Myrtle Beach After Christmas

I thought I'd share some highlights from our recent trip to Myrtle Beach. We had some points left over from our vacation club, enough to book a 2-bedroom unit for 3 nights, so we decided to pack up and go. The boys didn't want to tag along, so it was just Mike, Kate and me. Kate had some Christmas money and she wanted to hit up the outlet mall, I wanted to see the Christmas lights and decorations at Broadway at the Beach, and Mike... well he said he was just along to be our chauffeur :).

Welcome to South Carolina!

Summer Fun 2013

Well, summer is over and school is back in full swing around these parts. I really hate to say good-bye to summer! I love the lazy, laid-back days of just doing much of nothing :).

Of course, I do enjoy the fall. The nice mild-weather days. The structure and habit of daily routines. Well... we eventually get there!

I've been looking back through my pictures from our summer travels and I thought I'd share some of our highlights.

May Highlights

Well, May was a busy month for us, as it probably was for some of you. Finishing up with school and all the end of the year details that go along with that, and trying to squeeze our family vacation in too, kept us hopping!

2013 Lady Eagles

2012 Highlights in Pictures

January

 

just a little gemstone excavation kit I found to enhance our geology study...

2010 Highlights

January

Kate's small group, with their leader, at DiscipleNow

Australia Co-op with the home school group

Ryan moved back home and decided to commute to college for the 2nd semester, so on some days I had all 3 doing school work at the same time. It felt like the old days :)

February

Enjoying the snow. Very unusual for the deep south.

Upward Basketball

Kate's 14th birthday party with friends

March

Awana Grand Prix

Will's car placed 3rd in speed. He was going for design with the wii remote :)

Granddaddy and Uncle Billy's visit

Rick and Christie's farewell reception

We had to say good-bye to our Youth Pastor (of 7 years!) and his family. They left our church in order to to do a church plant in Orlando, FL.

Spring Pictures

Will - 5th grade, Kate - 8th grade

April

Easter morning

"He has risen; He has risen indeed."

We make the Easter Story Cookies every year. Each year, I think they have outgrown this tradition and will not want to do these, but they always surprise me!

Newly certified scuba divers in our family: Ryan is behind the instructor (the man in the red suit), and Will is to the right of the instructor.

celebrating Ryan's 19th birthday

Birds Co-op with the home school group

May

Will, receiving his 3rd Book Award during the Awana Awards Ceremony

our vacation to Panama City Beach, Florida

What started out as a wonderful time with friends ended so sadly, as our friends experienced a terrible tragedy in their family. If you missed that post you can read about it here.

All-Stars Softball

And this is how we spent most of our summer, traveling to games. Kate played shortstop most of the time, but she also played 3rd base, pitcher and catcher.

June

Vacation Bible School ~ Saddle Ridge Ranch

Even the youth helpers and adult workers enjoyed playing games.

We had an opportunity to host in our home two young men from a church youth choir on tour this summer. Playing Guitar Hero with my sons. 

July

Our church's annual July 4th picnic at Lake Mayer

Lazy summer days playing in the pool

St. Simons Island, Georgia

August

August brought a transition to our house. Kate began 9th grade at a small Christian school. The first few weeks were bumpy, but she has adjusted very well and is doing wonderfully, both academically and athletically. We just miss her very much at home.

August also saw Ryan moving out again. He transferred to another college, and this time he and his friend are renting an apartment, rather than living in the dorm.

Kate was part of the Eagle Cheer Squad, and cheered for the Eagle Football Team.

September

Jekyll Island Field Trip to the Georgia Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center and the Tidelands 4H Center

We got a puppy! Her name is Lizzie and she is a Dashalier (a miniature Daschund/Cavalier Spaniel mix). This is our first inside dog :0 House-breaking and training have been an adventure for sure!

October

at the Georgia National Fair in Perry, Georgia

We don't show any animals, nor did we enter anything in the exhibits, but we had a wonderful time watching the livestock shows, seeing all the exhibits, enjoying the entertainment, and eating all the great food!

the Eagle Cheer Squad

The Eagle Football team played for the Georgia Christian Athletic Association AA State Championship. We didn't win the game :( so we are the runner-up, but we had an exciting season!

Mike and his daddy ~ celebrating birthdays

Mr. Vinson is 84, Mike is 42

November

Daddy - Daughter time

at the Auburn vs Georgia game, in Auburn Alabama

The beginning of Will's on-going saga of sickness, which turned out to be Mononucleosis and it lasted for weeks.

Kate played basketball for the Lady Eagles. She is number 4. Mike is one of the coaches.

Will's 12th birthday. He was still sick on his birthday, and didn't get to have a party with his friends. So we plan to have something for him this summer instead.

Thanksgiving means getting together with family. But in our family, it also means "the Iron Bowl." The show-down in college football in the state of Alabama. Auburn Tigers vs Alabama Crimson Tide. Growing up, you pick your team, and in some cases it's a house divided, as with my daddy and me.

December

the Christmas card picture

The Accident. This has been an on-going incident that God is using to teach me to trust in Him.

our trip to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Many memories have been made through this year. Many lessons have been learned. God has blessed our 2010 in ways I couldn't have ever imagined. He has taught me so much. That He is all I really need. That apart from Him, my family is the greatest blessing He has given me. That life is short, so cherish the moments. That life is not always fair, so cling to Him, trust Him. Live, Laugh, Love. But most of all, love.

1 John 4:19

Catching Up...

Ok...I'm so far behind on my blogging, I'll never get caught up. So I thought I'd share a few highlights of what we've been up to...

Most recently, we've celebrated a couple of birthdays around here... Will turned 11 and DH turned 41. Since both their birthdays happened to fall on a Wednesday, we decided to go out to eat with friends after church. However, I (the one who usually always has her camera with her) forgot to take it along, both nights! So no pictures to share (except the one I did take at home). In addition to eating out on his actual birthday, Will also celebrated with a party here at home with some of his friends. This year we (or rather I) opted to forgo the usual theme party (which as you probably know, quickly adds up to be quite expensive) and had a variety of foods along with a cake I made myself. And the kids just played... with no organized activities. And I must say they all seemed to enjoy themselves very much! And so much less stress for mom!

He prefers brownies to a cake

the kids playing at Will's party

He didn't care that the icing barely concealed crumbling cake layers (lol)

We also enjoyed our church's annual fall festival on the Saturday morning of Will's birthday party. After the fun and games and hayride and lunch, the children were all given a pumpkin and a carving tool set...so my kids and some of their friends decided to carve their pumpkins at the party. They had fun and the pumpkins turned out quite cute, I think!

My family joined a new home school support group this year, as our local group has pretty much disbanded. There seems to be fewer and fewer of us in my county who continue to homeschool. Most are opting to send their children to the local Christian school. I can't complain, since that is what we did with our oldest child when he was in 9th grade. He is very competitive and into sports and our homeschool group has never been big enough to support a sports program. I love living in "SmallTown USA," but there are definite downsides to rural living... so we sent him. He did very well academically, socially, emotionally...I just missed him...alot! And now our daughter wants to go next year, as she will be in 9th grade.

Needless to say, I really want to continue to homeschool, but I also know how important sports are to her. In the meantime, I joined a larger group in another county (still it's not big enough to support a sports program), hoping that she will enjoy other activities and make new friends. Recently we took a field trip with this group to an orchard and enjoyed a corn maze, a hayride and a pumpkin patch!

DH is off work this whole week and oldest son is home from college...yaayy! We won't get much school work done these next few days, but that's ok...we enjoy having the extra time with them. We'll be heading out to Alabama in a few days to spend Thanksgiving with our families. We're all looking forward to that! I am thankful for the time we will have with them. I am thankful for so much! The Lord has been good to me; I am truly blessed!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, surrounded by those you love most...Blessings!