Oops...Caleb's Emerald Isle Collage

"But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it."

Numbers 14:24

Well, I think I figured out that I missed Caleb's collage. Sorry!

Here it is:

All for Jesus,
Kimber

Trip to Westmoreland Berry Farm and Colonial Beach

"Mountains and all hills;Fruitful trees and all cedars;"

Psalm 148:9

Monday morning we left for Westmoreland Berry Farm and on the way we stopped by George Washington's birthplace, which is 17 minutes away from the farm.

Looking at a diaphragm at George Washington's birthplace.

We didn't do much at his birthplace because we thought it was free but it wasn't...so we didn't go into his re-constructed house (it burnt down) but just wandered around and then left.

A flower at the farm.



An orchid.

Eden

Some more flowers.

We ate lunch at the picnic tables Westmoreland Berry Farm provided and then we picked up our berries and left.

Seth eating a carrot--well sort of.....

We picked up some peaches and blueberries. Sadly the pie cherries didn't come in well this year but the fruit was still the best. I think the blueberries are simply 100% better than any blueberries I've had from different places. I like the big fat ones because they're sweet and juicy.

This is a picture Lexi took of some of the peaches and blueberries.

After we got our $100+ worth of fruit we went to Colonial Beach to swim around for a little bit.

The beach.

A seagull.

'Siah showing Daddy a rock.

(Daddy took almost all of the pictures of people at Colonial Beach because I was in the water)

Mama and Lydia.

Lydia stayed in the sand most of the time.

Lydia and Mama.

5 of us in the water.

Hannah and I (Kimber) took Eden and Josiah out to the deeper part of the water. I called Eden the "clingy egg-beater" because that is what it felt like carrying her. She constantly kicked her feet and clung to you like she was about to drown. Not very relaxing but we eventually got her to trust us and just relax.

Josiah on the other hand liked being held at arms length with us just holding his hands.

Josiah in the water.

The water was the perfect temperature - not too hot, not too cold.

Alexis and Caleb splashing each other.

Eden

The boys swamping Hannah.

Josiah bringing a rock ashore.

Alexis and Caleb got cold and so Seth started making them into sand sculptures.

(this is the hot new suntan lotion)

They were warm to say the least.

Alexis after she emerged from the sand! :)

Seth on his way back to the van.

'Siah all wrapped up!

We left after about 1 1/2 hours of fun!

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I haven't given an update on what we've been doing lately so, here goes a quick overview!

In short, the gardens are producing like crazy.

(Hopefully I'll update you more in detail - with pictures - soon!)

We've canned around 35 quart jars of green beans and still have lots coming in.

Today we just canned half of our peach stock into jam and preserved slices. And then we canned 14 quarts of corn off the cob (our neighbor gave us free reign to his corn - ours isn't in yet) today too!

So, we've been pretty busy!

Daddy has taken Caleb to work with him every now and then to help mow. Seth and Caleb are gone today with Daddy.

Tomorrow, Daddy and Mama are going to a garden-seminar at the University of VA. We (the kids) have a little bit to do while they're gone.

So, the Wassenberg family is pretty healthy and enjoying the abundant life the Lord has given us!

All for Jesus,

Kimber

Independence Day at Grandpa & Grandma's

" The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."

Psalm 9:17

For the past couple years we've went to our Paw-paw and Na-naw's house for Independence Day but this year we decided to go the other grandparents' house.

Daddy took Hannah on down in age to Seth up Friday morning with him and Mama came up later (just in time for dinner) with Josiah, Eden, and Lydia. After Daddy cut a few of his Long & Foster homes he dropped us off at Grandma's house. We were alone for a little bit (Grandma & Aunt Amy were showing a house) but then Grandma arrived and our cousins and their mom soon later.

Aunt Amy and Amanda made dinner for us - some really good lasagna - and Grandma made the bread.

Our cousins, Amanda and Diana spent the night. The 5 oldest girls slept downstairs in the living room (lots of fun!) and everyone else was upstairs. Hannah and I slept on the futon, Alexis on the floor and my cousins on the couch and Grandpa's chair. I (Kimber) slept great!! Grandma made another superb breakfast (she never dissapoints us!) and after breakfast we went to the pool. Then we went home, ate lunch, played, and got ready for the picnic for the 4th of July.

The menu was: cookout! Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, cold salads/casseroles, etc. Grandpa cooked all the meat for us.

In the line for dinner.

Alexis, my beautiful sister.

Eden eating her dinner.

Zoe, Amanda's pug, eating dinner too! :)

After dinner people relaxed and some rode bikes and played football.

Uncle Greg throwing the football.

Daddy throwing the ball to Diana.

Diana preparing to catch another ball.

The ice cream cake Grandma and I made.

It is the same exact one I made for Hannah's birthday party except we died one cake red and another blue (in the process Grandma got dye all over her fingers!) and decorated the top differently using 2 tubs of icing with blueberries and twizzlers consisting of our flag.

Here you see the layers better.

The fireworks!

OHHHH----AHHHH

Diana and Josiah

Seth watching the fireworks.

Seth, Caleb, Steven, and another boy that came lit the fireworks for us - they did great!

Not to be undone, Daddy and Uncle Greg pronounced the names of the fireworks and prepared them for us.

Thankfully, Daddy was far enough away to avoid any sparks hitting all the fireworks and exploding right beside him.

(If anyone has any tips to share on how to take good firework pictures, please leave a comment or email because I want to get better!)

Anyways, after the fireworks and clean-up of everything we all left for home.

We had a wonderful 4th of July and I hope that we all do not forget the meaning of the day and the sacrifices paid not so long ago on July 4, 1776.

All for Jesus,

Kimber

Lydia's First Ear of Corn

"And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food."

Genesis 1:29

Lydia was old enough for her first ear of corn last Thursday. She made some of the cutest (and weirdest) faces:

A corn beard! :)

Laughing

"Here, you can have it Josiah."

The end result is that she loves it and always points and grunts when she sees corn on the table for dinner! :)

All for Jesus,

Kimber

George Washington Jeopardy Night (Last Tuesday)

"They replied, "The man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family. 'Is your father still living?' he asked us. 'Do you have another brother?' We simply answered his questions. How were we to know he would say, 'Bring your brother down here'?""

Genesis 43:7

I've been WAY behind on my posting! Sorry!

Last Tuesday night we had a George Washington Jeopardy Night. Paw-paw and Na-naw came over and after dinner we went into the schoolroom for the questionarre! Mama asked the questions because she made all of them up (the questions were pretty hard too!).

The way it worked was that Mama would start to read off one of the questions and one of the teams ("George" or "Martha") would squeak/dong their item (a.k.a baby toys) if they had the answer. Pretty much like the televised Jeopardy.

It was really funny watching others making mistakes and making them yourself! :) It was a really fun night!

"Team 'George'" consisted of (left to right) Seth, Paw-paw, Caleb, and I (Kimber)

The boys are hiding their faces because they didn't want Hannah to take their picture.

See the yellow piano in between Paw-paw and Caleb? That was our "ringer" that we hit when we had the answer.

"Team 'Martha'" consisted of (left to right) Alexis, Na-naw, Hannah, and Daddy

(Eden and Lydia were not on teams - they wandered around and played quitely for us)

"I'm not touching the fan, Mama!"

Daddy




Mama writing up our scores.

Lydia on the rocking horse.

Asking the questions

"Are you sure???" Team Martha consulting each other

Team Martha's "ringer" is the little squeak-toy in Hannah's hands.

(It's amazing how well baby toys come in handy! :)

Well, to give you the end result Team George won!!!!! Team Martha was a couple thousand ahead of us but they lost to us on the last question (Final Jeopardy).

We finished off a wonderful, fun-filled night with apple crisp and vanilla ice cream (with all the toppings of course).

All for Jesus,

Kimber

Lydia in Mama's Shoes and a Black Widow

"Your sandals shall be iron and bronze;As your days, so shall your strength be."

Deuteronomy 33:25

I think I've told you before that Lydia loves shoes. On one of my last posts she was in Daddy's shoes...here's some pictures of her in Mommy's:

What are these things on my feet?

Somebody...help please...I can't walk in these things! :)

Thanks!








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We do gardening from 9 AM - around 11 AM as often as we can.





Hannah and I (Kimber) started out gardening last Monday morning in the greenbean row. Mama planted the greenbeans too close (we didn't thin them) so they were overcrowding each other and the sun barely penetrated the ground beneath them. Hannah moved to the middle of the row where all the plants were overcrowded and I stayed on the outside. Suddenly I hear:





"I think there's a black widow over here," Hannah calmly said.



[For those of you who don't know much about the venemous black widow spider they love cool and damp places for their webs...to read more about them click here]





I just stared at her, my eyes huge.


"Where's Daddy?" I asked.





(Daddy had stayed longer after breakfast to help out a little with the gardens)


Thankfully Daddy was coming to the backyard, so we called him over.





"Yep, that's a black widow alright," Daddy said as he proceeded to destroy it and its web using a stick and his boot.





Hannah and I looked at each other and proceeded to fastly (and nervously!) get away from the greenbean patch. Mama came over and said "I'll do that part and you girls can take over the other part of the greenbean patch where it's not so crowded."





Gratefully we moved over to the other side of the greenbean patch and continued picking.





Hannah and I were both pretty jumpy for about 10 minutes after the sighting and any little thing scared us. But then we got over our fear and eventually made it back to where the black widow was squashed and, after all the greenbeans were picked, went inside.





The picked greenbeans.



Everyone helped out at some point with the greenbeans.

All the greenbeans (I think) plus some cucumbers.

It may not look like a lot of greenbeans but we filled a 5-gallon bucket to the top and probably could've filled another one!

We listened to a Jonathan Park while snapping off the ends and cutting them in half.

After lunch Mama canned 8 quarts, while we (Mama, Alexis, and I) went to the store Hannah canned another 8 quarts totalling 16 quarts altogether. We probably could've done another 8 too!

Mama figured that we eat 80 quarts of greenbean a year so we have canned about 1/4 of our greenbean consumption!

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I have lots more to post, but this will have to do for now!

All for Jesus,
Kimber

Father's Day 2009

“ Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you"

Exodus 20:12

This is just a semi-quick post on our Father's Day since I gave a short overview on my last post.

For breakfast for Daddy on Father's Day we had eggs and cinnamon rolls.

Seth did the icing for us.

Daddy and a sunflower

Sorry about this picture - it didn't rotate! :)

Daddy had 1 present and a couple cards. Most of us didn't give him anything because none of us can't drive yet (other than our parents, of course) and so we can't just go pick something up for him if Mama isn't going anywhere. I'm still hoping to get him something soon.

After church, we went up to my grandparents house in Northern VA to celebrate Grandma and Hannah's birthday...Father's Day...and my grandparents anniversary!

Once again, Grandma and Grandpa made a delicious meal of steak, chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies, and more!

The gifts.



Lexi in a box.
Grandpa had all these big boxes out in their garage for our amusement. They cut holes in them for doors/windows and hid inside them.



The Fathers...plus a possible father-to-be! :)

Grandpa opening a card.

Daddy opening a present.

Grandma opening a card.

Hannah looking at one of her outfits.

Everyone got different things, but I won't go into detail of what. We had a great time relaxing Sunday afternoon. Most of my cousins and siblings went and played basketball at a neighbor's house with Uncle Greg and Daddy. It was another gorgeous day!

We had Digiorno pizza and soda for dinner out in the yard.

The Carvel ice cream cake.

Grandma bringing in the cake!

We spent the night at Grandpa and Grandma's house, went to Mount Vernon, came back, and ate Sunday's leftovers (plus some noodles) while watching Lion King with our cousins. We left around 7 PM for home.

I had a wonderful time with my family. Family is a huge blessing and gift from God.

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All for Jesus,

Kimber

Family Field Trip to Mount Vernon!

"Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish."

Deuteronomy 8:19

Last Saturday night we went to our friends, the Lockwoods, house. We ate grilled pizza and home made ice cream and had lots of fun together. We went on their zip line, looked at their gardens, explored their woods, and watched their chickens play; talking to each other all the time. It was a great night of fellowship!

We also had a wonderful Father's Day. We went up to our Grandparents house in Northern VA to celebrate 2 birthdays, 1 anniversary, and Father's Day!! I'll tell you more about Father's Day later, Lord willing. We stayed overnight at Grandpa/ma's house and had a delicious breakfast Monday morning. Grandma made blueberry muffins, hard-boiled eggs, sausage, toast, and more. Grandma is a REALLY good cook!

We (9 Wassenbergs') left for Mount Vernon after breakfast. Grandma stayed at home with Lydia and Grandpa went to work at the post office. Grandma bought us the tickets to Mount Vernon as a Father's Day gift!

We went to Mount Vernon because we've been studying history and he (George Washington) was one of the people we recently learned about. We're hoping to be able to go to Monticello, Berkely Plantation, Williamsburg, etc. too.

8 Wassenbergs

Mama on the go


By the way, in the pictures she's wearing pants but we have finally convinced her that skirts/dresses are so much better and she now prefers skirts over pants! Yeah!! :-D
Oh - and Daddy likes (prefers) her in skirts too!



Purple Heart Plaque.

I don't know if anyone else knows this (outside the military) but the Purple Heart, that is awarded to those who are wounded fighting for the U.S.A., has the picture of George Washington on it. Click on the picture and it will enlarge making it easier to read why.

Seth by a metallic George Washington.

The sky was absolutely gorgeous, so there will be a couple more landscape pictures!

Caleb inside the museum.

This was one of the windows and it was so pretty, I just had to take a picture!

8 Wassenbergs (I'm taking the pictures) posing by statues of George Washington, his wife, and his two step-children, Jackie and Patsy.

We went and watched a 20-minute movie on George Washington before heading outside to his house. Only once in the entire movie did they mention "divine Providence" (a.k.a God) as the way George Washington suceeded. Most of the time they just said it was "luck" or the "weather conditions" that protected this man from death and gave him victory, when it was only because of Jesus that George Washington was the man that he was.

Here's a true story to illustrate what I just said:

"The account of George Washington at the Battle at the Monongahela was included in student textbooks in America until 1934. during the French and Indian War, George Washington fought alongside of the British General Edward Braddock. On July 9, 1775, the British were on the way to Fort Duquesne, when the French surprised them in an ambush attack.

The British, who were not accustomed to fighting unless in an open field, were being annihilated. Washington rode back and forth across the battle delivering General Braddock's orders. As the battle raged, every other officer on horseback, except Washington, was shot down. Even Gerneral Braddock was killed at which point the troops fled in confusion. After the battle, on July 18, 1775, Washington wrote to his brother, John A. Washington:

'But by the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probablility or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!'

Fifteen years later, Washington and Dr. Craik, a close friend of his from his youth, were traveling through those same woods near the Ohio river and Great Kanawha river. They were met by an old Indian chief, who addressed Washington through an interpreter:

'I am a chief and ruler over my tribes. My influence extends to the waters of the great lakes and to the far blue mountains.

'I have traveled a long and weary path that I might see the young warrior of the great battle. It was on the day when the white man's blood mixed with the streams of our forests that I first beheld this chief [Washington].

'I called to my young men and said, "Mark yon tall and daring warrior? He is not of the red-coat tribe-he hath an Indian's wisdom, and his warriors fight as we do - himself alone exposed.

'"Quick, let your aim be certain, and he dies." Our rifles were leveled, rifles which, but for you, knew not how to miss - 'twas all in vain, a power mightier far than we, shielded you.

'Seeing you were under the special guardianship of the Great Spirit, we immediately ceased to fire at you. I am old and soon shall be gathered to the great council fire of my fathers in the land of shades, but ere I go, there is something bids me speak in the voice of prophecy:

'Listen! The Great Spirit protects that man [pointing at Washington]. and guides his destinies - he will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire. I am come to pay homge to the man who is the particular favorite of Heaven, and who can never die in battle.'

The famous Indian warrior, who was in that battle, said:

'Washington was never born to be killed by a bullet! I had seventeen fair fires at him with my rifle, and after all could not bring him to the ground!'"

story taken from America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quoatations by William J. Federer

pgs. 636-637

Walking to George Washington's house.

(Look at that sky!)

Mount Vernon!!!!

A huge ash tree.

It doesn't look very big in the pictures but it was HUGE!

Hannah and Josiah

We had a line that we had to wait in before we could get in the house, so we played, waited, and enjoyed the beauty of God's creation.

Eden

This is one of my favorite pictures of Weedels.

A magnolia flower.

The scenery at Mount Vernon was beautiful. They had pathways (brick, gravel, and stone) all over the place and the trees and grass was kept very nicely.

A view of the 3rd floor of Mount Vernon's home.

We finally got in to a small house and were instructed to "take no picture, no smoking," etc. and given a little overview of what Mount Vernon was like before the 2 additions that George Washington added.

George Washington received the Mount Vernon estate from his half-brother Lawrence who died when George was 19.

The house had two beautiful aisleways lined with pillars leading to and from the front of the house (connected to 2 other smaller houses). So, I took lots of pictures of the pillars! :)

A pillar and the Potomac River.

More pillars.

We were waiting to get inside the house inside the aisleways where the pillars were so that's why I took pictures!

We finally got inside the mansion and there was a tour guide in every room explaining everything. It was really neat! (I love history) I thought the house wasn't as pretty as Gunston Hall, or the mansion at Maymont in that case, but it was still elegant and beautifully decorated. Most of the walls were in their original state (had not been re-painted) which made it look older. We learned a couple things and enjoyed peeking in all the rooms! Then we went outside along this aisleway:

...and entered a house.

Then we went down the street, looked in the different houses, wandered around, etc. while we made our way to Washington's gravesite.

Eden

George Washington is the grave on the right and his wife is on the left. In between their graves on the wall was a sign (see picture) that had John 3:16 inscribed upon. I wonder how long that'll be there...



One of the cows on the estate. They had different animals such as mules, goats, etc. The poor cow was getting eaten alive by flies. I'm sure he wished he had a longer tail!

The Potomac River.

Where we looked out there were bottles and something that looked like oil on the surface, so it wasn't exactly the most beautiful sight to gaze upon! :)

Caleb and 'Siah petting a goat.

One of the things we found out was that George Washington was a huge planner, thinker, inventor, overseer, etc. He created many things to try and help with some of the difficult ways of farming such as seperating the wheat from the chaff. He nutrified the soil with organic compost, rotated his crops, and more. He was a huge entrepreneur. He owned around 8,000 acres (inherited and bought) but the estate is now only around 500. I could go on about his farming but I don't have time to elaborate. :(

George Washington always wanted to be at home but duty called him. When he was unanimously elected president he said (don't take me word-for-word here!) "I feel like a prisoner being led to his execution." Pretty strong, but that tells you how much he just wanted to be a simple citizen. He died of some throat infection that literally made his throat swell up until he suffocated to death because his airways were blocked. Not the best way to die, if you ask me. His wife, Martha, died 2 1/2 years later, and she never again slept on their marriage bed again once george died.

Caleb and Hannah on a bridge in the woods.

Isn't that so beautiful?

(The landscape, I mean)

Jesus gave us a beautiful day to enjoy. It was the perfect temperature with a light breeze to cool you off when you got hot.

I think that one of the only "religious" things about George Washington that we found on the whole estate.

We were really glad to find something about his Christian life.

A zinnia.

Seth, Josiah, Caleb, and Alexis as the "Washington family."

A picture of all 9 Wassenbergs, shot into a mirror, to end a wonderful day!

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And, of course, here are some random pictures I've taken recently.

A rainbow on the way home Monday.

Rainbows always make me think of God's promise to Noah when I see them.

Caleb playing his guitar.

(He's getting really good!)

Lydia in Daddy's work shoes.

This morning she had Mama's shoes on.

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All for Jesus,

Kimber

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"The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained."

George Washington, 1789, Inaugural Address

1 Year "Anniversary"

Today is the "1 Year 'Anniversary'" of our blog.

I've really enjoyed posting all of our family happenings and pictures and I think Jesus has used it in different ways. My goal is the same as the first time I posted: "to keep you updated on what happens in the Wassenberg family and also to glorify Jesus in all that we do and say." I hope and pray I'm doing that!

All for Jesus,
Kimber

Report on the HEAV Homeschool Convention and Hannah's 15th Birthday Party

"But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”"

Matthew 19:14

I don't think I ever posted on how the Homeschool Convention went, so here's a quick idea of what went on.

Thursday morning we went to my great-great-Aunt's funeral, ate a lunch, and then Hannah and I went to the Greater Richmond Convention Center with my Aunt and Uncle. After around 10-15 minutes of trying to find a cheap parking spot we found one for $5 and hiked to the convention. Once inside the gigantic building Hannah and I went one way (up the escalator!!! :-D) and my Aunt and Uncle the other. Hannah and I went to a training session for the children's program, conducted by CCI. Everything went well and after the session was over we went and visited the Exhibit Hall. After reading books and "browsing" through different people's stuff we went home with Mama and Alexis who came and picked us up since our Uncle and Aunt had already left. Grandpa and Grandma came down to watch the younger children for us. They did a great job too! Grandma fixed us home-cooked meals Thursday and Saturday and, as they always are, they were absolutely delicious!!!

Friday and Saturday morning Daddy drove Hannah and I early in the morning to the convention center and we hopped out and ran to our room where we had staff devotions. We were ready for children by 7:30 AM. Hannah was an assistant leader for Team H (I think) and her leader was Mr. Mishael. I (Kimber) was a "runner" whose job was to "run" in my section and take children to the bathroom, get crafts, etc. - pretty much just help out wherever I could. Children are so precious, just read Matthew 18 and 19 and you'll see how precious they are in the sight of Jesus, too. I could seriously go on forever but I don't have time, so I'll just end my story with this: Hannah and I had a wonderful time working with the children and, if the Lord leads, I hope to do it again next year.

Daddy, Mama, and Alexis: I think we all had a great time doing what we did. One of the favorite speakers for Daddy and Mama was Mr. Voddie Baucham and Alexis' was Mr. Steve Demme. It was Alexis' first-time-ever at the homeschool convention and she enjoyed it, though I know she wanted to stay longer (I did too!).

So, the end result was that everyone came away from the convention feeling refreshed and renewed!

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Hannah's birthday is June 21st, 1994, but we decided to celebrate it earlier this year because of family situations. Her party was set for Tuesday night (the 16th) and our family members were given only a 2-day notice (invitation) to come and celebrate her birthday. Everyone but a few people showed up!

Our cousins, Kaitlyn and Sarah, from Rocky Mount, VA had come down (school's out!) for a visit and they spent the night Monday. They helped make dinner and dessert, too!

Mexican was for dinner.

Mexican is definitely one of our family favorites though a few members would prefer something else!

Gracie my 5-year-old cousin.

Eden loves playing with Gracie and Claire (7 year old cousin); they're best friends!

Tacos!



Hannah in line for food for her B-day dinner.




The "middle table."
Left to right: our cousin Collin, Seth, Caleb, and our cousin Claire

I call it the "middle table" because there were 4 tables. There was the "adult table," the "older cousin (teen & pre-teen) table," the "middle-aged cousin table," and the "younger cousins table."

Dinner was excellent as always!

After clean-up (Erika, my cousin, was a huge help - washing, drying, wiping, etc.) we went and played outside a bit.



Hannah rocking our youngest cousin to sleep.


"Present time!" was soon called and we all headed inside.

Hannah reading a card.

Pickles!

Hannah received lots of assorted presents but one of the presents was pickles and Brunswick (Sp?) stew - two of her VERY favorite foods! :)

Singing happy birthday.

As you can see from the picture we normally try to out-sing each other and with over 20 people present it normally is pretty loud! :)

Blowing out the candles.

The cake!

This is what the cake consisted of:

2 boxed funfetti cakes

2 gallons of vanilla ice cream

1 can of funfetti frosting

1 package of Golden Oreos

It was really, REALLY good!!

Kaitlyn and Sarah helped me make it. First we baked the cakes (in two big roaster pans! :-D), waited for them to cool, then I spread out 1 gallon of thawing vanilla ice cream, with my clean hands, on one of the cakes, sprinkled the crushed Oreos on top, and then stuck that cake mixture in the freezer. Waited for the cake-ice cream-cookie-mixture to get solid and then put the other softened gallon ice cream on top of the cookies with Kaitlyn, and stuck it back in the deep freeze. When Na-naw got here she moved the top of the cake over from one of the roasting pans to on top of the stacked mixture. Then we (my cousins, Na-naw, and I) spread out the icing and sprinkled sprinkles on top and then stuck it back in the freezer! YUM!!!!

The only bad part about making the cake was the ice-cream spreading. It would literally freeze your hands. Why not use a spoon or something? you're probably asking. Well, hands are so much easier to use than anything else. I did get freezer burn on one of the digits on my middle finger and a little bit on my pointer finger but I'm okay! :-D You probably think I'm crazy but the cake tasted good! :) Anything for the family.

After everyone had left and stuff was cleaned up, we went to bed. My cousins, Erika, Allie, Claire, Gracie, Collin, Kaitlyn and Sarah spent the night. Of course we (the older girls) didn't fall asleep until near midnight.

This is the picture of the "crew" (missing me) at the breakfast table Wednesday morning.

Daddy and Mama made one of the best breakfasts' for all of us. Daddy made omelets, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, hot dogs, and Mama made banana bread and biscuits. Dad said he cooked over 3 dozen eggs for the crew.

Wednesday we videotaped each other acting in plays, walked to our neighboring horse farm and enjoyed each others company!

All of our cousins were gone by the time we returned from church Wednesday. :(

My cousin Erika.

My cousin, Collin.

I hope Hannah had a blessed birthday. I also hope that she knows that without her our family would never be complete and that she's a wonderful sister, daughter, and friend. We love you, Hannah!

(Right now, Hannah's with Na-naw for her birthday shopping)

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I just have to post this super, exciting, wonderful news!!!!!

WE CAUGHT TWO VOLES IN OUR MOUSE TRAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That may not sound one bit exciting for you but it is for us. The voles have been eating tons of our plants and after hours of hard work and prayer we were finally rewarded with two dead ones! Yesterday, as Caleb was checking the mouse traps he found one, yelled to Mama, and seriously all of us came running from different points in the yard to see it. It (Mr. Vole) was actually pretty cute though a bit...squished. Anyways, Caleb found another this morning. Our prayers have been answered - thank you, Jesus.

(I probably sound really crazy but, seriously, after all the hard work we put into planting, watering, tending, de-bugging, caring, etc. after our garden plants, it is extremely frustrating to find out that your plants are being eaten by something you can't see. Sometimes you can't wait to see a dead one after hours of work trying to catch, or kill, one. We don't enjoy - a.k.a take delight - in killing them but it's something we've got to do. Our gardens feed us for most of the year and we're not going to sit around and let a little critter eat them from underneath of us. I hope that makes sense. :)

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All for Jesus,

Kimber

Weeding the Strawberry Patch

"Therefore, as I live,” Says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “ Surely Moab shall be like Sodom, And the people of Ammon like Gomorrah— Overrun with weeds and saltpits, And a perpetual desolation..."
(Most of) Zephaniah 2:9

Our strawberry patch was overcrowded with weeds. So, that was our project last Saturday afternoon...weed the entire strawberry garden and then mulch it to keep the weeds down. The reason for so many weeds was because of the hay we had put down in the patch. It went to seed bringing thousands of 6-10 inch hay shoots. Well, Hannah, Mama, and I (Kimber) were already in the garden working so I asked Alexis to get my camera and take a few before and after shots for me...here they are:

A strawberry row with weeds.

When I went out to look at the garden and see what we could do, my first thoughts were to till it all up and start over from scratch but that would be an entire waste of the $100+ we spent on these strawberry plants, though maybe a bit easier for us! :)






All three weed-filled rows of strawberries.





The finished result (after everyone - excluding Lydia, of course - at home helped in some way or form):



WOW! :)



We just threw all the weeds in the row. The sun will probably kill them before they can take root in the walkways! Yeah!





A strawberry row.

(See the flowers on the plant in the foreground - strawberries will be here soon!)




While I'm at it here is some of our first produce of the year...blueberries and raspberries!



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All for Jesus,

Kimber

Homeschool Night June '09

"Then the spies came back to their brethren at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said to them, “What is your report?”

Judges 18:8

Paw-paw, Na-naw, and G.G came over last Thursday night for our homeschool night. This homeschool night was sort of a way to end the school year though we will continue to try and do school Monday-Wednesday throughout the summer (that's always our goal but we rarely fulfill it). Daddy wasn't able to make it (he was away from home working) but we're going to share our reports with him soon...anyways, here are the pictures.

Lydia.

I put her in this dress. It was a little too big on her but she was too adorable in it to take it off. She loves wearing shoes (especially Sunday shoes) and she just walks around in them on the hard-floors (non-carpet) just to hear them click-clack everywhere. It's pretty cute! :)

Hannah

Me (Kimber)

[Don't I look interested? :)]

Alexis

Caleb playing his guitar.

Seth

Most of us shared our WriteShop papers or something we colored, have been working on, etc. We had chocolate pudding pie with Cool Whip for dessert...yum!

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Yesterday (Sunday) we went to the Pasta House Italian Restaurant in Mechanicsville to celebrate my Uncle's 31st birthday. It was his favorite restaurant and a little pricey. Anyways, most everybody in the family that was local came and celebrated his birthday.

Happy (belated) birthday Uncle Sean! :)

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We have another busy weekend ahead of us. Thursday - Saturday is our annual homeschool convention.

Hannah and I decided to volunteer this year in the children's ministry and I'm really excited. It looks like a lot of fun! Grandpa and Grandma are coming down from Northern VA to watch my siblings from Caleb down to Lydia. Saturday night is my cousin, Justus', 1st birthday party, so we'll be leaving from the convention to his party. Our Aunt and family (the Lawhorns) are coming down from Rocky Mount, VA for a visit. We also might celebrate Hannah's 15th birthday with our cousins and have a sleep-over (at our house). And Sunday is our monthly Nash Luncheon.

So, a full weekend is ahead of us! :)

All for Jesus,

Kimber :)

Josiah David's Collage from Emerald Isle, NC

"Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left."

2 Kings 22:1-2

Here's Josiah's collage:

Josiah was probably my favorite subject...if you can't tell!

Strving to be like Jesus,

Kimber

P.S - Attention any garden experts: we have some very invasive voles eating our 100 pounds of planted potatoes. We've tried lots of different things to rid us of them...stuffed Juicy Fruit gum down their holes, tried to drown them with water poured down their holes, tilled up their tunnels...and they seem to still be there...any help or suggestions would be more than appreciated. Please leave a comment or email us if you have any ideas that you think will work. We'd like to not use any poisons or anything really expensive...

Emerald Isle Collage for Eden Rose

"You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared."

Ezekiel 28:13

Here's Eden's collage:

Striving to be like Jesus,
Kimber :)

Lydia's Collage and Seagulls in Emerald Isle

"Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.”"

Genesis 1:20

Well, here's Lydia's collage...most of her pictures have someone else in them. It's really hard to get a baby to smile on command (actually quite impossible), or to have them stay in one spot and look photo-genic, so these pictures all have someone else with her except for 2, but I hope you get the point! :)

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After Alexis' post on the beach with the millions of pictures, that was only about half of the week recorded. So you missed a lot more pictures but we're not going to post them because it's a lot of work. Anyways, I really liked some of the pictures of the seagulls. We had some leftover bread and pancakes and decided to feed the wildlife. These are the pictures from the food-throwing experience:

Hello!

This is one of my favorites!

A broken-winged seagull (I don't think it was really broken; he was probably just posing for the camera!)

In flight

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You probably get tired of the pictures of Lydia, but here are some more from the other night. :) I had taken a video but we're not patient enough to let it upload the entire day, so there's just the pictures to view.

Look at those blue eyes!

Eating...

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All for Jesus,

Kimber