Some sweet conversations today...

Sophie asked me today if she could be baptized!  I said, "Yes!  Do you know what it means to be baptized?" She replied, "Yes!  You're on God's side now!"  :)

At bedtime, I read with Ian and then continued rocking him for a while.  He looked up at me and asked for his water.  I told him that I didn't bring it up.  He started getting upset with me.  I said, "Ian, I am not perfect!  Your Mommy makes lots and lots of mistakes.  I'm sorry I didn't remember to bring your water up with us."  He calmed down and laid his head back down on my chest and we continued rocking.  All of a sudden, he raised his head, looked at me in the eyes and said, "Mommy, you ARE perfect!"  :)

Just a couple more from Spring Break...

I stumbled across these today and couldn't resist!  

We went out to dinner 1 time over our Spring Break.  We enjoyed The Red Bar at Grayton Beach - just a short drive from Destin.

I wanted a picture of Josh and the girls - but Halle had other plans!

Take 1:

Take 2:

Take 3:

I wanted a picture with my boy!

Take 1:

Take 2:

This pretty much sums up eating out with kids, right?!  :)  Well, at least our kids.

We made it short and sweet.  We enjoyed the music, a few appetizers and a couple beers and then a walk on the beach fit us better!  

Grayton Beach is a super cool place!

Our School Days...

I can hardly believe that we're nearly finished with our first year of homeschooling.  My eyes are swelled with tears as I type.  Making the decision to homeschool this year was one of the scariest things I've ever done as a mother.  It was as if I was standing at the edge of a cliff, but I couldn't jump in.  I just wanted someone to push me.  Nobody pushed me - but, I'm so happy I jumped!

I want to begin with saying - homeschooling can be very hard at times.  There were plenty of moments that pushed me to places I really didn't want to be.

I must also say that I believe homeschooling is a beautiful thing.  There are so many precious moments throughout our days - learning and growing together.  

Our life is not absent of noise, trouble and hard work - but our life is jam packed with beauty and precious moments - 

and those are the moments I want to capture and will treasure forever!

Over the next few weeks, I want to share a little bit of our school year with you.  There is so much I want to share, so I'm going to break it up into a few chunks.

I'll begin with the Fall season...

lots of forts have been constructed

lots of visits to see Grandma Mary

visiting Uncle Ian's grave

sisters learning together

watercolors together

stamping together

stamping

making a horse book

school time in the basement 

making homemade playdough

baking

making our laundry soap

Indiana History with Grandma Mary

lots of training - household responsibilities and budgeting

lots of planning - one of my favorite things!

lots and lots and lots of reading - one of our favorite family activities!

Johnny Appleseed Festival

tea parties

Johnny Appleseed Festival

tea parties!

painting a map of my heart

words from Ian tonight...

1.  At 8:30 pm, Ian asked to jump on the trampoline.  I said, "No, it's time to head up for bed."  Ian exclaimed, "But Mom, if you want to be the most awesome Mom ever - you will let us jump on the trampoline in the dark!"

2.  Once we finally got upstairs and headed into Ian's room, I started singing, "Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere..."  and Ian finished, "Clean up, clean up Easter Bunny do your share."

Happy Spring, Everyone...

On Easter Sunday - Josh wanted some pictures with his babies, but Halle wasn't interested.

Sophie was...

and I was...

and I come as a package deal most moments, but Ian didn't want to look at the camera either.  :)

And then... we enjoyed a simple egg hunt on our Easter Sunday afternoon.

It was sweet.

Happy Spring, Everyone!

and we "egged" our neighbors!

As a family, we filled plastic eggs with notes and treats - telling our neighbors how much we love them!  :)

Everyone (except for Ian) was asked to write a few notes each.  Then we scattered the eggs in their front yards and left a special note on their door saying "You've been egged!"  

It was so fun to do this as a family!

We scattered the eggs and then ran!

Josh watched for any action and then hung the sign.

And then he took off with Ian in hand!

I hid behind the bushes and took pictures!

This was really fun!!  :)

Dear Easter Bunny...

I just like this  :)