4th of July

Fourth of July has always been one of our favorites! Mark said, "The day is almost over and we don't have a single picture!" He asked for it, so he got it.

Daniel and Lula have the greatest brother/sister relationship. They fight like cats and dogs, but Lula won't put up with any of Daniel's nonsense.  She'll be ready to face the world of men when she's an adult. Haha.

I took some of the kids down to a local beach for a few hours, but we had to come home early once Jason started barfing. Ugh. Poor baby.  I just weaned him too and everyone knows that the best things for sick babies is nursing.

 Being sick didn't stop him from pigging out on watermelon....and barfing it all back up!

 Genevieve chopping kindling for the bonfire with her axe kick!

 A table-full of Longbranch Babies. Just looking at all of them makes me just love having a large crazy family.

 I love my Big Babies too.

 S'mores.......

 Yes, Lula has a black eye. She crashed into Heidi.

Scavengers

 The only time of year he indulges in sugar.

Teasing the geese so they will chase them

Genevieve's first year lighting fireworks

Not too sure what she thinks...

And then the battery died!  After it got dark, we lit off the bigger fireworks.  Neither Heidi nor Jason enjoyed them.

Easter 2017

I had this idea that I could get the girls into matching Easter dresses that were handed down from their cousin...what I didn't count on was Genna and Fiona growing....

 ...and the dresses were too short, tight, and itchy.

Fiona changed into something comfortable and they all posed with their "real feelings"

Forgot about changing when we said GO!

Forgotten egg from last year...

Camo egg: When you dye a brown egg green...

Genna and Fiona naturally buddied up with their younger siblings

And Shane showed up just in time to buddy up with Daniel:

At the last count, three eggs were still out there, not counting the one Jason stepped on *crunch*  We've had a lovely day, all ten of us at home and none of us having to go anywhere.

Pumpkin Patch

What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.

After a disastrous trip to the library for Homeschool Art, where the little ones and I made it a whole 20 minutes in the children's section before I locked us in the van, we visited the pumpkin patch.

Wanted to sit on the hay bale for the picture and didn't get her way

 Sadly, this is the last year Shiloh Farms will be having a pumpkin patch.  We went two or three times in the eight autumns we have been here and I'm glad we were able to go one more time.

Shane started orchestra this week.  He is learning to play the violin. 

Jason was sleeping when we were picking out our pumpkins.  Pulling all the books off the library shelves is exhausting and he needed a nap after screaming in his carseat for an hour.

Did you notice Heidi's absence? She is much like Maria in The Sound of Music, but that's a post for another day. I'm hoping to have my very own pumpkin patch next year!