Mini Post Monday

Welcome to Mini Post Monday, "First Day of School" Edition!! I *LOVE* the first day of school! And yes, I know I am a geek. I've come to terms with that a long time ago! And this year I have been looking forward to it in a way I haven't in previous years since my children are old enough to really, truly get on each other's nerves! Summer's lack of structure really needed to end...

Aaron, ready to go!

• Is it possible that Aaron starts the 3rd grade this year? I had my very first crush on a boy in the third grade.  I sat next to him at our "table" made from four desks pushed together, and thought he was so cute.  Boy am I thankful there are no little girls in Aaron's "class" at school for him to crush on...I am *so* not ready to deal with that! 

Ethan, excited about 1st grade!
• Ethan has joined the ranks of "real" school in 1st grade this year.  He continues to amaze me with his zeal for life and love of learning.  I cannot wait to see what he does this year!

Does this look like a future 3rd grader to you? Where did the time go?

Close brothers from the very beginning.  How much joy it brings me that they can continue to develop their bond every single day doing school together at home! We are so very blessed.
• I am wondering how Andrew will do this year with school.  Last year he was really in the way, wanting to be involved with what we were doing and sit in my lap the whole day or look at our school books without us.  I am hoping that the maturity he has gained since the end of last year will allow him to play independently at least a little bit during our school day.

I know it must be very hard to picture him causing any kind of trouble during the day...
• I am going to attempt to be a bit more scheduled with my days this year.  I started on this path last year, but Andrew made it hard to stick to it much.  However, with more detailed subjects to teach, I think it will be important if we want to actually get everything done.

A first day of school family tradition.
• The boys made it through one more allergy treatment last week.  After this, they still have a treatment in early November, but after that one, they get to wait until March! Woo-Hoo! I cannot wait until we are down to only 2 treatments a year!
• I have been thinking about traditions, and realizing that we don't have very many fall traditions prior to Thanksgiving.  What are some of your family's fall traditions?

Mini Post Monday

• About a month ago, we celebrated 14 years of marriage! My parents kept the boys overnight and gave us a night at the Westin Hotel at the Galleria in Dallas! We had Mi Cocina for dinner, walked the mall, had Haagen Daz for dessert, and actaully had a quiet evening together for a change! Wonderful! For my anniversary, Jerry got me a new camera. I cannot tell you how excited I am about it, although I still haven't learned how to use all of its features. The pictures in this post are a few we took while trying to figure out the new camera.

Just goofing off with the new camera...this is Drew on our way to a July 4th cookout.

• I cannot tell you how excited I am for school to be starting next week. I am soooo tired of hearing the kids bicker and get on each other's nerves! I am also tired of hearing the words, "I'm bored." At least with tons of school work to do, they won't have a valid reason to say they're bored. Not that they won't still try it...
• The Jr. High Grammar class I was so excited about teaching at our local homeschool co-op didn't make.  I was so disappointed I had a hard time gathering my things and getting out of there without crying in front of everyone.  But I know that there were many people praying that just the right students would sign up, so the fact that I didn't get enough to keep the class tells me God has something else for me to be doing instead.  I'm choosing to trust that his plan is better than mine, because, you know, it is.

One of the sillier features of the new camera - templates to put the pictures in - right on the camera screen! Crazy.

• I am working through a Kay Arthur Bible study right now called, Lord, I Want to Know You.  It is a study on the names of God, and it has been amazing!! I am so thankful that I had already done the lesson on El Elyon before the co-op registration.  It is so amazing to me to try to understand fully what it means that God is Most High, fully in control of everything that happens.  I am not sure my human brain can fully comprehend it all, but to know that even when Satan attacks, he has to ask God's permission first - well that's comforting to me! That means that God has a purpose and plan to use each of those hard times for my betterment. His plan will happen no matter what because he is sovereign over heaven and earth, angels and demons, the good and the bad.  Wow.

Jerry took this one...I know it is a horrible picture as far as pictures go, but the effect of having the outside blurry and the focus only on Aaron's head is cool. I'm sure there's a technical name for this effect...

• It's amazing just how cool 86 degrees feels after 40 days in a row of temperatures over 100 degrees. Saturday we actually had rain (!!!) and the temperature stayed so low - sitting in the house under the ceiling fan actually felt cold that day!

This picture doesn't show any special camera feature, but I love seeing Andrew really able to join in with what his brothers are doing now.  And I love that his brothers humor him and let him join the fun!

• Jerry and the boys have another allergy treatment this week.  We all hate these treatments so much, but also cannot deny that they have made a world of difference for our overall health. With a treatment on Thursday, we are on much stricter eating now through September 9. It's no fun, but we also thought it was important to get another treatment in before the fall baseball season gets in full swing so that the kids aren't suffering after each practice and game.  The summer clinics they did, although fun and very educational for them, were horrible for their allergies.  With no rain, the dust has been unbearable.  Mix that with the tree pollen and the ragweed, and they coughed and sniffed after each night at the ballpark. Actually, all of us except for Andrew did! Remind me on Friday when both my older boys are throwing up and miserable that it is worth it, okay?



Mini Post Monday

• Go on and admit it...You figured that after a few posts "back blogging," that I had already given up, didn't you?? Ha!  Actually, I just went on vacation.  I know lots of bloggers schedule posts to publish while they are gone so there is no interruption to the blog, but quite frankly, I'm just not that organized! I barely got my family packed before we had to leave for the airport, much less wrote blog posts.
• I got to go to Washington, DC for the very first time!! I mean, I drove through it at night, on a bus, with my fellow Teen Missions friends on our way from Southern FL to JFK airport, but that doesn't count, okay?  It was amazing! Hopefully, I'll post lots of pictures soon. 

Me and my boys with statues of the George Washington family at Mt. Vernon.

On the steps of the Jefferson Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background.

• Did you know you can listen to audio books on a Kindle?  I may be the very last person with a Kindle to discover this! Upon Granny's suggestion, I got A Patriot's History of the United States for free with a trial membership to Audible.com and had it sent wirelessly to my Kindle.  I started listening to it last night.  It will be good to finally get a proper perspective of US history.  I never took a US history class in college, and let's face it - in high school, I was only concerned with finishing, not in actually learning anything!
• We got a new computer! I am typing this post on it, actually.  It is a desktop, which is going to take some getting used to for me, since I have used a laptop for the past 6 years.  But, my old laptop is dying, and it was time for a change.  The really cool thing about this new computer is that the keyboard actually has the "L" key! My "L" key fell off my laptop about a year ago and I managed to figure out exactly how to touch the empty space that should have been an "L" key just right to get an "L" to appear, but it is so very  nice to just type away without thinking about that.
• What are your summer plans? Since I went from school year, to swim lessons every day with preparing for our trip, to travelling, I feel like my summer begins today! I plan to go through ever square inch of my house this summer and purge, purge, purge as well as clean everything! I think every homeschooling mom can understand how things get put off in the cleaning and organizing area of life when school has to get done first.
• I'm sure I'll think of 17 other things to add as soon as I publish this, but those will just have to wait for another day! Have a great week!

Mini Post Monday

• I think this has been the January/February with the most snow and ice days in the DFW area that I can remember! It has been crazy just how often everything has been shut down for a bit of ice.   

Andrew enjoying playing in the snow!
• Along the snow day theme - the post office doesn't really have that motto, "Neither rain, nor snow, nor..." We have had almost no mail delivery in the past couple of weeks! 

A full 4 inches one of our snow days!
• Good news on the allergy front! Jerry and the boys went in for another treatment this last week, and were told that after the 3 week "critical period" is over, they can add in ALL their allergic foods on a rotational basis! Woo-Hoo! That means I get back yeast and tomato!! I have really missed yeast and tomato. 

All of my men enjoying some winter fun.
• I placed an order with this company, 240 Sweet, recently.  I was amazed at the level of customer service I received from them! I messed up my order (completely my fault) and e-mailed to see if they could change it before it shipped.  I had a response in less than an hour from them, they fixed the problem, and even went above and beyond what I asked them to do! You don't get service like that very often anymore.  If you are looking for a fun treat or an unique gift, check this company out! 

A bit of snow and a very big stick.  What more does a boy need?
• You may not even notice my adoption ticker on the side blog anymore.  After something's been up for 2 years, 3 months, and 3 days, it starts to blend in with the background.  When we first started this whole process, we were told the timeline was about 28 months from our dossier being accepted in China to travelling to pick up our daughter. We are now just days away from that 28 month point, and it doesn't look like we are any closer to going to China than we thought we were then.  This can be discouraging at times, but occasionally some promising news comes out of China, as it did this past week.  Please continue to pray for this whole process - and not just for me, but for the thousands of families waiting to receive a referral from China, and the tens of thousands of children in orphanages throughout that country waiting for their forever families.  Change doesn't usually happen quickly in this whole process, but I know that God is in control of every step of the process.  He alone can cause things to speed up! 

Aaron - all bundled up and ready to play, but humoring his mom with a smile!
• I am finally getting my energy back after surgery Jan. 4, which was preceeded by about 4 months of being anemic.  I can almost feel my red blood count growing each day - and one friend told me I even sound like I have more energy!  You never realize how much you appreciate your red blood cells until you are low on them. 

When I mentioned being down, my bestest friend had these delivered to me. What an amazing spirit-lifter that was!

Mini Post Monday

The boys made chocolate and crushed candycane covered marshmallows, which were a big hit! 

Andrew - I love how he has finally learned to smile for the camera!

Well, a few Monday's have come and gone without one of these posts, but I do have to say that I have valid reasons for my absence.  We left the day after Christmas to go to Colorado for a week.  Of course I took my camera, but took absolutely no pictures of our time there... Just picutre a sprawling 4 split-level resort with gorgeous sitting rooms, cozy sleeping rooms, and views from every window; nestled in a wooded, hilly plot of land with a perfect view of Pike's Peak through the trees.  Fill that sprawling house with all of my wonderful extended family who are there to visit, play, and pray together for a week.  It was lovely beyond words.

Our 2010 Christmas family picture.  I wish Andrew wasn't blurry, but overall I really like this shot!

When I returned, I scrambled to get laundry done, Christmas decorations down, and a weeks worth of meals cooked and put up in the freezer because I had major surgery January 4.  The days since then have been a blur of drug induced stupor, but I am finally emerging from it, weak but ready to move on with my life.

Aaron asked if he could read a Christmas book to us before we opened gifts.

Do you make New Year's resolutions? I don't, because I am so rebellious, that I will rebel even from my own desires if I set them in writing! However, I have a few things that are very important to me that have been in the forefront of my mind for a while that I want to establish as habits.  I want to come up with a consistent time to spend reading my Bible each day.  I do okay with reading and doing Bible study when I remember, but often the day gets away from me and it is over before I remember. I want to make the time of day I spend with God consistent so that it won't slip from my mind. I also have been focusing on wasting less time.  I get quite easily caught up in time wasters such as mindless games and worthless TV shows. Of course, while recovering from this surgery these have been somewhat useful, but for the most part, these have no real place in my day.  It's time to remove much of this from my day!

Ethan with his Ohio State jersey!

 Andrew REALLY got into opening presents this year.

Aaron was so excited to get a model airplane, just like he wanted!

Aaron lost another tooth.  He is scared to death to have his loose teeth pulled, though! His tooth was so ready to come out that he could push it completely perpendicular to his gums with his tongue, but he would not let me pull it.  So I did what any good mom would do - I bribed him! One night we had a Texas sheet cake for dessert, and Aaron asked me if he could have more.  I'm not sure why he asked, because my answer is always no to more of dessert! But this time I said, "Sure! If you let me pull your tooth." Bwahahaha, I'm evil! However, even with this incentive, it took him almost an hour to be willing to let me pull it.  But when I did, he got seconds on dessert!

My mom and dad came over on Christmas Eve to have our traditional pizza dinner, candlelight church service, and opening of extended family gifts.

Finally, Joanna and I always have at least a few games of Lexulous going on Facebook (this is not one of those time wasting games...) and I had such an awesome, this-will-never-happen-again-as-long-as-I-live plays that I had to take a picture of it with my cell phone!! So pardon the quality of the shot, but take note of the word "detoxify" that was played in the lower right hand corner!  Woo-Hoo! That's right - it covers two triple word score squares and the "X" is on a double letter score square to boot! I am not sure I will ever have another 337 point word, but at least now this one is captured in the blogosphere for all time!  You know, Joanna is such a good friend that she was happy for me when I played this word.   She didn't bemoan her impending horrible loss at all... :)

This is one for the history books...

Mini Post Monday

• Quote from Ethan, "What if mommy was pregnant with 35 babies?  She'd be as fat as the whole house." Um....yeah.  Heaven forbid.
• Quote from Aaron, "Know what my three favorite things are? 1. dessert 2. football 3. legos." Yep, Aaron and every other male in the world.

Isn't my Drew-Drew adorable?
• Remember when we all went through our "Fly Lady" kick? I got so frustrated with it because it listed all kinds of senseless chores, while leaving necessary ones forgotten.  I found another resource that I actually like much, much better!  It is called Motivated Moms.  This mom has listed out daily chores that are actually useful (and she doesn't have a fixation with her kitchen sink as far as we know)! You don't get 4,682 e-mails from her each day either.  You simply buy the style you like for $8 and print out a years worth of chore lists.  I love it! I bought the half-page planner with daily Bible readings included for 2011.  This way I only print out 28 pages and have an entire year of chore lists at my finger tips! (And no excuse to not know what to be reading in my Bible each day to go through it in a year...) I plan to make a notebook with weekly menu planner pages and shopping lists pages tucked between the weekly chore lists.  A one-stop-shop for organization!
• I have found a new addiction (as if I needed a new one!) - the game Angry Birds on my phone!  Even my boys love playing it.

• Be sure to check out my homemade hand cream recipe that I posted on the other blog! 

• My computer is falling apart.  I had to replace the battery because it quit charging.  Now my new battery isn't charging either...I told you all how I stepped on the screen and had to replace that.  Now my "L" key fell off.  Sigh. I guess I do use the computer A LOT so it will have a lot of wear and tear.

• Andrew is really into hiding right now!  He hides toys in my hair, hides himself under pillows or blankets, or really hides anything!  It's so cute because when he says, "Andrew's hiding," it actaully sounds like, "Doo-Doo (for Drew-Drew) hiney!"  The other day when I was sweeping the kitchen, I noticed this:

I guess the cars are hiding behind the refrigerator, too!

Mini Post Monday

• I cannot believe that there's only 19 days until Christmas.  Time flies.

• This week, my parents celebrate their birthday.  Both born on December 8!  How cool is that?  I won't tell you how old they are, though...after all, occasionally my mom reads this blog! 

Dad, playing a game with Aaron and Jerry.

Mom, helping me with the dishes after our big November birthday celebration!
• I restarted the 100 push-up and 200 sit-up programs I tried to start a while back.  Um...I'm weak.  And sore.  Enough said.
• Jerry started tiling the shower in our bathroom remodel! It looks amazing.  I married an amazing man.

I love the offset design with the glass tiles!

Detail shot.
• I've been getting a lot of headaches lately.  I woke up with a headache yesterday, and it was all I could do to get up to serve my turn in nursery duty.  Needless to say, we came home as soon as our duty was over, and I spent the rest of the day in bed.  The headache went away around 9:00 pm, but this morning it is back.  ::sigh::
• School the next two weeks is all about Christmas!  We are making Christmas crafts, reading books about how people celebrate Christmas around the world, and making Christmas treats in the kitchen.  Man, I love homeschool!

• Ethan has already outgrown all the pants I bought him for this winter.  Good thing he has a little brother, because I would hate getting rid of pants that have only been worn a few times.  He now weighs 5 pounds more than his big brother, who is almost 2 years older than him.  I told the boys that pretty soon Ethan would be passing his clothes down to Aaron...I think Aaron is not liking that idea very much!

Two closer brothers are hard to find. I am truly blessed!

Silly shot.  This is actually a lot more normal for our house than the last one...
• I'm enjoying the fact that it is soup and stew weather again!  I've missed soup.  I don't know how people who live in climates that never really get cold ever enjoy soup. 
• I did the majority of my Christmas shopping online this year, taking advantage of Cyber Monday deals. It is so wonderful to get a package of stuff delivered to my door each day!  It is also nice that I don't have to find a time to go out without the boys so I can keep their gifts a secret. Plus, it is driving the boys NUTS to know gifts are in those big brown boxes at the door and then not be able to open them up right away! :) Amazon.com, I think I love you.

• I want one of these for Christmas: Eureka Enviro Steam Mop. I think that officially makes me a dorky grown up.

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!

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!