May 29th

Today was the first official "half day Friday". Until Labor day David comes home at noon. I love the feeling of three day weekends. It gives us extra time to do fun things, or in today's case I ran errands ALONE! It is amazing how much one can get done when you are the only one getting in and out of the car. The children enjoyed special time with Poppa and then we all had noodles for dinner.

May 28th

Today was a great day! I met up with a friend so she could take me to this plant stand at an Amish farm. Great prices on tons of varieties of plants. I purchased almost everything for 1.00 a pot. Siberian Iris, bleeding heart, seedum, three different daisy's, standard Iris, Day lilies, bee balm, lamb's ears, calamint, and black raspberries, to start, there are more I just can't remember. I hope to go back now that I know where it is.

We had some time before she had to leave to get her children to school so she took us to a fabulous park near-by. It sits next to an Historic home, creek and covered bridge. Is was so nice and I can't wait to go back as a family and have a picnic so the children can play in the creek.


After the park we went over to Shady Maple, an Amish grocery store. I purchase my flour, oatmeal, cornmeal, maple syrup, honey, and spices here for cheap prices and most of that is local also! It's always so much fun to shop with a whole variety of people from, tourists, Amish, and Mennonite. They also have a great smorgasbord if your ever in the area! Miles told me it was his favorite place to shop it smells so good! It's not just shopping, it's an experience!

May 27th

Bug Collecting

May 26th

"Thanks for the new shirts, Omi. They fit perfectly!"

Memorial Day Weekend

What a busy weekend we had! Lots of work and play in warm sun. We had a long list of all the things we need to get done around the house. The list is LONG so we knew we would not get to everything but we wanted to make sure no time was wasted. The biggest accomplishment is that the garden is planted! YAY! Corn, tomatoes, zucchini, squash, pumpkins, and beans, I can't wait for them to start producing and filling my freezer and pantry with canned goods. This is the view of the garden from the back door.

David also put up the clothes line. It would be completely finished but he ran out of concrete because he had to make one hole bigger to get a rock out. I am so ready to hang my clothes on the line! It sits to the left of the house in the gully near the church side. I'll just have to make sure all the unmentionalbles are not out on Sunday mornings!
I was able to plant the herbs and strawberries and edge the beds. I still need to finish the edging around the tree and move some bushes that the neighbor is giving us. We mulched the flower beds, cleaned out the garage, and cleaned up the side of the house where we had piled a bunch of broken things. Now all that's left is two bags of mulch and the boat. Someday I will plant hastas and rhododendrons there if we get to stay that long.

We went for our first family bike ride on Sunday after church down to Valley Forge. Even with very tired children we rode 6 miles. Fiona was on the tagalong, Gwen was in the burley and the boys rode. As soon as I get a bike (I borrowed one for the day) we will be doing this a lot! Our goal is to ride Bike Virgina with my parents one year. 5 days of cycling and camping and seeing the sights. It always sounds like so much fun!

I even managed to get to the outlets late Monday for some of the sales. On the way home I stopped at WAWA to get a Diet Coke, and in walks a man in full Revolutionary War dress. He had been at a reenactment all day and came in to get something to eat. He obviously was still in another era when he asks to order 20 sandwiches for his regiment! I am used to seeing these guys around with all the history in the area., but never in a gas station store. I so wish I had my camera!

And here are my very tired and dirty children after three days with no maps and outside constantly! We had a great weekend!

May 22nd

How does three years go by so fast? Three years ago I was 3 days past my due date, 4cm dilated and wondering if my baby was ever going to join us. She made her appearance after 4 hours and 24 minutes of labor screaming at the top of her lungs and hasn't stopped!

Gwen, you are a bundle of energy, stubborn as all get out, smart as can be, always getting into some kind of mischief and my happy girl. You hardly sit still and MUST keep up with brothers and sister. If they can do it then you can do it too. You love to take care of your baby and constantly tell me you can't wait to be a real mommy. You speak so clearly and use such big words many people think you are much older. You love monkeys, sunglasses, purses and jewelry, but right now my favorite thing is to listen to you sing, you know all the words to so many songs, but your favorite is Jesus Loves me. You are in such a hurry to get big, but Momma just wants to hold you small for a little longer. I love you Sweet Pea. Happy Birthday baby!

May 21st

My allergies are driving me crazy!!!! I haven't been this bad since I left the east coast 6 years ago. I guess 4 years back is enough to re-acclimate to them. I think I'm going to need a prescription, I can't keep feeling so drowsy all day and still have all the yucky stuff too. Needless to say I tried to get things accomplished today, but all I wanted to do was lay on the sofa and cover my eyes with a cool cloth. That is just not possible so we made the best of the day and hung out with the neighbors in their sand box. It was so nice and we hadn't done it in a while.

Owen officially finished kindergarten today and Miles is plugging away at his last math lessons.

Hurray for school breaks! I am working on getting projects done; like my schedule and binders system. The Managers of Their Homes(MOTH) schedule that I am using has you fill out activity sheets for all the things you want to accomplish for each person in your family(except hubby, he can do his own if he wants) before you start scheduling things. I am currently working on Owen. I have mine and Miles done. It's amazing how many things they need to accomplish each day. Don't worry they still have plenty of free time! I however need to figure out a way to incorporate 27 hours of tasks into a 24 hour day. I am assured I can in the book but it is going to take some planning! I'll share my sample schedule when I am done with it. I am purposely taking my time and praying about it to make it the best it can be to benefit everyone.

This is how I spent the rest of the evening organizing the recipe binder! What a mess! It used to be in order but I started piling new recipes instead of filing them and couldn't find anything. Now everything is back in categories and easy to find.