Baseball

This summer two of our boys wanted to play baseball, so to the park we went ~ all eight of us!  Here is Elijah....

Baseball became an obsession for our boys for a few months this summer.  Slowly, it is dying away a bit as the season has ended.  But, for a while our front yard was a baseball field every. single. day.  Here is Elijah hitting...

And, James was our other baseball boy!

Running to first!

And, this is what we looked like...

Hot, sweaty little ones watching and waiting and eating goldfish and cheerios....

Just sitting back relaxing and enjoying the season...

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That...

Eriky at the pediatric opthamologist.  So sweet!  He was such a good little patient.

But, he definitely needed glasses....

Cutie Pie!

And, a couple pics from VBS, last month, that I never posted.  On mustache day...

James and his sweet friend Jake...

I found this picture on facebook, and I thought it was hysterical.  This is me, and I promise I am not threatening my sweet class of children!!  But, my first thought when I saw the picture on my church's page was....  "Hey, kid!  You wanna piece a me???"  :-)

It makes me laugh every time I look at it!

And, this, this is my new little explorer.  Jack hasn't gotten totally easy yet, but he is easier.  But, Em, now sweet Em is into everything!  Especially my pull out spice rack!! I told my mom that she is going to be a baker like her mama the way she loves to look at my spices and play with them!

The boys made ocean boxes recently, and I never posted pictures of them.  So, here goes...

Josh is sooo excited about his...

 I really don't know what to say about this one...

First Chick-fil-a shake!!

Duck Dynasty influence????

This is a picture of Erik when he was little....

Looks soooo much like Erik Daniel that it is funny!!!

 And, my mom sent me a picture of me when I was little recently....

Fourth of July 2013

James and Elijah drew pictures to take around to the neighbors' houses.  Such a cute idea!  Then, James surprised me by dressing up as Uncle Sam to deliver them!  It is never boring around here!!!

Miss Em in her red, white, and blue...

July Nature Walk

I have always wanted to add nature study to our list of things we study, but we've just never seemed to have the time to add it.  I am hoping to change that this year.  God has blessed me with a gang of boys who love to be outdoors exploring and playing, so it seems that it will be a perfect fit!  Amanda Blake Soule suggests a nature walk on the first day of every month.  As you walk she suggests you discuss what is blooming, changing, growing or dying each month.  Compare and contrast the months and seasons as you go.  Collect leaves, flowers, and other fun things as you walk.

I am skimming through several books on nature study and loosely planning a few projects and activities based on the seasons for this school year.  I think the boys will really enjoy this!  Our walk today was fun for all of them.  I gave them each a brown paper bag to fill with little treasures.  I told them that they would draw something from their bag when we returned to home.  We walked around the backyard and down by the pond.  We looked for life in the pond and discovered an insect we had never seen!  (Note to self: Buy an insect identification book and a leaf identification book!)  We noticed and picked a few flowers ~ some wildflowers and some not.  It was really fun!  

Blueberries that are not quite ripe...

Blackberries ready to pick....

Crabapples...

Back inside...

We added a few of our treasures to our nature shelf (another idea from Soule Mama).

I am so excited about this!