Saturday

We got a lot of wind today plus rain so I didn't have to water the garden. :) I spied a couple weeds in there so I should go in and take care of them before they eat all my good nutrients.

We went to the pool this afternoon; a lot of people showed up today so the waters were too turbulent for Laura to walk where she normally does.

We missed a friend's wedding in Bemidji today, but we can't make them all... :(

I think everyone is asleep so I should either go find some ice cream or go to sleep. Since I got a nap earlier, ice cream sound good, but I think I should go to bed. I'm rambling anyway. :)

A Free Day!!!

Wow, we have NOTHING on the calendar for today. (I'm sure we'll sneak to the pool for a while though.) I think this is a first since summer started. :)

???Bat or Moth???

I saw this on Aaron's and Jason's bedroom screen so got a picture of it. :)

Garden

Here's my garden box and the strawberries. Hooray, they're growing!!! Am I supposed to pluck the flowers off the strawberries since it's the first year or just let them go and enjoy? I noticed in the other garden that the lettuce and radishes are coming up but that's it so far. It was planted 1 1/2 weeks after the box so I'll give it more time. I also don't remember exactly where I planted stuff as it was rainy and I didn't want to get a paper wet and muddy trying to write it down. :)

Psalm 67:1-7

1. God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us, Selah
2. That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.
3. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.
4. Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth. Selah.
5. Let the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You.
6. Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us.
7. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

Bemis Hill in the Summer

We went to Hayes Lake State Park yesterday for a home school picnic and play day. It was hot, and even though I used lotion on kids, they still came home burned. Oh well, they enjoyed the day anyway. I'm not sure all that went on over on the "games" side of things, but I do know my family members that were over there had fun. I stayed at the beach in the shade watching my little ones. I brought along Tracy's camera but only got five pictures because the battery was low. I posted them on our home school site, but here are Melissa and Laura playing in the sand.



On the first Sunday in June, the state parks have their open houses. You don't need a permit to get in that day, and I think we've gone each year for the past 16 years; don't quote me on that though. :) We enjoyed a lunch, going in the kayaks, swimming, and listening to a demonstration on camping. We were too late for the fire-building demonstration, but the fire was roaring and felt good as the day was a bit chilly. Here is a picture of Mike and me in kayaks (the two on the left.) They were quite "tippy," but it was fun once we got the hang of it.
On our way home, we stopped at Bemis Hill so the little ones could have the enjoyment of rolling down the hill without the snow. I had done this years ago with the older three. They lasted a lot longer than I thought they would so I know they had fun. There was a big hole there still that had been used for a jump so the kids were hiding in that.

*Bottom note for those of you who read but don't know our area:*
We have so few hills up here that we name them. :)
We have "The Ridge," "Bemis Hill," and "Blueberry Hill."

Home Again

We all (in both vehicles) did make it home from camping and traveling Sunday evening. I'll have to try to write more later.

The kids are attending a VBS this week. There are four happening this week in our small town!!!!! Emily's on a mission to learn at least ten extra Bible verses so she can get a prize, and I heard she came in 1st on one of the Bible drills yesterday.

Today I'm going to try to convince Mike to take Laura and me out to lunch, and then I have to run to Baudette before heading back to Warroad to pick up the kids.

I'll have to close for now. We have the lunch packed so that's a BIG part of the morning. The kids are getting spoiled with pudding, applesauce, chips, and a small candy bar each day to go along with their sandwiches and drink. When the weekend comes, eating is going to seem blah without all the extra treats. :)

Family Camp

Well, we're heading out in a few minutes. The girls are playing with Legos (last-minute.) They've been a fun toy since we cleaned them all out of Aaron's and Jason's room. :) Have a great weekend!

Thursday

Well, we "painted" the town last night. I did almost all of my errands, but by the time track was over, there was no time left to check out the hardware store like I wanted to. We did manage to get in on the pool time for 1/2 hour. So many people have been coming to track this year.

Today we are headed to Ada for family camp. We have to pack yet, but that should go quickly. We have the back seat out of the van so we don't have to bring the topper. Hmm...I wonder how much stuff we can cram in there. It sure was a lot the last time a friend took me to Sam's Club! :)

I hit the chiropractor again, but my hip is still out after trying to get it back in place. He said to come in tomorrow for no charge if it was still bugging me so I may do that in the morning and try to finish the rest of my errands. It always used to be my back going out, but since I started taking the calcium he recommended, I've had no problems with that at all. He did have to "up" me from six to eight though because of nursing.

We had the hose out today, and I got the tubs cleaned out I used for the manure the other evening. Now it's raining (again.) If we could only share some of the rain we get each day with those who really need it, we would not have a saturated yard! :) That's ok though. The poor get their rain in the summer and the rich get it in the winter--or some old tale like that. I left the hose on a slow trickle for the little girls to play with, and of course, they liked that. I think all of my kids have enjoyed playing with the hose.

Mike, Aaron, and Jason headed out Thursday morning with the cities as their ultimate destination. Friday they're going to hit Valleyfair. Saturday they will attend a friend's wedding in Rochester, and Sunday they're planning to go to church in Brainerd before heading home. I guess they'll have to stop in Bemidji for the dog. Hmm...maybe they'll "forget" him.

Silly me...I'm trying to get in a game of Bingo on Facebook and keep missing the rounds because I do other things. Oh well. I should head back to bed or maybe go wash the ten dishes in the sink so Tracy has some to put away tomorrow morning.

Junk?

One to ten, top left to bottom right, is this junk?

Crazy with Laughter

Yesterday I took the two little girls and we headed to Roseau. We met a friend from Stephen who gave us some strawberry plants. We headed back to Warroad, dropped off the recycle, got some gas, and took off to a friend's farm for some manure. As I was dragging my pail, walking across, I stepped in a squishy place, sunk, stepped out, and lost my mud boot! I was in a fit of laughter because it was so gross. :) Miriam helped me (thanks again, Miriam,) and we got three big things full. Then the hard part was dragging them back across to the van. Shovelful by shovelful, manure in itself is light, but when the pail is full, it's quite heavy. We had to scoop some out so we could drag them and lift them. When I got home, Tracy helped me get them out of the van, and I dumped them into the garden area. Mike thought I should till it in so I did that. You know, the worst part about going is the fact that Mike wouldn't let me climb into bed until I had taken a shower. I couldn't believe he had that "problem." I had just taken a shower yesterday morning. :)

Today is Mike's birthday. Tracy is making him a pan of oatmeal bars for his cake. We're going to have sloppy joes and tacos for his two birthday meals. I have no idea what he had for breakfast, but it was probably a Special K bar.

Garden

Well, I got my garden box planted with lots of "help" from Emily, Melissa, and Laura. We planted corn, peas, beans, onions, carrots, radishes, lettuce, and squash. Next we'll work on tilling the other garden plot and planting it. I'm going to see if I can find some way to haul some manure and ask our friends if I could have some. :)

I'd like to work on some photo albums this weekend, but I need some more pages so that's out. I'm sure I could do some catching up in baby books though (or I could clean my house.) I would like to avoid that one though. :)

Friday

I took 10# of chicken out of our fridge, and boy, does it look bare in there--especially since we only have 1 gallon of milk. :)

Laura finally fell asleep a bit ago. She had to sit on my lap and be carried all around because there was a mouse running around. I guess she was scared of it even though it was just a baby one.

We had a calm day today so not much to write about.

Forgot to Mention

Yesterday I went to the chiropractor to get my hip popped in again. Emily had fallen flat on her back last Friday at our track and field day and still was complaining a bit. She has a really high tolerance for pain, it appears. Her spine has been out all this time, and you should have heard the echo in the room when he popped her back into place!

Thursday

Yesterday I ran up to the gas station to get some gas for the mowers and tiller so Aaron and Jason were riding around on the mowers. I finally had to lay down the law that whenever they were riding on them the blades had to be down; we've been using a high amount of gas lately so I want that gas to be put to good use. It's not as much fun to ride now.

In the afternoon we headed to town to do some errands. I went to a friend's house. I'm supposed to be babysitting her twins on Monday so she wanted to show me where things were. While I was there, the kids went on the bike trail with Melissa's bike and rollerblades where they ended up at the park by the lake. Mike met us down there and we got a pizza then did some mowing at the church building before heading to track. The kids got ribbons, and we got to stand around in the rain. :) Even Mike ran a lap. We went to the pool afterwards then brought a treat home before heading to bed.

This morning I think the majority of the population of our household slept in. Even Mike didn't get up for work when he normally does--he waited for closer to the alarm. I don't think we have anything in store for the day out of the ordinary so I'll get off the computer and get busy with laundry. Have a great day!

Handprints Galore!!!

These are all the kids' handprints at 2 1/4 years of age. I thought I would be done with little prints after this year, but God had other ideas.

Fun at Grandma's House

I'm not sure if I want to claim these two or not...

Melissa's 5th Birthday

Melissa turned 5 years old this year. We spent time in town on her birthday, and she was able to take her new bike down the bike trail then go to the park. We had meatballs and French fries for supper. For her cake, we made brownies with mint-chip ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce and sprinkles. Of course, we had to add five candles to her piece.

Tracy's 15th Birthday

Wow, time flies! I guess I should have posted this before the Mother's Day pictures at the park, but they were farther down in the files. I didn't get too many pictures of Tracy's birthday this year, but here are a couple highlights. She had a marble cake, got a box of soccer stuff from a friend, a movie and card from some friends, money and cards from grandparents, e-cards from friends, and a balloon, candles, and bath stuff form other grandparents. She wanted her Florida trip to count as her birthday and Christmas gifts from us for years. :) For her birthday lunch we took sandwiches from Subway to the park. The bottom picture, I believe, is a self-pose with the delay on the camera.

Fun at the Park

On Mother's Day we took the kids to the park/skateboard park in Baudette where they had a lot of fun. It was interesting watching them try out the skateboard hills--I'm glad it was them!!! We have driven by a number of times but never with the blades/wheels. In it's own way, it did look very tempting; I suppose in my younger years I would have been happy to try it. However, I've never even been on rollerblades. I'm either showing my age or getting wiser with age. :)

Prenatal Appointment

We had a prenatal appointment tonight and all is going well. I didn't think I had grown any, but I've grown up past my belly button instead of out. I do have a little baby bump though--or did I write that last night? We got to hear the baby's heartbeat really, really well this time, and it was at 168. That says "girl" to me, but I know we can't always judge by that. After all, Tracy's always was a consistent 140, and she sure isn't a boy! :) We made some "smoothies" out of blueberries, the last of the raspberries in the freezer from last year, and a container of strawberries I found. I mixed it with some ice cream and the last of the yogurt I had made last week for a yummy treat to share. Then the midwife was off to another prenatal appointment.

Tomorrow is a busy day for us. We need to wash the kitchen floor since I stick to it as I walk across. :) We're heading to town for rollerblading/biking, I have a chiropractor appointment, we will meet Mike for pizza, we have track, and then we plan to go swimming.

I had a huge pile of dishes to do, but it only took 15 minutes to do the majority of them; there are a couple extras floating around, but as soon as I get the counters wiped down, it'll look clean in the kitchen.

We have such a huge stack of laundry that needs hangers. My kids have tended to use the hangers as bows in the past so many have been snapped. I guess that's a good reason for wire hangers, but I really prefer the plastic sort.

Mike got the tiller started and tilled a row only to have the gas run out. That leaves us with three "toys" and no gas for them. Another thing for tomorrow. :) Have a great evening!

Tuesday

I find it so hard to believe that June is here already! Time goes faster and faster the older I get.

Aaron, Mike, Tracy, and I worked on a garden box today. We were going to till my garden spot from last year, but Mike flooded the tiller and can't get it started again. He said he'd try again tomorrow. Tracy and I both had the idea so I'm going to try it: we're going to plant the same things in the garden box as the garden from last year and see which grows better. :) I'm sure I know the answer already, but it'll be a good science project, if nothing. Hmm...should we discount the price of the seeds on our school supplies for taxes next year?

Tomorrow we have a prenatal appointment and hopefully will get to hear the baby's heartbeat a little better than the past couple times. I don't feel any bigger than last month, but maybe the midwife's tape measure is a little different than mine. Ha ha ha

I'm going to be getting 100# of flour, 50# to share so will see what kind of room I can make in the freezer.

Aaron got his "air soft" gun today. It looks so much like a pistol, and I had to laugh when I read over the box. They wrote right on the outside what it was--I suppose for security purposes. Anyway, he's already had fun with it, and he even killed a woodtick with it. Boys will be boys...

We got some thank you cards written, some birthday cards signed, and a couple letters written. I found two May birthday cards I had forgotten to send before our trip last week so they'll be late.

We had to fill our hummingbird feeder already. I'm considering getting another but would like to get one the oriels will be able to eat out of also. They're so bright and colorful.

We Made it Home!

We left Thursday night for Bemidji. Friday we went to track and field and brought home some ribbons. We got to meet up with a bunch of friends and say lots of, "HI"s to people.

We were of a little help at my parents' house Saturday--moving chickens, walking the fence line for the horse pasture, washing dishes, using electricity and water, and messing up the house. :)

Sunday we got to visit at church, and Tracy got to go out with some friends. We ended up staying a day later than I had "planned" so I got to try out my mom's new washer and dryer. NICE, NICE, NICE!!! :)

We made it home this afternoon, unpacked, rested, ate supper, and then remembered our summer pool pass started today. So...we loaded up and headed to the pool for a fun hour.

Now I'm trying to catch upon e-mails and blogs, and Mike is working on a puzzle. Good night.