Happy Birthday Charlie!

A little late posting on Charlie's first birthday. I don't even have any photos since the memory card in my lovely phone deleted everything! I know James has a few somewhere so not to worry.

What an incredible blessing this year has been! Every child is a blessing but Charlie is a particularly sweet miracle to us. He came after losing our angel baby and then a nine month roller coaster ride of not knowing if we would lose him too. I learned what it means to REALLY trust in Him and rely on His grace to sustain me.

My parents learned what it means to take care of a 5yo, 3yo, and 2yo while the mommy is on strict bedrest! :)

I am SO thankful for this past year with Charlie! I am learning to not take for granted those sweet little things he does. The precious "songs" he sings at 5:30am, the mess he makes with the cat's food and water, the "love" bites he gives so often, the "help" he's trying to give me while I blog. Just smile and praise the Lord that he is with us to do those things!

To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever. PSALM 30:12

Manners and My Baby Boy

I inadvertently taught Charlie how to say THANK YOU! Every time I take something from him that he shouldn't have (which is often) I tell him "thank you". It's funny that he picked it up and started repeating it because that wasn't my purpose. But now he is the most polite 12-month-old I've ever met! He even tells US "dank doo" when we take something from HIM. It's soooo funny! Too bad I can't get him to say MAMA.

Today I was standing in the hallway and I heard the sweetest little "dank doo" coming from behind the art table. I walked around the other side to find Charlie trying to give me a crayon he found!

On the other hand...WHAT in the world is the attraction to the cat food?!! He loves it! GROSS. At least he probably tells the cat thank you before he steals his food. Hahahaha!

Dollar Store Craft

3 little pumpkins sitting on a table...

Yay! I actually completed a craft project! ...only because it took all of 20 minutes and cost $6.

3 "carvable pumpkins" + 3 bunches of fake flowers = cute little Fall centerpiece that I can reuse. Of course my flower arranging skills DO leave something to be desired, and my mother will be irritated that they are not perfectly symmetrical. Ah such is life!



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Two Boys in a Box

I've read about "blanket training" toddlers for school time... but I figure they'd have more fun in a box! I have no idea why a box is so appealing to them. Although I should have a clue since apparently that was my favorite pastime as a baby. Guess these boys DO take after their Mom!



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Fun at Folly

Kids hanging out at the beach with their cousins!



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Haircut Day!

Well I finally broke down and gave Charlie his first "real" haircut. He looks even more like a big boy now! And I do mean BIG...the shorter hair makes him look much *rounder*. I guess he's almost a year old now so he's going to start looking like a toddler anyway. Booooooo!! He was very content sitting in the bathroom sink. Only problem we had was he kept trying to use his Daddy's toothbrush! :)

Sorry for the icky photos taken with my phone!! I need a new camera.

Best Sentence Ever

Bought a pack of magnetic words at the Dollar Store today for Lexi to play with. This was her first sentence: Go is a stopendis (stupendous) word. Apparently there were not enough magnetic words to satisfy her imagination so she resorted to the other magnets and sticky notes. And now she has 4 or 5 wacky things written on my refrigerator!

I asked if she even knew what "stupendous" meant and she said:

Oh yes! It means really, really awesome.

What a stupendous girl I have! :)



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Sloppy Boy

This is what Charlie looks like after I let Henry feed him cheese grits. He was so happy! Love those boys!!  :)

Six Years Old!



Happy Birthday to my sweet Lexi girl! I can't believe it was SIX years ago today that I was in the hospital giving birth to our first daughter. I will never forget ...she came out wimpering with that bottom lip sticking out. Oh we had no idea what a crazy, funny girl this pouty baby would be! What a precious gift she is to us!! We love you so much baby girl!






Enjoying chocolate milk in Mommy's china teacups to celebrate.



My Little Charlie Boy

In Need of a Haircut!

Charlie turned 9 months old yesterday! Praise God for 9 wonderful months! He is such a happy baby...and a little spoiled maybe. (wink wink) He recently started crawling and is enjoying his new ability to explore. Which also means it's time for him to begin learning the meaning of NO! Boooooo! He loves to climb under things for some reason. For example the exersaucer above-- where he goes to scavenge for any cheerios Mommy missed. His favorite pastime is eating of course! We all love him so much it hurts! Sometimes literally when it comes from Henry.



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Conversation of the Week

Just finishing up our second official week of school! Everything has gone well so far...we are starting slowly. Naturally, Little Miss First Grader decided she "hated math" by day three. I'm glad that I overplanned because having everything ready to go has made each day flow a little smoother. There are still countless interruptions--like Charlie learning how to crawl--but at least I know what we need to do next.

It was "B" week for the preschoolers, and accordingly, our memory verse for the week is Matthew 5:9

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

This led to my favorite conversation of the week which took place upon my introducing the verse to Maddie and Henry.

Maddie: What's peacemaker?

Me: Someone who doesn't argue or cause fights...knows how to share.

Henry: Maddie, I'M gonna be the peacemaker.

Maddie: No, Henry! I wanna be the peacemaker!

Henry: ME!

Maddie: (screaming) Nooooooo! Meeeeee!

Henry crying.


...I have my work cut out for me!

Little Passports

Several months ago Mimi and Pap gave Lexi a subscription to Little Passports, and it has been the best gift ever! You can check out the link to see what it is exactly. We were able to purchase it through homeschoolbuyersco-op.org at a discount. Basically, she receives a package every month or so from her fictional pen pals--Sam and Sofia--who are traveling all over the world. It has been a great teaching tool! We usually get a couple of books from the library about the featured country to go along with the letter, activity sheet, stickers, and souvenir she gets. She gets soooooo excited when she gets that package in the mail!

This month Sam and Sofia were in Egypt so I've posted a photo of Lexi and Daddy "excavating the ancient artifact" that she received.

Oh and I almost forgot to give kudos to the Little Passports customer service people. We were missing a passport sticker so I sent an email, and we received a new sticker in the mail just two days later! I do appreciate their promptness.

Third Time's the Charm?

I seriously hope so! I hate coleslaw, but James loves it. Therefore, making it to his liking has been a bit difficult...if you know anything at all about my husband you certainly know what a picky eater he is!

My first try was "edible". Second try made his face turn green with disgust. (Which was actually pretty amusing!) After reading several hundred coleslaw recipes that were basically all the same I've resorted to just making one up. Unfortunately I can't taste test it because I think cabbage is nasty no matter what you put on it. (Insert flashback of my mother force-feeding me corned beef and cabbage every St. Patrick's Day. Yuck!)

Can't wait until dinner time! Hopefully we won't end up in the ER or something.

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...and Happy Birthday to my Sweetie too!

Maddie's birthday was almost 2 months ago now but I never got around to posting pics. I found some super FUN digital scrapbooking downloads and templates for FREE here. Lots of cute stuff! Check it out. She wanted a "pink" ladybug party so we had a "bug hunt" which the kids loved!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Henry!

Look at this BIG boy! I can hardly believe that we just celebrated his THIRD birthday. He is growing up into a little man so fast! He loves wearing his "big boy" clothes just like Daddy for church. Even though it is 100 degrees outside he WANTS to wear a dress shirt and blazer! I am also thrilled to announce that we finally broke him of the "finger-sucking" habit. Yay Henry! Of course now he is in love with gum. Ha! Ha!

I posted this photo of Henry when he was born to serve as a reminder of God's awesome power and grace! I continue to praise Him every morning for our health and thank Him for the trials that have given me an even deeper appreciation for my family. When the girls were born it was an amazing miracle, and I was in awe at every new thing they did just like all new parents. I still am! But to witness God showing Himself real through the healing of a sick newborn...well, I can't even put into words how that changed the meaning of motherhood for me. What a blessing! Sooooo you'll probably see the same blog next year... and every June... and probably in October around Charlie's birthday too! (As he is my other super-miracle and my eyes still water every time he even smiles at me.)

As I type this my BIG boy is tearing through the house pulling out every toy he can and terrorizing his sisters! Fun! But I'm thankful he is with us and able to do that!

Last Day of School and a Field Trip

We had a wonderful time at the park this morning! Technically it was Lexi's last day of kindergarten. Woohoo! She is finishing up her portfolio as I type. I can't believe that- despite the roller coaster of a year we've had- she has managed to learn how to read, write, count and add. Not to mention playing the piano a little...and a bunch of other important stuff...like origami :) It's not at all as a result of anything I have done, but instead an amazing act of God! I have seen Him transform a tiny little baby into a growing little lady. What a blessing it is to be a mother! No matter what turmoil is going on around me I can always find peace in the Lord and the family He has blessed me with.

As I look forward to first grade for Lexi I continue to pray. I still have no idea what we will be doing! When I think about the word "curriculum" my head starts to spin. Hopefully a break from thinking about it will help! I do know that God will work it all out just as He did this year!
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Yummy yummy!

While I realize no one really cares what I ate for dinner last night, I thought I'd share a photo with you anyway. It IS my favorite treat after all! Homemade ice cream sandwiched between two Daddy-made chocolate chip cookies! My Dad is the best chocolate chip cookie maker ever, and I craved them constantly throughout my last pregnancy. Good thing I was on bed rest at his house!

Oooooh how I could use one of these right now as I sit in a Gerald's Tires slam packed with grumpy old men and four obnoxious children waiting for our tire to be fixed!
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This is what happens when Mommy doesn't buckle the busy baby in his bouncy seat. Oh he thought it was soooooo funny!



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My First Blog Post!

I was really just trying to figure out how to use the blogger app on my phone...which didn't work. So this isn't exactly what I intended for my first post, but oh well!

Maddie (almost 4) always begs to do school...and Henry (almost 3) begs to do whatever Maddie is doing! Worksheets and coloring pages don't keep them occupied very long so I have put together a number of activities in gallon size ziplock bags for them. (Including some things from this site which I love: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/workbox.php) I then purchased small cookie sheets from The Dollar Tree to minimize clean up. I have to say those dollars were well spent! It keeps their mess of beads, paper scraps, playdough, etc. to a confined space. I'm also surprised by how long different types of magnets will keep them busy! Of course by "long" I mean 15 minutes, but I'll take what I can get!