Its Friday...

I am SO ready for the long weekend. Its been a long week, and I am looking forward to some family time.

I have been bitten by the scrapbooking bug. I'm going to definately have to watch the spending there. Its easy to get carried away. I think my next purchase needs to be a way to organize all this stuff! :) But it has been really nice to have something to do while A plays his game online during the evenings.

Does anyone have plans for the long weekend? Tomorrow I am going to finish painting our bedroom, go grocery shopping, and then we have small group.

Sunday is church, and maybe a family gathering... (its also Aaron's birthday if anyone wants to send him a bday greeting, email me and I'll give you his email addy )

Monday is a family day, no school, just fun. :) I know we'll all enjoy the weekend, but Tuesday will be here to fast.

Yesterday I went to my favorite consignment store, and ended up putting some clothes and stuff on layaway for the kids. I actually even got Matthew's big Christmas gift put on layaway.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3933933
I have been eyeing this in the stores- I just loved it. Anyway, I'm shopping, and I happen to look up and she places one on the shelf. I go over and its marked $9.99!!! So I put it on layaway with the clothes, and his big gift is taken care of. :)

Sadie Singing

Sadie sang with the childrens church last Sunday. :) Here's the video: (oh, at one point I pan up to see one of my little bros, and then at another, I try to pan up to the screen to see if I can get my other brother, but couldn't see him)

We Got...

So yesterday afternoon Aaron went to pick up a grill that we bought from some friends of ours that are living in apartments and can't use. He came home with the grill, and a classic nintendo game system. I mean OLD SCHOOL! It works still, its finicky, but nothing that a little classic blowing into the game won't fix. ROFL! It came with a lot of games as well, including tetris, Super Mario/Duck Hunt (anyone have a gun lying around unused?) and of course Super Mario Bros 3. LOL Aaron and I stayed up last night having a tetris tourney- so far- I rule all! lol :)

Thinking of...

All of my friends who are taking their little ones to school today. Many of them are starting Kindergarten. :) I'm praying everyone's morning went very smooth.

Please keep a friend of mine in your prayers. She is struggling with some very harsh medical issues, the doctors at this time aren't really sure what is wrong with her. But she is very worn out physically and emotionally. Her and I sat for a while last night at church while the kids were in Awana, and talked. My heart is heavy with burden for her. So if you think about it, keep her in your prayers. Today especially as she has an appt.

Survived

The first week of school. Yeah!
I woke up sick yesterday, so very thankful that I had just planned tests for the day. I ended up losing my voice before I could give Connor his spelling test, so Aaron did it when he got home.
I think it went really really well. We've incorperated their Awana stuff in the mornings during Bible time. So hopefully that will help them do well. Question for those of you with kids in Awana- do you/will you set a limit on their sections? When Sadie was in Awana before she would just fly through her sections- she memorizes so easily. Its always something that I struggled with, so I was good to say one to two sections a night.

Aaron just left to take Sadie to the church to practice for tomorrow. She is singing "Voice of Truth" in big church. :) Yes I'll take pics. lol
We are going to do some cleaning, re-organizing in the kids' rooms and try to make it down to the Habitat Re-Store to price some things. I'll also be painting our room today. I picked up the paint last night, and I love the color, I just hope I love it when everything is put back together.
I want to get matching night tables, and an entertainment armoir for our room. Wal Mart has some really really nice ones, like exactly what I had pictured- but they are on clearance. I don't think I can save the money for them before they are all sold out. :( Drat.

Um, I think thats about it for right now. :) I'll post pictures of the completed bedroom soon. I may wait until we get our bedding. :) We're re-doing our bedroom as a birthday gift to ourselves. lol Yes, I will be the ripe old age of 26 and my hubby will be celebrating 31 in 11 and 8 days respectivly. :) Happy birthday to us. If anyone asks, I want hobby lobby shopping money. lol Unless of course someone wants to buy us our bedroom furniture. lol Anyone? No one? Oh well, can't blame a girl for trying ;) Happy Saturday all!

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin.....

Yes that baby's rollin! :) Twice, tummy to back. I'm inclined to accept it. Being that he'll be five months old in four days and has shown no interest up until now. :)

OWIE!!

I am in so much pain right now :(
There is a spot on my back that is tender to the touch all the time. No clue why, but I even have to be careful about the waistline of my pants, because if they hit in that spot, even that amount of pressure hurts. My chiro has never been able to figure out why either.
Anyway, that being explained. Last night we were sitting on the couch watching America's Got Talent. Connor was sitting on the arm of the couch behind me, and fell off, slamming his legs from the knee down directly onto that spot. The pain was blindingly intense, I didn't even realize I was crying until Aaron told me. I was sore the rest of the night, didn't sleep well at all, and can hardly move this morning. :( If I had any say in it, the kids would be going somewhere for the day, I'd be taking a pain pill and crawling back in bed. Instead, powering through.
Going to do school, and hopefully get through it quickly so I can lounge on the couch the rest of the day until time to get ready for our meeting.
Pray for me. I hurt. :(

Blah Whats wrong with me???

Sometimes I get irritated at myself for being myself.
I went to the local Home school Support group's mothers tea last night. I knew a very tiny handful of people there, but they all knew other people.

I am not lying when I say it was physically painful to stay. I wanted to cry and run away. I stayed, for information sake. But there were many times when I was the only one at my table. Everyone was mingling and talking, I felt like a 12 year old girl in the middle of very sophisticated women. Now don't get me wrong, no one there made me feel this way. Everyone was beyond kind. I just feel like....I don't know. I was just so uncomfortable.

I only went because Aaron made me go, the only reason we go to small group even is because Aaron wants to go( and again this is ALL on me.....its my own issue) Nothing has happened to make me not enjoy going, I just don't feel like I fit in. It's quite painful for me.

Aaron tells me last night when I come home in tears, because I was so miserable, that I have to assert myself. He says "you are starting a business, you have to get over this" But when I have a camera in my hands I am confident, I'm calm cool and collected. I don't feel so self conscious. ugh. Why?

Well that didn't last long

Today was a bit more different than yesterday when it came to school.

Connor had one of his now-familiar melt downs, and I think I handled it ok as far as schooling goes. Instead of arguing with him, and pleading with him to finish so we coudl move on, I just moved on. He was left having to finish his Math work before he could move on. Sadie flew through the next three subjects, and once he finally realized that his attitude wasn't holding anyone back but himself he had it done and was compltetly caught up before break. *sigh*

We've taken a break now and will finish language arts when Matthew lays down for his long afternoon nap in about an hour or so.

Connor Reading

First Day of School

Today was our first day of school. It went much better than I expected. :) Grace did well, she would color on some sheets, and then go play for a bit. We took many scheduled breaks, one long one after lunch, and then finished up when Matthew went down for his afternoon nap- which is generally his long one.

I really am pleased, and am looking forward to the school year. :) I have already decided that we will be using something different for curriculum next year though- I like A beka ok, its just that there is SO much to buy with it, and most of it is consumables, and with two children in different grades right now, eventually will be four- thats quite expensive. I'd rather know that I don't have to buy second grade material for Connor next year, he can just use Sadie's. As it is though- I'll have to buy all new stuff for him. I won't be able to make my money back on the workbooks, but I will on the teachers guides. We're planning diligently for the homeschool bookfair in May, hopefully that will give us an idea of which direction to take, but for this year we will stick with what we have.

We're going on a field trip, two weeks from today. Taking the kids to Sci-port on Labor Day. :)

You know I'll post a ton of pics. :)

Its Quiet!

My husband gave me a wonderful gift today. He took ALL the kids to his mothers. I have the house to myself. Its so quiet. I'm sure I'll be missing them later, but right now its awesome. :)
I am getting some cleaning done- and its going so quickly! It took me ten minutes to tidy the living room as opposed to thirty :) No one is here being counter productive and I'm loving it.

They will return around 4:30 just in time for us to gather our things and head around the corner to small group tonight, where the kids will be taken to a sitter as well. So I am looking forward to a very relaxing day. Tomorrow is church, and then I was planning on taking Sadie and Caroline to see Nancy Drew, but I saw a sign at church yesterday that tomorrow night is Awana registration. Hmmm, not sure how that one will work out.

Monday is the first day of school. I'm ready. I'm still waiting on a few things to come in the mail- but I have enough to get me through the first week while I'm waiting on them. Lesson plans are on my to do list today as well.

Anyway, I better get busy- Just thought I would compose a post in complete silence, able to think in complete sentences without being interrupted. Wonderful!

Pictures of Bargains. :)

Bargains today....Etc

Had my pic taken today for the paper. :)

Took Connor to Learning Rx, got some interesting news. :) I'll go into more details once we talk with them on Wednesday.

Um, lets see. Hung out at my grandmothers for a bit, and then headed to Marshall for our chiro appt. We got out of there earlier than I thought we would- so anyway, I decided to go to a consignment shop over there and try to find first day outfits for the kids. Let me backtrack a bit there- I had been drooling over this skirt for Sadie at Old Navy- a long denim skirt- soo cute! But it was $24.50 I just can't bring myself to spend that much on one skirt. lol I just bought her some clothes off the classifieds board for $25, but that is three complete childrens place outfits, and a pair of old navy jeans- plus shipping! lol

I digress- I go to this consignment shop and fine the exact skirt for $4!!!!! Perfect condition. Yeah! I was very happy. She picked out a cute pink button up top to go with it- on a side note- does anyone know why I can't place a picture below words? and then type more, and then another pic? Its kinda annoying.

So anyway- after I left that shop I went to another and found a shirt for Connor, and a bunch of scrapbook stuff for a great deal! A pack of paper for $3 and some stamps etc for $2. :)

Next post will be pics. :)

Oh, say a prayer for Grace. She has a dr's appt at 10:40 in the morning, I think she might have cellulitis in her finger. Its definatly infected. :(

Checking In...

These next few days before school starts will be a little hectic. Today I am working on laundry.
Tomorrow I have to be at the paper to have my pic taken at 10, then Connor has an appt at 11:30, I am also shopping for first day of school outfits for Connor and Sadie. I know, they are going to be homeschooled, and its pointless, but last year they were in uniforms, and didn't get the joy of first day of school clothes- and I'm going to make them dress down to the shoes anyway, so why not a fun new outfit?

Friday night we have a movie and ice cream night at church, Saturday, Aaron is taking all of the kids to Jefferson so I can have several hours of peace and quiet to plan lessons. Saturday night is homegroup, Sunday church, and Sunday night I am taking my sister Caroline, and Sadie to see Nancy Drew at the $1 theatre.

Monday is our first day of school. Woohoo! I think the kids are really looking forward to it, and we really are going to have a lot of fun. We have a lot of neat things planned. :) Including a field trip two weeks after school starts. lol :)

Monday night I have a tea with the homeschool group. So crazy days ahead, so I wanted to check in and let you know I may be MIA for a while.

Matthew's Dedication

We had Matty dedicated today at church. It was very special to me at least, because we are finally back in my "home" church. A lot of history there, and I think now is the right time for us to be back there, but its taken 8 years to come "home" again. Anyway, it felt good, and right for our last baby to be dedicated at FBC.

One-Hundred!!!!!

This is my one-hundreth post on this blog! Woohoo! :) If you are a reader out there but don't comment, now might be the time to leave a comment. Ya know, just giving me your kuddos and all for sticking with something :)
I have a lot going on in my brain this morning. So bear with me if its all jumbled and runs together.

School starts in 10 days. I considered pushing it back, but then changed my mind. I really want to get a full two weeks of school in for the kids before we go on our field trip to Sci-Port on Labor Day. I feel ready on one hand, but then on the other I feel like I will never be ready.

My friend Lisa is in the air as we speak. Keep her in your prayers this week, she is flying out to Cali to be with her sister for a week. She left the kids behind with her hubby, and was having a very hard time with the thought of being away from them for so long. So if you remember, say a few prayers for her while she's away.

I started scrapbooking last night, and I think its safe to say, I'm addicted! Hobby Lobby had a bunch of stuff half off, and then I used a 40% off coupon for a kit, that had a bunch of stuff in it. I did pay full price for some papers, and then some of the 3d stickers that I just had to have.
I can tell I have a lot of learning to do, but I don't think my first layouts are to bad. I might have to snap some pics of them later so you can see them. But I'm already thinking about my next shopping trip and what else I want. :) I am going to take on organizing some more of these digigal pictures for scrapbooking later today.

Hmmm, I know I had more I wanted to say, but it all escapes me at the moment. So I guess thats it. Happy 100th post to me!

!Good Thursday Morning

I got the classroom done yesterday. It is a good feeling to have it done and ready to start school.
We start in 11 days! Yeah. :) I am very excited about it, but a little nervous. There are still a few things I need, but nothing so detrimental that I can't start without it.
The laptop is actually in the bedroom this morning, and I am going to leave it here so I can work around the house with no distractions. :)

I have been selling some things on cheapcycle. And of course I'm shopping with that same money. lol. I've been looking for some nice skirts for Sadie, because she is so into wearing dresses and skirts all the time. Most that I can find around here are to short. When we were in Rotan, Lisa showed me some of K's that came from Childrens Place. I've found a few on ebay and such, so I'm trying to get her some of those for fall.

Anyway, I'm off to have a great productive day. Go me! :)

Pictures from Vacation

Sadie Driving the Tractor
Kaitlin,Sadie and Grace sitting in the wheel of the tractor
How Sadie and Kaitlin fell asleep the first night

About half an hour after we arrived

Lisa's first meeting with Matthew

Yum Sno-Cones! These were seriously the best sno-cones I've ever had! But word of advice if you ever buy a sno-cone in Rotan....order a flat top! lol I learned the hard way. But no one told me!
Jonathan telling Connor "You're the best"
Connor driving the tractor. :)

Vacation

We left Thursday night for Rotan, TX. We went out there to visit our super duper friends. :)

We stayed the night with some other friends that night, then drove the rest of the way on Friday. We made great time and got there about 11am.

That afternoon we went for sno-cones

and went for tractor rides. :) Connor and Sadie got to drive the tractor. That night Charles and Aaron went to Abilene to see a movie- that sold out as they got there. So they went for steak and shrimp. lol

Saturday was filled with awesome photo shoots as Lisa is a wonderful photog as well. Sunday was church, and then we had to leave Monday. It wasn't near long enough, but we plan on going back around the first of December when they are stripping cotton. One of the beauties of homeschooling...field trips whenever! Even one 6 hours away. lol

My next post will be full of pics from the trip. :)

Couple Pictures

Some awesome steamy couple pictures. :)

Family Pictures

So while here in Rotan- the plan was to do some family pictures. We did that yesterday. Yesterday morning I took pictures of their family, and then yesterday evening it was our turn.

You can check out her blogs through my links to the right.

Here are a few of my faves. :)

Hola From West Texas

We are on vacation. :D I plan on taking a semi-computer vacation .
We'll be home Late monday night- so expect a TON of pictures on Tuesday. :)

Video of Matthew