This makes me smile!

Trin had her first real play date this week!  Anna has a good friend, and this is her little sister.  The girls have known each other for a couple of years, but Trin just recently decided she would be brave enough to actually talk to her, and invite her over to our house for a play date!

It was so nice to see her smiling and having fun! It was incredible watching these two little girls build a friendship!  They both enjoy dinosaurs and all things rescue very much! They will even be taking additional swim classes, and participating in a Dino class later

 this fall together. I love watching her grow in this way!

Trin drew this picture this week, and I turned it into this little collage.  I can't stop staring at it! It just makes me smile!!



I LOVE Summer the BEST!!

I am a Summer girl through and through.  In fact, I love Summer sooo much that I wouldn't mind if that was my name! ;)  Yes, it is hot! Extremely hot some days, but I love it!! I just love when that warm sun is shining!

What I love most, is the extra time I have with my family! We become closer, share extra hugs, and smiles. We enjoy each other, and love that the days are longer.  Don't get me wrong...not always is it ice cream, and lollipops, but life is good! God is good, and I am ever so grateful!

Here's another picture recap of our summer! :)

Baseball games! I'm not a huge baseball fan, but there is something about being at the games that makes my heart smile.  The sounds, the smells, the lights, the food... all of it! We had a blast at this game, and it was so much fun to watch Trin.  She kept yelling to the players telling them to "crank it", and kept saying go "yowllo" (yow like cow).  She gets that from my mom I think because she says yellow the exact same way! To be honest, out of all of us, I think Trin has the strongest Texas accent even though she lived there the shortest amount of time!

Can you believe that this "cool" guy in this set of pictures is My teenager?  He looks so old, like a grown man. :( He's such a special boy, and he's growing up too fast. 

The girls thought the stadium food was the best they had ever had.  The best hot dogs, the best dip n dots, the best cotton candy, the best everything!  It was fun to everyone enjoy themselves!

from left to right

1. Mason is a hoot.  When I go to get him out of bed he will just sit there and look at me.  If I go to pick him up, he lays down.  He waits for me to sit down and then he will stand up and play a bit,  but not until I come into the room.

2.  Mason loves his NiNi.  These two are so sweet, and love each other so much!

3.  Anna had crazy hair and sock day at cheer.  She came in third place. And in case your wondering, no, I didn't teach Anna that pose.  Her aunt Amanda taught her that when she was about 3. I have a ton of pictures of her like that. ;)

4. I woke up one morning, and Trin was in Anna's bed.  When Trin woke up she told me all about her bad dream, and how Anna made her feel safe during the night.

Swim lessons have been so much fun, and Trin is now swimming short distances by herself.  She's also talking to her teacher and the kids in her class! Such an accomplishment for her!  Anna's taking lessons too, but mainly just to practice her strokes.

Ice cream and lollipops (hee hee).  Mason has been enjoying dum dums while the girls swim.  We also had an ice cream truck come to our neighborhood.  You should have seen these frantic kids when they heard the music box melody.  They were running everywhere looking for money. ;)  I was surprised when I saw they only served soft serve, sundaes, and milkshakes.  I was really hoping for my favorite, a fudge bomb.

Just a few more pictures of my "littles".  They are my early risers, so they have a couple of hours of alone time each morning before the other kids wake up. Mason just loves putting his head to others. It's like it's his own way of showing affection.  It takes my breath away.

SUMMER ROCKS!

15 month old Mason



15 Months

Mason had his 15 month check up today. 

He weighed 20lb 11 oz/ 5%

His length was 29.75 in 10%

 He was allergy tested last week, and was negative to everything they tested him for.  I showed the doctor pictures of his reaction to wheat just the week before, and he said that he could have outgrown it since then.  So, he said to try dairy and wheat gradually to see if he continued to have a reaction, but to be careful because he could still be highly sensitive without having an actual allergy. We tried them both, and he hasn't had any reactions.  So... now he's drinking whole milk.  Woohoo!

Mason's doctor is sending us to a feeding clinic because his weight is so low.  The boy just doesn't care about eating. Actually, every time I put him in his high chair he starts to cry.  He will only eat crackers, and corn consistently. He has tried spaghetti and enjoyed it once.  He just doesn't want to eat food.  Most of the time he wont even try it.  It's kind of frustrating.  I try to give him all kinds of food, and they end up being thrown on the floor, without being tried. 

If anyone knows of any tricks or secrets to getting a child to eat, please share.

The doctor did say to continue to let Mason have a bottle so that he is getting nutrition from that source.  Mason will drink from a sippy, but it takes him forever, and we need him to drink as much as he can, since he doesn't like to eat.

Mason is imitating a lot of words, and knows a lot of animal sounds.  He knows the sounds of a monkey, duck, dog, bird, snake, fish, tiger, and frog.  For some reason he refuses to say meow for cat.

Mason spends the majority of playtime looking at books, or playing with toys he can push.  The popcorn popper, and vacuum are his favorite.  He also likes his toy trucks, especially the new ones we pulled out that were Bubs.  He also loves to walk around the house with the broom.

Mason just moved back to his baby crib.  He has been sleeping in a pack n play in his room for a while now.  The pack n play started last year when I broke my ankle, and couldn't put him down in his crib.  He seems to be doing just fine with the transition, and is still

sleeping about 11 hours a night. I'm not sure what I did to deserve such a great sleeper this go around, but I am ever so grateful to the Lord!

Mason now has his top two teeth to go along with his bottom two, and I love them.  They have quite the space between them, and they look like tiny little hippo teeth!  They are adorable!  He has also started to make his"funny" face where he closes and scrunches up his eyes, nose, and mouth while tilting his head back. It's hilarious!! The kids get a big kick out of it! He is trying hard to make us laugh these days.  He will put something in his mouth, and suddenly stop and open his eyes big to make us laugh!

He's a cutie, and we love him...all 20 teeny tiny pounds of him!

Our Fourth of July

Although 3 out of the 6 of us were feeling pretty lousy today, I tried to make the best of our day. It's been a really long time since I've felt this bad with a cold, but I didn't want our day to come and go without it being a little bit special.  This morning I made star shaped cinnamon rolls.  Well, kind of.  I took them out of the package, unrolled them, and shaped them into stars. ;) Topped them with the icing, and poured sprinkles on top.  They were a big hit.

Later in the morning the girls and I painted while we talked about why we celebrate the 4th of July.  I told them all about Great Britain and how they wanted the colonies to pay more

 taxes, and set more rules, and how the colonies wanted to separate, and about the Declaration of Independence.  Anna answered all of my questions, and added a bit more info to the

 conversation.  Trin on the other hand had a harder time grasping it.  She kept saying that

 the 4th of July was for celebrating fireworks.  After trying to explain that we

celebrate WITH fireworks about a dozen times, Anna finally just agreed,

 and told Trin that she was exactly right.



In the afternoon, we had a lot of play time with Mason on the floor.  We read a lot of books, played trucks, rode zebras, and played "peek a boo" for the camera!

After dad got home, we cooked out, and lit a few sparklers and smoke bombs.  The kids were disappointed that the whole state is still on fire, and that we are limited to what type of fireworks we could do. We had to have a talk about being ungrateful, and remember why living in America is so great, and to be thankful for those who have lost their lives fighting for our freedom.

  Not everyone is able to celebrate such a wonderful thing!

Next up is the firework show.  We normally watch from the front sidewalk, or our balcony.  It's pretty windy tonight, so I'm not sure if they will cancel or not.  You know... a part of me wishes that the city would only host a firework show every other year, or every two years, and put the money saved into the public school system. A thought to ponder... It would do a world of good!

God Bless America! I hope you had an awesome 4th!

Our First Box Day!

The girls and I are setting forth on a new adventure! We are homeschooling this next school year.   After many prayers, we have decided that it's what's best for them, and or family at this

 time.  I'm a little scared and nervous, but don't most of us feel that way

when we are making such important decisions that affect lives other than our own?  I have confidence though, and I think together we will find our groove, and excel in the challenge.

On Tuesday the FedEx man delivered us a nice, big heavy box.  The girls were dying to open it, and see all of their new school books. It was so much fun watching the girls pull out

 all of their books.  They were truly delighted, and cheered each other on.  It was fun watching them find each others books.  I heard a lot of "Anna, you're going to love this one.",

 and "Trin, look at this book...I wish it was mine."  I told the girls not to wish for each other's books, because we would all be doing the work together, so everyone would hear/read

the same books.  Anna is excited to help play the teacher role. I told her she could read

some of Trin's Read Aloud books, because that would really help me out.

I did decide to go with Sonlight Curriculum.  I did hours of research on a lot of available curriculums.  I love that this curriculum is not all worksheet and text book related.   I love how the History, Language, and Reading are interconnected and relate to each other.

 I love that the girls will be learning by reading a lot of small books, instead of one large boring textbook for each subject. I LOVE that their is an Instructors Guide that will help me along the way.

 I think the girls will continue to love to learn, only in a different way, and a different setting.  I ordered the P4/5 program for Trinity, and the multi-subject 5th grade for Anna,

which includes Core F.  Anna will be studying the Eastern Hemisphere, Health,

 Medicine, Human Anatomy, Math, and Bible. We may start a foreign language or another

 elective after we get started.  Maybe after Christmas.

The girls pulling out the first books.

Trin, ecstatic that she got a new "homework" book.

Anna couldn't contain herself with this book.  It was her favorite by far!

Bub got in on the action, and went through every book, giving his approval. ;)

The girls with most of their books.  Wednesday we got a smaller box with their Bible books inside!

I think for the most part, we are ready.  My plan is stay on the same school schedule as Bub, unless the girls bug me too much.  If so, we might start early!

Wish us Luck!

Today there was a lot of...

...snuggles and cries, and snuggles and cries.

Mason isn't feeling well.  He's running a high fever, but no other symptoms except for crankiness.  I'm sure it's viral, so we will see how the night goes before exposing ourselves to all the germs at the doctor's office tomorrow.

We had a lot of couch time today. I think between the girls and I, we had to have read Mister boy 100 books.  That is all he wanted to do. I enjoyed the extra lovin, but I am competely exhausted.  I didn't sleep well last night, and Mason decided to wake up extremely early this morning! I think it will be an early night!

It's been almost a month...

We've been enjoying Summer!

Mason has learned how to climb into the book bin.  He likes to relax there and drink his bottle.

We've been watching hot air balloons fly by our living room windows.

We've been watching Mason grow bigger every day.

We've been playing in kiddie pools that are way to small!

We've witnessed God's beautiful creations in our own backyard.

We've had Amanda and Miles visit us these last two weeks.

Miles and Mason have enjoyed spending time with each other.

We've played with bubbles.  Lots of bubbles.  Mason loves them!

We visited the Botanical Gardens.

Mason and Bub have had lots of bonding time.

Mason loves to sleep.

We've enjoyed floating at the pool.

They enjoyed looking cool by the pool.

We've been bowling, and bowling.  The kids are getting pretty good!

We've been relaxing and watching Saturday morning cartoons.

She's been posing by all things fire fighter. :) She's going to be a fire girl, you know!

Mason has been having more food allergy reactions. :(

The boys have been having fun playing twins.

Mason has learned a new trick. ;)

We've been having snow cones.

Mason's first.  Our goal is to try every flavor by the end of summer.  With 5 of us ordering, I don't think that will be hard to do!

More pool time, and yes, that is a bottle still in his hands. It will be there for awhile.

We've been reading!

Mason has an amazing love for his lovey...Boo!

I've been wearing a braid.  EEK! I may be too old.

We've been reading in tents at the library.

We've been playing with glow sticks in the dark.

We've also been enjoying our evenings with the best dad in the world! Because of him, we are able to do these great things!!

What have you been doing this Summer?  I'd love to hear!