Camping Trip Part Two

Wednesday morning we had bacon, scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast. We decided to leave for our hike to the waterfall after Stephen woke from his morning nap. I packed a picnic lunch and we just had fun exploring and playing until it was time to leave. One of the things we did was roast a whole bag of marshmellows while we were there. There is no nutritional value to be found in them but they are really wonderful when they're nicely browned on the outside and melted on the inside. Daniel thought they were good to the last sticky bit left on the stick.


After Stephen woke up we drove to Red Rive Gorge and made the trek to the waterfall and wading pool. Upon arriving we discovered that someone had built a campfire on the sandbar and left trash everywhere. While the boys finished eating Philip went and cleaned up everything before the boys went in to play. They had a high time! Chasing minnows and throwing rocks. There were no other people there which made it nice. As you can see the wading pool was not very deep and while Allan and Daniel played Stephen sat in the sand and played in and ate the sand.

Camping Trip Part 1

This past Tuesday we left for a three day camping vacation. I've never done this type of camping before. In the past I've either been pregnant or had a new baby when we've been given the opportunity of going so this was the first that all five of us have gone together. The boys have loved camping with their daddy in the past and where just thrilled to be able to go again. This time we went to the Koomer Ridge campground that was equipped with running water and outhouses. The site we chose had both very close. We arrived at Red River Gorge about lunch time and decided to eat our picnic lunch first. We'd been told that there was a waterfall with a wading pool that would be perfect for the boys that was very close so we went to check it out. "Very close" meant a 3/4 mile hike that was almost all downhill. "Very close" is only if you're not accompanied by a 5, 2/12 year old and carrying a 17lb nine month old. But they were troopers (Stephen slept for probably 45 minutes while we carried him) and we were able to find the place. Unfortunately I didn't pack the boys a towel or change of clothes for that hike because I didn't think we'd have far to go. We hiked another 3/4 mile back up and then drove to choose our campsite. I helped Philip set up while Stephen napped in his pack-n-play and the boys went exploring. We had packed the coleman stove but ended up doing all of our cooking over the campfire. Here are some pictures from the first day.

For my mom

Here are some pictures of my shade garden. Since this is only the second year I think next year I'll have quite a bit of thinning to do for everything to fit.

Storm

This week has been rather busy with the garden and having vacation Bible school each evening. We're also getting ready to go camping next week which adds to the busyness. I did have to show my folks the pictures of my garden. This year I have a stand of corn that far outshines any in the past three years. It's been beautiful. Last week we had a storm that knocked over some rows on the far side. Philip took some posts and chicken wire and propped the rows up then we tied each stalk to the chicken wire. On Friday morning around 2:00 we had a really strong thunderstorm roll through that had lots of wind. I could tell by the lightening flashes that the wind had decimated the corn we hadn't propped up (which was the tallest corn). The next morning confirmed my fears. All of the tallest corn that had tassled was knocked over. However it hadn't been uprooted or snapped off...just pushed over. Philip took the boys and ran to Lowes for some posts and twine. We then spend the morning putting up stakes, tying three levels of support and then individually tying each stalk to the support. I don't know if it will make it or not but we've done everything we can at this point. Poor Philip had hives all over his neck by the time we were done but I'm so thankful for his willingness to salvage the mess. The top picture was taken today and the bottom picture was taken yesterday morning.

Happy Father's Day!

Here are my men!

Music Appreciation

On the way to church Sunday evenings we sometimes tune in to "Classics for Kids" from a local radio station. The boys usually enjoy it and are learning at the same time. Last night it was a session on the history of Italian opera. Pretty soon Allan piped up from the back seat, "I'd be embarrassed if I had a voice that sounded like that!" Oh did we laugh!!!

Pooh on Roller Blades

Yesterday morning Allan stuffed Pooh's feet into two train cars and told me that Pooh was wearing roller blades.

Our answer to prayer

For some time we've been praying as a family for a new vehicle. Our car is doing fine but three car seats in the back seat is getting a little cramped and there's very little room to be able to pack for camping trips. To make a very long story short, today we picked up a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan from a man in SC who had been scouting for us. Here are some pictures. The back seats are "stow-n-go" and when I took the picture Philip had put them in the floor. We're so thankful for God's provision in this adventure. This is the first vehicle that Philip has purchased. Our current car was a gift from the Easley church.

Allan's Haircut

I finally convinced Allan the other day to let me buzz his hair. He quit having me do that some time ago because he wanted to be able to comb his hair "like daddy". But it's been getting so warm I knew it would be cooler and he consented.

Hunting "Bear"

The boys love to take sticks to the back corner of our property where there is a bunch of underbrush and they hack away on it. At any given time they can be: searching for dinosaurs, killing orcs, hunting bear or a lot of other things. Several weeks ago during campmeeting (which is a very busy week for Philip), Philip had come home for a break and the boys asked him to go bear hunting with them. A little while later I looked outside and this is what I saw. The boys had their sticks and Philip had an old broom and they were having the time of their lives! I don't know of many men who would go hunting bear in their dress pants/shirt and tennis shoes but I think that's one reason I love that man.

Cakes

Cake business has been kind of slow lately. Mostly it's my fault. I don't advertise and word of mouth can be unreliable. I have one wedding this summer but so far that looks like the only major project. Several weeks ago I did a baby shower cake for one of the Aldersgate Christian Academy teachers who is having her first child. I was asked to use organic sugar and learned that because organic sugar is unbleached it turns icing a very nasty gray color. Hence the different (but not ugly) shade of blue. The graduation cake was for Seven Star Academy's (their logo is a star made of sevens) first graduation. That was fun and super easy. Daniel did manage to eat off the corner boarder while I was swapping out a load of laundry but otherwise everything went smoothly.

Stephen is Mobile

Stephen is now doing a fairly good army crawl and can get where he wants to go more quickly than is safe. He actually fell down one set of stairs the other week. Last week he decided it was time to sit up and so he went from not sitting to sitting for 20 minute stretches. He also pulled up for the first with Philip yesterday. He's enjoying all of the different foods he gets to try...except peas! He's pretty much on all table food now. We just put it through the food grinder before we give it to him. The boys love trying to make him laugh and they can get some of the cutest belly laughs out of the little guy. It seems like he sleeps more than my other guys did (16-17 hours a day) but the Dr. says that's when his brain is developing so allow him to sleep as much as he likes. It really cuts down on the amount of time I'm able to run errands but all too soon that will change.

Daniel's ABC's

Last week I had taken Daniel to Children's Hospital for a study and one of the questions I was asked was, could Daniel say the alphabet. Now, I'd never worked with him but I knew he was in just about every K4 class that Allan watched so I turned around and asked him if he could say the alphabet. I was shocked! Here's what he said. (He did it for me again here at home)

Garden and Flowers

We've been blessed with some of the most wonderful rainshowers that I've seen in a while. Just slow, steady, soaking rains that have made things burst to life. My garden is growing fantastically....both plants and weeds (forgot to put Preen down after the first tilling!). We've harvested broccoli and lettuce. We also have planted corn, green beans, lima beans, pumpkins, watermelon, potatoes, okra, cauliflower, tomatoes and peppers. I know it's a lot of work but there's something in this country-born girl that smiles every time I think about it. The boys so enjoy going up and checking things out and helping. The second year shade garden looks great...perhaps starting to show signs of a little too much rain. The first year shade garden is also doing well. There is a section of the first year garden that has root maggots that have eaten some of the plants and I can't seem to get rid of them. The hanging baskets are full of blooms now and the planters are starting to fill out. Plants and flowers help make the concrete and asphalt jungle we live in seem more like home.

Alive

Just a note for my family: We are all still alive (if not flourishing) in some form or another. Last weekend all three boys were sick (this was during campmeeting) and so we struggled along. Daniel still has a runny nose but this has been going on for about a month so my guess is that he has allergies of some type. Hopefully it wont turn into something serious. Allan has been doing fine this week. We started him on the kid's version of Boost to help him gain some much needed weight. When we take him for his 5 year booster shots in several weeks it would be nice if he were several pounds heavier. Stephen went to the Dr. on Monday and started on antibiotics. He was doing really well but had a setback today. Philip started with sinus problems and poison ivy this week. This sinus pain was pretty intense so he made a trip to urgent care yesterday and was placed on an antibiotic. Last evening what I thought was the same thing hit me and the sinus pressure and pain was pretty bad so I ended up at urgent care today. But the diagnosis was allergies since I also have a double eye infection (again!). Well, technically my eyes aren't infected because there's no puss or draining that's why the Dr. thought it was allergies. So I'm on Zyrtec D, eye drops and ibuprofen for the sinus pain. Philip is feeling some better today although the antibiotic isn't working as fast for him as I had hoped. I will not even write here what he did for his own remedy for poison ivy but it seems to have worked and he's not itching anymore (okay....think sandpaper!) So if I have not called this weekend or returned your calls this is why! Mom and Dad Brown came and picked up Allan and Daniel this morning (and brought a pot of chicken soup) so that I could get some rest! That was a blessing. May all of you have a wonderful Memorial Day! We'll be resting, drinking plenty of fluids, using nasal spray, and trying to remember who takes what medicine when!Love you all.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's day to every mother who visits this blog. Particularly those whose children are not yet old enough to "rise up and call you blessed." :o) We took a quick picture before going to church with the boys in the new outfits Grandma Slagenweit gave them!

We had a lovely week here! The rain and sun mixture has produced wonderful green and some spectacular flowers. Tomorrow it will be two weeks since we planted our garden and everything is up several inches. I believe every corn seed sprouted....I'm going to have a lot of thinning to do. The boys have enjoyed watching the changes from day to day and Allan's all excited about the little broccoli head that are coming on. We hope to plant our tomatoes, peppers, and what ever else I decide I want to put in plus come pumpkin plants our backyard neighbor brought over.

We had a mother's day banquet at our church on Friday evening so I made two coconut cream pies for that....and for once the meringue turned out nice! This time I used the boiling sugar, cornstarch and water method as I beat the egg whites.

Thursday I donated some blood for a research study being done at Children's hospital. I have gave 5 TBS. of blood, they gave me $40. Not a bad deal! The boys loved it and just thought the needle and tubes were great. They even got free Band-Aids out of the deal. BTW: for those of you who want to make some extra money in Cincinnati this is sometimes a good option. They do have studies that will pay up to $850 but ones that pay that much can last a year with checkups every three months and bloodwork. They had one some time ago that paid $1,500 for a typhoid study. You got an 11 day, all expenses paid (plus the above) vacation at the hospital. I opted not to do this one....people can die from typhoid.

Saturday the boys and I finished shopping for school supplies. Allan starts K5 tomorrow! (No, we do not homeschool year round but he finished early and wanted to keep going) Saturday afternoon I got a two hour date with my husband and we had a great time at Panera Bread. Allan and Daniel went with Pop-pop and gramme to ride on some rides that were set up in the parking lot of a local Wal-Mart. They had a high old time....I'm not so sure Pop-pop and gramme's stomachs have fully recovered.