A little early for Halloween

The kids love to dress up and be their favorite characters. Albert caught these shots right before bedtime the other day. We've got Linus, a Princess, and the amazing Spiderman whose weapon of choice is the lightsaber.

Daddy's Birthday

We celebrated his 36th birthday today. We called and sang "Happy Birthday" to him. We made cards for him and a special enchilada dinner. Mom made a German chocolate cake and each kid got to decorate a 1/3 of the cake. It was quite the birthday cake. Christian had us staged throughout the house to jump out and surprise him when he came home. He even marked our exact spot with an index card. Ethan used his strong lungs to blow up several balloons. He just needed help tying them. Christian had Kara hide holding a rose in her mouth. He had a T-Rex that would roar and Ethan had a Spiderman webshooter to shoot Dad with. I got to throw a dish towel up to surprise him. Christian had a blast orchestrating everything. Dad invited Timothy and Madison, our neighbors over for cake and to celebrate. Christian even made a pinata to hit and filled it with his own candy and $$. It was funny to see an opened Skittles packet with a chip clip on it as part of the pinata candy! Daddy got presents from the kids too that included dinosaurs, cars and scorpion toy. I got him two new shirts, work gloves, and T-shirts. He had a great time and loved the party. He also received a card and gift money from Granny and Granddaddy, a card from Father, and a card from his Mom. Happy Birthday, Honey!

Electricity back on

We finally got power Tuesday evening. We were so thankful!! 10 days is a long time. My heart goes out to those who STILL do not have it. We started home schooling again on Wed. Ethan and Kara had a little trouble adjusting but did great on Thursday. They also went back to their Explorer class too. They studied Japan and made kites, origami, and learned many other things. Next week will be India. Corinne is such a good friend. She drove them to and from the class in Conroe. After picking the kids up from her, we traveled home down Egypt Ln. I was not in a hurry or anything. However, I was pulled over by DPS for speeding. I was doing 42 in a 30 mph zone. He was very nice and only gave me a warning.

Birthday Boys

Today Seth and Tate are celebrating their 2nd Birthday!! They are having a tractor party at Granny and Granddaddy's house. Their actual birthday is tomorrow 9-21-2008. They are getting so big. We got them a train table for their gift. Happy birthday Cousins!!

Funeral for Sandy Patten

Today at 1pm is Sandy's funeral at Woodland Place Baptist Church in Magnolia. she was 44 yrs. old. Please continue to pray for her two sons, Wes and Travis and her husband Garry and her large extended family in Oregon.

Update

It is day 7 and we are still one of many without electricity. We did, however, go last night and pick up our new generator. The carrier who shipped it is called R&L Carriers. When I was on the phone with their rep getting directions, I couldn't remember their exact name. She told me it was R&L which is Robert and Larry Carriers. I had to laugh. I got the advertisement for the generators off of the AM news station. They had guaranteed a 3 day delivery. I was a little worried passing the info. on to Albert since I had never heard of the company ElectricGeneratorsDirect.com. When they sent us the confirmation of shipment, I hadn't heard of the carrier either. I would have been VERY anxious if I knew R&L was Robert and Larry the day we ordered spending over $2200! We did get it and everything was legitimate. Tonight Albert will install it and we will be washing clothes!!

Despite Ike

We are doing fine. Our home is ok and we are thankful. We lost several trees and cut down 4 Thursday and Friday before the storm. Today we spend the day cleaning the yard. We have a generator our old neighbors gave us and it has been a lifesaver! Thanks again Tina and Maurice. We are also thankful for our new neighbors and all of their help the last week. They helped us get the big tree down next to the house on Friday and they have shared their water well with us for the last four days!! We are still without power (day 6) but are anxious to receive our new generator that will be here tomorrow. It will power the AC and the well. Praise the Lord.

My prayers are with those families such as the Ackley's, Park's, Stephenson's and Hocking's who had a tree hit their home. Thankfully everyone is ok. The kids are enjoying the time away from school and have had a blast playing with the neighbors.

Dolls, dinos, and dishes

Kara was feeding and burping her baby this morning. Albert and I were amazed at how much she and her doll look alike. They both had on purple so I couldn't resist getting this shot.

Christian is into Legos again. Here he is posing with one of his creations. Ethan is lending a helping hand putting the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. Notice the gloves. Christian was helping out too that day.

School update

Daddy completed day two of his teaching and the kids went to their first explorer class. They discussed China and the continent of Asia. They ate fried rice with chop sticks, made a Chinese pick up sticks game, learned about Lottie Moon and ate her famous cookies. They also made paper dragons to dance with to Chinese music.

school days

Today was Dad's first day to teach science and math. He said at the end of it, that it "is going to be like Cubbies every day." The kids are having a blast home schooling. They love the interaction with us.

I taught history this afternoon and we were listening to an audio and as the lady spoke I was drawing pics on the dry erase board. Well, needless to say, my gifts do not include drawing. The kids were laughing their heads off at my pregnant Eve picture. It was fun. The time goes by so quickly. Tomorrow we have math, science and their first day of the explorer class in Conroe. They will be studying China. I'm looking forward to it. Next week we will add choir on Wed. and AWANAs starts this Sunday evening.

Praise

Thank you for your prayers for baby Gabby and her family. She went home with her parents Saturday! Praise the Lord!

First day of school

A holiday for most, but not for us. We started our first official day of home school. The kids have been very excited and eager. We covered Abner being slain, the letter f, the 6 days of creation, PE (swimming)and the intro to Pilgrim's Progress with lunch and recess thrown in there too.

Late night surprise

Last night around 8:30pm the doorbell rang. We were not expecting anyone so we thought it was our neighbors. I was in my "sleepy clothes" as we call them around the Hernandez house, so Albert went to the door. Albert saw someone running through the woods and get into a car that was waiting. In the doorway, was a basket full of food. The card read: "Dear Christie and Albert, Thank you for laboring for the Lord, enjoy this dinner for your Labor Day. Celebrate!" Needless to say, we were shocked and delighted. Inside the basket, were two steaks, hamburger, buns, potatoes, cheese, lettuce, butter, steak sauce, salad dressing, brownies, chips, and salad. Thank you to our mystery gift givers!!! We love you guys :)