Family Fun

Wow! What a busy weekend! After our usual Saturday morning cleaning of the house, we went to the local state park again for some fall fun. The park was having a harvest demonstration and many volunteers were dressed in pioneer costumes while doing all sorts of activities. We were able to watch them make apple butter and lye soap, press some sorgum, forge strikers at the black smith shop, make wooden containers at the cooper shop, throw axes, and weave rugs on a loom.

One of the volunteers showed the kids and I how to finger weave. The kids are now hooked and have even shared this skill with some of their friends.
The kids and Dear Hubby enjoyed carving two pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns.
After so much outdoor fun, you'd think we'd head home and relax for the evening, but not us! We went to the Celebrate Life Family Festival at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Dear hubby and I worked a booth which promoted NFP while the kids visited with their friends and had lots of fun at all the other booths.


The kids really enjoyed the animal balloons, face painting, wrapping up little babies, and decorating their own helium balloon. However, the best part of the night was the fireworks display. It was spectacular! They did a wonderful job of timing the explosions and colors to the music. The songs were all very pro-life, life affirming, or celebratory in nature. The kids are already talking about going again next year.

Second Honeymoon

Dear Hubby and I were able to take advantage of a very last minute cruise deal while Grammy and Paw-paw agreed to watch all six of the kids. It was very relaxing and I am so glad Dear Hubby and I were able to spend some quality adult time together. (This was back in October, and I am just now posting these pictures!)

We haven't done anything like this since our honeymoon. It was also our first time to take a cruise. I've never been so pampered in my life! I would highly recommend the experience to anyone who is in need of a vacation.

I am so thankful that God allowed us to do this. It was such a necessary and special break before the hussel and bussel of the holiday season. I'll never forget it; I'll always treasure this amazing time with dear hubby.

Camping Trip and School Field Trip

This past weekend we went camping with Grammy and Paw-paw. During our trip we took a wonderful hike and nature walk to teach the kids about some tree and plant species. The kids were amazed at the cliffs and waterfalls that we were able to see throughout the park. We visited the nature center, as well, and read some neat books about bugs, trees, and wildlife. Fortunately for us we saw three deer, many squirrels, some chipmunks, a snail, a poisonous snake, a turtle, and fish during our camping trip. Don't worry! The venomous snake was at the Nature Center in a secure aquarium.

One of the most interesting sights, to me, was the mini-forest of moss species (See the picture below). I was fascinated by how many different kinds of moss I found in one 4 x 4 inch area. You can get a general scale of this tiny and intricate miracle in the picture with M's finger by the moss.

This last picture is of our family in front of a lovely fountain in the nearby town where we attended Mass on Sunday morning.

Summer Reading Program Pool Party

We've been blessed with three very good readers. The three oldest all love to read. They beg me to go to the library, even though we have hundreds of books in our own library. I often times have to tell them to stop reading and go outside. The usual response to that correction is, "Can I take my book and read outside?"

That being said, we took part in our local library's summer reading/incentive program. My kids were finished with their 20 books each in a matter of two weeks. It would have been sooner, but they limit each child to 5 books per visit. As a reward to those who completed the program, the library rented out the local pool for a pool party.

It was really nice that Daddy could join us to celebrate the closing of the summer with a nice swim. Elias had a blast swimming and stayed in the water so long that his little feet looked like raisins.

I think T's favorite part was the diving board.

It is hard to believe that the summer is coming to a close. We are gearing up for another school year. M is 1/2 way through 5th grade, T is starting 4th, C is doing 2nd grade, and B is doing K. It will be a busy year with four of them doing school work, but I am looking forward to some new adventures we have planned. I'll detail those later. Happy Dog Days of Summer. God bless.

Cave Trip, Grandpa's Birthday, and Our First Egg!

The kids with their Aunt Olivia at a local cave tour.

Grandpa's 60th Birthday celebration at our house. The kids got him 60 chocolate kisses, a gift card, and I made him a six layer chocolate cake (one layer for each decade).

Here was our first egg! Since this one, we've had about a dozen. We enjoyed omlettes the other night with biscuits and apple butter. Yum! It will be really nice when our 12 little chickens start laying eggs.