would you rather

You guys have gotten quiet ;) so it's time for a "would you rather"

Would you rather:
Have someone else to clean your house for the rest of your life OR
Never have to cook again?

I would want someone to clean my house. I don't mind cooking. Sometimes I don't feel like it, but overall, I don't mind.

SOme parts of cleaning house are not bad either, but if I had someone that would do it for me - oh yeah, I would let them :)

Here are 2 of the pictures of Matt's recent adventure into photography. Of course, the 3 are our little munchkins; and the cute little baby is my best friend Jen's baby - Isaac. Isaac has a cute big brother too, that I have some pics I want to post on here soon. Between my 3 and Malachi (Jen's 3 year old)) we STAY entertained :)

lost tooth

Lauren lost her first tooth, and she is so proud of it. :) I'm glad she's happy now, because that first night she cried and cried about it, wouldn't smile, etc.

Along with losing her first tooth, she also has her first crush. She is ONLY 6!! What are we gonna do?? The "lucky" (lol) boy is TWELVE years old!! Lauren doesn't just like him, she has talked ALL weekend about how she is going to m arry Noah. Tyler keeps screaming at her that she can't marry him because she is only 6. She just calmly keeps saying "I'm gonna marry Noah" Very similar to the "ballerina and baseball" scenario. Matt told Lauren "Well sweetie, Noah may not want to marry you (when you are older). She said "I am going to marry Noah". SO... there you have it - lost tooth, found husband - ROFL

some things don't change

I know they won't always be this close, but it so sweet to see Tyler and Lauren and the special bond they still have...

my babies are growing up

Lauren has her first loose tooth. In fact, it is pretty loose and should come out in a few days. This is kinda sad to me. I look forward to all the stages of them growing up, but it is sad that my babies are growing up SO quickly!! Will post pics when the tooth comes out.

also will post pics of her and tyler all cuddled up last night; they may fuss in the daytime, but look for each in other in their sleep to touch each other. I know that one day tbey will outgrow that too, but for now; I am happy that they are still still so close, :)


Madi continues to amaze me every day with how grown up she is becoming, and what a heart for God she has. She is only 9, but I look up to her in some ways. I remember what struggles I had with her when she was little... there is hope for Lauren yet :)

I thank God SOOO much for my family! For my husband who is my best friend, my hero, the love of my life; for my children who mean the world to me. I am blessed!!

no storms, no parties??

OK, I know you are going to think I am crazy. In fact, you are probably right :) But I want to know what's up with all the hurricanes and tropical storms heading away from us this year?? They all keep turning north into the Atlantic Ocean! Now, I don't want a category 4 hurricane to come right over us and cause major damage; I just like little hurricanes :) It is exciting and a bit scary at the same time, kinda like a roller coaster. We ALWAYS have hurricane parties - even if it is just a little tropical storm :) We buy LOTS of junkfood, and it doesn't matter how much you eat because it is a party, it doesn't count. Everyone is home together without anywhere to go. Sometimes (I like this) we lose electricity. Now... I don't like the being hot part - that's NO fun; but I LOVE that no one in my house can watch t.v. or play on the computer, or the Wii, etc. Now, I prob. would miss my computer, but I could deal with it. We have a closet full of board games we have bought during hurricanes from the past years; in fact when we moved recently I actually had to get rid of some of them we had so many. So basically, we eat junk food, play games together as a family, watch the weather outside - occasionally step outside to feel the wind blowing forcefully; watch the rain as it skims over the tops of the neighbors houses, etc. OK, once again - you may think I'm crazy; but to me this is FUN!! Now, hear me clearly; I don't want like 4 hurricanes in a row like we had 4 years ago... just 1 big tropical storm or small hurricane would be fine :) Maybe I could rent a bid industrial size fan, and put it outside by our palm trees, turn all the power off at the electric box (except the A/C), have Matt take a day off and have a hurricane drill. You know, you have to have fire drills, and tornado drills in school - I think we should have a hurricane drill; just to make sure we could effectively buy junk food, turn off all electrical toys, have uninterrupted family time, etc. Whatcha think?? I know it wouldn't work, but it would be fun :)

OK, I know I am always making analogies, but this kinda sticks out in my mind as I type this. I like hurricanes because the storm draws my family closer by taking all the distractions of life away. Perhaps that is why God sends us storms in life... to take our focus off of all the distractions around us, and have us turn our attention to him - to spend quality time with him, talk to him, listen to Him, and in the end - maybe even play a little with him, laugh a little... and almost always we come out of the storm closer to him, maybe tired from the stress of the storm - but glad we had the time with God, and feeling that it was worth it to have spent the time with Him. My family has been through several life storms lately, and I am thankful for the time we have spent with God and how much closer we ALL are to God after going through them.

Now, if we could just have 1 little storm with no damage, no injuries - just to have a hurricane party :) :)

homeschool question

Anyone got any suggestions about teaching estimation?? Madison has the HARDEST time understanding it. We did it last year in 3rd grade, and most days she ended up in tears and I ended up with a headache. Well, we are in our 4th week of homeschool this year with her in 4th grade, and wouldn't you know it - an entire unit on estimating - ARGH!!! She can add, subract, working well on multiplication - but she just can NOT do estimating.

Matt taught 1 semester of 5th grade before he started teaching Bible at the Christian school he teaches at, and he said that estimating was one of the hardest things for his class to understand.

To me, I don't get why it is so hard for them. Not that I am super smart, I am NOT... but I just don't see what is so hard about it. So I end up getting frustrated with her because I don't see why she can't understand what I am telling her/ showing her.

Any ideas??? I have her circle the number she is estimating to, and underline the # to the right, (the # she is looking at to see if she rounds up or stays the same), even with that, she doesn't get which # she is rounding to, or that 0's go after it.

She is doing REALLY well with everything else. Her reading and understanding what she read has gotten MUCH better this year!! She is LOVING history - I am SO glad we found the book we got, it is wonderful - we both enjoy it. And science is going great too. We are working on spelling, but no major challenges there. Math is definately not her strongest point to begin with; but she usually can somewhat understand it... but this estimating stuff is getting the best of both of us. I even thought about just skipping that section; but I do think it is important for her to learn. Part of me thinks, if she can add and subtract (which she can), then maybe estimating isn't that important; but then I think about how when I buy groceries I use estimation EVERY time, as I am going through the store, and when I am checking out to see how close I will be to my budget amount.

If anyone has any ideas, please share them!!