Tom's Farms

Petting Zoo

Aiden was a little worried

Who says you have to be inside to pet the animals?
One of his first words is horse (and orange not your typical words) and he loves to look at them so we decided to let him ride the pony.
Too cool for school.

Asher was little nervous about riding and concentrated more on his driving.

Weekend Venture

Yesterday, we took our family to Tom's Farms. It was my first time to visit and was surprised by the amount of people there. They had a pumpkin patch area and we let the boys play a little. The boys wanted to get on the bouncer slide. I love these pictures of Aiden. I could barely get the picture in time, but his face is priceless. Yes, I even got a picture in there. I love those boys though. Little brother was asleep the whole time in the stroller. More pictures to come.

Do you like the superman cape? He has the belt on too, but you can't see it.

My favorite group of boys ever.
The biggest one is quite the father and an awesome husband.

Three reasons to love

Rub a dub dub.... three men in a tub.

These three are my reasons to show love and to give love without any questions asked. I pray that they will one day be able to do the same and even more.

By the way, have you noticed my theme?

What more could a teacher want

As a teacher, reading becomes a top priority. I have found the better the reader, the better the student will be able to accomplish other tasks in math, social studies, science and pretty much anything your throw at them. I love to read too and so I think everyone should love to read including my boys. My biggest wish is that they are huge reader and can't put the book down. Here was the scene at my house tonight.

All were into "reading" a book. Asher's reading is eating it. Aiden's reading is looking at pictures. Avery was really reading. It doesn't really matter what they were doing with books as long as they have them and they continue to use them in some form or fashion (besides as TP and with boys you never know)

What more could a teacher/mom ask for?

Yehaw!

Going back to our roots we went out and rode a co-workers horse. His name is Hershey just like our dog. Avery, Aiden, and Adam had a great time. Here are a few pictures. I did too.

Views of Christmas

We tortured our children this year by making them wait until the afternoon to open presents. Actually I think it was more torture for the grandparents.

Go Giants!

Take a look at our little Giant fans.

Modesto Part 2

Here are the Atchison boys. Who says California kids are all about the city and beach. Mine are not. We often call them surfer cowboys. They love the country and all things boy which means all things with wheels.

Best Friends

Friends are hard to come by nowadays, but here is a picture of some best friends. This is Cayson with Avery. These two have been friends since before they could crawl. We had the unique opportunity to be neighbors for the past two years. This June though they moved to Bakersfield and let's just say it has made the summer awfully long for us all. I have been amazed with how much we depended on our neighbors not just for sugar or diapers or milk, but for the friendship. Thanks Cloars for the fun times. We miss you.

Newport Fun

After a long day with the hospital it was nice to enjoy some relaxation at the beach with our friends. It is nice to have friends who are willing to share their vacation. I love the beach and I love being with friends.

Laguna Beach

One of the traditions that was started before I came into this family was breakfast at Las Brisas in Laguna Beach, CA. It is a wonderful place to look at the ocean and eat a wonderful breakfast. I love the beach too. We usually pose for a few pictures and then head down to the beach to feel the sand between your toes and the cold water.








Little toes are the cutest.
















There are some wonderful tide pools for the boys to explore. We saw lots of hermit crabs.













Aiden was a little uncertain about the water.

Family fun

If any of you are on my facebook page you know that I have been trying to attempt at least one involved art project every week. We have been doing these with other families, but this week we did it on our own. We did two in one. First was bubble paint. This is a simple project. 2 tablespoons of paint with a pint of bubble solution. Well, I had poster paint, but same difference right. I mixed it with one small container of bubbles. Then we attempted to paint. It didn't work so well. As a teacher I should know to try things first before you do them with kids. Otherwise you spend all your time trying to get it to work or whatever. The second thing we did was make t-shirts. (I think I did this with my cousins one 4th as well) I was really excited because Aiden was very into this project. I bought fabric markers so it would be easier. We all sat down and got to work. Aiden was so proud he wanted to put his shirt on right away. He got it wet while playing in the pool water. He was upset. He said, "now I can't wear it for the 4th" It was so cute. The plan is to wear them today. They will look too cute.

When it rains, it pours.

Normally the kids and I go to the library to get a new stack of books to keep us busy for the next week, but we didn't finish the stack from last week. Our most exciting part of today (or so I thought) was a family trip to the dentist. It was Avery's first time. He only had x-rays taken and will go back in 2 weeks for a full cleaning. Adam and I even had our teeth cleaned as well. No cavities for anyone. Yeah for us!
....... Now for the real fun...........
Have you heard the saying when it rains it pours. Well in California that isn't true in the weather, but in life it is very true. As most of you know we had a baby in May which has added so much fun to our life. I was able to take the last 5 weeks off of work for maternity leave, but this is unpaid so I use all the sick days I have and then take a pay cut for when I run out. (I have always said for profession that focuses on children, they do not care much for those who have them.) It has put a strain on our finances. God has provided in a multitude of ways despite the face that we have had some money coming for about 6 months now which we have not yet received. It has been very frustrating because it is money that should be there and we have been put off. Also my disability check should have come by now, but again it was put off. After being a squeaky wheel, we finally are going to get these check within the next week. Praise the Lord. Well, that being said (we are counting every penny for the summer) what should happen but our electricity in our house goes out. I was vacuuming when all of a sudden it went off. At the time I did not think it was a big thing. I was able to flip a few breakers and it came back on or so I thought. Through out the rest of the afternoon I noticed the house getting hotter and hotter. (high 90s is the forecast) I go to look at the ac and it says that our house is 90 degrees. I feel the air vents and nothing is really coming out. So it looks like the air conditioner has gone out or the breaker has gone out. Adam is trying to change the breakers to see if that helps it while we wait though we are hot and hoping it will be resolved soon. Otherwise I am calling an electrician to solve the problem. The good news was the TV will work so I can distract my boys with Little Einsteins. So I wish the most exciting part of the day was the dentist.