Seriously.

So in the past 3 months ...

 Will turned FIVE. (Pictured here with cousin Logan)

 And here with his cake made by yours truly, thank you very much.

Camryn got bit by the fashion bug.

 I have a secret admirer.

 Katie got all her hair cut off and is sporting a super cute (and much easier to brush) blond bob.

 We went to the beach. Strep throat and all.

 Ben mastered the art of sandcastle building with the perfect combination of sand and water.

 My kids have grow even taller and skinnier. And a little more ornery.

 Camryn started her first year of preschool.

 My hair keeps getting shorter. And I now drive sideways ? Good thing I always wear my seat belt!

My brother Jesse got married in Laguna Beach. Coinciding with myself and Jon falling in love with Southern California.

And that's about it. Well except for work, homeschooling, music lessons, art class, Spanish, PE, Faith Formation, Kindermusik, creative writing and sports. Oh yeah, and somewhere around here there is a ton of laundry that needs to be done and an entire house that needs to be cleaned. I better run ...

Cucumbers and Cam

This is the largest single cucumber plant ever. Well, ok, maybe not. But it is large. Very large. And is taking over the house and yard. It's a beautiful, healthy, strong plant. And yes, that's only one cucumber plant. Climbing up the screen porch to the deck off the office. It's really quite pretty don't ya think? And guess how many cucumber we've gotten from this beautiful bounty?  Three. Three scrawny little cucumbers. I guess that's what they mean when they say looks aren't everything. Geez!

And here's Camryn reading a bedtime story to me. It makes up for a huge, healthy non-producing cucumber plant.

She's so darn cute, if I may say so myself. And you if can't understand her, don't worry, no one else can either. We call it Cam-speak. And much like her big sister it looks like she's on her way to speech therapy once she turns four, but for now we are enjoying her way of talking ... and calling herself  "Namryn".

Sheer Will

Will decided he wanted to ride his bike without training wheels today. So he did. In typical Will fashion he just picked up his bike and started riding. We took him to the park a couple times this spring to practice (where it's nice and grassy and makes for a softer landing) and he always did fairly well, but never wanted to try it 'off the grass'.  Enter our hot, humid, don't want to leave the house, summer weather and the bikes get put away until October when we can venture outside again without melting. Today was an exception, it was a nice and cool 87 degrees, time to go outside to do something other than submerge ourselves in water. Out come the bikes! And Will says he wants to ride without training wheels. Cool, but first we (as in Jon and myself) NEED to clean out the car. We were seriously in some form of health violation driving the kids around in that hazmat vehicle. So Will, sorry buddy, you will have to wait a little bit. We'll go to the park when we are done. Will, in pure Will fashion, decides he's not going to wait, he's just going to do it himself. And he does.

And that's how Will operates. He has more determination and focus than I know what to do with. But it does come in handy at times, like you know, when you need to disinfect your motor vehicle. Way to go Will. I am so proud of you. Surprised, no. But still proud.

August ???

Seriously? It's August? When did that happen?

My last post was three months ago ... and in that time let's see what has happened? Well first I got a job with Bank of America, then school got out and Ben and Katie said goodbye to Charlotte Latin, then Camryn (my baby turned 3), then Ben turned 9!!, then Grandma Baba and Papa came to visit, then we went to Maine for two weeks, then my second best friend in Charlotte moved ... and well you get the picture.

So here's the latest and greatest:

Viola!! It's our homeschooling room!! Otherwise known as The Death of a Dining Room. That large empty wall space will hold the white board. There are a lot more books and "stuff" in general in this room already, but it's not quite finished. I will be sure to take a picture on our first official day. Once I figure out when that's going to be.

In other news. Check out this little fish:

Isn't she the cutest little fish you've ever seen?? Today was her first day of swimming without 'armies' and she did great!!

So now that it's August and summer vacation is winding down I will try to make a better attempt at keeping up with this blog thing ... because I mean, really, what else do I have to do with all my time. HA!

Life's Calling

Homeschooling isn't for everyone. It's not something everyone can do. It takes a certain type of person. As an example take this typical day in our backyard. See that black 'thing' in the bottom of the pool? That is a bull frog.

Now I could have just caught this bull frog and let him go. And that would have been the end of it. But no, as a homeschooler at heart, I took this opportunity to teach and share the joy and awe of nature to my youngest children.

We noted the frog's sheer size. That's Will's crock that frog is next too. We also talked about how the chlorine in the pool probably had the frog feeling pretty sick at this point. Their skin is much more porous than ours ya know.

Here's the fella up close and personal. Will noted that the frog looked like he had two sets of eyes. Being the nature genius that I am I pointed out those 'other eyes' are how the frog hears. Not exactly ears per se, but hearing devices. I believe this is what scientists call them ~ hearing devices.
Yup almost certain that's what they are called. 

Imagine all we were learning at this point! It was such a fantastic lesson. Will and Camryn were eating it up. They love observing nature. Here is Camryn's hand. Notice this frog would be too large for Camryn to hold in one hand. Now I'm a nature nut, but this frog was a little too big and a little too gross for my liking, but as a future homeschooler I kept my emotions to myself as we continued to observe and learn about this strange looking animal.

And here in this video is where you can really witness me in my glory and see first hand why I consider homeschooling my life's calling. I was born to do this. Just listen to the awe and amazement in my voice.  The kids are going to learn so much from me.

Seven on the Seventh!

Katie-Kat turned seven on April seventh. And now that I have high speed internet I can share the pictures with you. Yeah for seven. Yeah for modern technology! We all joined Katie for lunch and a treat at school for her birthday.

 Will adores his big sister and spent his morning making this hat and door hanger for her. He wrapped it and presented it to her like it was the best thing he had ever done. She, being the fantastic big sister she is, totally made a big deal of it. Thank you Katie, you made Will's day making him think that he made yours.

 And below she is waiting for her cake. Just look at that face. Cake makes me feel the same exact way!

 Katie wanted to have a mock sleep over party with all the girls from her class. Add my other three, the neighbors two kids, a major storm with wind, rain and hail and you've got one exciting party! (And 15 screaming kids.)

 The party was lots of fun. Katie had a blast. And now she's seven. SEVEN.

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl. The best thing about my seven year old? The notes she leaves me to find while she's at school. Everyone one ends in "P.S. I love you." 

Farm Fun

 We spent Saturday afternoon at a farm in Shelby, NC. Katie's friend Lily Grace's grandparents own a beautiful sprawling horse farm up there. Every spring they throw a spring fling for their two granddaughters and all their classmates and families. It was spectacular!

 We pet and fed alpaca.

 Rode a miniature horse. (I didn't get a picture of Ben on the little guy, but he said it was his favorite part of the day. He had never ridden 'bare back' before and he thought that was pretty cool.)

 Camryn wanted to take the miniature home with us.

Held very soft and very sweet baby bunnies. (Katie was convinced this bunny wanted her to bring him home.)

Snuggled baby chicks.  This is Will asking "Can I keep this one?" (I must admit the chicks were beyond adorable. And we were just talking about the life cycle of chickens. It would be really neat to have a laying hen, and collect our own eggs. But the HOA here in Ballantyne Country Club has a hard time with children's playsets in the backyard, I'm gonna guess that they would say No to livestock.  Maybe we could convince Ma to get some baby chicks. Here that Ma? Haven't you always wanted chickens???)

And even got to pet a tortoise. I even found this tortoise to be quite cute. Will wanted to ride him.

This is my favorite picture. This is Kate with a couple of her friends in one of the million fields. Every time you turned around you saw another sight like this ~ fields and fences as far as you could see. It was beautiful!  Thank you to Lily Grace and family for hosting, it was a great day!