Bourbon's video game birthday party

Last weekend we had Bourbon's 13th birthday party. He had just a few friends over, and 4 of them stayed the night. They played games all night, ate a bunch of junk, and just had a good time. :)

Bourbon's Birthday

13 years old?!?! How did that happen?! How did this cute, chuibby cheeked curly-headed cherub of a baby turn into a teenager so quickly?!?!?






Sigh.












Gotta have birthday donuts!





















We went to Pops for his birthday lunch.....
































The evening was the monthly birthday party at the citry rescue mission. It had taken a lot of prep work to get everything to come together, but I got someone to donate pizzas, cakes, presents, and a magician to donate his time, and we went in with several friends and helped decorate and serve and it was lots of fun. There were probably about 100 parents & kids total, 3 birthday kids from the shelter, and then we also sang happy birthday to bourbon as well. :) I'm not sure the kids really "got" it, about what we were doing, about what kind of lives the kids there had, or what kind of impact we were making, but I am so glad we did it, and I hope we get to participate again.

Girls day at the fair

Thursday Starla & I got to enjoy the evening at the fair, just her & I. We ate, looked at everything, plaed games, rode a couple rides and went to Disney on Ice. It was tons of fun!!The boys get to go next Wed. for their day with daddy. :)

La dee di la dee dah...life goes on....

Life is moving on at rapid speed as always. How silly of me to think that if we homeschooled, our life would slow down some. Pshhh.

:)

But that's ok. I'm trying to spend more quality time with the kids, and be present in the moment, instead of a million miles away in my head like I always seem to be; planning, running through to-do lists, etc. It's still a work in progress, but at least I an trying.








































I still love homsechool, but I think the boys are missing their friends. We are still learning our rhythm and trying to find what works best for us, lots of trial and error, lots of trying new things. But we are having fun, and I think that's important. And of course they are learning too. :)







excavating rocks and minerals!















































And Starla & Roman started acting classes at Poteet Theater and are very excited about it.....




Now we gotta find something for Bourbon to be involved in. The science museum only takes teen volunteers in the summer, we thought he could do it in the fall. He wants to volunteer at an animal shelter, he loves animals, but in order to do that I have to volunteer with him, and just not sure how that would work with the other 2 kiddos. He is really interested in comuter programming, and I have a friend whose husband is in that field and I asked him if he would be interested in mentoring Bourbon, spending some time with him and showing him some things and he said yes, so maybe we can get that set up soon, so at least Bourbon has some kind of activity.

Date Night

A couple of weeks ago Alan & I got to go on Date night, at Wine & Canvas. This was my 2nd time going to one of these events, and Alan's first. It's soooo much fun! They supply you with all of the painting stuff and instruct you on how to make a picture, but you can put your own spin on it if you want, which obviously Alan did here. :) We drink some wine, eat some food and have fun. My cousin Keisha and her boyfriend met us there and we had a great time! I can't wait to do it again sometime.