Myrtle Beach

Here are some pics from our trip to Myrtle Beach. We went Sept 14-18 with Jeff's parents, missed both storms and had beautiful weather! It's a great time to go because there are no crowds, it's not too hot, and the hotel rates are so much more reasonable. You run a huge risk, though, because that is hurricane season. We had a great time, and the kids LOVED the ocean! It was their first time at the beach in 3 years.

Sydney had a blast collecting shells each day.
She loved getting splashed by the waves! Reid (our dream baby!) took his long naps on the beach each day.
Being silly!
We took the kids to an amusement park for the first time, and boy did they have FUN!
Ethan & Papa

Ethan loved boogie boarding!
So excited to be at the beach!
Sweet Baby Reid
Enjoying the view
Reid turned 6 months old at the beach.

First Day of School

Sydney's first day of school was 2 weeks ago, and we all had a great morning! We go every Monday morning to supplement our homeschool. Here she is with her new backpack.















The Chandler Crew!













I love that our whole family can be so active in our homeschool and our classical school. Ethan really enjoys being in Sydney's classroom even though he has to sit on the sidelines and just watch and listen. Consequently, he is learning quite a bit! I have spent some time in the nursery with Reid when he's not napping, but some of the other moms with young kids and I will rotate nursery shifts so we can each spend as much time as possible in our children's classrooms.


Below are Sydney and her good friend Abigail. Believe it or not, Sydney is several months older than Abigail! Sydney is in the 10th percentile for height, and Abigail is tall for her age, so they almost look a year apart!















The photo below is Sydney's class. There are 8 students total, but only 4 are pictured here.

















Every week the students have to do presentations, which is just like show and tell at this age. Like her mom, she enjoys speaking in front of groups.



After class time, all the families eat lunch together, which has been a great way to get to know other moms homeschooling classically. (Our Monday morning Foundations program is for elementary aged students, but Classical Conversations goes all the up through high school.) The kids love to play after eating and we come home ready for naps! :-)

Ethan's Soccer Team

Last night was Ethan's first soccer practice. After watching Sydney's team practice twice in the past week, he was so ready to get out there and play! He had a great time, but I think if all the kids learned anything last night, it was how to stand in line! Below is a picture of him and some of his teammates lined up to kick the ball into the net. Passing the ball to another teammate. Coach Patrick is behind Ethan.
Ethan had to stop the ball when it came to him, so he was really prepared!
Cheesin' for the camera

Yesterday was also our first day of MOPS. It meets at a church really close to our house. It was great, and it was so awesome to meet moms who live near me. For the past 2 years, I have really struggled with where to find community- at my church, where I feel the need to have close community, but also where it has been difficult because of living further away than most everyone else; or where I live, which, until I found MOPS and we started soccer, I had fewer avenues to meet other moms with young kids. We have other kids in our neighborhoods, but I am the only SAHM, so there is little community here during the day. We have made good friends in Winston, and I am so thankful for them, but I think I've been looking for the close community of friends that I had in Midlothian, not to mention missing our family in VA.

Everyone at MOPS was really nice, and it's so well organized. We have meetings on the first and third Tuesdays of the month, which includes programs for the kids (birth to age 5), and on the second and fourth Tuesdays are organized playdates at various parks and field trips. It was funny because at church, people usually have no idea where our little town is, even though it's just 25 minutes away. But at MOPS yesterday, noone knew where Redeemer was! I almost felt like I have two separate lives. Hopefully soon, Arcadia will start to feel more like home.