25 wk--Sonogram and Glucose Test

Frankie is getting much bigger, as am I..I can't wait to have him and use all the new baby stuff we bought, but I also can't wait to have a semi-normal body back again and lose weight. I see pictures of my gigs from last year in Houston and I am impressed with what my workouts/diet did--I hope to make that progress once again...ahhh...3 more months.

 
Toward the end you can see the flow of nutrients in the umbilical cord.
Well, Frankie was healthy and active and we actually got some pretty shots of his face...

 and then his proud "Carlos Danger" too.  :)

Olivia is ready to dance!

Today we went and visited grandma at her work after school time. They made her these pictures:

This is to show Lucas coloring...he does this all by himself. Chooses colors, and takes a half hour to finish. I am pretty impressed with this 4 yr old :) 

We did have a meltdown about writing numbers today; he tends to write his "2" as an "S" and cried about it. But we persevered. Olivia had her own meltdown when she wanted to "color a yoyo" and didn't like the one I drew for her...she apologized eventually. Then she colored this cat I printed and she drew the foil balls my mom's cat Bitty likes to play with, along with "scrapes" from Bitty's claws lol. Grandma appreciated it.

On the way home we stopped for some shave ice at Bahama Buck's (very soft, but way too sweet..and too expensive). Then we stopped by this dancewear shop to get Olivia's gear for her tap/ballet class--it starts next week!
     

I told her to do all the 'ballerina' moves she knows :)

I had to show Olivia that I used to take dance classes when I was little too-this was back in 1989 :)

Lucas starts Tball on the 16th, and gets his uniform. He is excited about sports, but also intends to take a dance class next yr too!

Lesson Plan?

While they are still just 3 & 4, I have the luxury of sort of 'winging it' as far as homeschooling, as most of it is familiarizing them with the basics. I still am unsure about exactly the best way to go about it, but I wanted to document what I've been doing with them so far this week.

    I haven't been working one on one so much with them, but I think I might on John's days off. So when we have 'school time', (which lasts about 1-2 hours) we:
-label the day and date of the week on our calendar board, along with looking outside to check off what kind of weather we are having.

-I still haven't received my critical thinking curriculum books yet, so I have been tearing out a page from this preschool book from Costco for each of them to color, trace and write their name on. Lucas is really good at writing his name, Olivia is too stubborn to really try, but I forget she's a year younger.

-Usually Olivia colors messy and fast, both sides, but refuses to try to write her name other than "O". She tries to trace the word on the bottom of the page, either a color or shape. Lucas takes his time coloring inside the lines, taking more than twice the time she does. He writes his name by himself, and traces the word.

-then I let Olivia color in her coloring book, while I have Lucas write that day's word on the pre-lined little white board. Today's word was very long...I think I will instead start working on each letter individually with him tomorrow.

I liked this board at first, but then it gets hard to erase, and I also can't save his progress in his file. I will buy the paper next time.

-Then we do a craft involving their shape/color that day. Today we broke out the paint again. I drew simple pictures made of the shapes we learned, and had them first paint, then count how many of each shape there was. Lucas loved quitely taking his time painting, Olivia enjoyed sharing her painting with Norman. Lucas counted his shapes very well and wrote his name, Olivia (after fruit snack bribes) attempted to do the same.

-Then we used this big pad of paper to play the ball game lol. I asked them to find a letter or number on the board, and when they got it right they got a little fluff ball (from my old craft stuff I never used...) Olivia wouldn't put hers back yesterday since she won so many, so I let her glue them to a paper and count them together.

-We practice the colors. Today I asked each of them to 'push the button' next to the color that is the color of ____ (i.e. bananas, their blankie, grass etc) Then we drew the shapes we used in our painting today.

Lastly we go over the 10 commandments. They are sinking in and being used throughout the day. I regularly hear Olivia say, "Lucas you aren't following the commandment! You need to not steal/ hurt anyone!" But she is usually the one who needs to listen to them more..specifically the "be happy with what you have".

Then we put stickers up for doing their work, and for listening while we went over the commandments.


I am not sure if it's enough yet, but right now it can't hurt.

I also enrolled Olivia in a tap/ballet dance course, and Lucas in Tball. They both start in a few weeks! I am excited to see them both perform on a team. I know Lucas wants to dance, and Olivia wants to play sports (or so she says) so I will probably let them both do both, but I want to test the waters first.

Book Recommendation

It seems I switch between "Divine Mercy" and other books quite frequently. Probably because I want to pay attention to every detail of that one.
   Well, I just finished this book and recommend it:
 

I like to read about NDE's (near death experiences) but this one was a little different because of the way his mind works...as a very science/factual-based neurosurgeon who had written off his own patients as crazy when they told him about their experiences, now being totally convinced and convicted in his defense of the spiritual realm. His spending a week in a coma, with such a rare disease, only to be completely cured, is miracle enough. What he experienced during that time, or where his soul actually was, is amazing. It made me wonder where my dad was when he was in a coma for a week before passing.
  I'll probably put up sections that I found the most interesting later.

 Another good one was actually by another doctor:

They are quick reads. It's hard for those who have experienced NDE's to again be limited by language and mental capacity. But their descriptions are very intriguing and their connections as to how fateful their journeys were, is uplifting.
 

Kinda Funny...Kinda Not

Petition at a college campus to sign to legalize "fourth trimester abortion". People are dumb.



I liked the Carlos Danger add too.

Teacher Mommy

Another benefit of homeschool..we don't have to be fully dressed to learn lol

We picked up some great supplies at the local Mardel store and got started on introducing L & O to the homeschool experience...and myself too. It's been fun, but I still wonder if they are really retaining what I am attempting to teach them, or if it's just fun. Either way, right now both of those are great. I hope to track their progress and see a big difference this year. We haven't received the curriculum books yet, but we did start this preschool book together and they enjoy coloring. Lucas is practicing writing letters, and is a pro at writing his name by himself.

   Yesterday we painted pictures of things that were whatever color they worked on--yesterday Lucas worked on blue, and Olivia worked on orange. So Lucas asked me to draw daddy's car (so he could paint it blue), and Olivia painted an orange tree (and had to have a pink car). They were pretty good with the paints and Lucas was very focused on painting within the lines...he took his time and worked on it for 30 minutes! The only thing I helped him with is to paint the sunglasses he asked for lol. Olivia finishes coloring quickly, but Lucas takes his time coloring inside the lines. Thats a benefit of homeschooling; I am sure if he were in a class, he would never have enough time to color things the way he wants to. If he has the patience to work hard on something other than video games, I am going to let him. We are also going to look into getting them involved in sports groups, and/or dance/music so they can play with other kids and find their talents.

 We also work on learning this chart together. Some of them are kind of hard to explain, but they understand that these are rules God made for us to "be good". :)

We also are going to regularly do crafts and 'field trips' :) It's fun to play school, I only hope that it becomes more than that for all of us. John is going to do a model airplane and latch-hook project with them too. Norman was even quizzing them on their numbers yesterday. They seem to enjoy it and it's nice to work around our own schedule. Since I worked my last gig last night, I will be able to devote more of myself to putting together some lesson plans. 

New Haircuts

After church I took Lucas to get his unruly hair cut at Sport Clips. He's always enjoyed getting his hair cut. Monique did a great job and gave him a little blue coloring in his faux-hawk. I didn't get any pics of that :(

   Then Olivia said she wanted a turn, so I decided to give her a bob. Since it was her first time, they gave her the special treatment, with a warm face towel massage chair, shampoo/scalp massage, neck massage, cut and blowdry, and of course a lollipop. She enjoyed the princess treatment :) And I really like her hair.

 Here they are doing one of the 'assignments' in a preschool book I just bought at Costco:

Divine Mercy

I have been reading "Divine Mercy, The Diary of Saint Faustina" for the past few months...well, a while. Although it is 700 pages, I don't think that is the main reason it has taken me so long; it is less of a diary, and more of a study guide...a magical one that though written in the 1930's, directly quotes what Jesus Himself instructed St. Maria Faustina Kowalska to share with the world. She had a very intimate relationship with the Lord, as she was directed at a young age to eventually form a new devotion and convent to Divine Mercy. It is magical to me. The total devotion she has for The Lord, and the truly just nature of God can make you feel like nothing...like a selfish, lazy hypocrite. But you soon understand that just as Faustina recognizes herself as "misery itself", acknowledging your own sins and more importantly, your total dependence on Jesus to help you deny earthly pleasures for Heavenly ones, is truly freeing and uplifting. It is inspiring and emboldening my faith, and therefore my determination to pray that His will be done (not mine) and pray for the grace to accept and appreciate His will. But the main message was that we all be aware of His Divine Mercy for all sinners who repent. I truly believe all sins can be forgiven, and that no soul deserves hell. Satan hates when we are aware of that...Divine Mercy is unfathomable and inexhaustible. And when we repent with true contrition, and accept His mercy, grace & blessings abound.

   Well, if my incoherent rambling doesn't get through, surely His words will. I have been highlighting passages I like, that keep me focused on what's important, and help guide me in examining my conscience for confession, which I have yet to go to at our new church..:(

  I will post random ones sporadically in the hopes that they might strike one of you (my GAZILLIONS of readers lol) as poignant and useful. Reading Jesus words in her diary always makes me critical first of myself, and that's why I want to save these quotes to heed His call. And then some passages remind me of others and I pray for them to be open to the Holy Spirit's guidance. But feeling guilt and shame should only lead to prayer and repentance, and finally new hope, purpose and strengthened faith. :) Never let it take you anywhere else-that's a trap!

   Jesus: THERE ARE SOULS WITH WHICH I CAN DO NOTHING. THERE ARE SOULS THAT ARE CONTINUOUSLY OBSERVING OTHERS, BUT KNOW NOTHING OF WHAT IS GOING ON WITHIN THEIR OWN SELVES. THEY TALK ABOUT OTHERS CONTINUALLY, EVEN DURING TIMES OF GRAND SILENCE, WHICH ARE RESERVED FOR SPEAKING ONLY WITH ME, POOR SOULS, THEY DO NOT HEAR MY WORDS; THEIR INTERIOR REMAINS EMPTY. THEY DO NOT LOOK FOR ME WITHIN THEIR OWN HEARTS, BUT IN IDLE TALK WHERE I AM NEVER TO BE FOUND. THEY SENSE THEIR EMPTINESS, BUT THEY DO NOT RECOGNIZE THEIR OWN GUILT, WHILE SOULS IN WHOM I REIGN COMPLETELY ARE A CONSTANT SOURCE OF REMORSE FOR THEM. INSTEAD OF CORRECTING THEMSELVES, THEIR HEARTS SWELL WITH ENVY, AND IF THEY DO NOT COME TO THEIR SENSES, THEY PLUNGE IN EVEN DEEPER. A HEART, WHICH THUS FAR IS   ENVIOUS, NOW BEGINS TO BE FILLED WITH HATE. AND THEY ARE ALREADY AT THE EDGE OF THE PRECIPICE. THEY ARE JEALOUS OF MY GIFTS IN OTHER SOULS, BUT THEY THEMSELVES ARE UNABLE AND UNWILLING TO ACCEPT THEM.

   heavy stuff huh? It's a great book to have on hand for perspective in any difficult situation. More to come. Prayer is powerful. You'll never regret a true prayer, and it's intentions are never wasted, even if the object of your prayer doesn't accept it, the grace goes where it's wanted, and sometimes back to you!

Tim's 50th Surprise Birthday Party

Frankie's Godparents-to-be!

Last night  the kids and I went to Tim's birthday party, a surprise planned by his loving wife, Teresa. Teresa is John's cousin. We have become pretty close in the past year or so, especially since we moved from Houston to Dallas area. They are the only people I know, who enjoy speaking about their pro-life stance as much as I do :) In fact, instead of bringing gifts for Tim, we were instructed to bring a baby item to donate to the local pregnancy counseling center. It is amazing to hear the stories of when they pray outside abortion clinics and often get a chance to talk to the young couples entering the building to abort their babies...every so often, they convince the girls to choose life and help them get on their feet with resources to either help them personally raise their child, or give them to a loving family. They are truly saving lives and preventing much heartbreak. Great role models for us as well as for the kids, and they are extremely active in their church, volunteering much of their time, money and effort to charitable causes and chaperoning the many youth projects, as well as Knights of Columbus duties.

     It was a great party and the kids enjoyed everything--all the guests, dancing, food and balloons!
We learned a lot in the "Tim Trivia", but I already knew their cute story of how they met--she was an assistant manager at a Babies R Us in Las Vegas and he went in to buy something for his nephew--and fell in love :) Teresa had me read this framed e-mail she received through her work, while Tim was on a deployment in the Marine Corp. ( she said she would get too emotional!):

It was very cute :)

 

 Tim and his dad.

 This sweet girl played and danced with them all night.

 Teresa with one of Tim's handsome sons Dillon.

Here's the video of when we surprised Tim:

And here's when Lucas decided to break out the booty workin:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM!