Attn: Secret birthday card person!

On behalf of all the little people, thank you so much for the birthday cards! For the rest of ya: On Shelby's birthday a mysterious card arrived with no signature or return address, just a sticker where a name would be. It even had the correct birthday (8!). When Aidan's birthday rolled around, so did another card. Bryce was at grandma's when his card came so I set his aside so he could open it when he came back. And there it sat, forgotten until today, when cleaning up after Christmas, I found his card. He was very excited; we read the alligator jokes 3 times:) thank you again, they were a big hit with all the little people!!!

Look who stopped by on his way around the world!

A look thru the years

Make your own digital slideshow

Happy Thanksgiving!

Can you believe I forgot to get pics? I did get the kids working on the turkey craft, I suppose it will have to do:( Great company, yummy food. What more could one be thankful for?!

Legoland Fun!

Two years ago for Garry's 13th birthday we seriously contemplated flying out to California to take him to Legoland. Nuts, I know! At the very same time mom found out that Legoland was coming to Sunny Florida. So we cancelled our trip and spent plenty of money at Fun spot instead!
At long last the park opened this October. With Sara and Gage we headed to Legoland
with our fellow homeschoolers. Beautiful day and short lines made for lots of fun! Aidan rode a wooden coaster for the first time -"it was a teeny tiny bit scary!" Most of the rides were kid controlled. Lol, after watching Bryce drive the Lego car we're thankful he won't be getting his license for many years!!

Pumpkins

I really don't like the whole process of the fall pumpkin carving. I have no recollection of doing it as a kid, so I don't have any pleasant memories associated with them. So to me, cleaning out the pumpkin is tedious, slimy work. However, Shelby has been asking me to purchase one for days. I might have slid thru the season without one, but lucky for her we needed a vegetable to cut open for science. Two birds, one stone, right? Science and fun (at least for Shelby and Bryce, Garry and Aidan chose not to help)! I even gave them the little sawblade and let them do it all by theirselves. Only one Bandaid was used in the project...
Ps...it's a cat!

Our little Cubbie!

The littlest little boy is officially an Awana Cubbie. He was so excited to be with the big kids this year...yeah Aidan! Sorry to the teacher who has 9 little boys between the ages of 4-7. He is one brave soul:)

Can you hear the theme music?

Nor too shabby for a last minute costume decision for a costume party:) Indy, watch out for those snakes!!

From the mouth of Aidan.....

Mom! I need a hairbrella so my spiky hair don't melt!

Last but not least, happy 7th birthday Bryce!

Until this year, being the last birthday of the year has distressed Bryce. He has always been careful to explain to Aidan that although his birthday comes after Aidan's he is STILL older. This year has come with the understanding that the months are not as important of the year. So this year he has enjoyed celebrating each birthday before his and happily counting down to his own...the last in-house party of the year:)
Most of the posts about my "monkey" has been about his very boyness (do girls really strip all their clothes and hang from the fence just cause they can??); but along with that quirky smile comes a very sweet spirit. He is very sensitive to the feelings of those around him, especially children younger than him. If there is a baby/toddler around you can be sure that he is there, making them laugh; keeping them occupied with his antics. When he was 5 we took them to see "Meet the Robinsons" at the theater. I'll never forget looking over to see him crying and when I asked him what was wrong he whispered "he misses her very much" (the old man in the movie is reminiscing over his beloved wife that passed away). I said all this to get to this: because of his birthday I let all sleep in until they rolled out of bed. Bryce was up first. I fixed him cereal and gave him a little present to start the day. No sooner had he had opened it, then Shelby walked in with a sad look on her face. When I asked her what was wrong she said she missed watching Bryce open his present. Bryce, not wanting to see his sis upset (this, of course does not apply 24/7!) says quickly " Shelby! I'm will wrap it back up and we can open it together!" to which they did -thank goodness for moments like these to remind me that he's not trouble all the time!!!! Happy 7th birthday Monkey, we love you:)

Teenage mutant ninja turtles!

Meet our turtles! Fun at a friends birthday celebration...Aidan wore his "costume" all day; even in the pool:)

And so ends our journey:)

Our trip is now a pleasant memory. Some last pics before we move on! Taking the ferry- Civil war sites, Raleigh Natural Science (we just missed the taste testing of bugs, bummer!). Time to unpack!

Out and about Williamsburg

More pics from trip. We never made it to Colonial Williamsburg, but we did spend a day each at Jamestown and Yorktown. Both locations had classes offered to homeschoolers the week we were there. The littler ones learned about Indian and colonial life as a child, and the eldest learned about the life of a private in the army.

Yummy!

Shelby and I went shopping today and when we got home this was in the oven. Compliments to Chef Garry. Life is good:)

Attn:fellow bloggers

For those of you who blog but have not done so recently because you CANNOT put your I-phone down: there's an app for that! Check out the app store for the big orange B(logger)! Happy blogging!

Williamsburg fun!

Sorry for the multiple posts-in the ride home I discovered how to blog and post pics from my phone at same time, but I can only do 5 pics at a time!

Sand art fun at the resort

Look at me!

Candle fun at Yankee Candle

Don't forget swimming (2 little heads way off in the distance!)

Day 2

 Our adventure continued slowly to the north. The original plan was to go up to DC to see some of the sights, but with the 10th anniversary of 9/11 events happening, we decided last minute it might be too crazy up there so instead we just meandered up toward toward Williamsburg. As all know, our kids have an obsession for trains and I have an obsession for paying little as possible for our adventures. We found a museum in Suffolk, Va that met all of our requirements. This cute little restored train depot was filled with all kinds of goodies. The volunteers were full of info, and all were excited to board the caboose!