Balloons

Saturday evening we went to the Perry Dogwood Festival Hot Air Balloon Rally. Unfortunately Jake had to work (protecting our country and all), but we were joined by our friends Angela, Dale, and Brayden. A little while later we were joined by some more friends - Aleita, Eric, Carleigh, and Aleita's sister's Marissa and Christina. It was a great evening, and very interesting as I had never been up close to hot air balloons before.

 

Gavin and Brayden in awe:

 watching balloons being set up:

 Carleigh's aunts helped a guy set up his balloon:

 Gavin and Carleigh:

 

Happiest when covered in dirt

Last week happenings

playing with plastic Easter eggs - following a pattern to make a snake:

 Friday night campout with Daddy:

 watching a movie on Jake's laptop:

 

Saturday and Sunday was the semi-annual conference of our Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This is broadcast live (for us via internet) from Salt Lake City, in 2 sessions each day in which we get to hear a living prophet (just like those in the Bible), living apostles, and other church leaders speak about God and Jesus and offer guidance for our lives. Just a few of the wonderful words of wisdom they shared:

 

 

 

Easter fun

Saturday we had our 4th annual Easter dinner party with friends (we have afternoon church on Sunday so Saturday gave me more time to cook). This year we had 9 adults, 10 kids, beautiful weather, lots of good food, and fun.

 

Gavin getting eggs ready to hide:

 We always eat buffet style:

 Gavin ALWAYS sits in his little wooden chair at the head of the kiddie table when we have friends over. He will throw a huge fit if we try to get him to sit elsewhere.

 Egg hunt:



Other March activity

Ready to watch the first yard mowing of the season:

 One day we made homemade playdoh and learned primary colors:

 Gavin has resumed his favorite spring time activity - digging in the dirt:

 adding water to sand to see what happens:

I love that Gavin doesn't have to get up early for school. Now that we're homeschooling he plays outside until dark some days - the sand pictures above were taken one night about 8. Gavin has fallen into what seems to be a natural sleep pattern for him- sleeping from around 9pm to around 8am. Since he's staying up till he's good and tired, most nights he actually stays in bed on the first try. I am loving the freedom that goes with homeschooling. There is no rushing due to a school schedule. No rushing to get dressed, no rushing to get errands run before picking Gavin up, no rushing to get things done before bedtime. The week before last we were in the library one afternoon and Gavin wanted to sit and look through some books there before checking them out. Normally I would have cajoled him to just check them out and look at them later, because we would have been in a hurry to get all our errands done and home in time for a bath and bedtime. We don't have to be home at a certain time anymore, so I let him stay as long as he wanted. But what about socialization? Anyone who has met Gavin knows that is not a problem. He rarely meets a stranger. Some of the socialization opportunities from this past week:

• church on Sunday, which includes sitting in Sacrament meeting for an hour with our family and then going to his primary class for an hour of instruction and an hour of singing and sharing time with lots of other kids
• shopping with me at a few different stores
• visiting his best friend Brayden Tuesday morning and bringing him a get well present after his foot surgery on Monday
• nutrition and P.E. class on base for a large group of homeschooled kids on Wednesday (and afterwards enjoyed eating a corndog at Sonic while watching the carwash next door)
• Easter egg hunt and playing with friends at a park Thursday afternoon
• spending the whole day with Jake on Friday while I worked.
• Easter dinner party at our house on Saturday with a total of 9 adults and 10 kids

I think he'll be okay :)