Britt's Blog - A Picture a Day

The Last Day of School

This is Sawyer and his super sweet preschool teachers. We love them.

After school, all Sawyer wanted to do was play on his playground and break all the rules one time - swing way too high, jump out of the swing, ride the bikes past the cones, and climb UP the slides.  He acted like he was getting away with robbing a bank.

   

This is Skyler's funny teacher, Mr. Parr.  Skyler loves him.  Sky gave him an autographed picture to keep under his pillow and look at when he's missing Sky too much.

This is the kid's cool principal.  He is wonderful.  He loves the kids almost as much as he loves his car.  :)

  

The saddest part of the day was when Skyler and Shaylin realized that this would be the last day that they would go to school together.  No more bumping into each other in the hall.  No more playing together occasionally at recess.  No more looking out for each other at school.  It made us all cry a little.

The Big Read

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to revitalize the role of literature in American popular culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. This is a list of their top 100 books. They estimate the average adult has read only six.

Here’s what you are supposed to do: Look at the list and bold those you have read. Italicize those you intend to read. *Star the books you LOVE.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen*
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte*
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling*
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee*
6. The Bible*
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott*
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger 
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell*
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (I tried.  It's too dang long!)
25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck*
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis*
34. Emma - Jane Austen*
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis*
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden*
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen*
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon*
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas*
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt

81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens*
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte's Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl*
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo*

I've only read 46, and I'm a total nerd book lover.

What do you think of my list?  A lot of these I've never even heard of.  Have I missed some that I should read?  Have I marked some "to read" that are lame?  I love book recommendations.  Give me your two cents.

Thursday

Thursday was Dress Nice Day (or as Skyler called it, "Make School Even More Painful Day").  I thought they looked cute.

That afternoon, Skyler had his fifth grade graduation ceremony.  It was very sweet.  Most of the kids in his little country school have all been in the same class since kindergarten.  (There's only one of each grade in his school.)  The kids are all very close.  

I think it surprised Skyler that he will actually be a little sad to say good-bye to his school, his teacher and his classmates.  Mostly, he's just SO ready and excited for Middle School.  

I'm not.

     

This is Andy.  This is the friend that Skyler will miss the most.  Andy has down syndrome, and she's been in Skyler's class for three years.  She does regular curriculum with A LOT of love and help from her class mates.  Every day Skyler comes home and tells us something darling that Andy has said or done.  She's touched all of our hearts.

Fun Week

The kids are having a fun week at school.  It's helping them survive these last few days.

Monday - Backwards Day

Yes, Shaylin's bun is on the front of her head.  And, yes, those pants gave her a wedgie all day.

  

Tuesday - Pajamas and Crazy Hair Day

Skyler and Sawyer grew their hair out for 3 MONTHS in preparation for these one-day mohawks.  Sawyer kept calling his a "mohog" on accident.  We didn't correct him.  It was too cute.

I've loved a lot of Shaylin's hair do's, but this is the one I'm most proud of. 

 

Wednesday - Hat Day and Field Day  

The younger grades played the games, and the 5th graders ran the events.  Skyler was in charge of the obstacle course.  He came home more worn out than Shaylin.  He worked hard.

 

Stay tuned for the rest of the week.  :)

Forkliftin'

This week we rented a forklift to move our chicken coop from the orchard which is THIS far away from the house...

  

to a nice little spot that is THIS far from the house.  Much better. 

 

The kids thought it was a pain, but they'll thank me when it's the middle of winter and they're out gathering eggs every morning.  

Macey was a big help.

 

We also moved our shed.  I didn't take any pictures of that because I was too busy praying that it wouldn't fall.  Jason INSISTED on moving it without emptying it first.

But it all worked out.  Ahhh... two projects to mark off my huge list.  I went to sleep with a big smile on my face.  

Jason was so happy to be driving a forklift, he moved stuff around our property all day long.

Private

I didn't want do this because it can be so annoying.  But we've run into a situation that has forced my hand.  It's time for my blog to go private.  

TypePad is different than Blogger because instead of "inviting" people to view my private blog, I'll just give you my blog password and you'll  be able to access my blog from any computer or account.  Once you've entered the password from your computer, you won't have to enter it again.  

So I'm going to email all of you my password (whether you want it or not).  If I don't have your email, and you want to keep visiting this awesome blog, email me or leave me a comment with your email.

I'm sorry for any inconvenience this might cause anyone.  I especially hate that you won't be able to track my blog on your RSS readers.  I'm in love with Google Reader so I sympathize, but I have no choice.

I hope you'll keep visiting.

Women's Conference

I went with 12 fun friends to Women's Conference this weekend.  It was such a godsend.  To be united with 23,000 other women who are striving to learn more about Jesus Christ and to become more like Him, was a wonderfully inspiring experience. 

The first day we traveled, talked, shopped, laughed and ate lots of yummy food.  

 

The next two days were packed full of wonderful speakers, classes and music concerts.  I was in heaven.  I feel like my spiritual bucket has been completely filled.  It was fabulous.  

 

Here are just a few of my favorite quotes and thought from my classes:

1.  True humility is realizing your utter dependence on Christ.  It does not cause you to bring yourself down.  It makes you bring others up.

2.  The time between when your kids come home from school and when they go to bed, is your most important shift of the day.  Be your best self then.  Use the rest of the day to prepare for that time.

3.  When you look for the good in others, you will find greatness.

4.  Every rancher's goal is for his mother cows to produce superior daughters.  That should be our goal as well - to produce superior daughter.

5.  Talk to your children without an agenda sometimes.  Refuse to interrupt.  Don't give advice or counsel.  Just talk.  Just LISTEN.

6.  Ask yourself, "What is it like to be married to me?  What is it like to be parented by me?"  

7.  We are the happiest and healthiest people on earth.  Studies have shown it.  Do WE show it?  Live your religion conspicuously.  Don't hide God's love and blessings in your life.

Five

Our little Sawyer is FIVE years old.  I don't like seeing my kids get older, but it especially saddens me with Sawyer.  I keep reminding him that even when he's full grown, he'll still be my baby.  He pats my hand sympathetically and says, "Okay Mama.  I'll try."

At five, Sawyer:

~  loves any toys with wheels

~  is always sweet, always patient

~  would rather ride his four-wheeler than do anything else

~  remembers everything you tell him

~  is reading small words

~  is always tender with Macey (even though she doesn't deserve it)

~  loves swimming, camping & running

~  adores his grandparents

~  tolerates school, loves his class mates

~  has perfect pitch, loves to dance

~  says the sweetest prayers I've ever heard

~  wants to be a race car driver when he grow up

~  is cool and funny without trying

~  has me wrapped around his finger

I love this kid.

Picture Tag

 

http://djsmithcrew.blogspot.com/?zx=1efa97060ed90e52

Alright, I'm only doing this because Amy tagged me, and she's kind of famous in the blogging world.  So I'm flattered. 

Here are the rules.

Take a picture of yourself right now, no primping or preparing. Just snap the picture.
Load onto your blog.
Tag 3 people to play… remember if you are tagged on another blog we will all be heading to yours to see if you played along.

Now I'm tagging: 

1.  My sister, McKenzie because she never blogs

2.  Noelle because she's super famous and I want to see if she still has time for me

3.  Jamie because I'm curious to know if she always looks like a super model - even without primping

Let's see your pictures.

Chick Teens

 

Our chicks are teenagers.  They grow so fast!  They also eat and poop more than any animal alive.  

But they're adorable.  They still like to be held and played with, even the rooster.  

He cracks us up.  He's so dang goofy looking - just like a teenager.