Pawpaw's Girls

Pawpaw and Nana had three boys within three years.  Their baby was the first to get marreid and he was almost 30 before he got married.  And he married me!

So it was a long time before there were any other females in the family other than Nana.

So imagine how fun it must be for them to finally have little girls in the family.

They now have six grandchildren running around, five girls and one boy.

And those girls have Pawpaw wrapped around their fingers!

 C hugging Pawpaw goodnight.

 E and Pawpaw being silly.

Pawpaw with their baby and four of their six grandchildren.  They were watching a movie under my great-grandmother's quilt.  I told them that quilt was probably 100 years old - or close to it!



Sewing with Nana

A generous friend gave our girls a sewing machine earlier this month.  Since I'm not very experienced in the use of sewing machines, I held off on getting it out until Nana - also known as Supernana - was here.  I knew that she knew how to use the sewing machine much better than me.

I also knew that she knew how to sew much better than me.

So during the afternoon of this Black Friday, we went to the big Superstore that has everything to purchase a pattern, fabric and anything else needed for the project.

 First comes the cutting... E was their cheerleader some of the time.

 Still more cutting.

 Now it gets fun.  Sewing!

 And sewing...

 More sewing... C helped cheer them along as well.  Actually, I think she was just lovin' on Nana some.

 A few hours later (after a break for dinner), the finished project - a new gown for H!

Thanks, Nana!

Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

Pawpaw and Nana came to spend Thanksgiving with us.  H wanted to do several of the dishes "all by herself" so that was fun having her in the kitchen helping cook.  She made sweet potato casserole, cornbread dressing and caramel pie.  For dinner she made another batch of Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins.  Yummy!  (Thanks again for the recipe, Pam!)

While I didn't get a photo made of the wonderful Thanksgiving meal we enjoyed today, I did snap a couple of evening shots.

 A couple of months ago, the kids made a "medal of honor" for someone who had served or is serving in the US Military.  B saved his for Pawpaw and gave it to him today.  Pawpaw wore it proudly all day.

Dad, Nana, H and E watching a movie.  C was on the floor.  Guess where Mom is!?  (You guessed it, taking the photo.)

We are thankful for Jesus.

We are thankful for family.

We are thankful for good health.

We are thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!



Turkey Cookies

We invited our neighbors over this morning to make Turkey Cookies and read about the first Thanksgiving today.  It was a fun treat to make the cookies and then eat them.  The kids were kind enough to pose for a few pictures first though.

B, E, Bailey, Aubrey, H, C and Clara

H and C with their Turkeys

 B and E gave their Turkeys a black eye.

 The finsished product.  I had to make one for them to see so naturally, I ate it to make sure they tasted good.

Ingredients:

2 Golden Or*eo Double*Stuff cookies

Candy Corn

Butterscotch chip

Ree*ces Pieces for eyes

vanilla icing to hold it all together

(Thanks to Christy for sharing the idea.  Her turkeys were a little fancier than ours.)

The Pratt girls had made Pilgrim Hats at home so they were kind enough to bring some to share with us.

It was a fun way to start our Thanksgiving celebration!



Salt Dough Maps of Europe WWII

Last Friday at co-op the class I help teach made salt dough maps of Western Europe at the start of WWII.  I should have taken photos then but my hands were too nasty to touch my camera.  Today, they painted each country a different color following the key one of the teachers had made.  The maps turned out well and I think the kids learned where the countries are located in a fun way.

 The twins with the other two girls in their class.

B with a very short "serious" moment.  Actually, he didn't know I was taking the photo.



NC Zoo to Celebrate 8

Since we were traveling to Tennessee on B's birthday, we told him that we would do "something fun and different" to celebrate.  He liked the idea of a day at the zoo.  Homeschoolers can go one time a year for free so I thought he could invite a couple of friends to go and call it a "party".

Well, as I was counting heads it occured to me that I could not fit everyone in my van.  So I recruited another homeschool mom to join in the fun (and drive her suburban) to fit everyone.  She also has girls about the same ages as our girls so it all worked out.  With one other friend of B's and his sister and mom, we had every seat occupied in the two vehicles.

One dad, three moms and eleven children...

 The gang is all here.  Count carefully.  There should be eleven.  (B's about to lose his cap!)

 H and her friends, Alexa, Lizzy and Abby.

 B and his friends, Ian and Isaac.

 The twins and Lily.

 Somehow Abe missed the boys group photo op but we can't forget him!

 After a picnic lunch, B opened his gifts.  He received 20 Questions...

 ...and he received a Bop*It.

 Well, my animal photos didn't come up in the order I wanted.  This was the favorite animal for B and Mom - a Victoria Crowned Pigeon - or as B called it, Mohawk Bird.

 Dad gave a few piggy-back rides throughout the day.

 There were lots of statues for climbing and playing.

 This was the twins' first time to see a "real live giraffe".

 B and Abe are buddies.

 Family fun day at the zoo.

H had drawn a polar bear in art so she was excited to see one.  The polar bear, however, was not in the mood to entertain the children.  He didn't move at all the entire time we stood there.

Happy 8th birthday to our sweet boy!!

Fall Colors

The fall colors have been beautiful this week.  I don't ever remember them being so bright while we've lived here.

A view of our front yard.

How's this for a fall photo?  Beautiful colors on the trees with roses still blooming.

 Another view of our front yard.

Hummm...look who's outside when she's suppose to be inside doing her schoolwork!?  Caught you! :)

{It rained tonight.  I mean, storming rain.  There are leaves on the ground everywhere.  Glad Dad took these pictures because it doesn't look like this now.}

The Hoppers Concert and Downtown Raleigh at Night

Our family saw the Hoppers in concert tonight.  It had been at least 10 years since I saw them.  The concert was all soundtracks but they are still good!

 LtoR: Dean, Kim, Connie, Claude and Michael

 Dean and Kim's daughter, Karlye, joined them for one song.

And since I'm never passing through downtown Raleigh at night, this was my first time to see it from this view in almost 7 years of living here.  By the time I got pulled over and stopped to take the picture, I was a little too close for the full effect.

All About Sheep

We read A New Coat for Anna for literature this week.  As soon as I finished the book, I knew I had to get Joey Moore to talk to the kids about sheep and the process of using their wool.  This guy knows everything there is to know about sheep and wool (well, almost!) AND he's in our co-op.  Since it was my week to teach, it all worked out nicely.  And with some help from his mom, Alesia, the kids learned a great deal in a short amount of time.

 The Moore's have all the "old fashioned tools" to show the kids.

The spinning wheel was a real hit.  And Joey's really good at using it.

Thanks, Joey!!

The World of Double Digits

This past summer while Aunt Heather was in Addis*Ababa, we were watching videos on You**Tube of orphanages in Ethio*pia.  There was one that touched H's heart in a special way.  She found it very sad that the boys at Kol*fe Orphanage did not have many books.  And she set out on a mission to change that as much as one young girl in the USA could.

So...she started SHINE...Sharing Hope IN Ethiopia.

And she decided that on her birthday this year, she would have a SHINE party.  So as her birthday approached and I started doing my usual Mommy planning, she reminded me again and again that her party was already planned.  So I put Nancy**Drew ideas away and started thinking about how to make this a fun party while focusing on the boys at Kol*fe as well.  I hope the guests had a good time because H was very happy with her entire day.

 I had two tables set up in our living room.  (That "no rain in the forecast" forecast was NOT true!  So much for outside plans.)  At one table, the girls made cards for the boys at Kol*fe.  At the other table, they decorated candle holders with small pieces of tissue paper.  That was their "treat" to take home.  Every time they see the candle or light it, they are to remember the boys at Kol*fe and pray for them.

 H designed a logo for SHINE.  It is a sun with the acronym in the middle.  So I took the sun and put it on her lemon (yellow) cake.

 The sun is SHINE-ing.  :)

 Our birthday girl.

Well, I cut off our birthday girl some but these are all her friends who came today.  Cheyenne, Rebecca, Abby, Jenna, Lizzy, Alexa, Helen and Aubrey

(E, C and their friend, Autumn, are enjoying their cake and ice cream at a table in the living room.)

In lieu of gifts ("I don't really need anything new." - H), H asked the girls to give a donation to SHINE.  SHINE received almost $90.00.  So her grand total is over $110.00 now.  Plans are being made to purchase books for the Kol*fe Library.  (I'll update on that soon.)

So our "little girl" has now entered the world of double digits.  She's 10.  She is such a joy.  We love watching her grow into the person God made her, seeing her gifts and talents show more and more each year.

We love you!!

Happy 10th birthday!!!!