I come from a proud heritage of mighty men who serve and have served our country. To each of them, and to many others, I say thank you. Thank you for the sacrifices you have and will make. Thank you for protecting my country and my freedom, so that we can leave a strong and free nation to our children. And to those who have paid the ultimate price, on this Memorial Day we thank you. And we salute you.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
And so it begins.....
Summer began with a bang in our house.
Literally! Nathanael was playing baseball with a friend and decided NOT to catch the ball headed straight for his face. A bruised nose and lots if blood loss were the extent of his injuries, but it sure scared a lot of people!
My husby and I went and saw the newest Pirates of the Carribean movie. First of all, children have no business watching this movie. I'm not kidding. The mermaids were very scary - I won't spoil it by going into detail, but anyone who enjoys reading will know why. However, I did enjoy the fact that Captain Jack Sparrow was back to his true character (unlike the 3rd movie, where no one was true to their character). Overall I think I liked the movie, but Carl gives it a thumbs down.
In other news, the deer devastated my garden and ate nearly all of my 'deer proof' plants. Lantana, plumbago, you name it they chomped it. My gladiolas did survive, though! And they are gorgeous! Nathanael is very proud of these plants that 'we planted as seeds (bulbs) and have now seen through to completion.'. Thank you, my little philosopher!
Grade wise everyone did well. Carlye made straight As again, but didn't make honor roll because she had her folder signed 7 times. This equals an N in organization and preparation. She wanted me to call her teacher, but that would defeat the purpose of this life lesson in personal responsibility. And boy, was it hard not to call!!!! She cried and cried, and I almost broke, but she has to learn responsibility.
She also did great on her TAKS test, only missing one in math and receiving a Commended. However, in her stronger subjects (reading and language) she barely passed! A little more effort next year, please! Nathanael made great grades all year, and Noah knows the material, but is still not good at organizing self. A theme in our household, apparently! So now we will enjoy summer and try not to forget everything we learned!
Literally! Nathanael was playing baseball with a friend and decided NOT to catch the ball headed straight for his face. A bruised nose and lots if blood loss were the extent of his injuries, but it sure scared a lot of people!
My husby and I went and saw the newest Pirates of the Carribean movie. First of all, children have no business watching this movie. I'm not kidding. The mermaids were very scary - I won't spoil it by going into detail, but anyone who enjoys reading will know why. However, I did enjoy the fact that Captain Jack Sparrow was back to his true character (unlike the 3rd movie, where no one was true to their character). Overall I think I liked the movie, but Carl gives it a thumbs down.
In other news, the deer devastated my garden and ate nearly all of my 'deer proof' plants. Lantana, plumbago, you name it they chomped it. My gladiolas did survive, though! And they are gorgeous! Nathanael is very proud of these plants that 'we planted as seeds (bulbs) and have now seen through to completion.'. Thank you, my little philosopher!
Grade wise everyone did well. Carlye made straight As again, but didn't make honor roll because she had her folder signed 7 times. This equals an N in organization and preparation. She wanted me to call her teacher, but that would defeat the purpose of this life lesson in personal responsibility. And boy, was it hard not to call!!!! She cried and cried, and I almost broke, but she has to learn responsibility.
She also did great on her TAKS test, only missing one in math and receiving a Commended. However, in her stronger subjects (reading and language) she barely passed! A little more effort next year, please! Nathanael made great grades all year, and Noah knows the material, but is still not good at organizing self. A theme in our household, apparently! So now we will enjoy summer and try not to forget everything we learned!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Great News!
Nathanael won a Beta fish for the last day of school! Every time they are "caught" with good behavior throughout the year they get a fish bowl ticket. At the end of the year there is a drawing to see who gets to keep the class pet. This year it was a beta named Spike.
So, let me be the first to say - Welcome to our home Spike! With 3 cats, 1 yorkie and our history with small pets (such as birds) I'm sure that you have nothing to worry about. Live long and prosper my aquatic friend.
*SIde note, my computer has completely spazzed out and took my iPad with it, so I can't blog from either one - which is where my pictures are. When it is fixed I WILL blog about my amazing trip to see my baby sister and my nephews. Until then, I will be sharing summer news from my husbands computer - using whatever pictures he happens to have.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Self-esteem
Children are so good for your self esteem. Here are some things that have been shared with me over the past few weeks to encourage me and bring me joy.
While eating lunch with Noah at school today:
"Mommy, could you please not laugh while you're at my school? it's kinda embarrassing."
While eating lunch with Carlye at school today:
"Mommy, do I look more like you or Sissy?"
"Me, probably."
"Oh, that's too bad."
During dinner with the family:
"Aunt Cari, my mom is a lot smarter than you"
And my favorite:
While relaxing in the evening:
"When you sit down like that you look like there's a baby in your tummy."
While eating lunch with Noah at school today:
"Mommy, could you please not laugh while you're at my school? it's kinda embarrassing."
While eating lunch with Carlye at school today:
"Mommy, do I look more like you or Sissy?"
"Me, probably."
"Oh, that's too bad."
During dinner with the family:
"Aunt Cari, my mom is a lot smarter than you"
And my favorite:
While relaxing in the evening:
"When you sit down like that you look like there's a baby in your tummy."
Monday, May 23, 2011
Summertime!
Ahhh, Summer in Texas!
Beautiful sunshine,
Cool breezes by the water,
The smell of sunscreen,
Children splashing in the pool
While you feel the warm sun on your face........
And bugs,
Filthy horrible awful mosquitos and gnats (or no-see-ums to Texun's)
Fire ants and flies.
Ahhhh, Summer in Texas.
Beautiful sunshine,
Cool breezes by the water,
The smell of sunscreen,
Children splashing in the pool
While you feel the warm sun on your face........
And bugs,
Filthy horrible awful mosquitos and gnats (or no-see-ums to Texun's)
Fire ants and flies.
Ahhhh, Summer in Texas.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Home Sweet Home!
Oh give me a home, where the children all roam
Where the dogs and the kitties do play
Where often the words 'I love you' are heard
And board games are happily played.
Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and elk hang on my wall.
Where often is heard children screaming words
While mom and dad threaten them alll.
Home, home on the range!
Where my children all snuggle with me.
They fight and they kick, over who gets to sit
Right next to their daddy or me.
Then give me a land, where when children stand
It's for what they believe to be true
And not to stomp off, because they are mad
That you asked them to pick up their shoes!
Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and elk hang on my wall
Where over the noise of my daughter and boys,
True love abounds for us all.
Home, home on the range,
There's no place that I'd rather be.
Cause I love my kids, even when they throw fits,
And I know that my husband loves me!
(And in case you were wondering, I love him, too. Quite a bit.
And I'm pretty sure he loves the kids as well!)
Where the dogs and the kitties do play
Where often the words 'I love you' are heard
And board games are happily played.
Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and elk hang on my wall.
Where often is heard children screaming words
While mom and dad threaten them alll.
Home, home on the range!
Where my children all snuggle with me.
They fight and they kick, over who gets to sit
Right next to their daddy or me.
Then give me a land, where when children stand
It's for what they believe to be true
And not to stomp off, because they are mad
That you asked them to pick up their shoes!
Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and elk hang on my wall
Where over the noise of my daughter and boys,
True love abounds for us all.
Home, home on the range,
There's no place that I'd rather be.
Cause I love my kids, even when they throw fits,
And I know that my husband loves me!
(And in case you were wondering, I love him, too. Quite a bit.
And I'm pretty sure he loves the kids as well!)
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Dutch and Dane
I haven't been blogging much lately because I am with my nephews Dutch and Dane. I am having so much fun! A few notes on flying, though.
1) No matter how much you love children, two flights and a layover surrounded by multiple infants and children that belong to other people can be very exhausting.
2) Parents with 4 year old boys should not allow them to throw pieces of paper and stuffed animals at the people sitting behind them on the airplane. Just because I smile does NOT mean I enjoy it. 'Cause I don't. It's annoying. And rude.
3) When every seat in the airplane is taken, and you sit by me, STAY IN YOUR SEAT! I need mine for me!!!! Also, just a little FYI, it is rude to lean over me to look out the window or take a picture. Stay out of my space!
It's good to be here. On land. With children who are related to me. I'll try to post more soon.
1) No matter how much you love children, two flights and a layover surrounded by multiple infants and children that belong to other people can be very exhausting.
2) Parents with 4 year old boys should not allow them to throw pieces of paper and stuffed animals at the people sitting behind them on the airplane. Just because I smile does NOT mean I enjoy it. 'Cause I don't. It's annoying. And rude.
3) When every seat in the airplane is taken, and you sit by me, STAY IN YOUR SEAT! I need mine for me!!!! Also, just a little FYI, it is rude to lean over me to look out the window or take a picture. Stay out of my space!
It's good to be here. On land. With children who are related to me. I'll try to post more soon.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Noah wrote us a note
Noah wrote me this note the other night:
It says "Roses are red violets are blue and I love you and you love me." Isn't it sweet?!?!?!
The other night Noah didn't have any paper.
So he did what anyone would do, he wrote all over his entire body to show Daddy and I how much he loves us:
When I told him that it was really, really, really not a good thing to do he said "Why? I didn't have anything else to write on?" Offering his brotherly support Nathanael said, "Why didn't you write on your face if you wanted to write on your whole entire body?"
"Awwwww, man! I wish I'd thought of that!"
Indeed.
It says "Roses are red violets are blue and I love you and you love me." Isn't it sweet?!?!?!
The other night Noah didn't have any paper.
So he did what anyone would do, he wrote all over his entire body to show Daddy and I how much he loves us:
When I told him that it was really, really, really not a good thing to do he said "Why? I didn't have anything else to write on?" Offering his brotherly support Nathanael said, "Why didn't you write on your face if you wanted to write on your whole entire body?"
"Awwwww, man! I wish I'd thought of that!"
Indeed.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Easter pictures (finally!)
I am so sorry for the lack of blog posts lately! There really is so much going on, and soooo much that I have to blog about, I just don't have the time! So, better late than never, here are my Easter pictures. Sadly, I don't have any from Mother's Day, but I will blog about it soon. That, and so much more........
All of the cousins on Daddy's side. From L to R: Bristol, Colton, Victoria, Noah, Cassie, Nathanael, Carlye and Chloe in her arms:
Running to get the eggs:
Here are the girls while we are telling the resurrection story with Easter eggs:
Carlye with one of the cupcakes that we made. The candy eggs on top were filled with jelly beans!
Almost all of the cousins:
My three:
Our family:
All of the cousins on Daddy's side. From L to R: Bristol, Colton, Victoria, Noah, Cassie, Nathanael, Carlye and Chloe in her arms:
Running to get the eggs:
Here are the girls while we are telling the resurrection story with Easter eggs:
Carlye with one of the cupcakes that we made. The candy eggs on top were filled with jelly beans!
Almost all of the cousins:
My three:
Our family:
Thursday, May 5, 2011
This week
This week has been a week of hard work and revelation. Allow me to share:
1) I signed up to work Book Fair for two days this week. Didn't mean to. Do you know why? Because at Book Fairs I tend to buy books. A lot of them. And it is definitely not a good idea for me to spend upwards of 8 hours trapped in a room with amazing children's books. Although I LOVED spending time with Mary Lynn.
2) Noah informed me that when I'm sitting in bed typing on my computer I look like I have a baby in my tummy. I appreciated him pointing that out to me.
3) My dream of owning my own dead animal zoo is growing by leaps and bounds. The current mule deer and elk that are already hanging on the wall have been joined by an even larger elk. Joyfully enough there is also a trophy Axis at the taxidermist that we should have in time to decorate for Christmas
4) Carlye ran in the Little Olympics, and brought them all the way into second (first place isn't even in this picture!Ha!), but one of the other girls had difficulty keeping up, so they came in 4th. Carlye's the blonde in the red shirt.
5) We've been eating our meals that I made earlier this week and so far we love ALL of them - I am so excited about this making 5 meals in one hour!!! Seriously, if you haven't checked out her blog yet you REALLY need to. Make 5 dinners in 1 hour.
6) It is never fair when you go to the dentist and you have several cavities (two that are abscessed) and your little brother who hardly ever brushes his teeth and smuggles candy under his pillow to eat at night doesn't have a single one! (It's kind of expensive too)
7) I read three of the Book Fair books so that Carlye could. I love Gail Carson Levine books!
8) I got an iPhone (it's the old one that you get for free when you join AT&T, but I got to keep my phone number. And I LOVE it.
9) My friend Kristen and I have been painting two little playhouses at church. All I've been doing is the trim and she is painting on all of the cute stuff, but isn't it adorable? It's obviously not finished yet.
What have you been doing this week?
1) I signed up to work Book Fair for two days this week. Didn't mean to. Do you know why? Because at Book Fairs I tend to buy books. A lot of them. And it is definitely not a good idea for me to spend upwards of 8 hours trapped in a room with amazing children's books. Although I LOVED spending time with Mary Lynn.
2) Noah informed me that when I'm sitting in bed typing on my computer I look like I have a baby in my tummy. I appreciated him pointing that out to me.
3) My dream of owning my own dead animal zoo is growing by leaps and bounds. The current mule deer and elk that are already hanging on the wall have been joined by an even larger elk. Joyfully enough there is also a trophy Axis at the taxidermist that we should have in time to decorate for Christmas
4) Carlye ran in the Little Olympics, and brought them all the way into second (first place isn't even in this picture!Ha!), but one of the other girls had difficulty keeping up, so they came in 4th. Carlye's the blonde in the red shirt.
5) We've been eating our meals that I made earlier this week and so far we love ALL of them - I am so excited about this making 5 meals in one hour!!! Seriously, if you haven't checked out her blog yet you REALLY need to. Make 5 dinners in 1 hour.
6) It is never fair when you go to the dentist and you have several cavities (two that are abscessed) and your little brother who hardly ever brushes his teeth and smuggles candy under his pillow to eat at night doesn't have a single one! (It's kind of expensive too)
7) I read three of the Book Fair books so that Carlye could. I love Gail Carson Levine books!
8) I got an iPhone (it's the old one that you get for free when you join AT&T, but I got to keep my phone number. And I LOVE it.
9) My friend Kristen and I have been painting two little playhouses at church. All I've been doing is the trim and she is painting on all of the cute stuff, but isn't it adorable? It's obviously not finished yet.
What have you been doing this week?
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Dinner update
Our first meal was a huge success! All of us loved the barbecue chicken with corn on the cob! So yay for meals prepared ahead of time!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Violin Concert and a Black Eye
Carlye had her final violin concert last night. She did so well! Her concert was in the same building that Carl used to have his dinner theater concerts for choir - 22 years ago!!! I was going to try and buy Carlye a violin this summer because she wants to continue in orchestra, but she told me that next year she wants to play the viola, so I may wait to buy her an instrument until she's picked one that she adores. Here are a couple of pictures from her concert.
Noah, taking pictures of his sister's orchestra concert. (Just in case you couldn't tell from the picture)
Here is the final equation in our math problem - poor baby! It just keeps getting darker and darker. He is tough!
Noah, taking pictures of his sister's orchestra concert. (Just in case you couldn't tell from the picture)
Here is the final equation in our math problem - poor baby! It just keeps getting darker and darker. He is tough!
Monday, May 2, 2011
I did it!
5 meals in one hour (and several breakfasts, too!). We have artichokes tonight, barbecue chicken for tomorrow (it's in a ziploc baggie marinating in barbecue sauce, worchestershire sauce and onions), ham and potato soup (in a baggie, peeled and cubed), chicken lasagna and finally, sausage, peppers and zucchini, marinating in balsamic vinegar, mustard and Italian seasoning.
I will let you know how the week goes, and if any of it is any good. This is gonna be fun!
I will let you know how the week goes, and if any of it is any good. This is gonna be fun!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Simple Math
An 8 year old boy + a tall climbing tree + several poky sticks + a "hundred foot fall" = very, very bad things.
Very, very bad things = a severely swollen black eye that "hurts even when I blink."
Pictures tomorrow.
Very, very bad things = a severely swollen black eye that "hurts even when I blink."
Pictures tomorrow.
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