Camping

We enjoyed a long planned out camping trip this past weekend and had a wonderful time. Icing on the cake was going with 3 other families from church. Between the four families we had probably 4 times too much food! The Eastin's were such pros though we all learned a thing or two. They were "ultra-prepared"!


Here is a shot of breakfast. My man made us all egg and sausage burritoes. No small feat when you are feeding 19 people. Lisa made monkey bread in her dutch oven and the monkeys ate that very quickly! There was much motivation to walk all around the lake.

Camping with friends is extra fun (the 9 girls loved sleeping together in their own tent while the 3 boys bunked with us). We also had such a good time as a family with plenty of sweet moments like this one. (No surprise this chair didn't hold up the weekend!) Now we are motivated to bring the tent on our trip out West next month for sure.

There was time for a little fishing and plenty of swimming. God gave us GORGEOUS weather for July. Low 80's and low humidity. Very important when you are sleeping in a tent!

Me & my Boo hanging out.

Happy Birthday America!

I'm finally putting some photos from the 4th on here. Aunt Susie sent out a box of patriotic stuff to get everyone in the mood, we made a yummy cookie flag and even Frisbee got in on the action.

Here are my goofy girls hamming it up for the camera.

As is our tradition, we spent the evening at a friends home eating yummy BBQ, talking and laughing the night away, and setting off some fireworks. The kids favorite is always chasing the little parachute guys floating down to the ground. Also, our friend Matt always builds his own major firework for the finale. Way to go Matt! When all is done, we get to see the city fireworks on our way home. We hope you had a great 4th as well.

Happy Birthday America!

Lessons from my yard

This feels like a departure from me from the typical "what we're up to" post. I have truly been enjoying my summer mornings, taking a walk down our country road, enjoying the sounds of nature (and lack of my little ones sounds for a bit), praying and thinking. When I get home, I peruse my yard for some glimpses of color for the day. I'm not a gardener and have been known to kill plants BUT these ones seem to thrive with God's help rather than mine. :)

I love this rose called "Love & Peace". It was a Mother's Day gift from two years ago and while it's still pretty dinky, if I'm patient I get to see these beautiful gifts grow right in my front yard. They start out creamy yellow and gradually turn pink from the edges out. The rose below is the same rose, only earlier. I think they are stunning and I'm waiting for the next bloom to appear.

I guess these roses make me think of my children. Some days I wonder how I haven't killed them yet (ha!) and that they continue to thrive (with God's help) despite my often inadequate attempts at mothering. As much as I love to look at them as "buds" in their youthful stages, I am seeing those "pink edges" more and more and getting a glimpse of the maturing that is taking place. More and more I sense that someone is feeding them "miracle grow" behind my back and my babies have been replaced by children (and at times, young men and women). I don't want to stunt their development but I do want to savor those slight changes each day before they reach their "full bloom". Time is marching on and while I am thoroughly enjoying the journey with my kids, I know they will one day be men and women branching out on the various paths God is preparing for them. I suspect those will be bittersweet days.....


This yellow flower below is just a "unidentified flowering bush" we've always had by our porch. I love the bright bursts of yellow scattered over it all summer long. If I need a lesson from this picture it is about the little bug you can barely see perched upon it. I have so many blessings to be thankful for and I marvel at why God has given me so many. Still I have to choose to to focus on the beauty in my life and not on the bugs that won't seem to go away. Some bugs are there for my benefit (or that of others) but others can come around to destroy. While I don't have the power to keep the bugs away, God does and those that He allows in my life, He will use them for my own good. I just have to trust God and focus on the beauty around me instead of those pesky little bugs.

Are you still with me? Only one more :) I THINK this below is a peony (does that show how little I know?) and last year it was dug up from a friend's yard and transplanted to mine. Quite honestly, it looked like an old dead stick when I planted it and I never thought it would do anything and I quickly forgot about it. Well, I was pleasantly surprised when this little beauty appeared this summer. I only got the one bloom but I have confidence I will be rewarded with more than that next year, if I wait. Do you want to draw your own lesson from this one? Mine is that even when something looks worthless and dead, it may deserve my attention after all. Sometimes God brings people into our lives who don't seem to fit or have much value in our eyes. If we give them a chance, we can truly see down the road that there was a beautiful flower hiding inside that relationship all along. God uses things and relationships in our lives even when we don't see it. We have to give them a chance and wait for His time.

The days of summer

We still feel busier than ever this summer but we took the time this past week to sign up for the local library's summer reading program. We have participated in this for years and the kids love it because their reading is rewarded with prizes. Here they are in a candid moment getting their hours in. While Boo doesn't really read, her hours are spent listening to the rest of us. The kids completed their first 3 hours in 2 days and were thrilled to get coupons to Pizza Hut for personal pizzas as a result. I think next time the prize is a book.


Amazingly, Spiderman (who usually only reads if it's required for school) has really stepped it up and it's been great for his reading confidence. Jaybird ALWAYS has his nose buried in a book so this is nothing new for him but Goose has also improved the past couple months and has read all the way through the American Girl series of books on Felicity. I'm just thrilled that they love to read or listen to me read. I credit our homeschool curriculum for much of that (shameless plug for Sonlight).

Another recent favorite is our new fire pit in the backyard. I'm not sure why we've never done this before but now we can roast hotdogs or marshmellows anytime we want. The kids would have that be nightly but they may have to settle for weekly. :) With 3 fires behind us already (OK, 2 in one week), fireflys and hide & seek have been part of the special nights.

WELCOME SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!

Can you hear the excitement in my typing? We actually finished our more structured school curriculum over a week ago and declared it officially summer vacation. We have enjoyed the reprieve of our old schedule and as you can see here below, we are thrilled to finally have some warm weather. Yesterday they opened our community pool and the 6 of us went for a dip.

My man took the 3 older kids fishing tonight while Boo & I had some quality time at home. I'm told they caught MANY fish but brought home seven (when someone lets you use their pond, you don't want to get greedy) Since Spiderman caught the biggest fish, he gets on the blog.

This was a fun project we did to celebrate the end of the school year. Makit Plates turned an original drawing from each of my kids into a sturdy, "plastic" plate. They are all so proud of their preserved artwork. Believe it or not, I actually have a plate that I made at school when I was in KINDERGARTEN - 1977!! It's now back in circulation in our kitchen as well (and the kids anticipate showing THEIR children the plates that they have made).

On another note, please pray for the people in our area who lost their homes from the tornadoes and flooding this month. We were grateful to be spared any damages but have been trying to help others in our community who were not. There are a lot of families "homeless" and much work to do cleaning up. I've been happy to see all 4 of my kids willing to lend a hand picking up debris and praying for the people who lost so much.

My Animal Lovers

Remember the fuzzy little chicks? They aren't so cute now. They look like strange birds shedding fluff for feathers, at that awkward in-between stage. Last weekend the kids had some hands on practice building as we made this "chicken tractor" for the chicks. Now we can let them outside without worrying what might get them. Another week or so and they can move outside in the coop permanently and hold their own with the old ladies.

One day last week, Spiderman and Goose came to tell me they caught a baby bunny (yeah right). I didn't really believe them until I saw this adorable fluff ball. They all had so much fun playing with the terrified critter and wanted to keep it for real. Thankfully, it was really too young to survive us if we tried so after a couple of hours, it was released back to find it's momma.

Here is the bunny wrapped securely in a towel so it won't escape and below it's trying out the chicken tractor. Before the bunny had been captured, Spiderman had a pet crayfish in a bucket on the porch. That VERY quickly lost all prestige when compared with a sweet, soft bunny.

The Mighty Hunters

Another Spring Turkey season is about to pass. My man and his Dad were both successful getting their birds. This weekend is the end and Spiderman & Goose still haven't been so lucky. This is the first year they have wanted to hunt rather than just watch Dad. Good for them.