Homeschooling with a wee one, again

But just for a day.

I know what you were thinking.

 

We had a guest visit our all-boys' school yesterday and it was a ton of fun.

Our table work was completed on the floor in the midst of Little People-

and I had a good time of remembering when this was normal for us.

 

Thanks, baby James, for a fun day!

We hope you come back soon.

Tidbits from the past few weeks

Here's a sampling of randomness from some ordinary moments around the home the past few weeks.

 

A good friend of ours agreed to mentor the boys in painting for four sessions.

I traded her a grow light for it.

Guess who got the good part of the deal?

 

Anna has gone above and beyond what I was even hoping for and my boys have eagerly completed their homework for the next session, even though it's not due for another seven days.

That's huge.

 

Yay!

If you know Anna, you know what love and attention to detail my boys are receiving from her.

She's wonderful.

 

We've been blessed by some amazing works of art at sunset this last week.  Whenever I see a sight like this my mind always thinks of how the Heavens declare the glory of the Lord.

Amen.

 

Not only did I manage to give four boys haircuts in the last week but my onions needed a trim, too.

Aren't they unruly?  I'm happy to report after their haircut they are standing tall and proud and growing strong again.  AND, we have our first recordable harvest to file under 'onions' for the year.

 

1/20th of a pound.

When one works so hard to provide their own food every single harvest counts.

 

We enjoyed minced baby onion tops over our soup last night.  Divine.

And I only have 999 and 19/20ths pounds to harvest from our garden to reach my goal of 1000#s!

 

 

I've been experimenting with sourdough this winter by catching my own starter and feeding him {it?} faithfully.  He's taken on a personality of his {its?} own on our counter and is affectionately referred to as Mr. Bubbles.  The boys are quite sure I have lost my marbles at this point, but that's okay.  It's good to keep them on their toes and wondering what Mom will do next.

 

Despite being an extremely busy stay-at-home-homeschooling-homesteading-home-doctoring kind of person, I still have time for a slumber party every now and then.  Apparently last night I had a slumber party with Luke Skywalker and Jenga Fett.   A little secret here on boys and love languages- if your little man feels you are worthy to sleep with his favorite Lego minifigs that is just like  receiving a four page love note from said child.  Girls might make a beautiful picture with markers and bubble letters and lots and lots of hearts singing the praises of their mothers...boys will trust you with their most precious Lego pieces and that means the world to them and to me.   It was an honor to wake up and see these guys sparring at my feet at 6 o'clock this morning.  I truly felt loved!

 

Keeping with the Star Wars theme-- which is at epidemic levels in our home right now and please come soon Spring so we can concentrate on bike crashes and hiking in muddy creeks -- I found some Ewok puppets playing in the onions this morning as well.  I was told that our guest room makes the best forest in our home, and it's no wonder because...

 

Tarver-made Ewoks for Ry and Langston

 I am the proud mother of over 500 seedlings right now.

The air quality in our guest room is amazing.

 

 

And with all that typed and saved, I must return to the needs of my family.  A few young men need to be read to this afternoon, there is still vacuuming and laundry to finish up.  Chicken Noodle soup to start for this evening's meal.  Mr. Bubbles to feed and make fresh bread from.  A boy who has sheep to tend to at a farm not near enough to our home.  And a few plants to water, too.

 

By the way, am I the only wondering why I didn't get issued that maid servant at the birth of our first child?  I've always wondered about that ...

Conversation from O'dark-thirty

From an afternoon at the park, when it used to be warmer in these parts

We have an early riser in our home - but I am not complaining because it is one-on-one time and I get a special peek at the window in this little heart.  Here's a snippet of a conversation that happened this morning, at O'dark-thirty {before the coffee was brewing anyway...}

"Mom, was I born yet in 2002?"

 

"No, not yet."

 

"Was I in your tummy then?"

 

"No, not even that yet."

 

"Oh, so I didn't even exist.  I was just a requested prayer at that time."

 

"Yes, love, that's what you were.  And now you are answered and I am so thankful for that!"

Valentine Date Night

This.

*This*

This is what happens when you spend the majority of your waking and sleeping hours in a house full of males.

You forget all about dressing up for date night.  Hours and hours of fussing over your hair replaced by an Alpine ski hat.  Accessorizing with a mustache. Letting him wear the pink heart glasses. 
Selfless, sacrificial and fashionable love, that's how we do things in our marriage.

 

Bob & Hollie

Valentine Sweethearts circa 2014

First B Valentine Fellowship Party

A date which will go down in infamy.

 

{Thanks for the fun night, love! xo xo xo - Can I have the glasses back now please?}

Fair Weather {Nebraska Football} Fans

Yay Seahawks!

We have a new family tradition of watching football games only when the Seahawks are in the Superbowl.  Last night was the second football game we've watched in eight years - since the Hawks played Pittsburgh in '06.  It has more to do with the fact that we can't stand to sit still for four hours in front of the t.v. than a reflection of how well {or not} the team is doing.  I guess you can still classify us as fair weather fans.  It's pretty exciting that the Seahawks have finally WON a Superbowl!

Yay Hawks!

Knowing the difference...{looking for answers}

A question has been consuming me for the last several weeks.
I'm hoping my theologically-minded friends {those grounded in the Word of God} can help give me new food to chew on and pray over.

How does one know the difference between

 stepping out in faith
and
waiting on the Lord?

Farm down the road from a possible acreage at sunset

Something we have been praying about for years has availed itself of becoming a reality.

This something we have been praying about is a vision for our family which we believe the

 Lord has pressed into our hearts.

 

We've been watching and waiting.  For years.

 

It gets a little muddled in the fact that to jump on this opportunity we would be taking a financial risk in the form of debt.  We are crystal clear what the Word says about debt.  We have worked very hard, with the help of the Lord, to be free from the entanglement of debt.  So, does one continue to wait until the numbers say 'go for it' and we feel as though we wouldn't be infringing on the Lord's provision by not accumulating debt...or does one say 'we've been praying about this for years, the Lord will provide'?

 

I will tell you there is no peace in moving forward without closing the doors of this home behind us.  Who knows if this is our lack of faith or the answer to our prayer?

 

If you have wisdom to share we'd sure be grateful to hear it. 

For now I'm back to painting in the hopes of hanging a

 'For Sale' sign in front of our beloved little farm-in-the-city.

Christmas Tree Campout

Earlier this week we held the annual 'Christmas Tree Campout'

whereas the boys all camped overnight in the living under the tree and stayed up late playing board games and such.

{And by 'such' I mean things like wrestling, telling scary stories and piling blankets and pillows on top of each other to prove that we really don't need that much oxygen to survive.  It was a peaceful night, of sorts.}

 

 

In the morning we served a brunch of yummy Gingerbread Waffles topped with fresh cream and Christmas sprinkles, expertly arranged by our resident 5-year old.

Surgery

Thankfully all is well.

It only took two nurses, one Mom and a very strong doctor to remove the lump on the side of his neck.

And a few threats about needing to call Dad and maybe some minor bribing with DVDs from the library and his choice of *anything* for supper. {Dr. recommended chocolate cake, good grief!}

 

Now that it is all said and done he is happily enjoying the victory of 'having my bump amputated!' and bragging rights about getting stitches.

 

{I'm bragging about wrestling with a bull this morning as that is what it felt like!}

 

Enjoying a Star Wars DVD marathon today and Valentino's pizza - no peppers.

 

And thankful.  The doctor didn't seemed concerned at all with what was taken out.  So thankful.

Introducing ...

Fritz.

Fritz-y.

Fritz-william.

The Fritz-carleton.

Walter's little brother.

My sixth son.

Rabbit killer.

New farm kitty.

Or just Fritz, for short.

 

It's so much fun to have a little one around again!  It will be even nicer when the weather warms enough for him to live outdoors permanently and guard our garden from the naughty, naughty rabbits.

Extreme Cuteness

Ry-man is pretty much getting away with everything these days since his Mom has a thing for gappy-little-boy-smiles.

 

Thankfully, he is using his special powers for the good of all around him

{with exception of his weak Mom}

 

Overheard just today, "Hey, Ryland ... go ask Mom if I can have a cookie. She can't say no to you these days."

Brothers.

 

 

Also overheard today, though it relates in no way to being front-toothless:

"Ryland, if we keep practicing surgery on paper people maybe Mom will let us have a real body to practice on."

 

I don't have a picture to go with this conversation as I was listening to what they were doing on the sly.  Imagine hand drawn people on copy paper  with diseased organs in need of surgery.  Enter  5 and 7-year old boys using scissors and tape as stitches.  Then imagine hearing them long for a real body to practice on.  Being a Mom is scary at times, folks.

 

Look Both Ways

A quick peek out the front windows of our little-farm-in-the-city might reward you with a glimpse of our city-chick, Little Red.  She prefers pavement over dirt and grass these days.

Poor Tarver, he's had to herd her numerous times away from the neighbor's front porch to her unexciting little chicken yard.

 

Turning your head to the back windows you breath might be swept away at views such as this.

I keep wondering how we can be so blessed to enjoy this tapestry of Creation colors from the comfort of our own home?  And I also wonder why Little Red would want to leave the backyard when this is her view. 

 

Chickens don't appreciate much, do they?

Brothers

The Fall colors were beckoning for a photo shoot today ...

 

Love Notes 101

My Ry-man.

He's so good to me that my heart almost bursts at times.

I found this love note at my breakfast spot this morning.

 

Translation: Mom, you do not know when I love you. I would if you were a bear.

It's good to know almost unconditional love.

Trying out new things

Like sticking a knife in your nose,

just to see what would happen.

 

{So thankful for older brothers who are not afraid of blood.}

 

The Boys

A recent photo shoot of our boys yielded these images -

your paper prints are on their way, Grandparents!

 

Langston

Tarver

Ry-man

Braden

Ridiculous.  Somebody slap me.

Smarty Pants

 

You just have to understand the personality of my second born to get a hoot out of the question:

Using numerals 1-3, arrange them chronologically.

 

Apparently we need to hit home a bit better on pronouns so he knows that 'them' in this case is referring to the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages and not 'numerals'.

 

Hearing the roar of laughter after he handed in this paper made me definitely aware that he was just trying to get a rise out of his teacher.

 

This teacher has the capability of withholding peanut butter cookies and therefore gets the last laugh.

 

{smile}

 

 

Potato Harvest

We are tremendously blessed to have a farmer friend who allows us to help out at certain times of the year.  Last night it was time to harvest potatoes - a good time was had by all.

 

{especially the young men who got free tractor rides!}

Dynamic Learning Activity - Another Tooth Extraction

How many Kindergartners actually get to pull their first tooth out during math?  We call it 'tooth extraction subtraction'.  Perhaps it's not quite as exciting as hooking up a remote controlled Jeep to the tooth, but this kiddo was beyond thrilled.  And in his mind, tooth subtraction really adds up since he found some change under his pillow the next morning.  Don't you all wish you were homeschooled so you could tie these milestones into a dynamic learning activity and count it for school hours?

Storage Solutions for Boys

What's a Mom to do with her collection of boys?

Display them on some heftily built shelves, I suppose.

{Thank you, love, for finishing this basement project! 

Looks like your helpers might be sleeping on the job, though.}

 

And for the record - no, we don't really keep our boys on shelves.  We do have a swing set and fort in the wilderness, silly.

August Harvest

~388.25 pounds~

Every canning jar has been filled.

{and then some}

So thankful.  So, so thankful. 

Canned pears will be a delight come January when the winter winds are howling!