I'm not exactly sure when Emery learned that you read notes to make music. She tried to do it on her own first. But only succeeded in making a tripod. Then she asked me to write down the stuff you make music with. So I wrote a few notes for her to get her started. 6 pages later, we had a lot of singing to do...
But you should see the other kid...
No. Andrew just got bit on the eyelid by a mosquito...don't worry mom. And Emery had a little swingset accident. But everyone's fine...and our neighborhood is quite safe.
"We" worked. But one of us did most of it. Though the boys and girl did lend a hand...or a bottom to keep the wood in place while I drilled.
Matt really wanted to use the power saw. We compromised.
Here's the before picture.
Ta-dah! Don't worry mom - it's really safe. I built it with 2x4's and attached it to the wall. The only thing that will move it is a tornado.
The other side of the room...before.
And now we have room for Matt to have a desk of his own. The little guy is ready to start writing and doing some real school work.
In April, we planted 25 strawberry plants. They didn't look very impressive as you can see.
But with some watering, some weeding and lots of spring sunshine, they grew.
We harvest our first crop of strawberries. We had heard that you're not supposed to eat the first crop, but we couldn't hold ourselves back! I wish I could say that they were sweet and succulent, but alas, they were a tad tart. Hopefully, next year, they will be different.
We've also been busy with some tree trimming,
some flower (peonies) arranging,
and the occasional picnic! It's summer, right?
It was a gorgeous day, and we had fabulous seats.
It was a nice place to watch a game though I don't think Andrew was as interested in the game as he was in the snacks that mom packed for us - pistachios, applesauce, strawberries, Pringles, and cheese & crackers. Plus I let Andrew get a cookie ice cream sandwich.
Today was some good father son bonding. I think Andrew was most impressed that the scoreboard was in the shape of a crown.
I could go on and on. My book is starred and underlined all throughout. I appreciate how Farley puts parenting in its proper context. He explains the relevant biblical texts, explains the importance of theology to parenting, uses good illustrations, useful statistical information and writes in an easy to understand manner.
I recommend this book as a must read - top 3 in terms of a foundational parenting book. Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp and Duties of Parents by J.C. Ryle would be the other 2. There are many other good parenting books out there that are more specific, ie - books explaining how to discipline children, how to parent teenagers, etc. As parenting is so complex and so different for each child and each stage of life, no 1 book covers it all. But this one sets an exceptional biblical, Gospel centered foundation.
Actually, we took the boys and girl to tour the recently renovated Fire Station #2. We didn't realize we'd get to hob knob with all of the civic leaders of Emporia at the same time!
We also got to tour the fire station, go into a fire truck and meet some fire fighters. We also got to learn about a possible career path for our boys - fire fighter with paramedic training. Sandy and I are always on the look out for possible careers for the boys and girl. We grilled the fire fighters with all sorts of questions about necessary training and qualifications, work schedule, job security, etc.
We learned a lot AND it was a fun time for all with the Emporia Fire Dept.
It was his first and probably last year of home school. I am very proud of both Sandy and Andrew for this past year. It was a lot of work for Sandy, but I think Andrew grew a ton intellectually and more importantly, spiritually. He is beginning to see his schoolwork as a way to glorify God while developing discipline and a consistent work ethic. We want him to be a hard worker who tries to enjoy EVERY task he is given.
So we celebrated with half price slushies at Sonic.
Thumbs up baby!
About a month ago, we planted all sorts of perennials and shrubs. Little did we know the power of Kansas wind. The wind literally was shredding our plants to death. So I set up a makeshift wind block to protect them. This is what happened to it after the storms last night. The wind pushed down solid metal posts!
As you can see, it came that close to crushing our poor little plants! 
Thankfully all of these showers have given us some great flowers.
We also made mom our traditional Mother's Day card / book. Andrew did the cover page. I'm not sure why our family is being robbed by a gunman and a pirate. But at least the pirate is happy.
This is the first year Emery could write her name and draw something! She drew dots and circles last year.
Matt did this page. Matt wrote, "Thanks for playing baseball." He and mom have "baseball camp" in the mornings.
Andrew wrote mom his first poem ever! I'm not sure if Robert Frost started out this rough, but hey, I'm proud of him for trying.
We decided to try to get a deal on a cheap hotel in KC through Priceline for the first time. Unfortunately, Priceline didn't work for us but we managed to get a pretty good deal through Hotwire.
We visited the BEAUTIFUL botanical gardens in Overland Park. This picture doesn't do it justice. There was a lake, tons of flowers, several gardens, miles of walking trails, and manicured lawns.
Don't these roses look great? These are from the Lee botanical garden. That's not as nice as the Overland Park one.
But we have strawberries and a very cute little girl to show them off.
We also have radishes. Here's our first crop! Time to make some kimchee!
The glory of God has been extra evident lately with some beautiful spring days.
Sandy took the kids to the zoo the other day.
The turtles love the weather too.
And we had our first spring crop harvest! Lettuce and spinach! It was extra tasty.
The big city is brutal...so crowded with ducks and geese everywhere!
We went back to the Deanna Rose Farmstead for kids in Olathe which is a suburb of KC. Ironic isn't it? We left real small town life to go to a city which emulated small town life.
And we could have just gone to our friend's house for a pony ride too.
But then, we wouldn't have gotten a cute picture like this. It was a great day.
We floated in these little tubes, sitting on the back end and using flippers to paddle around. They work great and the fish were biting.
Unfortunately, I wasn't very good at catching them. But I did manage to catch 8 - mostly blue gill. Regardless, it was still a lot of fun and very relaxing.
Emery spontaneously started singing (as she often does) this morning so I decided to make her do it in front of the camera.