Slow Going...

Branch and The Girl are in serious contemplation about their math. They're in the same book, doing the same lessons, so a little peer pressure is good for both of them. During a break, The Girl helped ChubChub with one of his books. Notice both tongues hanging out? They must be concentrating...

ChubChub has enjoyed our new chicks. All 225 of them. Yep, you read that right. 225. It's a long story.

ChubChub and The Girl enjoyed dyeing Easter eggs with two of their friends. A bit messy, but fun for all.

Mean Ol' Mama celebrated 41 years of life-as-we-know-it-on-Earth. She received many special gifts, including the one below. Lots of exciting surprises!

Her birthday is also her anniversary, and Poppins wanted to know what she wanted in celebration. Her request? Take everyone to the store and let everyone choose his favorite HUGE bag of cereal! Did you read the word HUGE? We're still eating cereal, and the kids are experiencing the "diminishing marginal utility" effect first hand. Yes, it's an economics term, but it also applies to food: it may be tasty at first, but the appeal wears off quickly after the 15th bowlful. HUGE bags, mind you. We had a lot of fun choosing, but the children understand even more clearly now why we eat the way we normally do!

Soccer games are steady and exciting to watch...

Doing schoolwork here and there; finishing up at the College for the semester; thinking too many thoughts about better organization within the home; enjoying the weather; trying to balance too many spinning plates...

Life in 32 photos (give or take a few!)

Mean Ol' Mama made a beautiful Chai Pound Cake, but her fusion-inspired dessert didn't want to come out of its pan. It was delicious nevertheless... On a sadder note, one of Mo'M's college students passed away after a long-term fight with cancer. She was in tears for a while remembering his positive attitude in the classroom. She and The Girl attended his visitation and brought his family one of his essays, which they read at his funeral.

The Girl was excited to catch up on quite a bit of her Spanish Practica/Gramatica/Ortografia/Fonetica books, and she headed to the recycle bin with a big grin.

ChubChub is coming along nicely in his reading, and he read these five "real" books so he could take a photo to show you.

However, he struggled a bit when it came to the letter "X"; both he and Mean Ol' Mama wiped off drops of drool as he over-emphasized the sound, trying to get it out correctly.

Doesn't Josiah look so sweet and peaceful as he works on his Algebra? He's tired from working in the fields over at the U-Pick. How can you tell he's been working? Just check out his legs in the photos below...

His socks didn't reach over the tops of his boots, and dirt inevitably finds its way through.

Anders is peaceful as well as he works on math review, but check out his hands.

Yes, he did wash up, but field dirt is stubborn...

The boys spent the day at the Joseph Jones Ecological Research Center.

Meanwhile, Poppins took Mo'M, The Girl and ChubChub to a local auction. He bid on a few things, and two of his purchases were for Mo'M...

Books! Surprise! These are two really nice cookbooks that she chose and hoped to win in the bidding.

The kids are enjoying their soccer games. ChubChub is quite the sport.Anders has been designated the "intimidator" for his team because of his size; he's supposed to make the opponent (who will be running his way) feel unsure about trying to get the ball past Anders!

Branch and The Girl are on the same team, which is nice. The weather has almost warmed up enough to swim outdoors. Almost!

The boys put together a bulletin board promoting 4H for the UGA Extension office in Tifton. This counts towards upcoming portfolio competitions.

The Poultry Judging team came in 9th out of 18 teams. Doesn't seem like a very good score, but they're better than last year, and they certainly learned a lot and had a great time!

The older boys went away Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to the east coast of Georgia for their annual bird identification competition. The water and weather were both chilly, but they couldn't help trying to swim. They climbed a tree in tandem...

They visited Light-Horse Harry Lee's gravesite...

They enjoyed observing the wild horses on Cumberland Island...

They had itchy "gun" fingers when they saw the wild turkeys on the island...

They visited the ruins of the Carnegie mansion...

They held down a limb...

Over on St. Simons Island, they visited the statue of John Wesley...They visited the Methodist church that the Wesley brothers founded...

They visited the lighthouse...

And after a 24-hour bird sighting trek across the state of Georgia, they won first place for the most money raised, first place in the high school division, and GRAND CHAMPIONS over all the divisions! Incredible!

Quick News Flash!

http://bainbridgega.com/news/publish/041111youth4h.shtml

Lately...

The boys participated in the state-level Livestock Judging competition up in Athens. This was the first year for them, and they did very well. Their 4-member team placed third in the state (out of 14 teams), and Josiah placed third in individual. Anders, Branch, The Girl, and ChubChub are playing soccer at the local YMCA. They've been practicing and will begin games on the 11th. ChubChub's team (below) is so much fun to watch! Anders (below in the purple shorts) has also enjoyed his team.

Stennes and Josiah helped their band director finish out a concrete project behind his house.

Josiah has been spending the night with his new dog, Lady. She's a high-strung English Setter who needs Josiah's good instruction to develop her hunting skills. He's been sleeping out in her pen so she will stay calm and stop howling. True love and dedication...

The Girl hosted a "ball" tea party for her friends. Aren't they all beautiful? We had such a fun time admiring their outfits.

Because the party was a "ball", we tried to have "ball" food: cake balls, a cheese ball, sausage balls, and other yummy tidbits.

Delicious!

April 1st was also Stennes' 15th birthday party, so all of The Girl's friends brought their brothers to play with the boys.

Poppins challenged Josiah to a rope-pull contest.

And a tug-of-war broke out...!

A "way-back-when" friend dropped in unexpectedly and brought an April Fool's surprise: Kitty Litter Cake! Kind of discomforting to look at, but quite delicious.

The boys sang "I Love You, Lord" in harmony that they have been learning during band practice down in Tallahassee.

These fellows brought home a surprise for Mean Ol' Mama: a venemous water moccasin! No thanks, guys!

We enjoyed an easy time with a few migrant workers Sunday afternoon. They're starting to come back to our area for the harvest, and we're looking forward to possibly seeing a few familiar faces.

MO'Mama is seeing the end of another semester on the horizon; the boys are working now and then at the U-Pick; we have three performances this Tuesday; trying to figure out a block-schedule for homeschooling to knock some of the subject areas out of the way before summer kicks in; working in the little gardens around the house; thinking ahead to competitions in a few months; preparing for Poultry Judging competition in two weeks; breathing, breathing, breathing...