Post Season Excitement

Curtis is a HUGE baseball fan. Specifically, he loves the Rangers. The past two year, the Rangers have really given Curtis something to be excited about. And I'll admit, that though I can be quite a whinny baseball wife during the regular season, I quite enjoy the post season!

And so, Ranger mania has hit our home, for the second year!




This is me. Watching a Rangers game. Even though Curtis wasn't home. Sigh. Thankfully, after last season Curtis realized that I'm only a big baseball fan in the post season, and only if the Rangers are the ones playing. Maybe it won't be such a let down next spring when I resort to my whinny baseball wife ways.

But for now.....

GO RANGERS!!!!!!

Merry Christmas, Krajca kids!

A couple weeks ago, my parents called Curtis, asking if they could buy the kids a puppy for Christmas. These puppies are bred by a good family friend, and they are safe for a kiddo with dog allergy problems, like Micah.

Curtis and I thought about, and went to visit the puppies. We decided our family was ready for a puppy, picked a puppy, and started making plans for our new addition.

My parent came into town late last week. Before coming over, they picked up the puppy, hid clues in our house, then came outside where I was with the kiddos. Mom told the kids that they had a surprise, but that they were going to go on a treasure hunt to find the surprise.
My mom had written rhyming clues, taking the kids all over the house. Each clue had something that pointed to getting a puppy: a ball, a frisbee, a comb, bowls and finally, a collar and leash.
At this point, the kids were talking about how weird it was that they were getting all this dog stuff, but they hadn't really guessed that they might be getting a puppy. The final clue led them out to the van my parents had arrived in, and there was my mom with the puppy!


Love at first sight!!! The kids were SO excited!

One of the first questions the kids had was what the puppy's name was. We let them pick the name, but were ready to veto anything too crazy. Benjamin declared that she should be named Cutie Pie. Elizabeth decided she liked Ali or Katy. Micah was too busy being very excited to care too much. So we named our new puppy Katy Cutie Pie.


Katy is SUCH a good dog! She absolutely loves being with the kids, and cries when they aren't awake, or aren't playing with her. She's only had a couple of accidents in the house, and spends huge amounts of time taking naps. Her personality is so sweet, and we are excited to have her as part of our family.

This is what 100lbs looks like

Between the two of us, Curtis and I have lost over 100lbs! Actually, when this picture was taken, we've lost a combined amount of OVER 100lbs. We both still have some more weight to lose, but it feels GREAT to have reached this goal.

And because you know I love a little before and after action......

This picture was taken on our anniversary last year. We are hoping to each meet our weight loss goal by our anniversary this year. Curtis will be able to do it, no problem. I'm on track, but don't have much room to slack off. Can't wait to see that before and after picture!

Aggie pictures

Faithfulness

This is a beautiful song written and performed by Chris Medina, an American Idol contestant. His fiance was in an accident, resulting in a traumatic brain injury. This song is about her.



The first time I heard the song, I was struck by what an honorable, faithful man Chris is. The next thought I had was that it's sad that this isn't the normal expectation for a man.

While I do admire men like Chris, who remain faithful to the promise made, despite unforeseen circumstances, I'm also saddened that this is a remarkable feat. I'm thankful for the man my father is, a man who's remained committed, faithful, and madly in love with my mother, for 34 years. I'm thankful for the man I married, who has stood by me, loved me when I was unlovable, encouraged me and supported me during the hard times of life. And it's my heart's desire to raise three energetic little boys to be three godly faithful men, who won't find the kind of faithfulness and devotion that's portrayed in this song remarkable, because it's been what they've seen and what they want to do.

Wishing for Fall

I really love fall!! I enjoy decorating, baking, doing fall crafts, staging falls pictures, and getting ready for Christmas. It's a time where I look forward to the weather eventually cooling down, though with a high of 100 yesterday, I think I'll just have to keep waiting.

With the first official day of fall this past weekend, I decided it was time to pull out all the fall decorations!
I had already hung our fall wreath. I made it last year, since it was the only fall decorating I was able to do since our house was on the market.

In the picture above, there's a drawing of a pumpkin. Elizabeth made it 2 years ago in art class, using pastels. I love it! This is now one of my new favorite fall decorations.

I tried to take the "less is more" approach this year, lest I make Curtis too crazy. Here's the entertainment center. I'm planning on putting a different picture in the frame, but haven't finished that little project yet.

The fireplace. Simple and sweet.

Our entry way, my other favorite project. I framed fall trees made by Micah and Benjamin. On either side, I hung Aggie pictures, because what's fall without football?!

This morning, I made pumpkin muffins (a family favorite, even when it's not fall!) and pretended it was a brisk fall morning as I sipped my coffee. Maybe all this wishful thinking will result in some fall weather!

Are you ready for some football?!

This fall, both Micah and Benjamin are playing flag football with Upwards. They were both very excited a couple weeks ago to don their new cleats and hit the practice field!
This past Saturday, the boys had their first game! We are very excited and thankful that the boys are on the same team AND that Curtis is their coach.

The Yellow Jackets!

Both boys did amazing jobs at their first game! I'm enjoying being back at the fields, watching them in action.

Benjamin did fantastically for his first time, and Micah, the veteran of the family, scored the first touchdown of the game! To celebrate, we had donuts.

Ballerina Girl

We got lucky with Elizabeth and ballet. It was the first "thing" that we tried, when she was 2, and she's been doing it since! Last night, Elizabeth started her 6th year of dance. She looked so grown up, doing barre work. Dancing brings her such joy, and it's such a treat to watch her dance.
And since I was feeling a bit nostalgic.....

Elizabeth on her first day of dance.

First day of co-op!

Today was the first day of our 3rd year at Brazos Classical Academy. Though I will be the very first to admit that being a part of a co-op is A LOT of work, we are thankful to be a part of a group of such loving, dedicated, like minded families. The support that I've received as a newbie homeschool mom has been invaluable. And the friendships that my children and I have made are treasured.

As I prepared to kick of another year of co-op, knowing that it would probably be our busiest year yet, this verse came to mind, and will be the prayer of my heart in the coming months.

"So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the works of our hands!"
Psalm 90: 12, 14 and 17

PreK

Benjamin was very thoughtful when giving his answer. Again, I just loved seeing bits of his personality. What sweet boys I have!!

Name: Benjamin David Krajca
Age: 4
Favorite Color: green
Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: meat
Favorite thing to eat for lunch: corn dogs
Favorite thing to eat for dinner: hot dogs
Favorite thing to eat for dessert: Popsicles
Favorite movie: Math Adventures to the Moon
Favorite TV show: Tom and Jerry
Favorite place to go: movie theater
Favorite book:
Favorite thing to wear: the clothes I'm wearing right now
Favorite sport: baseball
Favorite shoes: slippers

Things that make me.....
happy: holding me upside down and having ice put in my shirt.
sad: not being able to get on the computer
laugh: I already told you! Ice in my shirt and being upside down.... That's my favorite.
cry: scrapping my knee on the sidewalk.
excited: playing football with Micah for the first time.

Kindergarten

I gave Micah this interview on his first day of Kindergarten. I don't know what it is about these things, but I love them! I love getting little glimpses into his heart and personality.
Name: Micah Wayne Krajca
Age: 5
Favorite Color: dark green
Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: meat
Favorite thing to eat for lunch: meat
Favorite thing to eat for dinner: meat
Favorite thing to eat for dessert: meat
Favorite movie: Bugs Life and Spy Kids (which happen to be the last two movie he watched)
Favorite TV show: Wild Kratts and Power Ranger Samuri
Favorite place to go: to the store with Mommy and Daddy
Favorite book: The Grinch
Favorite thing to wear: my football shirt
Favorite sport: football
Favorite shoes: Luminators

Things that make me.....
happy: having Christmas at Grandma and Grand-Daddy's house and Aunt Shannon is a missionary.
sad: Grand-Daddy has cancer
laugh: tickles
cry: people biting me and falling off my bike onto the driveway
excited: playing football with Benjamin

My boys

Yesterday, I cut Timothy's hair. I had one person tell me he looked just like Benjamin, and one person tell me he looked just like Micah. Here are all three boys at 19 months. Who do you think Timothy favors?

First day of school

First day of school! First day of school!!

This past Monday, Generations of Grace Classical Academy opened it's doors for the first day of school.

The classroom was decorated.....

The head administrator enthusiastically greeted students.....
The excited students donned their first day of school clothes and joined the staff for a Back to School Breakfast.....
And an equally excited teacher welcomed her students to the 2nd grade, Kindergarten and PreK.....
After a morning of hard work, the students helped the teacher prepared "inside out" cupcakes, complete with cupcake toppers that read, "Happy first day of school!"
The cupcake toppers were right. It was a GREAT first day of school!! May God establish the works of our hands this year.

Being content

Since it seems that our plans just don't align with the better plans that God has for us, I've been working on contentment. The most practical way I've done this is in my home. After 9 months on the market, we decided to take a break, move back into our home, and work on making our little 3 bedroom 1400 square ft house work for us.

One of the first things we did was to rearrange bedrooms. Micah and Benjamin had been sharing a bedroom, and Elizabeth and Timothy had been sharing a room. Elizabeth is getting to the point where she really needs and appreciates her own room, her own space, and an opportunity to escape her brothers from time to time. So Micah and Benjamin got a new roommate!
The picture above was taken on the boys' first night together.

Eventually, we plan to get bunk beds for the two older boys. But for now, we're continuing in our lesson of contentment and using the trundle bed that we already have. The most exciting part of this move was when I took the hinges off both kids' rooms and maneuvered the crib out of one room and into the other room without taking it apart! I was pretty proud of myself, though it was quite an adventure.

We've done other rearranging, and redecorating to make the transition a fun one for the kids. I'll have to share those pictures soon.

Even though both Curtis and I would have rather been setting our kids up in new rooms in our new house, I am thankful for how well these little transitions have gone. I've had opportunities to talk with the kids about being thankful for the house we have, even though it does feel a little small. My creativity has been stretched as I try to make our space work for us. But it's been a fun process!

Vacay, Day 10!

We drove home!

Our time in Atlanta and Pensacola was blessed. We received so many of the things we were needing: time with extended family, to away from the daily responsibilities at home, great time with friends, but more of all, family time. I am so thankful for the time we had together as a family.

Vacay, Day 9!