Faithie Anne

hard to believe she's almost 10 months old! I made this for her for the fall, but it fits her perfectly right now... in other words, it won't fit in the fall.

She's pulling herself up now and can even stand holding on with one hand. She still strongly perfers to crawl, unless there is something to get to higher up.

The grass is growing!

Jason finished flattening the front yard and then planted grass - already it's comming in. Now we just need to find other plants to put in the yard.

BEFORE:


AFTER/YESTERDAY:

Today was Justin's first day of Kindergarden and he loves it. It was a little confusing for us new parents but I think we'll learn as we go. Paige wanted to join him but was ok at home.

I finally scanned some recent pictures we had done at Picture People. They are having a contest right now and Faith's picture was choosen as a semi-finalist. We won a free photo package, which i'll use for her 1yr pictures. Now I just need to get her 9mth pictures and Paige's 4 yr pictures done.

I got P her booster seat today and she's loving it. J put in in before he had to leave and she was sitting in the garage in her new seat. She just told me before going to bed that she wants to go lots of places tomorrow. Little things! (I remember Justin being excited like this too)

Tomorrow is Justin's first day of soccer practice- I just realized we never got him new shoes OOPS. I can't believe it's his last weekend before starting school!

I've been sewing a lot these days- it's our "stash game" for my sewing board (a contest) and have been seriously paring down my fabric collection. I've made lots of stuff from the smaller peices that I have. I can visibly see a decrease.

Today I made some quilts to donate to the local children's hospital - I know our unit could use them occasionally. Now I just need to do something boy-ish. They aren't perfect but I do like them.

The weeks have been going by quickly.

Justin is at sports camp in the mornings this week and loving it - it's wearing him out too. Paige is a bit bored without her brother to keep her entertained - it may be a long month until she starts preschool.

Justin starts school on Monday- it's hard to believe that the day is almost here. He's pretty excited.

Jason had a job interview in WA this Tuesday. The job seems like a perfect match - right now we're just waiting to see what happens and if they want him.

Not too much going on these days. Paige is going to gymnastics camp in the mornings this week (Justin has camp next week) and loving it. It's good to see her branch out without brother. I think Justin's missing her while she's not there. I have to say it's much more quiet with her gone (b/c Justin has no one to argue with), but we've been out and about for most of the time. It's probably also good for Justin to have some just mommy time before starting school.

This weekend we'll be up in LA for a birthday party and then back to the daily routine of camp and cleaning.

Faith had her dr appt today - all is well. She's almost 17 lbs now.

A few recent photos.

These are from VBS:






Faith discovered the CDs today:


Yes, she's the 3rd child

We're back!

The drive was long but overall the trip went well.

The kids were loving watching cable TV at Aunt Patsy's.




J took out some games - even Faith wanted to play.






Faithie wants to do everything her older siblings do. Here Justin and she played on the floor with cars, while Daddy and Paige took a nap.









Faith's fav. toy right now is this piano thing.

The rest are the pictures of us as we were leaving Bakersfield.









Faith and her grandma.

CRAFT TIME/ "The Science project"

I showed the kids this project a few days ago and they have been begging to do it. So, this evening we finally did it. Jason was working late, so we needed an activity.

We gathered all the really broken crayons and separated them by brand and kind of by color. Then pealed them and put them in the mini-cupcake tins. I had read that different brands worked differently and told the kids this. We were seeing if they made a difference for us.


Here's what it looked like before putting it in the oven. There are 2 rows of each category. The right side are no-name crayons. The middle are Rose Art. The left are Crayola.



We cooked them at 300 for about 20 minutes (mommy forgot to time it) and then once they were melted took them out to cool. Everything melted great except the animal shaped ones in the 2nd row.

Once cooled I popped them out, but forgot to keep track of them. OOPS! But they all seem to work equally fine so far.



They really are pretty! The kids like that they can color multiple colors with one "Crayon Cookie".

The kids had a great time. We met up and all had lunch together - all 9 kids. Justin was happy because he was the oldest (by one month) and P was happy to be with big kids. It amazes me how tall she is- she's the same height as the other older kids, who were all 5 years old. 2 of my friends also have babies, so Faithie was a little amazed to see them (one is 1 year old and the other is 11 months old).

Thursday morning....

It's the last morning of our "summer" and I had thought we could go to the beach. But the weather had other plans for us. After many days of super heat, it's cool and drizzly and breezy outside. I like the weather, but it's not swimming in the ocean water, especially for Paige. It's nice to hear the trees in the breeze and not feel gusts of hot air.

So, plan B - we'll go to the mall to meet up with some friends and ride the carousel and then maybe the park (with a change of clothes just in case).

Tomorrow we'll go up to Bakersfield for the weekend to visit J's aunt and mother and then back here on Sunday afternoon because Paige has a long awaited party with some of her old preschool friends.

Why I say it's the end of our "summer" - Next week Paige has her summer camp, then the week after that is Justin's. The week after that Justin starts preschool. So, today is our last full day at home all together.

Ok- time to get ready for the day - probably some pictures later in the afternoon.

GOOD MORNING!

Last night was "Bath Night" here at the house. Time to clean off all the yuck from the last 2 days. Faith and Paige LOVE baths. Justin takes a little convincing but once in there, he has a blast with Paige.

Faith gets First Bath because she's not as dirty as the big kids. Mommy did this bath and Daddy did the big kids once we got them inside.

The days are so much longer that the kids have been staying up super late. We'll have to get them on schedule soon since the summer is winding down here in San Diego. Bath time for the big kids started around 8:30 pm.

Faith's obsession related to baths are her washies (wash clothes) - she loves to suck them, soap and all. I've tried having one for her one for me, but she's a hog about it and will wrestle to get them all! I have to pry them out of her hands at the end of the bath.

You can see in this picture - she has one in her hand (a "spare" that was my wash cloth) and her "washie" in the other hand. This is her typical bath time :).

We finally got Justin's class assignment and some info in the mail this evening! He got into the morning program, which I'm very happy about. Really the letters they sent don't have much info in them but we have orientation on his first day. I think I'm more excited about him going to school than he is.

What to do about moving/staying and all of that??
J and I are trying to figure out if we should put the house on the market ASAP or wait a little and see if he gets a job interview somewhere. On the otherhand, many say that job prospects are better if you are in the area you are interviewing for. But, I'm a little nervous about moving somewhere without either of us having a job or with me working full time and hoping he finds something.

The days of summer are going by fast - Justin starts school in 20 days - Aug 21st. I still have no idea if he's in the morning or afternoon class but we'll be pushing for the morning one if they say otherwise. I just wish there was more contact.

It's overcast today - so much better from the terrible heat that we were having. Finally more comfortable and we can open up the house.

Faithie is fully crawling now - she can get up on her hands and knees and doesn't do her belly crawling as much any more. She's so cute, but definately getting into trouble!
In the photos she had found a bow that came on a package I got. I put it on her head and she was so proud of herself.