Sheep

Joe's parents have recently started a sheep farm.  This morning we got to introduce the kids to the sheep.

This is "Lamby" with Joe.  She was bottled fed so she is very friendly.

Checking out the pasture

Grandpa doesn't need a Border Collie if Nathan is around.  He is a natural sheep herder.

And it's a wrap....

 School wrapped up here this last week.  I now officially have a 1st grader, 3rd grader, 5th grader and 6th grader in my house.  (Whew!)  Here's some shots from this last week including the family picnic on the boys' school...one of my favorite events of the school year.

First day of school....

Last day of school...

Nathan with one of his buddies, Ryan, at the school picnic

John and his best buddy Aiden.  John got the special treat of getting to spend the night with him on the last day of school.

John and Nathan after the picnic

Random pics from a Sunday evening

Joe and I were sitting outside Sunday evening watching the storms go around us.  We could have used a little more rain, but it was nice to sit and watch and listen to it.  I decided to get my camera out and play around with it a little.  Here are some of the shots I got.

I planted some daisies to border our new driveway.

This is our squirrel feeder.  We enjoyed watching a squirrel yesterday morning stuffing his cheeks with the corn and then burying it in the yard.  We are really hoping we don't have corn sprouting up anytime soon!

My hummingbird feeder that my boys got me for Mother's day.

This hummingbird (you can barely see it as it is blending in with the fence) was flying around.  I tried to get a picture of it on the feeder but I was never fast enough.  I was pleased the I caught this shot.  Initially I thought I had snapped it too late.

A little bit of culture

Friday night the girls and I got to enjoy an evening out.  One of the seniors at our church was performing in her last musical with her home school group.  So Sara, Ashley and I joined some other woman from church at the performance.  It was a Gilbert and Sullivan and really good.  Sara decided that she would have enjoyed it more had there not been as much singing.  Ashley whispered to me in the middle that she was fairly certain that if she was sneaking away and eloping she wouldn't be singing as it would call to much attention to her. 

What happens when....

you have a six year old boy.  Nathan had his field trip today.  He went to an area Children's museum and had a picnic in the park.  Then a friend invited him to go to the local splash pad after school.  It sits right near the playground equipment.  So, of course, we must play on it too.  So Nathan decided to go down the slide, wet, in his swimming trunks, no shirt...on his stomach.  As he told my friend who was there with him..."I went a little fast."  He slid right off and stopped himself with his chest.  I actually thought it was going to look worse than it did.

Before and After

We got a new driveway!  And it looks amazing.  Here are some before and after shots.  These make me appreciate both my new camera and the new driveway.  (The before pics were taken with Joe's phone.)

You can kind of see the old, decrepit driveway

when they were starting to take out the old one

the finished product

we love our new gravel almost as much as the new cement

The bunny, the bunny, oh I love the bunny....

Being a mom of four, I can never seem to talk about bunnies without singing Veggie Tales.  These are my nemesis.  As I was planting more green beans in my garden this evening where they had eaten my broccoli, they emerged for their late evening snack.  I figured since I couldn't exactly go have a little chat with them, that I might as well make use of the scenery and practice with my camera. I took all of these with my super zoom lens. At least they are good for something....

Joe's favorite pic of the rabbits

My favorite pic of the rabbits

Trying out my new camera

My girls

One of the first pics I took

I was blessed to have my mom visit this weekend!

Joe was getting dinner supplies so I played with my camera in the car.

Nathan getting ready for movie night.  We introduced them to The Man from Snowy River.

My dad and John

The sunrise this morning

Nathan and Ashley contemplating how to find and catch a toad

My rosebush

Playing with the settings on my camera...these are flowers from my flower beds

Love the daisies in my yard this spring

Pictures!

Like I mentioned in my previous post (I am sure you are tired of hearing about it, but I am super excited) my new camera arrives this afternoon.  But my parents are in town and brought their camera.  They got some good shots of the kids last night that I thought I would share.

The official "Horn Herd"

The boys in front of the dirt moving equipment.  We are getting a new driveway!

My sweet Ashley

LOVE this kid.  Not sure if you can see them, but his blue eyes are awesome!

The first of many

Last night was Sara's fifth grade band concert.  Joe and I calculated that if all our children are in band (which is most likely) that this is the first of 8 spring band concerts that we will attend.  And that is just through junior high.  However, this one will rank among the special ones and not just because it was the first one.  Sara won an award!  I didn't even know they gave awards. She was named Outstanding 5th Grade Musician. Thankfully my parents were in town and brought their camera so I actually have recorded memory of the night.  (My camera arrives today!!!)  Enjoy the pics.

Before the Concert

Playing her flute...doesn't she have great posture??!!

Sara with her award