Mallory turned 4 July 9th! The one thing she wanted for her birthday was a big tub of cheese balls. She was SO excited when she opened them.
She had her birthday at Barbra Wagner's neighborhood swimming pool. She invited Caroline Butters, Corrine Schulte, Ethan Logan, James, and Kinley. She went off the low dive and down the slide a million times. She also figured out how to swim from the middle of the pool to the side without a float!
Thanks to Edward Jones Josh and I were blessed to take my parents to Italy for 10 days in July! We had a great time seeing the sights and drinking the wine! We started out in Rome, took a day trip to Venice, another one to Oriveto, stayed a night in Vernazza, and one in Pisa.
This was a ritzy shopping street in Rome
Josh to a panoramic pic of Vernazza the Coastal town on the Italian Riviera we stayed in one night.
Beautiful sunset in Pisa!
Our dear friends the Reynolds family moved indefinitely to the Middle East in August. We are excited to partner with them as they share Jesus with their new community.
James turned 9 August 4th. He had a lego party with Joshua Butter, Ethan Logan, Gavin Sponsler, and Ezra Henslee. All he wants these days is more legos! He can make some pretty impressive attack space ships with no directions.
First day of school pics!
James has realized that 3rd grade is serious school. He is still doing well but struggling more with getting things done in a timely manner. He is having to figure out how to stay focused and how to not be such a perfectionist. He loves reading, science, writing, and he is very good at math.
Kinley started Kindergarten. I have been pretty distraught over the whole thing. I can't believe how big my kids are and that I have passed through the phase I always dreamed of living. Working on that midlife crisis but I know God's got me.
Kinley is loving school and doing a great job listening, learning, and making friends.
Mid August we ate breakfast on the back porch and a preying mantis landed on my back. I of course flung it off and then the kids caught it and observed it for a while. We discovered that she loved crickets and moths. After a few weeks we went to check on her one morning and there was a male on the outside of her cage. We let him in. They mated for 24 hours. Kinley describes it in great detail. "the mom opened her bottom and the dad put his bottom in side her bottom and then just stayed there all day!" Oh brother! Anyway, they mated all day and we assume all night and when we checked on them the next morning there was no dad...only a spare leg at the bottom of the cage. The mom then grew very large and made an egg sack. Two days after the sack we left the cage in the sun on mom died. We are hoping the sac still works. The babies should hatch in March!
The Morris family has experienced a lot of loss the past couple of months. Josh's mom's mom Grandmother passed at the end of August. The girls were so excited to receive some of her costume jewelry and wore it proudly to her memorial service. Then at the beginning of October Josh's dad's dad Pop passed. We are so thankful for the legacy of marriage, morals, and faith his grandparents left. They were wonderful people and will are thankful to have known them.
The kids love to play dictionary on a big white board. Mallory is hilarious though because she is still learning to draw actual objects so when it is her turn she will draw something abstract (view pic below) and we will start guessing "bunny, no, hairbrush, no, penguin, no, human fetus, YES!"
This was Mallory's first self portrait. Those are cheeks on either side of her nose.
We went on our annual Beavers's Bend camp trip and unfortunately took no pictures except this one at Walmart the day before we left. We buy at TON of stuff when we go camping. Sometimes I think going to the beach might be cheaper.
Our 2014 jack o lantern
Trick or treating with the Henslee's. James is the ninja, Kinley was a fawn again and Mallory was a black cat again. I love that they take the cheap easy route!
