Random Roundup

He acquired an Aeronca Chief. And has been trying to get it up and running.

 I picked so many of these ruby red gems.

 We got our first egg! Always exciting!

 Making Banana Muffins for the Lemonade Stand.

 Pretty cute, right?

 And then this happened! Burst pipes meant a flood in our kitchen and holes to patch.

 At least I was prompted to pull out our range. I guess I should do this more often?

 We especially love our blue eggs!

 These boards may not look like much but I have big plans for them. Just wait!

 He lost his first front tooth. Twice as cute and twice as mischievous!

 We went to Jamestown!

 I love the ropes!

 My sweetie reused an old copper pipe to make this little trellis for my climbing rose.

 I love this, dirty feet and all.

We had about a week of all the cousins on my side of the family together, so fun!

 Scored this at a little shop in Eastern Virginia. It will go above the tub in our Master Bathroom, just a smaller version of the one in our Room.

Free sunflowers in a patch in front of a farm. I love that someone wanted to share.

We have zinnias!

Several of these pies have been made and consumed here. All the fresh berries and peaches have made it easy.

School is starting in a little over a week from now, it's the end of a great summer! But I hate change… it will be nice to settle back in to a routine and welcome fall.

Thankful and blessed,

Melissa

Springtime Activities

This spring has been a whole lot of busy, ordinary days, just our family living life. How we do it best :)

The chicks have grown in to these incredibly crazy adolescents. And they now how this wonderful portable house that my husband designed and made. It's lightweight so I can easily move it around the yard, yet keeps them protected from predators. We have lost so many chickens to foxes and possums and I'm doing my best to keep this batch safe. (Most of our casualties have been when I've forgotten to close the big chicken house door at night and something sneaks in in the early morning hours and gets them.) Makes me think of THIS SONG ! 

My little guy has started playing T-ball. It's so fun to watch him learning the basics, like the first game when he ran the bases backwards! And he's so cute in his uniform!

And speaking of baseball, what a fun way to spend the evening with family! I had never been to a game before and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. We just sit on the grass by third base, it's cheaper and the kids can run around and not get bored. Go Hoos!

Here is another exciting development in our backyard progress, we planted grass!

I am such a slave driver. He was. so. tired. couldn't. spread. anymore. straw! 

Our Henny Penny "helped" with the grass seeds until we penned her up.

And here it is now, still patchy but green! I am thrilled to have grass again! I just hope we can keep it going this summer.

Thanks for reading, time to get ready for a T-ball game with some yard sale-ing mixed in! (hopefully)

We are hoping for some rain today to help our grass and lower the pollen count. We're all at different stages of sore throats, coughing, congestion around here. 

TTFN (Ta ta for now)

-Tigger quote :)

Don't cry over spilled milk...

…make that hot chocolate.

Steaming hot chocolate is made, I made it with milk on the stove, put a large marshmallow on top just how they like it. They rush out to the kitchen, so excited and she knocks hers over. Hot chocolate is running across and down the island, all over the floor. We wipe it up, I go to get a mop, then he spills his on the other side of the island. I over-react this time, "Why did you do that?!!!" I use all three of his given names. I realize as soon as I say it but it's too late, as he goes for a towel, he has that crumpled look on his face, trying not to cry. "I'm sorry Mom!"

 I'm the one who is in need of forgiveness. I tell them I'm so sorry for speaking loudly and then she's crying too, "I'm so sorry I spilled it, Mom." 

Later after they finished the next batch we talked about forgivness, about mercy and how God forgives us over and over. 

I want my children to see that I mess up, that I need God in my life. As a young parent, I didn't think I should ask for forgivness from my children when I was in the wrong, I thought it would weaken my authority. I was so so wrong. These children are little people who need our respect, and they need an example of how to forgive and ask for forgivness. They need to see God's grace shining through us. Holding them to a standard of perfection is just so unfair. I know I will mess up again, lose my temper, but I want to be quick to see it and not to leave a hurt in their little hearts.

"Grace

is when you get the good things you don't deserve.

Mercy

is when you're spared from the bad things you do deserve.

God

is generous with both."

We went on a trip...

…we had a great time, I will post more pictures later, but for now, this pretty much sums it up.

" I went to Lego-Land. I petted a Cow-Nosed Ray. I went on a roller coaster. I built a sandcastle at the beach. I went on a kayak ride. I got sick one day. The next day I was better. I flew home on an airplane. That's all! "

~by Carter

Hallie added in parentheses (He wants to write) meaning we did more on our trip but that's all he put down. This was a homework requirement for school. So funny :) 

It's Friday!!!

I had caffeinated coffee this morning so I'm all hyped up and using lots of exclamation points!!

Here are some photos to start your weekend off right. (Your welcome, of course!)

My awesome husband got me a new 50mm lens and it's amazing!! I can dial the aperture down to 1.8 which gives me all those deliciously blurry backgrounds!

He was sitting on my lap, I took it pointing straight down. I love his freckles! And he is too old to be sucking his thumb but I want this memory. (Because, like it or not, this is how we see him most.)

The Harvest Moon at Carter's Mountain Orchard. (Well, technically it was the night after the harvest moon but I'm saying close enough.)

Wishing you all a blessed weekend! 

Love to all!!!

Practicing...

I'm trying to learn how to use my camera. No, it's not new, some would call it ancient. My husband bought it when my oldest daughter was a baby, and, I guess you could say it was his baby...

And I was way too busy for the next few years to really care about photography. But I've been frustrated for some time now with the quality of photos I've been taking. So, as a special gift to myself I bought shoot Fly shoot's Photography 101. It is a series of videos that explains all those scary technical photography terms in a way that this mom can understand. It's visual and I can watch as many times as I need to really get it.


Here are some shots from Thursday evening on Carter's Mtn. Have patience, I'm still all mixed up in my head when it comes to adjusting aperture, shutter speeds and so on. But I think I'm learning!

My daughter chose one big green apple and I picked up two baby red ones.

The kiddos still love the apple caterpillar!

We had a fruit and cheese plate and settled in on our quilt to listen to some local music. ( And they fit some wrestling in.)

The sunset was all that I could have wanted, very peaceful.

I played around with these shots on my computer, trying to make them look something like they did in real life. 

We really need to go more often...