Jenna's Big Day!

Moriah, Rebekah, Haley, Jenna, Brooke, and Lydia

Jenna was a beautiful bride!

Here's Oscar (Dan's dad/Jenna's grandpa) and Wynne with Jenna & Andrew.

Fred the Fire truck

I took Case to a Safety Day at Blain's Farm & Fleet Saturday morning, where he met "Freddy the Firetruck." The truck actually speaks to you, asks your name, squirts you, and so on. I was looking around to see if someone was powering it, but didn't see anyone obvious. It sort of freaked Case out at first.

It's Safe to Say...

...that Brooke is now "all better."

Whew!

Poor Brooke!

Hit by what I think is a migraine, followed by a couple rounds of vomit....uggh!

Some New Pics

Case's Room

Brooke will share her room with Moriah when Marijke joins us in August. Brooke's sitting on the bed Moriah will use.

Here's Brooke with Case this morning, before Brooke became horribly ill.

Here's our dining room. MUCH smaller than the previous dining room on Mulberry, but very bright and conveniently located off the kitchen, living room, and the screened porch.

Living Room

From the hallway/kitchen looking into the living room

Family Room/Music Room/Spillover room - guest room


Guest room view from hallway


Haley & Moriah's room - soon to be Haley & Marijke's room in August!

Barnstormers Game!

Ok, I don't know who the guy in the way background is, but he managed to wave at my camera...hmm, why didn't Case?

The players were warming up...

The game was broadcast live on the NFL network...our kids got a LOT of air time!

I might be biased, and I might not be, but I truly think this is a cute looking family!!!

More from Friday night

Hi!

Go Barnstormers!

This is the look Case gave most of the night.

That's Kurt Warner speaking!

Art Show

So, for the past couple of months on Fridays afternoons, I've been teaching two classes of art to the Homeschool Students who are enrolled in the Home School Assistance Program.

We studied kinetic art and artists like Marcel Duchamp, Steven Gerberich, Alexander Calder, and Eric Carle.

These are pictures before the show was completely hung....a lot of artwork!

The Art Open House

New Couch, Mom? New House?

After more than 6 weeks of waiting, we finally have the new couch! This has a double bed pull out that is actually an air mattress! It seems way more comfortable than the old mattresses of older sleeper sofas.

So...for those of you visiting in the new few weeks (you know who you are!), we have a place for you to sleep now!!!

My Country 'tis of Thee

I saw this the other day. A flag all twisted around the pole, unable to unfurl itself despite the mighty wind that was washing over it.

It reminded me of how our country seems to be right now.

The optimist in me believes that a great and mighty Wind will come along and the flag will once again fly.


...election day is coming soon...

Orchestra Trip to Six Flags

Moriah and Haley are on their way to Gurnee, Illinois. First, for the Middle School Orchestra to participate in the "Music in the Parks" orchestra competition. After their performance, they'll head over to Six Flags and have fun until the 4 hour bus ride home around 7 pm tonight.

They texted this picture from 6:30 am in the back of the bus.

Big Bed!

I found a twin/twin bunk bed through Craigslist for a very low price! We have one twin bed set up in Case's room, and the other in Brooke's room. Moriah will use that bed when Marijke comes to share the twins' current bedroom with Haley.

Case likes the big bed, but he's not ready to sleep there yet. We want to make progress with potty training first. For now, he thinks it's pretty cool.

Country Critters

I paused before posting this. Some of you might get the idea that we live with mice, chipmunks, and other rodents. Somehow today, a chipmunk got into the house (perhaps through the open door?). It was a scene right out of Christmas Vacation, according to Dan. (Case and I were lucky enough not to witness it!)

Dan trapped the little fuzzy guy in the den, then let in the cats, and let them do the rest.

Thank You for....

Haley is helping Case learn how to pray.


¹ O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.

² From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

Psalm 8:1-2

Tractor Ride

We're wrapping up our school year, but still it is very busy around here. I love it out in the "country" in our new home, but it does mean I'm spending way more time behind the wheel of the car driving kids here and there. I don't mind, because I'm getting a lot of reading done (while waiting) but it does mean less time in the house to clean and decorate. Oh well!

Last Wednesday I made a whirl-wind trip to Mason City. My dad is doing really well. We went to DirecTV and here is the dish being installed.


While I was away for the day, the kids got to play! Here's Case in his first real experience in the pool. (The first time was a few weeks ago when he accidentally fell in next to Moriah, who scooped him right out. He was staying away from the water until now.)


On my way home, I'm always fascinated by the enormousness (?) of the windmills near Charles City. Of course, it's not Iowa unless there are orange cones in the road!



Here's Case at the park in a swing. He loves the swing! We are "killing time" before Chemistry Class, which all three girls have been taking through the Home School Program. They finished up the year with polymers.


Finally, I thought the reflection in the pool was pretty cool, so I quickly snapped a picture. We're enjoying the pool. And by the way, the plants around the pool in the backyard and along the fence, and in the front yard were all taken care of by Dan, Oscar, and Wynne in one day (Saturday). What was supposed to be "an hour or so" turned out to be nearly an entire day! There were a lot of weeds and overgrowth, but it's looking so nice now. Thank you!


This weekend, Brooke had two soccer games. 5-1 and 5-1 were the final scores of each game! The Mystics are looking more and more like a true soccer team, working together, passing, looking for open spots, defending, and so on.

So...this week. I have one final class to teach at the Art Center on Friday. I have had a lot of fun teaching art this spring. I will take pictures at the open house to show what the students have been working on.

Have another great week!