Asher Can Read

Today Asher took his first spelling test. He made a 100%........A+.  He is taking off with his reading finally.... as he should be considering he is almost 7 & in 1st Grade.
He said this morning while I was working with him......"Mama I can read!"  He is finally at the point where reading a word isn't that painfully drawn out torturous exercise in utmost patience for any parent helping an emergent reader.
I'm so proud of him!  His excitement over his accomplishment is contagious!!

Esther the Olympian in training

Today was a first in parenting for me. We all were outside moving chickens around & Esther was mad because she couldn't sit in the house & play electronics. 
I had asked her to walk 3 small pieces of wood back to the burn pile with Rachel and she refused.
I told her if she didnt take it I would have to spank her. She dropped the wood when I handed it to her & took off running from me, screaming.
I was completely caught off guard. My children dont run from me when faced with punishment.  It just doesn't happen.  I was a bit dumbfounded but shook myself & chased that future olympic sprinter down. She is fast & I actually was surprised I caught her with my arthritic bones acting up. She was wearing a maxi skirt...which benefited me.
I caught up with her,  popped her plump bottom & told her to go get the wood & take it to the burn pile.
She did....screaming the whole way. When she got to the burn pile she threw that wood in with all of the force she could muster.
Then she turned & crossed her arms over her chest & stood there. It took her a few minutes to swallow her little pride & join me again in the yard..but all was well now.

This picture that our friend took at her daughter's 3rd birthday photo shoot sums up Esther with all her attitude perfectly. This girl will give me a run for my money....more so than she already had done.

Photo Credit: Journey Through Life Photography,  Chesapeake, VA
(757)630-0575

www.journeythroughlifephotography.com

Rachel Graduates

its been super busy around here. finally a moment to write:

yes it's true, Rachel graduated high school on Friday, May 24th, 2013.
we are beyond thrilled for her and excited to see what God has for her future. because she graduated thru a homeschool co-op, they leave the "charge" to the graduate to that graduate's parents. maybe i'm biased, but Clayton did an amazing job writing a charge that fit Rachel to a tee. It is typed in its entirety below the pictures.

"Lamentations 3:22
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed for His compassion never fails. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."

Rachel, you have not been consumed, you have reached the finish line & your Mom & I love you & we are extremely proud of you.

One of my earliest memories of your education takes place in a small bedroom made into a class room at our house on Frosty Road. One day your mom presents you a question & it goes something like this.....Rachel, today is Friday, yesterday was Thursday, tomorrow will be Saturday, Rachel what is today?
With confidence in your big blue eyes you stated your reply.....Tuesday!

Zechariah 4:10 says "Do not despise these small beginnings for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin...."

Wow - look what you have accomplished with the Lord's help!

Your mother & I are extremely blessed and count it a privilege to be your parents. we love you.

If you will allow me to add to that question presented to you 12 years ago:

YESTERDAY is your past - look back as needed to learn from your mistakes, but dont live there.
TOMORROW is your future - dream God-filled dreams; run & chase after them all of your days.
TODAY is your present - embrace it, live and breath in the mercy of the Lord.

Rachel....what is your tomorrow? It's another day of small beginnings - walk it out with the Lord at your side & in your heart."


I guess it seems so good to me because I know the struggles Rachel has everyday trying to figure out her future. I also see how busy Clayton is...he was actually out of town up until 3 hours before Rachel walked across the stage to graduate....and it doesnt always feel as if he is paying attention. this was an example of how much he is paying attention & how good God is at providing just the words Rachel needed to hear. It was perfect.

the racers

so i am the proud coach to 12 little beginner softball players....abigail being one of them. we signed abigail and asher up for baseball & softball this spring with our local rec league. after signing up we received an email asking if any parents would be willing to step up and coach abigail's softball team....so i stepped up. how hard can it be right? (oh man...it's not easy!)
i know i'm biased but i think these girls are pretty special!! it has been so much fun coaching them. it's been a unique experience being called "coach wendy" but one i wouldnt trade for any thing. the crazy thing is...as long as abigail is in this division I will probably be called on to continue to coach this league....and it seems that she will remain in this division for the fall of 2013 & the spring of 2014. we will see.

the Racers!!!

Abigail

 Alyssa

 Camryn

Eleanor

 Emily

Jenna

Kaycee

Kenidee

Lili

Macie

Sarah

Sydney

also, here's a picture of Asher in his baseball uniform:

(for the record it was very cold the morning of the pictures!! very cold!!)

also, we had a sleepover tonight with as many girls from the team that were available to stay. it has been a lot of fun. here are a few snap shots...taken at 11:51PM....they were just getting going before we put the Sandlot movie in to watch & hopefully wind them down for the night. (Clay & the boys are outside in a tent for the night!)

garden time...woot!woot!

i LOVE this time of year. i have come to love gardening....vegetable gardening. i am starting to appreciate flower gardening. i think i appreciate the vegetable gardening better as it feeds my family...the payoff is better. dont get me wrong, i love beautiful flowers, but i love a ripe garden tomato better.

so no pictures of the garden yet but this year it is slammed full:

potatoes
onions
okra
squash
zucchini
field peas
4 varieties of garden beans
2 types of green beans
lima beans
butter beans
5 different varieties of sweet corn (3 heirloom/2 hybrid)
10 different variety of tomatoes (about 36 plants so far, but i have 36 more still sprouting & growing...staggering my harvest)
cucumbers
cantaloupe
honeydew melons
watermelon (this year i have some from Africa & some Armenian variety of melons...all heirloom)
Sweet Peppers
Hot peppers
pumpkins
carrots
lettuce (2 varieties)
herbs
broccoli
cauliflower
kale
asparagus

it's so exciting!!! i actually ran out of room in the garden. i still want to do some radishes & some turnips, but those can wait until the squash & zucchini are done for the year. then i can put those in the ground.

i still didnt get to do as much as i wanted to. but i'm excited.
i did what i could. i started seeds...patiently attended them...planted them. now i trust that God will be faithful to grow it all. He is so good.


and this is a funny picture of my beautiful Essie. she is so much fun!

goslings & the phone

we acquired 2 goslings today. they are soooo cute. just barely 24 hours old. i'm constantly amazed at God's goodness in His creation.

we also have a duck that has ended up with the name "the phone". we had 3 runner ducks....ducklings.  we had them set up in a pen in the yard like we have done many times before, but it seems some varmit (probably a possum) decided to find a way into the pen & eat 2 of the baby ducklings.
so at night we bring the lone duckling inside in a cage at night to keep him safe.

well levi hears the duck quacking (really at 2 weeks old its more of a cheep)....and he goes up to elizabeth (who cares for this particular duck) & says "duck calling you". and the duck is in a cage upstairs....but it doesnt matter. if the duck is cheeping then its calling elizabeth according to levi. 2 1/2 is such a fun age....at least with him it is very fun. (there are a few of my "goslings" in there also!

thumper & chomper (a.k.a sleepy)

on sunday, Clay rode over a bunnies nest with the lawn mower, disrupting it majorly. out of the 5 bunnies in the nest, 1 was DOA. the 4 remaining i brought into the house. sadly 2 died almost within 12 hours of being from their nest. these little guys didnt even have their eyes open.

the remaining 2 are doing fine. esther & asher have named them sleepy (asher's) & thumper (esther's). tonight sleepy decided to start biting so he became chomper.

here are their pictures. we are still praying and hoping for their survival.

.

grammar police!

just for the record, this morning, in the light of day, and in the light of the arthritis pain in my spine making everything very clear, i do see the very bad grammar in my post from last night.

regardless, i am not going back to fix it.

i felt the need to throw that out there considering i am vicious when it comes to bad grammar in certain situations....blogs, newspapers, & facebook statuses are just a few of those situations. by vicious i mean i shred the author in my brain....well not with the newspaper....dont they have editors who should be correcting grammar? i say that viciousness out loud!

weed maintenance

since we have built this big deck on the back of the house.....6 years ago....i have wanted to surround it with flower beds. clay has never been a fan of it because unfortunately i havent had a great track record of weed maintenance in flower beds.
but i am getting better & he finally gave in and I tilled up some flower beds this spring. i split my hostas and put them on the shady side of the deck & put perennial bulbs behind them that will come up towards them summer with pretty purple flowers on them. i then found a great deal at Walmart. they had 4" pots (i think they were 4"...i just call them medium!) with perennials in them for $4.77 a piece. And they were a decent enough size that with some of them I was able to cut them in half to make them go further.
I have been working on these flower beds for about 2 weeks now. i told Clay tonight after i was done that i wanted a yard of mulch for mother's day. he laughed and said "did you say you wanted mulch for mother's day?" why yes i did!
plus we are having a drop in gathering for Rachel's graduation and I would like the mulch by then. it will just make the yard (and deck area) look so nice. now I want to paint the deck...white. give it that beachy feel to it..i like the chipped paint look. the wood now just looks....plain. add a little something to it...give it some umph! then once it's painted i would love to paint a faux rug on the floor of the deck. then it would be nice to get a pergola on it with a sun shade & some nice deck chairs & patio table. in time....it will come together.

but here is a look at my hard work. i'm happy. it was starting to get dark when i finished. Asher had t-ball so Clay helped handle that. it was a busy afternoon. supposedly the repair man fixed our fridge but it still doesnt seem to be cooling. we will see.
we missed piano i am just overwhelmed. i have been making them practice....they have recital on the 16th. just could not make it over to VA Beach today. the 2 hours time I would have to sacrifice for piano tonight were too valuable for what i needed to do at home, plus life is on full tilt at the moment & my health isnt (asthma , allergies & arthritis). i'm thankful our piano teacher is so understanding.
rachel made supper (spaghetti). she did an awesome job. elizabeth helped keep a lid on everything else. Clay got home in enough time to dig the last 5 holes and he even pulled the laundry in off of the line that i was unable to get to.
unlike last night (because i dug up 3 trees...a dogwood, a peach tree & a pine tree seedling), i am much more able to move. 800mg Ibuprofins are a wonderful thing for those of us who suffer arthritis irritated by wielding a pick ax to dig up a tree.

oh, all of the flowers are perennials and i am starting seeds on some blue fescue evergreen plants to put in around all of them. behind most of the plants on all sides of the deck are either peony roots or dahia bulbs...with some holly hocks mixed in. i despise the work of annuals. i wont plant annuals ever again...unless it's a vegetable plant. as for the flowering plants i want them to come back year after year & even multiply...which perennials do. i will take pictures this summer when it's all in full bloom and fuller. the plants i put in over the last 2 weeks will get fuller. they are white, red, purple and pink.

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."  Isaiah 40:8