Thursday, October 30, 2008

Our Photographer...

These pictures were taken by Princess TD while I was carving the pumpkin this afternoon.


There were several more of the neighbor's little girl I left out, but they were really good. (I just didn't want to post her face all over without her parents permission.) We only deleted 2 pictures because they were so blurry you couldn't determine what they were. Pretty good for a 5 year old I'd say, but maybe it's just because I am her Mom!

Oh, and in the first of the self portraits she looks so much like my neice it's frightening!

So, do you think Santa should bring her a kid's camera or a "real" digital camera? (Really, I'd like your thoughts. Would she be frustrated with the quality of the kids digital camera? She really did use the zoom. Is this a talent we should develop? AAAGGGHHHH! She's only 5!)

Pumpkin Picking and Carving

We went earlier this week to pick out our pumpkin to carve for Halloween tomorrow. This is the first year we have purchased a real pumpkin to carve. We tried to grow our own pumpkins earlier in the year, but we were not so successful. Every time we had a bud, Princess TD would think it was a flower and pick it for me. Oh well, maybe next year!

We picked the coldest day so far to go pick our pumpkin. We walked outside to check the temperature and it seemed fine, but when we got to the Farmer's Market, it was much colder than we thought it was.



This afternoon, we went out to carve our pumpkin. We had fun cleaning it out and then drawing the face.





In true Texas style, earlier in the week, we were freezing outside in long pants and long sleeves, and today we were in shorts and sleeveless shirts! You gotta love Texas!!


Our fall photo!


Can you tell they are both saying "cheese"? It's the only picture where they are both looking at the camera!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

She Did It!!

Ok, this is just a proud mamma-teacher moment...Princess TD read her first book all by herself! The book was Pal and Sal.

She was able to sound out the words she didn't know and make a pretty accurate guess before I helped out. I find this amazing since we are only about a third of the way through our 108 phonics lessons. She still thinks she can't read, but I am sure when she reads her first princess book, she'll think she's made it!

Oh, and a big "Thank you" to Great-Aunt Linda for all of the early reader books. It seems our library only has princess books. Oh wait, maybe that's all she'll check out from there without much prodding and arguing!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Too Sweet!

We had lunch after church today with some friends at Olive Garden. It was the first time we have eaten there as a family. For the longest time, our kids wouldn't even touch pasta type meals so we avoided eating there. Before eating, there was an offer to the kiddos there to say prayer. My two jumped at the opportunity.

Princess TD: Dear God, thank you for Mommy and Daddy. Thank you for eating at Olive Oil and thank you for all the things you made. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Little TD: Thank you for our blessings. Thank you for Daddy and changing oil. (next came a long list of undeciferable mumbling). Thank you for Jesus. AMEN!

I just love the prayers of the little ones! Princess TD thought the resturant was Olive Oil, and after hearing "oil" Little TD thought of changing oil with Daddy!

All of the adults there had a good laugh over the Olive Oil and changing oil prayers!

Friday, October 24, 2008

What to do, what to do?

Help! I am drowning....in paper that is. I am totally at a loss about what to do with the huge amount of paper that is created by my two children! Let me explain:

We have our papers from Sunday school...

We have our papers from Tuesday Ladies class...

We have our papers from Wednesday night church...

We have our papers from school (currently I am keeping these in a 3-ring binder to record the work for the grade level)...

We have at least 5 pages per day created by Princess TD and several from Little TD with random writing, pictures and notes to friends...

One or two pages per day are created with stickers on them, maybe a picture, but mostly stickers...

Needless to say, I cannot keep every single piece of paper they create. We had thought about scanning them in and saving them on a thumb drive for each kid...but that requires we have a scanner - we don't. (BTW, we are currently in a research phase to determine what would be best for us. I want an all-in-one since it would help me in school, but they are large!)

So, my question to all of you is what do you do with all of your children's papers?

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Fun Filled Weekend

The weather was beautiful this weekend and we took the opportunity to get outside and have some family time. Mr. TD has been out of town and we have all missed him, so this was wonderful for our family! Here are some pics of our fun at the park and playing b-ball after our picnic dinner:

Sunday after church, the preschool children went to Fuddruckers for lunch and then to one of the local fire stations to take some of the stuffed animals that were collected during VBS to the firemen to distribute to children after a trauma. We were given a short tour of the fire engines and were allowed to turn on and off the fire hose. It was a beautiful day and the firemen were so very nice to all of the little ones. They even helped us to pose a few of the pictures of the kids.




We had a great weekend and loved the beautiful Texas fall weather!

Priceless

Every month on the fourth Saturday, our family works at the food pantry at our church called Manna. There we hand out donated food to local families in need. We purchase enough food to feed several families before we go since it's the end of the month and the shelves are usually bare. Ever since Princess TD was little, I have had her help pick out some of the food we take based on the list that we provide each family. Her favorite thing has always been the Campbell's character soups, usually Dora. I have continued that tradition with Little TD and he has been picking the Campbell's "Cars" soup to donate. There are many great lessons they learn in the store, how to count the number of each item, finding the items and best of all, giving to others who are not as blessed as we are.

This past week, Princess TD was studying about the Israelites leaving Egypt through the Red Sea and their wandering in the wilderness. We read about Moses and how he asked God to provide food for the Israelites and how the prayer was answered with manna and quail. We studied some about quail and made a paper airplane quail. At the end of the lesson, I asked the following question:

Me: What did God provide to the Israelites to eat?

Little TD: Cars soup!

Priceless!!!

Monday, October 6, 2008

School Update: Things God Made

I realized that I haven't given a school update in a while. School is going well and both kids are having a blast!

Princess TD is grasping all of the concepts we are learning. She has memorized 5 verses from the bible, and is practicing reading them as she recites them. She is doing awesome with phonics and is trying to sound out complex words. She's reading simple sentences and knows some sight words. We have just started talking about punctuation and capitalization. Her writing is improving every day. She loves writing notes to anyone who will take one! She even wrote a note to give to the marina worker at the lake that said "Hey Mr. Boat Man." The teenage kid behind the counter just chuckled when she gave it to him! He was great though, and said thanks and put it in the drawer with the money!

Last week in science, we talked about the things God made in combination with a discussion of the seasons, specifically fall. One of the suggested activities (which we didn't do, because I wanted to go to the park to find more leaves), was to go outside and collect some of the things God made and put them into a scrapbook. So last night, the kids were outside with Mr. TD while I was finishing dinner. Princess TD came running through the house to get to the back yard to get their buckets. I reminded her not to dig in the flower beds as she ran back out. She went through our yard and the yard of our neighbor across the street and filled her bucket. She dumped it out on our walk, and said, "Look Mommy, these are things God made!" I didn't tell her about the activity, so I guess this means she's understanding what I am teaching! It was great encouragement for me. Here's what she collected:


In math, we decided to do Kindergarten math, but to work through it quickly since most of it is review. Well, she's finished the first semester of math, and we'll be beginning the second semester this week. She's really loving that and is quick to grasp the concepts. She is really doing great and loves telling people she meets that she's homeschooled!
Little TD loves working with us. He will sit and color in his preschool book I made him. He listens intently to the stories and lessons I read. He loves to take his crayons and trace the letters and numbers. He loves playing with and stacking the Cuisenaire rods we have. He is starting to make drawings of people. They are really cute! They have big heads and little bodies. He appears to be developing along the same path that Princess TD did. I can tell his brain is working faster than the rest of him, and he gets frustrated sometimes that his body can't do what his brain says it can. He will catch up soon enough.
So, our update is that school is going well and I love that I get to be with them and see the light bulb come on when they figure something out! I feel so blessed that I have this opportunity to teach them, even on the crazy days!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

What a Boat-iful Day

We spent yesterday out on Lake Conroe. It was a beautiful boating day! We had ton of fun running around in the boat and seeing the sights. It was the first time since Ike we were out on the lake. We launched at a new marina this time. It was very nice and easy to load and unload. This is the marina where we usually launch. It was hit by a tornado during Ike.














It was also the first time in a very long time that I did not have to hold a child in my lap as we were cruising! It's amazing, both kids are old enough and feel safe enough to be riding in the boat without me holding them! Here are our little captains!



For some reason, Little TD only rides on his knees, holding on to the side and most of the time with his face against the side of the boat. Usually he's yelling to go faster! We aren't sure if he's trying to sheild his face from the wind, or praying for it to be over. Princess TD has really found her sea legs, and loves to stand next to Mr. TD as he's piloting the boat. They loved "fishing" (really just casting) and were begging to get started as soon as we launched the boat. They want to be sure to tell Great-grandpa about their catches the next time they see him!

It was a day full of family fun on the lake! We love the time we get to spend together on the boat.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Fall is Coming

The weather is cooling. The pumpkins are everywhere. The kids are shopping for costumes and eyeing their favorite candy. The Air Show is coming to town. Fall is officially on it's way. Oh, and I am ready for camping! I just love this time of year in Texas!