Jack's First Hair Cut

Last week I gave Mr. Jack his first hair cut!  He is 20 months old, which means he was the youngest of our kids to have his first hair cut.  His hair has grown in sort of funny on the top, plentiful on the top and in the back but sort of sparce on either side.  We left the top alone, I trimmed only a bit that fell into his eyes, but I cut the back that would hang over his shirt collar and I trimmed over his ears.  It's hard to tell in the photos but it did make a big change (to me)!

before

My Babies

Playing with matching cards.  Found out that if we do it on the stair case, he can be super wiggly and do "donkey kicks" while working!

One of his favorite places to play- Mommy and Daddy's bed!  I don't know why I bother to make our bed every day!

Love this pic of Luke.  They both love playing in our bed so much, they always wind up wrestling- good thing it's a king size!

This little girlie loves her new helmet.  She's doing "tricks" on her scooter now, I'll need to take a video soon!

Another busy week gone by...  I had two evening meetings with clients, we're dealing with getting Ryan's car fixed, Jack got a little cold on Wednesday (and therefore hasn't been napping) and today Beth developed a fever.  We've been so fortunate to hardly be sick this winter!  Our last fever episode was in November when we were taking our family photos... I have noticed that they hadn't been sick but I didn't actually want to say it out loud! 

Tomorrow I'm attending a half-day retreat with a Catholic author/blogger, Rachel Balducci.  I'm traveling with some girlfriends and I'm really looking forward to the outing!  Ryan has spent a couple of his nights this week assembling his new basketball goal... He said, "It's not as easy as Ikea furniture!"  Ha ha! 

He also gave in and mowed our backyard today... The weeds were tall but the ground was wet.  Now, I haven't complained much about our yard (on my blog, I complain in real life too much!) but it's seriously a marsh.  The off-and-on rain, in conjunction with our aerobic septic tank that sprays our yard every morning, means we have sitting water at some point at all times.  The yard is 85% weeks, 5% grass, 10% crawfish holes.  We can't play out in the back at all.  For me, it's very frustrating because part of the reason we moved into this house nearly two years ago was because we wanted a big yard- and now we can't even use it!  The kids desperately need outdoor time, and I'm thankful we have a long driveway that they can ride their bikes on since we have no sidewalks in our neighborhood.  But not being able to use our backyard is very frustrating for me.  We've decided that before we add our fence (which our landowner's association has so graciously approved), we're going to add MORE dirt to the backyard and add new sod to a good portion of it.  We don't know what else to do!  I'm hoping we can get this project done soon so that we can get our fence in once the weather starts getting warmer and drying up the ground a bit.

Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday

To celebrate Mardi Gras yesterday we had some friends come over to make masks and play!  They had a "parade" around the living room and danced to some cajun music!  I made a King Cake to share with everyone, but I think the moms liked it more than the kids did. :-)

Puzzle!

This morning Luke completed his firetruck puzzle all by himself! Quite an accomplishment given it took several adults quite some time the first time we solved it! Great job Luke!

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday:



Although I'm still nursing Jack, I feel like tomorrow is the first day of fasting that I should observe in nearly 6 years! I don't feel very ready for this Lent, and as I contemplate how to draw nearer to the Lord over the next month I don't know what He's asking of me.  But, I have a few ideas, and one of my goals will be to simplify.  How I will put this into action, I'm not yet sure!

Many prayers for blessed and repentful Lenten season for all of my friends and family!

Valentine's Day

Last night I passed out at 9:30 pm, and here's why...

We started off our Valentine's day by dropping Ryan off at work at 7:45 am.  Yes, his car is in the shop again!  We dropped off some library books and then went home to make some breakfast and do a little bit of school before...

Luke's first day of gymnastics!  We have a new gym by our house and Luke's class was actually the very first class ever!  Luke LOVED it.  He was smiling from ear to ear during the entire 50-minute class!  They started on the trampolines (good move) and then moved to a couple of circuits before doing some running around.  He talked about it for the rest of the day and can't wait to go back!

Beth's Saint Book

I was gone on Saturday morning and Ryan started a project with Beth!  Here's her "saint book" she drew, I asked her to explain to the camera what she drew on each page and why, she added everything else!

Getting Messy

I'm on Pinterest.  I know it can be a time-sucker for some people, but I have to admit that it's really great for me!  I'm not addicted (yet) and I have gotten some really wonderful inspiration for home ideas, kid's activities, and recipes.  I've completed quite a few "pins," but my favorite part is when things are slow around here and the kids are begging for an activity I use Pinterest as my resource.

Last week, I mixed glue and shaving cream with food coloring.  They had SO much fun, though their hands were stained for a day! 

Another day, I put a lot of glue on big piece of paper and suggested they write letters/spell words with some beans.  They wound up smearing the glue everywhere, and getting the beans nice and sticky.  Then, Luke learned that when glue dries on your hands it gets sort of peely, and he didn't like that!

 

This day we brought out our aroma dough (GF play-doh). I found some pages that I could laminate and then use the mats to fill in the pieces that are missing (like a face without eyes, nose, or mouth- like in Beth's photo) and Beth really loved these mats.  Luke is still trying to perfect rolling his dough out into a snake!  And surprisingly, it only took one bite of aroma dough for Jack to realize he'd rather play with it than eat it!

I know people joke about their Pinterest addiction, but I just love it!  I know it will be of great help to me in the future too, especially as we embark on our home education journey this fall!

On a similar subject of messy activities, I was talking to a friend the other day about learning how to be a mom of boys.  We both had girls first and boys to follow, and we talked to each other about how it's just been so different!  Our boys are both drawn to the outdoors, mud and dirt (Luke actually calls it "the muck and mire"), swings and monkey bars, sticks, trash and gross things.  Beth likes those things too, don't get me wrong, but as a three-year-old she was perfectly content to sit inside and play dolls or color a page from her book.  "Sit" is not in Luke's vocabulary!  So my friend and I were talking about these differences, and how we're trying to change our ways of thinking.  One of my favorite books I've read about it is called Boys Will Be Boys, and it's about encouraging them and fostering their male-ness.  It's helped me understand how I can serve their natural needs better!  I'm also about to read How Do You Tuck in a Superhero, as I'm going to the author's day-long retreat in a couple of weeks, but I've heard this is more of a humor book about raising boys.  Maybe I can prepare myself for what's to come!  I'm trying to plan more hands-on messy activities, and trying to get them outside to play more, though it's been hard with all of the rain!  I'm also watching Luke interact with other boys, gently encouraging him to play fairly, use his words, but also to stand up for himself.  He's really growing up so much!

Gifts

 I was going through some of my old posts and realized I never posted photos of the beautiful cards and gifts we received after my miscarriage in September.  We received some beautiful letters from sweet friends and family members, some who have sadly miscarried before and personally understood how devastating our loss was.  My book club girlfriends brought over an Edible Arrangement, which included some yummy chocolate-covered strawberries (on of my all-time favorites).  Some of my homeschooling friends sent a card and a rosebush, which unfortunately doesn't look too good right now in the middle of "winter" so I didn't take a photo of it, but it's still alive!  I intend on planting it after we get our fence up in the backyard, in the garden outside my bedroom window so I can see it from my bed.  We're planning on making that "Samuel's Garden," and will include this stone sent by a very special friend:

The stone has been in my kitchen since we received it because I don't want to put it outside! 

Ryan gave me a beautiful box with a crucifix with a couple of medals and Christmas ornament that we hung on the tree.  The box is on our display case, the ornament we'll bring it out every year and think of our little saint.

Ryan and I are both okay.  It's still hard to think about the milestone dates, and knowing it'll be something carried around with me forever in my OB records, but it changed our hearts- and our family- forever.  We were blessed with a few short weeks, and for those weeks with my fourth baby I am still thankful.

Art

Blogging from my phone! Today the kids finger painted with a homeade mix of glue and shaving cream, dyed with food coloring. Lots of fun but their hands are stained pink and purple! Beth said, "mom, the painting was fun but my hands look like pinkalicious!"

No More Apologies

I think I'll quit apologizing for my erratic posting habits.  Fact is, we're busy and my blogging has taken a backseat to the rest of my life.  Well, it's never been the first thing on my mind, but now that we're schooling daily, I'm busy with my doula work, and I'm trying to be better about spending less time online I really just am too busy.  But, it's an important account of our lives, so I'll just promise to update when I can.

Beth and I are still schooling every day, though we've stepped back from the Mother of Divine Grace curriculum I had been using last semester.  It's boring, for me and her.  She doesn't like a couple of aspects of it and we both just feel so bored doing what seems like the same stuff every day, so I'm taking what I like from it and we're just doing our own thing.  She's still learning to read, but we're doing games and flashcards, and I just bought a couple of new workbooks from Barnes and Noble.  I was there the other night by myself so I signed up for an educator's discount card!  20% off, wohoo!  She was also bored with learning numbers and wanted to move into addition and subtraction, so we're playing games and working through another new workbook and some pages I've printed off the internet.  For religion we're going to work more on Catholic activities and crafts in addition to our bible reading.

sorting broken crayons and peeling off the paper to make "new" heart-shaped crayons

watching them melt- waiting is so hard for the little ones!

the first of the two batches of crayons we made

This is funny but also sort of sad, but the other day Beth asked me what a pope was.  I had to laugh because to her, there's no "religion."  To her, all people are good and all people love Jesus.  She knows she was created by God, Jesus is his son who died for us, and Mary was his mother and Joseph was his father.  She knows about the 10 commandments and that Jesus lives in everyone's hearts.  She knows that we pray to talk with Jesus and the saints, and that her angel is always with her.  What she doesn't know about is that there are people who don't believe the same way we do, she doesn't know there are so many different "flavors" of Christianity.  She tells me almost daily that she loves Jesus more than anything else, and wants to do his will so that she can be in heaven with him.  When Jesus talks about having "faith like a child," I think Beth is the perfect example of this.  She has such a sweet innocence and such a beautiful heart.  I have no doubt she is going to do amazing things with her life, all for the glory of God!  But, in the meantime, I have to teach her a little more about our Holy Father, lol!

sorting and matching lids from various containers i've been saving

Luke is having fun being a 3-year-old boy... Unfortunately most days this means torturing his mother and siblings!  Lately he's been giving me a run for my money, and providing me ample opportunities to practice patience.  I remember going through a bit of a rough patch when Beth was 3, and I think it's Luke's turn right now.  Luckily I have several good friends who have 3-year-old boys and who are more than happy to talk with me about their sons, and I know that what he's going through is pretty standard behavior.  I think he's dropping his nap too, which doesn't help the evening crankiness.  It has made us get very serious about fencing in our backyard though, because I know that once he (and Beth and Jack) are able to go outside and play for an hour or more each day, it will help release their cooped-up energy!

luke did this puzzle mostly by himself!  he was so proud!

the marsh backyard after some rain we had this week. 

At this point Ryan and I are hoping to have the fence done in March- we've decided that first we need to raise the entire backyard and plant new grass.  We had added 6 (?) loads of dirt last year in the very back of the yard, and now the middle part needs to be raised as well because it's still just a boggy marsh when it rains.  Hopefully we'll be able to get to work on all of this soon because this is very important to me!  I know the risks but I'm also considering getting a super-safe trampoline... I'm desperate for them to get outside and burn off that energy!

Jack is now 19 months but holy cow, he's still my "baby."  It's hard for me to believe that when Luke was 19 months, I was 36 weeks pregnant and therefore it made Luke seem so much older!  I can totally see why the youngest children in the family are spoiled rotten, because Jack totally is.  We let him get away with stuff that we were so stringent about before, and I know it's our faults!  He is such a momma's boy, and he's still nursing several times a day.  He's starting to try to use real words, and it's getting to that time where I can understand what he's saying but no one else really can.  He can say ball, book, hair, spoon, grandpa, car, bath, Beth, night night, and probably a few more.  He does understand everything I'm saying though, and eagerly waits for instructions from me when I say his name!  So helpful and so cute.  His favorite thing to do right now is to imitate Beth and Luke in everything from silly noises and faces to playing what they're playing.  When they're doing something he can't see he runs to the bathroom, grabs the stool, and brings it right next to them so he can be as tall as they are.  He gets right in there and participates in everything to the best of his ability!

Poor Finley had surgery almost two weeks ago to remove a couple of lumps that we weren't sure about and to have his teeth cleaned.  Since Boxers are prone to tumors, we decided to have these lumps removed just to be safe.  Now, for nearly two weeks, he's had to wear an e-collar, which has made him rather depressed!  At first he wasn't messing with his stitches but I noticed the skin was getting pink and irritated, so we had to torture him afterall.

I've been working on a few projects lately, related to my new year's resolution of moving toward a  more healthy and natural home.  I made homemade laundry detergent and dishwasher soap, both economical and containing less scary ingredients than store-bought kind.  So far they both seem to work!  I also made a yarn wreath for our front door, I meant for it to be for Valentine's day but it just looks nice and spring-y. 

 

 I know now why they're sold for $30-$50 on etsy.com though, just wrapping the yarn around the wreath took nearly two hours!  Although I've seen some very cute colored once, I chose white so that I could change out the felt decorations throughout the year and to make it more seasonal.  The pink and yellow flowers are made from felt and hot glued onto hair clippies so that Beth can wear them when I move on to new decor. :-)

Ryan and I had a date night last week, much thanks to his parents for babysitting for us!  We had drinks and a late dinner at Lupe Tortilla  then went to Barnes and Noble for "my" date I had planned!  We completed these challenges then had some Starbucks before ending the night.  Not our typical date, since we usually head to a pub and have some drinks, but we had fun and in the end spent less moolah!

I had a rough week, emotionally.  I don't feel overwhelmed with my tasks, I just wish I had better control of my emotions and reactions to the kids when they push my buttons.  I know it'll be a life-long journey for me, but I truly hope they know that everything I've done in my life is for them!  I love them so much, and I melt when they tell me at the end of the night that I'm the best mommy in the world because there are some days when I could swear I was the worst person ever in the history of the planet.  But, after a thought-provoking homily this morning at mass, I'm ready to tackle this week with a clear head and new motivation!  Say some prayers for me!

Teamwork

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, I had two night births and it's been sort of hectic!  We're trying to get back into our daily routine and we were somewhat successful last week.  :-)  One morning I was getting very frustrated by all the "mine!" and "leave me alone!" sort of comments, that I scrapped our morning lesson plan and decided to focus on teamwork instead!  I came up with a few things on the spot, and the first was a mini-lecture of sorts (ha!) on how a family is like a football team... I thought Ryan would be proud of my analogy!  We talked about how each person has strengths and weaknesses, and how we help each other out, how the coach knows each player's strengths, etc... Luke said his strength was running fast, and Beth said her strength was being honest!  So, they sort of got it. ;-)  Then I got on youtube and we watched the winning play of the Texans vs. the Bengals.  The kids watch football with Ryan so they knew what was going on, but I kept starting and stopping the video to try to make points, like this guy is good at kicking and this guy is good at catching, etc.  They just liked watching a video, lol.

After our discussion we had a three-legged "walk" around the house.  They had never done this before so I tied their legs together and let them go at it.  Surprisingly they didn't fall, but they didn't quite get it the "right" way either.  I think the benefit of this was that they were standing near each other- arms around each other- and not trying to hurt each other.  I'll consider it a successful activity.!

After this we played a modified game of hide-and-seek, but they had to hold hands and find an object I had hidden.  The goal was one person had to say, "I think it's under the pillow" and the other person had to lift up the pillow to look.  They did it well a few times, and I played too so they took turns hiding the object. 

We also read a Curious George book where George takes newspapers and makes paper boats to float down the river, and so we decided to fold a paper boat!  This wasn't really a teamwork exercise, but they thought it was really cool, and I was just happy I could follow the illustrated directions in the book!  The boat lasted about 2 minutes in the water before Luke pushed it under the water, he didn't realize that would make it sink!

I truly hope that I'm able to help them cultivate a special friendship.  So many days I think one is out to kill the other!  They have different personalities but I pray that as the years go on, they're able to share happy memories, share faith, share family, and be good friends!

And here is a photo of Jack, because although he didn't fully participate in our teamwork activities, he's definitely part of our team!

And while that would be a nice place to end this post, I have a few more pictures to share that don't belong anywhere particular. :-)

Another day last week we made a race track and blew little poms around the track with air from our straws.  Beth loved this activity, then of course the boys took matchbox cars to it and destroyed the track within a few minutes.  They had a fun time destroying it though!

Our Christmas Gifts

Our Christmas gifts for the kids this year were given with the hopes that it would provide lots of entertainment for them upstairs.  We hardly spend anytime upstairs during the day, except when the kids have rest/nap time.  Luke is still napping, but I have a feeling that he will drop it sometime in the next several months.  Luke received a bunch of matchbox cars, trains, a set of semi-trucks, and books to fill up his little bookshelf in his bedroom.  I kid you not, before Christmas he had books and a set of wooden train tracks in his room- not really conducive to extended playtime! He now has plenty of toys, hopefully he will enjoy playing on his own for awhile since he's not really into sharing right now. ;-)

trucks, cars, diggers, trains, helicopters, blocks, train tracks!  you think it'd be enough to entertain him for hours!