Life with my Cowboys

 Somehow, I turned these four shirts into some quick Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costumes for Halloween this year! We went to three houses (kids still don't really care for trick or treating) and spent most of our time at our church's s'mores roast at our friend's house around the corner. Instead of our usual dinner at the pizzeria, we went to the coffeeshop since the pizza place was packed due to a haunted house next door. Hubbie and I are going to be making costumes again for Froggy and Monkey's birthdays next year since they're both going to have TMNT birthdays and we're all going to dress up! I'm planning on making actual costumes instead of haphazardly sewn pajama style costumes. Still going to use our roaster pan shields, I LOVED those (thank you Pinterest!). Can't wait to see what we come up with next year!

It has been a long time since I've done one of my "day in the life" posts, so I thought I would take a TON of pictures and instead of doing the timeline thing like I used to do, just tell you about what we did. This is all from October 22, one of the first days that I started using play breaks in between each work box or activity that we do during the day instead of play breaks in between every three work boxes. It has worked SO much better! All right, on to the day! We didn't do our calendar notebook or Raising Rock Star Verses this day and instead jumped to work box two which is All About Reading level 1. I had some worksheets that went along with our review, so instead of using flash cards we did a cut and paste activity. We're reading through the Bob Books and using the printable packs to go along with those. We practiced our -At family words, read some books, then had a play break! Monkey wanted to make a map with lots of treasure hidden, I LOVE t

 Another lovely week using Weaver! We talked about how our lives need to be built on the rock of Jesus, read Luke 14:27-35 and used paper houses on dirt and rock as our illustration. Also read Matt. 5:14 and used a candle hidden in a room as an illustration.  We built towers for Luke 14:27-35 and talked about the foolish builder who wasn't able to complete his tower. We discussed how we need to live all for Jesus, and not partially.  Monkey has been enjoying making books to read. I've been printing out black and white easy readers for him to color, cut, staple, and read- he LOVES this! At the end of the week, he reads them to daddy! Part of this unit was reviewing rocks, we have a growing rock collection, but decided to add to it, going on rock hunts wherever we go. We read our favorite science readers about rocks and observed our own rock collection. We also reviewed the rock cycle.  Hubbie took the kids and surprised me with MUSTACHES! I've been wanting to

 We have this awesome bike shop in town that hosts a Slow Spokes ride once a month. For the month of October, we all dressed up as cowboys, except for Little Bear, he was a skeleton. I thinks it's great doing things as a family, but even better when it's something not only that we all love to do, but is healthy for our bodies too! This month, we're going to ride in honor of Movember! Stay tuned!

We try to date at least once a week. Even if it's going to the grocery store without kids, or a friend's birthday party without kids. The point is, adult time, adult conversations, and sans kids! We do have Little Bear with us most of the time, but he doesn't really require the same amount of please-sit-still-and-let-mommy-and-daddy-have-a-conversation that the older two have. Point is, I think it's important to have time alone with your spouse, regardless of if you have kids or not. Getting out, dressing up (I normally don't wear makeup!) and dating your spouse just like you did before you were married in vital for a healthy relationship. Never stop trying to impress your spouse, don't become complacent, put in that extra effort! It's amazing how much better our relationship is when we get to date, talk, and be ourselves instead of solely "mommy and daddy" (I LOVE being mommy, but I do need to be a wife too!). Right now, it has been a coup

How ironic is it that we used to ride our bikes from the opposite side of town to enjoy the park we now live right down the street from?

Our new house has a creek that runs behind and to one side. Mosquitos are an unfortunate effect of this aspect of our new residence and because of them, we spent many dear summer days avoiding the great outdoors once our bug repellant ran out [at least at our own house, we did venture out elsewhere often]. Now, with cooler temperatures finally putting a dent in their insanely dense population, we have been spending many a day with the door wide open, children coming and going as they please, the fresh air infused with wonderful undertones of decaying plant matter filling our home [don't judge, you know you enjoy the smell too, and that is the cause of that wonderful aroma]. I love this time of year. In the morning I'm first awakened by squirrels jumping on the roof, and sweet gum seeds falling from the trees. I enjoy watching the leaves fall as I sit at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and trying to mute the sounds of yelling children. Afternoons are spent listening to

The world can keep their money... ... it isn't worth missing out on any of this!