Snowing in Georgia!!!!!

Finally, the weather predictions have come true and the snow has arrived. My boys were super excited (Jason, too!) and enjoyed hours of playing in it. I loved it too, but wasn't able to sled or have a snowball fight, so I spent the day taking pics, doing the snow laundry, and baking warm goodies for the boys to enjoy in between being outdoors. It was a beautiful and fun day!!!

Family Vacation

We recently returned from a week long family beach vacation to Panama City. It was a wonderful trip full of exciting events.
We spent the week meeting new people, interacting with wildlife, and doing all sorts of memorable things.
Among some of the "beach critters" we happened to see were dolphins, sting rays, whelks, barnacles, starfish, crabs, sea urchins, and other things we could not identify. It was fun to take our field guide along and look up all of the neat creatures we came across, trying to identify as many as we could. After dinner as we would walk along the docks near the restaurants, my boys would stretch out and lean way over the docks looking at the various things either floating in the water or clinging to the posts of the dock. I loved watching them interact with God's Creation with such fascination and as Ben stated one evening, "this is real learning you don't get in a classroom!" I agree!!
As for our outings, this year we were fortunate enough to be able to take the boys on the Pirate Ship. We have looked at it for a few years now and finally felt they were all old enough to enjoy it. We cruised along in the water for about 2 hours and had fun watching the boys shoot each other with water guns, mop the poop deck, play games, and search for treasure. It really was alot of fun and we were able to get a close up of the dolphins as we rounded the bend close to St. Andrews State Park. So much fun to be out on the water with the wind whipping around us and the salty seawater spraying upwards.
Other things we did were go-karts and putt-putt golf. Both of these were fun as well, although competition can sometimes make it challenging to keep everyone loving each other and enjoying the evening. Overall, they did really well and I am glad we took the time to do some out-of-the-water activities. Now that the boys are all getting old enough to participate, it makes things more fun for everyone.
Of course, "all good things must come to an end" (or so they say), so we are now back in Georgia doing the things that we ordinarily do as a family, continuing to enjoy the carefree pace of Summer. Our vacation was a wonderful reprieve from busyness that had great benefits to all of us. I am looking forward to our next trip already!

Future Veterinarians

Today, I took four of the boys and we headed to Athens to the University of Georgia for their annual Veterinary Hospital day. Each year the college opens it's doors to the public so that people can tour the animal hospital, see exotic animals, and learn alot about animals and their medical care.
We had a GREAT time and I think we really learned alot...at least Mom did!
We started off in front of the hospital where there were several pens set up that housed animals such as a camel, a kangaroo, two llamas, dairy cows and calves, and so on. We were able to view a real cow stomach and learn how it functions. Pretty gross, but interesting.
After that we went through the exotic animals exhibit where we petted a snake, took a look at turtles, skinks, iguanas, and other types of reptiles. That was pretty interesting, though very crowded with schoolkids on a field trip.
Next we decided to take the tour of the actual hospital where surgeries and all sorts of other procedures are performed on dogs, cats, horses, and I guess any other animal. We waited in line for about 45 minutes, at which time I decided that my children are NOT ready for Disney, and then we were able to tour. There were no major operations taking place, but we saw a couple of dogs under anesthesia and a horse that was a little frustrated after it's treatment. It was a good opportunity for the boys to see real medical care and I know that Jacob really enjoyed it.
By this time, we were all starving and we had plans to meet up with some other homeschool families for lunch. We all brought a picnic and it was a good change for the boys to refuel and take some time out for tag on the lawn. We did have to keep them from climbing the trees, but other than that there were no major problems.
Finally we were ready to go to the Teddy Bear Surgery Center. This is really neat and worth the trip just for this one area. There is this huge room set up just like an emergency room, except multiple stations, with a triage, pre-op, an finally surgery tables. The children were able to bring stuffed animals from home that needed stitches and were shown how to sew them up!
In triage, they listened through the stethoscope for a heartbeat, checked temperatures and reflexes, and blood pressure. Then on to pre-op where they gave their animals some gas to put them to sleep and put in an IV. Finally on to surgery where the vet students stitched up the bears with the assistance of the children. It was really cool! As you can see in the pics, the children wore gowns and masks, and really got into it.
The last thing we did was hit the face painting booth and take a bathroom break before getting on the road to head home. Overall, it was a wonderful time and a field trip worth taking. I am already looking forward to next year!

A Weekend Away...

"Opposites attract"...so the saying goes. That has never been truer than in our family. Jason and I are complete opposites and while it drives me crazy at times, often I am so thankful. You see, I am not a spontaneous person in the least. I like to wake up already knowing my plans for the day and stick to them until I say goodnight. However, I can always count on my husband to burst into my plans with plans of his own...and usually because his plans are more fun, he wins over!
This is sort of what happened on a recent weekend. It all started on a Friday around lunch. We were sitting at the table eating and talking about the beautiful weather when all of a sudden one of the boys spoke up, "I wish we could go to the mountains today." That was it!!! The wheels quickly began to turn and by 2:00 we were picking our oldest son up from school early and had the car packed to head to Blue Ridge. Whew...a whirlwind!
It took about 2 hours to get there, but it was like an entrance into another world as we stepped out of our van (more like tumbled out)and instantly breathed in the cool, crisp mountain air. The boys, of course, were excited and quickly began lugging our things into the cabin.
Upon entering we all took our own quick tours through the house claiming rooms and ooohhhhing and aaahhhhing over the things we each liked best. The view, the pool table, hot tub, huge jacuzzi tub, and on and on we went. (Thankfully the place belongs to a friend and we were able to use it for the small price of the cleaning fee!)
We spent the rest of the evening being lazy, enjoying much needed rest and refreshment and drinking hot cocoa and coffee together while we played Apples to Apples. It was alot of fun.
When morning came we knew we had to go hiking...that is my favorite thing to do in the mountains, so we ate a large breakfast and packed up our things since we would have to be heading home afterwards. We set out into the town to ask about and find the best trails for the day. We were directed to the Ocoee River area where the Olympic kayaking took place years ago. The hiking itself was fun...we didn't see a whole lot of amazing things, but we did enjoy the exercise and the fresh air. I think the only natural thing that captured my attention was the various types of mosses and lichens. I always love to take pictures of the soft, fuzzy mosses that cover large areas of the woods, and this day was no different. However, the mosses I came across were so different and very beautiful! Not only did we see the lush green, but so many other colors as well. It was like little "forests" of green and pink or green and white tips...absolutely interesting and I could not stop taking pictures and admiring their beauty. It was a great opportunity to discuss the amazing creativity of our God and how He takes pleasure in creating even the tiniest things into something beautiful! No matter where we go or what we do, if our eyes are open we can find all sorts of beautiful, often intricate, things that He has made and we have the privilege to enjoy. That always gets me excited and so we had some great conversations and truly an enjoyable time!
Next, we drove over to the Ocoee River and had a really fun time exploring and climbing on the rocks and so forth. There is nothing better for our family than time together outdoors. It is a guarantee that when we go hiking together, our children get along better, they are kinder and more helpful, and everyone feels closer to one another and to our Creator.
It is through experiences like these that I learn to appreciate the spontaneity of my husband and I feel very contented in my soul that we are a family heading in the right direction. Although problems and issues come and go and there are times when we feel very overwhelmed and inadequate at this parent/marriage thing...it is on days like these that I say to myself, "slow and steady...keep on going...God is faithful" and so forth. I am always so humbled and encouraged at the same time. So, the next time my husband has some great idea, I have learned to say, "maybe..."!

Our Latest Adventures

It sure seems like our family has been on the go lately! I am looking forward to spending the weekend at home catching up on some housecleaning and organizizing.
Anyways, we spent most of the day Thursday at Stone Mountain. We attended the Big Apple Circus at 11:00 and then headed over to the playground afterwards to hang out with friends and let the kids burn off a little energy before driving home.
We really enjoyed our family day. The circus was alot of fun, especially for Nathan, who had not been to a circus before. I enjoyed watching his reaction to the different acts and seeing how mesmerized he was by everything. Of course, we took lots of pictures, so I thought I would share a few here:

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Sadly, in years past we have not celebrated Valentines Day as an entire family. Though Jason would usually buy me a gift and I would get him a card, we did not make it family-wide. This year, however, we decided to change that and make a new tradition.
We started off by planning a treasure hunt, in which the boys were given 10 clues to solve, before finding their Valentines "treasure":

1.Valentines is a day of love, clue #2 is behind our love spot - the "cuddle place". (our big chair where we cuddle each day with our children.)

2. After a kiss for Mom and Dad, you will find clue #3 in a place where your clothes get warm. (the dryer)

3. Give each other a high-five! Clue #4 will be found in a place that rhymes with lovin - a hot place! (the oven)

4. Now it's time to get it going! Clue #5 will be in the "upper deck" right on top of the world books. (upstairs in our "library" on the World Book Encyclopedia set.)

5. Mom & Dad like to snuggle, too. Every night we snuggle here - find clue #6 in a comfy place. (our bed)

6. Sometimes, love gets cold...so does this place and it keeps our veggies nice & crisp. (veggie drawer - refrigerator)

7. Hug a brother that is standing close to you! Because you're getting close as well...Clue #8 will be found where we find our daily bills. (mailbox)

8. Are we having fun yet? If not, let's go for a drive! Clue #9 will be found in the family "go-mobile". (our van)

9. Good job so far - only one more clue to go! Give out a big "yee-haw"! Clue #10 will be found where we keep our "living bread" - the words of life! (Bible basket)

10. You found clue #10 - Now you've got to think! You'll find your treasures on the path to yesterdays study spot - or was it just a fun place to be? Think hard! (in the attic on the way to the roof - the thinking spot our children like to go to.)

Oh how fun to watch the boys run around and read each new clue as if it was the most exciting thing they had ever done! Also to see them follow the directions and give high-fives or hugs...it was priceless. All of their efforts paid off with each of them finding a valentine bag filled with candy and a toy and a personal note from Mom & Dad...I may have spent $10.00 on all of it, but it was worth thousands!

After the treasure hunt, we had breakfast. I decided to make heart-shaped pancakes and sausage. I cooked the pancakes from a new recipe and then Caleb & Ben took cookie cutters and cut them into hearts. We set the table with crystal goblets, our best dishes, and lit candles to make it the special occasion it was. As we ate, each person shared what their favorite thing about our family is. We heard, "family vacations", "we have fun together", and "cuddling" as some of the answers. It was a sweet time - literally as I looked at all of the syrup on their plates! Oh well, it's valentines day, right?
We finished off the afternoon with cuddling and playing...we really just hung out together and had fun as a family. I think we all agreed with Nathan's sentiments:
"This is the greatest Valentin's Day I ever did before!" Amen!!!

1920's Mystery Dinner

Last night Jason and I attended a 25th wedding celebration for our friends, Dave & Karen Channell. Instead of the same old party, they chose instead to do a 1920's mystery dinner. Everyone was assigned a character and given certain secret information for the evening and were to come dressed for their part. At first we weren't sure about this! Both Jason and I were a little nervous about being "out of character" per se, but it was nice to know that we were not the only ones!
As we got to the party, it was fun to see many of our friends dressed in their costumes and then to begin playing the parts we were assigned. Although we are not natural "actors", we did our best to accomplish the goals we were given. (Two of which were ackward: 1. confronting my husband's possible mistress and 2. confronting my husband - who was really not my husband at all - about the situation.)
Some of the characters really got into it, like Sandy a.k.a Carrie Crooner - the singer for the evening who ran around calling for her "Pookie!", her new husband of a week, who was actually "killed" during the event.
Once the evening came to an end and we headed home, me in my feathered headband and Jason in his felt hat, we came to the conclusion that it was a really fun night and we enjoyed it immensely! Just goes to show that we should never pre-judge an occasion and it is good to step out of our comfort zone once in awhile.

Natural Beauty

Oh, how wonderful to see the beautiful sun shining and feel it's warmth on our faces today! After all of the cold weather we have had, I could not have asked for anything better than an afternoon outside with my boys looking at all of the interesting things God has placed before us to admire, study, & enjoy!
Although I do not have alot of land of my own, I am blessed to know others who do and who are gracious enough to share it! So after placing a call to our friends, we all headed out to "go exploring".
We started out at the small pond where we took deep breaths of fresh air and forgot all about the cold weather. We noticed the water levels had dropped since we last visited and we toyed with the idea of kayaking, but we decided against it since we wanted to stay dry. Instead we all agreed to take a hike and see how many signs we could find that would prove to us there had been mammals of some sort around the area. I told the boys to look for clues, such as tufts of hair, half-eaten nuts or pinecones, tracks, or "droppings". Of course they were humored by the last clue and were ready to set off!
Our oldest son, who has camped (and worked) on this land before, wanted to take us on a trail he was familiar with, so we all allowed him to be our guide and followed happily behind him. We spotted alot of natural beauty, such as green moss and wild ferns. We did not initially see any wildlife, but we still enjoyed our trek up to the big pond. There we sat and admired the water and the boys made little "boats" out of tree bark and had fun seeing which ones would float. We did see some geese on the water and found a really neat hollow tree that some animal was probably using for shelter. Nathan was the only one who ended up in the water and he only to his knees. As he was trying to get a stick out of the water, it "pulled him in" (as he says) and he had a short scare. Boy, did he jump out of that water quickly! It was hard not to laugh, but thankfully he did not allow it to ruin his day. I think it helped that Ben offered him his jacket to wrap up in until he was a little drier.
We decided to head back to the smaller pond and as we rounded the corner to it we were greeted by three beautiful horses who had wandered over to munch on the greener grass around the pond. We were so excited to be able to go over and pet them and feed them some grass from our hands. I was a little unnerved at times with all of the children around the horses, but they did a good job of following the instructions I gave them so that noone would get kicked or stepped on.
We spent alot of our time with the horses because they were so gentle and beautiful and we could not pull ourselves away to go on. However, we did notice that the sun was lowering and we knew our time was getting short. Lately, I have been taking some time to admire the silouettes of the trees in the sunrise/sunset, so I took a couple of pictures and pointed this out to the boys. I'm not sure that they caught my enthusiasm, but one day they may.
Finally, it was time to go home, but much to our delight we were given one more gift of beauty as we headed down the driveway...deer in the pastures peacefully grazing. We could not have asked for anything more! How refreshed we were when we got back home and how much more we admire the Creation around us!

Fall Days - We Love Them!!!

Well, it sure was a beautiful Saturday and we wasted no time in getting out and enjoying it! I knew before I got out of bed that the first place I wanted to go was over to Jaemor farms to do a little tree study and buy some apples & pumpkins and other fall goodies! So we all got ready to go and on the way I read a little to the boys out of Handbook of Nature Study on apple trees and also a little of Anne of Green Gables. Now I know that this is not a "boys book", but we are studying Canada right now and Anne lived there so we decided to read it anyways. I am so glad that we did because it is a wonderful story!
Once at Jaemor we asked for permission to walk around in the orchards and examine the bark & leaves of the apple tree. We were directed to a patch of Arkansas Blacks and even given permission to pick a few to eat while we looked. We noticed that on the tree, the apples have a dusty film, but with a quick rub they are immediately red and bright and they tasted wonderful! We also noticed rabbit droppings around the trees and we suspect the rabbits are munching on the fallen apples littered on the ground.
Once our tree study was over we headed in to buy a 1/2 bushel of red delicious apples and some other things to decorate our table with, like small pumpkins & gourds. Luke was my buggy helper and Jason & the other boys quickly found the boiled peanuts and a place to sit and munch on them. We always love our annual trip to Jaemor and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.
Afterwards we decided to drive on further North towards Helen in order to have a picnic and possibly visit "our spot". We knew that the tubing would be finished and that there are some nice picnic areas along the creek, so that is where we went and sure enough found a really nice spot. The sun was shining and the fall colors were really pretty with the wind gently blowing all of the leaves around. The boys wasted no time in getting their feet wet and wading around in the cool water. They always start out begging to "just stick our feet in" and end up wet to the waist. Oh well, that is whay we came here anyways, so we enjoyed watching them explore. Today was especially nice because our 13 year old, who is growing out of his child-like ways, allowed himself to relax and climb trees and wade along with his little brothers as well. I so want him to remain my little boy, and it touched my heart to see him having so much simple fun.
Of course we couldn't come this far without our trip to "our spot", a rope swing a few miles out in the woods along a nice little creek that we found a few months ago. The boys really have laid claim on it and it is so fun to see them swinging way out over the water with excitement on their faces and laughter in their voices! We stayed here quite awhile and Jason & the boys built a fire to warm their wet bodies, but pretty soon it was time to head home. The duties of life were beginning to call us, though faintly just yet. All of my wet, muddy boys climbed in the van reluctantly and off we went stopping to look at a few things along the way.
Now we are home and it is back to the familiar things we do every Sat. night - getting our church clothes out, preparing for the week, and off to bed. As I sit here & think of our day I am reminded of how blessed I am. Were I to try and count the ways it would take me all night. I am also reminded of how quickly time is passing and my prayer is that I would stay focused on what really matters and let the non-essentials fade into the background!