The Big THREE!!!

Then and now

2008 Clare at the pumpkin patch

2003 Renaissance Festival2010 Abigail Harvest Fun Fest
2010 Costume Party

Toofies!

"A"

Our homeschooling adventure has begun! We'll be following the Alphabet Path this year.

Day 1: Apples for breakfast (though this is an everyday occurrence, happily coinciding with A-week!)

Started the school day with the Angelus explaining that this prayer told the story of when the Angel Gabriel met our Blessed Mother and gave her a special mission from God. Then we met the highly anticipated Mrs Applebee. Maybe I shouldn't have puffed up the importance of her arrival so much, Henry was quite upset that she didn't arrive in a car, or that she was only represented in 2-D. (Perhaps a "real" meeting can be arranged before we reach the end of the Alphabet Path! Henry recovered quickly when we learned that Mrs A came from a magical forest--all's well! During Mrs Applebee's introduction, we met her eldest child the Apple Blossom Fairy and her heavenly friend St Ann. We listened to the Apple Blossom Fairy's greeting song on CD. Then we took a break for snack--Almond nut clusters. And Henry took a tour of the Flower Fairies' website.

While H&C played a fairy dressup game there, I set up a Musical "A" game: think musical chairs. I fashioned a capital "A" on the floor with electrical tape, and asked the children to dance around while we listened to the Apple Blossom song. Whenever the music stopped, the first child to "cross their feet, twirl around, and sit down" (in fairy fashion) won the privilege of controlling the CD player for that round. They listened to the song for over 30 minutes--some game play, some dancing. So much fun!

We closed the school day with lunch (nothing creative there, but yummy nonetheless!) and the Angelus at noon.

Dinner will showcase the Avocado with fajitas, ending with the Angelus at 6pm.

St Ann, Angels

Foods

Asparagus

Apples

Apple Pie

Alfredo Sauce

Avocado

Animals

Anteater

Antelope

Aardvark

Plants/Flowers

Amaryllis

Acorn

Apple tree

Physical Activities

arm wrestling

air hockey

Art Projects/Studies

Apple still art

Apple Blossoms from Popcorn, Coffee filters for bouquet

Music

Ave Maria-a capella

Prayer
Angelus

Sts Clare and Philomena

Happy Name day Clare!

Six months old!

Happy Six months Abigail!!

and for comparison's sake:

Six-month Babyclare

Six-month Babyhenry

Six-month Babygail

New Video!

Giggle Girls

Three month old in action!

Abigail 3 mos :D

For Aunt Laura!

Babygail 3mos
Babyclare 3mos

Babyhenry 3mos

Mother's Day

What a beautiful day! Four generations of Charbas gathered today in the beautiful Texas hill country. What a blessing to be a part of such a family.

My best gift today came during Mass when Henry tugged on my hand, looked me square in the eye, and whispered, (a little too loudly, as newly four-year-olds often do) "I am PROUD to call you my mother.) and then proceeded to ask when he could marry me. Sigh. Smile.

What a great day!

Thank you, Lord, for my little blessings!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Four Years ago, your arrival changed our lives. Everyday for the better.
My joy! My little Henry. My baby mine.

Spring again!

Cinnamon Rolls!

Clare beckons me to the garden this morning: Momma! Come here--Cinnamon rolls!

Christ is Risen, Alleluia!

He is risen indeed, Alleluia!!

Lovely harvest

The only survivor from last year's gardening attempt is finally ready for harvest! The heirloom lettuce that I planted from seed, never did produce any leaves last year, but it SURVIVED long enough to reseed itself and HOW! We've had enough lettuce consistently maturing for two weeks worth of salad PTL :D

Love

New (to you) videos!

Here are few videos, listed oldest to newest. Enjoy!
Jumping Clare
Tumbleweeds
Some random silliness
Random silliness II
Henry & Clare meet Abigail
Snow in Austin
Abigail is one month old!

Snow ;D

It's a girl!

We are so happy to introduce you to our baby girl, Abigail Rose.

She was born just a few minutes after Midnight Thursday. She is a solid 9 pounds (just like her momma was!) and 21 inches long. She truly is her "father's delight," and Karl and Abigail got off to such a beautiful start. What a blessing to have such an affectionate daddy!

Abigail bears a great resemblance to Karl's baby photos (minus a full head of curls!) with Karl-like eyes and nose. Looks like Abigail, Henry, and I share the same hairline hee HEE!

We are so in love!

Aww, Gotta love 'em!