More beach photos

Fill my heart to overflowing

Do they really have to grow up?

Worse than a cold in the summer...

is for a kid to wake up on the morning of Halloween with a fever of 102.

On the positive side, all three kids got it together, so no one had to stay home while the others headed out to pick up the goods.

Instead, the big kids dressed up and then we watched the movie that inspired their costumes. They had a great time, but I know they are sick because at the end of the movie, they all asked to be put to bed immediately. Even JackJack. As I was saying prayers over him, he put his index finger on my mouth, looked into my eyes, and very firmly said, "Bed." (He'll be two in December).




"Violet" and "Dash" prepare to fight bad guys.

Dash/Flash lives in this alter ego at least some part of every day.

Violet and Dash with the pumpkins we painted twice because they got rained on and all the paint ran off. They didn't mind and I'll take two craft projects for the price of one anyday.

Mommy snuggling a very feverish (practically on fire!) JackJack. He had his suspicious face on until he saw the camera... then to Daddy's chagrin, he mustered up this half-grin and a hushed "cheeeessse" as the flash went off.

Is it awful to say that I am not at all unhappy with how the day turned out? There is hardly any candy in the house, we spent the evening as a family making wonderful memories, and the kids have enjoyed every moment of their costumes and acting out The Incredibles every chance they get.

And if you haven't seen the movie... well, it's a Chambers Top Five. Now, our top five is tough because I don' t really like movies while Big E. loves them and is very demanding. So for us both to find one we love... that's as high a recommendation as I know how to give! (For the record, The Princess Bride also makes the cut.)

Beachy keen

In defense, I'm going to say, I'm a mommy. I'm a MOPS coordinator. I'm an almost full-time business partner to my entrepreneurial husband. I like spending time with my friends. And I have to spend time with God or I'm a mess to live with.

It's been a busy month. But I'm back now.

So... want to see some cute pictures?

Here are some of my favorite shots from our trip to the beach at the beginning of the month. We will definitely pick this time of year to go again... it was fantastic.


Flash loved the water, but could we warm it up about 5 degrees?

So you see now why we call her "Mermaid Princess".

JackJack loved all of it, but nothing so much as being in Daddy's arms while Daddy stood thigh high in the ocean.

We are the SuperHeroes!

Homeschooling... in some other blog, I'll go into ALL the reasons we chose to start homeschooling. As I have had to start defending our choice to others, I've realized that my most driving reason has nothing to do with religion. This is important because the most resistance I feel has been from other Christian moms who feel that my choice to homeschool puts them in a bad light - like it somehow means they aren't as dedicated to their children as I am.

What is it about Christians that we do this to ourselves and to each other?

Instead of a talk here about why we homeschool, however, I wanted to share this moment in our homeschooling journey.

We are preparing to leave for the beach for a week, starting tomorrow. This came up last minute-ish, and is a gift to us by someone I have known all my life. So, while I usually like to pack bit by bit over a week, we are packing in a fury, and took the day off from homeschooling. (Not to worry, the kids beg to do school each day, so we are taking some with us, as well as some cool crafts to do about jellyfish and starfish and octopi).

So over lunch, Mermaid Princess brought me a piece of paper with the words to the National Anthem on them and asked me to tell her the story. So I did, about how some bad guys wanted to take over our country and tell us what to do and take a bunch of our money. And then how they came in big ships, and how if they took over this one city, they would probably win and be our bosses. And we were flying our flag and they were flying their flag and whichever flag was still up when the sun came up, that team would win.

They got it! They wanted to know all about where the battle was - so out came the map. And they wanted to know what the bad guys were wearing, so we popped up a page about the redcoats. And they wanted to know what weapons were being used...

Flash: And I was there! And I SHOT the bad guys. And their redcoats got all wet when I squirted them with water and they had to go HOME.

Mermaid Princess: But then at home they got new coats and came back!

Flash: So I SHOT them again, and they got soaking wet. And now they didn't have any more coats, and we WON.

MP: We are the superheroes!


Close. So close.

Still, we sang the national anthem together (big fans of the closing line!), and they will never hear the anthem without knowing what it really means. At 3 & 4 years old. If that's the only school they had all week, it would be enough for me.