It didn't take long for the boys to love campfires! Especially when campfires usually mean s'mores!! We have had 3 fires already and I see many more in the future. What I love is the conversations that start around the fire. Ethan has asked some great questions for his age. Like, "Mom, how does the moon change shape? , but what i really loved was when he started singing "This little light of mine"!! So, the things we do and say really do sink in sometimes, thank you Lord.

Have I mentioned how much I love the country!?

bambi

Wednesday morning was unlike any other morning I have experienced. First, Steveoke me at 6:30 in the morning, which is way earlier than I would normally grace the day with my presence. But this morning, there was tiny little package waiting for me! As Steve was walking to the back 40 that morning, he was praying and gathering wood for a bon fire. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted something and did a double take. A baby deer! A fawn, a newborn baby deer! Is it, hurt, orphaned, what? Why won't it move or call for it's mother? He decided it was in danger and brought it home and give it some milk. Then, he woke me to come see it and figure out what to do.

Well, after researching a bit, we found it is a very big misconception that a fawn left alone has been orphaned. The mother actually leaves the fawn in a safe place, within distance, while she goes to forage. A predator seeks movement, and if the fawn is very still, its in less danger, same reason the mother forages away from it, decreasing the chances of movement nearby.

The next big misconception is what to feed a baby deer, if by chance you have found one in need. Most people would think milk. Close to deer milk right? WRONG!!! It's one of the worst things to give a fawn. It can cause major damage inside and even cause death. If you must give something, try water first.

The last misconception we discovered was about the scent left from humans. Most people think if you touch an animal, the mother will reject it due to the scent. This is also very wrong (in most cases)!! The mother is very distraught for losing it's young. And it's also very happy to find it's young when it's returned/found!

Best thing to do if you see a fawn laying very still is to leave it be. The mother is probly watching him very closely nearby. If he seems in distress or extremely weak then is the time to intervene. Call the local wildlife conservation and they will know exactly what to do.

So, after all this, we decided the best thing to do is to return it back to the exact spot where he was found. I prayed all day that this little creature would not be negatively affected by the cow milk and the mother would find him and re-bond with him. When we retured at dusk to see if she had come back, he was gone! Yeah!! I love happy endings!

Another blessing.....Steve drove out early this morning and just a few houses down the road, he saw a mother deer crossing the road with a very tiny baby fawn, struggling to keep up. This was out little deer, united with his mommy! Thank you God, that was a sweet little blessing.

I love the country!

We decided to take a hike beyond our property to see what was there. Acres and acres of farm. It's beautiful, just green everywhere, for now anyway. At one point we reach a little hill, and another farm, but we could see the lake in the distance. It felt so surreal.

We were only in Sg for 4 1/2 yrs, there were buildings everywhere, little grass to run on, no "country" to speak of. Now that I officially live in the "country" I am just continually in awe of God's beautiful creation. The colors, sights, sounds, smells, I can't get enough!

This is a new mode of transportation. Not sure who's idea this was, but you can totally tell she has Ryan wrapped around her little finger!! That look in her eyes totally gives her away. Cheeky little thing.

Eat your peas please

Mom Wilson and I got creative for lunch one day. We saw these recipes in the Family Fun magazine and had fun attempting to duplicate them.

The one that looks like fish sticks and peas with ketchup is actually wafer cookies covered in peanut butter and rolled in cornflakes, with taffy rolled into tiny circles for the peas and jam for the ketchup.

Of course they wanted to eat the frog apple first, but we said the needed to eat thier "healthy food" first. (okay, i won't debate about fish sticks and peas being totally worse than apples and peanut butter right now!!) They were bummed but took a bite anyway. It was fun to watch the look on thier faces as they bit into a "fish stick" and getting something totally different, a really yummy treat! (now the really cool part was they couldn't actually finish the fish sticks and peas due to the sweet-ness, but they loved the apple and p.b , asking for seconds!)

Homeschool trip to the Hudson River

Sorry in advance for the kink you will get trying to see the picture. Can't figure out how to flip it for some reason. And for the sake of "being easy" I am going to leave it as is. Ok, deep breath!

Anyway, this is Henry Hudson (aka Ryan) and Queen Elizabeth (aka Frankie) doing a bussiness deal for before Henry had set sail. They had lots of fun with this reinactment!

The group after the Duck Tour

U.S.S. Slater

There was a film crew shooting a new movie with Jenifer Lopez! Nope, we didn't see anyone famous, but it was cool anyway.

Two peas in a pod, or should I say tow ducks in a boat?

The Halfmoon

The Anderson's Are Coming!!!

The Anderson ( Michael and Lisa, Kevin, Matthew, Christopher and Nicole) family has a special place in our hearts. I met Lisa on a homeschooling board shortly before moving to SG. Turned out they were moving there also! Coincidence, I think not. We talked quite a bit via email and finally met up in Sg within the same week we both arrived. There family has 3 boys and a girl, just as ours does, only they are a bit older.

The children really enjoyed playing together in Sg and we were sad to say goodbye to them a yr later.

We have kept in touch a bit over the yrs, so when they were driving through on the way to Boston, we said "Come on over"!! There stay wasn't nearly long enough, but we are so blessed to have seen them again. God is truly amazing the way He orchestrates friendships just when we need them. God bless your family!

My baby turned 11 this year, can you believe it!?! I have a hard time thinking about it sometimes, but in the same breath, its certainly exciting!

We invited a few home school families to the indoor soccer field nearby, Ryan's request. It was a great time, and I loved the fact there was no clean up!

Ok Leslie, I was so blessed by your comment, on missing my blog posts, I decided to put up some pics. :-) Thanks for giving me motivation, and a little kick in the behind! So, there is no order to the pics here, am just putting things up that have happened in the last month or so. I have actually started trying to be more "easy going" like Steve, and in doing so, my desire for perfection is waning. This is wonderful news for Steve, but it means I am slacking in so many areas right now. Guess I need to find a balance that works for me huh? None-the-less, I have fun memories and experiences to share, hope you like 'em!

Visiting Gramma and Grampa Wilson

While Steve traveled this last week, we decided to break up the long week and visit "nana" and papa" as Cate calls them. They had a blast working in the woodshop with grampa and cate sewed with nana, we also did some science experiments with grama while Cate slept. We also went to the best wooden playground near thier house. It's big enough that even I can play with them!

The Great Outdoors

This makes my heart smile, seeing my boys outside doing boy stuff. Racing downhill on the baby's tractor seeing who will get there without falling off, digging for worms and playing with a ball and bat. We have also taken many hikes to the "back 40" I call it, but we really only have 8 acres. They have made a fire pit and wooden steps and we plan on bringing a picnic table back there to have lots of picnics once the weather is nicer.

I thought Caitlyn looked so cute walking aorund with this kitchen towel on her head, and couldn't help but take a picture. And, I am really hoping that as she gets older, when I tell her to smile, she doesn't look like she's constipated!

I think I wrote a post on the boys all riding the snowmobiles, but I can't remember truthfullly. Well, either way, we got an Artic Cat, aka - snowmobile, when we bought the house and this has provided much fun on our lazy Saturday afternoons! Steve said it was "for the boys", but I think we all know who it was really for. ;-) I love that my man loves to have fun!

Here is a pic of he and Aaron riding today, and Caitlyn watching out the window.

We had our first ER visit of the year, already! Ryan came down with a cold on Tuesday this week and by Thursday he had gotten so sick I took him to the ER at 4am. Can't say as i was all that happy with the experience, but that's a story for another time. Long story short, he has pnuemonia and severe asthma! When we got to the hospital, his oxygen level was only 85%!!! By the time we left (he had to stay overnight, so it was about 36hrs total), it was at 93%, still not optimal, but good enough to come home with nebulizer treatments every 4 hrs around the clock, steriods and abx. He also needs to be seen again on Monday for a follow-up. Unfortunately, the Dr thinks he needs to be evaluated by a Pulminologist and go on some preventive meds because his track record for respiratory illnesses is getting worse, not better. But, my God is bigger, so will just keep that in prayer.

Our new family member

So, I caved and bought the children a pet. It's a rodent, er, I mean, a gerbil. The night before we got him we took a vote on his name, and we all came up with "Reepacheep", who is from Narnia. Cute I thought. He has actually been super cute and even fun, dare I say. He has actually gotten loose twice from his ball, which caused quote a rauckus! Aaron is amazing and caught him thankfully. Catitlyn is constantly asking, "where mouse?" in her own little language.

Hopefully this will last long enough so I don't need to buy a dog anytime soon!

What a cheeky little grin! I don't think I want to know what he's really thinking, or do i??? It's a good thing your so cute!

Boxes, boxes and more boxes

This is a glimpse of what the house looks like after we cleared a few boxes away. We have our work cut out for us. the next few weeks will be filled with unpacking, decluttering, sorting and donating all of our Stuff. Where does it all come from??? Steve and I have been slowly adopting the mindset of "Less is More", but somehow we always end up with more and not less. Hmm, I think we need to re-evaluate! I actually should have taken pictures of the basement and the boys room to g

ive you an adiquate idea of what it really looks like. But, quite frankly, it's too embarrassing!