Last weekend ...

Last weekend came and went SO FAST ... I am only now getting an opportunity to post some pictures before it all starts over again! This is the kiddos standing near their beautiful, enormous, new school (well, it's new for them at least!). They seem SO happy to be at this wonderful school. It is quite a contrast to their school in El Paso! We walked around the entire building. It is quite large and houses grades three, four and five ... so Matthew, Christopher, and Emma all get to be in the same building this year. 

We came back to The Beach House and put together some nice puzzles. Christopher worked on his and was fastest at finding matches pieces. His puzzle was a race car. 

But not to be outdone in any way, shape, or form ... Matthew persisted with his horse puzzle and completed it before anyone, without one single bit of help! Look at his PROUD face! He cracks me up. 

Emma loves pigs ... so I thought she would be kind of excited to put this puzzle together. But she was far more interested in playing the piano, so that's what she did for the first little while. I started on this piggie puzzle without her, but ran into trouble ... because I couldn't find hardly any pieces that would go together ~ and I'm the kind of puzzle person who MUST put the border together first before moving on to the center. So, finally, Emma heard me whining about needing help and supplied it rather well! She also prayed for our meal. We had such a nice time together around the table at dinner. 

By the time dinner was over and cleaned up, it was almost time for stories and bed. We read a few good books together, and read the story of the birth of Isaac. We got all snuggled up for the night and watched "Home Alone 2" because ... it is SO funny. We laughed and laughed and laughed ... and laughter is mighty good medicine sometimes!

 We played a bunch of Memory games after breakfast Saturday morning, and just hung around the house. After lunch, the kiddos begged to go back to Rockford to check out the Rogue River and the wildlife there ... so that's exactly what we did!

We watched the geese for quite awhile ...
they are very territorial! 

I love these happy faces!

Throwing stones into the Rogue River,
by the Rockford Dam

This friendly squirrel met our acquaintance and we had a lot of fun watching him scurry around, over and under, up and down trees. The children all love animals so much. I had to caution them not to pet this little critter! They are not one bit afraid! We had a beautiful time out in Rockford. So thankful to enjoy these wonderful days with them.