Water Balloon War

Yesterday as Connor and I were waiting on the return of the rest of our family, we decided to plan a surprise.  Cole has been asking to play with water balloons all summer and it was time.  So, Connor stretched them and I filled them.  We even made a trip to the store for some more since I popped half of the ones we had while filling them.  When they arrived home, the war was on.

The Ammunition

The Participants (with one sad Caleb who had already dropped several balloons accidentally)

First shots fired

 

And IT was on...

 

I'm not sure Caleb ever actually hit anyone with a balloon but he had fun

Connor would stand very close to Jason waiting to be hit

Jason got a little into it

 

And when we were down to the last balloon, everyone wanted to get wet

I think everyone won

 

And when I woke up this morning, my legs were sore and aching.  I thought "what in the world did I do."  Then, I remembered that I squatted for over an hour filling balloons and I'm about to turn 33.  That about sums it up.

Date Day with Connor

Yesterday Connor and I had an entire day to ourselves.  This rarely happens with any of the boys, but probably the least with Connor with him being the middle child (no, to my-middle-child-sister, he is not neglected or ignored ;0) ).  The funniest part of this whole thing was when we told Connor he was going to have an entire day with mommy.  Once he confirmed repeatedly it was only going to be him, he looked right at Cole and said "And YOU'RE not going."  He didn't care where we were going or even when, he was just so excited it was just going to be him and mommy. 

So, yesterday was the "date day", and Connor was the perfect gentleman.  He held the door for me, held my hand, and gave me lots of hugs and kisses.  We went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, Chuck E. Cheese for games, and Target for mommy.   Sometimes Connor gets lumped in with Cole as one of the "big boys." Watching him so enamored with Chuck E. yesterday and wanting to ride in the shopping cart, reminded me that he is still my little boy.  Then, last night we met some friends for dinner and Connor had his first soccer practice.  It was a perfect day.  He is such a sweetie!  I told the boys this will be become a regular thing and Caleb's turn is next.  I'm scared that date might be a little wild.  Here are a few pictures of Connor on our date,

 

 

Our School Year Begins...

... and with a bang.  We kicked off our first day of school yesterday here at home.  It was a long, but good day.  As usual, I was too scheduled.  I need routines, not schedules, yet I constantly make schedules for myself for some reason. Fortunately, I recognize this in myself quickly these days and already adjusted.  Today was more laid back and we had fun getting into our new curriculum. If you stop by our house these days, there is a good chance you will see books piled high on the coffee table.

Since a few have asked what we are using this year for curriculum, here is a list below.  While I consider this our family's curriculum, these are basically for Cole. Our younger two are invited to participate as much as they want.  Our choices were made through prayer and lots of research, and they are primarily influenced by the wonderful curriculum guide at simplycharlottemason.com .

• Genesis Through Deuteronomy & Ancient Egypt: A Family Study Handbook


• Exploring Creation through Astronomy & Nature Study


• Math-U-See Alpha


• Various Literature Books: My Father's Dragon, Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, Peter Pan, and others that are not coming to mind right now


• Continuing to work on reading skills through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and Pathway Readers


• Drawing with Children and Art with a Purpose

We are also doing Hymn/Worship Study, Poetry, Composer Study, Artist Study, Personal Development, Scripture Memory, and an introduction to Spanish, but I'm using various sources for these and not a set curriculum.

I am already excited about Jason getting involved. We are doing our Bible/History time before he heads to work in the morning. It is one of the beauties of homeschooling. Here's a little peek into this morning,

No Routines & Summer Adventures

If you have been reading my blog for any period of time, you know every summer I completely fall off the blogging wagon (if there is such a thing). I have learned something about myself that I probably already knew, but didn't want to own up to.  I need routines.  I crave routines.  My sanity wavers when there is no routine.  Moving causes the loss of all routine.  Summertime is notorious for having no routines. So, yes, I am a little crazy at the moment, but sanity is on the horizon.

There is much about summertime I do enjoy though.  While my routines might be turned upside-down, there is freedom with summer to do just about anything at anytime.  Plus, 3 of us (not me) have summertime birthdays, so Caleb, Cole, and Jason are a year older than probably the last time I posted.  Our summer has looked something like this,

Lots of Swimming * Seaworld * Disneyworld for Cole * DeeDee's House * Parties * New & Old Friends Visiting * Caleb's Birthday * Father's Day  * VBS * Lots of Nana & Papa * Western Days * ER Visit * 4th of July *  Houston * Youth Camp for me * Cole's Birthday * Farmer's Markets * Jason's Birthday * Date Night * Round Rock Express Games * Cousins *  Picking Watermelon at Mr. Alvin's *  Austin's Park & Pizza  * Bowling * Library * Movie Nights * Way too much Eating Out * Lots of Driving

And now I'm tired all over again. 

With the lack of my much needed routines comes the lack of picture-taking.  I seemed to only remember my camera about half the time during the summer fun.  Here are a few pictures of this crazy, fun, busy summer.

 

 
 

 

Seriously Good Sandwich & a Frappuccino

I was browsing some of my favorite food blogs recently and saw this recipe for Chicken Caesar Sandwiches that looked and sounded delicious.  Today, I remembered these sandwiches and decided to attempt to make them for lunch only I didn't have the recipe in front of me at the time nor did I have all of these ingredients.  So, I made up my own with what I had on hand. It was so good that I thought I would share,

Yummy Chicken Sandwich

2 chicken breasts

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Lemon

Garlic, 1 clove minced

Sandwich Rolls or Bread (I had some small sour dough sandwich rolls)

Caesar Dressing (bottled or homemade)

Lettuce

Sliced Tomato

Feta Cheese

I mixed up a few tablespoons of olive oil with sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and juice of one lemon.  Rub each chicken breasts down with this mixture.  Heat a grill pan.  Cook chicken breasts in grill pan until good and brown on both sides.  Push chicken to one side to finish cooking through.  While chicken is cooking, brush your bread or rolls with a mixture of olive oil and fresh garlic.  Put bread cut-side-down in the grill pan to toast.

Once chicken is cooked through and bread is toasted, slice your chicken breasts. Then, make your sandwich with sliced chicken breasts, romaine lettuce, sliced tomato, feta cheese, and Caesar dressing. This made 3 sandwiches. So yummy!

With the sandwich, I made a homemade frappuccino.  My friend Lisa posted the recipe for these Starbucks clones on her blog last week. I bought some of the syrups she mentioned and made a caramel one today.  It was so good and great for summer!  The only problem was I only had enough coffee to make one and I was nice enough to share with Jason.

Going to Church Versus Going to Worship

Early this past week, I started reading a book entitled Parenting in the Pew by Robbie Castleman. I'm about halfway through the book and so far it's absolutely fantastic. I am so glad some wonderful friends recommended this to me.

What has really stuck with more than any parenting issue from this book is something the author brought up early on.  The author asks "Are you going to church or are you going to worship?" I've been involved in church my entire life.  On Sundays, I know where I am going to be (of course, being married to a minister leaves even less wiggle room here ;) ), and I can honestly say that there are many times where I simply "go to church."  See going to church means it's something we are checking off our list for the week.  We go because it's the right thing to do or it's what we've always done.  We may enjoy going, enjoy the break from life, but if we are simply going to church most likely it's about us.  But worship is not about us.  It's about God.

Mrs. Castleman says it better than I ever can.

Worship is not a refueling to get us through another week. Worship is not a system of traditions built up over many years of congregational life until everyone feels comfortable.  Worship is not a time to unwind, relax, tune out or take a mental vacation.

Worship is not an hour of Christian entertainment.  It is not what makes us good people, faithful  Christians or successful parents.Worship is a surrender of our souls to God who is jealous for our attention, time, and love.  Worship is a challenge. (p.24)

The challenge of worship is to sense yourself more fully in God's presence, to sit at the feet of Jesus with the people of God, to anoint His head with the "oil of joy" (Hebrews 1:9), to bring Him a"sacrifice of praise" (Hebrews 13:15).  Worship means that for a time all else is set aside to be with Jesus, the Bridegroom of the church -- to be together with Him.  To be alive in His presence! (p.29)

Well, if that's the difference between going to church and going to worship, I want to go to worship. I know we use the two terms interchangeably most of the time and don't necessarily mean anything about it, but I think I might just start using "going to worship" for our Sunday mornings. It's so easy to get into the habit of Sundays mornings and to go through the motions.  As I type this early on a Sunday myself, I pray that I am more intentional about this day. We have the privilege to worship God every day of the week and are called to do so, but there's something special about Sundays when we can worship together with our brothers and sisters in Christ to give glory to our Almighty, Righteous, Glorious, Awesome, Risen King!

Menu Monday & Current Happenings

Well, it is definitely a sign that I've not been blogging much
lately when I go to login and cannot remember the password for our
blog. The camping trip was a success and lots of fun.  I will
try my best to post some pics this week.  I know you want to
know about the "s'nores" and "smarshmellows."

Today we ended up car shopping and were gone most of the
day.  We didn't set out to buy a car today, but happened on a
great deal and now own a "new-to-us" GMC Yukon.  The
best part is thanks to Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University we
will have no car payments. Woohoo!  We also own 2 vehicles again
which is going to be very nice, though after sharing one for almost 2
years I feel a little spoiled owning two.  

I have had no time to plan a menu for this week, and the best part
of posting these on the blog is that it's holds me accountable to
getting it done (well, sometimes).  Menu planning doesn't take
me too long these days unless I'm in the mood to browse cookbooks. 
Without further rambling, here's our menu for this week,

• Spaghetti, Marinara, Italian
  Chicken Sausage, Green
  Beans with Bread Crumbs, French Bread




• Carne Asada, Black Beans, Yellow Rice, Guacamole, Sopapilla
  Cheesecake



• Sloppy Joes, Baked Fries, Carrots, Fruit Salad


• Grilled Chicken, Quinoa, Salad