My heart is "beeping" fast!

Yesterday, the baby, you know, the one who just turned 6....he ran up (and down) a half mile hill.  We live at the bottom of this hill and walk/jog/run it quite often but Kimber has never run the whole way.  Yesterday HE DID IT.  Of course this morning, there was much complaining about his legs hurting.  Lactic acid discussion ensued. 

I will fully admit that I don't do baby talk, I take this job of raising self sufficient humans seriously and have tried hard to talk to these kids like the people they are....BUT......I just can't fix K's term for his heart beating.....beeping.  While laying on the driveway after his sprint he just had to let me feel his "heart beeping".

This is probably my favorite incorrect word usage of his....it also allows me to keep savoring one of the few morsels of his littleness for a little while longer,  he is so independent and aware and OLDER than his 6 years in so many ways, I will keep "heart beeping" for a little while longer.

Within 10 minutes of our arrival back home from our run, Matthew took his first over the handlebar dismount....with minimal drama I might add.  I think he was pretty close to crying but my well disguised worry masquerading as AWE tricked him.  He got a little banged up and sported some bruises on his ribs for a few days but was back on his bike within 15 minutes or so.

Little things

It really is ALL those little things that make this life so interesting.

We played Kimber up so that both boys are on the same baseball team this fall.......after keeping up with two different schedules during spring ball this is quite the relief. 

Nana and Gramps made it to a game!

Such a cutie.

Post game snacks

Today, during our fact sheet portion of our math lesson, when each boy gets to do his sheet on a clipboard wherever he wants, I peek into the living room and those sweet boys are snuggled up together in my late grandmother's recliner working away...and I honestly don't believe they were even collaborating...just snuggling.

Between my own thrifting and my sweet mother in law's thrifting I have amassed quite the collection of cloth napkins.  There are certain favorites that make me smile....every single time we use them.  We keep a loaf pan on our dining table filled with these little beauties and those of you that know us know we are NOT fancy but they are used at almost every meal.

WEATHER, we just finished our third week of school and EVERY DAY this week we got to spend a considerable amount of time out of doors.  Mostly 70's and 80's all week.....we are definitely not in Texas anymore Toto!  I think the boys favorite daily activity is read aloud time in the treehouse, it just might be ABSOLUTELY IS my favorite too!

The BABY is 6!!!

6!  6!  6!  The baby is 6 TODAY!

This 6-year old of mine has been counting down the days to his birthday for at least a month.  I am not sure I have ever seen a kid more excited about a birthday. 

This baby of mine still loves his mama fiercely and thankfully still needs snuggles most days.  He can build the coolest creations from his Lego collection.  He will scarf down any type of berry brought into this house.  He has become quite the mathematician and is making great strides in his reading.  I am convinced that at least half the facts he knows about the animal kingdom have come from the mouths of the Kratt Brothers of Wild Kratts fame.  He loves being read to, riding his bike and playing Minecraft with Matthew.  He never forgets ANYTHING....he is certainly my most ardent accountability partner!

Don't let that sweet dimpled smile fool you, this boy has quite the stubborn streak, I mean FOR REAL!  There have be MANY conversations here about choosing your battles, and he is making progress but boy....the stubborn is strong in this one.  He and Matthew are incredibly close...when they are not trying to maim each other. 

This shot epitomizes the CAN DO ATTITUDE employed by this kid.

And that stink face...when he doesn't get his way...alive and well today!

SUMMER 2015 - Lakes-Berries-Caves-Snakes-Baseball-Dyslexia-Robot Zoo-Bugs

What a BUSY summer!

We made a bucket list for summer and did ALMOST all of it.

Our annual Honeycomb Beach excursion was quite fun.....and infinitely easier than last year.

Our trip to Jack's lake was awesome, and the fact that I finally (after 3 years) made it through a Jack's Lake day without letting the boys get sunburnt was just the icing on top!

We hit 24.75 hours of reading over our 6 week break and the boys were thrilled to turn in their reading logs to our beloved Miss Maggie at the library at the final summer reading party....which just happened to include snakes, lizards and frogs.

Creek trips always top the summer (and who am I kidding...spring and fall) to do lists for the boys.

We made a trip to Cathedral Caverns with Nana and Gramps.  No trip to the caverns is complete without a berry picking excursion.  Thankfully Nana is an adept berry picker, even when the little boys lose focus in the adjacent peach orchard.

I participated in an INTENSIVE dyslexia training at our local Dyslexia school to beef up my skills in teaching Matthew.  Nana & Gramps came and kept the boys....as a result these boys got a little spoiled and Kimber thinks all toast now "needs" CHEESE on it.

The baseball bug has hit Matthew HARD.  He has always loved baseball but I would bet we have played catch 5 out of 7 days for the past 3 months, since baseball season ended.  He also attended a 3-day baseball camp at the local high school that he thoroughly enjoyed.

The local Space and Rocket Museum has a Robot Zoo exhibit that is phenomenal.  We spent a fun day exploring it and enjoying the lack of crowds as the local schools have started.

Our new school year starts next Monday!  We are shifting from American History and Geography to a study of the ancients this year.  Add this to math, reading, cursive, biology, geology and Latin.  We will be dissecting owl pellets (poop) and crayfish in a few weeks and the boys cannot wait. 

SEVENTEEN!!!!!

Mind.  Blown.

We have been married 17 years.....how is that possible? 

17 years ago we boarded this crazy flight to the land of marriage, we had no clue what to expect. Thankfully there have been plenty of blue skies, our fair share of turbulence, some baggage lost and two priceless freckled souvenirs gained, a few course corrections, a number of destination changes and more grace and mercy than imaginable.  I have zero doubt that we were made for each other....even if I question the matching of our red-headed stubborn personalities periodically.

I won't say I haven't searched for my oxygen mask at times.  Or that I haven't wanted to just bury my face in the SkyMall magazine a pretend that it was all perfect.  I will say that while marriage is such an incredible blessing, and has the potential to be a blast, it is also HARD WORK.  You know, the kind that leaves you hurting the next day.  One thing I do know, anything worth having IS hard work.

I was told by a family member not long after we married that the odds were that we wouldn't make it...while I don't pretend to know everything, I do know that HE has brought us together and as long as HE is the captain of THIS ship we will keep flying the friendly and not so friendly skies.

 About a month before our 3rd anniversary....absolute babies!

Those cute aforementioned "freckled souvenirs" last summer.

A big old 8 year old in the HOUSE!!!

That sweet little red headed boy who first called me Mama is a big lanky 8-year old today!

He is the sweetest kid on the planet, such an easygoing soul, full of happiness and life.  Legos and baseball are still his primary interests and Minecraft is a love as well.  Gnocchi is his favorite food by far followed up by pizza.  Fall baseball starts soon and it will be fun watching him in his element.

His hair, pictured here got EXTREMELY LONG over the summer, Willie made a deal with the guy he is working with that they would not cut their hair until they met a specific milestone and Matthew jumped right on board with them.  I think he secretly enjoyed all the attention I gave to him DAILY....asking is he was ready for a haircut yet??? 
We finally trimmed it a few weeks ago so the crazy hair is gone and my clean cut little man is back! 

Willie has been working an insane amount of hours over the past 3-4 months so we have seen very little of him, so for Matthew's birthday he took the ENTIRE day off.  I am not sure there is any THING we could have gotten Matthew that was a better gift than that.  Riggle U offers your birthday off so we had an easy morning with a few presents and game playing and then Willie took him on a special trip to the shooting range. 

Those that know this little quiet guy well know that he has
become quite adept at his little 22 rifle and having Papa all
to himself for a teaching and practice session was right up his
alley.  He even qualified and got his youth shooter card, which he thought was the icing on the cake.

We ended the day with dinner out at his favorite restaurant, MELLOW MUSHROOM! 

Our last ICE CREAM as a 7-year old!!!!

Moral of the story....DON'T BLINK!

Riggle U is out for SUMMER!

Last Friday we closed out the books on the second year of this crazy-fun-exhausting-patience building-education redeeming-dirty-exciting homeschooling journey.

We have learned SO MUCH!

We have grown SO MUCH!

We are excited for another year....after a 6 or so week break that we all desperately need.

These boys worked hard all year and I "kind" of tested them last week on their history.  We studied US history this year and they both conquered a great deal of information.  I would say 90% of the 24 history points we worked through were fully attached in their little brains.  Seriously, I could not have told you what year the 14th Amendment was signed or list the Bill of Rights to you in order BUT now we all can!  It is unbelievably cool to me that they can and will have such a leg up when they have such a strong grasp on the where and when of history so that they can draw connections between events as they grow.


A few snaps from our highlight reel over the school year....

FINALLY.....new family pics!

So, it has been quite some time, like 2010 since we had family pictures made....and these kids have grown quite a bit...as seen below:

So.....here are the new pictures displaying the much more aged Riggles.....we blinked...........

Skins and Skulls

This homeschooling life, while crazy some days, affords us many opportunities for learning outside the box.  We went on a field trip to the Madison County Extension Office yesterday and got to learn all about local animals and explore their SKINS and their SKULLS.  We all learned something, did you know when opossums are well, playing possum it is called SULLING?  Us neither.  We also learned that the eye placement is different for carnivores and herbivores.  Super interesting stuff and these boys of mine had an ABSOLUTE blast.  Did I mention it was free??

Matthew channeling his inner Davy Crockett

Kimber was super intrigued by the beaver skin

A bobcat skull

2014 Miles = 194.68

A fairly slow running year, this crazy life doesn't leave a lot of time for running, but it's better than no miles, right?