A Little Trip

It seems a little weird to be posting about July with this chilly, wintry background, but I want to get caught up in the proper order (ahem - someone has control issues). At the end of July, three families VERY GRACIOUSLY offered to take two kids apiece so that Daniel and I could get away. Actually, one crazy family offered to take all six, but we wanted to remain friends with them, so we decided against it. :) This was only the second time in 15 years of marriage that Daniel and I have gotten away together - the first time being when Shiloh was about 15 months old. It was a little overdue is what I'm saying. :) We went to a bed and breakfast in Bath County, about three hours west of Charlottesville. The bed and breakfast was NOT all it was described to be on the internet, but we had a fabulous time regardless. :) We did get out for a couple of runs, and our B&B had a pool where we relaxed and enjoyed the mountains. We visited the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, where we decided we would stay the next time. :) On the drive there:

The town of Warm Springs, where we stayed: Wait! There's a Confederate Soldiers Memorial? Then we must have pictures made with it:

This ADORABLE little cottage was right next to the library. I wanted to go in, but apparently there's a law against things like trespassing?

The gardens at the Homestead Resort: (ignore the strange posing - I get it from my mother):

These hydrangeas were HUGE!

This was the library/lounge at the Homestead. This is where we decided that we would stay there the next time:

A little creek running through Warm Springs:

Our fancy dinner out at the B&B's restaurant - it was an old grist mill:

After the fancy dinner, we put on our flip-flops and went wandering in the warm creek. Now THAT'S my kind of wading:

What a glorious time we had to reconnect after his time in Afghanistan. We were so thankful to find out that the kids did a great job, and we've decided that we're definitely not waiting another 10 years or so before the next getaway!

Testing

Before I bring this sad little blog fully back to consciousness, I thought I'd wake it up gently with a little message to say "Merry Christmas" to anyone who might still be checking in to see if there's anything new with the Houseworths. (Hi, Mom!)

We are on Christmas Break, which means I will have time to catch up with other parts of life that fall by the wayside during schooling. Of course, that catching up will have to wait until after Christmas. :)

Talk to you soon, everybody!
Love,
Casey

Photo Post - Summer

Trying to get caught up before we start our "school year." :) I also haven't downloaded the pictures that we took when we went away for a weekend sans kids. (YES! WITHOUT CHILDREN! JUST ADULTS! :) It was absolutely lovely to reconnect with my hubby and...to go running with him. Weird, I know. But we haven't gone running together in forever, and it's just awesome to see him be able to get out there and enjoy a run. We're planning on doing a 10K together in October. (Seriously - who is this man, and where did my husband go?)

So...here are Fourth of July pictures from the Stanardsville parade. The kids are still eating candy from it.

I think this is the crazy lady who rode her riding lawnmower like a drunk person last year. She was having a grand time in the bucket loader pelting people with candy.

Preparing for Daddy's return!!

We ended up meeting him at the Charlottesville airport where he had to return his rental car. He flew from Afghanistan to Kuwait to Ireland to Atlanta, took a bus from Atlanta to Ft. Benning, rented a car and started driving home. He was going to try to make it straight through, but the Lord mercifully stopped him by giving him two flat tires on the rental. :) That slowed him down a bit.

The new addition in the family - Willow. She is much cuter now having filled out a bit, and her personality is awesome! She loves to snuggle, purr, and play. Her fur is very unusual - she's developing white stripes along her back and tail and gray stripes on her side. Weird!

Cora loves her new kitten. :)

Thankfully, Calvin and Willow get along really well. Roscoe doesn't like her yet because she's a spitfire who's whacked him across the nose a couple of times.

Recognize this shirt, Corey? My son also looks devastatingly handsome in it. :) Thanks for the clothes!!! (He decided against the pocket handkerchief - he wasn't sure what it was.)

What?

Preparing lunch today:
Me: "Nathaniel, please stop yelling nonsense at the top of your lungs."
Nathaniel: "Mommy, where are my lungs?"

Hmm. Guess that correction didn't make an impact. :)

In other news, DANIEL IS HOME!!!! He arrived safe and sound yesterday, despite a two-tire-blowout in the rental car driving from Ft. Benning. Pictures to follow.

Thank you for all your prayers and support while he's been gone. You are much appreciated!

All Over Town

Here's a list of our record-breaking errands today for posterity's sake:
1. Ragged Mountain Running Shop (a bust - Shiloh had the gift certificate and they don't have any kids' clothes!)
2. Old Navy (a bust - we were looking for an extra swimsuit for Shiloh)
3. Barnes and Noble
4. Sausser Farms Charlottesville co-op stand (a bust - they already closed)
5. Library
6. Lunch at Taco Bell (we couldn't go on without food, and we already ate the snacks I packed)
7. Dollar Store (favor to Abigail)
8. SPCA (to love on some kittens and dogs - almost came home with a beagle mix - yikes!)
9. Staples (school supplies)
10. Sausser Farms Ruckersville stand (score! basil and squash)

11. HOME!
Now for a rest before making dinner. The kids were such troopers! I'm tired.

Observations and Everyday Life

Nathaniel is tickling my funny bone lately. We were reading "Animals, Animals!" by Eric Carle, and there is a picture of an octopus on the front. I said, "What's that, Nathaniel?" His response? "A cactapus!"

Later in the day he was disciplined for disobeying, and we were talking afterward. I was telling him that I loved him no matter what and I asked him, "Why do I love you no matter what?" And he responded, "Because I'm cute?" Uh, no. :) The answer (that he usually says because we say it all the time) is supposed to be, "Because I'm your boy." :)

As usual, Abigail came out with a noteworthy saying this evening at dinner. We were discussing what kinds of dogs we would be if we were dogs. She was not pleased with my opinion that she would be a cocker spaniel because they're adorable, sweet, intelligent, hyper, and chatty. Her choice for me? "A hound dog, Mommy - because they're loud and they're SLOW." Then she cracked herself up. Cheeky girl. VERY cheeky. She just doesn't get why I run these races if I'm not "going to even TRY to win!" Anyway, we decided on a stylish poodle for Adah (natch), a friendly golden retriever for Cora, a crazy Jack Russell terrier for Nathaniel, an elegant Irish setter for Shiloh, and a stubborn bulldog for Jackson. :)

They are certainly entertaining, that's for sure. They have lifted my spirits as we've dealt with double ear infections with Shiloh and Jackson and an ear infection and strange rash with Abigail. I think it's all connected to swim lessons, and we missed out on the last few lessons this past week, plus tennis lessons for Shiloh and a picnic at Daniel's work. We've hunkered down this past week to recover. We have been able to attend our church's Vacation Bible School, which our pastor called a "Puritan Bible School." :) It was old-fashioned without a lot of glitz or expense. They learned stories from the book of Daniel, played games, made crafts, and learned Bible verses and songs. They had a great time. Our pastor was almost apologetic for it being so low-key, and all of the parents reassured him that it really doesn't take as much for kids to enjoy something as we think it does. We liked the focus on the Word and learning the truths of the Scripture. The old-fashioned VBS was perfect for our family. I was supposed to be at tennis lessons with Shiloh in the evenings all week, so I didn't commit myself to help out. I stayed home with Shiloh on Monday, but then I had Tuesday and Wednesday nights ALL TO MYSELF for two hours because Shiloh felt well enough to go (well enough not to want to miss out, anyway). I confess that the break time could be why I enjoyed VBS so much. :) I tell Daniel I don't actually feel like I need a break from my kids most of the time, but when the Lord unexpectedly gives me a time of refreshment, I'm happy to take it! Thursday night I was all set to go grocery shopping on my own (what luxury!) but a freak storm crippled the main roads with trees down and power out everywhere. After reaching the church, I didn't want to go back on the roads anytime soon, so I stayed to watch/help out, and the kids were happy to show me what they'd been learning.

Tonight everyone was feeling well enough to run around in the sprinkler and then catch fireflies in the dark. Such fun! I love hearing the squeals and laughter as they run around. Tomorrow we'll sleep in from the late night and just plan to do some errands. We'll try to spend Shiloh's gift certificate to the running store, check out kittens at the SPCA (Cora and Daddy have a date to pick out a new kitten when he returns), and pick up our weekly delivery of co-op produce.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

p.s. Speaking of times of refreshment, Daniel and I are going away for a couple of days ALL BY OURSELVES when he comes home!! This is only the third time in 15 years of marriage, so we thought we were due. :) We're going to a B&B only about two hours away, and it looks fabulous. The last time we went away was right before the kids came home from Haiti, and a family in our church blessed us tremendously by taking care of the kids for us and practically forcing us to go. :) They knew we needed it, and we didn't even know we needed it until we did it. What fun we had! We are pretty excited about it (that's an understatement). I miss my best friend!

5K Pictures

I forgot to get pictures after the race, of course, because I was too intent on willing myself to win one of the raffle prizes. We all ended up winning prizes! :) These are the pretty "before" pictures. Believe me, the "after" pictures would have been scary. It was HOT that day, and the race didn't start until 9:00. We were pretty gross. They had plenty of water at the finish, though, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. Shiloh had three, plus three chocolate molded stars, some jello jigglers, and some grapes. AFTER running three miles! I was about to be sick just watching her eat all that stuff. Of course, I did get a Whopper after running the half-marathon, and I also ate a load of peanut M&Ms (note to self: NEVER, NEVER do that again).

If the race organizers post any other photos, I'll put them up here. Right now I'm off to bed because tomorrow could be a very long day...it looks like Jackson might have an ear infection (or maybe just swimmer's ear), and Abigail might have poison ivy (or maybe just a weird rash). I need a live-in doctor to identify these things for me. :)

Ahhh...Summer

Hello, all!

It seems like we've been moving/in transition/waiting for kids for the past several years of our lives (oh, wait - we have!) so it's been SOOO nice to stay put this summer and just enjoy life. Of course, life would be much MORE enjoyable if were Daniel here, but we are on the downhill slope now to his return. We're looking forward to including Daddy in all the fun things we've been doing. Shiloh would especially like him to come back so that she has someone who can actually hit the ball over the net for her in tennis.

Here's what's been going on in our lives lately:

We had our end-of-the-year celebration for our history program. It helped all of us to mark the end point of that period of study, and it was something they were looking forward to doing. Shiloh and Cora decorated the dining room with all kinds of projects they had done, and Adah and Abigail created the menu. The menu focused on foods that colonists would have enjoyed and they each chose two dishes. On one of the hottest days we've had so far, the girls chose clam chowder, peanut soup, hoppin' john, and blueberry flummery. :) Blueberry flummery is a jello-like dessert dish. I was skeptical about the peanut soup, but everyone liked it! Shiloh added some biscuits to the menu, and I added carrots because we were a little light on the veggies. :) We also had root beer and pretended it was beer like the colonists drank. Shiloh still has her colonial outfit, so she dressed up as well. Adah and Abigail gave us presentations about colonial cooking and manners, and they all recited a poem about George Washington for Daddy to hear.

This picture shows our lapbooks for the year. It helps them to sum up what they've learned and gives a visual for all the highlights. Inside each booklet is information and/or pictures about the event or person.

This was the blueberry flummery. Adah was very excited when it actually came out in one piece. "Good job, Mommy! Good job!" she kept exclaiming. Abigail REALLY liked the blueberry flummery. Shiloh declared it to be too sweet.

Here was an exciting event! Jackson lost both his bottom teeth in the same day! He let me pull them out, and may I just say, "Please come home, Daniel! I don't want to do that again!" :)

He was excited to show his friend Isaiah, who had just lost his first tooth the previous week. Jackson was pretty excited that one-upped him with two teeth.
AACK! Why can't I get these pictures to import correctly? They look correct in the digital photo album, but they won't come in correctly. They were too cute to pass up, though. The following pictures were taken on the last day of soccer. Jackson's team basically imploded throughout the season and there were only TWO players on the last day. So I asked both coaches if we could put Nathaniel in to help out, and both coaches agreed. Nathaniel scored a goal!! He also showed how tough he was playing without shin guards or cleats. He certainly got kicked a bit! Jackson scored two goals, and their team ended up winning. It was hilarious. I think Nathaniel will be playing next season. :) They both played the entire game, and it was HOT out. Way to go, boys!

Here are my cute girls. They had a great last game and Abigail scored a goal. I tried to avoid the annoying soccer mom voice. :)

Here are some updated pictures of our garden. Our cucumbers are taking over the yard. :) Here is our first cucumber! We actually ate it soon after this because it seemed like it was ready. All the kids watched me expectantly as I took the first bite. It was delicious! Shiloh doesn't even like cucumbers, and she enjoyed it.

Here's our lettuce. I'm not sure it's going to make it with these hot temperatures we've been having lately. I hope so; I want to taste it.

Our pepper plants are flowering. Cora has discovered that she likes yellow peppers so she's awaiting the harvest.

Here's a view of the tomato plants. They look a little disorderly. Shiloh tries to corral them onto the trellis, but they're not cooperating.

Here are some baby tomatoes! I can't remember if these are the Roma tomatoes or grape tomatoes. I guess we'll figure it out eventually.

Here are some pictures from our swim lessons. A homeschool mom who has been a swim teacher for a number of years gives lessons at her mother-in-law's pool every summer. The day I took these pictures the pool temperature was a little chilly. You can tell from the kids' expressions. :) Jackson and Nathaniel have their class first with these two cuties, and then Adah and Abigail come after; Shiloh and Cora follow them. All of a sudden things clicked with Jackson this summer, and he's ready to move up to Adah and Abigail's class next week. He can jump off the diving board and then swim to the shallow end!

Abigail loves her goggles!

Our plans are to spend as much time at the pool/lake and at the tennis courts as possible in the next two weeks. Shiloh, Cora, and I are finishing up sewing projects, the kids are sleeping in, and I'm organizing the school room to make shelf space for our new curriculum. Shiloh and I also ran a 5K today, and we'll do another one next Thursday. Shiloh placed first in her age group and won a $20 gift certificate to Ragged Mountain Running Store! She did a great job, and I was so proud of her attitude when we thought the finish line was right around the corner and it wasn't. :)

Have a healthy, happy summer everyone!

And to my dear friend, Corey - you know what to do...just keep swimming, girl. You know I'm praying for you.