Interesting tidbits...

I thought I'd post some things about the kids to finish catching up on my blog posting. Hopefully the next couple will be filled with pictures, now that we have batteries that work again:).

Addie is showing signs of being a future mountain climber. In the past week she's had to be brought down from the climbing wall at least 6 times! She gets up there with no assistance and this morning we were surprised to find that she'd gone up there while we were doing morning chores, climbed into one of the hammocks and was fast asleep! She also has no problem getting onto the trampoline! She moves a bucket over there, climbs on top and proceeds to climb through the netting ALL BY HERSELF! How can it be possible that this child is only 19 months old??? She's a very independent sort. She's figured out how to open my pineapple juice and pour it herself... On the other hand, she's a very good fisher when it comes time to pull the clean dishes out of the rinse water and put them in the drainer. She was Darlene's most helpful assistant while they were here:).

Kiersten, hmmm, what to say about Miss Kiersten. She's still obsessed with the color pink, but has declared that she now likes blue too. She loves to have Daddy hose her down outside on a hot day:). She's my favourite naptime buddy. She loves books like the others and I look forward to seeing her learn to read for herself. Hopefully there will be a book written with a good, kind, loving stepmother, when that time comes. She's picked up on the concept that pretty much all books have portrayed about stepmothers being wicked and I'm VERY thankful that I'm not her stepmother:). She doesn't have very good plans, should she ever have one, from what she tells me. Praying she never gets one and that she gets saved if there is ever a need for her to have one, but I've let Scott in on her plans just in case:)))).

Caleb is still Caleb. He's picking up on this reading thing a little bit at a time. I think it will still be several months before he will realize that he really can read most books once he puts the sounds together like he does in his 1st readers. I'm not rushing him. We call Caleb the master chicken herder. He has no fear and is quite amusing with his antics in driving them out of the house. Darlene got some good video footage of the kids while they were here, but it would probably take too long to upload it here. Maybe I could get her to do a Youtube video then embed the code:). Anyway, he continues to be a great help whenever there's something to build or take apart. He LOVED helping dig a hole for the laundry line post recently and has been pestering Daddy to let him do the other one and sand the chairs for a refinishing job that Scott has:). Yesterday we were looking for him and Garrison was the first to spot him. The other kids were jumping on the trampoline. Caleb was sleeping in front of Scott's truck in the grass! When we woke him up and asked him what he was doing he said, "waiting for Dad to get home!" He's Dad's little shadow...

Garrison is growing like a weed. There's really no height difference between him and Elyssia now. He's reading the same books and magazines that she's reading, except the girl ones:). That means he's reading at a 4th or 5th grade level and he's still 6 years old! I love it though:). We wanted all our kids to love reading and it's truly their favourite thing to do. They're all doing well with chores, although it's hard to get them out there when it's super hot. We get up early and just try to get it all done before 9 now. That allows us to stay in for the hottest parts of the day and there's always plenty to keep us busy inside too. He's eagerly looking forward to his special trip to Hanna with Dad. They're going to a gun show and it's a "man" trip:). His top two teeth are loose! He also has a "man size appetite" these days, which makes it hard to keep him filled up. Wondering if he's getting ready for a big growth spurt...

Elyssia, hmmm, plenty to say about that girl:). She's busy these days with chores, reading, pursuing all the hobbies that she enjoys and talking about starting her grade 4 work early! It will be interesting to see what God has in mind for this one in the future. She's a big help most days and is still a social butterfly. Making friends isn't hard for her and thankfully we haven't had to be concerned about her making the wrong friends yet. She's been blessed with several good friends in the area and enjoys spending time with them as much as possible. Thankfully church brings us together on a regular basis. Horse riding lessons didn't happen this summer, due to the instructor cracking a couple ribs, but it's something we'll plan for in the future if she keeps her interest in horses. I think she's read well over 100 bigger books so far this spring/summer. She's working through the shelves of books that Nana brought, which means we won't have quite as much set aside for winter reading. Thank the Lord for the Public Library:).

All the animals seem to be doing well. We're amazed that all the chickens are still alive and thank the Lord for that! Scott has made 2 varieties of goat cheese so far. One is a cream cheese consistency and is well liked by most in the family. The second was a 30 minute mozarrella and was a wonderful consistency for every dish that we used it for:). I think cheddar and goat's milk soap are next on the list of things he wants to try. Thankful that Scott has the motivation and a bit more time of late to make these. My energy level is increasing a bit and the nausea is decreasing a bit, but still not back to normal. Thankful for each day that we've gotten through though and that we're all still alive and well:).

Until next time and pictures...