Things have been up and down these past two weeks. There were amazing moments, and some that have been down right rough.
I did go to Disney with my mother and sisters the weekend before Christmas. It was a very fun trip. My mom had to be gone for the middle two days to be in the electoral college in Austin, but was with us Saturday and Tuesday. My sisters and I watched her be elected chair (read President) of the Electoral College in Texas while in line for the Peter Pan ride. I was able to find the college live streaming. We were so excited that we told the people in front of us, but they didn't speak English. Mom got to announce to the world, that Texas put Trump over the top with electoral votes and that he would indeed be the next president of the United States. That made her top news story on every network and Good Morning America. No matter what your political views may be, you have to admit, that's a pretty cool experience. Danielle, Christian and I ate amazing food at the drive in diner, Be our Guest and the restaurant in Norway that I can't pronounce. We had pictures with a bunch of Princesses and Characters. We rode all the rides we wanted thanks in large part to Danielle's amazing fast Pass skills. We even rode the new Frozen ride (twice) and enjoyed it immensely.
Back in Plano, Francis, his mom and the kids went to church (where William was a shepherd in the Sunday morning Nativity), visited ICE, went to the Dallas Aquarium, Chuck E Cheese and a number of other places. It's safe to say they didn't miss me much, especially because we were able to Skype and see each other anytime.
The morning after we got home, my mom called and said that Pop (my dad's dad) had had a stroke and was not doing well. Mom Noble and Pop would not be at Christmas for the first time ever. On top of that my mom ended up coming down with the Flu. After spending another couple days with my in-laws (including another trip to Chuck E Cheese), we went to my parents house. My mom stayed secluded, and other than William having an allergic reaction to something and throwing up, everyone was healthy. It was a quiet and enjoyable couple of days, but the absence of family members was keenly felt. Since mom was sick, my sisters and I made lunch Christmas eve and did a decent job. It's hard to full Mom and Mom Noble's shoes. Then we Skyped Mom Noble and Aunt Camille on Christmas Eve and that helped a little with missing them. We had a quiet service at the house and opened presents. The kids loved all they got (as did I) and the present I got Francis was s hit. It was an amazing sound bar to go under the TV. He is thrilled and will be mounting it and the TV to the wall tomorrow. It was fun to see all the cousins together too. William and Robert drove around the twins and Hannah in the gator and truck. Laughing was heard through out the yard and house. I'm so thankful for that laughter.
Christmas day I rode with the kids and my in-laws to Cyndy's house while Francis dropped off our stuff and the dogs in College station before meeting us there. We opened gifts that afternoon and had a delicious dinner that evening. More cousin time (this time with Abby) was what the doctor ordered. The only dark spot there was the concussion I gave myself when we arrived. I was carrying Hannah and plopped down on their couch, but caught my head on the overhanging counter of the kitchen. I nearly blacked out when it happened and spent the rest of the day/evening holding back tears. It is still a little sore but doing much better. I'm just glad it was me and not Hannah!
This week we have been home putting the house back together and playing with Francis who is home his week. We've been to a movie, been clearance Christmas shopping (we found the Santa projector William has been wanting on sale for $30!), to Bahama Bucks for Shaved Ice (it's been very warm), and running errands. We've been trying to soak in all the family time. I had to say goodbye to Pop over the phone on Tuesday. He's not doing well. He's been unconscious and not eating or drinking for days now. If you could keep us and him in your prayers as he goes to meet Jesus, I would appreciate it. I oscillate between being so thankful for him and where he's going to being so sad he's leaving. I love him very much and I know he loves me. He also loves Jesus so I know I'll see him again. that makes it easier.
I want to end on a happier note, so I would like to say Hannah is doing great with potty training. She's only doing one accident a day at most and it's usually #2. William and Robert and doing great also. I couldn't ask for better, more compassionate kiddos. They've been hugging and loving on me even more than usual. Thank you God for sweet kids, husbands and family.
I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Friday, December 30, 2016
Thursday, December 15, 2016
December 15, 2016
Last weekend all 5 of us traveled up to Dallas for a wonderful weekend. After celebrating my Dad's birthday Friday night with the whole family (including my Aunt Camille) at Uncle Julio's, we headed back to my parents' house and opened presents and had cake. Saturday we all (the 5 of us, my parents, Christian and her family, Danielle, Kevin, Aunt Camille, and Francis's parents) all went to see Gift of Christmas at Prestonwood. I have always been in the show, so seeing it from front of house was exciting. Hannah was able to go to the nursery, but the boys watched in wonder as the amazing sounds and sight of Christmas came to life on stage. Their was santa flying in his sleigh, all manner of dancing and singing toys, a winter wonderland, black light displays, cool special effects, and of course, the Christmas story. The last was my favorite. They had flying angels, wise men with their entourage of people and animals, and a cast of so many carrying candles into the auditorium. All of this for one purpose, to see the newborn king. It was powerful. Thank you Lord for sending salvation. thank you for loving us.
Sunday was a long day as we left after church and yet still had to get back for AWANAS. I think it was worth it though. We've been trying to keep it low key this week since the next 10 days starting tomorrow will be nuts. Tuesday we stayed home until the afternoon and then went to the Library. Laura met us there and helped the boys make gifts for me (they were having a craft/gift making event) while I helped Hannah make a couple of things. the sweet boys have been begging to get me something for Christmas without me seeing it. They are super excited to have stuff under the tree from them to me that's a surprise (I help them with making their other gifts). Thanks Laura for giving them that opportunity! The kids and I met up with Francis and our small group at Rudy's for dinner and then toured the lights at Central Park as a group. It was so fun and I'm so glad we were able to do it.
Yesterday I awoke with a terrible headache. The kids and I managed to stay in our pajamas all day. By the evening I was feeling somewhat better, so Francis took us out to look at Christmas lights. I told the kids to go get ready and they all returned in full costume (Pikachu, Transformer, and Elsa respectively). It was kind of adorable and we weren't getting out of the car, so we loaded in the car and went out. That's what I call making memories.
Today we have been preparing to head out for Christmas. I got the car washed/waxed/vacuumed and we are mostly packed. I am also attempting to get the house in a state where I won't curse myself when I get back. So far, so good. You like;y won't hear from me until after Christmas. My mother, sisters and I are taking a long weekend trip to Disney World and then Christmas will be nearly upon us.
So, Merry Christmas! May his joy fill your spirit with gladness. If you don't know Jesus and want to know why I call him my Savior, I would love to talk to you. Just let me know.
Till next time!
Sunday was a long day as we left after church and yet still had to get back for AWANAS. I think it was worth it though. We've been trying to keep it low key this week since the next 10 days starting tomorrow will be nuts. Tuesday we stayed home until the afternoon and then went to the Library. Laura met us there and helped the boys make gifts for me (they were having a craft/gift making event) while I helped Hannah make a couple of things. the sweet boys have been begging to get me something for Christmas without me seeing it. They are super excited to have stuff under the tree from them to me that's a surprise (I help them with making their other gifts). Thanks Laura for giving them that opportunity! The kids and I met up with Francis and our small group at Rudy's for dinner and then toured the lights at Central Park as a group. It was so fun and I'm so glad we were able to do it.
Yesterday I awoke with a terrible headache. The kids and I managed to stay in our pajamas all day. By the evening I was feeling somewhat better, so Francis took us out to look at Christmas lights. I told the kids to go get ready and they all returned in full costume (Pikachu, Transformer, and Elsa respectively). It was kind of adorable and we weren't getting out of the car, so we loaded in the car and went out. That's what I call making memories.
Today we have been preparing to head out for Christmas. I got the car washed/waxed/vacuumed and we are mostly packed. I am also attempting to get the house in a state where I won't curse myself when I get back. So far, so good. You like;y won't hear from me until after Christmas. My mother, sisters and I are taking a long weekend trip to Disney World and then Christmas will be nearly upon us.
So, Merry Christmas! May his joy fill your spirit with gladness. If you don't know Jesus and want to know why I call him my Savior, I would love to talk to you. Just let me know.
Till next time!
Thursday, December 8, 2016
December 8, 2016
It's been a busy week. This past weekend m-laws came here, despite the nasty weather and took the kids' little F150 truck to my parents house so the kids can use it when we are in Dallas. It wasn't getting much use here, and they love driving around on Papa's land. I'm thankful Francis's parents made the drive. we were having a hard time finding a way to transport it.
Tuesday was our last Classical Conversations class of 2016. The moms brought treats for the kids to enjoy after lunch and a special table was set up where the kids could eat. William's tutor (teacher) gave him a bag of goodies for Christmas and he got her a gift in return. It had been a good semester. I am excited when we start back up in January!
I've been wrapping presents, shopping, mailing Christmas cards, and basically trying to wrap up all the "housecleaning" type things associated with Christmas. Although these things are good, I much more enjoy the time with family, laughing around the Christmas tree, the food, and the actual giving and receiving of gifts. Nowadays I find I most like the reading of the Christmas story and worship time Christmas Eve. I tear up even thinking about it. This is a season of Joy. May we spread His joy throughout this season and all year long.
Hannah decided Sunday that she is going to start potty training. Sunday morning she grabbed the potty seat, climbed on and peed on the potty. That afternoon she did the same only pooped. I can take a hint. She's had one accident per day since we started training Sunday, and it's usually when I forget or am unable to take her. I just hope all the travelling in the coming weeks doesn't undo all her hard work! Her hair is getting longer. I can now put it up into mini pony or pig tails. It is super adorable. Hannah is also talking so much more! She parrots words back at me all the time and uses words appropriately that I didn't know she knew. She is following simple directions, sharing (most of the time), and playing nicely (also most of the time). Her two new favorite things to do are sit at the table and eat from a toddler plate (not the high chair tray in the highchair), and dance when music is playing. While I do wish she were still eating in her high chair with a tray, the latter it adorable. Since Robert loves to dance continuously also, they are making quite the dynamic duo. I'll have to get a video next time.
Robert has been growing again. He is fully in 3T pants with only a couple being too long/wide for him. He is getting even better at his joke telling and comedic timing. He gets sweeter everyday. He is forming his own opinion about things much to William's chagrin. Sometimes he now tells William "no". It's nuts. He is getting much better at discerning truth from fiction and is striving to be honest as much as he can. This is music to my ears. Robert is also so smart. He knows all the history sentences, Latin, and English even though he wasn't in class with William this semester. He picked up solely from the CD and hearing us talk. I'm so impressed by his memory. He's already learned so much!
William has been diligent with his school work and we are still on track to finish in April. He asks tough questions, connects ideas like you wouldn't believe and always wants to know more. He is also a master of all his memory work from this semester. When he hears something, like someone mention Russia, he immediately says, "I know Russia, it has Moscow! I also know a sentence about the history of Russia..." and then he recites it. I like to see him learning, but on occasion I have to make him wait so whatever is going on can finish. He's learning to wait, yet another life skill.
Well, rest time has prematurely come to an end. Till next time!
Tuesday was our last Classical Conversations class of 2016. The moms brought treats for the kids to enjoy after lunch and a special table was set up where the kids could eat. William's tutor (teacher) gave him a bag of goodies for Christmas and he got her a gift in return. It had been a good semester. I am excited when we start back up in January!
I've been wrapping presents, shopping, mailing Christmas cards, and basically trying to wrap up all the "housecleaning" type things associated with Christmas. Although these things are good, I much more enjoy the time with family, laughing around the Christmas tree, the food, and the actual giving and receiving of gifts. Nowadays I find I most like the reading of the Christmas story and worship time Christmas Eve. I tear up even thinking about it. This is a season of Joy. May we spread His joy throughout this season and all year long.
Hannah decided Sunday that she is going to start potty training. Sunday morning she grabbed the potty seat, climbed on and peed on the potty. That afternoon she did the same only pooped. I can take a hint. She's had one accident per day since we started training Sunday, and it's usually when I forget or am unable to take her. I just hope all the travelling in the coming weeks doesn't undo all her hard work! Her hair is getting longer. I can now put it up into mini pony or pig tails. It is super adorable. Hannah is also talking so much more! She parrots words back at me all the time and uses words appropriately that I didn't know she knew. She is following simple directions, sharing (most of the time), and playing nicely (also most of the time). Her two new favorite things to do are sit at the table and eat from a toddler plate (not the high chair tray in the highchair), and dance when music is playing. While I do wish she were still eating in her high chair with a tray, the latter it adorable. Since Robert loves to dance continuously also, they are making quite the dynamic duo. I'll have to get a video next time.
Robert has been growing again. He is fully in 3T pants with only a couple being too long/wide for him. He is getting even better at his joke telling and comedic timing. He gets sweeter everyday. He is forming his own opinion about things much to William's chagrin. Sometimes he now tells William "no". It's nuts. He is getting much better at discerning truth from fiction and is striving to be honest as much as he can. This is music to my ears. Robert is also so smart. He knows all the history sentences, Latin, and English even though he wasn't in class with William this semester. He picked up solely from the CD and hearing us talk. I'm so impressed by his memory. He's already learned so much!
William has been diligent with his school work and we are still on track to finish in April. He asks tough questions, connects ideas like you wouldn't believe and always wants to know more. He is also a master of all his memory work from this semester. When he hears something, like someone mention Russia, he immediately says, "I know Russia, it has Moscow! I also know a sentence about the history of Russia..." and then he recites it. I like to see him learning, but on occasion I have to make him wait so whatever is going on can finish. He's learning to wait, yet another life skill.
Well, rest time has prematurely come to an end. Till next time!
Friday, December 2, 2016
December 2, 2016
Been 2+ weeks since I was last able to post. A lot has happened. We dealt with the flooding issue in our house. It was the shower drain seal. We have yet to replace the floor padding, but at least we are dry.
We had my niece and nephew's 1st birthday party two weeks ago today. It was fun to play with them and spend time with the whole family including Japapa. We spent most of the week in Dallas. I attended a wedding shower for a childhood friend of mine: Jordan Schultz. My birthday was the Tuesday. After visiting many malls that week ( including one to get my birthday present which was a new iPhone 7, woo hoo!), we went to yet another mall to get a small crack fixed on my phone face. We had pizza that night at the house and an amazing red velvet bundt cake at my parents' house. Ashley even came over! We then played games and talked. It was a good time.
Thanksgiving was good. Francis, the kids and I drove up to Aunt Bup's house. My parents, Aunt Bup, Uncle Don, my cousin Linsey and her family, and Tom's mother were the sum total of our Thanksgiving this year. It was a cozy gathering and I won't complain about that. We were able to watch the cowboys win before Francis, the kids and I packed up and drove straight to San Antonio. It was a long drive and we got in just before midnight. The next morning we walked along the river walk and had lunch before my in-laws, and Cyndy, Chris and Abby arrived. We had an exciting time watching the Riverwalk parade. The following morning we took family pictures and went to Sea World. We enjoyed Christmas lights, shows and dinner with Santa. The kids know Santa isn't real, but they enjoyed the food and story time.
Once we got home on Sunday, we put up all the Christmas decorations and re-discovered all we bought on clearance last year. We got some neat stuff and the house looks festive. I love celebrating the coming of Jesus!
This week we have started to wrap up our fall activities. We have one more Tuesday of CC school, but we've already had our last MOMs yesterday. It all went so fast! I've been wrapping presents and getting gifts. I am almost done with both and look forward to relaxing and soaking in the true meaning of Christmas so that I may share the love of Christ with the world.
Thursday evening we had Night in Bethlehem at Church. The kids enjoyed talking to Mary and Joseph, petting animals, decorating cookies, wrapping flowers, making ornaments, shopping at the market and reading the book they got about Jesus when we got home. I was especially amazed at how fully Hannah was able to participate in everything. She knew what was going on, followed directions and complete the tasks. She's growing up so much!
Well, Hannah is up from her (short) nap, so I guess that's it for now. The kids are doing great. They are learning like crazy and make me smile with how kind they are to one another.
We had my niece and nephew's 1st birthday party two weeks ago today. It was fun to play with them and spend time with the whole family including Japapa. We spent most of the week in Dallas. I attended a wedding shower for a childhood friend of mine: Jordan Schultz. My birthday was the Tuesday. After visiting many malls that week ( including one to get my birthday present which was a new iPhone 7, woo hoo!), we went to yet another mall to get a small crack fixed on my phone face. We had pizza that night at the house and an amazing red velvet bundt cake at my parents' house. Ashley even came over! We then played games and talked. It was a good time.
Thanksgiving was good. Francis, the kids and I drove up to Aunt Bup's house. My parents, Aunt Bup, Uncle Don, my cousin Linsey and her family, and Tom's mother were the sum total of our Thanksgiving this year. It was a cozy gathering and I won't complain about that. We were able to watch the cowboys win before Francis, the kids and I packed up and drove straight to San Antonio. It was a long drive and we got in just before midnight. The next morning we walked along the river walk and had lunch before my in-laws, and Cyndy, Chris and Abby arrived. We had an exciting time watching the Riverwalk parade. The following morning we took family pictures and went to Sea World. We enjoyed Christmas lights, shows and dinner with Santa. The kids know Santa isn't real, but they enjoyed the food and story time.
Once we got home on Sunday, we put up all the Christmas decorations and re-discovered all we bought on clearance last year. We got some neat stuff and the house looks festive. I love celebrating the coming of Jesus!
This week we have started to wrap up our fall activities. We have one more Tuesday of CC school, but we've already had our last MOMs yesterday. It all went so fast! I've been wrapping presents and getting gifts. I am almost done with both and look forward to relaxing and soaking in the true meaning of Christmas so that I may share the love of Christ with the world.
Thursday evening we had Night in Bethlehem at Church. The kids enjoyed talking to Mary and Joseph, petting animals, decorating cookies, wrapping flowers, making ornaments, shopping at the market and reading the book they got about Jesus when we got home. I was especially amazed at how fully Hannah was able to participate in everything. She knew what was going on, followed directions and complete the tasks. She's growing up so much!
Well, Hannah is up from her (short) nap, so I guess that's it for now. The kids are doing great. They are learning like crazy and make me smile with how kind they are to one another.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
November 17, 2016
This week has been a whirlwind. I'll be brief.
We have had a plumbing issue this week. I found water in our house and with a number of people in and out of here (including one scam artist that God thankfully allowed us to stop before he ripped into our walls...), we have yet to find the problem. The leak detection unit comes out tomorrow. Whatever they find I pray it is easily fixable. So far the damage was not as extensive as it could have been and we are not out too much money. We will see after tomorrow if that still holds true.
The kids have been great through all of this. Everything is off (our schedule, our water, where we have been sleeping), but they have been troopers. I thank God for them. I am exhausted, but I can see His hand in this and I will continue to try to look up and see Him when my heart sinks. Some positive things that have come from this: 1. I am being forced not to sweat the small stuff as we being this holiday season. 2. Francis will never doubt my sense of smell again (it's super sensitive and I could smell the water before we found it) 3. I have an ever growing respect for those without running water. You are seriously amazing. I have been filling up pitchers each morning as we turn on water for showers and then turning it off for the day. That's challenging enough. 4. I am getting the opportunity to show my children grace under trials. I haven't been doing the best job all of the time, but with His help, I am able to come back from the edge of my sanity and show love. 5. I am seeing God's hand in a way I would not have otherwise.
That's all for now. This mess has seriously consumed the week and I have so much to catch up on!
We have had a plumbing issue this week. I found water in our house and with a number of people in and out of here (including one scam artist that God thankfully allowed us to stop before he ripped into our walls...), we have yet to find the problem. The leak detection unit comes out tomorrow. Whatever they find I pray it is easily fixable. So far the damage was not as extensive as it could have been and we are not out too much money. We will see after tomorrow if that still holds true.
The kids have been great through all of this. Everything is off (our schedule, our water, where we have been sleeping), but they have been troopers. I thank God for them. I am exhausted, but I can see His hand in this and I will continue to try to look up and see Him when my heart sinks. Some positive things that have come from this: 1. I am being forced not to sweat the small stuff as we being this holiday season. 2. Francis will never doubt my sense of smell again (it's super sensitive and I could smell the water before we found it) 3. I have an ever growing respect for those without running water. You are seriously amazing. I have been filling up pitchers each morning as we turn on water for showers and then turning it off for the day. That's challenging enough. 4. I am getting the opportunity to show my children grace under trials. I haven't been doing the best job all of the time, but with His help, I am able to come back from the edge of my sanity and show love. 5. I am seeing God's hand in a way I would not have otherwise.
That's all for now. This mess has seriously consumed the week and I have so much to catch up on!
Thursday, November 10, 2016
November 10, 2016
It's been busy around here.
Friday was the last Junction (Parent's night out) of 2016. Francis and I miraculously made it to Dinner at Red Lobster and to see Dr. Strange in Theaters (even after the first place we went was sold out!) Were it not for the previews and us leaving without seeing the extra scenes, we would have missed the beginning of the movie and picked up our kids late. We literally had 2 minutes to spare for each. Good times. It was a blast though, and I enjoy adventures with Francis.
This weekend we attended a party for two of the kids' friends. It was carnival themed and oh so cute! Sunday we got back into our Church/short break/AWANAs routine. Time change seemed to have no effect in our house because the kids were up so late Friday that we just let them stay off. Usually it's the end of the world. It's the small things that make the most difference!
Monday we did the grocery store, Tuesday was CC. It has finally gotten cooler but the temperature drop has brought with it the rain. For the most part the rain hasn't messed up our schedule too much, but thankfully it seems to have let up today in favor of sunshine. Wednesday I told the boys the elections results as we had been talking about the election the night before, and William wanted to know who to add to his Presidents Song (he has the presidents memorized in order). William was happy that all the maps were so red (his favorite color). I gave him a lesson on the branches of government and what would happen in January. He was very interested. Also Wednesday the boys got haircuts and then we went to story time at the library. The Brazos Valley Bombers were there with their mascot Kaboom (a baseball). The kids had fun hugging and high fiving him after hearing some books. Today we went to Hobby Lobby, Toys R Us and our friend Jude's 3rd Birthday party. It was lunch at a local Mexican food restaurant, and the kids had fun on the playground both before and after food.
I've been trying to get as much stuff done as possible for Christmas before I leave for Thanksgiving week. Why? It makes me enjoy December instead of stressing. I say every year that gift giving is not my love language, but I do my best to make sure my love is shown through what I give. I'm hoping to be mostly done with gifts by December 1st so I can soak in this time of year and so my kids and I can spend time loving each other, learning about the true meaning of Christmas and serving our community. Hopefully. I'll let you know how well that goes.
Hannah had her 15 month check-up last Friday. She is still tall, lean and growing perfectly. She is talking more all the time and comes up with new words or phrases at least every couple of days. She asked, "Dada? Wha (where) dada?" on the way back to the house just now. I told her he was at work but would be home later. I think she understood, and it was super cute!
Robert and William are also well. Robert is doing better about lying (as far as I know). He still will tell me something that isn't true, but he will correct himself before I get onto him. Our fruit of the spirit this week is Patience. William is very good at reminding his siblings of this fact, but not as eager when it applies to him. Can't say I blame him.
I love these kids. They are not perfect (neither am I), but they are each a delight to my heart.
Friday was the last Junction (Parent's night out) of 2016. Francis and I miraculously made it to Dinner at Red Lobster and to see Dr. Strange in Theaters (even after the first place we went was sold out!) Were it not for the previews and us leaving without seeing the extra scenes, we would have missed the beginning of the movie and picked up our kids late. We literally had 2 minutes to spare for each. Good times. It was a blast though, and I enjoy adventures with Francis.
This weekend we attended a party for two of the kids' friends. It was carnival themed and oh so cute! Sunday we got back into our Church/short break/AWANAs routine. Time change seemed to have no effect in our house because the kids were up so late Friday that we just let them stay off. Usually it's the end of the world. It's the small things that make the most difference!
Monday we did the grocery store, Tuesday was CC. It has finally gotten cooler but the temperature drop has brought with it the rain. For the most part the rain hasn't messed up our schedule too much, but thankfully it seems to have let up today in favor of sunshine. Wednesday I told the boys the elections results as we had been talking about the election the night before, and William wanted to know who to add to his Presidents Song (he has the presidents memorized in order). William was happy that all the maps were so red (his favorite color). I gave him a lesson on the branches of government and what would happen in January. He was very interested. Also Wednesday the boys got haircuts and then we went to story time at the library. The Brazos Valley Bombers were there with their mascot Kaboom (a baseball). The kids had fun hugging and high fiving him after hearing some books. Today we went to Hobby Lobby, Toys R Us and our friend Jude's 3rd Birthday party. It was lunch at a local Mexican food restaurant, and the kids had fun on the playground both before and after food.
I've been trying to get as much stuff done as possible for Christmas before I leave for Thanksgiving week. Why? It makes me enjoy December instead of stressing. I say every year that gift giving is not my love language, but I do my best to make sure my love is shown through what I give. I'm hoping to be mostly done with gifts by December 1st so I can soak in this time of year and so my kids and I can spend time loving each other, learning about the true meaning of Christmas and serving our community. Hopefully. I'll let you know how well that goes.
Hannah had her 15 month check-up last Friday. She is still tall, lean and growing perfectly. She is talking more all the time and comes up with new words or phrases at least every couple of days. She asked, "Dada? Wha (where) dada?" on the way back to the house just now. I told her he was at work but would be home later. I think she understood, and it was super cute!
Robert and William are also well. Robert is doing better about lying (as far as I know). He still will tell me something that isn't true, but he will correct himself before I get onto him. Our fruit of the spirit this week is Patience. William is very good at reminding his siblings of this fact, but not as eager when it applies to him. Can't say I blame him.
I love these kids. They are not perfect (neither am I), but they are each a delight to my heart.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
November 3, 2016
November is my birthday month, and this month is shaping up to be a busy one! We didn't even do everything I had planned, and it was still pretty full.
Last Friday we went to the community trunk or treat in Wolf Pen Creek. The kids got candy from local businesses, did bounce houses and the petting zoo and rode a barrel train. It was fun but overwhelming as there were so many people! Hannah was Belle, William was "William the conqueror" and Robert was Batman. All were adorable!
Saturday Francis was able to enjoy his birthday present with his dad, Gershom and Dave: going to the A&M football game. My in-laws came in early and we had lunch with them and played with them in the afternoon. My mother-in-law and I made a trip to Toy R Us and managed to get some costumes on clearance. William was particularly excited about the Pikachu costume we found for him. It was missing the hat so we made one and he is getting a new hat in the mail. Robert got a transformer costume and Hannah got both Minnie mouse and Elsa costumes. Everyone was overjoyed and insisted on wearing their costumes that evening. when the men left for the game around 5, My mother-in-law and I took the kids to Chuck E Cheese (in costume) where we met up with Audrey (who is amazing and helped it be man to man coverage!). Turns out Chuck E cheese was giving away free tickets to kids in costume, which was an added bonus. Woot! We had pizza and played games until we were tired and all headed back to the house. After putting the kids to bed, the three of us ladies watched A Royal Night Out on Netflix. Super cute movie! And a great night!
Sunday we went to church, had a brief break and then headed back to church in costume (as pikachu, Optimus Prime and Belle) for Fall Fest. More bounce houses, games, candy, food and snow cones filled our night and fun was had by all. Francis and I had to split up and take turns with Hannah because she knew what she wanted to do (play games and eat candy) and the boys just want to do things like ride the mechanical bull. All in a great night!
Monday was Halloween/ Reformation day. We have recently studied the reformation in CC and were able to watch a cartoon about Martin Luther on Amazon Prime (called Torchlighter's Heroes of the Faith). It was informative and interesting, and possibly a little over the kids' heads. But they liked it and seemed to understand at least some of it. I learned a lot too! One of our neighbors rented a bounce house and had hot dogs for whoever wanted them, so we walked that evening (Pikachu, optimus prime and Minnie Mouse) to their house and bounced and played games in their front yard. We hadn't met them before, but it was fun to meet many of our neighbors! On our way back, our kids got candy from anyone sitting out in front of their house. Even with just those few houses, their buckets were full! And so many families were out. It was fun to greet and laugh with those around us. We got back to the house early enough I even passed out some candy too.
Tuesday was CC field trip day. We made the hour drive to Dewberry Farms. Almost all of William's class was there and many kids from the other classes both from our campus and the other 2 campuses in Bryan/ College Station. We rode the hay ride, did zip lines, rode race cars, played in the hay and playground, picked out pumpkins, and did so much more! It started to rain around lunch, so after eating in the covered pavillion we headed home. All three kids fell asleep on the way back. It was a CC miracle!
Yesterday we were going to go to the Renaissance Festival for their special school days, but plans fell through. We ended up going to Walmart and Story time at the Library which more than filled our morning. On the way home every car in front of me was turning into vote. I was so glad I already had last week! Today was MOMs day. We had a speaker on Random Acts of Kindness. Very inspiring.
School is still going well. William is reading at least one book at bedtime each night. We've been checking out the early readers from the library and he is only needing a little help here and there with them. Robert has just as much of a thirst for knowledge as William and will not let me skip his "school work". A more dedicated 3-year-old you are not likely to meet. His vocabulary is more expansive than many kids his age. Sometimes it takes me three or more tries to figure out what he's saying because he picks words that I didn't even know he knew. Hannah's personality comes out a little more every day. She got her first little pony tail this morning thanks to her teachers and she was strutting her stuff when I picked her up. She says "yeah" or "no" when you ask her is she wants something and yells "more more" from the back seat if she runs out of snack while I'm driving. I love her to pieces and it's fun to see her grow.
Aaand Hannah's up from nap. Until next time!
Last Friday we went to the community trunk or treat in Wolf Pen Creek. The kids got candy from local businesses, did bounce houses and the petting zoo and rode a barrel train. It was fun but overwhelming as there were so many people! Hannah was Belle, William was "William the conqueror" and Robert was Batman. All were adorable!
Saturday Francis was able to enjoy his birthday present with his dad, Gershom and Dave: going to the A&M football game. My in-laws came in early and we had lunch with them and played with them in the afternoon. My mother-in-law and I made a trip to Toy R Us and managed to get some costumes on clearance. William was particularly excited about the Pikachu costume we found for him. It was missing the hat so we made one and he is getting a new hat in the mail. Robert got a transformer costume and Hannah got both Minnie mouse and Elsa costumes. Everyone was overjoyed and insisted on wearing their costumes that evening. when the men left for the game around 5, My mother-in-law and I took the kids to Chuck E Cheese (in costume) where we met up with Audrey (who is amazing and helped it be man to man coverage!). Turns out Chuck E cheese was giving away free tickets to kids in costume, which was an added bonus. Woot! We had pizza and played games until we were tired and all headed back to the house. After putting the kids to bed, the three of us ladies watched A Royal Night Out on Netflix. Super cute movie! And a great night!
Sunday we went to church, had a brief break and then headed back to church in costume (as pikachu, Optimus Prime and Belle) for Fall Fest. More bounce houses, games, candy, food and snow cones filled our night and fun was had by all. Francis and I had to split up and take turns with Hannah because she knew what she wanted to do (play games and eat candy) and the boys just want to do things like ride the mechanical bull. All in a great night!
Monday was Halloween/ Reformation day. We have recently studied the reformation in CC and were able to watch a cartoon about Martin Luther on Amazon Prime (called Torchlighter's Heroes of the Faith). It was informative and interesting, and possibly a little over the kids' heads. But they liked it and seemed to understand at least some of it. I learned a lot too! One of our neighbors rented a bounce house and had hot dogs for whoever wanted them, so we walked that evening (Pikachu, optimus prime and Minnie Mouse) to their house and bounced and played games in their front yard. We hadn't met them before, but it was fun to meet many of our neighbors! On our way back, our kids got candy from anyone sitting out in front of their house. Even with just those few houses, their buckets were full! And so many families were out. It was fun to greet and laugh with those around us. We got back to the house early enough I even passed out some candy too.
Tuesday was CC field trip day. We made the hour drive to Dewberry Farms. Almost all of William's class was there and many kids from the other classes both from our campus and the other 2 campuses in Bryan/ College Station. We rode the hay ride, did zip lines, rode race cars, played in the hay and playground, picked out pumpkins, and did so much more! It started to rain around lunch, so after eating in the covered pavillion we headed home. All three kids fell asleep on the way back. It was a CC miracle!
Yesterday we were going to go to the Renaissance Festival for their special school days, but plans fell through. We ended up going to Walmart and Story time at the Library which more than filled our morning. On the way home every car in front of me was turning into vote. I was so glad I already had last week! Today was MOMs day. We had a speaker on Random Acts of Kindness. Very inspiring.
School is still going well. William is reading at least one book at bedtime each night. We've been checking out the early readers from the library and he is only needing a little help here and there with them. Robert has just as much of a thirst for knowledge as William and will not let me skip his "school work". A more dedicated 3-year-old you are not likely to meet. His vocabulary is more expansive than many kids his age. Sometimes it takes me three or more tries to figure out what he's saying because he picks words that I didn't even know he knew. Hannah's personality comes out a little more every day. She got her first little pony tail this morning thanks to her teachers and she was strutting her stuff when I picked her up. She says "yeah" or "no" when you ask her is she wants something and yells "more more" from the back seat if she runs out of snack while I'm driving. I love her to pieces and it's fun to see her grow.
Aaand Hannah's up from nap. Until next time!
Thursday, October 27, 2016
October 27, 2016
It's been a weird week at our house. Robert and I have both made a trip to the doctor and are on anitbiotics. I think we are both on the mend though.
Last Saturday was my father-in-law's birthday. We celebrated by meeing up with my in-laws, Cyndy, Chris and Abby in Houston to take family pictures and go to Blessington Farms (a local pumpkin patch and playland). The kids had a blast doing all the activities and overall, the day was warm and wonderful. I've got a great father-in-law, in case there was any question. He really loves his kids and grandkids and we really love him too.
William has been making leaps and bounds when it comes to reading, writing, math and well all things academic. He's reading books to me and writing "books" (sentences) like it's just natural. He's memorized the books of the Bible all on his own (I got that surprise on Tuesday) and is remembering his CC work like a pro. With all of this new found knowledge is also coming a boldness that I am having trouble with. Pray for me as I teach him how to be respectful and yet honest, confident but not arrogant. It's a delicate balance.
Robert is also learning so much. He has down his letters and numbers and is even writing a few when it suits him. We are currently working on him writing his name. He also learns the CC memory work just because he wants to and is probably the only 3 year old around who goes around singing in Latin for fun. Seriously, the other night at dinner, the boys were belting it out in Latin just for kicks. I love my nerdy family. Robert has discovered lying. He's done it a few times this week, and is not liking the consequences. I'll give it to him that he's persistent, even when I know he's lying he sticks to his guns. Only when he is punished does he come out with the truth. I'm hoping after he misses his TV show today, that he will realize the truth is a much better option. If not, pray for me as we teach him the value of your words being truthful and believable.
Hannah is growing like crazy. She understands what is going on and is sharp as a tack. Francis and I were talking about doing a family walk the other night and I turned around and Hannah was holding up her shoes to me. If I tell her to clean up, she does (if it suits her) and she is very good at answering yes or no questions accurately. We had a mommy/Hannah date at a local church Fall Fest Sunday evening while the boys were at AWANAS with Francis. She had a little trouble at first with putting the candy in the bucket, but she quickly caught on as she played each game with her own twist. She bobbed for apples with her hands and spent the next 6 or seven games playing one handed while she ate the apple. She kept this up until she decorated a cookie and took a bite. Hannah quickly set down the apple and went two-fisted for the cookie. Smart girl. She too has been pushing the limits this week, mostly with doing something after I say no.
I haven't been feeling well and perhaps that's why my kids have been pushing boundaries. Hopefully I will feel back to 100% soon, and things will return to a better normal!
Till next time!
Last Saturday was my father-in-law's birthday. We celebrated by meeing up with my in-laws, Cyndy, Chris and Abby in Houston to take family pictures and go to Blessington Farms (a local pumpkin patch and playland). The kids had a blast doing all the activities and overall, the day was warm and wonderful. I've got a great father-in-law, in case there was any question. He really loves his kids and grandkids and we really love him too.
William has been making leaps and bounds when it comes to reading, writing, math and well all things academic. He's reading books to me and writing "books" (sentences) like it's just natural. He's memorized the books of the Bible all on his own (I got that surprise on Tuesday) and is remembering his CC work like a pro. With all of this new found knowledge is also coming a boldness that I am having trouble with. Pray for me as I teach him how to be respectful and yet honest, confident but not arrogant. It's a delicate balance.
Robert is also learning so much. He has down his letters and numbers and is even writing a few when it suits him. We are currently working on him writing his name. He also learns the CC memory work just because he wants to and is probably the only 3 year old around who goes around singing in Latin for fun. Seriously, the other night at dinner, the boys were belting it out in Latin just for kicks. I love my nerdy family. Robert has discovered lying. He's done it a few times this week, and is not liking the consequences. I'll give it to him that he's persistent, even when I know he's lying he sticks to his guns. Only when he is punished does he come out with the truth. I'm hoping after he misses his TV show today, that he will realize the truth is a much better option. If not, pray for me as we teach him the value of your words being truthful and believable.
Hannah is growing like crazy. She understands what is going on and is sharp as a tack. Francis and I were talking about doing a family walk the other night and I turned around and Hannah was holding up her shoes to me. If I tell her to clean up, she does (if it suits her) and she is very good at answering yes or no questions accurately. We had a mommy/Hannah date at a local church Fall Fest Sunday evening while the boys were at AWANAS with Francis. She had a little trouble at first with putting the candy in the bucket, but she quickly caught on as she played each game with her own twist. She bobbed for apples with her hands and spent the next 6 or seven games playing one handed while she ate the apple. She kept this up until she decorated a cookie and took a bite. Hannah quickly set down the apple and went two-fisted for the cookie. Smart girl. She too has been pushing the limits this week, mostly with doing something after I say no.
I haven't been feeling well and perhaps that's why my kids have been pushing boundaries. Hopefully I will feel back to 100% soon, and things will return to a better normal!
Till next time!
Thursday, October 20, 2016
October 20, 2016
Well, Batman and Wild Kratts are no longer kings in this household. Although Robert has worn batman once this week, he has chosen Transformers and Star Wars first. Wild Kratts is still fun, but William is loving Magic School Bus more these days. The winds of change are here. Hannah still loves dress up and playing with her brothers, so at least she is still somewhat predictable (as predictable as 14 month olds can be, lol).
Friday, The kids and I drove up to Abilene. It is a 4 1/2 hour drive, but we took longer because we made a stop at Chick-fil-a to stretch our legs and eat. We made it late afternoon and arrived where my grandparents (Jamama and Japapa) live. Hannah got to meet Jamama for the first time. Among her mutterings, she kept asking, "didn't I meet her yesterday?" in reference to Hannah. I didn't think much of it, but she kept saying, "Here sweet Hannah" while looking at her. Finally toward the end of our visit, Jamama looked at Hannah reached out her arms and said, "Come here sweet Hannah. Come here!" in the sweetest tone. I teared up and walked Hannah over to Jamama and she touched Hannah's face. The boys and Hannah loved on Japapa while we were there, and we all made a walk around the pond there (Jamama in the wheel chair). William dazzled Japapa with all of his new found knowledge and the afternoon was one I will replay in my mind for years to come. As we left, Robert without hesitation ran up to Jamama and give her a big hug and kiss. She stroked his cheek and smiled. The kids all hugged and kissed on Japapa. We made plans to meet the following day. We then drove over to Rebecca and Dave's house. The kids stayed with Rebecca's mom and sister Rachael that evening while Dave, Rebecca and I got to attend SING. I'm not sure who had more fun: the kids playing with Rebecca's son Jonas, or us!
The next morning, Rebecca, all for kids and I headed to campus for HSU Homecoming. I got to see a few old professors, and way more of my former classmates than I thought possible. It was good for my soul to catch up with so many people in person, including a couple I knew from when we lived in Austin. We even ran into my future brother-in-law Kevin, which really confused William. It was so out of place and he couldn't understand that Kevin is living in Abilene since we only ever see him in Dallas. Japapa joined us a little later, which was a blessing as he was able to help me keep an eye on the kids during Cow Poke Posse. The kids jumped on inflatables, rode horses, got their hair colored, did crafts, got balloon animals, and got fake tatoos. Hannah particularly loved the horses. She tried to jump the line to climb on one. After her horse ride, she spent much of the rest of the time following around the miniature horse and petting it. When that wasn't happening, she was cuddling with Japapa. She was quite taken with her great-grandfather. All the kids were, in fact. When he wasn't holding Hannah, he was getting hugs from or playing with Robert or he was listening to a story from William. We all had lunch in the cafeteria. The kids thought it was so cool to be eating in a COLLEGE cafeteria. William got a crepe and the man behind the counter should get raise. He made the crepe into a production adding all of the toppings and fruit William could ever want. As he passed over the crepe to William he said, "If you come here for college, I'll make you this crepe every day in the cafeteria if you want." William was instantly sold. There was a piano man there and Robert and Jonas had a delightful time bustin' a move to the music. Hannah joined in occasionally but was way more concerned with their selection of ice cream. We then took Japapa and Rachael to the HSU cowboys football game. It was hot and the 'boys were winning handily, so we left just before half time to head home. Seriously an amazing trip. I am so glad the kids were able to spend time with their great-grandparents and my good friends. Francis met us in Temple on the way home for dinner and then graciously drove the kids the rest of the way while I drove his car.
Sunday was Francis's 30 birthday. We had donuts for breakfast, and then he got to open his gifts. The kids got him some model rockets for them to build together and his parents and I got him 4 tickets to the A&M football game on October 29. He is going to get to go with his dad, Gershom and another friend. I think it was a nice surprise. After church I surprised him with a birthday lunch at the Browers house. Audrey came over too and after lunch the adults got to talk while the kids played. After AWANAS that evening, I had Francis's favorite meal, lasagna, all ready and waiting for him. It was some of the best lasagna I've ever made. Happy Birthday, Francis! We are so blessed to have you in our lives!
Yesterday the kids and I went to the Children's Barnyard event at A&M. The kids ran around and learned about all types of livestock, climbed on a tractor and generally ran around. Then we did story time at the library which just happened to be about farms. Score one for educational moments! After that, my kids STILL did not nap. I know 'm just fooling myself, but I keep hoping that if I wear them our they will nap...nope!
Today Francis had to be at school and I had MOMs so I had someone babysit William at a park while I went. The girl is actually someone I babysat when I was younger. She's a senior at A&M now and turning into an amazing lady. She walked with William around the park for 2 hours to play Pokemon Go. William had "the best time ever". At Moms I made a cotton wreath. It was confirmation once again that I 'm not crafty and cannot make bows. The end result came out ok though!
That's all for now.
Friday, The kids and I drove up to Abilene. It is a 4 1/2 hour drive, but we took longer because we made a stop at Chick-fil-a to stretch our legs and eat. We made it late afternoon and arrived where my grandparents (Jamama and Japapa) live. Hannah got to meet Jamama for the first time. Among her mutterings, she kept asking, "didn't I meet her yesterday?" in reference to Hannah. I didn't think much of it, but she kept saying, "Here sweet Hannah" while looking at her. Finally toward the end of our visit, Jamama looked at Hannah reached out her arms and said, "Come here sweet Hannah. Come here!" in the sweetest tone. I teared up and walked Hannah over to Jamama and she touched Hannah's face. The boys and Hannah loved on Japapa while we were there, and we all made a walk around the pond there (Jamama in the wheel chair). William dazzled Japapa with all of his new found knowledge and the afternoon was one I will replay in my mind for years to come. As we left, Robert without hesitation ran up to Jamama and give her a big hug and kiss. She stroked his cheek and smiled. The kids all hugged and kissed on Japapa. We made plans to meet the following day. We then drove over to Rebecca and Dave's house. The kids stayed with Rebecca's mom and sister Rachael that evening while Dave, Rebecca and I got to attend SING. I'm not sure who had more fun: the kids playing with Rebecca's son Jonas, or us!
The next morning, Rebecca, all for kids and I headed to campus for HSU Homecoming. I got to see a few old professors, and way more of my former classmates than I thought possible. It was good for my soul to catch up with so many people in person, including a couple I knew from when we lived in Austin. We even ran into my future brother-in-law Kevin, which really confused William. It was so out of place and he couldn't understand that Kevin is living in Abilene since we only ever see him in Dallas. Japapa joined us a little later, which was a blessing as he was able to help me keep an eye on the kids during Cow Poke Posse. The kids jumped on inflatables, rode horses, got their hair colored, did crafts, got balloon animals, and got fake tatoos. Hannah particularly loved the horses. She tried to jump the line to climb on one. After her horse ride, she spent much of the rest of the time following around the miniature horse and petting it. When that wasn't happening, she was cuddling with Japapa. She was quite taken with her great-grandfather. All the kids were, in fact. When he wasn't holding Hannah, he was getting hugs from or playing with Robert or he was listening to a story from William. We all had lunch in the cafeteria. The kids thought it was so cool to be eating in a COLLEGE cafeteria. William got a crepe and the man behind the counter should get raise. He made the crepe into a production adding all of the toppings and fruit William could ever want. As he passed over the crepe to William he said, "If you come here for college, I'll make you this crepe every day in the cafeteria if you want." William was instantly sold. There was a piano man there and Robert and Jonas had a delightful time bustin' a move to the music. Hannah joined in occasionally but was way more concerned with their selection of ice cream. We then took Japapa and Rachael to the HSU cowboys football game. It was hot and the 'boys were winning handily, so we left just before half time to head home. Seriously an amazing trip. I am so glad the kids were able to spend time with their great-grandparents and my good friends. Francis met us in Temple on the way home for dinner and then graciously drove the kids the rest of the way while I drove his car.
Sunday was Francis's 30 birthday. We had donuts for breakfast, and then he got to open his gifts. The kids got him some model rockets for them to build together and his parents and I got him 4 tickets to the A&M football game on October 29. He is going to get to go with his dad, Gershom and another friend. I think it was a nice surprise. After church I surprised him with a birthday lunch at the Browers house. Audrey came over too and after lunch the adults got to talk while the kids played. After AWANAS that evening, I had Francis's favorite meal, lasagna, all ready and waiting for him. It was some of the best lasagna I've ever made. Happy Birthday, Francis! We are so blessed to have you in our lives!
Yesterday the kids and I went to the Children's Barnyard event at A&M. The kids ran around and learned about all types of livestock, climbed on a tractor and generally ran around. Then we did story time at the library which just happened to be about farms. Score one for educational moments! After that, my kids STILL did not nap. I know 'm just fooling myself, but I keep hoping that if I wear them our they will nap...nope!
Today Francis had to be at school and I had MOMs so I had someone babysit William at a park while I went. The girl is actually someone I babysat when I was younger. She's a senior at A&M now and turning into an amazing lady. She walked with William around the park for 2 hours to play Pokemon Go. William had "the best time ever". At Moms I made a cotton wreath. It was confirmation once again that I 'm not crafty and cannot make bows. The end result came out ok though!
That's all for now.
Thursday, October 13, 2016
October 13, 2016
The fruit of the spirit we have been focusing on this week (after buys some "fruit of the spirit" cards at MOMs last Thursday) is love. We have talked about what love means and how we show love. the boys know Galations 5:22-23 by heart, and I'm realizing they understand it a lot more than I thought. I can't wait for the day when each one of my kids is ready to choose and accept Christ as their savior. Until then, I will continue to bring them up in truth and yes, love.
This past weekend was our relaxing weekend pretty much until Christmas. We hung around the house most of Saturday as I Christmas shopped online and Francis built things in the garage with the kids. We rested and watched the A&M game on TV and then I picked up dinner so we could have family movie night. Overall, time well spent. Sunday after church we had a short break before Francis and the boys headed back for AWANAS. I vaccumed, cleaned, sorted laundry, looked over this weeks school lessons and even managed to catch some of the Cowboys fooball game.
This week has been quick and slow all at the same time. Slow in that I feel like I'm getting nothing productive done (which isn't true, but feelings are just that), and fast in that it's already Thursday. I had ladies night last night with my MOMs group and it was a nice time to talk and realize I'm not the only one who feels there are not enough hours in the day.
Speaking of not enough hours, the kids and I are heading to Abilene tomorrow and coming back Saturday for HSU homecoming and to see my mother's parents. It's a long trip in a short time, but I know it needs to happen. I've been frantically packing. Please pray for peace and smooth travel. I'm looking forward to the trip but not the scream-laden back seat while I drive.
Francis's birthday is Sunday. We've decorated the house, wrapped presents and the kids helped make and decorate a carrot cake for their daddy. They are so excited to get to do things for him. They have also been great at keeping his gift a surprise. Less than 4 days until he is 30!
Short, and not nearly comprehensive, but there it is.
Till next time!
This past weekend was our relaxing weekend pretty much until Christmas. We hung around the house most of Saturday as I Christmas shopped online and Francis built things in the garage with the kids. We rested and watched the A&M game on TV and then I picked up dinner so we could have family movie night. Overall, time well spent. Sunday after church we had a short break before Francis and the boys headed back for AWANAS. I vaccumed, cleaned, sorted laundry, looked over this weeks school lessons and even managed to catch some of the Cowboys fooball game.
This week has been quick and slow all at the same time. Slow in that I feel like I'm getting nothing productive done (which isn't true, but feelings are just that), and fast in that it's already Thursday. I had ladies night last night with my MOMs group and it was a nice time to talk and realize I'm not the only one who feels there are not enough hours in the day.
Speaking of not enough hours, the kids and I are heading to Abilene tomorrow and coming back Saturday for HSU homecoming and to see my mother's parents. It's a long trip in a short time, but I know it needs to happen. I've been frantically packing. Please pray for peace and smooth travel. I'm looking forward to the trip but not the scream-laden back seat while I drive.
Francis's birthday is Sunday. We've decorated the house, wrapped presents and the kids helped make and decorate a carrot cake for their daddy. They are so excited to get to do things for him. They have also been great at keeping his gift a surprise. Less than 4 days until he is 30!
Short, and not nearly comprehensive, but there it is.
Till next time!
Thursday, October 6, 2016
October 6, 2016
This weekend, I made it to and from Dallas with no incident (yay!). The kids were good for the trip. we even ended up having playgroup at the same park as last year before I took this trip. I thought it was kinda cruel, but my mother told me to look at it as a chance for redemption: a do over. So I did. I prayed and carefully drove and arrived thanking God and all but kissing the ground. We play at my parent's house Friday afternoon, and had dinner with them and my in-laws at BJs (yum!). I went back with my in-laws and we put the kids down for the night.
The next morning, we took the kids up to the mall to meet up with Danielle and my mom. William needed to get measured for his tuxedo for Danielle's wedding. Afterward, my father-in-law took the boys and the ladies (my mother-in-law, mom, Danielle, Hannah and me) had a delightful time shopping and getting many needed things on sale (and a few less needed, but still super cute things too!). It was so fun and a break I very much needed. Hannah is a great shopper, it turns out. She was awesome the whole time and even started to hang things she wanted on her arm by the end. I can see some great mommy/daughter shopping trips in our future! The boys went to the Lego store, playground and chick-fil-a before we met them back at my in-laws. We then went swimming (yes, swimming in October...it's still warm here), and had "family movie night" over dinner. All in all a great and super relaxing day!
Sunday was not relaxing, but full of fun and energy. My mother-in-law and I took the kids to the State Fair of Texas! We met up with Christian, Chad, Christian's friend May and the twins for the backyard circus. Robert only wanted to watch, but William enthusiastically played a tiger. then we had lunch where my mom, Danielle and Kevin joined us. the party was complete. We did the petting zoo, puppet show, craft show, Hall of Texas building, parade, and fireworks show. And ate some yummy food too! At the end of the day, Nana and I took the kids to the midway to ride a couple of rides (Hannah finally passed out before we got there). The boys loved choosing two rides each, and rode with delight. The kids were so good all day. Before the parade, when the kids should have been completely worn out, Robert and Hannah were having a dance party with Sweetie and Nana and William was talking about and playing Pokemon with Uncle Chad. My kids don't stop when fun is involved!
We headed back Monday (still managing to fit in school!), and then had CC on Tuesday and story time at the Library on Wednesday. Today was MOMs. One of the best things about home school is that even with travelling and being sick, we have not had to miss a day of school. And William is reading a ton. He can pick up a simple book and read it with no problems. He is adding and subtracting numbers 1 through 10 and can even do some algebra(i.e. x+2=4 so X=2). Robert knows all his numbers up to 20 and beyond and can write most of them. He is learning his letters very well also. Hannah is talking up a storm to anyone who will listen. She plays great with her brothers and "cleans up" by putting everything in the trash. It's cute and terrifying because I keep catching her putting things like the remote in there. She'll get it figured out soon enough, I'm sure. We've still been taking evening walks. Tuesday we walked over to our neighborhood's "National night Out" and met some of the neighbors. William did not want to go (he wanted to go to the park), but quickly changed his tune when he saw the police car, fire engine and tons of kids to play with. The kids all got to climb up in the fire engine. Hannah was insistent on her inclusion, and the firemen say they are pretty sure she's the youngest person to have been in their cab. She was pretty pleased with herself as she looked around and explored. I never have to wonder what she's thinking, her face is very expressive.
Every once in a while I feel the need to add the disclaimer that I try to write mostly the good things that happen to us here. Life is not all peaches and cream here, but I want to dwell and meditate on the good while learning from the bad. This life is far from perfect. I don't ever want to pretend that it is.
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Seotember 28, 2016
We are still learning to cope over here with whatever blooms this time of year. We are slowly returning to normal, and thankfully this week has been less demanding than most. After being down for the count Friday, we were up for going to Hadassah's 2nd birthday party Saturday morning and then a much needed trip to Sam's club for food. William, Robert and Hannah had donuts at the party (donut "cake"-super cute), then had real cake and enough samples that they didn't have lunch (neither did Francis and I, so many yummy samples!). Not the most nutritional meal, but sometimes you just go with the hand you are dealt. We had a delicious cookout dinner and family movie night, so it was an all around fun day.
Sunday we were healthy enough for church (yay!), and Robert was eager to tell me all he learned about Joseph when we picked him up. It was awesome to hear! The boys both made to AWANAS that evening and William got 4 sections signed that he had memorized (the most in his class) and Robert did his verse with no problem. I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that we are able to be part of this program that helps children memorize and use scripture.
After grocery store Monday, we had the week off from CC on Tuesday. We ended up at the Bryan library to play in their children's area. Well, we got there and a worker there asked if we were there for "play to learn" group. I answered honestly, "I don't know, are we?" She explained what it was (the name says it all) and then said although there are signups the week before she happened to have three extra spots for my kids if I was interested. The kids had a blast. They opened up this big conference room full of centers and toys. They even had the old school wooden rocking boat that turns over and is stairs. I'm glad we went!
Today was field trip day for CC. They plan them for the weeks we don't have class. This month was Franklin Drive Thru Safari. We all showed up at 9:30. We went to pay and apparently a baby otter had gotten loose in the gift shop and decided Robert was the perfect totem pole. He climbed up on Robert, much to Robert's delight. William and Hannah squealed with joy until a worker came and got the otter. It was too cute for words. Then we took a bus tour around the bigger animals. They had buckets of food that the kids were able to feed an and all the animals. Some came up and stuck their heads int he bus while other hung back and played it cool. There were deer, hariku, buffalo, llamas, emus, ostrich, lemurs, pigs, zebras, giraffes...over 120 different kids of animals. Our guide was amazing, giving us information on most of the animals and answering any question we or the kids had. Hannah kept trying to climb out of the bus windows to get a closer look, but I managed to keep her in. The second part of the tour was a walking tour to see all sorts of moneys, warthogs, flamingos, pigs and lizards... and some other animals I've forgotten. The boys got to feed the giraffes special green leaves and give the monkey's grapes. The monkeys would catch the grapes in their hands. Amazing! Over all it was a great day that will not be soon forgotten.
I'm writing a day early because this weekend is going to get busy. The kids and I are heading to Dallas for the State Fair of Texas. Hopefully we will have a safe an uneventful journey there.
Till next time!
Sunday we were healthy enough for church (yay!), and Robert was eager to tell me all he learned about Joseph when we picked him up. It was awesome to hear! The boys both made to AWANAS that evening and William got 4 sections signed that he had memorized (the most in his class) and Robert did his verse with no problem. I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that we are able to be part of this program that helps children memorize and use scripture.
After grocery store Monday, we had the week off from CC on Tuesday. We ended up at the Bryan library to play in their children's area. Well, we got there and a worker there asked if we were there for "play to learn" group. I answered honestly, "I don't know, are we?" She explained what it was (the name says it all) and then said although there are signups the week before she happened to have three extra spots for my kids if I was interested. The kids had a blast. They opened up this big conference room full of centers and toys. They even had the old school wooden rocking boat that turns over and is stairs. I'm glad we went!
Today was field trip day for CC. They plan them for the weeks we don't have class. This month was Franklin Drive Thru Safari. We all showed up at 9:30. We went to pay and apparently a baby otter had gotten loose in the gift shop and decided Robert was the perfect totem pole. He climbed up on Robert, much to Robert's delight. William and Hannah squealed with joy until a worker came and got the otter. It was too cute for words. Then we took a bus tour around the bigger animals. They had buckets of food that the kids were able to feed an and all the animals. Some came up and stuck their heads int he bus while other hung back and played it cool. There were deer, hariku, buffalo, llamas, emus, ostrich, lemurs, pigs, zebras, giraffes...over 120 different kids of animals. Our guide was amazing, giving us information on most of the animals and answering any question we or the kids had. Hannah kept trying to climb out of the bus windows to get a closer look, but I managed to keep her in. The second part of the tour was a walking tour to see all sorts of moneys, warthogs, flamingos, pigs and lizards... and some other animals I've forgotten. The boys got to feed the giraffes special green leaves and give the monkey's grapes. The monkeys would catch the grapes in their hands. Amazing! Over all it was a great day that will not be soon forgotten.
I'm writing a day early because this weekend is going to get busy. The kids and I are heading to Dallas for the State Fair of Texas. Hopefully we will have a safe an uneventful journey there.
Till next time!
Thursday, September 22, 2016
September 22, 2016
Well, fall has hit this house hard. On Saturday we went to the Living History event in Independence Texas. The kids saw a black smith, a carpenter, and learned about what life was like when Texas declared it's independence from Mexico. We even got to see a period musket being shot. It was cool. We then went down to Barrington Family farm and learned about how this wealthy doctor and his family lived in the mid 1800s. It was fascinating and William admitted life would have been hard because they didn't have phones. Priorities. I was missing the air conditioning and so we walked up to the Museum near Independence hall and learned about how and why Texas declared independence and what life was like on the frontier. The kids were able to dress up like pioneers, build a "log cabin", make rope, "cook", milk a pretend cow and practice loading up their wagon. Our afternoon was spent at the birthday event at Toys R Us. It was a little different than our morning to be sure. They all got to meet Geoffrey, her a story about him, dance around the store, get snack and get a book and stuffed animal for free. Saturday was a full day. William and Hannah started coughing by the end of it and my Sunday morning, they were both down for the count. I finally broke down and took them to the doctor on Monday. They both have (fall) allergy induced asthma like their momma. Robert was not far behind. He had it last year but not nearly as severely as William. So if you see my kids they are not contagious, but the sound horrible and are tired from coughing at night. I'm praying we find a way to get this under control soon. Or that the first freeze comes sooner than anticipated to kill off whatever causes our allergies/asthma.
William and Robert are loving school and enjoying memorizing and learning. They especially are enjoying Sparks and cubbies where they get to learn Bible verses. William caught me memorizing my verse for MOMs the other day and was amazed and excited that I try to learn scripture too. He has been listening almost non stop to his Sparks CD so he can learn ALL of his verses for the whole year right now. It's cute and I love his motivation. Hannah is a climbing fool and still loves cuddling momma. She is using more words and is calling anything on 4 legs either "dog" or "bear". She is using short two word sentences when it suits her, but she makes sure you understand when she wants something. I love these kiddos!
If you keep us in your prayers, please pray for healing. We are all tired of Fall allergens and today if the first official day of Fall. Hopefully the entire season won't bring us this much trouble.
Till next time!
William and Robert are loving school and enjoying memorizing and learning. They especially are enjoying Sparks and cubbies where they get to learn Bible verses. William caught me memorizing my verse for MOMs the other day and was amazed and excited that I try to learn scripture too. He has been listening almost non stop to his Sparks CD so he can learn ALL of his verses for the whole year right now. It's cute and I love his motivation. Hannah is a climbing fool and still loves cuddling momma. She is using more words and is calling anything on 4 legs either "dog" or "bear". She is using short two word sentences when it suits her, but she makes sure you understand when she wants something. I love these kiddos!
If you keep us in your prayers, please pray for healing. We are all tired of Fall allergens and today if the first official day of Fall. Hopefully the entire season won't bring us this much trouble.
Till next time!
Thursday, September 15, 2016
September 15, 2016
Another wonderful week in the history books.
Last Friday we had playgroup. I tried to savor every moment of that day. Because after playgroup we went to Kroger and picked up some Batman cupcakes with green icing. It was Robert's last day of being 2. My big boy! We played extra hard that day and I showered him with as many smiles as I could. I even kissed him goodnight after he'd fallen asleep so I could see him one last time as a two year old.
He woke up chipper on his third birthday. Robert chose donuts for breakfast and then all of us were able to head to his activity of choice: Chuck E Chesse. I had $10 of coins left from the last time we went, so we spent an hour using them. Since it was an early Aggie game, we had the place to ourselves. I actually had to ask if Chuck E Cheese was going to come out, and "he" appeared a short time later to a very excited Robert and William for pictures. Hannah was less enthusiastic and more wary. Prize picking did not take too long (thank goodness!), and we were able to have lunch in the mall attached to Chuck E Cheese. Robert and Hannah fell asleep on the way home, which meant we had a short while of quiet rest in the afternoon (a rare thing these days). Shortly after everyone was awake, Nana and Grandad showed up with more gifts! Francis and I had given Robert a green light saber (something he's been asking for to go with his red one). Nana and Grandad brought shirts for the boys and two hockey nets and balls to play hockey in the street. It wasn't long before Francis, Grandad, William and Robert were playing in the street. It was fun to see them, to say the least. After an afternoon of playing, we all met up with Cyndy, Chris and Abby at Mooyah for dinner. Abby brought the boys each new thermos (R2D2 and Batman) which have been a huge hit ever since. We all came back to the house for cupcakes and singing and just a little bit of playing before bedtime. Overall, it was absolutely perfect. Happy Birthday, Robert!
Monday after the grocery store, the boys had their 3 and 5 year check ups respectively. William is nearly 47 lbs and 44.5 inches tall. He's proportional and tall for his age. He's a healthy and happy kid. Robert is nearly 29 lbs and 36 1/2 inches tall, moving him up the growth chart on both since his 2 year check up. He's now in the 27th percentile for height!! I'm so glad to see him grow. He's happy and healthy too. I thank God for these kids and seeing them flourish just makes my heart overflow.
Tuesday was our 3rd Classical Conversations week. William is doing great! I can't believe how much he is learning. Robert and Hannah are enjoying the nursery. I was able to not wear my knee brace on Tuesday also which made for a much easier day for me. My knee is doing much better and I'm so happy.
Wednesday we started going to the preschool story-time at the library. This is for ages 3-5 year olds, but many moms had a younger sibling with them also so it was perfect. I'm excited to how this is going to work for us!
Today we went to Toys R Us to use the birthday money Nana Phillips gave the kids. We did Robert's Toys R Us birthday celebration (aka a balloon and hat), and Robert smiled so big when they said his name over the loud speaker. The kids got a lot of good loot (Thanks Nana Phillips!) and happily came home to play with it.
Hannah is becoming more of a toddler each day. She picks out her own clothes, tells you what she does and does not want to eat, lets you know where she wants to go, and LOVES to dress up. Anything she finds (be it superhero costumes, mommy's shoes or Daddy's clean undershirts) is suddenly something she must be wearing. And she will wear it around until you make her take it off. She has a couple of dress up dresses now, but I foresee a few more in the future to be sure. She loved playing with an outfit I got for Abby years ago in Korea last week and today I got her an Aviva (Wild Kratts) creature power suit so she can play right along side with her brothers as they wear theirs. This afternoon is going to be epic.
William is busting out reading like he was born doing it. He can read nearly any 3 letter word and is growing his vocabulary and sight words daily. Last night he said (after Francis shot off a lego storm troopers gun and it didn't do much), "I was hoping for something more dramatic". I laughed so hard I nearly cried.
Robert is doing great at his school also. I went ahead and got the preK star wars stuff for him even though it's for older kids and he is breezing through it with joy. He LOVES school and bugs me about it until we do it. He is learning to recognize his letters and number and even write them. I'm going to blink and he'll be reading too!
In the evenings lately we've been going on walks with Francis around the neighborhood and over to a nearby park. I love that we are able to do this, and especially love how the kids come home tired and happy. I'm hoping the weather and sunlight let us keep doing this as long as possible because it is such a precious time. A couple of nights ago we found a new playgounf park that we didn't know existed and last night we took out the remote control car for a spin near the elementary school. There are so many things to do outside when the weather is nice and the sun isn't beating down. I can't wait to see what else we discover!
Till next time!
Last Friday we had playgroup. I tried to savor every moment of that day. Because after playgroup we went to Kroger and picked up some Batman cupcakes with green icing. It was Robert's last day of being 2. My big boy! We played extra hard that day and I showered him with as many smiles as I could. I even kissed him goodnight after he'd fallen asleep so I could see him one last time as a two year old.
He woke up chipper on his third birthday. Robert chose donuts for breakfast and then all of us were able to head to his activity of choice: Chuck E Chesse. I had $10 of coins left from the last time we went, so we spent an hour using them. Since it was an early Aggie game, we had the place to ourselves. I actually had to ask if Chuck E Cheese was going to come out, and "he" appeared a short time later to a very excited Robert and William for pictures. Hannah was less enthusiastic and more wary. Prize picking did not take too long (thank goodness!), and we were able to have lunch in the mall attached to Chuck E Cheese. Robert and Hannah fell asleep on the way home, which meant we had a short while of quiet rest in the afternoon (a rare thing these days). Shortly after everyone was awake, Nana and Grandad showed up with more gifts! Francis and I had given Robert a green light saber (something he's been asking for to go with his red one). Nana and Grandad brought shirts for the boys and two hockey nets and balls to play hockey in the street. It wasn't long before Francis, Grandad, William and Robert were playing in the street. It was fun to see them, to say the least. After an afternoon of playing, we all met up with Cyndy, Chris and Abby at Mooyah for dinner. Abby brought the boys each new thermos (R2D2 and Batman) which have been a huge hit ever since. We all came back to the house for cupcakes and singing and just a little bit of playing before bedtime. Overall, it was absolutely perfect. Happy Birthday, Robert!
Monday after the grocery store, the boys had their 3 and 5 year check ups respectively. William is nearly 47 lbs and 44.5 inches tall. He's proportional and tall for his age. He's a healthy and happy kid. Robert is nearly 29 lbs and 36 1/2 inches tall, moving him up the growth chart on both since his 2 year check up. He's now in the 27th percentile for height!! I'm so glad to see him grow. He's happy and healthy too. I thank God for these kids and seeing them flourish just makes my heart overflow.
Tuesday was our 3rd Classical Conversations week. William is doing great! I can't believe how much he is learning. Robert and Hannah are enjoying the nursery. I was able to not wear my knee brace on Tuesday also which made for a much easier day for me. My knee is doing much better and I'm so happy.
Wednesday we started going to the preschool story-time at the library. This is for ages 3-5 year olds, but many moms had a younger sibling with them also so it was perfect. I'm excited to how this is going to work for us!
Today we went to Toys R Us to use the birthday money Nana Phillips gave the kids. We did Robert's Toys R Us birthday celebration (aka a balloon and hat), and Robert smiled so big when they said his name over the loud speaker. The kids got a lot of good loot (Thanks Nana Phillips!) and happily came home to play with it.
Hannah is becoming more of a toddler each day. She picks out her own clothes, tells you what she does and does not want to eat, lets you know where she wants to go, and LOVES to dress up. Anything she finds (be it superhero costumes, mommy's shoes or Daddy's clean undershirts) is suddenly something she must be wearing. And she will wear it around until you make her take it off. She has a couple of dress up dresses now, but I foresee a few more in the future to be sure. She loved playing with an outfit I got for Abby years ago in Korea last week and today I got her an Aviva (Wild Kratts) creature power suit so she can play right along side with her brothers as they wear theirs. This afternoon is going to be epic.
William is busting out reading like he was born doing it. He can read nearly any 3 letter word and is growing his vocabulary and sight words daily. Last night he said (after Francis shot off a lego storm troopers gun and it didn't do much), "I was hoping for something more dramatic". I laughed so hard I nearly cried.
Robert is doing great at his school also. I went ahead and got the preK star wars stuff for him even though it's for older kids and he is breezing through it with joy. He LOVES school and bugs me about it until we do it. He is learning to recognize his letters and number and even write them. I'm going to blink and he'll be reading too!
In the evenings lately we've been going on walks with Francis around the neighborhood and over to a nearby park. I love that we are able to do this, and especially love how the kids come home tired and happy. I'm hoping the weather and sunlight let us keep doing this as long as possible because it is such a precious time. A couple of nights ago we found a new playgounf park that we didn't know existed and last night we took out the remote control car for a spin near the elementary school. There are so many things to do outside when the weather is nice and the sun isn't beating down. I can't wait to see what else we discover!
Till next time!
Thursday, September 8, 2016
September 8, 2016
I'm so behind! I'm going to have to speed through a bit in order to catch up a little. Bear with me!
Three weeks ago after getting back from Canda, we spent the rest of the week in Dallas mostly with my parents before my dad had his first hip replacement surgery. It was fun with a ton of swimming, Pokemon walks around the neighborhood and playing outside. Friday my mother-in-law took off work and she, my mom, my sister Christian, her kids, her mother-in-law (Pam), my kids and I all went to Legoland in Grapevine Mills Mall. As it was a school day, it was not crowded and we were able to do everything in just a couple of hours. No lines equals happy kiddos. It was fun! Hannah walked everywhere and all three kids played with their cousins with great eagerness in turn. Grandmas were happy to have grand-kid time and moms were grateful for the extra hands. We all went to Rainforest Cafe for lunch afterward and every kid more or less cleaned their plate. They had been busy and now they were hungry. Such a great day! That Saturday was Danielle and Kevin's engagement party. The maid of honor (Sierra) threw a shindig at a park with refreshments and games. my parents, Christian and her family and the kids and I all enjoyed meeting Danielle and Kevin's friends. The boys especially liked that there were "pokestops" at the park where they could get items and that they were able to catch pokemon. They spent their time discussing Pokemon with the guests (a topic which was of great interest to all, thank goodness!) and taking each person's phone in turn to get items for that person. A few girls even took the kids on a walk to search for Pokemon, much to their delight. The party was a raving success! Francis got home in the middle of the night that night and Sunday morning we headed back to College Station as Francis and the boys had an AWANA meeting around 4. After unpacking and around bedtime, Hannah was not ready to sleep. I decided to take her for a walk outside as it had just finished raining and the temperature was nice. Well, the rain washed something invisible (algea?) across the sidewalk and I slipped and fell spectacularly. I managed to save all of Hannah but her head (she had a bruise), but I was very scraped up and my left knee had gone the entirely wrong way. I barely limped up to the door and then was unable to walk the rest of the evening. It hurt....so bad. Even now I'm wearing a brace to get around, but I do think I'm improving (thank goodness!).
We spent last week getting back into the swing of things. Tuesday was a big day for us. William had his first day of Kindergarten and it also happened to be Francis's first day of school too. I got pictures of both of them with cute signs and then we parted ways. the kids and I went up to church and I got the Hannah and Robert in the nursery and William and I made it to assembly just in time. William was shy at first, clinging to me when someone spoke to him, but he warmed up quickly and by the time we made it to his classroom, he ran over to his carpet square for circle time with great enthusiasm. I am so glad I get to be in class with him and I took a ton of photos for Francis. William loved the science experiments the most (they were about temperature in the shade and how satellites orbit the earth), and also like counting in math. Art involved learning about different lines used in paintings. He also learned the continents and major oceans, something about Charlemagne, skip counting by twos, verb tenses in latin, the seven types of biomes, the eight parts of speech, and the first seven events of our history timeline. What a first day, right?! I am liking Classical Conversations though. We will see where God leads us on this journey! The rest of the week we worked on school and got other things done (like an oil change for the car), and started back with playgroup on Fridays! It rained during playgroup, but the playground was covered so the kids didn't care. Robert's friend Emerson was there and they held hands and had the sweetest conversations about life and what they like. Robert is so articulate when he wants to be. It's fun to hear his thoughts on things.
This week has gone by in a flash. Hannah has started to pick out her own clothes and talk more than the boys did at this age. She is pretty easy going most of the time, but she does have an opinion. Monday was the first day that William had to walk through the grocery store (instead of ride). It worked pretty well, but I think it will get easier as time goes on. We made it to school on Tuesday with more time to spare and so I didn't feel so frazzled. The kids like having lunch with everyone after school and I am liking it too. We also got a schedule of our field trips. That made me even more excited. It's going to be a great year! Yesterday the boy had their dentist appointments. William had a full cleaning and x-rays for the first time. He did great and his teeth look awesome. His permanent molars are poised to come in any time now, so we'll be on the lookout for them soon. Robert also had no cavities and everything looked good. He was a trooper and held completely still to be examined. they are getting so big!
Today was the fist day of MOMs this year. William is too old to go now that he's in Kindergarten, so Francis has volunteered to watch him. They have decided they are going to build a new dog house for the dogs. Today they took the measurements and bought the supplies. Robert and Hannah went with me and met their teachers for the year. They came out happy and tired. I like my group and look forward to getting to know them better. All in all a successful first meeting.
Whew! That was much more of an overview than I would like to right, but there it is. Till next time!
Three weeks ago after getting back from Canda, we spent the rest of the week in Dallas mostly with my parents before my dad had his first hip replacement surgery. It was fun with a ton of swimming, Pokemon walks around the neighborhood and playing outside. Friday my mother-in-law took off work and she, my mom, my sister Christian, her kids, her mother-in-law (Pam), my kids and I all went to Legoland in Grapevine Mills Mall. As it was a school day, it was not crowded and we were able to do everything in just a couple of hours. No lines equals happy kiddos. It was fun! Hannah walked everywhere and all three kids played with their cousins with great eagerness in turn. Grandmas were happy to have grand-kid time and moms were grateful for the extra hands. We all went to Rainforest Cafe for lunch afterward and every kid more or less cleaned their plate. They had been busy and now they were hungry. Such a great day! That Saturday was Danielle and Kevin's engagement party. The maid of honor (Sierra) threw a shindig at a park with refreshments and games. my parents, Christian and her family and the kids and I all enjoyed meeting Danielle and Kevin's friends. The boys especially liked that there were "pokestops" at the park where they could get items and that they were able to catch pokemon. They spent their time discussing Pokemon with the guests (a topic which was of great interest to all, thank goodness!) and taking each person's phone in turn to get items for that person. A few girls even took the kids on a walk to search for Pokemon, much to their delight. The party was a raving success! Francis got home in the middle of the night that night and Sunday morning we headed back to College Station as Francis and the boys had an AWANA meeting around 4. After unpacking and around bedtime, Hannah was not ready to sleep. I decided to take her for a walk outside as it had just finished raining and the temperature was nice. Well, the rain washed something invisible (algea?) across the sidewalk and I slipped and fell spectacularly. I managed to save all of Hannah but her head (she had a bruise), but I was very scraped up and my left knee had gone the entirely wrong way. I barely limped up to the door and then was unable to walk the rest of the evening. It hurt....so bad. Even now I'm wearing a brace to get around, but I do think I'm improving (thank goodness!).
We spent last week getting back into the swing of things. Tuesday was a big day for us. William had his first day of Kindergarten and it also happened to be Francis's first day of school too. I got pictures of both of them with cute signs and then we parted ways. the kids and I went up to church and I got the Hannah and Robert in the nursery and William and I made it to assembly just in time. William was shy at first, clinging to me when someone spoke to him, but he warmed up quickly and by the time we made it to his classroom, he ran over to his carpet square for circle time with great enthusiasm. I am so glad I get to be in class with him and I took a ton of photos for Francis. William loved the science experiments the most (they were about temperature in the shade and how satellites orbit the earth), and also like counting in math. Art involved learning about different lines used in paintings. He also learned the continents and major oceans, something about Charlemagne, skip counting by twos, verb tenses in latin, the seven types of biomes, the eight parts of speech, and the first seven events of our history timeline. What a first day, right?! I am liking Classical Conversations though. We will see where God leads us on this journey! The rest of the week we worked on school and got other things done (like an oil change for the car), and started back with playgroup on Fridays! It rained during playgroup, but the playground was covered so the kids didn't care. Robert's friend Emerson was there and they held hands and had the sweetest conversations about life and what they like. Robert is so articulate when he wants to be. It's fun to hear his thoughts on things.
This week has gone by in a flash. Hannah has started to pick out her own clothes and talk more than the boys did at this age. She is pretty easy going most of the time, but she does have an opinion. Monday was the first day that William had to walk through the grocery store (instead of ride). It worked pretty well, but I think it will get easier as time goes on. We made it to school on Tuesday with more time to spare and so I didn't feel so frazzled. The kids like having lunch with everyone after school and I am liking it too. We also got a schedule of our field trips. That made me even more excited. It's going to be a great year! Yesterday the boy had their dentist appointments. William had a full cleaning and x-rays for the first time. He did great and his teeth look awesome. His permanent molars are poised to come in any time now, so we'll be on the lookout for them soon. Robert also had no cavities and everything looked good. He was a trooper and held completely still to be examined. they are getting so big!
Today was the fist day of MOMs this year. William is too old to go now that he's in Kindergarten, so Francis has volunteered to watch him. They have decided they are going to build a new dog house for the dogs. Today they took the measurements and bought the supplies. Robert and Hannah went with me and met their teachers for the year. They came out happy and tired. I like my group and look forward to getting to know them better. All in all a successful first meeting.
Whew! That was much more of an overview than I would like to right, but there it is. Till next time!
Friday, September 2, 2016
September 2, 2016
Part 2 of our recent adventures...
So Friday we awoke and had breakfast with Nana Phillips. The kids enjoyed spending time with their great-grandmother. Nana gave all of the kids books and gave Hannah a full size quilt for when she gets a big girl bed. It's beautiful with pinks and purples. Mid-morning, the Texas crew drove over and rode on the OKA ferry toward downtown Montreal. The kids thought it was cool that we were able to drive the car onto the boat and ride across. It is pretty cool actually. We then made the journey up to Mont Royal. We played at a park and then drove up to a lookout and took pictures. We had lunch in old town Montreal on the pier. The air was a little warm, but seeing the people and scenery more than made up for it. We all decided to go do a maze on the pier called SOS Labyrinth. We split into two teams: Frankie's dad, Cyndy, Abby and William on one team and Francis, Robert, Hannah and me on the other. If you know how deficient my spatial abilities are, you can guess who won. They won by like 20 minutes. I had to front carry Hannah the whole time and by the end my left leg was hurting pretty bad. When we got done Cyndy wanted to do the bike powered trailers to o around town but I just wasn't up for it. So she, her dad, Abby, William and Robert took off on a biking adventure while Francis, Hannah and I wandered around, shopped and eventually found a nice cool place to sit. Montreal is one of the oldest cities s in North America and sitting in the walking streets feels like you are in Europe. It did my heart good to just sit and watch and take it all in. When we all reconvened, we went and bought souvenirs then had dinner at a local crepe restaurant. Then more beaver tail for dessert. Yum and double yum. We made it back to the house late, but that didn't stop the adults from talking into the night.
Saturday I woke up and left calf was bruised all along the back. That explained the hurt the day before. Thankfully we spent the day in St. Lazare with the family just swimming, laughing and having fun. We had smoked meat pizza and then did a cookout for dinner. Sarah and her husband Jeremy joined the gang (along with Aunt Melo, Uncle Vic, Nana Phillips and us). A happier group you will seldom find. Sunday morning early, Cyndy and Abby headed to the airport, but those of us left headed to church. Francis's grandfather helped to found a church in Montreal and so many people there still remember him as well as Francis and his father. We were introduced around and thanks to Nana Phillips, nearly everyone recognized my children. It was a sweet time in the body of Christ. Even though the lesson was in French, the boys wanted to go to class and came out knowing the lesson was about Noah. They told their teacher what a good time they had as they were leaving and everyone was so kind to them! I went with Hannah to the nursery where she played and I was able to speak to the other ladies in there. I am thankful that most of the people in the church speak good English because although I can understand what's going on, my production of French is very limited. We had lunch at St. Huberts per the kid's request for "clown ice cream" and then Francis, his dad, the kids and I all went to drop off Francis at his hotel so he could check in and check in for the conference the following week. All 6 of us then took a tour of underground Montreal as it was raining very hard outside. We saw some of my father-in-laws old haunts as he used to work there and then had dinner at the Old Spagehtti Warehouse (or something like that in French). At this point we said goodbye to Francis and the 5 of us left headed back to St Lazare. The next morning we packed up, spent the morning with Nana, Aunt Melo and Uncle Vic and then drove to the airport. I am so glad Francis's dad was with me, because by the time I made it to my bed in Dallas, I had been up 24 hours. When we arrived, our first flight was already delayed so we were rerouted to Miami. That flight was also delayed as was our connection. We did have a delightful time at the AmEx club in Miami, but in general it was just not my day. The kids were good and we finally made it back, but it was a crazy trip!
Stay tuned for our week in Dallas!
So Friday we awoke and had breakfast with Nana Phillips. The kids enjoyed spending time with their great-grandmother. Nana gave all of the kids books and gave Hannah a full size quilt for when she gets a big girl bed. It's beautiful with pinks and purples. Mid-morning, the Texas crew drove over and rode on the OKA ferry toward downtown Montreal. The kids thought it was cool that we were able to drive the car onto the boat and ride across. It is pretty cool actually. We then made the journey up to Mont Royal. We played at a park and then drove up to a lookout and took pictures. We had lunch in old town Montreal on the pier. The air was a little warm, but seeing the people and scenery more than made up for it. We all decided to go do a maze on the pier called SOS Labyrinth. We split into two teams: Frankie's dad, Cyndy, Abby and William on one team and Francis, Robert, Hannah and me on the other. If you know how deficient my spatial abilities are, you can guess who won. They won by like 20 minutes. I had to front carry Hannah the whole time and by the end my left leg was hurting pretty bad. When we got done Cyndy wanted to do the bike powered trailers to o around town but I just wasn't up for it. So she, her dad, Abby, William and Robert took off on a biking adventure while Francis, Hannah and I wandered around, shopped and eventually found a nice cool place to sit. Montreal is one of the oldest cities s in North America and sitting in the walking streets feels like you are in Europe. It did my heart good to just sit and watch and take it all in. When we all reconvened, we went and bought souvenirs then had dinner at a local crepe restaurant. Then more beaver tail for dessert. Yum and double yum. We made it back to the house late, but that didn't stop the adults from talking into the night.
Saturday I woke up and left calf was bruised all along the back. That explained the hurt the day before. Thankfully we spent the day in St. Lazare with the family just swimming, laughing and having fun. We had smoked meat pizza and then did a cookout for dinner. Sarah and her husband Jeremy joined the gang (along with Aunt Melo, Uncle Vic, Nana Phillips and us). A happier group you will seldom find. Sunday morning early, Cyndy and Abby headed to the airport, but those of us left headed to church. Francis's grandfather helped to found a church in Montreal and so many people there still remember him as well as Francis and his father. We were introduced around and thanks to Nana Phillips, nearly everyone recognized my children. It was a sweet time in the body of Christ. Even though the lesson was in French, the boys wanted to go to class and came out knowing the lesson was about Noah. They told their teacher what a good time they had as they were leaving and everyone was so kind to them! I went with Hannah to the nursery where she played and I was able to speak to the other ladies in there. I am thankful that most of the people in the church speak good English because although I can understand what's going on, my production of French is very limited. We had lunch at St. Huberts per the kid's request for "clown ice cream" and then Francis, his dad, the kids and I all went to drop off Francis at his hotel so he could check in and check in for the conference the following week. All 6 of us then took a tour of underground Montreal as it was raining very hard outside. We saw some of my father-in-laws old haunts as he used to work there and then had dinner at the Old Spagehtti Warehouse (or something like that in French). At this point we said goodbye to Francis and the 5 of us left headed back to St Lazare. The next morning we packed up, spent the morning with Nana, Aunt Melo and Uncle Vic and then drove to the airport. I am so glad Francis's dad was with me, because by the time I made it to my bed in Dallas, I had been up 24 hours. When we arrived, our first flight was already delayed so we were rerouted to Miami. That flight was also delayed as was our connection. We did have a delightful time at the AmEx club in Miami, but in general it was just not my day. The kids were good and we finally made it back, but it was a crazy trip!
Stay tuned for our week in Dallas!
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
August 31, 2016
If I wrote everything I want to for the past three weeks, I'd be here all day. As I don't have the time I will try to hit as many highlights as I can. I may have to break it up into two posts.
August 13 we had William's 5th and Robert's 3rd birthday parties combined. The theme was star Wars. It was amazing. We had more then 50 people which was stretching the capacity of my house a bit, but the love that abounded more than made up for the lack of space. We even had a full size R2D2 balloon and a Darth Vader pinata, both of which were a big hit. The boys got so many wonderful toys, including superhero items, star wars items, legos, a bike (Robert), ice skates (William), battling robots, remote control cars and so much more. We have been opening them slowly since we got back from Dallas so the newness will last as long as possible! My heart was so full that day. I tear up thinking about how wonderful it was. One of the highlights was singing to the boys in front of their amazing two tier star wars cake with light up Millennium Falcon. Their faces were priceless. We have left up the decorations so that Robert can enjoy them on his actual birthday, so I feel like I've gotten my money's worth out of them. Win win!
That Sunday evening we had William's "Big Kid Celebration" where the celebrate all of the kids graduating from the preschool into the Children's ministry at church. They had it set up so cute and each kid got to say their name and where they are going to school next year. William said he will be homeschooled and took his little goodie bag with great interest. I cried happy tears and tried to soak in the moment. He's getting so big so fast!!!
Monday we left for Dallas in order to catch our extremely early flight Tuesday morning to Montreal. Tuesday morning at 3 am, we (Francis, his dad, the kids and I) piled into the van and headed to the airport. We had plenty of time to get to our plane and even played a little Pokemon Go while we waited. All in all our trip there was uneventful. We even got to skip the extra long customs line and go through a shorter one because we had small children with us. We made it to St Lazare before dinner and were welcomed by Nana Phillips (Francis's grandmother), Aunt Melo, Uncle Vic, Uncle Jim, cousin Sarah and her husband Jeremy and Cousin Matthew and his wife Laura. Cyndy and Abby joined us shortly having had a bigger adventure at the airport than us and we all had an enjoyble evening eating, laughing and catching up. The kids all loved the house and especially the Foosball, air hockey and ping pong tables in the basement. They wanted to play there whenever possible.
Wednesday after a good breakfast with Nana Phillips, Cyndy, Francis, his dad, the kids and I all headed to Ottawa. We visited the Air and Space Museum there. It was so cool to see all the old planes and the boys could not get enough information about space. the kids all got to participate in the "space program" there. They dressed up in space suits and "traveled" to a distant planet, were they camped out in tents, planted and "ate" food, encountered and collected aliens and conducted experiments in an amazing self contained unit. They had a blast! We also got to have a Star Trek experience. We got to try out each position in star trek and even complete the Kubiashi Maru (sp?). I failed miserable and wastold I'd make a great communications officer. I was not shocked. William liked beaming himself up and Robert like shooting the targets. Hannah loved being able to run around and touch everything. Fun was had by all. By this time it was getting late in the afternoon, so after a poutine snack break, we headed to the hotel in Ottawa. We planned on taking a short nap, but all fell asleep until 6:30 pm. This ended up being a good thing. We got up, had dinner at St. Huberts and then rushed to Parliament Hill to see the light show they were putting on. Were it not for the delay due to a fireworks show nearby, we wouldn't have made it on time, but we walked up just as it started. It was truly amazing! It would give Disney a run for it's money and was educational to boot. Cyndy and Abby got up really close and said the view was even more impressive. Such a fun night!
Thursday we headed back to Parliament Hill and again made it just in time to see the changing of the guards. Francis's father did this in his youth and his pleasure at all of us experience it was palpable, making the whole scene extra memorable. We got a picture with one of the guards afterward and the kids thought that was pretty cool too. We all then drove over to Mt. Tremblant for the afternoon after a Tim Horton's donut snack. Because out rental was a van and the kids were loving cousin time, all four kids were in our car (with Cyndy and her dad in the other car) the whole trip. They were so good! The whole trip the kids were amazing in fact. They made the trip more enjoyable for their great attitude and fortitude. On the mountain everyone but Hannah and me went luge-ing down. We all rode the gondola up to the top and looked out at the view. The kids couldn't wrap their mind around how high they were, but the lake below had shrunk considerably. We had dinner half way down the mountain and had "beaver tail" (a sweet dessert) before going back to St. Lazare.
I guess that's it for now. Kiddos need me!
Stay tuned for part two soon.
August 13 we had William's 5th and Robert's 3rd birthday parties combined. The theme was star Wars. It was amazing. We had more then 50 people which was stretching the capacity of my house a bit, but the love that abounded more than made up for the lack of space. We even had a full size R2D2 balloon and a Darth Vader pinata, both of which were a big hit. The boys got so many wonderful toys, including superhero items, star wars items, legos, a bike (Robert), ice skates (William), battling robots, remote control cars and so much more. We have been opening them slowly since we got back from Dallas so the newness will last as long as possible! My heart was so full that day. I tear up thinking about how wonderful it was. One of the highlights was singing to the boys in front of their amazing two tier star wars cake with light up Millennium Falcon. Their faces were priceless. We have left up the decorations so that Robert can enjoy them on his actual birthday, so I feel like I've gotten my money's worth out of them. Win win!
That Sunday evening we had William's "Big Kid Celebration" where the celebrate all of the kids graduating from the preschool into the Children's ministry at church. They had it set up so cute and each kid got to say their name and where they are going to school next year. William said he will be homeschooled and took his little goodie bag with great interest. I cried happy tears and tried to soak in the moment. He's getting so big so fast!!!
Monday we left for Dallas in order to catch our extremely early flight Tuesday morning to Montreal. Tuesday morning at 3 am, we (Francis, his dad, the kids and I) piled into the van and headed to the airport. We had plenty of time to get to our plane and even played a little Pokemon Go while we waited. All in all our trip there was uneventful. We even got to skip the extra long customs line and go through a shorter one because we had small children with us. We made it to St Lazare before dinner and were welcomed by Nana Phillips (Francis's grandmother), Aunt Melo, Uncle Vic, Uncle Jim, cousin Sarah and her husband Jeremy and Cousin Matthew and his wife Laura. Cyndy and Abby joined us shortly having had a bigger adventure at the airport than us and we all had an enjoyble evening eating, laughing and catching up. The kids all loved the house and especially the Foosball, air hockey and ping pong tables in the basement. They wanted to play there whenever possible.
Wednesday after a good breakfast with Nana Phillips, Cyndy, Francis, his dad, the kids and I all headed to Ottawa. We visited the Air and Space Museum there. It was so cool to see all the old planes and the boys could not get enough information about space. the kids all got to participate in the "space program" there. They dressed up in space suits and "traveled" to a distant planet, were they camped out in tents, planted and "ate" food, encountered and collected aliens and conducted experiments in an amazing self contained unit. They had a blast! We also got to have a Star Trek experience. We got to try out each position in star trek and even complete the Kubiashi Maru (sp?). I failed miserable and wastold I'd make a great communications officer. I was not shocked. William liked beaming himself up and Robert like shooting the targets. Hannah loved being able to run around and touch everything. Fun was had by all. By this time it was getting late in the afternoon, so after a poutine snack break, we headed to the hotel in Ottawa. We planned on taking a short nap, but all fell asleep until 6:30 pm. This ended up being a good thing. We got up, had dinner at St. Huberts and then rushed to Parliament Hill to see the light show they were putting on. Were it not for the delay due to a fireworks show nearby, we wouldn't have made it on time, but we walked up just as it started. It was truly amazing! It would give Disney a run for it's money and was educational to boot. Cyndy and Abby got up really close and said the view was even more impressive. Such a fun night!
Thursday we headed back to Parliament Hill and again made it just in time to see the changing of the guards. Francis's father did this in his youth and his pleasure at all of us experience it was palpable, making the whole scene extra memorable. We got a picture with one of the guards afterward and the kids thought that was pretty cool too. We all then drove over to Mt. Tremblant for the afternoon after a Tim Horton's donut snack. Because out rental was a van and the kids were loving cousin time, all four kids were in our car (with Cyndy and her dad in the other car) the whole trip. They were so good! The whole trip the kids were amazing in fact. They made the trip more enjoyable for their great attitude and fortitude. On the mountain everyone but Hannah and me went luge-ing down. We all rode the gondola up to the top and looked out at the view. The kids couldn't wrap their mind around how high they were, but the lake below had shrunk considerably. We had dinner half way down the mountain and had "beaver tail" (a sweet dessert) before going back to St. Lazare.
I guess that's it for now. Kiddos need me!
Stay tuned for part two soon.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
August 11, 2016
I have a 5 year old! There I said it. It still doesn't seem real. 5 years ago today I became a mom for the first time. I'd been in the hospital 3 days in labor, but it was all worth it when they handed me him. My sweet William. Happy birthday, buddy! He is articulate, doing first grade math, nearly a month into kindergarten, is reading many words, and has enough questions to fill a library of books. He's tall and strong and loves most everything. I love him so much!
This week has been busy. I've been cleaning the house and packing for Canada in addition to everything else going on. Tuesday we went to Toys R' Us for William to get his birthday balloon, crown and announcement at the store. He then used his R Us dollars to buy a small toy. Robert brought along some money for himself and picked out a small Batman car. Fun was had by all, but I was pooped by the end. My boys take their time when making decisions! Hannah didn't care. She walked up and down ever aisle grabbing, picking up and carrying everything in sight.
Wednesday we went to the Children's Museum. It was fun and Hannah even tried to help a little boy older than her learn how to walk. It's getting harder and harder to keep track of all three kids, so I'm glad that I can generally keep all three kids in sight while there.
Today the birthday boy chose Chuck E Cheese for the morning's activity. Google was wrong about the time they opened, so we ended up eating cookies in the mall until they actually opened. It only cost me $10 for an hour and a half of fun, and the kids got 450 tickets. They used it to get 16 mini snakes and a plastic hopping frog. So...my house is now infested, lol. We will be going out for dinner tonight to Olive Garden, and then the boys' birthday party (they are having a combined party) is on Saturday. They are having a Star Wars party and we are expecting a fun crowd of people. We can hardly wait!
This week we have also been watching the Olympics. The kids were less than impressed with the opening ceremonies because they wanted to see people compete, but since then they can't get enough. William is learning a bunch of the countries' flags and will be a great announcer as he gives me everyone's places and scores as they come up on the screen. He's even learned some of the athletes names and gets excited when they come on the screen. Robert loves trying to replicate what is going on (especially the gymnastics) and yells "go USA" and "we won" pretty consistently. He gets really excited when we actually win. It's super cute. Hannah is just happy everyone else is happy and joins in the fray whenever she can. I'm happy to be passing on my love of the Olympics to the next generation.
That's all for now.
This week has been busy. I've been cleaning the house and packing for Canada in addition to everything else going on. Tuesday we went to Toys R' Us for William to get his birthday balloon, crown and announcement at the store. He then used his R Us dollars to buy a small toy. Robert brought along some money for himself and picked out a small Batman car. Fun was had by all, but I was pooped by the end. My boys take their time when making decisions! Hannah didn't care. She walked up and down ever aisle grabbing, picking up and carrying everything in sight.
Wednesday we went to the Children's Museum. It was fun and Hannah even tried to help a little boy older than her learn how to walk. It's getting harder and harder to keep track of all three kids, so I'm glad that I can generally keep all three kids in sight while there.
Today the birthday boy chose Chuck E Cheese for the morning's activity. Google was wrong about the time they opened, so we ended up eating cookies in the mall until they actually opened. It only cost me $10 for an hour and a half of fun, and the kids got 450 tickets. They used it to get 16 mini snakes and a plastic hopping frog. So...my house is now infested, lol. We will be going out for dinner tonight to Olive Garden, and then the boys' birthday party (they are having a combined party) is on Saturday. They are having a Star Wars party and we are expecting a fun crowd of people. We can hardly wait!
This week we have also been watching the Olympics. The kids were less than impressed with the opening ceremonies because they wanted to see people compete, but since then they can't get enough. William is learning a bunch of the countries' flags and will be a great announcer as he gives me everyone's places and scores as they come up on the screen. He's even learned some of the athletes names and gets excited when they come on the screen. Robert loves trying to replicate what is going on (especially the gymnastics) and yells "go USA" and "we won" pretty consistently. He gets really excited when we actually win. It's super cute. Hannah is just happy everyone else is happy and joins in the fray whenever she can. I'm happy to be passing on my love of the Olympics to the next generation.
That's all for now.
Friday, August 5, 2016
August 5, 2016
The Batman dynasty has ended it's unchallenged reign. Thanks to an influx of cute clothing from Nana as well as pulling out all of William's old 3T clothing, Robert has managed not to wear batman shirts 3 whole days this week. He still prefers batman (even batman socks, shoes and underwear if he can swing it), but he has softened a bit and chosen other things to wear. To say I'm relived is an understatement. I like that he wants to wear Batman, but I don't miss the meltdowns that were occuring once he had worn all of his Batman clothes. It's the beginning of a new era.
It's been a busy week. Last Saturday after running morning errands, Francis, the kids and I decided to check out a local public pool called Adamson Lagoon. They have a large pool with lily pads you can jump across, a few slides and a kid area with a shallow pool. It was so fun! Even when applying sunscreen more than once, we all got burned. But the kids had too much fun to care. Robert would not go down one of the slides, so I sent him down kicking and screaming. After a big show at the bottom of what a horrible mom I am, he was begging to go on it again less than 5 minutes later. He went on it non-stop for the next hour. Go figure. At the end of the day I said to Francis, "I'm glad we got our money's worth, because it will be a while before we get to come back." God must have laughed right then and there.
At church the next day in the bulletin was an announcement that that evening the church was hosting a free event at Adamson Lagoon. Sooo... since the kids all took a nap, we went! It was later than we were normally out, but it was so fun and I'm glad we went. The kids sure love the water!
Monday was grocer shopping day. We are still doing school in the afternoons and some days run more smoothly than others. Tuesday we went to the Library for a "Dough Show" sponsored by dominoes. I thought it would be an educational event, and it was at first. The lady talked about the ingredients in dough and how they prepare it, then she started kneading the dough in front of her and tossing it. Without much warning she smiled and said, "oops!" and tossed it into the audiesce. The next 30 minutes consisted of her and others tossing pizza dough into the audience for the kids to play with. Then they took volunteers and let them try their hand at pizza throwing. William was chosen and at the end he threw his dough to Robert. Both were very pleased. Hannah wandered all over, but had a great time also. At the end, everyone was served fresh pizza. It was very good. Overall a successful day! Tuesday was also Francis and my 8th anniversary. To say we are not gift givers (as in it is not our love language) is putting it mildly, BUT Francis actually got me a gift before our anniversary for the first time ever. I got him a gift too, in fact. We might be getting better at this anniversary thing. I got a new carpet cleaner! Yeah, we needed it. We did get each other cards and we went out with the kids to Paolo's for an Italian dinner. 8 years have gone so fast, and I am so thankful for the man that I get to call my husband. I love you, Francis!
Wednesday and Thursday I let each of the boys choose what to do as this is our "off" week. Wednesday Robert chose to "stay home" except for going to the library to check out new books. It was a nice quiet, relazing day. William on the other hand chose the Children's museum. Shortly after we arrived, William says, "Mommy, I think that's a huge baseball." I turn around and sure enough there is "Kaboom" the Brazon Valley Bombers Baseball team mascot along with two of the team players. They hosted story time and both the boys were so excited to have the players read to them, get their autographs and take a picture with Kaboom. Kaboom stuck around to play with the kids and William and Robert enjoyed a game of tag with him. Super cute! Just as we were about to leave, they make an announcement that their are snakes and lizards in the red room if anyone wants to hold them. The boys and Hannah go running and spent the next hour holding and petting all sorts of snakes and lizards. Hannah was more interested in watching, but the boys held everything they could.
Thursday afternoon Francis came home to watch the kids so I could go to two doctor's appointments in peace. It was nice to have an afternoon that was quiet, and to make some progress on what's been going on with me lately. Thank you Francis. You are a keeper!
Today we went out a splash pad with the Jones girls and their mom Robin. Now that Hannah is walking more, I was able to stand in the shade and not follow her around constantly. That was nice.
That's all for now!
It's been a busy week. Last Saturday after running morning errands, Francis, the kids and I decided to check out a local public pool called Adamson Lagoon. They have a large pool with lily pads you can jump across, a few slides and a kid area with a shallow pool. It was so fun! Even when applying sunscreen more than once, we all got burned. But the kids had too much fun to care. Robert would not go down one of the slides, so I sent him down kicking and screaming. After a big show at the bottom of what a horrible mom I am, he was begging to go on it again less than 5 minutes later. He went on it non-stop for the next hour. Go figure. At the end of the day I said to Francis, "I'm glad we got our money's worth, because it will be a while before we get to come back." God must have laughed right then and there.
At church the next day in the bulletin was an announcement that that evening the church was hosting a free event at Adamson Lagoon. Sooo... since the kids all took a nap, we went! It was later than we were normally out, but it was so fun and I'm glad we went. The kids sure love the water!
Monday was grocer shopping day. We are still doing school in the afternoons and some days run more smoothly than others. Tuesday we went to the Library for a "Dough Show" sponsored by dominoes. I thought it would be an educational event, and it was at first. The lady talked about the ingredients in dough and how they prepare it, then she started kneading the dough in front of her and tossing it. Without much warning she smiled and said, "oops!" and tossed it into the audiesce. The next 30 minutes consisted of her and others tossing pizza dough into the audience for the kids to play with. Then they took volunteers and let them try their hand at pizza throwing. William was chosen and at the end he threw his dough to Robert. Both were very pleased. Hannah wandered all over, but had a great time also. At the end, everyone was served fresh pizza. It was very good. Overall a successful day! Tuesday was also Francis and my 8th anniversary. To say we are not gift givers (as in it is not our love language) is putting it mildly, BUT Francis actually got me a gift before our anniversary for the first time ever. I got him a gift too, in fact. We might be getting better at this anniversary thing. I got a new carpet cleaner! Yeah, we needed it. We did get each other cards and we went out with the kids to Paolo's for an Italian dinner. 8 years have gone so fast, and I am so thankful for the man that I get to call my husband. I love you, Francis!
Wednesday and Thursday I let each of the boys choose what to do as this is our "off" week. Wednesday Robert chose to "stay home" except for going to the library to check out new books. It was a nice quiet, relazing day. William on the other hand chose the Children's museum. Shortly after we arrived, William says, "Mommy, I think that's a huge baseball." I turn around and sure enough there is "Kaboom" the Brazon Valley Bombers Baseball team mascot along with two of the team players. They hosted story time and both the boys were so excited to have the players read to them, get their autographs and take a picture with Kaboom. Kaboom stuck around to play with the kids and William and Robert enjoyed a game of tag with him. Super cute! Just as we were about to leave, they make an announcement that their are snakes and lizards in the red room if anyone wants to hold them. The boys and Hannah go running and spent the next hour holding and petting all sorts of snakes and lizards. Hannah was more interested in watching, but the boys held everything they could.
Thursday afternoon Francis came home to watch the kids so I could go to two doctor's appointments in peace. It was nice to have an afternoon that was quiet, and to make some progress on what's been going on with me lately. Thank you Francis. You are a keeper!
Today we went out a splash pad with the Jones girls and their mom Robin. Now that Hannah is walking more, I was able to stand in the shade and not follow her around constantly. That was nice.
That's all for now!
Friday, July 29, 2016
July 29, 2016
It's official! I have a 1 year old in this house.
Last weekend my in-laws graciously brought us their extra window unit as our a/c was out for nearly a week (it was finally fixed on Tuesday!). We took a trip with them to Toys R' Us, Chick-fil-a and even to Waller, Texas to meet up with Cyndy, Chris and Abby for dinner. Cyndy had the boys' birthday shirts, which she gave me, and they are adorable!!!!! We all ate dinner and even made our first trip to Bucee's (a store/gas station like no other) before heading home. It was such a good day!
I woke up Sunday and sang happy birthday to Hannah. Even though I had an extra day before she turned one (dues to the leap year), I was still not ready for her to turn one. Don't get me wrong, I love that she's growing up. It is just her turning a year marks the end of a year that included so much change. It passed so fast and we saw God's hand so clearly. I am thankful for that year. Happy birthday Hannah! We had breakfast and went to church. Hannah "picked" BJs for lunch and then those of us who were able took a nap. After that we set up Hannah's birthday present from Francis and me. It was a castle tent! Hannah loved it and so did the boys. With the boys' tent and tunnel, we were able to connect the two tents via tunnel and have had hours of entertainment this week. The boys love being knights and playing with "Princess Hannah". I even get to be "Queen Mommy". So fun! Anyway, I made delicious Lasagna for dinner and we sang and ate cookie cake which everyone enjoyed immensely. It was such an enjoyable day and weekend that I feel like it flew by!
Wednesday we did pictures at Robin's house for all three kiddos. While they were less than cooperative at times, the rain held off long enough for us to have enough light inside and I think we got at least a couple of good ones. Hannah loved her cake smash and thoroughly annihilated said cake. I am thankful for Robin that she opened her home and took pictures of my kiddos. She is such a blessing!!!
Hannah is walking everywhere. She has also developed a bit of an opinion now that she is one. She was always assertive, but she's taken it up a notch. Thursday was the last Preschool Funday of the summer at church. Hannah and I have been dropping the boys off and heading to the mall to play and shop in relative peace. Yesterday while dropping off the boys, Hannah decided she wanted to walk. It took us 15 minutes to leave church. Then we got to the mall. Hannah wanted to walk again. I kept putting her in the stroller to get somewhere, but she would yell at me and insist I let her out. It was seriously the slowest mall trip ever. I'm glad there was nothing I HAD to get or it would have driven me crazy. Instead, I let her have some independence and enjoyed watching her grow. At lunch she climbed out of the stroller while I was ordering and walked away. I took my tray and stroller, parking both at a nearby table. I then went back to Hannah and she tried to walk away, so I scooped her up and brought her to her chair. The ladies at the next table laughed hysterically. They had seen me pull up with the stroller but no baby and were so confused. It made their day to remind them of what it's like to have little ones. Hannah insisted on feeding herself at lunch. I let her, and she did a decent job even if the spoon ended up on the ground a couple of times. She was so hungry that she ate nearly half my food. She's growing!
Yesterday afternoon Hannah had her 1 year check up. We had a different doctor this time and I love her a lot! I think we've finally found "our" doctor for the kids. It took a year but God provided in His times. Hannah is healthy and a whopping 30.25 inches (98 percentile) and nearly 20lbs (scale teetered between that and 19.8lbs-50 percentile). She is healthy and met or exceeded all the benchmarks for her age. What else is there to say? I'm just so thankful for her!!
This post has been a little Hannah-centric but she did turn one after all, lol. The boys are doing great. We are now nearly done with week 2 of homeschooling for William and Robert is doing some "school" of his own when not napping. Robert is also honing his negotiating skills (which William had more than mastered), which is mostly to my advantage because now I can reason with him and generally avoid most fits.
That's all I have for now. Till next time!
Last weekend my in-laws graciously brought us their extra window unit as our a/c was out for nearly a week (it was finally fixed on Tuesday!). We took a trip with them to Toys R' Us, Chick-fil-a and even to Waller, Texas to meet up with Cyndy, Chris and Abby for dinner. Cyndy had the boys' birthday shirts, which she gave me, and they are adorable!!!!! We all ate dinner and even made our first trip to Bucee's (a store/gas station like no other) before heading home. It was such a good day!
I woke up Sunday and sang happy birthday to Hannah. Even though I had an extra day before she turned one (dues to the leap year), I was still not ready for her to turn one. Don't get me wrong, I love that she's growing up. It is just her turning a year marks the end of a year that included so much change. It passed so fast and we saw God's hand so clearly. I am thankful for that year. Happy birthday Hannah! We had breakfast and went to church. Hannah "picked" BJs for lunch and then those of us who were able took a nap. After that we set up Hannah's birthday present from Francis and me. It was a castle tent! Hannah loved it and so did the boys. With the boys' tent and tunnel, we were able to connect the two tents via tunnel and have had hours of entertainment this week. The boys love being knights and playing with "Princess Hannah". I even get to be "Queen Mommy". So fun! Anyway, I made delicious Lasagna for dinner and we sang and ate cookie cake which everyone enjoyed immensely. It was such an enjoyable day and weekend that I feel like it flew by!
Wednesday we did pictures at Robin's house for all three kiddos. While they were less than cooperative at times, the rain held off long enough for us to have enough light inside and I think we got at least a couple of good ones. Hannah loved her cake smash and thoroughly annihilated said cake. I am thankful for Robin that she opened her home and took pictures of my kiddos. She is such a blessing!!!
Hannah is walking everywhere. She has also developed a bit of an opinion now that she is one. She was always assertive, but she's taken it up a notch. Thursday was the last Preschool Funday of the summer at church. Hannah and I have been dropping the boys off and heading to the mall to play and shop in relative peace. Yesterday while dropping off the boys, Hannah decided she wanted to walk. It took us 15 minutes to leave church. Then we got to the mall. Hannah wanted to walk again. I kept putting her in the stroller to get somewhere, but she would yell at me and insist I let her out. It was seriously the slowest mall trip ever. I'm glad there was nothing I HAD to get or it would have driven me crazy. Instead, I let her have some independence and enjoyed watching her grow. At lunch she climbed out of the stroller while I was ordering and walked away. I took my tray and stroller, parking both at a nearby table. I then went back to Hannah and she tried to walk away, so I scooped her up and brought her to her chair. The ladies at the next table laughed hysterically. They had seen me pull up with the stroller but no baby and were so confused. It made their day to remind them of what it's like to have little ones. Hannah insisted on feeding herself at lunch. I let her, and she did a decent job even if the spoon ended up on the ground a couple of times. She was so hungry that she ate nearly half my food. She's growing!
Yesterday afternoon Hannah had her 1 year check up. We had a different doctor this time and I love her a lot! I think we've finally found "our" doctor for the kids. It took a year but God provided in His times. Hannah is healthy and a whopping 30.25 inches (98 percentile) and nearly 20lbs (scale teetered between that and 19.8lbs-50 percentile). She is healthy and met or exceeded all the benchmarks for her age. What else is there to say? I'm just so thankful for her!!
This post has been a little Hannah-centric but she did turn one after all, lol. The boys are doing great. We are now nearly done with week 2 of homeschooling for William and Robert is doing some "school" of his own when not napping. Robert is also honing his negotiating skills (which William had more than mastered), which is mostly to my advantage because now I can reason with him and generally avoid most fits.
That's all I have for now. Till next time!
Thursday, July 21, 2016
July 21, 2016
It's been a busy week. Summer is in full swing. I had to do my grocery shopping Sunday afternoon because Monday morning the kids and I went with a bunch of friend to take a tour of Blue Baker (a restaurant in town). The kids were all able to see the ingredients, see bread being mixed, kneeded, pulled, and baked, take a look in the freezer, and then they got to make their own bread. William and Robert had slightly different techniques (mean mommy didn't let Hannah make one and eat the raw dough). Robert put in a couple of the toppings in his bread (they were raisins, cranberries and two types of chocolate chips), and then he would eat a couple...place a few more in and then eat a few. William dumped all of the toppings in and kneaded them in as much as he could. When some still wouldn't fit, I told him to each them and he reluctantly did. It was fun to watch. Blue Baker baked the bread that afternoon and Francis picked it up on his way home. It was DELICIOUS! Those boys can bake for me any time!
In addition to Bible Study on Tuesday, library Wednesday and Preschool camp today (where Hannah and I got some girl time), I have been working on getting William's school ready. I am pretty much done and very proud of the result. God's provision is amazing. When we bought this house I wondered why it had such a huge laundry room (seriously, you could fit a bed in there and still have room to walk), including a huge built in table on which to fold clothes. I have now converted the table area into a desk and classroom for William. And it's perfect. Even with it all set up I still have plenty of room to do laundry, and if I need to, we don't have to put everything away each day like we would at the dinner table. God knew my need beforehand. It so amazing to see His hand at work. The curriculum came in Monday night and Tuesday. Upon seeing it, William immediately wanted to start. Sooo...we did. We are now on day three of Kindergarten. I figure it will allow us to go slower if we need to or to take more time off around Thanksgiving/Christmas or I guess we'll finish early. We'll see! William is loving his school work so far and Hannah and Robert have cooperated thus far. It makes me excited!
Hannah's birthday is Sunday. I have used the decorations from her party to decorate the house here. I try to embrace every moment of her babyhood because she is quickly becoming a toddler. She walks everywhere now with rare exception. She gets into everything and it enjoying the "discover and demolish" method of exploration. I love her so much and her smile is worth so much to me. She's a tough cookie too! We went to family movie night at church on Friday. At the end of the movie, I looked at Hannah (who I had been sitting on the floor with and letting her play) had both a black eye and a chipped tooth! She didn't cry and neither I nor anyone around me knew what happened. If I had to guess, I'd say she fell onto one of the chair legs around us, but who knows? Crazy!
Robert has grown over the past couple of weeks again. Every time I turn around, he seems to be taller, more articulate and more inventive. He still always has that same smile, and it is so heart warming when it's directed my way. He still wants to be held or be touching me all the time so some things don't change quite so quickly. I probably miss it when they do though. He's been loving on his sister a lot lately, and it is fun to see their relationship grow. There's a lot of hugging in this house, but none more than when Francis gets home. When we hear that door, we all run for the door to see who can get there first and we all catch him up in one huge family hug. Even Hannah races for the door and calls for dada until she arrives. I am thankful for this (now) tradition and hope it continues for a long time. I love it!
I think that's all for now.
In addition to Bible Study on Tuesday, library Wednesday and Preschool camp today (where Hannah and I got some girl time), I have been working on getting William's school ready. I am pretty much done and very proud of the result. God's provision is amazing. When we bought this house I wondered why it had such a huge laundry room (seriously, you could fit a bed in there and still have room to walk), including a huge built in table on which to fold clothes. I have now converted the table area into a desk and classroom for William. And it's perfect. Even with it all set up I still have plenty of room to do laundry, and if I need to, we don't have to put everything away each day like we would at the dinner table. God knew my need beforehand. It so amazing to see His hand at work. The curriculum came in Monday night and Tuesday. Upon seeing it, William immediately wanted to start. Sooo...we did. We are now on day three of Kindergarten. I figure it will allow us to go slower if we need to or to take more time off around Thanksgiving/Christmas or I guess we'll finish early. We'll see! William is loving his school work so far and Hannah and Robert have cooperated thus far. It makes me excited!
Hannah's birthday is Sunday. I have used the decorations from her party to decorate the house here. I try to embrace every moment of her babyhood because she is quickly becoming a toddler. She walks everywhere now with rare exception. She gets into everything and it enjoying the "discover and demolish" method of exploration. I love her so much and her smile is worth so much to me. She's a tough cookie too! We went to family movie night at church on Friday. At the end of the movie, I looked at Hannah (who I had been sitting on the floor with and letting her play) had both a black eye and a chipped tooth! She didn't cry and neither I nor anyone around me knew what happened. If I had to guess, I'd say she fell onto one of the chair legs around us, but who knows? Crazy!
Robert has grown over the past couple of weeks again. Every time I turn around, he seems to be taller, more articulate and more inventive. He still always has that same smile, and it is so heart warming when it's directed my way. He still wants to be held or be touching me all the time so some things don't change quite so quickly. I probably miss it when they do though. He's been loving on his sister a lot lately, and it is fun to see their relationship grow. There's a lot of hugging in this house, but none more than when Francis gets home. When we hear that door, we all run for the door to see who can get there first and we all catch him up in one huge family hug. Even Hannah races for the door and calls for dada until she arrives. I am thankful for this (now) tradition and hope it continues for a long time. I love it!
I think that's all for now.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
July 14, 2016
The first two weeks of July are some of my favorite of the whole year. Within the first 10 days of july I have independence day, Danielle's birthday and my mother-in-law's birthday. As an added bonus, this year included Hannah's first birthday party! The time is usually spent surrounded by family and lifelong friends. My heart leaves for home overflowing. This year was no exception.
We (Francis, the kids and I) headed up to Dallas on July 1 in time for dinner and swimming at my in-laws' house where were stayed. The kids were so excited to swim and we found out that Hannah will stay happily in the "baby boat" flotation device and kick herself around the pool. It's adorable.
Saturday morning the whole Phillips clan (including the Boergers who also arrived the night before) completed tasks including shoes buying for all the kids and making our traditional trip to chick-fil-a. The men took the kids to Home Depot for a craft and I went shopping with my mother-in-law for party supplies. All in all a good morning! My in-laws had a vow renewal to attend that evening, so Cyndy, Chris, Abby, Francis, the kids and I joined up with Dani and my parents at my parent's house for Pizza, swimming, driving the gator around, playing on the playscape, and "toddler fireworks" (sparklers and things that light up but don't make much noise). Then there was a real fireworks show off in the distance. The kids were all so excited!!! I couldn't have asked for a better ending to the day.
Sunday we all went to church and Cyndy, Chris and Abby even joined us at Prestonwood. Abby and William were in the same class which was an extra treat. After lunch at cowboy chicken, we brought the kids home for a nap and Cyndy, my mother-in-law and I went to Lakeshore Learning to get the stuff I wanted/needed for my classroom next year. I got what I needed (I'm so excited!) and left feeling more prepared for homeschooling next year. woo hoo! More swimming that evening and Pei Wei for dinner. Yum!
Monday was 4th of July. We got up quickly and headed to get our spot on the parade route. My whole family was there, both in-laws and blood, and I got some cute cousin pictures of all of them in their matching shirts. My mother was in the parade and Robert and William cheered loudly when they saw her. Afterward everyone headed to my parents' house for brisket and swimming. Ashley, Brandon and Bethany joined us. Including Brandon and Ashley, we had six out of the twelve members of our bridal party present. Talk about a happy/fun time!!! After swimming the whole family went to see the fireworks, eating pizza in the parking lot as usual. The fireworks did not disappoint. Hannah watched with wonder and occasionally jumped around in excitement. I'm glad she share my enthusiasm for pretty pictures in the sky.
Tuesday was Danielle's birthday. Cyndy needed to catch up on work (Francis and Chris headed back to work already), so I happily took Abby and my 3 to see Finding Dory with Danielle, my mom, and Nikki at the Studio Movie Grill. The kids were great and Hannah slept through it for a second time. Made my life a ton easier. That the kids and I joined Christian and her clan, my parents, Danielle and Nikki for dinner and then cake back at my parents' house. We love our Danielle!!!! Happy birthday!
Wednesday for "cousin camp" we went to the Mall with Cyndy, Abby, my mom, Danielle and Nikki. the kids rode the Carousel and took a walk through the Disney store and Lego Store. That evening we all went out to Hawaiian Falls water park and had a blast at the kid's area, wave pool and lazy river. Everyone left exhausted but happy.
Thursday for "cousin camp" we did Legoland and the Grapevine aquarium. Talk about a full day!!! The Abby, William, Robert and Hannah wore matching "cousins make the best friends" shirts that Cyndy had made. A woman loved them so much she tracked down Cyndy and asked for a card. They were pretty cute! That evening we brough dinner back to the house and ate with Fankie's mom and Ashley. After putting the kids to bed, we had a girls' game night of playing Dutch Blitz (it's so calm with 4 ladies playing!) and I actually won!!! By one point, but I won none the less.
Frankie's mom took off work on Friday and we went out to Denny's for Breakfast, then shopping and had lunch at the house. That evening we went to Medieval Times for Dinner and a show. Francis was able to join us in time, but his father had to stay home as the A/C was being fixed (it had been a hot week at the Phillips' house). We got a birthday announcement for Frankie's mom and had it be from her "loyal subjects Abby, William, Robert and Hannah". It was cute and the kids loved hearing the Herald say their names! Abby was chosen by our (red) knight to be his queen and she loved that. I even got a flower! That evening after putting the kids to bed, we played a rousing game of Dutch Blitz with the six adults in the house (Chris, Francis, his dad, cyndy, Frankie's mom, and me). I won twice! I need to go to Vegas before my luck runs out!!
Saturday was party day. I got the cake and balloons and headed up to my parents' house. My family helped me Doctorate and the place looked adorable if I do say so myself. Francis showed up with the kids, the rest of the Phillips clan and the Boergers at party time. Ashley and Josh came too! Hannah got a castle, suitcase, microphone (thanks Christian!, I'll return the favor), cute clothes, an airplane, stuffed animals, and a little computer. She was pleased as punch and Abby, William and Robert wanted her to open all her toys right that second. A couple were opened and fun was had. We then did cake. Hannah was tentative at first, but dove in with both hands when she realized the gold mine she had. By the end the cake was obliterated and the high chair and Hannah were dyed purple and pink (the theme of the party was purple and pink butterflies). We washed Hannah off in my parents' tub and nearly managed to dye it pink also. whew! The kids and some of the adults went swimming before Cyndy, Chris, Abby, Ashley and Josh had to head home. It had been fun seeing all of them throughout the week. It's probably the first time I've seen Ashley three times in the same week since I've been married. It few my soul in ways I can't describe. It was wonderful to spend time with Abby and Cyndy also. I think cousin camp 2016 was a success!! The kids are already asking when they get to see Abby again! Christian and Chad headed out with the twins shortly after as a storm was looming overhead. I'm glda I got to see them also. My kids love these cousins also, and Hannah had an extra fun time sharing her new toys witht hte twins before they left. Before dinner, those that were left played a game on the TV using our smart phones. Just as they announced the winner, the power went out. The storm cleared very shortly after and we headed to Abuelo's for dinner. We are so blessed to have a family that all gets along. I realize that is more rare than it should be. Dinner was delightful. Hannah was celebrated all day and I couldn't have asked for more.
Sunday we went to Prestonwood and then met my in-laws for lunch at Saltgrass Steakhouse. It was my mother-in-law's birthday and the boys sang to her before we ate. Super cute! Happy birthday!! It was a nice birthday lunch and afterwards the kids, dog and I headed home with Francis not far behind in his own car. Such a good week. It had hiccups, but who can complain when their was so much joy and love about?!
This week we've been getting back in the groove. We did grocery store and laundry Monday, Bible study Tuesday and the library Wednesday. Today the boys had their first day of Preschool camp. They had a blast! Hannah and I went shopping and got me some new clothes, did her "birthday celebration" at Toys R Us, bought the boy's birthday presents, went shopping at the mall and and even had lunch together. It was fun to have some mommy/Hannah time and I think she liked it too. As a side note, I had a wonderful experience at the mall today. I imagine it is how Christ wants us to be toward each other all the time, but we so seldom are. Everyone I ran into regardless of age, race or sex, was so kind, polite and, well, joyful. Everyone was smiling, waving at strangers and wishing them a good day, asking how you are doing (and expecting a real answer not just "good"). I was already happy and this lifted my spirits even more. A little girl ran ahead of me just to hold the door open. The janitor passed by our table and smiled saying how cute Hannah was. I thanked him for what he does (as I do most janitors, especially in Malls), and his face just lit up. He passed by twice more and looked at me with the biggest grin. A genuine smile is contagious, let me tell you! I then had to change Hannah's diaper, but they were closing the restroom as I got there. The man and woman working smiled and waited for me to change Hannah before sealing it off. They knew the next closet bathroom was far and that a little patience on their part would save me a lot of trouble. Thank you so much! I have at least a half dozen other stories of kindnesses paid to me during that couple of hours, but I'll treasure them up in my heart instead. Thanks, people of the mall, for the little slice of heaven today.
There is so much more to write! Hannah is growing so fast. She got all four of her molars last week and had not been sleeping well (even for her) this past week and a bit. Francis has been kind and letting me sleep in a little in the morning while he holds down the fort. She's worth it, but I'm tired! Hannah is starting to prefer walking to crawling around the house. It's fun to see her little mind work to figure out how to get around.
Robert is loving Battle Bots right now. FYI everything is a robot or can be turned into a robot. He battles or is talking about battling robots at least once every hour. He's turned into a regular little chatter box where this is concerned. We have been watching the competition as a family and it's been fun to see the boys' imaginations run wild with building and scheming a bot they want to make and enter into the competition. Francis likes it too. If the show is still around in a few years, you can bet you'll be seeing my crew on there!
I finally ordered the Math and Reading/writing curriculum for William for next year. I feel at peace with my decision and had William place tested for the math so that I would get the right one. He's all signed up for the "big kid celebration" at church in August as he will graduate to the Children's area then. How did he get so big?! Oh! funny story. My brother-in-law Chad was telling William that he was attacking him at the 4th of July parade. William turns around and says, "I'm impervious to attack!" He then went on throughout the day to say all of the other things he was impervious to: being squirted by water, being dunked, etc. He's my kid, vocabulary and all!
Well, I think that's it for now! Till next time!
We (Francis, the kids and I) headed up to Dallas on July 1 in time for dinner and swimming at my in-laws' house where were stayed. The kids were so excited to swim and we found out that Hannah will stay happily in the "baby boat" flotation device and kick herself around the pool. It's adorable.
Saturday morning the whole Phillips clan (including the Boergers who also arrived the night before) completed tasks including shoes buying for all the kids and making our traditional trip to chick-fil-a. The men took the kids to Home Depot for a craft and I went shopping with my mother-in-law for party supplies. All in all a good morning! My in-laws had a vow renewal to attend that evening, so Cyndy, Chris, Abby, Francis, the kids and I joined up with Dani and my parents at my parent's house for Pizza, swimming, driving the gator around, playing on the playscape, and "toddler fireworks" (sparklers and things that light up but don't make much noise). Then there was a real fireworks show off in the distance. The kids were all so excited!!! I couldn't have asked for a better ending to the day.
Sunday we all went to church and Cyndy, Chris and Abby even joined us at Prestonwood. Abby and William were in the same class which was an extra treat. After lunch at cowboy chicken, we brought the kids home for a nap and Cyndy, my mother-in-law and I went to Lakeshore Learning to get the stuff I wanted/needed for my classroom next year. I got what I needed (I'm so excited!) and left feeling more prepared for homeschooling next year. woo hoo! More swimming that evening and Pei Wei for dinner. Yum!
Monday was 4th of July. We got up quickly and headed to get our spot on the parade route. My whole family was there, both in-laws and blood, and I got some cute cousin pictures of all of them in their matching shirts. My mother was in the parade and Robert and William cheered loudly when they saw her. Afterward everyone headed to my parents' house for brisket and swimming. Ashley, Brandon and Bethany joined us. Including Brandon and Ashley, we had six out of the twelve members of our bridal party present. Talk about a happy/fun time!!! After swimming the whole family went to see the fireworks, eating pizza in the parking lot as usual. The fireworks did not disappoint. Hannah watched with wonder and occasionally jumped around in excitement. I'm glad she share my enthusiasm for pretty pictures in the sky.
Tuesday was Danielle's birthday. Cyndy needed to catch up on work (Francis and Chris headed back to work already), so I happily took Abby and my 3 to see Finding Dory with Danielle, my mom, and Nikki at the Studio Movie Grill. The kids were great and Hannah slept through it for a second time. Made my life a ton easier. That the kids and I joined Christian and her clan, my parents, Danielle and Nikki for dinner and then cake back at my parents' house. We love our Danielle!!!! Happy birthday!
Wednesday for "cousin camp" we went to the Mall with Cyndy, Abby, my mom, Danielle and Nikki. the kids rode the Carousel and took a walk through the Disney store and Lego Store. That evening we all went out to Hawaiian Falls water park and had a blast at the kid's area, wave pool and lazy river. Everyone left exhausted but happy.
Thursday for "cousin camp" we did Legoland and the Grapevine aquarium. Talk about a full day!!! The Abby, William, Robert and Hannah wore matching "cousins make the best friends" shirts that Cyndy had made. A woman loved them so much she tracked down Cyndy and asked for a card. They were pretty cute! That evening we brough dinner back to the house and ate with Fankie's mom and Ashley. After putting the kids to bed, we had a girls' game night of playing Dutch Blitz (it's so calm with 4 ladies playing!) and I actually won!!! By one point, but I won none the less.
Frankie's mom took off work on Friday and we went out to Denny's for Breakfast, then shopping and had lunch at the house. That evening we went to Medieval Times for Dinner and a show. Francis was able to join us in time, but his father had to stay home as the A/C was being fixed (it had been a hot week at the Phillips' house). We got a birthday announcement for Frankie's mom and had it be from her "loyal subjects Abby, William, Robert and Hannah". It was cute and the kids loved hearing the Herald say their names! Abby was chosen by our (red) knight to be his queen and she loved that. I even got a flower! That evening after putting the kids to bed, we played a rousing game of Dutch Blitz with the six adults in the house (Chris, Francis, his dad, cyndy, Frankie's mom, and me). I won twice! I need to go to Vegas before my luck runs out!!
Saturday was party day. I got the cake and balloons and headed up to my parents' house. My family helped me Doctorate and the place looked adorable if I do say so myself. Francis showed up with the kids, the rest of the Phillips clan and the Boergers at party time. Ashley and Josh came too! Hannah got a castle, suitcase, microphone (thanks Christian!, I'll return the favor), cute clothes, an airplane, stuffed animals, and a little computer. She was pleased as punch and Abby, William and Robert wanted her to open all her toys right that second. A couple were opened and fun was had. We then did cake. Hannah was tentative at first, but dove in with both hands when she realized the gold mine she had. By the end the cake was obliterated and the high chair and Hannah were dyed purple and pink (the theme of the party was purple and pink butterflies). We washed Hannah off in my parents' tub and nearly managed to dye it pink also. whew! The kids and some of the adults went swimming before Cyndy, Chris, Abby, Ashley and Josh had to head home. It had been fun seeing all of them throughout the week. It's probably the first time I've seen Ashley three times in the same week since I've been married. It few my soul in ways I can't describe. It was wonderful to spend time with Abby and Cyndy also. I think cousin camp 2016 was a success!! The kids are already asking when they get to see Abby again! Christian and Chad headed out with the twins shortly after as a storm was looming overhead. I'm glda I got to see them also. My kids love these cousins also, and Hannah had an extra fun time sharing her new toys witht hte twins before they left. Before dinner, those that were left played a game on the TV using our smart phones. Just as they announced the winner, the power went out. The storm cleared very shortly after and we headed to Abuelo's for dinner. We are so blessed to have a family that all gets along. I realize that is more rare than it should be. Dinner was delightful. Hannah was celebrated all day and I couldn't have asked for more.
Sunday we went to Prestonwood and then met my in-laws for lunch at Saltgrass Steakhouse. It was my mother-in-law's birthday and the boys sang to her before we ate. Super cute! Happy birthday!! It was a nice birthday lunch and afterwards the kids, dog and I headed home with Francis not far behind in his own car. Such a good week. It had hiccups, but who can complain when their was so much joy and love about?!
This week we've been getting back in the groove. We did grocery store and laundry Monday, Bible study Tuesday and the library Wednesday. Today the boys had their first day of Preschool camp. They had a blast! Hannah and I went shopping and got me some new clothes, did her "birthday celebration" at Toys R Us, bought the boy's birthday presents, went shopping at the mall and and even had lunch together. It was fun to have some mommy/Hannah time and I think she liked it too. As a side note, I had a wonderful experience at the mall today. I imagine it is how Christ wants us to be toward each other all the time, but we so seldom are. Everyone I ran into regardless of age, race or sex, was so kind, polite and, well, joyful. Everyone was smiling, waving at strangers and wishing them a good day, asking how you are doing (and expecting a real answer not just "good"). I was already happy and this lifted my spirits even more. A little girl ran ahead of me just to hold the door open. The janitor passed by our table and smiled saying how cute Hannah was. I thanked him for what he does (as I do most janitors, especially in Malls), and his face just lit up. He passed by twice more and looked at me with the biggest grin. A genuine smile is contagious, let me tell you! I then had to change Hannah's diaper, but they were closing the restroom as I got there. The man and woman working smiled and waited for me to change Hannah before sealing it off. They knew the next closet bathroom was far and that a little patience on their part would save me a lot of trouble. Thank you so much! I have at least a half dozen other stories of kindnesses paid to me during that couple of hours, but I'll treasure them up in my heart instead. Thanks, people of the mall, for the little slice of heaven today.
There is so much more to write! Hannah is growing so fast. She got all four of her molars last week and had not been sleeping well (even for her) this past week and a bit. Francis has been kind and letting me sleep in a little in the morning while he holds down the fort. She's worth it, but I'm tired! Hannah is starting to prefer walking to crawling around the house. It's fun to see her little mind work to figure out how to get around.
Robert is loving Battle Bots right now. FYI everything is a robot or can be turned into a robot. He battles or is talking about battling robots at least once every hour. He's turned into a regular little chatter box where this is concerned. We have been watching the competition as a family and it's been fun to see the boys' imaginations run wild with building and scheming a bot they want to make and enter into the competition. Francis likes it too. If the show is still around in a few years, you can bet you'll be seeing my crew on there!
I finally ordered the Math and Reading/writing curriculum for William for next year. I feel at peace with my decision and had William place tested for the math so that I would get the right one. He's all signed up for the "big kid celebration" at church in August as he will graduate to the Children's area then. How did he get so big?! Oh! funny story. My brother-in-law Chad was telling William that he was attacking him at the 4th of July parade. William turns around and says, "I'm impervious to attack!" He then went on throughout the day to say all of the other things he was impervious to: being squirted by water, being dunked, etc. He's my kid, vocabulary and all!
Well, I think that's it for now! Till next time!
Thursday, June 30, 2016
June 30, 2016
I can't believe it's the last day of June already. Tomorrow it will be Hannah's birthday month. How did this happen!?! She's getting so big. Last night she ventured out from holding onto the couch and walked across the living room and into the dining room unassisted. If you saw how long our living room is, you would know what I feat that is for little legs. She was so proud of herself. She just hangs out standing around these days and tries to do whatever her brothers are doing. For the most part, they love it, unless she is destroying something they built. William has gotten good at picking up Hannah and moving her safely to a new location. Robert moves his stuff away when he sees her coming. General rule of thumb, if you don't want Hannah to touch it, play at the kitchen table. This will only work until she figures out how to climb up in the dining chairs!
Last weekend was amazing. Saturday morning we all went to the Homeschool Expo in College Station. I learned a lot about what the community has to offer homeschoolers and generally got a better grasp of what is going on in the homeschool world. It was good. The five of us then went up and had lunch by campus. This is something we would never do regularly, but since school is out for the summer, we thought we would try it and had a lot of fun. Then we went out to the local airport where they were having a plane show of WWII aircraft. That was by far the coolest thing we did. They allowed you to go inside the planes (they looked different on the inside than I expected), and the boys even got to sit in the cockpit of one. William spent about 15 minutes in the cockpit studing all the controls and asking someone (who was with the show and standing on the wing), how everything worked. Before we left, we got to see the planes take off. Hannah LOVED that as did the boys. Francis, in his love for aviation, bought the kids four small metal planes for them to remember their adventure. We then went to the mall. I only mention this because we were redeeming the kids' free cookie certificates for the summer reading club when out of no where a girl (college age I'm guessing) hand Robert $5 and walks away without a word. I looked at her and she just waved and smiled. Robert thought he his the jackpot. He sang all the way down the mall about his five dollars and put it in his piggy bank when he got home. At home that evening, Francis told the boys everything they wanted to know about their new airplane toys and even looked up interesting stories about the types of planes to tell at bedtime. Francis was beyond excited to share his love of aerospace with his kids and they received it with open arms. It was, in short, beautiful.
Sunday after church I was able to go to a storage unit of a retiring teacher and buy a bunch of her old (though some of it had never been opened because she had duplicates) stuff. I spent $15 but had my arms completely full. I figure I got about $100 worth of stuff and much of it had never been used or only used gently. I'm getting closer and closer to Phillips' Academy being ready, and I'm excited!
This week has gone by so fast. I've been packing and cleaning. We went to the grocery store Monday. Robert has been wearing Batman shirts with capes every day (except Sunday, but even that's a battle), and Monday all of his shirts with capes were in the laundry. The batman shirts without capes were no good. So, I dug out a cape from the play clothes and let him wear it with a non-cape batman shirt. He was finally happy and I was able to get to the grocery store. He got so many compliments and comments about how cute he was and how safe everyone felt with a super hero around. He enjoyed every minute of it. You only get to be 2 once. Might as well do it while wearing a cape!
We did Bible Study, the library, and the children's museum on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday respectively. We leave tomorrow for our 4th of July adventure, cousin camp, and Hannah's first birthday party. Looking forward to some family time!!!!
Till next time.
Last weekend was amazing. Saturday morning we all went to the Homeschool Expo in College Station. I learned a lot about what the community has to offer homeschoolers and generally got a better grasp of what is going on in the homeschool world. It was good. The five of us then went up and had lunch by campus. This is something we would never do regularly, but since school is out for the summer, we thought we would try it and had a lot of fun. Then we went out to the local airport where they were having a plane show of WWII aircraft. That was by far the coolest thing we did. They allowed you to go inside the planes (they looked different on the inside than I expected), and the boys even got to sit in the cockpit of one. William spent about 15 minutes in the cockpit studing all the controls and asking someone (who was with the show and standing on the wing), how everything worked. Before we left, we got to see the planes take off. Hannah LOVED that as did the boys. Francis, in his love for aviation, bought the kids four small metal planes for them to remember their adventure. We then went to the mall. I only mention this because we were redeeming the kids' free cookie certificates for the summer reading club when out of no where a girl (college age I'm guessing) hand Robert $5 and walks away without a word. I looked at her and she just waved and smiled. Robert thought he his the jackpot. He sang all the way down the mall about his five dollars and put it in his piggy bank when he got home. At home that evening, Francis told the boys everything they wanted to know about their new airplane toys and even looked up interesting stories about the types of planes to tell at bedtime. Francis was beyond excited to share his love of aerospace with his kids and they received it with open arms. It was, in short, beautiful.
Sunday after church I was able to go to a storage unit of a retiring teacher and buy a bunch of her old (though some of it had never been opened because she had duplicates) stuff. I spent $15 but had my arms completely full. I figure I got about $100 worth of stuff and much of it had never been used or only used gently. I'm getting closer and closer to Phillips' Academy being ready, and I'm excited!
This week has gone by so fast. I've been packing and cleaning. We went to the grocery store Monday. Robert has been wearing Batman shirts with capes every day (except Sunday, but even that's a battle), and Monday all of his shirts with capes were in the laundry. The batman shirts without capes were no good. So, I dug out a cape from the play clothes and let him wear it with a non-cape batman shirt. He was finally happy and I was able to get to the grocery store. He got so many compliments and comments about how cute he was and how safe everyone felt with a super hero around. He enjoyed every minute of it. You only get to be 2 once. Might as well do it while wearing a cape!
We did Bible Study, the library, and the children's museum on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday respectively. We leave tomorrow for our 4th of July adventure, cousin camp, and Hannah's first birthday party. Looking forward to some family time!!!!
Till next time.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
June 23, 2016
I can't believe June is more than half way over! Next week it will be July and we'l be heading to Dallas for the 4th. Crazy!
Father's Day was this past weekend. We made Francis cookie letters in the shape of D-A-D. It was cute but not something I'll ever try again. We decorated making out own Father's day sign out of hand-prints and original artwork.The boys were so excited about it all that we celebrated all weekend.
Saturday morning after breakfast we ran some quick errands and then Francis got to choose where we went for lunch. He chose BJs. Yum yum! After lumch we washed Francis's car (which doesn't sound as much fun as it was). William then insisted we go to Best Buy so he could "play a couple games" in the store. He cried so hard when we said no. I told him we were going somewhere better and to trust me but he wouldn't. We drove up to Chuck E Cheese and William's eyes grew wide. We had a gift card from the boys' birthdays last year that we used to play games all afternoon. It wasn't crowded and I'm not sure if the kids or Francis had more fun. Hannah especially enjoyed walking from one game to another as they were just close enough she could make it without falling. After we used our tickets to get prizes, we headed to chick-fil-a for dinner (also Francis's choice). the boys played even harder and they were tired when we left, but refused to fall asleep because they knew what was coming. When we got home, Francis bathed Hannah while the boys and I decorated for Father's day. They thought they were being so sneaky and laughed the whole time. Francis knew what we were doing and kindly let them have their fun.
The next morning I got up early and picked up donuts for breakfast. We then "surprised" Francis with his decorations and presents. He got the new Star Wars movie on Bluray as well as a daddy and Hannah book (a board book of Francis and Hannah together that he can read with her) to complete his collection. the book made him tear up a bit as he read it. I then showed him a video I had made of the kids talking about what they loved about their daddy. It was stinkin adorable and also made Francis tear up again. We went to church after breakfast and afterwards, Francis chose Dickey's for lunch. We capped off the day with a dance party at home (Francis got to play some video games while the kids "napped") and then a family movie night with Wing-stop for dinner. After the kids went to bed we watched Star Wars just the two of us. Some years I have not done so hot with Father's Day, but this year, I think I did pretty good!
Hannah's walking around more and more. She's also getting into everything. I don't remember the boys being quite this determined to explore every nook of every cabinet. She waits for the perfect moment and darts in. Gotta keep my eye on her! Robert has become much more articulate, so I now have two kids who can tell me what she's up to when my back is momentarily turned. Robert is becoming a very good singer. He knows the words to a ton of songs and asks what they are when he doesn't know. He is also growing a bunch these past couple weeks. He is wearing a mix of 2T and 3T but the 2t is beginning to be too small. Big boy! William has been asking really good questions lately such as "Why do years count down and then back up (refering to AD and BC)", and "Can you tell me the continents so I can learn them?" He has aslo asked about clocks and time, denominations of money, planets in out solar system, slavery, and so much more. I am loving this age to be sure!
Other than the regular activities (Grocery store, bible Study and the library), I went to a preschool/kinder/elementary homeschool meet up group for moms who have young children and are planning to homsechool. I got a lot of good information. I am going to the local homeschool Expo either tomorrow or Saturday. I'm starting to feel less alone. I'm still praying for that friend and/or mentor to come along, but if not, I will trust His leading. These are exciting times!
Till next time!
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