Lately

Well, I am terrible at updating our blog.  There is just always something to do, and honestly I would rather be playing with these precious boys, instead of sitting at the computer!  The last few months have been super busy!  So, this will be the most random, and LONGEST post ever!  But, I have several sweet friends and family members who are not happy that I have done such a poor job of keeping our blog up to date.  These pictures are in no particular order, and I don't have time to fix them, haha!

 Thanksgiving at Rhett's parents.  We had a great meal, and enjoyed seeing family that sadly,  we rarely see.  The boys had a fun time playing with their cousins.

 This sweet baby is growing soooo fast!  He is almost 18 months old and full of energy and personality!

 Wesley LOVES playing soccer, and had a good little season.  It is lots of fun to watch him!

 Davis was more concerned with the snacks this soccer season ;)

 We had a blast at my parents for Thanksgiving.  We had a great supper prepared mostly by my sweet mama.  My boys are crazy about my parents!  They love them just like they love us!  Rhett and I talk about how very thankful we are for the great relationship we have with my parents and brothers.  We literally don't see much of our kids when we are there, because they are playing with every one else!  My sweet Daddy even does diapers and baths just to give us a break!

 My precious husband!   So very thankful for this amazing man God blessed me with, when I was just 15 years old!  We have had some wonderful times and some very hard times, and there is no one else in this world I would ever want by my side!

 The best Daddy and Papa!!

 These boys are WILD about their Papa!  He is just so much fun!  I have to brag on my Dad, he volunteers at a local hospital for children once a week.  Something he has done since retirement.  He was recently named volunteer of the year.  I know he makes such an impact on the sweet kids and families he visits and plays with.  He has even learned how to play WII with the older patients :)

 Sweet Davis is hilarious!  He spent lots of time keeping Aunt Becky and Bailey entertained Thanksgiving night.  Uncle Greg, Uncle Todd and Reagan spent a lot of time playing football and chasing these silly boys!  I have to say my sister in law Rhonda, has to be the fastest dish washer, ever!  She is always so good about jumping in and cleaning up every one's mess!  We definitely missed my oldest brother Scotty, and his family.  We were glad to spend some time skyping with them, and can't wait to see them all at Christmas!

 These boys had such a good time!  Maxwell stayed every night with us, and they had a blast. We had movie night and popcorn.....such sweet memories!

 Time is flying by with this precious boy!

 Several people have been asking about our homeschool......you know since I never blog about it!  It is going really good, and we are all loving the flexibility we have.  I don' think it is how we will educate our children for 12 years.  But, for now, it is exactly what we are called to do.  Here, we were making homemade apple pies to go along with our apple unit from My Father's World.  We have all really enjoyed this curriculum, and it is amazing how much our boys are learning.

 Ready for Disney!  We decided early summer, to plan a fall trip to Disney!  We had about 3 months to plan, and it was plenty!  We didn't tell Wesley and Davis until the night before......and keeping that secret was so much fun!  I spent the week before sewing t-shirts, and Halloween costumes in secret.  They were ecstatic when we told them, even though they had no idea what Disney World was.  They were really excited about the plane ride!  We decided to leave Johnson at home.  It was a really hard decision, and we went back and forth.  But, it was the BEST decision for all of us.  It would in no way be fair for him to have been strapped in a stroller all day (for those of you who know how busy he is, you understand), and we knew it would be better for Wesley and Davis.  We were able to stay gone all day until late at night, something that would have been impossible with sweet Johnson.

 These guys LOVED the character meals.  Probably one of their favorite things!  We visited every park, including both water parks.  We realize that these guys have no fear, and the bigger the roller coaster, the better!  Late September was a great time to go.  We never had to wait on any rides.  We would literally get off and get right back on!

 We went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween 'Party.  We knew it would be warm and walking around DW with bulky costumes would be no fun for any one.  So, we decided to be Micky Mouse Caped Crusaders.  The costumes were easy, cool, and certainly original!

 We had glow in the dark masks to wear with our costumes.

 Wesley and Davis were ecstatic about the train in the Magic Kingdom.  The conductor was so nice, and invited them to ride on the back with him, and even let them give the "ALL ABOARD" call.

 The Lego store was def a favorite for these lego loving boys!  I think we were in there for over two hours!

 When we came home, it was my birthday, and a few days before Davis' fourth birthday.  My Mom and Dad had a little party for us, complete with cake, streamers, hats and lots of fun.  Davis was beyond thrilled to see his Papa and Mimi and this awesome tractor they gave him!  My sweet parents stayed at our house all week with Johnson.  I can not thank them enough!  We never once worried about Johnson and were able to have a fantastic trip knowing he was so well taken care of!

 Hard to believe this little guy is FOUR!  He is hilarious and keeps us laughing all of the time!  He has a heart of gold and is so loving.  I pray he always stays as sweet as he is today.

Our First Day of school was GREAT!!!  I will admit that I was a bit nervous about how things would go and if we would find a little groove, but my boys were fantastic and cold not have been more excited.  Their excitement about home school and readiness to learn made it all even better!  We were so thankful to have Rhett home with us for part of the morning.  He was able to join us at our favorite doughnut place and then back at home for some first day of school fun!

Hard to believe this sweet boy is old enough for kindergarten!  Think he was excited??

Davis has such as sweet smile, but as typical with most 3 year olds.....we usually get a silly smile!  And his "Bear" has attended school every day as well as his "blanklet"!  I love it :)

This sweetie is LOVING school!  I had some things prepared for him, but he flew right through them and wanted to do everything Wesley was doing.  I have had to plan out several more things for him, but it is so fun to watch him learn with his brother.

We did these interviews with them and I know we will love looking back and reading them in the years to come.  I started a binder with these as well as hand prints and a few other first day things that we hope to do every year on the first day of school.

So excited to see what the "back to school fairy" left

They were very excited to see new water bottles, candy, gold fish, silly putty and gum!

There even new blocks to help keep  Johnson entertained during school.......wish that would have worked ;0!!

This picture makes me cry every time I look at it!  We were praying for our first day and school year, and these sweet guys said some of the most precious little things.  I love to hear my children praying and I know it is music to God's ears when little children pray.

We decided to have a back to school treasure hunt.  Our boys are crazy about pirates and "hunts", so we knew this would be perfect for them.  I had planned to do it early in the morning before heading for doughnuts, but it was raining, so we just did it later that  afternoon.  Here they are all ready to go!

The prize was stashed under our grill.  They found widgits and zoobs which have been played with a lot already.  There was also a set of snap together alphabet blocks which are really fun and we have used them a lot with learning to read.

We have enjoyed doing some of our school outside.  One day, when studying about creation, we went on a nature hunt and came home and made "nature people" out of the things we found.  We also played in "moon dust"....flour....it occupied them for at least an hour.  I had no idea that would be such a hit!  Then we made moon dough with baby oil and flour and it was played with for over an hour.  Needless to say there was a big mess afterwards, but it was all worth it.

I am so thankful for this time I have with our sweet boys.  I am blessed daily to hear them talking about things we are learning and to see the seeds we are planting in their little souls. So far, home schooling is so much more than I imagined, and I am forever grateful God led us down this path!