Friday Finale

The Girl and ChubChub spent some quality time reading jokes and silly stories from a thrift store treasure. Such a cute book... Branch entertained himself with a biography about Squanto. All the kids love to read, which is a huge blessing.

Branch and The Girl finished up their 4th Greek workbook. Even Mean Ol' Mama was impressed. They gladly tore off the pages to be recycled.

Lest you believe that we live a charmed life, just look what happened when Mean Ol' Mama and her ChocoBanana cake had a disagreement. Ooops! Not only did she make a Big Ol' Mess, but the falling cake pan knocked over a huge glass jar of strawberry jelly. Cement floor. Glass jar. Strawberry jelly. ChocoBanana cake dough. Think about it.

What's New / What's Cooking Wednesday

Josiah is ready to go into the chicken-selling business. Hopefully his animals will sell well. Mean Ol' Mama treated the kids to doughnuts after a Girls' Night Out in Tallahassee. Yummy! The boys received their new chicks in the mail this morning. They're pretty cute. The chicks are cute, too...heh heh heh...

This little guy fell right asleep as soon as he was picked up. Shhh...

We had leftovers from last night's restaurant meal: a bit of curried chicken and chickpeas. This was mixed with left-over rice, a bit of mushroom soy, onions, and slivers of cabbage. Nice!

ChubChub is working on using chopsticks for his meals. He's been writing "words" on the wall behind his chair, too. Quite a mixture of letters, eh?

Mean Ol' Mama baked fresh bread with raw oats and raw sunflower seeds thrown in for good crunch. The "store-bought" bread bags were in a big, new roll from a friend. (Thanks, Rebecca in MN!) The bags are quite handy for baked goods. And the bread is quite yummy...

After a meal of baked chicken, potato logs, corn, cabbage, black beans, and bread, we finished "Dinner at Our House" with a sweet treat: Choco-Oat Peppermint Cookies.

Tomorrow is another busy day. Mean Ol' Mama has decided that she doesn't have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder); rather, she has IDD (Intention Deficit Disorder). Lots of intentions and goals, but sometimes they just don't happen...

Whoo Whoo! Busy Weekend!

Josiah found a new friend out in the yard. Mean Ol' Mama screamed. Yep. We visited friends in Dawson Saturday afternoon, and ChubChub also found a new friend. Mean Ol' Mama didn't scream this time.

Our friends are staying in this neat tenant house while they're building a sharp little house back on their property.

The boys really enjoyed their visit. This family raises many different animals, and there are few questions that they can't answer about many different topics. It's really fun just being with them.

The boys helped milk the goats, and glasses of goats' milk were passed around for all to enjoy.

On Sunday we invited a group of Hispanics to our house for supper. They really had a good time walking around the property and seeing new sights.

Poppins has a new hobby: quail.

After they visited the animals, they enjoyed a game of basketball.

They even gave the zip-slide a try. Wheeee!!!

...such gracious people...

The boys helped them make Tie Sticks to help them in their fieldwork. Stennes and Levi use these sticks when they're tying tomatoes at the U-Pick farm. Our visitors were very pleased to have these sticks because the work really goes much quicker and easier.

Branch and Herlinda picked weeds out of the tomato plants.

...a good weekend and a busy week ahead...

Weekend Wrap-Up

We've had a busy-but-smoother week. Schoolwork every day, housework every day, garden stuff every day, lots of food every day. Mean Ol' Mama is finished with College teaching until June (yippee!!), we're between competitions and performances (yee haw!!), and the boys have been feeling the urge to burn energy. They've been jumping, running, wrestling, sweating, and having a good ol' time. And it is fun to sit out in the cool weather and watch these boys/men as they grow...

And then there's ChubChub the Cutie Pie. See what a romancer he is? Flowers for Mean Ol' Mama...Who could resist?

...jumping doubles...

...trying to stay a-foot...

...two at a time...

...even three at a time!!...

There's that cutie again!

The Girl and Branch helped our Very Special Cousin make decorative bags for a project.

Last weekend's bird competition went well. The team placed 2nd in the High School division with a total of 144 birds, only 4 behind the 1st team! We're really proud of the boys (Branch is not in the photo below, but he's on the team, too). They raised $505 for Birdsong Nature Refuge in Thomasville, and they took the check by on their way to band in Tallahassee. No sleep for two days, rainy weather, and racing across the state really shows what these boys are made of...

Another busy week is headed our way. We have two performances on Tuesday, schoolwork to catch up, the migrant camps should be filling up this next month, but we're going to be just fine. Yep. Keep easin' along...

Mean Ol' Mama and the Big 40 !!!

Mean Ol' Mama's birthday began nicely with a gift of rosemary and oregano for the herb garden. ChubChub decided to celebrate by making a kite out of plastic bags. Oh, to be so young again...The Girl, MOM, and Chan spent a relaxing evening with a puzzle. It's amazing how fun/frustrating this hobby can be!

Poppins has been working diligently in the blueberries; he's trying to improve the soil and other growing conditions. He's quite a fellow, that Poppins...

"Yoo-hoo! Where's ChubChub?"

Poppins and the boys industriously gleaned some pine bark mulch that was spilled by the side of the road. Just a bit of time resulted in quite a bit of mulch for the garden projects.

The bags were almost as heavy as Branch. He's quite a helper, though...

And to top off a nice weekend, Poppins gave Mean Ol' Mama this beautiful flower for her 40th birthday. Isn't it gorgeous?

She also received cards, a cookbook, and chocolate (of course). There were other sweet gifts, and each was so much fun to open. Thanks, everyone!