Goings on…

Well, there has been a lot going on around here.  We are doing pretty well, just staying busy.  I am having a hard time finding the time to post – I hate that.  But I thought I would update on some things over the past few weeks.

Park Day…

One Saturday, we had a work day around the house.  We decided to have a picnic lunch at the park.  So Chris and the boys rode their bikes while Ella and I drove in the van (with the food!)  It was such a fun little outing.  It was such a great day – relaxing, fun and productive!  Doesn’t get much better than that!

 

Alec LOVES to swing!

Havin’ fun!

 

Ella also loves to swing!  She was in there a long time!

 

Sweet kiddos!

 

 

Ella’s Ducky…

Recently, Ella has a new love for the bath.  She liked it before – well, most of the time, but now she gets excited!  Her favorite thing in the bath is her ducky!  She now says, “Duh” when she sees the ducky.  (We were at the store the other night and she started saying it – I turned and sure enough, there were a whole bunch of rubber duckies! )  She also says, “Ba” for bath.  It is so fun to see her making connections and figuring things out!

 

 

{happy birthday, caleb}

Yes, it is a birthday week in our house.  Today is Caleb’s 8th (yes, I said 8th) birthday!  Wow!  Eight years ago today, my life changed forever!  I became a Mama!     What an amazing journey it has been!  Even though it hasn’t always been easy, I wouldn’t trade it for the world!  When I look at the children God has given me, I am often reminded that according to the doctor, I should have had a very difficult time having children.  And yet, amazingly, He has given me not only one, but three incredible little people to care for, nurture and train!  He has been good!

Caleb is in the 2nd grade and is quite the reader.  I love to hear him read aloud – he reads with incredible expression!  No monotone voice here!    His favorite thing right now is playing legos.  He got several new sets for Christmas and spent 2 solid days in his room assembling the different vehicles, etc.  He is very serious when it comes to legos!  He also likes to ride his bike and play video games!  He is a walking Star Wars encyclopedia!  Ha!  Caleb has a very sensitive spirit.  He is growing in taking responsibility for things around the house and he loves to help with his baby sister!

Here are some of his favorites:

Food – spaghetti (what he requested for his birthday dinner!), apples

Dessert – vanilla & chocolate ice cream with “sweet bread” (pound cake)

Color – blue, green, orange

Toy – light saber, legos, playmobil

Movie – Star Wars (all – at least the parts he is allowed to see!), the Clone Wars, Disney’s Sing a Long beach party

Video Game – Wii – Lego Star Wars Complete Saga, Lego Indiana Jones

Sport (to play) – basketball & soccer

Team – Gators, Magic, Jaguars

School Subject – History

Here are some photos of Caleb through the years:

 

Here he is – just minutes old! 

 

Caleb in the hospital after having his shunt installed.  10 months

1 year old!

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

6 years old

7 years old (first time on Tower of Terror!)

8 years old!  Happy birthday, Caleb!  We love you!

[] lego party []

We had a little party on Saturday to celebrate both boys’ birthdays (which are next week). They love legos right now, so it seemed an appropriate theme for the party.

We had a building challenge for the most creative car and they also raced their creations! They had a ball!

I made their cake. It was a fun challenge, but butter cream icing is quite challenging to get smooth. I will try fondant next time. But I think it still turned out pretty cute. The boys loved it, so that is all that matters!

Here are some pics of the fun day!

{the great debate}

Sand People ~or~ Tuscan Raiders

that is the question

-Cj

The Last Couple of Weeks

I have had a hard time keeping up with the blog over the last couple of weeks.  But everyone seems to be better and we are getting back to a “more normal” life (for now!)  Here are some photos…

 

Alec was helping Daddy mow! 

  And here he is being silly.  He has Ella’s “bumbo” seat on his head!

  

The last day of soccer…

The boys and their medals!

Happy Birthday, Dodo!

Ella’s Pink Converse! 

We took the boys to Pioneer Days in Pine Castle.  It was a lot of fun, since we are studying the Early American Settlers/Pioneers in school right now.  They had some demonstrations on Pioneer life.  It was a fun family day!  Andy and Emily joined us and we met up with the Davis’ later in the day.

A Penny Saved…

Over the last several months, the boys have been saving their money.  They have been wanting a new game for the Wii – Lego Star Wars: the Complete Saga.  These games are not cheap and we let the boys know that if they wanted to get this game that they would have to work and earn money to buy it – we were not going to buy it for them.  This is the first big purchase they have saved for. 

So for months now, the boys have been doing extra jobs around the house (not chores), and helping Gremmie & Dodo do things.  The boys don’t get an allowance,  but we have certain work days that they have the opportunity to earn a few dollars.  Caleb has also lost a couple of teeth – so he contributed his “tooth fairy money”.  (At one point I was afraid he was going to try to pull all his teeth in order to get enough money!  ha!)

Thay have had to make decisions and not spend the money on other smaller items.  This past Saturday, they were able to finish earning the money needed to buy the game.  They were SO excited!    Hopefully this little exercise will help them understand that we have to work hard to earn money and that we don’t just automatically get everything that we want!

Here is a photo of the boys and their new game!

-soccer season begins-

Yesterday was the first day of the soccer season for the boys.  They have been SO excited about this!  It is amazing to see how much more they are “into” the game now that they are getting older.

Caleb stayed well hydrated, so no headaches!  Yay!  That was amazing, since it was so hot.  They had a great first day…and…both of their teams WON! 

Alec was pretty funny when he found out he was on the purple team…he said, “But Mama, purple is a GIRL’S COLOR!!!!”  I wouldn’t have chosen purple as a team color for him either, but he had an opportunity to work through his bad attitude.  And let me tell you, he DID NOT look like a girl out there!  ha!

Here are some photos from soccer:

Afterwards, we changed and went out to Liki Tiki for the afternoon.  The water felt great after having been in the heat all morning.  Ella loves getting in the water!  So much fun!

-piano lessons-

Monday was a big day for Caleb!  He had his first piano lesson!  Julie VanLue is his teacher!  He was so excited and has been looking forward to this for a long time.  In fact, he drew a picture of a piano on the calendar in the kitchen – just so we wouldn’t forget!  (He does this anytime he is looking forward to something!)

He had had a headache all that day, but thankfully, he was doing a little better and was able to “push through.” 

And for those of you that were praying for Caleb’s headaches – thank you so much!  Yesterday and today were headache free!  We were able to have good and productive school days!  Thank you, Lord! 

We are excited about this new season of music lessons!  We pray that the Lord will use this to equip him for the future!

A “funny” from Caleb

Normally Alec is the one that says all the funny stuff, but Caleb has his moments, too!  Yesterday we were doing school and he was reading from his Bible (it is a translation for children, so it is easier for him to read).  Anyway, we were reading in Matthew about the angel appearing to Joseph in a dream.  Now, Caleb is doing extremely well at reading, but at times he will get going and if he sees a big word that he doesn’t know, he doesn’t stop to sound it out, he just skims by it and says something somewhat close.    So this is how the scripture read (according to Caleb):

“The virgin is going to have a baby.  She will give birth to a son.  And he will be called “ENEMA” (Immanuel).”

How fun reading is with a new reader!  Ha!

*first day of school*

It’s that time of year again…time to sharpen the pencils, pull out the new school supplies and try to regain some kind of schedule after the busyness of the summer!

We have officially begun our 3rd year of home school!  Wow…so hard to believe.  Caleb is now in 2nd grade!  I will also be doing some Pre-K stuff with Alec and including him in some of Caleb’s lessons.  We are looking forward to a good school year.  Hopefully it won’t be quite as challenging as last year (I was newly pregnant and we were all sick off and on through the school year.  Yuck!)  The new challenge before us is doing school with an infant!  But today she did great! 

Here are some photos of our day…

Our school books…

Saying the Pledge of Allegiance

Wow!  2nd grade!  What a big boy!

Ready for Pre-K!