Wreaths Across America, a video

NBC news was at the Georgia National Cemetery when the girls' American Heritage Girls Troop was participating. The little girl in this video is in their troop. It was an awesome event for Emma and Geneva, the troop, all there and most importantly to honor those veterans.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#34485095

Wreaths Across America

Yesterday, Emma and Geneva had the opportunity to take part in the "Wreaths Across America" event at the Georgia National Cemetery as a part of their American Heritage Girls scout troop. They helped place donated wreaths on veterans' graves. The weather was frigid, but there were many warm hearts. It was a very moving sight and they were glad to be a part of it. Thanks to all of you who made a donation. We should not forget our fallen veterans at any time, but especially at Christmas.

The Christmas Where, When & Why Song - Both Girls

Here is another little video of the first song and the movements. They both did an outstanding job throughout the 45-min performance. WE ARE VERY PROUD OF THEM!!

The Christmas Show - Geneva's Solo

Last night the girls were in a Christmas Show to show off the things they did and learned during the last 10 weeks of their Hickory Flat Fine Arts Academy. Geneva took cooking, art and choir. Emma took mixed media and paper art, sign language and choir. Geneva decided a few weeks ago that she wanted to try out for a solo in the Christmas play. I asked her what she was going to sing...she said she'd just make something up during the try out. Well...32 kids tried out for 9 solo parts and Geneva got selected. It floored us. She was very good about practicing. Last night she got up there and belted it out.

Old Friends New Again

Last weekend we clashed old with new and it was so much fun. We were able to host 2 families we first met from when we were all stationed in England. Back then we were all newly married, no kids (at the beginning), travelling, carefree couples living the Air Force life at RAF Mildenhall England. We all added one (or 2) kids to our families while we were there. However, in the fall of 2003, we all started going our separate ways, moving on to our next assignment. Over the past 5 years, we have seen each other once or twice, but never all of us together in one place. So, this Saturday, we all gathered here in Atlanta (one family was driving through on their way to Disney World and the other family is currently living in Montgomery, AL so they came up). Our small 3 couple friendship had grown with now 10 kids, 8 and under (with one on the way...not us)between all of us. It was AWESOME!!!! We all had fun, the kids got along great and Duke never had more attention (ok, maybe Keri's grandma gives him more). It was a delight getting together with 2 other Christian families with similar outlooks on life even though all of us are travelling in very different directions. One couple are excellent photographers...and the pictures they took were really good...here are a few...

the moms

the entire crew...the kids are all switched around between parents

the 4 oldest...all girls, having a giggle on the trampoline

A Day in Our Smoky Mountain

A family shot up the clearing on "the farm"

We are in Tennessee this week for Thanksgiving. On Monday we spent the day on "the farm." "The Farm" is the land where Britt's mom was raised. The house and barn have long since fallen and been removed, but there are lots of places to explore. We took the 4-wheeler, a picnic lunch and had a blast.

Our Picnic at the top of the clearing.

Playing in the spring fed stream

Melting My Heart

Today as I was getting Jackson's shoes on to go to preschool...just an ordinary moment...he says to me, "Mom, when I grow up will you marry me?" It was all I could do to hold back tears. I just hugged him and said, "When you grow up you'll find a great woman to marry, have kids and then I'll come visit." Without a beat, he says, "then you'll be a grandma and daddy will be a grandpa."

Oh those moments make being a Mom so wonderful!

A "Star Wars" Birthday

Today many strange and wonderful creatures visited our house. Emma had a "Star Wars" birthday and asked those who where invited to dress up like a Star Wars character. We had a couple Jedi Knights, 2 Darth Vaders, a R2-D2, Princess Leia and a clone trooper. Keri made a chocolate chip cookie cake (Emma's favorite), Britt decorated it (he was amazing) and it was gone quickly. Britt also made a themed obstacle course complete with astroid field, tie fighters, space monsters and hyperspace (mini trampoline with soft landing area). Emma dressed up as Queen Amidala. Geneva dressed up as Aayla Secura (a female jedi). Jackson was (of course) Luke Skywalker. Maddox didn't dress up as anyone...he didn't want to wear a costume. All the kids had fun and that is what it was all about.

Emma as Queen Amidala and Geneva as Jedi Aayla Secura (we had to look that one up)

Young Luke Skywalker

Homeschool: Anytime, Anywhere, Anything!

Last Thursday night the kids were over at some friends' house for a few hours when the caught a snake. Our friends have 5 kids and homeschool too, so they decided to make it into a great nature study. The kids learned what kind of snake, where it lived, what it ate, all its characteristics.

No worries...it wasn't poisonous or dangerous...and they loved it. Good thing they like to let their catches go too!

Big Crash!

It was bound to happen with 4 kids...someone was going to eventually break a bone. Let me set the scene...Sunday afternoon, first time in a few days that we'd seen the sun, kids go outside with Dad while Mom makes lunch...Emma and Geneva decide to race each other on their brothers' tricycles down our driveway (somewhat steep). Geneva picks the big wheel and Emma picks a trike. So, they both start at the top just has Mom has stepped outside to ask Dad a question. The next 10 seconds seemed to take 10 minutes as I think to myself that the scene is unfolding badly and then the crash...Emma takes a mighty spill...Dad and Mom race to get to her, scoop her up and preform the triage. Her face looks the worse, but she is scraped up everywhere and she is complaining that her arm hurts.

Fast forward a few hours...she is feeling better, swollen face, scraped up hands, fat lip, but otherwise seems fine. However, off and on for the rest of the day and into Monday morning she is complaining that her arm still hurts. She is still using it, writing fine and there is no swelling, so we don't think too much of it. We just happened to have well-check appointments that afternoon for Geneva and Maddox, and on the way there, Emma mentions that her arm hurts again. So, when we arrive at the doctor's office, I ask them if the doctor can look at her arm too. The doctor decides she should have a x-ray...so Dad picks up the other 3 and Emma and Mom head to the radiology office. We get the x-ray and wait a few minutes. The x-ray tech comes out and says, "it is broken...a buckle fracture." As we are walking out, the tech says to Mom, "Emma must have a high pain tolerance because most kids can't put their arms in the positions she did for the x-ray with that type of fracture. Call your doctor tomorrow to see a orthopedic."

So, Tuesday Emma got her lime green cast (she picked the color) and gets to wear it for 4 weeks. Luckily, it is waterproof, so she can get it wet. However, writing is tough...but just like the pain, Emma is working through it. She has adapted well to having it.

Geneva is 6!

Happy Birthday Geneva!

We hurried home from Hilton Head for Geneva's birthday. Britt had the house all decorated when we arrived at dinnertime on her birthday. We had a "family only" party on Thursday night with 6 cupcakes, each having its own candle...it was nice. Then on Sunday afternoon, Jeff and Jeanie had us over along with a friend from down the street for another birthday party. Geneva was pretty excited to get 2 parties. She had told me earlier in the year that she would like me to make her a cake because "it means you love me more." So I made here a chocolate chip cookie cake and she helped Britt decorate it. Right now she, Jackson and Emma are putting together

her new "Pirate" lego set and before that they were involved in a few crafts she got as gifts.

Maddox really enjoying his cupcake!

Geneva with her gifts.

Open Wide!!!

Jackson enjoying his cookie cake.

The Ocean, A Condo, 2 Moms and 8 Kids...

...that makes for an outstanding 5 days in Hilton Head Island, SC. A friend of Keri's invited her and the kids to go with her to Hilton Head at a family condo. WHAT A BLAST!!!! The kids couldn't stay out of the water despite the temps never going about 69degrees. They found all sorts of ocean treasures, studied them, drew them, wrote about them and took some home (nothing alive...thank goodness). We saw all sorts of wildlife; alligators, dolphins, pelicans, crabs, sea hares, birds of all kinds, hermit crabs, and many more creatures. They also rode their bikes all over on the bike trails, played at the local children's imagination center, had many imaginary adventures at the parks and collected huge pine cones for future art projects (stay tuned to the blog for those pictures around the holidays). It was a vacation to remember and we hope to be invited back again someday.

Enjoy the pictures...

Geneva up a palm tree...the kids found out that these were easy to climb and if they weren't to be seen, we learned all we needed to do was look up.

One of the many creatures captured...Jackson caught this fiddler crab and the kids tortured (oh, I mean played) with it for a few hours on the beach one day.

Maddox showing his favorite face at the park...this usually is accompanied by spit flying from his mouth and a raspberry noise.

Emma sitting is the soft sand at low tide...that was their favorite time to swim because of all the tide pools with new and exciting things to see...starfish and hermit crabs were the favorites.

Jackson playing in the surf in his "Star Wars" underwear...atleast the rest of his clothes stayed dry so he could put them on later.

All 8 kids getting warm in the tub after playing in the water at the beach.

Meeting the new cousin

Keri's brother and his wife came to visit a few weeks ago along with their 10 week old son. The kids went crazy with him. While they were here, another of Keri's brothers and his girlfriend also came for a visit. The 11 of us ventured out to "The World of Coke" and the Atlanta Zoo.


Emma and Jackson with the Coca Cola Bear


Kimmie and Maddox


Brent and Maddox on the 4-wheeler


Emma, Geneva, Jackson, Maddox and Parker - The Shenk Grandkids

The kids at the Zoo

Fall Pictures

We had some friends come visit a few weeks ago and they took some incredible pictures we thought we would share with you...

Maddox's 2nd Birthday

I know...we over did it on the gifts, but it really was his first birthday party :)


All smiles with the cake, but he mostly just played with it.

Today was a big day around the Singleton household. It was Maddox's birthday and although he woke up this morning not having any idea what that meant, by the time he went to bed, he definitely did know what it meant to have a birthday. Most of the day was fairly normal except that the kids kept telling Maddox it was his birthday and we were going to have a party and trying to each him to say, "I'm 2." We left for a short time right before dinner to go watch Dustin (our nephew) in marching band and while we were gone, Britt decorated the house. So, when we came home Maddox saw the decorations and said, "wow." We had the other Georgia Singletons over for the party. When we piled the gifts in front of Maddox he really didn't seem to know what to do, so we told him to tear the paper. After a slow start, he got the hang of it really quick. It took some time to open gifts because he wanted to play with each one. He is partial to tools, construction vehicles and 4x4s...his gifts showed that. After the presents, we had to pry him off his 4x4 for cake...he didn't much like it, but got messy enough. Shortly after that, he got really tired, so he is now in bed. No doubt he is having an awesome dream. I am sure it is goes something like this....riding his 4x4 with his Bosch toy drill in one hand and his lightsaber in the other on his way to a construction site. Sweet Dreams Maddox...our 2 year old boy!
trying out his lightsaber on Jeff's head

What needs drilling, Dad.

He's ready for the 4-wheeling trails

Pierced Ears and Trip to Tennessee

Over the last few weeks, we've been busy having visitors and being visitors. We did manage to sneak in each of the girls getting their ears pierced. Emma had hers pierced the 3rd week in August and Geneva couldn't let her sister have something she didn't, so she got hers pierced last week. They are both very happy they did it and look so grown up...ugh...whatever happened to the last 6-8 years.

Over Labor Day weekend we headed up to the Smoky Mountains in TN. We took the kids a few sites around the Cumberland Gap (about 20 min from where Britt grew up).

Now our saturdays are filled with soccer games and both Emma and Geneva are playing this year. More pictures to follow in the upcoming weeks.

Man's Best Friend

Dog...man's best friend...in Maddox and Duke's case I would say "boy's best friend and dog's biggest pest." Maddox loves Duke, but I could only say that Duke tolerates Maddox. Maddox can't get enough of Duke..."petting" "hugging" and just general hanging out. Even when Duke tries to escape to his crate, Maddox isn't far behind.

We are happy to see Maddox loving Duke and are so blessed with an awesome dog...he just puts up with it all. Good Boy Duke!

Too Much Birthday!

The Spiderman Cake!

Too Much Birthday is a favorite Berenstein Bears book of ours. Jackson turned 3 last Thursday and I would say that 3 straight days of birthday for him wasn't too much, but it was close. We started his birthday off with a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese for dinner with just the family. We had a great time with the games and topped it off with Batman cupcakes (and Star Wars...book, shirt, and toys). Then on Friday night, Jeff and Jeanie and crew came over for a birthday party, complete with Spiderman cake and more presents (mostly spiderman stuff).

Then on Saturday, some friends from South Carolina came down with their 4 kids and we finished off the birthday cake (thank goodness). Jackson has yet to stop playing with any of his new stuff and I think we have read the Star Wars book about 50 times (not kidding).

After Saturday's activities...sleeping on the dinner table.

The Sandbox

Never look a gift horse in the mouth...what does that mean anyway? For us, it meant accepting almost 4 tons of sand. Here's the story....
On Friday the kids and I were outside fingerpainting and a man came down the driveway....he was doing some work on a neighbors house and had some leftover sand. He asked me if I needed or wanted any sand. He explained that we could have it for free and he would move it into our driveway. Of course (because of the "gift horse" thing) I said yes. The kids had been asking for a sandbox, missing the one we had in Topeka, so I thought I would just go out and buy a plastic "turtle" sandbox. Ha, ha, ha...little did I know that the guy had almost 4 tons. I few hours later, I stepped outside and saw the HUGE pile of sand on our driveway. It was at that moment when I realized that our weekend plans had a new priority...sandbox construction. A friend of mine here made the comment a few days ago that she and her husband never do anything small. That comment came to my mind on Saturday while Britt and I were building the 7ft x 7ft sandbox that is 12in deep. The kids are loving it and what is another week without pictures on the walls.

On a side note...something really funny about our painting last week. I had all the kids out on the driveway to fingerpaint. I thought all 4 would love it and the cleanup would be minimal since we were doing it outside. Emma, Geneva and Jackson created masterpieces of art and Maddox just went around with a papertowel and "cleaned" their paper off. He decided that the paint wasn't supposed to be on the paper and he needed to wipe it off. Needless to say, the other 3 weren't really happy about that. However, we got a chuckle out of it because Maddox loves to walk around wiping things off with a rag.

Settling In...One Step at a time

Or maybe the kids would say, "one jump at a time." We cleared some overgrown part of our lot last weekend (with my help of my brother and his wife) and set up the trampoline. We had a clearing towards the back of our property behind some trees and we have big plans for it. Right now it is about 1/3 cleared, but it is nice and flat. We hope by next spring we'll have it all cleared for a garden too.

Also, we had our blinds installed yesterday and I finished unpacking the last box in the school room...baby steps, but its coming together.

Here are some recent pictures:

Maddox...the shirt says it all ("I do all my own stunts")

Emma...dressing up in our clothes

Jack...dressing up as a "daddy"

Geneva...showing off her new toothless smile (2 on the top and 2 on the bottom...one big hole)