This is Mark with his grandmom.  We call her Mama Maude and she’s pretty special to both Mark and I.  Special, not only because she’s the only living grandmom we both have.  But special to me because while in college, I worked in her town as youth/children director.  I got to see and spend a lot of time with and near her. 

She’s a remarkable woman too.  After her husband passed away, when her children were young, she worked as a hair dresser and was able to raise up two wonderful children.  And because of her hard work…Mark is here now!

Mama Maude’s had a tough year this year.  We’ve enjoyed seeing her and she enjoys, I think, all the little ones that run around.  We cherish each visit we get with her.  It’s not only a chance for us to love on her but also a chance for our children to meet someone truly special…who has lived an amazing life. 

When Mark and I were engaged, we narrowed our wedding date down to two days.  One in May and then one in December.  When Mama Maude asked us about the date, we mentioned the two dates.  She smiled, nostalgia like, and said, “Oh May 20th is my anniversary.”  That was it.  Our date was set!  Not only was that her anniversary but our date would have been her 50th Anniversary (if my memory serves me correctly).

I’m so grateful that we are able to share our anniversary with two special people in Mark’s life.  We are reminded of the commitment we have made and the commitment that was made so many years ago to serve God and each other.

We found out, through our super homeschool group, that Six Flags was offering a homeschool day with incredibly discounted tickets.  Never one to pass up a deal and also wanting Josiah to play in Thomas Town, we signed up and got our tickets!  Now, the fact that I was 29 weeks pregnant and that, as the day approached, we found out it was going to be the hottest and most humid day of Spring did not stop us.  The minute we stepped out the car, we all started sweating.  The two goals of the day quickly became, stay hydrated, and have fun (in that order)!

I think we accomplished both.

This was the first ride we got to before heading to Thomas Town.  Needless to say, Josiah and Liam were not impressed with the ride.  They lightened up though and rode all the rides in the kids area, including the family roller coaster (with Mark, of course…I got to hang out with Ceili Rain in the shade).

Thomas Town was pretty neat.  There was basically a playground and then a kid size Thomas Train with Annie and Clarabel as the passenger cars.  That was it.  But the kids didn’t care.  They had a blast.

Mark and I were trying to figure out how to introduce the kids to roller coasters without making them wish to never get on one again.  So, we opted for the Mine Train (this is before we found the family coaster).  Needless to say, since it’s been over 10 years since we’ve been, we forgot how jumpy and rickety that train was.  Ace was not happy having been bumped around the whole time.  Zoe loved it and wanted to go again. 

We opted to hit one more coaster on the way out to eat lunch.  And off she went with Dad to the Georgia Cyclone.  No fear at all in her eyes.  There was no line so they got right on.  And when they got off, Mark commented about how jerky that one was.  Zoe said it was “Okay.”  Mark seemed to think she got a little apprehensive after the first big drop.

Unfortunately, that was the last roller coaster we hit.  We traveled to the Looney Tunes area after lunch and then hit a few other things before they closed for the day.  I think Zoe would have done the Mind Bender but we just didn’t have time.  She has seen it and Goliath from the interstate for the past seven years and has wanted to ride them.  She wasn’t quite tall enough for Goliath (and Mark has to build up his courage for that one…it’s tall and goes throughout the whole park and even outside the park).  And she couldn’t do any of the stand up rides (she didn’t even want to try the Batman ride).  I was so proud of her and Ace being willing to try the different rides.  They are so much more courageous than I was at their age!

Even Josiah and Liam showed no fear getting on some of the rides…and they were a little sad when they saw they were too short for the rides that Zoe and Dad did. 

I snuck on to a couple of rides with the kids too!

Waaaay back in April, we headed to Papa & Grandmere’s house for a quick weekend family visit and to celebrate Mark’s home church’s 50th Anniversary.  Now, by family, I mean us, Papa & Grandmere and Mark’s brother Uncle B and his family.

Isn’t the picture above cool?!  Uncle B put it together with a special gadget on their camera and editing software.  Don’t look too closely though, or you’ll see some “ghost” figures in the pic.

Now on to the fun we had that weekend!

Lawnmower riding…and driving.  Eight kids in the wagon…Two kids driving (Cousin J helped Ace drive the lawnmower).  Number Eleven was taking a much needed nap so she missed out.

I know I”m a week or so late on this…but I’m getting there.  We had a quiet Resurrection Sunday morning.  The afternoon and evening were full.  But we did go to church (with two children under the influence of medicine used to reduce fevers).  And afterwards, while I packed, Mark took pictures:

I made the girls’ dresses using the Girls’ 1914 Dress Pattern from Sense & Sensibility Patterns.  It wasn’t extremely easy but the results were wonderful!  I thought they both looked adorable.  Now, I will say that Ceili rain’s dress was a bit snug (which it wasn’t last month when I finished it).  Any little girls that need a cute pink dress let me know!

With all the hustle and bustle and indecision on our part about whether to pack up five kids (two of which were sick, remember???), we did manage to squeeze in a few of our Spring/Easter traditions. 

One of which was the kids receiving their spring baskets (and not from a mutant rabbit with a bow around his neck) on Saturday.  Not sure if I’ve mentioned this (but I probably have for the past three years) but we give them baskets full of about three things on Saturday instead of Sunday.  It’s easier than wrestling chocolate away from them…they have plenty of time to play with/watch/remember what Resurrection Sunday is about…Resurrection Sunday is reserved for the actual celebration of Christ’s resurrection not chocolate and food (oh, and traveling six hours away to watch a shuttle launch).

Another tradition is dying eggs and adding those to our Resurrection eggs and hunt them.

At the time, Liam was drugged with acetemetophin so he was good to go.