Mill Mountain Science Center

Sometimes life serves you lemons...

like finding a leak in your basement. Not just a leak, but one that had obviously been there for a while evident because of the black mold surrounding the area.

And to make matters worse someone in our family is highly allergic to mold... guess who?

that's right me!

So, while Mr. Handy Man himself demolished part of the wall in our school room I thought it best the boys and I hit the road. I was not waiting around to see what kind of yuck was on the inside of that wall.

We decided to head for Virgina to visit Granma and Bapa for a few days until the dust settled back home.

hopefully mold free dust

Another reason I love the blessing of homeschooling is when LIFE happens you can make adjustments as needed. So we just packed up most of our school supplies and hit the road. On the second day there the boys were getting a little cooped up so we decided to take an impromptu field trip.

We ended up at the Mill Mountain Science Center. Here Seth and Noah were trying to build nests like the birds do... it's a lot harder than it looks.

all i have to say is, if i were a momma bird the boys and i would be sleepin in the grass!

Seth looking at turtle shells.

They had this really cool bee hive indoors. The cool thing about it was the sound the bees made. If you put your ear up to the yellow tube you could hear their loud hum.

After exploring everything there was to find inside the science center we went outside to take a hike on one of the many trails.

The boys discovered a small playground and wanted to stop and rest/play there for a few minutes. Of course I thought of all these cool pictures that I wanted to take of them, so they humored me for a little while.

The boys climbing a small rock-wall slide.



Here are a few of the pictures I took of them.






The trail ended at the star.



This was the view at the star.



It was good to get some fresh air. We all had a good time together.

We continued our walk for a little while. The boys found walking sticks and had fun playing around with them... boys will be boys!

We missed daddy being with us, but thankfully he was working hard to clean up the mess. Looks like we discovered the leak before it got too bad. It was nice to have a change of scenery... it did me well!

2011 Airshow

Every year there is an airshow in our town, and every year we miss it. Well not this year. Finally we made it to the show!

Here the boys pose under a huge plane.

ya know the older they get the less cooperative they are at posing for pictures.



Boys looking at turbines.



Seth and Noah trying on all the gear.

After Noah saw me taking pictures, he decided he didn't really want to try it on anyway...Hmmmm.

Here is a plane getting ready to go up.



Below are pictures of just a few of the different stunts we saw while at the show.















No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you, that is a person standing on that airplane.

It was pretty amazing (or crazy either one!) watching that lady ride on the outside of the airplane. She was doing all kinds of tricks. The plane even went straight up and up-side-down with her strapped on the top.

Here she is getting down after the ride. As you can see we saw many amazing feats at the airshow. I am really glad we finally made it to one. It was a nice day with the family.

Joshua's 16th Party

It was a lot of fun celebrating your 16th birthday.



Again you wanted Cinna-Bons cinnamon rolls for your cake. They are oh so yummy!



You were surrounded by some of your very best friends... Lucas, Levi, Andrew, and Nate.



Look at all those candles.



Wonder what you're wishing for? After "cake" everyone went out for a nice friendly game of air-soft in the dark. What you didn't know was that your mom had planned a surprise attack.



I gave each of your friends a can of whip cream and told them to attack you.



Looks like it was a successful mission.



You were completely covered and so you thought you would be nice and share some with your mom... you came and gave me a big hug and rubbed it all over my head.

let me just tell you that stuff is hard to get out of your hair.



After we ALL cleaned up it was time to open your gifts. Look at that greasy hair from the whip cream.

You had a great celebration. I can't believe you're 16 now, but more than that I can't believe what a fine young man you have grown into. Your dad and I are so proud of you and we love the way you make us laugh... it's hard to stay irritated at you for very long and I think you know it too! We love you buddy!

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Happy, happy 16th birthday! I can't believe what I just typed. 16??? Where does the time go?

Just the other day we were bringing you home from the hospital.



Just the other day you were 6months old, content sitting in your swing with your up-side-down paci.

okay... i am so NOT going to make it through this post without crying!




Just the other day, you were 11 months old, and loving life at how fast you could crawl, get into the laundry, and scatter it all around the room.



Just the other day you were 1, giggling with the goats at the petting zoo.

i loved those cute little bells on your shoes!




Just the other day you were 2, thrilled to be at one of the best places in the world... Bapa and Granma's house, hanging out with your best bud Gibby.



Just the other day you weren't much taller than the couch and you thought it made a nice pillow.



Just the other day, you knew life didn't get any better than riding on a real train for the first time while slurping down a Hi-C juice box.



Just the other day, you thought there wasn't anything greater than sliding into your little pool while wearing your favorite goggles.



Just the other day, you were 3 and oh so proud of your new soccer trophy.



Just the other day, you were 7 and busily building leaf piles with yours brothers and then jumping into them.



Just the other day, you turned 16 and your mother realized that she had ONLY two sweet years left and that you had grown into a young man.

told you i would make it through with out crying

Happy Birthday Noah

10yrs ago you came into the world 9 Lbs and 1 oz.



This is one of my favorite pictures taken at the hospital. They had just finished making your footprints. Daddy thought it would be cute to have a picture of your feet with ink all over them.

and he was right. I love it!!!



Here is your hospital picture. Look at that round head!



Here you are at about a year old.



What a cutie!



Love the curls!



I can't believe that you are double digits now. How the time flies. The Lord has truly blessed us with a wonderful gift!


You thoroughly enjoy all of life...

AHEM, well except for when your mom makes you stop playing the video game to pose for pictures to go on the blog FORTHEWHOLEWORLDTOSEE!!!!!!!!! SHEESH