Life...one day at a time!

Jedi Knights!

2011-11-26T17:30:00.001-06:00

My guys had a blast dressing up to go treating this year. There was 'Obi-wan' in the brown tunic and 'Luke Skywalker' in the black. 'Luke' was supposed to be Darth Vader, but at the last minute decided to ditch the mask and the red light-saber and be 'Luke'. :) I made the brown tunic for Big J...it was very simple to make and I only had to make a few adjustments. Though, I never did go back to finish the edges. Oh well...it makes it look like its seen it's fair share of battles!

Swimming in October

2011-11-26T17:23:00.001-06:00

At the beginning of October, we went to visit my parents. The water was still amazingly warm enough to swim without getting too chilled. The boys swam a couple of times and had a blast. In fact, when we were there just this past week for Thanksgiving, the boys thought that they were going to get to go swimming. :) Not quite! Even if the water had been warm enough, the air outside was not. Anyways, the boys in goggles crack me up! M-Man's expression makes me smile...and Big J would NOT look at the camera. Oh well. Still fun!

Let's Fly!

2011-11-16T17:04:00.001-06:00

The boys got a fun package in the mail last week from their Grammy and Papa. In it were several books and stories about airplanes, including one about the Wright Brothers.(It's hard to believe that it hasn't been THAT long ago that airplanes were invented.) Included in the package was a fun airplane kit. The boys, with a little help from their daddy, put the planes together and spent the whole weekend flying them. Here they are posing for the camera. Don't ask me what Big J's facial expression is all about...I asked him to look at the camera and this is what he did. :)

A Morning at the Preserve

2011-11-12T14:06:00.001-06:00

We spent a morning and lunch with a friend from church a couple of weeks ago. We were at a nature preserve about 20 minutes from our house. It was a beautiful day. The boys had a blast playing at the playground and then we went on a short hike to an overlook. I was amazed the whole time that we were right in the middle of the Metroplex. :)

Alive!

2011-11-11T16:48:00.001-06:00

Yes, we are alive! And here's some proof...a new post and a fun new pic of the boys! :) I'm in the process of reinvention when it comes to the blog, which would explain the absence of posts for over a month. And, we have been busy with school and travel and life in general. I'm sure you can understand. Over the course of the weekend, I will back track and document our life over the past month or so. Also, hopefully, a new vision will be cast for the future! Check back soon!

Caught in the act...

2011-09-24T11:41:00.001-05:00

...of enjoying each other's company! Truthfully, the boys often enjoy each other's company. Of course, they have those moments when they need some space, but then, who doesn't?! I had to throw in a pic of Ziva trying to be in the middle of everything. Can you see her under the table trying to get as close to the boys as possible? When Big J is working on his school work at the table, this is her favorite place to be!

First Day of School

2011-09-19T21:22:00.000-05:00

No, our first day of school was not today! We've been in session for 3 weeks and we're going on 4! I did much better with the boys "1st day of school" pics last year. They had gotten a bag full of goodies, had their backpacks on, and they may have even had their shoes on. :) This year was much more casual, socks or no socks. And M-man's blanket even managed to get into the picture. I'll post more about school later. Until then, enjoy our ever casual back-to-school pics! By the way, I must confess that one benefit of home schooling is that I (and the boys) don't get carried away with thinking that they have to have a completely new wardrobe for school every fall. We get what we need, use what we have, and enjoy a few special items...like new Star Wars shirts (see previous birthday posts). :)

Star Wars Art

2011-09-18T12:19:00.001-05:00

The past few days have been filled by the boys with the creation of chalk art in the front yard! It has finally been cooling off, so we have found ourselves out front playing! They have drawn vast cities, along with houses, lakes, bridges, and Star Wars characters. Here are a couple of M-man's creations! He is a big fan of Star Wars, especially of the characters of the Clone Wars. These two are his chalk drawings of Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka, Anakin's padawan. If you have any clue who those two characters are, then hopefully you will notice the resemblance. :) I personally think that these are excellent! What a talented boy! (Of course, I am biased...)

P.S. My hubby just informed me that these are pictures only a mother could love. :) In response, I am a mother, and I happen to be the mother of the sweetest, most talented little boy who worked very hard on this pictures! So, I still think they are excellent...but I also saw all of the time, effort, and concentration that went into them! :)

Did you know that...

2011-09-14T10:57:00.000-05:00

"God brings out the stars one by one, and calls them each by name!" - Isaiah 40:26b (my wording)

Amazing! Each star has a name and God calls them by that name. I read this during my bible study this morning. I've read it recently, but this time that part of the verse jumped out at me. The full verse is this:

"Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."
- Isaiah 40:26

Birthdays! (Part 4)

2011-09-10T08:28:00.002-05:00

Okay, I promise that this is the last birthday post for while...at least until the next birthday! The rest of the birthday presents arrived the day after the big boy's birthday. So, we had a second party of sorts! Can you tell that he likes Star Wars?? Many thanks to the Aunt and Uncles who sent such fun gifts! We've been playing like crazy ever since!

Birthdays! (Part 3)

2011-09-09T11:28:00.003-05:00

Here are some pics of the birthday evening...cake and presents, of course! After we skyped with Grammy and Papa, sang happy birthday, and opened presents, the boys spent the rest of the evening putting together a new Lego set. I'm fairly certain that this birthday was enjoyed by both boys! :)

Birthdays! (Part 2)

2011-09-08T14:55:00.004-05:00

For Micah's birthday yesterday, he wanted to go to an aquarium. We decided to go to a smaller Children's Aquarium and had a great time. There was almost nobody there, so we had the place to ourselves. The boys also got extra attention from the volunteers who were there to teach about the critters. Micah's favorite things to see (and touch) were the stingrays and the horseshoe crabs. At first, he wouldn't try to touch the animals in the touch tanks. But by the time we left, his shirt was soaking wet from pulling his arm in and out of the water! We had a fun morning and it was the perfect outing for this newly four year old boy!

Happy Birthday, Micah! (Part 1)

2011-09-07T14:25:00.003-05:00

Today is Micah's birthday! He is a 4 years old and is more grown up, all of a sudden! When did that happen?? :) We started off the day with new Star Wars Lego shirts for both boys and then a trip to Chick-fil-a for breakfast! Micah wasn't quite ready for pictures so early in the morning. And, since my camera is acting up again (ugh!), I'm having to use the camera that has a slower shutter speed...hence two pictures of the boys with one of them smiling and NO pictures with both of them smiling. Oh well. It was off to the Children's Aquarium after breakfast. More to follow on that later! And, if you were wondering what Micah was saying in the picture with me, it was "Star Wars", which is this birthday's theme!

All he wants is his two front teeth...

2011-08-13T06:57:00.002-05:00

Awhile back, I had mentioned the tooth fairy, and how much trouble we'd had! In all of the excitement, and with my camera acting up, I never got a good picture of Joshua with his two front teeth missing. Here is an attempt to capture this fun stage! The two new teeth are growing in fast, so I had to take this picture yesterday! He informed us yesterday that he has several other teeth loose. I hope these teeth come in quick, or he's going to have a tough time eating!

Fun Day Friday continued...

2011-08-13T06:51:00.003-05:00

The boys and I had gone to Target on Friday to return something. Now, I usually avoid Target because I can never seem to get out of that store with only one thing! When we do go, the boys always ask to go look at the Lego's. So, after we finished what we needed to, we headed over to the Lego section so that the boys could drool and dream over Star Wars Legos! While they were looking at the Lego's, I couldn't help but check out the puzzles. I wasn't expecting to find a very cool, and very reasonably priced, Star Wars puzzle. It's actually 3 puzzles in 1, and the 3 puzzles use 3 different sizes of pieces. All that said, I did make it out of the store with only 1 item! :) Micah was able to help quite a bit with the 48 pc. set. And Joshua was able to do the other two, a 63 pc. and a 100 pc. And then, we it was all done, they put the puzzles together to get this (see pic)! Fun stuff!

Fun Day Friday

2011-08-13T06:44:00.002-05:00

The boys and I had a fun day yesterday! We headed to the park first thing in the morning to meet some friends and go "exploring". One of the kids brought a home made fishing pole, so most of the time was spent trying to catch fish! :) My friend had brought bread for the ducks, but most of it ended up being bait for fish and food for Micah! (Don't worry, the bread wasn't moldy!)

Here are the kids looking for fish and turtles!

Here they are going fishing and in Micah's case, eating bread! I promise, I fed him breakfast before we left to go to the park. But by the way he ate while at the park, you wouldn't have believed it!

Here's Micah showing off his stack of bread! I'm fairly certain that most of that went into his belly. :) Good times!

My Alien

2011-08-06T14:06:00.003-05:00

I couldn't resist posting this pic of Big J! The boys had received these head bobble things at VBS - it went along with the theme that we are aliens and not of this world. I came in one morning and he had ALL of them on his head! Hilarious!

Saving Up

2011-07-29T17:12:00.003-05:00

I must say that I am super proud of this guy! He has been saving for a LONG time to buy this Lego set. There were several times when he was tempted to buy something else, but then was reminded of his goal, and kept on. He ordered it with the help of his daddy, and even got a better deal than he originally thought he would! It was waiting for him when we got back from my parents house yesterday. He worked through dinner, without eating, to put it together! And, he put it together all by himself, of course! What a kid!

JULY

2011-07-29T16:54:00.002-05:00

Where did the month go??? We've had a very fun, full month, and I can't believe it's almost gone. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to!

We set up the water slide one weekend and had a blast. We had several different friends come to play! Neil and I even slid down a few times...scary, I know! :)

Joshua had sports camp one week. It was awesome! It was a christian based program that taught specific sports skills and also had bible applications for how to be a good sport, etc. He loved it. His specific sport was soccer!

I grew a gigantic zucchini...completely on accident. We had been out of town for a week. I had checked over all of my plants to pick before we left, but I must have missed one, because this is what I found when I got back!

We got a new puppy! I don't have many pictures of her because my camera has been acting up. Her name is Roxie(y), though we haven't decided on the spelling for certain. :) She's cute, and she's a puppy...very rambunctious! She'll be 10 weeks old on Monday!

The boys are, well, boys! Here is one attempt to get a picture of them. See what I'm up against?!

Joshua lost a tooth, actually two teeth. This was the first of two within a weeks time. And, when the second one came out, I officially gained the title of worst parent ever. Let's just say that the tooth fairy forgot to leave money for the tooth not just ONCE, but TWICE! It had been a long week, but still, how could I forget TWO nights in a row. Ugh!

We have spent many days inside because it has been SO hot. And we just got back from a trip to my parents house to swim in their new pool! We had a blast. Again, no pictures of our fun times swimming with them because my camera was acting up. I sat down this afternoon to try to diagnose the problem and it was working just fine. Frustration! Oh well! That's about it for the month of July!

VBS

2011-06-30T19:50:00.003-05:00

This week at VBS, the boys went out of this world, and entered a world of rockets, space ships, and aliens! They were reminded in 1 Peter 2: 11-12 that they are called, set apart, and that they are strangers (aliens) in this world. They learned that they should obey God, that they are never alone, that they should stand up for the truth, and to live out loud!

The Beach

2011-06-28T17:17:00.003-05:00

So much to blog about...not enough time! Wow, nearly a month has gone by since we made a visit to the gulf coast. The boys got to spend several days with their Grammy and Papa and had a blast! They loved searching for shells and shark teeth!

Special Times with Micah

2011-06-25T11:17:00.003-05:00

While Joshua was at day camp, Micah and I were able to spend the days together and also with a good friend and her little guy who is a buddy of Micah's! The boys played on the slip-and-slide, went to the park, went swimming, and more. Micah and I even went on a "date". We checked out a new park and then headed to Chick-fil-a for chicken minis...his favorite! It was a special week!

Summer Camp

2011-06-25T11:10:00.003-05:00

Two weeks ago, Joshua had the opportunity to go to day camp. He had the time of his life. Everyday he was able to go swimming, play games, learn new things, try horse-back riding, play water games, and more. Multiple times during the week he asked if he could go back next year. I told him we would try our best! As someone who grew up going to summer camp and loving it, the thought of him loving summer camp as well brings a smile to my face!

Riddles

2011-06-24T15:13:00.002-05:00

Joshua loves jokes! Last week while at a friends house, he picked up this riddle book and proceeded to read through the whole thing, giggling all the way!

Sunflowers and Bees

2011-06-11T16:21:00.002-05:00

These flowers bring such a smile to my face! They are now taller than Joshua! On a different note, I was thrilled to find bees yesterday morning when I went out to water! I can't remember seeing a single bee last year, and we had problems with pollination because of it. There were even more bees out this morning! Woohoo!

Which one is the original??

2011-06-11T16:17:00.003-05:00

The boys were playing outside last night in the little pool. I was trying to get some fun pics of them. I asked for "normal faces" and this is what I got. :)

Swinging Away the Day!

2011-05-26T21:05:00.002-05:00

Need I say more?? These two crack me up! They love their rope swing! (I just wish that red car hadn't been in the background. I might just have to figure out how to touch up my pics a bit!)

In The Morning Shade

2011-05-26T20:57:00.002-05:00

The garden in the shade of the morning.

The cucumbers with their new climbing poles one of four sets of pumpkin! I think I'm going to have pumpkin runners everywhere!

These flowers are enormous! They are fully open in the morning but by mid-morning have closed up. This one was already starting to fade.

Grow, Garden, Grow!

2011-05-26T20:53:00.002-05:00

Our garden...a couple of days ago in the sunshine! Everything is growing nicely. The pumpkin, squash, and zucchini blooms are enormous. I have a couple of tomatoes growing, as well as a bell pepper. Big J's radishes are ready, but he decided that he didn't like them. :) My herbs are finally at a point where I can harvest small amounts! In the pictures, Joshua is standing beside pumpkin and sunflower plants!

Big J and Beardie!

2011-05-18T09:58:00.000-05:00

Color

2011-05-10T16:40:00.002-05:00

Our final two weeks of school centered around the study of color. We learned some interesting things about color wheels, primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors, and much more! Here are the boys painting with their primary colors, red, blue, and yellow!

Birds and Houses

2011-05-10T16:32:00.003-05:00

One of our last unit studies was on birds. The boys had a blast reading about different birds and about how God made them so unique. We read some very interesting books. (The library is a fantastic place, by the way :). One book had a page that showed how to make a mini paper bird house. They were too small for actual birds, though Joshua's hangs in the garden right now (he's holding out hope for a hummingbird to find it)! Here are the finished products!

I haven't been posting...

2011-05-10T16:14:00.003-05:00

...because I've been reading. There are too many good books out there that I want to read. And lately, my free time has been going to that. :) You can check out my 'currently reading' list to see what has been consuming my time! More posts about the boys will be coming soon!

My Strong Man!

2011-04-30T09:34:00.001-05:00

I love this little boy so much!! Here he is doing his "strong man"!

Climbing High!

2011-04-29T14:02:00.003-05:00

Joshua can officially reach the top of the rope swing! He tried it the other night when Neil was home to spot him. For those of you who have seen our rope swing, you know that it is a long way up there! This picture doesn't give justice to how far up he is, but I liked seeing him up in the tree! He is so strong!

P.S. Last summer, the rope swing was tied off on a lower branch, which Joshua could reach. This spring, Neil re-tied it to a much higher branch!

Chocolate Bunnies

2011-04-28T17:50:00.002-05:00

Against my better judgement, I let the boys eat half of their chocolate bunny last night. They've been begging to eat them all week. I have been hesitant because I don't really want them to eat that much chocolate in one sitting. I have to wonder why I even buy it in the first place??!! The results weren't as bad as I had anticipated, and they didn't go crazy on me. Maybe I'll let them finish it tonight so that they will stop asking about it. :)

I had a hard time with Easter this year, not the true celebration of Jesus' resurrection, but the traditions that surround the holiday. I love being with family, and celebrating in that way. But the easter bunny, easter eggs, and candy just don't make sense, though I know that the boys enjoy it. In retrospect, I don't feel like we went overboard with the extra stuff (except for maybe the chocolate bunnies!). And I tried much more than in the past to talk to the boys about what we are truly celebrating. We read from our Children's Story Bible from the time Jesus was in the grave until after the resurrection and had good conversation about it. I guess as I get older, and my boys get older, I realize how little time I have to be intentional in training and teaching them!

Our Garden

2011-04-27T18:39:00.005-05:00

Here's our garden! Neil built a nice fence around it for me this year. He also built the trellis and planted a grapevine, which is pictured above. I am so hopeful that the grapevine will do well! He put in an herb box up front in which I've got basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro, and thyme planted. Rosemary is in the big pot at the corner! The basil has popped up, as well as a couple of others. We planted the vegetables 2 weeks ago, and they seem to have a good start. We planted tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeños, cucumber, zucchini, summer squash, pumpkin, cantaloupe, watermelon, sunflower, carrots, and radishes. We are also trying blackberries again, and blueberries, though we're not so hopeful about the blueberries. And, we planted morning glories for Micah. Whew, that's a bunch. We'll see what happens. We've had so much rain that now we need sunshine! :)

Jumping Tree Stumps

2011-04-27T14:25:00.002-05:00

Here are the last of the pictures from our adventure last week. These tree stumps are at the head of the trail down to the creek where we saw the copperhead snake. The boys love to climb from stump to stump! Maybe next time we'll spend more time here and less time down in the creek. :)

Exploring the Creek

2011-04-24T14:31:00.002-05:00

Here are the boys exploring the creek before we discovered the snake. They hunted for frogs and tadpoles and then searched for the perfect rock to skip. The other little boy is Micah's new friend. They have a great time together, exploring, playing, riding bikes and racing on their scooters!

The Snake

2011-04-24T14:22:00.002-05:00

Here is what we saw on our adventure last week. We were tromping around in a creek, just off of a major trail. We had some friends with us and my friend was the one that spotted the snake. We were all a bit surprised! I was fairly certain that it was a copperhead snake, but decided to take a picture and check when we got home. We gathered the boys a few feet away so that we could show them what it looked like in it's natural surroundings, and then we got out of there! :) I looked up the snake when we got home and confirmed that it was broadband copperhead snake. Yikes! That was enough fun for me for one day!

King for a Day!

2011-04-19T20:50:00.002-05:00

The boys and I went exploring today with some friends at a local park. This nifty little seat, or shall I say throne, was along one of the trails. We've passed it many times before, but never when I had my camera. Today I was finally able to get some fun pictures of it! We had quite an adventure. I'll share the details in my next post! I'll give you a hint, though...it involves a snake!

The Sycamore Trail

2011-04-06T15:12:00.004-05:00

The boys and I had a fun adventure yesterday. While visiting a nearby nature preserve, we were able to go on a trail that had been closed in the past. There is an enormous sycamore tree on this trail. Look closely at the last picture and you will see the boys near the base of the tree. We had a blast exploring, crossing streams, making a new path around some fallen trees, and trying to catch toads. We even found a "rainbow" tree! ;)

100 Book Club

2011-03-29T09:10:00.002-05:00

We meet monthly with a group of families that also homeschool. This past month, the boys and I hosted a "100" book club to celebrate 100 days of school. Usually at book club, we would read a book during the course of the month, and then come together to recap and learn from it. This time, though, we chose to celebrate the work our kids have done over the course of the year. We learned about what was going on in the world 100 years ago. We collected 100 (+) cans of soup for a local shelter. We did 10 sets of 10 exercises and then were still and quiet for 100 seconds. The kids strung 100 fruit loops to make necklaces and much more. The kids had to sort and count the cans themselves. And I challenged them to check my counting with the bags of fruit loops. It was interesting to watch them thinking through the processes of both. It was a fun day for my boys and I. And I think that everyone else enjoyed it as well. The boys were very helpful in preparing for the event. They helped count out several baggies filled with the fruit loops, they helped make signs and blow up balloons, and much more. Regardless of the future and what route we decide to take with schooling, I'm proud of the work both of my boys have put in this year!

Final Shots

2011-03-23T07:32:00.002-05:00

I could post more, but I'll end with these two final shots from Joshua's big day. Joshua was pumped about the loot he got from the piñata. And Micah was tired and sat watching Joshua build his multitude of Lego sets. :) I love these boys so much!!

Blowing out Candles and Building with Legos!

2011-03-23T07:26:00.002-05:00

Attacking the Piñata

2011-03-22T15:00:00.002-05:00

I can't believe another week has passed, again, since my last post. Time is moving at lightning speed these days. Blogger was acting up earlier today while I was trying to do the b-day posts. Here are two pics that made it and more will follow soon. The boys, and everyone else, had a blast trying to bust open the piñata!

More party prep from last week!

2011-03-15T16:04:00.002-05:00

Has it really been a week since I last posted??? Well, here is Micah getting ready for the Lego Party two weekends ago. And here is my attempt at a Lego cake. It turned out okay. Not that I will probably be doing another Lego cake anytime soon, but I learned quite a bit while doing it. :)

The final b-day pics are coming soon!

Joshua is 6 years old!

2011-03-08T16:15:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday to Joshua! My big guy turned 6 on Friday. We started the day with Muscle Stackers (a protein pancake with cottage cheese of all things), per the request of the Birthday Boy! Then we headed off to book club with some homeschool friends. The theme was 100 days of school and we had a blast and did some really fun things to celebrate. That evening, we headed to The Twisted Root for dinner, which was where Joshua wanted to go. Afterwards, we let the boys both pick out a mini treat from the bakery at Whole Foods so that we would have a sweet birthday treat. (I don't do cake two days in a row, and he had the birthday cake of his choice the following day :) Joshua picked out a mini cupcake and Micah picked out a brownie bite! We were able to celebrate on skype with Grammy and Papa and then Joshua opened his presents. More on the presents later. But I did want to mention that we measured him and he grew about 3 inches this year, and he cleared the 4 foot mark! I can hardly believe it!

The Lego Piñata

2011-03-08T15:59:00.004-06:00

Joshua wanted to have a Lego party for his 6th birthday. So, we embarked on a journey to create a Lego Piñata and a Lego cake. I'll save the cake for another post. I researched several different ways of making a Lego piñata, and was pleased with the final product. I took a medium sized box and distressed it by putting holes in the sides (though in looking back, it wasn't enough and was harder to bust than I had originally thought it would be). I used red tissue paper, cut into strips, and the slits cut up one side of each strip, to make the "fuzzy" part. I used Elmer's glue to put on the first cover of red and also to glue on the top round pieces. Other than that, I used a glue stick! Joshua helped me with several sections. We stuffed it with candy through a secret door, which of course the boys loved. It was a blast at the party get the candy out. More about the party later...

Heart Day

2011-02-25T20:06:00.002-06:00

Yes, I know it's nearly two weeks later, but here are my guys on Valentine's morning. We started the day with heart biscuits, fruit, and other yummy stuff. That evening, we had friends over for dinner, play, and cookies! It was a good day!

Little Boy Heaven

2011-02-19T09:52:00.003-06:00

Joshua caught a little snake this morning in our backyard. Here he is (in the 2nd pic) showing it off in his mobile snake habitat. This particular snake likes to burrow, so Joshua filled a bag with nice dirt and leaves and put the snake in it. Last I checked, he was still carrying it around. :)

Micah is busy hunting for snail shells and collecting them in the "home" he made for them. Yesterday, he actually found a live snail and observed it crawling and sliding around for most of the afternoon. This morning Micah informed me that he was on the hunt for snails and slugs and the he was going to have the most snail shells of anyone in the whole world!

P.S. In case you were wondering, the stack of concrete blocks beside Micah is actually a "Gecko Trap", built by Joshua before we had all of the snow. Good times!

The Last of the Snow...Hopefully

2011-02-16T17:17:00.002-06:00

Okay...here are the last snow pictures that I'm going to post. That is, unless it decides to snow again.

Safari Snowman

2011-02-15T08:05:00.003-06:00

Lego Mania

2011-02-11T11:18:00.002-06:00

You may wonder how we survived our many days of cold, snowy weather. Well, whether you were wondering or not, I'll tell you the answer. LEGOS! The boys would pour out their Legos and build every single day. The table was covered in Legos. The floor was covered in Legos! They had a great time, and are still creating! (For those gifted in grammar, should their be an apostrophe in Legos??)

The Second Time Around

2011-02-09T17:01:00.001-06:00

Now that we are on snow/ice #3, I'm behind on getting pics posted from snow/ice #2. Here are a couple of my favorites. I'll post more later. :)

Must Love Dogs

2011-02-09T07:04:00.002-06:00

Before Neil and I got married, which by the way has been nearly 10 years ago, he made it clear that if I didn't like dogs, then we shouldn't get married. Well, I like dogs (usually), obviously we got married, and we've had our fair share of dogs. Of all the dogs we have had, Ziva is by far the craziest. Don't get me wrong. She is a good dog. But her intensity level is off the charts. She is always looking for something to retrieve and/or play with. Her favorite item of choice is a sock. If she can't find a sock, then a glove will do nicely, which is what she has in her mouth in the above picture. :) Since we have had an extended winter, gloves have been plentiful around our house. On the upside, I never have to worry about losing a sock or glove, as Ziva will make sure to find them and bring them to me!

These guys melt my heart!!

2011-02-08T15:23:00.000-06:00

Aren't they handsome??

Elephants

2011-02-03T19:16:00.002-06:00

We've been learning about elephants this week during school. They are fascinating animals. Since it has been freezing cold outside, we've been playing with lots of clay and play dough. These elephants were fun to make. We read the book Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing by April Jones Prince. It tells the true story of how after the Brooklyn Bridge was finished, and people were unsure of it's stability, P.T. Barnum paraded 21 elephants across the bridge to show it's strength. These are our elephants on parade!

Ice Days

2011-02-03T19:10:00.002-06:00

I almost titled this post "Snow Days". But that wouldn't be accurate, since we mostly have ice! We have been slipping and sliding all over the yard and street. And we've been COLD the whole time. I've been surprised, though, how often the boys have gone out to play. They just layer up and go out for a few minutes at a time. :) Good times, but I am SO ready for warmer weather!

Climbing the Rope

2011-01-29T15:32:00.002-06:00

Joshua has climbed to the top of our rope swing many times. This was one of those times. He was so proud of himself when he was finished, as you can see in the second photo. :)

December Sunsets

2011-01-27T19:16:00.002-06:00

Believe it or not, this was taken in early December. I missed posting pics for basically the entire month, so I'm going to slowly go back and post about what we did. This was one of those warm December days before the cold really set in. We've had some beautiful sunsets over the past couple of months, this one included!

A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

2011-01-23T14:04:00.002-06:00

My boys love to play in boxes, especially really big boxes! I could easily take a thousand words to describe the fun (and frustration) that has been had with this giant box over the last couple of days. They have had a blast playing in it. It reminds me of a box that used to be in my kindergarten class so many years ago. I have such fun, vivid memories of it. I hope that they remember something of their play with this one.

I could also use a thousand words to tell you the story of why we even have this box to begin with. But I won't. I'll just give the shortened version. We had to have our outside heat/air unit replaced, and it's not even a year old. Something went very wrong with the compressor. Thankfully, Neil knew that the noise it was making was not normal and gave the heat and air guys a call. And thankfully, it was still under full warranty. So, we have a new unit to replace a practically new unit, and...a really COOL box!

What a boy!

2011-01-23T13:58:00.002-06:00

I cannot express to you how proud I am of this boy! Let me explain this picture to you. Joshua is totally into Legos, and builds and rebuilds his sets often. This picture is of him showing off a "set" that he created and the instruction manual that he drew/wrote on how to build it! The manual is several pages long and goes through, step by step, how to build his plane! How cool is this!!! It is in moments such as these that I am overwhelmingly proud of and thankful for this boy that God has blessed me to help raise!

Dairy Party!

2011-01-23T13:52:00.002-06:00

The boys and I wrapped up a week of school on Friday with a dairy party. The subjects covered this week were cows, farms, dairy farms in particular and more! We learned many interesting things over the course of the week. Then they enjoyed eating several yummy dairy products, including milk, yogurt (w/berries), cheese cubes, and cream cheese on crackers (w/cranberries). They followed that up with a big bowl of ice cream, of course. It was a fun end to an interesting week.

The Uninvited Guest

2011-01-17T19:09:00.002-06:00

The other day, Joshua had been playing with his stuffed animals and had put them down for a 'nap'. What he didn't realize for a long time was that there was an intruder. :) Ziva came and curled up among the animals, eventually making herself completely comfortable. She was nestled in beside the alligator and the whale shark. When Joshua did finally notice her, he pounced on her. Too funny!

Let It Snow

2011-01-10T15:58:00.002-06:00

The boys have had a BLAST tromping through the snow. It started snowing yesterday, late morning, and it kept snowing all day long. They wanted to go out when it first started snowing so that they could catch snowflakes on their tongues. Then we had snow cones. Later we went out and had snow ball fights. Joshua and I had THE best snowball fight ever (according to him). :) I had a good time, too. This morning, we went back out to enjoy the snow before it started melting. They had a great time scouting for icicles. I enjoy the snow, but I don't enjoy not being equipped to be out in it. It happens so infrequently, and the boys grow so quickly, that I don't have snow suits or good mittens for them. We just layer and come in when it gets too cold!

Dinosaur Hike

2011-01-04T17:54:00.003-06:00

A local museum and nature center has a very fun dinosaur exhibit right now. There are several life-size, animated dinosaurs along one of their nature trails. The boys like to see them, mostly. Joshua was holding his ears while T-Rex roared! I love the pics of the boys together!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T19:10:00.002-06:00

"The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them." - Jim Rohn

One goal I have is to post here more often... about my boys, life, God, food, school and more. Check back soon!

Joshua and Beardie - New Pics!

2010-12-15T21:46:00.002-06:00

Wow, am I out of the habit of having my camera with me. I've missed several photo ops over the past couple of weeks. These pics of Joshua and his bearded dragon were taken awhile back. He'll be excited that I finally posted them.

Overhead

2010-11-21T21:05:00.002-06:00

Last weekend, these WWII airplanes flew over our house, not just once but several times. It was hilarious to watch the boys running back and forth between the back yard and the front yard, via the house, to watch them for as long as possible. It made for a nice airshow, right in our own backyard...well worth the price of admission!

Historical Places

2010-11-18T15:28:00.003-06:00

The boys and I visited an archaeological site that is close to where we live. It is an old railroad water reservoir dam, built in 1874. It's believed to be the only one left in the United States. Water would have been pumped to a tower close to the railway so that steam locomotives could refill. We enjoyed exploring this historical spot!

Pumpkins and Costumes

2010-11-11T09:54:00.002-06:00

For Halloween, Joshua wanted to be an explorer. But he didn't want to wear a hat and he didn't want to carry his net. We ended up with a lizard on his shirt and a snake and binoculars around his neck. Micah wanted to be a puppy, just like his stuffed puppy. I made a decent attempt at making a costume, but couldn't quite get the ears right. He did have a little blue tail on the back that was adorable. :) Regardless, he was cute. (Don't worry...they didn't go trick or treating barefoot.) The night before, we carved our pumpkin. Neil cut it open, the boys and I scooped out the insides, and then we all worked together to come up with the face. The boys wanted a goofy, scary face. Do you think we succeeded??

Meet Beardie the Dragon!

2010-10-29T16:19:00.001-05:00

A day at the park!

2010-10-29T16:11:00.002-05:00

Pumpkin Time

2010-10-03T15:30:00.002-05:00

The boys and I spent the morning out at a Pumpkin Farm on Friday! We had a blast feeding the animals, picking pumpkins, lunching with friends, going on a hayride, catching butterflies, and "roping" cows! The weather was beautiful, and the smiles on my boys faces even better!

Sea World

2010-09-20T13:20:00.002-05:00

It's been forever since I last posted. We've been having technical difficulties with our computers. The screens on both of our computers have gone out, for various reasons. This puts a serious cramp on how I get things done on the computer. As of late, I just haven't been getting them done. Posting on here is one of those "things". I have many pics to edit and upload. I hope to work through them during the coming week. We still don't have our screens fixed, so we'll see. :) Until then, enjoy this pic of the family at Sea World. It was our end of summer treat, which we were able to enjoy with my brother and his family.

3 Years Old Today!

2010-09-07T07:49:00.002-05:00

My Micah is 3 years old today! Time sure flies when you're having fun. During the past month, he has suddenly become Mr. Independent, which is a good thing. :) Our days are definitely interesting and fun (usually)! In the above photo, he's listening to music on his 'frog pod' and singing along.

A Treehouse in the Making

2010-09-04T12:49:00.002-05:00

Neil is slowly working on a tree house for the boys. The love it and enjoy helping when they can.

Visit from the Tooth Fairy!

2010-08-31T21:38:00.003-05:00

Wow, yesterday was a big day. While I was gone working at a consignment sale, Joshua LOST his FIRST tooth! I don't know how well you can see it, since his new tooth is already coming in, but he lost the lower middle (left to you) tooth. He is super excited. However, since I was gone, Neil didn't know where the special "Tooth Exchange" pouch was. So, tonight Joshua should get that special visit to exchange his tooth! He's very excited! Thanks to Grammy for thinking ahead so many years ago to send us the very important tooth bag! :)

First Day of School

2010-08-31T21:34:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was Joshua's official, if abbreviated, first day of school. We're excited, but starting off slowly, just trying to get into a new routine. We did some reading, memory work, and phonics. Micah isn't so sure about "going" to school, but he still got a backpack full of fun school stuff to use!

Yogurtville! YUM!

2010-08-27T08:32:00.002-05:00

My parents treated the boys and us to frozen yogurt at Yogurtville! It was YUMMY! The boys had a great time. Do you think they were excited??

New Scooters!

2010-08-27T08:28:00.002-05:00

Many thanks to Mimi and Grandpa for the scooters you got for the boys. They have REALLY, REALLY enjoyed them! Joshua can go so fast, hence the helmet! We didn't make Micah put his on because he was going at a snail's pace, literally! :)

Enjoying the Water Slide

2010-08-27T08:25:00.002-05:00

We had several impromptu play dates with friends last week so that we could share the fun of our new water slide. Here is Joshua going down the slide with some good friends of ours!

Hand Puppets

2010-08-18T07:51:00.002-05:00

Joshua and I made these hand puppets the other day. The initial idea came from an older issue of Family Fun. The frog is straight out of that article. The stingray and the shark, though, were completely Joshua's idea. He made the shark and we collaborated on the stingray. The funny thing about the stingray is that it was initially supposed to be a black lab with droopy ears. When it wasn't quite working out like I had hoped, Joshua had the idea to tape the mouth shut, put gills and a mouth on the bottom side and put the stinger/tail on. :) Isn't he creative?? He then spent the rest of the afternoon putting on puppet shows for us!

The New Water Slide!!

2010-08-15T19:18:00.002-05:00

Neil has been eyeing this water slide at Aldi all summer. We went today to pick up a few groceries after church and guess what was on clearance??? Woohoo. We have had the best time with this slide. And yes, Neil and I have played on it too!

Sharks!!!!

2010-08-12T14:25:00.002-05:00

Don't worry, I'm not going shark diving anytime soon, though Joshua talks almost daily of going shark diving when he turns 16. Yikes. And, I'm not trying to infringe on any one's book rights. These are two pictures that Joshua took with our small digital camera. He's been on a shark quest all summer, choosing books from the library each week and wanting to read every word of every book! I love the first picture because it looks like you are right there in front of the Great White! Of over 70 pics he's taken in the past couple of days, we narrowed them to about 50 and then these are the two he chose to post. Joshua likes the second picture because you can see the shark's teeth! Happy Swimming!

Water Play

2010-08-12T09:27:00.002-05:00

The boys were being funny the other day while playing in the little pool. Micah insisted on wearing two sets of floaties - in a foot of water. And Joshua always looks so cute in his goggles. :) (Of course, I'm not biased in any way, ha ha!)

Recap of VBS

2010-08-10T10:34:00.004-05:00

Once again, the week got away from me. To recap, the boys and I had a wonderful time at VBS. We all learned so much and met lots of new people. Here is Joshua in the Missions class. Each day, he and his class rotated through classes, worship rally, snack, craft, and missions. I'll talk more about the Missions room later, which is where I was helping out.

Life...one WEEK at a time!

2010-08-10T08:58:00.003-05:00

I should change my title to life...a WEEK at a time, since I can't seem to get on here more often than once a week to post. :)

Hero Headquarters

2010-08-03T16:06:00.003-05:00

We are two days into VBS at our church. It has been a wonderful experience. The boys are really enjoying their classes and activities. They are learning about unseen heros in the bible. Their memory verse is:

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12

We're looking forward to the rest of the week! :)

First Cantaloupe of the Season!

2010-08-03T15:56:00.002-05:00

Joshua and I cut into the first cantaloupe of the season from our garden today. I'm happy to report that it does taste good! We have another one that is much bigger but not quite ripe enough to eat, and three more currently growing in the garden. I hope that they will all be as tasty as this one!

New (to us) Bunk Beds!

2010-07-29T14:49:00.002-05:00

Yeah! We finally found the right bunk bed set for the boys. They are super excited, though it has been an adjustment. :) We were up until almost midnight the first night that they slept in it.

One more 'stitches' picture!

2010-07-28T15:18:00.002-05:00

I wanted to post this pic of Micah. We took this picture when we got home after going to the ER. Micah is showing off his identification armband and some stickers that he got while there. Hopefully this will be the last I post of ER visits and big cuts for awhile!

Last week

2010-07-28T15:12:00.002-05:00

Last week was an interesting week. Trying to stay active with Micah, but not being able to get wet or play rough, was challenging. We had lots of inside play and library time. Here are the boys playing with play dough. The morning after his big boo-boo, Micah requested french toast for breakfast. We usually only make big breakfasts on the weekend, but it sounded like a good idea to me! :)

Stitches are out!

2010-07-27T21:49:00.002-05:00

We took Micah to get his stitches out on Monday afternoon. It was a quick and painless procedure. Here he is with a couple of steri-strips on his forehead.

Stitches!

2010-07-21T21:43:00.002-05:00

Well, we made our first trip to the ER this evening. For that matter, I made my first call to 911 ever and had a nice visit with the EMT's and Firefighters. Micah and Joshua were playing, not even rough housing, and Micah somehow managed to slip and fall over the couch and hit his head on the fireplace. It was one nasty cut and required 6 stitches. Yikes! Micah was such a trooper and very brave while he was getting stitched up. I also have to mention that Joshua was the best big brother ever! He was so helpful and thoughtful! After the whole ordeal was over, we took the boys to get milkshakes at Chick-fil-a! Whew. After all of that, I think I'm headed to bed!

Cooling Off!

2010-07-20T20:03:00.003-05:00

It's been hot here the past few days, so hot that the boys haven't wanted to go outside and play in the evenings. Tonight they decided it would be fun to splash in the little pool. They put on their suits, grabbed their diving toys, and enjoyed the cool water for a long time. Here they are waiting in anticipation for the pool to fill with water. :)

Camping Out

2010-07-15T14:27:00.002-05:00

We weren't really camping...but the boys got to "camp out" in our room while we had guests staying at our house earlier this week. Neil read books to them in our bed before they went to sleep. As you can see, they had a good time! Note that Micah is holding our alarm clock. This can be dangerous. :) Last week, when we were visiting my parents, the alarm clock in my room went off at 2 a.m. All I know is that Micah had been playing with it before we got ready for bed. What am I going to do with that boy??!!

Bike Riding 101

2010-07-15T14:19:00.003-05:00

Micah decided earlier this week that he was finally interested in getting on his bike. I sent him in to get shoes on and rain boots are what he came back wearing. :) He did a good job pedaling, but had a hard time staying out of the grass. Then he would get frustrated that he couldn't go forward. It was hot outside, so we didn't stay out for long. Hopefully this is just the first of many bike rides for him!

On The Hunt

2010-07-11T15:28:00.004-05:00

The boys and I went to visit my parents for a few days last week and had a blast! We went to the park, ate at chick-fil-a (twice), had a picnic at a local state park, paddled around a lake on paddle boats, spent a morning at a local nature center, and went roller-skating (the first time for the boys)!! And that doesn't even begin to describe the hours spent tromping around the yard, hunting for bugs, and splashing in puddles! What a fun, busy, few days we had! The pictures above were from splashing in the creek at the state park. Micah hunted for perfectly round rocks that were great for making towers! And Joshua hunted for crawdads. My Dad hunted for anything that the boys were looking for. :) I do not have pictures on the paddle boats, since I was one of the ones paddling. And I forgot to take my camera when we went roller-skating. All I can say about that is that Joshua had a blast and Micah even got out on the rink to try his hand at skating! I enjoyed it as well, as it brought back many memories of my years spent skating. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a great visit!