Spending the afternoon with my favorite " Pumpkins" at Old McDonald's Farm

Celebrating the Fall season with my kiddos and my grands....We went to Old McDonald's Farm Friday afternoon. One of the best perks from being a mega size family is we have enough to get the group rate and we had the whole place to ourselves. We had a blast ! Didn't have to worry about other children or waiting in line....The McDonalds were great and we enjoyed our beautiful day at the farm.

Happy Times in the Outer Banks once again.....

 Starting out early in the am for the beach....stopped at the rest area in VA for a picture.

We always stop at the Morris Farm Market on the way in. They give free samples too which we all enjoy.

We had great weather all week and every one including this little stinker loved the beach.

Ben and Angie joined us for the week and I went in the water to ride waves for the first time in years....

Zeke's first time at the beach...He was all smiles.

Beautiful sunrises...

Walking on the beach at nite with flash lights to see all the crabs.

They all made it to the top of dunes .

Burying Josiah ( the merman )

We got to have our beach vacation thanks to the adult kids in the family....They wanted us to go and they organized the trip and paid for most of it. Thank you !!!! It was another week of wonderful memories....Hopefully we can next year.

My favorite police officer - my son, Ben

 I am the momma to 36 children... 12 of them are African American , 1 is Mexican, 2 are Roma and 21 are white. 

We have 12 African American children and 5 grandchildren who are also African Americans.

My son Ben is a police officer. Here he is on his graduation day from the academy.

 April 2015

Here is Ben today....I asked him to come up so I could take my favorite police officer out to lunch. I am very proud of my son. He received excellent training at the academy and works in one of the best police departments ( at least imo ). I pray for him all the time. He chose this career because he wants to make a difference ... and he is every day on his job protecting his community and doing a job many would not want in these times. We talk most every day he works...We end our conversations with, " I love you". 

I stayed up last nite watching the horror in Dallas, Ben called me at midnite and we shared emotions and thoughts. I read posts and news stories every time there is a shooting ( black or white). I have an almost insatiable appetite for news surrounding police. I watch the videos of the shootings, the riots the heartache felt by the families when a loved one is lost to this. I sit all my children down and we talk about what is happening . I have my own thoughts coming from a white woman who has lived a privileged life but one who has a deep heart for any injustice . I have done my best to be sensitive to the underdog or those who struggle in ways maybe I have not. I think of the children without their parent or the girlfriend , wife , mom , sister who will miss them. I am sure it is difficult. 

I think of my own children, white and black. Then I am even more convicted to teach my children about obedience and the importance of respecting authority even if you feel threatened or things go bad

I am so very proud of my son who is a police officer... So is his very big, mega, diverse family .

My favorite police officer - my son, Ben

 I am the momma to 36 children... 12 of them are African American , 1 is Mexican, 2 are Roma and 21 are white. 

We have 12 African American children and 5 grandchildren who are also African Americans.

This is my son Ben and my husband, Paul

My son Ben is a police officer. Here he is on his graduation day from the academy.

 April 2015

Here is Ben today....I asked him to come up so I could take my favorite police officer out to lunch. I am very proud of my son. He received excellent training at the academy and works in one of the best police departments ( at least imo ). I pray for him all the time. He chose this career because he wants to make a difference ... and he is every day on his job protecting his community and doing a job many would not want in these times. We talk most every day he works...We end our conversations with, " I love you". 

I stayed up last nite watching the horror in Dallas, Ben called me at midnite and we shared emotions and thoughts. I read posts and news stories every time there is a shooting ( black or white). I have an almost insatiable appetite for news surrounding police. I watch the videos of the shootings, the riots the heartache felt by the families when a loved one is lost to this. I sit all my children down and we talk about what is happening . I have my own thoughts coming from a white woman who has lived a privileged life but one who has a deep heart for any injustice . I have done my best to be sensitive to the underdog or those who struggle in ways maybe I have not. I think of the children without their parent or the girlfriend , wife , mom , sister who will miss them. I am sure it is difficult. 

I think of my own children, white and black. Then I am even more convicted to teach my children about obedience and the importance of respecting authority even if you feel threatened or things go bad

I am so very proud of my son who is a police officer... So is his very big, mega, diverse family .

Reading - an important part of our summer

 This fall when we begin our school year , we will be starting our 30th year of formal schooling.  We value reading the most as far as the academics go. I happen to love reading and encourage our children to read, read, and read. It makes my soul happy to watch as they discover the joy of books. When they run up to me excited to share what they are reading i love it. One of the ways we have tried to encourage reading is thru a summer reading program. Sometimes we have done this thru our local library. Other times I do my own program. With this many children I find it easier for me to do this rather than use programs available at the library ( which are excellent ). Just the logistics of managing the programs protocol and record keeping sometimes don't work for our children. So this week we started our program....these are pics of some of the kids who took right to it the night I introduced it. We even have a place for Jubal for his reading.

My program is pretty simple . I bought bags, a recording booklet, a special pen and a piggy bank from the Dollar Store for each one. My older ones will earn 25 cents for 5 books read that someone older checks off in their record books and a sticker is placed on a chart. When they reach 50 books they will get an extra reward of 10 dollars for the summer with the 25 cents/per 5 books they've earned. I have a collection of extra activities like new puzzles for diff. ages, Dory coloring books with 3D , paper airplanes, cards, new memory games and other things to do on the quiet parts of our days in the summer . This is to encourage quiet times . We do a lot of outside times in summer with the most time swimming but we always have a need for some down time. Usually at our home it is nap or quiet time from 1 to 3 daily. The older ones can read during this time.

We have also done some books read aloud or listening to cds of great people in history and the christian faith. Developing listening skills are important for our kids who sometimes struggle with this . Encouraging times where they have to pay attention to a reader who is reading out loud or following the directions of a music cd helps with this skill.

I love summer because we don't feel the pressure to have to do all the academics and we can relax and share in one of my joys way more than during the school year. Reading is so important for the children who want to go on to college but also in life as an adult can be enriched with good reading skills. All of my kids at home are now ESL ( English as a second language ). Reading helps them to develope their vocabulary and proper use of the verbs , pronouns and other parts of speech. My first desire though is for them to love to read because I have seen if they enjoy it they will read. We check out easily 120 to 150 books every 3 weeks for the children. They all love going but I have to restrict the amount of kids I send so they rotate. We have many books and book shelves of ones we own too.

Read to me or can I read to you....are words I love to hear.