Just had to add a couple more photos. I'm picture crazy tonight! Have to makeup for my lack of postings! Wesley's grandma is from Texas after all....so I had to get this one up here especially for her pleasure! And Petey well he is just the best dog ever...and he was being very cute today!
So it's been a bit of a while since my last update on things. Last week ended with a challenge of me leaving the sun roof open on overnight in the PT Cruiser. Of course that was the night the Kyle storm was rolling in. Didn't realize it until it was time to go to teacher conference at Austin's school. So, naturally I was late to that appointment as I was frantically trying to dry up water from all the interiors. I felt like an idiot for having left the sunroof open in the first place. I will be fearful from now on of even using the sunroof! But, thankfully our car dried out quick and seems no worse for the wear.
On to other news, Austin had wonderful scores on all his standardized tests. He is above average on reading and math. I'm not sure if their goals for second grade are low or what, but Austin basically has surpassed the goal they have set for the end of the second grade year on his reading level. I was so proud of him. I always questioned if we were doing everything we needed to cover while we home schooled for a year and a half. The test scores really made me feel good about our home school experience. I feel that God honored this time Austin and I had together. He is enjoying second grade and he seems to be breezing through it. His teacher is working on things that he can do at school to stay challenged. I always knew he was my little brainiac! It's funny because his 4K and 5K teachers seemed to miss all the potential he had in some ways. Until this school year, he has always seemed happier at home. He was like my baby bird who just wasn't ready to leave the nest. Now he is ready to start flying out there and exploring. Austin has asked to take Karate lessons. So this week we had the opportunity to Austin to participate in a free trial week of lessons. He had his first one this past Saturday. He really loved it. I liked the fact that it wasn't so competitive. It was more about individuality and having fun. He was so enthusiastic about it. He was making these deep "HiYaah" sounds when they were doing kicks and chops. The instructor really put a lot of emphasis about the proper time and place to use Karate. He also told the kids that school was more important than Karate. It just was so nice to hear someone putting a sport in the right priority. I really got frustrated with team sports because they have become so competitive to the point that it seems to lose the fun factor. These are kids not professional athletes. They have enough pressures and sports doesn't need to be another one. Okay, so I'll get off my soap box now!
Wesley has been just cracking us all up these days. He says and does the funniest things. And he has also turned into quite the cuddle bug. He just runs up to me at random and gives me these great big bear hugs! When you get the two brothers together it's even funnier. I have some pictures here to give you an idea of the latest silliness. I just love the pictures of them jumping on the bed wearing their t-shirts like togas! Wes was quite the photogenic kid today. He at times doesn't want his picture taken. Today though, he was more than willing on more than one occasion and I was just eating it up! He found Austin's old cowboy boots and he tried them on. It was so funny! He's not a cowboy though because he didn't leave them on for very long!
So there you have it! All the latest info. God is good all the time. All the time God is good! :)
Well, it's official, I have been tagged by my friend Pauline. This is my first time being tagged...so I'll try and keep this interesting. I'm supposed to tell you six random things about me here on this blog. I could probably tell you tons more, but I won't do that to you!:)
1) I am terrified of cockroaches, wasps, and bees. Spiders on the other hand don't really bother me, unless I walk unsuspectingly into a web. Then I might freak out a little bit. I have had a roach crawl on me on more than one occasion and I have been stung by wasps a few times. So, these may be factors to my phobia!
2) I am addicted to Dr. Pepper and Chocolate. I could probably go vegetarian before I would give up either of these two things. If I was stranded on an island, these would be at least two of the things I would most likely choose to bring.
3) I once was in a Marti Gras parade at Universal Studios, Orlando, FL. I got to throw beads out to the crowds from a giant float. I had a friend that worked there and he invited us to join him.
4)I write with my left hand, but I do use my right hand to cut with scissors and bat when playing baseball or softball.
5) I love making quilts. Making baby or children's quilts are my preference. It's a craft I learned to love from my mother. She taught me everything I know!
6) I talk in my sleep. Usually I talk about food. Who knows why!? I guess I really like food a lot!
So there you have it! A little random info about me! :)
Now I am off to tag Eric, Larissa, Bekky, Elizabeth, and Deanie!
Peace and Blessings!
I am just now getting around to posting about our weekend visit with old friends. Words can't justify how much fun the weekend was. I'm also still tired from the weekend. We just stayed busy the whole time. We started the night off with some Rock Band on the X-Box. Of course this was Eric's idea. He is after all, a rock band junkie! Everyone got in on the action. Even the kids gave the instruments and singing a whirl! The kids stayed up late playing and got up early the next morning to begin more playing. Karma made sure to set her alarm early to maximize play time! She and Austin had loads of fun. She has a very cool bedroom with a balcony view of the lake. Austin thought that was pretty awesome! Wes loved following them around trying to be one of big kids! One of the greatest things for the kids was having all this wide open sandy beach area all to themselves. Endless open space and fresh air to run around in. The weather could not have been more beautiful! The lake is just crystal clear and when it reflects the sky it just has the most beautiful shade of blue to it. I think I like this lake way better than Lake Murray. It just felt so clean and refreshing. Even our pictures just don't do the lake justice! You just have to see it in person to really appreciate it!
The kids got to try out tubing! The adults (minus Eric) got to try out some knee boarding. That was a challenge for me. It took some bruises, choking on water, and four attempts before I finally managed to get on the knee board. I think I was about nineteen or twenty the last time I'd tried that. Elizabeth, who'd never done it before, was up on her first try! I don't think there's anything she can't do! She made it look so easy! Eric wasn't willing to try it! He was more than willing to drive the Jet ski. He may turn into a boat guy just yet!! :)
We even got to ride over to a mysterious island with a very old cemetery! I really need to get those pics posted on here! And I promise I will! It was amazing exploring the island. It felt like the island in the series LOST! The beach sand reminded me so much of the ocean. For now I have to end this post! But Elizabeth and Rob, if you are reading this post, THANKS so much for an amazing weekend! I don't think we could ever top this kind of fun at our house! You have us beat!! Hopefully we can make that trip to Charleston some time soon!! :) Thanks again for having us out!! We cannot express how much we enjoyed hanging out with you and letting our kids have some totally new experiences that will last a lifetime! It was great catching up Elizabeth. I don't know if Eric and Rob got to quite sit around and chat like we did. I think we kept them busy with the kids out on the the Lake!!! :) But they're guys, so that probably doesn't matter as much!! Guys are more about doing than talking, right? Or at least that's how Eric usually is! :) Sorry they didn't have the chance to play some basketball! Hopefully they will get another chance soon. I think Eric is a little worried. Rob already has a height advantage....and then top it off he's been going to the gym!
Here it is!! Austin's 2nd grade photo. He really didn't want to where a polo for that day. He is a shorts and t-shirt kind of kid. If he could get away with it...he would wear his crocs to school everyday too. I insisted on getting dressed up for photo day. Good thing picture day only happens once a year. I still can't believe how fast he is growing up! This picture is proof. Seems like only yesterday I was holding him in my arms for the first time and looking into those great big blue eyes.
So we are off for the weekend to visit friends that have a lake house. Should be lots of fun for the kids and adults! Hopefully we'll have lots of great photos from our weekend.
This past week was a challenging one. We had open house at Austin's school. With a school of just under 700, you can imagine what that was like. Parking was a nightmare....we were packed into his school like sardines. Didn't seem like the best planned event. But, it was nice to see his classroom and all the things they are doing and learning.
I have had a very bad couple of weeks with allergies. The pollen count has consistently remained at a high level. Motivation is very hard to find these days. I did manage to get a few activities done with Wesley this past week. He participated, but not with the same enthusiasm as last week. We may extend letter B into this week just to get a few more crafts in. I didn't finish all the things I had planned due to other things coming up. Wes has also become quite the puzzle junkie. He even tackled a bigger puzzle made for ages 5 and up! He loves a challenge! He loves to do big puzzles. He needs help to do them, but he can figure out a lot on his own. He loves to take them apart and do them over and over. That is another thing that he and I spent a lot of time doing this week.
Today we took the boys to a party. Thought Austin was going to have a cow because it was a girl's Hannah Montana party. I swear he hid the party invitation a couple of weeks ago because it mysteriously disappeared. I think he didn't want any of his guy friends to see it in the house! Taking him to pick out a girlie present was even more humiliating for him. He was sure she wanted boyish Lego toys. At the party he was so excited to find another couple of boys at the party. The girls took to shrieking in one room saying, "No boys allowed!" It was pretty funny seeing the boys stick with boys and the girls stick with girls. I know I have to enjoy the girls are icky stage because before too long he will be girl crazy! Not that he minds having a couple of friends that are girls, but don't dare ask him who he likes!
I just love the words that Wes comes up with. Even beter than that is the definitions he comes up with to describe his word. The word is boomakah. Watch the clip for further explanation! :)
I think I'm close to having some quilts ready to list! I'm hoping all will go well. Here is the first one. My mom has great taste in colors and details! I really like this one. It reminds me of winter/Christmas and babies that are born in the winter! Wesley and Austin are both winter babies!! :) Maybe that is why I picked this one to try and sell first! :)
We got to spend the day with good friends of ours that we used to work with at Thornwell. It was so great hanging out and catching up. We took the kids to the zoo and dinner afterwards. We had a lot of laughs. It was especially fun getting to watch Austin and Karma together again. They haven't seen each other in about three years. Our friends just recently moved back to SC. The kids both seemed a bit shy at first, but later they seemed to be right back to being good friends who love hanging out together. I had to compile all the pictures that I could find for a special slide show tribute. It's moments like these that make life so special. Yet another example of how much our lives were impacted for the better by the time spent at Thornwell.
I almost have the Hello Kitty quilt finished! Whew! This one proved to be a bit more challenging. The pattern book had some misprints/typos on the measurements. I had fabric that was too long thankfully. I was able to go back and trim fabric to make it fit right.
Well...I have to say...my mom is more productive than I am! She has been a quilting machine lately! I of course have to showcase her work. I just think she does such a good job. It seems she does a good job at what ever task she has at hand! I think I am a bit to distracted by other things. But, I'm not complaining! Lately I have been having a lot of fun with the boys. We made a trip to the library and checked out some great books. Wes is turning into quite the bookworm too, I'm happy to report. Austin has been discovering some great authors at school. He is just loving reading books these days! Eric and I can no longer spell things out if we are trying to have a private conversation. Now Austin is learning lots of new Spanish words...so soon I won't be able to use that as a secret language either. Ah, the trials of kids growing up! I have been teaching Wes his ABC's. We have been doing some really cute crafty things. I have decided to make his own ABC scrap book. I wish I had done one for the things Austin I did while we homeschooled over the previous year and a half. I just never thought of it until now. Oh well! So we are always finding things to keep ourselves entertained! Here are the photos from our week! Enjoy! :)
We are in the process of trying to persuade Wesley to potty train. I use the word persuade because that's the only suitable term to describe what it's been like. Today Wesley told me he wanted his own underwear. I jumped on the opportunity and took him to Walmart where he picked out Thomas the Tank Engine underwear. I thought this would be great motivation for him. He loves anything Thomas. Well.....later when I asked if he wanted to try them on, he gave me a big NO. Here I was thinking there was a glimmer of hope for being one step closer to potty training. Later this evening, Wesley found another use for his new big boy underwear! It didn't take long for Austin to get involved with the goofy fun. Can't wait to show these pictures to their friends when they are teenagers! This was a very entertaining toddler toy for him.
