THIS YEARS GARDEN

When I brought the kids home from James' baseball practice this is what I saw. A tilled garden. This is very exciting. We were wondering if it would ever be dry enough for David to come and till it. He did a great job at it.

Saturday, being the nice day that it was, we decided to plant our garden. We pack everyone up and head off to the greenhouse. The kids love going here. We picked out three different kinds of tomatoes, all kinds of peppers, squash, melons, broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, carrot seed, spinach, and lettuce seed and maybe something I forgot. Oh yes, we planted pumpkins too.We get it all paid for and pack everyone back in the car and head home to plant the garden.

Everyone is excited and we decided where everything should go. The wind is blowing a little fast and there is a chance of rain. We planted the broccoli, brussel sprouts, and cabbage. Then I decided to plant the lettuce, spinach and carrots by these. All the kids help dig the holes and plant everything. One digs, one plants, one covers the plant. It worked out well. After much deliberation about where to plant everything else, we plant the tomatoes and melons. We dig out the bag of corn that we bought last year to plant and never did. We ended up with 10 rows of corn. I planted the rows too far apart, and James let me know, so I planted extra rows in between them. Later James planted the peppers. Oh yeah, Little
James got some bell peppers, so those were planted by the not hot peppers.

Needless to say, we have filled our garden up to almost full. I would still like to get some okra and plant. But after all the rain that we have received lately I think I will have to move my melons and hopefully I will have enough room for the okra.

It never did rain until Monday. I am hoping that my poor plants are not drowning in all the water that we have received. Here is a picture of some of our garden. I just hope that we can keep up with the weeds a little better this year than we did last year. My goal is to take care of the garden and enjoy the benefits of wonderful food that we get this year.

CARLS DIOROMA

For school Carl's class read The Boxcar Children. He came home one day and said to me that he had to make a diorama for the book. He found the website that his teacher showed him pictures of different dioramas and he came up with what he wanted to do. He started cutting a box up to use for the bottom. I told him that I would get him a board at Wal-Mart for him to use. So as we looked and discussed what he wanted we figured a creek, some people, grass, a bridge, and a blue berry bush. At school they made boxcars out of a shoe box. As I talk with James about what we are doing he comes up with the idea to make the people out of clay. Off to Wal-Mart I go. I was able to get the board and the moss for the grass. Wal-Mart does not sell clay anymore. So Carl and I got the creek painted and the grass glued down and Devin and I made a trip to Hobby Lobby for clay. Out of the clay, between everyone, a dog, four people, a stump and a red cup were made. The night before it was due James painted the people and Devin made the fire pit. This project was a lot of fun. It really got the whole family involved. He did have the biggest board. Most of the kids worked on it in school. They put them all out in the hall for everyone to see.

HAYLEA AND ISAIAH

Why is it that when I want to get something accomplished the little ones are into everything. I have been trying to make 4 bedrooms downstairs and as I clean something up and move on to something else, Haylea and Isaiah are tearing up what I cleaned in the first place. Then today I put up some new shelves and was rearranging a room and the little ones are downstairs playing in the shampoo. Oh they smelled so good. At least when they got their bath I didn't have to put soap in their hair. They went outside to play and they were in the garden, which I don't mind, playing with a bucket and some stuff that they shouldn't be playing with. After I went out and cleaned it up, it was time for a bath. Oh two clean children. And they ate a lot of dinner and then were sent to their rooms. Isaiah fell asleep within 10 minutes and Haylea was up for 3 more hours. I sure hope that tomorrow goes a lot better than today. Every time I turned around those two were up to something. I hope that Isaiah is not too sad when Haylea goes off to school. Do you think that one child could come up with the things as two children do? I sure hope not.

Oh yeah, tomorrow is kindergarten day for Haylea. She is excited and keeps on asking when she will start school. She is excited to go on the field trips. I hope she doesn't expect too many field trips.

MUSIC FESTIVAL

Little James was picked by his music teacher to sing at music festival at Pitt State. He was the only 3rd grader chosen to go. He sang in the 5th grade ensemble, consisting of three boys and three girls. They sang "I'm Gonna Sing". They did a great job. Then he did a solo "The Erie Canal". It was great. He was a little timid. We tried to tell him to relax, but he never did. He had only practiced a couple of times with the lady that played the piano. It sounded a lot different then the cd that his teacher made for him. He missed coming in on a spot but he sang loud so that we could hear him. The group got a one. We waited and waited for James score. We decided that we would go to lunch and them go back and see what he got. It was a one. He was excited. He was complimented by so many people about his singing. I think that it was such a great experience for him. Everyone that sang received a one. He is really excited to go back next year. He is hoping that he gets chosen again. I don't know where he gets his good singing. It definitely is not from me. I guess that all his humming around the house and singing in the shower has paid off. It is annoying sometimes, but I didn't realize that he had the talent of singing. Who knew.

SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

I think I figured out why homeschool children get more education then those that go to school. Now please remeber that this is just my opinion, and I am grateful for all that my children do. In the last two weeks there hasn't been much work. Here is how last week went.
Monday 1/2 day of school
Wednesday Carl went to Greenbush all day
Thursday school pictures and easter party
Friday no school
This week
Tuesday James goes to Greenbush all day
Wednesday James goes to Fort Scott won't be home until 4:30
Friday Carl goes to the aquarium by Tulsa all day
Saturday James gets to sing at Pitt State with a group and a solo. He is excited that he was chosen for this. We will be there to cheer him on.

It seems as though when they finished state testing there have been more activities. I know that it is the end of the year but goodness, it seems as though there is always something going on. I can't wait for summer.

ADALYN IS CRAWLING

Last week Adalyn decided to take off crawling. She started out slow, and now she is everywhere. It is great to see her getting around. It seems as though she is growing up so quickly, but it is fun to see all that she is learning. I am constantly telling everyone to pick up the little things on the floor. She is one quick baby.

She also gets around in her walker. I am always looking for her. She is the perfect height to go under the table. I think that she likes that she can go places. Someone told me today that most kids can't go forward in a walker easily, but Adalyn does very well.

SATURDAYS WORK

Ok on Saturday it was a little chilly outside but James went out to mow. It really needed to be mowed. He came in and said that he had seen 3 rats. So he went out to shoot them. Here he is looking for the rats to shoot as he mows. He spent all day mowing. The yard looks really good. He even let Carl go look for the rats to shoot. He wasn't quick enough to shoot any.

While James was outside I was inside making curtains for the windows. A few weeks ago Siser Hill came over and helped me cut the rails. Finally I decided to make the curtains. Here are the results. I had fun making them. Now I have to figure out how to do the dining room. I thought I had enough flat sheets, because I used sheets, but I realized quickly that I miscalculated what I needed. And of course I bought them on clearnace and there are no more to be bought. I thought about putting a solid color with it, but as I sit here and type, I am thinking about cutting the fitted sheets and having them a little different. They look great. I tie them in a knot during the day to pull them back and let the light in. The great thing is that I will have enought from the fitted sheets to do the other rooms.

JAMES FIELDTRIP TO THE ZOO

James went to the Wichita Zoo with his school. 3rd through th grade went. They spent Friday night at the zoo. He had a lot of fun, but came home sick. We sent him with a camera to take some pictures and these are some of the ones that he took.

YARD WORK

What a great day today was. The weather was suppose to be around 70 degrees today. I was able to go shopping with no children today. Thank you Devin. I will miss him when he is off in Hawaii for 2 years. When I got home and fed the kids and put Adalyn down, Haylea, Isaiah and I headed outside. I was able to cut the asparagus, rake the fence line. I also raked the leaves where the lawn mower and the trailer go. After I got the boys we started the burning of the wood and leaves. Carl raked around some of the fence line for me, then I finished the rose bus and an annoying bush that I don't know what they are. It was so great working outside.

Little James asked if he could ride the lawn mower today. So I let him and Carl drive it. They had a lot of fun. they started it up and drove around the yard. They had so much fun. James drove Haylea around and Carl drove Isaiah around. They didn't want to stop, but I made them put it away so we could get dinner. I hope that tomorrow is a great day so that I can get some more work done.

CALIFORNIA PART 5

On Monday Dad came and visited some more. It was so nice to sit and visit with him. We weren't rushed to go anywhere and not a lot of people to bother us. After he went to work James and I set out to the bookstore. I was able to get the boys some books that I wanted to get them. Then we set off to find Big 5. James favorite sporting good store. We put Big 5 into the GPS and it takes us to a place that it is not there. After going to Wal-Greens for something I spotted Big 5 across the street. We went there and James found a ping pong paddle. We drove down Garden Highway looking for someplace to take Grandma to dinner. We saw some beautiful homes along the way. We go back and get Grandma and decided to take her to Cheesecake Factory. I myself had only eaten here one other time. It is nice to splurge when you are on vacation. Grandma kept on saying how she was so happy and she was enjoying herself. It was wonderful.

On Tuesday I packed our bags so that when Dad came over we could visit and not rush. When he came over we took some pictures and sat and visited. I found a box of pictures and brought them out to go through them. What a great box of pictures these were. I found pictures of my great-great-grandma and great-grandma, and grandma as a young girl. What great family history this was. I picked the ones that I wanted and my dad said that he would copy them for me. This I think was the best time of the trip. I really enjoyed this. I would ask Grandma who the pictures were of and she would tell me a story about it. Oh I can't wait to see the pictures. When it was time for Dad to go we said our goodbyes. We decided that we were going to get an In & Out burger one last time. We found one just up the road that wasn't as busy. We went through the drive-thru and brought it home to Grandma. James took a picture of a clock that he had wanted to take a picture of all weekend. We went to Grandmas ate lunch and waited for someone to come and pick us up. It ended up being John. He said he wasn't letting anyone drive his truck. I was grateful that he woke up and took us to the airport. After saying goodbye to Grandma and loading our things up we were off. John dropped us off at the curb and helped us unload our stuff. What a blessing he is to help us out. And we were on our way home.

CALIFORNIA PART 4

James and I decided that we were going to go to the capitol building. We found a place to park and headed on our way. They have a lovely park around the building. The landscape is beautiful. We walked around to where we could go inside. After going
through security we were inside the beautiful building.

We only had a little over an hour before they closed. Every county has a display in the hallways. We walked in the Senate room and the Assembly room. Every room in this building is beautiful. When you walk down a hall on the first floor there is a set of doors with Arnold's name above it. I don't know if this is his office but it sure was cool looking. There were a lot of people taking pictures.

After leaving the building we went around to the front to take pictures. James is trying to do some of his photography homework. He took some great pictures of the building. We then got an ice cream from an ice cream wagon. The great part, they were only $1.00. It was great. On our way back to the car James took the picture of the rose across the street.

When we finished here we went to Olive Garden and met my cousin Becky and her daughter. It was a great visit. It is always fun to visit with family. We enjoyed catching up on our lives and reliving memories of the past.

CALIFORNIA PART 3

Saturday night the Kevin and Rhonda Kruger from Porterville CA. came to visit us. We had a great visit on Saturday night with Grandma Vi. Rhonda was enjoying playing with Adalyn. They decided that they were ready to find a hotel room so we set off. We decided to eat dinner at IHOP. It was nice. It is always fun to sit and talk with friends. After getting them a room we went back to Grandmas for the night. On Sunday they came over after breakfast and we waited for my dad to come over. When dad got there we visited with him until he had to go to work. Kevin did his license story. This is where he takes out his old license before he was a member of the church and then he pulls out his new license and says this is me after James found me. He uses this as a missionary tool. It was a nice visit with my dad. After he went to work Kevin decided that he wanted to see the capitol of California. So we head downtown. As we get ready to cross the river there are a lot of homeless people under the bridge and in a tent city as they call it. It made me sad to see this. We drove around trying to find a place to park without having to walk very far. Kevin called James and told him that he was ready to head home so we needed to find somewhere to stop and say goodbye. So we pulled over and said our goodbyes and off they went.

Adalyn and Grandpa Jay.

CALIFORNIA PART 2

Saturday was a great day. James and I visited with my Grandma for awhile and then we headed out for some burgers. Yes we love In & Out. So off we went. Everytime that we go there it is always busy and you can never find a place to sit. Two nice ladies let us sit with them. I don't know what it is about an In & Out burger but they ar good. It was fun to visit with the ladies while we ate. Then we headed over to John and Barbaras because they were having a get together for Felicia and her new baby. Oh my I can't believe these kids are old enough to have kids. I am sure that people say that about me. Especially having five children. Anyway we get there and all the men are outside talking. James goes out and talks to them. And I head inside with Adalyn. Everyone was there. Bob and Loretta, Wayne and Gene, Tim and Beth and their girls, Matt and Trish and their boys, and everyone that lives with John and Barbara. It was nice to see everyone and meet all the new babies. Felicias baby made Adalyn look so big. It is amazing at how fast they grow up. We all sat and visited and ate cake. It was a lot of fun. Everyone started leaving a couple hours after we got there. I did snap some picture. So here they are.

Felicias baby Michael Compton

This is Michaels baby

This is Michaels oldest. I love this picture.

John's best side and Barbara.

Sorry about the pictures I was having a hard time with them. Tim and Loretta.