New look for trashcans...

This past July our 4-H Club painted trash cans at the local fairgrounds. It was sure quite a transformation for the cans, which were previously so yucky and rusty I wish I had taken a picture before they started!

This is a hot air balloon trashcan. I was very impressed that someone had come up with this idea. Unfortunately, I don't remember now whose idea it was...

As you can tell, the name of our club is the Lucky Ducky 4-H Club, so painting a duck pond seemed perfect.

More duckies. Well, they were cute!

Again, I don't remember whose idea it was, but this was an Eye Spy trash can. It asks if you can find the ducky?

So, did you find the ducky? Look in the clock.

Here Jenn and Brooke are mixing paint.

Matthew and Cordell working on the rock wall trash can.

Mikayla working on the rainbow trashcan.

Jenn painting the ivy on the rock wall as Mikayla looks on.

Ryan adding something...

Desi prepping the duck pond.

We sure are lucky to have such talented and creative 4-Hers! This made for quite a fun activity, and so nice to see the results of hard work!

Ryan places in photo contest!

Ryan was very pleased to find out he won an honorable mention in the HSLDA photo contest this fall.

Check it out at:

http://www.hslda.org/Contests/Photo/2011/2011winners.asp

Great job Ryan!


Posted by Pam

Sorry for the lack of posts....

Well, as many of you have pointed out to me, we have not updated this blog in quite some time. Trust me, the lack of posting was not a sign of inactivity, but too much activity in the Williams Home!

In August we started up our new school year. A first for me, Cordell talked me into teaching a Latin course. Wait, a first for teaching Latin, not for Cordell talking me into things... We are enjoying learning the Latin, especially making the connections to English words. Any Latin scholars out there? We would appreciate pronunciation help.

Band has also started. Cordell is playing both the alto and tenor saxaphone, and Ryan continues with the trumpet. Jenny is taking a break this year.

Both boys are also on the Rolla Regional Robotics team, which competes in the First Lego League division. They especially like building the robots and the attachments. It requires lots of strategy in knowing which missions to try for, as well as good programming skills. The theme this year is Food Factor - food safety. Cordell's team is researching cheese, and Ryan's is working on eggs. Their competition is in December - coming right up!

Well, we have lots more to fill you in on - be watching for new posts!
Pam

Camp.

Two weeks ago, I went to church camp. More specifically, Little Prairie Bible Camp. This is the same church camp that I have gone to for 8 years, and also where I worked as a lifeguard for 5 weeks this summer. But in all the years that I have been going there, this last week was, by far, the best I have ever been to. What made it the best you say? Well, I can't really narrow it down to any one particular thing. However, I will do my best to list and tell you a little bit about some of the things...

1. Spiritual growth! Our theme for this year was Matthew 5:16. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven."

We had so many great lessons based on this verse, and I definitely felt encouraged and challenged by them. And... we had 7 baptisms! It was awesome to see God working in so many lives!

2. The people.

The people I was around and the friendships that I built with them are... irreplaceable. All of them were such inspirations to me because of their obvious love for God and others. Gah, I just love my camp family! And yes, it really was like a family! We all made so many happy memories together and I can't wait until next year to see y'all again!

3. The slip and slide.

Yep. We used a giant piece of plastic and covered it with water and dish soap and ta da! slip and slide! Not only was it a BLAST, but we all got really clean. Albeit, bruised. =) Actually, we enjoyed it so much that we played on it 3 different evenings.

4. The singing.

This is probably one of my favorite things about camp in general. We do a lot of singing and the harmonies are always so beautiful. Even on the hippo song. =)

And I am running out of time, so now, it will just be a list. =)

5. Sleeping in the cabins with no air conditioning.

6. Fireside/poolside devos and singing.

7. Ultimate. Frisbee.

8. Dance parties in the cabin with the counselors.

9. Personal Bible time.

10. The mud run. It was epic and gross.

11. Team skits.

12. Willie - He is a cook, and he's awesome.

13. Camp food. It's delicious!

14. The blessing. It's powerful. If you know what it is, then you know what I mean.

15. Playing slime ball.

16. Serenading the boys.

17. Free time volleyball circles.

18. Singing in the shower house.

19. Kill-ball in the pool. A game loosely based on football...

20. Coming up with team cheers and parodies to impress the cooks before lunch.

21. Sharing our favorite memories of the week with everyone while we were waiting for a storm to blow over.

Can't wait until next year!

God Bless!

~Jenny

Didn't want to overlook this...

These pictures were taken the day we got back from our trip to Indiana in May. May 22, 2011, to be exact. We had just arrived home and were totally taken unaware by the marvelous colors in the sky. It was as though everything was tinted red. The white gravel on the driveway was even tinted pink. A large colorful rainbow was in the sky.

And as though a powerful painter was painting with vibrant colors (and He was!) the sunset was absolutely splendid!

Oh, and if the date rang a bell with you, this was shortly after the E-5 tornado in Joplin, on the other side of Missouri from us. Amazing!

Reminds me of Psalms 19:1 "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands."

Posted by Pam

Hanging out with Abe...

Our favorite stop during our "mini vacation" was at the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois. This was a fascinating journey with not only a very interesting person, but how his decisions impacted our country during the very critical time of the Civil War as well. I really appreciated how the museum was arranged and how it used high tech means to make you feel almost as though "you were there". In the photo above John Wilkes Booth cuts a dashing figure as a high society actor, hanging out just outside the White House.

Since we were only allowed to take photos in the atrium, we couldn't resist posing with the First Family.

If you ever have a chance to visit this museum I would highly recommend it. Take some tissues with you though.

Posted by Pam

That's our Ryan!

While skimming through these pictures I noticed we have a tendancy to pick on Ryan. Not sure why.... It's just fun I suppose. Saving a choking victim? Just giving a friendly choking? You decide!

Posted by Pam

Creation Museum in Petersburg KY

We enjoyed our visit to the Creation Museum in June. There is a beautiful botanical gardens on the ground and my pictures failed to do it justice. Here are the kids posing for a picture on a wooden bridge. The trails were really neat to walk around and lush vegetation was everywhere.

This very happy triceratops seemed glad to see us. The museum abounded in dinosaurs, both skeletal and "fleshed" out.

There were also quite a few scenes from the Bible with animated people/animals. Here Noah's sons are working on the ark.

I somewhat forget if this was supposed to Noah, or some other patriarch. I liked the intense look in his eyes. The figures were very impressive and seemed like if you reached out to touch them they might be real.

Jennifer hanging out in the garden of Eden.

Cordell being "licked" by a some sort of dinosaur. Yes, this was a bad attempt at an illusion!

Ryan "riding" the triceratops.

Posted by Pam

Now that's big!

Just past the Indiana border in Northwest Ohio we drove through a wind power plant. We were amazed at how large these are. That is a red pickup truck and people standing at the base of it. (You may be able to click on the picture to enlarge it a few times.) We counted at least 50 of these and they are still building more. Only one was turning so far. Interesting....

More pictures from the farm...

The grainery building. There used to be a wonderful tall corncrib behind this building that was great for climbing around in. I can remember sliding down the corn to help push the corn down when loading the wagon. The main risk was coming across mice!

The old Mac Gas Delivery Truck

The barn where I (Pam) spent many glorious hours playing as I was growing up. It had two wonderful big lofts, ladders, walkways, a stable & milking area, ropes & pullies, home to grain trailers, combines, and other such treasures.

Visiting the rhubarb patch is a necessity for our family of rhubarb lovers!

Happiness is cutting rhubarb!

Summer is here....

It has been nearly 3 weeks since we have updated our blog - our apologies about that! Excuses range from we've been out of town, no access to a computer, and the computer we do have has been acting up... Yep, sounds like a bunch of excuses.

Following our very nice trip to Fort Wayne, we tried to finish up our school year, and got pretty close to being done. I (Pam) spent another week with my mom and my sister, Liz, following the death of my dad. Even though it was a sad occasion that brought us together, it was still a pretty neat week. We spent a lot of time going through old pictures, letters, even diaries from the 1940's and 1950's, which was a real treat.

My family spent a few days vacationing after the funeral. We went to The Creation Museum, in Petersburg, OH, and the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, IL. They were both pretty neat in their own unique ways, and I'm glad we had a chance to visit them. I will try to post more about them later - when our computer is straightened out!

Since we have been home Jenny has been busy with lifeguarding at LPBC - our nearby church camp, and volunteering two mornings a week at the hospital. Walter has started cutting hay and we will be doing that as the weather allows over the next week or so, or until we get it done.

Our house building project is moving forward. We have selected a builder and are scheduled to begin this fall. We also have started working with an architect to draw up better house plans that will be easier for the builder to follow. We were pleased with the ideas he had for us, and it is getting easier to start feeling good about this process!

We have 3 new additions to our family - kittens! Chloe the calico, Dixie the gray tiger striped, and Rika, the orange tiger striped. They are so much fun to watch.

It has been a lot of fun to watch the activities on the lake this spring and summer. The most boats we have counted at one time have been 7, and our favorites are the kayaks and sailboats. There are also a lot of people who just fish from the edges, or just come to eat a picnic lunch it seems. It is really a beautiful lake to live near, and we feel blessed to have such nice views out the front porch.

That pretty much sums it up here. Will try to get some pictures posted soon.
Posted by Pam

Our visit to the farm...

KITTENS!

We spent several days at the farm visiting grandparents, and the kids really enjoyed taking these pictures while we were there. I'm glad my kids are making some of their own memories there. I know I (Pam) sure have a lot of fond memories from growing up on this farm.

One night Cathy treated us to a delicious dinner followed by hymn singing, which Mom & Dad really enjoyed.

Metamorphosis survives 2 moves!

At the end of last summer we found a beautiful large green caterpillar at Lions' Club Park. We put it in a jar and it started spinning a cocoon right away. A few days later we found another slightly different caterpillar, put it in the same jar, and it also started spinning a cocoon.

The jar traveled with us last fall when we moved and resided for a couple of weeks in Liz's kitchen, then moved into the guest house. The jar made it safely through the move to the camper, and stayed on a shelf in the very small living room through the winter. This spring I set it out on the porch, and a couple of weeks ago Jennifer happened to notice that a beautiful moth had emerged.

The 4 spots were translucent - just amazing.

See his beady little eyes?

I'm so glad God chose to create such interesting creatures. There are probably some good lessons to learn from them. Things like patience, perseverance, and God's sense of timing.