Cox Farms fieldtrip

Josie had her first ever fieldtrip last week.  We went to the pumpkin patch at Cox Farms.  They have quite the setup there.  See:

And it just so happened it was on a Wednesday, the day Michael has off of school, so Daddy joined us!  That made Josie very happy.  It was a beautiful day and we had a great time together.  First we took a class hay ride and then we were free to explore the area on our own.  While all the kiddos ran to do the slides, Josie wanted to see all the animals.  ALL the animals.  :)  But there were slides too, don't worry.

Family pic on the hay ride.

Josie was loving this sweet cow, Lily Mae.

Sweet little piggy.  8 days old!

In the hay maze.

Woo Hoo!

Fun for Dad too!

My Pumpkin!

Four year old in the flowers.

Visiting a Battlefield

On Saturday we decided to take a day trip to visit the site of the Battle of First Manassas (Bull Run to you rebs out there ;).  Michael and I tried to explain it to the kids but it was difficult to do.  They know who President Lincoln is because of school history and the penny.  We told them how the South felt they were being treated unfairly and they didn't want to be a part of the United States anymore.  We explained that President Lincoln told them no and then they started fighting.  I know there's much more then that.  My poor brother is probably cringing at my explanation.
It's hard for me to bring my kids to places like this.  I appreciate it from a historical point of view and I know it's terribly important to remember the past and to honor those that lost their lives.  But that's just it, so many, many people died there.  I can't shake that feeling when I'm visiting.  It makes me sad.  It's hard for me to understand.  All I could think about while we were there was the confusion, the inexperience, and the fear of all those soldiers.  This was the first battle.  Union soldiers enlisted for just 90 days, everyone thought the war would be over as soon as it started.  No one really knew what they were doing.  I cannot imagine how LOUD it must have been with all the cannon and gunfire for those 10 hours.  From a distance the land looks a little hilly but it seems you can see forever, but believe me, once you are walking around in those hills, you can't see ANYTHING!  Any number of soldiers could be all around you and you wouldn't have a clue.  I was pretty overwhelmed walking on those trails.  Here are my pictures.  It was a beautiful day.

What has this tree seen?

Family shot.

Looks flat---you wouldn't believe how hard it is to see!

The house survived but it's owner did not, she's buried next to it.

View of the battlefield.

Another view.

Memorial for the two battles here.

Stonewall Jackson.

Josie goes to school

That sweet face says it all, doesn't it?!  Josie is so happy that HER school has finally started.  She is going to a Methodist school a mile down the road.  Josie's teachers seem fantastic and all the kiddos are very friendly!  I feel very blessed we found this school and they had a spot for Josie.  (I found them online and applied back in March.)  

Check out the new backpack and kicks for school.  She's very proud:

 TWINKLE TOES!!!

She found her name on the wall, spells it out: J---O---S---I---E!  She learned that from her Aunt LeeAnn this summer. 

All ready for class!  When the teachers opened the door to the classroom, she was gone.  No hug, no kiss, no goodbye, Josie just ran right in.  Of course her Mom followed her to give that all important first-day-kiss!  Today was another great day.  Here's to many, many more!





Cats and Dogs

Yuck!  It's raining, again.  In fact, it never really stopped.  Started on Monday night, just in time to ring in the new school year, and it's still going.  I miss my Vegas sunshine.  I didn't take it for granted when I lived there and I do miss it so.  The Weather channel says rain until at least Monday.  Yuck.  It's coming down in buckets:

On a brighter and happier note, Josie went in for her "Hello Day" yesterday at her preschool!  She was SO excited. 

We met her teachers and she played with almost everything in her classroom.  Josie didn't really want to leave.  Monday cannot come soon enough for our girl. 

It Begins, Again!

The title is two-fold, I promised my Mom that I would become a regular blogger once again AND more importantly SCHOOL IS BACK IN SESSION!!! 

Deja vu.  A new state, a new school, a new start.  Luke's in 4th, Kaden in 3rd, and my Gabe's in 1st!  Can't believe it!  Last night I said a special prayer over each of the boys individually, what a precious time for me.  A new year is always so exciting.  My children love school which of course makes all the difference!  I didn't have to wake them up this morning.  Gabriel was dressed, shoes and backpack on, less then 5 minutes after he got out of bed!  Not exaggerating.
I will eventually fill you in on our new (rented) house, it's beautiful and I seriously cannot believe we live here!  It's on a gorgeous little cul-de-sac that is overrun, in the BEST sense, with kiddos.  There were 11 of them waiting for the bus.  We parents were debating whether the driver would actually stop or not ;)
One more photo to show off their self-picked first day clothes:   

PS--in case you were wondering, Josie will start preschool next week.  She is beyond excited!  (I will be childless for hours everyday---you can bet there will be more on that later!!!!)

Back to School Celebration

Friday morning all the school gathered to release balloons into the sky, it was a Back to School Celebration.  Josie and I went to watch and cheer with the boys.  When we arrived they were blasting "Viva Las Vegas", and then "Celebration", etc.  So much fun.  I found all the boys took their pics:

Josie was excited to see Luke and get her balloon!

The principal annouced a few guests and then we all said the Pledge of Alligence.  Afterwards, with the flag still high on the roof of the school, the principal released some yellow balloons in honor of our active duty and veterans.  We had 30 seconds to reflect on our brave men and women.  They asked for all military families to raise their hands.  That was pretty cool and it meant a lot to me.

Next it was time to release the balloons:

They looked really cool floating away, we watched them until they were gone and then Josie looks at me and says "Where's my balloonie?  Where's MY balloonie?"  I told her that we let them fly away and she did NOT like that.  This is what happened next:

 Yes, she sobbed and sobbed.  Bless her heart.  I never thought about the fact she'd be upset to lose her balloon.  Oops.  All in all it was a pretty fun morning.  Josie and I were already out and so I decided to run down to Family Christian Bookstore about 15 or so miles away to get some bibles for the boys.  Little did I remember that the school gets out 40 minutes early on Fridays.  Whoops.  I forgot Gabriel.  He gets out at 10:14 on Fridays, 10:55 M-Th.  I received a call at 10:25 saying, we have Gabriel waiting for you.  I was still shopping.  Well, we made it back in good time, picked him up at 10:42.  I felt so bad.  I know I cannot be the only one to ever do this at school but still.  Gabriel didn't mind at all.  "I'm sorry I forgot you."  "That's okay Mom.  That's O. K."

AWANA

Last night was our first AWANA.  Again for those of you who don't know, AWANA stands for Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed (from 1 Timothy), it's a wonderful program centered on memorizing bible verses with story and game time.  This AWANA, while the same program, is run quite different at our Vegas church.  It will take some getting used to but I know all 5 of us are going to enjoy it!  Yep, now have 4 clubbers :)  Josie is a Cubbie, Gabriel and Kaden are Sparks, and Luke is in TNT (Truth and Training).  I am a Sparks leader again, same as the past 3 years in Oklahoma.  I tried to take pictures before we left last night but my camera is acting up, time for a new one I'm afraid!, and then Josie didn't really want to join in the fun.  She was ready to go to church to see her friends.  But here is what I do have (Luke's green shirt has been ordered, just not arrived yet):

I told ya she didn't want her picture taken.  She was in a good mood, just didn't want that photo!  All the kids had a good time last night.  I am SO happy with our church here.  I'll have to do a separate post on that later.  YAY for Canyon Ridge! 

And one more bit of info.  K-man lost his "number 6 tooth" (as he calls it) last night.  He is very happy!  And Gabe has his first loose tooth, the tooth fairy should just set up shop here for a while.  :)