What An Imagination

I sit in awe of my daughter's huge imagination. She has spent the majority of her day making a map of planets. These include shape planet, chocolate planet (my favorite), river planet, pencil planet, and robot butterfly planet to name just a few. Now it is time to build our spaceship. Unfortunately, Katie does not think that this is just make believe. She really thinks we're heading for space. The spaceship is going to be built from the vacuum cleaner, our computer, and a special cord to plug it in. Then we'll stick some fire underneath it and we're off! It will take 10, no 100 minutes to get into space! This, of course, because 100 is the largest number that Katie knows.

So I sit down with Katie and tell her that going into space is fun, but that it's just make believe. She almost burst into tears. I state to her that only astronauts can go into space. She told me that she was an astronaut. I announce that if she wants to be an astronaut, she'll have to do well in school and learn all about space. I asked her what planet we live on. She said, "the one where we are." I asked her what other planets are in our solar system and she began naming some of her pretend planets.

Katie's sitting in front of the TV with a blank look on her face while watching A Night at the Opera. I may have killed her fantasy of flying into space. I sure hope not. She'll just find another fantasy land to live in. The joys of preschool.

My Chillens

Here's my chillens just chillin' this summer.

Kate with her 36 piece puzzle. She was so proud to figure this one out.

Can you figure out whose job it is to straighten the shoes?

Katie passed out after a long day of swimming and partying at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

She's my ham for the camera.

One of my only shots of Nathan doing his school work. He's usually out with his friends all day, so I don't get to spend much time with him.

The kids' paintings. Who copied who (or is it whom?)

Katie working hard at her cutting and painting.

There's my ham again.

I decided one night at about 8pm to try to put together Katie's bike. This is why she's riding her bike in the dark while wearing her nightgown. Yes, I'm that kind of mom.

Nathan was catching fireflies while Katie rode her bike.

July 4th

Here are July 4th pictures. We spent the majority of our day with my sister-in-law and her family. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of the fireworks, but I guess if you see them once, you've seen 'em a million times.

My brother-in-law grilling. All the food was great!

Katie enjoying the sun, but not the water slide.


Nathan definitely enjoying the water slide!

She timidly gave it a try. She never did make it down the other end.

Nathan sure did

Here's their cousin, Hannah.
Their other cousin, Evan

Hannah helped Katie give it another try.

The boys had the most fun.

This one shows all four having a blast.

Nathan soaking wet

This is Molly. She's the cutest little dog, and I'm not a dog person.

Nathan and Evan were playing with water guns.

Time to dry off and get dressed again.

My beautiful princess.

This is Logan, a friend's son. He thought the water fountain was just that: a water fountain! Thankfully the water was fresh and the fountain pretty clean. He kept sneaking drinks when the adults weren't looking.

Katie being silly while the bigger kids were playing with sparklers.

Katie looks so big next to little Logan.

June, my sister-in-law and our friend, Jenny.

Does the Planning Ever Stop??

I guess the planning stops when the teaching begins. Since I still have two months to go, I guess I'll be at it for a while.

Here are Nathan's school books. I took this picture about a month ago. I decided to drop the Spelling Power book and pick up Spelling by Scope and Sequence by Rod and Staff. I just love their stuff so much. I also added Handwriting Without Tears Cursive grades 3 & 4 to help build up his handwriting skills. This is the best handwriting program for those with poor fine motor skills. After the first semester, he can begin writing his assignments in cursive. I'll also be purchasing the next book in Math-U-See because Nathan is flying through Delta (division) and will be ready for Epsilon (fractions) by the beginning of the school year.

Here are some of the books we'll be using for reading. I keep finding great deals on good books at Goodwill so I'll often pick up a dozen or so for about $8.00. You can't beat that kind of price.

Here are Katie's books for next year. Most of hers are read alouds. The main part of her curriculum is actually hiding in the top left corner. I'll be using Little Hands to Heaven with the Children's Bible to the left of that. For phonics, we'll be using Explode the Code (A,B, and C) and Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Right now I'm preparing for Nathan's birthday party. We are planning on about a dozen boys, so I'm a little overwhelmed. After the party, I have to get my plans ready to stay at my parents house for about a month. When I get home, it will be time to start school. Then I'll be wishing I had more time to relax.

My Birthday Boy and Event Planner

Nathan is my birthday boy today. He's made it to double digits, although there were days when I didn't think it would ever come. Looking back over the years, I see how very far we've come in ten years. I was admittedly very young and stupid when he was born. He was a bundle of joy. He forced me to grow up as we battled his early years of ADHD. I realized that I needed to stick up for this tiny child, because too often others would try to tear him down. As he has grown and matured, I can see the young man that he is becoming. My prayer for him is 2 Timothy 2:15 "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."

On a much lighter note, Katie is my little event planner. She LOVES to plans events, even though they are all pretend. She wants to invite her friends and family to events such as her wedding (to her brother), her birthday party (she was upset that she didn't turn 5 today), and to her paper lantern party (whatever that is.) She will set up decorations, plan food, games, and make invitations. She even picked flowers for her wedding. I just love the imagination and creativity at this age.

I almost forgot, Nathan has a girl that is crazy about him. Aaaaahhhhh! No, not yet. He's too young. Thankfully Nathan is still running away from this girl who calls him her boyfriend. I have Preparing for Adolescence, Boyhood and Beyond devotional, and Learning About Sex: A Series for the Christian Family. Time to crack open the books. Yes, I know that everything isn't taught in a book, but they can help lead to conversations. Pray for my sanity!

More Summer Photos

We're still having a fun and relaxing summer. Here's some photos taken recently.

Garage Woes

Nathan is turning 10 in about 10 days. I can't believe it! A few days ago, I decided to give him a birthday party. Not only does he want a party, he wants a sleep over. So I thought it over and came up with a lot of great ideas to make a fun party.

First, I'll have ladder golf, lawn darts, and the basketball hoop set up for the boys to play with. After about 1.5 hours, we'll eat dinner. Then we'll split the boys into two groups. One group will make tie dye shirts while the others play a game of basketball golf. When they're done, they'll switch. Next, the kids can have more free play with ideas like sharks and minnows, freeze tag, relay races, and a water balloon fight. Then it'll be time for cake and presents. After that, we'll have games in the garage like party bingo, limbo, hot potato, Chinese telephone, and a mummy wrap contest with door prizes. Finally, I'll set the kids up with popcorn and a movie.

Although I'm really excited to give Nathan his birthday party, I know there's a lot of work that needs to be done. The most important task is cleaning out the garage. I worked for about 5 hours today with Nathan's help to clean it out. It may not look great yet, but there have been great improvements.

Here's the garage after all of the hard work. Everything is much more organized than before. We killed about 50 spiders over the course of the morning and I sprayed for bugs like crazy.

This pile is going with us to my parents' house. It is garbage that I'm sticking in their dumpster. Thankfully, it will be out of here in a few days.

I put the legs on the couch and cleaned it out. Now people can sit on it and I don't think they'll be attacked by creepy crawly things. I'll probably clean it out once more to make sure. All of the boxes behind it are waiting to be taken to the dumpster as well.

The rake, scooter, and basketball hoop are staying. All the rest is garbage waiting to be taken away. Yes, both bikes are broken. I think I buy Nathan a new bike every year because he's so hard on them.

Here are two of the tables that we'll be using for the party. I have one more that I'll set up later. All of the garbage bags are for the donation truck that comes around once a month. Hopefully they'll come before the party so we can get rid of them.

This is Katie's sand and water table along with a box of sports balls. These are staying.

I was able to put more stuff on our shelves. Most of this stuff is holiday decorations.

Nathan worked really hard, but he did complain toward the end. I explained that it was important to finish the job that was started. I was proud of his willingness to help. After the job was finished, he and Katie went out back to play in the water.