Preschool

Let's get one thing straight right from the beginning... I could NEVER EVER homeschool. One, my patience are slim. Two, I have very few patience. Three, I don't have enough patience. Get it?

I'm struggling though. Elliot will be three in just a few short weeks. We opted out of three-school this year. Our other children are young for thier grade, but with summer birthday's it's not a big deal. I was young too. Once. I was young once. Anyway... if we started threeschool now, Elliot would be 4 going into Kindergarten. Only for a few weeks, but four either way. So, were holding him back. Matt's mind is on sports, he wants him to be bigger. My mind is torn. He is SOOO ready for threeschool. SO SO SO ready. But, rumor has it there won't be young fives when he get's there. Anyway, enough mumbling on. We are not sending him to threeschool this year. Not sure about next year either, but that's a different story for a different day.

So, this year while the other two are at school I want to do some sorty of educational stuff with E. When Bailey was little and I was babysitting I had a bunch of resources and activities that I could do. I was as set up as a preschool myself. Now I'm not though, and I seem to have forgotten most of the wonderful ideas that I had. So, this is my plea to you, do you have or know of any wonderful websites with great information for me? I'm not going to go all out, but to have some learning activities would be wonderful!

Thankful Thursday

Inspired by this post from Becky.

First of all as cliche as it is I'm very thankful for these four children. Tears or no tears, hitting or not, neat or not, no matter what I love them!

Even when they are sitting in time out...

I'm thankful that my husband has a job.
I'm thankful for friends, pacifiers, vacume's (and spell check), cameras, computers, this store, and even this store (definately not this store though), a house, renters, a vehicle to drive and food to eat! The list could go on and on and on. And on.

Amisa Designs ~ Jewlery

Last night I went to a Jewlery show by Amisa Designs! I picked up a necklace and a pair of earings which I love. They have lot's of unique pieces made in a variety of colors, and thier prices are very reaonable too! Go check out thier blog to learn more, view some great designs and enter for a chance to win a free piece!

Links

I'm sitting here enjoying this while my daughter L cries herself to sleep. The pie is heavenly, the crying, not so much.

Bought this for E today to wear on his birthday next month, and got him this to go with it (he'll open the cape)! I think he'll love it, lately he talks all about Batman and Spiderman, not that he has a clue who they are! Not sure what else the little one will get for his birthday, I was thinking maybe one of these, he loves the big brothers, but since his handle bar is turned funny if you hold the bar straight you are guaranteed to turn, it get's a little difficult to ride. Not sure what to get him truthfully, something about being the third child and needing NOTHING makes birthdays and Christmas a little difficult!

And just because everyone needs a dose of chubby baby everyday! On a side note, she is only one pound away from growing out of her carseat! ONE POUND! 4 months old.

Spotted... w/ Bailey's camera

Us!
Landon's artwork (and shadow)
Camping
Matt took naps with Lila by the pool while the rest of us swam in the "morning" Ummmm, is it chicken, steak or pork??? (The answer was pork)
Before going for a boat ride
Doesn't that life jacket look comfy? She screamed the entire way through the "No Wake" zone, and then once we could GO she fell right asleep!
Matt took the older kids fishing one day... E didn't do much fishing.
Oh Bailey!
Me and my baby boy! (He'll always be my baby) There was very little makeup used that weekend, obviously!

Elliot dribbling a basketball

I've been trying to upload a video fo E dribbling for a good 6 months now, but just now got a decent video and am finally able to upload, so here you go. Enjoy!

4 months

Tomorow (Friday) my baby will be four months old.
And you know what happens at four months.
My favorite. (can you read the sarcasm?)
Cereal.

She's been eating cereal for three days now.
I think she's gained weight.
She's 20 pounds now.
Unofficially of course.
We have to wait a few weeks for an official weight check.



Football started this week.
Which means Matt is gone from 8am until about 8pm.
He comes home for lunch still, luckily, otherwise that would be a long time.
Oh wait, it still is a long time.
We'll survive though.

Yesterday we went to feed the ducks.


And then we came home and had ice cream.
And watched Elliot make funny faces.
Remember "Mashed Potatoes"? Well this is "Pickles" apprently. The kids taught him this.
Whatever. I just think he's pretty darn cute!


Oh yeah, and the stocking cap, it's apparently the accessory of choice, can't go anywhere without it. Good thing it's not 90 and humid anymore. 70 degrees definately calls for a stocking cap!

We camped...

we conquered! We survived our first official camping trip as a family of 6! It wasn't to bad, Lila wasn't great, but it's not completely her fault. I wanted to sit by the pool and relax, not rock her to sleep and hold her while she napped. And sit by the pool we did! It was lovely!



Just one picture to share until I can get caught up on editing enough to feel ok about sharing others!

Changes

I'm sitting here at almost 10pm listening to my daughter scream. She's screaming for many different reasons. One, she is in her own bed. Two, she is tired. Three, I'm not holding her. Four, she's not in my bed. Five, I'm not holding her. Six, apparently she didn't like the burrito I had for lunch today. But then again, most of what I eat doesn't agree with her tummy.

I'm determined right now to get the girl to sleep. She will fall alseep eventually. Right? Ahhhh, why does this have to be sooooo difficult. (Yes, I'm using this for therapy right now so I don't go crazy listening to her scream, b/c I could very quickly loose it and go CRAZY).

I'm thinking that I will soon have a Medela Breast Pump for sale if you need one, or know anyone that does. My body apparently doesn't want to produce much milk anymore. Not sure what the problem is there. It does make me sad to think that I will never have that bond with a baby again. It's not for everyone, and never in a million years did I think nursing would be for me, but there is something about it when she's eating and looking in my eyes, knowing that I'm the only one that can do that for her. It has definately created a bond between me and my children. Which isn't always good. Sometimes the bond is to tight. But they all seem to have adjusted well as they age.

We leave for camping tomorow and I have yet to pack one thing for myself. I got the kids all packed today, towels are all packed and Matt is getting groceries as I type. I did get all the laundry done today! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, she's sleeping, one hour after we started, Elliot's almost asleep... maybe. It's almost time for me to go to bed! By myself. In my bed, alone! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!

Want to win a camera?

Then you MUST go check out this blog (we all know that I adore this photographer by now, right). All you have to do is vote for your favorite of the five pictures by leaving a comment! Seriously, how simple is that???? Except, there are some GREAT pictures so it may not be so simple to make a decision, but I have faith in my trusty blog readers (all 3 of you), you CAN do it! You CAN! Now go... while I go pack for camping!

C-R-A-Z-Y

Just headed out for a shoot in a few minutes, but wanted to share this crazy kid with you...
Yup, he dressed himself, yup, he looks a little (or lot) goofy, but yup, I love him despite it and because of it! He's my boy!
(P.S. the shirt was bought as a complete joke, but it's become a fav of his, he asks to wear his muscle shirt)

Well, things have been super super busy around here. Our whole summer was busy. Crazy busy. Before having Lila we didn't want to make any plans to do anything this summer. We just didn't know how it would even be possible. Buc come mid June we were really really regretting that decision. So thanks to Matt's brother we are headed out camping this weekend. Should be fun, interesting at the least. I'm just thankful we are able to get away. Unfortunately no one was able to take the last minute trip with us, so it's just us. We've never gone camping before, just us. Should be fun! Packing and unpacking on the other hand... not so much.

I have been busy taking pictures. Which I absolutely love to do. I've tried limiting my sessions per week, but am not succeeding all that well. Oh well, I can do it, this to shall pass and winter will be here before we know it and I will be bored out of my mind again, suffering from cabin fever.

The kids go back to school in only 4 short weeks. In some ways I'm ready, but in many many ways I'm not. I love having no reason to be up and out of bed at 7am, no reason that I have to get moving. We are normally all in bed until at least 9am. Once school starts that will all change. Landon will have to leave the house at 7am if he's riding the bus or 7:25ish if Matt's taking him. Bailey get's on the bus at 8ish. Last year they kind of got ready together and went out to the bus together, I have a feeling I'm going to have to be a bit more pushy with B this year to get her there on time. She's not a quick mover. I have them jobs this morning which should have taken 1 hour max to get done, 4 hours later, she is just getting done. Good grief. Drives me CRAZY!!!!

Off to put the young middle boy to bed and feed the baby and then edit edit edit!

Burrito... not the food kind!

I have about 150 THOUSAND pictures to edit right now, but I've had ENOUGH for the day. I couldn't resist posting this picture of my little girl wrapped up like a burriot though! This was taken this afternoon during her 2 hour (yup, 2 HOUR) nap! 2 FULL HOURS! She used to HATE to be swaddled, but apparently she's changed her mind about all that. Although, who knows, we thought we had her figured out other times too, but it sometimes only lasts a day or two. Right now she is sleeping in my bed. All swaddled up! I'll take it!

Jalepeno Poppers...

I have been craving jalepeno poppers. Not sure how it started, but it did. So, the other day I gave in to the craving. They were delicious! For the first time I made some that were yummy. It was a combination of a few recipies. Good and spicy and full of fatty goodness, oh and the important part, they were EASY too! Poor Lila wasn't quite a fan of them, her tummy was achin'... it will be a while until I can eat them again. But you definately shouldn't wait. You should eat them RIGHT NOW!

Half and seed 20ish (or more, maybe 30) jalepeno's.
Brown one pound of sausage (zesty or original). Make sure it's chopped small, I put it in the food processor for a second, but you don't have to.
Mix with one block of cream cheese. (I think I did this in the food processor)
Fill peppers with mixture and wrap w/ 1/2 slice of bacon. (I used the precooked kind, but you could use regular too) Use a toothpick to secure.
Bake in a pan w/ sides at 350 for a while.
(Like those specifics???, sorry, thats how I work)

Enjoy one (or a dozen) for me!