R we crazy?

We are leaving in about 3 hours to go camping....do what?

Yup, with 9 kids and 8 adults....and tomorrow's forecast calls for hail and 40% of thunderstorms...but yet off we go....time to make some good memories :)...even if they are in our tent and/or van all day :)

Summer has yet to be relaxing :). Camps, Doctor Visits, Play Dates, Church, Summer Reading and Summer Math.....but yet we are loving it!!!


Check out who got a 97 on his first big project :)

Hopefully we will make it home on Sunday...not drenched, still liking one another :)

May

Little (but oh so chunky) man slept through our whole Mothers Day Lunch...never flinched :).

Look who found Daddy's late night snack on the couch?....he was cramming them in his mouth as fast as he could!

Treat bags for our teachers....we love love love our teachers!!! (everything inside the bag was orange!)

Mrs. Diva heading to a "golf" party for one of her classmates!

At a painting party for another classmate!

Chilling in the car with mom before heading into a birthday party....on a side note as scary as this is we are sitting in the parking lot where the Southlake Town Square shooting just happened.....this was about 3 weeks ago but when something is that close to home it makes you think twice about going back there!

From a painting party I recently went to with my girlfriends.....do you see the H in the branches?

Showing off new clothes from Lolly and Captain before church one morning!

All of my kids look totally different when their hair gets wet....its long and straight and is always in their face :)

This is what grocery shopping with mom does to the little ones!!! Goober is up front with me talking non-stop....and I do mean non-stop!!!

Goober and his best friend on Field Day....we were so blessed with such a great 2nd grade year!!!! Now someone get on that time stopper machine...or else I will have a 9 YEAR OLD SOON!!!!

Meet the newest member of the USPS.....dressed up for Community Helper Day at school.

That's all I got in me today...been dealing with a migraine and nausea for about 3 days now....which was SUPER during 3 full days of meetings for inservice. Thankfully Adam came home after lunch today and let me sleep the rest of the afternoon...I'm thinking its this whole crazy year catching up with me!!! The kiddos said they had a great day though....DUH, I let them watch movies all morning and eat tons of snacks!

Picture Dump

I finally downloaded all of the photos from my cell phone and edited them and uploaded them in a way that blogger will accept...so 5 years later I can upload them on here :).

Today we took a friend (whose mom is on bedrest for a month) to jump with us at an indoor trampoline park. I had a great groupon so off we went for 2 hours of jumping, rope swinging and playing with friends. Another one of Ribbit's friends from school met us there as well. Since NO other schools are out yet we had the ENTIRE place to ourselves for 2 hours....AWESOME...lets just say I left with sweaty kids and all 3 of them took naps today :).

On the way to the jumping place Ribbit spoke up from the back and said " And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.....Acts 1:8"....as I gasped at her she was all smiles like "no big deal mom"...I quote scripture without bring prompted all the time :). Love that sweet little thang.

Just playing with a cardboard box...our favorite toy EVER!

except for the laundry basket that we can both cram into :)

S U M M E R T I M E

We are thoroughly convinced that summer is long overdue. We spent all morning at the splash pad and playground and then went to get ice cream.....which is our normal summer day routine...sometimes we shake it up and get a slush :). Little man could barely crawl this time last year so the splash pad is soooo fun for him. All 3 kids wore themselves (and mom) out and most of them are napping now....except Goober....he and I are watching (me for the 2nd time) the DVDs "The Gospel of John" during the littles naptime this summer.

I wanted to document some cute things my kiddos are doing now.

Goober-reading your bible daily and journaling what you think about the passage or God in general. You love to give cards and presents. You have memorized all of the OT books and we are going to work on the NT ones this summer. You have already finished your summer math packet and we have only been out 2 days..YOU LOVE MULTIPLICATION!!! You have been asking questions lately like " well when I am 30 can I have a phone?"...."what about 25?". We always answer "no"....:). You have no clue how to dress yourself well but love to comment on mom's clothing when you don't believe its up to code. You love playing with our next door neighbor and got sad when you heard he had a virus. You said "well there goes my summer"....I think you think a virus last a long time. You ARE JUST LIKE YOUR DAD!!!!...Our neighbors share a mutual friend of ours and one day he was parked in their yard instead of on the street...you said " What in the world does Steve think he is doing parked right there?"...just like your daddy would say :). You make sure that everyone (ESPECIALLY MOM) knows if something funny just happened and repeat it with accents/gestures and all. This is something that gets on my nerves when Adam repeatedly mocks the television and/or people so I think God is truly testing me with now getting to hear some "funny" things 3 times :). You think are the 3rd parent in the house and tell your sister to clean her room, stop shaking her booty and to eat her dinner. You also encourage both of your siblings to get in trouble ;). You asked me today in the car if I thought you were "Mah Churing"....I said just the fact that you care about maturing means you are :).

Ribbit-you always tell us you are a big/little girl. You are a big and little sister so that tends to throw you off. You are always saying "mommy, I just love you". You only eat things that are high in sugar and/or calories...except strawberries which you chow down on. You say your stomach is hurting if you see a future dinner that you won't like. You are learning to stay in your bed when you wake up in the morning until you hear mommy or daddy in the kitchen....you are so proud of yourself when you do this....except it means a VERY MESSY ROOM. You love to have mommy read you a book and then you read it back to her before bed time. You LOVE the song "My God's not dead,he's surely Alive..he is living on the inside, roaring like a lion"....you sing it and whisper it! You also like the song " boys will be kings, girls become queens, wrapped in your majesty when we love the least of these"...and you ask mom to turn up the radio when it comes on. You don't like for mom to sing along and say you can't hear the music when I do it. You have a very strong opinion on your clothes and many times you leave the house in fairy wings, skirts over pants, fairy wands and mommies jewelry......mommy has learned to pick her battles and for the most part those things come off before we get to school or the store. You understand that you and Baby Boy do not drink the same milk so you say that you drink "skin milk....yup skin" and brother drinks "formula" even though he really drinks whole milk. If brother bites you, you say " mommy he is eating me again" and the other night during dinner you started crying and said " I ATE MYSELF' because you bit your finger. You LOVE to dance and you usually fist pump...which gets a lot of stares and moms giving me the judgey look :)...i think its cute.

Baby Boy-You are doing SO MUCH! You can climb up and go down the small train slide at the park by yourself. You like to stop and give mommy kisses through the windows on the way up saying "emmmm muh". You say "mar mar" and march around the living room. You say "down" and point when you are done with meals. You say "saw bar" which means strawberry and you eat them NON STOP!! You know when we say time to go bye bye that you have to find your shoes and you immediately sit down on the floor for us to put them on. You tell everyone you meet " hi" and "buh bye". You gargle water when you drink it and smile while you look around to see who heard you. You tell your siblings to "MOVE". Since mommy points to herself and says "mommy" you point to yourself and say "mommy" too. You love your belwe and point to mommy's belwe too! You don't like telling daddy buh bye since he stayed home with you for such a long time....but we are working on it. You point to exactly what you want and if we try to give you something different you shake your head "no" emphatically. You will let almost anyone hold you but you get real scared of people with darker hair and run back to us. You still think all food is "hot hot hot" before you eat it and you must blow on it. When you hear the oven timer go off you run towards the oven yelling "hot hot hot" and blowing in the air. You love to push sisters doll strollers and your sit and push toy all around the house...you yell at anything that gets in your way. You have your moments when you will cuddle for a while but those normally end with a fist to the chin or face and you giggling. You are ROUGH and love to wrestle! You have long curly hair and have been called "little girl" a lot lately....oh well, we like those long curls!!

A good day

Today was a great day...I didn't know it would be so great though. It started off with my awesome school bestowing upon me the award of Master Teacher for the year. I was beyond shocked, like one of those moments where you weren't listening because you were sure you were not going to win but your good friend has a "oh my goodness" face and is clapping and smiling at you so you assume it was you :). Its a weird feeling though. As teachers we are often not told the impact (if any) we have on a kids life unless the parents tell us or the kid comes back to tell us. Most times the appreciation we get comes in the form of hugs, homemade goodies or a kid repeatedly taking your class.....hardly ever in words or medals. Today though I was affirmed all day with words (and a cool medal) from my bosses and peers and some students and I HAD NO CLUE WHAT TO SAY BACK. Its so humbling, the only thing you can say is that God is good to you, gives you lots of grace. I kinda felt bad for taking an award for something that I love doing so much..some days it doesn't feel like work, just doing what I know I'm supposed to do. Anyways, it was a great way to start my day off and an AWESOME way to end my 3rd year of teaching!!! Here is a video to show you just how my awesome my day ended...with a story from my sweet little thang.

Tap

I'm pretty sure we are wasting our money on tap lessons :)

1 day left :)

Yup, it true. I have one more FULL day of school. I have to proctor some exams but for the most part the teaching (lesson planning/supply getting/classroom management) is DONE :). My kids have 2 full days and 2 1/2 days left and they are pretty stinkin excited too!

We are already planning out our summer...making playdates with friends, planning looonng camping trips, llooonng road trips, beach trips, camps and how to pack in as much fun as possible.

We also have to plan around Adam's NEW JOB too :). That's right...he was offered 2 incredible opportunities on Thursday of last week.....one in archaeology and one in carpentry/remodeling...HIS TWO LOVES!!!. He basically said "yes" to both and in both he will be his own boss.....Isn't God good? I knew something like this would happen where God would pour on the blessings and make us feel incredibly stupid for ever doubting him or his timing :). Even better is that in both job he will be working with other christians!!! I love that he will be able to do things that he loves and feels called to.....I also love that I won't have the pressure of being the main breadwinner on my shoulders.

Since tomorrow is Mother's Day I thought I should acknowledge my momma on here since I can't be home to celebrate with her.
Thanks Mom for teaching me the value of hard work and giving me a strong work ethic.
Thanks Mom for teaching me to use only my ring finger to put on make-up around my eyes.
Thanks Mom for always wanting my art and always displaying it around the house.
Thanks Mom for giving me what Adam calls "the desire to always go"!
Thanks Mom for going on all those youth/field trips with me even when I was a jerk towards you the whole time....now I get it ;).
Thanks Mom for never calling me "crazy" for only wanting to adopt....siblings, older children and then a 3rd.
Thanks Mom for flying out to Texas A LOT to help my family and take care of my kiddos!
Thanks Mom for always offering to take me to get my nails and hair done when I come home.
Thanks Mom for letting my kids choose their "grandma" name for you and just going with it :)
Thanks Mom for being the first to call Me, Adam and all 3 kiddos on our birthdays and sing out "happy birthday" to us. We may be rolling our eyes on the other end but we secretly look forward to it!!

Love you MOMMA!!!!!

I also want to wish my Nana C. Happy Mother's Day...I LOVE YOU!!!
Thank you for taking care of me during the summer...I have so many good memories of you and Papa during those months!!!
Thank you for always taking me church, for always being involved in VBS, for always singing out loud, for always winning the award of "bringing the most kids to church" every year at VBS, for giving me a love for chocolate pop-tarts, for taking us swimming at night, for helping me get ready for Prom :), for making dresses for my wedding, for calling me during college, grad school and now just to talk and catch up :).

Hard Life

Some days my job is just tooo hard!!!

Today was the Auction Pool Party. I have been blessed to be chosen to go 3 years in a row. The past two years have been at Vernon Wells home...its quite spiffy. I get to hang out with one of my best buds....Mrs. Samples :)

ANNNNNDDDD these sweet girls....we had sooo much fun and it was a great way to start our last full week of school!!!

Cinco De Mayo

This weekend was FULL....but it was the kinda full that leaves you exhausted in every possible way.

We spent Friday night with our neighbors celebrating the end of his first semester of grad school and with all A's. They took our entire family out to eat, to a SUPER nice restaurant and splurged. WE HAVE THE BEST NEIGHBORS. It was a lot of fun and the kids stayed up late into the night playing while the dads talked (yes my husband talks his head off with our neighbor, i have to text him to come home :)...who would have thunk it?)

Saturday we divided and conquered. Ribbit and I went to 2 back to back birthday parties for her school friends. We normally wouldn't do that but they were both good friends and she was VERY excited. The first was a pottery painting party and she completely hammed it up. She had an audience the whole time and was cracking jokes, singing and being super sweet with the birthday girl. Next we headed to a Golf themed party where she played HARD (almost all of her class friends were there) and she definitely inhaled tons of sugar. Then she and I came home and crashed in mommies bed while we watched cartoons..she had a very good day.

Adam took the boys to the Library. Goober has been dying to get there and use his library card. Adam let him check out a lot of books and two dvds. It made his day. Then he took them to McDonalds to lunch (a treat since we avoid that place if we can :). That night Goober slept over at the neighbors :).

Today we went to church and then raced home so I could attend a baby shower. The kids ate lunch, took naps and then we all watched a movie together. We celebrated Cinco De Mayo with chips and queso and tacos for lunch. After that we walked up to the football field where we raced (several times), long jumped, skipped, kicked around a soccer ball and played until we were dead tired (parents included).

So we are full of food, full of good memories, full of friendship and full of love for our Jesus!!

I wanted to share a sweet email we got from Goober's Sunday School teacher...makes me so proud of our little man!

I was looking for you last Sunday when you or Goobers mom picked him up from the Jungle, but missed you.  I just wanted to to brag on Goober to you.  He is such a precious child!  There is a light in him that shines like a star against the dark skies, and I can see God working in his life in a powerful way.  I'm excited to see what God's plans are for him.  Goob is such a joy to have in class, and I'm thrilled to be one of his teachers.  He has such a good heart.  I've been quite pleased and impressed that he has worked to learn all of the books of the Old Testament.  He is the only one in the class so far who has done this.  I challenged the entire class to learn the books of the Old Testament, and as promised, I've purchased Goober a gift card to the store of his choice (he chose Target) to reward and recognize him for his work in learning the Old Testament books.  He is an incredible kid!  You are doing well with him.

More Artsy Fartsy

In family news Ribbit has not been acting very nicely at home or at school lately. There have been cougar alerts, spankings and tonight she told me "well I am not very pleased with your behavior mommy"....which if it hadn't been said while she was in her ballet outfit while giving me her "mommy look" she would HAVE GOT IT. I'm hoping this is just her way of letting us know its time for summer. If not BOY DO WE HAVE OUR HANDS FULL!

Baby Boy is literally running around like a crazy man. If he hears an outside door open he hauls booty to it and starts saying "hi" and beating the door. An Outback Steakhouse commercial came on the other day while I was holding him and the minute they showed a steaming steak he went crazy saying " hot hot" and trying to blow on it.

Goober is my sweet boy. He has this thing where he becomes the 3rd parent. Most of the time he repeats our phrases to Ribbit. His most recent is "well you think you know everything then, according to my records", which he got from Adam. He also likes to greet me every day with whether or not Ribbit should be allowed to participate in after school activities based on her behavior that day.

Here are pictures from our in-house competition.

Wire Birds from my 9th graders..focus on line, shape, mixed media.

Do you see the OWL? I love the way she treated the wire.

Patriotic Penguins and Yellow Owls!

The state bird of Australia on top of the Sydney Opera House.....this student just moved back to TX after living in Australia for 3 years.

One of my favorites...an ostrich.....this student is from South Africa and I could listen to her talk all day!

Some 9th grade black and white shell drawings. Had to use at least 2 of 4 different drawing lines!

9th grade Color work...Watercolor Resist/Prints/Paper Tiles/ Colored Pencil Elements and Principles

 Drawing Class-One of my 10th grade girls diptychs, using white and black charcoal

Another 10th grade girls diptych...she is awesome an incorporating words into her work!

10th/11th grade drawings of skeletons...telling the story of the skeleton (their life) in the shadows...charcoal.

10th/11th grade drawings of cheerios with spotlights on them. The one on the bottom right took 3rd place at State!