The Life and Times of the Watters Family

love this

(click photo to see more pictures on flickr)

Aliza’s first Build-A-Bear

Caleb decided to spend some of his very own money (birthday money he’s been waiting to spend since March) to buy Aliza a Build-A-Bear today. He thought carefully for weeks about what kind of bear to get her and what kind of clothes to dress her in. He picked the same style of bear that he and Sean both have. The only disappointment was that the diaper/bib set they had online was not carried in the store. Caleb chose to name Aliza’s bear “Gracie”. He told me in the car today, “Aliza is the most precious thing in my life”. I love his tender heart and his generosity.

digital scrapbooking

I felt the need to create something today but I didn’t want to make a mess that I would later have to clean up. Instead I opted to create a digital layout using some of the free digital kits I found on 2peas. I like Rhonna’s stuff. Each of these elements were pulled from a different kit.

new pictures of baby aliza

Pirates

Today is national “Talk Like A Pirate” day. Sean and Caleb dressed as pirates and went to Pirate Beach (aka Watters Beach) to learn science with a pirate who looked an awful lot like Grandpa Michael. They had a blast! I am bummed that I didn’t have my camera to capture the memory. Sean and Caleb built this sign and had the idea to paint it for an art project. They have such amazing imaginations. Notice the shadow in the 3rd picture- it was Sean’s idea.

soccer schedules are posted

There’s a lot of 8am games on Sean’s schedule, ughh.

9/22/07 8:00am Sean (field 16)

1:50pm Caleb (field 11)

9/29/07 10:20am Caleb (field 12) W 8-1 (Caleb scored 3 goals!)

4:10pm Sean (field 15) L 1-6 (freezing and miserable)

10/6/07 8:00am Sean (field 16) L 1-7

1:50pm Caleb (field 12) L 5-8

10/13/07 12:40pm Caleb (field 14) W 7-2

1:50pm Sean (field 17) L0-3

10/20/07 10:20am Sean (field 15) L 1-4?

1:50pm Caleb (field 11) W 13-3?

10/27/07 10:20am Caleb (field 11)

1:50pm Sean (field 16)

11/3/07 8:00am Sean (field 15)

11:30am Caleb (field 11)

woods coffee @ boulevard

Campus #2 for home education. After a great first week of school the boys and I headed down to Woods Coffee with our work for the day. This new coffee shop is beautiful! The design and location are a winning combo. Boulevard has always been one of my favorite Bellingham parks.

We are sitting in the lofted area that overlooks the bay. Currently, Caleb is reading a National Geographic Kids Magazine while sitting in an oversized, comfy leather chair and Sean is brainstorming and developing more of his comic book story. The free wireless makes blogging while I sit here with them possible. I love the energy all around us and the boys are enjoying their hot cocoa treat and the new atmosphere. We’ll definitely be coming back here!

routine, school, boys

We started school on Monday and, so far, it’s been great. Getting into a routine feels good but also rather unfamiliar. I am appreciating it more than I thought I would and it is definitely been positive for our family. This week is exceptionally busy yet we aren’t feeling stressed or frustrated. The boys have 2 soccer practices each this week, and they began improv classes last night.

The boys are doing really well. We implemented job charts this week, and it has been such a huge help. Before I even see them in the morning, they have completed most, if not all, of their chores! It’s so nice not needing to give reminders about what they ought to do. This morning after breakfast Caleb unloaded the dishwasher completely on his own without being asked and it’s not even one of his regular jobs!

I love reading with the boys. It has always been one of my favorite things to do with them. We are currently reading Little House in the Big Woods (during school) and Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (in the evenings with Cam). Sean just started The Box Car Children series and Caleb is reading The Magic Treehouse series. I ordered The One The Only Magnificent Me from Amazon the other day (I have to admit that the main reason I bought it was because the lead singer from Jars of Clay wrote it), it’s more of a picture book with a inspirational message. I thought the boys might think it was too young for them but they really loved it. The illustrations are fun and the message is positive.

I feel like we are off to a great start and we are establishing a routine that works for us.

A couple funny stories:

Yesterday afternoon, Sara and Aliza came by for a visit. The boys were discussing why some little girls are hard to be with. Caleb said, “It’s because they have too much testestcolostrum!” Sara and I laughed so hard! He was combining the words testosterone, estrogen and colostrum. The funniest part about that is that he added colostrum to it! He doesn’t even know what colostrum means but has heard it mentioned in the last couple weeks. I had to write it down so I wouldn’t forget. I had an instant messaging window open on my computer so I sent it to Cam. His reply practically made us pee our pants! He wrote back, “What does it mean? Breastmilk for body builders?”.

Today at snack I offered Caleb a banana with his chocolate milk and he wrinkled up his nose and said, “It has a brown spot on it”, to which I replied, “Be thankful you don’t have to eat food out of garbage cans!”. Caleb came back with, “Why would anyone have to do that?” Sean interjected, “Because they are homeless!”. Caleb then indignantly asks, “Why don’t they just get some money?”, to which Sean rather sarcastically replied, “What do you expect them to do, MORTGAGE THE SIDEWALK?!”

I can’t imagine missing stuff like this! I’m thankful to be home with them — even when I feel like they are both more capable at math than I am (Sean had to remind me what congruent meant when we were working on math the other day).

Beautiful