Well, last week we were in Dallas, ergo I was unable to post.
Saturday before last, Francis, the kids and I went to Houston for Asher's first birthday party. It was fun to see Angel, Austin and their families, as well as Cyndy and Chris. The kids loved seeing Ranger and Asher, but Robert has taken a special shine to his cousin Abby. He waited and waited for her and when she arrived he couldn't help but hug her. She held out her hand and the walked around holding hands more than once at the party. He now pray so Abby every night at dinner. It's adorable. The party was a success and fun was had by all. All in all a wonderful use of a Saturday!
Sunday after church, the kids and I headed to Dallas for the week. Francis had a "retreat" with his research group near El Paso, and I didn't want to be by myself all week. Francis's parents met me along the way and helped me get into town. It was a HUGE help as Hannah is still not fond of the car. It was such a fun week!
The kids had swim lessons on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. My parents hired a private tutor to work with the kids including Christian's twins. So William had a private lesson and then Robert (or some days vice versa) and then the babies all had mommy and me class together. Robert was not a fan of the lessons, but he did learn to ask before going in the pool. Hannah learned to hold her breath underwater for 5 seconds and to kick and reach in the water. William flourished. He went from having to use a float or sinking to knowing how to swim across the pool with no float and no help. He has learned to kick effectively, hold his breath, breathe when surfacing and even how to jump off the side of the pool and swim to the wall safely. He worked so hard and saw his hard work pay off. We went swimming this week and he was zipping around the pool like it was second nature. It's amazing the difference a week of lessons can make!
Tuesday before last Kristi and the girls came over to my mom's house to hang out. We all swam and had such a delightful time that we lost track of time and got poor Kristi stuck in traffic on her way home. I'm so sorry Kristi! It was fun having them though and I wouldn't have traded that time. Tuesday night my in-laws watched the kids so may parents, Danielle and I could go watch the new Captain America movie. The movie was good, but someone brought in a little girl and let her run wild which was less than ideal. Oh well.
Wednesday was super fun. After swim lessons, my dad took the boys to lunch and my mom, Danielle, Christian Dani's friend Nikki and I (along with Hannah and the twins) went wedding dress shopping for Danielle. I cried more than once just picturing what a beautiful bride Danielle will be. I'm happy to say she did indeed find the dress and I got to see her say yes. As one of my main love languages is quality time, this did my heart a world of good and my cup overfloweth. Love you sister!
Thursday was our off day, so my mom, Danielle, the kids and I went to the Heard Museum where we saw and learned about all sort of wild animals. I like the butterfly garden, Hannah liked being able to touch many of the exhibits and the boys like looking at the snakes. Fun was had by all! My mom even bought the kids souvenirs. "It's like my birthday!" William exclaimed. Ashley came over that night so I got to catch up with her. It made a fun day even better!
We got to swim almost every night that week. The boys slept hard and the kids actually napped most days. Saturday we went to a splash pad, had lunch, and then drove home. Audrey brough over dinner and helped me put the kids to bed. Then we got to watch Dr. Thorne on Amazon Prime. So good! Audrey, I don't tell you enough just how awesome you are. Thanks for the help!
I got the kids to church by myself on Sunday and we survived until Francis got home near bedtime. We had really missed him and I am SO SO glad he's home. I love him!
This Tuesday we started summer Bible study at church. I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store, but I did find out they finally bumped up Hannah from the baby room. It's only a matter of time before they do it on Sunday too. My big girl! She is walking all over doing two and three steps at a time. She is able to stand herself up from sitting without pulling up on anything and like walking to her brothers especially. It's only a matter of time before she is running all over! Tuesday afternoon we were invited to go swimming with Tracy and her kids. After a week of swim lessons I feel much better about all of my kids being in the pool. It was a delightful time I hope we can repeat soon!
Today has been rough. I'm not feeling well and Francis has had to come home to take care of the kids (Lord bless him!). I am going to lay down now, but I couldn't let any more time go by before I updates. Till next time!
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Friday, June 3, 2016
June 3, 2016
Whew, it's SUMMER!
Francis finished his test last Friday and after lunch, we packed up the car and headed to San Antonio. We had a celebratory dinner at Cracker Barrel for surviving the week. It had been a crazy week. The boys liked Cracker Barrel and rocked in the chairs and played checkers after we ate. We got to the hotel with plenty of time to get situated and go to bed on time. Too bad the boys wanted to stay up in their bed for what seemed like forever! We finally got all the kids down and I got to enjoy a little Disney Channel (something I've been missing since cutting cable) and just relax.
We got up Saturday morning and had lunch with my in-laws, Cyndy, Chris and Abby, who had all arrived during the night. The kids were so happy to see everyone! We ate, changed into swim suits and headed to Sea World. Turns out with a season pass you can get into Aquatica 30 minutes early, so we basically had the park to ourselves for the first 45 minutes or so. Francis and I took Robert on a ride (stingray Falls) which he did not much enjoy until the end when he actually got to see the stingrays. William was likewise hesitant, but later on in the day grandad and I got him to ride on a tube ride. We got William to ride Stingray Falls the following morning and he then wanted to ride it like a zillion times. I'm glad he finally tried it! Hannah loved the water in the baby area and even loved the wave pool where Francis would lift her over the waves. Good times. After lunch and an afternoon in Aquatica (where I was able to ride almost all the rides while we took turns watching the kids), we all headed over to the main part of the park. We had dinner, saw a show and the kids rode some rides before the weather started to look questionable on the radar. We went back to the hotel where the weather took a turn for the worst overnight. The thunder and lightening were overpowering and the rain was a wall of water. I was so glad to be safe and dry.
By the morning the storm had cleared an we had another crack at Aquatica. We had lunch over in the main part of Sea World, followed by the Shamu show and the dolphin/beluga Whale show (Azul). the boys and Abby then wanted to go to Discovery pointe (the new area), so we walked over there and saw the dolphins, fish and sharks. The adults were tired so we called it, heading back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner. we ate at Johnny Carino's in honor of Cyndy's birthday and then ate frozen custard at Freddy's/ Happy Birthday Cyndy! It was a good Sunday, but the boy asked why we didn't go to church that morning (great question!) so we had church in our hotel room before bed. That made it a great Sunday.
Monday morning we hung out at the hotel. Cyndy opened the gift we got her, but then we all had to say goodbye. The boys were teary-eyed having to say goodbye to Nana, Grandad and Abby, but we promised we'd see them again in less than a week. That made it not so hard. On the way out of town, a bit of whimsy caught me. "Let's do something spontaneous!" I said. Francis looked at me strangely. "Like what?" he asked. "I don't know. We are already here. Let's go to the Alamo!" And you know what? We did. We parked and walked to the Alamo. The line to get into the small part was 3 hours long, but the compound was open so we went into the museum, saw all the cannons and swords, watched a movie and generally learned the history of the Alamo. As it was Memorial Day it was a perfect lead in to talk about what Memorial Day is. The boys enjoyed it. William left saying, "mommy that was so much information, but it was fun!" We had lunch on the riverwalk before heading home. Yay for being spontaneous.
Tuesday through today I have been unpacking, cleaning and repacking for our trip to Dallas this week. It will be fun, but I'm not looking forward to the drive. Praying for God's provision. Wednesday we went to the library and stumbled upon Summer reading sign up. All the kids are now signed up for the reading program. It just asks you to read once every day, something we already do, except now the kids will get a prize at the end. Win-win. Today we went to Play group at a nearby park. I know Summer is here because by the end, I was burning up and it wasn't even noon. All the copious amounts of rain aren't helping because it is warm and muggy. Yuck. We will press on though and enjoy what the summer brings.
Till next time!
Francis finished his test last Friday and after lunch, we packed up the car and headed to San Antonio. We had a celebratory dinner at Cracker Barrel for surviving the week. It had been a crazy week. The boys liked Cracker Barrel and rocked in the chairs and played checkers after we ate. We got to the hotel with plenty of time to get situated and go to bed on time. Too bad the boys wanted to stay up in their bed for what seemed like forever! We finally got all the kids down and I got to enjoy a little Disney Channel (something I've been missing since cutting cable) and just relax.
We got up Saturday morning and had lunch with my in-laws, Cyndy, Chris and Abby, who had all arrived during the night. The kids were so happy to see everyone! We ate, changed into swim suits and headed to Sea World. Turns out with a season pass you can get into Aquatica 30 minutes early, so we basically had the park to ourselves for the first 45 minutes or so. Francis and I took Robert on a ride (stingray Falls) which he did not much enjoy until the end when he actually got to see the stingrays. William was likewise hesitant, but later on in the day grandad and I got him to ride on a tube ride. We got William to ride Stingray Falls the following morning and he then wanted to ride it like a zillion times. I'm glad he finally tried it! Hannah loved the water in the baby area and even loved the wave pool where Francis would lift her over the waves. Good times. After lunch and an afternoon in Aquatica (where I was able to ride almost all the rides while we took turns watching the kids), we all headed over to the main part of the park. We had dinner, saw a show and the kids rode some rides before the weather started to look questionable on the radar. We went back to the hotel where the weather took a turn for the worst overnight. The thunder and lightening were overpowering and the rain was a wall of water. I was so glad to be safe and dry.
By the morning the storm had cleared an we had another crack at Aquatica. We had lunch over in the main part of Sea World, followed by the Shamu show and the dolphin/beluga Whale show (Azul). the boys and Abby then wanted to go to Discovery pointe (the new area), so we walked over there and saw the dolphins, fish and sharks. The adults were tired so we called it, heading back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner. we ate at Johnny Carino's in honor of Cyndy's birthday and then ate frozen custard at Freddy's/ Happy Birthday Cyndy! It was a good Sunday, but the boy asked why we didn't go to church that morning (great question!) so we had church in our hotel room before bed. That made it a great Sunday.
Monday morning we hung out at the hotel. Cyndy opened the gift we got her, but then we all had to say goodbye. The boys were teary-eyed having to say goodbye to Nana, Grandad and Abby, but we promised we'd see them again in less than a week. That made it not so hard. On the way out of town, a bit of whimsy caught me. "Let's do something spontaneous!" I said. Francis looked at me strangely. "Like what?" he asked. "I don't know. We are already here. Let's go to the Alamo!" And you know what? We did. We parked and walked to the Alamo. The line to get into the small part was 3 hours long, but the compound was open so we went into the museum, saw all the cannons and swords, watched a movie and generally learned the history of the Alamo. As it was Memorial Day it was a perfect lead in to talk about what Memorial Day is. The boys enjoyed it. William left saying, "mommy that was so much information, but it was fun!" We had lunch on the riverwalk before heading home. Yay for being spontaneous.
Tuesday through today I have been unpacking, cleaning and repacking for our trip to Dallas this week. It will be fun, but I'm not looking forward to the drive. Praying for God's provision. Wednesday we went to the library and stumbled upon Summer reading sign up. All the kids are now signed up for the reading program. It just asks you to read once every day, something we already do, except now the kids will get a prize at the end. Win-win. Today we went to Play group at a nearby park. I know Summer is here because by the end, I was burning up and it wasn't even noon. All the copious amounts of rain aren't helping because it is warm and muggy. Yuck. We will press on though and enjoy what the summer brings.
Till next time!
Friday, May 27, 2016
May 27, 2016
A very eventful week.
Last Saturday, my in-laws, the kids and I went to Houston for the day to celebrate Abby graduating from pre-K. Francis had to stay home and study for his qualifiers (poor guy!). Well, we got there early and so we stopped at a starbucks in an outdoor shopping center only to find there was a car show going on. There were really nice cars and super old cars. William liked the Ferrarri's and the Delorean. He also liked any car who had door that opened "funny". Robert liked a "batman" car. It was fun! We then headed on to Abby's ballet/tap recital. Abby did great and the kids watched her with excitement. They even got to give her flowers afterward which was very special. We went back to the Boerger house to have pizza which is when Austin and his boys Ranger and Asher arrived. The kids played, we all went swimming at the neighborhood pool, we all had cookie cake, we watched a movie and then we went out to dinner. It was a good day and everyone was rightfully tired by the end. William got some presents (as did Abby) including a Superman backpack for next year. He is ready for school to start! The kids love their Abby. What a way to celebrate!
William has been putting his math skills to good use. The other day he asked me what 3 times three was. I asked him if he knew and he answered 9. then he said. Ok then there are 9 windows on that building because there are three groups of three. He was right! He also wrote his first "books" on Sunday. He cute out paper to make 2 books. One which said, "Once upon a ime, William loves his brother Robert, The end" and the other said, "William loves his Hannah." He then gave out the books and read them to each of his siblings. It was super cute. At play camp this week he built a beaver dam out of blocks. When kids tried to help them, they apparently gave him "random" blocks he didn't need and they eventually built a castle behind the beaver dam that needed protecting. Such an imagination!
Robert has been building Robots all week out of different legos and objects. When he isn't building them, he is pretending to be one. His imagination is also flourishing. He has also started telling jokes which are sometimes extremely funny, though most of them involved physical comedy and won't translate to the page. It a "you had to be there" moment. He's a ball of energy and his teachers loved him at his camp this week. He has started to ask lot of good questions and really want to understand. I love it!
Hannah took her first steps on Monday. She had taken a couple side steps during the afternoon when the boys and I were playing with her. When Francis got home we were chatting on the floor with Hannah and Lucy-dog in between us when Hannah took a big step toward Lucy with no help. Francis and I both celebrated! She'll be running around in no time! Hannah turned 10 months on Tuesday. Ten months!!!!! I can't believe it. She can crawl almost as fast as I can run past her to get something off the floor away from her. She can say momma, dada, brother, and bye bye. She can sign "more" and a couple other words when prompted. She still doesn't like to sleep much and very much has a mind of her own. We love her so so so much. My heart overflows with thankfulness that God lent her to me.
Francis is currently taking the last of his qualifiers. After studying non stop studying for weeks, he has had testing Monday, Wednesday, and today. he has been under a lot of stress and pressure, so we look forward to celebrating his completion later today. You can do it Honey!
While the kids have been at "camp", I have had three full days of Parent Practicum for Classical Conversations. We have chosen to participate in this program as part of our homeschooling for next year and this was a crash course in everything about the program. I admit I went home crying the first day because I was so overwhelmed. I'm told this is pretty common. I know I will learn more as I go, but I am grateful for this foundation. Our last day the kids from each camp came in and did a presentation. William now can tell me the phases of the moon and parts of a flower. He had fun AND learned a lot. Best of both worlds! Yesterday wast the last day of PP and it was very eventful. At lunch they had a dad's lunch so all the father's of the families arrived and were eating together in a different room. All of a sudden around 30 minutes later all of the dad's were standing in the doorway and none were smiling. "There's a tornado out the window. We need to seek shelter." Sure enough through the doorway and out the window, I could see the tornado and it looked very close. Now among the dads we had 2 police officers, 2 paramedics and a fireman. They quickly and calmly ushered us to a safe area with each family together by a wall. We ended up in the nursery area, so the kids were able to play with toys while we waited. It was a tense few minutes and I was so glad Francis was there. We got the all clear momentarily and then had to seek shelter a second time because the storm was circling back. We found out later that it touched down just across the highway from us. Around 30 homes were reported destroyed/damaged. The rain was pretty extreme, but Francis left anyway and he eventually made it home safely to study. We tried to go back to our meeting, but after a time we had to seek shelter a third time. This time the kids were not with me (I had taken them back to class after having lunch with them). I ran down the hall, grabbed them and we waited. We waited for what seemed like an eternity, When we finally received the all clear the rain had let up slightly. reports were that it was going to continue through the evening so I made the call to try to make it home. The highway was shut down because parts of it were underwater and they were having to do deep water rescues. 18 wheelers were apparently floating away. Crazy stuff. Well, I drove through the rain and had a few close calls. the water was up to the bottom of my doors a couple times. I crossed two bridges where the water from the river was dead even with the road, but not coming over. I prayed the whole way. There was really no way to turn around. God is good and He allowed me to get home. Not something I would like to repeat any time soon! Other than that the practicum was good and I bought many of the supplies I will need for next year. Kindergarten here we come!
That's it for now!
Last Saturday, my in-laws, the kids and I went to Houston for the day to celebrate Abby graduating from pre-K. Francis had to stay home and study for his qualifiers (poor guy!). Well, we got there early and so we stopped at a starbucks in an outdoor shopping center only to find there was a car show going on. There were really nice cars and super old cars. William liked the Ferrarri's and the Delorean. He also liked any car who had door that opened "funny". Robert liked a "batman" car. It was fun! We then headed on to Abby's ballet/tap recital. Abby did great and the kids watched her with excitement. They even got to give her flowers afterward which was very special. We went back to the Boerger house to have pizza which is when Austin and his boys Ranger and Asher arrived. The kids played, we all went swimming at the neighborhood pool, we all had cookie cake, we watched a movie and then we went out to dinner. It was a good day and everyone was rightfully tired by the end. William got some presents (as did Abby) including a Superman backpack for next year. He is ready for school to start! The kids love their Abby. What a way to celebrate!
William has been putting his math skills to good use. The other day he asked me what 3 times three was. I asked him if he knew and he answered 9. then he said. Ok then there are 9 windows on that building because there are three groups of three. He was right! He also wrote his first "books" on Sunday. He cute out paper to make 2 books. One which said, "Once upon a ime, William loves his brother Robert, The end" and the other said, "William loves his Hannah." He then gave out the books and read them to each of his siblings. It was super cute. At play camp this week he built a beaver dam out of blocks. When kids tried to help them, they apparently gave him "random" blocks he didn't need and they eventually built a castle behind the beaver dam that needed protecting. Such an imagination!
Robert has been building Robots all week out of different legos and objects. When he isn't building them, he is pretending to be one. His imagination is also flourishing. He has also started telling jokes which are sometimes extremely funny, though most of them involved physical comedy and won't translate to the page. It a "you had to be there" moment. He's a ball of energy and his teachers loved him at his camp this week. He has started to ask lot of good questions and really want to understand. I love it!
Hannah took her first steps on Monday. She had taken a couple side steps during the afternoon when the boys and I were playing with her. When Francis got home we were chatting on the floor with Hannah and Lucy-dog in between us when Hannah took a big step toward Lucy with no help. Francis and I both celebrated! She'll be running around in no time! Hannah turned 10 months on Tuesday. Ten months!!!!! I can't believe it. She can crawl almost as fast as I can run past her to get something off the floor away from her. She can say momma, dada, brother, and bye bye. She can sign "more" and a couple other words when prompted. She still doesn't like to sleep much and very much has a mind of her own. We love her so so so much. My heart overflows with thankfulness that God lent her to me.
Francis is currently taking the last of his qualifiers. After studying non stop studying for weeks, he has had testing Monday, Wednesday, and today. he has been under a lot of stress and pressure, so we look forward to celebrating his completion later today. You can do it Honey!
While the kids have been at "camp", I have had three full days of Parent Practicum for Classical Conversations. We have chosen to participate in this program as part of our homeschooling for next year and this was a crash course in everything about the program. I admit I went home crying the first day because I was so overwhelmed. I'm told this is pretty common. I know I will learn more as I go, but I am grateful for this foundation. Our last day the kids from each camp came in and did a presentation. William now can tell me the phases of the moon and parts of a flower. He had fun AND learned a lot. Best of both worlds! Yesterday wast the last day of PP and it was very eventful. At lunch they had a dad's lunch so all the father's of the families arrived and were eating together in a different room. All of a sudden around 30 minutes later all of the dad's were standing in the doorway and none were smiling. "There's a tornado out the window. We need to seek shelter." Sure enough through the doorway and out the window, I could see the tornado and it looked very close. Now among the dads we had 2 police officers, 2 paramedics and a fireman. They quickly and calmly ushered us to a safe area with each family together by a wall. We ended up in the nursery area, so the kids were able to play with toys while we waited. It was a tense few minutes and I was so glad Francis was there. We got the all clear momentarily and then had to seek shelter a second time because the storm was circling back. We found out later that it touched down just across the highway from us. Around 30 homes were reported destroyed/damaged. The rain was pretty extreme, but Francis left anyway and he eventually made it home safely to study. We tried to go back to our meeting, but after a time we had to seek shelter a third time. This time the kids were not with me (I had taken them back to class after having lunch with them). I ran down the hall, grabbed them and we waited. We waited for what seemed like an eternity, When we finally received the all clear the rain had let up slightly. reports were that it was going to continue through the evening so I made the call to try to make it home. The highway was shut down because parts of it were underwater and they were having to do deep water rescues. 18 wheelers were apparently floating away. Crazy stuff. Well, I drove through the rain and had a few close calls. the water was up to the bottom of my doors a couple times. I crossed two bridges where the water from the river was dead even with the road, but not coming over. I prayed the whole way. There was really no way to turn around. God is good and He allowed me to get home. Not something I would like to repeat any time soon! Other than that the practicum was good and I bought many of the supplies I will need for next year. Kindergarten here we come!
That's it for now!
Thursday, May 19, 2016
May 19, 2016
It's our last week of no plans all Summer. Crazy how things will ramp up next week and not cool down until September. Granted they will all be fun things and we will try not to be to busy, but we have at least one (fun) thing to do each week from here on out. This week we kind have been winging it. We've been to the children's museum, the library and even shopping at Walmart. All's relatively quiet here, which is a nice change of pace.
I am surprised Hannah has not taken her first step yet. She is capable, but either leans while standing so you'll catch her, holds onto something to walk around, or stands there for a while smiling at you, sits down and crawls to you. It almost happened night before last, but she grabbed onto Francis mid-step so we didn't count it. She'll get there and we won't rush her. But I do know we are close. Hannah has also turned into an avid climber. She can get on almost anything. She loved getting on the boys' little picnic table and then calling for me because she can't get down. Yesterday she found a way to get onto the kitchen table without assistance. Francis and I were just talking when William said, "uh mom!" and I turned around to see Hannah in the middle of the table laughing. Silly girl. She also likes climbing up on this portable toy tool cart and having the boys push her around. I'm glad that thing is sturdy! She also loved chewing on shoes so if you come in my house, beware! I love her quirkiness and every though. She's a keeper!
Robert has been asserting his opinions much more lately. He will mostly only wear his superhero flip flops when we go out. He only wants to wear shirts with capes until he runs out during the week. He knows what snack he wants and when he wants it. He wants to do most everything himself. He's not pushy or ugly about it, and he's pretty agreeable even when I try to help and he doesn't want it. Yesterday at the Children's museum he got it in his head that he wanted to go tot he potty by himself and that he needed to lock the stall to do it. That part was all well and good except he couldn't unlock the door. Not wanting to ask for help, he tried for a bit before William climbed under the stall to release him. "Tank you" Robert said. "Are you going to lock the door next time?" I asked. "YEP!" Oh that boy! He also has been getting ever more elaborate at his dinner table prayers. Last night after thanking God for all of the family members, he thanked Him for Batman and Superman also. It was pretty stinkin' cute. He's also so generous with his stuff. Someone commented on Robert's generosity and William fully agreed adding, "yeah he is, but me...not so much."
William is getting ready to be a five year old and a Kindergartner, and both are ever present on his mind. He has all sorts of ideas of what life will be like. I hope it lives up to his expectations. We have officially signed him up for Classical Conversations at our church next year which will more or less cover his history, science and music for kindergarten. He'll have at least one of his friends in his class, and he is very excited. I am still mulling over the math, reading, and writing curriculum I would like to use, but I have narrowed it down. This journey scares me to pieces, but I know I'm doing the right thing homeschooling next year. I see a lot of myself in William. He even eats all of the "crunchies" out of his cereal to save the best ( the marshmallows) for last. He likes to go last during reading time at nap and bedtime because it gives him longer to anticipate his book being read. I'm hoping our similarities will help and not hinder us next year. He's a sweet boy and I love watching him...all of them...learn.
That's it for now. Duty calls!
I am surprised Hannah has not taken her first step yet. She is capable, but either leans while standing so you'll catch her, holds onto something to walk around, or stands there for a while smiling at you, sits down and crawls to you. It almost happened night before last, but she grabbed onto Francis mid-step so we didn't count it. She'll get there and we won't rush her. But I do know we are close. Hannah has also turned into an avid climber. She can get on almost anything. She loved getting on the boys' little picnic table and then calling for me because she can't get down. Yesterday she found a way to get onto the kitchen table without assistance. Francis and I were just talking when William said, "uh mom!" and I turned around to see Hannah in the middle of the table laughing. Silly girl. She also likes climbing up on this portable toy tool cart and having the boys push her around. I'm glad that thing is sturdy! She also loved chewing on shoes so if you come in my house, beware! I love her quirkiness and every though. She's a keeper!
Robert has been asserting his opinions much more lately. He will mostly only wear his superhero flip flops when we go out. He only wants to wear shirts with capes until he runs out during the week. He knows what snack he wants and when he wants it. He wants to do most everything himself. He's not pushy or ugly about it, and he's pretty agreeable even when I try to help and he doesn't want it. Yesterday at the Children's museum he got it in his head that he wanted to go tot he potty by himself and that he needed to lock the stall to do it. That part was all well and good except he couldn't unlock the door. Not wanting to ask for help, he tried for a bit before William climbed under the stall to release him. "Tank you" Robert said. "Are you going to lock the door next time?" I asked. "YEP!" Oh that boy! He also has been getting ever more elaborate at his dinner table prayers. Last night after thanking God for all of the family members, he thanked Him for Batman and Superman also. It was pretty stinkin' cute. He's also so generous with his stuff. Someone commented on Robert's generosity and William fully agreed adding, "yeah he is, but me...not so much."
William is getting ready to be a five year old and a Kindergartner, and both are ever present on his mind. He has all sorts of ideas of what life will be like. I hope it lives up to his expectations. We have officially signed him up for Classical Conversations at our church next year which will more or less cover his history, science and music for kindergarten. He'll have at least one of his friends in his class, and he is very excited. I am still mulling over the math, reading, and writing curriculum I would like to use, but I have narrowed it down. This journey scares me to pieces, but I know I'm doing the right thing homeschooling next year. I see a lot of myself in William. He even eats all of the "crunchies" out of his cereal to save the best ( the marshmallows) for last. He likes to go last during reading time at nap and bedtime because it gives him longer to anticipate his book being read. I'm hoping our similarities will help and not hinder us next year. He's a sweet boy and I love watching him...all of them...learn.
That's it for now. Duty calls!
Thursday, May 12, 2016
May 12, 2016
It was a great Mother's Day weekend. Saturday My in-laws picked up the Kids and me (Francis was studying for finals), and we went to Blessington Farms after having lunch with Cyndy, Chris and Abby. The kids had a blast at the farm trying out everything. They even got to hold chickens, pet goats and sheep and see peacocks and camels. We came back from Houston in time for dinner with Francis so we had a Mother's Day dinner with Francis's parents. She is a great mom and grandmother, and definitely worth celebrating.
Mother's day morning I awoke to chocolate chip pancakes, cards and a gift: a 4 TB hard drive. Before you go thinking anything, I asked Francis for the drive to store pictures. He did good, and I'm please to have a place to put pictures again. We went to church where I had nursery duty and then I was treated to lunch at McAlister's. We attempted to have nap time (where I at least got to lay down for a bit) and then went out to wash the car in the rain (which was more fun than it sounds I promise!). We finished off the day by getting Icees, Layne's chicken and having family movie night at home. A successful day!!!
Not much to report this week. Things have been quiet. Francis has been studying for his Qualifiers at the end of May. Since none of our Summer stuff starts up until June, we are just chilling around town.
That's it really. Short and sweet.
Mother's day morning I awoke to chocolate chip pancakes, cards and a gift: a 4 TB hard drive. Before you go thinking anything, I asked Francis for the drive to store pictures. He did good, and I'm please to have a place to put pictures again. We went to church where I had nursery duty and then I was treated to lunch at McAlister's. We attempted to have nap time (where I at least got to lay down for a bit) and then went out to wash the car in the rain (which was more fun than it sounds I promise!). We finished off the day by getting Icees, Layne's chicken and having family movie night at home. A successful day!!!
Not much to report this week. Things have been quiet. Francis has been studying for his Qualifiers at the end of May. Since none of our Summer stuff starts up until June, we are just chilling around town.
That's it really. Short and sweet.
Friday, May 6, 2016
May 6, 2016
It's been a relatively quiet week with a few notable exceptions.
Friday evening we (Francis, the kids and I) headed to Dallas to surprise Danielle as we knew a special event was to take place the following day. We had a late dinner with my parents and then got to climb in the spa tub which had been warmed up to a comfortable 92 degrees for all to enjoy. The boys and Hannah loved swimming, Francis enjoyed the more chilly swimming pools, and I loved how it felt on my achy back. Saturday after breakfast, the boys got a haircut, after which mom, Hannah and I went shopping for party decorations. We got some super cute stuff! We met up with Francis and the boys, Dad, Christian and her family at BJs for an early Mother's Day lunch. Mom got her presents and we got a picture of everyone (minus Danielle who was having her own adventure with Kevin). We then all headed back to the house and feverishly decorated. Danielle and Kevin finally showed up at my parents' house, Kevin proposed, and then we suprised Danielle with an engagement party! That's right, Danielle is going to be a Mrs.! I am so happy for them both and will pray for them as they take this next step toward each other and Christ! The party was amazing and after food, pictures, and more swimming, we finally all called it a night. So. Much. Fun.
Sunday morning, Francis, the kids and I hurried back to College Station and made it to William's AWANAS ceremony with 3 minutes to spare. He got his award, and then we went into the church parking lot for music, food, and bounce houses to celebrate. It was a fun but completely exhausting day! William is so excited for his summer to start. I'm just amazed he has already completed Cubbies and will be a Spark next year!
Robert is learning what is means to obey this week. Although his "listening ears" seem to have been "broken" a lot this week, I do think he is getting better. He's such a joker and so cute; he thinks he can get away with anything. I gotta keep an eye on that cute little pistol. Hopefully he will find a way to use his powers for good!
Hannah is so so close to walking. She stood up on Monday leaned toward me, toughed me with two fingers and then stepped toward me. Almost there! She stands up and pushes her walker around the room like it's the easiest thing in the world. She's getting pretty fast and I think she's even intentionally rammed the boys a couple of times though I have no proof. The pictures from he photo session last week turned out like a dream. She is looking less and less like a baby and more like a girl all the time. Soon she'll be a toddler.
Duty calls!
Friday evening we (Francis, the kids and I) headed to Dallas to surprise Danielle as we knew a special event was to take place the following day. We had a late dinner with my parents and then got to climb in the spa tub which had been warmed up to a comfortable 92 degrees for all to enjoy. The boys and Hannah loved swimming, Francis enjoyed the more chilly swimming pools, and I loved how it felt on my achy back. Saturday after breakfast, the boys got a haircut, after which mom, Hannah and I went shopping for party decorations. We got some super cute stuff! We met up with Francis and the boys, Dad, Christian and her family at BJs for an early Mother's Day lunch. Mom got her presents and we got a picture of everyone (minus Danielle who was having her own adventure with Kevin). We then all headed back to the house and feverishly decorated. Danielle and Kevin finally showed up at my parents' house, Kevin proposed, and then we suprised Danielle with an engagement party! That's right, Danielle is going to be a Mrs.! I am so happy for them both and will pray for them as they take this next step toward each other and Christ! The party was amazing and after food, pictures, and more swimming, we finally all called it a night. So. Much. Fun.
Sunday morning, Francis, the kids and I hurried back to College Station and made it to William's AWANAS ceremony with 3 minutes to spare. He got his award, and then we went into the church parking lot for music, food, and bounce houses to celebrate. It was a fun but completely exhausting day! William is so excited for his summer to start. I'm just amazed he has already completed Cubbies and will be a Spark next year!
Robert is learning what is means to obey this week. Although his "listening ears" seem to have been "broken" a lot this week, I do think he is getting better. He's such a joker and so cute; he thinks he can get away with anything. I gotta keep an eye on that cute little pistol. Hopefully he will find a way to use his powers for good!
Hannah is so so close to walking. She stood up on Monday leaned toward me, toughed me with two fingers and then stepped toward me. Almost there! She stands up and pushes her walker around the room like it's the easiest thing in the world. She's getting pretty fast and I think she's even intentionally rammed the boys a couple of times though I have no proof. The pictures from he photo session last week turned out like a dream. She is looking less and less like a baby and more like a girl all the time. Soon she'll be a toddler.
Duty calls!
Thursday, April 28, 2016
April 28, 2016
Well, as of Sunday, Summer will have officially come to the Phillips house. We finished MOMs last Thursday and finished Bible study on this Tuesday. William finished his second AWANAS book on Sunday and will have his awards ceremony on this coming Sunday. We told him that is when he will "officially" graduate pre-K and then there is a party following with inflatables and activities to kick off the summer. It's going to be great!
Hannah turned 9 months on Sudnay. AH! That was fast. She had her check up today and is long and lean with a big smart brain (29.5 inches and 18lbs respectively). She's did great and didn't even cry when they pricked her finger for a small blood draw. Big girl! She's crawling all over, standing and pushing the walker around like a champ. Any time now she'll surprise us with that first little step. I'm so happy to have been blessed with her! She has started to say "momma" just as much as she says brother, but mostly when she's mad or upset. I hope this is not a foreshadowing of things to come. She's happy to be around people and loves her teacher at church: Ms. Wilma. Each day is a new adventure! We did Hannah's nine month photos at my friend Robin's house. Hannah gave Robin a run for her money by not wanting to stay in place for photos. I'm sure we got a couple of cute ones though despite Hannah's best effort to crawl off.
Robert moved up rooms at church. He did great and likes his new teachers. Having been up at church a lot, he knows most of the of the workers, so he wasn't much of a change really. More than one of them tells me how he is always so sweet. With mother's day coming up, they asked him why he loved his mom (for a project) and his answer, "mommy feeds me, plays with me....just because!" Melt my heart. He tells me he loves me all the time. So stinkin cute! He has got a great imagination too. His favorite game lately to to pretend he has "robot arms" or to build robots out of legos and play with them. A future engineer, maybe? Inventor? Time will tell!
William has had a fascination with math this week (nothing new)...specifically with multiplication. He's been asking Francis and me all sorts of multiplication questions and mulling over the answers. I turned the tables on him on Tuesday. "Hey William, What's 2 times 2." "4" I assumed he was answering like it was 2 plus 2 as he is very good at addition and subtraction. "Okay, what's one times one." "It's one mommy. Anything times itself is that number." I looked a little shocked, but kept going. "What's 3 times 3?" He didn't answer right away so I left to help Robert with something but when I returned he had on an impish smile. "9!" he said without hesitation. I asked him how he did it and he told me that he did three 3s on his hands and then counted. I asked him to do 4 times 4 and he used his toes, but came up with the right answer. Turns out he can do any multiplication problem up to five times four because then "I run out of fingers and toes". He can also multiply any number by zero or one and can multiply by 10 up to 100. Who knew? I'm amazed. Truly amazed.
I think that's it for now. Till next time!
Hannah turned 9 months on Sudnay. AH! That was fast. She had her check up today and is long and lean with a big smart brain (29.5 inches and 18lbs respectively). She's did great and didn't even cry when they pricked her finger for a small blood draw. Big girl! She's crawling all over, standing and pushing the walker around like a champ. Any time now she'll surprise us with that first little step. I'm so happy to have been blessed with her! She has started to say "momma" just as much as she says brother, but mostly when she's mad or upset. I hope this is not a foreshadowing of things to come. She's happy to be around people and loves her teacher at church: Ms. Wilma. Each day is a new adventure! We did Hannah's nine month photos at my friend Robin's house. Hannah gave Robin a run for her money by not wanting to stay in place for photos. I'm sure we got a couple of cute ones though despite Hannah's best effort to crawl off.
Robert moved up rooms at church. He did great and likes his new teachers. Having been up at church a lot, he knows most of the of the workers, so he wasn't much of a change really. More than one of them tells me how he is always so sweet. With mother's day coming up, they asked him why he loved his mom (for a project) and his answer, "mommy feeds me, plays with me....just because!" Melt my heart. He tells me he loves me all the time. So stinkin cute! He has got a great imagination too. His favorite game lately to to pretend he has "robot arms" or to build robots out of legos and play with them. A future engineer, maybe? Inventor? Time will tell!
William has had a fascination with math this week (nothing new)...specifically with multiplication. He's been asking Francis and me all sorts of multiplication questions and mulling over the answers. I turned the tables on him on Tuesday. "Hey William, What's 2 times 2." "4" I assumed he was answering like it was 2 plus 2 as he is very good at addition and subtraction. "Okay, what's one times one." "It's one mommy. Anything times itself is that number." I looked a little shocked, but kept going. "What's 3 times 3?" He didn't answer right away so I left to help Robert with something but when I returned he had on an impish smile. "9!" he said without hesitation. I asked him how he did it and he told me that he did three 3s on his hands and then counted. I asked him to do 4 times 4 and he used his toes, but came up with the right answer. Turns out he can do any multiplication problem up to five times four because then "I run out of fingers and toes". He can also multiply any number by zero or one and can multiply by 10 up to 100. Who knew? I'm amazed. Truly amazed.
I think that's it for now. Till next time!
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