The Month in Review -- June 2010

Bear with me here -- template under construction again!  If I finish it tonight we'll call it another accomplishment for the month of June.  This is more me.  More anonymity, less blue.  Not that like don't like blue at all, but I love red accents, and this blog just needs some red.  So wish me success. UPDATE: I have just discovered that my media library is full, and since I can't get anything to permanently delete, there will be no new, lovely-with-red-accents header photo.  For now.  I also found out that none of my widgets were saved.  So, back to the drawing board.  Ah, it's good for the soul, this exercise in longsuffering.

Well.  So much for my great plans to do Bedell Curriculum and math every day this summer!  I think when we finished school last month we also disconnected our brains.  Well, no matter.  Our hearts are still connected, and that is more important to me.  :D

Working backwards:

In June, Alison finished crocheting a table-topper for my mom.  My grandmother had several of these in different colors, and there is a lot of nostalgia in this for me.  It is double-crocheted in the round and the finished product is 60" in diameter.   Does this look like a product for Etsy?  I didn't see any round crocheted table-toppers there. Hmmm.  Mom rewarded Alie with a webcam, which has brought many hours of silly entertainment.

The girls played music for our local nursing home again last week. Do you see something different?

If you guessed it is Amy on the violin rather than the flute, you guessed correctly!  It thrills my ♥  to have four little strings players.  Later that week I saw a local ad for a German-made violin, two bows, and hard case.  The owner did not know what he had, and we snatched it up!  Amy has now graduated from a VSO to a real violin.  BONUS: One of the bows is actually a viola bow, and a very nice one!  That bow alone is worth way more than I paid for the whole outfit.  God is good.  Now we just need a viola. :D

This is Amy with the VSO, not the real violin.  The four girls are working on a Handel aria and it is just lovely. (Okay, I know I am biased, being their mother.  Any music they make together is beautiful to me!)

Alison is now giving lessons to three sisters and six other students.  Hopefully she will write a post soon about how teaching has helped her grow in many areas.  It has made a huge difference in her teen-hood!

Elisabeth and I turned this:

into this:

Elisabeth did quite a bit of the sewing.  Good for her!  I love JoAnn Fabrics's $1 pattern sales.  I wouldn't pay$15 for a pattern, especially not for something to play in!!  Many thanks to PlainJane, BookwormMN, and ALadyBug for the bonnet(s)!  Elisabeth, oh excuse me, Prudence here, and her brother, Andy the Cowboy, played covered wagons.  Below, Andy the Cowboy, eating his peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich.  Did they have PB&M in the old days?

A friend's yard sale produced a practically new Lands' End backpack for Alie.  (I ran over her new one with the vacuum cleaner and ripped the straps right off -- two years ago!)  Only one problem, it was monogrammed Andy.  She didn't want anyone to think she has a boyfriend named Andy.  So I fixed that:

A request from Emily for coloring pages resulted in these cowboy templates from MadeByJoel.

That guy has some neat creations! I love his light drawings.  Amy tried some, too.

Legos are still the world's best toy.  Something is usually in the creation process here.

Too much TV this month.

Even Dad got it on it. These girls sure do love their daddy! Here they are watching the Time Changer DVD. (Again.)

Last but not definitely not least, we headed up to our local mountains for a refreshing hike.  Ahem.  Some hiked.  I spent the entire afternoon alone,  reading and relaxing, watching the birds and squirrels, and experiencing the breeze and 70°!   Everyone have enough water?  Check.  Energy food?  Check.

After nearly five miles of hiking (someone didn't know that they were almost back where they started, and if only they had not turned around, but had just kept going...) this little person was whupped.

A wonderful way to end the day, and a good way to end the Month in Review.  July promises a big picnic and the start of a big family trip for these Diamonds in the Rough.

It's time to get supper!  We're hungry!This is where I normally insert a fitting Bible verse, but I'll have to do that later!