Kindergarten

So this month we've officially started our homeschooling adventure....the day before kindergarten I asked Celia to read the following 2 sentences after teaching her some sight words.....impressive huh? do you like the illustrations?

Here we are on day 1 of Bible time- I read the girls out of the Children's story Bible and they are coloring a picture of the story- I hope to make them into a book at the end of our year (? or when we finish) that will be Celia's illustrations of the Bible....

Celia's kindergarten photo shoot- she wanted to pose everywhere!

So far we've had 2 weeks of school- I'm layering in the subjects. Tomorrow we start Math. I'm lukewarm about teaching it- very excited for our literature series that will start the following week- pray that we continue to like it!

my three girls

I cannot tell you how much I just adore having little girls- I know some may say I'm missing out on little boy things- I admit it, I am to some degree- but I cannot imagine trading this for the world- God gave me such a gift when He chose these 3 little girls to be mine- they are a joy to my heart! Finally Milla is getting big enough to join in much easier- this is her first official day of playing dress up with the big girls-

Bennett's take on life

Sweet Bennett

My sweet Bennett is a constant surprise to me- She has a very unique way of phrasing things and approaching life in general. I so wish I could bottle this precious time and save it for days later to come- she's such a joy and gift to us- I know I should be recording her thoughts and statements regularly....

here are a couple from this week that make me smile:
While playing "Guess Who" with Celia she asked if Celia's person had "december white" hair.

Tonight at dinner she wanted to say the blessing and she said the following "Dear God, I hope you help me make my disobeys into obeys." Oh that I would pray that simply. Its really what it boils down to in so many ways.

Love you, B.

there's always more...

Still combing through pictures, E sent us some of these....

This was Camilla's first experience with boiled peanuts.
She's a huge fan!

our best attempt at a family shot-

the cousins enjoying a mud bath

as for namesake's go...here is Ben with Ben

gainors come to town...

Our dearest friends, the Gainors, joined us at the beach for a long weekend. Brandy was my college roommate, and her husband Gray is one of Dave's best friends- I love the way our families blend so easily- We enjoyed some 4th of July festivities, even letting the big girls stay up super late to watch the fireworks off of the pier!

It was great to connect so much as what we hope may be our last summer together for a while....why? The Gainors are moving to south asia to work.

the little ones waiting for the parade to start (Celia has ears covered in anticipation for the fire trucks!)

I loved these sweet little boy snuggles from Sam

Aunt B and the middles

the Grays-
Samuel Gray Jr. (Sam), Gray (Uncle Sam), and Camilla Gray
We pray that Milla will grow to have a heart for the lost much like her namesake

Sarala at the park

Gainors we love you and we had a blast! I'm hoping we can do it again in 5 years!

always behind these days...

I guess it should just be par for the course- but here is my feeble attempt yet again to get us up to date.

Since I last posted, we've had quite a few adventures. Celia attended VBS at our church before we all headed to the beach for 2 weeks- it was so much fun. We also just finished a week of Backyard Bible Club in Lansdowne held at the Garrisons....

Here are a couple of pictures to capture our time!

the wedding...

So the girls' first week out of school we headed south leaving Dave with a deep honey-do list...good man that he is, he knocked out all and then some...while we were there Celia accompanied me to her first wedding. The wedding was that of my childhood best friend, Liz Scott to her now husband, Nick Boeschen. Celia was beside herself the whole day. Here are a few pics of the big event!

getting nails painted and hair curled

ready for the main event

my dad with Ben, Liz's brother who escorted her. Her dad died when we were in college. Dad and Ben know each other from the land of great CPA's....

Courtney Brown was a good friend from growing up- I honestly hadn't seen her since we graduated high school- it was so great to catch up. She's in a theater company in Cincinnati-

Celia, clearly not a wallflower- was the first one (or 2 counting me, good mom right?) on the dance floor. E got a shot once we had some company out there.

I love this picture of E and Hunt. She looks so much like me at this age.

Lyles, Kym, Mary
Lyles was a dear dear friend who now lives in Charlotte though we only get to see each other rarely. She's expecting her first soon- we grew up together playing soccer and basketball together. Kym was one of our assistant coaches who has moved back to Charleston from Charlotte.....so great to catch up-

Doesn't Liz look gorgeous? Celia, like all of us, was dazzled!

And my sweet girl- the best date I could have asked for that night seeing that I may have been able to dance more than if Dave were with me- she was unstoppable. I really did miss my man but she was a joy to behold!

skipping church

Our dear friends, the Dyers, had a great reason to skip church this week. Linds gave birth to sweet baby Andrew! We had to go meet this little fellow later that evening and had quite the posse- all squeezed in this room were 4 moms, 3 dads (Dave was in Mississippi), and 7 kiddos (Cals was at home with a raging fever). What a blessing to see this healthy baby boy!

my girls-

Celia and Bennett meeting Andrew, Milla was eating apples (aa-puh) in her stroller

the dads holding down the fort

lazy Sunday

friendly eyes....

My sweet Celia really has a heart drawn to China- I know, I know it might sound like a stretch but let me just say every time we go to the library she looks for books with Asian children on the cover. She always picks out Asian girls and says "she's pretty mommy"...our dear friend Aimee grew up in Taiwan and has taught her to say "I love you" and "Jesus loves you." She always asks if people she sees at the park or in restaurants are Chinese....

Tonight while reading a book I finally said...

M: Celia, I notice that you are drawn so much to people who look quite different than you.

C: I know Mommy. I just love China people (working on that :))

M: Why is it that you love them so?

C: They have friendly eyes- I just want to talk to them.

....slow pause...

and they speak Spanish.

Really though I love it- I'm hoping maybe she'll want to travel there one day and win souls to Christ- just a little glimpse inside the mind of our eldest!

Memorial Day Parade

In lieu of a 4th of July parade, Lansdowne (our neighborhood) has a Memorial Day parade. Today was our first. The big girls and Dave donned their red, white, and blue and hit the street to showcase some american pride- afterwards we met back at Lansdowne Elementary just in time for the icecream truck to come and pass out icecold goodness to the particpants. It was a great morning!

more lowcountry love...

So we are continuing to have tons of fun in the lowcountry- Milla hasn't been feeling that well so she's been basically at home with E. Yesterday we had a full day though with the big girls- I went on a long run in the morning and we came to back to go fishing. Later on we went to the beach for the afternoon. Now that the cousins are here things will only get better.....

I decided it was time to cut Bennett's hair and so I did it on E's front porch. She wasn't too excited so instead of lunch we fed her a packet of skittles while I cut away....it turned out ok- I think I'll get better...I'm realizing its harder to cut straight hair than curly!