VBS

This year our church again joined forces with three other Episcopal churches for VBS. THe theme was to create the Marketplace of Nazareth. I brought some of the animals for the barnyard stall. There were many other stalls, but I didn't get pictures of those today.

Days like today are kind of bitter sweet. It makes me realize all over how much I really do enjoy the wonder of the littlest ones. That is what I miss most, seeing the wonder, seeing things for the first time, over and over again!

Saturday and Sunday....

Sunday's Picture

These beautiful flowers were given to my mom today. They were a sweet gift from one of our most loyal and loved Center families.

Saturday's Picture

Nathan and I are shopping around for furniture for the 'Literature Room' which is also our family room. We saw this great chair at a flea market. It is leather and the set is only $65. I am seriously thinking about it.

Rooster Update....

It is times like these when I realize how much of a city girl I really am! I believe only one of these two is a rooster, because only one crows, one seems to be the leader, and one walks like a rooster.....but I am still not convinced that the other one is a hen. It is hard to tell them apart unless they are walking and they walk very differently! If one is a hen, it is the heavier looking one of the two.

Proud Mentor Moment!

This is one of my students. I have known him since Kindergarden. He and Nathan were in the same class and then he came to the Center the year after I opened it. He has always wanted to be a pilot. Today, he graduated from Advanced Aviation Camp! He will probably have his private plane license before he has his license to drive a car. He has been working towards this goal for a long time and I am very proud of him!

Playing catch up

Wednesday's Photo

Nathan and Gabe actually 'caught' doing academic type work on the computers...lol...Nathan was writing a short story and Gabe was writing a report about Thunder Storms.

Tuesday's Photo
Athena registered for classes around her UPS and Ladybirds' schedules and it didn't leave much time for sleep! On this graph, sleep is in green. She will have 13 hours this semester and only one of the classes she really wanted.

Monday's Photo
Mom finished and I got to start reading about 10pm on Monday night! I finished around 11pm Tuesday, because those darn students needed tutoring during the day ;)

An extra!
I just had to throw in this one of Ginger my cross eyed cat. She is a wonderful hunter even with crossed eyes and no claws. She brings home birds, rabbits, snakes and moles, at least a couple a week.

Waiting my turn.....

While everyone else is waiting for their kids to finish, I get to wait for my mom to finish. She has been a fan much longer than I have and she probably reads even faster than I do too. It won't be a very long wait.

Delayed Visit!

This is my mom with my aunt and uncle from MI. My aunt is my mom's younger sister and when she was on her way here they thought she had a stoke and rushed her to the hospital. That is where she spent the last 3 days, undergoing lots of tests. Good news, no stroke, she is ok! Finally, she was released and could come see mom and have a nice visit before heading home.

This is my sister with our cousin Chris. He wasn't supposed to visit, but he flew in to help his parents drive home. It was a great added bonus to see him and pictures of his kiddos.

Because of the distance, this isn't a part of the family we see often so these pictures are rare treasures.

Gift from the storm

Its not a great shot, but it is the best for today. This is a present from the severe T-Storms we had this evening. This medium sized tree fell across the top of my driveway, moments before a new mom and son were coming for an entrance interview. It is a peferct example of the way my week has been going :)

Happy Birthday to Nathan!!!!

He is 15 years old today!

Athena cut his hair this morning.
I guess it's the week for new 'dos around here.
He is spending the day golfing and doing 'guy stuff' with Dirk and two friends. I am cooking his new favorite dinner, grilled chicken kabobs, and just about all the family should be here. Just like Kayleigh, he will get his DQ cake for dessert.

Another Gluten Free Treat

Tuesday's Picture...

I did start with a gluten free muffin mix-- main ingredent brown rice flour, but then I added 1 cup dried cranberries, 1 cup chopped almonds and walnuts (a mix from NT), 1.5 cups coconut milk, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup maple syrup to the mix, then baked it. After it cooled I drizzled a glaze made out of 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice, teaspoon cinnamon, teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon mace, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. We didn't eat it until much later int he day and I noticed that the cake worked like a sponge and soaked up all the glaze. I was afraid it was going to be dry, but it wasn't and my other fear is that it would be too sweet, but it really wasn't. It was very 'scone like' in texture instead of cake like, but moist in the middle! Perfect with tea!

Summertime....

Ice Cold Watermelon always says summer to me. It quenches my thirst, curbs the sweet tooth, and is always a welcome way to end a grilled meal!

Mom's new 'do

We agree that the no hair is a great improvement over the half hair :)

Wed and Thurs

Wednesday's Picture

I believe these are Mulberry bushes. We just found them at the back of our property. They seem to go on forever. There are some blackberry bushes back there too. Neither fruit is ripe yet, but the blackberries are very close.

Thursday's Picture

This is the computer grave yard that has been taking over my library this summer!

Tuesday's picture

This is where I spent last night. Dirk went to the dr. in the morning for his blood pressure, but ended up with a migrain that was off the charts that afternoon. When he called his dr., he told him to go here to get a shot. The shot took the edge off, but the dr. here told me to stay awake because if it did not improve by midnight I would have to take him to the ER. Luckily, it did improve some so he could sleep. This morning it is just a dull ache.

My Gardening Hero....

He mowed three and a half acres today and will finish tomorrow. What is it with boys not wanting to wear shirts while working in the yard?

Saturday and Sunday

Sunday's picture.
My first attempt at gluten free cinnamon-nutmeg pancakes. They were pretty good. These are mine and they are topped with a little peanut butter, 1/2 a banana, almonds and a drizzle of pure maple syrup. Since I over slept we actually had them for lunch :)

Saturday's picture
This is the highest of three receipts from yesterday's shopping excursion. Except for fresh fruit and veggies, we shouldn't have to do shopping like this again for about 5 weeks. At least I feel like I accomplished something!

No picture for Friday, by the time I could stop and think, the day was over.

Patriot or hiding from the chickens?

I noticed him on my flag as I was on my way to the drugstore for Mom. I thought he was kind of cute :)

my childhood home...

This is the house I grew up in. The picture was taken on Friday and actually Dirk took the picture while I was driving, but I posted it today because I have been thinking a lot about this house lately. It holds a lot of memories, some of my sweetest and some of my worst all in one location.

Playing with photoshop

After learning how the clone stamp works.

Original photo.

I really think we found it!

This is Otter Creek Park. It is about 45 minutes from the house, it has enough space for indoor or outdoor services, it has two-three places for dancing, it can seat up to 250 if we push it, it has cabins at the park for out of town guests, and motels less than 5 minutes away for those not wanting a cabin, they will help plan canoe trips, rock climbing, hikes, hayrides and bonfires for the weekend, and the price is less than it would cost to rent a tent for our yard. See leftovers for more pictures of this beautiful place.