Movin' On Up, Maybe

After some thought, and a visit from Wendy and Baby Tinsley, I am seriously considering using cloth diapers. I only have a hopefulyear and a half left of diapers, but they are expensive, and I like the feel of the new cloth ones! Anyone have a favorite brand?

The Votes Are In!

O.K., I will continue blogging for the 16 of you who read it! It is fun for me to do it, and to keep up with other friends the same way. As school begins, it may be a little less frequent, but we'll see!

Happy Birthday, Christian!

Fun Pics

Our little gymnast-she's totally posing here

Look at that little body!
The dude eating his first Cheerios

I think he likes them

This One's For You, Kelli!

I am glad you came to visit!

My New Favorite Time of the Day

I have a new favorite moment of every day. Too bad it is closer to the end of the day! Simon is NEVER still, unless he is sleeping, which means he doesn't snuggle so much anymore. I could cry right here and now. BUT, before dinner, after he has had his last bottle of the day and just before his bedtime, he gets still. Very still. He lays his head on my shoulder, lets me rub his back and hold him tight, and we have about 2 minutes of heaven together. Oh, that I could stretch that 2 minutes to 3, maybe 4, maybe more!

In The Throes

This summer has just flown by! While we have mainly focused on reading and writing over the summer, it is now time to seriously plan this next year for Max and Annabelle. I am going to teach Max at home, which I never saw myself doing, but find myself peculiarly excited about! We teach all the time at home anyway, right? Especially with Max, who is very curious and always roping me into an experiment or a project (catching bugs, doing puppet shows, growing crystals, making toys for the cat, etc.). I am reading lots of books, thinking of ways to keep Max's 6 year old self busy in creative ways, and getting ready to order my curriculum, which is a hodge podge in and of itself. We already have a good schedule going, because I lean that direction anyway. I am reading a book now about 30 families and what school looks like for them on an everyday basis. It is helping to give me an idea of how to be flexible and go with what children are interested in. I am thankful, now more than ever, that these 3 monkeys are my job. This is my verse for Max this year:
"...I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil." Romans16:19

2 More Teeth

And a sore back! While Mr. Dude has two new top teeth just poking through, he won't let me put him down AT ALL during the day. I didn't even contemplate taking pictures of him or his teeth. The wrath of Simon is likely to burst your eardrums, and your heart! Meanwhile, Max and Annabelle are enjoying the summer, playing, swimming, and making new friends!

An Animal-Filled Birthday

Last weekend we celebrated our cousin, Kyra's birthday! It was a great party-we had a visit from the "Creature Teacher," who brought lots of fun animals. I actually learned alot! Of course, everyone's favorite animal was the bunny. As Annabelle stated, "He was the only soft one!" One thing we do miss about Costa Rica and Panama is the animals that live there. In Texas, our "roadkill" usually consists of squirrels, armadillos, etc. Ugh. In Panama, "roadkill" were always these enormous iguanas! We always thought it was hilarious. There's something crazy about driving upon a lizard that is the size of a dog! I'm kind of glad to return to the smaller ceatures!

Is It Over?

O.K., I am considering letting go of my blog. I wonder, how many of you are out there and care to continue reading? (besides you, Mom!) Let me know what you think...

One Busy Guy

O.K., now that Simon is crawling, he is officially into EVERYTHING! The other two were so easy, and were in no way mischievous. This baby can't stop moving and I have to watch him every second! I have baby-proofed the house, yet he still seems to find things he shouldn't be playing with!
So...the question of the day is:
How do you hide every lamp cord in the house to keep a baby from pulling down all of the lamps??????

A Fun Weekend

My little man

Max's Lemonade Stand!

We had a fun July 4th weekend! We swam, and Max had a lemonade stand at Aunt Tracy's garage sale. Not a huge profit, but fun nonetheless! Simon is crawling everywhere, and seems to have a thing for lamp cords. I have definitely been keeping my floors cleaner these days!

"Top Hand"

Max's counselorsClosing Ceremony

Max's favorite part of camp was feeding the chickens and turkey!

Max loved every minute at Day Camp, except rest time, of course! We went to the Closing Ceremony, which was so cute. AND, Max won the top award for the whole Day Camp, 5-10 year olds! First he won the "Extra Mile" award, for going the extra mile all week, which 4 kids received. Then he won the highest award! He was so proud of himself, as were we! He really grew up this week! Later that night, he told me:

"Mommy, when I was in my room I prayed, ""God, thank you for camp and for winning the award. If there's anything I can do for you, just let me know because you helped me this week.""

That's my boy.

Lots to Report...

but no time to blog! I can't seem to find a few consecutive minutes to write, but we all survived Max's first week at Day Camp, had a lemonade stand this past weekend, and the baby is crawling! More soon...