I hope he's not a biter!

Today is Ethan's second ever dentist appointment.  He went to a "normal" dentist in May and it was pretty uneventfull other than having his teeth counted.  It was all about the chair- "I don't like that chair" "That chair scares me" "Why do I have to sit in THAT chair?"  So we were referenced to a pediatric dental office.

His appointment is at 9:15 and it's about 40 minutes away (Ahhhh the joys of living out in the middle of nowhere).   Hopefully he does well and everyone has a great time.  Do I live in lala land or what? 

But I've been hyping up the dentist for the last few weeks and we went on the clinics website and saw pictures of the dentists which had a little paragraph descrbing their hobbies and how many kids they have and onward.  Pretty cool!  I was at least able to point out that his dentist has 3 sons and likes to fish-- just like him!  Go Ethan!

One less small wonder in the house this week

Sweet little Ernest is spending the next THREE nights at his aunt's house.  THREE WHOLE NIGHTS AWAY FROM HIS MAMA!  I might have to swing by Friday and scoop him up.  I know he'll be ok, but oh my goodness that's a long time to be away from me.  He's going for some r&r, spend time with his cousins, and this will give Ethan plenty of one on one time with Kendall and myself.  Kendall and him are going to go fishing and see Toy Story 3 together.  I will try to clean clean clean and organize organize organize.  We are starting our school year up in August in order to get a head start on Baby #3 coming in October.  While we are definitly a "relaxed" homeschool family, especially at Ethan's age, I still want to have all of my ducks in a row and ready.  A confused mind does nothing!

Ok Ernest, have fun and mommy loves and misses you!

Five In A Row Opinions

I had a mother/daughter Mary Kay facial today in a town not far away.  When it was all said and done the mom and I started to talk and realized we are both homeschoolers.  She mentioned Five In A Row and said it was awesome.  From what I gather, you read the book five times over a week and do little activities along with it.  Is this correct?  I've seen it for sale on ebay and I'm wondering how difficult can this be? 

What have you heard of concerning FIAR?  Good or bad?  Worth it?  Or skip it? 

http://www.fiarhq.com/ is their website.  Their books are WAY spendy, so I'd have to get the units from ebay.

Wisconsin Trip with BHBC 2010

I'm in Wisconsin!  Every year my friends from Blessed Hope Baptist Church go to one of their member's cabins for a ladies overnight trip.  I was fortunate enough to attend.  I wouldn't have gone until at the last minute one of the ladies said we could carpool.  (So God, so God).

We have a wonderful Mexican dinner, stay up super late around a campfire, blow up some fireworks, have Papa Murphy's pizza at 3am, have wonderful breakfasts followed by singing hymns around the campfire.  Amen!

 

Can you tell what they are doing?  Three ladies in the water pulling the pontoon in because the motor went out.  The water was SO MUCKY around the dock but they got'r done! ;)

A picture of me swimming out to the ladies in the middle of the lake.  You had to swimm backwards out of the muck so it wouldn't feel so gross.  Yuck!!!!  Then the pontoon came out and we climbed in to go back to shore. 

" As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17).

Eleanor Ann due October 14

"Can you hear her heartbeat?  That's your baby sister!"

"I pray that the Lord

will bless you . . .

as long as you live."

(Psalm 128:5, CEV)

My fisherman and my frog lover

My four year old son Ethan had an admiration for all things slippery, slimy, mucky and found in nature.  Here he has found a prized frog.  This poor priced frog was carried around for about 2 hours and got to enjoy a trip in our minivan before making his way back to a pond.  "Oh look, frogs FLOAT!  Kinda side ways looking... but he's definitly floating! Let's go see what dad's doing."  Ethan definitly reminds me of the character George from Of Mice And Men.  At least it's a frog and not a kitten....                                              

And now on to fishing with dad.  Ethan and Kendall have developed such a wonderful bond with fishing.  Kendall enjoys fishing and I am so so SO grateful that he has such a hobby.  In our home, fishing is simple.  Kendall looks at the clock, usually after dinner, and says "I'm going to go fishing." He grabs his gear, which is usually in the minivan anyway, and walks down to the river.  We live less than half a mile away from a little park that sits next to a river bed.  There is currently construction on a bridge going over the park, so the best fishing days are the weekends when there are no loud thuds and hammers banging around.  This is where Kendall goes to spend an hour or two of his time.  Thank you Jesus!  He's not at a bar.  He's not out with some group of guys who would probably not be a good influence.  And he's not out spending money :).  There at the river he can pray, relax, take in the summer nights, kid free and all alone.  Sometimes he comes home with stories of how he almost caught a turtle.

Or how he almost caught one THIS.BIG.  That is so cool.  I enjoy fishing myself and I know how to filet a fish quite well thankyouverymuch.  My family grew up along the Gulf of Mexico and we spent many days with rod and reel in hand.  I am so happy to see that this passion of fishing is going to be passed down to my children through my husband.  Dad would be happy to know that one of his favorite hobbies will be continued on :).

And what better way for my guys to spend time together.  Ethan always comes home with a bright smile and thoroughly enjoys the water.  Summer is only a wink in Minnesota, so we do try to squeeze every drop out of it.  Thank you Kendall for building and being a part of the summer memories of 2010.

July is HALF WAY OVER! But my apartment is more tidy.

I cannot believe it is half way through July. Wow. But the amazingly humid heat we had today brings me to reality. I've softened up a bit and now melt and mild 90 degrees. If I were back in my homeland of Texas, I am sure that 90 would be considered "refreshing". I'm so... so... northern now!

Ethan, Ernest and Kendall all went to Aunt H's house and spent the night last night. A WHOLE NIGHT TO MYSELF YALL! Did I sit around and eat bonbon's while watching Steel Magnoila's? Did I do my nails and have a green facial mask on? Take a nap is what swept the polls of what I should do on facebook.

No. I worked. I organized. I got hot and sweaty and stinky and moved boxes around and aquired some more living space. The heat kept me indoors. I put a cardboard box outside, got slapped in the face with humidity and decided being inside my dark and quiet cave was much more appealing. And quiet. Ohhhh the quietness. Sometimes when it's quiet I look around and try to figure out what's wrong. Is someone in a mischeveous mode? Am I going to find butter everywhere? Is there a poopy diaper more appealing to play with than a toy? But this time, there just were no kids around. It was a "safe quiet".

Tomorrow I go in for my 26 week check up. Then we will spend the afternoon in Cabela's (read: free air conditioning and stuff to entertain my kids with). Hubby will go on the adventure with us.

Note the picture: I am still learning how to post pictures on blogspot. Here is a picture of Kendall, Ernest and I walking off the stage at Ernest's dediction. We have dedicated our children to the Lord and have made a promise to raise them in a Christian enviroment with as much love and prayer (Lord knows first hand how much we need them) as possible. I am pregnant in this picture, however not NEARLY as far along as I should be to have such a pooch. However, the suit Kendall is wearing is the one he purchased from Men's Warehouse for our wedding knowing he'd need a suit in the future. Good choice dude.