These Days

Wow. It has been 6 months since my last post. I've been busy. We welcomed baby #5 into our lives on December 26, 2013 and life has been a bit of a blur since. We are completely in love with our new little guy, Jude Tennessee. His brothers and sister are pretty smitten with him. We get asked, "Why Jude?" and, "Where does Tennessee come from?" We chose the name Jude because well, for starters, we love it. We also love the Book of Jude in the Bible, and we love the meaning of Jude, which is "praise." Tennessee is an old family name on my mother's side. My great-grandmother's name was Tennessee, and my great- aunt's name was Tennessee Belle.  I bet you can't guess where they resided until they settled in Oklahoma. So there ya have it! 

These days are so busy and go by so quickly, it's no wonder I have put blogging on the back burner. Here is a peek of life these days. 





 We are back to diaper changes, middle-of-the-night feedings, spit-ups, cooing, swaddling, and cuddling......lots of cuddling! 
 










My house is a wreck all the time. All. the. time. But that is okay, because this season will not last forever. I am enjoying my family more than ever. Because I know how quickly this time will pass with a new baby in the house, I am enjoying all of it. Even the messes. 

 

  

  

 See those boots on the right? That is Henry Bob's latest stunt, and it was almost his last.

 

Hey, at least it's clean! 

 

I think the Playmobil Vikings are protecting the air purifier. Very important.

So, yes, there are lots of messes. Dishes to be washed, laundry to be folded, toys to pick up (okay, or just step over), but its okay because I get to spend every day with these people:

 

 "Children are a gift from the Lord;

they are a reward from Him."

Psalm 127:3

 

Apple Week!

  We just had our first ever "Apple Week" and had a blast! I'm trying to include our 4-year-old in "school" more, which was my main reason for all the extra activities, but even my big kids had a fun time.

I am really thankful that I already had this book, because I could not find ANY apple books at 2 different county libraries. Note to self: Do not wait until the week before apple week to check out books! I'll be much better prepared next year!

 Writing Skills

 Matching

 Marshmallows are important. Always.

 Working hard.

We made caramel apples, it was messy and they loved it!

 Scissor Skills

 Applesauce Cake with Caramel Sauce

  After my kids turned about 3-years-old, they all quit eating applesauce. They just don't like it....and I can't blame them. I think it has a gross consistency.  So, instead of making homemade applesauce, we made applesauce cake. It was a hit!

We did an apple tasting with 9 varieties of apples. Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Fuji, Gala, Jazz,   Golden Delicious, HoneyCrisp, Braeburn, and Red Delicious. They HoneyCrisp won hands down! It's a favorite in our house, we wait all summer for them to come into season.

 Making apple prints

This was such a fun time for me and the kids. Now I need a little break before we start pumpkin week!

Back to school!

Today was our first day back to school. There was wailing and gnashing of teeth. And then, the kids.....they argued and bickered with one another....fought over who gets what color of notebook. It was really, really special. I  do wish I'd had a day that was rosy and perfect. A day that was filled with joyful learning, helpful children, and a cooperative printer and disc drive..but I didn't. 

I had planned on fixing a show-stopping first day of school breakfast, but instead I whopped open a can of cinnamon rolls and called it good! 

 Clearly, Rachel did not like my good morning song and I'll admit, that look on her face had me a bit worried about the direction our day was heading.

Yes. Yes I did. Milk and potato chips.

I bet you can guess which 2 are my morning kids and which 2 aren't. 

 We made it through math, language, world history, grammar, phonics and vocabulary today.

  After school ice cream. I just noticed M is eating with a fork...but that's how we roll around here.

 

I'm back!

I don't really have any reasons for going this long between posts. Lots of excuses, but no reasons, really. Does that even make sense? Probably not. 

A lot has happened in 3 months! We found out we are expecting baby #5 in December! We started a kitchen remodel, which started great and became a disaster very quickly. We are still trying to put our kitchen back together. I'll share more on that another time. 

We did not go on vacation this summer, we had planned on going on vacation in December........but then came the baby news....so no trip in December! We have done nothing this summer, really. It has been wonderful. The kids have spent time with grandparents, we have become a permanent fixture at our neighborhood pool,  had a great week of VBS, Matthew and Andrew had birthdays.....nothing out of this world....but it has been great. We are gearing up to start school on Aug 10, until then we are frequenting the snow cone stands, playing UNO when it's too hot to go to the pool, watching movies, especially westerns (my fav)....and just enjoying the slower pace before we get back into the swing of a new school year. 

I read a blog yesterday and the topic was "summer confessions." You know....the stuff you let slide in the summer because...well, its summer. Here are a few of mine.

• This week, I have washed the same load of laundry 3 times because I kept forgetting to put it in the dryer and it got that disgusting mildew smell. Yep, 3 times.
•  I fed my kids cheez-its and grapes for lunch twice this week.
• On Monday we were home all day (pool closed for cleaning) and I let Andrew take 3 showers, just to keep him entertained.
•  I'm pretty sure I was more excited about seeing Despicable 2 than my kids were. Seriously...I couldn't wait.   

 

Ordinary Day

This is our 3rd year to homeschool. Every year in late April/early May I am ready for a break. I am ready for sunshine, afternoons at the pool, trips to the snow cone stand, long walks in the neighborhood with kids and dog in tow, cooking out every night....I could go on. But, we aren't quite there yet and some days it is tough to stay the course. We have had an unusually wet and cold spring and this family cannot wait for the sun and warmer temps to return so we can spend more time outside.

We managed to get through reading, math and vocabulary this morning. This afternoon we took some time to do important stuff like....play dough.

I remember these hands being much smaller.

This is Henry Bob. This is what he does when the kids are working. I'm pretty sure he is tired of being cooped up in the house due to all the rain lately. I wuv him.

This is Henry's "Icy Stare." If you watch Duck Dynasty, you know all about Uncle Si's icy stare.....well, Henry Bob has one, too. This is what he looks like when he wants to play, needs to go potty outside, has been digging in the trash and wants you to know about it, and anytime anyone is eating anything. I'm pretty sure he could stare down Uncle Si. 

After Henry's impromptu photo shoot, they are still playing with play dough.

M loves to draw.

And he loves to laugh!

I love him!

Then they decided to get out the piece of crap toy that one of our kids begged for at Christmas....it broke after a week, but they still play with it. I've tried to throw it away a few times, but it keeps reappearing. 

I'm not sure what the deal was here, but I promise you, nothing terrible happened. I really don't know.

I just love her chippy pink polish. Sweetest lil' hands ever!

We had a fun day today. I am learning to find joy in the little things.....even play dough!