Martin Mommy

WE HAVE MOVED!

2010-10-11T22:17:00.000-04:00

I am excited to announce that I have a new blog!!!! Please come check it out and follow me at www.martinmommy.com.

A huge thank you to my husband, Nathan, and my brother-in-law, Jeremy. Nathan spent many hours customizing the site to my *high* standards. I am still trying to figure out a few things on WordPress, but I am very happy with it so far.

Here is a screen shot of my new blog.

Hope to see you there!

Sentimental Sunday: Pregnant Sisters

2010-10-10T16:33:00.000-04:00

I decided this week's Sentimental Sunday would be of me and my sister, Emily, pregnant together. These photos were taken in October 2006. Emily was a couple of weeks away from giving birth to my niece, Ella (her first child). I was about a month and a half away from giving birth to Grant (my third child).

It was so much fun being pregnant at the same time as my sister. We got to share the fun and not-so-fun moments of pregnancy together.

It has been really neat for Grant and Ella to be about the same age. They get along really well. It made cute pictures of them together as newborns too (I will have to do a Sentimental Sunday of those pictures later).

Nathan took these photos of us. For whatever reason, we forgot to get an individual shot of me pregnant. But he did get some cute ones of Emily. This one is my favorite.

It's hard to believe that Ella and Grant will be turning 4 very soon. Time once again flies!

Family Fun Saturday

2010-10-09T22:21:00.000-04:00

We had a very fun and busy day today. Cooper and Nathan are now taking karate on Saturday mornings. Also, Cooper and Kindle started rehearsals this morning for the Nutcracker. They will be in the Nutcracker on December 17 & 18 at Reinhardt University. They are really excited. Cooper will be a soldier again this year and Kindle will be a mouse.

Cooper as a soldier last year.

Kindle as a snowflurry last year.

After rehearsals, we headed out to the land to see my parent's house. We were curious to see the progress being made. The kids were so tickled to discover how much had been done.

The framers were up there working on the house while we were there. The kids were tickled about that also. Nathan and the older 4 went inside (see photo above) and even went up the stairs to the 2nd floor.

Nathan wanted to check on the deer stand that he, my Dad and his brother, Michael, have been working on.

This deer stand is 15 feet tall. He is adding a railing so it will be safer for Cooper.

Here is the view of my parent's house from the top of the deer stand.

The kids had a lot of fun throwing rocks and getting all dusty while Nathan was checking on the deer stand [no photos because Nathan obviously took the camera to get these photos].

After we went to the land, we headed to Dellinger Park in Cartersville. The kids had a great time on the playground. One of the great things about my kids is that they are very outgoing. They made friends with all of the kids and played hide-n-go-seek and tag with them.

Grant counting

Kindle hiding

Celeste went on the slide over and over again. She also figured out how to hang from the top of the slide. She was so proud of how strong she was. She had a wonderful time.

Gunnar hung out with me in the sling. Nathan captured this photo of Gunnar and I.

Cooper was too busy for a good photo of him at the park. I *tried* to capture one, but he was always moving and never looking at the camera. Oh well :)

We concluded the evening with Mexican for dinner and a little Super Mario Bros. on the Wii. We had an awesome, fun-filled day together.

Ice Cream Faces

2010-10-08T15:22:00.000-04:00

My kids are big fans of ice cream. They always beg me to take them to get ice cream. Typically, we might get a Junior Frosty at Wendy's (they are 69 cents at the one by our house). We decided to splurge and go to Bruster's for a treat. They kids are so excited because they have so many choices. Nathan and I really enjoy their ice cream too. As a Fall treat, they are offering Hot Apple Dumplings with Cinnamon ice cream. We decided to go ahead and get one. It is super yummy!

As you can imagine, they made a big mess. This week's You Capture assignment is faces, so I thought this was perfect. These are our ice cream faces.

Celeste decided she was not going to eat her dinner, so she didn't get any ice cream. She was crying, but I managed to get a photo of her smiling through the tears (note: the tear on her cheek). This is her "I had to learn the hard way that we eat our dinner" face.

Gunnar obviously did not eat ice cream. But I wanted to snap a shot of him as well. I call this his "Whatcha talkin' 'bout Willis?" face. Everytime I look at the photo, that is what I think of.

Homeschool Soccer: Week 6

2010-10-08T01:45:00.001-04:00

It was a very nice day at Homeschool Soccer today, a lot better than the rain last week! Grant decided he wanted to participate in the soccer related activities more today :)

Stretching

They *attempted* to play an actual game with the 3 year olds today. That didn't go so well. Every few minutes someone had to go to the potty. Ha ha! Grant did score a goal though! Go Grant!

Kindle did wonderful as usual. She gets goals and plays really well on defense. Go Kindle!

Cooper did not get to play today since he didn't feel well on Tuesday. I have been having him take it easy for the past couple of days, just to be safe.

We only have 2 more weeks of soccer left. The kids have had such a great time and look forward to it all week. I am so glad we decided to participate this year!

It's Mario Time!

2010-10-06T22:37:00.000-04:00

After spending the summer off and on trying to beat Super Mario Bros for Wii, they did it tonight!

The kids and Nathan have been playing the game together in the evenings or on the weekends. They love to play with their Daddy!

They have been on the very last board for over a week. They would get so close and just not make it all the way.

We had watched a YouTube video showing a guy beating the whole game, so we realized the end was just a jump away. Finally, Nathan did it tonight.

Cooper is soooo excited! He could hardly sleep. He and Grant were in their beds talking about it over and over again.

We unlocked the Secret World 9. Cooper can't wait to play it tomorrow!

After the credits rolled, I tried to get a final shot. Cooper's head was in the way, but you get the idea.

This is the first video game Nathan has ever beaten, so he was pretty excited too! I am terrible at video games, so I was very impressed with their skills!

Superstar

2010-10-05T21:34:00.000-04:00

Kindle loves making music! She has loved guitars ever since she was very small. On Monday night, she had saved up enough money to get the Hannah Montana guitar with a microphone headset that she has been wanting. She has been so excited! It has not left her side.

She ate all her meals, did her school, went to the bathroom, rode in the car and went to bed with the guitar. She is such a little rockstar.

This morning she told me that she needed her microphone so she could "talk to Jesus". That is another wonderful thing about her. She is a worshipper like her Daddy. She loves to make up songs about Jesus. I absolutely couldn't be prouder.

Brothers and Sisters

2010-10-05T00:54:00.000-04:00

To say that today was busy, was an understatement. We had to have the van checked out and the oil changed since we are leaving for Ohio (woo hoo!) next Friday. Of course, we had school to do. I took Kindle to ballet. Afterwards, we were in desperate need to go to the grocery store. Since it was just the end of the month, the kids also got to get their stuff with their money at the store. I managed to squeeze in a couple loads of laundry and some cleaning too. I was able to do my Beth Moore Bible study as well (which I am really enjoying by the way).

So no time for pictures...however, I snapped this photo with my iPhone the other morning. Kindle thinks she is so big when she holds Gunnar. I love how much she loves being a big sister!

I really love how all of my children love their brothers and sisters. They are great friends and have lots of fun together. Of course, they do have their share of disagreements, but at the end of the day, they love each very much. I am so happy they have each other!

Cooper was just reminding me today of how he guessed the sex of each of his brothers and sisters correctly. It is pretty wild, but he has gotten it right each time. He has decided that we should have 10 kids. A girl is next so we can continue the pattern-boy, girl, boy, girl and boy. I told him we shall see...

Pumpkin, Pumpkin Who's Got the Pumpkin?

2010-10-03T22:50:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we had a fun filled day at Berry Patch Farms. We have been there several times over the years and have always had a great time. Nathan carried Celeste around in the backpack I bought at the consignment sale. It was her first time riding in it. She thought it was such an adventure!

They have some farm animals. They really like the baby cow and goats.

Next, the kids went to get their face painted. Grant was the "brave one" that decided to go first. It is so funny to me. As a child, I loved to get my face painted! Cooper and Kindle have always been hesitant to get their face painted. They have done it in the past, but typically turn down getting their face painted. After seeing their little brother go first, they decided they wanted their face painted too.

We then headed out to the pumpkin patch to get a pumpkin. You get to ride on a hayride out to get a pumpkin. The kids always love that!

Gunnar hung out in the sling the entire time. He was so sweet. We got lots of compliments on how cute the kids all were. Grant and Gunnar had matching shirts. Kindle and Celeste had matching shirts and hairbows too.

Each of the kids picked out a baby pumpkin or gourd. We also picked out a bigger pumpkin for our front porch. They loved walking through all of the pumpkins. There was also some cotton plants. We had just been discussing in Cooper's school about what clothes are made out of (cotton, wool, etc.), so it was neat to tie it all in.

We took the hayride back and headed to the playground. The kids wanted to slide over and over. They had a really great time!

Since Gunnar was in the sling, I wasn't able to get photos of his cute pumpkin shirt till later. He looked so big in it with his jeans.

This post is also my submission for this week's You Capture. The theme this week was "togetherness". As you can see, yesterday was full of togetherness and I loved every minute!

My Bumbo Babies

2010-10-01T23:09:00.000-04:00

After Kindle was a baby, I discovered Bumbo seats. I purchased one when I was pregnant with Grant. I think a lot of people have seen these before, but just in case you haven't, I will tell you a bit about them.

The Bumbo seat is made to help assist babies that can't quite sit up yet. It is also great for babies that can sit up, but need to be kept still for a bit. (Please note that your baby needs to be able to control it's head and neck before you use it.)

I needed to run to the restroom, so he sat in his seat with Kindle watching.

I have used mine to feed Grant and Celeste when they were starting solids and beginning to sit up. They make a tray that you can put on it as well so that children can have toys or finger foods on it. When Gunnar starts with solids, I will be using it with him as well. (Please note that you should never leave the baby on an elevated surface unattended for obvious safety reasons.)

Grant at 7 months eating his dinner.

Celeste eating rice cereal (notice the tray).

Celeste after eating her peas in her Bumbo seat.

One of the great things about the Bumbo seat is that cleans off really easily. Anyone that has fed a baby knows how messy they are! Even though mine is now almost 4 years old, it still looks brand new.

I have seen lots of these at consignments sales for amazing deals. Since you can clean these so easily, must of them look brand new. I would recommend that any new Mom picks one of these up. It will be worth it!

Homeschool Soccer: Week 5

2010-09-30T22:21:00.000-04:00

It was a wet day at Homeschool Soccer today. It had just started sprinkling, or as Kindle calls it sparkling, while we were headed to the park. We hoped it would blow over. Instead as we got out of the car, it actually picked up and got worst. So, the kids had a fun day of soccer in the rain and mud. Of course, they loved it! I obviously didn't get my camera out in the rain. Instead, I took some videos on my iPhone. I was with Grant the entire time because Kindle and Cooper finished earlier because of the rain.

Here is Grant and the 3 year olds doing jumping jacks.

And doing the helicopter stretch.

And touching their toes.

And "dancing" with the ball.

And kicking the ball uphill.

And playing with the parachute.

And more fun with the parachute.

The kids had a really great, wet day!

100 Posts!!!

2010-09-30T21:03:00.000-04:00

Today, I am proud to say that this is my 100th post. Woo hoo!

When I started my blog in June, I had no idea if anyone would actually read it besides my family and a few friends. I just kept getting phone calls and emails from other Moms and Moms-to-be asking me many of the same questions. I thought it would be easier to respond on a blog rather than email the same thing over and over. I am happy that many people have been helped by some of the things I have discussed. I am here to say I DEFINITELY do not have it all figured out. I am just doing the best I can and seeking God on how to be a better Mom and wife.

Through this journey, I realized how wonderful it is to have an [almost] daily post about what was going on in our lives. As most of you know, I love to scrapbook. This blog has been very helpful to remember the little details that often times get forgotten when I go to print photos to scrapbook. I plan to print my posts and make some kind of journal [eventually].

I also have really enjoyed getting to know other people out there in the blogging world. Prior to starting my blog, I rarely read other people's blogs. I was a bit overwhelmed [I might still be just a little] and had ~~no idea~~ barely any idea what I was doing. It has been such a blessing to read other Mom's homeschooling ideas, meal planning tips, craft projects, product suggestions, etc. It also is wonderful to read other Mom's blog posts that make you feel like "I am not the only one who has a messy house somedays :)" ha ha.

To sum this up, I just wanted to say thanks for reading my blog. Thanks for suggesting it to friends. Thanks for your comments. I hope you continue to enjoy reading about our lives.

Gunnar cuddled up to me at dinner tonight. So sweet!

Lesson Learned for the Day: Always Bring the Kid's Shoes in the Car

2010-09-30T00:53:00.000-04:00

Nathan is always saying to me that no matter what we are doing the kids should wear their shoes in the car just in case. I learned why this was a good idea this evening...

The kids and I decided to grab a bite to eat through a drive-thru since Nathan was out of town on a photoshoot in Alabama. I got some food and then headed to the gas station. After I pumped the gas, I went to start the car and it wouldn't start. Prior to leaving the house, I actually thought "maybe I should put the kids shoes on?" I decided not to worry about it since I was in a hurry and we weren't going to be getting out of the car. So here I was at the pump at the gas station, Nathan is in Alabama, all 5 kids are getting hot in the car, they have on no shoes so I can't go inside the gas station to ask for help and I have no jumper cables or clue what to do. I talked to Nathan and ended up calling my parents. God Bless them because they had just sat down at a restaurant for dinner. They left the restaurant and headed towards me. I decided to ask the man at the pump next to me if he had jumper cables. Unfortunately, he was on the phone, so I pushed the call button on the pump and let them know I couldn't drive away from the pump because my car wouldn't start. They said they could send someone out to help me. Just then, a lady and her son pulled up behind me waiting their turn to use the pump I was pulled up to. The completely wild thing was that there were over 20 pumps and only a few were occupied, but she decided to wait for mine. Since I was waiting, I walked over and told her that my car wouldn't start and that she might want to pick a new pump. She told me that she had jumper cables and could help me. Just then, the man sitting in his car on the phone overheard my conversation, and said "oh, you need a jump?" and he whipped his car around to help me. He discovered that I had corrosion on my battery and he cleaned it off and jumped the car for me while on his cell phone the entire time. LOL. I thanked him and the lady in the car behind me many times. [Side note: I was really blessed that 3 people offered to help me!] I made it home without anymore problems. Since my parents were headed my way, they asked me to park in the driveway, so the kids got out barefooted (they thought that was awesome). When they arrived, my Dad took a look at the battery which needed water as well. He cleaned everything up too.
P.S. I will be putting jumper cables in the car asap!
[There are no photos of this "event" because I would like to forget that it happened and not memorialize it with photos. ha ha]

In other news, while I was getting the older 4 kids ready this morning, Gunnar fell asleep on my bed. He looked so sweet, I had to snap a couple of photos.

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut, Sometimes You Don't

2010-09-28T23:22:00.000-04:00

Trying to get things accomplished with 5 little ones always proves to be challenging. I have a great plan of getting my task accomplished in [insert time frame here] and then there is reality where I have to add an extra 30 minutes to an hour for the unexpected. My Mother came over to do to go through the last child's clothes for the Fall today. We are almost completely finished, but man did it take a lot longer than I thought.

The kids had a great time today even with the busyness. Cooper decided that he was going to be a warrior and created a costume. He ended up combining 4 of his old Halloween costumes to come up with this.

He was so excited to see this photo. He is wearing his Dale Earnheart Jr. racing costume, his Buzz Lightyear boot covers, his pirate sword & ties around his neck and his Luke Skywalker belt.

Kindle and Grant are such great buddies. They were playing kickball in the foyer.

They also went outside and jumped on the trampoline. We are all enjoying this cooler weather!

Tonight, we had to run some errands. Grant had to go to the potty for the 3rd time in an hour. Gunnar decided he was not happy in his car seat anymore. Celeste was upset because she wanted a book to read in the car, etc. All I could think of was the old commercial for Mounds and Almond Joy chocolate bars. You know the "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't." Ha ha

Breaking Free & Mighty to Save

2010-09-27T23:40:00.000-04:00

We had a super busy day today. We took baths, did school, put the kids down for early naps, took Kindle to ballet and went to a friend's house so she could meet Gunnar. Whew! It was a long time in the car for the little ones, but we survived.

The older 4 watching TV after their baths.

Celeste right before bedtime. She told me "No more pictures, Mommy!"

Tonight, I am starting Beth Moore's bible study on Breaking Free. My friend, Candra, and I are doing it together remotely since she is in Ohio till Thanksgiving. I am really excited because I have never done a women's bible study before. Lots of people have recommended the Breaking Free bible study to me, so I can't wait!

All day, I have had the song Mighty to Save by Hillsong United stuck in my head. If you are not familiar with it. Here are the lyrics:

Everyone needs compassion,
Love that's never failing;
Let mercy fall on me.

Everyone needs forgiveness,
The kindness of a Saviour;
The Hope of nations.

Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.

Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.

I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in,
Now I surrender.

My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

Shine your light and let the whole world see,
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus (x2)

My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

My Saviour, you can move the mountains,
You are mighty to save,
You are mighty to save.
Forever, Author of Salvation,
You rose and conquered the grave,
Yes you conquered the grave

I wanted to see where the term "mighty to save" was found in the Bible and I found this verse.

Zephaniah 3:17 (New International Version)

¹⁷ The LORD your God is with you,
       he is mighty to save.
       He will take great delight in you,
       he will quiet you with his love,
       he will rejoice over you with singing.

I hope this encourages some of you as it has encouraged me today.

Sentimental Sunday: Celeste's Baby Dedication

2010-09-26T22:10:00.000-04:00

Continuing with the theme from last week of baby dedications, I thought it would be fun to look back at Celeste's baby dedication. Hannah "Celeste" Martin was dedicated on August 31, 2008. She was a little over 2 months old at that time. Celeste wore a dress that my Mother, Sister, Kindle and I all wore for our baby dedications. It was made by my Great-Grandmother. My Mom bought a handkerchief bonnet when Kindle was a baby that she and Celeste wore for their dedications. One day, they can use it as a handkerchief on their wedding day, if they would like to.

Celeste was dedicated at our church by our Pastor Marc Lawson, just like all of the other children. It was a very sweet dedication. Celeste was wide eyed and checking it all out.

Praying blessings over Celeste and handing her back to her Daddy :)

After the dedication, we ate lunch and came back to take some photos together.

Kindle's New Smile

2010-09-26T21:12:00.000-04:00

Kindle is beyond thrilled that she lost her first tooth today! She has been very nervous about her loose tooth. She had it in her mind for some reason that if she lost one, they all would fall out and she would have no teeth "like Gunnar". I explained to her, once again, that a new "big girl" tooth would grow in to replace her baby tooth. This afternoon, it had gotten so wiggly that I am pretty sure it might have just popped right out if she ate an apple. She was complaining that it was hurting so I asked her if I could check to see if it was bleeding. I wrapped a paper towel around and it and gently tugged. It popped right out.

She was soooo excited and the pain instantly went away! We had her gargle with salt water and it stopped bleeding in less than 15 seconds. She said the worst part was the salt water. Ha ha!

Kindle's New Smile (She kept closing her eyes in all the photos I tried to take so I told her you gotta open them wide, and she did, ha ha.)

She called her Nana to tell her the exciting news. Then, she told all of her brothers and sisters.

I reminded Cooper and Kindle tonight that we start back to school tomorrow (we have been on Fall break this week). Kindle said, "I get to do school without my tooth! Awesome!" She is too funny.

Before she went to bed, she put her tooth out because she knows she gets some money and she can't wait! We don't do the Tooth Fairy at our house. Cooper never went for all that stuff (Tooth Fairy, Santa, Easter Bunny, etc.). He told me from a very young age that he knew it wasn't real and that was that. We still do stockings, Easter baskets and put our tooth out. The kids just know Mommy and Daddy will have a surprise in store for them when they wake up. They love it!

Table for 15 + a Baby, Gunnar's First Words & My New Hairdo

2010-09-25T22:33:00.000-04:00

Earlier today, I got a new haircut and color. I decided to go a little darker for the Fall. I also decided to do some bangs to change it up a small bit. I go to Ashley Valdes at Kara Christian Styling Studio in Woodstock. I would highly recommend her!

My sister, Emily, her hubby, Gil, and my niece, Ella

This evening, we went to Jim 'n Nicks to celebrate my brother-in-law, Gil's, birthday. There were 16 of us because my parents, brother, cousin Ben, and my grandparents came along as well. We all sat at a very long table in the middle of the restaurant. We discussed how wild it is that our family has expanded so much in size.

We had a very yummy dinner. If you haven't tried Jim 'n Nicks, I recommend the smoked turkey, macaroni and cheese and their cheese biscuits with honey butter. Yummy!

Everyone did great as always in the restaurant. Gunnar was completely enchanted by the bright lights and fans. The other children enjoyed coloring their pictures.

It was a nice evening. After dinner, Nathan and the older kids played Super Mario Bros. for Wii. They are on World 8 (the last one). I was holding Gunnar and he said "Mama" as clear as day 4 times. We all heard it. All 5 of our kids have said "Mama" first. You gotta love it!

Resting

2010-09-24T17:15:00.000-04:00

Last night when we got home from a busy day, Gunnar was completely exhausted. I was able to capture a few moments of him sleeping peacefully in his car seat. It was so sweet. I love to watch my kiddos sleep.

I love the purity and simplicity that children have. They have no worry or fear of what will happen they just trust that Mommy and Daddy will take care of their needs. It is a nice reminder of how our Heavenly Father feels about us. He wants us to rest and be at peace, trusting in Him.

Matthew 6:25-27

²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

I pray that each of you reading this enters this weekend trusting in God's promises for your life. I pray that there will be no worry or stress, but that you rest in the love from your Heavenly Father.

Homeschool Soccer: Week 4

2010-09-24T00:34:00.000-04:00

It was another fun, but hot day at Homeschool Soccer. Nathan's Dad, the kids call him Opa, came out to watch the kids play. They were very excited to see him!

I spent most of the day with Grant again.

Today, he wanted to do all the non-soccer activities more than he wanted to play soccer. Ha ha. He couldn't wait to get the mat out and do flips and log rolls.

He also really enjoyed playing with the parachute. He kept asking to keep playing with it over and over. All of the other kids did too. It is definitely one of their favorite parts of homeschool soccer.

Under the Parachute

Grant found a stick and decided to dig around too.

He has also made a friend at soccer named Drew. It is really sweet to see them playing together. Here they are running down the big hill together.

We got to watch Kindle play for a few minutes today. They were playing tag while dribbling their soccer balls.

One of the highlights of the day is when they get to have ice pops. Grant and Kindle enjoyed their ice pops while we watched Cooper's team finish up their game.

They 7 & 8 year old boys teamed up with the 7 & 8 year old girls today to play a game. Cooper got to be goalie which is his favorite position to play.

He did really great as goalie. He never let a ball get past him. Here he is making a save.

The kids had a ton of fun again today and look forward to going back next week.

Sparkles and Gunnar's New Trick

2010-09-22T22:06:00.000-04:00

Today, we went over to the Taylor's house to let the kids play since they are out of school for a Fall break this week. They just got a new kitten last week named Sparkles. Grant is obsessed with animals so he was in heaven. He spent most of the day following, petting and holding the kitten.

Thank goodness that Sparkles was a very tolerant kitten! She and Grant were swatting their hands at each other playing a game. It was very cute! She got lots and lots of love today!

We had a really great day playing with friends. The boys played video games and Legos. The girls played all sorts of make believe games and colored. We always have fun playing with the Taylors!

Gunnar has a new trick. A couple of days ago, Nathan was holding Gunnar and Nathan stuck his tongue out at Gunnar. Then, Gunnar copied him and stuck his tongue out at Nathan. Gunnar kept doing it over and over. He would always have a huge grin on his face and laugh at himself. Ever since, Gunnar has been sticking his tongue out at all of us. It is just too cute!

Belated Sentimental Sunday: Grant's Baby Dedication

2010-09-21T22:52:00.000-04:00

I spent the majority of today sorting through winter clothes with my Mom. It is [hopefully] going to be getting cooler here soon since the first day of Fall begins tomorrow. I am happy to say that we got through 4 out of 5 kid's clothes (whew!). With that being said, there was no time for taking photos today :( I decided since I missed Sentimental Sunday this week, I will do a belated version today.

I thought since we just had Gunnar's baby dedication, it would be neat to look back at Grant's baby dedication. Back in March 2007, we dedicated William "Grant" Martin at our church. Grant was 3 1/2 months old. Kindle had just turned 2 the day before. And Cooper was a little over 4 years old. We had our family there as well to celebrate Grant's dedication.

Our Pastor, Marc Lawson, has dedicated all 5 of our kids. Here is everyone praying a blessing over Grant. He was so happy as always. We gave him the nickname "Smiley" as a baby because he was so joyful all of the time.

After the baby dedication, we went to the same Mexican restaurant, Tecali Grille, that we went to after Gunnar's dedication (we love it, can you tell?).

My Grandparents

My niece, Ella (she is one month older than Grant)

Kindle had just learned to say "Guess what...Chicken Butt!" She thought she was hilarious.

Here is a video where I was trying to get Kindle to say "Guess what..Chicken Butt!", of course she saw the camera and just kept saying "Cheese" instead :)

It's so hard to believe that this was 3 1/2 years ago and now 2 more children have been dedicated since Grant was the "baby of the family". It is nice to look back and remember what life was like with 3 little ones :)

Gunnar's Baby Dedication

2010-09-20T21:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we had Gunnar's baby dedication at church. My parents, my brother, my sister and her family and Nathan's grandmother all came to support us. All of the kids decided they wanted to go to the front with us when we prayed over Gunnar. It was really sweet.

Here is our Pastor Marc Lawson. The kids all call him Papa Marc. He has dedicated all 5 of our kids. He along with the rest of the congregation prayed over Gunnar.

Gunnar was so funny. He had such a serious face and was just staring at everyone :)
Once Pastor Marc was finished praying, he gave Gunnar to Nathan since he is the spiritual leader of our home. Marc commented about our "quiver" and "little disciples" as well. Ha ha!

(Photos courtesy of Jada Drysdale)

After church, we went out to lunch with my parents and brother at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Tecali Grille. We asked the waiter to take a photo of all of us. There was not one of everyone looking, but that is what happens with such a large group. I am learning to accept this.

Gunnar slept most of the lunch.

We tried to get photos as well outside the restaurant. Not everyone was looking on these photos either, but at least we documented it.

And a photo of Celeste in her adorable Minnie Mouse dress because she was too cute.

Later in the evening, I got a couple of photos of Gunnar by himself. My friend, Paige, made him this onesie when he was born. I love it!

It was a wonderful day celebrating Gunnar. Happy 4 months old to our precious baby boy!

Weekend House aka My Hot Mess

2010-09-19T22:59:00.000-04:00

So my friend, Lindsey, is having a contest on her blog Happiness With a Side of Havoc, Please. It is for photos of everyone's "hot mess" of a house. Since it has been a busy weekend, I have a case of what I love to call "Weekend House". I have mentioned this before, but for those unfamiliar with the term, it is when you are so busy all weekend that you don't have time to straighten up. You just let everything stay wherever it finds a home with the hope of getting it all straighten up later. So here is what my Weekend House looked like.

The Kitchen

My catch-all cubby

These are only the shoes worn this past weekend. There are many more where these came from.

My Master Closet

Nathan's Clothes Corner

The "clean & needs to be folded, but we haven't had time so we had to just grab stuff out of the basket" laundry. There is lots more where this came from.

I am just keeping it real at the Martin house :) I am happy to say the kitchen and the rest of the area were cleaned before I allowed myself to write this blog. Now off to conquer the laundry!

This contest is open to everyone. Go to Lindsey's Blog and enter!

Bike Races and Corn Mazes

2010-09-19T00:09:00.000-04:00

This morning, we went to see Nathan and his friend, Lain, at the finishing line of a bike ride they did called the Beautiful Back Roads Century. It was the 10th anniversary of the ride and there were around 1500 cyclists participating. Nathan and Lain rode 50 miles today. Last year, they participated as well and did the full century (100 miles). The ride benefits the Hickory Log Men's Home for the mentally challenged. The men from Hickory Log even volunteer at the event.

The kids love cheering on their Dad. We made signs for them to hold.

Gunnar was asleep so he had to take his photo with Nathan later.

Afterwards, we headed out to Uncle Shucks Corn Maze in Dawsonville. We decided that it would be nice to go earlier in the season to beat the crowds. One thing we didn't think about was how hot it was today. Ha ha. Oh well, we had a great time in spite of the heat.

We decided to stick with the shorter route (a little over a mile long) since both Nathan and I were pushing double strollers and it was so hot. They gave us a map, so Cooper became our navigator.

They had checkpoints throughout the maze where you could punch a hole in your map showing you had made it. Also, it helped to give us a good idea of where we were. I have to say that I have a horrible sense of direction. Thank goodness, Nathan has a good sense of direction. He ended up navigating us the rest of the way back :)

The kids thought it was tons of fun. Grant kept talking about the "corn dogs" aka corn stalks all around us. Celeste and Kindle were all smiles and using their maps to "navigate" us as well. Gunnar was lulled to sleep by all of the bumping around on the cornstalks.

After the maze, we decided to shoot the corn cannon. They had an old car with a spray painted target on it. Cooper and Grant thought it was wonderful and they both hit the target. Kindle gave it one try, but definitely did not want to try again. Celeste and Gunnar didn't like it at all since it was so loud.

They had a mini maze for little kids to run through as well as some tires they could play on. The kids thought it was great because they could do it all by themselves.

Finally, we went on a hayride. The kids loved it since it reminded them of Grandpa's tractor (P.S. In case you read this Grandpa, they are hoping you can hook up a trailer with hay in it for hayrides too. Ha Ha). They had some banjo music playing while we rode around. The kids were clapping and stomping their feet along to the music.

It was a great day together as a family!

Gunnar is 4 Months Old

2010-09-18T00:20:00.000-04:00

Gunnar will officially turn 4 months on the 20th, but I got such adorable photos of him tonight, I just couldn't resist posting a bit early. He continues to be such a smiley, happy baby. He rarely fusses or cries unless he is hungry or needs you to change his diaper. He will let anyone hold him and smiles at them too. He is super ticklicious. I love to hear him laugh. He is an excellent sleeper (averaging 12 hours a night). He only wakes up if he has flipped himself over (he hasn't mastered flipping back yet), but I can flip him back and he will go right back to sleep. He also LOVES his thumb.

He enjoys watching all of his brothers and sisters play and act silly. He tolerates all of their hugs, kisses and them wanting to hold him all the time. He continues to be a great eater. He is over 14 1/2 pounds now. I am about to start solid foods with him soon (which I can hardly believe). He has brought so much joy and happiness into our lives! I am so excited to see what an awesome little boy he becomes!

Yesterday morning before soccer, he got in bed with me when he woke up so I could feed him. He snuggled up afterwards and fell asleep. It was so wonderful! I wanted to just lay there all day with him!

In my "attempts" to get better at photography, I figured it would be good to participate in something called You Capture. Basically, each week she gives you a different theme and you go out and take pictures based on that theme. This week's theme happened to be our choice, but last week's theme was signs (just so you get the idea). As many of you know, Nathan is the photographer in the family. I am pretty clueless and just default to him. So, I decided that since I am now doing a blog of our lives, I need to make an attempt at learning how to use my camera better. As well, as learning how to edit photos (hence the reason for several different effects on these photos).

There are some great photographers on You Capture. I recommend checking it out and giving it a try if you have a blog!

Homeschool Soccer: Week 3

2010-09-17T01:42:00.000-04:00

We had another wonderful week at Homeschool Soccer. I was able to get some photos of Kindle actually warming up and playing since Grant didn't have to go to the bathroom several times before it was his turn to play soccer....

I am really impressed with how well the 5 year olds are doing. I will admit I had pretty low expectations when it came to a couple hours once a week playing soccer with kids that mostly haven't played before. They had them all stretching.

Kindle is the one in the polka dot shorts & hairbow.

They have them run drills and practice basic skills.

Then, they scrimmage against each other, usually a 5 on 5 game. Kindle was very excited because she got to be the goalie at one point.

She also does great on the field. She got to take several shots at the goal and also did great on defense!

Grant had lots of fun today as well. He is still taking a few minutes to participate because he acts shy, but once he does, he enjoys himself.
They did warm ups as well. It was quite funny watching a group of 3 year olds.

Grant's version of jumping jacks

Twists aka Pretending to be a Helicopter

Grant's group did their usual kicking the ball at the goal and passing between players. They also practiced headers (where you bounce the ball off your head at the coach or a team mate) today as well. Their reactions were quite funny, it was kinda a love-hate thing.

Since I am the *only* Mom out there taking photos, one Mom came up to me to ask if it was picture day. I told her no and that I wasn't aware there was a picture day. One of the other Moms on Grant's team said that there actually is a picture day, but it wasn't till the end. I guess that changed because about 30 minutes later a Mom with a camera comes walking over with her camera as well as the lady in charge of Homeschool Soccer and says it's time for team pictures. I thought, "Oops, I guess I told that other Mom the wrong thing." It was quite funny trying to get the kids to pose. Grant was not interested AT ALL! The coach had to literally hold him in the photo by the arm. He told me he was done taking pictures.

Then, they told us each kid was going to get their photo with the coach. Grant definitely wasn't interested in doing that either. They convinced him by bribing him with getting to play bubbles next.

Once the pictures were over for the 3 year olds, he started playing bubbles. So, I ran over to Kindle's field to get a few shots of her team. Well the coaches thought I was the team photographer because like I said I am the *only* Mom taking photos of their kids. I told them I wasn't and that I just wanted to snap a shot of my own while they were taking them. The coach said, well we already have them lined up so go ahead and take a photo. So I did.

I also snapped a shot later with Kindle and her coaches while the photographer was getting photos of all of the kids.

After Kindle and Grant were finished, we headed over to Cooper's field. We didn't get to see him play for long since the pictures made everyone run later than normal. Unfortunately, I missed the photos they took with their team and coaches. I have been told they will be posted later so I should be able to get copies made. I did get a few photos of him scrimmaging though.

Homeschool Soccer continues to be a great activity for the kids! I am very glad we decided to participate!

Who Doesn't Like Getting a Deal?

2010-09-15T21:29:00.000-04:00

I have been getting some amazing deals lately through websites that offer group coupons. I thought I should share a few I have found with everyone so you to can enjoy the savings!

I am sure many of you are familiar with Groupon. Basically, each day they offer a discount to the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in the major city you live near. I live near Atlanta, so I get the Groupon info for there. Many major cities are offered, so just click on the link at the top that says "view more cities" to change it. The item changes daily and you basically purchase the item at a huge discount (a minimum of 50% off). Each day a certain number of people have to purchase the item for it become active, but typically that is no problem. Recently, they offered a Groupon for $50 worth of Gap merchandise for only $25. If you refer a friend, and they purchase something from Groupon, you get a $10 credit to use to purchase a Groupon of your choice. So, I was able to get a coupon for $50 worth of Gap merchandise for $15. Pretty Sweet!

Another website that I have gotten some deals at is called Baby Half Off. Each day they offer a different child related product for at least 50% off the normal price. The deals are added Monday through Saturday at 10 am EST. Some of the items are very popular so I recommend going there quickly before they sell out. I have bought some of my FuzziBunz cloth diapers for half price from there. I have also gotten some BabyLegs from there too. You can also become a fan of theirs on Facebook so you can see the daily deals. They also have an Archive section where you can purchase some of the previous deals that didn't sell out.

Another great website that offers deals is called Baby Steals. It i similar to Baby Half Off. They offer one day each day for at least 50% off. Their deals are posted daily at 11am EST. These also sell out quickly, so I recommend signing up for their daily emails. Just enter your email address next to "daily alert sign up". They have lots of great "steals". They even had Ergo baby carriers half off last week. They have an Archive where you can purchase some of the previous steals.

They have a sister site with items for children called Kid Steals. Same deal on how it works and the times as Baby Steals. You can sign up for their daily alerts as well. They have lots of clothing items from designer labels like DC Shoes. As well as toddler and kid friendly items like Piggy Paint. They have an Archive where you can purchase some of the previous steals as well.

They also have a sister site for scrapbookers called Scrapbook Steals. Same deal as the other two sites for times and signing up for daily alerts. They have an Archive as well. Of course I would prefer you get all your scrapbook stuff from me at Creative Memories, but I know you don't so I will post this anyway :)

Another great discount website for designer children's clothes, baby and kid gear and items for Moms is Zulily. They feature new items each day that last 72 hours or until they sell out. You can sign up for daily emails as well. Like Groupon, they offer you a $10 credit when you refer people and they make their first purchase. They have brands like Zutano and Moby Wrap.

Another great site is called Mother of a Sale. They offer several options. One is Mother of a Daily Deal. It is where, they offer a daily deal on different products Moms and kids will like (similar to the other websites mentioned above). They are offered at a huge discount until they are sold out each day. They also have Mother of a Discount. These are items that are offered until they are sold out as well, but don't change daily. They have items like FuzziBunz cloth diapers, Agoo leggings and SillyBandz. It says coming soon is Mother of a Coupon. Not sure what that will be, but check back.

Another website that is similar to Groupon is called Eversave. They post a deal daily and you can select the big city closest to you. Today, they had a discount I grabbed for $26 in merchandise to Greeno Bambino for only $13. Plus, you get a $5 credit just for signing up for Eversave. So you can get this coupon for only $8! Also, if you refer a friend and they purchase something through Eversave, you get $20 in credit to be used towards a future coupon on Eversave.

I know there are more out there. So please feel free to share if you have something that I don't have listed!

Happy Discount Shopping Everyone!!!

Thank you Nathan & My Mom!

2010-09-14T21:43:00.000-04:00

Today I am super thankful for my Mom and Nathan. Last night while I was waiting on Nathan to get home from his photoshoot in Tennessee, my tummy started feeling pretty bad. Things went from bad to worst. I will spare you the details, but I literally did not sleep at all last night. It was horrible! I am pretty sure I ate something that was bad.

At 3:30 in the morning, I woke Nathan up and asked him to go to the grocery store and get me some Kaopectate hoping that would calm my tummy down. I was so thankful that he did that. He had been driving for 9 hours that day already and I know he was so tired, but he came to my rescue.

Finally, at 6 am I started feeling better. I still couldn't sleep, but I felt like I was on the downhill. I called my Mom who was supposed to be coming over today to help me with sorting winter clothes. I asked her if she would be willing to just keep an eye on the older 4 kids for me instead so I could sleep. It was wonderful. She took care of the older 4 and even did school with Cooper and Kindle. I was able to get some sleep between feeding Gunnar. Tonight, I was able to hold down some chicken noodle soup and bread. My tummy still is not back to 100%, but it is getting there.

I just wanted to publicly thank my Mom and Nathan for their help today. I don't know what I would have done if they hadn't helped me.

A Solution for Hotel Pack n Plays

2010-09-13T22:44:00.000-04:00

We do not travel too often where we can't bring our own pack n play along. Last year, however, Nathan, Celeste and I flew out to California for a few days.

Of course, we could not bring our pack n play so I arranged to use the one from the hotel room. At the first hotel we stayed in, the lady at the front desk told me upon arrival that they never have any babies so they were going to have to go and find the pack n play in a closet. I immediately thought, "Oh great. This is going to be a pretty old one." Sure enough I was correct. The hotel gave me one of their twin size bed sheets to put on the pack n play mattress which was obviously way too big. Not to mention the fact that it is not safe for infants to have blankets in the bed with them. Luckily, I did have the forethought to bring my pack n play sheet from home. I told Nathan that I wished there was something that would cover the sides of the pack n play as well. Celeste had just started to stand up, so she would hold on and put her mouth onto the sides. I did take a baby wipe and wipe it all down (that was all I had to "disinfect" it with), but I know that it doesn't really do a great job.

After Nathan's photoshoot was over, we traveled to Anaheim to go to Disneyland for the day.

That night, we stayed in a different hotel near Disneyland. I had arranged for there to be a pack n play for Celeste there as well. After a long day at the park, we arrived around 11 pm to our hotel. Upon arrival, they told me they would be sending a pack n play up shortly. We went to our hotel room and waited. After an hour, we called and they told us that they had run out of pack n plays so they were borrowing one from the hotel down the road. We waited some more and finally got a knock on the door. The guy came in and told us that he did get a pack n play from a different hotel, but it was actually broken. One of the sides would not stay up. He told me they were willing to keep looking for one at another hotel or we could have that one right then. I took a look at the broken pack n play and decided that it would not be smart to put an infant in there. I have read way too many stories of baby equipment malfunctioning and harming kids. It didn't seem like it was worth the risk. So we waited some more. Finally, a few hours later, the arrived with an old pack n play. I put my sheet on there and wiped it down with baby wipes and put Celeste to bed. Again, I wished that I had something that would cover the sides. (Just as a side note: The hotel apologized many times. They gave us complimentary breakfast and a discounted rate on our hotel room.)

Later in the year, my friend, Candra, was watching the show Shark Tank and saw something called a Coverplay. It is a slip cover that goes over most pack n plays that completely covers all of the inside and outside of the pack n play. This was exactly what I had been wishing for! Shortly after that, I found out I was pregnant with Gunnar. I decided to go ahead and purchase a Coverplay. I also got a matching sheet. (Just so you know, you can use any pack n play sheet with this or none at all, but I just wanted it to match :) I decided to go ahead and get the Coverplay out and put it on the pack n play that Gunnar is sleeping in now. It does exactly what it says. It covers it completely.

It is a pretty snug fit as you can see at the bottom, but it would do the job very nicely if you are using it for traveling. It comes in a matching bag to store it in as well, so you could just pack it up and put it in your suitcase. In this photo, you can see the sheet I also purchased.

I wish I would have known about this product last year, but I am very happy I own it now! The only down side that I have is due to the double mesh (1 set of mesh is from the side of the pack n play and 1 set is part of the Coverplay), I can not see Gunnar through the mesh on the video monitor. However, this is not a big deal especially when you are traveling. I would highly recommend this product to anyone that travels frequently with small children.

Saturday's Activities and Cooper Leads His First Bible Study

2010-09-12T18:39:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we had a super busy day so I was unable to blog. I took Kindle to ballet to do a make up class because of Labor Day on Monday. Then, I went to a scrapbooking crop at Amber's House. I spent a lot of the time picking out the items I want to order from the new catalog from Creative Memories. I can't wait to get some of the cool papers and stickers. Nathan watched the children, so I was by myself. Woo Hoo!

Then, we went to dinner with our friends, Isaac and Josette. It was Isaac's birthday yesterday and Josette's a couple of weeks ago. My Mom watched the older 4 so we just had Gunnar. We ate at Village Tavern in Alpharetta. I got the Chicken Marsala. It was very, very yummy!

Josette & Isaac

Gunnar did extremely well. He didn't make a peep. I thought for sure he would fall asleep, but he stayed awake the whole time. I guess he didn't want to miss out on any of the excitement.

We had a great time!

This morning, Nathan was leading worship at our church. When he leads worship, I usually stay at home since I am nursing and end up watching all of the kids in the nursing Mom's room while he is singing. Typically the church offers free live webstreaming, so we watch Nathan sing from home. It is great because I can nurse and put Gunnar down for a nap while the kids and I are worshipping. This morning, however, the webstreaming wasn't working. We were pretty bummed. We ended up turning on a couple Hillsong songs and we worshipped to that instead. Most mornings, we do that as a family (we just change up our song list) so the kids were okay with doing that. Usually after we listen to worship music, we will do a quick bible study together. Nathan typically picks a verse or two to read to the kids. Then, we talk about how it practically applies to their lives. We have gone through Proverbs and gone over most of the more popular bible stories as well as several other verses. This morning, Cooper asked if he could lead bible study so I said sure. He got his Bible out and shared these verses with us:

Philippians 2:14-15

¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe

Colossians 3:23

²³Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men

Ephesians 6:1

¹Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

He then explained what the verses meant to us. He gave examples of what complaining and arguing are. He also gave examples of things that they can do as unto the Lord like their schoolwork and chores. He also explained to them that obeying Mommy and Daddy is very important so that you can live a long and happy life. He also told him that it is one of the 10 Commandments. I was very proud!

Sentimental Sunday: Day Out with Thomas

2010-09-12T15:16:00.000-04:00

This time 5 years ago, we went to Day Out with Thomas in Nashville, TN with Cooper and Kindle. Cooper was almost 3 and Kindle was 6 months old. I can hardly believe that it has been that long because it seems just like yesterday. Cooper was a huge Thomas fan and he has passed that on to his siblings.

I remember the night before we went, Nathan asked me what time we needed to leave the next morning. I had been thinking the event was in Chattanooga which is less than 2 hours from our house. I peaked at the tickets and realized that it was actually in Nashville which is about 4 hours away. It was already past midnight so we realized how little sleep we would be getting.

The next morning, we got up super early and headed to Nashville. We arrived and realized that Nashville is in the Central Time Zone not the Eastern Time Zone like us. We were bummed because we could have slept another hour. We just laughed and drove around Nashville waiting for Day Out with Thomas to start.

Once Day Out with Thomas was open, we went to check it out. Cooper was so excited! We headed over to get free train tattoos. Cooper picked Thomas and Kindle got Salty (not that she really had any clue what a tattoo was).

Then, Cooper went over to the train table to play with the other children. He was so well behaved and waited his turn to play. I stood there watching child after child throw a fit because they wanted to play with a certain train and someone else was playing with it. Or their parents told them they had to leave the area and they didn't want to. I will admit I was a bit nervous since Cooper was not known for easily leaving places without getting himself in lots of trouble. I was so pleased to see him do the right thing.

Next, we went to meet Sir Topham Hatt. He is the Superintendent of the Railway for those of you who aren't familiar with Thomas and Friends. Kindle just stared at Sir Topham Hatt trying to figure him out. Cooper was thrilled to meet him "in person".

We then went to check out all of the activities. They had a petting zoo there along with moon bounces and slides. Cooper loved it!

For some reason that day, Cooper decided that whenever I was asking him to pose for a picture, he was going to lift his shirt so we could see his tummy. So here he is with some of the trains.

And again, posing with the Thomas that was made out of Legos. This was probably his favorite thing there.

There was an old train car that you could go in and watch Thomas movies. They also had a car where a train conductor would tell Thomas stories. We enjoyed all of the activities.

Here is a very short video of Cooper telling us what he was going to do. It is sideways and I don't know how to flip it. If anyone does, let me know :)

Next, it was our turn to ride on Thomas. Cooper had been waiting for this all day. We boarded one of the passenger cars and took our seats. We rode down the tracks with Thomas pulling all of the passengers cars. Then, we went backwards back down to where we had started. Afterwards, each child got a certificate naming them a Junior Engineer.

We attempted to take a family picture of all of us. It's a bit blurry, but it will have to do. We did get professional pictures taken with our whole family and Thomas later, but those are in my scrapbook :)

Finally, we headed to the gift shop. Cooper picked out a t-shirt and a train set. He also got a Thomas balloon that was as big as him.

It was a wonderful day that he still talks about 5 years later. We plan on going back since Grant and Celeste love Thomas too.

Who Doesn't Love Playdoh?

2010-09-10T17:04:00.000-04:00

The other day the kids wanted something fun to do inside, so I got the Playdoh out. They love playing with Playdoh. We are always getting some for birthdays, Christmas or in goody bags at birthday parties. It is a wonderful gift! The kids starting making different creations. It always so neat to see what they come up with.

We have kit with different tools like scissors, rolling pins, and shape cutters. Cooper made a turtle and penguin with blue and green. He told me it looked like the Earth because of the way it was swirled together.

After we are done with the Playdoh, there is always a huge mess, but it is worth it. Luckily, they are really good helpers so they clean it up too.

Homeschool Soccer: Week 2

2010-09-09T22:55:00.000-04:00

We had another fun day at homeschool soccer today. Nathan was not there so I was not able to get as many photos as I would have liked to. It is quite funny to me though because I am the ONLY person that I have seen taking photos of their kids playing soccer. I did see one Mom last week with a video camera, but that is it. They all look at me like I must be crazy. Ha ha.

Grant did really good today. He was a bit shy at first, but he warmed up pretty quickly. He has really improved in just one week's time. They asked me if we had been practicing at home. They did some warm ups, practiced kicking it in to the goal, passing back and forth and they did some throw ins. The also played bubbles and with the parachute.

Probably the favorite thing for the 3 years old is going to the top of the hill beside their field. They kick their soccer balls down to the coaches. Then, the coaches kick it back up to them. They kept wanting to do that over and over.

Kindle did extremely well today too. Unfortunately, I couldn't get any photos of her playing since she plays at the same time Grant is and I have to stay with him because of bathroom breaks. I managed to snap a couple of photos of her once she was finished.

Kindle and Grant got their ice pops. Then, we headed over to watch Cooper play. Grant decided he wanted to be silly.

Cooper had a great time today as well. He got to be team captain today and pick all of the kids for his team. He thought that was pretty awesome!

While we were waiting for Cooper to finish, Kindle and Grant played tag. They were singing the Laurie Berkner song, "I'm Gonna Catch You" while they played. It was really cute!

I asked them if I could get a picture of both of them smiling and Kindle informed me that she was "all done with taking pictures". Ha ha!

The kids can't wait to go back next week!

No Cavities!

2010-09-08T23:58:00.000-04:00

Cooper and Kindle had a wonderful dental appointment today. Kindle was super excited and the dentist even commented about how they had never seen someone so excited about going to the dentist! Quite a change from the tears she was crying over going earlier in the week. The books and all the talking it up worked. Hurray!

Cooper had a great visit too. He did awesome as usual! Both of them had no cavities! Yay!

They came home and told me all about the exciting times at the dentist. Kindle and Cooper showed me each of the items they got in their goody bags from the dentist. Including a toothbrush (Kindle's has Belle from Beauty & the Beast so she is super excited), toothpaste and dental floss (Kindle is holding the floss in her hands, you just can't really tell).

Cooper got a Spiderman sticker that says "Amazing Patient". Kindle got a Hannah Montana sticker that says "Great Patient". They each also got to get two items from the vending machines with their gold coins they earned from doing such a good job. They both got a ring and a pencil topper of a hand doing funny gestures. They were very tickled with their prizes.

They are already talking about when they get to go back next time. You gotta love that!

A Week of Firsts: Gunnar Rolls Over & Kindle Goes to the Dentist

2010-09-07T22:45:00.000-04:00

Gunnar figured out last week how to roll over from his tummy to his back. I keep finding him in the mornings flipped over. He is so happy when he wakes up in the morning because he is proud of himself that he flipped over. However, at 4:30 am last night when he flipped himself over, he was not happy at all. I went in there and flipped him back and he went right back to sleep :) I got a picture of him when he was waking up from his nap this afternoon to show him flipped over. He was still a bit sleepy, but you get the idea :)

This is his "why are you flashing the camera in my face, I just woke up" look.

In other news, Cooper and Kindle have a dentist appointment tomorrow morning. This will be Kindle's first time at the dentist office. She has been very nervous about going. So, I went to the library and picked up a couple of books about going to the dentist. We read them this past week and have been really talking it up.

Cooper on the other hand LOVES going to the dentist, so he has been doing a daily countdown till he gets to go. I can completely understand why he loves it. We go to Children's Dentistry in Woodstock.

Taken last year

The office is decorated to look like a jungle. They have a indoor playhouse for kids to play on. They also have free video games (Xbox 360, PS2, etc.) and free arcade games the kids can play while they wait.

Video games while waiting last year

When you are getting your teeth cleaned, the kids have a TV on the ceiling that is playing a kids movie. You get a free toothbrush, toothpaste and dental floss. After you see the dentist, you get gold coins to use in their vending machines that have prizes like balls, stickers, jewelry, etc. What kid wouldn't like all that stuff???

Picking out his prizes last year

Getting his teeth cleaned by the hygentist

Cooper has been really talking the dentist up to Kindle. He even told her he would hold her hand while she has her teeth cleaned. I thought that was so sweet. I told him that they probably wouldn't let him do that since he should be having his teeth cleaned at the same time, but I appreciated that he offered.

Getting x-rays last year

Nathan will be taking him so I don't have to bring Gunnar along. I think all should go well. I told him to please *try* to remember to take pictures while he is there. We shall see if that happens or not tomorrow....

No cavities last year

Aged to Perfection

2010-09-06T23:13:00.000-04:00

Today was the final celebration of mine and Nathan's 30th Birthdays today with my parents and brother. We had a pool party. You are never too old for a pool party!!! Celeste insisted that she wear her Nemo hairbow to the pool (I made her take it out in the water) since he is a fish and swims just like her.

We had a really great time swimming in the pool. Gunnar napped in the water wrap with me. Kindle "practiced" swimming with no swimmies. She absolutely hates it though. She would much rather have a float.

Grant decided that he wanted to learn to swim with no swimmies too. He has no fear so he went for it. He did excellent. He was swimming all over the shallow end. He was also jumping into the water and swimming to the side.

Cooper had lots of fun snorkeling and shooting water guns with Nathan. He also got Nathan to throw him while he did a back flip.

After swimming, we had pizza for dinner. Then, it was time for the birthday cake.

Nana got the kids cupcakes to eat too since that is their favorite.

I tried to get all 4 to look at the camera & smile. No such luck!

Nathan and I had a great final celebration of our 30th Birthdays. I am so thankful for all of the outpouring of sweet notes, gifts and comments that I received. I feel very loved!

Since I took the photos all day, I realized I was not in a single photo and it was my birthday party. So, I got my Mom to snap a quick photo as we were walking out the door.

Disclaimer: This is not my favorite photo at all-no makeup, pool hair & zits that popped up for my birthday, but here it is anyway.

Sentimental Sunday-My Sissy's Wedding

2010-09-05T21:00:00.000-04:00

I know lots of people do different themes depending on the day of the week. I had been looking through my "older" photos and it made me happy to remember all the fun times we have had over the years. I don't know that I will be doing this every week, but I figured why not??? :) Maybe one day I can even scan my wedding photos since they were all taken with a film camera (it was 1999). Until then, you can enjoy a couple of photos from my sister's wedding.

Emily and Gil's (my sister and brother in law) wedding was on January 29, 2005-the day it ice stormed in Georgia. It was such an emotional day for all of us. We went to the rehearsal the night before and prayed that the weather would hold off. Unfortunately, it didn't. We woke up to ice all over the ground. We weren't sure we could get out of our driveway. I was about 9 months pregnant with Kindle. Cooper was just a little over 2 years old. I was the Matron of Honor and Cooper was the ringbearer. I was so sad that I thought I might miss my sister's wedding. Nathan went outside and moved our mailbox out of the way so we could back down into the grass if we needed to. He told me he was going to get us there and I love him for making that happen. I had such big plans of how everything would go that morning from my hair and make up to having Cooper walk down the aisle with his Build a Bear in a tuxedo to his Daddy. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. The photographer could not make it to the wedding because she was trapped. So, Nathan became the wedding photographer. I did my hair and make up in the car on the way to the wedding that we were running late for because we had to go so slow on the ice. We drove down Highway 41 through Kennesaw slipping and sliding the whole way. We made it just in time to get changed and walk down the aisle. Cooper decided right before it was his turn, that he didn't want to walk by himself. So, I picked him up with my huge pregnant belly and walked down the aisle carrying him with my bra strap showing in all photos and videos. Hurray :( Oh well, such is the life of a Mom. He looked so adorable in his tuxedo though. The ceremony was intimate and sweet. I was so thrilled that my sister found the man of her dreams!

Of course, he was sucking in his thumb too.

I don't have any photos on my computer of Emily and Gil on their wedding day, but I had photos from going to try on her wedding dress. She was so beautiful :)

Here is a photo of my Mom in her Mother of the Bride dress holding the bridesmaids dresses (which of course I couldn't wear since I was 35 weeks pregnant at the wedding).

Since a lot of people couldn't make it to the wedding. We had a separate reception later in March the weekend after I gave birth to Kindle. It was a great time with friends and family.

Here is one of my favorite photos of my sister, Emily, and her husband, Gil. It was taken at Celeste's 1st Birthday part in June 2009.

With 5 Kids, There is Always Something To Do

2010-09-04T17:02:00.000-04:00

Being a Mom of 5 is never boring! The kids are always playing and getting in to things. I never hear the words "I am bored". There is always someone to play with it. We really enjoy it. We spend most days:

Playing kitchen or restaurant:

Doing light saber battles:

Pretending to be superheroes:

Stealing our Daddy's drink:

Making silly faces:

Making silly faces at Gunnar to get him to smile:

Pushing our strollers & shopping carts around:

Napping with Daddy:

Playing dress up:

Holding Gunnar:

Wearing our baby, just like Mommy:

Playing with cars, trains and trucks:

And finally, getting mad at Mommy for taking too many pictures:

What do your children like to do everyday?

Week 2 of Homeschool & Potty Training

2010-09-03T23:45:00.000-04:00

I am happy to say that we have completed week 2 of homeschooling. Everything is continuing to go along very well. Cooper had his first Phonics test today. He scored a 100. Woo Hoo! He was very proud!

He is very good at school. Last year, he typically scored 100 or only missed one or two questions on all of his tests. It is very important to him that he does his best on all of his tests. He is still mostly reviewing things he learned last year and practicing his writing. We are also working on getting faster with his addition facts (2+2=4, 3+3=6, etc). He is memorizing a poem and started his new spelling word list today.

Kindle continues to work on her phonics. We are currently talking about all of the vowels and trying to figure out which vowel is in single vowel words (example: dig, dug, met, mitt, mutt). She is doing very good and recognizing the sounds even better than I expected. On the paper below, she had to circle the vowel that was in each word. She got all of them correct!

She is also doing more cursive writing. She can now write the letters "i, u and e". She is very proud of herself! She also is doing great at Arithmetic. She already recognized all of the numbers 1-10 from Pre-K, so a lot of her Arithmetic has been review so far. We found her Tinkerbell watch that she bought with her money last week, so that has also been great review of her numbers.

In other news, Celeste has decided that she is going to potty train herself. She has been taking her diaper off daily and going to the potty on her own. She is actually going both number one and two all on her own. She is so proud! The main thing I am having trouble with is convincing her that she doesn't have to go potty every 2 minutes. Because it is such a fun adventure to her, she wants to go "try" whether she really needs to go or not. She typically manages to go a couple of drops so that she can use the toilet paper (ooo), flush the potty (ahhh) and wash her hands (wahoo). These activities are super fun to her! Today, she only wore a diaper for naptime (which she ended up taking off). I told her that she could wear her big girl panties that I got her for her birthday. They are Minnie Mouse (her favorite). She has been asking to wear them since June when she got them. I have told her no in the past and that she had to wait till she could go potty. I guess that was all the motivation she needed.

I definitely would not go as far as to call her officially "potty trained". She didn't have any accidents today so she is doing really well. I think that she should be totally trained very soon.

And lastly, I wanted to give you the conclusion to Grant's stitches. It has been 10 days since the "incident" so Nathan took him today to have his stitches removed. Everything has healed up nicely. Grant, of course, thought it was a fun adventure going to the doctor today and did really great. He is super happy because he can go swimming at Nana and Grandpa's pool this weekend. I tried to get a photo of him when he got home from getting his stitches removed, but he was not interested at all. Ha ha! So here is a bonus picture of him from soccer yesterday. I love the mini goal that had. Just the right size for 3 year olds!

And since I am just throwing in a random photo of Grant, why not throw in a random picture of Gunnar (just to complete the set). He is really into sucking on his bottom lip right now. That is what he is doing in this photo.

Tomorrow begins Labor Day weekend. Anyone got any exciting plans?

Homeschool Soccer: Week 1

2010-09-03T00:45:00.000-04:00

Cooper, Kindle and Grant started homeschool soccer today. When they woke up this morning, the first thing they wanted to do was put on their shin guards and cleats. They couldn't wait!

Celeste and Gunnar stayed with my Mom since it was during naptime (Thank you Mom!). Celeste insisted on getting a photo of herself too though :)

At homeschool soccer, they had the kids separated by age. They asked that parents stay with the 3 & 4 year old groups so that you can help them if they need to go to the bathroom. So, I dropped Cooper and Kindle off with their age groups and headed to the 3 year old group with Grant.

At first Grant was a little unsure (this is his first time playing an "organized" sport). So, I got out there with him and kicked the ball in the goal a couple of times. Then, he got past his insecurity and went for it. He had lots of fun! In addition to doing soccer stuff, they played with bubbles and a parachute. Grant loved it of course!

Nathan came for about 30 minutes to watch them play. They were so excited to see their Dad! He took the camera and got a couple of pictures of Cooper and Kindle for me.

When I dropped Kindle off, they gave me her t-shirt. As you know from her photos, she is really tiny. The shirt they gave her is at least 2 sizes too big, it looked like she had on no shorts underneath. We had to improvise and tie it up. It ended up working out great. Kindle makes friends really easily. When Nathan walked over to watch her, she said "Dad, look at all my new friends!". She is so sweet. She did really great a soccer too.

Cooper also had a wonderful time. They did lots of drills and a scrimmage. He also got to be goalie for part of the time which he really enjoys. He said they played rock, paper, scissors to see who got to be goalie and he won :) He makes friends very easily as well so he was chatting away with the other boys (see picture below).

After they finished, they all got an ice pop which they also thought was fabulous! They were so excited and can't wait to go back next week!

Gifts and Surprises

2010-09-02T00:18:00.000-04:00

On Monday when I went to dinner with Alanna, she forgot my gift. So she brought it to me today. She made me a mini scrapbook. I love it! It is so sweet. Those of you who know me, know that I love to scrapbook, but I am typically making scrapbooks of my children. It is so nice to have something for myself :)

The Cover

Alanna & I at a Third Day concert in 2004

She also made me a bow holder after reading my blog about needing another one. I absolutely love it! I was really wanting to get one that was this style. I put a few bows on there so you could get the idea. She is very crafty and can make almost anything. I keep telling her to make a business out of it. Maybe one day I can talk her into it...(wink, wink)

Just a side note, I got her a tile frame that has a cute saying about friendship. I told her to pretend that I made it. Ha ha.

Another gift I got for my birthday, was a gift card to Amazon from Candra. I LOVE shopping at Amazon so this was the perfect gift. As I mentioned in my previous posts, I take a long time to decide what I would like to get. I have to look around at all of the items (either in the store or online). I always read product reviews and try to make an "educated" decision. So, I just ordered the items with my gift card and most of them arrived today. This is what I got:

A cover for my laptop that I have been needing for a LONG time to protect it from little hands.

A protector for my keypad to protect it from spills that little hands make.

Also, I have heard so much stuff over the years from Candra and friends about how awesome Rainbow Sandals are. I decided that I need to finally give them a try. They are supposed to conform to your feet over time and then become your favorite pair of sandals that will last forever. Sounds good to me!

Lastly, I ordered a food processor. I have been wanting to get one for years so that I can make my own baby food (hopefully :) as well as save time when making our favorite dinner, Chicken Casserole. {The food processor has not arrived yet, so I can't take a picture. I attached a link to it below} I look forward to using it shortly!

This has been a wonderful birthday!

In other news, I have been walking on my treadmill several days a week and dropped a few pounds. Hurray! I am doing pretty good about entering all of the foods I have eaten into the Livestrong app. I am happy to see that all of my efforts are paying off!

Tomorrow starts the first day of Homeschool Soccer for the older 3 kids. They are beyond excited! They got all of their gear together tonight. I have a feeling when I wake up in the morning, I will find them in their shin guards and cleats ready to go. I am looking forward to watching them play! I plan on bringing the camera, so hopefully I can get some pictures of them. It might be kinda interesting since they will all be playing at the same time, but I have to stay with Grant. I shall do my best.

My Luxurious Video Baby Monitor

2010-08-31T22:33:00.000-04:00

Today, I am thankful for my video baby monitor. With my first 4 children, I had a good, "old fashioned", audio only baby monitor by Fisher Price. It is still kicking almost 8 years later. After Gunnar was born, I was given some money as a gift so I decided to purchase a video baby monitor. In the past, I always thought they were too expensive and not a "necessity". I was excited to get my new "luxury" item and try it out. I am very happy to say that I LOVE MY VIDEO BABY MONITOR! I ended up finding an awesome deal on a Summer Infant Day & Night Handheld Color Video Monitor on Amazon for around $110 with FREE shipping! It is great because instead of wondering why he is making noises (is he just moving around or is he really awake?), I can just peek at my monitor and see what he is up to. The camera works even if it is pitch black in the room. You can turn the video function on or off and still keep the audio on. Also, it is portable and has a clip so you can take it with you. I took it outside with us when we did fireworks on the 4th of July and it worked great! The camera can be attached to the wall. We just haven't done that yet. I took the monitor with us when we were on vacation and it was great also because Celeste figured out how to get out of the pack n play. This way we could see her and catch her in the act :)

I wouldn't say this is a must have for every new Mom, but if there is any way you can get one, I would!

Here are a couple of photos I have taken of the monitor:

The monitor is turned on in this photo.
He is sleeping in this pic in the corner.

Up close view of what the monitor looks like. He is asleep in the corner of his pack n play. This photo was taken at night when his room was dark.

The receiver is portable so you can turn the video on or off to save battery life. You can also turn it on or off when you have it plugged into the AC adapter.

This is the camera that I have in his room on
his changing table. The camera can swivel and
turn many directions.

A side view of the camera to show how much it can move and
turn.

Cherokee Indians & Another Birthday Celebration

2010-08-31T00:20:00.000-04:00

My parents went at the end of last week to see the Cherokee Indians in Cherokee, NC. My great, great grandmother on my Dad's side was a Cherokee Indian so they took my sister and her family to go check it all out. We hope to go one day as well. I think the kids would really like it.

My parents brought back gifts for the kids from their trip. Cooper and Grant got tomahawks (don't worry they are made of rubber). Cooper keeps calling it his ax despite the fact that I have explained to him that it is called a tomahawk. I told him he can remember because it is like when we go to the Braves game and we do the "Tomahawk Chop" :) Kindle and Celeste got bead Indian necklaces. Here is a close up. They really love them!

And Gunnar got a wooden hand drum. He actually held and shook it a bit which was cute. I am going to save it for him till he is a little bigger since he is starting to want to put things in his mouth. My parents also bought them a book for me to read to everyone to teach them about the Cherokee Indians for school.

I am looking forward to teaching them more about their Indian heritage!

Tonight, I went out with my friend, Alanna. We went to dinner at Rafferty's. It was very yummy! We both ordered the same thing, chicken salad croissants & cream of potato soup :) The waitress brought us a bowl of ice cream with whip cream and a cherry on top for our birthday. We also got the waitress to take a photo of us since our last photo together was way too long ago to even mention.

After dinner, we went to see Dinner for Schmucks. We are both big fans of The Office and like Steve Carrell so it was a great choice. The movie was really funny. I laughed out loud which I don't do very often. I would definitely recommend it. (Disclaimer: It is rated PG-13. There is a bit of bad language & some adult content, but it wasn't too bad.) I am very glad we had the opportunity to celebrate our 30th birthdays together!

Teaching the Kids about Money

2010-08-30T00:30:00.000-04:00

This morning, we decided not to go to church. There was a church wide picnic at a clubhouse with a huge playground that is always so fun to go, however with Grant having stitches, we didn't think it would be a good idea for him to play. Instead we listened to worship music at home and did a bible study (we do this every morning as well before Nathan starts work and the kids start school).

Nathan and I had been talking about how we need to teach the kids what the Bible says about earning, spending and saving money (Proverbs 22:6). Since the end of the month is in a couple of days (and we are busy then), we decided we would go to Target and let them pick out the items that they wanted with the money they had earned for doing their jobs. We told the kids that we are going to be starting something different when it came to the money they earned. In 2008, we took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University (highly recommend to everyone!). During the classes, it talked about teaching your kids what the Bible says about money. Today, I immediately thought to check Dave Ramsey's website and sure enough there is a list of all of the scriptures concerning money and teaching your children. You can view it here. We began by reading Matthew 6:24 to the kids and explaining to them that it is important to love God and not money. We went on to tell them that we are supposed to be good stewards of our money. We used the verse Proverbs 6:6-8 that talks about how the ant works hard during the spring to store up for winter. We explained that it is important to not spend all of the money we have and save money too (Proverbs 21:20). We also explained that we give a tithe to the church (Proverbs 3:9). I gave them an example, if they got $10 for doing their jobs, they will give $1.00 to church, save $1.00 and have $8.00 left to spend. We told them that they needed to chose something to save up towards that was a larger item that they wanted to get. We also told them that if they wanted to put some of their money to spend into savings they could do that also. We went on to explain that they could also give extra money (an offering) to church, missions or someone in need if they would like out of their spending money. We explained to them that it is important to be lead by the Spirit (Romans 8) in all things, so they should ask God to tell them if they should give just their tithe or extra. We made sure everyone understood what we were doing and how much money they each had. Then, we went to Target.

Cooper picked out a watch & a Spiderman box to keep his stuff in.

KIndle picked out Disney Princess silly bandz and a Tinkerbell watch.

Grant picked out a motorcycle.

Celeste got a ball.

It was a good lesson for them to learn at an early age so that they will be good stewards of their money when they are adults.

A Day at the Zoo

2010-08-28T23:45:00.000-04:00

My little meerkats

We decided to go to the Atlanta Zoo today. We were blessed with a family membership pass by my grandparents, but we had not been since we had Gunnar. I was definitely a little apprehensive about going to the zoo in August, but we decided to tough it up and go anyway. Luckily, there is lots of shade and it was breezy today.

When we arrived at the zoo, we realized they were having a festival in Grant Park so there was no parking. We prayed for a great spot and we were blessed with a 2nd row spot in the shade. Thank you Jesus! The kids really wanted to ride the train and had been talking about it all morning. So that is where we went first. Gunnar was not too sure about all of the noise from the train at first, but he cuddled up on Daddy.

This is a not so great photo of Nathan, but Gunnar looks cute. Kindle was covering her ears because she didn't like the noise from the train whistle.

Celeste really loved riding the train. She loves Thomas the Tank Engine, so this was pretty awesome to her!

This might be my favorite photo of Cooper & Grant together.

We rode the train twice. Then, we rode the carousel. Celeste was not too sure about it, but the rest of the kids loved it!

We went to the rock climbing wall next and let Cooper rock climb (the other kids didn't weigh enough). He did really great. He made it to the top both times and rang the bell!

He said "I can't look down!"

Now that we did the fun activities, we went to see some animals. Celeste really wanted to see the elephants, so we went there first.

Cooper wanted to pose with all of the animal pictures that you put your face in.

Next, we went over to see the giraffes. There was a new baby girl giraffe born on Nathan's birthday this year (July 13). The zoo asked people to vote for the name of the new baby giraffe for the past month. There was a ceremony this morning at 10am where they announced the name. We missed it since we went in the afternoon, but we posed with the sign.

In case you can't read the sign, it says Zuri.

And here she is!

One funny thing that happened while we were over near the baby giraffe. A lady walked up to us and said "oh look at the baby". We all assumed she was referring to the giraffe, but she was actually talking about Gunnar :) I had put Gunnar in the water wrap so I could completely cover him up (I don't want to put sunscreen on him). I always get so many comments when I have him in the wrap. He does look really sweet!

I did have his sun hat on, but I took it off for the picture.

The kids wanted more photos with the animals that you put your face in.

We went to the reptile house. I am not a big reptile or amphibian fan, so I could skip this all together. The kids love it though. It was feeding time for one of the snakes. The kids got to watch a snake wrap itself around a mouse. They were amazed. We looked at all of the frogs, lizards and turtles too. I kept steering the kids towards the turtles. They just seem a little more friendly to me :) When Nathan was out this morning, a guy told him that one of the rattlesnakes escaped from the zoo. You can view the article about it here. I was VERY thankful we didn't not run into her!

Kindle looking at some frogs

Kindle saw lots of kids walking around with stamps on their hands. Her ballet teacher last year gave the kids a stamp on their hand after each class, so she LOVES stamps! I told her they were getting stamps from going to see the pandas. So she asked to go see the pandas next. And they all got a stamp.

We finished the day by going to see the flamingos. They were fighting with each other over food. It was quite a sight to see.

It was a wonderful day for everyone!

Absolutely FabBOWlous!

2010-08-27T23:00:00.001-04:00

I have a confession, I love hairbows. I love seeing my daughters in hairbows. I think it is like the icing on the cake of cuteness. I currently have 2 hairbow holders, but I need at least 1 more. I am hoping to win one!

Hairbow holder from ABC: Audrey's Baby Creations

Hairbow Holder from Birdie Baby Boutique

Here are a few of my favorite bows:

My sister made these for Celeste.

My sister made these headbands for Celeste too.

A Nemo bow & a Mickey Christmas bow from Gia's Bowtique

This headband is also by Gia's Bowtique

Each of the girls has a set for Halloween from Nomie's 3 Monsters

Headband from Birdie Baby Boutique

This came as a set, but you can take the hairbow off from Birdie Baby Boutique

This was a set too. The bow comes off. From Gia's Bowtique

Love this Princess hairbow from Gia's Bowtique

These handbands are from Costa Rica courtesy of Uncle Jeremy & Aunt Yeri.

Love this flower from Gia's Bowtique

Of course, I love the clippies I got from Merci Bow Coup. You can see those photos on my previous post.

~~I will be honest, if it was socially acceptable for adults to wear hairbows, I probably would.~~ I loved wearing hairbows when I was younger. I am so glad my girls do too!

Follow Me Friday

2010-08-27T13:53:00.000-04:00

Get Linked Up with other Blogs at Follow Me, Chickadee!

Kindle's First Cursive Writings

2010-08-26T17:50:00.000-04:00

If you are familiar with Abeka, you know that they start children off with cursive writing in Kindergarten. (You can go to their website to read more about why if you are interested.) I started Cooper with writing in Kindergarten as well. He has done great with it. Today, Kindle learned how to write the letter "i" in cursive. She was a little nervous since this was brand new to her, but she did really good.

She wanted to show her Daddy when he got home from his meeting because she was so proud!

Cooper also made a really big deal out of it. He is such a sweet brother (most of the time :).

We started learning about the letter "u" today. We did a game where I would say a word with either a "u" sound or an "i" sound and she would have to tell me which letter was in the word. Example: bug & big She got all of them correct! She is making such huge progress. When we did Pre-K, I was not too sure what to do because she was still confusing her colors, numbers, letters, etc. She is a lot like Nathan when it comes to learning unlike Cooper who learns the same way I do. I was always asking Nathan for suggestions to help it all to come together for her. Then, it all clicked after Christmas break. She knew all of her colors, shapes, numbers and she started recognizing letters. She is so eager to do school which is great! She also really wants to learn how to read. I am excited to continue seeing her progress.

Cooper is still reviewing. The great thing about him is that if you show him something once, he can pretty much pick it up. That is how I know when he is paying attention or not. He has also been doing lots of cursive writing. Here is one of his papers from today.

In other news, Grant's head is healing really well. He continues to be such a trooper. He said it isn't hurting at all anymore. I have been having him take it easy so that it can heal up properly. I am thankful that he likes playing Wii. It has helped keep a busy 3 year old still! Celeste keeps talking about when Grant hit his head. She is being a really sweet sister.

Consignment Sale Deals Take 2

2010-08-25T16:54:00.000-04:00

I realized that I completely forgot to blog about the consignment sale that I went to at the beginning of August. I WON (hurray) a $25 gift certificate to the All 4 Kids consignment sale. All I did was "like" their Facebook page and make my status something that referred to All 4 Kids. Then, they put my name in for a drawing and I won! The blog that I did showing all of the deals I got back in July was actually the post that helped me win the gift certificate. That was pretty exciting! I thought we might be out of town for the one they do at Mt. Paran Church, so I decided to go to the one in the Woodstock/Acworth area. Since I did so well at the other consignment sale, I was really only looking for a couple of specific things. Also, I knew we were about to go on vacation so I really didn't want to spend more than the $25 gift certificate. Here is what I got:

I wanted to find Kindle some sweat pants to play soccer in. The green jacket and pants are from Gap.

I found this Old Navy winter coat for Grant for $6.

I had no luck finding Kindle a Christmas dress at the other sale. I really liked this jumper it is embroidered velvet and has beading and sequence. She of course loves it because it sparkles.

I couldn't resist this Santa suit for Gunnar. I got it for $2.

I had a couple of dollars left so I found this brand new hairbow. I can't resist hairbows!

Plus, it looks really cute in their hair!

I think I did pretty good. I only went over my $25 budget by $1.

The All 4 Kids consignment sale seasons is over now. There is, however, another great consignment sale coming up this Friday and Saturday at the Cobb County Civic Center called Born Again Blessings. I personally have never sold items there, but I know a lot of people that do and they absolutely love it! Also, the profit from the sale goes to benefit the Hilda Cagle Foundation that helps needy families. If you are a first time Mom, they also do a preview sale the night before that you can get into, but you have to sign up.

I hope some of you can make it out. Let me know if you get any great deals!

A Broken Camera, Stitches & the 2nd Day of School

2010-08-25T00:01:00.000-04:00

These past couple of days have been quite interesting. Yesterday, Nathan was on a photo shoot for work taking pictures of a hotel in Tennessee. His camera was on a tripod. While he was moving an item to take another photo, the general manager of the hotel says, "Your camera is falling over." Nathan doesn't know what happened and the general manager said she didn't either. All we know is that the camera dropped on a tile floor. Unfortunately, the eye hole you look through shattered. Also, the lens got cracked on the side so it will no longer turn or focus. He had to leave the photo shoot before he could get the night shot he needed. This morning he took it to the camera repair shop. They are supposed to be taking a look at it and letting us know what the diagnosis is.

The upside to this story is that a friend from church that has a professional camera as well, is allowing Nathan to borrow his to do the photo shoots he has this week. What a blessing!

While the kids were playing today, Grant ran into the corner of the wall. He busted his head open and blood was gushing out. At Christmastime, he fell into the edge of the futon and busted his forehead open so luckily I was pretty calm about the whole thing. Grant handled it like a champ. He only cried for a couple of minutes. Since it was in his hair, we knew it needed stitches. Nathan took Grant to the Urgent Care. They gave him 2 stitches.

The doctor said he was the best kid they have ever had :) He sat completely still and had a great attitude the whole time. They gave him a lollipop and some stickers. He was very excited! The doctor was so wonderful. He is a Christian Dad of 5 kids. His wife also homeschools them. He got along really well with Nathan and he decided to give him a discount. Yay!

Kindle and Cooper were definitely WAY more upset about the whole thing than Grant. They just cried and cried. None of my children have had to have stitches before so they weren't really familiar with what was going to happen. They were definitely thinking about a worst case scenario. I explained everything to them and got them to calm down. They went on to tell me all the wonderful things that they love about Grant. For example, He is so nice and he is great with a lightsaber :) It was very sweet. I told them that should tell Grant the things that they love about him when he got home. So they did.

Grant wanted to pose with Gunnar too. Gunnar, however, was more interested in the fan than looking at the camera.

Sometimes bad things do happen, but in the end it all worked out. Candra sent me this verse today that really encouraged me. I hope it will encourage some of you too.

"Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." Colossians 3:2

On a completely different subject, the 2nd day of school went really great. We are still mostly reviewing for Cooper. It makes the school day pretty short for him by comparison to the end of the school year last year. So tonight, he left me this note.

"I want to do more school"

I was pretty happy to see that he wants to do more! I must be doing something right. He also left this note for Nathan so he could see what we are doing in school.

"I'm reading my Bible in school"

With his school work, he has verses to memorize. Currently, he is memorizing Genesis 1:1-5. On his own, he decided to read the whole book of Genesis during vacation. He is now reading the book of Exodus. I am very proud of him.

Kindle did a great job today as well. She is reviewing what we learned in Pre-K with her colors and numbers. We are also continuing to work on the letter "I".

1 Down 179 To Go

2010-08-23T22:50:00.000-04:00

Today was a very busy and productive day. As mentioned in my previous post, it was the first day of school for Cooper and Kindle. Nathan had a photo shoot in Tennessee so everyone was up nice and early. The kids all got baths. We ate breakfast and I put Gunnar down for his morning nap. Grant played a few video games. Celeste sat down with us and colored a paper. Cooper and Kindle were so excited to start school.

Kindle is now officially in Kindergarten!

Cooper showing us that he is in 2nd grade.

The school day went really well. We use the Abeka curriculum for both of their school. For Cooper, it was all reviewing what he had learned previously so he did it very quickly. I made sure to let him know that they are easing him back into school and he will have a lot more school work soon. Kindle had lots of fun and felt so big. I did homeschool her in Pre-K last year, but it was a lot more casual. She did really well too. Cooper kept telling her, I remember learning that 2 years ago. It was sweet :) Day one of homeschool for the 2010-2011 school year is complete. Only 179 more days to go!

We learned about the letter "I" today.

Cooper reviewed his vowels & their sounds. He also colored this picture.

After school, the kids did their jobs on their chore chart (see previous post). Then, we ate lunch and got Kindle ready for ballet. We ran some errands while Kindle was in her class. We headed home and ate dinner. We tidied up once again and I managed to get them in bed 20 minutes earlier than normal (since they missed their naps due to Kindle's ballet). I was able to work out and get a shower (a luxury item as any Mom will tell you). I am also happy to say I did really good as well with making healthy eating choices. Hurray! I can't wait to see my hard work paying off on the scale!

Now I am off to conquer Mt. Laundry. I washed everything since vacation, but I have just been grabbing clothes out of the basket instead of sorting it. I am sure you all never do that...

Any other homeschool parents out there? If so, what curriculum do you use?

(sings) Back to Life, Back to Reality...

2010-08-23T01:20:00.000-04:00

Today was your typical Sunday. We all got ready for church and I wanted to get a photo of Celeste in her new Elmo dress.

Note the Cinderella dress up heels she wanted to wear today.

Of course, everyone wanted to get their photo taken before we could leave the house.

Which turned into, them asking if they could get a picture individually too.

Which turned into, them asking to take a photo holding a toy.

Which turned into, them asking if they could take a photo one on one with their siblings.

All the while, Gunnar was happy and content in his swing.

I decided that if we wanted to get to church before it was over, we had to stop taking pictures and leave.

Tonight I am happy to say, I used my new treadmill for the first time. I really like having it in the house. It is so much more convenient. Plus, it is in our bedroom so it pretty much stares at me in the face willing me to get off my lazy behind and use it :) I have also started using the Livestrong app on my iPhone to help keep track of my calories and exercise. I like it because almost all food and items at restaurants are listed.

Tomorrow starts the new school year for Cooper and Kindle. Cooper will be in 2nd grade and Kindle will be in Kindergarten. Kindle is sooo excited to be starting school back, Cooper not so much. Ha ha. I chose the title for tonight's blog to be "Back to Life, Back to Reality"(from the song "Back to Reality" by Soul II Soul) because we start into our new routine tomorrow with school and kid's activities. I managed to finish the school year last year when Gunnar was born (May 20), so I have had a nice long break. Plus, we have still been in vacation mode a bit. We get back to our new "reality" tomorrow.

I spent the rest of the evening preparing for the school day tomorrow. We should be all ready to go.

Our school room

I am really looking forward to this school year. I can not wait to see all that the kid's accomplish!