I hope everyone’s weekend is off to a great start. I just love four day weeks, and really do wish they happened more often. But then, I might begin to lose my appreciation for them and wish for three day weeks. And before you know it, I’d wish every day was Saturday! How about you?
A few weeks ago it was my birthday, and in keeping with our family tradition, every birthday is celebrated with a theme. This year’s theme was appropriately, “Diane’s on the Web.” So my second daughter gave me a Fit to the Finish t-shirt, and my older children decorated. It was a lot of fun! The little blonde guy in the picture has his hands on his face because he’s trying to keep from shutting his eyes while getting his picture taken!!
You never know what’s going to happen when you live in the country. This week I was in the house and the boys came running in to tell me that there was a horse in our yard. “A horse,” I said, thinking they were mistaken. Well to my surprise I walk around the house, and there is a horse eating my flowers! It turns out it was our neighbors very old horse. Sad to say the horse died later that day. I’m just glad it didn’t die in our yard. I would have felt just awful! Later that day my oldest son thought it would be fun to ride his littest brother around in the wheelbarrow. I was glad to see that he thought to put a beach towel in to keep littlest brother clean(ish)!
Just in case you were wondering what homeschooling looks like – here it is. This is my second daughter listening to her Geometry instructor (see the earbud) and her littlest brother watching intently. Every time she gets out the laptop he climbs up on the couch to do Geometry with her. Now that I’m thinking about it – I hope she’s listening to her Geometry instructor and not music!!!
And last but not least, we are big Florida State Seminole fans, even though they haven’t done very well in the past years. So for their first game, which was played on Labor day, I made a football cake, and we had a football party. When you have nine people in your family, any time you are in the same room it seems like a party!
Have a great weekend! I hope your plans are more exciting than mine. Right after I put up this post my girls and I are going to hit some yard sales, visit the grocery store, and come back home! Take care. Diane
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I love that your family has so much fun together. Do you think you would have done as much if you hadn’t lost the weight?
You have a beautiful, healthy-looking family Diane! Happy Belated Birthday!
Looks like you’re having a lot of fun! You have a beautiful family.
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That looks wonderful Diane, you guys all look very happy!
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Happy belated birthday!
I love the fact the cutie blonde was holding his eyes open! Makes the photo that much more special. =)
That is sad about the horse, and I’m glad it didn’t go at your place, too.
Wondering if your daughter is using Teaching Textbook? I love that your little one snuggles up with her! At my house, since my son is an only, one of the dogs will snuggle up with him, and one of the cats likes to lie on the table covering his work.
I enjoy your blog very much. I also enjoy little glimpses into your life. Your children are beautiful, as are you. =)
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Hi Diane,
I love to read you blog, and didn’t realize you had seven children! They are beautiful! I am the youngest of six, and I love coming from a big family. I have three myself. Homeschooling is always in the back of my mind. I sent my first to kindergarten yesterday, but it’s definitely a possibility in our future. Thank you for your inspiring words and wisdom.
Tania´s last blog ..Week 9
Diane,
What a gorgeous family you have. The more that I read about home schooling..the more that I want to do it at some point in my life..wherever I am in the world. It’s just so good.
You remind me a lot of why I am choosing to lose weight..eat healthy. I don’t want my kids to go through what I went through when I was heavy. It is so important to role-model healthy lifestyle choices..go on you!
Happy, late, Birthday.
Michelle
Diane,
I love your weekend shots of your family!!! They look like a fun, loving bunch of kids. Great birthday ideas!!! Happy Be-lated Birthday!
Have a wonderful weekend! We will do the same.
~Leah
p.s. I was down!! Glorious morning!!
Leah´s last blog ..Living In The Present
I love all your family pictures!
I especially love the pic of little brother watching older sister on the laptop! Sooo cute!
Happy belated birthday!
Have a wonderful weekend!
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The family pics are awesome!! the homeschooling/laptop pic is adorable. .:) I’m glad you had a happy birthday with your adorable family!!
fittingbackin´s last blog ..6 Miles (2 running – woo!), ST Workout (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders), GREAT day!!
What a cute idea for your birthday theme – your family is very creative! Hope you had a great birthday…sounds like you did!
The horse in your yard DYING later that same day?!? That’s so random and crazy!
Your kids are such cuties – thanks for sharing pictures of them.
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Diane, thx for sharing your family with us!! They are so beautiful!!! And I actually love your plans for the day & weekend. Hey, living in crazy southern CA, that sounds nice & all that land looks awesome! So sorry about the horse though!
My middle stepdaughter, the one with the pic on my Friday post, home schools as well. She got a teaching degree in college but decided to stay home with her kids when they moved to Idaho.
Have a great weekend! Enjoy the beauty there as I know you do!
It looks like you have a beautiful, loving family! Happy belated birthday, by the way!!!
I just wanted to let you know that last night I nominated you for Best Health Blog at the Blogger’s Choice ’09 Awards. You can go to http://bloggerschoiceawards.com to check it out. Right now if you scroll part way down the home page you will see your blog listed under the Most Recent Nominations heading; if you click on your entry there is a place you can get a ‘brag badge’ to put onto your site if you wish. I just checked, and if you go to the Best Health Blog category, you will also currently find your entry on page 15 because they arrange everyone first by the number of votes (of which you currently have 4 – including mine, of course) and then in alphabetical order. Obviously this will change as more people vote for your blog. I really think that you are making a difference with your writing, so I thought you deserved to be recognized for it. Thank you so much!
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Diane, thanks for a glimpse into the rest of your life. It is pretty weird that the horse died later that day. Thankfully it did not die in your yard. BTW, a belated happy birthday to you.
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Happy belated Birthday! What a wonderful idea to have birthday themes. Your kids are so thoughtful, and the family photos are lovely.
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Looks like a great time! What a nice family! Glad you enjoyed your celebration
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Your family is beautiful! It made me smile just to see all that happiness.
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Great pictures! I lived in the country till I was 9, and then we lived in town and had a farm in the country. At the time I didn’t quite appreciate it, but now as I’m older I miss it! When I eventually get married and have kids, I want to home-school my kids as well. I know several other families that are home-schooling, and I really like that you can see what your children are really learning.
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I think the birthday themes are a great idea!
I thought deer in the yard was exciting, but a horse! So sad that he died later…
Jenn @ Watch My Butt Shrink!´s last blog ..I Made It Through The Rain
Thanks everyone for the great comments! We are having a wonderful weekend. Well, the girls and I are. John and my oldest son have worked all day working hard trying to pressure wash the house. They probably need a break about now!
I really do wish that I grew up in your family! How much fun you have – except the horse of course. How sad.
I wanted to tell you that I’ve lost 2.3 pounds so far this week. I’m so psyched!
Go Noles!! Love all the pics! And I love, love, LOVE yard sales!
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Happy Belated Birthday, Diane!!
What a blessing to have a large family! I love the photos!
Your self discipline and accomplishments are motivating!
I also love that homeschooling is a growing trend. Most of my younger friends homeschool and their children are soooo much nicer to be around.
Cindy (Dayhiker from SparkPeople)
Wow Diane, you have a gorgeous family!!! I am a total country girl at heart. Big cities are so overrated
Hope you guys are enjoying your weekend!
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Happy birthday Diane!
You have a wonderful family and what looks like a wonderful, wholesome life.
I think it’s pretty sweet that the horse came to your yard to eat the flowers for it’s last meal. Maybe it was trying to save the best for last.
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What a beautiful family you have. Looks like you have a lot of fun!
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happy belated birthday to you!
loved all the pictures –
have you said what the ages of all the kids are (I think you have said freshman in college down to age 2 – ???)
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You have a lovely family! Thank you for sharing. And happy birthday!
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That looks like fun! Happy Birthday.
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WOW it is soo nice to see your family!!! You have a lovely family, Diane!
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You do have such a lovely family. I love big families!
What a great idea to do b-day themes. I’ll have to remember that
And happy belated b-day to you!
Since we live in a “rural” area too, I know what it’s like to have “surprises” on your property. We don’t have any horses nearby but we do see all sorts of not-your-usual everyday wildlife.
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LOOOVE THE MORE PERSONAL POST!!
the photographs.
hope it was an amazing weekend.
it was here.
we did nothing special and I loved every moment of it.
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Loved your pictures and my kids would have loved seeing a horse in our yard *smile*.
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Happy belated birthday! You have a beautiful family
Love the horse pic, lol!
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It is so fun to see all these pics of your family! Thanks for sharing.
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