Rustling Thoughts

Stats and other bloggy news: 134 posts 830 comments 31 followers through Google Post with the most pageviews: again,  The Tag Masterpost  at 164. Post with the most pageviews from this month:  Apparently my sunglasses can fly  at 99. 23,042 pageviews all time Pageviews this month: Entry Pageviews United States 1590 Latvia 94 Germany 86 Russia 39 France 33 Ukraine 32 Poland 31 Canada 24 China 12 Ireland 10 July happenings: 1. Camp NaNoWriMo happened. I did not complete my goal, unfortunately. 2. Independance day. I made apple pie. 3. Christian and I finished our first college class and promptly started the next one the following Monday. 4. We went to go see "The Secret Life of Pets" after Church. It was in 3D, and I don't think any of us can pull off 3D glasses. 5. Mom's birthday landed on a small group night, so we had a bunch of people over f...

Yesterday, at 4:30 in the morning, my alarm went off. Why did it go off that early? Because we were leaving at 6 in the morning to drive 2-3 hours to Waco for no particular reason, and Aron was going to arrive at 5:30. Everyone except Dad and Christian piled into the car, got the music situated, and drove off into the darkness. Rain had been forecasted for Friday a couple times during the week, but we had hopes that it would not be severe. We never exactly saw the sun come up, but it was light by about 7:30. We stopped for breakfast at Cafe Cappuccino, around 8-8:30. It was raining, but not too hard. It was delicious. After that, we drove around Waco in the rain. We circled a couple parks, but did not stop because of the rain. Aron showed us the Baylor college campus, and also drove us around the law school where he took his classes. We drove some more, stopped at a game and disc-golf store, then went to lunch at a burger place. They spelled my name 'Khole'. I...

After arriving home from Church last night, after a very very good service, and birthday party, we were all tired and ready to go to bed, after all, it was already 11pm. The littles all went to bed without a fuss, I think they were already half-sleep anyways. The older dispersed to their rooms, and Mom and Dad got ready for bed. Mom and Lydia both felt and heard a loud bang, both assumed that somebody was either doing some very late night hunting, or, since it was race weekend, and we only live 15-20 minutes away from the track, that they had set off a large set of fireworks. Dad and I didn't hear anything, he was brushing his teeth, and I was probably doing the same. I had thought about staying up to read a few chapters, but one glance at the clock told me that it was too late to be doing that if I wanted to have a good day tomorrow. So, I turned off the lamp, took off my glasses, and rolled over away from the window. A couple minutes later, I felt the urge to sit up and rol...

The back of our property, anyway. All this rain we've been getting is really really really helping to rehydrate our property from the drought, but the mud is terrible. Dad took five of us down to see how much water there was. The water was over my knees in most places, so about two feet deep. I really wanted to splash around barefoot, but I had a camera in my pocket, and dad said I couldn't take off my boots.  The water was so COLD, but after a few minutes, it felt great, especially on all the bug bites I got on the way down! Silly Chloe, she forgot to put bug spray on again. This used to be a gravel road.... Now it looks kinda like a section of Hobbiton. The water came up over our boot tops! He made it to the other side! Our portion of creek is just beyond that tangle of trees. This. One. Looks. So. Good! The lighting was perfect for taking pictures. Ava. I am so happy with the way this one came out! "Y'all have fun, I...

Well, I can check off 'kill another snake' from the list of things I have done and never hope to to again. The Story: Christian had just helped me take eggs we had just candled back to our silkie, when he discovered a snake in the barnyard. Luckily, it was not in the coop.  He yelled that there was a snake, and to stay put (I was down by the coop). He got a shovel, and somehow managed to get the snake into the barn. He must have been having a bit of trouble, because he called me for back-up.  So, I ran to get a hoe, and helped him hack at it. The conversation went something like this: Christian: "I need help, get a hoe!" Me: "Fine, I'm coming." Christian: "Ok, hack him." Me: *whacks the snake* "Die, you evil thing!" Christian: "Ok, let me hit him. *hits the snake* Ok, your turn." Me: "Die! Die! Die! It takes a lot to kill the devil." Christian: "Ok, I think he's dead now. Go get your camera...

I can cross off 'mow a lawn' from the list of things I've never done before. I can also cross off 'get stuck in a tree,' and, 'kill a snake.' The story: My friend (we call her Aunt Cendei in our family) needed help with some mowing on her property. Seeing as Lydia was NOT going to do it, and Christian was going to be away somewhere else, I was the natural choice. So, this morning, at 11:00ish I learned the ins and outs of controlling a riding mower, for the first time. In all honesty, I was doing great, until that tree got in the way. I had been mowing for about an hour, when I decided that an area under a tree needed to be cut. Being confident of my abilities as an expert mower, I quickly went forward... and jerked to a stop. I had completely forgotten that there was a u-shaped arch of metal, taller than me, behind my seat. If it had not been there, I could have easily scooted under the branch. But it was there, and it did not fit under the tree....

Well, I promised. So one day it was all wet and rainy, and Lydia wanted to make a youtube video of her running around acting sad. (Note: She was laughing and complaining of the cold rain down her back the whole time, while I huddled under a huge umbrella trying to get good shots and keep my camera dry.) By the way, wet jean cuffs are the must comfortable things in the world. Not. I don't have the video up yet, because I haven't exactly gone through and edited all the footage yet. But it should be up in a few days. So, there you have it! ~Chloe

So, yesterday I woke up to tapping on my window.  It was an ice storm. In Texas. In February. It's supposed to be spring!  Because we don't often get snow, or any cold white substance in winter, of course we went out to play in it. But, only after school, cuz homeschoolers don't get snow days. It's funny, the week before, I had put away my winter coat, after only wearing it once or twice. In the attic. So, I drag out my coat. And an old pair of snow pants that might have reached mid-shin. I'll spare you the details.  Ava, playing dead And Coal, not caring Gabe, having the time of his life Frisbee  My brother is pretty good It was hilarious watching Coal play. There was a ton of ice on the trees And, of course, I had to take more professional photos. Feedback?  I am so amazed by God's creation. Gi channon, nuir thiad gîn ell (Thank you, ever is your presence a joy) ~Chloe P.S....