The New and Improved Fire Pit

    

  One of the Lane Gang's favorite activities is spending time around a fire pit.  It is a wonderful place for our family to spend quality time together, tell stories, and to make memories.  If it is a pretty evening, you will usually catch us outside around 8:00 building a fire and eating marshmallows.  Even our pets have joined in on the family fun. 

     We used to have just an old metal crate to build our fires, but since we have moved to the farm, we have used things from around the farm to make it better.  We found some rocks and we used them to build up the fire pit, which has worked out nicely. 

Then, we wanted a rock/bench for the kids to sit on.  Having troubles finding a suitable bench, my awesome father-in-law found us the perfect one.  He found this amazing rock behind his machine shed.  He just threw it over his shoulders and carried to our home. Just kidding, this rock probably weighs 2000 pounds.  He had to use an excavator to get this rock dug out and brought to our fire pit.  

   

     I have to admit that our little fire pit area is one of my favorite places on earth.  Beautiful views, spending time with family and friends, eating roasted marshmallows...it can not possibly get better than this. 

 

 

Happy 10th Anniversary

I cannot believe that my stud muffin and I have been married for 10 years!  It seems like yesterday that I met the love of my life at WVU.  We were both pre-vet majors and we had several classes together.  I remember seeing Tim for the 1st time in our Animal Physiology class.  He was so cute and I was to shy to even speak to him.  We also had Physiology lab together.  Tim would  wear these wife beater shirts and the boy was good looken!  His abs were cut, his shoulders and arms were nice.  Tim was definitely my eye candy during class, it's no wonder that I didn't learn anything in that class. 

It wasn't until the end of the fall semester that I got the courage to speak to him.  By the spring semester, we had become pretty good friends.  We became competitive in our classes, which was a lot of fun.  My grades improved, Tim's grades went down.  Tim just didn't have any fun in college until he met me!  I'm just kidding!  Not! 

    13 years later, we are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary.  Wow!  In 10 years we have been through medical school and residency.  (That was the TOUGHEST time we have ever had to experience)  I was a substitute teacher, gymnastics coach and helped with cheerleading.  We had moved from Morgantown to Renick to Wheeling and back to Renick.  We survived Mexico, don't know how, but we did!  During this time, we had been given 3 wonderful gifts from God:  Gavin, Autumn and Ethan.  They have forever changed our lives.  

I want to wish my stud muffin a Very Happy 10th Anniversary!!!!  I love you!!!     

Happy Birthday Sissy!

     My Sissy's birthday is coming up soon and I have been pondering on what to get her.  I have thought about buying her a t-shirt that says, "My Sister has the BEST Sister in the world."  I wonder if she would

wear it?

     I am the one with the best sister in the world.  I feel blessed to have her in my life.  She is my best friend, she is always there for me, she puts others before herself, she is an awesome nurse, and she is the hardest working mom that I know. 

     I gave her such a hard time when we were younger.  There is nine years between us and while she was a teenager, I was the annoying, brattish, little pest of a kid.  I would spy on her phone calls and while she was hanging out with her friends.  I would lock her out of the house and laugh at her.  I would tattle on her for everything she did.  I was NOT very nice to my sissy!  Even though I did all of that to her, she still loved me. 

     I may not know what to get her for her birthday, but I hope she knows that I love her very much.  I'm grateful to have her in my life.

Happy Birthday to my Sissy, the BEST Sissy in the world!

Love You Bunches, Mom

Love You Bunches, Momma

I just want to let you know

How much that I love you...

As a mother and a grandmother,

you have shown me what love can do...

For you are a true example

of how a mother should be,

Demonstrating a Godly faith

that you have passed down to me...

Happy Mother's Day!!!

The Journeyman

     The Webster Dictionary says that a journeyman is a worker who has learned a trade and works for another person or an experienced reliable worker.  I have came up my own definition for journeyman:  A man, or 2 year old, on a journey.
     I have 3 children:  one hyperactive, one sneaky, and one that likes to go on journeys.  The one that likes to go on journeys is my 2 year old, named Ethan.  Ethan likes to give us a fright.  He will wait for the right moment to make his escape. 
     His journeys started out close by the home.  He has been found behind the house, wearing a diaper and boots standing under a gutter in the rain.  He has been found at the silage pit looking for grandpa.  Then he has been found up at the grandparent's home which is 3/10 of a mile away.
     You are probably thinking that this child's parents are not watching home or paying any attention to him.  It only takes him a minute to get a way.  If you got up from playing with this child, go to the potty room to pee, come back to the living room, the journeyman will be gone.                              

                                                Running as fast as his little legs can carry him!

Being the wise parents we are, lol, we have found a solution.  A must have for any family that has their own little "journeyman!"

                                                     A lock that a 2 year old cannot reach!  

It's That Time of Year Again

     It's that time of year again at the Lane Institute of Learning to start planning the next school year.  I love that I get to home school my children.  I'm so gratefull that I live in a country that gives me the freedom to home school. 

     One big reason why I love home school is that I get to learn right along with my children.  It is so much fun to watch them learn how to read, do math, learn about our history, and do science experiments.  I also love the flexibility it gives us.  We are free to home school around my husband's schedule.  If my husband is off on a Monday, we don't home school that day.  If my husband is working a weekend, we home school through the weekend.  The absolute best part of homeschooling is that we can school in our pajamas! 

     I begin my school year in July and end in the early spring.  We like this schedule because we red heads do not enjoy hot summer months.  It also allows me to get through the curriculum before the end of the year exams.  Homeschooled kids in West Virginia either has to take an exam or do a portfolio.  We choose to do the exam.  

    

     I get asked a lot, "How do you make up your lesson plans and how do you know what to teach?"  A good friend introduced me to Sonlight a couple of years ago.  Sonlight is a Christian based curriculum that has lesson plans all laid out for the entire school year.  It comes with a 3 ring binder and it is broken down into 37 weeks.  I go to the week I'm on, look at the day and see what work we have to do for that day.  Sonlight will send you all the books you will need, math manipulatives, and science experiment kits.      

   

     Next fall we will be trying something new, we have a joined a home school group called Classical Conversation.  My kids will be with other home schooled kids in a classroom like setting once a week.  They will be able to learn Latin, have art class, music class, gym class, go on field trips, listen to guest speakers, etc.  It is also a great support system for the parents.  It is sooo important to have a support group!   

     What can I say, I'm super duper excited for the next school year!!!



Sleepy, Go to Sleep

When I was a little girl, my daddy would sing me a lullaby when I went to bed.  I am so grateful that I get to share that same lullaby to my 3 children.
 

Go to sleepy, go to sleep

Go to sleep little Gavin,

Your so bright, oh yes you are,

Your a bright little boy.

Sleepy, go to sleep,

Go to sleep little Autumn,

Your so precious, oh yes you are,

Your a precious little girl.

Sleepy, go to sleep,

Go to sleep little Ethan,

Your so sweet, oh yes you are,

Your a sweet little boy.