A Thanksgiving Celebration

Every year (almost) we travel to my aunt's house in Kentucky for Thanksgiving. It's usually the only day we spend with my extended relatives on my dad's side so we really look forward to seeing everyone and catching up.

Here's our day in pictures:

Heading to Kentucky.
Megan wanted to hold on as we crossed the bridge ;)
On the farm:
Megan, Uncle Ed, and Papaw going for a walk to see the cows.
We got a kick out of Heidi wanting to go for a ride in the Mule.
Hanging out outside:
Nicholas fell asleep.
Then he snuggled Kristen and she fell asleep too!
Nana is in the purple and Megan is snuggling Uncle Ed's mother. I can't remember the name of the other lady but I think she's Ed's sister.
The Great-grandkids: our kids plus my nephew, J.D. and my cousin's daughter, Emily:
The six of us plus my dad and Nana:
Nana, Dad, and Aunt Emily:
We had a wonderful day visiting and eating (too much, of course ;)) and we look forward to seeing everyone again soon!

Thanksgiving isn't over for us, though! We still have two more wonderful dinners to share with family! Although it makes for a busy weekend for us, we feel so thankful and blessed to have so many people to share this holiday with that we wouldn't have it any other way! :)

Being Thankful

Like most people, I take note of my blessings on this day and spend the day feeling humbled and thankful. Today I would like to share some of the things that I'm most thankful for.

1. Jesus. Without Him, nothing else matters anyway :)
2. A loving God
3.My family
4. Our health

If you know me, then this list isn't a surprise to you :) but here's one that might:

5. A messy house! Even though I'm continually frustrated about the mess in my house, I also recognize the blessing here. It's messy because we homeschool and I am truly am thankful for that opportunity and time with our kids. It's also messy because we have a houseful of healthy children who love to create and play! I'm so thankful for that! I'm well aware that there will be a day when there will not be toys scattered throughout my house and I'm not looking forward to that so I'll try to remember to be patient and enjoy this blessing :)

I hope you all had a minute to realize the things you are thankful for as well :)

Sing It, Nick!

I just love this song! One more post from showcase :)

Making a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord

"Joy to the World"

Our co-op music class performing "Joy to the World" at showcase. This is the first year we've had an actual music teacher and we are loving it!

More Birthday Fun

Today (whew, finally caught up!), Todd's parents came to visit and gift the little birthday girl! She was so excited to get presents after her birthday! And here she is all decked out in her new Barbie dress with her matching Barbie:)
A cute new outfit made with organic cotton!
Thank you Meemaw and Papaw!
Megan giving Meemaw Judy a big thanks:
And, of course, she couldn't resist covering herself in the wrapping paper ;)
We had a wonderful afternoon visiting :) Russ and Judy, thanks for coming up! See you Saturday!

Cooking 101

Friday afternoon, Nicholas had a cooking class so we grabbed a quick bite then headed straight there after our field trip.

The theme was Thanksgiving. The kids learned about some traditional Thanksgiving foods as well as some more modern day traditions. They also learned a little geography as they talked about where some of the food traditions came from.

Good co-op buddies :)
The drink, which was sweet, was the only think he liked. I'm shocked.
Isn't he a cute, little chef?
Carla, we are loving these classes! Thank you for setting this up!

Mott's Military Museum

Back to my week! We really had a big week around here and I'm eager to share Friday!

We had a co-op field trip scheduled to go to Mott's Military Museum. One of the classes at co-op for Brandon's age was WWI so this seemed a perfect choice for the semester. Let me just say, it couldn't have been more perfect. We loved it! Mr. Mott himself gave our tour and he was a fascinating man! He started collecting pieces of history as a boy digging up arrowheads (which he has on display) and his passion continued right on into adulthood. He shared his passion with his son who grew up to be one of the men who "acts" in the Battle of Gettysburg reenactment!

Mr. Mott likes to tell about his pieces by talking about the people who used them. He really seemed to enjoy bringing history to life for our group. And we loved hearing all his stories! His museum covers our nation's history, war by war. There's an extensive Civil War display, tons of Native American things and information about some of the more famous battles with them, WWI, WWII, and he has a new wing under construction for Korea, Vietnam, and Dessert Storm.

There's also a replica of our own local war hero, Eddie Rickenbacker's, house filled with things about him. I never new he was so fascinating!

Although everything he has is labeled, having him give the tour made a huge difference. You can go in any time and read all the labels about all the things in his museum, but his stories are the best part :) He is a wealth of information!

I snapped one picture before one of the other parents informed me we were not allowed to take any pictures inside. Oops! Here it is, money from the Civil War time period:
We were, however, allowed to snap away outside and I did ;)

Planes and tanks :
Our group:
Kyle was so sweetly playing with Megan:
Thank you, Angi, for setting all this up! Too bad you guys couldn't come, you would have loved it! It was really a neat place and I hope we go back in the spring after WWII!