Pumpkin Fun

Our pumpkin party with some homeschool friends.  We've caught the printing bug from Ms. Betsey and decided to try our hand at block printing.  The kids carved out their images on foam sheets using dull pencils. Then we inked them and printed.

The finished products were really cute.  (And when you run out of drying space, masking tape works great in a pinch.)

We also learned drawing techniques...

Made pumpkin life cycle vines...

Built our own pumpkins...

Read books, played games, and made a fun pumpkin snack before lunch.

Father/Son Panthers Game

A few weeks ago the boys enjoyed one of their favorite annual traditions- our church's father/soon football game. They headed down to Charlotte to spend some time with Uncle Anthony, cousin Kyle and the rest of the gang. The boys enjoyed an "all football weekend". 

Here they are running to the stadium.  Do you think they might be a little excited?

Carter and the Panther...

His favorite part of the day is the pickup football game at the tailgate...

Little QB...

Soaking up some stats pre-game...

Daddy and Carter ready for some football!

Honoring our military...

Game time!!

It turned out to be a great game.  The Panthers lost in the end but only by a few points. The boys decided they were ready for their own game...

Such a fun tradition for these guys and a weekend to just relax, play, and enjoy family and friends.

CC Art Class

We are so fortunate to have an artist in our CC homeschool group.  She so graciously invited our entire group over to her home for an art class.  We ended up having quite the group with over 30 kids in attendance. Here she is sharing images with them from the artist, Lichtenstein.

They went on to create their own inspired starbursts.  I love this shot of brother and sister hard at work...

Then it was time to paint with some Georgia O'Keefe-inspired flowers...

The kids loved painting with their fingers!

Their next work was Wyeth-inspired painted branches using brushes, water, hands, and straws.  Such an adventure!

Their last project was clay...

Before we left the kids had a great time with the chickens in her yard.  Julia loves their home- lots of dogs, a dozen chickens, a trampoline, and an in-house art studio.  I think she could have moved right in.

On the way home we stopped at the park to enjoy more of the glorious warm sunshine.  And who could say no to this face?

Grinning Gap

Carter didn't lose his first tooth until just recently at almost 8 years old.  But now they are rapidly falling out.  His front tooth was barely hanging on making him look like quite the snaggletooth...

Success!

And just a week later the other one was out, too.  Now he's sporting quite the gaping grin...

Twice as Nice

John and Annmarie's twins are two months old already! They bring everyone so much joy.  Carter absolutely adores them and cannot get enough.  If the boys are around he is usually holding one.

Julia finally asked for a turn.  Babies are not her thing.  She is much more of an animal lover, but couldn't resist the cuteness...

They are still so little you can carry them both double-decker style in one arm and even Carter can hold them both...

I love that my sports nut, battle-loving, rough and tumble boy gets so much joy cuddling these two little ones. Melts my heart!

Ethan and Noah...

My dad got in on the baby holding last weekend.  The multi-tasker watching football, taking a call, and holding the boys...

Is it really fall?!

I'm not really sure when it happened but apparently fall arrived and is in full swing! Wasn't it just Labor Day?! The signs are everywhere, so I guess it's true.

Now that it's here if it could just slow down a little so we can savor every moment that would be great.

Navy Football

Time for some tailgating.  My dad's class has their tent right on the hill next to the stadium.  The food was incredible (the company, too!)  We feasted like kings!

The weather was picture perfect.

The entire brigade marches in formation through Annapolis into the stadium. A sight to behold...

I always get choked up when the mids are recognized as well as all those serving around the globe.

The band marches in and begins to play.  Then it's time for the flyover...

And we're ready for some football!

We had great seats with a view of all the action.

With every Navy touchdown the mids do their pushups for every point, plus one to "Beat Army"...

I love the firing squad who shot off a round for every touchdown, kickoff, and extra point.

I think we need one in our front yard :)

In the end, Navy couldn't pull of a win.  Southern Miss dominated the first half, though Navy came back to outscore them in the second half.  It was a memorable day all around.  So many memories old and new.  Family, friends, fall, and football- the perfect combination.