Look who's SIX

On Thursday, Alayna turned six years old!

One thing Alayna wanted for her birthday was her own flower garden. With a little help, she planted 18 flowers along the edge of daddy's garden.

This is from Alayna's party at school. Mrs. Fitch is a very caring and loving teacher.

Splish, Splash ... it's warm enough for the Sprinkler!

Every time it gets somewhat warm in the Spring, Melanie and Alayna are always asking if they can get wet with the sprinkler. Well, today it was in the high 80s, so the sprinkler was able to water the grass and some kids at the same time.

Melanie earned a second treat

We were proud of Melanie. Last Friday, a lady was handing out treats to a group of students at Melanie's school. There was only one student who said "thank you." Because of her thankfulness, Melanie was given an additional treat.

Where Did the wire go??

The guide wire on the electric pole disappears right through the branch of this oak tree by our house.

Tea for Two

Esther and her mom doing two of their favorite things ... swinging and drinking sweet tea!

Grandparents Day at Jackson Christian School

Melanie and Alayna were sooo happy that Mama and Grandpa Dave came from Indiana to attend "Grandparent's Day" at their school. Grandparents read stories to the kids and enjoyed milk and cookies. Each class also had a special presentation for all the grandparents.

School was out at noon, so we all went out to eat together. Then we celebrated Alayna's birthday a little early.

A Wonderful Mother and her kids

Happy Mother's Day to our Mothers

Chris' mother and father

Esther's mother and step-father

Mother's Day History

In 1907, Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948), a Philadelphia schoolteacher, began a movement to set up a national Mother's Day in honor of her mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. She solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honor mothers. The first Mother's Day observance was a church service honoring Anna's mother. Anna handed out her mother's favorite flowers, the white incarnations, on the occasion as they represent sweetness, purity, and patience. Anna's hard work finally paid off in the year 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honor of mothers.

Slowly and gradually the Mother's day became very popular and gift giving activity increased. All this commercialization of the Mother's day infuriated Anna as she believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit.

Regardless of Jarvis's worries, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. Actually, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year. Although Anna may not be with us but the Mother's day lives on and has spread to various countries of the world. Many countries throughout the world celebrate Mother's Day at various times during the year, but some such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium also celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.

Source: www.dayformothers.com

Singing Fish

I have always enjoyed "puns". I subscribe to a couple online newsletters from www.cybersalt.org, and wanted to share this one:

Jimmy: 'Hey, Mike! How's your new pet fish doing? You told me he was really something special.'

Mike: 'To tell the truth, I'm really disappointed in him. The guy who sold him to me said I could teach him to sing like a bird.'

Jimmy: 'What? Let me get this straight... You bought a fish because you thought you could teach him to sing like a bird?'

Mike: 'Well, yeah. After all, you know, he's a parrot fish.'

Jimmy: 'Now listen, Mike, while you might be able to teach a parrot to sing, you're never going to get anywhere with a parrot fish.'

Mike: 'That's what you think! It just so happens this fish CAN sing. The thing is, he's terribly off-key and it's driving me crazy. Do you know how hard it is to tuna fish?'

TIMBER!

Today, a large hickory tree was cut down by our house. Right beyond the row of trees is a steep drop off with a road below it. After all the tree branches get cleaned up, a white picket fence will stand as a barrier between the children and the road.


Alayna and Melanie are standing by a hole in the tree, and in the hole is a tree frog. The picture is a bit blurry (sorry), but it's the best I could get.

Wearing Grampy's Hat

Josiah was wearing a hat, with one hand in the front pocket, and one hand in the back pocket. He's inspecting some tree limbs that were recently cut down.

Evening Outdoors

I usually don't get a chance to mow our grass -- some of the young people from the church take care of it. Well, tonight I decided to mow a little bit anyway, because I knew Josiah would enjoy riding the tractor. He did!

Here's Melanie and Alayna rolling down the hill.

Gas station owner told to raise prices

Wed May 9, 6:05 AM ET

MERRILL, Wis. - A service station that offered discounted gas to senior citizens and people supporting youth sports has been ordered by the state to raise its prices.

Center City BP owner Raj Bhandari has been offering senior citizens a 2 cent per gallon price break and discount cards that let sports boosters pay 3 cents less per gallon.

But the state Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection says those deals violate Wisconsin's Unfair Sales Act, which requires stations to sell gas for about 9.2 percent more than the wholesale price.

Bhandari said he received a letter from the state auditor last month saying the state would sue him if he did not raise his prices. The state could penalize him for each discounted gallon he sold, with the fine determined by a judge.

Bhandari, who bought the station a year ago, said he worries customers will think he stopped the discounts because he wants to make more money. About 10 percent of his customers had used the discount cards.

Dale Van Camp said he bought a $50 card to support the local youth hockey program. It would have saved him about $100 per year on gas, he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com

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Race for Education

Today, we watched (and walked with) Melanie and Alayna participate in a school walk-a-thon. Both of them walked 8 laps.


Josiah had fun too.

Snowy the Sitting Hen

Alayna has been telling us about Snowy, the hen who is stitting on some eggs in her classroom. We finally were able to get in and take a picture. One egg has hatched already. Snowy is actually the "grandmother" to the chicks that will hatch.