Digging in the Mud

Kenny in track hoe

The hole immediately began to fill with water

Eventually the hole will be connected to the pond

One tractor for digging --the other for moving the dirt

I am having a very lazy weekend while the sick kids rest but Kenny, on the other hand, is working day and night. He has been spending the late afternoons until dark working the huge backhoe tractor digging a pond on our relative's land. (which joins our own land). These are a few pictures of their progress which has been slower than planned due to the tractors breaking down every other day or so. It's working out for the best since they needed time to move the huge mounds of dirt so the backhoe can have continual access to the pit. The pit began filling with water immediately and is now already 6 ft. deep after 3 days. In fact, the kids that are well and old enough are swimming in the mud hole while I write. I tried to make Kenny laugh one evening as I decided to excitedly yell "A lake! A lake!" as I ran toward the hole and got in. I couldn't help but get in with caution and timidity and that ruined the rowdy effect I wanted to impress him with. If you know Kenny than you know what I mean. Anyway I guess I have to settle for the mere chuckle he let out and let a real crazy person like Candace perform those stunts. I even lost my shoe in the ordeal... oh well . By next summer there may be a sandy beach and walkway around the pond if all goes as planned.

I have had Lisa's three youngest while she is in Mo. and Ford has been occupied with the lake.Three of my kids and one of hers have some type of sore throat and fever virus that has lasted at least two days. We have stayed inside vegging out most of the time which is good after so much running around. One of the movies we watched, The Sin Eater, was incredibly touching. If you havn't seen it- please do!!! Left us praising God for our Saviour and crying a bit too. The pain is always intense when we watch someone else go through the passing of their child. But I won't give anymore away about the movie which by the way is a new release. It's good to see more films like this being produced. (Michael Landon Jr. produced this one.) Be blessed!

Nature Journaling-the Most Natural Way to Learn

We wanted to post some of our nature journaling pages in hopes of encouraging you to start your own notebook. It doesn't matter what age you are or where you live. If you can't draw or paint (maybe you could just try) then photographing (my mom does this) could be sufficient to help you remember the names and characteristics of whatever you choose to observe. Try! It seems we come away in more awe of our Creator as we continue to marvel at the millions of different species of insects or plants and animals. We at least can learn about the creatures and plants in our current surroundings.



Anyone who has a humming bird feeder can be caught up with these dainty incredible creatures.

Paul ,age 6 at the time, combined his copy work with this page

Lily just started her notebook and if you notice -along with the fly there is an elephant shape.

This page included a bark rubbing

We even got the boys to do a page on wild flowers.

The black widow was much more exciting as we actually found her web.

My nephews caught one of these and placed it in their aquarium for observation-they are suprisingly vicious toward other insects especially their own mate. (they eat them after mating)

Mom (me) even has her own book and these were just some of the twenty different species of mushrooms we collected on our property.

Sometimes we label all the parts

_The practice of Nature Journaling is one of my favorite activities that the whole family

can enjoy. It doesn't matter if you homeschool or not. We started it in 2002 when the boys were only 9 & 5 years old. Now we have over 100 pages combined of creatures, plants, and whatever catches our fancy. As long as God made it, it qualifies. I have looked back and chuckled to see how the kids have matured with their art and writing. This nature journaling was a part of Charlotte Mason's students education over a hundred years ago. It's simple: Go for a walk. Look around. Draw something you see or find. Identify it. Make some notes or add a poem or scripture. Not only do we identify these things but we practice our drawing and writing skills right along with getting some exercise in the fresh air. We have met with another family for the past five years to keep up the practice. My dear friend, the mother of four sons, denied her prissy nature on one outing as she scooped up a blob of slimy frog eggs. She has been transformed. Ha Ha. Anyway each of our children have their own notebook which will make a nice field guide through the years. Any questions? Just E-mail me and I would love to share more about it.

Joseph Update

Joseph-7 months is now sitting up

Lily's elephant of the week

The 4th

Sarah jumping on her Kezzi

July 4th -the cousins

Getting ready to take dad to the airport (notice John itching with a smile)

Pris, Kezzi, and Hope with baby Joseph

It's fourth of July weekend and Kenny is in Mo. We will pick him up Sunday. Missing him. We enjoyed the fireworks at the park even though the babies were a little unsure of the what those big booms and colors were all about. One was comforted by her silky blanket the other by his lamb's wool and as long as they could suck their thumb and fingers they dealt with their fear quite sucessfully. After a few minutes I could feel Sarah's tense little body relax a little. Joseph didn't cry but the worried expression was new to me. It was actually kind of cute.

Had a family over for lunch today. It is nice to have the energy to have company over for meals again. They are good friends of ours with 4 children that match an age of our kids and they have a ball together.

- The only difficult part about this weekend is knowing John is so miserable. Somewhere he walked through a tick and chigger nest which was probably the field on the way to his buddy's house. I have never seen him so distressed. He is so tolerant and laid back that I knew by the look on his face when he told me he couldn't stop itching that I needed to check. Sure enough he has almost 150 little red bites. It's the worst I have ever seen and this land has never been a problem like our last 5 acres in Mo. Wer'e taking care of him.

- This month we will have two birthdays in the family to look forward to. John will be 6 and Paul -10. We don't have any out of town plans so I think I will focus on planning out next school year and finishing those projects. Please keep Lily in your prayers -for me also - to discipline myself to keep her on a routine. Happy Independence Weekend!!

Baseball's Over so......The Loft

Joshua pitching in his last game of the season

the 150 degree, full of insulation attic where Kenny and Josh are laying the floor for the loft

Cut a hole in ceiling. Build ladder. Kids love it.

The hole from above. Unfinished walls but they were in a hurry to sleep up top.

Put in an attic fan. Now it is cool. Just have to finish ceiling then texture walls and ceiling before painting.

Joshua's baseball season is finished as of Thursday the 28th. I know he enjoyed himself because he is talking about next year already. He played 2nd base, center field, and pitched once in a while. He did not know any of his teammates at the start but that has never stopped Josh from getting involved. He is fairly confident when meeting new people. Some of the guys expressed admiration of his homeschooled life and I try to remind him how good he has it. He has been able to have the freedom to work at Sign Reflections here and there, golf, swim with friends, and learn right along with Kenny whatever is being done at the moment. All along he can keep up with his studies so he doesn't loose it all by next year. He started Algebra last year so that he wouldn't have to rush through it in his 9th year.
As for an update on the rest of the kids-Paul is right there along with Josh in his activities. Lily is on the verge of being put on a routine by me. We think it will help her right now. She would spend most of her time drawing if left alone. Drawing is great but she needs more scheduled summer activities. John just finished up two weeks of swimming lessons and yes, he is now a swimmer. Thanks to Julie who took him every day along with her son. She's the same friend who took him to soccer often. Sarah is talking more and more and just seems to run everywhere she goes spending a portion of her day dragging around a very tolerable small cat of ours. Sneaking outside has been an occasional problem. Joseph is now sitting up at 6 1/2 months. He had his first meal of real food last night. Just potatoes but he was diving with mouth open at the spoon.
Kenny is flying to K.C. Missouri for his sister's wedding on the fourth. He will just be gone for three days but we will miss having him there with us for the fireworks. I am glad he has the opportunity to see family though. I am trying to finish a few good books, plan the next school year, finish a wall in my bedroom and the ceiling in the den, and keep up the never ending laundry. In the meantime we did something outrageous this weekend---

It's crazy how Kenny can have an idea and in a matter of a week the project is on its way. We spent the weekend cutting a hole in the older boy's room ceiling, putting in a floor and a couple of walls and an attic fan and Wallah! - we now have a sleeping loft. The boys are sleeping up there tonight with a temporary rug and unpainted walls but they don't care. They now have the floor space of their original room for whatever. I was glad Kenny thought of expanding in such a creative way. Joshua and Paul are such a help now that I don't have to do much but hang around and make sure coffee and meals are available. So right now Kenny is working on the ladder and the boys are making their beds. The kid's were laughing that next thing we'll have a little downstairs room for the little boys because there is a strange block little room under the house that just has a little water in it. Maybe in a few years we will do something with it?! For now we have plenty of projects.