Saturday, August 15, 2009

Utah

Here are some photos from our trip to Utah. Chad's parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. We all got together and visited Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park.

Here is a picture of everyoneme and Rose
Cassie, Rose and Tabby
Chad and Cullen
I plan to make a video of our trip at some point, but I thought I would go ahead and post a few pictures.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Homeschool Expo

Rose went to the Southeast Homeschool Expo with me. Even though we were there for 10 hours, attending workshops and browsing the expo booths, she did excellent. It was a long day for both of us. I enjoyed having her there with me. On Saturday she went swimming with daddy while I went to the 2nd day of the convention.
This was my first major homeschool conference (I have gone to small ones). It was so great. I loved looking at all the resources and curriculum available. The workshops had some really good speakers that was both encouraging and helpful. I am looking forward to going again.(for those of you reading this on 'facebook notes' feel free to click here to view the pictures and the full post on my blog....sometimes facebook doesn't bring everything over)

Monday, August 10, 2009

more of Tori and Rose

Rose and Tori goofing off.....
Rose and Tori playing horsie
Rose and Tori in the yard after church
Rose and Tori spinning in their pettiskirts
Rose and Tori playing play dough
Rose and Tori at Monkey Joe's
Rose and Tori playing with dolls
Rose and Tori at our church's America celebration
Rose and Tori standing in front of the huge hawk in our backyard
closer pic of the hawk, in case you couldn't see itin the previous pic
Rose and Tori at the movies
Rose and Tori at six Flags
Rose and Tori at the pool (which we went to just about everyday!)
Rose and Tori in the front yard
Rose and Tori (and Andrew) having water balloon games.
We loved having Tori here! She is a very precious girl, full of joy. She is very kind and sweet and an excellent helper. She has a big heart and God's love shines through her. I hope she comes down again for a visit. It was our pleasure having her here. A thanks goes to her mom for letting her come down. Here is a pic of me, my mom, my sister, Rose and Tori. Gma and Jen spent a few days here when they came down to pick up Tori.
We already miss you Tori.....thanks for visiting us!!!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

A day a Six Flags

Chad and I took Rose, Tori (my niece), Autumn and Elisabeth (homeschool friends) to Six Flags on Monday. It was a nice day for it. All the girls were so well behaved, it was a pleasure to have them all with us.
This was Rose's first time riding roller coasters....she even rode one that did upside down loops. Very brave.
If you are reading this on 'facebook notes' click HERE to view the video (you may also need to hit your refresh button once there)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Love babies?

It is common knowledge how much Rose and I love babies. We snatch them up to ohh and ahh over them when ever we can. So much so, that sometimes people are surprised when they find out I have only one child, they are used to seeing me with a baby and Rose. (Thankfully we have a couple of friends who are very generous and let us hold their little ones often, which we enjoy so much)
Rose has always been drawn to babies. When she was a baby and toddler herself and we were out in public, at the store or wherever, and she got upset I would only need to point out a baby and her spirits were immediately lifted. It was quite handy actually. Even at Rose's tender age I think she realizes how precious little ones are and that they are a gift from God.
Anyways, it seems Tori (my niece who is visiting us for few weeks) seems to share this same love for babies. Baby Sophia just adored her! Tori toted her around all day and Sophia didn't want anyone else. Here is a cute picture of the 2 of them:Which, btw, came in handy the other day when we ended up with 7 kids in the house (I had Andrew and Sophia and then my friend ended up in the hospital and I had her 3 precious ones). Everyone except Tori was 5 or under. But Tori was a Huge help. Actually Rose and Andrew were great helpers as well (They are both mature for their age, imo). Anyways, we spent some time outside. They played and played and 'took hikes' around the backyard....and of course it is always fun to get out the sidewalk chalk.


(for those of you reading this on 'facebook notes' feel free to click here to view the pictures and the full post on my blog)

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Rose and Tori

My 9 year old niece is visiting us for a few weeks. We are loving having her here. It is so fun for Rose to have her cousin here.

Tori and Rose in the sand.Tori and Rose at the park.
Tori and Rose on a picnic.
Tori and Rose at the creek.
Tori and Rose at the movies.
Having your cousin around is so much FUN!!

Cupcakes

For our annual family reunion (my mothers side) in KY, I am in charge of the reunion cake. This year I decided to make cupcakes.

Here are the insides....they are chocolate, and red, white, and blue. And they were so moist and yummy!Here they are decorated. I did a few plain white, some red, white and blue swirl, and some with toppers. I combined my scrapbooking with my cake decorating for the toppers. I laminated the circles so it wouldn't be gross having paper on the icing.
Here is a peek of last years cake if you want to see it.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Whale Of A Good Time

This is a HUGE playground at a semi local Baptist Church. One afternoon we went with friends to enjoy the day.
This section was Rose's favorite....Water mists out on you by the big giant fish.Here she is pretty soaked. Which felt nice b/c it was HOT that day.


Wednesday, July 1, 2009

At the Gas Pump

This one thing that I normally do not even have to think about. Chad keeps our van filled up for me. I do not enjoy pumping gas, so I am glad that he takes care of that for me.
He is great like that, there are many things that he takes care of. I never have to take the garbage out, or take the van in for oil changes or repairs, or mow the lawn, etc etc etc. They are just always done. I probably don't say thank you enough since it is often so far from my mind.
These are all things that I could do, but I am glad that I don't. Thank you honey.

Anyways, kind of side tracked there.
One day Rose and I were out and I noticed we were getting low on fuel. I have to admit that I was not even sure where the closest gas station was. (That is how far removed from my mind it is) But after thinking about it I remembered that we would be passing one on the way.
Rose asked if she could pump, so I said 'sure'.
There is delight in the little things. She enjoyed doing this so much, you can see the joy in her face. Taking the time to tell a little one yes and doing things together often does take more time. But it is ALWAYS worth it.