Nature

Carter is 100% boy. He is not content with just watching things in nature...he must touch them, hold them, and explore them. I caught him with a lizard today. I don't know how long it took him to catch the thing, but he hung onto it as long as he could...long enough for me to snap a picture.
The neighbor found a nice sized frog and brought it over. Of course, Carter had to hold it. Lucky for Carter, the frog was very passive. It just sat there and allowed Carter to do as he liked with it. He even passed it to his cousin to hold. I put out moth balls to get rid of the snakes that we were seeing around our house deck and pool deck. Yep, we saw more than one! Now, without the snakes around to eat them, the lizards and frogs will multiply like crazy. Carter should have plenty of them to play with.

Cousin Kinley

Weekend With My Sister!

My twin sister, Vicki, and three of her children have spent the last two nights with us! Anyone who knows me knows how happy this makes me.
Friday night, she went to Carter's baseball game with us. It was SO fun having her there. It was one of those games that was very emotional charged, and we enjoyed watching it together so much. She was jumping up and down and acting like a fool right along with me. What a game. Our boys lost, but that team had to work HARD to beat us by one point. Carter played well...we were pleased with him.
Vicki and I stayed up until 2 in the morning playing cards and visiting. Today, we spent the day playing games and hanging out while the kids played together. Jeff left this morning to go to Dallas with his singing group for a singing, so it was just us and the kids here. A cousin and the neighbors' children came over to play as well, so we had a house full. I hated to see the day end. I wish they could stay another night, but it is back to reality. I am just thankful for the time we had together!

What an Awesome Day

We skipped school today as planned so we could go to the library and to get some supplies for the pool. I love getting new books to read...it is like candy to me!
We also went by Jeff's work to take him something and had a good time visiting with his co-workers and playing in the rehab gym. Jeff taught the kids to play Shuffleboard....they loved it! I love going to the hospital to see him....to be in his environment. Sometimes I feel like they have him more than I do. We spent so many years working together in the same hospital that sometimes I miss the time with him. I don't miss doing therapy, just the time we had together. Anyway, all of that to say that we had a good time visiting with Jeff at work.
Carter had a game tonight.....it was AWSOME. Carter hit very well. The team was ON and we won 15 to 5. It was a beautiful evening and we all just had such a good time.
Afterwards, we came home and ordered pizza and let the kids swim for a while. My nephew was here...he is on Carter's ball team... as well as the neighbor's son. It was a fun ending to a good day.

It's Clean!

Thankyou Jeff for cleaning the pool out today!!
Our pool was a mess, but it is clean and ready to swim in now...well, as soon as it finishes filling up. The kids are so excited and so am I. The weather has gotten so hot, and we are all in need of the exercise that we get from the pool. We are actually going to skip school tomorrow to treat the pool and then SWIM!!! WE are also going to the library in the morning, so it will be a fun day.

Now It Really Feels Like Summer!

Jeff and I took the boat out with the kids today. It felt so good to be out there in the sunshine with the smell of bayou water and fishing gear. At one point, when evening came, I just stretched out across the back of the boat and enjoyed the cool breeze and cypress trees above me. My skin is sunburned and my children are dirty from the day outside. It feels like a summer evening.

Science Fun

Last week we studied the different forms of energy. We had fun with the experiments. They really helped the kids understand how energy comes from many sources.

We made a flashlight from a battery, wires and a light bulb. We tested different materials to find the ones that were able to close the circuit. They loved it....we all did!











Friday, they raced balloons on strings by threading string through straws and tying the strings onto two chairs. We taped the blown up balloons to the straws. When they released them, the air caused the straws to travel along the strings. We did this to demonstrate movement energy. They loved racing them and keeping score.

To demonstrate magnetic energy, we put a strong magnet in a box suspended from a table. We tied a paperclip onto the end of a piece of string and pulled it toward the magnet until it was suspended in the air. The other end of the string was held down by a book. It looked like the paperclip was floating on its own!

This week, we are studying simple machines. Yesterday, we made a pulley out of Tinker Toys. We also used the Tinker Toys to demonstrate wheels and levers. They made it fun. On Friday, I am going let the kids take turns finding simple machines around the house/yard and and taking pictures of them with the Polaroid camera. We will put the pictures on a poster board when we are finished.

Easter 2006

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. We put the tent up Friday night and all slept in it. The weather was perfect for it. Madison, Carter and I stayed up way too late playing cards and laughing. Of course, we were also the last ones up Saturday morning. We dyed eggs Saturday and just played around here. Easter morning, we got the kids up at 5:30 so we could have a little fun hunting eggs and all before church. After church, we all met at Jeff's parent's next door for lunch and a big egg hunt with the cousins. We ended up staying down there all day. It was a fun day.
I was very tired last night from the weekend, but also very happy. I am thankful for what Jesus did for us and for what Easter means. I am thankful for the children that God has given us to teach and guide. I am always aware of my influence on them and that it is Jeff and my responsibility to teach them, but sometimes I just forget everything and enjoy them. This was one of those weekends.

Practice Makes Perfect

It might not make Carter perfect, but he certainly enjoys practicing his baseball skills. He spends hours in the yard improvising ways to practice catching and hitting. It shows me that he has a true love for the sport. As seen here, he throws the ball as high as he can and then catches it. He has also figured out that he can throw the ball onto the roof of the house and then catch it when it rolls off. He spends a significant amount of time throwing the ball into the air and hitting it with the bat. It makes me happy to watch him.

Poor Ginger

Carter