The Day Everyone Learned Something New

We've started school!  Three weeks down and so far so great!  One thing I love about Classical Conversations is that it promotes education for the whole family--Josh and I are learning right along with her and honestly, Jack and Noah and Jordan know A LOT of it just from listening :)

There was a day last week where everyone child in our house learned something new.  :)

Renae learned how to get on and start her bike all by herself...she has been capable of doing this for awhile but too timid to try it..she's finally got it! :)

Jack asked to take his training wheels off his bike and took off on his own.  No coaching or helping required!  This has been a long time coming, too, but he finally asked! :)

Noah has always been a singer, but now he's singing Renae's school songs that involve science facts, prepositions, Latin, and skip counting :)  He's always got a song to sing.  Also, he and Jack can both bounce a baseball on the driveway and hit it when it comes up.  I'm still not coordinated enough to do that! hahaha!

Jordan learned how to make fishy lips.  And to say the word bathroom. She now says- Daddy, Mommy, Dak (Jack), Nae (Renae), ok, no, ball, shhhhhhhoes, gink (drink), baby, peas (please) and bathroom. (which by the way is clear as can be...hahaha!)

Grand Intentions!

We had such a GREAT GREAT GREAT Summer!  Quite possibly my favorite summer of life so far...(close 2nds are MB Summer Project 2004, and the summer we got married {2006}).  It took me most of the summer to really put a finger on why I was LOVIN' this Summer so much.  

*Dramatic Pause*

This is the 1st summer in 6 YEARS that I have not either been pregnant, or nursing a baby!!!!

This was a hot summer (even by Georgia standards!) but...I LOVED IT!  I had the body temperature of a normal human, not growing or feeding anyone else, not the one who was 12,000 degrees sitting indoors or holding a sweaty baby 4-5 times a day.  Ok, ok, you get it!  But seriously, I loved the heat.  We were outdoors almost every day.  We went to the beach almost every weekend, and if we didn't go there, we went to the pool.  We got to vacation! (Look on Facebook for pictures, there are A LOT)  It was the vacation of the 'Villes.  We journeyed to Clarksville, Evansville, Hudsonville, Stevensville, and Nashville!  A trip filled with floating down a river (4 adults and 6 kids 7yrs old and under), friends, the zoo, parks parks and more parks, cousins, the pool, grandparents, Lake Michigan, the county fair (the rides, the animals, the food!), fire pits, hammocks, and new babies.  We had such an enjoyable time :)

With the Fall comes fresh starts.  A schedule begins again!  And FOOTBALL.  ((And maybe-I know, I know- I can find time to write more updates!))

We begin our homeschool adventure this year as Renae starts Kindergarten.  So far, so fabulous! It is exciting to watch how eager she is to learn.  It is definitely infectious.  Jack wants to do some school everyday now, too!  :) I'm definitely remembering things I had forgotten!  We are doing Classical Conversations which is a wonderful homeschool program.  The Community is incredible, and the academics are rigorous and challenging.  If you are thinking about homeschooling and have any questions about CC ask me!  I'd love to talk with you about it!

Triumph!

Ok, so I failed my blogging goal for April.  But not so for May! :)  However, now I have so many stories rattling around in my brain that this will be yet another list of happenings.  But, I'll limit this to a list of triumphs!!

How about newest to oldest:
1. THIS MORNING- I came out of my room to see Noah (2.5) feeding Jordan (17 mo) yogurt.  He acquired and opened the blueberry yogurt himself, and was feeding it to her in the middle of the living room.  He had even had a Kleenex to wipe up messes!  Thankfully he was only a couple bites in when I entered and took over :) #winning

2.  YESTERDAY- Jordan officially took on the title "Walker"!!  She walks!  #WHOOHOO!

3.  ALSO YESTERDAY- During lunch, we were watching two birds that were hopping around in the grass.  It had just finished raining so food was plentiful.  I explained that birds eat worms, and Jack started this play-by-play:  "That bird is going to eat the big Mommy worm...then all the kids...and then all the littlest baby worms..." creepy, lost my appetite, #whatanimagination! :/

4.  ALSO YESTERDAY- Josh and I's 9-year Anniversary!  :)  #hopingfordecadesmore

5.  TUESDAY- Our last MOPS meeting, the kids made me this awesome Mother's Day card! #blessed

6.  Mother's Day- the Renae and Jack's classes sang in church.  They both sang, and did actions. Best part= 1/2 thru the song Renae got really shy, Jack in his usual never-hold-still-self, moved into her line of vision and they exchanged thumbs up and then she was fine! #besties

 7.  And then this...the best pic we could get.  Our moment of Mother's Day triumph. #uhhhtriumph?

UPDATE:  Lest you think all we have is Triumph....while I was typing this post, I heard Noah wake up from his nap.  No big deal, he was just talking in his crib...I bet you can see where this is going. Finish post...turn off computer....Enter Mama to Noah's room....there it is--an open diaper and lovely brown "art" all over the crib. #winning #nowsupperisanhourlater

More Visitors!

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit!  It was quick one, but for the 24ish hours they were hear we played hard!  We dug holes,

ate a lot of food,

read a lot of stories,

went to Forsyth park to play,

more playing,

and lots of hugs and smiles!

The kids have enjoyed lots of new things lately!  Renae can read, and ride a bike without training wheels.  Some friends gave us a balance bike, and Jack is a professional on it!  He loves it.  Noah is still singing and learning new words.  He can almost pedal a bike and potty training is just around the corner.  Jordan is getting closer and closer to walking--we aren't even letting her 'practice' much!  I saw her take a tentative step yesterday, completely on her own, no one around...but then she thought better of it and sat down to crawl.  I think that might be the story of her life.  She learns things alone, without help, and then show us her perfected skills when we least expect it!  We've gotten some new guidance with feeding her, so we might actually get this girl over 20 pounds soon!  We've hit 18 so far, which is up a little over a pound in the last three months!

If You Can't Laugh at Yourself, Who Will?

We recently had a very wonderful surprise house guest!  A friend we hadn't seen in years was passing by and need a place to stay overnight!  YES!! YES!! YES!!  And then I looked at the house. hahahaha.  While the kids were helping me straighten up a bit (I didn't do a whole lot, she's a good friend!), this advertising voice enters my head, hitting the high points of our luxurious overnight experience.  I was was laughing so hard to myself that I had to write it down to share.  And so now here it is, recorded for posterity.  :)

Welcome to the Barricklow Inn & Suites! Where the beds are lumpy, the floors, recently sloshed with orange juice, have been paper toweled clean. Most rooms have been cleaned solely by preschoolers. There are wipes in every room, and peace and quiet in none. Zero rugs in any bathroom and only 2 clean towels. Most surfaces are some level of sticky, and those that aren't are piled with laundry, but the sheets- those HOT PINK sheets, those are clean! wink emoticon We are also proud to feature a strict No Rats policy. Once you enter, due to the exorbitant amount of baby-proofing doorknobs, YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE!  **ominous music** You'll love it here! smile emoticon smile emoticon

The Photo Blog

How about a photographic update :)

This is Jack since Christmas. ANY DAY since Christmas.  But, now that I think of it, if you scroll back through these posts I'm sure you'll find him doing this same thing 2 years ago.

Renae lays down for quiet time in her room everyday.  Some days she sleeps, some days she just plays with whatever stuffed animal 'friend' she took with her.  This particular picture was taken during Sunday afternoon naps.  :)  She came out from her nap, found us all sleeping, and joined in :)

Here's what she looks like when she sleeps in her bed.  Her poor 'friends'.  I have often found her asleep on their face. HA!  So cute ;)  Also, Renae's room gets a little chilly, thus the 2 blankets, comforter, long sleeve and hoodie.  Mickey is clearly under dressed.

Jack's hair looks super, super awful after a stocking hat.  Seriously, so bad.  Here's some proof: 

He got a hair cut last weekend because it was getting out of control!  He calls it snowy owl hair. Hahaha! 

Renae's 'short' hair :)  Check out the "W" sitting in the background. (if you're confused, read the post previous to this one).

The fangs!

Here's a fuzzy all  3 1/2 teeth shot with more "W" sitting :)  And her one long clump of hair over her ear.

Here's a picture of Jack and Renae's earrings.  They think it's hilarious.  They rest them on the tops of their ears and wear them for hours.  So funny.  The 'earrings' swing around when they move just like giant hoops.

And this picture is hilarious for multiple reasons.  Noah got Pluto for Christmas.  He has called him Pluto probably 1 time.  Josh and I couldn't figure out what he was calling him for the longest time, it sounded like "Pow".  I finally got it.  When Mickey talks to Pluto he usually calls him his PAL.  "Who's my Pal, Who's my pal!?"  So cute.  Noah says, "Where's my Pow?"  "Don't see him anywhere!"  "Oh! There's my Pow!"  GIANT HUG.  Repeat.  So here's a picture of that.  Also pictured, the yogurt from lunch on his forehead that I DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE until I looked at the picture.

"Oh!  There's my Pow!"

The kids were so proud of this tower.  They dumped out all the baskets of toys, put them on top of each other, and the kicker: every container has a toy in it 'sleeping'.  They would look through the handles and make sure the toy was behaving!  HAHA.  Can there ever be a fun game that doesn't involve dumping every single thing out?  After 5 years of parenting experience I'm starting to think NO.  Yes, Renae is wearing a pasta necklace.

And I'll leave you with these two January beauts:  Here are our trees :)

Even closer :)  Sigh. Love winter in GA. Spring is here!

You should probably come visit.

Resolutions?

I, personally, think resolutions are silly.  There are upsides to resolutions, that's for sure: identifying areas to grow, making a plan, planning a remarkable overhaul of personal habits, believing the best of intentions will surely happen this year...  But, I think when resolutions actually work, it's more likely that you are goal setting,   But all that's neither here nor there. I am going to blog more.  I am.  I just am.  (---resolution).  I'm realizing a need for a creative outlet, and I like to blog!  It needs to be quick, mess free, and fun, and I like to write.  I'm aiming for twice a month.  (---goal setting).  On that note :)

Since I last wrote, here are some happenings...off the top of my head.

1.  Noah can talk.  Very well.  He is learning new words left and right. So cute and so funny!   He has a bunch of favorite songs at Christmas time:  Wrosty the No-man, Jingle Bells, anything from the Veggie Tales Christmas album, and the Snowflake song from Mickey Mouse.

2.  Jordan has fangs.  Two top incisors and one lower middle tooth so far.  She looks hilarious.

3.  I have finally realized that some how I have completely morphed into someone very different than I was 10 years ago.  The foods I like...I wear PINK now...I do my hair regularly :)...I like crafts (?!!?) Ok, so it's not a vast transformation but still.  Can't even believe it.  Also, I took a spiritual gifts test and all my tops were lower-middles and my now four highest were brand new!  My outlook on life and the ways God is using me have changed for sure.

4.  I won a chili cook-off.  Yep.  Won it.  BOOM.

5.  Jordan is a "W" sitter.  Whenever she is sitting her legs make a W shape. (knees bent, feet off to the sides) Apparently, this is a physical therapist's nightmare.  So we are now following her around to help her sit correctly.  Disclaimer: this advice did come from a medical professional  :)  Jordan still gets a visit from a NICU nurse periodically to ensure she is growing just right!  And, also apparently, she IS  :) --with one large exception--"W" sitting.  Sadly, it is very cute, and very unique to her so I'm sad to see it go.  We are, however, parents of 4, so I can neither confirm nor deny that we are making any progress.

6.  Jack is completely diaper free.  Well, he has been since late September but here's the funny part.  Well, 'funny' part.  We told Jack that if he could keep his undies dry all night long, 10 nights in a row he could get a big giant cookie.  He was soooo on board with this.  Nothing like a little incentive for learning a new skill!  (----goal setting) Every morning he and his bed were dry, he'd put a sticker on the calendar to keep track.  Well, the 'funny' part was that right off the bat he made it 5 or 6 nights consistently with an oops here or there.  Then he began consistently getting 9.  I'm talking get 9 stickers on the calendar in a row then night #10...in order to get his big giant cookie...wet. FOR TWO MONTHS!  9 nights then oops.  9 nights then oops. Repeat.  Poor guy.  But, he made it!  Right before Christmas he got his big giant cookie :)  And honestly, I don't think he's had an accident since.  

7.  Both Renae and I got a hair cut.  Mine=really short.  Renae's=6 inches off, a few inches below her shoulders.  She is proud of her 'short' hair!  HA!  And, I get home and Josh asks me when I'm going to grow my hair out again. C'mon man!

8.  Renae learned to read.  She's still a little timid, but she likes to figure out what everything says.  She's pretty good!

9.  Josh and I are on day 19 of a 21-day No Junk Food Challenge.  WOOP!  It was good Christmas detox, and now we are set up to make healthier choices until the holiday season rolls around again! (---resolution)

10.  There is a lot of laughing in our house.  Like the time Josh hit Noah in the face with a ball, or the time I stubbed my toe on the kitchen table and my foot made a "red lake", and then the time three days later that I did THE EXACT SAME THING...!!, or when Renae is practicing her reading and butchers a bunch of words and I can't hold it in, or when the kids are playing and the most common repeated phrase is "You suuure have your hands full!" (because it is impossible for me to take the kids anywhere and not have someone say that to me), or the time when Josh fell asleep playing with the kids on the floor in the most flattering way possible--so so funny!  Or then the time we told Noah (fresh out of the bath) to go find something (probably his blankie) and come right back only to find out his rear end had recently #2'd.  Middle of the living room floor (that was on Christmas).  Basically what I'm saying is that our house in a wreck...I mean just flat chaos...and thankfully we more often than not end up laughing really really hard!  Just last night we made a "people stack" after our bedtime story.  Noah had to climb all the way to the top and let's just say it took many tries, and the falls would have won AFV  :)  So funny!

So here's to twice a month (or more!)  :)