fall beauty.

This little diva is all ready for her school pics today! Don't you love that sweet smile!

Free FALLing: It's da BOMB!

Since the fall season has officially begun, I wanted to start a series of posts that I aptly named: Free FALLing! Pun intended. Posts with this title will give you and your family ideas for fun activities to do this FALL that are Free...or just pennies to do.

So, first up for us, visiting our local airport to see a WWII B-17 Bomber Plane that had made a stop for mechanical repairs before it continues on its flying tour. This was the actual bomber that appeared in the 1990 film Memphis Belle. Pretty cool!

Hopping on in the plane!

Easton mans the big guns!

Reagan wants to strap herself in the seat.

This little girl definitely has some fire power!

Dot. Dot. Dit. Dit. Easton sends Morse Code messages to our allies!

Not a real bomb, but an exact replica of what it would have looked like...and you see the floor is open too for where it would have dropped out!

Walking the "plank" to the cockpit with bombs on either side!

Little guy commanding the enormous plane!

Look at all those instruments they had to watch.

Checking out the outside of the plane.

We had a fun, FREE, fall day touring the Memphis Belle.

While I know that the Memphis Belle may not be necessarily coming to your town, you could always visit your local airport to watch the planes take off and land, and take a tour of the airport's terminal. Children are fascinated by airplanes, and even just seeing their faces light up when they get a close up view of an airplane will make this FREE activity all worthwhile!

Stay tuned for our next Free FALLing adventure!

The Lord will indeed give what is good...~Psalm 85:12

a fair time!

Since Johnathan's been home, we've made it a point to do really fun activities together as a family and then with individual and/or small groups of our children. 

The fair came into our town last week, and since I had never been to a fair, I encouraged that we go to it since Easton and Reagan were fairly old enough now to ride some of the rides. 

First up, the Ferris Wheel...or the "Ferris" as Reagan says! I'll let the pics narrate themselves.

Can't remember what this ride was called, but the kids enjoyed going round and round, and round and round, round and round...

Fishing for a prize! Look at that expert fisherman!

Weeeeeeeeee! The giant slide was a huge hit with Easton...Reagan, not so much!

And, of course, Easton had to ride the train. Reagan rode with him too, but I didn't get a good pic of her on there. :  (

And, finally, the roller coaster. As you can tell, Easton had a blast! Reagan begged to go on there...

But as you can see from the sheer terror on her face, it wasn't her favorite ride!

 

We also went to the aqaurium this week. I'll post those pics soon! Happy Friday and last day of summer!

gun show.

Welcome to the gun show, ladies!

This handsome little man was "taking care of business" (directly quoted from Easton himself) by helping his daddy build a Monster High dollhouse for his cousin Jaicey, who turns 7 today!

The dollhouse turned out great! We are adding the finishing touches today, and I'll post pics soon...for any of you who want to build one for yourself. ; )

Happy Friday!

chalk it up!

Remember that post about a "little" weekend project I wanted to do, oh, about 5. MONTHS. AGO? Well, it finally got finished the week before JT came home. And it's AWESOME!

We went from this hap-hazzardly-decorated wall that's looked exactly the same since we first moved in 9 years ago:

To this wall with a beautifully GIGANTIC chalkboard! It's at kid height for their scribbles, drawings and writing. And at adult height for our sweet messages to each other! I'm. In. LOVE!

There's really not much of a step-by-step to this project. We basically had this frame, which use to hold a mirror, and had a cheap piece of smooth particle board cut to fit inside. I painted the frame a bright white semi-gloss, and painted the particle board with three thick coats of chalkboard paint, and attached it to the inside of the frame (where the leftover staples were that held the mirror). With the help of my dad, we hung it up securely with 100 lb rated hooks, even though, amazingly enough, it only weighs thirty pounds, but with little ones, I wanted to be safe!  And voila!

We love our chic, new, repurposed, GI-NORMOUS chalkboard!

(P.S. For all you word-smith's out there, I know "grateful" is spelled wrong in my husband's sweet message to me, but we like to say "greatful" because our lives are GREAT!)

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.~Isaiah 40:8

weekend.

It's been great having Johnathan home again. We've just been taking it easy on the weekends, and spending lots of quality family time together!

Check back this week, and you'll get to see the final results of a few projects I've been working on!

Have a great weekend!!!

rainbows, ribbons and rain.

It's that time again. Time for another Reagan-isms post! 

Here are some of the things she has been saying/doing lately that I always want to remember.

~Upon giving her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, she pulls the bread apart to examine the sandwich I have made for her and says, "I want peanut. butter. jelly...where's the butter?"

~I call to her to come into my room so I can change her diaper. She runs in and says, "Here I am. I'm soooo fast!"

~Talking about Brooklyn, she says "She is my bestest friend!"...We'll see how long that lasts! ;  )

~Me: Reagan, you are so pretty!

  Reagan: I know this.

~As Brooklyn is playing with a toy, she says to her, "You will break it honey!"

~Talking to her Daddy, she blurts out all of the sudden, "You've got a friend in me that's real and that's true!"

~Her version of Rain, Rain, Go Away, "Rain, Rain, Go Away! Come and get some other ways!"

~While on her toy phone, I tell her that I love her. She tells me, "I love you too!" Then proceeds to wave her finger at me, "but shhh, I ordering a pizza!"

And I will leave you with this cute video of her doing her "Rainbow Ribbon Dance!"

For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures through all generations.~Psalm 100:5