As the year ends...

We had a wonderful quiet Christmas - just the 7 of us. My parents visited my sister up in the cold North, and we stayed home and relaxed as much as possible.

The children enjoyed Christmas Day and are now enjoying their fun new toys and games. We are indeed most blessed with thoughtful children and thankful children.

The end of the year now approaches and with it one tends to reflect on the year prior. I know, for me, it has gone by way too fast. It has been full, that much is certain. We have much to be thankful for and couldn't possibly list everything, but I will list a few things:

1. Our new home
2. New friends
3. New church home
4. Family and friends
5. Growing, healthy children (losing teeth like crazy around here!)
So many more things.

We have been in our new home since May and while we may not be unpacked completely (and may never be, let's just be honest here), we are enjoying the new space. This coming year we hope to fill in some gaps furnishing-wise and be able to enjoy the extra space even more. I also hope for some organization that isn't present right now that will aid in our days flowing more smoothly. More discipline all around will be something we continue to work on as well. A more structured approach to our days, not w/a set schedule of things locked into time frames during the days, but more of a checklist approach. We'll see how we do with that - it's been on my mind for some time now.

I am not one to make "resolutions" - and am not starting now. Those who want to do so, that's your business :)

I look forward to 2011 and all that it may bring. I look forward to continuing to develop new friendships and spending more time w/family and friends. Spending less time worrying. Working on the house and making it even more enjoyable a home for our family. Enjoying the gifts God has placed in my life and living each day to the fullest.

May God bless you and yours in the coming days to look to the Lord each moment of each day. To remember Him always.

Grace and peace,
CAB

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!  I pray you have a blessed day with family and friends!

-CAB

1st "modern day" Homeschooler in Congress!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2637092/posts

Water Buffalo Meetings are like Boy Scouts for Grown-Ups per Mr. E

Not long ago, the children discovered the classic cartoon, The Flintstones. We have DVR'd plenty of them and they've enjoyed watching them. They've learned that Fred has a short fuse and doesn't always speak nicely, and many other lessons along the way as well.

Tonight, after returning from Scouts, Mr. E was talking about The Flintstones and said that he thought the Water Buffalo Meetings that Fred and Barney go to are like Boy Scouts for grown-ups.  :)   I listened as he told CKB all about the episode where Wilma and Betty dress up like men to go and see what the meetings are all about and how they put on these huge mustaches and when they got in trouble, they got spankings at the meeting and didn't want to ever go back.

I admit to chuckling softly to myself while this conversation went on - it was so cute to listen to Mr. E describe it all and he was grinning and laughing through the whole thing.

The episode he described is as follows:

"Ladies Night At The Lodge"	February 13, 1964 (1964-02-13)
Wilma and Betty are curious about what goes on at Fred and Barney's Water Buffalo Lodge meetings so they sneak in wearing disguises as men. They endure a painful initiation where they run out of the lodge and get home before Fred and Barney do, vowing to never ask to attend lodge meetings again. Slightly based on the second episode shown, Hot Lips Hannigan.

Mr. E lost his first tooth!

Someone forgot to tell Mr. E that he wasn't allowed to grow up just yet.....he lost his first tooth just before Thanksgiving. He ran downstairs to tell us he thought he had a loose tooth - I checked to see and it was REALLY loose, so I sent him over to CKB to check it out. Moments later, Mr. E's tooth was out of there! Nary a whimper during the extraction - what a tough guy!

Here he is, looking so big....sigh.

Clutter....

‎"Clutter is the poetry of our homes. It is an intimate view that is not always perfect - a few dishes in the sink, books piled next to the bed. Everything in its place may give a certain satisfaction, but a lived-in room exudes comfort and warmth."

- Mary Randolph Carter, author of "A Perfectly Kept House Is the Sign of a Misspent Life"

How to get past Step 1 - Organizing your recipes

It's been on my mind for quite some time to get my recipes organized. I say "my" very loosely, mind you, as none of them are originals to me, but they're mine when I make them!

So.....I thought putting together a binder of recipes complete w/tabs to separate different categories of food, everything alphabetized, would be just dandy....but didn't act on it....and didn't act on it....and didn't act on it.

Yesterday, in the school room I finally did - I grabbed a handful of page protectors, brought them downstairs to the kitchen and inserted them into a binder I started using a year or two ago - at present it has printed calendars in it, I *thought* it would become my "Super Mom Organizer Binder" - but it hasn't....yet....so for now, I put the page protectors in the back and am at the end of step 1 - procure binder, insert page protectors for recipes....

Wait, that's 2 things - maybe I'm at step 2. So, to get past Step 1, you need to do Step 2 w/o realizing you're doing it and move on to the next thing. Now, Step 3 - round up all the recipes sweet friends have shared through the years...this might be tough....and put them into the page protectors. I'll let you know when I get this accomplished. The key here seems to be finally getting motivated because Aunt Lou is tired of you calling for the same recipe every few months since you can't keep up w/the scrap of paper you wrote it down on or you are just fed up w/never being able to find the recipes you've tried and really liked. I think I met both of those criteria and here I am - finally - now, to get busy on the round-up... See you...after a while.

It only took 10 years to break the pickle jar

Well, almost 10 years ago we were blessed with our first child and shortly thereafter she accompanied me on MANY grocery trips. The first ever, just the two of us, I worried about making it through the store w/o a baby meltdown - she was probably about 6 mos. old at the time. She did great, I learned to relax a little bit and Baby Pooh entered our home - a small stuffed Winnie the Pooh that has been around ever since.

Fast forward about 10 years and I'm at the grocery store with our 3rd child (3rd of 5, for those not keeping up) and as we cruise the aisles I hear myself occasionally reminding him "Don't touch things" and "Don't pick anything up please" and so forth and so on. Then, as I perused the Nutella jar selection, I heard it....and felt it.....a glass pickle jar hit the floor and splashed the side of my boot. I turned and yes, my son, bless his heart, had knocked off a pickle jar much to his embarrassment...and mine. A store employee happened to be right ahead of us and he immediately came to our rescue, calling for aid to clean up the "spill" on aisle whatever it was.  I asked if we needed to pay for the jar of pickles, he replied, no, we'll take care of it, and after my sweet boy apologized to the young man for breaking the jar, we continued on, a cloud of pickle odor following us no doubt. 

And that's how it took 10 years to break the pickle jar.

A poem by Miss E, age 9 - Must Read!

A few days ago Miss E mentioned something about  a poem she'd written in the back of her Reading Workbook. I don't know why, but I thought she'd just copied a poem from her reader or somewhere else into the back cover.

Last night I remembered and flipped to the back to read it after checking her schoolwork and found the poem copied below - after talking w/Miss E I found out it was her own work - I am thankful for the gifts God has bestowed upon our children!

Untitled
by Miss E

When Jesus came into this world;
And hungered, Satan said,
"Why do you not use your power;
To turn all these stones into bread?"

But Jesus came into this world
To save us from our sin,
He showed us many miracles;
That hope should not grow thin!

copyright 2010, Miss E

What a blessing Miss E is to our family!!

Make a Pie Already, Mama!

Well, I intended to make an apple pie for the first day of Fall, but didn't.

Today, however, I found myself wanting to make that apple pie, so I did. I whipped it up complete w/homemade crust (and store bought innards - hey, I'm a busy lady!).

(disclaimer - that is NOT the pie *I* made - I was too lazy to take a pic of my pie and this one looks better anyway)

I pulled it out of the oven, put it on the cooling rack and went about getting dinner into the oven. Along about this time, I hear the stampede of little feet coming down the stairs and Mr. E appears in the kitchen exclaiming:

"What is THAT?!"

I calmly reply...or begin to when he exclaims... " A pie! Where'd that come from?"

Again, calm as a cucumber, I tell him that I made the pie.

Mr. E looks at me with disbelief and utters one...little....word:  "You?"  then charges out of the kitchen to see what is going on with his sister in the den where she is plugged into the Wii.

I stood there for a few moments and thought to myself.....I need to make more pies!

:)  What has your child been astounded that you've done lately? What kind of pies are you in the mood to make now that it's starting to really feel like Fall?

2010-2011 School Year, Week 2 - COMPLETE! and TOG Year 3, Week 2 Napoleonic era tea party and foot soldier hike

Whew! This was a busy week, but then, aren't they all?

We are now up to speed with all children and all subjects - and we're staying afloat - yay!

Miss Baby and Mr. A play while I work with Mr. E, Miss E and Miss A.

When Mr. E's work is done, I work with Mr. A a bit and Mr. E plays with Miss Baby. A wonderful system that is helping so much in getting everything done in the mornings except History and Science which are done after lunch. Yay for a system that is working great!

Today being Friday - we had a SUPER DUPER busy day. Each week in our History program, there are arts and activities projects that can be done to help the children remember what we've discussed that week and to really reinforce all that they've been learning in a fun and creative way. This week, I decided to let each of the older 3 choose their projects and if they were all different, so be it, if they were all the same, that was fine too.

They each decided on a different project. Whew! Today was B-U-S-Y!

We are studying the 19th century this year and have been discussing Napoleon some more this week. For Mr. E's activity, he elected to take a hike dressed like a Napoleonic foot soldier. The notes suggested he bring some extra clothes since he'd be gone for a few months.  :)

Well, he did just that - here he is, about to head out....I fully realize he looks more like he's about to go camping, but we did the best w/what we had on hand....he's armed and dangerous, isn't he?



The older girls decided to join in on the fun of dressing up. I did not require them to since they were each going to be doing their own activities, but was glad to see their zeal for fun in learning!

They're off:

We "hiked" around our neighborhood one full circle. The whole time I acted as their commanding officer urging them to keep up their light step and move quickly and quietly.

Napoleon spent a lot of time analyzing the way wars had been fought for years and made some changes for his armies. He put some officers up front so they could see what was going on and make changes and decisions swiftly as needed instead of having long delays waiting for scouts to convey messages to the back of the forces from the very front. Napoleon also offered a prize to the one who could find a better way to preserve food - hence the invention of canned food (Miss A added 3 cans of food to her pack). Napoleon did away with supply wagons because they were so cumbersome and slowed down the pace so much - creating the light foot solder - able to march longer distances and also required to do so at a faster pace so they could cover more ground per day.

Along the way....

Stopping to camp for the night....

The point of the exercise was to get a tiny taste of what it was like to carry all your necessities on your back as you traveled along in Napoleon's army. The conclusion - it was hard!  :)

Truth be told, they all would've been shot - Mr. A was out ahead and being so loud that he would've been picked off first and then the rest of us would've been ambushed. Ah well, it was fun!


2nd project of the day - Miss E chose to do a collage of the flora and fauna of France. She did :) It turned out well and is now in her notebook. (no pics on this one)

3rd project of the day - Miss A chose to have a Napoleonic era tea party. So...we did a little research on tea parties of the time and found some interesting information.

The table is set:

According to legend, one of Queen Victoria's (1819-1901) ladies-in-waiting, Anna Maria Stanhope (1783-1857), known as the Duchess of Bedford, is credited as the creator of afternoon teatime. Because the noon meal had become skimpier, the Duchess suffered from "a sinking feeling" at about four o'clock in the afternoon.

At first the Duchess had servants sneak her a pot of tea and a few bread items. Adopting the European tea service format, she invited friends to join her for an additional afternoon meal at five o'clock in her rooms. The menu centered around small cakes, bread and butter sandwiches, assorted sweets, and, of course, tea. So, after lunch and Miss Baby's nap, we headed to the store to pick up the essentials because, well, the castle maid was too busy to go herself before now.

We adapted British accents, well, one of us did, ahem, and commenced our tea. Five guests came to tea and I was suspicious from the start of their lack of British accents, but we carried on in high fashion anyway.

(note Miss E's raised pinky - this was done to help balance the cup)

The ladies discussed Napoleon's war efforts as the young men talked of sailing from America. My suspicions were raised again.

Someone smuggled in some fancy fruit flavored teas....I suspect this young gentlemen....his accomplice in the background pretended to be a lady-in-waiting, but I have my doubts...   (If you'll kindly take a moment to come back to present times - note the stickers on the front of Mr. A's shirt - he proudly wears them after reading 3 books to me earlier in the day - he is coming right along w/his reading - such a smart boy - he anxiously awaits his turn to do some sort of schoolwork with me every day and I am so pleased with his eagerness to learn and blessed we have that time together)  (In the background, Miss Baby really enjoyed this special treat - she has been having a great time working on puzzles and learning her letters/numbers and SOOO much more during our days together!) Ok, back to 19th century England...ahem....

After tea, Lady E and Lady A took a few "tea dainties" to our dear friend, Lady ADG who was unable to join us for tea due to illness in her family. The young ladies returned just in time to escape a downpour!

 

I'll leave you with this last picture....my suspicions were correct, to some degree, it was decided by all present at the tea party that this young man was a time traveler from America circa 2010, specifically TX and he seems to have a message to TX fans....hmmm.....  ;) I believe as he bid us all farewell, he uttered a strange departing message....something akin to "Gig 'em?" I honestly do not know - such a strange day this was for all of us. Hope you enjoyed reading about it :)  Now, where is that maid.....

 

Constitution Day is today, September 17

On September 17th, 1787, the Constitutional Congress held its final meeting with only one thing on the agenda - to sign the Constitution of the United States of America. The Constitution is the supreme law of the United States.


"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

 A few goodies to check out:

http://www.k12.com/events/constitution_day_lessons/


Also, another that I haven't had a chance to look at yet, but looks promising from a quick glance:

http://www.chron.com/cie/pdf_tabs/The_Constitution_Blueprint_for_a_Nation.pdf

Enjoy!

Oval Proverbs 22:6 sticker, Train up a child - CafePress

Oval Proverbs 22:6 sticker, Train up a child - CafePress

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6

Mr. E - Cub Scout Extraordinaire :)

Today Mr. E's Cub Scout Pack held their Popcorn Sales Kickoff and Raingutter Regatta. I'll post about the Regatta soon (need to go through all the pics I took!), but wanted to send y'all a message from Mr. E right away because he is super excited about his popcorn sales!

At the meeting, he set his personal goal at $700 - he wants to sell at least that amount to help out his pack and to help fund camping among other activities for the boys this year.

This year ONLINE ordering is available - I believe this is pretty new to Scouts and I think it's wonderful! You can order from the comfort of your computer chair, and the popcorn, chocolate covered pretzels, etc. are delivered straight to your mailbox/doorstep!   (yes, they have more than just popcorn!!)

Just click here:
http://www.trails-end.com/estore/scouts/email_referral.jsp?id=7506628

If you don't care for popcorn, don't like chocolate covered pretzels, cheese popcorn, are diabetic, are on a diet (there is a low fat option!), etc. please consider making a donation that will send popcorn to the military men and women serving our country - what an awesome way to show your support!

Mr. E went out tonight and started selling right away - I am so proud of his initiative! He and his Daddy had a nice walk, and he's on his way toward his goal....consider helping him if you'd like to! He will most certainly appreciate it!

Here he is again...he came to see me first ;)  Isn't he the sweetest?
http://www.trails-end.com/estore/scouts/email_referral.jsp?id=7506628

Remembering...

2010-2011 School Year, Week 1 - COMPLETE!

Whew! Going into this first week, I was a bit apprehensive about how things would go....I do have an 18 mos. old and a 4 year old to entertain, ya know.

Well, I must say I am THRILLED with how well the week has gone. Yay!  Miss Baby did so well and everyone got their work done - I couldn't be happier!

Of course...we had a light week, so next week will be a bit more challenging, but I'm thinking positively!

One thing that really helped was enlisting the help of one of the older children to play with Miss Baby when I was working w/one child - introducing them to their new books and so forth.

Next week, the three older will work on a lot of things independently, but a lot will also require my instruction and assistance. That is when I expect things to potentially get a little tough, but we'll find out then, right? I also have some things for Mr. A to begin working on at a leisurely pace - we'll work on those when the older ones are working independently and Miss Baby is playing in the same room w/us. Thankfully, our new house has a bedroom we can use as a school room and a big, open game room right beside it so I can be completely accessible during independent work if anyone needs me. Yay for the new house!

One frustration this week has been the fact that I cannot find one box that has 2 of the children's new math books in it. I am at the point where I'm going to have to order them and when the others turn up, if they ever do, they can be used by the younger children when they get to those levels. I suppose if we only lost ONE box during our move, that is prettttty good!


We spent a lot of time in HIStory this week, as well as geography as it related to our studies, and literature selections as well.

Each of the 3 older children created their own notebook covers for the period of history we will study this year - the 19th century.

Here is one example from Miss E:



Miss E has "graduated" to the Upper Grammar level of our History program this year and therefore has a few extra requirements and projects, more difficult readings, and so forth.

For this year, and into the next, she will be working on a cumulative project - creating a President Card Bank. We have chosen to do it in a modified fashion, not on "cards" exactly, but simply putting 2 presidents per page in her notebook (if we decide later we need or want them in card format, we can simply cut the pages in half - she is aware of this and will be keeping one president on the top half of the card and the second on the bottom half). Here's Miss E w/her first 2 Presidents completed:



For Arts and Activities for our Lower Grammar crew, they were to review coin values and learn who is on the face of the quarter and the dollar. They did not hesitate at all when I quizzed them on coin names and values. That took all of about 2 mn. to complete.  Fun facts: If you look VERY closely on the back of a "standard" penny, you can see a tiny Abraham Lincoln on the image of the Lincoln Memorial?  :)  Do you know who is on the quarter and the dollar? Mr. E and Miss A sure do!

All in all, a great first week - nice and easy - stress-free and calm - the way we like to get things going around here, and I even kept up w/the laundry and dishes all week - amazing! I already have some decorations on my teacher wall from my fabulous students....we're off to a GREAT start!!!  Praise God!

And, here's my Expedit bookcase from IKEA - it's not completely organized yet, but this is where it stands at present!

Off we go to prepare for Week 2!

Arboretum Visit

We took advantage of one of the last days of our Summer break and visited the Arboretum the week before starting our school year - here are a few highlights:


This bridge is special - one of our wedding photos was taken up top...here you see Mr. E shooting an imaginary bow and arrow under the bridge into the water in order to get one of the big fish swimming there...

Miss Baby enjoyed the leisurely stroll....

Miss Baby: "you want me to smile? ok, here ya go!" 

Mr. A - always thinking of something!

Mr. E - always has a smile for the camera, as long as Mama is taking the pictures, that is ;)

Miss A - ready to go exploring!

Miss E - getting so big and looking so much older these days...she really enjoyed seeing all the flowers and trees that day.

Here, we happened upon a painter - I didn't take a picture of her work naturally, but let me tell you, it was purty good! As you see, to her right, Miss A sat down to capture the scene in her notebook :)

By the water wall.....Mr. A looks a little grumpy here...hmmm.

Ah, the fountain - our first picture after the wedding was taken by this fountain....my how time flies!  I think this was before Mr. E found out that it is not a fountain you can get into!  :)

Miss A taking notes and drawing the flowers - our own Naturalist :)

This canopy of crepe myrtles is so beautiful....I feel a Wizard of Oz sort of whimsy all of a sudden here....if I didn't think Miss Baby would run off, I might've gotten her out of the stroller for this shot....maybe in a year or so....

That's it - not many pics of the flora this time. I enjoyed the opportunity to take some pictures of the children instead on this trip.

Where have we been?

Right here, of course.

What have we been up to?

Enjoying Summer and the freedoms it presents to us in the way of our time.

What's on the horizon?

A new school year full of promise, learning, love, fun, and a whole slew of other things!

We are officially on "Summer Break" until after Labor Day - the temps are down from the blazing heat we've been experiencing for a LONG while now...the mornings are full of outdoor time, coffee for me on the patio surrounded by my beautiful children playing, exploring, learning, soaking up some vitamin D, living the life we are blessed to live.

Recently, my lovely neighbor took me to IKEA in her husband's pickup so I could get a bookcase for the school room - I am soooo excited to have it assembled and anchored to the wall, ready to go. I began loading it with our books yesterday...I'm not done yet....but it's a blessing already - I will show you pics in another post to come later in the week. The school room is coming together - I've put off doing a lot in there, and there is still a lot to do, but it's coming together. Yay for the school room - a place for the school things that we can close the door to when we're done, if we want, or we can linger in there longer and read more, learn more, create more, and it doesn't block our front door like it did in the old house!

The children are all doing well - growing like crazy. Such blessings to CKB and I - I thank God for each of them!


I hope to keep up w/our school's journey this Fall more consistently here on the blog than I did last year - not for anyone else's benefit really, but for my own. It is a nice reminder to look back and see what is being accomplished each week....to see where our journey is heading and how we're getting there, and at the end of the school year to look back and reflect on what went well, and what we need to work on for the coming year.

Well, that's about it for now - we've been busy, everyone is in their own way I'm sure - piano lessons, looking into possibilities for sports, scouts and other activities while planning for the new school year, family vacations, and so on....there's always something to do!

My pretty, pretty Princess!

About a week ago, the children played umpteen board games in the span of a few hours...we won't worry too much about how closely they all were playing by the rules...ahem...some of them are only 4 years old ya know...

One that really caught my eye was the Pretty, Pretty Princess game that was given to the older girls when I was expecting Miss Baby - why, you ask? Because big sister E and big sister A didn't leave Miss Baby out of this game - they decided to make her the Prettiest Pretty Princess of all.....

Ta - da! Here she is in all her plastic jeweled finery.....I think she was wearing every piece that came w/the game :)

And, of course, the official Princess grin ;)

Please continue to pray for our friends over at kingdomarrows

The latest update:

http://kingdomarrows.com/?p=881&cpage=1#comment-258

Bunny sighting

We have been SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO busy lately that I have not taken the time to blog much, but thought I'd share this quickly - we have a little bunny friend...I say "friend", but if he gets into the garden and eats up the plants again it might be the beginning of a war...of sorts.

Anyway, so far the only thing he's been interested in were the green bean plants...that are gone.....and today I spotted him and got the camera in time to capture some of his exploits....

Here he is....looks innocent enough, right?

Now wait...he's hiding...because he knows...yes, he knows I'm onto him.

What's this? She's taking pictures of me? RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (isn't that little white tail adorable!!???)

Hmm, he's going into the back yard....where the "garden" is.....time to zip back inside.....

Ah - ha - he has spotted the garden......what will he do.....

He pauses....sniffs....and keeps going???? What? Our garden isn't good enough for you, Mr. Bunny?????
Hmm, maybe that's a good thing...but still....I'm conflicted.

Oh, the weeds taste better, eh? Ok, you can stay, but keep on your p's and q's mister or there'll be trouble!

That about sums it up!

Prayers needed for a dear family - please read

Please take a moment to read about what is happening in my friend Heather's family and then pray and pray some more.

I grew up with Heather and her family - her younger sister was my age and Heather was my sister's age. We were all in Girl Scouts together. We lost touch for many years, but in recent years have been blessed to rekindle those friendships of days gone by.

Heather and her husband have 4 beautiful children. The eldest, Mikaela, I remember as a little 2 or 3 year old at a wedding shower years ago - that was the last time I saw her. Now, she is enduring a great trial as are her family. The doctors are trying to help it appears and I pray for wisdom for them.

Please take time to read Heather's latest update, go back through the last few posts as well to see where you can specifically be praying for this dear family and remember them in prayer every time they come to mind.

http://kingdomarrows.com/

Thank you.

One of those weird days....

Do you ever have one of those weird days where unusual things keep happening?

Like, your hair clip breaks because it can't take holding all of your hair up any longer - don't know how many I've had break like this.....

Then, the hairbrush you bought not too long ago on a trip because you forgot to bring yours along, breaks in half....yes, in half...right after the hair clip broke?

Weird.

Then, you watch as gravity and a slippery poolside claim the dignity of one of your children as they run/trot/don't walk around the edge of the pool...said child gets up rubbing back of head and continues on unscathed...thank God for that!

Later, back in the "safety" of your own home again, 2 children sit on the patio looking through a plastic tray that was used to carry veggie plants awhile back and still hasn't been tossed...then one child pushes it toward the other and then the other pushes it back resulting in a cut lip......

Then, just after that, 2 children merrily run out toward the back of the yard only to have one of them hop, skip, and jump back toward you screaming because somehow in their barefoot state they stubbed the end of their toe in a hole of dirt (because it hasn't rained in ages and we have cracks in the yard now) and this child has a dirty, bloody toenail to show for his glee in running around?

Well, it's been one of those weird days around here :)

Some weeks are busier than others....

Somehow this week has gotten a lot busier than I thought it would be.

I signed the older 4 children up for swim lessons - that will be every day this week. We still have piano lessons on Wednesday. A church meeting coming up this weekend. Company during the meeting as well.

On top of those things, this is the week we resume school since we've been on hiatus for a few months during the moving/unpacking/trying to settle in phase of things.

This morning we began - new schedules were drawn up - books located - pencils sharpened and so on and so forth...and we begin...somewhere along the way laundry and dishes will hopefully get done as well as a bit of straightening up before company comes.

Is your week busy too?

Governor Perry Issues Proclamation for Day of Prayer in the State of Texas

Read here - glad to be in the great state of TX!

http://governor.state.tx.us/news/proclamation/14802/

Decorating Continues...

Some progress has been made since this:

Decorating Begins!

and...this:

Still looking...

In the way of this:

Pink

this:

Green

and the third wasn't pictured on the website, but is turquoise.

They look very cute in the girls' bathroom and we're nearing completion on the decorating efforts in there!

When it's all done, pictures will be shared, of course!

Silly Sayings

When I was putting Miss Baby down for her nap yesterday, the fan in her room was blowing my hair onto her face - she leaned back and said "Hair...Silly...Mama"    :)


At Half Price Book Sunday afternoon, Mr. A brought a book for me to look at - I asked him what it was about...he started to tell me, then said "Just check it out"  and walked back over to look at some more books.  Ha ha ha. Funny coming from an adorable litlte 4 year old voice!


Yesterday, Miss Baby began saying "Mama" with a teen-like attitude - it's more like "Ma-uh-ma!" - hard to explain, I neeeeed to get it recorded - she is soooo funny. She also will shake her head so hard when saying "no" that she practically topples over! She is a mess and is showing forth more and more of her sweet little personality these days!

We've been trying to figure out what Miss Baby is saying lately - she repeats it often throughout the day and it sounds kind of like "Narnia"  ;)  when she was getting upset about getting down from her high chair I encouraged her, as I always do, to say "Down, please" - she repeated and guess what...it was the "Narnia" sounding word she's been saying - well, good grief, of course we should've known!  ;)  So cute to hear her talking more and more each day.

The boys have taught Miss Baby to say "Daddy-o" - too funny!

The boys have also taught Miss Baby to say "Mario" and "Luigi" - "Luigi" usually sounds more like "Wuigi", but hey, it's close! They were trying to teach her to say "Yoshi" the other day in the car. :)
more to come, I'm sure....

Happy Father's Day to the most wonderful Daddy of our 5 fabulous blessings!

CKB had a great Father's Day yesterday...at least I think he did...hmm...

It started off with coffee and doughnuts - breakfast in bed, no less, served by the 4 older children :)

Then, they bombarded their Daddy with his gifts - 4 new T-shirts - I guess they thought he needed some new shirts to wear around the house - ha ha - no pics of these/this, but there was one that was a Nintendo shirt (he wore that one later in the day to play a Wii game w/the children - a Dr. Pepper shirt because I guess he's a "Pepper" whatever that means....hmm, #1 Dad, because he sure is! and a new Aggie shirt, because he needed a new one! Whew! Just what I needed, more laundry...thanks guys!

We had wonderful services at Farmersville and then took CKB out for lunch at Applebee's - food was good and we splurged on a yummy dessert for CKB (he shared w/us - what a guy!)

Here's the crew right before leaving for the church house yesterday morning....note the curly girls - they wanted me to put their hair in curlers, so I did.....so pretty :)

Here's CKB enjoying his "early" Father's Day present a few weekends ago :)

Hope all of you Father's had a wonderful Father's Day - especially my Dad and CKB's Dad! We love y'all!

Our Miss Baby

It's been a while since Miss Baby had her own post -

This past Memorial Day, I took pictures in our flag shirts as usual, but was not happy w/them and...well, that day has come and gone.

Instead, I will share a few pictures of Miss Baby after the picture taking was over, playing on her own, and with her Daddy...because, well, Father's Day *is* coming up soon after all, so why not?!

I think her brothers have been rubbing off on her!

Miss Baby - "Gotcha!"  "Now, who is responsible for yon dirty sock?"

"Uh oh, it wasn't Daddy's...I better make him something good to make up for stabbing him!"

"Here Daddy, this will make you ALL better!"

Around the house the past few days....

As you can probably imagine, or if you can't, you'll soon see, a lot goes on over the course of just a few days...even a few hours provide fodder for much conversation, but this post will encompass a few days, just so you know.



I came upon this sight one day after sneaking away for a few mn. to do something....the boys apparently were having a field day with their Daddy's shoes!


Mr. E looks on as Mr. A exclaims "Look at me, I can fit into Daddy's shoes!"

Mr. E fondly patting Mr. A on the head...."Sure, sure, you can."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The elusive ducks that we've seen a few times behind the house were out the other night - I ran for the camera and made it back in time to get a few shots as they ran...er...swam for their lives. The first shot is "misty" because it was so lovely, I mean, humid, that my lens instantly fogged up - kind of looks neat though, doesn't it..?


"Quack, whew it's hot out here...wait, what's that lady doing? Swim!"

"That's right, stay close!"

"Now, where to go......she's still over there w/that THING...that....camera!"

"Look over there...we can hide there...hurry!"

"We're almost there....."

"Whew! We made it - get in there, quick....don't look back, she's STILL watching us!"

:) I need a better zoom lens!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And when you need to take a quick trip, climb aboard and Thomas will get you there, or maybe your brother! Miss A and Miss Baby look up at me as if to say...."Mama!!! We're riding here!" - well!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Mama - "You do know that's a FIREplace, don't you?"

Miss Baby - "Doesn't everyone sit on the edge of the fireplace, Mama? What IS a fireplace, anyway? This chair was just the right height for me!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caught on film/media card the other day....now wait...where's Miss E?

Ah....she found a quieter place withOUT an audience :)

And lastly....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merry - "Why does this girl insist upon picking us up ALLLL the time....doesn't she know we can walk?

Pippin - "Yes, I know, but she is pretty cute, so I guess we'll just have to tolerate her."

Merry - "I suppose, but I'm getting kind of hungry."

Never a dull moment!