Fall Camping

One of the best things about living in the Midwest is the colors of the Fall foliage where we live. Being the adventurous family that we are, we decided that one last camping trip was in order before Winter sets in. We headed to Geneva Hills, the church camp that Kevin attended growing up. I pitched the tent, in the rain I might add, and Kevin built a fire. The boys played in the woods and we enjoyed the beautiful Fall day.

Unfortunately, because of how young Nick is (that he wouldn't be able to settle down to sleep in the tent) I took him back home after dinner and Kevin, Liam and Ben stayed at the campsite in the tent. The next morning, Nick and I headed back to Geneva Hills to take a hike with the whole family.

The Family at Needle Rock (thanks to my tripod)

Nick did a great job on the hike

Kevin, Ben and Liam lead the way to Needle Rock

Liam and Ben enjoying the campfire

Daddy and Nick settling in

The big boys help Daddy get the campfire going

The view from our campsite

More colorful foliage

Our tent, with the extra tarp just in case the rain returns

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Hunting

Kuhlwein's Farm

Liam, Kevin, Nick, Grammy and Ben on the wagon ready to head out to the pumpkin patch.

Liam and Ben leading us through the corn maze.

Daddy gives Nick a lift through the corn maze.

Searching for the perfect pumpkins.

Liam with his pumpkins.



Carving the Pumpkins

Nick is more than happy to just play with his pumpkin.

Liam scooping the "guts" out of his pumpkin.

Ben gets his pumpkin ready for carving.

Kevin's finished pumpkin.

Trick-or-Treat Time

The Carr family ready for Trick-or-Treating.

My Three Happy Boys

Mommy is dressed as a gym teacher


Daddy is dressed as Jason Voorhees from the "Friday the 13th" movies.

Nick is our little pumpkin

Liam is dressed as a Zombie Ninja

Ben is Cartoon Network's "Johnny Test"

Back to School

So we've officially been back to school for about a month now. Liam is now in Third Grade, Ben is in First Grade, and I have started my first year as a First Grade teacher. And, as always, Kevin is working from home as a film critic and spending the day taking care of Nick.

A week before the end of school last year, I found out that I would be changing assignments and changing schools. It was quite a shock to me and everyone else I taught with. There were some shake-ups in other areas of the district that caused a domino effect, and my movement was one of those unexpected moves.

At first, I was really upset. Then, I became incredibly nervous about what this move would mean. I pretty much spent all summer obsessing about it, driving my poor husband crazy. Then about three weeks before school started, I was able to get into my new classroom and start getting settled.

Fast-forward a month and I'm finally feeling comfortable in my new place. I think it'll take all year until I'm confident about what I'm doing. Everything I do and teach is new to me (except Reading-but even that has its newness because I'm teaching such varying levels of readers.) As much as I'm enjoying this new challenge and learning right along with my 22 little kiddos, I'll be glad when this first year is over so that I'll feel a little more confident about what it's all about and what I'm doing.

In the meantime, here's a glimpse into Back to School 2009-2010.

First Day of School

Liam and Ben heading to the bus stop.

Liam and Ben wait for the bus on the first day of school, 2009-2010.

Liam-Third Grade

Ben-First Grade

Carolyn-First day as a First Grade Teacher

My Classroom

Welcome to First Grade!

My room feels so bare compared to the rooms of the other first grade teachers. Since I'm really just starting out, I have a lot of empty shelves. I don't have a lot of books for my classroom library, so I'm doing a lot of checking out of books from the public libraries. These are pictures from the first week of school, and I've re-arranged my room three times since these pictures were taken.

Hilton Head Vacation 2009

One of the great benefits of being a teacher and having a husband who can work from anywhere that he can find an internet connection, is that we are able to take family vacations in the summer. This year, we took a return trip to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Nicholas and "Bear" settle in for the drive to SC.

Liam and Ben, veteran travelers, fall asleep somewhat comfortably in the back seat.

Nick, Liam and Ben hanging out after breakfast at a Cracker Barrel on the way to Hilton Head.


Liam and Ben on the balcony of our condo after having breakfast with Daddy on our first morning in Hilton Head.

Ben, very happy to be at the beach.



Liam makes his way into the ocean, with Daddy a little farther out.


Nick wasn't terribly happy about being left to his own devices in the sand. He got over it eventually and joined the rest of the boys in playing in the sand.


Mommy with Ben, Liam and Nick enjoying the beach.

One of the benefits of staying at a timeshare is that there is not only access to the beach, but also the easy availability of a pool. Not surprisingly, time was spent every day at one of the two resort pools.

Nick LOVED his panda bear floatie. He was quite happy to just ride around the pool as long as someone would pull him around.



Liam and Ben enjoyed spending as much time as possible in the pool. Mom and Dad took turns supervising pool time while the other one took Nick back to the room for a nap.



Liam, in mid-jump.


Ben, ready to make a splash.

We even made use of one of the grills that surround the pool to cook hot dogs and have lunch poolside. The boys preferred the smaller pool that was much less crowded and had some shaded areas.

Kevin and I rented a bicycle to use for the week. We took turns taking daily rides, including a ride to the beach (which took about 20 minutes each way.) I even rode to the grocery store a couple of times. Plans are in the making to purchase our own bikes here at home! (After all, I lost 5 pounds while on vacation!)



We decided to take advantage of some of the extra activities that are available on the island. There were activities that were organized for just the kids within the resort, but the boys weren't as interested in those as they were in the activities that we could do as a family. The first family activity we did was the 2-hr Dolphin Eco Tour. We were the only family on the boat and got to see some dolphins swimming nearby. They are too quick to get very good photos of, though.

Captain Wayne gave Liam and Ben a shot at driving the boat. Here's Liam during his turn at driving. He took it very seriously.

Nick was preoccupied with the rope that the captain would later tie to the dock.

Ben had a great time hanging out on the bow of the boat and watching for dolphins.

Nick got his sea legs pretty easily.

One of many beautiful sunsets we witnessed from our balcony this week.

Another of the activities we took part in was a sunset kayaking tour. We had planned to have Kevin take Liam on one night, and I would take Ben on the next night. However, when Kevin and Liam went for their turn, the parking in Harbour Town (where the tour was to leave from) was ridiculous and they couldn't find a place to park, and therefore missed their tour. After Kevin spoke with the manager at the resort about this problem, they removed Kevin and Liam's charge and paid for me to take both boys on the next night. It was disappointing that Kevin didn't get to go, but at least the boys did.

The view of the Harbour Town light house (which isn't a real light house, but a museum and gift shop) from our kayak.

Liam and Ben are at the front of the kayak while Mom is in the back. Liam helped row at times, but it was mostly my job. Luckily, the guide spent a lot of time talking and drifting, so the paddling wasn't very taxing.


Ben and Liam in front of our orange 3-person kayak. I think they had a good time, though Liam would have preferred the chance to pilot his own kayak. But, since he got tired with the little amount of paddling he did do, I don't think he would have been able to handle one all on his own. Maybe in a couple of years.

After leaving Hilton Head on the 4th of July, we headed to the mainland to stay with Nick and Roxane, who are the ones who rented the timeshare to us. They invited us to join them at a cookout with some friends from church. We had a good time, but it was quite hot and Nick only lasts so long before he hits his wall and needs his bed.

Nick carries around one of the Bocce balls after the first game finished and we were getting ready for dinner.



Liam, Nick and Ben took a turn in the hammock too. (Sorry it's so blurry, but I took this quick shot with my iPhone and if you don't sit perfectly still, nothing is clear.)


On the last leg of our journey home, we stopped in Newton, North Carolina to visit our wonderful friends, the Watsons. We spent a couple of hours catching up and had a nice little cookout. "Little Ben" had a great time playing with Liam and "Big Ben" while Nick caught a nap and Clara wrapped the rest of us aorund her little finger. My favorite Leah quote, "Who would have thought when Kevin and Mark were at Geneva Hills as teenagers, that between the two of them they would have 5 kids!" Just goes to show you that the best things in life are not what we'd ever expect!