One Fourth Down

So, we have been in our house for 3 months now.  1/4 of our time here at Quantico is done.  11 months in one place is such a short time.  I feel like we are finally settled in with everything in its place, and then Chris and I are talking about where the monitor may place us next. 

He met with his monitor (the Marine that places us at the next duty station) about a month ago.  Chris decided not to apply to the follow on school here which means we will definitely be moving in the summer.  Back to the fleet.  Back to deployment cycles.  Back to daddy being gone ALOT.  My heart immediately begins to praise God for the past 4 years and putting Chris in a job and at school where he has been able to be home with us.  I know God will sustain us as we move into this new phase of Chris's career.  This time in the fleet will be so very different from when I had a 2 and 4 year old.  We have school aged kids now and a toddler.  School aged kids with Daddy being gone will be a whole new ball game for all of us. But if there is one thing I know for certain, God knows what lies ahead and He will be with us through it all.

 Where to next you may ask?  As far as jobs in the Marine Corps go, there are some positions available in CA and Hawaii.  We will see where they end up placing us.  I will probably have news to report sometime after Christmas. 

As we head into my one of my favorite times of the year, I am so glad to feel settled and in a routine.  It makes things feel like "home" and not just a place we are visiting for a while. 

Last Sunday afternoon, the kids all wanted to draw and write stories.  We turned on some music in the kitchen.  I cooked and they worked.  Chris was busy working on a paper for school so it was nice that everyone found something quiet to do.  Everyone was content and happy and it was so blissful.  I just stood there and watched them and soaked it all in. 

  

If you haven't read Ann Voskamp's book, One Thousand Gifts, I HIGHLY recommend it.  It has totally changed how I look at things.  Trying to slow down and pay attention to all the gifts that God has given to me.  Even the smallest gifts.  This day, I was so very thankful for these 3 huge gifts that God has entrusted to me.  So humbled that He would allow me to be their Mommy.  To love, teach,  and watch as He makes them into the people that He intended. 



Budding Engineers

Several weeks ago, the kids were able to test out their building skills in one of our history activities. We were studying the Pilgrims move to Holland and learning about the landscape of this new country.  I just love our curriculum!!!!  This activity is one of many very cool things with get to do with HOD.  It is a very tactile and "do and see" curriculum which helps learning really stick!

They learned all about what canals are and how important the dike built by the ocean was to this little town.  Here are some examples of our very own dikes.

Just about done building...

Finished

We placed Monopoly JR. ticket booths on one side of the dike to represent the town and then poured water on the other side to show what would happen when the water would rise...

Looks like we need to make a small repair in the bottom of his dike.

A picture of Hayley's dike after she made some repairs to hers. 



We Celebrate Columbus Day on Friday!

Mimi and Papa came up for their annual fall visit a couple of weeks ago.  Columbus Day week to be exact.  We had several fun things planned to do while they were in town, so we had "school" on the actual Columbus Day and took the Friday of that week off!!!  The kids kept saying that Friday was OUR Columbus Day.  Very cute. 

We spent Friday in this cute little town, Occaquan, just shopping, eating, and playing.  We went out to dinner that night and went home to rest up for game day on Saturday.

It was SO WINDY and COLD that Saturday morning.  Mimi and HB are trying to say warm. 

Hayley and some of her cheerleader buddies!

Running to make another TD!

Did I mention it was windy?

BRRRRRRRRRR

After the game was over, we headed home to change and get a snack before heading out to Graves Mountain Apple Festival.  This festival is another one that we took the kids to when they were babies.  I was so excited to go back and enjoy all the sites, sounds, and smells of fall in the mountains again!

The trees were so beautiful and the bluegrass music was great! 

All the kiddos got to take a pony ride!  Hayley was in heaven.  She is all about horses right now.  

Hannah Beth's first pony ride!!

'

Trying to get her to look at Chris

Chris took the "big" kids down to the creek that runs through the property where the festival is held.  I was certain that someone would fall in, but I was wrong.  And they were super happy!

Nothing like an ice cream cone to end the day!

Our weekend visits with Mimi and Papa also seem to go by way too fast.  Good news is they will be back in about a month for Thanksgiving and Aunt Holly is coming too!  Can't wait.



Belvedere Plantation

For our first field trip this year, we headed down to Fredericksburg to explore Belvedere Plantation.  The same Belvedere Plantation that we went to 8 years ago...

Luke was 2 and a half months old.

And then again when Luke was almost 15 months

And again when Luke was 2 and Hayley was 3 months old

Today was a much different experience.  I love that we are able to revisit some places we loved so much when they were babies so that they can enjoy it once again.  I remember the first visit to Belvedere as I watched all the big kids on the rides, slides, and rope swings.  I couldn't wait until Luke was big enough to do all those fun things.  And here we are, visiting with an 8 year old and a 6 year old. 

Baby bear stayed home with Chris since he had the day off and she wasn't feeling so well.  I forgot my camera, but I took as many pics as I could with my cell phone.

We rode out to the pumpkin patch and selected our pumpkins.  After putting the pumpkins in the car, we headed down the hill to the learning stations.  All I can say is fantastic.  We learned about how a pumpkin grows, what it needs to grow, what the bees jobs are in the process and so much more.  We got to visit a pumpkin science lab where we estimated, measured and weighed a pumpkin. 

When we finished off the last learning station, we headed out to just play and have FUN!

Waiting for our turn on the rope swing in the barn!

Feeding the sheep

This slide was the favorite.  You had to ride on a burlap sack in the tunnel that is in the hill!  I couldn't get a picture of them shooting out it was so fast!

 The hill!