August 2015

August was Jonas's month to spend the night.  We took him to see "Shaun the Sheep, the Movie."  He was enthralled.  (He ate that whole bag of popcorn by himself, too.)

 We spent a few days in Virginia visiting Jaclyn and Emily.  I never remember to take pictures of them while we're there. We took the boys shopping for school supplies, which is always a lot of fun.  I missed having children in school this year for the first time since Hannah graduated, so I really enjoyed helping them get ready.  We met Emily and Jon for breakfast one morning.  It was the most fun breakfast I've had in a long time.  On the way home we stopped at Claytor Lake State Park. It was beautiful.

 Phillip has been wanting to see Pilot Mountain so we made a stop there, too.  The view was amazing.

 Our neighbor shared his apples with us.  Since Phillip loves dried apples, I dehydrated most of them.  

 Libby met a turtle.  She was much more interested in it than it was in her.  With a little help from me, the turtle made its escape with no harm to either party.

 Laura baked this impressive cake for her husband Michael's birthday.  It was delicious.

 Phillip finally bought a new lawn mower.  When he cut grass with his old mower, he worked on the mower longer than he cut grass with it.  Now he can mow without having his toolbox open and ready the whole time.

 Lilly and Lucy made friends with a lizard. They had a good time with him, then released him back into the wild. (Notice that Lilly had to get braces. She has adjusted to them better than any of us expected.) 

July 2015

Jonas made a play doh porcupine.

Sam stayed with us while his mom was in the hospital in Charlotte.  We really missed Caleb and Jack but having Sam here was wonderful.  He's so much fun and he's growing up so quickly. 

 Rachel and I took Sam, Lilly, and Lucy to the Bush-N-Vine farm.  It was a fun place for the cousins to spend time together.

 They were fascinated by the bee hive.  

Sam, Lilly, and Lucy

 

 July was Lucy's turn for a sleep over with us.  We visited the Broad River Greenway.  It was a beautiful place to walk.

 

Looking up the river

 

 

 We loved this swing at the Greenway.  I want Phillip to build one for me.  He's not quite as enthusiastic as I am about that project.

 

 

 

Memories

When we were homeschooling, we always had the children do a family newsletter.  I was going through some old papers last week and found one of the early ones.  This one from 1987 was literally cut and pasted, with scissors and glue.  

  

 

June 2015

We celebrated Phillip's 66th birthday.  The grandkids love watching him open his gifts.

 He made parts on his lathe for the first time.  

 More gifts for Father's Day

 We canned our first batch of green beans.

It was Lilly's turn to spend the night with us.  She didn't mind sharing her potato chips with Libby.

Phillip's sister Vivian and her husband Jerry celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.  This picture shows Phillip, Vivian and James.

 Michael, Laura, Rachel, Lilly, Jimmy and Jason at the anniversary party.

Hannah and Michael at the anniversary party.

 

May 2015

May was Jonas's month to spend the night.  He was busy the whole weekend.  (I think he looks like Jack Frankenberger in this picture.)

Lilly's art was chosen to be displayed at a local museum.  Picture-taking was not permitted, but our guide gave us special permission. I think he was probably a grandparent, too.

This is Libby, Hannah and Michael's dog.  I'm not really much of a dog person, but I like this dog.  She's older so she isn't hyperactive like a puppy.  She doesn't bark at everything that moves, and doesn't chew up things.  Phillip had beagles when he was growing up, so he is enjoying her, too.

 Usually we only camp in the fall, but we decided to try a spring camping trip. It worked out well.  Can you see Libby in the background?  I've never taken a pet camping before, but she did fine.  She escaped once, but our neighbor-camper knew where she belonged and brought her back.

We celebrated Jennifer's birthday.  The weather was nice so we were able to eat outside.  It's easier when we can all spread out. 

Garden Journal, Friday, May 1

 Cabbage - The plants were bitten back by a cold snap last month and we weren't sure they'd make it.  Some are starting to form heads.

 Tomatoes

 Potatoes - We tried planting them in containers this year because we don't have any raised beds for them. 

 Blueberries - Some of the bushes are doing well.  They're starting to recover from being moved.  A couple of them died and we replaced them.

 Strawberries look good.  The challenge will be keeping the birds away.

 Onions

 Sugar snap peas

 Grape vines

 Broccoli 

Peppers

Peppers, tomatoes, cabbages, flowers, herbs - all in containers on the patio