Expressions by Evie

This is her cheesy smile when I first bring out the camera.

 This is her saying "seriously, Mom? The first smile wasn't good enough?" 

Her eyes match her seat.  We are in Colorado right now while Max is in San Diego on a leadership training trip.

Owl Hooting in Pine Tree in Front of House...

The bright light in the video is a full moon behind the pine tree in which the owl sits.  The reason I took the video though, from our front patio, was to record the sound.  Otherwise, my husband might not believe me.  Wish we could sit in the hot tub together tonight with a full moon and owl hooting the background, but my honey is away this evening...This video with no light except the moon, was the best I could do, Max.

Interesting blog about Altus...

I found this when trying to look up a Mexican Restaurant here in Altus that I had never been to but will be going to soon...

http://altusoklahoma.blogspot.com/
I also found out about some other places in Altus and around Altus I had not known about, especially some neat-sounding little shops.

Comparing mom and girls as babies

Tamsey as a baby (about 30 years ago) - and my beautiful mom!

Evie as a baby (very recent)

Gloria as a baby/toddler (about 5 years ago)

I guess I couldn't find a lot of good pictures of Evelyn and Gloria that looked exactly like me in the top pictures, but one can still see some similar traits...we are mom and daughters after all!

Thanks Aunt Kristin!

Oh so adorable sweater!

Gloria shows off her knitted socks, mittens, and hat!

 Benaiah did not want to take of his knitted mittens and hat for a few days.

 ...not even when turned upside down!

Below:  father and son matching hats.  No cold ears in this family!

 Cuteness...

What an ensemble!

Colorado Christmas Visit - JB's Birthday and Christmas Day

 JB wanted a gingerbread house for a birthday cake, so Gramma Shell and Grandude made a model of their home out of gingerbread with cake on the bottom part.  You can tell, JB loves it!

 Gloria got her Elizabeth doll back from the American Girl doll hospital about a month and a half ago.  They have been inseparable ever since.  Elizabeth and Gloria both got horse dresses from Gramma Shell and Elizabeth got a black horse to ride as well as riding clothes.  I guess Elizabeth is feeling much better!

 Evelyn got a toy cell phone for her birthday and oh my! what a talker!  She would walk around and lay down all while talking on her cell phone.  Now that we are home I don't know where it is...maybe it got confiscated.  No, actually, I often wish we could find it because it keeps her so occupied.

A look of absolute glee and a bit of surprise on Benaiah's face.  He got a Lighenting McQueen cell phone!  He was actually a lot more excited about the actual cars he got on Christmas.

Colorado Christmas Visit - mini Grand Forks, ND reunion

We were stationed in Grand Forks, ND for our first operational base after pilot training.  Three couples whom we were with in Grand Forks at the same time are now stationed in Colorado Springs.  We are stationed currently in Altus, OK and often visit Colorado to see Max's parents.  Thus, we are fortunate enough to also see our good friends from years past in Colorado. 

Eight to ten years ago we did not have children for the most part, so we get together as a much larger group now.  JB and Benaiah are missing from this picture because their Aunt Cami and Uncle Eli whisked them away to see the Air Force/ Georgia Tech game at their house. 

QT Pie (s)

Handsome Boy

All cleaned up

Gloria, the tender-hearted drama princess...

I don't have a lot of time to write this blog, but I just had to write about this today.

For Gloria's 6th birthday, Max and I gave Gloria a beautiful, yet previously-owned American Girl doll, Elizabeth.  Gloria seemed to love her from the very day she got her and has taken very good care of her, always putting her to bed in her American Doll Collection chest.  I got a load of American Doll stuff for only $115, including Elizabeth, two years ago in Alabama when a fellow homeschool family was selling the lot.  I can't believe what a good deal God put in my lap.  The only reason I got it was that I was on the computer the moment she sent the e-mail to a homeschooling group and was the first to respond...thank you God!

Here's a run-down of what happened today:
Gloria got an American Girl doll catalog in the mail.  She found Elizabeth.  It mentioned that Elizabeth and her friend doll, Felicity, were not going to be made anymore.  Gloria mentioned that her Elizabeth had a broken eye (it didn't shut when she laid her down) and the previous owner was a little too aggressive about brushing her hair and pulled some of the hair out so that if you look under the top layer of hair, Elizabeth is missing a chunk in the back.  I still think I got a great deal on her.

This conversation reminded me that someone had told me that American Girl has an American Girl Doll Hospital, where you send off the doll with an "admission form" and mail it with the doll to the "hospital".  On the order form, I ordered "new head" but didn't tell Gloria that, I just said she would be having surgery on her eye and would get some new hair.  Apparently, the American Girl doll is sent naked with this "admission form" and a fee, then is returned washed and renewed with a hospital gown, an ID bracelet and a Certificate of Health.  When I read this to Gloria she was soaking it in and had a huge smile on her dimpled rosy cheeks.

I knew she was happy about the prospect of getting the doll fixed, but I was unprepared for the sadness that would come over her when she realized we were packing her in a box and wouldn't see her again for 2-3 weeks.  I told Gloria we didn't have to do it, but Gloria just said "no, I want her to get better."  She gave Elizabeth a kiss with tears in her eyes and we wrapped her in old, clean towels so that she wouldn't get cold.  After this Gloria kept saying that she was glad, but she was sad.

As the evening went on, Gloria babied the cardboard taped-up box with her doll in it.  It was so cute to see, knowing that she knew her doll must be "scared" and "lonely" in the dark box.  She had box with Elizabeth sit in the seat next to her at dinner.  She read Elizabeth books on the couch and sang to her.  Now she has Elizabeth in her sealed box sleeping in her bed with her.  So sweet.  I wonder how it will be tomorrow when we take her to the UPS place...

Evie Practicing Walking

 Holding onto Daddy's finger

 Daddy very patiently walks with her

 She loves using this "walker" toy that she can push and some friends are lending us.

Walking with Gramma Shell and brother Benaiah in the squadron at the "trick or treat" and pumpkin carving.

Playing with the kitty after church

 Moo Moo hiding under my skirt.  Maybe she can't decide if she likes all the attention.

 The girls on the back patio.

This is a very endearing kitten.  We are not a "cat family" but I could definitely be an "outdoor cat family" which is what we have become.  Moo Moo is definitely more than a mice-catcher, she's fun to watch and have around.  She's very good with kids.  She originally came from Colorado as a kitten brought by Gramma Shell after she got the heartbreaking call from Gloria that our other black kitten who adopted us, died.  Gloria is the one that feeds the kitten.

JB looks out for the "interests" of Evelyn...

Evelyn stands for the kitty and gives her cheesy smile...

Evelyn is 14.5 months now.  She is the most cautious of our bunch of kids when it comes to skill development and being ready to use that skill on a regular basis.  Crawling was testing testing testing to see exactly how the mechanics worked and walking is proving to be the same way.  She definitely has the balance and the skill to walk at this point but she's being extra cautious.  I sometimes catch her "practicing" and testing out her walking legs when she thinks no one is watching.  When she sees someone watching (and claps for herself) or still finds that she is a little unbalanced, it is almost like she says "nope, not today, maybe tomorrow" and tears off crawling.

Moo Moo (named by our kids because she has spots like a cow, apparently), our outdoor kitty is extremely tolerant of Evelyn.  Evie will grab at her head and her body and pull Moo Moo toward herself and onto her lap.  The kitty just lets it happen and seems to even enjoy it.  Today Evelyn wanted to stand up and pet the kitty.  Actually she was trying to hold the kitty standing up, but JB was being a very good big brother and holding the weight of the kitty for her.  Evelyn was full of big cheesy grins as she had the kitty right where she wanted her.

A Snapshot off a Day Homeschooling (with two big ones and two little ones...)

This was Friday (yesterday).  This was a very relaxed homeschooling day.  Thursday, by contrast, Benaiah was at Mother's Day Out, which was motivating to get as much home school work done as we could without having to entertain him as well.  There were other motivators too, like Gloria and JB got to "spend" the 5 stars they earned at Walmart if we got done with enough time to go to Walmart before we picked up Benaiah.  Evelyn needed some attention on Thursday, but mostly played or slept, thankfully. 

The kids earn stars by doing something extra special, like being selfless and showing love to their siblings (something truly selfless and loving), or by using three "helpful" cards which they get by being helpful outside of their regular chores.  Their chores are feeding animals, making beds, helping Benaiah make his bed, etc.  Benaiah's chores are "let JB help you make your bed" (this is a challenge for him to "let" siblings do things for him) and a very general "help Mommy". 

Since the kids did their homeschooling really well and quick with a good attitude on Thursday, I gave them an extra treat and we got lunch at Braums before going to Walmart.  It was a good morning and early afternoon.  The rocky part was picking up Benaiah who was still asleep from his nap when I went to pick him up.  I didn't know how asleep he was because I couldn't see his face.  Gloria went over to him and tried to lift him up by his arm...big mistake.  This caused him to wake up on the WRONG side of the nap mat.  I had to carry him out of the church and plop him into a seat that wasn't "his" seat because it was easier than buckling him in the front than in the back.  He was still crying and I urged him to use words, but he just kept crying.  It wasn't until we got home and he had been screaming the whole way home that he said "I wanted to sit in the back!".  I'm not sure if that would've made a difference in the ride home, probably not.  I carried him in a football hold to his bed and struggled to take off his shoes and lay him in his bed.  He hit me, which doesn't happen very often, which brought on a very swift punishment.  After letting him cry in his bed for a while, he calmed down and just rested.  After about an hour of resting in his own bed, he was back to his Benny cheerful self.  Sometimes waking up a three-year-old in the middle of a deep sleep is like trying to take a fresh kill away from a lion!

Benaiah is not normally like that, although he is strong-willed and opinionated.  He's very passionate, intense, and likes having some sort of control (don't we all).  When he's in a good mood, he is very lovable and cute.  He brings many challenges, but also much joy.  Why do I always have stories about Benaiah?  Does this mean I'm neglecting the other kids?

JB has non-conventional ways of doing school work, as you can see in the above picture.  Many times the "preparation" gets to the point of totally distracting him from actually doing his school work.  Once I cut off the pillow pile-ing to the point where he is not falling of the pillows every 2 minutes, he usually gets to reading, with many reminders from Mommy to "keep reading".  His reading is really improving, especially since the program we are using has him read to himself before he reads out-loud to me.

Gloria is blossoming too.  She's doing all the same stuff as JB in terms of subjects, only her's is at a first grade level rather than a second grade level.  She's a very hard worker.  Her struggle is attitude sometimes and getting distracted when Benaiah is here with wanting to play with him, which is actually sometimes helpful so that I can get things done with JB or do household stuff.  Gloria loves horses.  I think horses are more of an attraction lately than being a princess, although she does still do her girly princess stuff.  I'm not sure what got into me, but I let her get "kid make-up" with her five stars, which I was afraid was going to mean that she looked like a painted girl all the time, but the kid make-up is actually very subtle and not able to be put on heavily (thank you makers of kid makeup!!!).  Mostly she likes getting "all dolled up" when I'm getting dressed up for something.  I take advantage of that by "grooming" her and doing her hair, which sometimes starts looking pretty disheveled. 

Now that I have let go of the "have to stick to a particular schedule" mindset this year (which is totally opposite from last year), I think God is helping me to find a balance, and we are all enjoying homeschooling a lot better now.

The main point of homeschooling, amidst the struggles, tantrums, distractions, and chaos, of which I constantly have to remind myself, is to be with my kids and have an influence on them that directs them toward God.  Academics are important, but more important is that they can make a Godly difference with their treasures being eternal rather than of this world.  That's still a struggle to keep that perspective homeschooling, but I'm learning that the more time I spend in God's presence, especially waking early in the morning before the kids get up, (and spending time with Max before he goes off to work) the more I can relax and enjoy schooling and not stress about "schedule" and "should do this or that".  God is guiding me, this I know.