Wrapping Up Another Soccer Season

Another soccer season has come to an end. The girls had a great time playing, but I think we are all grateful to have our Thursday nights and Saturday mornings back.

This is what Brooke and Garrett do when their sisters are playing soccer.

And this is what Kayla and Macy do while Brooke is playing.

We are thankful for another wonderful soccer season!

Fall Festival

Kayla the cowgirl.

Brooke Elsa freezing the world with her powers.

And pretty as a peacock Macy.

At one of the festivals the kids earned tickets at each of the games.  They turned them in to receive a cupcake, but before they were given the cupcake someone went through the road to salvation.  I loved that!

Pumpkin Patch

Once again we decided to stick close to home for an annual family adventure, and the pumpkin patch 2 miles down the road couldn't be any closer. While I love my usual pictures from Burt's Pumpkin Farm, we had such a great time exploring a new location this year.

We started off with a hay ride around the property.

This girl is certifiably crazy.

And then we chose a few pumpkins for our house.  They were pretty reasonably priced too!

The girls played a few rounds of bean bag toss.

And we ended the adventure with a corn maze. The kids had a great time.  It wasn't crowded at all so mommy and daddy had a great time too. :)

I love fall adventures with my family. The kids are at such a great age right now and we have so much fun doing things together.

Apple Pickin'

This year we decided to stick a little closer to home for our apple picking adventure. We drove to a orchard about 45 minutes away instead of the 1.25 hour drive into Blue Ridge. This orchard had more kiddie things to do, but the actual apple picking was a little disappointing. There were only a couple of varieties to choose from and you weren't supposed to eat them off the tree while you were there.  That's one thing that we really enjoy doing when we go, and we did let the girls choose one to eat.  Shh.. But back to the kiddie fun. The girls were starting to get a little old for some of the stuff, but they'll always hop on a horse of any kind!

They all had a blast jumping on the large inflatable pillow.

The bees were minimal and the girls had a good time picking apples, so I guess all in all it was a fun, successful day.  But next year we'll be back at Merciers. :)

Life Lately

It's been quite a while since I have posted. I'm not even sure I'm going to dig around and find any pictures to put on here today. I won't abandon the blog. It's for my children.  And even though this season of life is crazy busy and posts are scarce, I do this for my kids.  They love looking back through the blog or the books I've printed, and honestly so do I. So with all that said I wanted to give a little update on our crazy busy life.

I'm back to teaching at the girls school.  Since it is only language arts and history I teach for 5 hours a week and yet I put it so. many. more. in preparation.  It's almost ridiculous how much times goes into preparing for a 5 hour a week job. I'm really hoping that next year will be at least half of the prep time, because if there is no light at the end of this tunnel I don't know what I will do.  Don't get me wrong, I'm loving teaching and even the work outside of the classroom too. I love being at my kids' amazing school, and Brooke is having a great time in preschool. I'm exactly where the Lord wants me (and I hope He keeps me there long enough to get long-term use out of all of this work I'm doing this year - ha!).

With so much of my time being taken and obviously still homeschooling 3 days a week, carting kids to dance, gymnastics, or church events, life on the home front is less than ideal. There is still cleaning, laundry, preparing dinner, errands.... The list just goes on and on.  If it weren't for my amazing husband the house would be falling apart.  He does 75% of the laundry these day - washing, drying, folding and, hanging.  I have great intentions, but I usually forget to swap loads over during the day so I accomplish little.  Last night he was assembling and painting 3 cardboard chariots for Greek Olympic Day. Three out of the four passed off to me didn't survive. He is the other half of my brain these days. Or possibly 2/3. He is also working on framing the basement in his "spare time." He has done every bit of the framing by himself with only a couple hours of work left tying up some loose ends.  He is picking up so much slack and I am so grateful. And for the cherry on top he is driving to meet me after working late today to get the kids so I can go out with some ladies for dinner. And when I get home the kids will have been fed, bathed, and put in bed. Spoiled I am.

I am so incredibly blessed by this man, and I don't know where I'd be this school year without him. He is so very loved and appreciated by his family!

Back to School Pictures

A couple of weeks ago we had some pictures taken of the girls.  A sweet friend of mine has a beautiful daughter that has begun exploring the art of photography. She just turned 16 and she was also one of my 1st and 2nd grade science students.  So very hard to believe. Anyway, she was offering a special deal to take back to school pictures. I asked if she wouldn't mind taking some regular pictures of the girls as well.  It's always such a struggle to get good pictures ourselves and stress levels get too high. Thankfully she was willing and we ended up with some great pictures.

It is so hard to believe that my oldest child is now in 4th grade. I taught 4th grade before having children and I can't believe I now have a 4th grader. And I have no problem admitting that I'm super excited about her learning American History this year.  I fell in love with our history while teaching it and I can't wait to pass along some of that love to her.

Macy is in 2nd grade and she has been looking forward to it for at least 6 months. She enjoyed 1st grade, but she can't wait to do "Christmas Around the World" in a couple of months.  It's the biggest thing she has been excited about.

And my baby is in preschool.  The older two never went to preschool and I had no plans for Brooke to attend either.  The Lord had different plans for our family this year and she is having such a great time. The only negative is that she is now taking a nap every day she is there which means she is up late that night.  She doesn't sleep in so then we pay for it the next day. I'm thankful for this experience for her.

 

This is completely Macy's personality.

This is my favorite picture of the entire shoot. I just love how the colors of their eyes pop out. 

Such sweet sisters who love each other so much. So thankful.

The girls were concerned that there were no pictures with us in them.  A quick last minute picture turned out to be one of my favorites as well.

I love my little family and the memories we are making together.