Father Involvement

I am so glad Toby is a hands-on Dad!!!! We need more dads like this!

Kensli's Chicken

Kensli is such a little princess! She loves boas, crowns, princess dresses, high heels, etc. The other day she talked me into this pink boa that she now refers to as her "shedding chicken"!!!!!! When she sees a feather come out she will say, "Momma, my chicken is shedding again!" She keeps us all laughing!!!!!!!!!!! So, today I took some pictures of her and her "chicken".

In the next three pictures she is showing me how a cowgirl uses a rope! She likes the idea of being a cowgirl, too, a PINK cowgirl to be exact!!!!!



Oh, our funny, darling, silly, little, pink princess, you feel our hearts with sunshine!

And All is Right with Our World.......

The economy is bad according to the experts. Toby has been really busy the last few days in the financial world and we heard today that two major restaurant chains have closed here in town. What is next? Our first reaction would be fear of what the future may hold, but today, as I sat pondering what was going on in the world around us and reminding myself that God is more than enough, I looked around me and realized something very important........my world was still OK! I have four beautiful kids and I am able to stay home and spend a lot of time with them daily! We are all healthy and busy pursuing the things that make us happy. We have food on the table and never go to bed hungry. As I sat and pondered all these things, I was so glad that I know a God that is always more than enough!!!!!!!

Here is a small glimpse into one of our homeschooling days! The weather has been so beautiful lately! The heat and humidity have gone for a few days. I love it when my kids can learn without being cooped up in a classroom or house.

We bought a bushel of sweet potatoes this year from a local farmer and they were very dirty. Here is Nic and Kensli cleaning the dirt off for me!

Just look how good they washed them!
Yum, we baked sweet potatoes for lunch!!!!!

Ricky did most of his independent work on the trampoline today! He is really enjoying studying American history this year. He is always sharing something interesting he has learned!
Kaitlyn working on her journal. She loves to write and enjoys keeping up with what happens daily!

Fall Sports

It's official, I am now a soccer mom! This is the 1st year any of the kids have shown an interest in soccer, so that is the reason for my never having earned the title. Both Kaitlyn and Nicholas are playing soccer! Our fall season officially kicked off last Saturday, so we spent a lot of the day at the sports complex. Except for the heat, it was a lot of fun!!!!

Go, Mavericks and Falcons!

My 2 soccer stars.

Of course, Ricky is once again following his love for baseball. We asked if he wanted to play another sport this fall, but when he was chosen for a select travel ball team, he decided to "PLAY BALL!"

Go, Bayou Bengals!

Ricky sliding in to home!

Hurricane Ike

Ike blew through here, but fortunately we did not receive the damage that Gustav left us! Our state has been battered twice in about 2 weeks and we are slowly crawling out from under all the debris!!!!! Many people here have had flood damage or trees on their homes! My heart breaks for those in FEMA trailers or shelters. Hopefully, we will not have any more hurricanes this season.

Here is a picture I took the morning before Ike blew through here! Kensli's face tells how we feel about another hurricane!!!!

PUPPY LOVE

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to add to our family! Here is our newest addition:

JAX

Conversations with Kensli

Kensli is my constant talker. Sunday morning at church we passed a lady and she just started laughing! I said, "She's my talker." The woman replied, "That is VERY evident!!!" Kensli talks non-stop about everything! I thought Ricky could talk, but he doesn't even hold a candle to our little bit of spice!!!!

Kensli is now potty trained and the other day I walked in on her on the potty!

Kensli: "I'm poo-pooing!"
Me: "I can tell!"
Kensli: "How do you know?"
Me: "Because, I think I'll call you a little stinker"
Kensli: "AH! I am going to tell your mommy and daddy that you called me names!"

Kensli loves to squeal and scream! She has the shrillest scream, that I think could probably shatter glass if she were to scream for very long. The other day she had squealed, screamed and fussed about everything to the point that I was tired of hearing it! Then it dawned on me that she was probably hungry, because she had refused breakfast that morning! Here is the conversation..........

Me: "Kensli, I am tired of the squealing and screaming! I think you are hungry and that is why you are out of sorts."
Kensli: "But, I'm not hungry!"
Me: "Did you eat your breakfast this morning?"
Kensli: "NO!"
Me: "So, that means that if you eat something you will feel better and can play sweetly with your brother........."
Kensli (as she looks at me with big eyes) finishes my sentence: ".......and I can scream even louder!"

Yes, I did feed her and prayed that the screaming would not be louder!!!!!

Also, she gets mad at her dad quite easily! When mad, she pouts at him and will not let it go with out Toby doing some sweet talking! A couple of mornings ago, while Toby was getting ready for work, I found her pouting on our bed!

Me: "What's wrong with you?"
Kensli: "Daddy!"
Me: "What did Daddy do now?"
Kensli: "He's being difficult!"

With that she got down and went to play!