little lambs eat ivy

As if things weren't crazy enough around here...

Last night we adopted (for 2 weeks) a newborn, bottle-fed lamb!!

"Rough Start" was abandoned by his mommy.  :o(

It was a wild evening: the neighbor brought the poor little thing over around 5pm, the R. cousins came over for a playdate evening while Meghan and Shane went out on a date, and grammae and papa stopped by to say hi.  All within about 1/2 hour.  And I was getting dinner ready, too.  Wow!  But it was a blast.

Little Red was very responsible this morning, and took over
some of the feedings.

Do you see her in the weeds?  bottom center

Here's a close-up.  They all like taking the
little guy for a walk (using a tiny harness!)
to go see his sheep buddies.

End-of-school activities

Even though our school has been out since early May, most of our end-of-school activities still took place in June.  Here we have Mariposa's last Little Flowers class, which was a party where siblings were invited:

playing tag in the parish hall

lots of yummy snacks outside on the lawn

Mariposa with some of her friends (and James)

 Then the next day we had state standardized testing.  Oregon requires notification of intent to homeschool starting at age 7 (on September 1st), and testing in certain grades.  Third and fifth grades are a few of the "lucky" years ;o) and since our Portland homeschool group organizing group testing at the end of each year, earlier this month we drove in for the event.  Note: while I am not pro-testing by any means, I do realize that the "testing-game" is a necessary one in our society so I do make sure my kids are tested when required, and that they have prepared with appropriate test-prep materials. I also intend to heavily prepare for the SATs/ACTs when the time comes.  While standardized testing may not show the true awesomeness of my children, it is one area where they can shine and hopefully open some college doors to more opportunities.

4th grade and above were in one room

Bunny, waiting to begin

Hannah (neighbor, home from college) watched the younger kids all morning, so I had a fabulous time in a small waiting room with 3 of my homeschooling friends.  We had a great discussion and I really enjoyed catching up.  When testing was done, I took Bunny and James out to lunch before heading home.  It was a very nice morning despite the reason for our outing!

What we've been up to....

Here's a glimpse of what we've been up to recently:

Bunny and I went to a going-away party for Fr. Peter.  His
next assignment is at Mount Angel Abbey, so he's not going
too far!  (I sure hope he offers another pilgrimage....)

Even though we are done with school, Mrs. N is still coming
3 times a week.  AWE-SOME!!!

One of my projects: the yearly book change-
over.  I keep most of my books and supplies
in our garage for easy access.

Here's 4 bags of books I pulled for this fall. I'll be teaching
Kindergarten and grades 3, 5, and 7.

Our friend Mrs. C from church held a boys art class at her
house, and James had a great time!  (She invited us all
for dessert afterwards).

more reptilian fun

Inspired by William's party, the kids went hunting for snakes and frogs around our property:

a yummy breakfast

Marcus sometimes makes waffles instead of pancakes for Saturday breakfast.

Hood strawberries from our garden!

Happy Birthday, William

A few weekends ago we were THRILLED to go to a birthday party for our friend, William! William is the oldest child of my friend Lisa, who is Mrs. N's daughter (I knew Lisa first, and she suggested that her mom come to help me out as a nanny).  I'm just now getting to uploading all my pics; Bunny was in charge of the camera for most of the party, and she took about 200 photos as you can probably imagine.

First up, a craft (making a foam snake).

 For the entertainment, Lisa hired "The Reptile Guy" to bring his friends and give a demonstration.

birthday boy

Lisa made THE CUTEST fruit snakes!

Our friend Stacy in the blue shirt, and Mrs. N with some kids.

A lot of kids...adults were outnumbered for sure.

My kids had a BLAST and it was a really special treat for them to see all those reptiles, and have a great time with friends.  Happy Birthday, William!

Outside my window

Sometimes I don't mind being stuck inside doing dishes after dinner, when I know the kids are having such a good time with their dad....