Thursday, November 25, 2010

Library Day

We've been going to the library for story time lately. We go almost every week. Jackson is just now starting to love to sit through the story and we've made a lot of friends. A couple weeks ago, our home school group dressed up like Indians and pilgrims for story time. It was sweet. :) and Jackson made a little turkey for his project.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Gatlinburg for Two

Last week, while in Tennessee, Mom agreed to watch the boys so Jamin and I could have an all-day date! I was so excited! Dates have been few and far between this year it seems, so a whole day without strollers sounded so good to me.

We started with lunch at Red Lobster! Yum! Who doesn't love their garlic biscuits? Then we decided to ride the Gatlinburg Sky Lift. It was fun! I had never ridden before and I thought I might be a little scared, but I wasn't. I enjoyed it. It was a little strange to go across the road though.



At the top:


Going back down:



Ice cream!

We also wanted to take a short hike, since that's what we've been into lately. :) We hiked Laurel Falls. It was paved and crowded. There were lots of signs about sharp drop-offs and those who have died from it! Yikes! And there were signs about bears. Apparently bears are very active in that area. The waterfall:



It was a great, exhausting day! I am so thankful for my husband. Being in the ministry, you hear a lot of others' homes and marriages, and I'm so thankful for a peaceful home. All the glory belongs to the Lord. He has been so good to us. Sometimes life gets busy and it seems we can't seem to spend enough time together. So I was thankful for this day.
On the way back down, we did some shopping and I bought some cute place mats that have inspired the decor I will now work on for my kitchen! I'll post that all later. Thanks for stopping by! :)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

TRAIN!

Our first official trip as part of the Freedom Homeschool Group was last Thursday. It was a fun train ride! We loved it. There were about 50 in our group, and we had a blast!

Jackson's excited face!

Jackson's buddy, Hope
A little village we stopped at... I forgot the name of it




A Swinging Song

Autumn Evenings



"Can I play in the brown dirt?" Jackson asks. Of course he can. And they'll both wear it until bath time.

Just Sweethearts

A Family Visit :)

Mom and Dad came for a quick visit almost a month ago now. It was very fast. It seems like it always is. Never enough time to visit and talk. Never enough time to sit and laugh together. Never enough time to shop with Mom. ;)

But we did make time for a hike.





... and a picknic at the lake




We cherish every moment of "grandparent" time... since we don't get very much. It was a fun, short visit!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

... said Jackson

At supper one day:

Jackson: We saw the ugly thing at Lowe's. It was scary. Do we like ugly things, Mama?

Me: Um... not if they're scary.

---------
Sitting down to read our Bible story book, Jackson was holding another story book.

Jackson: I'll show you Noah.

Me: Ok

Jackson: Noah's not in here, Sweetie.

---------
At lunch

Jackson: Mommy, I'm a hebicoptah.

Me: Helicopters finish all their food.

Jackson: Hebicoptahs don't have mouths!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

September Sky

We spent the evening outside last night. It was beautiful. I'm so glad it's cooling off. Jackson is loving the leaves! He wants more, and we assured him that we will have PLENTY of leaves off our many large trees. :)









Monday, September 6, 2010

Take a Hike!







Last Friday, Jamin unexpectedly got the day off! So, we decided to make a family day of it! He had taken a hike a couple years ago with our pastor before we moved here. So, we decided to try it out. We had a backpack carrier for the baby (that I found at a thrift store for $8!), and we thought Jackson would be able to walk for a while. We bought some bottled water, packed a picnic and off we went!


The carrier was actually pretty comfortable. But with Timothy, the pack itself, and our waters and camera, it was probably about 24 or 25 pounds. I carried him for the first little bit. The trail itself was a little overgrown. At times I was a little claustrophobic, worried about "critters" just waiting for someone to come along so they could touch me! Ick! But, nothing like that happened, thankfully! J

We crossed the highway, then pretty soon crossed the creek. At that time, I gladly handed my heavy pack over to Jamin. We went on. Jamin said, "It seems like we should be going up by now." We didn't.

In a little while, he said, "I just didn't think it was this far." By this time, Jackson was finished walking. He wouldn't admit to being tired, but he was almost crying. He said his legs hurt. Pretty soon, we did start going up. Really up. Steeply up. UP! We started seriously questioning our sanity, as to why we brought our two really small children on a hike! We were so glad we brought water!

I had been carrying Jackson a lot until this point. Jamin actually put him on his shoulders for part of the time, even though he already had the pack. We had to stop and rest in the middle of UP.


Timothy fell asleep when we were almost to the top. He was so cute! His little arms hanging, his little head bobbing. When we reached the top, we sat the pack down and he kept sleeping until we were about 20 minutes back down the trail!

After UP, it leveled out. It really turned into a nice hike. I'm glad it was challenging. There was a pretty view at the top. Nothing like the mountains where we grew up, but beautiful!

Buzzardsroost Lookout


Down was a lot easier. Although the steep part of DOWN hurt almost as much as UP. J We rested on the bridge when we were almost to the end of the trail.

At this point, the camera died. No pictures of our fun picnic, sitting on a quilt in the shade by the lake. It was such a sweet and precious family day. Those are my favorite kind of days. I think we spent around $3.00 for drinks. Not bad for all those memories, huh?


We finished off our family day with a pizza and a movie.

And the next day, we were sore. J

So, what did we do the next Friday he had off? We went for a hike! J It's becoming a fun hobby for us! And we went for one today too... so...

Take a hike!

Monday, August 23, 2010