Is There a More Beautiful Thing?!?!?

From a Mom who loves, loves, loves books, this truly is a thing of beauty. :)

Apple Prints

Isabelle recently started a new phonics program. She is working into her Kindergarten curriculum and is really enjoying it. She did some fun apple prints the other day. I don't know about you, but I LOVED doing this type of stuff when I was in school. :) Glad she shares my enthusiasm!! Kate had to get in on the painting action a bit as well.

Path to the Playset

We have had some excitement in our backyard!! Dean had a co-worker that moved recently and needed to get rid of his playset. It has found a new home in our backyard and we couldn't be more excited! Come and play anytime. :)

This is what our backyard looked like from the kitchen window before the work began.

The landscapers had to take a tree down so they could get their equipment to the back of our property. It was the entertainment of the day. Everyone was transfixed!

Wood chips will make it less muddy and a little safer for Kate, especially.

Here is the finished product! It has already provided much enjoyment and we look forward to sharing it with friends and family as often as possible.

We ordered pizza and ate it at the picnic table under the slide the first night it was ready. Pizza tastes even better on a new playset.

The night ended with celebratory fun dip that we had been saving for a special occasion.

Memorial Day Parade

I absolutely love our little town parade and will look forward to going every year!! Although, this is the first year we have been to the parade as residents, we have enjoyed the parade a few times in the past with friends and have always loved it. This year, the weather was beautiful, Isaac was marching for the first time and we had a blast. I hope those around me weren't concerned about my mental state as I found myself teary when the firemen passed, when the veteran's passed, when the re-enactors passed and definitely when Isaac passed. :) What a great way to spend an afternoon!!

We arrived at the parade route about 45 minutes before things kicked off and the girls enjoyed a lollipop while we waited. They didn't want to eat too much since they were looking forward to the candy that would be thrown from the marchers during the parade.

Isaac thought this car was pretty cool.

Love these ladies and their outfits.

Great tree farm where we cut our own Christmas tree this past year.

Isaac loved throwing candy with some of his soccer team members. He tried to throw a little extra to his sisters. I think he was counting on the fact that they would set aside some for him. :)

I Didn't Realize That "Country" Living Could Be So Dangerous...

Over the last few weeks we have had some interesting experiences. We are hoping that you will still come for dinner or to visit after reading this post. :)

We have had a couple of garter snakes frequenting our flower beds this year and the kids have really enjoyed watching them sun themselves. Kate is especially enamored. However, the beauty above is absolutely not welcome and was fortunately not discovered by any of the children. Dean was heading out the door one Saturday and happened to look to the side of our front porch, in the flower beds and came running inside yelling that there was a copperhead. He retrieved the appropriate equipment and took care of this unwelcome visitor rather quickly. Copperheads, please find some other place to sun yourself!!!

On top of the copperhead situation, we have had visits from several queen yellow jackets. Unfortunately, they have not been visiting us outside, but have been visiting us in our basement. They are much larger than they appear (says the woman who is absolutely terrified of them even though she knows that it is not logical or appropriate to be this afraid of a small, flying insect) and have wreaked havoc with my laundry schedule. A wonderful man came out this week and explained the problem and how these 8-10 yellow jackets made it into our basement and I am thankful all is cleared up and they will no longer be invading my home.

No more unwelcome creatures please!!

Hooray for Hiking

A couple of weeks ago we went hiking with a family that we do a small science-based homeschool co-op with every other week. We had been studying plant classification at home and decided to meet for a morning of hiking. While we hiked we gathered various plant material and had some fun with it at home. It was a beautiful day and hike and we are looking forward to doing lots more this summer!!

All of the kids with only Kate missing due to the fact that I was carrying her in the Ergo. We were really high at this point and the kids were enjoying sitting on the rock and looking out over the tops of the trees.

After the hike, which was a little over 2 miles, the kids had a quick snack before we hopped in the cars and headed out.

Isabelle decided she wanted to make a placemat with the leaves she had gathered.

Isaac worked on various bookmarks.