Oh the Traditions!!

About five years ago we started a tradition of painting ornaments at a pottery store. It is one of the kids favorites andwe were able to enjoy it this past Thursday. As always it was a pleasure and the kids painted beautiful ornaments. They are not always very traditional but I love seeing what they will come up with every year. Each year as we put up our tree we have so much fun looking at the progression in artistic skills and what the favorite colors have been from years past. Devin and I were remembering the different techniques he has tried over the years. He was quite a bit wiser as he assessed this years project and what he intended to do. OVerall it was fun time though Nicholas was not happy with his front row seat in the stroller with the seatbelt on!!

On another note, we found out this week that I was incorrect...(hard to believe!!) Nicholas did NOT knock out his tooth. This would appear to be good..however it is quite the opposite. When he fell he pushed the tooth up into his gums and severed all nerves and roots to the baby tooth. The good news is the adult tooth is OK so far. The dentist has advised us that another fall on his face could be detrimental to the adult tooth as well. Currently we are in a holding pattern waiting for the nerves and roots to die...then some oral surgery will be required to "fix" the situation. But we still remain thankful for his excellent health and his silly yet beautiful smile!!

We wish everyone a wonderful and Christ filled holiday this week. We pray for safety for all of our friends and loved ones and look forward to a great 2009 with each of you!!!

One of our Christmas Traditions

Sunday

Well, Sunday was my first 1/2 marathon. (13.2 miles) The day started early..4:45AM. I was a little bit apprehensive because I had been sick all week and still had a bit of a cold. I decided to run it anyway. It was not my easiest run ever..oxegen getting to my lungs became an issue about mile 9. But..I finished had an OK time..but am already planning on running another 1/2 marathon March 1st to see how fast I can do it when I am not sick!!! When I finished the race I had 45 minutes to get the boys to a roller skating party. We skated 90% of the time. It was so fun to be on skates again and to see the boys try it for the first time. It took alot of bicep to keep Preston upright but he started to get the hang of it about 1/2 way through. Needless to say..my tired legs were very tired after the party!!! As with every choice we make there is a consequence...well, by Sunday night my cold was about 10 times worse than in the morning so I was in bed by 7:00. But Monday is a better day..We had lots of fun last week and the weekend was filled with a few "firsts"...so until next time....

Skating Party

Hydroponic Strawberry Picking

Super Saturday

After our fun fieldtrip Friday we headed out to Parrish on Saturday for a train ride with Santa. It turned out to be a good time most of it attributed to our friends The Witseys. We have not been able to see them as much as we would like so this weekend was a real treat. The kids had fun visiting and the train ride was not a thrill seeker but memorable anyway. Nicholas thought the train whistle was funny and the sudden start and stop entertaining.

Then the day got even better...on a moments notice I decided to take the kids to a hydroponic farm about 20 minutes from Parrish. We traveled there and picked about 5 pounds of strawberries. We had never been to a hydroponic farm so it was very interesting. You don't really pick strawberries...you cut them off with scissors. That was new and exciting! Nicholas ate strawberries all the way home!!

The Polar Express

Yet another great fieldtrip

Friday we went to another great fieldtrip. Big Cat Rescue was amazing. Not only did we get to see about every big cat you can imagine but they were so CLOSE. Needless to say, we learned so much! We are actually doing an animal study this year and this was a chapter in our book. It was very cool to see these animals we had studied plus learn alot of additional facts.

Big Cat Rescue

Daring Nicholas

First off I will say that Nicholas hardly ever has two feet on the ground. He is a fanatical climber!! That being said, a year ago almost to date, Nicholas was standing on a chair, took a dive face first into our wood floor and took a chunk out of his two front teeth. I have a vivid memory of this for a few different reasons...my dad and I then spent a couple of hours at the ER and ended up leaving unseen. (There was too many sick people arriving and we were beginning to fear that Nicholas would get the flu on top of it all) Nicholas was acting fine, drinking fluids and no longer bleeding. Instead I took him to the Dr at 7:30 the next morning for an overall checkup. That morning as we sat in the Drs office I was supposed to be running my first half marathon...which I missed.

Fast Forward a year....I am running the 1/2 marathon this Sunday...Nicholas fell off a chair Tuesday night and managed to take the rest of his tooth out. There is just a sliver left. I guess this will be his "look" for the next approximately 4 years. At least he has an adorable face to compensate for the awkward dental scenario we have going on. I guess it was selfishly better timing...I can still run the race on Sunday....So have a look at his less than toothy grin pictured below....We are just thankful this was the extent of the damage....until next time!!!

Almost toothless!!

Mitchell's Victory

What A Weekend

Well, this weekend was so much fun but so busy!! The boys returned to the world of competitive tennis. They have been practicing but played in their first match. They both had really hard first matches and both lost. The second matches were better in fact Mitchell went on to win the back half of the tournament. We were very proud of both boys and especially their great attitudes regardless of the score. We look forward to the next tournament in a couple weeks. In the interim it is back to practice tomorrow afternoon!!
We also had some fun this weekend celebrating birthdays with good friends and with family. Both parties were so fun and our family cherishes and enjoys time with special friends and with the family we love so much. We have so many things coming up this month. It is such an exciting time of year but as our family does a study and celebration of Advent it keeps us focused on the true meaning of Christmas. There really is no greater joy for me than to know that my children know what we are REALLY celebrating at this time of the year. Until next time...have a great week!!

What a Weekend!!

What a Weekend!!

Family Birthday Celebration for Kathryn!!

Party with the Palms

Our Family Thanksgiving

The Cousins

Boy am I Thankful!

I think Thanksgiving is my official favorite holiday. As I get older, it is just such a great day for reflection. I am so Thankful for my Lord and Savior, I am so Thankful for my husband who is the love of my life, I am so thankful for my children who I just cherish every moment with, I am thankful for our extended family and the wonderful health we have been blessed with. I am also so Thankful for so many wonderful and close friends that make the path of life alot more fun and interesting. IT is nice to have a day to sit back and think all of these wonderful thoughts. OF course I am also so thankful to have a mother who is such a wonderful cook. The food is always amazing!!!

We had a great day today, beyond my reflections, with our WHOLE family. We started our day at church, then we went to mom and dad's for great food and fun. The kids made pilgrim hats out of lots of sugar (see slide show), we watched some football, and overall spent time together. We also topped it off with more sugar and made smores outdoors over the fire pit. The finale of the day was an impromptu sleepover at Grandma's for the 3 oldest boys. As for me, I am not a "day after holiday shopper" but I did go home and knock out quite a bit of Christmas shopping online.

I really hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I am so excited the "Holiday Season" has begun. It is such an uplifting time of year for us with so many fun activities. I hope that everyone also makes the most of their Holiday season! Well, I must go...my 1/2 marathon race is in two weeks and I must run early tomorrow morning. Until next time...

4H Garden

The boys are involved in 4H garden this year by their request. It had not been a very prosperous year thus far until we arrived there on Saturday and saw our MAMMOTH size golden Zuchinnis. They are huge and weigh alot. We also harvested banana peppers, green peepers and lettuce. Those items looked miniscule compared to our zuchinni. Anyway, some of our tomatoes and beans are looking good so I am excited!!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving this coming week. As I reflect, I know the Lord has blessed our family in so many ways. We are truly Thankful for all of the ways he has blessed us. My hope is to never lose sight of those blessings. HAve a great week...

Look at our Harvest!!!

Bike Fun

Another Awesome Fieldtrip!!!

Well, today we went to a dairy farm about 75 minutes away. In science we are studying UNGULATES so this was THE PERFECT trip. We had just an amazing day with the Palm family. We saw a calf born from only 1 foot away, we made butter, took a hayride, went through a corn maze, had an official tour of the dairy, bottle fed baby calves, roasted hotdogs, ate ice cream, fed goats, climbed trees and had a picnic. What more could you ask for in a fieldtrip!!!! It was certainly boy heaven minus the smell of dung that met us when the boys first bounded out of the vans. But you kind of get use to it after awhile!! Melanie and I just kind of giggled through the whole trip today because the saying at Dakin dairy is "Girls Rule"....the reason for this is because they sell all boys that are born. Boys are just not of any use to the farm. So it all made sense...and no offense was taken. But the boys were great today and we had a ton of fun. 2008 has had some great fieldtrips so far. This was up there on our list of top trips so far...until next time...

Dakin Dairy

Grandpa Radford visits

Beauty and the Beasts

This past week we finished up our unit on rodents and the suggested project was owl pellet dissection. Needless to say it was a very cool project once you got over the fact that you were more or less searching through vomit. Clay and Mitchell determined that their owl had eaten a bird but we were never able to TOTALLY reconstruct it. Preston and Devin and Ian were able to reassemble the bones of a vole. It was tedious but worth it. It is pictured in the slide show below. We then moved onto history later on in the week and re-created Phoenician glass. The boys found that project cool especially shaving the crayons. As always, an enlightning week and so glad we have our homeschooling friends in the neighborhood to do all these fun projects with every week. Stay tuned for more animal fun and photos next week. (or maybe I will actually post during the week) Until then..

Science and History this week

Cesar is alive

Check out the side bar.....Cesar is alive!!! I have had a few people ask me if Cesar was dead because he was not pictured on the right side of the blog. Cesar is just a real pain to photograph. He wants to lay in my lap when I try to take his picture. Preston is actually lying like a snake on the grass behind him to hold him in place. It needed to be done though....Cesar is a part of the family. He just really does not liked to be photographed!!!!! Until next time!!!

Scouting fun this weekend

This past weekend Devin and I went on our first boyscout campout. It consisted of camping and canoeing. We had a great time and yet I just watched in amazement as the realization of how big he is scares me yet makes me so proud of him!! I let Devin take charge of his experience. He put up the tent and prepared our site by himself. We then went on a 10 mile canoe trip. I generally like to be in control but I relinquished that to him and let him sit in the steering position of the canoe. Needless to say it took him about 1/4 of a mile to understand steering and then he was amazing. I don't think we visited one river bank after that (although the last mile we saw a couple because he sent me into the trees on purpose for a laugh) (He never went into the trees...I made the mistake of screaming one time and he decided it was hilarious to hear me scream) Devin earned his caoeing merit badge. He had to be tested alone on the strokes as well as submerging the canoe and turning it back over with no water in it. This was not a gimme..they do not hand it out unless you prove yourself. Needless to say he did phenomenal...never even complained about the 70 degree water he had to get into to flip the canoe. It was a great weekend with Devin. I don't get much time alone with him. I was so proud of him with the boys and with his willingness to serve others!! Just made me want to cry!!!! (But I didn't) Anyway....have a great week....until next time!!!

Boy scout campout

The Holiday season is Lurking!!

Well, this past week my boys had a real treat! We went to the Biltmore and the chef from France led a group of us in the decorating of gingerbread houses. The boys have asked me to do gingerbread houses the last couple of years but it never seems to end up high on the baking list during the holiday season. (probably because I do not love gingerbread!) So, we had an opportunity to do it this way and I decided to sign us up. The kids had a great time and I was happy that I prioritized this request on my list for them this year. OF course the big question now is "When can we eat them????" I am thinking we may do one afternoon of gingerbread frenzy and be done with it!! The thought of having open sugar on display for very long seems like a big temptation for the boys as well as any bugs!!! Until next time!!!

JACKPOT!!!

Trick or Treat

Well, Friday was the big night of Trick or Treat. Of course this is a controversial night for many people but we have let the kids enjoy trick or treating from the beginning and they do look forward to it for the clean fun that they have with it. This year we went with friends and neighbors so the kids had a great time. They wanted to visit every last house in the subdivision but there had to be a limit!! The dressup plans had changed a few times over the last 90 days but they finally made decisions they were happy with. Nicholas and his bud Jaxon had to keep pace with the older kids...their little legs were so tired by the end of the night but they hung in there. There have already been references made to possibilities for next year's costumes....as for me I am looking forward to some of my favorites...Thanksgiving and Christmas!!! Until next time!!!

October 31st