MAYLIN2007

You know I am a city girl. Always have been. Granted I grew up in a smallish town, but I love the benefits of a town that can offer museums, shopping, concerts etc. I don't like my cities too big though. I love the smallness of a hometown parade where you know every single person in it. I guess that is why I love where I live. I live 25 minutes from a large city and 10 minutes from all the museums, shopping etc a person could want, yet my little suburb is small enough to only have 1 school and one store. But lately, I could go for a move to the farm. I can't even begin to tell you how much we have enjoyed the little farm we have created on our one acre. The kids enjoyed the weekend picking grapes, sunflower seeds, raspberries, pears, peaches and of course they love collecting the eggs. This morning before church Austin said, "I love our little farm." It warms my heart to hear that. This weekend was filled with canning peaches and tomorrow will be filled with bottling ...

Conversation with Maylin: This came out of nowhere. Maylin: Mine teeth broke. Mom: Your teeth are broken? Maylin: Yep. Teeth broke. Mom: How did they break? Maylin: A monster ate them. Mom: A monster are them? Really? Maylin: Yep. I will question each of my other kids and see who has planted that idea in her head. I went to parent orientation last night. During Alex's teacher's presentation she shared the following. She told us the story of Matthew Maury the father of oceanography. Apparently Matthew wanted to be in the navy and was on a stage coach on his way to join, when the stage coach was in a wreck and his hip and leg were severely damaged. Knowing the navy would not take him, he decided to change his plan in life and study the ocean. Thus, we were blessed with oceanography. Not only teaching history, the teacher was trying to show the kids that sometimes the Lord brings something into our lives that changes our path and we need to be ready for that and have faith that th...

When the kids went back to school, I was worried about what Maylin would do with her time. I mentioned in my last post I had gone gymnastic class hunting. This came to mind because when we watched the artistic and rhythmic gymnastics during the Olympics, Maylin had to mimic the girls who were on TV. This seems to be a natural interest to her so I followed it. Today we attended a trial class which happened to be a mom and tot class. And no, the moms did not do the gymnastics. I know some of you out there where thinking that the words Laurel and gymnastics together are an oxymoron. The parents just did the warm up, played some of the games and sang with the kids. We also helped spot the kids when learning skills. It is very low key and a lot of fun. It is only once a week for 45 minutes. Here are some pictures of Maylin following along with the Olympic athletes. The last picture is of her being tired. When she finished her "routine" she flopped down and said, "tired mom....

Yesterday was the big day. I am doing better with it than I thought. Maylin really misses the kids. I am boring compared to the action they bring. So today we went gymnastic class hunting. We will try a class tomorrow. The kids loved their first day! Homework even went well which was one of my biggest concerns. Hopefully it will continue that way....knock on wood. Alex is as tall as his teacher as you can see below. He is a head taller than all the other kids, except for a girl named Alexandra and they share a b-day. He thinks she is cool. Kenzie loved the first day of Junior High. Austin was nervous, but loved high school. After the flag ceremony, they let off a Civil War replica cannon. It was terrific! On a side note, Austin had a very bad heart beat Sunday. We transmitted it through his defibrillator box Sunday night. I got a call from the hospital that it beat for 10 beats at 233 beats per minute. The defibrillator did not go off as he has to have 16 beats in a row. They increased...

I have loved having my kids home this summer. I usually can't wait for school to start because the fighting and complaining that being together for 3 months can bring has driven me to the edge. But this year, I haven't minded those occational uprisings. I guess having Austin so sick changed my perspective. I am so sad that the kids head back to school Monday. I worry for me and I worry for Maylin. We will be bored and lonely. Here are some fun pictures of the last days of summer.     The girls sporting their matching outfits. The internet is a great place to find deals at the end of a season!!! Can you tell from Maylin's face that sometimes she gets to much loving?     We took a walk up a trail near our home one evening for family night. It was great. We didn't go far or fast because of Austin, but we all enjoyed it! The sunset and view were breathtaking. Austin enjoyed being out. We let him tell us when to head back for a break. I think it was good so he could see h...

You know those days when you have tons of errands and you feel like you live in your car? And even your car looks like you live in it? I had one of those days. Poor kids, they were in their seat belts and car seats for hours. On the way home we stopped for take out, a thing we do when dad is out of town! The drive-thru line to our favorite local taco restaurant was long. The kids started to draw. They all had paper but Maylin. She started to draw on her legs. That led to the kids drawing on her face. By the time we got home she looked like a cat. Later she walked out of Kenzie's room with stickers all over her legs and Kenzie's math book cover on her head. She thought she was divine. Give kids one idea and it leads to a whole bag of fun!        

Apparently I haven't. Click on the collage to enlarge.         She got the bread out herself. And yes that is a half a loaf. I guess she needed to take matters into her own hands.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Hill family is proud to announce..........that we have our first egg!!!!         The chickens were scheduled to begin laying eggs in the next week so Jay hurried and built the boxes for them to lay in before he left on a trip. Today we went out to fill the boxes with straw and we found our first egg!!!! Very cool. And to Kim B. here are pictures of the coop finally. Sorry it took so long! And thanks to you for all you did for us when Austin was in the hospital. This picture has nothing to do with anything, except I colored my hair and my mother lives in a different state and wanted to know what it looks like. This is for her.