Sunday afternoon we headed out to Merry Christmas Tree Farm to get our Christmas tree. This is our 4th year using this place and it has become a fun tradition for our family.
Michael Batson works there and he was so helpful in getting us the right tree! He also offered to take our family picture.
We went up to Durham last Tuesday evening and came home Saturday evening to spend Thanksgiving with the Chasteen clan! We had a great time being together!
Wednesday afternoon we went to have our picture made for Christmas cards. Here is the whole clan.
Lydia and I
Papa carving the turkey
the spread
the kids table
Lydia enjoying her meal!
a highlight at papa & nana's house...the hot tub!
Thank you Don & Scarlet for a wonderful Thanksgiving!
So this will seem like a very random, and possibly weird, post but around here...we love this type of thing. When I was a kid I loved bugs, I was so intrigued by them and would search for them and collect them. I remember getting the baby pool out in the backyard as a kid and filling it with all the creepy crawly things I could find. So it's no surprise that I now love doing that type of thing with my kids. This week we found this praying mantis hanging upside down on our hammock in the backyard. We had so much fun watching him and, of course, putting him in the bug catcher. At the bottom of the post there is a little write-up about a praying mantis...if you're interested in bugs like us;)
The praying mantis is named for its prominent front legs, which are bent and held together at an angle that suggests the position of prayer. The larger group of these insects is more properly called the praying mantids. Mantis refers to the genus mantis, to which only some praying mantids belong.
By any name, these fascinating insects are formidable predators. They have triangular heads poised on a long "neck," or elongated thorax. Mantids can turn their heads 180 degrees to scan their surroundings with two large compound eyes and three other simple eyes located between them.
Typically green or brown and well camouflaged on the plants among which they live, mantis lie in ambush or patiently stalk their quarry. They use their front legs to snare their prey with reflexes so quick that they are difficult to see with the naked eye. Their legs are further equipped with spikes for snaring prey and pinning it in place.
Moths, crickets, grasshoppers, flies, and other insects are usually the unfortunate recipients of unwanted mantid attention. However, the insects will also eat others of their own kind. The most famous example of this is the notorious mating behavior of the adult female, who sometimes eats her mate just after—or even during—mating. Yet this behavior seems not to deter males from reproduction.
Females regularly lay hundreds of eggs in a small case, and nymphs hatch looking much like tiny versions of their parents.
Next door to our house is a beautiful field. It has provided a fun place for the kids to run around in and a fun place to take pictures. We enjoy watching the grass grow and then it's always good entertainment went the farmer comes on his tractor to cut the grass and roll the hay into big round bails. I'm thankful for the beautiful nature and scenery that surrounds our house. I love that our kids are growing up in a place like this. Here are some recent pictures from the field...
This picture was taken back in September to remember our sweet time in Clemson with the Gainor family.
This past Wednesday I had the privilege of going on a 3 night girls getaway to Myrtle Beach with my mother-in-law and 3 sister-in-laws. This was the first time all 5 of us have gone away together and I hope it's not the last. It was so nice to have time to relax and talk and play together without the distraction of all the (8) kids. Thank you Scarlet for this gift!
My sister and her family drove down from Virginia on Saturday to spend 3 nights with us. We had a great time together. I am so thankful that they are willing to make the drive down to see us! We made some new and fun memories together.
Ainsley & Bryn
Lydia
Taking turns on the tree swing
All dressed up to go trick-or-treating
Sunday afternoon we took a little hike that is near our house.
Monday we went to the Botanical Gardens and let the kids ride their bikes. The boys did great riding their bikes. The girls had a harder time being content (no matter what they were doing)...oh the joys of 2 year olds! This picture of my sister says a lot...in theory 2 little girls should have been riding the toys she is carrying:)
Bryan did a lot this weekend for the "team" to help with the kids and allow Andrea and I to go out shopping and spend time together. Thank you Bryan!
Ethan, Owen & Carson on their bikes. They had so much fun together!
The Clarke family...we love you!
Cousins
This is us heading out to trick-or-treat...oh the things we do for "fun"
