Almost home!

Just three days of school with students; four days of inservice. I'm almost free!

We have been so busy, I haven't even updated. I am sure some of you have given up on me, but I'm back.

Jenna is wonderful. She is sporting a new hair do - the self cut. Yep, it happened, it was bound to. She has some bangs again, something we had just grown out, but they aren't too bad. She is getting tall and skinny, and, unfortunately, all baby is gone. She's pure little girl. She giggles, talks, talks, talks, and plays. She is an excellent big sister - amazing at teaching Hudson with gentleness, and capable of pulling his hair in retaliation for wrongs committed. She was a star performer at her school music program last week. I am such a proud mother. She is a born performer!

Hudson is beginning to get taller - his arms and legs are getting long, and he is getting a little clumsier (believe it or not, he can be clumsier than he already was). Jeremy buzzed his hair again this evening, and that gave a little bit of baby back. He has a hilarious new game. Michael (my brother) brought a little stuffed cheetah cat for Jenna when he came home (he is back in the States for a month of R&R, and then reports to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma for training. He'll them be stationed somewhere in the US - NOT GERMANY!). Jenna pretended like the kitten bit her, and now Hudson pretends the cat bites him. He come to you holding out his finger, saying, "boo boo, ouch, no no kitty." After you kiss his finger, he goes to the kitty and says, "no no kitty." It is soooo cute.

Last weekend we took the kids camping for the first time. A great time was had by all. We had 34 people attend this family campout for StoneWater. I didn't get to visit with adults much, I was too busy keeping up with #1 and #2. We all crashed together in the tent, on the same air mattress. About 2:32 am I felt a bug scamper across my back, then realized I was laying on my back, so it couldn't be a bug. My dear little boy next to me had experienced a diaper failure and I was DRENCHED. You can't just change the sheets when you're camping, so a damp towel had to suffice. Not a good night's sleep, but a lot of fun! Enjoy the pictures. One is Hudson chillin' by the camp fire with his pacifier, hot dog, and flashlight. The other is Jenna getting to roast marshmallow #10. She likes those marshmallows.

3 weeks & counting

Only 3 weeks of school left! I can't believe I've almost made or that I still have so much to get done. I have truly been blessed by this job. Again today, Ann said, in reference to AP classes, if you want them, you have them. I gave her a hearty "I do" and smiled. I am teaching Gatsby to my AP classes now, so I can spend more time on the 'deep' stuff than explaining what is happening. It is exciting. I love this stuff!

The kids are awesome. Hudson is becoming quite a talker. He picks up new words constantly, and really likes to show them off. He can identify his nose, eyes, ears, belly button, and hair. He just gets a little too excited when pointing your nose and eyes. Ouch. He is still stubborn - yesterday he kept turning on the water faucet, not a little, but full blast. If I snuck over and turned it down, he would hold the hose up, look at the water, pucker his lips and look at me, and then march over and turn it back up. After a long battle, we took the knob off of the faucet with a wrench. He screamed and cried for 30 minutes. Yes, we give him time outs and spank, but there is a point where you have to stop and move on before it becomes child abuse.

Jenna is a great big sister. She knows the eternal triangle of discipling - distract, correct, time out. She is a great distractor for her brother. She knows all of her days of the week and months of the year, letters, shapes, she is just too smart for me to tell you! She is my helper and encourager - "Mommy, you can do it!" She relishes in having her friends come over and seeing them at baseball games and the park.

Last weekend we had the fish fry for StoneWater. There were 480 in attendance of the services (that includes the 150 kids), and most stayed for the fish fry, fishing, and bounce houses. Yes, fishing. We had a 50 gallon 'tank' set up with 200 catfish for fishing for the kids. It was awesome! That night we headed over to Joey and Lisa's for some time with them. They happen to have some kittens, and the kids were enthralled. Hudson was almost too loving, we had to explain 'gentle' and not to squeeze. He kept holding them under one arm on his hip and would walk around. Jenna just loved to cuddle and play and transport. Too cute...here are some pictures of the big weekend.