Beautiful, Wonderful Snow Day

Sunday came, and we had about 5 inches of snow on the ground; it was so exciting because #1, we weren't expecting that much snow, and #2, we haven't had that much snow in a long, long time.  So, we quickly decided we needed to have a snow day.:)  Oh, it was a beautiful day too!  It was so cold outside that your cheeks were frozen in just minutes, but we still went out for just a bit to take the kids sledding, among other things.  Here's a little bit of how our day went.

We started out with a little bit of these....yum!   Mama's Cinnamon Biscuits....

Then, of course, we bundled all up and headed outside.

We did a little sledding over at the community center, only for a short time, though, as we were starting to freeze.  (Wouldn't you know it?  I left my camera at home, so what pictures we got, we had to use Dan's phone.)

We came home, made snow angels, and played....

Then we came inside for some of this....mmmmmm.....

Finally, Jaden had had all he could stand for one morning/afternoon.:)  (We got ourselves a nodder....LOL).

It was a beautiful, wonderful snow day. I can't wait for more.

Things I Love Thursday: Fall

Today was a fun day; it was a field trip day, which meant no schoolwork.  Yea!!!!  I decided to take the boys to the Rutledge Wilson Farm Park, since I've heard so much about it....we had a blast.  We got there, and immediately, the boys saw the barn and silo playground, and they wanted to go climb around and slide down all the slides.

Much to my dismay, Jaden ended up completely soaked on his backside, since it had rained last night.  So, we ended up getting back in the car and running up to Walmart quick to get him a dry pair of pants.  There was an icy wind blowing, so I just couldn't let him walk around soaked, and, of course, I had forgotten to bring an extra pair in the backpack.  

When we came back, we decided to go check out the animals.  They had miniature horses, sheep, cows, turkeys, and chickens.  Jaden was mesmerized by the giant milk cow in the barn.  For some reason, he LOVES cows; he constantly has to moo when we go by any pasture that has anything remotely resembling a cow.  

Then, it was off to the corn maze.

Of course, we had no map or anything, so we wandered aimlessly through the cornmaze, with Jacob and Jaden taking turns leading us.

I finally had to step in and take over, since I knew we'd never get out otherwise. LOL  

Of course, then we had to make our way home, stopping by the pumpkin place, where we got a bunch of pumpkins to carve on Saturday or just set on the front porch and look pretty.  I'm anxious to go back to that farm and check out the bike trails that run through it.  With the colors of the trees quickly fading, winter is coming.  I love the feeling of fall; it's cool and crisp, and it's just a wonderful time of year, my favorite season.

For more Things I Love Thursday, link up with The Diaper Diaries.

Of Horses and Boys

Recently, through the local Southwest Missouri Home Educators Group (which has been fantastic so far), I found out about horse riding lessons that were only $4 for a whole hour! I know, right?! Where can you go for horse riding/horsemanship lessons for that low of a cost? Anyway, I signed Jacob up. We have gone one time so far....but he desperately wants to go back. He made a new friend there, plus he loved the horses so much, that he wants to go back and ride. So far, the dates have been booked, though. So, we shall see. Anyway, just thought I'd share some pics.

Dawn out at Sac River Stables was offering this great deal to homeschoolers in the area on certain Fridays through October. Basically, a lesson includes horsemanship rules, learning how to groom a horse (Jacob got to groom Lucy), and a short ride on a horse. While riding, the kids learn how to pick something up out of a can without getting off, learn how to open and close a gate without getting off, and they go through an obstacle horse. She also works with them on how to hold on/direct the horse, how to mount and dismount, etc. At first, while Jacob was riding, he kept saying, "Whoa! Ok, Go!" He would do that over and over; I think it was starting to get frustrating for the instructor, Dawn, but she just patiently worked with him. I was secretly trying not to crack up....he was so nervous. He did great, though, and he finally let loose a little. He even got to trot, just a little.:) I think he talked Dawn's ear off the whole time. That's my Jacob! It was awesome! I'm hoping we can go back, that maybe there will be a cancellation or something, and there will be a spot open. We will have to wait and see, though! Next stop with the homeschool group is the Observatory (plus, we get to go to KY3 with our previous homeschool group)....I can't tell you how much fun homeschooling is, not just for Jacob but for us as parents. We love it!:)

Friday Funnies- Uh-Oh!

In the words of Jaden, last week Jacob had a big "Uh-oh" moment....LOL. I'm sorry, but it still makes me laugh when I think about it. We had gone to the Japanese Stroll Gardens here, and we were having so much fun on all the little trails and taking pictures. All of a sudden, we heard a loud thump and heard Jacob immediately start crying. He was so afraid that he was going to be in huge trouble; he kept saying so over and over again. Dan and I couldn't help it; we just started cracking up, of course, trying to hide it because Jacob was so upset. As we were shaking from uncontrollable laughter, Dan tried to get all the pieces to the Japanese statue that Jacob had accidentally knocked over. Yep, my boy takes after me; clumsy as his own mama.He was so upset, and he especially didn't like the part where he had to get down underneath the bushes, way back in the bushes, to get the one little piece that was still missing from the top. (Here's the hole he had to crawl back in....)But he did it! He was very afraid that he might go to jail (of course, we didn't tell our own son that)LOL, and as you can see (if you look really hard way back in the picture), we had witnesses; oy vei!I think they thought we were insane, with Jacob crying and us in a laughing fit. Thankfully, all was well, and we were able to tell the admissions lady out front when we left what had happened. Apparently, it has happened before, because she knew the exact statue we were talking about and described it back to us to a T. Anyway....if you ever go, watch out for that, crazy, movable statue on the little island part of the gardens. Never a dull moment with the Lockcuff gang.:)

For more Friday Funnies, link up with Homesteaders Heart.

Things I Love Thursday: Nathanael Greene Park

Since Jacob went with Daddy today to the shop, Jaden and I decided to spend the morning at the park, Nathanael Greene Park. I fell in love with this park. It is about 113 acres, and we still have areas to explore; we didn't find the Japanese Stroll Gardens yet, but I'm thinking we will in time. The park is just so beautiful, though. It is full of botanical gardens and flowers, all different kinds of flowers; you name it, they had it. We got to go see the butterflies in the Butterfly House, which was really cool, because there were tons of them, flying around from flower to flower. There is an old homestead in the park also, the Gray-Campbell Homestead. The walking trails were fabulous, going around the huge duckpond, in and out of the woods, over streams, up through fields.....it was just really beautiful. We had a great time, and I think the plan is to go back for a picnic tomorrow with Jacob; maybe then we can find the Japanese Stroll Gardens.

For more Things I Love Thursday, link up with Diaper Diaries.

Things I Love Thursday- Picking Strawberries

This past Monday, we had the opportunity to go get in on some strawberry pickin' with the kids and Grandma, my mom. They absolutely loved it! I think Jaden ate more than anyone; once he found out what we were doing, he was completely happy to mooch off each of our boxes.:) We all had fun, and we came home with quite a few strawberries, which were so delicious.I've had some in the dehydrator all day, and I even made a fruit roll-up with some. Yum! I love getting out and doing stuff like that with my kids, though....it's such a simple thing but provides lots of memories.For more Things I Love Thursday, link up with Diaper Diaries.

Things I Love Thursday- Lake Erie

Well, I now have a love and appreciation for Lake Erie. We were up to visit some friends this weekend in Ohio, and I caught some pics of the frozen lake near the Eastlake area and the Headlands area. It was absolutely beautiful, and I can't imagine the beauty when it isn't frozen over. Enjoy!:)

Can you imagine sitting on this swing in the summer dusk with your hubby, just watching the waves come in and the seagulls soar?

For more Things I Love Thursday, visit Diaper Diaries.

Family Camping Trip at Big Spring, MO! (cont.)

Well, we are back from our camping trip at Big Spring.:) We had a great time! We ended up going down on Saturday and stayed until later on Sunday afternoon. I didn't get any really good pictures of the actual spring, but it is really beautiful. Josie learned how to ride her bike without training wheels.:) Trey was just a cutup the whole time and was a lot of fun. The kids all had a good time. Jacob was in his prime.:) Jaden was a dirty little baby the whole time; we had no water, only what we brought and could fill our jugs with.:) We swam in the river (I took pictures mostly), and we ate good food.:) The kids caught crawdads in the river. Dad and Mom just were relaxing and having a really good time too. I'm really glad because they have had quite the summer, between Dad's illness and tractors constantly breaking down. Nicholas, the cat, made a few appearances when the kids weren't anywhere around.LOL Dan and I learned how to play Hand and Foot, a card game Jimmy and Jennifer taught us; I think that it could be really addicting, because I already want to play again. Anyway, between getting our tent all set up and just relaxing, it was a really good weekend. I'm ready to go again.:)