September 25, 2017

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks. Francis went to Houston to help with Hurricane Harvey cleanup Saturday before last. William did not understand why he had to be gone on a Saturday. Nothing I could tell him would make him understand. Finally I asked him to imagine that all his Pokemon cards had gotten ruined and that he would have to start his collection over. He had tears well up in his eyes. I told him that many people lost all their Pokemon cards, all their furniture and all their things. He was then glad Francis was there to help. I'm thankful for a husband who wants to help.

This past week we continued in our weekly routine until Thursday night when my sweet friend Rebecca and he son Jonas came to visit us from Abilene. She is on sabbatical from work and blessed us by spending some time with us. We took the kids to the park Friday morning for playgroup, had lunch at Mcalister's Deli (where I left my credit card and didn't discover it until Saturday, but it was safe!), played around the house in the afternoon, had a delicious tortellini dinner and then went on an evening walk to the closest park. It was a lazy day, but the kids had a blast. Rebecca and I talked past midnight that night. My soul was renewed by spending time with this kindred spirit. I could've talked hours more. Saturday morning after breakfast they headed back. The kids were sorry to see Jonas go. Hopefully we will see them again when we go to Abilene in October!

Saturday was a busy day. After our house guests left I discovered my credit card was gone while checking out at Walmart, and had to go get it. I'm so glad it was still there! All of us then went to the Classical Conversations Family Fun pool party at someone's house. They had a pool and a huge inflatable water slide. We were able to swim and watch the A&M game (which we couldn't do at home). After the party we headed to Hadassah's 3rd birthday party at a gym place in town, so my kids got to run around for another hour and a half. It was such a fun day, but whew we were ready for bed that night!

In other news, Hannah has taken a shine to wearing jewelry. She has been wearing ALL of her jewelry (3 necklaces and 6+ bracelets) every day, all day unless I make her take them off. She keeps saying that they are "beautiful". She also wants to wear the googles from swimming all the time, but I finally hid them and she hasn't asked today. I would let her wear them except they are hard and leave marks on her face. She tries to sleep in them too. She loves to accessorize!

Robert is starting to spell and read a few words. I'm not pushing him. He wants to read like William, so we are taking it slow. He's also started doing single digit addition on his own with high accuracy. I love that he's motivated. He's becoming more of a preschooler every day. I'm biased but I've got some smart kids over here.

William is doing great with his first grade curriculum. He's getting faster at wiriting (thank goodness as it's not his favorite!), and he's loving all the challenges of 2nd grade math. He's doing well in AWANAS (so is Robert) and I've decided to build in some time for studying his verses during rest time. It's been working out really well and I think he's starting to meditate on what the verses actually me.

 All the kids are starting to do more around the house. I'm working on creating responsible future adults, and in turn they are teaching me to be patient. Just because I can do it faster down't mean I should.

That's it for now!

September 14, 2015

Life has been rolling along here at Phillips Manor (or whatever you want to call where we live). Labor Day weekend we ended up in Dallas. We got to spend Saturday with my family hanging out and supporting my mother at a Labor Day rally. The kids had fun on the massive playground and loved the popsicles. Hannah even got her face painted for the first time and loved it. Sunday we went to church and spent time with my in-laws. they had been in Houston the day before helping with clean-up efforts, so it was nice to see them. We headed back to College Station after dinner. My second week of tutoring the boys' class went much smoother. We are checking out more and more books at the Library on Wednesdays and William is blowing through novels in a day or two. This kid loves loves loves to read. In fact, he doesn't hear you when he is reading. I'm working on finding the best way to get his attention when he is reading, but I'm not complaining that he has a thirst for the written word. It will serve him well in life.

This past weekend was Robert's 4th birthday. Since his birthday was a Sunday, he got to chose his birthday activity early. On Thursday we went to Jumping World trampoline park and had the place pretty much to ourselves. The kids really love the foam pits there! Since there were not other kids (only a couple at the end), the employees played "dodge-ball" with my kids and ran around with them too. It was so fun! Saturday we had Chick-fil-a for dinner because Robert wanted it for his birthday meal and they aren't open on Sunday. We ended up buying extra so we could have it for dinner Sunday too. Robert was one happy kiddo. His actual birthday consisted of opening a couple presents, church, lunch at Rudy's BBQ (his choice), rest time and playing with his toys, AWANAS and chick-fil-a for dinner. Robert is so smart. He can write his name, draws pretty interesing pictures, asks why questions all the time, is always thinking, has an imagination that astounds me, is active, is loving, cares for others, and is cute as can be! We love you Robert. Happy Birthday!

This week we are settling into our routine. This Tuesday went pretty smooth also and I am starting to look forward to Community Day. The kids in my group are so smart and eager that it does make my task a joy. Yesterday William and Robert had their yearly check-ups. William is over 52 lbs and over 47 inches. He's looking forward to riding the "over 48 inches" rides soon, though I'm not sure where or when he thinks that will happen. Robert is 32 1/2 lbs and over 39 inches. He's growing right on his growth curve and healthy as can be. He's starting to look long and lean just like his momma did as a kid. The kids all got their flu shots. Hannah was eager to go first, Robert was content to go second, and William hid under the table and we had to hold him to give him hid shot. It takes all kinds, and it just proves my kids have personalities all their own.

That's all I have for right now. Life's too busy to type too much. Gotta get back to life! Till next time!

September 1, 2017

This past week has held a lot of tears (both happy and sad). The rain started in earnest here early Saturday morning. It wasn't so bad here at first, but I woke up truly believing my kids would have no one at their party. I underestimated the wonderful people that we have in our lives. After fretting far more than I should all morning, every friend came save the ones stuck in Houston (which is understandable!)!!! I shed tears of joy at the love these people poured over us. It was a sweet time with cupcakes, pinatas and, of course, Pokemon. The kids had a blast!!! My family and in-laws all made it in miraculously by early afternoon so we had a family party with the whole family save those stuck in Houston and Austin. The boys got a ton of Pokemon cards (their favorite)! Again I shed happy tears. Thank you friends and family. You touched my heart more than you will ever know. Thank you for loving me and my children!

The rain continued through Sunday, and we had a little trouble making it to church, but it was fine. we had 700 people in the service when the pastor was thinking there would be less than 50. We don't like missing church! It rained through most of Monday, and we got around 25-30 inches over the weekend, but thanks to a ton of pasture land and good flood planes, I was never worried about flooding. And now because we are in such good shape and so close to Houston, we are able to house many of the rescue workers in town, fuel up aircraft and our church is currently open to house medical teams at night. I'm happy with how available our community if to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey. We are in it for the long haul.

Francis had volunteered overnight and gone through official disaster relief training. I pray he will be a light when he is called down to Houston in the next month or two for clean up. I've been collecting up needed items and getting them to people/group who are driving down. I cry because it doesn't feel like enough. But God is in control and so I pray for those impacted.

Tuesday we started a new year of Classical Conversations. I am tutoring the boys' class this year, and so Tuesday was my first day back teaching in a classroom setting in years. It was bumpy and teaching my own kids was more challenging than I anticipated, but we made it through with the grace and love of the other moms in the room. I love my CC community. Hopefully next week will run smoother and I will get into a good groove. It was Robert's first time in class ever and he LOVED it. I'm so glad.

That's all for now. The kids are doing well. They have been enjoying the boys' birthday gifts, doing school, and being kids. Till next time!