A Few Firsts

Posted on June 7, 2011 by stephanieperdue

This week has consisted of several firsts in the Perdue home:

1. Sadie went swimming and loved being in the water with her Daddy.

2. Jim was given the opportunity to drive a stock car in a Faster Pastor race in West Memphis, Arkansas.

3. Sadie went from sitting, to squatting, to standing all unassisted. I was fortunate enough to capture the first time with my camera.

She is so proud. I just love this picture. *She is only 7 months old!

Thankfulness #262-272

Posted on June 1, 2011 by stephanieperdue

262. A new way to make my grocery list-by aisle.
263. Anna Kate’s bathing soups.
264. Judd swimming in the shadow end of the pool.
265. Anna Kate wearing gobbles while she swims.
266. An Anna Kate nap.

267. A growing garden.
268. Jake finishing his Hang Glider Book in AWANA Sparks.

269. Sadie drinking out of a sippy cup.

270. Boys who love sports, right the sport just happens to be T-ball.

271. A husband and Daddy who is also called Coach.

272. A husband who loves being a Daddy.

Thankfulness #249-261

Posted on May 31, 2011 by stephanieperdue

I am thankful:

249. This is the most wonderful time of the year!
250. The pool is open…

251. The kids smell like sunscreen…
252. Lightening bugs light up the sky…
253. Popsicles on the front porch…
254. Watermelon in the fridge…
255. Tomato sandwiches for lunch…
256. Fun in the Sun!

257. Listening to my kids sing “The Judges Song” during family worship
258. Taking just “the boys” to Walmart to buy pool toys with their own money.
259. Receiving 4 cases of blueberries to feed my kiddos
260. A good 2 mile run.
261. It is Summertime in Brighton, TN!

Posted on May 29, 2011 by stephanieperdue

5 @ 5!

1. Be in the Word and guard my time with God

2. Feed my family

3. Keep the laundry going

4. Keep the bathrooms and kitchen clean

5. Care for the children (which includes playing, reading, and getting out of the house as much as needed for mom’s sanity)

Whatcha Doing?

Posted on May 29, 2011 by stephanieperdue

Here is just a quick update of our life the past couple of weeks:

Jake is reading all.the.time! He has started reading Beverly Clearly books-Henry Huggins and Ribsy.

Anna Kate taking a nap is very rare in our home these days!

Sadie enjoyed eating butter beans tonight! Yummy!

All smiles!

Judd learned to blow bubbles with gum. He is so excited!

Sisters playing in a box is always lots of fun!

This is a picture of Sadie taking her first bath without her “baby” tub.

So long Kindergarten…

Posted on May 24, 2011 by stephanieperdue

So long Kindergarten…

We have finished our first full year of school. We used A Beka First Grade curriculum this year. I like the reinforcement of everything that is learned, and the heavy emphasis on phonics and handwriting. Jake’s reading is amazing, and I attribute that to A Beka. He is learning to write better and has written several stories.

This is just a small sampling of the subjects. Jake learned excellent phonics skills which has him reading wonderfully, three-digit addition and subtraction, multiplication, telling time, Roman numerals, graphs, temperature, writing sentences, punctuation, Bible (thanks to AWANA) to name a few. It was a big year, and he has learned a lot.

I am pleased with our first official year of homeschooling. I think home education is a constant tweaking process, seeing what works and what doesn’t. I know what works for Jake and I like that I can adjust what we do to suit him and eventually Judd, Anna Kate and Sadie.

Next year, Judd will be starting preschool and Jake will be in First Grade (while working through Second grade curriculum), so I will have a classroom of two. We will see if that’s easier or harder!

Hello, First Grade! But I’m glad it will be a few months still before we see you. This Mama needs a break! We have a pool, hot weather, and popsicles to enjoy!

Things They Say

Posted on May 22, 2011 by stephanieperdue

Dear Sassy Kate:

Posted on May 22, 2011 by stephanieperdue

II just love you so much, Anna Kate. You are the most spirited, lively, confident, sassy, stubborn, exuberant, busy, loud, expressive, vibrant, mischievous little girl I’ve ever known. I want to remember you, right now– who you are right now. You are a girl who knows what she wants, and you are not afraid to express it– and loudly.

You love to sing, and do so constantly. You love to watch movies. Your favorite movie and book is The Three Little Pigs. But you’ll watch anything, and happily.

You love anything “pretty” bracelets, ribbons, fancy shoes, and any type of sticker.

You don’t sit still for longer than 3 seconds. I am not exaggerating that fact. Unless, you are getting your nails polished. You will also sit for a book, but you are constantly moving, talking and turning the pages back to talk about something you just saw or to ask me a question.

You are a sweet big sister to Sadie. Oh, how you adore that girl! 🙂 You are so sweet with her~ your words to her are gentle and kind, and you share so well with her. I love your friendship with your sister. The boys love you and enjoy playing with you quite often, especially hide-n-go seek. You and Judd are great at playing pretend and imagining fun scenarios to act out inside and outside, right now you are playing zoo keeper in the garage. However, you can be trouble-maker. At times, you move from one spot to another, all day long, doing whatever you should NOT do in that particular area of the house. If you happen to walk into the boys’ room and you see that Jake has carefully built any sort of creation (Legos or otherwise), you take it upon yourself to destruct it, and quickly- before anyone should stop you. If someone has colored a pretty picture, you must color on top of it, or rip it up, and quickly- so that you can get the deed done before you get found out.

One of your favorite games to play is “you can’t see me.” Any time Daddy or Mommy walk in a room after you have called one of us, you are covering your eyes saying “you can’t see me, I am hiding.” It is really fun and a great memory. I find it ironic that I played to same game with my parents when I was a little girl just about your age.

You LOVE to go shopping and when I mention the word it causes you to scream with pure enthusiasm. You also enjoy playing dress up and changing clothes multiple times a day to increase my laundry.

I can’t believe you’re three already, and remember the day I met you like it was yesterday. You are a beaming ray of sunshine in our lives and we are so very blessed to have you.

I love you, Anna Kate Perdue!