It's been a couple of days

Sorry for the delay in updating this blog. I am really enjoying it ...mainly for family reasons, to try and make it easier to bring our lives to our families, faster and more regularly. We have been quite busy around here. We made yet another batch of chocolate chip cookies and it is probably the only recipe I use where I don't cut the fat or sugar. It's one of those recipes that you want baking when your kids' friends come over and hand them out. It's a " yes, I'm confident of this recipe" type of cookie. That, does not happen to me often :)

Jayden's Book Series : Fox's Adventure

Hannah just started smiling!!! Yeah! Her whole face lights up and I feel that the three months where her dis tractable eyes, then amused eyes and stone, serious face where peering at us while we entertained her with sound effects, jumps and contorted looks has paid off! She loves us :) and we now enjoy her sporadic,  " I love you too " smiles. She has also found her hands. At this moment, I am listening to her sucking hard on her entire first "slurp, slurp".

The kids are all coloring so nicely in the other room with a new box of crayons and each has a sketch pad. Yesterday, after co op we were pretty hungry and I was just not in the mood to bring everyone home to make lunch so we stopped at Chick Fil A. In the kids pack there was a cow comic book and now Jayden is making his own. He just stopped in to show me the completed the version so I will post pictures up asap.

We are working on the immune system for our Konos right now. One of the fun activities that we have done was visualizing germs and white blood cells using pipe cleaners. Jayden really seems to understand, which is beyond me since I still need to reference the different library books we have checked out to see if I am talking about the right "leukocyte, lymphocyte, phagocyte....." The kids have also been doing a lot of fall crafts which I LOVE!!!!! Yesterday at co op, the made a turkey with out of pine cones, which I asked the teacher where she found pine cones and she said up north :) Also, the made a countdown thankful chain for Thanksgiving. They really enjoy their co op and so do I. I am thankful that they can be apart of it this year.

The other night, Ben and I were sitting and relaxing on the couch when out came Jayden, swinging his arms like an ape, scowling and hunched over. We look at each other like, " Umm, ok. Jayden, what's wrong?" " I had a dream and I am scared that emperor Zerug is real!" " Jayden, how could you have had a dream, you haven't even slept yet. When did you dream this?" " A couple of months ago."  

Life here has been pretty laid back, but nice. I feel that our dear Miss Hannah is finally getting into a routine so that has been most helpful. We are working on reading the first two original Bobbsey Twin Books as well as the Tree house Mystery from the boxcar children. Austen would like to do stamps today and I think that will work out nice. 

Fun Fall Farms!

Every since we moved to our new location in the great United States, I have missed certain, but not all aspects of some seasons. One is the "fall " feel. Out here, it is now 60s at night and still heating up to low 80s during the day but not much past that. However, it still doesn't feel fall. I still make the fall pumpkin rolls, light the fall scented, many times uncinnamon ( as Ben despise that smell) candles, listen to Autumn In New England and curl up with a good book and a hot coffee ( oh wait, that was my life pre-kids) ok, reality...curl up with a few good fall themed children's books, a couch full of beautiful, blonde, fluffy haired children and a cup of cider, to share of course! " Momma, I have some of yours???"

Anyways, yesterday, our home school group went to a farm!!! I loved it and so did our kids. The ran around a corn maze doing a F.S.I to solve the crime, road on a cow train, hay mazes, pumpkin patch picking, a pizza tour as there is a portion of the farm divided into 8 "slices" of pizza ( or the different ingredients that go into making pizza. It was a wonderful afternoon and so glad Benjamin could be with us too! love that man! 

Rain!!!

Two days ago, as my kids were enjoying the absolute cool, crisp air of the morning and watching the sun come slowly up in the horizon , I heard them utter together a prayer for rain. The clouds did not appear to hold anything but the morning moisture in them, but, I too, prayed that God would answer their prayers.

We were listening to Hillsong, in the van, and driving along to the dentist. The song came on " Stronger" and flashbacks of my labor were coming to me as this was on my birth play list. I could just feel God's presence in the car and the kids all started praising with me. Even Moriah sings this song. As we are progressing through the song, stopping at stop signs and heading to the dentist, the sun peering through the clouds...IT BEGAN!!!

" Jayden, Austen LOOK!!!" I said with a choked up voice. There were sprinkles on my windshield the started accumulating slowly and by the time we arrived at the dentist it was enough to gently feel on your skin. Their appointments progressed and Jayden ended up having a cavity, so we stayed longer for that. As the dentist was talking to me, we both look outside and there was a torrential down pour BUT the sun was still shining! It looked as if someone was directing a movie and only putting rain where we were. The rain would not let up and it was beautiful, and it was refreshing and it was a prayer that my children prayed with all their hearts and so much faith.

Jayden, Austen, and Moriah...did you see that? I said to them....God wanted to tell you, " I LOVE YOU. Do you not understand how much I love you? I love you! and I hear you when you pray Child, I hear you . I am not a deaf God that your prayers do not reach my ears. But I am alive and listen to you, my child, when you pray."

Rain brought to the desert. How we can apply this beautiful illustration of God's love to so many areas of our life.

One Room Schoolhouse

Yesterday, as I was doing school with the kids I was thinking of how far I've come from my "structured" days in school and my frustrations last year of what I thought school should look like. Something that I have found is that my school day is fluid and moving , like water swirling, touching an obstacle and morphing and changing. This concept has really encouraged me to be thankful for what is going on but not feeling so much that it's not looking like " school". What do I mean by this? Great question. Yesterday, we were doing some lapbooking on Oregon. I found a cool mini unit study at www.homeschoolshare.com and ordered a bunch of the recommended books from the unit study, " Apples To Oregon" , from the library. I then proceeded to print off the necessary, FREE information online and got started with the kids.

Here is one way to describe what our moment looked like: We read our cool books together, began to sit down and assemble our lapbook and then enjoyed reading it and explaining it to Daddy. I could put it like that, but then I miss out on really explaining what it looked like, what home educating can look like, at least in my home, and realizing that it's family, we are not a public school so it doesn't need to look like that....so here is MY way of embracing the moments and describing it as such:

After reading our cool books together with Jayden listening closely, Hannah nursing, Moriah climbing , listening moving to and fro, and Austen listening and then curling up in a ball on the couch and informing me with his furrowed brow " I'm not going to read anymore", we finished. There was a myriad of questions after each page. Moriah kept wanting to review the previous pictures and Jayden then wanted me to repeat each written page as he was not liking the idea of flipping back and forth of pages. We stopped, and I put Moriah down for a nap. Then, we grabbed the glue and scissors and file folder and sat on the floor of the kitchen with our papers and markers and got started. I have been only doing one lapbook for both boys as they can then work together and do the different activities that are applicable to them . So, we went over the state bird, flower, and flag- I cut them as our little scissors are at a friend's house, Jay assembled the book and glued it with huge, sticky gobs of Elmers glue. Austen, did the apple math part where I we talked about coloring half of an apple, different ways, etc. Oh no, water spilled! Quick grab a rag! ok, resuming.......and Moriah is up with a fury! Ok, here is some pretzels Riah, sit next to Momma on the floor w/ your blanket. Austen is on my lap and Jay next to me. Now, let's talk about Alliteration....." Jay, can you think of an alliteration for plumb?"
Jayden- " Plumby??" ....." Ummm, yeah but how about like poignant or precious or plunging???" ok ok, getting the idea, " Jayden about cherries?" " Umm, cheery?" :) Ok, we are getting there :) ( The book Apples to Oregon uses a lot of Alliteration). Austen your turn! ok ( with Moriah crying in the background about wanting the silk side of her blanket wrapped around her but not touching her neck...geesh!). Alright , Austen can you color and draw the different types of weather on this paper?".......oh I forgot to mention sweet Hannah decieded to sleep during this time period......

Do you get my picture up there....just like in "public" school, my school isn't any less crazy or busy or hectic...it's different and it's family. We still get done what we need to get done, and it's done with excellence but we are not sitting at a table all the time, and we are definitely not sitting still. But we do our educating on the move and it's precious. I am dealing with different age levels ( Jay and Austen's being the easiest), different personalities and learning styles. I also am dealing with unexpected accidents ( water spilling, crying, running and tripping, etc). But that's ok.



God gives us the grace we need in our season. I am learning that. I am probably the hardest person, on myself, that you will ever find. I have an idea of what I want it to look like and if it doesn't I am so frustrated. That is what God is really teaching me through all of this. I didn't think I needed to be such a student, but God knew how much I have yet to learn. Oh the best part of it all, after the markers are strung everywhere, the glue is gobbed on, the lapbook is all assembled ( and I'm pretty proud of it :)) Jay begins explaining to Daddy...., " and this is the flag, and flower and weather page" :) ok Jayden, since Momma is proud of this, go play and I will show it to Daddy... " Ok Ben, look at this...isn't this page cool...it talks about the different weather patterns and in the story the family experienced......" Ahh, life in a one room schoolhouse :) and if you've seen my house....it truly feels like that...blessings!

Sleep or lack there of

One thing no one warned me about was having children meant that, until sleeping in is a fun thing to do, it is non existent. Hannah is finally, almost, sleeping through the night. She wakes up around 2/3am to feed and falls back asleep in our bed....HOWEVER, the other kids start lightly knocking on my door around 430am! Unfortunately it's Austen and Moriah who are not able to tell time yet...and I come into the hall only to find that Moriah has her dolls and games and books in the hall. Lord knows how long His little angel has been up. This could be the reason for some early morning meltdowns that could be avoided if she was sleeping to, oh how about 6??!

The day that all my children are old enough where I wake up around 630 and they are still sleeping will be a day that I get my crazy on and sit there while the sun is coming up....not waiting for it to come up. Don't get me wrong, I love the ages of my kids, I love their energy, their crazy and zest for life....however, couldn't it wait until " six zero zero" ???

The one benefit of our extremly early morning starts, why we are movin' and groovin' in our routines before most people have even opened their eyes to God's wonder. Do you sense a strong sense of satire or sarcasm, from me....no way! :)

So our day today...guess what, we have dentist appointments at 730am...all three kids....and I schedule it that way because we are up anyways....why sit around and wait for a 10am apt when they will be put behind by others that are late, we come wide eyed, smiling and set the tone for the rest of their on time scheduling day, you can thank me later. Yes, we are the family that will not have your 830 apt run late because the 730s didn't show until 745....why, we are there at 7:25am and have already eaten breakfast, read twenty stories, played games, legos, started 2 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, showered ( most of the days :) ) , and started school..... we are the "overachievers" .....but someday, not now, and not for a long time... I will enjoy my "underachiever" mornings....at least for some of the time.


Some ways I've been woken up over the past 6.5 years
As Jayden used to say when he was just two, " GOOOD MORNING!"
" Mama, comes door"- Jay sticking his little hand under the door at the apt
knock, knock, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!
" Mama ( at 430am), can we play quietly?"
" I cuddle with you"
" Can we get up yet?"
Crying, screaming, dirty diapers, throwing up, looking for a kiss, scared, and then the best of them all...silent Austen, especially as a 1.5=3 year old....silently opening my door, climbing in bed with me and sleeping horizontally with his sweet little round head :) 

The pictures of me and Jay sleeping and Austen and I....all I can say is....long nights :) Finally, the last is of the three kids at a hotel in San Diego 2 falls ago...wide eyed and ready to go early :)

How do you mommas get woken up in the morning or are you apart of the elite that sleeps past 6am??

Konos in our school

Yesterday, we ended up completing all of our school before 1030! Yeah! and I got my workout in , which is a big deal considering we are still working on adding Hannah to my act at my work out facility. We started off with Konos, Jayden's favorite. We read a bunch of books on the respiratory system, as that is the part we are on, had some discussion and then when onto our fun hands on learning aspect of it. I also love that Konos incorporates verses, ie: " Let everything that has breath praise the Lord".

I used to get so overwhelmed by Konos but now I "get it". I understand the system so much more. You go to the library, pick out "real" book on the subject ( no more boring textbooks). Then define the trait, ie: Cooperation, read the bible part of it, discuss people who demonstrated it or how whatever your theme is ( for us it's the Respiratory system right now) and do a few activities a day. I love it. I actually just bid and won the 2nd volume on line for $15!!!! That's a savings of about $100....so now I have all three volumes and the three smaller history units ( that are included in Vol II). The III one is the most organized as far as breaking it apart of activities for me...but now that I have that rough template I'm not so intimidated by the other ones and feel I am able to do that with them. Once we finish our cooperation unit, I might switch back to volumn I because it was stated that there are more activities for the younger kids ( and I want Austen involved in this part too).

We also did our language arts, Austen-SSRW and then oh so fun ferris wheel song and Jayden LLTL. Math was accomplished with measuring cm, geometric shapes and counting quarters...sounds like a hodge podge? Yes it is...We are almost done with Saxon 2 and trust me , I am looking forward to it! They say Saxon doesn't get "good" until around 5/4 or something like that....sooo, we will see....I might skip having a math book for a little bit and just do my own thing , teaching concepts for that particular grade level....because it just seems so mundane.....so , still thinking. Anyways, we've been having fun. Today, I printed off a lapbook on Oregon based off a book, Apples to Oregon. It went along with the different fall aspects I"m trying to pull in this season. There will be some apple printing, apple math, listening to music with fiddles, etc.... Should be fun :) Happy Schooling!

Funny side note that I want to put in...if anyone knows of Thomas the Train , they know there is a buck tooth character named , Salty. :) He is my favorite and the other day the kids were watching a movie and there was good ole' Salty staring us down and I did an impression of him that made me and Jayden laugh our heads off! :) He kept saying, " do it again " :)

Mmmm...fall baking!

Made these for my family as well as the church staff

A Snap Shot of My Mornings

gentle knocking at the door, 3 wide eyed children asking to play quietly, legos being pulled from under the bed, hands rustling through making a loud jangling sound as the right lego is selected, Moriah asking to watch a movie, pull up changed, breakfast getting started, laundry folded, STOP, feeding Hannah, change diapers, beds made, train tracks taken out, long, elaborate wooden tracks weaving their way down the hall, movie done, books unshelved, dishwasher loaded, beds made, clothes changed, a couple of baths with sudsy bubbles, floor swept, work out started, cool morning air, sunlight not yet up. This is a snap shot of my morning.

Curtain Rods?

I have had quite an emotional weekend. The activity on our house is picking up just a little and we had an offer. Everything was exciting until I found out they wanted my window treatments and curtains. I kind of had a mental breakdown. Why? Because even though they are very trivial the point is I decorated our home, I picked them out and we are already losing everything in the sale of this home, why should I give them window coverings? I was angry, emotional and hysterical. I called Ben up at 5:00am, yes because of course I'm up at this time, and was just like sobbing about "how dare they ask and buy your own frickin' window coverings and the whole housing market can just fall down the black hole..." you get the idea.

Ben was very understanding and just said, " maybe they really liked how you decorated and wanted to have it...." Then I talked with my mom and Ben's mom. My Mom suggested that maybe this whole curtain rod issue was the last "straw" for me as far as what I can take with this whole housing thing but also the last thing to give up, into the hands of God. Do I trust that he will provide better window treatments in our next house. Do I trust that every little, minute detail, he already has orchestrated and worked out. That He is faithful and knows his daughter so intimately that there will be small details in the house that I know were due to God's Abba love. Through tears and a clenched jaw,I started praying, asking God for verses in the bible to just encourage me and continue to walk us through. He brought me to Jeremiah 31 and Matthew 7:11..... in Jeremiah how God promised the Israelites how he would rebuild them and the would go forth. How us being evil can still give good gifts to our children, how much more the Lord to us.

I was so encouraged by this and I kept repeating, " God you are working behind the scenes , you've got this one. I know you do. You are not going to take this offer and walk away while it's working its way through the bank. You are stronger than that, you work on your time, not ours, you work in your ways, not ours. Human hands cannot stop nor alter the plans of the Lord. You are faithful.

I woke up yesterday feeling very encouraged and expectant for what God is going to do in this situation. We don't have a whole lot of options and are trying to do the right thing. We pray this option works. God is faithful, as I look back on the past 7 years of my life, I see where in every area of my life, He has broken down and destroyed my ideals and human made trust so that I can only look back and forward and raise my hands and say, " It was you God, It is you God, it forever will be you GOD!"

Praise you God! You are faithful! My children, my marriage, my husband's job, your provisions in Michigan, our cars, our home, it has always been you and nothing that Ben nor I have ever done. By your mighty hand you lead us and guide us, may we have wisdom now I pray.

a found paper

Last year, at this time, there was so much pain in my heart due to the two recent miscarriages I had gone through. At that time, I became an advocate for natural childbirth, midwives and doulas. I educated myself on the system that is now in place and, in my very strong opinion, the conspiracy and stolen right to experience childbirth the way it was designed. Here is an excerpt of what I wrote, may I never forget the power and might of God.

I am beginning this book, not has someone who has all the answers, a licenced psychologist, physician, therapist or pastor. I am beginning this book as a woman who has just recently lost my third baby, in a row, fourth total to miscarriage and my feelings are raw; untamed and overwhelming. You, no less, are reading this book due to a recent event in your own life or in the life of someone dear to you. You search , as I do, for answers and cry out to God who seems to be so silent in those moments of anger, hurt, frustration and tears. My prayer is that this writing will not only be therapeutic for me, as I begin to release the torrent of emotions that feel breeched by an unspoken dam, but helpful to you.

I have found that there are very few resources out there designed to validate one's emotions, encourage and support one through a very difficult and unanticipated journey, one you never asked for, one you never wanted. To have a child? Should this statement always end with a question mark instead of a period? As I continue through this chapter in my life, one I never wanted to revisit, I will try to find comfort in learning who God is, what does grieving a miscarriage look like, what role do our friends and family play, and how will my heart, as broken and shattered as it is , ever be restored.

I pray that you, in the midst of your swollen eyes, shock, numb emotions, anger, abandonment, and desperation will cling on to these next few words, as I am now. For now, I have empty arms, a shattered heart but I am believing in a restoring God who will fill my arms and restore my heart.

Are your kids socialized?-art co op

Yesterday, the boys, Hannah and I went to a friend's house for our bimonthly art co op. It was so much fun! They made dangley spiders and a VERY cool fall placemat that we left there so that it could be laminated. I loved watching Jayden, instead of making the green border that he was suppose to....taking the q tip, dipping it in the green paint and making a lego man and robot on his placemat...oh Jayden, legos consume your mind at all times :)

Then there was Austen, who flipped his page over, again wrote his name amazinging and then made a great border all the way around his mat...I am amazed over and over at this transformation of my little toddler to preschooler to in the works kindergartner. He loves crafts, loves painting, loves creating and loves experimenting. I just think, if we weren't homeschooling, my boys would not be experiencing all this together and what memories would be lost!

I laugh every time I do one of these co ops as I pray people who feel homeschoolers are "unsocialized" will remove that idiotic, unresearched thought from their mind. I believe they are more socialized, and that is coming from someone who ran the public school race all the way through college.

My boys play with kids of all different ages, older and younger. They are not shy to converse with adults and use respect when doing so. The boys and girls play together, there is no segregation of ages, gender or race. My children go day in and day out working together as a team of siblings. I love that they are not split up ALL day. I feel that this is really helping to solidify their friendships and I pray that it continues. I just love homeschooling. I laugh at myself because I was the one, up until 3 years ago who was very adamant against it....and God not Ben changed my heart...and let me tell you, that was not an easy thing to do. There is a lot of sacrifice involved with homeschooling...one being, you don't get that quiet time during your day when all the kids are at school....but also, I'm not stressed or running around in the morning trying to get kids dressed, homework found, lunches made, breakfast eaten....does that mean that I don't have any form of stress...of course not, but it comes in a completely different form.

Oh, and did I mention that we are apart of 3 co ops, sports, church activities, play groups and go to regular theatrical performances?? Yes, they are socialized, probably "over" and loving it :).

We just are enjoying life more and more...much of that is due in part to my 7 hours of straight sleep received last night, or that I'm finding Moriah to be much more helpful than distracting during our day, or that Austen is just growing up so fast and wanting to learn so much, or that Jayden is in the routine now where he looks forward to our "school" time. I love you so much kids...you bless me!

Time is so funny

Hannah you are sleeping right now, as you should be, it's 4:54am. I am up, why because I have religiously gone to bed, for the past 3 months, at 830 or 9 and feel rested at oh about 4am. I plan on laying back down again for another hour but wanted to write this post.

You are growing up so fast, too fast. You sleep, almost through the night. I love the warmth of your body and breathing next to mine. Watching your rhythmic sighs and grunts while you are in a peaceful slumber. I am in love with you Hannah. You have no idea how in love I am with you. I love watching you change, in the past 3 months my heart has been overwhelmed with you. I was in love with you the minute I found out I was pregnant with you, the day after Thanksgiving 2009. My heart was connected to your minuscule beating heart. A heart that just days prior had not yet been formed.

I feel guilty, much of the time, that your calendar isn't filled out as much as the other kids but you benefit from a momma that is so much more confident and assured of who she is and how to parent. The love that I have for is great, dear child. It reaches higher than you will ever be able to conceive. You, my little fighter, my survivor are loved. You my child are destined fore greatness. God has not called you to sit idly my dear Hannah, but has called you to a life of FAVOR, GRACE and PRAYER. You are a prayer warrior Hannah. Even now, when you do not realize it, God has placed upon you a mantle of prayer. You are His warrior, my Dear Hannah Brielle Louise. The enemy tried to not only kill a dream for me, but to wipe out your life before you had a chance to defend yourself...but fear not my child, your Abba's eyes never left your still forming body. He cupped you in his strong and mighty hands...and he perserved your life my little one. May you never forget the strength of the Lord, my little warrior of Christ. For his plans for you are mighty. He is Mighty in battle....Brielle-Jehovah is mighty....He who walks before you is mighty, He who protects you, under his wings is strong.

¹He who dwells in the ^A)">(A)shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the ^B)">(B)shadow of the Almighty.
²I will say to the LORD, "My ^C)">(C)refuge and my ^D)">(D)fortress,
My God, in whom I ^E)">(E)trust!"
³For it is He who delivers you from the ^F)">(F)snare of the trapper
And from the deadly ^G)">(G)pestilence.
⁴He will ^H)">(H)cover you with His pinions,
And ^I)">(I)under His wings you may seek refuge;
His ^J)">(J)faithfulness is a ^K)">(K)shield and bulwark.
⁵You ^L)">(L)will not be afraid of the ^M)">(M)terror by night,
Or of the ^N)">(N)arrow that flies by day;
⁶Of the ^O)">(O)pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the ^P)">(P)destruction that lays waste at noon.
⁷A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But ^Q)">(Q)it shall not approach you.
⁸You will only look on with your eyes
And ^R)">(R)see the recompense of the wicked.
⁹For you have made the LORD, ^S)">(S)my refuge,
Even the Most High, ^T)">(T)your dwelling place.
¹⁰^U)">(U)No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.
¹¹For He will give ^V)">(V)His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
¹²They will ^W)">(W)bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³You will ^X)">(X)tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
¹⁴"^Y)">(Y)Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will ^Z)">(Z)set him securely on high, because he has ^AA)">(AA)known My name.
¹⁵"He will ^AB)">(AB)call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and ^AC)">(AC)honor him.
¹⁶"With a ^AD)">(AD)long life I will satisfy him
And ^AE)">(AE)let him see My salvation."

My beautiful, beautiful Hannah....you bless my heart....watching you with your half smiles, huge, piercing blue eyes that have a happy glow to them...you bless me. Your sweet, little round arms that look like mini biceps, when you stretch your legs and they REEEEEACH and look like little chicken legs. How you calm down immediately in my arms. The way your soft, round head of hair smells to me....sweetness, peacefulness, perfection. How you don't even cry at times, but just sit there and let out little complaining noises to let us know you aren't happy with the situation but know we will to your rescue. How patient you are with Moriah, your loving sister, laying over you and kissing you gently...and not always so gently. You , my Hannah have been prayed for and covered. You, my child, are special, not for what you have done but for who you are in Christ. I am blessed that I can call you , my daughter.

Sweet little Sayings

" Mama, do rocks have feelings?"-Austen
" When kidneys get old and one dies, I don't think it will grow a beard."-Jayden
" When a girl duck is with a male duck, it's like she's his wife. They like go on dates and then have their ducklings, kinda like people" (kinda Jay...but people should get married first) :)

" Not Mama job, jus Riah job"-Moriah
" Dos do dolly"-Shut the door quietly-Moriah

Little Moments

Yesterday was an amazing day...the whole day went smooth! We started on school around 7am and were done by 1030! It was awesome. Hannah slept the whole morning...which made doing school a little bit easier since I wasn't having to stop and feed her every other second. Austen played on pbskids.com for a little bit in the morning and Moriah was very helpful which makes a big difference as well.

I didn't have any milk so breakfast was a pretty basic eggs and plain cereal and fruit. I am really beginning to understand what little tasks need to be taken care of the night before to make my mornings and , for the most part, entire day smooth. One is clean kitchen! If that kitchen is messy, dishes not put away, crumbs on the floor, etc..it literally throws my whole morning off as I am not only getting more stuff out for breakfast, especially since many of our breakfasts consist of waffles, oatmeal pancakes and oatmeal, but I still have the dinner mess from the previous night. I love waking up to a clean kitchen!

We progressed through our day rather quickly. I introduced multiplication of 100 and 1 to Jayden. He caught on immediately so we didn't need to spend too much time on that. With Konos, we are still on the circulatory system for a bit more. I had to go to the store yesterday to buy 4 bottles of Gatorade as we needed the bottles for a heart experiment we will be doing today ...but after that, I did the KONOS review at the end of the circulatory section and he answered it all correctly so I feel good that he understands.

Also, Language Arts is becoming more of a smooth transition too as Jayden's writing is becoming easier to him and not to mention the amount of writing in the curriculum we use now is so much less than in SSRW. Finally, we wrapped up with our Bible Geography, Jayden's devotions, family bible reading and an art project with both boys.

I found this art curriculum that my Mother in law gave me, Art Pac I and was pretty excited to get started on it. It was fun for the boys, especially Austen who colors amazingly in the lines, uses so many different colors and is so creative!

That boy of mine, Austen, is such a blessing to me. He is so smart, learns so opposite than Jayden and just has such a tender heart. I am so thankful to be homeschooling him. I am thankful to not expose my children to daily bullying-especially having boys (even though girls can be just as cruel). I love just sharing life together, even on the hard days!

Yesterday, Austen sat on our back patio with a huge piece of chalk and nonchalantly wrote an amazing signature of his name! I will take a picture today because this is just Austen. He learns by observing and then doesn't want help, but wants to do it himself. Which, in turn, astounds me with what he knows!!!!! I am just enjoying playing games with him, reading to him and getting ready to introduce the BOB books....kindergarten is all about exploration, not book work and we are having a blast!

We had friends stop over yesterday too, which was unexpected but so much fun! It was awesome how I had gotten everything done in the morning and when they stopped over we were literally getting ready for quiet/nap times and so it was perfect. The boys had a great time with their friends, playing legos, animals and outside " finding dinosaur bones and buried treasure". Thank you Jesus for friends!

Here she goes!!!

the way!
l

Little Miss Hanns is on her way to pushing up al

Earrings for Hannah

Oh my sweet, sweet Hanns. Yesterday, we went to go get your ears pierced. As I held you tightly and hugged you when it was over you uttered the saddest most lonely cry I had ever heard. My heart broke for your quick pain in each year and I wondered if it was all worth it. After a million hugs and kisses and holding onto your tiny body I looked and baby you look so beautiful with those earrings. I love them! and you will too...later :) Thank you Jesus for Hannah! Thank you that she is apart of our lives and that she is here! I am in love with you Hannah, your snuggles and grunts, your scrunched up faces with no sound coming out just because you are perturbed. Your half smiles and happy eyes. Oh those beautiful, blue eyes. How I love them :)

Blood!

Just kidding...we are onto the circulatory system with our KONOS curriculum. The other day, at the library, I found this science book that not only simplified the systems of the body but gave really fun experiments to do with each! So, after reading about the blood cells in the body: white, red, plasma and of course I am forgetting something :) , Jayden was able to relate each one to a real life idea to better understand the concept

Red blood cells- people
Heart-bridge/tunnel to the lungs for the "people" to buy oxygen at the "lung store"
white blood cells-army
plasma-cars and or tanks depending on who is being moved along with the the plasma
arteries, veins and capillaries-roads and highways

We also made our own blood and on Monday we will be focusing on the heart where there is a cool experiment to go along with that too! How fun!

Bath time!

Does your bath time look like this?

Moriah was so sweet yesterday. She was helping me and calling herself " mamacita" . An enduring name we call her often. She is definitely two and she most definitely gets into many, many things. Yesterday, I just woke up with the idea to have her be with me everywhere and constantly helping me. So, she helped me put on my make up....and then put on her own mascara which strangely enough came out to be quite good on her little lashes of hers :) We then washed it off as I wasn't ready to see her all dolled up yet.

She helped me with the laundry, with Hannah, setting the table. I asked her to count out 5 forks and she did! Then, she decided we need spoons to so she counted out spoons :) I prayed yesterday in the car, just asking for Godly insight and I felt that this is a little bit of what I felt God told me,

" Do you not think that I see and feel your frustration that I know your tears by name. I have called Moriah to greatness, I have called her to fruition. She is my daughter and I love her. The plans I have for her our mighty. Stay faithful to my calling to you, oh daughter. Do not measure success based upon how the world views success. You will never measure up. Your fulfillment will be kingdom fulfillment. Stay faithful and do not lose heart. I am in this with you. "

How the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit is always the best encouragement to affirm and encourage. Thank you Jesus for my Moriah, her spirit, joy, her bounce everywhere she goes. Her sweet, tender kisses, her strong willful voice. Thank you, thank you for my precious Moriah with beautiful blue eyes and long, blonde wavy hair.

Fall Jar

I love Autumn. The smell of crisp, fallen leaves crunchy under your shoe, apples, apple cider, cinnamon, brisk winds and watching the geese fly south for the winter. I love racing in the yard and jumping in a freshly made pile of leaves. Unfortunately, since moving to our current location....we need to travel about 1.5 hours to enjoy the fall air....but the weather still is changing and I am not about to let a season go by without celebrating it!

Last fall, I made a list of a different fall activities for the kids and I to do together.....This year, I transferred that idea to small pieces of paper and a fun little jar. The idea is that throughout the fall season the kids will randomly select a different activity and we will do it.

Yesterday, Jay picked " make apple crisp". It was perfect timing since I needed to make a meal for a new mom anyways. He did a great job measuring out the topping, all by himself, and Moriah helped as well as eating a little butter :) Don't grimace, you know you always wanted to know what spoonful of that creamy stuff tasted like :)

I am looking forward to pulling out the other fun activities this season. I had a lot of fun thinking of the ideas and letting Moriah fold them with me.

I am working on a fall/Thanksgiving mini unit study to begin in November and run about 2-3 weeks, depending on how it is going...I will post my ideas soon as I am super excited by it.

Back To The Basics

This past weekend as we were swimming, Ben was quizzing Jay and Austen on the months of the year...sadly, they were not passing. They knew a few sporadically but overall, not so much. I then started thinking over what basic concepts my kids were not sure of and came to the realization that there were just a few we needed to review. No problem, thanks to the Internet and fun resources...we will be focusing this week on the basics!

Yesterday, we read A House For Hermit Crab. What a fun story! It talked about different ocean animals, the shell cycle of a hermit crab, which we used to own and now may he rest in peace, as well as the months of the year. Everything I was looking for all in one!

Also, at homeschoolshare.com I found a lap book that went along with the story and reiterated the months of the year, home address, etc. The kids had a lot of fun putting it together! We will be reviewing the lap book this week as well as the story for fun and to make sure that two of our basics, address and months of the year are covered. Phew, got that take care of :) Onto shoe tying :)