Friday 5--with some pictures...and a few tangents

1.  We've been traveling a lot over the past few weekends.  Thus my lack of Friday 5 posts.  Two weeks ago we ventured to Omaha to take in the zoo and visit a few friends friends.  After doing the Des Moines zoo a few months ago and being a little let down, we decided the 2.5 hour trip is totally worth it for way more animals and much cooler exhibits.  Not to mention great company!  I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of the Trans while we were there.  Thanks for meeting up with us, friends, it was SO good to see you!

Last weekend we spent the 4th at the lake.  I have enough pictures of that weekend for another complete post!  I also attempted to take Norah's 2-year-old photos while we were there.  Will be posting those soon as well, I need some help deciding which ones are framers.

2.  We are now staying put until this baby arrives!  With just 37 days to go until my due date, that's probably for the best.  That and my crazy list of projects that need some attending to.  On the agenda this weekend is to get Norah's room painted, and switch the girls' into their 'new' rooms.  I finished one major project this week:  reorganizing the girls' toys.  (Many thanks to my friend Steph for picking this up for me a few weeks ago!) Norah walked into the living room and saw the new storage system and remarked "it's wonderful!"  I couldn't agree more. : )  We liked this shelving unit from IKEA so much that we went back the next weekend and bought another one.

The second one is for all of our homeschool stuff.  The girls absolutely love having access to all the coloring books and school workbooks within their reach.  I don't have the courage to leave out coloring utensils within reach, though, so for now they still have to ask for those. : ) Not a lot can beat your 2-year-old coming up to you throughout the day saying "may I do school please, Mommy?"

(Little poser...she asked me to take her picture here.  This is way better than any of the "official" 2-year-old shots that I tried to take last weekend.  So much for natural light and a picturesque background.  I might just hang this one on the wall and call it good!)

And Cinderella...

Speaking of coloring, we've suspected for awhile that Audrey has a photographic memory.  This week she confirmed it.  She asked me to show her how to draw a kitty cat.  I drew one for her.  She looked at it ONE TIME, then proceeded to draw this picture.  I kept watching her, waiting for her to look back at the picture again, but she never did, not once!  (My drawing is on the left, hers in on the right.)  I thought she did a pretty stellar job for just looking at my example one time!  Then she wrote "cat" underneath it.  Then she decided it looked more like a bunny, so she asked me how to spell "rabbit."  Her letters are getting clearer every day!

3.  We went to Big Sister class at the hospital last night.  The girls had a blast.  Norah was most excited about changing the baby's diaper.  She waited SO patiently for her turn.  We were impressed.

4.  You know you're pretty pregnant when the most common expression you get from people is "whoa!" when you walk into a room.  Seriously.  I went into my office this week for a meeting and more than one of the secretaries commented (separately) "whoa!  That baby's just sticking right out there isn't it!"  I also have strangers state "you must be due any day now, you look like you're ready to pop."  Thank you.  Thank you very much.

Norah already adores this kid!

5.  I'm considering starting an "Audrey-isms" series much like my friend Caitlin does with her son, Ki.  I just don't have a good place to write down all the funny stuff this girl comes up with, and some of it is just too good to share!

Today in the car on the way home from the library she came up with the idea that we should go home, make all the beds, and clean up the whole house so it looks 'beautiful' before Daddy comes home.  (She's been really into that lately...Daddy makes a big deal about how much he likes it when he gets home from work.) :)  After I told her that sounded like a great idea she remarked "Mommy, I think everyone would like to choose me for their kid because I'm such a big helper.  I feel special." Clearly our children don't lack in the self-esteem department.  Any ideas on how to instill the virtue of humility!?!?

She's also been pulling out harder and harder questions to answer over the last month:

"Mommy, when the baby comes out will there be a big hole in your tummy?"  (After I answered 'no,') "Then how will the baby come out?"

"Mommy, what makes my arm move?  Do my bones make my arm move?"  (I attempted to explain muscles.)  "But what makes my muscles move?"  (I attempted to explain nerves.)  "But what makes my nerves work?"  (I told her about the brain.)

A few days later,  "Mommy, how does my brain work?"

We have had lengthy discussions on the fact that the earth revolves around the sun, rather than vice versa.  She doesn't believe me, and adamantly argues that she can see the sun moving across the sky.  Tricky concept for a 3 1/2 year old.

Today at lunch, "We speak the English language.  Why do we speak English?"  Thus a conversation about language acquisition in infants.  Good thing I was a linguistics major in undergrad.

The wheels in this girl's head just never stop turning!

Life Lessons

Awhile back I was inspired by this post.  I often get overwhelmed by all the things I want to teach my children; life skills, values I want to instill in them, character traits I pray they will possess, and on and on.  What a great idea to make a list and write it all down!  (Anything that involves list-making...sign me up, please.)  And when I start to get frustrated as the laundry piles up and the dust bunnies take over, naps go poorly and accidents happen on the living room carpet, this will be a wonderful tool for me to refocus, and remember that the time I have with my children is short, and these are the most important things.

So last April, (a year ago!  that's how long it's taken me to finish this post!) while driving down I-80 on a road trip, Tim and I compiled the following list together.  After we finished it, we realized that not all, but many of these 'life lessons,' so to speak, could be found in the Bible.  I decided to wait and post this once I found scripture references to back up our points, and let me just say, it's taken awhile! Interestingly, as I searched through the Bible to find verses that support our convictions, I found quite a few more overarching principles to add to our list!  This will definitely remain a work in progress.  So without further ado...

By God's grace, these are life lessons we pray our children will grow to learn and embrace and eventually pass on to others:

Love Jesus. (Matthew 22:36-38, Ephesians 3:14-19, Ephesians 6:24, John 14:15)
Fear God, and obey Him. (Deuteronomy 5:29, 6:13, 10:12-13, 10:20, Ecclesiastes 12:13)
Trust God. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Love people. (Matthew 22:36-40, 1 Thessalonians 3:12, Ephesians 5:2)
Serve others. (Philippians 2:3-4, Romans 12:10)

Give generously. (Romans 12:13, Proverbs 11:25)
Practice hospitality.  (Romans 12:13)
Be content. (Philippians 4:11-13)
Love God's word.  Memorize it.  Meditate on it.  (Psalm 119:9-16, Colossians 3:16, Deuteronomy 6:6-9)
Be teachable. (Proverbs 16:20)
Live simply.  (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12)
Pursue purity. (Matthew 5:8, 1 Timothy 4:12, Romans 12:1, 1 Corinthians 6:18-20)
Pray.  A lot.  (Ephesians 6:18, Colossians 4:2, Philippians 4:6, 1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Choose joy. (And find joy in little, everyday things.) (Proverbs 17:22, 1 Thessalonians 5:16)

Learn from your mistakes.  (Proverbs 26:11)
Seek peace, and be a peacemaker.  (Romans 14:19, 2 Thessalonians 3:16, Matthew 5:9, Colossians 3:15)
Be humble.  (Proverbs 3:7-8, 29:23)
Try new things.

Associate with low people. (Romans 12:16)
Use your God-given gifts. (To glorify God, serve others, and when making education and career choices.) (Romans 12:6)
Pursue wisdom (versus knowledge.)  (Proverbs 2, Proverbs 4:5-9, Ephesians 1:17-19)
Respect authority. (Romans 13:1)
Stay physically fit.  (Proverbs 31:17, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Romans 12:1)

(or at least try.) ;)

Steward money well.  (Proverbs 31:16, Matthew 25:14-30)
Work hard; work joyfully. (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, Colossians 3:23, Proverbs 31:13, 2 Thessalonians 3:7-13)
Experience manual labor. (Proverbs 31:17)
Rest.  (Genesis 2:2-3, Psalm 37:7, Hebrews 4:9-11)

Make music.  (Ephesians 5:19-20, Psalms)

Worship God all the time.  (1 Corinthians 10:31, Psalm 96:8-10, Psalm 59:15-17, Philippians 4:4)
Read good books.

Choose quality friends. (Proverbs 17:17, 27:17)
Be a faithful friend. (Proverbs 3:3-4)
Create.  (Build, paint, plant, draw, sing, bake, play an instrument, write, compose.)

Live responsibly. (Take good care of God's creation, don't be wasteful, consume less.)
Eat wholesome food.  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Think eternally.  (Colossians 3:1-2)
Set goals.
Follow through.
Serve the poor (with compassion). (Colossians 3:12, Proverbs 14:21, 19:17, 31:20)
Be resourceful.

Be thankful.  (Colossians 3:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:18)
Practice patience regularly. (1 Corinthians 13:4, Colossians 1:10-12, 3:12, Galatians 5:22-23)
Strive to be a blessing to, not a burden on, others. (2 Thessalonians 3:8, 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12)
Use time wisely.  (Ephesians 5:15-17)
Laugh.  A lot.  (At yourself!)  (Psalm 126:2-3, Proverbs 15:30)

Forgive. (Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32)

Choose words carefully and be slow to speak. (Colossians 4:6, Proverbs 15:1, 17:14, 27-28, 10:19, 29:20)
Be slow to get angry. (Proverbs 14:29, Proverbs 16:32, Proverbs 29:11, Ecclesiastes 7:9)
Tell the truth. (Proverbs 24:26)

Thinking/praying through and making this list has led to 2 major thoughts that keep swirling around in my head:
1) How can I NOT home school?  Where will we find enough time in the day to really instill these values in our kids if we only have a few hours (when everyone is likely tired and cranky) at the end of the day together? 
2)  Yikes.  I need to learn these lessons myself, and start demonstrating them, if I want to give my kids half a chance at picking them up, too!   God give me grace.

How about you?  What's on your list?

To Homeschool or not to Homeschool...

...hmmmm.  Where to begin.  I started this post probably 6 months ago.  I've been slowly collecting links that have entered into this decision making process.  (I recognize that if you click on each one of these it would take quite a bit of time, so if you only have a few minutes, I *ed the ones I find most valuable!)

One of my greatest fears of homeschooling is trying to balance teaching older children while caring for younger children.  How do you cram it all into one day, and handle it with grace and poise and confidence?  And avoid total, complete, and utter chaos?

These posts have encouraged me that it can, indeed, be done, and in fact can be done well.  I'm sharing them here in case anyone else has the same thoughts/reservations that I have had, and also for myself, so I can reference them again later!

*The baby IS the lesson.  (I LOVE this article, if you only read one of these 3, I highly recommend this one!)

How to homeschool with a baby or toddler (and enjoy it!).

Toddlers, Babies, and Schooling, oh my!

(Please recognize that in sharing my opinion on why we are choosing to homeschool, I am not judging those who choose to public school.  I believe God calls each family to different decisions, and as long as we are following His will for our lives, that is what is most important!  So this is simply what we believe He is speaking to us about our family in particular.) 

One of the reasons I want to homeschool is so I can simply spend more time with my kids.  Especially when they are young.  I don't think they are prepared to face the world for 35 hours a week, yet.  That day will come, but I would like to spend the next few years purposely preparing them for the various things they will face; to ensure they are standing on a firm foundation, that won't be shaken.  And I want our kids to be best friends with one another, and I'm not sure that will happen if they each get up in the morning and go their separate ways every day.  I want to be a family that plays together, not that we couldn't do these things if we chose public school, but by homeschooling I think we'll have so much more (prime) time and opportunity for this kind of stuff.  Some other reasons we are seriously contemplating educating at home are much more eloquently spelled out *here.  She has some very good words to say on both the benefits and downfalls of homeschooling.  (This link is my second highly recommended read!  She quotes Dr. Neufeld, who is the author of a very interesting book, Hold On to Your Kids: why parents need to matter more than peers, which I read last year.  I don't think I ever reviewed it on here, but my friend Katie did a great job, so I'll just send you on over to her blog for a quick summary of that book.  :)  I would venture to say that this book had quite a bit of influence on my opinion to homeschool as well.)

More and more I'm realizing that homeschooling can be very simple.  "Live your life. Invite children to join in! Education is a continuum of everyday life."  Simply living life together, exploring together, working together, creating together, learning together.  What a wonderful idea!

Friday Quick 5

I can't believe it's Friday already!

1.  This morning we attended a Classical Conversations open house in our area.  I am 100% sure that we will be homeschooling our kids, at least for the first few years, and we will be using the Classical Conversations curriculum.  The only debate is whether or not to start Audrey this fall, (she will be 4, and there is a class for 4-year-olds,) or to wait another year and start when she is 5.  If we wait to start "officially," we will continue with our own little homeschool activities at home.  She has a preschool workbook that includes colors, shapes, numbers, letters, reading readiness activities, comparison activities (which one doesn't belong, etc.) and mazes.  She loves it.  We've also been slowly plugging through The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.  And it's working well!  The beauty of what we're doing now is that we only have to do it as often as we want to...maybe 2 or 3 times a week.  The thought of having a newborn at the same time we start something 'scheduled,' with deadlines, frankly, stresses me out.  :)  I would like to start doing some more math-related activities with Audrey next year.  Any suggestions from you homeschooling moms out there?

2.  Meet the Manners Police:

If you happen to dine at our house, chances are at some point in the meal one of our kids will not-so-subtly ask you to remove your elbows from the table.  I love this video, because you get the full scope of Norah's manners.  When I ask the first question, she responds with "excuse me."  Then she recites the poem, "Mable, Mable, strong and able, get your elbows off the table!  This is not a horse's stall, this is Mommy's dining hall!"  At the end, if you listen closely, you'll hear her ask to watch the video...ever so politely.  "May I watch it, please?"  So hard to turn that sweet little voice down!



3.  Right now I am totally addicted to Prison Break via Netflix.  I just started Season 4, after almost quitting during Season 3 because I was so unhappy with certain events that went on within the plot.  But I had a nagging suspicion that things would turn out better...and let's just say I'm glad I'm still watching.

4.  The ultrasound yesterday went well!  We did not catch even a glimpse of the baby's sex.  All in all, baby is healthy and growing well, and due date is still right on, set for August 14.  I think she said the baby weighs 10 ounces.  So amazing to see fully formed fingers and toes, spinal column, face profile, and little feet kicking away, and knowing how small this little person still is!

5.  Two more videos of the girlies, having fun.  They learned how to have a pillow fight last week.  I adore these giggles.  And again, Norah's manners!!





That's all for now, happy Friday!

One for the Scrapbook

Because I am falling hopelessly behind in scrapbooking, I decided to document this morning's activity here.  (Also for the benefit of grandparents' enjoyment.  Call it a two-fer.)

This morning Audrey wanted to do a craft, and I wanted to do school.  So we compromised and combined them both together.  We got out some paper and the "chompers" (aka stapler,) and made a book together.  I wrote it, (please, don't critique my plot line, I came up with this on the fly,) Audrey read it, (she only needed help sounding out about 3 of the words,) and then Audrey illustrated it.  She just started drawing intelligible creations about a week ago, and I am SO impressed at how quickly her artwork is taking shape!

 (She told me later that this man is on the cross, like Jesus.)

So proud of this sweet girl!

Just Checking In

My apologies to my Grandparents who faithfully check this blog for our happenings.  Clearly, up until last week, blogging has gone by the wayside as life has gotten busy.  What have we been up to?

School: 
Audrey is almost reading.  Yesterday I heard her sound out at least 4 new 3-letter-words all by herself, without any prompting whatsoever from me.  So fun!  We opted not to put her in preschool this year, and instead I have started, quite unofficially, to homeschool.  This involves about 15 minutes each some mornings after breakfast.  We are slowly going through The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading and I must say it's going quite well.  She loves it, and asks to do it in the afternoon if we skipped it that morning.  We have gone through all the vowels, and are to the letter T in consonants.  She started teasing me a few days ago when we were talking about "S," asking if Norah's name started with the letter "S."  I asked, "is her name "SSSSSnorah?"  Audrey smiled coyly and said, "Mommy, can we give Norah a new name?  Can we call her SSSSSnake?  Or SSSSSnotter?"  Also contributing to the reading skills is her newfound love of starfall.com.  I have to limit her to an hour of computer time after her nap, (she would spend all day on that site!) and she's getting good with the mouse, too.  Yesterday I caught her in an advanced activity, sounding out the word 'grass'!  Tonight for Tim she read the words "octopus" and "rocket," without any pictures to prompt her.  She amazes us.

Laughing:
We've been having some interesting conversations the past 2 days.  Randomly Audrey asked me, "Mommy, last days, (her version of asking anything that happened in the past,) how did I get into your tummy?" I opted to forego the birds and the bees discussion, (I've had way more of my share of those talks with S over the last month,) and settled for "God put you there."  She wasn't quite satisfied with this answer.  "But I don't remember that happening.  I didn't see it happen."  Sheesh. 

One day last week we dropped off Norah at a friends' house so I could take Audrey to an appointment at the Iowa Sleep Disorders Center to see a pediatric sleep specialist.  Our friend was changing a little boy's diaper when we got there.  Audrey (in awe):  "Look at his bottom, Mommy!  He has a ball on his bottom!"  And thus ensued a short discussion about the differences between boys and girls.  Fun times.

Two weeks ago I called Audrey to the bathroom and I heard her whispering a self-narration as she came running, "down the hall, over the rug, as fast as my legs could carry!"

Last night we let Audrey listen to some music as she was having a hard time falling asleep.  This morning she told us all about listening to "Greve Steen on the rodeo."  (AKA, Steve Green on the Radio.) 

Norah's been talking up a storm lately, too. My favorite new word of hers is "good-bye." It comes out more like "bug-eye." It's adorable.  She also answers most any question with "k."  Or "okay."  It's very sweet.  Tell her or ask her anything, and she sounds very agreeable.  By my, oh my, does that one have a temper.  Yesterday she caught me eating a Dorito, and started signing and saying "please, please, please?"  I just shook my head 'no.'  She looked up at me and shook her head 'yes.'  Complete nonverbal conversation.  At 17-months-old.  Nothing gets by her!  Other favorite words include "shoes" and "tutu."  She's very into accessories.  Anyway, moving on...

Trouble-shooting sleep:
I decided to go ahead and schedule an appointment for Audrey with an MD who specializes in sleep disorders after a few horrendous weeks about a month ago including multiple screaming episodes in the middle of the night, 2-hour bedtime battles, 5:30 a.m. wake-ups, and 2-3 hour stretches of her being awake in the middle of the night, nearly out of control, and unable to go back to sleep.  We left the appointment with multiple diagnoses, and not a lot of solutions.  More on that later. 

We've also been trying to figure out how to keep Norah-Lou-dini in pajamas at night. The girl can get out of anything, and will spend hours after we put her to bed playing and undressing herself. She has woken up in only a diaper by morning.  A few of our workable solutions:

funny looking, but effective.

 Didja catch that?  They're on BACKWARDS.

This one works well, but makes diaper changes annoying!  Anyone else have any more ideas?

Redecorating:
I've also been busy finishing up a few final details on our bedroom project, and I can finally say, "it's done!!!"

Here is the before:  (pretty dark and cavelike, if you ask me.)

When we moved into this house, I had no idea what I wanted to do with our bedroom.  In lieu of white walls, we painted our master the same color as our living room to avoid the hassle of choosing something else, and just used our current bedspread, but both ended up being way too dark for the small room. 

A few months ago we upgraded to a King...which led to new bedding...and a new headboard and footboard...and a total overhaul of the rest of the room. ;)

Here is the after:

(Thanks to my mother-in-law for helping me make these throw pillow cases!)

My new favorite wall:

Dusting:

See previous pictures.  Trust me, it had been awhile.

Foster Parenting:

S is still living with us, but we have no idea how long it will last.  She could be here through May or she could decide to leave tomorrow.  The last few weeks have been a roller-coaster, but we're hanging on for the ride!

That's all I have the time and energy for now.  You can stay tuned if you want, but I make no promises that I'll blog again this month! ;)

Practicing Community

Something I've been thinking about:

Lots of churches talk about fostering community.  Living life together.  Experiencing true fellowship in our day to day lives.  Trying to model the church in Acts.  And what a fantastic example it set for us!

44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.  Acts 2:44-47

And yet, in our modern day 21st century American culture, have you ever noticed how hard it is to truly live in community with other people?  Our church is a good 20 minute drive from our house.  We can often go an entire week (or more, if we have sick kids on Sunday morning!) without coming into contact with other friends from our church family.  It's easy to get in our car in the garage, drive to the store, drive back home into the garage, and traipse back into the house without even chatting with the neighbors.  Our society is one of compartments.  And it's unnatural to break out of that trend.  And I've been wondering what it is that we do that makes it so difficult to share our lives with other people, day in and day out.  And then I started thinking about the "classic" American family lifestyle.  Everyone wakes up in the morning and gets ready to go off to their respective place...Dad goes to work, maybe Mom does too, kids go to school (each has their own separate class, because unless they're twins, they're likely in different grade levels,) and members of the same family often don't see each other all. day. long.  Until dinnertime.  Hopefully.  A lot of families have trouble even making the time for meals together.  And then after dinner it's off to soccer practice and music lessons and Bible studies and PTA meetings and baseball games...and the time together is just so short.  (Please don't misinterpret me, I'm not saying that any of these things are bad in and of themselves, nor am I judging others for living lives 'in the fast lane,' so to speak.  I'm just wondering what happens in the long run if we let these activities overrun our lives. And encouraging all of us, myself included, to guard our time together as a family.)

So my thought is this:  if the family unit, the most natural and easiest and expected place of unity and living in community, is so divided and fragmented, it's no WONDER it's so hard for us to practice the art of true fellowship, and living in community, as a church body.  We haven't had a lot of practice.  And, like so many other things, this is something best learned by experience. 

And I really want to give my kids that experience.

So that is playing a large factor in our decision to homeschool.  I'm 95% certain that we will start homeschooling, at least for the first few years, when Audrey is ready for kindergarten.  And I hope and pray that she and her sister will not only become great friends with one another, but that they will also learn what it means to be vibrant, active, contributing members of a family; and not just the family they were birthed into, or the family they will one day marry into, but the family of God as well.

Check out today's post at Simple Homeschool for more on the value of homeschooling in fostering strong sibling relationships.