Hamilton began the month still recovering from his tonsils being removed. It was unseasonal how cool the weather was, so we were able to go see fireworks despite his not feeling well. He enjoyed getting out of the house for a while. After we returned home, we discovered our A/C was out. Luckily we were able to get that fixed the next day....THANK GOODNESS! We were relieved that it was not a costly repair.
We celebrated my birthday at home. Matt and the boys went out and picked out a new camera for me to carry in my purse. The boys were so cute, they could hardly keep the secret! They were so proud of their gift to me. My sisters and I went out for a "girls night out" and had dinner and did a little shopping. It's always nice to get out with them.
Sara's (my sister) family had a new addition to her family. Duke, a German Shepherd, and longtime family member, passed away. Sara found the cutest little German Shepherd puppy, named him Sergeant and we all love him like crazy. Our boys like helping him potty outside and helping to take care of him. I'll have to say, Spooky, our dog, has gotten lots of love since Duke passed. We love Spooky to pieces and can't imagine life without him.
Matt's dad had a heart attack at the end of the month. It was shocking to the entire family. Needless to say, Matt and I were scared. We went to Fayetteville for the day to make sure he would stabilize, and we came back that night, and then Matt went back the next day. We are waiting more tests tomorrow and they will either perform open heart surgery, or place a stint. Matt and I are going to Fayetteville for the day.
Matt started back to school. UGH! Its always hard for everyone to adjust after having him home all summer, but we are getting back into the swing of things! Hamilton starts school next week and Harrison's first day of preschool will be 09-08. I think they'll both like being in school. Right now the big question is: Will Hamilton ride the bus or be a car-rider??? Still undecided on this issue. I just can't believe I have a 1st grader!!!!
Another big change this month was the purchase of a new car. Matt's Jeep broke down...again. The transmission went out, and it was having many more costly issues. After the money we spent on it this spring, we couldn't see pouring several more thousand into it. We traded it in and he picked out a Chevy HHR. We love it! He drives it to work every morning and is so happy that it has air-conditioning. Then I drive it in the evenings when I go to work. It gets good gas mileage, and it does have enough room that we can fit 3 car seats in the back if we need to. We weren't really wanting another car payment right now, but we both have to have dependable transportation. We are happy about it.
That's all that I can remember right now for July. We're just asking for prayers for Matt's dad. We pray that whatever procedure is needed, that it is successful, and that he'll experience a speedy recovery. The kids can't wait until he feels good enough for them to be able to see him.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Our June
Our June was a busy one!
Matt ended his school year, as did Hamilton. Both were happy to start the summer.
VBS started the week after school let out - WHEW! It was a busy week for all of us! Hamilton attended as a 1st grader (what a biggin') and Harrison attended as a pre-schooler. Henderson was in the nursery. I worked on video/photography and Matt was a co-leader for the 6th graders. We all had exciting stories to tell and all had a blast!
We traveled to see Sarah and Hubert in Eureka Springs (Granny & Grandpa). It was our first road trip in the mini-van. It was SOOO much better with the extra space. The kids got restless the last hour of the trip, but all in all - it was WAY better!! We rode the train - the boys loved that! Henderson would laugh every time the diesel horn blew - he loved it! We played a lot in their yard - they had some new landscaping done - it is beautiful! Matt and I got to have a few "dates" without the boys and that was sooooo nice!!!!
Youth Force was exciting also. The youth from several United Methodist Churches get together every year (we rotate who hosts) and work on houses in the community. Our house was picked for one of the houses to be worked on this year. We got a new window upstairs - our old one was leaking when it rained. They also painted trim and repaired some guttering and added a storm window to our kitchen window. I worked at the church during youth force all day and into the night preparing for worship services in the evening. Matt worked on setting up for dinner, then preparing the worship center for worship again. It was a wonderful week - though exhausting!!!
Hamilton had his tonsils out on 6-26. The surgery went well, but the recovery has been very painful for him. The doctor said he had abnormal swelling, though he does seem to be healing. He'll be on pain medicine longer than most, but he seems to be doing a little better every day. It's been hard on all of us - I'd take the pain from him in a second if I could!
Matt and I have been working on our upstairs room. I work from home a lot for an inspection company, and work is picking up quite a lot. At the end of the year, I'll be working full-time. So, I need an office that is equipped for me to work in, yet kid-friendly so the kids can be up here with me. There was a lot of work to do - and we are about halfway done now. I have a big desk to spread out my work now. Next - the boys will get their own desks to do their homework on. It's light blue with white trim and LOTS of storage. I'll post pictures when we are done.
We are looking forward to a GREAT July! Matt goes back to work at the end of this month - but until then, we will enjoy all being home - and hopefully all being HEALTHY! With LOTS of swimming.
Matt ended his school year, as did Hamilton. Both were happy to start the summer.
VBS started the week after school let out - WHEW! It was a busy week for all of us! Hamilton attended as a 1st grader (what a biggin') and Harrison attended as a pre-schooler. Henderson was in the nursery. I worked on video/photography and Matt was a co-leader for the 6th graders. We all had exciting stories to tell and all had a blast!
We traveled to see Sarah and Hubert in Eureka Springs (Granny & Grandpa). It was our first road trip in the mini-van. It was SOOO much better with the extra space. The kids got restless the last hour of the trip, but all in all - it was WAY better!! We rode the train - the boys loved that! Henderson would laugh every time the diesel horn blew - he loved it! We played a lot in their yard - they had some new landscaping done - it is beautiful! Matt and I got to have a few "dates" without the boys and that was sooooo nice!!!!
Youth Force was exciting also. The youth from several United Methodist Churches get together every year (we rotate who hosts) and work on houses in the community. Our house was picked for one of the houses to be worked on this year. We got a new window upstairs - our old one was leaking when it rained. They also painted trim and repaired some guttering and added a storm window to our kitchen window. I worked at the church during youth force all day and into the night preparing for worship services in the evening. Matt worked on setting up for dinner, then preparing the worship center for worship again. It was a wonderful week - though exhausting!!!
Hamilton had his tonsils out on 6-26. The surgery went well, but the recovery has been very painful for him. The doctor said he had abnormal swelling, though he does seem to be healing. He'll be on pain medicine longer than most, but he seems to be doing a little better every day. It's been hard on all of us - I'd take the pain from him in a second if I could!
Matt and I have been working on our upstairs room. I work from home a lot for an inspection company, and work is picking up quite a lot. At the end of the year, I'll be working full-time. So, I need an office that is equipped for me to work in, yet kid-friendly so the kids can be up here with me. There was a lot of work to do - and we are about halfway done now. I have a big desk to spread out my work now. Next - the boys will get their own desks to do their homework on. It's light blue with white trim and LOTS of storage. I'll post pictures when we are done.
We are looking forward to a GREAT July! Matt goes back to work at the end of this month - but until then, we will enjoy all being home - and hopefully all being HEALTHY! With LOTS of swimming.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Kid-isms
Hamilton: If we get the pig flu, will it make us "oink"?
Harrison: Mommy, why are you always cleaning?
Mom: Because.
Harrison: Huh. It always gets messy again.
I brought cookies to school for Hamilton's class to celebrate his birthday. Afterwards, I was informed that I was pretty cool, but the really cool moms brought cupcakes with icing. (Which the teachers specifically request you NOT do!) I guess I'll settle for pretty cool.
Harrison: This song makes my bummby wiggle.
Last Wednesday night at church I was finishing up some pictures I needed to take for a slide show we are working on for Sunday morning. I went into Hamilton's choir practice and he exclaims "MOM! They let you out into the church???!!!" (I'm in the av booth a little too much, perhaps!)
Wednesdays after school is "Sonic Slushy Day". I always take them to get a mid-week treat at Sonic. When we got back this week , I sat my purse down and was putting Matt's drink in the fridge, turned around.......and realized the baby had dumped Harrison's ENTIRE slushy in the train drawer - all over the train track and trains. Needless to say, I was mad. Harrison said "It's OK mom, the baby seems happy!" He was right. It was OK. The baby was happy.
I learn so much from my little guys. I can't imagine life without them. They make me laugh a hundred times a day - they make me get in the floor and tickle and be tickled - they show me what true sincerity is. I can't say that I'm the best student in the world, but I can say, with great certainty, that I have the three best teachers in the world!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Easter
This is a picture of us at the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday 04-11-09. One of our friends from church took this picture.
We had a wonderful Easter. We went to the Easter Egg Hunt at church Saturday morning. That evening we colored Easter Eggs on the driveway (it was so pretty outside, and I didn't want that stuff on my new table!)
Sunday morning the boys got their Easter baskets and I made breakfast before heading off to our Sonrise Service. I think they ate more candy than breakfast, but - hey it's Easter, right?????
We had Easter dinner at mom's house. We all brought something, so there was more food there than you could eat in one sitting. We had the traditional turkey, ham, dressing, dumplings, sweet potatoes, twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole, dinner rolls & my all-time favorite (can't have Easter without it) coconut cake! Then we headed home for an Easter nap! It was a perfect, rainy day for a nap - and we all took advantage of that!
It was such a joy to celebrate at church Christ's love for us, to celebrate with friends and family at Easter dinner and then return home to spend the evening together as a family. We are truly blessed!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Little Bitty Money
As I've mentioned before, Matt and have been working on a budget and really sticking to it and saving a lot of money. We have a family budget book that we are excited about - but so are the kids. They LOVE looking in our book to see how much money is in there. So, we decided maybe they should have their own little budgets. We werent sure they'd catch on to what we were trying to do, but, once again - they have surprised us!
Every week they get $3. One dollar has to go into their "Spend" envelope. One dollar goes into their "Save" envelope. And, one dollar goes to their "Share" envelope.
The "spend" money they can use however they wish. They can buy candy, toys or whatever. The hard part here is Matt and I not buying it for them (we're suckers.)
The share money is for charitable giving. When they get older, they can give it however they'd wish, but for now we've given them three choices. Their choices were to give it to the local animal shelter or buy food for the shelter, buy food for the food bank at church or give it in the offering in the church offering plate on Sunday mornings. They both are very excited about buying food for the food bank. We are suggesting that they save $10 and then we'll go shopping for the food bank.
The save money goes into their savings account at the bank. When they get $10 in their "save" envelope, we'll go to the bank. Our bank has popcorn and a little pop machine in it, so its a big deal to go into the bank. They also feel big handing the money to the bank teller.
A few weeks ago, I took the big boys with me to Kohls to buy a birthday gift for one of their friends. While we were there, Hamilton saw a Cat-in-the-Hat doll that he really wanted. They are $5 and support a charity. Normally, I would have gotten it for him because he REALLY wanted it, but I told him he had to save his money in the "spend" envelope to buy it. He was not really dissappointed that I didnt buy it for him, instead he was excited about figuring out how many weeks he had to save to buy him. So, last Saturday (the kids call it MONEY DAY!) after our lesson and our money hand-out we went to Kohl's and he bought his Cat-in-the-Hat doll. Then, when Harrison woke up from his nap, he HAD to have one too and was happy to spend his money to buy one! They LOVE their stuffed animal toy they bought with their own money, but both of them are looking forward to once again save money in their spend envelopes.
I think they are really learning about money. I was proud of how big they were at the checkout counter - handing their money to the cashier and getting THEIR receipt. They were so darn cute!
Every Saturday we have a lesson for our money day. Its nothing big - just something Matt and I talk to the kids about. Last week we talked about saving money and ways they could help save money in our budget book. They decided that they could make sure lights that were not being used were turned off. Also, they realized that when we throw food away, its wasting money. So - since then , if the sun is shining, we often hear "Mom - the sun is out and you dont really need this light on - we've got to save our money!" We think they are doing a great job - and we kinda miss the lights during the day :-)
Every week they get $3. One dollar has to go into their "Spend" envelope. One dollar goes into their "Save" envelope. And, one dollar goes to their "Share" envelope.
The "spend" money they can use however they wish. They can buy candy, toys or whatever. The hard part here is Matt and I not buying it for them (we're suckers.)
The share money is for charitable giving. When they get older, they can give it however they'd wish, but for now we've given them three choices. Their choices were to give it to the local animal shelter or buy food for the shelter, buy food for the food bank at church or give it in the offering in the church offering plate on Sunday mornings. They both are very excited about buying food for the food bank. We are suggesting that they save $10 and then we'll go shopping for the food bank.
The save money goes into their savings account at the bank. When they get $10 in their "save" envelope, we'll go to the bank. Our bank has popcorn and a little pop machine in it, so its a big deal to go into the bank. They also feel big handing the money to the bank teller.
A few weeks ago, I took the big boys with me to Kohls to buy a birthday gift for one of their friends. While we were there, Hamilton saw a Cat-in-the-Hat doll that he really wanted. They are $5 and support a charity. Normally, I would have gotten it for him because he REALLY wanted it, but I told him he had to save his money in the "spend" envelope to buy it. He was not really dissappointed that I didnt buy it for him, instead he was excited about figuring out how many weeks he had to save to buy him. So, last Saturday (the kids call it MONEY DAY!) after our lesson and our money hand-out we went to Kohl's and he bought his Cat-in-the-Hat doll. Then, when Harrison woke up from his nap, he HAD to have one too and was happy to spend his money to buy one! They LOVE their stuffed animal toy they bought with their own money, but both of them are looking forward to once again save money in their spend envelopes.
I think they are really learning about money. I was proud of how big they were at the checkout counter - handing their money to the cashier and getting THEIR receipt. They were so darn cute!
Every Saturday we have a lesson for our money day. Its nothing big - just something Matt and I talk to the kids about. Last week we talked about saving money and ways they could help save money in our budget book. They decided that they could make sure lights that were not being used were turned off. Also, they realized that when we throw food away, its wasting money. So - since then , if the sun is shining, we often hear "Mom - the sun is out and you dont really need this light on - we've got to save our money!" We think they are doing a great job - and we kinda miss the lights during the day :-)
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Henderson's 1st Birthday!!!!
Oh What a day!It was my very first birthday - and it's also on St. Patrick's Day! Mom had us all matching outfits. She was very excited about that. I think dad was not.
Granny and Grandpa came to visit me (and my brothers) this morning and brought PRESENTS!!!! They even watched us while mom and dad went out for lunch. It was very fun!
Then I had a birthday party at Pa-pa and Ga-ga's house. All my cousins were there, and there were many more presents!
Ga-ga made my birthday cake, a shamrock, of course! And, I even got my very own little cake. Mom put it on my tray, and we both blew out my candle. Then she said, "Go for it, big boy!" I have to admit, I was a little bewildered that mom would want me to dig in with my own two hands. Until now, she's always spoon fed me. Oh well - I went for it!!!! It was sweet and sticky and gooey and TASTY!!!!
I got so many toys and a lot of new spring clothes, but I wanted to play with the balloons from my party the most. It was a long day, and by the end of the day I was pooped. I ate quite a bit of pizza and cake and spinach dip (YUM!) and I finally pooped out at about 8:00. I think mom and dad were ready for us all to go to sleep. I already cant wait for my 2nd birthday!!!!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Kiddos
There's not much to report here. We are just getting through the rest of this winter - anticipating spring like everyone else!
Hamilton is doing well in school. We've talked about making good choices when it comes to friends. Apparently when he hangs out with the "rowdy" kids he loses all self control. But, when he hangs out with the "good" kids he's an angel!
We went to Barne's Elementary School's "Movie Night" Friday night and watched "Space Buddies" and ate pizza. It was a fund raiser for the PTA. Much fun was had by all! The baby slept on the gym floor through the entire movie! We couldn't believe with all the screaming and yelling and running going on around us that he could sleep through that!
Harrison has visited Yellow Balloon Preschool and loves it! He is set to start there in the fall. He's such a big guy! He's my cuddle bug! He loves to help me cook and he's one heck of a laundry folder!!!
Henderson is walking now. He mostly side-steps. He's so proud still when he walks up to you, and he expects there to be much celebration! He loves to hold on to your pant leg and walk with you wherever you are going! It's hard to believe he's almost a year old!
2 weeks until Spring Break! We are all looking forward to that. We don't have big plans but we always have fun just hanging around - having lazy days for the most part!
That's all that's going on here - hope everyone is doing well!
Janelle
Hamilton is doing well in school. We've talked about making good choices when it comes to friends. Apparently when he hangs out with the "rowdy" kids he loses all self control. But, when he hangs out with the "good" kids he's an angel!
We went to Barne's Elementary School's "Movie Night" Friday night and watched "Space Buddies" and ate pizza. It was a fund raiser for the PTA. Much fun was had by all! The baby slept on the gym floor through the entire movie! We couldn't believe with all the screaming and yelling and running going on around us that he could sleep through that!
Harrison has visited Yellow Balloon Preschool and loves it! He is set to start there in the fall. He's such a big guy! He's my cuddle bug! He loves to help me cook and he's one heck of a laundry folder!!!
Henderson is walking now. He mostly side-steps. He's so proud still when he walks up to you, and he expects there to be much celebration! He loves to hold on to your pant leg and walk with you wherever you are going! It's hard to believe he's almost a year old!
2 weeks until Spring Break! We are all looking forward to that. We don't have big plans but we always have fun just hanging around - having lazy days for the most part!
That's all that's going on here - hope everyone is doing well!
Janelle
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