Robot Man!

This has been the activity of choice for the past few days. A myriad of boxes all cut to size and assembled just so. I even found my favorite bread knife outside (apparently used to make the face/feet holes) For some reason, it never occured to me that they would have had to have had a sharp object to make the holes in the boxes...I just thought it was so cute and I ran to grab my camera! Then....I found the knife - bent beyond recognition. Reminder went out to ask before taking my things out the drawers. Thought about taking back allowance money. Not thrilled but..... replaceable, I thought. The pictures, however, ....priceless.

Final Season

The season of Music Man has come to an end.

I say "season" because even though the show ran only 2 weekends, we have been practicing since May. Learning the songs, the script, the dances, the backstage set changes....whew! My whole family got to be a part of the production - so we were all there together - through thick and thin! I bribed the kids about half way through the production with a full jar of gum balls ( they earn gum balls or lose them based on behavior and willingness to be helpful). In their minds - they couldn't see why we were doing this...why were we staying up there to all hours of the night learning stuff and going over it again and again? Why do we have to sing that song again and again? Why do they have to sit quietly on the front row of the church with a book to wait instead of flying paper airplanes off the balcony? Why did we put full make up and costumes on to do the show full out for an empty sanctuary? Why, Why, Why?

I soon realized that if I let that set in for too long, we might never reel them back in! So - I bribed them. Here was the deal. Usually it takes them about 8 weeks of hard work to earn them a full jar of gum balls ( it equates to $20 or a Nintendo DS game). Here they could earn a full jar in just the final 2 weeks of performances! But there was a catch - they could not have a bad attitude - not even once - or they would lose the whole jar. All or nothing.

It took a minute for that to sink in - but they finally got it. They kept repeating "all or nothing", "all or nothing".

I only had to remind one of them 1 time what was at stake (that child happened to be complaining of a stomach ache right in the middle of a performance and we were center stage - with the spotlight on us!) At the point it was time for us to make "fake talk" ...I turned to this child and made the threat through my teeth and bright red lipstick smile. I was pretty sure that he had just eaten too many "hot fries" chips in the dressing room. The same dressing room where his daddy monitored his intake.

So - thats all it took - and we were back in River City - back into character.

Our last performance was last night and today in the car it dawned on them.

"Mom?" Annah Grace asked...."Did we get a full gum ball jar?"

All I needed to do was reach my hand back to them and open it for a high five. After I received 2 little slaps on the hand, I pulled back to the front seat. Two little whispers...."yes! we did it!" came from the back. "Mom?" Annah Grace asked again. "I know why we really did it. We worked so hard to show people that our church is such a great place. To show that we love people with God's love so they will want to be near him in his house. "Yes, girl....you got it."

Sometimes they remember the bribe. Sometimes they just remember why.

Blessings of this new year!

Its been a good while since my last post...but good news! I got a new computer that will hopefully upload my efforts! So - this year, we started the adventure of homeschooling. What a blessing it has been! The kids are thriving and I love being in control of our schedule. We have been involved - as a Family -in a production of the "Music Man" through our church - Christ Chapel. It has been a wonderful experience...all of us up there til midnight practicing and then sleeping in til 10am the next morning! We couldn't keep that schedule up forever, but it sure has been fun for a season. This weekend is our last performance ....kind of sad. We hope to be involved in the next production.

Our weeks consist of math and grammer - walks and picnic lunches - science class, piano lessons, spanish and one to one appointments at the Mac store! Oh - and I dont want to forget baseball! Austin was named "player of the game" last game for his slide run at home and his fly ball catch in center field! Yea!

So - all in all - life is pretty good. I am feeling very blessed.

Fall Ball

We were surprised when we recieved the sign ups for Fall Baseball this year - Austin is moving up into the big leagues! His birthday is right before the cutoffs - so we did it...tryouts and all!
He got placed on a solid team with a very good group of dads/coaches. No one that we knew particularly, but we enjoyed the season with them. Games were sometimes 3 nights a week and with the new start of the school year, it was alot to balance.
We were right in that Austin was the youngest on the team...in fact, he was the ONLY 6year old plaing with a team of 7 and 8 year olds ( and against teams with 7 and 8 year olds!) We were so proud of how well he did. The coach put him about 6th in the batting line up because he would almost always make contact with the ball in some way ( and he's a lefty). He definitely was not one to hit it out of the park, and some of those kids do at that age ( its really amazing to watch!) But sometimes after the big hitters causing all of the outfield team to keep moving back a little -Austin would be a secret weapon - hitting mostly in the infied and a lot of times right down the 3rd baseline. It was like the other team did not know what to do and he would almost always get on base and 9 times out of 10 bring someone into home...rbi's were his specialty.
He focused well and cheered for his team mates. His mom and dad were proud of a job well done as the season came to an end. At the end of season party, his coach did a great job - brought each player up one by one and spoke of the highlights of the season for each child and why he loved having them on the team. Each kid beamed with confidence and afterwards got to pick from some baseball memorabilia the coach had brought for them. What a way to end a season.

And we're off to a New School Year!

So, the uploading process still is not working - but I will write anyway...just so I don't forget.
First day of school was wonderful. Annah Grace moved to the second flor of the building with the upper classmen - kind of a big deal! Austin got placed in our beloved teacher, Mrs. Eliasen's class with is four amazing friends. Christian, Aaron, Nathan and Austin are the fabulous four as they call them!
Our sweet friend Joshua had his first day at St. Paul and it was a success! We were happy to see him excited to join his new classroom.
Overall that day was great...but my kiddos were already whining about getting up the next morning. How quickly that excitment fades to reality!
As the year has progressed, we have met many challenges...especially with the level of expectation, the amount of homework, and the heavy testing weeks that 3rd grade has presented. I often feel I have another part time job, just trying to support AG as she keeps up with everything.
The kids have started taking piano lessons from our good friend, Katherine Sasser, ( or Mrs. Sassy as my kids like to refer to her!) Austin just finished up Fall Baseball ( which you will hear more about later) and we are approching basketball for both the kids....the fun and craziness continues! Go Team Lee!

For the first time in several months - I am trying to post pictures again! We'll see if it works.
To catch you up - I have to go back to August before school started. We were in the thick of the remodel - the floor company came in to scrape and refinish all the floors, so we had to be moved out...everything - furniture and all had to go. So we moved the house, packed our bags and headed for the mountains. On the way, we picked up our dear friends, the Madsens. Brian and Rodney are best friends from high school and still keep up with each other. Jackie, Rodneys wife and I have become close over the years as well. They have two wonderful boys, Evan and Tyler. They still live in Lubbock where Brian grew up, so we broke the trip in half and picked them up on our way to New Mexico. Brians family has a cabin there - Glorietta, actually..where his mom and her sisters spent most summers growing up.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous - such a change from an august summer in Texas! We actually wore jackets throughout the day most every day we were there. There is a pretty little lake on the campus and we fed the ducks ( and the fish) - we went paddle boating - and enjoyed the scenery.
One morning the dads left to go golfing and we stayed around the cabin to be adventurous! The kids worked on painting treasure boxes all morning to take with us on our nature walk. They had a blast and of course left there mark on the cabin when it was all said and done! ( Hopefully, Jackie and I cleaned up all the marks!) My kids had just seen Spiderwick Chronicles, so everything we found was a fairy or a goblin or something from one of their houses...so fun!
We played on the playground and ran up and down the paths...even when it started raining. It was so sweet to our kids connecting with our friends children. They had a ball!
We also went to Bandelier mountain where the indians carved dwellings into the sides of the cliffs. We climbed up huge ladders to discover their homes and how they lived so many years ago. Austin came home with a very loud drum made of animal skins and Annah Grace walked away with a sword made out of animal bones.
We all, of course, ate tons of great mexican food while taking in the beautiful weather and fantastic views...it is easy to know God and his wonders when you are at the cabin...they are so obvious!
Our friends headed back to Lubbock after a few days and then in came Brians sister, Jenny with her boyfriend, Andrew and Brians parents. Jenny and Andrew had just gotten engaged - so the wedding planning began immediately, of course! It was fun to spend time with them right after their special moment.
We drove home from this trip - thankful. Thankful that we had such good family and friends to spend time with, thankful for the cabin and the views, and thankful that we did not have to spend 2 weeks in a hotel right before school started. By the way - we drove in at 10pm tuesday night and school started at 8am the next morning! We squeezed the last vacation in just in the nick of time!

From the Mouth of a 9 Year Old!

Actually she was eight when she wrote this:
Today when I was cleaning out her room, I found 2 pieces of paper from her leftover school work. I thought I had put these in my keep folder, but somehow they escaped. Here is a recap of what I found:

"If I were president"...If I were president I would make sure that no one ever killed animals. I would not allow ars or fighting. I would make a law that every friday, we all got to eat cupcakes! I would make music for all the people.
Annah Grace

"Unicorn"...If I had a flying unicorn, would ride him to school and back. I would let all my friend pet him. I would also wish a chicken sandwhich for free!
(Insert beautiful picture of AG on the flying unicorn)

I have to say that laughter is pouring out of her this summer. She is truley a giggle box! She takes every opportunity to make you laugh or to laugh really hard at something you did or said ( making me feel like I am actually funny when I am really not!) Funny faces are the best laughter inducer, and we are very good at them ( Brian included!) I pray she keeps this laughter or ability to laugh forever. I have a sweet friend who knows how to laugh and make others around her laugh ( though she has a sweet thoughtful serious side to her too) and it is always fun to be around her. I think laughter is so attractive. Laughing at yourself is something I have had to learn later in life, but I think I would have been so much better off if I had learned it sooner. ( my mom actually said on many occassions, " you WILL learn to laugh at yourself if it hairlips you!) I am afraid I have actually repeated that line ( the hairlip part) once to my own children in a fury, but vowed never to do it again! Ag has even taught Austin to laugh a little at himself. He used to cross his arms and go off in a corner somewhere when he messed up or did something embarrassing...but he hasn't done that in a while. Not since this incredible laughter has overtaken our house.