Row, row, row your boat!

Katie had some birthday money to spend this week, and here's one thing she picked out...it's a one-girl-raft. :O) Learning to row was a bit difficult (and tiring) at first, but she's getting the hang of it now. So far, it's brought her several hours of pleasure.

Puppy love :O)

Apple trees, puppies, and school

Ah! Springtime brings with it some lovely scenes, doesn't it? Our old (and I do mean "old") apple tree is just bursting with blooms again this year. (Last year I think we got 3 apples...tiny apples...due to the drought.) Typically, this old tree has been faithful to load us down with delicious apples at the end of every summer. I can hardly wait for some good cooked apples!! Aren't the blooms just beauti-mous? :O)

Ok, so that takes care of part of the title to this post, now onto the puppies. I was sitting in my chair yesterday morning about 7:00 reading. Hearing a noise, I looked out the window to see three itty bitty puppies running down the road whimpering. :O( Long story short, apparently someone had set them out. (This happens quite a bit around here.) By the time I got out on the front porch, they were down the road and around the corner. It wasn't long, however, before I heard them again. I woke up Miss Critter (Katie...just in case you didn't know) and as soon as she heard what I said about puppies, she leaped out of bed and flew out the door! When she got out there, only one was sitting in the road...whining and waiting. She picked the pup up and lugged it home. :O) She was ooh-ing and aah-ing over it, when lo and behold, here come the other two. They were so scared. :O( Anyhow...(I did say I was going to make a long story short, didn't I?)...so here we are with three pups on our hands...two females and one male. Hmmm. No, I don't think we need more dogs, do we? No, in fact, I'm quite sure we don't. So, because we have a neighbor who is in charge of our local pet adoption program, she came right over to pick them up...well...all except the little male. Katie already has two dogs, so Rachel gets the bright idea that she just HAS to have this one. After all, she's NEVER had a puppy before. Her dad agrees, so she sets about coming up with a name. Being the budding violinist that she is, she immediately names him Johann...as in Johann Sebastian Bach, the composer. Oh how she just loved little Johann. I mean, "he's just the sweetest little thing, isn't he, Mom?" she would exclaim. Two hours later, she is informed that she needs to go clean up sweet little Johann's "mess" in the yard. Oh, she does it allright, but before she even gets back in the house, she's asking, "Does anybody else want Johann?" Serious. Can you guess who has him now? :O) Bet ya can.

In the picture below, notice the look on Rachel's face...give this gal a violin and some Bach music and she's in hog heaven. Give her a puppy and it's like this..."Umm, you're really cute little puppy, but, um, you kinda stink and you're dirty, and ew, don't lick me! Guh-ross!"
Now, note the look on Katie's face. Yep, Katie and puppies...it's a natural. In fact, Katie and animals in general are just quite natural.

And now for a school update...achievement tests have been taken and we are in the final lap of our 2007-2008 school year!!! How close are we to the finish line, you ask? I'm glad you asked!! I'm happy to announce that, after today, we have FOURTEEN school days left!!! May 15th and we are finished! It's been a good year...we have all learned alot...and I already find myself planning for next year, but come May 15th, we are going to celebrate! :O)

Birthday Girl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to KATIE! Ten years old today! Time flies. Though it was a cold rainy day here, it was a nice bright day to be able to celebrate! Today is also her Mamaw's birthday. After opening presents, eating birthday pie (Katie's request), and enjoying a nice dinner out, Mamaw and Katie each had their own little cakes. Enjoy the pictures.

My baby's not so much of a baby anymore!
Mamaw was singing up a storm in this picture...

Vacation...and Taters

Spring break arrived at our home and school late last week and we went on vacation! We headed to the beach for a visit to my folks. We had a FANTASTIC time! I'll give you a brief rundown on what we did. My dear Mom and Dad kept the kids while Matt and I got away for a little mini-vacation/honeymoon of our own!! (Hooray and Yip-De-Do Howdy!) We stayed in Southport ....in a motel right on the Cape Fear River. Absolutely a real pleasure for us both. And then, my Daddy made me feel very special for my birthday...he took me and my sister to one of those fancy restaurants (so fancy, I did not even know which fork to use for what! I sheepishly had to ask my sister.) But, oh, it was SO nice!! I ate baked stuffed grouper (stuffed with crab meat), some risotto (I did not even know what it was, but it was great!!) and a caesar salad. (They even put a little flower on my plate! How fancy is that?!) Dessert, you ask? Lava cake! It was so fun to get all dressed up and go!! (This was probably the nicest restaurant I've ever been to. And now...I am spoiled. Yessiree Bob. No more Bubba's Diner for me!) As if that wasn't enough, he took us shopping afterwards and let us pick out our favorite perfume. We had such fun spritzing ourselves with every kind of "smell good" imagineable...we were like two kids in a candy store! I smell so good now. (By the way, in case you didn't know, I have the most wonderful parents in the whole wide world.) The kids spent lots of time on the beach. There were no crowds at all...a good time of the year to be there. Oh, and another real treat...Rachel and my Mom got to play a few songs together in church...Rachel on the violin and Mom on the piano. Besides the fact that they both did absolutely perfect, it was special that they got to do it together. (It's possible that you may be able to listen to it online...I'll check on that and let you know later if it's been posted on their church website.) So, yep, this was a trip filled with nothing but good memories. Ah, it was just one of those vacations where we sorta hated to snap back into reality. But all good things must come to an end, and we are now returning to our routine. School kicks back in gear on Monday! Are we excited about that??? I asked Katie if she was. Her reply? A simple "No." She doesn't beat around the bush, that girl. But then again, Monday is her birthday...who wants to think about school when you're turning TEN years old?? Anyway, below are a few pictures taken while we were away. I really did not make good use of my camera while we were there...I should have taken alot more pics. We were just too busy having a good time!
Here's Katie and Cousin Hannah on the way to the beach...

Was the water really warm enough to go swimming??? No. But the kids went in anyway. :O) I do not know how they stood it! Brrr! It was like ice water!
And here's my wonderful Mommy :O) (She and I had fun antique shopping one day. Didn't buy anything but had fun anyway.)
Part of getting "back to reality" for us included a few chores. It was time to plant potatoes! Yay! I am always thrilled to get those in the ground. We all work together to get that job done and it goes alot faster that way.
Here's Matt discing the ground to get it ready...
And just look at those hard-working youngens...
My Grandmother's old bonnet kept away the gnats...they were out in DROVES today! Ugh! Don't I look just like an old grandmaw?? I sorta felt like one by the time we were done! We plant ALOT of taters! :O) Well, at least I smelled good while we were planting potatoes. Yes. I sprayed a little dab or two of my new perfume on before we went to the field to plant :O) Couldn't resist.
And finally the job is finished!
One final picture....just wanted to show everybody how pretty and GREEN things are getting around here! Quite a wonderful contrast to the crackly brown of the last year's drought!

That's all for now. Be back with another update soon!!

Lovely Spring Days

Hope y'all are enjoying the warmer days! Even though we've had some rainy days lately (for which I am GRATEFUL!) the days are still just lovely. (Matt got the gardens plowed up. As soon as it dries up enough, we'll be planting potatoes.) The grass is so green now (Jacob's had to cut it twice already!) It's been warm enough that we haven't had to build a fire in more than a week now! Yesterday was probably the prettiest day so far this spring. We had a gorgeous blue sky, warm temperatures, and a nice little breeze....a perfect day for flying a kite!

Here are a few recent pictures, taken within the past few weeks. Both of these birds are "crash victims"...addled for about 5 minutes, but fine now. I sure wish I knew how to keep them from flying into the windows! Ugh!