Family Birthday Party for May Birthdays~

When you have as many birthdays as we do, it may be time to celebrate the family party as a group.
That's what we did for Payne, Holly, and Calla today!
Everyone came over about 3 for gifts~

 This was Calla's first birthday party ever I'm guessing and her first one home.
She peeled the tape for her gift and opened in her own time~

We had cake and ice cream out by the pool~

Then more gifts~

and swimming.

It was a beautiful day of celebrating three very precious May birthdays!!!

LOVE my Boys~

Here they are making sure Calla is okay while Evie drs her~

AND just look at those beautiful smiles~

Reppin' their dad's building adventure: Millstone Homes!

Awana~

The kids still love Awana each Wednesday night~

and this week Payne helped present colors for the Awana flag.
He was very proud to help Ms. Jennifer!

Happy Birthday to Payne~

Happy 8th birthday to this little man today~

We couldn't love you more PC and look forward to watching become a Mighty Man of God!!!!!

Mother's Day Weekend~

We were super thrilled to have BC for the weekend so Savannah and Josh
could get away for their fifth anniversary!
We also loved celebrating Holly and Payne's birthday~

 Along with Mother's Day for my mom~

It was wonderful to be together!

Sunday ALL my children were home.
Scott grilled, we took photos, and hung out around the pool~

I am a VERY blessed mama/Shayshay and SO thankful the little space between me and SJ
will soon be filled by a precious little baby named CallaAnne!
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms reading my blog.

Count von Count~

We have a Count von Count in the family.
Payne announced in his usual very confident voice that he could count to 30.
We gave him the challenge and I said keeping going.
With each set of 10 he hit, his face grew more surprised until~

He couldn't believe he did it and all day long I heard him counting under his breath.
By night he was announcing he thought he could make it to 200.
I'm sure he can and already wondering about 1000. :)

Count von Count~

We have a Count von Count in the family.
Payne announced in his usual very confident voice that he could count to 30.
We gave him the challenge and I said keeping going.
With each set of 10 he hit, his face grew more surprised until~

He couldn't believe he did it and all day long I heard him counting under his breath.
By night he was announcing he thought he could make it to 200.
I'm sure he can and already wondering about 1000. :)

Payne Curtis~ {3 Years Forever}

Today is Payne's Forever Family Day and amazing to think he's been in our arms 3 years already~

Read HERE about the day pictured on the left.

Payne is a sure and confident boy who has come so far in three years.
He was happy to be in our arms then and even more so now.
He loves legos, reading books, writing in his journal, exploring in his hideout, and riding his scooter.
His best friend is Will Perry.
He loves Jesus and wants to be just like his daddy.
He protects his sisters and loves his mama.
He loves spending the night with Aunt Susan and playing his ipod.

Can't imagine life without this little boy and so thankful he is our sweet son!!!
Happy 3 Years Payne Curtis!!! We love and adore you!!!

Payne's China Lifebook~

Payne's China book came today and his face says it ALL~

He and Evie came home together so she was right there with him looking for herself~

Connected to each other forever!!!

Have you started your books yet?
Go to A Beautiful Symphony for more into!

Reading~

One of the best strategies for fluency and reading is learning sight words~

Payne loves building them with clothespins and reading as quickly as he can.

Great practice for sure!!!

{His favorite thing is to spot them in other places! THAT is real reading!!!}

Happy Birthday Payne~

Today was Payne's birthday and we celebrated low key at home~

He opened a big lego kit. 

We grilled for dinner and had cookies to celebrate.

We went for a boat ride and he saw an 11 in the sky.

May 11! Just for his birthday!!!

Happy birthday Payne... we love you!

A Happy BD Party for Holly and Payne~

Our children look SO forward to their big family BD party.

Holly and Payne surely were!

 Especially Holly since she had witnessed them but never had her own at home.

This was her first and we were all so excited for her!

I ordered a plain white cake from Publix, added their favorite toys, sprinkles, and candles~

Everyone enjoyed cake and our first homemade ice cream!

 The kids had hula hoops, jump ropes, chalk, and bikes to play with~

 Opening presents was a highlight for sure... Payne loved all his legos and Holly her Sophia toys~

 We had them close their eyes so we could give them both new bikes.

Payne LOVED his and I'm sure Holly will too in time~

A big huge thank you to all our family for being here to celebrate

7 years for Payne and 5 for Holly!!!

A super Happy Birthday for our two kiddos!

Friday Catch Up~

It's been a crazy week and by the time evening rolled around, I just didn't pick up my computer to blog... thus nothing blogged.

SO the big Friday Catch Up~

Sunday evening we took a little ride out in the boat and captured these shots~

Monday and Tuesday found Ella and I testing since she is finishing third grade~

while the other kids played at my parents' house. She did GREAT!

Wednesday we had a great day of school~

and little bit of sun which we took full advantage of at the pool~

Thursday we traveled into Atlanta for Payne's SB Clinic~

 And he was deemed perfect from all four of his specialists! Very thankful!

This morning began with Holly reading a fav book around here~

All week EK has suffered with a very sore loose tooth and we could not get it out so

the team stood by her this am as our dentist pulled it ~

Brave Ella is back home spending the day with Hermie who mysteriously appeared on her bed while we were out!

Happy Tooth Day EK!!!!!

Looking forward to a great weekend!

Another CHOA Appt~

Because PC has spina bifida, he has to see 4 different specialists a year

and we usually see them about this time of year. 

Today we saw the urologist for an ultrasound and baseline assessment.

We traveled about two and half hours to CHOA~

 Payne and dad were back together for the appt while we waited for them.

Everyone was SO happy to see the clowns~

Dr. Mimi let SJ play her ukulele!

We did an extreme amount of waiting... like 10-3 and this crowd was awesome!

Payne received a great report and that's that for another year!!! 

Day Surgery for Will Perry~

Will has struggled so long with enlarged tonsils and he snores like a beast.

After one appointment with an ENT, surgery was scheduled 

and he was off for Day Surgery~

 To make this outing a little less overwhelming and stressful,

he woke up to a Ninja Turtle Shellraiser to take with him!

On the way we were amazed at the beautiful sunrise God made~

We arrived at the hospital in plenty of time with check in @ 9:45

and surgery @ 11:45~

 We were taken back to a room with plenty of time to spare

only to find out surgery would now be 12:45... queue the clowns~

 These boys didn't know what to think at first... first time for them.

They were able to let their guard down and know it was pretend!

Finally it was time to get WP ready for the ride and he was super brave

{Shellraiser right by his side!}~

 He was wheeled out about 1:30 and time stood still... waiting for GOOD news!~

 And good news we received!

He did great during surgery and had Monster tonsils. :)

He was surprised with a sweet gift bag from The Thomas family~

{thank you Lyn and family!!!}

 Recovery was pretty short with popsicles, slushies, apple juice and TV~

 The first night and day home was brutal but WP is amazing

and has super sweet siblings to help in any way~

We are thankful for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

and our very healthy Ninja Turtle boy Will!!!

Writing Love~

Every single day Payne takes out his journal to write

{even on weekends}

and today was no different.

I saw him working away in the sunroom while I was making breakfast.

He walked into the kitchen with a huge grin on his face.

He knew he had accomplished something great.

I looked down to see a miracle

{maybe not to everyone but to his mom.... HUGE!}

because today was the day HE sounded out his own words, drew his picture~

I LF Mom

 I LF Dad

I LF PC

I LF Will

{He wrote what he heard himself sounding!}

Why a miracle?

I had not spent anytime formally teaching him to sound.

We had just worked on Explode the Code with sounds

and when we did write in journals,

I always wrote for him and he copied.

I will still continue this scaffolding for him

but today HE saw he could do it for himself...

AND I I witnessed him feeling loved and Being Love!!!

Love Wins Again!!!

Love Wins Again~

Every single day Payne takes out his journal to write

{even on weekends}

and today was no different.

I saw him working away in the sunroom while I was making breakfast.

He walked into the kitchen with a huge grin on his face.

He knew he had accomplished something great.

I looked down to see a miracle

{maybe not to everyone but to his mom.... HUGE!}

because today was the day HE sounded out his own words, drew his picture~

I LF Mom

 I LF Dad

I LF PC

I LF Will

{He wrote what he heard himself sounding!}

Why a miracle?

I had not spent anytime formally teaching him to sound.

We had just worked on Explode the Code with sounds

and when we did write in journals,

I always wrote for him and he copied.

I will still continue this scaffolding for him

but today HE saw he could do it for himself...

AND I I witnessed him feeling loved and Being Love!!!

Love Wins Again!!!

The Cast Boy~

Payne broke his arm last Sunday was a week ago 

and they set him in a splint for a short time.

Today we traveled back for an x-ray and hard cast~

 He was a champ and we were back in the truck headed home~

Hoping three weeks and he will be all healed up!!!

Wouldn't you say he picked a great color?

Green is his fav!!!

The Mitten~

Today we watched a new video series

{Nature 365 on Vimeo}

 I found out about on the Charlotte Mason FB page

and can I say they were MESMERIZED!!!~

There will be a new short nature video up each day

and of course we had to catch up since we have missed the other 19.

It was the perfect lead into listening to The Mitten~

 I traced around their hand to make a mitten they could "Sew" together!

We also had copies of the animals that we colored, cut, and used to act out the story~

while we watched and listened to Jan Brett read her own story to them.

She told us it was a Ukrainian tale so EK went to the map and found it for us.

We loved knowing that William and Daniel were born there

and we also found Norway which is where they live now!!!

Love you all Dove Family in Norway!!!

PS... Payne did not miss a beat today even with his arm in a cast~

Thankful for a good day!!!