September Beach Trip

Instead of an Anniversary trip to the beach this year we went as a family. It was fun. And crazy. And rained most of the time we were there. Unfortunately we were in the middle of a tropical storm on the Atlantic, but it was still warm enough to play and have fun. I rented us a condo right on the edge of Kure Beach, before the state park at Fort Fisher. I was all happy to have gotten a great deal on a beach front place...there really was no beach. It was all eroded and was mostly sandbags. It freaked the kids out a little that high tide at night was basically waves crashing under our building. The condo was old and dirty. But we were at the beach! 

19 years Sept. 25!

                   Jason, Luke and Grace took a class on surf fishing at the aquarium. They learned how to cast, equipment etc. and then fished for 2 hours and caught nothing. Not even a bite. I guess the wind was blowing the wrong way the teacher said, she didn't expect anyone to catch anything that day. But it was cool to learn and know next time we go to the beach we will drive down on the State Park beach to solitude and Jason can fish while we play.

Having the beach all to ourselves was amazing. We drove down a few miles after getting a permit. There were a few people fishing, other then that, miles of beach to ourselves. The sun came out for the hour we spent here on Sunday morning. I had forgotten how beautiful it is. 

 Sophie and Noah and I found the best donuts ever while the others were fishing. Really. This place was fabulous. We went back as a family the next day. While driving on the beach we let the kids sit in the back of the Suburban, they were dragging their toes and feet making patterns in the sand. Laughing and having fun. It was a nice change from the fighting.

Grace's best pic from the trip. I love the colors in this!

First Day of School

 3rd Grade. I can't believe it! When did these boys grow up so fast? 

6th Grade, First Day of Middle School. I guess today was just a hug your sister kind of day. 

This is from Heather's blog. She wrote it last week. It captures how I feel so well. I wanted to remember it, the bittersweet time of summer ending, school beginning again. How childhood just keeps on ticking away, no matter how much we would like it to slow. I can say that I am grateful for the seasons of life. 

Bubba's Babbles, Aug. 19,2015       Today is the first day of school.  It is always a bitter sweet day for me.  It’s sweet because having four kids home all summer can get crazy… and loud.  Now there are schedules and friends and after school programs … and quiet.

It’s bitter because another summer has gone by.  No more late nights, camp outs,  water parks and visits from family.  Each new school year is a stark reminder that they won’t stop growing up, that another year of childhood is in the books.

Every year before school starts Chris gives the kids back to school blessings.  A few years ago Eli was the only one going to school and was a little nervous to get a blessing.  I offered to get one first so that he would know what it was like and hopefully lessen his fears.

During the blessing Chris gave me the Lord counseled me to enjoy the fact that my kids were growing up.  He taught me that growing up is part of the Plan of Salvation and that I needed to embrace the change that was happening in our life.

I remember that blessing often, whenever I am sad about growing children or a life change.  It helps to be reminded that that is the way it’s supposed to be.  Children are supposed to grow up and when they do it’s okay to embrace it.

It’s also okay to be sad about it.  The sadness brings the realization that it happens so fast and helps us to slow down and be more present in our day to day lives.

I still feel the regret of all that we didn’t do over the summer or the longing for that child to just stay four forever.  For them to always fit into my lap and always want me to read them a bedtime story.  But the fact is, our kids are going to grow up.  That’s the way it’s supposed to be.

If it’s going to happen we might as well embrace it and find the joy.  Because there will be joy.  The 3rd grader will still want you to walk him all the way to his desk and will even hug you before you go.  The 6th grader will turn back and make sure he gets one last look at you as he heads to his class on this own.  And that look, that sign that he needs one last reassurance from you that he will do great, will let you know that even though he is growing up he still needs you. And that will let you know that it’s all going to be okay.

August 16

Grandma Smith reminded us this week of the Perseid meteor shower that happens each August. This year it coincided with a new moon so it was ideal viewing. We went out on the trampoline Wednesday night after cub scouts and activity days. Abby was with us, and it was blessedly cool. The dew had already fallen so we were a bit damp, but it was fun all squished together waiting for the next falling star. I have never seen meteors look so close! We saw some amazing ones that would streak across the whole sky. Sophie kept screaming when she would see one, and Luke got super bugged by her. So we did not sleep out on tramp which was the original plan. I was relieved to be honest. There is nothing like sleeping in my own bed.

 The kids drew mustaches on themselves. Crazy. I later found these selfies Noah had taken on my phone. Totally makes me laugh.

On Saturday we finally finished the rabbit hutch. The kids all helped and learned a lot. I need to take a picture of the final product. Well, almost final. The roof does not fit. It works for now though. The girls painted it coral and white. It is really cute.

 Dessa asked if I had made any blueberry syrup from our berries. To be honest, I had never even thought of it. I made some this week. It was super easy and took 10 minutes. We have been eating it on pancakes and biscuits and ice cream. It is delicious!

Jason made homemade chicken noodle soup and biscuits for lunch today while we were at church. He gets home from the Caswell ward a bit before us. It was so delicious and wonderful to come home to yummy food already made. Noah told him he could be on Medium Chef that it was delicious but that he was ready for Master Chef yet.

Today had some weirdness...

Not the greatest picture of either Grace or Sophie, but the bunnies look adorable! Sophie named hers Jessie and Grace's is Quinn. We still don't know if they are boys or girls so the girls chose names that can be for either sex. These rabbits are so stinking cute! They are so much fun. Quinn is an escape artist though. We have already spent too much time trying to catch him when he gets out of the rabbit run. The girls and Jason spent all day last Saturday building a new rabbit hutch. They did not get finished by dark but Jason's back was more then finished. He hurt it somehow and now has several weeks of no twisting, lifting etc. So the rabbits are still in a big wire dog crate. But they have plenty of room and get taken out a few times a day at least to be played with. We got them on the 23rd of July. They have grown almost twice as big as they are in this first picture.

So for the weirdness...we drove to Eden to go to a flea market this morning. Nothing like a flea market in the rural south to freak you out a bit. Sophie said she was never going to one again. Jason and Grace both found some things to buy. I got so Chow chow from a lady selling her home canned veggies. It is a relish made from green tomatoes and cabbage with hot peppers. It is good, but hot! I have never seen so many people trying to sell so much junk before in my life. Also every where you looked there were people proclaiming their right to fly the Confederate flag. We had a good talk about it on the way home. And on the way there we passed an old tobacco cabin or shed that was super decorated. It even had 2 mannequins sitting on the front porch. It was creepy and so, so funny! I wish I had gotten a picture.

Back to the Stone Ages...

After 2+ years of just using cell phones, I ordered a home phone from Amazon this week. It came today. Grace opened it and then bemoaned for about 10 minutes that it was ancient technology. She even asked if it was going on the wall, adding that it would be SO EMBARRASSING! I let her think it was for a while. Just to be awesome mom. Noah thought it was super cool and promptly started putting it together, plugging it in and trying to figure out how it works. What a different world my kids live in then mine was as a child!

We got 8 inches of rain last night in around 2 hours. Our corn was literally washed out of the ground. It was so wet today that I couldn't do anything with it. I tried and sunk about 4 inches into mud. Hopefully tomorrow we can rebury it. Everything else was fine. Although the chickens had a wet night. We need to build a new coop so badly.

Sophie just snuck into the boys room and did an air horn app on her ipod to scare them. It worked. She is such a little turd sometimes ;)

Summer Fun

I promised Heather that I would start writing again. I really miss it. Not sure why I can't make it a priority without my sister's help, but oh well. That is where I am.

I harvest 60+ lbs of honey from our hives today. Jason is still rehabbing his hurt back, so he advised but I did all the work. And know maybe my back needs some rehab too ;) It is rewarding to see the results of our labors, or the bees labor I guess.

We picked enough cucumbers, green beans and squash to can a ton, make pickles and still share a whole big box with Out of the Garden for their free food pantry today. We also picked another 4 quarts of blueberries this week. So far the birds have not been eating too many. Out of time to do anything else, I went totally low tech and hung old cd's on the bushes. They seem to be helping although a bird landed in the top of one bush and starting eating right while I was picking!

Garrett Morgan & Frederick McKinnley Jones

  Way back in February Luke and Noah did a research project and were "wax museum" figures for African American History month. Noah was Frederick McKinnley Jones,inventor of portable refrigeration. Luke was Garrett Morgan,he invented several things including one of the first traffic lights and the gas mask. Making a gas mask out of a bee hood was a super good idea!

They both did really well. Both on the research paper and presenting their historical figure. It was interesting for all of us to learn about 2 scientists we knew nothing about before.

Luke and Noah's first Pack Meeting for scouts was the Blue and Gold banquet. It was a space themed dinner, we were supposed to bring space desserts. Luke made aliens out of green chocolate dipped marshmellows, Noah made ufo's out of cookies and gumdrops. They were really fun to make. I especially loved the styrofoam moon they are stuck into.