At first he watched...

Then he tested out the water... with just his fingertips;)




He was then ready to find some duckies!




Of course splashing came next:)




And then he was SOAKED...


so why not include the feet and just enjoy the water;)

We had an awesome ending to our VBS on Friday night.

It included a Block Party Team coming from our most favorite VA church, turning our church yard into a party with games, prizes and inflatables;) It was crazy hot... so Popsicles and water were freely given and eaten;)

We folloed it up with a hot dog dinner and the kids singing and signing their VBS songs;) I loved the songs this year so it was wonderful to see the kids really having those lyrics memorized;)

A fun, fun week:)

When You're the Smallest

at VBS, you get away with all sorts of stuff, like....

Skipping naps;)
**although he has napped or played in the pack-n-play a bit each day:)


Rearranging chairs in the main meeting room


Stealing utensils from the kitchen


Begging long enough for snacks, that the sweet snack ladies hook him up;)


Eating where ever and whenever he wants


When awake getting lots of attention


And this is Nate's 2nd VBS:)
Last year he looked like this...

oh... so precious;)

WW: VBSing

We're having a blast;)

More Wordless Wednesday at

5 Minutes for Mom,
Go Graham Go,
To Be Thode,
Serendipity is Sweet,
Mama to 4 Blessings,
and any other linkys I find !!!

Weekly Wrap-up: Leaf Collecting, Momma's Rash and Tortillas

After a busy weekend with me being away, having family visiting, and a quick visit from I was ready for a relaxing day with the kids so Monday morning we headed out for a walk.

I thought it would really fun to collect leaves on the walk so we could do rubbings and identify them... I'd love for the kids to be able to identify more trees, foliage, flowers, etc! SO we when got home that was what we did... and they DID enjoy it;)

Monday evening we had friend come over for a relaxing pancake supper followed up with some Popsicles;)

Tuesday we spent most of the morning outside, playing and trimming Nate's hair. we finished the morning with reading (individual and aloud) and then learning about the Mayan culture;) Anna and Chris also worked with the Mayan number system... it was fun:)

After naps and dinner, Brian took the kids on a bike ride through the community while Nate and I did some "deal" shopping at a local Food Lion. we brought home some delicious fresh fruit... peaches, grapes, strawberries and blueberries:) I love the fruit of summer;)

Wednesday we prepared for our afternoon outing. Anna and Lydia were attending a Tea Party at our local library:) The girls got dressed up and I prepared "safe" food, so they could eat like other little girls;)

I had been planning to get help with the boys so I could go with the girls alone, but the night before I thought the plan of dropping off the girls and having a sweet friend keep them for me while I spent the time grocery shopping with the boys would work... attempting to multitask... but it never works for us!!!

Lydia wanted to participate but was being bashful and didn't want me to leave. Then I had the two boys in the corner... bored... and boys are even more loud and busy when they are bored!!!

Needless to say... the boys (and Lydia) and I made it through Anna's Tea Party!! Just very thankful I made a LOT of cookies... they became our lunch during the tea party:)

Then we went grocery shopping all together... yes, all 5 of us;) And because we all needed some motivation to be civil at the store... everyone was treated to Slushies on the way home :)

Our church service Wednesday night was cancelled so we could attend the visitation of our sweet, faithful church member who has passed away earlier in the week. We were thankful to see a nice crowd supporting the closest family and friends!

Sometime Wednesday i noticed a little rash on my skin. At first I thought it was a misquito bite, but then I knew I can gotten into something.... our Monday leaf collecting!!! I must have collected something poisonous!!

By dinner I could tell that I was also breaking out in a few more places on my arm and around my eye. I went to bed covered in a baking soda/vinegar paste hoping that it would dry up a little and NOT spread any more.

Thursday I woke with my eye swollen along the bottom. The rash itched everywhere!!! I seriously am sticking with my phrase that "I'd rather be in labor w/out pain drugs than itch"!! Thankfully, something worked (either the Benadryl or the paste) because the itching and swelling seemed to calm by lunch.

The kids and I spent a little of our morning outside:) As I baked for the funeral lunch (I had to make cookies!) the kids played school. Anna was the teacher and did a fabulous job.... they actually completed reading work, reading through a book for the reading program at the library and some math practice;)

We enjoyed lunch and then the younger three napped in the care of a sweet teen while Anna and I attended the funeral. They are always bittersweet... thankful for a life of faith, prayer, generosity and an end of suffering. But mourning over their absence from our life.

After naps we headed back outside in the heat.... Popsicles and Water;) So nice to have a simple evening at home;)

Friday was back to the books even with a Momma supped-up on Benadryl;) We learned about the final 2 early Central American people, the Inca and Aztec:) And the kids and I made tortillas from scratch...

then we covered them in butter and cinnamon sugar:) Delicious!

Pic of the Week
I saw this Wednesday night... i felt it summed up that day:) Random.Kid.Antics.

Linking up to :

Weekly Wrap-Up: Last Official Week & Not-so-good experiements

With Anna's core work finished, last week I really tried to keep it simple and them still actively learning. We had our homeschooling group's field day and End of Year party last Friday night, so we are officially FINISHED...

we'll school through the summer though.

Here's what we did our last "official" week:)

Bible
We continued to count our blessings and be thankful using the stars:) WE practiced Pslams 19 at least 2 times:) And the kids have been praying soo diligently for friends and neighbors who are sick, but most consistently for Pey... very sweet to hear:)

On Monday we attended a graveside service for one of our older neighbors and church members. So we also had a lot of conversations about death, dying and heaven.

On Friday morning and Saturday we attempted to participate in our church's Operation IN As Much. The kids helped clean and fill canisters with candy that could be passed out during visitations on Saturday. On Saturday they helped bring a snack to the workers and kept each other busy while I took some pictures;) We had other plans to help out, but they didn't pan out.... so we have a small service "to our church" project planned for this week;)

Language Arts
Since Anna is finished with her core, we supplemented with some grammar worksheets from here and then her and I read in the afternoons!! She also did some writing on her own:)

Chris worked on Ordinary Parent Guide to teaching Reading (OPG). He wasn't as motivated this week, even though I tried letting him choose his reward. He did read each day though and he's really wanting to read library books... so the desire to read is starting to happen... which definitely helps in working to teach them to read!!

Lydia worked on Bob books this week. She asked for OPG, but it was always when I already had Chris and Anna to help or right before lunch when everyone is hungry and needing a BREAK. She works soo well independently (for being 4!!) but learning to read needs someone else to help (at least the way we do it). Really looking forward to our summer schedule so this little girl can read soon:) BTW, she ROCKED the Bob books she worked on, even wrote the words for us to practice!

Math
Anna worked on Subtraction facts this week. Doing some timed tests, Wrap-ups, writing out fact families AND flash cards!! On Thursday we went through the WHOLE subtraction stack of flash cards and sorting the ones she knew and the ones she had to figure out. SO now we can just work on those.

Chris did Saxon lessons each day:) He loves doing math!

Lydia worked on reviewing the number 2,3,4 & 5 number families with us. She also kept busy doing puzzles, Math Mastermind and ixl.com.

Science
We continued our Space unit by watching the Shuttle lift-off LIVE on Monday morning!!

Then Tuesday we talked about the International Space Station. Read some sections of our books, watched some YouTube and colored a pic! We also attempted to launch a rocket I had purchased...




too bad this was the only action we saw :( Hoping Daddy can help us out soon... surely with his "fix it" man skills and degree in high school Chemistry he can make it go;)
On Thursday, we finished our Science week by talking about careers at NASA, besides being astronauts! It was fun to see all the different types of jobs needed to make the space program work... I now have a kid who was to be an astronaut and a paleontologist:)

HistoryThis week we worked on a chapter about Spain/Ferdinand & Isabella and Portugal/Henry the Navigator. For each section we read, narrated, colored pictures and read library books;)

For Ferdinand & Isabella, Anna colored paper dolls to play with.

For Henry the Navigator, we talked a little bit about how they had to use simple tools, not like we use our GPS:) And we tried to make a compass...
Henry the Navigator wanted the Portuguese to sail to trade with West Africa and India. Our history book explained one of the reasons they wanted to trade was for the spices. So I pulled out the spices and let them smell some that were mentioned pepper, cumin and nutmeg.



OtherWe enjoyed our homeschool group's Field Day and End of Year Party!!

Pic of the WeekLydia working on her math.... baby wearing:)


I'm linking up to Weekly Wrap-Up :)

Processing...

I feel like the last few days I have been in a "processing" mindset.

We've just been through our church's revival week. It's busy with getting the kids ready for activities each evening, meals a little earlier than usual (trying to get lunch earlier, too) and then our actual revival services. But I do love revival weeks..

I love setting aside time each evening to sit under biblical teaching and worship. Daily life is filled with dirty dishes, dirty kids, school assignments, etc! SO it's nice to break from the normal routine and spend time learning and growing spiritually.


I also enjoy the time with the revival pastor and our church members. The revival pastors are all different and it's nice getting to know them more. Be encouraged and challenged by them as well as attempt to encourage them, too!!

And my church members.... oh, we are soo blessed to be a part of a church that loves the Lord, each other, neighbors and US as much as they do. Each evening they took turns fixing meals for us... even taking time to figure out how to safely feed our family!! And they serve us! And love and encourage us!! Who won't want to spend evenings with them...

And now revival is over...


Time to process. To apply. To change.

I was already in a "processing" mode before revival.... just wanting to be a better MOM... not react so poorly to everything. To demonstrate GRACE to my children. To better lead them to the Lord through my actions and attitudes and words.

So now I have more to process!

It is GOOD to keep growing as a wife, mom and Christ follower. I'm thankful for these periods of challenges, praying that they lead to growth!

**Pictures are unrelated! They are from our last visit with Grandma and Grandaddy and I am soo sad that I"m just getting around to share them!