Busy Weekend Fun!

It is safe to say we overbooked this weekend and had to miss out on a few things, but overall it was great!   I woke up on Friday morning and heard James rummaging around downstairs before "wake up time" (aka 7am).  I looked down over the railing and saw him bent over the couch with just his underwear on.  When I asked him what he was doing, he looked up at me (with the costume in the picture on his face) and said, "SHHH! I am operating on the patient and I need silence!"   It was really hard not to laugh, but he was dead serious.  He then came up stairs to show me the doctor outfit he made himself:)

This week we have lost 2 chickens in 3 days to some predator in our yard during the day, so the remaining 4 hens and 1 rooster are being confined to their run for a few weeks.  They kids felt badly for them, so when I stepped outside, this is what I found.  All of the kids have been taking turns in the run telling the chickens stories or reading to them, but this time they all got into the coop... I am sure the chickens were appreciative;)

Saturday the kids and I traveled north to celebrate Lily's 3rd birthday party. It was a beautiful day outside and she had an awesome My Little Pony party!  Happy 3rd Birthday Lily!

Sunday was Children's Sunday at church and such a cool service.  It is always so uplifting to see all of the kids participate in traditional "adult" roles throughout the service.  Noah really wanted to read the scripture and did an amazing job reading with impressive inflection and clarity in front of the whole congregation!  The most inspiring theme of this service is always being able to share with the larger church family what the youth have been up to all year.  It is a chance to see not only their spiritual growth, but also how they are reacting to difficult situations with love and compassion.  We were proud parents on this day:) 

Flint Woods and Goats:)

Gabe had yet to experience and explore Flint Woods in Farmington, so we took him Sunday after church.  We had a silly, fun time and got some exercise on top of it:)

This week we took a field trip with some fellow homeschoolers to this awesome Nigerian dwarf goat farm. They make some delicious goat cheese and other goodies on the farm AND sell the babies... they were so cute and cuddly!  Everyone got up the courage to cuddle a goat and even partook in a retelling of the Billy Goat's Gruff with real goats.  Definitely one of the top field trips this year:)  Check out their website- http://www.sunflowerfarm.info They have open farm times where you can just go and hold the goats, have a yoga class or just pick up some amazing cheese products.

Spring is Here!

We have had an awesome week and, hopefully, one that is previewing our summer!  We got to have Alexander for the afternoon and the kids were thrilled.  They taught him what a chicken says, followed him all around the yard as he chased the chickens, then cried when they turned around to chase him:)  Audrey also got the chance to not be the youngest and took advantage by teaching Alexander how to let her "help" him eat his popsicle...

Wednesday we all got to go in and see what Noah and his classmates have been learning in violin lessons. In this school district we are blessed with an absolutely fantastic and enthusiastic music teacher and program. They have learned so much this year and we can't wait to see what next year will bring!

We opened the pool this week.  Normally, the first time in is a super quick one or two jumps... today it was a frigid 58 degrees in the water and they all got in and STAYED IN for 25 minutes!!  I think they would have stayed in longer, but honestly, I started to worry that they would get too cold.  They even convinced Gabe to jump in and he complained that the water was hurting his skin and hopped back out after one jump;)  

Burial Weekend

This past weekend we laid a great man to rest with a military burial.  We didn't realize it before hand, but when we arrived at the cemetery and saw the two airman standing watch over Dad's flag draped casket, we realized that this was the important part of saying good bye to him.  The other funeral, with visiting hours was more something he would have tolerated and done for the benefit of others, but this was the service that was important to him.  I wish that I would have thought to take a picture of the beautiful scene, but instead it will instead be a memory that I will be able to cherish and an awesome way to remember my Dad.  

As we were walking to the burial site I immediately realized that there had been a loop-hole in how we prepared the kids for this event. They all seemed to have an appropriate understanding of what was to happen and why we were there... everyone except Audrey.  We had a few minutes of her being inconsolable because she thought we were there for Grandpa to "wake back up".  It was heartbreaking. It was a beautiful day out to allow us a final goodbye and have another gathering to share memories of such a kindhearted, loving and thoughtful man who we miss more with every passing day.

We spent the rest of the weekend eating lots of great food, visiting and even took a trip for Caribou's town wide yard sale with Nannie, Aunt Amy, Trey and Lily.  We stocked up on ice skates, hiking boots and other winter gear. Gabe really got into the yard sales and we eventually got him to admit that he was having fun... right after I stopped him from buying 3 or 4 of the same shirt;) 

Golf, Orchestra & Honey Bees!

Last Saturday was absolutely gorgeous!  Warm weather and bright blue skies.  We took advantage with some bike riding, including Noah's inaugural ride on the road and the rail trail.  We went a significant distance including up the hills back to our house and he was a trooper... we will see if he asks to do it again;)  We were also able to take the whole family to the driving range.  Watching the kids carry their clubs, get their gloves on and swinging wildly at the balls was a bit emotional... when I finally stopped crying it was a really special time and I knew that my dad was there in spirit (and maybe grateful that he wasn't there in person to try and teach all four kids to golf in one place). 

On Sunday we took in another Portland Symphony Orchestra's Family Discovery Concerts. They do such a fantastic job exposing kids to the orchestra at these events.  The kids all tried out lots of different instruments.  Audrey's favorite was the violin and kept going back to the same lady 4 or 5 times.  Ben is destined to be a brass instrument player... in retrospect this is pretty obvious.  He sat down at the french horn and, once he figured out what to do with his mouth, he played it impressively loud... the volunteers were taken aback... this same scenario was repeated at the tuba.  He now tells everyone who will listen that he is going to play the french horn when he gets bigger.

To continue the excitement, on Monday our bees arrived. Gabe has been taking a beekeeping class through adult ed at the high school this spring and was excited to get started.  In true homeschooling form, we are now fully immersed in bee biology and socialization.  The kids are telling complete strangers (to them) lots of minuscule facts about bees so we know they are retaining something;)  We (I use the term "we" here loosely) still haven't located the queen in either hive, but they appear to be healthy and thriving... stay tuned!   

Spring Fun & the Fiddlehead Festival

We have adjusted back to East coast time and are starting to tackle some of the spring projects/chores.   The chickens have started laying their eggs in bizarre places, so it is like a treasure hunt each day to find them all.  Noah collected several boxes from our recycling and made a drill to drill to the center of the earth for his siblings. They were so excited and spent more of the afternoon decorating and playing in their own "cars".

One of our spring projects this year is to clear out our raspberry bushes so we can actually harvest them this year.  But, part of the clearing process it digging up the invasive vine that has strangled out many plants and trees over the years.  This, we hope, is the origination point, but it is the size of a tree root and not easy to remove.

James has started playing T-ball and is slowly getting the hang of how the game works.  He hasn't decided yet if he likes it;)  The warmer weather has mostly arrived and the kids are spending more and more time outside as we wind the school year down.  They mostly play well together and have some pretty elaborate storylines.  In this instance they are playing knights.  For the record, Audrey is not as distraught as she looks in the picture...  I believe that she is crying here because Noah was standing where she wanted to stand, or something equally as worthy of this type of hysterical reaction.  In the lower pictures Audrey is pouring water down her pants and into her boots as a way to "wash" her pants... the three year old psyche may be the end of us... ;)

Last weekend my mom came for a visit and was able to attend the Fiddlehead Festival with us.  We also put her to work and got some yard work done along with burning our massive brush pile... Dad would have been proud:)