Goodbye June

These summer months just seem to fly by! We are always busy doing something, even if its sitting on the porch watching the rain which we've had a lot of this month. The days are warm, the sun is shining and there are no school lessons for a while. Carefree and full of adventure, even with all the uncertainties the future holds.
Once again we might be moving. Yes, it has always been a possibility but with no interviews we were content to wait out the merger of Pfizer and Wyeth. Then last week two job opportunities opened up. One in Princeton, New Jersey and one about 30 minutes west of here, both just out of reach for commuting for any length of time. David will be interviewing in the next couple of weeks and once again we will be faced with some tough decisions. I am not ready for this, but I will do it because that is what I am called to do.
If we move I am ready, I know what to do, this will be the third time moving to a new state, finding a new church, making new friends, fixing up yet another house. Some if it is always exciting, sitting around discussing what type of house, how much land, what not to do that we learned from the last move, exploring a new area, finding a new church, making new friends, but in reality its hard, hard to explain to the children they have to leave people behind, make new friends, and learn new places. Hard to leave the memories you have created and where your children were born(only one this time).
So with all these thoughts swirling in my head, I am choosing not to dwell on it or think about it to much. I'll leave that to David and continue with life here; for now. when we have to make decisions I will be ready and we can do that together with prayer.

Lazy days of summer

Playing in the rain

studying God's creation

 bug collecting

hail storms

laundry on the line

falling asleep on the floor, to tired to get dressed after a bath.

These are the days to enjoy for in a few short days we go back to school and canning season will begin in earnest!

Sunday Dresses

Little girls in twirly dresses. Who could resist taking photos?

Fiona has taught Gwen the wink, I think they have it perfected.

I pray these girls continue to love each other this much!

Swimming

Our pool may not be big, but they sure know how to have fun!

Watermellon Evenings

Enjoying our fresh fruit for dessert and watching the cars drive by.

Father's day

For Father's day we went for a ten mile bike ride on the Valley Forge trail. It was beautiful and not to hot. We had a great time!

Gwen's Party

The theme she chose was Curious George, Gwen loves her monkeys!
She had so much fun with her little friends.

About that black eye and other injuries

The black eye was mine. Gwen wanted to crawl into bed with me and snuggle one morning, and as she laid down she missed the pillow and got my eye. It made for some interesting comments and strange looks and got much worse before it got better! This photo is from the day after, it doesn't look to bad, just hurt to open and close the eye. A couple days later it got much darker and the bruising moved outward. It took about a week and a half for it to go away, she hit me hard!

The next week Miles sprained his arm and landed in the ER. We thought it was broken as he couldn't stop crying. That is not like him at all! thankfully it was just a really bad sprain, I would have felt so bad it he had broken it and had to have a cast in the summer with the heat! No pictures of that, I didn't have my camera with me that evening.
Then a few days ago Fiona stepped on a nail and riped off a chunk of the skin on her toe. She has been soaking it in Epsom salts and wearing two different shoes and showing everyone her injury. She is quite proud of it.

On Sunday night Gwen decided to stick a pencil up her nose. Of course there was blood everywhere! She was so scared and David rocked her to sleep. When she woke up in the morning she was talking about it.
"Mommy, you know when I stick something in my nose it tickles and blood goes all over: Fiona's bed, my hands, I think I don't do that again!"

Not to be left out Owen fell off the tag a long backwards and tire burned his back. I am praying that we have no more injuries this summer. That's enough for me!

A bridal shower, and summer fun...

So it has been over two weeks since I last posted something. I never meant to take a break form blogging, it just sort of happened as I fell into bed to exhausted to do one more thing every night. I have been so busy trying to get so much done before we start back to school in July. My dear friend and neighbor hosted a bridal shower for her soon to be new sister. I helped her with the decor, party favors, and shopping. She has a new baby and no time to run around to every store imaginable looking for things. I LOVE planning parties and since I rarely have a chance to do it it was so much fun! We stayed up way to late to many nights to count. chatting, planning, and then decorating as the weekend arrived. The theme was cats and Paris, I think she pulled it off well. I heard the bride to be cried when she saw it!

This is the island focal point you see from the front door coming in to the party. Love those Eiffel towers and the love sign together!

Fruit arrangement made by a friend. I don't have pictures of the food table as I didn't stay for the shower but I heard it turned out lovely!

The gift table, we put the coffee table on top of the train table for height and put the table cloth over it. A perfect way to store all the furniture out of the way!

Coffee table arrangement in the family room.

Party favors. I made the bags from an idea from acherryontop.com, they were so much fun and really easy to do. They hold nail polish, a nail file, chocolates, and Jordan almonds.

Champagne glass charms my friend made. She served raspberry champagne and pink lemonade.

Decor on the cake table. Those balls are vintage Christmas ornaments!

We have also been busy with injuries, swimming, catching bugs, eating watermelon and ice cream, washing cars, organizing the yard sale things, going to birthday parties, having a birthday party for Gwen, bicycling, cooking, hanging our clothes on the line, gardening, hail storms, playing, and falling asleep in the middle of the floor from exhaustion. Yes, so far it has been a great summer! Oh and if your wondering, yes I have pictures you'll just have to be patient. :)

Box Day!

Our school book order came in! Fiona will be starting Kindergarten this year so it's her turn to sit on the boxes.

Some of you have asked what curriculum we are using this year. This seems like a good time to address that question.

After much thought and prayer we chose Sonlight core 1 for science and history. We will be studying creation to the fall of Rome. I also purchased the read out loud list, as it ties in to the history study.

For Math, Phonics, and Health we are using Alpha Omega Press, Horizons. This has worked well for us since Miles started school and for some reason my children LOVE workbooks.

I also purchased the Draw, and Write Through History series for art and a pile of Lamplighter books for more reading. One can never have enough good books around!

I am now taking the next 3 weeks to plan the school year and we will get started on July 6th!

I always get so excited when the new books arrive everything is so crisp and new.

Strawberry picking

Due the the never ending rain we seem to have here this month we had to pick on Saturday. I tend to avoid places on Saturdays they are always so crowded and not as much fun then. The only benefit was that David would be able to come with us. Little did I know how nice that would be! I have always picked during the week so as not to interfere with our time together, it takes a long time with 4 children, although every year it gets easier as they pick more and more. What I experienced this time was wonderful, when someone needed something David was there and I never had to stop picking! I have never gotten my baskets filled so fast! 40 pounds in one hour and we had so much fun, even if the fields were muddy and the berries a bit wet. We then went home and made jam. 50 pints this year, I hope it lasts 'til next!

Too much..

I think we have been reading Amelia Bedelia a little to much around here!

June 4th

We went to get Gwen's pictures taken today. She did a fabulous job and I had such a hard time choosing!

June 3rd

What does one do when there are not enough rooms for the children during rest time? This has been an issue for a while. I keep trying different arrangements. Boys in one room, girls in the other. One on my bed, one on the sofa, and one in each room. Each one of those scenarios has its problems. Someone always wants to get up before its time, or talk, play with toys, or they fall asleep where I need to be. So the solution I keep coming back to is stick one in the bathtub! I know, I know it's a bit strange, but the bathtub is so big and quite comfortable with a layer of blankets. It has become the prized place to nap/rest around here. EVERYONE wants to sleep in the bathtub!

June 2nd

In the shadow of the cross

June 1st

We made our monthly visit to Sam's club today. It's always an adventure and takes at least half the day. We went to Wal-Mart first to return some things and then to Sam's for pizza and shopping. I also picked up sugar and sure-gel for making strawberry jam. We are going picking later this week, anyone want to come? :)

I also finished hanging my old windows on the walls. It really fills up the empty space without making the room seem smaller. I hope to put photos behind the panes of glass at some point. I'll share more photos when I get that part of the project done.

May 31st

David hung the cabinet in the bathroom! I still need the knobs, but it works and I have a place to store hair bows and cleaning supplies. Now to find an oval mirror to soften all the lines in this small space!

It was impossible to get a good photo. The lighting is weird and the walls are dark. But you get the idea, I just need to decorate, and perhaps change out the christmas soap dispenser. :)

May 30th

Over the weekend we worked in the yard again, but not until I went to a few yard sales first! I just can't resist, especially when my neighbor drives up and offers to drive to them! We only went to one subdivision sale as we didn't have much time. I still managed to buy a used bicycle for 20.00 with a custom gel seat for comfort, and an antique rake. I am thinking of hanging the rake in the laundry room to hang wet towels on while they are waiting to be washed. The bicycle we have been looking for so we can all ride as a family, David was very happy with this purchase!

While I was out David managed to dig up the bushes the neighbor is giving us and bring them down the hill! I have instant landscaping and the bushes look so nice! They are planted on the south side of the house, where everyone can see them and they soften the hard lines and ugly heat pump. I will eventually edge this area with stone when I build the wall in the front yard and plant some perennials in front of them. I am thinking of putting shutters on this side of the house to match the front and give a bit more curb appeal.