First Day of School

This is the beginning of an unbelievable year, I can just feel it in the air! This year I have a 5th grader, 3rd grader, and 1st grader. To be honest, I’m feeling overwhelmed with these grades. It seems to get harder and harder each year. The mounds of homework and assignments they have me help them with will have me gasping for air at the end of each day. But I’m up for a challenge. And it’s only going to get worse. I should enjoy this year while it lasts, before next year’s challenges.

Here they are on the first day of school. What an adorable bunch! I like how Reagan is doing a curtsey with her skirt.

I think I got off on the right foot with Reagan. Getting her ready in the morning was hell interesting last year. Supposedly her closet and dresser full of clothes provided her with absolutely “nothing to wear.” So, this year we went shopping and I let her pick out every single article of clothing. She would choose something and I would say, “are you SURE you will wear that,” which she would answer with, “Yes, I promise.” So I had her sworn word on at least 8 different outfits (including hair accessories and earnings… this girl knows how to milk it).

This morning she got dressed and ready without a fuss. It was beautiful.

Her teacher’s name is Mrs. Brush, not to be confused with her friend Jack’s teacher, also called Mrs. Brush. So, her teacher is called Mrs. E. Brush. It was love at first sight. Reagan adores her teacher already and I predict that there won’t be a single tear shed this year. Thank goodness!

Grant has Mrs. Dempster for 3rd grade. I’ve heard great things about her, and some of his closest friends are in his class. It’s going to be difficult to top his Mrs. Ross from last year, but we’ll give Mrs. Dempster a chance. I seriously have a crush on this picture of Grant. Isn’t he the cutest 3rd grader you’ve ever seen. If I were a little girl I would beg my teacher to sit by him. He’s also a genius, so I could lean over and get answers off his papers. Win Win.

Jefferson is the Big Man on campus. He rules the school in 5th grade this year. He has Mrs. Frazee and I can already tell she’s a stellar teacher. How do my kids get so lucky? Are all teachers amazing or are we just hitting the lottery year after year? Jefferson was nervous to start this year because he’s concerned he’s not smart enough for 5th grade. He’s an academic all star, so I don’t know where his fear is coming from. I think it’s a result of being the oldest and having to forge the way each year, not knowing what’s up ahead. My brave little boy is getting too big!

Kennedy didn’t take the first day of school as well as the rest of them. She’s been enjoying her play time with “sissy” this Summer, so saying goodbye was difficult. She cried when Reagan left the car at school, and whined all the way home. Poor girl! Look at that little tear under her eye. She misses her playmates.

I didn’t cry at all, if you were wondering.

I’m as happy as a lark!

Random

The Summer is over. School is beginning. It’s the best time of the year, and the worst time of the year. Best because my 3 oldest are in school and I can actually think for myself, breath for myself, and perhaps even get something done for myself. And it’s the worst time of the year because the lazy days are over… we have to actually shower and get ready in the morning instead of staying in our pjs all day, which is the only real way to live.

I wanted to share some totally random pictures. You know the ones, you find them on your phone taken at random moments capturing daily life. I like those the best!

Our bookshelf broke. Okay, that’s a lie. I hated the bookshelf! It was ugly and I was getting tired of looking at it, so I got rid of it. I promise, I’m not this materialistic in real life. It was just glaring at me each day, making ugly faces at me and driving me crazy! So we were left with no where to put our books. I boxed up a bunch, and when I had no more boxes I put the rest on the staircase. It’s working for now.

Reagan and I on a Mother-Daughter date. To Panera Bread of course, it’s her favorite place.

Sunday afternoon fun

This is what every mirror and window in the house look like, regularly

I had about 238,746 Doctor appointments this Summer, which I had to drag all 4 kids to, of course. They love it here, can’t you tell.

Having lunch with Daddy on the base

My yearly psychosis set in and I decided to go to the case-lot sale on base. I go every year, then swear I will never come back. Then somehow I forget how bad it was, and go again. It’s a vicious cycle. Kennedy and I waiting in line for an hour (in the heat of the sun) ignored to get 2 carts full of stuff. I looked like a circus act lugging all this around. Every 5 minutes I reminded myself how crazy I was being and tried to talk myself into just leaving… but I had invested to much time.

Reagan on Rodeo Day. She actually WANTED to dress up like this for spirit day.

Kennedy’s ‘after nap’ face

Raven Rock

The Summer is rushing by and we are trying to have as much fun as possible before school begins again. I invited a group of friends to take a hike with us at Raven Rock State Park. We hiked 1.3 miles to the rock where we sat and ate lunch. We played, explored, found a tiny frog, and lost my boys. That’s right, I lost my boys! They chose to leave the group and walk down the trail alone while we were still eating. I don’t blame them for wanting to be on their own, the only other kids were 6 and under, but they didn’t let me know. It wouldn’t have been so scary had the trail not split, leaving me with no idea which way they went. It got stressful really quickly. But here are some pictures to remember the fun parts.

Reagan with her best friends, Beka and Sadie

Free Bowling

A local bowling ally in our city offers free bowling for kids during the summer. FREE, as in NO cost. I didn’t complain, the kids didn’t complain. It was almost better than going to the swimming pool… almost. Once signed up, each child got 2 games free each day. We literally could have gone every day. But we only went a handful of times. Everyone seemed to improve their rolling skills, but we still have a long way to go!

Here’s a shot of some awkward throws.

Reagan killed everyone in this game! Kennedy had the advantage of using the ball slide to roll hers.

Thank goodness the lightest-weight ball is colored pink because Kennedy insisted on using pink, and ONLY pink.

And no trip is complete without some candy from the dispenser. The candy dispenser at this bowling alley is the most generous ever. One quarter gives you an adult sized handful of skittles. It was amazin

And no trip is complete without bringing friends. Here’s Kennedy and her best friend Sarah enjoying some skittles.

Speaking of Skittles… Jefferson has his own particular way of enjoying them.

Grant’s best score:

Pure Summer fun, right here!!

Bug Catching

I'm going to start this post with a gorgeous picture of Kennedy and myself. 

I look drunk (or sleep deprived), and she looks like a neglected 4th child. 

Trust me, we are neither one of those things. Except for the sleep deprived part.

But we are cute!

This summer Grant has become obsessed with bug collecting. If it's a living creature, he will catch it. And he will force you to look at it, then look it up in your bug field guide to identify it, then display it in a tupperware on your counter for weeks.

You know how one measly day, or experience, can change the course of your entire life? This was the day, this was the experience… that turned Grant from a normal 8 year old into a fixated bug enthusiast.

We had just gotten home from church (notice the mismatch of church/sleep attire below), when the boys spotted something red moving through the grass. It was bright red, and it wasn't just moving… it was BOLTING through the blades of grass. They were trying to blockade it, but it outsmarted them each time and found a way around. 

It was a raving-mad bug!

The good news is, they finally caught it in a jar. The bad news was that after some research, we discovered that it was a "Cow-Killer" dun-dun-dun! Thank goodness my boys didn't try to pick it up with their hands. 

A quote from the field guide, "Adult Cow Killers can run quickly and fight ferociously. They get their name from their painful sting - so severe that many people claim it could kill a cow."

This bug and I are not friends.

Here are the boys, proud owners of a ferocious cow-killing ant.

You can see the ant in the jar, trying with all it's might to get the lid off the glass jar.

See the look in Grant's eyes? He's addicted now.

 

From this day on I have had small tupperware containers cluttering my countertops. I moved them above the refrigerator, but there were so many they were falling off when I opened the fridge. 

Grant has caught numerous butterflies and moths, cicadas, a black horse fly, and 3 more cow killers!

They say it's normal to find 1 cow killer, but even that is rare. Several people who grew up in the south have never seen one. We have found 4! I'm literally scared to walk outside my house.

This first one was kept in the glass jar for 3 weeks before it died. It just felt inhumane to let him suffer that long. So, Grant discovered a quicker way to kill them... put a cotton ball of nail polish remover into the container with them... they die within minutes. I thought the first method of death was inhumane, this was actually torture. 

House in the Horeshoe

A friend told us about a battle reenactment that was going to be held less than an hour from us. Anything that involves guns is a magnet for my kids.

It was a rainy day, but we bundled up to attend the battle reenactment at the House in the Horseshoe. It’s also known as the Alston House.

During the American Revolution there was division among the people living in NC, and other states as well. The Revolutionaries wanted independence, and the Tories honored the King of England. These 2 groups waged war against each other in North Carolina’s back country. One of those wars took place here. Colonel Alston and his men were camped at his house when a group of Tories attacked them. There are still bullet holes in the wall of the house. Several men died. It ultimately ended when the attackers wheeled a cart full of burning straw towards the house. They were trying to catch the house on fire. Mrs. Alston, who had been hiding in the chimney of the house with her small children came running outside waving her white henkerchief in surrender.

The reenactment left my kids speechless. There was a risk of them canceling it due to the rain because muskets don’t work in the rain. Luckily it cleared for a short time and we were able to watch the skirmish. Look at these happy history-lovers!

The reenactors camped on the property overnight. We got to tour their camps. Jefferson wants to be a reenactor one day. He was pretty fascinated with their enthusiasm and how true they are to history. Most of them wear handmade clothing. The behave and live in the way that actual men (and women) lived during that time.

Watching a woman load her musket

There were many activities for kids to participate in. Here we are learning penmanship with a quill and ink.

My kids were in awe of these costumes. I think I will need to make them a set of their own.

It was a wet and slightly miserable day, but totally worth it. We stood in the rain for several hours and left sopping wet. But we learned more about cannons and cannon balls than we ever knew existed!

Summer Vacation - Day 9

Did you think this vacation would ever end? 

Neither did I. 

But sadly it did. 

Our last day was spent at George Washington's Mount Vernon. It was a beautiful morning and we spent a good 3 hours touring the grounds and estate.

 

It is such an iconic home, and regonizable to everyone, that it was almost surreal walking through it. 

Washington could have easily become our Nation's first King if he wanted to. He was idolized. Instead, all he wanted was to return home. 

He intented for the mansion to be symetrical, you can tell that didn't happen.

Here I am, looking like a 10 year old.

We toured the gardens, the farm, the slave quarters, the stables, and more, but we spent most of our time at the blacksmith. If there is a blacksmith around, my boys are fixated. If I remember right, I had to bribe them to leave. Jefferson asked for blacksmithing tools for Christmas. It's becoming an obsession. 

Kennedy wasn't entertained by the 3000 degree fireplace, or the clanking of metal. She spent her time wandering the grounds and staring at a Martha Washington impersonator.

 

The back of the mansion, which I find more beautiful than the front

And the view. Now I understand why Washington couldn't wait to get home. 

Can you imagine if this were your backyard?

Yes mom, yes we can, and we wish we lived here too!

Washington and his wife, Martha, are buried on the grounds of Mount Vernon.

A glimpse of the tomb.

There is a museum dedicated to Washington at Mt. Vernon. We could have easily spent an entire day in there. I learned more about that great man than I ever knew. I have since forgotten all I learned, but I do remember it was fascinating. 

Ask Jefferson, I'm sure he remembers every fact. 

We're starting to look a little worn-out.

 Our last stop of the vacation was at Arlington National Cemetery. 

We took the bus tour through the grounds. The plus side was that we didn't have to walk miles and miles through the grounds. The down side was that it was difficult to take pictures or look closely at any of the grave stones.

The Eternal Flame

The amount of grave stones was overwhelming, and sombering. The cemetery covers 624 acres of land and there are an average of 30 funerals each day. There is really no suitable way to describe our visit without destroying its reverence. 

The most emotion could be felt while visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There are actually close to 5,000 unknown soldiers buried at the cemetery and this is a memorial to them.

The inscription reads: Here rests in honored glory An American Soldier Known but to God

The tomb is guarded 24 hours and day, 365 days a year.

 I wasn't sure we would make it through the changing of the guards, but Kennedy was surprisingly silent for a good 30 minutes while watching.  

The truly interesting part came when we visited the Arlington House. The house belonged to Robert E. Lee before it became a cemetery. 

Wait a second.... wasn't Robert E. Lee the general of the Confederate Army?

My thoughts exactly. 

Robert E. Lee was married to Mary Custis, the great-granddaughter of Martha Custis (the wife of George Washington). Did you get all that? I took this picture of the family tree because I found it too interesting to forget!

Mary and Robert lived in the house for 3 decades.

Here is where things got really good. 

President Lincoln offered Robert E. Lee command of the Union army. He needed to think about this decision when he heard that Virginia was succeeding. Virginia was his native home and he felt a duty to it. This is a picture of his bedroom where he paced back and forth, back and forth all night. The family sat downstairs listening to his footsteps pounding on the ceiling above them, unsure what his decision would be. 

On the morning of April 20, 1861 he wrote a letter of resignation to the US Army and left to join the Confederacy. He was quoted saying that he could not "raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home."

To make sure the Lee family never returned, unknown soldiers were ordered to be buried on the property. Along the border of Mrs. Lee's rose garden in fact. They never did return, as we know, and the government continued to use it as a cemetery.

I find its history fascinating, and ironic. You can't tell from the picture, but the view from Robert's upstairs window looks out to the Lincoln Memorial, and thousands of soldiers who fought against him in the Civil War. 

The boys getting down and dirty with their Jr. Ranger books. 

My mom and Kennedy running through Mrs. Lee's garden. 

And that's all folks. The end of our vacation. Did you enjoy your mini history lesson?

It was 9 days of pure history excitement. We were in Heaven. There are a few things I wish we could have done, but I realize there was no way possible to squeeze them in. In fact today Jefferson said to me, "mom, we really should have gone to Ft. McHenry, we were so close." I know Jefferson. We drove right by it! And I had to cover my eyes and hum to distract myself from crying. 

We learned a heck of a lot too. Look at all these Jr. Ranger Badges. These suckers are time consuming and involve quite a bit of effort. I'm so proud of my kids for completing them all.

Where to next?