Easter 2011

Our Easter weekend didn't go quite as planned. We were going to go to Houston Friday night and stay the night with my mom. Then go to Livingston Saturday morning for Eric's family's Easter get together. Then come back to my brother's house to visit with them and some other family that were coming into town. That all changed when Graham came into our room around 2am Thurs night (well, technically Fri morning). He'd thrown up all over his bed and then continued to throw up the rest of the night. Even though he was totally fine by Friday afternoon when we were planning on leaving, we knew we had to cancel our trip. We couldn't risk spreading those germs or having one of the other kids catch it while we were on the road. To try to ease some of the disapppointment, Eric took Natalie to the soccer training she was going to miss Friday night.



She loves soccer so much!



And I know I am totally biased, but she is really good at it too.



Then she was also able to go to her game on Saturday.



I took her to the game myself while Eric stayed home with the rest of the kids.


(in this pic she had just kicked the ball between the legs of the other player and was on her way around to go after it!)

After the game, I took her to lunch at IHOP, per her request. Then we did a little shopping and enjoyed a day together, just the two of us. She really liked getting that one on one attention.



When we woke up Sunday morning, the kids were all well and we thought we were in the clear with this tummy bug. They all opened their baskets and loved getting all dressed up for church.











While at church, Natalie started not feeling well. So we left pretty quickly after the service, picked up some fried chicken, and headed home. She got sick on the way home (thank goodness Eric thought enough to put the barf bucket we keep in the van in the back with her). After lunch, I sent Erica upstairs for a nap and not too long after that she got sick as well. So Eric and I spent the rest of the afternoon switching back and forth between our pukers and our well babies. I never got any pics of the kids all dressed up together in the Easter clothes, so as long as no one else gets sick today, I may try for that later this afternoon.

I say it's a good thing Easter isn't really about candy filled eggs, fancy Easter dresses, or ham dinners (which I totally forgot to make until the very last minute). My favorite part of Easter was the drive the church. We talked about what "He is Risen" meant. It was so heartwarming to hear my small children tell me about Christ's sacrifice and the miracle of his resurrection. That is what I will remember most about our Easter weekend.

Seven on the Seventh: What I Wanted to be When I Grew Up

It's the second installment of "Seven on the Seventh" over at Where the Child Things Are. This month the topic is, What I wanted to be when I grew up.

1. The earliest thing I can remember wanting to be is a "fairy princess". I don't know exactly what sparked my interest in this, but I think it's the obligatory little girl dream, don't you?

2. When I was in elementary school, I had this little fashion designer set. It had 3 sets of plates: one for heads/hair, one for tops, and one for bottoms. You put together the outfits you liked, then put a piece of paper over top, and used a crayon sideways held in this thing to rub over it to make the design. I LOVED that thing. That's when I wanted to be a fashion designer.

3. There was a point when I wanted to be a hair dresser. My best friend and I would play beauty shop for hours and hours.

4. In 5th grade, we took a field trip to Space Center Houston. After that I wanted to be an astronaut. I had friends who said they'd never be astronauts because what if the shuttle exploded, and they died. I said I wasn't scared of that because it would be so fast that I wouldn't feel it. What an odd thing to say at 11 years old.

5. I can't pinpoint an exact timeframe, but I know for awhile I wanted to be a singer/actress. I pretty much wanted to be like the Olsen Twins. Except I was just one person. But, you know, kind of the same thing. Glad that didn't work out exactly like I wanted haha.

6. When I was in high school and really trying to figure out what I wanted to be, I was kind of confused. I didn't even know of most occupations in the world. All I knew was school. All I could say was that I wanted to work in a building downtown, because that seemed important. So when I was a junior, I took "business" for an elective, thinking that would teach me about the important wear-a-suit-to-work-in-your-downtown-skyscraper-office business. Um, wrong. It was about real business. Like owning/running a business. Not what I wanted to do for sure!

7. Then when I really sat down and thought about it, I said, "I want a job where I can do algebra problems all day." That was the day I decided I wanted to be a jr. high/high school math teacher. And that is what I ultimately ended up going to school for. I still don't have a degree, but I have a heck of a lot of college credits toward one. I am still a teacher, but it will be a few years before we start algebra. ;)

Spring Bucket List Update

We're halfway through spring, so I thought it would be a good time to check-in on my Spring Bucket List and see how I've done so far.

Take pictures in the bluebonnets check
Send the kids out to play in the backyard more than once a week (if the weather allows) check
Take the kids to the park (this is something I used to do with Natalie and Erica all the time, but just get worn out at the thought of taking all 4)
Go to the Children's Museum
Go to the Zoo check

Not bad! You just saw our bluebonnet pics (the good, the bad, and the ugly). I've been sending the kids out to play almost everyday and it's been great. They get to run off some energy and use their imaginations (since they pointed out to me today that all our neighbors have playhouses/swing sets and we don't have anything fun in our yard). And I get to do the dishes or cook dinner without kids underfoot. I do keep Leah inside still if I'm not going to be out there, because we have a few steps down from the patio. And I took the kids to the zoo with some friends a few weeks ago. I will have to snag some of their pics to share because, of course, I forgot my camera. Or rather, I probably totally thought about bringing it, but decided against it, because keeping up with 4 kids is as much juggling as I usually want to do. But, one of my best friends has 4 kids herself and she always has her camera. So, I'm going to make an addition to my list...

Take pictures in the bluebonnets check
Send the kids out to play in the backyard more than once a week (if the weather allows) check
Take the kids to the park (this is something I used to do with Natalie and Erica all the time, but just get worn out at the thought of taking all 4)
Go to the Children's Museum
Go to the Zoo check
Bring my camera to more outings with the kids

So that leaves taking the kids to the park, and visiting the children's museum. Honestly, I have been wanting to take the kids to the park all week, but haven't done it. That will likely happen very soon. But, I don't think I'll be hitting up the children's museum on my own. I've talked to a couple different people about it, and because of the age difference between my kids, I'd be pulled 4 different ways and I just don't think I'm up for doing that by myself. If I have a group of friends planning a trip there, I may go that way. But otherwise, I'm out. So, I guess we'll see what happens.

Bluebonnets 2011

It's that time of year again! I absolutely LOVE the bluebonnets. Such a beautiful Texas tradition. And such an amazing example of God's creation. Unfortunately, they are just not as lush as they've been the past few years. Last year's blooms were fantastic! It has been so dry here lately though, that they are just barely hanging in there. But, I'll take it!











And now... for real life. As soon as we got there, I realized Leah had pulled out the ponytail in her hair. And it was no where to be found. So her hair was sticking straight up, and I didn't have anything else to put in it. The other girls had ponytails, but their ties were far too big for Leah's hair. So I was hoping for the best with her hair. Luckily I can edit the heck out of pictures and usually get something I am happy with.



She really looked like a troll doll.





Graham is generally a really happy kid. But for some reason, when I *want* him to smile and be happy, he turns completely emo.



It takes me acting a fool, making fart noises, and practically standing on my head to get any kind of positive reaction out of him.





And then there's these...



This next progression of pics really cracks me up.





"Oh no Mom! Leah's gonna get the flowers!"


"I'm having nothing to do with this!"


"Natalie, do something about Leah!"


"Fine, I'll go down there and take care of it myself. But I must keep smiling for the camera!"


"Ok, Erica. I'm here for moral support."


"Oh great, there goes Graham!"


"and his feet have left the ground"


"ok, Leah's getting up now. I think we're ok" as Graham reaches for a flower.


and picks it up...


Leah is gonna take care of it.


"Better luck next time, Graham!"


and we're done...

My kids want a pet.

They've actually been talking about wanting a pet for awhile, but it wasn't even on my radar. I have enough mouths to feed, poop to clean up, and whining to listen to without adding an animal to the mix thankyouverymuch. I always said that when LEAH was old enough to ask for a pet, then I'd *consider* it. But not before then. Absolutely not. And trust me, I am going to stand firm to that. BUT... some things lately have been softening my heart a little to the idea of one day having a family pet. Like for instance, today I was checking some of Natalie's schoolwork. It was talking about customs and told about a custom in Syria where they sit around a fire and then when it goes out they jump over the ashes and make a wish. Then it asked what your wish would be if you lived there. And Natalie wrote "to have a pet". Something about seeing it in writing made it more real. Then, I have friends posting A-DOR-A-BLE pics of their pets and it *almost* makes me want to run out and get a little cutie of our own. Almost. I mean, how can you resist these faces??

Jordan's Butter Ball, from Three Little Birds


Or MckMama's Roobii from MyCharmingKids

Ultimate Blog Party 2011

I am so excited to be participating in my first Ultimate Blog Party. I'd love to meet some new bloggy friends and maybe find a little more motivation to keep these entries coming! So let me do a little intro of myself.

My name is Amber. My husband Eric and I live in San Antonio, TX. We have 4 children: Natalie is 7, Erica is 5, Graham is 2, and Leah is 1. I am homeschooling Natalie in 2nd grade, and Erica in Pre-K. We are very involved in our church and have made some awesome friends there. I am the Creative Activities Coordinator for our MOPS group and I do music with the Puggles during Awanas. I started this blog as a way to document our day to day life. I have so many aspirations for this blog, but fall short constantly. I'm always looking for more motivation to make the time to blog more!