Flat Miguel

Our cousin from NC, Miguel Miranda, sent Indy and Levi his Flat Stanley for a school project. We took Flat Stanley to our zoo class to meet Ms. Stephanie. He also got to meet this animal, which was not a skunk, but was stinky.

We saw the river otters up close and even called them by name (which I now have forgotten...ugh).

Later that week, we took Flat Stanley to Indy's baseball game. Here he's posing before we left for the game.

Sadly, that night, Indy got nailed in the side by a pitch from our neighbor and friend, Zeke, who was pitching for the other team. Because Indy didn't cry and shook it off like a pro, he earned the game ball that night. He was very proud.

We had a lot of fun with our visit from Flat Miguel and hope he can come visit again someday! :-)

Strawberry Picking!

We always have so much fun when we go strawberry picking! We usually go with our homeschool group, but not always. This year we had a field trip to pick strawberries and for the first time, Ashton didn't get to go because she was in school....but Savannah did get to go since she was homeschooled this year.
Showing off her finds... Levi gets in on the showing off, too!

Mommy helps Indy find some good ones.

"See? This is a good one." lol Finally! A picture of Mom!! :-)

Indy showing off a good one he found.

Funny kids!!

Indy, Levi, and Chris found this giant tire to play on. Always something to climb on!

We love going strawberry picking! We bought lots of strawberries, which mom took home and made strawberry shortcake with and even froze some of them. We also bought some homemade herb bread sticks and cinnamon rolls. They're awesome! That was our lunch!! After we all finished picking strawberries, we went over to a nearby park and had a picnic lunch. The kids ran around and played and generally we all enjoyed the cool air! Very refreshing! :-)

USA Day and Valentine's Day

Instead of an International Festival this year, we had a USA Day with our homeschool group. Each kid or family picked a state to do a display on. This was a lot of fun and very interesting. We actually learned a lot. Indy wanted to do Massachusettes because he played on the Boston Red Sox last year for baseball, but someone else really wanted to do that state. They asked Indy if they could have Massachusettes and he said yes, so then he picked Maryland because he later played on the Baltimore Orioles. We learned a lot about Maryland....many interesting things!

Here he is showing off his Maryland display. Levi did North Carolina, mostly because I did most of the work and research, but he really did learn a lot. He learned about the Wright brothers and about lighthouses. He still remembers a lot of what he learned! Here he shows off his NC display.

We had a Valentine exchange and party at park on the Tuesday before Valentine's Day. The kids always love doing that! So much fun to give and get Valentines! Here Levi is trading with one of the little boys at our group.

And, here's Indy with his friend, Chris, checking out their stuff. "Which one do you want?"

Miscellaneous January

This is how Ashton went to a friend's Sweet Sixteen party. It was a semi-formal event with required converse sneakers. The funkier the better. Ashton is very proud of her flourescent orange converse! So cute! :-) Levi was playing his gameboy, but since it needed to be charged, he was "tied" to the wall, so ended up laying on his bed to play. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do! lol

Savannah was taking a nap and when I went to check on her, I found Chaser sound asleep on her....nearly upside down! Too funny!

Checking out cool stuff at our new zoo class.

Savannah's FFA group, went to this reading thing just a couple days before the annual rodeo opened up. The big kids help the little kid guests (school kids) read Black Beauty to the horses. This was a lot of fun. I went to observe) and take Savannah, but I also took the boys. Indy held the book for some of the little kids to read from, plus he read to one of the horses himself. They also got to see some of the cowboys and rodeo riders. Pretty cool. Indy was fascinated with this guy who was working with a lasso.

Levi liked petting the horses. He thought they were really sweet.

Indy and Levi petting the horse Indy read to and that Savannah helped out with.

Finally Writing!

Well, Levi has finally, FINALLY decided to write! Yippee! Today he wrote his name (with his right hand) all by himself and he did a great job!! He wrote small and in control and I was very impressed! This has been a loooonnng time coming...whew! :-) I'm such a proud mommy today!

The End of the Year

The boys "helped" Daddy fix the lawn mower. Ashton loves taking pictures of herself....why? She's 15, that's why! lol

Nicky's 42nd birthday on New Year's Eve. He got this funky hat from my mom. He loves it! Thinks it's super cool. So, he's showing it off. Happy Birthday, honey!

What a cutie! Reading glasses and all! Love the hat, btw. :-)

Merry Christmas!

This was the Christmas picture I took of the kids and sent out in the Christmas cards. I thought it came out pretty cute.

Christmas morning....

Indy...

Levi...

Savannah...

Ashton...

Nicky....

Everyone had a wonderful day opening and playing with all their new stuff. The boys got a little pup tent from Outdoor World which we immediately set up and they played with all day. Even the neighbor kids came over and played in it for awhile. It was a big hit!