First day of school!

Nobody slept well last Sunday night in anticipation of the first day of school on Monday. I would like to say for the kids it was because they couldn't wait to get back to Math and Reading, etc... but no, it was because they were getting a special breakfast and first day of school gifts!

Here they are eating sausage, bacon, donuts and chocolate milk

(at least I added protein)

Anxiously waiting to open their gifts...Hopey too!

Wow mom, thanks for the glue and pencils! :)

(They got some Bibleman action figures as well)

Bibleman helping Dawson do grammar

The kids dancing around the table while learning their States and Capitols

Dawson's 2nd grade curriculum

(plus memory work and LOTS of reading)

Carys' Kindergarten curriculum

(plus memory work and reading her first books)

We have had a great first week of school. The kids (and mom) only whined a little when bedtime got earlier and the mornings came too soon. I think we have now adjusted and are getting our routine established. We also have PE class, piano lessons, group theory, bowling league, dance and soccer thrown in the mix (and of course having friends over) so we are finding our days packed full and I haven't even mentioned church activities! Oh, my poor unsocialized kids! :)

Shepard is two months today and all smiles!

Friends & Bibleman

We have had a lot of good times with friends these last few weeks. It was really refreshing as it seems I have been couped up with the baby so much with the heat. Our Friends Troy and Cheryl are Stateside and came to B'ville to visit and it is always a joy because we only get to see them every two or three years. It is amazing to see how fast their kids are growing. I remember changing their kids diapers and now they are teenagers. Sheesh! We really enjoyed their visit. The boy's talked theology and politics and us girls talked about our kids. :) That's moms for ya. They are a really neat couple who are missionaries in Wales and are very passionate about reaching the lost. We could just sit and talk for hours...and we did.

Troy, Mark and Shepard while eating dinner at Mazzio's

Cheryl, Shepard and I



All of our kids

Then last night we went to see Bibleman Live in Oologah, Oklahoma! We kept it quiet for some time so it would be a surprise for the kids. Dawson was soon catching on.....I guess he is quite the eavesdropper on my conversations. When did that start happening that he was actually interested in adult talk???? However, he was thinking it was going to be a movie. We went with the Holley's, Dickinson's and the Girard's and had a great time watching the newest movie they are about to release. Then Bibleman appears in person and the kids got SO excited. He allowed the kids to ask him questions and talked about how they can be Biblemen and girls too by reading the Bible and hiding it in their hearts. Afterwards he was available to take pictures and talk with the kids so we had him sign their capes and took some pictures.

The majority of us waiting for the movie to start

Dawson and Bibleman

Carys and Bibleman


Hopey and Bibleman

It was really cute because after I took Dawson and Carys' picture of Bibleman I turned off my camera and then all of a sudden Hope jumps right up to Bibleman just like you see in the picture to get her picture too. It didn't dawn on me that she would want a picture with him....I am still in the mode of her being too young for all of this but yet she wants to be smack dab in the middle of everything big brother and sister do. She is our little firecracker! She knows what she wants and goes after it with gusto.

We finally found something that works!

These last few weeks I have been preparing for the school year and just had to share our chore system because it is the first one that I have come across (and I have tried many!) that actually is working and has been for over a year now. "Managers of their Chores" by Steve and Teri Maxwell, who also author "Managers of their Homes", is a pretty good size book that walks you through what chores your children can be doing for their age plus how to teach them correctly so you cut down on chores half done. The greatest components of the book though are the chorepacks that come with it and the sample chore charts from other families. Unbelieveably, my kids love their chorepacks because they clip onto them so they won't forget what they are supposed to be doing! I wish I could say the same for their chores but at least they get them done and to my satisfaction. For more information, check their website at www.titus2.com.