Monday, November 18, 2013

Fine Arts Festival

This year the boys participated in a homeschool Fine Arts Festival.  Both boys prepared an art piece that they put quite a bit of time into and Alex also prepared a piano piece.  The boys did a great job.  Eric received FIRST PLACE in his age division and Alex received THIRD PLACE in his age division!  ALex also played very well, even though he was very nervous and tired.  I am very proud of my boys.

Alex's Art piece
"Rainforest Macaw" with watercolors

Eric's Art Piece
"My Tree" Natural Collage

Alex was very proud when he saw a ribbon on his art work!

Ready to listen to the recital, tired and a bit nervous too

Eric ready to hear the recital

Alex playing
"Turkey in the Straw"

3rd Place

1st Place

Halloween and Fall Happenings

Okay, so it is almost Thanksgiving and I am just now getting around to putting up our Halloween stuff.  Well, at least I am getting it done.

We have enjoyed spending time with a local homeschool group.  We enjoyed an opportunity to go with the group to a corn maize in Brenham.  We had a great time together as a family.  James took a vacation day so that he could go with us.  We went through the maze, went on a hay ride, played and had tons of fun together.


The boys loved this pumpkin's naturally smiley face



Alex got hungry in the maze

bouncy horse races


corn launcher


Hello Piggy

Alex on the hay ride


On the cow ride!




For the Halloween season we enjoyed James' company party.  The kids had a blast with all of the games, bouncy houses, treats and costume contest.  The boys loved bringing a good friend along too.  The boys loved being able to dress up in their costumes (they were both ninjas) and showing off their "ninja skills".  Josephine was Pebbles for Halloween and James was Fred and I was Wilma Flintstone.  We received a prize for the best family costume.
Josephine didn't like her cotton candy, so she fed it to Daddy 
Pebbles

Fire Dragon Ninja

Ice Wolf Ninja

The Flintstones

A few days before Halloween we carved our pumpkins.  Josephine really liked the gooey insides.




Finally on Halloween we went Trick-or-Treating as a family around our neighborhood.  This was really fun and a huge deal for us!  This was the first year we didn't go to a friend's neighborhood to trick-or-treat.  In our old neighborhood we never felt safe enough to go door to door, but in our new home and neighborhood it was wonderful!

So excited to go trick-or-treating

Sarah was exhausted after guarding our door all evening

I know there will be more coming up soon for me to write about, so until next time...

Sunday, October 13, 2013

First Day of Nursery

We can't believe that our baby girl is 18 months old and going to Nursery!  She did great today!  She got all dolled up for church.  Yes, she gets dolled up...I enjoy it, James enjoys it, and so does Josephine...don't judge me.  Anyway, she was really being a toot during sacrament meeting, so she spent that time in the hall sitting quietly (I wonder why she can sit in the hall, but not in the chapel).  After sacrament the boys raced off to Primary and James and I took baby girl to Nursery.  Our bishop's wife is the teacher and she welcomed Josephine with open arms.  Josephine quickly made herself at home playing with the toy kitchen.  She waved goodbye to us and that was it! No tears or apprehension!  Afterwards I went to pick her up and she was leaning out the door looking into the hallway and yelling for her brothers.  All I could hear was A-YEK! EY-YIK!  Then when she saw me she waved and ran towards me.  She then turned and blew her teacher a kiss and waved.  She is such a stinker!  I am so glad she loved going to Nursery and I won't deny that I did miss her a bit, but I REALLY enjoyed attending ALL of my meetings and being able to listen and focus.  My babies are growing up so fast!

18 months old!  And first set of Piggies!

All dressed up for Nursery

Sweet Cheesy Smile

Monday, October 7, 2013

Family Update-and a Re-Commitment to Keep Up with this Darned Thing!

I know I didn't post ALL summer and I haven't updated this thing in FOREVER but we are still here!  Can I just say that this past summer was a BLUR.  Everything was so out of sorts that I am surprised we all made it through with at least most of our sanity in tact.  Let me start off by saying that we finally moved!  We are in an amazing home with room to spare and we LOVE it!  Getting to this point was DEFINITELY no easy task, but I am glad to say that we made it and are happy as can be.  Most of our summer was spent dealing with house stuff.  We spent time packing and searching and packing and searching.  At one point in there we were technically "homeless" but thanks to amazing friends, we had a place to rest our heads and call home for a few weeks until we found a home.  The Lord truly works in mysterious ways and even though I would have really liked our home buying journey to be less dramatic and memorable, if that is what it took to get us here, I am eternally grateful.  So here is an update on our family.

James is still working hard at his job.  We moved significantly closer to his work and he now has about a 10 minute commute (with traffic)!  This means that we actually get to see him for more than a few minutes before bed each day.  Sometimes he even comes home for lunch.  I love having him close by.  James was released from being the Sunday School first counselor and the Gospel Essentials teacher as we have moved into a different ward.  We are both awaiting new callings and are very anxious to serve.

I am busy homeschooling the boys.  This occupies nearly all my time, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I have also taken up Zumba and I LOVE IT!  I am still decorating cakes and have kept busy with that as well.  I miss my dear sweet Primary kids from our other ward, but I am excited to see where the Lord will put me next.

Alex is growing like a weed lately!  The kids keeps outgrowing his pants!  He is really maturing quite a bit and is a bright boy.  He enjoys Legos, books, drawing and playing piano.  He will be learning to ride his bike on two wheels soon!  We know it is a little later than usual for kids his age, but we finally have a nice LONG driveway and a quiet street for him to learn on.  He is getting more and more adventurous with getting dirty, picking up critters and trying new things.  He is excelling in school and piano and will be performing in the homeschool fine arts festival next month.

Eric is still a big ball of cute!  He too is growing up quickly and is starting to lose that baby-face he has always had.  He is still very compassionate and sweet.  he has a hug and a kind word for everyone.  he loves stuffed animals (and dressing them in fun costumes), superheroes, Legos, playing outside and everything else a boy loves to do.  He is enjoying being homeschooled and also enjoys participating in a Pre-K Co-Op once a week with other kids from the ward.

Josephine is growing up so much!  She is definitely transitioning into a toddler.  She is extremely vocal and busy.  She is into everything and keeps us all busy.  She loves her baby dolls and Little People toys.  She LOVES being outside and usually dissolves into a pile of tears when it is time to come inside.  She is pretty bossy and makes sure that everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing, especially her brothers and the dogs.  She loves our new cat Sarah and follows her around constantly.

That is my only update for now, I will try my best to update more often.

Here are some pictures from our summer.
Eric graduated from Tumbling!

Silly Alex on 4th of July

Finished swimming lessons

Sarah

Alex learned how to climb at tree at the farm we stayed at

Eric at the farm

Our Family at Sea World

James...being James

At the spalsh pad at Sea World

The boys got to meet the whale trainers at Sea World

Eric at the Alamo

Playing in the pool

Watching a movie at the hotel

Eric turned 5!

Eric and Bat-Dog