For the Birds

The kids are playing Super Nintendo (no, that is not a typo...) so I thought I would post some more photos. George spotted a bird feeder project in his magazine, and really, really, really wanted to make it. The cool thing was, the magazine advertised if he made the birdfeeder and brought it plus the magazine to a Wild Birds Unlimited store, they would give him a free sample of birdseed. And, they actually did! The lady was so nice, and gave the kids a bird poster, for free, so they could identify who was eating at the feeder. (So far, we've spotted a chipmonk hanging around, underneath.)


Loading the feeder:
























With his bag:








































"Look, Mom, I am walking backwards"



















"This is fun, playing outside."

O-HI-O

Yesterday, we took a day trip to Ohio to attend Andrew's ordination to deacon. The trip went well... three bathroom stops on the way there and two on the way home. I think we had better luck with less stops, a few months ago, but, it wasn't too bad. Jim fixed our speedometer (it was a priority, since we knew we had to go to Ohio), so that was a lot less stress, compared to last time! The church service was outside, in a tent, and very, very lengthy. (Bishops + ordination = long service) By the time it was over, and we talked to people afterwards, we were beat. O.K. We were beat about half way into the service. Poor Jim: the day before, he had to take the toilet off to replace the wax seal. Only, that toilet is all one piece, and very heavy because of it. He had a lot of trouble lining it up on the bolts. We finally got it on, and he was tightening up the bolts. The flange then broke because it was so corroded. The toilet had to come back off, and he had to go back to the store. Luckily, a salesman showed him these repair kits, otherwise that would have been one major bill. Anyways, with all that lifting of the toilet on and off, Jim was so sore when we went to Ohio. He could hardly move. (He is still stiff.) And, Snidely was O.K., even though we were gone 12 hours.

Here is Thomas making Margie and Peter laugh like crazy. We had to rearrange the seating because Fred got too heavy for the 5 point harness carseat. I think Thomas really enjoys sitting between his oldest siblings, and they seem to love taking care of him.














Here is Andrew and our parents.


























And, RIP Herman. Jim found him dead, Saturday morning. We did catch 13 of his fry when Epitah had them, at the beginning of June. Hopefully, some will turn out like him. He was a cool fish, if I do say so, myself.

Father's Day

Hello! Father's Day went well, but, boy we were stuffed! It started with "Donuts for Dad" at church. We were in charge. Naturally, we bought Krispy Kremes. My dad was able to come for that, which was nice. (Being in charge, we were told to take the leftovers home...) Then the kids really, really, really wanted to get pizza for Jim, for lunch. (Jets, of course.) Delicious, yet, very filling. Thomas had time to take a nap, and then we were off to my cousin's graduation party. My aunt and uncle had a huge spread. Some of our kids were still too full, to even eat anything, there. So, all in all, Father's Day was nice, but filling. I wish we could have spent more time with my dad, but, that's the way it goes, sometimes. (He was at the grad party, too, but, I barely interacted with him, there.)

This week Peter had Cub Scout Day Camp. It was a Knights theme, which he enjoyed. I had to help on one of the days. (My mom and dad watched the other kids for me.) All the adults were pretty good about harping on the boys to drink water, and each day they had a water activity to cool off. I was worried about myself, in this heat, but, I was fine.

Here are some photos from Father's Day.





















Yeah, Thomas is AWOL. He wouldn't sit or stand still for this photo, but, you can see his hair in the previous one. :)

Our Little Cartographer

Fred has been so funny, lately. Every day, he draws me maps, showing where we are going on vacation. And, he will say things like, "O.K., Mommy, after dinner, we are going to go on vacation". He is very serious, in his three-year-old way. Here his is, in his new big boy bed. (Sears finally had a 50% off sale on mattresses/box springs.) He sure looks small, in his big bed!













Oh, and here is a picture from my birthday. George and Fred baked me an angel food cake (with a tiny bit of help).

Mom and Me Campout

The campout was very fun! The only bad part was: it was freezing at night! (It was in the low 40's.) We both kept waking up, shivering. Last year, we had strong winds and thunderstorms all night, and couldn't sleep well. At least our tent didn't leak, this time! Here are some pictures from the daytime activities. And, I would like to say, the moms beat the boys in flag-football. They claim we cheated, but, that just isn't true.

Early morning fishing:















A close up of the fish:








First aid practice:












Archery: