Proud of My Boy!

Luke came home to day so excited. :) He took an AR (accelerated reader) test today and tested out, are you ready for this?????

A 12TH GRADE LEVEL!!!!

I am soooooo proud of him! He's always been such a great reader and truly LOVES to read, but this is amazing! He is 9 years old and reads on the level of an 18 year old. Wow!

Way to go, Luke! I love you and am so proud of you!

Farm Living is the Life for Me!

It used to be that when I wrote a post about being out at the farm, it was a special reason or just occasionally. Now that the kids are older and can really play by themselves and help out, it's becoming at least a weekly event. Which I love! I cannot WAIT until we can sell our house and start building out there!

We are trying our hand at a garden this year. Lance has more hopes for it than I do. Ha! I'm worried about animals getting into it. But we're giving it a shot. I think it will be okay, and I hope we get a lot of veggies! We haven't had a garden since we lived in Little Rock. I'm excited about it. And the kids are pumped! We are letting them each have a section of garden to plant whatever they choose.

The big girls and I had soccer evals this morning. I'm actually coaching Hope's team. That's a whole other post. Ha! I don't know a thing about soccer. But there's a lack of coaches and I'm going to help out. Wish me luck!

Emma had a birthday party to go to and Lance and Luke got started on the garden while we were at evals. Lance sent me this picture when it was just he and Luke at the farm...

Look at his face! Such determination!

I loved this! Luke was helping Lance put a different implement on the tractor. He got to drive the tractor all by himself. He felt like big stuff! :) He did a great job. I actually rode with him when we were done at the farm while he drove the tractor into the barn. I was impressed!

Here's Lance working on the garden...

We're using logs to make a raised bed. Two 4x12 sections with a walkway in between. I love how it's turning out. I love how rustic it looks. :)

Finished on the left side, walkway and not finished on the right. :)

When we put one of the logs in place, some of the bark fell off and we found a ton of grubs! The kids had a blast feeding them to the chickens. It was hilarious!

We plan on finishing filling the other side up with dirt tomorrow. And then we'll be planting our crop!

Sweet Momma Moments

Yesterday I went to see The Lorax. Again. :) It was great! Again. :) I teared up. Again. :) I really do love that movie. I can't wait for it to come out on DVD and Lance, Luke, and Emma can see it. And I found a cute idea on how to make truffela tree cake pops. We're going to have a Lorax party when we buy the DVD. Can't wait!

She doesn't look anything like me does she?? :)

And I had to post this. Yesterday I was in the kitchen and I heard behind me, "Momma, do I look pretty?" I turned around, and this is what I saw...

Yes, baby girl. You are. You definitely are. :)

No Yuck Mouths Here!

The kids had dentist appointments today. And it's crazy, but they all LOVE going! They ask everyday leading up to the appointment if today is the day. Weird kids! Definitely didn't get that from me. I hate going to the dentist.

Emma did amazing the first time she went, but the last time, she cried and was scared.  She has told me for days (and multiple times today) that she was going to be a big girl and not cry. It got a little dicey, but Dr. Caple won her over and she did great.

All kids had a glowing report. No cavities and all teeth look great. We are going to set up an ortho consult for Luke. Nothing major, but want to check out his bite.

And with the glowing report, came a trip to Brahm's for ice cream! (Is there really any other way to celebrate???)

Proud Momma

A couple years ago, our school district started a cool thing called "One school, One book." All of the elementary schools in the district read the same book and talk about it in their classes.  The first year is was "Trumpet of the Swan," last year it was "Doll People," and this year it is "The 68 Rooms."
Sara and Luke have loved the book. They both have read it way before the scheduled completion of the book. Which for Luke isn't a big deal at all, but I'm pretty dang proud of my 1st grader! Way to go Sara!

Today they had a special treat. The author of the book came to their school and talked to every class in school. They also had the opportunity to buy the hardback sequel to the book and have the author sign it.

I had totally forgotten about it until this morning. Luke always gets himself ready in the morning. Dressed, teeth brushed, deoderant, and now recently, brushing his hair. Which has been such a time saver for me on school mornings. :)

Today, I was in the kitchen getting breakfast for everyone and Luke came in with a brush in his hand and said, "Momma, Marianne Malone is going to be at school today, you should brush my hair." :) Soooo sweet. He was so excited about meeting her and wanted to look his best! I'll always remember that sweetness.

And another proud momma moment happend later. I forgot to send $ with him to school to buy the sequel to the book. I got a call from the school about 8:45 and it was him. He was freaking out because he was in the library ready to meet her and didn't have $ to buy it. :) I talked with our librarian and told her I'd be up in a little while with $ so she let him get a book and have it signed.

When I got there with the $ I got to meet the author. When she realized that I was Luke's mom, she complimented me on what a "charming" boy he was. She was impressed with his manners and the way he spoke. That made my day. :) I see how sweet and sincere he is, but for a total stranger to see that in him was a good encouragement.

We had a nice conversation about both Luke and Sara and how well they read and different reading programs literaly around the world. I really liked her. I told her about the hair brush this morning and I think we both left the conversation a little encrouraged. :)

Great Day!

Today was one of those days that I wish could be replicated and lived over again. :) I was worn out after this past week, and my sweet husband took the kids to get breakfast and let me sleep in. When they got back, Lance took the girls out to the farm and Luke stayed with me to clean up the house. Luke and I had a good time. I introduced him to LeCrae while we were folding clothes. He love him!

Luke did so good helping me today. He picked up everything in the living room, cleaned off the kitchen table, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, and washed some dishes by hand. I was so proud of him.

When we got done, we went out to the farm with Lance and the girls. The girls had been "helping" Lance build a new chicken coop. When I got out there, he and I really got to work on it. Luke and the girls spent hours running around the land and building forts, and having a blast. :)

Here's some pics of the day...

Lunch in the camper. I'm soooooo ready to go camping!

Lance working on the coop

Just so there's no confusion that he did all the work! :)

Sara built a little cross. She wrote "Faddis Family" on it and then listed all our names. She wants to put it at the front door of the house. It's so sweet.

A day on the farm wears a little girl out!

And a big girl for that matter!

We left the farm and drove down to Lance's parents and had dinner with the grandparents and aunt and uncle and cousins. We hadn't seen the family in a few weeks. It was a great ending to a great day.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Today is Dr. Seuss' 108th birthday! The kids' school has had Dr. Seuss week all week this week and Hope and I capped it off with a field trip to see The Lorax today.

Let me say, that The Lorax is one of the BEST kids movies I have ever seen! It was soooo good! I laughed all the way through it, I cried (yes, cried) at the end, 120 kindergartners sat through the whole movie without getting up to go to the bathroom (miracle!), and Hope LOVED it. :)

I get to go again next Friday when Sara has her field trip to see it, too! Ha! It is definitely a movie that the Faddises will be adding to our movie collection when it comes out on DVD!