Bliss & That: July 2010

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

...and Now She's {Six}...

Tucking Bella into bed on Sunday night, she glanced at her Hello Kitty clock like she does every night and announced the time, "It's 8:56..."

I usually say that it's way too late to be awake still, but that night it took my breath away... Six years ago, I was holding my first child, a sweet and tiny 5 1/2 lb. baby girl only five minutes old.

"Yes, you were five minutes old six years ago! You had just been born at 9:51 at night in Ohio."

"I waaas?!"

"Yep! You surprised Mommy and Daddy by coming early! We weren't expecting you yet!"

"How long did I have to stay at the hospital after I was born?"

"Six days... Not too bad, huh!? Then we brought you home..."

We brought her home, not expecting her to be Daddy's only little girl in a house full of boys...

We brought her home, not knowing she'd have a bubbly (and loud at times!) personality that shines and shines...

We brought her home, not knowing that {six} years could possibly go by so fast.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

More than a Lemonade Stand...

We had a lemonade stand in our front yard on Sunday...

It's something that the "big" kids have been bugging me to do for a long time. Like going on two months long... Isabella would ask weekly, "Wheeen are we gonna have our lemonade and sucker stand!?"

"Soon, Honey... Let's wait until summer

so it's nice and hot."

"Soon, Honey... Let's wait until the

weekend so we have more customers."

"Soon, Honey... It's raining today."

"Soon, Honey... Let's wait until Daddy is

home and can see you and help."

"Soon. Soon. Soon."

Can you tell yet that it was one of "those" things that I put off not due 100% to the reasons given, but for my own selfish ones? ...it will be work to put it together, and it will put me out of my comfort zone, and what if I have to meet a lot of new neighbors, and what if nobody comes and my heart is broken for my children's hearts, and, and, and...

Sunday was the "perfect" day... It was summer and hot. It was the weekend. It was beautiful and sunny. Daddy was home.

We made signs during Brigg's naptime, prepared our lemonade, and gathered our supplies. We set up in a whirlwind while keeping kids corraled off the street. The babes were blissful.

I was worried that nobody would come, since it was close to supper time. Did they come? Boy, did they ever!! A flurry at the beginning, a few in the middle, and selling out during a flurry at the end, forcing us to cease operation until another time. Another perfect day...

As I sat there on my blanket next to our stand watching my oldest scurry up to the table-sit-smile-wave as each car turned the corner, I learned so much. This was more than just a burdensome lemonade stand to me, and so, so much more than a lemonade stand to them. When I look at these pictures of our three babies sitting in a row behind their stand, my heart swells and aches. It truly was the perfect lesson, the perfect day...

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Homeschool Roundtable

Well, our homeschooling journey will begin in another month or two, and I'm getting both very excited and anxious! We're feeling confident and peaceful that this is what's right for us and our family now, so all that's left to do is take a deep breath, jump in, and do a lot of praying! :)

I know that I have some veteran homeschooling mamas as readers, and I've come to you and scoured your blogs for ideas and inspiration, but now I was hoping for you to come and give some encouragement and your best, most useful ideas and resources.

We'll be using My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum for Isabella. Lincoln will be able to sit-in on a lot of the kindergarten activities that are non-reading/math as well as doing his own preschool reviewing and activities. {Brigham will be getting into a lot, and the baby will be nursing and sleeping a lot also...} ;) I've put together a few questions or points that I've been thinking about.... Any thoughts on any of them?

1) What books do you suggest that I read before starting this journey into homeschooling, whether to inspire or for information?
2) Other than ordering MFW-K curriculum, what should I be buying? What are your "schoolroom" must-haves? Dry-erase board? Lots of good books?
3) How do you set up your space for school? I'm sure this will evolve over the years!
4) Any really useful websites or magazines you frequent?
5) How do you keep everything running smoothly in your house as you keep up with both housework and schooling?

Whew! Again, I'm so excited to get things rolling and start down this new and winding path that we're led on...

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Daddy {Mark}

Both my high school and modern-day sweetheart {he claims he's loved me since seventh grade}, Daddy’s the reason we’re on this awesome journey around the U.S. {Truth be told, the kids and I would happily follow him anywhere. We’re pretty fond of him…} So hardworking, he's always busy putting others to sleep. Huh? You see, he really is quite an interesting and diverse person, it's just that he's now an Army Officer schooling in anesthesia. :) For enjoyment and down-time from school and being at the hospital he loves to cook. {What, Honey? You want to make supper? Uhm... okay!} In addition to cooking, he also enjoys hunting and gardening. {See, diverse...} He’s doing a wonderful job already teaching our young boys what is expected of them to develop into a good man and our only daughter what it takes to avoid those good men for the next 30 years or so.

Mommy {Kate}

I'm Kate, spending day and night molding precious lives and trying to keep up with the laundry and dishes. I'm always wondering how I could do things better at home, trying to learn through grace to be the best wife and mother for OUR family, even if others think I'm off my rocker. :) This is still a big work in progress, though, but I'm just so thankful to be doing the only thing I've always wanted to do- be a wife and mama! My newest label other than Army wife is being a homeschooling mommy. I find being in charge of my children’s education just as daunting as being in charge of their haircuts, and I always joke with Mark that I’ll take care of the English if he’ll help out with the higher level math and science. {He's intensely brainy. Yes, the whole package...} Little by little, I'd like to pretend I'm doing ok with teaching them and figuring it out s-l-o-w-l-y. My will-power is next to nothing when it comes to Dr Pepper, spoonfuls of homemade buttercream frosting, my husband's cooking, and a good home décor magazine. I dream of a little hobby farm with a big garden, clothes line, goats {love!}, pasture, and chickens {again} one day...

{Isabella Grace 8}

Our four little ones keep us busy, happy, frustrated, inspired, tired, and loved. Leading the pack is our first and only daughter, Isabella. We should have known from the start that she'd always be our loud and bubbly one, arriving as a tiny peanut four weeks early, surprising us all. She holds her own quite well to say the least with the boys, and is many times the mastermind behind trouble. Her loves are reading and cooking, but not in that order. Bella is turning into quite the beautiful young lady right before our eyes, and is a natural leader and big sister. It’s wonderful to have a big helper at home now too, as mommies of all little ones know how tough it is without “of-age” helpers. We now also find ourselves calling her "Little Mommy" to the boys very often.

{Lincoln Noah 6}

Next there's oldest of the brothers Lincoln, who makes parenting seem way too easy. :) Lincoln’s a lover of monster trucks and sports, though not in that order either. He also recently got bit by the hunting bug, and just got his first compound bow, much to Daddy's delight. Always counting down the years, he can’t wait until he is old enough to be in charge of mowing and “pooper scooping” on our future farm, which is great, since he's a natural at driving. He's also the most affectionate, soft-spoken little boy, always hugging and kissing us while saying, "I love you in the whole wide world."

{Brigham Isaac 4}

Brigham, Little Brother #2, is just a riot lately, and has Mommy and Daddy wrapped around his little finger. {Part of that may be thanks to the fact that he has possibly the longest eyelashes you will ever find on human or beast. We affectionately call them his face blankets.} There's no possible way that he's four years old already, but with that, he has emerged this year as the "class clown" of the family and is always cracking himself or us up with his antics. He is in love with being a big brother to Little Brother #3, but man, can they argue over toys already! His new love is riding his bike on two wheels after getting rid of those nasty training wheels that slowed him down too much. :)

{Griffin Silas 2}

In September 2010, God blessed us with another little boy in our family, who was born at home- a waterbirth. {Loved it!} Griffin's been such a joy and wonderful fit for our family since the beginning. Riding out the gallons of spit-up and thousands of overnight wakings during the first year have all been worth it, and we are enjoying his full-speed approach to toddlerhood now. He keeps up amazingly well with his older siblings and is still at the cutie-patootie age where nobody can stay mad at him. His fluffy blond curls and perfect kisses may have something to do with that. We are all anxious to see how Finn's personality takes shape, making up the sixth piece of our family puzzle.

Bliss & That