Mountain Weekend

Our small group from church took a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains this past weekend. Last year, we did an adult's only ski trip, but with two nursing mothers and three expecting mothers we couldn't very well go skiing. So we made this a family trip.

We had 8 children age 4 and under. One 4-yr-old + one 3-yr-old + one 2-yr-old + three 1-yr-olds + two babies = average age of 1.5. I was impressed with how well they played together most of the time. Roper spent a lot of time "flirting" with Alina by taking her baby doll, which totally set her off. He has learned at an early age how to push a girl's buttons! :)

It's really hard but not impossible to get a picture of 8 children with an average age of 1.5...


From youngest to oldest...
















More pictures from the weekend...












This is how we play pool...












What is it with boys throwing rocks into water? I think they could have stood by this creek and thrown rocks in the water until there were no rocks left to throw!




We are fortunate to have some very talented musicians in our group. Our guitar/mandolin trio: Matt + Robbie + Mason.


















The Michauds are former members of our small group and joined us in the mountains from their new home in Nashville. Jessica & I grew up going to the same church, so it was nice for us to reconnect in Lexington. Now they have moved on to Nashville, and we enjoyed catching up with them over the weekend. They have a baby girl due to arrive this summer, so we had a little surprise shower in the mountains. Raluca made these really cute cake pops...





We were introduced to a new board game -- The Settlers of Catan. I am now a Catanian. :) I will go on Amazon shortly and order a copy of the game for the Clark home! I seriously could have stayed up all night playing this game. It didn't help that my own beloved husband beat me (and everyone else for that matter) two games in a row! I am itching for another chance at victory!

It was a very fun weekend...now we are back to reality for a few days at least. :)

Hunting Trip with Coach Pat Dye BY GRAEM

For the first time in the almost three years that I've been blogging, I'm glad to introduce Graem as a "guest" blogger. Except that since this is our family blog, he really isn't a guest. Nonetheless, he has never contributed even so much as a comment, so it is a "first," and therefore momentous.

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A few weeks ago, I took a hunting trip to Crooked Oaks, AL with a broker I've been working with a good bit, one if his friends & another close friend of mine from Colonial. Elana D'Ariciprete, who works with me at Colonial & lives outside of Montgomery, is an Auburn grad & a big hunter. She's been trying to get me to come down for years to hunt at Crooked Oaks because it's Pat Dye's (legendary football coach who led Auburn to 4 SEC Championships) hunting preserve.

Since I am a big hunter & love good SEC football, I've been wanting to go for years. But one thing that has made it even more appealing is that while our deer season ends on January 1st, their's runs through January 31st & their rut comes in the last week of January. So I finally worked with Elana to plan a trip this year & invited Steve Farish to bring a guest.

While I was extremely excited about the chance to extend my hunting season by a few days, I always love the camaraderie formed on a hunting trip, particularly when you stay in a lodge as nice as Coach Dye's.

All 4 of us saw deer & could have taken shots but we all ended up letting them walk. More than anything though, we had a great time hanging out at the lodge & getting to know Coach Dye & his staff.



Chico met us at the lodge & told us when we checked in that Coach Dye is most known for his pork chops, and that he doesn't let anyone else cook pork chops when he's around. Even after that introduction, Elana still tried to tell Coach how to cook pork chops the right way until he finally had to tell her "fine, you cook your own pork chop." If you know Elana, you can completely picture that conversation.



Coach seemed to be a fan of Maker's Mark.



Coach Dye, Chico, Steve & me.

Chico runs Crooked Oaks & Auburn Oaks for Coach Dye. Chico has worked for Coach Dye since he was in high school & is responsible for all of the business management of the preserve. He & Heath (not pictured) were also our guides for the hunts.



Elana & Coach Dye.



Steve & Coach Dye.



Joe Walker & Coach Dye.

This was the first time that I had met Joe & I really enjoyed getting to know him. Many of you know that I was recently ordained / installed as a deacon at Lexington Presbyterian Church. On the ride down to Alabama, I learned that Steve & Joe are deacons & elders in the Presbyterian church. I can have fun hunting & hanging out with just about anybody, but it makes it a lot more enjoyable when you're around a group of people that you really enjoy spending time with.

Here is a link to Crooked Oaks Hunting Preserve and some background on Coach Pat Dye.

Catechism and Scripture Memory

Our church has a wonderful children's ministry and one of their programs that I have come to love over the past several months is CAMP (Catechism And Scripture Memory Program). Each age group has a list of questions and verses to memorize, with more challenging memory work for older children. The children have the whole school year to learn them, with a mid-point review in January and a final review in May. The children that complete the program are rewarded with a trip to a water park at the beginning of June.

They start young, which I love, because Mason is proof positive that young children are capable of memory work. At his age, it is really more of a commitment on behalf of the parents to work with their children. When I signed him up back in the fall, I knew he could do it, but I never expected him to have mastered all of it in time for the mid-point review.

He was very comfortable reciting everything for us, but I had my doubts as to whether he would perform for someone he didn't know. When the reviewer asked his name, he quickly responded, "Fireman Sam;" and when she asked his age he replied "five" (he is three). He was so confident and answered all of the catechism questions and rattled off his verses without so much as flinching! I have to say that my heart swelled with pride for my little man! So we need to work on telling the truth but at least he knows his verses! :)



Here are the questions/verses that he memorized:
Q. Who made you?
A. God.

Q. What else did God make?
A. God made all things.

Q. Why did God make you and all things?
A. For his own glory.

Genesis 1:1
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

Psalm 47:6a
"Sing praises to God."

Psalm 147:5a
"Great is our Lord and mighty in power."

Mark 4:41b
"Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Heavy Rotation

In keeping with the topic of books, and since this is a family blog, it seems fitting to share some of M&R's favorite books. These books are what I call the "heavy rotation" -- a radio term for songs that get played over and over and over. The boys never seem to tire of these. These are the ones they pick out time and time again, and Mason has memorized most of them, which means no skipping pages.



Often the highlight of my day is when the boys climb into my lap before bedtime to read books. They quickly calm down when it is time to read. They smell so good having just been bathed and are all comfy in their pajamas. I usually let each pick out 2 books, and somehow Roper knows to pick up 2. Maybe he just gets one in each hand? Or could he know what "two books" means? Mason typically asks if he can pick out 5 instead of 2. My exhaustion from a long day coupled with my love for reading books to them usually results in my being a total pushover. They love for me to read to them as much as I love it, which won't always be the case.



The top 10:

Go, Dog. Go! -- Will and Andrea gave us the long version and the McCartys gave us the short version before Mason was born. Both versions are loved equally by the boys, and many nights we read both.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation -- I might love this one just as much as the boys do. They call it the "Westbound Train" book. Jay and Betsy gave it to Mason for his second birthday.

You're A Grand Old Flag -- My cousin Alice and her family gave this to Roper when he was born, since he is a July baby. Sometimes we have to hide this book! The words in this book are the lyrics of the song. If you know me well, you probably know that I wasn't blessed with a voice for singing in front of people. And my children are people. Oddly enough, they aren't offended by my singing voice.

How Do I Love You? -- My parents gave this one to Mason for his first birthday. This would make a wonderful Valentine's Day gift!

The Cow Loves Cookies -- One of the newer books in our rotation, from Aunt Beth and Uncle Charlie at Christmas. The farmer feeds the chickens feed, need I say more?

My Little Word Book -- Roper absolutely hearts this book, which is why the back cover and spine have come off. Graem's parents gave Mason this book for Valentine's Day 2008; it has been very "loved."

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie -- What a cute book! A friend from my tennis team, Jean, gave this to me when I was expecting Mason.

Llama Llama Red Pajama (aka "the old llama llama book") and Llama Llama Misses Mama (aka "the new llama llama book"). I think Aunt Beth and Uncle Charlie gave Mason "Red Pajama" for his second birthday and Alice and her crew gave Roper "Misses Mama" for Christmas. These are really cute, especially "Red Pajama," and our copy is signed by the author, which is so neat!

Barnyard Dance -- I think I read this book to Mason the week he came home from the hospital and it seems to have been a favorite ever since! Although it is MIA at the moment...hmmm...

That wraps it up...and why am I blogging on a Saturday night you might wonder? Because I have strep throat. The boys are at the farm and hubs went to the basketball game. I'm home *resting* and thanking our good Lord for amoxicillan!