October...oh we love October here. Not because of Halloween but because October brings with it our annual trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival.

The Texas Renaissance Festival is the largest in the state and I believe the country. It is HUGE!! We took my mom with us this year and met up with my sister, Tammy her hubby and 2 of their kiddos. Not only is this a big thing because our boys get to travel back to the days of jousting, dancing, merriment but also because this is an excuse to meet up with their cousins and spend the whole day playing games and eating turkey legs!

The boys favorite show is the Ded Bob Show. It is a MUST see. We also like The Mud Show. Yes you heard it right...an entire show out of mud. It's great, just trust me on it. We also love Birds of Prey. Amazing birds that soar right over the top of your head.

Another plus is the food.....ahh the food. Turkey Legs, Sausage on a Stick, Jerky, Fried Alligator, Fried Shrimp, Deed Fried PB&J Sandwhiches...Mmmmm **drool**

The shopping is pretty darn good too. My mom, sister and I can do some major damage in the shops there. Madeline got her first Fairy wings, the boys bought necklaces from the coin mint, my nephew Cameron got another wand for his collection and Isaac was armed with his first wooden sword. The kids were blissful. There were games galore, mazes, rides, you name it...it was there.  Here are some pictures of our adventures. Enjoy!!

P.S. If your ever in or around Plantersville (halfway between College Station and Houston) in the months of October / November the Texas Renaissance Festival is a MUST SEE!!!

Aargh me mateys!

The kiddos

Riding on the Swings

Birds of prey

Madeline gets her Fairy Wings

The boys and INothing comes between Dustin and his turkey leg!!!!

In our ongoing struggle to have our washing machine and / or dryer last us at least a year...we have yet found ourselves in need. Luckily God sent us some angels to help and we found ourselves with a brand new, warranty infused Kennmore washing machine from Sears.

As Chris and my dad took the machine out of it's HUGE box, you could see the wheels of imagination begin to spin in each of the boys heads. There they were, heads together, contemplating their next move for The Box. Would it be a train? No. Spaceship? No. Race car? No. Army Bunker? YES!!!! They immediatly got to work cutting out gun turrets, formulating a plan of attack. They were off to hunt for terrorists. They drew maps, decked themselves out in their paintball gear, and even recruited our kitten, Stimpy, as lookout!! Try doing that in public school!!

Boy did they have a great time with the box and were both sad when it met it's unfortunate demise and had to be taken outside to the curb. Chris and I are talking about getting a new refrigerator with our tax return, the boys are already making plans for The Box again!

I can't believe that our precious little girl is already 3 weeks old! Time is flying by now. Everyday she grows and looking back at the pictures from the day she was born, she's changed so much.

She has brought so much joy to our family. Her brothers are completely wrapped around her little finger. Chris loves to snuggle her and I can sit and stare at her for hours. Her baptism is next weekend. I can't wait to bring her formally into the Church.

I thought I would post some pictures of her from the past 3 weeks. Mainly because her Aunt Mimi (and Godmother) over at Pathway to Heaven wants to see more pictures of her, but also to share her with all of you here!

Modeling her Princess Dress

Snuggling her Daddy

Hanging out with her Brothers

Modeling 2 of her many bows

We had an interesting first lesson in Art today. Frustration. We discussed how all artists, even famous ones like Monet, Michelangelo, etc... got frustrated. We always strive for perfection but oftentimes get lost on the little imperfections along the way. The boys learned that you should always "stick it out" when you get frustrated with something. We even talked about an artist that was rendered paralized from the neck down in a car accident. She turned her frustration and anger into a positive by re-teaching herself how to paint and draw using only her mouth.

Our assignment today was to recreate a butterfly picture using only our mouths. The boys were a little clumsy at this on their first attempts but they finally got a rythmn down and their pictures came out rather well. Here they are in action...

Our precious daughter is here!

Madeline Paige Buckbee was born on August 19, 2008 at 1:41pm.

She weighed 6 lbs 5 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.

She is so completely beautiful. She looks like a mini version of her daddy! Her two big brothers simply adore her! I can't stop thanking God for this miracle he gave to us. Life just can't get much better. Her arrival was worth the 8 years it took to get her here.

Chris and I want to thank everyone who cried, celebrated, and prayed for us during this journey. It has mean't so much to us. Thank you!

OK. Only a homeschool mom would be excited about shopping for school supplies! I have come to this realization while tackling the aisles of Walmart this past week. All the children and quite a few parents were standing there with their school issued supply list grumbling about why they needed certain items. Others were on hands and knees digging through piles of discarded folders and spiral notebooks trying to find certain styles or brands. Then I walked in..homemade supply list in hand, happy to be out of the house (more on that in a minute). I got some pretty strange looks as I packed in 60 spiral notebooks or 40 pocket folders with brads. I think these parents wondered if I was insane as I passed up the "school required" 5 pack of kleenex tissue and grabbed 6 boxes of markers and map pencils. I also passed up the fancy "Trapper Keepers", locks, backpacks, etc.. in favor of modeling clay and loose leaf paper. I didn't have children crying because I wouldn't buy them the latest Hannah Montana lunch box or High School Musical protractor. I'm so excited about the start of a new school year. I still have a few other things to buy for the boys but we have what we need to start the year. Because of Madeline's arrival soon, we won't officially start until the middle of September, although I am going to ease them into a few subjects soon. Oh I can't wait!!!

On the subject of Madeline, I have big news...My stitches are out!! YAY!!!! Now we wait and pray that she comes soon. I will go in for an induction on the 18th (in a little over a week) if she doesn't make her grand arrival sooner than that. After 8 months of bedrest it felt so good to get up and move around. I"m no longer on bedrest and I can't tell you how wonderful that feels. My sister in law took me to the mall yesterday and we walked around for about 2 1/2 hours hoping it would bring on labor..no all it did was make me amazingly sore! I guess I should have eased into activity instead of jumping in with both feet. I was actually praying that my water would break while I was somewhere near Macy's! haha

I will keep you all posted on our progress. Regardless, we will have our brand new baby girl in about a week. Please keep us in your prayers as we near our delivery date. I"m busy nesting and am doing a complete cleaning of the house and all cabinets and closets. OH it feels so good to clean too!

We are also doing the boys birthday party this evening here at the house so at some point I need to make about 50 cupcakes. That should be fun as well.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Birthday Dustin!

Wow how time does fly. Our oldest is 13 today. Chris and I were just talking about how we just can't believe we are officially parents of a teenager!

Dustin is his dad in miniature. He loves anything fantasy or sci-fi. He LOVES to read. He loves the military. He's sweet, compassionate, caring and tender. He's very quick to make sure those around him are ok. He's weathered a lot in his 13 years but he has come out such a strong man.

He loves baseball and has an amazing arm. I've seen him get the ball from centerfield back to the catcher in one swift move. He's a great pitcher as well.

He loves Boy Scouts. He loves everything about it. He was so proud when he joined and takes his Scouting oath seriously. He can name just about every dangerous plant in nature and is a wiz at doing first aid. He loves to camp and be outdoors.

He loves history. He has an amazing memory for dates and events. He soaks up anything history related. It's his favorite subject and he's incredible at it.

We hope that he develops into a wonderful child of God. He's come such a long way this year and we are so very proud of him. I"m sure this first year of "teenager-dom" will be filled with frustration, arguments and probably a decent amount of teenage attitude. I"m also sure it will be more from me wanting to hold onto him and him wanting to push away and find himself. He's always been a very independent child. I hope he uses what we have taught him and molds himself into a wonderful young man.

We love you Dustin and are so proud of the young man you've become. May God bless you as you continue to grow and learn.

Yep, we are on the final countdown to BABY MADELINE DAY!! I will have my stitches removed in 13 days then she will come anytime after that. My doctor thinks she'll come within a day or two of the stitches being removed. We are all so excited but time has seemed to slow WAY down. The days are creeping by now that we are so desperatly trying to get to the 7th of August.

My doctor found out that there was a baby pool going on. He has asked me to inform those involved in the pool that he can be bribed for an induction by bringing him nice Cigars!  

We are just about done with Wrinkle in Time. I'm suprised at how well the boys like it. I was worried that they wouldn't care for it, ecspecially Christian who isn't into anything fantasy related but they have both really enjoyed the book. There was even only minimal moaning and eye rolling when I pulled out the study guide complete with worksheets!

We are also looking forward to our upcoming Olympics Unit Study. I think we are going to have such a blast with this. My only fear is that I will go into labor halfway through the study. We are due to start it the week my stitches come out. OH well. We'll just play it as it comes. There is Olympic excitement in our house right now. We followed the trials and are now ready to cheer on the USA teams as they compete. I love watching the diving competitions and gymnastics competitions. The boys are looking foward to track & field events.

I am also really looking foward to the start of the new Woman's Bible Study that I joined. It's a group of ladies, some homeschool, some don't from one of the Catholic churches here, St. Thomas Aquinas. They are called Joyful Hearts. We will be using the book Grace Filled Moments by Johnette Benkovic. I've visited several websites and found excellent reviews for this book. I can't wait to buy it and start reading. Our first meeting will be Sept 15th.

I"m also considering joining the Familia group as well. I need to get a few more details to make sure it won't conflict with anything but I've wanted to do that study for quite a while. My sister Tammy raves about it and I even "borrowed" her books from the 4 year study to read through. I also have signed up to become a sponsor for the RCIA program at our church. It's so rewarding to help someone through their journey to becoming Catholic.

I have come to the realization that I need to make time for my spiritual growth. I have been putting my husband and kid's needs, both physical, spiritual and emotional before mine and while that is never a bad thing, I need to carve out more time for me to grow in spirit and friendship and faith with other Catholic women. I"m really looking forward to this. I think this will help me relinquish more control to Chris. I look to him and respect him as the Head of our House but I am very guilty of being bossy, nagging and stubborn. I'm trying to fill my role as wife and mother and let him take the role he is asked to take as a father and husband. I think being around other woman and doing this will help. I pray that I can model my life after our most Holy Mother. I"m getting better but I'm still a very long way from where I should be.

Boy is that ever right! The past couple of weeks have been so busy! We spent week before last getting everything together, labled and packed for the boys camping trip. The list of stuff they had to bring was Amazing!!  Everything had to be marked with their name and their troop number. This was a Boy Scout trip to Lost Pines Scout Reservation in Bastrop, Texas. They were gone for a week and just came back yesterday. They haven't stopped talking about it yet! I think they had a blast. They did crafts, worked on merit badges, swam, hiked, fished and MORE! It was a bit pricey but Chris and I definatly think it was worth it. They are already looking forward to going back next year.

We also had a baby shower for Madeline on the 28th. That was such a great time!! I had friends and family come in that I hadn't seen in a long while. There was great food, fun games and awesome gifts. I"m still amazed at the creative talent of my friends. The homemade gifts were so cool. Now I'm busy writing Thank you notes to everyone.

After the baby shower, we loaded everything back up, went to the house, dropped it all off, visited with friends for a bit then headed over to my parents house. After a scrumptious dinner of BBQ ribs, we all headed to Grand Station Entertainment for a few hours of Laser Tag, Bowling and Glow in the Dark Mini Golf.

****NOTE**** The Pregnant Lady <----- ME, beat out everyone at Mini Golf!!!

That was the first time we had been there and it was really cool. For those of you that know me, know I'm supposed to be on bedrest but I got a temporary pass from my doctor for the weekend as long as I promised not to overdo it. It was SO good to get out of the house and just visit and have fun.

On top of all this, I've been busy putting all the baby gifts up, Chris finally figured out how to put the stroller / car seat together, and I've done about half the thank you cards. I even managed to keep sane while the boys were gone to camp. I was ready for them to come home the day after they left!! I got a lot of organization done for our upcoming school year. I have all their lesson plans ready to go, experiments and field trips lined up and even a few fun extras planned. All in all, it's been a busy couple of weeks.

Then to round our week off, we found out that Christian is Insulin resistant and is in the beginning stages of Type 2 diabetes. We had been worried about his weight because the diets we had tried for him just weren't working. I spoke with my Endocrinologist and he told me to bring him in for testing. We did and the test results show that his blood sugar / glucose is way off and that could be what is keeping his weight up even though he is eating healthy. He put him on Metformin and he also gets to join Me on a nice diabetic diet! He's not to happy but even he admits that he will be happier when he can get some of the weight off. Luckily diabetic foods have come a long way and we have so many choices now so he shouldn't have to suffer to much!

On another note, our weekly doctor's visit went well. Madeline is growing like a weed. She's moving and kicking around like crazy. She has finally turned head down and is at +2 Station. The doctor said that since she has started to drop down in the pelvis, he doesn't think she's going to flip again so she should stay that way and be ready for a safe and healthy birth. My stitches should come out in 3 or 4 weeks then I can go anytime after that!! The countdown has begun and I can't wait. I finally have my bags packed, the car seat is loaded and ready to go, I've made arrangements for the pets to be taken care of, and the kids to be taken care of. Now all I have to do is hurry up and wait for her to get here!!!

Just thought I'd share a quick picture of my ever expanding belly. I've gained 18 pounds total for the pregnancy which is really good. Although from the size of my stomach, I'm suprised I'm able to stand upright! She's carrying all in front!!

Well we had our regular weekly doctor's visit on Thursday and our 3D ultrasound today. Thought I would give ya'll a quick update. I am 30 weeks now and doing good. Bedrest is still as boring as ever but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel now. Dr. Price thinks she's between 3 1/2 and 4 pounds right now. We are still on target to remove the stitches in about 6 of 7 weeks and I can deliver anytime after that. He did say that my cervix will begin to dialate almost immediatly after the stitches are removed but I will probably only dialate up to a 3 or 4 and stay there until actual labor starts or my water breaks. I"m getting SO excited now.

We only got a couple of decent shots of her at the 3D ultrasound since she was being stubborn and kept flipping around to face my back. The ultrasound tech was laughing though because she had her legs up above her head and kept sticking the umbilical cord in her mouth. I suppose she really is a gymnast! We were able to get a decent black / white shot of her face and a color shot of her feet. We have more good shots on the actual dvd video but she kept moving her face before the tech could click the button to take the picture! (Chris says she's stubborn and camera shy just like her momma!) We were able to confirm that she is totally 100% a little girl, so tell Kyra to get ready to hand over that crown!

This is of her face glancing over to the camera

This is of her little feet

We are all so anxious now! I"m trying to keep the boys busy and their friends have been over a lot. They leave for scout camp on the 29th so I know they are really looking forward to that. I had high hopes of starting Wrinkle in Time by now but with their friends in and out, me not feeling good for a week, we just haven't started. We do plan on reading it once they return from scout camp. I don't know what I"m going to do with a full week without kids. I think I may talk Chris into taking me to his parents house in town everyday on his way to work so I can lay on their couch and watch mindless television! (we don't have cable and only get 2 channels out here in the sticks).

If I can figure out how to take still frames from the dvd video of her ultrasound, I'll post some better pics!!

After hard work, a few setbacks and 3 weeks later than I wanted it....Madeline's nursery is finally done. Her crib has been sanded and repainted. Her bedding was ordered and arrived (It's SO cute!!)  and everything was assembled and put in it's proper place last night. She even has a custom diaperbag with matching travel diaper wipe case. I even went overboard with her hairbows..she has one to match just about every outfit she has..they come complete with matching pacifier holders as well and I had time to make 3 bow holders! Yes....this is what you do when your on bedrest..you make bows and paci holders and spend countless hours daydreaming about how the nursery should be put together!! I thought I would share some pictures of the final outcome. I really love how her nursery turned out. It's cozy, cheerful and quiet. Everyone pitched in..my parents, Chris and the boys. I simply sat back and "supervised" since I wasn't allowed to do anything....Oh wait, I did tie the bumper on the crib! Now I just need to have our precious little girl to put in the nursery. 65 more days to go..not that I"M counting or anything!

This is her room looking in from the door.

This is her crib..newly painted with the mobile. The hearts on the wall are little coat holders that I painted.

This is her bedding set. It's called Gracie's Garden and is so adorable! It has hearts, butterflies, flowers and ladybugs on it.

This is her diaperbag that I had her name put on. BTW..the diaper bag, travel wipe case, 9 pc bedding set and the crib mobile were all bought on Ebay!! That's another thing one does while on bedrest..become an Ebay addict!

And finally..her bows and bow holders. It's so fun to have a little girl!!!! There are 46 bows total and I made another 12 yesterday for my best friend Kristi who found out she's having a little girl too!

For those wondering what I will do if she has no hair to put the bows on...never fear.. I took a white knee high panty hose..sewed the ends together to form a circle then covered that with two loops of white ribbon. Now I cause use that as a headband and attach the bows to the ribbon loops.

It feels so final now. Her room is put together and done. Now it feels like we are at the end of this long journey. I just can't wait to hold her in my arms, to sit in her room and feed her or just stare at her while she sleeps.

We will have a 4-D ultrasound done on Friday. I will post pics once we get home from that!! I am so excited to see who she looks like. Parker looked so much like Chris and Dustin so I wonder if she will look like them too or if she will look more like me! Isn't the miracle of a child so amazing??

This weekend we as a family experienced a mixture of emotions. This past saturday, June 7th, marked a series of events for us. This day was the 1 year anniversary of the death of our beloved baby boy, Parker. He was a son, brother, nephew, grandson and cousin. While he was only with us a very short time, he lived 5 minutes after birth to be exact, he was loved so very much. He continues to bless our lives daily. Chris and I realized how wonderful it was to be his parents. The fact that God chose us is such an honor. I look at his picture on our bedroom wall everyday and just thank God that we had those special minutes with him. While we mourn his death, we also were able to celebrate his life and what he means to us all. We also celebrated other life this weekend. It was my nephew, Cameron's 9th birthday on the 7th of June as well. We called and talked to him and he was so excited to get a new trampoline and journal. My other nephew, Alex, is also celebrating his 16th birthday on the 9th. This year their birthday's were a huge change from last year. Parker was born and passed on Cameron's birthday and we buried him on Alex's birthday.

Another celebration of life we had was that Christian's cat, Maggie, gave birth to 4 kittens on Saturday as well. In fact the kittens were born in the same hour that Parker had been born the previous year. Christian was the one that made that connection. Christian was such a wonderful help to Maggie and I as he stayed in the room right next to her birthing box, helping me keep the kittens warm while she continued to labor and deliver. It was a wonderful experience for him, however not one I would like again! We will be getting her fixed asap. She snuck out of the house and was gone for a couple of days. She came back pregnant!

It's amazing what can happen in a year. This time last year, had you asked, my life was over. I was in such a massive state of despair and deppresion. We had tried to concieve for 7 years when we finally discovered we were pregnant with Parker, only to loose him so quickly. I experienced such a range of emotions, pain, hurt, anger, fear, you name it..I had it. I was confused and upset with God. It wasn't until I finally went out to the cemetary by myself and really talked to God and to Parker, that I was finally able to understand His purpose and begin to heal. I feel stronger in my faith since that talk. I fell in love with my husband all over again. He was my rock during that time. I had always been the strong, anchor in our family but when I just couldn't handle it, he took over. He held me for hours while I cried. He took care of our house and kids when I just couldn't even get out of bed. I came to love and respect him so much more during that time. We have a newfound relationship now because of those difficult days. His faith grew right along with mine.

We are now celebrating a new life together. That of our daughter Madeline, who will be joining us in 2 months. It is because of the discoveries made after Parker's death, that have made this pregnancy last. It has come with it's own set of difficulties and challenges but God is with us and He is watching over us and Madeline. I know Parker is looking down on us and smiling. I feel we have made him proud and I do look forward to the day that we can see him again. I love you my special angel.

Mother's Day we had a rather big shock. It is our Sunday tradition to go visit Parker's grave after Mass. We do this as a family..many times my parents coming with us. It was very important that we go on Mother's Day..not only to visit our litle boy's grave but also to water his grave. Some wonderful friends, Tommy and Tanya Tharp, were kind enough to lay sod down on Parker's grave so it looks nicer. It had been just dirt and didn't look good. Well we have been watering it often so that the roots take hold and had plans to water it on Mother's Day as we drove out to the cemetery. Well we get to the cemetery and I commented that his flowers had fallen down. As we got closer to his grave we realized that indeed the flowers were on the ground because his gravestone had been run over by something!!! The granite vase was completely broken in half and shattered..the gravestone itself was turned about 30 degrees and had come unsealed and part of the ear on the hand carved granite lamb was broken off. Talk about upset!! Chris was fit to be tied and I was upset that I had to find our son's grave like that on Mother's Day. Well, we took pictures and calmed ourselves down as well as we could and went to my parents to enjoy a Mother's Day lunch. I called the church office on Monday and asked to have someone from the cemetery board contact me. Mr. Zemanek (who is very nice) called not to long after that. He was at the cemetery at Parker's grave and was upset himself. He contacted the maintenance supervisor and come to find out, one of the maintenance guys hit his gravestone with a riding lawnmower and then the supervisor failed to contact Mr. Zemanek or us. The cemetery has agreed to pay to have everything fixed so it all worked out in the end. I am still a little upset that we weren't notified, however Chris reminded me that I'm not supposed to get myself all worked up so I'm trying to be grateful that the damage wasn't worse and that it is all being taken care of. Here are some pictures of the damage. I will be happy when they can get it all fixed.

I experienced such a beautiful moment in my life yesterday. As some of you know I have been placed on bedrest for the duration of my pregnancy (approx 3 mnts). I get to have weekly visits to the doctor for ultrasounds but other than that I'm stuck in my house with a laptop..2 rowdy boys and a cat that is upset because he can no longer fit on my lap to snuggle.

Chris and the boys woke up on Sunday to go to mass. I however, laid in bed and watched the morning news program. Feeling a little upset that I could not go I said goodbye as they left. When they arrived a couple of hours later (yes a couple...our family likes to visit after mass with friends and they went to check on Parker's grave....another story) They had brought back the Blessed Eucharist for me to recieve. Our priest, Msgr. McCaffrey, found out that I was on bedrest and took Chris and the boys back to the sacristy and gave them the prayers to read to me and the Body to take. I was so happy. It brought tears to my eyes as my two boys and my husband sat next to me on the bed and read the daily readings and prayed the prayers with me then presented me with the Eucharist. How blessed am I to have a family that is willing to do that. I'm so proud of how far my husband and our boys have come in their faith. It is such a blessing to see them and myself grow daily. I will look forward to the day I can walk into our parish with our new baby daughter in our hands.

We are at that point of the year. The boys have finished all but 4 subjects (math, english, spelling and religion). We have 2 weeks of spelling left, 3 of english, 2 of religion and 4 of math. They can see the light at the end of the tunnel, thus the reason they are finding it so hard to sit still and finish their assignments. I feel for them, honestly. I'm excited that we have just about successfully finished our first year of homeschooling with minimal tears, shouting and tantrums......the boys were good too!

It doesn't seem like a year ago that my sister Tammy so lovingly helped me talk myself into thinking I could do this. It doesn't seem like a year has passed since I sat on my bed, curriculum magazines and website links strung all over the place...calling Tammy in a panic because I was overwhelmed. I must say, I'm proud of the boys and of myself. I'm also proud of my dear, dear husband. We had a few rough patches and needless to say this second half has been pretty boring with me stuck in the house. We had to cancel all of our field trips and fun classes, but the boys were understanding. They know that once their sister gets here, we will be making up our field trips big time!

I'm looking forward to the summer. We have some fun Unit Studies planned. My doctor has given me the A-OK to go float in the pool so I"m sure we will be spending mass amounts of time there. I'm happy that the boys will be out and about with their friends...or vice versa... their friends will be here..constantly...the entire summer....WAIT..maybe that isn't a good thing. I'm supposed to be resting right? haha

We have taken a page from my sister Tammy and family friend Mrs. Christine and have started a book club with some friends for the summer. This should be exciting. The boys...including Christian, are looking forward to reading and discussing. I was amazed that Christian was so keen on this idea. I immediatly started emailing friends..once I picked myself up off the floor from the shock. Trust me, those that know us, know Christian would rather lay down in traffic than actually read a book for entertaiment! Maybe all those prayers to every Saint I could possibly think of helped!!!

On a final note..I wanted to share the item I found today while browsing. As homeschoolers, it's hard to have a yearbook but this is one way to fix that. I am ordering two (one for each boy) and will do one for each year.  What a fun way to chronicle your year! Also, the website www.rainbowresource.com has AMAZING prices on their books. They have an awesome section of classical books, organizers, toys, you name it!

Here is the direct link for the personal yearbook http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/My+Personal+Yearbook/039061/1210108428-1491735

for that nice stimulus check to get here! That is what we are using to buy all of our books for the 08-09 school year. I am so excited about ordering the books then surrounding myself with them and reading each one and working up lesson plans. The smell of them...OH how I love books! Even the boys are rather excited to see their new books for the year. They had a big hand in helping me put together thier curriculum and it has sparked an excitement in them as well. We have some really fun experiments planned, some fun arts / crafts and the boys are so excited about Zoology that they are bouncing off the walls. I was downloading some worksheets, quizzes and homework sheets to go along with Zoology last night. I was showing the boys some of the stuff we would be doing and they were ready to start. (big change from last month where they didn't want to learn about birds and bugs haha) We are going to be doing cricket races, bat sonar experiment, bug collection, eating like bats for a day..etc.

We will also be buying a new washing machine. My washing machine went out a month and a half ago and it's no fun going to the laundry mat or my mother in laws. I thank my mother in law for letting us take over her house to do laundry and school for a day a week but I would much rather be at my house and able to throw in a couple of loads a day and be able to relax. That and I know we will need a new one before little Miss Madeline makes her debut.

Last we will be buying a stroller / car seat combo and some accessories to go in madeline's room to match her bedding set. The rest of that check will go sit in our savings account until something else around our house decides to break!  I do have to say though that I want to buy the books more than anything!!

First of all I would like to shout a big WOOOOHOOOO for the fact that we now have high speed internet again. That was torture being on dial up for 4 months!!

Everything is going wonderfully here. Everyone has been going stir crazy with me on bed rest but it's going by faster than we thought. God granted me the gift of blindness...I'm now blind to the way my husband and children clean the house! I've given up getting huffy because it's not done my way. I figure once this baby gets here, I"ll give the house a proper cleaning.

We had some wonderful news this last week (although Kyra, my niece, didn't take it to well). We were ecstatic to find out that we are expecting a little GIRL!! Her name is Madeline Paige. I immediatly started crying during the ultrasound. Chris sort of went pale and said something about having to get a second job hehe. The boys could be heard cheering throughout the doctors office I"m sure. This was ecspecially exciting to my side of the family. There hasn't been a girl in the family for almost 21 years. My niece Kyra will be 21 in November. She was the last girl. God saw fit to give my sister, Tammy, and I a total of 7 boys between us. Now we have another little girl on the way. My mom and sister Nancy both started yelling and the first thing out of my sister Tammy's mouth (she's Kyra's mom) was "Oh, Kyra is going to love that bit of news." Sure enough, 2 days later my niece Kyra calls from Japan where she is stationed. The first thing she says is: "They have to be wrong, it's a boy. I'm not ready to be thrown from my pedestal." I laughed and explained that she will always be the queen, and Madeline will be the princess. Kyra will need to train her!" Secretly, I think Kyra is excited too. I'm now busy shopping online and trying my best to oversee her room being put together. Come to think of it...between myself and Madeline, maybe Chris will have to get a second job haha!

The boys have been busy with baseball. This is always a crazy time in our lives. Because of the boys age difference of 2 years, they are always on seperate teams. That being said, their games almost always end up on the same day at the same time on opposite sides of town or in some cases not even in the same town (they are both on tournament teams and travel). This has proven somewhat of a challenge since I'm on bedrest and now Chris is stuck being the taxi. Thankfully, grandparents have stepped in to help. I did get premission from my doctor to go to a few games as long as I promised to sit down and not get to excited (obviously he's never seen me at a baseball game. I'm all about cheering the entire time.) Oh well, I'm trying my best to follow his instructions. I was suprised to learn that I am allowed to go swimming. Well not really swim but more along the lines of floating. The pool opened last week so the boys and I are looking forward to taking some trips over there to relax. Given I don't get harpooned at some point due to the fact that my stomach is huge now and my bathing suit is black / white, I"m sure I"ll enjoy my floating.

I have also been busy putting together our curriculum and field trips for next year. That has kept me happily occupied during the day. Some of the books we will be using this year include:

Homeschool Family Fitness

A Catholic Garden of Puzzles

A Year with God

The Old World & America

Bible History

Writing Step by Step

Apologia, Exploring Creation with Zoology I : Flying Creatures of the 5th Day (we will be getting the experiment kit from Creation Sensation along with some fun extras)

Prima Latina (our beginning Latin program)

and Saxon Algebra 1/2 (pre algebra for Dustin) and Saxon Math 7/6 for Christian

We are doing the basic English, Religion, Health and Spelling from Seton for grades 6 and 7 too. I'm still looking for a good reading program. The boys were not happy with Seton's reading so I'm still hunting for something they might like. I"m also considering just making up my own curriculum for them. I thought about getting books they like (letting them pick them out at 1/2 price books) and then finding some Unit Studies to go with them. Some titles I'm considering are: Swiss Family Robinson, Where the Red Fern Grows, Chronicles of Narnia, etc... If anyone knows of any other titles or of a good reading program please let me know!

Some of our field trips include: Texas A&M Vet School Tour, Texas A&M Wildlife & Fisheries Tour, Renaissance Festival Homeschool Day, Texas A&M Entemology dept., Civil War Re-enactment (loved it so much last year, we are going again!), NASA Homeschool Day, Houston Children's Museum, Brazos Valley Musem of Natural History, Houston Zoo. We look to have a fun filled exciting year!

Well that is about it for us. I"m 21 weeks pregnant now. It was a huge relief to get past the point where we lost our son last year. I feel like I can breathe now and actually enjoy this pregnancy. We are working our way to 34 weeks where at that time, my stitches will be removed and we can begin the countdown till little Madeline makes her grand apperance. I ask for your continued prayers for our family. This has been a huge change but we are doing ok. I know Chris and the boys will be glad when I can get back to my "mom" duties though.

We have had a few scares the past week. Last Saturday I started having problems with bleeding. After a 10 hour stay in the ER, we found out it was a hemmorage in the uterus and that the baby was just fine. I went to see my doctor on Monday and he wasn't happy with the way the cervix was looking and sent me to a Perinatal specialist in Austin on Thursday. My doctor wants to stitch up the cervix but the placenta was resting right on top. Well we got the all clear to do the surgery from the doctor in Austin so my doctor is getting it all scheduled, hopefully for next week. This will mean bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy (6 months). I'm ok with that but it means that Chris and the boys will be picking up all the daily chores / errands that I always do. I feel bad for them since all you ladies know, us mom's never stop during the day. They dont seem to heartbroken about the extra work though.

Just pray that the surgery goes well, that my doctor, William Price, is well rested and alert and the baby is ok. I'm just going to use this time of "baking the baby" (as my sis Tammy calls it haha) to relax, read and finish crocheting the blanket.

Needless to say, school hasn't been going on much this week but as I told the boys, once the surgery is over, we can always do school from the bed instead of the school room haha. They were kinda bummed about that. I think they thought school was ending really early for them!!!

I hope you all have a very blessed and safe week.