What We've Been Up To: Part One

I can't believe it's been a month since I've blogged. We've had so much going on that I wanted to share some of our joys before I got back to the homeschool stuff! In the past two months we've celebrated three birthdays (dh, Thatcher and Beckett), our 12 year wedding anniversary and our ten year anniversary serving at our amazing church. Thatcher lost his first and second teeth, we finished up a soccer and t-ball season, Thatcher was baptized and we went on a family trip to the beautiful Texas Hill Country. Whew! It's been busy around here for sure.

Here are pictures of Thatcher's first lost tooth:


And here are a few photos from Thatcher's 7th Tranformers birthday party:

(Tranformers Cake: The Autobot Mask)

More to come very soon!

Our Weekly Menu

I am still working on my "ultimate" grocery shopping/meal planning system but in the meantime I thought I'd share this simple idea. Every Sunday I post the upcoming week's meal schedule on the fridge for all to see. It may sound silly but it truly helps me have it posted so there is no thinking or decision making (regarding meals at least) once my week starts. I have already made certain I have all ingredients to make every dish so there are no quickie trips needed to pick up that one missing item when you already have a dish half-made! An extra bonus is I can see on one sheet if everyone is getting a well balanced and varied diet.

Anything - no matter how seemingly small - that helps me save time/energy I can use towards school and/or playing with my boys is a welcome addition at my house! :)

Hope this helps someone!

Like the new photos?

I love learning about people and their stories. In case you are like me, I thought I would tell a little (I could, like most mamas, go on and on about my babies!) about each of the new photos on my header. If this is not your thing, feel free to skip this post.

The first photo is of Thatcher and me at a Houston Astros game. Some sweet person gave us their season tickets on a night they weren't going to be used so we took our two oldest just a few weeks ago. Dh and I are huge Astros fans (even though they stink this year!) so we had a ball sharing this experience with them.

I am so glad that Dh included this shot of Beckett. The only other photo of him anywhere on my blog is the one of him crying on the first day of school so I am glad to show his precious face when he is not sad! Baths are just about his favorite thing, too.

The third picture is an oldie but goodie. I believe it's over 6 months old and it's currently the photo on my desktop with the verse:

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Psalm 127:3 (ESV)

The fourth photo is of my Haddon whose nickname is "Chocolate Eyes." Need I say more?

The next picture of Thatcher was taken this spring at my husband's family's land in the beautiful Texas Hill Country - Kerrville to be exact. As the boys grow older we desire for them to have precious memories of going out to the ranch and we plan to go frequently. No tv, computers or cellphone service but lots of dirt, bugs and snakes, places to explore and places to swim. This is one of the swimming spots called "Little Blue Hole."

The next shot is from that same trip to Kerrville. Beckett crashed after hiking all morning. Not sure why he was the one sleeping...I was the one carrying his extra 20 pounds around. Lol!

Finally one more photo of the ranch. This picture is from the bluff, about a seven minute hike from the house. Here Thatcher is overlooking the Guadalupe River. Isn't is gorgeous?! The second Dh snapped this photo I grabbed Thatcher and pulled him way back from the edge. It is a terrifying drop!

Thanks to my sweet husband who choose all these photos and surprised me while I was away on my trip! I love you.