Squirrel Hunting

What good is a bow and arrow if you are not going to use it? ~Do not fear... thanks to Daddy, the kids have put their bow and arrow to good use!

One day, they decided that they were going to shoot a "squirrel". So this is what Dave came up with...
And according to Dave, after you shoot a squirrel, you have to skin it and eat it.  So that's exactly what they did after the kids kept saying, "Daddy, when are we going to skin the squirrel and eat it?"

So, here they are, enjoying some "squirrel"!

Oh wait, but that's not it.  A few days later, while I was not home (I would've taken some photos), Dave took them outside to look for squirrels.  They all had had their bow and arrows and were actually trying to get a squirrel.  They had so much fun hunting for squirrels, while people were slowing down as they were driving by our house to see what in the world was going on...Once again I say, leave it to Dave!

Cowboy Carson!

Carson chose a Cowboy Party to celebrate his 5th birthday!  Grannie offered her house.  Thank you Grannie and Papaw for everything.

All the cowboys and the cowgirl.

Family Picture

Pin the tail on the donkey.

"Happy Birthday to You!"

Roasting Marshmallows for S'mores - Yum!

Enjoying the fire after the party.

Library Fun

We love to go to the library. Natalia was so excited to get her very own library card. Carson was a little disappointed because I told him that he cannot get his own card until he can sign his name all by himself. I'm hoping this will give him the motivation he so desperately needs to learn how to write his name.  

Natalia loves to read! She always complains when it is time to leave.  She is also never content with just a few books!!!!! Every time, I have to explain to her that we can't take too many books and that we will be back!  

Luke loves the fact that he can use the computer and he also loves to play with the puppets.

Carson spends most of his time in the Sports section. Most of the books he gets are about sports. One day, he found a black and white, old book about archery. He has been intrigued with bow and arrows since then. We read this book every day for two weeks. After two weeks we had to return the book to the library. We weren't able to go in, so we just dropped it off in the drop-off box. Carson was so heartbroken. A few days later, we returned to the library and Carson was so excited when he found that same book again!  

The next day, we had to take the book to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) to share with everybody!

"Like the Tellar and the Nellar and the Gellar and the Dellar..."

Ah...look at them hugging!  Okay so they do love each other, but there is another reason why they hug while Daddy reads There's a Wocket in my Pocket! by Dr. Seuss.

                                                                 

                                                            

Ever since Natalia and Carson were very little every time Dave reads this book and gets to a particular part whoever is not hugging gets a "tickle-tickle"!   

Carson Turns 5!

Unbelievable! How can Carson be 5 already? 

He had such a good birthday. His birthday was December 4th. I know, I know, I can't believe it has taken me this long to blog about such a special occasion. December has just been a very busy month. I guess, better later than never. Anyway...

We had a special birthday breakfast and he received his birthday gifts from us. 

Right after I dropped him off at school, I went back home to fix his room.  He got his big boy bed.  Thank you Grannie and Mami for all your help.  I could have not done it without them!  

Dave and I picked Carson up early from school and took him for a special lunch at Tokyo Japanese Steak House.  At first, he wasn't too sure about the fire, but by the end, he was enjoying himself.

Right after lunch, my parents took all of them to Chuck E Cheese and to the bookstore.

Later that evening, we went to Chili's, the restaurant of his choice.  

What a wonderful time!  

Black Friday!

This is the first time in my life that I've gone shopping the day after Thanksgiving.  Grannie, Susan, Elizabeth and I were deciding when and where to meet the next morning when Natalia said, "I want to go too!"  I don't know why but I said, "okay".   

After only a few hours of sleep, this is what Natalia looked like at 6:30 AM on Black Friday...

Once Natalia had some Chick-Fil-A for breakfast, she woke up a little.  We had a great time.  She did better than I ever expected!

A Dad's Attempt at the Thanksgiving Story

As promised, click here to watch the video about the Thanksgiving story.

Thanksgiving Feast

So...after the corn kernel feast, we decided that that was not going to cut it so we headed to Grannie and Papaw's house.  Boy, did we have some food.  We had so much to choose from.  It was also good to see Papaw's side of the family.  After visiting, eating, playing frisbee, playing with sand and some fighting, of course, the day ended with Carson going to Solomon's house for their first sleep over, some football and Natalia spending the night at Grannie's house. What a great day.  The only thing missing for it to be a perfect day was having my parents here.  The good thing is that we were able to go and spend a few days at San Antonio with them this week. 

Anybody up for some giblet gravy?

Enjoying good food and company

Don't let this picture fool you...they were saving room for dessert.

Natalia eating her THIRD piece of pumpkin pie. Her favorite!

Is time for some frisbee!

We are thankful to God for friends and family....and good food.

A Pilgrims Breakfast 2008

What a day!  This morning, we started by eating breakfast.  Dave told me that he had a special thanksgiving breakfast so we were all excited and looking forward to see what he had up his sleeves.  Well, I went to the kitchen and this is what I found!

Seeing the kids expressions was priceless when we put this in front of them.

They were to eat these three corn kernels while Dave read the story of the Pilgrims!  Each Pilgrim was alloted 3 kernels of corn per day.  That was their food for an entire day.  Luke ate them right away and then said, "Daddy, me still hungry!"  Carson ate them all and Natalia would have nothing to do with them.  (She doesn't like corn at all.)  --It was so funny to watch them trying to figure out what this breakfast was all about!  ~Leave it to Dave to come up with something like this...I video taped it but have not been able to get it downloaded to my computer.  I'll post it once I figure this thing out.  Here are some pictures in the meantime though...

Soccer Season - 2008

This year it was Natalia's 3rd year to play soccer.  She loves playing!  Always looking forward to practice on Mondays and Tuesdays and games on Saturday mornings.  At the beginning of the season she wasn't too sure that she wanted to play anymore.  I finally figured out that she wasn't too thrilled about all the running that was involved.  This year was the first time to play on a bigger field and the first year to have a referee too. She quickly got used to the changes though.  At this level, we still don't keep score, except for a few of us moms :0)  ~Go Lemondrops!  

You Go #3!!!!

This was Carson's very first season to play soccer.  For the first 5 games (out of 10!) he wouldn't do anything other than follow Dave ("the coach") around or just stand there.  It was driving me absolutely crazy.  Good thing that he finally warmed up.  He enjoyed it after that point.  This year he was number #4 ("because he is 4" - he said)  and they were the Rocketboots.  How did they get that name? - You might be asking yourself.  Well, one day while discussing what their team name was going to be, one of the boys said "Rockets" and another boy said, "no, I want our team to be called Boots."  Dave, being the nice guy that he is and not wanting to hurt anybody feelings said, "how about Rocketboots!"       

Carson standing around watching everybody else play soccer!

Carson finally decides to join in!

Carson kicking the ball :0)

Soccer season is fun but I'm also glad this season is over.  We had to be at the soccer fields by 8:10 a.m. and would leave until 11:30 every Saturday morning.  In addition we had practice during the week.  It was a lot of fun, but glad for the break.

Looking forward to next season...

Learning to Worship!

Okay, so here we are already!  I never imagined this stage in our lives would be here so quickly.  It's such an important and crucial part of their upbringing.  So, I'm praying for a lot of wisdom and p a t i e n c e!  

Sunday was the very first time the kids went to big church with us.  They were so excited to go, but the excitement wore off after 5 minutes!  I thought it was going to be a terrible experience, but to my surprise, they did great.  

For some reason, Luke went with us too.  I think this was the first and last time he'll be with us during worship.  I think 4 or 5 is a good age, not 3!  He did so good though.  At first, he sat with Daddy and then he came and sat with me and fell asleep.  He slept through the whole message.

Carson, thought he was part of the worship team.  He played his imaginary guitar and drums.  During the message, he got a little anxious and kept asking Daddy if we could go to the house, but he did good overall.  There is definitely some room for improvement.

Natalia, was an angel.  Except that every 5 minutes she would ask me when we could go home!  She had her Bible with her so she looked for the scriptures the pastor was preaching from.  She also counted all the light fixtures and she can probably tell you how many chairs were in the auditorium.  She would look at me in surprise whenever she heard the words Jesus, God, cross, salvation, righteousness....all those words she is familiar with.  

I've been reading Parenting in the Pew.  It's a pretty good book.  This is all new to me and I need all the help I can get.  I definitely don't want to miss (or mess up) these precious years I have with my children to teach them what it is to go to church and truly spend time with God in worship.

It's Not the End of the World!

Last week, Natalia had to go to the doctor for her 6 year old check up.  She cried the entire time while we were at the doctor's office.  She knew she was getting at least one shot.  After me being compassionate and patient and caring and all that good stuff, I said, "Alright Natalia, that's enough.  It's not the end of the world!"

She looked at me and said, "I wish it was the end of the world for ME!"

Sweet Moments

Bed time routine... studying the Word of God.  In this particular picture, Dave was teaching Natalia the Ten Commandments.  

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Dave just finished reading this book to the kids.  What a great book!  Natalia could not stop thinking and talking about it.  Now, we are in the process of watching the movie.  A few more nights before we can finish it.

I just love seeing Dave read to the kids.  He is also so good about working with Natalia on her school work and flash cards.  Every morning, right after Natalia wakes up, she goes and cuddles with Dad.  After a few minutes, once she finally manages to wake him up, they start working on math, reading and spelling.  

Halloween 2008!

I know, it has almost been a week since Halloween and I'm just getting around to posting about it, but that's just the way it goes when you don't have internet at home - so bear with me...

It was a very enjoyable evening.  We ate an early dinner and then we were off to "trunk or treat" at the old Academy parking lot.  First Baptist Texas had activities and lots of candy for the kids. It was fun, seeing people you know and playing all the games.  

Carson's cup of tea!

I don't think Luke knew what to expect!

Natalia and her friend from school

Later, we drove by Grannie and Papaw's house to show off the costumes and to get more candy.  As expected, Luke fell asleep on the way to Grannie's house.

When we got home, we thought the kids were going to go straight to bed, but we were wrong.  There was so much going on on our street, that Carson and Natalia decided that they were not done trick-or-treating, so we walked down our street.  Natalia said, "mama, this is my favorite way to trick-or-treat because we get to talk to people we know."  Funny, she never mentioned anything about ALL the extra candy they were getting.  

After knocking on every possible door (where the porch light was on), we headed back home.  As soon as we got inside, we heard the door bell.  Didn't quite understand - our porch light was off.  Finally, to my surprise, the kids decided that it would be fun to "sell" our candy.  Anyway,  they truly enjoyed this part and I did too!

Natalia and Carson "selling" candy

Spending Time with Freund

Lately we've been spending a lot more time with Freund.  That's all good, but drinking water from his bowl is where we HAVE to draw the line.  I hate posting this because my poor Dad and Mom are probably going to get a heart attack and will let me know about it.  I'm sure Dave's Dad will also have a very hard time with this, but will probably not say much.

Yesterday, I was in the kitchen while the boys were playing in the backyard with Freund.  All of a sudden, I look out the kitchen window, and do you know what I saw?  Carson and Luke leaning over Freund's bowl.  I didn't actually see them take a drink, but I asked them if they had drank some water out of it and they say yes.  I hope they are lying to me.  Just this once, please let it be a lie!!!