Photos Galore

So I'm trying to get caught up before the end of the year so I can start this madness all over again next year by trying to get caught up before the end of the year. It's my version of living life on the edge. Pathetic. :)

Here are a PLETHORA of pictures up through our visit in August to friends in Greenville, SC.
These are dear friends from co-op. We got together at a local park for the kids to hang out. It's a great park because it has sprinklers. So when the kids get hot from playing, they chill out in the sprinklers, then go play again. Rinse and repeat. The moms got a lot of time to talk with these cycles as opposed to hearing every five minutes, "It's so hot out here! Can I have a drink???"

Nathaniel is sporting the mohawk and swim trunks with great flair. An old-fashioned merry-go-round! You know the kind that makes one kid want to grab hold while it's flying around and around and then it ends up pulling the kid to the ground where the kid gets dirt up her nose from being dragged? Yep, those were the good old days! :) Adah loves my friend Kim's daughter, Charlotte. She entertains her for LONG periods of time enthusiastically. Since this was the end of the summer, Adah's bathing suit had seen better days. It was a little...um...saggy. This is part of the sprinkler park. Cora LOVED it. Adah and Abigail climbing and looking extremely cute. They are best buds, and I love to see it. Recently, Abigail had to go to PE class without her because Adah had a cold. Abigail was doing fine and then all of a sudden ran to the side (they were playing soccer) and was tearing up. She told me in a whisper, "I miss her. She's always with me. She's my best buddy, and I don't know if I can do PE without her." It was adorable. Bad pictures of Cora and Adah playing badminton in the backyard. They were both getting the hang of it by the end of the summer. At the beginning of the summer, they were, shall we say, extremely badminton-challenged.

Opa came to visit, so we went to Dunkin Donuts (naturally). Abigail and Adah had coffee. (just kidding - although they would like it to be true)

This picture is a little startling, isn't it? Abigail was trying on the googly eyes, and she wanted to see what she looked like, so I took the picture.These pictures could have been taken some dozen times this summer. The kids LOVE to create crafts, and when Daniel's mom came, she brought a fresh supply of craft stuff. They stayed occupied for about two hours. :) Shiloh and Daniel's mom played a few games of Uno while she was here. I think Roscoe is cheating in this picture.
Shiloh loves on her dawg.Cute picture of the kids before church, although it kinda looks like we're taking Nathaniel to a Nation of Islam meeting afterward.Hanging out with Nathaniel. Well, not so much hanging out as full-body contact snuggling. He's an active snuggler. We went to Michie Tavern with the kids while Daniel's mom was here. It was an excellent, fun field trip. Doesn't Adah look fetching in her mob cap? What a good picture of us in the kitchen of the Tavern.The kids are playing "Shut the Box," a colonial game that Daniel's mom later bought for us in the gift shop. Shh - don't tell them it's actually a math game. :)The girls got to learn the Virginia Reel (I did, too!). The woman who was Adah's partner for the dance enjoyed the kids so much during the tour. I was worried about the situation because she had pulled the tour guide aside to express her concern about being on a tour with so many children. She ended up buying them all candy sticks at the gift store! An employee walked up to me and said, "The woman who just left wants your children to pick out a candy stick. She's already paid for them." I was so proud of them! Oops! Pictures out of order, but I'm not going to try to fix them. Here are the kids trying on hats that you can wear during the tour.Random shot of Cora looking lovely and Jackson looking...disgruntled. On the way to SC, we stopped at our dear friends' house for an overnight stay. Their daughters are Shiloh's and Cora's best friends and pen pals, so they had a gab-fest until who-knows-how-late at night. The pictures show evidence of the lack of sleep. :)Here's a better picture! This is all the kids minus the eldest, a lovely young woman with a great name - Casey. :) The boys hanging out. They did NOT play with the doll in the picture; they might have used it as a prop in their Star Wars games, though.Lovely Shiloh and her best friend. She misses her dearly. I'm so glad they took us in so the girls could reconnect and whisper and giggle and talk about horses...all those things girls do. Shiloh has made one really good friend here, but it's not the same. Here is Adah dipping her toes in at Falls Park in the middle of downtown Greenville. What a beautiful park! We had a lovely picnic there with our friends, the Clarks. They also adopted from Haiti - two lovely girls. Adah likes to look at their picture on the fridge, and I think she feels a connection to their family because they "look like us." It was a wonderful, refreshing time of fun, fellowship, and GREAT food. Seriously, one of the highlights of the visit for me was the awesome food Sarah made for us - STEAK, homemade ravioli, quesadillas, pumpkin pancakes, chicken in the crockpot...we've never eaten so well on vacation! AND THEY HAD A POOL! We didn't have any money in the "vacation fund" this year because of all the moving-in expenses, so we were calling this visit our vacation. Well, what with the fellowship, the pool, and eating so well, it was better than a vacation. About an hour into the trip home, I turned to Daniel and said, "can we go back now?"This picture was taken on Liberty Bridge, a suspension bridge over the falls. The kids were a little nervous about walking on a bridge that moved. Cora will always find puppies or babies wherever she goes. What a sweetheart that girl is! Here is Adah with Milienne and Joshua Clark. Joshua is so scrumptious I want to squeeze his legs. He's also a very jolly baby. Adah also loves babies and Milienne loves her little brother...it was a lesson in sharing the baby. :) And this is Nathaniel's future wife. Everyone, meet Charlotte. How CUTE IS SHE? She is the daughter of some other friends from the Clarks' church. The Clarks graciously hosted MORE people on TOP of our clan in order for us to see more friends. Scott Clark is having Bible time with the kids before church Sunday morning. Notice how well Nathaniel is paying attention. We think he is destined to be a preacher or something; he's that holy. :)Abigail is hanging out with Robert and Virginia. From behind, we couldn't tell Virginia and Abigail apart.These are dear friends of ours and missionaries to Albania, the Konas. This is the other couple the Clarks hosted so that we could see them and their adorable new baby Annabella. They were here on furlough for the summer to have Annabella in the States. That was the night the Clarks fed us steak, caprese salad, roasted sweet potatoes, and then port after dinner. It's a little sad that I remember that menu from August and not what I did yesterday. It also could explain how I gained 5 pounds in 5 days. Seriously, that's never happened to me before and it was a little shocking when we returned home. I hate this picture of me because it's a little frightening, but look how cute Joshua is!! He was usually smiling like that, and he loved to just hang out watching the action. What a cutie pie.

This was our Sunday evening after church feast before the kids got their bathing suits on and went for a night swim. Scott turned on the lights in the pool so that they had a kaleidoscope while they were swimming. We also fed them ice cream before bedtime. That turned out to be a good idea. (not so much) Wherever babies are, Cora is happy to go. I LOVE THIS PICTURE of Cora with Joshua.

I thought I would never embarass myself by posting this picture, but I had to show you the genius that I am. I devised this plan for the inner tubes in order to lounge in the pool while the kids were having a rest. They didn't have adult-sized floaties, so I came up with this. May I say that although I look stupid, it worked incredibly well? I was able to put my head back and drift, and Daniel actually took the first picture while I was asleep! Then I woke up and castigated him for doing something so mean. Then Scott offered to make me a margarita, and I was happy.

So...one step closer to being caught up. Now I have to go make some lunch for the kiddos and we're off to the SPCA to pick out a kitten for Cora's birthday. (She doesn't read the blog, so don't worry. :) )

Out of Town

So Daniel, Shiloh, and Cora are out of town this week on Daniel's annual hunting trip. That means I get to catch up on various projects, and this is one of them. :)

Check back later today (or this evening) for lots of pictures. I have finally gotten through the summer photos. :)

Here's yet another Abigail story. The other kids are funny, too - I promise. Abigail is just more bizarre-funny.

I was reading from 2 Kings about Hezekiah during family worship one evening. I was explaining the story where Hezekiah receives the letter from the king of Assyria mocking God and proclaiming that He couldn't save them. Hezekiah takes the letter into the temple, spreads it before the Lord, and tells Him to take action to avenge His name. I asked, "What do you think the Lord will do next to the Assyrians?"
Abigail pipes up, "I think He'll put the smack-down on 'em."

First, this may be a new theological term for the Lord's wrath.

Secondly, who's been letting her watch WWF?

Have a great day!

A Conversation with Abigail

Perhaps I should call this the quarterly blog? That seems to be the only time I'm posting. I'm totally blaming it on Daniel. :) He's at the computer most nights studying for a French class he's taking, so I can't get on. If that's not a justification for buying a laptop, I don't know what is. :) Of course, I could post on weekends, or during reading-and-rest-time in the afternoons, but that's beside the point that I can't post AT NIGHT when I WANT TO. :)

Anyway, I need to record the following conversation for historical purposes, and I thought it might entertain you as well. I will get back to picture posting. It's just so annoying in Blogger...apparently the easiest way to move pictures around is to revert to html code to cut and paste the pictures. My pictures won't drop and click the way they're supposed to (in theory). Any ideas, bloggers? Besides switching hosts?


So, anyway...Abigail invited me to her room for a tea party. When I arrived (in a hat, as is proper) she had set her toy box with the nice china and placecards. She welcomed me and invited me to sit down. She graciously asked me if I would prefer coffee or tea, biscuits or scones. She informed me that she had made the scones from her grandmother's recipe, and the blackberry jam was also homemade. She did also recommend the biscuits, though, because they had a lot of butter in them. Then the conversation went something like this:


Abigail: "I'm so glad you could come today. I've seen you in church, but we just waved to each other, and I'm glad I can get to know you better." (Wha? My six year-old is making small talk?)

Me: "I'm so glad I could come as well! Thank you for having me."

Abigail: "You're so welcome. Are you married, Mrs. Houseworth?" (apparently, the Mrs. didn't give it away)

Me: "Yes, I am. Daniel and I have been married for fourteen and half years. And you?"

Abigail: "Yes, I'm married. Robert and I have been married for 3 years, but we don't have any children yet."

Me: "Have you been in Virginia long?"

Abigail: (scrunching up her face like she's considering this) "No, only about a year. We love it here, though. We moved from North Carolina."

Me: (as though surprised) "So did we! What part did you come from?"

Abigail: "From Fayetteville, North Carolina. Do you know about it?"

Me: "Know about it? That's where WE moved from! Do you know Pastor Webb from Providence PCA?"

Abigail: "Well, we didn't go to his church, but my husband has heard about him because he listens to his sermons on SermonAudio."

??!?!?! Abigail is one interesting kid.

And, Pastor Webb, I'd take it as high praise indeed that my 6 year-old daughter's imaginary husband listens to you on SermonAudio. Although I don't know why she and her husband didn't actually attend your church while they lived in Fayetteville. Hmm.

I'll let you know more about Abigail as we get to know one another at future tea parties. I'm supposed to host the next one. :)
Have a great Monday!
Casey

Installment Four

Daniel's at a theology conference (so I might not see him until midnight) and I'm waiting for dough to rise to make cinnamon rolls for breakfast, so I thought I'd create another installment. The first picture was taken from our front yard (BTW, I hate new home neighborhoods!) and the rainbow was so huge that I couldn't capture the whole thing. Soon after that a double rainbow appeared. Pretty cool.

This next one is a little gross...after one of the big summer rains, the girls were delighted to discover baby toads all over the place. So they caught them. All 503 of them, or at least it seemed like 503. They attempted to give them names, but only the largest one could be distinguished. Her name? Mrs. Orange, of course.

We went to our county seat on July 4th for the parade...a small town named Stanardsville only about 15 minutes away. It's a gorgeous drive, and the parade was totally small town America. (The only caveat I would put on that statement was the "$15 VIP parade seating" on the balcony of a historic hotel that offered mint juleps and other assorted beverages at TEN O'CLOCK in the morning! I don't think Mayberry would do that.) We went with friends from co-op and had a blast. We wanted to keep hanging out, so we went out to lunch with them. Then we almost crashed their neighborhood party because we heard there would be fireworks, but we thought that might be rude. My grandmother used to crash weddings; that's definitely more rude.

We were sad that we did NOT get a photo of the crazy lady on her riding lawnmower who drove as if she had attended the VIP seating get-together beforehand. She had on lots of bling, lots of pom-poms, and she had attached a wanted poster of herself to her riding lawnmower. She lapped the parade participants and came around twice, waving and hollering for all she was worth. On the second lap, she was talking with someone and jumped the curb. HOW did I not get a picture of that??

Before I sign off to actually go read a book, here's a story from Abigail today:

I took Adah and Abigail Target shopping and grocery shopping and Abigail was being her usual chatty self. I might have been tuning her out a bit (or a lot). Suddenly she yelled, "Mommy! Did you see that? Did you see that statue that looked like a deer or maybe was a deer?"

Me: "Um-hum."

Abigail: "Mommy, do you believe me?"
Me: silence (checking off things in my head)

Abigail: "Hey, LADY, do you believe me?!"

Well, I definitely heard THAT. :) Adah and I collapsed laughing. And I think some of Oma's New York genes made it into that girl. :)

Installment Three

Installment Three - VBS
Our kids took part in a VBS at the church where our piano teacher is a member. We had been there several times to take part in piano recitals and activities, and we got to know the pastor pretty well. When we heard that the VBS would be focusing on the early church in Rome, we thought that might be fun for the kids to take part. These pictures were taken on the last night at the family celebration. The kids are still singing the songs they learned!

This was Adah's first time on a horse. She thought they were pretty smelly.

This was the highlight of Jackson's week - learning archery. :)

Nathaniel couldn't attend because of his age, but he had a good time dancing on the final night.

Singing

Overheard yesterday as Nathaniel wandered through the house:
"God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy."
Should I be worried that my 3 year-old is singing this country song?
Or should I just change the station in their room?

Installment Two

Installment Two includes The Summer Haircuts
Jackson decided he wanted a mohawk. We have no idea where he even heard of a mohawk - maybe it's a boy thing? So Daniel decided to shave them both. I thought he would shave them in mohawks, show me, and then shave it down to a buzz. It didn't go according to plan (my plan). Jackson decided he liked it very much, the girls oohed and aahed over them, and the neighbor came over to say how cool their haircuts were. That was it. The mohawks stayed for the rest of the summer.

Shiloh decided that Nathaniel looked like an Indian, so she got a string and a dishtowel, dressed Nathaniel up, and sent him downstairs. We are so not politically correct at our house! :)