COMING SOON.....

i was reviewing my pictures and realized that i have not updated since APRIL!!! give me some time and i will be updating my post with our summer adventures. stay tuned!

NIE NIE RECOVERY

i have watched this amazing story from the beginning and am so inspired by them! what an amazing and strong testimony! i love the gospel!!

MY NEWEST ORGANIZATION ATTEMPT

I found this board idea HERE! i found a blog friend who could make it for me and i hung it on the wall. it has a section for each of the kids and a hook underneath with their initial to hang up their book bags. i LOVE it!!! it is a magnet board and a chalk board so i can write messages if i need to and i can keep up with each of the kids papers that come home from school. so far, it is successful! this summer i will incorporate their chores on the board.

CARTHAGE JAIL

in front of the statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith

reflecting on the Well that Joseph fell onto outside of

the window he jumped out of the to escape the mob

this is the hole from the bullet that shot Hyrum

Carthage jail deserves a post all its own. i was so moved by the spirit that resides here and especially impressed by the preservation of it all. we were so fortunate to be able to tour the jail with just our family. it's an amazing experience to walk through the cooking area and the dining area and know and be able to envision the stories that we have heard about Joseph Smith's experience there at Carthage. Joseph and Hyrum often shared a meal with the family who owned the home that the prison was in and were well respected by them. it was an amazing experience to walk up the exact stairs that Joseph and the others must have done every day (they still have the original stair rail). i was especially moved by the spirit in the "dungeon room" where Joseph and Hyrum were held at the beginning of their imprisonment. they were later transferred to a bedroom where they would be more comfortable and eventually meet their fate. as we walked into this room, we noticed the hole in the door that has been preserved from when Hyrum was shot. we were able to hear wonderful stories of the Prophet and some of the experiences he had there. it was a very humbling experience and one of the most spiritual ones we had on our entire vacation. it was the perfect ending to a perfect family vacation.

ADVENTURES IN NAUVOO

before the carriage ride

in front of the temple at night!

the old school house.... this was a REALLY interesting site.

at the visitors center

We made the most of our stay in Nauvoo. we visited ALL of the cute little historical homes, took the carriage ride, the wagon ride, watched the AMAZING movie in the visitors center, we spent some time in the family living center where the kids learned how to make home made bread in a brick oven, make rugs from scraps of fabric, make a rope and a barrel and candles and see how they made pottery. we also visited the brick house and the kids got a Nauvoo brick to bring home. when we visited the black smith each of us got a "prairie diamond" which ollie thought was the coolest thing ever. the prairie diamond is a ring made from an old nail. i think the kids favorite activity was the Rendezvous in old Nauvoo. this is the cutest little "play" put on by all of the senior missionaries, the kids loved it so much that we saw it twice! we had an amazing time and i can't wait to go back soon.

ALMOST TO NAUVOO

the kids were intrigued by all of the amazing bridges that we got to cross, but when they saw the big Arch in St. Louis we had to get out and do some site seeing! they thought it was beautiful and again it was another chance to get out and stretch our legs.

THE LAST FAMILY FIELD TRIAL

On our way up to Nauvoo we made a stop in Kentucky for a field trial and then again on our way back. the kids and i were entertained with the local war museums around and playing in the large fields surrounding all the horse trailers. we had a great time and the kids loved being able to take a break from the long car ride.

PINE WOOD DERBY

i am FINALLY getting around to posting the boys pinewood derby photos. they had SO much fun creating these speedy cars with their dad and this time they actually got to be involved in the production process! Jakob created a spider man truck which won first place over the entire race and nico designed a perry the platapus car and won first place for his age group and 3rd place for the entire race. Ollie was able to participate after all of the official cars were run and he got to race his van halen car against his brothers! it was a fun and successful night for everybody.

MY MANY PROJECTS

these go way back to february, but i thought i would share anyways! the girls LOVED taking these valentines to all their friends and i had fun making them. i got the felt heart idea off another blog that i have fallen in love with and have gotten LOTS of great ideas from. and the girls new hair-bow holder came from another blog, but i forget where i saw it, but i really liked the idea! it is made out of an old frame that i had and some chicken wire and i have PLENTY of chicken wire!

BABY BROOKS

on Sofia's birthday she decided she wanted to visit her new baby cousin brooks. My sister had her second baby on Friday, March 12 and he was ready for us to come hold him! we were not able to visit him at the hospital because they have new rules about children visiting at the hospital and i had pink eye, so we stayed clear for a while! the kids were SO excited to see their new cousin. he is such a sweet boy and loves being held. i love my new nephew and the kids are so happy to have a new cousin! welcome to the family baby brooks!!! we love you.

BIRTHDAY GIRL

where does the time go? i cannot believe that my sweet baby girl is FIVE years old. we have watched her this past year blossom from an adorable little toddler to a sweet little girl. it is amazing the transformation they make between 4 and 5. she is her own little person and always has been. She keeps us laughing with her funny little faces and her silly jokes. She is such a sweet heart and is definitely daddy's little girl. Her Nanny and Poppy call her trixie and i have to say the name fits PERFECTLY. she loves to play tricks on you and knows exactly what she is doing. she is very sneaky, but not to be naughty, just because she can be. she is so fun to have around and brings so much life to our family! she is my SWEET SOFITA PITA!! happy birthday big girl!

** the picture of the little girl with Sofia is her friend Genevieve from church. she came with me to Sofia's school to surprise her and wish her a happy birthday!

THE HAIRCUT

Rob has been begging me forever to get sofia's haircut into her cute little bob, but being a girl, i thought she deserved the right to wear her hair how she wanted it. She has been asking for a year or so if she could grow her hair out and of course i let her. the only problem is that her face is so tiny and the girl has TONS of hair!! it is SOOOOOO thick. so this past saturday Rob and I talked her into getting her hair cut short and she enthusiastically agreed! she looks so cute and aside from thinking she looks like a boy, i think she likes it too.

Spending the day at the temple with the young women on friday, i didn't get a chance to spend much time with my family, so i tried to make up for that on saturday. after i took nico to saturday school (for math tutoring) i took the other four kids with me to visit Rancho Allegro farms which is a local farmers market that sells only local products and offers some fun things for the kids to do. we had a good time, but with the weather being a little over cast and colder, there were not that many vendors set up. the kids had fun riding the pony and playing for a little while on the play ground. i loved watching them interact and play together and i think they liked having me all to themselves.

TEMPLE TRIP

With the Atlanta Temple being closed, we have had to make an extra effort to attend other local temples and we are so lucky to have S.C. and Birmingham within a couple of hours in each direction. I have recently been called to be the 1st Counselor in Young Women's. Lucky for me it was just in time to attend the temple with them. when i got the word that I would be able to go, I got to work on getting my family names ready! It was such a sweet moment for me to take the names of my grandmother and great grandmother to the temple. i am so grateful for this opportunity, i love my new calling, i love the girls i get to work with each week. we had such a great time on our road trip and had a little bit of a scare with some car problems on our way home, but prayer is a powerful thing and we got home safely!!

OLLIE AND MOMMY DATE

We have finally had some fabulous, warm weather around here after our very unusually cold GA winter. Ollie and I decided to take advantage of the warmth by spending the day OUTSIDE!! we started by taking a brisk walk around our neighborhood. while we were walking i found a grave site from a local family in the area. it was very interesting how it had been preserved by a brick gate with houses built around it. We later ventured out to our local game ranch where Ollie got to hand feed all the animals and pet the deer and goat. he tried catching a bunny, but they weren't too friendly. it was sad to see the damage that had been done to the game ranch due to the flooding that we had back in the fall. the game ranch sits right on the Yellow River and the floods washed away anything that sat next to it. luckily none of the animals were harmed and the staff was able to save the animals that were in danger.

While we were there, the peacock decided to show off a little. it was BEAUTIFUL!!

On our way home, Ollie insisted that we visit a local tractor store. so being the good mom that i am, i took him in to see the big tractors. HE LOVES TRACTORS!!! i have never had a child have a fascination with anything this much. the men who worked a the tractor place let Ollie sit on them and he thought that was the greatest thing EVER! he was not the least bit scared and all the men were impressed at his lack of fear for these big monsters. all in all, we had a great day! i love my little guy and i cannot believe that my time with him at home is almost over!

MORE FIELD TRIAL FUN

Rob loves his field trials and when possible and if the weather is good, we like to go along and play also! this particular field trial my in-laws came along and we stayed at a beautiful resort! it is called Barnsley Gardens and i HIGHLY recommend it for a nice retreat/ getaway. the kids had so much fun roaming around on the resort property and exploring the "haunted" house that is preserved from 1850 from the original family who owned the land. the house is AMAZING with lots of history. the museum was incredible..... it featured the old stove and other old utility machines. the kids LOVED it, especially the civil war room where nico got to see all the cool weapons! it was a wonderful family trip and we got to watch rob run the dogs! we had a blast and the weather was GREAT!!

LOVE TREATS

We have chickens, so therefor we have more eggs than we know what to do with half the time..... so, thankfully i have kids who LOVE eggs! once again i pull a recipe from the pioneer woman cookbook and make a yummy dinner for me and the kids. i made each of the kids egg in a hole with the hole shaped like a heart in honor of valentine's day. they loved it and i must say, it was delicious!

PRETTY SNOW PICS

snow wouldn't be the same if mom didn't play too!

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!

We had an amazing time in the snow this weekend! i cannot believe we got as much snow as we did, but it came down and kept coming until we reached a good 6 inches. the kids were in heaven. since we are from the south and don't have much use for snow boards and sleds, we improvised with wake boards (minus fins) and boogie boards. it worked just fine and we got plenty of speed on our little slopes to satisfy the kids desire for some fun snow sliding! the kids spent most of the night outside on Friday night until it got too dark and woke up early saturday morning to continue playing. Nico and Annelies invited some friends to play, once the roads were safe enough to travel on. Nico invited his friend (a girl) Kerstin over and annelies had Kerstin sister Lauren. by the end of the day, the kids were soaked and exhausted.

we woke up on sunday to Ollie with an awful kroopy cough and sniffles and coughs all around! i had to make it to church since i was teaching Relief Society, so i called my mom in to watch the kids. Rob spent the weekend in south GA for a field trial. as i was getting dressed and ready for church, nico decides to fix himself some breakfast and pull out THE SHARPEST KNIFE IN THE DRAWER to cut some cheese for a biscuit. all of the sudden i hear cries from Nico like he is dying..... i come down to find blood everywhere and his finger continuing to drip blood in the sink. he was freaking out and i began to panic..... luckily the bleeding stopped after 4 soaked paper towels. my friend Karena (a nurse) came to my rescue to reassure me that he did not need stitches. i went on to church, came home, fixed lunch and collapsed on the couch for a 4 hour nap!

we had a great and dramatic weekend!!! i LOVE the snow, but i am glad we only get it maybe once a year.