Weather

One of the mothers in our homeschool group arranged for a local meteorologist from Nashville to come speak to our group. Bugs, Boo Bear, Elvis & I went to listen. Princess stayed home with Daddy & Sweet Pea had her tutorial classes.

Bugs colors as he listens.

Explaining her job.

Elvis listens as she answers his question. I was very proud of all 3.

Elvis, Bugs & Boo all asked very thoughtful questions.

A group picture wraps up our time.

We all learned a lot about both the weather & the job of a meteorologist. Our only disappointment was that she didn't give a shout out to us on the news that evening. Oh well! It was still a great learning experience and we really appreciate her taking the time to come and speak to our group. Thank you, Melissa for arranging this for us!

Shopping!

One thing I love about living down here are the consignment sales. Every spring & fall there are tons of them. The clothes are usually a step up from the usual garage sale fare with slightly higher or comparable prices. There are always the ones who price their items ridiculously high and I pass on those. Again this year we were blessed with finding a bunch of fabulous deals. I thought for the fun of it I'd share some of my deals with you. I like seeing what others find so if you find some deals please let me know.

The kids love browsing through the toy section. Bugs found this bag of cars for only 50 cents. He also got this book which we have read several times to his delight.

A new church shirt for Bugsy.

An outdoor toy for Elvis.

Jean shorts & a new shirt. This boy is growing like a weed!

2 pretty tops for Boo Bear

A nice shirt & dress pants.

Shorts for soccer practice!

Sweet Pea bought this for Princess.

She plans to give it to her for her b-day.

Elvis was over the moon when we found these!

Boo chose this book.

I bought these for Princess. $1.50 for all 3!

2 new movies ~ $1 each

Some books for school......

........and another for science.

A cute shorts & tank set for Princess.

She got lots of clothes since she doesn't have any at all for this summer.

3 tops for $1 & a cute pair of Capri's

Some cute shorts, overalls, Capri's & skirts.

Lots of cutie tops

My personal favorite......the dresses!

5 sweet rompers

An adorable yellow dress.

It's hard to tell in this light but the yellow is a creamy, sweet color.

Sweaters for those cool days or sleeveless dresses.

What a sweet jumper!

This dress was too big but I couldn't resist. It was only $3. I'm going to set it aside for next year. Look at those matching bloomers! ADORABLE!

3-piece set

Can't beat 50 cents for a little summer nightgown!

Princess takes a moment to model her new p.j.'s.

A few more.

Here is the cardigan for Princess' Easter outfit.

Note the Carter's label. =0)

I splurged and spent $5 on this Old Navy linen dress.

This will be Princess' Easter dress.

A little girl's outfit is not complete without a pretty bow for her hair.

(This I bought brand new.)

It's going to be such fun dressing her up in all her new-to-us clothes!

When we averaged everything out it came to under $2 per item. Not bad, eh? Many were brand names. I also made sure to buy different sizes for Princess. This way she should be pretty well set for the next several months. Maybe even until fall!

Uncle Donnie

More sad news tonight. My Uncle Donnie lost his brave fight with pancreatic cancer tonight. He fought for his life to the very end. we are all comforted by the knowledge that he is in Heaven. I know he is now completely healed & with Jesus. But he will be missed greatly.

My aunt emailed us. And my brother, Darin called. I could hear the grief in his voice. I'm glad I got to hug him earlier today.

I haven't seen him since I was a child. I didn't have the resources as a young adult to make the trip to visit him & he didn't like to travel. For me this makes the memories I do have of him all the more precious. He was always muscular & strong. I see him in my mind's eye smiling and joking with us. He took time to play with us and was our hero. Later on in life my cousins lovingly called him "Uncle Superman". There wasn't anything he couldn't do.

I can only imagine the loss my aunt is feeling. She lost the love of her life. And my cousins lost their hero.

Please, God hold them close tonight & every day that follows.
And to anyone that is reading this.....remember to hold those you love close. Hug them. Spend time with them. And make certain you tell them you love them. It's something you'll never regret doing.

Yummy Yogurt!

While the girls were finishing up the lapbooks Bugs was looking for something to do. I asked him if he'd like to feed Princess yogurt and he eagerly accepted.

Getting ready to feed a hungry Princess.

Open wide!


I don't think he has the 'scrape the chin' maneuver down yet. Lol!

Princess couldn't figure out why we were all laughing so hard.

Before it all fell on the front of her shirt, (notice the big globs of yogurt), it was on her chin & under her nose giving her a moustache & goatee. Sweet Pea thought she looked like the KFC colonel and she reminded me of the snowman narrator in the "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" movie.

Princess joined our laughter! Bugs loved the attention & giggled the entire time.

I think she may have actually eaten some! Hee, hee!

Bugs was very proud of his work & I was happy he helped his sister so willingly & cheerfully. =0)

We Did It!

I'm excited to tell you that on Thursday we completed the first folder of our lapbook! The kids have been working hard. We all have been learning a lot. The kids are proud to answer Daddy's questions & share their new knowledge.

First we learned about shamrocks & their importance to Ireland.


We discussed The Great Potato Famine and how devastating it was to so many. It lasted for many years.

Princess was such a good girl. When she got bored we had her join us at the table & gave her a little snack.

The kids worked in 2 teams. Sweet Pea & Elvis were one team. It was not only time for them to review what we had discussed as a group but a time for them to practice cooperation & teamwork.

Stapling a mini book together.

Boo Bear & Bugsy were a team. Boo is very good with Bugs. So patient. He in turn adores her.
Here they are gluing pieces on their folder.

Finished!

All their hard work has paid off & they have an amazing first folder to show off! As you can see Bugs was in a goofy mood. =) This folder displays information on Ireland's geography, the national instrument - the harp, the flag, the tradition of the shamrock, The Great Potato Famine, The Celtics & St. Patrick.

Sweet Pea & Elvis proudly display their finished work.

What a wealth of information we have learned & we are only 1/3 of the way through!