Greenville, SC

We visited some wonderful friends and they took us to Greenville, SC downtown and Reedy River falls.  It was beautiful, loved the bridges and buildings.

A Getaway

My sweet hubby sent me away for a night at a bed and breakfast all by myself.  The quiet was unreal.  I enjoyed some reading, prayer and planning - perfect start to the new school year!

My baby brother is a married man!

Congratulations Justin and Hilary!!!

New to us van...

Our beloved astro was beginning to run rough and had so many miles on it that we decided it would be best to get something new before we made our summer trips.  We found a good deal and paid cash for this. It has captain's chairs so the kids each have their separate seats and also a DVD player which will be nice for those summer trips!  :-)

Brief update

The last few weeks have been busy, busy... We have finished the majority of the big stuff on the remodel, leaving lots of small details, like unpacking a few boxes, putting up trim, and hanging wall pictures, etc... It will take a while to finish that stuff, but we'll eventually get it done. In the meantime, we have had lots of visitors and lots of fun. We are working now on getting organized for the next school year, finding a new normal for how to balance our daily lives, and... getting ready for our vacation! We are so looking forward to our week away in the Smoky Mtns.

I have made some updates on the gardens, kid's pages, and my health page, so you can read more there if desired.

Trees, carpets and fences

Our big news this week is that last weekend, Tom ripped up all the carpeting from our living room and hallway. We are now living with a huge mess and plywood floors through almost half the house. It is a good thing we are outdoors much of our days! We are going to be spackling and painting the walls, putting up new trim and hardwood flooring throughout - hooray! It will be wonderful when it is done, but until then things are even more chaotic.

The picture here is of the kids up in their new climbing tree. When we first moved on this property, there were no good climbing trees - they were all tall and skinny with branches way up high from being so close together. Now we have cleared and thinned more and some branches are filling out. This ones branches are low enough, though still a little thin for too much weight. They do have fun though! All three children are in the tree in this picture.

In other news, while Tom was ripping out our carpeting, the kids and I visited my mom. We had to pick up some supplies for Tom in Roanoke which is half way there anyway. It was nice to go relax there and my littlest brother was able to hang out with us both evenings, he can always make me laugh which felt good. :-) Here are some more pics of the kids playing outdoors at my mom and Oscar's. They found a bird's nest and picked lots of wildflowers from the field behind her house.

The gardens are doing well. I found a baby broccoli on one plant a couple days ago and the lettuce from the first planting is about to harvest, I also found a flower on one of the pea plants! It will be great to get some things harvested already. :-) There are more updates and pics on the gardens page. Oh, also pics of the newly completed chicken run!

I think that is about all for this week. Business is going well. We are looking forward to this weekend being a long 3-day break and our 13th anniversary. We don't have any big plans other than enjoying working together here at the house.

Refreshment

It was very nice to get a break this past weekend and en joy some time with extended family. The kids and I drove down to Georgia and enjoyed camping i n the yard at my brother's for his 30th birthday party. There were 11 adults and 10 children there, we had a nice time catching up and the weather was perfect.

It was good to get a break from the grind here and it has improved my outlook, allowing me to regroup in a sense. We have accomplished quite a bit this week with school, house and gardens. Tom stayed home due to a dentist appt, and he did some housework for me, took care of the animals and put up some new backsplash in our kitchen to surprise me. :-) It is better than the icky walls, and nice to have a fresh look in there. Such a sweet hubby I have!

Things are finally starting to warm up here - this weekend should be perfect for yardwork. I am determined to get the fence around the big gardens so that I can plant them, the beds are all ready to go. Such fun and so invigorating to be accomplishing so much.

A low valley

It's been a hard week.  I was planning to write here on Tuesday but wanted to wait until I was in better spirits... hasn't happened yet.  :(  Nothing horrible happening, I just am overwhelmed and not feeling great and frustrated that I am not taking better care of myself.  I am a hormonal mess right now, blech!

We are getting ready to take a trip down to GA for my brother Ryan's 30th birthday.  It will be good to see everyone again.  I am praying that I feel better physically by the time we leave tomorrow morning and that I am able to relax and leave behind my list of to-do's and enjoy time with family.  Tom is having to stay home for a dentist appt and animal care, I will be taking the kids and car pooling with my sis and her hubby and family.  We leave tomorrow morning.

It's been cloudy and rainy this week, probably hasn't helped with my mood.  I haven't gotten a thing done outside all week, which is frustrating, though I am thankful for the rain.  I will try to get out and walk around the yard at least this afternoon.  I need to trellis the peas and fence the strawberries which shouldn't take long.

I've been working on the house and lots of paperwork and business website updating, all good stuff to get done.

That's all for now, will try to be more cheerful next week!  :-)

Visit with G'ma and G'dad

We stayed at G'ma and G'dads the afternoon/night before we left for home. We need to figure out a way to get more time with them next visit. While there the kids rode around on scooters around the neighborhood (daddy and G'ma rode bikes), played marbles and Lincoln Logs, had yummy pecan pancakes for dinner, and did Karaoke on G'dads computer - very cool! We are glad we got that time with them.

Our time at Bryan & Cindy's

We spent 2 nights at Bryan & Cindy's (which I think we all decided was not enough). Friday Tom did some plumbing work and we all played and had dinner together. Saturday morning we attended Gavin's soccer game, made a dumpster dive for coupons and then went shopping at Publix (great fun!). Saturday eve Dave & Kerry came over for a wiener roast and s'mores. Aunt Kerry made some tiered skirts for all the girls which they kindly posed in. There was a lovely sunset. We all went to church together Sunday morning and then had to say goodbye.

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!

Beach Day!

Today, we enjoyed a beautiful day at the beach and then dinner and visiting with some wonderful friends.

Visit with Dave & Kerry

We spent the first part of our vacation with Dave and Kerry at their house. We enjoyed our time there. The kids love riding bikes and scooters in their cul-de-sac, there was also board games with Uncle Dave, story times with Aunt Kerry, running in the sprinkler and catching frogs. Sammy took quite a liking to Uncle Tom, he cracked us up by saying "hi guy!" whenever Tom walked in.

Tom worked the first 3 days we were there to provide for our trip, which was wonderful but we missed him. In the evenings the adults enjoyed a movie, chatting time, a Rook game, but mostly falling asleep wanting to do more, LOL! We got up early several mornings so didn't have very many late nights.

Sullivan Christmas Slideshow

Pictures from the Sullivan gathering. We all exchanged our gifts on Jan 17th, very patient people! :-) It was such fun to have everyone together again.

Car Trip

Pics of our 14 hour drive to FL. We had a very smooth drive and enjoyed the trip. The kids did great. I got some bags of Jelly Belly jelly beans and they had a great time figuring out the flavors. Rose even made a list of the color and flavor descriptions while Heather and Will ate theirs so that when she ate hers she would know what they were. Pretty funny! When we got to SC they were thrilled to see palm trees... Will looked up and said "Where's the coconuts?" :D LOL It was 7 degrees when we left home, we really enjoyed watching the temperature rise as we got farther south. It has been very pleasant here.

Vacation!!!

We are getting ready for a vacation. We are very excited. We will be visiting Tom's family, some of whom we have not seen in 2 years, one we have never yet met!

We have animal care and housesitting lined up, children have started packing, I have all my lists made - just have to put them in action now. :-)

Tom is going with us, which is very exciting. We all really need this time away. Hooray! Please pray that all goes well with the business here, that we have safety in travel, that the van operates well, that gas prices don't climb much more, and that we have a good relaxing time. We leave on Friday and will be gone about a week and a half. Thank you!

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. :-)

Happy 50th Mom!

She looks amazing doesn't she? Even with coolwhip and a sombrero! :-)

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!