First Day of School

I love being a follower of Christ. He makes life exciting. He leads me down paths I would NEVER choose on my own. One of these paths lately is the decision we have made to follow His leading to homeschool our kids this year. Hayley is in Kindergarten and Jack and Riley are pre-school. Mallory is in on the fun too. See pictures below. : )

I have people all the time say, "Oh, well it will be easy for you to homeschool---you were a teacher!" True. I was a teacher. I taught math to 6th graders for 5 years in Euless. I have a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies and I'm "certified" to teach grades 1-8. But there is a BIG difference in teaching a room full of 11-12 year olds who have been in school for at least 6 years and in teaching a room full of an infant, a toddler, a preschooler and a kindergartner. I think I was more nervous on the first day this week than I ever was on my own first days of school as a student or a teacher. Not to mention the fact that it is MY OWN children. If they miss something, I'M the one to blame! That's some serious pressure! But the Lord keeps reminding me that He equips the called. He's not going to call me to this new way of life and leave me high and dry. He is so faithful too. This week has been a lot of fun and I can't even believe how much I LOVE teaching my children!! We live next to an elementary school and every morning when I look out the window and see everyone heading to school at 7:45 and we are all in the kitchen getting ready for breakfast, I thank GOD for knowing how very much I needed the slower pace. No scurrying, no arguing, no making lunches, etc. We finish with breakfast by 8:30 or so and my eager beaver (Hayley) is ready to start school. The girl comes down at 7:30 or so every morning completely dressed with a smile on her face and tells me she has her bed made and room cleaned. She does this just because she wants to. Jack on the other hand occasionally sleeps in his clothes so that he doesn't have to "get dressed" the next morning. One night he had on jeans and a tshirt after his bath. JEANS. And getting him to make his bed is a major challenge. His favorite quote to use is, "I'm stuck in the mud." Lots

of character training to do in this house! : ) Anyway---we have praise and worship time with all of us upstairs and then Bible Time, Calendar time, and then Handwriting. Riley and Mallory do a lot of playing during that time and Riley enjoys the Bible stories. I also use that time for character training. It's about an hour and then we move down to put M down for a nap and have snack time (usually coordinates with color of week or letter of week) and storytime. The rest of the day consists of an art project of some sort, some bookwork, and lots of playtime and of course NAPTIME. Another time of day that I am thankful to be either resting or working on some of my stuff when I see the line of cars at the elementary school. : ) I'm sure I'll add in things here and there as the year goes on, but for now it is working out wonderfully. At times I have a hard time believing I am really doing this. I LOVED school growing up. Loved my teachers, my friends, everything about it. I loved teaching school---my co-workers (who I really miss a lot!) my students, etc. I'm not 100% sure why God has us on this path. Maybe I'll never know. But for now--although it has just been one week--I am so thankful to be on this journey with my most favorite little people in the world! I know there will be days of weariness and frustration but so far it has done nothing but bless me!

Here are a few pictures of our first day:

Clothes are optional at our school : ) And you have permission to wear navy socks with your undies in the 100 degree heat in the afternoons. (Daddy disagrees with this.) : )

The letter of the week is "A" so we made some applesauce. And we ate some too. . .

Riley letting Mallory in on the applesauce---so cute! Mallory LOVED it!

YUMMY!! (apparently the "Woody" costume got a little toasty---hence the undies and socks)

Ouch, Jack! Such a rough look! : ) Riley got in on the finger painting too. She tried eating it, but discovered the applesauce tasted a little better.

A Few Pictures. . .

Little princesses! Fun times with cousins on a Sunday afternoon. Notice Jack's sullen face because "Adalyn has my necklace!" You'll see later, it's not just his "necklace" she has on . . .

Just went face down in big sister's oatmeal. This captures our Riley Kate. A Happy Mess!!

Squeezing in the Jumparoo with little sissy---Sorry Mal!

Ummm, maybe we need some boy dress up clothes around here. . . FAST! (He is not going to appreciate this picture on his wedding slideshow.) I couldn't resist snapping this picture. . .

Look who is sitting up! I said "SITTING" not "SPITTING" (although we've still got a little of that going on too).

Love this little girl! Already 6 months old---where is the time going?

Happy 4th of July! We had a FUN day with both of our families!

Sisters. . .

Before the first haircut---I think I waited a few weeks too long? : )

Front view of "The Hawk"

Cousins. . . I love these boys!!

Catching up. . .

Ok--I knew I would have less time for me when Mallory arrived, but wow. I rarely get more than 30 minutes in the afternoon during nap/quiet time and then not again until 9:00 or so when the last little chicky goes to bed. And I have no "juice" left by then. So there's the reason for the blog slackin. Even now I need to go work on dinner before I have a baby in my arms. (I managed to slice and peel the skin off of an apple the other day one-handed while holding Mallory---I was pretty amazed at myself.)  : )  But wanted to update with a few pictures before we celebrate Mallory's first birthday. Ha! By the way---can you tell my teeth are gritted in the Easter family portrait? I was saying, "JACK--LOOK AT THE CAMERA!!" Yes, it was even more chaotic than it looks! And notice the trend with Riley and family pictures. Love it.

Mallory will be 5 months

 old next week. She is such a little sweet pea. She loves LOVES attention from anyone and LOVES to have her hands held. It is so sweet. She started rolling over la

st week from her back to her front and then to her back again and now there's no stopping her! If you put her down, she's rollin. She is sometimes sleeping from about 9-7 but that's pretty sporatic. I'm wishing we could

 figure out what makes her do that so we could get it every night! 

We all love Mallory---even when she has fussy days her brother and sisters love on her. 

Riley Kate is 18 months tomorrow. Where has the time gone?? Her vocabulary has exploded this

week--she has been more interested in

 listening to everyone else talk than to talk herself until now. Some favorites of mine are hearing her say, "DADDY!!!!!  DADDY!!" over and over when he walks in the door from work. SO precious. Today when I put her down for her nap she said, "I wuv oo" back to me. Melt my heart. And this morning she was singing along with the Doxology (we keep music going around here pretty much all day) and it was so sweet to hear her belting out, "PAISE GOD!! PAISE GOD!! PAISE GOD (who) SAY (my) SO!!  PAISE GOD (to whom all) SESSINGS SO!! So sweet!! She loves water and 

MUD. We're not sure if she likes the taste or the texture, but she likes to put it in her mouth. YUCK!  She is becom

ing very independent and I find her places like halfway up the pantry shelves (scaling them), sitting in the pantry with a box of crackers and eating them the other day (she climbed up to get them first), she climbs up the ramp on their swingset and came flying down the slide face first yesterday and did a face plant in the mud---all in her mouth, teeth---but she likes it so she didn't mind! We adore this girl!

JACK! 

He is 3 and is a STITCH. He loves "playing" his guitar and plays it multiple times a day. If he isn't playing it, he is playing his air guitar or he's strumming the logos of the guitars on his shirts. We really believe he is going to be a praise/worship leader or musician one day. Music is in this boy's soul. He

has grown up a lot over the last several months---wanting to do everything just like his older sister. 

Hayley is turning 5 in 2 more months! So hard to believe. She 

has been planning her 5th birthday since last August. She is so much fun to hang out with. I'm amazed at all she picks up on these days. She is becoming more and more helpful around here. She would run the place 24/7 if I let her.  She has learned how to write most of her letters this year and loves reading books on her own (the short early reader ones). It's so fun to watch her sound words out and really read them! Some of my favorite things she has said lately is, "J is for Jerusalem."  (not the word I would have picked, but hey, it works!)  We told her we were going swimming last weekend and that the water would probably be pretty cold and she goes, "Oh, well, that's okay! I'll just roll with it!"  

So many more that I want to remember and this is the only place I write them down!  I never want to sound "braggy" or anything about my kids ---I just want to remember all of the sweet things. I don't really want to remember the sassiness, disrespectful tones,  arguing b/t siblings, screaming at the top of her lungs from Riley (instead of talking), and the clinginess that tends to totally beat me down by about 3:00 from Mallory. : ) We've got PLENTY of normal day to day hard stuff around here too. As I was walking M around this afternoon and going to the place of "another day without a moment to myself again" the Holy Spirit reminded me to just let it go and be thankful for this sweet time to hold my baby in my arms. It's a season---- a very SHORT season. So I held her until she fell asleep and enjoyed it! Kitchen a wreck, dinner not cooked, weights not lifted, elliptical not run on, toys not picked up, the bulk of M's birth announcements STILL not sent out, and the list goes on. It's so hard to keep a positive spin on life when you feel so unproductive, but it's a lie from the enemy that I am "unproductive" and to all you moms out there who are also taking care of your babies. I'm choosing not to believe it and to work on enjoying these short months of feeding, changing, holding, rocking, bouncing, etc. these babies! Hope someone was encouraged by this today! And hoping to post more soon!

The Wedding!

Ryan and Abby Dunagan!

I am LONG overdue for a blog post. I only have a few minutes and wanted to post a couple of pictures of Abby's (one of my 3 favorite sister-in-laws!) and Ryan's wedding! It was so beautiful and so much fun! Abby was breathtakingly gorgeous. What an honor to stand next to her as a matron of honor! I'm so excited for them and the adventure they have ahead of them. I'm hoping to get back to posting more "regularly" soon! 

Tra and Hayley having fun in the photo booth! 

The best family picture we got the whole weekend. Really? I guess getting all 4 to look at the camera with joyful expressions and no fingers in their noses is out of the question for at least a few more years? :)

Mallory Grace

So much for downloading a picture on Tuesday! Our sweet little Mallory was born on January 13 at 1:35pm. She was 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 19 3/4 in.  We were VERY surprised to have a baby under 8 pounds!! She is such a good little baby. She is jaundice and under a light going on day #2, but she gets to be at home! We are so happy she is here! 

Mallory's Birthday!

It is 6:30am and I'm sitting in my hospital bed all hooked up to an IV and being pumped with pitocin and strangely feeling a bit like I'm on vacation at the moment. Tra and I had some sweet time praying blessings over our sweet baby girl who we will hopefully be holding in our arms in a matter of hours! He has gone to get some breakfast and I am watching the news and blogging. No breakfast to make, diapers to change, dishes to wash, clothes to fold, noses to wipe, etc. At this point I'm not in any pain. They've turned up my pitocin 3 times and I'm still not in a regular contraction pattern. So I'm enjoying the next few moments of feeling good and preparing to call for an epidural as soon as these contractions start picking up. I came in at a 2 and 60% effaced and after an hour of pitocin my dr. just came to check me again and I have had no change. His words were, "You've got a long way to go." Love it. My last 2 labors took 7-8 hours. So I'm hoping by 1:00 that this baby will be here!

I wanted to write a little note to Mallory before her birth and I'm running out of time, so here we go!

Mallory Grace,
I am so excited to finally get to see you face to face today! I can't wait to hold you and look at your little fingers and toes, and see your pretty hair (I'm certain you'll have a pretty good amount!), and every part of you that God has so meticulously knitted together over the past 9 months as you have grown inside of me. Your daddy and I (and many others) have prayed for you since before we knew you were even on the way! When we found out that God had blessed us with you 9 months ago we were filled with so many different emotions! We were so surprised because Riley Kate was only 4 months old! When I told daddy that you were growing in my tummy we both just laughed and laughed and thanked God for the sweet, wonderful blessing of you! We knew God gave you to our family for a very special purpose and we are excited to see those purposes for your life unfold. God has great plans for you. He needed you here at this time and has blessed you with 3 older siblings who are beside themselves excited about your arrival. Hayley was talking to you last night as I was putting her to bed. She likes to push on my tummy to "find you" and feel you move and kick. Jack can't wait to hold you! When I say, "Are you excited to see Mallory?" He answers, "Yes, I want to hold her." Riley is pretty clueless about having a new sister, but you 2 are going to be two peas in a pod for the rest of your lives. You are going to have so much fun growing up together being SO close in age! You will not know life without each other. We are all so excited to have you in this family. You are a blessing and we love you so much already!
I love you!
Mommy

**I hope to post a picture or 2 later on today when she is here!

Dry Spell

I have been a blog slacker lately! So much has gone on in our lives since I last posted. My sister-in-law Abby got engaged on a family trip to Aspen! It was so much fun to get to be a part of their special night! I'm so excited to have Ryan join the family. He is such a wonderful guy and we are all big fans. My baby girl turned ONE on December 4. It's so hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since her birth. She is such a little joy. She has the sweetest smile and is a little ball of energy. She's not really into sitting still. Her trademark is that she puts everything she gets her hands on into her mouth. It is frustrating, hilarious and disgusting. : ) I think the most disgusting was a dead bug at Tra's parents' house one day. She also loves to play in toilets. Neither of my other 2 did either of these things. It amazes me at how different these 3 already are in such a short time. She loves music and singing. We have made up a song with her name in it and we all sing it to her multiple times a day and she eats it up. (pardon the pun!) She is very tall (95th percentile) and how can I say this nicely to where it will not hurt her feelings one day---very "healthy" (90th percentile). She and Jack have been in the same size diapers for awhile now and he is almost THREE. Impressive. She can wear his jeans from last year that he wore when he was 2. Ha ha! I love it!! It is going to be fun to watch her in the role of big sister. She is a tough little cookie---Hayley and Jack love playing with her. I should keep track of how many times a day, "Please be gentle," comes out of my mouth.

Since her birthday, we've been in Christmas mode over here. My family gets to come this weekend (we're so excited!!) and we are doing "Christmas" with them. Then next week we get to spend with Tra's family---and we're so excited about that too!! I LOVE having two familes that are just fun to be with! We're doing a little party for Jack the week of New Year's for his b-day (which is actually the 23rd) but I would rather get that done before sweet Mallory arrives. She is due the 15th of January. We'll see if I make it that far. Of course I hope I don't because I think she is close to 7 pounds already and there's just nothing fun about recovering from a 9 pounder. : ) Not to mention I'm ready to hurdle all the safety gates around here with a little more grace/ease. And to sleep normally---without sitting up, having to take Tums before going to sleep, etc, etc. Not that I'm complaining---what a BLESSING to be carrying this little gift around. We are beyond thankful for our sweet babies and are looking forward to having little Mallory join us in just a few more weeks! I hope to do better on posts, but if I don't. . . Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sneak Peek!

I had the kids' pictures taken last week. I love my new photographer! She has been in the area almost a year and I am SO glad I found her! Here are a few reasons why. . . 

The many faces of Riley Kate. . . she is 11 months old today!!

Love that Jack!

Hayley Brooke. . . such a joy!

My 3 little sweeties!

The Way I See It #198

I love the quotes on my cups of coffee from Starbucks. This one was especially impactful to me:

"You can shower a child with presents or money, but what do they really mean, compared to the most valuable gift of all--your time? Vacations and special events are nice, but so often the best moments are the spontaneous ones. Being there. Every moment you spend with your child could be the one that really matters." --Tim Russert (Host of NBC's Meet the Press and author of Wisdom of Our Fathers.)

I know his son is especially grateful for the time his dad spent with him---as a child and an adult! It is definitely something I always want to have plenty of to give to my children. I have a GREAT example and have some BIG shoes to fill!! (not literally---although they are pretty big---sorry mom!!)   : )

Happy Fall Y'all!!

Here are a few pictures I got at the pumpkin patch last week. It was a CRAZY trip and definitely a blog-worthy post. The bottom line: me (keep in mind I'm pregnant and look more pregnant than I actually am), THREE kids, one wagon, a million other people/kids, and LOTS OF BEES!!! Hayley got stung recently at home and broke out in hives and stuff, so we were all a little more freaked out than usual about them. I was meeting one of my roommates from college and her kids and I don't think we had a conversation the whole time. It was nuts. At one point H and J had gone through a bounce house and I couldn't FIND THEM for about 5 minutes. (seemed like 50) 

After we sat down to unpack our lunches and Jack was grabbing his ears screaming and running away from the table, Hayley was screaming, bees getting on our food and in the wagon with Riley, I made the impulsive decision to load up the car and go back home. (Sorry, R, for the craziness!!)  I was holding Jack, pulling the wagon and RUNNING back to our car to escape the bees. Hilarious. You'd never know from these pictures how crazy it was!

Deeper thoughts. . .

Last night we were hanging out in the backyard and Hayley brought out a paper plate of some "snacks" which consisted of crasins and one cheeze-it for all of us to share. So thoughtful! She ran back inside to grab her drink and while she was gone a gust of wind blew the plate of snacks off the table and all into the yard. When she came back out, she looked in disbelief at what had happened and with sadness in her voice asked me, "Mom, why did God let that happen?" I proceeded to explain to her how God gave us brains and he wants us to learn to use them really well and that next time maybe we'll think about putting something heavy on top of the plate so it doesn't blow away. And I started thinking about the recent times I've asked God that very question---friends with illnesses, sick babies, loss of babies, just the hard stuff in life. Why, God?? Why do you let these things happen? Although Hayley's scenario was much more simple than the ones in my list, was it really? It was a good reminder to just have faith and trust Him in ALL things and to remember that His ultimate plan is to ". . .prosper us, not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future." (Jer. 29:11)  

And one more deeper thought to share that I've been wanting to jot down for awhile. . .

I've been asking God for guidance and direction in some specific areas of our lives over the past several months. I read this verse one day in a rare moment of "quietness"---"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye." Psalm 32:8 (NKJV) I thought that wording was so interesting, ". . .guide you with My eye." I started thinking, "How do you guide someone with your eye?" Why did He choose His eye to guide us and not His "word" or His "voice" or His "hand"? How does an eye guide? So I imagined trying to guide someone across a room with obstacles only using my eye---that person would have to keep their eyes on MY EYES, not the obstacles in front of them. They would have to stay VERY focused on MY eyes and trust me as they walked. More than likely, they would run into an occasional obstacle b/c it is not easy to guide with your eyes and distractions are EVERYWHERE. But after standing back up, they would again look into my eyes and keep on moving forward. How sweet is that picture with us and God? It just makes my heart happy and at peace to know that #1 He IS instructing me in the way I should go and I have Him as my guide through life and #2 He chose His eye to guide me--He wants me more than anything to seek His face and stay focused on it day after day as I "walk". #3 when I stumble or fall, His eyes stay on me and He actually helps me up and hopes that I choose to "lock in" on His eyes as I move forward. 

And I'll wrap it up with one more verse---Psalm 32:10 "Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him."  I LOVE the Amplified version that says, "Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on the Lord shall be compassed about with mercy and with loving-kindness. Prasing the Lord today for being our Teacher and our Guide and for His mercy and loving-kindness!!

It's a . . .

GIRL!!!  We found out this morning that we are having another little sister and couldn't be more thrilled! We're still working on a middle name but her first name is Mallory. It's SO much fun knowing who will be joining us in just a few more months. How did I NOT find out with Riley?? I love knowing ahead of time. We're telling the kids tonight when Tra gets home, but they've called it from the very beginning. Every time we ask them what they think it is they both say it's a girl! When I got home from my appointment Hayley said, "Are you going to tell me it's a girl??!!" Sooo fun. Can't wait to break the news to the brother and sisters tonight. Praising God for daughter #3 and that she looks healthy!! Now the long wait for mid-January to get here! Although I'm thinking it won't feel that long---days move FAST around here! : )

And how did you spend YOUR Wednesday evening?

These pictures don't really do the mess justice. Our 2 oldest were playing upstairs having such fun---no fighting or fussing while Tra and I finished up dinner and actually got to have some uninterrupted conversation (we should have known something was up). Hayley asked us to come upstairs and see a surprise and that she did something really bad with our games. I wish I would have had my video camera on. It was one of those moments where it was SO bad you just had to laugh! There were 5 games, 4 of them with cards in them, one with dominoes, that were emptied out and scattered all over the gameroom. It was amazing. We had worked 30 minutes and hardly made a dent! H and J had some practice sorting and stacking colors while helping me pick up Cranium. Ugh. (Tra wasn't as upset as he looks in the picture---I just thought it was hilarious because I KNOW he was feeling that way inside.)  It did make us want to play some of those games though! Game night, anyone??

Things that make you go "Hmmmm."

My 7 month old and my 2 1/2 year old can wear the same size diaper.

Question. . .

I am 13 weeks pregnant and I look a little more like 23. I accept that and I know it better than anyone because I have to see myself every day. : )  I cut myself LOTS of slack because not only is this one my 4th child, my 3rd child was a mere 4 months old when we conceived this one. Obviously my body had not gotten back to its pre-pregnancy condition in that short amount of time. I know there are women out there who either work their tails off and get their baby weight off in a matter of weeks, and there are the ones who don't work at it and still get it off in weeks--I am neither of those. : )  So here is my question---what is it with the women out there who have HAD CHILDREN themselves and been in this vulnerable state and feel it is okay to say things like, "How far along are you? (jaw drops when I respond "12 weeks" and they continue) "Whoa! You're going to have a BIG baby!!"  I smile and politely say, "Yes, I do actually tend to have bigger babies (my largest was 9 pounds, smallest was 8), but what you are seeing is a lot of leftover fat from my previous pregnancy." Still smiling. Fighting urge to confront her and say, "How do you think that makes me feel?" Didn't confront her. . . just went to my car and finished off Jack's donut holes he didn't eat that morning. : )  I mean, really?? Do you not remember that at 12 weeks your baby is the size of a lime?? The bigness is not from my 3 inch child growing inside of me. It's just not polite and I sincerely apologize if I have EVER made a tacky comment to another mother out there like that. I feel like I make a big effort to try to make people feel good about themselves---and it isn't really that hard! 

No cute pictures to share today, just a little venting. We get to find out the first week of September if we're having a girl or a boy! Makes being a little on the chunky side SO worth it! Have a great week!

Living in a fog. . .

I can't believe it is July! I can't believe I let June go by without one post. Between our family vacation the first week of June, a trip to see my parents, and being in the thick of 1st trimester ickiness and my 3 little ones, I've been grabbing sleep every chance I get and by the end of the day I'm completely spent. I will be 12 weeks tomorrow and I am feeling a little bit of my energy returning---slowly but surely. I really do feel like I have spent the past several weeks living in a fog. Meals get made (or ordered) : ), laundry gets done (with lots of help from my WONDERFUL husband---he is amazing with all the help he provides around the house), the daily routine has continued but I find myself tucking my babies in at night wondering where the day went. I'm looking forward to getting my energy level back up again so that I will be able to enjoy more of my days instead of just "drifting" through them. Hayley and Jack are little buddies, now more than ever, and they have so much fun playing together. They are at such fun ages right now---most of the time. : )  Riley is growing up way too fast. She is a "do-it-yourself-er" and will sit and play by herself for extended periods of time. She doesn't ever have much time to herself with her older brother and sister wanting to entertain her most of the day, so she takes advantage of her "quiet times."  

My parents have been in town since yesterday and it has been wonderful. We treasure the times we get to spend with them---it's not often enough! 

Counting our blessings. . . 

Everyone have a happy 4th! I hope to post again before August. : )

See what I mean about Riley rarely having a moment to herself??  : )