Lifesong

Shots From Today

It's harder these days to find the time to update my blog, especially since Avery decided to quit napping a few weeks ago. This makes for some exhausting days! I was quick to implement quiet time when Ansley gave up napping (at 3), but that was a lot easier because a) the house was actually quiet and b) she wasn't as strong willed and c) there weren't any other siblings to make her feel like she was missing out. The combo of a through c nowadays makes it nearly impossible.

Basically what I'm saying is moms of young kids, enjoy quiet time while you can!

Because here I am, in my very loud house that is only quiet when they are into something they shouldn't be with no naptimes to juggle and three kids awake all day long and it's strange.

But today I thought I'd do some snapshots of our day. I thought it might be something I could handle.

8:37 am

Avery climbing this morning to see what Ansley is doing. Avery always wants to get dressed right away (and always with what she picks out), but she also goes through anywhere from six to ten outfit changes a day. I can see changes in her - she remains calm (for the most part) through our school day, she plays nicely, she doesn't draw on the walls, but there are other things that can drive me crazy. Like outfit changes. Also, Ansley was getting breakfast. It was rather late for her, but she spent the morning getting school work done and cleaning up, so I was very thankful.

12:32 pm

Lunchtime shot. Last year I was knee deep in kidney stones at this point, and ended up having surgery on Halloween. Which means we never got to carve pumpkins. So this year, I am determined to carve some, but now it's the week of Halloween and we still haven't. John picked up three pumpkins while he was out yesterday, so here they are waiting. I'm so excited! Tonight is our only free night all week, so tonight is the night. One for each kid - I can't wait!

1:17 pm

Laundry is always there, waiting on me. Even when I tell it not to.  I usually dump it on Christian's bed, because it's the closest room to the laundry room, and then fold it and distribute to each room. It's a regular part of my days.

2:28 pm

The kids cleaned up the playroom. I mean, really cleaned. It looked great! (And I didn't ask them to!)

2:56 pm

This is a common sight on any day. She is doing really great. The only problem is she only wants to use this potty, which creates challenges when we go anywhere. I'm working on getting her to the big potty with the Elmo seat, but it's a slow process. I can't complain, though, because she has done really, really well with the potty training. She is completely a panty girl, with the exception of nighttime, and boy does she love picking out panties in the morning. The other morning she said "Mama, will you change my diaper?" And I opened her drawer and pulled out panties, to which she said "Oh yea, I not a baby anymore, I wear big girl panties." Growing up fast!

And that's our day today! Well, a glimpse anyway. Happy Tuesday!

 

3:30 pm

A little Mimi time. She loves for Mimi to "talk BunBun" which means Mimi talks to Avery using BunBun and they have a conversation. Avery could do this forever, I think!

Weeknight Hike

We had such fun doing this last year that we had to do it again this year too. After Ansley's dance class this evening, we headed up to Look Rock Tower for a family hike and to watch the sun go down. It's so beautiful here! The kids had a great time running around, and the view was stunning.

This is the start of our hike. It was pretty chilly, but not bad. I don't think anyone was freezing since we were walking, but it's definitely feeling like fall now!

The kids on a rock as we were heading back down. Obviously these were taken on my iPhone. I keep thinking that it takes just as good of pictures as my camera, but I'm wrong. I need to start bringing my camera, it just seemed heavy at the time. Perhaps it's a lazy week for me.

But nevertheless, it was a wonderful family night!

Sunday, 7:37 pm

We enjoyed s'mores over the fire pit after our cabin weekend. Yummy!

Firsts

Today we had several firsts that I wanted to make sure I captured, for the sake of memories. Even when Ansley says "Seriously??" when I grab my camera and looks suspiciously like a grown girl embarassed by her mother. But I know that can't be the case, because she's not grown, and I am never embarassing. I always tell them "One day you will appreciate the fact that I took so many photos!" because you know what? I am confident that one day, they will. But it's obviously not today.

Christian had his first test today! He did really well, mostly because we just really love his First Grade teacher. She is who we hoped he would get this year!

(I don't count off for backwards "S's" - it's a learning process.)

I'm trying really hard lately to get off my automatic setting on my camera and use the manual setting. So today I was playing around with the aperture and shutter speed, trying to figure it out, when I caught this photo by accident.

And I kinda love it. Even though her face is a little blurry and Ansley's arm is at the top and she refuses to wear clothes that match, I just love seeing her laugh with her siblings.

And this one.

Hilarious. She cracks me up, and those legs and that hair are some of my favorite things in the whole world. I'm really trying to savor, because when I look back at pictures of Ansley and Christian at this age, I CAN'T EVEN. So I gotta soak it up.

Ansley started dance back today. She was very excited, but it's a pretty long afternoon for her, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go. She is taking ballet and tap, but there is a 45 minute gap in between each class, so she just hangs out with some snacks and books and waits for her tap class. John picks her up, because her dance studio is near his work. She really loved it today, and can't wait to go back!

These three are so silly. Almost every night, Avery gets up in Ansley's bed, thinking she's going to sleep there (but we're not there yet). They were being so silly on this night so I had to snap some pictures.

Avery goes to bed much later (as the third) than the other two ever did, so she's usually pretty wiped out by the time she gets to bed.

Soaking up this last month of 9, 6 and 2 1/2.

(Because Ansley will be ten one month from today, in case you didn't catch that.)

 **All of these things actually happened yesterday, but I didn't get around to finishing this post, so there ya go.

What Three Has Taught Me

I've been thinking about this for awhile: how I've changed by becoming a Mama of three. So here are my thoughts, in no particular order, on what I've learned since having three. Stay tuned next year for what four has taught me. Oh, I kid. Just making sure you are paying attention. For clarification, there will not be four. I am old, and sometimes weary, but never crazy (unless a two year old is tantruming).

1. I ask for, and receive, far more patience than what I thought was possible for me. There are some people that told me "Once you have two, anything after that is, like, nothing. It's like adding an extra hermit crab - no more work than the other two!" Okay, so no one actually used the hermit crab analogy, but I thought it fit. How much work can another hermit crab be, really? But these people lied, and had no idea just how much more taxing another hermit crab is. I mean, baby. Three is a LOT more work. A LOT. Even now, when one of my children is gone for the day or evening, I think wow, making lunches for just two kids is a piece of cake! I really do think that. I may have issues. I know it may sound crazy (and I'm never crazy, see above), but somehow just the effort of three plates, three cups, three sandwiches.....it is consuming. But two? Well that fits in both hands. One trip across the kitchen to the table. See? So adding a third, for me, has really challenged my patience, but it seems that I can keep finding more when I need it and ask for it, and at just the moment when I think I'm about to run out and never have any again. Ever. I never would have thought I'd have the patience to school two kids while a one year old screams and colors on walls and jumps off tables, but I did it, and now it's done. AND I survived.

{Nowadays, I'm hoping to survive potty training. The jury is still out.}

2. Three is a crowd. Usually, two of anything get along quite nicely. Like two hermit crabs, for instance. (I don't know what's up with me and hermit crabs.) Two can play together, or sit together or run around together. But when you add a third, you throw in a strange dynamic that often creates two plus one. Meaning, two of them are playing and laughing and getting along just fine, but that means one of them is left out and showing it. And despite what you may think, it's not always the girls leaving Christian out. Not always, sometimes they all three can play together so nicely that I can get in my 10 mile run for the day, but some days it just doesn't go that way. Again, I just like to make sure you are paying attention - I don't run. Not ten miles, not one mile, not .5 miles. It's just not in me. But you know what is in me? Having three kids, apparently, and also chocolate chip cookies.

3. When your kids are a bit older, that two-ness can be SOSO sweet. I think I appreciate it more. (Now the flip side is I probably get more aggravated by the not-so-nice two-ness.) Since my other two are 9 and 6, I have long forgotten what it was like to have a two year old. Nine and six year olds, they don't climb into my lap when they are hurt. They don't follow after me like zombies with their arms out saying "up, pea, up, pea" (up, please). They don't say "you heavy, Mama" when I'm carrying them around, mostly because I don't carry them around. They don't having the sweetest little raspy voices that mispronounce words that send me into hysterics. Now, I know, they also don't send me in the fetal position in the corner chanting "make it stop, make it stop" but I'm trying to focus on the positive. Two years can be so, so exhausting, but there are some seriously adorable moments sprinkled into each day that make me want to eat her up. Ridiculously adorable.

4. God is sovereign. Of course I know that, but I say that with conviction and certainty, and I'll tell you why. I COULD NOT have had three kids a year apart, or even two years apart. I would have died. And God knew that, so he gave me two, and then another blessing a little further down the road. And I swear, all babies should come with a seven year old girl. (Ansley was seven when Avery was born.) She was so helpful with all the demands that come with a newborn, and now, as a nine and two year old, she is that much more helpful. Ansley gets her dressed, helps with potty training, fixes her breakfast, calms her down, eases her fears. And I can see that it has made Ansley so comfortable around other little kids, instead of being awkward like a lot of older girls are. I love that Ansley can quickly get most little kids to warm up to her fast, because she's used to it. She knows what it's like to have a younger one around, and she can be sensitive to those needs. I think it will make her a great babysitter, as well as older sister. And I think it's great that Christian will be so used to being around girls - one older, one younger, and he can hang with either one. He is sweet and thoughtful, and he has learned a lot about what it means to be a big brother. So even though I get "Wow, you really spaced them out!" and "Why didn't you just stick with two?" the ages of my children work perfectly for me.

5. I see things in my older two that I would have missed out on, and a side of their character that would have never gotten a chance to develop. I never would have known I was missing out, but in hindsight, I would be so sad to miss out on these moments. They love to play together, it's true. But I would have never witnessed how completely thoughtful Christian is when he brings his sister a cup of milk when she's crying. I would have never known that Ansley had the compassion to scoop Avery up in her arms when she's scared by thunder. Or seeing Christian read a story with Avery while waiting in the doctor's office. Or watching Ansley try everything under the sun to figure out why Avery is crying and what she can do about it. I would have missed out on the relationship that my kids have with each other, the kindness they show each other, the love they share, and the silly ways that only they understand. There is a side of Ansley and Christian that only Avery sees (and me if I'm lucky) and I love that they have this sweet, loving relationship of being one of the few to have known Avery her whole life. What a blessing this is.

And how blessed I am that I get to live it.

Busted

I stepped away for a moment, and when I looked back up, this is what I saw. She learns quick. I was making chocolate chip cookies, and she knew it, and she sensed her moment. Instead of saying anything, though, I of course picked up my camera, because that's what I do in this beautiful life of mine. I don't want to miss a thing, and I want to remember that two is terribly exhausting, but in the next moment two is so delicious I just want to eat it (and her) up.

She has been wearing this dress/nightgown for five days straight. I'm not sure how we will ever get it away from her. And the headband? That's her own element of style. She cracks us up, that's for sure!

When I was a teenager, I used to go to the mall with my best friend, Heather, and we would always have to eat a Double Doozie. Back then I could do that - nowadays, not so much. But tonight I got it in my head to try a homemade version. And when I get something in my head, it's pretty much done.

Sadly, much like golf, you apparently have to grow up around it to really appreciate it. No one else liked them (but that was okay because there were plenty of plain 'ol cookies) except me. I thought it was delicious. Ansley is spending the night with Mimi so she didn't try it, but I suspect she wouldn't like them either.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some, and I eat the cookies either way.

 

Our Big Girl and the Lost Tooth

This is what this week is looking like.

There are a couple things worth noting.

Avery has been telling me lately that her diaper is itching, so I've been pumping her up telling her how much more comfortable big girl panties will be, thinking this will certainly win her over because two year olds are so logical. How ironic that they are giving her a little baby wedgie, and she's probably thinking "THIS is supposed to be comfortable?" Oops. I see I need to get that worked out. (wink, wink)

I probably didn't really have it in me (would I ever have?) in this second week of school to buckle down on some potty training. But Ansley decided to just knock it out, and she has been so good about encouraging Avery to sit on the potty and work with her. So now I am obligated to keep it going. I'm not complaining, I'm very thankful for Ansley helping out, and I know it would (have to) happen sooner or later. She is still pretty stubborn, but she does sit on the potty and we got some Pull-Ups for naptime and nighttime, so we will see. I do love the idea of no more diapers!

Christian got his tooth pulled today (since his permanent tooth was coming in on top of it) so this makes Tooth Number Two.

He was a little nervous, but he did great! He is excited to start the tooth-losing process. I, however, am shoving those teeth back in his mouth, because that will keep him little. Right?

At least I have that potty-training baby that's still little!

The First Week

Well, our first full week of school is behind us, and this sums up my thoughts at the end of Week One:

A TWO YEAR OLD IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY THAN A ONE YEAR OLD.

You know that saying "What a difference a day makes?" I'm here to tell you WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES. I'm really sorry to keep yelling that, I'm just so excited I can hardly stand it. It's no secret that last year was a VERY DIFFICULT year for me, homeschool wise. Avery was challenging and hard to keep up with and keep track of, and she'd scream and yell and write on walls and throw things off tables and write on school work. HARD. And I'm not saying she doesn't do any of those things anymore, but holy cow, am I seeing major progress. And I'm also not saying that I won't ever have a week where I need to send her away to boot camp for toddlers, but this is not that week. She has done so, so well this week. She is engaging, she stays with the activities I have for her, she colors on paper, she is (relatively) quiet and calm, she plays, she laughts. She plays much better with the kids, not as much screaming and yelling when she doesn't get her way (although there is some still).

Also I am seriously loving the curriculum we have for this year. L-O-V-I-N-G. Maybe having a sorta calm two year old contributes to that, and maybe in October I won't be singing the same tune, but for right now, here is what is going well for us.

We start every morning with Circle Time. We did this every day this week (I know five days doesn't make a habit or even a tradition, but just go with me) and I am finding that my kids really look forward to it. It is a great way to start our day, all together, before each child has his own work or things to do and it's more separate. We start with prayers and memory work, and the other day I skipped the alphabet and Avery said "No, no Mama - now the apa-bet!" So she's even in on it. I am not in any way getting paid for this, but I highly recommend Draw to Learn Proverbs. It is so, so good and my kids really enjoy this part of our day. I keep all their drawings in a folder (one for each of them) so I can look back at them. Some of them really make me laugh or bring tears to my eyes.

Another thing we are all really enjoying is our history curriculum (The Mystery of History Volume I: Creation to Resurrection). If you know me well, "loving" and "history" in the same sentence from me is probably confusing, but this is SO interesting! I love it. Christian finds the stories really interesting, and they both love our timeline. We work on the timeline once a week, and it was a family affair this morning. Ansley and Christian colored and cut out the pieces to go on it, and then everyone helped get them on our timeline.

If you are wondering why we have cherries in our timeline, it's because I let Ansley pick it out.

We had our first spelling test today on pink paper. That just makes everything better.

Christian is really concentrating on his handwriting. So cute!

She's still our wild one, just slightly calmer than last year.

And she can better entertain herself when she needs to. She is very into playing with toys and getting dressed up. However, she also loves to run around in her nudie-tudies.

Lunch time in the cafeteria went well.

Don't get me wrong, there are still moments. Christian has a really hard time sitting still. Often, for every letter he writes or math problem he does, I'll have him run around the school room or do 5 jumping jacks. He just has a lot of energy, and I know it would be really hard for him if he was stuck behind a desk all day. We still have subjects we don't love. Okay, subject. (I'm looking at you, mathematics. You would be gone in a flash if it were up to me. Oh wait I guess it is up to me so that's not entirely true. You stick around because you love to torture me.) And, I'm gonna keep it real, Avery colored - in marker - on the wall this morning while we were learning about cells. SIGH. And also the amount of time it takes Ansley to complete one math problem can send me into a hissy fit, but I really try to control that.

Despite a few hiccups here and there, it really was a wonderful start to our school year! I am excited about my eager learners, what we are learning, and all our new adventures this year together!

Now I'm going to make a special treat for the end of our school week. I hope they don't expect that every week though!

The First Day of School

We started back to school today. We were all ready. I don't really consider myself a super structured, over the top scheduler kind of girl, but maybe I'm fooling myself. Summers can make me crazy. Don't get me wrong, I love lazy, carefree days with nothing to do. But some days that means that I'm totally unmotivated to do anything. I get selfish. Like, leave me alone I'm resting and this is my summer kind of selfish.

But then when there's routine and there are kids to teach and things to plan and lessons to get in order and books to read, I just get all energized with my GO face on. And I'm much happier, even though there are a million things to do and this doggone house STILL doesn't clean itself and the kitchen gets messy and spills happen - I've got a routine, we have things to do, so there's a smile on my face and all is well.

All that to say that IT WAS TIME. My kids had entered the "I'm bored" zone, no chores were getting done, and we'd used up all our summer fun. So, back to school we went! My kids were ready.

I love purchasing school supplies, and I may have gone a tad overboard. But it's just so fun! And they make such cute things nowadays, like kitty cat erasers and neon lined paper. Who wouldn't love school with all that? I was hoping maybe some neon paper and cat-topped pencils would really make math fun, but turns out there were no miracles taking place today, just good ol' fashioned school mixed in with fun and laughter.

{twas the night before school starts and all through the house......}

This year I am trying something different to get our mornings going. I've seen a lot about it over the years, but I think I've just been too inconsistent (is that another word for lazy?) to implement it. But THIS IS THE YEAR. We are going to start out our mornings with a little "Circle Time" - odds and ends, memorizing, things that are important that I never seem to get to. We start our day together, all gathered around the table, and my thought is that my kids will enjoy it, and it will get our day off to a good start, especially because we will take turns praying to start it off.

{Drawing from Proverbs}

We do some reciting - like the alphabet for Avery, basic information for Christian, and math facts for Ansley. Then we draw from Draw to Learn Proverbs which is also something new we are trying out this year. On day one, the kids really enjoyed it and did a great job. Then we do some Scripture memory, catechism and read-alouds.

I bought donuts for the kids so breakfast went smoothly since they all love donuts. They enjoyed their donuts and smoothies while we all sat around the table having our Circle Time. I loved it, and I think they did too. I pray that I can be consistent with it, because it was a really great way to start our day.

{maybe a small miracle - everyone in the school room!}

Then I was going to send Ansley to get dressed (Christian always gets himself dressed first thing) but she was so ready to start school, so we went ahead and got started. I found out that Ansley has three things that she can do on her own, so I am going to have those ready and waiting for her each morning so she can get started on them. She got started on Spelling (we are using BJU Spelling 5), Writing (we are using A Reason for Handwriting) and Reading (she loves the A Beka readers).

{Ansley improving her writing skills}

While she did that, Christian and I worked on Phonics (we are using A Beka) and Writing (Handwriting Without Tears). It went pretty quickly because it was just a review, and Christian remembered everything, which was great!

Reading doesn't start until next week (my kids and I just love the A Beka readers) but Christian was anxious to get started.

{Christian can't wait to get started!}

Then everyone got ready and did their chores, so we had a quick little break. I convinced everyone to come outside on this BEAUTIFUL cool July morning and take some pictures.

Here's Ansley at the beginning of the Fourth Grade:

And now at the beginning of Fifth Grade, her last year in elementary school. Wow!

Here is Christian at the beginning of Kindergarten:

Oh my. I can tell a big difference here! And now, at the beginning of First Grade:

I couldn't manage to get a "normal" shot of him. I thought I'd nailed it here:

Until later when I saw he had flipped the sign so it said "Fifth Grader." Stinker! He is quite a funny boy!

Here is the best shot I could get of Avery. You can't see it, but her sign says "Preschool."

She really loved her school supplies, and carried them around almost all day.

Then we headed back in for some more learning.

{This is what our table looks like at this point.}

We read History out loud together (we are using The Mystery of History Volume 1) and it brought about great discussions! Avery happily colored the whole time. No, I'm serious. Really, she did.

Ansley went back to some of her independent work while Christian and I did math together (we are using Singapore Math), which he breezed through and claimed it was too easy. Not to sound braggy, but Christian really has a gift in math. Either that, or I'm just so horrible in it that it makes him seem really impressive. (While Ansley and I were working on math later that afternoon, Christian answered several of her problems that she didn't know.)

{Christian loves math! This baffles me.}

Then it was time for a break!

{I love the relationship between these three!}

We read Science together, which I think is going to be so fun. We are studying Anatomy and Medicine this year (we are using Sonlight), and the kids are very into it. I can't wait, and I like that they can both learn the same thing together.

Then it was time for lunch. For an after lunch, first day treat, I made milkshakes.

{M&M milkshakes}

Once I set Christian's down, I discovered he had made a special straw to use. This boy is our comic relief during the day!

{Oh, the mind of a boy!}

After lunch, everything was done except Ansley's math. It's what we all dread the most. (We use Teaching Textbooks.)

You can see the happy look on Ansley's face. Christian was drawing. That was a big hit around here today. Math takes awhile because Ansley listens to the lecture (I was playing a game with Avery) and then she needs help. So the conversation sounds something like this: A: Why do you have to put a zero there? M: I don't know, you just do. A: So then I add? M: No, you subtract. No, wait, you're right, you add. Sorry.

I'm such a great math teacher, which is why we went with the online lessons. But we may need more this year.

Does it feel like it should be 7 pm at this point? But it isn't even naptime, because LOOK WHAT AVERY IS DOING THE WHOLE TIME WE ARE DOING MATH.

It was seriously amazing. Not only was she happy, she was even coloring on PAPER! This is huge.

I love homeschooling. It's just in my blood. It fits our family in this season, and I am so grateful for all the benefits. Days like today especially encourage me, and I see hope that we may have a much calmer school year! The kids were so excited, Avery was with us but busy all day, and then when she went down for her nap, school was done. A great day!