School

I don't very often update on school for Cadence so I figured maybe I should :)

She is doing really well this year. Her teacher is Miss Weieler and we really like her. She can't sing very well - which is rough with the amount of songs they sing - but someone had the great idea to give her a cd of kids singing the songs and that has helped alot!  So, as long as she doesn't stray away from the CD we're good :)

Cadence is doing so well in all her subjects. She's reading and FINALLY is at the point where she almost enjoys it. Just over the past few weeks has she started saying "I'm just going to go to my room and read"  as a person who loves to read, this makes me so happy - and a little jealous!

Overall, we are loving first grade. From speed drills to spelling tests, this year feels much more like real "school" than last year. A few weeks ago we recorded some of her scripture memorization. Last year we did a verse at a time and this year that has changed to where she does multiple verses together. It's impressive to me that she can remember that much!  But she does, and does it well. So, click on the links below to watch her recite her verses. Some of it is mumbled and you'll need a KJV Bible to follow along but other than that, it's pretty enjoyable :)

Psalm 34:8-14

John 3:14-19

A Few minutes at the Andersens'

Last Friday we were all hanging out at home and in the span of just a few minutes, lots of things fell apart. Thankfully we had the iPhone nearby and so lots of it got captured for posterity's sake ;)

This VIDEO goes before the pictures so watch it first!

These pictures are the clean up of the mess. And yes, Caleb had taken everything out of his and Creed's drawers and yes, he did put it all back!

 Dumping in all into a pile so that Mommy could fold it all and he could put it away. 

Pumpkin Carving!

After purchasing our pumpkins, or course it was time to get down to the business of carving! So, we took Cadence's pumpkin, and go to work. Daddy used the sharp objects while everyone supervised. 

 Creed mostly just liked his screwdriver :)

 Cadence and Mommy mostly had to clean it out - yuck! 

 Baby Shaun just hung out in his chair being cute - he's pretty good at it!

our bowl of muck

 Daddy got to draw the face on while Cadence told him what it should look like :)

We roasted the seeds but they weren't great. Everyone ate a few and we threw the rest away. 

 and we finished our family fun with a game of UNO with everyone playing! It was fun and Creed won - but we're pretty sure he cheated :) 

and in true Andersen fashion, there is no finished product of the pumpkin.  But it was a fun day either way and we had lots of fun playing together!

Punkin Patch

I'm officially out of order now because I got over-zealous with Halloween. Oh well, at least it's all being documented :) I guess that's what I get for getting so far behind and neglecting this blog for so long!

We had a small window last Saturday between getting our lazy butts moving and naptime so, we opted for the less-exciting, local pumpkin patch. The kids were so excited to be picking out their own pumpkins. It was so fun to watch the 3 of them and their different tactics for finding the perfect "punkin"  

Caleb dove right in to a big box of pumpkins!

Creed went a little slower and was more picky. But evidently knew exactly what he was looking for because as soon as he spotted this baby, he didn't put it down or look for another one! 

Cadence was also very thoughtful about hers. But knew she wanted a big one! and at $.50 a lb we were really glad she wanted a big one (NOT)   But this was her pick because "it would be a good one to put a face and a candle in" :)

The closest thing to a posed picture we got at the pumpkin patch :)

This Baby's facial expressions kill me! 

And Mommy got to pick one too!  It was cheaper because it wasn't bright orange so I got a bargain! and it looks so great sitting on my front step :)

Halloween 2012

This year for Halloween we went with an Alvin and the Chipmunks theme. The kids LOVE Alvin and the Chipmunk music right now to the point that we all know the old AND new songs that Alvin, his buddies, or the Chipettes sing :)

The original plan was for Caleb to be Alvin - which made sense to us because he gets his name yelled the most :) - but Creed didn't want to wear the glasses and Caleb did so there was a last minute switch. 

Here they are all ready to go!

We did a practice run where Cadence took the boys around the house to ring the door bell. Chris is such a great Daddy and played right along!

Trick or Treat!!

This boy with these glasses literally made me laugh every time I looked at him! and he wore them all night long!!  All the way around our neighborhood, and even to pass out candy back in our driveway!  Hilarious.

Little man stayed with me while the bigger kids went around the neighborhood. 

I was super grateful for this fire as the evening went on! - and so were other parents taking their kids around :)

Overall it was a successful Halloween ended with the boys taking a bubble bath to warm up and still in bed by 8:30. You've got to love fall!

Farm Day

Instead of a Halloween Party at Caleb's school, they had Farm Day. He was so excited to get dressed and get to wear his boots to school!  What is funny to me is that these are the same boots that Cadence wore to Farm Day when she went to preschool......they were just a little big on Caleb :)  But he loves them and so off he went to school: Farmer Caleb

I put all these pictures because I loved them all and couldn't pick a "best" out of the bunch! 

Chimney Rock

In keeping with this fall season, we wanted to take the kids to the mountains to see the leaves changing. So, in our family day, we loaded up and headed west :) we had decided to go to Chimney Rock because it wasn't super far away and it had a waterfall to hike to, the elevator up to the top of chimney rock, along with some kid stuff to do. So, off we went!

The nice lady that took our money to get in told us there was a huge school group at the kids area so we should probably start at the waterfall. Thankful for the advice, we drove to the parking lot way up the mountain, unloaded all the kids and started towards the waterfall. After our last waterfall hike with our small group, we figured this 1.5 mile trek would be much easier......

Cadence had a great attitude the entire day. We are so thankful for this girl!

and so we were off!! I forgot the wrap to hold the baby so I got to carry him instead :)

Caleb was NOT excited about our hike! We later pieced together that he was scared. We had been listening to Bob and Larry and had been singing "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" and since we were on a mountain, he thought we would run into a bear! And he didn't want to :(

and here's the waterfall! a 400 ft drop from a spring at the top of this rock. It was pretty amazing!

a much needed snack break before the trek back down

 Trying to get a decent picture of all 4 kids - not great but the best we could do :)

Once we went up the elevator that was built into the mountain back in like the 20's (why we didn't get a picture of that is beyond me)  we were at the higher part where Chimney Rock juts out of the side of the mountain. There were these 3 hawks flying around and as much as I don't like birds, they were pretty amazing against a Carolina Blue sky. 

On Chimney Rock

 The boys started getting brave and it was freaking me out! and we met up with the school group.....so that was a little stressful

 Creed practicing being a Tiger - he is very scary!

 looking over the edge of a cliff over 2400 ft high. I was very grateful for the rails!

 and the view was totally worth it! Looking over the smokies at Lake Lure on a clear day. I had hoped for more color, but it was still a beautiful day. There are still days that I can't believe that we live in a place this beautiful with seasons and everything. I am grateful that we can still stand in awe of our Creator because of the creation that shouts his praise.