Big Sister heads to day camp.

She will go Monday through Friday for two weeks. The camp is held at the state park in our town. She was up and dressed at the crack of dawn, lunch and swimsuit packed. She was a bit shy when we first arrived and didn't really want me to leave. When I picked her up though, it was a very different story, she said, "I hope I have camp tomorrow too!"

Happy Father's Day to our dads!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

We enjoyed a picnic, swam, played in the sand, played frisbee and just enjoyed being together.

Playtime

After mulching the garden at the nursing home we went to one of our friends' homes to play. The children got to help collect the eggs, practice for when "Omlette" start to lay sometime in July.

Homeschool Service Project

To take their minds off of Big Brother leaving, we joined our homeschool group at the nursing home to work in the garden.

Ordeal

Last spring Big Brother and Daddy were "tapped out" or chosen by their peers in the Boy Scout Troop to become members of the Order of the Arrow. It is the Boy Scout honor scociety. They were unable to complete their ordeal weekend in NC because we moved, however they were scheduled to complete the ordeal in MN this spring. They were "tapped out" by their new Scout Troop. They are off to Scout camp to complete their ordeal, cheerful service. They are getting the Scout camp ready to open for the summer. Daddy will come home on Sunday, but Big Brother will stay at camp for four weeks. The first week is staff week where they complete training and getting the camp ready. The next two weeks he is a counselor in training. The final week Little Brother and the rest of the troop join him for their week at scout camp. Daddy left Big Brother at camp very sad and upset. The first couple of times we talked to him he seemed a bit homesick. But, now he is very happy and says things like, "next year when I am on staff" or "next summer. . ."

Enjoying the Hammock

I wanted to share my view from the hammock, and I do see it nearly every day, if only for five minutes. The children love the hammock, except for Baby, who is still learning to tolerate it.

Hard at Work and Play

Big Sister keeps Baby happy in the sand box while Little Sister looks for shark teeth and fossils in the big bucket of

Stickers

My sister gave me these window decals for my birthday. I finally cleaned my minivan windows and put them on.

Flight Pen

The pheasants needed a flight pen to mature in, so we built one in the basement of the barn. They are fast! and look a bit like roadrunners right now. Yesterday, I saw a wild pheasant hen with her babies crossing the road in front of our house.

Turkeys!

We got four turkeys, two white, two bronze. They will be ready for butchering in November, around Thanksgiving. Their name~"Thanksgiving Dinner" or nickname, "Thanksgiving". The book I read said, "that turkeys just sit around thinking up ways to die." Evidently, mine had too much time on their hands(wings) as one of them figured it out. They are nicely feathered out and growing well now and this weekend I'll move them to the "isolation" pen in the chicken coop. The keets(baby guineas) were getting too big for the brooder, but they weren't quite ready to fend off adult guineas or my laying hens, so we built them a wire enclosure inside the chicken coop so they could all get aquainted. This morning when I went to feed the birds the baby guineas had escaped their pen and were practicing flying, eating and roosting with the grownups. The adult guineas I purchased have been enjoying their freedom during the day. At dusk they congregate around the chicken coop and with a bit of persuasion enter the coop for bedtime. No matter what anyone says the term birdbrain is NOT a compliment. The disadvantage of the guineas freedom is we no longer know where the hen is laying her egg. Perhaps somewhere she has a nest and is waiting for the right number of eggs to begin brooding.

Picnic at the State Park

There is a beautiful state park in our town. There is an aerated swimming pond, picnic tables, the river, hiking(in the winter-crosscountry skiing)trails, camping, a playground and a huge stone building. It was built during the WPA in the 1930's. We saw deer on our hike and while eating our s'mores.

Fighting like cats and dogs.

No, not the children, they (mostly) get along very well. When we moved here there were several barn cats. Some dogs and cats get along, others merely tolerate each other, some fight. Ours fall into the last category. There was one remaining barn cat and she had a litter of kittens somewhere in the barn. Tragically, she was killed. The children found and extricated the kittens from between the floor joists in the barn. They fed them every four to six hours, even getting up in the night, for two weeks until I located a foster home. From the foster home they will go to adoptive homes. It was sad but for the best.

Moving SPAM

One rainy afternoon I went to feed the pigs before we went to dinner at a friend's home. When I entered the barn I could hear splashing sounds. Other than the pigs water bucket there is no water in the barn, and this sounded like a waterpark on a summer day. When I got to the pig pen I found the source of the sound, the pig pen was full of water. Evidently, the rain had soaked the ground and it was coming in through the fieldstone basement walls and pooling in the solid walled pig pen, creating them a swimming pool. They were quite enjoying themselves, but I feared the water would keep rising and they would either drown or escape. So, being(becoming) resourceful hobby farmers the children and I made a new pig pen out of old bedsprings. That held them until the weekend when we built them a pig pen out in the grove. Unfortunately, the move proved too much for the pig with the belly rupture(a very bad hernia) and we had to butcher him. One in the freezer, HAM in the grove.

Happy Anniversary, Baby!

While my mom and dad were here we went out to dinner and a movie as an early celebration of of anniversary. We've been married 19 years. I couldn't find a recent picture of just Husband and I, and one of all of us is way more typical of how we spend our time, so that's what you get! And scanning the one from our wedding day was an exercise in patience so you might need a magnifying glass to see it, but it was this or nothing. Every day I love you more, Husband.

Court of Honor

Big Brother earned his Life badge and Little Brother his Scout badge. We all enjoyed a covered dish picnic.

Yardwork

The grass(and the weeds) grows very fast. The mower Baby is pushing is off and cold. While he sits on the riding mower he makes an engine noise, how do they know? Actually, I have to keep him inside while the boys and Daddy do yardwork because he is so interested.

The outdoor toys

are all hung or in bins. The bikes are in a bike rack. There is a bench for putting skates on. Now, if I can teach the children to put things away. . .

The camping gear

has its own space. I can pick up each bin without unstacking anything!

Organization

Daddy and the boys built a workbench in the shop. Big Brother hung the boxes, Little Brother and I sorted all the nails, screws, nuts, bolts and other assorted fasteners. Then we labeled the boxes and filled them up!

The boys built

nesting boxes for my laying hens.

Farewell Exchange Brother!

Exchange Brother flew to California for a language and culture school. In a month his parents and brother will meet him and tour some of our western national parks including the Grand Canyon. We wish him all the best as he experiences another part of our country.

The garden is in.

Baby helps?

Big Brother gets ready to water the garden.

Little Sister planting a tomato plant.

Big Sister planting seeds.

Little Brother digging holes for my tomato plants.

Exchange Brother getting the soil ready.

Finished!

Daddy and the children(Grampa helped) built me an awesome outdoor pen for my laying hens. They like to be outside. It only took them a couple of days to learn to go out when I opened their door and come in at night when I called them, "Here chick, chick, chick."