May 13 - Jocy, Cami, and Kasandra Join our Day

Due to natural causes, Mrs. Maria had to go to the doctor today, and guess what that means? That's right, we get to have Jocy, Cami, and Kasandra!!! It was rather cold that day and Kacy wasn't feeling very well, but we had a lot of fun. 

 While it was really cold in the morning all the kids came and piled on Kacy's bed (which never happens :) and had a human body lesson. Kacy is teaching Gabe's science until he gets to smart from her...which won't be very long. Jocy was in Gabe's human body class in GRACE last semester. And the older boys thought that we were studying something of interest, so they brought Cami in and helped give an illisration of how blood carries oxygen through the body...by running through the rooms just as fast as they could and blowing like mad. I'm not sure how much was learned, but the lesson was filled with lots of laughs.

It was still really cold outside by the time we finished the lesson so the younger kids played dress-up with some square dance petticoats that we have and a camo hat, snow-pants and coat. Gabe loves to have someone his age to play with. And here he usually gets two people to play with.

Later in the afternoon, it finally warmed up enough to go outside. The thing that Jocy wanted to do was to ride the pony. Big surprise right? 

Jocy loves the pony!!! (I love this picture)

Zach is working hard to find our septic tank, so that we can empty it.

Cami isn't as entranced with the pony as Jocy is, but she was fascinated with our "tickins". She spent quite a while with them....  

....and with the pup, which by the way have been dubbed "dogs" by the little girl that is two feet tall. It was really funny to watch her play with Reacher and not be scared, but she was very nervous around the pups. 

Shea did an excellent job of teaching Jocy how to ride.. after the pony ran away with her. 

 As usual, we had a wonderful day with these precious little girls!

May 9 - Big Family Economics and Botany Class

Hi there,

No, I wasn't kidnapped and yes I'm still alive. We have had an adventurous month of May. 

Sometime in August our family is going to go to a family camp with the GRACE homeschool group. So to raise enough money to do that 5 families (including ours) held a yard sale in Lubbock this weekend. The Pogues brought Kacy's English Shepherd pups in hopes that someone would like some. Because they aren't a well known breed...and because Kacy didn't have them advertised by the time they were born, they have rather difficult to sell. I am so glad that we had a hard time selling them, because when we did finally get them all sold, it was very obvious that God had planned the perfect homes for each one of them. For today it was so fun, and it took some of the stress of the kids...and boredom of some of the kids...not mentioning any names (ahem) to have the pups there. 

Ryan is posing for a picture in the John Deere toy box that was up for sale, with the only female.

We had the pups in a fold out pen in the front yard. They did excellent, but we did find out that they have a problem with how the lawn was fertilized, so now and again one would get out and help it along. 

They are so much bigger now. Molly is having a hard time even lifting them, whereas, at one point, she carried them around everywhere.

Settin' up the sale. The moms and older kids did a great job helping the younger kids know how to organize the sale. Everyone was such a big help, we had a wonderful day with everyone. Although we were exhausted by the end of the day. 

In the middle of the day, one of Mrs. Lacey's friend came by. And wonderful Mrs. Lacey told him what she liked about the puppies with her girls. He decided that he wanted one for his little girl. Then later he came back with his girlfriend and her daughter, and surprised the little girl with a puppy. It was so fun to watch the little girl's excitement. The ones that they wanted were the calmest, and most cuddly that we had, perfect for little girls growing up. God's hand really showed in this instance. 

Every week in Lubbock Mrs. Lacey teaches some of the kids Botany. Since we really can't afford to go into Lubbock for that, we are doing the same things at home and just keeping up with them. Today was their class. So our boys joined right in, and later Mrs. Lacey took whoever wanted on a field trip to a plant nursery. Janessa got many beautiful picture of the field trip.  

What a wonderful day to see God's hand in our actions and in his creation!

May 6 - A Dose of Cuteness

It was such a beautiful day today. The west Texas sky was so blue and it wasn't too hot. On days like this it take a long time to do all the chores, because no one wants to go inside. Here are some pictures that I thought you would enjoy.

The pups in the shade. I can't believe how big they are getting. 

Banner is growing so fast and he is the exact shade of color as his mamma. It was hard to tell that when he was born because Libby's winter coat is much darker that her summer coat.

I hope you all have a touch of spring in your lives today.

May 4 - Triple Birthdays

Today we had some friends over. Mom's birthday is tomorrow, so they wanted a surprise party. Also Aaron Bell's birthday is this week, Dylan Whitworth's is turning 13 this month as well. We decided to have a triple birthday party tonight. It was a wonderful night, we had many good talks and lots of fun. The kids took all the horses and rode them around all day. Every one of us got sunburned. Sahara did really well, and I think she is well on her way to being a kid horse. The boys got out a new game....well new to us, Tripoley, and played that all evening. When it got dark we played our favorite night game, Sardines. 

Happy birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy birthday to you too! 

Every since the last time they came, all the little girls wanted to play dress-up with the square dance petticoats.  

The new game, I think they are having fun. 

The adults having time to have a good talk.

Happy birthday to three wonderful people! So thankful that God has brought you into our lives!

May 2 - GRACE Field Day

One of the highlights of the GRACE semester is field day at the end of the spring semester. It's a day filled with all sorts of games that are fun, competitive, and sometime embarrassing. Each age group is split up into teams. Because Cami and Kasy not feeling well, we took Josie with us.  

Mrs. Jennifer, leader of GRACE, and her adorable little boy, Braden.

Stripes team Kindergartners.

Orange team kindergarteners 

The Grey team 2nd grade.

Brown team 2nd - 4th grade.

Red team 5th and 7th grade

Blue team 7th and 8th grade.

Yellow team 8th grade -12th grade

Josie, Olivia, and Savanna sweet little girls.

Gabriel Playing the Dive in.

Janessa and Mattie playing the Ball squeeze.

Everyone getting ready to do the Shoe game.

Michael participating in Jump the river.

Gabe in the gunny sack race.

Orange team did really good in the 50 Yard Dash.

Jeremy, Jordan, and Briley  won the most ribbons of the yellow team. Good job you guys!

The affects of field day!

What a fun day we had! Thank you GRACE for having this every year!