Butterfly chasing

The boys burned some energy chasing butterflies on Saturday. Blase caught 4 butterflies, but Rex and Stephen kept letting them out. Stephen said he was just being nice to animals so he could be a saint. Blase didn't think it was very saintly of him!

This is Rex playing the official butterfly identifier. You can't really see it, but the book is upside down. He was very proud to have a real job and it kept him out of the way while the boys were running around.

Bird's nest

We have a bird that builds a nest in the same spot every year. She picks our porch light by the front door. I don't mind her building her house there, but I do mind what she leaves behind on the ground and door (poop). The previous owners said that they always knock down the nest and she will build it again. I have yet to see what kind of bird it is, but this time we left the nest up hoping to catch a glimpse. Here's what it looked like on May 20th.

Curiosity got the better of me so I had to take another picture yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised to find this lovely treat! Last year she only had two little birdies - so we will see how many hatch this year.

Planting and more planting

Over Memorial Day weekend we planted our garden. It was a job and I'm already dreading the canning. Here's an incomplete list of whats in our garden...

Weeds (no garden is complete without weeds)

carrots

3 types of corn

2 types of peas

cucumbers

4 types of lettuce

3 types of green beans

2 types of radishes

potatoes

3 types of onions

4 types of tomatoes

2 or 3 types of peppers

strawberries

asparagus

dill

cilantro

parsley

2 types of pumpkins

zucchini

squash

and it seems like I'm forgetting something

Well - either way it will be a ball to keep up and a ball to harvest! Here's a few pictures of the completed project.

This is "Little Farmer" helping "Big Farmer". Cormac kept saying he was a little farmer, so that's what we called him.

Time, time

I am wondering where all the time has gone. It was here and then POOF it was gone. I know its a lame excuse for not posting any tidbits this week. I'm going to do a bunch of posts and catch up. There really has been a lot of excitement this week...just no time, time.

Freedom's Debt

You shouldn't celebrate today without thinking about the cost of freedom. I have begun to think the men and women (and way back when - young boys) who paid for freedom with their lives are being cheated out of the respect they deserve. Remembering them doesn't just include flying an American flag, putting flowers on their graves and attending social functions geared towards their remembrance. While these things are WONDERFUL and quite honorable of you to do...I think it goes a bit deeper.

It is our God-given responsibility to live up to our full potential every minute of our day. This is something most of us are aware of. Let me assure you that I have fallen short of that expectation numerous times a day, everyday. This weekend is the first time I have pondered what debt I have accrued for MY freedom. What do I owe those people who died for MY freedom.

In wondering of that, I had to stop and think exactly what freedoms I have. Some of the freedoms are very obvious - right to free speech (thus a blog) and freedom of worship. Some were not so obvious - like the right to homeschool my children or the right to wear what I want (like long skirts). Others include the freedom to grow a garden for my family, freedom to have children and freedom to stop the filth from invading my home in any form. The list could go on and on and on.

These freedoms are laced through my entire day and being. I wouldn't be who I am today without these freedoms. The debt I owe is HIGH and EVERLASTING. If I plan on living like this, I have obligations to fulfill. It wasn't surprising to me to realize that what I owe for my freedom is the same as what I owe to God for the gift of life. I owe only one thing - my full potential at every moment. To squander my talents or waste my time would be a slap in freedom's face. (ohhh, pondering - blogging waste of time?? hummm)

I do believe that I must ensure that my children know what price was paid for freedom. I plan to show them day by day through my actions and words. It really isn't hard to pay MY debt by action but I have remember to tell them that it was by the death of others, the sacrifice of their families and the love of our Maker that we have the freedoms and blessings of today. We must also take it a step further and realize it is OUR job to secure the freedoms of tomorrow. Freedom of LIFE at all AGES must be our NUMBER ONE priority. When the value of money and worldly possessions (in all forms) are put before the value of life - we as a people, as a nation, as individuals will pay the price in due time.

Fighting for freedom comes at all times, in all situations. Hear the call to battle - defend your position of truth - live and die with honor!

Rogation blessing for the garden

Father Litzner came over yesterday to drop off a statue of the Blessed Mother we are housing for a week. While he was here I requested he bless our garden since it was a Rogation day. The boys were great helpers. I am sure we will have a bountiful garden now. Anyone want to come help can in the fall???

The boys listened to Father and then they followed in his footsteps ALL the way around the garden.

Reality

So you may have noticed I placed a picture in the heading. That would be my boys in my perfect world when I say "Time for prayers!" everyday. Let me show you how they look when they are not posed for a photo.

Blase seems to be the only one attempting to pray. Stephen is next to him checking his toes. Baby is trying to get the rosary that Cormac dropped. Cormac is watching Rex who is playing a game on the Leapster. Oh my - reality isn't always full of holiness.

Rainy night blues

Its strange how a tragic event can change your whole outlook on the silliest of things. Take rain for example. Rain is rain. There is nothing overly special or frightening about rain, though certain times some are more grateful for it than others. For me, rain is the sound of sadness and thankfulness at the same time.

The week my brother Mark died my whole world pretty much stopped. It wasn't until we were back home from South Dakota that I actually became aware of things around me. The first memory I have of being 100% aware of was the rain falling outside my window. I remember thinking how beautiful it sounded, how peaceful, how cleansing, how perfect. You have to understand, the rain and snow usually falls straight down here where we live. There is no violent wind whipping it around. It is beautiful and peaceful.

As I sat listening to the rain, I cried. It wasn't just a little cry, it was a long, completely overtake you kind of cry. I cried because I missed Mark. I cried because Mark was missing the rain. I cried because I was upset. I cried because I could cry. I cried because I was lucky enough to be sitting there listening to the rain. I cried because I thought of how many people NEVER stop and thank God for the chance to hear, feel, taste, see, and smell the rain.

Now by this time I'm about all cried out. It felt so good to be out of tears and still be surrounded by the sounds of rain. It was like all the burdens of my heart and soul had been washed away. So now when it rains I cry and let the rain and my tears wash away the burdens of the past and the present. Then I thank God for His blessings and sleep soundly for a change.

Its strange how a tragic event can change your whole outlook on the silliest of things.

Fiddling around

Last night I had my first fiddle lesson. I didn't learn that much, but I think its going to be exciting. I have yet to practice today. Shame, shame on me!! I'll keep you updated on my progress or if I get "kicked" out of class for lack of talent. Wish me luck...

Spring...

When I was a little girl I loved spring. New baby goats, new baby kittens, clean air, warm sun, playing in the dirt, riding bikes, even the gardening was fun. Life was great, time was passing so slow. And then...I grew up...

Spring now means ticks, boys peeing on trees, sand fights, convincing the boys that gardening is a good thing if they want to eat this year, spiders and bugs and bees oh my! The list of not so fun parts of spring seems to be long lately. I did stop and "smell" the flowers today. The songs of the birds were beautiful and the sun bright and warm. We also had our first sprout from the beans we planted last Friday. Life is blooming and chirping everywhere. For some reason, maybe its the mom in me, but the peeing on trees seems to overshadow the tiny leaves getting a "rain shower".

So here's to spring and all its ups and downs! Bring it on...this momma's ready!

Mother's Day presents

I had a nice Mother's Day and received a few presents. My mother bought me this lovely statue of the Kitchen Madonna and Jesus, plus a book of devotions for the Poor Souls.

Darren and the boys bought 2 benches for me. They are by our fire pit. We can roast hot dogs and marshmallows in comfort this year. The back of the bench has pine trees and bears on it. Here is Rex modeling it for all of you.

Happy belated Mother's Day to all of you mothers!!

Trouble

I am in trouble. Believe it or not it isn't anything I have done. My baby is mobile now. He is scooting around on his belly like a pro. Everything on the floor is up for grabs now. He's quite pleased with himself and giggles everytime he scoots. Its time to close the gates to the stairs and pick up all those annoying little things on the floor. YES - I am in trouble! Now I have to keep up with five boys. (Did I mention I love this stage!!!!)

June 1-5, 2009

I plan on attending a homeschooling convention. The beauty of this convention is I don't have to leave my house, get dressed or worry about what to do with the kids. Cindy Rushton hosts the most amazing conferences. This year on June 1-5 she is hosting the Ultimate Homeschool Expo 2009. If you homeschool - you should look into this.

http://www.ultimatehomeschoolexpo.com/

Her conferences and talks have ALWAYS been worth the money I have spent. The free gifts have been useful and the speakers share such wisdom. If you have time to listen in to the preview chats, do so. I find that they always come right when I need help in that area.

Hope to see you there!!

Garden buddy

When we were working on the garden fence, Darren stumbled upon a garden friend. He found a garter snake and caught it for the boys to see. We later decided to name it Phocas after St. Phocas who is one of the patrons of gardeners. This morning I found out that there is a different St. Phocas who is the patron against snake bites. I think we picked the right name after all.

We are hoping our garden buddy does his best to keep unwanted pests out of our veggies! St. Phocas help us with our garden.

Garden bliss

Its official...we will have a garden of sorts this year. On Tuesday we started building the fence around our garden plot. Its 48' by 64' with the promise of room to grow if need be. I'm not sure what we are planting yet as I did not buy the seeds. I was told we are planting pumpkins and sweet corn. I can't wait for the carrots and peas - so I hope that they bought some of them.

Blase and Darren working on the corner post.

Most of the garden, only 3/4 of it is tilled.
Cormac and Darren putting up one of the posts.

The boys and I will start some seeds (yes I know its a bit late) and have a school lesson soon. Hopefully they will produce some YUMMY vegetables. I'll keep you posted....

Borrowed

I just quickly wrote this for some "homework" on another website. Thought it was nice, so I'm posting it here as well. Nothing beats just type and see what happens.

My boys are still somewhat little, but I have always stressed that they should be best friends with their brothers (and sisters if God so wishes to bless us with some girls). Just recently I was talking with my 6 year old about my brother Mark (age 16) who died last year. He asked if Mark was my friend and I said yes he was one of my best friends. He couldn't understand how my brother could be my friend and a brother at the same time. It made me stop and think that when I was his age (6) I didn't think my brothers were my friends at all. In fact, they were the most annoy things in the whole world and why did I even have to like them. :) I know now that my siblings are some of my best friends because of the foundation my parents gave us. Dad used to say, your siblings will be there for you when no one else will and its true. I think every little fight, every little secret and every amazing game we played helped us to develop that friendship without us knowing it. That is what I want for my boys.

I want the baseball games where there are no rules. I want the popcorn and movie every Sunday night. I want the club house made out of every blanket in the house. I want the chairs arranged in the livingroom like a bus or a train when I'm sweeping the diningroom floor. I want them to share bedrooms and share toys. I want them to share secrets and fears with each other. Oh my I even want those fights over the blue airplane that everyone thinks they got for Christmas (who did get it anyway??). I want memories for my boys that they can take into their adulthood. I want my words "Your brothers will be your best friends someday!" to echo in their heads. I want to hear my boys say "Thank you Mom for the memories and letting us be kids!" when they get older.

Foundation in our family = God and family, together all things are possible

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

We didn't go to market to buy a fat pig, or any pig for that matter, BUT we are home again and quite frankly - if life was a dance I'd be doing a jig right now. (On a side note - I could use some bacon if anyone is passing by a store and headin' this way.)

I always dread the "down time" after a vacation. Unloading, unpacking, putting away, catching up, cleaning up and overly tired kids. Oh oh oh...I forgot to mention a cranky me.

So the trailer is unloaded, but most of the totes are still sitting on the garage floor.

Unpacking - yah right, how about let's just leave it all packed until our next trip. Ok, I'm not trying to be lazy, just thinking ahead for next time (oh alright, the next trip isn't for half a year - yah LAZY).

Putting away what, you mean those things in the totes still on the garage floor?? Maybe next week or tomorrow. Actually I'll probably unpack as soon as I can't locate something we REALLY need, like Rex's extra pull-ups.

Catching up - that will never happen. OH no I just burst my own bubble!

Cleaning up - well, maybe next week after I unload those totes that are still on the garage floor.

Overly tired kids - my dad used to say he should have just spanked us as we walked in the door from a visit to our grandparents. Can you imagine - my boys have been at one or the other grandparents house for 3 weeks!! I suppose every child deserves a bit of spoiling every once in awhile. Around here we save up months and months of spoiling and get it all done in 3 weeks.

Cranky me - well, what can I say - even a mom deserves a bit of crankiness. Near as I can figure, I'll be cranky until the totes are unpacked, the house cleaned up and the kids are caught up on their sleep. Who am I kiddin'? The house will never be cleaned up and the kids will still be fussy. One outta three ain't bad!

Throughout this all Darren has kept his cool and been as helpful as could be. Sure wish he could unpack the totes and know exactly where I want the stuff to go. YES, I am lazy. YES, I will work on my laziness this week. NO, I probably won't learn my lesson and I will continue to be lazy.

Time Flies

They say time flies when you are having fun. These past few weeks have been fun and it can't possibly be over already. I feel like it takes me a whole month to get ready for our "vacation" and a whole month to recover afterwards. I try to fit 6 months of visiting and such into just a few weeks. I know I have missed seeing so many friends and family this time. I think next time I will plan nothing other than a true vacation. Ok, I say that now but we all know I will still plan a full plate and half of another. I have just decided I will have a South Dakota Bucket List for Darren, the boys and I.

SOUTH DAKOTA BUCKET LIST
Visit Mount Rushmore
Visit Crazy Horse (I need to go admire the paving job as I helped with it - ha ha what a reason to visit Crazy Horse huh???)
Visit Custer State Park and see a lot of buffalo
Climb Bear Butte ALL the way
Take the kids to Flintstone Park

Well, its a start anyway. I'm sure we could come up with a few more without much effort. NEWS FLASH - maybe we should go on a vacation somewhere besides South Dakota?? Nahhh, at least we have "free" lodging here and most meals. I think I will call it G&G B&B (Grandpa and Grandpa Bed and Breakfast).

This weekend's weather report - the Gebes Tornado that has been tormenting the poor people of South Dakota is showing signs of moving east. Projected route appears to be Sturgis, Rapid City, Milesville and onto the I90 to continue its path into Minnesota. The frassled folks of SD should be grateful to learn that the Gebes Tornado will be hitting Minnesota with full force no later than Monday and shall not return in the near future. Expect a path of destruction 2 parents wide by 5 boys long.

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