For Today: An Ad Lib Workout

Joe has been upping his workouts recently. 

However, sometimes he is forced to workout even when he wasn't planning on it...

And pretty soon there will be another little man climbing on his back while his ladies cheer him on!

Love, Us.

For Today: Getting Ready for the Tiny Guy

Patrick has caught on to the fact that whenever we talk about Romeo we are referring to the mysterious baby that is pointed to in mommy's tummy. He has also connected, unfortunately, that babies cry. So, he has a consistent habit of adding a very realistic little baby cry after every time he says "baby" when talking about Romeo. Hopefully Romeo doesn't live up to this expectation of Patrick's... we shall soon see!

In order to keep T just a bit calm and make the wait go by more smoothly for her, we have a paper chain going, on which is listed one thing that we can do every day together to get ready for Romeo. So far, we have put the crib together, got mom's nursing chair in place, got out Romeo's clothes, his toys, and a few other odds and ends. I must say, the plan is working. T is VERY excited, but being able to do one thing for Romeo every day is helping the excitement to not be overwhelming for the rest of us. 

For today in pictures, here is Patrick enjoying the empty storage box that mom and T were sorting through to find Romeo's clothes. Today's pictures were taken by T!

Love, Us.

For Today: T's First Cross Stitch!

As you may know, T has been doing hand embroidery since Christmas 2012. She is really good at it, so I don't know quite why I was holding off introducing her to cross stitch. I just thought she'd have a difficult time with it. I was wrong. Aunt Nancy invited her to do a project, I gave T a brief lesson, and she took to it immediately!

And... almost exactly 48 hours later... she was done! I now know I was TOTALLY wrong about her not being ready to cross stitch! GREAT job, T!

And isn't this the cutest little pattern that Nancy created?!

Love, Us.

For Today: Patrick Testing Out the New Seating

I did need to get a few things to prep for Romeo. One such item was a nursing chair for the bedroom. We found a very simple and compact one at a great price... and buddy (and mom) approve of the comfiness!

Love, Us.

For Today: Starting to Figure out the NEW CAMERA!

Well, I dragged my feet as long as possible, but I finally gave in to the generosity of Oma and Opah and allowed them to spoil us with a new camera for our anniversary/my birthday. And I am SO EXCITED about it! Unfortunately, my "nesting mode" has superseded my getting to know the ins-and-outs of it quite yet. My to-do-before-Romeo list is getting shorter by the day, though, so hopefully I will soon allow myself to sit down and read through the manual thoroughly so that I can enjoy this beauty in full! For today, however, here are a few that I shot while just messing around with settings the other day.

Thank you to our wonderful spoilers, Oma and Opah! Hopefully, with the vital addition of the strap, this one will last us for many years to come and keep us visually "in touch" with you here throughout that time. 

Love, Us.

For Today: A Social Experiment - Candy or Money?

Enjoy...

Love, Us.

For Today: Showered by Some Wonderful Ladies

I was blessed with a very unexpected, but very appreciated, gift from some of the homeschool moms here last week - a baby shower for Romeo! As a result, I am even more thankful for these ladies, and now have the diapers necessary to diaper the little butt that I have never had to deal with before! Having my smallest be over 8 lbs, I'm trying to prepare the a few weeks to a month or more of time with a little boy who may be too small for my cloth diapers. Now, I am ready. And, on top of that, I will even have onesies and outfits without stains on them! Wow! Thank you, Ladies!

Love, Us.

For Today: Patrick's Burpees

Nothing warms a Crossfit dad's heart like his 22 month-old practicing burpees! 

And he says "burpee" so cute, too!

Love, Us.

For Today: T's Book Nook

I've got the pre-baby organizing/nesting bug. Wait - I think I ALWAYS have an organizing bug… it just so happens that now I can blame it on something! Anyways, we've been doing some summer cleaning-out-of-the-house, and, as a result, had some storage spaces actually cleared out! Imagine that! So, we made a book nook for T where she could escape from the craziness and get into her books when she wants. I know that I loved such places as a kid, and I can tell she does as well.

Love, Us.

For Today: A Birthday Surprise!

Joe did his best yesterday (and succeeded) to actually surprise me a bit with his gifts and even coming home super early! I was also able to fit a surprise in for the man and boys of the house, though! It had to do with my birthday cake…

T helped me to make it, so she was in on the secret. Looks like a pretty nice, simple cake, right? 

But what is under that whipped topping and sprinkles that is so surprising? Joe had his first suspicions when he got it out of the fridge and it was VERY HEAVY for a little cake. And, when he licked off the candles he got a tasty hint of something familiar… he just couldn't put his finger on what flavor it was. 

Then he started slicing… it was a big hunk of watermelon!

And it was GREATLY enjoyed by all! We ate the entire thing without stomach aches or sugar rushes to deal with… it was awesome!

The boys even got to scrape the cool whip off of the plate… yum!

It was a great birthday! Now we get to continue the celebrating, but up a lot of notches, with the Assumption today! Hope you are celebrating as well!

Love, Us.

For Today: A Tribute to a Well-Loved Birthday Present

So, it is my birthday today! Woo-hoo!

I have actually been waiting for today to share this specific post. My husband jokes about the kind of gifts I prefer… staplers, office supplies, anything practical. I'm just not a flower girl - or anything that wilts or doesn't last. An example of this present preference is a gift that I received 10 years ago on this day from my wonderful Aunt Cha-Cha. To this day, I still use it at least once a day and LOVE it! And the best part… she got it second-hand 10 years ago! Now, Cha-Cha is a needle-in-a-haystack kind of gal. Also, she is an amazing cook, so she knows what it good quality in kitchenware. So, those two things put together, are the reason why this pan will probably last me at least another 10 years and will be my favorite until the handle falls off (if it every does)! Thanks again, Cha-Cha! This was the perfect gift for practical, old (31 years-old!) me.

Love, Us.

For Today: Working-Out with Dad

In preparation for October's events, Joe has been doubling-up his daily work-outs whenever possible. He comes home from work and heads right into it before supper. T is usually pretty pumped to join him in the garage, or wherever, for a work-out of her own. This day, however, with the promise of some time playing "Star Wars" on the iPad, D joined in as well. And… well, P couldn't just stand by and watch, could he? No way! Our little socialite had to get right in the midst of the action!

Love, Us.

For Today: Out Enjoying the Shade!

A quick WARNO: Lots of exclamation points today!!!

"Monsoon Season" continues around here! On our way to the grocery store yesterday we had a few minutes of rain on the drive. We decided to leave the van windows open so that the kids in the back could feel the rain as we drove down the highway… it was VERY FUN! We have also had the joy of not being so timid about going to the park in the middle of the day - there is actually coverage from the El Paso sun! You may not understand what a complete blessing that is… it is HUGE!

And here are the kiddos doing just that: swinging at the park, without a man-made shade, in the middle of the day! Wow! And they don't even have flushed cheeks or sweat-matted hair! I LOVE "Monsoon Season"!

Love, Us.

For Today: Why We LOVE Summer Reading Programs!

You know you are a homeschool mom if one of the main things you look forward to every summer is the area's summer reading programs! I do for many reasons, but two main factors stick out:

1 - It gets my kids to up their volume of reading in a HUGE way. Specifically, this year was vital for T to really get a hold on reading. Dad and I set a pretty high goal for her - to read 200 books ON HER OWN during the reading program (which is only just over a month long, mind you!). She started out determined, but slow, due to her reading level and abilities. However, as the weeks past, you could hear her reading advance by leaps and bounds! It was awesome! (I'll announce her official numbers later on in this post.)

2 - And if you know me… this is a pretty big reason: You get free books! Every reading program that we have been a part of, whether an on-post library, civilian library, retail book store, used book store, whatever, gives you FREE books when your kids read! And USUALLY, you get to pick the books! You can't beat that!

So… here is this year's break down:

Reason #1

T read 364 books ON HER OWN during the on-post reading program! She was still in the 4-6 year-old age group, so she knew that she was going against moms (like her mom) who were reading TO their wee ones, and therefore could put in a lot of volume easily if they wanted to. However, SHE WON! She even beat her mom… David got 2nd!

Reason #2

Behold our treasure trove of FREE BOOKS we got this summer!

FYI: For winning first place, T got a $25 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble. With that, plus some of the money that mom and dad used to challenger her, she decided to invest in her first chapter books, which she will begin by the end of August, when she has finished all of our easy readers! D got $5 for second place, and he is SUPER PUMPED about his new "Where's Waldo?" book!
I just noticed I forgot to add P's free board books to the picture - imagine 6-7 of those added to the collection!

Love, Us.

For Today: Proof of "Monsoon Season"

They call July "Monsoon Season" here in El Paso. We have been here for coming up on three years now, and although I have noticed a bit cooler temperatures in July than I would expect, I had yet to experience the monsoons. This July proved the term to us. Of course, monsoon is an exaggerated term, but we actually got used to clouds, occasional thunder, and drizzling/sprinkling for a few weeks there! It was wonderful! Actually, as I am looking out the window right now, even though it has been full-sun  and hot for the last two days, the sky is once again completely clouded over! Woo-hoo!

Love, Us.

For Today: Mud Monster!

The ground around our desert home is usually rock hard and not the best for the kid's digging efforts. However, since we have returned from our trip up north we have been very blessed with overcast skies and frequent rains (well, you would probably call them drizzles up north, but a few of them would have possibly fallen in the actual "rain" category). Anyways, this has loosened the dirt just a bit and also, of course, made it damp now and then. Well, one morning while mom was doing a workout in the garage, that semi-moist earth mixed with some extra help from the water spigot created this:

A Mud Monster!

Love, Us.

For Today: Getting Patrick Ready for Romeo

A week or so ago we had our last borrowed piece of baby equipment returned from a friend. Instead of putting it in storage for the month or so left before Romeo arrives, it stayed out due to T wanting to play with it using her baby dolls. 

At least that was what I thought it would be used for… 

The good thing is that he is very gentle with the pretend babies we have around the house. Now he just needs to learn that the baby-sized objects around the house are not longer proper for him and will need to be shared! 

Love, Us.

For Today: Dad and His Padawan Learners

Our kids love a good story, and, as you may know, Librandis are story tellers. So, it is a very good night when dad (and the kids) have the time before bedtime for some good, daddy story time. This particular occasion was the telling of the tale of Ulysses and the Cyclops. Good stuff!

Sorry about Joe's crazy red eye, but I was unable to edit it without making him look even crazier!

Love, Us.

For Today: Some Fun with Duplos

We have been really into Legos here recently. I think being allowed to dig into dad and Uncle Adam's stash re-ingnited a Lego fire within Dave, and it has spread to the other two. They even get all together and build with Duplos for great periods of time now and then. Here are a couple of their creations:

T's "Garden"

David's "Transformer/Leany Car that sprays out fire that is yellow and orange"

Love, Us.

For Today: Patrick in Dad's PC

One of Patrick's new favorite places is up on the kitchen stools while mom is doing anything in the area. That counter happens to be one of dad's main "drop zones", so he often has plenty to get into while sitting and chatting with mom. This day, he decided to practice his squint-smile while modeling dad's patrol cap. 

Love, Us.

For Today: Mom's Goodbye Gift - A Family Photo Shoot

Mom did have one more photo shoot that she wanted to fit in before she left. Thanks, Mom, for these family shots! It is always fun to get some memorable pictures of these transition times when the next kiddo is obviously ready to join us soon!

Love, Us.