Happy Father's Day!

We had a very quiet Father's Day this year...with the hubbub of the Solstice Festival going on, there's not usually too much we can do. But we certainly took the opportunity to tell Mark what a fantastic dad he is! The kids made cards for him, and the special rocks they had made for Nat'l Trails Day came out of hiding. Anna was so excited to give her to him! (And I must say that I'm pretty impressed with her...the wire and colored beads she chose are so well coordinated)! Andrew also gave him the little pinch-pot he had made in art class.
I just wish I could find for Mark the perfect gift that reflects what an amazing husband and father he is...we are very blessed to have this man in our lives!

Solstice Festival

The solstice festival was relatively uneventful this year. I was working long hours at the bake sale, Mark was helping out at the rummage sale at the church, and mom and Rebecca came to have fun with the kids! There were the usual game booths which the boys enjoyed, and a new highlite this year was a pony ride!

Baby Harry!

June 17th was a very long but wonderful day! You may remember me mentioning my friend Willow. The long-awaited baby boy finally was ready to make his appearance, though he stuck it out for t-h-i-r-t-y--s-i-x hours before finally being delivered by c-section. But, when baby weighs 9 lbs, 3 oz and mom is lucky to weigh 100 lbs. when soaking wet, that's what can happen! Definitely worth it, but it sure took a while to catch up on sleep...poor Willow still hasn't caught up, I'm sure!

Lotsa Love!

Always plenty to go around, especially when it involves Anna, Grandma, and Aunt Becca!

Sing us a song

...little monkey-girl playing the piano!

Popsicles

After the boys and their cousin Keenan put in a hard day's work in the hot sun, I treated them to popsicles.
Just so you know, goats love popsicles.
Yes, that was news to us, too!

Potty Training

I wish I could say we were all done in this arena before school starts on Monday, but it just isn't so. *sigh*
She's cute anyway, and that makes up for a lot, right?

No caption

Because honestly, I don't know what I'd call this!
Do love the mismatched slippers, though!

Summer

Dirt-digging






















Popsicle-eating






















Goat and chicken feeding


















Picnicking.


All good things to round out a summer...

Andrew

I just love this boy-monkey. But he's growing up far too fast!

Space Camp!

This summer, Andrew had a tremendous opportunity to attend "Young Astronauts Day Camp" at the Challenger Learning Center. We're studying astronomy in science, and will continue that study this coming school year, so it was the perfect extension. He thoroughly enjoyed himself, learned a lot, and our only disappointment is that Jacob wasn't old enough to attend this year. Andrew attended 4 different sessions, and it was one of the highlights of his summer!

Life is more fun...

With siblings!














Baths are great, but baths with jet bubbles are even better!


















Hot summer days!


















Enjoyng mommy's new (free!) piano!

Pottery Class

Last semester, during our music/art swap, Andrew had the opportunity to work with pottery! Here he is with a pinch pot and a pencil-holder he made!

A good great day!

God has been amazingly good to us!
(And I'm ashamed to say that this post is about a week old now...I saved it in my drafts until I could call and verify that #2 was actually true, and then forgot to come post it)!

1. We were able to get 30 bales of hay for the winter for only $5.50/bale, and Chad let us borrow his 1 ton truck for just the cost of 5 bales of hay for Jordan's rabbits!

2. We had $750 worth of medical bills forgiven!!! (Here for more details).