Floating on iCloud 9!

Sign of the times I guess...After the kids opening a leapPad, 2 DS's and an iPhone they were absorbed by technology. They were running around taking pictures and videoing each other!

Mommy was on the cloud too!!

Okay no more words for this post I have a mean game of angry bird to get back too!

A few favorite pics..

Some pictures you take you just smile...here are a few of my favs from Christmas! Not wonderfully aimed, centered focused etc...but I loved the boys all looking up at the helicopter in their matching pjs!

My Mamaw....she will probably hate this pic becuase she is not smiling but I sometimes forget to get pics of the "adults" in our fam because i am so busy snapping the kids pics. I like the blur of the tree and the lighting on her was good (in my new house i am STRUGGLING with lighting! 11windows and 2 doors...so lots of light but weird angles and shadows??)

Just fun!

All five kiddos smiling and in stripes...what more could I want in a cutie pie pic?!

Just LOVE!

carson is not looking his finest but look how super cool the helicopter is?!?!!!

(see the light uhhh) but love this family shot. Maddie sewed these scarves for all the ladies in her life, so super cool pic!

Just like this...I have been trying to get a good glowing pics...and I like it!

So that was that...short and sweet!

Jingle the Bad Bad elf...

Well as usual most times what we begin for our children ends up being more fun for us! Paul and I had a great time playing with Jingle! THe children loved him too and it is definitly a tradition that will continue!! Here are some more of his naughty naughty tricks! Eating Santas milk and cookies!

Opening daddys gift!

Drinking syrup, eating candy and icing (all the elf major food groups!)

Tp'd Carsons entire room including poor Carson himself!

More Jingle Escapades...

Poor guy was interrogated by some Lego men (they do sorta run this place!) Our little dare devil was soarin' when we woke up!

Bad,bad Jingle....

Jingle (Our Elf on a Shelf)

I know everyone has there own ideas for the holidays and I actually worry far to much what others think about our ideas for the holidays. I am nervous about letting the children wear "Santa" hats to the nursing home to sing or should I buy a Christmas tee with reindeer or stick with candy canes. As silly as it is for Christians to judge each other by the Christmas decorations in ones house or the sugar cookies they bake...it happens people!
So I say all that to say YES Santa leaves unwrapped gifts under our tree on Christmas and guess what ::gasp:: we have Jingle the elf on a shelf that reports back to him!
I am new to this tradition saw it on Pinterest and loved the idea!...so here were are 12 years into marriage and 5 kids later and we are starting a new tradition!! Do I threaten the children that Santa is watching them so they better be good...No its kinda creepy...we are good because we are to obey...do they really think this goofy elf makes his way to the North Pole every night...NO (not even Lincoln).
So why are we doing it? Because it is FUN! I have fun finding things for Jingle to do and the kids have a blast finding him each morning! The kiddos race around to be the first to spot him, as he gets caught in some crazy activities!!
So when its all said and done our kiddos KNOW why we celebrate Christmas, the birth of our SAVIOR! AND i hope they take with them many memories made with mommy, daddy and siblings as we have fun during the holidays.
Here are some of Jingles escapades!
Making Snow angels in the rice!

Playing in my jewelry.

On a date with Barbies friend...in Barbies car!

Aghhh Pauls dinosaur was hungry!

Moments to Remember

As homeschoolers we do lots of "real schoolwork", pen to paper kinda stuff but when its all said and done I want to remember these kinda moments! It is a never ending 60hour a week kinda job to choose to homeschool and these type of moments are the best payment would could ask for!

Here is Maddie at 8 years old has taken up a passion for sewing! You can usally find her here by about 11am once her "book work" is complete. She set up at a craft show and sold items but best of all has been able to make homemade gifts for her family for Christmas! Carson curled up in bed with his reading. (he returned to the classroom and said "Whoa that was a great story!".

Maddie and Annie caccooned in the corner with their Latin, singing the Latin songs too!

Here is the view from behind the girls as they worked!

Carson is SO good about engaging the little ones throughout our morning. This was fun play with Lincolns counters!

This has become a morning routine. For Maddie and Annie to lead our morning/circle time. They are so empowered as leaders and they have much better singing voices than I do!!

The laundry room/mud room/office!

I could look at pictures for hours online drooling over the endless designs and ways to organize the multitudes of STUFF that enters the door (church papers, scout papers.. )the STUFF that needs to leave through the door(ballbags, paperwork, church bags). Here is an in progress picture of the room. The color is Inch Worm (don't ya love that color name?!) We have 5 cubbies and in the bottom right corner you can see a very simple desk (I SO hope this helps all the paper clutter from entering the house!) Under the window is a bench with more storage and of course the pesky washer & dryer! More pics will follow...

The Girls Grape-alicous bathroom!

The girls chose Grape Jelly for their bathroom color! It does kinda make your mouth water! Mommy chose the Ella chandeliers from Pottery Barn Kids. The vanity is white, the floor is white and the fixtures so the dark paint and lights kinda pop!

The girls room...

My girls have very different personalities and I was wanting to stay away from a "themey" room. Also neither of my girls like pink, and Maddies last room was lavender so finding a color scheme was tricky too! So after hours of searching I decided that "shabby chic/whimsical/retro-ish" was our style! We chose a robins egg blue and it is PERFECT! The room is a basic rectangle with a little nook. I keep thinking of all the possibilities of the little nook...a reading nook, a Barbie nook, one day a make-up vanity nook!! For the main space I chose the Mia chandelier from Pottery Barn Kids and for the nook I chose a mini-chandelier from Restoration Hardware that must have been discontinued. They look beautiful!

Here are a few pictures that I have kept as inspiration for the girls room. I have convinced the girls to let me at least paint a dresser this beautiful pink! Maddie has taken up sewing too so we have a few projects that she wants to make for the room too, like a fabric pennant.

I will be sure to post pics of the after as soon as i can!

The New Schoolroom

These first pics are just a few of the pictures I have been collecting in my "schoolroom inspiration file". Here is a great fun alternative to the traditonal bulletin board. Love the small panel of chalkboard paint. Love the stripes. Love the lights (I found some very similar from Restoration Hardware.) Love the idea of a couch for a great reading area in the schoolroom!

Love this fun whimsical way of displaying the ABC's!

I love these globes! I am collecting globes to do something similar (so I will take hand me down globes if you are clearing out!). I also love the desks!!

This is a TOO cute writing center for the kiddos...the cuteness speaks for itself !! Right?!

This room is in the color scheme that we are doing (that orange desk is the wall color!)

Love the jars of crayons, the orange piece, the table, love it all!

Here is my room a few months ago...

Below is the room currently. So we went with Creamsicle paint and I LOVE IT! The floor is laminate and is much cheaper version of the wood in the rest of the house (Love a way to save money!) The lights are from my favorite store Restoration Hardware! So here is the room currently! Now on to figure out how set the room up for our first day of school!