office art

I have decided to decorate my house with photos. It is cheap and I love a good picture! I have been looking on etsy and getting lots of good ideas. Here are some I took for Chip's office. There are a few more stations to go to so these are not the winners as of yet.

Year 2030?

We had to stop by a fire station the other day. The two older kids were asleep in the truck. So, Nate got some special treatment. He got to climb in a truck and wear a real helmet.
Chip is in love with this picture.

stinking cute

I was kissing the kids before I went to bed last night. They were asleep. As I was kissing on Ella's face I thought, "I love kissing on you because you are so squishy!" Then I kissed on Streed and thought, "I love kissing you because you are so sweet!" I then went to Nate's room. I kissed him and thought, "I love kissing you because you are so...stinking cute!" That was the only "S" word I could think of.

two weeks till school starts

I can honestly say I am excited. I attended my first homeschool meeting last night. I was way overwhelmed when I first got my curriculum notebook. Then, as one of the co-directors went through the notebook, parent responsibilities and what the kids would do while at the co-op I got really excited. I am already impressed with the level of organization and professionalism of this co-op. I know I have nothing else to compare it to but I can tell they know what they are doing. I can honestly say Streed is going to learn a lot this year, as are Ella and I as we learn right along with him.

Streed and Ella are so excited about starting school. They wanted to hear all about the meeting when I got back last night. Ella was cracking up when I was telling them what all Streed was going to learn. If I know Ella, she was really thinking, "Yeah right he's going to learn that!" I was spouting things off quickly to make them laugh. geo=earth thermos=heat helios=sun She was really getting a kick out of this and some history facts I was reading. They really do start learning greek root words in the K5 class because it helps with their vocabulary as they get older and begin encountering larger words.

I will give more details later. I got his math curriculum in the mail today. I am ordering his first LLBean book bag this week. My little buddy is growing up. He is quite the little man. He is so polite and considerate of others. Last night I went to the meeting by myself. As I observed those in the room I heard a child talking to his sister. He was probably 6. He said, "Hey, I want to introduce you to my new friends." It was so sweet. (No he was not socially awkward. He was a really cute kid. They all were!) I immediately thought, "Streed is going to meet some really neat kids and make some really good friends." I even saw and talked to one lady I met at the library a few months ago.
I was filled with much emotion while there: thanksgiving, sadness, excitement, disbelief, confusion, anxiety & peace

stone and a walk way

The stone is up and the driveway and walkway are poured. I was really nervous waiting for the stone. It was the first thing I picked out so I was anxious to see how it would look. I love it. I love that it matches the trim and is a contrast from the brick.

This random dog was following us all over the place today. It jumped in our neighbor's car, in our van and literally on top of my van hood and tried to climb the windshield. I have not seen dogs ever in this neighborhood. But, it is funny because several have been wandering around while the poor guys are pouring all the driveways. The dogs keep running right through it.

house: as of today

The moldings are all up and are being prepped for paint. Some actually were primed today. It is really coming together. Every time I go I get more and more excited.

This is my built-in for the dead space. It is a little different than I pictured but I was out of town when it was built. I think it will be really great though. I can totally see the bottom shelf housing some toys or special books in baskets. I like that there is space above it to decorate. Lots of potential.


Chip's office doors

obviously the mantle. several of the homes have really elaborate mantles. i asked her to make ours simple. i think it came out great!

just a pic so you could see over the windows.

the closet organizers are all in. these were a surprise. i was not expecting them at all but they are going to be so great. this will be the boys' closet. the rods are not in yet but each side of the middle organizer will have double rods. this was actually going to be Ella's room but the closet is perfect for two kids sharing a room.

Where have we been?

I realized tonight that I had literally forgotten about my blog. Here is a run down of the past 2 weeks.

We picked berries. It was for the birds. It was so stinking hot and most of the lower branches had been picked. Except for the pink/red berries--those were ripe for the picking according to Nate. And then once anyone got a few/30 in the bucket he would dump them out. We find ourselves saying often, "We will have a lot of fun stuff to do once the kids are older!" It was beautiful out there though.






We finished swim lessons at the YMCA. Streed really should have been in the older group but they are slightly by the book! Ella really did learn to swim but she is still not confident. The first day of the lessons I was not sure it was going to work. She screamed "MAMA" to the top of her lungs when the instructor tried to do anything. She finally warmed up by day 3. I snapped this first picture on the way to their last lesson. I LOVE IT!





We attended a 4th of July party hosted by the church we have been visiting. It was at someones house--complete with food, drinks, shuttle parking, face painting, pony rides and professional-grade fireworks.






Visiting family for a few days. It was hot but nice to be away relaxing. The kids loving seeing THEIR horse.



Vacationing with friends who are like family for a few days. Jill's neices were there so there were 6 kids under 6. The water was gorgeous. And the company was great.






We also visited two special families on our trek back from PCB to Little Rock. But, my memory card was full and I was actually over taking pictures by that point :) We just enjoyed catching up and let the kids play.