This Week at Our House # 25 A Birthday and More

Little Miss Suzy Q turned 6!!! She got a little tea set and some cupcakes and has had daily tea parties. Everyday she tells me that she's 6 now.

It has rained everyday, so we did not make it out to the beach. My garden is struggling. But the corn smells sweet and we do have a lot of little watermelons and butternut squash. I'm hoping they won't be too soggy. I picked the first yellow squash today and it was wet and mushy on the inside and not from being too ripe. It was just wet.

Surprisingly enough my kitchen garden near the house is doing well, and we are getting tomatoes everyday. Also, the chickens like the tomato plants, which are large towering bushes taller than I am now. Two of the hens lay their eggs under the tomatoes. So everyday, I go out to collect ripe tomatoes and fresh eggs.

Gideon, Sam, and Susan love to play outside most of all. We've been out less because of the rain, but still manage some time outside everyday. The heat should be coming soon, though, and that will keep us in a lot more.

Sam, Gideon, Susan, Arwen, and Josh play loud games of chase a lot. They get all silly and giggly like the older kids did whenever they saw their cousins. Without cousins around, I'm glad that they have each other to be silly with. Currently Sam is riding a rocking horse making car noises and Susan is pushing it making horse noises.

Rachel talks about every man in a movie or a video game as a possible husband, discussing their desirable or undesirable traits. I love it. It's so very 14 year old girl.

Anya and Rachel got a new mattress this week, and they're loving it. It's softer and nicer and gives them more space. Anya balks when I ask her questions, though. She whines and doesn't want to be bothered with conversation. She has her drawing and her coloring and her reading to do.

Joseph likes to come up and tell me things. His mind seems to work in stories. Though Josh and Joseph both seem to demand constant and individual justice. They don't like being asked to take care of and clean up things that weren't their fault. So we talk about living in a family.

Johnny and Adam spend a lot of time reading and drawing and playing games with John. It's nice for John to have his sons. They make great friends.

Kate has been reading "Wuthering Heights" out loud to Ruth while she works on illustration and all the family has been listening some and discussing the book. Kate and I have been reading Agatha Christie together.

Suzy woke up at 5:40am on her birthday. She was excited and could not sleep, so John took her outside to watch the sunrise. He said it was a blazing fire rising in the sky.