Exploring our own back yard

This has been the longest fall and winter season I can remember. In the fall it did nothing but rain and then winter hit and it was the strangest winter Oxford has had in a long while. It snowed 4 (or more) times. We were stuck inside more than we would have wanted. We handled it well, but it was so wonderful to have an entire day of sunshine and 50 degree weather. We took advantage of it!

We started the day off by working in the yard, bushes needed trimmed and the limbs needed to be taken to our brush pile - ready to be burned.

Olivia can be very silly - gets that from her father. We are waiting for the final limb to be on so we could head down the hill.

It's play time! Sarah starts out with mud soup...and in major need of water, we head to the pond...

Next we were off to the woods...the kids love following the creek. With a  lot of the creek being underground it's quite the adventure and they really enjoy exploring it.

Thankfully Nathan was off to enjoy this beautiful day with us. We each enjoyed the sunshine, woods, animals, water and fresh air. It was very refreshing!

Love is in the air

We made valentines for the elder. The kids had a great time using stickers, markers and candy hearts to decorate the cards. They worked hard on many, many cards. The end result was outstanding. 

These sweet ladies at Hermitage loved visiting with the kids.

Valentines this year was one of our favorite days of the year so far. It was so rewarding to see the elder smile and want hugs and just watch the kids walk around, you could see the joy coming out in their faces. Many of them just wanted to talk and ask the kids all kinds of questions. Such a wonderful experience. 

life, birthdays and puppies

Lately Ethan has been "tucking" Olivia in simply because he wants to. One night he asked "Mom, can I read to Olivia and tuck her in by myself" and we said yes. When he was finished, a good 20 minutes later, we went in and told her our good-nights. It was a sweet moment, but it wasn't the last. They enjoyed that moment together and now it happens at least 5 nights a week. I finally got around to taking a picture of their time together. It is one sweet moment I will not forget.

BIRTHDAYS!!!

We ordered our cake from Kroger and Olivia obviously wanted a pig on her cake. Sarah agreed that a farm themed cake would work perfect for their shared birthday.

Thanks to Elizabeth, Olivia got the pig she wanted. After Santa bringing a stuffed pig and a play pig we realized she wanted a real, live pig. I was considering the option until she opened this present and the pig actually makes noises, walks, oinks, and has a bottle. Who can beat that? Thanks Liz!

Happy 5th birthday to Sarah and Happy 3rd birthday to Olivia!











As I checked facebook I saw a friend found two baby chocolate labs. I thought that was great, for her. Then the next day she posted photos and as I looked at them I showed Nathan and he refused to look. Then I checked facebook the next morning to find she was going to take the puppies to the pound because she couldn't find a family willing to take them and she couldn't find their home. SO, I called Nathan and told him those two puppies will be heading to the pound and he said.."go get them". I called the kids inside, they were out making their playhouse a jungle, and showed them the pictures of the sweet labs. They started jumping for joy. It was a beautiful sight! They got dressed, we picked up the pups and then we had to name them. We finally chose Duke and Ginger. Lucy, our Golden Retriever, is Olivia's best friend and they "hang out" a lot during the school hours. They each have a dog and they are so happy. Night one, anyway.

Nathan instantly fell in love when he got home from work and the dogs were in need of a nap, even if it was only a quick power nap.

Lucy and Olivia settled in for the night

Sarah and Ginger settled in for night one....

Ethan and Duke settled in for night number one....

After picking the dogs up at 1:00 they ran around chasing the kids all over the house for a solid hour, then a trip to the barn and back, then a trip to the pond which they wanted in so badly but still too scared. The boy is much more brave than the girl, she is very quite and a bit lazy compared to the loud, hyper, daring boy. He already chases the 4wheeler and we have to let the girl ride with us...she refuses to walk and follow us. Then a shower was in store...now that was fun. 3 kids and 2 puppies all in my shower at the same time...talk about a wet floor! Needless to say, after all that we are hoping they are tired and will sleep well tonight!

Welcome Mud Ball

We visited Tupelo a week ago and the kids and I talked Nathan into stopping by Petsmart so we could check out the animals. We all fell in love with a guinea pig and begged for one. Nathan, at the time, said no. We chatted about every now and then over the course of a week and decided that it would be fine in the near future. Well, that's all I needed to hear. The moment the kids and I had the chance to go to town we stopped by the Pet Shop here in Oxford. We almost left without a guinea pig, simply because it was 2:00 and we were in town for a while (5:30 basketball game). They told me that s/he would be fine in a box in the van so we decided to buy one today. We got the one we all liked the most and s/he is awesome. Welcome to the family, Mud Ball.

During all this cold weather the pond on the property next to ours froze. Nathan got on the pond a few times to make sure it wouldn't break and then we allowed the kids to walk on it, only far enough that we could still reach them. They had a ton of fun sliding from tree to tree (not very far apart but my kids seem to have fun doing just about anything).

We also love our chickens. Our roosters can be mean but we have a couple chickens that are so sweet and allow us to pick them up and pet them. Olivia loves hugging the younger chickens.

all snowed in....

I think this might be our first snowman. He has m&m eyes and mouth, skittles for buttons and a carrot for a nose. Obviously sticks were used for the arms and they found a scarf in the art drawer. They played outside for hours!

Sarah looking at the pond to see if it looks thick enough to slide on, no really we just threw rocks across it...later that day Nate did step on it and it took him stomping in one spot about 10 times to get the ice to break, it was pretty thick...but not enough for us to play on!

                                                        snow ice cream made with boiled custard

                                            Lucy!

 Our snowed in day was full of reading. Dad is the best at reading children books because he can come up with so many voices and he really makes the kids laugh, it is our favorite past time!

We decided to get every building block set we had in the house and put them all together to build a town. The kids decided we would build an area in New York that surrounds the Statue of Liberty. This is the picture of their block Statue of Liberty.

Our day also consisted of kissing, talking, listening, touching, and feeling Mommy's belly. Now that she has a name, Leah, the kiddos are falling in love.

We ended the day with  family play-doh fun! We decided to build a barn with animals...we tried!

School and Family FUN!

After Christmas I worked on the school room so we could start the new year off fresh. With Ethan entering 3rd, Sarah entering 1st and Olivia entering Pre-K, I needed to set up their areas. Up until now Olivia did not have a "desk" or area for her to do her work in, or to call her own, now she does. They keep their school books at their own desk and we come to the middle of the room, the big art table, for art, games, puzzles or any lessons that I need to assist (which is most), and the "busy" work is done in their area while I am helping the other. It works out perfectly, so far!

Ethan's area 

Sarah's area

Sarah's journal entry (a FEW flakes fell)

Olivia's area 

Where my grandmother kept china, I find it great for storing puzzles! 

games! 

The kids so excited over a few snow flakes! 

The girls waiting on me at Hobby Lobby 

more waiting on me at Hobby Lobby (it took forever)

finally some kid play time at ChuckyECheese

and more play time in the mall

Olivia and her best friend, Lucy