{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Peach Picking Edition

Nothing signals late summer more than ripening peaches on the tree. A few years ago a friend recommended a family run orchard where we could pick absolutely delicious peaches. We've been hooked ever since.

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 Rows and rows of peach trees and having so many children means lots of helpers. The grandfather who runs the orchard even gave each of them their own baskets to help.

They are delicious and are one of my favorite August foods. The bright reds and yellows of late summer days.

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Being together as a family makes me happy. 

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Gabe and his peaches! (See here and here)

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All those peaches can sometimes be a lot of work. Thankfully, we also have lots of helpers for that.

With so many peaches we, of course, had to have some cobbler.

While these last two pictures definitely fall under the pretty and happy categories, I put them in the real category because of all the calories they are adding to my diet.

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{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Joining in with the lovely ladies of Like Mother, Like Daughter to

~ Capture the context of contentment in everyday life ~

 {pretty}

This is my new hydrangea. After a grueling month of yard work we (and by we I largely mean dh) have cut down and removed two trees, one massive bush, and an evergreen. We also had a weekend of mulching, and bit by bit we have been replanting. I have always wanted a hydrangea and while I still have an affinity for the really old varieties, I am looking forward to watching this one grow.

My petunias are also really taking off this year. For the past three years I have ordered them from the Boy Scouts. They now seem to be reseeding on their own and the profusion of flowers makes a beautiful path to our front door.

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On Sunday we took a walk through the "downtown" area of our small town and had a beautiful afternoon. These little ones, despite (or perhaps because of) their boundless energy never cease to bring me joy. 

At the end of our walk we stopped to see our community garden plot. Happily, we are starting to see quite a few fruits, or rather vegetables, of our labors. The girls were particularly glad to see this year be more successful than we were last year.

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I couldn't help but post another picture of Gabe at the piano. He just cracks me up. He loves to sit there and although he only hits a few keys, he sings his little heart out. 

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Can you imagine what I am in for when this little three year old is thirteen?

Mommy's Takin Us to the Zoo Tomorrow

This week's installment of {pretty, happy, funny, real}

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 Pretty doesn't begin to describe the weather in our part of the country. The last week and a half have been simply beautiful -- not too hot, not too cold. I felt compelled to take full advantage of such beautiful days and have taken the kids to the zoo three times. The first time I even braved it on my own. The kids behaved so well I even sprung for the train ride, not a typical occurrence for this cheap frugal mom.

My Banana sure is pretty too. Growing much too quickly. She was such a helper as I schlepped all the little ones around at the zoo.

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 This little one was quite happy to see a pink bird. Pink being her absolute favorite color.

 And this little one was happy to ride the carousel, which made me very happy. Last year the noise and unfamiliarity of the carousel left her crying and screaming almost the whole time. This year, she asked to ride and although I see a trace of fear in her sweet smile, I was thankful she was willing to try it. By the end she was grinning ear to ear.

 Having this stroller made me happy too. Being able to have all four little ones hop in so we can move a little more quickly made our trips that much more enjoyable. I was tempted to go with a smaller model to save the trunk space, but I have found the convenience of this stroller outweighs the inconvenience of no trunk space.

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 Meet Gabe the goat whisperer. I am not sure what these two were talking about, but they were having quite the conversation!

 Joseph my goofball!

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 Little boys and snakes. What can be more real than that?

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Grandma Edition

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Grandma spent the afternoon here last Saturday and after baths offered to roll the girls hair in rags so it would be curly for church. They all came out really beautifully. She also took the girls shopping so most of them are wearing new dresses to add to the prettiness.


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It makes me happy to see all the kids piled up around Grandma reading a book. I cherish these memories of my mom. Trust me, it is not an easy feat to read a book to that many little ones precariously perching on every available space on the rocker.


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The "before" picture of the girls in their rag rollers.

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The boys also got new shirts, but trying to get a picture of them was not so pretty.

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{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}

 Yesterday was an absolutely perfect day for a picnic. In God's divine providence, it turned out to be the day of our homeschooling group's Annual End of the Year Picnic.

This year Coach Q of The Homeschool Gym came with fun games for kids of all ages. Parachutes, balls, flags, frisbees, tons of organized games for all the kids to play. My girls had such a blast running and playing and enjoying the breeze, the friends, and the activities Coach Q put together.

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 I was happy to have some help keeping track of all the little ones. Earlier this year we found MK who comes three mornings a week to watch the little ones while I school the older girls. Her help has been an incredible answer to our prayers. She came yesterday and it was so nice to be able to relax knowing there were two sets of eyes on my littles.

With the extra help, I got a chance to visit and enjoy the winding down of our school year. The kids also enjoyed being with friends, making cereal necklaces, face painting, and some older boys even made balloon animals! It was such a fun day for everyone!

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 Did I mention my girls enjoyed the face painting? Doesn't this just look like a girl ready for the summer?

While not a fan of the face paint, Gabe did enjoy the watermelon. I have never seen a kid so serious about his watermelon. He is certain to get every shred of edible melon, and even then will not let go of the rind. He chose the melon over a popsicle so I guess I can't complain.

{real}

My real pictures should be of the hour or two before we left for the picnic because that was truly an ordeal. Alas there are no pictures of my destroyed kitchen floors, nor of the now faded kitchen mats. There are also no pictures of two little boys in brand new outfits, ready for a picnic at the park, now ruined by bleach stains and crying because of the soap in their eyes.

It seems no matter how organized I try to be, no matter how much effort I put into being ready to go the night before, it is inevitable that some disaster will strike. Yesterday, while I was in the shower, the boys dumped an entire bottle of dishwasher detergent on the kitchen floor. We found that one particular brand of our detergent has bleach (a lot of bleach) in it. We're trying to use it up and in hindsight I should have just thrown it away.

 

 Instead I do have pictures of the little work I did for our picnic. I set up a treasure hunt in the sand of our turtle sandbox, the sandbox that sits in our garage because dh doesn't like sandboxes.

It seemed to be a big hit. Although I suppose I could have had some great reality shots that evening when I had to bathe our boys because they were covered in sand and bathe the girls because they were covered in face paint...

Still it was a beautiful picnic and a lovely start to our summer!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

The Backyard Edition

Since having the fence installed, we have taken every opportunity to let the kids play outside. Although we have a very small yard, it is nice to finally have a patch of green, be it ever so tiny, on which the kids can safely play.

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This little one seems to quite often be my pretty picture. In this case not only is my sweet Bophie beautiful, but the new pretty headband was a sweet gift from a generous Grandma. I also love these lilac bushes that line the back of our yard. This year they were in bloom for just a short span of time, but you can smell them all the way to the deck.

 I also think my freshly potted window boxes are a pretty sight from my kitchen window. I look forward to the fresh herbs and pretty flowers they will provide all summer.

 

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Green grass makes me happy. With all the rain we've been getting our yard seems so green this year. Pretty feet also make me happy. This week I had the privilege of going for my first pedicure with my mom and sisters on a kidless Saturday afternoon. Let's just say I hope this becomes a tradition repeated frequently, it was wonderful!

While I enjoyed being on my own for an afternoon, I was happy to come home to all these blessings. It makes me happy to watch them play with one another. Having lots of siblings means having lots of playmates. Moments like these make me happy.

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They aren't all those sweet moments, though.

This picture doesn't do justice to watching Joseph try so very hard to blow bubbles.It makes me laugh to see him make so many silly faces trying to get those bubbles to come out. In the end he was content to have Dad blow them for him. 

{real}

 

The shaggy dog needs groomed, even more so now that she stays outside so often. Here she is chewing on a chopstick from last night's Chinese meal enjoyed on the deck. She had a feast last night as we dined al fresco, thank goodness we were outside so the mess was not on my kitchen floor.

 

Reality is that while we enjoyed a few glimpses of sun, this week was spent largely indoors as it rained almost every day.

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{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

All of my pictures this week are from a park day last Friday because since that outing, nothing, I do mean nothing, has gone as planned. No community garden plantings, no First Holy Communion Parties, no brunch with Grandma, no dinner with friends, no planetarium field trips. Not for lack of trying, it simply has not been our week. 

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This beautiful picture was taken by Banana, age 10. I think she may have more talent for this photography thing than I do. I love the way she captured a true Bophie expression and the sunlight that had been so elusive in our neck of the woods.

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Having good friends to share a trip to the park makes me happy. Watching my children play and grow also makes me happy. This reminds me of both. It also makes me wonder what trouble these two will cause...

{funny}

 Speaking of trouble... This is the picture you get when you let four preteen girls play with your camera. Somehow it captures the life of the modern homeschooling mom. Off-roading with strollers loaded down sporting all the modern accessories all to savor one of the very few sunny days of spring.

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This is what 3-year old boys look like after you take them for a walk to the creek. OK, this is what they look like if you keep telling their older sisters not to let go of his hand, and if you spend every other moment asking, "Where is he?" and saying things like, "Don't go in the water!" or "Move 5 paces back with him." Otherwise it would be much, much worse. This being my first experience with a boy, the creek has an attraction for him that is much more intense than it did for my girls, it seems to call him to it with enticing shouts rather than whispers.

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