November and December are absolutely the best time of year! Everyone here gets so excited about decorating, shopping, and wrapping. I love 'making' Christmas for the family....but I'll be tired come January!
Bringing in the decorations....Rebecca couldn't believe this year we started before Thanksgiving!
Glass birds seemed fitting for the kitchen light fixture, since our bird watching station is our that window.
Greetings.....please come visit us this season!
The den, and yeah I need to finish painting above the bookcases....ran out of paint.
First time I've had a truly good space to display this part of Aaron's childhood Christmas memories. Oh, and that awesome House of Marley speaker was from Aaron so I can enjoy my Christmas music....like really enjoy it, the sound is amazing.
"ho, ho,ho"
Stringing cranberries and popcorn for the bird's tree.
Isaiah likes big sister reading to him.
Thankful for this beautiful family God has given me!
Thanksgiving afternoon at the movies. We give the new Peanuts movie a big thumbs up!
A tree Clark Griswald could be proud of...
Didn't fit in the den, but I think it looks great downstairs.
On our way to JOY- And Irish Christmas
Beautiful church in south Charlotte.
Rebecca and friend.
The Getty's music is so great!
Photo booth fun after the concert.
I made these, very rustic, wood burned and watercolor ornaments for our Jesse Tree devotions this month. We'll trace Jesus' family tree from creation to incarnation.
Chippy arrived a day early...November 30th
He brough supplies from graham cracker gingerbread houses.
A little more decorating in the kitchen
Shoe-shoe train
The kids worked together to make our holly cookie treat.
Okay, we didn't get to Grandma's house, but we have been doing a lot of treking though the woods lately. The fall weather has been absolutely prefect for most of November and we've done some Geocaching, nature journaling, and 'optingout'.
Mushroom study....we found five varieties this day!
Reddish with spots....so classic.
First geocache!
We're moving this tracker to Georgia next week.
Isaiah pointed out this mushroom after our previous mushroom scouting day.
Geocaching with daddy.
Creeks are full again!
This cache had great prizes for the kids.
mama's nature journal
Con artist begging to watch trains on the computer. He like youtube videos of model train sets.
The kids love these boulders on the trail.
We're going to be ready for Garden of the gods this spring.
Aaron put up these cool 'pinterest' bookshelves made from gutter.
Filled with our favorites stories and at eye level for the boys!
We need a few bean bags to fill this corner and complete our reading nook.
Black Friday #optoutside hike.
#optoutside family selfie.
New trial, new sights, new wonders.
Daddy teaching his children.
Little man loves to go 'inda woods' and he keeps up surprisingly well.
Rebecca was amazed by these freshwater mussles.
Mountain goat man.
Yet another new park! We will never run out of great places in North Carolina.
Oops! Its been almost three weeks since I shared pictures. Mostly, its just been busy, its always busy around here! I see myself in Rebecca as she hops from one project to another always wanting something to do....we need to cultivate the habit of 'chilling'. LOL Speaking of cultivating habits, that is one of the workshops I got to attend at a retreat this past weekend. I have been counting down to this retreat since registration in the Summer and it did not disappoint. First of all, I got to see a good friend again, who live in Indianapolis. She came down before the retreat and we met at the Biltmore Estate on Friday. I had never been and the experience was well worth the ticket price. We spent a full two hours just in the house, and that without the special added tours. What a place! I would love to have met Mr. Vanderbilt, or rather his teachers. I can't help but think his education was influenced by Charlotte Mason, whose methods were the subject of the retreat. The man's taste were so vast, from the oil painting that covered the ceiling of his extensive library, to the Grecian inspired fireplace, Renaissance tapestries, and Scandinavian stenciled ceilings. Add to this the fact he read 8 languages and spoke 5! I cannot wait to take Rebecca some day, and wish we'd had more time to explore other regions of the house, do more shopping, and we didn't even touch the gardens, trails or farm area. After that we checked into our rooms at the retreat and began and intense, but wonderful couple days of classes on how to bring Charlotte Mason into our home classrooms. I left tired, and inspired! A few of us even played 'hooky' from one session and went into Asheville for some Mellow Mushroom Pizza and swapped notes and ideas from the days workshops. I've never left everyone like that before, but I think we all agree it was a great investment for mama. Aaron and the kids had a fun weekend together, I think he made my crafts look dull in comparison. He built a race track fitted with foil flags, and when the winning car hit its flag it completed a circuit and lit a light, locking out the losers light! They also built a k'nex rollercoaster and went to Wal-mart 4 times in 3 days. LOL I'm glad it went well, because I'm already counting on next year's retreat! Oh, and before all this we had Halloween, or meet the neighbors night, as I like to think of it, and a few random pictures of the kids at work and play during the days.
We painted the den a couple weeks ago. It wasn't the green I envisioned, but I have grown to like it a lot!
Aaron added a gas fireplace in the den too, it will help cut down on heating costs this winter, not to mention this is now the coziest and most favorite room in the house for everyone.
Isaiah was so excited by the fireplace that he refused to leave it the first night....so he fell asleep in front of the flames.....then I put him in his bed.
Part of the Scooby Doo crew.
Rebecca, as Velma, was very recognizable!
The kids got loaded up on candy! Even after a day and a half of munching, we had a full Target bag to hide.
Rebecca skills in the kitchen are becoming very helpful, there was lots of chopping to do for cashew chicken and she did it ALL!
If you can't get to the gym, bring the gym to yourself! Our 'cottage' out back is now our YMCA.
One picture I snapped inside the Biltmore before I realized indoor photos weren't allowed.
The shops at Biltmore were full of treasures!
What a place!
A quick view of the gardens as we drove by.
I loved this tiny little rental car....that didn't smell like stale chik-fil-a!
A used book sale, all living books, at the retreat meant books for everyone!
Soooo much rain in North Carolina last week. Isaiah is master of the umbrella.
Rebecca wants to learn quilting and use the sewing machine. Our first project is going to be a doll quilt from pre-cut squares. Something simple, but doable to build skill and confidence.
She is very eager!
A couple poems Rebecca wanted to share with everyone.
