The 4th and a Fun Day~

The most exciting part of the 4th for our family is Savannah's birthday.
She and her family were at the beach so they celebrated there~

 while we celebrated her here at home with Patriotic brownies and ice cream~

 We hung out at the pool during the day and after dinner, we took the boat out not far from our dock for fireworks show~

This week we were missing the boys so much, we took a day trip to see them~

 There is a cool park near their new house so we took the kids to play~

 They had the best time chasing and climbing~

 It was in the high 90s so we didn't stay for more than an hour or so~

 We made it back for lunch and a movie rest time~

 BC and Calla have to patch each day so it was sweet that they were supporting each other!

On the way home, we stopped by Rosie's new office and boy was it beautiful~

Of course Crockett was the favorite part for the kids!!!

Spring Break with Rosie~

We had the most wonderful week having Rosie home for her Spring Break week.
She is amazing in how much time she spends with the kids~

 She spent time outside with them~

 Read tons of books to them~

 And for her celebratory meal she wanted Cracker Barrel~

 Sunday we took a picnic down to our dock and enjoyed being together for her last day~

And I'm not going to lie when I say it was hard to watch her car drive away for her last 6 weeks of college life!
Where have the last 4 years gone?
Love you Rosie!!!

Dinner with the College Kids~

A Surprise for Rosie~

Rosie was called into work @ Epiphany~

 So we decided to drive over the Athens to surprise her and that we did~

 We loved the store and all the people we met~

They even had the kids post for an IG post with these cute hats on!!!
Love your store Rose and so proud of you!!!

Grand Day~

We were SO excited to get a day with the Grandboys!
I took our Friday Freewrite and a couple of books to read~

 We put a little twist on Tenzi with Tower Tenzi and Evie wrote 3 stories~

The boys were beyond precious, and we loved playing all day with them~

Rosie came to spend the afternoon and when Savannah got home, it was hard to tell them apart~

Loved every single minute and can't wait for the next one!!!

Finishing Strong~

We finished up a great week on Thursday with playdough donuts~

 and cute little Dogs with Donuts~

Everyone had great entries for their Friday Freewrite~

Friday is our Cleaning Day. Today I had an epiphany about Chores. Other than laundry and vacuuming the kitchen, we don't do much cleaning during the week. Friday is our day.

Our children earn $1 each on Fridays to help with house cleaning which they tuck away in their wallets. They talk about what they will buy when they've saved up enough. It takes a long time to save up with that wage. Which takes me to my big thought today...

We don't need more stuff and tucking their money away for only themselves might not be edifying a family spirit SO I offered another option...

A JOY Jar (aka cookie jar) where they could save their allowance as a team toward a family outing (zoo, aquarium, or museum). This morning E,H,&C all came down completely ready for the day and I had them drop a quarter in the Joy Jar. After chores, everyone WANTED to drop their allowance in. They even did lots of extra jobs to earn more. They all worked so hard as a team and instead of thinking about themselves, they were thinking about each other. They are welcome to keep their money but no one did.

I'm also going to catch them in random acts of kindness, making wise choices, and working diligently in whatever they do to add to our jar as well.

It may still take us a long time to earn enough money for an outing but there is already $10 in the jar just from today! I'd say that's a win for Family Fun Friday!!!

There are SO many skills being practiced in this adventure. Teamwork as a family being the best!!!

And THIS was the highlight of the day!

Donuts with Dad for a great D week~

Loved seeing these cute pics of Rosie on her 70s Date Night with ZTA~

And the perfect ending for the a great weekend~

A Beautiful Sunset!

August Birthdays: SJ is 10~

It is tradition around here to celebrate birthdays all weekend and week of the birthday
so we were thrilled to have a house full of family including these darling boys~

Love having Savannah and the boys here to celebrate~

We celebrated Rosie (22), SJ (10), and Max (9)~

 Presents and a melted DQ ice cream cake was SO fun~

SJ got a big loom since she has fallen in love with weaving as well as more Lego dragons (look above)~

I LOVED snapping these cute photos that show her personality to a T~

Always smiling and sweet, loves to joke and laugh, and very diligent!
Happy birthday beautiful SJ!!!

The GrandLOVES~

A few recent photos of our grand LOVES~

 Six weeks old not!

Savannah and the boys went to visit Rosie this week~

and they sent me pics!
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

Rosie~

We LOVE it when Rosie comes home for the weekend~

and ecstatic when she chooses to spend her Spring Break with us!!!
Love you Rosie!!!

Warm Weather~

The week of Rosie's spring break could not have been more perfect~

 Shorts and tshirts, long days in our yard, and walks in the evenings~

EK was especially happy for the time with her big sister!!!
Evie wanted me to take a photo of her 'natural' gun OR drill depending on what she's playing that day.
Yay for early Spring!!!!!

Christmas Traditions~

Big families have built in 'elves', and my Christmas cards are in the mail because of them~

 It was the most precious thing to watch Calla do her job.
She picked up one card at a time and placed into the box.
So serious and thoughtful!

Everyone was SO happy to welcome Rosie back home for the holidays from college~

 Especially the baby!

As tradition would have it, we all enjoyed the Christmas parade with our cousins~

Then went home to open our first gift of Christmas (pajamas) and watched Miracle of 34th Street~

Our Christmas holidays are off to a beautiful beginning!!!

A Day @ BC's~

We went out to take Amelia's car to the airport and spent the day with BC~

Just look at those sweet smiles!!!

Rosie's College Home~

How can it be time for Rosie to be back at school?

Didn't summer just begin?

The sweet thing about it all...

An adorable cottage we got decorate and make a home~

The kids were awesome and we worked for about 5 hours~

The living area turned out beautiful

And Rosie's room gorgeous~

She worked all summer painting this furniture and collecting the things Jojo would choose

Creating her very own 'Magnolia' sanctuary. 

We are gonna miss her here at home but it is such a sweet thought to know she lives in a very beautiful place.

Love you like crazy Rosekapose!!!