Strawberry picking!

My friend Amy took these wonderful pictures.  We ended up with 97.4# of strawberries split between the two families.  The kids picked them all in less than an hour and we had to beg them to stop for the sake of our pocketbooks!  :-)  I told Will that if he put another one in his bag he was going to have to pay for the whole bag himself, that finally got him to quit.  They had a great time and the looming clouds and wind never dropped the rain they were threatening.  It was wonderful fun and at $1.10/# definitely worth it for all the smoothies that we make.

Annual Blue Ridge Parkway trip

We made our annual trip up the parkway for fall pictures.  We missed the peak of colors, but it was nice nonetheless.  Our favorite spot was a bit crowded so may try to go on a week day from now on.  Got pics of the kids done, here are a couple group shots and their individual pics will be on their blog pages.

Field Trip Day in FL

We went on a homeschool field trip on Thursday. All 12 children and 6 adults! It was an 1800's Re-enactment Fair. There was lots and lots to see and do. Here is a big slideshow to show you!!!



After the Re-enactment Fair we went to some friends of Bryan and Cindy and got to pick our own oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit! It was so much fun. They have lovely home full of children and a beautiful yard. The kids played on a swing, jumped on a trampoline, rode on a zip line AND picked baskets of fruit.

Visit to the Manatees!

On Tuesday, Kerry, Cindy and I took the kids to see the Manatees at a Tampa Power plant where they have a viewing area and small museum. This is free of charge and was enjoyable. It was actually cold that day - which is a perfect time to see the Manatee as it brings them in to the warm water around the power plant. Dave works at TECO and was able to log in to see a live cam of us on the viewin platform and we were able to wave at him - that was pretty cool!

Fall family pics

We visited a corn maze with our homeschool group. Tom took the day off and came with us. He really did have fun, though he doesn't look to enthused in this pic!

For more pics, see the homeschool page - and the kids' pages for individual pics. :-)

Check out the kid's blogs...

... for pics of the lizard hunt we went on today, that met SUCCESS!!!

Minnesota Trip synopsis (the "good")

"God works all things together for good for them that love Him."

The trip was super stressful, but some good lessons were learned. Two of the most important are probably these:

*I cherish my husband's physical presence and covering more. I truly missed having him by my side to get through things. It was hard for him to not be with us and able to help too!

*We need to pray more about such things. Thank you Amy for pointing that out - tactfully and sweetly - I stubbornly didn't "get it" for a while, but it is very true and I am finally able to admit it.

Some great things about the trip:

Of course, not everything was negative - just seemed that way some days! :-) I was so happy to see my grandparents again, and my sister and her husband and 3 precious boys, and to visit my friend Heather and her family! Mom and I got some good time together during the week at our house (getting lots of housework done - thanks so much mom!), and while traveling in the van. Mom drove MUCH of the way on the trip there, both days. That was very helpful to me. I got LOTS of barn photos on the trip there! I got to know Amos and Ethan better, and see what a great wife and mom Angela is. I was able to meet sweet little Reuben before he got too big, he is a beautiful and very calm, quiet baby. We had a lovely time at Joe's parent's farm, playing and visiting several times. We had some nice, quiet afternoons while Angela and her boys napped - that was very relaxing. Our children and I had some good conversations and times of prayer together in our little basement room. I enjoyed drinking pots and pots of coffee with my mom! :-) Mom, Angela and I had some nice evenings doing puzzles and watching movies. I had my first slice of key lime pie, yummy! Will was able to catch many, many toads and tree frogs. Heather was given the opportunity to take care of some kittens from the farm, her job was to feed, water, and "tame" them - it was a great thing for learning some responsibility and keeping her busy. The kids all got a tractor ride at the farm. Will had a good birthday party while there, with a spaceship pinata and store-bought cake (a rarity). We enjoyed seeing lots of seagulls and herons and lily pads and cat tails. We enjoyed the county fair, the kids had some fun rides - including the roller coaster for Rose (a long time dream of hers), and saw lots of great farm animals. Another day we went to a big, new park and then to swim in a mine pit! My children were given some great exposure to what it is like to have a baby and younger children in the house, and in the car. I got a new appreciation for my mom's life with 7 children - Angela's and my children are: Heather (10), Rose (8), Will (6), Amos (4), Ethan (2), and Reuben (newborn)... that was my mom's kids - EXCEPT there were twin 4 year olds!!! It was great fun to have the stair-step kids in one house, but the days were definitely full - and there were 3-4 adults most of the time! As always, after traveling, we appreciate home and our own routine and our daddy much more too. :-)

Okay, I think I am done processing it all now. On with the day!

On the road!

We will be hitting the road in about 4 hours. We've packed the van up and are ready to go! We will be picking my mom up in WV and then staying the night at my Grandfather's in IN. After that we trek the last 12 hours to MN.

Congratulations to Joe & Angela on the birth of their 3rd son, Reuben James born at home on Tuesday at 11:44 pm, 8lbs 19 1/4".

Can't wait to snuggle him!

Independence Day Collage

Black Panther Falls Slideshow

We went to these waterfalls today. We had heard it was great fun, but had never gone out before. My sister Alexis came out to stay the night so we decided to do it this afternoon. It is about 22 miles out of Amherst on 60, and then a long drive down a dirt road to where the falls are. Then there is a hike along the river to the actual falls. Once we got there though, it was so worth it! We swam in the pools and then all (except Will) went sliding down the smaller waterfall into the pool below. My camera got a bit wet and so decided not to take pictures for a while - I didn't get any of the kids going down, but hope to next time. Alexis took all the pics in this slideshow that have the date in the corner, she did a great job!

Enjoy!

Brass Quintet

We took the kids to a dinner and concert at our church tonight. The Liberty Brass Quintet played for an hour, it was a great time. Will enjoyed it, the girls LOVED it!!! They said it was the prettiest music they have ever heard. :-) The two of them sat up close by themselves and I was told later that they were "directing" the music by waving their arms around, LOL. They kept their arms low enough that I didn't notice - so hopefully wasn't too distracting for others - or the muscians!