Lots to be Thankful for!!

We had a great thanksgiving! My sister and her family came over and we all ate the day away! It was probably our nicest Thanksgiving in a long time. There was no stress here because my sis and I split the menu. We are both pregnant and we don't need any more stress than possible. We played games and the kids played outside with all the neighbor kids for like 3 hours! We all had a blast!! It was nice to be together and a great reminder that we all have so much to be thankful for!

Another Bunny Dies

I guess it is a good way for children to learn the cycle of life and death. Pets help them know that all creatures are born once and then eventually die. But it hurts all the same!

This morning we had another bunny die. But I am not sure I handled it all too well. I went outside to let the dog out and the bunny cage was open. Camden, our 6 year old, fed them yesterday and apparently he didn't shut the cage back tight. Usually Carley does it, and yesterday he helped her with her chores. I don't know when she got out, but she was stiff as could be in the middle of the yard. I could tell it had been awhile since it happened. The dog was out last night for quite a while and our guess is that she chased the bunny down in her instinctual way. I'm sure the dog was just playing, but Star, the bunny, was too fragile to "play."

When I saw her (THE BUNNY) in the yard, I immediately called for Shannon. Carley was still sleeping, so I thought we could dispose of the bunny before she saw what happened. He ran outside and got rid of her, but Carley looked out her window and saw him. In my desperate attempt to protect the kids from the trauma that they incurred the last time a bunny died, I lied to them (not knowing that Carley saw the whole thing out her bedroom window.) I told them that the bunny got out of the cage and must have run away (because dying seemed so much more traumatic to me!!). Carley asked what Daddy picked up in the yard. She said it looked like the bunny. Ugh!! I blew her off and tried to get away with it. She asked a few more times and I was feeling extremely guilty, so I told them the truth. They cried and mourned, but it was nothing like our last bunny death.

Why did I lie to them?? I didn't really think about it. Time just seemed to stand still, so I tried to protect them. The last time a bunny died was the first time we had a pet die and it was extremely traumatic for the children. They actually found her and didn't realize she was dead for several minutes. All I wanted was to protect them from that. They realized that I make mistakes too (if they hadn't figured that out already!!) and I prayed and asked them to forgive me . . . and they were eager to. I am glad for the conviction of the Holy Spirit and I am still asking myself, "WHY DID I DO THAT??"

The good thing is that we still have Hope, the other bunny. She will just have to get used to being alone.

It's a GIRL!!

We were so excited to find out on Thursday, that we are welcoming a baby girl into our family in March! The tech said she is measuring at a due date of March 20th instead of the 30th! "I say come early sweetie!!" Her name will be Caydence Lynne. She will be named after her mom, dad, and paternal grandfather (Pop Pop)!! We are so excited for her arrival! Carley and Camden got go to with me! They were both hoping for a girl so they were thrilled! I let them take turns making phone calls. They felt so BIG!!

Well, I gotta go shopping for girl stuff!! More later!

Check Out This Video About the Church

Vacation Update

We just got back from Myrtle Beach with my Hunny's entire family (pretty much). Every year they go on a golf vacation. We have been before, but it has been about 6 years since our last time. Every year it's the same thing . . . the men (and a few of the women) golf all day and most of the women go SHOPPING!! It's fun but no one else takes their kids. So the whole shopping till ya drop for 8 days in a row . . . my kids were not interested. So I knew I was going to have to find other things to do to keep them entertained.

So before we left I did some googling and found a few things that the kids would enjoy. We did all kinds of stuff!! We found a Children's Museum and the kids loved that!!! They spent an entire afternoon in that place! It was awesome too! There was so much to learn and see. We went to a Zoo. It was more like a preserved piece of land with lots of exotic animals to see. It wasn't like a regular zoo. It was right up my kids ally because they love to feed animals. They love to see baby animals and they got to do both. I also found a Civil War Museum and Shannon's dad just loves that kind of stuff. So he took the kids one afternoon after golf. They said it wasn't super exciting, but they always enjoy being with Grandparents. Then there was the Mall on Halloween night. They were in out of the cold and they got a little bit of candy. That was a lot of fun! They taught Carter how to say "Trick or Treat!" It was really cute!!

We were invited (don't ask how) to a "Get out and vote Rally" for the Republican party. It was a cool experience for the kids. There were all kinds of local politicians and the kids got their picture in the local paper!! We have been doing lots of learning about voting and the elections so this was interesting to be a part of.

This is Shannon and I enjoying the festivities!

We even found the local library in MB!! (I think homeschoolers can spot one miles away!!) Well, come to find out . . . they have several, thank goodness!! The hotel we stayed in didn't have a business center with computers, like most hotels do, so we used my new GPS and simply typed in "library" and vioala . . . a long list of possibilities!! This is a funny story . . .

The first library that came up was the closest one so we went there and found that on rainy days . . . it doubles as a homeless shelter!! The place was full and packed with homeless people sleeping all over the place!! AND there were only 2 computers that could only be used for 15 minutes at a time!! That's not even long enough to check your email!! So we went to the next one on the list and it was a beautiful new library with 24 computers. We left the kids with family and we each spent an hour on the computers!! It was still a strange experience . . . the people that we there that day . . . . were making noises and snoring while awake . . . I could go on . . . it just seemed like everyone that sat near us was . . . making some strange noises OR they had strange smells coming from their direction . . . . it was memorable . . . let's just put it that way!! We did go back another day and we took the kids to explore the kids books!! That was an experience too! It was one of Carter's bad days . . . I know we are all entitled to them sometimes . . . his was library day!!!

I will post more later . . .

Election Day is Tomorrow

Please read Becky's latest post at Blessed with Olive Plants. She has done a great job of getting involved!

I, on the other hand . . .I am in myrtle Beach on vacation and I came to the local library to check my email . . . let's just say public computers are an experience and if you have never used one . . . you're lucky!!

More when I get home!