William – Elizabeth Hafner

William | First Grade

May 3, 2019April 22, 2019Tagged 2019, co-op, first grade, homeschool, school, WilliamLeave a comment

I used to be really good at taking milestone photos of the boys when they were younger. Like for birthdays and all that. Usually they are just iPhone photos but I wanted to get back to it so I made a point to do “school” photos of William this year.

William at age 7, the first grade.

This year we’ve focused on Math and Reading mostly. We do a lot of reading aloud together. Pretty soon I know he’ll be doing a lot of the read aloud! We did a space unit and then science and art with our co-op group. This year has been all about Texas history. We tried some Marine Biology but may need to wait another year on that. We’ve also picked up chalk pastels and try to practice weekly. We’re getting better!

I am already thinking about homeschool year 3! It’ll be 2nd grade. Lucas will do another year of preschool and then Lord willing join us in 2020 for his kindergarten year. That’s so crazy to even think about!

Homeschool has been a year by year, well really a week by week decision. I love the flexibility it gives us both in our schedules and in what William is interested in learning. We go at his pace and I try to give him a voice as much as possible with what we learn and how.

It’s not an easy task to homeschool. I pray a lot and seek advice from trusted friends who have gone before me. I know I couldn’t do it without my community of mama friends!

Budding Photographers

April 22, 2019April 21, 2019Tagged Castroville, flowers, Lucas, photography, poppies, spring, Texas, WilliamLeave a comment

I let the boys have my camera for a bit while we were in the poppy fields….

The first two are by Lucas and the last two are by William. All edited by me. I think they did pretty well.

William’s LEGO Party

March 19, 2019March 19, 2019Tagged bike, birthday, cake, celebrate, family, friends, iPhone, lego, park, seven, Texas, WilliamLeave a comment

William requested a LEGO party this year and I am so thankful he didn’t ask for a LEGO man cake, just some bricks. Can do!

Thankfully we had a nice day because he wanted to do the park again.

I found the tutorial for the cake on the Betty Crocker site. It was fairly easy to do but the icing took longer than I expected. Still, he was happy with the final result and that’s all that matters.

We did two games, one was guessing how many LEGOs were in this container and the second was a LEGO relay game of sorts. Each kid tried to race a spoon of LEGOs to another container. The one who got the most, won. The kids loved both of them!

William Turns 7 | 3.8.2019

March 18, 2019March 15, 2019Tagged 2019, BBQ, birthday, cupcake, family, gifts, lego, March, saltlick, seven, spring, Texas, William1 Comment

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William was very excited about being 7. I keep trying to tell him that he’s not allowed to grow any older but I think it’s getting old. I miss my baby days sometimes but watching this kid grow, learn and become his own person is a wonderful experience as well.

His last night as a 6 year old.

I try to have some kind of decoration to greet them when they wake up. We’ve done streamers on the door, piles of balloons in their room or right outside the door. This year I went with a big 7 on the wall.

Breakfast and a present to start the day. A LEGO kit of course.

My mom meeting fell on his birthday so we picked up donuts to share with his study hall friends, forgot to get a photo of that but all the kids enjoyed celebrating with him.

This big kid can make scrambled eggs all by himself these days!

He chose one of his favorites, The Salt Lick for dinner. We were all pretty happy with his choice.

Since we were having his birthday cake on Sunday for his party, I stopped at a local bakery for a few cupcakes so we could celebrate after dinner. We couldn’t light all the candles with the wind but he managed to beat the wind to two of them.

Then we surprised him with his first movie theater experience to see the second LEGO movie. James said this was his face pretty much the whole time but he loved it.

William, I hope you always know how much I love you. It seems like these 7 years have gone by much too quickly and I wish I could slow down time to savor each and every second. You are becoming such an awesome kid. I love your imagination, creativity, eagerness to learn (in your own style), your observations of the world and inquisitiveness. Never loose your curiosity. I pray for you everyday that you would use your gifts to glorify the Lord. I am your biggest fan. ~Mom

Current favorites: LEGOs, Puppy Dog, bike rides, walks, the park, art, Co-Op days, reading books, iPad time

Food: Oatmeal, pretzels, chips, mac n’cheese with tuna, Italian Wedding Soup, cinnamon applesauce, pizza, cheeseburgers, seaweed, waffles, pancakes, cupcakes, donuts

What do you want to do when you grow up? Be the first rock star on Mars

LBJ | Part II

March 15, 2019March 15, 2019Tagged daytrip, fieldtrip, homeschool, iPhone, lbj, life, Lucas, Texas, travel, WilliamLeave a comment

More favorites from our visit to the LBJ Ranch.

Scenes from the Sauer-Beckmann Farm.

After the farm we drove to the other side of the Pedernales River to visit the Texas White House. The cattle were a big hit with the kids.

It’s funny how much the boys loved driving over the cattleguards. William was excited to walk over them too.

Johnson’s home, the Texas White House.

Taking the oath to become Junior Rangers.

We loved our visit to the ranch and I love experiencing these adventures with my boys. They had a hard time leaving!

LBJ State Park and Historic Site | 3.1.2019

March 6, 2019March 14, 2019Tagged 2019, family, field trip, homeschool, johnson city, lbj, Lucas, March, nature, ranch, stonewall, Texas, wildandfree, wildexplorer, WilliamLeave a comment

On March 1 we joined some homeschool friends in Stonewall near Johnson City to explore the LBJ State Park and Ranch. I think the last time I had visited was back in my own homeschooling days with my siblings and Aunt Virginia. I still remember posing by LBJ’s statue with her, all of us pointing our fingers. I need to see if I can dig up the original print.

Anyway, I enjoyed being able to take the boys out there to see and experience this amazing space of Texas. I don’t remember a whole lot from the previous visit so I was almost seeing it for the first time as well.

We spent most of our time at the Sauer-Beckmann Farm seeing what rural life was like in the early 1900s. I liked how they had the dining room in the breezeway between the main house and the kitchen.

The all important front porch and swing which a few of the boys really enjoyed.

We got to see the sweetest cow, a newly birthed lamb, horses, a large pig, a turkey and some chickens. It’s a living history farm so park rangers are dressed in period clothing tending the farm, eating lunch and taking care of the land.

There is also a herd of bison on the property but they were in a pasture farther away so we didn’t get a close up look unless you count this statue.

Visiting the ranch can fill an entire day with seeing the farm, exploring trails and then driving to the other side of the river to see Johnson’s birthplace, the Texas White House and family cemetery. I have another post coming with a few more photos that I grabbed on my phone.

PreSchool Graduation | 5.24.2017

June 2, 2017March 14, 2019Tagged five, graduation, kids day out, preschool, school, WilliamLeave a comment

Look who’s ready for kindergarten!!

I am so grateful for Ms. Denise and the teachers that made William’s preK experience so amazing and fun! Finding this program was a huge blessing and made it easier for this mama to let him go to “school”.

Oma and Opa Visit | April 2017

May 5, 2017March 14, 2019Tagged family, home, Lucas, oma, Opa, spring, Texas, visit, WilliamLeave a comment

We had a great visit with Oma and Opa in April. There was lots of playing, eating and fun. I feel like having visitors and going places is getting to be so much easier with the boys now, especially since we are past the newborn stage. I feel like I am a less stressed mom and can enjoy the visits more.

We didn’t have a whole lot planned while they were here. They visited William’s school, we had BBQ, went to Hays City Store and had good late night chats. I know the boys had a wonderful time too. Lucas asked for Oma for a couple days after they left. Then he would say, Oma went home?

I have more photos of the visit on my IG feed but made a point to get non-phone photos too. I especially wanted some good photos for our walls so the boys could see pictures of Oma and Opa all the time.

Stealing a sip of Oma’s almond milk.

We had a lot of rain during their visit but also some lovely weather for sitting outside.

A few of these will definitely be on the walls. Love them!!

Be sure to follow me on IG and see the awesome picture of all the Hafner boys ready for a bike ride.

And why does William look 13 in this photo??

Pumpkins | October 2016

April 24, 2017March 14, 2019Tagged austin, fall, Lucas, pumpkin, school, WilliamLeave a comment

One of the first outings William had with his preschool was a visit to a local pumpkin patch. Lucas and I met his class there for some pumpkin fun. Lucas loved rearranging them and tried to pick up the big ones. Every time we drove by a patch after that, all he said was, “Heavy!”.

Sweet Berry Farms | Fall 2016

April 21, 2017March 14, 2019Tagged fall, family, festival, Lucas, Marble Falls, pumpkin, Sofia, Sweet Berry Farm, WilliamLeave a comment

I’ve been wanting to take the boys back to Sweet Berry Farms for a while now and it just wasn’t working out until this past fall. We met Jessica, Nathan and Sofia there for some pumpkin, hay ride, barrel train fun.