Jonas' Origami

                                        

   This is Jonas posting. I have a new love for paper folding. I think I got it from my mom. She folds diapers, which are made from paper! Anyway, what you are about to see, is not only awesome, but my collection.

(Left to right) Heron, frog, ninja star, butterfly (It may not be pretty, but it flutters)

Artifact

Yoda

Japanese goldfish

(Left to right) Stingray, piranha, cormorant on a rock, Kabuto

Darth Vader

R2-D2

Summer in Virginia

So most of you know, but I'm posting it officially, we moved to Virginia last month. Cole even moved with us to work for the summer although he's planning to head back to South Carolina to finish school in a few weeks.  We've had a great  time here so far. We're only a short walk from the beach so we are there quite frequently. We've also taken advantage of the myriad of historical sites and  have done a lot of exploring. We moved here right at the start of berry picking season and managed to go blueberry and blackberry picking at a local farm and come home with 20-30 lbs of each. We've since been enjoying lots of smoothies and berry-based desserts. My deep freeze  is happy to be of service!

We also had Jason's sister  Suzanna and her kids come visit us for a week and had a wonderful time! after loading my van with 12 kids ages 11 and under to go various places last week I have a whole new respect for bus drivers. I was amazed at the noise levels of just normal talking. Thank goodness for in vehicle DVD players. Another reason to love technology.

I know I don't include pictures enough, but here are a few from our adventures so far. They are only sort of in order. And I realized that Jason takes most of the pictures these days so he's not in any of them. Sorry sweetie!

Lydia celebrated her 6th birthday right after we moved here. Her candles are in the shape of an L on her cake. She thought that was the coolest!  Happy birthday my 6 year old!!!!!

 

 This is the kids and I with some artillery at the Virginia War Museum on July 4th.

 The kids with a tank. The boys wanted to know if we could get one. I said our van would have to do for  now.

 We walked down to the beach one evening. I think Jason was holding Maggie otherwise she would have been all the way in the water and Adam is walking out of the picture.

 Fourth of July we also went to Yorktown where the final victory of the revolutionary war was won. Jonas and  Adrianna got to participate in an artillery exhibition to learn how to load and fire a cannon. of course they didn't actually fire it, but it was pretty cool to run through all the steps.

 Jonas also got to go to cub scout day camp and on the last day they invited families to come for the skits and lunch. Jo had just finished a  colossal water fight hence the lack of proper uniform.

 And of course two days ago we celebrated Odie Podie's birthday!! Happy birthday My new 9 year old!

 And here's Cole after a long day working for Dome.

So far that's our summer.

school, new bikes, fences

Well school is going well. Tomorrow is the end of third quarter. I can't wait till this year is done. Don't get me wrong, I love having my kids home all day and being able to teach them, but there is so much I just don't seem to have time for because school takes up such a huge part of our day. Nothing major but things that need to be done around the house that we just run out of time to do. But we're working through it.
The older kids all got new bicycles this spring so they've been riding around the neighborhood every chance they get. Emily is especially taken with biking. I think we have another cyclist on our hands. Jason is very happy about that. Jonas is still wanting to run more than bike. Although he loves his bike he's working up to running his first 10k this summer. Adrianna and Preston are both... well, they like anything that lets them be active and get out of the house. Plus if I'm letting them bike or run that means they are not doing school so they are happy. Lydia is still running with the older kids, but we're still looking for a bike for her.
Adam and Maggie want to run with the older kids but are now under house arrest by me until the fence gets done ( it's being put up as I type) because they managed to get out of the house and tried to follow Jonas and Preston and got picked up down the street by a police officer who lives here in the neighborhood and was on her way to work. That happened the day the materials for the fence were delivered, isn't that always the way.
Yes, the adventures never end here at the Guffey's.

It's the Holiday Season!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! Don't they all great! Of course this is after church and a 3 hour car ride to Grandma Peggy's house, but for once they are all coordinated! That hasn't happened for Christmas in a few years.
My handsome boys! I am incredibly blessed; they are all so good!
My beautiful girls! Even with unruly hair they are amazing!

Can you tell who was up all night wrapping presents and such? But it was worth it! Happy New Year and a late Merry Christmas!

I love my Tank!

Lately I have been seriously wishing for the time when we can finish paying off our van and get a smaller vehicle just for running errands and such. The gas mileage would be so much better and parking and getting around would just be easier than in my extremely large and lumbering vehicle that henceforth will be known as "the Tank".
I am now more grateful than ever for this beast. Plastic and fiberglass parts were not used much in it's construction so it is made of good old fashioned steel and on a commercial truck frame so it sits higher off the ground than most vehicles around it. Tonight I was turning left out of a shopping center across a 4 lane road and managed to get in a nice little fender bender. (Oh, and the kids were NOT with me, just in case you were concerned.) I will come right out and admit that it was my fault. I looked left and there wasn't a car on the road. I paused for a car coming on the right and as soon as I pulled out I hit a small truck barreling in from my left. I'm not sure if he had pulled out of one of the driveways a little further up from where I was or if he had turned the corner onto that street after I had looked that way. In the end it doesn't matter I know you look left then right then left again and I didn't. I hit his passenger side back quarter panel which messed up his rim and busted his tire along with some good dents to the body. Luckily it was an older truck and was made of pretty heavy metal for a little truck so it's not as bad as it could have been.
The impact with the speed he was going and the busted tire caused him to do a 180 in the middle of the road though. It looked pretty bad with him spinning around and it sounded awful between the metal crashing and the tire exploding. I called 911 as soon as I got out of the traffic lane and went to check on the other driver whose truck was now behind the van, I was glad because I was afraid to look at the damage to the front knowing it had to be considerable. It didn't register right away that there was no debris or anything. Anyway neither of us were hurt and when I finally went to look at the damaged I was shocked. I dented my front bumper, it's metal so there's no cracking or breaking apart and looking funky it's just dented. Granted it's a really big dent, or series of dents actually, but still no broken headlights, busted grill, airbag deployment or anything more serious.
I am very grateful to my Heavenly Father for his protection. With greater appreciation I can now say I love my Tank!!!!!!
Shiloh

My Little Ninjas

Ok so they are not all little and by the time the picture was taken they were already getting messed up but these were our ninjas and Cole who decided to go as the "annnoying teenager", his words, not mine. I wouldn't let him take his paintball gun around the neighborhood, but he wanted it for pictures.

I have a very bad headache so I will let Emily write the commentary on Halloween later, but I knew if I didn't put up pictures now, it probably wouldn't happen.

Eight is Great!!!

The last few weeks have been very exciting! Our first big eight is Adrianna! We had a birthday at the end of July and Odie Podie turned eight! She had been talking about turning eight and being baptized since she turned seven. It was a great day, we all went out for the first annual Ella Memorial 5k and had a great time. Then just spent the rest of the day with Grandma Cindy having fun! We had a birthday party that night.
We had her baptism on Sunday evening and all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and Nana and Poppa from North Carolina all got to come down for it. We are so proud of her and the decision she made to be baptized!

Another big eight is we've added an eighth child to our household. His name is Cole he's a young man that we knew through church and he'll be with us indefinitely... well until he leaves on his mission in two years. He's great with the kids and everyone seems to be adapting to the household changes really well.



And of course we can't forget baby number eight . Yes I know everyone has been waiting for months for this announcement so it should come as no big surprise to anyone that I am pregnant. Baby number eight, from here on referred to as Aswell or Aslan, will be due about March 26, 2012. And yes I remembered that is Grandpa Bill's birthday, and our niece Caitlin's. What can I say we have great timing (not like the baby will be born on the due date anyway).

So on that note, I hope everyone has a happy Sabbath, and a great week ahead!