A Wheely fun Time

We are wanting to make a produce stand for this fall. Would have liked one for the summer, but it seems we didn't get our thoughts together soon enough. Got the animals before summer was over, but not a produce stand. That's okay. We are in planning mode for that now. And after finding a super good deal on a banner through Hip2Save we decided to get one made for our stand and stop dawdling with it. So, we have a super cute banner now that fits our family quite nicely I think, and now we are getting the parts around to put it together. Here are our first parts in action.....
Jonathon's mom had these two wheels at her house that were beside a cement slab, so after asking if we could use them, we brought them home as our first donation to our project. And as you can see they worked perfectly for some fun too. Jonathon had to do some engineering to make this work, but after some pipes here and a pipe there, he did it. And the children were not about to try it, so we had to demonstrate.

And I think we are getting too old for such games. Well, I didn't get hurt, but somebody thought "he" gave himself a hernia or something. : )

And everybody then had to try their hand at running the wheel. What fun and didn't cost us anything and hopefully the childre will have memories of that evening to tell their children. Think of the fun we'd miss out on if we were TV watchers. It's no wonder our nation is so obese. Children lose out on these old time fun and active memories as they are spending their time infront of a box. So sad. We do enjoy a movie here and there, but I believe people spend a majority of their time watching a box that doesn't give back to them in life. And think of how much money people spend on this entertainment. Okay, that's my soap box for now. : )

Get up, get out and have some good old fashioned fun. You'll feel more alive, with a wellspring of joy from your heart.

The Bovees, Busy at Work

This summer, we have been busy, busy, busy. But thankfully it's the kind of busy that we all enjoy! We love working together out in the heat stacking wood, weeding the flower beds, and hoeing the garden. Okay, maybe that's an exageration that we ALL enjoy it. I'd say Jonathon and I do, but the young 'ens don't so much. It's good for them!

We have added some residents to our homestead as of late. We added 3 chickens that gave us 3 eggs, until today. The girls came running in saying that they found 3 eggs in the chicken coop and 11 under the chicken coop. We have one lady who likes to hide out under it, so I guess now we know what she's been doing under there. They gathered them all up and brought them inside. Hmmm, now we should figure out which one we've been seeing go under the chicken coop, so we know which one is our good layer.

We haven't had a lot of garden work yet other than keeping it hoed and weeded. That is a job when we get plenty of rain. Thankfully we have stayed on top of it, and it looks pretty good. We have been getting lettuce and peas and some herbs have been cut and are drying in the attic. Today I went out to the wildflower area to gather some mulein to make some infused oil for sickness. And while I was doing that, some more residents arrived.

But our day started out different than most weekdays. Jonathon didn't have any jobs scheduled for today, so he drove his van to get worked on, then from there he biked to his mom's house (12 miles). After stopping at a garage sale and buying some pants for .50 and .25, the children and I headed to pick up Jonathon. He was helping his mom get her barn cleaned up from years and years of accumulation. Slowly but surely it's getting cleaned out and is looking good. I suggested a barn party when it's all clean, but I'm not sure anybody was listening to me. : )

We took him to pick up his van and then he went to Ron Hyre's to ride with over to pick up our new boys. While he was gone, we had supper and worked at getting some other things done around here that were on my list for today, laundry, garlic oil, raspberries picked, and not on my list but accomplished, two spillings of liquids on the floor from Benaiah.

My mom had some garlic that came up on it's own this year, so I dug that up the other day, then today went and cut mulein, St. John's Wart, and thyme. I also cut off the remaining of lavender I had and got out some that I just dried. I put all of those things (cut up) in two jars and then poured all the olive oil that I have into the jars. It was supposed to be filled to the top, but I didn't have enough oil, so tomorrow I will have to buy more to fill it all the way. This concoction will sit for about 6 weeks in my window for the sun to heat up. All the medicinal properties from the herbs will release into the oil while it sits and will become a great oil for earaches and for internal use for coughs (added with honey) and honey. I usually just do garlic and mulein, but this year I thought I would add more things that would be good internally as my children have been taking the oil by the spoonful when they are sick. Doesn't taste good, but it's only for a short bit.

Now onto our new residents......

We have 2 new calves. They are so great! They came from a farm that only pasture feeds which was what we wanted. This is so much healthier for the animal as this is what they were created to do. And take note of the little bird house in this picture. Alegra sure is creative with her picture taking. Anyways, Josiah made it for his dad for father's day and it looks as though somebody else has taken up residence on our little farm.

Tonight, as I sit here blogging, our new boys are not sounding too happy being away from their momma. They aren't used to people at all, so our children are trying to befriend them. They got pretty close tonight to them and I'm sure as the days go by, they will continue to make friends. Not sure how long it will be safe for them to go out there, but for now, it's okay. They sure are pretty and healthy looking.

And the papa is feeling pretty good about all the new additions to our homestead. I believe he is in his element. Does he look like a proud farmer? : )

There was also some ball playing, bike riding, weeding, and ice cream eating tonight. This sure felt like a full day.

What has been keeping us so busy that I haven't been able to blog more? Well, if you check out CLB CeLeBrations, that is where a lot of my time is spent. I have been busy planning celebrations for the ladies at our fellowship and boy have they been blessed. It is so wonderful for me to know that others are being ministered through something that the Lord put on my heart to do. The next one coming up is for my party assistant. A little more challenging without her by my side, but she deserves a good blessing too, so others have stepped up and lended their help, which I'm so very thankful for!

We have also been riding our bikes a lot lately. Last Sunday, we took a ride to my parent's house with one pit stop half way. It was a great ride and felt so good being out, getting exercise. The ride was a total of almost 11 miles. Everybody made it safely and without falling over from being weary. Jonathon is planning on taking a big bike trip of about 150 miles over 2 or 3 days with a few of his buddies, and I would like to make a trip to his mom's which would be about 28 miles. Hopefully, by fall I'll be worked up to that. The children probably won't be worked up as there are lots of hills and it would be nice to have a whine free trip once. : ) Yes, they do whine, and are learning the meaning of overcoming obstacles and having victory over what seems difficult to them.

I believe our work is done for the day. Alegra is reading a book to Benaiah, Diella and Josiah are in bed, Jonathon is showering, and I am finally getting a blog finished of our lives as of late. Always so much to do, but enjoying every minute of it. Hope you are all enjoying your summer! But for now, I'm hoping I don't hear calves all night crying out for their momma. Hmmmm, I remember when I was young going out and sleeping with our sheep. I wonder if they need an adopted momma. I better not. They're gonna be on our dinner plates when they get bigger.

A Day on the Lake

We spent a great day with my parents on their boat, just relaxing and enjoying the perfect summer evening.

Josiah air surfing and having such a great time doing it! There isn't too much that's better than seeing my children smile so big because life is great! : )

A fish that didn't get away from this good fisher boy.

Brothers just hanging out together and enjoying the scenery!

Keeslar Family Farm Field Trip

We had one more day to complete for school that we saved for a field trip. The Keeslar family did it last year also, and we missed it, so I wanted to get the children to it this year. Time for shearing the sheep. So, come along as we fed the goats, and watched sheep get cooled off for summer. Very interesting and the children were quite fascinated by it.

Lots of wool left over after all that shearing took place! How amazing that God created an animal to grow a thick coat of something that we as humans can use to keep our bodies warm. He is a master when it comes to taking care of His flock. : )

End of Year School Program- 2011

The children have been learning about the Fruit of the Spirit throughout the school year, and so we chose to make that the theme of our "end of the year grandparent's party". Usually, we invite the grandparents and have a quaint little party. This year we decided to invite some neighbors and some other family and our good friends.


As everyone arrived we made introductions and guests set up their chairs infront of our make shift stage. With storms stirring in the west, we decided to cut the visiting short and get to the snacks and program, so we wouldn't get rained out.

Everyone enjoyed mingling, snacking, and anticipating this year's program.

The children started out by singing a song about the Fruit of the Spirit. Then they each had 3 Scriptures that they had memorized that were about each of the Fruit. As they said their verse/verses they held a sign up that said which word they were elaborating with more Scripture on.

We've had a book from the library that I've always said, "When the children get big enough, I'd like them to do that as a play". Well, I decided that this was the year. The book is called "One Dark Night" and is about a mouse, mole and bear. It's a great story and the children already had masks that I printed from Jan Brett's website, so that completed their costume. Very simple, but I think everyone could tell who or what they were. As Jonathon read the story, the children acted it out and said only the lines where the animal says it in the book.

Josiah was a hungry bear who stomped around being angry.

After the play, they came out and while Jonathon played his guitar, they sang a song that I put together that talked about the book and showed how the animals did or did not show the Fruit of the Spirit. This was a middle of the week thing when I realized that they needed just one more things because it was going to be just a tad short. Jonathon put music to my words and we added a great ending to their program. I do have to throw in here that a program isn't great without a good laugh, and Benaiah provided us with that. His part was an owl and all he had to do was say, "Whoo, whoo". When I raised him above the curtain, he threw his mask and said, "HI!" to the audience. Of course everyone laughed, and it added that special touch.

The children had brown bags with apple butter and pumpkin bread or muffins that they clipped shut with clothes pins that had, hand-painted by the children, ceramic apples on them to give to their guests as an appreciation for them coming to their program.

We had pictures with the guests, then everybody skeedaddled to get home before the bad storms hit.

Aunt MaryAnn and Charissa Morgan from New York.

Our new neighbor from California, Sharon.

Our other special neighbors, Ruth and Ernie.

Grandma Linda, Aunt Mandi, and Aunt Hazel.

Grandpa Dan and Grandma Deborah.

The Brothers Clan- Phil, Casie, Zeky, Elli, Amalyah, and baby to be.

And Great Grandpa Murphy who enjoys his great grandchildren.

What a wonderful time it was! The Father held off the rain for us. Everybody left quite quickly, we hauled everything in and down came the rain, soaking Zeky and Alegra as they ran into the house. Perfect timing! Thank you Father for the perfect weather during the program (no wind blowing our curtain all over the place), holding off the rain, and allowing us to bless others!

Cumberland Falls Kentucky Mini Vacation

With needing some vacation time just the two of us, we planned a little mini vacation to Cumberland Falls Kentucky. Our first day, upon arrival, was sunny and really quite warm. We checked in to the Lodge and then checked out the area and did some hiking by the falls. Was really quite beautiful and the surroundings were so relaxing.

The bees are out and doing their job.

There was even a small beach area that we were surprised by. Who needs Florida? Okay, it wasn't near as warm, but we got the beach feeling anyways. : )

A small water fall came out of the rock above and trickled down through the beach. My landing from jumping over it was quite lovely.

Day 2, not so lovely. We got up and ate muffins, bananas and yogurt, then hit the road as it was cold and rainy. We stopped at a little mountain craft store that was very interesting. The crafts were, well, not really anything that we would buy, BUT they also sold honey, so we purchased some of that and had a really nice visit with the Kentucky folk that ran the store. Then we headed for some lunch, ate and came back to our room for the rest of the day. I had packed stuff for chicken salad croissants, so we had that for supper, watched movies, and just hung out and relaxed. Jonathon said at one point that it wasn't a vacation, but I quickly told him that it was for me. No dealing with children in any way is a motherly vacation. And was much needed!!!

So, tomorrow we head home and pray for safe travels. Very thankful for the first day of nice weather that we could get out and see some beautiful creation. Enjoyed it, relaxed, rested and now ready to go home. Is surely a blessing to have the priviledge of getting away for a bit though.