9.18.2011

Family Pictures 2011

Forgive me for posting too many pictures {is that even possible?}. This Mama had the hardest time narrowing it down to just a few, so please let me share my favorites with you. We will start with the group shots.

{This one cracks me up}

Now... The boys

{Tate}
{Tilden}
{Brennen}
{Happiness: My three loves}

The Girl-Girl...

Some of just us~

{All because two people fell in LOVE...}

{Ben says it looks like we sent the kids to the time out bench while we smooched on the blanket. Haha}


Thank you, Chani, for so beautifully capturing this time in our lives for us to look back on and remember. We truly have so much to be grateful for, and I am.


9.05.2011

2011/2012 School Year


K-5

Our official school year starts in full tomorrow morning. In addition to the basics taught at home {by yours truly}, the kids attend a co-op once a week for Science and American History. The big boys will continue taking cello lessons and begin a Spanish class next week. All four of the kids will play soccer this fall and participate in AWANA. Whew! I'll be one busy mommy, *but I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing, so bring it on! 

Yes, these pictures are from our family photo shoot, and I'm anxious to share the rest with you. Check back later this week. Until then, I'll give you a sneak peek at my favorite family shot. Since I like ya:)


Awww! Thank you Chani for making us look lovely and put together.

*Unfortunately, laying on the beach all day is not really an option:(


8.12.2011

The new and improved Lorien Devon...

{Yay!}

A blog face lift! Isn't she lovely?



Thank you L.C. graphic design for giving my blog a fresh new look. Lauren was a pleasure to work with, and she even assured me {more than once} that I was not making her crazy with my countless requests and indecisiveness. Maybe I was, but she's just too sweet to tell me the truth. Probably.

AND...I just scheduled a family photo session with my sister this  Sunday. That means fun and exciting pictures of the kids will be coming soon! Yahoo! Ben and I are still trying to figure out a way to have family pictures taken without the two of us in them. Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated.

Oh, and if you read my blog you should "follow" me, 'cause then I'll know that you do and it will make me happy:)

8.09.2011

Help!

I am swimming in the sea of curriculum choices for our 2011-2012 school year. Please send in reinforcements. Here is a sneak peek at my rough draft. And for those of you who care {other homeschooling mamas}, I'll post the finalized list later this week. Because I'm giving myself a deadline and decisions must be made. The end:)

8.04.2011

School room redo...

Ok. I have four children to teach this year. Wait! Let's all have a moment of silence, take a deep breath, and repeat after me...I can do all thing through Christ. Thank you. So, yeah, while this whole homeschooling thing is the real deal and difficult at times, Ben and I feel strongly that this is what God has called our family to do this year. So with happiness in my heart, I'm preparing our family and home for the year ahead.


B and T are starting 4th grade. {Don't even get me going on how impossible it is that my babies are in 4th grade already} Tate is a 1st grader and Lane will officially start K-5. That's a lot of learning going on, to say the least! So one sunny morning, I woke up and cheerfully announced to my loving husband of 13 years that the "only" way his crazy wife would survive the year ahead was if he knocked down a wall. Ummm, excuse me? What!?! Don't get me wrong, Ben is always up for knocking down a wall or two and is rarely shocked by the ramblings of a crazy woman {me}; he just didn't know that's how he would be spending his day off. Change of plans, baby:)


Have I mentioned lately how much I adore that man? Well, I do. And here is a look at the work in progress around the Puckett homestead.



The doorway into the room before. Yes, I realize that my 9 year old spelled his name incorrectly. When I called him on it, he said he was running out of room and something had to go; he thought the second N was his best choice. Ha. This room was basically useless before, and more often than not we would close the doors completely. Not anymore!




{*My parents have lost their minds completely*}
See... Great idea! Looks good, right? I'm not really crazy am I?




We still have lots of work to do, but here is where we are at.
I fell in love with this light, brought it home and here is what happened when we {Ben} installed it and turned it on.


Ha! Our very own big tent circus, without ever leaving home. I'm still loving the light, though. I'll be covering the inside of the slats with some sort of heat resistant paper/fabric and all will be well.

{Built in desk. We are going turn the wall behind the desk into a large cork board for display of artwork by the kiddos}

{our principal: always keeping his eye on us}
{Outdoor lighting, indoors. My fav}

{a well organized closet. My second fav}

{Piles of curriculum and running magazines mocking my name. Not my fav, but I'm working on it}


View into the second half of our school room. It would be impossible for me to teach without a couch and coffee table nearby. I am typically perched right there with a book in my hands and a child or two or three right next to me reading. The thing I love most about homeschooling.

{and look! No chords. Hidden within the drawers are all things ugly: Wii, DVD player, remotes, controllers and other such nonsense}

So there you have it. A little tour of our school room redo journey to this point. I'll try to post pics as we get more work done. But until then we have a few more weeks of summer to capture and enjoy.



7.26.2011

My baby turns FIVE!!!

{A whole hand of fingers proudly held high in the air}

If you know my Lane you know she is a piece of work, our little firecracker. So with this in mind, when we saw the 4th of July fireworks cookies on the MS living magazine cover, we knew that would have to be the design for her birthday cookies. With a slight color adjustment requested by the birthday girl herself~ pink, purple and teal~ of course. 


At her 5th b-day celebration Aunt CC braved the heat, not to mention the dangers of fireworks in the hands of children under the age of 10, to give the kids a little firework show of their own.

{Chani won the "fun mom of the night" award}



We love our Girl-Girl more than words can express. She has brought pink and spunk into our world. She spends her summer days rotating through a wardrobe of bathing suits and pajamas, always sporting a somewhat messy ponytail on the side of her head and a perpetual glimmer in her eyes that makes you wonder what she will come up with next. The day I became "Mommy" to this little girl was a day I always longed for and will forever cherish.

Wishing you the happiest of birthdays, my sweet.