EKjourney Backup

My first born daughter, turns 7 today!  I always love my children's birthdays so I can think about the day we met.  Think about how much they have grown and changed since that day.  How our lives are shaped around each one of them and how we as parents and individual people and as a family, will never be the same as the day they entered our lives...and each day since!  They change everything...hand crafted, wonderfully and fearfully made, unique and special enough to be one of a kind...never before and never again! My daughter is my homemaker...she loves to be a part of the homemaking process and she loves children.  I really think she has received a special gift from the Lord in this area.  She loves babies and she is great with them...attentive, patient, confident.  As much of a natural as I have ever seen!  I have been hugely blessed by her with her involvement with Glorielle.  She is my child who seems at ease with school and studious. ...

Good for those rare falling asleep on the couch moments.  For gleefully getting into the dog food.  For fort making with blankets and pillows.    For showcasing the mess of outgrown clothes that have been waiting for me to sort and store.  And for collecting treasures around the house (paintbrush, mini rake, crocheted flower, and other various and assorted items). The children were so excited about their fort in the clothing mess that they asked me to do our read alouds amongst the piles.  Piles give me the heebie jeebies anyway as I do not like messes especially ones that have lingered for quite sometime so I had to overcome my desire to hide the mess behind closed doors and instead just ignore it while I read from our Bible study material, Roman history, poem book, and novel.  I would say that concentrations levels were mostly definitely down for everyone today!  The two youngest ones thought it a perfect oppor...

Saturday, was the annual pet parade and this year, the children wanted to be in it.  We got our wagon out and decided the easiest thing would be to take Vienna on her leash and the big rabbits in the wagon.  We thought about hooking up cages and taking chickens but simple really was best.  Saturday morning was very rainy and we thought about canceling but decided to brave the elements with our umbrellas.  Luckily it cleared up and we only experienced drizzle on the walk to the park (where the parade started).  It was actually a lovely day!  The temperature was mild, the walk to the park was beautiful, and it felt so good to get out and stretch my legs, plus it wasn't too crouded. Trying out the wagon  Leashing the rabbits  Eagerly waiting for the parade to start LOOK!  Evi decided that she didn't want to walk in the parade so she sat with Grandma instead.  I love seeing all the animals, but I love seeing our friends in the parade even mo...

Every Friday morning we run our "farm fresh" errands.  We pick up raw milk, eggs and bread, and greens.  I have a loop that we drive and it takes an hour and a half or so.  Today, I grabbed my camera and stopped along our route whenever it was safe to do so and the lighting and landscape caught my attention.                       

We had so much fun on our park outing that I have planned to take several more throughout the summer and fall.  I decided spontaneously this morning that today was a park day and I invited some dear friends to join us and surprise the children. Meeting new baby Cate Sawyer and his best friend  Soccer, tree climbing, fort making, so much fun!  Piling on the blankets for lunch  Daisies and California poppies  Looking West The lupines in full bloom  There were only a few pink lupines mixed in with the purples.