Our Sweet Baby

by // // Comments off

Today I took Eliza for her much anticipated haircut appointment.

More anticipated by her brother Tate than herself – which just gives you a glimpse into their personalities!

This boy talked non-stop from the moment we walked in the salon door. Oh my! He had SO much to tell Miss Michelle! Things like “My Dad picked me up in China.” “I am five now.” “I want you to cut my hair at the beauty shop too!”

What a hoot his precious boy is! He makes us all smile so much!

If you only knew how many photos I take of Tate to get ONE that is good. Or, in this case, somewhat good!

IMG_20160811_154828183

Eliza was BRAVE and STRONG – as this appointment had the capacity for disaster for our sweet baby!

There were strong smells, someone touching her hair, a tight cape around her neck, hair falling on her, and she was up really high in a chair. Wow! As I listed all of those things I am SO, so proud of Eliza! She did amazing today!!

Bye, bye six inches!!

IMG_20160811_154834176

IMG_20160811_154842472

IMG_20160811_155038632

IMG_20160811_155840839

IMG_20160811_160556999_HDR

Right after I took this photo, I pulled Eliza’s dress off of her and tried my best to get all the hair off of her!

IMG_20160811_160607416

But this is her “Mom! There is still itching on me!” face.

IMG_20160811_160921544

Once we got home I really got all the hair off her – and the sucker I gave her didn’t hurt either!

IMG_20160811_162921218

IMG_20160811_162938880

We all just LOVE her new haircut!! She looks SO grown up!

Here she is trying to block the photo Grant is taking of her!

IMG_20160811_185710720

IMG_20160811_185725016

IMG_20160811_185444446

IMG_20160811_185700060

We are hoping this new style will help Eliza cope with bath time. It has been a rough couple weeks around here at bath time. Sweet girl. Eliza is struggling to have her hair washed, combed and dried. She is already so pleased with her shorter hair, so hopefully things will be better now!

We love you so much, Eliza Claire!! You are SO cute, sweet baby!!

School Last Week

by // // Comments off

For Tate and Eliza, our first week of “full-time” school was all about the letter N.

I did not take very many photos of school last week, but I want to include these few in my little scrapbook!

We made lots of crafts about the letter N.

Because crafts + littles = a WIN.

041

001

I always follow the My Father’s World Kindergarten plans with the littles – which is why we have the structure of a letter each week. Then I add a bunch of printables and all the other fun stuff I find!

IMG_20160810_210722429_HDR

IMG_20160810_210756030_HDR

The littles really enjoy being read to, and I had collected a huge pile of “N” books from the library. Here are a few from one day of reading.

002

Our first FIAR book for this school year is Follow The Drinking Gourd.

This book is set in the 1800’s and is about slaves escaping to freedom by following the big dipper in the night time sky.

031

SO many things to run with because of this book!

We have been learning about slavery, free states and slave states, southern plantations, cotton growing and harvesting, stars and constellations, measures of time, compound words, bird calls, Harriet Tubman, and so much more.

FIAR is probably my favorite curriculum that we use!

We painted night skies with the big dipper hanging in it.

032

033

034

Lane matched some compound words.

040

We did a lot of map work concerning the free states and the slave states before the Civil War, including an interactive map on line.

036

Last week was a very fun week of school! And a great start to our year!

As I am typing this, I realize I have not used my camera once since Tate’s birthday party on Saturday night. Drat!

This week has been fun so far too! It is “T” week! And we are still rowing the book Follow The Drinking Gourd!

IMG_20160810_202614971

AND – Addie Mae took her driver’s test and PASSED!!! WOO HOO!!

Hope you all are having a great week so far too!

Our Precious Boy is FIVE!!

by // // Comments off

Our Tate’s birthday was this past Wednesday and he is now five years old!

006

I know Tate is five years old, and I say he is five years old, but he does not seem five years old!!

This last year has went so fast!

We celebrated Tate’s birthday tonight as a family, with our traditions of dinner, presents and cake.

We kept things very simple, which was what was needed for Tate right now.

First up was a dinner of Tate’s choosing! But he did not understand how to choose! Tate does have favorite foods, but he will eat anything we put in front of him. Even if he says he doesn’t like something, we have him take five bites of it anyway and he always willingly does. When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner he would say “Peaches, bananas, and cabbage.” Hmmm. So I helped him along by giving him some ideas! We had burgers, beans, cole slaw, fruit salad and yam fries. He loved it!

002

003

004

007

008

009

010

Next up it was time to open presents!

SO cute to watch him be so excited!

013

015

017

018

021

022

We finished the night with cake, ice cream and coffee!

Tate remembered blowing out his candles last year, and he could not wait to do it again.

027

028

029

030

031

I still cannot believe Tate is five years old!

He is tiny, but mighty! Only 32 pounds and wearing a size 3T.

Now Eliza cannot wait until she turns five!

She will have to wait a bit though, because Addie Mae and Grant are up next!

Happy Birthday, Tate Owen!!

We love you SO much!!

Fun Facts Friday!!

by // // Comments off

It’s FRIDAY!!

There is SO much to be thankful for!

Let’s start with this adorable pup.

She is getting big! She is four months old and weighs 30 pounds!

006

005

While I was outside getting those photos, I got a little distracted!

I am sure you can see why!

008

The weather this week has been HOT, hot hot. I am not sure how you southerners do that!

But today…..oh my…..breezy, blue, sunny and 70 glorious degrees.

The windows are open, and the house feels fresh and cool!

I do not miss the noise of those air conditioner units at all!

009

This weather has me dreaming of soup season, where I fill my red pot many times a week to have it empty again in mere minutes!

019

Speaking of food, I made these amazing coconut lemon bars this week!

They have everything yummy in them – a date and nut crust, coconut butter, coconut cream, coconut oil, fresh squeezed lemon and lemon zest – YUM!!

020

When the guys took the garbage to the dump this week, they came home announcing that we have a sparkling water addiction – based on the contents of the recycling bin!

It is not just me on a sparkling water kick right now! But I do love it as a treat! With some lemon juice and a tap of stevia for sweetness!

010

Addie Mae made another treat for us too!

The kiddos favorite!

Chocolate covered frozen bananas.

004

011

We were without a dryer for a whole week.

When the weather allowed, I washed laundry and used the clothes line outside.

But towels and whites on the clothes line are just not good!

So we took loads to Kayla on the way to Addie Mae’s work in the mornings too! (thanks, Kay!)

My two men put a new motor in the dryer very late Wednesday night.

SO thankful for my handy men! The dryer is working again now!

I should have taken a photo of them in the mudroom working on that dryer.

But I might have been laying in bed eating a coconut bar and looking for school ideas on line! Just maybe!

003

There is a certain young man who lives here who is losing teeth left and right.

Literally left and right!

017

I am still seeing lots of dirt and messes around this big old farm house.

Which means I am feeling stronger and better every single day!

I seriously washed the inside of the mud room door with baby wipes the other day.

It was SO gross, and caught my eye, and there I went!

I also cleaned out two medicine drawers in the kitchen – so many expired things in there!

This drawer would barely open before!

018

We have not shown the farm this week, which would be why when I wandered upstairs this morning it looked like this.

Thank goodness Friday is cleaning day!

013

014

There are usually science experiments sitting around.

This one was banned to the back porch – it stinks!

015

If you read here regularly, you might remember the reading store I make for my kiddos who are learning to read.

This year I decided to use that idea for the kids to earn points for Bible memory.

They are loving it! There is dollar store junk stuff for them to buy, as well as coupons that they can redeem with the points they earn by memorizing and reciting Bible verses I assign to them.

016

It has been a GREAT week for our first week of full-time school!

We are enjoying it very much!

I am still very happy that it is FRIDAY!

We are heading out here soon to meet Blake to get some new jeans and boots for a twelve year old boy that grows in his sleep every night!

And tonight is DATE NIGHT!

We did not have a date night last week, so I am excited!!

I hope my hubby is ready for ALL the things I NEED to tell him!!

Have a great Friday, you all!! And a great weekend!!

*For those of you who do not follow along over on Instagram (little camera icon on top right side bar), I would like to share that precious little Delainey peacefully passed into the arms of Jesus on Wednesday afternoon. We will be attending her celebration of life tomorrow. To see her parents walk through this has been inspiring. They have a strong faith, an eternal hope, and peace that passes all understanding. I could not even cry as I read the tribute they wrote for their daughter…..it was beautiful beyond words. Please, please join us in praying for Delainey’s family if you feel led.

« Older posts
Newer posts »