Alexandria's Birthday

This year we ventured to Chuck E Cheese. I am not really a big fan of the place, loud music, loud games, and screaming kids... But since I don't do kids parties when the kids are young, I still like to make sure that their day is special.


Five years old.... time seems to just fly by......

The picture quality doesn't seem to be all that great on here.... in psp they seemed fine.....

It's the best of both worlds!!

Dressing up like Hanna Montana. . . .

AND... More bragging... LOL
Elizabeth is starting a gifted program at her school, she is not thrilled about it, but I certainly think she deserves it... now to convince her to be proud of it and not worried about if people are going to call her a nerd.... Any advice????
Anthony seems to be doing well also in his Algebra I class, after his struggle with Geometry last year we couldn't figure out how he got placed in an advanced math class... but he seems to be adjusting quite well...

A beginning.... and..... an end......

For the first time in 6 years since becoming a stay at home mom, the house is quiet on the first day of school.

No one to home school, no one to preschool…. Nothing for me, except, me.

I am happy and sad.

I was excited that Lexie was starting school, but then I realized when walking back in the door this morning after the bus picked up the girls; I heard the ending of the Backyardigans…. A Nickelodeon cartoon we watched together each morning…… this isn’t the beginning of something new… this is the end of something great. No more considered a toddler, no more cuddling on the couch together in the mornings during the week watching her favorite shows, just her and I as it has been for almost 5 years. No more secret snacks that no one else new about. Now it's making three lunches each night, getting up in the morning to catch a bus, and homework in the afternoons.....
The last of my three, off to make her mark on this country along with her brother and sister, my baby.
Now that I have time to do the things I want to do, I almost want another day, another day of Dora, the backyardigans and Mickey Mouse in the morning......

the house is quiet. . . . .

At least until this afternoon!

Camp out

Well, we survived camping out with the kids last week. It was nice to get away for a few days this past week, a time to relax and end the summer and to get ready for a new school year for us all.

The morning we arrived it was spent getting the tents and things set up and the camp fire ready for roasting marshmallows later that evening.

Lexie wanted to help by trying to cut the wood for the fire.

Then she wanted to try rubbing sticks together to see if she could get the fire going..... (she saw that on tv somewhere, lol)
But, when that didn't work, she decided that it would become her drum set instead.

Who doesn't love a good toasted marshmallow.....

We walked the Civil War trails and enjoyed nature. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. Though there were a couple of interruptions for open houses for school and an appointment for my mouth issue.

It was nice to get out and enjoy nature, the massive tall trees, finding interesting critters.

lizard or salamander?
And I don't know what this interesting creature was, it walked right in our path back to our camp, quick as well, so it was hard to get a good clear picture because it wouldn't sit still. Anyone know what it is?

Waking up to deer outside of the tents in the morning was pretty neat, or spotting them on nature walks.

As long as we kept our distance they didn't seem to mind us there, if we attempted to get any closer, they ran.

Under my link of the things I find interesting you can see more of the beauty of nature that I tried my best to capture.

But it does appear this morning that the kids did get into either poison ivy or oak. Mild enough that we didn't think it needed to be seen by a doctor, just some poison ivy itch medicine and they were feeling better. Elizabeth seemed to have it the worst, but all three kids got it in one form or another.....