before i forget...

1. On friday morning, while all the boys were at school, it was just me and Jake.  Oliver was in his crib having "crib time" for a little while...sometimes he falls asleep and other times he just plays and reads books.  Either way, he seems to enjoy his time in there by himself and tells me "bye-bye" as I shut the door. :)

Anyway, Jake came in my room as I was making my bed and decided he wanted to have church with me.  First he told me a story...no sermons at this church.  It was about his imaginary friend named Theodore and some adventure he went on.  No mention of Jesus.  Then he sang me a song.  It went like this...

Praise the Lord!
Spend your money.
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Oiver
Happy Birthday to you.

Afterward he wanted to have "movie theater church" and watch Gumby.

So there you go.  Jake's version of church. :)

2.  Henry, as everyone knows, is an animal lover.  He's also an animal/insect whisperer.  He can get anything to come to him.  Just this morning, he caught 2 butterflies, 6 geckos, and who knows how many bugs in a span of about 30 minutes. He amazes me.

3.  I let Hudson stay up late tonight to watch the entire Auburn game against LSU.  We didn't know if Auburn could pull it off, but it was pretty neck and neck the entire game.  They ended up losing by 2 points in the end, and the poor boy went to bed quite upset.  He wouldn't even talk to me, he was that distraught about them losing.  Wow!  This is just crazy(and sad) to me that the outcome of a football game can cause that much distress for my 8 year old.  But Auburn football is the thing he is most passionate about...Baylor always comes second in his mind.

4.  School is in full swing over here.  Leaving the house every morning by 7:15-7:20 has its challenges, but so far so good.  We've only forgotten a snack bag once, and the other brothers each donated part of their snack to poor Henry, so he ultimately did not have to go without. :)  Homework is going well; our school work time this summer definitely prepared us for this time now.  We do it at the same time we did it this summer (while Oliver is napping), and it seems to really help that we already had it in the schedule.  Not as much complaining about having to do it.  Nate happily does his; Hudson for the most part does his on his own (I just have to check it, and then he has to correct it); Henry's homework is definitely the most involved on my part.  So for at least an hour an a half every afternoon, I am tied down to the kitchen table.  3rd grade has definitely stepped it up a notch with 3-4 tests a week, and the math is getting a little more challenging.  Hudson has decided it is his least favorite subject with History winning over them all.  Even Henry has jumped into the test taking world, and my poor guy gets pretty anxious about his spelling, math, and memory verse tests he has every week.  However, it is getting better, and thankfully his anxiety is disappearing.  And he's doing great in all his subjects!  Reading is finally starting to click for him in a much faster way, so I'm thankful. 

5.  Nate is loving life and loving school.  He is affectionately known as "Nate the Great" to his classmates and teacher. :)  And so far so good with the green lights at school...he's done great!  Thankfully my boys know how to obey for other people...just not always for their mom. :)  Nate probably wishes he could be in school everyday, but I'm happy for the tuesday/thursdays I get him at home with me.  I think Jake is happy to have him home those days, too. :)  He really misses his buddy!

6.  Being a one car family has definitely had its challenges, especially now that school is in session.  But we're making it work.  We've also now started the search for a bigger vehicle because we are obviously maxed out on room.  Praying the Lord provides in a great way!

7.  I'm beginning to see the fun in having a girl!  First of all, I had heard that I would have no problem getting clothes, and it's true!!  I've already gotten bags and several boxes of hand me down baby girl clothes from sweet friends (not to mention gifts of clothes and blankets from other friends and family), and it has been such a blessing!!  My sweet friend Stephanie brought over big huge boxes just today filled with super cute clothes, and my friend Betsey did the same thing just the other day.  I am totally set!!  I think Hudson was annoyed by how many times I was saying, "oh how cute!!" every time I pulled another pink item out of the boxes.  And my sweet friend Brooke is throwing me a shower in October, and I honestly don't think I need anything.  except diapers.  :)  I am still in awe of the generosity and provision!

8.  We just discoverd the other day that Jakey is deathly afraid of lady bugs.  We were outside playing, and I noticed one crawling on his arm.  I happily pointed it out, commented on how cute it was, and he completely freaked out...screaming bloody murder and crying hysterically until I eventually got him to calm down.  I tried really hard not to laugh because it totally caught me off guard.  I had no idea he was afraid of them.  We had a conversation about bugs, and I quickly learned that the only bugs he likes are roly polies....the rest he stays clear of.  And this is true, now that I've observed him.  Still not sure why a roly poly is okay and a lady bug is so terrifying.   I'm still working on his brothers' sensitivity to the whole matter.  They, unfortunately, think it's pretty funny and are always trying to bring up lady bugs in conversation or happen to find one outside and then want to show Jakey, which sends him in hysterics.  Poor guy...I never would have guessed.