Battle of Fredricksburg

The house behind the kids is the home of Mary Washington College's president. It overlooks the battlefield. The kids are sitting on the ORIGINAL wall of the battle which we did NOT realize until after the picture the was taken and we saw a sign that the wall was not to be touched. That was a big oops:-(

 Same house with absolutely BEAUTIFUL grounds!!

 Reading a battlefield history sign.

 The little kids enjoyed shuffling through the leaves.

I wish I could have captured the beauty of this Battle of Fredricksburg cemetary but the light was so low I really couldn't capture it. It was the most beautiful cemetery I have ever been too. The story of this battle is horrid with I believe somewhere around 13,ooo perishing. The Confederates were up on the hill and it really was a slaughter for the Union. During this battle "Burnsides" wanted to ride out with his men and in essence let himself get shot because he knew he had made a mistake and his men were slaughtered. Other officers prevailed upon him not to go. More sad stories but I will not relay all here. The Civil War was a necessary but horrid time in our nations history.

"A" turns 12 (November 5th)

 It is very hard to believe that "A" is now 12 years old!! All of a sudden my life seems to be speeding up and I see my oldest kiddos growing up. "A" almost 2 years ago now went through a very tough surgery that I have been told is one of the 2 most painful surgeries there are. She was having a birth defect corrected. That surgery was very rough not only for her but for her mommy. I will NEVER forget when she was waking up from the surgery in EXTREME pain and scared about her breathing and helping her through that first night. Something I never want to relive but I wouldn't change it in the world that I could be there for her and remind her of her Heavenly Father's care. I know that experience is all part of her Heavenly Father's plan for her and her ministry for Him.

"A"is a very humble girl that never draws attention to her accomplishments. I am so thankful for her. She is truly a gem from above.

 R got her a speaker for her ipad from the $5 store and she loved that!

 Big brother G gave her a HUGE package of NERDS 

for which she was very happy with.

We got her leather teepee boots which are basically a moccasin.

"A" loves indian items. We also got her a necklace that says "radiant" and 

the place that sold it said that it was to remind people that all that look to Him (God)

will live radiantly. I thought that would be a great reminder.

She really enjoyed her birthday which basically was celebrated 3 days. Thursday of her birthday her Jr. High girls Bible study in the neighborhood celebrated with brownies and ice cream, Friday our family celebrated, Saturday Daddy took her out for a steak dinner. She loved it all!

Baptism of R and C

This was an exciting day for our family. Our church had a BIG service outside at a local park. R and C had weeks before decided that they wanted to be baptized and we were thrilled about that. Baptism has nothing to do with salvation but what it does show is a desire to identify with Christ and a desire to follow in obedience to Christ's words after salvation.

We REALLY appreciate our pastor and his preaching.

Swim Meet

 This was R's first meet ever which was a great learning experience. G won first in 50 Free and was happy about that. The kids are getting better and better at swimming. "A" was not apart of this meet as she had piano festival to play at on Saturday and I forget that she could have participated on Friday. Oh, well another time. If you watch the above videos YES, I do cheer for my kiddos. R told me I could cheer for G (knowing how I cheer) then he said "Well, if you want to you can cheer for me" Ha! He wanted Mommy cheering!:-)

J wanted to sing to his sisters last night . . .

Usually big Sis sing to the little girls before bed but last night J wanted to sing and he did a GREAT job and the girls LOVED it!:-)

The Littles Keeping Themselves Active

"A" hymn playing

"A" has been getting ready for a Hymn playing competition here coming up and this is one of the songs she is going to play. She picked this song long ago before she knew about the competition to start working on knowing that her Mommy liked it!:-) It is such a blessing to listen to her play. I thank God for a teacher that is so good and so giving of her time! She is such a sweet kind lady. She is playing "Holy, Holy, Holy" in this selection.