Lauren's 6th Birthday Party!

Lauren turns 6 on October 13th. It was a Halloween themed party. Everyone came in costume. We played "Ghost, Ghost, Boo" (instead of Duck, Duck, Goose), we had a "Critter Toss" where the kids tried to throw a bat, spider and rat into a bucket to earn candy corn. We also played "Lauren Says", Hide-n-Seek, Freeze Tag and had a craft. We had a great time.

Magic House

We visited the Magic House on one of the "homeschool mornings"...

Cambelle's First Day of Kindergarten!

Cambelle Started Kindergarten this week! She absolutely LOVES it and we are having such a special time together. I am really happy with our curriculum choice of "My Father's World". The first 2 weeks is a creation unit. This is a picture of 2 of the pages we made from day 1 and 2 of creation. She gets to do lots of coloring, cutting, pasting and games and feels very confident that she is every bit as smart as big brother and sister were! She really wants to learn to read now that big sister Lauren can! She is determined to show me she can do it. I just want her to stay 4 yrs old!!!!! My kids are getting to be KIDS instead of toddlers and Sydney tells me all the time that she is "Not baby. Sydney BIG!" Part of me is happy to have a mobile family that I only have to buckle one in and out of a car seat (the rest can do their own)...but partly it is sad. All my babies are getting big! So far...Jace is the musician, Lauren is the artist, Cambelle is the dancer...and Sydney is the star of the show-any show, any where, any time - she wants to be in the center of it!

Apple Picking Time!

We went apple picking at Centennial Farms in Augusta, MO. The kids took a hayride out to the orchard to pick some apples. Then, they brought us back to show us how they sort and store the apples in a big walk-in cooler. Next, we learned about bees and why they are so important to apple farms and got to taste some apple butter. Then, we headed out to the field where they had a tree that had been grafted from one of the apple trees originally planted by "Johnny Appleseed" and learned about cider. Last, the kids ran around in the playground and maze to looked in at some of the animals.

Sydney - Uh Oh!!!

Sydney had a day of "uh-oh's". First she found some scissors and cut her finger. We got our medicine basket out to fix up her thumb, then we got busy playing and went back downstairs to play. She has learned to open doors now, though and she sneaked back upstairs. She got a chair from the table, dragged it to the counter and climbed up to see what she could get in to. She found ex-lax, which looks like chocolate and had about 6-10 squares of it before we found her! Most things are in childproof bottles or packaging, but not that! She was fine after about 5-6 diaper changes! Oh my! I have to keep my eyes peeled all the time with this kid!

Preying Mantis Sighting...

We went to grandma and grandpas this weekend. We ate watermelon from their garden and spotted a preying mantis lurking in the yard...Can you see him?

Our New Swing Set!!!

We now (finally) have a swingset! My mom gave it to the kids for their combined birthday presents this year. Yay! So far - they LOVE it! They have been outside SO much. Thanks to Uncle Josh and Matt Mealer for helping to carry it over to our yard. Our wonderful neighbors sold us their set since they now have older kids. That really saved us time by not having to assemble one ourselves!

Lauren Lost a Tooth!

On August 17th, Lauren lost her first tooth! She is grinning big and showing off the dollar she earned from it!

Just a cute picture...

Cambelle and Sydney are putting in some HARD school hours watching TAD and the letter factory together. It's nice to catch these SWEET moments in the midst of "MINE!" and "I'm telling Mom!"

Science Experiment

We put salt in one glass of water and not in the other. The one with the salt in it made the egg float.

Tea Party

We had a break from school and while the guys were away swimming, we decided it was time to have a tea party...

Books on Tape

Jace started an interest in "books on tape" to use for some of our reading hours.



Sydney thought that looked pretty fun, too...

Sydney Turns Two!

Sydney turned two on July 16th. She got a baby and stroller that she LOVES! It talks and moves and drinks a bottle and sucks on a pacifier. It was very cute to watch her take care of her baby. The girls dressed up as ballerinas for her party.

School Has Begun!

I took some quick shots of our "new" school room in the basement. It is a work in progress, but we love it so far! We started school this past Monday in our school room, but have been working on things here and there since the beginning of July...

My New Site!

Wow! I have a new site where I can upload photos, status, etc. with friends and family. We start our new school year in just a few weeks so we are BUSY with preparations! I am looking into implementing the "WorkBox" system for our school day.

Boat Ride...

We all spent a day on the lake with some friends of Jason's parents. They were nice enough to share their boat with us. We were not sure how the kids would do, but they did GREAT! Even Sydney LOVED it!!