Winter Time Fun!

Hello, everyone! Just checking in to share some of what we've been up to the past couple months. It's been a cold winter here in the south so far but we are hanging in there! :-)

Between Christmas, New Year's, unexpected snow, Valentine's Day, and all the other life happenings since December it's been a busy, crazy time.....but definitely filled with lots of good times as well! Instead of trying to go back and write all about the things we've been up to I thought I would share a few pictures for you to enjoy. They always say a picture is worth a thousand words anyway, right?!
                                                                   Merry Christmas!

                                                            
                                                              Celebrating the New Year!

                                                   

                                                       Our first dusting of snow in January!

                                                           Happy Birthday to Me!

                                                          Our BIG February snow!! :-)

                                                     Happy Valentine's Day!! <3

 

The End!! :-)

Field Trip to the Columbus Ships!

Well, another week has flown by and while we had a sick baby as well as some other issues that kept us from a full workload for school we still made it to our field trip on Friday! Here's a little rundown on it and some pictures for you to see.

The Christopher Columbus replica ships were in port about 20 minutes from our house so we planned up a fun outing to go tour them. It was a warm, sunny day here in AL and we had a great turnout for the group.  The replicas are of the Nina and Pinta. We had a guide that shared some info about the ships and we were able to go on board and look around as well. Here's a link to the site that shares more about them. It's a fun way to learn about how they traveled back then and the history behind Columbus' discovery. And here's a look at the ships!

                                        The Pinta

                                         The Nina

 

 

So there's our last field trip for Septemeber! Can't wait to plan up some new outings for next month and be back to share them with you all. :-)

 

(linked up with Field Trip Friday over at Home to 4 Kiddos)

Summertime Randomness {a what we've been up to post}

Is it just me or has summer literally flown by?! Seems like only yesterday we were finishing up our school year in May and now it's already the middle of August! Anyway, I haven't written much about things we are doing these days so thought I would share some of the fun and crazy moments of our lives the past couple months. Here are the 4-D details, in no certain order.....

~ Daxton is taking a couple steps here and there but hasn't totally started cruising yet. It definitely doesn't stop him from getting around though! He also seems to love climbing so we have to keep a close eye out for that.

~ Delancey has discovered sign language in the past couple months and is loving it! It's so fun seeing her so excited about learning something new. Can't wait to see how she progresses in the future.

~ Dathan is still loving making his own movies. He writes scripts, takes pictures, records, and then puts it all together on the computer. I really think he may go somewhere with this when he's older!

~ Darcey has grown up so much in the past few months! I have to sometimes remind myself she's still only 2. She loves learning new things, writing, drawing, reading, and watching her favorite shows. Her vocabulary never ceases to amaze us.

~ The kids have all loved swimming at my parents, of course. The liner had to be replaced on the pool this year so they didn't get as early a start as usual. And now it's already seeming cooler than normal so the water is getting chilly. I'm sure they will try to get in as much of it as possible before they start freezing!

~ We've done some school days here in there finishing up various subjects and grasping a few concepts a little better after having a lighter load with the new baby last year. The kids weren't totally crazy about it but it's been good for them I think.

~ A missionary friend of ours is home from Brazil and has made a couple of trips down to see us this summer. He is a great man of God and the kids absolutely love spending time with him! So glad that they can have real heroes to look up to in their lives instead of what the world would have them admire.

~ Got to attend a campmeeting in TN back in July for a few days. It was such a blessing to fellowship with other believers and hear some great singing and preaching. The kids had fun making new friends and Delancey got a new penpal as well.

~ Allergies and other health issues have abounded this year. Some days, well, weeks really have been rough as we struggle with reactions to the chemicals they put on the crops nearby. It can be challenging to try and do just normal life stuff when the way you feel isn't normal. Not to mention, how it effects our sleep habits. Chronic tiredness is the worst. thing. ever. ((yawn))

~ We've enjoyed doing some Bible/Character studies in the past couple months. I think I've learned as much and been convicted over certain behaviours more than the kids! It's amazing what the Lord can show you when you're truly desiring to learn. Another neat thing was that several times what we had been studying about during the week was the same or similar to the devotions Blake would share with us as well! No coincidence there I'm sure.

That's about all I'm thinking about at the moment! It's definitely been a summer full of good and not so good times but looking back I'm thankful for every single one I got to spend with my kiddos. We are getting back into the swing of schooling more full time again. But first we have a couple of birthdays to celebrate in the next week! Can't wait to share the details of all the fun with Dathan turning 10 and Daxton turning 1. Until then.....

                                   Tyra 

Springtime Fun

 

Here's a little peek at some of what we've been up to since the weather's been pretty. Love these crazy kiddos! :-)

 

 

 Flying her kite all by herself. She did such a great job!

 First time in the baby swing. He LOVED it!!

 My sweet girl on Easter after playing outside.

 Trying to pull the sword out of the stone.

 Getting ready to slide.

 One of the "little pigs" houses. :-)

 Watching the lady churn butter. (don't you just love the pigtails?!)

 So much fun on the playgrounds!

 Baby boy taking it easy at the park.

Climbing the ropes. (this is right before his foot got stuck! haha)

It's so nice being able to get out and enjoy the sunshine together! Can't wait to have more fun this spring and summer. As long as we can keep our crazy allergies in check it should be a blast! :-)

Sickness, Allergies, and a Last Minute Trip

Between passing around colds off and on the past couple months and then getting hit with spring allergies (yes, they come early here in the south) we just haven't been able to get over the congestion and coughs. Especially the little ones have had a hard time with it, which of course means so have I.
Going to the ocean has always helped my allergies clear up a lot so after a particularly rough weekend I had the brilliant idea to pack everyone up and head to the beach! (which all of you with small children know is easier said than done. ha!)
After lots of work and a few loooong hours of driving we made it down to Destin and was able to stay for about 3 days.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the instant cure-all I was hoping for but it was beautiful there and the kids had so much fun! It was already a little more crowded than we expected for early March so we avoided the beach during the mid-day hours since we prefer not to see that much skin. Getting out in the morning and evening was great though.
Darcey loved it and asks almost every day to go back. I'm seeing another trip to the beach in our future if she has anything to say about it! :-)
Here's a few pics of the trip for you to enjoy. If you haven't been to Destin, FL before, I highly recommend it for the white sands and clear waters. It is SO beautiful!

Meeting Me {a getting to know you post & link-up}

Thought it would be fun to share a few things about myself here on the blog AND then let you write and link up your own posts so we can get to know each other better! The linky and instructions will be at the bottom of this post but for now sit back and enjoy learning a little more about me! These are just some random facts in no apparent order:

~ I'm in my 30's now.....which still feels weird to say.

~ Been married almost 11 years (this month) and have 4 kids.

~ Was homeschooled all my life and now get to homeschool my own kiddos. Wouldn't trade either experience for anything!

~ Preacher's wife, daughter, and granddaughter. I guess it must be in my blood or something! :-)

~ Struggle with chronic health problems that often make every day tasks seem impossible and overwhelming.

~ Started reading when I was 4 and have loved it ever since! Books are a huge weakness/strength of mine.

~ We are a family with crazy, weird, multiple allergies and sensitivities. It's always a challenge trying to keep up with it all, as well as just deal with how it makes us feel.

~ Love just about any and all things natural whether it be food, medicines, cleaning supplies or whatever!

~ I have changed my last name twice since getting married. To the same man. (loooong story!)

~ I play the piano. Would like to learn violin but just haven't gotten around to it. Yet.

~ Had 1 medicated birth and 3 all natural  births and would definitely prefer the pain over the reactions to the meds any day.

~ Music and singing is one of my favorite things in life. God has used songs so many times to speak to my heart and also allow me to worship/praise Him. Thankful it's something I can share with my family as well.

~ Before I met Blake I prayed specifically for God to send me a husband with dark hair. (among lots of other things, of course) And He did! :-)

~ On our wedding day I was really sick and had to take medicine which made me sleepy. When the video zooms in on my face I look like a zombie with a dry mouth. Ha! The upside? I was so out of it I didn't even feel nervous or cry. The worst downside? Trying to sing with that dry medicine mouth. Fun times.

~ Have had depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and other emotional issues off and on for years. And it. is. hard. BUT I've learned that God's grace truly is sufficient. Even if I can't see it in the middle of the darkness, I can always look back and realize just how much it was there.

~ Took horse riding lessons at a local equestrian center when I was a teenager and now my 7 yr old just started taking there as well. With the same teacher and horses I had! So neat.

~ We went to an "out of the way" resort in Jamaica for our honeymoon. And there were honestly a couple of times I didn't think we would make it out alive! Privacy is great, but a little too much local culture for our taste. (think marijuana and machetes. ah!)

~ I always wear skirts or dresses of some kind. (except for my pjs/lounge pants around the house:) Trying to teach our girls that being feminine and modest, while still dressing cute, is way more important and pleasing to God than fitting in with worldly styles.

~ I love the beach and would probably choose to live there if I could. (an added bonus is it's always great for my allergies!)

~ I believe that God exists, created everything including man in 6 days, that first man sinned thereby condemning us all to death, then God's Son, Jesus, came to the earth to live a sinless life, died a cruel death on the cross in our place, miraculously rose from the grave in 3 days, and is now in Heaven making intercession to the Father for us.

~ I also KNOW that the Holy Spirit showed me as a 10 year old girl that I was a sinner and that I needed to ask His forgiveness and trust Him to save me. I'll never forget the relief I felt after bowing in that alter to pray! I'm more thankful than I can say for God's grace in my life. Every. single. day.

Well, I could go on and on but I think I'll just leave it at that for now! If you want to know anything else feel free to ask in the comments. :-)

Now for the link-up fun! Just write your own blog post with a little something about yourself in it and enter the info in the linky below. Easy-peasy, right?! (oh, and if you could link back to this post  on the blog that would be great too!) If you don't have a blog you can just leave a fun fact about you in the comments so we can still get to know each other better. Can't wait to "meet" you all!!


                                                           Tyra

Christmas Fun!

Last weekend we finally got a chance to go get a Christmas tree! This job tends to be a little challenging for us since we all have so many allergies (including a severe one to artificial greenery. fun.) but luckily none of us are sensitive to a Leland Cypress and a couple of tree farms around here have those. Yay! We were lucky enough to find the perfect tree within just a few minutes of getting there. (which was good since Daxton started screaming his head off right after that and wouldn't stop! I think he was reacting to the smells of the other trees...they were so strong. Poor baby.) Of course in all that craziness I didn't manage to get any pictures of the outing. Which is kinda sad with it being Daxton's first tree. :(

But I did snap a few of the kids decorating it later so here are some of those for you all to see.....

(getting the ornaments out)

 (delancey hanging some on the tree)

 (dathan getting ready to put the tree skirt on)

 (daxton was just taking it easy while the others helped decorate)

 (the finished product!)

 (sweet sisters looking at the tree all lit up)


The kids had so much fun decorating this year and were able to do most of it by themselves this time! That makes it more special than any kind of fancy tree I could do on my own. :-) So there's our 2012 Christmas tree. What kind of decorating have y'all done around your houses?