Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Even though we are now in football season, and it kills me that I can't be at Brett's first practices to take pictures, I still have baseball pictures from spring to share. This was Brett's 3rd year playing and Luke's 1st.

There may be nothing cuter than a little boy all decked out in his uniform!
Running to 1st base

Luke spent most of the season just like this. In the sand with his best buddy. He was especially interested in the chalk on the field and played with it during every game.

My litte leaguer. It's amazing how much he improved in just one year! I was so shocked to see him fielding the ball and throwing to first to make an out. His coach was very impressive and Brett really seemed to take to the sport this year. I can't wait to see how he does next season...Michael wants to sign him up for coach's pitch.

This was his last game, getting his drink and his certificate. Baseball will definitely be around our home for years and years. (Thank goodness I LOVE baseball!)

Learning about Honeybees

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the field trips. I love to watch my kids have hands on experiences about things we have been studying at home. It's just invaluable-how many kids get to do this kind of stuff?

We studied honeybees not too long ago and my wonderful hubby hooked us up with an entomology professor at our old stomping grounds...Clemson! It was an amazing experience for them as well as us. I have never been so up close and personal with bees in my life and how often do you get your own private lesson from a university professor? So much fun, and we of course finished off the day with ice cream at the '55 Exchange. Ahh, it's all in a day's schoolwork.

My little ghost busters, er....Bee Keepers!
Honeycomb, we were even able to locate the queen bee.

The fam.

I theatened to put this on the front of our Christmas card and no one seemed to think that was as funny as me, oh well. ;-)

First and almost last day of school

We started our new school year last Monday. I was so excited because I changed our curriculum this year and we had just organized our school room-thanks to my wonderful hubby for putting furniture together for me and my mother-in-law for helping me organize everything.

Our first day was almost our last too. We were able to do school the next morning, and then I was put in the hospital for preterm labor. My OB has told me NO school while I'm on bedrest. Not even with my laying in the bed. So, the great thing about homeschooling is flexability. Our school year will just have to continue later- no harm done. I did, however, get a picture of Brett and Ella on their first day!

Brett- 1st grade
Ella- 3rd grade

I also wanted to share a couple random pictures I found while downloading the gazillion pics on my card.

My pet lover...she loves our labs and our cats and our rabbit with her WHOLE heart. I love this about her!

This was taken in May right before her dance recital. This costume is for her mini company dance routine. She'll be competing for the first time with dance this year. I can't wait to see how they do- such a sweet group of girls!

The post can't be complete without a pic from my little man. Wild as ever- this little one loves to be outside all day, everyday. I can't believe how big he's getting and I pray he'll adjust easily when his baby sister makes her appearance.

So, I mentioned bedrest...

These pictures were taken during our beach trip recently. I was 30 weeks and my best sis-in-law is right behind me at 28 weeks. I have several bech pictures to share, but wanted to share my bedrest story first....we hve nothing but time here people.
After a wonderful week at the beach, it was time to get back to my crazy and busy schedule here at home. We returned on a Sat and that Mon the kids and I were starting our new school year. Things went smoothly and we finished school early. I was really pleased because I was cooking dinner for my hubby's cousin and his wife who just had their first child. I was also cooking for another friend who just had her third baby and then of course, cooking our meal. That meant I was quadrupling my lasagna because one has to also go in the freezer, right?
To my shock, things were running like clockwork and everything was baked and ready to go at the right time- which was great because I also had to get the kids to a pool party after delivering supper.
I delivered supper and then drove to the pool party. We were a little late, but come on...who isn't always late when they have 3 kids and are pg? That's when it happened. I went to get out of my car, put my foot on the ground and the next thing I knew I was sitting on the ground. It happened so fast that I really don't even know how I fell. I knew I fell hard. I landed smack on my rear and sat there a moment in shock, then laughed like crazy because obviously I'm a klutz.
We went to the party and 30 minutes later I felt really nauseous and then the cramping set in. I feltbaad enough that I decided to load the kids up early and head home. A call to my doctor insured me that if the cramping didn't stop after an hour of resting and drinking lots of water, I was to go to the hospital.
Luckily, I felt better in an hour and went to bed. I had a regular OB appt the next day anyway. When I went to my appt, I was shocked to learn that I was 2cm dilated and 50% effaced- they were sending me straight to labor and delivery and I was told to not even go to the front desk to register.
Once I got there, I was given 3 different medications to stop my contractions and 1 to help mature the babies lungs in case of a premature delivery. I spent 2 nights in the hospital and left at a fingertip dilated and 50% effaced. I've been on strict bedrest since. Still in medicine to control my contractions. My OB wants me to make it to 35 weeks and then she will reassess my bedrest. It stinks because I am so dependent on everyone, and if you know me...you know this is NOT part of my personality. I do not like to depend on others for every little thing. I am sore from laying around all day and I wish I could sit up..she has me laying down as much as possible. I am allowed to get up to potty and shower-that's it.

I have a follow-up appt today so I'm excited because I get to leave the house. Heck, I'm excited because I get to leave my bedroom! I guess I will be updting later to share what happens and be prepared to get bombarded with pictures. I finally have the time to post them, lol!

All in day's work- my crazy 24 hours

Well, alot has happened since I posted last and I've been so busy that I haven't had time to post lately. All of that has changed now- I have nothing but time on my hands these days- I am now on strict bedrest (more on that in a bit).

Let's flash back 11 weeks, shall we? My sis-in-law and I are moving along nicely with our pregnancies until I go in for an anatomy U/S and find out that our little boy is now a little girl. HUH? They were about 90% sure on the 1st U/S that it was a boy and then they suddenly don't see any little boy parts. Ok, we can handle another girl. I went home in shock and Ella couldn't stop smiling.

The next morning I load the kids up in the car in an attempt to actually get Ella to dance camp on time...WRONG. In my efforts to pull out of the driveway, I feel a horrible bump and know in the pit of my stomach that I had just run over 1 of our dogs. I hop out, and like any emotional pregnant woman, burst into tears as I see and hear our 14 year old chocolate lab behind my back tire. I know she has to get to the vet, but have a hard time heaving her 80 pound body into the back of my car. Then I silently say a prayer and thank God for Crossfit. Silly I know, but I don't think I could've picked her up pregnant without it.

At the vet, I find out that I have severely fractured her pelvis and she is going to have to stay at the vet's offcie for about a week because I can't pick her up and take her outside to potty. What a morning... I start thinking the past 12 hours have been interesting!

I HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN NEXT...

After the vet, and finally getting Ella to and from dance camp, we headed home for lunch and Luke's nap. It was around 2 that day when I thought we may lose our house. Our dream home that we spent years building.

Brett went outside to play and came inside to tell me he saw smoke. We had our huge field beside the house planted with wheat at the time and they were combining so I figured he must see dust coming off the combine. I didn't panic...until....I went outside and saw the black/gray smoke myself. I knew it wasn't normal so I ran inside to call Michael (maybe they were burning off the field? I was hoping and praying). In the time it took me to grab the phone and go upstairs to the playroom to get a better view of the field, the smoke had turned into a full fledged FIRE! I'm talking HUGE red and orange flames everywhere. All I could think of was how dry the field was and that it wouldn't even take a minute for the fire to engulf the whole field and destroy all the wheat. Then I realized how close the wheat came to our house and our house could be in jeopardy.

The next 45 minutes were somewhat of a blur. I was calling and texting people like crazy asking for prayers. We had 4 fire departments show up. Michael raced home to help fight the fire. All I could do is sit and watch everything unfold before me. I don't know if I've ever felt more helpless and more like a farmer's wife, lol! We were about to lose this whole crop! I was terrified as I watched Michael run in and out of the fire with the bulldozer. Praying for the fire to stop, praying for God to keep him safe, praying for the fire to stop and for our loss to be small.

The time it took for them to get the fire under control seemed like an eternity, but it was finally contained and died down. No one was hurt- praise God! The miracle of it all...we didn't lose any of our wheat crop. The fire burned where the wheat had already been combined but it stopped just short of the very tall and very dry wheat. (for your city folk that means FLAMABLE!!) It seems a spark from a rock off of the combine is what started this catastrophe...a simple little rock.

Needless to say, it took hours for me to calm down enough and really digest everything that had just happened in the past 24 hours- our baby boy was now a baby girl, I ran over Annie and our field caught on fire. Wow! That's alot to take in. I've also never been more sure that God still performs miracles!

RMSC Homeschool Day-Part 2

Learning about human anatomy and how all of our organs fit in our bodies.
They has stuff there for children of all ages- the kids were never bored!

Ahhh- the importance of dental hygiene and learning all about 'sugar bugs'

Weather experiements

Luke couldn't quite hold the bottles upright to make a tornado, so he did his own experiment with the bottles held sideways.

Ella is just like most 8 year old girls...completely in love with horses. She was so excited to see a horse at RMSC and get to touch it!
On a side note (flash forward to the present)- she just finished a horse camp this week and is SOOO excited to be starting riding lessons in 3 weeks!

Brett's turn

Luke's turn

RMSC Homeschool Day-Part 1

I cancelled our Friday plans one week during May and instead of 'doing school' at home, we took off to the Roper Mountain Science Center to enjoy their Homeschool Day. I had no idea what to expect because we had never been before, I had never heard of their homeschool day before and I found out about it the day before it was going to happen.

I'm so glad I took a leap of faith and took the kids. They had so many science programs/activites that we weren't able to do everything we wanted. There were so many options that all of the kids were interested. Things moved pretty fast paced and the 'classes' lasted anywhere from 10 min- 1 hour. We were able to have a picnic outside and just enjoy not being stuck in a schoolroom and mom enjoyed a fun day with the kids. We are definitely looking forward to going again!

LUNCH!

Ella and Brett were getting ready to taste some honey straight from a honeybee hive.

Luke was fascinated by the bugs and the bug pictures.

Learning about plants in the rain forest.

Interesting animals in the Rain Forest. My brave little kids held a tarantula!!!! Mommy was no so brave and didn't even want to touch it...yuck!

This was in the dinosaur room- by far the kids favorite and the one that kept them entertained for a very long time....I had to make them leave. They were able to sift through ocean sand to find fossils of shark teeth and other interesting fossils. Then they had to match the fossil to a sheet and determine what it was.

Ella was VERY in to this and took it seriously. She asked the lady that was working in the room several questions, several times. I just sat back and watched them play/learn. I had no idea that this little room at RMSC would provide so much conversation on the way home in the car.

Another shot of the Fossil Dig.

Stay Tuned for Part 2!

Mission Recognition Service

Mission Recognition at church was in May, so....I'm just a teeny-weeny bit behind. Oops! Anyway, I did get a couple of quick shots of the kids receiving their little gifts for participating all year in various missions projects. The lighting in our church is never ideal for great pictures, so excuse the dark shots.

Luke's partner in crime aka best buddy is standing to the left of him.
Hiding his gift

Very proud of his chalk!

Ella's 2nd year in GA's. Last year she received a bracelet and a charm and this year she received another charm for her bracelet.

I was so proud of all of them. I pray that my children will all grow up with a servants heart and I love the mission work they do on Wednesday nights at our church. It helps teach them the importance of caring for others and sharing God's love.

School Day at the Zoo

We decided to take advantage of the pretty weather and head to the zoo for school one day near the beginning of May. (Yes, that's how far behind I am with posting pictures on here!) The kids, needless to say, were super excited and in need of a fun field trip. Gotta love the flexibility of homeschooling!

After seeing all the animals and being completely enthralled by the monkeys, I let the kids play on the awesome playground outside the zoo. The kids again had a lot of fun and didn't want to leave. I think they could've stayed there for hours and I was willing to let them play for a long time except for when the 3 school buses showed up to drop off kids and then the playground was crowded, so we took off.

This is my favorite picture from them on the playground. I love the concentration on Luke's face, the bend in his legs and how he has his arms just-so in order to keep him from falling.

Planting Our Garden

We planted our garden a long time ago. Well, not really, but it sure seems that way now looking back at these pictures. Luke was very excited to get to ride on the tractor with Daddy while he tilled the land. It makes his day (Luke) to just look outside our house on any given day and see tractors everywhere. Lately he's had an old combine to look at- I do believe we have a future farmer in the family.

Ella and Brett helping to plant row upon row of peas.

I love that my little girl doesn't mind being hot outside and getting dirty!

Showing off his missing tooth and very, very dirty little face. Country life is GOOD!