My Drew turned 11

His new fishing pole

he was so nice to make me a list.......

One of my favorite picts of him as a baby

His very special shark pinata that Steve made for his 5th B'day

In my tummy

My Drew turned 11 last week, how can that be?!? We had some of his best friends sleep over in the tent in the backyard. They had so much fun-I love that he still gets excited about capguns and star wars. He has been such a blessing to us since he was born. Not that we haven't had our challenges; but there is something about him that is so endearing. He reminds of my brother in so many ways ,but one of the biggest ways is that he is such a people magnet and gets along with so many personality types. Thank you, Lord, for this precious boy you gave us to take care of.

"I say night night to boys, mommy!"

Every night when we get Livy ready for bed she goes through this whole routine where she has to give the boys a hug and kiss goodnight. If we dare try to put her to bed before she does this she says over and over, "I say night night to boys, mommy!" It's so precious, I can't stand it!!

First Week of School

Our first day of school was last week. Its good (and hard) to be back in the swing of things. Homeschooling can be so totally overwhelming sometimes and there are times that I feel I cannot do it anymore (ask Steve, he usually gets the brunt of the breakdowns,) but when I come to my senses I realize how grateful I am to have my kids home with me during these precious years. I hope and pray that the Lord will be honored and my kids will be blessed because of it.

The kids first day at the Huckleberry Learning Center

Our first day of school at home. The kids opening their annual "first day of school presents." They scored this year
Our first day at our coop. We get together one day a week with our friends and do History and Science together

Luke and Megan

Mary and I have talked often of how blessed we feel with the special relationship that God has given Luke and Megan. They are 5 weeks apart (and I think two feet, too) and they are as close as can be. The best thing is they are so content just hanging out together and playing with their Playmobil sets, gardening, playing on Webkinz and many other things. I can't think of one time they have argued or fought. Just one of the many reasons I feel "overlyblessed."

My poor, neglected blog.

Steve took this past week off from work and for some reason I sort of took time off from everything, too. So, real life (school) starts next week and hopefully I'll be posting more. These are some picts from the past couple weeks that I love.

Too cute not to post

My Daddy

Sleeping Beauty

"Coley"

Boys just chewing the fat-What are they laughing about????

Peaches and Cream

Peaches are on their way out of season but if you can get a ripe one I encourage this yummy treat-cut them up and top with some fresh whip cream and cinnamon-a little bit of heaven.

You had me at Tempura

Friday night Steve and I were able to have a date night!!! I can count on one hand how many times that has happened in the past couple years. So, we were very excited. We ate at a really great Japanese Restaurant; we sat on the patio and it was so heavenly. I had brought my camera and the whole evening we were just taking picts trying to figure out which setting is best for which shot.- Our meals were deliscious. Of course, Steve ordered the sushi platter. I, however, ordered a combo meal that came with tempura and that's all that really mattered.

Beautiful Boys

My cousin, Shayna, has two little boys, Wyatt and Weston. They are absolotely gorgeous and I can't resist taking pictures of them.

Special Picts

I just love these pictures I have of Steve kissing each one of our babies when they were born, they are such a treasure to me. So, I ordered this lettering to go above them and I just love it. The other picts are of both sides of our family.

Picts from this past week

Christine Elise

My Lukie boy

Playdough time

Livy and her ponytails

Life has been real slow-in a good way. School is starting in a few weeks and I'm despartely holding on to these last summer days. I'm hoping to get a lot done when Steve is in South Carolina next week. These are a few picts from this past week.

Special pictures from the week

Avery and Livy at Carpinteria Beach

Our puppies will be leaving soon-trust me I'm ready-but it has been fun having them. In the evening after dinner we'll go out back and play with them. They're so fun to take pictures of. I'm also trying desperately to figure out how to use my new camera to it's fullest potential-I think my brain is full and refuses to learn new information; I'm still trying, though.

Blessings

We had a wonderful date-night with the Mills tonight. We went to this little Italian restaurant. It was great but what was greater was getting to chat with Steve and Danelle; I think we could talk all night and still have stuff to talk about. We like a lot of the same things and think the same way about a lot-which means we can help each other with kids stuff, etc. Our oldest girls are best friends which is such a blessing. I'm so grateful to God for them and their family.

I don't have a picture of the Steve and Danelle but I do have this beautiful picture of their youngest, Katie, that I just love and could not pass up; and of course the girls holding the puppies.