Hide outs

From a VERY long time ago, but still super cute, we present the "Cabin Building" pictures.

We had been reading The Little House Series prior to these pictures, and spent many months after them building various forms of housing then breaking it all down and moving again.  Which is of course a good summary of The Little House Series as well.

Also in Frontier style, please note that the animals in the cabin are not cute little pets, but fierce, wild animals stealthily hunted down and awaiting a good gutting by Ma. 

Luci and Daniel didn't hunt any animals.  

Daniel, to this day, prefers to hunt Indians and bad guys and eat them instead.  

I think we will re-read the series next year.  

Hopefully before we meet any real Indians.

Boys' Play time

A Tent inside another Tent.

Every boy should have one.

Opening Day 2011

Baseball season began for this year's Marlins team this past Saturday.
Being the first Spring Season that we have played in our local baseball league, we had no idea exactly what our day had in store for us.

It all began with a 42 team parade, including floats, trailers, decorated trucks, fire trucks, police officers shutting down major streets, and 300 excited baseball players hurling candy at innocent bystanders! It continued with team introductions, singing the National Anthem, a speech by the Mayor and a ceremonial first pitch, and everyone's favorite spring words, "Play Ball!"

Peter just before heading out to the parade. Unfortunately we did not get any action shots of the game, but we did win, already equaling our total wins from last season!

The following comes from the victory party at the local Braum's!

Quote of the day - Peter on the way home states, "It sure is a good feeling being in the car after you win, isn't it Dad? I mean it is OK to lose, but a LOT more fun to win!"

Paying Attention?

In an effort to increase spiritual awareness and decrease paternal stress, and with the knowledge that a pea sized offering a sugary bliss would eventually be outgrown, I relented to the temptation to bribe my children into Gospel awareness.  They needn't explain concepts or expound upon parable implications, I simply asked for a word, a name, anything at all to show that they were paying attention, with the hope that genuine interest would eventually replace skittle driven ambitions.

What pleasure I felt with the success of my plan, when Peter leaned close to me during mass and whispered, despite his grinning from ear to ear, "I know what it was about, Mom!  I know!"

"It's about some guy who had ten leopards!"

He was later rewarded with a skittle and a discussion on leoprosy.

Rangers 10 - Marlins 1

So tonight was Peter's first game of coach pitch baseball! It was an exciting event and all had a good time. Being the head coach I was a little nervous as to what our first game entailed, considering we were up against last seasons first place team, the Rangers.

All of our kids played great, given that 7 of the 9 have never played organized baseball. Despite some untimely bathroom breaks, lots of overthrows, a ton of strikeouts, and an opponent that put 5 runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning, Peter, and the rest of the Marlins, gave it a valiant 5 inning effort, but came up just a few(9) runs short of a win.


Peter played catcher and really enjoyed being behind the plate. He did a great job and is starting to really grasp the concepts of the game.


The team was cheered on by the whole family, including some cousins who came out for the night. We look forward to a wonderful season and many more years to come of little league ball.
It was the first game of the first season for this budding little ball player, who when I tucked him into bed tonight and asked what he thought about baseball, he replied, "Dad, it was the funnest thing ever."

P.S. Peter went 2-3 with 2 singles and the teams only RBI. (Run Batted In for those non-baseball fans)

Well it happened.

As Jeremiah wrote,

this little guy is one year less little.

Somehow, this year the transition seems more fluid than others, the change in the current almost imperceptible. He still buries himself in a world of imaginative pillow case caves and aquatic themed top bunk landscapes. His best friend is still his little sister, who knew exactly what gift would make him bolt around the table with a giant thank you hug. His favorite part of the day is still making his littlest sister laugh. And as the current is seemingly unchanged, his favorite person to pester is still his over-reacting little brother.

He still takes thirty minutes to tell what could be said in five, because he has not lost his understanding that every detail is important. And all this, he still needs to relive with you while cuddled on the sofa.

I hope that the flow of this growing river will remain unaffected by the years of changing currents.

Is there a 7 year old in our family?

Tonight we celebrated our oldest turning 7. It is hard to believe that Jen and I have a 7 year old boy. We had an abbreviated birthday celebration, as just before we were to head to 5:30 Mass, our youngest decided she needed a brand new jar of apple sauce off the pantry shelf. A trip to the ER and 5 stitches in the palm of her hand later we were able to celebrate Peter's 7th birthday.

Opening cards and a few gifts with the help of some siblings and cousins.

Posing in front of one of the two soccer goals that will now ruin my beautiful grass with backyard matches!

Zoo

I recently had a Friday off of work and decided to take the older three kids to the Dallas Zoo. Luci and Little Momma got to stay home and take much needed naps. We had a great time with each other and enjoyed a beautiful day at the Zoo!

The favorite thing of the day, especially for Peter and myself, would be the following video.

We just happened to be in the reptile building during feeding time and saw three rattlesnakes and a Gaboon Viper enjoy a rat meal!

Watching the Rain

It can tame even the most wild at heart.

Fun in the Flowers

I(Jeremiah) am not a great writer, nor do I describe events well enough to make people laugh as they read them, like my wife. I can though, however, upload pictures after receiving threatening emails from family members! So here you go, enjoy!

Teeth

As modern parents, we have grown accustomed to the rigorous demands laid upon us by the milestone obsessed society in which we live, attested to by the three isles of scrap booking products at Hobby Lobby. Our shoulders are stronger from hours spent under the weight of a camera, our legs able to hold a squat for no less than 28 baby steps from any direction, and our ears' sensitivity peeked to the height of perceiving audible growth. Now, most of these demands I expected, and therefore joyfully accepted the role of development documenter.

So when the muscles in my arms tightened under the familiar weight of the camera yesterday, all to capture the loss of a tooth, I expected a similar milestone accomplished excitement that had accompanied so many others.



And yet, a tiny piece of my maternal heart seems to have been plucked out along with this whee little tooth. For the first time the flash of the camera was not recording what had become new in our child's life, but what had so long been there and was not any more.

Perhaps this is a little much for a tooth, even one watched for daily over six years ago, but in a tangible way, part of my first born's childhood was just out grown, and every day he is becoming more of a big boy.

Table Talk

We have "been in the habit of playing games" here recently, or so the saying goes.

We have enjoyed counting Cherries, suffered the ill timed slide of the 88th tile chute, and rejoiced with the Frosting Princes through many rainy days and after Christmas we have enjoyed the good fortune of expanding our collection to include a variety of checkers and Monopoly Jr., much to the mental relief of those regularly in charge of counting with the youngest cherry picker and candy hopper. With the expansion of our games has necessarily come the expansion of parental guidance in this budding community.

So, during a recent family competition, in an effort to cultivate an environment of cordial sportsmanship, in which all will prosper through the struggle for self mastery and competitive gain while sharing equally in the joyful success of all those competed against, and of course to subvert a developing alliance against the matriarchal figure of this developing community, I was forced to stop my oldest from enlightening his sister to a move of mutual interest in parental pawn annihilation, on the grounds of table talk, of course.

But my modest explanation of "table talk" was not enough for my six year old audience because, with absolute sincerity, he looked at me wide eyed, and with the hesitancy of the mildly confused, asked, "Can I just walk around the table then, and tell her?"

Happy Halloween

(wait, it's November already!)





This year on "All Halo's Eve," we were visited by a dragon,

St. Isabelle, princess of France,






St. George, disguised as a court jester, and

the Queen of Everything

who was battling mild dehydration during the entire photo shoot.





Yes, St. George, I told your secret.





During the evening, St. Isabelle, after years of cultivating her desires, finally enjoyed her long coveted horse ride, and, for 28 seconds she experienced the joy of a completely satisfied five year old girl.




In close pursuit was the fierce dragon, also experiencing a great deal of joy in his equestrian stole, although not possessing so coveted a previous desire.






St. George scoffed at all the nonsense, and used his perfectly good legs to walk the ten meters to the other side of the fenced enclosure.
His perfectly good legs, admittedly functional, were regrettably, not well covered as his chosen disguise was actually purchased for last year's jestering.





The evening culminated with the introduction of prehistoric into the Medieval, making the evening a particularly interesting historical treat, not excluding the baby bumble bee hovering above.


Unfortunately,
no one expected the giant hay bale spider to descend upon the posed menagerie so suddenly.

Earplugs Anyone?

Last weekend Jenny Lynn and Luci made a visit to Uncle Matty in Maryland, so I had to make due from Thursday at 2:30 pm, all the way until Sunday night. Luckily, a strategically placed call to some grandparents helped me get through the weekend with a little more ease.


On Sunday afternoon we made a trek out to the Alliance Air Show in Fort Worth. It was well worth the drive and Ganpa's money as the kids had fun, Ganpa and I had a blast, and Ganma worked on crowd control and toy airplane hunting.

The stroller seemed to be a sought after seat after the first hour.

Daniel enjoying some of the louder fighter jets!

Peter with his earplugs in.

The group inside a C-5 Cargo jet. It can hold 6 school buses.

The main attraction of the day. The Navy Blue Angels!

The most expensive attraction of the day!

Peter Pie Progress

Peter



Sometimes he thinks he's a mouse.






He's learning to make time.






He loves math.

School Days

School officially began for us last Monday, and was promptly interrupted by a much needed visit with Gia, Aunt Ju ju and cousins. And I was greatly relieved to see how well our school adapts to our life, because keeping that order in perspective is exactly why we homeschool right now!

I didn't have the presence of mind to "capture" their first moments of school this year, but here is a close second. They are "disguised" as... well, I am not sure even they had their stories straight.
Do you like Izzie Rue's crimped hair? She LOVED it.


Here is a picture of Peter working on one of our early reading works. He takes the small objects and uses the alphabet letters to spell the objects name. It is a favorite in the classroom. Unfortunately, small objects with three letter names are extremely difficult to locate, so if any one has a minature mop, rat, bed... you know what I want for Christmas.



This week, too, was disrupted, unfortunately by an unwelcome guest who brought with it a 102 fever and body aches. Thankfully his bags seem to be packed, as his unwilling host is back to bouncing off the furniture that so recently cradled him.
(This is how I found him after lunch yesterday. The umbrella is to shade him from the sun, and the blanket to shade him from the wind. He eventually fell asleep with both.)

We are looking forward to resuming class tomorrow, with or without distractions.