Reading Together

Emily loves her little brother- a LOT! She tries to pack him around, much to the dismay and objection of her parents. Holding him on the chair is one thing, carrying him around is another. If there were 2 of him, he would equal 1 Emily. My big boy loves his sisters!

Trick or Treating

The day before trick or treating we went to IHOP for free pumpkin face pancakes. They went with their cousins and we took a few pictures. Lindsey was Angelina Ballerina- her favorite literary character. Emily was a witch so she could be like her cousin- she later changed to Minnie Mouse for trick or treating and Willis was the cutest bee you ever did see.


The kids at IHOP.


Don't you just want to kiss and squish those cheeks?!

At Grandma's house on her floral couch. It looks like he is in a flower garden.

Buzzzzzzz....




I love how Lindsey is peering into her pumpkin.

I love my sleeping bee... sweet dreams full of honey little one.

Picture Fest

Willis is getting SO big!


Fall is a time for delicious fall foods. I have been making a lot of them. One of my favorites is my pumpkin chowder recipe. I have made it twice now and it has been delicious every time.

There is still loads of reading going on at our house. And Lindsey is starting to put together simple words like C-A-T. It's so exciting to watch them learn.

Painting clay canopic jars for our study of Ancient Egypt. Our lapbook has been a 3 month study and we have had a lot of fun. That will be up next when it is finished.

The image isn't very good, but these are our canopic jars. Emily's is the head of a dog she decided in place of their gods. I tried to have mine be closer to the falcon headed Qebehsenuef, one of the sons of Horus that were often on the lids of the canopic jars.

The girls lovingly showing off our fall decor.

Our fun little guy!

For Robert's 31st birthday we went to see Toy Story 3. We were the only ones left in the theater when they were playing "You've Got a Friend in Me" in Spanish. The girls decided it was dancing time.

Last but not least Emily became a very big girl and got her ears pierced. It was a fun outing with her cousins and Aunt and she was very brave.

You can't see very well, but she chose rainbow daisy studs. She loves them and feels very grown up.

Zoo Fun

Before the weather got cold we had a great day with homeschool friends at the zoo. The girls loved it, the animals were out and it was great to enjoy the beautiful day.


Up close with the tiger "cubs". We never saw them when they were small and now they are more like adolescent cubs.

Adorable baby elephant. He was so cute staying by his mommy and picking up food with his small trunk.


Emily has cracked!

Emily and our friend Alma.

Halloween Times

We went with family members to a fun boutique place that was all decked out for Halloween. It was so fun to walk around and see the pumpkins, witches, shops, lights. The girls were so cute and they loved being with their grandparents.


Lindsey, such a sweet and funny girl.

Daddy's boy.

What a funny look on baby's face.

Grandma Betty hanging out with the baby. She was so worried all night that we would lose the kids. We had to reassure her that we would make sure they stayed close. And they did.

Robert gave me an early Christmas present. He had been into this little shop before and decided he couldn't choose what I would want and needed me to do it. So I got it early and I got to build it myself.

Isn't it pretty? I love it. So awesome to get Christmas early. One of the best parts about being an adult during the holidays.

Books on Tape

Moving to the west side and being farther from family has contributed to much longer car rides for myself and my kids. To make it more bearable we have started doing books on tape. We only have a tape deck, but we also have an adapter for a CD player if we need it. So far we have found the books we want on tape at the library. Once upon a time we did Winnie the Pooh and the girls were too little to remember it, even if they did enjoy it at the time.

Recently we have listened to one of my childhood favorites, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And I was surprised at how quick it was. The girls loved it and were sad when it was over.

After that one we moved onto Hello Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. They loved this one because they would talk about the things the kids shouldn't have done, like be "cry baby" or "whisper" about other people. I liked how the families were tightly knit in the stories and the mother's were genuinely concerned for their kids no matter what troubles they had.
After we finished this one the girls had decided they really liked listening in the car and would ask to have me turn them on as soon as we got in the car. I was happy when I found Stuart Little at the library and we have been enjoying this one a lot. I think we may need to start putting some others on hold because of how much we have enjoyed this past time in the car. Sometimes they are so interesting we don't want to leave.
I think this will be one of those things we will be continuing. We love to learn at our house and this is definitely a fun way to do it.

I Want to be Super Mom!

I am now realizing that I am the type of mom who just can't do it all, despite that I would love to. Its so hard to admit that or remind myself of it when I am having one of those days where I think I can and get disappointed when it doesn't happen. I am now realizing just how much being pregnant with Willis made it so hard to function the way I normally do. Its like I was working at less than half speed. And my brain wasn't working well. All of the things I enjoyed or wanted to do, create, learn, etc. felt monumentally difficult to do. It was just enough that I got dressed, cleaned some, did school and made dinner.

The second my little guy was born I felt like I had stepped outside of my cocoon and was once again myself. It is so liberating! However as a nice and beautiful me came out so did my wee beautiful baby with needs and desires of his own. And as much as I feel like myself wanting to do it all, I know that babies are only small for small moments. The temptation to do the things I have been dieing to do for a year come when the attention of my small ones are so present in my day.

The second I begin something, someone needs me. Despite the fact that my art has been neglected for a year. I haven't done anything beautiful to my yard since moving here last May, in fact the lawn died a horrible death this year when our pipes burst. It was a bad week and we never did get the grass we did have back to living. Its been a year since I have read a book from beginning to end. My brain isn't able to hold the attention of an entire book when my body is cooking the intelligence of another human being. I guess they just don't work so well together. Before I got pregnant I painted my living room with the hopes of having the entire house decorated and painted by this time. I haven't painted any of the other rooms in this house. The girls got their bunk bed and it was only the deadline of them needing a place to sleep that forced me to finish. I haven't in the last year, scrapbooked, sewed, exercised, sang in a choir or done 90% of the projects I planned to do this time last year.

So while I am feeling myself come alive again with the lust and love for life and all the possibilities that lay before me. The Etsy shop I want to open, the yard sales I want to have, the art I want completed and sold in galleries, etc. I am also having to stop myself and remember that even if I want to, I can't always be super mom. It is a myth that you can have it all. Because as soon as one thing is where you want it, something else will be off balance. And the last thing that should be off balance is my family. I am beyond grateful to be doing the most important thing I can do right now. That is rocking my baby to sleep. Reading to my 3 year old. Studying addition with my 6 year old. Playing Candy Land for the hundredth time whether I want to or not. Giggling, tickling and making pumpkin cookies. And when the baby cries from the back bedroom, dropping it all to show him that he is welcomed and loved. Because "babies don't keep".

Smiles!

We have been getting smiles for awhile now, but haven't been able to catch them with the camera. We got a few small ones here and have even had some giggles because little boy is so ticklish.

Two Months

Willis is two months old today! He is the sweetest baby and we just adore him. He loves to smile and "goo" at us. I think he's a keeper. He is 13 lbs now and I can feel it in my arms. He loves to eat and I can feel that in the 7 lbs I gained since having him. I eat all the time too trying to keep up with his appetite. I feel like I am always starving. And I'm not if you look at me, but I feel like it.

Willis with his great-grandma who was married to his namesake who passed away almost 2 years go.


We had this banner up for his baby blessing. We had about 40 people over and so it was a crazy day and we completely forgot to get pictures of him in his suit. Thankfully we still have it and we will have to dress him in it again so we can get some good pictures of him to show off.



Is it just me or do they look very similar in this picture? Oh and love our beautiful chair? I hate how the stuff on the arms is coming off. Think of all that weird stuff and what it would look like ALL OVER your house and on the carpet. I would just get rid of it, but I can't replace it right now and it is the only rocking chair we have and it doubles as a computer chair. If I become really crafty I may just recover it. We'll see. Its still in good shape and it would be a pretty easy one to do.




Nothing like a home made fall wreath above the fireplace don't you think?