P.S.

Thought these pics of an impromptu sign language lesson were cute. It has surprised me how much this poster on the fridge has gotten used, especially by the little ones.

And this is the boys sporting their new cool cuts!

Summer haircuts and other stuff

Well, I almost posted that without a thing being written. I had Janell and Julia over last night for one last sleepover before they left and we stayed up until 1:30 talking. lol. Now my brain isn't fully recovered.

We got the house clean last night before bedtime so I was going to focus on other things today, namely haircuts and school. I'm still trying to get a little bit of school done every day, but the kids are having a hard time focusing on spelling when the pool is calling their name. (We had some really sweet people pass us on a nice kid-size pool a week ago and the kids have enjoyed it so much!) I let them take a popsicle break...I needed one...and then realized I just as soon cut hair outside too. No sweeping afterward. It was fast and (almost) painless. Or would have been if I hadn't had the head pop off the clippers when I was cleaning some hair out. So I took out the screws to fit it all back together and Asher helped me out by losing one of them. In the grass. So I had to crawl around hunting through the grass with poor little Levi's haircut half done, trying to find the thing. I was praying by the third sweep under the picnic table, and thankfully I did finally find it just as I was giving up. So Levi didn't have to go around with half a haircut and the other boys got theirs too. lol

Asher is such a little busy body he is constantly finding some new thing to get into. Besides losing my screws, he kept grabbing the phone and giving it to me (after he punched all the buttons) "Heya Mama". And he also dumped half the bottle of baby powder all over everything. And he had fun using the spray bottle. It would have been frustrating if he wasn't so cute!

Then we came back in for lunch (that Lela and Alyssa fixed) and naps for the babies. And maybe I'll take one too as soon as I'm done blogging. =)

You may have noticed I finally got my slideshow posted. I have to confess I'm really disappointed in the final quality but my old computer can't handle anything else. So I guess it's better than nothing.

Well, I really need to make sure the kids finish their spelling so I'm gonna scoot for now.

TTYL.

School Program, (part 2)

I have tried uploading this several times with no success..thanks to my hubby I finally got it to work. These are the pictures from our school program. Hope you enjoy them. Thanks for visiting!

About Jessica

My wife is the best in the whole wide world. I love you babe.

School Program (part 1)

It has been a non-stop blur of random events, many of which involved helping Pete and Holly wrap things up moving-wise; and commissioning services and get-togethers, and then finally our very own, very FIRST, end-of-the-year school program.

While, I still have school work that I'm hoping to wrap up before we are actually out for the summer, I decided to take advantage of the little window of time the whole family was still together. Tons of family showed up in support of our little effort, the kids did amazing,

and I'm really, really glad I finally did it.

I have to admit, I came so close to canceling several times before Friday.

Homeschooling is always a challenge for me... Not so much the actual doing of it (although that is sometimes too), but the attempting to juggle time and priorities and interruptions along with the homeschool. Therefore, every time I thought about doing this program, I would feel like a hypocrite, because I have never felt like we have accomplished even a fraction of what my goals were (are)! But the thing that kept me forging ahead was the fact that the kids were so excited about it. They were each working on memorizing poems, and writing a short biography report, and the chance to

show off what they know was a huge motivator for them. So in the end, doing the program was a learning experience in and of itself. The kids enjoyed it and really benefitted from the performance and the input of others (besides me). I enjoyed it and needed to hear and see that the kids are progressing. And the family enjoyed it and got to see what the kids are doing/learning.

Now, this week I plan to clean my house top to bottom, and assess what we still need to wrap up our year for real and get everyone ready for their next grade come Sept! I got 3 rooms done yesterday...the girls bedroom, the bathroom, and the porch. (Admittedly, the porch is not a room but it still counts.) So I still have 5 rooms to go. And, if I still have time, I want to sew.

Hi, I'm back...

And it's not even been a month. =)

No, life has not slowed down any, but I guess it helps when I have my computer open on my desk and it's easy to just sit and type a minute. (Helps to have a clean desk too.)

It's been a week of proud, sad, and busy moments for the whole family. Got to go visit my newly married sister this week for the first time! It was so fun, and I just loved getting to see her cute little house and wedding gifts, etc. It's funny how, when something you've thought about and talked about for a long time finally happens, you experience this weird mix of emotions. On the one hand, it feels perfectly normal, and on the other you almost can't quite wrap your mind around it.

It's been the same with Pete and Holly. Pete commissioned as 2nd Lt. and graduated with his Master's in political science this week and we've also been helping them pack up their apt. for their move next week. It all seems so surreal! They've been here since before Levi was born and it has seemed we would always live just 2 min away from each other. But now, here they are getting ready to move to another state. I've been trying not to think about what that is going to mean. =(

On a more mundane note...I'm trying to spend today cleaning and doing laundry. (Can't you tell. =) As hectic as it has been this week, my laundry is a thing of nightmares. So much to do; so little time! Tomorrow is Sunday and I need to have some desserts made for Pete and Holly's farewell party after evening church, besides the usual preparations a Sunday requires. And then Mon. is Isaac's 7th birthday.

Plus!...I am hoping to have the kids end of school program on Friday. Although it will be purely symbolic as we will probably need to continue working through the summer. haha. We lost a lot of time this year here and there, and most recently with the wedding, but I have never had one and the kids are so excited! They have memorized poems, and the older ones are writing papers on a historical character of their choice, etc. Ought to be interesting at least! =)

Anyway, as I said before, I have tons to do, so I guess I had better stop blogging and start working. Have a great week end!

It's been a MONTH

I keep telling myself I'm going to blog as soon as I have a minute, but that never happens so I'm going to blog when I don't have a minute. I should be....fixing lunch ( and supper), and doing laundry, and correcting my crazy kids in the next room who should be doing school but instead are competing to see who can jump, climb, or dance better, or....any number of other things. But, instead I decided to come say "Hi" to all of you out there. Provided there are any people left who haven't given up on my ever writing again. lol.

It's surprisingly cool weather today but I'm loving it...the heat will be here all too soon with no let-up. I finally have felt this week like I might be getting back to normal since the wedding. We followed that up with a trip to Houma to see Ed's family so as much as I wanted to get back to school last week it didn't happen. I cleaned house and went grocery shopping last week. By the by, are ya'll noticing the prices? Yikes! It's scary!

With things being calmer this week I am wanting to sew again like crazy. I have several little summer projects and crafty things that are in the back of my mind and i'm forcing myself to not drag my machine out again right now. Speaking of sewing though..I decided I have to clean out my sewing closet because it would be the safest place for us to hide in case of a tornado. (Like all the ones we've been hearing about lately.) And it's so full we couldn't fit if we had to so I'm going to have to find a solution for that. Hmmm.

Anyway,...the minute I didn't have is gone so I gotta run. Hopefully I will be back before another month is up, but....I make no promises! =) TTYL.

"A Time To Talk" by Robert Frost

When a friend calls to me from the road

And slows his horse to a meaning walk

I don't stand still and look around on all the rows I haven't hoed,

And shout from where I am "What is it?"

No, not as there is a time to talk.

I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,

Blade-end up and five feet tall,

And plod; I go up to the stone wall

For a friendly visit.

"A Time to Talk" by Robert Frost

When a friend calls to me from the road

And slows his horse to a meaning walk