Carolina,
you are NOT nuts, but you should give them more frames. For late summer splits, its better to take more like 10 frames off for a "NUC" and feed the parent hive heavy also to spread the work load around. You can do a one layer of newspaper combine and condense things down to one box in 24hrs. You also need to keep a close watch on them. They need pollen, brood, and bees, you are providing sugar. Frames of honey help. Some empty frames are good to give the queen a place to lay. You may need to add more capped brood frames before the new queens eggs become bees. Also, put empty supers on other hives and feed them to get them to draw comb to give to the NUC, or parent hive if needed.
Keep the feed on there constantly, not one day empty, till it gets cool. Bees can't make honey in less than something like 60 degree weather? not sure on the temp.
When it does start getting cool, look at what you have, and combine the NUC if necissary. What will you have if you do combine? Experience, more drawn comb for next year to prevent swarming, do spits, and store honey, and more bees going into winter due to another laying queen. You will of course have to dispose of a queen at that point. You will be out some money for sugar, I say not $100. And some work, which is the valuable experience.
I'm doing all these things right now and my 2 new queens are still virgins. More for the experience, as you say, and becuase I wan't more drawn comb in the spring. Numbers of hives going into winter isn't as important to me right now as amount of drawn comb. Of course the more hives the merrier. It will take a mild october for me to succed. But thats not rare in the valley. Neither is mild temps in November. Since you say NC weather is mild I assume your not in the mountains!
also looking back I saw you said "full size hive"? now thats not good, use no more than one box. till its mostly drawn out, or being otherwise used. Meaning, if you have 10 frames of drawn comb in a box, let the queen get some brood in there, or the workers some honey before adding another empty box, again think seriously about getting other stronger hives to build comb for the nuc.