Field Day

We finished up our year at the Homeschool Coop and the kids did a wonderful job. The last Tuesday was Field Day. I was able to be the Tour Guide for the kindergarten and 1st grade boys which meant I got to see Harbin the whole time. Because they don't have childcare for the 1's and 2's, Ella got to tag along with us too. You can see great pics of Harbin playing the games as well as Ella and the other helper's daughter just chillin' in the strollers. We had quite the energetic group of little boys, but they seemed to have a great time! The mom.

Egg Hunting and Easter Fun

After church Easter morning, we headed over to mom's house to do some Easter Egg hunting with all the kiddos on Jonathan's side of the family. We made quite a bunch packing in 9 little kids, 3 older kids and 11 adults (?) for lunch. The kids had a blast jumping on the trampoline and playing together. All the kids hunted eggs in the backyard and I was sad to see that my little boy was actually having more fun rehiding the eggs for the little kids than he was hunting for them :( I guess he's growing up a bit! Now I know all of you all are anxiously awaiting the part where I show you the pics of the super cute dresses I made for my girls and talk about how I just "threw them together" and you all think "Oh, Kimberly, you're so amazing, I wish I had your talent." (ok so maybe it doesn't go quite that way) However, I must confess that this year I ask you to be proud of my ability to realize I can't do it all and not of my homemade dresses because, in fact, they are store bought (gasp!). With Scott being gone, a busy schedule and costumes and props for the choir, I just didn't have the free time to make 3 dresses. I bought the fabric (does that count for something?) but never got around to starting the first dress. So instead I shopped on a cool discount kids site and landed these 3 dresses for $10 a piece!! And, everyone at churched asked if I made them, so I guess that's kind of the same. Anyways, all non-homemade dresses aside, we enjoyed a wonderful Easter and the kids really had a great time. As you look through the pictures, please note that I promise I do love all of my kids equally...Ella just happens to be in a "take my picture" phase right now, so it seems like I keep getting adorable ones of her!!! The others are often off on their own doing things with the other kids and I am lucky to get a streak as they run by!!! Hope you had a great Easter too! The mom. r

Huck's First Egg Hunt

We traveled up to Chattanooga the week before Easter in order to celebrate with the Tinney Family. This was Huck's first Easter. He missed it by a few days last year :) so we were excited to get to see him and egg hunt with him for the first time. As you can see from the pics, Ella really enjoyed eating her chocolate Easter bunny from Ma and Da! She had it everywhere by the tim she was done. Since the whole family couldn't be there, we opted to just get pics of Lolli and Pop and their grandkids. I think the pictures came out okay even though we were having an unseasonably HOT day in the sun! Enjoy the pics. The mom.

Camping at Fall Creek Falls

The weekend before Easter, Lolli and Pop were headed up to Fall Creek Falls to serve food for the High School Youth Camping trip. The kids and I decided to join them, Crickett and Huck for the weekend to enjoy the outdoors, the hiking and just hanging out worshiping with the high schoolers.

We were not so fortunate with the weather, as it rained a lot of the time. However, that didn't seem to slow the kids down. They enjoyed playing on the playground that was just behind our campsite and even Ella kept begging to "play" as she would often come and ask me while pointing to the playground. Ella couldn't go by herself because she was bound and determined to hang from the bar each time before going down the slide and I was petrified she would just slip and hit her head on the way down. Catherine was cute with how many "new friends" she met playing on the playground while Lydia napped.

You can see that Ella enjoyed her time hanging out near the camper and helping to get Huck's milk cup. He kept throwing it and she kept insisting he needed it! She and Lydia also enjoyed making him play ring-around-the-rosie. Even though they practically dragged him around in the circle, he seemed to laugh and giggle and like it as much as they did.

The Falls there are beautiful and although the kids and I didn't tackle the long hike with the high schoolers, we did take a short hike while Ella napped with Lolli back at the camper. We were able to get some beautiful pictures of the waterfall and had some great family time hiking for about a mile. The kids were all about running through the trails and just seeing how far they could get. When we got to see the falls, I said "Wow...can you believe that God could make something so beautiful like this? Do you think you could do that?" Catherine quickly responded by matter-of-factly saying "Well, not that straight." HAHA!!!!

I also got to show my risk-taking side and try out the tightrope that a few of the highschoolers had set up. Ultimately it was a tie-down strap that was wrapped around two trees about 1.5 feet off the ground, but it was so challenging!! I think the record for the weekend was 4 unassisted steps. I took 0 unassisted steps, but managed to walk a little ways just touching someone's shoulder. Once that strap started to wiggle a little, it was so hard to stay on. Catherine tried it multiple times- she never got the courage to go solo, but personally I think she could have done it unassisted. She was awesome at it. I guess all that gymnastics is paying off.

Well stay tuned for more blog posts as the week slows down and I have more time to write about the last month or so. The mom.