Advice

For all the kids out there, if you are going to throw a beach ball on the roof make sure it is fully inflated.

The Little House

The Little House was my most favorite book when I was a kid. It still makes me happy when I read it.

I am preparing to leave my little house tomorrow. Please Gustav stay away from my little house.

He Likes His Hair Spiked!!

No gel required- just sweat!

Evacuating!!

We have decided to evacuate because of Gustav. We are going to leave tomorrow. Today I am trying to pack, wash all the dirty laundry, pick up all loose items outside that could become projectiles, return all library books, possible track down some sand bags for our back door, and clean house (I don't want to return to a dirty house).

We were really questioning if we should evacuate, as the storm may hit Louisiana and not even come to us. But Aaron can work in Dallas if he needs to. Also, we were worried about getting back for Aaron's classes at Lamar. But Lamar just called and they have cancelled classes through Tuesday, they hope to reopen Wednesday if possible. They are evacuating Lamar tonight.

So we will leave our sweet little house and be on the road to Dallas tomorrow. Can't wait to see the family!!

Luke's Drawing of Camryn

For Luke's "schoolwork" he had to draw a picture of a special friend. He drew this picture and said, "There, I drew Camryn."

Dear Husband

I am very proud of the husband, he is so close to finishing his degree. He is taking three upper level classes this semester. He had his first day of classes today at Lamar. His first class is at 8, but I didn't take his picture before he left since he is not a morning person. This was taken when he got home.

Look at Caleb- he looks just like his dad in this picture. :)

After I took the picture husband asked me if it would end up on my blog and I told him no, that my blog was about my life not his life. But really he is my life. So yes, it's on the blog.

Saddle Up and Read, Bookaroo!

Anyone who knows my Mom, knows how giving she is. At Co-op I was responsible for decorating a classroom. My Mom let me borrow a lot of goodies to use in the classroom. The rocking horse Dad made for Caleb is a big hit, too. We use this room for Literature, Writing, and Latin.

Thanks, Mom!

Homemade Tortillas

Tonight for dinner we had Taco Soup (Mom's recipe) and homemade tortillas. Tortillas are one of Caleb's favorite foods. I found this flour tortilla mix at HEB. So the boys and I made tortillas. The only problem we had was getting them thin enough. They were easy to cook, just 30 seconds on each side, on the griddle. They turned out really good. Even Aaron said they were good, and he knows tortillas, his grandmother from Mexico used to make him homemade tortillas when he was a boy.

Saving Money

I am on a quest to save money. (Don't mention the backpacks.) I came across this blog and I am going to try and implement some of her ideas. She is super frugal, uses coupons, and finds the best deals at all the stores. She says they only live off of half of their income. Wouldn't that be nice to do?

A Tale of Two Backpacks

Caleb needed a new backpack for school, so we went to the mall to find him one. I had a coupon to The Children's Place so I wanted to use that. Caleb found a backpack he really liked for $15, minus the 15% off coupon, that we purchased. I was feeling pretty good about this purchase.



Right after that we needed to go to HEB for some groceries. Beaumont has a huge HEB that sells just about everything. As soon as we walk in we see a display of backpacks. The first one Caleb sees is a Star Wars- Clones Wars backpack for $14.99. Caleb begged, "Please Mom can I get The Clone Wars backpack instead, we can return the other one." I thought okay, why not.

We get home and Caleb cuts the tags off of The Clone Wars backpack and he is trying it on, when Aaron walks out of his office. Caleb shows him the backpack, which he is so proud of- remember people we have a Star Wars obsession in our house right now, and Aaron asks, "Can Caleb take that backpack to school?" Our Co-op has a new strict dress code this year. Aaron doesn't think a storm trooper with a gun is going to fly. I wish I had thought of that at HEB. So Caleb wants to keep both backpacks and have one for school and the other for trips or where ever else he might need one. How did I get myself into spending $30 for backpacks that Caleb needs to use once a week?

Tonight PawPaw Garza took Caleb out to see The Clone Wars at the movie theater. Should we be feeding this Star Wars obsession?

What we're reading

For History we are reading The Last Safe House

and Old Yeller.

The book Caleb's class is reading for Literature is Shades of Gray by: Caroline Reeder. If you haven't read this book, we recommend it.

First Day of School

On Monday we had our first day of Co-op. The boys were up bright and early Monday and ready to go. Caleb had to bring his most favorite book with him and he brought The Boxcar Children.

Today we had our first day of school at home. At home we are doing Arithmetic, History, Physics (that is the science they are doing at Co-op), Handwriting, and Literature. The classes Caleb is taking at Co-op are Art, Music, Physics, History, Pre-Latin, Literature, and his most favorite P.E. This year for history we are studying American History from the Civil War to the present.

Each Mom at Co-op is assigned three teaching spots. The classes I am over are Pre-school Music, K-1st Music, and 3rd/4th Literature. For Music, preschool through 5th grade, we are working on a patriotic musical that we are going to present on Veteran's Day. We had a great start yesterday!

Grannie, I know you are waiting, pictures coming soon of the classrooms!

Star Wars

First came the Star Wars book.



Next came Star Wars Legos.

Then Caleb got to watch the original Star Wars movie with Aaron.

Then Light Sabers.

Caleb in full Jedi mode.

Luke as R2D2.

And that is the story on how Star Wars has taken over our house.

Luke got a haircut!

I gave Luke a haircut today. This is him before the haircut.


This is Luke when he realized I was going to cut his hair.

Here he is post haircut- all smiles.

Olympics Continued

Here is one of the crafts the kids made. It is an Olympic torch buggy thing.

Caleb as an ancient Olympian.

Luke as an ancient Olympian.

Luke as a future Olympian.


Caleb as a future Olympian. Did you know that TaeKwonDo is an Oympic sport? Hmmm.

The kids had such fun. They are enjoying watching the Olympics, too.

Cards

Tonight Aaron asked me if we had kept any of his old college books. I pulled out some old boxes to look for them. I didn't find the books, but I did find some other special things- cards. I have saved just about every card that has been given to me. Is that normal? Do other people save cards?

Here are some of my favorites:

8th, 9th, and 12th Birthday cards from Mom and Dad. I did love Strawberry Shortcake!





This card is from Julie.

Here is the inside. When I looked at this tonight, it made me laugh out loud.

Julie gave me this Great Sister Award for my 9th birthday. The date on it is 1985!!

Notice how Julie's handwriting has improved over the camp card.

So if you have sent me a card over my life, it is probably in my house somewhere. I have cards in my junk drawer, cards in boxes in the playroom, cards in drawers in my bedroom. I do love cards.

A great way to end the week!

Before Chase left, Caleb had to take him to Colorado Canyon.






PawPaw made two holes-in-one.

After Colorado Canyon everyone went to Novrozsky's and then by Rao's for desert. (Three places you must visit during a trip to Beaumont.)