Silly Saturday's and Sick Sunday's

We were out and about most of the day on Saturday so that was nice. There was a butterfly festival in Huntsville that we went to, we were a bit late so we only got to see one butterfly released. It was an ok festival but not what I expected. I didn't take many pictures since we were only there for like 45 minutes, lol. But here are 2. 

You can totally tell where we are huh? Lol. The girls got their face painted and did some crafts while Rudy played with bubbles. After that we left. Like I said, it wasn't very big. But the kids had fun. 

From the festival we went to the library for some books for our school lessons for the week. This weeks are studying geography and the kids are going to each study a country. Rae chose Turkey, her reason why? Because it's close to Thanksgiving, haha. 

Bea chose Mexico because that's where Daddy went on his mission and she's Mexican too!

We love going to the library, especially Rudy, and especially when daddy comes with us. He always finds the best books. 

Once we left the library we headed home for a rest before we went swimming. Then we had dinner and carved some pumpkins. 

Ki did Mufasa. 

Rae did a jack o lantern

Bea did Rapunzel

I was busy with cranky boys to really carve mine. But I was able to hollow it, or at least most of it. And check out what I found!

 Seeds that are already growing. Bea calls them punklits. I told her that's my new name for her and her siblings, lol. 

By the time we were done it was around 10:30 at night. Way past bedtime, so bedtime was pretty easy. Rudy even tucked himself in and was waiting for me in his bed. 

Sunday:

A few of our little ones were sick on Sunday, I think the late night contributed a lot to speeding up the sickness process. 

So Sunday came and we decided it was a pj day. We sat around as a family and watched some movies and silly shows. Took medicine and rested. 

We also planted our pumpkin seeds, we found quite a bit more while cleaning the seeds to get ready for baking. 

We played with play doh, she sculpted her daddy haha. 

And we snuggled. Aggressively so, lol. 

I swear Ki enjoys this more then he lets on. All he asked Rudy was, "are you peeing?"  It was pretty funny. 

That was our busy and relaxing weekend. Ki and I had a lot of fun with our cute kids, next weekend we are thinking well go hiking. (=

A Day in the Life of Mama (1)

 Monday wasn't really that bad, but it seemed to be pretty busy to me.
My van had to be taken back to the car shop because of course for whatever reason the stinking air conditioning went out again! This would be the third time in about 3 months, I am so ready for a new car. I love my van but it keeps leaving me high and dry. I guess more like wet with sweat!
We had to get the van to the shop but Rae also had a doctors appointment so we had to coordinate with Papa to meet us at the shop after the doctors appointment. The upside to when the van isn't working is that I get to drive Ki's big white truck, which I love! It's not easy to get the car seat in and out of when other people park really close to me, but I still love it.
Once we got the doctors office and filled out a bunch of annoying paper work, we got called back pretty quickly and the appointment itself didn't actually take very long, which is nice because it can be a real gamble on how long a doctor visit will take. We got a clean bill of health for miss Rae but she couldn't get her flu mist because they didn't reserve her one and they had run out. But Bea got hers since hers was a nurses visit...WHAAAAA?? Yeah I was mad and confused, but what are you going to do. I asked the doctor and he said when I come back for the boys well checks to schedule Rae as well and he will make sure that they will all get the flu mist/shot.
 Of course when I went out the receptionist to check out and schedule the kids for the appointments the receptionist said that she couldn't schedule 3 kids in a day like that. So I told her what the doctor said and that if she would like I could go back there and find him. She kind of rolled her eyes at me and then just made the appointments. I asked 3 more times as she was grumbling to herself   "and all three of my kids will get the flu vaccine when we come back? I'm just making sure because two of them were supposed to get it done today and only one got it." I know I was annoying her, but I don't think she understood how annoyed I was either. Oh well, a Mama has to do what a Mama has to do.
 We left the doctors and met Papa at the car shop to drop off the van. From there we stopped at the bank and came home. The kids and I got inside, had lunch, put the boys down for a nap and got to work on school. We are trying a new way of doing things, we are just doing one subject a week instead of all 8 subjects during the week. I'm hoping it will help us to learn more and stay focused. Plus each day will be a little shorter which will be nice and a little easier on the boys and me as well. Like I said before I worry that the boys don't get as much as my attention as they need since schooling takes so long.
Once we were done we had a fun movie date planned with some friends. We went and saw Hotel Transylvania 2, cute but not exactly a must see haha. But it was fun to catch up a bit with our friends who we hadn't seen in a while. Rudy did exceptionally well! He just sat and watched the movie which is not at all what I was expecting. I thought that Monte would fall asleep nursing and that I was going to have to chase Rudy up and down the isles. But he just sat there and ate all his sisters popcorn and drink, then came and sat by me to finish off my popcorn and drink, (the diapers to follow the next 2 days were not pretty).
Monte was actually the one that gave me a hard time. He has been super fussy lately and I'm not entirely sure why. I can't tell if he's going through a growth spurt so he's super hungry or if he's super tired from a growth spurt. But either way through half the movie I was standing and bouncing him, which is OK I guess since  I ate a ton of popcorn.
After the movie we came home had a late dinner of some yummy hamburgers and then got ready for bed. For some reason that day just seemed a little wild to me. But the next day didn't seem any less non-stop.
Days where we just keep going non stop like that seem to be hard but also can be great. It is very exhausting and for days after I want to just sit and watch TV, lol. But it is nice when we have crazy filled days because then we seem to get along better since we have no choice but to work together. Yes the kids get silly still and maybe sometimes out of control, and I'll snap every once in a while. But for the most part it turns out  great!
I love my kiddos and no matter how hard or emotional things get, I'll never stop. I'll never stop trying, I'll never stop getting up, I'll never stop fighting for them, and I'll never let them get less then what they deserve.
I'm not entirely sure where I was going with this post. I'm still getting used to blogging, but I promised the kids. (=

Faithful and True!

It can be hard to stay faithful. But it's always worth it! 

Hulk Strong!

Houston Museum of Natural Science

So a friend of mine who has really held my hand through homeschooling, told me about a science group she's part of. Every month they go the Houston Museum of Natural science and participate in their homeschool science classes. They are separated by grades  k-2, 3-5, and I then I don't know because I only have a first and third grader. (=

Each class is an hour long and there are either 2 or 3 classes for each age group. 

Then at the end of the classes there is an activity to do, such as last month we saw  a 3D movie on underwater life, it was great because it was only 40 minutes long perfect for a 2 year old and a 5 month old. Even though they still got distracted. 

There are 30 minute breaks between each class and an hour break for lunch. 

Since we are there for classes I get a chaperone sticker and have free reign of the museum. So after I drop the girls off the boys and I (with the help of our amazing stroller) walk around the museum.  Between classes the girls like to wonder around as well.

The museum is 4 levels with benches and bathrooms everywhere, a huge plus for us. The museum doesn't seem to be too busy when we are there so it's easy to sit on a bench and nurse if I need to while Rudy sits and plays on the iPad. Then when Monte is done we are up and around again. 

We have only been 2 times so far and we have encountered some challenges but the kids really enjoy it! 

Last month when we went Rudy ended up puking on the way there. Luckily it wasn't a lot and it was just the one time. Rae and Bea were able to use the wipes to clean it up. But poor Rae started getting car sick because of the smell, luckily she made it. 

Once we got there Rudy was cranky due to puking and now having an empty stomach and being woke up super early, to get to the museum on time. 

I think the drive is my biggest challenge.  I'm not a fan of driving downtown for three reasons; 1- it's about an hour and 15 minutes away from our ranch. 2- there are so many people down there  that it's always slow and congested traffic. And 3- there are so many exits and one way streets, and off ramps and on ramps that just lead to you to more freeways that it's confusing! 

This last time we went I took the HOV lane and it was a little less stressful because there was not as much lane switching but I still needed to get off the freeway just to get on another to get to the museum. 

Rudy wasn't as cranky this time but he did have a leak out which was fun since I again forgot to pack extra clothes for him. As a matter of fact I didn't even think of it because I had totally forgot about him puking the time before. It wasn't until I started texting Auntie Nali that she reminded me. She was kind enough to go with us the first time and I'm grateful for her help that day. 

The stroller had a flat before we went and we didn't have time to buy a new tube so the night before Ki filled it with slime to patch the leak. It didn't work. We ended up leaving a trail of ooz all over the museum! 

It was hard to push the stroller in its condition so Denali was a big help with helping me hold Monte or hold Rudy's hand while he walked. 

Luckily this time we got a new tube and the stroller was my best friend. Both boys really seem to enjoy the stroller so it's not too hard to convince them to stay in it but they do also get bored. 

This time the girls learned about coral reefs, ancient Egypt tablets and writing, and wind energy. We have touched base on some of this so they were excited to know what the teacher was talking about and to learn more about them. 

We explored a new part of the museum that we hadn't seen yet. It was the energy hall. 

The girls refining oil. 

The lights were Montes favorite part. It's hard to see him, but he's there looking at the lights. He was very excited and kept kicking and trying to touch them. 

Rudy's favorite area is the jungle animals.

Yes that is an antelope hanging in the tree and the cheetah and lions are on their way to eat it. 

  

Me being bored in the Congo because Rudy made me look at the same animals for 45 minutes. 

And here are a few pictures of my amazing stroller! 

Both boys in a sitting position. 

Rudy sitting and Monte laying down taking a nap. 

Monte awake and rolling around.

Rudy always needs to be on top because he's bigger. We have learned the the stroller will tip backwards otherwise. Which is understandable but kind of sucks because Rudy likes being on the bottom. 

I'm not sure how this post became an add for the stroller but oh-well. Maybe I'll send it to Phil and Ted (stroller brand) and get an endorsement deal, lol. 

Anyway, we all really enjoy the museum and are happy to face the challenges that may come with it, so we can keep going. (=

-stressed and blessed.