Hot Day Activities

It was quite hot and humid this week, or the first part of the week. We spent most of our time hanging out inside or at the pool.

We do not have air conditioning in our home, but we do have lots of natural AC, in the form of large maple trees. If we keep the house closed up, the trees keep it shaded and it will stay pleasantly cool for a few days. If the heat and humidity persists past 3 or 4 days, the house will start to get hot, but usually by then we will get a wonderful thunderstorm that cools off the air.

Bessie making no-bake cookies

(what else on a hot day)

Dan concentrating on his army
Hannah, Dan and Gabe enjoy making pictures with shapes
We had one of those wonderful thunderstorms yesterday afternoon into the evening. It poured and the lightening was quite impressive. It didn't cool off right away and when we got up this morning it was still hot, but by afternoon, the skies started to clear and the air cooled off. It is very pleasant right now.

Gabe's Airport

Inbetween trips to the pool, Gabe had some down time playing with his die-cast airplanes. He built this airport for them on the coffee table.

More Pool Fun

Brian had the day off after his trip. He was very tired, so he spent a lot of time just hanging out with us. He watched the kids in the pool during one of their sessions, while I got some work done inside.

After a couple of cooler days, the weather turned hot and humid again. The kids just love the pool on these days...well, they love the pool most days!

Gabe has figured out how to jump off the side of the pool and land sitting in the donut. I'm not sure why it doesn't flip him out, but he does it every time! He is so pleased with himself over this feat.




I just love taking pictures of Dan. He is such a happy boy and takes pleasure in the simplest things. Here he is shooting the squirt gun up in the air and letting the water fall back on his face.

Rachel and Gabe

Hannah has gotten very brave and is doing all sorts of tricks in the pool now. Here she is jumping off the side. She has discovered that she can reach the bottom in the shallow end if she stands on her tippy-toes. This has given her a new freedom.

Ah, the joys of water!

Chick Hatching

Here is a sequence of pictures taken over several hours as our baby bantam made his appearance into the world. He is resting nicely with another baby chick and the baby guinea.

The second chick is working on getting out of the egg. Hopefully he will make it by this afternoon. We also have several guinea hen eggs that we hope will hatch in a day or so.

Monk's Hood

by Ellis Peters

This is book three in the mystery series about Brother Cadfael, a 12th-century Benedictine monk from the monastery of Shrewsbury.

Brother Cadfael has taken the cowl late after a very full life as crusader and sailor. He now enjoys the peace, quiet and solitude of his herb garden and workshop at the Abbey, but life isn't always so quiet as Brother Cadfael entwines himself in solving murder.

I had read these books many years ago and enjoyed them very much. I am now listening to the them on audiobook.

The stories are very interesting and although you can usually figure out "who done it!", the methods and means of how Cadfael proves it all is always a surprise until the end. And there are usually a few twists and turns that keep you wonderful what he is up to.

I've found the language very rich, the characters wonderful and description of life during this time to be very interesting.

I would highly recommend these books.

A Tale of Mistaken Identity...Part II

Today we decided to catch the baby chicken. He was doing well with the momma guinea, but she was getting lazy about sitting on her other eggs. We are still hoping she will hatch out some keets.

Catching him was not difficult. Bessie threw out some corn and I caught the little guy with our pool net. He is not particularly happy being all by himself, but he has settled down and at least seems less nervous than he was.

We also decided to try and improve our odds of getting some keets by removing some of the eggs from the nest and putting them in our incubator. They should only have three or four more days to go, so hopefully if we can keep them warm until then, they will hatch.

Friends

We had friends over one day this week. It was a great day. We had our five, Debbie O's three and she had two extras. It was a great day of fun. The kids enjoyed the tramp and the pool.

Chendi, Ben and Gabe

Dan sure enjoys his watermelon
Dan spends as much time under

the water as on top

Jonathan was not sure he liked the pool
Hannah keeps Jonathan entertained
God has blessed us with a nice home and yard, a yard that is great for kids....lots of room and things to do and I am so glad when we can share it with friends.

A Tale of Mistaken Identity...

Our female guinea has been sitting on a clutch of eggs. Yesterday, Bessie informed me that she had seen a chick with the momma, but only one. I was disappointed as she hatched out 13 last summer. It wasn't until today that we were able to get a picture of it. This is not a guinea chick.

My thoughts are that one of chickens found the guinea nest and laid an egg in it. It is out in the woods out back and the chickens like to lay their eggs in a place that already has an egg in it.

The incubation period for chickens is 21 days, but guineas are 28 days. I am hopeful that the female will stick with her own eggs and continue to sit them for another week. I'm not sure how will handle this little guy (or gal) as he will not be able to get up into the trees as easily as the guineas can, which will make him fair game for our local predators. We might be able to catch him and raise him like we do our other chicks and then put him in with the hens.

Hazy Summer Days

I could tell today was going to be a hot humid day. I enjoy these summer days. Our winters are so very long that I wouldn't think about complaining! Let the heat come, let the sun shine!

Bessie has been wanting to have her hair colored. I have done highlighting for her, but she wanted to try an auburn color. Today was the day. She went with "Rosewood". Her hair is very dark, so I wasn't sure how it would look.

This is boring, she says

The result She is quite pleased with how it came out. You can really see the wonderful reddish highlights when she is out in the sun. She did have to forgo getting it wet in the pool today, but she managed to float around in a donut without getting her hair wet; nothing short of a miracle with four younger brothers and sisters in the pool splashing around.

The rest of the day was spent playing, swimming in the pool and enjoying a day with no where to go.

Dan attempting the hula-hoop...what a ham

Bessie and Gabe teaching the Littles
how to play Uno(Dan won this game)

I cut out the fabric for a short-sleeved shirt and shorts from the Star Wars fabric we gave Gabe for Christmas. Hopefully I'll be able to do the sewing tomorrow.

Yesterday, Bessie purchased a pretty pink and white fabric that was already gathered. You buy a certain amount and then sew up the seam and you have an instant skirt. We did that tonight and it is very pretty.

Guess Who's Coming to Die?

by Patricia Sprinkle

I really enjoy this series. The characters are quite likable and the plots are good and keep you wondering until the end. I did have this one figured out, at least who did it, but not necessarily why!

Georgia Magistrate MacLaren Yarbrough gets herself mixed up in solving murders much to the dismay of her husband Joe Ridley. Some how she keeps managing to discover dead bodies!

I enjoy the values in these books...family and God play a top roll in the stories.

I would recommend reading this book, but I feel it is important to read them in order.

The Tale of Hill Top Farm

by Susan Wittig Albert

When I first heard of this series, I wasn't too sure I would like it. It is about Beatrix Potter and her animals and I was thinking it would be too silly. I was surprisingly mistaken.

The story was fun and not silly at all. The animals do talk, but only to each other. The humans often complain about the animals making so much noise! The people are involved in solving the local mysteries, but so are the animals in their own way.

The writing was good and I found it interesting how the author introduced the ideas of major changes happening at the turn of the century...women wearing shorter skirts (the ankles showed!), owning property and even wearing pants!

Here is the blurb from the back of the book:

"England, 1905, A Londoner-a female Londoner-has just bought a farm in rural Sawrey. The locals don't know what to make of Beatrix Potter. They've never heard of an unwed woman buying and running a farm. Some meet her with genuine warmth; others keep her at arm's length. Beatrix, recovering from the death of her fiance', believes she can heal in the countryside, a quiet place to work on her children's stories. But when a villager dies unexpectedly, with allegations of foul play, Sawrey turns out to be anything but quiet..."

I found this book entertaining and enjoyable. I would recommend this book.

Father's Day

Mom and Dad came over in the afternoon to have dinner with us and a visit.

Bessie had vocal group at church, but did not go to youth so that she could spend time with Noona and Papa.

It was a very nice day.

Dan steals Papa's hat...doesn't he just look like he

is pleased with himself?

Noona and Papa and the kids

Dad's Day Off

Brian had the day off on Friday. He mowed the lawn and worked in his garden. Later in the day we headed out for Chinese takeout and a trip to one of our favorite places, one of the locks on the Champlain Canal. It is a lovely park like setting with picnic tables and lots of trees around.

Hannah and Dan on the bank at the locks

We stopped on the way home and bought ice cream and cones. The kids put on their suits while we scooped out the cones and then headed outside. I nice ice cream then a dip in the pool to follow. Wonderful summer activities.

The tramp makes a good spot to eat ice cream

The Pool

Our pool is such a blessing to us. We really had never thought of having a pool. I grew up swimming in the river and Brian had a lake near by.

When we first saw this house, the pool wasn't one of the major draws. It was covered and we didn't even get a look at it until the next spring. It had been closed up for a few years and was terribly dirty and needed to so much work to get it cleaned up and ready to go. I was ready to have the thing filled in!

I'm so glad we persevered and took the time to clean it up. It has been wonderful over the years to have the pool. The kids can go in and out several times a day. We don't have to pack up all our stuff just to cool off and get in a nice swim. We are able to share our blessing with family and friends. The kids get a lot of good exercise. It is a great summer time diversion from the "I'm bored" monster.

I love our pool!

Summer Fun Begins

Gabe finished his testing this week and the tests are in the mail. This is the official end of our school year.

Thursday we made a run to Target and Gabe got a Nerf dart game. The kids had a great time playing with this. Gabe especially likes playing with Dad who doesn't fuss when you shoot at him.

Gabe ready for action

The Nerf game progressed into a general shooting game. The kids have been playing Carmen Sandiego on the computer, so the warriors became the Acme Crime Fighters.

Are you a Nerd?

Kristine posted this test on her blog. I don't really consider myself a Nerd, but I think my love of science and math might be showing! :-)

So, how nerdy are you?

Summer Projects

During the fall and winter, I don't have a lot of extra time to work on projects. The late spring, summer months allow me a bit more time so I've decided to try and get a few things done.

I find it easier to keep myself motivated if I write them down, so similar to my Summer Reading Challenge, I'm going to challenge myself to work on some projects. I'm sure this list will ebb and flow, but hopefully keep me focused enough to accomplish something.

1. sew pajama pants/shorts for Gabe
-Cut out fabric for short-sleeved shirt and shorts
2. sew at least one skirt for myself (hopefully more)
3. sew more napkins
4. help Bessie finish sewing the skirt she started
5. find a pattern and at least start making Christmas stockings for kids (these will be appliqued/quilted)

Window on my World

Liz, a cyber-pal, from SHS posted a blog challenge...what is the view from your window? I have to say that I don't think there are any bad views from any windows in our home. We are blessed to live in a rural area with lots of fields and woods. I will admit that Liz's window is much prettier than mine. I love all her stained glass. You can check it out on her blog.

I've decided to post three views.

The first is from our kitchen sink window. Now, I do not like to spend much time here. All the kids know how to put their dishes in the dishwasher, so that only leaves the pots and pans and Brian will often do those. As you can see, the kids have been blessing me with glasses full of wildflowers this week. This window looks out into the backyard toward the pool.

The second window is probably the view I see the most, at least to see and enjoy. This is the window right by my computer. Whenever I am sitting here, I have a few leisure moments to enjoy the view, watch the birds and listen to the sounds of nature. (I think I need to fill my birdfeeders!) Or, watch the snow, still watch the birds and lament our long, gray winters, but I don't like to think about that while the trees are green and weather warm.

The third window, well actually our front door, is toward the road and the field beyond. This is the view I get when I'm sitting in my chair reading or stitching. I don't actually look out this door, but it was hard to get a picture through the window by my chair.

I love all our views, each one has a different feel to it, but all of them are country. When we finish our family room, the main view will be toward the kid's play area and my perennial gardens, but right now I have to make an effort to look that way. I am very much looking forward to that view.

Saturday's Doins'

We were up and going earlier than some Saturday mornings.

Brian was heading over to his dads. There was a military service for Dick's friend Shiela who had passed away this year. He said the service was very nice and he had a great visit with his Dad and his sister Joanne and BIL Bill. So much time seems to go between visits. We need to make more effort to get together.

Bessie was babysitting for the O's today. This will be a bit of a challenge as they have three rambunctious boys. We picked her up around 5pm. It went very well and the family was so appreciative of the time this allowed them to enjoy the wedding and have some much needed adult interaction.

The younger group and I went to the library. It was a quick trip, just picking up books. We spent a lot of the afternoon playing outside.

Gabe found some water balloons, which were a big hit.

Look out mom!

Each of the kids had gotten a bottle of bubbles at a recent birthday party. This was a great way to spend some time. Dan managed to spill all of his, but the other kids were willing to share.

Isn't Hannah's face great?

Catch them Dan!

Later in the afternoon, the kids went in the pool. This is such a wonderful daily event. I am amazed at the difference in the Littles this year. Last year, they were all terrified of the pool, not even wanting to get off the stairs. By the end of last summer, Rachel had learned to swim. This summer, Hannah and Dan have taken off and are doing great. They are gaining confidence and enjoying themselves so much. Hannah took her first tentative strokes this week, doing very well underwater and a little bit of the doggie paddle. I don't think Dan will be far behind.

Hannah doing the doggie paddle

(Gabe stayed real close in case she had trouble)

Hannah is doing great swimming underwater

Bessie, Gabe and I headed to church after dinner to watch a play. It was called "Dream House" and was about keeping your house maintained, but more importantly, your home. It was funny in parts, but quite sobering also when you think that so many marriages, even Christian ones end in divorce.

What a fun, full day.