Bible School 2009

While Sara Abbett and Mary Ellen were playing their hearts out on the softball field, the rest of the children attended Bible School. My sweet mama would take all four of Mere and my non-ball playing children to church and stayed to teach a class. If you have ever met wild men Josh and Hampton you know what a task she had. I had signed up to work in the kitchen but had to back out two out of the three nights since we were at the ball field. The kids had a great time learning about Jesus. They also enjoyed playing on the new swing set at the Methodist church. I am pretty sure the highlight of the week for them though was singing. It was a great time for all. God is so good.

All-Star Softball

Sara Abbett was asked to play on the All Star team for softball this year. I am proud of her for making the team since this is her first year in softball and, after the first practice back in March or April she was ready to quit because it was not as easy as she thought it would be. We have seen so much improvement in her skills since day one and hope that she will continue to want to play. I am so proud of all of the girls for their hard work and dedication. They made a commitment and stuck to it through the hottest week of the summer. Though they only won one game they played with heart. Way to go ladies, Mommy/Miss Missy is so proud of all of you.

Game 1 vs. Pageland

Rab pre-game

the good game handshakes

cousins and teammates happy with the win

Game 2 vs. Florence

Meg at bat.

HOME RUN!

Rab at bat. Not a home run but a run in the end.

Rab ready to shake hands.

Post-game pep talk from Coach Uncle Bill

She's happy regardless of the outcome.

Game 3 vs. Marlboro County

Swimming Pool Time

We are so lucky that Aunt Jill and Uncle Will have a swimming pool that they generously share with us about every weekend. The children have a blast doing flips off of the diving board and playing sharks and minnows for hours on end. With the heat near 100 lately it is a special treat for the Kirven Five to get to take a dip. Mommy K has yet to don her bathing suit but she does enjoy sitting in the shade of the umbrella playing lifeguard and visiting with the other grown ups. Life is good.

SHARKS

MINNOWS

check out these moves

He's 42 but he can still do a big flip.

Kirvens of Bishopville's Wild Kingdom

Over the last several weeks we have had numerous animals come to visit. Some bad, see previous post, and some good. Some have come to stay, some have found new homes and one is deceased. We have had a baby wild turkey who has a new home with "Miss" Doris. Timmy brought us another new dog, we got one of Lacie's kittens and our latest acquisition is a tiny fawn. Life is always an adventure with my family. I, as most people know, am not much of an animal lover. I like to have dogs and cats around to protect the house and to keep the icky mice and snakes away but don't feel much of an attachment to them. Well, when my love brought Duck the fawn in I asked him if we shouldn't take him to our friend "Miss" Doris who raises any kind of animal but he would have no part of that. He wants to raise him. Fine...let's keep him then. Who do you think has been raising this baby? ME!!! We (I) have been working on finding the right formula for him. Some things don't agree with his tummy and if he gets diarrhea and I don't get it under control quickly he will die. Also since I have to wipe his bottom to make him poo, when his tummy is upset I get pooed on. There is more to deer care than I bargained for and though it is not my thing to nurture I am kind of enjoying the fact that Duck thinks I am his mother. He comes and nuzzles me when I go into his pen and, gross I know, sucks on my arm or more likely my chin after I feed him. This is not a glamorous life but it's mine. God is good to me.


Josh loves it.

Anna Grace is not sure about holding the turkey.

Purrcilla or Bugsy depending who you ask.

Duck the buck

Raccoons, and Rattlesnakes and Spiders Oh My

Let me begin this post by saying I love living in the country. We have lots of wide open space to roam and play without worrying about disturbing any neighbors. There is lots of cool wildlife to see and hear right outside our door. We have a fox living in a hedgerow in front of our house, deer often wander through the yard or in the fields, and there are lots of different birds to watch. Not all wildlife is fun to have around though. A couple weeks ago I was home trying to get some work done in peace and quiet when our dog started barking and crying like she was hurt. I looked outside to find her being attacked by a raccoon. So much for peace and quiet. Last night while I was mowing the grass I saw something moving across the yard. I quickly realized it was a snake and being the brave girl that I am I screamed over the roar of the mower to get Timmy's attention. Now this was not some harmless little black snake. Oh no, this was a 42 inch rattlesnake leisurely making its way across the wide open back yard in the heat of the evening. Thankfully Timmy was able to get his pistol and shoot it. I am terrified that its brothers sisters and children are lurking around just waiting to get us. I do NOT like snakes! Josh of course thought it was cool and wants to take the rattles to show his friends at school. As the title of this post implies, we have issues with spiders as well. Most are harmless but we have had a number of the poisonous ones around also. When Josh was 15 months old he was bit on the thumb by a black widow spider. I panicked and rushed him to the hospital where we spent the night for observation. He had absolutely no problems from the bite, thank God, and we went home the next morning exhausted and a bit more leery of the creepy crawlies in our yard. Now I am afraid after all of these wierd events that not a soul will ever want to visit or allow their children to come to our house. I'm kind of scared to let my own children go outside unless one of us is out there with a weapon to protect them.

snake in the grass

EWWW

Happy Birthday My Love

We celebrated my wonderful husband's birthday Sunday with a pool party at Will and Jill's .
Happy Birthday Timmy! I love you.