Getting Our Strength From the Son: September 2011

Thursday, September 29, 2011

The Classroom

Oh oh oh, five years ago I could never have imagined this life of mine.

Does a similar thought race through the mind of every homeschooling mom everyday?!?!

I decided this year I'd like Ashlyn to have one kitchen/cooking opportunity each week.

I envisioned an aproned Ashlyn helping me with dinner prep, but as usual, my plans have "adjusted".

Staying flexible is the key to sanity! : )

(Look at me.....acting like I have access to the key unlocking sanity. HA)

After the boys went to bed, we made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

YUM!

This recipe calls for 3 sticks of butter - do I need to say more?

Proud of the results.

But going to have to wait until tomorrow for a taste, it's bedtime for this little pumpkin!

Is there a better classroom experience?

I am blessed and my kids are darn lucky.

Life is good. And pumpkin flavored. With flecks of semi-sweet bliss.

Also, if you are a homeschooler or if you're considering it, you have to read this blog. You'll be blessed.

http://booksandbairns.blogspot.com/2011/08/dangerous.html

Monday, September 26, 2011

Happy Grandparent's Day

So, I haven't mentioned Grandma much lately.

Don't worry, she's still here.

And here's how we celebrated her on Grandparent's Day.

The kids posed for these pics.

And we framed 'em.

(Had to have D hold that one, cause he's her favorite.)

But she's loves all our kids and they love her!!

I was trying to get a decent close up of the three - and in my defense I was doing this alone at the duck pond (near water), so any picture featuring three dry kids is a victory in my book - anyway, I asked the boys to put their cheeks on AJ's. Well, Dillon is our most obedient, HANDS DOWN, and he was committed to his cheek lock on Ashlyn. So cute.

And in case you might wonder, does Preston adore Ashlyn? He does!!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Odds & Ends

Just trying to flush out all the random summer pics left in my "for blog" folder. : )

Caught the boys in their room reading books IN their book box.

Several of the husbands put together a romantic surprise dinner for their wives. I had to include a pic because it is sort of rare for the men to treat us to such a thoughtful evening.

Dinner was served by candlelight and there was even a DJ and dance after that.

Of course, I didn't have my camera, so this is with Curt's phone.

Cousin Brody continues to entertain and amaze my kiddos.

He's getting big and crawling.

Ashlyn has become such a help in caring for him.

One day I put her in charge of keeping an eye on him while I got some stuff done on the computer.

She came to me and said, "Mom, I need to go to the bathroom, do you think you could watch Brody for just a minute." She had that very slow patient mom tone - like she was really trusting me something huge.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Labor Day on the Prairie

It's out of character for Curt to suggest a family outing.

Generally, it's his goal to avoid potentially stressful family situations,

(I'm more the kite and he's the anchor)

soooo when he said we should pack everyone up and head to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve,

I knew it would be a day worth photographing!

It was an absolutely perfect gorgeous day!

The highlight of the long drive through the prairie is always a sighting of the herd.

Everyone wants a peek.

"Say Cheese!"

This map and "museum" type exhibit are part of the information center/gift shop.

A perfect picnic - with dad's help things are always less crazy.

Little boys love to explore.

We took the 1 mile walking trail loop.

The kids had a ball. Preston and Ashlyn walked/ran the whole thing.

In hindsight, probably not supposed to ride the tiny buffalo statue.

But what fun!

Dillon had to hitch a ride, his allergies had him wheezing and coughing. Boo.

It was so cute though, Preston didn't see Curt throw Dillon on his shoulders. Suddenly, he noticed he was missing. Panicked, he started yelling, "D! D! D!"

It's good to know, at the end of the day, our boys love each other.

And check out the view!

Another totally free outing.

Great idea, Darlin'.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Summer Finale

One last sweltering hot evening

Spent together outside

Sweating & laughing.

One last popsicle

Enjoy every moment

Melting & Dripping

One final dance with Summer's freedom

Autumn's routine calls

Soaking it up & resisting ..... just a little.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Summer Fun #3

Our Adoption Day Celebration!

Shortly after we got back from our KC vacation, Grandma K (& Aunt Joyce) came to visit our family.

While they were here Curt took the day off work so we could celebrate Dillon (July 21) and Ashlyn's (July 25) adoption anniversary's.

We loaded everyone up and headed to the Tulsa mall, where they have....

A play area of those squishy toys.

(I asked Ashlyn to hug Dillon for a picture. **deep sigh**)

AND Build-A-Bear.

Hey, it's me. Always such a surprise, I'm normally

behind the camera.

Then we headed to Incredible Pizza - which is in fact, incredible!

Mini bowling

Toddler area rides.

(Whoa, was it naptime!)

Indoor go karts.

And dessert, of course.

Perhaps next year I'll think of something touching to say about these life markers.

For now, just know it's a big important day every time we can celebrate that our family grew again.

YAY ADOPTION! : )

Kindergarten Field Trip

Woo hoo! I'm on a roll.

Probably what is preventing regular blogging in my life the most is homeschooling. I love it, but it's time consuming, for sure. In order to make everything work this year with my crazy boys, we've been doing school work in the evening. I realized this summer that if I got Ashlyn a nap in the afternoon, she can be her most sharp and focused at night. So at 7:30 we have family devotions (which is generally craziness, but more than anything we're trying to establish a routine and stretch the boys ability to sit quietly), do a round robin of hugs and kisses, say goodnight to the boys, and then Ashlyn and I sit down for school.

PROS:
1. Ashlyn's love language is quality time, so it fills her tank to get one-on-one time with me, even if we're doing school work.
2. She is a night owl and I get her clearest thoughts and best behavior.
3. Now that Ashlyn is back to resting during the day, I have some down time again.
4. Curt is home during school time and he can help when I need him. He's great at listening to AJ read and plans to add science as soon as mowing is over.

CONS:
1. It makes for a long day! I have to be game on until 9:00 pm.
2. Not as much time with Curt in the evening. That being said, a special bond forms in the teamwork of walking out God's plan for our family and seeing Ashlyn excel together!

Needless to say, by the time night comes and I would have normally sat down at the computer to read emails and blog - I am wiped out!

Here is a field trip we took YESTERDAY. We went on a nature walk on Bartlesville's Pathfinder. The girls loved it. Preston came along to, but Dillon had to stay home because of his terrible allergies (more on that soon).

The Brown girls on the left. The Hay girls on the right. I promise Jenna was having a good time!

When the girls started yelling, Preston bolted!

AJ's writing assignment about the goodies she collected from nature. : )

Friday, September 16, 2011

Summer Fun #2

Oh my, the Kansas City vacation continues! : )

I'm having a lot of fun going through these photos again....and at the same time, I'm getting tired!

This stop was the T-Rex Cafe.

A must see if you have a dinosaur lover in the family.

Ashlyn and Dillon with Poppy "digging" for dinosaur bones.

Group shot. Everyone look at me and smile.

Or whatever.

Instead of trying to get the kids to eat in this VERY distracting environment, we ate before we got there and just ordered dessert. The kids are "painting" rice krispie treat dinosaurs with flavored icing. Cheap and easy!

Curt helped the boys "paint". What a trooper! A white shirt even. tehe

We looked away for a minute and Dillon decorated himself.

Ashlyn with the mascot dino guy. Not even scared, who is this girl?

We tried to grab a family shot outside. Oh well, I guess it's proof that we were all there!

And it was back to the pool for more fun!

1, 2, 3, JUMP!!!

More of Preston flipping.....Curt thought this was great entertainment!

Oh dear, looks like I forgot some of the pics that went with the last post.

Boys wagon for the parade. Did I mention it was unbearably hot?!?! : )

This one should've been with the sleeping Dillon shot. : )

**At the risk of creating a painfully long entry, I'm going to keep going and finish up this trip.**

At this point, Curt had to leave and get back to Bville for work. So, he took Gma's car and headed home, and I was running the show alone. That being said, things didn't go quite as smoothly and I regularly forgot the camera. We visited the DeAnna Rose Farm, which was great. Played at Crown Center. Bounced for hours at one of those warehouses full of inflatables. Here are the few pathetic shots from my phone.

Crown Center has a large room that they use to host traveling child activity centers. They change the theme every few months, it's always so different, but amazing. In the past they've turned it into Birdwell Island, a crayola playground and this time it was a Rainforest. It's interactive, you can see Dillon holding a flashlight and Ashlyn had on a vest and binoculars, and educational.......plus FREE!

Our last stop was in Silver Lake to visit my cousin Wendy, who had just had foot surgery, and her cute kids.

Cousin Abby helping AJ pet the horses at Chad's house.

Daisy! A super feisty calf that Wendy actually had living in her backyard in town. And she thinks I'm crazy for homeschooling!!

Ashlyn with Uncle Harry. She was having a great time.

Maddie just turned 7 and AJ will be 6 soon.

They love each other!

Having relived that (AND FINALLY BLOGGED IT), I'm going to have a piece of chocolate and lay down!