May 26, 2017

Last week, we had the pleasure of going and hearing Hank the Cowdog author John R. Erickson speak and sing at the George Bush Library museum. We have been reading Hank the Cowdog books these past couple of weeks in preparation. He sang a song called Chickens (which the kids are still singing), read from his newest book and answered kids' questions. While that was delightful enough, after the show he came out and specifically spoke to homeschoolers (after the school groups left), answered our kids' questions, signed books and posed for pictures. He didn't have to, but our kids all loved it. Such a special time and memory. Thanks to this time, William has started to read these chapter books on his own. Mostly he lets us read it to him, but sometimes he gets impatient and reads on his own. He's growing up so fast!

Speaking of special memories, Saturday was a big day. We went to a castle nearby. A man has been building his very own castle in Belleville for the past 20 years and gives tours on the weekends. He has a moat, trebuchet, dungeon, chapel, bell tower, banquet hall and so much more. He lives there with his wife and was quite pleased with his work. I would be too! He gave some medieval history and helped the kids put on a faux battle to siege the castle and reap the spoils of war (cookies and sandwiches). Fun was had by all. We went with the Brower family and after the tour, we went with them to see Dave's mom at The Austin County Jailhouse Museum. They were having an open house. If the kids had any thought of ever ending up in jail, seeing this old jailhouse put them on the straight and narrow. the cells were a little scary (they dated back to the old west), but the overall museum was fascinating. It was fun an educational day. Who could ask for more?!

This week we started PreK4 and First Grade. We got in all our curriculum last week, and after the kids blew through all their summer stuff, they begged me to start. William has already completed 2 weeks of 2nd grade Math (honestly he already know most of it), and had completed his first full weeks of First grade curriculum. Robert is doing great too having flown through his letter writing book and working diligently on his (Kindergarten) math. Hannah has a workbook too that she likes to work on (read color in) while her brothers work. I figure with me teaching CC on Tuesdays, we may want to not do any other school on those days. This could be an extra blessing when we get to the fall.

We are doing well over here. Our summer is packed full, and the fun has already started. We've already been to two CC summer play dates, and most every day has some activity we can attend if we choose. While we won't do everything, it's nice to have options. Happy Summer!!!

May 16, 2017

It's been a quiet couple of weeks. We were sick for a week and didn't venture out except for necessities. The first real trip out we made was to Dallas that Saturday to go to Danielle's family shower. She got many wonderful wedding gifts and it was a wonderful time with family. Robert, who had been missing Japapa, got a special treat as he was there. Everything was beautiful thanks to my Aunt Bup and all in all it was a successful day trip!

Sunday was the AWANAS ceremony. Robert finished his first year as a cubbie and William finished his first year and first book as a spark. Both got awards and we were served lunch after the ceremony. I am so happy with how many scriptures they learned this year and how much they are holding them close to their hearts and minds. I hope these seeds will continue to grow today and always.

So, my kids couldn't take this whole "no school" thing. They officially made it a week and a half (one of those weeks being at Disney World) before begging me to get them more schoolwork. I bought them more stuff, and they've already devoured most of it. I wake up and they are already doing their work some mornings. Crazy kids! I actually went to the Community Homeschool Center for their curriculum sale today so I could get more stuff for cheap. I'm hoping the mountain of books I bought will last Robert through the year (probably not) and William at least until his new curriculum for first grade arrives.

Sunday was Mother's Day. To kick off the weekend, I was able to attend Mother-Son Date "knight" at our local Chick-fil-a. It was a fun night with my boys. They had a questionnaire where I asked them questions about me. The most surprising answers I got were to, "If mom had more time she would"... Robert said "write!" and William said, "read your Bible". My kids know me better than I thought! They had some funny answers too. The knight had crafts, balloon animals, music, and more. I'm thankful I was able to go. Sunday the kids did all they could to make it a good day. They had picked out special gifts (mostly chocolate and candy), gotten me breakfast and picked out flowers. It was nice to see them thinking of me so selflessly. I can see budding in them hearts to serve, and that filled me with joy.

Yesterday we went and renewed William and Francis's passports. Francis's cousin got engaged so we get the special suprise and pleasure of going to Canada in July. As Francis and William both had passports about to expire, this was an important step in our journey. The kids can't wait to see all of the crew from Canada again. I'm excited too!

Hannah is talking more all the time. She calls her brothers' names when she wants their attention. She can answer most any reasonable question accurately. She wants to pray at dinner time, and has "chats"  with me where pretty much none of the words are real, but she's very enthusiastic. She is doing great with potty training and only has an occasional accident when I forget to ask her if she needs to go. As she's only 21 months, I'll take it. She loves her baby dolls and carries them around or pushes them in the stroller most of the time. It's super cute. She's also getting pretty goo at sharing. As long as we tell her how long her turn is and count down at the end, she willingly hands over the toy 99% of the time. She is also good at waiting her turn. With three kiddos around, everyone has to wait sometime!

Robert has shocked me with how good he is at math. I bought a kindergarten math book for him to do this summer thinking we would do it together, but he's finished it basically working by himself in less than a week. I learned he can write all his numbers, consistently count one to one correspondence, add 1 and subtract 1, and do so many other things. He also can recognize and write most if not all of his letters. Not bad for a 3 year old! He and William will be in my class for CC next year (I'm teaching, whew!). I'm excited to see what this next year will hold.

I bought a first grade math skills book for William to do (he did kindergarten last year, but first grade math) thinking he could fill in any skills he might have missed. He also finished it in a week (instead of all summer), and taught himself 2 digit addition and subtraction in the process. It was only supposed to be an intro to it, but he ran with it an is applying it to his life (mainly with adding an subtracting different pokemon's HP). He has also decided with his upcoming trip that he is going to learn French. He's been working hard these past few days, and is making some progress, much to Francis's delight. I do hope his enthusiasm holds. If he will learn then maybe I can practice with him instead of Francis who had a silly grin whenever I try! William has also started learning cursive. He's way better at it than he's ever been at print and likes it way more. We will try to do his work in cursive next year to see if it makes it less of a struggle. Wish me luck!

May 7, 2017

So, two weeks ago I was unable to post because I was on vacation at Disney World! That's right. It was an amazing trip with the kids, Francis and my mother-in-law. We arrived on Saturday mid afternoon, unloaded our luggage into our rooms and went straight to Magic Kingdom. The firs ride we rode? Uh, Buzz Lightyear, duh! It is William's all time favorite and quickly became Robert's too. Although Robert was hesitant at first when he saw a picture of Zurg (the bad guy) on the way up to the ride, he quickly realized that it was a game shooting at targets so he need not be afraid. Over the next week I lost count of how many times we rode it. It was a hit to be sure. We also took William on Space Mountain. He said he wasn't scared, but that it was really intense. We watched the fireworks that night from far off, and made sure we rode the carousel at least once before it closed for renovations that week. I think that was one of Hannah's favorite rides, though she seemed to love it all! Sunday we explored Hollywood Studios, riding Toy Story Mania twice in a row (the boys' second favorite), meeting Buzz and Woody, going to a Frozen Sing along, and meeting all sorts of 

Star Wars characters. William got to ride the Star Tours ride, and also got to fight Darth Vader in Jedi Training. We rooted him on in his quest to use the Force. We had dinner at Hollywood and Vine, which meant we got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Daisy. Much to my relief and enjoyment, the kids were all super excited. I have an adorable picture of Hannah with Daisy. The highlight of that day was the show that evening: Fantasmic! It is still my favorite show and it did not disappoint. 

Monday we went to Epcot. Everyone but Hannah was able to ride Soarin' (my favorite ride), and William found he loved Mission: Space, especially the games at the end. Hannah and Robert loved the Nemo ride, and we found ourselves riding it over again. I was excited to take the kids on the Frozen ride and it was all I hoped for. The boys loved visiting Japan because it had Pokemon (shocker), but it was nice to hear William know where the countries were actually located on the globe. After the Spaceship Earth ride (where they go through the history of the world), William said he knew all the events already. I call that a homeschool win. I was one proud momma. We ate at Coral Reef for dinner and celebrated Robert's "birthday" (each kids got to pick a day and restraunt to celebrate), and a happier kid you would have been hard pressed to find. The show that night was, well, it wasn't my favorite, but the day itself was very enjoyable. Tuesday we had breakfast at Chef Mickey (where we met Mickey and the gang once again) followed by a day at Animal Kingdom. We picked up the Wilderness explorers guide for the boys on a whim thinking we might do one or two stops. Miraculously (and with a little effort), by the end of the day we had finished and the boys were official Wilderness Explorers! Robert surprised us by being the adventurous one and riding the water rapids twice and having a blast. We also had fun on the Safari in the middle of the day, and saw animals throughout our wanderings. The show that evening, Rivers of Light, was exactly that, a beautiful visually amazing display. It's a new show and I'm so glad we had Fast Passes. It made our seats amazing without all the waiting. In fact, Fast Passes saved us from waiting most of the time. Whoever invented them is in line to be one of my new best friends, haha. 

Wednesday we were back at Magic Kingdom for the whole day. We rode so many rides thanks to Fast Passes (5 in one hour alone), and made the most of our last day with Nana (Francis's mom). It was so fun having her around and I'd take her with me anywhere in a heartbeat. We had lunch at Belle's Castle and dinner at the Diamond Horseshoe to celebrate William's "birthday". He loved the S'mores dessert. We had a great spot for the fireworks that evening, and the display only mirrored the happiness in my heart. Family and fun, who could ask for more? Thursday morning Nana left early and the 5 of us headed to Hollywood Studios to finish the few things we hadn't done. After riding Toy Story mania 3 times in less than an hour (and me getting slightly motion sick), we headed over and met Chewbacca and BB8. The star wars area and all its memorabilia were impressive and the kids  spent quite a while examining it all. We then rode the last couple unridden rides, had lunch and watched the Star Wars show. When Kylo Ren and Darth Vader came on stage, the boys used the "force" to try to get rid of them. It was kind of adorable. After the show we went over to Magic Kingdom for more rides and dinner at Belle's Castle. We even got a picture with the Beast! We went home "early" that evening to take a swim. It was a good day though, we were tired by the end. 

Our night that night did not go as planned. Robert threw up first at around 1 O'Clock. He didn't even really wake up, and the hotel brought us new sheets and took away the old. William woke up a short time later and threw up in the toilet. By morning, Robert was feeling better, and William was on the mend. After no one had thrown up for a while, we all headed to EPCOT because the boys had to use their money to buy Pokemon in Japan. As soon as we got their, Francis was all but green. He headed home, leaving me with three kids and and entire park to walk across. I was able to get to Japan, the boys bought their toys/cards, and I even managed to let them two two different activities. Whew. I got all three kids over to Magic Kingdom (which involved 2 monorail trips), and a refreshed Francis was able to meet us at Buzz Lightyear. We then had dinner at Cinderella's Castle where we celebrated Hannah's "birthday". We got to meet 5 princesses: Cinderella, Aurora, Jasmine, Snow White and Ariel. Hannah was in high Heaven, and the boys had a good time to. Robert especially loved giving the Princess's hugs. It was stinkin' cute. The food was spectacular and they gave out swords and wands to the kids. It was my favorite meal. We rode as many rides as we could that evening, ending where we began at Buzz Lightyear. The kids were troopers. Saturday we shopped at Disney Springs before catching our plane back home. I could have stayed another week or three, but all good things must come to an end. One the plane I started to feel sick. I thought it was motion sickness again (I have become very sensitive and there was a lot of turbulence), but as soon as we exited the plane and I ran to the bathroom to throw up, I knew the kids' bug had hit me two. We drove home from the airport in Dallas (3 hours) with me clutching the airsick bag I had taken from the plane. I was so glad when we got home. It was an amazing trip, with a bang up ending, but I still wouldn't have traded it for anything. Fortunately it was only a 12 hour virus, so by Sunday mid-day I was able to eat and start regaining my strength. 

The kids are already talking about next time they go to Disney (which they are aware is a long time off), so the trip must have been a success! 

I'll update on our goings on from last week in another post. 

Till next time!