The Joys of my Boys

First Day of School 2011-2012

2012-01-08T16:36:00.003-05:00

In 2010 we felt like the Lord had led us to homeschool our children. We felt like we were called down this path again for the 2011-2012 school year. In order to be 100% transparent I must admit that there are moments when I think WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE WE DOING. Homeschooling is tough. I have grown in a lot of ways, and still need to grow in a lot more. Despite how hard it can often be, I really do love having them home. My children are amazing people and I enjoy watching them grow and learn right in our kitchen!

We started school a little earlier then the rest of Virginia this year. We are really trying to get through our curriculum as best as we can BEFORE Baby Boy #6 arrives. It has meant a ton of hard work but the boys have been embracing it. Here are some pictures from our first day of school!

Sam ~ 5th grade ~ 4 feet 4 inches ~ 63 lbs.
Currently working through:
Sonlight Core E, the 2nd half of American History
Easy Grammar
Sequential Spelling
Wordly Wise Vocabulary
~~Saxon Math 5/4~~ (DONE!)
Saxon Math 6/5
Handwriting Without Tears
Apologia Anatomy (with Mrs. Teri)
Community Bible Study ~ Job/Hebrews/Galatians
Co-Op Classes: Quilting, Ancient History/Science, Lego Mindstorms

Ethan ~ 3rd grade ~ 4 feet 1.5 inches ~ 50 lbs
Currently working through:
Sonlight Core B (the first half of World History)
Easy Grammar
Wordly Wise Vocabulary
Sequential Spelling
Handwriting Without Tears
Saxon Phonics
Saxon Math
Apologia Anatomy (with Mrs. Teri)
Community Bible Study ~ Job/Hebrews/Galatians
Co-op Classes: Trip Around the World, Chess, Crochet/Embroidery

Gabe ~ 1st grade ~ 3 feet 10.5 inches ~ 44 lbs.
Currently working through:
Sonlight Core B (first half of World History)
Saxon Phonics
Saxon Math
Handwriting without Tears
Apologia Anatomy (with Mrs. Teri)
Community Bible Study
Co-op Classes: Trip Around the World, Chess, Art

Joel ~ PreSchool ~ 3 feet 2 inches ~ 33 lbs.
Local Art Classes
Community Bible Study
PreSchool Co-op Classes

Abby ~ PreSchool ~ A lady never tells her "stats"
PreSchool Classes at Co-Op

We found out a couple of weeks ago that we will be moving to Kentucky this summer. We are prayerfully considering where the boys would be best suited. I have been trying to keep all avenues open by applying to some magnet programs and reading tons of reviews of every county school we could possibly go to. We always said we would pray through every year of homeschooling with every child. I don't know what we will do next year but I do know that whatever we do my boys are awesome students with a thirst for knowledge!

Kentucky!

2012-01-07T20:00:00.009-05:00

This picture of Abby pretty much sums up our trip to Kentucky this year! EXHAUSTING!!! BUT man oh man, did we have a great time! We started our trip by driving to my Mom and Dad's. It's only 10 hours to my Mom and Dad's house, 12 to Greg's Mom and Dad's, so we usually take a break in Louisville before heading to Halfway (where Greg's from). We had a great time in Halfway. We got in a lot of cousin time, lots of go carting, power wheeling, fishing, boating, water fun, Mammoth Cave, etc. We packed a lot into four days!! I guess we were too busy having fun that I forgot to bring out the camera this trip. I know there have been other trips where I forgot to take pictures at my Mom and Dad's so I guess it all evens out!

When we got to my Mom and Dad's, Mom had a huge list of things we could do. Everything from the pool to museums to the state fair. We decided this year we wouldn't waste a single day of their staycation and filled everyday to the brim. One of the first things we did was head to Holiday World! What a great place! Very clean, free sodas and a lot of fun!

Abby and Joel enjoyed the canoes!!

After Holiday World we made the trek up to the Creation Museum in Hebron, Kentucky. WOW, what a great place!! At first we were a little apprehensive about going. We weren't sure if it would just be some religiousy, whack job kind of place. I can assure you that it is not. The museum and surrounding grounds are BEAUTIFUL! The exhibits are extremely well done. The entire place is very clean and very kid friendly. We learned so much. I love going to museums with Greg. He is a natural teacher and the boys love listening to him explain things. A++++ experience! If you go to the museum, be sure to stop at the GAP factory store an exit or two up the road. It can be hit or miss, but I got a couple of great maternity shirts for a dollar a piece!

My sister was able to go on a lot of our excursions. My boys cannot get enough of her boys! Here Joel and Levi pose for a picture with a dinosaur. Can you believe that Joel is 14 MONTHS older then Levi. I need to feed my kids whatever she is feeding hers!!

Abby and Gigi!

Abby was pretty ticked that we didn't put her right on this dinosaur. She's quite the poser, huh?!

After going to Lakeside, the best pool EVER, and having a lazy day our last "fun" thing was the Kentucky State Fair. Here in Northern Virginia you don't hear a lot about the state fair but in Kentucky the state fair is a BIG deal. I actually heard one Mom tell another that the local schools were giving the kids one excused absence to go to the fair. Can you tell Kentucky is still an agriculture state!! LOVE IT! In this picture the boys were rolling their own bee's wax candle.

Of course no trip to the fair would be complete without milking a cow! If you have a keen eye, you might notice that in the last three blog posts Gabe has had on the same outfit. I promise he has others. This one must be one of his favorites!

Ethan and Gabe!

Greg enjoying a ~~heart attack in a box~~ Krispy Kreme burger. Yes, you read that right. A cheeseburger sandwiched between two Krispy Kremes. I did have a bite and it was pretty darn good! The food is by far my favorite part of the fair and the vendors did not disappoint. YUM!!!

Abby takes after her Mother in many ways, including her love of corn dogs!!

Ready to scoot around the police safety town!

After more memories then I could count we packed up our things and headed back to Virginia. I shed quite a few tears as we pulled out of my parent's neighborhood. Mom and I have plans to try to make our "staycation" an annuel event. The beauty of homeschooling has meant we can go back to Kentucky when all the Kentucky children are in school. It is awesome to enjoy Louisville, Bowling Green and the surrounding areas without huge crowds.

On the way back to Virginia we introduced the kids to Steak n Shake. It was a hit!!

Abby never misses a chance to dress up!

Ethan

Gabe and Joel

Where's Sam?! Oh that's right, he was in the bathroom throwing up. No trip to Kentucky would be complete without someone throwing up! C'est la vie!

As we prayerfully put in our 300 choices for assignments we tried our best to get closer to "home". Greg and I love Kentucky and hate that we have been over 1o hours away for over 10 years. Hoping the Lord has plans to bring us closer soon. Until then, I can't wait until next summer!!!

Joel is FOUR!!

2012-01-05T14:36:00.004-05:00

Can you guess how old Joel was this year??? FOUR!!

On August 1, 2011, Joel turned FOUR! I have a really hard time fathoming this as I started this blog around the time I found out I was pregnant with him. I have blogged his entire life. It's crazy! If you want all the details of Joel's entrance into this world you can click here or here.

Birthdays are a big deal around here but we never have big parties. Who can afford elaborate parties these days, especially with 5.5 kids!! For the big 0-4 Joel requested an "army" theme. We've had a few army themes in our house, as you can probably imagine! When we lived in Kansas I had NO problem finding army themed birthday "stuff" but surprisingly it was rather hard to find suitable options here in our nation's capital. I normally make cakes for the kids but being in my first trimester with our sixth baby, I just didn't have the energy. I really talked up the excitement of getting a "store" bought cake and he was thrilled. It's all in the marketing people, all in the marketing! I had a heck of a time finding a tank cake, but of course Wegman's, my favorite grocery store, came through! The cake was pretty but tasted awful and cost a pretty penny! I'll be re-instituting making cakes in the future!! Joel had a great birthday! It's amazing how exciting kids can get over a few balloons, streamers, and party blowers, I'm glad we've set their expectations low *wink.

One of his gifts! A tool set with working drill!

Abby took her time setting up each army man "just right".

The Wegman's Cake

I just realized this picture is sideways....I'm too tired to switch it....please...just turn your head :)

Blowing out the candles!

Abby enjoyed the cake! Abby is Joel's BIGGEST fan! She can't get enough of that kid!

Eating cake is SERIOUS business!! No birthday is complete without a drinking straw necklace, courtesy of one of your older brothers!

Joel is almost 4 1/2 and could technically go to kindergarten next year! I know I say this with every birthday, but seriously, where has my baby gone???? Now for four things I love about my four year old:

1. Joel has THE funniest facial expressions. I cannot even describe how funny this kid is. Hilarious!
2. Joel is very responsible. He is very good about cleaning up after himself and takes good care of his stuff.
3. Joel loves to show his muscles, loves to punch the air as quick as he can and also loves to give "sauges" (massages).
4. Joel loves books! Clean out his bed and you are bound to find at least 20 books of all shapes, sizes and subject matter. He especially loves our "school" books. I can't wait for him to learn how to read!!

We love you Joel, pray for you daily and can't wait to see the godly man you will become!!

Vacation in Hatteras

2011-11-13T22:23:00.008-05:00

I started this post on November 13th....six weeks ago! Wow how time flies!! Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc., etc. got the best of me and I haven't been on the blog roll I was on. Oh well, here's to resolutions to stay consistent with blogging!!

In July we had the opportunity to go on vacation to the beach! We hadn't been in five years so we were all VERY excited. Joel and Abby had never seen the beach and Gabe was a baby the last time we were at the shore. Did y'all know my family carries the distinction of being some of the first settlers on Hatteras Island?! Crazy, huh?! My great grandfather, Dan Oden owned the general store "Oden's General Store", now called "Nedo's" (Oden spelled backward) and members of my family still own Oden's Dock, the Breakwater Motel, The Seagull Motel, as well as several other establishments and houses on the island. My mother spent months of every summer chilling on the outer banks and we made our fair share of trips there growing up as well. My middle name, before I changed it with marriage, was Oden so I always felt a special bond to my Outer Banks roots! Nowadays most of my great aunts and uncles have passed and few cousins have any idea who I am and vice-versa. One of my Great Aunts and her husband still have a house on the island. Every year my Mom's brother and his family spend a week there and this week we got to join them in a house owned by another cousin. It was such a blessing to have an almost free house to stay in and we had a great time!

The table in the kitchen had four chairs so Abby had a cozy seat on the floor!

The boys enjoying our first breakfast meal at the beach!! We never have pop tarts so they were SUPER excited. Check out that bank of windows!! They look right onto the "slash". AMAZING!!

A trip to Hatteras would not be complete without a ferry trip to Ocracoke Island. Here we are waiting for all the cars to load so that we can go feed the sea gulls! Does Ocracoke sound familiar??? The day we were there a little girl was bitten by a shark and it made national news. CRAZY!

This is me saying MO-SKEEEE-TOES!! The mosquitoes were INSANE this year. You couldn't walk outside without 50 or more landing all over you. That was my least favorite part of our trip!

Greg! So handsome!

Checking out the water and ALL the jelly fish. We lost count! Do you see our new Suburban there on the right? We found out in June that we were having another baby so when our 6.5 year old van needed over $2k in repairs we decided to take the plunge on a new ride. I love, love, love my new car. I know it's silly, but I really do!

Sweet baby girl and my 11 week belly!

I kind of prefer having the kids up at the top of the ship, enclosed. When we were down on deck I had visions of someone going overboard. My children get it honest. When we docked on the island Gabe said "shooowee, now I know for sure we aren't going to sink". We all knew exactly where the life jackets were on that thing! It also didn't hurt that the upper deck is air conditioned!

The beach!

Abby loved the beach. She wasn't a huge fan of the water but she played for HOURS in the sand!!

The rip tides in Hatteras are BRUTAL, hence the life jackets. The boys couldn't get enough of the water!

The boys had never seen the little arm covers older upholstered furniture has. Gabe thought they made great hats and of course Joel had to get in on the action!

Listening to the rangers give safety guidelines for going up in the lighthouse.

The Hatteras Lighthouse Isn't she a beaut!! One year when I was in high school we went to the lighthouse and my Mom struck up a conversation with an older park ranger. Turned out he had dated my grandmother when they were in high school, crazy huh!!

The handsome boys who were tall enough to climb the lighthouse.

The handsome (sad) boy who wasn't.

I was kind of relieved to have to stay with the younger two. Check out those steps, yikes!

The rangers were gracious enough to let us go inside and take a quick look.

This is what one looks like after sightseeing and beach combing all day. Even Dora is worn out!

Joel was exhausted too!

SEA LICE!! At least that's what my grandmother told me they were called. The rangers at the lighthouse disagreed with us but regardless we had a nice time digging for and playing with the little critters!

I'm not a fan of touching them. My boys are very brave!

Joel ~ one tough cookie....look at that face!

We caught hundreds of them!

Gabe, playing with his catch!

This kept them entertained for over an hour. Should have showed them how to dig for them the first day!

On our last day the boys completed their Junior Ranger badge. Here they are making an oath to keep the beach clean, or something like that! Great program! You should check it out at any National Park you might go to!

Sadly I didn't get any pictures of my uncle and cousins. We had a great time hanging out with them as well. My cousin Tracy is by far one of the funniest people I know! There is a really good chance we are moving this summer so I don't know that we will ever go back to Hatteras. It was a bittersweet trip knowing it could be my last time!

Sam turns 10!

2011-11-13T20:05:00.003-05:00

On June 2, 2011, Sam turned ten! I can remember holding Sam as a newborn and saying, "When you are 10, I'll be 32, but don't worry that is a very, very long time from now". It seems like I was just saying that to him! I also remember as an infant lamenting to my Mom that I felt as though I was wishing his infancy away. Infants are so boring, and I couldn't wait for him to "do something". I thought he would never grow up, that he would never get bigger. It seemed to take forever for him to go to Kindergarten and now he is a fifth grader and next year my FOURTH baby will be a Kindergartner. How does time to do that?? I'm so glad I'm blogging again so that I can remember all of the precious time I have had with them!

For Sam's entry into double digits, we had his best buddy Sanjiv over and headed to the pool for pizza and playing! After a couple of hours we returned home for ice cream cake, a Spencer/Leppert tradition!! I've had this cake every year for my birthday for as long as I can remember. This year my sweet friend Connie even made this cake for me as a surprise! YUM! Sam's cake had strawberry ice cream. My absolute favorite! A child after my own heart.

The large sprinkles make this cake!

I got the "Mom of the Year" award when I forgot candles and had to use the 3 and the 2 from my party two weeks before. "I'd like to thank the committee....."

Blowing out candles and opening gifts! I just noticed the half naked boys in the background! HA!!

Now for ten things I love about my ten year old:

1. Sam is the most studious child I have ever seen. We started homeschooling this past year and I rarely have to remind him to get his school work done. When we started homeschooling I had to take him back a year in our math curriculum. This year we are trying to catch up, so he does math 7 days a week! He is learning a ton and only complains occasionally :)

2. Sam is such a helper, I don't know what I would do without him. He is always watching out for the other kids and almost never gets fussy when I ask him to vacuum our first floor or take out the garbage.

3. Sam loves his siblings. I asked him to take Joel to the bathroom at Wal-Mart this afternoon and he joyfully got up, put his arm around his little brother and escorted him exactly where he needed to be.

4. Sam is obsessively clean! While this quirk sometimes gets on my nerves and earned him the moniker of Mr. Clean at church, I also really appreciate this about him as I know he will never come to the table with dirty hands or try to pass germy hands off as clean ones!

5. Sam is very talented in so many ways. Specifically, recently Sam was casted in our church's Christmas musical. That kid learned his lines (a lot by the way) in no time flat and I NEVER had to ask him to work on them. He also has a singing part and my heart swelled with pride tonight at practice as he sang about God using "an ordinary Joe".

6. Sam is an excellent swimmer. You should see this kid do the butterfly. All I have to say is watch out Michael Phelps!!

7. Sam is very responsible with his money. He can save with the best of them. The boys get a weekly allowance, we make them save 40% for a car. I love hearing about his dreams of buying a Corvette when he is 16. He is totally not an impulse buyer. He saves the 50% of his allowance that he is allowed to spend for fabulous, well thought out things.

8. Sam is very handsome. I was just telling him yesterday that we are going to have to beat the ladies off with a stick! You should see his abs, swimming is good for abs!! Sam also has a great sense of humor. Handsome + Humor = watch out girls!

9. Sam loves to talk to me and I love to talk to him! He loves to come home from the Wednesday night youth program and tell me all about his night. He gets pretty upset if the other kids aren't in bed and he doesn't have his special time. I like that. I hope he always wants to talk to me!

AND FINALLY

10. Sam has a real heart for the Lord. He loves to work on his Community Bible Study Curriculum and can't get enough of church. I pray this part of his heart never changes.

We love you Sam! You make us unbelievably proud everyday and we are blessed to be your parents!!

Happy very belated birthday!!

BUSCH GARDENS!!

2011-11-10T13:14:00.005-05:00

The Busch family of parks does an amazing thing. Once a year military families can play at one of their parks for free! Each year we get four free tickets to any of their parks. I cannot say how much we appreciate this!! On June 1st we decided to surprise the kids. We hit the road and didn't even tell them where we were going. Boy were they thrilled when we pulled into the parking lot!! In the fall of 2010 we decided to pull the kids out of school and homeschool them (that's a discussion for a different post). This means we have some freedom, which meant we could go to the park when the rest of Virginia was still in school! It was a fantastic day and we can't wait to go again next year!!

When we arrived each of the boys were measured and given a wrist band so that we could easily identify the rides that were height appropriate for them. Sam and Ethan were thrilled to find out that they were tall enough to ride a few roller coasters!

Ethan

Sam ~ Almost tall enough to not need to be measured. I bet next year he will be able to ride everything.

Gabe

Joel

I was determined to ride every ride in the park. Why not?! There were no lines!!

The train.

Greg doesn't do rides that spin, guess who got pretty dizzy that day!

Abby, patiently waiting for her brothers to finish riding rides.

I bought Joel a cooling fan to play with, he had to do a lot of waiting around too.

We finally found a ride that was just his size!

New to us this year, was the Sesame Street area for the little kids. Abby and Joel loved the water park!

Abby also loved the Sesame Street show!

Too much excitement!

Sam's favorite roller coaster, Apollo's Chariot!

As you can see from the picture above we totally shut down the park! The parking lot was basically empty by the time we rolled out. One of the best things we did was to purchase "meal plans" on the Busch Garden website the night before. The whole day ended up costing us a little over $200 (for food, drinks, two souvenir photos and for one ticket, Abby and Joel were free, we had four free tickets but did have to pay for one child), but I'd say we got a bargain. I can't wait until next Spring!! Stay tuned for the two souvenir photos we had done HIL-AR-IOUS!!

Farm Fun

2011-11-07T20:57:00.003-05:00

I mentioned here that we joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) this past spring. It was a real treat for us (all though turned out to not be worth the money). Greg had a Graduate Assistant job last year which meant we had some extra cash flow! One of the benefits of our CSA was a "you pick option". Basically, every week you could go to the farm and pick a designated fruit/vegetable for free. I love doing "pick things" with the kids, unfortunately the farm was a little to far away to make this worth our time and our gas money!! In mid May we did make it out the farm to pick strawberries. Look at the background in the picture below! It was a beautiful place.

The boys on the tractor ready to go out to the field to start picking!

Greg ~ not too many pictures of him these days....must take more!

Joel with one of our first berries!

We got ourselves a ton of strawberries! I'm pretty sure this cost us upwards of $40!!

Abby wouldn't turn around for the picture because she was too busy doing this:

But who could blame her! They were delicious!

Look at that chubby little finger in that fat strawberry, *love*!

The boys especially loved this puddle as we waited for the tractor to come back and get us. What you can't see is that there were a ton of other prissy Moms there who wouldn't let their children toss pebbles into the water. You can see one little boy in the top left who was DYING to play. I'm sure they are the same Mom's who don't allow guns in their house, PUH-LEASE, let boys be boys. They weren't hurting anything!

Crazy story....when we got back on the tractor one of the other ladies noticed Greg's Western Kentucky University T-shirt and we struck up a conversation about our alma mater. Turns out she and I both went to the same high school in Louisville (all though about six years apart). What a crazy small world!!

After picking our berries, we explored the rest of the farm. The kids had a great time playing in this huge bin of corn. Abby especially loved having corn dumped on her head.

In November, the army will be sending us a list of our possible assignments. I am anxious about what the next step will be in our army career. On one hand it might be nice to stay here. We have an awesome church and great friends, plus it wouldn't hurt us to pay off our home loan a little more! On the other hand, I would sure love to be closer to the "country". I'm dying for my kids to have more land to run, play, skip and ride bikes on. Ahhhh.....that sounds perfect!!

OOOOH and in case your wondering. We had a strawberry feast with all those berries. We ate them fresh but I used most of them to make freezer jam using this recipe. I ended up with about five quarts of jam which we shared with neighbors and friends who said it was AMAZING!! We still have two quarts in the freezer that I can't wait to get out when family comes at Christmas!!! YUM!!!

Spring Randomness

2011-11-07T14:24:00.003-05:00

Are you ready for some more randomness??? Since I've bored you through the Cat Nights of Winter, I suppose it's time for the Tulip Equinox Days of Spring (Okay, I'm cracking myself up, sorry y'all!). Here are some pictures from Spring 2011, the ones that don't really deserve an entire blog post but make me smile:

Abby in her first set of pig tails. Don't you just want to eat that face off?!

SINK BATH!! I love sink baths! Now, let it be known that I realize that the kitchen sink is one of the dirtiest places known to man! No worries, I scrub that think with in an inch of it's life before putting my sweet babies in there. I feel like I still remember taking sink baths as a child.....maybe I just remember pictures of me taking sink baths....who knows!

Joel had to get in on the fun too! The other boys totally would have tried if I'd let them....oh and don't worry, if you ever eat at my house, I scrub it again after removing the tooshies!

In April, Greg's parents came for a visit. Abby loved playing on Grandpa's phone!

I decided to have custom silhouettes made of the children. I had to take a profile picture of each one. Abby, as usual thought I was pretty darn crazy. I got them back and they are fabulous. Now to get them framed and hung! Always something to do around here!!

He is Risen!! Easter 2011

2011-11-06T15:46:00.008-05:00

Easter was beautiful this year. I seriously think we had the best weather you could possibly ask for. My parents came in for the weekend which made it twice as fun!!

My Mom always brings the kids treats when she comes and as usual it was something that I would NEVER buy for the them. Something that would be a TOTAL mess. They enjoyed their suckers outside with Gigi ready in the wings to clean them up!!

Abby enjoying her Gigi treat.

Sam

Ethan

Gabe

The "goods"

Joel and Gigi

Abby and I. We tried to get her to look at the camera but she was too busy with that silly sucker.

Easter morning we had our annual Easter Egg hunt. Somehow we ended up with some of these suction cup eggs!

Sam - is this kid a poser or what?!

Gabe with his loot. I let each kid find 12 eggs, do the math, that's 60 eggs!!!

Joel and his basket.

After the egg hunt we got ready for church. I loved Abby's Easter dress this year. Clearly she didn't share my sentiments.

The fam!

Greg and I

My Mom and Dad

After a wonderful church service we made our way over to our dear friends the Taylor's house for some yummy Easter fixins. Of course I had to snap more pictures of my handsome crew.

The stair-steps! Sam (9), Ethan (8), Gabe (6), Joel (3)

I'm not sure what Abby is doing in this picture but I find it very amusing!

Pretty girl!

After lunch we attempted to put Abby down for a nap in a pack n play at the Taylor's. She was not having it! Check out this face! If looks could kill!

As usual we had a great visit with my parents and a wonderful Easter. I am knocking these posts out! Very proud of myself!!

Flat Stanley and Uncle Gregory

2011-11-06T15:23:00.006-05:00

In February my cousin sent us "Flat Stanley" for one of her twin daughters. We were really excited to have him visit! We started his visit with another special visitor, my brother Gregory. In February he moved from Austin, TX, to Boston, MA. On his way through he stopped at our house and we celebrated his birthday! It's always nice to have him around.

His cake was a bit of a disaster. It still tasted good but it sure was ugly, PLUS those silly Wilton letter kits only come with one "G", so we had to write "Happy Birthday Gredory". He got a good laugh out of it.

Next we took some pictures of Stanley doing some everyday "stuff" around our house. It was pretty windy that day. We thought we left the wind behind when we left Kansas, boy were we wrong!

A little less windy! Isn't our house soooo cute!

My sweet Abby.

Sam taking Stanley on a spin around our court.

The boys love to scooter!

Ethan!

Next we took Stanley to the Battlefield in Manassas. Sam is such a good photo poser. What a goof ball, love this kids sense of humor!

With a park ranger.

Our final trip with Stanley was supposed to be to the Butterfly Exhibit at the Smithsonian. We got some crummy weather that day and had to cancel. The boys were supposed to act really sad, Joel clearly didn't get the memo, or maybe that IS his sad face!

Having "Flat Stanley" was a lot of fun. I heard that my cousin got a good grade! Glad we could accommodate!!

Valentine's Day 2011

2011-11-06T15:17:00.003-05:00

My boys are so sweet at Valentine's Day. I always try to get them a little something and they always return the favor. Last year I got this fabulous necklace from Ethan:

AND a very creative message out of train tracks:

Have I mentioned in the last couple of posts how amazing my children are??

Winter Randomness

2011-11-06T15:05:00.004-05:00

What is the opposite of the Dog Days of Summer?? The Cat Nights of Winter?? I don't know, I just know that Greg truly belives that January 2nd should be spring and I'm with him. Winter, cold, slush and yuck seems to drag on FOREVER!!

Here are some pictures from some of our random winter fun!

Didn't get Abby with her first birthday cake but this picture of her first cupcake is pretty stinkin cute!

Going out in the snow!

Ethan is a snuggler!! His younger siblings eat it up!

Over Christmas we got on a spinach smoothie kick. The boys loved them! I really should make them again. I got a little burned out there for awhile. Gabe looks a lot like my Dad in this picture, cracks me out!

Joel LOVES to look at books! "The Wizard of Oz" was especially popular!

Putting Abby to work....she has to earn her keep around here!

The boys are always trying to sneak kisses, Abby usually just offers the top of her head. Classic girl move!!

Gabe turns SIX!

2011-10-31T16:16:00.003-04:00

On January 21, 2011 Gabe turned six! It boggles my mind that he is six and in less then three months he will be SEVEN, wow!!

For Gabe's sixth birthday he picked a theme "Wings of War", which is a World War II (I think) game that Greg plays with them. I had no idea how we would make this work but of course my older boys and Greg had big plans. Greg started with hanging the planes from the fan. Very impressive! If you look closely you can see them in the picture.

Of course a war game theme needed red, white and blue decoarations AND some themed art work!

Ethan and Sam did a great job with the art work!

As I have mentioned before, Gabe is a sucker for anything "As Seen On TV". He was fascniated by the giant cupcake. Let me just say, it wasn't as easy as the box makes it out to be. This was actually my second attempt after some advice from Nancy! We had the Jacksons over to enjoy his birthday with us. I guess I forgot to take some picture of them....bummer!

Blowing out candels!

Opening gifts! I love this picture of Abby, HIL-A-RIOUS!!

I'll save my things I love about Gabe for when he turns seven! Can't wait!!

Abby's 1st Haircut

2011-10-29T16:15:00.007-04:00

It's kind of a fib to say that these next pictures are Abby's first hair cut. All my kids are born with a ton of hair. It's really cute at first. For about the first two and half months they look like little monkeys from the back BUT then it starts falling out! They have all lost their hair in random patterns. It's never pretty. When Ethan was a baby my Mom and I got a great idea to just shave all his hair off. We did that with Gabe and with Joel, but I just couldn't do it with Abby. I really should have, I mean look at this picture:

TERRIBLE!! I did cut off her rat tail but looking back she had some FUNKY hair. I tried to trim it when it needed it but it is hard to cut your daughter's hair! My cousin trimmed her up when we were at my Aunt's funeral and told me to just keep trimming the back until the front and back could catch up. I'm glad I listened to her advice, now Abby has really cute hair! Here are some pictures from what I'm calling her first "real" haircut on January 20, 2011!

Some before pictures.

Cheese Momma! I've been trying to get her to call me Momma because I think it sounds REALLY cute but she basically refuses!

The boys read some magazines while they waited. It was Crazy Sweater Day at our Home School Co-op hence the Christmas sweater on Ethan in January!

Ready for a trim!

Having second thoughts at this point.

Resigned to the fact that she was getting the trim no matter what!

After! It's hard to tell but it was a cute little stacked bob! Check out her bib....can you tell who doesn't like black olives.....she clearly isn't a Leppert!

Found some better AFTER pictures.....no that's not Victoria Beckham:

Sassy girl!

What a Helper

2011-10-29T15:57:00.003-04:00

My kids have all had a fascination with the tupperware cabinet. What kid doesn't?! When they are in this stage I don't even bother organizing the cabinet. I just shove everything back in and close the door as quickly as possible and wait for the next time they pull everything out. This stage drives Greg absolutely CRAZY. It seems like the tupperware emptying stage will last forever and then one day it just stops.

There are a lot of moments like these with your kids. Days when stages just stop. I often think back and wonder when I last picked up Sam, Ethan, and Gabe. One day I had a "this is the last time I will ever hold you moment", but I didn't even know it. I guess the Lord plans it that way, or we as Mother's would be blubbering messes ALL the time!

I remember when Sam knocked out his top four teeth in kindergarten, I called my Mom in tears saying, "I so wish I had paid more attention when I brushed his sweet little baby teeth last night". I pray often that I don't wish my children away. That I don't shoo them away all the time. That I listen when they need it. That I'm patient when they need it and bite my tongue when they make me batty. That I don't rush them to bed just to finish off another day. That I smile when I wake them up and pray for them constantly. The Lord has given them to me for such a short time, or in the words of Mordeci, "for such a time as this"(Esther 4:14). I hope I enjoy and remember every moment, and treasure them in my heart just like Mary did with her sweet baby Jesus!

BUSTED!

My Mom gave Greg these cool flash lights that you wear around your neck. Abby found them especially handy for seeing into the depths of the tupperware cabinet!

Hey Mom!

Christmas 2010

2011-10-29T10:47:00.009-04:00

Christmas 2010 seems like a million years ago! We've done a lot in the last 10 months. We started the holiday season with some pictures by my friend Desi! She has an amazing eye for pictures and her work just keeps getting better and better! She took the pictures that I used to create my header. If you are local, book her now!!

Abby!

Ethan

Gabe

Smoochy, smoochy!

Joel

Sam

The picture on our Christmas Card!

The Spencer Clan!

2010 was the first year, in years, that we weren't with family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. My parents did come the day after Christmas. This year the entire Spencer/Akin/Leppert crew will be at our house. SHOOOWEEE, makes me tired just thinking about 7 kids and 6 adults under one roof! CAN'T WAIT!!

Right before bed in their Christmas Jammies. A yearly tradition!

This year on Christmas Eve they opened one gift....slippers. Joel especially loved his. He was sure they made him faster and they also made him dance like an elf!

Demonstrating the power of the slippers!

Kids are in bed, Presents are in place!

Coming down on Christmas morning.

Sam on the spin bike he was dying to have!

Opening presents!

These three gifts had to be opened at the same time......DS's!!!! To say they were excited would be an understatement!!

Sam showing off his excitement.

We let Abby sleep in. Here she is coming down to open presents.

Admiring her new kitchen!

LOVED IT!

Snuggling with Gigi!

I can't believe we are less then 60 days from Christmas 2011!! Are you ready??!?!?

Belvedere Plantation and Home Groups

2011-10-27T15:09:00.003-04:00

In the fall of 2009 our church decided to kick off a Home Group ministry. Home groups are 10-12 people (5-6 couples in our case) who make a commitment to each other to meet once a week for 18-24 months to study the Bible together while at the same time "doing life together". We have really enjoyed this ministry. Our first home group was so good that after the first "year" we knew the church needed more leaders and we decided to start a home group in our home.

I so enjoy the families in our group. I feel like we are starting to be very real and comfortable with each other, which is fantastic! Last fall the church had a Home Group event at Belvedere Plantation in Fredricksburg, VA. You may remember a blog post many moons ago, when Joel was a newborn and we first discovered Belvedere. It is a great place and very family friendly. Last year we went on their final weekend, November 6th, and as my father says, "it was colder then a well diggers elbow". (Yes, yes, I know, that is not how the actual phrase goes, but he cleaned it up for our little ears!) The benefit of it being COLD and the last weekend was that our group pretty much had the run of the place. That part was awesome!

Greg pulling the boys in a wagon!!

Abby sporting pig tails for the trip.

The zip line! Always a hit!

Joel!

The cow train!

If you are local and go to First Baptist Church of Woodbridge I highly recommend our home group ministry! If you aren't local but your church has a home group ministry JOIN. If your church doesn't have one START ONE. Home Groups was the vision of a couple in our church, I'm so thankful that they stepped out in faith and got the whole thing going!

It's raining here, with a possibility of SNOW! I'm off to do the budget and then snuggle under some covers!!! Happy Fall Y'all!!

Ethan is 8!

2011-10-26T21:34:00.003-04:00

On November 2, 2010, Ethan turned 8! We celebrated with an Iron Man themed birthday! He had his favorite twin friends, Charlie and James, over to join in the festivities. Sadly, I honestly cannot remember one thing about this day other then that the kids were there and we had a nice time. Proof positive that I MUST blog more often! Ethan will be turning 9 in six days! I don't know how it is possible!!

The cake!

His buddies!

The presents!!

Blowing out the candles!

On the big day Gigi and Papa sent Ethan an Edible Bouquet. It was a huge hit, not to mention it was delicious! Check out Joel's cheek in this picture. I'm not sure he could fit another bite in those chipmunk jowls!! HA!

Think I can blog a whole year in the next six days so that I can post his next birthday in a reasonable amount of time?? DOUBT IT, but I'll give it a try!!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T19:46:00.002-04:00

Disney on Ice

2011-10-25T20:45:00.002-04:00

On October 22, 2010, I got a wild hair and decided to surprise the boys with tickets to Disney on Ice. The show was the next day so I bought tickets (that seemed expensive) hoping they were decent seats. On the 23rd, I loaded everyone up into the car. I didn't tell them where we were going. We stopped at McDonald's before hand, a rare treat, for our crew and then drove across to the Patriot Center at George Mason University.

Now, let me preface with this story with two things. When I was a kid, money was tight. My Dad worked very, very, very hard but we weren't able to do a whole lot of extra things. Second, money is not as tight for us but this was a huge deal for me. We have been doing Financial Peace University for three years. We are in a decent (not great) place financially but we set very little money aside for Vacations/Entertaining. This was a big deal for me to be able to take my kids to something that I would have never gotten to do as a kid. In my mind I had decided that I would be the "good" Mom and I would give each boy $20 to buy something, $20 x 4 boys, that was $80 of junk, but I was prepared for their smiling faces!

We got to the Patriot Center and the boys were excited to see the show but really had no idea what to expect. As always our first stop was the bathroom, where I excitedly told them that they each had $20 to spend!! WOOT!! We couldn't wait to get out of the bathroom and spend that money. Boy were we disappointed! I thought for sure we would get something fantastic, after all $20 is a lot for one kid to spend, little did I know what I was in for! I had really hoped the kids would get some sort of flasher, but would you believe those cheap flashing, spinning Woody/Buzz toys were FORTY DOLLARS EACH! I could have wept. Thankfully the boys were gracious (have I mentioned lately how amazing they are) and each settled for a $20 bag of cotton candy that had the cheapest foam hat you have ever seen attached. This was just the first of many insults that night.

After swallowing my pride, which was difficult as you watch families (who appear to have a lot less money then we do) lavish their children with hundreds of dollars worth of trinkets, we climbed the stadium seating to our seats. We climbed, and climbed, and climbed and climbed. No joke, we were at the VERY top of that stadium. My children were literally worried they were going to fall from their seats, insult number two!

As the show began, the boys were excited. Toy Story 3 on Ice is an okay show. The coolest part is the very beginning when the green army men parachute in. After that the boys were rather bored. We were able to move down about 20 rows after intermission but by that point the boys were ready to go home. What a major disappointment. I wrote Disney and told them about our experience. It has been a little over a year and I have not heard a word from them. I suppose they are used to ripping people off!

If I EVER took them to a Disney on Ice again, I would do what my good friend Nancy did. FILL MY PURSE with glow in the dark necklaces, bracelets, wands, etc, as well as a few treats to snack on! Maybe one day Abby and I will go to see Disney Princesses on Ice, but for now I have learned my lesson!!

The $20 "treat".

Sam sporting his hat.

Joel, never one to go with the flow, chose a Buzz hat.

My sweet Gabe!

The view from our nose bleed seats. As you can tell we didn't have too many neighbors!

If nothing else I left that night with a new perspective of what my parents lived through. I know it must have been disappointing to them to not be able to buy us the newest greatest toys and clothes and to not be able to take us on the most fabulous vacations. I have so much respect for my parents and God has honored their faithfulness with their money. I can't even tell you how many cool things they are getting to do these days and I am very, very happy for them!

Sam's Baptism

2011-10-24T15:43:00.000-04:00

In November of 2005 we lived in Fort Riley, KS. Right after Thanksgiving that year, Kansas had a random tornado. Fort Riley was hit for the first time in decades (figures, this would happen, while I was living there!). The week after the tornado we were driving on post and happened to drive past the post cemetery. The cemetery had been hit pretty hard by the winds and there were trees down everywhere. The boys were really impressed by the destruction, but then Sam wanted to know what those little "white" things were. I'm not really one to shy away from the truth with my children, so we had a long conversation about cemeteries and how people "go there". This of course led to another conversation about what happens when you die. I told him about how Jesus died on the cross for our sins and how when you die you can be assured that you are going to heaven if you have asked Jesus into your heart and asked him to forgive you of your sins.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him, should not parish but have everlasting life ~John 3:16

Well right then and there Sam was ready to ask Jesus into his heart....ahhhh....proud Mama moment. I love the "what happens when we die" questions. For some of my kids it has lead to an immediate prayer for salvation, for others it has led to long thoughtful observation time periods. I recently had the conversation with my sweet Joel. Afterwards I said, "Joel, is Jesus living in your heart so that you can go to heaven one day?" To which he replied, "No, Mommy, that's silly!", with a HUGE grin on his face. Guess he's not ready, but I'm confident that some day soon he will be!

On September 26, 2010, Sam was ready to make a public demonstration of the decision he had made almost five years earlier. We were thrilled to watch him be baptized!

Getting ready!

In his robe, ready to be "dunked".

The baptistry at our church has a separate "girls" and "boys" wing. I took this picture from the girls side, looking across the baptistry to the boys side.

Sam and Pastor Ray!

Another proud Mama moment!

Afterwards we went out to eat to celebrate! Abby had had enough fun for one day!

Lastly, Greg and I loved these pictures Gabe drew during the service. They are of people dying (hence the X-ed out eyes) and their hearts going to heaven. I pray that my boys passion for the Lord burns brightly their entire lives!!

Abby is 1!

2011-10-23T16:01:00.005-04:00

Every time I look at Abby I want to pinch myself. It is so hard to believe that the Lord blessed us with a beautiful baby girl! Every day she grows more and more and everyday I feel like she is becoming a mini me. Love it!

On September 9, 2010, Abby turned 1. On September 7, 2010, my dear sweet Aunt Judy unexpectedly went to be with the Lord. I had planned on having a little party for Abby but when we got the news of my aunts passing we quickly packed and made plans to head to Ohio to be with my family. Abby still had a few fun things for her special day.

Turning 1 is exhausting!

When I turned 1 my Grandma Hershman and Mom had this sweet little glass platter for my cake. I guess Abby was hoping to still find a little something from that cake 30 years before!

Still licking.

I think she is the most beautiful girl on the planet!

We celebrated Abby's birthday with our friends the Taylors at the Original Steakhouse in Woodbridge. Every Wednesday, kids eat free which makes this place an amazing deal for us. Any time we can feed our entire family at a nice restaurant for less then $30 we jump on it!

The birthday girl!

Another awesome perk of the Original Steakhouse is their "Birthday Sundae". HUGE, delicious and FREE!! Love that place!

On Abby's actual birthday I made chocolate chip cookies. Sadly I didn't have any cake mix, pathetic I know. I think she was pretty thrilled with the cookies!

With her adoring fans! I think she is telling Sam to back off and not eat her cookie. She gets that from me too, I DO NOT share food.

Opening presents! My kids are late walkers, 15 months is our average. I love this picture of her standing on unsteady legs to get a better look at her birthday gifts!

Checking everything out.

Abby's birthday wasn't exactly how I planned it but I think she still had a really nice time. Can't wait to show you guys the pictures from her 2nd birthday! Stay tuned!!

Summer in the South

2011-10-21T20:45:00.003-04:00

I love going "home" in the summer. Kentucky is a great place. I especially love Louisville because they are on the very edge of the Eastern Time Zone so it is often light until almost 10 o'clock at night! LOVE IT!! Here are some more pictures from the trip we took in 2010.

Papa with his only granddaughter. To say he is smitten with this girl would be an understatement!

Abby in some "Build a Bear" shades!

The boys working pit crew at the Corvette Museum with Grandpa and Daddy.

Granny and Abby.

Joel with his favorite Corvette!

Granny and Ethan.

Joel, with some "shades" he bought with his own money at Wal-Mart!

Brotherly love! I love this picture! Gigi has some great snuggle chairs!

Joel Turns 3

2011-10-21T20:30:00.001-04:00

On August 1, 2010, Joel turned 3. I'm pretty sure I didn't tell him it was his birthday (a trick I employ a lot before they are old enough to know better) and instead waited to have his birthday in Kentucky with all the fam! I love going to my parent's house. They don't live in the same house I grew up in, but it still feels like home! Here are some pictures from his party!

Ethan snuggling with my nephew Judah. Check out those thunder thighs!

Papa and the boys, waiting for the festivities to begin!

The cake! Y'all I love me a Wal-Mart cake!! We don't have Super Walmarts around here (shocking I know) so we can't get them. This cupcake "cake" was really good and cost me about $20!! His cake this year, was half the size, tasted terrible and cost me twice as much!

He was a big Diego fan that year!

Don't you want to just eat that face off!

Very proud of himself!

Presents!!!

I'll wait to do my favorite things about Joel until I can post his 4th birthday pics, but I will say this....he is about the sweetest kid you will ever meet! He tells me thank you for random things throughout the entire day and is always very complimentary. Whenever I have to leave the house he tells me to "have a beautiful time", and whenever Greg leaves he says, "have an army time". What a hoot!!

The Summer of 2010

2011-10-20T12:22:00.002-04:00

Shortly after the Fourth of July in 2010 the army sent Greg on an all expense six week paid vacation to Austin, Texas. Fun, Fun. We tried to figure out a way, economically and logistically for the whole family to go with him, but ultimately decided it was best the kids and I stay in Virginia. I have amazing children. It wasn't horrible being a solo parent for a month and a half. Greg did receive several hysterical phone calls, but that is to be expected when you are juggling five kids and are tired! We did a few fun things while Greg was gone. The first was "Cow Appreciation Day" at Chick-fil-a. I hand drew all of their shirts! I was very proud of myself!

Enjoying our free food!

My littlest cow!

Abby didn't dress up but she sure did enjoy munching on this stuffed cow. I'd say she was definitely "appreciating" him!

At one point, after one of my hysterical phone calls, Greg sat the boys down and gave them a good talking too. This picture cracks me up!

We go to a wonderful church. At the end of third grade the kids are eligible to go to camp for a week. I was a nervous wreck to let Sam go. I embroidered his name on everything in sight! In this picture we were about to leave.

Sam with his best buddy Sanjiv!

Bye Mom!

Abby was ready for March Madness a little early this year. She is a UK fan already!!

Greg got done with school the second week in August. I packed everyone up and drove the 11 hours to Kentucky all by myself and he flew to meet us there. Have I mentioned how amazing my children are??? I will say, by the time we hit the Kentucky border I was driving slightly over the speed limit!