A picture's worth a thousand words

Mommy ironing. (I do a lot of this with sewing, cooking soup and baking pumpkin bread in the oven.)

Her attention to detail. There are ALWAYS 2 loafs of bread the recipe I follow that they love makes 2 loafs. Notice the camera right by Mommy on top of the pantry mine is never to far. I iron in the room right by our TV where my husband always sits and watches and where I can watch baby playing on the floor. AMAZING!!

Brother and sister in their beds reading. Detail teddy bears, blankets, open books, purse hanging off the bed.

Daddy watching TV, baby was on the floor playing.

Khloe loves pretend play. Most kids do but this girl could spend hours if I let her setting up a doll house, horse barn, pet shop, playhouse, tent you get it. For her 7th birthday she got a Calico Critter coup and camper. Fully stocked with all the camping fixings and a family of dogs just like ours. A Daddy, Mommy, Sister, brother and baby. It was/is the perfect toy for her. She spends hours setting up scenario's of what they are doing where they are going, who's doing what etc. Much to my surprise this is what I found one day set up in her room.

A pictures worth a thousand words. I loved that this was her take on our everyday life and more importantly she was right ;) This little dog family was US!

Young Writer

In her own words.

"Mustangs are wild horses. Cowboys trained mustangs to herd cattle. Another name for mustangs is Bronco."

She read she wrote. 2nd grade 2011

Of course we had some sentence restructuring to do on the last bit but all in all a great book report on Mustangs from her all about horses book.

A short report on Mustang horses by Khloe Brown

Hard at work...

You learn to read by reading things you love, right? So you must learn to love writing by writing about things you love, right? Well heres to hoping that that is true. And here's to hoping I teach grammar better than I use it in this blog ;) YIKES! Please don't judge or edit I don't have the time. (This blog is quick thoughts to remember) I often misuse everything and don't think I don't notice ;) I just don't care...

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Sophie at the patch

Beautiful Cinderella Pumpkins

Surrounded by pumpkins

Time to go someone is ready...someone is NOT

Caleb's face when he was told it was time to go, "Why?"

Caleb in the pile of pumpkins

Pia picking her pumpkin

Digging with the gang at the gravel pit, all kinds of fun :)

The crew outside of my favorite playhouse

Sweet Pia

Khloe selecting a pumpkin they love the tiny ones

fire escape

Can I have this house please????

Going to the patch!

Yay for fall, fall weather and Pumpkin Town! My favorite time of the year when holiday season starts, cold weather begins and basketball is right around the corner. Daddy had the day off from practice so to the pumpkin patch we went, to pick our pumpkins and have a lil fall fun! Here are a few of my favorite snap shots!

I can, I will, watch me...

I do not consider myself to be a competitive person by nature. I did not grow up playing sports and that is probably why I think this about myself...HOWEVER competition I have found comes in many forms only one form being athletic.

For me I am more of a self competitive person or if someone or something tells me I can't or I shouldn't or I couldn't it makes me all the more want to prove that I CAN! Not to them necessarily but to ME, my biggest competition...Me, my biggest critic. The ability to overcome my mind's doubt and put to silence the thoughts of I can't, shouldn't or couldn't to me is my greatest fete!

We can not always control the thoughts that fly in and out or of our minds and imaginations. The what if we try and fail's, the what if I do and they don't like its, the what if I trys and I cants. We CAN control however what we decide to cling to the thoughts we choose to hold on to, to dwell on. ( 2 Corinthians 10:5 we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.) The words we speak that will motivate us, uplift us and in the end wether by mans standards pass or fail lead us to a place of peace that we can live with knowing we gave it our all and have no regret.

I LOVE what my father taught me, that WE tell our bodies what to do, it does not tell us. (I beat my body and make it my slave. 1 Corinthians 9:27) Not physically beat but in a challenge my flesh will not beat my spirits will. That to me is self competition. Flesh vs. spirit, doubt/worry vs. hope, fear vs. faith. My flesh, doubt, worry and fear will not determine what I do in this life. My spirit, hope and faith will!

Men may doubt me, I may doubt me but I am a child of God, He knows me by name, the number of hairs on my head, He cares for me and everything concerning me. He loves me unconditionally, He moves mountains for me, He calms a stormy sea and makes way where there is no way. He believes I can, so I will. Watch me.

Phases of the Moon Homeschool fun

Teacher's Guide to phases of the Moon

Of course baby get's to play

Not feeling well but still hard at work!

New Moon Phase...Go Caleb

Added plate detail twine instead of ribbon

Had to bail just not feelin' up for it

So proud of his Moon Phases

His and Her's

Finished and labeled! So proud, so fun, so yummy!

Today we learned the Phases of Moon using Oreo cookies and yes after had a nice snack. Well Caleb and I did. Pia had hers during and Khloe wasn't feeling well :( Following my teachers guide we learned all about New, Full, Waxing and Waning Moon's it was pretty cool and tasty too! Here are the amigos hard at work on their versions of the Phases of the Moon!

8 years married,12 together, many more to come

Today Oct 11, 2011 I have been married to my sweetheart my Knight in Nikes for 8 years. We are celebrating by appetizers in and a movie. A typical night for us but celebrating our favorite way at home together!

I am a sucker for sentimental things something my husband appreciates but defiantly not his forte! I always like to go for a gift from the heart especially on occasions like anniversaries. This year my sister and I brainstormed and came up with an idea of an adventure map.

Moving has been a theme in our marriage from the beginning. We have lived together in 6 different houses in our 8 year marriage. I have a picture of every one of these houses yes everyone I told you I am sentimental!! I thought about doing something with these pictures but I got busted by Kyan on the computer organizing them so I had to come up with something else. I will OF COURSE use the house pictures another time!

Anyway the adventure map is a US map of where we came from and where we're going! I bought a paper map and with a different colored thread representing each person in our family I traced their line.

Kyan AK to AR to OK to AR to MO to OK

Suzanne OH to PA to OK to AR to MO to OK

Khloe AR to MO to OK

Caleb MO to OK

and Pia well her thread is yet to be determined :)

When or if we move threads will be added when kids go to college their thread will move, when the get married it may move again it is our adventure map! let's see where this life leads or has us stay! I'm in. Hand in hand we will go where we will stop no man knows...

My children speak and He hears them

Last night I woke up to Khloe screaming Momma I had a nightmare, Momma I had a nightmare!! I walked in and said honey it's ok Mommy's here what's wrong, what did you dream about? Before I could get another word out. Caleb from the bottom bunk said, "You will not walk in darkness, but in the spirit of light forever." Melt my half awake heart!

This means so much bc I am teaching them this week John 8:12 "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." He remembered this. I know because I taught him.

I took all three amigos in the laundry room and turned out the lights it's our darkest room. I had a flashlight and I started to read the verse. A life without Jesus is like walking around in the dark, lost and alone, blind then flicked the flashlight on but a life with Jesus the Bible say's is full of light and will never be dark. Because we have Jesus we have and are a light where ever we go. This little lesson stuck with him as I suspected it might. Today I was proud of my son, for speaking the word, proud of my daughter for receiving it and proud of myself for teaching it. It is one thing to memorize which they do well it is another thing to apply out of free will the things you are learning.

#proudparentmoment