Roller Skating

Matthew's school had a roller skating event last night. I thought it would be fun to take the kids. Chris had to teach so he couldn't come anyways. I did not realize that it was a fundraiser. Now that is a good fundraiser and I can contribute to fundraisers like that. They also had another fundraiser last week with Math night. You didn't have to pay but you could buy food there and all the money went to the school. I like these fundraisers where the kids don't have to go out and sale but they are having a good time as a family and as an elementary. TX schools should really take a lesson from these guys.

Matthew was worried that he wasn't going to be able to do it. I told him we should at least try. When we got there I put his shoes on first and sure enough he tried to stand up and just kept falling. The water works opened. I was just about ready to take those shoes off of him and just go home. I put Allison's shoes on and when she stood of she fell of course but she would just laugh. I finally got mine on and then I took Matthew out on the floor. It was A LOT of work and I didn't even make it the whole way around before I needed a break. Allison was a trooper. She would fall and get up and say it was fun. 

They kept going and going. Of course they fell many more times but they got back up. They were getting pretty good at going along the wall. They decided that they didn't really like my help because they said it felt like I was going to rip their arms out of their sockets since I was trying not to let them hit the ground. 

I conscientiously did not take my camera because I knew I was going to be the only one with them, I would be either leaving it or I might fall and break it or in one of the many falls it might hit the kids in the face or head so I just didn't take it. It is too bad that I don't have any pictures of it but it was still fun. The kids were really enjoying themselves and were pretty good at just walking by themselves. Their principal, Mrs. Brinkley was out there skating with the kids also, and holding hands with them. That was pretty cool to see, especially because she isn't young but she isn't super old either. 

They have asked if we could go back but I am not so sure about that. They stayed up later then they are suppose to but we had fun together. In fact Allison is still sleeping and that is surprising. It must have really worn her out. Unfortunately I had to wake Matthew up for school but I wonder how long he would have slept if I didn't have to wake him up.

While I helped them last night my back was hurting. I thought I would have an extremely sore back today but it actually isn't too bad. It is a little sore but not as sore as I had expected.

Matthew had some pretty hard falls and hit his tailbone and elbows quite a bit. There came more crying but he still got up and thought it was fun at the end. Allison never did cry. Many times I expected her to but when I saw her face she was just laughing.

Last night I was thinking, that if I were still pregnant I wouldn't have been able to do this with the kids so that is a positive I guess:) At the end of the night we all had fun and it is something that we have never done before and I wouldn't have been able to do with them by myself if we had a young one with us. We enjoyed our time together.

After we took our skates off they had music playing for the kids to go out on the floor and dance in their socks. I thought it was brilliant to get the kids out of their skates. My two little light skinned kids ran out there and danced with the rest of them. It was really fun to see them just jump in and be apart of it. I was definitely wishing I had my camera again but oh well:)

A Day In The Life

These little kids are enjoying life. They have a big house to run around in. We don't have to tell them to be quite or they will disturb the neighbors. We don't have to tell them to stop jumping or it will disturb the neighbors downstairs. They have all of their toys back and they are loving life.
As if that wasn't good enough, they are getting ready to watch a movie with their popcorn and water bottles (from scub scout camp as Allison says) and sitting in recliners.
Oh the day in the life of my kids these days:)
 

 

Matthew's 7 year Measurements

April 26, 2013

Weight: 51 lbs (25-50%)

Height: 49.25in. (50-75%)

Temperature: 98.3

Blood Pressure: 64/40

BMI: 14.8 (25-50%)

Bubble Bath!

Since our pet turtle Crawlie was in the kids' bathtub, the only other one we have is the jacuzzi tub. Lucky for the kids they got to be in the really big tub for their bath this night. I made it even more special and I had some bubble bath sitting out that I decided to put in there.
They had lots of fun with the huge tub/small kiddie pool, and the bubbles.
 

This was the first time that any of us had tried the tub. It kind of requires a lot of water to fill it up even a little ways. I wanted to see if the jets would work. I turned them on and since the water wasn't all the way past them, it just blew splashes and water and bubbles all over Matthew's face. It was funny but I had to quickly turn them off.

 

Needless to say they had a great time in the bath.

A Neighbor's Welcome

Our neighbors, Leah and Tyrone, and their two kids, Isiah and Kennedy have been really welcoming. They live across the street and kiddie-corner from us.
The kids and I went to a Math night at the school and Leah and I just had a great time talking together and then that night she asked if we wanted a grill and some rocking chairs. Her kids are probably around 10 and 8 and have been outgrowing some things. She has also given us skates and gear for the kids.
Kennedy and Allison have been having fun lately playing together and yes there is about a 4 year gap but I think Kennedy likes having a girl finally to play with on the street.
Today, the Francis family brought over a cake for us! How sweet of them. They also had a card welcoming us to the neighborhood and gave us all of their numbers.
They have been so nice and welcoming, it really has been great.
We took some pieces out of the cake before I thought to take a picture but she made us a DELICIOUS carrot cake. It is SO good. I wish you could taste it through the pictures.

 

We've got to stay on good terms with neighbors like these:)

Family Home Evening Outing

For Family Home Evening I decided that we would bake some cookies and go around to some of our neighbors and introduce ourselves and give them some cookies.
It was such a beautiful night to be walking around.
Some neighbors were a little hesitant, maybe not used to this, but others were very happy to see us and invited us in and chatted.
It was fun to meet some of the neighbors and we got rid of cookies that we would have eaten ourselves:)

 I love that Allison has her arm around Matthew's waste but it is a no-no in photography of the floating hand.

Soccer Ball Pictures

Matthew found his soccer ball in my office and decided he wanted pictures taken with it and then Allison did also.
Here they are, Allison's crazy hair and TMNT outfit:
 

 

 

 

I love her smiles:)

I Had A Little Turtle...

I went outside to check something and our neighbor and caught this tiny little turtle. I told her that if she didn't want it then we would take it.
I have never seen a turtle so small before. It was about the size of a silver dollar.
She let us have it and then we had to get the ok from daddy. The kids already named it Crawlie, so that when Chris came home they asked, "Can we keep Crawlie?"
 Chris and I decided it would be fun for the kids and it was free.

 They were having so much fun having this little new friend in their hands as you can tell by the following pictures.
 

 

 

 

We didn't have anywhere else to put it so we put it in the kids' bathtub and filled it so there was still some "land" but it also had water.

We tried to do research to see what to feed it and couldn't figure out what kind it was.
We tried feeding it a little bit of corn husk, some corn, some bread and other stuff but it didn't seem like it was eating anything.
The kids loved watching it.
After doing more research Chris and I realized that we wouldn't be able to get everything that this turtle would need and we would just end up killing it. We didn't know what to feed it and so we opted just to tell the kids the next day that we needed to let Crawlie go back to its family.
I got to deal with all of the tears of the kids and couldn't go to sleep that night because Allison was bawling so much. I may have had to tell Allison that I saw Crawlie back with its mom and dad and was very happy to be back with its family just like if she was lost and then reunited with us. That made her so much happier.
They both still pray and say that they are thankful that they got to let Crawlie go back to its family.
It was fun while it lasted but I am glad that we didn't kill it. Maybe someday we will have another turtle but it won't be today:)

Progress

We are making progress getting stuff put away.
 

Since we haven't had a couch to sit on for the last three months we really wanted to find something cheap but quickly so we could not ruin another camping chair from overuse.
We found this couch set off of craigslist and they were willing to bring it to us it was cheap so we got it.

 

 

 

We have putting a few things up that we have found and tried to find a home for it.

We finally got these bookshelves done. These are almost full and the funny thing is is that Chris has already taking his work books to his office and his bookshelf that is there is overflowing and he has too many there and he has a big bookshelf. We have lots of books, though some of these are DVDs and my scrapbooks and kids books so it is everything but at least they are put on the shelves now and not still in boxes.

We have pulled our pictures out of the plastic and it is so fun to remember what pictures we had since we haven't seen them in over two years.

 

Unfortunately my office has become a depository. The rest of the house looks better except my office.

 

Just In Time:)

We got moved into a house just in the nic of time. I almost ran out of strawberry freezer jam. That would have been a real travesty. I have learned that using my food processor makes it super fast to make this jam and it also make it set up better for some reason. I only had a little bit left a week after we moved in so I was happy to get my equipment out get some strawberries that were on sale and make more strawberry freezer jam. I think I am a little bit of a snob when it comes to my jam. I will eat others but if I have a choice I would much rather eat this.
I bought some strawberry freezer jam other time when things were packed and ever since getting them I have saved these containers and just reuse them. It works our perfectly since it is what it says it is in a way.
 

We have met our neighbors straight across from us and they are nice and our other neighbors next door (not the ones that owned the house) has really welcomed us and brought us cookies so I make them a jar to take to them.

I am set to go for a little while. I am so glad that I have my equipment to make things again.

What A Trooper

We had originally planned on just leaving Matthew in his school for the rest of the year and drive him to and from. After driving for a week we realized that it is more of a hassle then we thought. Allison and I went and checked out his new school. I felt comfortable with it and the principal was very nice and I asked a lot of questions. Matthew will be a minority but I think he will be ok, at least for Elementary (which is K-5).  Everybody that we tell that Matthew will go to J. Douglas Wilder Middle School immediately asks if we are moving before then or homeschooling once he gets into Middle School.  We will just have to see what happens. We will probably move in four years but we will deal with that later.

Matthew is such an easy going child. He really is a pretty good child and usually just does what we tell him to. We have asked him if he wants to stay at Longan Elementary, with Mrs. Newell as his teacher and finish out the year or if he wants to go to ANOTHER new school for the third time this year. I would have thought he didn't want to change schools again but he said he didn't care. He always sees the good and bad in the situation. Since he didn't care either way we figured we would transfer him and see how the rest of the school year goes. If it is a bad experience then we will have the summer to figure out a different situation. If it is good then he won't be the new kid on the first day in second grade. 

Yesterday was his first day at Chamberlayne Elementary. When I was taking him to his class he was more shy then he usually is and didn't talk much. His teacher is Mrs. Johnakin. He is in the advanced class or the class that they think will be in the Gifted and Talented program. Not that that is saying much but it does challenge him a little more. I have talked to him about letting me know if things happen, good and bad. Since I am not there he needs to let me know. He is riding the bus right now but if he doesn't feel comfortable on it or something then we will start driving him. 

 When he got off the bus he was all smiles and said he had a great day. I think the thing that he likes the most about his new school is that he has a male music teacher. He thinks male teachers are cool so that was the hi-light for his day:) He said that there were 5 other kids with light skin so he isn't an only child but probably the only red-head in the whole school:)

 He is such a trooper, very easy going, a little social bug and adjusts very easily thankfully.

Looking Better

We had fun with our boxes and then started breaking them down and recycling them. Here is a small pile of the boxes we had.
 

It is so nice to have rooms to store empty boxes in and them not even be in the way.


We are making progress.
There are less and less boxes everywhere. Not necessarily less mess but less boxes.

Trying to figure out where the little things go.

I think this room has actually gotten worse:)

 

Box Fun

We started breaking the boxes down and then I remembered it would be fun for the kids to stack them so we played with them and had fun. This wasn't all of our boxes but they were getting pretty high.
 

 

Can you find them?

They even had a wrecking ball:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

They at least had lots of room to play and destroy these.