Thursday, March 17, 2016

Mission Call!!!!!

After weeks of waiting....that white envelope finally arrived in the mail!!
We quickly called some friends and arranged for the opening!

Everyone's guesses as to where he might be going.
Morgan was closest, with her guess of Ghana!


And he is called to serve in.....
Benin, Cotonou Mission!!!


Reporting July 2016!
We are excited for Hayden's service, but will miss him terribly.
(Madelyn might not be as excited...just the missing him part.)

Saturday, March 5, 2016

A new adult in the house!

My baby boy is 18 years old!!


It's crazy just how fast the past 18 years flew by!
It's been such a fun ride though.
I'm so grateful to of had the opportunity to raise this wonderful, energetic, smart young man!
Happy Birthday Hayden!!














Surprise party for the new adult!!

Morgan, Brandon, & Haleigh 

Waiting for him to come home and surprise him!


Hayden was remarkably un-reactive to the surprise.
Cool and collected.
Happy 18th!

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Duncan is 12!

It's hard to believe this little guy is 12 already!
He's such a hoot to have around!
Brian & I went out to dinner with him to a place of his choice.
He chose Red Lobster.
And enjoyed his samplings-boy can that boy eat!

He had fun with his food too...

Duncan has matured and grown so much in the last few years!
I love his love of information. His love of learning. 
He loves to read.  (Warrior Cats at the moment)
He loves science.
He enjoys scouting.
And wrestling around with his brothers.
Cheesecake is his cake of choice.
He still loves to climb.
He is learning bagpipes with Hayden.
Excited to be a Deacon.
Loves to laugh!
Happy Birthday Duncan boy!
We love you so!

Thursday, February 18, 2016

George Washington's Birthday at Mount Vernon!

Every year on George Washington's Birthday you can visit his home, Mount Vernon for free.
We went and celebrated the birth of our first president!
Duncan watching the blacksmith at work.
Mount Vernon was a fully functioning farm with a blacksmith, a smokehouse, greenhouse, etc.

Duncan was my only child that joined me (Ronan & Morgan both said they'd been too many times), but we were joined with some other friends as well which made for a great time!

Nathan, Duncan, Charlie, & Ted at the backside of the house (where it overlooks the river).
Of course rolling down this great hill was a must for these boys!


George Washington's tomb.

We went through the house, as well as the exhibits, and enjoyed ourselves. 
And to top it off, they served us birthday cake to celebrate his birthday!
Happy Birthday George!

Monday, February 15, 2016

Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!
Here's some of our celebrations...
The kids Valentine Mailboxes all full.
An roses from daddy for me and the 3 girls.

For breakfast it was heart shaped toad in the hole.

Dinner was heart shaped mini pizzas & a heart cake for dessert!
Happy heart day!
Hope you felt the love!

Friday, February 12, 2016

Ears pierced!

This was quite an epic day.
Ashlyn had asked to get her ears pierced.
Then she asked me if I would get mine pierced with her.
(I haven't worn earrings in over 10 years, and my holes closed up)
Then Madelyn said she really wanted her's pierced too.
Brian said he wanted to join us and watch the 3 of us get our ears done!
So, off we went.
Ashlyn went first, and did great. No problems.
Madelyn excitedly got up in the chair to go next. She held Brian's hand and got her first ear done (photo above). Then she realized that it was painful. And didn't want to do it again! We tried everything to coax her into getting the other ear pierced. But, she cried and said "no". Brian, who can't handle seeing her hurt, said we should just go, she didn't need to finish. I said, "No, we aren't leaving here with only 1 earing, we can hold her down, and make it quick."
"No way. I'm not holding her down." he said
He asked the lady at the shop if people ever left here with just one ear done after a child was crying about it.
"No, they hold the child down and finish it.", she said.
"Nope, we aren't doing that."
Long story short...me, not wanting to leave with only 1 earing, knowing that she would be sad about it when we got home if we did. And also knowing that as soon as it was done she would be happy, I was trying to come up with a solution of how we could do this.
In the meantime...I got my ears pierced too.
Then we got some ice from a juice shop, and held it on her ear lobe to make it 'numb' to the pain (so we told her). It worked just long enough for her to think about it, and the earing was in!
And 2 minutes later she was so happy about it.
The three of us with our newly pierced ears.

And to think that happy face was in tears just minutes ago.
To celebrate we rode the carousel!

Friday, February 5, 2016

National Aquarium in Baltimore

Our annual Homeschool Field Trip to the National Aquarium!
The girls lucked out and public school was closed today, and so they joined us on our field trip too!
(Although, really I would of taken them out of school anyway.)

Madelyn touching jellyfish.

We got to see the fish being fed. 

And the Jellyfish exhibit!
Always one of my favorites! So beautiful!

Madelyn watching the dolphins play.

Touching a sting ray.

It's always a great day of exploring and fun.
We love to see the animals, as well as visit with our homeschool friends!