Thanksgiving

Granny has no room to breath with all those grandkids piled on her!

Aunt Paula sent more clothes to the girls.  Dress up clothes are always a favorite!

The kids convinced PawPaw to let them play in the gym, which is rented by some karate group.

This picture of Cait just warms my heart. She was so excited to help Granny put up Christmas decoration.  Here, she is looking out the window to watch daddy and Bren hang Granny's giant wreath on the window.

Daddy pulling Granny and grandkids in the wagon.  We had a relaxing Thanksgiving with lots of food.  Our hearts are full of gratitude to God for all of our blessings but most of all for giving us eternal life through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Busy Days

Note to self: Do not give this child chocolate in the car!

After camping, the girls got into our firewood pile and made their own pretend camp fire!

Oklahoma season.  Always confused. The kids were happy for an early snow.

Silly girls found the boy's ski masks!

Finding joy. Making my work spots happy places.  This is my kitchen window over my sink.  Scriptures and a rock from the Bahamas, kids crafts and a colorful fence.  These things remind me what is important and make me smile.

Our Ballerina

This little one has enjoyed her ballet classes this semester. She has a sweet and patient teacher and she loves learning new dances.  We had fun watching her show off what she learned last week.

Catching up a bit

Pictures accumulate on phones and cameras. Days pass by and the blog gets forgotten.  Here are some shots of our life the last couple months.

Ninja homeschooler;  Body art by Cait

Cait got a filling (we LOVE our peds dentist!); Playing at Granny's

Pool time!

Lily has always been very afraid of being in the pool.  This summer, she overcame her fear and LOVED swimming!

We did some serious canning.

A typical school day: spelling at the counter with mom while mom makes pizza dough and girls reading books in the living room.

This is the good life!

The Grand Adventure Called Camping

For Brendan's birthday we decided to go camping at Roman Nose State Park.  It has been years since our family camped - mainly because I did not enjoy nursing all night in a sleeping bag!  So, we packed up and set off after a yummy bbq birthday lunch.

There was no one in the area when we arrived and set up. Cam, Cait and Lily loved running around and exploring the little area.  It was warm as we set up, above 80 degrees.  I kept telling myself to enjoy the warmth because we all new there was a cool front coming in with rain.

We ended the day with a beautiful sunset, a yummy chili dinner and s'mores cooked over the fire pit.

Snuggled in our sleeping bags, the thunder rolled into the valley around 1:00 a.m.  JC and I listened to it as it got closer and closer and the rain came through.  It is lovely how the kids can sleep through all that noise.

Then we began to feel the rain drops.  I tried to sleep as the rain drops fell and I listened to the very close thunder echo through the valley.  It was amazing to hear and it would have been wonderful if the rain didn't pick up.

JC and Bren got up to see if they could retie the rain fly or figure out why so much rain was coming in.  I had given my sleeping bag to the girls to insure they would stay warm so I was in an all-cloth bag.  By 4:00 a.m. it was still raining, I was soaked through and I was not getting back to sleep.  I told JC it was time for plan B.

We loaded up the wet kids into the truck that was already packed with everything we didn't want to get wet (prior to going to bed).  We were a little uneasy about leaving all our camp gear but there wasn't much else we could do at 4:00 a.m., in the rain.  We drove up to the resort and found that all of the rooms were full, as were the cabins.

They told us where to find a motel in town and we drove 6 miles or so out to find one.  The poor elderly gentleman we woke up for a room was very kind to give us a room.  We piled into the room, striped off our wet clothes and snuggled up for a few hours of sleep.  JC and I sandwiched the girls and the boys took the other bed.  I didn't think we would get much sleep but I think we all got a solid 4-5 hours!

The next morning, we went back to camp. I prepared breakfast while JC wrung out sleeping bags.  It was very chilly and all the water made it seem colder.  After breakfast and clean up, JC had gathered all the wet clothes, towels, sleeping bags and pillows.  We headed back into town to find a laundromat.

We spent several hours and lots of quarters drying all our gear.  The woman running the laundromat was so kind and told us she would keep an eye on our stuff so we could walk down the street and check out the Cheese Festival.  It wasn't very exciting - and still pretty cold - so we went back and found all our laundry dry and folded.

Back at camp, we prepared chili and sat by the fire.  Bren's friend, his friend's dad and brother showed up around dark and the guys helped them set up their tent.

On Saturday, the weather warmed up and we all set off to explore.  We found trails, a cave and a playground.

And lots of wood.  The boys filled the back of the truck with firewood from the trails They all enjoyed riding in the back of the truck back to the camp site.

Most of Sunday was spent packing up camp. We do not pack lightly when we camp.  I can't complain too much.  We needed a lot of the extra items this trip with the cold and rain.

There is a reason we say, "Always an Adventure".  It is amazing how perspective can make the difference in things like this.  It would have been easy for any of us to have a rotten attitude for all the inconveniences.  But when we approach life with the mindset that it is an adventure, we make it through and we can laugh on the other side.

***Happy birthday, Bren Bug!  I hope you enjoyed your camping adventure!***

Bren celebrates 19 years of life!

This man - he made me a mommy 19 years ago.  I am so grateful for his life and I am so proud to be his mama.  I can't wait to see what the next 19 years hold for you, my son.  Keep loving and serving Jesus, seek Him for wisdom in all you do.

I love you, Bren Bug.  Happy birthday! ~mom