Hills and Dales Park

We tried out a new park today. The park itself isn't new, but we had never taken the kids there. In the past, it was really run down, but it was recently taken over by our area metro parks system. They have done a lot of work and we had a fun time exploring. The shelter above is huge and has a large stone fireplace in the center of the back wall, along with lots of charcoal grills on one side. We ate a picnic dinner there and then hiked along the trail that took us to another part of the park. There is no playground equipment, but there is a nice trail, some ponds, and real restrooms. We'll definitely be going back soon!

Swinging with my kiddos

On the bridge with Daddy

I love this pic. of my 3 favorite kids in the world!

The Great Darke County Fair

We took a break from school work today to head to the Darke County Fair with my family (which was very educational, by the way!). The weather was the best it's ever been, extremely comfortable and sunny. We saw lots of animals, rode lots of rides, and ate more than our share of fair food. It was a wonderful time!

Enjoying a Texas tenderloin from Bowman's

Emmaline and Daddy on the merry-go-round

Aunt Katie and Ellie on the Sizzler
(Quote from childhood: "The ride is starting and my hair is falling out!" Only Katie and Emily will get this!)

Emmaline loved riding the rides with big sister and brother.
She would smile and wave every time she passed us.

Enjoying cotton candy, Fiske fries, Betty's elephant ears and funnel cakes, and lemon shake-ups before heading home

Another One Bites the Dust...

#7 - It had been hanging sideways for awhile...he was told to pull it out or we would have the dentist do it when we go this week!

Ellie's 5th Birthday Party

Ellie had a butterfly birthday party today. She had 4 friends from church over to play. We also ate yummy sandwiches and Mom made a great butterfly cake.

Kaiya, Gwynn, Emma, Ellie, and Madilyn

Ellie loves her new princess cookbook

Mommy and her oldest two

Papaw Kevin and Emmaline, all tuckered out from the party

Pizza with The Cheese

Everyone was feeling better today, so we headed to Chuck E. Cheese with the grandparents to celebrate Ellie's special day. We ate pizza, played lots of games, won lots of tickets, enjoyed cake, and traded aformentioned tickets for cheap prizes. It was a great time!

Eating Pizza with Mimi and Papaw

Nathan, Jacob, Emmaline, with Grandma and Papaw
The Birthday Girl

Emmaline loves her big brother

It Stinks to Be Sick on Your Birthday!

Ellie turned 5 today and, unfortunately, spent the day throwing up (Emmaline had the same thing 2 days ago). She did recover for a small amount of time to open her presents, but other than that, she just laid on the couch and watched movies. Jacob also came down with the same bug, so we had our first official sick day on the third day of school. We're off to a great start! Here's hoping that everyone is well by her party on Saturday!

Ready to open presents

She got lots of neat things!

Now to relax on the couch

Jacob and Emmaline rested on the love seat and played with his DSi

First Day of School

We started school today. Jacob is in 2nd grade, Ellie is in kindergarten, and Emmaline will be working on some preschool stuff. I'm using the same program that I used with Jacob in kindergarten with Ellie (LifePacs). I chose to use the K12 program with Jacob this year. It is mostly online, but has lot of worksheets to reinforce what he learns on the computer. It's also a lot of record keeping for me, but I'm thankful to have someone looking over my shoulder this year to make sure I'm covering everything I need to. Did I mention that this program is FREE?! It is considered a charter school, so our tax dollars pay for it (which I guess doesn't make it truly free, but you get the gist!). They even provide a computer for each student and will pay part of our internet bill.

Pray that this is a good school year for all of us. Jacob is probably the one that needs the most prayer. He is super smart, but doesn't like when he has to do school work. It's not that he isn't capable of doing the work, he just doesn't WANT to do it. We butt heads a lot over this issue, so praying for patience for me would be good as well.

Emmaline likes to color and read books while I work with the older two

My big kindergartener

I told Jacob to wear something nice so I could take his picture.
Didn't he do a great job of picking out his outfit?!

Our New School Room

I am embarrassed to post the above picture, but it helps you truly appreciate what the basement school room looks like now. It took several weeks to get everything cleaned and organized. A big thank you goes out to my dad for installing and wiring new lights and outlets so we could get rid of the extension cords that were strewn everywhere. I am excited to have a place reserved just for school and can't wait to get the new school year started.

My corner with all of the workbooks and extra supplies

The computer desk

New Desks - Ellie's is purple and Jacob's is green
These desks were ones that Nathan and I used in elementary school at Dayton Christian. I taught there for 4 years before we had kids and the school replaced them while I was working there. I took 4 home with me. 1 resides in our dining room, 2 are in the basement now, and 1 is left in my parents' garage. They have graciously stored them for us all these years.

The School Room

Camping at Uncle David's

Nathan's brother and his fiancee live out on a farm about 30 minutes from us. It has 70+ acres and a pond, so Nathan and Jacob went there to camp. They fished, saw all the farm animals, cooked over the camp fire, and enjoyed being closer to nature.

Stirring up the fire

He is definitely his father's son

Look what Jacob caught!

In the Pool

We are glad the weather has turned more summer-like so that the kids could play in the pool in the backyard. Emmaline is really enjoying it and it is helping her work on her balance. Jacob and Ellie like practicing the things they learned in their swim classes.

Posing for a pic.

Floating

When Kids are Left to Their Own Devices

Birthday Presents

Ellie got birthday presents today in the mail from Auntie Angel and her family that live in California. Even though her birthday is still 2 weeks away, we let her open them (less for me to store!). She absolutely loved the My Little Pony Stuff that she got.

Playing with her r/c pony scooter

Feeding Baby Cheerilee

Carriage Hill Farm

We met our friends from home group at Carriage Hill Farm today. The kids played and then we enjoyed a picnic lunch on one of the patios. The weather was absolutely perfect today and I'm glad we were able to be outside to enjoy it.

Jacob and Owen made a church out of blocks in the schoolroom.
Note the attached pig pen...silly boys!

Emmaline and Madilyn watching sheep

Ellie liked this old sewing machine.
She said it was used to spin cloth.

Church Camp Comes Full Circle

Nathan and Jacob just got back from a couple of days at church camp. It was strange signing Jacob up to go this summer because this is the same church camp that I went to when I was younger. He and Daddy had a great time together and are looking forward to going back next summer!

On the way to camp, they found The Serpent Mound. We had read about this in one of his history books in first grade, so he was excited to see it in person.

In his cabin with some friends

On the big slide

Getting his hair painted