Lifesong

Halloween

We enjoyed a fun Halloween evening with our good friends Chad and Rebecca and their children Rylee, Jake, Reese and Jackson.

Hey guys, the camera is this way. Minnie Mouse, an Indian, frog, Annakin, cowboy, and a dragonfly.

Ansley and Christian before trick or treating. Christian knew exactly who he wanted to be this year, and Ansley always goes for the sparkle.

Ansley and Rylee, AKA the Indian and toothless dragonfly.

The evil Emperor came trick or treating at our house, and they got in a light saber fight. Christian thought it was hilarious - as you can see from his face.

At the first door of the evening. Christian is there too, he's just in front so you can't see him as well.

The cutest little Annakin Skywalker ever.

A very fun night! Happy Halloween!

Milestone Day

First, this happened:

 
(I highly recommend the Strider bike. It has eliminated training wheels completely!)

Then, this happened:

Her first missing front tooth! It has been loose for awhile, and finally she let John yank it out this evening. (After the promise of ice cream.)

She is thrilled to finally have it out, and Christian is very proud of his new big boy skill!

Got Books?

We are a book loving, snuggle on the couch, spend hours reading kind of family. I'm sure this is because of my great teaching skills, and my superb ability of passing on my love of reading to both my children.

Either that or kids just love books and it's part of their God given personality. But I'll dwell on the first reason for a bit, okay?

And I'm really kidding - there is no greatness or superbness in this house, at least not on the teacher front. I do my best with my God given ability, and some days that's enough and some days it's only by grace that I make it through. We make it through.

Nevertheless, I do LOVE LOVE (yes, it's a double love) the fact that my kids love books. And Ansley in particular has all of a sudden become this crazy reading obsessed seven year old. Every time I turn around, whether it's when I'm grading her test or taking a short break in school (or just moving too slow for her!), she is reading a book. Or asking me to read a bit thicker one aloud. It comprises a lot of our afternoons, piled on the couch, a child's head on each shoulder (and a baby in the middle!) reading away.

We have discovered some great books. I'm always looking for suggestions, so I thought I'd pass some of our favorites on. I also always place books on hold at our local library and then go pick up a big stack. I mean huge. People stare at us, and almost always an elderly couple will smile and make a comment about being book lovers. We have been known to check out fifty (plus) books at a time.

First up, a newly discovered favorite that Ansley is absolutely CRAZY about, and Christian listens in and then repeats the stories later.

In Grandma's Attic by Arleta Richardson. The chapters are short and very readable. Ansley reads some on her own, and we read some aloud. It takes place in a time that children can't even really imagine (sometimes me either!) and we have lots of fun discussions about the stories. In one story they lose their horse and buggy with their lunch packed in the back while going to town, and the kids are starving all afternoon while they search. Why didn't they just go to a restaurant? Ansley asked. Another story tells of a "new" coat for her, made from her brother's outgrown coat, and all she wants are new buttons. Her mother tells her they need not spend money on any "unnecessary items." Unnecessary?  But buttons are like fifty cents! Ansley says. My how times have changed! There are several books in this series, and you can bet I've already placed my hold on them at the library.

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. SUCH a great story about being kind to everyone, becoming more aware that there are many children in the world with far less, and being compassionate. Ansley and I both got teary eyed by the end of this one! A fabulous book.

Dewey: There's a Cat in the Library! by Vicki Myron. This is based on a true story, and for my animal lovers, it is wonderful! This one is more a children's book that Christian loves as well. There is a book called Dewey that I'm trying to find for Ansley as well. Such a sweet story!

 
The Mr Putter and Tabby series by Cynthia Rylant. Both my kids LOVE this series - there are LOTS of them about sweet old Mr Putter and his old cat Tabby and their adventures together. Sweet, sweet stories. Ansley is usually reading these to Christian while I am making lunch. Or cleaning the kitchen. Or making dinner. They LOVE these stories!

Anything by Richard Scarry. Christian especially loves these, but Ansley enjoys them as well. The writing is very engaging, having kids search for different things on the pages, or solving a simple mystery. The illustrations are great, too! I highly recommend these books. This one just happens to be Christian's favorite.

 
Castle Diary by Richard Platt. An intriguing glimpse into a young boy's experiences from the year 1285 with great illustrations. Ansley is fascinated by this one!

This last one is mine. The Uncommon Woman: Making an Ordinary Life Extraordinary by Susie Larson. This is a GREAT book on overcoming the usual temptations of being a woman (pettiness, comparing, gossiping, etc) and taking the uncommon road to rise above it all. A really great and captivating read.

My images are getting worse, and I'm not sure why since I'm doing the same thing I did with the top ones. But it is frustrating me so I will stop here. I have many more great ones, but I'll save them for another day.

Do you have any great book recommendations? I'd love to know about them!

Afternoon Craft

I wish I was motivated more often to drag out the table covers and paper towels, paints and dyes and all other messy things and things with which to clean them up.

Most of the time, though, I'm just lazy. I feel like I already spend a large portion of my day cleaning, and I don't want to add another mess that I helped create to the clean up list.

But then I see the enjoyment that my kids get from it, and I feel a twinge of guilt.

But all days can't be paints and bright colors, right? Sometimes you need the plain old regular days to really appreciate the fun days. That's what I tell myself anyway.

We tried a new craft from Family Fun magazine. It wasn't too messy, and everyone thought it was great.

If you're feeling messy and/or daring today, here's what you do: get some cardstock, glue, salt, little bowls of colored water, and eyedroppers. I actually used old medicine dispensers, but either way works.

Let them draw a design in the glue on the cardstock, then cover it with salt. Instruct them to put ONE drop at a time on the salt and watch the colors spread. It gets really messy if they do more than one drop at a time, we learned. Also, for younger kids, I would recommend drawing some designs for them. You don't have to, if you don't mind glue everywhere, let them do it.

It was an easy and fun project!

Pictures!

My friend Christina took Ansley's seven year pictures several weeks ago, and I got the images back over the weekend. I LOVE them! She did such a fabulous job - now I just have to decide how to narrow it down!

Go to Christina's website, and click to enter the site. Scroll down to Client Area (bottom left) and let the sidebar menu come up, then click on Slideshow/Viewing. Click on Sessions, then "greiner", enter your email address and the password is "ansley."

Let me know your favorites!

If you are looking for a photographer, I highly recommend Christina. She does fabulous work!

The New and Improved Schoolroom: Done!

The shelves are painted and everything is getting in place. I love having all this space for books in our schoolroom! I love books, and my kids love 'em too, so it makes for a fun and cozy space.

(And, yes, John built the shelves in one day. He's got talent.)

Over Halfway

I am twenty-two weeks today, so I am officially over halfway to meeting our baby girl!

The past few weeks of pregnancy have been good to me. I have felt great, no more headaches, no nausea or vomiting, lots of energy. I have gotten lots of little sewing projects done, made a homemade pumpkin pie, cleaned out closets, organized baby stuff (well that was easy since we have like two baby things left), read several books. It's crazy! It's like some sort of high energy person has taken over my body! Uh oh. Let's hope that's not a sign of things to come. I prefer to have a very low key, relaxed little person take over my body. Who likes to sleep more than she cries. And prefers laughing over anything else.

It's a pregnant Mama's right to dream before the baby comes, isn't it?

The baby's nursery is coming together - we have the crib and bedding set up, the closet organized, and we are getting ready to paint the room. What else do you need with your third, really? I can't think of anything.

Ansley took some twenty two week photos this morning. She has trouble focusing, but it's all I got. And I mean literally, focusing the camera. The shots are a little blurry, but I can't take them myself.

It's funny, in just every day moving around, I really don't feel all that big. But pictures don't lie. I think God has been kind to me, keeping me in denial.

My strangest pregnancy story so far (with this one) is a lady last week who asked me when I was due. I told her February, and she asked if I knew what I was having. I said "Yes,  it's a....." to which she interrupts and says "DON'T TELL ME! I am SO good at this, I am never wrong. Let me guess." It's very awkward, for the record, to have a stranger eyeing me up and down, saying things like "you are carrying high" and "your butt has gotten bigger". Okay, she didn't really say that last one but I know she was thinking it. I could feel it. So we go through this painfully awkward analyzing process and finally she yells all triumphantly "It's a BOY!"

I really hated to burst her bubble.

But I did. No, I said, it's a girl.

WHAT? she says. Are you sure? I am never wrong! I've never been wrong. And as she's walking away, she's still eyeing me up and down, making random comments about various parts, while questioning my ability to hear my doctor say "G-I-R-L." 

I tell ya, it was a strange experience. I have never had anyone do that before.

Ansley likes the shots where she cuts off my face. I'm really not complaining. In fact, I may start to prefer this method of picture taking. All we're really after here is the growing belly, right? No need to document all the other, ah-hem, growing parts.

So, that's it for now. Eighteen weeks to go!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139: 13

 

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

We belong to a homeschool Field Trip group, which means every month there are LOTS of moms and kids that get to go do something fun and entertaining. This month we went to a local pumpkin patch.

Ansley, of course, always finds the more unique things to do, like jumping across hay bales.

There was a fun train ride, which was Christian's favorite part, he said. It really was cute to see this long train full of smiling kids. Here, Christian and Noah get the very first car and are ready to go!

Ansley and Keris enjoyed riding together as well. Who says trains are just for boys? I'm pretty sure they had just as much fun!

There it goes!

The Corn Box was a huge hit - a sand box, except filled with kernels of corn instead. All the kids loved to play in here!

Sometimes in random places you get one of those shots that takes your breath away. This is one of those for me. I just wish I could freeze this face. I often tell Christian that he is not allowed to get any older, because he is just the cutest three year old ever. He always responds that no matter how old he gets, he will still snuggle. (I guess he senses that snuggling is important to his Mama.) I'm holding him to that.

The only problem with this photo is that NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO CUT BOY HAIR. And it drives me crazy. You can really see the butcher job that the latest haircut brought on. Lovely.

We also enjoyed a corn maze, hay ride, seeing lots of animals, feeding some animals, lots of inflatables and a picnic lunch. It was a very fun field trip day!

Ten on Tuesday

It's been awhile since I've done this. Let's see if I can come up with ten interesting things. Well, maybe just ten things. Interesting will be optional.

1. Christian has bunk beds! Bunk beds are fun, and such a boy thing to have, I think. The plan is since we had to take Mimi's room down to make way for the baby's room, we were then in a conundrum: where would Mimi sleep? I've always wanted to be able to slip conundrum in a sentence. Mimi likes to sleep with the fam, where she can be near the kids, and since she comes so often, we like to make a cozy place for her. So back to the plan: Ansley will sleep with Christian in his bunk beds, and Mimi can have Ansley's bed (which is really the comfiest bed in the house.) Our plan has worked well; so well, in fact, that Ansley doesn't really want to leave Christian's room to sleep in her own bed. (This also has to do with the bunny incident, not so much that she thinks bunk beds are really cool.)

There's a lot more room in there than it appears in this photo.

2. I'm officially halfway! Whoosh, twenty weeks is gone. Twenty more to go, give or take a few days. Weeks? Probably not in my case. I am feeling good, no more sickness or headaches, which I am very thankful for. Some days, if I get caught up in the busyness, I can forget I'm pregnant. Strange, isn't it? Hopefully that's typical with the third.

3. I'm always amazed at how different my children are, coming from the same parents, being raised in the same house. It's always just fascinating to me. Ansley loves band-aids, wants one for every (minor) cut; Christian can't stand them. Ansley wails at the slightest sight of a teeny, tiny cut. Christian had blood all over his hand today and was totally fine. Ansley loves stuffed animals around her when she sleeps, Christian just needs one. Ansley is more serious; Christian is silly. I could go on and on....but you get the point. And I'm sure it's the same in your house if you have more than one!

4. I have found a solution for the playroom.

But I can't tell you. You'll think I'm a mean mom. But it works for us! See?

5. I am very happy that the fall weather has arrived. I love all things fall-like: sweaters, jeans, autumn scented candles, apple cider, pumpkins, crock pot meals.

6. I am excited that Craft Day has made its way back into our lives. I trade every other month with my friend Allison, so our kids get to have a day of fun themed crafts every month. September was my month, and I had a fall theme, of course.

And I do love candles.

7. I picked up some apple pears from Sam's. They are crunchy like apples but taste like pears. We like to call them Papples. But whatever you choose to call them, you must get some. They are delicious!

8. I made pumpkin bread the other day. It made two loaves, so I was thinking of who I could give the extra loaf to. Guess I thought too long, because we devoured the two loaves in less than two days. (Sorry, neighbor.)

9. John will be an official UT Graduate on December 10. We are counting down the days! But all in all, it hasn't been bad - we have a nice balance, I think.

10. Ummm, hmmmmm, wow, the last one and I'm at a loss. Oh, my friend Christina just took Ansley's seven year photos. I can't wait to get them back - I'll be sure and post the link!