Seth's 10th Birthday

"Seth lived one hundred and five years..."

Genesis 5:6

Seth turned 10 on February 23rd and we celebrated his entrance into "double digits" a few different ways!

The morning of Seth's birthday Daddy spent lots of time by the stove fixing omelets, fried eggs, scrambled eggs and (what daddy calls) a souffle, per the birthday boy's request!

 Daddy working it!

Fried eggs in the making!

Coconut oil

At the same time, Lexi and Eden were decorating parts of the house.

Some of the birthday decor and a present!

 No post can go without a picture of the littlest Wassenberg! :)

When everyone was done their jobs, we went up the stairs singing "Happy Birthday" to the sleeping Seth.

 Wake up, Seth!!!

When the birthday boy had brushed his teeth and everything, he got to open his presents before breakfast. :)

Presents!

 Eden and Judah watching the proceedings.  (Judah doesn't seem interested. :)

Seth's birthday goodies!  Can anyone tell what we like to eat for our birthdays?  SUGAR!

When Seth had finished his normal presents, he went on the annual "hot-cold" search! 

His search ended in finding a new axe (or hatchet...call it what you like)!!

Daddy got the axe for Seth because he saw that he liked throwing one of Dad's old axes at a target.  Dad researched the best axes and ended up with this one which Seth greatly enjoys ! :)

We then ate breakfast and proceeded on our normal school day.  Later that night, Seth went home with Na-naw, spent the night and went to the Science Museum the next day.  (This was Na-naw and Paw-paw's birthday present to Seth.)  Seth has an inventing mind so the Science Museum is one of his favorite places to go for his birthday!

2 days after Seth's birthday (the 25th) we drove up to Grandpa and Grandma's house to celebrate Seth's birthday again!  We stopped by Eagle Hill Equine Rescue Center on the way up and petted the horses while getting to know a few of the people who volunteered there.  (We stopped by this farm as a potential place to find our horse when we get a barn!)

After some looking around, we drove the rest of the distance to Grandpa and Grandma's house.  After unloading and eating some meatballs (thanks Grandma!), Daddy and Mama took Judah and Josiah to Ms. Judy, a really kind craniosacral therapist (or something like that) in Northern VA, who helps straighten out Josiah's healing leg and Judah's various issues! :) 

Later that day, Grandma took Lexi, Seth, and I to the local thrift store before dinner.  When we got back to Grandma's house, Papa John's pizza was ordered and we waited for the pizza's arrival!  Uncle Greg, Aunt Amy, Amanda, Diana, and Stephen soon showed up and then the pizza arrived!  After a prayer, we ate! :)

Who does not love pizza?!!!

Seth and Caleb getting their pizza!

Yes, this has nothing to do with Seth's birthday...BUT...Grandma had a really pretty bouquet and it just begged for a picture!!!

After the really yummy dinner Seth opened his presents from Grandpa and Grandma, and Uncle Greg and his family.

Seth reading a card.
(That fire truck by Seth was bought that afternoon at the thrift store.  Seth had really liked it so Grandma bought it as another birthday present for him! :)

The goodies Seth received!

Seth's home-made ice cream cake! :)
Didn't Daddy do a great job with the words?  I didn't know he wrote in cursive so neatly! :)

Lighting the candles.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SETH!!!

After the cake was served up, we settled down on the couch to watch the movie, Home on the Range.  After the movie ended we returned home from a fun day!

  If you think Seth's birthday was over yet...you're wrong!  The last thing we did to celebrate Seth's birthday was to let him and Mama go to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch together.  Daddy had started a tradition 6 years ago of taking us girls out to eat somewhere when we turned 10 (on our first date ;), so Mama gets to take the boys out for their "first date" when they turn 10.  :)  It's a lot of fun getting to pick out any meal you want (for the most part) at a restaurant and then eating that meal with one of your favorite parents!  I can testify! ;)

So, there you have Seth's birthday!

Kimber :)

The Wonderful Outdoors

Yesterday afternoon, I asked Kimber if I could borrow her camera (Nikon D90) to take some pictures of the flowers and such that were/are growing outside.  She replied yes-to my delight, and I ventured out with the camera and micro lens and a mind set on getting some good pictures.   

 The beauty of the Dandelion is on the inside some could say.  Most people think of the Dandelion as the most annoying "weed" ever, that destroys the beauty of their lawn and garden.  I see it as a herb (which it is, by the way) and a wonderful plant created by God.  The whole plant is edible and at one point and time in history- and sometimes now -  The leaves and florets were/are used for salads and edible decor and the roots were used to make Dandelion wine. What a useful so-called "weed"!

 A beautiful Jasmine floret

 A up and coming Hyacinthe (Sorry about the side-ways pictures)

 Some weeds are so pretty!! :)  I love these little white flowers!

 

 I thought this was clover but Kimber corrected me and told me they were Hen-bit as per Daddy. ;) 

 

 A..flower enveloped in a tulip that is coming up in our "garden".

Butterfly bush sprouts

 Buds on our fruit trees-

 A little shoot coming up in our food garden!

 Roosters! (Well, probably the same rooster ;)

 Crowing

 Yeaaaa!! We have a little blue-bird family preparing their home in the bird house the guys put up!

 More pretty henbit :)

 Halo our pussy-tat

 Yea, she thinks shes the "queen of the mattress". ;)

 After awhile, I returned inside and flipped through my pictures, deleting the not wanted ones and such.  Before putting it away I snapped a quick picture of the piano and uploaded all my photos to the computer..and now I've posted them!  Hope you enjoyed!!

His Princess,

Alexis

A Family Trip to Our Pasture Land

Last Sunday we were still recovering from the flu so we all stayed home from church.  It was an absolutely beautiful day out, so we decided to walk over to our pasture land, "vision cast", and see the completed fence! :)

Seth chopping some wood before we left.

Judah-man getting ready to go outside!

Our little country road.

I know I've posted the same sort of picture many times before but I love where I live, and I just take pictures of what I love: wide open fields, forests and the deep blue sky with puffy clouds.  This is where I live - I love it. :)

When we were all together we walked on the road to our pasture.  When we came to it Caleb opened the pasture for us by "opening" the gate of the electric fence.

 On the land!!

You can see the land by our house to the right of the picture.

 Daddy bought 4 lines of electric fence, figuring we'd have a horse, cow, chickens and maybe some goats and sheep one day.

The top strand of electric fence.

I had no idea our electric fence was going to be black and white! :)  It was sorta' pretty. :)

Vision-casting.

(Daddy is 6 feet tall so that gives you an idea of how tall the fence is.)

Our chicken coop.

(It was previously covered but that only lasted for a few months, so we've got to put up some more plastic before we can put more chickens in it.  Currently we're waiting for batting strips and then the plastic will cover the coop and we'll probably be getting more chickens!)

The electric poultry fence around the coop is to keep predators out at night.

The entrance to our pasture! 

Hopefully one day soon you'll see a barn and maybe a cow/horse in the pictures of the farm! :)

 

      

After some time on the pasture we walked down our road for a little while longer.                   

                      

The sunset was so beautiful that Sunday night:                           

Ah - nothing like the country life!

Anyways, Daddy got our barn plans looked at and the price wasn't too bad!  He's now going to get 2 more opinions on the price of the materials.  We're getting closer to having a little farm! :) :)

Delighting in Jesus,
Kimber :)

P.S.  - A perfect verse for the process we've been in for many years, of getting a horse and cow, would be Proverbs 16:9, "A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps."

Judah-man

"Judah is a lion’s whelp;From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?"

Genesis 49:9

I was thinking how it had been awhile since I took some pictures of Judah!  He was playing happily on the floor and I got my siblings to talk to him so I could get some cute pictures! :)

In this picture he's doing the airplane position...arms outstretched, head in the air, and feet up!  He does "the airplane" when he's excited and wants someone to pick him up! :)

 

 This is the face he gives you when he gets frustrated...it's so cute! :)

Here are two of my favorites from the morning!  I love the picture on the right...just look at his eyelashes!!! :)

I've been working on focusing manually with my camera.  Ever since I've held a camera I've used AF (Auto Focus) all the time because it was simply easier.  BUT, I'm figuring out that if I really wanted to advance in my photography skills I've got to learn to focus manually...so I'm in control and so I pick what the camera focuses on.  It's so hard to go from AF to manual but I'm loving the results!  The pictures I would normally take would be focused but not focused where I want and now they are!  I love that I can focus on people's eyes...when the eyes are sharp and clear the picture looks so much better! :)

Anyways, just a little photography info for those who might enjoy it.

---

Two weeks ago (or so) most of us got the flu!  Yep.  Thank the Lord it was not the vomiting flu...just the fevers.  Lydia came down with it first on Tuesday morning and then Josiah followed that night.   Thursday morning Hannah, Alexis, Daddy, and I got it.  We were all pretty miserable...body aches, chills, 100-103 degree fevers, etc.  It was kinda' neat being sick the same time as Hannah.  We were sitting in the rocking chairs together, seeing how miserable we looked and laughing.  It's not often that Hannah, Alexis, and I get sick all at once! :)

We're all better now, praise the Lord (by the way...Advil is like my best friend now)!  Seth and Eden did have the flu for one day (compared to our 4-7) but thanks to Hyland's flu medicine (that you take at the onset of the flu) they were completely healed the next day.  Why couldn't we have taken that?  It didn't get shipped here on time! :)

Well, it's 5 minutes until I've got to be doing Biology...so adios! :)

Kimber :)