So Many Pictures!

I really enjoy pictures. You may have noticed that I rarely post without one or more and we take pictures all the time. I like to have a camera always handy. Pictures can bring back so many fun memories and they also can explain many things much easier, instead of just telling you - I can show you.

 Pictures can be overwhelming however - especially when we take so many of them. Lately I have been having to deal with an abundance of pictures. One of the drives one our computer was nearly full (Thanks mostly to pictures!) and Ken had warned me about it and mentioned that I should move some files to an the empty drive but I wasn't sure how that all worked and was busy and didn't get it done, at that time I just went through a bunch of pictures and deleted doubles and bad/fuzzy ones and so I had freed up quite a lot of space and I basically forgot about the issue. Then came my sister's wedding and a daughter that took around 500 pictures there. I had also taken a bunch of pictures of other weddings' flowers and things that had been going on and then I went to upload them all and guess what? They didn't fit!

  I had a post planned for Monday but I couldn't get the pictures uploaded and so I was busy going through files again and moving files and working to get things in order so that I could access all my pictures. They are finally all uploaded and so I thought I would share some pictures with you! I have a lot of different ones that I want to share but this post will be a few random ones of the kids and their antics lately....

 The other day I came upstairs to find Megan on the couch reading this - "A Tale of Two Cities". She did enjoy it when I read it aloud this winter but I didn't expect her at 8 to want to read it on her own. She seemed quite engrossed but later I asked her if she had finished it and she looked at me with surprise and said "No"- like "Did you think that I would?"

 Sunday afternoon we decided to go on a family bike ride around the lake (a 23 mile trip when we start at home). It ended up being rather interesting. Around 4 or 5 miles into it Aaron said that his stomach was cramping and he didn't think he could go any farther. It was in a neighborhood where we didn't know anybody and not really a place where we could just hand out so I encouraged him on a bit but he soon gave out. Then we tried having him ride on the tag-along and Megan riding his bike but he was miserable. We made it maybe another mile that way but decided we would have to do something else. Thankfully we had made it close to some friends' (from church) house so we called them and asked if Aaron and I could come hang out there while the rest went on and then they would come pick us up later. I wasn't sure if Aaron was just hot and needed rest or if he was sick. Our friends offered to take us home as he was pretty miserable (Megan had also decided to stay with us while Ken and the older two continued the ride) and when walking out to their vehicle Aaron did vomit and did so more throughout the evening. Something really hit him hard. I put a poultice (Flax, Activated charcoal and Castor oil with heat) on his stomach and he rested and he was better the next day.

  When the others made it home (after going the whole way) I looked up at Mara to see her with a scratched up face and and elbow dripping blood. Then she showed me a leg, foot and back that were also scratched up. On their ride during a narrow, hilly part of the trail she hit a rough spot (and probably was a little distracted with the scenery - knowing her) and she crashed. Ken said she and the bike were completely tangled up together. They tried to wash her wounds at the state park (that they were going through at the time) but they still looked pretty yucky. She gamely finished the bike ride (16 miles or so still) and then I doctored her up when she got home. She also broke her glasses but they were able to fix that with a band-aid. We soaked her elbow in Epsom salt water and then put honey on it. We also treated wounds with calendula oil.

  Just to make sure that the bike ride was plenty exciting Jonathan finished the ride by having a flat tire. :-)
We still love bike riding - even if it can get a little "exciting" sometimes.

 One of Jonathan's favorite activities while I read aloud - drawing maps. This one is a big city.

 Aaron got to design his own area on the map.

 Enjoying homemade pudding pops. Jonathan made homemade chocolate pudding and then we froze them in some lovely molds that our friend Shelly gave us. What a fun treat!

 Jonathan also likes to carve while I read. Today I looked up to see him using one of our chairs as a sawhorse and he was standing on top to hold his stick in place. Boys!

Mara has been enjoying drawing again lately. I love watching her skill improve.

What has been going on in your life lately?