signs of fall

Sadly our pumpkins are already beginning to mold...I guess that's one of the disadvantages of living in such a warm state!

It looks like a fall garden agrees with our little plot!

Rockie River

It was nearly 2pm and I headed outside to round up my troops and bring them back inside to finish up our lessons and send one to bed for a nap. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered my 4 were working together to freshen up a set of old bike trails that run through our woods.

I wasn't privy to the conversation that lead to the naming of these new trails.

Although, I did cajole the youngest inside for his nap, I allowed the others to continue their bike trail work instead of finishing up their math.

Sometimes there are things that are just more important than math!

Night of Fun: part 2

Not too long ago, it was Ryan and Nathan's turn to plan a family "night of fun".  Admittingly, Ryan did most of the brainstorming and planning.  He was fortunate that Nathan is pretty agreeable!  Ryan had about an entire weekend's worth of activities planned out.  It took a little coaching to narrow the list down to a doable evening. 

The nights were remarkably similar! Instead of swimming in the lake, we fished. After an agonizing hour of fishing and no bites, we grilled hot dogs for dinner.

As night fell, we packed up headed for home to conclude our evening with a bowl of ice cream and a movie! I am thankful that our kids choose activities that take us outdoors along with a movie.

The fair

It was another great year at the fair. There's not a lot to say - the fair is the fair~

Philip even got in on a ride and I think he enjoyed it.

Annual photo with the prize winning pumpkins.

Corndogs.  They are a must for our crew even if it happens to be 10 am!

Not only did we get to go to the fair with my folks, we happened to be go on the same day as some of the Chryst family.

This was Nathan's first year riding any rides.  He loved them! 

He even talked Granny into riding a ride with him.  

Happy Birthday!

Today is Philip's birthday! We've never been huge birthday celebrator's but with kids in the house it is a different story. We started our preparations yesterday. The kids utilized their writing skills to script "birthday letters" instead of cards this year. It was neat to be able to tie a writing lesson into a very practical and desirable gift.

After the writing was finished up, we tackled the infamous Angel Pie. It's a requirement for the birthday boy. I'm glad that over the years his mom has given me the proper tools to make this job a bit easier. It's a challenging pie to make! I hope that it's not too long before my little helpers take over the honor!

In between planning for birthday celebrations, we have been preparing for the annual camping excursion. The kids and I did the shopping this year. I have a feeling that I bought a bit more than what Philip would have liked. I can't help it. I don't want my babies to be hungry.

Night of Fun

I picked up this book earlier this summer about parenting the "between" ages.  It was written by the folks that had written a book that I read diligently when I was in the throws of newborns.  I appreciated the fact that a book was written for parents about the 8-12 year old stage of life.  Although I have yet to finish it, we have implemented one of its ideas!
The concept is to involve your youngster in the planning and implementing of family fun nights.  We drew names so we could divide into teams and were given a budget of $20.  The children had the job of planning, organizing, purchasing, cooking and arranging the "Night of Fun". 

 Peter, Emma and I were on tap for the kick-off Night of Fun.  It was pretty easy for the two to decide the menu and agenda.  We would invite ourselves over to Mr. Gene and Ms. Bobbye's house for swim in the lake.  We grilled hotdogs, ate Doritos and drank Grape soda.  As if this wasn't enough fun, we headed home for a movie.  They cleared their budget by $0.02.

  Ryan, Nathan and Philip are on tap to organize the next "Night of Fun".  They have big plans and I can't wait to see what happens. 

Enrichment classes

For the first time ever, our homeschool association held enrichment classes for our members. I volunteered to lead the 3 and 4 year olds. I was blessed with a sweet group of children and plenty of mothers as assistants this afternoon.

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We were illustrating Day 2 of creation!

The K- 2 teacher recruited the fire department to come so the kids could have a tour of the engine and visit the smoke house!

I wasn't sure how Nathan would do since the class was during his nap time.  He seemed to manage pretty well :)

Beach time

Our family had the best time a few weekends ago when we headed to Topsail Island to celebrate with Philip's sister as she married. We already feel pretty spoiled that my parents live about 7 minutes from the beach but this weekend was serious spoiling. The Chryst family rented two beach front homes for the occasion. By 7 am all the children were already beach side. We stayed beach side for the most part of the day. The weather was beautiful, the dolphins were jumping and the company was fantastic. I could have stayed there for a long long time.

Emma had her first ever flower girl position.

Peter, Mindy and Philip.

Even the little guys got along beautifully the whole weekend.

We spent many hours on the beach, in the surf and in the sand.

Nathan had one too many kisses!

Needless to say the setting was fantastic for photos and more kisses!