Jacob's Newborn Photos

My friend Kristen took some newborn portraits of Jacob a couple weeks ago. This is the second time she has taken pictures for us and she's phenomenal! You can find her website at klbuley.com. So check out the slidehow (and please, oh please help me decide which ones to make into prints!)

Another free photo slideshow by Smilebox

Oh! And those super cute hats he's wearing...she made them. This girl is awesome!!!

Color Me Fantastic!

Well, so it's ONLY been three years since I blogged. It looks like a lot has changed since that time! I was referring to Blogger, but jujuandgideon is no longer all there is! Now we have a Sam and a Jacob too. I'm going to try to be a little better about this and maybe start blogging a little more often than every three years. So, on to the blog post...

The kids are now in 1st and 3rd grades and Sam and Jacob are currently 20 months and 1 month which leaves me juggling all day long! While I read the kids their Bible, History and Science lessons for the day I like to keep their hands busy. It tends to keep the whining to a minimum. Here is something free (!) I found on the free (!) curriculum website amblesideonline.com. (I like free!) This great link to color-me-online.com has pictures to color of several famous paintings and sculptures. I'm hoping to give one to the kids each week to discuss and color, and then make something fantastic out of them for Christmas. So, this is how it goes. I let Juliette pick out the picture, because she is the family art enthusiast, and then we all discuss the painting briefly using the information on the website and she uses tracing paper to trace it. Then, we look up the original picture on Google images and she colors it. Today's painting is Edgar Degas's Prima Ballerina.

Gideon is not so interested in classical art. But he is interested in Thomas the Tank Engine!

Nobody traces anymore! But what a fun way to get kids to sharpen those little fine motor skills! And what did the little ones do while all this is going on?

Sammy said, "Cheesssseeee!" a lot. And Jacob...

Juju and puppies

Long time, no blog! We have been busy going hither and yon this summer and trying to keep busy! Uncle Ben and Aunt Susie had golden retriever puppies, a litter of 11! Here are some pics of Juliette playing around with them. She wanted one so bad, but my allergies would not have liked it. Besides, we have a perfectly good dog already, but he lives at Nonny's, and he's not nearly as little and cute, but he's a good dog none the less and he takes good care of Nonny and Poppy, haha.

MEDDAC Christmas Ball

Ray and I got all dolled up for the Christmas Ball on Saturday. The kids wanted to get in on the picture taking too. Thanks to Nonny for babysitting!

Carnival rides

Juju and Aunt Susie

More balloons

Juju's favorite balloon

Natchez Hot Air Balloon Race

So the object of the race is to drop a sandbag onto a target on the back of this little barge on the Mississippi River.
The windows of the convention center

This balloon came in second place, and my aunt and uncle were in it!

If you look closely you can see a really big guy's back to the right of the basket, I'm guessing that's Uncle Bob.

More Hodges Gardens pics

Kid pics and Halloween

Hodges Gardens

I haven't posted anything in a while. Life is interesting...I'm experimenting with a puce green wall color, accidentally, the kids had lots of fun trick or treating, and Ray is delivering tons of babies. Since I posted last, we found out that I did, in fact, have a molar pregnancy, but my hormone levels are fine and so far the follow-up for it is going well. Here's some pics we took this weekend at Hodges Gardens.

Getting settled in

It's been a long time since I've posted anything, but we've been busy. We've moved in here at Fort Polk. We are living on post. Ray is getting used to his new job. He got his scores in for his final set of boards in two days ago. It feels weird that he is finally done with school, after being in school for 24 years! The kids are doing well and enjoying making new friends in the neighborhood. We really like the neighborhood we are in. The houses aren't fancy, but the people are great and everyone seems to know each other real well.

Ray and Juliette sleeping in the tent in our new living room. We slept on air mattresses for a while before our "household goods" arrived.

Getting settled into bedtime routines again. Daddy and the munchkins with their nightly books and prayers session.

Gideon and Juliette watching their beloved PBS Kids. The have gotten to be really close the last few weeks. They are finally old enough to play together and enjoy each other's company. It seems like they are always together.

Even Earl is adjusting to his new home, all the while getting larger and larger. You would never know he's on indoor cat weight control food. Oh, but he dreams of being outdoors. He's been our little exterminator. I've found very few live bugs here. Earl gets them first, and then shows us where they are (by playing with them of course).

This countertop was my birthday present. This corner was just empty before. All of our dining areas are carpeted and I just felt the kids were way too messy to eat on carpet, so now they have their own little nook for eating, painting, and playing with Play-Doh. Thanks to Dad and Ray for installing it for me. :)

More pictures to come soon! We've stayed very busy! Juliette is in soccer, ballet and Awanas. Ray is the games leader for Awanas and I've been helping too. I've also enjoyed Protestant Women of the Chapel. We will try to post some pics with Juliette in her little soccer uniform and ballet leotard. It's so cute! I've also been posting some new recipes on the cooking blog. I'm just trying to keep track of the ones I've been finding on the internet. Cooking just makes a home feel homier...I doubt that's a word at all.

Carnival Holiday

Ray and I went on a cruise this past week! The kids stayed with Nonny and Poppy. We had a great time. We went to Costa Maya and Cozumel. This was the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico one night. Ray and I visited the Chacchoben Mayan ruins at the Costa Maya port

Costa Maya port with our ship in the background. The water is so beautiful, it's harder to tell in this picture, but the water is this perfect shade of turquoise and you can see down forever it seems. It was beautiful and we had a great time.