A giant leaf & a snake

Rhubarb anyone???  We have a bumper crop this year.  Some of the leaves are as big as umbrellas!!  The kids were having fun with the giant stalks, but apparently Cricket does not approve.  Check out this skeptical look.

We spent the morning working in the garden.  It's soooo full of dandelions.  But, hey!....you can eat those so that counts for somethin'.  The weather was splendid today.  The first really warm day of the season.  We planted more onions, covered the strawberries with netting, tucked in the currents, and watered all the growing things.  While we were out there we dug up an earthworm for Lavender's lunch.

She likes her privacy, so we didn't actually see her eat the worm.  Nevertheless, the worm is not in the cage so he must have been eaten.  She seems to be settling in just fine.  She likes to go under the grass and move around the dirt.  We've also seen her sit in her water dish and climb the branch in her enclosure.  She seems really curious about us and reacts in different ways depending on how you approach her.  I am working with the boys to teach them how to help her not be defensive and to give her the respect and privacy she needs to thrive.  

I want to be able to help the boys learn to hold her.  I've read that handling for short sessions (like 5 minutes a day) will help the snake learn our scents and help her be calm.  The thing is, I'm not really keen on handling a snake.  I'm not afraid either.  It's more like....the actual sensation of her in my hand doesn't seem like something I would like.  And also I don't want to disturb her.  Or drop her if the sensation freaks me out.  But I guess I'll have to get over that.  I did pick her up to put her in the aquarium and it wasn't bad at all.  Of course, that was just for five seconds...not five minutes.

Isn't she lovely?

Bringing Home Treasure

We headed to our friend's house this morning for a treasure hunt!  We are very blessed to have another homeschooling family that has kids with the same interests as ours.  It is an added bonus that their mom happens to be awesome!  And that they live in the country and have a beautiful place that we love to visit. :)

Today's hunt....

had an Egyptian theme....since we are both studying ancient Egypt right now.  The clues were written in Cuneiform. 
I don't have tons of pictures because between the two of us we were managing 8 children.  :)  But we had lots of fun!  See the treasure?  The kids got a reward if they returned the treasure to the people of the land. (good thinkin' mama J!)

And here is one more super exciting part of our day!  We actually got to bring home a treasure of our own today.  A snake!  We are keeping her for the summer....to take care of and learn from.  Why you ask?  Why would I let a snake in my house?

Well...I don't really like it either.  But I do love my boys.  And I'm committed to letting them learn about what they are interested in.  All of the boy's are really interested in snakes, but especially Cricket.  These friends are both veterinarians and have experience with caring for snakes.  Their son actually has a fox snake (or should I say snakes? since it laid eggs that hatched!) and our boys have had so much fun watching the snake be fed and interacting with it.  Anyway....the snake we are caring for is a very common snake for our area and our friends often find them on their land.  They offered to let us keep him for the summer as a good way to see if Cricket is interested in following this passion a little further.

She is a Northern Brown Snake.  Sometimes called Decay's snake (did I spell that right?) or Little Brown Snake.  Ours is rather large for it's species, but still it is only about 14 inches long.  She is rather cute.  (I'm guessing its a she since female snakes are usually larger than males.)  The boys have named her Lavender Brown.  

Owl's Birthday Adventure

"I want to go fishing, mama!"

There was a little hike to get there....Hey, Owl...I think you're going the wrong way...

That's better.  A little help from Papa.

A beauty we saw along the way.  

The men kept walking around the lake until they found a good fishing spot.  The hike was rather steep, but they enjoyed every second of it.

Grandma, Hen, and I stayed where the path was a little easier.  We watched them from across the lake and had a nice quiet time enjoying the surroundings.  Hen loves Grandma time.

A water bird that visited us.  It was a treat to see him, and I wonder what kind of bird he his.  See his long legs?

We also were blessed with a visit from several turtles!  Here are two little guys who were polite enough to let me take their photo. 

The boys stopped to play at the beach for a bit before we left. Fun times.

Little Owl.  4.  

Owl's Birthday Cake

Turning 4 has been great. :)

Here is the cake creation we came up with for Owl this year. It is quite different then we had first planned. See, all year he had been talking about having a woodpecker cake. (Woodpeckers are his favorite kind of bird) I had thought of making a chocolate cake that looked like a tree stump and then fashioning some kind of woodpecker cookie? or perhaps finding an ornament? or making some kind of woodpecker to attach to the stump cake. (Stump cake. Ha ha.)

However, when we went to the specialty store to get a few more cake decorating supplies, Owl saw this Buzz Lightyear candle.....and the rest is history. :)

He really liked it, and when he first saw it he said, "It looks delicious!" He is ever the sweet tooth.
Buzz's rocket was lit for the festivities and successfully extinguished.
It was delicious! If I do say so myself. :)

Progress

Time is flying.  Flying right by.  Whoosh!  There it goes.  See?

And I am here.  We are here.  I wake up in the morning and each morning seems fresh and new and I sleepily smile a prayer to my Creator.  Thank you God for another beautiful day.  For another chance this day.  I climb out of bed.  My feet hit the floor and off I go!  The days are full.  :)

Here's a big "Thank You!" to those of you who have helped us along during this "adventure". The meals, visits, offers to come play, help painting, help watching the kids, and prayer are so very, very appreciated.  We love you.  

Here is the update about the house and crew.  (I've decided to narrow it down to 5 things so that I keep it short and sweet.  My tired self needs that.)

1.  The electrical, plumbing, heating and insulation are roughed in.  (If you are new here...you can check out past posts about the remodel here)  It's great!  They have temporarily hooked up the washer and dryer!  Hurray!  The next step is drywall which is scheduled to start next week Tuesday or Wednesday.   I am very grateful for the progress, but it is all going soooo much slower than we were told.  Please continue to pray for us....for our spirits to remain patient and for our bodies to remain healthy!  (I can't wait to be able to cook real food for my family!)

2.  Little Owl has a birthday coming up! The little man will be 4.  Hard to believe right?  We have big birthday plans.  Check back in with us this weekend!

3.  The boys are doing well.  Really well.  See?

4.  How am I doing with the painting all ten billion cabinets?  Oh, just fine.  And...well...it's more like 18 cabinets, give or take a few.  The thing is they are turning out "differently" than I had anticipated.  Painting has a way of doing that.  So instead of being fresh and white and new....I decided to rough them up and make them look "aged".  They look good, but now I think the whole "design" of the area may need to be rethought.  Just what I have time for right?  :)

5.  We are making music.  This is the best part of the past week.  Besides, just the daily wonderfulness of our family.  The new guitar is awesome!  J and I play and sing together and it's just the best thing ever.   I've started helping with the music at church and that has been really good.  (and challenging too!)  It's really good to be able to use my ability to serve others.  

I'm going to steal a line from Badger's Dragon Newspaper.  Every edition ends with ...."And that is that."   

ps. Badger would like you to know that an edition of the Dragon Newspaper, featuring our daily "doings" is available to you for the low price of just $1.  :)

Funny Conversations

Words heard at our house this week....

While nursing Hen, near the big windows that look down on the somewhat busy road....Little Hen hears a bus sound (yeah, he can tell the sound...)He promptly stops nursing, sits up and points to the window and says, "I sawwa bus!"  :)  His first sentence.  Yeah, technically he heard a bus, but still. :)

J bought us a guitar this week. (aww man! it's sooooo awesome to have a playable guitar in the house again!)  The night he brought it home Little Owl climbed right up next to us to get in on the music and conversation.  I teasingly asked J if we should name it. (the guitar)  You can imagine the look he gave me!  But little Owl says, "It's name is Black-eyed Pea."  He smiles and looks at me to see what I think.  Yeah, baby....that's a great name. :)   (and sorry J...i guess it does have a name now.)

In the car, J and I overhear the boys talking to each other.  It's dusk and Cricket says, "The days just go so fast! We hardly played at all today."  Badger replies, "No, that's not entirely true.  It just feels that way because we spent time with Grandma and Grandpa today.  And that was really nice, wasn't it?"  Cricket says, "Yeah it really was."  :) 

There was also a time when we were doing something really ordinary.  Like so ordinary that I can't even remember what we were doing, but in the middle of it Cricket said to me, "I'm so glad you are my mama."  And I just stopped and kissed him.  That was the best part of my week. :)

Apple Blossoms

The queens of the yard are in full display.  Such beauty.....  

I love this picture because you can see how great of a job my J has done with the pruning!  You always want to be able to see through the tree.  It needs to be open like that for the sun to keep the tree healthy and able to produce lots of fruit!

Look at these buds! So beautiful, and they smell sooooo good.....

Thank you Mr. Honey Bee for taking time to pollinate my trees.  I'm so grateful to you.  :)  It really is amazing to stand under the trees and just listen.  The bees are sooo loud while they are doing their work.  There must be hundreds of them just among the two trees.  And hundreds more by the other apple tree and pear tree.  Amazing!