The Battle for the Recliner

Earl vs. Pops: The Battle for the Recliner

Hoosiers cruise south for spring

It's been many moons since our last post, so what better way to crack the ice than a little spring break visit from Polk and the Bridges crew, sans AJB and Pops?

The only unfortunate thing is they brought crummy Midwestern weather with them, as it was in the 40s and raining for the first day and a half.

Of course, Earl became fast friends with everyone involved, and it was especially mutual with Hannah and A.J. We enjoyed a trip to East Clarke Park and its playground, although the temperatures were in the 40s when we arrived, we stayed long enough for the sun to come out, and warm up about 10 degrees.

Another highlight was a visit to Trader Joe's. While we didn't find the elusive lobster, we did find a coloring table and kid-sized shopping carts for the pint-sized shoppers.

The final stop was a popular destination: Bruce and Carole's house. It's full of toys, snacks, strawberry and chocolate milk and plenty of wine for the old(er) folks.

Happy Fall, Y'all!

The temperatures have dropped to the mid-80s, the leaves are beginning to change colors and white, fluffy stuff (cotton, that is) is scattered by the roadsides. These signs mean only one thing here in north Mississippi...fall is here! This has been our busiest season yet. Clara is playing soccer for the first time (Benji elected to be a fan this time around), she continued taking an art class that started in the summer and resumed violin lessons with Mr. Bell. We've also joined a national homeschool group called Classical Conversations that meets each Tuesday morning in Oxford with 26 other families. The kids have really enjoyed being in small classes with other kids their ages, giving presentations to their classes on different topics each week and memorizing a history timeline along with science, math and english facts. They also do an art and science experiment each week together.

Here are some of the highlights, in pictures:

Clara ready to play in her first soccer game 

 Benji and Clara helped with a "Sweet Shoppe" fundraiser for their 

youth group at Charleston's "Gateway to the Delta" festival a few weeks ago.

Practice, practice, practice...& learning to read notes instead of just playing by ear :)

 Benji picks his favorite pumpkin on a field trip to Cedar Hill Farm in Hernando, MS

 Benji's best pal, Julius, joins us on the rides at the Tallahatchie County Fair

 During a Mississippi Symphony rehearsal of Mahler's 5th symphony

(I'm back there on the right side in front of the bass section)

'Tis the season--cotton harvest!

Back to School 2012

Summer has ended and school has begun.  On August 15th, Abigail started first grade with loads more confidence than she felt this time last year.  She adores her teacher, Mrs. Cooper.  So far she's had excellent behavior reports and several cute pictures of Abbs and her classmates have been posted on Mrs. Cooper's parent facebook page!  Even more important, Abigail is really reading well!  Beyond sight words and memorized books, she is really able to read and sound out words with so much more proficiency than she seemed to have at the end of kindergarten.  Sadly, she still hates waking up early and really doesn't care that 99% of the world doesn't either.  That's life, kiddo.  At least banana muffins cheer her up and monkey puppets visit her classroom!

 

Two weeks later, preschool began! Pre-k 4's is three days a week and Hannah is beyond ready.  She starts her day on school days by hanging out with her "crazy cousin, Gavin."  They go to preschool together and will both be starting kindergarten next year.  Hannah always has a full report for us on everyone's behavior at school, who had to sit in the blue chair (timeout) and whether or not she spied Gavin during recess.  Afternoons with Polkie, Pops and A.J. are her wind down time.  Two days a week she's playing soccer and a girl's gotta rest up for that!
 

This little guy is precious as ever, even though he hasn't started school.  He and Polkie are working on good walks, good naps and peek a boo.  This weekend his homework was to play Itsy Bitsy Spider and This Little Piggy, so we did.  Lots ;-)  He acts like teeth are coming but no sign of any little, white, pointy places yet.

Look closely, our big girl has lost seven teeth since Christmas Eve, two of them in the same weekend two weeks ago!  She loves apples and corn on the cob and is currently on hiatus from both.

What can I say?  Crazy as ever!  She wanted me to take a picture of her making this face.  How could I say no?

Recently, my oldest best friend, Becky sent these matching shirts for the kids.  They love them!  Abbs got one, too.  They've each worn theirs a few times but when I try to photograph them together, this is how it has turned out.  Abbs wasn't even part of this shot because she'd already changed that day.  Hey, with these three little people, I take what I can get!

Happy Seventh Birthday, Abigail!!

Almost two weeks ago we celebrated our late summer girl's seventh birthday.  As a friend of mine recently said, I don't enjoy my babies growing up but I love seeing the people they're becoming.  Abigail shared a party this year with a two year old buddy of hers, Jay Brown.  We reserved the Shelbyville Aquatic Center and invited all of our family and a bunch of friends.

She was so excited to share her birthday with the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, that she decided to have an American flag themed party.  For a July birthday, it was fun to plan with the 4th so recently passed.

 The pool party was such fun that most of the guests seemed to almost forget about the cake and gifts!  And honestly, that's perfect in our opinion.  Everyone had a great time celebrating our big girl and for a couple of hours we forgot about the 105 degree heat and the recently declared "extreme drought" that has been weighing everyone down this summer.

We enjoyed watching the sun set on the pool, the kids splashing in the water and some of the older folks sitting by the pool chatting.

Abigail has matured so much in the past year.  She has now lost five teeth since Christmas Eve!  She's an emerging reader, her printing has improved very much since her wrist healed in the spring and she's growing much more confident.  Her favorite thing to play is "grown up friends" with Hannah, while clomping around the house in my heels, carrying a purse and a baby doll.  Each of them "lives" in one of the upstairs bedrooms.  She colors multiple pictures everyday and she has become an outstanding helper with and big sister to her little brother.

 We can't wait to see what first grade brings!  She knows the school, has some good friends, is getting interested in choosing her outfits and hairstyle and has SO much love to give.  Almost everyday there is a moment when I'm smiling to myself about how grownup she seems.  I'm so proud of her and absolutely love seeing the young lady she is growing into!

Earl the multi-tasker

It's not enough for Earl to play with a tennis ball and blanket individually, he must do as many at once as possible. Except it's not as graceful as you might expect.

Favorites

When we were driving home from Gatlinburg, Andy and I asked the girls to tell us what their favorite thing was that we did on the trip.

Abigail said, "Swimming in the river AND the pool.  It was neat that we could swim in two places."

Hannah said, "I really like to walk in the woods, so that was my favorite."  So what if she was carried part of the way.

And they both agreed that cousin time ranks pretty high, too.  In every picture I can find, they pair up the same way: Clara and Hannah, Abigail and Benjamin.

Oh, and Earl!  Thanks to Aunt and Uncle K for renewing the regular pleas for an indoor dog.  You know, to go with our horses, dogs, cats, turtle and chickens.  Maybe someday!

Andy and I first went to Gatlinburg on the way home from our honeymoon.  I'd been there a few times during my summers in nearby North Carolina, on the other side of the park.  And we've been back on one family vacation and Andy's trip there with friends.  We absolutely love the national park and we really enjoyed being there with such important people to us!
Though visits are busy now and full of schedule adjustments and accomodations (thank you, nursing baby, well balanced meals for children, Diabetic lows, etc.) we know that someday the trips will be calmer and we'll all wish for the chaos of 2012.