SPRING 2012

It has been forever since I blogged.  Time just seems to slip on by, that and I forgot my password to sign in. :)  Here is a bit of what we have been up to.  We are eagerly awaiting summer vacation, looking forward to more relaxed days, although we have been enjoying the sunny days this week.

 Here Abby is swinging on her tree swing. It is one of her favorite pastimes.  She is still my little cutie pie and I just cannot believe how big she is.  She has grown over an inch since January.  She is our little silly goose and keeps us smiling.

My son is doing great.  He is now 12 and is also growing like a weed.  He is playing baseball and going fishing every chance he gets.  My one complaint is style of dress.  As you can see the work boots and camo shirt he is not really into fashion.  I told him that this look was taking my back to my NY days. :) We started a new history program called Tapestry of Grace this year that has been a big success.  It incorporates a lot of books which is right up his alley since he loves to read also.  Here he is reading about Greek mythology.

Katelyn is just having fun being a tomboy/princess.  One day it's a pretty dress and shoes,  the next it is sweat pants and a t-shirt with bare feet. :) She informed me yesterday that she was going to be more like a tomboy and go fishing and hunting so her brother and her would be able to have more fun. She then proceeded to go out fishing with him. Today she was pack to playing some princess game with Abby.  Very versatile this one is.  We also take our school outside on some days, especially after it has rained for days on end.  Here you can see her working on her science paper comparing Neptune and Uranus. 

Speaking of science, above is a rocket ship they made which takes off when you place put an alka seltzer in the base of the rocket (which is a film canister) and mix it with some warm water.  They enjoyed this a lot.

Above is our "book station" while schooling outside.  Notice my favorite item above which is my Kindle which I never thought I would want and now cannot live without thanks to some good friends of my hubby.  I LOVE it!  So if they are reading this, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Here is Katelyn enjoying her outside school day.  She is bridging in Girl Scouts this weekend.  Going from a Brownie to a Junior.  She cannot wait to walk across that bridge at her ceremony.  Tonight I am preparing two dishes to take to share.  She is helping make both of them.  She has discovered that she really enjoys cooking and has pretty much perfected homemade pancakes.  Her lemon muffins are pretty good too!  I enjoy having the help in the kitchen.  Her brother also likes to cook so maybe when they are older I can set them loose in the kitchen and enjoy the fruits of their labor.   Ooh that will be so nice! I will even volunteer to clean up afterwards!

This week we also spent two nights at my oldest daughters concerts.  She had a chorus concert on Monday and an Orchestra concert on Tuesday.  Both were excellent.  These kids are really talented.  We were sitting in the balcony so even with the zoom all the way I still was not able to get just her.  She is in the second row, second person, short blondish brown hair.  She is a very good singer and all these girls altogether sounded phenomenal.

So that is my random ramblings to catch everyone up on what we are dong now.  Yes, I will post some prom pictures and try to blog a bit more than once a year. :)

Summer is Finally Here!


 

The weather is HOT, the water is warm and the grass is growing.  Summer is here!  We have been busy, busy, busy with our main focus being  finishing up school and then all our other extra curricular activities that are winding down.  We are looking forward to a slower pace that summer brings after a busy spring.  We have officially blown up the blow up pool and also enjoyed going down to the river and attending the local outdoor pool.  It is so nice to be warm. :)  My kids test next week and we are feeling pretty good about it.  We will continue to do some schooling over summer, but on a much more relaxed and paired down schedule.  We will have our garden which does need to have some replanting done due to the week of pouring down rain we received right after we planted it.  My son has his own pumpkin patch that he will probably have to replant some plants, and my younger girls have a watermelon patch they are tending.  Watermelon just does NOT grow well up here, but they are convinced that it will do good.  My oldest does not like gardening, but does help out.  She is learning to cook this summer, at least that is the plan.  Hopefully she will come to enjoy it. :) We have visited with cousins over the holiday weekend and everyone enjoyed themselves.  We visited the pool, played at the park, and had a ball just playing.  It was a nice not to have to rush anywhere to just sit and enjoy the kids. We took some pictures at a beautiful gazebo on a pond with ducks walking around and frogs croaking their nighttime song,  You can see the fountain of water they have in the middle of the pool which is right out behind the gazebo.  It  would be a beautiful place for a wedding.  We did not get pics of the gazebo, but we did get some of the kids sitting on it.



My two little monkey girls with their two little monkey cousins whom we still cannot tell apart. :)




One of our little cutie pie cousins posing for a pic after a fun day at the pool and park.

 We also finished up dance for my two youngest girls.  They had their final recital which consisted of a ballet one night and a tap recital the next day.  They loved them both.  The ballet was called the Princess Gala and it was a huge hit.  The tap was fun the next day also.  Here are some pictures.


My eight year old on the left and her friend waiting to go out on stage at the ballet recital.



My youngest two girls the day of their tap recital.  This was taken after the recital.




Here they are posing outside after the tap recital.




My wild child at her recital.  This face says it all!



The other major event this spring for my oldest besides her musical at school was that she went to the prom. She was very excited and had a wonderful time. She was looking forward to it for a while.  I told her that when the time comes for her prom she will be a pro. :)  She looked so beautiful!







Prom night.



 I have a "to do list" planned for jobs around the house for this summer and some fun activities planned also.  My oldest has already made use of our hammock and the new swing that we put up.  She loves to go out and lay there and read.  We are planning some more hiking expeditions on the Blue Ridge Parkway also.  Overall it should be a fun summer!  One we are greatly looking forward to.  Now if only my hubby could come home and enjoy it with us.  His truck has been having some maintenance issues this year, but we are hoping we have gotten most of them complete.  Lord willing. 

Now that things are calming down I will be blogging more, also my camera died and I have taken over my hubby's so we are all good.   God Bless!

Start of 2011

This year started off with some hard news for us.  My grandmother was diagnosed with state 4 cancer the 4rth of January.  She had no clue to our knowledge that she had cancer and then to be told it is stage 4 and no treatments could help was quite a shock for her and us both.  She took the news well, but she gave up the fight by the end of the month and went to live with our Lord and Savior.  It was a sad time for us, but we are grateful that the Lord spared her the pain and suffering that comes with the type of cancer she had.  She had outlived her husband and both her children so we know that she is happy to have been reunited with them.  The day before she died I called her and she told me she was dying and was ready to go.  That she did not want me upset and that it was a good day to go.  I guess she was ready......She was dearly loved will be greatly missed.

Back to Blogging

Hello! I had gotten away from blogging for a while. With homeschooling, church, getting ready for winter, and my hubby looking into a new job, it has been kinda crazy. But old man winter has set in and the days seem to be slowing down. We are all in the Christmas spirit. The tree is up and decorated along with the house, we are baking up a storm, and the snow has come and layered the countryside in a magical winter wonderland scene. Winter is always a slower time for us and I enjoy the less hectic days that comes with all the cold quiet whiteness of winter. There is something so peaceful about the snow when it is falling ever so gently to the earth. It blankets everything in its beauty of white and the silence settles in all around. It is one of my favorite times of the year. So, that said, here are some of the highlights as of late.

My 3yr old turned 4. She is very eager to tell you or shall I say SHOW you she is four now by proudly holding up 4 fingers and saying, "Soon I will be 5!" Whoa, slow down kiddo! You just turned 4! She is such a happy little girl with her strong personality and joyous vibrant energy she brings many smiles and laughs to our family. (A few yells as well, but we won't go there.) I am so happy that we were blessed with her. Here is a pic of her with her presents. She loved her little fur real kitty that purrs and walks!

She is as wild as ever and was very excited because the day after her birthday she got to dance in the Nutcracker Ballet. Both my younger girls take tap and ballet this year and the studio they dance with puts on a performance of the Nutcracker at the local college auditorium. It was a great experience for the girls and the really enjoyed it. The show was really wonderful and the costumes, dancers, and sets were excellent. I really enjoyed it. I know it is something they will always remember. After seeing the show my oldest daughter expressed her desire to take ballet now. I know my hubby will be ecstatic to hear that! :) Here are some pics that I took before the show.

Here is my 4yr old in her beautiful costume. She was one of the Gumdrops and was so cute up there doing her Gumdrop dance with all the other adorable 3 and 4 yr old's! She loved being up on stage of course and was not the least bit scared. Why does that now surprise me?

I snapped this picture of my 3yr old, the little girl I used to babysit (in the middle), and my 7yr old. My 7yr old was an Angel in the show and also looked beautiful up on the stage performing her dance!

Here is my 4 year old posing. Parents of Gumdrops had to stay with them before the performance due to their age so I have more pics of her than of her sister. Luckily the mom of my daughters friend was able to get lots of pics of my 7 yr old for me.

We also received a new addition to our family in the form of a miniature pincher whom my hubby found along the roadside half starved in a very remote part of New Mexico. We are not sure how he got there and our only guess is that someone dropped him off. He is a lively little pup whom my children love. They have named him Jack and he is like a little jumping jack! He is hilarious to watch in the snow as he leaps through it like a deer. The kids are really enjoying him and are very glad to have him. Here he is with my 7yr old whom he sleeps with every night.

And of course we had our first big snowfall. Needless to say that after I took these pictures we received our second big snowfall in the form of a small blizzard. It is downright FRIGID outside, but we are warm and toasty by our wood stove and enjoying yummy homemade bread and lots and lots of cookies and other baked goodies. We can eat all we want to as between shovelling all the snow and hiking down to our vehicle we burn off all these extra calories we consume. :) My son has discovered he actually enjoys shovelling snow with our new snow shovel. We will see how long that lasts. But for now I am enjoying it. Once the frigid temps go back up we will head outside to try out the new sled my son got and enjoy some yummy snow cream! Until then we are huddled up inside still doing schoolwork, playing games, and cooking up good things to eat. So until next time. Merry Christmas! and Stay warm!

Crazy Hectic Autumn Days

It has been C R A Z Y hectic here for the past few weeks. Football is winding down which means more games then ever. We have had other fall activities for my teenager come about and we have been busy getting everyone where they need to be. My hubby came home and between getting his truck fixed, going to get his dad, and the kids activities we did not sit still a single day. It was busy but fun, and we greatly enjoyed having him home. We did take time out to do something that his dad loves to do and that is fish at the trout pond. All the kids went except my oldest who does not like to fish. They had a ball reeling in those nice big fish. The only problem we had was when we got back home, none of the kids except my son wanted to eat any. My 3yr old said she wanted the fishy to go back home to his family because they missed him and that is why she would not eat any. :) I was able to use my hubby's nice new camera and took all the pictures of the trout fishing expedition. Here they are...



Here is my hubby helping our 3yr old reel in her fish. It was one of my first pictures with the camera. They get better. :)




Here she is with the fish she caught! She was so excited when she and daddy pulled this in. Look at that big smile!




Here is my 7yr old with her big catch. She did not want to touch the fish when it was alive, but later after it was deceased she was just fine with picking it up and showing it off. Go figure. I guess the wiggly live fish was scarier than the limp dead one. :)


I believe my son caught the biggest fish that day. He was extremely proud of his catch! Look at the size of that FISH!


Then my hubby caught a fish. He did not want his picture taken but I told him he had to. :)



Then it was Granddaddy's turn. He just grabbed a pole and sat right there and fished. He was the smart one. : ) He caught a fish right away and here is my hubby netting it for him.


He did get up for his picture with his second catch. He knew he had caught a pretty one and I wanted to make sure I had a good picture of it. We enjoyed having him come and stay with us and we wished it would have been for a longer visit. The kids were sad when he went back home. They liked having him here.


The next activity was later that evening. My son had his but football game at ASU. Talk about excited! I took this picture of him in front of "the rock" that is outside the stadium.

Yes, he is crazy and yes, he does take after his mama in that regard! :)

He was so very excited that his daddy was gonna get to see him play in an actual game. Here he is blocking his opponent.


All the kids had a great time playing on the university football field in the big stadium. It was a memorable moment for sure!

And of course, what would my blog be without a picture of my crazy girl? She got right in front of the camera as I was trying to take a zoomed in picture of her brother.

She is such a cutie pie! I could just eat her up! She had a good time at the big stadium.

I will post another post later in the week of our activities since my hubby's home time. Right now I am trying to get ready for my oldest daughter's birthday. She turns 15 this Friday. I cannot believe that! Where did all the time go!

Our Time Together

We have been going strong in our homeschooling and our extra curricular activities. My youngest has decided that SHE needs to do schoolwork too, so we have gotten some books and she has been attending school with us in the mornings. The other morning during our devotion time my son put his chair next to her and was showing her where to find the scripture we were looking for and then read it with her with her saying the words out loud after him. It was so precious.

He is such a great big brother! I tell my kids that I gave them the best gift I could give them and that is their siblings. They really do get along very well with only occasional gripes. I hope it continues on through the years. I know that my sister is one of my very best friends! Love ya Sis!

Then we decided that the weather was to nice to sit indoors so we took our lessons outside and then decided to construct a Tee Pee in our yard since we were studying Native Americans in history. This is the outcome of the kids hard work. They gathered the wood for the frame, measured it, and then my son cut it to length. They then tied it together at the top and used pine branches in lieu of buffalo skin for the covering. We were going to use a tarp, but a friend of mine suggested the pine tree branches and we thought it was a great idea. Thanks Melissa! :) It is still up and the girls are having a lot of fun playing house in it.

The next day the girls decided to play dress up while I was doing laundry. They used my garden hat and my sunglasses along with some other stuff they found lying about. They were adorable in their outfits so I had to grab the camera and take their pics.


Here is my 7yr old who started the dress up game. She said she was a movie star. ;)


My 3yr old then wanted to wear the hat and sunglasses and became fussy when her sister would not give them to her right away. This is the face she was making when when she finally got the hat and sunglasses.


Then she made THIS face and told me to take her pic. What a crazy girl!

And of course what would my blog be without the football talk. My son had another game this past Saturday and they won! At least the weather was nice for their victory!

He has a very important game coming up where his team will play on ASU's field. He is very excited and is hoping that his daddy will be able to come home to watch him. I think he is going to explode with excitement before the game day arrives. :)

Busy Weekend

We had a busy football weekend. My son had games Thursday and Friday nigh and then another game on Saturday. It rained for all but one of the games. Did I say rain? I meant poured! So this is what we were doing while most people were snug and warm at home.

Luckily my two little girls were well prepared for the yucky weather. The picture is so blurry due to the rain. My oldest one has this look on her face as she is contemplating her next move. Did I tell you how much fun they had? Oh, I didn't? I am sorry. Let me tell you how much fun they had splashing in the mud puddles which, by the way, got anyone within a 10 foot radius wet and muddy, FUN! Oh, and did I tell you how much fun it was to stick their hands and sometimes whole arms into the downspouts that came off the building that housed the concession stand and at one point even attempting to DRINK the yucky water while their mother lurched at them while frantically screaming out NO! ABSOLUTELY FUN! Or how much fun it was to slide along the bleachers thoroughly cleaning them of all water while also covering every inch of their bodies with said water so they soaked themselves to the bone in spite of their moms attempt to keep them dry? FUN! That is not all the fun stuff we did, just the highlights of our time! But in their defense it IS hard to stay still and out of trouble for 2 hours while their brother and other boys run around on the field after some ball while jumping onto each other. Silly boys! :)

Needless to say I did get to watch some of my sons game. He played well and was very wet and slept extremely well this weekend. Oh, the girls slept well to. In case you were wondering. ;)

We did manage to take some time off from football and on Sunday evening we took a trip to the playground to relax and have some drier fun. They had a lot of fun riding around the track and then we played a game called "graveyard" which they had learned that morning. Of course there was the mandatory swinging and teeter tottering and climbing on all the equipment. I just take this time to relax and enjoy them. It is by far my favorite time with them. We are usually by ourselves due to the time we go and can just enjoy ourselves. It is a great way to start a new week, or end a week, whichever you prefer. So here are some pics.

Here is my 10yr old and my 7yr old riding around the track. They come up with all types of creative games to play while doing this. I won't go into details here. :)


Of course my 3yr old had to join in on all the fun and games. She loves this big wheel that she has and I think the wheels are gonna fall off it before she gives it up. She has a big girl bike complete with training wheels, but prefers to use this. She loves to have me follow her around the track and occasionally lets me pass. Her favorite game is red light green light. There are a LOT of red lights. I think she just likes making me stop unexpectedly while she cackles her little laugh and takes off racing away yelling, "green yite"!

Then the girls played restaurant. I think her shirt says it all about these two and their weekend adventures. :)


Then sister went off to play with brother so it was just me and the little one playing restaurant. She asks me what I want to eat and when I tell her she tells ME what I REALLY want to eat and makes it. She can be a bit bossy in her game, but look at this face! She such a cutie pie! How can one resist? I can't. At least not on our playground outings. But when we are home and the daily grind is happening? You betcha! Have a great week!