Doing the Next Thing

This morning the kids awoke to a scavenger hunt that led them to clues about a special outing: Nature Study at the park. We haven't done that in a while and they were so excited. They quickly did their morning chores, as well as math, reading, and copywork. Then we headed out. First, a little exercise and exploration. We "did the trail" - Me pushing K.in the stroller, M. & S. on scooters, C. on his bike, and A. running (what else would he do, right?) We were lured by the peaceful gurgling of the creek and found a little waterfall. The Big 3 spent the next 20 minutes floating little stick "boats" down the waterfall while A, K, and I enjoyed the big swings at the senior area. We found a cool tree by t he playground to sketch, and tried in vain to identify it - I wish I had a picture to post. We think it was a "Myrtle Holly" - because of it's many trunks with smooth bark and round, waxy leaves. It is a smallish tree, but still big for a shrub (whi...

The past week has been spent obeying the title of this blog! We prepared for and enjoyed a great visit from my brother and his family, which included Medieval Times, IKEA, and of course, American Girl! I spent Monday with a whopping migraine and haven't had much time for blogging. I have four posts in the works, but just can't seem to get them finished. In the meantime, however, Kate tagged me. So here goes: 1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages.) 2. Open the book to page 123. 3. Find the fifth sentence. 4. Post the next three sentences. 5. Tag five people. The nearest book is Grace Based Parenting. "Cheaters sometimes win. One-dimensional people often end up with more money. Selfishness, cunning, and backstabbing are often the faster tracks to fame." Boy, that sounds funny out of context! He's talking about "achievement goals" for our children and how, though we want them to be ambitious, we also want them to view glorifying God in the w...

As the title suggests, we've had a busy few days. We went out of town for my sweet niece's 2nd birthday. It was a fun trip, but a lot of work. I won't beat around the bush: travelling with 5 kids (two of which are toddlers) is just plain exhausting, even if it's fun! We stayed with my sister and it was fun to spend our evenings catching up, even though we were too late getting into bed. We had a fun birthday party with not one, but two Elmo cakes (that's how big my family is when we all get together!) We also took a fun field trip to the Parthenon (and the colossal Athena statue) in Nashville, since we are studying Ancient Greece. But that's for another post. We came home and enjoyed playing in what was left of the "big" snow event here in Georgia. Now we're trying to quickly get back into routine and get some school work done before my brother and his family arrive for a visit this weekend! Here are some quotables from the last week: ...

A few weeks ago, I gave a brief mention of my brother-in-law's new blog, The High Tech Hiker . It was kind of buried in a long post , and I thought I'd extend a formal invitation for you to drop by and welcome one of the blog community's newest members. I think that you hikers, runners, photographers, and nature lovers out there will all find the reflections on his hikes interesting. Go make a new friend!

The tribe dances in a circle, covered in war paint and pounding their chests, chanting unintelligibly. Debris is scattered 360 degrees across the area. Exciting scene from Lord of the Flies? No - the scene with my two little guys in the basement! Apparently one of the Big 3 forgot to put his pencil box away after school. A and K, who often express their creativity with markers on non-washable surfaces, discover the treasure with glee. I wish I had been there to witness them removing overalls, shoes - everything - and beginning to paint themselves. I'm sure it was a sight. Instead, My Sweetie discovered them dancing around the office chair, goin' tribal! His very loud, very contagious laugh drew me downstairs, camera in hand. I didn't think it was quite as funny, but since everyone else seemed to, I smiled and captured the moment. My chidren's dignity will not allow me to post pictures of the full effect of this activity ... they were literally covered in marker, top of ...

Since my other Atlanta friends are posting snow pictures on their blogs, I thought I'd join in. We have not seen the white stuff in this town since we moved here in January of 2005. Unlike Lane's kids , who have never seen snow, mine remember it from our time living in Tennessee and they really miss it. So imagine our delight to discover what we southerners would deem a "blizzard" falling at dinnertime yesterday! We fired up the Cocoa Latte (one of my very favorite Christmas presents - thanks, Emily!) and enjoyed hot chocolate and big, fluffy flakes while the fun lasted. As Kate says here , it was a nice break from the yo-yo weather we've been having! The kids had a blast making snowballs, "sledding," and creating some very muddy snow angels. They stayed out well past dark and finally came in for dinner around 8pm, when the snow began to change into sleet. So much fun! A. was a baby for that snowfall in '05, so this is the first snow he remembers. H...

Invasion of the books!