A Trip to the Zoo and Changes

Well, we found out last week that our family is in for some big changes. No, it is not another baby, but I would say it is a bigger change than that would be! We are going to homeschool! I found out last week that Levi, (the one I thought was going to be driving Amber to school) was not going to our church school after all! So, that meant that all the driving was up to me. David could not quite understand why I thought that two hours of driving everyday was an unhandy thing, but when he figured how much money in gas we would have on top of tuition, he decided that we would give homeschooling a try. The homeschool price was a lot cheaper than just the gas would be! I plan to use ABeka DVD for our curriculum. It is a big and scary endeavor that is going to require some priority changes for me. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist with my house, so I will have to give a little in that area! We hope for the best with all the changes this will be and would appreciate your prayers, especially for Amber, she was disappointed to not be going to school with her friends.

This past Saturday we went to the zoo in Columbia. The kids had a blast, even Treyton. This picture was taken at the end of the day and he was HOT and tired!

Rissa wanted her own picture

I was not sure why an ugly possum was part of the petting zoo, but Rissa thought it had a cute face?

A trip to the zoo is not complete without a Carousel ride

I was a little surprised that Rissa left this goat eat out of her hands!

We left them take a train ride this time too.

The girls were thrilled to have a front row seat for the fish feeding demo

I thought this Kangaroo had the right idea!

Treyton really found the animals interesting

We had chicken wraps for supper the other night. I had heated up some casserole for Treyton thinking that he would like it better. He did not want his casserole but what everyone else had. He did a good job of handling his falling apart wrap, and he actually liked it!

Busy ladies!

The boy comes out is Treyton when he sees anything with wheels! He calls them "Room-Rooms"! This is his favorite "Room-room" book

This cute little guy lives behind my mop on the deck

Last Days of Summer

I was disappointed with myself when I realized how few pictures I had to put on here! I will try to do a better job of grabbing my camera for next time!
We had an interesting event happen last week. About the time I feel that I don't need to worry when the kids are outside playing, something happens that makes me cautious again. We had a shooting take place just up the road from our house, two guys were shot, one killed. A drug deal gone bad. The bad thing was it wasn't the drug house I had already been warned about! I guess this is why when we went to change our drivers license when we moved, a sheriff in the office says, "Pearl Lane, I know that road good". I guess I need to remember we are protected by a powerful God!

Amber is enjoying her freedom before school starts next Tuesday. I have been trying to make life low key and fun her last days home. I took them shopping and out to Pizza Hut last week. Yesterday I surprised them by taking them out for ice cream. And we hope to go to the zoo on Saturday.

Treyton's new thing is...climbing. He drags chairs around and climbs on everything. He learned the hard way the other day what pepper is. He climbed up on the kitchen table and was dumping out the pepper shaker, all the while he was sneezing away!

The other night while I was cleaning off the supper table, he climbed up and started to wash the table off!

The girls have found a new interest, playing in the woods. They play for hours in there in their 'fort'. I try not to think about the rattle snakes a neighbor lady told me she sees quite often!

I am still couponing, something I enjoy the rewards of after all my preparation. This was one of the best CVS Pharmacy trips I had. I paid $4.66 for this lot. I could have gotten it for free, but decided to save some of my "CVS Bucks" for my next trip.

Our Busy Life

I am finally getting to this project! Life has been a little crazy lately. We took my sister back to PA last week, so we were gone for about 5 days. Since we came back, I have been adjusting to not having her here and the kiddos miss her attention, so they have been a handful. Plus, I got into doing some reorganizing/re-arranging in the house to try and better suit fitting everyone in our small house. That ended up being a bigger project than I anticipated! I also brought back a half bushel of cucumbers, that I turned into pickles. That was a first for me, and they actually turned out!
This morning I helped David insulate the attic/crawl space above the house. I kept the machine full of insulation while he blew it in the attic. When we finished, my hair was white with the stuff, I told David he now knows what I will look like when we are old and gray!
It has been very hot. The other day Amber looked at the thermometer, it read 99*, she said, ''Wow Mommy, fall must be coming, it is not getting hot today''! It has been reading 104* every day, so I guess it was not as hot as it had been.

I love when stores change their clothing seasons, the clearance racks are a great place to hit! I only paid a couple dollars for these at Childrens, Place, my favorite store!

While in PA, we went to a demolition derby at the Fair

It was HOT and LOUD, so Treyton got sick of it pretty quick, so...

...We took them on some rides instead

Treyton's first 4 wheeler ride with Uncle Chad

Treyton likes his cousin Tirzah

Uncle Brandon was going to take Treyton on his first tractor ride, but he was not impressed! I figure the day will come when he will beg for rides! (:

While in PA, David's family helped us to can two bushels of green beans

We got everyone helping. Amber is working with her new cousin Alea. They have become quite good friends! They played very hard and also had a sleepover while we were there. Amber is missing her since we are home.

We got a total of 40 quarts

Rissa riding with Grandpa Summy

David worked at the shop a little

I could not resist this picture!! David and his Dad are balancing the fork lift while they lift a roof onto a gazebo.

Playing Memory with Lynette. We miss you Aunt Lynette!

Lynette baked us some yummy cookies. A treat we don't get very often since dieting!

Treyton thought they were good too!

Treyton was very proud of the cowboy boots he finally grew into!

Grandma Summy gave Amber a belated birthday cake to bring home

I thought this was funny, the first time Treyton got an Oreo cookie, he promptly took it apart and ate the icing out.

Another clearance rack special

My cinnamon pickle project- 14 pints