When Butlers Get Bored

Summer Break!

 Last Friday was the last day of school for everyone in our family! Yay! The kids that go to elementary school in our family got out a week after us highschool kids finished, and this past week was the first week of no school for anybody.

Now that school's over for the summer, I'll have time to post more frequently, and to keep my blog updated. I've had a hard time during online school finding time for this, so hopefully I can get back to posting regularly now.

Here's an update on a couple of things that have happened since I stopped posting as much:

Pixie:

Pixie is proficient at crawling, and is an expert furniture walker. She stands up on almost everything now. Sometimes, when she's not paying attention, she can balance all on her own for a few seconds without realizing it.

 Pixie is 10 months old. Most of us kids were already walking by this age, but she's still getting there.  She probably hasn't started walking so far because there's always someone to pick her up or hold her, even when she'd be fine on her own. Pixie is absaloutely adored and doted on by every single one of her brothers and sisters.

Ricka's Birthday:

Ricka celebrated her 9th birthday on June 11th. I can't believe she's already 9!  We couldn't make a cake for her, so Mama helped her pick one out online. She chose a carrot cake, because she loves anything to do with bunnies or rabbits, and decorated the cake with bunny cookies.

Ricka got quite a few presents, including a rabbit-pen Playmobile set, a big treat-bag full of candy and other treats that she's slowly working her way through, and three realistic looking bunnies whom she named Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail.

Treat bag goodies

From right to left: Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail

She also recieved a gift card from Grandma and Grandpa for Amazon (She's already used it to buy two more Playmobile sets, which arrived the following weekend. She's been playing with it all week. That was a good present!)

 Ricka had more presents, I can't remember them all right now, but I do remember that the whole day was fun, and that she enjoyed it all- The special cinnamon roll and whipped cream covered waffle breakfast, all  her presents,

Her birthday dinner (Pho Soup)

And especially her cake and ice cream!

 Happy Birthday Ricka!

Scripture Searcher 2020-2021

It's that time of year! The new Scripture Searcher booklets are about to be printed. The editors here are very busy proofreading and looking for errors. In other words, we searching for any mistakes Daddy might have made so we can triumphantly point them out. (Trust me, this is not an easy task:)

If you would like to request a booklet or want to find out more about them, you can visit the Scripture Searcher website found here. Make sure to mail your finished booklet!

Sunshine, Schoolwork, and (online) Shopping

"O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!"

Psalm 8:9

Monday was beautiful and sunny. It really felt like summer!

We are on to the last week of school, and then it's summer break! We all can't wait.

I love summer. This year, we are going to have a big harvest from the plants on our property. We have a crab apple tree, which is loaded with fruit, a cherry tree full of cherries that are quickly ripening, blackberry blossoms everywhere, and hazelnuts forming under the leaves of the hazelnut tree outside the front door. 

Emma's spelling lesson

Typing- Ricka's getting so good

 My science lesson

Pixie points at everything! It's how she gets people to take her wherever she wants. Pixie also likes to summon people and then poke their noses and eyes, until they make a funny noise, or beep her nose She thinks it's hilarious.

On Monday, we also got a big online order delivered to the house:

New pants for QB! He was happy that they fit him, and he's been wearing them ever since.

Lulu got several new shirts, as well as pretty meeting shoes and running shoes. When she first got them, she switched to a different new shirt every few minutes, because she can't decide which one she likes best.

Pixie was helping everyone unpack the online order, by sitting in the middle of the chaos, and eating the wrappers as Mama took the things out of them.

Emma and Ricka also got a few new shirts, but Emma didn't want any pictures, so I don't have any photos of her to share. 

All three of them (These two and Emma, who's again not pictured for peacekeeping reasons), each recieved a matching shirt. Ricka and Lulu loved this, and made their whole outfits match, so they could be twins.

I'm excited for summer break to start for us, but in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy what we have right now, which is sunshine, schoolwork, and new shoes!

Cuddle Party

I had just finished getting the little kids ready for bed Saturday night, and we were enjoying Pixie's antics as we cuddled with blankets on the couch.

Lulu, me, Pixie, Hal, and QB

Pixie's the center of attention here :) 

Old Photos- 2016 - 2019

I haven't posted in so long! I think it's been almost two months. I have been pretty busy with online schooling. With housework and general living in between school, I don't really have much time to work on blogging. I found some time today, so I'll use it while I have it.

 I found some old pictures from a couple of years ago, and I thought it would be interesting to share. 

This is a picture of Hal in February 2016. He was still so little! Now, he's seven years old and still has more energy than me. He was almost three in this picture.

Kirkland Conference 2018.

This is QB and Lulu walking together the day before meetings started. We were there early because my dad helped with the sound, and needed to set up.  QB was taking care of Lulu, showing her around and making sure she didn't fall. It was so sweet. I still remember taking that picture. 

 Feburary 2019

I did a photoshoot in my room because we couldn't get professional photos done, and I wanted to remember how thay all looked at this age. I didn't get everybody to participate this time (I did another one earlier), so I only got a few kids.

Hal - 6 yrs

Lulu- 2 yrs

Ricka- 7 yrs

Another picture of Lulu in a different outfit

- still 2 yrs :)

Butler- 9 yrs

I think they all look very different, even if it's only a year's difference.

=

Lulu- a couple weeks old (September 2016)

This whole outfit was a gift from a school parent, and we still have it. Pixie just outgrew the dress, but the shoes and the flower still fit her. :)

 November 2016- Ricka

At the time of taking this picture, I didn't realize how little she looked! I think Ricka was five here, she looks so different now!

Her face looks heart-shaped here to me. :)

Also November 2016- Lulu.

:)

After school, working hard on chores and homework. Butler and PC.

I think this was also 2016, or maybe 2017.

January 2019- Ricka, Lulu, and PC

I like this picture. This was PC with his tablet. Nothing has really changed since this picture with him, he still loves anything with a screen.

February 2019

Snow at the meeting room. Lulu was so excited! It didn't last long, but it was fun while it lasted.

May 2019- "twins" Hal- 6 and QB- 4

So cute! This was a Sunday morning before meeting. They thought it would be funny to match (all the way down to the hats and vests!) and confuse everyone. It was so cute seeing them "tricking Daddy!"

I have to go work on (more) schoolwork, so I have to end this post here. Bye!

Home Sweet Home

We currently live on five acres, and we have dogs, chickens, cats, and sheep.

Most of the property is made up of small fields. We do have one big field that's probably two acres, and that's where the sheep usually graze. That field is behind our barn. In front of the barn, there's about three small fields that have lots of trees, and these fields surround the house and driveway. 

It's really beautiful on our property, especially in spring and summer.

There are also two small-ish ponds, which a myriad of frogs call (loudly) home. In the warm months, sometimes we spot a heron or a family of ducks there as well.

Reflections

We have many willow trees on our property. They're big, too. At one point, I counted over eight in the front area of our property. In late afternoon, the hanging leaves catch the sunlight, and everything has a golden-green glow. It's breathtaking.

In springtime, we have several trees that blossom, but only two actually produce cherries in the summer. we also have two old apple trees, and they are twisted and bent. They bloom every year, but rarely give much fruit. 

Early morning sunshine- This is from a while ago, before the world went into isolation. I was waiting for the school bus at our gate, with PC. It was even more beautiful in person. The camera does not do it justice.

I took this picture when I was watching the sheep in the back field. The sky was so blue, and with the clouds marbled through, I like how it turned out.

Ground covering flowers by the house- they're everywhere this time of year! I think they're called periwinkles, but I could be wrong.

Scout and Molly love playing in that field Scout's standing by. We call it the willow field, because of how many grow there.