Last Day

Today was the last day of music camp. After dropping the two musicians off, the four little guys and I went to feed the ducks. Just after feeding the ducks and eating our picnic lunch, it started to rain. Lovely Oregon weather for summer - notice the long sleeve shirt!

The sun came out right after the final performance for my two campers. It was a wonderful experience for Tall Dude and Pearly to be around lots of musicians for the week. It's not so easy for homeschoolers to participate in groups like this, so music camp was a real treat. They are looking forward to improving skills throughout the year in anticipation for next year's music camp. That puts a smile on this mama's face - let me tell you.

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Even More Fun

Today we went back to the A.C. Gilbert Children's Museum (to make the most out of our family pass). It was raining most of the day, so the lighting was entirely different from 2 days ago when it was in the 80s and sunny. Here are a few of my favs:

Our normally reserved Bunny really got into the pumped air let his hair get all goofy.

Because of the rain/humidity today, the bubbles were especially good. Orange boy figured out that not only could he make a bubble "sheet", but also could blow a gigantic bubble from the bubble sheet he made. The first picture shows the bubble extending out to the lady with the brown top. The 2nd picture shows the bubble even beyond the picture. It was amazing.



A fun mid-air shot


Brown Eyes

PJ is such a cuddle bug. What a special treat. Only 2 out of the 7 liked to snuggle.
Tomorrow is our last day of adventures while 2 older kids are at music camp.

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Continuing Our Week of Fun

Yesterday, the boys and I went to a park and had a picnic lunch at the college campus where the music camp is being held. We've spent many hours together, missed naps, which means tired kids, unnecessary arguing, etc. Moments like this make it all worthwhile:


Today, we went on a carousel. PJ did NOT like it.
Bunny, however, loved it.

After the carousel, we went to the small airport nearby and watched the small planes and helicopters take off and land.
This Orange boy has been such fun. As I said in an earlier post, the dynamics really change when you remove a couple of siblings from the picture. This week, he has been the eldest and has been such a huge help. I didn't realize how responsible he is. As we've been going in and out of the van to various places, he's really paid attention to the things that normally I only do (ie, baby's pacifier, blanket, water, etc).

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Playing With the Boys

I dropped the 2 older kids off at music camp this morning and the 4 little boys and I played. I love observing family dynamics. With the older 2 at music camp and biggest sister at home, the dynamics changed. Orange boy became the eldest and he willingly took to the task.

Today we went to at A. C. Gilbert's Children's museum. The big rocking chair on the front porch always greets the visitors.
The Bubble Room is always a hit. I think we stayed there for almost an hour. PJ's shirt was sopping wet from the sudsy water.

Orange Boy was determined to make the biggest bubbles.

The biggest joy to me was seeing older brothers helping younger brothers. Below, Brown Eyes is showing PJ where to put the balls.
There's something about this baby's face I could eat!
Four more days of play left!

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Oodles of Strawberries

We went strawberry picking to stock our freezer. We use the strawberries to top our traditional Saturday morning waffles and also for smoothies throughout the year.

This picture cracks me up - the cashier lost track of how many containers she added and had me recount the containers. We picked just over 100 pounds for the price of $90.14. Gotta love Oregon strawberries!

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Tomato Cage Dilemma

* * * If you have arrived at my blog by doing an internet search to find tomato cage ideas, please be sure to read this new post with a method we found that works better than the ones shown here. New and improved method:* * * *




Every year we have been putting up with useless tomato cages. Our tomatoes usually grow three times the size of the tomato cages and do not provide the proper support. So this year, I went on a mission to find a solution to this problem. The above is one contraption found on the internet. This one is pretty easy to make. The only materials you need are pvc pipe, pvc elbow and T's and hack saw. It's not exactly cheap (less than $10), but if it lasts for many years, it will be worth it. After taking inventory of our garden, we decided this support might be a big help for our cucumbers to climb.

This idea came from the local organic gardner I met at the farmer's market. The fence posts are on the ends of three tomato plants. Twine was used to weave around each plant. The plants were already in tomato cages, so they were left as is. As the plants grow, more twine will be used for support at 2-ft, 3-ft height, etc. The fence posts were about $7 each, but will last forever.

This design seems quite sturdy. I like the fact that you can water the plants through the top of the pvc and it will go directly to the roots. We used electrical conduit instead of white PVC as it was a bit cheaper. It was quite a challenge to drill through the plastic, though. I'll have to show an update later in the season.

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Hot, out of the oven

Dh is at work. He should be home. I just sent him this picture. Wonder how long it will take for him to come home?

Follow-up: In less than 2 minutes of sending him the e-mail, I got the following response:

How much is left now? Are you letting those munchkins eat it before I get home to make me feel left out? I had to finish copying down what was on the board from my meeting ... I’ll come home now.

I can smell it already!

DH

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Sight to behold

I've been wanting to make a thank you card for PJ's eye doctor. This is what I will be sending him. It's 5 x 7 size. It's so wonderful to see my baby's clear eyes now.

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Marine Biology

Three of our kids are enrolled in a 6-wk marine biology class. Last week they made fish prints. They've learned quite a bit. One thing I love about homeschooling is being able to tap into parents who absolutely love their subjects. This teacher is such a science buff. It would be hard for me to fake that I enjoy science. I appreciate scientists and their knowledge, but I don't have a need-to-know the hows or whys like they do. Maybe it is because my science classes were awful. Hmm, that's a thought. Maybe I should have sat in on this class to relearn science in a more positive light. Oh well, I'm thankful that my kids are learning from highly motivated teachers who love their subjects. Next week they get to disect squid.

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Pillowcases

Dh's cousins live overseas and asked that I make them some pillowcases. They will be traveling in their car around the US. Everybody has their own color: dad = yellow, mom = green, daughter = red, and 2 sons, blue and orange. It was fun trying to find the perfect fabric for each person. Hopefully we will be able to see them in January, but if not, our hearts are with them as they make their journey.

I absolutely LOVED the yellow fabric for the dad. He's a great guy with a wonderful sense of humor. Click on the picture to see how cute that fabric is.

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