We have been....

Reading under the Snuggies.

Birdsitting.
Enjoying the beautiful weather.

Building obstacle courses in the back yard.

Celebrating with Caleb on his 2nd place in Sparring at the Regional TaeKwonDo Championships.

Presenting history projects.

Lukey too!

Dressing up for Halloween.

Defending our country.

Playing free Putt-Putt at the boys' favorite place. (Free putt putt for everyone in costume!!)

Attempting to make hole in ones.

Keeping the city of Beaumont safe from crime.

Traveling home in style.

The End.

Drawing

The boys can not get enough of these two books we found at the library:
Learn to Draw Race Cars and

Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Trucks and Trains

At bedtime Luke does not want me to read books to him, he wants me to sit and draw with him.

Luke's masterpiece! He did it all by himself!

Deep in concentration.

#24 by Caleb.

Numbers and Places

40 days until Aaron graduates.

46 days until Christmas.

53 days left in 2009.

Numerous resumes Aaron has sent to open jobs in 6 states:

Texas, Wisconsin, California, New York, Colorado, Arizona.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. I Peter 5:7 (NLT)

And my favorite:

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Meet Aesop

Caleb's drama class presented six short Aesop Fable's after school. Caleb was Aesop and introduced himself (Aesop) and his stories.

Too Much Information

The boys and I went to the Houston Zoo for a field trip with our homeschool group.

Lukey's favorite animal at the zoo was the meerkats. He absolutely loved them. He asked me to please take a lot of pictures.



He brought home a stuffed animal meerkat from the zoo. (Luke was doctoring him up here.)

The next day we made a quick trip to the library for some books about meerkats. That night at bedtime Luke asked for me to please read him these books. The first book we went right through, then the second book I ran into trouble. On one page it went into great detail about meerkat mating and had a picture! I am not ready to go there with my 5 year old. I tried to quietly skip that page, but Luke noticed and got upset that I tried to skip the page. Caleb was on the bed with us and heard the commotion. I finished the book and both boys wanted to know why I had skipped the page. Grrrrr! So I explained the page was about mating and how God created both people and animals to mate and that it takes a boy meerkat and a girl meerkat to make a baby meerkat and then we read the page and looked at the picture. Caleb said, "We know all about that from love bugs." Okay then.


Aaron said I should have just read the page at first and not made a big deal about it. Easy for him to say, he was on the couch.

Lesson learned here: some children's books have TMI!

Why I haven't been blogging.

I have many blog posts floating around my head. In the past two weeks we have been places and had funny things happen that I would like to share. These blog posts may or may not be coming soon.

My free time lately has been spent doing one thing: sleeping.

ON this:

Aaron's Dad, who works at a furniture store, won a King Size ComforPedic mattress set . He already had a new bed so he gave this one to us! Our former queen size bed was over 20 years old and overly firm. We are now sleeping in complete comfort and I find myself going to sleep earlier and waking up later.

For my birthday Aaron's Mom took me shopping for a comforter set for our new bed.

Thanks Ann and Hector! I love our new bed!

I will try to return to my blog soon, if I can get out of bed!

Fun is Found ....

1. At Yard Sales
After my birthday breakfast at Cracker Barrel, we happened upon a garage sale and had to stop. They were selling games and puzzles for 50 cents each. We brought this one home, not knowing if all the pieces were there or not. Lukey wanted to get started on it right away. It took a few days but eventually it was completed with no missing pieces.

The castle is still being played with. Lego people keep appearing on the spindles.

2. At The Library

The library is one of my favorite places to go to. Last week we found this treasure: Toys Go Out Being the Adventures of a Knowledgeable Stingray, a Toughy Little Buffalo, and Someone Called Plastic. I thought Luke would enjoy this book because of his new love for Stingrays. I read this aloud to the boys. They both thoroughly enjoyed the story about a girl's toys and stuffed animals and the adventures they have. Lukey asked me to re-read one chapter because he found it so entertaining. The chapter we re-read was titled: The Terrifying Bigness of the Washing Machine.

After we had finished the book the boys and I wrote a letter to the author telling how much we liked the book and the boys listed their favorite parts of the story. I hope the boys get a reply!

3. At Home

We were so excited to finally have a cool night here in Southeast Texas that they boys and I made plans at dinner to enjoy the evening. We decided to go out and make a fire. Luke was worried it would be too dark, so we decided to hang some Christmas lights for extra lights. I don't know what the boys enjoyed more, the fire or the lights.

After all of the running around, we laid down and looked at the stars! It was a magical night.

The post you've been waiting for!

I bring to you a recap of my birthday. In the morning the boys brought me my presents and sang Happy Birthday to me.

The small box contained this Fossil watch that I love!

The content of the bigger box I will reveal to you at the bottom of this post. After presents the boys and Aaron took me to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I tried Apple Struesel French Toast- it was delicious!
After breakfast Aaron took the boys to pick up my cake he had ordered and to take Caleb to TaeKwonDo. I had a couple of hours to go shopping with the money my parents had given to me for my birthday. This was a big deal, it's like the planets aligning or a lunar eclipse occurring. Three things that normally don't happen at the same time: 1. I have money to go shopping. 2. I have time to go shopping. 3. I get to go shopping without kids. On this rare shopping trip I purchased a pair of jeans, a skirt, a shirt, a sweater, a necklace, earrings, sunglasses, tights, and 3 pairs of socks. Thanks Mom and Dad!

For dinner Aaron's Mom invited us over to dinner. Her table looked beautiful!

She would not let me help in the kitchen, so we took pictures while she finished up dinner.

We had a scrumptious dinner (Ann is one of the best cooks I know!) Aaron provided dessert, Caribbean Coconut Cake from Rao's Bakery. White cake with pineapple filling with cream cheese icing mixed with coconut and pineapples. It was so yummy!

I did make a wish, but I'm not telling!

I did receive the most wonderful, spectacular, warm gift! Yes, a Snuggie. My mom kindly gave me a blue Snuggie. But my Snuggie kept getting used by Caleb.

So, the big mysterious box from Aaron and the boys contained a Leopard Print Snuggie. The boys thought I needed another Snuggie. But now Luke is always using this Snuggie.

So when the Snuggies are available and I am wanting to watch T.V. I might use the Leopard Print Snuggie.

If I am wanting to spend a more serene night with a book I might use the blue Snuggie. To my brother Tim, you know you want one! It will help you get better! Just give in to the soft, luxuriant blanket with sleeves.

I had a spectacular birthday, thanks to my thoughtful and charming family! They are a treasure to me!

A Tent, Cousins, and Breakfast

No, we did not go to the circus. We went to an Old Fashioned Tent Revival at my Dad's church. Something about a big tent excites both young and old (at least in our family).

My grandmother, several aunts and uncles (Dad is from a big family), and cousins traveled from Kentucky to put on a revival at my Dad's church here in Texas.

Dad was a great host to all the family!

The boys loved playing with their Dallas cousins and Kentucky cousins.

One morning my Dad cooked a breakfast feast for the family consisting of bacon, sausage, two kinds of eggs, hashbrowns, grits, biscuits, and gravy. It was delicious!

We had a superb time visiting with the extended Gabbard family, and we enjoyed the special services in the tent!

Future Marine Biologists?

We have been busy with school and life. Last Friday, we had a Co-op field trip to Moody Gardens in Galveston. The boys were so excited to ride the ferry with their friends. We spotted countless dolphins in the water. What is it about dolphins that are so awe-inspiring?

At Moody Gardens, first we visited the Aquarium. A few days before our field trip Lukey had become fascinated with rays. He was so excited to spot them at the aquarium. They truly are a marvel of God's creation.

Look closely, there is a ray to the right of Lukey.


Caleb was busy with his friends, I never snapped a picture of him at the Aquarium. Next we went to the Rainforest Pyramid. I stopped Caleb and Luke at the entrance to get their picture. This is the smile I received from Caleb.

I pleaded with him to please smile for me. Second shot:

The Aquarium had an abundance of sharks. One that Lukey viewed was the Leopard Shark. He brought home his own Leopard Shark from Moody Gardens. At home he pulled out the sea animal stuffed animals we have and he found a ray. We didn't even know we had it. The ray and shark have been Luke's constant companions since. We have also made two trips to the library since Friday. We have checked out countless books on whales, sharks, dolphins, rays, and squids. We are becoming quite the experts.

The three boys in the house have also been busy playing warriors or knights and dragons or war or whatever they decide to call it that day. Lukey kindly requested Aaron to put on some armour, Aaron could not refuse.

Caleb has been busy with mixed numbers, building a terrarium, canopic jars, re-writing Aesop's Fables, Latin words, and of course reading.

For a class at Co-op Caleb had to list five reasons why he loved his Mom.

Here I present to you Caleb's List:

My Mom

1. Nice

2. Great cooking most of the time.

3. Fun

4. Creative

5. Helpful

Lukey has been busy as well. Today, Lukey asked if he could please do his school under the table. He then told me, "I'm going to my office. It is my office, truly."

Then Lukey declared, "After this I would like some refreshment."

I love spending my days with Caleb and Luke! I wouldn't trade it for anything!