Great read

http://essentialoilblogging.com/2014/01/14/can-essential-oils-be-ingested/

It's a bugs life!

My kids have been ♥ love loving all the bugs out here in NC (notice I said kids...I haven't been liking them in the least)! They do a lot of exploring in our neighborhood, it has a lot of land to roam through, everyone has around an acre or more (and this also means a ton of poison ivy too btw) so you can probably image the stuff they could find right? Well take a look at some of these bugs...because I was shocked! Not to mention the deer that also run through the yard which I can't seem to get pictures of. Just the other day there were three that ran through the front yard. Well the kids get so excited about their finds that they run in to show "mom" (whom I thought made it quite clear doesn't like bugs) to take a picture, which started because I didn't want all these bugs in jars around the house and yard. So that is now the tradition. Anyway, aren't these bugs gross, errr I mean cool? (yuck) I saved the best bug for last so make sure you check that one out!

Did I mention how much bigger bugs are out here???

Can you believe the size of this thing? If you click on it it will enlarge and you

can see the long hairs coming off of it and more of the detail. I know, what in the world am I posting this for right? well, its late right now and my kids love bugs, that is my excuse. ☺

First day of school (I know, I know school started a month ago)

I can't believe how fast my kids are growing up. Another year of school starting and another year closer to teenage years...yikes!! Kysen is now in middle school, 6th grade. Trevin is in 4th grade and Makayla is in 1st grade. And I'm not sure what grade Chad is in anymore...but I do know it is his last!!! And this time I mean it. (anyone want a peanut?) This is also a strange year because of the move and the new NC schools, which are a lot different than our little charter school in St George. I miss George Washington Academy a ton, but things seem to be going good so far here. And this is the first time ever that my kids have rode the bus to school...I know my mom is a bus driver, but it was a huge adjustment for me and really freaked me out (hmmm that is probably because my mom is a bus driver and I've heard a lot of stories throughout the years, not to mention I rode the bus to school until I got a drivers license...anyway). And yes, as weird as it may sound to some people, I shed some tears watching them drive away on the bus. (man maybe NC is making me soft, Dang it!) None the less, they are adjusting well to the change and are liking school!

At the bus stop!

Beach!!

This will probably be the last trip to the beach this year... :( unless I get brave and go when the kids have a day out of school this fall/summer. And somehow time magically stands still for us. (just so much to do and so little time) It is alway a BLAST going to the beach! We stay and watch the sunset then find a place to fill our tummy's and head home. Nothing seems more calm and relaxing. So here are some of my favorite shots!!

Crab hunting!

Boogie boards

He got a good one there!

Nothing better than sand between the toes.

My hottie (farmer tanned) and my girl. Dad was actually able to come this time!

This was one way to keep them close...haha

Loving it!

HAHA!!

I Love Love LOVE this picture!

HA, he was the only one (besides me) that was willing to hold on till they took it from our hand!
Then this is what followed...

...and this doesn't even give it the justice. There are tons of them!

My three (adorable) musketeers!!

Happy Birthday Kayla!

My baby turned 6, not much of a baby anymore. Not to mention she is going on 20. I have to admit, I was very nervous to have a girl... I am not much of a girl myself, and I had all brothers which only made me less of a girl because I wanted to do everything they were doing (except I gave up tackle football with them earlier on...it just HURT)! But needless to say, she has been a huge blessing in my life and has made me become a little softer around the edges. I LOVE her to death and couldn't think of life without her. I have decided to blog a couple of the funny things she has said lately so I don't forget them.
This one happened in the car the other day. It was just her and I...

Kayla: I wish dad hadn't told me there wasn't Cafe Rio here!

Mom: But there isn't Cafe Rio here.

Kayla: I know, but he broke my heart.

Mom: In between chuckles...Do you know what "break your heart means?"

Kayla: Yes! He made me really really sad! (In the tone of "duh mom")!

Also the first day of school, or should I say the first day of the bus ride to and from school didn't go quite so well for my Elementary school kids. First of all, the bus never picked them up, so I took them (which I wanted to anyway, they just insisted they needed to ride the bus the first day). Their school gets out at 3:45, but they didn't get home until 5:45. For anyone who knows Trevin, you can imagine he was quite upset. I could tell he had been crying when he got off the bus. Anyway, the next day as we were waiting for the bus to pick them up this was the conversation.

Kayla: I told Trevin yesterday on the bus that it would be okay...we would get home.

Trevin: That's because she didn't care if we got home!

Mom: Did you not care if you got home Kayla?

Kayla: Yes! I just didn't want to cry!

Oh the moments as parents, if only we could freeze time and make all moments this way. I also wish sometime that I had a built in camera and video camera in my eyes so I could capture all the moments that mean so much. Most of them seem to happen when I don't have the cameras around.

Happy Birthday Kayla, I love you!

We couldn't deprive him right???

Oh boy.....
Trevin said he was hungry enough to eat a half of a watermelon by himself, not just a little mini watermelon, it was a average size, 15 lb watermelon we got from a farmer straight from the farm. We aren't ones to deprive our kid of a wonderful opportunity to learn a valuable lesson on overindulgence, plus they were free, so no harm there either.

well... so it didn't go quite the way he had it planned! I think the toilet even flushed once by itself from all the watermelon. Ironically he even had a few more pieces of watermelon later on that day. This kid loves fruit, this is the only time it ended this way for him though. He has also eaten an entire canteloupe by himself too, not too mention the pears, apples, pineapple, blackberries, blueberries, rasberries and the list could go on. And yes, that is Kayla watching, she loves to make sure she sees everything that happens! And no that isn't me behind the camera...I am far away when vomiting is going down :)

Tick...or should I say SICK!

I can't believe I am blogging about this, but I am... I made it to 33 before having to deal with a tick, heck I don't think I have ever even seen a tick until now. But you can walk out into our yard now and get ticks on you if you aren't careful. I haven't experienced one on me yet, only Chad and Kayla have had that joy err I mean horror. Kayla was pretty funny when she found hers. She didn't cry, just said

"mom...what is this bug on my arm?"

Me "um lets see...(proceeding to lift the bug with my finger and noticing it not coming off by the head) CHAAADD!!!!!"

Kayla: "its a tick?"

Me: "its okay, we will get it off"

Kayla: "but I didn't want it there!"

Me: (trying not to laugh and say did you tell the tick that but ending up saying "I'm sorry, lets not play in the bushes anymore!"

The kids and I have discovered tons of new species of bugs...most of which we(okay I) don't like! But we try and focus on the ones we do like, which is the fire flies. Now those are the kind of bug I can live with. They just mind there business and look pretty. All the rest I wouldn't miss a bit.

Creepy looking things huh?!?! This is the one that was on Kayla. Fortunately she loves bugs...not sure where she got that love from, unless you mistakes my love of my beetle as a love for bugs :) lol

Beach

We just can't get enough of the beach! Good thing we are a couple of hours away or we would definately become beach bums. We have a blast every time we go, and I always have to be the party pooper and make the kids leave (mostly in part because I am the only adult there). And without fail, they ask WHY? Apparantly I can't see the house and all the necessities sitting there on the beach!?! lol Trevin has a gift for catching crabs in his pants... don't ask lol. I am just wondering how many seashells is it going to take for them to not need anymore? Does anyone have a clue to how many is enough, I am just curious :)

Kayla and her new friend... a girl after my own heart (hehe)!