I just came in from planting my mail order butterfly bushes. They arrived looking like dead twigs. Nothing like I thought I was getting. But I planted them and can only hope that they'll take off. The kids and I fed them some sugar water to give them a little food to help them take root better. I'm really hoping they take off. There were also 2 red maple trees in this order. I don't know where to plant them yet, but if they survive it will be really great to see their bright red leaves in the fall.
Tonight is the parents meeting for beginning homeschooling. I'm nervous and excited. Hopefully it goes well. I'm looking forward to getting some information.
Fernie and Violet are growing so fast. They hardly seem like puppies at all, but you remember that they are when they take off with your garden plants in their mouths begging you to chase them. I had to wrestle Fernie for my watermelon plants just the other day.
Cas and Ravi are excited about homeschooling this year. Ravi wants to learn Spanish. Cas doesn't really talk much about it. I wish people could see what Nathan and I see in them. Aravis is very social and Cas is very introverted and awkwardly funny in public, but at home they are goofy and witty and intelligent. The world is missing so much.
I am so lucky to have them.

I'm so excited that by the end of the week we should have our EF funded. Then on to the other stuff. We've decided to homeschool Cas and Ravi, so this year will definately be a challenge for us. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time, but step by step I'm hoping to get a little further off the grid. Except for maybe the internet. I like that too much. We've started doing more gardening this year. Even though we mostly had zucchini and green peppers, the fact that we can successfully grow something, with God's help anyway, has motivated us to try again next year.
Nathan and I are doing a lot better too. We're getting along with eachother more and I may be finally started to put all the past behind me. Two weeks from now my mind may change though.
Cas did great with 4-h and had the support of the community to the tune of $250 for her dairy weather goat. It's stuff like that, that makes me neve want to move.
Ravi's b'day is coming up and I'm trying to decide what to get her. She'll be 9! I can't believe she's already to the age where money would be the best gift so she can buy what she wants.
She'll probably get clothes and a couple toys.
The weather here has been unseasonably wonderful. Not the high 80's of July. At least not what I've felt. It's the type of weather that makes you want to get outside and do something productive that you can be proud of. I wish I could. Our rider mower is broke again, and we've decided we need a new one, but that's not in the budget untill next spring, which means our yard is about 3ft high with grass, but at least our wild flower garden turned out nicely.
Man,
I better get off here and go do something before those wonderful kids of mine wake up.

I love this time of day. It's the time between Nathan leaving for work and when the kids are still sleeping. It's a great chance for me to have some one on one time with the animals and to feel the wet grass between my toes. Especially this time of year. The fields around us are in corn this year and it's getting taller. It makes me feel so sectioned off from the world and private.
I keep thinking how it would be nice to move to a newer house, maybe in a small town that has a library or needs volunteering where we wouldn't have to drive, but I don't quite think it's the best idea. We constantly have more projects than money going on here and I am always seeing things that I think need replaced or fixed or improved. It just never feels like I'm peaceful.
Nathan and I have decided to try our hand at homeschooling Cas and Ravi this year. I'm nervous, but I see unlimited possibilities, and I also see that I could make them fail miserably.
The puppies are growing. They really need formal training to burn off some of that puppy-ness. I really love them.
I've not been reading my bible like I should be, and I feel a bit guilty about it. I know I'm to be an example to the kids,
Not too much other stuff is going on. Our garden put out a lot of zucchini this season and we are still plugging away at our Dave Ramsey program.
Have a great day!