Homeschool Buds

Today Josh's friend, Mikey, is here with us. When Mikey comes here he always wants to "play" school, even though he is also homeschooled. I tried to get them to do some real workbook pages (although he didn't have any he HAD to do), but they wanted to be the teachers, so I left them to their play. Before leaving I snapped this cute picture of Josh getting a good laugh from something his buddy had said. I know Josh looks extremely white (and he is), but he's not that bright! I tried to lighten the picture, but it just wouldn't. I guess he was too close to the flash... Anyway, it is fun to see them play together. They have been friends since they were two years old. I think I will go for now and lurk around the corner to hear what funny thing they might say next!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, we have officially...
1.) stuffed ourselves silly
2.) had plenty of interesting table conversation AND
3.) tons of laughs
4.) enjoyed our bounty of blessings
5.) thanked God for it all
All and all it has been a pretty great Thanksgiving. I hope each of you have enjoyed your day as well. I am so thankful for loving family and friends.


GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY ANDREW!

I can't believe our little Andrew is 4 years old today! Just the other day, I was telling him how I couldn't believe he only had a couple more days to be 3, and that he's supposed to be my tiny baby to hold. He looked at me with his WIDE eyes and said oh so sweetly, "but you know, even though I'll be 4, I'll still be little enough to hold!" Talk about melt my heart...

Joshua got to help pick out Andrew's birthday gifts and he managed to hold the secrets in for two whole days! He has been SO excited for Andrew to get his presents because he's a real shopper...he picks out what he likes!

I have another Andrew story...(I'm not sure I've ever shared on here that he is our comedian, but he IS!) Anyway, I asked him if Josh was letting him play with his new toys and he said, "we're not having ANY problems!" Maybe it was funnier in person, but trust me, it was funny. They are having a great time playing. I'm so thankful that they are truly the best of friends.

I just have to share one more funny Andrew story, since it is his day and all... He got a new Webkinz pet. If you don't know what that is, it is a stuffed animal that also has an internet game. Anyway, the tag was tied quite tightly around the stuffed dog's leg. Andrew wanted to have the tag cut off because, "it's killing his leg!" He's too funny.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy! We love you!

Halloween

I don't want to neglect to post our Halloween night picture. We went simple with the costumes this year. I actually had costumes in my shopping cart and was all the way on the other side of the store when I thought...."I cannot justify spending this money!" We wheeled on over to the boys clothing section and the boys fell in love with these glow in the dark shirts. I asked them what they thought about getting them instead of the costumes [we had just spent a half hour picking out!]? You know what? They were totally okay with it! I love the simplicity of a child. There was no fussing and crying like I had invisioned! It was just a matter of walking back to the other end of the store to neatly hang the costumes back where they belonged. You know what else? They were every bit as excited to wear their cool new glow in the dark shirts as they would have been with the hot stuffy costumes we were going to get. Why do we try to make things so complicated sometimes.......?

All We Like Sheep

I'd like to add a little something about sheep... We had some company over last night and one of my friends was asking why God refers to us as sheep. My short answer is because they are STUPID!

As a child, it was my job in the evenings to gather and pen all of our sheep. It often took me hours to do (at least it seemed like it) and maybe it wouldn't have to all the time, but nevertheless...it took awhile because they wouldn't be all in the same place. One or two or maybe even a small group of them would be here or there and they'd get themselves hemmed up on the hillside where it was difficult to get around them and move them the right direction. And then in the meantime the rest of the group had again wandered away, so I'd have to go and get them again! So finally I'd close the gate and think I was finished and lo and behold I'd find more. Then there might be a lamb or two or even triplets left out alone that would need to be carried back. Sometimes it seemed to be a never ending battle.

Some years later we ended up with a dog who could reign them right on in with no trouble or if you honk a horn that will usually work. So I guess it was just me trying to do things the hard way. But I enjoyed my play along the way. I would talk and sing to myself and yes, even express my deep frustration at those stupid sheep. I'm sure glad God doesn't ever give up and decide to just leave us out in the cold on the hillside, like I was tempted so many times to do with my flock. And truth be known, I probably did leave them out there a few times!

Why do we act like sheep? Are we bound to act like them? Have we no hope of NOT acting like them? Sometimes I wonder... Why bother? I'm just a stupid sheep and I'll never be anything but... But I don't think God wants us to think that way. He probably wouldn't even use the word stupid. I'm sure He has a much deeper view of us that we can't even fathom.

Really, I don't know where I'm going with this...I'm sure I could continue on in my ponderings and perhaps I will, but life beckons me now. If I come up with more thoughts on the subject, I'll continue with the post. Now I've got to get to class....

Words and Babies

So here's the thing...I recently invited some new guests to this blog and now I fear they will arrive only to be disappointed! I mean let's face it, I'm a lousy blogger! Do I really give anyone (other than grandparents) any reason to keep coming back? So, I'm going to attempt.....notice I said ATTEMPT to be a little wordier. Is that a word? Now maybe not EVERY time, but at least some of the time. So here goes....oh goodness I'm scared, I've just written six sentences already and I'm afraid I'll run out of things to say before I even start!

Okay...let me start with a picture so I'll have something to go with....

Many of you may not know, that this is what is literally BEside our house! Yes, we have cattle all over the place, but our nearest neighbors are sheep. This is the time of year when the lambs are born and they have multiplied in the last couple of weeks by the DOZENS!! I'm not exaggerating. I tried to get a picture of a bunch of the little ones all together, but they scattered when I got the camera, so I only got a few of them together.

Yesterday I peeked out the window and watched as ALL the dozens of lambs were playing while their mommas ate. They would run as fast as they could from one side of the pen to the other and then back again, over and over. I called the boys to watch with me and we got so tickled at how cute they were.

Funny story....Andrew was born in November, so all those babies (well not those babies, but the ones we had at the time) were out there like they are now. At night, I could here the lambs crying through the baby monitor and I would wake up thinking it was my baby! It sounded so similar! Talk about not much sleep with a newborn.... Not only did I have my little one waking me, but a hundred others as well!

Well, I think I'm going to call it quits for now...I think I could get used to this though...we'll see. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment! :)

P.S. If you click on the pictures, you can view them full screen!

Breaking News

The tooth fairy is coming to our house on Halloween!! Yes, Josh lost his very first baby tooth this afternoon, totally unexpectedly! I had no idea it was even loose. He was eating some chicken when I noticed he was looking in the mirror. I saw blood and asked if he'd lost a tooth. He started crying and said no. He was about to get pretty hysterical with the blood, but I calmed him down, reached in and literally picked the tooth up. I can't believe it! My little boy is growing up. To me this is such a significant event. It's one of those bittersweet moments where you grieve the passing of one era into another, and at the same time, celebrate it!

Boxed In

So the boys have this big cardboard box they've been playing in. One evening, Josh came into the living room and I noticed that it was very quiet in the bedroom. When I asked if Andrew was asleep, Josh said NO! Craig and I gave each other a concerned look and he went in to check. He found Andrew like this.......

He checked to make sure he was breathing and then called me in to see how cute he looked. Josh was mistaken and he had indeed fallen asleep!

Precious Friends

I immediately fell in love with this shot as soon as I snapped it. It is a rare treasure to get one with such natural smiles. I love to see the contrast in their eye color. It amazes me! Isn't our God awesome?!

Will Post Again

Goodness! I see it has been a whole month since I've posted anything! Stay tuned and I'll try to get something up this week.

Thinking outside the box

So, the other day it was confirmed that my brain does not function like that of a little boy! As much as I try, it just will NOT do it. I'm talking about LEGOS! Isn't it the right side of the brain that is the creative side? I've decided, I don't even have a right brain! Let me show you what I mean......

Here's Josh's LEGO creation, a nice little aircraft of sorts. It even had a place for the little LEGO man to ride.

Now here's my LEGO creation......

Yep, that's right, the best I can come up with is 4 plain walls. Maybe a tower, but that would be branching out a bit. When it comes to building I can't seem to think "outside the box!" I thank God that he made boys (and a few girls) with this creative abilty. Otherwise, I'd have to send this note out on the Pony Express!

That boy can follow instructions!

While Joshua was busy with school this morning, Andrew had decided to pull out the K'Nex for some random fun. I walk in to discover that he has followed step by step instructions to create this little sea creature. Can you tell I'm proud?! It isn't that it was that hard to do....it's just that he took the initiative to do it on his own. I'm easily impressed I guess!

Playing hard!

The time has come..... I have joined the ranks of women who call themselves Soccer Moms. All I need now are a couple of those stickers to slap on the back of my Tahoe!

Saturday was a HOT funfilled day of first games. Andrew played first and tired out before the first quarter was over, but he sure played hard for those few minutes! By the last quarter the coach couldn't muster up enough kids to even finish the game! It was really quite funny, but his coach is wonderful and she takes it all in stride. It is definately all about just having a good time.

Josh played next and they did fairly well considering the opponents had been playing since they were...... Andrew's age! A full 3 years for some of them!! Josh is the only boy on his team, but he doesn't seem to mind. He hung in there and played a good part of each quarter. We're just hoping that next Saturday is cooler!

Playing Chess

Here are my three boys playing chess together. It is a rare and special occaision that they do this. This set was one that Craig brought home from Iraq and is made of marble. (Very pretty and breakable!) So Josh and Andrew don't get to play with it without his supervision. They do have a plastic set, but of course they prefer to play with the breakable one! I spent much of the time laughing at them as they played because Josh made the funniest faces as he was losing and Andrew was laughing so hard. By the way, Josh was a wonderful sportsman and not a sore loser at all! : ) Andrew on the other hand..... : )

Trying out a new feature...

I know this is not the best slideshow in the world, but I just had to try it out real quick. I could really have a lot of fun with this. My friend Stephanie posted a cute video of a little girl...don't know who she is, just one of those videos that's out there in cyberspace of a random person I guess...anyway, she was quoting scripture and it is adorable! Well, that got me thinking, and I'd love to be able to share with all of you how well Josh can quote the verses he just learned in school. Plus he is working on his third poem already. Andrew says a lot of the stuff right along with him. Hopefully, I can get this thing all figured out and share it with you soon! For now...I hope you enjoy this.

Hold on to your hats boys!

Andrew was so funny with his hat...he pulled on it until it was all out of shape just to try and keep it on. It's really kind of small for him anyway because it is one that has elastic inside to make it fitted. It ends up sliding off his head every few minutes. His head is about the same size as Josh's. I measured them the other day...they're just shaped different.

Ridin' Dixie

Postscript to post below

Joshua and I were just looking at our funny picture again and he said, "you look like the Ferocious Beast!" HA HA HA.......

I'm gonna knock you to the moon!

I cannot believe I'm actually posting this picture of myself, but I think it is hysterical! Josh and I were just being silly when this was taken, but I cracked up when I saw it. It looks so typical of us. To explain the title...my mom used to use that phrase all the time. Of course, I'd always laugh at her, but now I use it too! I told Josh I was going to use it as the title to this picture and he cracked up too. Our humor is similar.

Now the nice me....