Fall Times

This is my favorite time of the year, especially living here in Durham.  Although we had pretty colors of changing leaves in Georgia where I grew up, it is nothing like the brillance here NC.  I love it!  This is our 4th fall, and I still find myself amazed at the beauty.  

This picture was taken this morning as the leaves fell like rain from the sky.  Laughing and giggling, my kids tried to catch the leaves as they fell.  Yes, it was unusually warm today, and we were all in shorts.  But it will be cold again tomorrow, after the rain comes through.  With the temperatures so comfortable and the leaves at their height of color, we decided to have school at Duke Gardens today (my favorite place!)

Hiking through the gardens with pack backs full of our school books, I was unable to take pictures of the beautiful trees.  I wish you could come for a visit, so I could take you to the gardens.

Life in the Leary household has been quite busy....here are a few of our highlights......

First day of school ....sort of.  Although we homeschool, Maddie goes to preschool twice a week and the boys have a science class on Thursdays.

Jordan turned 8 this October.  He is growing up so fast!  His cousin came from SC and surprised him with Clemson vs. UNC tickets.

 Then finally, we enjoyed the traditions of Halloween.  Each child created his own pumpkin this year (don't worry....I did the cutting).  We had 2 ninja's, a super hero, and a beautiful princess.

As you can see, there are only 3 pumpkins......one of us didn't want to leave the football game inside......

Summer Fun (so far)

As our kids get older, I find it harder to take pictures of what is going on in our lives.  So far this summer, we have had a great time....but only have a handful of pictures to show for it.

 As the school year came to a close, the kids and I began to breathe a bit easier.  Fun times together became our main priority.  We spent the first 2 weeks of June relaxing....reading, bowling, and swimming....playing with our neighbor Carson.  Then on June 12th, we loaded up our van and headed to Orlando. This is a trip we take each year to visit the students at the Campus Outreach Summer Project.  Ten hours in the van....but it wasn't too bad this year.  Our car DVD player has been a life saver for me!!!

It is always a delight to see what God is doing in the students hearts.  Some are brand new Christian and others have been Christians for a while, but the hunger and excitement each of them have is so encouraging.  Bowe, our area director at UNC, has done an amazing job running the project.  

I tried to balance time with my kids and the students.  The kids and I hung out during the day...usually at the pool and then I would try to spend some time with students in the evenings after the kids went to bed. We also got to see our sweet friends - Mike, Jennifer, Avery and Keller Boland (who we have known for 10 years now - for 7 months they lived with us and for 2 years they were our next door neighbors).  Wow, we miss them, but what a refreshment to be around them again - for a short time.  

Living in a hotel for almost two weeks has its challenges, but I must say....it is SUPER nice to have a maid clean our room most days.  Too bad we didn't have a cook....

Something funny happened this year on the project:  I was reminded several time by the students that I am no longer 25.  I got ma'amed so many time I stopped correcting them....sigh!  BUT I experienced a first.  One of the students asked me if I was another student's mother!!!  WHAT!!???!!!  Okay...I get it...I get it...I'm getting older.  

One afternoon while the students were at work, our family was able to slip away to a fun water park.  It was a wonderful day of just being together.