Abundant Blessings

Bruce and I had the opportunity to travel to a ranch in the Texas Hill Country for a couples retreat. We have been there before for a family camp, but I think I was still just as amazed this time with the beauty as I was the first time we were there.

A little lesson in skeet shooting. I hit 1 out of the 4 or 5 that I tried, but the gun was heavy and I am a wimp. I enjoyed watching the others more than shooting the gun myself.

Plenty of guns to go around...hey, it's Texas.

He was ready for that 1 fish he caught!

Art

Lauren's drawing

The kids drew their first real pictures for art today. Of course I am viewing them with a mother's eye and in my opinion they are fab! We have been discussing the 5 basic elements/families in art (dot, circle, line, angled line, curved line) for the past few weeks and today we finally got to apply them. It actually worked! I have to say I was a little shocked. They new what I was talking about and were able to recreate my instructions with markers in their sketchbooks. Bruce actually thought they had traced their pictures and I was so excited to tell him - nope, they did it themselves! I am very impressed with this art program so far. Too easy!

Braden's Drawing

When Daddy is Away

This past weekend, Bruce went to Possum Kingdom Lake for his company's annual fishing trip. He really does look forward to it all year. Unfortunately there were not many fish this year since there had been an algae problem and they to do a "kill" for the lake. This either killed all the fish or at least made them sick, so I don't think he made a big haul. He just does catch and release fishing anyway, so it is not like he would have been eating them anyway. But, all in all, I think he still had a good time.

Meanwhile, we spent the days doing the usual things like wearing our safety goggles to the table to eat frozen pizza. The boys also decided to go down their slides by themselves for the first time. Braden would only slide on his stomach, but it was still a big step for him. He has spent several months climbing up and down the playhouse ladder with no intentions of sliding.

obviously offended by the annoying paparazzi...

Vacuum Cleaners

Our cherished vacuum cleaner went on to vacuum cleaner heaven this past week. It has served us well. Since it has been at least a week since I have vacuumed anything in the house, I decided to head out and look for a new one today. Bruce suggested we get a Dyson. Um, yeah, ok. You see the problem with that is that I am one of the cheapest people on earth (on some things) and I just can't justify spending the amount of a car payment on a vacuum cleaner. Besides, there is one basic function of a vacuum cleaner and that is to VACUUM. So, either it does or it doesn't. While shopping at Target today I discovered a cute little light-weight black number. 40 bucks. Ah, this will get us by until we make a life changing decision about which body part to sell. I came home and could not wait to assemble this new machinery. I love to vacuum. I really do. It is up there with mowing. I like to make neat lines and see all that I have accomplished. After plugging it in and pressing the flimsy start button I soon realized what some of the "features" of a $40 vacuum are. They are as follows:

1. The cord is extra short for those easy to reach places.
2. The wheels don't actually roll.
3. If you touch any part of the handle lower than the plastic, you will be shocked.
4. It is really really loud.
5. The entire cord does not fit around the cord holder thing.

However, the crumbs are off of the floor now and it did actually vacuum, so my theory still holds.

First Day of School

First Grade and Preschool

One of the best decisions that we made as a family over the summer was to homeschool the kids this year. We didn't come to this decision based on any negative experience or particular event, but rather we both realized one day that we were missing out on something very important that we should be doing as parents. I recall telling Bruce within the last year that if I ever thought about homeschooling he should slap me! So, obviously it has not been an easy decision. I know that it will require so much of me, but I think I am up for the challenge!

The first day (yesterday) went really well. One of my greatest fears was that we would be sitting around the house staring at each other and I would desperately be trying to find something for the kids to do. I knew I had to have a plan, so I have spent the past few months ordering curriculum and making lesson plans. Yesterday flew by, and we didn't even get it all done! The day was filled with math, reading, language arts, science, latin, and music. I have a wonderful art program that I can't wait to start, but we ran out of time. Braden loved being in on the big kid stuff and Landon played with refrigerator magnets and talked to us most of the morning.

I feel so blessed to have a supportive husband and the opportunity to make the most of every moment that I have with my children during this brief season!

On a different note, look at the cute baby with his dumptruck!!!! I just can't get enough of him.

Every time he gets his hands in water (bathtub, or in this case, baby pool) he "washes his hair". It is too cute! I love this new style he has. Hmmm, maybe it's time for that first haircut!

Colorado

We took a little trip out of town to Colorado. It was so nice to breath some fresh mountain air!

Bruce got to haul little squirt around in his backpack...

In a pot at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Very cool zoo by the way!

On top of Pikes Peak...
Braden was working on his pose throughout the trip.

Having some ice cream at Whit's End (Adventures in Odyssey) at Focus on the Family. The downstairs area for the kids was really cool, but the adult area had seemed to lost its I don't know, shall I say "focus". It was like someone stuck their finger in a light socket. The place was full of transforming, equipping, experiencing, felt needs, blah blah blah. Boring! Let's be a little more original people. I was however impressed with their Sanctity of Life displays.

Manitou Cliff Dwellings. I have always thought these were so cool, but I can't help it. It brings out the anthropology girl in me.

Cripple Creek Railroad. We took this mine train to a mining ghost town. I loved it!!! I love all of the history surrounding these old towns.

Super Heroes

Blankets make the perfect super hero capes!

Sneezing has ruled at our house this week. Landon came down with a cold Sunday night and the rest of us woke up with one on Wednesday. We have spent the week stuck at home trying to get well. At this point I have a little bit of cabin fever! I am better now, so I see garage sales in my immediate future :)!

Trying to make a cape like the big kids...

Worn out...time for some tv. He is totally engrossed with "19 Kids and Counting".

Bathroom - After

The kid's bathroom is finally finished! Yay! Now on to the rest of the house...

One of My Favorite Places

Today.

Over a year ago.
Building the posts. March 2009

Playing on the back porch - July 2010

As Bruce is finishing up our new bathroom, I must brag on one of his many other projects that he has made for me. I am so lucky to be married to one of the most talented men on earth! When we moved into this house 2 years ago, there was absolutely no back porch. Bruce decided to build a pergola with some leftover wood my brother-in-law gave him. (In our previous homes, he has built from this leftover wood, a swing arbor and a sandbox, which we have moved with us, as well as a deck off of our master bathroom that of course stayed at the old house, and a porch fence which stayed as well.) He takes something that looks like nothing, and turns it into something fabulous! He had the concrete poured and gave me the patio furniture as my coming home from the hospital present when Landon was born. I love this patio!

Bathroom Remodel - Before

We have decided to finally redo the kid's bathroom. The before picture makes it look so much better than it actually was! It was livable, but we wanted a change. I can't wait to have after pictures to share...hopefully by this weekend. My sweet husband has spent hours pulling up the vinyl square tiles and re-texturing the walls. He has also built the cabinet doors. He is so handy, I can't imagine that we would ever do this if he wasn't able to do most of it himself! I also had a couple of little helpers that wanted to paint. I think we ended up with more paint on the floor than on the wall. So fun! I spent the day yesterday painting the ceiling and walls. I had forgotten how much I don't like manual labor.

Some Days are Like That!

I think this picture just sums it up! I am not quite sure how one goes about putting their shorts on UPSIDE DOWN, but apparently it works!!! Poor thing, he never even noticed that something wrong. I do love watching the milestones as they become more and more independent.

A Visit To The Farm

The kids and I went out to my sister's house today (they live about 15 minutes away). Lauren and Braden LOVE going out there because they get to play with their cousins and see all kinds of animals that we don't have here in the big city! (I mean, what can get better than that??) They have a new puppy and a new baby goat along with the usual goats, chickens, and dog.

Braden became a little obsessed with feeding alfalfa to the chickens! It took me quite awhile to convince him to go inside and eat lunch.

We were sent home with a huge jug of goat milk! Landon has had mild cow milk allergies since birth, so now that he is ready for "big boy" milk, we are going to try goat milk. We will see how it goes! His big brother made me promise that I will never ever try to give him any. Hehe, just give me time.

They had a blast, but I have to say I am just worn out! All that farm life takes it out of me. Now, I think it's time for me to join the kids in a nap!

I guess I will Blog!

First of all, I hate to write. Hate it! However, I am so impressed with friends' blogs that I just REALLY REALLY want to do it. This is not my first attempt. I think I have been trying to set up my own blog for about 3 years. I would always get stuck on something like "create your template" and give up (seriously). This was combined with the world's slowest internet service. Now that we have super fast internet and more motivation we will see how it goes. My main purpose for this blog is to create a record/journal for my kids, so there will be a lot of mindless, mundane, uninspired entries...hence the blog title. I am sure it will also closely resemble some of the above mentioned friends' blog sites. This is only because I have no idea how to come up with one myself. So, just keep in mind that imitation is the greatest form of flattery! I hope to update daily(haha!) Mostly, I just don't want to miss the "dailies" here.