Boys are noise with dirt on them

 Boys and dirt just seem to go hand in hand. I love it!

 This is "Toady" and he was a pet for about 3 grueling hours before Steve helped Toady find a safe home.

{We are all thankful that Tim didn't put Toady in his pocket}

 Look!!! They made a pond for Toady in the back yard. The boys even dug a hole so the pond is deep enough for Toady to swim in.

We are in a rented house and tried to keep the boys from digging holes... it was easier to give in, and gave them some dirt to play in. Looking at this I am really thankful that we don't have a basement!!!

Boys are noise!!! Boys are dirty!!! I love it all!!

It's all Green

I always thought Tammie was pretty, I envied her, and her sister's hair, I mean really.... why can't I have hair like that!!

Anyway... Tammie has a really great blog, it's called Simple, Healthy, Tasty. She has some great recipes that are healthy. Her family has chosen not to eat meat or dairy. Now that doesn't mean that her meals are bland... oh no! She definitely has Main Dishes, and sides, but my heart lends itself to the sweet side. Her deserts are fabulous!! And I love that I don't have to feel guilty eating them.

One of the recipes that she has on her blog is the Green Smoothie. Here is a conversation that I had with Steve about it.

Me: I think I'm going to try making a green smoothie for the boys and I.
Steve: Why?
Me: Well... because... it has spinach in it, and you can put kale in it too, and it seems to be pretty healthy.
Steve: Huh... Ok, I don't think the kids will like it.
Me: You are probably right but then we'll know.
------The next morning----
Burrrrrrr {that's the sound of the blender}
James: Mom, what are you making?
Me: Just a shake
James: Can I have some?
Me: Sure.
James: Huh... this is pretty good, what's in it?
Me: Just drink it all and then I'll tell you.

Tommy and Tim had some too, and I spooned some for Benji since the drinking through a straw skill hasn't come yet and they all really like it. I had some left over so I put it in the freezer, because it separates, and when it does you can see all the spinach.... When I pulled it out it was the consistency of sorbet. So I put it into bowls and the boys got it like that too. Which then they thought they were getting a treat. Because I added the lemon to me it tasted like a berry lemonade. {I ran out of spinach really fast this week and am now doubling the amount of spinach I buy.... hopefully next year the ants won't eat our spinach!} If you are going to try eating Raw, this is a good way to start.

Here is another recipe that I tried. Veggie Bean Burgers, these were really good. I love a good burger, but you know the heavy I-ate-waaaaay-to-much feeling you get after one? These don't offer that. They are really colorful and smell so good when they are cooking. And for all of you tasters out there... You can actually taste these before they are cooked. I am all about easy to make meals and these took me about 15 minutes to put together.

I don't know yet if I'm ready to commit all the way to this lifestyle, we are taking it slow. We are now eating more vegetarian and when we do have meat we view it more of a side dish instead of the main part of the meal. I like knowing that Tammie's blog is there and that I can see all the great HEALTHY recipes.

To peek your interest even more Tammie is having a giveaway on her blog right now an ebook with her recipes that are at an easy to reach place. This on is Salads, Sandwiches, Sides & Soups. {go take a peek}

I think eating healthy is the easiest think to do to change your lifestyle, and it doesn't have to be bland and boring!  Thank you Tammie.

SWAP!!!

I have been waiting all summer for Mamarazzi's Swap, {and honestly quite sad that she didn't do a Red, White, and Blue Swap... but summer at her house got crazy fun and so I've moved on :)}

So here we are today and it's that time again. This is one I haven't done so I'm really excited for!!

Horray for  SWAPS!!! They make the world happy! {or at least the people who are getting some really fun mail anyway. }

A day in OUR life

{I had hopes to having cute pictures of my boys looking studious but that didn't happen... it was one of those days...}

I do have people who ask me what my day is like, and what do I do.... and how I manage the day with homeschooling and home... so here you go.

6:00-6:30ish - I start hearing little ones getting up {why... why are they up so early???}
7:00am - Everyone {me} is up for family prayer before Steve leaves for school
7:00-9:00 - We have breakfast, and chores, scripture reading, the boys get dressed, {Benji runs amuck}
9:00-12:00ish - Devotional, and pledge and school {Benji will go down for a nap and then he joins the chaos} {during this time I also will toss in a load of laundry or a quick wipe down of a table.}
12:00 - 1:00 ish - we have lunch
From here until 4:00 it's free time.... but it also time to finish up all the things that didn't get done. There is practicing the violin {for James} and any school work that needs to be done. Also this is the time when I plan my errands for, or any playdates.
Then comes the nightly stuff.... dinner, shower, ect.

Wow.... look at this there is a lot of time that is not accounted for.  I really need to change that!

So there is our day in a nutshell... I really am busy all day... but now that I am her sitting and thinking about it I can't tell you what I do.

I'll do this again some day and will have written it out better.

"Not" Back to School Pictures

It's that time of year.... school picture time. I HATED school pictures. There was even one year that I had to have mine done again because they were so bad... I'm not a big picture person.

I think school pictures are dull, and boring. You sit and look at the camera, and 3.2 seconds later you are done and every kid has the same pose.

I do want the boys to have pictures every year, I just want the regular ones.

So here we go......

 James... 7 years old, 2nd grade.

 He really likes books, The Magic Tree House is his favorite series. He loves science and history.

Tommy is 6 and in 1st grade.

He is quite the ham and loves to make people laugh. He likes to write stories and is really good and just about everything. Currently he is writing a paper on cavemen.

Tim is 5 and is starting Kindergarten.

Tim loves to learn and is excited about learning his letters and learning how to read. He loves his GeoTracks and will build the most amazing tracks that you will ever see!

 He loves to laugh!

Benji is 1{yeah!} and he is in the grade of Getting-into-EVERYTHING!

He likes to run the house. When it gets quiet we know we need to go look for him. He likes to eat, open doors, eat, pull the pots out of the cupboard,  and eat.

Here are the boys, I think we all learn a lot from each other, and we all have a really good time.

This is what most of the photo shoots look like... crazy faces, babies running away, and a dog that needs to be in the picture too...

Every now and then the timing is right and I can get them all.

Here's to a great year!!!

{the dog was feeling left out so I took one of him too.}

When is it my turn??

For the past 11 years I have been following Steve around. We went to Monterey when he joined the military to learn a language, then to Arizona while he was in training. Then I waited at home with two babies while he was deployed. After that we settled down in Roy for a bit before uprooting again and going back to Arizona for a couple years.

While we were there Steve went overseas again. Once he got back, after some prayer and fasting we uprooted..again... and came to Florida so Steve could go to Chiropractic school.

Pretty much everything has revolved around Steve and what he is doing and what he wants.... and I guess that's the way it seems.

I often get asks "When is it your turn?" When is it my turn to do something that I want to do? When do I get to have something for me???

Well... I can honestly say that I have that right now.  My turn is waking up to at least one little boy needing to be snuggled in the morning. It's getting to see that first smile of the day when I get the baby out of bed. My turn is getting to take care of my family, making dinner and doing laundry.  My turn is getting to see the excitement in the eyes of the boys when they show me a new lego creation, or drawing that was made.

I love my roll as a mom and wife. I enjoy it.... mostly. I don't live life through rose color glasses, and having to 7 loads of laundry in one day because the boys tried to recreate the Great Lakes in the bathroom and it didn't go well is usually followed by me grumbling as I am folding towels... but I do love the day to day going ons here.

I enjoy the adventures that we have been on because of Steve. I support him because he supports me. Because of the things that he has done, I have been able to stay at home with our kids. He is choosing a profession that will continue to support our family so I can stay at home, and provide for us well so we can live the lifestyle we would like to.

I do have dreams and there are things that I want to do, but right now... this is my turn, this is my time in my life and this is my journey.

I am happy for it.

ONE year old!!!

Can you believe that my baby is a year old??? This year has gone so fast!!! Lets take a little walk down memory lane....

Born 8-9-10 {what an easy birthday to remember}

He was pretty strong and learned early to lift his head.

Here is at one month. All cute and curled up. I love the way the light is shining on him.

Month 2... look at those cheeks!

Another at 2 months. I seriously can't get over these cheeks!

Here we are at 3 months his eyes have changed from that dark smokey blue to a beautiful blue, these eyes will be killer!

Here is at 4 months, he is getting so much bigger and so fun.

{can you believe that it's November!!! it was warm enough to do diaper shops}

Merry Christmas with a 5 month old.

Those eyes, and that dimple.... yeah... he's a cutie.

At 6 months he is sitting up and just waiting to get into things.

I have a hard time saying no to this... I mean really....

7 months and sitting up really well.

I love this look that he is giving to the monkey.... I was hoping he would like the monkey, but that has yet to be determined.

I love this picture of him!!! Look at those eyes!! 8 months came and went so fast, and Benji was turning into a ninja baby.... he was able to crawl really quietly and would sneak up on people.

Here he is at 9 months and not only is he pulling him self up on things he is pulling things off of shelves and bookcases... oh the joy!! The funny thing is... he will squeal and crawl away really fast as you come over to get him.

At 10 months he started walking... a surprise for us because all our other boys didn't walk until after a year... getting him to sit for a picture was really hard. {there was a plane in the air so he took a moment to look at it... I took the time to take the picture of him being somewhat still}

I love my fat baby!!! At 11 months... he is definitely not starving. His ninja skill have improved and I think he has super hearing too... every time the dishwasher, or refrigerator open he comes running.

Happy birthday baby!! I love you. It has been a joy to have you in our family. You keep us all on our toes. Your smile brightens a room and you laugh makes us all giggle. I know your brothers think you are a little bothersome now, but that come with being a little brother, they do love you and take such good care of you. You are so sweet and fun to snuggle... when you will let me. You are too busy trying to run with the big boys to let me snuggle you much. This year has gone by way to fast! Here is to many more!!!

Happy first year!!!

Just with some cards

James learned how to stack cards and so well does he need to do next... stack some cards. After many tries... and having to put Benji down for a nap, he wasn't much help.

Clearly he is excited!!

I let the boys loose

We needed to go to Orlando for an appointment for Benji, but well.... it didn't happen. So to make the best of a bad situation we went to the Orlando Children's Museum. It was a good way to break up the day and a way to let the boys out to run before the hour drive home.

There was an exhibit with guitars, it was really neat to see all the different kinds and the progression of it. James is here with the largest -working- guitar. It is 43 feet long. {and touch-able, which James liked}

 I thought this was a cute picture of Benji, he is watching his brother play.

Tommy and Tim in the hurricane machine. I think they are getting a trial run for this hurricane season.

Tim loved it, he liked the wind whipping his hair around.

 There was a giant chess board so James and I played a game. It was fun and I think that James like the life size pieces.

I thought this was funny.... there was a flight simulator the the boys both tried. While they waited for their turn we watched many kids crash.... as did the boys. It was fun and they liked it but Tommy didn't even get off the runway before he crashed, James did a bit better, he actually go in the air, but shortly after he took a nose dive into a pond. Then there was this older gentleman... he must have been a pilot because he was actually good at it. And this man had waited a good half hour to sit and have his turn... I wonder how many times he wanted to take over the controls when the kids were flying and save the air craft.

It was a good day, we like museums and it's always an fun time.

Curriculum

This year I decided to buy a curriculum.... kinda. I got the second grade bundle from the Creative Thinking Co.  I am really excited about this year! {we have already started...... and so far so good}

I posted about his earlier but I'll let you know again.... I have boys who really like to read, I didn't feel that buying a curriculum that had them reading preselected books would be right for them. I don't want to feel like I have to have them stop reading what they want to read what is "required". 

Last year I was putting together my own curriculum but it was starting to take a toll and I was hitting road blocks with how to teach things... in what order, and I was getting flustered. 

With CTC I seem to found what I was looking for while still getting to keep what I want and what is working.

We are also doing Story of the World, and love it. We have taken it slow and really enjoyed the history.

Do you want to see how I have it set up???

 Each of the boys have a binder, which the boys decorated with a collage, it was really fun watching the boys cut the magazines and to see what caught their eye.

Then I have a list of what we will do daily {math, language arts, spelling, ect.} and then what we will do each day as well {science 2 days, history 2 days, art 1 day} That way they can see what we will be working on each day. Now this list is still a work in progress... to see what days are going to lend them self well to what we are doing.

There daily stuff is set in the front pocket of the binder, and this stuff they can work as quickly as they would like. If they want to do 5 pages of math on Monday, then that's ok. But until it's done they need to work on there daily stuff a little every day.

Then I have tabbed pockets for each day with there daily stuff put in it. This they can only do on the assigned day. {Tommy would do EVERYTHING on Monday just to have it all done} So this way they are working every day. When they are done with the assignment they put the paper in the back pocket so I can take a look at it. We also do a lot of stuff.... mostly LA on the white board together.

James {2nd grade} and Tommy {1st grade.... but doing 2nd grade work} have the same thing in their binders... minus math which is different}  Tim is working through reading and writing. He does do History and Science with us, I just help him with anything that he needs to write. The boys love Magic Tree House books so on Friday they can get on the website and get stickers for the passports, they are wanting to read all 48 books by the end of the school year {which I know they can do}

I am using Hooked on Phonics for Tim {Kindergarten} to learn how to read. I'm not using the CD's I just sit with him and we do it together. I am also using the 2nd grade HOP for James. He is a good reader, but I'm hoping this will help make him a stronger reader, especially when he reads out loud.

Of course we have Benji too... and well... we just work around him. He hangs out and squeals at every one {you all ma thank Tim and Tommy for teaching him that}

I feel really good about this year, and am really happy about how things are going. The boys really like the Critical Thinking stuff and are enjoying our schedule.