Our Life

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Bits & Pieces in the middle of October

I recently "gave" Nicole my laptop from college. It's not really hers, but she is having fun doing working in Microsoft word and learning to play Oregon Trail. She also thinks that it is really cool that the computer is older than her :)

So, I've noticed that Hannah loves watching me get ready, especially on the days that it entails make up and doing my hair. Her favorite sort of night is painting fingernails together. I don't like this kind of stuff. I pretty much hate wearing make up, and I try to do my hair as little as possible. I guess it's that sloppy homeschool mom thing. I also find that I get frustrated with her more easily than I tend to with the others. So, I have decided to start spending time doing her hair. I don't do it every day, but I try to do it a few times a week. One day, we sat and watched hair videos and then I went up and made her a braided star. Her hair is really short right now. Hopefully I can do some more fun things with her when it gets longer.

It's been a stressful week. Actually, the past few months have been crazy, and the next couple look even crazier! Most days I just need to let out some big pathetic tears that somehow make me feel better. We took some time off last week because I needed it. Sometimes, that's just what you have to do. So, we went to the clubhouse and pulled out the ping pong table for the first time. We were silly, laughed, and made cool slow motion videos.

The kids went swimming (I passed because the water is already to cold for me) We even snuck a little school work in.

Looking for our resident alligator

Nicole changed her ortho bands this week. They are pink and teal...and super cute!

We also worked on music theory and tin whistle. I'm not good at doing this, so it was a pretty big deal that I integrated it into our day. I really think it helped them be more prepared in class this week.

This might be one of my new favorite sister photos. Nathan slept in my room one night last week, so Nicole came down off the top bunk and "spent the night" with her sister on the bottom bunk. They are so sweet. Lord, knit their hearts together into a forever friendship.

Well, we needed another "do nothing" day, or at least a few hours of being silly. Life got to intense again and I was ready to have a nervous break down. So....what better thing to do than go to Target and dress my son up like a banana! He's the cutest banana I've ever seen.

Or a pizza...he's also a pretty cute pizza.

I even let them get super crazy and try on hats (hopefully they won't get lice now, eww!).

Hannah was pretty sad when I wouldn't buy her a jump rope. It looked like junk, especially for the price. Instead, I bought her duct tape and told her to make her own jump rope. This worked much better and has kept all three kids occupied much longer! Look at those proud little "jump rope maker" faces.

Finally, we decided to make daddy a birthday cake. We couldn't do it the weekend before. The kids actually made this one from scratch.

The girls were trying to finish a cake decorating badge as well.

Isn't it cute? They did a confetti heart in the middle, M&Ms around the top, and marshmallows around the bottom.

Most of the family wanted to go on a Sunday afternoon hike. The weather was really nice and 4 out of 5 of us love to hike. I went along too :s I was scared. I just could not relax and enjoy myself. I don't know if it's a motherly instinct or paranoia. I kept my eyes peeled for snakes and bears. Yep...that's what I was looking for.

Of course, Jeremy wanted to go off the trail and the kids followed. I did too, like a big fat cry baby.

Reason # 263 why we love AHG....the girls are working on a needlework badge. Needlework! I don't even know what that means! I'm so glad someone is teaching them these things.

Birthday, hikes, and Pranks

Every year, Jeremy gets to celebrate his birthday with his Granny. Their dates are just two days apart, so we always enjoy a lot of family time in mid October. This year was Granny's 75th birthday, so she requested that all of her children come together for the weekend. We get to benefit from that since we live so close to her.

We went to a yummy restaurant with a beautiful view on the Peace River just before it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Hanny and I enjoyed playing together at the end of the table.

Lots of fun time with Grammy and Gramps of course.

Yeah, it's a picture of me. But, I thought it was good one, so I might as well post it, right?

It has been fun getting to know Aunt Lisa and Uncle Gary over the past few years. This is a great photo of them.

I am not sure if Granny or Patches was blowing out the candles on this cake.

Granny and her four children. She is a proud mama.

I know I just said that pure joy was a little boy playing in the sand, but it could also be a little boy playing with a little puppy. These two wore each other out!

We spent the night at Aunt Lisa's with her grand kids. The kids enjoyed playing with on another when they woke up.

We thought the kiddos would need to run off some energy, so we took a couple of hours to go to Myakka State Park.

We stopped to see if we could find any wild life in the river as we crossed the bridge.

And we found this big dude chillin out.

The highlight was the little hike to the observation tower. The kids enjoyed climbing trees together.

Our expert climber (check out those bare feet!)

This picture was the last bit of dry land. It was so muddy and swampy. I am a big fat baby. I pretend like I want to "adventure" until I do it. Then I get scared and start thinking of everything that could bite or eat me.

It took a lot of effort to get to this walkway between the trees. But, I have to say, it was worth it (we were about 30 feet above ground here I would say)

We made it to the tower, 75 feet high. Isn't it pretty?

Back at Granny's, we were all entertained by the story telling that came from the brothers. Each was trying to beat the other one with a better story ;)

Nicole made fast friends with Aunt Deanna.

Me and my little friend Alana.

OK, So this was a really funny part...and kind of mean part of the day. Jeremy gets his pranks honestly from his family. His dad and uncles are incredibly ornery.

They played a game with Hannah where she was rolling a quarter off of her nose.

However, everytime the quarter fell, they would trace it on the paper (she was trying to get it in the larger circle). So, the next time the quarter rolled across her face, she would actually be making graphite lines across her face.