Christmas Visit

We are so blessed to have several friends who live in our small town that also homeschool.

This year for our Christmas Party we first went to a local assisted living home and sang Christmas carols, played the piano and visited with the residents. We all loved it so much!

One of the residents mentioned how they love this time of year because people come and visit. This saddened me because I know I am guilty of thinking of these types of ministries only around the holidays!

We, as a group, have decided that we would make this a regular outing for our children. We plan to go back and play games and do crafts with the residents throughout the coming year!

12's

Didn't everyone get a 12/12/12 at 12:12 picture? 

We did and because we were on vacation, we were able to get all 6 of us in the picture!

Cantata 2012

The kids had the great privilege to sing in the church cantata tonight. S, M and B are in the children's choir and E is in the youth choir.

Their choirs joined the adult choir in singing a beautiful song for the cantata and the children's choir did a song on their own. It was wonderful! I am so thankful they have the opportunity to learn music and share their praise to the awesome God we serve!

Movies with the Cousins

Being a family of 6, we do not go to the movies very often. Honestly, it is only during the summer when they have $2 movies which includes popcorn and a drink!

We were so excited when we heard about a FREE movie day including popcorn and drinks - the only cost being canned food for our local food bank! It was wonderful to be on a Saturday morning which allowed daddy to come along too!

My sister and her kids also went so the kids were able to see their cousins too!

Fun times - Great memories - isn't that what life is about???

The Tree 2012

We found a beautiful, tall and FAT Christmas tree at our friend's Nursery! Love it, it is just perfect!

Tree Lighting Ceremony 2012

The kids had the privilege to sing at the Tree lighting ceremony in our small town. They, along with the adult choir, sang one of the songs that they will be singing on Sunday Night in the cantata.

Names of God ornaments

This week in Bible we have been studying the names of God. We colored these little ornaments and hung them on my branch tree.

I think it is a perfect way to keep God at the center of all that do this Christmas season, a constant reminder of who He is and ALL He has done for us!

Visit with Santa

Thankfully M still wants to sit on Santa's lap.

My older ones think that it is so "babyish" to see Santa. Thankfully their daddy asked them to please do it for mom :)

Since our friends were also there, I asked if they all would go see Santa. Again, there was some resistance by the boys, but they finally agreed since they were doing it together with their friends  :)

Planet Notebooks

We are learning about the Planets and other Astronomy related things so we decided to do a notebook of sorts. The kids enjoyed doing school in a different manner today and I enjoyed watching their creativity shine!

Thankful

I am so incredibly thankful that the Lord chose this man to be my husband! I am blessed beyond measure to have such a loving, caring, giving, compassionate, funny, extraordinary man to spend my days and nights with!

Camp Fire

One of our favorite things to do especially in the fall is have a bonfire. Fun times...great memories!

Sweet Friends

M and her friend E are the best of friends. I love watching them hug when they see each other then take off running to go play. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends in our lives!

School Day Distraction

Today's school day distraction...cow loose on the back of our property. He broke through the fence from the neighboring field. Now to locate the farmer so the rest of the cow's friends don't try to find out if the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence :) Love country living! 

Grand Prize - Pumpkin Decorating Contest 2012

Guess who won Grand Prize for their pumpkins at the the fair?

M (who is 6!) won Grand prize in the student division and surprisingly, I won in the adult division!

Mine is the bee and M's is the Charlie Peanut's Great Pumpkin Patch

NPF Fair 2012

This year we took a family picture at the NPF Fair. We had a great time...lots of great memories and wonderful traditions!

M's Interview

Little Miss M was interviewed on the local news tonight regarding her NPF Recipe contest entry. Thankfully E took pictures of her being interviewd...thanks E for thinking about doing that so we could capture it on film too!

She was so cute...and funny....and brave for doing it! I will cherish this little moment and her cute little 6 yr old self  forever :)

The Pumpkins 2012

S's pumpkin this year for the Pumpkin Decorating contest at the NPF is....

A pirate!

M's is .....

the Great Pumpkin Patch Charlie "Peanut"

B's is....

Afro Circus from Madagascar 3

E's is....

Duck Dynasty

They all did such a great job...we will see who wins on Friday!

It's Painting Time!

We are working on the pumpkins for the pumpkin decorating contest at the NPF. Any guesses what they will be this year???

S's Report

S had to do a state report for her Co-op class. She chose to do it on the state of Ohio since her daddy is from there.

She did a great job getting everything ready - the research and writing along with the visuals! So proud of her for working hard to get it all done on time!

M's Artwork

M went to her friend E's birthday party at a local art studio. They painted these cute little mermaid pictures. I think M did a fantastic job on hers, don't you?

World of Coke 2012

Ready to go in!

We don't often get a family picture so I was thrilled to get this one. Their were several employees in the foyer who volunteered to take our family picture! How great is that!

M with one of the characters from the movie they showed.

B with the famous Coke Polar Bear.

There was this cool wall of surveillance before entering the vault where the secret formula is held. We had fun playing with the cameras!

In front of the vault where the secret formula is held.

I took a family picture using the mirrored ceiling! So fun!

The highlight of the day had to be the tasting of all the Cokes around the world.

Scot found one that was not to tasty! hhaha

M loving all the US coke combinations.

Awesome Coke Pop Art

Ready for the the 3-D movie

Just chillin'

Part of the Bottling System...it was so cool to watch!

They gave us a bottle of coke to take home. These were actually bottled there at the World of Coke.

I am so glad we got the chance to go...we had such a nice fun,family day!