Jesse's recent escapades

Seems our little Jesse has been stealing more than his share of the attention lately. First it was the stitches thing. Here is a picture with the stitches in, though I guess they aren't that noticable. Sad little face though!

Here is another picture just after stitches were out. Note how much happier he is ; )

Stitches were out on Friday, and once again we can thank God for being with us. Our regular doctor was ill, and we had to see someone else. That someone else was so sweet and kind, I was very grateful!

Saturday was another day. I was holding Jesse on my lap when I noticed blood on his fingers. Uh oh. He had scratched the cut wide open. Open enough, it looked like we could probably go get another stitch in it! Ugh. We put a butterfly on it, and hoped that would do. It did, but unless that boy has a band aid on it, it gets picked at and opened. Praying for quick healing before too much scarring happens!

Thursday, I made the mistake of taking a shower. Showers are luxuries I am not often afforded, and I just don't know what got in my head. Anyway, when I got out, I was greeted with the overwhelming smell of nail polish. Uh oh again. Ugh. Somewhere, Jesse found a bottle of nail polish--MY nail polish--and had painted most of his lower extremities with it. In fact, most of his feet, his legs below his knees, part of his diaper, his hands and his arms were covered.

Here he is napping, before I could get most of it off.

I did find that a nice warm bubble bath loosens the stuff up enough that it can be "scraped" off with a loofa or something like that. Of course with a very active not-yet-two-year-old, we needed 2 baths before we could get it all off. Leaving some on was not really an option, because remember, stitches were to come out Friday. Just what I needed, to explain how my 1 yr old got stitches, and also why so much of him is covered in nail polish!

Thankfully nail polish is off, cut is healing and everything is peaceful. The day is yet young though!

what a weekend

This weekend kept us busy--again. Hannah and Rebekah had a violin recital on Saturday. They both did very well, but unfortunately, no pictures. I have video, but until I can figure out how to upload it, ya have to wait. They both also really enjoyed it, and that is a big thing.

Sunday was our homeschool's promotion/fine arts program. Since they were all practiced up, Rebekah and Hannah played again : ) They also played with the orchestra class they have been attending this year.

At least I got one picture of Rebekah from last night.

Jesse ended up playing in the back with another friend. Really, they had fun, though it doesn't look like it here.

Unfortunately, after the program, Jesse and some of the furniture had a little altercation. The furniture was much less flexible than Jesse's forhead, and I think it won. Jesse came out of it with his second ER visit, and 3 stitches. He now holds the record for ER visits in our family. I'm thanking God for a wonderful experience though. All the staff in the ER were very professional, and oh so kind to Jesse and I. I couldn't ask for a better outcome from the situation.

After all that, Jesse is back to himself today. In fact, he's been climbing up on furniture, scaring me that he will fall and break the stitches, which I guess, in a way, is a good thing. This boy is something else.

Last Friday School!

Last day of Friday school was actually several weeks ago, but I guess I'm just not on the ball. The kids took a wide variety of classes this year, everything from Kenpo Karate to Scrimshaw to Orchestra! I think they all enjoyed (most) of the classes, but we are all ready for a break. Maybe a little sad not to have playtime at the park in the afternoon though!

AWANA awards night

Last night was AWANA awards at church. This year we had 3 in AWANA clubs, in fact, one in each of Cubbies, Sparks and Truth and Training. All finished their books, and learned lots of verses! Hannah had a little rivalry going with one of the boys in her class (the blonde next to her!) and ended up finishing her book, going through it a 2nd time as review, then doing a workbook too! I think that kind of rivalry is really nice myself! Hope Hannah and David continue that!


Johnny really enjoyed his first year in Cubbies and got a reputation for learning his verses very thoroughly. It is a joy to hear him recite so many verses! It helped that his teachers loved him, and one pronounced him "genius"!

Rebekah also enjoyed her year, and the way that she learned her verses and finished her book seemed so effortless! This year they started later, and it seems like they ended earlier. I was worried they wouldn't be able to finish the book.

Found the camera AND battery charger!

Found my camera, found the battery charger! So here are some pictures from our um, March birthdays! yikes. I'm behind! Hannah's request was to go to the build a bear workshop and spend a gift card she had. Johnny took a friend to Chuck E Cheese's.

Another March happening, was Hannah's big masterclass experience. A big name in Suzuki Violin circles was in the San Diego area, and gave a group lesson and masterclass. Hannah loved it, and wants to go again!

The girls have been in a strings class at our Friday School, and they played in chapel last week. It is something new for them, to play the violin with others, and in front of people!

They both have a recital coming up next month too. We are busy practicing, listening, practicing and practicing some more. In fact, I think maybe I need to play with them. We ALL know the pieces very well by now!

Of cameras and pictures

I miss posting pictures.

Recently, we went on a superb field trip to Riley's farm. It was a gold rush tour, and from the time we stepped on the property, all the people there were "in character". The kids tried to explain how they got to the farm, but the woman didn't understand how an engine, that ran on something like kerosene, could work with a mule : )

After all the kids were assembled, they were given instructions on how a gold tour worked: what supplies they should take, what food should be taken etc. We then embarked on a 50 mile hike to the gold fields. Fortunately, it was a short 50 miles and we were there in about 10 minutes!

From there, we were given a quick history of how gold towns sprang up when there was a "gold strike", and how they went from small tent cities, to shacks, to more solid/permanent cabins, and then sometimes, to ghost towns. They also explained how the quest for gold worked, how the kids might be able to earn money in order to buy supplies to get gold, how to take gold to the assay office. . . . . and then, the kids were turned loose, with the words "go get rich!".

For the next couple hours, they learned to work for gold nuggets, trade those nuggets for supplies (shovels, pans etc) in order to get more gold, how to stake a claim, and some even learned about claim jumpers! Hannah was delighted when she went to trade her gold, to find that the assay office worker was Irish! He said that since she had that red hair and blue eyes, she must be Irish too, and so should get extra money for that gold!

At the end of the trip, they all got a "miners ration" for lunch. Corn bread, beef jerky, a slice of cheese and an apple. To go with it, all the gold town people discussed all that had gone on. I knew they were getting through to the kids when one of the men opened by saying "how many of ya'll did I rip off today?" What a lot they all learned, without realizing it was more than just play.

but I digress. I have no pictures of that day, because my camera battery was dead, and my OTHER camera, only had dead batteries, and a spare set of dead batteries. ugh. When we got home, I couldn't find the battery charger.

So yesterday, I searched and searched, and FOUND that battery charger in the "safe" place where I had put it. Unfortunately, the camera is now in a safe place. Yes, a safe place that I can't find. I'm hoping that one day, the camera and battery charger will meet, and have a happy reunion. Until then, no pictures!

Agricultural Fair!

It is pretty disgusting, the tiny amount of posts lately. I keep resolving to do better, and well, life just keeps getting in the way! Imagine my surprise this morning when I couldn't even FIND my blog! Yikes! New computer, and I can find nothing!!

So. . . over the weekend, the kids had the annual Agricultural Fair. Kind of hilarious really, when you consider where we live, but anyway. Four of them took part this year, and despite being "disqualified" from some categories, since there are not enough students in our "class" I think they did very well.

Rebekah and Hannah explored the world of Hydroponics, and both won first place for it! Johnny learned about earthworms, built an insect and did some seed art--he got 2 firsts and a 4th : ) His question when we got to the fair was so funny "where are my worms?"

Rebekah and Hannah made dish gardens to a fairy theme, and got first places for those, and Emily won first place for a beautiful Native American Sand art project.

There were more, but I can't remember them all. It was quite the project, lugging them all back to the car. Bigger project will be to keep everything looking nice for our schools Fine Arts night, and then keep them nice till mid summer when they do a display at the Library! Not sure the live plants will make it that long. . . . .