Easter Funschooling

 This year's Easter funschooling week was full of blessed family time making treasured memories. As I mentioned in my Easter Totschool post, my husband was off from work, so he was able to join in on our special Easter activities. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful and we were able to do all kinds of fun projects inside as well as several outdoor family projects. Easter in the South is typically a wonderful time as Spring is in full force which makes the celebrating all the more enjoyable.

This year we made a cross silhouette project. The children painted a sunset scene with paint onto white construction paper. Then we cut out of black construction paper a mound with three crosses and glued it on top of the dried painted sunsets. I think this is one of my favorite Easter projects we do.

Y'all know I love our directed drawing projects. Well here was a cute bunny that we drew for our Easter funschooling week.

Everyone really gets into the directed drawing projects around here. Seeing everyone's creative personalities come out into their drawings is so special to watch and experience. There's something so amazing about watching a child grow and evolve in their creative abilities. While we don't do regular art lessons, I do try to give the children opportunity to be creative with making sure we have necessary supplies and the encouragement to explore their creative nature.

Of course no holiday is complete without making cut-out sugar cookies.

And yes we start them young in this house. It was really sweet too, because as is usual I was multitasking when we were making cookies this year, but everyone was made sure Abby Lou got a turn to make her cookies (and no, she is not eating them yet, lol).

While it is a lot of work and mess making cut-out sugar cookies, I wouldn't trade it for anything. All the special memories we have created over the years making cookies at each holiday are priceless.

There was a time my OCD, perfection side would want to 'fix' all these cookies and make them esthetically appealing, but I've come a long way, and all I see is love, joy, and happy times with my family. It's more important for my children to have the opportunity to participate, make messes, and explore life than it is for their creations to meet the 'world's standards'.

My older children made these editable bird nests. Well, Lydia helped too by putting the eggs on, but mostly they were made by a collaboration of my big kiddos. These candy/cookies were a big hit with everyone. They were a combination of no-bake oatmeal cookies and Rice Krispie treats. Obviously a perfect combination. 

Our family dyes eggs every year. Only two dozen since we have hundreds of plastic eggs. Even though we own a ton of plastic eggs for hiding, it's just way too much fun to let go of the tradition of dying eggs. Being present and doing things with my family really is my happy place. It's not work or a burden to do these things; it's a privilege. 

Abby Lou had her first experience in dying eggs. She acted as if she knew what she was doing ~ go figure. These babies just keep getting smarter and smarter.

Finally we played a minute-to-win-it game where everyone had to stack and unstack plastic egg halves. This wasn't what I had planned for our Easter minute-to-win-it game, but it's what ended up happening when I realized the game I had planned, the younger children would not be able to play. For me it's all about including as many family members as possible in our activities. 

Life is strange and different now, I don't know if life will ever resume to what it was two months ago, but I do know that I can make an effort to keep my family's life as normal as possible. I'm thankful that this Easter we were able to pretty much keep life the same as it has always been. Did we go to church? No. but we did have church; it just happened to be at home. I refuse to stop living life amongst these uncertain times. I am 'keeping on keeping on' for the sake of my sanity and for the protection of my children. They deserve my best, and that is what they shall have. When I look back on all the pictures and videos of our Easter funschooling week, I'm so very grateful that I can create AND make these special memories with my family.

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer 

Fun at the Apple Festival & Christmas Village

Our Fall schedule is typically slammed with family fun activities and two of our favorite traditions includes attending the Ellijay, Georgia Apple Festival and the Christmas Village at the BJCC in Birmingham, Al. Last year we took everyone to the Apple Festival, but have since decided to make it a yearly tradition only for my husband and me. We love visiting festivals and craft shows, and since our anniversary lands right around the same time, we thought it would be a perfect overnight getaway for just the two of us.

We headed out to Jasper, Georgia to our hotel late Friday afternoon. But, first we stopped and ate at our favorite local Mexican restaurant. We ended up renting the cutest little hotel room which basically consisted of a bed and bathroom. It was perfect for just the two of us. Once we got settled we headed out to find some coffee and local fun. We ended up at the nicest Dunkin Donuts either of us had ever been to, then we went to Walmart, 😂 Yes, we're officially old!!

The Apple Festival is an outside event located at the Ellijay Fair grounds. Unfortunately, the weather was dismal and it rained off and on throughout the entire day. 

Thankfully, the yucky weather didn't deter the festival craftsman/craftswoman from peddling their wares. 

The fair grounds were filled to the brim with booths set up selling all sorts of fresh baked goods and hand crafted items. Our typical plan of attack when we visit a craft fair, is to walk up and down all the isles and make notes of items we might be interested in purchasing. Once we're done, then we evaluate the list and decide what we really want to buy.

Once we were done enjoying the Apple Festival we went looking for some local food and we ended up at the cutest pizzeria called Ellijay Wood Fired Pizza. The food was so delicious and fresh!! This was my salad and it was AMAZING! Best salad I have ever eaten! 

I'm not typically a fan of pizza, mostly because I usually end up not feeling well after I eat it. But, not this time. I didn't get sick and we enjoyed every last bite!

The pizzas are baked in this wood fired oven, which was shipped in pieces from Italy.

Finally we found ourselves in the quaint Ellijay Coffe shop, trying to warm up before we drove home in the pouring rain. Despite the rain, we really did have a wonderful time enjoying the Apple Festival and celebrating our 20th anniversary.

After the Ellijay Apple Festival we went on our family vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains ~ I shared all about that trip over here. Then the next weekend it was time for the Christmas Village. 

I started attending the Christmas Village with my mother-in-law when I first married my husband. After she passed away (five years into our marriage) I quit going. But, as my first-born daughter was getting older, I realized I wanted to rekindle that tradition with her. Now Lydia goes with us too and so will Abigail. This year my husband tagged along because I was so far along in my pregnancy and I was concerned about navigating the downtown traffic. 😬

This year we were blessed with a gifted over-night stay at a hotel which connects to the BJCC (where the Christmas Village is located). It was absolutely fabulous not to have to find parking or walk in the cold to the craft show. Maybe somehow the girls and I can make that a new addition to our tradition of visiting the Christmas Village.

The Christmas Village is a giant two-story craft show. We approach this craft show the same was as the Apple Festival; walking through, taking notes, and then going back and buying what we really want. This particular craft show is very strict about NOT taking pictures, so I don't have much show-casing how awesome the event really is.

They do set up a few 'picture-taking booths' to help all of us crazed picture taking women commemorate our visit to the Christmas Village. 

We don't usually spend a whole lot of money at any of the craft shows we attend. It's mostly about enjoying the atmosphere, food, and visiting with the craftsman/craftswomen who labor to create awesome baked goods and crafts. Much of the items sold, are perfect for holiday gift giving and/or decorating. 

After we wrapped up our fun at the Christmas Village, we went to another town which has some great shopping and dining locations. So we indulged in some really good food and did a little shopping at some fun stores we don't have around us. We ended up cutting the day short and heading home as the girls and I were starting to get sick ~ sigh.

I had all but decided not to attend either craft show because of how far along I was in my pregnancy, but I am glad we decided to go anyways. While neither trip went as planned, they were both fun and now a treasured memory I get to hold onto forever. I'm grateful my family enjoys doing all my crazy traditions, even if they seldom turn out the way we plan, lol. 

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer

4th of July with the Family

Our family is BIG on traditions and celebrating the holidays! The 4th of July is no exception. We had high hopes of this years festivities after last years bust of a celebration. I guess you could say our efforts in trying to sell our big house overshadowed everything last year and it was hard to have any fun. To make matters worse, last year, due to some major issues within our community organizers and massive delays we were unable to see the festival fireworks! Now, if you know me, I'm a stickler for fireworks on the 4th and parades at Christmas. So this year my husband went to great lengths to insure our family (or rather me, lol) got to see some fireworks.

Much to my delight we got to watch fireworks not once BUT twice this 4th of July week. We decided to attend the Independence Day Festival in a neighboring town which happened to throw the best fireworks experience I've EVER witnessed as an adult. It will truly be hard to top their fireworks extravaganza in the future! We were able to attend two festivals on account of one community hosting theirs the day before the 4th and the other on the 4th of July.

Our local community that we live in has an all day 4th of July festival beginning with a small parade and fun activities for the kids and concluding with fireworks later in the evening. We typically attend the morning activities, go home BBQ & rest, and then go back for the fireworks. Which is exactly what we did this year.

The first 4th of July festival we attended began with Jolly Rancher Bomb Pops courtesy of daddy who loves to spoil his littles with yummy treats!

 

The kids thought it was so neat that their 'watermelon' flavored popsicles looked like they had seeds inside of them.

The atmosphere was extremely laid back at the first festival. Throughout the evening there were two different amazing live bands performing. Everyone was relaxed and all the littles were running wild ~ there wasn't a stranger on the football field as we waited for the spectacular display of fireworks, which ended up being sinked with appropriate patriotic music. 

Day Two of Our 4th of July Celebrations

I have this picture and the one below it taken every year for many years now. It's fun to watch our family getting bigger and everyone growing up. 😊

I had no idea we were color-coordinated when we left house, lol. Can we say 20 years of marriage.

Lydia did not know what to think of all the animals at the petting zoo.
When the pig started squealing she was ready to leave, lol!

There's just something peculiar about a camel......lol!

My seven year old and 4 year old are ALWAYS all about the food ~ 

so this function we told them they could bring their own pocket money to spend on treats. 

Kettle corn and homemade lemonades were their prize selections.

This one was a sweetie and willingly shared his lemonade with his baby sister! 

(Got to relish in those little moment, lol)

I'm always the one behind the camera, so I had someone snap a picture of me and baby girl. And YES, it was hotter than blue-blazes and you could cut the humidity with a knife hence the lovely glistening of sweat, lol.

The kiddos take after their daddy when it comes to fair food and 

everyone had to get in on all the goodies ~ these three opted for snow cones.

This year was absolutely one of the best 4th of July celebrations our family has ever experienced. 

I took dozens of pictures and it was all I could do to narrow it down to these few 

(and I know I still over- posted). I'm grateful for the memories and the time spent with family, 

but mostly I'm grateful for the freedoms we celebrated this 4th of July.

I won't lie, navigating family functions with a large crew is NOT easy. There is non-stop unique dynamics that most families do not experience, but I wouldn't change it for anything. Nor would I opt to miss out on fun activities just because it's a little harder to make them happen. Thankfully, these two outings were minimal in the drama escapades, but that is rare. To be perfectly honest it's also a matter of perspective too. What most would consider major 'hiccups' is just our norm. So, if you're struggling with getting out there and doing things with your little entourage; it's time to take a leap of faith and just do it. Trust me the more you do it the easier it gets and if we can do it so can you!!

With Love & Hope,

Jennifer