LIFE - Learning In a Family Environment

Number SIX is on the way!

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 07:13:00 +0000

Not yet, but soon, we hope! Haha! I just thought that would be a great title for a story and thoughts I wanted to share!

I was at the store the other day when an older woman in front of me passed a younger lady on the other side and made a comment about the 3 children who were with her. She smiled BRIGHTLY and replied, "This isn't even half of my crew." I couldn't resist. As the older lady in front of me moved out of the aisle (with no response to the mother), I smiled pretty big myself and asked, "How many do you have?" She said there are 7 of them and one on the way, and she was BEAMING with joy! I couldn't help but tell her congratulations for the coming baby! I was truly excited for her!

As I went back to my mom's house (we were staying with her for a few days), I dreamed about what it might be like if everyone loved, respected and WANTED children as much as this lady. It would be so nice if everyone in our family and all our friends expressed the same excitement over #5 as they did with #'s 1 or 2. Of course, everyone loves #5 just as much, once they get to know him, but I can't imagine never having wanting him. What was life like without him?!

Life is always so much more full when you add another family member. Busier, yes. Harder, maybe in some aspects, but a little easier in other ways as kids get older. Full of love, always.

I have never really been much of a "baby person", though I do love babies, I just have never been the one to want to hold every baby I see, but I do understand that they are loved and valued by Yahweh. He told us to be fruitful and multiply, and children are a blessing from Him. I want His blessings! Of course, blessings come in many forms, but I certainly don't want to reject His blessings (in this case, with birth control), so we will probably be having #6 in the next couple of years......and I couldn't be more excited! I'll admit, I would like to regain control of my own body, but to watch these precious little gifts from my heavenly Father grow and learn all about Him and love Him with all their heart, it is priceless. I don't care if I do have a "bad" pregnancy or a bad birth experience for any reason, if Yahweh chooses to bless me then He will protect me and/or care for my family. Fear will not guide our decision making. That is what faith is, to trust that He will do what He promised us, even when we don't understand.

If anyone reading this is struggling with the idea of letting God choose the size of your family, just trust Him! He knows best, and He will not give you a child and then forsake you! He will take care of you and your family, whatever the circumstance.

My boys have TWO mommies!

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 18:52:00 +0000

My sweet 8-year-old is pretty typical, I suppose. She is my only girl, and most girls I know are "bossy" and often times can be over-attentive to younger siblings. She follows through and makes sure everyone does what I tell them to do, or what she thinks they should be doing. She tattles on anyone for anything. I am constantly having to reminder her that SHE is NOT the mom. Mostly she just needs a reminder every so often, but there have been a couple of times when we had to scold her pretty good for crossing WAY over the line.

But the bright side of it is, she is going to be such a great, loving and nurturing mother someday! She loves to hold babies and sing to them, especially her own baby brothers. She has put Joe to sleep many times, even without a pacifier! She will hold him, swing him in her arms, wear him in the carrier, tell him she loves him....it is all so very sweet!

She's even getting good at multi-tasking!

(playing X-box Kinect while holding Joe)

And it's always a blast to dress a live baby doll!
(she picked these clothes out herself)

Last night as we were walking out the door to go somewhere, she asked if she could carry Joe out to the car. Since that left me to carry everything else, she made sure I got it all! "Don't forget diapers! And did you get his pacifier? What about his blanket?"

Yep, that girl is going to be a pro at this very soon! In the meantime, we need to remind her that it is not her duty to make sure her 6-year-old brother keeps his nose on the wall when he is in trouble, or tell her 3-year-old brother to "dry it up!" when he cries from not getting his way! If she sticks to kissing owies, reading books and singing to them, she'll be just fine!

Little Joe

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 20:26:00 +0000

My favorite pics from birth through January, to two months old!

Home from the hospital!

ONE MONTH OLD!

TWO MONTHS OLD!

November

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:45:00 +0000

I am determined to get caught up on photos!!! So here's November in pictures. :)

Jayla lost another tooth. This one has been loose for a while, and it is the first one she pulled completely on her own!

Some dear friends gave me a baby shower just before Joe arrived! What fun!

The dirty diaper game! Too funny!

Jacob and Jack LOVE trains. They had a close-up view one day while Jayla was in dance class!

Jacob turned 6 on the 10th!

This lady at CiCi's gave him a dollar and a balloon. :) He talks to anyone and everyone, so he just melted her heart and she wanted to do something for him. I don't think she even spoke English very well!

His main/big gift was GeoTrax. He doesn't like "trains with faces" anymore, so we got TWO TUBS of these (about 5 sets) for a great price, and he LOVES them!

Homeschool Thanksgiving & Talent show dinner

Jayla and Jack! Haha!!

The chicks are growing fast!

More October pics

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 06:21:00 +0000

Let's see if I can finish them up in one more post!

Once we left my brother's house, we went to visit some aunts and uncles and a cousin on the way home. First we went by Aunt T's house. We got there later than anticipated, and this was a spontaneous visit.....we just thought about stopping by after we hit the road, so she didn't have much notice! They (she and one of her sons) were very gracious though. We just stayed in a pop-up camper on their 5 acres and then spent several hours there the following day. They feed around 75 animals every day, some of them wild, so the kids had a great time helping out with that!

There were two of these geese, and they followed us everywhere, honking and pecking at us every chance they got! They hurt Jack a couple of times, but the older three would chase them away!

Pot-belly pig

Lots of wild deer share food with the turkeys, guineas and chickens.

The chickens love to cross the fence and go into the woods.

This made me nervous!

Don't worry, he didn't really drive!

Here they come again!

Not the best picture, but the only one we got of the two bunnies.

My brave little guy!

Aunt T!!!

Next we went to another aunt and uncle's house nearby......

Two aunts! These two lovely ladies are my mother-in-law's sisters!

We were all so exhausted, but what a fun day!

Next our Keepers At Home group had a sewing day! We met at a local sewing shop and the girls made their sashes.

Jayla

Jack was a handful, trying to keep him out of the spools of thread and bucket of buttons!

Jayla again....she has sewn before and is getting pretty good at it!

A couple of the moms got in on the fun too!

Jayla with her finished product.

Pumpkin patch time!

Jacob was so proud of his perfect pumpkin!

Jack finally found one he liked.

Jayla loved this one but decided to pick it for Grandma so she could get a different one. :)

Jack changed his mind.

I think he finally settled on this one. :)

Jayla was helping push! Haha!

I tried to surprise Myles with a "While You Were Out" weekend. The plan was to organize a painting party (since I was pregnant and wasn't allowed to be around the fumes) while he and Jonathan were camping. I had no idea how much work it was just to prep for it! I worked my tail off for 3 weeks, then the day before this was to happen, I blew the surprise. I thought he knew, so I said something only to find out that I was the one who told him! Haha! Oh, well.

He ended up not going camping (which I knew about a couple of weeks before), so he was able to stay and help. We ended up only having a couple of people come. They did manage to get the first coat on, but then the cracks and nail holes, etc. were MUCH more noticeable, so it still needed a 2nd coat.

That hasn't happened yet, here at the end of January!!!

However, we have gotten a lot accomplished since then.

These are homemade curtain rods that the kids helped me with. I don't have them hanging yet, so I can't show "after" pictures.

I just really love this picture. :)

I think Jacob took this one himself, which I also like. :)

She insisted on helping and primed as much of the trim as she could!

And of course, Jack was not to be outdone.

Aw, a cute pic of Jonathan too! :)

I'll just post one of the chicks since I already blogged about them. Aren't they cute? :)

We went to a baby shower, and I thought the facial expression on this adorable little girl was priceless when Jayla fed her a chip with some salsa!

And I have NO idea how she got two of the exact same sweaters (plus she had one like this when she was 2 years old too!), but Jayla wanted to give one to her friend so they could match. Cute, huh?

And a pic of me with my Jack-Jack to finish off the month.

I did it! Wow, there were tons of pictures in October!

October -- road trip to Texas!

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 18:43:00 +0000

I never finished adding the rest of the October pictures! Here they are, in no particular order.......

We had not visited my little brother in Texas in quite a while, so we decided it was the perfect time for a road trip, before Joe arrived! We had a great time!

We arrived JUST in time to catch Caleb's football game! They won again (they think......no score keeping). He seems to love the game.

My bro with Caleb

The boys just ran back and forth on the track.

And my niece, Taylor, decided to join them.

Man, that sun was bright! Hats are good!

He was completely filthy!

The team!

Later that day we went to a huge pumpkin patch! There were lots of fun things to do!

Caleb

Jonathan

Taylor

Jacob

Jayla

Jack

Jack picked out a few different pumpkins, then we realized they weren't free, so he didn't get to keep one. No worries....he didn't seem to care!

Haha! She was dusting the hay off of him!

Their newest play item, a big bouncy pillow thingy! They loved this!

Caleb was upset for some reason and didn't participate in this one. :(

There's always time for hugs. :)

We finished the day with a yummy trip to Chick-Fil-A, then headed back home. We had a blast and hope to visit again soon!

Jacob kept putting his shirt in his mouth. YUCK!

Jacob, Taylor, Jayla and Caleb

What a cute bunch of kiddos!

Despite the grin on his face, Jonathan really did NOT like being on the bottom here!

Saying our good-byes......

Taylor is just 3 months older than Jack, and she looks so much like I did when I was her age!

Wow, October had a lot of activities and pictures!! I'll end this one here and make a new post for the rest. :)

Jack the singing boy

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 16:49:00 +0000

I just had to record this somewhere before I forget!

Ever since I can remember, Jack has always loved singing and has always had good pitch. He would always sing with "Twinkle" when I'd sing to him and loved the praise and worship songs we'd sing with the church. He has always hummed with the vacuum cleaner too, and is always right in tune!

To the tune of "Twinkle", he would sing, "Bah bah dah dah bah bah dah, Bah bah dah dah bah bah dah, Bah bah dah dah bah bah dah, Bah bah dah dah bah bah dah, Bah bah dah dah bah bah dah, Bah bah dah dah bah bah dah." And he was right on key with every note. :) He actually still sings it this way at age 3 1/2 and has been for probably close to two years now!

Another of his favorites he's been singing for a few months is Audio Adrenaline's "Big House". The first line of the chorus is "It's a big, big house with lots and lots of room." Jack's version is "Bee bee ow, ah-la-la-la." Here's a video of him singing it a few months ago.

The song at the end of this video is from a kids' show. He still sings this one as well but will throw in other words from time to time, such as "Real good Daddy of mine!" or "Real good toy of mine!" He is just very cute. :)
One more he likes to sing is "Monster" by Skillet (weird song.....kinda scares me). He sings this one very consistently with these words, "I.....I ab-ba-ba-ba-bay!" That is supposed to be "I.....I feel like a monster!"
"I'm Not Cool" by Scott Krippayne is another favorite of all the kids. He sings this one, "Coo coo coo, wa wa wa" (repeat).
I'm noticing as he gets older that he still very much LOVES to sing, but he is more shy now. He won't sing for an audience at all, even family. If we ask him to sing something, he'll tell us no, but then if we seem to ignore him for a few minutes he'll usually sing it shortly after that since the song gets in his head. Hehe! He's so silly though! If you catch him in the right mood, you might just get a rare performance out of him! He likes to dance to music and will sometimes sing in funny voices!
Jack-Jack is such a fun little guy to be around. He will go far. :)

Professional newborn pics :)

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:20:00 +0000

A friend from church gave us some newborn pics as a gift. She did an AWESOME job! She is so creative, and I knew I would love them! I couldn't imagine them this good though! Is this really MY BABY???

I have never had newborn pictures of any of my babies before, but I am going to have to start. These are so incredible! This is just a preview, so I will post more later. :) I love these!!!

My favorite.....this one cracks me up! It is just so sweet!

What a week!

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:43:00 +0000

I've got lots more pictures to add here. Joe has been such a joy to us! This has been quite a week though. Between hormones, sickness, pain and lack of sleep, I am a bit overwhelmed right now!

Tuesday was our first day home from the hospital. I was feeling pretty good over all and had lots of energy that morning, but then I noticed a "crackling" noise when I breathed. There was something in my lungs! The one and only time I noticed this before was when I had pneumonia after Jacob was born, and as the day went on, I was determined not to let it get as bad this time as it did then. So I called the doctor and told them what my symptoms were, and they called in some prescriptions for me! I was so thankful! When I had this before, I thought I was going to DIE, and I may have if I had waited any longer to get to the doctor! The symptoms and the timeline this time are exactly the same as right after Jacob was born. Also, I had the same doctor and hospital, and they were both born in November. I'm not really sure if there is a reason this happened or if it was just "coincidence" that both instances have so much in common, but I am trying to see if there is a link somehow. I didn't get sick after my 2nd c/s, and all the circumstances were different. Hmm.....

So later that evening I did have a low-grade fever, but the next morning I was starting to feel a little better. Then I discovered, after having a 10-pound baby, that I had only lost a couple of pounds! UGH! So I called the doctor again and they called in another prescription for Lasix, and it is working!

Also on Wednesday, Jack was starting to feel bad. He had that "croupy" cough and didn't want to eat, he just wanted me to hold him. We had him in bed with us so we could keep an eye on him, and then shortly after midnight, he had a seizure! His breathing had become pretty labored over just a few hours, so Myles took him to the ER. He woke Jonathan up and took him with them, mostly for the car ride (to keep an eye on Jack).

So here we are today, keeping a close eye on Jack while trying to keep him separated from Joe. Half of us were up most of the night, so it is going to be a long day. I am managing pain, which is getting better, and the meds for pneumonia seem to be helping, but I am just overwhelmed right now! I am trying to be positive, but I can't help but wonder what will happen next? Whatever it is, good or bad, I know that God is in control and He still loves us. We will still praise His name forever!

One bright spot in the week....a friend from church took some awesome pictures of Joe last night! She has her own photography business, and she gave us a photo shoot as a gift from her to us. We have never had newborn pics before, and they were so sweet! She did such an awesome job with them, and I can't wait to see the end results!!!

Here are more snap shots from the week, then I think we'll be caught up.....on the last week, at least.

Still at the hospital.....

Jayla spent the last night there with us, so we had a girls' night, with snacks, a movie and plenty of baby holding!

Jayla had some fun with the camera..

My little engineer, trying to figure out how this works.

My friend, April!

New t-shirts! I only finished 2 of the 5 so far.

About to go home.....

From Myles' work!

Finally home!

Got milk?

Welcome, Little Joe!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 05:22:00 +0000

The newest addition to our family, Little Joe, arrived via c-section on Friday morning, November 26th. This was just hours after Thanksgiving, our little "Black Friday baby". He was such a chunky thing that we have referred to him a few times as our own little Butterball turkey! :)

He's a handsome ~~little~~ big guy! I am about as sore as I expected, but we are both doing great. Here are some photos from yesterday and today, in no particular order:

My wonderful friend, Rachel, who kept the other four kids for us for two nights!!! Brave woman!

Another good friend, Valerie. She got to see him for his very first "alert" time, as he was wide awake and looking around nearly the whole time she was there!

Valerie's daughter

My good friend, Bethany, and 4 of her 5 children. Such a precious family!

The photographer who came in did very simple photos much like these two shown here. I basically reconstructed what she did and took some with my own camera. I may take more later.....I just don't see the sense in buying a few pictures in a "package" that costs $100 when I can do something similar for almost free!

Grandma trying to get him to burp!

Jayla just had to get this picture of him with both eyes open!

First bath, while Mommy was recovering from surgery.

Right after delivery.

Also shortly after delivery. He was very splotchy at first, but it mostly cleared up in a few hours.

Our first family snap shots with Little Joe!

I really hate being in pictures, but it is a must! At least every couple of years, right?

Jack held him for a while and did not want t give him up!

All of the kids are totally smitten with their little brother!

I had to get a picture of him crying!

My good friend, Mandie, and her son.....so sweet!

Jacob just can't get enough of him!

Our good friends, David and Amy. Such precious people!

Jonathan, totally in love with this baby! I need to get more pics of him.

I literally cannot keep my eyes open, so I'm sure there is a lot I am forgetting, and I can't imagine the typos I am missing. I want to get this posted so I can share......I will add more tomorrow.

Kid-isms Roundup!

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 02:43:00 +0000

These are starting to pile up on my FB account, so I thought I'd round them all up and put them on here, lest I forget them! Some of these are funny, some only funny to us, some not funny but I just wanted to remember!

Jacob: Wow, the wind is blowing in my eyes! If I was the wind, I wouldn't blow in YOUR eyes!

Jonathan asks the strangest questions? I mean, this is constant, all day long, every day. Well, I just helped him estimate how many miles of intestines there are in the whole world. Yep. Exciting stuff.

11/15

My boys ask the strangest questions sometimes. Jonathan often informs me that being weird (because he asks weird questions) is the whole point of being a 10-year-old. Now Jacob is asking "silly" questions and has informed me that being silly is the whole point of being a 6-year-old! I am learning so much! :)

11/10

Ah, ha! I just figured out another word of Jack's! "Bye-bye ah na-na" means that he wants to go bye-bye in a minute!

11/09

Every time we talk about labor/birth, Jayla refers to the cord as the "vocal cord".

10/30

Jayla just told me, "Mommy, you're getting some WHITE hair! You're turning into an OLD GIRL!" LOL! Well, at least I'm still a girl! :)

10/28

The kids were asking me about the big light pole in our front yard that we haven't used in years. I was telling them it belongs to OG&E (the electric company), and we would have to pay for it to use it. Jayla didn't even get her sentence out because we started laughing, but she said, "Well, if it belongs to a genie......" :)

10/28

It is so difficult to get Jacob to help out with any of the chores, but he is LOVING ripping up the floor! LOL! I should just look for the more destructive jobs for him to do. ;)

10/26

Jayla and Jacob are pretending to be a mother and son. I think he is being more obedient to her than he normally is to me.

10/19

474-774-44747474447.....Jack's favorite number to call.

10/14

We were out for a bit tonight and just got home. As we were on the front porch about to come in, the kids were being LOUD, laughing, singing and talking. I said not to be so loud because they'll wake up the neighbors. Jayla (8) said, "That's what happens when you have 4 kids!"

10/13

Jacob is always grumpy for some reason when he first wakes up. Always! But just now his "alarm" went off, and he's in a better mood now. (See 10/9)

10/11

Jonathan is singing "I'm Not Cool" again. He is belting it out, and he doesn't sing on key either. I love it! :)

10/10

I love that Jonathan is mowing now......and enjoys it! :) He wasn't quite tall enough last year, so it was hard and frustrating. This year he is asking to mow!!!!

10/9

Jacob's latest thing: He passes gas and tells everyone his alarm went off.

10/5

I love Jack's word for apple juice. He says, "Bapple doo!" :)

9/29

We were at a park. There were rails on the bridge, but Jacob slipped through them. He is always climbing on top and outside of where he is supposed to be! That little stinker is a dare devil! lol

There was never a "panic" moment (for me, at least). It was only a few feet drop. He could have gotten hurt, but not bad. Thankfully he was fine. He was laughing the whole time he was dangling while a friend was hanging onto him! Quite the little turd! lol

9/26

Jacob (5) is making an experiment. He mixed apple juice, Mt. Dew, milk, water & ketchup. He said it is supposed to keep the flies away.

9/23

Jayla decided to change clothes again. Jonathan was getting impatient, while waiting for the bathroom, and he told her she didn't need to change her pants too!

Her reply, "Do these pants look like they match this shirt?!"
Jonathan, "You have a point."

9/19

Jack is saying, "More bee-ba!" which means "more pizza". Earlier he asked me, "Eat bee-ba?" :) This kid is really starting to talk a LOT more clearly, putting up to 3 or 4 words together!

9/12

Jacob (5) is all boy and loves being gross. He made up this song, "If someone breaks wind, I will buy more oxygen." Hey, it rhymes!

9/9

Jacob just told me that Jonathan stole some of his pennies the other day, and then added "but before I tell on him, he put them back."

9/8

Jayla says, "Mommy, can we go to the store sometime and buy something?" That's it! She just wants to go shopping! She finally did say that she wants to buy something for the baby. :)

9/3

My kiddos are making up new "Minute to Win It" games. :)

8/29

My kids have been singing "Big House" lately. Jack's version is, "bee bee owe, la-la-la-la, bee bee owe, la-la-la-la" So cute! It's not quite as cute when the older kids imitate him though.

8/25

Yesterday Jayla said "Shoot!", then Jacob asked me, "Mommy, are we allowed to say that?" So I told him it was not a bad word. Then he asked me, "Can we say 'burn it'?" It took me a couple of seconds, but then it clicked.

Get it? "Dad burn it!"

8/15

Jack peed in the potty for the first time on Thursday!!!!! He went twice that day and then FOUR times on Friday! (I think we were out more yesterday, so he didn't have as many opportunities.) He is telling me when he needs to go! I think I underestimated him. Maybe he'll be completely in underwear before baby is born after all! :)

7/27

Well, it was positive! Jack has a confirmed case of Pertussis! Jacob and Jayla are sounding pretty bad too now, and Jonathan is also starting to cough. :( As I look back over the last couple of weeks, I think I may have had a light case of it, and I really think Myles may have been the one to start all of this mess!

7/22

Jack was SWEATING yesterday!!!! After he had the THIRD seizure yesterday afternoon, Myles put him in a cold bath. :( Afterward, they both fell asleep on Jayla's bed, then Myles woke up and left Jack there for a bit longer. Her bed still has the plastic on the mattress and didn't have a sheet on it at the time, so when I went to wake him up, his back and head were covered with sweat! Seriously, this is the first time we've ever seen him sweat, so did something change?! I hope that means no more seizures.....but I won't hold my breath on that.

(and he still continues to sweat!!!)

7/15

Jonathan and Jayla spent the night with friends last night (missing them!), so Daddy was in charge of Jacob and Jack. When I got home, Jack was only in a diaper, and I noticed he had flecks of green paint or something all over his chest and tummy. Jacob said that Jack got into Jayla's nail polish. Sounds believable. Then I noticed how neatly each and every one of his fingernails were painted. Hmmm.....I didn't know Jack could do such a great job on his own nails, on both hands!!! He finally fessed up this morning!

6/27

Today is my "baby's" third birthday!!! He had a visit from Grandma on Friday, was sung to by some great friends last night and got to blow out a candle on his birthday brownie, then we had a small family party today, complete with cupcakes, ice cream and presents. Jack just loves hearing that song with his name in it! :)

6/14

I was reading several books with the kids earlier. Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman was one of them. After noticing how HUGE the egg is, on the 3rd page the mother bird leaves to go find the baby bird some food since he is about to hatch. She referred to the baby as "he", so I asked, "Now how does she know it is a boy?!" Jonathan and Jayla, without hesitation and at the same time, as serious as could be said, "Ultrasound." Hmmm.....I wonder what's been on our mind so much lately?! :)

5/31

Jack and Jacob woke up while it was still dark because of the storm and came in to our bed. It was very loud and flashy, I'm surprised they weren't all 4 in there! Jacob tells me that he knows what lightning is. I asked him "What?" and he said, "It's electric in the sky. I learned it from Postman Pat." I guess the many conversations we have had about weather didn't matter, he learns from cartoons instead!

5/17

heard the heartbeat for the first time today! It never gets old!!!! ♥

5/8

Jonathan just asked me, "Mommy, how do astronauts scratch themselves?"

3/10

‎"No one can have too many friends.".....wise words from my 7yo daughter, Jayla. :)

2/24

Tonight for the 3rd night in the last week or so, Jonathan asked me if he could stay up and study the bible. OF COURSE YOU CAN!!! I am so proud of him. It is so awesome watching my children grow in their knowledge and understanding of and love for Christ! :)

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 08:51:00 +0000

My sweet Jacob is 6 years old today!!!

Jacob and his cousin.

October pics!

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 08:45:00 +0000

I wanted to get this up before I go into labor, which could be any moment now! Here are all my pics from the month of October.....the good ones, anyway.

Jonathan's PE class

Jacob loves Legos, and apparently all the other boys do too!

Jayla and Jack playing with a friend.

Jayla's PE class

Not sure why her hand is up....

Soccer Club!!!

This is not an organized team, just some friends getting together weekly to play a game they love......for free!

Taking a break to play with all the littles.

Pioneer Daze :) We got together with two other families......

tied all the kids up.....

and tickle tortured them!!!!!

ate burned hobo dinners (that were still yummy!).....

even had a horse......

and Grandaddy longlegs.....

fun on the hay.....

and plenty of Pioneer games!

We also went to visit my little brother and his family in Texas. I will post pictures of the trip later. On our way back we stopped by one of Myles' cousin's house (his aunt also lives there) and then another aunt and uncle, so we have quite a few photos from that trip!

We also had a Keepers At Home activity, a pumpkin patch, chickens and a big painting job I need to add pics of.

Yep, lots more photos coming soon, but I have to get back to bed. This baby is going to come soon, and I need my rest!

New baby chicks!

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 11:06:00 +0000

We didn't think any of these would hatch. The mama was setting faithfully, but we thought it got too cold in the beginning and that it had been too long. We were about to toss the eggs, actually! It's a good thing we didn't! We were going to candle them first though.

Aren't they adorable?! The rooster is a Golden Laced Wyandotte and the Mama Hen is a Rhode Island Red (which is my favorite breed right now.....they are so friendly!). We ended up with 6 babies, which DOUBLED our current chicken population. Fun!!

Feeling crafty?

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 18:43:00 +0000

I've been wanting to look up some "how-tos", so I thought I'd take some time to put a lot of links into one blog post.

First, I have been intending to get some PVC pipes for the kids to just play with. They are very inexpensive and so much fun to build things with, so there is now a reminder on my phone to get some in a few days. Here are some links I found on making toys and crafts out of PVC.

Rola Bola (this site is so cute!)

Train whistle (definitely doing this one!!)

Pipe flute (lots of how-tos to pick from on this one!)

Ladder Golf

Rackets (genius!)

Baby/toddler toy to lay under (definitely need to do this too for our new baby!!)

A smaller version of the toy rack

Toddler parallel bars by the same people....genius!

Deluxe Kid Wash (been meaning to make this for a while!)

Another more simple sprinker

Super soaker guns, and guns of all types!

Marshmallow gun (how-to video.....this is a really cool gun, and I think the guy is funny!)

This site has lots of homemade toy ideas! (where I got the marshmallow gun video) Some of my favorites are Checkers, Mancala, swings, puppets, play-dough and sorting toys!

We have also had a TON of fun making our own hula hoops! They are super easy and very inexpensive, and they last for years!!!

Since I posted my eHow link, here are a couple of other how-to articles I posted on things we have also done in the past and loved!

Imitation Floam

Jump ropes out of nylon loops

And speaking of nylon loops, this is a very inexpensive book that has quite a few really cute crafts in it using nylon loops or plastic laces.

One more....here are some fun science experiments to try!

I need to stop there for now. There is just so much that it will take all day! I think we will be making a lot of these in the next few days and weeks ahead. I will be sure to post pictures of all our creations!

Transition phase, part 2

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 13:19:00 +0000

So I am trying to decide which direction to go in regards to curriculum, if I even follow any. My over all philosophy is TJEd, and I also love the Charlotte Mason philosophy. As far as curriculum, I am really LOVING Heart of Wisdom, and it is all free!

My original intent a year or two ago, when I first decided it was time to do *something* a little more intentional with the kids.....something more than "just playing" since they are getting older and need more (and are playing less), was to teach exclusively (or as exclusively as possible) from the bible itself. I still intend to do that, but I am also learning, about myself, that I am not really creative when it comes to making up "lesson plans" from scratch! So now I am trying to be careful not to rely too heavily on non-bible curriculums, but to simply use them as a guide. I want to teach history straight from the bible, and hand writing will be copying down verses and passages of Scripture. We have done a lot of scrapbooking, and I think I will also incorporate some lapbooking. There are many, many numbers in the bible, so planning math lessons should come fairly easily! There is all kinds of science in the bible. I may use this site a lot for ideas!

I also have the Keepers and Contenders books for them to go through, and I am really loving them so far! They seem very biblical and practical to helping them learn how to be a good husband/wife and father/mother someday, which is something I want them to be great at! Many of the skills the boys will get from it are similar to the Scouting skills. We may just "award" them some badges for things they have already done, but some of them will be done again, depending on the particular skill and the need.

We also have bible maps as well as current maps that the kids really LOVE to look at, and we can do a lot with those as well! Geography, world missions, unit studies on certain countries, etc.

I think that covers most all of the basics. As they continue to get older, I will help them learn how to seek out information to be able to study whatever area they are interested in and help them reach their specific goals.

In addition to all of this, there are tons of free things on the internet. I do make use of them quite often, but I want to do more! There are educational games as well as an almost unlimited number of free printable materials of all kinds. And of course, any time the kids ask me some off-the-wall question, we just search the 'net and find out all kinds of fascinating information!

Whew! I do feel better now that all this is out! I just really love homeschooling. :)

Homemade swings!!!

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:32:00 +0000

My children made these swings all by themselves! We didn't even know they were making them until they came in feeling dizzy. :) I checked to make sure they were safe enough, and they do look to be pretty safe, actually! I talked to them about what to watch for (mostly not sticking their head where it can get caught! Yikes!), but otherwise they looked pretty safe to me. The cables they used are for very large dogs (which we hardly ever used), so they should hold plenty of weight. I didn't get a picture of the knots/ties Jonathan used up in the tree, but he is sure putting his knot-tying skills that he learned in Cub Scouts to good use!

I ended up getting several pics of Jacob because he is such a clown!

This was all on purpose, he didn't get hurt at all!

He gets out of trouble a lot because I can't help but laugh!

See? Look at that face! What a nut! lol

Jayla has always LOVED swings!

I love the spacing.....close, but not too close!

Transition phase.....

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 05:35:00 +0000

For me! I really am in a transition phase with our homeschooling this year. I have gone back and forth on exactly what I want to *do* with the kids, even though my philosophy hasn't really changed a lot.

We have always been lifeschoolers and have loved it! Lifeschooling is all about living LIFE and learning from it every day, through play, work, relationships, etc. Sometimes that includes structured book work, but usually only it if is necessary or requested. My children are not "behind" at all and are very bright. It has always worked so incredibly well for us.

But my kids are getting older.

I am beginning to see that they (my oldest two, mainly) are needing more structure and more direction. They read books all the time and still learn (and love it!), but as a Christian mother, I want them to learn very specific things, such as biblical doctrine, godly character, etc. Those are not things they can just "pick up", or if I leave it to that exclusively, they may just "pick up" unbiblical things! We have been doing these things along the way, but I just feel they need *more* of the intentional, structured stuff, if that makes sense.

I am not looking for a curriculum though. My idea is to use the bible as our textbook (as exclusively as possible) and life experiences (like celebrating God's holy days, a.k.a. feasts and the Sabbath), and learn this way. I just need to DO more though. We have been celebrating the feasts more, and it has been incredible, and we are wanting to do more next year!

I think my philosophy, as I see my kids growing and changing, is more along the lines of a Thomas Jefferson Education, a.k.a. Leadership Education. I have just never been forced to "move on" until now.....as my children are growing and moving into the second phase! Right now I am just trying to sort out my thoughts, look at all our options and make some decisions, so we have been mostly doing social activities this year, so far.

We can sure learn a lot from these types of activities as well! Anyone who tries to tell me that homeschooled children are not "socialized" and are weird is going to be laughed at in their face! My kids are extremely social, and I am having to turn down activities, even free ones, because there is not enough time in the day and week for it all!!!! I won't even go into that right now, but you can read all about homeschooling and socialization here. :)

Right now our weekly activities go as follows:

Monday we have dance class and karate (free)
Tuesdays my mom comes each week to do activities with the kids, then we have Keepers At Home (free) and Cub Scouts
Wednesdays we have PE and lunch at the park with friends
Thursdays we have my doctor's appointment, meet with friends for various activities (we're about to start a reading program, free) and homeschool soccer (free)
Fridays is another optional PE class (free) as well as a bible study right before. Once a month we have Lego Club on Fridays as well.

I even tried to keep Thursdays and Fridays open!!!

In addition to these weekly activities, there are other things we try to squeeze in, such as a trip to the pumpkin patch, various museums (some free), open swim days (twice weekly) at a local high school, art class (weekly, free) at the library, farm tours (most free), and other various activities that come up often, such as festivals and expos. Oh, and did I mention that I am having another baby in 5 weeks?!

So that is where we're at right now. It is LIFE, and we are loving it! Although, I have to admit, I am REALLY looking forward to this baby coming so that I will be forced to slow down a bit! I am taking a much needed "babymoon", especially since I didn't have the chance to with my last one and ended up depressed.....it was horrible!

Speaking of my last one, he just woke up and needs me, so I will leave you with a picture taken a few days ago of the two of us and will pick this up later. :)

Massive update on all of us!

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:45:00 +0000

Warning: This is going to be quite long!!!

Wow, I can't believe it has been 2 1/2 months since my last blog post! We have internet at home again, so I want to catch up (and backdate) on all my pictures, but I am just out of the habit, I guess.

Since today is October 1st, I will just post all my September pictures! But before I do that, here is a loooooong update on my current pregnancy.......

Wow, I cannot believe I am 33 weeks already! The time seems to have flown by!!! I guess it is because I have 4 other children already to keep me distracted, plus it really has been a super-easy pregnancy. I am so thankful for that!

I am having weekly appointments now. My blood pressure has been creeping up and I am on BP meds for it, but it is holding in the normal range. I have had quite a bit of swelling the last month or so. I know if I could get it off, my BP would go down even more. I don't think I will need to continue the meds once baby is born. It always goes down to normal fairly quickly, although my "normal" has been creeping up over the years. :(

Up until a month ago, I had only gained around 10 pounds. When I went in last week, I had doubled that!!! Yeah, lots of swelling! Yesterday I was back down 3 pounds, so that was nice.

My last two pregnancies I had bursitis in my hips. The only relief I could get, which also helped during the day, was to sleep in a recliner. It was actually quite comfortable! Well, I found out a week ago that sleeping in a reclined position is probably the worst position you can be in when pregnant. It can cause the baby to be breech, and guess what.....they both were! This pregnancy, for some reason, my hips have not bothered me. I have been able to sleep on my side, which is the best position, and this baby is in the PERFECT birth position!!! :) The ultrasound yesterday confirmed it. (It also showed normal response, fluid, etc......absolutely NO concerns!)

Other than being overweight and out of shape, I am feeling really, really good. The doctor seemed surprised when I told him that this pregnancy is going really well and I feel great. I had to tell him again about my last pregnancy when I had the HELLP syndrome and that this one was just so much better! I think he may have been worried it would come back, but at this point in my last pregnancy, I was already so sick. Jack was born at 34 weeks, and I am 33 right now! Praise God for a great pregnancy!!! :)

I am totally preparing for a VBAC. This doctor will deliver VBACs and breech babies, no problem, but he has to abide by hospital regulations. In my case, I am not "allowed" by this hospital to have a VBAC since I have had TWO c-sections in the past. They don't even consider that I previously had two vaginal births. Well, I found out that I can still legally have a VBAC. The laws are in my favor! I don't have to go in at the very last minute or have the baby at home, I can still have a hospital birth. Basically, they cannot force me to have a c-section, so all I have to do is refuse it. The hospital cannot turn me away, and my doctor cannot refuse to see me if it is within 30 days of delivery when I let him know my plans, so there ya go! :)

Oh, I just had a thought! So many women, myself included until a week ago, do not know their rights. I wonder, IF I have a very successful VBAC, if maybe I could help to change hospital policy?! How cool would that be? :)

My hope and prayer is that this labor and delivery, and the remaining few weeks, will go so incredibly well that I will be able to have my home birth someday! I am still striving for that, BUT, after my last experience and my own personal spiritual growth through all of that, it is not quite as important to me as it used to be. I saw my pride, and even though in the end I did do what was best for me and baby, just as I promised I would, I did not like that pride! So I gave it all to God and He has changed my heart on the whole "natural birth" issue. I can still strive for it, and I certainly will, but it is not the end of the world if it doesn't happen. Boy, it sure felt like it last time! :'(

A side note, my youngest actually has a genetic disorder. I'm not sure if that is the best description, but he has a duplication in a small segment of the short arm of his 6th chromosome (6p21.1). It doesn't have a name and little is known about it, but I really, truly believe that is what made my pregnancy with him so different and difficult. No one else in the family appears to have the same thing, so I don't expect any other babies to have it in the future. My hubby and I are going to be tested for it though just to be sure it is not inherited. If one of us is positive, then the geneticist thinks his symptoms may actually be caused from something else that we have not yet discovered, but if we are both negative, then it is highly likely what is causing his symptoms and physical characteristics.

I guess that's all I've got for now! If the rest of the pregnancy continues to go well, my next update might just be a birth story. :)

And now, enjoy the pics of my beautiful children.....or pictures they have taken.

Rocket is getting just a little too comfy in OUR house!

Jonathan took several pictures of the storm earlier in the month. We don't see a lot of rainbows. Jack LOVED it!

They found this really cool caterpillar. I just realized we never identified it. Hmmmm.....I would post more pictures, but they all turned out fuzzy. Haha! Fuzzy. :)

Our Rooster, Prince.

Three of our five hens. They're laying now!!!! Good job, girls!

At the museum, probably their favorite. We hadn't been here in a while, but this position (under the wooly mammoth's foot) is a tradition!

Boys! *sigh*

She's getting meaner as she gets older! Look at that face!

Jack had to join in too! This was his first, that I can remember.

I love the Discovery Room, and we haven't been in there since Jacob was a baby! It is usually closed when we go.

So I had to take lots of pictures in here! Jack loved digging for dinosaur bones, though I'm not really sure he knew what the point was.

Jacob actually spent most of his time here!

They had these really cool little chair things called Bilibos. Jayla pretty much hogged them both the whole time! I wish they made them for adults.

The museum had a chocolate exhibit. I was hoping for free samples, but it was still really cool. This is actually a giant wall. See the TVs?

On to Septemberfest!!!!

We go every year. There is always so much to do, and it is always FREE!

The kids love these things.

Jack didn't understand that he had to wait in line for another turn, so he was about to go a THIRD time before we were able to drag him off so that other kids could go.

His sister helped get him off. :)

I didn't know if he could do this obstacle course or not, but he did great!

With Sissy's help again, of course. :)

We got a ride on the wagon! Not all that exciting, but fun!

The female llama.....Nice hair!

The male

This is what Jonathan's hair was starting to look like before I shaved it off!

It took a few tries, but she got it!

Jack had a great toss but couldn't get it far enough.

Jacob got it on his first try! Click on the image and look at his mouth. :)

On your mark, get set, go!

I think Jayla was a little bored with this, but it helped pass the time while we were waiting in that long line.

Jack didn't quite get it. He thought it was fun, but he didn't understand that it was supposed to be a race.

And he just thought the cow was cute. Milk her? What?

This ride is always a favorite.

We REALLY needed to sit down, so I was thankful for the librarians!!!

And we got to see the dance group that Jayla's ballet teacher is in!

All that fun just wiped him out!

I don't normally take pictures of our dinner, but this was some awesome Mexican food!!

This is what Myles had. Of course he had to get the Coke with real sugar in the picture. He ordered two drinks so he could get Dr. Pepper refills. Silly man!

Jacob and Jayla being silly. :)

And the highlight of our meal.......Jonathan taught Jack how to say "G'day, mate!", so I just HAD to get that on video! :) Of course, Daddy had to butt in, and he's loud! lol

Then we took several pictures of some cute littles from the church nursery. I won't post those here though since I do not have permission.

Then there was Sukkot, or Feast of Booths, or Feast of Tabernacles. This was our first year to actually celebrate this feast, and it was fun! In the last part of Lev. chapter 23 God gives directions on how to "do" this feast, and it really is not too demanding. We did not stay overnight in the booth though, we just ate dinner in it, but I am hoping that next year we can begin a tradition of camping out for a week! :)

The booth still in progress, from behind.

Jacob exploring the inside.

He felt quite at home and just "dug" right in!

The booth and food were pretty much ready, so we walked around the property, gathering branches for our lulavs!

I can't remember the names of all of them, but we all loved the flowery one.

Jacob rarely poses for me, so I will take him up on it anytime he offers a smile! It is usually cheesy like this though!

Jack was desperately thirsty and was about to serve himself some wine! No worries, we got him some water. :)

This is the wonderful family who invited us. It was held at her dad's house. I really, truly appreciate their family. They are not about denominationalism or doing what feels comfortable, but they are not "legalistic" at all either. They just obey the bible out of their love for God!

The kids loved the candles, of course, and Jacob wouldn't let me get a picture of one without him!

The finished lulav.

And that's about it for the month of September! I will try to keep this caught up now while also going back to catch up on the previous months this year.....and before the baby is born!!!!!

August

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:05:00 +0000

Trying to catch up some more.....

Here are some random pictures from August! Myles bought me a Perfect Brownie Pan, so we had to try it out. I think the kids liked the decorating part more than I did, but it was all fun and tasty. :)

For Jack's birthday, Grandma and Grandpa P. got him the Girraffalaff Limbo game. He didn't really play the game much at all, but he loved the music and laughing!

Myles didn't get many pictures this year at the Scouts in the Outfield Cub Scout campout, but here are a few.

The kids didn't get much sleep, so they were wiped out the next day.

Some baby leggings I made for our little one. :) I don't remember if I mentioned it yet here on the blog, but we are having another BOY! His name is Josiah, and we will call him Little Jo. :)

This is his entire collection! The fancy / cute prints are BabyLegs, a few are left over from when Jack was a baby, and the rest are homemade.

One of my baby trees was burned up! Literally! It was so hot for several weeks, and if I went for two days in a row without watering them or my garden, it would all wither up. :(

All tuckered out!

I've been wanting to get some pics of one or more of the kids in the air. It was getting dark, but I think they turned out cool.

I finally did a little mini photo session with Jayla. These are some of my faves. We didn't bother brushing her hair, so it's a more "natural" look. :) I still want to do more, and I need to get some of the boys too.

Some okra from our garden! YUM!

We had several EARLY morning park days, starting at 6 or shortly after, so we could beat the heat. It was actually really fun, and the kids used up lots of energy and were perfect angels the rest of the day! :)

We finally went to the Train Museum! It was loads of fun!

Jacob has been trying to convince us he doesn't like trains anymore, but he was ALL over the trains!

Jayla was selected to be in the Nutcracker Ballet!!!!! Here she was stretching before the auditions.

She was so ready for it. I'm so proud that she was the most modestly dressed one there, however, she was asked to take her skirt off (because it was TOO long). When the teacher saw that she was about to break down in tears, she told her she could keep it on. I thought for sure she wouldn't be chosen after that, but she was! I'm so proud of her for not going against her convictions!

We need more girls!

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:40:00 +0000

Well, Jayla is at a friend's house today and tomorrow, but I was in the mood to sew! I have had these small women's dresses that I got for $1 for quite a while now with the intention of making them into long skirts for my one and only daughter, but since she was not here for me to measure and know where to cut, her brothers stepped in to help!

Jacob is roughly the same size as Jayla (a little "thicker" and shorter, but very close to her size), so he put the first dress on to help me out. I had him all pinned up and ready to get it off of him when Jonathan walked in and thought it looked like fun! So I found him a dress that actually kind of fit him. He was cracking up, especially when he announced, "I have boobies!" Funny guy. Then Jack walked in, and of course, I didn't want him to feel left out! (The way we get him to smile for a picture is by saying, "Show me your teeth!" Ain't he adorable?!)

This is not something we normally do at our house, even when Jayla is at home! They thought it was hilarious, but I bet once they realize that I posted the pictures for the whole world to see, they won't be doing this for me again! That's okay.....I still have THESE pictures. ;)

The boys at least made up for this after Daddy got home. They went and bought a new Wii game and played it the rest of the night. Oh, and they sang this silly song they made up that I won't allow them to sing during the day, but Myles will sing it with them! I am so outnumbered tonight.......I need my baby girl! I miss her!

Our little homestead, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:52:00 +0000

Well, I didn't get any pictures from early in the season, and, as usual, I didn't get a great jump start this year. However, my goal each year is to do better than the last, and so far we are doing MUCH better than last year! In March I planted some beets, peas and broccoli. I never saw any broccoli. I'm not sure if it was the soil or heat or something else, but the beets and peas did great! I need to figure out why my beets are not bigger. I think we have too much sand??? Everything above ground seems to grow very well though, and our peas, though not very much in quantity due to a couple of bad hail storms, were very yummy!

Later into the hotter season, I didn't get as much planted as quickly as I would have liked to. I blame it on the pregnancy and CONSTANTLY being tired. UGH! But I pushed through as much as I could, and once I finally made it to that 2nd trimester and had a little more energy, I was able to do more. (The family did help, but it was mostly me working on it.) In that time I had lost some baby plants, mostly okra and tomatoes. I was mostly disappointed because I had used up all my organic, heirloom seeds and had to resort to Wal-Mart ones for replanting! Maybe I'll order more next time. Part of the reason they went bad is because I used the Jiffy pellets for starting my seeds, and they were horrible! They were affordable, so I thought I'd give them a try, and once the plants all reached a few inches high and were ready for planting, they died very quickly. They also all had very, very thin stems and were very unhealthy-looking. I will NOT be buying those ever again!

Once we finally got some other plants in the ground, we had some strawberries, okra, squash, peppers, musk melon and oodles of cherry tomato plants! Still waiting to be planted, I also have more okra, bush beans, 3 different types of pumpkin, 2 types of watermelon, butternut squash, and carrots. If I can just get them in the ground ASAP, they should do very well!

So here are pictures taken this morning of what we have so far! Um, ignore the tall grass & weeds. We always do a little TOO well at growing those!

These are volunteer sunflowers that took over my first garden. They overtook the peas, but at least we were able to get a lot of good ones before they died off! YUM!

From top to bottom: squash, peppers and melons!

seedlings

Okra! Our favorite!

Mostly weeds, but if you look closely, you might see the 24 cherry tomato plants! The weeds are not up against the plants, but, um, we still need to get them out of there!

A lovely bloom on the okra. :)

Our first okra of the season! We each had a bite....just enough to tease us!

They were delicious! Freshly picked raw okra is the BEST!!!

My trees are doing very well! I have two pecan, two chestnut, one granny smith apple, one almond and one cherry.

Our oldest chickens, 4 females and 1 male. These girls should start laying any day now! Yea!!!! We have a white Wyandotte, two Rhode Island Reds, Black Minorca and the rooster is a Golden Laced Wyandotte.

Our "teen" chicks. These two are around 5-6 weeks old. The bigger, lighter one is an Americana and the smaller one is a Russian Orloff. We can't figure out why the Orloff is so much smaller, but it seems to be healthy!

And these little darlings are only a week old! We have two Rhode Island Reds and two mixed breeds (but should be good layers).

So that is our little homestead so far, here in the city! My goal is to expand a little each year, as much as the city will allow, until hopefully one day soon we can move to the country and get goats, sheep, etc. and do what we want!!!! Happy farming, everyone! :)

Dance camp 2010

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:54:00 +0000

Jayla had her first dance camp ever this past week, and we were so impressed! I have been wanting to send her here for years, but for a couple of reasons it just didn't work out. This year it looks like it will!

Not only were we super-impressed with the spiritual aspect of it (it is the focus of the whole dance studio.....to dance for the Lord and do everything pleasing to HIM!), but I was also very impressed with how much she learned in such a short amount of time, and also how the teacher made the most use of a small space! Wow! We are really looking forward to this upcoming year!

After being exposed to other dances she was not very familiar with until this week, she now wants to try out Irish and Hip Hop, but I think she is going to stick with ballet for this year. Hopefully finances will allow for additional classes in the future!

Here are the short routines she learned for tap, Irish, Stomp 'N Prop, ballet, hip hop and modern.

Homeschool Olympics

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Sun, 23 May 2010 17:17:00 +0000

Two more pics I forgot to post!

2010 Homeschool Olympics - pictures!

noreply@blogger.com (TruthSeeker) — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:23:00 +0000

It's always fun seeing old friends at this annual event! I never seem to think about it at the right time, but I wish I would have taken more pictures of the kids with their friends!

Jayla just can't hold baby M enough! She is about 4 months old and is such a sweetie!

And now there is another new baby, about 2 weeks old, and Jayla will get to hold her on Sunday! :)

I'm sure these two will be great friends!

This is probably the "biggest" shot I got, meaning, with the most people. I need to plan my shots ahead next time!

And here's my cutie close up, messy mouth and all! :)

And guess who is playing in our tent.......

These two silly boys! This is Jacob (left) and "Lion Cub" from Zimms Zoo. They have been good friends for a while now, and boy do they have fun together! :)

I know some of our friends got some pictures of my kids, so I'm hoping to be able to add a few more later. Until then, I will continue to try to catch up on other posts! *sigh*