who landed? He seems to take after his daddy when it comes to fishing. I recall hearing stories of when daddy was little, everyone would be fishing, daddy would have a lure in the water but he would also be in the water playing. . .reel in, and have a fish. Or the time when his gampa was fishing, in a thunderstorm, had been at it for hours, Daddy ran out stuck the pole in the water and caught a fish. The boys had a wonderful time camping, worked on knot tying, fire starting and cooking.

Bear with me, remembered the pic was not facing the right way, corrected that and re added the pic but, can't seem to get rid of the sideways one, sorry!

Cornbread anyone?

We toured a working gristmill, and then got to sample hot cornbread, yum!

technical difficulties

I was having a problem with my computer so my Father-in -Love fixed it. The problem was fixed but, somehow my picture files were only "tiles" not "thumbnails" and since I mostly post pics with a little text I was stymied. Father-in -Love could not remember changing anything to do with my pics so we couldn't fix it. We were going to chat on the phone while both on the computer to check settings but didn't get to it, before I mentioned to my Father the challenge I was having. He told me what it was and I fixed it! Under "view" "tiles" was selected rather than "thumbnails".