Proud To Be An American

Today has been a very special day!

 We had a special service at church for all the Fire Fighters, EMT's,  Police and Sheriff Officers.

 

 Our parking lot was beautiful!!

 

 Boy Scouts carried in the flags and led the pledges.

 We had a beautiful service filled with God's spirit.

 A special prayer of blessing on the Fire Fighters

 Retired Air Force Chief Master Sargent - "Beetle"  We love this man!

 The church bell was rung ten times for the ten years.

 Folding of the flag.

 Kids ( big kids, too)  have lots of questions.

 This afternoon we went to the courthouse to participate in "Cry out America".

 So today, especially, we are feeling very blessed to be citizens of the beautiful

United States of America!!!

Meet Charolette....

A couple of years ago we got George.  He was a nice little caterpillar that turned into a beautiful butterfly!

So this year we got Charolette! :)  Thankfully, we didn't have to look very long for her.  She was sitting nicely on a Milkweed plant waiting for us.

 We only had to feed her a very few days (thankfully) and she decided it was time to spin her chrysalis.

First she hung upside down for about 24 hours.....

 then she spun her chrysalis.  This is so amazing - they change from a caterpillar into a bright green chrysalis in less than 60 seconds.  When I read that, I thought "surely not" but, yes, it's true!!!

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of her in that beautiful state, but you can see what George looked like and she looked pretty much the same. :)

She stayed green in her chrysalis for two weeks and then Sunday morning we woke up and Charolette had turned to THIS:

The green had turned clear and we could see her wings. We knew it was almost time.

 We came home from church and found her drying her wings - so beautiful!

 After a few hours, she started walking around and the kids had a grand time letting her walk on their fingers.

 Megan's so proud of herself.

 Pretty soon it was time to let her go.....

As soon as we opened the lid of the jar, she was off - not like George who stayed around for a while!  What a great little experiment we had.

(Notice Megan's dress and the one Kristyn was wearing when George flew away - :(  They grow so fast!)

Mud and Books and Fun.....

The kids have had so much fun in this little mole run/dirt pile this summer.  They have spent hours out there in the heat and never complained once.   Why is it when you ask them to clean up, "But Mom, it's SOOOO hot!"  Hmmmmm......

 They like to add water to the dirt.....

 which results in MUD!!!!!

 Thankfully, Ashlyn's perch is high enough to stay out of all that mud and fun.

 Kristyn LOVES to read.  That is an understatement.  She lives to read. (like her Aunt Misty)  So she made a little perch in her favorite tree.  (Don't mind the skirt. That is her absolute favorite dress-up skirt and would wear it 24/7 if I would let her - shudder)

 She enjoys her baby sister, too. :)

 Miss Ashlyn is crawling all over the place and standing up.  She has two teeth and likes to say, "Mama and Dada"  I'm not quite convinced she knows what she's saying, but I still like to hear her say it. :D

 Squeaky clean and ready for bed....except for the leftovers from bed time snack on those cheeks. :)

Camp Out!

The other night the kids asked if they could sleep in the tent.  We promised them on Friday night, they could.  We got Elise's little tent, (our family tent would have filled the living room) popped it up in the living room and the kids were thrilled as can be.

 They talked Elise into crawling in there and reading them a story before they went to sleep....

 Wonderful choice of reading material right before you go to sleep, don't you think?

 This little lady was thrilled as can be and she didn't even know why. :D

 Turned out to be a wonderful camp out complete with all the night sounds of summer.....

the best part is, mom and dad still could sleep in their comfy bed - and we all enjoyed the air conditioning. :D

First day of School....

I'll make a long story short. :D


Our computer has been dead for several weeks.  It's now up and running again, so catch up time for the blog.  There are several posts - ENJOY!!!!  Thanks for stopping by to see us. :)

Thursday was the first day of school.

 Owen wasn't too sure about going to school.  He told me the night before as I was rocking him, "Mom, I know I'm starting school tomorrow, but I'd still like to come visit sometimes."  :'(  I told him he would still live here and I would come get him every day, just like I did Kristyn.  He felt much better after that. :)

 Kristyn is in the second grade,

 and Owen is in Kindergarten.

 Daddy came up to walk them to school just like he did on Kristyn's first day of school.

*******

After they came home, I asked them what their favorite part of the day was and Owen replied, "coming home"  Kristyn liked her new teacher. :)

 Owen sporting his cowboy hat that he made.

 Jeren and Megan were so happy to have them home - notice the ball gloves? :D  Jeren was ready and waiting.

The first thing Owen did when he got home was get is glove on.

Back to business as usual.

The Lord has answered a huge prayer for us this year.

The school needed a new teacher and they have searched high and low, contacted numerous teachers and none were able to come.  Keith has noting to do with the hiring of the teachers, but I knew it was weighing on him.

Well, Elise graduated from college in May and moved back here this summer.  She was planning on attending nursing school and she tried every available school in the state, but it seemed like God just closed all the doors for her.  She was trusting God, but was rather confused.  Then a light went on and one night she talked to us about teaching here and Keith told her to call the chairman of the board about it.

She called him.  They had a meeting to interview her.  Hired her and her training started the very next day in IL and the next week (last week) God provided a darling little apartment for her to move in to. (pictures to come)

She told me later, she didn't really have any leading to nursing school, but was just moving forward and knew that God would direct her if He had other plans.  I'm SO happy God had the school in HIS plans for her life.

Isn't it amazing how God works.  Elise is SO happy and loves the kids.  Of course, the kids LOVE her to pieces.

God is so good!!!!!

Just Stuff....

The kids have been saving their money for a long time.  The other day they spotted two treasures at a garage sale and suddenly that hard earned money was burning a hole in their pockets.

Kristyn bought a butterfly house with her .50 and was extremely proud when she caught a butterfly to put in her new house.

 Owen spent his $3 on a bow "just his size" he said.  Keith showed him how to shoot.

 "I hit it!!!!!!!!"

 Megan didn't find anything too impressive, so she saved her money - smart girl. :)

 We have been enjoying ELISE this summer!!!!!