the Chartrands

Scott's old videos

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 04:34:00 +0000

I just had to post this cute video of Scott singing the 7th article of faith (we learned all of these as part of homeschool). This was taken way back in August.

This is another one of Scott, taken back in September. Poor Scott's riding Tyler's rusty bike with Claire's old training wheels. But he's great at it!

Free zoo day

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 04:25:00 +0000

We went to the zoo for Martin Luther King Jr. day (it's free on certain holidays). I guess I didn't learn my lesson from Free Museum Day... I had all four kids plus Matty, without Tim (who was sick in bed), and ended up parking over a mile away because it was so crowded. Somehow we got there (relying on strangers for directions since I had no idea where we parked in relation to the zoo), caught glimpses of our favorite animals, and trudged back to the van. It was definitely a good workout! I was thankful that the kids did pretty well walking so much and that there weren't any big meltdowns. We did enjoy being together and seeing the big animals. Although, I might have to give in and buy a membership pass soon!

Galveston

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 04:00:00 +0000

My mom reminded me that I haven't updated our blog in a long time, so here are some posts long overdue. These pics are from our annual Galveston trip in January. Tim and the kids built a nice sandcastle in the cold, and we enjoyed the hotel's heated indoor pool. We also loved going to Schlitterbahn's indoor waterpark! Tyler was tall enough to go on the big slides, and he forced me and Tim to go with him. I was so proud of myself for going (one time on each slide was enough for me!). I was impressed that Tyler was so brave, and that Claire didn't get scared at all on the big tube slide. It was so much fun!

Chartrand Greetings 2009

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:16:00 +0000

We got to see family again a few weeks ago in Dallas. The kids had fun playing with their grandpa and cousins. Thanks Emily and family for hosting a fun little reunion! And thank you Angela for taking these family pictures for us, in spite of the freezing cold!

We are grateful for the Christmas season and the chance it gives us to reflect on the love of our Heavenly Father and our Savior, and all that they have blessed us with. We are so blessed with a wonderful family, and we are so grateful that we can be together forever. (To learn more about our beliefs, go to www.mormon.org)

Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:09:00 +0000

We had lots of fun when cousins, aunts, and uncles came for Thanksgiving! We enjoyed ice skating, park hopping, and hanging out.

Trick or Treat

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:03:00 +0000

The kids got tons of candy at the ward Halloween trunk-or-treat on Friday. The boys finally settled on their costumes that afternoon, and we worked like crazy to get them done in time. Thankfully, Claire decided against being the Earth like she had originally planned (that would've been tough to make!). She already had a Snow White dress, and all we had to buy was a Snow White tiara.

Coming home from trick-or-treating last night

Our cute little bunny!

the lovely Snow White

Yes, there's only one way--Scott's way.

I don't know how Tyler came up with this idea, but it sure was creative! With his speed, it's hard to pass him anyway.

Fall Family Fun

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:29:00 +0000

Here are some miscellaneous pics of our adventures this fall:

We braved the crowds on Houston's free museum day. I thought the zoo was included, so when we found out it wasn't we went to the Health Museum instead. It was interesting, but extremely crowded. Maybe next time we should just suck it up and pay. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so cheap!

Tim showing off his superhuman jumping.

We went to NASA for Homeschool Day. The kids (especially Tyler) LOVE space and anything to do with it. Tyler wants to be the first astronaut on Mars. We had a fun time, and Claire loved skipping school!

We finally took down our pool, so now our backyard is a big mud pit. Now our big dilemma is what to do about it. At least the kids made good use out of it, making mud pies and building castles. Tim didn't think Claire would join in on the "fun" (she doesn't like to get dirty, yes she's a lot like me), but I guess the fun factor outweighed the mess factor. Thank goodness Tim took care of cleanup!

We loved having my cousin Nadine and her husband Adam over last weekend! It's nice to finally have someone from my side of the family relatively closeby (they live a few hours away). And it was nice to finally meet Adam. I hope they weren't too bored joining in on our family-friendly activities. Nadine played her flute for us (she got a masters in flute performance) and the kids were mesmerized. It was beautiful. We also enjoyed playing a couple flute-piano duets together.

Pretty in pink

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:06:00 +0000

The girls' first matching dresses! Meet Claire and Claire Jr :)

Lil' Lily

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:58:00 +0000

Our Lily's gone through many milestones just in these past couple weeks! She's eating rice cereal, sitting on her own, and even starting to crawl! How did this all happen so fast?

B-days

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:03:00 +0000

Well, this is happened over a month ago, but of course I have to add a bit about our birthdays. As you can see, the kids had fun trying out Tim's new laptop bag. I also made Tim steak, potatoes, and rolls for dinner, one of his favorite meals. I guess we didn't get any pics from my birthday, but Tim made my day very special, starting with donuts for breakfast, taking us out for Chinese food after our science museum visit, and then making omelets (my request), fruit salad, bacon, and hash browns for dinner (breakfast for dinner is common in our house). He asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I decided a steam mop might be nice. So I researched and researched to choose the best one, got the Eureka EnviroMop, and haven't even used it yet... I kinda forgot that usually the kids are the ones that mop for me, so Tim, Claire, and Tyler have all used it. Tim wasn't so impressed with it. Basically it's just like pushing around a warm wet cloth. So maybe it wasn't the best choice for my birthday present, but hopefully at least I can ditch our worthless old mop and bucket and have more space in our bathroom closet.

Claire in Kinder

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:12:00 +0000

It's been over a month now, and Claire's thriving in Kindergarten. We didn't make the decision to send her to school until a week before school started. We already knew that I was going to homeschool Tyler this year, and we pretty much assumed I would teach Claire too. But as we thought it over more and more, and after praying about it, we felt that having her go to school was the right thing for her. And I have already seen many positive effects--she's more outgoing, independent, mature, and excelling even more in reading and writing! Of course, she's really hard to get out of bed in the mornings, and we do have to work on her not yelling at Scott like a teenager... But in all, I'm really happy with how school is going for her.

As for Tyler, I'm glad we decided to homeschool him this year. He's improving in many ways on things that concerned us previously. I'm so proud of him! He's a hard worker and is very thoughtful of others. Today when I was about to mow the lawn Tyler offered to do it. It was really hard for him, especially trying to push it uphill, but he didn't give up and he got it done! I love having him around all the time (we all miss Claire...), and our relationship has really improved. The actual homeschooling has its ups and downs, but I think I'm starting to figure it out. I really appreciate the support and help of homeschooling friends in the ward. It's nice to not be alone in this adventure!

One big happy family

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:20:00 +0000

We love our crazy kids! Here are some random pics from the past couple months. Tyler earned enough money to buy a new bike (we paid for half of it)! He earned a big chunk of it on our trip home from Colorado, entertaining and taking good care of Lily.

We finally checked out the splash park at The Woodlands Waterway and rode the free trolley

Hangin' out with Lily at the splash park

Claire made me a donut Scott loves swimming now that he knows how to move around fast with a floatie

When Lily's really happy, she stretches her mouth open really wide--it's so adorable!

Calgary reunion

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:18:00 +0000

Okay, I still haven't caught up with my pictures! These pics are from the Eng reunion (my dad's family) in Calgary. Lily and I got to go while Tim stayed home with the other three. We had a blast! It was my first time back in almost TEN years, so it was good to finally visit again. Some highlights: watching the Eng children (7 of them) sing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" in Sacrament meeting, watching the Eng sisters plan and argue reunion details for hours on end, visiting with my brother and cousins and other relatives, going to Princess Island and dim sum with my mom and cousin, learning how to ballroom dance with my brother, eating delicious Chinese food and learning how to make it from Grandma, getting stopped at customs for not having a letter from Lily's dad!

Princess Island with cousin Nadine

Paying respects to Great-Grandpa & Great-Grandma;
We also honored Grandpa and Uncle Kevin.

Winners of "How well do you know Isaac (the missing Eng sibling)?"

My parents, Grandma, and so many other great relatives helped take care of Lily

A little blurry, but these were all the Engs at the reunion

Tim took the kids to Galveston while Lily and I were gone--they had a great time and all made it back safe and sound!

Colorado

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:55:00 +0000

After Lily's blessing and lunch at the Chartrands', we headed up to my brother Albert's house near Denver. Most of my side of the family was there for a reunion. We went to the zoo, played games, had delicious food (thanks to the gourmet chefs Audrey and Marshall), and hung out. Tim went on a four-wheeling trip with his dad and brother for most of that week while the kids and I hung out with Rachel (Albert's wife) and the boys. Thanks for putting up with us Rachel! :)

at Grandma & Grandpa's house

Claire & Lily with cousins Hannah & Emily

with Nana & Papa

with Eng cousins & Uncle David

Lily's blessing

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 06:26:00 +0000

We blessed Lily while we were in Colorado, which was in July. We were grateful that my parents and my brother David (who just got home from his mission!) could come down to Tim's parents' and both sides of the family could be a part of Lily's special day!

It was pretty funny when my parents and David got to the Chartrand home (it was their first time there, and they happened to come during an exciting day in the country). A bear had been lurking around the property for the past few days and gotten a hold of most of the chickens. So a ranger had come out and set up a big bear trap, complete with a deer heart covered in chocolate syrup. Well, the bear took the bait and got trapped just before my parents arrived. Imagine my dad's shock when they were greeted inside with, "We're on our way to see a bear that we just caught! Do you want to come with us?" My dad opted to stay inside, although he still didn't quite feel safe, especially when he asked, "You lock your doors, right?" and we all burst out laughing. Tim's mom's reply was, "We keep MOST of the doors CLOSED, except for the mud room!" I'm sure it didn't help when she told him that she had seen a bear on their porch a few days ago trying to open the front door. Anyway, when all the excitement had settled down and people needed to use the bathroom, we had to inform my family that there was NO WATER, so we needed to keep track of which toilets had already been flushed once, and we had to use storage water jugs to wash our hands. Tim's dad is the one who built their beautiful home, along with their own well, and it had been acting up for the last couple days. On top of that, when Tim's dad finally made it home, he was covered in spackle from head to toe, having just finished spackling his mom's house. I could tell that Tim's mom felt bad, but everyone was having fun, and it made for an exciting weekend! It made me realize how much of a part of Tim's family I feel now, and how much we love them, as well as my own family, as different as both sides are. We had a lot of fun spending time with our families, and we were so glad that we had our families there when we blessed Lily.

Claire's 5th

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 01:28:00 +0000

It seems like this was ages ago... Lots to add on the blog since my last entry. Anyway, this was in celebration of Claire's 5th birthday. We went roller skating at a nearby rink--it was like stepping back in time to the 70's. Tim and Claire enjoyed doing the hokey pokey and the chicken dance together. It was funny to see how the kids' personalities showed in their skating. Claire was slow and steady, almost never falling. Tyler would zoom as fast as he possibly could, then crash right into the walls and fall. Scott, well Scott just kept getting frustrated because he couldn't stay up. And Lily, she just slept on the sidelines.

I can't believe our little cutie pie's 5 now!

Homeschooling

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:47:00 +0000

We're loving "The Story of the World," our history curriculum. There are lots of fun projects to go along with each section. We're learning about the ancient world and tying it in with the prophets and events from the scriptures.So far, homeschooling has been a rollercoaster ride as I learn new things and figure different things out every day. We've had 13 official days. Overall, we're enjoying it and having fun learning together. I'm still not sure if I should homeschool Claire, or if she should go to kindergarten for a semester. Socially, she really needs kindergarten, but not academically. I'm looking into what homeschool programs or classes are in the area. Please tell me if you know of any that would be good for Claire.

archaeology dig--my garden's finally good for something!

cave drawings

our nomad tent

Our little sweetie pie

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:29:00 +0000

And we thought Scott looked like Claire!
This is Lily held up to the computer screen by Tim; on the computer screen is a picture we took of Scott at exactly the same age, held up to the computer next to a picture of Claire at exactly the same age, wearing the same onesie as Lily.

Snakes alive!

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:44:00 +0000

Of course, I have to post pictures from the annual library snake show. The big snake is a boa constrictor--CRAZY! We are loving the shows. I should've taken pics of the cool puppet show--the puppeteer dressed up in an enormous alien costume that looked incredibly realistic (not that aliens are real).

Scott's bday (one month later...)

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:34:00 +0000

We had fun at the beach for Scott's birthday celebration last month. At home, Tyler made a treasure hunt for Scott to find his presents. He loves his new rocket car and power tool. I can't believe Scott's getting so big. I love his adorable smile, his wild and crazy and hilarious personality, and how he's always up for a tickle torture. He fills our home with lots of laughter and love.

Our latest news

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:10:00 +0000

I'm the type that only posts on my blog to show pics, but I do have two things that happened this week that I thought were worth writing about.

First of all, last night we finally got a new car! Thank you to all of you who have been loaning us your car, giving us rides, etc. for the past two months. It's pretty much just like the old one, only newer with half the miles. So I guess we came out better in the end! Unless State Farm ends up denying our claim after arbitration, in which case our auto insurance bill will skyrocket (two totalled cars within 1 1/2 years can't be good for our premium). I don't want to go into the whole story about Tim's accident and insurance mess, so if you're interested you have to ask him about it. We're very grateful that he was kept safe--that's the important thing.

My other news--I started homeschooling the kids yesterday! It's kind of an experiment to see if it will work out permanently. I know, it's summer and they deserve a break, but when I looked at the calendar I realized that our vacation is coming up soon and then it'll be time for my trip to my parents', and then it'll be time for regular school to start. I figure if we start now we'll be able to take more days off throughout the year. Anyway, the main reason we decided to try homeschooling is so that we can have more of a positive influence on Tyler. I could go into a really long explanation but again if you're interested you can ask us about it! Yesterday, our first official day, we had a blast! It was fun to learn and play together. I've always enjoyed tutoring, and this is my dream job--tutoring my own kids! Of course, today didn't go as smoothly since we all went to bed really late last night, but it actually went much better than I expected our "bad" days to go. So anyway, if we don't answer the phone in the mornings, you'll know why.

The pool room

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:09:00 +0000

We're enjoying our new pool, which fits perfectly in the last patch of grass we had left in our backyard. The only problem is that it's so tall (we only fill it up halfway)! Tim is buying a dome mirror so I won't have to stand right next to the pool to supervise the kids. Hopefully that'll work. Although I have to say that I actually love to be in the pool with the kids--since it gets a lot of sun, the water is the perfect temperature. And with record breaking temperatures, it's the only thing we can do outside!

Our lively foursome

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:50:00 +0000

Finally--a picture with all four!

Our Lily's growing

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Mon, 25 May 2009 02:40:00 +0000

This was Lily on April 23rd & 24th.

And this is Lily one month later, on May 23rd.

I can't believe how fast she's growing! She's such a good baby. She cries for maybe one minute total every day. We finally got ourselves an angel baby!

Kamping

noreply@blogger.com (the Chartrand family) — Mon, 25 May 2009 02:11:00 +0000

Ok, so it wasn't exactly roughing it. We went to the Lake Conroe KOA, which was really an RV park. Not much privacy, but it made camping a lot easier with a newborn and three other little kids. The best part was the enclosed pool! The worst part was when Tyler got stung by a wasp. His whole hand got swollen and it put a damper on the rest of the trip, but we're glad it didn't get any worse.