Updates & House Cleaning (pun intended)

Well, I'll just put up some pics for you that sum up the last couple months or how ever long it's been. I can't keep track of these things, I'm not super woman ya know!!!

Here's Alexis' 6th birthday party at Skate World. The place hasn't changed much since we were kids, maybe even the same carpet on the walls. They had a blast!

This is my favorite, all the girls crowding around to get a glimpse of the presents.

Carter, Joey Brabb, Preston, Ali Brabb & Alexis
These are our special friends from Eugene. I hope these kids stay friends forever, we love those Brabb babies.

Ok, I don't know how many Kindergartners are on the honor roll but ours is. Her teacher said they have to maintain a 90% or better, oh Charlie is the "learning coach" not the teacher. So it wasn't Charlie that decided that Alexis is exceptional, someone else did.

Charlie & Carter at Alexis' family birthday dinner. There aren't many photos of me (Charlie) since the camera is always in my hand, but I posed for myself this time.

Pictured: Alexis, Preston, Jill (family friend), Duane (Papa), Travis, Uncle Sean, Nana Holllye & Carter in the back.

Daggett family dinner for Alexis. Missing from the photo is Charlie (as usual) & Becky (Grandma).

The kids with their Papa & Uncle Brodie (the dog, a.k.a. Toto).
Notice how Preston looks like he's in Heaven just being with Brodie again?

Grandma Becky giving Alexis & Carter leg rides...what's she thinking? Crazy lady.

Here's my "Housekeeping" photos.
The boys had a great time being vacuumed.

Well, that's it for now. Keep checking back & I'll keep adding more.
Hopefully next time I can add more than just photos, but like I said I just can't do it all. Well, I can do most of it.......

Halloween & other photos

We had the Daggett family dog, Brodie, for Halloween again this year to be ToTo, here's Preston smelling him. Poor dog, the kids won't leave him alone.

Dorothy, Tinman, crying Pumpkin & ToTo

Our neighbors had the same idea:
McKenzie as Dorothy
Alexis as Dorothy
Preston as Timan
Gage as Tinman
Alexa as the Cowardly Lion

This is what Carter did most of the time at the Harvest Party- digging in the buckets

Here are the kids at our pumpkin patch outing with our church's homeschool group

Another one for Jesus

Alexis had the privilege of helping Preston pray to have Jesus come into his heart. I'm so sad to have missed it, although I did hear them praying but was so into whatever I was doing to actually listen to what they were saying.

Alexis came in very excited and said Preston just asked Jesus into his heart. So I asked Preston about it, of course Alexis kept inserting her comments & had to be reminded that it's Preston's news.
Preston said he just asked Jesus into his heart. I asked him why we do that, he said "I don't know". I asked him what he prayed, he said "I don't know". But he knew that Jesus was in there now.

Alexis asked Preston if he'd like to pray & ask Jesus into his heart & he said, "Okay". So she told me the part of the prayer she remembered, "Come into my heart as holy & forgive me of my sins". Amen!!

We called the grandparents to share the news & he told his Papa "You ask Jesus in your heart when you go to Heaven". Now that he did, he wants to make sure his Papa is going there too.

I was a little skeptical about him understanding this at 3 1/2, but Mom just told me that my brother was 3 when he prayed by himself & just informed her that he did it. He probably gets it & we'll just keep reminding him what he did. I'm sure Alexis will do that for us anyway.

A New Addition

No, no babies. Ha, how funny that you would think that from the title of this entry. Ok, so it was intentional on my part.
Anyway... I have added something new to this blog. It is a list of my FAVORITE recipes that are easy and loved by even the children.
So go to the sidebar & you'll see a list of recipe names with links to the actual recipe w/ a photo.
I will add more from time to time, but you know how crazy life is & it's taken me this long to actually post them. So be patient with me.
If you have some that you like too, let me know so I can try them out & they may even make it to "my favorites list".
Have fun & let me know what you think of them, you can even rate them on the host website.
Cheers.

A hike for AWANA

We went for a local hike with the kids' AWANA group & had a great time picking up "treasures" along the way.
Preston was really into getting miniature pine cones & Alexis was into collecting 'mushrooms' that turned out to be dead flowers w/o the petals anymore. She insists on calling them mushrooms anyway, I think it's because it's the opposite of what I say. She'll call it anything as long as it's not what I say it is, isn't that lovely?
What did Carter enjoy? That's a good question, he was very quiet & once in a while would point at things. He's a quiet observer at times.















This photo turned out a little weird because
it came out so bright so I had to mess with
it a little.

Charlie's night out with The Girls

Here are my friends:
Left side & Front to back-
Tracy, Stacy, Amy, Ana
Right side from Rear to Front-
Audra, Tracy and Charlie

I got to go out to dinner with some of my best girlfriends & I had a great time. Two of them have moved away so it was so awesome to get to see them again. There's a couple ladies w/o kids yet, one is Ana (with the glasses) who is awaiting her special guy from Ethopia prayerfully getting him next month (here's her story), the other lady is Tracy (in front in black-who is 13 weeks pregnant). The rest of us have 2-4 kids and can you believe that one of the few times we get out w/o kids to just gab....we talk about our kids most of the time. Oh well, I've given up because that is my life right now. It was a great night and I'm grateful to have such wonderful ladies to share my time with. Thanks girls.

1st Day of School

September 11, 2008

Well today we have officially started Kindergarten for Alexis, I know a little behind everyone else. Oh well, we're on track now.

We have decided to homeschool Alexis for this year and I'm excited for her and excited to see how we will do. She loves the one-on-one attention.

The kids are also involved in a few church related classes.

Of course there is Sunday School, Preston & Alexis both learn the same lesson just designed specifically for their ages while Carter gets loved on and watches puppet shows.
Charlie is rejoining the Motherwise group at our church, during that time the kids have separate lessons and a particular curriculum throughout the whole year.

Alexis & Preston are also in AWANA this year, first time for Preston.

Then there is our mid-week service at church, and that is also fantastic and they have a completely different curriculum for that as well.
The Kindergarten class is focusing on Children Around the World and now Alexis wants to be a missionary and is currently focusing on our neighbors. She is writing out Bible stories that she is copying from her Bible & intends on giving them out. She also wants to save a family member that does not have Christ as her Savior. It's her mission right now to get her to understand what can happen if she doesn't go to Heaven.
Preston's mid-week church class has certain words that they focus on for a few weeks at a time. The word right now is "Hard-Working" and according to Preston it simply means to "clean-up your room... & stuff like that".
Carter is just enjoying what everyone else is doing and wants to be apart of the action. He's a little guy, but he's a tough cookie and likes to get the ball rolling on wrestling with his brother & sister.

That pretty much sums up what's going on with the kids.

Travis & Charlie are doing the normal thing of keeping up with our normal responsibilities. Travis has joined the health club so he can play racquetball more often, we all know that he struggles with his weight so he needs to keep up with exercising. Note the sarcasm in the text.

I, Charlie, am trying to figure out how to balance everything and keep my sanity, is that possible? Thankfully I don't have an outside job, otherwise I don't think I'd survive.

Here ya go...

Here are a few photos from recent activities:

Charlie & kids visiting with her Aunt Charleen & Uncle Tom, Mom Becky, niece Grayson and nephew Aidan.








Alexis & Preston sitting in a Black Hawk @ the Hillsboro Air Show








Just one showing they all smile alike.


Our visit to the Oregon Coast Aquarium with Gma Becky and Uncle Tim

Daggetts and then some:

Wisdom from a 5 year-old

Preston was upset that the battery in his toy bus was dead. I explained to him that you have to turn it off when you're not using it or that will happen.
In all her wisdom Alexis saw an opportunity to give us a life lesson. She said, "that battery dies when you aren't using your bus just like when we don't use Jesus we die". Well it may not be exactly how Mother Teresa would've said it, but I think you get the gist of what she said.
Our lives will definitely suffer when we don't use Jesus. That's it ...plain and simple.

Charlie's Dad's Story...

Dave's Vietnam Story

Our Family Snapshots

Mexico '08

We went to Los Barriles, Baja California Sur, Mexico in June with LOTS of new family on the Daggett side.
Here is a photo from Punta Pescadero where there is a great spot to snorkel. We did not snorkel this time, but we did have a great time in the water. Carter was the only one that got to go skinny dipping, only as a baby.....next time not a chance.

Peter Sellers - the best Pink Panther