Thursday, April 23, 2009

This Past Week

Anders moved his chicks to their new home. Each boy has a different breed of chickens, and some of them are quite pretty. Josiah worked on his new garden, planting Kentucky Wonder beans with a friend.
Row, row, row your raft...
And now, presenting... a floating head!
The boys hammered out knives on the forge. Old saw blades certainly come in handy.
Stennes caught up on his Greek translation.
Anders caught up on his, as well!
Mean Ol' Mama found these sweet notes on her bed from The Girl. She's such a cutie.
A friend brought fresh kale to share for salads. Quite tasty!
Poppins bought the kids a new, much-needed trampoline. Gotta read those instructions first.
And now to try it out! Wheeeeeee!!!
We went preaching locally last Sunday and had a nice time. The people were very kind. This place is quite large and we nearly lost our voices singing loudly to those who were behind us and further in front [not in the photo].
Teresa and Mean Ol' Mama headed out with the kids at 5:00 a.m. Monday morning. We stopped at a state park for breakfast because the kids were starving. Hey, kids, you're starving, remember? Kids? Yoo-hoo??!!
The boys ate down by the lake. It was so fresh and pretty that morning.
We spent the afternoon/night at a dear friend's home. Guess what? More boys!
Thankfully, this family also has two sweet girls. The oldest read bedtime stories to The Girl.
Tuesday morning the boys went birding with a shore-bird expert and Dr. Lynch, Josiah's surgeon (it's a long story). They had a really good time.

We went racing away to Fort Morris, missed the turn, did a U-turn on a country road and promptly got stuck in the marshy soil. Thankfully, the boys were strong enough to push us out, but Anders and Caleb ended up wearing a good bit of the mud. Teresa and Mean Ol' Mama could hardly see for laughing so hard!
We stopped for a quick lunch of braunschweiger on crackers and sweet/spicy chips. Sounds strange, but the boys really enjoyed it.
We made a quick visit to one of the oldest cemeteries in the United States (early 1700s).
We felt pretty special when they opened Fort Morris just for us (another long story).
In the museum:
We enjoyed listening to the speaker discuss Colonial life at the Fort.
Smell that block of tea, Branch? Wouldn't Mean Ol' Mama love to have it?
Participating in old-fashioned games:
We then headed out to Jekyll Island after visiting two more wildlife refuges, looking for more birds. The beach on the Island was lovely, and we enjoyed our hotel stay.
Wednesday we visited Fort Frederica on Saint Simons Island. Watch out for these two soldiers!
Look at this lovely lassie!
Branch and The Girl earned their Junior Ranger badges for this Fort. They had such a good time.

We saw Christ Church where John and Charles Wesley preached. They stood under this tree to preach some of their first sermons on the Island.
We then raced like mad to the Okefenokee Swamp, trying to reach the 3:00 boat tour. We made it! The guide actually waited on us, and we were the only ones on the ride. It was interesting, especially since the guide had been homeschooled, too.
Snap! Watch your fingers, fellas!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Where did the last two weeks go???

Busy, busy, busy. We've been busy. Yep. Pop decided to put up the preaching tent for three nights. The boys really put forth their best efforts. ChubChub tries hards to dress himself. Good thing his steps are ordered by the Lord, isn't it?
Going up, going up...
After putting up the tent, the boys were just a little hungry. No time for forks, boys?
Anders made cookies in preparation for company.
The Girl thought that perhaps we would have enough for a few days.
This was the first time we played "electronically". The boys did such a good job, but street preaching doesn't require nearly the amount of work to produce good sound.
ChubChub made a special friend.
Look! Here's another friend for ChubChub. Isn't he a cutie, too?
The ladies hosted an Easter sunrise breakfast under the tent. It was very special for everyone who attended. The highlight of the meal was a wonderful Banana Pudding made by a dear friend. It's hard to beat dessert for breakfast!
The Girl and her friends were just a bit chilled.
ChubChub is now a genuine cowboy, but the little calf doesn't seem too impressed.
Stennes and one of his best friends took the canoe out early in the morning.
One of our guests decided to put on a fashion show for us .
And The Girl was thrilled to have some more girls for 6 days straight! Aaaahhh, lots of giggles...
Do you see ChubChub? He wasn't cooperating with the game rules, and the big kids put him out. Best to get along, buddy.
This is what we saw every day for 6 days. Lots of smiles, food, cookies, beans and rice, peas and rice, rice and beans, bread, more beans, more rice, more bread. It was fun for us all! Our friends from Minnesota via the Solomon Islands are delightful people. Their mother is a "kindred spirit" for Mean Ol' Mama, although she isn't as mean...[...sigh...]
It was hard to load them up for the trip home. They didn't want to leave, and we didn't want to let them. We have since established a tri-family blog for educational support as we pursue a language-intensive, deliberate-living classical model of education. Sounds fancy, but it's mucho work-o. You're welcome to check in sometime to "listen" to the children discuss not only progress in their Latin/Greek/Spanish/English/French/Chinese, but to share delights of their daily life, such as gardening, animals, and other interests around the homestead. http://www.eternalexcellence.blogspot.com/

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Silly Photos

ChubChub dresses himself and does his own hair. Can you tell? He's playing "sneak boy". Hmmm....
Now he's looking for treasure under the sofa and he changed socks.
What a fabulous gift from a "deer" friend! Forty pounds of batsmati rice. Won't last long around here...
Discussing an up-coming bird competition. Part of the fun is the planning.
Swimming noodles as weapons? These kids are real "toughies".
Updating their bird journals
Why is there a blanket on the couch?
More "sneaky boy" fun, and now he has a big brother to join in!
Our new teenager. Thirteen on April 1st. No fooling.
What a fabulous gift from a favorite friend of the family!
And still more goodies...
The Girl received an unexpected blessing. She's even cuter than her new purse.
Browsing through books on another rainy day and picking out familiar English words
In the lap of luxury
Books, books, books, even on the table