Fourth Week of February

This week Ryan read a 380 page book in one day!!! Why, "Because it was SO good, there was so much action, things just kept popping up!" He loves to read! Every month he earns 10 more points than his AR goal. He already has 150 points!
This is the timeline that T created. It is about his life. It has 7 events on it ranging from being born to becoming a big brother and then there's my favorite, going to the GA Dome. (I thought that was so cute he included that in the major events of his life! Such a boy :) Then below his timeline he fills in blanks about his house and things he likes to do. My favorite line: "Something I want everybody to know. . . that I am really good at football." I love this kid! Look at his size!! He may by small but he has drive!

This is Anderson's 100 day project in its beginning stages. I can't find a completed pick. . . oops! Hopefully I can take another one. It is 100 pieces of bubble gum. He is going to share with his class once they are done displaying their projects. We eventually ordered the sticks in rows of 10 with 2 big and 2 little ones being our pattern. We covered the box and added a label. But in our rough draft below, he wanted to randomly place them and even created one area that represented the Washington Monument (a big stick surrounded by little ones, representing the flags around the monument). So creative and cute!!

Our Wednesday nights have been pretty crazy as of late. Kris gets home from Richmond, after staying the night there on Tuesday, just in time to take the boys to basketball practice. He helps coach and he referees their games on Saturdays. Here they are getting reading to leave for practice.

Saturday was their tournament. If they lost, the season ended. If not, they get to play in the finals on Friday night the 5th. Both Ryan and Trevor's teams one!!! They played really well, too. Here's Ryan's team getting reading to "break" after their big win.

Sally and I did a little kick boxing on Saturday night. I thought it would be fun to get a picture of us afterwards, it was hard to get that kick out at just the right moment for the timer on my camera. We had many a good laughs over that! Afterwards we watched, "My Sister's Keeper" and bawled our eyes out! I am so thankful for Sal's friendship - - 20 years and counting!!

We had to finish up Trevor's diorama of a Pond Habitat. He did all the work on his own, including coming up with the ideas of what his food chain would be and how he wanted to create the items represented. I stressed at many moments and thought about cursing the teacher, but in the end it all turned out well. Trevor really enjoyed the project - - he is a crafty little guy.

Third Week of February

We took Cai's friend Anton to the library with us this week. They had a fun time listening to books about circles and then making a craft. Cai is still LOVING the glue. He is always the last one done.



Ryan and Trevor's school hosted a Barnes & Noble night. Each class was asked to perform some sort of poetry or other reading. A certain percentage of the proceeds for the night went towards their school. Trevor read part of the poem "Sick", with his class.

During February and March, the school is offering Enrichment classes for one hour after school on Wednesdays to the 4th & 5th graders. There were lots of topics to choose from. I wanted Ryan to take the one on Rocks, Minerals, and Gems. His first choice was Law Enforcement and Forensics. Here he is with his teacher.

Anderson has been asking me to come to school and have lunch with him. He also informed that lots of parents do it and they bring in lunch for the kids. (like McDonalds, Wendys, even Mexican!) I finally went in this week. He was SO thrilled. When we first sat down, he told me that I looked beautiful. And then at the end he asked if we could walk around the table so he could introduce me to all the kids in his class.

I love his excitement!!!

Sally and Jaden came over and we all walked to the park. ( I took a picture of all the kids on their bikes and strollers, but it didn't turn out. Here is Cai going down the slide.

"Welcome Oliver"

Joanna's baby shower was at our house. It was wonderful to see her!! The shower was amazing - relaxing and great fellowship!!

Trevor & Gordon; such sweet friends!

Ooops! Again! This picture needs to be on the 4th week of February. Ben spent the night with us on Sunday night. He is one of Katie's twin boys. Cai got to be the big brother for the day. We had lots of fun and Ben loved the atttention!

Second Week of February

Science Fair!!
Ryan had to complete an experiment and present his findings to his class, as well as display his board during the Science Fair. This is one of those things that would have slipped off of my to-do list this year. He was able to pick his topic. Months ago we heard on the radio station that you would not drink Coke again if you saw what it does to a spoon after 3 days. Ever since that day, Ryan has wanted to find out what happens. This was the perfect opportunity!

Here he is with his display.

These little airplanes were a cool "extra" for his project. Kris dropped off some equipment to a patient, who was retired. The man asked if he wanted to take home an airplane. Kris said sure. Thinking he meant paper airplanes. Well, he makes these out of pop cans! I asked Kris to call back and ask the man to make a Diet Coke one, too. (Since Ryan was testing the effects of both Diet and regular on the spoon.) He was more than happy to do it.

Ryan is also part of a 5th Grade basketball team at our church that plays other 5th graders from different churches and schools in the area. They had their first game this week.

Ryan and Trevor were both "Student of The Month" for their grades last month. They found out this week and were treated to a pizza party by their Principal. They were glad to be it during the same month, because they were able to see each other at the pizza party.

I got my hair cut - - TWICE this week. Here is the first cut. I liked it, but I was wanting to try something different and I didn't think this was different enough.

So, the next day I called the girl back and asked her to recut it for me. This is a HUGE deal for me, because I wouldn't want to hurt her feelings. But I asked, and I am glad! It's still not exactly what I had pictured in my mind, but I like it.

This is what the table looks like every afternoon between the hours of 2:30 and 4:30. Anderson will sometimes squeeze in too, but usually he and I just sit on the couch or at the bar.

Report Cards came out this week. Ryan received all A's. Trevor one B and the rest A's. Both of them were given wonderful compliments by their teachers, too. They were given free kids meal coupons from Salsarita's! (Love that place.) Anderson doesn't get grades, yet. He is progressing, with a little bit of "needs to talk less and focus on completing tasks" :) He is a chatter box!

Family Night: Tacos and Train Dominoes!

Yikes, T!

Anderson and Ryan

Kris and I celebrated out 19th Valentine's together! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of us that night! We went out to dinner and then he took me to the mall. I got a new purse and a pair of boots. AND since my shoes I was wearing were killing my feet he bought me new flip flops. AND since they were on sale, I got 3 pair!! He is so good to me. It was a fun, relaxing evening.

For the family that morning I made a special breakfast - - one of our favorite!

First Week of February

We returned from DC just in time for Ryan to make it to his first basketball practice for the 5th graders. They are going to be playing other churches and schools this season. This is one of the mounds of snow in the church parking lot!


School was closed on Tuesday, because the roads weren't cleared from the weekend. So, we went over to our friends, the Bouchers. They are getting ready to move, so we brought them a special ice cream treat because we love them! They have FOUR boys, just like us:)

Every Tuesday night Kris has to stay in Richmond for work and wouldn't you know it. . . that's the day I get a flat tire! Thankfully it happened at our friends' house AND Mike and Lake were there to fix it. The Lord is so kind!!

Trevor had to stay up late to get his homework finished one night, because we had so many things going on that day after school. He had a birthday party and then we went to the SGC Cougars Varsity games. Trevor is such a hard worker and really wants to do well in school!

The Boucher Boys came over on Friday, while their mom and dad finished moving. I surprised my boys - when they came home from school and saw their friends they were SO excited!!

Anderson reading to Liam during our family dinner night. So Sweet!!

Everybody helps out with chores and here is Cai getting the black scuff marks off of our stairs. Since, he can't do things on his own, he is my "special helper". He was a good and cheerful helper!

Saturday brought more snow and ice. Here is a picture that Kris took of one of our trees. This has been crazy winter weather for Virginia. The coldest since we moved here.

Oops . . . This picture should go on the second week of February's post. Oh, well. Here is Cai after story time at the library. He used SO much glue on this project. I just kept laughing as I watched him through the window. He kept sticking his fingers together and trying to flick the glue off. Not sure if you can see, but those three white globs upper right of his picture are glue!

Back Up And Running. . .

Okay. . . I know it has been a LONG while! I am going to attempt to update weekly - kind of like a "week in review".



Before I begin, here is a brief update. In July Kris' dad was dignosed with brain cancer and we prayed about moving back to VA to be near Kris' family. The Lord provided in every way, making it very clear that was what we were to do, although it was extremely difficult to leave GA.



January 25 - 31



Goodnight time with Daddy: Kris is such a great husband and daddy! He puts the boys to bed most nights.


The boys recently changed roommates. Cai and Ryan are now sharing a room. This morning Cai found Ryan's deodorant and tried some on, without asking. Here he is showing me his "armpits". He told me to smell his armpits (which were the tops of his elbows). Guess he was trying to be like big brother.

It was National Reading Month and so I went in and read these books to Ryan and Trevor's classes. Two of them are in my Top 10 Favorite kids books and the other is a fun legend about Michigan.

On Thursday, we loaded up the suburban and headed to DC with the Johns Family. At one point we actually debated driving both suburbans, because we were running out of space!

I couldn't pick just one photo for each of our days in DC, so here are some of my favorites.

Riding the Metro

The Capital Building, we took a tour.

Saturday it snowed!! Here we are walking to lunch near our TimeShare. We decided not to risk driving into the city or riding the metro because the roads were pretty nasty.

The boys playing pool.

The Washington Monument, we rode to the top - very cool!

The gang outside the Monument. . . freezing!

Our Family at the Jefferson Memorial. We were able to hear Martin Luther King Jr's speech on the steps of the Memorial, very moving!

The boys near the Reflecting Pool, which was a bit frozen. It was a cold trip, but a memorable one with lots of fun times shared with the boys and Kris' family. Can't wait for our next trip! Three days is NOT enough time for DC.