This and That

Today was our last day of school!! It is always a momentous event in my mind to write that "180" at the top of the page in my school planner. Of course I know all too soon I'll be writing "1" above there and starting all over again. In the mean time, I am looking forward to a change from our daily routine.

My mom got back yesterday from a trip to Maine to her cousin's sheep farm. The pictures are just too cute! I have to share a few:

I guess the next best thing to grand babies is sheep babies? It seems like it!! Now I want to hug one myself!!

Each of the new lambs got their own sweet name! Mom had to help with all the feeding, docking, tagging, mouth checks, etc. It sounded like hard work!

But the views were worth it!

This picture reminded me of a book I loved as a child: The Little Lamb

The kids and I are taking a Hiking, Camping, and Backpacking class through 4h. Secretly, I pretend it's our American version of the Arthur Ransome Society. It was rope tying last time:

 I came home from an errand the other day to find the kids had turned the garage into some sort of art workshop. I was so impressed I overlooked the splurge of making and ingesting an entire 1/2 gallon of apple juice.

Since today was our last day of school I decided it was time we made another "seasonal poster" as we have done in years past, thanks to inspiration from my friend, Heather. The kids were SO excited to do this again.

Laura loved participating and colored most of the items in the bottom right corner. Whoa! The poster is so bright this year (I was imagining pastels....). But, I think the poster captures the kids as they are right now and I was very pleased with their complete involvement in the project.

After lunch, those that were willing took a hike in Eagle Creek -- it was a nice, long, two hour hike and we saw lots of nature including a baby water snake, a man hunting morels (nonchalantly carrying one in a clear sandwich bag at his side), lots of woodland wildflowers, downy woodpeckers, cardinals, snails, and several dead snakes.

The pink honeysuckle was my favorite!

The biggest change in our lives is that we are now a two-car family! It's hard to believe! For 15 years we have managed with either no car or one car. But, this has become increasingly difficult in recent years and so we have finally taken the plunge. Red was not our first choice, but with used cars you can't always get what you want. We are thankful to have what we hope will be a reliable car!!! Life is going to seem strange with two cars.

The boys are nearly done with soccer. One more cold Saturday morning for me to face, and maybe one for Michael and then it will be over. Andrew and James love it and they've had a great team to play with.

And now I probably can't ignore my kitchen any longer....happy weekend to you all!