Avery's lost her two front teeth!

She lost them both on the same day. I can't get over how cute she looks, I just keep asking her to show me her smile:)

Avery holding her mini jam:) We ended up with three jars and a wee bit left over for Avery's baby jar:)

With the one basket of strawberries, the other was eaten within 24hrs, we made some strawberry jam:) Avery takes a turn stirring the berries!

AJ, Avery, and Chloe take a pause for a picture:) We enjoyed a fun adventure out picking strawberries. I was scared that they would eat as many as they could pick, so I was very happy when we ended up with two big baskets. Fun times!

Avery holds a basket of our hand picked berries!

A Day on the Farm

We had a wonderful afternoon visiting Keith and Kim's farm. We all enjoyed seeing the baby animals and playing with our friends. We even stocked up on manure for our garden. Thanks guys!!! We'll be sure to share some of our veggies as they grow:)

Chloe, Abigail, Taylor, Avery, and AJ all take a quick pause for a picture:)

Avery finds a frog:) This little fella sparked the creation of a frog habitat back by our compost bin. Anthony and the kids dug a big hole for a bucket, filled it with water, added a couple of rocks, then finished it off with a lilly pad. Let's hope the frog stays and it doesn't become a breeding ground for mosquitoes!

None of the kids could get enough of riding with Kim in the dune buggy!

Just what is Chloe looking for????

Two little kittens!

Abigail and Avery are on top of the world:)

Baby Duke lets AJ pet his nose:)

Our gardens are really taking off this year. Last year didn't go over so well, but we did have a severe drought. This shot was two weeks back and since then, the tomatoes have grown so much we've had to cage them. The big plants in the back are our red potatoes. We're so anxious to dig them up! The vine plant to the front right is our "mystery" plant of the year. Since a lot of the dirt in the plot is the organic material from our compost bin, one can only guess what it could be...squash, melons, cucumbers??? Can't wait to see:)

Our berry patch...strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries. We've already been picking our strawberries, but it looks like we'll have a nice little crop of the others in a few more weeks:)

Spinach and lettuce. This picture was taken two weeks ago. Since then, they've really taken off. We've had so much that we've been able to share bags with 10 families!

Baby Nectarines:) Chloe walks by the tree and says, "Eat 'em, eat 'em!" and puts her little hand to her mouth!

Avery taking her riding lessons. She's just loving it, but wishing she was 8 so she could do the horsecamp with AJ.

AJ taking his riding lessons. Now that we're homeschooling, he can do the Tuesday horse camp on Ft. Bragg. He just loves it because it's all day, his buddies are there, they get to do a picnic lunch, and they get to do two trail rides:)

Beautiful Avery impressed us all last weekend with her first piano recital:) Most teachers do not accept students under 8, but Mrs. Julie made an exception for Avery and has been amazed with her dedication and ability, she's doing better than more than a few of her older students! She played in front of the 100 plus audience, with such ease and no fear! Way to go, Avery!

Rudolph AJ. Gotta love that wax coating on the cheese!

Chloe in her beautiful sweater made by Auntie Amy. She calls this her "Eastie Bunny":)

Happy Mother's Day!!

Anthony and the kids totally blessed me with this awesome Scooba Robot! It is truely amazing! This little fella not only cleans up crumbs, but mops the floors for me! I love it! He works great in the kitchen, baths, and even the hardwood living and dining rooms! We've had hours of entertainment watching him and have put careful thought into naming him...Scooba! I was amazed that he cleans up even the drop spots from our drooling Jake:) Thanks, guys!!

AJ, Chloe, and Avery set up a viewing area. Yes, we watched our robot for over 30 minutes. It was so neat! The kids think of him as part of our family. Chloe asks about him, pets him, tells us he's hungry, even checks on him while he sleeps!

Tuesday, while AJ was at horse camp, the girls and I joined some friends at the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens. We had a wonderful time, walking the trails, seeing the geese, turtles, fish, snails, talking and enjoyed a picnic lunch. Fun times:)

The muddy highlight of the Botanical Gardens. Avery and her friend Anna both took a spill in the same muddy patch on a trail. Didn't seem to bother them, they had a great time running through the mud, the puddles, and looking for snails:)