Cookies and Birthdays

Hubby and I had a laugh today while driving home from a shopping adventure.

We played a game where I read posts from Facebook(without telling him who wrote it) and he told me who posted them. He only got 1 wrong :o) The style of writing and topic for each person really gave it away. One Facebooker has very political, annoyed posts. Another Facebooker posted a lot of scripture and inspiration. An old high school friend posts a lot of comments about what is going on at her salon. Another high school friend posts a lot of sassy, hilarious posts. :o)

On to another topic that is very important(to some anyways).

I'd like to offer an apology to all my friends and family who are who have a pet peeve with bad grammar. My Christmas card has a pretty elementary gramatical error on it that I did not see until I had mailed out my last card. So please extend me some grace and just ignore it. And while I'm at it....ignore all my gramatical errors that you find on my blog too. :o)

Tis the season to make and decorate cookies!

Mimi had a Decorating Party for her grandchildren...

and crafts too.....

We had our own ginger bread decorating party.

Look who is 10!

I say this with sadness and joy.

Sadness for the speed at which the last 10 years has gone by.

Joy for what is to come! Each new season brings its own joys!

Look who.........

...climbs up on boxes, stands up, and then proceeds to climb on the couch

...who stands on a bench and then claps his hands

..who loves to take a bubble bath

...who is a cute Little Brother!

12 days

12 days since my last post.

I do not mean to leave such a gap, just been so busy.

I really do want to post more.

Not because my posts are so wanted by my audience. :o)

But for other reasons.

-I love to posts pictures for those who do not get to see us that much. Like Mima who lives in another state. The pictures I post, keep her in the loop of what the kids are up to and gives her a glimpse of their lil' faces.

-These pages are a way of journaling for me. I am preserving the past with words and pictures.

-I love sharing reviews of homeschool stuff, books, or recipes.

I have received great ideas reviews from other blogs. Hope to bless others too.

-At times I feel led to write about whatever is on my heart.

Still loving tennis.

She's had a few very chilly night practices!

Here are a few things from our garden. I am so excited with what if growing!!

Do you see my lil' tomato? I can't believe I am finally seeing one grow. We've planted tomato seeds twice. Both times they grew into healthy little plants. And both times they died before I saw any fruit. Once from freezing tempters and the other time I just was not putting in time to properly care for it(right after I had a baby). So, this time I decided to start with a baby plant instead of a seed. Seedlings take time and need more care. Time is something I do not have to give to a plant :o). We've been growing these plants for a few months, and they are all doing so well.

Cilantro

Broccoli

(we ate it soon after taking this picture)

Tomato!!!!

Boxing

My eldest is turning 10 on the 22nd!

We brought her and her Besties to a fair to celebrate.

We started out with dinner at Olive garden

Off to the Fair!

Look at those smiles!!!!

Those smiles were all turned upside down when the birthday girl tripped and fell on a metal floor. She landed on her face which left her bloody, bruised, and missing half of her front tooth. What a night:o(

Thankfully, she is doing well. The cut is healing very nicely. Lip is no longer swollen. The dentist will be putting in a crown for her next week.

Lessons Learned

Thanksgiving was a really nice time, full of good food, wonderful family, and great fellowship!

Christmas is right around the corner.....wow, how time flies!

We decorated our tree last week

The boys are loving their fake mustaches that a friend blessed them with.

Thank you Christina!!

This morning, the older 2 got to enjoy an NFL Junior Training Camp.

They enjoyed playing and we enjoyed watching. :o)

It was a bit chilly!

Every time a good play was achieved(or even not achieved), the boys had to run and plow into each other for congratulations. So funny watching them and their excitement!

This is her "do you really need to take a picture of me?" look

So, on to a few lessons learned from this past week. Some are new lessons and some I am revisiting.

1.Do not take your 5 kids and 2 dogs in the back yard for Christmas pictures without any help. I pray that my neighbors did not see/hear the chaos going on. I did have a good laugh afterwards, and even regreted not getting it on video.

2.Do not waste time trying to get 2 dogs to sit by each other for a picture, even if I had the cutest little vision in my mind of what I wanted it to look like. Oh well.....

3.Do not think that your boys are the only ones who love to wrestle any and everywhere they go. While at the training camp this morning, I had to avoid a few sets of wrestling boys while I walked. I felt at home :o)

4.Do not let your son forget his jacket when he will be outside in this chilly weather. I ended up giving up mine and spent 3 hours shivering as I watched him do football drills.

5.Do not eat one lil' snack at night...it will lead to more!!

Photos of this past week

Tennis anyone?

My eldest is loving this new sport, and we are too!

She has long practices that involve picking up a zillion balls.

She swings the racket over and over and over.

She sweats and pants......and still she loves it.

We also love it.

Her court is right next to a basketball court, lots of shaded grass, and a sidewalk that we use as a ramp. The first lesson was 2 1/2 hours, which I thought may be a bit long for me and 4 lil' kids. But it was not. It actully flew by and we were shocked when it was over. She had fun and we did to. :o)

I'm hoping to get some better pictures of her playing tennis. It has not been an easy task.

We finally have lemons!

They are not too pretty on the outside, but they sure are juicy on the inside!

My tennis player and I are enjoying "Joyfully at Home"

Loving the book and learning so much!

Love the look from this sweetie

This shot just made me giggle!

I was not expecting this love of the telephone to start this soon.

Love this boy and his knitted hat too!





Crazy Hair Night at Awana's

Party at the Park

We enjoyed a day at the park, having a Thanksgiving Feast with our fellow homeschoolers.

We ate good food, had fun, and made new friends.