Brotherly love

So I just HAVE to capture these moments when I can, cause Lord knows it's not often! haha Although, thats not really true. For the most part these boys love each other's faces off, but sometimes that involves throwing each other to the ground rather than hugs and snuggles! :)

Malachi was laying on his lap and Ezekiel was just giggling his little head off!

Malachi is trying to put his arm around Ezekiel but Ezekiel is so confused...haha

Malachi sure is full of love and kisses..at least at that moment! :)

I love my boys!!!!!!!!!!!

Homeschooling...Part 2

Ok, one week down...and WAY too many in sight to count. How was it, you ask? A blend of a ton of fun, and terrible. haha

The first day...good...pretty good. The second day........................................
haha !!!! I know she loves to learn, I just don't quite get that signal when she's throwing herself on the floor refusing to pick up the pencil! haha But no worries, she got better. Praise God! :) I think her, along with all of the other perfectionists in the world just need to learn that it is not a complete failure if you can't cut out a perfect circle the very first time you try.....sigh

Malachi decided to take this week to go on strike from all naps (which is of course when I was planning on doing school) I mean, everyone who home-schools has like a billion kids or something and somehow they figure it out, right??!!! For some reason Malachi doesn't have the whole "sit in the corner and be compliant" thing down. haha He just thinks, if he's awake, by golly everybody needs to know it! Therefore, having him around and trying to do school...difficult...very difficult.

I finally thought of something he could possibly do- I just let him sit on one side of the table with a thing of scissors and a ridiculous amount of paper and just let him go at it! And besides my fear of some sort of environmentalist group hunting me down for my paper abuse, it was pretty successful! :)

Maybe it won't be so bad...I mean Annabella is only 4 so I'm just trying to see how this whole thing works anyway. So if next fall I cave and am RUNNING to take her to Kindergarten...don't judge me!!!!!! hahaha

But until l then, I think I will keep on keeping on...I mean until I go crazy, which is definitely not out of the realm of possibilities! :) So there ya have it...Malachi won't nap, Annabella won't cut circles, and Ezekiel...well we just have to keep him from sneaking off and eating the bottle of glue! haha... And me???? GRACE LORD, GRACE!!!!!!!!!!! :)))

Homeschooling DAY ONE!!!

Ok, so she is a little young for Kindergarden; but when your 4 year old is practically begging you to teach her how to read and write you know you gotta do something! haha Plus, Lord knows I'm

gonna need a year to get sorta into this whole homeschooling thing before the education world actually expects much of me! :) I'm pretty excited though and Annabella, well she can hardly contain herself! haha "When are we doing school mommy? Can't we do school forever mommy?" I wonder how long that will last! haha

I LOVE the curriculum we are using, "My Father's World" and it is perfect for her style of learning! And I mean, I'm not saying my kid is brilliant or anything but she's totally aced the first week of work! haha but don't worry, for now there will be no "grading". Lord knows if that child saw anything less than a A+ her life would be over; therefore, I will wait a little while to let her experience the cruel reality's of life! haha

I totally thought that when I started homeschooling I would have a school room decked out with a full wall caulk board, old fashioned desks, and a bullitan board for every season...hmm maybe next year! hahaha But ya know, as it turns out I think I just might perfer my dining room table, messy house, NO bulletin board walls, and my ballerina princess ready to learn some ABCS! :)))))


I will no doubt be posting days of laughter and wild discoveries, as well as days I would have wished I would have never signed up for this! haha So here I go, let the journey begin! :)

My little helper

So I thought Malachi seemed old enough to start taking the trash out. I mean, what is he like..almost three? Back in the old days weren't boys like building houses out of tree bark by now or something?! haha :)

There he is; my little helper!!! :)

And just think, he took ALL that out there by himself! haha Just kiddin! But who knows...maybe soon?! :)

Then he wanted to play in it...what a boy!!!! hehe :)

Cheering himself on...I think it was his "trash dance" haha

He LOVES helping, and I don't mind reaping the benefits either! :)

Annabella is officially FOUR!!!!

Yesterday was Annabella's official birthday...I say "official" because there was some confusion on the day of her birthday party. I was explaining to her that this was the day of her birthday party but in a week was her real birthday! I thought that would be fun news to her, but instead it was very troubling! haha "I'm not even 4 yet????" She said on the day of her birthday party. Friends and family would call and say happy birthday (knowing we were having the party that day) and she would sigh and say, "ya, I'm excited. But ya know, I'm still just 3..." hahaha...What a goof! :)

So you can imagine the excitement yesterday when she woke up and she was actually 4 years old!!! The world seemed bigger, the sun shined brighter...suddenly she felt like she could do anything...oh the things she can do at age 4!! What an exciting thought! :) We told he she could pick anywhere she wanted to go for dinner..and the result?? Chucky Cheese of course! haha

Annabella's special birthday outfit!

Getting ready to go out to Chucky Cheese!!! Yayy! haha :)

This was on our way to Chucky Cheese! hahaha I think all of the excitement about actually going wore her out! haha

I just can't believe it...four years ago I was still in the hospital with my first baby girl!!!! ahhh...craziness!

Soo...what can I look back on and say she was like on her 4th birthday....

Favorite movie- The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (weird, I know! haha), The little Princess (Shirley Temple style), and home videos! :)

Favorite songs- She loves making up her own music and then performing it on our fire place mantle...(hands down, the most precious thing ever! hehe), although she is a BIG fan of Misty Edwards (mainly the super intense ones..."People get ready" haha..that's my girl!)

Favorite food- hmm.. thats a tough one, shes really not into food that much...but I'd have to say, milkshakes! Oh yeah, now that I think about it, that girls LOVES some ice cream! :)

Favorite past-time- Turning our living room into a wild jungle rain forest where Ezekiel is the evil lion trying to capture her and her baby (Malachi)......yup, that pretty much covers it! haha Oh..and anything to do with babies, princesses, AND her new drawing game! She's an amazing drawer...I'm talking straight up Picasso here! haha :)

Favorite place to go- That's an easy one..the only place we do go...Chick Fill A! haha :)

Favorite Phrases- "Shnaglebags!" Thats her "dang it" phrase! haha..Oh and she refuses to call me mommy anymore..it's always "mother" hahaha...she really resents not living in the Victorian era where everyone has big dresses and has tea parties like 2ce a day!

Happy birthday my sweet Annabella Joy, the world would NOT be the same without you!!! :)

splashing along

Charlie's Aunt and Uncle were out of town and my mom was helping with his grandmother so we can come over on Saturday and did a little swimming in their beautiful pool! :)

It was actually quite the adventure. There pool looks more like beautiful waterfalls and trees everywhere than your average backyard swimming pool. For one thing, there was this cave and there was the most enormous spider you've ever seen...ok maybe not the biggest, but definitely the creepiest! It was just hanging there staring at us just hoping that we would come in the little cave so it could jump on our head! Ohh and then apparently the mama spider had a baby spider that lived next to the steps of the pool (not a baby size, I'll tell you that) and it was a jumper! ahh...

soooo needless to say, Charlie and I stayed pretty much in one place the entire time and didn't take our eyes off of the mother, baby evil spider duo.

All that to say, we did have fun! haha We tried to teach Annabella to swim and failed miserably! haha She said, "I don't want to swim, maybe when I'm older. I'll just stay in my floaty for now!"

And heres Malachi...he's a little fish! He was soooo amazed that he could float without us holding him! crazzzyy! :)

Theres our little tribe! :)

There first chicken fight..haha..sorta! :)

He's got the floating thing down. Although he seems a little too relaxed! haha

Perfectly content in her floaty! haha :)

Annabella's 4th birthday party

So you can only guess what Annabella decided to have for her birthday party?!?! But of course, a princess party, what else?!! :) When I was looking up ideas for a princess party all I could find was themes like "kiss you prince", or "must escape from the evil witch", or even "get all your makeup on SO your prince will come and capture you (like he wouldn't otherwise?? haha)." Yuckk! All of those ideas sounded terrible. Call me old fashioned, but seriously... why don't I just stick her in front of the Disney Channel all day,hand her a teeny bopper magazine and be done with it! haha THEREFORE...I had something else in mind! :))

First things first! I had all the girls (and boys) make little tiaras and crowns for the royal celebration! :)

My little princess!!!!

All the princesses..and Malachi the Prince!! hehe

For story time I couldn't find anything I was looking for so I decided to make up a simple little story and print out pictures to go along with the story! Premise of the story- That we are all God's children which makes us princes and princesses and someday He will come back for us, but untill then we will wait and remember all that He has promised us! :)

The "treasure box"!!! This is when they got to dig in the chest and find a token and then cash it in for a special treasure. This treasure is to remind them that they have a wonderful inheritance in the Lord ..or in little kid language..they have a REALLY COOL GOD that loves them!! :)

They lined up to get their "treasures!" hehe

The little token they searched for...aka a poker chip! haha

Then after they all got their treasures I said the best thing we could give back to Our King is to Worship Him..soooo we made worship sticks! :) And Grandma is leading the team!

At their feast!

Annabella with her very much requested princess cake!! :)

Grandma and Annabella Joy

Great job Nana in picking out her gift!!!!!!!!!

Annabella in her new "wedding dress" from Nana!

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.
1st peter 2:9

:)

Hats off to you

Malachi...hands down the cutest thing ever. Got a hold of Annabella's hat, and like they say, the rest is history! :)




I'm not gonna lie, he looks pretty dang handsome in a girls hat! haha...if anyone can do it..he can! :)

Water anyone?

Went to the splash pad at Waterway Square and the kids pretty much went nuts. They have a fascination with water (as I'm sure most children) but ya see, the difference is I don't really (like at all) take them to ANY place with water because well, I think the reason is obvious--3 children, 1 me...doesn't sound very promising! haha But since Grandma is in town I thought it would be a fun little outing...and it was indeed!!! :)

Malachi...a very happy boy! :)

Splashing away

Can he conquer it??

He's got that! :)

He got a little bored and I turned around to find him wondering to explore someones purse...surprised? Not a bit.

I love her smile..

We should do this more often..or MAYBE Grandma should just be here more often....yes, yes I think that is the answer!!! :)