The weather is balmy and enjoyable, especially for December. Mean Ol' Mama snapped this photo of the boys eating Chinese out on the picnic table. What a collection of oddities: chopsticks, cowboy boots, a football cap, a broken rifle, and a boy in shorts in December.
Branch doesn't quite have the hang of chopsticks, but Poppins has made the rule that they all learn, so he's giving it his best shot. The other boys usually choose the sticks over forks.
Another odd shot: stir fry and...
Peppermint Mocha coffee???? We drink a lot of different teas, but today was a coffee treat for Mean Ol' Mama.
The Girl is trying to decide why Anders is hiding. Is it because he doesn't want to do his Algebra, or perhaps it's so viewers won't know whose dirty feet those are. Hmmmm...the perplexities of boyhood...
The Girl was in charge of supper preparation, so she faithfully scrubbed potatoes without complaining. This is NOT her favorite chore, so she showed maturity in doing her duty.
Speaking of duty, Anders proves himself faithful in the next photo by doing a certain right hand motion over and over and over...Is he always so compliant, you ask? Not so, but he's certainly making progress. Whining about duty brings more of what they're trying to avoid, so it's to their benefit not to whine.
Josiah and The Girl decided to pick up fallen limbs out in the yard for the burning pile. We've had quite a bit of wind and rain, so limbs are usually scattered here and there.
ChubChub was given the chore of washing Mean Ol' Mama's bread proofing container. He got as much bubbles on himself as he did on the dirty dish, but it was a profitable 10 minutes of training.
The Algebra boys had a good time playing with ChubChub before their teacher arrived. He gets more than his share of attention.
The older boys were hired to detail-clean Mean Ol' Mama's kitchen. What a blessing to have strong, able fellows who are willing to do jobs such as these. Were they paid? One of them is working off a debt for the recent purchase of his .22, and the other received a bit of pocket money. They have worked much harder for as much pay, so they were quite pleased and even have made plans for other such jobs around the home that don't seem to get done often enough.
And this little guy? Even such a Mean Ol' Mama as I could not resist letting him have the last cookie. Just check out those eyes, that little pout.
Branch doesn't quite have the hang of chopsticks, but Poppins has made the rule that they all learn, so he's giving it his best shot. The other boys usually choose the sticks over forks.
Another odd shot: stir fry and...Peppermint Mocha coffee???? We drink a lot of different teas, but today was a coffee treat for Mean Ol' Mama.
The Girl is trying to decide why Anders is hiding. Is it because he doesn't want to do his Algebra, or perhaps it's so viewers won't know whose dirty feet those are. Hmmmm...the perplexities of boyhood...
The Girl was in charge of supper preparation, so she faithfully scrubbed potatoes without complaining. This is NOT her favorite chore, so she showed maturity in doing her duty.
Speaking of duty, Anders proves himself faithful in the next photo by doing a certain right hand motion over and over and over...Is he always so compliant, you ask? Not so, but he's certainly making progress. Whining about duty brings more of what they're trying to avoid, so it's to their benefit not to whine.
Josiah and The Girl decided to pick up fallen limbs out in the yard for the burning pile. We've had quite a bit of wind and rain, so limbs are usually scattered here and there.
ChubChub was given the chore of washing Mean Ol' Mama's bread proofing container. He got as much bubbles on himself as he did on the dirty dish, but it was a profitable 10 minutes of training.
The Algebra boys had a good time playing with ChubChub before their teacher arrived. He gets more than his share of attention.
The older boys were hired to detail-clean Mean Ol' Mama's kitchen. What a blessing to have strong, able fellows who are willing to do jobs such as these. Were they paid? One of them is working off a debt for the recent purchase of his .22, and the other received a bit of pocket money. They have worked much harder for as much pay, so they were quite pleased and even have made plans for other such jobs around the home that don't seem to get done often enough.
And this little guy? Even such a Mean Ol' Mama as I could not resist letting him have the last cookie. Just check out those eyes, that little pout.
