Thankful for Socks

I've been meaning to write a short blog post on being thankful for material possessions like socks.

Socks are quite boring unless one is truly excited about socks. I am not.  I like them comfy and without holes, but I'm no fashionista.

But because we live in the United States and because Kevin has a good job and because we live in the days of internet...

I can buy socks on Amazon any old time I want.  And we can afford it.

This. Is. A. Blessing.

I spent 3 years in a third world country as a child. I have seen true poverty. There are people in THIS country who struggle to buy socks.

So yes, I am thankful for Amazon, and money, and socks.

First Week of School

It went fine, I guess.

It went fine.

Getting the little ones organized to do school is not easy.  Sarah and Daniel would both far rather play.  They will do a lot of playing this year, but I do intend to do more school with them. So that's a process.

Things have gone missing in the last 2 weeks. Where is my expensive 3 hole punch?  Someone walked off with it. I will blame Lydia because she's asleep right now so can't defend herself.  I'll search her room later.

Mostly a good week.  We went to Young's Dairy and we went to a splash park. We swam a lot.  We started school.

I sent off my Notification of Intent to homeschool.

We ordered a bunch of books for Lydia's upcoming semester of classes.

Naomi worked a full 40 hours at the local Goodwill.

I got another chigger bite :-(.

Mostly a good week.

Selky

This charming guy came out of nowhere and totally and completely adopted us. He is on our porch ALL the time now. He is officially our cat. He is very friendly and we like him.

The name 'Selky" has something to do with some mythological creature which can change from seal to human and back again.  Lydia says he looks like a seal with his gray fur.

He is nice.

Young's Dairy Trip

We went on a short field trip to Young's Dairy, a local working farm that makes their own ice cream and has animals.

Lots of Kendigs eating ice cream.

The goats like eating.

They like eating a LOT!

Tractors are fun, especially when they don't move and are therefore safe so no one falls off and gets squished. Seriously, moving tractors and small children, not a good idea. But this one ain't moving.

Big tires.

Silos and kids!

It Begins (Soon)

Next week we are starting up school for the year.

I will have 6 students this year since Naomi has graduated and Lydia, while technically homeschooling, will be full time at Clark State.

Isaac will take a 1 credit class this fall and a 3 credit English class in the spring.

Other than that, it is all happening here!

I always feel like I'm not ready but I also know from experience that the best thing to do is leap in and get started.  We will begin very slowly, with just 2 or 3 subjects the first week.

I pray the Lord will bless this upcoming year.  Last year started with my unexpected hysterectomy. I've lived through many an interruption so I'm mellow about the reality that life won't go smoothly all the time.  Or even most of the time.

Let the academics begin!

Caterpillars and Bugs and Flowers, Oh My!

Kevin has a new hobby of photographing small objects.  And sometimes bigger objects.

We are blessed with five acres and the back 3 acres are mostly left wild. We don't spray chemicals on the lawns so there are lots of 'weeds' which make the caterpillars and bugs happy.

Here are some neat pics.

This is a monarch caterpillar on some milk weed.

Two bunnies terrifyingly near our garden :-).

Cats

We live out in the country and we tend to attract stray cats.  In the last week we've had two new ones. They probably belong to some neighbor, but we are always excited to see a new cat eating our food.

Twins!  No, not really. The one farther away is a new cat.  The closer one is our precious Lloyd.

And the gray cat here is also a new one.  He has been named Smidge, for no apparent reason.