Boy's haircuts/Room Rearranging

Vote in the comments section whether you prefer their hair long or short. The house is divided at this point....




We no longer could all fit around the kitchen table, so we moved the bookshelves out of the dining room, into the living room, the computer desk/printer into the family room (no picture) and the kitchen table into the dining room. We still have one bookshelf and a small hutch in there (that picture to follow, blogger would only allow so many pictures to be posted at once). Then we got a new small bistro-type table for the kitchen. The kids call it the "game" table, as it's the perfect size to play chess, checkers and other games.

cake close ups

Duff (from "Ace of Cakes") has nothin' on these girls! Didn't they do a great job?

Happy 9th Birthday!

You know it's been a good day when the birthday boy is getting tucked into bed at night and says, "this is the best birthday of my whole, entire life." (all 9 years)
His littlest brother loves the parrot.

The oldest sisters made the cake. Isn't it cool? I'll have to see if I can find a close up.

Friends, creations, new phases

Look who's in big boy pants! I really think if we stayed home for a week, P. would be mostly potty trained. He definitely prefers it at this point. We got a new kitchen table set that came with 2 chairs and while K. was busy assembling it, O. made this lovely creation that looks like a wedding cake. This was all right before we had our pool party for 40 people, 2 of whom were our good friends, seen here: JoJo with M at the computer (but don't DARE call them boyfriend/girlfriend) and Levi with P. They were born a day apart. I just love the expression on P's face in the bathtub because it captures his true feelings for his older brother. Complete and utter adoration. He heard R. on the phone with his brother once, calling him "bro" so now you can hear these two youngest calling out to each other, "hey bro!"

New Glasses

I'm guessing that perhaps for the first time (maybe ever?) my sister and I have different frames. I wore them all day yesterday, but had a headache and was dizzy most of the day. I'm hoping that won't happen every time I wear them.

Lizards are not our thing.

Today we had a little encounter with a friend who none of us like. His name was Mr. lizard. ewwww. None of us like lizards, so we trapped this little guy in the laundry room and called some friends over to help us.

Cute Baby and Summer days

This little cutie doesn't ever get attention as you can tell. P will sit at the table for quite a while and play with his little peg set.

Company and Cooking

Last week was an especially busy one for us in the hospitality department. We invited many people whose dad's were away on business, or had moved to another city and were waiting for their house to sell, or who wanted to come over because we had a pool (all scenarios which we are all too familiar with). One other person wanted to come to ask homeschool questions, and have me show them around Florida Virtual School's website. While on the computer with her, Peter climbed into my lap, but couldn't get comfortable, so I put him down and told him to go lay down and I would be right there to read him a book. When we turned around exactly 1 minute later, this is what we saw on the rug behind us.
Every store has fresh peaches lining the produce department now, and N. is in the cooking mode. Here, he was de-pitting and peeling peaches in preparation of a new peach cobbler recipe.
It's supposed to be peach crisp with maple cream sauce (which was really tasty) but it didn't get real crunchy, and we decided for the extra amount of work, we really like our simple recipe from Mimi. What fresh produce are YOU enjoying?

She's home!

The littles made confetti to welcome K. home-they were so excited to see her. It was the longest she had ever been away.
H. made a special dessert, Chocolate trifle (with a little bit of help from Mom) to celebrate her homecoming. We love having a big family.

Poolside reading

O. got her hair trimmed too, I forgot to mention the other day because I didn't have a picture. She made sure I had one today :) (note to self: get closet doors for their room before the next self-picture taking session).
Yesterday I did something I haven't done since we moved here 3 years ago. I sat by the pool and read while the kids swam. P. was very content to play w/kitchen stuff in his little pool, while the bigs had a rousing game of "let's-see-how-long-we-can-keep-the-beach-ball-in-the-air-without-it-hitting-the-water" (one of my favorite games). I browsed briefly through the Plow and Hearth catalog that came in the mail, even though we don't utilize a plow or a hearth, and I read another chapter of "To Kill a Mockingbird." Apparently considered classic high school reading, I had never even heard of it until I started homeschooling. It's recommended for K. to read this year so I thought I would read it first.

off to visit with the 1st of our group of guest swimmers today. stay cool!

mid July miscellany

Self-potrait of H's new haircut (she got about 6" off). Doesn't it look cute?
Curious Silly George. He really does act like him sometimes. We caught him pulling out the large drawers in the kitchen last night, and using them like stairs to climb onto the counter and start rearranging the spices. He was having a grand time.
We're currently on a Beatrix Potter kick after watching "Miss Potter." This book (which M. has asked to be read to him more than once a day for the past week) is called, "My Dear Noel: The Story of a Letter from Beatrix Potter," and tells the story of the origin of the Tale of Peter Rabbit. I had forgotten what delightful stories these are for the young ones. M. enjoys reminding P. when he gets in trouble (like for using drawers as step stools to stand on counters and get in forbidden cabinets), "Petah--mom said don't go in Mr. McGregor's garden!" and then tells him he has to go to bed with tea instead of getting blackberries for supper. Of course P. doesn't understand what any of that has to do with climbing, but I think it's an incredibly intelligent transfer of thought for a 4 year old.
This is the kid who flies under the radar too often, and doesn't get his picture posted often enough. Here, he was filling ice cube trays, and sticking army men in them so he could launch them into the pool with his slingshot after they were frozen. The water temp is hovering around 86*, so they didn't stay frozen long. But it was fun retrieving them!

Horses and the GOP

This picture was taken last fall. Our neighbor, and friend, Ann-Fraser brought her horse over for the kids to each get a turn riding. P. sure didn't know what to think. Doesn't K. look long? She's at camp in San Antonio this week, say a prayer if you think of it.
This was back in March, what our two potential politicians looked like as they went to "work" each day. N. has definately passed H. in the height department since then.

The Big Boy Bed

First, P learned how to climb out of his crib. We switched him to the pack-n-play. That worked for a month, until we went to NC. Tonight, he decided that if he could climb out of it at cousins, why not at home? Hence, we've decided to do the big boy bed ceremony. When I took the first picture, I asked, "are you sleeping?" which is why he's covering his eyes, and trying not to smile.
But, he couldn't contain his excitement (until he tried to stand up real fast and hit his head) and has since been trying to hang by the wooden cross beams. It may be a long night....

N. is off to the ortho. to see if he's ready for braces. We're going to try and put it on hold until one of the girls gets theirs off. K. goes for a recheck. Happy Monday!

H, P and Amanda and Sierra

The Dad was throwing balls to the kids, and they would jump in over the deep end, trying to time their jumps just right (except the baby who really just wanted to see himself in the camera).

O and Alyson

It's July!

We've gone much too long without posting, our apologies. This is what we're doing today---church, friends over to swim, and a parent meeting for the high school missions trip coming up Friday. What are YOU up to today?

Sweet Baby

We had fun at the park today. It was nap time, and I enjoyed a rare moment of cuddling. Couldn't you just sop him up with a biscuit?

Now and then

A special Flashback Friday sequence. Do you think they look much different? They don't act much different at all. Notice in the "then" picture, N. is the only one wearing shoes. It wasn't any different today. The girls are all wearing no shoes, but N. decided (yes, at 13 years old) that he didn't want to have his shoes off for the pic. What's up with that?

Original Art

Can you guess what it is? I'll give you a hint. It's a famous monument given to America by France. Yep-the Statue of Liberty as seen from inside a computer. We finally got rid of our first computer in our city's "cash for trash" program (they gave us $5 off our ridiculous electric bill). However, Dad Ru, being the conservative that he is, didn't want the memory going down with it (you never know who will go dumpster diving in the city dump. ew.) So, he took the memory part out, and told the kids to have at it. They had a great time. I think in all, it was smashed into about a bijillion pieces, and what was left, O. made into this masterpiece using hot glue. Who told her she could get old enough to use a hot glue gun by herself? Pretty inspirational anyway. Maybe she and her like-aged cousins could open an art school. Doesn't that sound like Lea and Sar would enjoy?

Ru cousins

Here's a picture of Stefan, Gloria's youngest. Yes, he's in Iraq (how did he get that old that fast?) If you think of it, pray for him. He's not walking with the Lord at this time, but knows Who is in charge. I wonder if his sleeping roomate knew this picture was being taken? They are not allowed to take pic's outside. At least not where he is at this time.

flashback friday

For some reason, I can't upload the flashback photos sent by you and Jerry, Mom. So, here's one K. had uploaded to her MySpace. We're off to teach co-op at the park this morning until this afternoon, and then I'll spend more time trying to figure out how to post the other pic's.