This and That

well we are almost done with week two of homeschooling. We took last week off for spring break with everyone else. It's actually going pretty well. For the most part, Tristian's behavior has improved. It's not 100% great, but hey, he's a 10 year old boy. That's to be expected. It is however, back to the kid I know him to be. I have noticed a lot that he is lacking, things that he should have learned a long time ago. Simple multiplcation and division, brainstorming. I feel better and better about my decision everyday.

I've been using my camera every chance I get. took lots of pictures of "the cousins" over spring break. I took pictures of my kids for portraits. I think they turned out pretty good. I think I might could be pretty good at this photography thing. However, my current dilemma is that I don't have props for indoor photo shoots.
By the way Sarah, I never remembered to tell you I'd love to do some pics for you. Just let me know and we'll figure out all the details! you've got my email

Tristian will be in Time Steps, Rock of the Ages. It is an awesome ballet that The Eagle and Lone Star Ballet are creating, yes this is a never before done ballet!. It will have rock from the 50's to the 80's I think maybe even the 90's.... April 3rd & 4th. Tristian has been very busy with rehearals. He gets to do the "Thriller" dance and will get to be full zombie costume!

I think that just about gets us covered and updated. We're waiting for a "blizzard" to come through. But knowing how the Panhandle is, we'll just see how big this storm really is when it gets here! :)

how well do your kids know you

By Dakota Age 4.5
1. What is something Mom always says to you?A- Put your toys away
2. What makes mom happy?A- being good
3. What makes mom sad?A – being bad4. How does your mom make you laugh?A- because you gave us a hug
5. What was your mom like as a child?A- you will be bad everyday
6. How old is your mom?A – 1, 2, 3, 100...you are 100
7. How tall is your mom?A- (how many feet do you thing she is?) 5
8. What is mom's favorite thing to do?A- do the computer
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?A- I don't know
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?A- you be happy
11. What is your mom really good at?A- writing
12. What is your mom not very good at?A- not painting13. What does your mom do for her job?A- her drawing
14. What is your mom's favorite food?A- I don't know...pizza
15. What makes you proud of your mom?A- eating some snack
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?A-a car
17. What do you and your mom do together?A- shop and go swimming
18. How are you and your mom the same?A-because we are dressed in clothes
19. How are you and your mom different?A- because we have different clothes
20. How do you know your mom loves you?A- because you love me so much!
21. Where is your mom favorite place to go?A- Green Chili Willies
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By Alyssa Age 6.5
1. What is something Mom always says to you?A-Goobey Goober
2. What makes mom happy?A- doing what she says
3. What makes mom sad?A – doing what she doesn't say4. How does your mom make you laugh?A- tickling me
5. What was your mom like as a child?A- just like me
6. How old is your mom?A – are you in the 40's?
7. How tall is your mom?A- maybe 40 inches
8. What is mom's favorite thing to do?A- some stuff on the computer
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?A- Hang out maybe
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?A- I don't know
11. What is your mom really good at?A- cameras maybe
12. What is your mom not very good at?A- I don't know13. What does your mom do for her job?A- taking care of babies
14. What is your mom's favorite food?A- meat
15. What makes you proud of your mom?A- you’re the goodest mom
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?A-tweety bird
17. What do you and your mom do together?A- one time we played baseball together
18. How are you and your mom the same?A-because you used to be like me when you were little
19. How are you and your mom different?A- because you wear glasses and I don't
20. How do you know your mom loves you?A- Cause she says so
21. Where is your mom favorite place to go?A- gym
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By Tristian Age 10
1. What is something Mom always says to you?A-I love you
2. What makes mom happy?A- When you listen to her
3. What makes mom sad?A – Me growing up4. How does your mom make you laugh?A- by tickling me
5. What was your mom like as a child?A- book addicted kid like me
6. How old is your mom?A – 27
7. How tall is your mom?A- really tall
8. What is mom's favorite thing to do?A- read
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?A- play lego star wars
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?A- cooking
11. What is your mom really good at?A- guitar hero
12. What is your mom not very good at?A- dance dance revolution13. What does your mom do for her job?A- babysits kids and teaches me
14. What is your mom's favorite food?A- something broth, the one we ate for your birthday (beef stroganoff)
15. What makes you proud of your mom?A- her ideas
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?A- pooh bear
17. What do you and your mom do together?A- play
18. How are you and your mom the same?A- we like to have friends
19. How are you and your mom different?A- I'm the oldest and she was the middle in her family..... (???????? I don't know where that came from)
20. How do you know your mom loves you?A- she hugs me at night
21. Where is your mom favorite place to go?A- Time Steps
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Time of Change

This time next week we have hit the time change. I will also be officially homeschooling my kids. This is something that has been on my heart for 5 years now. I noticed a change in Tristian's behavior when we moved 2 years ago. Since then it has just gotten worse. It hit the breaking point a little over a week ago. The teacher called me about concerns about his behavior. He was no longer acting up just at home anymore. A week later (Friday) he had to have an office referral.
Call it mom's intuition or whatever. But I knew when I had the conference call with his teacher it was time for change. Something at that school is just not right with my child. I'm not saying it's a bad school, or the teacher is bad. I just know he needs a change of environment. We have done so much research in options. Prayed, prayed and prayed. Talked to many people. We decided the best thing for our family right now is to home school.
We are waiting out the week because he has TAKS test this week. Where I hate the tests, we decided it was best he took it. One, if things don't work out we want him to be able to easily re-enroll in school. Two- he thought he was getting out of the test and got snotty about it towards his teacher. Then we decided not to pull them mid week. So Friday will be their lat day in public school. Monday I will start being their teacher.

beware ups guy

I finally got me camera today!!!

So the poor UPS guy nearly got knocked over at the door. I was so excited when he pulled up. Eric was giving me a hard time telling me they were delivering something across the street. HE about go smacked. lol

I spent the afternoon playing with the camera. I took like 350 pics, and deleted down to 25. lol But I'm exploring how to use it. My favorite so far is this one of Dakota. I can't believe how beautiful his eyes are in this picture. I mean I know my kid has some awesome eyes, but I've never had them turn out in a pic like this!

my new toy

Is finally on it's way!! I ordered a Rebel XSi with the works, 5 lenses, 3 filters, tripods, batteries, remote, case. I'm so excited!

My goal is to start a photography business. Something I can do to work around my (or the kids) schedule. So I maybe hitting all my friends and family up to let me take pictures so I can build a work portfolio and experience!!

Have you met my baby?

I just realized that most of you don't know that I have a 17 month old baby boy. Let me introduce you to him.

This is Hemi. I absolutely adored him! I grew up with Great Danes, and it took me 7 years to convince my husband that a dane is a great choice for a pet. Now he even agrees that Hemi is our most well behaved dog yet. I think it pretty much just comes breed in them. He is now starting to come out of the hyper puppy stage, so it makes him even so much more enjoyable!

Now if you don't know how big these guys get, Hemi can stand face to face with me on his hind legs, and I'm 5'10". And yes, he's still got some growing to do. Though at this point it is mostly growing out. (I hope! lol) Ok and for those wondering. Around this house we like our muscle cars. So when coming up with a name to match the dog, Hemi just seemed perfect. Eric got the hemi he always wanted, I got the dane I always wanted. lol I would love to have a couple more, but right now it's hard enough to keep the one feed!

So now that you've met my baby....

Here's my other baby and me earlier today.

What a romantic

The romantic Eric is, He bought me a new set of rims for my birthday(early)! Ok, so I'm not really disappointed. They were something I wanted and I will definately use them all the time! lol We are working on my suburban, slowly. I will be getting a remote start put on tomorrow. Friday the windows are getting retinted. We plan to eventually drop it a little bit, repaint it a charcol grey. Add a dvd player and a better sound system.