Fossil Rim

During our camping trip to Glen Rose, we went to Fossil Rim. It is a really cool drive-thru wildlife center. I loved the giraffes! Even though they are wild animals, they were so comfortable with humans and have no qualms about sticking their head in your car. It was really fun!

Webkinz

Webkinz are stuffed animals that you can interact with online. Some of Carson's friends have them and he has been wanting one very much. We finally bought one for him and he LOVES it. He carries it around in a backpack that we bought for him while camping. He was so excited to show it to his friends. He is a horse and his name is Slidey.
We don't yet go online with Slidey since we feel that Carson is too young. I have told him that when he is old enough to read the Webkinz directions and website that he can interact online. He is happy just to hug him and carry him around anyway.

Cole's Anniversary

It has been eight years since we lost our sweet baby boy, Cole. Somedays it feels like a lifetime ago and somedays it feels like yesterday. Cole died when he was 8months and 13days old to a devastating disease called Spinal Muscualar Atrophy - SMA Type I. Mark and I have been through so much and we are so thankful for all three of our boys.
Tonight, we each tied a note to a balloon and let it go in memory of Cole. Carson was so excited and wrote a touching note to his big brother.
I put a few pictures of Cole below for you to see what a beautiful boy he was. The one with the party hat was his birthday party. I knew he wouldn't live to be 1years old, so I had a party marking his 1/2 year. We were lucky to have him for the time that we did.

Camping Trip

We finally had a chance to break out the new pop-up camper last week. We went to Dinosaur Valley State Park in GlenRose. It was such a beautiful park and since it is off-season, we had a lot of privacy.
Carson insisted on reading The Nutcracker Ballet during the entire trip. We brought some cool camping storybooks, but he wasn't interested. He really wants to go to the ballet when Christmas rolls around.
Anyway, the camping trip was fun and the camper was awesome. We were able to get the boys to sleep and have a little Mommy/Daddy time around the campfire. One night, a bold racoon decided to terrorize me. I kept trying to scare him away, but I was the one that was scared.

Camping Trip - part 2

Asleep

The boys wiggled into a funny position in their sleep and I just had to take their picture. Cameron didn't like the flash and squinted a little. Cameron is usually wearing clothes at night, but they didn't make it on him that night. He is usually cuddled up to me nursing to keep warm anyway.

Making a clock

Carson decided that he wanted to make a clock. I thought that a paper plate would work well. He was very focused while he worked and wrote his numbers.

Ducklings

Last week during our farm milk pickup, we saw a mama duck with her ducklings. This is in the middle of the city with no lake or pond around. Not really sure where they were going. I love that we are not over scheduled and have time to stop and see things like this everyday with my boys. The discussions that this stimulates are the kinds of things that you want to take your time with when talking to your children.

Playing with Uncles

Carson had a dental checkup last week. Our holistic dentist is in Fort Worth and since my parents and brothers live there, we decided to go a day early for a visit. Carson LOVED playing with his uncles.

Drum session/Swimming

At our preschool co-op last week, we went to Bobbi's house. She had really cool drums to play that the kids loved. It was such a fun and creative co-op. Afterwards, we went swimming in her pool. I love that she heated the pool the a 90 degrees - it was so comfortable!

Peek-a-boo Cameron

Coconut

Carson wanted to get a coconut to drink the coconut water. He loved hammering the eye and letting the coconut water drain. I told him that I would make him a coconut cream pie but he had other plans. He decided he wanted to make coconut milk so we ground up the meat and water to do that. He wanted to make a pudding and add the pulp to the top. It tasted alright, but he did not like the pulp on top. As you can imagine, this process took most of the day. He loves making up dessert recipes. Cameron was happy to be able to taste everything!

Popsicles

I made some rocket popsicles for the boys. I was sure to put ingredients in so that Cameron could enjoy them too. I used homemade yogurt, fruit and stevia. Carson had banana/blueberry and Cameron had mango/banana. Cameron was grabbing the popsicle instead of the handle and kept getting mad because his hand got cold.

Human Anatomy

Today during Cameron's nap, we put together a human anatomy puzzle. One side of the puzzle is skeletal and the other illustrates the major organs. Carson is pretty good with puzzles and this one was hard. After we put it together, we oulined his body on large brown paper. He drew a face on his body and soon we plan to draw his major organs. Like most things that we learn, this was unplanned. He really enjoyed seeing how big his body was on the paper.

Preschool Open Gym

We met up ith a few friends and went to a different gym today that has Wednesday open gym for 6yrs and under. They had a lot of great toys for little ones and Carson really liked it there. Unfortunately, there was a little boy that kept following him and harrassing him for about an hour before we left. He hit him numerous times and was telling him mean things. I told the mother about his behavior, but my words went on deaf ears. After ignoring and trying to get away from the boy (upon my insistance), Carson was fed up and retaliated by hitting the boy. The mother finally paid attention then and was angry and yelling at me and Carson. Well, she insisted that her boy doesn't hit ever and that I made it up. One thing I've learned about parenting is never claim that your child doesn't do X or does do X. Because they will make you a liar. There were definitely a few words exchanged. When she found out we homeschool, she said, "So that's why he's like that, he isn't socialized!" WHAT?! Where do people get their information? The headlines? Oh well, I used the situation as a teaching lesson for Carson that all different kinds of people make up this world and we have to learn to deal with them the best we can.

Cameron riding a bike!

We finally bought a tiny infant bike helmet for Cameron to ride on the back of our bike. Carson couldn't wait to ride with his brother! We finally got a chance to take him early this week. Cameron loved it. He cried whenever Mark stopped and laughed when he was going. The video shows him saying "Hi" and waving! I can't believe how fast he is growing.

Windy park day

We went out last Sunday to the park. We planned to stay for a while with bike, bread for ducks, picnic lunch and fishing gear. Unfortunatey, our trip was short since the wind was too strong. We had a chance to cast our lines a few times but we ate our lunch in the van. It seems all the same to Carson. A 10 minute fishing trip is just as exciting as a 3hour one!