Picture Bonanza!!! ...Also...Happy Days Are Here Again!!

Alright...so I was making the picture thing way too hard (thanks to the couple of you that helped me climb onto the clue bus...) So anyway, we'll be catching up on some pictures that I intended to post before but just couldn't figure it out.

The Happy Days... comment was regarding the return of Hawkeye football. YAHOOO!!! We had a minor panic (ok, maybe it wasn't really MINOR) when the main Big Ten network channel was not airing the game today, and I was panicked because that's one of the main reasons we got Dish Network. I used my logic and reasoning skills though, and logged on to the BTN website and found their nifty 'Gamefinder' and found my game in time to see the first touchdown...barely. Also, a friend of mine called and was wound up for the same reason, and I was able to help her. Good deed for the day completed. :) Iowa won big...of course, it's not like they were playing any powerhouse or anything -- my dad would call it a 'girls team'. But Hawkeye football is Hawkeye football, and I'll take the W any day.

So...here we go with some pictures...

First we have the boys on our first day of school...

And here we have the boys at the State Fair a few weeks ago doing the "Little Hands on the Farm" exhibit, which was very cute and lots of fun for them...

And, well, it's not my boys, but could this be any stinkin' cuter??? Two day old baby goats....AWWWW!

We kinda wore G out...

Here we have E and myself on Lady Luck at Adventureland. It was one of his favorite rides. :) And it didn't make me want to hurl. Even better!!

Now this is a picture of a picture, but it's a hoot...my friend and I went on the log ride together and A'land took our picture to try to sell us...it worked..

Here's me and my boys after the big party last weekend.

So there you go...

Not really a whole lot of other news I guess. Thursday night I was able to hang out with a friend and got some scrapbooking done. I've got the bug to get all caught up with the boys' books, which I'm really not that far off. Then I have a Hawkeye Marching Band scrapping project about half done...and then Tim told me recently he thinks we should have a FAMILY scrapbook. He won't be needing to ask me twice to have more scrapping to do....lol Today I watched the game (see above), ran some errands, including Hobby Lobby to get some scrapping stuff and craft supplies for school. Spent quite a while in the kitchen tonight making and cleaning up dinner, making potato salad and choc chip oatmeal cookies for a get-together tomorrow night (wonder whose potato salad recipe I used...hmmmmm????), and cleaning all that up. The kids are in bed...well, they were...G is up messing around again.

I was going to scrapbook tonight, but I think I'll just organize and sort pics and get ready to work on it tomorrow. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

MOMMY!!!...COME AND SEE RIGHT NOW!! IT'S BEAUTIFUL!!!

Bet you can't guess what G was talking about!! That's right...his, um, deposit, in the 'big potty'...lol Like I told a friend, I really can't say the actual SIGHT was beautiful, but the concept of him doing it by himself??? Yep, I can go with 'beautiful'. :)

So my baby boy turned 3 yesterday (the 26th). *sigh* I really can't believe it. He had a really good day, I think. Started with presents, got to play with a friend who was here for a couple hours, and ended with dinner at Carlos O'Kelly's and a walk/bike ride around the neighborhood, in unseasonably beautiful and amazing August weather. I'll tell you for sure the weather was NOT like this in August the year he was born. He, indeed, ended up with the 'lots of trucks' that he told people he was going to get for his birthday for a couple weeks before the birthday....a garbage truck, a tow truck, a couple 'big rigs', transportation puzzles...I think we had it covered. :) I really am going to try to get a picture of him at the mexican restaurant inserted in this post...we'll see....

Anyway, the big party on Saturday went just great. All the food went over well, great weather, lots of fun among the cousins....a big success. AND, as a bonus, since I did the boys' parties together, I don't have to do it again in a month!! WOOT!

We had two themes going on....trucks/constructcion and Wall E...

School is going great again this week so far. E keeps asking to do more!!! So, you know, we're about through all the assignments in history and reading (both the reading aloud by me and his reading) for the week....we'll keep going though. This is one of the prime reason's we wanted to try this -- so he can learn at his own pace. He's pretty well mastered addition +9 in math; tomorrow we'll do the +8 facts. His handwriting is the only area in which I'm not sure he's doing just stellar... it's not going badly really, just not great. It's obviously his least favorite thing to work on, but I'm sure that's not uncommon either.

P.S. Okay...just so you all know...I started this post last night, and had to come back to it this morning -- if any of you can tell me how to get this site to insert pictures where I want them after I've written text, please let me know before I lose my mind...

YAY!!

Well, I did go get the boys' pictures retaken today...bruise on the forehead and all. Oh, what a difference the photographer can make. Wow. The guy today was great and we got some wonderful shots of G and some better ones of the boys together than I'd gotten the other day. Even better, I managed to just replace the prints that I returned and NOT spend any more money. :D Mama's happy now...and you all know how it goes..."if Mama aint happy..."

We also had G's 3 year checkup at the doctor and all is well. He measured 41 1/2 inches tall and weighs 42 lb 4 oz....an inch taller and a quarter pound lighter than E was at this age....off the charts for both. What a surprise....*eyeroll*

We had lunch with Grandpa and Grandma at Applebees. No school today, as we really did enough work the other 4 days that we really didn't need to. We had small group tonight at church.

I STILL have a few more things to do to get ready for the party, but I'm not freaking out yet...plenty of freak out time tomorrow. :)

Oh, cute kid saying time... Last night E asked me to "lettermatize" his Pokemon cards. :) It actually is a pretty cool word, don't you think? And the other day I rewarded the kids (for good behavior at the picture place) with a small toy at Creative Kidstuff -- don't remember if I posted about that or not. Actually, E wanted Pokemon cards, so we didn't get his reward there ...but ANYWAY, G chose a plastic approx. 4 inch cow...very real looking thing, udders and all. Well, today I asked him what the cow's name was....the answer? "Cowey Grassy-eater" heehee... Love that kid...

Alright, it's sneaking up on midnight, and I'm beat, and have a big day tomorrow, so I suppose I ought to get to bed. Here's a link to all those pictures we've had taken of the kids this week...I can't seem to figure out how to copy pictures into the right place on posts yet, and I'm too tired to mess with it...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethandtheboys/sets/72157606861294669/

Forgot the bubble wrap....

Okay, so you know those pictures I'm supposed to have retaken of G tomorrow? Well...the young man decided to get up close and personal with the kitchen table tonight right at bedtime. Nice big goose egg right in the middle of his forehead. Man, I knew I should have wrapped him in bubble wrap... LOL We'll see what he looks like in the morning. I do NOT want to have to reschedule those pictures again. I want them for this weekend so I can distribute to family!! My kids tend to mark up really easy and once the initial redness/swelling goes down, it doesn't look nearly as bad, but I have to believe there'll be a bruise involved. Poor guy.

I've neglected to comment on some of the cute things he's been saying lately. He told me last night or this morning (don't remember which) that I was his 'best Mommy ever', and the other day he said that 'Mommy is my best friend ever'. He loves our snuggle time in his bed in the morning -- most mornings he and I have a little bit of snuggling before he gets up. Some of the sweetest moments of my day...what am I saying? more like of my life. I so love being a mommy...

School is going great. E asked to go ahead of the day's assignments in several areas and did much better with the solving for the unknown in math. We're sitting really good if we decide to skip tomorrow. Totally caught up for the week in the stuff that's scheduled -- math and handwriting are pretty much as much as we want to do.

I got quite a bit of cleaning done today. I have more to do, but not overwhelmingly so, I don't think. Need to get some groceries tomorrow sometimes -- things it was too early to buy for the party when we went earlier this week. G has his 3 year checkup tomorrow, then those picture retakes (if he doesn't look too bruised up when he gets up), grandpa and grandma are coming around lunchtime, cleaning, cooking, small group at church...wheeeee....better get to bed.

I'm still here...

Well, I've not posted for a few days. All is well though.

School is still going really well. We've done more in the afternoons instead of mornings this week, as we've had other stuff going on in the morning. That actually seems to be going better, as we get it done while G is resting/sleeping. How cool is it that I've sat across the table and discussed Martin Luther and William Tyndale with my 5 year old. And today he was working on solving for an unknown in math. It was actually the first thing that's been challenging for him in math, and he got angry with me for telling him some answers were incorrect. A time-out for arguing was observed, and we managed to pull it together. Math U See rocks. Others in our district and another nearby sent their kids to Kindergarten today. Man...I'm thankful for our decision this year. We did NOT decide to keep him home because I couldn't let go, but it is a nice benefit of having made that decision.

In other news, G hasn't had an accident in 2 days. Could it be we've finally turned the corner???

I took the kids to have pictures taken today. They were fine, but the photographer was a serious NEWBIE, and we did NOT have a good experience. I managed to remain gracious, but I was fuming inside. The more I thought about it, I just was not happy, and my hubby and another friend encouraged me to call...so I did, and we're doing some retakes on Friday. I think I'll keep E's, as we got a pretty nice one, but for sure redoing G's, and maybe some of the two of them. What a hassle...but for the money, and to have to look at them on the wall for a year, hopefully it'll be worth it.

Big party for both kids' birthdays this Saturday. G turns 3 next Tuesday, and E will turn 6 in a little over a month. I decided to do the family party for both of them together. We'll see how that works. I have the cake and balloons ordered, and the meal planned, some of the food bought -- will have to get some of the stuff later.

Well, off to bed pretty soon.

What a day!!

Wow. I'm spent. It was a great day though. I took E to Adventureland today with some friends. It was his first trip and my first in like 16-17 years. We had a great day. I think 8 1/2 hours there for his first go at it was pretty good. We even went on the Tornado, the 'grown up' roller coaster. I don't know that he particularly enjoyed it, but there were no tears and no puking, so it's all good. He said it was 'a little fast but fun'. He laughed hysterically throughout the ride on the Tilt-a-whirl, or, as I like to call it, the Tilt-a-HURL. Oh my word. I didn't know if I was going to make it. I seriously don't recall feeling that nasty on a ride before. It messed me up for a while. No truly getting sick, but I didn't feel right for a while. Ugh. Anyway, other favorites of his were the airplanes, bumper cars, and the Frog Jumper. He wanted to go on the space shot, but I told him he'd have to find someone else to go on it with him, and, thank you Lord, he was too short anyway. LOL

G stayed with a friend in the morning, and then Daddy picked him up and spent the afternoon with him. I'm sure there are things he'd have enjoyed at the amusement park, but no way would he have lasted 8 1/2 hours, and the one on one time with E was really good.

Another fun thing that happened to me today was that while we were at the mall for dinner (that's right, amusement park food AND mall food today -- long story -- better nutrition tomorrow), I ran into a college roomate and her family. I'd not seen her since my wedding, which will be 10 years ago next month. HOW FUN it was to see her and her hubby and meet 2 of her 3 girls!!! Just really fun. Didn't realize how much I miss her.

On a more sobering note...one of the other gals in our group today was a new friend of my good friend...she is a widow of 9-11. Her husband was in the Pentagon on that horrible day. It's certainly the closest touch I've had with that day, not that I can claim to be close to her at all after spending a day at A'land with her. She's raising their two girls on her own now, and seems to be doing really well, but boy, what a reality check as the anniversary of that day approaches. Hug your hubbies, girls. :( You just never know....

Anyway....a great day...oh, and yeah, cool mom status continues....2 field trips the first week of school!!! We did get the week's work done too though, so never fear. Don't quite know how I'll top this week though...

Come on...

There's a load of laundry in the washer...it's Wednesday...I do laundry on Mondays...this could only mean one thing....bad potty day. *sigh* Lots of accidents, mostly wet, but one dirty. I might have to start saving for therapy for him because I've scolded pretty good for a couple accidents now, and I think "they" say you're not supposed to do that. So frustrating though.

School was okay today. E's attitude could have been better, but we made it through. School will be in the afternoon tomorrow, as we have playgroup at a park in the morning.

Both boys got haircuts tonight. I'm getting pretty good at it by now. They have pictures in a week, and I didn't want them to look so freshly 'shorn' for the pics, so hopefully a week of hair growth will be good. Now to decide what to have the kiddo's wear....

Not all that much to say today. Maybe tomorrow.

Day Two -- FIELD TRIP!

That's right folks...am I the coolest teacher in the world or what? Field trip on the second day of school?!? LOL We did a little school this morning, then went to the library for a program there and the standard book and movie exchange, and then to Borders for a quick stop (more on that in a minute), then we decided to go to the fair! I'm not normally up for going to the fair. I HATE heat, and it's usually wretched hot. But notsomuch today, and it was my husband's employer's 'day' at the fair, so we got in free and all. We had a fun time! G did really great for his age. Walked around like a little trooper, stroller free. E, well, not much complaining about the walking, but kept working us over about getting stuff. That's my little material boy. Favorite quote of the day from him, after he took a bit of the pork chop on a stick, which he didn't think he'd like "Gee boy, that's good!!" G loved all the animals, as I knew he would....and is actually a large part of why we went.

So you know yesterday, on that momentus first day of school? I forgot to mention that I did FIVE loads of laundry too....only, notsomuch afterall. I went to get that last load out of the dryer today, and found that I'd forgotten to close the lid of the washer, so, well, that load got an extra long soak cycle. :)

On the potty training front....not too bad today. One wet accident at the fair (were brave and didn't do a pullup), and one here after we got home. Other, um, deposits correctly placed. Progress!!! Oh yes...the Borders story....I'd bought a truck stickerbook a few months ago and told G he could have it when he made the above-mentioned deposit in the potty. So Sunday, he earned that...and proceeded to LOSE IT somewhere yesterday. We called McD's to see if he left it there at breakfast, and no luck...and he was really upset...and this was a BIG DEAL he learned to do it. So back we went to Borders today. At first it appeared we were out of luck, but then as the worker there was checking on the computer to see if they had any in stock, G spotted ONE on the shelf. SCORE! Now the old one will probably show up...

Ok, well tomorrow is a school day, with little other planned. Suppose I'd better clean some too....oh goody.

Here we go!

Okay, so I've been thinking about doing the blog thing for a while now. I figured that the first day of homeschooling was as good of a day as any to start! That's right, I am a 'homeschool mom'. Wow... We even started the day with a celebratory trip to McDonald's for breakfast.

The first day went really really well with E -- better than I even hoped. He and I struggle sometimes -- I think maybe we're a little too much alike or something. When we worked on teaching him to read last fall, he had a hard time taking instruction from me, and we have an ongoing issue with arguing. But, not today. Praise the LORD ...I believe He is responsible for today's success, not me. We're obeying Him in this homeschool venture, so I'm relying on him for my success for sure.

It was, however, harder to deal with G this morning than I'd hoped and expected. He's normally a very content little dude. Some negative attention-getting attempts occurred today....

and then there's the whole potty training thing. Yesterday, it was a momentous day in which he, well....he pooped in the potty for the very very first time. Rock on. So I decided that since he CAN do it, he is GOING to do it. Today he has had one wet accident, and one incident in which he didnt' make it to the potty for #2, and well, Mommy lost it. Not a proud mommy moment. But it might have made an impression, as he did make a correct deposit later. I think we're going to get somewhere this time. I'm really sick of potty training....REALLY sick of it. We've got 15 days until his bday...think we can make it???

All in all, it's been a successful day!