Newest Family Member - Rico Suave

 

The boys have been asking for a dog for years. Here is our newest family member, "Rico Suave". We rescued him from the Plano Animal Shelter. He's a ball of energy! He loves kids and is so good with the boys.

Art Co-op - Sculptures

Haven't posted in so long, but here I go..

Today was our bi-monthly art co-op. The boys (along with their friends) made clay animal sculptures. They cured in the oven and then they painted them. Cameron made a baby emperor penguin (no surprise here). My friend, Rebecca caught us in a moment of concentration while I guided Cameron through a moment of frustration when his painting wasn't going exactly like he wanted and he was on the brink of tears. A few moments later, he was back on track.

Homemade granola

Cameron helped me to make homemade granola yesterday.  They just ate it for breakfast and YUM! It turned out great.

Fun with family

I took the boys West last weekend to visit family and we had a lot of fun.  The first night, we stayed with my parents and had a nice visit and the next day we headed to Uncle Chuckie's.  The boys really enjoyed playing with their niece. She's getting so big! Time spent with family is always time well spent!

Marathon Support

Two awesome friends (and fellow homeschoolers) ran a full marathon last week. I made some signs to show our support and the boys and I went out to cheer them on.  I am so very proud of all their hard work and couldn't ask for two better people to know and call great friends.  So inspiring!

Adopt A Family

When I volunteered to be the collector and coordinator for the Adopt a Family program this year, I started to regret it when I realized the time and effort it took. Collecting donations can be so overwhelming!  Now that it is finished and I have turned in the load, I feel confidant the I made the right decision in sticking with it.  A single mother and her two children that have virtually nothing and ran from a violent situation will now have some household essentials.  The kids wish lists have mostly been met and I feel so happy to have made it happen along with the help of my 2 cute elves!

Galleria Ice Skating

Feels more like Christmastime after spending time ice skating at the Galleria.

Gingerbread houses

The boys and I had a lot of fun getting creative with gingerbread houses yesterday.

Polar Express

We had a few friends over this week for a Polar Express party.  I made a hot cocoa bar, the kids made crafts and we watched the motion picture. I even made each child a party favor which was a laminated Polar Express ticket that I attached little bells to.  They were so sweet and were delighted they can still hear the bell. It was so fun!

Purple Belts!

I'm so proud of my new purple belts!

Dallas First Book

Another homeschool mom organized an awesome event that we were privileged to be a part of.  Together, we collected 300 brand new early-reader books. We presented the gift of new books to a special group of preschoolers from the Headstart program.

Before they made their book selections, sweet Carson read a story to the children. They were so cute! I loved the look on their excited faces when they made their book selections.

Halloween at Hogwarts

Halloween fell on our Thursday co-op this year and we cut classes a little short to enjoy our Hogwarts inspired party.  Carson's choir class performed a few Harry Potter songs to kick off the party.  It was SO much fun.  I am excited to be in this co-op with some really incredible families that we love to spend time. The other moms, with their attention to details make every Thursday so much fun.

Double the boys..Double the fun

We had two extra boys with us last week for an overnight visit. I happened to have our last softball game of the season that night, so I took all boys with me. It paid off, because with their luck, we won the championship!
The next day was the day before Halloween, so we did some fun activities. I took the boys to a Halloween puppet show, took a stroll in the rain to the park, watched a Halloween movie and we made mommy dogs for dinner. Of course, the day was sprinkled with plenty of Minecraft.