May...



I love my new plates!

Twenty-three candles - and some were re-lighting!)
Thank you all for a lovely birthday!

Micah helps Andrew at the shop now!

 Ben's photography...


so beautiful!



 "The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field..."

It's raining...

It's raining, it's pouring!

 Green after the rain!

Ruth!

Sunday afternoon amateur guitar lesson...

 ...finds out they are being observed!

"The fields are white..."

From left to right: Deborah, Stephen and Micah.
Being very silly. Deborah started it.

Stephen's Costume Party...


  
Stephen gave an impromptu costume party for those of us who were at home a few weeks before our "real" costume party. We enjoyed it very much! Part of the fun was how impromptu it was!

"Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey,
When along came a bad spider,
And sat down beside her,
Which frightened Miss Muffet away."

Grace Coolidge and Tintin

Joan from "Baby Island" with Prince Charley and Baby Jonah!

When Stephen realized before the party that Micah knew who he was going to be, he resourcefully put on a sweater and became "the Captain". 
When the party ended, Stephen said, (paraphrase) "Now let's all find another person to be and have another party when we're ready!" (We didn't! : )

Andrew "adds" to Ben's playing... ; ) 

Stephen speaking of Sheriff, "He's proud. And he's like one of the kings of a fighting country at war..."

"Truly, reader, religion is no dreary thing. It's light casts a ray of cheerfulness over all the character. It is the Christian who possesses the merry heart. He is on his way to his Father’s house; and why should he be fretted or morose? He sees no darkness on the countenance of heaven; why should his face gather blackness? He knows that no frown rests on the face of his reconciled Father; and why should he offer him monastic sullenness?" 

--Robert Pollock, writing of the Scottish Covenanters

This is one of my very favourite pictures of Ruth! She was enjoying being entertained by Nathaniel so much and very contentedly chewing on her fingers!

 "Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways." Psalms 128:1
Kittens again!

"America"


The frame of the new meat chick house!


"When queens ride by..."


 Deborah has just learned to crochet with her teeth. A very difficult undertaking... : )

Various...

Deborah has been giving tea parties every month this year, and April's theme was our solar system! 

 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:  
And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 
And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.  
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 
And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. Genesis 1:14-19 

It is so sweet of Deborah to work so hard to make a fun and relaxing time for all us to spend together! (And everything so yummy too!)

B.'s again!

Kathryn can already read being only 4 (!), and Daniel thinks that since he just turned 3, he can read now too!



A very happy David!


"Here, you can eat some too..."
( We truly didn't let him eat any!)


(One of my favorites!)


Ruth is teething and loves to suck on ice when her gums are bothering her--it is awfully cute!

 

 I will end with the quote from which this rose is named...
"This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,--
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England."
--William Shakespeare, "King Richard II", Act 2 scene 1