A September to remember...so far

Hey all!!!! September is here and it has been good to our family! These pictures tell just a portion of all that has happened event wise. I may have to post twice,hmmm. Anyway,

the first images you see are of our oldest turning 8. He decided he was probably too old for a themed party so we decided to just invite 3 boys over for a sleepover & video games. He had many choices being blessed here with tons of good friends, but I forced him to choose only 3 (adding in my 2 boys & my 2 girls, the excitement of a party, lots of sugar, no bedtime...you get the drift) & believe it or not they were all Caleb's but one! So after we passed out nicknames for the evening the boys got busy playing & they had an awesome night. One Caleb's parents brought over 2 game systems & another Kaleb's parents brought an extra TV & we let the boys stink up, I mean play hard in our playroom until about 11pm. He had a fantastic time & I have to say I LOVE watching my kids get older. It doesmake me wonder how my parents let us have SEVEN kids sleepover for our birthdays each year, and if that doesn't sound crazy enough they upheld that rule even when 2 of my brothers (who happen to share the same birthday) birthdays came around. We would have 16 boys in the house. I am now wondering if they stayed the whole time...you think maybe they snuck out for awhile to escape for a bit? If not, they are better parents than me!! Anyway, the other shots you see her are one of Caleb & Aus at Lowe's making a pirate ship with Toby. If you have never done the Build & Grow thing at Lowe's or Home Depot you REALLY should. It is so great for the kiddos! The last one I loaded is Caleb today at his first flag football game. He rocked I was soo proud of him.

ALLELUIA!!!! THE DIAPERS ARE ON THE WAY OUT!!!

Georgia faith is doing the potty dance!
My crazy friend Mandy suggested she was ready for training & I shouold "not miss my window". However, I was a bit chicken at the prospect, especially since we are currently (supposedly) house training a dog. But as usual, my friend Mandy was right. Yesterday the score was accidents-2 , successes-7. Today looks just as bright. And as you can see we are all thrilled!
Emma Grace spells JOE. As most of you may already know, our oldest daughter is obsessed with letters & reading. We have seen it as a very cute & slightly odd interest for our 3 & a half year old, but ya know every kid is different. Anyway, she mostly spends her time saying the letters, drawing the letters, reciting the sounds & forcing us to practice our letters as well. I was however, amazed to see her actually spelling words. Here is a picture of her at rest time writing the word JOE. She has added a few more words to her mix & I am guessing if she keeps this up, I won't be able to teach And her past kindergarten, she'll be too smart for me;)
And speaking of smart kids (I wish I had a shot of Caleb in this! He's so awesome!) here is Austin & his neighbor & fellow homeschooler Issac. Issac's mom, Tasha has taken it upon herself to fuel their curiosity of taking things apart & has made Friday's into FANTASTIC FRIDAYS by letting them spend the morning taking apart computers & whatever else she can find & they love it! Here they are with their own set of screwdrivers. They spent more than 2 hours taking this computer completely apart & had many hypothesis afterward.


Anyway, that is it for now. Caleb & Austin are doing scouts this year & Caleb is also beginning his first year of flag football so we will have more pics to come. We love you all out there, & when you visit our blog, let us know with a comment, our boys chekc the blog often!