Fifteen

We can hardly believe that Connor has turned 15!

Oh my has time flown by!

Due to the current social distancing protocol, we had to curtail our usual family gathering.

It’s hard when you can’t be at school with all of your friends either.

We took to Facebook to encourage people to email Connor.

He was pleasantly surprised with the birthday notes.

He wanted a chocolate mint trifle as his cake.

I also made his favorite meal, pepperoni roll.

Grandma and grandpa stopped out at the gate to give Connor his card and to chat for a few minutes.

All in all, considering that there's a pandemic, I think he had a nice birthday!

Hot Birthday

 We celebrated Nolan's seventeenth birthday last weekend.

Several weeks ago, when it was cooler, we planned a hot dog roast.

It was a great idea, however, it was a little on the warm side.

90's plus humidity.

It was so hot!

Nolan had several friends over.

Somehow I managed to not get a photo of all of them together.

Notice that they've moved to the shade.

Did I mention it was hot?

Eventually we had everyone come inside.

We didn't want anyone getting sick from the heat.

It was just too hot out there!

We also failed to get a picture of his birthday cake.

It was a chocolate strawberry trifle.

It's his favorite... like three birthdays in a row favorite.

Fourteen

 This young man turned 14 earlier this month.

(Shows how bad I am at blog posts lately.) 

Ah, the discovery that grandparents snuck in a trick candle.

It needed a lot of wind to blow it out.

Yes, we gave our 14 year old a hatchet for his birthday.

It goes well with his machete.

:)

Not the best photo but he gave a short speech for this year's

Junior Honor Society induction ceremony.

We're really proud of him. He was the best speaker.

We're not just saying that 'cause we're his parents.

He spoke well and enunciated clearly, unlike most of the other students.

Mini Finish

I'm such a good blogger.

I've scheduled posts to post while I'm at camp.

:)

This is a scarab symbol from one of the video games the boys play.

For his birthday last year I made Nolan a mini quilt with a different symbol.

This year as his birthday approached I asked him if he'd like another.

He said yes. At first I had instructions of finding a simple geometric one like last year.

Then I changed my mind as I decided to take whatever it was as a challenge.

As you can see, it looked quite challenging!

I traced a picture and modified it a little so it was quilting friendly.

Then I traced my version onto some fabric.

I used an iron on adhesive called Heat n Bond to prepare my fabric.

I've never used anything like that. It was quite a learning experience.

After I traced what I wanted, I simply cut it out with scissors.

Then I ironed it to the background fabric.

That's it.

Super easy!

Next, I pin basted and started hand quilting.

It was rather quick to quilt and I was done in no time.

Here are the two mini quilts side by side on his wall.

I didn't realize the new one was slightly bigger until I was done.

The goal was to make them the same size.

Oh well, it's close.

I think these are a new tradition for us.

So we'll see what he comes up with for next year!

Quilt stats:

quilt #22

8 1/4" x 10 1/2"

hand quilted

Thirteen

Like a good mom, I forgot to make a birthday post for Connor.

I guess I was a little distracted.

Better late than never!

So we officially have two teenagers in the house.

We need another fridge. 

To my surprise he requested an ice cream cake.

That's quite the bonfire.

Quick, blow them out before it melts! 

It was hard work...

but eventually he got them all.

The kid loves to build things with his Legos.

This is the latest creation, complete with a scope!

Oh and one other thing, he was inducted into the Junior High National Honor Society.

Not bad for just turning thirteen.

Fifteen

 

Yep, he's 15 now.

And growing like a weed!
We spent Saturday celebrating his birthday.
We had giant chewy chocolate chip cookies, pepperoni roll, and a chocolate strawberry trifle.
Dwayne took him out for a milkshake too!

  

He got a couple of knives.

This one came with a flint striker bar.

Sparky!

The wall hanging I made for him.

He got this air couch thing.

We call it the air canoe.

It's perfect for lounging with a book.

He's taller than all of us except for Dwayne.

He's got just a few inches to go and he will be the tallest one in the house!

Twelve

This young man had a birthday last week.

I'm a little late with the post.

Twelve candles produce a lot of smoke when they're blown out!

It's hard to believe he's twelve!

I'm not sure who's more ornery...

Level 43

So Saturday was my birthday.

When the boys play video games, they will announce what level they've most recently achieved.

If I'm in the room, I will almost always announce that I'm level (fill in with my current age).

So Saturday I achieved level 43.

I'm not ashamed to say it.

It's 43 years God has given me.

The birthday cake that Dwayne and Connor made.

(Nolan is greatly missed while he is at a teen retreat this weekend.)

Dwayne usually makes something for me for my birthday.

This year he requested a cake mix.

We're still so incredibly grateful that Connor can eat duck eggs.

Having the ability to use duck eggs in things like a cake mix is a real game changer for us.

We use don't use cake mixes often, but it's nice to have that option!

Oh look! I got some quilting goodies.

The cutting mat rotates.

Super happy quilter.

:)

________________________________________________________________________

We've had incredibly nice weather for February.

I can't remember the last time we were outside without coats this time of year.

So, like everyone else, we took advantage of it.

We've been on a few walks.

Pepper was beside herself to walk in the woods.

She was sitting under this tree that apparently had a critter in it.

She has become quite observant and watches for squirrels in the tree tops.

She knows where they hide and it drives her crazy!

She really wanted to get this critter.

Really, really wanted it!

Dwayne got Pepper to not only sit on this stump but stay so he could take pictures!

This is what happened when I tried to get her to do the same thing.

She lasted 5 seconds.

She was pretty tired by this point in our adventure in the woods.

She tracked and discovered a quail...

then proceeded to chase it all over the woods.

Don't worry, the quail got away.

It was so cool to watch her find it.

We got home and relaxed on the swing for a while.

This crazy chicken decided to join us on the porch.

For some silly reason, she feels the need to lay her eggs in the duck coop...

which is inside the fenced-in yard.

The chicken coop is outside the yard.

Cows think the grass is greener on the other side.

So does this chicken think the nests are softer on the other side?

That's life on the funny farm.

Happy Birthday

So this guy turned 14 on the first.

He really, really wanted a CO2 pellet/BB revolver.

So like good parents we got him one.

Whatever it takes to get them outside more!

(I am somewhat jealous. Dwayne has a CO2 BB pistol and

I wanted one for Mother's day. Maybe Christmas...)

We spent this afternoon shooting cans in the back yard.

They let me take turns shooting their guns.

Nolan is super excited to have his cool revolver.

Quite the little bonfire.

Nolan wanted a trifle cake.

He told me what he wanted for the layers:

chocolate pudding, strawberries, Oreos, and cool whip.

Yummy!

Enjoying the last of his birthday cake the next day.

A growing boy's gotta eat!

He's 5' 3-3/4" tall.

He frequently reminds me that he's taller than me.

Keep on growin'!

Somebody Had a Birthday

So this somebody turned 11.

How is that possible?

Per our birthday tradition around this homeschool, we took the day off.

It rained the entire day.

I let the boys play video games most of the day.

It's OK to do that once in a while.

Dwayne's parents took us out to lunch at Burger King.

(In case the crown didn't give that away.)

I made a devil's food cake from frozen duck egg batter.

It turned out fine... I was a little concerned.

I had never frozen cake batter before.

It was Nolan's idea to spread the candles out so Connor

would have a hard time blowing them all out at once.

That's what brothers are for.

(Nolan's plan worked, Connor had to try a second time.)