Crafty Christmas

Last week, Julian created a volcano, and Kathryn designed her own handbag. It was a good day!

Christmas Pictures

We hosted Christmas Eve dinner at our house this year. It went pretty well aside from the exploding Pyrex dish! Oh well, lesson definitely learned. We spent Christmas morning at home and then went to Grandma Knight's for dinner with the Knights. Finally, we traveled to Charlotte for Christmas with the Finks at Randy and Emily's house. It was wonderful to spend some time with my family, and to finally meet my new nephew, Walter Dean, who was born a few weeks ago. He is quite a handsome young man!

SNOW!

Not much to say; just some pictures of the snow we got last night and this morning. We measured between 7 and 8 inches. Plenty to play in! We'll have a great day playing tomorrow too (and maybe the next day and the next day...) I doubt it will go anywhere anytime soon with the weather forecasts as they are...we'll see.

Fun at Mrs. B's house

from Thanksgiving

For you Courtney - I thought this one turned out well!

Blog changes

Well, I know not many people come in here now since I NEVER update my blog, but I have been doing some thinking lately, and I am going to make my blog private. You will have to sign in to read and view pictures, etc. using your email address. I know this may be an inconvenience for some people, but I have just become more concerned with pictures of my precious babies ending up somewhere I did not intend for them to be. A blog I used to read did this, and I've been thinking of copying them ever since. My blog is mainly for updating our family with our lives, no major insights that need to be shared with the world...

Not that it matters much since I never take the time to update it and only 2 or 3 people check in when I do...

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know what is going on. Hopefully I'll have more time to blog and more motivation sometime soon....

Kathryn turns 6

Pictures from Kathryn's birthday parties:

Cute feet, cute Kathryn

Just a few pictures of Kathryn taken in the last few weeks

New sandals - $5 on sale!

She really dresses to exercise, doesn't she? A dress and pink crocs.

She has way more fun on the treadmill than I do, that's for sure!

1st Day of school

Things went very smoothly this morning in getting ready for school. Although this is the first day, we have been going through the same routine for the last week or so, just to get ready. The kids were excited and neither seemed to be especially nervous. They looked so cute in their new outfits (and did you see their new shoes?). I am really going to miss them while they are at school...

Julian's email

I don't think Julian would mind me sharing this...

Julian has been asking me to start playing this game that he loves - Poptropica. I have told him over and over that I don't really want to play because it is a game for children and I normally don't play children's games on my own. He sent me this email the other day:

He is so funny. I love it!

Fink Day July

I realized I forgot to share the pictures I took (and the ones Ronda took with my camera) from our last family get together. So here they are:

Camping

Last weekend we went camping again and had Fink day while we were there. The weather was not great but Saturday was storm free all day. Thankfully, Dad and Sherri were camping down the road from us in their wonderful motorhome, so we were able to take refuge there. Ronda and Evan were able to come visit for a few hours on Saturday, and a good time was had by all!

Ants. Yuck.

We have had an infestation of ants for several weeks now. I assume they are coming inside because it is so dry, but I have gotten very tired of them. I don't like sprays, so we use terro, which is a sweet liquid you put out and the ants drink it and take it back to their friends. It has always worked well in the past, but seems to be taking forever this time. They are really gross all over the counter, but I thought this picture was kind of neat:

A change of scenery

Recently, I got a laptop as a graduation gift. Awesome! I have had a wonderful time moving around to work instead of being chained down to my desk for hours and hours a day. I have experimented with working in the backyard while the kids play, in the kitchen, watching them through the window with their neighbor-friends. But, here is my favorite spot to work now:

It is such a happy spot with a sunny window and a view of my roses. Unfortunately, the roses have been infested with beetles recently and I lost many flowers, but that seems to be resolving itself now with no intervention on my part. Beetles are bad, but did you know cardinals eat beetles? I have been delighted on several days to see cardinals sitting on the branches of the rose bush, eating the unwanted bugs. Hummingbirds like the red flowers as well. I actually see a new batch of roses forming as I type this, so hopefully my feathered friends will come back to enjoy the new flowers the same as me.

I am so thankful for this gift - something I have wanted but not needed for quite a while. Hopefully, it will also prove useful for school things this semester. I will be in class for 8 hours each day day Tuesday and Wednesday, so perhaps I will be able to use the laptop on occasion on campus as well. Happy days!

Camping

We went camping (for the first time) over the long weekend. It was a big success - aside from the rain that held off just until it was time for us to pack up Sunday morning....guess we should have gone home Saturday evening as we had originally planned, but no one wanted to rush home. Here are some of my favorite pictures:

Random, not necessarily related events

The children have been out of school for 2 weeks now, and I must say we are adjusting rather well, although some days are better than others. We have a routine established, and are getting ready for some fun after finally getting myself caught up on work and home things. I am enjoying my summer vacation and now with the kids home, hopefully we'll be able to have lots and lots of fun together.

Here are some pictures from places we've been the last little bit that I had not yet posted:

Kathryn and Vivy at Fink day at Pappy and Nana's pool

The kids after going to VBS with a school friend of Kathryn's

Jackson at his 1st birthday party

Kathryn and Kaitlyn at Jackson's party


And portraits taken by Jason on a Sunday afternoon:

Summer

School is out in 2 more days, and we are ready for it. Just some pictures of fun in the back yard...

And by the way, Kathryn says she is a cool kid (that's what the V with her fingers means??):

Charlotte weekend

We traveled to Charlotte this past weekend to spend some time with my family there. Randy and Emily were able to come for a couple of hours on Saturday, and we were able to see the adorable Vivy enjoy the pool. The kids and I stayed overnight since Jason was stuck at work for the whole weekend. It was nice to be able to spend some time with Pappy and Nana.

A side note about the dog photos - Minnie is Dad and Sherri's permanent pet (all brown, smaller). Mickey is a foster dog they are caring for for at least the next month. She has heart worms and just underwent a pretty painful procedure to get rid of them last week. She is not allowed to run for a month! She is very sweet and was so good with Kathryn.

Summer 'dos

The kids got haircuts last weekend. Don't they look nice!

And in case you didn't know, this was Kathryn's hair before she went to get it cut:

Fun with a box

Who need toys when we have boxes? Each time we get something that comes in a big box, it's a struggle to get it to the recycling area because the kids want it to play. I guess Julian had more important things to do, but Kathryn enjoyed the box we got yesterday...who cares what came in it! I guess it does look pretty cozy.

Awana

The kids finished their Awana year last week. They both finished their book, and actually Julian was given his 2nd book for T&T a while ago, but the commander asked for it back when he found out. He said the clubbers are not supposed to start their 2nd book in their first year...so he gave it back and started working on the silver and gold sections (which was why he made the solar system model). I am so proud of both of them. I'm glad they are learning God's word and the truth of salvation through it. We were worried sending them to a different church than we were used to, but it was all for nothing. They did really well and even made some new friends.

My newest picture frame

Do I have too much time on my hands now??



I just really like pictures!

Our weekend

Our 11th anniversary was on Saturday, and this in combination with my graduation made me really want to get away to celebrate. We decided to spend a short weekend at Biltmore in Asheville. I had been once before in junior high, and Jason had also been once, but I'm glad we went again. The house and gardens were beautiful, but there was a lot of walking. I'm glad for a day to sit at my desk and work; my poor legs need a vacation now. Here are some photos of our weekend:

Meanwhile, the kids were spending a nice weekend with Ronda, Evan and Emileigh. From what I heard, the kids were not terrible and Emileigh actually wants to dog-sit for us again, so I guess Lucy minded her manners.

Graduation

I graduated with my associate's degree on Friday! Woo hoo! This is the halfway point for me - hopefully my graduation with my bachelor's degree will be in another 2 years (but it looking more like 2 years plus a semester??). Regardless, it was a big day for me, and I am proud of myself.

I was so happy that my Dad was able to come, and that Jason's Mom and Dad were there for the ceremony. I also kept the kids out of school (still not sure if that is an excused absence or not...) Jason and the kids and I went for lunch with Dad after the ceremony before going our separate ways to do real life things - like pool cleaning and work. I had a chuckle when I thought of the differences there are between graduating when you're 20 and when you're over 30. Get the ceremony done and back to work!

There aren't a lot of photos, Jason had issues with his camera, but here are a few I swiped from his folder on our hard drive :