Even though we all had eye appointments March 12, we didn't get Evie and Noah their new glasses til April 26. Oops. She got some nice blue ones. They complement her skin better than pink. I should know. She has pink skin like me.
Samuel tried on all the boy glasses that Noah didn't like. He's so cute. I don't know why I don't have a picture of Noah! Maybe because he already had contacts.
We had sold Terry's 1998 Malibu on Noah's birthday and got this from Terry's dad to replace it, his Equinox. It was mega dirty so he gifted us a cleaning detail coupon he had won on a radio action.
Good as new (it needed a few other things fixed too).
The next day, April 25th, I was taking the littles to a birthday party at the mall and while in route got the news that Terry's grandmother had just passed away. She had been sick in the hospital for a day or two and was going downhill quickly. I was in a super hurry to get up to the hospital to be with the family and accidentally brushed too close to a beautiful white truck while trying to park. I had been so distraught that I wasn't paying proper attention. Darn it. That made me even more upset. It wasn't like I could tell Terry about it right away like normal.
We went to the hospital, said our goodbyes to Gramma Dorothy and went back to the mall to pick up the boys.
Working on funeral stuff.
Jim came over a to have Terry help him put digitize of his home videos for the funeral.
During one quiet time that week I caught Ezra downstairs reading this beginning reader books aloud to himself. 💙 It was so great. Samuel did the exact same thing two years ago.
Ezra overheard reading and then a Samuel reading update. Love it.
Noah was also cruising through books. He finished his Algebra and second Science book. Thumbs up indeed. 👍
January was a crazy month with the new flooring going down. I keep saying that. Here is a video to prove what work we did.
Beyond that we pretty much lived our normal lives. School, weekend, repeat. One particular day, January 30th, Evie decided she'd recite her poem in an unorthodox way, while performing jumping jacks to the rhythm.
When the new year began Terry started a New Testament reading plan with the youth and Samuel had wanted to take part. He brought home one of the schedules and searched high and low for a little Gideon bible so he could start reading.
He did it all on his own! It was so darn sweet and heart warming. I pray he will keep it up, but after the first chapter of Matthew, which is all "names," he got a little bored. We did get him his own Bible for his eighth birthday.
Evie is often surrounded by the pets...and her brothers.
On February 8th, Samuel lost the one front tooth that was still hanging in there.
Mandatory mommy and kitty snuggling for Ezra on February 10th.
Boring grammar with Noah on February 12th. I never learned anything more than the very basics. It's quite challenging for me but Noah picks it up quickly.
The day before Valentines Day Terry and I went out to Qdoba for an quick mini lunch date. While out I got the kids Valentines Day balloons for the following day. Samuel had to hang onto his while doing his reading lesson. We were almost done with his entire book! Look at those big long words!
Just a week later he completed the very last lesson, #231, of his phonics book! That felt like such an accomplishment. When he was two and three, he could barely talk. We called it caveman talk. Then he went to communication preschool which helped a bit. They discouraged me from homeschooling him, citing that he'd need more help. Kindergarten was a challenge after the lessons got a little more difficult, but we back off, and after that summer, he came back very strong in first grade. This year for second grade he's done just amazing! He apparently taught himself a great deal while "reading" and pondering over books during the summer. I'm so proud of him.
Here's his very last lesson.
Meanwhile, the cat was saying, "I am life."
Evie has always been a voracious reader and had the ambition to be an author. She took a big step in that direction with her first book. It has to do with magical unicorns. I think she was heavily influenced by her friend Jillian's unicorn birthday party and the show My Little Pony. Plus, the girl likes to read and write.
On February 20th we had Abigail and Julia over while Noah went to their house with Moses and then to the church with Terry to help set up for youth group. I made my very first meal with my replacement Instant Pot (the one I received at Christmas was faulty and I had just that day got the new one in the mail).
That night at Awana was "Dress Like a Mess" night. Evie had come home the previous week and set out her best-worst clothes for the occasion (notice the volleyball knee pads). She also painted everyone's face ridiculously with her Christmas watercolor pencils. Terry had the best idea though; for Ezra to simply drape his favorite baby blanket around his shoulders. Yeahhhhh, that thing is toast. My sister made it for him and because it was more knobbly than the others and he liked to roll the strings between his fingers as he sucked his thumb to sleep and he pretty much destroyed it.
See what I mean?
Saturday, February 23rd, was a very big day. Terry and Noah were on a mall mission trip trying to have spiritual conversations and share the gospel, while Evie and I were reading through the Dinner Theater script for this upcoming May (a fundraiser). The four of us are planning on going on Terry's Mexico/L.A. mission trip in June. After the read through we had to set up for the chili cook off the following day (another fundraiser). So I treated us to some cheap Burger King ice cream on the way home.
The following day, after the chili cook off, we were all pretty worn out. We let the kids eat their usual cereal and watch a movie while Terry and I went on a date at Longhorn and bummed around Target afterwards.
The next night, February 25th, I caught Trouncer trying to eat a bit of pillow fluff. I pulled on it to take it away and this giant string of it came out out. I'm pointing at the part I could see when I started pulling. The rest was in his throat!
We had some good laughs on February 28th. Terry had been swinging Samuel around with his two legs stuck through one pajama pants leg. We were calling him a Mer-man, from Zoolander. Then Evie randomly told Terry to "bray like a donkey." 😂
For the last couple months or weeks I had been reading the Wingfeather Saga. They are amazing. Written by the Christian singer and songwriter Andrew Peterson, who I have a great regard and interest in now. This is what I wrote on facebook about them, "Oh, my heart. These books, people. These books are amazing. I’ve been wanting to share some kind of deep, poetic, beautiful words but I’m not a poet or a book reviewer. These books take me back to my first love, The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. When I finished LOTR I was depressed for a week. I didn’t want the magic and beauty to be over. These books are the same but perhaps more poignant. Magical. Beautiful. Truthful. Deep. The Kingdom! Bible verses kept coming to mind. Relatable moments and characters. These books have and will continue to shape how I see the world and what Jesus did for us."
Last weekend was severly cold and terrible. We spent a good amount of time laying around, watching movies, and mandatory snuggling with mommy. Notice his hand flapping around indicating how he was trying to get away. He's not very compliant.
Eating peanuts with a very captive audience.
We were so bored so we decided to finally read Evie's book, which she had just finished laminating. It took 45 minutes!
She did not want her picture taken.
Offering a critique of how daddy was reading it.
A short sample of her book.
A hilarious note Evie wrote to herself in her completed Cursive writing book. "Thank you myself. See you always!"
Samuel turned a whopping eight years old on Friday, February 1st, 2019. We took him to Jump Craze for the occasion. But first we woke him up with the birthday song and a kitty.
Fancy videographer in his pajamas and a kiss for the kitty.
Waffles for breakfast.
One, two, three, four kids! Also, take note of the carpeted stairs over Samuel's shoulder... We'd been working on changing over the main floor's flooring since the middle of January. We finished the living room on January 17-19th and the dining room and kitchen the 20-22nd.
Behold the beautiful floor! But really the point was supposed to be that we're watching The Price is Right altogether, our usual thing for Terry's day off.
Cute little birthday boy with his dog.
As soon as the show was over Terry went to work tearing out the stairs' and landings' carpet. It was going to be a beautiful day in the 50s so he wanted to visit the dump and get rid of all the project's junk once and for all.
Afterward all of us chipped in to start pulling staples out from the risers and treads. Terry just looked over my should while I typed this and asked if I was seriously posting a photo of his butt, saying I have no shame. 😂😇😆
Bare stairs!
Then we went to the dump.
Finally we made it to Jump Craze to celebrate the birthday boy.
Here's a little taste of the fun they had.
A friend very kindly borrowed us a gift card to make the trip more affordable (Kaleah H.). That place is expensive!
Most of the coupons I see are for a half priced second hour after paying pull price for the first hour. The kids were pretty ecstatic the first ten minutes but by the end of the hour they were exhausted.
Noah and Evie gravitated to the dodge ball area to the left.
After launching themselves into those pits, they went to the check out the rest of the place, which included running up these slanted trampolines and sliding back down.
Taking a rest.
There's the dodge ball area.
Noah looked so incredibly tall compared his siblings and all the rest of the kids there.
He's all arms and legs now-a-days.
Check out how high he could go!
I had him jump again, this time without the girls in the way.
I took all my favorite mid-air photos and put them into one.
One more.
From there the kids rested in the car while Terry and I grabbed some new stair treads at Menards.
Once home I still had to make dinner and cake!
Finally time for cake!
Happy birthday to Samuel!
Happy birthday to you!
Noah took the video for us.
Just my parents were able to come over but we celebrated with Terry's family later.
My parents got Samuel a new red watch. We put my dad in charge of that since he loves watches. He got him a very nice G-Shock, but it's huge. Samuel loves it.
He also loved his little Pokemon Charmander toy. Happy birthday to our beloved Samuel!
After moving away from home in 2007, I became weary of emailing recent photos of our kids to the grandparents. So I started a blog. And even though we moved back home in 2012, I still really enjoy keeping track of our lives!
