James Turns 6!

It is hard to believe that our James William is now 6 years old!! 

James is tenacious and determined much like the meaning of his first name: James. The literal meaning of James is supplanter, which is one who "overthrows, undermines." an interesting connotation at first glance, but the more i've come to understand it, the more i believe that it recognizes a quality of determined strength and power. 

i firmly believe that James will go on to do great things for the kingdom of God in the course of his life and overthrow/undermine the kingdom of darkness in the process.

True to the meaning of his middle name "William," he is also a "resolute protector." He is loyal, steadfast, a defender of what he loves and knows to be true. He is by nature quiet, but perceptive and what he does say is meaningful and important.

James is named after his two grandfathers. In looking at the above, i see how much of each of them he has wrapped up in his own little personality. He has a great legacy, and great big shoes to fill:)

Happy birthday James...we can't wait to see all that the Lord has in store for you!

 razor go cart...long awaited gift!

 biscuit birthday breakfast;)

 this year, james' one request was for the ice cream truck to come to his party. needless to say..this was a big hit!

happy birthday sweet boy!

Happy 4th Miss C!!!

we celebrated our sweet caroline ann's 4th birthday last month! i was recently reminded of the meaning of her name caroline: beautiful woman, strong, song of happiness, joy

and ann: merciful and graceful

it is truly amazing to stand back and see how our caroline so embodies all of these qualities. the lord knew exactly what her name should be, even before we knew her at all!

caroline, you amaze us daily with your zest for life, bold fearlessness, courage and sense of humor. you are indeed a "song of happiness"...always laughing and full of joy.

you are merciful, graceful and beautiful. 

you are a constant delight to us and we are so grateful to the lord for you!

Family Adventures

As of late, you can find us hanging out where we feel very at home...THE ZOO!!:)

or the page land watermelon festival ahead...

so much culture and yet, so little watermelon! very odd..

 prizes for all

 and the winner of the silliest face goes too....

little miss

not to mention many a fun day at the lake with daddy!!

Memorial Day!!!

this year we ventured down to OIB and enjoyed a long weekend as a family! we had some great beach time and even got to hang out with our cousins and marmie and poppy over at HB!! while my camera did not surface as often as i wish, i did capture a few early morning shots (does anyone else go to the beach at 7:30am??).

the rest are courtesy of mamie!! thank goodness we have a faithful photographer in our family!!

The Wrights in Photos

every two years we splurge on using our favorite photographer, lindsey turner, to capture some family pictures. we always plan this for may as it is within a month or two of all the kids birthdays, hence we manage to chronicle pictures of them at specific ages.

this year we had the special privilege of heading out to a buttercup field of these photos! it sure was a lot of fun and i think we got some keepers:)

Three Oaks Academy....it's no walk in the park!

me: "james...do you think you are ready to start kindergarten with me next year?"

ben david: "you might want to stay in preschool james...mom gets kind of crabby when you don't do your letter a's right. she will make you erase them a thousand times." 

yep....that is how we roll here at three oaks academy!!:)

here's to our first year of homeschooling completed!! somehow the year has come and gone with no posts on this endeavor. all in all...a sweet, memorable, exciting year of teaching primarily ben david with a little of james and caroline in the mix. there is nothing quite like teaching your child to read. while homeschooling can be trying, exhausting, and overwhelming...it is also a way to stop time. to reclaim your kids for a bit longer, to relish watching them learn new things.

so never fear...a homeschool post will appear soon...i have one in the mix....stay tuned...

A Little Lazy 5

we had a really fun time this week joining up with some of our CC buddies and heading to the Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville! the temperature was perfect, the company great...friends and animals included:) we fed the giraffes, water buffalo, ostriches, zebras and llamas too!!! great wagon ride, followed by a picnic lunch, petting zoo, park and ICE CREAM!!!

here are a few pics...