Two gets me everytime

Before I get to the photos of where we went on Saturday, can I just confess something to you?

Just between us, okay? You can't look at me sideways at church, email or call me and ask me if I'm okay, or really think less of me in general, okay? Deal?

Sometimes, I don't really like my two year olds.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE them every day. It's just that somedays I don't like them. And I don't think it's specific to the two year olds that I currently call mine. I remember when another dynamic duo was two and, somedays, I didn't like those two year olds either. Love them so much my heart might explode? Yes. Like them? Notsomuch.

Why are we Moms afraid to admit that there are just some ages that we are not so good at dealing with? I mean, I can handle a crying infant. I can handle it for long periods of time with little-to-no end in sight. I can rock and swing and walk and snuggle an upset baby for the majority of most days. I can handle the sleepless nights and the constant feedings.

But give me a defiant, overly dramatic, completely irrational two year old, who can't adequately articulate what he/she wants to say and then flies into a furry of pissed-offness because I can't understand his/her words...well, it's more than I can handle when it consumes my life every other 5 minutes.

I look at my sweet little Ella and wonder how many more months I have of her awesomeness until that day hits and the two year oldness begins. I'm praying for her to go straight from 16 months to 3 years. I'm doubting that's a providential prayer.

Yesterday was a rough day with my two little two year olds. I love them more than I could ever put into words but yesterday, I didn't like them very much. The irrationalness of throwing a fit because I won't allow a 2nd cup of juice and flinging a body on the floor because I won't allow coloring on the cabinets crawls all over me. As a coping mechanism I ignore irrational behavior and casually step over whomever is writhing on the floor in complete agony because I'm a mean Mom who refuses to allow you to play with the electrical socket.

And while I'm busy dealing with constant meltdowns, I'm wondering how Christlike I am to these irrational, overly dramatic tiny people on a daily basis. I mean, I try so, so, so hard to put myself in their size 5 shoes. I try to think about how hard it must be for them to try to tell me something that they want or need and yet I just can't understand. I try to understand that, often, they have to wait a few minutes and waiting isn't easy for a person with no concept of time or the needs of others. But my frustration level with them is easily increased, much to my ill attempts at keeping my heart and head in check. I've prayed prayers of patience, asking God to fill in the gaps of my humanness and supersede my shortcomings when I feel that tightening in my core because I just can't deal with another meltdown right now.

But most days, I don't really rely on Him to provide me with grace. Most days I just allow the anger and frustration to wash over me and I fly into a sea of redundancy allowing wave after wave after wave of meltdowns to overtake me. And then I lose it.

See? If any of you thought that I had it all together you can now rest assured that I am not at all together. In fact, if together was ever a word you used to describe me then you can purposefully never combine that word with your thoughts of me.

It's just that these two little folks who are obviously going through a phase and thistooshallpass seem to intentionally do the exact things they know they will get a consequence for.

And it drives me bananas.

I'm not suppose to slam the door and you tell me that every.single.day? Oh good.

SLAM THE DOOR! SLAM THE DOOR! SLAM THE DOOOOOR!!!

I'm not suppose to open and shut, open and shut, open and shut the kitchen cabinets? Oh good.

OPEN AND SHUT OPEN AND SHUT OPEN AND SHUT OPEN AND SHUT!

It's not okay for me to play with 3 specific toys that are set aside and out of reach and only for the older kids? Oh look!

I CAN SCALE THE BOOKSHELF AND JUST TOUCH SAID TOY WITH MY ITTY BITTY FINGER UNTIL IT FALLS AND THEN I HIDE AND PLAY WITH IT.

I mean, seriously?! There aren't many things that they are restricted from. I learned that lesson quickly with our first set of two year olds. I choose my battles and make very few things off limits in our home. Toys and play are free and easily managed by these little toddling persons. I mean, afterall, it's their house too and they shouldn't be scolded every 5 seconds just for living. But there are boundaries and there are a small number of toys that they are not allowed to play with. But it seems that is exactly what they want to do.

You know, exactly what they aren't allowed to.

Oh how it drives me crazy. And every time a child of ours comes into this age I forget that two year olds are like this and it blows my mind all over again.

So do me a favor, will you? When Ella hits about 17 months old, will you remind me that her twoness is just around the corner? Hopefully it won't take me by surprise like it has 5 other times. Hopefully.

And if you are a superstar at parenting a two year old, I could use a tip or prayer or two three.

A guessing game

On Saturday our family took a fun little day-long adventure to see a very special friend. Can you guess where we went? Here's a really bad hint:

Everyone had a fantastic time "hiking," laughing, jumping, running and seeing our good friend. Well, almost everyone....

If you already know then NO GUESSING. If you guess and didn't already know you'll win something special, like 697 Beaver points. Which are worth absolutely nothing except bragging rights.

Happy Monday y'all.

Youth

About 3 years ago we became friends with the folks who are now our best friends. We laughed and giggled and talked about the challenging things in life as we sat in the basement of our old house and our (mine and Luke's) kids snoozed away upstairs. Often, these friends would talk about their kids.

But the thing was, they didn't have kids. At least none that were legally theirs. In fact, they are actually several years younger than us and the kids they always clamored about were teenagers. Still, when they spoke of their kids they lit up and you could see the adoration in their faces and hear the love in their voices.

And I'll be honest. I didn't get it.

It was beyond me how two grown people could love teenagers so much. But, this was their ministry and they poured their lives into their "kids" who were really the 100ish students who make up our church's Student Ministry.

Over several months of hang out time in our basement, Luke and I saw more and more the passion these people had for their students. But, truthfully, I think we brushed it off a little. I mean, afterall, the guy was the Youth Pastor at our church for crying out loud. He got paid to hang out with teenagers. And his wife? Well, I think she could love a brick wall. She's incredibly compassionate that way.

But over the course of those months, and as we watched their affection for these students continue to grow, Luke and I became curious. I think Luke was interested way before I ever was. I mean, I HATED high school. Like, for serious hated it. I mean, at the time I didn't realize how much I loathed it but looking back, it wasn't my favorite season of life. I'm blessed by the friends I remain in contact with (which are few) but most of the memories I'd rather just push out of my head.

So how could I ever expect to love teenagers? Truth was, I couldn't. I dislike stupid drama, especially as it relates to boys or who-said-what or how "she totally is a backstabbing hussy and I can't believe I was ever her friend" then 5secondslater "ohmuhgod we're Bff's."

Yeah. It wasn't for me.

So, Mr. Youth Pastor casually (read: aggressively and persistently) coaxed us to host an upcoming youth weekend. Our former house was perfect for such an event, where 12-16 teenage girls would spend a Friday & Saturday night at our house, going in and out and doing all the things teenage girls do.

He basically sucker punched me because I think he knew (knows) that Hospitality is my spiritual gift and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE hosting people in our house. So, we said yes. And, we casually said that we'd be willing to give the whole youth department thing a try, beginning with this one discipleship weekend.

(This photo was taken that 1st discipleship weekend.)

Now, almost 3 years later my heart is so incredibly happy and sad. You see, those same students that we hosted for that long discipleship weekend are now some of my greatest friends. Even more, those same girls are all beginning college this week and my heart fills for them and breaks all in the same breath.

Needless to say, we officially became youth workers that weekend. But the truth is, over the last 3 years we've learned more about our God, more about our own walk and more about unconditional love than I ever though possible. And all FROM TEENAGERS. Wonderfully, magnificent, awesome teenagers who I now consider friends.

I know, you're probably asking how a 30 year old woman can be friends with a teenager /20something girl. Lemme just tell you, honestly...I'm not sure how that works. But it does. And nothing brings me greater joy than an evening spent with one of "our kids."

Sure we didn't birth them and legally we've not adopted any but they are still "our kids." And now I get how those friends of ours could sit in our basement and gush over teenagers. Because as our students have grown into amazing young men and women, we've watched them do glorious things for God's glory. We've watched them serve the Lord boldly in foreign countries. Giving up their summers for the glory of God. Not earning one red cent but acting in complete obedience.

We've watched them grow from an overly hyper high school sophomore (who I was going to kill if she drank ANY MORE RED BULL) into a young woman who desperately desires to know the heart of God.

We've seen their hearts get broken. We've stood in the wings and witnessed their victories. We've heard them tell us of their desires to step out of their comfort zones and allow God to provide them courage. We've laughed with them, cried with them, stayed up way too late eating chips and salsa with them. We've gotten in trouble with them. They've loved on our babies in ways that I'll never understand and, in turn, become the biggest heroes in the eyes of our children.
And, they let us act totally stupid and laugh with us rather than standing back and mocking us for the idiots that we really are. (See photos below.)


But most of all, we've grown in our faith with them. The thing that continues to amaze me is that even though they've seen us at our worst, they continue to love us. Unconditionally. We don't deserve the confidences they place in us, we aren't wise or knowledgeable enough for them to trust us with their hopes, dreams and secrets. Yet, they do.

They love us for who we are. Messy house, loud kids, imperfect ways and all. In fact, often when a teenager is here I put them to work, asking them to unload the dishwasher or hold so-and-so. I have no idea why they keep coming back. But they do and they bless me immensely each and every time.

One of my favorite memories of Kevin is when Aaron was just a small baby, maybe 4 months old. One of the big girls had a random puking episode while Kevin was visiting us. We were all gathered in the girls room when either Elizabeth or Ashlee tossed her cookies. I was holding Aaron, about to give him a bottle, and seeing the urgent need for me elsewhere I thrust Aaron into Kevin's arms and said flippantly, "Here. Feed him."

10 or so minutes later I walk into our living room and see Kevin sitting cross legged in the middle of our living room floor, cradling Aaron at about chin level and giving him his bottle. I burst into laughter and said, "Kevin, have you ever held a baby before?"

"No," he said nervously, "never."

To this day I still laugh when I think about the look that must have been on Kevin's face when I shoved Aaron in his arms and walked away. Too bad I was too busy with vomit to take note.

As as I sit here and think about the fact that the students that we just graduated are sitting in college dorm rooms right now, making new friendships and growing into adults my heart is swelling with mixed emotions.

I'm sad because I know that on Sunday mornings, I won't see their faces in my classroom anymore. I won't feel their hugs or see what they've done differently with their hair each week. Most of them won't be gracing my doorstep weekly, sitting at my kitchen table, pushing crumbs across it and avoiding eye contact because they have something serious to discuss. Several of them have moved far enough away that it will be a semester or more before I can embrace them and tell them just how much I've missed them. Truly, I won't be beside them as they walk into new territory and face hurdles that we've been preparing them to leap over.

Yet, excitement rises in my heart for them, knowing that this new life is fun, adventurous and fresh. I know that God has equipped them to live for His glory. I'm so excited to be able to watch them grow and change and mature into people doing God's work.

It's always been easy to love on these teenagers. The loving part is easy. Watching them grow and go...that's been the hardest season yet. How I hope they understand just how much I love them and just how fervently I pray over them.

Finally, as I write this I realize that maybe I never really told them just how much they taught me or how much I love them. But then I remembered. Love like this isn't something that you tell someone about one time. It's something you show them, remind them of and prove to them each time they allow you into their hearts. And I understand that they already know just exactly how I feel about them. I'd give them my right arm or the last peanut M & M. Which means I love them a whole friggin' lot.

(5 month old) Baby in a box

5 months old. My little baby is 5 months old.

I know that may not seem like very old to you but for me it's almost gut wrenching that she's already that big. I wanted to totally savor every second of her newborn-ness because I wasn't sure when I'd get to cuddle a new little person like that again (I mean, one that's mine). But she's literally growing up before my eyes and it just breaks my heart a little.

But oh how I eat her little self up. I could seriously take a bite of her..you know, if I knew it wouldn't hurt her. We've never had a baby this chubby before and I love, love, love her rolly polly legs and super chubby cheeks. Love.them. And I love how she has rolls on her wrists and ankles and knees. I wish having that kind of chubbiness was just as intoxicatingly cute at 30 years old as it is at 5 months.

At 5 months old Ella Joy....

....HAS TWO TEETH. Yes, I know. All of our other children were at least 6 - 7 months old when they cut teeth. But nearly 2 weeks ago Ella cut her 1st bottom tooth. Yes, at 4.5 months old. Now, both bottom teeth are showing through her gums. Crazy, huh?

....is sleeping MUCH better. She's waking up on average twice per night. I say twice, but I guess it's more like once. She wakes around 6/6:30am but I don't get up that early so I still consider that "night." We tried unswaddling her for two nights and the 1st night she did okay. The second night? Disaster. So, she's back to being swaddled and, get this, SHE'S SLEEPING IN HER BED. Revolutionary, huh?

....has not had any solid food yet. My goal is to exclusively nurse her until 6 months. However, when I had to tell her to get her hand out of a bag of Cheese Its last week, then turn right around and take a sippy cup away from her, I began thinking that maybe she's ready for some cereal. I mean, clearly not for nutritional purposes. Chubby.

....rolls over like there's no tomorrow. As soon as I put her down on her tummy she FLIPS! to her back. If I put her down on her back she FLIPS! to her tummy. She's 0-so-proud of herself. She has started rolling off the blankets and playmats that I put her on. Which means that I'm going to have to start collecting all the small object off the floor soon so I don't find them in her diaper.

....puts everything in her mouth. She is, by far, the chewingest baby we've had. Maybe that's because she cut teeth while in the womb. But, she's a chewer. Her favorite thing to chew is a burp cloth. Followed closely by her fist. She can fit her whole fist in her mouth. It's a hidden talent that she's choosing to display early. If neither of those two are convenient, she'll chew on anything she can get to her mouth. My finger, her sister's hair, her foot, a teething ring, whatever she can find. I love how she attacks whatever she's putting into her mouth, shaking her head to really bite it. It's hilarious.

....has learned to screech her disapproval. Before she'd just do a regular "Hey, I don't really like that" kind of cry. But in the last few weeks she's learned a squeal/screech that lets me know, loudly, that "HEY, I DON'T REALLY LIKE THAT." Guess she has had 5 examples to learn from.

....loves her Johnny Jump Up. I really thought that she'd be too young for it when we first put her in it 3 or so weeks ago. But, immediately, she started jumping all over the place. It's her favorite thing to play in now.

....is still the delight and joy of myself, her Daddy and her siblings. I doubt she could get anymore attention than she already does. She enjoys being around everyone else, rarely fusses and has begun really belly laughing. Her content spirit makes it easy for her to just flow with our already chaotic days. I love that she's okay with whatever life brings our way. I love that she offers her smiles so freely and just a glance in her direction makes her fat cheeks spread apart to show a wide, two toothed grin. I just love her so, so, so much.

Thanks for 5 super cuddly, amazingly chubby, all around joyful months Ellabell. Momma loves you.

Das Not Funny! Friday: With a volume that could make a dog's ears hurt

It's only late Friday night and I'm just getting around to posting this. Oh well, it's still Friday, right? I mean, what I meant was, IT'S FRIDAY RIGHT!! Wooohooo! I actually jotted some stuff down (which means I texted it to myself) when our kids said funny things this week. New to Das Not Funny! Friday? Well....click here to see what it's all about. A few things have changed since I wrote that first post. Mostly that I don't use the Linky anymore. So, if y'all want to link up, just leave your blog address in the comments. K? k.

Good...now on with the funnies....

Over these last few official weeks of summer we've been pool hoppers. We went once with our friends the Hauts, then we went twice as a family and finally, on Tuesday my Mom and I took all 6 kids to the pool where my parents are members. It was exceedingly fun to watch our big kids (and Aaron) jump off the big diving boards. At one point I swam out into the deep end to watch them closer. Ashlee spots me and swims over to me and says,

"Mom. I want to marry you."

"Ashlee! You can't marry me! For one thing, I'm your Mom and for two I'm a girl and you're a girl."

"No I'm not," she replies with a smirk, "I'm a boy."

"Oh you are?" I respond, "A boy named Ashlee? I guess that's possible but how come you look like a sweet little girl if you're a boy?"

And Ashlee, almost laughing before she speaks, says in the deepest voice her tiny self can muster, "Well. I'm really a boy. Can't you hear?"

-------

In our former vehicle, the Big Red Beast we had fold down TV screen and VCR.

Yes, I'm serious. A VCR. Who still owns VHS tapes? Only us, apparently.

Anyway, we recently were gifted some giftcards to the Walmarts and we decided that we'd purchase a portable DVD player that we could use in our new van, The Silver Bullet. Typically we only put on a movie when the ride will be over 30-45 minutes long or if we know we are going to be doing a lot of driving around town where only 1 of us is getting in and out of the car. Wednesday night was such a night. As I turned on a movie that had somehow gotten tucked away, Lucas calls to us, from the second row of seats,

"Hey Mom. Back when we were 3 and Elizabets was 5 we loved this movie."

Yep. A whole 3 months ago, son. Good memory! Now, remind me again how you forget to put your shoes in your closet every time you come in the door?

-------

As we were heading out the door one morning this week I casually asked Ashlee,

"Sis, have your brushed your teeth already this morning?"

To which she responds with, "Yep. I brushed-ed my teeth and now my bad breaf is all gone! Smell!"

Um. I'll take your word for it.

-------

We have a dog. She's a sweet, sweet dog. She was actually our very first child and will be 8 years old this year. I know I rarely speak of Brinkley, our golden retriever, but truly she is the best dog a Mom of 6 could ever ask for. The kids love her. She responds exceptionally well to whistling and the kids have picked up on this.

Too bad NONE of them can whistle. Ashlee, however, has figured out how to capture Brinkley's attention without the need to whistle. Oooooo yeah folks. My sweet little Drama Princess can SQUEAK HER VOICE TO SOUND JUST LIKE WHISTLING.

It's annoyingly cute.

And apparently, Ashlee has decided that Ella enjoys the same decibel and frequency "whistle" as Brinkley does.

As we rode to church on Wednesday morning for our church's monthly Parent's Day Out (which is just a blessing, can I just tell you?) the following conversation transpires.

Ash, squeaking at Ella in the same tone/decibel/frequency/as whistling for the dog: "HEY ELLA! PRETTY GIRL! YOU LOVE ME DON'T YOU! OH ELLA! ELLA-BELLA! ELLA-BELLA-WELLA!"

Lucas: "Ashwee, nobody 'cept Ella likes that."

Elizabeth: "Yeah. Stop it Ash. It's hurting my head."

Ash, seemingly unphased by their protests, and in fact, raising her volume if that was at all possible: "ELLA-BELL-WELLA!! YOU'RE THE SWEETEST WITTLE GIRL! I WUV YOU ELLA-BELL!! HEY ELLA!!!"

Me, trying not to burst into laughter: "Ash, did you hear them."

Ash: "Yeah, but I wike it anyway. DON'T I ELLA-BELLA-WELLA!?! WE WUV THIS! YOU WUV YOUR BIG SISSY, HUH ELLA-BELLA?!"

Have mercy. If Olivia is on pace to surpass Ashlee's volume and drama, I think I'm going to invest in some solid, heavy-duty ear plugs now. I figure that's cheaper than an eardrum transplant.

Y'all have a great weekend!

I couldn't have said it better myself

Today I wanted to post something moving, thought provoking and lovely. Then I read this and knew that it said all that I wanted to say.

And not just because it includes excessively cute photos of my babies.

Click here.

And thanks Beth. We love you guys a whole lot. And just in case you ever doubted our devotion to you, our last double date night should have sealed the deal. You've won us over for life, if only because you now have amazing blackmail material. ;)

Unless that was all a dream?

A homeschooling post of relatively no importance to you, the reader

I realize that to the vast majority of you this won't make a hill of beans difference and, in fact, this post might make you want to gouge your own eyes out. But, part of my purpose (and justification) for keeping up this blog is so that I will remember the things of our children's childhoods that I would otherwise forget. This post will fall into the "only Mom cares about those memories" section. Sorry if you came to read something riveting. Today's post is hardly that.

Homeschooling.

Just like everything else in the world it comes with it's own misconceptions and stereotypes. Yes, our family probably supports some of those stereotypes (big family, conservative, lovers of Jesus, living frugally, incredibly witty and charming), so when I really felt like Homeschooling was for us I have to admit that I didn't want to be one of those freaks who homeschool. I really didn't want our kids to wear denim prairie skirts everyday or have long hair continually tied into buns. I also didn't want them to be anti-social. I mean, I used to be a public school teacher for crying out loud, clearly, clearly I knew I could teach our kids but as for the rest of the stuff that public (or private) school offers, I was feeling a little overwhelmed. But then I realized, maybe I don't want all that extra that traditional schools offer. Thus, we settled on homeschooling.

Now I'll admit that homeschooling isn't for everyone. (Although I think it's pretty cool to sit and watch your own kids finally "get" something they've been struggling with. I remember how excited I used to feel when one of my students finally grasped a tough concept. Well, if you're a teacher and you know that feeling, multiply it by about a bazillion when it's your own kid. That right there is reason enough to consider homeschooling.) But what I've found that has already made the 6 days of our schooling for this year MUCH easier than all of our combined days last year is that my perception of school had to drastically change. My expectations of what school at home looks like is much different today that it was this time last year. No more busy work in their seats (Remember, I used to be a public school teacher. I thought completed worksheets were a product of how much we had learned that day. Um..notsomuch.), no more expectations of a time-focused schedule, no more expectations of how fast or how slowly we should work through a concept.

Truly I could write post upon post of each of these topics but I won't. At least not now. This year, Elizabeth's FIRST GRADE year (holy smokes when did she become old enough to be a first grader?) we are using the following resources/curriculums.

We start our days off with a Morning Meeting. This includes changing the calendar, adding numbers to our 100 chart, graphing the weather, writing and singing the days of the week and memorizing a Bible Verse. You can read more about our Morning Meetings by clicking here and reading my BFF's post on their Morning routine. I totally stole every bit of it from her.

Spell to Write and Read: We tried this spelling, reading and writing curriculum last year and it flopped like a stinky, dead fish. This was totally my fault since I thought I could pick and choose what I wanted to do with this method of teaching reading. And, with most curriculums you can pick and choose. But not with SWR. SWR is pretty systematic in it's teaching and if you leave out one of the components it makes the whole kit and caboodle fall apart. So, we went back to square 1, regrouped and began again. What I love about this program is that it's not leveled by grade. Instead, it's leveled by ability and progresses as the child learns. We are 6 days in and Elizabeth remembered the first set of spelling words from last year so well that I'm sure this week will be a breeze.

Handwriting Without Tears: We've done HWT since Elizabeth was 4 and I still love it. I love that it is created by Occupational Therapists and adapted so that the students learn to print on levels that are age appropriate. Lucas and Ashlee are doing the "Get Set for School" workbooks and Elizabeth is doing the 1st grade level workbook. They are fun and the kids really enjoy them along with the songs and fun rhymes that come along with the program. Elizabeth won't do this everyday but most likely 2 to 3 days a week. Lucas and Ashlee will be using this program for number and letter recognition and to practice their handwriting.

Math-U-See: Oh how I wish I'd known about this curriculum when I taught 6th grade Math! Seriously, this is a math lovers dream. I'd guess it's also a Math haters dream. Our kids just love playing with the blocks and creating all kinds of things. And, I let them. Because I figure if they associate playing with the block as being fun, then when it's time to work with them they'll think it's equally as fun. Elizabeth is finishing up her Kindergarten Primer and will be moving into the Alpha book soon. She's already reading and almost adding 3 digit numbers. Math is, by far, her favorite subject. Just like her Momma. ;)

Bible: As I said above, the kids are memorizing a verse per week. We are using a workbook that a friend gave me that has a verse for every letter of the alphabet. I incorporate hand motions and the oldest 3 have really picked up on them quite quickly. All 3 of the oldest kids can recite Matthew 7:7 and Galatians 5:22-23 from memory now. I love watching them recite it with their little hand motions. They are so proud of themselves too! I've been introducing 1 verse a week, but as they catch on more quickly I'll probably move to 2 verses a week. After we finish that we will move to our Picture Smart Bibles. My Mom purchased this for us at Homeschool Convention this year and I can hardly wait for us to start! It looks like it will be excessively cool and a fun way for our family to read through the Bible together and still keep the attention of the kids. We've still been using our Jesus Storybook Bible for our family Bible reading time but we've read through it about 4 times already and I think the kids are ready to move onto something a little more detailed.

Routine: One thing I've found out about myself is that I really don't like schedules. I love routine, I loathe schedules. For me, doing things in a certain order rather than being dictated by the time on the clock makes much more sense for our family. So, I've written down an outline and order of how I'd like our day to go. Rather than doing a schedule where our activities are based around the time on the clock, we flow through our day based on "what's next" and it is so much less stressful for me. On days like today where I had to take Ella to get some shots early this morning, I could still pull out our routine and start with the first thing on the list. We were still done with school by 3:30 and we accomplished everything I had on our lesson plan. I feel accomplished when I check something off the list rather than defeated because I'm an hour "behind schedule."

Art: The older 3 are taking art lessons once a week for an hour each Friday. Elizabeth took them last year and this year Lucas and Ashlee were old enough to join her. So far, it's working out well. Ashlee is all about art. That girl could color until the cows come home. Elizabeth loves it equally so, and I've been exceedingly proud of Lucas the last two week since he's lasted for 50 minutes of the 60 minute art lesson. Only during the last 10 minutes does he begin to lose interest and ask if it's time to go home. I really only expected him to last 15-20 minutes but he's proven me wrong...in a good way...finally.

As for being physically active, well, I don't think lack of physical activity is a problem around here. But as for organized physical activity, all 3 older kids will be playing Upward Soccer in the fall and Upward Basketball/Cheerleading in the Spring.

My Mom is awesome about supplementing their education when the kids go to MeMe's house. She is teaching Elizabeth to sew on the sewing machine and they've already made several outfits. Not really any that are especially detailed and they're all mostly for dress up but Ashlee has sported a skirt made at MeMe's to church and Elizabeth has worn her dress out in public as well. But if you've read here for any amount of time you know that I don't really care what my kids wear as long as they are clothed modestly and they won't get heat stroke or frostbite.

And that about sums it up. I already look forward to our school days much more this year and I'm so thankful that I've found a way to make it work for us and that God finally altered my view of what school at home should look like.

Do you homeschool? Why or why not? And if you do, what curriculums do you use and why?

All I need now is some blue-gray hair to go with my wax earplugs

The bloggin's been sparse lately, huh? That's what starting a new school year and attempting to be more routine about our day will do for you, huh? I've been trying to muster up some effort in the late evenings to blog but instead a little someone has decided that her new bedtime is 10:00pm and I'm just wore slap out. And there's also another someone who I like to spend time with sans kids and so blogging goes to the wayside.

Right now, the older 3 are playing something Toy Story related in the living room, I have a frozen Stouffer's lasagna in the oven, Aaron is in a TV coma because of his new love, Diego and the two littlest girls are asleep. Scratch that, Olivia is now stirring.

Currently, I'm dealing with pool water in the ear that refuses to make an exit, despite my attempts with rubbing alcohol and mashing my ear to the hot concrete because of some advice someone gave me. Neither has worked for the goal that I set out for. Although I have succeeded in have the most sterile ear canal on the planet and I'm sure that I've caused everyone driving by my house to wonder about the mental stability of the lady who's outside laying down on her sidewalk, then raising her head, shaking it and repeating.

Glad I'm awesome.

Another friend suggested that maybe I shouldn't put my head underwater when we go to the pool. However, that would never work because then I'd no longer be a cool Mom who does flips and cartwheels and super impressive cannonballs off the diving board. I mean, obviously God gave me lots 'o junk in my trunk so that my offspring can adequately marvel at my ability to make a giant splash and "make the pool wavy." (It's a small pool. Really. Stop imagining an Olympic sized pool in your mind. I promise it's a small one. My trunk's not that full. Maybe.)

My need for those old lady wax earplugs when I swim won't take away from my cool factor. Will it?

Oh and if anyone has any reasonable ideas for how to excavate pool water from your inner ear, I'd be happy to entertain them. Obviously. I mean, I did press the side of my face to my sidewalk earlier, so maybe that whole reasonable thing is just a suggestion. Just like how Stouffer's suggests that I heat their lasagna before eating it. You know, whatever.

School is back even though it never really left

This week we kicked off our "new" school year. To be honest, we never really stopped having school this summer, albeit it was sporadic and much less structured than what I would like. My goal for Elizabeth's 1st grade year (holy smokes! FIRST grade?) was for it to be much more routine and have much more structure than last year.

Kindergarten didn't shape up the way I would have liked for it to. Instead, we took many breaks, weren't consistent in the least and I think that it set a negative tone for when we "did school." I'm trying to mentally cut myself some slack because last school year our family went through many changes...Mommy puking all the time...moving...new baby....

But the truth is, I didn't make school a priority and we all suffered because of it. After reading this post my BFF Amanda posted over on the homeschool blog we are (suppose) to co-author, I realized that starting our day off with consistency will in turn lead us to days and weeks and a whole year of consistency. Today is day three of our "Morning Meetings" and so far the kids and I love this time. And on both Monday and Tuesday of this week we accomplished everything that I had planned! Yay!

I'm beginning to remember why I have always loved being a teacher. And you know what? Having my own kids as students is just icing on the cake.

Das Not Funny! Friday: Clearly I have too much stuff in my brain to be concise

Welcome to this week's edition of Das Not Funny! Friday. I'd apologize in advance for the overuse of parenthesis and my inability to make this post short and sweet but that would only draw things out further. So instead, here's what you came for.

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This is my friend Grace.

(The one on the left, if you're unsure. I mean, I'm sure the cow is friendly an all, obviously, but the cow's not my friend. Unless she's been fire-grilled to medium rare and comes with her other friend Mr. Baked Potato Head, then we're BFFs.)

Anyway, Grace is about to begin her junior year of college. She just returned from a 9 week summer internship in Kenya with some other friends of ours. Our kids love Grace a whole lot. We went to the airport to pick up Grace when she got back home last week.

When Grace stopped by our house a few days ago, Elizabeth said "I missed you so much Grace! You still even smell like Swahili!"

I'm still trying to decide if that was a compliment.

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Grace brought back with her lots of Kenyan goodies including our kikoi dresses. And, every time I've seen Grace since her return from African she's been wearing a headscarf. So naturally, Grace thought it would be fun to put the headscarf on Ella. You know, to hold back all of her hair and stuff.

I'm sure Ella appreciates being our real, live dress up doll. I'm beginning to wonder if God accurately assessed our maturity level before assigning us all these kids. (For the record, Grace doesn't have 2 lazy eyes. Luke was trying to get Ella to look up for the camera and apparently his baby attracting hilarity caught Grace's eyes. Both of them.)

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On Tuesday night Elizabeth had her first ever sleepover. If you consider a sleepover one that includes sleeping in sleeping bags in our living room with someone other than your siblings when your guest's parents are not also staying at our house for the night. The girls chose to watch a Barbie movie so I allowed Lucas to choose a "boy" movie. He chose a Marvel comics animated movie. Something about Heroes. Clearly it wasn't nearly the attention grabber for me as the Barbie's Mermaid Tale movie. I mean, the plot line alone was magnificent or slightly above making me want to gouge my eyes out. You can decide.

Annnnyway, (there's a point, I promise) since watching the Superhero cartoon (where the caracters in a time of heroic need say, "Who's gonna hero up!?!" and that quote alone has been used by Lucas approximately 7,638 times since Tuesday night whilst he leaps off of something tall enough to make me gasp for air since I'm sure he's about to break a bone or fracture his skull. Thank you Marvel comics. I'll send you the bill for the injuries we are certain to acquire in the next 52 hours.)

Where was I? Oh yeah. GETTING TO THE POINT. Heh.

All that to say, Superheros have become a BIG DEAL around here. One day since Tuesday (I can't even stay on track while I'm typing so don't expect me to know what stinkin' day it was) someone (can't remember who) asked Lucas,

"Lucas, what's your superhero name?"

To which he replied, "Oh man! I'm never gonna talk about that."

Alrighty then. Hope our home is never in need of him to HERO UP! Or if a mysteriously masked man, who's only 4 feet tall, comes flying through our house in a time of rescue I'll just presume it's my unnamed superhero son and carry on.

Whichever.

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I've been working on this post on and off all day (Thursday) and shortly after dinner tonight, I was talking to Luke about Lucas' overuse of the phrase, "WHO'S GONNA HERO UP!!!" and how that phrase and Lucas' actions had saved me earlier from certain peril when the big girls decided it was time to tackle me and have a ticklefest.

Upon hearing the recount of his previous heroic effort, Lucas yells, "WHO'S GONNA HERO UP!" again and with it rushes Luke and punches him in the place that brings even grown-up heroes to their knees.

Which made Luke and I both burst into tears for entirely different reasons.

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As I said above, in much too many words, our sweet little friend Lauralyn spent the night on Tuesday night. As we went around the living room allowing each of the big kids to say their prayers my heart began to get nostalgic. Then Luke says, "Lauralyn, it's your turn to pray."

To which she tenderly responds with, "Knock, knock."

For the next 45 minutes the giggles did not subside. And the kids thought it was funny too.

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Aaron is potty training, which totally reminds me of why I never, ever, ever want a puppy ever, ever, ever again. Puddles are not totally uncommon in our house but typically they are innocent puddles of water or a liquid from a spilled sippy cup. With Aaron being nude from the waist down, our puddles aren't so innocent these days.

At any rate, Aaron finally, finally pooped in the potty. I got so excited sitting there in the bathroom with him (you know, trying to encourage him and thinking in my mind ONE LESS IN DIAPERS) and began squealing and clapping my hands. I use our hand sign language and say, "Aaron you pooped! More Aaron, more!"

To which he responds with, gruuuuunt.strain.fakepush., "It stuck."

Good to know. At least until later when it became dislodged right on the chair in the kitchen. Lucky me.

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And that's it for the Beaver house this week. Well, truthfully, there were others but I don't remember them. Let me know if there is anyone else writing Das Not Funny! Friday posts and I'll be happy to put up a Linky so that we can all read your funnies.

Happy Friday y'all. Try to hero up this weekend, okay?

A post so full of sweetness your teeth will ache afterwards

Today will be photo overload. Proceed with caution. Or not.

My amazing friend Lindy sent home some dresses for our girls. Big deal, huh? Welllllll, they aren't just any dresses! They are dresses made from KIKOIS! And, let me tell you. Have mercy at the cuteness you are about to witness. It's almost more than I can handle.

The good news is that Lindy also sent back a TRUNKLOAD of stuff (along with lots and lots of kikois) all hand made in Kenya. I'm helping with a big fundraiser in early October and once that's over I'll open the Kenyan goodies up to you, here on my blog. I'm telling you, this stuff is AWESOME. Save up your dollars now ladies. Save 'em up.

And yes, I KNOW I'm going to overuse CAPS and italics in this post. But seriously. If you think the caps are loud and the italics are over the top YOU SHOULD BE INSIDE MY HEAD.

On with the photos. I'm posting so many because I promised Lindy good pictures of the girls in their dresses and do you know how stinkin' hard it is to get a good photo of a 6 year old, a 4 year old, a 2 year old and 4 month old?

Impossible, I think.

Here's the best only one I got of all 4 of them where someone didn't have their eyes closed and Ella wasn't trying to eat her dress or Elizabeth's. And this one is good. Even though Ella is clearly more enamored with her oldest brother than me by this point.

Oh my word at the sweetness. I seriously wanna just squeeze them all until they scream. But then I'd regret it because can I just tell you how dramatic a certain 2 of my girls are. Especially those two on the left.

Their wails can make my ears bleed.

Of course, Ashlee is a baby hog, so the first chance she got to sit up by Ella and "read" to her, she did. I love how it looks like Ella is reading along with her.


But that baby hogging and sweetness was short lived because approximately 37 seconds after that photos was taken, I snapped this one.


That girl LOVES her bike. Which is hysterical because this time last year she would only walk beside it and push it. Except she thought she was riding it because when I would ask her, "Ashlee, don't you want to ride?" She'd exclaim, "I am!"

Riiiight. Except you're not.

Elizabeth is OBSESSED with our neighbor's cats. We've told her she can only pet them when our neighbors are outside and, clearly, her ear is finely tuned to the sound of our neighbor's door opening. When they are not outside, she stands just inside our yard and stares at them, like this.

Well, not exactly like that because, you know, she's looking at me in that one. But you get the idea.

And this little girl. Well, I just wanna scoop her up and eat her. I mean, when she's not busy being dramatic which is apparently her new hobby. Ashlee has officially been dethroned as Drama Queen. Queen Olivia has recrowned Ashlee but a mere princess of all things drama. I think explosive drama must come in small packages, don't you?

Good thing she's cute.

And this girl, well, I'm still adjusting to the fact that she SIX. And while I'm adjusting to her new age, she's already begun telling me stories about "Back when I was 5 years old." Yeah. That was just 2 days ago. Slow down, missy.

In this next series of photos I'd like for you to take special notice of each of the big girls' agendas. I told them to "model." Apparently, modeling to Ashlee means work.it.girl. While modeling to Elizabeth means make-sure-Olivia-is-in-the-photo-nomatter-how-many-times-your-Mom-says-to-put-her-down.

Seriously, scroll down and watch them independently. Wow. Just...wow.








Clearly my off handed instruction of "put your hand on your hip or something" was taken seriously by Ashlee. Work it sassy. Work.it.

The next one is great of the older two and I thought Olivia would be a modeling whiz too except that she decided at the last second to bend over behind her sister which makes it look like Elizabeth has the lowest kneecap known to man.

Then I started losing them so naturally we had to do a shot of "Crazy face!"

I don't know what Ashlee is raising her hand for in this photo. Maybe she thought I said "Who wants more drama?" when I clearly said, "Who can look at Momma?"

Oh well. At least I finally got Olivia in there with the older two. Even though she decided it was time for a serenade. Did I mention she sings a lot? And by a lot I mean anytime she's awake.

This is Ashlee, mid camera click leaning forward to ask, "Can I see that one? I wanna see it!"

And, showing Elizabeth some birthday love.

Clearly, never a dull moment around here. Which is fine with me, because I love it that way.

Now, who wants to buy a kikoi and make their little girl a dress just like these? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?

Six

Today our firstborn turns six years old.

Six.

Seriously. Where did the time go? I know for a fact that it was only a year or so ago that I held her new little self in my arms and marveled at the fact that the nurses and doctors actually let us bring her home. Clearly, we'd somehow slipped through the hospital's cracks because we seriously had no clue how to be parents.

Six years later, I still stand in awe of this precious little girl and I'm still struggling to figure out this whole motherhood thing. My bald headed, easy going baby is now a beautiful, curly headed young girl and sometimes I look at her and she just takes my breath away.

I'm not quite sure why God chose to bless us with this treasure but He did and I am forever blessed by His goodness in her. Completely loving, the best big sister any sibling could ask for, she's never too far from a younger brother or sister who needs a little help. In fact, quite often lately, a favorite of her and Olivia is this:

If you think either of them is disliking this set up, think again. Olivia couldn't be happier resting right there on her big sister's hip. And Elizabeth, well, she couldn't be more delighted that Olivia requests to be held, often exclusively, by her.

Now that my baby is moving into new phases of independence I find my heart soaring with joy and breaking with sorrow all in the same breath. How my heart overflows when I hear her speak to others with kindness and grace, knowing that she desires to please us and the Lord with her actions and words. At in the next moment, my mother's heart tears apart, knowing that this is just the beginning of me having to let go and not always answer the questions asked of her. Watching her grow up seemingly day by day, even minute by minute, and her have thoughts and questions and ideas that are original to her little self is amazing and sad. How can my little girl already be able to be so independent of me?!

But she is. And my heart overflows with pride for being her mother. This tender hearted hazel eyed girl is so concerned with the well fare of others. "Do they have food Momma?" and if they don't, "How will their tummies get full?"

Seeing her experience the hurt of this world, in limited portions, and knowing that it hurts her fragile heart is sometimes more than I can bear. Knowing that she's able to experience and remember such hurts makes me want to lock her away so that her innocent spirit won't get damaged and her desire to change the world will always be pure.

But I know that would do her much more harm than good. And as I sit back and soak in the conversations that we are now having, discussions of life and theories and understandings that her six year old mind can comprehend, I savor every second.

She's gone from a toddler who we've had to explain the world to, to a young girl who is able to understand the things around her, understand her God and see the world with eyes of her own. It's so much fun to sit and talk with her about the mundane and the majestic. Seeing the world, fresh, through her eyes makes me fall in love with her all over again.

Never too serious for a laugh or a little sassiness, she makes me realize, daily, that I have the best job in the world. We laugh together regularly and I love watching her wit grow and her sense of humor develop.

And it's because of her that I can never doubt that God's plans are ultimately best. For the heart of a man can plan his way but the Lord establishes his steps (Prov. 16:9). This tiny little miracle that entered our lives 6 years ago showed me that my plans were futile. The Lord knew that deeply rooted in me was a desire to be a Mother. And it was with her first breath that He granted me a life I never even realized I wanted. With the beginnings of her tiny heartbeat, He transformed in me a heart that would have been forever separate from Him. And I also believe that He placed within our little girl and heart sold our for the Lord. She continually amazes us with her understanding of a mighty God, His marvelous mercy and His compassion for hurting people.

How I pray that Luke and I can equip her for the purposes of God's kingdom, whatever they may be.

Our sweet birthday princess. We love you more than words could explain! Happy #6 baby girl. You make our hearts overflow.