Catch Me If You Can! Part 2

This is part 2 of our great adventure doing lots of fun things with Dad, like eating at the Kanki and throwing baseball at Fort Bragg. We also gathered with family and church friends for a farewell barbecue supper! We packed in as much as possible in just a short amount of time. We have collected more memories for our mental scrapbook to help sustain all of us in the time ahead. Here are some more photos from some of the adventures including our time at Fort Bragg with dear Husband. It has been quite a ride!

We were stuffed after eating lunch at the Kanki. I think that lunch will go down in history as the most exciting and the quietest lunch ever! The kids were awestruck. Maybe I should take up Japanese cooking! I am not sure about those sharp knives...

Dear husband celebrating his birthday a little early, surprise honey, I got you! HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Always connected, no matter where he is...amazing.

Our son learned the finer points of baseball catching and throwing from Dear Dad. He will start baseball in a couple of weeks and Dad wanted to get in some practicing with him


A quick photo with my sweetie!

Catch Me If You Can!

Talk about losing track of time! I haven't posted since March 21! So much has happened in such a short time period. I have a lot of catching up to do. First, our trip to Charlottesville with John while he went the JAG school was super. We had the best time staying in the downtown Charlottesville area and walking around the UVA campus in the snow. It was really cold the first part of the week and then it was in the 70's at the week's end. We visited beautiful Monticello while we were there. I fell in love with all things Charlottesville! The pizza escapes at Mellow Mushroom were yummy and fun for Mom and Dad. Our puppy Ginger did great on the trip. She is becoming quite the traveler and added to the adventure! Here are some photos of our fun filled and snowy adventure! My next post will be a continuation of catching up on events.

The Final Four

I know this title is a teaser, I am not talking basketball right now. I love the NCAA tournament and all of the excitement it brings this time of year, especially since I am a TARHEEL! I am referring to the final four days that my dear husband will be spending with our family before deployment. I have heard through the Army wives' grapevine that it may begin sometime this upcoming week, but as with everything Army you have to be flexible. So I have started thinking of all that I want to do in the final four days with him. Go out to eat at favorite restaurants, play with the kids, get together with friends, watch a favorite movie, TALK, laugh, go for walks, do laundry...pack again and repack, TALK, go over lists of to dos and not to dos...

I am apprehensive about the time coming so quickly too. I know once it is here, it will be gone and that is it! So now I need to get a plan, ask God for guidance, get preparing for the joyous homecoming/departure and get my love tank full by spending time with God in preparation for my husband's four days here. Four days, they will feel so normal, like nothing has changed, but they will be so different, a hello and a good-bye at the same time. What would you do with your sweetie if you had four days? What would matter, what would fall away, what little things would you over look if you only had four days?

My Prayer:
Please Lord equip me, give me wisdom, let us soak up every minute of the time, help me to watch out for too high of expectations, but also not take for granted what time we have. Help me Lord to see the "stressers" for him and the encouragement he needs. Help us to know how to help the kids, what to say, how to say it...Lord just walk with us as I know you will and let's do this the FINAL FOUR!


I will be posting pictures later of our trip to Charlottesville and some neat pictures from our Tapestry of Grace co-op dialectic class and the display board projects the students completed, oh and some Upward photos thrown in as well.

Anticipation

The kids and I are getting ready to spend time with dear husband for the next week or so and I am so excited. Anticipation could not be greater right now! We will be in beautiful Charlottesville some of the time and looking forward to lots of field trips to Monticello, Mitchie's Tavern, Montpelier and more! The trip fits in great with what we are getting ready to study in Tapestry of Grace Y2. The revolutionary war is coming up and then all the way up to the Constitution. We will be walking around where Thomas Jefferson did, and I get so excited about these kinds of field trips. I love to feel and see and experience our great country's history. We will fill our days with the field trips while dear husband is in class at UVA.

Oh if you could slow time down and just live in slow motion for a little bit. I know that as we begin this trip before I know it the time will be over and we will be back to the normal routine. I have purposed to live in every minute so that I can really enjoy everything. There is a fine line between trying to make everything perfect, which can drive you crazy, and just trying to relax and enjoy the time together. I want all the usual things a mom wants, everyone to be kind and loving, to be well from sickness and to pay attention on the field trips, and to soak up the time with one another. Just a few things on my list that I am trying to "control" which is impossible!

So I will get on my knees and turn this precious gift of time with dear husband over to God and let it be what He makes it and rest in Him for the strength and knowledge to know what to do and when to do it. The list is so long... all the things we want to do and say and share. We will make great memories and have fun and it will be like he has never even been away from us. I am thankful for this gift. I will hold on to the memories of the time together and replay them over and over in my mind. I will post some fun pictures of the trip and time together later.

A Different Kind of Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

I always enjoy this holiday because it reminds me how much I am loved by God, my darling husband, my wonderful children, my precious family and dear friends. I could feel really down because my husband is away from me this year for Valentine's Day. I was thinking back, we have spent Valentine's Day together for the past nineteen years. Wow! O.k., I could get very sad, but instead I am going to concentrate on what I do have this Valentine's Day. Three children to hug, two furry dogs to chase, a family that surrounds me with love and sweet memories and dear friends that fill me up with fun and happy times. This holiday has really been captured by commercialism. Forget all of the stuff our culture says this day should be. Cut past all of the unrealistic expectations to the LOVE part. The best place I know to go for pure love is God.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Now that's what I am talking about! What a Valentine's Day present. He can fill you up to overflowing and then some. I know that is a good place to be and I am camping out there!

Thank you Lord for this Valentine's Day. It is different, but I feel loved up to the very top!

Creek Days!

All of this wonderfully warm weather has made the kids dream about spring. School work is getting done quickly around here so there is time for outside play. The words "outside play" mean going in the woods and having a little creek time! The kids pull on the mucky boots and play clothes and disappear down through the woods for hours of imagination gone wild at the creek. There are boat races, survival games,camping and cooking and all kinds of adventures down at the creek. We have built wigwams in the woods and played pioneer. The best thing in a mom's eyes is the time spent with siblings not arguing, not in front of an electronic device but out in God's beautiful creation having fun, together! Even if they do not know it now, creek time is a gift because they are making memories they will cherish one day.

I just have to remember a good balance of play time outside and school work so we do not get...uh oh, BEHIND! You know that dreaded word this time of the year in homeschooling. We need to keep moving forward but not get too crazy. It is so tempting to spend all of our time outside, but school time is a great motivator for creek time. So, yeah for this advance look at spring time in Carolina!

I included the picture of Ginger, taken by my oldest son, because it makes me laugh out loud and that is a good thing! We should all try to laugh as often as possible.

The Snow That Didn't Show!

This week we were suppose to get more snow. I was hoping for some more pretty pictures like this one from a few weeks ago. The weather man had even thought we would get a pretty good amount again for NC. It did not happen for us in Wake Forest. We just got a light dusting, and it has been very cold the last couple of days. It was pretty interesting how it worked out because my oldest dear son was praying that we would not get a big snow because of some plans he had. I had a good time showing him the snow fall total all around us, as some in our state did get snow, just not our area! He was amazed. Thank you God for this illustration for him.

We have been getting back to our regular schedule of daily life since returning from my Grandmother's funeral. The trip went well, and the kids were able to see some of the things that I did when I spent time with my grandparents in the summer. The flexibility of homeschooling is wonderful. I was so thankful the kids could go on this trip and not be concerned about all the school work they were missing. The trip became school for a few days. We learned among other things about several states, coal mining, rail roads, weather, hot springs and my dear son and I had some excellent talks about major events in history. Homeschooling is great!

Our school schedule is getting back to normal as well. We are enjoying our adventures in TOG land week 23. I am learning so much about the founding of the colonies. I really do enjoy this curriculum. I will be ordering my Unit 4 books later on this evening, and I have already ordered Year 3 of Tapestry of Grace for next year.

Well, I am going to finish up now with a some more pictures of our snow days a couple of weeks ago. I never got to post them, so I thought now would be a good time!

Ginger, our new puppy loved the snow and so did the old hound dog Sandy. Enjoy the snow scenes!