Feb. was a busy month!

Man am I behind in blogging. My problem isn't that I don't have anything to blog about it is, I don't have the time to blog. Trying to get Bryan moved home , homeschooling & 3 birthdays in 1 1/2 weeks has kept us extremely busy. February was a really busy month. So if you have time & my computer will let me I will update you on our month. Yes, I realize it is already halfway into March, so like I said I am so behind.

February was a great month for us. Bryan moved home, YEAH!

And our sweet Bryce was baptised. It was such a special day. We had lots of family & friends here to share in this special day. Bryce looked so handsome in his suit. He was so excited when he woke up & couldn't wait until 3 o'clock for his baptism. Bryan & I were so excited that our first child was being baptised. We looked forward to this day ever since he was born. I am so proud of him & the example he is setting for his little brother & little sisters.

He also looked so handsome in his white suit. (but unfortunately I have misplaced my cd with all the pictures from his baptism & birthday party & I had some really cute ones. I will have to keep looking & post them later!) He was really excited about his baptism that he forgot to be nervous about the water. He shared his special day with a friend from his primary class. So, we shared the program with them. Grandpa (Faren) gave the talk about Baptism & his Grami (Pam) gave the opening prayer. Kaycee & Cheree helped us out with the music & Savanah & Brayden sang "When Jesus Christ was baptised". We had such a wonderful day with our family & are so thankful for all those that came to share this day with us. Bryce said it was the best day of his life & loves being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

Since our Princess Savanah was born right after Bryce we had her party the same weekend as Bryce's baptism. So those that came in got 2 in 1. Savanah loves Ariel (since they both have red hair) & wanted to have a Princess Ariel Party. We had bought a Little Mermaid costume on clearance after Halloween & she wanted to wear it. She looked so beautiful in her costume. Since she was wearing a costume I thought it would be fun for all her friends to dress up also.




We invited all her friends to wear their princess dresses also. When they came to the door we had bubbles blowing & had the hall & living room with streamer making an underwater world. Bryce drew most of our decorations. Since he loves to draw he drew lots of fish & shells. It looked awesome. We played princess games & painted the girls nails. The girls had lots of fun & Savanah had a blast. Fun was had by all. Needless to say Mommy was pretty tired after 2 days of partying!

February also brought us an ice storm. Good ole' Texas Ice storms. NO, we really don't ever get snow, we get BLACK ice. The fun stuff that causes lots of accidents & isn't really fun to play in. Just plain cold. Well, the kids had fun going out and picking the ice off the chairs & grill.

We also did alot of fishing in February. For those of you not familiar with Texas winter, yes this was in the SAME month as the ice storm. In Texas 1 day it is freezing cold, the next & I do mean the next day it is hot & sunny. I can't complain though because we spent alot of time out doors this winter.

We also took Daddy to the zoo. We had a blast at the Dallas Zoo. We loved looking at all the animals. The also had a great time at the childrens park inside the zoo. They had this fun egg right beside a large birds nest. The slide looked like a tree stump. They had rabbits, chickens, goats, cows & horses to pet. We had a great day.

The zoo now has a bird area where you can go in with popsicle sticks that have bird seed on them & feed the birds. As soon as we went in a bird landed on my head. Before that one left I ended up with 1 on my backpack also. The kids thought that was so funny. I have to say I was really nervous about ending up with a present on my head from it especially since he spent about 5 min. on my head. I am thankful for all the fun outing Bryan & I have been able to take the kids on. We really enjoy being outdoors with our kids & taking them to fun places to explore.

At the end of the month we got to go to Bryce's pinewood derby. Since turning 8 Bryce LOVES going to scouts. He is having alot of fun & especially loved building his car with grandpa & painting it with his daddy. Bryce lost the first race, won 2 races & then tied the last one, but he felt like a winner and that is what counts. I was worried about him being upset about not winning the ribbon, but he was just happy that he won 2 & tied 1, so he felt like a winner. Doesn't he look handsome in his scout uniform? (It was another cold day in TX that day!)

I am thankful for the wonderful February that we had as a family. Bryan took the month off (after being gone for more than 6 months from us, besides an occassional visit) and we loved every minute of it. We feel blessed to have him in our lives.

March has been awesome so far too! Hopefully I will have time to write about it in the next day or 2.

Life is Good!!!

Can I say that Life is Good! I am so happy right now & loving life. Bryan is finally home & we are loving every minute of it. He has been home for 2 weeks and the kids and I love having him hear with us every minute. He asked me if I was tired of him yet, but I am definately not. 6 months is a long time to be without your husband (well besides our occasional weekend). Last night he told me he wasn't ready to start working again, he was just loving being home with us!
The kids love it and won't know what to do when he does start working again. On saturday Bryce told me he had the "bestest, happiest family ever!" That was like music to my ears. It definately makes the hard times worth it to know that your children are happy & love their life. He also, in the same conversation told me that this is why he loves to homeschool because we are always together. He is such a sweetie!
So, life is really good at our house right now, just having Bryan here with us and spending quality time together as a family!
(Sorry no pictures, just wanted to say how happy I am right now!)

Family Pictures

Picture day with our family can be quite interesting. It is very hard to get all five of my kids (yes, i mean 5 & I am not counting Deuce) to cooperate. For those of you that know my goof ball husband he is just as hard or harder to get a picture of, because he loves to act like a goof ball in the pictures. DRIVES ME CRAZY! On Brayden's birthday I wanted to get a family picture of us with Deuce all in our Texas Longhorn shirts. My friend was taking the pictures & could hardly keep her composure because of Bryan. I usually don't like to show people these goofy pictures, but I just wanted to show you guys what I live with all the time. Got to love him!

Why would anyone want to look so goofy is beyond me, but that is my crazy husband for you! Oh, and we didn't know this was going on til after the pictures when my friend just started laughing!

A little better, just 1 crazy eye instead of 2.

Finally, a halfway decent picture! I think I am going to start framing the pictures with him looking goofy, in our house, instead of searching for a good one of him. (Just kidding). He does this all the time. Just ask his parents or siblings.

Birthday Boy!

Brayden celebrated his 6th birthday this weekend. He wanted to have a Texas Longhorn Football birthday. We went all out with decorations and between mom & I we had lots of Longhorn & football decorations. He decided he wanted a cookie cake and since this weekend was super bowl we were lucky we were able to find a Football cookie cake. His birthday was on Thursday, so we gave him a Longhorn shirt & hat so he would have it to wear to his party! He had so much fun! Isn't he cute!

The weather ended up being beautiful. On Jan. 31, 2009 it was 70 degrees outside. Since Brayden was born we have never had a warm day for his birthday. It was a perfect day for a football party so we played football themed games outside. Here is Brayden throwing his Longhorn football! He's getting ready for a perfect throw.

We tossed the football through a hoop & everyone had alot of fun! I was surprised at how many of the kids had really good aim & several of them had pretty good throwing arms on them. Here is Savanah throwing the ball. If you look close you can see it heading toward the hoop.

I found this really large ball that looked like a helmet with the Longhorn logo on it. We tried to keep the ball going, but the wind didn't really want to cooperate on this game. They had fun anyway with the extra large ball.

We then played hot ball. They had to pass the ball (like a hot pot.) & when the music ended the person holding the ball was out. We had 17 kids who played the game & the little blonde girl named Abi (who likes Brayden) won!

When then finished up the games with pin the Horn on the Longhorn. (My best friend Cristina gave me this idea & our artist Bryan drew it for us). They had alot of fun. Brayden & Abi tied the game.

Brayden & all his friends had alot of fun at his party! I couldn't believe how much fun we had with 17 kids around. Being outside probably helped, but they really enjoyed all the games. We ended the party with presents, a cookie cake & fruit & veggies. Brayden said his birthday was better than Christmas! I am so happy that he enjoyed his special day. Here is a picture of all his friends that were at his party. We have really been blessed since we moved to Frisco. We have made alot of great friends in our homeschool group, at church, and in our neighborhood. We also get to be by family (& close to some of their cousins) & close to our best friends that we met when we first moved to Irving TX almost 8 years ago. Brayden was so excited he had so many friends to invite to his party! (Sierra & their cousin Brandon are missing from the picture)

I can't believe how time flies. I still remember the day that my beautiful redheaded boy was born. It seems like just yesterday. All my life I loved Redheads & always wanted a little redheaded boy. When he was born & the nurse announced that he had red hair I was so excited. Just thinking of the day he was born brings tears to my eyes. I am so blessed to have Brayden in my life. He is such a Sunshine! He is so happy and loves to make people laugh.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAYDEN! I love you!

Kid's crafts

Here is a bigger picture of the kids crafts & our school room! I'll take more pictures of our school & post them later.

Our School!

We have had a great time this month in school! We have been studying about the Ocean. Specifically about Sharks, Dolphins & Octopuses. Since we love the beach we love to study about anything that has to do with the ocean! Each kid made a book, that they colored, about the things we were studying about. We then made a "Japanese" fish to hang in our school room & an Octopus (out of a balloon, crete paper, glue, & googly eyes). We had alot of fun. Click on the picture to enlarge. It is pretty amazing what the kids know about Sharks, Dolphins & Octopuses now. That is the great thing about homeschooling is that you can learn about the things that your interested in. To end our month on the ocean we are going to go to the aquarium. We are really excited about our trip & will have to wear our field trip shirts!

Bryce has a new favorite book to read. He is really getting into the Cat in the Hat books. They are really fun to read & we love their humor. Bryce really loves to make costumes & projects that go along with the things we are reading. He made these really cool glasses! The dogs in his book were wearing glasses (well goggles), so he made some also. Bryce has a problem with workbooks & so he was struggling with math a little. So, after we came back from Christmas break we haven't touch the math book. Instead I just use objects (toys, money, snacks, etc.) & we do addition & subtraction with them. He is really starting to do alot better since we stopped using the book. We just started working on counting by 3's & he is really catching on quickly, which is such a relief to me.

Then their is Brayden! Brayden woke up one morning, a few weeks ago, and told me that he wanted to learn to read today. Yeah! I had taught him all his alphabet & all their sounds, but he really didn't have any interest to learn to read yet. SO, this was music to my ears. I got out these little books called "BOB BOOKS". They take simple sounds and make words out of them. They are awesome to use to help kids learn to read. Well, we are in book 6 (out of the 12) in the 1st series. He is doing awesome and it is so fun to see him get excited about learning to read. He is such a bright little boy. He also picks up math really fast. He can count to 100, count by 10's, and now by 5's. I just started teaching him how to count by 5. I showed him the pattern & we worked on it 1 day, just to 30. Well, the next day we started going over it & the little dude counted all the way to 100. Just after showing him the pattern 1 time. I am amazed! Math was not my thing but he definately takes after his father.

I am so proud of all the kids & how well they are doing in school. After moving here we struggled a little bit because everyone was missing Bryan, it was warm outside & the kids just didn't want to do school. So after alot of soul searching & getting ideas from Cheree (THANK YOU CHEREE!) we are starting to have alot of fun! And the kids are loving it, which makes life so much easier. The girls are learning the ABC's & numbers, which they weren't interested in at first. But each day they get excited about their turn with mommy on the white board working.

It is definately hard, especially at first, to homeschool, but I am so thankful that I have hung in their. I get to spend everyday with my children watching them learn, seeing their excitement, and having fun with them. I definately need to find time for me, occassionally, but I am thankful for this time with my children!

My Little Boy is Growing Up!

I can't believe that this day is almost here. My little boy is growing up. I still remember the day he was born. How beautiful he was! When he was born we looked forward to his baptism, but I can't believe he is turning 8 already. He is excited about becoming a member of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - Day Saints!

Bryce's Baptism will be on Sat. Feb. 7th (his 8th birthday!) @ 3 pm at our church. His friend from his class will also be baptised this day. Doesn't he look so handsome in his suit!

We will also have him a birthday party, at our house, after the baptism. AND hope that alot of our family & friends will be able to attend this special day in Bryce's life. For any & all who want to attend we will make room for you. We have a big house so we can pretend we are at the cabin again in the Smokie Mountains.

I am so proud of Bryce. He is such a good big brother & tries to help out. He is really becoming a good example to his friends at church and in our neighborhood. His teachers love him & tell me he is such a sweet spirit who is always willing to help, who is always so reverent & a good example to the others who might be acting out. He is such a wonderful blessing to our family!

Brayden loves his big brother & wants to be just like him! He hates that he isn't turning 8 so that he can be baptised just like Bryce. They are the best of friends, especially since we homeschool & they are always together. They wouldn't have it any other way. Bryce started scouts & that has also been hard on Brayden, he wants to go with him & doesn't like it when Bryce leaves him behind (because he isn't old enough). My boys are growing up & are such handsome little men!

We look forward to ya'll sharing this special day with us! I have made announcements & plan to get them in the mail today. We love all of you & are thankful for the example that you are to our children. They love knowing that our family are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Thank you for your testimonies & your example. I am thankful for my Dodd & Ardis' family. We are truly blessed!