Fun in the Leaves

What fun is it to have a huge tree in your front yard if you can't jump into a big ol' pile of leaves?

Ella and Brett were so excited about the pile of leaves they swept (yes- they had a broom out there with them!) and came inside to get me and my camera demanding I take pictures. It was hilarious to watch them. It really doesn't take much to entertain kids. Just send them outside and let their imaginations run wild! Again, life in the country (or the Young house) is never dull!

Lots of catching up to do...

Things have been really busy around here lately- it IS the holiday season. I finally wised up and decided it was not in anyone's best interest to continue with school during Christmas time so we have taken the month off. Yes, you read that correctly. THE. WHOLE. MONTH.
Instead of having my kids do history, science, language arts, etc. we have decided to occasionally do some math, do some reading, ALOT of baking and crafts and most importantly a little bit of mission work around town. The kids really enjoyed baking pumpkin chocolate chip muffins to take to our church, our library, our vet and the dance studio. I want my children to have a servant's heart and what better time to practice, right?
Here are a couple of pics to keep you up to date with some things happening around here..

Sophie is 2 1/2 months old already and growing like a weed! At her 2 month check up she was almost 14 pounds- what a chunk! She has her mommy and daddy wrapped around her little finger and we fall in love more and more every time we see her smile.
Michael has enjoyed taking turns taking the kids hunting. Well, he hasn't taken Luke yet but his time is coming. He and Ella recently killed this buck together.

The kids participated in the CHristmas play at our church. The sunday school class that Michael and I are a part of has been putting on the Christmas play for 3 years now. We weren't able to help out this time though since we had a newborn in the house. The kid did get to be a part of it though and they were super excited!

We decorated for Christmas, well...if I'm honest...Michael decorated for Christmas. We didn't host our sunday school Christmas party this year so we kept things very simple.

We took the kids to see Santa. Ella told him she wanted a new bike, another American Girl doll and a puppy (like we need another animal!). Brett told him he wanted a BeyBlade and Luke was insistent that he didn't know what he wanted, lol! Sophie slept through most of it.

I have a lot of pictures to still post...this is just the beginning. lol!

Fun with our Dogs

I never know what I'm going to find when I walk outside and my kids have been playing. They love being outside, even though I sometimes have to kick them out of the house to remind them of that~ (wink, wink) I got so tickled several weeks ago when I walked outside to find Ella pulling Brett in our wagon. He was all covered up with a Clemson blanket and then I realized she had had 2 of our dogs in the wagon before Brett jumped in.

Our poor dogs put up with a lot from our kids and they seem to somewhat enjoy the punishment, ahem, training they receive.

Brett with his dog Maggie
Ella with her dog Molly

Maggie and Molly are part lab/part bird-dog

Life in the country is never dull...