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| Pumpkins in the apple orchard. |
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| Ava Mae insisted on finding the smallest apples because, they looked cute. |
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| After picking two bags of apples, we headed back to the orchard store to pick out some more goodies. |
This year, instead of a thankful tree, we made a thankful chain. Each morning, at the school table, I had the kids get a slip of paper that I had hand-stamped, Counting my Blessings, and write something they were thankful for.
We loved watching our chain grow and grow! We have so much to be thankful for {God, a roof over our head, food on the table, nice clothes to wear, friends, each other, our pets, gifts and talents that God has given us}!!
"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name." Psalm 100:4
Each year our small homeschool group has a Thanksgiving Party. The main reason for the party is for the kids to come together and prepare their Operation Christmas Child boxes.
After finishing up it was time for snacks and one of our groups favorite games ...
The Donut Game {which became a tradition several years ago as an alternative to bobbing for apples - which for us germ-a-phobe moms is a nightmare} We normally play the Donut Game at our Halloween Party but, we ran out of time this year so we moved this fun activity to the Thanksgiving Party.
Yesterday we brought our packed boxes to church. My kids look forward to packing these boxes each year - we always pray for the child who will receive the box! It is great way to start the holiday season.
The kids and I love this poem "Autumn Fires" by Robert Louis Stevenson. And though, Mr. Stevenson, was speaking of actual fires the kids and I felt like all the trees around us now appear to be on fire with their bright orange, yellow, and red leaves. Fall ... my favorite time of year!!
"In the other gardens
Pleasant summer over
Sing a song of seasons!
Another fun Halloween ... our good friends throw a wonderful party each year. There is lots of yummy food for dinner and then we all head out to trick-or-treat the neighborhood they live in.
Many of our closest friends attend each year and the kids have a blast!
The theme this year amongst my kids was to dress like one of their best friends ...
{Pictured above - Ava Mae with her best friend, Maddie Bell - they were Rockettes. Pictured below - Devin with one of his best buds, Clarke, as Boston Red Sox players}
This year Lexi won the costume contest for the girls ...
{Pictured above - Lexi with one of her best friends, JK. Trick or Treating. Pictured below - just some of the ten pounds of candy loot my kids brought home.}
Today we hosted our small homeschool group for our annual Halloween Party. It was another beautiful fall day and the 25 kids had a great time playing, snacking, and participating in the costume contest.
{My friend, Jamie, getting all of our kids ready for the group shot ... so nice to have a professional photographer in our group!}
{The judging begins ... my friend, Christi, once again graciously agreed to be the judge.}
{Our winners ... Princess Leah and Erragon}
So blessed to have such great families that we get to do homeschool life with!
{Some of my dearest friends!!! Three of which are pregnant ... so excited to be having so many new babies in our group. My friend Rebecca is actually past her due date - hoping her new baby arrives soon!}
{Ava Mae and her best friend, Maddie Bell, are Rockettes this year!}
Our field trip for October was to Burt's Pumpkin Farm ... it is located in the North Georgia Mountains and is a working pumpkin farm {not a farm where pumpkins are brought into and sold like another farm we have frequented each fall}. So worth the 1 1/2 drive ... it was so scenic and the leaves were just beautiful!
Three days ago the weather was warm ... not so much today. When we arrived at the farm temps were floating below the 40 degree mark. Thankfully, we were able to duck inside one of the buildings and get some warm popcorn while we waited for our field trip to start.
The kids enjoyed the hayride and picking out pumpkins. We brought home four sugar pumpkins, a grey pumpkin and a bright orange pumpkin.
{Above: Lexi posing with one of her good friends - JK}
{Below: kids posing with some of the gorgeous pumpkins ... Ava Mae had on an adorable Halloween outfit - unfortunately, she was too cold to remove any of the layers that were covering it.}
I love fall baseball ... especially when the weather cools off and our views around the ballpark look like this on a cool crisp Saturday morning!
Congrats to the Tigers for a great win today and to Devin for pitching an awesome 2 innings!!
