Meanwhile...

We've been having a blast here at home without them. We've gone to the library, the park, Sonic, and other places. We've watched movies and eaten popcorn, candy, ice cream, and cookies. We've painted fingernails and played games. Madalyn keeps wishing they would stay in Florida longer. :)

Thursday: Eating lunch at the park after going to the library.


Grocery shopping with only 3 kids! (and about half the food:))

Friday: Going to the strawberry patch

I think I've lost count of how many times we've been there, but I think we have enough in the freezer to last the winter now.

Thomas hanging out the window at the strawberry patch.

Buying mulch at Lowes.

Oops. I guess I wasn't looking through at the screen when I took this picture.


The kids insist on getting the mulch to the checkout by themselves.


Alexis learning to ride a two-wheeler to surprise Kylie and Spencer when they get home. We went to an undeveloped cul-de-sac to have a lot of practice on a smooth street away from traffic.

Saturday: Chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese dinner--a treat!

Wwatching a movie with popcorn and cookies

After an early dinner, baths and jammies, we settle in for an evening of a movie, popcorn, curlers in the hair, and little manicures.

Today: Ice cream!!

Going to Florida!

Well not all of us are going, but we all went to see them off. A couple months ago Nathan decided he wanted to go to Florida to see his sister graduate from high school. He was planning to go down Thursday and come back Saturday. I wasn't excited about making the short trip and suggested he go by himself or take a couple kids. I don't remember how we decided upon it, but Kylie and Spencer were chosen to go and Madalyn, Alexis, and I were excited to have a good time at home while they were gone. He actually got more time off than he thought, so I was fine with going, but it was already decided and the kids who were going didn't want us to go with them and the kids who were staying still wanted to stay home and have a party.
So Wednesday we drove to the train station to see them off.

Waiting for the train.

The lucky ducks who get to go.

The train arrives.

Getting on.

There they go!


Just three kids left!! PAR-TY!!

Alexis got to sit in Spencer's seat and we moved Madalyn to the front so they could sit by each other and be "buds." Thomas didn't mind sitting in the back (his first time ever.)

Winston-Salem

A couple months back I was craving a trip to the west side of the state where there are rolling hills, big shady trees, and small mountains. So you could say that's what I got for my birthday. Monday night we got to go to Winston-Salem so that Nathan could interview there the next day. We had originally planned to only apply here and if he didn't get it, then he would do research here. However, at the last minute (2 weeks ago), he applied to Wake Forest and got invited for an interview for May 19. I was thrilled to be going on a trip. They got him a hotel room with a king bed, so Nathan reserved one adjoining it with 2 double beds for the kids.
We picked Nathan up from work Monday evening and took off for the 3 hour drive. We had a great FHE in the car and made good time.

Madalyn and Kylie were so excited to be in a hotel. I'm surprised they even went to sleep.


Spencer and Alexis. Poor Lexi, she's never been in a hotel and was excited to see what it was like, but fell asleep before we got there.

The kids' room

Eating the free breakfast in the morning-- the best part!

Nathan interviewed from 10-2 and I took the kids on a drive out of the city up towards the mountains. They kept saying they wanted to see a real mountain because they've never seen one before. Suddenly, one popped up!

Pilot Mountain. It was beautiful.

We decided to stop at Pilot Mountain State Park (see, I got to go to a state park afterall!) and suddenly we were driving up a winding road. Spencer kept telling me to be careful because he thought we were going to fall off the edge. At the top there was a beautiful view.




Then we climbed up a rocky trail to another lookout point. The kids loved it.




It was a beautiful place and everyone wants to move there so that we can go whenever we want.
On the way back down the mountain and foothills into town the kids were singing various children's songs and hymns. I wanted to record it, so I held up the camera while I was driving. I love them singing as we drive. I wish they could always be this harmonious (haha. No pun intended. I meant getting along.)

Here is another video of them singing "The Morning Breaks."
I don't know what was up with Lexi's singing. She normally sings on key with the girls. Maybe her ears were plugged from the elevation. I was so into trying to get a good video and drive safely that I ended up getting lost. I'm not sure I'm ready for a big city. :)
The interview went really well. Nathan said he loved the people and it would be a hard choice which to rank first and which to rank second: here or Wake Forest. Wake Forest is more prestigious, but also more patients per fellow. Here it would be less work, but less experience. Match day is June 17, so we'll find out then.

On the way home we stopped at McDonalds for the kids and Thomas got his first cheeseburger. He looked pretty pleased with it. It was a great trip and I'm so glad we all got to go together. It might be our only family trip this summer.

My Birthday

Last Saturday was my birthday. The big 3-0. I didn't have grandiose plans, but a dream birthday would include a family trip to a state park, hike, picnic in the shade. Then later, dinner at a Mexican restaurant with Nathan and we come home at 9:00 to find all the kids bathed and asleep and the house clean. :) Then we'd have the evening to hang out and talk or read together. Sounds great to me. I thought since May was one of those easy rotations with only one weekend working, and my birthday was on a Saturday, I could have my dream birthday. No such luck. Unfortunately, because all the other weekends were taken with trips or church stuff, the one weekend had to be my birthday. Nathan worked Friday and Saturday nights, so he slept all day Saturday.
Kylie brought me breakfast in bed-- my favorite: Wheat Chex with fresh strawberries. After that the kids were good to play while I updated the blog. During naptime I ran some errands. Not what I'd like to do on my birthday, but they needed to be done and it seemed the best opportunity (sans enfants). I did stop at Once Upon A Child and lucked out in finding some nice church dresses for Kylie and Madalyn. I love surprising them with clothes and they love everything I buy them.
When I got home it was 4:15, so I quickly made my favorite dinner, chicken enchilladas. While they were baking we opened presents. Then we ate dinner and had cake and ice cream. By then Nathan had to go to work, so he rushed off and ate his in the car.
So that was basically it. It didn't turn out terrible by any means, just not how I thought it would for a big number. I did enjoy talking to my little sister on the phone that night. Thanks for calling, Lori!



I did enjoy making the birthday cake. I wish I had some cake decorating skills. I have friends who read my blog who are practically professional, but this is about the best I can do. Especially with our very healthy butter used in the frosting.

Opening presents. Thanks, Mom for always sending presents!

Note: this is not a call for birthday wishes; it's simply stating what's happenin here.

Last Day of School!!!

We had our last day of school on Wednesday, May 13. In North Carolina you have to homeschool 180 days. We had planned it all out so that we could have 3 weeks off when the baby was born, but since that was no longer necessary, we decided just to finish early. We have travel plans the next two weeks, so I thought it would be great to finish before then so that we didn't get back and only have a week left.

We decided we wanted a really fun party this year. We wanted to do like an Open House that the public schools do. We'd have refreshments and have all our best work from this year on little piles on the couch. When Daddy came home, the party would begin!



Going through all of our papers from this year and choosing some from each subject to put in our portfolio of great work.

Eating dinner at our "Last day of school party."

The food: chocolate haystacks, strawberry cheesecake minis, 7 layer dip, pizza bites

Daddy looking through Kylie's porfolio.

Madalyn showing Daddy her great works.

Welcome summer vacation!!!

Miscellaneous Snapshots

Madalyn picking the weed flowers.

Kylie leading our song before scripture reading. Thomas grabs a hymn book and stands on the hearth to copy her. He loves copying his big brother and sisters.

Quiet time at our house.

This is known as the "Reading spot" in our house. Alexis is sitting on the basket of library books.


Thomas at the top of the slide. He finally learned how to climb up the ladder. He's not a climber and wouldn't even try before this day (May 13). He always whined until I picked him up and put him on the platform of the play structure.

Garden Update

Our garden is doing well. We lost 2 bell peppers and 1 watermelon plant. And someone found a tomato plant that didn't get planted and planted it. So now we have 20 tomatoes, 7 bell peppers, 1 watermelon, 2 zucchini, lots of lettuce and spinach sprouting up, and 1 peach. Oh, and Spencer finally planted his corn seeds this week. We'll see how they grow. And another thing, there are TONS of pumpkin plants growing out of the compost pile. We've thinned them and moved some of them to the garden. So we have pumpkins too.


At first there were 3 tiny peaches on this tree. We found one on the ground. We don't know what happened to the other one. Maybe a bird ate it. So now there is just one left. We hope it grows big and we're all going to share it. :)

Flying Home

How Thomas entertained himself in the airport on the way home.
He pushed or pulled it everywhere.

How I entertained myself during the 2 1/2 hour layover in Chicago: looking at things made out of legos that were on display.

Really, Thomas didn't let me look for long. We spent most of the time riding on the esclators and the moving walkway. Eventually I convinced him to let me get us some lunch. He was so tired and ornery by this point that everything I said resulted in a tantrum. It was exhausting, even with only one child (I was glad I hadn't brought all the other kids, especially the other boy who has a tantrum habit) and we were happy to finally land in North Carolina.