God's Team.

Football season is upon us which means new Cowboys apparel for everyone. Here is Audrey donning her cheerleader outfit that Nana found for her. Now I need to find a maternity shirt so we can get a family portrait!

Babies and Boys.

Audrey brought her doll and a diaper out of her room then put them in the chair like this. (This was my doll when I was her age).She put three of her dolls on the ottoman then laid in between them. She will put a doll up to my face and make a smacking sound which means she wants me to kiss her doll... too cute!Because I know I'll miss the days when my tub looks like this... (the boys played outside this morning and made mud and "cornmeal mush" pies).I let them take apart an old remote this afternoon (unfortunately, it didn't hold their attention for too long).They took it upon themselves to wrap Tommy's birthday package that came in the mail today. They pulled out all the supplies on their own.

Yes, Dade is wearing his bike helmet. He brought his bike in after they rode this morning, he has been riding it through the house and trying to ride it up the toddler slide that we have inside.

Happy Hour.

FYI -- If you order a slush (or I suppose a drink) for your child(ren) at Sonic during Happy Hour, order the small, not the Wacky Pack size. I found out yesterday that they are both normally .99 cents, the small is 2 oz. larger and qualifies for 1/2 off... the child size does not.

Picture Post.

Audrey is already a Blue Bell connoisseur. Dade took our picture before we left Saturday.

Luke and Diego (at our homeschool swim party).

Dade and Sofie.

Dade

Audrey got in the suitcase with her baby.

Happy Days.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOMMY! WE LOVE YOU!


Saturday night, Tommy and I went to eat at Pappadeaux. We both got fish, and I am still thinking about how good mine was -- grilled salmon with crabmeat, crawfish and pico de gallo with a lemon butter sauce.

Sunday we spent the afternoon in Bellville, then boys helped Tommy work in the yard while us girls went to the grocery store, and Tommy grilled steaks for dinner. D&L helped me make a cake then put the final touches on after it baked. They put "magic" relighting candles on his cake and had fun helping him blow them out for several minutes. Audrey was already into the ice cream at this point. The birthday boy got to open his new ASU Red Wolves visor at the end of the celebration.

We had cake and ice cream again tonight and gave Tommy his cards that the boys drew and his case for his new sunglasses that are being delivered (I printed a picture from the internet and put it inside). Dade and Luke enjoyed planning Tommy's birthday -- they wanted to throw him a surprise party at the park complete with a pinata but Dad wasn't too keen on the idea when they brought it up to him! We had a great time celebrating the best Dad and husband!

Not "back to school."

Monday we will be attending our first "Not Back to School" swimming party with our homeschool association. Some of you have asked about our choice to homeschool so I've decided to post a little about that here.

Tommy first brought the idea of homeschooling up to me when Dade was our only child. At the time, I was resistant. My thinking was that "I am a nurse, not a teacher," and I thought at the time that I would go back to work when all the kids were in school. Over the past five years, I have spoken with various people, read and prayed a lot about homeschooling. Two books that heavily influenced my decision were Bringing Up Boys and Raising Cain. A little over a year ago we decided that teaching the kids at home was the best option for them (and us).

I have been working with the boys using different workbooks that I've picked up here and there. We usually work for an hour to an hour and a half. Over the summer, I began researching curricula and finally decided on Accelerated Achievement. Dade has been reading through McGuffey's Eclectic Primer for about a month now and seems to be picking up on the phonics really well. There is not much math included for Kinder; he can count to 100 so we are working on counting by 2's, 5's and 10's and I printed some simple addition and subtraction worksheets from the internet. Everyday I also have him do some sort of writing. We will be working up to two to three hours per day in the next few weeks.

Starting next month, Dade will go to a co-op every Monday from 9 - 12. The first hour is science, the second hour is creative expression and story telling (we already have the lesson plans for this class and it sounds really exciting!) and the final hour is math manipulatives. I will teach one day of science, assist one day in his "show and tell" class, and work the nursery/preschool room another day. Once a month we will have a preschool outing (next month is the H-E-B grocery store tour) as well as an elementary outing. The boys will also be starting soccer and gymnastics again soon. No doubt we will be staying busy!

At this time, we are not sure how long we will homeschool. I originally thought we would go through second or third grade; now I am leaning more toward fourth or fifth grade. In all honesty, we will take it on a year-by-year basis. We want to lay a firm moral, spiritual, and educational foundation for them then watch them grow into who they were created to be. There are too many variables to answer this question for now.

I am becoming more confident in my ability to teach them and am enjoying watching them learn. There are days it is frustrating and difficult (especially with a BUSY toddler to keep an eye on) but we are all learning and working through it together. I'll keep you posted with pictures of all the fun we have in the coming year!

Fun Friday!

This morning we made a quick Target trip to pick up a gift and some Play Doh (of course we had a drink and popcorn as well!), headed to a park to expend some energy (the boys played in/under a tree most of the time while A was swinging) then came home to be creative.

Luke Audrey -- looking very serious
Dade

Energy.

Audrey does pretty well at keeping up with the boys. Here they made a "hot dog" out of her and were rolling her around the living room. With her Daddy.

Trying to figure out the Lightning McQueen computer.

Painting.

Luke asked me all day to paint. After running our errands, eating lunch and making rice krispie treats, I finally got everything out. And somehow I didn't even get a picture of him! When Luke finished painting his block of wood, he sat at the table and ate a treat. When I came back to the kitchen, he was asleep with his head on the table and a piece of rice krispie on his hand. I couldn't get a picture because my camera was finally uploading the other ones!

Dade

Audrey wanted to paint, too!

Dade's picture of Audrey girl.

No Fear.

Audrey takes after Luke in that she knows no fear. The other day after searching for her in the house, I found her sitting on top of the dining room table going through my purse. Yesterday she was outside playing with the boys in the sandbox and when I looked up, she had climbed the stairs and gotten to the top of the play structure. She walked off of the bed in my parent's pop up camper and walked off the ledge of a friend's pool right into the deep end (thankfully, I was in the pool right there with her). Combine this with her constant curiosity and I end up more than a little nervous.

Blue Bell.

You can see the rope and popsiciles in the far left.

The boys has fun in the sand.

Borrowing brother's shades.

Audrey making her way down the slide.

D&L playing on the playground at the pool.

We drove to Brenham yesterday to tour the Blue Bell factory and swim at the Blue Bell aquatic center with some friends. You can see pictures here until I get mine up. At the end of the tour we got to enjoy a cup of the delicious treat -- Dade chose cookies 'n cream, Luke got mint chocolate chip, Audrey got rainbow sherbet and I got southern butter pecan. At the pool, Dade tried several times to cross the pool using the rope and popsicle floats; he decided it was easiest to jump from popsicle to popsicle instead. Luke had fun on the banana split slide and Audrey played on a step most of the time. The best part -- the whole day cost us $12 plus gas. We will definitely be making this trip again next summer!

Frustration.

New batteries, check. "New" computer, check. New pictures, check.

I've tried everything I know how to post some pictures and can't seem to get them to upload from the camera. I'm going to let my frustration wear off and try again later.

The Wild, Wild West.

Tommy is chasing Bonham and the boys around the house with a lasso... he has caught each of the boys once. To defend themselves, Luke is trying to bite Tommy and Bonham is hiding between my legs at the stove. I wish I could record the laughter and (interesting) noises in our house right now. Isn't this how the West was won?

Wait.

I have been encouraged through these e-mails for a while and have meant to post the link in the past so that you may also be strengthened by them. They are short and full of wisdom for parents today. Here is the devotional from today...

______________
Wait Ps 27:13-14:
"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!" (NKJV).

Twenty-four hours a day. Seven days a week. We are constantly called to make parenting decisions on the fly. The pressure can be overwhelming. In the process, our nerves and faith are tested. Perhaps this passage is most applicable when demands are greatest. It takes courage to wait on the Lord when your mind is screaming to do something. But, until God has strengthened your heart, your actions can be impulsive and ineffective. Instead of relying on your own snap judgments, trust in the goodness of God and wait for His guidance, He will supply you with the strength and wisdom you need (Heb 13:20-21). Under pressure, be patient and wait for the Lord to strengthen your heart and guide your actions.

Trains, Tornadoes & A Little Ray of Sunshine.

Monday was a good day. I cooked dinner but my smothered steak didn't sound as appealing to my Mexican husband as Alicia's. By the time we got home, I started feeling like I was coming down with something.

Tuesday and Wednesday I felt like I had been run over by a train. The boys completely demolished their room Tuesday while I was passed out on the couch. EVERY box and bag with a toy or puzzle or car in it was on the floor... honestly, there was nowhere to even walk into the room (hence the "tornado" in the title). After giving them two and a half hours to clean up any portion of it and still nothing was done, I sent them to the couch while I did it myself. Needless to say they have lost all their toys for a while (there were a few Hot Wheels and monster trucks scattered in the house that they are still able to play with so please don't call CPS).

Wednesday the boys did a much better job of entertaining themselves so I treated them to a Sonic slush during Happy Hour. With the t.v. off and not much to do inside, they have been out in their sandless sand box digging in the dirt. Luke decided to wash off in the sink this morning after they had been digging. Thankfully I walked in at just the right time since he had closed the drain but left the water running and was getting ready to plop into an almost overflowing sink. I snapped a picture (and one of our Little Ray of Sunshine in her sweet flower dress and clip) but my camera batteries are too low to load pictures and I cannot find the battery I put away yesterday (baby brain). Hopefully I can get you all some pictures soon!

Look how dirty the water is!

Lose My Soul.

Dade and Luke LOVE this Toby Mac song... when it comes on the radio, they always ask me if I can play it again! They walk around the house singing the chorus and dance to it in the car.

This week.

We had a full week -- Wednesday was my second doctor's appointment. The baby is growing (as is mom!) and was moving all around during the sonogram. Dade and Luke were excited to see how much he/she has grown in just five weeks. I have hit the 12 week mark and can tell that the nausea is starting to fade.

Thursday we met some friends at the SplashPad and pool to play. The boys have become much better swimmers this summer. They are both going down the slide in the deep end and swimming to the side on their own (without life jackets). They can both swim across a pool on their own. Thursday evening Nana drove into town and met us at Lupe Tortilla. Just after the waiter had set the food on the table, a boy in the sand box released two hand fulls of sand that rained down onto Donna, Tommy and their food (this is the same restaurant where Audrey was clobbered by the little girl in the sand box last week!). The second round of plates were brought out and we enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Friday I took the kids to swim with some friends while Nana went to pick up her new car. She kept the kids while I went to pick up our (fixed) computer (THANK YOU, Billy and Laura!) and to the grocery -- a nice reprieve for me! Tommy took me out to dinner at Roadhouse and we made a stop at Gander Mountain to pick up my gun that had to be sent off to be repaired. Of course we made no mention of going there to the boys.

Nana took off this morning after a big breakfast, I got back into bed for a nap (THANK YOU, Tommy!) and Tommy hung some new light fixtures in our entry and front hall. The boys enjoyed playing Mother May I, London Bridges, checkers and Tic Tac Toe with Nana. Audrey and Nana read lots of books.