East Bound And Down

 Earlier this summer my cousin Jamie called to let us know that he had a load to deliver in our area.  We jumped at the chance to visit with him and his sweetie Tina. What a fun time we had!  We had a good meal at the TA and got the grand tour of the big blue Peterbilt.  It's an amazing machine.  After listening to the two of them tell us all about life on the road, I have so much more respect for the truckers out there.

Jamie and Tina bring Titan the dog along for the ride.  What a well traveled dog.  He seems to love his life on the road.  I'm so proud of my cousins!!

Kiwi-less Living

My arm just after all the scratches.  OUCH!!!  and ITCH!!!!

This is 15 minutes later.  

See all of those big red splotches on the bottom?  That was the housework section.  I am officially allergic to laundry and toilet cleaning.  I'm also allergic to kiwi fruit, cats, dust mites, and oak trees.  The doc says that kiwi fruit is related to latex, bananas and avocados.  So far I can eat both of them with no issues but he says that may change.  And from now on I'm supposed to assume and allergy to latex just to be safe. I think I would not really miss bananas but I don't even want to think about a life without guacamole.  

Six And A Highchair

This is Cheyanne.

She's our little houseguest for a while.

Isn't she a cutie?!  

We've once again been launched into the world of diapers, bottles, baby food and carseats.

It's a good thing that Lee and I have a little bit of experience with baby girls.

She has Lee wrapped around her tiny baby finger.

He's a sucker for a baby girl.

The HUGE advantage that we have now is four older girls who are loving practicing their mommy skills.  Caitlin is intently trying to teach Cheyanne to say Cay Kin.  

Hobbes and Cheyanne are still getting to know each other. 

 She is very intrigued by him but he's not too sure about her yet.  

My new sink turns out to be a perfect baby bathtub.

It's been a lot of fun having her here.
We love our little houseguest. 

School's In

Tomorrow we will complete our second full week of school.  For us this is a landmark year for a couple of reasons.  First, it is the first time in 7 years that I have only had 3 girls enrolled in The Brown Academy For Girls.  Caitlin has moved on.  Secondly, This is probably the first year EVER that we've gotten started so early.  Im usually the last holdout among my homeschooling mommy friends.  What?!?! It's Labor Day already?  Guess that means we gotta start school.   

This year it just felt right to everyone involved to get back into a routine.  SO we plowed ahead.

Holly 10th Grade

Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1

LifePacs by Alpha Omega Press for Science, History and Bible

Wordly Wise 3000 -10, Easy Grammar and Natural Speller for Language Arts

Holly and Abbie will both be reading and researching famous American authors.

Holly is currently working her way through the strange world of Edgar Alan Poe.

Abbie 9th Grade

Saxon Math

LifePacs for Science, History and Bible. 

(She thought she wanted to do Apologia General Science but after further inspection decided she would wait another year) good choice Abs.

Wordly Wise 3000-9, Easy Grammar and Natural Speller

Abbie is excited to be starting Spanish 1 soon and is currently researching the works of O. Henry.

Miriam Grace 6th Grade

Saxon Math 

LifePacs for Science, History and Bible

Wordly Wise 3000-6, Easy Grammar, Natural Speller and A Reason For Writing

Gracie is researching hot air balloons and plans on building a miniature hot air balloon as soon she gets it all figured out.  I hope she doesn't blow up the garage. 

A few days ago, after a long research session she came to me asking if she could disconnect the propane tank off of daddy's grill.  She needed it for fuel for her hot air balloon burner. YIKES!!  

What am I gonna do with that kid?!

I told her that daddy need it to stay connected so that he could cook our supper.  I quickly thawed out the pork chops.  Phew.... dodged that bullet..... for now.

If you're not home schooling your kids, you're missing a blessing... just sayin.

Wow! What a summer!

It has gone by so quickly.  Just this week the girls began school again.  I can hardly believe that we are a week into another school year.  This is the first one in a long time that I have only had 3 students instead of 4.  Caitlin is working hard a Chick-Fil-A this year trying to earn enough money to go back overseas as soon as possible.  

Lets see, In late May we remodeled the kitchen and graduated Caitlin from high school with a big party.  In June we went to the Southern Baptist Convention as a family (minus Gracie) in Orlando, took a trip to Georgia to see family and got the girls ready for India.  In July we sent Caitlin and Holly off to India and Abbie and Gracie to Georgia to spend 2 weeks with Grandma and Grandaddy.  Lee and I went to the Smart Marriages conference in Orlando. A week later we went back to Georgia to get the younger two.  

That brings us to August.  Caitlin and Holly came home from India.  We've spent a little time recovering and now we are trying to get back into a routine.  Speaking of routine, I've been out of a blogging routine!  I've missed it. 

Stay tuned for regular posts from the Brownies!  

Click on the picture of Caitlin and Holly in the post below to see India pictures.  

Enjoy!

India