Beautiful September

The weather has been amazing this month!  This has been a month of birthdays and blessings.  We are so thrilled that Ava Jane has reached the 2 year milestone.  She is a fire-cracker.  She is very smart, counting up to seven and running as fast as an Olympic track champion.  We are busy learning about the presidents and the states together.  My fun fact is did you know that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died the same day within five hours of each other?  They died on July 4, 1826, 50 years after they both signed the Declaration of Independence.  We have read several novels this month.  Our favorites were Strawberry Girl and Anne of Green Gables. We have memorized the first half of the first book of James and hope to finish Chapter 1 in two weeks.  Sarah is playing soccer and she tries to tackle the other players....  very cute.
We went to visit two historical  houses in Raleigh and learned a lot of relevant history.  We also went to a bird sanctuary.  This was one of  Brennan's favorite days of his life because birds were flying all around him.  He loves birds!  We saw a real toucan, with no fruit loops to be seen.  We had a nice visit from Pap Weller. We also went to the museum of life and science with some friends.  Jeff took a trip to Charlotte for the Steeler/Carolina game and had a great time!  We went Pullen Park for Ava Jane's birthday and we had a little celebration at our house as well. We took a trip to Hillridge Farms and got pumpkins.  We also went apple picking.  Wow as I go though everything we have done this month it is hard to believe it was all in just a month.   I almost forgot we went to Camp Flintlock as well. Lots of pictures for sure this month!

 

August 2014

We started the month with a visit to PA.  We had a great time visiting family and we got to go to Steelers' training camp.  We came back and got back into our school routine.  Brennan got to visit a local news station.   We got to spend some time with Ryan and I included a pic of all of them at the driving range.  Jeff enjoyed second trip to PA to visit with his brother Brian and saw a preseason Steelers' game.  The kids worked hard in the yard this month (as usual)   I included a picture of Jenna Grace using the wheelbarrow. We finished the month with a quick trip to the beach to visit family.  

"Everything is Awesome" in July

If you haven't seen the Lego movie, you may not have heard that "Everything is Awesome".  Here is a link to the song Everything is Awesome Music Video, it is 5 minutes of music that will get a song in your head for months to come.  My favorite is "over-priced coffee, that's awesome"!    The kids saw the Lego movie in the theater at the beginning of July with their Aunt Cici and then got the DVD from Gramma and Pop Pop at the end of July.  So I am pretty sure I will remember July as the Everything is Awesome month.  It was a very eventful month, kind of organized by week.  We of celebrated our independence with friends and fireworks.  It was the first year Sarah and Jenna Grace didn't want to stay inside during fireworks.  They didn't love the noise but they liked to look at them! We went to the museums in Raleigh and took a history class and visited the rainforest exhibit.  Bren and Jen did a week long science in the summer camp where they learned a lot about chemistry.  We went to a play called "Princess and the Pea" in Snow Camp, North Carolina.  The kids did VBS and became official SPY agents and learned many biblical truths.  Brennan used a circular saw for the first time and helped build a step and a gate for our back deck.  We also welcomed a new pet in July, her name is JJ.  She is a rescued tabby cat.  Jenna Grace celebrated her 7th birthday with a morning family tea and a pool party.  We also went to a Durham Bulls game.  They are so much fun and we had wonderful weather.  The month ended with a trip to Pennsylvania.  I include some pics from that trip in August blog :)   The kids drove up a few days early which gave me time for planning our new school year. We will start by studying the book of James in the Bible, as well as work through American History by using the Presidents as our spine.  We will be continuing our Five in a Row program as well.  Enjoy some pics!

Climbing in the Rainforest

At museum of science with friends

JJ the cat 

Saw in action

Praising God with song 3 in 1

JG at science in summer with density rainbow

Sarah loves this guy! 

The Joker from Princess and the Pea

Fireworks that's awesome!

The True Princesses

June

We started June with a visit to the Renaissance Fair.  It was interesting to take a trip back in time.  We  also spent a lot of time soaking up the sun and swimming during the month of June.  Sarah can now swim without water wings but she is still a bit hesitant to go out too far (which is not necessarily a bad thing). We volunteered at Run the Quay in our bright colored "I love FV" shirts.  Maybe next year, we will run the quay.  I am including a picture of the kiddos dressed for church one Sunday.  They looked super snazzy in some special clothes from Aunt Amy.  The kids and I took a wonderful trip (about 1 1/2 hours away) to visit some of our best friends.  They live on a lake so we lived a whole week of water activities in just a few days!   The kids also had their piano recital.  They played a duet this year, sure wish I had it on video! They did a great job.  Brennan started guitar lessons this month and Jenna Grace started gymnastics.

May

We had a wonderful May!  We had several visitors in May.  It was nice to spend time with Aunt Amy and Uncle Tyler, Jeff's parents, and my parents.  We were busy visiting museums as well.  We picked strawberries and made some strawberry jam.  The kids made me some beautiful planters at home depot.  Jenna Grace and I went to Camp Agape for a Mother's Day retreat.  We also enjoyed many baseball games.  The pool season began in May so we were all excited to go swimming!.  Ava is fearless and just jumps in the water! Ava also loves the tractor........maybe even more than Brennan at her age!  Also, I got 13 inches cut off my hair; I was SO excited!!!  I will just post a few pics since I am so late on this entry!  I should be back on here soon for June's update :)