Family Night Campout?!?

Sometimes the impromptu Family Home Evenings are the best. On this night we ended up with some extra Galati's and our "fifth daughter," Faith, at our house for Family Night. We had our lesson (and our activity:-) around the fire pit. It was so much fun! Joe had fun instructing Eve on the art of the perfect roasted marshmallow, and demonstrating the "perfect s'more."

Joe, demonstrating the "perfect" s'more, just like on the graham cracker box:-)

I love this pic of Benjamin!

Swim Team- Go Hawks!

This is the "I'm gonna kill you for taking my picture" look. (But look at the muscle man stretching in the back! Ha ha)

It is really hard to get a good photo of swimming, esp. with our lame camera!

On your marks, get set...

You can see how close Anna was to finishing first. She is in lane #1. Oh, so close!! We are all so proud of Anna for her improvement in swimming! She did awesome!!

Eve's Kindergarten 100th Day of School Celebration

Here are a few photos of Eve's 100th Day of School celebration at school. Bowling, sorting, counting, and making hats were some of the activities of the day

Saying Good-bye to the Sethuraman's

We had to say good-bye to our sweet neighbors, the Sethuraman's this month. They decided to move to India, to be able to help with their grandmother. Maya and Annika had become like our own children and we thoroughly enjoyed having them at our house most days. We miss them so much, and can't wait to hear about their adventures in India! We decided to have a very informal "going away party" for them their last night in Holly Springs. Here are some photos of the girls.

The girls had been drinking a red fruit punch drink. Notice Maya's tongue? So funny!

We will miss you, Maya and Annika!

Cute pictures of some of our favorite girls:-)

School's In!

Jane, Bekah, and Eve are always playing school. It started when Jane was in Kindergarten and she would play "Pre-school Scouts" with Bekah. Now that tradition has carried on-- and expanded. I came upon these school supplies on clearance, and laminated them (except for the cloth calendar that they LOVE:-) for the girls for Christmas. They have been a very worthwhile investment! Our attic has now been transformed into their "classroom." I thought I had better take some pictures to remind me in later years of these fun "school days."

A few more pics of the "classroom."

It's a Fairy Party

Bekah and Eve got invited to a fairy birthday party and came home with magic wands, fancy headbands with garlands, and beautiful face painting to make them look like truly beautiful, magical fairies! Look at this amazing face painting!

Mom's Message Board

I bought myself a white board and hung it in the kitchen. The kids labeled it "Mom's Message Board." I always start the note with the first initial of the person, then a colon, then the note. Sunday after church I looked up and saw this note, written by Bekah. Too funny! I love the "D,M,R" at the beginning of this note, standing for "Dad, Mom, and Rebekah," followed by the reminder "Go to Baptism Preview tonight." I laughed and laughed when I saw this! She is definitely learning my "code":-)

Eve and Bekah were invited to a bowling birthday party, so we decided to join in on the fun (in the next lane.) Porter invited his friend Kyle Brantley, and we made a day of it. I was happy that I knocked ANY pins down, and decided I like bowling with the bumpers on MUCH better. I'll happily bowl with my younger kids just to have the bumpers:-)

Crafting Girls

Bekah, Jane, and Eve are always coming up with a craft idea-- like daily. I hardly ever take pictures of all they create, but decided I need to do that more. One day Bekah decided she wanted a mailbox outside of her bedroom door. She was quietly working in the craft room for an hour or so, and then the next thing I knew, she really did have a mailbox outside her bedroom door! Look at the detail in this! She has the little black tab at the top to hold it shut and everything! Over the next couple of days, Eve and Jane also made their mailboxes. They are so funny!