Springtime!

Signs of spring are everywhere here in the south!   The trees are all in bloom, the grass is bright green, the goats have started kidding, and there is a dusting of pollen everywhere!

 

This is our Nubian "Licorice".  She was the first to have babies this year and she gave us triplets.  We sold the girl and are hoping to sell the two boys soon!

I love this Bradford pear tree!  McKenzie and Matthew planted another Bradford pear on our property the summer that my mom died.  We thought we had lost it that summer but it is doing great now!  It looks like it has grown a foot since last year!

Macheus got busted for getting into Madeline's purse!  She has had TWO brand new Burt's Bees lipsticks ruined by this little booger lately.

The hens are all laying again.  They went on strike during some of the cold winter.  So glad to have our own eggs again.  It was really hard to pay over $4.50 for "not so fresh" eggs from the grocery store!  We laughed when I brought a carton home and it had poop on it! :o)

                                                           Malachi  :o)

Myles.... always dressed like a cowboy!

                                                Mr. Independent!

His favorite one liners these days:  "No!"  "I do it!"  "I dunna dit you!" (I'm gonna get you.)  "How you?" (How are you?)  He is a mess and definitely keeps us on our toes these days!

Madeline working Candy after she has had a long lazy winter eating!

Very thankful for this new friend of ours that is a horse trainer/ riding instructor.  She is helping the girls with Candy and trying to help us find another horse to buy.  The girls are wanting to ride together now that Mariah has gotten older.

Marc, Matthew and Malachi just got back from a camping trip this evening.  We had quite an adventure while they were gone.  It is late so I will save that story for another post!  I took the kids to town for supper tonight (love Barberitos kids night!) and the guys got home before we did.  I got a text from Matthew that said,  "You guys didn't tell us that we had more goats."  While we were out another goat,  "Ivy" had twins.... one boy and one girl.  Matt and Madeline just headed out to the barn for a late night feeding.  This is a fun but VERY busy time of year for us!

~Until next time!

George Washington Carver

"I asked the Great Creator what the universe was made for. ‘Ask for something more in keeping with that little mind of yours,’ he replied. What was man made for? Little man, you still want to know too much. Cut down the extent of your request and improve the intent.” Then I told the Creator I wanted to know all about the peanut. He replied that my mind was too small to know all about the peanut, but He said he would give me a handful of peanuts. And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of the earth—to you it shall be meat.’ I carried the peanuts into my laboratory and the Creator told me to take them apart and resolve them into their elements. With such knowledge as I had of chemistry and physics I set to work to take them apart. I separated the water, the fats, the oils, the gums, the resins, sugars, starches, pectoses, and amino acids. There! I had the parts of the peanuts all spread out before me. I looked at Him and He looked at me. ‘Now you know what the peanut is,’ He said. “Why did you make the peanut?” I asked. The Creator said, ‘I have given you three laws; namely, compatibility, temperature, and pressure. All you have to do is take these constituents and put them all together, observing these laws and I will show you why I made the peanut.’ I therefore went on to try different combinations of the parts under different conditions of temperature and pressure and the result is what you see.”  ~George Washington Carver

I loved this quote that Marc read to us this evening during our famly Bible time.  McKenzie did a report on George Washington Carver many years ago for our home school group at the time.  He was a fascinating man.  We have a movie about him that is very good too.

A walk in the park...

Mondays while the girls are at their piano lessons, I take the boys to the park.  I used to do my grocery shopping during that time, but with the changes in our family dynamics this past year we switched things up a bit.  We are all much happier! :o)

 

This was actually last week.  The weather was gorgeous that day, and we took a loaf of bread with us to feed the ducks and geese.

There was a male/female pair of geese that the boys were feeding.  Another male tried to come over and they kept "honking" at each other.  Macheus kept flailing his arms around at them and said,  "Bein' me!"  (Which means  "being mean".)

Malachi has grown up so much in the past year.  He gives me hope for the other two! :o)

I would love to know what he was thinking.

Boys are so much fun!  They get so excited about the simplest things!

Malachi asked if he could take a picture of me.  He took about twenty in a few seconds time and this was the only one where my head wasn't cut off or Macheus cut out of it. :o) 

                                 Oh.... this little guy. :o)

 

"Sweet Baby K"  and "Baby Mac"  Names his sisters call him. He is only slightly spoiled.

Yes, Myles thinks the bright blue mud boots go with everything in his wardrobe!

In his own little world. I hope he is always this happy and content.

He came SO close to falling in as I was snapping this picture!

Love days when I slow down and really enjoy my blessings.

Two Ships....

This was taken on one of our date nights.  It is always hard to pull myself away from the many things vying for my attention at home, but I love my date nights with Marc! I am thankful for my "big kids" that can take care of the little guys and keep things going at home.

 

Today was exhausting!  Matthew was at school and then work all day.  Madeline has Veritas all day on Thursdays, so that leaves Mariah on down at home.  She was pulled to the barn off and on all day because of goats that will start kidding any day now.  I was trying to school Malachi and get some housework done.  I will save the details for a post with pictures of Macheus' shenanigans today!  I don't have the energy to upload the pictures this evening!  I will just say he was a pistol today!
 Anyway, I was planning on tag teaming with Marc when he got home and I was going to head to town to get a few things done.  He walked in the door and I made a comment that there was a college scholarship meeting this evening hosted by Veritas. (I had NO plans on going to it.)  He said he thought it would be a good idea for him to go.  (With one in college and another headed in that direction soon we need all the help we can get!)  So..... I left for the store and he took off for the meeting!  As we were leaving I hollered to him,  "Two ships passing in the night!  I'll see you when the kids are grown!"  Madeline said,  "What is that supposed to mean?" :o)
It does seem like there is always something going on!  I am looking forward to summer this year.  I will have some work to do with Malachi, but other than that we will (Lord willing!) have nothing much going on this year!

Well, I need to get to bed!

~Until next time!

Just Like Daddy

  One evening Marc was sitting on the couch reading his Bible and Macheus climbed up there and started imitating him.

 

So sweet....

Macheus likes to "pray" now too.  It is so cute as he babbles and then nods his head when he is saying "Amen".

Very thankful that they have a faithful daddy to follow.

Spring...

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."  Ecclesiastes 3:11

 

My Day

This little boy...

 

 

is so much fun!  I had to drive Madeline into town this morning to Veritas.  I always take one of the little guys with me to make things a little easier on Mariah while I am gone.  Matthew's classes were canceled today so I took advantage of having him home and decided to do some errands while I was out.  My first stop was Target to look for some spring t-shirts!  I love Target!  Panera is right next to Target and I am ADDICTED to their wild berry smoothies!  When I got Macheus out of his car seat he not only didn't want me holding him, but he didn't want to hold my hand either. He is very independent!  I let him walk beside me and he walked into the restaurant like he owned the place! :o)
The girl at the counter could hardly focus on my order for talking to him and saying,  "Oh my gosh!  He's so cute!"  Having sisters that dote on him all the time he didn't pay much attention to her.  We sat down and I looked around at several business ladies and thought what a contrast to my life.  Our order came up and I sat Mac's egg ciabatta sandwich in front of him and my smoothie in front of me.  Macheus LOVES to pray at meal time and he immediately folded his little hands and began "praying" the same way he does every time.  It is so cute and so funny!  When he finished he reached for my smoothie.  My smoothie that I had so looked forward to ended up with his "eggy" little mouth all over it!  When we got ready to leave he still had a mouth full of egg and as we were leaving the restaurant he sneezed and shot egg all over my sleeve. :o)  Yeah, I'd say my life is a bit different than those business ladies!

Our next stop was Sears.  Because of our recent battle with them over the refrigerator (the one they should have replaced!) they were so generous to give us a $50 gift card to spend in their store.  <sarcasm>  I went in there and bought $50 worth of shorts for the little boys.  Walked out with five items for FREE!  Score!  We left there and made a quick run to Kohls.  With the warm weather we have been having, (it has been GLORIOUS!) I wanted a pair of my favorite flip-flops that they carry every year.

Next on the agenda was Aldis.  I got out of the van and a lady traded her cart for my quarter.  While I was trying to wipe it down (germs ya know!) a little old man said,  "Ma'am, I'll take your cart." I didn't know what to say, so once again I ended up with a quarter in my hand and gave him the cart. :o)  I walked over and got another cart and as I was getting it, my favorite sunglasses fell off my head, hit the ground and broke.  I wear sunglasses year round, sometimes even when it is cloudy.  My eyes are very light sensitive and it is something I don't go without!  Having just left Kohls, I was not about to go back in there today!  Macheus rode in the back of the buggy and "helped" sort my groceries as I loaded up.  When we got to the checkout lane he stood up and unloaded them onto the conveyor belt.  I accidentally bumped the buggy and he fell.  He stood back up and said,  "Honey!"  He cracks me up with some of the things he says now!

We left Aldis and headed back in the direction of our house.  We stopped off at the Publix where Matthew works to get a few things that I only get there.  Once again.... Macheus decided he should walk.  By this time it was almost noon and he was hungry and tired!  I was trying to talk on the phone to Marc in the foyer of the store, wipe the cart down and convince Mac that he was going to ride.  He was fighting me and as I was trying to pick him up (while holding onto my phone)  my thumb nail scratched his face.  He really cried then!  A quick trip to the bakery for a free cookie fixed that problem!  However, he still kept trying to stand up.  I don't normally "cave" to my two year old's whims, but I knew it was my fault dragging him around all morning and I didn't really want the attention of every person in the store, so I let him walk.  The above picture was taken of him strolling down the ice cream aisle!

We loaded up and headed home.  Matthew unloaded my groceries, Mariah fed Macheus lunch and got him to bed and I began math with Malachi.  Thankfully, Matthew had done some of Malachi's school while I was gone and Mariah had done laundry, so mopping was the only morning chore that I had left.  I got that done and then headed out the door for a GLORIOUS run!  This is a little creek that I run past every day.

When I got finished running I packed Matthew's supper for him (He had to close tonight.), did Language with Malachi, sorted laundry, and then when Marc got home I put supper on the table.  The girls darted out the door after supper to chore and work in the garden.  We are all loving this weather!  Marc and I tag teamed and got the boys bathed and ready for bed.  He put Macheus to bed and then read to Myles and got him settled.  After everyone came in and showered we had our family Bible time,  Malachi went to bed, I sorted more laundry, Mariah went to bed, and we spent some time with Madeline.  It is now 11:00 and Madeline is in the shower, Marc is asleep and I am sitting here writing this waiting for Matthew to get home.  He just texted to say he is on his way.

So.......... this was a LITTLE of my day!  There were only 101 other things that I had to do today! :o)  I recently rewrote chore charts for everyone. (We used to LIVE by our chore charts!  They fell by the wayside I guess around the time my mom died.  Things have suffered around here, so it has been a HUGE relief for me to have them up and running again!)  Malachi was counting his chores and he asked me how many I had.  I told him too many to count! :o)

For various reasons I have not been as joyful as I should be lately.  A very sweet home school mom that I "met" online (I've actually met a few of her children and hope to meet her one day too!) spent some time chatting with me the other night.  It was an encouragement to me and really helped me get my focus back this week.  My life is far from perfect.  I have days that are exhausting!  Who am I kidding..... MOST days are exhausting!   But.... I am blessed!  I have so much to be thankful for.  Even when my two year old sneezes egg all over me and my life looks nothing like the put together business ladies in Panera!  I wouldn't trade it for anything! :o)

Now I am sitting here bleary-eyed... trying to proofread this while Matthew is talking my ears off.  He gets home from work and wants to unwind and visit.  :o)

Goodnight!

No Peaking.

I put Myles in the bathtub and I needed to use the bathroom.  I closed the shower curtain and told him to give me some privacy.

 

 

I heard a giggle and he said,  "They're peaking!"  He had lined his little tub creatures up on the ledge of the tub.

I sure do love this happy little boy!

Mariah's 12 year pictures

When McKenzie came down last month she took some pictures of Mariah for me.  She looks too old in some of them, but I think they turned out pretty! :o)

 

 

I love this swing!  Marc made it for McKenzie several years ago, and she will eventually take it.  He will be making another one! :o)  I love old-fashioned swings hanging from big trees!

 

I like this one.... it just "looks" like her. :o)

This field is across from our property.  My kids sure have had a lot of fun in it over the years!

                                          This is typical Mariah!

                                                  and this.....

 

Her mouth reminds me of my mom's in this picture.

                                         My girls love colorful shoes!

 

There were a lot more but these were a few of my favorites!