Sunday, May 01, 2022

Sunday Afternoon

Michael is filling in for Ed at Sunday School for a couple of weeks. We decided our best bet would be to take two cars this morning to church. We can't get Dad into the building where Sunday School is held so we wouldn't be able to attend the class and would just be sitting around waiting for others for 30 minutes... Two cars worked well. 

After church we had lunch and came home to find - these two in our driveway! It's always fun to visit with Jared and Larissa. 


Michael has spent the afternoon working on his project to extend the foundation of the greenhouse. I started weeding the beds behind him and realized my hands are not as strong as they've been in year's past. I thought about it and have decided to go after the weeds with a hoe and then cover the beds with newsprint or cardboard and put compost on top of that.... I'll tackle them in the morning. Maybe I'll just put the chickens in there after the greenhouse is erected. So many options...

Sometime this afternoon Stacia decided she wanted to go sit on the sledding platform now that there was no snow on it. 
📷by Allie

Millie fussed until we let her out - she had a great time romping around with the girls. The main purpose of including a photo where you can't really see PEOPLE is to point out there is NO SNOW LEFT in the back yard! 

This year's chicks continue to provide us with entertainment. Some of them are getting little feathers. The barred rocks (black ones) crack us up. They run and "cannon ball" into the middle of the feeder or group of others. 

This heating plate keeps them warm and toasty...at night all 20 of them cuddle under it. 

I am looking forward to getting more eggs again. I am envisioning baked omelets, quiche and breakfast burritos in the freezer for breakfasts.  Our current 10 are basically keeping Grandpa in eggs. 

More Tidbits from the Week

I love everything about this photo! 

There is something undeniably sweet about grandblessings...and a grandblessing with a baby chick? Spectacular. 

Here are a few things I did not take photos of....lunch with Jennifer to brainstorm Women's ministry and connect, Allie's final pediatric dental cleaning, Dad's dental appointment, Bible studies with both Allie and Stacia, impromptu date with Michael and progress on the foundation for the greenhouse. 

Our days are getting longer, and those who don't sleep when the sun is up are getting tired. LOL  I believe we are gaining 5 minutes of sunlight every day. 


Summer is just around the corner when the coffee drive-throughs are giving out summery stickers! Right? 


Loving my outside walks - when I can fit them in. 

We took the Fall/Christmas/Valentines/Iditarod/Easter tree down. The sun has certainly arrived, and we know longer need it's cheer to brighten the house. 

The chickens and Dash LOVE the day after food co-op. I often am sent home with a box of spoiled produce - not good enough to pay for - but plenty good enough for the animals. 


Pietro is too proud to scramble with the hens. He oversees their mealtimes! He's a great rooster. 


This is the boys' year to host Mr. Gingerbread, but he's happy to enjoy a sleep-over with Livie and Willow. 

Whenever I am going somewhere I invite a girl to come with me to drive. They are making great progress! This week we continued driving on our highway and around town. We added roundabouts, 4 way stops and busy parking lots which increase their parking confidence. LOL 

In other car news, Michael and Alex took the Vibe to Anchorage for repairs. We told the girls we'll get it running ship shape and then it's up to them to keep up the maintenance. They replaced the clutch, a valve of some sort, the flywheel and the rocker cover gasket. It runs great now.  This required two trips to Anchorage. 

We are so happy life groups have begun again. We are enjoying reconnecting with previous members and getting to know new members. Dinners are a great addition to the evening. It is making for much more natural relationship building.  The young adults are always quick to pull out a game. Tonight, it was a "head bandz" sort of game. We spend the first hour visiting, playing games and eating and then another 20 - 30 minutes discussing various themes centered around loving God and others well.  Members in our group range from 12 - 72 (81 if Grandpa decides to attend). 

Stacia was the first to take a stab at the Fred Meyers parking lot. 

On Saturday we transferred the chicks from the Rubbermaid tote to the newly repaired brooder. This is an ingenious design created by Michael.  They have much more room in here for food and water to be separated.  At night they all huddle under the yellow heat plate. It has a top and is secured when closed.  As they reach their "teen" stage, we open the top and they hop in and out and wander around the yard. 


It's wonderful to have the girls home tonight. They had a great time at KrUke's. They earned some spending money doing a bit of yard clean up for them. Krista planned to take the girls shopping for Christmas and it never happened.  Stacia enjoyed spending her budget at Metro Cook and got some really cool new toys.  Allie spent her budget at Burlington and came home with some fantastic summery dresses, shirts and a pair of sandals to wear with dresses. 
📷by Krista

Krista sent home a loaf of the most wonderful bread from Great Harvest Bakery. This led to an impromptu tea party where the girls shared all the fun stories of their sleepover with Krista. 

Check out the tea cup.  I had a local potter make them. She originally went white with a butterfly until I convinced her I wanted the same glaze/look she gives her mugs. They are GREAT. Each of the girls got one at our Christmas Adam Tea this year. 

OH! The girls turned in their final work samples for the year and I submitted their grades as well.  They will continue ASL and Japanese through the summer - that's how we learn languages...and we have one final Brit Lit Tea to schedule for next week. That's a fun way to bring the class and the year to a close. I do wish we had a local tea house.   It's been a great school year; and it feels really good to end the year early! LOL 

Jennifer, a fellow homeschool mom, shared these thoughts on Facebook as she finishes homeschooling her youngest. They speak to me as we begin planning for Stacia's Senior year.  "I've been so busy with the journey, that the ending has taken me by surprise. The days are long but the years are short."  I plan to stay fully engaged in the journey, but I want to remember to celebrate the milestones as we finish this family journey of homeschooling.....we do have several grands who are homeschooling, maybe I can offer myself as a pinch teacher.  I really am quite befuddled to realize this is our BABY'S senior year we're planning.