Monday

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I posted. Time is just flying by- it will be October in just a few days. I'll be glad when the Fall weather hits us down here in the South. We've had record temps and high humidity. I've remarked to Paul on several occasions that it's like living in Florida again.I found these pictures on my camera from last week. Apparently nothing much photo worthy happened last week, because these pics were the only ones on there. (Well, if you don't count the 20 or so other pictures I deleted of things around the house that some bored child must have taken).
Benjamin has decided he wants to try potty training. He has gone potty in the toilet for the past several days, mostly of the poo variety. He has asked to go. This is not something we decided to do- he decided this and we are just going along with it. We'll see how far it goes, but hopefully, this will turn into the real thing! If nothing else, we've missed some really stinky diapers that past few days!
Ellie shot herself a deer the other night! It was the first time she had gone hunting, and she had only shot the rifle a few times also. But she was able to make an excellent shot and dropped the deer, a 5 point buck. She was thrilled and her siblings were jealous! I don't have any pics of that night because Paul was sure they weren't going to get anything, so he didn't bother to take the camera. Ha. That will teach him!
We are going to the Braves game this week. It has been years since I've attend a Major League Baseball game, and while I would much rather see the Yankees play, I'll settle for the Braves. Zack was able to score some decent tickets at a decent price on Ebay, so we're able to go for next to nothing.
Sam loves this homemade swing that Anna made him. It's about his favorite thing to do, after riding his scooter. Check out his tongue.
No wonder I can't keep that boys socks white!!
Goodnight.

Sweet Sam

Last night Sam and I were laying in my bed. The lights were off, and it was time for him to go to his bed. He turned to me and said, "Mom, I love you so much."

"I love you too Sam. But one day, you will love another girl."

"MOM!" he gasped, "ARE YOU GOING TO DIE??"

I chuckled. "No" I replied, "at least not right now. I mean you're going to marry a girl."

"Oh no Mom. I'm going to marry you." he said with confidence.

Be still my heart.

Doesn't seem that long ago another 4 year old boy professed his undying love for me and his intention of marrying me. I think his feelings have changed over the years and I'm glad, but I'm sad. It's a sad day when your son doesn't want to marry you anymore.

sigh

Can't they stay sweet 4 year olds forever?

Found on My camera this weekend...

Mighty Hunter, Jr. Bella (who is an outside dog, but I find pics of her on my camera while she's laying on the couch. Hmmmm)

Schnitzel sleeps like this all the time- on his back with his paws curled. He's a strange and funny little dog.

Ben at the baptism. Someone had spiked his hair.

Sam at the baptism doing what he loves to do- playing with a stick.

Sam. All boy. All Energy. All. The. Time.

Now Ben has found a stick. What is this a boy thing??? JK- I know it's boy thing. Even my big boys like to play with sticks. I can't tell you how many broom handles have been bent and/or broke by my big boys playing swords with them.

Baptism On the Beach

We had an impromptu baptism service on the beach today after church. One of our sweet teenagers realized this week her need of a Savior. Macy's dad helped with the baptism, as is the custom in our church.

It had been pouring only a few minutes before this. As soon as they stepped into the water, the sun shone bright!

I love this picture!

Macy and her mom.

Macy's good friend congratulating her.

It was a sweet time.

Saturday

Well, the mighty hunter has struck again. He shot a deer with his crossbow last night, and by the time he found it, skinned it, quartered it and brought it home, it was almost 2am. This is the first deer he has shot with his bow and actually recovered. He was thrilled, to say the least. We're all ready for some corned venison- like corned beef, but, in my opinion, better.

So we got off to a slow start this morning after such a late night. Even Ben slept in till after 9, a rarity for him. I ran up to the MOPS consignment sale since today was the 1/2 price day. I found some great deals on warmer clothes for Ben and Sam and a beautiful dress for Ellie. I went in, found what I was looking for, all within 15 minutes, and then waited about 20 minutes in line. Frustrating since I still had a lot to do today.

After the MOPS sale I ran to Michaels to pick up some mounting boards for some photos I planned on entering into the fair. I looked all over that store for what I needed, but couldn't find it. Finally I asked the lady at the framing counter and she got what I needed and even cut it to size for me. Here again I waited in line for what seemed a very long time, trying not to be frustrated.

Then it was home where I mounted the pictures, which went easier than I thought it would. Paul then drove me to the fairgrounds so I could drop the pictures off. I have always wanted to do this, but either I didn't know how or I found out the information too late. This year I was determined to do it, and I did. I entered 4 pictures. I don't expect to win anything- you should have seen some of the photos already there! And I found out I could have entered up to 20 photos. Then I second guessed my choice of pics all the way home. But, I am glad I entered- you have to start somewhere I guess.

Tonight we went over some friends home to meet some dear friends of their's. There was a houseful, but it was very nice and some of the people had brought guitars and we had an impromptu concert and worship service.

Tomorrow is church again. Where did this week go? September is almost gone- although you wouldn't know it from the weather we've been having. The humidity has been so high it reminds me very much of living in Florida.

Ben found an old pacifier this morning and decided he would try it out. Other than the fact that he has it in upside down, he rather enjoyed it.

We quickly put it away before he decides he's a pacifier baby! Now if it was only that easy to break Sam of sucking his thumb!

The Mighty Hunter

Schoolwork and Stamps

Everyday this boy nags me by asking incessently, "Is it my turn to do school?" until it is finally his turn. He loves it. But, as you can see, he needs his tongue to think.

Just like some other family members I know....

And while I'm doing school with the older boy, this boy gets into anything and everything he can.

Including his sister's set of stamps and ink.

This boy keeps us running. If it's quiet, watch out. Something bad is usually going on.

These boys make for interesting days. And bring much joy to their mom's heart.

Dancing Boys

Some Favorite Pictures

Ben, 3 months old Summer of 2008

Sam at the Fair, October 2007

Columbus, GA

Cherry Blossom

It's been a weird week. It took me 2-3 days to recover from having my tooth pulled. This one caused a little bit more pain than the other one I had pulled. And when mom is down and out, things just don't seem to run as smoothly at home. So today we caught up on some much needed cleaning and laundry. Oh, the laundry. It seems if we miss a day, it takes a week to catch up. It also seems to multiply overnight. And we're also doing hunting laundry in a special "no scent" detergent, so that has added to our laundry load. People tell me I'll miss this when my kids are grown and gone. I'm not convinced I'll miss this much laundry.

We had our first day at our homeschool co-op this past Friday. We had a great time and I think the kids enjoyed it and actually learned something. They loved going to classes with their friends and I think the moms enjoyed being with their friends. Samuel absolutely enjoyed every minute of it and can't wait to go back. Ben, on the other hand, did not enjoy it. He's used to being able to run all over the church and when he was confined to one room, he was not happy!

Bow season opened today. Paul has big plans this bow season and there are a few adult/child rifle hunts the next few weekends before the rifle season actually opens. (Wow, I've learned so much about hunting these past few years, I can even speak the language!) Anna and Ellie are going hunting this year and I think they are excited about it. Zack has opted out of hunting, since he really doesn't enjoy it. Paul Jr will go when his school schedule allows.

And so it begins...

Wisdom Teeth

If you lose all your wisdom teeth, do you lose all your wisdom?? I surely hope not.

I returned to the dentist this morning, promptly at 8, to have my other tooth taken out. I was surprised when the doctor referred to it as a wisdom tooth- I never even considered that these are my wisdom teeth. It made me feel so much better to know I wasn't losing "real" teeth.

The doc also informed me that I have some cavities that need to be filled, and probably need to remove my other 2 wisdom teeth, but other than that, I'm in good shape. I was thrilled! I haven't been to the dentist in a very, very, very long time, so I was expecting bad news. Cavities aren't great, but relatively speaking, they aren't that bad.

Yeah!

Adventures

Last night, Paul and I went out to dinner at one of our favorite places, Carrabba's. Someone had given him a gift card there, so we were excited to use it. We had a nice, relaxing, delicious dinner and then headed on home, where we were surprised to see that Benjamin was still up. (Usually when we leave him, the big kids put him to bed at 8 on the dot) It was about 9 when we got home, so I knew he needed to go to bed. But we sat down in the living room and chatted for a bit. I had just decided to get up and put him to bed when I heard Zack rushing down the hall.

He was talking rather fast and loud, saying that Ben had cut himself bad. My heart dropped and all I could think about was when Sam had sliced his foot so badly on a piece of glass and ended up getting 8 stitches. I didn't know if I could go through that again.

So Paul and I looked at his foot. He actually had 2 cuts, one on his heel and one on his calf. The one on his calf was the one that had us worried- it was very wide. So we decided to go into the doctor's and let him determine if it needed stitches. I prayed that it didn't.

We arrived to a full house at the doctor's and realized that probably most people inside were there because of the flu. That was a sobering thought. So we tried very hard not to touch anything and especially not to let Ben touch anything.

We waited for about 2 hours to see the doctor. He came in, looked at the cuts and said the one on Ben's calf needed stitches. Paul jumped right in and asked the doctor to just use dermabond- super glue- on it instead and told the Doc that we weren't that concerned about scars. So, thankfully the doctor agreed. But poor Ben. They had to wrap him up in the papoose, which he HATED. He screamed and kicked and thrashed around in that thing until he was dripping with sweat and his face was bright red. I felt so bad for him. He was so relieved to get out of there!

He's fine today, running around with a small limp, but no worse for the wear. One of the best things about the dermabond is that he can take baths- you can't get stitches wet. So all in all, it worked out well. Thank you God!!

Stone Mountain

Paul and I wanted to do something "fun" on Monday, Labor Day. Everyone was home, so we decided to go to Stone Mountain. If you are not from the South, you have probably never heard of it- I know we didn't until we moved here. It is literally, a mountain made of stone (granite). It seems to just rise up out of nowhere and looks, to me anyway, like a bald mountain. Onto this "bald" mountain are carved the heroes of the South- Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. It really is a sight to see! At night, when it's dark, they play an incredible laser show onto the mountain, set to music. And because it was Labor Day, after the laser show, they had a fireworks show. We all had a wonderful time. We had been here once before, but it was 8 years ago, so we were ready to "experience" it again.

It was a haul from the parking lot to the lawn, where you sit to watch the show, so Andy rented himself a scooter. However, this scooter was about dead and would not make it up this hill without assistance.

Sam was real impressed with the carving, as you can see. He's actually looking at big rocks that he wanted to play on.

I probably told him he could go play on the rocks.

Andy-man

The big rocks. He could have stayed here all day and did not understand why I would not let him play on them in the dark.

Ben loved running around on this huge, green lawn. Most kids could not resist running down the hill and back up again. Every so often, at the bottom of the hill, a train would come through.

Ben wasn't so sure of the train at first, but then he got used to it.

Jackson, Lee and Davis.

Ben getting a ride from Poppy.

Anna and her dad.

Our Family. Paul Jr. actually looks short because he's standing on the hill.

The Greenfield/Bennett family.

Andy and his scooter.

Paul's mom, dad and brothers- Dave and Andy.

A close-up.

After we ate our picnic suppers, a bunch of us climbed the stone mountain, including little Andy Man! Paul, Paul, Jr., Zack, Anna, Sam, Dave and Dave and Angie and all their kids made it up to the top. From what I understand, it was quite a climb!

Beautiful flowers at the top.

Renae at the top.

Looking down on the lawn. This picture only shows about half of the lawn- it is huge. We are that first group on the left- if you look closely, you can see me, Ellie, mom and dad sitting in the chairs.

Garrett at the top.

Waiting for the laser show to start.

It was a fun day. I think we all enjoyed it. It is truly a Southern experience!