The Grand Tour

Actually it was the Grand-Parent tour.

We took off last week for Oklahoma and Missouri to see our 5 Grandmas and 2 Grandpas. We had a wonderful visit with them all. But I am just now getting caught up with all the laundry and chaos that one generates when gone from one's house for a week-long trip.

Our first stop was to see Grandma G. She prays for us every day. And she read my blog every Sunday!

Hi Grandma!

We went out to lunch with her and Aunt S. and then went to a park and let the kids play.

Our second stop was to see my husband's 94 year old Grandma M. She had 5 flats of pansies that she was putting out when we drove up. She loves to garden. She is the only woman on earth that my husband may love more than me. We then drove up to see my Grandma D. She like to play the dominoes game Mexican train.

For quarters.

She actually keeps quarter jars in her cabinet for all her children and grandchildren that come to play with her. My brother and sister-in-law's jar was really full. Hmmmmm........We then went down to the farm to see my Grandpa and Grandma A for a couple days. The weather was so nice that we didn't really stay indoors very much. I realized when we got home that I only had a few pictures of them together from this trip. My mom is with them and she qualifies as the 5th Grandma we spent time with.

I remember the first time my Grandpa met my husband (while we were dating). He checked in his mouth to make sure he had good teeth and then had about 10 questions to ask him. He's a funny guy, that Grandpa of mine.

And my dad (the other Grandpa on our trip) spent most of his time on the 4-wheelers with the kids. There is no place they would rather be than on the 4-wheeler with their Grandpa.

So that's what we've been up to.

Oh, and we left our daughter with my parent so she could spend the week with them. As we were driving away, I started to feel sad that my baby was staying behind and then I heard one of my boys say to the other.... Can you believe it? We have EIGHT-GIRL-FREE-DAYS ahead of us!?!

But don't be fooled. They really have missed her. And we have too. She comes home today and we'll be so glad to see her.

Although it has been a lot quieter around here this past week.

Family Night #1 - Go Hawaiian

We had our first Family Theme Night last night. I got the idea from Whittaker Woman. She does one once a week and instead of just having a family night, she makes a theme with it.

I thought it was a brilliant idea.

So we tried it out.

My goal was to come up with something that would be easy to do and wouldn't cost much to decorate with. We chose a "Hawaiian" theme because my daughter just got several grass skirts and leis for her birthday and we seemed to have some other fun things around that would go with that theme. The kids have also been really wanting pineapple lately, so I thought it would be fun to tie it all together.

Here is our table decorations. We used the pinapple, papaya, kiwi, shells, a sand bucket, a volcano and Nemo to decorate.





The kids and I made tissue paper and pipe cleaner flowers. They were fun and easy to make and we decorated all the chairs and table with them.

The kids also thought it would be fun to put the leis around each chair to make everything look even more festive.

We had pineapple, kiwi and papaya for dessert. My oldest son and I looked up Hawaiian parties online and found some games to pick from. He thought limbo would be fun so we played that while listening to hawaiian music.

Okay, so it wasn't officially Hawaiian music. It was the music from the VBS Outrigger Island.

But it worked.

Limbo limbo limBO

how low can you go....... how low can you go....

The highlight of the evening for everyone was the volcano. We already had the volcano from a science experiment a couple years ago. So we just added 2 tsp of baking soda in the volcano and then they slowly poured red tinted vinegar in with it.

It was almost as exciting as watching fireworks.

The kids got 2 turns each and they all say that was their favorite part of family night.

We ended the evening with all of us dancing to music.

Or if you graduated from a Baptist University, we were "functioning" to the music.

The kids really had a great time and we made some fun memories. I think the most important part was letting them help plan and decorate so they felt that it was their family night.

So there you have it. Our first themed family night. I think we are going to try to have one once a month.

You should try it. It's fun!

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

My son handed me a note today.

It was his Christmas wish list.

Seriously???

I don't remember making wish lists until I was much older than 7. But with all the stores starting to carry Christmas decorations and gifts, and all the magazines pouring into our mailbox full of everything a boy could want, it is difficult to counter the "stuff is important" mentality.

So I've started thinking about Christmas. Not as much about what gifts we should get everyone, but what we can do to make Christmas more about Christ and less about stuff.

We have many family traditions. Some are Christ-centered and some are just traditions.

One of our favorite traditions that we started about 5 years ago was to have each child pick out things to send in a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child. They really enjoy picking things out for a child in another country who has a lot less than they do. They are also challenged by the fact that they don't get to keep what they picked out and they don't get a duplicate either. :) We also pray for the child who will receive that box. It really helps give the kids more of a global perspective and helps them see the joy in giving.

A new tradition we are starting this year is that we are making a simple manger to go under our Christmas tree. We will then have the kids take turns for every day of December placing a little bundle of hay in it. By Christmas morning, the manger will be full of hay and then when the kids wake up, there will be a "baby Jesus" in the manger. We also bake a simple cake and have a birthday party for Jesus.

So as I'm pondering Christmas for this year I am wondering what else we can do to keep our focus on the Saviour and the reason for Christmas. I would love to hear your favorite traditions and what you do to keep the holidays Christ-centered.

I honestly had nothing to say

So my 4 year old daughter came in from the backyard looking very put out.

I asked her what was wrong and she replied... "I was playing hide and seek with a worm and it was his turn to hide and now I can't find him!"

Thankful Thursday

1. I am thankful that fall is just around the corner.

2. I am thankful that I am currently not living in an area that is in a drought. I don't think I planted anything outside the whole time we were in Georgia because of the drought. Today, in Texas, I planted pansies!

3. I am thankful to have my husband home every night.

4. I am thankful for the local library. It is so wonderful to have access to so many books.

5. I am thankful for cool fall breezes and the fact that I can soon wear my favorite jacket!

6. I am thankful for great Christian programs for my kids to get involved in like AWANAs and UPWARDS.

7. I am thankful that there wasn't a quiz over the 2nd Presidential debate. I think I fell asleep.

8. I am thankful for all the new friends God has sent my way since moving to Texas. I have met 4 families that have just moved here in the last 1 - 5 months. Three of them also homeschool! And two of them are from Oklahoma.

9. I am thankful that my family has been in good health the last several months.

10. I am thankful that so far there have only been 3 kids on the block who have stopped by to sell something for their sports league or scout program. (But seriously, what do you do? Do you buy from everyone? I honestly don't want to buy a $16 pie or a $15 can of popcorn. How do you handle that?)

Okay, that's all for now. I hope you have a Thankful Thursday! There is so much to be thankful for.

I love my camera

I love my camera.
Have I mentioned that I love my camera?
It was a birthday present this year and I adore it.


My daughter brought me one of those little bitty daisies the size of a fingernail the other day. It was one of those that grow in your yard and some might consider to be a weed.

But she thought it was lovely.
And I did too.

I love daisies.
And I love my camera.

****Per phone request from my friend, Mrs. Troop, here is the original straight out of the camera shot. I was holding the tiny daisy while taking the picture. The background is the blue Texas sky. And, yes, I did edit it just a titch by cropping it and adjusting the color.

And so I would like to add...

I also love my photo editing program.

Let The Games Begin

So instead of watching this game on Saturday....

We were watching this game.........

(son #1 bringing the ball down the court)

And this game.....
(son #2 ....well we weren't for sure what he was doing, but we assume he was playing good defense)

They both had their first Upwards Basketball game and they both had a great time.

We are so please with the Upwards Sports program because of the Christ-like attitude and good sportsmanship it promotes.

Son #1 had a great time. He scored 6 points and played good defense.

This was the first time for most of the kids on son #2's team to be in a game so they were doing good just to be at the right goal and follow the ball up and down the court.
And he still had a great time.

And she was too young to play this year so she and Minnie were there to represent.

But they better watch out, because she is already counting the days until she can play next year.
And she's got skills and 2 older brothers to practice on.

The Land That He Loves

Last weekend we went on a road trip to Oklahoma and

went fishing on the land that my husband loves.

This land has been in his family for many years and he remembers fishing these ponds as early as 6 or 7 years old.

I've been fishing these ponds with him since the 3rd week we were dating.

In fact, he proposed to me on the dirt road right beside one of these ponds.

(a story that will await another day)

The kids really had a great time.

My oldest has really gotten good at casting and catching bass all by himself.

My middle caught a bass and took a picture with it to humor me.

He enjoyed being outdoors but really prefered to sit in the car and draw.

My daughter really had the best time of all, I think.

She would have one of us cast the lure out for her and then she wanted to reel it in all by herself.

Over and over and over.....

She decided she was on "mommy's team" and so we were fishing together. Some of the places to walk around the pond had grass as tall as she was so I would let her hop on my back as we walked through it whilst I also held my fishing pole.

As we were walking I started to feel like Luke Skywalker in the Empire Strikes Back. You know, the scene where Yoda is on Luke's back telling him,

"Mommy, catch a large fish for our team, you must."

"Catch more fish than the boys, you will."

When my husband saw us he started laughing. Then he asked where the camera was. Fortunately it was back in the car but if we would have had one.... it would have looked something like this..... except Yoda would be wearing a pink sun hat.....

And never fear, the man came, he saw, and he caught the biggest bass.

And we all lived happily ever after.

It's a Virtue

Last weekend we took a road trip to Oklahoma.

On Saturday night we were at my parents house and my 5 year old decided he needed his blanket from the car.

Right then.

He asked me to go get it for him but I was right in the middle of a game with his brother so I told him to go find his dad.

He found his dad talking to his Grandpa and apparently demanded that his dad retrieve the blanket with no further ado.

Since my husband has a "We do not negotiate with terrorists" policy, he decided this would be a good chance for a lesson and told him that he needed to wait 5 minutes so he could practice his patience.

My son replied "I want to practice patience later."