First Field Trip

We took our first field trip as a homeschool family to the Zoo. We had a blast. The weather was perfect! The zoo was not crowded and we got to see all the animals. When we have gone before the animals are often in a part of the zoo that you can't see but we got to see them all. Here are a few pictures....

The stroller...They all packed into a double. :)


Sleeping with the polar bear...
Family with the black bear...he is sitting on the log in the back ground.

J was a little afraid...
R was not afraid!
In the playground at the zoo...it was a veggie patch.



Daddy helping R see the elephant.

Mom's Weekend Away

This weekend I attended E Women Conference at my old university were I spent 2.5 years before coming home to get married. ;)

Liberty University has changed so much since my years there! Can I just say I had a reality check to how I old I am getting while there. We had to park about a mile and half from the Vines Center where the conference was held. So while waiting for the shuttle to pick us up a cute little LU senior was waiting at the shuttle pick up to offer any needed assistants us old women might need. LOL My mom, sister and I along with the other ladies with us were all talking about how much the university has changed since I was last there. My brother and sister both graduated from LU but since I am the baby of the family I was there last. :) Then the young LU guy asks me how long since I came to LU. I replied I came in 1995! He says, "Wow that was a long time ago!!!!!! I guess the school has changed a lot!" Can I just say that 31 is not that old but boy did I feel like an old fart after that conversation. I mean really it feels like yesterday that I was there. Cottage Girl I know you can understand what I'm talking about. Then LU guy says, "I've heard that the rules were like really strict when you were here and they had a dress code." Yes, LU guy they were. It's crazy how much time changes things. I mean when I attended there were like 5,000 students on campus now they have I think 12,000! However, I am not getting OLD!

Now, back to E Women! If you have never gone to an E Women or Women of Faith Conference...GO! It's a great girl, mommy, wife get away! We have a blast each year. This year we got to see Richie McDonald the former lead singer of Lonestar, Mandisa (she gives a rocking concert), Chonda Pierce, Angela Thomas, Carol Kent and Karen Kingsbury! The speakers were great. Angela Thomas has an amazing story as well as Carol Kent!

I always come home refreshed and ready to be a better wife and mom.

Now, It's Sunday the kids are sick and I'm coming down with what they have but thankfully I know we will survive! I hope you all had just as great a weekend!

Library Finds

Here are a few great finds we are reading now from our local library...

The Favorite Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris~ The girls love these stories! If you have never read them they are a must read! Don't be afraid of the dialect. If you are not sure you can read it Google Uncle Remus stories and you will find audio files you can listen to to get and ear for the dialect!

Kate Greenaway's Mother Goose and The Baby's Lap Book by Kay Chorao ~ These two books have beautiful illustrations in them. You don't want your little ones to miss out on these classic treats. I do have to add that while reading Mother Goose a while back I would leave out a line and allow the girls to fill in the blank. I said, "Little Bo Peep ___?___" N said, "Sat on A Sheep!" Well I just about died laughing. So tonight while reading Mother Goose I said, "Jack and Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of __?___ "and N said "water". I read, "Jack fell down and broke his___?___ " N said, "LEG"! R said "that does not rhyme!" I just laughed! Who knew how funny Mother Goose could be!



The Golden Treasury of Fairy Tales with pictures by J. P Miller, Richard Scarry, Gustaf Tenggren, and other favorite artists ~ I love this book because the stories are not Disney but they are not the long drawn out Grimm's brothers fairy tales. The illustrations are wonderful! A great bedtime story book.

Sunday Afternoon

Cow Racing on the Wii.

R's Favorite...

Father and Daughter Time

Diaper Cake

Here is the diaper cake a made for the center piece. I love to craft and this is one of my all time favorites. It makes a great baby shower gift and is so easy to make. You can find videos showing directions on You Tube.

Baby Shower

Yesterday I hosted a baby shower for my cousin Tiffany. She is expecting her first baby. We had a blast and laughed way too much. Here are a few pictures of our fun.

From Lt to RT. The Great Aunt, New Mommy to be and the *Hot Grandma *she would want me to add Hot to that title.

My sister and the new Aunt to be. Can you believe I remember babysitting her when she was a newborn. Goodness my sister and I are getting old. LOL
The princess cousin...
The new Aunt counting her loot in the if you say the word "baby" you have to give up your baby pin necklace game. Did you follow all of that? LOL I'll just add it took me all of like one minute to say the word and loose my necklace.
Smelling the baby onesie roses I added to the top of the baby diaper cake. :)

My mom played a game where she hooked the two of them together with two ropes and told them to undo it. Can I just say it was hysterical!!!!!


B even came out of hiding from the baby shower to offer help to the two who were hooked together. :)
Mom finally showed them it only takes a few simple steps of twisting the ropes with your hands to come apart.

Letter "F"

This past week we learned the letter "F" and had a great story about Father Fox, Felix Fox (son) and Fifi Fox (daughter) to go along with our lesson. While I was telling the story the girls each a picture of Felix Fox to color in their work books. When I finished the story I look at their pictures and had a good laugh.

J decided she was not coloring a boy fox....she was coloring Fifi. I was really proud of the tutu and bow she drew. So I told her, "GREAT JOB! You are really good at using your imagination. "

N said her Fifi had long red hair and purple toe/finger nails. So I also praised her imagination and color choice. :)
R said she liked boys and her fox was Felix....A Boy! She also said that her boy fox loved rainbows! :) Too Cute!