Juliana's First Fashion Revue

Juliana began sewing this year. In 4-H they have an annual fashion review where the participants are judged on their garment and then they hold a fashion show. Very fun and the kids learn a lot!

 

This is Juliana's first dress. She learned how to sew in tucks, finish armholes with bias tape, sew on rick-rack, and how to sew on buttons by hand. She picked out this vintage looking fabric from my stash and loves it!

 

And the back . . .

Since it was her first fashion show, she was a little shy, but she did terrific and was adorable. She was by far the youngest participant.

Mom and I teach the intermediate and advanced sewing class for 4-H. It has been a fun challenge this year as we had 8 students all sewing a different project. We taught them not just sewing skills, but also fitting and pattern alteration skills. The girls worked very hard all year on their projects and it showed as they all placed very well at the competition!

Congratulations to all you lovely seamstresses!

Tools are Ready

One important aspect of getting ready for the garden season is caring for your tools. As you can see, we have quite a variety of tools! I couldn't believe how many we had when we put them all in once place. The wood handles on the tools become rough and weathered with age. The sun and weather cause the wood to split and become weak. 

 

First we sanded the handles with sandpaper until they were smooth and even. Some tools required a lot more attention than others. Peter enjoyed getting his assigned handles satiny smooth.

Aren't they cute! The kids all jumped in and took the job very seriously. After they are sanded smooth, we oil the handles with thinned linseed oil. After it is dry, it creates a nice smooth surface and helps to keep the wood protected and hydrated.

Job well done!

Easter Parade

Easter Sunday Morning!


Christina, Josh
Juliana (5), Nathan (9), Peter (8), Katherine (23 mos)

Just the girls!
Christina, Juliana, Hannah, Kate

Bible Drill

April brings the end of Bible Drill season. During the school year we have a weekly meeting on Wednesdays where the children study the Bible and become familiar with the books, divisions, etc. They also memorize many verses. We have been very blessed by this program and were delighted this year to see our children apply verses they had memorized to daily life. That is truly the goal--not speed, but application.

Juliana was in "Bible Buddies" this year, where they learn the books of the Bible in order and begin to learn how to find simple books, such as Genesis, Psalms, Matthew, etc. Even though she is not yet reading, she can find 8-10 books just from knowing the first letter and the general location. They also memorize several verses with hand motions.

Nathan and Peter were in Children's Drill this year. They memorized 26 verses word perfectly as well as 10 key passage references (commonly referenced passages that you often need to look up or want to find). They also learn to quickly find verses and books in the Bible. By the end of the year, they can locate almost any book (including those teeny, tiny minor prophets) and specific verses in 10 seconds or less. In case you aren't able to see the faces, Nathan is #5 wearing a tan colored tie and Peter is #7 wearing a red tie. This picture shows the group of children they drilled with all year ranging from age 8 to 11.

Getting Ready to Garden!

The next step in our gardening venture each year is to add loads of manure to add nutrients to the soil and help loosen and condition the soil as well. We have found a source for free horse manure, and although not our first choice, we can obtain as much as we want!


Unloading a trailer load. Tough work needs deep concentration. Go Nathan!

Juliana is always a willing worker and jumps into projects with a will. This trailer and the full size pickup were filled to capacity and it ALL went into the garden.

Juliana made a little house from old straw and a wire basket to keep our drinks shaded!

Me making some preparations or adjustments.

You can see how bleak and desolate our garden is in early spring. The pear trees are just blooming in this picture. We had a dry spring and were able to get in to rototill earlier than usual. Nice, in some ways, but we really needed more rain. Josh enlarged our garden last year and installed large gates at either end so we can back the truck in for unloading manure and other supplies. Very nice feature!

Seeds for Schools 2013

This year we applied for and were awarded a package of free seeds from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply. This company gives away packages of over 200 seeds to schools to encourage children to learn about growing fresh foods using responsible growing practices and to increase their interest in eating vegetables. Since we already grow a huge garden each year, we were thrilled to be given so many seeds.

We were overwhelmed with the huge variety of seeds that came in our box! We are having fun trying some new vegetables this year, such as purple striped tomatoes, purple greenbeans, tomatillos, eggplant, and some lovely greens. Once we put up our neighborhood vegetable stand, we will display the sign thanking PVFS for donating the seeds.

Here I am going over the seeds, making a garden plan, and transplanting seedling starts to bigger pots. No, I'm not going to bite anyone--I was looking straight into the sun when Juliana took this picture!  

So many seeds required a little organization. I took the plastic tub we were already using and make dividers so we can easily find the seeds we want to plant that day.

Juliana with our broccoli, cauliflower, Brussles sprout, and kale starts. They have all done really well, although we are still waiting to harvest cauliflower and Brussels sprouts

Katherine loved the feel of freshly turned soil under her feet!

We usualy rototill the garden, but to get the early crops in, we hand turned this section and mixed in some compost sitting nearby.

Felt wonderful to turn over that fresh soil! We've worked hard over the years to get it looking like this nice soil--lots of compost and manure!

Juliana enjoyed turning over the soil with me with her own little spade!

4-H Rocketry

Juliana and Peter participated in our 4-H club's rocketry project this year. They had fun constructing and then launching their rockets.


Juliana with the rocketry leader getting ready to launch! She did a perfect countdown.

Peter ready to press the ignite button!

Juliana displaying her pink, sparkly rocket

Peter's rocket was quite large and took a special engine to launch. Even though it didn't achieve tremendous heights, it was very impressive to watch it launch.

Good job, guys!

Growing, Learning, Playing

Spring has arrived and the children are growing and learning as fast as all the plants and animals around the Ranch!


Kate loves to sweep!

Peter achieved new heights with his giant bubble bath one night. He is pointing to a tunnel he hollowed out beneath the cover of the bubble mountain!

Mud anyone?

Sisters sharing a stick horse ride!

I found this on the camera. I guess the boys were giving the girls lessons in "working out"

Cow girl!

Peter learned how to make some basic repairs on this pillow after the seam split open. He is quite proud of the fact that he can now "sew". I'm happy to have some help with the always growing mending pile.

Life gets busy . . .

Whew! Has it been nearly a year since I last posted to the blog? Definitely time to get back with the program. Life is full . . . very full of blessings.

To begin with, I will post these two pictures of Juliana (5 1/2) and Katherine (2). My how they have grown in a year!

The best dresses are the twirly ones!
A dear older woman at church bought the white butterfly fabric for the girls and these dresses turned out so sweet! 

Sister love!

These two are becoming the best of friends and they love all things girly!