So Far This Week

 I decided I'd better update before I get too many pictures.

We went over to a place called the Nature Discovery Center. The kids really seemed to like it and so I signed Eaden up for some weekly Nature Detective classes. Hopefully, she can make some friends and have fun learning as well.

Back home we've noticed that we haven't had many birds hanging around lately. So here is our attempt at attracting them back. 

Here's our current "homeschool" setup. I'm on the lookout for a small table and chairs so that the kids can have proper posture and feel comfortable as they draw, write, color, etc.

I organized a bit and managed to get all of the books we're using for preschool on one shelf. Oh man how this will grow over the years...

The girls made paper dolls of themselves. Eaden loved this!

We went on a little exploration with our goal being to find things that reminded us of Autumn.

 The Doodlebug Brigade mostly just wanted to hunt doodlebugs.

We tried to slow down, LOOK, and really observe our surroundings.

 Little man wasn't really feeling it.

So we headed back to the park.

 Once home, we finished a Fall craft we had been working on...another stick/yarn thingy.

Happy Autumn!

P.S. Eaden wants dinosaur shoes again!

My Camera and Blog Addiction

I've come to the realization that I have a serious addiction to cameras and taking pictures. I need help. I would like to blame this blog, but the truth is that I've always been this way. There has been more picture taking since the blog came into existence. For example, I would never have taken pictures of my books, beer, food, etc. before. But I've always been a madwoman when it comes to my kids. I want to have great memories, for them to see all that they did. However, it's getting in my way of living in the moment. I mean look at my last few posts! I have about 100 pictures in each of them! It makes us look like crazy busy freaks when really we are quite relaxed. Anyhoo, wish me luck....in my effort to cut back.

Oh! One more thing! Do any of you feel like blogging gets in the way of your life?  I kind of want to quit, but I don't (sidenote: I am going to start scrapbooking which is not going to help my camera addiction). What got me thinking about this is the fact that in the morning I drink my coffee and read blogs. While I do this, my kids watch cartoons. I don't really have anything against t.v. and cartoons (everything in moderation). What I hate are commercials. My kids are all growing out of their shoes and so we've been trying to decide what new shoes to buy. I wanted Eaden to get new dinosaur shoes (like her old ones that she LOVED), but now she wants fu*&ing Skecher Twinkle Toes. NOOOOO! I will not let my kids be influenced by these damn commercials. So I'm cutting out any cartoons with commercials. But should I get her the shoes, lol? I'll probably just take her to the thrift store and see if we can find something.

Blogging seems to be giving me all of these complexes. Maybe it is unhealthy.

This Week We Had Rain!

 It was so great! So happy! It's so rare these days that my kids have become completely fascinated by it.

We practiced some math using money magnets we made.

We bartered a bit as well.

I received some fabric in the mail! Holy Cow!

We picked up the best raw milk over at Gramen Farm. I also bought some Kombucha to cleanse. I don't really do that sort of thing, but I kind of feel like I need to.

We made it to the public library's annual children's book sale.

I don't know why I didn't really catch on to this before, but Eaden likes nonfiction. She loves animal and earth science, but not physical science...which kind of explains why she wasn't into the children's museum. I would always get a bit frustrated when Eaden wouldn't listen to me read for long, but now I realize I was always reading fiction (as in picture books). Naia, on the other hand, listens forever....to anything. I love how kids are so different and all have such unique personalities.

We learned a little about geography and maps, so I decided to make a treasure map. When the girls found it they thought it was either Santa or pirates that left it.

The treasure was a Famous Texas Women paper doll book to add to our growing collection.

 My Dad use to always tell me about Ima Hogg and how her Dad didn't want children and that's why he named her Ima. He also said she had a sister named Ura. None of this is true of course. Anyway, I can't believe my kids actually have an Ima Hogg paper doll, lol.

I caught my sweet boy feeding his baby.

My husband said he was wiping his baby's bottom earlier today while I was gone.

The girls learned about scales and made some snake collages (they cannot get enough of cutting and gluing).

 I taught the girls how to play jacks. Eaden throws the ball up in the air while Naia grabs all of the jacks.

On Sunday, we headed over to my parents again for some Texans football. The kids explored the backyard and caught plenty of creatures with the help of their cousin.

This Moment

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember. Thanks Soulemama.

Unexpected Greatest Day!

Congratulations if your computer didn't crash! This post has A LOT of pictures....Thursday is our nature walk day and I decided we'd go to Hermann Park. It's not a normal place we would go for a nature walk because it's right in the city, but we wanted to feed the ducks and birds some old bread we had. I had planned not to spend any money which didn't quite happen, but the money I spent was definitely worth it. My kids whined very little and had the best time. Yay! When we got to the park Eaden knew we were by the zoo, so she said she wanted to go. Luckily, my brother got us a membership last Christmas and so I said fine. Besides, we were learning about snakes and I thought it would be neat to see them.

I know that wasn't a snake, but it's a cute picture. After checking out the snakes and a few other exhibits we decided we wanted to check out the new 4D movie theater. We saw Planet Earth.

Naia looks happy here because the movie hadn't started. Luckily we were early to the zoo and the only ones in the theater. She said she was scared and wanted to go home the entire time. The seats shook which I think is what scared her most. Then she was caught by surprise when the wind blew on the back of her neck as the shark jumped out of the water and snatched up a seal. She screamed again when we were sprayed with water as the elephants were swimming. It was really quite hilarious only because no one was in there.

After the 4D movie we went to the carousel. Taven was a little scared at first.

Then he thought hmmm, maybe this is fun.

Then it was oh yeah! This IS fun!

After the zoo, we made our way to Hermann Park. We fed the pigeons and ducks.

We found a squirrel without a tail!

...and decided he needed a friend.

We fed some more squirrels.

Chased some pigeons.

Played in the reflection pond (I'm not sure we're supposed to do that).

Then we headed over to the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Butterfly Center.

My kids DID NOT want to leave which made me SOOOOO happy. We found this vending machine...

and decided to pick a little something up.

The kids played some more.

Finally, after a long and perfect day, we caught the train (for free) back to the car.