What you are about to see are pictures from our first six months this year. I cannot possibly retell all that happened....but a picture is worth a 1,000 words, right? Well, here are about 40,000 words or so. Is this cheating? Oh well.....ENJOY! (I'll try to comment on a few of these.)
On the road to Nanny and Grandpa's! We love to travel as you can tell! And, yes, they are usually in a good mood for most of our trips. We are truly blessed!
There are several pictures in this lot that are from dates with Mommy or Daddy. Each of the kids has a star chart. They are each rewarded stars for good behavior. Once the chart fills up they get to go on special dates, have friends over, or have fun adventures. This is a favorite! Daddy date to Krispie Kreme!
We do not have a dog, but we dogsit for some friends of ours who frequently travel. This is Auggie! She loves us and we love her! She is a Blue Heeler and loves anything that squeaks!
I should probably explain this one...this is the morning of Abigail's 6th birthday. While she was sleeping we taped up her door with streamers. She had to run through them to get out. Everyone loved it!
This adorable troop is the homeschool group the kids are a part of. HOOTS is what they call themselves (perhaps another post will provide all the fun things you can do with that name)
Mommy date!
Date with Daddy!
Our first attempt at gardening. We planted sugar snap peas, zuccini, pumpkins, and bell peppers. The peas produced a lot! The kids loved picking them and eating them right off the vine. We were able to harvest some gigantic zuccini and Ashley made the best zuccini bread. Worms ate the stalks of each plant, so we had to pull them out. Worms also ate our pumpkins. We got a few small ones out first, though. The peppers are just now about 12 inches off the ground. No fruit yet.
Caleb can open doors. He can climb stools, too. This was classic!
These last few pictures were from Farm Days at NC State school for Agriculture. We got to sit in some awesome farm equipment, and eat free ice cream from NC State's very own creamery. We also milked a fake cow. It was made of wood. I told the kids that was where veggie burgers and soy milk came from.
Micah on a Mommy date!
Nate's 5th Birthday! We went to Monkey Joes.
One of the best toys ever! THE STOMP ROCKET! (10 bucks at Walmart! OH yea!)
This was our Easter celebration. Each night of the easter week we read from the Bible and lit a candle. The flower pot to the right was our Grace Garden. We had a cross, and a tomb. On easter morning the tomb was empty! We hope to keep this up each year, as it was a big hit with the kids.
No we do not advocate child labor. Really...
This was my soccer team from the Spring season. Team Argentina. We are doing our famous "BREAKDOWN" in this picture.
Easter Sunday!
The above picture is one Ashley wanted to capture. I am definitely in my element here. I have discovered my love for cooking. I think I'm making a gourmet taco salad here. Love it!
Extra special delivery!!
This picture above is one of Abigail's lego creation - a ballet scene.
Yes...Micah has a violin in his hands. We are all attempting violin lessons. It's very difficult, but fun!
If you've ever wondered what a 20 year old can of coke looks like...well here you go. I've had this can since 1993 when UNC beat Michigan in the Final Four. It has suffered quite a few beatings over the years as we have moved. I couldn't just throw the thing away. So I poured it in a glass and captured it here. Then I threw it away. For the record...it still had its fizz. Looked kind of gross, but I was impressed that it wasn't flat!
The following pictures are from our trip to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, TN. This was awesome!
These are all real birds. Very real! Some of them were moody. What an amazing experience. The birds liked my shirt.
This one was my favorite. It was very calm around me, and wouldn't let anyone take him away except Ashley below. He eventually came back to me though. If he didn't cost a few thousand dollars, I probably would have brought him home.
The following pictures are from our trip to the Wonderworks Museum in Pigeon Forge.
The above picture is a 360 degree bicycle. It builds momentum the faster you pedal. Eventually you do a complete flip. It was extreme! Notice I'm flying solo...
Definitely the prettiest astronaut in the universe!
We couldn't believe how brave Nate was to join Mommy on this high ropes course! I eventually went on the course and couldn't believe the things he did! This was one of Ashley's favorite adventures!
In the above picture, this game is a "mind game." There is a little metal ball on the table under glass. It is controlled by your brain waves. The more you relax, the more it moves away from you. The object is to out-relax your opponent. I actually beat Ashley in this one, but she was very tough. Some games can last over 15 minutes.
The following pictures are from our family day excursion in Gatlinburg. We went bowling - had the whole place to ourselves! - and then on a cookout where we roasted hot dogs and played about 10 mins of frisbie golf.
The above picture is our last night at the cabin. This puzzle took days and days. This was a last-ditch effort to finish the thing before we left. And wouldn't you know there was one piece missing after all that effort. It was fun, still though. It was definitely the puzzle we will never forget!
The below pictures are from HOOTS Kindergarten Graduation. Nate and Abigail finished Kindergarten at the same time!
I hope you've enjoyed these pictures. This one is the longest post ever, I know. But I hope to keep blogging as things go, so you can follow along for all of our adventures in our journey together.
