Grandma Camp 2010!!

I signed my kids up for Grandma Camp and they were super excited about going to camp at Grandma and Papa's house for the week. Samuel and Lucy all summer have talked about the songs, the crafts, the snacks and the field trips they were going to take at Grandma Camp. Cousin Thomas signed up too and there was a week of fun on the farm...even if things don't always go as planned.

Well, after we took the kids to Grandma's on Sunday, Grandma called me at work on Monday and let me know that both of the kiddos were throwing up...and had been for several hours...and every sheet in the house had been washed by sweet Papa...and every child had been lovingly cared for, throw up washed out of their hair and kisses given as the children were rocked and comforted by sweet Grandma and Papa. I was ready to invade camp Grandma but by the next morning they were fine and ready for crafts.... Grandma was a trooper and the week ended well with my children excitedly telling me all about the week.

They made cards to take to the nursing home and took them on the visit to the nursing home to see Grandpa Kinsey. The kids were glad to get to see Great Grandpa Kinsey and they were very excited they met a lady who was 100! Lucy's comment on the situation "100! That is a lot of numbers!"

The children packed old paperbacks for a program Grandma has been helping with called "Operation Paperback". Samuel was very excited about sending books to the troops. He told us the blow-by-blow of how they did it "Number 1, you have to look at pictures of the troops on the computer while grandma tells you about them, Number two, you have to find some books they like, Number three, you have to write their names on the package because those troops are a long way away...." I think he had it down to a 10 step process and I'm grateful they were able to do some things that helped them serve others.

As you might know, my kids love making things - and they has a chance to help grandma every night with dinner and then to work on making messes everyday (throwing up, stomping in the mud, playing in the chicken pen) and to make salt clay creatures. Samuel had to make some aliens and Lucy a monkey. They loved it and want us to make more - good idea Mama.

They got to play at Jellystone park at the water slide, play in the rain, go get the mail, feed the animals, watch movies, sit in Papa's lap, listen to stories and even eat at Chick-fil-a. What a great time - we will definately be signing up next year for Grandma Camp - if Grandma and Papa are up for it. Samuel excitedly told us all about his trip to Papa and Grandma's and then ended by telling Jeremy he would love to come to camp with him. Samuel said "Daddy we had so much fun...and you would NOT believe how many chocolate chip cookies there are!"

Thanks SO much Mama and Daddy - your grandkids LOVE spending time on the farm - What a treat!

Here are the happy campers
Samuel really loves the singing birthday cards - this one was from Grandma and Papa and was a pirate singing a song about 5 pirates with 5 patches on 5 ships with 5 parrots...yes, I've heard the song atleast 5000 times by now and he still has that same smile everytime!
Samuel playing with his new lincoln logs and some of his soldiers
Craft time!
The aliens/creatures...
The slide at Jellystone park (an RV camp near the house that has a pond/lake recreation area)

Cutie pie

Playing in the rain...loving the mud

The Ogre Battle

Here are some pics of the knights charging the hill to rescue the princesses from the ogres who were throwing boulders (plastic balls) down on them.

The knights

Happy 5th Birthday Samuel!

Today's "Knights of Narnia" party was a success because there was one happy dwarf loving every minute. The kids jousted, shot dragons with marshmellows from their catapults (and ate marshmellows by the handfuls) and stormed the Ogre's cave to rescue the princesses. They made shields, ate dragon cake and ran and played on the Dawn Treader and had a great time. But the best part of my day was seeing my little dwarf LOVE wearing his beard, love playing with his friends and enjoy sharing his joy with all things Narnia and knights with those around. I hope all of the kids - and adults - enjoyed the party - THANKS for coming and celebrating with us. I didn't get pictures of everything but will hopefully collect some from those who were there...here is what I have

Samuel in front of the Dawn Treader!

Here are most of the knights (minus the girls who were in the front having a tea party).
Here is the dragon cake (made with red velvet cake!)
Samuel on the Dawn Treader
Trumpkin the Dwarf and Princess Lucy in front of Cair Paravel (the castle in Narnia)

Jousting

Looks like these kids had a great time jousting!

This is how we prepared for the big day...

With lots of paint, some cardboard boxes from Sears and lots of messy fun...




After painting the Dawn Treader -
Mama: "Lucy, how did paint get on the car?"
Lucy: "I don't know Mama"

the Eve of his 5th birthday

Tomorrow my first born will turn 5. I could say all of the normal things that come to the top of my head - "WOW, he's 5 allready" or "I can't believe he is going to kindergarten this fall" or "can't we just head out in an RV for the next 13 years and soak up being a family"....but here are some of my other thoughts in the here and now.

As I sit in my living room, there is Turkish Delight cooling on the counter because Samuel wants Turkish Delight for breakfast with his scrambled eggs and then he wants some to share at his "Knight of Narnia" party tomorrow (I have never made Turkish delight before but have eaten some while in Bosnia several years ago). He has amazed me this summer with his imagination and ability to fly to far off lands and have adventures right in our little house in Georgia. He has continued to make figures to play with out of toilet paper tubes and has even created several houses and a fort out of cardboard boxes. One of the things that has fueled his imagination had been the Chronicles of Narnia. He has been listening to the books on CD (all 7 of them) during his afternoon rest time. He has loved them and has even taken to using "daft" and other British English words in his everyday language. I take delight in seeing him enjoy stories and creativity.

Samuel requested to be "Trumpkin the Dwarf" for his birthday and I've tried to figure out how to make my imagination and his come to life (Trumpkin is the dwarf in Prince Caspian). So, my little 5 year old will be a dwarf with an orange beard, green hat, chain mail and belt for his sword (he kind of looks more like the keebler elf than dwarf but it could be a convincing costume). Though I think he really likes Trumpkin and dwarfs I think his real motivation is wanting to wear a fake beard and make his friends laugh. He is excited about the Dawn Treader and Cair Paravel we made out of cardboard and the sea serpent cake he'll get to eat. I hope he enjoys the day tomorrow and grows to know how much he is loved and delighted in.

I love being his mama and have loved spending time with him this summer. I just want to enjoy watching him become who God has gifted him and made him to be...and I'll enjoy the journey as we figure it all out together. And if tomorrow you come to my house and there is clutter, dust and general chaos BUT 1 happy boy in an orange beard - my day will be a success!

One funny story I just thought about and thought I would write down- at a party recently one of our adult friends was asking Samuel if he liked pirates since that was the theme of the party. Samuel said "yes, but I like knights too." The friend asked Samuel "So which do you like best - knights or pirates?" To which my sweet son replied "The British"

Thankful

Just a quick note to express my thankfulness in the little things in life...

Dear Publix -

Thank you so much for your car carts, Buy 1 Get 1 Frees, your free cookies for kids AND for your rotiserrie chickens. Your chickens make a meal when time and energy are low.

Thank you again for your service to my family.

Sincerely,
A Grateful Mama

Remembering

OK - so it's not the last of the vacation memories and since this is to serve as our digital scrapbook for our family I had to include some of the highlights of camping and show some of my son's fascination with American Indians (or is it just the bow and arrow?)

Jeremy fulfilled a life long dream to see a bear in the wild. Smokey Bear was wondering a trail in Cades Cove as we ventured by. We weren't super close but we could see what was going on and enjoy the little guy for a while. Lucy said "I've wanted to see a real bear my whole life too!" I'm glad her 3 year old dream came true. We saw three rainbows, smoking mountains, a snail, several deer, and a "real" mountain river. We also got to go on a hike, roast marshmellows and endure a night of torential downpours (Thank you, Duct Tape for your ability to mend rain-flys even in a monsoon.)

One of the highlights was exploring the Indian village in Cherokee, NC where we learned about pottery, basket weaving, dancing, musical instruments AND weapons. Samuel was fascinated and at every station where a guide explained about Indian ways and then asked, "does anyone have a question?,"of course, Samuel had atleast one question for everything. He loved it and asked for a bow and arrow to which we finally agreed he could have (I guess it was better than the dart gun!)

Lucy in the meeting house.Lucy standing with brother while we learn about Indian life.
The blow gun/dart gun at work - Samuel LOVED it and wanted to know what animals he could kill with it!
Learning to shoot while at the camp site.
Teaching sister

Time with Nana

These are the last of the vaca pics. We enjoyed our time together and getting to see family. Hope to be able to enjoy many more times together in the future!

Quotes

After crossing 4 lanes of traffic to get from Starbucks to Hobby Lobby...

Samuel: "Mama, we crossed the road just in time, there was a cavalry of cars coming our way!"

Quotes

During a heated game of Memory with Samuel and Lucy, where they were both honestly beating me by many matches, Samuel says...

Samuel: "Mama, I am being very remember-ous today!"

Great Smokey Mt National Park

On our way back from the wedding we wanted to do some camping and decided to head to the other end of NC and see Great Smokey Mt National Park. We had a great time enjoying the cooler breezes, the "smoking" mountains, gurgling streams and the marshmellows/marshpillows. I just love being outdoors and soaking up nature - it does my soul good. I also love to watch my little ones explore and adventure on their own. I hope we have many more camping adventures together.

Hiking across the streams
Daddy reading bedtime stories to the kiddos in the tent..sweet
my little family
Roasting Marshpillows with my Lucy
Lucy at Cades Cove
Samuel enjoying the sticks
At the park entrance

At some of the settlements in Cades Cove