An Afternoon From the Reward Bank

Some days just feel full of goodness.  Other days feel like nothing was accomplished.  Yesterday was a rough day for my children with behavior and then not getting a fun reward they were looking forward to because of the lack of obedience.  :(  It's always a bummer when that happens.  So, today was much different, and boy oh boy was I glad!  

We started out the day with butterfly research and moving the butterfly tent to where it would be in front of the patio door that gets lots of sunlight and warmth.  We arranged some of our potted plants in their and figured out how to feed butterflies that were now residing in the tent.  Alegra has been so interested in butterflies lately, so this has been a pure delight for her.  

After lunch, it was time to do weeding in the garden.  Nobody wanted to, but it had to be done.  We also placed a shed that some friends gave to us in the garden to be used this year as our produce shed.  We would like to have produce out all the time instead of just a couple days a week.  The children will still sit out there when we're home, but if we're not, we'll just leave a money can there.  Hoping we can have a few more customers this year to enjoy our delicious produce!

 Look at that garden!  The whole thing is weeded except my flower area which got mutilated when my man drove the tractor through it.  Hoping to have flowers to sell too at the stand, but not sure after his driving today.  :)  Oh well.  We did plant sunflowers this year to sell, so they at least look great and will be fun to have in the garden.

We also harvested our first ingredients for salad today.  What a delicious supper we had.  Fresh spinach and lettuce from the garden, deviled eggs from our coop, and herbed (dried from the garden last year) tortilla strips.  It was so yummy!!!

 Since the children did fantastic weeding and working in the hot, hot sun today, we let them draw a reward from the reward jar.  They picked "take a bike ride to Stroh for ice cream and to play at the park".  What a gorgeous ride we had.  It had just finished raining really hard and their was a lovely rainbow that lit our path all the way there.  I didn't even realize that I got the rainbow in this picture.  Off we go to have some summer fun!

 Benaiah sure did try out his energy on this trip.  I had to take quite a few breaks with him, but he did a great job.  He also learned to keep his feet on the pedals at all times.  He went down our big hill and took his feet off the pedals and then couldn't slow down, so all the way down the hill he screamed in terror.  I had to console him and explain to him to keep his feet on the brakes, and then he picked his feet up and pedaled to catch up to the others.  Hopefully lesson learned on that one.  It could have been a big crash.  :)

This is why we love where we live.  Nothing beats this kind of scenery on a bike ride.  I mean look at that sky.  Look at that old barn.  Look at the stretch of fields growing with green life.

We finally made it to the ice cream shop.  They switched owners, so they actually had reasonably priced cones, just smaller portions, which was just fine with us.  See that big puddle.  Yep, that little guy pointing at it rode his bike right through the middle of it.  Ugh, he did so good avoiding the puddles all the way there, then I guess he just couldn't resist this one.  Who could when you're a 5 year old little boy? :)

 Delicious!

We then went to the park after our ice cream was gone and enjoyed some fun there.  A simple park in Stroh, but it sure brings delight to our children, which brings me delight too.  

 Time to head home.  Benaiah was pretty tuckered out, but he kept on pedaling.  I was reminded of the movie Nemo, and kept singing to him, "just keep pedaling, pedaling pedaling".  We can't forget about the scenery on the ride home.  Not everybody has cows that stand on the sidelines to cheer you on.  What's not to love about this picture!

 And then there was that gorgeous sky once again, lighting up in a different manner with less color but more brilliance.  That picture is not edited.  The sun beams were so distinct and bright.  Alegra had thrown her camera into the trailer, so she wanted Jonathon to stop, so she could take a picture.  Guess she gets that from her mom.  :)  Nothing like capturing all these priceless moments in picture for them to reminisce about when they are older.

 And I realized, thankfully not too late, that I hadn't taken Saphira's picture in the trailer enjoying the ride.  She sure loves the ride!

I didn't get a picture of a few other things that made our evening a delight.  While at the park a neighbor came to play ball with his son.  It's just good to see father and son spending time together in that way.  Then on our way home, a friend and neighbor stopped to visit and tell us all about his recent honeymoon.  I just smiled while we sat there visiting on the road and enjoying the wonderful evening.

This community isn't fancy.  It is full of simple pleasures and people who stay engaged with each other.   This makes where we live a grand place to raise our children.  Where people just stop by, sometimes on tractor even just to say hello or see if you need anything.  It's a place where the whole neighborhood gathers to keep traffic safe when a tree falls in the road.  A place where my children can run to the road to wave to whoever drives by and generally, they know who the person is.  I miss our little house in Sturgis, but the community that we have all around us here, is irreplaceable.  So thankful for these peaceful evenings of getting another glimpse of the people we are surrounded by and getting to enjoy my children moving and enjoying the country.

I hope you are all having as great of a summer as we are at the Bovee's!

Oh, and if you are wondering how Benaiah did taking that long of a trip.  Uncle Jeff almost had to push him up the big hill at our house.  Once he got in our driveway, before even getting up to the barn, he stopped and put his head on his hands, like he was out of breath and couldn't go any farther.  That boy!  He pedaled up to the barn then and felt pretty good about himself biking such a long distance.  I was watching him pedal at one point.  It took him about 4 times pedaling to our 1.  That boy moved those little legs fast! Time for a bigger bike after this summer of practice on the little one.  Good job, Benaiah!