Wisdom Beyond Her Years...

Melia and I were talking about it being the Fourth of July, and what that means, where we came from, etc... She's asking what kind of men they were who signed the Declaration of Independence, and I'm talking about how they were brave men, willing to risk their lives in order to attain a better life for everyone, and she interuppts...

"Mommy, I'm guessing that they were men of God, right?"

choke, tear, choke tear, "Yes, dear. You are right; they were men of God."

:-)

Yay- What a great vacation!

We are home now from our 7 days away! We feel so blessed to have been able to get away and have a great time with our kiddos. We stayed at a 4-person cabin at the Little Diamond KOA/Thousand Trails campground north of Spokane, and took one day to do Silverwood. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pics up and tell some of the FUNNY stories we had.......

For now, here's a quote from Melia this morning:

Melia: "Mom, what does 'be continued' mean?"
Me: "It's like when you are watching a show, and suddenly the show is over, but you haven't heard the end of the story yet. You have to wait until next time to hear the ending!"
Melia: "Hmmm... I don't like 'to be continueds!' "
Me: "Me neither!!!"

Pressure Canned Chicken

What do you do when you have a feverish child? Can chicken of course! Because it takes a significant amount of time! I was suprised at just how easy this was. I cut up the chicken, closed the jars, put them in the canner, added boiling water, turned it on, and babysat it for 2 hours :-) I followed the tutorial HERE (http://www.thriftyandthriving.com/2011/06/step-by-step-instructions-for-canning-chicken/) (since it won't let me put the link in!) and the directions for my own pressure canner.

Ice Skating after the last day of Co-op!

Kiera: revelling in her "big friend" time!

Yes, I did skate too! Brought back lovely memories... and made me very empathetic to Melia's requests to take lessons... :-) But she needs to learn to swim first!

David Thompson Tour

A couple of weeks ago, our co-op went on a tour at the Wenatchee museum through the David Thompson exhibit and to go down to the river and canoe like they would have done back then.

(Note: David Thompson was the first white man to travel the entire 1200+ miles of the Columbia River, mapping it out, and trading furs. He was a strong Christian, refusing to trade alcohol for furs to the Indians. Thompson has been called the greatest land geographer who ever lived.)

I was thrilled when both girls were able to participate in the canoeing, even though we were warned that the public school age limit was 4th grade. This thrill helped to ease the concern that my two daughter just disappeared down the river in a wobbly boat...

Learning how to row.
Kiera was struggling to make it through the tour. I thought she did fantastic, even though she was tired :-) At least she wasn't being naughty!

I was a little afraid that her rowing might flip her little bod right on out of the boat! Look how little she is compared to the oar :-)


In the inlet...


And out of sight... They did make it back safe and sound, having had a GREAT time!
Interesting tidbits: Thompson special ordered peppermint oil to help ease stomach troubles for his men. And they ate porcupine :-)

Baby bugs....seriously disturbing!

Melia found a leaf with lady bug eggs on it. They are now hatching and appear to be squirmy little alien lifeforms. Have a look, just don't plan on eating soon.

Homeschooling Tastes Good!

Making Letter Biscuits

Fun AND Tasty!

Happy Mom's Day!

My family, minus Gabe (working)
Gma Debbie with her grandchildren

I told you I got the tongue, Mom! Too bad it's a little bit blurry...

Apple Blossom Pictures

These are kinda backwards because Blogger uploads them that way. So evening is first, then afternoon, then the parade. :-) I'm sure you can figure it out!

Isaac LOVED his boat ride. So much so that when he was screaming because I took him out, I went and bought more tickets so he could go again.

Imagine even more screaming when I took him out the second time. He tantrumed all the way to the car. I learned my lesson, though I'm not exactly sure what that lesson was.

Cutie Patooties

See what I mean by "adrenaline-junkie?" :-)

Love this pic...

Here we go!

Dogpile on Ken!

Melia, in the Grand Parade with her friends (and mine!)

Kiera, watching the parade. She has such a beautiful stoic face...

Isaac, waving to the peoples in the parade. He was amazing, sitting in his stroller the whole time!

Happy Birthday Kiera!

Kiera recently turned 5 (Yes, I know... She's FIVE... I'm trying not to think about it...), so here's some of my favorite pics of our spicy, adrenaline-junkie, wild child... We had our family party here at our house, and a littles party out at the toy at Rocky Reach Dam (her request, my priviledge ;-)

Bubble machines are the best!

All lined up for juice and cupcakes!


Her reaction to my suprise cake for her... She'd been grouchy about it since we made the cake because it wasn't going to be like the picture- and she just didn't believe me that it would be better...

Posing...
Hello Kitty Purse cake... WAY better than the boring yellow purse in the picture! :-)




CASH!

Such a funny smile

In shock over her baby doll set

Just what she wanted :-)