Julia tries her hand at make-up application.

Julia loves putting on make-up. Every chance she gets, she sneaks off into my room and gets into my make-up. This particular morning, she took advantage of me being in the shower to try putting on more than just "lips". She got into the mascara and eyeshadow as well.

This looks like a mug shot!


She told me she couldn't "paint her eyes."


Andrew getting in on the photo fun. He's finally comfortable with the cast and shows it off a bit. The next cast color he picked was bright orange.

Belmead Plantation

June 1st, we took a trip to Powhatan County to attend a meeting with The Knights of Columbus about helping to restore the buildings at Belmead Plantation, an old historic house and granary. The house is rich in history that dates back to the mid-1800's. The house is lovely and needs work inside and out. The land is peaceful and breathtaking. Currently, the plantation is a popular choice for riders with horse stalls still in use. With 1200 beautiful acres along the James River, there are over 30 miles of trail riding. Belmead Plantation is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Belmead Mansion


I was so busy admiring the house when we were inside that I forgot to take pictures! After our trip around the grounds, we stopped back by the house and I got this shot of the outside. It doesn't do the "castle" justice.

The Granary. Its currently being restored. Its a painstaking process that requires a lot of knowledge, care and patience.




Jim and Julia in the granary. It made me very nervous having the kids in there but they did a great job listening and staying safe.


Jim and Katie looking into the other room.


The view from an upstairs door.


The sisters who live on the property and look after it invited us back anytime. I can't wait to return. Its such a lovely place.

After looking through the buildings, we drove down to the James River. It was also beautiful, calm and quiet, well, until we got there!


Throwing rocks into the water despite Jim and me saying not to.

I haven't posted anything in a while. Its been busy around here and I've had a touch of summer laziness! We're done with school, homework and running around. I had two blissful weeks of sleeping in and pajama days! Now we're babysitting for a neighbor and I'm getting up earlier than I did when the kids were in school. Seems a bit backwards!

We've had an interesting summer so far. Andrew broke both bones in his arm near his wrist in May. He had it reduced the day he did it and things looked fine when a hard cast was put on. All his horsing around caused the bone to shift and the doctor wanted to do another reduction and put a pin in to help keep it in place. Andrew ended up having an open reduction, 6 stitches and 2 pins. The stitches will dissolve into his skin and the pins will be pulled out in the office when they are ready. He's on his second hard cast and doing fine. I'm amazed at how well he's adapted and is coping with it. His doctor would probably give us an earful if he saw Andrew zipping around on his bike like nothing happened!

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of months.

Katie all dressed up for Mother's Day Tea at preschool. We had a lovely time!


Julia got into some chapstick! She loves to put on her "whips" (lips).


Andrew at his preschool graduation.


Julia with a lovely smile!


Katie trying on a funky wig and giving her "pretty girl" pose!


Andrew showing me his new bright orange cast. The old one was blue and the next one will be yellow.


Tommy helping to keep the flowers alive. They have to be watered everyday or they look very sad. He jumps at the chance to play in the water.

Another Visit from the Tooth Fairy!

Tommy lost his 5th tooth last month. He's very proud of his "window"!

Julia is TWO!

My baby doll turned 2 on Friday. She's getting bigger by the minute and I'm not ready to let go of my youngest. Thank goodness she still cuddles with me!!

More Lost Teeth

Tommy lost another one! If he keeps this up, we'll
have to start mashing his food!

Toothless Tommy

Lost another one!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

TRICK OR TREAT

OUR SCARIEST FACES!!

I know better than to try to take pictures before Trick or Treating but I was afraid they would be too tired and half undressed after walking the block with 2 pounds worth of candy each. So they weren't in the mood to sit "pretty" until I asked for their scariest faces! That got their attention. And I was right! After walking our block and the short cul-de-sac next to us, they were half undressed and too eager to bust into their candy baskets to sit for pictures.

Gone Fishin'

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Ione drove from Arizona to Virginia to visit us. The fun has been non-stop since they got here with a birthday party, dinner at Topeka's and fishing. This was the first time any of the children have been fishing. While we didn't catch anything, they still had a great time. Sneaky fish were able to eat the worms without being caught!

Pocahontas State Park

After being stuck in the house for what seems like an eternity, Jim and I decided to pack up the kids and go "hiking" at Pocahontas State Park. Hiking with a toddler, a couple of preschoolers and a 6 year old is not the same experience we used to have when we would go hiking in college. The weather man forecasted cooler temps and lower humidity. While it wasn't quite as hot as we had been experiencing it was still in the 90's and the weather man was dead wrong about the humidity. It was worse than it had been. We were only out there for a couple of hours but we were all a sweaty mess by the time we packed up and left! Still, the kids had fun, got to burn off some energy and I got a few pictures with an older camera I have.

Virginia Beach

While Jim was on vacation this week, we went to the beach. The weather has been miserably hot and a day at the beach in the cool water was a welcomed reprieve. It was a great day to leave Chesterfield as they set record highs for Wednesday, August 8th. Sandbridge was lovely, not very crowded, and loads of fun. The waves were very strong and very frequent. The water crept up the beach closer and closer to our blankets. We moved them a number of times; it felt like the ocean was chasing us! The water collected on the beach and created a little pool for the girls to play in and for the boys when they needed a rest from the forceful waves.

Unfortunately, this may be the last edition to the blog for a while. Julia was knocked down by a wave and while trying to pick her up out of the water, I was knocked down by another wave and the camera drowned. I'm not sure when we'll get around to replacing it. The ocean also claimed my sunglasses and a pony tail holder!

After the reunion, we took a day trip to New York City. It was the kids' first time on a train. We took a bus tour of Manhattan so the kids wouldn't have to walk all over the place and I wouldn't have to worry about loosing someone. We saw so much in our one day in New York, even famous people!

Waiting for the train.


This sure beats walking!




"Tiles For America"


The Statue of Liberty


"Wadur"


The kids had the most fun with the vent. The waves would come in forcing the air up the vent and the kids had the best time playing above it.








Stopped for something cold to help cool us down. Julia shares!


Andrew fell asleep on the bus!


So did Julia!

Cooke Family Reunion

We drove up to Denville, New Jersey for the Cooke Family Reunion. There were a total of 143 people there and although the day was hot, it was a lot of fun. We enjoy getting together with the extended family and are looking forward to the next one.

Kids playing in the water.


Partied out


Our little model!

Dancing with Daddy

We turned on the player piano and Jim and the kids had a blast dancing around the living room.