The boys made Mabry a “home.” They might have gotten the measurements a little wrong. Ha! Hours and hours of entertainment. The boys love taking their breaks to go play with Mabry. She is well entertained!

Happy 7th birthday Luna. We know cameras make you nervous and apparently so do people singing to you while they convince you to eat a peanut butter covered treat. You are the most obedient, sweet, loyal companion. And sorry you have to put up with the cattle dog constantly at your heels!

It’s been a little while since I posted last. We have been thick in school and well, not a lot of photos have been taken from this wild adventure. We have been too busy with our noses in living books about sea creatures and Abraham Lincoln and reading about stories from the lives of missionaries. We have been listening to Carl Von Webber’s music and being inspired by paintings by John Constable. Shakespeare finally made an appearance and it has surely broadened our language skills. We are seven weeks into this year’s schooling and I have to say it has been great so far. We are challenged in many ways. Some books we love, while some books are taking awhile to grow on us. What I love most is seeing my kids love of learning grow and them progressing in different areas. At the end of 12 weeks, we come to the end of our first term and reassess what is working and what is not.  I love that we have the freedom to add and take away the things that don’t stir us.

My kids told me the other day they have never had french toast. WHAT? So, we put Mcree in charge of breakfast one day last week and taught him how to make it. He also made scrambled eggs this morning and grilled cheese for lunch. Gress also helped me make 2 huge batches of cookies for our homeschool group nature meet up. Learning the basics before we bust out some pumpkin pie cheesecake and more complicated dinners!

Speaking of our homeschooling group. We went to the beach last week to meet up with a bunch of moms and their kids. (And when I say a bunch there were close to 30 kids and about 10 mamas. I took one photo…at sun set. We were there 7 hours. It was glorious and we all had a hard time functioning the next day. I don’t think the kayaks left the water.

If you drop by for a visit, Mcree might convince you to play a game of cards. He’s gotten pretty good at Uno and an “adding to 10” card game.

Oh he makes my heart melt!

We love being at home. It’s a good thing because we spend a lot of time here.

Rue (FINALLY) got fixed this last week. I had visions of her getting pregnant while she sneaks away to the park unnoticed. One cattle dog is all we can handle. While at the vet, they asked us to come get her early because these kind of dogs are sensitive to being left there and they didn’t want her spending the night. We didn’t bother sharing that she barks non stop while in her kennel when we are gone and she would be a terrible overnight guest. How do we know that? Because our neighbor 2 HOUSES down told us. Rue likes us that much that she must be with us AT ALL TIMES! The vet’s office also told us to keep her inside and calm for 7-10 days. UM. SHE IS A CATTLE DOG! She stayed calm for exactly 24 hours. Then she was outside chasing squirrels and kids and barking and barking some more. I think she actually has picked up speed since last week. Lucky for her she is so stocky that she can’t reach her incision so she hasn’t touched it once. And lucky for us she has a high pain tolerance so she hasn’t complained once. I do have to say a sedated cuddly cattle dog might be the best thing ever. Too bad it only lasted one night. I know she’s glad to be home too!

Because we homeschool and field trips are necessary for a mama that needs a reset….we headed off one morning for a walk on the beach. It was the day before a hurricane was set to hit North Carolina so the swells were big and the tides were high and the life guards were out in force getting people out of the water that weren’t surfing or had a board. There was definitely a feeling of waiting to see what the storm was going to do this day at Tybee.

We are praying for you North Carolina and anyone in the path of the hurricane. I don’t know what it’s like to have everything destroyed or the feeling of starting over so praying you feel the prayers and strength to overcome this hard time!

I vaguely remember Home Economics in school. Or maybe I should say the one part I do remember somehow set the tone for how well I would cook in the kitchen. I remember being in middle school, and we were making cookies for the homeless. My recipe was to make red and white candy cane cookies. I failed….miserably. My cookies were so bad they weren’t even edible. Fast forward many years to my early days of being a wife. I could barely follow a recipe let alone feel any confidence that it would turn out good. If I forgot the salt for the cookies, I would pull them back out of the oven mid cooking cycle, and sprinkle it on. This does not make for a good dessert. I barely knew how to chop vegetables. Apparently there is a “correct” way to use the knife. Let’s just say, I never woooo-ed Rad with my cooking. In fact, it was quite the opposite. He was the one that taught me the finer side of meal prep and cooking. While we were dating, he would make elaborate unbelievably delicious dinners. Things I had never tasted or even heard of. And he prepared all of it with such ease. Apparently yes…it was a turn on because I married this incredible chef.

Fast forward 20+ years later and I realize the impact a helpful husband has on his family. So welcome back middle school home economics. My first child just enrolled and this week we had lots of lessons. Gress washed all the veggies and fruit, cut all the veggies for snacking. We prepped several meals for the week (grating, chopping, cooking) and even made a few meals to put in the freezer for future dinners. He loves being in the kitchen doing this kind of work. He also loves to taste test and eat good food so as long as we can mostly cook things that are edible, I think these skills will be able to be carried on for years to come!

You turn around and bam, 5 years have passed. Welcome to your 5th year Mabry. I love watching you grow up!

When you find friends who love a good adventure as much as you do, you know they are keepers! I have been lucky to find a homeschooling mama that makes my heart sing. She an I were instant friends from the moment we met and last weekend we got to bring our families together for the first time. We went on a boat trip to Shark Tooth Island. While the rest of us were looking for shark teeth, 2 of the kids were busy getting spa treatments. The rain only happened over our boat while we were off exploring so we managed to miss it. We had the island all to ourselves and spent time playing, hearing stories of how they met, where they are from, and where life is taking them. It was a good for the soul kind of day! 

We love getting to celebrate another year with our kids. I have to say that time passes really quickly from one year to the next and I look back at photos and wonder where the time has gone. Mabry is no longer little but becoming a sweet big girl! She just celebrated her 5th birthday. We love so many things about her from her sweet personality, to her spunk and fiery spirit, to her matter of fact facial expressions, to the way she still loves to cuddle, and make cards for people. She is tough, and girly at the same time. She is loud and gentle. She is curious and sometimes shy. And she loves people! We are so thankful to have this special girl in our lives! Happy 5th birthday Mabry!