On Pleasure Bent Again!

This is the first time I've ventured further East than Colorado, and it's true there's a lot of empty land after you leave Colorado coming this direction, but at least it's not desert!










































First stop was near Springfield Missouri to visit new friends of ours who are homestead-ing and planting a church.
We had a wonderful time

















seeing their new place, getting to view the Ozark countryside, and spending a rich time of fellowship with other like-minded believers!



























































































One thing we really noticed is that things grow well out here...
...which includes bugs:










































































Zachary loves the "lush and green", and all the children had the time of their lives with friends, baby goats, grasshoppers, frogs, crickets, chicks, and kittens.














































The Mountain Church is a family integrated church thriving in Colorado, and now quickly flourishing in Missouri. There are about about nine families already but as you can see, it appears to be a larger number due to the quantity of children!




































































It was a sight to behold watching the children of nine families fill a gymnasium! It was busy there!!
My children had a ball:-)























































Before we left Missouri we drove through some Amish neighborhoods and really enjoyed seeing a glimpse into the their way of life.














































Make sure you check Emma's blog in a few days to see what she posts about this - it really interested her so she's doing a little research to find out more about these interesting people.

We made it to Kentucky two days ago - another 1400 miles from our stay in Mo.
AJ has work here, and the rest of us are are attempting to navigate the city and find what's of significance to see (besides the Kentucky Derby and baseball). We're trying to do a little Internet research, but if you know of something amazing near Louisville drop me a line!






































I'm off to play with the kiddos; enjoy YOUR day!

Just a Little Camo... and Some Rocks!

When getting these guys together for picture taking, I had to lift up the hat on one to see who was underneath!

I still wouldn't count on getting it right in a pinch. They are hard enough to tell apart without matching clothes!





























Mr. Smith picked up two miniature BDU's for my boys from the military post nearby.
They were a gift from Gramsie to my fellows so they could play boy-ish games with the Smith crew.
There are usually a lot of sticks involved I noticed, and rocks too.
Often LOTS of rocks!!

Speaking of rocks, these showed up on my desk yesterday just as seen here.
I think they're from Sue (and of course, they are beautiful!), but I have no idea where she had been stashing them since I don't think she went outside. Hmmm...













ALSO, I am not one given to muttering, but when I cleaned out the van today there might have been some muttering involved.
I didn't count an exact number, but I expect that I found the next possible site for a quary right under Clayton's seat!
Mutter...mutter..mutter...Arfghblstmphed.....

Look on the bright side, it could have been something hard, heavy, and dirt-covered!
Oh wait...

It WAS!
(several somethings of that nature, to be precise!)

A New Hair-do!

Someone else decided to get creative.
I can see a trend forming towards an immobile baby sister willing to put up with a squirt bottle!

















This is really, er... nice.
I probably won't root for this particular do if my opinion is requested ;-)
-In fact... a little piece sticking up in back and you have Alfalfa in The Little Rascals!

Pretty cute all the same:-)

Bird Artists

Zack Christian

















Clayton Praise

My Boys...

This is the proud face of a boy who saved a dollar here and a dollar there, and finally saved up enough dollars to buy a set of Lego's he had his eye on!

























I am very proud of him:-)
Zack's last hard earned dollars came from pulling weeds next to the driveway - that was inspired by a not-very-nice letter from the HOA.
Gotta love the HOA!

Clayton pulled weeds out front too.
He actually earned more dollars than his brother, since he filled more boxes with weeds.
Did HE buy Legos?
No.
Clayton gives away all his money.
He has a generous heart and takes pleasure in giving- so much so, that his money bank is empty but for a few coins.

Daddy and I decided to surprise Clayton with a gift.
A gift just because.
We decided that if you have a gift-giving little guy like Clay, he should be given gifts every now and again "just because".

















Now we have two hardworking boys with big smiles!
See them grin?













I do love these fellas!

Baby Steps (er...) BITES!

One of my first memories feeding a baby like this was when my Auntie Barb let me feed my little cousin Ryan.

I felt so important and grown up!
I guess I was probably nine or ten years old, and was ever so careful as I scooped a tiny dab of baby food onto an even tinier baby spoon, and then into a tiny baby mouth.

I don't use those kind of spoons myself. It' takes too long to empty that tiny jar!

Aunt Barbara lavished praise on me for dong such a great job with those little bites, and that stuck with me all these years!





































I have gotten much practice since then, but it is a real delight to see my dear little daughter learning the art. And she is not even nine yet!
Remembering Auntie Barbs words to me, I make sure to offer lots of praise:-)














Here are some fun pictures of my big helper feeding her sister!










































Remember: "I am working myself out of a job!"