Climbing up the Attic Scrapbook Pile

I have been working in the attic for the last several days. I had to stop for a couple of days because it has gotten so hot here, near 100 degrees for two days. I realized that the attic had become a sort of scrapbook pile from our last 8 months or so. I came across fall decorations, Christmas odds and ends, winter clothes and outgrown clothes, wreaths from the seasons, Easter eggs, lots and lots of Easter eggs... I realized that since dear husband has been away that I have not put away things like I use to. The attic door gets opened and items are placed strategically so that they will not topple over onto the other piles.

I finally realized that I must address the situation because we are going to start repeating the time frame, and I will not be able to find what I need because it will be on the very bottom of some pile. Sigh...I cannot believe I will be repeating the same time frame without dear husband. Well, on a bright note I am making progress. The kids say the playroom looks like a hurricane went through with the explosion of clothes everywhere. I have finally learned that I procrastinate the jobs I do not want to do because I am forced to make a decision about what to do with something so it is much easier to just put in on the pile! Put it in a pile and put off making the decision.

Perhaps I will show an after picture when I am all done. I need to work on school stuff next. That is another area I have been putting off because I just do not want to make the hard decisions about what stays and what goes out of the house to someone else. I did get two bookshelves and I bought the paint for them. Now I need to get them painted up, then they will find there way up to the playroom area and immediately be filled with books. It will be great and I will be so excited to see it all done. The hard part is getting to the end product!

We have VBS this coming week. I will be teaching the Missions lessons to 400 plus Outback Trekkers preK-5th grade. Always a fun but exhausting week! Not sure how much I will get done on cleaning up the attic scrapbook piles, but I will keep plugging away. Fall is not too far away and I would like to hang my wreath and find my fall flag and youngest son keeps on growing so he will need some clothes that have been tucked away for him and...

Pictures from Afar

Sharing some photos from my sweetie, remembering the brave fallen heroes KIA of the 30th HBCT at their memorial service. Praying for the families who lost their brave soldiers and for the long road they have ahead of them. Praying for the soldiers that continue on, that they be encouraged.


I am really thankful that we have the internet to stay connected to dear husband. It is amazing what a little bit of conversation and laughter can do for the morale of both soldier and family. Thank you for the internet dear Lord and for Skype!



My sweetie and his legal buddies over in the desert. They look pretty cool for temperatures around 110 degrees! What a handsome bunch of soldiers.

The Boys Of Summer

I cannot believe May is just about done and June and summer time is upon us! This last month has really been a blur of activity. We are finishing up with school and getting ready for next year as well. I need to get some new bookshelves so I have started to look into that. I would love to get some heavy duty ones that will hold all of the books that we are collecting with our Tapestry of Grace studies. I love books and I thought I had a bunch, but now I really am getting more because of our Tapestry curriculum. I want to find just the right bookshelves to hold the books.

I have also been really sick this week. I think I must have picked up something at the NC Homeschool Conference last week in Winston-Salem. The kids and I had a great time. Dear son went to many of the Teen track classes, the kids swam in the indoor pool and went to the Talent showcase one night as well. We stayed right next to the convention center so once we arrived the car stayed parked for the entire time. It was a great conference, very different from the other two times I have gone. This year was very laid back because of having the children with me, I did not make every session I wanted to do, but I got to the ones I needed to hear. The kids got to experience the book fair, but I did not buy a lot in the way of curriculum this year. I bought just a few handwriting books and phonics books. I did make one major purchase from Summit Ministries. Bradley and I listened to the a speaker from Summit named John Stonestreet. He was amazing to listen to as he lectured about world views and the importance of having a Biblical world view as a Christian and what that really means. I also enjoyed talking to him in the book fair at great length. I got the curriculum to work through at home with dear son. We are both excited about it.

After the conference crazy Mom decided we should fit some time in at the beach as well. We drove from Winston-Salem to Pine Knoll Shores for some beach fun with the my in-laws. The kids had fun with cousins and we got a little too much sun. The weather was cloudy and some showers so we kept wiping on and off the sunscreen and ended up a little crispy! It was a good peaceful time, and I enjoyed the Sunday Memorial Day service at Bogue Baptist church. I had a difficult time over the holiday weekend and going to the beach and being at the service at Bogue Baptist were the things God used to show me His love for me as I walked through this stressful time. He is such an amazing God, so intimate and personal to me. Even the music on the radio made me feel loved and held by Him.

I praise God as we head into this new month and into the summer time... I know He has much to show us as we start off our summer. I hope that I can embrace all that He has to teach us with as much enthusiasm as the boys of summer in this great picture!

Colonial Field Day Fun!

Our TOG Co op group had their Unit 3/4 Celebration last week. We celebrated with a Colonial Field day with all of the festivities and fun. The lower and upper grammar students participated in games such as ninepins, lawn bowling, horse shoes and croquet. The dialectic and rhetoric students were the "colonial guides" and led the other students in the games. It was great! We all ate lunch together and celebrated with cake. We will take the summer off from TOG and begin anew with TOG Y3 studying from Napoleon up to Teddy Roosevelt in the fall. I am already excited about the new year, but I am grateful for a pause to regroup and organize and REST.

The kids and I will be attending the homeschooling conference in our state later this week. I have never taken them before and I am really looking forward to seeing their reactions to all of the people and the book fair. I will post about our experiences at their first homeschooling conference.

Eloise Indeed!

Dear daughter had her end of the year recital, "Pages from Childhood" Each class performed a dance to coordinate with a classic children's book. Dear daughter's ballet class did the book Eloise. It was a fun dance and the girls did a great job! The night was special as her bf, Grandmommy and dear Uncle and Aunt were able to attend the opening night's performance.

May Festival Time!

We headed to our town's May festival for some fun on a cloudy, humid Saturday. Dear daughter had her bf with her and of course dear son tagged along as well. The girls enjoyed visiting a lovely lady who makes doll clothes for their American girl dolls and having tea at the tearoom. They picked out some church clothes, pj's, patriotic dresses and a blue jean jacket and hat ensemble. It was fun shopping for the dolls!

Dear son pet every dog walking by, of course only after asking,played all of the games, like hole in one golf and fishing for a prize, and got a homemade bow and arrow set. He also taste tested some yummy Granddeddy Dave's Barbecue sauce with Mom! He got a fireman's hat, a Hawaiian lei and stickers. We ate famous local hot dogs with chili and had old timey glass bottled Cokes as our lunch treat. Just a little different from the girls' strawberry soup and tea!

When we all got back together, the kids made their own candles, guess who had the most colorful one ? While waiting to let the wax harden we walked around awhile and listened to a band for a bit. Then we went back to get the candles and headed on home. Where else could you have all of that fun? We had a great May festival, and I even was able to find a parking space without too much trouble.

Dear son had his picture taken with Granddeddy Dave's barbecue pig!

The Blues Brothers...

The brothers got in on the fun at the birthday party, one was forced. I think they could pass for the Brothers Blue, well maybe not, but they sure make my life an interesting adventure with all the craziness having 2 boys can bring. What a blessing it is to have some boys mixed in with my girly girl. A good time was had by all!