6 MONTHS!

I have to take a break from our vacation blogging to celebrate my now 6 month old little boy.  I can't believe it has gone by so fast.  He is such a good baby and just so happy.  He loves to be around people and loves to be moving.  He has now, for the past month or so, been getting up on his hands and knees, getting ready to move.  I wonder how much more time I have before I have to start baby proofing?

Getting ready to move...  

Another favoite of his.... his socks. :)

  Here is Adorable in action. 

Trying to Get All We Can Out of Summer

Our family summer fun was off to a slow start this summer, so when a oppertunity came we decided a family vacation was needed.  So for Labor Day weekend, off to Westport we went with Grandma and Grandpa Rowley.  It was tons of fun, and still relaxing.  It was fun and good for our family to have the bonding time together.

Handsome really wanted a kite, and well, so did Dad and I.  So we went and got a very cool kite to fly at the beach! 

Handsome flying the kite

And really the kite success was due to Grandpa's work and teaching us how to fly a kite.  Thanks Grandpa!  Who knew there was so much involved.

Gorgeous enjoyed her time in the sand.  She did not like the water at all.  Too cold for her.  And it really was cold!  I spent my time collecting rocks.  I LOVE rocks and all the many smooth rocks were so much fun.  But after my bare feet getting washed over a few times I would have to get out of the water before they became completely numb.

Daddy, Handsome, and Gorgeous had fun building a wall to eventually watch as the waves got it and washed it away.  Fun science lesson Daddy, especially since the next day had a trip to "Wash Away Beach" planned.

Grandpa flying the kite as Grandma kept Adorable happy.  Although it was cold Adorable had a good time too.

I Can't Believe I am now.....

30!

It was a wonderful celebration.  For my birthday Kent decided to surprise me (ok, well he gave me a few days warning- because he knew I would appreciate it) with a trip to Mt. Rainer.  Our little family with Grandma and Grandpa Rowley all went and had a wonderful day.

Excited for the trip, and a day in the sun!

At the Grove of the Patriarchs.  (Note to self: next time bring bud spray!)

On the trail in the Grove of the Patriarchs there was a trail to the water edge.  We went there and daddy showed us how to skip rocks.  I never realized how talented he was at skipping rocks.  Handsome and Gorgeous enjoyed throwing rocks in too. :)

Then we went to see some of the waterfalls.  My favorite is the one with a double rainbow at the bottom all of the time.

And our last stop was at the top, well as close as we could get with a car. :)  We went to the visitor center and learned some cool things.  Then we walked around and saw the wildflowers as well as touched the snow.  So I can say for my birthday in August, I got to touch the snow!  What fun.

The next day the kids helped me make a birthday cake, my favorite yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  YUM!

Handsome even made birthday hats for each of us.  It was a great birthday and I am so excited and happy to be 30!

Crane Flies = Science

With TONS of crane flies all around us, what is a home schooling mama to do?  Make it a science lesson of course.  When they were on the windows we observed them closely, made sketches of them in our science journals.  And read and learned about them.  Did you know that adult Crane Flies do not eat!?  So they can not bite (good news for Gorgeous who was a little worried).  And we learned how to tell a female from a male.  So every time after when we saw one Handsome had to identify for me if it was a male or female.  Really, who knew science lessons would come so easily. :)

Sleep? What's that?

We now have sick little ones and one sick big one :)  So my sleep well.... let's just say...

Sunday Night

6pm feed and put to sleep a sick baby

9 -9:30pm feed and rocked sick baby

10pm - I went to bed

11-12am feed, rocked, and sucked out snot of sick baby

1-2am feed, rocked, sucked out snot, put oils on feet, and put pillow under mattress of sick baby

3:30am- baby monitor made a loud squeal.  I jumped our of bed, wondering what emergency alarm was going off!  Mad to find out it was the baby monitor malfunctioning!!!

4:30-5:00am- Handsome came in complaining he couldn't breath, set him up with medicine

5:30am- Gorgeous decided to wake up as well as Adorable

All three kids up...hence I was now UP and the day had begun.  What happened to my sleep?

Handsome's Smooth Dance Moves

While waiting in line for the Mutton Bustin, they played some music.  So Handsome and his friend decided to dance.  It is so cute, I couldn't resist sharing it.  Look at those smooth moves Handsome has.

Adorable at Five Months Old

My little Adorable is now 5 months, and he is growing fast.  He is moving out of 9 month clothes and into the 12 month range!  I have to say he is my best baby.  I don't know how much of it is me feeling confident and knowing what to expect, or just his wonderful personality.  He is very patient and calm. 

He is rolling over now, not crossing distances, but is everywhere on the blanket I place him on.  He loves to do what we call "flying" he spreads his arms and legs straight out and only has his stomach touching the ground. :)

He has also recently started to get on his hands and knees and wiggle back and forth, then he will either fall forward or backwards and repeat the process.  Most of the time I find that he went backwards under a chair and upset not knowing how he got stuck there.

Little Notes

I now continue to find little notes around my house.  Below is; "It's Rapunzel's Birthday".  Gorgeous who often goes by Rapunzel was apparently having a party put on by Handsome.

And I was informed that below was taped up as a schedule for us to follow.  The number were to represent times, and our schedule is to "eat, TV, eat" and that is all.  Can't blame him for trying. :)

Sleeping?

My children move so much in their sleep, it is hilarious!  I went in one night to check on them before I went to sleep and this is what I found.  Handsome to the left and Gorgeous to the right, neither of them on the bed!

Sometimes in the night Handsome even knocks the baby monitor down from the dresser, and continues to bump into it, all while sleeping.

Then another night I went in to find Adorable like this.  I think he will follow in the same family trait. :)  At least for now he has bars to keep him in.

My Mutton Bustin Boy!

I had never heard of Mutton Busting before, until a friend of mine said that her daughter, a friend of Handsom's was going to do it.  She asked if Handsome wanted to.  So I told him what it was and asked him.  "Sure!" was his response.  So we practiced at home some with me as the sheep, and holding on tight, and the fact that he would fall, but that was fine, everyone fell.  And so we went to the Puyallup Fair and my Big Boy did some Mutton Bustin!

All geared up and ready to go!

 On his Mutton in the gates about to go!

And he's Mutton Bustin!!!!!!

 Holding on tight!

And the fall off!  Look at him!  He went far!  Good job Handsome!

When he got back to me, and I took off his helment tons of dirt came out!  I looked at his back and there was dirt all over, up his shirt and in the line of his pants.  But he sure enjoyed every minute and wanted to do it again!

And while we were there NBC Dateline was filming.  They filmed me filling out the form for Handsome to ride.  They interviewed Handsome's friend about doing it.  And they filmed all the kids mutton bustin.  I still have to look them up to see if Handsome made it on TV. :)

(update) I found us on TV!!  Ok you only see us in the background, I am standing holding Handsome about to go next, and then you can hear them anouncing Handsome about to ride under the voice over (and yes, the anouncer pronouces our last name wrong, it seems to happen a lot).  We also saw our friends waiting in line. :)  It's a u-tube video here

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/flatpages/video/mediacenterbc3.html?bctid=1153192932001

First Day of School

Handsome and I have been looking forward to this day for awhile.  Finally, his first day of school.  He was so excited that he woke up and immediately got dressed and was ready.  (He had his outfit picked out days in advance)

I hoped that Handsome wouldn't be disappointed with his first day.  We had actually been doing a lot of school work here and there because I wanted to established expectations before Adorable was born, so that it wouldn't be so hard to start right in and yet work around a baby's schedule. 

Luckily he wasn't disappointed at all.  He was so excited to finally get to see, touch, and well... dive right into the school things that have been arriving at our home the last few weeks.

Let me back up for those who don't know what I am doing for Handsome's Kindergarten school year.  I actually have him signed up with an Alternative Learning Program option that our state offers.  He is a public school student with a School District but he is taught by me at home.  Basically I get to home school him but the public school buys me the curriculum and learning supplies I choose to use.

I knew I would home school no matter what, but this solves the money problem.  I choose the curriculum and what he will be taught, and report to a teacher and show his progress during the year and they buy the materials, etc. I want.

So for our first day of school we started with a prayer and scripture reading (OK, we do this every morning anyways).

Then a yummy breakfast of scones and jam (thanks to my visiting teachers for the scone mix.  LOVED IT!).

Next calendar, and counting school days, then the usual reading lessons, writing lessons.  Then a lunch break with some science. :)

We had yummy watermelon for lunch.  We observed the watermelon, cut it into pieces and enjoyed it on our driveway as we learned how to spit watermelon seeds (every child should have a fun watermelon spitting contest memory!).  After we enjoyed lunch, we measured the distances of the seeds, recorded the furthest seed distance, and where most seeds ended up, etc.  It was a blast!  Then we recorded the data in our science journals.  I am so glad I get to still enjoy summer with my kids (especially since it feels like it finally got around to summer in our part of the world) and have them in school learning at the same time. :)

Then we finished the day with a read aloud, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, followed that evening with soccer and a game of catch with dad in the backyard.

I was worried about making sure we met the required 2 hours a day of non-religious learning, but we easily did it and actually spent much more time. :)

At dinner I asked Handsome how he liked his First Day of School.  He loved it, but next time wants friends to come too.  Soon we will be signing him up for soccer, between that and play dates in the park I hope to fill his friend quota as well. :)

As for me, well, I have realized that I have just taken on another full time job!  I am tired at the end of the day and realize, I have to get things ready for the next day of learning, let alone do the tidying up of the house, laundry, church calling, etc.  not to mention that knitting project that is started and begging for me to get to before the book has to go back to the library.  This will be another thing to add to my list of responsibilities, but for me, well worth it!