Mini Post Monday

• One of the things I really like about homeschooling is that I can tailor our curriculum to our needs - even if I need to change courses mid-year.  Last year I used Peace Hill Press for our language arts.  Although I LOVE their reading curriculum, their beginning grammar was just not for us.  Aaron hated doing it, I wasn't thrilled with what he was learning, and we began avoiding it.  So a couple months ago, I ordered the Rod and Staff 2nd grade English program and it is great!  Aaron likes doing it, I like that it gets him writing more, and I like the way the information is organized and presented. I also love the way biblical material is woven into every lesson. It's great to not have to suffer through a year with a mismatched program just because it is what the school uses!
• Did you make any amazing Thanksgiving recipes?  I made the Bobby Flay Pumpkin Bread Pudding from his Throwdown with Pioneer Woman, and Oh. My. Goodness.  That is one good (though super involved) recipe.  I think I gained 3 pounds just from making it though...
• I saw the most humorous sight in the parking garage at our library the other day.  It was so funny to me that I had to whip out my cell phone and take some pictures.  I appologize for the quality of these, but phone pictures taken in a dark parking garage are not the best.  Anyway...I understand the value of good stewardship and taking care of what you have, which is why a lot of people get a steering wheel lock for their car. 

          However, I usually see these types of locks on nice, expensive cars that someone

          might want to steal. Can you imagine anyone wanting to steal this car?

I personally think the owner of this truck could leave it unlocked with the windows down and still return to find it undisturbed!
• I have requested a Kindle for Christmas.  I have struggled with whether or not I wanted one because I love the actual, physical page, but I gave in.  What's on your list?
• The Christmas decorations are up and the house feels quite festive! We got some new ornaments this year too, because I was tired of having the rag-tag decorations collected since the beginning of time.  I love my new ornaments!

The first ornament to go on the tree this year!

• The kids were actually a help with decorating this year.  They remembered where a lot of the decorations were last year and got them out of boxes and put them in the right places.  It was really nice.  They also decorated their room with two 1 foot trees and a lighted garland.

Aaron putting ornaments (ones I banned from our main tree this year) on the garland we put in their room!

Thanksgiving Thursday

I am thankful for so many thing, but today I think I will just say that I am thankful for a son and the Son.

Mini Post

Didn't I used to do these regularly? :)

Jerry has been working like a maniac on the second bathroom we are remodeling.  I love this bathroom.  It is so peaceful and beautiful that I just want to go in there with a good book, shut the door and hang out for a while.

Jerry hard at work.  We bought this table at Pier 1 and he drilled a hole into it and added the plumbing himself!

The beautiful sink and vanity combo! 

Jerry raised the pipes in the wall to put the faucet right into the wall.  And check out that seashell frame - it is so lovely!

We added blue, brown, and yellow accents.



 Last week, Jerry's parents came for a visit.  We don't get to see them too often, so it was great to have them come.  While they were here, we had a huge birthday celebration for the four people who had birthdays in November!

Jerry's dad turned 75!

Jerry's mom turned 73.

Jerry hit the big 3-6!

And baby Andrew turned 2.  How is that even possible??

 In totally unrelated news, check out this potato!  It is truly a Texas potato.  Doesn't it look like a pair of cowboy boots?

 Andrew is suddenly VERY attached to his blankets.  He sleeps with them, carries them around the house, takes them with him when he plays, says goodbye to them when he leaves to go somewhere...  As you can tell by this picture, he isn't happy with just one blanket, he wants every blanket he owns at once!

 This year, we actually got some amazing fall color!   We don't normally get fall color.  The leaves here tend to go from green to brown, but we got a lot of rain this fall, and this is the result!  Now, if it wasn't 82 degrees out as I type this, it might actually feel like fall out there!

Hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Another Photo Thursday

Don't have that much to say. We've all been sick except for Isaac. I love nursing!

Cowboys

I am always amazed that when people come to the Dallas area, they expect to see real, live Cowboys. Let me fill you in on a secret: just because Dallas is in Texas does not mean we have handsome men in chaps, spurs, and a cowboy hat walking down every street.  In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find a person like that in Dallas proper.  Now, go outside the city limits, past the suburbs just a bit, and yeah.  You'll find lots of those real, live cowboys.

Aaron, circa 2006, proud of his Texas heritage!

However, those are not the cowboys this post is about.  This post is about the only true "Cowboy" in Dallas, er, Arlington now, but what's the dif? ;)

Okay, so there's a big difference, but that's not what this post is about either. The Dallas Cowboys have gotten so bad, that now when people gather around the water cooler to talk about "America's Favorite Team" it is to share jokes like these:

• The Texas State Police are cracking down on speeders heading into Dallas. For the first offense, they give you 2 Dallas Cowboy tickets. If you get stopped a second time, they make you use them.

• What do you call 47 millionaires around a TV watching the Super Bowl?  The Dallas Cowboys

• How do you keep a Dallas Cowboy out of your yard?   Put up a goal post.

• What do you call a Dallas Cowboy with a Super Bowl ring?   Old

• What's the difference between the Dallas Cowboys and a dollar bill?   You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.

• What do the Cowboys and a possum have in common?   Both play dead at home and get killed on the road!

Thursday

1. Everyone should read this article about the Bush tax cuts. Very interesting.

2. What is it about feed sacks that make racing so much fun for kids? And grandpas.

3. Is it Christmas break yet? I am so in the sewing mood. I want to sew and try to make lip gloss/chapstick and paint the ugly green bathroom.

Mini Post Monday

I never grew up celebrating Halloween, nor do I promote it with my own children.  However, each year at this time of year, my church puts together a huge event for families in the community to provide a safe, fun place fore kids to come all dressed up.  This year, they really outdid themselves.  There were hayrides, bounce houses, horse rides, a petting zoo, dozens of game booths for the kids to visit, live music, puppet shows, smores, hot dogs, funnel cakes...oh, and tons of candy. Since my kids cannot eat the candy due to their allergies, they even had a bag with little toy prizes at each game for my kids!  Wasn't that an incredible thing for them to do?  Needless to say, the kids had a blast.

Andrew as a frog.  He loves frogs and makes the cutest little "ribbit" noises!

I really wanted to capture a picture of Ethan, but he was in camo, so I'm not sure you'll be able to spot him...  :)

I didn't get a picture of Aaron in his costume (bad mommy), but he decided out of the 5 costumes he has, he would wear the exact same one he wore last year.  So if you're dying to see him, do a search for last year at this time, and mentally age progress the pirate you find by one year.

While his brothers ran around totally thrilled, Andrew was a bit overwhelmed by the thousands of people and tons of noise.

Both Aaron and Ethan were able to throw the football right into the opening twice in a row!

Believe it or not, that went in! We really have to work with this kid on stepping with the proper foot when throwing a ball...

This is my all time favorite game!  The kids have to stick their hands up a giant nose to grab a piece of candy.  The lucky kids also get some snot (aka water squirts or green silly string)!  How awesome is that? (Yeah, it's obvious why God gave me 3 boys...)

Jerry has been working overtime in the bathroom.  He is trying to get it to at least have a functional toilet and sink when his parents come to visit in 1 1/2 weeks! This weekend, he got the rest of the wainscot and moulding up, tiled and grouted the floor, and hung the mirror.  I cannot wait to show you how this looks with the vanity and sink in also!  It is going to be amazing.  Now I have to choose a paint color for the wall between the wainscot and ceiling.  I think first I need to find some sort of accent tile for the shower, then pick a wall color from that.  I've learned it is much easier to pick paint that matches an item, then to look for an item to match paint!

Amazing tiled floor.   The shower tile is this same travertine only in 8" tiles rather than 12".

The mirror I found last week.  I took one for the team and went shopping to do my share of work here in the bathroom! :)

 Did any of you happen to notice when my adoption ticker turned the two year mark last week?  Originally we thought we'd be going to China to get our little girl around the 28 month mark.  Now it is at least 48.  Sigh. So we still pray for her birth mom, that she'd be found by the officials soon after her abandonment, and that she'd stay healthy and be loved in the orphanage. And I still have a Hannah sized hole in my heart as I wait for her.

Now I'm going to make a shameless plug for my business!  I am currently running a contest! If you would like a chance to earn some free jewelry by simply showing a Premier Designs catalog to your friends, family, co-workers...and making sales, let me know!  You earn 20% of all your sales in free jewelry and have chances to win 1/2 price jewelry, a Petite Swaravski Tennis Bracelet, and an aditional free item (up to $40 value) of free jewelry! Plus, the person participating who gets the highest retail in sales gets a bonus $50 in free jewelry! I have 3 participants so far, so the contest is on!!  To join in the fun, just leave a comment with your e-mail address, or contact me via the info in the pic below to get started!

Okay.  That's the end of my shameless business promotion.  You may now go back to your general bloggy fun.