The Pumpkin Patch

We try to always go to the pumpkin patch each fall. This year we went to one right here in Iberia; Taber Farms and Pumpkin Patch. We enjoyed being able to go when our family was in to visit. We found lots of gourds and pumpkins of every size and color. The girls also enjoyed a straw maze.

They are looking forward to trick or treating and dressing up. Leah plans to be Woody from Toy Story and Lexie is going to be Jessie from Toy Story. Mary Ellen and Molly are going to be pumpkins! Hopefully I'll get pics up soon of their costumes.

Happy Fall Ya'll and Happy Halloween!

First Post for October...

It's been awhile since I've posted on our blog. Guess I've got some catchin' up to do. It's been a busy month.

We spent the last week of September in Monticello, Kentucky with our family. We had a great time and the girls came back completely spoiled! : ) While we were there, Uncle Harold taught Lexie and Leah how to ride their bicycles without training wheels. They've still got aways to go, but thanks to Uncle Harold, they're further down the road.... literally, I guess!

The girls also got to spend special time with Aunt Liz and go to my alma mater. Liz teaches math at the high school I graduated from. The girls thought it was pretty neat to see where their momma went to school. They had fun making "pipe cleaner" spiders and pin wheels in her class room.

We also went to visit Aunt Linda and Cousin Libby at their house. The girls had never been and Leah, especially, wanted to know where Aunt Linda lived at. So, we went. Special thanks to Cousin Libby for letting us shop through her attic. Leah is especially grateful, due to her many antique Toy Story finds.

We also visited my Great Aunt Verna Lee. We had such a good visit, and like always, I shared with her some of my canned goods and she had an old quilt for me that she had found. She just recently had a bilateral mastectomy. Thankfully, all went well and she is doing great now.

Shortly after we returned home, we received a phone call that Greg's second cousin had been killed in a car accident. She was just 18. As you can imagine, this was and has been difficult for their family. But we are trusting in God and asking Him to restore their family.

Just a couple days after Greg returned from the funeral, our family came to visit us here in Missouri. Greg's mom, his aunt Linda and second cousin Lane and my mom, came to visit and watch the girls while we were gone to our annual ministry retreat. We were gone 3 days and we had a great time. It was good to get away and get some rest and a renewed spirit. The girls had a blast with their grandmas, aunt and cousin.

We are currently trying to get back in the swing of things. I am already looking forward to the fall activities of the church and the winter holidays coming up. God has been so good to us and it is our desire to continue to serve Him each day!

Tim Hawkins on Homeschool

Just thought I'd share this Tim Hawkins video called, "A Homeschool Family." Love it!!! And by the way, Tim Hawkins' kids are homeschooled.

Click on the link and then click on the video, "A Homeschool Family."

http://timhawkins.net/video.php

Kindergarten/ Preschool Pics

I thought we might start a new tradition in our family. I'm thinking that every new school year, we will take the girls to an old schoolhouse and take a picture of them. There are some around here in Iberia. So those will cover our pictures for a few years. Then, as the girls get older, we can help them search for schoolhouses in other towns. I think its a pretty neat idea, myself. Plus, we managed take a few more pics while we were out. Actually, like 60 pictures. Here are 5 of those 60.

Molly will just not stop growing!

Leah loves to play with Molly.

And I think Molly likes Leah too!

School Days

I said I would post some pics of our trip to the Tuscumbia bridge demolition. So, here they are.

BEFORE THE DYNAMITE...

AFTER THE DYNAMITE ! ! !

Here, Lexie is working on handwriting while Mary Ellen is trying to take a peek. Leah is reading in the background.

We checked out some audio books this week at the library. Needless to say, the girls have really enjoyed them. And it helps me out too! While one is listening to the books, I can work with the other on another subject. Pretty sweet!

I thought I would post some of their art work. I found this book online this year and wanted to get it for the girls. It's titled DRAW WRITE NOW. It teaches how to draw farm animals step-by-step, as you can see the book in the pic. The upper left hand drawing is Leah's and the upper right hand drawing is Lexie's. The girls helped me with the one on the bottom. Every week we learn how to draw a new animal and then at the end of the week, we go back and review the previous animals. So, obviously we are up to 3 animals. Before long, we'll have the whole farm!

Stories of Leah Grace

Leah was pretending that she was the pilot of an airplane.

Our neighbor friends buried Leah in the sand!

We recently went to a Benefit for a local family. They had a carnival and the girls really enjoyed the games. This mask was one of the prizes that Leah won. Too cute!

I took these pics last night of Leah. She is wearing Lexie's ballerina p.j.s. We were so shocked when she walked into the kitchen like this. If you know our Leah, then you know that this is absolutely amazing. She is typically dressed in ball shorts and a t-shirt. She does NOT like the color pink at all! And to top it off, she did some twirls for the camera!