We Got to Bunnysit this summer

 This summer we got to bunnysit! "Bunjurmin" is the coolest bunny ever! We would love to have a bunny just like him and he LOVED the kids and the kids LOVED him!!!

A Dinner at Our House

Sunday Afternoon Stroll in the Woods

Our April was CRAZY to say the least as we were in the midst of a move so this weekend we took some time to breathe again and go do some fun things like take the kids to the park near our new home and then go on a hike near where our old house was. We had a GREAT time and the weather was FABULOUS!!

When we started walking into the woods J said "The woods are awesome!" I told him that God is awesome and that since God made the woods that they were awesome.:-) Later after the hike J said something
like the woods were fun and I remember him telling me the water was beautiful! I am so glad he enjoyed it so much because he was EXTREMELY excited to go hiking in the woods especially after we told him that the scary animals that he asked us about being in the woods were not there:-)

The kids had a grand time exploring and pretending to have sword fights with sticks, etc.

To the left:

My cute J with a Lady Slipper flower. I guess it was pretty special we saw this because my dad said he had never seen one in the wild before!!
J looks pretty surprised too!:-)

The little ones enjoyed exploring too!

My sweet A who has been ready for summer for a long time!

We are almost there!

G liked the way the pattern of this wood was! It is pretty neat!

We LOVE the GREENERY of this state!!

Who would expect to see this on the side of a trail?

So much history! Love it!

My Tom Sawyer, R.

This is Me and My Love

Just for Fun

Here is one of my FAVORITE Calvin and Hobbes comic strips!
My family are HUGE fans of Calvin and Hobbes. My hubby and I bought the complete 3 volume set for our anniversary years back and my kids love pouring over them:-)

 
Calvin & Hobbes (c) 2013 Bill Waterson

This particular comic reminds me of my older brother.:-)

Encouragement, Pass It On!!

This week was extremely busy as usual which is a good thing but it definitely had its rough moments. G, A, and I got a big kick out of the clip above!! A loose quote from part of the clip above is . . . "Your momma and daddy are behind you, God is behind you, I'm behind you!" He is quite motivational. I like the sports commentator at the end saying he felt like maybe he could go run through a brick wall!! :-) Encouragement--pass it on!!!

This was a big week. R and Big C started wrestling. The club they joined is supposed to be REALLY good and that was evident from their first night. They will have made A LOT of progress in wrestling by the end of the year if they work hard. Their coach seems to be GREAT and what an example he is of fortitude with 2 prosthetic legs.

G had a rougher week in school but it was NOT because he doesn't like school. In fact, he REALLY enjoys school. He got far enough into the year that the work was coming fast and heavy and he started to drown with his organizational skills not holding up. I expected this but I expected it earlier in the year like the first week or two. He is revamping his organizational system and Babe is really stepping in to mentor him through it. G is a hard worker with the STRONG desire to do things right and with God's help he'll fall into stride. I am thrilled he is learning this in Jr. High.

"A" has been working really hard on piano. She finds she enjoys playing and has really hit it off with her teacher. Her teacher has really motivated her a lot. I see "A" responding to her like an athlete does a inspirational coach. But she told me the other day she misses Mrs. W (her teacher in CO). "A" has a great attitude of enjoying the new but appreciating and missing her old teacher.

"A" has been working SOOOO much on her piano. Her teacher has been coming to our house apart from lessons to work with her on finger strength and technique on Tuesday afternoons and she has extended "A's" lesson times out on Thursdays for awhile to work more with her. "A" is really learning a lot and has a smile on her face after lessons. We are very thankful for a teacher so generous with her time.

Funny story from today . . . Babe and I spent the day unpacking and sorting in the garage. As we would finish a box it would be broken down and laid in the stack of other boxes. At the end of the day I was carrying "J" around and I was talking and said "I need kids to come out here and carry the boxes away." Little "J" replied "Not I." Too funny, he is a book fanatic and probably took that line out of the Golden Book about the Little Red Hen that planted the grain of wheat.:-)

Anyway, the clip above is so true no matter what in life is challenging us whether academics, music, athletics, etc. What a blessing to know you've got a Mommy and Daddy behind you and God is behind you along with some other family. What a blessing.

Family Time at the Air Show

I was soooo excited that there was going to be a Blue Angel Air Show at NAS Oceana on Saturday. I used to go to their air shows just about every year when I lived in Pensacola, FL and I loved it. I knew the young ones could not make a full day venture out so we decided to leave early (or so we thought) enough to let the kids see some stuff but not to long for the little ones. Unfortunately, "G" got pretty sick on his retreat this past week (that didn't stop his fun there though!! He came home one tired out but thrilled kiddo) and really needed to stay home with grandma and rest. Well, a 25 minute trip or so to the base took about 2 hours and 15 minutes!! The cool part was some how we ended up in just about the best spot you could be! We only got to see a few manuevers and then the weather caused the show to get cancelled. We still had a really fun time hanging out as a family and getting to see the little we did. J could tell about seeing the airplanes and what they sounded like.:-) I am glad we went. Also, we figured out how we would do it differently another year.

There are some clips below of the show and then after the show got cancelled we got a fly by of the cutest angel of all (see below)!:-)                       

Tailgating in the rain to see the Blue Angels.

Nice and cozy and DRY!

R enjoying the rainy outdoors.

Baby B waiting happily for traffic to go down before we leave.

Babe took turns holding the girls outside watching the lines of cars go down.

The girls LOVED it!!

Logic and Fallacies

Clip above: Monty Python "The Witch"

This is the clip G got such a kick out of in Logic class.

I was going to write more about G and how school is going for him. Today he just completed his second week and I want to know how my son could change so fast (for the better!). Before school today I went up to his room to tell him to move quickly and he was doing a certain aspect of grooming that we had previously had to often remind him to do but now he said he did not want to go to school without it getting completed because the other boys did it. Happy Mommy!! Love positive peer pressure! Also, I am AMAZED at how he has taken on his homework. At times he feels overwhelmed but lots of the time he is on top of it and seems to enjoy it?!!! He LOVES LOVES LOVES school and his classes (except composition-he never talks badly about. It just is not a favorite). He tells me that everyone at school is nice. This reminds me of when he was in school in Kindergarten and 1st grade he sees the best in people and that is a gift of his.

I have only been in the school one time and at the time a very distinguished lady came up to me and said "He is quite the student." I found out later she and her husband are from New York city and the ones that founded the school. The high school was recently named as one of the top 50 best Christian high schools in America.

Then I went to pick him up from school one day and a lady said that the omnibus (ancient history) teacher is SOOO impressed with G. Praise the Lord, for truly in Him "we live and breathe and have breathe" to do anything. It has thrilled my heart to see how God has given the children gifts and that they are finding them out recently!

G talks and talks about school. Just from what I hear him saying I think his two favorite classes are Logic and Latin. He seems to just eat them up. He is now analyzing as he goes out and about town for fallacies in advertising. Yesterday he came home and had to tell us about a funny video he watched in Logic class and really hit his funny bone. It is funny!!!! The clip above is what he watched in Logic class.

Next week G leaves very early in the morning on Tuesday for a upper school retreat in Lancaster, PA. He is VERY excited about this. We heard that last year one of the foreign exchange students came to a saving knowledge of Christ during this time . . . nothing better than that.

This Commercial Makes Me Laugh

We did face time calls to home while we were gone on our house hunting trip. After I got home Babe told me he was really glad I was back;-) He had fun with the kids but there is A LOT going on here and we need each other to balance it all out. We make a good team!!

This commercial is for Valspar Reserve Commercial -- Video Call. SOOOOO FUNNY!!!

One of the Benefits to Mountain Living

 Elk in the yard is a benefit to mountain living! The other morning we got a heard of about 40 elk in our front yard! We have had elk before but sometimes during the dark early morning hours. One morning we sat and watched as a buck walked up to the window and put his nose up to it as we were sitting in the dark watching! Sooo cool!! Anyway, these came in the morning but it was nice we could get some pictures of them. To bad Babe and G can't find them when they are hunting!! It was fun for the kids watching them too though.

 J enjoyed watching the elk out our dining room window.