Oil Change Lesson

Dad is giving June Bug and Ladybug a lesson on how to change the oil in our car. This was Ladybug's first time and she was excited! In our family when the kids turn 9 they start working on their Life Skills. Life Skills covers a large area from making my Grandmother's Carrot Cake, changing the filter for the furnace to sewing on a button. The kids have to be able to master the skill before they leave home. The kids (over 9) are always excited to work on another skill. Linz

Our First Tomato!

Our first tomato has been picked! Everyone was excited (even the ones who don't like tomatoes)! We planted late this year but everything seems to be coming along great-if I can keep the rabbits out:)!

Linz

Pirates

Last Thursday June Bug (who thinks he's too old), Ladybug and Stink Bug went to an activity called Pirates. They did activities all around pirates. The two younger ones said they had a good time! A good friend of mine had a Pirate Party on Friday night! The kids wore bandanas and eye patches to the party. We ate like pirates, played a pirate game, went on a treasure hunt and everyone got a pirate name. The kids all had a great time!

Grandparents

My parents came for a visit last week. The kids (and us too) had a great time! They played many games while they were here--Sorry!, Monopoly and a card game called Murder Your Neighbor (a family tradition). My Mom and I decided it was time my two oldest knew how to play, and they did well. We went out to eat twice while they were here--a big deal for our family! Grandpa and June Bug worked on Home Projects that needed to be done. Grammie and I took the kids on a ferry ride-our van even got a ride. :) We went to the beach one day and had a great time getting Grammie soaked! One evening we went fishing and caught 19 fish! Some fell off the hook and most we threw back. We had a great time with Grammie and Grandpa and are looking forward to their next visit!

Funny Fish!

Have you ever seen a such a funny fish?! This guy makes me laugh every time we go to the aquarium. If you look close you can see that he has teeth and he has a look that just screams, DUH and I'm SO confused! Are you laughing yet?

Peach Picking

My hubby and I took the kids, plus two friends, peach picking last Saturday. We went to the same place where we pick our apples in September. It was our first time picking peaches and we had fun! We picked about 30lb.--and I still wanted more! I canned the peaches and got ten quart size jars and four pint size jars (those pints are for some friends). I can't wait til next year when we can do some more!

Linz

Back From Camp!

June Bug is back from camp and had tons of fun! He got poison ivy the first night he was there (the first for our family), he said it didn't bother him too much and that the clinic put cream on it three times a day. He loved loved LOVED the food! June Bug had several jobs which included; being a waiter at the mess hall, cleaned up campsite every morning before inspection, worked at the traiding post stringing dog tags and served supper one night. June Bug shot rifles, did some archery, he worked on salesmanship and competed against other groups who were trying to sell a product (astronaut ice cream) --they lost by one, during his free time everyday he shot rifles, stayed up late every night talking, saw a snake about to bite a counselor, ate lots of ice cream, and just had tons of fun. I'm sure he did more - every day he renembers something new. We missed him very much!

Linz

p.s. He now wants a gun for Christmas!

Chicken Broth

Today my Mom taught me and June bug how to make chicken broth. First we put wax paper on the counter and put the chicken on it. Then we washed the celery and cut the bottom off and cut it in half and put it in the pot. After that we put onions and garlic in then we put carrots in. Then we put thyme leaves,basil leaves,bay leaves and sea salt in. Then after that we put the chicken in the pot and filled the pot with water until the water completly covered the chicken. We cooked the chicken for three hours and we knew it was ready when the chicken started to fall off the bone. Then we put parsley in. We cooked it for ten minutes. When it was done we took the chicken out of the pot into a seprate bowl. Then we strained the broth so none of the vegtables would go in(the broth smelled really good). We filled the sink with water and put the bowl of broth in the sink then we put ice cubes around the bowl to cool the broth. After the broth cooled we measured it to two cups and poured it into containers and put them into the freezer. Then we started to pull all the chicken off of the bone(I found the wish bone) and put it in bags. We tasted the chicken which was really good!!! We got eight cups of chicken and twenty cups of broth. I had tons of fun!!!

Ladybug

Off To Camp

This has been a hard couple days for me because we sent our oldest son off to Boy Scout Camp for a week. We dropped him off on Saturday with friends, who were driving the scouts there, around 2:00 and he won't be back until late Friday night. I miss him so much! So do the kids--just a few minutes ago the kids were looking out their bedroom window watching fireworks a street over and Lightning Bug said, "I wish June Bug was here!" I had not even thought about him since supper (wondering if he was getting enough to eat) and I was quick brought back to reality that he was missing this nice family moment with all seven of us on one bed looking out the window. I asked my husband Saturday night what time do they let the boys call home and he told me that they don't call home! WHAT! I asked how will we know that he's okay and my sweet husband just said he'll be okay. He signed up to do a lot of merit badges: small boating, woodcarving, archery, archaeology, wilderness survival and space exploration. I am sure he's having lots of fun! This is the first time he has been away from home--I am hanging in there! I will share his whole week when he comes home! Happy 4th of July!

Linz

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

My Mother in Law came to stay with us on Friday then she went back to stay with my sister in law for the next week. We decided we would take her out to supper before we dropped her off. The kids did well and everyone had a god time. On the way home (after we dropped Grandma off) Wheel Bug wanted to read a book-in the dark. I gave him the book and we chuckled in the front seat at the site of this big book opened up and blocking his whole body. As we got close to home Daddy and I started to talk to him. When we did not get a response we peeked over the book to find him fast asleep! We had a good laugh! What a good boy!

Linz