Summer's Here!

We started off the summer with a play date with one of the cousins. 

 We found a tree frog who found the pool.  

The kids had a blast playing with it.  

 I'm loving the wildflowers that are growing on the hillside right outside my porch. 

 The backyard is soaking up all the rain we have been getting.

 I'm loving not having to water the garden.

 Happy surprise:  I had Aunt Mae's bib lettuce come back from last year. 

My chickens are doing well.  

My Americana 'Nora' developed a feathers on the side of her face...

it makes her look a little crazy, but that's ok because that's exactly what she is.

 The chickens love going outside and the kiddos love holding them.

 I love this picture of Dixie.  

She's looking at me like why can't I hunt pheasants AND chickens?

Nora is by far the friendliest of all the flock.

 On one of our Sunday Fun days, we went to the park.

Dad fished, kids played on the equipment and played ball, while I tried to read a bit.

 We had a great time.

A quick stop at Culver's to end our day. 

It was perfect.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade...

the rain was letting up a bit over the weekend, 

so naturally, the kiddos took advantage and jumped in the pool.

 It decided to start raining again and the kids were Loving it!

It changed our plans a bit over the weekend, but we made the best of it.

 The chickens got a new home and are loving it.

 We had a break from school and decided to take advantage of the sunshine!

 Before school started on Thursday, 

we set our alarms and headed out to get some excercise in before school.

We finally got a chance to put our weekend plans in action.

 The kids didn't want to stop, but we had school and work to do.

It was a nice start to our day.  

We got a chance to see some wildlife on the trail

 and listen to the birds along the way.

My life is filled with blessings.

Make it a great day!

Changing...

First off, my garden is sprouting.

 I love seeing the green popping up when I look outside.

 My potatoes have grown over twice the size since this picture.

 All of the rain has done such amazing things to my gardens and flower beds.

 I love sitting in my porch and looking into a lush flower bed.  

My Mary garden is growing and green.

Who knew all I had to do was plant on this side of the house?

 We thought a lot about where we would put the chicken coop.

And finally decided to make it part of my garden shed.  

 I wanted it close to a water source, easily heated, and near the compost.

All of those things happen to be right where my garden shed is:)

We put them in their new home and are going to be making a door 

out the back to the pen.  

Since we don't need nesting boxes until fall, 

we omitted that in the first construction. 

Thank goodness, I have a carpenter at my disposal!

Field Trip to F.A.S.T.Corporation

We got the chance to visit F.A.S.T. corporation in Sparta, WI. 

Fiberglass Animals Shapes Trademarks

Darren Schauf gave a great presentation about how everything was made

and a history lesson of the corporation.

 We got a chance to walk around the yard where they keep the molds for a bunch of the designs.

 We walked around for almost an hour and tried to figure out what mold 

belonged to what shape/object in the catalog.

We had a wonderful time and an educational experience. 

Chirp, Chirp, Chirp

They are here and they are adorable.

 We finished up school work today and took a field trip to Theisens!

 Poor Dixie(the dog) is unfortunately wired to want to get the birds.

I'm sure she will get used to them.   

 The kiddos can't get enough. 

We played and looked at them for the first two hours of getting them home.  

 Oscar is a bit of a Chicken Whisperer.  

None of the chicks chirp when being held by him.  

I'm attributing that to his nurturing nature.

Once they drink, they tilt their heads up to the sky...it's amazing. 

We have 7 in total(not all named yet):

2 Ameraucanas- Matilda and Nora

2 Production Red Pullets

1 Black Australorp

1 White Leghorn- Big Bird

1 Isa Brown

I love them already and can't wait to stare at them tomorrow!

It's been a ride...

this last weekend.  

I have thanked my family who have been through a bit of my 

'crazy' this week.

I co-hosted a Trivia Night with my good friend 

for our church on Friday and it was a success.  

The next morning, 

I cleaned my house to prep for a bridal shower for my future sister-in-law.

It turned out to be a wonderful day with family and friends.

I am feeling blessed, thankful, and humbled for

all the support from family and friends.

Don't forget to hug your loved ones today...

I know I will be!

Spring Break

We took our Spring Break a bit early this year

 and headed to Green Bay for a visit with Nana and Papa.  

 We got a chance to go to the Wildlife Sanctuary,

 which I loved as a kid and has changed so much. 

 Joey was going around naming all of the geese and ducks. 

 Then my little mountain goats needed to climb a bit.

 Oscar thought he was taller:)

 Evie enticed the cougar down from his perch.

 Then I saw the cutest three headed turtle I've ever seen.

 Of course, it didn't take much to coax Nana to ride on the turtle shell. 

Although, it was slipperier that we all imagined, which lead to fits of laughter.

(Especially for me!)

 We visited my Aunt Patti and Uncle Ed for a bit

and stopped by a small falls to enjoy more nature.

 Sir Bounce-A-Lots was very fun 

and we were so happy because we had the place to ourselves.

 Trips to the park, tennis tournaments, and walks were 

some of the other fun things that we packed into our trip.  

It was a great time and we walked away with our abs hurting from the laughs.

 Thanks Aunt Patti and Uncle Ed for the dog toys...

Dixie is in LOVE!  

I took home a dresser for our bedroom that used to be my grandparents 

and we love it in our room.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

A months worth...

Here is a picture of the beautiful Christmas morning view we had.

 We got to celebrate with the Brown family for Christmas.

 We are so lucky to have cousins so close!

These two babies were so cute...I wanted to eat them up.  

 Jack and his Jo-Jo:)

 Becky, Allison, and I.  

I just noticed that we didn't get a group picture...:(

 I was able to go visit my sis and brother-in-law Devon in Texas. 

The plan was to help with the baby after he came, 

but he had another plan for us. 

 We had a great time visiting and eating.

Devon is a wonderful chef...I didn't do ANY cooking while I was there.

They spoiled me.

Although I was bummed to miss not holding my nephew,

we had a wonderful time together and was meant to be.

 We got back to 'normal' after Christmas vacation.

We had Evelyn's appointment and it went great.

There will need to be a surgery eventually, but not right now.  

Then we headed to Nana and Papa's house in Green Bay to meet our other cousins. 

 Since we had two of the cousins birthdays in January,

we decided to celebrate Joey and Matilda's birthdays that weekend. 

 The Floridians lucked out with the weather.

There was snow and 'warm' weather:)

We got bundled up to have all kinds of snow fun.

 We built an igloo thanks to the help of my Native Alaskan:)

We got a chance to play on snow hills,

'skate' on the ice rink,

 speed skating,

 and sledding!

 Nora took a couple of big wipe outs, but insisted on skating the whole time.

 Everyone had a blast sledding, even Nana!

I think the Floridians had great winter fun.

 We found a partly built snowman at the park...

added a few items and had a snowman that only took 15 minutes to build.

 The cousins had a blast.

 We started to loose them fast 

so we didn't get a chance to get a picture with all of them.

 This little girl cracks me up!

 She couldn't get enough of her Oscar.

 We had a Star Wars themed birthday for the two princesses.

 Everyone had fun and

 good and sugared up.  

 It was great seeing everyone!

 Then we got home to celebrate the real birthday for Josephine.

As per her request, she wanted a Jessie cake:)

Sooooo mama did her best.

 Joey was happy with it so that's good enough for me.

 I can't believe what a big girl she is growing into.  

 Josephine received a sewing machine from her Aunt Mae Mae and Uncle Brian.

She has been sewing up a storm! 

I guess I didn't realize how much we hd on our plate since the last time I posted.

When I look at the pictures though, it seems like a whirlwind! 

We made a big family decision to homeschool. 

It was something that I felt like I was being called to do.

I must say that we are in our first week and it seems too good to be true!

The kids are enjoying it.

When my sister asked Oscar what he thought of home schooling, he replied,

"It's great.  It's a lot harder than regular school, but we get done faster!"

I'm praying this continues and 

thanking God everyday for this new adventure!