Friday, August 31, 2012

Surfer Boy

Took the kids to the beach. Half way through I noticed that the camera was on the wrong setting. It made for some quite over exposed photos. ***sigh***




Free Haircuts... did I mention they were FREE?







For the month of August JCPenney gives children grades K-6th FREE haircuts. And as  you may have noticed in previous posts... my kids NEEDED to get their hair cut. You may have also noticed that Parker is in Kindergarten so he TOTALLY QUALIFIES. All I can say... I'm glad they were free. Not that I'm not grateful. And yes, I know Mason's hair is extremely hard to cut. And yes... he wanted a "surfer cut".... but his hair is even more crazy than before. And by crazy I mean... what-in-the-word did she do to your hair? Oh well. It will grow. Here are the after picks. And no, I didn't pick out their outfits today. They actually dressed themselves. Twinkies. 




Monday, August 27, 2012

School... day 1.


And so it begins.... today we started school. A third grader. A kindergartener. One overwhelmed mama. We'll get through this. We always do....  Can't wait to see what fun things are in the lesson plans. Oh wait. I write the plans? So I should know already? Hmmmm...

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Finished Products







You will never guess where we headed yesterday? No, it wasn't Jazzercise, although I could use a good workout. And it wasn't Pier1, although I would have looooved that. Yep, you guessed it... ToysRus. You see... both boys had received ToysRus giftcards for their birthdays. So, we waited for the "birthday high" to subside... and we pondered and analyzed just what we wanted. We went on the ToysRus website numerous times and finally, after much contemplating, decided we wanted more Legos. Not just any Legos... but NINJAGO Legos. Nothing else. Just Legos. **sigh** I have never. NEVER. Purchased so many Legos at one time. But the kids were in heaven. Lego heaven.

Thank  you Grandma and Grandpa Emery. The kids loved spending their "credit cards".









Monday, August 13, 2012


Aaahhhh ... it's Jimmy. Jimmy Hermens... my gramps. Just wanted to send out a quick "hello"... and let you know that we miss you and Wilma! Love you grandpa....

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Car Troubles

Aaaaahhh the Jeep is dying. A slow and painful death. Daily it leaves us stranded on the side of the road. Waiting. Waiting until it cools off so that we can add more water. The entire engine needs replaced. And no where in the budget do we have money to fix it. So. Maybe we'll sell it? But really... how much money can you get for a broken down Jeep Cherokee?

Are you wondering why we keep driving it? Because the Honda is in the shop. **sigh** The commute to town four to five days a week has not been nice to the 15 year old Accord.  She is not handling the wear and tear well. We have spent more money on vehicles this summer alone... than we have in the 10 years we've been married. Heck. We could of purchased a new vehicle had we known how much we would be spending. Oh well.

Now with an impending move lurking over our heads and the cost involved in renting a moving truck, first months rent, plus deposit... we are stuck. It's really quite suffocating.

But on the bright side. It has given me plenty to be thankful for! And it has given us yet another chance to rely on God and to see how he perfectly works everything out.

Consider it pure JOY, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. James 1:2

SW4 = Break Through

Swimming Week 4: Mason is done. He did well. We had only signed him up for one day a week. Just a little bit of a refresher course. I was hoping that they would have worked on  his stroke. But I guess that wasn't on the Tuesday Lesson Plans. He now has mastered a superman float and his back float. Plus he can go from the front to the back without sinking. So. I guess this is good. He did need to work on his kicks. I guess. So. Well. Hmmm. Hey! He was around other kids. He was being active. So I guess it wasn't a total loss.

Now. Onto The Parkster. Oh Parker. Little Park-a-lark. Little Buddy. The P to the J. He... I'm just going to say it... I may jinx the situation... but oh well. I do believe he had a break through. Let me paint the entire picture.

Yesterday after a long and grueling evening playing in the park with his little buddy Zeke... I threw him and Mason in the showerbath. (Yes, showerbath. The problem is, one likes baths (PJ) and the other likes showers (Mason)... and they like bathing together. I know... weird. So, they take a showerbath.) Last night I was summoned to the bathroom by a very excited 8 year old. (Really... when it's the bathroom... and someone is excited, I always get a little nervous.) Mason wanted to tell me that Parker had taken the shower challenge. Then Parker proceeds to put his full face/hair/ears/nose into the stream of water coming from the shower head. Mason then proclaims... "Parker is going under water tomorrow... he's ready!" I look over at PJ with his wide bright eyes... and he's grinning ear to ear... "yep!" I stop and think to myself ... well, we'll see about this!

Fast forward to today's swimming lessons. Park hops in, and lucky me, he's the only kid in his class. Extra one on one time. It's like a personal lesson! Sweet! He starts off by not doing bobs... but by dunking his little freckled face into the water 10 times. Which... last time I checked.. he would barely blow bubbles. The lesson continues and my kid is a champ. He jumped off the side of the pool over and over and over again. Each time going UNDER WATER! His instructor wanted him to jump in without holding the instructor's hands... at first we were a little hesitant and would only trust him if we were holding on with a single grip. Then before I knew it... the Parkster full on launches himself up and into the pool by himself. Did I mention he keeps going under water? I'm convinced if the child could touch the bottom of the pool... he would be swimming by now.

We even ended the lesson playing Ring Around the Rosie... and another first... we went under water with all the other little fish  children.

Whooo hooo... go Parker. Can't wait to see what tomorrow and Thursday hold!