May happenings!

 My favorite month has not been the best May weather we've ever witnessed but the chilly weather exchanged for summer tempts overnight.  We went from chilly to hot!  The grass is already showing signs of dryness because we need rain and the warm days are drying things out fast!  I've been watering the garden and plants every day!  

May is the month for a lot of outside play and work!  The garden is doing great!  Lot's of kale, different kinds of radishes and we love fresh spinach!  I'm not sure why my buttercrunch lettuce is not great this year though.  It's not forming a nice head like it normally does.  I miss that but we've got other greens to be munching on!

The great outdoors is wonderful for the children to play in after school!  I love it when they come home and throw their backpacks on their hooks and go straight outside!  We've been busy with the 15 yards of mulch we ordered and the flowers are all planted now!

Matthew did all the scooping again this spring!  It's wonderful to have a young man help out with big chores like these!  The littles were a help too!

For the first time, I planted some wild flower seeds and sunflowers in rows behind the garden.  I can't wait to see them bloom.  The plants are growing slowly but coming along!

On the way to the dentist we saw an eagle in the field.  That was cool!

Wedding planning is hot and heavy on my mind and we made a stop at Carolines Rentals to rent a few items for the big day!

And the kids do not like the dentist appointments that we do twice a year but yet we come home and they play dentist.

More radishes to give away.  Truth is that I plant these for fun.  I love to watch things grow but no one here at our house loves them.  

The kids gave me my first set of iPods!  I'm loving them to listen to music or bible readings or podcast while cleaning the house!  Now I gotta figure out how to download books and get listening!

Meg and Mel came for the weekend last weekend and we love when they come!  The kids just play and have a blast!  So many games of Monopoly and extra treats were served!

My birthday celebrations just keep going!  Lena planned a day out for the Lapp Sisters to go out for lunch but not just any lunch, no, lunch was at the Port House Grill in MD!!!  We ate, we sat along the bay and just had a lovely day together!

The food was totally amazing!

It didn't suit Linda and Rosie and we missed them but the rest of the us had a great time!  Little Zayla went along and Bryce was our photographer!

Here's a quick look at the buttercrucnh lettuce.  Normally it's full of tender, white and green color leaves that are so yummy but this time I had to search for the best parts!

This looks like summer right here!!!!!  Lena's boys were here for the afternoon and they had a blast!  These cousins are ones that we see almost every single day.  We only live a mile apart.  We carpool every day to and from school.  We babysit each other's children a lot!  We ride our fourwheeler out to their house a couple times a week to just say hello!  We love doing life so close together!

Fresh lettuce and kale makes the best strawberry salad!

While Hunter and Ashlyn ate watermelon on the front porch, the other boys dissected a black bird with a dull knife.  Bryce had his eyes on the chocolate cake I made for dessert and he couldn't wait to have some!

Sourdough bread is something I am playing around with lately!  The bread is turning out great and I can't wait to try some other recipes soon!

School is winding down and we've got a full schedule up until the last day!!!  Summer vacation is right around the corner and we are excited about it!!!!

Have a great weekend!

Track and Field Day!

 The ending of school is drawing nearer for this 2020/2021 school term and it's crazy how fast it went!  We are beyond blessed to be in school with teachers in person teaching and helping these children learn - all mask free!!!!!

Kindergarten had a Mother's Day Tea time for moms to come to the classroom and have some tea and snacks with our scholar!  I love moments like these and really am proud of Austin and how he did well in his first year of school!  Mrs. Matherly was an excellent teacher with Mrs. Glick following right behind her!  I love this school!

Track and Field Day was next.  Austin was on the yellow team and Ashlyn was on red.  Both of them participated with the relay/team games in the morning.  The sun was shining but it was chilly.  Anything is better than ran though on a day like this so are grateful!

After lunch, we moved down to the track grounds and I watched Ashlyn run, throw softball and jump long jump!  I love days at school like these and the children were so tired when we finally got back home!  This was a fun day with our school family!

This was on my birthday and when I got home from this fun day at school, my mom and sister had gifts on the bar for me!  I'm so blessed!

We also went out to eat as a family to celebrate and my day was so rich and full of goodness!

Turning 40!

 Getting older is not something I'm rushing by no means but I also don't dread it.  There's no way of stopping time or aging so I take the start of face wrinkles, grey hairs and all those not so bad things that come with mid life aging gracefully!

My husband rocked my fortieth birthday surprise out of the park!  A few weeks ago, he gave me an early birthday card with nice words hand written from him!  The card had three pages and on the last page he wrote that I was going to go with my "buddies" to Waco, Texas.  Tickets, reservations and arrangements were all being put in place already!  I was so surprised and loved, loved my entire time in WACO!!!!  It was a girls trip with little sleep and much to see and do but a trip I will never forget!  Thanks Babe!!!!

On the day of my birthday, things were special then too!  The kids blessed me happy birthdays!  Mike arranged for all of us to eat dinner together!  School had track and field day and many people wished me wishes there too!  Thank you everyone for the coffee drinks and gifts!  I'm so blessed!

We celebrate birthdays!  The birthday person in our family choses where they would like to eat.  I choose to go with Mexican food!  The night was fun and the littles were so tired out from track and field events earlier in the day!  I love these people with all my heart!!!!

I think they call turning 40 "over the hill".  If life is a hill, it's been a good journey!  Ups and downs, we all have them!  Childhood was so rich for me!  I grew up with Christian parents that taught me how to love Jesus by example!  I "ran around" with a group of friends that made my teenage years fun with clean fun and tons of laughter, good surroundings and the salvation messages preached at my hometown church brought so much wisdom to me!  I got married right out of high school and didn't regret it a minute!  I birthed four healthy babies and I'm currently planning our oldest daughters wedding.  Time flies but my life has been blessed by God above!  I live in abundance and I know it!  I know that most of the world doesn't have clean water and a fridge full of food and a Christian school to send my children to every day without wearing a mask.  My husband loves his job!  We are all healthy!  I know that this is not a normal for most of the world!  I know it's a blessing only from God!  And I thank HIM for it!

Looking ahead at this summer things will change with Hadassah getting married and moving out.  We have plans to switch up some of the bedrooms.  We are thrilled to add Jeremiah to our every family gatherings and events!  We are not losing a daughter but gaining a son!  I look forward to this!

Cheers to turning 40!!!!  May the world see that it is because of Jesus that I am here on earth right now for a good reason!

Austin Field Trip Day!

 Kindergarten is adorable and I was happy to hear that I could ride along to the zoo with Austin and his school friends.  

This was my first time at this zoo and it was so cool!

Camels and giraffes!

It was a warm sunny day and perfect to walk around to see so many neat animals that we don't normally see every day!

I thought the owl was super cool!  Austin liked the bob cat!

I bought Austin a quail from a porcupine and some of his friends did too!  How cool and sharp!

After the zoo we went to a park for the kids to play and do this zip line!  

Linville Hill does an amazing job with field trips and they try really hard to make it still happen with all the restrictions still in place at many fun places.  I am very grateful to the teachers that organize and get days like this accomplished for the kids!!!!

Thank you Mrs. Matherly and all those helping out!