Happy Birthday Aidan!

Last weekend was a busy one for us here in the Hagler home. Aidan turned 7 years old on Saturday and both he and Trace were Baptized on Sunday. Friday was spent getting ready for the party, making a cake, and wrapping presents. Saturday we celebrated Aidan.

Things have been really busy for us this year with the addition of homeschooling so I decided to keep the party pretty small and we invited 3 friends and their siblings. Aidan chose to have a bike riding party and we got permission to do it at the church in the parking lot. We made name plates for the bikes and then we added two different noisemakers to the bike (bells that dangle and a paper clicker that hit the spokes as they rode). I set up an obstacle course and the kids got to each make their way through it.

Here is Rebecca with the flag sending out our first racer through the course

Go Davis

And now Andrew needed a turn

The kids had to make it through the course and then they had to drive through the silly string attacks of the other kids. This was one of the highlights for sure! Here is Aidan spraying one of his friends

Andrew even got covered in silly string

This sweet little one road way out far making it impossible for anyone to get her...very smart girl!

And here is Uncle Greg getting Andrew as he drives by.


After the obstacle course, we took a break for an easy hot dog lunch and some cake. We are so thankful for our friends that were able to come.

Here is the birthday cake

We had too much wind so we attempted to block it with the cardboard in the back ground.
And that night my brother and his family cam in town to celebrate some more. It was a great day of play and fun with Aidan. I cannot believe Aidan is 7. I know I say that every year and I mean it every year, but 7 really seems older. Aidan doesn't seem like a little guy anymore. He is growing up and developing his own personality. I completely find myself at a loss once again, but I am enjoying this stage. I love that Aidan loves to learn and is curious about everything. He loves to learn new facts about all sorts of things. Learning is simply cool at this age and for a home school mom that is super fun! I love that he is getting to a point that I can trust him more and give him a little more freedom. I love his sense if humor that is developing and even though I might not get the joke, it delights my soul to her him laugh! Aidan is such a sweet little boy. I get compliments about you all the time Aidan. You are a special boy! I love you dearly! Never forget that...I love you! I love getting to be your mommy!

I will try to write about the baptism very soon, but I think this is all I can do for now. What a special weekend!

Homeschooling in Pictures

Well, I guess you can tell that homeschooling is taking its toll! The blog has become a lower priority and in all honesty I am often simply too tired to post after the kids go to bed. I have had several homeschooling activities that I have wanted to update you with. I originally thought that each one would have its own post but since we are so far behind why don't I just catch you up through pictures.

Trace has taken over the Friday afternoon History lesson for me. He gets off work early on Fridays and has been so sweet and wonderful to take this on. It is a sweet time for the kids and him too. I have been known to enjoy my Friday afternoons by running errands, reading a book, or taking a nap. It is a great time for me too!

Here is their first Friday with daddy. The first week we defined history and archeology. After the archeology lesson the kids went for a "dig" in the sand box.

They roped it off into sections and had to explore the area and see what they could discover.

Week #1 with Dad was a success!
Here are our cave paintings.

And this is supposed to be the white crown that the Pharaoh of Upper Egypt wore. It would later become part of the double crown when Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt became one.

Here is a picture of Andrew just because he is cute.

This is our attempt at an Egyptian Pyramid. We made the bricks out of sand and glue and then cut them out and arranged them to resemble a pyramid.

And this is supposed to be a Sumerian seal.

We also made a trip to the Dallas Aquarium which was super fun. We went with another home school family that we have gotten to know. They have 3 kids also and they are all within months of my kids. It is their first year homeschooling and we are doing basically the same curriculum. It has been a huge encouragement to have someone else who is on the same page we are. They had completed their study of fish and we spent a couple weeks studying fish to help get us ready for the trip. It was a fun day! Here is Becca feeding a bird.

Aidan overlooking everything.

The whole group of kids! I love this picture.

All but one of the little guys.

If you haven't been to the aquarium I would say the highlight is the shark tank. It is like a tunnel and the sharks swim above you. This picture cracks me up with everyone pointing different directions but it is pretty cool to see. My little Andrew had a few moments of panic as the sharks swam overhead so we ended up watching from outside of the tunnel. He was a bit heightened the remainder of the time at the aquarium and he didn't get to far from mom. I was completely surprised to see him react like this.

Two of my monkeys near the penguin exhibit.

And last here are a few pictures when we watched the Rose Parade. I have never taken my kids before (it usually falls on Aidan's birthday weekend and is just too much). This year we made a point to watch the parade. Here is Becca and Aidan.

And Andrew the fireman. He chose this hat for Halloween and a costume came with it. Literally, that is the way it worked. He wanted the hat and he had to wear it to the parade. I wouldn't argue with someone that adorable!

So there you have it. The last couple months in pictures. We do things that do not pertain to history or science around here, but those just aren't as fun to take pictures of. And just in case you are curious, all ideas listed about come from our history curriculum. We are using the Story of the World and I bought the activity guide to go with it. All creative ideas should be credited to the book.

Tache Kick Off

This past weekend we spent some time at a Pine Cove (or "piney Cone" as Rebecca called it) campsite for the TACHE kickoff. Tache is the Home school network that we are a part of. It was a great time, and although I didn't get to meet too many new people (my kids are still much to hands on to have a ton of social time) I did enjoy the great family time. There are so many fun things to do there. Everyone had a different favorite thing. For Andrew it was probably putt-putt.

Rebecca loved her horse ride

Aidan showed his bravery and his new swimming skills off as he jumped off the high dive. I was so impressed. He wouldn't even swim more than a few feet before the summer began and now he is going off the High Dive. I just couldn't believe it!

We all also loved the fun swings and super cool, huge tree house.

Rebecca attempted the rock wall, but her legs were just too short to get her up. She gave it a solid effort though.

Aidan also took a pony ride on the trail and thought it was so fun to get to steer the horse.

It was great fun!

Hagler Academy

I am way behind on my blogging! I know most of you are perfectly fine with that, but I do try to use this as a family journal and as of late this journal has been boring!!! We are halfway through our second week of school and we are not only surviving but I would say we are thriving. I have felt a sweet kind of closeness with my kids and in our home. Things are by no means perfect, I mean we have 5 people living in this house and we all have our hangups, but life is good. It seems to be the time of year when life is gearing up and things are getting busy, but there is a calm here that seems to be unaffected by the busyness.

Homeschooling has helped me to focus more on home. I am doing a better job getting laundry done, toys put away, and keeping the clutter tamed. I think I feel like I have to do a better job since this isn't just home, but also school. We aren't running around frantically and the best thing of all is that there is no mad dash to be on time to school at 8:00 in the morning. I always hated that! Now if we are running 10 minutes late or have a rough start it is OK, life will go on and we will adjust throughout the day. Having so much focused time with the kids has given me the opportunity for some much needed training time to address issues of the heart. The kids seem to be closer and be getting along better also since they are not only classmates but playmates much of the time. I am so thankful for this time that the Lord has given us where we can focus on our home, our kids, and their hearts. I truly feel like this time is a gift (talk to me 4 months down the road when I am worn out and that might be different).

I did take a few pictures to mark our first day because that is just what you do on the first day of school, right? Here are the kids in the school room. That door is a pocket door between the kitchen and school room/office and I painted it to be a chalkboard which is great fun to use.

I am going to write out our school day for my own benefit(down the road)and for those of you that are interested. If you have no interest at all; this is where you want to stop reading.

We start our school day off at 8:30 with Bible. We usually spend about 30 minutes together in the morning and we spend this time doing scripture memory, reading the story, discussing it, praying together and singing at least one praise song. It is a sweet time together and it is a time that we simply were not finding to do together when Aidan was in school. We did try to do something simple over breakfast, but the available hours were just not long enough when he was in school and if we were running behind that went out the window. We follow that up with math, phonics for Becca, spelling and grammar for Aidan, and then handwriting. Andrew loves to be a part of handwriting time and that works some of the time (until he colors on someones paper, gets corrected, and has a 2 year old melt down). He isn't actually handwriting but he has his own "book" to work in and insists on using a pencil like his big siblings rather than crayons. When I am working independently with one of the kids the other one plays in the room with Andrew. This works most of the time, but we always have unplanned breaks and interruptions to deal with some conflict or issue.

After handwriting we take a break for outside time and lunch. Then before Andrew takes a nap we all snuggle together on the couch and read. It is truly the highlight of my day! Andrew takes a nap and the bigger kiddos join me for a simple history or science lesson (I do mean SIMPLE!). Then they rest and read in there rooms and I get a little quiet time.

That concludes our school day (usually history is finished about 1:00-1:30)and the remainder of the day consists of planning for the next day, doing laundry, cleaning, cooking dinner, and running errands. The biggest struggle for me right now is finding time to get to the grocery store. I just can't seem to get that done during the day and have been making late night trips after the kids go to bed. Trace and I will have to figure out the details as time goes on.

We also have chosen to be a part of a co-op called Classical Conversations and we have loved it so far. The kids all seem to like it, they get a morning in a very structured environment and they are learning so much! Most of the families stay after class time for lunch and playtime together and we have enjoyed having this time scheduled into our week. We go on Wednesday mornings and take off those afternoons. The style and philosophy of the co-op fits perfectly into my homeschooling philosophy so far and the material overlaps and helps tie the loose ends together. I expect many hard days ahead, but I am so thankful that this is the place where the Lord has us for this season of our life.

And here are the pictures that the kids took turns taking with there new teacher on the first day.

Rejoicing with the Angels!

On Sunday August 2nd Aidan came home from church and shared with me over lunch that he had become a Christian. I asked him some questions then to try to understand the message that had been shared with him at church that had brought him to this decision. Trace spent some time alone with him just to make sure he knew what it meant and what it means to be a follower of Christ.

Aidan has known the gospel, that Christ alone is able to free him from his sin, and that is why Christ died on the cross, but we were unsure that he had made a personal decision to follow. We have talked about this with him many times and have even discussed baptism, but to insure he understood the choice he was making we wanted to wait to pursue that. I think that is a hard thing to clearly see in the life of a child who grows up hearing about Jesus and all He has done for us. He has always known the right answers but when has the Lord moved in his heart to bring repentance of sin and to see the personal need for a savior. This time he made a decision and it was completely independent of us. He was able to explain to us what it meant to accept Christ as his Savior. It was so cute because for the rest of the day Aidan tried to convince Rebecca that she needed to be a Christian and that they could both become Christians on the same day. I loved his excitement and his eagerness to share Christ with others, although I am not convinced Rebecca fully understands any of it yet.

A few nights later I surprised Aidan with a cookie cake dessert to celebrate. We wanted him to know that this was a cause for rejoicing and that we were so excited that he had made this choice and we were praising God for working in his heart. After the dessert we spent some time in prayer praying for Aidan as a family. We prayed that his faith would grow and be strengthened and that he would comprehend the depths and heights of Christs love for him. I pray that he follows hard after Jesus and that his faith will be tested and proven to be authentic. It is overwhelming to know that the Lord has worked in Aidan's heart this way. I think this is the single most consistent prayer request that I have brought before my Father on behalf of my kids and to see it answered is such a source of joy. Praising the Lord for his faithfulness and the work he has done and will continue to do in Aidan's life!

A Girly Room

I finished Rebecca's room last week and thought I would share pictures. I am so happy with the results and I think she really likes it too.a> Here is the view from the door.
Another picture from the door.
The other side of the room.

A close up of her stars and the "R"

Another wall with a more clear view of the stripes. I followed the patter of 5", 2", 7", and then 3" stripes to give a little variation. The light pink horizontal stripe is 10" wide. Lots and lots of taping, painting, and touching up, but happy with the results in the end.

This is the scripture board I painted for Rebecca when she was an infant. I love that I can still use it. We could use some curtains or something to soften up those cheap mini blinds, but they do the job so we will see if that happens or not.

I love kids rooms. I think they leave so much freedom to be creative. I will be working on Aidan's room over the next few weeks and will post pictures when I am done. It won't be nearly as busy as Becca's room but it will involve a few stripes. 2 rooms done and several more to go. All the fun of an older house.

Our Beach Vacation

We had a great vacation earlier this month. We drove down to South Padre and had our fill of fun and sun. It was a much needed break for me. I enjoyed nap time in the hotel almost as much as the fun at the beach. It was the first time this summer I could totally relax, because there was NOTHING that needed to be done. I have been meaning to post pictures for a while. I suppose it is better late than never. Brace yourself for the picture overload!

All three amigos at the hotel pool

Trace and Aidan at one of the many seafood restaurants we ate at.

Me and Becc

And the little mister

In front of the boat we were about to board for our dolphin watch and fireworks show. I did not get to see the dolphins because of where we were sitting, but Trace and Aidan claim to have gotten a peak.

The only picture of Trace and I together...taken by Rebecca our budding photographer.

Daddy and his little girl

Hanging out on the boat. One of my favorite pictures, I just think it is so cute.
The little surfer boy heading out to catch some waves

Becca spent much of her time on her belly waiting for the waves to come and make her go. She loved splashing in the waves.

Running back to mommy

Splashing in the waves. I can't believe I did not get one single picture of Aidan and his beach bucket collecting seashells. That was a favorite activity for him and he came back home with tons. We also started calling Aidan the safety patrol while we were vacationing. Every time Andrew went anywhere near a wave Aidan got extremely protective fearing he would be washed out to sea. Andrew found this highly frustrating when his big brother would attempt to coral him.

What a peaceful view. It was loads of fun.

Rebecca and I attempted to build a mermaid out of sand. You can see her next to Becca in this picture.

We had a fantastic time and are already talking about our next trip to the beach.