{this moment}

{this moment}

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{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

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Linking to Soule Mama 

Not too grown up to have some fun in the pool with a little brother...make believing, playing games, splashing...laughter & fun.

Pool, Garden-Looking, Art

Our week so far....new pool...lots of swimming, cooling off...momma worked while enjoying the view of the kids...garden-looking at flowers and plants...being creative, drawing.  Fun, relaxing - summer time.

Fun.

Puppy Love - A girl & her Dog

Not a puppy so much anymore but the first dog we got as a pup...he turned 2 this last February...I still can't believe he's already 2. Time goes by so fast! Our sweet daughter, nearly 14, loving on this pup! He has grown quite attached to her...I think they both enjoy each others company, love and bond.

This beautiful girl has only 2 weeks until she is 14! Beautiful inside and out!

Sweet Sunday Park Time

We escaped town for a few hours heading out to grab lunch and play at the park...what a gorgeous day, and even traveling just a little over an hour away, the temperature dropped by ten degree's to give us a slightly cooler breeze and a wonderful time playing chase, laughing, doing gymnastics in the grass, eating lunch and spending time together. Back home and to the reality of some house cleaning and animal cage cleaning before we get to go enjoy some festive fireworks tonight for the holiday weekend. *LOVE* these two silly kids!

{this moment}

{this moment}

. . . . . . . . .

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Linking to Soule Mama 

 His sweet love for animals melts my heart.

Blessed.

Blessed today with beautiful weather, gorgeous sunshine, light breeze as the kids and I visited the river, played, enjoyed the cool of the water. Closing my eyes facing the sky, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face....

Thankful. Blessed. Joyous. Happy.

Together- Family.

Only a few boats going in and out...just us on our 'private' beach..so peaceful.

Peaceful blessed morning together.

Crystal Growing, Game Making & Library Books

Summer fun has begun...our son spent his own money on a small crystal growing kit and read the directions himself and followed them and has been measuring and charting their growth daily.  Yesterday, Tuesday, All four of us ventured to the library where many books and magazines were checked out and hubbie found one on the sale shelf to purchase. A few errands, some lunch out and some playtime at the park....home for dinner - hmm a new shrimp dish, evening weed cutting in the yard and a family movie to finish off the wonderful day spent together.

 A crystal from last years kit..

 Making his own board game...

A new recipe last night - - but instead of 'soup' we cut down on the liquid a bit and made it thicker to go over steamed rice - recipe here - -  Cilantro Coconut Shrimp over Rice

 Great, flavorful soup/or over rice- check out her link above for all the wonderful details and ingredients- our family loves anything with shrimp!

(Photo from stir it up- link to recipe above)

Library Books this week...Summer fun reading...Summer projects....

Our son (9 years) choose two Origami books with details on how to make birds, ocean animals, boxes, water bombs and more. He is anxious to try the 'bombs'.

Momma checked out a few magazines including Vegetarian Times, Mother Earth News and Home and Garden.  No books this time as I'm still finishing up 'Growing a Farmer'.

Hubbie's books...his mind is on Gardening, making our backyard a beautiful place...and possibly even a pond.

 Our daughter (next month 14 years) has Summer projects in store too, here are the books she checked out... She would like to-      -Learn How to Play Guitar
                                          -Take Dance Lessons
                                          -Take Voice Lessons
                                         -Work more on her song writing
                                          -Read and research about songwriting and music
                                         -Her other Summer goal is to sew her first Kimono with Momma's help.
                                                        Yes, this girl has big goals this Summer...
                                plus of course go to 2 fairs and show her animals, head to camp with
                                 her 4H friends!

Kicking Summer off with books & play!

Summer Is Here - School has Ended

Well last week we unofficially, officially ended our school year. Officially because I asked the kids when they wanted to end school as schools in our area end anywhere between May and June and they said 'Now' and unofficially because we are more lax during the summer months with vacations, trips, camp but we still continuously learn, review, read, explore...does learning every really 'stop'?

So that's it, the kids completed another year at home- and are now moving into '4th grade' and '9th grade' according to their ages. We spent last week on our last week 'schooling', discussing how the year went, challenges, fun things we learned, places we went and the most fun..we spoke about plans for summer and plans for next school year.

The excitement has begun...new adventures are in store. And why wait until 'next school year'...the adventures begin- Now.

In my weekend blog reading I shared this site with my kids that I ran across and they were both immensely interested. We watched the live cams, mapped out where the locations were on our world map and went online to the library putting books on hold to learn more.

 Africam 

Our son especially was truly excited to see animals on the live web cams, especially the Black Eagles. We scoured the internet for more information on these birds and read about this research project:

http://blackeagleproject.blogspot.com 

(Photo credit from the Black Eagle Project link above)

Upon reading and learning our 9 year old exclaimed that is what he wants to do when he grows up- research and study birds and help preserve species that are endangered. We are looking into ways he can help now. 

Our weekend was filled with outdoor time, household chores, a morning trip to the river with daddy and sitting down to make plans for our outdoor space- a deck, moving the dogs yard, chicken and duck coops and clearing the yard.

It will be both a work filled and fun filled Summer ahead.

After dinner.....

After dinner fun in the backyard...

Into Sunday we come...to spend another glorious day together, in praise, to relax, to have fun.

Morning River Trip

The heat is here. It has come already by the time we do our outdoor animal feedings and chores around 8am. Wishful thinking hoping it will cool down again...or at least wait a little bit longer. So a morning trip to the water was in order. As it heats up, you'll find us hanging out in the cool of the house or hanging out in the cool of the water- the river or lake. A few hours before lunch was just enough for a swim.

Playing, reading, napping, snacking, chatting....our fun Friday morning.

{this moment}

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Shooting at Sunset

A few wonderful days each week we get to spend together all four of us...the boys went out with pellet guns tonight target shooting at sunset. Sunsets are always beautiful - the sun slipping behind the mountains and family time is always cherished.

A beautiful day all together.