Mean Ol' Mama

Sunday, April 3, 2011

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...

Sunday, March 20, 2011

The World's Longest Post...Or So It Seems

We've been really busy the past few weeks. Grandpa and Grandma came down for a nice visit, and we enjoyed being with them. The three older boys have been working at the U-Pick pretty steadily, and hopefully the work will let up a bit soon. Schoolwork has been sporadic. Below, Anders tries to work on a quick essay.

Branch didn't especially enjoy writing letters of apology. Quite a pained expression, eh?

On the other hand, Josiah and Stennes enjoyed dissecting a shark. "Yuck!" and "boys" seem to go well together...

These two little cuties couldn't quite make it through Bible time the other evening. Late nights and early mornings finally caught up with them.

Branch, another student, and his teacher have been working hard on some fairly complicated pieces.

The boys have been studying hard for 2 major competitions coming up within the next few weeks. They have really learned a lot of interesting information.

Josiah and Anders went with Teresa to pick up a free tree. (This is a posed shot for the portfolio they are working on for this year's 4H competition.)

Branch and Grandpa spent some time vying for the title of "Champion Checker Player". Mean Ol' Mama enjoyed seeing their two extra checkers (we lost two). Ever had to crown an orange? How about a double -jump with a Seminole Pumpkin?

Grandma was kind enough to entertain The Girl and ChubChub. She was a good sport about reading, playing games, and listening to all sorts of silly stories.

We all went together to see the Power Team and their feats of strength. They gave a good message of salvation, and we enjoyed the show.

Guess who got sprayed with a shaken soda during part of the strengh demonstration?

One of the Power Team members...

The ladies enjoyed playing Scrabble together quite a few times. By the way, don't play with Chan unless you're a glutton for punishment. You won't win!

Grandma, ChubChub, and Dr. Seuss...

We visited Carrabelle, FL, for a WWII weekend. We really had a great time! The ship below was our first stop for a tour.

Mean Ol' Mama and The Girl enjoyed the small kitchen (or galley).

We then met up with friends to enjoy a parade. Just look at that group of hoodlums down below!

ChubChub was trying to decide if he liked his new flag best, or the bag of parade candy in his other hand...

We then went to tour a Coast Guard cutter, but Mean Ol' Mama decided to hold down the dock instead.

These two fellows seem to be farmers, not sailors!

Then back to our friends' beach house to await a demonstrated landing, D-Day style. The boat is coming closer...

Will they land?

Unfortunately, the soldiers thought the landing was too risky, so the ship headed back for home. The kids still had a great time just being at the beach.

The sun was warm, but the wind and water were cold!

Can you see ChubChub and The Girl at the edge of the shore, watching the ship disappear?

Not quite enough fish for supper, buddy ...

We were asked to perform at a small church in Chattahoochee, FL, and we had a good time and met some very kind folks.

We also enjoyed a demonstration at our monthy homeschool meeting. The Sons of the American Revolution group in our area brought along many interesting objects and talked about life "way back when".