Sweet Little Tonto

My younger boys are barely a year apart in age.  You'd think they'd be the best of friends; and yet, while they love one another, you couldn't ask for two more different personalities.  Seth is a serious soul, a scientist, an avid reader and writer.  He cleans and organizes and slicks his hair up before we go anywhere.  Bubbie is his complete opposite.  The sweetest, friendliest little slob of a boy you'll ever meet.  He loves guns and hunting and cowboys and soldiers.  He can take a shower without even getting wet and hasn't ever bothered to look in a mirror other than to apply war paint.  They both spend as much time as possible outdoors, in the same backyard, but rarely together.  Seth plays with the animals and collects specimens and checks on the trees and flowers.  Bub fights Nazis and shoots squirrels and practices his aim.  It's just the way God made them, and though I want them to be close, I still try to nurture their own unique abilities and interests.

Seth

Bubbie (Jared)

...And then comes along a little sister.  It's hilarious how they fight for her attention.  "Summer, be MY girl today."  Even though I always give the "we're all Stringers; we're all best friends" lecture, I can't help but smile.  Seth usually takes her for a walk in the woods or gets her on his bunk to read a story, but Bubbie always dresses her up.  AND SHE LOVES IT.  Today, he had The Lone Ranger on his mind, so he dressed her up as Tonto.

I heard her several times saying, "I love you, Kemo Sabe!"  And Bub would say, "Girl, you're not supposed to say that.  Tonto doesn't tell the Lone Ranger that he loves him!  But I love you too."  Such sweet memories.

Here's her "mean" look:

I so miss the days when Caleb and Madelyn dressed up and played together, and I'm enjoying every second of these precious times!

For the Beauty of the Earth

My Seth is such a gentle soul. Here he is teaching his friend (who is a girl ;)) how to sword fight.




He wouldn't let Bub have a sword to play with Jenna because he "would be too rough with her".


For the past several weeks, he's been begging me to let him spend his birthday money on trees. He researched for weeks and decided which ones he wanted. I made him wait a while to make sure that's what he wanted to spend his money on, but he just wouldn't give up.

So, today, we planted 8 trees. He was so excited! It was sweet to hear him talking about how he could help his kids climb those trees one day. What a sweetheart!


It was a family effort.


Summer dressed for the occasion.


My KK is getting so tall and handsome!


Here he is with one of the quail he raises.


These 2 Bradford Pear trees were given to Jason 10 years ago on his 30th birthday. Look how they've grown! Having moved several times as a child, it's a blessing to have a piece of land where my children can plant roots and make plans for the future.



Sis has been learning to play "For the Beauty of the Earth," and that song has been on my mind all day. Here are the beautiful lyrics:

1. For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

2. For the wonder of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

4. For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child;
Friends on earth and friends above;
For all gentle thoughts and mild;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

5. For Thy Church that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

6. For Thyself, best gift divine,
To our race so freely given,
For that great, great love of Thine,
Peace on earth, and joy in heaven:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise. (By Folliot Sandford Pierpoint)

- Posted using my iPhone

Sweet Times

- Posted using my iPhone

:-)

Here are some videos of the kids playing at the assisted living home. Lots of fun!

Pepper Stringer

Seth will be 9 years old in a couple of weeks.  All that boy has had on his mind for many months now is DOGS!  Using his filtered iPod browser, he researched and learned all about different dog breeds.  He took screen shots of different dogs and decided what he would name each one if he could get one of that breed.  Then, one day, a lady in the pet store let him hold a miniature Australian shepherd.  That was it.  The boy eats, breathes, and sleeps miniature Australian shepherds.  And so, the search began.

 Finally, we came across this 12 week old Blue merle, who is now part of the family.  Seth named her Pepper, and she's just precious!

 You can see her beautiful eyes.  Her left eye is half black/half blue.  Pretty wild looking!

 A puppy?  Really? Am I up to this?  We don't really need it! 

But, it's for my sweet boy.  

And I'm sure she'll fit in fine with our coon dog, 40+ chickens, a dozen or so rabbits, 2 cats, tree frog, 2 jellybean frogs, and beta fish.

The Watery Grave

We had such a wonderful weekend!  The Lord has really been moving in our church, and we've had 2 of our own get saved in the last few weeks, my son, Seth and my cousin, Ethan.  I'm so thankful to see the Lord still moving in the lives of young people, and praise Him that He still saves sinners!  Both Ethan and Seth wanted to be baptized in a river.  It truly was a glorious day!

The first thing Seth did when we got to the river was....catch a frog, of course!  Love my scientist!

At the End of the Day

"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."
~Margaret Atwood

This is AFTER his bath!




His brother cleaned up a little better!



Love my smelly boys!

- Posted using my iPhone

The Care and Torture of Caterpillars

Summer Rose has overcome her fear of caterpillars! I know they are so glad.

My kids have always "loved" caterpillars. Here's Seth (sitting in piano lessons) with some caterpillars he colored with a Sharpie last year.

And here's a picture from 2008 with my dirty little munchkins making caterpillar houses out of magnets. (Sis will kill me for posting this. Aren't they precious?)

My Bear of a Blog

Well, it's spring. The bears are coming out of hibernation, and it's time my own blog came out of hibernation too. I've been pretty overwhelmed the past few months from many different angles in life, and I just had to focus on the essentials for a while.

I have truly missed blogging, although I don't think anyone else even noticed I had quit LOL. Here's a little update on what's been going on at the Stringer household:

KK has grown a foot and gets more handsome every day!

My sweet girl turned 12!

Seth is still cutting up dead stuff (see cow eye below)

Bub is still saving the world from Nazis and Muslims

Summer has discovered Dorothy!

And for something pretty funny....I was preparing to send in my older version of Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra that KK did for 8th grade for the newer auto-grading version they just released so I'll have it for my future students. For this exchange, it is required to send in your old, used textbook. As I was getting my package ready, I scanned through the book and noticed the last page. My little comedian tends to doodle all through his school work. I bet poor Greg and Shawn (the Teaching Textbook authors) will be surprised when they see this! :-)

1 iPod, 2 Silly Boys

I love it when my boys get creative. They'll close themselves up for hours and all you hear is giggling, banging, bouncing, slamming, screaming, etc. You never know what they'll emerge with: a show, something they've built or drawn, a story they've written, or now..... a video.

I thought this one was pretty hilarious from a couple of homeschoolers who don't have a clue what "homework" is. (That's the "Arthur" soundtrack playing)

So Much Fun!

My mother-in-law and I took the big kids to 2 assisted living centers yesterday to play piano. One of the centers was an Alzheimer's center. They were scheduled to play for 30 minute sessions, which is the first time they had played for such a long period of time without stopping. We had so much fun, and it was a really good experience in so many ways for the kids. Here are a few clips:

Caleb, Musette in D Major by Bach


Madelyn, Morning Has Broken (they really loved this piano!)


Caleb, Good Morning Blues. The residents really liked this one. They were dancing at the Alzheimer's place, but the piano was so out of tune that the video sounds bad, so I'll post this one instead.


Madelyn, Habanera from Carmen


At the Alzheimer's center, one of them asked if Madelyn could play "God Bless America", and she said she couldn't, but he started singing it anyway while she played something else. They all sang to all of the hymns. I was really proud of how they stayed focused on their playing and still enjoyed the residents as well.

Seth & KK, Heart and Soul

Seth has his first recital this Sunday. He's only been taking lessons for 2 months and is obviously not ready for performing yet, but I love his zeal. He would have been crushed if I'd told him he couldn't go, now that he has joined the ranks of "piano players" in our family. He has raced through his first book already and practices all the time, so KK worked with him to play this little duet. I'm so glad we took him! It was good for him, but also the residents fell in love with his dimples and big brown eyes. One lady walked him around and introduced him to everyone there! He loved every second of it.

Also, there were 2 piano teachers there, 1 retired and 1 still giving lessons at 90 years old! They were very encouraging to the kids.

For Sunday's recital, KK and Sis are playing (separately), 2 of my favorite pieces of music. It's been a joy to hear them practice for the past few months. For my FB friends, I've already posted these on Facebook, but I thought I'd put them here again for those who aren't. I'm so thankful for the hard work and dedication my children have put into piano. It's really paying off now.

Moonlight Sonata, Beethoven


Canon in D, Pachelbel

Just a little experiment

Here's a little something I made on my iPhone:

Having Fun

- Posted using my iPhone

My Little Angel

I know that the Bible never says that angels sing, and I believe that singing is a privilege reserved only for the redeemed. However, there's just something so "heavenly" about my little Seth's voice when he sings. He was born with a song in his heart, and has always loved to let it out. His little voice is so unrehearsed and innocent. I just adore it. I hope he never sings like a professional, and I pray that he will always delight in lifting up his voice to glorify the Lord!



(P.S. I'm a big fan of that piano player too!)

They Make Me So Proud

I know what the Bible says about being puffed up with pride, but seriously....just look at these little geniuses.....YOU'D BE PROUD TOO!

This little angel is 11 years old. I'm hoping the self-respect thing kicks in real soon.

The dentist suggested I help Seth brush a little more along the gumlines at night. Maybe I should consider this.

Bub came running in from swimming at Gran's house and yells, "Mama, look! Gran put jell-o on our hair!" (translation: gel)

And Seth has managed to accomplish what I've failed to do in 3 years....get Summer to obey, without challenge, the first time she's told. I think I'm going to make me a list of commands like his and try that!