the lloyds

My Favorites

2010-06-16T16:58:00.037-05:00

Wow ... six months since I've made an entry here. That flew by. Guess I haven't thought much about stopping to blog because life has just been so darn busy. I saw a fellow blogger (one of my favorites) make a "baby-book" entry on her blog today though and it got me to thinking about my kids' baby books. I did okay with filling in some of the blanks. Not all. Some. I certainly haven't written in them in years. It has gotten me thinking back today. To when they were little. How I miss those days. But oh, how I am loving who these babies are growing up to be!

I thought I'd write a brief summary here of who these precious people have been and who they are becoming today. Just to have it somewhere.

Here goes ...

My first born. My favorite girl in the world. You made such a dramatic entrance into our lives and it has been a non-stop, fun-filled ride. Somehow, you have been funny since birth. I have laughed SO much in the last fourteen years. I can't imagine how boring my life would have been without you. My Mom says you came out demanding that the thermostat be adjusted in the delivery room. Oh yes, you have known what you wanted right from the start. You were so intriguing though. Not one to cry. You seemed to talk before you could talk. Your eyes. They have always told your story. You never could hide an emotion. I even remember you once babbling to Daddy's Mom when you were upset with her. You were probably only about a year old. You didn't cry. You just furrowed your brow and babbled at her. She knew you were telling her off in your own language. If only someone would have translated. It didn't take you long to find your words though. Eighteen months and talking in full sentences. Walked at nine months. Ran at ten months. This is a girl on a mission. You have things to DO. Oh yes, you have the potential to make me crazier than just about any other person I've met. But you also make me one of the happiest people ever. You are SO spontaneous. You can make a decision on a dime. No thought. No planning. No consideration for consequences. You are so NOT me in this regard. But I've learned SO much from you. I have even done a spontaneous thing or two since you came into my life. Imagine that. I had no idea the things God would teach me through this baby girl He gave me 14 years ago. Your passion and zeal for life are contagious. These things I love the most about you often get you into trouble though. Especially in school. Passion, zeal, and humor aren't always welcome in a classroom setting. You don't seem to notice. I try to remind you it won't be welcome in a work environment either. This is proving to be a hard lesson for you. I've always wanted to help you keep that passion, love for life, and AWESOME sense of humor but somehow get it through that head of yours that there is a time and a place for everything. Oh the times you have heard those words. "Time and Place, baby girl." You hear it in your sleep, I'm sure. I hope you are growing up knowing though that I absolutely LOVE who you are and who you are becoming. One of my main goals with you has always been to KEEP FROM breaking that spirit but to also teach you how to, when needed, restrain that bubbly person that just seems to NEED out. It's tough. I hope I don't sound too often as if I disapprove of who you are. Because that is so NOT true. I love who you are. Love. But you know what one of my absolute favorite things about you is? Your love for the Lord. I see your passion there too. True passion. You know Him. You love Him. And you aren't afraid to let the world know it. This is the thing I love about you the most. I can't wait to see what God has planned for you.

My Fancy in one word: PASSION

My second born. My favorite boy in the world. My first thought of you was that you brought balance. We had spent three and a half years with your passionate, bubbly, crazy, life-loving big sister when along came this tiny boy. Quiet, thoughtful ... deep. From day one. You somehow seemed to contemplate life sitting there at a month old in your swing. You walked late, you talked late. You had no agenda. You were so laid back. But those eyes. There was always something going on in that head of yours. Oh, you too have your moments. You do not leave us guessing what you are feeling. There is sadness. There is happiness. There is anger. Rarely, there is even wild laughter. Rarely. But oh, the joy it brings me to see you exploding with laughter. But mostly, you seem to attempt restrain. You hold back. Your words are few for the most part. But you are always thinking. Maybe even worrying. Are you worrying? Are you your Mother's son? I think so. There is a depth. I am so excited to see what will come of this depth. I love that you will NOT continue something you cannot be perfect at on the very first try. Well, I kind of love that. I know it isn't exactly desirable. But it is so you. And it is so ME. Funny thing ... you are good at almost everything you try. Do you know what you will succeed at and only try those things? Perhaps. If you truly are me, you have made a mental pros and cons list in your head before even attempting. Maybe even tried to mathematically plot out the odds of your success. Yes, I bet you do. I love that about you. You are also hilarious. I love that both my kids are so funny. Your humor is so different from your sister's. More surprising. More thought out. But you keep me in stitches nonetheless. How boring my life would have been without you, my sweet boy. When it comes to spiritual things, with you I sometimes wonder. I see such a passion in your sister when we talk about Jesus. Such a love for Him. I don't really seem to see that with you. But then ... once in awhile, you will ask a DEEP question. Or make a DEEP statement. One that you have clearly been pondering. One that floors me. One that takes the breath right out of my lungs. And I know. That you know. You get it. You know Him. You love Him. And those are the best moments. The best. I can't wait to see what God has planned for you. Let's see if you can let Him reveal His plan for you without your plans getting too much in the way. That's a lesson your Mama is still learning.

My Bubby in one word: CONTEMPLATIVE

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
3 John 1:4

And since Daddy doesn't have a blog, I will just say here that his love for you two simply takes my breath away. I love how he loves me. But more than that, I love him for his love for my babies. Here is my favorite picture of ya'll of all time.

More Fun With Photoshop

2009-12-01T23:41:00.005-06:00

So ... I made a new blog header.

I love the look but still need to play to figure out why I can't make it the size I want. Also, I am not sure how to make the background the way I want it.

I am LOVING playing with Photoshop though. I have made some scrapbook pages, a friend's baby shower invitation, our Christmas Cards for this year, and now this. I am looking forward to spending much more time playing with it!

Here is an anonymous version of the baby shower invite I made this summer:

Hope you are having a great holiday season so far!

So ....

2009-11-19T17:20:00.002-06:00

I guess I am realizing that I can continue to post here. It's not like this was a strictly homeschooling blog, right?

So, maybe I will be back here soon.

:0)

New Fun

2009-06-09T17:07:00.003-05:00

My fun friend, Sarah, has ruined any chance of me utilizing my time wisely by introducing me to digital scrapbooking.

I had so much fun today looking though some online tutorials and after ~~a few hours~~ a bit of fun, I had completed my first page.

It isn't all that fantastic or impressive but it was super fun and I am excited to make more.

Thanks Sarah!!

Here it is ..... Fancy and her friend being silly:

Change ... not on my list of my favorite things

2009-04-30T00:28:00.009-05:00

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings .... sure, those could make my list, but CHANGE, not so much.

Things are changing around here. The more I try to resist it, the more change there is. Some are "good" changes ... except that I do NOT like any change. Oh, I already made that clear? Ok then, we can move on.

The biggest change: The final verdict is in. We will not be homeschooling for the 2009-2010 schoolyear. First I typed, "this will be our last year to homeschool", but then I remembered that I ~~once~~ ~~twice~~ said multiple times that we would never homeschool ... that I could never homeschool. And yet we did. We have homeschooled for two years. They have been an amazing two years. Two years that have blessed me beyond description. I can't say this will be our last year because I don't know what the future brings.

I have regretted my children's early years in so many ways. Mine were the kids that were there when the daycare opened and were picked up when the daycare was closing for too many years. That's the way it was done. That's what all my friends from work did with their kids. What else can you do when you work a Monday through Friday 8-5 job? My kids seemed fine. I was fine and that's how I grew up. I can honestly say I thought of it as normal.

Soon I decided to go back to school. Those were *busy* years. My kids were loved but neglected all the more. Once I graduated, things slowly came into perspective. My kids no longer had to go to daycare after school. I could work nights and be there for them. What a blessing. Then I realized I could send them to a small Christian school in our area that only required them to be there three days a week and I could be with them even more. Even more of a blessing. That was a great year. I realized that year through much prayer that I had the opportunity to allow God to "restore the years that the swarming locusts had eaten" (Joel 2:25). I thought I might be going crazy as the thought of homeschooling seemed more and more reasonable to me. Prayer convinced me it wasn't craziness. It was submission to His will for us in that season.

Looking back, His timing couldn't have been more perfect.

These two years have restored our family. We are closer to eachother and to God. We are happier. We are blessed and we know it.

It's time for this change. I cannot run on 4 hours of sleep (on a good day) for much longer. I want to ... oh, how I want to .... but it's time. I have spent two years trying to figure out (financially) how to quit my job. It's not going to happen ... not in this season.

My kids deserve teachers that aren't tired and cranky. My kids deserve to be able to go on fieldtrips (we can never go on the homeschool fieldtrips we are invited to because we barely keep up with the school load due to my work/sleep schedule). My kids deserve a lot that I can't give them in this season. I know that. I hate it but I know it.

I know there are seasons in life. I know change comes. I accept it. I do.

It doesn't mean I'm not sad. I will miss my kids being here every minute. I will miss so much. And let's face it, I am not looking forward to other people making our assignments. ugh :)

The kids are going back to that three day a week school that we loved so dearly. It is a NAUMS school. We loved the program. It will be a perfect balance of school and home. Of that I am confident. They will be home with me on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will be able to arrange my work schedule so that everyday that they are home with me I will be awake and happy. Imagine that.

It is time for a new season.

Please join me in prayer for my family as we make this adjustment.

A Peek ....

2009-03-24T13:43:00.001-05:00

..... into our day

Pedro and Jenni enjoying the open windows and cool breezes:

The countdown has begun. This is our chalkboard in the kitchen:

February Happenings

2009-02-27T16:53:00.002-06:00

We have had a fun month around here.

There's been lots of painting ... by the boy:

.... and the girl:

who, by the way, is wearing what has to be her favorite shirt STILL - she is frequently showing her support for him.

We built a log cabin on Presidents Day (is that supposed to have an apostrophe or not?)

And because we are fresh out of Abraham Lincoln action figures, it has become a Lego prop .... hours have been spent in this log cabin people:

We made some Red Velvet Valentine cupcakes and iced them with pink ... YUM!

Bubby's Basketball season came to and end. We had a great time at the end of the season party where Bubby got to hang out with WHK.

And where he also got to meet these guys and get their autographs:

FYI: He was much more excited to meet them than these pictures suggest!

And last but not least, here is how Jenni spends her afternoons. Apparently she doesn't find reading as exciting as we do!

The Start of an Important Week

2009-02-23T03:30:00.003-06:00

I am tired.

There has been much discussion, prayer and downright gnashing of teeth around here over the last few months. This is the week we have some appointments that hopefully will help us come to some conclusions about school for next year.

I am mourning and celebrating at the thought of possible changes.

Please pray.

I am comforted by this:

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31

Random Pictures

2009-02-10T12:12:00.001-06:00

A visit with my niece who even let me fix her hair

The finished product

Building DNA

BFFs

Sweet Jenni

Building Olympus Mons

2009-01-21T10:39:00.001-06:00

Bubby finished up his study of Mars last week with a project. He was anticipating building his Olympus Mons model for DAYS.

A Salt Dough model, some baking soda, dish soap, vinegar and red food coloring and here we have it:

He decided towards the end that the lava wasn't red enough. He added some more food coloring and here is what he got:

Quite honestly, it looked a bit like a crime scene by the end. =)

His review: "That was the most funnest thing I ever did in all of my life!" Yep .... off to work on grammar! =)

Bubby and Random Math

2009-01-16T17:15:00.003-06:00

Bubby often tells us some random math fact .... like while driving in the car he'll say, "Hey Mom, did you know if you add those 2 signs together you get 42?", or something like that.

Today, it went like this:

"Hey Mom, did you know our family is 93?"

I'm thinking ..... er, how is our family 93? I couldn't figure out where he was coming from. I think he could tell by my speechlessness I wasn't going to get it.

"Yeah Mom,see:
Daddy __
+ Mommy __
+ Fancy 12
+ Me 9

= 93

Yeah .... makes perfect sense.

This boys mind works in the strangest way. =)

A Bit of Paint Can Make it All Better

2009-01-12T13:58:00.002-06:00

With Bubby, any amount of writing is just plain TOO MUCH. It is really the only battle we have. He hates to have to pick up a pencil. Period.

Why this never came to me sooner, I don't know, but I have recently started letting him paint some of his assignments. Yep ..... anything. He even has painted his math facts a time or two.

Today, he needed to make the title page for his chapter on Mars in his Science notebook. After a long morning of copywork, language arts worksheets, and math work, I knew I might be in for a meltdown. I decided to be proactive. I pulled out the paints and the science notebook and he happily worked away.

I wish I would have thought of this A LOT sooner. =)

Random January Happenings

2009-01-11T13:25:00.002-06:00

Making "Fossils"

Icicles (I use the term loosely .... but they WERE frozen)

Fingers Crossed ..... Hoping I Win This Adorable Tote

2009-01-08T12:33:00.002-06:00

Click here for YOUR chance to win: A Flower for You

Summing Up December

2008-12-28T12:06:00.001-06:00

December was SO busy for us (as it was for all of you, I'm sure). We had birthdays, a new pet, stomach viruses, the start of a basketball season (for Bubby) and of course, Christmas ..... the list seemed endless.

I am enjoying this weekend of recovering and preparing for a new year.

Here are some pictures summing up our last month.

Bubby turned nine. We celebrated with a small party at the skating rink. His present from us was a basketball goal. It did get set up but I have yet to take a picture of it that way.

He was glad his buddy WHK could be one of the friends who came to help him celebrate with some skating fun. Thanks WHK!

Bubby also renewed his love for building forts in my living room. It makes for quite a mess but he has so much fun with a few chairs, a couple of blankets and a flashlight.

We loved getting all your precious cards this year. We decided to display them like this:

We kept up our Advent Wreath and Jesse Tree activities quite well although I didn't take any more pictures. Other than the fact that Jenni thought the wreath was supposed to be her bed and the Jesse Tree was supposed to be her play toy, it went really well. Those nightly readings by candlelight were very meaningful to us all. I am looking forward to continuing that tradition.

Well, I guess that brings us up to Christmas. We had all the family over on Christmas Eve for dinner, presents and fun. Here are some pics:

Fancy taught "GaGa" (The Husband's Mom) how to do the Cha Cha Slide:

There were cousin pillow wars .... and at this point, let the record show that my son WAS wearing more than a WHITE T-shirt at ONE point:

Silly cousins:

My houseful enjoying some yummy fajitas:

My Mom and Brother:

My Mom, Sister and Niece:

The kids got money from a lot of family. At their age, I guess it is easier to let them pick out gifts themselves. Now I get to take them shopping. Thanks A LOT!! hehe

GaGa thought it would be fun to give the kids a sum of money in ALL ONES. The kids thought it was great to show off their WADS of cash.

At the end of the evening, Bubby decided to have a drum tutorial for the littler kids. It was a BIG HIT (Pun INTENDED).

The next day, we had a nice Christmas morning of breakfast (provided by GaGa - THANK YOU!) and presents with just the four of us IN OUR JAMMIES (as it should be).

Here are a couple of pics of the kids with gifts:

(Fancy's big gift was in the form of a letter telling her of the upgrades to her cell phone usage .... quite a happy girl! .... and for Bubby .... it's all about the Legos people!)

We got them the game "Yahtzee Free For All" and we had TONS of fun playing it. We have played MANY rounds over the last few days. Here is a pic with NO FACES. Not one of us was photo worthy at this point of the morning! =)

There has also been MUCH enjoyment from playing Rock Band on the Playstation. I haven't gotten in on it YET but plan on having a blast with the lead singer role. =)

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I hope the New Year brings many blessings!

BFFs

2008-12-23T20:23:00.001-06:00

Welcome Jenni

2008-12-14T10:05:00.001-06:00

We got en early Christmas present from the local animal shelter and are enjoying her ever so much.

We keep finding her snuggled up in the strangest of places.

We discovered she actually didn't hate taking a bath as much as we thought she would. Turns out though that soaking wet isn't a good look for her. =)

She is a perfect snuggle buddy ..... she has even enjoyed reading the bible with me a few mornings. Bubby worked hard to get this picture just right:

Second Advent Sunday

2008-12-07T17:39:00.001-06:00

Our Jesse Tree is coming along. We are really enjoying this activity. It's cute to me that you can tell who hangs the ornaments every night. They are all hanging about "Bubby" height.

Speaking of Bubby, he decided to "commercialize" our Advent Wreath this week. I'm not sure I'm a fan but I don't have the heart to mess with his creativity. Anyway, here it is with two candles lit during dinner tonight. We ate by candlelight .... except there was still a bit of sunlight mixed in. We ate a bit too early. =)

Here is the view out the window from our desk at dusk. I love Christmas lights!

The Homeschool Song

2008-12-02T12:17:00.001-06:00

My kids and I enjoyed this on our "lunch break" today.

I wish I was smart enough to put the video here, but alas .... go here.

Still laughing!

Fancy and Her Math Helper

2008-12-02T12:00:00.002-06:00

He sits with her throughout math every.single.day. Moral support .... priceless.

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

2008-12-02T10:25:00.001-06:00

So, we got the tree all decorated yesterday.

Wanna see?

Uh - Oh .... here is a better view:

Yeah, um ... I told The Husband (maybe more than once) that it was a bit crooked. First he said it was fine .. it was straight. Then he said it was as straight as it could be.

Of course I totally decided to go with what he said .... or I took it upon myself to crawl under there behind his back to try to fix it .... one or the other.

The details don't really matter do they? Anyway, now we have our first ever horizontal tree. It's the latest trend. Come on people, you know you are coveting my style!

Yep, The Husband is going to look for a new stand (which cracked into more than a few pieces) while he is at work today.

Gotta love him .... he just laughed yesterday and kissed me on the forehead when he came in and found my "adjustment".

Advent Happenings

2008-11-30T20:26:00.001-06:00

Over the last few years I have read lots and lots about Advent and its traditions but have been intimidated to jump in.

Well, here we go.

We celebrated the first Sunday of Advent today. This is the first year we are being intentional about where our focus is this season. We have always tried to focus on Christ and not the commercial parts of this holiday, but this year we decided to intentionally talk about it every day.

We decided to make a Jesse Tree. I sent the boys to get us a "branch" .... I said a BRANCH .... I got this:

Yeah .... boys will be boys. =)

After some trimming I think we ended up with a nice tree that will sit in our kitchen window seat.

We got this book to help guide us.

Here are the kids diligently making our ornaments for each day's reading:

Here is our ornament for our Day One reading:

And here is Bubby placing it on our Jesse Tree:

We also made an Advent Wreath which I am super excited about. What a wonderful and simple way to focus on the Reason for this season.

The Husband made us a lovely dinner and we read our first Advent reading and lit our first candle. We decided to go with this book to guide our daily readings for the Advent season. We will read from it and the Jesse Tree book each day. The readings today were such a blessing. I can't wait to read them all!

We decided there was no better time to start our other decorations so The Husband drug out the tree. We used to always go cut down a real tree until we realized that it was no coincidence that Bubby was always sick at Christmas time. He was even hospitalized for his first birthday AND Christmas. Ugh. Anyway, turns out part of his problem was that he was allergic to the tree. Boo.

Here are Daddy and Fancy working away on the tree:

And Bubby working on the lights:

And me and Pedro supervising ..... well, we got tired:

And yes, for the "keeping it real portion" of this post, that is me laying with Pedro on the living room floor in my jammies. I never even got out of them today. That is the result of working the last five nights in a row. Painful. I was excited to get Advent rolling today but tuckered out during the decorating. I will have to go to bed soon so we can have a productive day around here tomorrow.

I hope you are all having fun getting ready for Christmas!

A Brief Update

2008-11-25T00:31:00.002-06:00

Wow ... it's been awhile!

Things have been busy but good around here. Life just keeps moving .... and so fast!

Fancy just finished up her Volleyball season last night with a great win. She had a fun time on a team with a bunch of sweet girls. She can't wait until the new season starts up in the Spring.

My little "Lady Longhorn" (my scanner does not give the best of color)

Bubby is just starting his Basketball season with his team, "The Sharks". He is super excited for the games to get going in December. Pictures coming soon!

School is wrapping up nicely over here as we head into our LONG winter break. This worked so well for us last year we are doing it again. I am ready for some relaxation and some planning for spring. We will tie up a few loose ends over the next day or so and then be DONE until January. Ah ... the freedom.

Ok, now for a few funnies regarding Bubby: This first one isn't as funny as it is sweet.

He decided last night he wanted to prepare dessert for the family. He made us all a serving of Chocolate Pudding with Whipped Cream and Sprinkles. He even HAD to put it in the "fancy glasses". He worked QUITE hard on his masterpieces. It was YUMMY!

Thanks Bubby!

And now for the funny: I came across one of his "inventions" today. He is CONSTANTLY inventing, building, and/or creating something. It was a wooden dowel he found in the garage that he had attached some pencil leads to with tape. He was wanting to see how it would write. I didn't get a picture of it at that point but told him he could try it and then needed to take it apart because it was dangerous to carry something around with so many sharp points on the end.

Ok ... so I said it ... did you see the word? DANGEROUS. Yeah ... that was a mistake.

Clearly this gave him another idea altogether. He disappeared for a bit (I was thinking he had gone to disassemble his creation ... HAH ... silly me) but I found out that was not the case. He came to me a bit later with this:

Uh, yeah. He thought DANGEROUS sounded pretty good I guess. He told me with this "Ninja Stick" he could fight off any "Bad Guys" that tried to get into our house.

Incase the pic isn't super clear, that is a 3 foot dowel with pencil leads and push pins taped to it so all you breaker inners out there BEWARE!

Have a GREAT Thanksgiving!

Science Fun

2008-11-03T21:13:00.001-06:00

Bubby is learning about the moon.

Today he did a "spearmint" aka experiment to help him understand that although the moon seems to give off light, it actually does not. It is just a reflection of the sunlight.

He used a flashlight (sun) and a CD (moon) to reflect light onto the ceiling.

The plan was for this to take approximately 5 minutes. It took us a good 20 because he was having so much fun watching that reflection dance all over the ceiling. Midway through I gave up and got a load of dishes done while I waited.

Multi-tasking .... it's the greatest!

A Halloween Pic

2008-11-03T21:06:00.001-06:00

Batman and The Purple Punk

(Yes, she made it up .... we discovered you have to be creative at her age ... the costumes they sell for this age group are ... um .... not okay!)

I didn't crop Pedro out because I thought it was so funny how he was looking at them as if they had lost their minds!

The "Boy Room"

2008-11-03T16:36:00.001-06:00

So, we moved. And a big dilemma in the move was finding a place to house the "boy stuff". Drums, guitars, amp, stereo, weight bench (can you sense the testosterone here people?).

Anyway, we found a great house with a PERFECT room for school. Well, it was also the only option for the boys' stuff so they won. I still have a pretty great school room.

Without further ado, I present "THE BOY ROOM".

Okay, so you see those broken drumheads on the wall? And the busted up sticks in the container on the speaker? (You may have to click on them to enlarge to get a good look.) These are all products of Bubby's rock sessions and he is QUITE proud of them. So proud that we just HAVE to keep them and DISPLAY them. Good thing for him that he is so stinkin' cute because I am not a fan of displaying them.

He decided to name that wall one morning (while I was clearly not paying enough attention) ... here is what happened (the sunlight wasn't cooperating much):

"WALL OF DAMAGE"

I love that kid!

A Camping Trip

2008-10-27T21:51:00.007-05:00

We took advantage of the great October weather and went camping for the weekend. It was a wonderful time filled with PERFECT weather, hiking, campfires, fellowship with some good friends from church, smores, hot dogs and fun fun fun!

Fancy and Bubby were in control of the camera for pretty much the entire weekend so as you can see there are LOTS of "interesting" pictures. Pedro seemed to be the most photogenic member of the family this weekend!

A very large spider in an amazing web. We saw this just over our heads on our hike.

Pedro, on the way to the campsite. He napped in his sweater. Poor guy ... the dilemma of being owned by a fashionable 12 year old girl!

This last one is my favorite pic they took of Pedro. It is as if he is saying, "What? I am camping. Don't you see me in my camping chair by the fire with my tiny tent in the background?"

haha

Back From Walt Disney World

2008-09-22T19:25:00.001-05:00

Thanks Nanny and PaPaw for a GREAT week in Orlando!

Fun Times

2008-09-12T18:27:00.001-05:00

Here are some finds from a long walk the other night:

Fancy had fun cleaning this cob:

Here is Bubby (fresh from an after walk shower) with the finished product:

Bubby "invented" a metal detector today. He cracks me up. He took two drumsticks (well-worn ones at that) and banded some magnets to them. He walked around "detecting" what was metal and what was not. This entertained him for a LOOONG time.

More Science

2008-09-09T18:01:00.007-05:00

Bubby is continuing his astronomy studies. We started with a unit on the Solar System in general. Next was a couple of weeks of studying the Sun. We have spent the last two weeks learning about the planet closest to the sun: Mercury.

Here is his dusty surface of Mercury (a.k.a. flour)

He dropped meteors (a.k.a. rocks) onto the surface to create craters like the ones on the surface of Mercury.
Here is his finished product:

Next, he added salt, oil, and water to form the surface into a more life like planet. While we were at it we discussed fractions while we measured out the ingredients. He is just young enough that he doesn't realize I am "making" him do math yet. Fancy is onto me. She groans everytime I try to work in a fraction lesson in the kitchen!Finally, he used the rocks to create craters on it's surface. Mercury is now sitting in our kitchen window to dry. I'm not too sure what in the world we will do with it after that. =)

He is quite proud of himself!

That's One Happy Kid

2008-09-09T17:57:00.000-05:00

Worry .......

2008-09-03T19:43:00.004-05:00

As the weather gets nicer and Fancy and Bubby spend more and more time outside, our Chihuahua (ish) dog, Pedro (we thought he was a Chihuahua until he grew those LEGS!) .... anyway ..... Pedro spends more and more time in the front window SO worried about them. He just sits and whines. He repeatedly looks at me as if to say, "Are you just going to sit there and let them run and play outside? It's dangerous out there. I should be out there to protect them!".

He is so darn cute.

Pedro, you should heed the words:

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"(Matthew 6:27)

...... for the record, I could benefit from heeding those words as well.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-03T16:58:00.002-05:00

More Science (and art) Fun ............

2008-09-02T17:49:00.005-05:00

Today we did a few experiments relating to the surface tension of water. Fancy had to try different items to see how/if they affected the surface tension of water. To demonstrate the results, she had to coat a bowl of water with a fine layer of pepper. The experiment proved to be so "cool" it was repeated MULTIPLE times. Bubby even insisted on a few tries.

Here are some pics ....

...... and a video (the first I have ever posted)

As you will see/hear in the video, we joked that we got art done today DURING science.

The last part of our school day involved Bubby and I planting some flowers out front. We were quite thankful for the cooler weather (for you Non-Texans it was almost like Fall .... only 85 degrees and WINDY - see the birdhouse?).

He took a picture for me so I could "put in on the blog" .... so here you go!

We planted 15 Chrysanthemums .... which is hard to tell in this picture. I just had to say that so you would all know how much my back is hurting! =)

School Update

2008-08-31T14:34:00.007-05:00

We have finished the first four weeks of school. I continue to be amazed at how smoothly the weeks fly by. It is such hard work .... but it is work I enjoy more than ANYTHING I have ever done ..... ever. I am SO blessed. As we see the school bus go by each day now that the neighborhood kids have started back to school, I just thank God for the opportunity to have mine here with me.

People have begun to ask me if I plan to homeschool through High School. I honestly think most of my friends and family probably thought this was a phase that would pass. I guess when we started year two they must have thought we had "crossed over" into being THOSE people. haha

I still don't have the answer to their question. I stick with the "one day at a time" answer (Nope .... not even one YEAR at a time .... one DAY). I have been humbled by God on enough occasions to never say never. I certainly NEVER thought I would homeschool so how can I possibly say with any certainty how long I will continue?

All I know is that in this moment, I am confident that in regards to school, we are right in the middle of His will for us. That peace is what makes it go so smoothly. Of that I am confident.

Ok .... I will lighten up now. =)

Science is the most "photogenic" subject we have around here so again I have pictures from science. Bubby's latest "experiment". (Note: We have to call ALL science related projects or assignments "experiments" because he is SO jealous of all of Fancy's experiments).

This past week we were learning about solar eclipses.

Notice - Bubby worked hard to get the eclipse lined up with Texas in the second pic.

Math Manipulatives or Architecture Study?

2008-08-28T11:39:00.004-05:00

He was supposed to be using his Base Ten Blocks to work on his math facts.

Hmmmmmm .......................

More Science Fun

2008-08-22T17:11:00.009-05:00

Bubby had SO much fun today with his science experiment. Of course, what eight year old boy wouldn't love to burn something, right?

A Sunny Day + A Magnifying Glass + A Leaf = One Happy Eight Year Old Kid!!!

You can see the beginning of the burn in this one:
Here he is a bit frustrated at being interrupted by a passing cloud:He also learned (and journaled about) why it is unsafe to look directly at the sun. "We have a lens inside our eye like a magnifying glass. When we look at the sun our lens bends the sun rays into a bright stream of light that will burn a hole in the back of our eye."
And here is his diagram of his experiment:
Homeschool is SO fun!

Another Visitor

2008-08-22T12:15:00.005-05:00

Bubby was SO excited to come across another Wolf Spider yesterday. This one was quite a bit smaller than our previous houseguest. She was right inside the back door in my kitchen. The most exciting part (for Bubby) was that this one was carrying her egg sac. He insisted I get "real close" to get a good picture. I overcame my anxiety and snapped this pic.

The Husband kindly scooped her up on a dustpan so she could be escorted outside and I got a couple more quick pics.

Bubby is hoping to see one soon carrying babies on it's back. Ugh! Please God, let that finding be OUTSIDE!!!

Thanks!

2008-08-21T17:38:00.001-05:00

Thank you Debbie for the lovely flowers and balloon!

I miss you!

Crazy Texas Weather

2008-08-20T20:11:00.003-05:00

The Husband and I took a walk this evening after dinner. We couldn't pass up the chance in the nice 80 degree weather. About halfway through our stroll, we started watching a storm rolling in. We walked very QUICKLY the rest of the way home to beat it. It was getting DARK fast ... and not from a sunset. =)

I am not much of a weather buff but I just HAD to get the camera on this one.

Amazingly, we only got a little bit of rain!

Early Birthday Fun

2008-08-19T17:15:00.004-05:00

Someone is turning 35 this week. It certainly can't be me because I feel 25. Anyway, it doesn't matter who it is .... details are not important. =)

This past weekend, we had a little dinner at my parents to celebrate the unknown person's upcoming birthday. There were 5 cupcakes (35 was a bit much for candles .... and besides, who wants to bother the men at the Fire Department on a Sunday?).

Bubby was more than happy to blow them out for me the unknown birthday girl or boy.

Fancy had a blast spoiling and loving on her cousin!

Can I count this as Nature Study?

2008-08-19T16:52:00.005-05:00

We had two encounters with "God's Creatures" last week. I am calling them that only to sound good. They both gave me a SERIOUS case of the creeps and after a short photo shoot I had to call in my hero to save me from them. =)

This spider was atleast the size of a half dollar and stood QUITE tall! I was NOT happy to see him crawling across my living room floor! I can't imagine why these pics are so blurry ... could have been the movement of the camera with the shaking of my hands? Hmmm......

A couple of days later, Bubby discovered this frog in my parents back yard. Both kids tried to get up the guts to catch him in the pitcher to get a close look. They both individually decided it was kinder to the frog to watch him from a distance. I'm sure it wasn't because either of them had the heebie-jeebies or anything!

After the kids thoroughly examined and photographed them, we tried looking them up in this book:

But honestly had more success at possible identifications online.

We're confident we had a Wolf Spider (Lycosa rabida) on our hands and were quite intrigued to learn that they carry their babies on their backs .... HUNDREDS of babies! ~~GROSS!~~ NEAT!

We never came to an official decision on the frog.

Regardless, it was fun ..... SORT OF!

School Fun

2008-08-19T16:39:00.003-05:00

Here are some random fun things we did in school last week:

Bubby had to create a mnemonic to help him remember the names of the planets in order (closest to the sun to furthest from the sun).

If it is difficult to read, it says: "Miss Vickie Eats Marshmallow (and) Jelly Sandwiches Using Nice Plates". I was impressed!

Here he is building his Solar System with Dad:

And my favorite: I was having a hard time getting Bubby to grasp the concept of Declarative vs. Interrogative sentences. He couldn't understand why we couldn't just call it a sentence vs. a question (Honestly, I can feel his pain on that one). Anyway, one of the days I had to nap in the afternoon so I could go in to work that night, Fancy took the mission upon herself. She helped him come up with a Venn Diagram . I got up and Bubby proclaimed, "Mom, I GET IT NOW!". He took me to the diagram and explained it EXACTLY. He aced the test the next day on the topic.

Should I be concerned that my 7th grader explained it better than I could? I mean worried about ME, not HER!

I love that girl!

Bubby's Notebooks

2008-08-06T16:19:00.003-05:00

Last year we used 3 ring binders for our notebooks. For each subject, each kiddo had a 3 ring binder for their notes, drawings, etc.

This year I decided to try 10X10 spiral bound scrapbooks similar to these. The ones I got are 10X10 and the paper inside is cardstock.

Bubby has been diligently designing the covers for his American History and Astronomy notebooks.

And yes, we included Pluto on the cover after much debate! =)

Fancy isn't done yet. She is a perfectionist and has designed and trashed several attempts over the last week or so. For now, her books remain with the plain white cover.

Another Hit Today

2008-08-06T15:09:00.008-05:00

They had a blast with Fancy's science experiment again today.

Baking Soda in a balloon

Vinegar and colored water in a 2 liter bottle

Place balloon over 2 liter and allow baking soda to fall into vinegar water

The balloon really filled quickly and was very full - I didn't get a pic of it at it's largest.

They immediately insisted on doing it again and wanted to try different colored water this time (these experiments always take forever because we HAVE to do them ATLEAST twice!)

I just LOVE his face in this last oneWooHoo!

We're moving right along in all our other subjects as well .... they just aren't as photographically exciting.

Hope you're having a great week!

First Day of School

2008-08-04T17:26:00.006-05:00

So ..... today was the big day.

It was so fun. I was happy to jump right back in. The kids like to pretend they were bummed to start back, but they were pretty happy in reality.

Fancy's science was a big hit today. We did an EASY experiment that was really neat. We took pics for her science lab notebook so I thought I'd share. Bubby tagged along in the kitchen and I am so glad I let him. It is amazing how much he learns from his sister's middle school science. What a blessing that he can "attend" elementary and middle school science both!

We started by filling a glass 1/4 full with vegetable oil. Next we added an equal amount of water (which promptly passed the oil by and went to the bottom of the glass). Finally we added an equal amount of syrup (which passed the oil and water both and sank to the bottom).

Here is what we had at that point:
Next we placed a rock (which sank to the very bottom), a grape (which sat right on top of the syrup layer), an ice cube (which sat right on top of the water), and a piece of cork (which floated on the top of the oil).

Fancy drew a nice sketch detailing her findings for her notebook and we were done.

Who knew science could be so FUN?!? (well, I did, but you know what I mean)

More of my niece

2008-08-02T23:41:00.001-05:00

My Creative Boy

2008-07-31T13:55:00.004-05:00

A few months ago, The Husband let Bubby have a piece of scrap wood that was laying in the garage. Bubby sanded the edges, painted it gray and then painted his name on it in black. He worked diligently on that sign for DAYS.

Upon completion, we hung it up in his room and he took great pride in it. It has been there, hanging above his head over his bed. I have since come to realize that he has probably spent hours looking at it and trying to think of something more interesting he could do with it.

Last weekend, he had a grand idea that his Daddy was happy to let him pursue.

The wheels were removed from an old skateboard and the sign became a great source of fun.

Crazy boys ..... and yes, I mean the grown boy AND his son!

Hymns for this school year

2008-07-31T00:54:00.003-05:00

We will be utilizing this book this year to help us learn these great songs of faith. I tried to choose the ones that were somehow related to our country so most were written by early americans. We will read about the origin of the hymns, their writers, sing along with them and use the lyrics for copywork. We had fun with a few hymns last year but not as many as I would have liked. I was quite happy to find this book to help us focus.

Here are my choices:

Doxology

O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing

The Star Spangled Banner

My Country ‘Tis of Thee

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

Battle Hymn of the Republic

Jesus Paid It All

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Sweet By and By

Blessed Assurance

Standing on the Promises

Trust and Obey

America, the Beautiful

Jesus Loves the Little Children

I Surrender All

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

In The Garden

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Charlotte's Web

2008-07-20T16:49:00.008-05:00

Fancy just finished performing in a production of Charlotte's Web this weekend. We enjoyed it SO much. She loves theatre and really does a great job. She played the part of Edith Zuckerman. It was a great play and I was so impressed with all the kids' performances. They ranged in age from 8 to 14. She can't wait until next summer to participate again. They are thinking they may do either The Wizard of Oz or The Sound of Music. She would LOVE either.

Here she is (still in costume) with all of us.

Here she is with all her flowers from her fans (AKA Bubby, Nanny and Papaw and KK). She also got a gift of some body wash and lotion from The Husband's Mom (AKA GaGa). THANKS EVERYBODY for coming and cheering AND for bringing her goodies!

And here are her flowers after she arranged them all together at home.

Summer Fun

2008-07-20T16:37:00.003-05:00

We went to a fun get together Friday with some homeschool friends where the kids had a blast "blowing up" Diet Cokes with Mentos. If you are unaware of this kind of fun, go watch this.

Here are a couple of our pics (I have more and better pics, but I always hesitate to post pics with other people's kids in them without asking first). Bubby thought this was FANTASTIC!

Wordle

2008-07-17T18:14:00.003-05:00

I saw this on a blog I regularly read and thought it looked fun. Wordle took random words from my blog and created this:

Click it for a better view.

Let me know if you make one .... I want to see it!

Saying Good-Bye is NEVER Easy ............

2008-07-17T08:28:00.007-05:00

We had to find our beloved Max a new home. The Husband has just been becoming more and more allergic to him over the years. It had become ridiculous to keep him. Letting him go was made all the easier when a good friend was excited at the prospect of adopting him.

We KNOW his new family will love him as much as we have over the last (almost) SEVEN years. They just live in McKinney so in theory, we will be able to see him some. In reality though, I acknowledge how hard it is for me to even keep up with regular visits with my sister (who is even closer than McKinney) so I just know we won't see him much (if ever again). We shall see.

Max, we love you and will most certainly miss you!

A New Niece Picture

2008-07-14T08:01:00.002-05:00

Here she is at 19 months.

What a doll!!

I'm a Winner!!!

2008-07-12T22:53:00.005-05:00

I just realized today that I won a copy of the book Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver on the author's blog.

I'm looking SO forward to reading this one.

The Countdown is On

2008-07-12T20:10:00.004-05:00

We are planning to start school back up around here on August 4th. That's only THREE more weeks of summer for us. I guess that makes me a little bit sad, but I am also excited to dive back in. The kids feel the same. They sort of whine that we are starting before all their friends, but at the same time, they have been excited to see the new curricula coming in the mail. Fancy has already started her Language Arts and is wanting to check out her Math that came Thursday.

Anyway, I am saying all this just to warn you that for the next few days (or weeks) I will be updating my sidebar with school info. It will be a work in progress atleast for a bit.

Hope you're having a GREAT weekend.

A Not So Minor Car Wreck

2008-07-10T19:46:00.004-05:00

Ok, so remember this post? Yeah well .... I thought I was sad for my car then.

Last night on my way to work, I was in a pretty serious car accident. A car rear ended me at approximately 50mph. I was sitting at a stop light. The impact pushed me up under the car in front of me. It was the loudest, scariest, most traumatic 2 seconds of my life. I was in a fairly bad part of town at the time and having not seen the car coming at me, I honestly wondered for a second if I had been shot before I realized I had been in a car accident. That whole life flashing before your eyes thing is so true. I remember clearly having this split second thought of whether or not I would ever see The Husband and my precious kids again. After a quick self assessment, I realized I had no serious injuries .... but my poor little Jetta (which the kids and I call "Gretchen" - she is German afterall) .... did not come out of it so well.

I wish I had pics of the car that rear-ended me. It shows damage that is more indicative of the seriousness of the accident. My car, being top rated in safety, held it together quite nicely. Still, it seems according to preliminary opinions that Gretchen is totalled. Ugh.

Oh well, Gretchen is a thing and as we all know ... things can be replaced. I am so grateful to be unharmed .... and by the way, there were NO serious injuries for any involved parties. The driver of the car that hit me from the back went to jail. She appeared to be under the influence of some sort of alcohol or drug. I can't stop thinking of her as I know she sits in jail .... she looked like she has led a rough life. Please keep her in her prayers. I know God can use this event to turn her life around. I will gladly offer up the sacrifice of Gretchen if it means this lady can get her life together.

Ok, here are a few pics. The body of the car is twisted which is hard to appreciate in the pics. That is the reason it seems it may be a total loss. The damage looks so much worse in person when you can see the rippling in the body on the left side. The doors are jammed and hard to open on the left side of the car but not the right. Is is a mess.

Oh yeah ... and the one funny part - icky but funny - I happened to be enjoying a strawberry/banana shake on my way to work. It was EVERYWHERE in my car. EWWWW. I had to take a few pics of that too. Fancy thought I had thrown up after the accident.

This is what a LOT of the inside of my car looks like:

I am moving around like an old lady today .... quite stiff, back hurts a bit, headache, blah blah blah. Mostly I am just thankful.

One last thing: Thanks so much KK for your thoughtful gift today! What a great friend!

Church Camp

2008-07-10T19:38:00.004-05:00

I don't have much in the way of pics but here are a couple:

Fancy, comedienne extraordinaire, AFTER camp (she let all her girlfriends "sign" her on the bus ride home) ... in SHARPIE. Ummmm..... smart one Fancy! She was a walking yearbook. No real biggie I guess, it came off after 2 or 3 showers.

Bubby BEFORE camp. He was SO excited. His after camp pic would have been of one tired boy. He was exhausted when we got him home.

I am so glad they both got to go this year. It was great hearing about all the fun AND all the things they learned. I was quite pleased with their retention of the messages they heard.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

2008-07-10T19:30:00.003-05:00

We had a fun day at the Ballpark in Arlington last weekend with some good friends.

Here are a few pics of the kids:

Fancy and Bubby

Fancy, MK and AK .... BFFs =)

Bubby and his Bud WHK

Rockin' it out at the game

A Day at the Lake

2008-06-21T16:22:00.009-05:00

We are lucky enough to have some friends that have a nice boat and are friendly enough to loan it to us on occasion. Thursday was one of those days.

The day started out with thunderstorms and The Husband and I were pretty sure the lake plans were going to have to be cancelled. We dropped the kids off at VBS, went out to breakfast, did some shopping at Target, took my car in for service and new tires .... all the while feeling quite sad about the rain. By about 11am it was time to head over to pick up the kids and the weather seemed to be letting up a bit. We went on in to the church and spent about an hour watching the end of the VBS fun. When we walked out of the church at 12:30 it was the MOST glorious day!

We rushed home, packed a cooler and changed clothes, then headed to the lake and prayed the weather would hold up.

It turned out to be better than we could have hoped for. We hit the water by 1pm and didn't get back into the car until about 9. We are all sunburnt but it is well worth it!

The sky alone was so glorious I had to take some pictures of my view from the layout pad on the boat (YES .... I spent MOST of my time laying out with my iPod and/or a great book I'm reading by my favorite author/pastor).

Everyone (except me) took a turn at the wheel.
The kids enjoyed some swimming and tubing. We enjoyed cruising the shoreline looking at the shops, condos and houses. At the end of the day, we parked in the harbor for an outdoor lakeside concert. We had a long day of just us and then suddenly found ourselves surrounded by other boaters wanting to catch the music too. The people watching was quite interesting to say the least. The sunset cruise back to the marina where we were parked was a peaceful, perfect ending to a great day!

Vacation Bible School

2008-06-21T16:21:00.002-05:00

Buddies

Fishing Tournament

2008-06-21T16:17:00.003-05:00

Bubby and his Daddy got rained out of a fishing tournament last Saturday. They came home soaked and freezing. I made them pause just long enough for me to get a couple of pictures.

Bubby headed straight to a hot shower after I snapped these.

Oh yeah .... and you can see his new haircut in these too. I like it MUCH better than the longer style he has held on to for the last couple of years. He didn't exactly decide to get it all chopped off either. We got a B.A.D. haircut the other day at a new barbershop in town. After a repair cut that wasn't much better, we went elsewhere and had to hack it all off. He was quite upset at first but has since decided he loves it. I sure do.

Father's Day Dinner

2008-06-13T21:00:00.005-05:00

We met my family for dinner tonight to celebrate Father's Day since my Dad is leaving town on Sunday. We had a nice night.

My precious parents

Fancy and her sweet cousin (My Sister's baby "I")

She is 18 months old now ... growing like a weed - especially her HAIR!

"I" and her lime

The artist at work

Here she is toddling around outside
And I just HAD to get a shot of that long hair ... I swear Fancy was ATLEAST 5 years old before she ever had hair that long.Here is one last pic of me and Fancy with her

Better Make Some Plans

2008-06-13T20:57:00.003-05:00

I am going to have to get on the ball with some summer plans or my boy's brain is going to turn to mush!!

This scene is becoming all too familiar these days (and yes, I do mean both the boy & his playstation AND the messy living room).

Grandpa's Box

2008-06-04T16:54:00.008-05:00

I ordered this book from Amazon to read with my kids this summer. It came Monday and I decided to take it to work with me that night to do a little browsing through before the kids and I dive in.

I read 11 chapters.

I could N.O.T. put it down.

I can't wait to read it to them.

Thanks for the idea Cyndi!

Summer Is Here!!!

2008-06-04T16:50:00.005-05:00

Here are some random thoughts hanging around in my brain:

~We are done with school!

~I survived my first year of homeschooling.

~I couldn't have imagined a better year.

~I have already bought almost all the curriculum we will use next year.

~I can't wait.

~I'm hooked.

~I'm so blessed.

Sleepy Cousin

2008-05-30T14:01:00.004-05:00

Bubby wore out his 4 year old cousin earlier this week .... it was a full day of playing. I love little boys .... a spiderman blanket and a rubber snake. Could it get any better?

Summer Fun

2008-05-30T13:48:00.008-05:00

We had our first summer cookout of the year with some good friends last weekend.

Bubby got to have to some fun with good pal "W".

Picking Peaches

Fancy helping "W" to make a good choice

Bubby sees an ant crawling on him (had I snapped this one second later, you would have gotten to enjoy the chaos that followed)
Here is Bubby picking us an onion.

After all the hard work of harvesting .... we enjoyed a yummy meal of ribs, corn on the cob, potatoes, watermelon, and cherry pie! YUMMMMM!

How excited does Fancy look to be at the "kids table"?

Some Party Pictures

2008-05-30T13:44:00.004-05:00

Fancy had a mini slumber party last weekend for her birthday ... just the right amount of girls to deter drama.

It was a fun night.

Some Soccer Pics

2008-05-22T17:10:00.004-05:00

Fancy just finished up a season of Soccer. She had a great time and did a good job. She is not sure she will play again next year though .... running and sweating aren't her things.

Hmm ... wonder how she got the nickname "Fancy". =)

Bubby was sad/pouting/whining because it wasn't his game day.

More From My Sculptor

2008-05-22T17:00:00.004-05:00

Bubby was working silently for a LONG time yesterday ..... so long that I went to see what was going on. I'm sure all you other Moms understand that statement ... especially if you have boys.

Here are some pics of his handiwork:

The Living Room

The Chair and Foot Stool

The Dog

The TV

(Ok ... how does a child born in 1999 even know about Rabbit Ears???)

And last but not least ...

Version #2 of the pencil holder .... this one is more functional!

Happy Birthday ........

2008-05-21T21:32:00.006-05:00

........... to my favorite girl.

I am so proud of the young lady you are becoming.

2 weeks old

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday
Love You Fancy Girl!

My First MeMe

2008-05-19T16:16:00.005-05:00

I've been tagged .... by my new(ish) friend Cyndi. It looked like fun, so I had a seat and gave it a whirl.

Favorite person (outside family)? I have way too many great friends to try to choose one person. All of my friends are so important to me ... all in their own ways. I know that seems like a "safe" answer, but it is so true.

Favorite food? Mexican .....mmmmmmmmmm ..... I could honestly just have the chips, hot sauce and guacamole ...... There is no need for an entree.

Quirks about you? I think I have more quirks than most, but I will share just one: I despise dry skin ..... ugh. Makes me weak to think of it. I go through so much lotion it is sad really. And my poor Hubby .... God bless him if he tries to hold my hand when his hands are dry. Ewwww.

How would the person who loves you most describe you in ten words or less? Hmmm ..... I would have to ask The Husband and he isn't home. I would bet he would say quirky in those ten words somewhere. I won't indulge myself by trying to make any glowing guesses.

Any regrets in life?
Time wasted .... so much time

Favorite Charity/Cause?
One that is dear to my heart and that I have worked with on a personal level (with a friend who lost a child) and on a professional level (multiple times at work) is Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. These are professional photgraphers who volunteer their time and services (even when we call them and ask them to come at 2 in the morning) to families who have lost their children. Caution: Do NOT click that link if you think you might be too sensitive to view the photos. They are beautiful but emotional.

Favorite Blog recently?
Stuff Christians Like ...... It makes me laugh out loud daily. He is such a smart writer and brings up some great points as well.

Something you can’t get enough of?
My iPod. I love love love music (all kinds .... well almost all) .... I also listen to about 20 or so sermons a week on it. It is one of those things that I would have to replace IMMEDIATELY if I lost it.

Worst job you've ever had?
Subway ... in High School. Yes, I was indeed a "sandwich artist"!

What job would you pay NOT to have?
Kindergarten teacher. When Bubby was in PS there were 28 kids in his K class. 18 were boys. I have had nightmares about that ... really. It was the worst year ever .... and I was just a Mom of one of those kids. That poor teacher.

If you could be a fly on the wall, where?
Ok, so I honestly just can't come up with anything clever here. I tried.

Favorite Bible verse right now? Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworty - think about such things. - Philippians 4:8

Guilty Pleasure?
My iPod, 80s music, Coca-Cola, my kids giving me back rubs, being alone in my Jetta with my own music blaring, playing American Idol on the Playstation!

If you HAD to spend $1,000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it?
A trip for me and The Husband to Mexico ... we never even had a honeymoon.

Favorite thing about your house?
My dark, quiet bedroom decorated, painted, and window shades placed specifically for a Mommy that has to sleep a couple of days a week with kids and/or a husband at home. It is my little haven.

Least favorite thing about your house?
I wish my bedroom was on the main floor. It is upstairs with the kids' rooms.

One thing you are bad at?
Staying on task .... I get distracted easily.

One thing you're good at?

Making lists/planning/organizing ..... but then refer to last question .... I make the list then don't get to check the things off. It's ok though, I make a new list, including all the things not checked off the previous list. Yes people, this is a repeating pattern.

If you could change something about your circumstances, what?
I would love to be able to quit my job. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely LOVE what I do. I would miss it greatly. But I also LOVE my kids and am constantly aware that they are going to be moved out of my house in less than 10 years. I hate missing any important moments.

Who would you like to meet someday?
Paul .... as in the Bible Paul.

Who is your real life hero?
I have many really, but a couple of them are this family and this family .... both in Haiti. I really want to go there sometime and help them....really. It is amazing what these fabulous people are doing with their lives. They HUMBLE me.

What is the hardest part of your job?
If we are talking about my paying job (RN in a NICU) it is seeing families lose their children. There aren't words to describe it. I witness the hardest thing I can imagine on a regular basis.

When are you most relaxed?
My days off ..... I work all my nights together so I can have nice stretches of being home. Those are the days I feel most like myself.

What stresses you out?
The nights I work ... feeling like I have so much I need to be doing at home, or that I am missing a soccer game, or a volleyball game. Are you starting to see a running theme here?

What can you not live without?
I don't know how else to answer this one:
Ok, so I love the show Survivor. So when I see this question it makes me think of that. You know ... they let those people take one item with them ... a "luxury item". I've thought about this before .... what could I not live without if I were on that show .... so that is how I am coming up with this answer. It is my toothbrush .... hands down.

Why do you blog?
I do it mostly to update friends and family .... especially since we started homeschooling, there are MANY questions about what is going on in our world. This makes it easier. Somehow, it is also reassuring to me to see what we do "all on paper". Sometimes when I have my not so good days, feeling like I don't do enough with or for my kids .... I can look at the blog and think, "yeah, I guess my kids really are doing things that are important and fun and meaningful and blah blah blah .... and maybe I am not such a terrible Mom after all."

Who Am I Tagging?

New/Newer bloggers- Nicole, Debbie

Bloggy friends - Sarah, Robin

I don't have original answers for these next two so I have shamelessly copied Cyndi:

Bloggers you’d like to get to know better -

YOU if you're reading this and have a blog!

Bloggers who you don't think will respond, but you hope will-

I'm not sure who to put for this one! If you read this and want to play along, consider yourself tagged!

Rules:

1. Answer the questions

2. Link back to whoever tagged you

3. Tag eight bloggers to do the same, 2 from each category:

New/ newer bloggers (since we want to share the love and send them traffic)Bloggy friends

Bloggers you’d like to get to know better

Bloggers you don’t think will respond, but you hope will

Family Fun Night

2008-05-17T00:17:00.004-05:00

We went out to dinner and shopping tonight .... mostly in honor of Mothers Day and Fancy's upcoming 12th birthday.

She chose our favorite local Italian place for pizza. It was tasty as always (note ... we eat here WAY too often). Ugh.

I got a GREAT new camera for Mothers Day so I had to play with it tonight and take a few snapshots. I love this gift. I've had a digital for years but it was from when they first came out. It was 2.8 MegaPixels. This one was quite an upgrade ... and SO cute too. My Fancy did a GREAT job picking it out. Love you Baby!!

We ran into Staples tonight so The Husband could get a label maker he's been needing for work .... we all had some fun with it tonight including labeling the dog. "MAX"

The evening was wrapped up with some fun on the PS2 American Idol game that we bought tonight. I would say it is for the kids but I have wanted this game for YEARS. I was SO excited to play and JUST NOW stopped (12:20am).

Off to bed ..........

School days are coming to a close ..........

2008-05-16T17:14:00.008-05:00

We are wrapping up school over here with maybe a week or two left. We are all excited at the prospect of some lazy summer days. I have enjoyed this year thoroughly but we all are ready for a break. WOO-HOO!!

Here are a few things we've been busy with this week (along with all the usuals of course ... Math, Language, Reading, Geography, Science Projects, blah blah blah).

Fancy chose a beautiful quote for her copywork today. It is from the Amy Carmichael biography I am currently L-O-V-I-N-G. I have been reading this for WEEKS as it is one to be savored. The quote is actually a writing to Amy from her widowed Mother in January, 1892. She wrote this encouraging Amy to follow God's call in to the mission field. Amy was hesistant to leave her precious Mother behind. It says:

He who hath led will lead
All through the wilderness,
He who hath fed will surely feed ....
He who hath heard thy cry
Will never close His ear,
He who hath marked thy faintest sigh
Will not forget thy tear.
He loveth always, faileth never,
So rest on Him today - forever.

Brings a tear to my eye to read it .... especially in my sweet daughter's handwriting.

On a lighter note .... Bubby fashioned himself a pencil holder from clay yesterday. He was QUITE proud until he realized the pencil cannot be removed from said holder for use. Bummer. He took it all in stride .... with a sheepish grin. Lesson learned.

Here he is diligently learning to write in "Cur-Viss". In his defense, this is what Fancy called it as a young girl and so we all say "Cur-Viss" ... he just picked it up from us. I guess I should correct him .... it's hard though, it's just so.darn.CUTE.

Anyway, I have been holding him back from cursive because his manuscript is just plain sloppy. I finally conceded as I came to the conclusion that he is indeed a boy and maybe my expectations are too high. He is very excited to learn it .... We shall see.

Have a GREAT weekend!

The Tornado

2008-05-07T17:07:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures I forgot about ..... on our way out of Virginia last Monday, we barely missed being in the middle of a tornado. As we were driving that morning, The Husband was napping in the backseat with Bubby and Fancy was riding in the front with me.

She was fascinated with how dark the sky was in the middle of the morning and took a couple of pics to document it. We were probably almost into Tennessee by the time she took these, but our morning had been mixtures of pouring rain and darkness since we had left Yorktown at around 6am. In retrospect, I should have been listening to the news on the radio as the skies certainly suggested severe weather. Instead, Fancy and I were jamming our way through Virginia on some 80s music. Mom of the Year here. =)

These 2 pictures don't even really do justice to how scary the skies looked .... they were taken at around 10am I guess:

When we stopped for the night in Jackson, TN, we saw on the news that we had been just ahead of a tornado along with severe storms hitting many areas that we had literally driven right through that morning.

Later in the week, we received these pics documenting just what we had dodged.

These were taken at the Naval Base in Norfolk, VA:

I sure am glad we drug ourselves out of bed that day at 5am!!

The Wedding

2008-05-07T16:58:00.005-05:00

We had a wedding to go to Saturday night. It was nice to have my family all dressed up. Our church is fairly casual, so we don't get pretty too often. hehe. The Husband was even in a TUX. This had to be documented in pictures people!

It was great to see lots of out of town family we don't get to see very often.

The bride was The Husband's cousin. She looked beautiful and a good time was had by all.

Here is The Husband with his brother:

....... Thanks for the loaner KK ..........

Last of the Virginia Pics

2008-05-05T08:19:00.003-05:00

Here we are with "Mamaw" and PaPaw". They were the sweetest hosts. They fed us WELL ..... I swear, we spent the whole weekend feeling like we were at a Bed and Breakfast. They spoiled us all rotten. My kids fell in LOVE with them. I was so happy to have my family get to know them. They were a great influence on me in high school.
Me, The Husband, and "B" and "D" ..... we had such an awesome visit. It was so great to see them again after so many years.

Here we are with all the kiddos. "D" and I just couldn't get over how we would sit in this very same house together having junk food and watching "Dallas" after school and now here we were with our husbands and kids. Wow. Time flies .....

Thanks for a GREAT visit guys .... we hope to see you all again real soon !!!!

Historic Yorktown

2008-05-05T08:09:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pics of our little day trip to Yortown. The boys (big and small) really enjoyed all the old war memorabilia. Being somewhat of a history buff, I was quite happy as well. Fancy was less impressed but was sweet spirited throughout the day.

Here is "B" explaining military terminology to the boys. They were FASCINATED with the cannons.

These two were SO excited to see a cannon aimed out over the water, especially after we had watched a film in the visitor center that included recreations of the battles on the ships. They RAN as fast as they could to get down there and have a look.

Here is Bubby excited to have his picture made with George Washington. This life size cut out had a lot of info about our first president including his height ..... 6'2.

My sweet girl .... who told me several times that she had enjoyed the day before much more (the day at the beach). I guess you can't win 'em all.

Virginia is for Lovers

2008-04-30T12:17:00.014-05:00

Back Story: I lived in Yorktown, Virginia with my parents throughout High School and a for a couple of years after graduation. My parents were stationed there in the Air Force. The Husband had grown up in the Dallas area and had joined the Navy after High School. He was stationed at Norfolk Naval Station about 45 minutes from where I lived.

My best friend "D" and I spent A LOT of time in Virginia Beach. It was the place to be for a couple of girls our age. One night when I was about 19, she and I drove to Virginia Beach as we so often did and met the two men we ended up marrying. "D" married "B", The Husband's good friend from the Navy, in July 1994 and The Husband and I were married in October of the same year. The four of us hadn't seen eachother since our wedding. FOURTEEN YEARS. What a shame.

We returned to Virginia this past weekend for a surprise trip for "D's" birthday on Sunday. I had schemed a plan to surprise her. I called her Mom several weeks ago and the plan was hatched. We looked into airfare, but decided to save A LOT of money by driving. Even with the crazy gas prices, we saved a ton thanks to my sweet little Jetta that gets 50mpg. As much as I loved the savings in fuel though, I admit was cursing that tiny car after 44 (round trip) hours in it with 4 people. We lived though and I don't regret the trip ONE BIT.

Here are the kids fairly happy on day one (you will notice there are NO pictures of the return trip passengers .... life was not as happy on the way home ..... ugh)

Just as we were getting close, we ended up stuck on a bridge for about an hour due to a wreck up ahead. We noticed people were all getting out of their cars and enjoying the view and fabulous weather. My children have only seen the ocean once and they were 4 years old and 6 months old .... they obviously do not remember it. This bridge was their very first view of the ocean. They were BEGGING to get out of the car and have a look. I fought the good fight for about 20 minutes. I was not at all on board with my kids standing outside the car on a bridge suspended over the Atlantic Ocean (for those of you who don't know - bridges and water are my biggest fear in life). I eventually gave in and just buried my head in my hands for most of the 10 minutes they spent looking at the ocean with Daddy. They were THRILLED to see the ocean .... it was love at first sight.

This is the only picture of the "reunion" I ended up with. I had given the camera to The Husband when "D" was about to come around the corner of her Mom's house to discover us sitting there .... he was instructed to "take pictureS" .... with an "S". He took this one:

She was SHOCKED. It was GREAT. Her Mom and I really pulled it off. She had NO idea we were coming. The moment was perfect. It was so great to see her and "B" and to finally meet their precious boys (ages 7 and 2) in person. Here are all the kiddos on her Mom's front porch:

Bubby and her oldest son hit it off IMMEDIATELY. We were so entertained by their instant friendship. Here they are in coincidentally matching pajamas (which they were pretty thrilled to discover) enjoying some legos and hot wheels together.

Saturday I was wanting to go to Virginia Beach. I really wanted the kids to see where The Husband and I had met. I also wanted them to SEE the beach. I had no idea the weather would be so great.

It was just warm enough to allow for some playing in the water. Too cold for the sane adults, but the kids were fine with it.

The boys (the 2 year old stayed at home with "MaMaw") really enjoyed the sand. Bubby has watched WAY too much "Shark Week" on TV to want to go too far into the water anyway.

Being Silly and "Playing Dead"

I just HAD to get a picture of just how COVERED with sand this boy was ... YUCK!

Fancy was much more brave with the water. She ended up really enjoying riding the waves in. She was scaring me to death, but I had to let her enjoy herself.

Notice the boys watching her safely from the shore.

"D" and I planted ourselves in beach chairs on the sand and enjoyed an afternoon of warm sun, cool breezes, the smell of the ocean, and watching our kids play together. Life was perfect. We just couldn't get over how much our lives had changed since we'd last been together on that same sand.

Here's the two Navy Buddies and their Brides. Those two enjoyed catching up and watching the boys play together.

After our day on the beach, we cleaned up and took a walk on the boardwalk. We wrapped up the evening with a FABULOUS seafood dinner in a gorgeous restaurant right on the water. It was great.

Sunday morning we went to church with them, had lunch, and then took the kids down to Historic Yorktown. I will post pictures of that later. I had no idea I had taken so many pictures and this post has already taken me quite awhile.

A Yummy Sunday Dinner

2008-04-03T13:11:00.003-05:00

I don't know why I decided to photograph this other than the fact that it was just the perfect meal following the perfect day.

The house was clean, the laundry was done, the school week was organized.... trust me people, there aren't many of these kinds of moments around here lately.

The husband grilled salmon and veggies, I made brown rice and sweet tea, we sat outside and ate on the patio in 65 degree weather ..... it just doesn't get any better.

The funny part is: Just look at those smiling faces! As I was basking in the glory of this family moment, my kids were quite sad that they had been called in to eat .... they had been playing outside ALL day with their friends and they weren't quite ready for it to end.

Easter Fun

2008-04-03T12:40:00.004-05:00

We went to the park for a picnic with friends the day before Easter. The weather couldn't have been better.

We played Lasso Golf, Horseshoes, Soccer, Volleyball, and finished up with a cookout and an Easter Egg Hunt.

Fancy (in stripes) and her Volleyball buddy

The Husband (in orange) playing Volleyball with the ladies. I played for a bit as well, but wanted to get back to my role of photgrapher.

Bubby lost his ball in the creek

Dad is convincing him they will have to let the breeze work to their advantage and tells Bubby to go downstream a bit to wait for the ball (no one wanted to get their shoes muddy on the bank)

Bubby ~~losing his mind~~ practicing patience

Success at last (it did take quite awhile as the breeze was minimal)

Back to the gameBubby checking out his loot

Bubby's Drum "Recital"

2008-04-03T12:32:00.004-05:00

Is it called a recital? I am not really sure. It certainly doesn't sound cool enough, but I have no other term for it.

Anyway, he had a "performance" at church a few weeks ago.

Here are some pics of him rocking it out.

Great job Bubby!!

Love This

2008-03-26T16:54:00.000-05:00

“You may speak but a word to a child, and in that child there may be slumbering a noble heart which shall stir the Christian Church in years to come.” — Charles Spurgeon

American Idol

2008-03-10T18:07:00.003-05:00

I would like to rally all of my (3) blog readers to vote for Jason Castro on American Idol. He is a really talented, good Christian kid ... well he is 20 or so, but that is a kid to me .... Ugh. I am old. Ok, let's move on.

Anyway, he is the TALK of the town around my house. Fancy and all her friends are really excited to "know" someone on the show. He grew up in our area and in our church. We had gotten to see him sing at church a few times before we saw him on the show. Fancy is actually friends with his little sister so that is actually about as far as the "knowing him" goes. To an 11 year old though, it counts!

Anyway .... watch tonight and don't forget to VOTE !!!

Happy Birthday Daddy

2008-03-10T14:12:00.008-05:00

The Husband had a birthday on February 28th and I am just now getting around to posting the pictures.

The kids spent a good part of the afternoon making signs to wish him a happy 37th. Fancy actually got hers to hang from the ceiling in the entry way. I made some comments about it not being able to stay like that ... she of course proved me wrong. =)

Bubby chose to hang his on the island as he reasoned that Daddy always comes into the kitchen for a snack or drink when he gets home. Smart kid.

Here are their masterpieces:

Since Bubby and his Daddy enjoy the drums so much together, he included some comments on his banner that I thought were quite cute.

"YOU ROCK"

"Daddy's boss of drums - you rock Daddy"

Later, we went out to eat at a local Hibachi restaraunt. It is one of The Husband's favorite places to eat and just happens to be Bubby's favorite place to be entertained (eat? eh ....... not so much).

Here is The Husband and his Mom:

Fancy and "Nanny" (my Mom) enjoying the soup:

Bubby and "GaGa" enjoying the soup as well (actually, Bubby faked it for the picture, but who's keeping track?) It had mushrooms floating in it ... that was a deal breaker for him!

The Volcano (Bubby's FAVORITE part)

Bubby trying his hand at chopsticks

The kids made Daddy cupcakes as well. They even decorated a container for them to sit in. We got to enjoy these when we got home. They were a hit!

I Almost Forgot

2008-02-27T12:21:00.003-06:00

Remember I mentioned my sweet friend Beena from work was going to make us an authentic Indian dinner? Well she did so a couple of weeks ago .... a FABULOUS dinner of chicken and rice.

I wasn't sure how my kids would do with it, but they were happy to try it. We all LOVED the rice. It was so yummy .... and FULL of veggies. The chicken was a bit spicy, but I was proud that they atleast gave it a try..... especially Bubby ... he is my picky eater.

She also brought each of them a handmade wall hanging made of Jute. They were both impressed with the detail of the work. It was so sweet of her to make us a meal and bring gifts.

CONFESSION: Yep, those are "American" veggies, pork chops and rolls on the plate WITH the Indian food. I have two ~~excuses~~ reasons: 1) As most of you know, The Husband is allergic to poultry, so I had to make him a meal and 2) I wasn't sure if my kids would eat enough of the Indian food to be full. As it turned out, the rice was a hit and they would have gotten full on that alone. I should ask her for her recipe.

THANKS BEENA !!

My Hoop Shooter

2008-02-27T11:59:00.004-06:00

Bubby's last basketball game was Saturday and I finally took some pictures.

Yep .... 8 games and I took no pictures until the LAST one. You can submit your Mother of the Year nominations anytime.

A Valentine's Day "date"

2008-02-27T11:53:00.004-06:00

We all went out to dinner together for our "date" ... yep, all four of us. To top off the romance, I promptly went straight from the restaraunt to work. Oohh La La.

Anyway, here are some pics of the kids from Valentine's Day:

A "loving" game of Tic-Tac-Toe

Us enjoying our Strawberry Lemondae together ... notice me in my ~~Valentine's Outfit~~ Boring Blue Scrubs

A Visit with my Niece

2008-02-27T11:36:00.004-06:00

Fancy had an "official" babysitting job a few weeks ago. My sister and her husband had a meeting to go to and they brought my sweet niece over for Fancy to watch.

We all had a fun time playing with her but Fancy was the official caregiver. She did a great job.

Here are a few pics. Baby "I" is 14 months old now and busy as she can be. I need to come up with a nickname for her for my blog. Hmmmm......

Loving on Pedro (and poking him in the eye, but oh well)

Walking around with her hand in her pocket .... so cute!!Sitting in Bubby's lap - this is new as he is usually pretty "hands off" around babies

Fancy showing her the cell-phone .... teaching her the ways of the pre-teens

We love you sweet girl .... come back soon !!

Ouch

2008-02-12T17:43:00.000-06:00

"This year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practise ourselves the kind of behaviour we expect from other people."
-C.S. Lewis

An Update

2008-02-12T10:17:00.000-06:00

I had no idea it had been this long since I had posted anything. Wow.

There isn't much to say except that we have been VERY busy with school, volleyball, drum lessons, tumbling classes, the flu, strep thraot, a stomach virus, a new job for me (not a part of my plan but something I am excited about now), and some "normal life" added into the mix.

School has been going great. I can't believe how close we are to the end of the school year. We only have 13 more weeks (of course, we did start in July). Had I known HSing could go so smoothly, I would have started much sooner. I'm not saying it's easy ..... but it's been great. I'm already looking forward to next year.

This week we are starting our studies of Asia. We will focus on India for the next two weeks. I have a sweet friend at work that moved here from India just a few years ago. She has offered to make us an authentic Indian dinner. I am exited about it. My kids, on the other hand, are nervous to say the least. I asked Beena to be kind to us and not make it too spicy. Hopefully she will honor that request. =)

We are reading this book about Amy Carmichael this week. We have really enjoyed learning about so many missionaries this year during our Geography studies. Fancy especially seems to enjoy missionary stories.

I hope you all are having a great week.

Thanks for checking in.

V

Yummy ..... and FREE

2008-01-27T19:51:00.000-06:00

Get a Free Auntie Annie Pretzel on February 2nd:

Enjoy!!

In Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

2008-01-21T21:23:00.000-06:00

This afternoon I was thinking back to the day Fancy came home excited to tell us about a great man she had learned about in Kindergarten.

Here was her explanation:

"He was a really nice guy who made mean people let brown people drink water out of water fountains."

This picture was taken about that time:

Oh, how the time flies.

More Time ..........

2008-01-20T15:22:00.001-06:00

After MUCH discussion, contemplation, and prayer, we have decided to stop going to AWANA on Sundays. I won't bore anyone with too many details of our thoughts on the topic. Nonetheless, today has been a great day. I am looking forward to many more of these lazy Sunday afternoons to come.

Clay Fun

2008-01-16T10:50:00.000-06:00

Bubby wanted me to post a picture of this giraffe he made from clay.

Not bad, huh?

While I am at it .....

2008-01-15T20:47:00.000-06:00

I seem to be on a posting roll today, so I will wrap up with this:

Three weeks late, I am finally posting some Christmas pictures.

We went to the 3 o'clock Christmas Eve service at church and then came home for the traditional Lloyd Family Christmas Eve Fajita dinner. YUMMY!!

We had almost twenty people in our house and it was pretty fabulous. Look at the ridiculous amount of presents under and around that tree. (Sorry the pic turned out a bit blurry).

Here is Fancy carrying around her cousin, my sister's sweet baby girl who just turned a year old. Bubby was busy unwrapping something and that is our nephew in red on the floor tearing into one of his many gifts.
Here is Bubby and his cousin playing together under the coffee table.
Bubby was excited to get a music stand for his beloved Drum Kit while The Husband was trying to remember if he knows how to play chess. (This picture is actually from Christmas morning when it was just us.)
This is my brother in green and my Mother-in-law in the stripes. She was on Gift Card patrol as there is always the fear that a kid will throw one away in the mass of wrapping paper. It hasn't happened yet thanks to her years of diligence. =)
Here is my Father-in-law at the kitchen table and if you look closely, my sister and dad are sitting at the table in the background as well. Fancy is busy helping the baby walk around. Let me just mention that in any situation if you want to find Fancy, find the baby in the room.

This pic is of my favorite gift of all. My parents gave us this entertainment center. It really warms up the living room. I love it!!! Thanks Mom and Dad!!

BEFORE

AFTER

Here is Max, aka "The Beast" trying to look innocent after getting caught with that green gift bag which conveniently contained chocolates. Wonder why he chose to pull that one from beneath the tree.

And last but not least, Pedro (so named because he is part Chihuahua and Fancy knew that was in Mexico). Since he has grown we have decided that the mark on his back looks somewhat like Africa and have since wondered if we chose the wrong geographic area when choosing his name.

Since we are currently studying this continent, would it be wrong to let the kids label countries on him with washable marker? What do you think? =)

Merry Belated Christmas!!

Africam

2008-01-15T18:41:00.000-06:00

A friend (Thanks Cyndi!) recommended this site for our Africa studies.

The kids are L-O-V-I-N-G it.

We have yet to see anything at the watering hole, but the anticipation is immense. I can't imagine what they will do if they see an actual animal.

V

The Story of the Orchestra by Robert Levine

2008-01-15T17:16:00.000-06:00

We checked out several books about the orchestra last week at the library. Our main curriculum includes music study but it has left me wanting more. I am really a music lover and it just wasn't doing enough for me. Basically, it has had us listening to samples of music from the country we are studying. It has been fun, but at most takes 10 minutes a week.

In the Fall, when I started to feel the need for more, we started learning hymns. I tried to tie it in by choosing a hymn that was connected somehow to the country we were studying. We are learning Amazing Grace now. We write the lyrics out for handwriting practice, listen to different versions of the hymn, and sing along. I can't say I am making them memorize them exactly. Fancy knows them fairly well, Bubby always has to follow along with his paper (and usually has to be encouraged NOT to try to add a drum solo into the hymn), but that's ok.

Anyway, back to the title of this post. We have really been having fun with this book. It comes with a CD with 41 tracks (more than an hour of music). As you read, the book tells you when to play which track. It may be a sample of the composer's music that you are reading about or the sound of a specific instrument you are reading about. It is a great book. I may have to buy this one.

Today we listened to Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Beautiful.

Back to school,
V

Back to School .... Off to Africa

2008-01-06T15:36:00.000-06:00

I am spending the better part of today getting ready to start school back up tomorrow. The 7 week break for the holidays was great. I was afraid I would have a hard time getting back into the swing of things but I have been ready to get going since the day after Christmas. Maybe it is because this is my first year. I missed school. The kids are ready too .... not as much as Mom, but that's ok.

We will be studying Africa (with a focus on Kenya) in Geography for the next three weeks. Here are a few of the books we will read this week (we checked out more than 30 books on Kenya and Africa last week at the library). These story books are a bit young for Fancy, but she still gets a lot from them. We have several higher level books that benefit her a bit more.

For You are a Kenyan Child by Kelly Cunnane

When Africa was Home by Karen Lynn Williams

If You Should Hear a Honey Guide by April Pulley Sayre

We will also be reading this biography of David Livingstone:

We have read two others in this series this year and we are looking forward to this one. I'm sure it will be just as good as the others.

Of course we will get right back into Math, Language, Handwriting, Bible, Logic, Art, Music, Spelling, and Science as well. We will do 10 weeks before we enjoy "Spring Break". I have been spending quite a bit of time devoted to trying to decide if we will actually go anywhere this year. Last year, we went skiing in Colorado. It was a nice time.This year though, I think we might actually enjoy some warm weather. We shall see.

Enjoy your week,