A few more firsts…

Sarah Ann started back to another year of dance, and she couldn’t be more excited! This year she is taking ballet twice a week, hip hop and jazz! And we are so thankful for our sweet dance friends!

Reece also moved up to a new class at karate since he’s now an orange belt, and he’s really loving it! I am always so proud of his hard work!

Art class also started back for these two, and they are loving it again too! Mrs. Stacy is wonderful, and they have the sweetest classmates!

Little J also started PreK, and he’s doing so very well, even if we have to get up super early every morning!

And all God’s people said, “Amen!” when Awana started back! This year we have a Puggle, a Cubbie, a Spark, and a T&Ter!

Sarah Ann also auditioned for the ensemble at the dance studio, and she is so excited to participate in Ensemble I this year! She will get to perform ballet and contemporary at several different events throughout the year.

And oh, this sweet boy! He was thrilled to stay on Monday for his Spanish and science class at extended care. He so very proudly carried his lunch box and bag into school, and then couldn’t wait to tell me all about his Spanish class when I picked him up. He has lots of sweet friends in there, and we are excited to have Mrs. Robin as his teacher!

Broadwell Academy, August 2017

Our first four weeks of Broadwell Academy got us off to a great start! We did a bit of school work throughout the summer, but we were all ready to get back into our routine and get started with school and co-op! We were excited for 2nd and 3rd grade! I can’t believe it!

It was so nice to have time to settle into our school routine, before all of our other fall activities kicked off. Most of our curriculum stayed the same for this year: Saxon Math, Spelling You See, Writing with Ease, First Language Lessons, and A Reason for Handwriting. Reece is doing Draw, Write, Now for his handwriting this year, and they are also doing daily geography and SC questions. And as always we are doing lots of reading! We read aloud together during lunch or before quiet time, and they read independently before bed. Reece is continuing through the Magic Treehouse series, and he and I are also reading Encyclopedia Brown together. Sarah Ann has continued reading more American Girl books and has also been reading a few Judy Moody books lately too! She’s always reading, reading, reading! We are also still doing Spanish this fall on Tuesdays, and for SS this year we are doing SC History, and we are having so much fun with it! Our science this year is physics, and we are doing that through co-op, and then they have “real homework” during the week!

We’ve also incorporated a few new things this year…

Lunch: Once a week the kids are responsible for getting their own lunch ready (and Carson has a little help from Mommy). I usually lay out all the options on the kitchen counter and then they have to help prepare lunch. Sometimes it’s a group effort to get the meal together, sometimes everyone is getting their own lunch ready, and sometimes we are packing lunches to take to the park or wherever we might be going that day. They have done an awesome job so far!

Poetry Tea Time: Once a month we will have a Poetry Tea Time, and our first one was so very sweet! We decorated the table, ate brownie and apple, drank good old Southern sweet tea, and read some of Shel Silverstein’s poems. It was so much fun, and the kids can’t wait until the September one! We also memorize some poetry in our First Language Lessons, so they will also take turns reciting poetry during our Poetry Tea Time too!

Field Trip Fridays: Our Monday through Thursday are pretty full this fall, and on Thursdays we are planning to not go anywhere to get our school work done early before Sarah Ann is at dance again for a couple of hours. So we are going to make the most of every opportunity to have a Field Trip Friday and get out of the house and play, explore, create, learn, and enjoy some time together and with friends while finishing up the school week! In August the kids actually spent their first Friday of school at the GWL with Nanny and Pops, we spent a Friday morning with some of our favorite friends playing with water balloons, we enjoyed a fun morning at the Lake Murray beach area swimming and having a picnic, and then we spent a beautiful Friday morning at the zoo with some of our friends!

My Story

If I told you my story
You would hear Hope that wouldn’t let go
And if I told you my story
You would hear Love that never gave up
And if I told you my story
You would hear Life, but it wasn’t mine

If I should speak then let it be
Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story is to tell of Him

If I told you my story
You would hear victory over the enemy
And if I told you my story
You would hear freedom that was won for me
And if I told you my story
You would hear Life overcome the grave

If I should speak then let it be
Of the grace that is greater than all my sin
Of when justice was served and where mercy wins
Of the kindness of Jesus that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story is to tell of Him

This is my story, this is my song
Praising my savior all the day long
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my savior all the day long

 

Hurricane Irma

Late last week we were preparing for Hurricane Irma to have an impact on the midlands, but little did we know that we would actually have a surprise visit from some of our dear friends who recently moved to Tampa! Saturday morning they decided to head to SC, since we were no longer in the path of the hurricane. They also brought with them four of their friends! So we had a house full from Saturday evening to early Tuesday morning! Six adults, eight kids, lots of playing, lots of eating, lots of great conversation and catching up, and we even got a little bit of sleep in there too! Everyone got to come to church with us on Sunday, and we all went to see the movie “Leap!” on a very rainy Monday. We are so thankful that our friends’ homes were kept safe and that they had a safe trip back home today! And while the circumstances of their visit weren’t the greatest, we are so glad that they were able to come visit and spend time with us for a few days! And now we are looking forward to going to Florida and visit them soon too!

our annual apple picking day!

yesterday we made the trip up i-26 to north carolina for our annual apple picking day! this was our seventh year going, and we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful and sweet day! every year just gets more and more fun!

our first stop was to visit granny! little j walked right on into her apartment and made himself at home. sarah ann, reece, and carson couldn’t wait to catch granny up on all their activities and what they are up to these days. we all went out to lunch at chick-fil-a, and we are so thankful for the time we got to spend with granny! so much in fact, that j didn’t want to leave. he tried to stay with granny when it was time to get on the elevator!

after our visit with granny we went to sky top! a lot of the apples had been previously picked, thanks to the apple festival last weekend, but the kids still had fun climbing, looking, and picking some delicious apples to bring home! we also spent time playing on the playground, drinking apple slushies, going on the hayride, and seeing some of the animals. the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and our seventh annual trip was another big success!

before making our way back to south carolina, we stopped at meme and mark’s house to see their chickens, bee hives, rabbits, and garden. it was a quick visit, but it was a lot of fun to see!

on our way home to stopped in spartanburg to have dinner at jason’s deli. yum! we had the kids put their pajamas on before we got back on the road, and carson and j were sound asleep way before we arrived home! the big kids held onto to the very end, but we were all happy to climb into our beds and go right to sleep after a very full and fun family day! and now we’ll be enjoying lots of apples over the next couple of weeks too!

First Day of 4K!

My baby boy had his last first day of preschool yesterday at St. Stephen’s! He woke up happy and excited and ready to go, and his only request was to wear his red comfy shorts for red day! He always wants to be comfortable! He had a great first day, and we are looking forward to a wonderful 4K year with Mrs. Ninette and Mrs. Kelly!

This sweet little Carson-Bee had so much fun at his open house visiting his new classroom and meeting his teachers!

All of Carson’s first days of preschool! Where did my baby go?!?!

 

labor day weekend

our labor day weekend kicked off with three awesome soccer games on saturday morning! carson scored six goals, reece had a great save at the goal, and sarah ann played some great defense! we also had lots of family and friends come to watch them play, which was such a treat! i can’t think of many reasons that i would miss watching college game day every saturday morning in the fall, but those three soccer stars sure are worth it!

we spent the rest of saturday at nanny and pops’ house swimming, eating, playing, napping, watching football, and celebrating jeffrey’s birthday! it was an absolutely beautiful day, and we are always thankful for time to spend with uncle jeremy, aunt melanie, and annalee when they come to visit!

we had a great morning at church on sunday and then had a delicious lunch at el jimador with the hensons! sunday afternoon brought our usual room cleaning, vacuuming, dusting, and running errands. and then late sunday afternoon we headed back to nanny and pops’ to spend time with the fam, and then the kids spent the night there while jeffrey and i had a dinner and movie date! we went to outback for dinner and then to see “dunkirk,” which was really, really good! life is about to get really crazy, so it was so nice to enjoy some time together before all that begins! the kids swam, played with annalee, ate ice cream cake, and stayed up late watching a movie too!

and since he’s the one who does all of the “laboring” for our family, jeffrey was quite happy to sleep in late this morning while i went running! we picked up the kids, went to mellow mushroom for lunch, and then all got some much needed haircuts! this afternoon we did a bit of school work and then spent the evening at the soccer field. it was a laid back labor day, which is exactly what we needed before we tackle this week head on! i say this all the time, but it’s so true… life is crazy and busy, but its so very fun and so very worth it all!

 

 

 

Orange Belt

At the beginning of August, Reece took a written test to begin the process of receiving his orange belt! The test was sixty questions, and they were only made to miss four. And he did awesome! He only missed three questions and got the bonus question correct! He worked so hard studying, reviewing, and practicing, and he was so happy to find out that all his hard work paid off!

Jeffrey and Reece also spent several nights reading through karate books and writing a three page paper about the Bo. I think that Jeffrey was happy to for it to get finished, but I think they also had a lot of fun together in the process. And Reece learned a lot about writing a paper too!

And then finally last Saturday Reece spent a couple of hours at the Dojo going through memory work, kata, self defense, weapons, kicks, basics, and fighting! He practiced and reviewed and did so great! He was so excited to find out on Sunday afternoon that he passed his test! He couldn’t stop smiling!

Tonight was rank graduation, and he is now the proud owner of an orange belt! And I must say that he looks good in orange, and he sure makes this Momma proud! Way to go, Reece Piece!

adios august!

we started the month with our charlotte getaway, and now we’ve almost finished our fourth week of school! it’s been a month of settling into new routines, fun adventures, and enjoying the cooler weather this week! august, you’ve been awesome! but now it’s time for september… one of my favorite months of the year!

ice cream sundaes before the first night of school!

oh, this boy!

chillin’ like a villain

water balloons, popsicles, and lots of fun with some of our dear friends!

four square’s fun to play when there are four of you!

a morning at a new park after j’s doctor’s appt. we loved the zip line!

they get so excited when a train is going by the therapy office.

see, i told you i can’t keep up with the dishes!

sibling selfie. they are the best of friends!

everyone went back to school, so we went to chickfila for lunch and ice cream!

date night with my favorite!

we had the whole beach area to ourselves, and they swam and swam and swam!

our first time to freddy’s. it was delicious!

sarah ann found a rock at moe’s!

the weather this week has been glorious!

this boy is always building and creating!

Happy 35th Birthday, Jeffrey!

Happy 35th birthday to our most favorite guy!

He loves us so well. He serves and supports. He encourages. He leads. He coaches. He works harder than anyone I know. He goes along with all my ideas and plans. He is creative. He’s the best at playing with the kids. He protects and provides. He points us to Jesus. And we wouldn’t be who we are without him.

And if all of those reasons weren’t enough, he always spoiled us tonight by our first family dinner at the Melting Pot to celebrate his 35th birthday! It was an evening full of fun, laughing, and eating way to much cheese, steak, shrimp and chocolate!

Jeffrey, happy birthday to the best daddy and husband there is! We love you and are so very grateful for you!