Meeting Betsy

(updated with pictures that Betsy took)

Jacob, Boston and Jenna-fast friends!

Peyton (Dallas was all over the place playing)
Asher swinging
Ya! I finally got to meet Betsy and her kids this morning at a playground. They just moved here from Indiana and she also has 3 kids pretty close in age to mine. The kids had a great time playing and we were chatting so much I totally forgot to take any pictures. But we had a fun time getting to know each other. Always fun to meet another new homeschooler! Somehow we will all strubble through this learning curve and still mangage to teach our children in the process!! Looking forward to having the whole family over soon!

My new blender

My wonderful husband bought me the blender I have been eyeing all last week at Sams. He got it for me Saturday night and I've probably used it at least 20 times since then. I've made many smoothies, breakfast shakes, yogurt fruit drink for Asher and the best is the ice cream. And it makes homeade ice cream in about 20 seconds. Amazing!! And I only added milk, powdered milk, some sugar and ice. Yummy!! I added some oreos and this made it even better. I look forward to experimenting and making many more things with it. It truely is worth every penny. I mills grain, makes bread, make hot soup, yogurt, powdered sugar, corn meal, italian icee and so many other things. Thank you so much babe for the most amazing blender!!!!!!!!!

Roxie and Asher

Asher loves Roxie. I mean, the kid will chase her for hours. And it's not to grab and pull at her hair (what Boston and Dallas loved to do when they were small). He just wants to cuddle with her, lay on her, and love on her. Its so cute. She's usually looking at us like, "what is this kid doing." Asher also loves to do this to the big stuffed animals we have, a dog, lion, etc. He just hugs and lays on the. What a lover!

Asher's crazy hair

Asher was playing in the balls with the boys today and the static from the balls made all of his hair stand up. It was soooo funny!

Boston's school pics

These were actually taken on his b-day. Gotta love that sweet smile!

Hangin' with the big boys

Asher and Boston hanging out watching a little TV. Asher loves to climb on the boys. If they are sitting down he will quickly crawl over and climb all over them. They love it! And if the boys are having a snack Asher is right on their heels begging and pleading for them to give him some. I have to explain to the boys that he's not old enough to eat or chew what they are snacking on. But if it is something he can have they LOVE to share with him. So happy to have boys that love and care for each other (at least SOME of the time!!!LOL)

Bon Jovi Concert

Tonight Sean and I went to see Bon Jovi in concert in Tampa with Wes and Suzanne! It was awesome!! We got to see them 2 years ago and I have more fun at his concerts than any other I've ever been too (of course he has been my favorite band since forever). We danced, we sang and we laughed at the person's dance moves in front of us. We ate cubans, had great company and tried not to lose our voices. Funny combination of people there. Older fans that were teens when he first came out in the 80's and new young fans. What a talented singer he is. And his stage rocked this year with tv screens that moved split apart into many pieces and a stage that had another screen that layed down and sat up. Really fun to watch. Only wish we could have been on the floor with a up close and personal view...maybe someday. Chris Daughtry (from American Idol - was my favorite that season-opened for him and that was fun to watch!) So thank you babe for the awesome seats and that great fun tonight!!! You are MY rock star!!


Asher is wearing a shirt our friends Alisha and Greg (I went to high school with Greg and got reaquainted at our high school reunion) bought this as a present after we had Asher. They remembered our funny story of our first Bon Jovi concert that we had went to a few weeks before the reunion. So this was a very appropriate...and AWESOME gift!! Thanks guys! Asher rocked it very well....even though he didn't get to go with us tonight!

Sean and I

Wes and Suzanne

Screens splitting
singing in the audience ("I wanna make a memory" and "Bed of Roses") Band saying Goodnight - if you look on the screen you can see them waving

Saturday fun day!

Boston had a b-day party for a little girl in his class today but mommy got lost so we didn't make it. So I took the boys over to to my parents to swim in the pool (and try and get Boston over the disappointment of missing Lizzie's party.) They had a blast, first real time swimming since Dec. They were all over the pool. Boston was practicing his strokes (freestyle, breast, and back stroke). He's so good. Dallas didn't practice his strokes but he was everywhere. Such a great feeling when your kids can swim like a fish and you don't have to worry about them drowning. If anyone is looking for a great swim instructor i HIGHLY recommend Southwest Aquatics. Boston learned in 3 weeks at the age of 2 and Dallas learned at 9 months. Asher is getting ready to start in a few weeks. http://southwestaquatics.com/home.html The boys have taken from Joy, Lisa, and Jamie when they got older. Check them out!

Best part of the day: Sean bought me the BlendTec blender I have been watching at Sams Club all week!!!!! Thank you so much Sean. Can't wait to test it out tomorrow!!!!!

Date with Boston

I got to take Boston out tonight, just him and me and what a special time it was! "High School Musical" the musical was playing at Ocoee High School and since my friend Val gave us the movie he's LOVED it! I thought this would be fun for us to do together, and a great way to introduce theatre to him, which is also so precious to my heart. Daddy(sick and all) and Dallas put Asher to bed and watched a new Peter Pan film and ate popcorn. I let Boston put his booster seat in the front and he was so excited! He smiled ear to ear and talked and talked to me. We got a little lost getting there, had to stop for gas, but after driving around we finally found it at 7:30 (show was supposed to start at 7). We walked up only to find out they had postponed the show until 9:30 because of other events going on at the school. Ugh...Boston was so cute about it though. No big deal, off we went to Twistee Treat. We both changed from our normal order: he got chocolate ice cream with m&ms and I got chocolate with reeses. Yum. Then we headed home, cruising, listening to Backyardagains cd, loud, with the windows down. He was so happy he was jumping up and down as we sang as loud as we could, clapping and laughing. What a great memory with him! I hope to get to have a night out with each boy once a month. What a precious time it was!

A Mother's Rule of Life

A few years ago my precious friend Jessica recommended this book to me. I read it cover to cover in about 2 days. Engulfed in it...amazed by it...loving it! Of course, when I read it I only had 2 boys (and they were a baby and little toddler), I wasn't homeschooling and life really wasn't as overwelming. Well now with 3 boys, homeschool in the planning stages and so much more responsibility I though it was a good time to pull the book off the shelves and dive in again. I think it might well be one of my favorite books of all time! She has such great ideas of how to incorporate God's high calling to you, prayer and truly loving everything you do (including the laundry and dishes!) She challenges you in every aspect of your day and helps you make a plan to better your days. It was written by a Catholic so there are a few things in the book that you might not agree with as far as religion goes, but I loved the book anyhow. So check it out...you won't be disappointed! (Below is the info on the book)


A Mother's Rule of Life

If you have ever heard of or tried "Fly Lady" and are looking for a Christian dimension to the ideas, this book is for you. For links to more information about A Mother's Rule of Life, please visit http://www.mothersruleoflife.com/

General Description:
On January 1, 2000, Holly Pierlot pounded her fist on the kitchen table and yelled at her husband, "I can’t take it anymore!"

Motherhood and homeschooling had overwhelmed her. The house was dirty, the laundry undone. Holly felt frustrated, discouraged, and alone. She couldn’t find time to snuggle and have fun with her five children or to go out with her husband. Yes, she loved Philip and she did love God, but she had come to resent Philip’s freedom and she almost never found time for prayer.

Today, everything’s better. Holly still home schools, but the house is cleaner, she gets more done, and the kids are happier. There’s less stress, less strife, and less housework. Holly’s been healed of past wounds that troubled her soul and her marriage. Best of all, she spends at least an hour each day in prayer and time each evening with Philip.

Holly brought about these changes with what she calls her Mother’s Rule of Life, a pattern for living that combines the spiritual wisdom of the monastery with the practical wisdom of motherhood.

Holly’s Rule is not just another set of schedules; it’s a way for Christian mothers to answer God’s call to holiness. With the help of your own Rule, you can get control of your own household, grow closer to God, come to love your husband more, and raise up good Christian children. In these wise and practical pages, Holly shows you how.

Do you want to be a better wife and mother? To have more order in your life? To grow in union with God? Are you desperate yet?

With your own Mother’s Rule of Life, you’ll transform motherhood and its burdens into the joyful vocation it’s meant to be. Learn from Holly Pierlot how to craft a Rule that’s right for you and your family. Then use that Rule to help God draw you, your husband, and each of your children into Heaven!

Link to buy the book discounted on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Mothers-Rule-Life-Bring-Order/dp/1928832415/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209060341&sr=8-1

Sick, blender and hugs

Sean and I came down with a cold yesterday morning (and yet we both still worked out before the sun was up.) But pushing through it is my best solution. We were supposed to go to Sea World with my friend Val and her two little ones before school today but I had to cancel. Hate that. Hopefully we will get there soon together. Time with girlfriends is precious...and Val always has me laughing!

Went to Sams today and we saw this guy doing a presentation for the most amazing blender I have ever seen! Same one that all the smoothie and coffee shops use. He actually made ice cream with it within seconds. Amazing! I'm hoping Sean will go and check it out with me this weekend...expensive...but worth it!!! It's called a BlendTec blender. We also ate pizza lunch there (love doing this with the boys) and they were so cuddly today. Boston sat next to me and couldn't stop hugging me! Then Dallas walked over and joined in. This is what motherhood is ALL ABOUT!!!

After fighting naptime and mommy letting him watch a short video this is how I found Dallas on the couch. So funny. I knew he needed a nap...Mommy always knows best!

Clutter

I hate clutter. And since having lived in the same house now for 7 years and 3 kids later, we have clutter. I think moving every few years is probably good to get rid of it. Because now it has slowly crept up on me. I'm learning to donate, give away or throw more and more. The problem is finding the time to actually get rid of it all. Everytime I start in one room I have to stop to do something for the kids. I wish I could just have some clean sweep people come in and take it all out...LOL Especially paper clutter and toy clutter. That's probably the biggest issue. Anyhow...my goal is to get rid of it all....before the end of the year.

Asher stands alone!

While the boys and I were playing in the playroom this morning I looked over at Asher and he just stood up on his own and stood there in amazement of himself with his arms extended out, unsure of what would happen next, and then sat back down. He did it several times with Boston, Dallas and I jumping up and down and encouraging him. He was so proud of himself! Gosh, he really will be walking soon, I can hardly believe it! TIME FLIES!!!!

Asher's 4th tooth & 11 months old

Asher cut his 4th tooth between yesterday and last night. Yah! This has been the hardest and longest one yet (top right front). Hopefully we will have some nice sleeping nights now.

Asher sitting in the car facing backwards last week

He also turned 11 months old on the 14th. Can't believe he will be 1 year old in about 3 weeks. Hard to believe. He's not really even trying to walk yet. He will stand holding on to something. He loves to eat big people food and prefers it in it's whole form, not cut up. He recently has tried mac and cheese, yellow rice with peas and chicken pot pie and loved them all. He babbles constantly and I wouldn't be surprised if he's talking soon just to communicate with this very talkative family. Dallas taught him how to roll the ball back and forth and he loves that. Enjoys the swing, especially when the boys are pushing him. He even obeys commands like, No, come here, and put the pacifier in (which come in handy when riding in the car.) He doesn't like to watch tv, which is great! And he LOVES bathtime! He goes to sleep for me just like the other boys. I just put him in their wide awake for naps and bedtime and he puts himself to sleep (Babywise book is great). Sleeps through the night half the time now (although he did from about 8 week to 6 months) So there you have it...my little 11 month old!

Asher facing forward today for the first time! He loved it! He was amazed at his own tv and that he could look at mommy the whole time. Smiled the entire car ride. Wonder if he will start to miss looking at the boys though. They entertained him more than I can driving!

Jump for joy!

Asher was jumping in the exercauser and the big boys wanted to join in on the fun. Of course Asher thought this was GREAT!

Wedding Photography

I did the photography for Sean's brother Chad's wedding a year ago and just found the time to put together an album so I can show others the kind of wedding photography I do. You can preview the first 15 pages by clicking below and for those family members that wish to purchase it you can do so by clicking below as well. And if you know anyone getting married send to over to me!

Chad & Lauren'...

December 12, 2006

By Cricket Whitman o...

Book Preview

My 3 sons

In their new shirts Nena bought them at the Thomas event last weekend.

Poop: the new finger paint

Today I took the boys to the lake to say goodbye to Thomas the Train. Back at the lakehouse we are in the kitchen getting a snack and Asher was playing with dominos on the floor. Dallas says to me,"Look mommy, Asher popped!" I look down and yes, Asher has pooped and it has come out the sides of his diaper and he was finger painting the floor with it with the BIGGEST smile on his face! NEVER had that happen before. What a fun, smelly mess that was!!

Bedtime Routine

I thought I should write down our bedtime routine since in 10 years I probably won't remember at all. LOL So...first bath, brush teeth and hair, they each get to pick a book and either Sean or I reads it to them. Then they always want a waffle in bed (don't know how in the world this started but it's been going on for a few months now...hey at least they started sleeping in 30min to 1 hr longer since this was added!)

Then mommy sings lullaby "Lullaby, kiss goodnight, in the glow of the nightlight. Lay down sleepy head in Boston and Dallas' soft bed. Close your eyes, now and rest, like a bird in it's nest. Close your eyes now and rest, you know your loved the best" I got the words from this Elmo Nighttime book we got Boston for is 2nd Easter when he was 1 year old.

Then Sean sings Stars:" Why do stars suddenly appear, everytime, you are near. Just like me, they long to be close to you. Ahhh ah ah close to you. Ahhh ah ah close to you. Why do birds suddenly appear, everytime, you are near. Just like me they long to be close to you. Ahhh ah ah close to you. Ahhh ah ah close to you." The cutiest thing is to hear Dallas sing it, especially the ahh parts. So adorable. He used to sing it even before he could speak very clearly. Don't know what made Sean pick this song years ago, but it was orginally sung by the Carpenters. Now he also sings what the boys titled the "silly song" which is a song from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (which they have never seen.) "If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it. Wanna change the world? Just do it?...."And if Sean isn't home during bedtime they ask me to call him and if he can, he will sing to them over the phone.

Most nights I also do "snug as a bug in a rug" and tuck their sheets around them. They giggle so hard!

As I'm walking out, every night, Dallas always tells me he has to tell me something. Used to always be that he wants to ride the roller coaster. But lately it's been "I want to ride the Peter Pan ride with you!" Sometimes he'll add, Boston, Daddy or Asher. Cute.

Then Dallas has water, Boston has milk and to bed they go.

Garage Sale, Chuck e cheese and picnic

Neighborhood garage sale day! Don't think I'll ever do another garage sale since we only made $24 (and 1 item was $20 itself!). But John came by with Teague and Levi and the boys had a fun time playing while we sat out front. Then we went Chuck e Cheese with the money. Fun times. They have a new game based off he Deal or No Deal and that was tons of fun...all adults wanting to stand in line to play. John was addicted after 1 game...LOL

Boston and Teague

Riding the roller coaster
Levi and Dallas riding roller coaster, Asher watching

Then off we went to a picnic on the east side for our friends from college, Chris and Katie, who are missionaries in China. Fun meeting their boys for the first time (same age as Boston and Dallas) and so great seeing them! Even got to see our old college pastors wife Lori and Pastor Danny that married us. Long fun day but soooo tired now I can hardly move. Busy few days, tomorrow will defiantly be a day of R-E-S-T!

Busy fun day

Walmart for new eyeglasses for Sean and my sweet husband bought me some really cool Oscar de la Renta prescription sunglasses so I can actually see while having sunglasses on (thank you babe!) Got to see Uncle "Hess" at Walmart and that was fun.

Went to Chick fil a for a special lunch and Dallas commented on this lady with a cross tatoo and said, "Look mommy, she has a SWORD!"

Went to Disney MGM studios for a few hours and boys saw Muppet Show and Lights Motors Action show and loved them! Boston couldn't stop talking about the cars. Played on the playground for a while and headed home. Asher drank water from the sippy successfully first time. He's never really been interested but I think it was just so hot he was desperate.

Grandma and Grandpa babysat while Sean and I had date night, dinner and movie at Citiwalk. Dinner at Nascar again (they never have a wait) and got to sit outside and listen to this awesome aucustic guitar singer and watch the Red Sox play (ya!) Movie: Expelled by Ben Stein. AWESOME! I think everyone should see it. Scary that the science would is so anti creation/Inteligent design theory. Very enlighting and scary how closed off America is becoming. Off to bed...exhausted!

The boys first fair

At 6:30 last night we get a call from John and Christie that they were heading to the Orange County Fair and do we want to join them. We looked at each other and said, "what the heck...forget about bedtimes. So off we went to the Winter Garden fair. It was a small little fair but full of all the lights, rides, smells and carnies. The boys were in awe as we drove up and all the lights were everywhere. They especially loved the fact that they got to run around with Teague and Levi. We stayed until 10pm and had a great time! Boston wasn't too into all the rollercoasters and poor guy couldn't go on two of the rides with the other boys because he was too tall. (My heart broke as he cried watching them). John's commentary on the carnival people was especially amusing. And Teague and Boston walking around holding hands was too cute. We got to see the circus tent with kangaroos, lions and miniature horses. Dallas wanted to play the games that cost money (ducks and fishing for sharks.) Surprising to me they loved the Monkey Maze (a mirrored maze with slide at the end.) And Dallas rode the roller coaster and Farris wheel with daddy and the other boys, Boston was too nervous. It was a fun, spur of the moment night. Thanks to John and Christie for thinking of us! (Picture quality not so great, only had the iphone)

Riding the train

Sean, Boston, John and Teague riding bumper cars (Dallas and Levi weren't tall enough and watching very sadly from the sidelines)
John and Sean got suckered into this game. Sean won a little alligator for Dallas
Dallas was so funny on this ride, he kept looking in the rear view mirror to check for coming cars
Riding the pretty double decker carousel Boston and Teague riding then Dallas and Levi. Teague and Boston noticed the sparks under the tires and were quite concerned about "fire!"

Last ride, the swings. Boston watched, Dallas had a big smile while riding Sean and John closed the night out with a big boy ride and about made both themselves sick! Fun time, fun memories

Funny kid sayings

While at Sam's Club eating pizza today Dallas noticed the man behind us and keep telling me he had a "boo boo." I turned around and saw that, yes, he had a little "boo boo" on the top of his balding head. Then Boston added, "Why is there only hair on the side of his head mom? Why did God make him that way?" (I only hoped that either Boston didn't say it loud enough for him to hear, or the man had a great sense of humor...I mean...come on it was pretty funny!)

You have 3 boys!?!?

Most people who see me out say, "you have 3 boys?" I reply, with a smile, "Yes." They almost always (all but 1 time that I can remember) reply "Oh what a handful!" or "God bless you child!" I love having boys! I wouldn't change it for the world. I'm not saying I wouldn't LOVE to have a little girl in our family (anyone close to me knows this is a deep desire of my heart.) But the truth is that God will give our family exactly what we are supposed to have. That's the joy in having children. It's a visual reminder of God's blessings. He chose for us each particular child because we are the perfect parents for that child. How exciting is that! And with talk of having a 4th, most people always want to ask me if we are trying for a girl. The answer is no. Of course, a girl would be AMAZING, but I wouldn't want to try for a 4th if I wasn't completely sure I would be happy with having a 4th boy. And honestly I would be just as happy if the 4th child is a boy because that is what God wants for us. And I would never want any of my boys to ever think I had wished they were a girl. Never. (FYI-no we are not trying for a 4th right now and I'm not pregnant.)

Which brings me to other thoughts I have had regarding our 4th. We were talking about using different methods to try and make a little girl. But God keeps telling me that it really doesn't matter what we try to do, he is going to give us just what we NEED. And I don't think I want to "try" to make a little girl either. I honestly want to just enjoy the process, not stress about it, and leave it ALL up to God. It's one of those things in life that you truly have NO power over. And how exciting is that! And I'm not saying it's bad to "try" for a sex, I'm just saying God has convicted me about it. And what is right for one person, might not be right for another, so there's no room for judgement there. So God only knows what our family will ultimately consist of...I just know it's going to be beautiful!

Chicken Pot Pie

Monday night I made my friend Mary's Chicken Pot Pie recipe. She brought this to me after I had Asher (along with so many of our friends that were so generous to supply us with so much food!). It was great and I have been wanting to get the recipe from her for months. Well I finally got it from her today and cooked it tonight. Boston went CRAZY over it. He had 3 helpings of it and then before bed said his tummy was so hungry for more and he had 2 more helpings!! Where did he put all this food! And Asher actually ate it as well. First time I've tried to feed him what we were eating and he LOVED it. He couldn't get enough. As we were eating Boston said to me, "Mommy this is the best dinner ever! My favorite ever! I WISH we could have this EVER night!" So thank you Mary for the ever delicious AND EAAASSSYYY recipe.



For those curious minds here it is:

1 whole chix or 2 cans of chix or 3-4 cooked breasts
cup chix broth
1can cream of mush. or celery
1 or 2 cans Veg-all

In 13x9 casserole dish mix all ingredients then in separate bowl mix 1 cup bisquick, 1cup milk ,1melted stick of butter-you don't have to use a whole stick. Blend together and pour over chix mixture. Bake at 375 for 1 hr. or until brown. How easy is that!!

Update, updates and yes more updates

Lots of updates from the Friday through today. Been so busy couldn't find time to slow down and get to the computer to blog. So scroll...yes scoll on down the road! Come on now...scoll on down, scroll on down the road (think The Wiz music...for those musical theatre geeks like me)

Joy in the details of life

Monday-worked out again finally!!! Since Asher has been teething and waking up so much during the night the last few weeks my attendance hasn't been so great for our 6:15 planet fitness workouts...and poor Theresa has been going herself. But I'm back...and I'm ready!

Today I actually got my devotional done in the morning..yes!

Been working on finding joy more in even the most mundane things like laundry, dishes and picking up MORE toys, dealing with a temper tantrum, and saying the same thing 10 times in a row. But I am learning patience on so many levels it's amazing. Life is so good!

Took cookies to a new family that just moved here from Indiana. Boys and I had fun cooking them this morning and trying to teach them about giving and the joy of reaching out to others. They loved it. Looking forward to having this new family over as they have kids close in age to ours.

Today I told Boston that we are going to be homeschooling him next year. I was a little worried about how he would react since he has loved school so much this year and all his friends. But he got so excited and said, "is daddy going to be my teacher too mommy? Can daddy stay home too?" How cute is that?

Funniest part of the day was when the boys discovered the desks I had picked up last weekend for free sitting in the garage. "What are these?" they asked. "Desks for school next year." Boston quickly jumped into his and said..."can we do our abc's NOW!?!?!" So we quickly brought them into the house and I grabbed somethings to work on for each (handwriting and mazes for Boston...coloring and shapes for Dallas) and they had a blast! How great are these!!!

A Sunday Afternoon

Today:

Church-awesome sermon by Pastor David on who we are, reminder for myself: let others see Christ's light through your actions and the joy you have for living life!

Party - Boston had a b-day party for his classmate Anthony at Chuck-e-cheese and the whole family went and had a great time...Asher at pizza...AGAIN! Boston ran from Chucke...like usual. New games were great. And Dallas took the funniest photo on this new ride that makes a drivers licene type card for you. Too funny and our friends Jess and Bart will get a kick out of it! Riding their favorite ride, the rollercoaster, with b-day boy Anthony

Teresa's for Juice Plus talk - very informative and a good reminder on some healthy eating ideas

Dinner out!-Sean wanted to watch the Masters and since we don't have cable anymore no chance at our house. So we all went to Ale House and we had a blast eating together out as a family. Everyone did great and behaved wonderfully. The boys loved the dirt biking on tv, Sean glued to golf and I loved watching all my men! Boys ate all their food..yah.. and even got to have dessert. Lots of laughter and fun memories.

Movie-Sean and I watch "The Last Sin Eater" - good faith based and historical movie.

We are homeschooling!

So there's been lots of discussion as to what we are going to do about schooling next year. Sean and I both feel the Lord leading us back to homeschooling. A passion for it grows within each of us everyday. The funny thing is that soon after we got married Sean mentioned that maybe I could homeschool our kids. I looked at him like he had 3 heads and thought "boy you married the wrong woman if you think I'm going to homeschool our kids!!!" (kind of the same thought I used to have that I could never be a missionary wife-hope that one doesn't come to bit me in the butt too...of course God would change my heart completely to have me live in some remote place with no air conditioning-and honestly the idea wouldn't completely rock me...but that's a whole other blog for another day.) Anyhow....now I'm so passionate about homeschooling. And not that I think badly on traditional schooling, I just think for us homeschooling is going to be great! And God has confirmed it in many ways.

First-we didn't get into any of the charter schools

Second-he planted the seed last year and even had me attend the FPEA conference to prepare my mind for it

Third-so much encouragement from many friends that already homeschool

Fourth-this morning at church 1 ran into 5 people on my way to Life Group (we were soooo late this morning) and all 5 homeschool. Crazy right! It was like God was slapping me in the face with it. I literally didn't see ANYONE else on my way to class....and we go to a HUGE church.

Fifth-last weekend while at the lake we drove by a house that had two schooling desks out front with a "free" sign on them. My mom said, "lets grab them." My thought was, "why, I'm not homeschooling." But I got them anyhow...it's that funny!

Sixth-Boston's teacher told me months ago how great he is and how smart he is. That he picks up on things very quickly and that the only problem she can see in the future is that he will get bored in class because he will be ahead of all the other students. Homeschooling will be perfect because he can go at his pace, not the class pace.

Well there's lots of other confirmations, and I'm excited! I'm soooo excited! And if you read my blog from last week before I found out about the charter school situation you will see that deep down I really wanted to homeschool instead. A part of me wanted to, but I wanted to do God's will. God is good.

Lake beach and "Hess" b-day

Lots of beach play today!
Aunt Suzanne hangin' with Asher (and grading papers....ahhh!)

Daddy playing with the boys and making the slide a water slide

Asher and his pacifier...it's so funny to watch him put it in his mouth. He ate an entire banana today right from the banana peel. Just bite after bite. Amazing!

Getting everything set up to celebrate Uncle "Hess" (Wes as most people know him) 29th b-day party!

Can you fit 29 candles on there?

Asher in his b-day hat...too cute!

Daddy and Asher...cone heads

Surprise...Boston was so excited about getting ready for the b-day party. He just couldn't wait to get all the decorations outBirthday Boy!
Fire alarm!!!
Um...Hess....what are you doing to me?

Aunt Suzanne and Boston

PAAARRTTYYY!