Carter is Three!

Someone please pinch me and tell me it's not true that my baby boy (above) Carter Jackson is not really three! Well okay, I guess for two more days he technically is not, but say it isn't so! It seems just yesterday that he was born, and now he is a preschooler? How is it possible for time to fly that quickly?!

We had a great party today. There were 16 kids in our little house, but we had a blast! For those of you concerned that my child will miss out on socialization because he is homeschooled, here is the proof that we won't have any problems in that area! We are blessed to go to a large church and have many friends!

We started off with lunch: soft tacos, hot dogs, chips and salsa, pumpkin dip with apples and gingersnaps (yummy!) and cheetos.

Gramma and Grampa Westdyk were there as always! I'm sure Mama and Papa Blackburn were there in spirit... Mama sent presents earlier in the week! I know they wish they could be there.

There was ONE thing that Carter asked for his birthday: an ice cream cake. I wish I had taken a picture of the awful creation that I attempted in making my own ice cream cake, because it would've been a hoot to post it on here. Since it was the one and only thing Carter had asked for, Daddy went off two hours before the party in search for an ice cream cake. It was pricey, but worth it for our little guy. And it was yummy too!

After food, we made little pumpkins that I had gotten from Michael's. If you notice, Carter's little green stem that is supposed to be on top of the pumpkin is actually sticking out of the pumpkin's mouth! My little creative guy he is!! I think his pumpkin is missing a nose too...

Then we went outside to our "pumpkin patch" and the kids all picked out their own pumpkin to take home with them. They played outside for awhile then too. The weather was absolutely perfect. Sunny and 70 degrees with a nice breeze!

At the end of a fun day, Carter opened his gifts. He got lots of fun things!

At the end of the day, we were exhausted, but it was tons of funs! So thankful for wonderful family and friends! Love my precious little boy...

Standing with support!

It's amazing how time can fly by so quickly. I realized I hadn't blogged in about a month and decided it was time to post. Really there hasn't been much to blog about that was major exciting. We have exciting moments every day though, and why shouldn't I share it? I am so blessed by my two beautiful children and want to share the joys I get to experience on a daily basis!

Carter and Sydney are starting to really become "friends" now and it is such a joy to watch! Sure Carter still gets mad when Sydney takes his toys and slobbers all over them (he points and says, "It's eating my block!") Yes, *sigh*, he calls her "it." We're teaching him that she's a "she," not an "it!" But he really does love her. They'll chase each other around the house and Carter will yell, "Sydney's trying to get me!!!" As if an almost 10 month old could possibly hurt you Carter??!! Too cute.

And speaking of my almost 10 month old, she is now standing with support. On pretty much anything you can imagine. She just loves to stand! She is cruising along quite nicely on the furniture. This is her favorite spot, on the coffee table in our play room. She is also working on a few more teeth all at once. The joys of being a toddler!

She is such a joy, always smiling and laughing. Except of course when her teeth are bothering her or she has a 102.7 fever like she did the other night... aside from that, she's a pretty happy baby!

Oh we're going to be in big trouble in about 15 years with a smile like that.....

Daddy was having fun the other day holding Carter upside down and Sydney was so amused....

she wanted to do it herself too!

Next post will be Carter's birthday party. Can't believe our little boy is really turning three!!!

To address or not to address

I've been thinking a lot this week about the big hooplah over the President addressing our children. Just thought I would share some of my thoughts on that. I will be the first to admit that I was initially outraged by it. Why? Because I was being told things like, "No President has dared to do this before..." and "As parents we should be able to control what our children hear when they are in school." Of course the icing on the cake was the list of questions that was being presented to the children to think about while they were listening to him speak and after he was finished. Questions like, "What is the President trying to tell me?" and "What is the President asking me to do?" Of course it was all over Facebook. Conservatives posting polls that the President shouldn't be allowed to speak to their children... Liberals posting that prior Presidents actually did speak to the children but never had to get permission to do it... it all began to make my head spin, and I actually forgot why I was upset about it to begin with!

Then the address to the students came and went... no big deal. I actually read some of what he said, and had no problem with it. And it made me wonder, why are we freaking out about these things? Don't we have much more important things to worry about? It also got me thinking about the reasons why many Conservatives and Christians were in an uproar about this. We don't want Government sticking its nose into our lives... into health care, religion, etc. But why do so many people send their children to public school if they don't want Government involved? It is a Government institution isn't it? I personally, had nothing to worry about, because my children are being homsechooled. This isn't a post to convince everyone that they should homeschool. But it makes you think. Yes I consider myself a Conservative. But it bugs me that so many Conservatives spend so much time complaining about Government getting involved in things... yet they send their children to a Government run institution. Doesn't that seem like a double standard? We are upset because we want to be able to control what our children hear at school. But do we honestly believe we have any control right now over what our children are hearing at school?

I'm not trying to stir up controversy, it just really got me thinking. When did our country become so split? Why are we fighting among ourselves? We talked about this briefly in my Bible study this morning. We don't need terrorists to come and fight us. We're doing a fine enough job fighting on our own. We are no longer a united country. When did we get labeled, "Conservative" and "Liberal"? It really saddens me.

This doesn't mean I'm not going to stick to my moral standards and convictions. I believe what I believe for a reason. But I'm not going to change someone else's mind until I start living out my convictions. We think we're going to change each other's minds about things but all we do is go in circles and bicker amongst ourselves. It's very ineffective. To reach other people they have to see something different in our lives. Not the same bickering they see from every other person. I just feel sometimes I am quick to jump on the Conservative band wagon and get upset over things just because everyone else is and that bugged me.

Maybe that was a ramble, so I apologize. But it was on my mind and I just thought I would share. I'll close with the number one reason I choose to homeschool my children:

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. " Deuteronomy 6:5-9

I can't control what Government chooses to teach my children. I can only control what I teach them. And that is what I have chosen to do!

First Day of Preschool

Well this week we started our homeschool curriculum for Carter. We are just doing a very basic, preschool (Pre-K 3.) Carter already knows most of his letters and sounds and counts pretty well, so I figure whatever he learns this year is just a bonus! I am using a curriculum by "Heart of Dakota" specifically for 2-5 year olds called "Little Hands To Heaven." The main focus is on Bible and learning the sounds. They do include math, drama, art and music. We are hoping to have fun this year. Of course we had to start the day off with a picture on our front door step. I always remember those pictures on my first day of school. Even though our children will not be going away to a school, I don't want to miss out on those fun photo ops. Carter was so excited and didn't even know why!

I love that I am his Mommy but also his Teacher! What a joy that is for me to be able to share this experience with him.

We set up our classroom in the dining room since it had the most space. I also liked how bright it was in there from the front windows. We started our day with the letter A, and learning the sound it makes. This is a breeze for Carter but I think it is so good to daily reinforce it so that he will soon enough be able to put the sounds together to start reading. I don't want to push him yet but love that he is excited to learn!

Here I drew a capital and lowercase Aa and put glue around them. Carter put cheerios on the glue. He loved this!

He was supposed to color something that started with the letter A. This was a little hard for him, so he just colored while we talked about different things that start with the letter A.

Today we had more fun. During math time, he drew a purple circle. I was amazed at how well he actually drew a circle! Then we went around the house first looking for things that were purple. He found seven things! Then we went around looking for circles around the house and he found twenty things! I really was so impressed with how well he did with it. We are also learning in Bible about how God created the world. We talked a lot about the animals that He made.

I can't believe that Carter is already going to be 3 in less than 2 months. It is amazing how much time flies. We are excited to see what this year brings.

The end of the summer

Well not too much has been going on since Steve's surgery so I haven't had anything to post about. But I just thought I would post once before the Summer ends and our chaos begins! Steve is recovering well. He still couldn't lift the kids (nothing over 10 lbs) for two weeks after his surgery. That was hard on Mom having to do all the lifting when we went places together, but we survived! Steve has started his Seminary classes and is working hard. He said he has studied more in the past week than he did his entire four years in College! I believe that as I have heard the stories of his slacker years in College! He is learning a lot and is excited to see what God is going to do with this.


We are officially starting homeschool "preschool" for Carter next Monday. So right now we are just having fun playing together while the summer comes to a close. I am planning to blog about my homeschooling since it is all a learning experience and hope to share some of that with you all! We are going to be following the Heart of Dakota curriculum for 2-5 year olds, called "Little Hands Toward Heaven." We'll start on Monday and see how it goes! I am not stressing over it since Carter isn't even 3 yet (will be in two months) and whatever he learns now is just a bonus! Looking forward to getting my feet wet in homeschooling to prepare for the real deal! Carter already has a great head start as he knows pretty much all of his letters and sounds and can count to 15.

Sydney is still a little joy. She has been taking off with the crawling thing. Now that she is more mobile, she is learning to sleep on her stomach. She never used to do that before. I sometimes find her in interesting positions like the picture above. I don't know how that can be comfortable! She loves to move all over the house. And unfortunately, pick up fuzz from the floor and put it in her mouth! Yuck! So she's always choking on that... not fun!

She has also discovered the cats. And the target of her obsession seems to be Therapy, above. Poor little guy used to get abused by his brother Roo and now he is the object of Sydney's obsession! She loves to pull his tail and try to eat it. Here he is "hiding" from her.

Look at her, looking so innocent on the outside of the gate, while Therapy stays safe and sound inside the baby gate hoping she will just "go away!" He stayed there a good 20 minutes without moving.

Who could resist this face? We are going to have to keep her locked up when she gets older! :-)

Just kidding of course...

Or this face? Carter has very curly hair, and I had a little fun the other night during bath time. He's my little ham, always loving a good camera shot! I think it's across between Jimmy Neutron and Peewee Herman! Love my little man!

A week to remember

Well it has been quite the eventful week in the Westdyk household. On Monday morning around 4 a.m. Steve woke up to go the bathroom and felt pain. He wasn't sure what kind of pain, but that's when it all started. Steve leads the Men's Bible study for our Sunday School class on Monday mornings at 6:15 a.m. (yes, they meet that early!!) so he headed off to the study. On his way home he started to feel more pain and also felt nauseous. He came home before heading off to the office to say hi to us like he normally does. Instead of heading to work, he went to bed. After waking up from about an hour nap, he was in so much pain that he was doubled over and could barely walk. He first called our Doctor to see if he could get an appointment. He didn't know how serious it was and didn't want to go to the ER if it wasn't necessary. Turns out our Doctor is no longer practicing here and we had no idea! Since he couldn't see another Doctor until the afternoon, we headed to the ER, kids in tow and all. Three hours later, we learned the worst, it was his appendix! Boy did our week change within seconds! Once I heard the news, I headed home to let the kids nap since they had spent all morning in the ER and were going stir crazy. Steve just had to wait at the hospital until they would let him know when his surgery would be. Finally at long last, his surgery was scheduled for that evening around 7:45 p.m.! Thankfully, our dear friends the Murrays were already planning on watching the kids that night so we could have a date night. Instead we spent our date in the hospital together! They have promised us that we should not consider that our date night, and they would be glad to watch the kids again for us!


Here is Steve minutes before he was rolled off for his Appendectomy. He was getting a little nervous by this point and just anxious to get it over with, as he had been waiting all day for it to happen! We left him around 7:30 (Steve's parents were there with me) and around 9:30 p.m. were able to see him up in his room. Everything went well, the Doctor even showed us lovely pictures of the inside where it was removed. Be thankful I am not posting those!! He did have an infection so the Doctor told us he would like Steve to at least stay until Wednesday so he could get his antibiotics and make sure he doesn't get a fever. Thankfully, the next day he did not have a fever and was already walking around and doing great. The Doctor said he could go home that evening at 8 pm. We were thankful! Steve's parents came and watched the kids for me on Tuesday afternoon so I could spend some time in the hospital with Steve. We were so thankful once he got home that evening. He is doing very well. Just a bit sore and still can't lift anything heavy, which means he can't lift the kids! All in all, it went smoothly and we're just thankful it is over with. We're also thankful he caught it so early on.

We have been so amazed by the outpouring of love from the people in our Church through this ordeal. Yes, I know that is what the body of Christ is for, at least what it is supposed to be, right?! But it was the first time we really witnessed it first hand, aside from the meals we received after having each of our children. We received so many phone calls, emails and several even went to the hospital to visit Steve. It was a real encouragement to Steve and really blessed him. Here Steve is holding a get well cookie basket from the Choir director at Prestonwood. We were very surprised that they sent us! It was so thoughtful and kind, and I must say yummy!

The last bit of news for the second half of the week is that Sydney decided this would be the week she starts to crawl! While it is a joy to see her crawl finally, it now brings an added element to the day: watching her like a hawk! She is all over the place! She didn't waste anytime figuring it out. The other frustrating thing about it is that she now wants to move all the time! Which means nap time has been torture for us! She has learned how to roll over to her belly and scoot on to her bottom in the crib. It took me two and a half hours yesterday just to get her to take her afternoon nap! So frustrating! Hopefully she will catch on soon and nap time will not be such a stressful time for us.

The Lake

On Saturday we finally got to go to the Lake to spend the day with our dear friends and my former employers, Dan and Lisa. Almost a year ago they bought a Lake house at Cedar Creek Lake, about an hour outside of Dallas and spend every weekend there relaxing from the week. They seem to be in heaven when they are there and now I know why! It really felt like we were on vacation and we were only there for one day. Their house is beautiful and has an amazing view of the Lake and sunset.

On the way to the Lake!

Carter spent a lot of time hanging out by the windows. It was a gorgeous view! Unfortunately I think he left his mark there with his finger prints on the glass!

This is the view from the back yard.

Carter and I in front of Dan's new boat!

The back of the house and back yard.

Sydney and Daddy had fun playing on the couch together.

Aunt Lisa and Sydney on the dock at sunset.

Carter looking cool in his shades!

Lisa showing Carter the bait. Carter had fun watching the minnows swim.

The family after Daddy's big catch!

What a gorgeous sunset and great ending to a fun day! The kids loved it and we really enjoyed spending time with Dan and Lisa again. Steve and Dan got to go exploring on the boat while Lisa and I enjoyed lounging on the floaties on the Lake while the kids "napped." Carter didn't actually nap. I think he was so excited from the day, he spent the entire naptime talking to himself on the bed! At least he let us have quality adult time! I have missed Dan and Lisa a lot since I stopped working for them, so it was wonderful to get to spend the day with them.