Spike Ball and Cleaning Cabinets

Today the job chosen for us by Faith was to wipe/clean the top cabinet doors.

Hope baked a cake and made iced coffee popscicles...decaf 

The UPS truck and the USPS truck delivered more summer supplies

Simple to assemble, not as simple to play.

Still scraping paint...it seems that multiple applications are necessary in our case.

Lots to learn here.

Also made a start on the first of the quilts to be sewn this summer...peepy steps.

Just a note: Shekinah did take a nap today, but so far no epic breakdowns...yet. Tomorrow Joe does not work so we will add one more person to this experiment.

Pool, Paint-Stripping and Jobs

Nothing makes a little girl more determined than to tell her that a job might be too difficult.

Then if you go over to daddy it might be easier if he helps you.

The pool is set up and the temp is finally 77 degrees, only the little girls think it is fit for humans.

Our first "craft" project was using paint stripper for the first time.

Found out that it isn't quite as easy as advertised.

The girls put on the first layer of goop, but the many layers of old paint were still a bit stuck that is why it was then my craft project.

Shekinah however, would really have liked to help.

I set her up with tempura paints in an egg carton and some new brushes, it kept her busy for a bit.

Also found out that our favorite berry place isn't ready for pick-your-own yet.

But on to the pick-your-own-job...that worked great today.

They each drew a job for cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast. Then Hope

got the honor of picking the "big" job which was cleaning out from under the "Big Living Room" furniture. Otherwise known as a storage place for dust bunnies and miscellaneous toy parts.

Here was Shekinah sweeping the kitchen floor with her choice of appliance.

QOTD: Faith- "Mom, will you wake me at promptly 7 tomorrow morning, or will you by mistake wait till 8?"  It is so tempting to let sleeping children lie.

Of Graduations and Summer Vactions

And suddenly it is here!

Graduation and summer vacation.

We started on Thursday night with Hope's graduation from 8th grade.

It is sort of a big deal at our school because a lot of the students part ways going on to different high schools or homeschooling. 

The girls found fabric that they liked and moms were responsible to make dresses.

The down-side to this graduation was that one of their classmates was spending the week in a local children's hospital diagnosed earlier this year with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura also known as ITP. She reached a crisis this week and needed to be hospitalized. Technology was helpful and she was present via Skype (or one of those technologies).

I don't have a picture of Hope making her speech because I was recording it. She was honored for her excellent grades.

Sorry for the awful lighting, my cameras just don't cut it inside with that lighting.

Hope you make me proud, you faced a fear tonight when you stood up there and gave your speech.

You only drove us a little nuts with your nervous activity that day.

I really don't think I would have managed a speech like that at your age.

Then Friday morning the Kindergarten class had their graduation.

Shekinah behaved just like a Kindergarten student, she is promoted to first grade.

She walked up like a lady and remembered which hand to use to shake her teacher's hand.

I often get the question: "Do her hands hinder her, is she handicapped by the lack of fingers?"

So far the biggest handicap is when they sing songs with signs. It is very hard to hold up three fingers when you only have two. We will master shoe-tying eventually and learning to jump rope is on the list for this summer. 

Funny story, her teacher recognized her for "this student enjoys each day and usually comes into the classroom with a bounce." Later in the day Shekinah asked me, "Did you tell Zeke about my teacher saying I come into the room with a ....waddle?"

Then the last graduation of the weekend. Twelve years finished (we omitted Kindergarten in his case)

Zeke you too make me proud, you continued in some tough classes this year knowing that they might drive your GPA lower (Unfortunately, when you are worried about GPA it is best to take "easy" courses so you are assured an "A" rather than challenge your brain and possibly get a "B") You worked on homework after work and made the run to York every Thursday night for kids club.

Your experience with the five-year-old in your house gives you much insight with those five-year-olds. I don't know what God has in store for your future, but you've made a good start.

All my kids make me proud, they are all famous for something, but these three were the "grads" this year.

Tomorrow I will start on the SUMMER SCHEDULE!

This is the start of "OPERATION FUN SUMMER".

Over the past few years, summer has been a trial because some occupants of our house equate summer with unending boredom and unfulfilling  labor. I vowed to try to have one fun summer before these children graduate from high school.

I have a schedule that will alternate jobs with scheduled fun projects and crafts.

We have scheduled snack time.

We have slips of paper with jobs listed so that your job should never get boring because you will pick a new one out of the hat every morning.

Large jobs will be a group effort--me included :(

I stocked up on the usual craft items paint, paper, clay, embossing supplies, clock works to make clocks, paint stripper to rework an old desk and shelves, paint to make sunprints on fabric (for skirts).

The two teens are supposed to be in charge of some of the instructing of craft projects (objections by some).

Then some new fun outside "toys"...a slack line and a spikeball game.

I am excited BUT I am terrible with schedules.

I am going to TRY to only be online from about 1-3PM because the internet with be "down" before that. So if you need to get hold of me you will need to call and I might screen my calls and only get back to you after lunch.

Somehow it seems imperative that I make some good memories with some of my children and I am going to give it my best. I will try to blog about it to keep me accountable, but if I disappear it is probably because I am just tired. 

I also have some big quilt orders for this summer, so that is why I will need  the afternoon hours to be productive.

Of Anniversaries and Birthdays

In the past six month my parents each had a 70th birthday and also celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. We decided to have one big party, but what? How?

Soo after procrastinating awhile we finally nailed down a plan. With about 40 people I was amazed that it still worked for most of us. 

We started out with brunch at our place. Egg casseroles, fruit and yogurt parfaits, toast, iced and regular coffee, a cake made from long john donuts, a 50th anniversary cake. Much food. Then an almost-disaster when one of the cousins made a flying run down our long drive on a scooter. The parked SUV at the bottom of the drive did not make for a soft landing. We worried and hovered, but in the end she seems ok.

We cleaned up the kitchen quickly and then drove "downtown" to a small chapel with a high ceiling. The acoustics are great and the decor is from late 1800's. Found out that the chapel was built specifically for singing lessons and Sunday School for the local kids because in those days churches did not have Sunday School. It was to remain non-denominational and for the community.

Today the Mennonites made the rafters ring! My parents love acapella  singing and so do their children and grandchildren. My brother and most of his children play some type of musical instrument. So part way through the afternoon, we gave our voices a rest and brought out the violin, guitar, banjo, harmonica, mandolin and bass guitar. They played a bunch of favorites.

"Little"- should I say "youngest"? brother did the recording.

A thunderstorm rolled through and the little kids had to run out and get wet.

Around 4 o'clock we headed to a family restaurant for a buffet supper. The food was great the kids loved that they could pick what they wanted and we pretty much just enjoyed the chatter.

Aquarium, Mother's Day

This past Thursday there was a little-known date on the Christian calendar, it was 40 days after Easter and according to the Bible it is the day that Jesus ascended to Heaven. For whatever reason the more conservative Mennonite churches celebrate this date, we have no school and (some) Mennonite owned businesses have a vacation day. We had a church service in the evening - we did not attend though.   We decided to visit the N.J. Adventure Aquarium. It was delightful, I didn't expect to see a hippo but I think they were a highlight. The ever-circling sharks were just a bit dangerous looking, but they say that he big sea turtles are the most dangerous to the divers.

The drive isn't too bad, but you do have to travel the wonderful Schuylkill Expressway.

It was also the day that Ezekiel and his senior class left for their class trip, he managed an e-mail at 36,000 ft. What won't they think of next? We haven't heard directly from him since, but the one chaperon has been sending out e-mail.

Then we invited the grandparents and Son#1 and his family to supper on Saturday evening. I was presented with  a mini-cheesecake tin with the removable bottoms so you can pop the little cake out of the tin, can't wait to use it!

Four Generations

We were missing one person on here (Parker's mommy)

We also finally got the paperwork so Joe can move one step forward toward the goal of driving.  We met with an OVR representative 3 weeks ago and we were approved for assistance. It will dramatically decrease our financial responsibility in paying for the adaptive driving evaluation and the installation of the needed equipment. The interview with the representative was painless, the most impressive thing was his ability to read an entire document upside-down! We had the benefit of the right-side-up side.

Last night Ben's truck finally decided to start! He had taken the old engine and seated the new engine just before he left for Thailand. Then it sat all winter while being a playground for squirrels. I wasn't sure it would be able to start. He put in a few Saturdays along with some help from a special young lady and then on Saturday night his oldest brother noticed a broken wire and a disconnected plug. He refastened the wire but still didn't find a place for the plug. It was definitely a learning experience.

Today I had one more meeting with the social worker and we tried to lay a plan of action for this summer. There would be use for one more part-time job around here.

While the moms solved the problems of the world in 3 hours, the little girls gave the kittens a see-saw ride (they're in that box) and slid them down a dirt pile and I think a ride in the stroller.

QOTD: "Can I have the tweezers, I want to pull out your leg hairs ."