A Nice Weekend

Last weekend, our oldest, oldest...big, big boy...the big brother of them all...came to visit.

He plays football.

And he wrestles.

And he likes UFC.

And he likes Rock and Roll.

And....

...he really and truly loves his little brothers and sister. He plays with them and fishes with them and talks about how he is going to protect them as they grow up.

As you can imagine, the little ones adore their huge brother just as much.

We had a good weekend.

Come back soon, Big, Huge, Enormous Brother.

Team Work

I put this alphabet up on the wall last week. While its intended purpose is to expose my boys to the letters at every turn, my baby girl is trying to learn along with the big kids.

She's showing off here, and then she's giving her big brother a little encouragement.

It's so darn cute.

Why I "Need" a New Camera...I Think

I believe the proper term for the problem I'm experiencing is called "overexposure". It rears it's ugly head especially in the summer time, since I take a lot of pictures outside in the sun.

I love this picture, but my poor baby's skin has the radiance of the sun. :) I've tried a little bit to remedy the issue by messing with Photoshop...but it makes her look unnatural in a more...orange way. :)

Of course, it doesn't help that my kids are such toe heads. Just that much more opportunity for reflecting the afternoon sun.

Look at the tops of the blondies' heads.

The background is what seems too bright in this picture.

Background again.

Maybe I can fix this with my high-end point and shoot. Does anyone know how?...or how to fix it with Photoshop Elements?

I'm pretty sure that if I had a DSLR, it would be a little easier to control the amount of light I allow into the lens...and maybe reduce the glare. Is that true?

Psalm 23

First Day of School

I'm so excited to homeschool, but I've always been intimidated by the idea of tackling these early childhood years. I sort of just want to skip to calculus with the boys. :)

But, I have determined to start an easy, fun regimen with the boys this year. Preschool, if you will.

The first day of school (2 weeks ago now), we started by decorating these little apples with cut up construction paper and glue.

They both loved it, and it was just what my oldest needed to get a little excited about homeschool. That, by the way, is one of my goals for the year: For my 4-yr. old to have good feelings about homeschool. So far, it's going well. :)

Other goals for my oldest:

1. Identify all capital and lowercase letters
2. Fluently recite short vowel sounds and basic sounds for all consonants
3. Blend letter sounds to form words
4. "Read" numbers 1-20, and order them correctly.
5. Recite questions and answers to the first 20 questions in the Kids' Shorter Catechism.

Goals for my 3-yr. old (oops! ALMOST 3-yr. old):

1. To have fun and learn as much as he wants to alongside his older brother. :)

We are working on shapes and colors and fine motor skills... but I've found most of that comes with time anyway.

Goals for me:

Oh, my...

1. To provide a learning environment that is stimulating. :) That's general, but I'll figure out the specifics as I go. Right now, I'm trying to just be flexible and offer a variety of activities and mediums as I teach a lot of similar concepts.

Pray for me. :) I'm excited.

PS-I'm not using a purchased curriculum. I'm finding stuff online or making my own stuff as I continually review my goal and objectives. I'll share valuable resources as I go.

Are any of you readers interested in my homeschooling journey? :)

The idea for the apple craft was found here:

Back to School Scissor Skills

The printable I used is here:

Apple Printable

Skipper

We visited Hubby's family a couple weekends ago, and I so enjoyed watching my boys enjoy their cousins. We went on a picnic/hike, and I couldn't resist catching my oldest with his arm around my adorable niece.

It was not intended, but so pleasing, that I also caught my other precious niece mid-skip. I love it. I think I'm going to post this, and then I'm going to open up my Photoshop and crop that little Skipper right out and see how cute she looks all by herself...with her bouncing ponytail.

A moment later...no hugging or skipping. The effects a camera has on kids. :)

7.5 minutes later....

She is so darn cute. I cant' decide if I like it better, though, when I can compare her skipping with the other 3 kids' non-skipping... :)

A Big Boy

We have a birthday in our family this week.

This kid is going to be 3. I can hardly believe it.

What a great smile. I've decided his face is my favorite to take pictures of.

It's just perfect.

More birthday news to follow...

Other Big News (Late)

On July 5, my sister's first baby was born.  This is the first cousin to my kids on my side of the family.  

We're all very excited.

Meet Peanut.  

One day old, clinging to his proud daddy.

It's been so fun!  Congrats, Sister and Brother!  Your baby is beautiful!

The Boys are Good :)

Yesterday, I gave you a quick update on our baby.  Today...our strapping young lads.

They're good boys.  They love their sister.  They're excited about the new baby in Mommy's tummy, and they say my belly's getting bigger. 

They play so well together.  I can't imagine it better...it's such a blessing to me... so much more than this mommy deserves.

Something Big You Missed

During my blogging hiatus/temporarily lost camera/constant nausea, you all missed out  on an important milestone.

My baby started walking.

Her first steps were actually for her Papa while we were in the waiting room awaiting the arrival of my new nephew (more news on that later).  

She spent a few weeks just taking a few steps here and there, but this last week was when she decided to switch over to her new primary mode of transportation.

I'm so proud of her!

2 Days in a Row

Because I want to get back into the blogging routine, I'm blogging right now...just to blog.  I think I might get out my external hard drive later and put some older pictures up for everyone to see.  Does that sound fun? :)

Hubby's taking the boys fishing this afternoon, and PigTails and I are going to go grocery shopping so we can make a casserole for church on Sunday.

It's a beautiful day.

Love, ME :)

I'm Alive! :)

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile....

The thing is, I've been battling a bit of...morning sickness.  True enough. :)  And, one of the things that has made me feel nauseous is...my computer!  Oh well...

Anyway...I think I'm starting to come out of the yucky stage.  I am 13 weeks along, and got to see our little one in an ultrasound yesterday.  The doctor said the baby is at most 2 inches long, but I could see every detail of his/her little moving baby body.  Fingers, toes...precious.

So, I'm invigorated!  That's why I'm blogging...and I hope to do some more soon.  I've been without my camera for a couple weeks as I left it at my parents' house... I'll be getting it back next week, and I have a new appreciation for it.  I'll post pictures as soon as I get my hands on that memory card.

Oh, I also got myself a new computer!  A Mac!  Fun, right?

Ok...there's more...I want to update you on the kids and their cute growing things...soon.

Love you all and miss you!