Painting.....

Feathered Friends

The children have been discovering so many nests this spring, and have been having such fun making friends with all of the little hatch-lings! 

Finding and feeding them worms......

.....even giving this sweet little fellow a helping hand as he was learning to fly!

I love that they are able to experience all of this.

Some of the many blessings of living out in the country.

Miss Posy's favorite lilac bush (where she has her pretend outdoor home) has two nests in it!

(~It is a good thing that Alfred the Gray-t  has been off adventuring lately.

We are hoping that they will escape his notice.)

Life has been very full these past few months.

Full of so much living.

From Our Fourth of July....

 

We went to spend the day with my folks, where I admired mom's flowers...

while the kids and the men played golf on grandpa's "mini-golf course."

After which, we ate barbecued chicken, several sides, and lots of flag cake.

(Miss Posy helped me make and decorate it.)

Then there was a solemn reading of The Declaration of Independence and Patrick Henry's The War Inevitable.

And plenty of fireworks.

Such fun!

Hope you all had a happy Independence Day!

Popcorn and Puzzles....

......what we do on afternoons when it's "too wet to go out and too cold to play ball."

;)

A Duet?

The piano and I have been very dear friends for a very long time ~about twenty years to be exact! Each of my children, when babies, have had their place on my lap as I would play....and play.....and play!

So now it's Blue's turn. He loves to grasp my wrists, or place his hands over mine gently (usually gently;) while I play.

Priceless moments.

 I want to lock them away and save them forever. 

"There was an Old Woman.....

                                                                  
                                                            ......who lived in a shoe."

She had so many children,

that she secretly dreamed of living in a house like this:



Puppet Show......

I took these last night. Here are the little ones, trying hard to keep their eyes closed, while Daddy installs himself behind the couch with St. Nicholas and Peterbas.



......And here is St. Nicholas!!

Daddy....er....I mean the puppets;) soon garner a standing ovation from most of the audience.......and Boots has to climb up on to the couch to get an even closer look.

Everyone has been trying to be so very good, so that when they wake up in the morning they won't find straw from Peterbas instead of goodies from St. Nicholas in their shoes....;)

This is a little "family tradition" we started last year on the eve of St. Nicholas, before the kids put out their shoes. I got the idea from The Year & Our Children. It is a great book, which I highly recommend to anyone looking for ideas about celebrating the liturgical year with their children!

Nice Little Campfire

Our very first of the season.

Boots in the glow of the campfire. He enjoyed himself very much. And so did Big Brother and Miss Posy.....especially since they got to camp out in the tent with their daddy....

On the Front Porch

Miss Posy and I sat on the swing together during one of the less humid afternoons last week. We watched the white fluffy clouds racing across a deep blue sky...

Then Boots joined us, and I had to take a picture of his cute little feet.

He didn't stay with us long though.... Looking from the outside, inside the house was much more interesting than swinging. At least to him....;)