My bad...

I know...I say I'm starting my blog...then I abandon y'all.  My bad.  I have SO much to blog about, I get overwhelmed, and don't know where to start!!

Highlights lately:
We got an incubator, put 20 eggs in it, and I just candled today (day 9, I think), and I only candled two, and they are both fertile and growing well!!  So exciting, it's a total miracle from our backyard...hatch date is June 5th.  If we actually get baby chicks I may just explode from excitement!

We are done with school, and the kids had a fabulous year!!  I was packing up all our stuff, taking a sampling of the kids' work to put in binders, and Mason got all sentimental watching me do it.  He said "Mom, I had so much turn with school this year!  I can't wait to start Creation to the Greeks!" (that's our next year's curriculum).  I asked him "Have you ever been this excited or happy about a year of school before?"  He just gave me a wide grin and laughed "Noooo." :)  It's so wonderful to see them learning and thriving.  BUT, we're definitely going to enjoy summer before starting back up!

Speaking of summer, my garden is one of the things I've been SO excited about.  However, I'm apparently no good at starting plants.  Thankfully, I have a dear friend (hi Mary!) that is fabulous at starting plants!  She gifted me with 18 tomato starts for our garden.  Today we are tilling up the rest and will be finishing our planting this week.  Yay!  Now we just pray that the chickens and deer and other critters don't eat it all before we get to it!

The kids finished AWANA and I guess we never realize how hard they work and how much they enjoy it until awards night.  The kids never cease to amaze us.  Isaac got a special award for always coming and being prepared with his verses and giving such a good effort.  Mason got the honor award for the 3-4th graders for a good attitude and effort!  I see my kids through my eyes ... but seeing them get awards for being hard-working and kind ... how others see them .... makes my heart want to burst.  God is so good for guiding us and leading us in how to parent these four beautiful souls...and for working in their hearts a desire to serve Him!!

My brother, Jay, got married a couple weekends ago.  I have a new sister, Jamie,...and she's so so wonderful!  I couldn't have wished for a kinder, more beautiful, perfect complement for my brother.  We had so much fun seeing so much family at the wedding, there's never enough time in one weekend to catch up with everyone, but we enjoy every moment we get.

My niece, Brianna, graduated from the nursing program at U of MN...with high distinction!  I remember watching her as a baby, and now, I got to see her graduate from college.  It's so wonderful to see family growing up...and she's grown into a beautiful, smart woman...with a good head on her shoulders, ready to go wherever God leads.  It's amazing to witness what God is doing in someone else's heart, and life.  Sometimes we really just have to sit back and realize all the work He is doing in the world, and people, around us.  We each have our calling...we just have to listen to what it is He wants from us.  All this growing up of family, though, certainly means I'm not getting any younger!  :)

So, that's life in a nutshell now that school is out...house chores, outside chores, playing games with kids, watching the nature around us (indigo buntings, orioles, pheasants, turkey nests, morels, wild strawberries, beautiful wildflowers, etc), oh, and this week, bartering has apparently come into my life.  I traded eggs for fresh goat cheese (mozzarella and chèvre!) and fresh cow's milk. Life is very, very good!

Pictures next time, I promise!  :)