Monday, June 4, 2012

Random Thoughts

Fun morning swimming with friends. Crowded. Came to the realization that there will no longer be quiet, "have the area all to ourselves" type play dates out swimming, at the park, etc. Schools are out! Summer has begun. Looking forward to some good memories to be made this summer!

Spent a great weekend down at the farm again, milking cows and getting to know each one even better. With each milking, I learn so much. I'm a sponge and soaking in all I can get. Had some good chats with one of my best friends, seeing how they're settling in. I'm amazed each time we visit with how much gets done and the accomplishments made. I'm so proud of them and what they've done in such a short amount of time. We swam in the lake, rode 4-wheelers, I cooked dinner, we played with the calves, talked more, met some customers suffering with cancer, hoping and praying that their whole foods diet and raw milk products will continue to help in the healing process. It's already having an effect so they're staying positive. Test results are coming back better and better every time! Whoo-hoo for whole foods!

Saw Molly this weekend and although she hasn't grown that much, I still feel like it's been ages since seeing her. I miss her more than I thought I ever would. It's like someone handed us this adorable puppy (okay, so she's a TAD bigger) with big, brown eyes and then we had to get rid of her (Lord-willing, temporarily). Sniff. As we visited this weekend, it was comforting to call her name and she still perked up. Never knew a young heifer could have such a personality, but she definately does! She knew my voice and came to me when I saw her. Luv it.

Found out that there's a way to choose the gender of the calf when you AI a heifer (Artificially Inseminate). Looking into that and wondering when science should stop playing God.

Scouting out more properties. Scouting ourtcars that get good gas mileage for Rob's work. Scouting out possible renters for our home. Scouting. Always scouting. Sometimes, we get tired of scouting, but keep the big picture in sight. God is in charge.

Booked a fun RV trip in the future to a beautiful, Florida spring. Really looking forward to this as that's something high on my list of things I want on our future property, a spring. So many benefits.

Isaac learned how to say "cow" during our evening milking this past weekend. So cute. Pointed straight at Maybelle and said "cow".

Our ducklings are starting to quack now. Very fun.

Made my very own homeschool planner the other day. Stayed up way too late doing it, but finally finished. Hoping to get a picture up on what it looks like. I did it to fit all of the kids and designed it to go along with our Workbox System.

Getting excited about our curriculum choices this year and how after 3 years of trying out and learning about all of the different curriculum out there, we've finally narrowed down our family's Scope and Sequence that works for us and the way our children learn best. I always get so motivated after conference, but have to wait until the summer is over to implement. We do school year-round, but summer is mostly catch-up time for us...

Avy will finish her A Beka Math 1 book (10 pages left), A Beka Spelling 1 (2 lessons left) and work on some math flash cards as well as her addition families.

Lincoln will continue practicing his reading and we will (gulp) be introducing long vowels this summer, basic addition facts and practicing lower case letters and writing numbers
up to 30.

Norah will begin her A Beka phonics chart, continuing letter recognition and basic phonetic sounds ('ah' in apple, 'buh' in bell, etc.), shapes and continuing with "Mat Man" as she learns the formation of letters. Lots of arts and crafts.

As always, we're daily reading, gardening, learning about science in our daily discoveries, reading, painting, writing, reading, teaching the Bible, character training, visiting Grandma's nursing home, mandolin practicing, and oh, and reading. :)

I need to fight my new addiction to York Peppermint Patties. Help me please! :)

Avonlea saved up from doing chores and bought a new baby bunny. She's white and pretty adorable. I've officially given up and labeled our house as a zoo. The kids do learn a lot though with all the animals and it provides them with unlimited entertainment.

Tried a new recipe for granola bars. Can I just say, yum!

Rainy season has officially begun here. I threw up a clothesline in our spare bedroom and have also been hanging clothes in our hallways on an art line we've had. The kids thought it was fun. The clothes took forever to dry inside though. Outside they typically dry in 30-45 mins. Still to scared and stubborn to get a dryer. It's expensive to dry clothes. However, very convenient. {Sigh}

Excited about a Natural Bodycare Workshop I'll be doing with friends soon. Learning to make shampoo, conditioner, lip balm, lotion, etc.

Lincoln, Norah and Isaac's birthdays are about to whiz by. They're all excited about their upcoming party. Can't believe my little boy will be FIVE. He's asking for a BB gun...ah-hem. We shall see. Norah is going to be THREE and has worked very hard at potty training. Started her much later than the other two, but it was so nice because it didn't take NEARLY as long. A quick week of training and although she still has an occasional accident (usually away from home), she's good to go. The biggest shocker though is that Isaac will be ONE. Seems like I just had him and he's already trying his best at walking. He's into everything and says, "more", "ball", "mama", "cow" and "uh-oh". Such a joy in our lives and to think that we almost decided not to have another after Norah. We would've missed out on such a precious, little man. Just adore him. What a little blessing.

Well, I'd better go take some clothes off the line before my little ones wake up. Have a wonderful day friends.

1 comment:

Mapshocked said...

I pray everything works out for you guys, scouting and all! It is hard for us to accept that school is out for the summer as well, stopped some of our trips to the park and such besides the fact it is so hot! We use Abeka as well and love it! Kyle will be 5 soon too :-( I know it goes by fast. Hard to believe that Isaac will be one soon, I remember holding him when he was so small! See you all Wednesday maybe :-)