Bessie's First Day as a College Student

Wow, where did the time go. Bessie headed out this morning for her first day of classes as a college student. Compound the fact that she drove herself. Our "baby" is such a wonderful young woman now. We are so proud of her. It has been fun, scary and exciting to see her growing and maturing over the last few years.

Way to go, Bess! You will do terrific.

Bessie's Piano Recital

Bessie had her piano recital on Sunday afternoon. She gave a wonderful performance! She has made so much progress this year in her playing.

Bess and her piano teacher Polly. Thanks, so much, Polly for all the time and effort you put into your teaching. We feel so blessed to have her as Bessie's teacher.

Victoria and Bessie played two duets in addition to Bessie's main piece.

I know Bess loves playing the piano and she worked so hard this year on her piece, but I think she was a bit relieved to have the recital done.

Afterwards, Mom and Dad took us out to dinner. I love that they share so many of our family events.

Great job, Bess!

Bessie's Braces

We finally got Bessie in to see the orthodontist and start her treatment to straighten out a few teeth and correct her under bite.

The orthodontist was a very good sport and allowed me to take lots of pictures. And of course Bess is very used to me taking photos of everything in life. I did promise not to post all of the open mouth pictures.

So, here she is with her lovely orange glasses right before they got started.


And here she is with her top braces. She will go back in a few weeks to have the bottom set put on.

It has been interesting for her to adjust her eating habits to accommodate the braces. The main item she has had to give up is chewing gum.

Skating

Last Friday, while the younger children and I were at our co-op Valentine's party, one of the moms took the older children ice skating and out for lunch.


Bessie loves to skate and is quite good. She took group lessons when she was younger and enjoys going whenever possible, which isn't very often these days.


Here she is getting to do a spin. It was a wonderful treat for her to go. She enjoyed being with her friends and had a great time on the ice.

Bessie Turns Sixteen

My mind is still trying to wrap itself around the fact that our baby girl had her sixteenth birthday today. And while my mind is doing that, my heart is bursting with joy that our baby girl turned 16 today. Such opposite reactions to the same event.

Bessie is a tremendous joy to me and to our family. She is thoughtful and helpful, always pitching in with chores, cooking or helping with the younger crowd. In this day and age where you hear so many negative things about "teenagers", I am so proud that Bessie exemplifies being a responsible young adult.

She is fun and often funny, adventurous and a bit daring. Qualities I envy. She strives to love the Lord with all her heart and to listen to His urgings. I enjoy spending time with her, we garden and stitch together, enjoy the same books and watch the same movies. I am so proud to be her mom and most of the time her friend.

She is quick to point out that she is not perfect and no I suppose she is not, but I sure wish I was as mature at 16, as she is, especially spiritually.

So, Happy Birthday, our baby girl, we love you!

Bessie's Recital-6/8

Bessie had her year end piano recital on Sunday the 6th. She was pretty disappointed that Brian couldn't be there as he was away on a trip and Noona and Papa were also busy (actually Noona was in the hospital). Despite this, she did a great job. She played two pieces this year, one a solo and one a duet with Victoria, a fellow student.

We celebrated after with dinner at McDonald's, always a kid favorite.

Bessie with her teacher Polly (on left) and Victoria

Tradition Prevails

Every year, since we moved into our house, we have been in the pool by Memorial Day weekend. This past winter our pool liner failed. We have been dealing with measuring and ordering a new liner and the pool was not ready.

Bessie and Gabe were not willing to accept defeat. The deep end of the pool, about four feet of water, was still full and they were determined to go in. So, braving the very cold murky water, they ventured into the pool to maintain our family tradition.

We had been filtering the water all week to clean it up enough so that the bottom could be measured, so we knew it wasn't too dirty, just a lot of dirt and leaves, but still.

Way to go, Bess and Gabe! You both have terrific adventurous spirits!

Things on Wheels

We have a big enough driveway and yard that it allows the kids plenty of room to ride their bikes. Now that they all can ride two-wheelers, they are constantly zooming around. They have made a path through a little section of the woods for a bit of "off-road" riding.

Dan is such a riot on his little bike. He is such a small fry, but he sure makes up for it in determination and spunk. It was only a few days after he learned to ride the bike that he figured out how to get it going on his own. He is now peddling all over keeping up with the big kids.

When Brian is away, the yard jobs fall to me. I do not usually mind doing the mowing, taking care of the chickens or doing the gardening. Bessie pitches in is always a huge help. This week she was determined to learn how to do the mowing. We mow part of the lawn with a riding mower, but the pieces around the house and my perennial borders, I like to have done with the push mower with the bagger as it keeps it looking so much nicer. After a brief tutorial, Bess was off and running doing the "house yard" mowing for me. Super job, Bess!

Another Lovely Spring Day

This week is spring break in our neck of the woods. We rarely follow the school year calendar, but we decided to take a day off today. It was another lovely day outside and it has been so wonderful to enjoy the sun and fresh air.

We made a library run to two of our local libraries. Our librarians are so wonderful and they seem genuinely pleased to see the kids. One of the ladies said we were their best customers. I do think we help keep their book census up. I know we would not be able do our schooling as frugally without such a great local library system.

Two shots from the woods behind our house

Our chickens have become so tame. They follow Bessie around the yard waiting for a handout of stale bread or corn.

Yowzer the cat enjoying the sun
Our neighbor plowed the field across the road today. I love watching the tractor move up and down the field tilling up the rich brown earth. Our Guinea fowl roamed the field for hours after he was done, pecking at all the worms and bugs the tractor stirred up. Some years he plants corn and other years he plants a silage mix. We will have to wait until planting day to see which will go in this year.

Brian finished up the raking around the house after he got home. We have three separate areas of our yard. In the landscaping world, they call these separate areas "rooms". The room between the house, garage and pool, is sort of my part of the yard. This is where all my flower gardens are and this is also where we have cookouts and relax when we have company over. I am pretty firm about not letting the kids ride their bikes here as it makes paths on the lawn. (Aren't I terrible!?) The side to the east of the garage is the kids room. This is a larger area and is great for riding bikes, playing ball, using the tramp and swingset. Behind the pool is where we have the vegetable garden. The chicken coop, shed and other misc. stuff (aka woodpile, brush pile and assorted bits of junk) is also back there. I am always glad when "my room" gets raked off and cleaned up. I can start working on my gardens in earnest now. Brian and I have lots of ideas for new features and added gardens this year.

Flying High

Sunday afternoon, despite temps in the mid-20s, Bessie enjoyed some time on the trampline.

Egg Pie aka Quiche

Bessie made quiche for us this week. We learned that until WWII this was simply called Egg Pie in the US. We sort of like that name, less stuffy sounding, more down home country. Anyway, whatever you call it, we all loved it.

She made one with broccoli and mushrooms and one with broccoli and sweet sausage. Great job, Bess! Thanks.

Recipe

Ingredients:
Pie crust for two nine inch pies
3 C of shredded cheese-we used Mild Cheddar
8 tsp of flour
1 lb of cooked sweet sausage
1 package frozen Broccoli-thawed and drained
1 can of mushrooms or 1 C fresh
8 eggs-Farm Fresh!
2 1/2 C half and half
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 Degrees
Prepare pie crust and line two pie pans
Mix together cheese and flour and distribute evenly between the two pies
Add sausage to one pie and mushrooms to the other
Split broccoli evenly between two pies
In a bowl beat eggs, Half and Half, salt, and Dry Mustard
Distribute evenly into two pies
Bake at 400 degrees for 1 Hour or until knife comes out clean

Ready for the table...yum!

Losing Wisdom?

Right on the heels of the stomach bug, Bessie had all four of her wisdom teeth out. They had been bothering quite a bit and she was actually looking forward to them being gone, although I'm sure she wasn't thrilled about the actual procedure.

She did great and although she was a bit weepy right after the extraction, she was a trooper and her recovery was quite quick.

The first few hours home were spent sleeping

All smiles again...well, with an ice pack

More Dissections

Bessie was finishing up her last few dissections from biology. We ordered more specimens than she needed so these were just for fun. (Yes, Bess thinks this kind of thing is fun. She is so much like me!)

She did a grasshopper and a frog. She also did a few Chemistry experiments today. I love that my daughter loves science.

Birthday Hat

Bessie received this surprise in the mail last week for her birthday, a beautiful gift from my friend Lisa.

Lisa had been working on this hat with her Knifty Knitter when she was here visiting. I love the way it came out; the wonderful colors and the contrast between the orange, yellow and black.

Bessie was thrilled. Thanks, Lisa!

Polar Bear Swim

As I stated in the previous post, Brian was working on cleaning up the pool this afternoon.

There is a tradition in our home, Bessie is always the first one in the pool in the spring and the last one in during fall cleanup. Well, this years pool cleanup is quite a bit later than usual. It was only 49 degrees out today.

Bessie was not to be deterred. She thought it quite appropriate that she should taker her annual swim on her birthday. She was ready and willing to dive into the pool. Brrr!

I took these sequence of pictures as she took the plunge.

Ready?

Yup!

In she goes

Man that looks cold

Heading for the pink donut

That wasn't so bad

A few more dunks under

Another family tradition maintained...way to go, Bess!

I admire Bessie so much for her adventurous spirit. She is always willing to try something new or do something different. She wanted to know if we would take her to a real polar bear swim this year. This crazy tradition involves a swim in some lake or river on New Years Day. I know they do several around the area. We'll have to wait and see on that one.