Raising Schuurmans: November 2013

Saturday, November 23, 2013

H is for HUNTER!

     This past week Mark, the boys, and I were able to go see some family in Pilot Mountain, Mt. Airy, and then into Virginia, where my dad and his wife live. Mark usually hunts once a year - the day after Thanksgiving. This year he wanted to do it a little more in hopes of getting TWO deer for our freezer. He hunted Monday evening, Tuesday morning, Tuesday evening and NOTHING... But Wednesday morning was his last chance since we HAD to get back to Asheville in time to serve at Son Seekers at church. He FINALLY killed a deer at 10:30 that morning, but not just any deer, a 7-POINT BUCK!!! He was proud, I was elated, and that deer is BIG! Even if that's the only one he gets, there was a lot of venison meat on it.
     While he hunted the boys and I visited with Dad & Sonya, Olivia, Tyson, & Hunter, and also got some sweet time in with Grandma B and Papa John. I didn't find my camera until later so there aren't too many pictures at Dad's house. But boy did I take pictures of those precious twin nephews! While at TJ and Olivia's house we also saw horses on the property joining theirs. So it was a great week to study the letter H (yes, we brought his school work with us)! :) H is for Hunter (our nephew), hunter - as in Daddy is a GREAT hunter, horns (seven, in fact!), and horses, lots of beautiful horses.
     We will be doing a "review" of letters next week, so with it being Thanksgiving, it's a good thing since we'll not have a much time to devote to learning and studying a new letter. Next blog: our time with Grandpa Schuurman! He's flying in today. :)

Some of the "horns" on Granddad's wall - Caribou, Elk, & Deer

Mark's first buck!

7 point buck and my handsome man

Practicing sitting up and cracking up at Daddy all at the same time.

Mr. Handsome hopped onto the coffee table.

He loved having the space and freedom to ride his motorcycle where ever he chose.

Molly, Granddad, and Titus.

Sweet Molly reminds me of my childhood dog, Honey.

Giggling with Granddad.

Aunt Liv brought the boys up for their first visit to Dugspur.

Tyson on the left - Hunter on the right.

Horses!

This is about as close as the horses got to us.

Beautiful creatures.

Giggling with Granddad while reading Bible stories.

Sweet cousins!

Tyson, Hunter (6 months), Titus (5 months), and Marcus (3 years).

By the time Grandma came in for a photo, just about all the boys were done having their pictures made, especially the sneaky little boy on the end...

Painting a large letter H to make a "house" with it.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Goats, Green Grass, and Gardens

     This week we studied the letter G and even though Marcus understands the sound it makes (soft g as in "goat") he struggled with writing both capital and lower-case g's. That's understandable considering he's just a new 3 year old, but he'll get it eventually. He does, at least recognize it when he sees it and was GREAT at showing me g's all over the place this week.
     On Monday, we went just down the road to our neighbor's house to see their goats. Little did I know that it was almost a whole farm over there! They had chickens, goats, sheep dogs, donkeys, a rooster, and miniature horses. Marcus not only enjoyed the animals but he loved swinging with Emma, their daughter.
     Today, a friend and I took the kids to the NC Arboretum. Another sweet friend from church had given us a parking pass so we had to pay nothing. If you care to check it out yourself, the web address is www.ncarboretum.org. It was especially cool today because they had Lego sculptures all over the property. It was pretty impressive! While there Marcus and his friend Lily tried to find "G" things. They came up with green grass, gardens, gardener, go, and God. Pretty smart kids, I tell ya. Thankfully Titus slept the entire time in his stroller and the rest of us enjoyed a beautifully clear, yet a little chilly day. It wasn't bad, though, considering it was in the 30's earlier this week and some surrounding areas saw a little snow.
     The weather is definitely getting cooler, but Marcus still begs to go outside multiple times a day. I'm thankful that he still wants to do his, "schoolwork" first thing when he wakes up, and since we (Mark and I) got new phones this week, Marcus is thoroughly enjoying doing some "games" on it. Don't worry, they're all teacher-approved and educationally based. :)
Oh, and one more thing. G is for "Good Grief!" where did the time go? Titus turned 5 months old this week! Just like with Marcus, it's going so fast!