Airplanes

Ever since Mom sent the box of crafts, the boys have been begging me to let them paint these airplanes. As soon as they opened the box from Gee, they knew that this project was one they definitely wanted to do. Today was the day. They finished school by 8:30, we went and got donuts (we stayed in the car in our p.j.'s) and came home to paint on the porch (in p.j.'s). They can't wait for the planes to finish drying so that they can play with them. Thanks for the fun craft, Gee!

Isaac, proud of his plane.

The finished result.

Josiah, proud of his plane. It took about 5 minutes just to get a shot of him looking at the camera. :)

Swimming

We have been swimming a lot during the evenings. We like to go later because it is a.) cooler b.) less crowded and c.) right before bath time!
The boys have gotten over their fear of water and have really started to enjoy the pool. Isaac loves to walk out to the middle of the pool by himself (it's about 3 ft. deep) and Josiah likes to jump off the side. These are huge achievements for the Wright Bros. Olivia, on the other hand, is our little tadpole. Tonight, when we pulled up to the pool, she was crying. Once she figured out where we were, her little legs started kicking and she started squealing.

This is what Josiah does the entire time that we are at the pool. He hangs onto the ledge, dips his head back, and walks all around the pool. He's as happy as a clam.

Olivia's favorite thing to do is sit on the ledge and crawl all around it.

Isaac learned that he can float!

This is a dock that goes out to a lake behind the pool that Jay really likes. It was so peaceful to go out and take pictures while the sun was setting...then I started hearing rustling in the trees and started thinking about alligators. I calmly turned around. :)

CVS

Alright! I tried it out! I went to CVS this evening to see how I'd fare at being a coupon lady. I think that I did okay for my first try. Remember, I have only used about 5 coupons in my whole life. So this was a big deal for me. I went through the Sunday paper and found all the coupons I wanted for the stuff I would use. Then, I went through the CVS add to see what else I could save on and stack my coupons with. This all sounds so foreign to me. I had a guy friend in college tell me that I would not make a good wife (not to him...just in general) if I didn't use coupons. I thought that was a little brutal. Ha!
I bought lots of stuff (I know...not much detail) and spent $71.98 Before the total, I saved $29.34 by just buying "buy one get one free", "2/$5, or $3.00 off.... and I also saved $9 with coupons. But as an added bonus, I made $13.99 in Extra Bucks. So, I guess the way to look at it is that I got $109.32 worth of products for $71.98 PLUS I made $13.99 for my next visit. Please tell me that this is decent.
What I learned: I should go to the store the day that I get the adds...they sell out of good buys very quickly. Also, this is really kind of fun.

Back to the Drawing Board

The boys have really been enjoying the dry erase boards. They can sit for an hour and just draw and erase. It's fun to see some things that they draw. Isaac was drawing people with a circle and arms and legs coming off of the circle. I showed him how to draw an actual stick person. It kind of made me sad to see the circle person go away.

Isaac's first stick person masterpiece!

Josiah's rocket ship. It's easier to hold the board up if he sticks his tongue out.

Isaac took this picture of Josiah. I love it because it shows his teeth up close. I will be so sad when we put braces on him because his crooked tooth grin is such a part of his little personality.

Here is Olivia leaving the kitchen after her morning snack. I did not feed her the snack, she found it under the table. Her favorite thing to do is crawl around the kitchen floor and see what kind of goodies she can find that day. It doesn't matter how well I clean the floor, she always comes away with something. Whatever floats her cute little boat!

By the way!

The name of the tablecloth group is The Traveling Tablecloth.

Just Life

We have finished a full week of homeschooling and have LOVED every minute of it! Even Josiah thinks that it is the best time of the day. I can tell that Isaac is so much older and can understand so many more things than he grasped last year. He really enjoys handwriting...and had LOTS of tears last year. Josiah is picking up on a lot that Isaac learns and is starting to put sounds with his letters. This is the most rewarding thing that I have ever done! Isaac also enjoys the P.E. class that we go to twice a week. I took my camera on Thursday and then realized that I had left the memory card at home. I'll try to take pictures next week.
Last night, I was able to spend some time with a few ladies from the church. These ladies have the neatest thing that they do. I guess that after their women's retreat last year (it was a mix of ages at the retreat), the older ladies (not OLD...just older than me :)) decided that they needed to get to know the younger ladies. So they have started a group called The Tablecloth Ladies...actually, that's not really the name...it is just something really cute that has the word "tablecloth" in it...I just can't remember the actual name. It is a group of 4 older ladies that have a dinner each month and they each invite one younger lady, that they do not know, to attend with them. I was invited to go last night. I just got to sit and listen to so many fun stories and enjoy some very great personalities! It was especially neat for me since I don't really know anyone here. I thought that I might just use this blog to pass along the idea. You can be a young, middle-aged, or older group that starts the dinner...or a good mix. The idea is just to get to know another lady from a different generation. What fun and what a great ministry! They had a tablecloth that they use for each dinner and everyone signs it and dates it at the end of the meal. They also gave each of us (old and young) a bookmark that we each signed so that we could remember every lady's name. Now I know 7 more women in my church that I would have otherwise not gotten to know.
Below are some pictures of the kids playing at a really neat park that is a few miles from us. They had a blast. They also came home covered in sand.

Spaghetti Night

Our kids love food. They love food so much that they eat it as if it is their last meal. Tonight was Olivia's first time to get to dig in. She loved it. She also ended up in the kitchen sink after the meal. She loved that too. :)