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...

Seven Years...Can It Be?

march always brings with it a wide range of emotions and memories for me...our firstborn arriving so very and unexpectedly early after 2 weeks of bed rest, a subsequent month long stay in the NICU, then easter weekend...when we brought home this tiny bundle not even 5 lbs yet. 

through that experience and the 7 years that have followed, our ben david has been a constant reminder to us of the lord's lovingkindness, faithfulness and great mercy. 

ben david is truly a "man after god's own heart." 

his sensitive spirit, loving demeanor, tender heart, patience, desire to please, kind and gentle nature are humbling to me as a mom. i believe with all of my heart he is destined to do great things for the kingdom of god. 

our sweet ben david...we love you so much!!

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY!!!

yummy chocolate donuts for breakfast...thank you daddy!!

of course we celebrated "cousin-style" over the weekend with a fun joint birthday party with drew who just turned 9!!! there was some "pin the tail on ben david and drew"

lots of fun illustrating the traced bodies of the boys!

angry birds cake this year...interesting choice

the grand finale was a guys vs. girls scavenger hunt!!!

M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E!!!!!!!!!

in every family there comes that moment when you realize it is time to go to.....

DISNEY!!!!

the time for the wright family finally arrived. 

uncle evan and ben put their heads together and in true super dad fashion came up with a plan. 

our cousins paved the way by getting down there a few days earlier and exploring legoland and hollywood studios. they even made us a great video which we used to tell our unsuspecting kids about the fun ahead!:)

 we started off at magic kingdom!!!

 mad tea cup ride!! (warning: only for children...not for moms who can't handle circles)

 the next day was animal kingdom..my personal favorite! hippos, giraffes, zebras...super cool safari ride:

 no pictures of everest...but that was by far the coolest roller coaster ever!!

 and going back to our house was almost as fun with the heated pool!

 this mickey mouse hat soon became ben david's "uniform"

 2 princesses:)

 magic kingdom deserved 2 full days...so back we went for day 2!

 barnstormer...caroline's first roller coaster!

 buzz lightyear has nothing on her!

 and of course...lots of rides on the monorail

 a late night was in order to take in the electrical parade and fireworks at cinderella's castle

 caroline was a little small for some rides but she quickly learned that whoever sat out with her (aunt anna:) would provide a snack and a train ride!

 james' favorite.....thunder road mountain!!

 watching the parade

epcot was our grand finale! 

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to say we had fun...well, that would just not do the trip justice. 

as they say in disney....it was MAGICAL!!!!!

and in the words of mickey....HOPE WE SEE YA REAL SOON!