Sunday Help

It's hard to keep a baby happy in church. Their volume level is relatively unpredictable. Church is at a set time, and it's difficult to coordinate that schedule with the baby's schedule -- especially when your church lasts for three hours.

Difficult Chores

We give our kids a list of chores to do Saturday morning. We try to think of a variety of things that need to be done, but often the list includes a lot of vacuuming. Recently we thought of a new fun chore to include on the kids' lists. This chore is one that could easily be confused with an activity. We think these are the best kind of chores.

No More Monsters

Kingston: Will you help me get my blanket?
Dad: Sure. Where is it?
Kingston: It’s downstairs.
Dad: Why do you need my help?
Kingston: Because there’s a monster and a ghost downstairs.
Dad: (after walking downstairs): There isn’t a monster or a ghost down here!
Kingston: (looking around): Oh. Right!

Tanglewood Activity Day

Because of my calling (or job) with my church right now I am one of the adults in charge of organizing the Activity Days for girls ages 8 to 11. We meet twice a month. We have a lot of fun!

Special Day for a Special Baby

Baby North is growing up! May 27, 2015 marked his first birthday! He started it out the way I know he likes best: with food. He really loves pancakes with homemade strawberry jam on them. I love that I don't have to feed him every bite! That's what hands are for, right?

They Think I'm their Queen!

Britta came up to me excitedly. 

She was wearing a yellow and grey striped shirt. 

She exclaimed, 

“When bees come up to me, they think I’m their queen!”

Disclaimer: These photos were actually taken last fall.

Another Disclaimer: Britta is not actually the real Queen Bee.

Morrow Mountain

Cameron had the actual Memorial Day off work as well. We knew we wanted to spent it outdoors. We decided it definitely had to involve some hiking since, on our first Memorial Day weekend outing, we hadn't gotten around to doing that. After another extensive look in our "North Carolina is awesome and here are places that prove it" books, we settled on a trip out to Morrow Mountain State Park.

Doc Cam

I couldn't put my finger on what Cameron's night time running outfit reminded me of...

But then I had a vision of Doc Brown in "Back to the Future". 

You know, the time he was trying to read Marty's mind with that big funny hat? And Marty got a suction cup stuck to his head? 

You know...

Brilliance.

My Minions

My sister Heather is a notorious Minion lover (especially among my children). She sent a fun surprise to the kids.

Now I have my own minions!

New Favorite Place

One of my favorite things is finding new awesome places. I don't really like wandering around looking for these places by myself, but when I stumble across them I'm always pleasantly surprised. It's even better when I stumble across them with my husband and five awesome kids there to appreciate the beauty we've just found.

Scout Fishing

River joined the Boy Scouts when he turned 8 years old. He's been a member now for just over a year. It's been one of the best things we've had him involved in. There are activities for him to participate in every Wednesday for an hour, except in the summer where he only has activities about twice per month. He loves it.

Crochet Surprises

Sometimes Grandmas go the extra mile. When my mom sent the box with the birthday gifts for our three April birthdays, she didn't want to NOT send something for everyone. She sent a wrapped gift for each of the children, including those with birthdays in months other than April.

Katniss Braid

While we were at the beach I had fun doing my girls' hair. We were out and about so much that it was necessary for them to have their hair pulled up and off their necks. It was fun to get creative with the types of styles we did.

Classic Dessert Indulgence

My children have had many desserts in their lives. I have tried to ensure that they are partakers of a whole variety of delicious sugary treats. Possibly as a result of that desire for variety, my children sometimes don't get to experience some of the better sweet indulgences more than a time or two each.

Tech Savy

We're raising a brilliant baby. 

He's already taking interest in the remote control

Pretty soon he'll be able to turn on the National Geographic Documentaries I'm sure he's been wanting to watch.

 Those curious babies though. They're always looking for the next big thing.

North's no fool.

Now he wants to learn to take the pictures himself.

Since I have a hard time saying no to this face, keep an eye out for photos from the youngest professional photographer ever in a few months. {wink wink}

Homeward Bound

We woke up Saturday morning with mixed feelings. While we had a fabulous time in the Outer Banks, we were also ready for home. We'd packed up most things the night before, but there is always a lot more to do the morning of our departure than we think.

Final Full Day of Fun in the Outer Banks

After our freezing cold day of swimming at the beach, we were ready for somewhere warmer to enjoy the water. There is an indoor pool at the Corolla Light Resort, so on our last full day of vacation Cameron took the four older kids over to enjoy some swimming while I stayed home with North. He was napping, and I wasn't going to wake him for anything.

Slow Start, Great Recovery

Sometimes you wake up in the morning fully intending to do one thing, but circumstances prevent that from happening. The Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education was offering a walking tour of the wetlands first thing in the morning. I was pretty dang excited about it. Then Britta woke up sick. Sometimes you just have to roll with motherhood.

Outer Banks Education

We woke up bright and early Wednesday morning with plans to visit the nearby Currituck Beach Lighthouse. We could literally see the lighthouse from our deck, and we were excited to go and tour the grounds and see everything up close!

A Beachy Beach Day

After three days of anticipation, we woke up on a sunny Tuesday morning ready for the beach! Nothing was going to stop us today!

Tropical Storm Won't Get us Down

Since we weren't able to play in the water at the beach Saturday or Sunday, we had really hoped to go swimming Monday. However, there was something like a 99% chance of rain forecast. There was a tropical storm blowing through, so our hopes of swimming were practically zero. Good thing fun can be had in places other than the ocean.

Mother's Day on Vacation

Mother's Day was the Sunday of our vacation! We didn't plan it intentionally that way, but it happened that way just the same. Cameron gave me a gift before we left the house the previous day. It was a glass cake stand I had been wanting. I can already taste all the wonderful desserts that will be housed in the dome of deliciousness.

Off to the Outer Banks

One of the things we were really excited about when we moved to North Carolina was the fact that we are so close to the Atlantic Ocean. We've never lived very close to the beach, and it was fun to think about going on occasion. The kids and I went to Charleston briefly last fall, but other than that we hadn't managed to make it back. We decided that it was absolutely time to take a beach trip.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Cam and I have a lot of awesome dates. Some of the most memorable ones though are when we meet up with friends. Even more memorable is when we meet up with friends and do something awesome. This was one of those dates!

Homeschool Spring Choir

Madalyn has been practicing every Thursday this semester with the Homeschool choir in our area. Rehearsals take place in a church about 10 minutes from our house. I love how convenient that has been! They practice for about an hour each week. Maddy has really been loving the experience.

Strawberry Picking Awesomeness

Something the kids and I have been looking forward to all year is strawberry season! There are so many little farms around that let you come in and pick your own berries! It's so much fun! And the strawberries are the best I've ever had!

It's not Spaghetti

For a mother/son date this month River and I went to lunch at Chipotle. As many times as I have eaten there, you'd think my children would have, too.  Nope. River hasn't eaten there before at all! It was time to change that.

Tommy's Park Day

Every year on the 4th of May we have a party. It's not a normal party. It's a special day to remember someone dear to me that passed away. When I was seven years old my baby brother died. He died in April, and his second birthday would have been the next month, on May 4th. For his first birthday, the only birthday he had while he was alive on this earth, we celebrated by eating donuts and going to the park. Now, though scattered across the country, wherever we may be, my family commemorates the occasion by eating donuts at the park every May 4th.

Beauty of the first Rose

I've been watching this rose bush since I trimmed it back in March. At that point the whole thing almost looked dead. I knew it wasn't, but it's always a relief when things start to turn green and get blossoms in the spring. We were so excited when we saw that the roses were coming!

Our two big rose bushes bloom for months on end as long as we take the time to trim them. This was the very first bloom of the season. The other blossoms were not far behind. I love roses! There's just something striking about them. I hope I am able to make the time to care for the bushes this year. I would love to be able to see the roses all summer long.

Quack A Doodle Moo

Sometimes Mom and Dad are busy and the kids have to take matters into their own hands. As much as I love to sit down and play with the kids, sometimes it's just not possible to get everything done that needs to be done and still have time for games. Those are the moments I'm glad my kids have one another to play with.

Nature is our Playground

I don't know what it is about going to the park. If I do it with the right frame of mind it can be so relaxing and enjoyable. If I go with the wrong attitude though, I may as well stay home and bury my head. That would definitely be better for my nerves! Thankfully, this post is documenting one of the first types of scenarios.