January a la Instagram

In an effort to document this crazy life of ours, my goal for January (I've got one for every month of 2013!) was to take part in the photo-a-day challenge on Instagram with Fat Mum Slim. It went well! I added a couple of extra pics in this collage, and of course, it only has 25 pics and there were 31 days in Jan, but the point was to be able to look back and see that our lives are full. Full of love, fun, silliness, and so SO much goodness.

{ Pics include a day at the beach, an afternoon at the pool, volunteering at a farm, a mock gymnastics meet, my growing belly, a bed full of legos, a trip to the farmers market, 
and lots of little snippets of life. }

On Not Finding Out

This child will be the first and last time we don't find out whether it's a boy or a girl.

It's driving me crazy. I don't like this feeling at all!

I'm not really the super controlling type who has to know and plan for everything, really I'm not. So I'm surprised that I don't enjoy the suspense. I'd say 90% of people look at my belly and say, "Oh, that's a boy for sure!" And at first I was mildly disappointed since I really wanted another girl and for Reese to have a sister. My boys LOVE their daddy and so sometimes it's sad that they don't want to cuddle with me. They go to sleep every night asking for their dad and wake up asking for their dad.

But it's okay! Reese and I have our own thing. And so I came to terms with having 3 crazy little boys. Legos, dinosaurs, dump trucks and dirt. My house is already covered with all of those. And I *think* we finally settled on a name. And my dreams of what my house would look like adding another boy began to take shape. Where he'd sleep, if his hand-me-down clothes would be the right season, if he'd look JUST LIKE his older brothers.

But then a few people have recently tried to convince me they think it's a GIRL.

And it's almost like I'm defensive of my little guy now and the strange thought of losing (the idea) of him feels strange! Basically, it feels like unnecessary drama that I didn't expect. *sigh* At least I've only got 8ish more weeks left. And who knows. Maybe when that little babe comes out, that feeling will be amazing (!!!) and I'll be writing another post titled, "Why Everyone Should NOT Find Out"!

Christmas 2012

What a fun Christmas we had!

We traveled to Iowa for a week just in time for a big snowy blizzard. And it was fabulous. :)

The kids' first plane ride and they were SO EXCITED! They loved it :)

While we were in Iowa the roads were just awful, but we had places to go and people to see, so we had no choice but to hit the pavement. Slowly.

At Grandma and Granpa's house!

I know, Jasper looks miserable, but he kept begging to go back out in the snow!

Once it stopped snowing, it really was gorgeous out. It felt like we were in a different country considering the past weekend we were chillin' on the beach in Clearwater.

Wade's cousin Darin graciously brought over his snowmobiles which were a HIT with the kids (and Wade) and they couldn't wait to tell all their friends back in Florida that they drove a snowmobile!!!!

We spent half the time at Wade's parents and half at mine. Both were a ton of fun and the kids got a bunch of great presents. They are so blessed to have such great grandparents!!

Tooth #6

Dad pulled out tooth 6 this morning! (His first one! Apparently I've done the rest?) She loves losing teeth. Now both front teeth are gone and she can officially sing, "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth" :)

(Doesn't he look all handsome getting ready for work? He got a new job at the dealership, by the way! You'll have to ask him about it, but he's pretty excited!)

Rambling...

It's beautiful out here today! It's 70 degrees and sunny. LOVELY!! Unfortunately I've always been one of those people who let's the weather affect their mood, so this Florida sunshine just does wonders for my soul.

This morning we played at the park with a mom who I met at an event that Hulafrog had a table at. She has loved Hulafrog for awhile now and we ended up setting up a playdate complete w/ vanilla lattes :) Glad someone else (besides me!) is finding the site helpful! (PS, my love for coffee has returned! Yay!)

I've been super blessed lately w/ some great ladies in my life. I can't believe it's been almost a year since we moved down here from Iowa! I feel like it was just last week that week were packing up everything we owned and making the trip down. I feel like things are finally falling into place.

I've said all along that that we feel like God was calling us down here, for reasons we weren't sure of yet. I think my  life motto this year is going to be TRUST THE PLAN! I really do believe that He's got a really great plan laid out for each of us, as long as we trust that everything will happen the way it's supposed to, it'll all end up great. (Disclaimer: this little motto also scares the crap out of me. What if something AWFUL & TRAGIC happens? Will I still be able to say with confidence that I "trust the plan"? I pray, pray, pray that God doesn't test me like that...)

Our Thanksgiving was great. Just us. No turkey. But a neighbor did bring us a homemade pumpkin pie that was SO good. It was nice out, so we (mostly Wade and the kids...) played football outside, watched more football inside, drank hot chocolate, the kids circled every. single. toy they claimed they "wanted" in the Black Friday Ads, and I felt so thankful for my little family :)

We'll be back in Iowa in 3 weeks. Wade and I are lining stuff up like boarding the puppy, how many checked bags we'll need, how the heck we're gonna lug 3 car seats through the airport, etc... EXCITED!

Think that's all for now!

2012-2013 School Pictures!

Reese, 6 years old and in 1st grade

A little bit of what we're doing:

Right now we are working on the names and location of all 50 states (she's about 80% there), we are learning the parts of speech like nouns, verbs adjectives.  She is doing the Pizza Hut Book-It program and in November she had to read 20 books (anything) and 2 chapter books (Magic Treehouse and Ivy & Bean) to earn her little personal pizza!

In math we are still working on addition and subtraction, counting money, telling time, and more. She loved our Friday Homeschool Co-op this year, where she took an art class, PE and an anatomy class called 

My Body By God. 

She write letters to her friends and family and does daily chores around the house.

This is seriously not everything, but as I think of all the things we do, this list would get rather long...

Goals: 

I'd like to get some more volunteer time in, 

start an instrument (any unused pianos out there???) 

She tried out and made it onto the team at gymnastics, 

so she'll be going twice a week now for 2 1/2 hours a night. She'll start competing this spring.

Continue to meet friends through co-op and church.

Girl Scouts??? We'll go to a meeting next week for a possible troop. We'll see if she's excited about it. I'm on the fence.

Beckett, 4 years old and in Preschool

A little bit of what we're doing:

I'm already seeing a bit of middle child syndrome going on here with this little guy.  I can already tell I'm not spending as much "teaching time" with him as I did with Reese at his age, but he's such a boy!!! (He carries around a sword in the back of his shirt like a ninja) 

So he kind of piggy backs off of what Reese and I do.

He LOVES books and being read to, and has just started reading books from memory, which is an important step in the process. 

He can write his name and we're occasionally working on other letters and sounds.

I'm still trying to get him to do his chores on a daily basis, most days he doesn't and it's not worth the fight.

We're working on social skills like being a caring & helpful big brother, not freaking out when it's time to leave a friend's house, picking up after yourself, and using good manners.

We talk about what it means to be a gentleman A LOT.

Goals:

To be able to write and know all of the letter sounds by May so that we can start reading next fall.

Chores. Every morning. I just need to find out what motivates him. Or maybe different chores.

Using WORDS to talk about stuff instead of whining, crying, yelling when conflict comes up.

He just complete flag football, so he won't be participating in another sport 'til next year.

Less cartoons.

and of course,

{ He's not school-aged so no picture, just imagine the cutest toddler you've ever seen }

Jasper, 18 months old and the baby of the family

A little bit of what we're doing:

So far this year he has learned to pull the kitchen step up to the counter and throw things onto the floor,

open the pantry door and help himself to whatever he feels like eating,

he practices his coloring on walls, tables, dressers, the floor.

He has dropped his morning nap and is no where close to potty training.

He eats more that I do some days.

He's grown to be a big (aka HEAVY) little boy, so carrying him is a workout.

He has learned how to run! Fast! Away from Mommy in stores!!!!!!!

Goals:

To not let him destroy the house and on most days, I pretty much just want to SURVIVE.

Lately We've Been...

losing a front tooth (#4!),

bouncing with friends at Dairy Queen,

just being cute,

getting pedicures with Mommy,

eating yogurt and practicing my cross-eyed silly face,

and eating pizza poolside.

Pool Parties in October

Just had to share this quick picture from my phone of a pool party at a new friend's house this past weekend.  It was their son's birthday and they live in a beautiful home right next to the ocean. It was beautiful and a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon in October. :)

Ready, Set, Hike!

Beckett started his first sport this past Saturday! Mr. Four-Year-Old is officially in flag football :) I was hesitant to sign him up for it, afterall, he's still just a baby! But he's been tagging along Reese and all of her activities for years, so I told him when he turned 4 he could pick something. I didn't care if he picked guitar, gymnastics, soccer, whatever he wanted. He picked FOOTBALL and I thought, uh, that wasn't one of the options...

So here he is on his first day of flag football. Before we left that morning, he told Reese he was "going to win the trophy by kicking everyone in the face." Whaaaaat???

We had to be on the field at 8am, so on the way there, we grabbed a box of Munchkins and a hot chocolate from Dunkin' Donuts, had our water bottles and sweatshirts on and were ready to go :)

By 9am, it was already 85° so the sweatshirts were off and I was wanting some ICE for my cooled down hot chocolate, but nevertheless we had a fun morning.

Beckett was hilarious! He was so adorably clueless. Most plays everyone would run and he'd just stand there. Then the coach would yell, "Go! Run!" and he start running..... not necessarily in the direction of the ball and the other kids, but just around.  Then, in down times he'd run and say things to me like, "Can I have a doughnut?" or "There's grass on my mouth guard, can you wipe it off on your shirt for me?" PRICELESS.

Wade was so disappointed he had to work and wasn't able to be there. He told me he'd rather miss all the rest of the Iowa games this season if he could just watch his son play football each week. Awwwww. Lucky for him, this isn't B's varsity year of football, so I'm sure he'll have plenty of games to watch in the next couple years. :)

On Homeschooling...okay, here we go...

Alright, folks. I think I'm finally ready to talk about it. My "secret" which is not really a secret at all if you just ask me. I love talking about it. Reading about it. Sharing my experience with others. But only if you ask first.

We homeschool. {gasp!} This is our second year. You guys knew that, right?

I'm a pretty confident gal, so it may not make sense why I usually keep this to myself. It's not that I'm embarrassed or ashamed of it, I'm actually really proud of it. But you see, not everyone "gets" it.

Here's how the conversation usually goes:

Random Person We Just Met: Oh, you're daughter is so polite and well-behaved! She's 6? So she must be in school! What grade is she in?
Me: Thank you very much! She's in first grade.
Random Person: How wonderful. What school does she go to?
Me: We actually homeschool!
Random Person: Oh! Wow! Oh, honey, bless your heart. I could never do that. Oh my gosh, I'd probably kill my child or go crazy! I really have to have those couple of hours of "me" time when Sarah goes to school. I mean, of course, I love her, but I just couldn't do it. And it's better for her to be with the other kids at school to socialize and stuff. But wow, really, good for you.
Me: (smile and nod) Okay.

I just don't know what to say to that. I can't tell you how many times I've heard variations of the above comments. If they are curious and ask questions, of course, I answer them. But most people don't ask questions.

Actually, here's what I'd really like to say back to them:

Me: Yes, thank you. I do consider myself better than you since you choose to send your child to public school. Ohmygosh YUCK! I could NEVER do that.
I'm just kidding!! That'd be mean, right? But why is it okay to say the same thing, but opposite, to me?
Here's the thing- I don't think I'm a better parent than you. I don't love my child any more than you do. I'm not crazy organized (in fact, as a working mom with school-aged children, you're probably MORE organized than me). I don't judge you at all. I don't think you're nuts for sending your kid to public schools. REALLY.
We all make different choices! This one was the best for our family and somehow it seems to work for us. Yes, I have days where I can't stand my kids and I want to jump off a bridge. Or take the dog back to the Animal Shelter. And leave the kids there, too. Sometimes I let the kids watch cartoons all morning (like from breakfast to lunch) because I just can't do it that day.
Public school, private school, homeschool, whatever. In my opinion, they each have their advantages and disadvantages so you really can't make a bad decision! They are all great! And they are all flawed. I'd say I'm pretty normal, and more like you than you know. I drink coffee, color my hair, listen to country music, have a strange and secret love for Keeping Up With The Kardashians, work from home, will let pretty much anyone watch my kids, argue with my husband, buy random things from Target, etc. No braids or denim jumpers here!

But that could awwwkward, because then I'd probably go into the list of reasons why we chose to homeschool and some of the things we do, and how we struggle but where we find support, and by then the Random Person We Just Met would be slowly backing away wishing she'd never even said anything at all.

But what's that you say, dear reader? You would like to hear about all those things?? Well, alrighty! Since you asked (or not...) I'll try to put something together in the next week or so! :)

My Little (Big) Guy

I read this {little article} tonight, and I almost couldn't breath. With tears in my eyes, I had to resist the urge to crawl into my oldest son's bed to cuddle. I stopped myself when I remembered his smelly blankie and other little sleeping boy in the room who would probably wake up if I tried to sneak in. But I still panicked. He's getting so big. Here he is on his 4th birthday earlier this month.

At four years old, he carries a bow and arrow (AKA a clothes hanger and a colored pencil) around the house like Robin Hood, brings a little plastic TOY kitchen knife with him when we run errands (you know, in case he needs to fight some bad guys), he likes pirates, Transformers and dinosaurs. He hardly ever wants to snuggle with his mama.

But he used to. I love it that he still calls me mama. A couple of days ago, I asked him, "Becky, do you usually call me Mama or Mommy?" And he replied (in a deep voice and serious face), "I call you Mother." what????

He used to not want to be put down. He used to screeeeeeam when I'd leave him in the YMCA playroom. Now he hardly notices I'm gone. I remember when I wouldn't let Reese play with the small Legos because she had a baby brother who would put them in his mouth. Now, he spends hours building airplanes and cars and who-knows-what with those same little Legos.

My desire is to raise a confident young man. A person who can think independently, make smart decisions, cares about others, loves God, and treats people with respect. Raising a son feels very different than raising a daughter. Reese and I have our own girl thing. It's hard to explain, but I don't think he'll ever quite understand how much his mama loves him. Even when he's 30 and married and I still call him Becky.

(If you didn't read {that article}, really, you should!)

Okay, okay, I'm back.

I reeeeeaaaalllly am going to try to get on a more consistent blogging schedule. (Just like I've decided yesterday to get on a more consistent laundry, work, cleaning, school schedule. All in one week. It'll all just easily just falls in place, right? Right...)

I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for me. Because this time in our life moves so fast and I do want to try to remember those little moments. Like how Beckett got that scar above his left eye. And how Reese and I went to a Princess Tea Party with Rapunzel. Or how much Jasper loves his best buddy across the street who is only a week older than him. Or how Henley has an ear infection but I accidentally threw her medication in the box that I dropped off at Goodwill. (ugh)

And now, with that said, I'm not sure what to write. A post to get everyone up to speed sounds overwhelming, so that's out of the question. So why don't I just tell you the plans for the rest of our day? The kids are watching Barbie: A Mermaid Tale right now while I catch up on some emails and Jasper naps.  We need to run to either Target (which means I will get a coffee at Starbucks, plus its closer and nicer) or Walmart (farther away, crazytown but cheaper, and I can drop off the overflowing recycling there) to get the remaining ingredients to make my own laundry detergent, gummy worms for the co-op on Friday, mayonnaise, and a couple of other things. Plus I need to get more meds from the vet so my dogs ears don't explode or something.

Then we have gymnastics this evening at 4:45. When we get home, the kids usually play outside with all their neighbor friends and I get supper ready (pasta and some sort of sauce - always on Tuesdays). Easy-peasy since Wade usually works late on Tuesdays. If I was REALLY on top of it, I'll start a batch of breadsticks before we run our errands.

A picture? Well, I just heard Jasper yelling, which means he's awake and I need to put the sheets in the dryer and make lunch for the kids.. Next time :)