Aiden's First Sleepover

Barie giving game instructions (Can you see Ainsley hiding in the tent?)

Life Long Best Friends....Aiden and Ainsley

They have SO much fun together

They were inseparable

Aiden, Ainsley and the birthday boy, Kade


So, Aiden had his first sleepover...and NO there were no girls. Well, there were girls at the beginning of the party...but the girls left, and the boys got to spend the night and do boy stuff...whatever that is. Ainsley and Aiden were pretty disappointed they couldn't stay together...they are such sweet friends. I was REALLY nervous for Aiden to spend the night with a friend...but Kade is our pastor's son...who we completely trust. So we felt like we could say yes, AND sleep that night. The AND was a big deal. Aiden had a blast, and wanted to know when the next sleepover would be. I avoided that question. Apparently, he did not miss us much.

3 Ballerinas and a Rockstar

LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture...it's TOTALLY my kids. Gracen is causing mischief, Aiden is trying to do the "right thing" by looking at the camera, and Grier is being a total goof ball. I will treasure this picture forever.

Goofball Grier continued...in both pictures

A-D-O-R-E these feet

I'm one blessed Mama.


Halloween was really fun this year. We hung out with our new neighbors for a little while and then hit the streets. The kids did not last long...especially Gracen and Evan. So the 3 of us came back, and the baby went to sleep. Gracen and I passed out candy to the neighborhood, and chatted with our other neighbors for awhile. It was a laid back night...but so enjoyable getting to know people on our street.

Dancing Days

My Ballerinas

Have NO idea what the head cock is all about...but I blame it on Auntie JoJo...she's famous for it.

Excited about class starting.

My pretty girls


Gracen and Grier LOVE dance...I mean L-O-V-E love dance. I was under the impression that this is normal for all little girls...but overhearing moms at dance class complain about dragging their little girls to dance, I'm thinking we might have something here. I might actually have dancers on my hand...which I think is pretty cool. Gracen eats, sleeps, and drinks dance...almost to the point of obsession. This past Sunday I peeked in her room at church, b/c the class we teach is next door to hers. Instead of sitting with all the little girls during small group time she was in another part of the room "practicing her dance" as she put it. What dance? I'm not sure. She hasn't learned her recital piece yet...so I'm not sure what the urgency was all about...but whatever. Anyways, after talking to her, and explaining that there is a time and a place for dance, and that she was being disrespectful to sweet Mrs. Carla, she went and sat with her small group. But you can bet what she did when we got home that afternoon...

It's Alive....

**Note: My title has nothing to do w/ this adorable, precious picture of Evan...my now 13 month old...what is that about??

Okay, with some encouragement by friends, and most surprisingly Blake, I'm gonna start blogging again. It really is good for me to write stuff out, and of course I love the idea of family journaling...so here it goes. I'll leave you with a picture before I start a bunch of entries.

Taking a break

My sweet little dumplin
What's more fun than burying your arms in the dirt?

Going higher

Sweet Gracen is always trying to entertain her baby sister

a thoughtful Grier

We took a much needed break from school...these pictures are old since I'm trying to catch up on here...so these were early September...you can tell it was still hot in Texas, with all those sweaty heads. I forgot sunscreen that day, so we all got a little pink...or we got our daily dose of vitamin D...however you want to look at it. We love our local parks.

School

The school room (at our old house)
Aiden working hard
Gracen coloring

Grier playing w/ magnets

Grier sorting animal erasers

Several people have asked how homeschooling is going, including family. I think people are curious, and perhaps worried about how I school w/ all the littles around. Well, for starters Evan is taking her morning nap...so that helps tremendously. And Gracen does some preschool work right along side us...Grier is a bit trickier. I put several activities together for her to play with while we do school. Those are two examples up above. She gets restless pretty quickly though, and she's not an alone time kinda kid at all. She wants to be right in the middle of the action.
So she tends to interrupt us quite a bit when she's finished with her activities. But we've got our little groove going, and I think we're all even enjoying ourselves. Homeschooling is a lot harder than I ever thought in my stage of life...but I really like having Aiden with us, and the girls do too...even if they won't admit it.

Back in the Saddle Again...

Last morning in our house. We let Aiden have a sleepover with the girls.

We took pictures like this when we moved from Dallas...and Gracen was wearing the gaucho pants that Grier is wearing here...total coincidence.

Good bye house

Last time to run down our sidewalk...I was an emotional wreck that whole morning.

This is their thing...Gracen doesn't peddle things very well...but she loves to run after Aiden.

It's been a long time since I've posted anything. With our move, unpacking, and homeschooling...I haven't made blogging a priority...but I'm gonna try to slowly catch up and keep up now that we're more settled.

Caught

Here's proof that they love each other. They were watching Gracen's spring dance recital for the 100th time...and I looked over and couldn't believe they were holding hands. I snuck off to get my camera, peeked over the coffee table and caught it on camera...I now have it forever, and might just keep it handy so that I can remember there is true affection there...even if it's way down deep.

Grace Harbor

1st day of Grace Harbor

Aiden with his homeroom teacher, Mrs. Turner.

We stumbled across this program several months ago for homeschool families, and feel like we found a jewel. The name of the umbrella program is Grace Harbor. Aiden goes once a week and he attends art, p.e., music, speech, Spanish, and character building. I love that he's getting exposed to all of these different classes, and making friends. He has gone two weeks now, and his favorite class is SPEECH. I can hardly believe it. He certainly did not get that from me. I'm still haunted by my college freshman speech class, where I literally cried every time I got in front of the class. Nope...he gets that from his Daddy...who is extremely comfortable up front. And his second favorite class is art. I love that. I just knew p.e. would be his favorite class. Look at my big kindergarten boy. I couldn't be prouder if I tried.

They might just be related...

Aiden is slouching...Gracen isn't taller than Aiden. :)

There was excitement in the air on the first day of school...can you tell? The kids were unusually goofy...

First day of homeschooling

He's just a little bit excited.

My super handsome guy

Here's Aiden on his first day of school...at home. He was so excited to start. I just had to do a first day of school photo like my Dad tortured me with EVERY year...same place...EVERY year. And now, it's my turn to do it with my kids...

Shaving Cream Fun

A little shaving cream goes a long way.

Making Baby Food

I'm not sure why I'm blogging about making baby food. But some people have asked me how I do it...and I kinda want to remember what it was like doing this...one day when I have kids in college, and I'm way past this stage. I really enjoy making it...I feel like I'm giving my baby the best...and it saves A LOT of money. So, after I steam it, and puree it...I freeze it individually in ice cube trays and then pop the cubes out and freeze them in a big freezer ziploc bag...like all the peas together, all the sweet potatoes together, etc. I have bought jarred baby food a few times, when I'm in a pinch. I've kept the jars, and I use them to freeze individual portions for when I'm on the go. I just defrost it and throw it in the diaper bag...it works great.

The Vet

I've been trying to teach the kids how to play imaginary games...does that seem ironic? I LOVED playing school, house, library, and "Kids In Cooperated" (anybody else play that??), and anything else I could think of. Oh, my best friend Jo and I would play 20/20 when we were in like 3rd grade...no joke. One of us would be Barbara Walters, and the other one would be the mother who just gave birth to twins. Oh, I'm laughing just thinking about it. But we called her Barbara Wa-Wa. We must have heard one of our parents imitate her or something. Anyhow...the imagination is amazing. Okay, maybe my kids are too young to think of those kind of scenarios...but I'm trying to help them along. So, one morning we played "Vet". Mommy was the vet, and if you'll notice they each have an animal with them. This is them hanging out in the "waiting room", waiting to be called in by the doctor. Doesn't this look for real? It was making me laugh...I just had to snap a picture.

Who needs a pool??

Catching Rain

I think I've mentioned before that my mom is a Master Gardener. She took a class this summer on rain water harvesting, and is now licensed to do it for other people. I'm not sure what all that means, but I do know that she has been hired by several people to do it for their houses. It's pretty cool. There are huge barrels that you install at the corners of your house, and they capture the rain water that comes off your roof. I can't remember the exact equation for determining how much water you can get, but it has something to do with the square footage of your house (roof). Anyways, it's an unbelievable amount of rain...and it's free! My little suburban mom is turning into something of a hippy lately, and she's starting to rub off on me.

So of course, I'm cloth diapering...mostly because I want to be a good steward of God's resources: Earth and money. And we are recycling everything allowable...We use mostly sunlight during the day to light up our house, and I'm line drying most of our clothes...so I thought...let's catch a little rain. Now, I don't have a barrel system yet...but as you can see from the picture we have gotten pretty creative with our containers. The kids love it, and I love that they are learning to be good stewards as well. As soon as the buckets get full we dump them in yellow spots on our grass, or we water the trees, or flower beds, and then we set them back out to collect more free water. And a total bonus...the kids get to play in the rain. As a side note, our lawn is one of the better looking ones on our street.

Oh, What A Father's Willing to Do for His Girls....

I know it's a really busy picture...and I tried to make it simpler by changing it to black and white...BUT I just had to get a shot of this. These girls have it pretty good! They both love to have their backs tickled. So Blake decided to tag team them, and do it at the same time. He is the sweetest ever. Have I mentioned that he gives me a 30 minute massage at least 3 times a week?! I love him! And he loves his girls...

Delish

I know this is kinda unusual...but I LOVE these beans. My friend Kendall's mom introduced us to them awhile back...and I have been hooked ever since. I feel like at this point that it's just cruel for me not to share them with you...because they are THAT good. They are dehydrated flakes, and you add water, bring to a boil, and simmer 5 minutes. That's it...seriously. I add salt, pepper, and garlic powder...and WOW...totally fab! I ALWAYS have them on hand. I try to tell everybody about them, including every checker I get at the grocery store. I seriously think I should be getting some endorsement money for this product. In fact, the last time I picked some up at HEB, the checker asked me to do an impromptu commercial right there at the cash register featuring these marvelous refried beans. I had NO trouble coming up with my little sketch....it's like I'd rehearsed it in my head 100 times. Go buy a bag or 3 and let me know what you think.

Budding Artist

Gracen has recently really gotten into drawing, and coloring. She was very proud of her ladybug.

Dreaming of Better Days

I caught Grier in the baby's exersaucer the other day...no doubt, dreaming of better days...when SHE was the baby.