My Family Zoo

Ginger

2011-02-06T10:45:00.001-08:00

So somehow I managed to skip right over Christmas and New Years... definitely posts I meant to make. But it took this little bit of news to warrant a new post. Yesterday we went and purchased this precious angel. She is an 8 week old Sheltie and is about as cute as they come. We've named her Ginger.

Fall 2010

2010-11-17T17:24:00.000-08:00

Obviously, Fall is not over yet and I'm sure there will be more to blog about with Thanksgiving and holiday activities fast approaching (if I ever get around to blogging about them ;) ). But for now, I'll update on the many things we've been doing so far this Fall.

Pumpkin Patch and Halloween:

Kids designed their own pumpkins:

Making a Halloween gingerbread house:

Alex and Nathan were knights for Halloween and Amy was a Renaissance Queen:

Renaissance Festival/Amy's Birthday:
We had Amy's birthday party the Saturday before Halloween and then on her actual birthday we went to the Renaissance Festival. Hard to believe she's already 5!!!

Wizard of Oz Birthday Party:

At the festival, getting a picture with a creepy knight:

The birthday girl with her extra large drink:

Couple of sword-fighting knights:

Amy in her new pajamas (that match her Bitty Baby's PJs) at the end of her special day:

Nathan's Birthday Party:

We celebrated Nathan's birthday last weekend because we'll be camping with the cub scouts the weekend of his actual birthday. Of course, to Nathan, camping on his birthday makes for the best kind of birthday!

Nathan's 7th birthday party was all about tools...

My little Tool Man:

TKD Party

2010-09-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

Once Alex was promoted past the beginner white belt, we were able to move him into the homeschool taekwondo class. This class is offered earlier than the regular classes and is only homeschooled children. It is such a refreshing experience; we've all connected and even had our first "TKD party" at one family's home. Everyone chipped in and rented a blowup water slide - actually, it was a huge, DOUBLE water slide. We had a potluck lunch and just relaxed there all afternoon. The kids had a blast! Alex and Nathan couldn't get enough of the slide, though my little Amy wasn't too fond of it. She did eventually go down a few times once Bill and I became adventurous enough to go down with her. :)

Fall Ball

2010-09-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

Alex is playing Fall baseball again and is really enjoying it. This season he is on the "Fighting Irish" Notre Dame team. They lost their first two games, but the kids are having fun and I have noticed so much improvement in Alex. He throws better and seems to understand the game better this year and is much more engaged. He no longer seems to be interested in the dirt and weeds growing in the outfield. :) Nathan is just a spectator this year. He opted to do tennis instead of baseball. Amy hasn't asked to participate in any sports... yet. I'm sure it's coming!

Alex, ready to play:

Nathan:

Amy:

Taekwondo Promotion Test

2010-09-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

Alex has been taking taekwondo for a couple of months now and loves it. On Saturday, he took his promotion test to obtain his yellow belt. He appeared tired and told us afterwards that his tummy hurt, but despite all of that, he did awesome! We are so very proud of him!!!

He received his yellow belt in class today:

New School Year

2010-09-13T20:12:00.001-07:00

We are starting our fourth year of homeschooling - I can't believe it!!! I now have three students: Alex is in 3rd grade, Nathan is in 2nd grade, and my little Amy has started Kindergarten. So far the year is going well - we are on our third week. It is much harder to homeschool three; we are hard at work starting at 8am for breakfast (when we do the Bible lesson) and continuing through about 2pm. We have one day a week that we have to finish earlier due to Nathan's tennis lessons, so we have to make up any unfinished work on the other days. I'm still trying to figure out how to work in more crafts, art, and learning games. I'm sure in time I'll get our new schedule more organized and we'll be able to make more time for these activities. But all in all, I'm pleased with how our year is going!

Here are some pictures from the first day of school and from our family field trip to Space Center Houston to celebrate after the first week of school:

FIRST DAY:

SPACE CENTER HOUSTON:

Summer 2010

2010-09-13T19:24:00.001-07:00

We had a very busy summer this year. We took a good part of the summer to finish up school, and we still had our usual activities, plus VBS and other summer events, a trip to Ohio... It was full and fun! Here are some highlights:

CUB SCOUT TWILIGHT CAMP

Nathan, hard at work:

Bill, the happy camper:

Alex, in the background (yellow and green ballcap):

OHIO TRIP

AMY'S SUMMER BALLET

I'm sure there are other Summer things I should post about, and as I think of them I will try to update. :)

Fish Update

2010-09-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

I know after this long that this is probably not the first post you'd expect - or hope - to see from me. But, while I wait for the pictures from my camera card to come up, I figured it would work as an opening post. :) The only fish that remain of the original we bought are Alex's three tetras. We've since purchased an algae eater and we are on Goldie #3. This whole fish experience has been interesting. I've learned you should never get attached to fish because they probably won't be sticking around for long.

Fish

2010-06-17T13:32:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we fulfilled one of Bill's dreams, as well as a frequent request of our kids'... We purchased fish. Bill used birthday money to buy an aquarium a couple of weeks ago, and then of course we had to find the right spot for it, put in the rocks and ornaments and finally add the water, water-conditioners, filter and heater. We left it fishless for about a week to allow the water to become habitable by the fish.

The Saturday trip to Petco was an exciting one. Bill wanted each of us to pick out a fish. Unfortunately, it wasn't easy! Our fish tank is only a 10 gallon and can't hold too many fish, especially big ones. So we limited the full grown fish size to 2-3 inches. Then of course we had the dilemma of which fish gets along with which fish, and which fish must have companions of the same breed... Here is what we ended up with:

Bill's Blue Dwarf Gourami ("Neo"):

My Betta fish ("Sophie"):

Amy's Platy fish ("Goldie"):

Nathan's Silver Molly ("Whitey"):

One of Alex's Blood-finned Tetra fish ("Wicky", "Pappa", and "Cutie" - he got three because these have to have friends)
(the picture is blurry because they are very quick!)

Full view of aquarium:

We've learned a lot in the few days we've had these fish. First, though we knew that Betta fish do not like other Betta fish, and they also do not like to share a tank with other long-finned or otherwise "beautiful" fish (obviously very conceded fish). But what we also learned that the so-called "expert" at Petco forgot to tell us was that Gouramis and Bettas do not get along. Sophie did not like Neo at all, and would often flare its gills at him. What a sight! They were often trying to intimidate one another, though I never noticed them doing any harm to each other. But sadly, they were both about to face an even bigger threat. Neo was the first to start getting this weird discoloration on his body starting at his tail. The dark spot grew bigger throughout the day, so Bill returned him to Petco thinking that would be the best thing. This all happened on Sunday. Then Monday morning Sophie had the same discoloration. It continued to grow and when we got home from VBS on Monday afternoon, I could tell it wasn't looking well. By the end of the day, Sophie had died.

Obviously, our fish experience had a rough start, and unfortunately continues to be challenging. We tested the water last night and found that the ammonia level was high, which is very bad for the fish. So we treated the water and this morning all seemed fine... until I noticed that now the remaining fish have Ich (a nasty parasitic disease!). This condition will kill them if we don't treat the tank immediately and for a period of about two weeks. So now we're doing that and hoping we can save the remainder of our fish.

The biggest thing I've learned so far about fish is that maintaining them is not going to be easy!

Amy's Formal Demonstration 2010

2010-06-07T07:05:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Amy participated in her ballet studio's "Formal Demonstration", which was a production of The Wizard of Oz and was performed at The Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston. For her ballet dance, she was part of the Lullaby League dancing to "Brahms Lullaby" and for tap she was a Psychedelic Pony dancing to "Hippy Hippy Shake". I helped backstage again this year, which was even more chaotic than last year! We had this tiny, tiny space in which to dress our girls and keep them occupied. It was absolutely crazy! Poor things barely had room to sit, much less play games, draw, or otherwise entertain themselves. But we managed and overall the girls did very well.

Amy did great on her ballet dance, but unfortunately she learned something new during her tap routine. She learned that when you are cute and you do the "hippy hippy shake", the audience may laugh. And for her, a very impressionable child, that was a bad thing. She almost stopped dancing all together after she heard the audience's reaction. She told Bill and me on the way home later that night that the people were laughing at her so she "slowed down". Poor baby! I wasn't sure what to say to her! But it helped that yesterday we went with friends whose daughter was performing in the Sunday performance (she also performed on Saturday) and actually got to sit in the audience and watch; when you are a performer or backstage helper, you miss everything, so this was a great opportunity for Amy and me! Being in the audience allowed Amy the experience of watching those cute little girls and the audience's natural response of joyful laughter. I think she realized they weren't laughing AT the girls, but were instead just laughing because of how adorable they were. At least, I hope she understood. I know I caught her smiling and giggling at one group of little girls who were shaking their bottoms and hopping about on stage!

The show was amazing! It was long, but filled with incredible dances and acting scenes. There was even a real dog for Toto and a real PONY (the "horse of a different color")! I could not believe the talent of all who participated, but especially the young men and women performing the lead roles. Most, if not all, are under 20 and yet perform like professionals. They could sing, dance, AND act! It was impressive!!! It was so awesome to be a part of it all!

Here are some pictures of my little cutie. The ones of her dancing on stage are from rehearsal night (the only time we are allowed to take pictures of their performance), and the ones in the dressing room and with her flowers (obviously) are from the actual performance night.

Lullaby League Dance (Amy's on the left):

Lullaby League Dance (Amy's in the middle):

Psychedelic Pony Dance (Amy on the left):

Psychedelic Pony Dance:

Amy on the way to Galveston for the big performance:

Posing in the dressing room:

Amy's class (one of them looks mad - oh, wait - that's Amy!):

After the show with her lovely flowers - she's all smiles now!:

Good job, Amy! We are so very proud of you!!!

Alex's 8th Birthday

2010-05-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

A week ago, my "baby" turned 8. It's hard to believe. He has grown into such a sweet, smart little boy. He talks about becoming a "scientist" who builds robots... and Lego sets. He is so creative, from his drawings and made up stories, to his make-believe play. He loves the Lord and is inspired by the books we read on missionaries. His love for his siblings is obvious, too, and he looks out for them as any great big brother would. What a blessing he is to us - we are so proud of him!

The Friday before his birthday, we had a few of Alex's friends over for pizza and fun and then his cousins stayed over for the night. All went great!

Then on his actual birthday he requested that we go to the beach. We took the opportunity to go on a special "field trip" we'd been wanting to take with my parents. Granny and Paw-Paw met us at Seawolf Park and we took a tour of the WWII submarine, the USS Cavalla, and a destroyer escort, the USS Stewart. These were both similar to ones my dad was on when he was in the Navy, so having him there was like having our own personal tour guide. The kids had a great time on both vessels, though Alex has said the ship was his favorite. Nathan, however, has stated ever since our visit to Seawolf Park that he is going to be a Navy man when he grows up and he will be on board a submarine and will fix things that become broken. So cute!

After Seawolf Park and a nutritious lunch at McDonald's, we went down to the beach where the kids enjoyed the sand and waves of the beach. I could tell Alex had a great birthday; it was a great day for all of us!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALEX!!!!!

The "Man" Hike

2010-05-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

Nathan has wanted to go hiking for quite a long time and he finally got his wish. A few weeks ago, Bill took both boys on an overnight hike. They roughed it and even drank filtered water out of a pond. Well, all except Alex. The water, though filtered, remained a brown color... That would be hard to drink! Unfortunately, there had been a recent controlled burn of the forest area where they were hiking - some parts still smoldering! So the scenery wasn't as nice as it could have been, and all the ash made it a messier than usual hike. Of course, I don't think that bothered them! They returned home dirty and tired, but very happy.

RNASA

2010-05-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

Bill has been working in the Constellation program for a number of years now, helping design the Environmental Control Life Support System for the Orion spacecraft. He was recently nominated for a prestigious RNASA Award. He and I had an amazing day touring NASA Johnson Space Center and attending a special luncheon where he was formally recognized for his nomination. The grand finale, however, was the evening banquet, which, as one attendee noted, is the Academy Awards of the space industry: fancy attire, dinner, the works! There were quite a number of important people attending, including Charles Bolden, current NASA administrator, Mike Griffin, former NASA administrator, as well as Annise Parker, the mayor of Houston, Congressman Pete Olson, astronauts, and many others. The whole night was like a dream. I know it was an honor for Bill to be nominated and I am so proud of him. It was truly an amazing experience!

Chocolate Space Shuttle Desserts:

Miles O'Brien:

Charles Bolden:

Mike Griffin:

Bill and I posing with our former department manager from years ago when Bill and I first met as co-ops:

Easter 2010

2010-05-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

Our family had another wonderful Easter this year. As has become tradition, we went to my Uncle's for an Easter picnic the Saturday before Easter. It was fun as always! The kids dyed Easter eggs and decorated cookies, played in a big dirt pile (the favorite spot of the day ;)), and went on an Easter egg hunt. And of course, Easter morning, the kids were greeted with their Easter baskets filled lovingly by that special bunny who always leaves such fun - and yummy - surprises! Then of course, we dressed in our Easter attire and went to church to celebrate the true meaning of Easter: Christ's blessed resurrection!

Easter Egg Hunt: READY...

SET...

GO!!!

Cub Scout Spring Camping Trip

2010-05-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

The boys had a great time on their Spring camping trip with the scouts. It fell the weekend before Easter, at the same time that I had a leader meeting for our home school Co-op. So Amy and I stayed behind while the guys went camping. I think they had a great time, even though we weren't there. ;)

Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet

2010-05-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago our cub scout pack had its annual Blue and Gold banquet. It was a very enjoyable evening of pizza, cake, presentations, and awards.

No Excuses

2010-05-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

I know all are tired of hearing me say, "Here's a big Update - we've been busy, but from now on I'll do better." So I'm not going to say that this time! Please just enjoy whatever posts I get around to posting. I do post... eventually. :)

Take a Stand!

2010-02-02T19:35:00.000-08:00

Amy's New Skirt

2010-01-26T11:30:00.001-08:00

A good friend has been passing down her daughter's clothes to Amy, who is just thrilled to receive them. She is especially happy about this latest gem, a precious skirt made by my talented friend. It's still a little chilly in the house, so I just found a long-sleeved shirt that wouldn't clash with the skirt. When the weather warms up, I'll have to find a better, more coordinating, shirt. Thanks so much, Kris!!!

Pinewood Derby 2010

2010-01-26T10:58:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was our Pack's annual Pinewood Derby race. The boys worked hard on their cars and this year they even made two cars each, one for the regular race and one specifically for the Smash Car Derby. Surprisingly, this year the boys' racing cars were quite slow. Alex had a hard time with the fact that his car came in last every heat, especially since last year his car came in first overall for his den. Ironically, he even did his last year's science fair project on how to make a fast Derby car! But all in all, he took it well. He still came home with the "Coolest Car" trophy, and both boys came in first place in their division for Smash Derby. The pack did a great job to make it a fun event for all!

Nathan's car is the blue with stripes (second from right):

Nathan's Smash Car:

Nathan with his first place trophy for the Smash Derby:

Alex's car is the green one with center stripe (second from right):

Smash Derby - Alex's car is the one on the right with the yellow stripe and star

Alex receiving his trophy for Coolest Car:

Nathan and Alex posing with the Cubmaster:

New Hockey Fans

2010-01-19T14:07:00.000-08:00

Saturday night the boys got a wonderful opportunity to attend their first hockey game. Both Alex and Nathan had filled out their order sheets when selling popcorn for cub scouts and were rewarded with free tickets to an Aeros hockey game. This was a special boy scout night and from what I hear, it was really quite something. Bill took them to the game and they sat as a group with a number of the leaders, moms and dads, and boys from our cub scout pack. Their seats were incredible! The game started at 7:30pm and didn't end until 10:30pm. It was a long night, but Bill said they watched every bit of it.

After the game, as part of the experience, they let the boys go out on the ice and let them try to make a shot into the goal - both Alex and Nathan got it in!

When they received their tickets, they were also given a set of trading cards, one for each of the players on the team. So when they got to meet some of the Aeros players after the game, it was the perfect opportunity to get some autographs.

They didn't get home until after midnight, but the joyful excitement they came in with showed what a great time they had and masked how tired they really were. I'm so thankful to the Aeros and their sponsors for giving my boys and all the other little scouts a very fun and memorable night!

A Visit to the Dentist

2010-01-11T15:21:00.000-08:00

Today I finally got around to taking the kids to a pediatric dentist. We had one I liked before we moved and since then, I've neglected to make an appointment with a new one. (Yes, I know that means they've gone too long between visits... I'm a bad, bad mom...)

I was SO pleased with this dentist today. The office had a waiting area for the kids, where the staff keeps an eye on them. The waiting area has toys and video games, which made my kids so happy. The staff was super sweet and wonderful with the kids. Alex was a little apprehensive about some of the procedures, especially when they were going to apply sealants to some of his teeth. But with some smooth talk and a little laughing gas, he was fine. :) It was a pleasant experience for all, though I did get the not so encouraging news - just as the previous dentist had informed me - that each of my kids will need braces. I guess we'd best start saving!

Now if I could just get around to finding me and Bill a new dentist...

The UT Quilt

2010-01-11T14:52:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, I took on a large quilting project the end of this past year. It started out as a plan to make a special UT lap quilt for my nephew, who attends the University of Texas at Austin. But after some persuasion from my mom, I decided to make it a queen-sized quilt for his bed at college. I've never ever made a quilt so big. And being the procrastinator that I am, I spent much of my holidays quilting. I managed to complete it just 2 days before Christmas Eve, which is when we celebrate with my parents, my grandmother and my brother's and sister's families.

I spent much time worrying over the quilt, unsure of how to arrange the blocks, what batting and thread to use, and how to quilt it. In the end, I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I went with a simple block arrangment with outline quilting, used that new bamboo batting (love it!) and chose a variegated thread called "sticks and stones". Now Bill wants me to make a large quilt for our room... But I think for my sanity, I should tackle a few small projects before I take on another big one!

Holiday Recap

2010-01-05T18:11:00.001-08:00

Has it been a month since my last post? Okay, so the frequent December updates didn't happen. Surprise, surprise. I have to smile, though. I did have good intentions, but what was I thinking?!? I don't even blog regularly when life is at it's normal pace. We were going at rocket speed through December! So once again, I have to update all at once.

We did our schooling through December 16th and then took off until Monday, January 4th. Boy was it hard to get back into our lessons after that long break! Amy actually complained the most. She whined and used the word "boring" over and over again to describe how she felt about starting back to school, which is so silly since all she does is a few pages in one little workbook and then sits and listens to me read to her for about 10-15 minutes. And she always enjoys it! But in reality, she misses her brothers while they are doing schoolwork, and that is why she complained. In the end, we had a great week back and everyone adjusted quickly to our routine.

Here is a look at our holiday adventures...

A cold night with cousins at the Festival of Lights:

Making a gingerbread house:

Making Christmas sugar cookies:

Christmas Eve donuts!

Christmas Eve at Granny & Paw-Paw's:

Christmas morning - Santa had come!

I made no-sew fleece blankets for Shelby and each of the kids; they've all, even Shelby, been enjoying them!

New Year's Eve Celebration (the kids got to stay up until midnight, and then we all camped out in the den):

I know it's a little late in coming, but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Highlights

2009-12-08T16:24:00.000-08:00

I promised to update on all the big events since that September post. Obviously, I've had other big events to post lately, what with the snow, Nutcracker, and the no-training-wheels success. But so much more has happened. Please excuse the enormous amount of pictures, but with so many events to talk about, there had to be a lot of pictures!

Late October the boys had their Cub Scout Pushmobile race. Nathan's Tiger den didn't participate - probably because there are only a few of them. So Nathan and one of the other Tiger scouts helped out our Wolf team, which was short a couple of kids. We didn't win, but they had fun.

We also attended the Texas Renaissance Festival again this year. The kids wore their capes again that I made several years ago (can't believe they've held up so long!). The weather was cool, clear, and gorgeous. It was a great day!

With Halloween approaching, Amy's ballet class performed a short tap routine to the One-Eyed Flying Purple People Eater song. Too cute!

We visited the pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins. The kids were excited to wear their halloween costumes this year. Alex was dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Nathan as Darth Vader. Amy was a ballerina again this year, though with a new costume. It would have been fun to dress her up as Princess Leia.

Amy had several birthday celebrations over the course of one weekend. The first was the Friday before Halloween, right after our local homeschool co-op finished. Thankfully, Bill was off and was able to make the final party preparations and pick up the pizzas. It was a wonderful afternoon spent with all of our friends from co-op.

Halloween morning we carved pumpkins. Nathan and Alex drew what they wanted their pumpkins to look like, and I assisted Amy on her princess pumpkin. Once we had the pumpkins all cleaned out (the kids favorite part - I'm kidding, of course), Bill and I set to carving them. They turned out pretty cute. Then that night we went trick-or-treating with the cousins, who then got to spend the night. It was a full day!

The next day we had another party for Amy with family.

Monday was Amy's actual birthday, so we got to celebrate for the third time. Whew! Hope she doesn't expect this every year!

The weekend following Halloween and Amy's birthday we had the annual Fall scout camping trip for our pack, which even Amy and I attended! I could have done without all of the honey bees, mosquitoes and that one copperhead snake, but overall it was fun. Although, hint to my husband, a new air mattress that doesn't leak air would be great. :)

Fast forward to Nathan's birthday. Since his birthday fell on a Saturday, we had just one big celebration. Some friends and family came, and there was a Darth Vader pinata and a Moon Walk, though the rainy weather made it a little difficult to truly enjoy the outdoors. Despite the weather, however, the party was lots of fun. And this was the first time I ever saw a pinata completely severed in half, and by only the second person to swing at it (Way to go Kayleigh!)! Notice in the pictures below, first the one where the pinata and Nathan's body look like they are connected - not sure how we managed that shot, but we sure got a good laugh out of it! And then notice what became of the top section of the destroyed Darth Vader pinata... A perfect fit. :)

Long post, but I think I'm somewhat caught up now. Of course, it's Christmas time and I'm sure there will be much to blog about by the time Christmas Day arrives. Hopefully, I can stay on it!

2009 Nutcracker Ballet

2009-12-04T16:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took Amy to see the Nutcracker. Once again it was an amazing performance, made even better by the fun of watching some good friends and acquaintances perform so beautifully. I just love this new tradition Amy and I have started, but after reading the story of The Nutcracker to all the kids last night, I might just have to take the boys to see it next year.

Snow

2009-12-04T15:36:00.000-08:00

My blog background seems quite appropriate for this post. Today... it SNOWED!!! Yes, and I have pictures to prove it. It hasn't been a lot - nothing like last year - but it's been on and off all day. The kids have been beside themselves, bouncing in joy over this unexpected winter blessing. Check it out:

Look - No Training Wheels!

2009-11-30T19:12:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Nathan finally learned to ride his bike with no training wheels. Once that boy got the hang of it, there was no stopping him!

New Look

2009-11-29T11:44:00.000-08:00

Obviously, school and outside activities have been keeping our family VERY busy these days. I can't believe I haven't posted since September!!!

I thought for now I'd change the look of my blog since we are moving into the Christmas season. This is a temporary background since I noticed for some reason my old one had disappeared. That was not on purpose. In a quick search for a new background I found this one with a stick arm snowman, and anyone who knows me knows about my obsession with stick arm snowmen. :) So until I get time to really search the net for Christmas themed backgrounds, this one will do.

I have bunches to blog about, but it will all have to wait just a little longer. For all of my followers out there, I promise it will happen very soon!

School Life

2009-09-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

We started school a few weeks ago. I had planned to post that very first week and tell all about our new school year. Unfortunately, that first week of getting going again along with adjusting to a new curriculum, didn't allow any time - or energy - for me to post anything. I couldn't believe how long it took us to get our work done. Literally ALL day! We were finishing up at dinnertime, and this was with me reading our read-alouds through breakfast AND lunch. I'm amazed I found time to eat anything! But, I should point out that it was Labor Day week, and we didn't do school that holiday Monday. So we were cramming extra work into those other three days (Fridays we have our homeschool co-op). After some great encouragement from an amazing friend and better organization of my materials, the following week was much better. I can even say enjoyable. We were finishing up early to mid-afternoon, providing that extra time we all needed for rest, fun, and housework. Alex and I were sick last week, so we got to take a few days off after only 2 weeks of school, but we managed to get right back into it this week. Here are some pictures of our rearranged school room and our first day of school:

We changed up the school room just a tad, mostly to accommodate our new little student, Miss Amy. :)

Each of the kids received a little giftbag for that first morning. They contained simple items: a fun changeable crayon, eraser, pencil, candy, gum for the boys... I can't remember what else, but you get the idea.

We had mice for tea-time... chocolate mice, that is. Alex selected this recipe for our first week's tea-time, which is normally a Christmas recipe entitled "Christmas Eve Mice", and you would normally decorate them a little more festive. They were just as tasty plain.

Weather Savvy

2009-09-02T05:26:00.000-07:00

Amy: Is it going to rain today?
Me: I don't know, what do you think?
Amy: I don't know. Let's go check the radar.

Awesome Launch Picture

2009-08-31T19:06:00.000-07:00

Just had to post this one - again, not from our camera (but from someone who was also watching from the KSC causeway). This guy must really have a good camera!!! Double-click on it and you'll see what I mean!

A Dream Come True

2009-08-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

When I was a teenager, I developed a strong interest in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This interest was stimulated by living close to a NASA center as well as babysitting the children of an astronaut. I remember going to the library and researching the background on that particular astronaut, as I was too shy to ask him myself. When I discovered that he had obtained his degree in aerospace engineering, I knew that was what I wanted to do. I think I had high hopes that maybe, one day I, too, could be an astronaut. I did obtain the engineering degree I'd sought out, but I relinquished my desire to be an astronaut. I realized fairly quickly that my shy personality (and let's be honest, lack of courage) would never allow me to follow that path. And I was okay with that. I never felt quite satisfied in the work I did, and I know now that was because God had other plans for my life, plans that I could not have committed myself to had I continued working in the space program, or in any other field for that matter. My new life as wife, mom and teacher is the rewarding job I know I was called to do. But even so, there is still that underlying love for NASA and all that it entails.

It just so happens that the mother of a boy on Alex's baseball team is an astronaut. Not only is she an astronaut, but she is an STS-128 crewmember, who I am so grateful to say, extended a launch invitation to the family of each and every one of her son's teammates. We decided with the shuttle program so near retirement, we should jump on this chance to see a launch. Bill has been to several, but I have never attended one, and this was really a "dream come true" opportunity for me. So the Saturday before last, we loaded up the van and headed to Florida.

The plan was to attend the launch scheduled for late that Monday night/early Tuesday morning, spend another couple days in Florida and then head home on Thursday. But after spending the afternoon, evening and wee hours out at KSC, the launch was scrubbed due to bad weather, only about 10 minutes before it was to lift off. We were disappointed, but that disappointment only grew as it was again delayed the following day due to mechanical problems. As the week progressed my hopes of seeing a launch declined. We decided to wait until Friday morning to leave and when it looked like an attempt was actually going to be made to launch on Friday night, we decided to stay one more day, even though it meant getting home late Sunday. It was our last chance because no matter what, we had to be back for Bill to return to work that Monday. Thankfully, God answered our prayers and Shuttle Discovery did in fact launch on Friday night. The weather not only cooperated, but provided a fairly clear sky for viewing the launch. What an amazing experience it was! I am so happy that the kids got to see it launch; I can already tell it's had an impact on them.

The trip was a great success in that we did get to see the launch afterall. But it was also a success in that our family had a fun-filled week in Florida. Not only did we get to witness the launch of the shuttle from the KSC causeway, but we also spent a great deal of time on the beach, went to Downtown Disney in Orlando, and even had the opporunity to visit with some of Bill's relatives who live near Orlando. I can't say that after all this travel over the last few weeks we aren't happy to be home, but I can say that we made some great memories and had the experience of a lifetime.

Here are some pictures of our incredible Florida vacation; sorry for the huge number of pictures - it was just too hard to narrow down anymore than this:

We stopped at a Mississippi rest stop near NASA Stennis on our way to FL

The kids out on our hotel balcony in Cocoa Beach, FL

Nathan, out on the beach

The view from our balcony in Cocoa Beach

At KSC on the day of the originally scheduled launch

Check out the ominous clouds blanketing the launch pad (thus the scrub)
Check out the sleeping beauties (ignoring the not so lovely half-awake person)
Downtown Disney in Orlando

Back at the beach

Successful launch: the first picture, taken by someone else at the launch with a very good camera, shows the shuttle just after liftoff, the second picture (taken with our camera) shows the starlike glow of the shuttle as it zooms farther and farther away, and the third shows the still hot launch pad following the launch. And then there's the picture of a tired Amy after a long night at KSC

Relaxing picnic on the way home

Who's That Dog?

2009-08-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

Our family dog, Shelby, is a Shetland Sheepdog, also referred to as a "Sheltie". Of course, after her haircut a couple of weeks ago, you'd never know it! We wanted her trimmed so she'd be cooler in this hot Texas summer weather - we never expected such a short haircut!!! She's almost unrecognizable! She is definitely cooler, but I think we'll let some of that beautiful soft Sheltie fur grow back.

Playing in the Fountains

2009-08-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

The weekend before our trip my mom and I took the kids downtown to a park with big water fountains for them to play in. We met up with family there and all the cousins got to play together in the fountains. They had a blast!

2009 Ohio Trip

2009-08-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

A few days ago we returned from our yearly Ohio trip. Actually, it'd be better stated, our yearly "tri-state area" trip. We typically visit family in Ohio, Kentucky and sometimes Indiana.

This year Bill's mom's side of the family had a big reunion at his aunt and uncle's farm in Indiana. We've visited there a couple of times with the kids and we always have a great time. The day of the reunion started out cold. Yes, it was actually cold in July! What a rare treat for Texans! Thankfully, we happened to pack jackets, so we were okay. It had rained all morning and was still sprinkling when we arrived at the farm. But thankfully, God took away the rain and brought in sunshine. A couple of hours into the reunion and we were able to remove our jackets and the kids were eventually able to put on their bathing suits and use the large blowup pool that had been set up in anticipation of warmer weather. We had such a great time there. The kids played in the sandbox and in the pool and they played with hula hoops and went exploring. They even got to ride the four-wheelers with their daddy. And did I mention the huge amazing meal we got to enjoy? Uncle Harold fried chicken, as well as potatoes and biscuits. May not have made for the healthiest of meals, but boy was it delicious! And of course, there was fresh corn, fruit, salads of all sorts, chips, dips, etc., and a whole assortment of desserts. It was quite the grand feast! The kids were sad when it was time to go, but since it was after 10pm and we had an hour drive back to Bill's mom's house, we figured it was about time we were going. No surprise, all the kids were asleep by the time we got there.

The following day Bill's sister and her kids along with his step-brothers and their families came over and we had a wonderful reunion with them, too. Then the next day we had a quiet morning with Bill's mom and stepdad, followed by a Cincinnati chili lunch from Gold Star (one of two meals Bill insists upon when we go on this trip; the other is White Castle). Then it was time to head to Kentucky for our visit with Bill's dad and stepmom. On our way there, we stopped at a Graeter's Ice Cream shop for dessert. Mmmm... that was some delicious ice cream! Nathan and Amy were unable to finish their desserts, but Bill, Alex and I were able to polish ours off with no problem. :)

The kids were already excited about fishing, something they always get to do at Pa-Paw's. Since it was late afternoon by the time we got there, we made them wait until the following morning. They were disappointed, but they survived. When fishing day arrived, the kids were up bright and early and ready to start! After breakfast, we went out back to the lake and the kids fished. The fish seemed to be biting and Nathan and Amy each caught one almost right away. Alex later caught one and then Amy actually caught the biggest fish of all. Or at least, she almost caught the biggest fish of all. Bill helped her reel in a huge catfish - we estimated he was about 10 lbs. - but just as the fish was being pulled up out of the water, he gave a strong swish of his tail, broke the line, and took off with the hook still embedded in his mouth. What a catch that would have been! Bill says we would have cooked that one up and had it for dinner! The kids fished some later that day, but the following day it rained and we spent the time indoors just relaxing and visiting and looking out the window at the ducks. There was a mama duck and her two little ducklings that we especially enjoyed watching.

Our trip felt really short this year. Before we knew it, it was time to head back home. We left fairly early, hoping to get as much driving time in as possible on that first day. We had planned a picnic for lunch, as a break from all the fast food restaurants. We stopped at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky and found a nice spot to grillout our hotdogs and have our picnic lunch. It was gloomy, but the weather seemed to be okay for the time being... At least, it was until we had our coals nice and hot and our hot dogs on the grill AND our plates, drinks and other food spread out on our picnic table. Then, in a matter of seconds, it started downpouring. I mean buckets of rain coming down. We got the kids into the van and started loading all our stuff back in as fast as we could. Bill got out the umbrella and finished cooking the hot dogs while I drove the van over to a covered pavilion nearby. There we ate our lunch with several other families. I was totally drenched; I don't think I had completely dried out even by the time we stopped for the night - over 8 hours later! We hit several really bad storms as the day went on and were glad when it was time to stop for the night. The following day we stuck to fast food restaurants and had a fairly uneventful drive home. We even made it home in time for dinner!

Below is a slideshow of selected pictures from our vacation.

Week with the Cousins

2009-07-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last week was such a fun time for the kids. Their cousins came and stayed with Granny and Paw-Paw for the entire week, and since Granny and Paw-Paw live only a mile or so away, they were able to spend lots and lots of time together. My mom was even thoughtful enough to keep my kids for THREE of the nights they were here. And then we had my niece and nephew spend two of the nights with us. Oh, how they love sleepovers!!!

We managed to keep the kids fairly entertained all week. We went to many fast food restaurants where they could eat and play (always a favorite activity, though now we're a little burned out on french fries). We went to one of those bouncy places that ended up not being crowded at all and the kids got to run from bouncer to bouncer and had such a great time. There were several evenings when we took them swimming at my sister's (another favorite activity). One evening we even had a picnic down by the lake and watched the sunset. It was really nice, if you don't count the moment when Nathan and Amy got into ants and all the kids went running back to the car.

We also took them to Space Center Houston. It was super, super crowded, but they had a lot of fun. They currently have a George Lucas movie exhibit, so there were Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and other movie props on display, as well as various movie-related activities for the kids (and adults) to enjoy. One of the activities was a huge obstacle course that appeared to be at least 12 feet high. Kids wore harnesses which were hooked to a cable line above so they wouldn't fall should they slip off. We didn't think any of the kids would want to do that one because it looked rather scary (I wouldn't do it!), but Alex really wanted to try. He waited in line for probably an hour and when Bill asked Alex if he wanted him to do it with him, Alex said, "No. I want to do it by myself." And he did!!! Afterwards, he said it was a little scary, but he knew that God was with him and that He wouldn't let anything bad happen to him. I'm so proud of him!

The kids, waiting to go in for "Clone War Blaster Training"

Amy on slide of Indiana Jones obstacle course bouncer

The kids with R2D2 and C3PO (taken while Alex was in line for the obstacle course)
Nathan on the MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit) Trainer

Amy on the MMU Trainer

Amy on MMU

Alex on the Indiana Jones Obstacle Course

Astronaut Nathan

The week ended with our July 4th celebration at my brother's house. We first stopped in my cousin's neighborhood (he doesn't live far from my brother) and went swimming in their neighborhood's amazing pool. Then we headed to my brother's house for hot dogs, homemade ice cream, and fireworks.

Amy with my cousin's twin boys - aren't they cute?!?

Amy

Nathan

Alex

Amy and her cousin Grace on the swings

All the kids watching fireworks

One of the many cool fireworks

Despite having spent an entire week together, and the fact that it was really, really late by the time we were ready to go home, the kids were sad to leave their cousins. This week, we will attempt the challenging task of returning to normal life. I sense it will be a bit more boring than last week, but a whole lot more restful!

Anticipated Visit

2009-07-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

Alex finally lost another tooth (only his second so far).

And thanks to this clever sign placed excitedly in our yard by a very anxious Alex, the Tooth Fairy is sure to come visit him tonight.

Alex also left many pictures for the Tooth Fairy in addition to his tooth because he said the Tooth Fairy is always giving but never receiving anything. So thoughtful!

Funny Kid

2009-06-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

Nathan: Can I get a big piece of paper to make a compraction?
Me: To make a what?
Nathan: A compraction.
Me: What is a compraction?
Nathan: It's when you put two words together and make one word.
Me: Oh, you mean a contraction... Like when you say don't for do not.
Nathan: Yeah, a compraction.
Me: Okay, but you don't need a big piece of paper to write a contraction.
Nathan: Yes I do. It's going to be a big compraction!

VBS and Twilight Camp

2009-06-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

This past week was a big week for all of us, especially my boys.

We had VBS at our church and I was teaching in Amy's 3 year-old class. That meant we had to be at the church every morning around 8am; of course, rarely did we get there before 8:15. And then it lasted until 12:30, but by the time the last child was picked up from my class, we'd leave closer to 1pm. It made for a busy, long morning each day, but it was definitely a lot of fun! And it was just the beginning for Alex and Nathan.

Everyday, in addition to VBS, their daddy would come home early from work (around 3:30) and would whisk them off to Cub Scout Twilight Camp. This is just as it sounds... a camp that starts in the late afternoon and ends when the sun goes down. It's any boy's dream camp. They shot bow and arrows, BB guns, slingshots. They played with mud and drenched each other with super soaker water guns. They learned to tie special knots and built a bug cage and a toolbox. They did TONS of things that all little boys love to do. Of course, the weather has been very hot and all this happened outdoors. So that helped sap quite a bit of what energy they had left each day after a long morning at VBS. And then on four of the five nights they didn't get home until after 9:30pm. So we weren't getting them to bed until around 10:15pm. What can I say... I had some super tired kids (and a fairly tired husband ;)) by the end of the week. And did I mention how tired I was of washing load after load of dirty VBS and scout t-shirts so they could be reworn each day? But they had an amazing time and made lots of great memories. The exceptionally busy, tiresome week was well worth it.

Someone (or maybe there was more than one) took thousands of pictures at Twilight Camp and uploaded them to a site where family can view (and purchase desired prints) of all the photos. I copied some for this post, but plan to buy some prints for keepsakes. I was glad to find these shots of my guys:

Nathan

I think Alex is dumping mud in that bucket in some kind of mud race

Nathan throwing (or maybe trying to catch?) the frisbee

Nathan making a volcano

Can you see Alex? He's flashing a $1 bill in front of his face (no idea why!)

Bill throwing a frisbee

That's Alex on the right (making his toolbox)

Happy Father's Day!!!

2009-06-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

To my dad...

To Bill's Dad...
And, of course, to the father of my children...

I love you all!

Happy Father's Day to these fantastic fathers, and all those other special dads out there. I hope you all had a great day. You certainly deserve it!

Basketball

2009-06-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

Basketball season has arrived and the boys are thrilled!

Both Alex and Nathan had their first games on Saturday. Nathan was so anxious to play. He is amazing at dribbling the ball and I'd have to say that was probably his favorite part of playing the game. He had a great time and we enjoyed watching him and all the kids play. They were really cute!

He's wearing the black jersey, #23

Alex had a fun time, too, but got a little frustrated at times. They did things a little differently for his game. They had one boy from each team wear a different colored jersey, so then each child would know who he/she was supposed to guard. This may have helped playing defense, but since most of the kids still don't really know their team mates that well, it made playing offense difficult and confusing. It was even harder for Alex. His first practice was cancelled and he missed the second practice, so Saturday's game was his first time to meet his coach, his team and actually play a basketball game. But despite all of that, he had lots of enthusiasm and played hard. Tomorrow he'll get a chance to practice with his team, and I know that's going to help take some of the confusion away.

Alex is wearing the black jersey, #22

Next Saturday they'll get to play another game and I'm looking forward to it!

The Informal Demonstration

2009-06-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

I meant to post about Amy's actual Informal Demonstration soon after it occurred, but life has just been too busy. So here is the synopsis, over a week later...

The makeup session that I was so fearing went rather well. A good friend came over and gave me moral support, and with her daughter's help was able to demonstrate how easily those fake eyelashes could go on. Amy put up a little fight, but with the distraction of friends, the eyelashes were attached fairly painlessly. The overall experience was so much better than the night of the rehearsal. I was feeling much more relaxed about the evening. We even left on time and got there super early. Bill actually had time to take the boys to Burger King for dinner and pick up flowers for Amy before the performance even started.

I was still not feeling great, but went backstage with Amy since she insisted. It was chaotic back there, but at the same time it was fun to be behind the scenes. And when she performed, I was able to stand on stage just back behind the curtains, so I could see her from fairly close up. She did great, though I could tell she was a little nervous. And just before her tap routine in the second act, she rubbed her eye and knocked off an eyelash. I had a horrible time getting it back on and it ended up quite lopsided for the performance. But at least it was on!

We made it through the whole performance and from what I was told, everyone did fantastic. It was a fun experience for all, but quite draining. I look forward to the next one, thankfully a whole year away. ;)

Eating fruit snacks before the performance (and so kindly offering Mommy one)

All the little ballerinas playing Candyland between performances

After the performance, proudly showing off her flowers from Daddy and Granny and Paw-Paw

Cute close-up

Finally on Stage

2009-06-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

Amy has been asking me for months when she'd get to dance on stage. I'd tell her, "Not until your recital." Or as I am supposed to refer to it, her informal demonstration. Last night she finally got her opportunity.

This was her second rehearsal - the ever so important dress rehearsal. We'd had a studio rehearsal a couple weeks ago. I am one of the host moms, which means I stay backstage with Amy's class and help make sure the girls stay together and get them where they are supposed to be. It can be a hectic job, as a hostess is also responsible for making sure they are in their appropriate attire, makeup applied, hair perfect, etc. I was both looking forward to it and dreading it all at the same time. The dress rehearsal meant fully dressed for performance - full makeup, including false eyelashes! I've been apprehensive about those silly eyelashes ever since the parent meeting before Amy even began her ballet classes. I thought to myself, you want me to glue false eyelashes on my 3-yr. old (and keep in mind, Amy was actually only 2 when I found out about the lashes)... and you expect her to dance with them on??? Talk about your disbelief.

So fast forward to yesterday. The big day had arrived. And I was sick. I'd caught Amy's virus - the one she had all last week. I'd been sick since Saturday, but I still had a low grade fever that morning and figured no parent was going to want me around their kids. So I got another mom to perform my hostess duty. It meant I got to sit in the auditorium and watch the whole rehearsal. This was both good and bad. First of all, long story short, I'd made a doctor's appt. that afternoon that took longer than I'd expected. I wasn't left with as much time as I really needed to get Amy dressed and ready. And try putting black eyeliner on a 3-yr. old when your low on time and your hands are shaking! I was making a complete mess of Amy's make-up, so I finally gave up and we left almost 30 minutes later than I'd wanted to. So not only were we late getting there, but Amy's make-up was not done - including those before mentioned false eyelashes. The other mom ended up finishing her up, which I felt so bad about. And on top of that, I think it traumatized poor Amy. Obviously, she didn't want strangers messing with her. She had a meltdown halfway through and claimed she was finished for the night. She wasn't going to dance anymore. Thankfully, I was able to convince her otherwise.

We made it through the night, and if you ignore the bad make-up, crying, and in the end, missing one eyelash, she did quite well. She couldn't remember much of her dance routines, but she smiled a lot and waved to the audience. When she was on stage, she was happy. Who could ask for more?

Sadly, I don't think this experience met with Amy's expectations. What she had been looking forward to for so long ended up being a rather unpleasant night for her. She's been telling me all day that she does not want to go back to "that room" (where they waited between performances) with those "other mommies".

So tomorrow night for the big performance, no matter how tired or congested I feel, I'll be backstage with her. Hopefully, things will go more smoothly!

Here are some pictures from the night. Pictures and video are not allowed during the real performance, so I did the best I could at the rehearsal. I wish I'd gotten closer (and less heads in my shots)!

Amy on the far left, smiling at the crowd

Amy - the one with her hands in the air
Amy (in the middle of the photo)
Amy is the one on the left (such good form :) )
Amy is on the left, arm raised and foot out
Amy is the one standing in the back, far left

Stir Crazy

2009-06-05T11:05:00.001-07:00

This is our 5th day stuck in the house. Amy woke up sick on Monday morning and is still running a fever today. Nathan began running fever last night and has a fever today. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that Alex doesn't get it... or Bill or myself for that matter. I think this makes up for the long period of good health we've had. We've now done our share of being sick. Would it be possible for us to go back to being well? Please?

Out with the Old...

2009-06-04T08:11:00.000-07:00

Approximately $200 for Bill to fix the old dryer... Looks like I get to go dryer shopping!

Esther

2009-06-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

In our Bible lesson today we talked about Esther. It was such a fun little lesson.

After we'd completed all of our other school work, the boys cut strips of brown yarn that I then tied onto two longer pieces of yarn. The bigger section with all the attached strips could then be wrapped over their ears to make it look like a beard. They had so much fun running around with their new beards! Then we made a special cookie dough that needed to be refigerated for a couple of hours before we could complete our special Bible lesson cookies - to be eaten at tea time, of course.

Once lunch was finished and our cookie dough chilled, we completed our tea time cookies. We made Hamantaschen, which are fruit and nut filled cookies that are made in the shape of Haman's hat. These are typically eaten as part of Purim, which is a celebration of Esther and the ancient Persian Jews' victory over Haman and his plan's for their annihilation. The boys wore their beards and crowns (neither wanted to wear the three pointed hat that represented Haman) and ate their cookies while I read to them the story of Queen Esther. Amy, who is still fighting illness, did not want to eat her cookie. And Alex wasn't too fond of the filling, though he devoured the outer section in no time. But Nathan and I both found the cookies - in their entirety - to be absolutely delicious! I have to admit... I ate two. And I could have eaten more if I hadn't forced myself to stop. But they really are so delicious while warm. Mmmm....

The kids are now finishing out their Bible lesson with a viewing of one of our favorite videos: Veggie Tales Esther, The Girl Who Became Queen. Thanks, MFW, for a fun lesson on Esther!

Hamantaschen cookies: We used apricot preserves, Goldens & Cherries, Craisins and pecans for our filling. Yummy!

Alex and Nathan as King Xerxes (Nathan took off his crown already)
Amy as Queen Esther (we keep our costumes simple :) )

End of Another Great Season

2009-05-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today the boys played their last games of this baseball season. The weather was hot with very little breeze, which made being a spectator somewhat unpleasant. But the sweat and slight sunburn was worth it to watch my boys finish out their baseball season.

Nathan had a great last game against the Braves this morning. He got to bat twice and played short stop, catcher and pitcher. He did great at each position; I don't think he could have ended the year any better!

Nathan up to bat

Nathan playing catcher

Nathan playing pitcher

Granny, Cody, and a pretending-to-be-sleeping Alex

Amy sitting in her favorite spot to watch the game: Paw-Paw's lap

Alex's game came a little later, giving us time to go out for lunch with Granny and Paw-Paw and cousin Cody. We made it back to the ball park in plenty of time for warmup before the game against the notoriously difficult-to-beat Cubs. It became apparent fairly quickly that our boys were tired and not exactly playing their best. Alex hardly ever strikes out when up at bat, but his first time up in today's game he struck out, as did many of our boys. Thankfully, their boys weren't hitting too well either. Our players, though still a little sluggish, did manage to perk up a bit during the game and we only lost by 2 runs, which considering the reputation of the team we were playing, was really good! Alex had a great hit his second time at bat and overall played a great game.

Alex up to bat

Team parties are, of course, part of the end-of-season baseball tradition. Nathan had his team party at Mr. Gatti's on Wednesday where he received his trophy, ate pizza and had fun playing lots of arcade games. Thanks to Granny and Paw-Paw for taking him and Alex since Bill was out of town and Amy and I had to be at her ballet rehearsal. I am sad that I missed that special event in Nathan's life, but I know he had a great time just the same. Alex's team party occurred today just after his game. It was held at a had it at a nearby park where the kids were able to run and play and just hang out with each other. This also enabled the parents to relax and actually talk to one another, something we can't normally do too well when we're all watching, cheering and coaching the baseball games. The party also involved cake, trophy presentations and gifts for coaches and helpers. The kids had a great time, as did all the parents.

Alex's team party

A cake that's cute and delicious, too!

Alex and his new trophy

I'm glad that the many practices and games have finally concluded, but I'm also somewhat sad. It has been such a joy to watch the boys play each week and to see how far they've come from when they first started out the year. I'm going to miss watching them play. But just because baseball season is over doesn't mean all the excitement has to end. In a couple of weeks, we start basketball season at the Y. The fun never ends!

No More a Tiger

2009-05-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our Cub Scout Pack's "Bridging Ceremony" where the boys cross over to the next level of scouts. Alex went from being a Tiger to being a Wolf. Bill, as the Tiger Den Leader, led their part of the ceremony. We only had a few boys show up, though our overall den is pretty small anyway.

Alex was so excited! Even though the Webelos were supposed to remove all his old attire (Tiger hat, slider and handkerchief) as part of the ceremony, he already had it all off and was tossing everything over to them as he went running up the bridge! I love his proud expression as he stood up tall and gave his boyscout salute.

Nathan didn't get to crossover the bridge, but he did get recognized as being a new Tiger cub. He was a little shy about going up in front of everyone, but with Bill already up there, he gained the courage to stand with the Cubmaster.

At one point, Alex was chosen to stand with the Cubmaster and tell him about his experience with Scout Fair. Thankfully, our Cubmaster is very patient and kind because in his shyness, it took Alex awhile to respond to the questions he was being asked. But seeing him standing there so sweetly was priceless. He did great!
And even though Bill is very busy at work these days, he has stepped up to become our Pack's Assistant Cubmaster! So he'll be doing this in addition to being the Wolf Den leader. I am so proud of him for all of his committment to our boys and their experiences as Cub Scouts! And as much as Bill loves the outdoors and camping and so much of what makes up the scouting experience, I know they are all going to have fun!!!

Unplanned Haircut

2009-05-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I gave the boys haircuts. And today, while I was talking on the phone with my mom, Nathan pretended to give Amy a haircut. And then, Amy gave herself a haircut.

Thankfully, it wasn't a lot. But the clump she cut off was from the front side of her hair, and when stretched out, it was about 5 inches worth. When she asked if I could put it back on again and I said no, she cried. I cried. We all cried. I am so sad. If her hair is anything like mine, this section of hair will not grow back as curly.

And did I mention that in just a couple of weeks she has her first ballet recital? I think I'm going to need a bit more gel and hairspray now.

Wanted: A GOOD Sunscreen

2009-05-18T14:25:00.000-07:00

I am so frustrated by sunscreen. Obviously, I have to put it on my children because I don't want them to burn. But why does it have to ruin their clothes in the process???

On Saturday we were out in the sun almost the entire day. So of course, we doused the kids in sunscreen several times throughout the day. It wasn't until later that night AFTER I'd washed their clothes that it became clear the collar and sleeves of Amy and Nathan's shirts were yellow - very yellow. I soaked them in Oxy clean overnight and tried washing them again the next day, but the yellow remained. This has happened before, but with a different sunscreen. Upon reading the warnings on the sunscreen bottle, there is mention that the product could stain some fabrics. But who reads those things?!? And I certainly wouldn't expect sunscreen to discolor clothing. So now I have a $12 bottle of barely used sunscreen that I might as well throw in the trash; yesterday I bought a new $12 bottle of a different brand of sunscreen that does not say anything about staining clothing. But even so, I'm still afraid to use it.

FYI: Here are the sunscreens that have discolored my kids' clothes (both have the same fabric-staining disclaimer):

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

Breakfast Beagle

2009-05-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

Nathan, reading the story title in his reading lesson: "The Eagle Meets a Beagle."

Me: "Do you know what a Beagle is?"

Nathan: "Yes, it's something you eat!"

Happy Shopping

2009-05-13T10:49:00.001-07:00

Typically, when I have to take all three of my children to the grocery store, it is a stressful, unpleasant experience. This is not because my children are bad kids; they are just kids being kids. They start out happy and good and then as time passes and they become tired, they start to act up and aggravate each other. That's when it becomes unpleasant for me. I'm sure many moms can relate to this. I try to go when I can take a maximum of one child with me, but sometimes a stop with all three becomes necessary. Today was one of those days. And considering we'd just come from playing at the park, I figured we'd definitely have some struggles at the store. But I was wrong. There were only a couple of difficult moments, but for the most part, all three of my kids were wonderful. And it wasn't just me that noticed. A super sweet man stopped me to tell me that my kids were the nicest he'd seen in a long time. He then handed me three dollars and said he wanted each of them to buy something they want. I was so proud. We all thanked him profusely, and then the kids joyfully made their selections from the small supply of toys and games there at Kroger. What a happy experience. I pray all outings with the kids could be just like this one!

Lego Disappointment

2009-05-11T15:33:00.001-07:00

For months Alex has been talking about the cool Darth Vader Lego set he'd be getting for his birthday. He just knew he would get it and he couldn't wait. Since it was a relatively cheap set compared to most, we indulged him. And it is a cool set... Unless your child expects to play with it. I've learned that the larger and more complicated the Lego set, the less you can do with it. But how do you explain that to your 7 year old who is becoming very frustrated by this Tie Fighter that falls apart every time he tries to put Darth Vader into or take Darth Vader out of it. So Sad.

Happy Mother's Day...

2009-05-10T20:10:00.000-07:00

To my mom - I love you!!!

A picture of my mom and niece, taken earlier today

To my mother-in-laws, sister, and sister-in-laws!

To all of my wonderful friend moms out there (you know who you are)!

And to me, the luckiest mom alive. :)

All my "babies"

Birthdays... and Lots of Them!

2009-05-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

It amazes me how birthdays always seem to occur in clumps instead of being spread throughout the year. November is of course a busy birthday time for us, but so is May.

Yesterday was Bill's birthday, at which time he turned... 29 years old (hee-hee). I'll let him stay 29 with me; I decided years ago that would be my permanent age. I can do that, right? :) We spent most of Bill's birthday at baseball games and then doing Alex's party. Family stayed after Alex's party and we celebrated both Bill and my sister's birthdays. It was such a full, wonderful day spent with our friends and family. I was worried that since we were having Alex's party on Bill's birthday, the day wouldn't be as special for Bill. But in the end, he said he had a great day and it was one of his best birthdays. Of course, bringing joy to your children on their birthday will always result in your own happiness. But it really was a great day! Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!!!

The theme of Alex's party was Star Wars, which was perfect for my Star Wars fanatic husband as well. I made Alex a Millenium Falcon cake and as one of the games, Bill made Star Wars character targets for the kids to shoot at with a "laser gun" (Nerf dart gun, actually). We had Darth Vader masks and special Yoda Soda (green punch) to drink. And of course we had the Star Wars soundtrack playing in the background. Who wouldn't love a Star Wars themed party? :) We also rented one of those moonwalks for the party and were able to keep it through this morning. This enabled them to play on it during the cooler evening and early morning hours. What a blast they had with that! And as part of a birthday request from Alex, his cousins got to spend the night, really making the perfect ending to the perfect day.

Jedi knight target practice

Alex with his cake

Rocket moonwalk in our driveway

Not sure who had more fun in this thing... Bill or the kids?

Like father, like son

Oh, and I also made a second birthday cake for last night's birthday celebration. This cake was especially for my sister Lisa. When she was a young girl, she was having a Star Wars themed birthday party and asked my mom for a Princess Leia cake. But feeling apprehensive about making that particular cake (how do you make those hair buns, or her facial features?), my mom chose to make her a Darth Vader cake instead. Lisa was somewhat disappointed by her Vader cake, even though my mom did a wonderful job on it. So, as had been requested all those many years ago and fitting with the theme of our party, Lisa finally got her Princess Leia cake... or Bob the Builder in drag, as my brother put it. ;) We had a lot of laughs over that cake!

Lisa and her Bob the Buil... I mean, her Princess Leia cake

Today, Alex's actual birthday, we all went to my sister's to swim. The kids had a blast playing in the pool and we all overindulged on hot dogs, chips, dips, fruit, and a whole lot of dessert! But what a fun day it was. Alex couldn't have asked for a better birthday. And I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day. Happy Birthday, Alex!!!

Playing in the pool

Amy cuddling with her cousin Cody

The silly birthday boy

Fishing at Last

2009-05-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

We live only a short walk from a lake and have planned on taking the kids fishing since they got their new fishing poles at Christmas. But as with all things, time gets away from us and we don't follow through with our plans as quickly as we'd hoped. But Bill was off today and he told the kids early in the week that today he would take them fishing. So they went and bought worms this morning and then prepped their fishing poles and gathered other necessary supplies (such as the ever essential bugspray). Then we all drove down to the lake because it was starting to drizzle outside and we didn't want to get caught in a down pour without a quick getaway. Thankfully, the heavier rain never came and the sun did eventually come out.

The kids had a great time, though they struggled to be patient as they waited for the fish to bite. Bill was the first to catch one. He called it a small mullet fish. Then a little bit later he caught a catfish. The kids were really getting anxious after that. Finally, Nathan caught a catfish even bigger than the one Bill had caught. He was so proud! Bill also caught another big catfish a little later. But Alex and Amy weren't having as much luck. I ended up holding Amy's pole almost the entire time as she got bored with it pretty quickly. She was getting quite a few bites, but no takers. When it was about time for us to go, Amy finally caught a small mullet fish.

Alex was disappointed not to have caught any fish, but he can't say he didn't catch anything.... He managed to reel in two of these little guys (picture obtained from the internet - they let go before we could pull them from the water!)...

If only we could have gotten a picture of Alex with his crab catches. He can definitely claim the most interesting catches of the day!

Speedy Snail

2009-05-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

The other day the kids saw a snail on one of the posts outside our back door. It wasn't out of its shell at the time. Then yesterday they informed me it was still there, which didn't necessarily surprise me. It is, afterall, a snail. Then this morning they came running in, exclaiming that the snail was out of its shell and moving. Sure enough, he had managed to crawl down the post and was working his way across our patio. He wasn't moving very quickly, which is why we were all surprised when shortly after the kids had placed him in a box (which was placed ON a bench, mind you), he disappeared. We searched all around, but in no time that snail had escaped from the box and cleared out of there. Maybe they're not as slow as we think!

Matching Dolls

2009-04-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

One more post, because this was too cute to not share...

Preparing for Next Year

2009-04-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

Now that this school year is only a few months shy of ending (we school through the summer), I am beginning my plans for next year. Once again, we will be changing curriculums. We used My Father's World this year, and even though we've enjoyed it, I just feel like we are lacking in places. So next year, I will take the advice of so many of my homeschooling friends and we will attempt Sonlight. Thanks to a dear friend who lent me her catalog (since mine seems to be lost in the mail system), I have been making my book lists and price-checking the various online stores to see where I can obtain everything for the cheapest. It's exciting, really! I think we are going to enjoy using Sonlight next year, and my biggest hope for this next year is that my boys will develop a new love for reading. Sonlight is centered on so much reading. I know they are going to either love it or hate it. Hopefully, they'll love it!

Another change I've made is to move their computer into our sunroom where we do all of our schooling. I find that I rarely let them do anything on the computer since it is way off in a back room. Now instead of being hidden off by themselves when they want to be on the computer, they can be in the center of all our activity. It will become a useful tool in our everyday homeschooling. And it even looks good in it's new home if I do say so myself!

Spring Showcase and Science Fair

2009-04-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

Our homeschool co-op had their Spring Showcase last week to show off much of what the students have been doing all semester. One of Alex's classes was a wonderful class called Action Songs. They used sign language and other hand actions while they'd sing precious scripture and character songs. During the showcase, they performed some of these fun interactive songs. So precious to watch!

Just before the showcase was our co-op's Science and History Fair. Alex entered a project on testing a derby car to see what location along the car a weight should be placed to make it go the fastest. He had fun testing his car and putting together all of his results... but I have to say he did not enjoy the write up so much. The results and awards were presented during the showcase. There were not a lot of entries in the science fair, but even so, he won second place in his division and we are so very proud of him. He was quite proud, too!

Finished!

2009-04-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

The kids' playset is finally finished. Bill and my dad had completed the "clubhouse" part of the playset months ago, but did not have time to drill and attach the swing beam. It's been on Bill's mind for quite some time now, but life has just been too busy. But this weekend he did it, and the kids are already enjoying it. Today Nathan asked for a "recess" during school to go and try it out. Other than a need to raise the swings just a tad, it couldn't be more perfect.

Active Kids

2009-04-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

I know I've mentioned it many times in my previous posts, as it is my excuse for rarely blogging, but we have a lot of activities! We are always running here and there from one activity to the next, or so it seems. But no doubt about it, the kids have a great time and we enjoy watching them have a great time.

Yesterday, Alex, Nathan and I, along with the other parents and siblings, got to go into Amy's ballet class and watch her and her classmates perform part of their recital dance that they have been working on. It was such a treat to watch Amy perform. I could tell she was a little nervous and she definitely doesn't know all of the steps just yet, but she didn't let that stop her from trying. She watched her teacher, who was also dancing off to the side with them and she danced along. I was so proud of her!!!

And the boys have been keeping us busy with their many activities, baseball in particular. Below are pictures of their most recent games (last night). Nathan is a Rockie again. He was a Rockie last year when he played mini T-Ball, and this year we switched him to a different team and had him repeat mini T-Ball because we felt like he needed time to grow with a new team (we were disappointed in his experience last year). It was really funny when we saw that he'd managed to get the same team name this year. Alex's team is the Mets (they were the Athletics last year). He is dong "coach pitch", although they actually use a machine to pitch the balls. The boys are definitely struggling with that. Alex can usually hit it one of the 5 chances he gets, but it's not easy. Those balls are thrown at them fast! I'm sure they will all get better as the season continues.

Easter Blessings!

2009-04-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!!!

We have had a wonderful Easter weekend. On Good Friday, we shortened our school work to reading and math only. Then we were able to focus our attention on Jesus' journey to the cross. I had a lot of preparation to do for our family's Saturday Easter picnic, so while I was in the kitchen cooking the kids ate their lunch in the den and watched The Animated Passion. This was a wonderfully done depiction of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, especially in how well it suited even younger viewers. Alex and Nathan were both full of good questions throughout the video. After it ended they sat at the kitchen table and "played" their favorite "game", as they call it. They just love the Resurrection Eggs! I highly recommend them as a way of telling the Easter story. The kids went through it together several times before running off to play as I continued my cooking and baking. Bill went and got pizza for dinner and we had a picnic in the den while we watched the classics, The Easter Bunny is Coming to Town and It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. Then when dinner was finished, the kids dyed Easter eggs, which is always a fun activity. I then gave the boys haircuts before getting everyone ready for bed and reading a few Easter books.

Saturday we had our annual Easter picnic, although our usual plans changed somewhat. Since my mom has been sick, instead of heading out of town for a larger family gathering, my parents along with my brother and sister and their families had our own picnic at a nearby park. It was crowded, but we had a great spot close to the playground equipment, close to the restrooms, and close to the big dirt mound. The kids had so much fun playing in that huge pile of dirt. I think they could have spent forever there! There were also confetti eggs, so we were all good and messy by the time our picnic fun was over. Because of all the crowds at the park, we chose to do our big Easter egg hunt back at my parents' house. The kids had a great time with it. We did things a little different this year since we had such a wide span of ages participating. Each of the kids had to find a particular color of egg (and they all had the same amount hidden). I think that was even more fun - and more challenging - than just looking for random eggs. The kids seemed to enjoy it more that way, too, so we'll probably make that our new tradition.

So here we are today, Easter Sunday. The kids woke excitedly to their filled Easter baskets and spent as much time playing with their new toys as we could allow them before going to church for the Easter service. And since today is also my birthday, we went out for lunch with my parents so I could have a day with no cooking. That's my kind of birthday! And to make things even better, we are all just staying home today to relax and enjoy a slow day for a change. I couldn't ask for anything more!

I pray that you are all having a blessed Easter!

1 Peter 1:3 - Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...

Dyeing Easter Eggs:

Easter Picnic At the Park:

I think they enjoyed the clean up almost as much as making the mess!!!
Easter Egg Hunt:
Easter Morning:

A First for Alex

2009-03-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

Alex had his first trip to the emergency room on Friday afternoon. We were baking a cake and he was spinning around in the kitchen when he slipped and landed chin first on our tile floor. He hit really hard and ended up splitting his chin open. Sorry. That sounds awful! And it looked pretty bad, too. Bill came home and after a call to the pediatrician, Bill and Alex were on their way in for a checkup and more than likely, a "glued" chin. Or so we thought. Our pediatrician decided the wound was too deep and in too difficult a place to be glued/taped, so she sent them to the emergency room for stitches. Thankfully, the nurses and doctors at the ER were wonderful to Alex and made the experience not so unpleasant. And the best part - he didn't need stitches afterall!!! The ER pediatrician said gluing it would be good enough. Hallelujah! We were told he shouldn't be very active for a couple of days, which meant no baseball game on Saturday. But as luck would have it, the game was canceled due to rain, so he didn't even have to miss his first baseball game of the season.

Alex is doing great and hasn't even complained once about his chin hurting since he left for the doctor's on Friday. He's one tough kid!

Finally...

2009-03-25T11:16:00.001-07:00

Another post! So am I doing good if I post once a month??? No, I suppose that is not keeping the blog "caught up" at all.

I am amazed at how busy life can be with three children, especially when you are a homeschooling family! I really thought things would slow down once we made it through the big holidays, but apparently I was wrong. Between gymnastics, ballet, art classes, cub scouts and baseball, there is never a dull moment.

I am going to try to sum up some of the major events in this one post, so be prepared for a long one! I wish I'd learn that if I post regularly, I wouldn't have to spend so much time scripting one gigantic "catch-up" post! ;)

The New Playset

When we sold our old house and the buyers wanted to keep our playset, we promised the kids that if our new house didn't already have a playset, we'd build one for them. Right away. Well, "right away" didn't happen, but within about 6 or 7 months we did finally purchase one and Bill and my dad got the main playhouse section built. The beam for the swings still has to be added, but that will come in time. We're making the beam longer so the swings won't be so close together, and that means drilling our own holes and staining the wood to match. If not for that, it'd already be completed!

The Pinewood Derby

We got to experience our first cub scout derby race at the end of January. Each of the boys made their own cars, with just a little help from Daddy. They chose their own body styles and paint colors and had a great time building and painting their cool derby cars. On race day, Alex came in first place within his Tiger Den. And Nathan's car, though it didn't place, did fantastic in the general race. Both boys were so proud of their cars, and Bill and I were so proud of them! The first two pictures are of Alex's car racing; his is the green car with the blue stripe. The last picture shows Nathan's car, which is the yellow car with the blue stripe.

Kitchen Makeover

There are many remodeling projects that need to be tackled in our new home, but one of the smaller tasks I was anxious to complete was the redo of the kitchen walls. The wallpaper, though in decent condition, just didn't provide enough color in the kitchen. Light beige tiles, white counters, white cabinets and light beige walls was feeling pretty drab. And there were so many holes in the wallpaper where things had been hung or tacked on in past years. It was time for a change. So with some help from my wonderful mom, I removed all of the wallpaper from the walls. Then I had to use quite a bit of joint compound to repair where the drywall had been damaged. That had to be sanded, which was such a mess! And finally, Bill textured and primed the walls and I painted them a lovely shade of green. What an amazing update it provided the kitchen. It's gorgeous! Somewhere I feel certain I have some better pictures, but the following, showing the "in progress" stage and the final product, will have to do for now.

First Scouts Camping Trip

Bill, Alex and Nathan got to go camping with the scouts about a month ago. They had such a great time! They love to go camping, anyway, but it's even more fun with a whole bunch of boys around their age! Amy and I stayed home and had lots of girl time. I worked on a "minkee pet" and Amy and I went to a quilt shop to buy the final fabric for a quilt (see below). We also played bowling together on the Wii and enjoyed some quiet time just the two of us. We did join up with a great friend and her two youngest boys for a drive up to the campgrounds to attend the scouts Blue and Gold Banquet - we didn't want to miss that! The pictures below capture all the fun everyone had on their first scout camping experience!

Minkee Pet and Baby Quilt

For all of my curious quilting friends out there, I did finally finish the baby quilt you saw me piecing together. No doubt it was soft and sweet, but it might be awhile before I quilt with minkee again! It's lovely, but not easy to quilt with! Aside from some skewed blocks here in there, I think it turned out well.

The Zoo and a Special Anniversary

Bill took last Thursday and Friday off (as well as this Monday and Tuesday :) ) in celebration of our 10 year anniversary (which should have been a separate post all together - sorry, Sweetie!). We took the kids to the zoo that Thursday, which was super crowded. Piece of Advice: Never take the kids to the zoo during Spring Break! But we still enjoyed being out together... And we probably needed the exercise from what felt like a 5 mile walk to the parking garage! That Friday we took the kids to my brother and sister-in-law's where they got to spend a fun and exciting weekend with their cousins while Bill and I had some time to ourselves. We went out to eat on our anniversary, which was another Spring Break crowded experience. But it was nice just the same. We ate breakfast out the following morning and then ran errands... Yes, errands. It is so wonderful to run errands without children. I love spending time with my kids, but I don't like to take them with me shopping! Below are some pictures we took at the zoo:

One of our errands involved buying paint for the boys rooms. We didn't tell them our plans to paint their rooms while they were gone, but we did question them on what colors they'd like their rooms to be. So that was how we spent the majority of our time together without kids. We painted. It was fun, though, and I love how their rooms turned out. I don't have pictures of them yet (our camera cards are full!!!), but I'll take pictures as soon as I can and post them. I'm not sure I ever posted pictures of Amy's room either, so I'll post that, too.

I will continue to try and post more frequently... or at least stop giving endless excuses as to why I'm not keeping it up! :) I know there are those who read my blog to stay current on what is going on in our family's life, so it is important that I post regularly. But it's also important because when doing these lengthy updates, I can't elaborate as much as I'd like to about each individual event. And when something as special as our 10th wedding anniversary just gets mentioned like an after thought in the course of the long entry... Well, obviously I must do better!!!

Jacob and Hairy

2009-02-10T09:23:00.000-08:00

Today while we were reviewing our Bible lesson from last week (Jacob and Esau), I asked the boys who was Jacob's brother. Nathan responded very seriously, "Hairy!" At least he was paying attention. Of course, I think they will now forever refer to Esau as 'Hairy'. I suppose everyone needs a nickname.

Another Update

2009-01-20T12:04:00.000-08:00

I have really been neglecting my blog lately. It seems that no matter how good my intentions, I just can't seem to keep it up to date! I will continue to try and do better, but for now, please excuse this lengthy post, which is meant to give a quick glance at what we've been doing over the last couple of months.

Texas Renaissance Festival 2008

Last year we had such a great time at the Texas Renaissance Festival and decided to go again this year. We didn't get out there as early this year, so we were a little more rushed. But we still had a good time.

Halloween 2008

We visited the same pumpkin patch we always go to every year to get our pumpkins, but this time there were few to choose from. Not that the local church where we buy them had less pumpkins than usual, but the pumpkins were all in terrible shape. Most were already rotting and just didn't look too pretty. Apparently, it was a result of the hurricane. Not sure exactly how it affected the pumpkins themselves, but Ike was to blame for the pathetic pumpkins. We still managed to find a few and were able to take them home and carve them. Or at least two of them. We also had to carve one I picked up from the grocery store to replace one that didn't quite make it. The kids had a great time cleaning out the pumpkins and drawing faces on them. Then Bill and I carved them. I think they turned out cute. Amy was sick on Halloween, but not too sick to go trick-or-treating! She was dressed as a ballerina, Nathan was a knight (Prince Caspian, to be precise) and Alex was Pikachu. And as always, they each got way too much candy!

Christmas 2008

Our first Christmas in our new house was wonderful. Bill, with a little help from Nathan, put icicle lights all around the house exterior, making our home look like a beautiful gingerbread house. Bill was able to cut a foot or so off our 9' artificial Christmas tree so that we could fit it in our 8' ceiling den. It turned out great! In the past couple of years, I've only put out a portion of my Christmas decorations because I'd just get tired of putting things out. But this year, we really decorated the inside and it felt so warm and festive. The Christmas season did pass too quickly this year. It seems it was over in no time. But it was amazing just the same.

Nathan, with his new bike:

Alex, who after receiving several sets of Star Wars Legos, is now obsessed with anything Star Wars:
Christmas Eve - Daddy handing out the "reindeer feed":My beautiful Jim Shore ornament Bill gave me:

Alex with the Pikachu he'd asked for:

Every little girl's dream - a beautiful dollhouse full of furniture!
The gift that has changed our lives... a Wii:

Our gingerbread house at Christmas:

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! Speaking of which, I hope to blog some pictures from that fun experience as well. We've got a lot going on, so there are endless subjects to blog about... If only there was endless time to do it!!!

Gingerbread House

2008-12-21T17:36:00.000-08:00

Our wonderful neighbors brought over a gingerbread house kit for the kids to make. What a treat! It was a new experience for all of us, and everyone had fun decorating - and eating - our delicious gingerbread house!

Happy Belated Birthday!

2008-12-18T08:39:00.001-08:00

Remember my last post about how busy we've been around here? Well, sometimes when you get this busy, you forget very important dates. This morning I noticed that my "Events Calendar" I have hanging in my kitchen was still set on the month of November. So I flipped the page over to December and there it was.... My father-in-law's birthday. Over a week ago!!! I feel so bad! I'm sorry, Bill! We didn't mean to forget your birthday!!! So from all of us, happy belated birthday! We love you!!!

Don't you just love those bare feet?!? Didn't realize how huge they look! :)

Busy Times

2008-12-16T17:04:00.000-08:00

That's what these are... VERY busy times.

As we near Christmas, things only seem to get busier. Sad, but true. Last night we had our Fall Showcase for our home school co-op. I put together a display for the class I taught this Fall, and Nathan and Amy got to perform on stage with the other preschoolers. There were many other presentations and everyone did a wonderful job.

Yes, I know this picture is dark... Our camera was acting up. Can you spot Nathan and Amy?

Then earlier today Amy did her little Nutcracker dance in her ballet class. They have been working on it for several weeks now, and today they let the parents and family come into the room to watch as they performed it for us. They danced to the Sugar Plum Fairy music and it was just too cute for words!

Nathan is currently at his new gymnastics class (Bill took him). He was promoted from his regular preschool class. I am anxious to hear how he likes his new all boy class!

Tomorrow we begin the fun of Christmas baking. The kids are excited and I'm looking forward to just staying home all day and slowing down enough to enjoy this Christmas season!

Snow!

2008-12-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

In this part of Texas, really cold weather is rare, especially the kind that brings snow. But last night we were blessed with a somewhat heavy downpour of beautiful white snow! I saw earlier in the day a forecast for possible snow but I didn't believe it. Afterall, it's been several year since we've had any. That year we actually had a "white" Christmas (it collected on the ground somewhat), and that seemed like a miracle as it was. But the snow we received last night lasted much longer and gave us probably a good 2 inches of snow. It was a stunning sight. I found it hard to pull myself from the window when it was time to turn in last night. I couldn't believe it was still snowing several hours after it had begun!

The ones who really got a kick out of the snow were the kids, of course. Alex and Nathan were especially overjoyed by the cold, fluffy snowflakes. They took to poking their tongues out to try and catch the snowflakes, when they weren't busy making snowballs to throw at each other that is. At one point, Alex stated, as though he'd made a sudden discovery, "Oh, that's why it was so cold today - because it was going to snow!" Interesting way to look at it.

This morning we were all pleased to see that quite a bit of snow was still there. It was melting quickly, however, so we rushed to put on our warm clothes, coats, hats, gloves, and shoes and headed out the door. It was by far more fun playing in the snow in the daylight hours! We made snowmen, snow angels and had snowfights. It was a great time. It didn't last all that long, though, because when you aren't used to that tingly numbness that overtakes your frozen toes and fingers, you tend to tire quickly of it.

And as you might expect, now that we have warmed our bodies with fresh dry clothes, hot cocoa and warm cinnamon rolls, the kiddos are all asking to go out in it again. I guess it would be cruel for me to delay them any longer. Out in to the cold we go! Hope we don't run out of warm clothes to change into!!!

The Nutcracker Ballet

2008-12-04T06:32:00.000-08:00

Today Amy and I went to see The Nutcracker. We wore our semi-dressy attire, making the outing all the more fun. We also went with several other mother/daughter friends, a tradition I hope we continue in the future. There is nothing like an excited group of little girls, all aglow over the beautiful costumes and amazing choreography of the ballet. Amy was mesmerized by the performance. Her eyes were glued on the dancers the entire time. She only became a little squirmy after intermission, at which time I think she just lost some of her focus. But even then, she continued to watch with delight. It was such a treat to experience this with her. Afterwards, we all went out to a tea room for lunch.

And don't think the boys were being left out of all the fun. They spent the day with Granny, who took them to have lunch with Paw-Paw, followed by milkshakes and playtime at McDonald's, and ending with a trip to the store where she bought each of them a remote-controlled dinosaur. I think it ended up being a special day for all!

Field Trip to the Texas City Prairie Preserve

2008-12-04T05:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to the Texas City Prairie Preserve. There the kids learned about water quality, marine seining, and prairie life, with bird and plant identification as well as insect sweeping. It was a long day for the kids - and me! And there were times when they seemed totally lost in the discussion. But Nathan told me he loved "hiking" through the prairie and they all loved going down to the lake, especially the boys who got very wet and muddy playing in the lake. I think they could have done that all day!

Nathan's Tooth

2008-12-04T04:45:00.000-08:00

Nathan has lost his first tooth. I can't believe it! He still seems like my little boy, too young to be losing his baby teeth. But sure enough, he showed us the other day that one of his bottom front teeth was loose, and in the wee hours this morning, it came out. Unbelievable. And oh, how excited he is for that tooth fairy to come visit. I have a feeling she'll be showing up tonight. :)

Below is a picture of my little guy with his missing tooth. It's a little hard to see because it was a very tiny tooth; this was my fourth attempt at obtaining a picture to show off that toothless grin!

Nathan's Birthday Continued...

2008-11-22T15:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Nathan's birthday, but it was a busy day as all Friday's are. We tried to make it as special for him as we could despite needing to get things ready for his actual party (which occurred today). He opened his presents when we got home from our homeschool co-op and then we ate our lunch. After that, party preparations began - and Nathan went outside to play with his new set of real tools!

One of the biggest tasks for me when it comes to preparing for the birthday party is the cake. And yesterday afternoon as I was trying to decide what size pan I'd need to bake Nathan's cake I made a discovery. My ovens in this house are tiny, tiny, tiny. I have a large Wilton square baking pan that I have used many times for the kids' past birthday cakes. I never dreamed that it would not fit in my new home's double oven. So for the first time, I had to take all of my baking ingredients to my mom's house (thank goodness we live only a mile apart!) and bake the cake there. It worked okay, and it also gave me some relaxing time visiting with my parents while I waited for the cake to finish baking. When it was done, I took it home to cool.

Nathan's requested birthday dinner was a happy meal from "Old McDonald's" (that's what the kids call Mc Donald's) and a picnic dinner in the den while we watch "Quest for Camelot". Sounded great to me - a dinner at home without me having to cook! After dinner the kids played, but Bill and I set back to work. Poor Bill ended up putting the kids to bed while I began my lengthy challenge of decorating the cake. This ended up taking several hours to complete, though for the most part I did enjoy it. I just wish I had a "helper" to mix all of the buttercream frosting, color it for me, and wash up when all is said and done. I'd bake a cake for anyone's celebration if they'd just do that part of the job for me. :)

Since I was busy with the cake, Bill did all of the decorating and planned all of the games. I also had to get the party favors together and label the bags for collecting the pinata goodies. I think I was so tired that after awhile, I just moved in slow motion. Bill just became more energized as the night wore on; he claims it was the coffee we made at one point but considering I drank from the same pot of coffee and it was doing nothing for me, I kind of doubt that was it. I did find "October Sky" on television and I think that may have been what did it. It's probably one of his favorite movies and I think he was determined to stay up and watch all of it (even though we have it on DVD and VHS tape). So we didn't end up going to bed until close to 3:30am. Nothing new for us. Actually, compared to many of the previous late nights preparing for birthday parties, I'd say 3:30 wasn't bad at all.

Today's party was great. Nathan had chosen a knight theme so we had the kids decorate shields, play a three musketeer race, go on a scavenger quest, and use an amazing wooden sword made by our very own Daddy and Nathan, to slay a pinata dragon. Then we ate pizza, opened presents and ate cake, which I had made to look like a knight's shield.

We are all a little tired now and I'm looking forward to turning in early tonight. But I so enjoyed seeing family and friends and watching the excitement of the kids as they all played together. And hearing Nathan say that his favorite part of his birthday party was every part of his birthday party made all of our hard work and little sleep well worth it! Happy birthday, Nathan!

Happy Birthday, Nathan!!!

2008-11-21T22:38:00.000-08:00

My little boy turned 5 today...

Nathan, you have grown so much. You're excitement and enthusiasm in everything you do brings joy to all around you. I love you're beautiful smile and the sparkle of your eyes. I can't believe you are 5 now. But then again, you've been doing big boy things for a long time, always wanting to do what growns ups can do. And you are just like your Daddy. From your inability to sit down - always needing to be doing something - to your interests in rocks, hiking and tools. There is no denying you are your father's son!!! You beg almost daily to go outside so you can "seesaw", which to those of us who know you realize you are referring to using your daddy's saw to cut wood. I am so impressed by how well you can hammer nails with your daddy's hammer, and amazed by those occasions when you've accidentally hit your own hand and fought so hard to ignore the pain, not shedding even one tear. You're such a tough little guy, but you have such a compassionate heart. You are always looking out after those who are younger than you. What a special little boy you are and I thank God everyday that He trusted me to be your mom. I love you - Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!

In the Blink of an Eye...

2008-11-02T16:31:00.000-08:00

You became 3 years old.

A blink of an eye... that's how it feels. I remember bringing you home from the hospital in your lovely white gown. You were so tiny and sweet. Before we knew it, you were smiling and jabbering, crawling and climbing, walking and talking... You potty-trained all by yourself at 2. We've joked in recent months that you were 2 going on 5. How quickly you've gone from our baby girl to our big, "I can do it all by myself" girl. You bring us joy each and every day and bless us in so many ways. We love you so very much. Happy 3rd Birthday, Amy!!!

Amy, home from the hospital

On her first birthday

On her second birthday

Today, 3 years old

We've all been battling illness this week, including Amy who was still running fever yesterday. Unfortunately, November is too busy of a month to reschedule, so the party went on. Thankfully, Amy woke feverless and had a wonderful day as we celebrated her birthday. God even served up beautiful weather for our little girl's special day. Even though we were missing some special friends (you know who you are :) ) and all feeling a little under the weather, it was a wonderful day at home with family.

Pink roses from Daddy

A ballerina birthday, including a small personal cake for one sick birthday girl!

Happy birthday, Baby Angel - We love you!

Why we did not go to ballet today...

2008-09-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

Oh, why, oh, why, did I choose to gab with my friend instead of paying attention to the tire changing lesson in driver's ed all those years ago???

Back to Normal...Pretty Much...

2008-09-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

Today we began our home-schooling again and life pretty much returned to normal.

We didn't get home until our power was restored Wednesday night, just in time to put the kids to bed. I was still feeling sick from whatever bug we'd all been passing around, starting at my brother's house during the evac. (my parents are currently suffering from it - sorry, Mom and Dad!!!). Therefore, nothing was accomplished on Thursday. I didn't even unpack our suitcases. But thankfully, I woke up feeling better on Friday and was able to not only unpack and put away the suitcases, but I also found the energy to do all of the laundry and put away some of the other various things that we'd either packed up or taken with us when we evacuated. I still wasn't feeling great, though, and took on most tasks at a slow pace. But I felt even better over the weekend and we were able to get a few more things done, including painting Amy's room - finally! I say "we", but all the credit goes to Bill. I simply went to bed with the kiddos while he stayed up until 3am painting. And he did an amazing job, might I add; I'll post pictures of her lovely girly room soon.

I'm still a little congested and woke with a headache today, but we did get through our school work and even did more than I'd planned. I was proud of the boys, who were more than ready to begin once we finally sat down to our school desk (we took our time getting started, after fresh baked cinnamon rolls and some t.v. down time :) ). In a little while, we'll be heading out for gymnastics. I feel a little overwhelmed when I think of our agenda for the week: school catch-up, two gymnastics classes (one a make-up), ballet, art, co-op, and the multitude of housework that still needs to be done, not to mention yardwork. But I really can't complain. We still can't go anywhere without lines of traffic at unpowered traffic lights, or blocked off sections of the neighborhood where workers are still picking up debris. But things are improving and I am just so relieved that, in general, life is back to normal.

Hello, Ike

2008-09-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

How odd that when I went to post this message, I found that my last post was entitled "So Long, Gustav". Thus, the reason for this post's title "Hello, Ike". Unlike Gustav, we took a direct hit from Ike.

Last week we boarded up our windows and fled to San Antonio. We managed to book the perfect hotel for our evacuation. Not only did it provide a free continental breakfast every morning, but there were even some nights where they offered free dinner. I think this is a typical offering by this particular hotel, but I still wonder how much of the incredible hospitality we received came from the knowledge that most of the residents there were evacuees. We met people from all over the Texas gulf coast. It felt as though we were all part of one family - all waiting as patiently as possible for news on our homes.

Based on what I was hearing on the news as we watched the arrival of hurricane Ike, I thought for sure my house was going to be flooded. And even when it appeared that we'd been saved from the huge storm surge originally predicted, Bill continued to warn me not to let my guard down. We needed to expect the worst so that nothing would surprise us when we finally made it home.

At this point, we still haven't made it home. At least, not to stay. We are staying with my brother right now while we wait for power to be restored to our home and for the gas and food situation to improve. Bill has been back to our house and found it to be in good condition. We lost some of our fence and many branches from our main backyard tree. We also had one of our trees partly uprooted and leaning on our garage. Though there was a lot of debris in our yard, our house was in great shape. Unfortunately for many others, this was not the case. The pictures at the bottom of this post show some of the devastation in our neighborhood.

For the most part we are doing okay. Alex has a stomach bug and they're all a little hoarse, which we feel is due to the change in weather. Though I believe the cooler weather is a blessing to those who are still at home dealing with the lack of a/c. We are so grateful for our safety and for the condition of our home, but we're all a little anxious to get home and get back to some level of normalcy. My prayers go out to those who were not as fortunate as us.

Pictures of our home and yard:

All the pictures below were taken of either our neighbor's house, or around our neighborhood:

So Long, Gustav!

2008-09-02T05:19:00.000-07:00

I feel so thankful that once again, we have been spared from the onslaught of a hurricane. Hurricane Gustav not only missed us, but it stayed far enough away that we haven't even seen a drop of rain. We did have some strong winds yesterday afternoon that I feel certain were related to the big storm, but nothing like what they are experiencing over in Louisiana. But I am relieved for them, too. What could have been a devastating category 4 or 5 hurricane weakened to a 3 and quickly to a 2 once making landfall. It also came in so quickly that it didn't produce the big storm surge everyone feared, nor did it drop the multitudes of rain that come with a slower hurricane.

Early on there was a possibility of Gustav coming our way, so we of course had our eyes glued to the news the last several days. My family almost skipped going to our annual family reunion this weekend because we weren't sure what was going to happen. We didn't want to be away from our house and not have enough time to prepare it should the storm head our way. Thankfully, Sunday morning, when we needed to leave for the reunion, we were able to make a fairly confident decision to go because it seemed definite that Gustav was not going to hit us. And even if it did, we believed we'd still have time to leave if necessary - we even had our reservations at a far away hotel just in case. I am glad we didn't end up needing them.

Bill spent all of Monday cutting plywood to fit every window of our house. So next time a storm does decide to strike, we won't have to worry so much about preparations. Now we just have to turn our attention to the other storms currently brewing out there and pray that they, too, stay far, far away!

First Day of School

2008-08-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

Today we had our first day of school, and though it was a slower day where much of the material was review, I'd say it was a very successful first day back.

In preparation for "back to school", we had a movie night last night and let the boys watch Star Wars for the first time (Amy was in our room watching Noggin'). We popped popcorn and Bill watched with them so he could fast forward through any scenes we felt might still be a little inappropriate. And as expected, they loved the movie!

For the most part, I just listened to their excitement as I worked to clean out and set up the sunroom as our new home-school room. After the kids went to bed - a challenging task now that they were pumped up and having light saber battles - I set out their new backpacks and school supplies. It was almost 1am before I finally got to bed, and even later before I could fall asleep... A little anxious about the first day, I guess.

The morning went well. I got up at 6:15am and made coffee and finished preparing before the kiddos got up. Once they were all awake, I served them a nutritious and I'm sure brain enhancing meal of powdered sugar and chocolate donuts. Then we got started...

We're trying out My Father's World (MFW) this year. I'm using the First Grade level for Alex. Nathan will still learn from the Bible, science and art lessons included. To supplement the Reading lessons we're still using the Explode the Code books. We're also using Math-U-See and I have Nathan starting the Primer (Kindergarten level). He did fantastic with the first lesson today. Alex is now in the Alpha book (1st Grade level) and did great today, too. On Mondays we're doing history, so today we read about Davy Crockett and colored pictures of the Alamo. Tomorrow instead of history, we'll do poetry and music appreciation. Wednesday is science and Thursday is art. Fridays we have co-op, but we'll do the Science Exploration Day from MFW in the afternoons. Exploration Day is really for getting outside and experiencing the world around us, something we like to do anyway. There is also a science experiment to be done each Friday. I think the kids will really like that!

All we have left to do today is our read-aloud, which we'll do during lunch. I'm going to start reading Mr. Popper's Penguins to them. I feel certain they'll like it.

Right now their all taking a break. Alex is at the craft table drawing characters from Star Wars... naturally. :)

Today's success has me even more anxious to do it again tomorrow. I'm looking forward to another fun year of teaching and learning with my children!

Change is in the Air

2008-08-12T13:31:00.000-07:00

I wish I was talking about the temperature outside!

I'm actually talking about life in general. Next Sunday is my last day to teach at church, other than the occasional substituting. I made the decision that I do not have time to plan out lessons beyond what I am already having to do for home-schooling. Our local home school co-op starts up in a couple of weeks and there I will be teaching intermediate and high school classes that of course will take quite a bit of time to plan for. Alex is also starting his 1st grade year, and we have a whole lot more to cover than we did last year. I also have plans to start Nathan on some Kindergarten level work, even though he is not old enough for public school Kindergarten.

I am looking forward to all of these things, but it's going to mean some big changes around here. The original plan had been to continue our schooling all summer by simply reviewing once the actual curriculum was completed. But with such a busy summer, we have not held to that too well. And, as I stated in a previous post, it's been way too easy to just leave the TV on all day and work around the new house. So this more leisure way of life is about to change. There will be no more television. There will be no more sleeping in until 7am. There will be no more relaxful "coffee-sipping time" and there will be no more hanging out in our pajamas for half the day. Okay, did I just admit that?!?

Seriously, we will have to get a lot more disciplined with our time. But I am looking forward to it. I think we have a lot of fun things planned out for this year, and I'm anxious to get started! Look for my post about our curriculum choices for this year - coming soon!!!

Too Good To Be True

2008-08-11T07:04:00.000-07:00

I've always heard that little girls mature faster than boys. They talk sooner, walk sooner, potty-train easier... Sure enough, Amy started talking a lot sooner than either of the boys, and she was speaking in clear sentences in no time. She was walking before she turned one. As for potty-training, she's been showing signs of being ready for probably a year now. But we've had too many other things going on and I just didn't think she could really be ready. Afterall, the boys didn't learn until they were 4. But in the past week, she has potty trained herself. I've only had to give the usual assistance, but she doesn't need to be asked or reminded. She just goes. Amazing!

The other thing we've always struggled with is transitioning the kids to sleep in their own beds. With each of them, Bill and I kept them in our bed while they were babies. They were well over a year before we'd take the transitioning challenge. And challenge it was. We'd have to start out every night with them in their bed and once they were asleep, we'd sneak out. Of course, they'd notice and we'd have to come back in several more times before the night was over. Eventually, we learned the method taught by The Nanny where you sit on the floor near their bed and continue to move farther and farther away until eventually, you don't stay in the room anymore. It sort of worked. We dealt with them coming out of the room a lot and quite a bit of crying. Nathan did a little better than Alex, but he was also in the same room as Alex so he was never totally alone.

We haven't rushed this process with Amy so much because we've had a lot going on and felt like the move would just cause new problems. So we contined to stay with her each night until she'd fall asleep. But now that we've been in our new house for a couple of months, we decided it was time. We explained to her that we were not going to lie down with her anymore; we would surround her with her stuffed animals, tuck her in, say prayers, kiss her goodnight... and leave. Surprisingly, she was excited by this idea. She talked about it all day. And when it was finally time for bed, we followed these steps exactly. She smiled as we left and said goodnight to us. And that was the last we heard of her all night. We've done this for two nights now. We are so very proud of her. But I'm starting to wonder if it's just a little too good to be true!

** Please note: This is not to say that girls are necessarily easier than boys. Yes, it would appear they do mature faster, but I've learned, at least where Amy is concerned, girls are quite a bit more temperamental and the term "drama queen" almost always applies. :) **

Amy's Ballet

2008-08-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

In a couple of weeks, Amy will begin her first ballet class. I don't know who is more excited - me or her! She loves to dance and I was so proud of her at her audition. I didn't know what to expect. Would she even step into the room with all of those strangers, without me? Would she actually attempt the steps being shown to her or just sit shyly in a corner? Would she start crying because I wasn't there? Those were my fears, and none of them came true. She tried everything and even when it was a teacher and just her and one other girl, with the other approx. 20 girls and teachers onlooking, she did her best to mimic the dance moves of her instructor. You could see the bright, anxious look in her eyes, the happy smile on her face - she was loving it! I hope to see that look for many years to come as she continues on this new journey.

Alex and Nathan's Day Out

2008-08-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

Cody did not forget about the boys... I'm just slow to blog about it. :) About a week ago, he took them out for a special "guy's day out". They went to The Aquarium for lunch where they got to feed the stingrays, and then they went to the Lego store where he let them each pick something out. Alex chose a Lego set and Nathan chose a Bionicle toy gun that shoots balls (of course!!).

Cody even stayed for awhile after they got home to help them with their new Lego toys. Thanks for giving them such a fun day, Cody!!!

Just a Passing Storm

2008-08-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

Thankfully, tropical storm Edouard missed us, for the most part. We did get some rain from it, even slightly heavy at times, but it didn't last all that long. It was just enough to confirm that we do need a french drain on the one side of our yard because should a really big storm come our way, we will most definitely have a problem! We also never fully lost power. It flickered off a number of times, though, but that was really more of an annoyance than anything else. Overall, Edouard felt like any other passing thunderstorm. I am so grateful for that.

So now we'll just set aside our store of water and batteries and consider ourself prepared for whatever else might come our way. :)

Getting Ready

2008-08-04T14:19:00.000-07:00

For Edouard, that is.

This morning my wonderful mom went to the store and picked up supplies for not only her household, but mine and my sister's as well. We are now well supplied with water, food, and batteries.

Bill came home early today and has been working to prepare the outside of our house. Since this is a "new" house, we don't quite know what to expect. We have learned that it's common for our neighborhood to lose power, so we're expecting that. And we know that one side of our yard doesn't drain well, which is why my sweet husband spent hours this afternoon digging a trench to help drain water towards the street. He's also brought in or secured down any loose items outside, caulked a few cracks in our gutters and helped a neighbor down the street trim a large, unstable branch from their tree. Impressive, isn't he? :)

I'm not overly concerned since I know that this is only a tropical storm and not even a terribly big one. But of course, you never know what can happen and it's always better to be safe than sorry. A prayer or two wouldn't hurt, either!

Carpet Woes

2008-08-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

Our old house had dark green carpet. When it was freshly vacuumed, I thought it was rather pretty, as long as you ignored my blue couch and loveseat (bit of a color clash). Of course, the carpet needed to be vacuumed at least once a day to look okay (more when we were trying to sell the house) because every string, piece of lint, or white dog hair stuck out like a sore thumb. Bill didn't like it because he thought it made our house look dark.

Fast forward to the new house. Light beige carpet. Bright, cheery? Most definitely. Hides the white dog hair and pieces of lint, etc? For the most part, yes. Crayola marks? Shows every one.

Yes, I did say crayola marks. I never realized that drawings left lying around could result in colorful crayon smearings on the carpet. The cluttering of little drawings and cutouts is not greater in this house than the old one, but you couldn't see what was happening on the old carpet. Argh! And here I was just worried about dog messes and other mishaps staining this light colored carpet. I never imagined this crayon problem.

Thank goodness for this stuff. It's not just for pet stains. Works like a charm!

Looking Back on Our Trip

2008-07-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

Right after we moved into our new house, we left for a two week family vacation. Bad timing, but what a wonderful trip we had. We went to visit Bill's family for the first half of the trip where we spent our days playing catch up, enjoying a little fishing, and doing some fun crafts with our cousins. Amy was sick for several days, which wasn't fun. But we all had a good time and enjoyed being with Bill's family.

On the second half of our trip we met up with my parents and my brother and his family in Gatlinburg, Tennessee where we rented a chalet up in the mountains. We had an incredible view from a large deck that provided the most relaxing mornings and amazing sunsets. This chalet had six bedrooms and four full baths - it was huge! Of course, the kids still bunked together much of the time. Afterall, that's more fun, anyway. Bill, my brother Jason and my dad went on a day hike on the first day there while we girls and the kiddos hung out in the chalet. No complaints here! The second day, however, was our day to explore... the Gatlinburg shops! Our final couple of days in Gatlinburg were spent hiking the mountain trails and playing in the river. It was truly a fantastic experience - one I hope to repeat in the future!

The slideshow below captures both parts of our trip. Enjoy!

Correction to My Playlist

2008-07-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

I'm sure no one really cares, but just to give credit where credit is due, In My Dreams is an REO Speedwagon song, not Air Supply. Someone obviously doesn't know their bands!

Too Much TV

2008-07-31T08:33:00.001-07:00

That is what we have been watching lately. It doesn't help that we've been battling a stomach bug, but I'd say the biggest culprit for our frequent TV viewing is DirecTV. We have lived without cable for 6 years and have managed just fine. I always felt like the educational shows on PBS were good enough for my children, and I had too much to do to be spending time watching television anyway. Besides, cable is expensive... until we moved. Then we got a deal too good to pass up. So now we have satellite TV. This means the kids have Noggin, and I have HGTV. And we watch entirely too much of it. But these are educational channels so it's okay, right?

My Musical Blog

2008-07-31T08:22:00.000-07:00

I have loved visiting some of my friends' blogs and listening to their musical playlists, that I finally decided to make one, too. After too much time perusing the selections and several computer viruses later (thank goodness for Norton Anti-Virus!), I had created my own playlist. I was having way too much fun pulling up old songs from the past. Of course, I'm still trying to decide on/find the perfect song for my blog to open with, but until I do, I like the upbeat "Dive" by Steven Curtis Chapman. Happy listening - I hope you enjoy the music as much as I do!

Amy's Day Out

2008-07-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

Today Amy had a special day out with my nephew Cody. He goes off to college in a couple of weeks and wants to spend some time with my kiddos before he does. Isn't that the sweetest thing? Today was Amy's day, and he took her to Build-A-Bear, lunch at a country club, and finally the park. As you can see in the picture, Amy chose a PINK bear with a PINK ballerina outfit. Can you guess her favorite color?

I am just amazed that Cody took his day off work, as well as his own money, to spend the day with my little girl. What a special memory he has given her! And what a special young man he is. Thank you, Cody!!!

One Word

2008-07-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

This is another MeMe that I felt compelled to do since Celeste basically "tagged" me to do it a couple of weeks ago. Thanks a lot, Cel! LOL

Here it goes!

1. Where is your cell phone? Cody
2. Your significant other? Bill
3. Your hair? Messy
4. Your mother? Mom
5. Your father? Dad
6. Your favorite thing? Peace
7. Your dream last night? Uncertain
8. Your favorite drink? Iced-Tea
9. Your dream/goal? Contentment
10. The room you’re in? Study
11. Your church? Baptist
12. Your fear? Roaches
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
14. Where were you last night? Home
15. What you’re not? Patient
16. Muffins? Pumpkin
17. One of your wish list items? This Moment
18. Where you grew up? TX
19. The last thing you did? Ate
20. What are you wearing? Shorts
21. Your TV? HGTV
22. Your pets? Shelby
23. Your computer? Slow
24. Your life? Hectic
25. Your mood? Anxious
26. Missing someone? Yes
27. Your car? Minivan
28. Something you’re not wearing? Makeup
29. Favorite store? Lowe's
30. Your summer? Quick
31. Like(love) someone? Yes
32. Your favorite color? All
33. Last time you laughed? Recently
34. Last time you cried? Days
35. Who will re post this? Unsure

Mosaic MeMe

2008-07-29T11:23:00.000-07:00

I saw this on Celeste's blog and it was just too fun to pass up. Sometimes it was a bit of a challenge to find a suitable picture on the first page of photos, though!

Here's how to play:

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

2. Using only the first page, pick an image.

3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

4. Save image to hard drive and post to blogger.

5. Copy HTML code for flickr photo credits and paste into blogger at the bottom of the post.

1. What is your first name? Robin

2. What is your favorite food? Mexican food

3. What high school did you go to? Clear Lake High School

4. What is your favorite color? all colors

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Michael Biehn

6. Favorite drink? latte

7. Dream vacation? Ireland

8. Favorite dessert? brownie a la mode

9. What you want to be when you grow up? happy

10. What do you love most in life? God and family

11. One Word to describe you? Blessed

12. One hobby of yours? Quilting

1. Robin 1, 2. Delicious Mexican food in Flagstaff Arizona, 3. DSC_0143, 4. All The Colors, 5. Metal... GEAR?, 6. Vanilla Hazelnut Latte, 7. REAL... "REAL ESTATE" (IRELAND), 8. Brownie a la mode, 9. happy happy..., 10. God is love!, 11. Each day is a blessing, 12. Katrina Quilt Square 'flowers'

We're Moved In

2008-06-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

This was my family's first real move... and I don't think I ever want to do it again! It's been quite an experience! We finalized our move-in on a Wednesday evening, having brought the remainder of our stuff from the old house and cleaned it all up for the new owners. We closed on that house the next day. We then left on a family trip to Ohio and Tennessee that following Saturday. Talk about a whirlwind of a week! Needless to say, when we returned from our trip late last Thursday night (almost 2 weeks later), the house was just as we'd left it - boxes and stuff EVERYWHERE. We managed to put some of it away, but you can no longer tell since yesterday, Bill and Brian emptied our storage unit into our sunroom. We're back to boxes everywhere. I'm trying to figure out where in the world I'm going to put all of it! I think the thing to remember is that for the last 4 months, I have lived without all of that stuff.... Perhaps I don't need most of it?

I'll post pictures from our trip and the move soon... I just wanted to let everyone know that My Family Zoo is still here, and if ever that title was the perfect description of my life, it's right now!

Indoor Sprinklers

2008-06-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

My children asked me today if they could play outside in the sprinkler. I wanted to say yes because I know how tired they are of being stuck inside, and it's really too hot to play outside. But I would have to supervise them, and I just have so much to do inside right now. So I responded to their requests with, "No, not today."

While I was on the phone a short while later, Alex and Nathan came running into the kitchen to fill their cups with water. And then, as they were running back out, they stated something like, "We're going to be sprinklers." I did not make the connection until a few minutes later when I walked into the den and felt the wet carpet. Each of the kids had straws hanging out of their mouths. They were filling their mouths with water, and then as they would spin around in circles, they'd spit the water back out through the straw. Gross, I know. But it was quite ingenious. :)

Disregard the Last Post!

2008-05-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

We ARE the owners of that house pictured below! :) A little more convincing and the owner finally agreed to pay for the necessary repairs on the house. We are so happy and so very relieved. Now it's time to do some serious packing and get things ready to move!