Got Scarecrows?

I am so proud of our little hometown...okay, maybe 'proud' is a little too strong of an emotion... but it was neat of the community to come together to pull this off...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSPNMCvh18M

http://www.braseltonnewstoday.com/archives/965-Hoschton-surpasses-world-record-goal.html

These were our contributions to the endeavor... Beauty & the (scarecrow)Beast:

The really funny thing is that we have nearly 60 of these guys around the entrance of our subdivision and EVERY TIME I drive in, I think "Who are all those people and why are they standing out here??"!!!

*-*-*-*-* FIESTA!! *-*-*-*-*

Our second stop on our homeschooling 'trip around the world' this year was Mexico. For two weeks, we learned about the geography, economy and culture of Mexico. We also really really enjoyed tasting their FOOD!!! What's not to love about tortillas, cheese dip and sopapillas??!

The girls also spent quite a bit of time on their pinata project. After much discussion, we decided that we could not simply get by with sharing the job of making ONE pinata and definitely needed to make TWO!!

It was messy... but lots of fun!

As a final celebration of our time in Mexico, our friends the Moores invited us and several other families (who are also using ECC this year) to participate in a group Fiesta. Everyone brought yummy Mexican dishes to share as well as their arts and crafts projects that they'd completed during their study.

One family's dad had just returned from a mission trip to Mexico, so their boys brought lots of neat souveniers to show us including some beaded pottery that was just amazing.

We are so thankful for other Christian homeschooling friends who help make this journey fun!

Double Digits

It's official... our first child has completed her first decade of life! I can hardly believe that we have a 10 year old... a 'tween'... a child who will be able to drive in 5 years...!

Abbie had a super birthday by all accounts. We were excited to have Anna, Pacca & Uncle Mark (who hasn't been to Georgia in nearly 7 years!!) visiting for the weekend. The day began with breakfast at the WH (Waffle House) with her daddy, sister and grandpa. Then she came home to a pile of family presents to open-- including 10 presents from Mom & Dad (one for each year). I'm not sure she had a favorite gift because she was blessed with all sorts of fun stuff-- from cash & gift cards to a new dolphin Webkinz to new art supplies to a clothes shopping spree to sapphire birthstone earrings!! The girl racked up!!!

Modeling her birthstone earrings!

A 'card' from Cousin Chloe with her first coloring on it!!

For her birthday party, she had requested to take a few friends to a new 'family fun center' and then have a slumber party. The girls (and parents & grandparents!) enjoyed playing laser tag, arcade games and putt putt.

All the kids LOVED laser tag...

even the 'big' ones!!!

We came home to a cupcake birthday cake (our party theme was 'cupcakes') minus ice cream-- which had melted because mommy left the outside freezer door cracked earlier in the day... bad mommy! Popcorn, M-n-M's and a (nearly) midnight screening of Tom & Jerry cartoons ended the day.

A new look for Fall!

Although its not 'officially' fall yet, I've decided to try out a new look at "TFT"...

I think I'm just getting excited about cooler weather & pumpkins in the yard (even though it's still in the 80's here!)

Soccer Star!

Emma has been interested in playing soccer for a year or so and we finally decided this fall to take a break from ballet and try a new sport. We enrolled her in a local city league and she literally had her 'soccer gear bag' packed that same day (even though her first practice wasn't for 3 weeks!). So, I think it would be fair to say she was just a little bit excited!

Her coaches have been very encouraging-- she is one of only two kids on the team that have never played before--but they keep telling us you'd never know it. She concentrates very hard on what she is doing when she's on the field. She's learning how to 'hustle' and be more aggressive with the ball. She loves going to practice and seems very excited about all she is learning.

Her "Team Attack" has 4 girls and 4 boys on the team. We should get uniforms this week before our first game this Saturday so I'll be sure to post new pictures when she is decked out in full gear!