Birthdays and Science Project Pets

The last couple weeks have been on the busy side! We had two birthdays, and prepped and planted the garden. We are having a houseful of company for Easter Sunday, so I did some spring cleaning. I was quite happy the other day when I managed to wash down all the walls in the house. My joy was squelched a little while later when I noticed that the dreaded yellow pollen from the pollinating pine trees had settled on my window sills and probably my clean walls!

We are down to 6 weeks left of school, a great feeling of relief is right around the corner!

We were very excited to get word this past week that our offer on 10 acres of land was accepted!! Now, we REALLY need to get this house sold!!

Marissa is 5!

She got a horse, (that she needs to share with her sisters) that their dolls from Christmas can ride.

Its always fun to get gifts in the mail from far away family!

And as always, the date with Daddy is the high-light of the day. Applebees was her choice to eat at because she "likes the french-fries".

Treyton is 3! My 'baby' went to Sunday School for the first time today. And for the first time, we have NO children during our Sunday School time. I must admit it was with mixed emotions as I watched him proudly walk to his class. Guess we have entered a new phase in life?! /:

Treyton was quite proud of his gift! We also got him his first bike, but it was too big and he was scared of it. /:  Treyton got to have a 'family date' at Pizza Hut for his special day!

Trey's gifts that came in the mail

His one gift came late, so he had "another birthday"!

I am not sure how impressed the girls were, but they were very good helpers by shoveling horse manure all afternoon for on the garden! My garden this year is cut in half in case we would end up moving. I planted spinach, potatoes, green beans, and onions so far.

Jennifer learned about ants in science and ever since has wanted to make an ant hill. Not sure how to dig up fire ants and make them a habitat, I ordered this nifty 'ant hill'. Once we got the hill,we sent off for ants. They came in this package a couple weeks later.

They immediately went to work carrying the 'dirt' from one side of the mound to the other. They were supposed to tunnel.

This is now what the 'hill' looks like. Never did I think I would have  pet "large Harvester Ants" from the dessert of Arizona on my kitchen counter, but its actually very interesting watching them. They never stop working it seems. I have seen them helping each other. Like when one was seeming too tired to keep crawling, another came behind it and held it up! We did have a couple die, and the others buried them. The girls need a science project to present to the homeschool group, so hopefully the ants keep living, cause this is going to be their presentation!

Valentines Day and More

 Where has the time gone? Christmas was the last pictures I posted?! Sorry for failing you who faithfully check for updates!

Not much worth taking time for pictures or blogging has taken place, but I will try to show a little.

Life has consisted of...

SCHOOL...

 

SCHOOL...

more school...(Rissa has become quite proud of the fact that she is learning to read her letter blends now)

and waiting for our house to sell. A very slow process. I am preparing myself to be homeschooling once again next year cause I don't quite see us having sold, built and moved till next fall.

Treyton saw this book at the library and just had to bring it home to see "Uncle Brandon's tractors"!

Jennifer lost her not her first tooth, but a first top front one.

Rissa sat like this for a long time talking to Nick, I wonder what she was telling him?

Treyton's reward for becoming a 'big boy' and being completely potty trained.

A highlight every other week is story time at the library. The kiddos love to be 'helpers'.

To get us in the Valentines Day spirit, I made these brownies. Just use a heart cookie cutter, remove the piece and fill with colored icing. Treyton looks so proud here cause he was insistent it was his birthday.

Valentines party at the library.

We had our Valentines supper at home. The girls had blast setting the table fancy, eating by candlelight, and drinking home-made sparkling grape juice. They decorated the cookies on each plate too. We grilled shrimp, pork ribs and pork chops. I know, not very healthy, but Valentines Day is only once a year!

Our Christmas

Well, Christmas has come and gone already! School is back in session with the intention to stick hard at it so we can be finished the beginning of May, when we plan to make another trip North.

Our Christmas was great! We had our own celebration the Friday night before Christmas, then left for PA on Sunday and were gone a week. We left with sick kids and returned with sick parents, but we had a good time anyway!

The girls were involved in our Homeschool Groups first Christmas Play. They both played sheep. It was a highlight for them. They seriously could not wait for practice each week!

The beginning of December we went to "The Parade of Lights", a Christmas parade in Columbia. It was our first parade and we all enjoyed it

The girls have been wanting American Girl Dolls, they being way more than I ever want to pay for a doll, we got them Targets version, 'Our Generation Dolls'. They were thrilled to say the least!

Treyton's gift ended up being one of those you want to forget about. I searched internet and got him a car transporter truck. Well, to say the least, it was a cheap piece of plastic that I paid way too much for and it actually fell apart in the first couple days, even though he was gentle. Of course the store does not accept returns, but after a letter of complaint, they did refund a tiny bit. /:

Trey was quite excited to have a tractor "like Uncle Brandon's"

My Little Helper

A sight that makes me smile (:

I have to be honest and admit that I don't like to decorate cookies, but the kiddos wait all season long to, so I make it happen. As it turned out, the cookies grew so large as they baked, that some of the shapes were not identifiable, but they had fun anyway and that's all that counts!

A winter project we are tackling, shelling pecans that we bought at the flea market.

The kiddos were hoping for snow while in PA, well they got some, 8 whole inches of it! A couple days before we came back home, I think they realized why Mommy says she doesn't like snow. Even Rissa one evening in her dramatic way listed off reasons of why she longer likes the snow either!

The week before Christmas, two of my brothers had new family members. They were never lacking for anyone to hold them while we were around! Unfortunately, my kiddos had sore throat (the whole time in PA) so they were limited on their baby holding.

Gift time at the Summy's

Patiently waiting for gift time at the Heisey's

Even though gifts are fun and exciting, they don't come close to the joy of being with cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents!!

Aunt Marcia bought finger paints for the kiddos, they had a blast making their 'creations'

I had to wonder if Aunt Anita ever got tired of saying yes to Jenny's many pleas for her to play a game with her!

Alia is the only cousin on the Summy side the kiddos have. The other cousins live in Honduras and we haven't seen them for soon 2 years. The girls were excited to get to have a video chat over internet with them though.

It seems that Aunt Lynette is never having to look for nieces or nephews to hold!

I must admit that I at times feel sorry for depriving our kids the fun of having cousins and relatives close by. They so enjoy the few visits we make to PA. I also have to admit that I miss seeing my little nieces and nephews growing up! But, I know we are where we are supposed to be, so I need to take comfort in that fact!

Our Thanksgiving and More

Life has been so busy and eventful the last while, where do I start? The Holiday season started out a little on the wrong foot when the doctor ordered me to the couch to try and prevent a miscarriage that was threatening to happen. With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, that was hard to do, but I did it anyway. I was couch bound for a week, but I did go ahead and miscarry. It was a first for me and was disappointing, especially for the kids. Their bed time prayers consisted of asking God to take care of our baby and to please send us another one. Since we are hoping to move this summer if all works out, I said they might have to wait awhile.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a houseful of family. David's family came for 4 days. We had a great time together!

I have been finding it hard to get into the Christmas Spirit this year. Not sure if it is because of all the events that go with it when I find going away unhandy with schooling, or maybe its the 75* weather (although snow and cold is anything but appealing), or perhaps its thinking of all the cookies and candy that will be a temptation to me. Whatever the reason, I am going through the Season motions and started mixing batches of cookie dough today.  This year we had the kiddos draw names for giving gifts to each other. They think this is the most fun thing and keep begging to go Christmas shopping. As our kids get older, we are finding it fun to start our own Christmas traditions to hopefully make fond memories for them. (:

David's family (all except his brother and family in Honduras)

David's family all came the night before Thanksgiving. About 10 minutes after they got here, our front door came bursting open and in ran his sister Amanda, from Honduras, yelling surprise! Some of David's siblings flew her here as a surprise to us and David's parents. It was a great surprise. Treyton didn't remember her from the last time we had seen her a year ago, but he eventually warmed up to her.

Jennifer had a birthday November 15. She turned seven. We had a little belated celebration for her while everyone was here.

Treyton enjoyed being Grandpa's buddy. No, that is not snow on the picture. We had a campfire and it is ash. Although it did feel cold enough for snow.

Everyone had fun together. Here they are playing "Andy Over" around the camper. (we borrowed the camper for more bed space)

There seemed to be an endless supply of food around. This is our Thanksgiving feast.

Guess what is going on here?! They are retrieving our Thanksgiving turkey! David's brother wanted to try a 'turkey in a hole' for something different. The thing roasted in a hole in the ground over night.

The prize turkey! It was very good!

The kiddos never got tired of the endless supply of attention. They went through a few days of withdraw after everyone left!

We did squeeze some work in among the fun and did my applesauce.

Jenny's birthday was a week before Thanksgiving. We had a little party for her with some of her friends. [the cake is a princess crown, in case you were trying to figure it out(:  ]

Gift time

She wanted a pinata at her party.

Game time was fun

They even got David in on the games!

And as always, the best part of a birthday is a date with Daddy to the place of their choice!