Homeschooling

This year we are participating in a super-duper homeschooling project...we are doing pre-school with some of our friends every other Friday and we are loving it. In these pictures you can see the kids doing non-standard measurements (apples) and some other projects with apples. Tracy Watkins hosted this first day and she did such a good job! I was totally impressed and sort of overwhelmed with thinking about what we will do when it's our turn...that's not until December and let's face it...the theme is going to be Christmas...doesn't get much easier for themes than that! So my little elves and I will be working toward that and in the meantime I'll be taking notes and sort of "idea plagerizing" for our turn. That said, Abbie is loving doing some school work (bodes well for next year) and Aubrie has done well too. No major meltdowns and that counts as a big bonus for us during what I am affectionately calling her "screaming" phase.

Mother's Day Out 2008-09

We have started Mother's Day Out again this year but at a different school. She is going to First Baptist Church of Sherwood MDO. So far she has loved her class. She is experimenting with "healthy" foods there (thank you Lord!!!) and she loves to be in the writing center doing workbook pages. Her teachers this year are Ms. Marabeth and Ms. Jamie. This was her little outfit for her first day...gotta love that the backpack is as big as she is...

Abbie's First Fish

Vacation Bible School

Abbie and Eric at the Finale

Abbie
My big girl
Eric and Kaden
Kaden, Elaina and Abbie

We had the pleasure of having Miss Abbie Grace attend vacation bible school this summer. She went to Power Lab at North Hills Baptist Church. It's a tiny little church in Sherwood but the people there were so sweet and Abbie had a great time. Everytime we go by the church she says, Look Mom it's Power Lab! They did all kinds of neat stuff there...songs and crafts of course, but also a neat ending finale. Music and dancing and a review of the week in pictures. It was awesome.

Weekend in Heber

Abbie and Paw Paw with her first fish...note the Hello Kitty pj's...

Reelin' it in...
Bire Baby and Mom
Mom and Abbie
Evening Sunset
PawPaw and his girls
Abbie and Mom on the Razor
Daddy and his fishing girl...
Time to clean the gutters!!!
Loving Daddy's shoes...

We spent a weekend up in Heber Springs cleaning things up and relaxing a little bit. Okay, mostly Phillip, Dad and Mom did the cleaning and I hung out with the kids but our moral support was invaluable, I'm sure. While we were there, Abbie Grace decided that she wanted to do a little fishing with her daddy. Sure enough, they went down to the dock with her little Spongebob Squarepants rod and reel and his super expensive fly rod and who ended up catching a fish...that's right, Abbie did. Not only did she catch a fish but she actually caught FIVE fish!! It was hilarious. Phillip would get the bait on the hook and hand her the rod and as she reeled it in, boom, a fish would strike the line and she'd have it! It was so awesome.

Florida with the Simons

Miss Becky and Elaina

Elaina and Abbie running from the waves
Girls Club!!
Final morning at the Donut Hole...
Abbie licked the sprinkles off her donut...


the girls
Mr. Phill and Laina
Miss Sanne, Abbie and Miss Becky catching some rays
Mommy and Brie
The kiddo's

Super pose...

Abbie and Super Kaden
Brie's first piggy tail
Daddy and Breezy
What a cool dad...

I am shamefully behind on the blog. These pictures are from our incredible vacation with the Simon family in August. It was so much fun! The kids got along so well and the adults did nothing but laugh the entire time we were there. It's lucky someone didn't bust a gut...the carpet's white so that would have caused a lot of extra cleaning. Anyway, it was so fun. The drive down was easy and the weather was a little iffy the first couple of days but by the end of the week we were basking in the sun and having lots of fun. We were blessed to have "Miss Sanne" there with us. She came and was such a help with the kids. Enjoy the pics!

UCA's Next Generation

Abbie Grace standing in the hallowed halls of Old Main

On the steps of Old Main

My girls in front of Wingo Hall...my first year dorm. Laura O'Bryan and I roomed together on the second floor. Our room is in the corner of the building with three windows...What great times!!

Aubrie and Mommy in front of the fountain
Abbie Grace and the fountain

The girls

Abbie standing on Old Main steps looking at Torreyson Library...theoretically there's a paper in there with my name on it...the research was iffy at best...I sort of hope it was lost...

Today we had quite the adventure! Ms. Becky invited us to a production of Sleeping Beauty at a children's theater in Conway. As it turned out, it was at the new performing arts auditorium at UCA of which I am a proud alum. The girls really enjoyed the play, Abbie said that she especially liked the sword scene and the part when the actors jumped off the stage and ran around the auditorium. After the play was over, we got to meet Sleeping Beauty herself which was really neat. We also went on a walk down memory lane as my girls and I toured campus. I can't get over how much has changed and how much has stayed the same. The new buildings were beautiful and the fountain was tons of fun. Abbie loved throwing a lucky penny in the fountain and making a wish (for a pink pony...) She was so excited to be walking around Mommy's old school. We went by McAlister Hall (Honor's College stomping grounds), Wingo (my first dorm), Old Main (History classes), Torreyson Library, Irby and the Fountain. It was so crazy hot today but we really enjoyed walking around. Friday at 4 pm during summer session turns out to be a great time to see the school because it was a ghost town!! We had the run of the place. The real fun for me was walking through the main part of campus and seeing Old Main...really cool was walking in the building and being in a visual and olfactory time warp! You can't go home again, but home can still smell and look the same which can evoke some pretty sweet memories. How neat to be able to share that with my girls!