Waco Suspension Bridge with the boys

homestead fair

The weekend after Thanksgiving Homestead Heritage has a craft fair where they showcase their farm and goods that they make by hand. We thought it could be a good way to spend a beautiful day and get out of the house and see something unique that was family friendly.

 Owen was older this year and able to jump in and make some things of his own. 

He made his very own candle.

 He also was able to use a letterpress and write his name.

 But Owen's favorite project of the day was making his very own sailboat.

He has a good Meme that was right there to help him every step of the way.

They sanded...

and hammered 

attached the sail

Then Dad jumped in to help with the painting.

Collin was there too.

And it even sails!

This guy had fun and that is pretty much all that matters.

the little things

Days can be a little monotonous at home sometimes, but then a little moment will happen and it will make you be so grateful for right where you are.

This little one loves to flip through his books and "read them". video below

They really do have a special bond already and love each other.  Of course they are boys, and they play rough already…what do you expect? But their laughter together really makes me smile. video below

We went to a craft show this weekend in Waco. My friend Margaret made these little critters.

We love our little fox and reindeer.

After that we went by the boot store and got Owen a new pair of boots. He is such a big kid now. He and his daddy were on their way to see a Sunday afternoon movie.

And this sweet one, turned 10 months old today. I can not believe how quickly he is growing up and will be one year old before we know it. 

I think of things all day long I want to blog about and record, but they often don't get translated on here. There is not enough time in my day. Life is busy and full all the while being slow and unfulfilled somedays. I don't really know how to explain that unless you have lived it. 

But it is the little things, that bring joy. God is continuing to teach me in this season of life. Just because we are in the 3rd year of residency doesn't mean we have everything figured out. Life brings changes. Community changes, friends move, new friends are made, God speaks boldly in ways you may not have expected. But that is life right? Constantly reevaluating, moving forward and trying to do the best you can that day. 

finding fun in fall

roasted pumpkin seeds

cheering on our tigers

shopping with Jo Jo at Magnolia Market

Chili cook off supporting our friends the McCalls: mccall blog

Those are a few of the highlights around here right now. Fifteen days until we get some visitors! Not that I am counting or anything ; )

zoo with friends

A couple of weeks ago we met some friends at the zoo for the morning.

Beautiful day here and we are lucky to have a great zoo in Waco. 

The zoo is always better with friends.

We mamas just couldn't get over how much these 3 have changed since the beginning of residency.

They are boys now.

Good thing we have these little ones to give us our baby fix.

They grow quickly

(Owen, Ryker, Finn, Liam)

Waco Mammoth Site

While Meme was visiting we took the opportunity to go and check out the Waco Mammoth site.

The site sits among over 100 acres off the Bosque River surrounded by oak, cedar and mesquite trees. Mesquite is not a native plant but was actually brought in and spread across the area. They are all over Texas now. 

"The nation's first and only recorded discovery of a nursery herd of Pleistocene mammoths" -- National Park Service

The story goes that on a spring day in 1978, Paul Barron and Eddie Bufkin embarked on a search for arrowheads and fossils near the Bosque River. To their surprise, the men stumbled upon a large bone eroding out of a ravine. Recognizing the unusual nature of the find, they removed the bone and took it to the Strecker Museum at Baylor University for examination.

The bone was identified as Columbian mammoth. Museum staff members quickly organized a team of volunteers and excavation began at the site. Using hand tools such as brushes and bamboo scrapers, crews slowly excavated a lost world. Between 1978 and 1990, the fossil remains of 16 Columbian mammoths were discovered.

Between 1990 and 1997, six additional mammoths were excavated, including a large male (bull). Crews also uncovered the remains of a camel and the tooth of a juvenile saber-tooth cat , which was found next to an unidentified animal.

Though the first bones were discovered in the 1970’s, the site remained closed to the public until the end of 2009. For more than 30 years, Baylor University staff, students and volunteers spent countless hours excavating the site.

Approximately 65,000 years ago, rapidly rising waters from the Bosque River flooded the site. At least 19 mammoths from a nursery herd were trapped in a steep-sided channel and drowned. A camel may have also been trapped. Later floods buried the remains

A second event took place sometime later. During this event, an unidentified animal associated with a juvenile saber-tooth cat died and was buried. 

The third event involved a bull, a juvenile, and an adult female. Approximately 15,000 years after the nursery herd was trapped, these animals also appear to have been victims of rising water, unable to escape due to the slippery slopes of the surrounding channel.

So fascinating to stand where such an incredible event has taken place and see something that lived thousands of years ago. Definitely a must-see in Waco.