Sam's Kentucky Trip

Well, crud! I just realized I'm going to have to go back further then May of 2010 to really share what we have been up to. When I look back I realize I basically quit blogging around the time Abby was born. Shocking, I know!

A little history on this post. Starting with Gabe's birthday January 2010, we decided that we would fly each of the "big" boys to Kentucky for their birthdays in lieu of gifts. The following pictures are from Sam's trip:

DCA to SDF ~ Kentucky here we come!!

Sam's first plane ride!!

Sam and Grandpa Spencer

My inlaws have a beautiful farm in south central Kentucky, complete with a creek, go cart, tire swing, golf cart and toys galore. It is a young boys paradise! Here Sam is getting ready to go go carting. As always, safety first!

Three generations. Great Granny Dinwiddie, Granny Spencer, and Abby.

Abby at Lakeside. I don't know why but I love, love, love this picture of her!

Sam at Lakeside! One of the most magical places on earth!!

Gigi, had an awesome idea to take Sam to the Frazier Arms Museum in Louisville. It is a super cool place and right up Sam's ally. He especially loved the American Soldier exhibit!

Sam slaying a dragon. We got to watch a sword demonstration. It was very informative and let me tell ya, the movies get it completely wrong!

Sam insisted I take a picture of this model!

What a ham! Who is this kid?!

I am so glad that we took the time and money to make these trips. I have great memories of taking each one of them. Greg and I are really thinking of getting rid of "gifts" for birthdays and going instead with experiences. We have so much "junk" and would really like to make some memories with each of the boys one on one for their special day. Ethan's birthday is in 2.5 weeks. I have no idea what to get him. A groupon came out for a trapeze class, but you had to be 18, hmmmmm.....for now the jury is still out!

CSAs and Monkeys?

Over the last two summers we tried CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture). In theory, it is a fruit and vegetable delivery service. Last year we tried one (I cannot for the life of me remember which one) and ending up canceling a month in because all we were getting was greens. Now don't get me wrong, we like greens. My kids will eat kale, spinach, collards, etc. But getting several pounds of greens once a week was a little much.

I suppose the box whould have been my first clue. "Fresh Greens"

I really, really wanted to like everything. The radishes were yummy. I found a "french recipe" that said to spread butter on french bread and then slice radishes very thinly for a sandwich. It was actually pretty good! That front bag is a bag of lettuce. It was the most bug chewed lettuce I have ever seen. I diligently washed each leaf and made a nice salad. Too bad it tasted like dirt!

This past summer we thought we'd try our hand at a CSA again. This time we went with Great Country Farms. They get decent reviews, have a nice website, and there is a "pick your own share" included in your price so we thought we would give it a try. Again, VERY disappointed. The first few weeks were okay. We again ate a lot of kale and other greens which is pretty normal in the early summer. After that we got some of the sorriest looking produce I have ever seen. Bug ridden, split and rotting, one of the worst was a delivery I got last week that literally smelled like rotting flesh. Very disappointing and a total waste of money. I think I'll stick with my Costco produce from now on!! Lesson learned!

Right around the time of our first delivery last year, Ethan made a diaroma for a clay monkey he made at school. Greg and he did a great job of making it pretty realistic! Models are by far Greg's specialty!! I called Ethan up to confirm his "creature". He said, "It's a monkey, did you think it was a turd?" Silly kid!

Triple Birthday 2010

The last day of my parents visit, Memorial Day 2010, we celebrated all the spring birthdays. I turned 31, Sam turned 9, and I'll leave y'all to guess how old my Mom turned! It was really just a birthday party for Sam but Mom and I did add our names to the cake.

Sam decided to go with a patriotic theme for his 9th birthday. I suppose he was getting a little old for transformers, army men, etc. sniff, sniff. Normally I would do 9 things I love about my 9 year old but since I will hopefully be updating soon with 10 things I love about my 10 year old, the list will have to wait!

Here are some pictures from our big day!

The Ice Cream Sunday Cake - A Leppert Tradition!!

The decor! This was the weekend we transformed our sun room into our dining/school room. Wow, it looks a lot different now!

Silly Gigi!

Blowing out the candles!

The gifts!!!

I cannot believe that as I type this Sam is almost 10.5! Wow how time flies!!

Mount Vernon - Memorial Day Weekend 2010

I am on a roll! It actually feels really good that I'm getting these pictures and a little glimpse of our life out there on the blog! I feel very accomplished for the day!

After Arlington we decided the next day to do a Wine and Sunset "thing" at Mount Vernon. It was the first time we had been there as a family and it could not have been more beautiful. We got to tour the mansion and sit on the lawn and enjoy wine and desserts. I remember two things vividly about this trip: first, the boys LOVED watching the blacksmiths work and sweat their booties off and second this trip was before my Dad got his hearing aids. I remember standing at the back of the mansion tour, quietly telling my Dad what the guide was saying and thinking how sad it made me that he couldn't hear better (he is probably going to kill me for this). He recently got him some fancy new ears and he loves them! YAY!!!

Gabe enjoying some of the desserts!

Mom, Dad and Abby

Abby, hoping Gigi will give her a bite!

Sam

Ethan

Self Portrait!

It was such a beautiful night!

Memorial Day 2010

So I mentioned before that I had no plans of completly catching y'all up on the last 18 months, but the more I think about it the more I really want to at least post pictures of what we have been doing so that one day I can print my blog in a book. I have visions of our ancient desktop crashing so it probably is best I have a "hard copy" of these pictures stored on the web somewhere.

Memorial Day Weekend 2010 my parents came to visit. We had a really nice time and thought what better way to spend Memorial Day but with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery. Of course we had to take the metro, something my boys LOVE to do!!

Gigi and some of her boys!

The rest of the boys.

Papa, Abby and I.

I love the last part of this sign, "Please remember these are hallowed grounds". So true.

I thought this picture was gorgeous. Apparently so did the guy in the bottom of my frame!

We took the time to find my Great Uncle's grave. I believe we were at Arlington right before the "scandal" of lost graves came out in the news. Hopefully Great Uncle Belt is actually buried here!!

The trip was EXHAUSTING for poor Joel! He had it easy, you should have seen the rest of us!

We ate dinner that night in Pentagon City. I think this was at California Pizza Kitchen, I don't remember exactly but I do remember that Abby went from this....

.....to this, in about 5 minutes flat. Gigi's will do that to you!

Day 1 of Memorial Weekend compelete! Stay tuned for Day 2, soon!!

Do You Still Remember Us??

You may remember us. I used to actually write on this blog. Back before I had five children and before I was pregnant with my sixth, yeah, you read that right SIXTH. Back before I was homeschooling and before life got down right CRAZY!!

I don't know that I will take the time and totally catch y'all up but for now I thought I would post some recent pics of our crew!!!

Sam ~ 10

Ethan ~ 8

Gabe ~ 6

Joel ~ 4

Abby ~ 2

Do you even recognize these kids?? Can you believe how big they've gotten?? They are growing, changing and maturing right before my eyes. I am one lucky momma!! Try to check in, I'm going to try to blog on a regular basis!!

Some Endorsements

The kids and I have been playing games...lots of games. I've always been a big board gamer and quality time is my love language so this is right up my ally. Here are our favorites:

This memory game is awesome! Beautiful pictures, thick, almost indestructible pieces AND I'm really good at it, which is always a plus! Have you ever tried the cheap Mattel Memory games? They are the worst, especially if they have characters (ie. Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Princesses, etc.). Everyone just gets frustrated! Spend a little extra for this one!

The boys LOVE this one! I'm usually a little annoyed with anything "character" related (guess you caught that from my last recommendation) but this one is actually pretty fun. We recently tried regular Yahtzee and it's a little "deep" for everyone. Sam could probably catch on fairly quickly with a few more rounds but it was way over everyone elses heads. This game is a little overly simplistic which has resulted in some tears when two Yahtzees from the same character appear but they've been good sports.

My Mom recommended this one:

It's super fast paced and SUPER easy. Even Gabe can play this one with ease. This game kills Joel. The game involves three dice and three chips (per player). Depending on how you roll your dice determines which way your chips go (pass to the right, left, center, or safe). Joel just cannot handle giving up his chips (actually my chips, he sits on my lap to play). It's pretty humurous at first and then just down right annoying, Greg finally had to just take him out of the room! My Mom and Dad played with nickles instead of chips, which I thought sounded SUPER fun, but Greg thought it might set a bad precident....any adults wanna play nickle LCR with me??!?!

And now because I don't post enough....a couple of recent pics of the fam:

The boys found a couple of old cameras and have been little shutterbugs...one they caught of me!

Joel making a super silly face.

Outside of Gabe's preschool...not sure why Greg cut off Sam's head!

Sweet Baby Girl

My almost 9 year old!

And finally...if you can't promote yourself on your own blog, where can you promote yourself! I'm in the process of forming a small business. I have been fairly successful at selling hairbows in our community and wanted to start a website with pictures and prices of the "stuff" I create. "Stuff" like this:

And this:

Personalized Hand Sanitizer Bottles for all the teachers in your life!

I WARN YOU NOW!! My new website (click HERE) is SUPER GHETTO but it's a start...please do not pass along any judgement...it will one day be glossy and pretty, if I can just light a fire under the butt of my dear baby brother!

Hoping to be more in the blog spirit now that baby girl is getting a little older and a wee less needy! Miss ya'll!!