"When I Leave the Room"

I can't believe I have never heard this song until tonight.

So touching.  I hope you will listen.  :)

Encourage one another

This is just a quick morning post, but I really wanted to share it.

Yesterday I had a friend text me that she had prayed for me in her quiet time and then she shared some encouraging words and a verse.

To know that someone else intentionally prayed for me not only brought joy to my heart, but reminded me that I am not alone.  Many times throughout the day yesterday I thought about that prayer.  There is power in prayer and I know the Lord heard my friend's prayer.

Often times my prayer life can center around my immediate family and our needs, but this was a good reminder to be praying for others more.  Even if I don't know their needs, I know that God does.

I hope you will pray for a friend today! (and if you do, let them know)  This is one of the greatest ways I know to show love for others.  :)

Pretty Princess Dress

This weekend Ellis and I went on a girl's shopping trip for a very special occasion.  Her daddy has invited her to attend her first daddy/daughter dance.  She is very excited!  Although I know she has no concept of what this is all about.  :)

When we discussed that she would need a pretty dress and we looked in her closet, she let me know that she needed a pretty pink princess dress.

We have been reading this book a lot lately.

It's such a cute book.  On each page it describes a different aspect of a dress like ribbons, lace, sparkles, etc, but then it always says "but this is not my dress", until the last page when all of these elements are put together and then it says "this is my dress!"

So this book was to be our inspiration for our shopping day.

While Ellis and I headed out to the mall, the boys were going to have guy time at Papa's house which they were thrilled about!  The idea was that they would play a game called Axis and Allies.  It's a World War 2 game way beyond their years, but when the boys recently came across it they couldn't wait for an opportunity to try it out.

So Saturday morning was guaranteed to be a fun time for all. :)

Ellis and I began by reading our book for inspiration. 

Then she got a purse and put lip stick (chap stick) in it and we were ready to go.

We made sure to bring our book along.

When considering where to look I remembered that we had great success finding Ellis a pretty dress for her baby dedication at JC Penny's.  We never shop there, for whatever reason, but I figured they may have what we were looking for.  I was hoping to find something shiny and fluffy. :)   When we got there we found some very pretty dresses.  I assumed my girly girl would ooh and ahh over each dress, but instead she got sidetracked.

Apparently socks and frozen t-shirts are much more fun!

I pulled out all of my personal shopping skills and decided to choose some dresses to give Ellis a few options.

After agonizing for about 30 seconds, she made her choice and we were ready to go.  She actually first chose the white dress on the right, but when I showed her the book, she changed her mind and chose this pink one.  I think she did a pretty good job finding a similar dress.

The best surprise was when we checked out the dress was $8.99!!!  At that point I was convinced that this was the absolute PERFECT dress!

Don't you think she did well? :)

We went and had lunch together and Ellis got to ride one of the little rides.  I told her to choose one.  I was thinking that without the boys around she would pick the pink choo choo train, or the pink ice cream truck, NOPE....she picked the Ninja Turtles ride.  :)  I pretty sure she was thinking of her brothers.

When we got to the car I put the dress out so that she could have fun looking at it while we finished our shopping.

When we got home she wanted to put her dress on and immediately she began twirling.  This picture is blurry but it shows her enjoying her dress. :)

This special time of preparing Ellis for her first "date" will be a memory I will always treasure.

Inauguration and Learning to Love the Piles

Last night Andy and I attended the Governor's Inaugural Celebration.  It was a black tie affair and I was excited to go!  I almost backed out because although I found this dress for a great deal last week I didn't have time to get it hemmed and I didn't know what else I could wear.  I thought about a short dress, but I didn't know what was expected.  Ten minutes before we left I decided that I would just hold it up all night with one hand, and walk VERY carefully.  That proved more difficult than I would have thought.  It was my first time without wearing my knee brace since surgery , I was wearing heals, and the event was on very uneven terrain.  I held my dress up with one hand and onto Andy's arm with the other, and walked VERY slowly.  :)

When I thought about backing out I had a close friend really urge me to go. I am so glad that she did, because Andy and I are apart a lot due to his demanding work schedule, and when I have an opportunity to join him I need to take advantage of it.  Her words really penetrated my heart and made me realize that I need to do whatever I can to be Andy's partner in anyway I can be.  Whether it's joining him at a work function or listening to him share about the busyness of his days or making it happen when he mentions wanting a date night.  I want to do a better job of coming a long side of him and helping to meet his needs. 

As a mom with little kids I get so caught up in my days and am often times worn down by the time Andy gets home that I don't listen as intently as I should and although I'm often not physically at his job, I do desire to be a part of his world.

One of Andy's colleague's had his new wife with him and I had a few moments to encourage her to be present at as many events as she can be.

I'm thankful for my friend sharing those words with me, and I want to pass them along to others, because I know that there is such wisdom in them.

With two of my favorite guys at the end of the night.

I went to say goodnight to Ellis so that I could show her my dress since she didn't really see it earlier and let her know one day she'll get pretty dresses too.  :)

P.S.  Right after I took this picture I changed into pj's and sat on the couch with a big bag of pretzel m&m's.  So glad I'm not trying to fit into another fancy dress anytime soon.  :)

It was nice to have a night out last night and time with my hubby, but it is a committee week which means long hours for Andy (and me!). :)

This afternoon the kids and I ran to Target and I decided to take them to Chic-fil-e for dinner.  By the time we got home it was dark, windy, cold and close to bed time, but I knew we needed to get clean.  We bought some bubble bath so the kids begged to have a bath all together (which is not our normal routine).  I started the bath and they piled in and I began looking around the house and this is what I saw.

Piles, piles everywhere.  Tonight I was drained of energy and the thought of needing to deal with these piles overwhelmed me.  

But, again I am reminded, it's all about perspective.  I was reminded of this as I went into the bathroom to referee some fussing (for the hundredth time today) and I couldn't help but smile at this picture.

There they are.  The reason for my many piles.  Happily enjoying a bath.  A bath in which they are all squished together.  Sure there may be fussing and splashing and water on the floor, but they desire to be together and that makes all of the piles in the world worth it.

Those of you in my world, I hope you will remind me if I whine or complain about being tired or overwhelmed, that it is the greatest blessing in the world to be entrusted with four precious souls and to get to spend my days with them.

One day the piles won't be here.  One day everything will stay exactly where I put it.  On those days I pray that I will be filled with warm memories of days gone by appreciating the moments with my children, my loves.

I hope you will go and hug and love on someone special in your life.  Make sure to tell them you love them.  (Once or twice or a hundred times today!)  :)

Back to school and what we're reading

Today was our first day back to school.  It's kind of fun that I decide when we go on Christmas break and when we start "school" again. Christmas break was fun, getting to play, stay up late, watch movies, but after a few weeks I'm ready to get back into some sort of a routine.  Since our co-op begins again this month I wanted to get back into the swing of things a few weeks ahead of time.

After my knee surgery I spent almost an entire week in bed and I spent a lot of time on my laptop. Our co-op follows the classical model of schooling and I have found a lot of curriculum that goes along with that style that I really like.  But, one thing that I really was missing this year was reading with the kids.  Not that classical schooling in anyway dissuades you from reading with your kids, but I found that it was one of the first things to be pushed off until the next day when we fell behind in our schoolwork.  Reading with the kids is one of the greatest pleasures I have being home with them, and I was missing some of the joy in our school days because of not making it a priority.

So, while I was spending time on the computer I came across several Charlotte Mason sites that I really connected with.  To understand a portion of what Charlotte Mason believed here is an explanation about how she viewed books from this web site.   Reading this helped me re examine our schooling and decide to make reading time with the kids a priority.

Charlotte’s students used living books rather than dry textbooks. Living books are usually written in narrative or story form by one author who has a passion for his topic. A living book makes the subject “come alive.”

As I searched out Charlotte Mason home-schoolers, there were wonderful book suggestions that I sifted through and began to place orders for.  I was able to get many of the books used which also meant they were from individual sellers, so several times a week I would find a package in our mail box.  I LOVE getting mail, so this was a real treat for me!!  That, on top of Christmas cards, made this one of the best December mail months ever! :)  As the packages continued to arrive, Andy said to me one night, "So this is what you were doing on your computer." :)

Since I couldn't go upstairs for several weeks after surgery, we schooled downstairs instead of in our usual area in the loft.  Instead of jumping right into our seat work, we would all find a spot on the couch and begin our day with reading.  It was wonderful!  Now, some days it would take us about 15 minutes to figure out where everyone was sitting, who was sitting next to who, who was sharing whose blanket with who, etc.  But, once we got settled, I would begin reading and they would be captivated by the stories.  Some days the littles could sit for longer periods than others, and at times they would slither off of the couch and begin to play quietly within a few feet of us.

Some of the things that I have helpful found when reading aloud are:

• Begin with books that interest the younger children.  If I could settle them with one of their books, they would tend to stay and listen as we moved on to other books that were a little more advanced.  Plus, my older ones still find pleasure in these books, as do I.

• Find books that contain colorful and interesting illustrations.  It definitely helps to have pictures to capture their attention.  Especially on pages with longer narrations.

• Linger over the pages.  I used to read a story (short stories) cover to cover without stopping.  But I have found that with these shorter books, especially ones with wonderful illustrations, it's so nice to stop on each page and ask them questions about what I read or what we see.  They love pointing out animals, or flowers, or anything else that they see.

• When I'm reading chapter books, we set up some sort of toys that they can play quietly with while I read.  Since there are rarely pictures in these books it's almost impossible to get the little ones to sit still quietly.  You can erase "almost" in that last sentence. :)  I know that the littles may not follow the story, but the big boys get an opportunity to follow along and play.  Most days this goes really well because they know if they aren't doing this quietly we will move on from reading and begin our other work.  :)  Many times we will get out our Imaginext and play quietly with them.  Today they had cars and trucks out because they had built structures out of Magformers and Arx that they got for Christmas.

So here is a sampling of how we began today.

Ellis got this book for Christmas and she loves it!

We were introduced to Richard Scarry books when Drew was younger and he has become one of my favorite children's authors.  These books have some of the most interesting and colorful illustrations I have ever seen, and as you can see from the second picture, there are so many details to linger over on each page.

This was one of the new books I had received in the mail over the holidays and it was a sweet book based on a true story of a young girl becoming a teacher.  We took our time talking about the story and examining the pictures.  It will definitely be a re-read for us.  :)

This has become a daily read for us.  It is filled with well known fairy tales, poems, and stories I'm unfamiliar with.  The illustrations are colorful and plentiful.  (There are a few black and white pictures sprinkled though out.)  I came across this series of books several months ago and went ahead and ordered them.  I was able to get a used set consisting of 10 of the 12 in the series.  It progresses from simple stories to much more in depth in the upper books.  I did look on Amazon the other day and it looks like they have significantly gone up in price, but wanted to mention them in case any of you ever come across them. :)

We did not read this next book today, but it is one of the ones I recently ordered and gifted to Drew for Christmas.  I mention it because as Knox and I were working on some copy work today, his sentence was about Winnie-the-Pooh.  Drew chimed in that he knew how Winnie-the-Pooh came about.  It was not only fascinating for me to learn about, but I also delighted in the fact that my 8 year old was able to teach us about it based on a book he has been reading.  (The third picture tells about Winnie-the-Pooh's origin for those interested.)

And finally, this is our current read-a-loud.  We don't get to it everyday, but I just pick up wherever we left off.

I'm so excited as I think about filling our days with more and more books.  I realize that every home school mom is different and I need to be thoughtful about what not only brings the children joy, but also myself.  Reading in our family seems to be a win/win.

 If anyone has any must reads, please pass them along!

Christmas in pictures

We wish you a Merry Christmas...

(Eve)

We wish you a Merry Christmas....

(Morning) 

                                                 

We wish you a Merry Christmas....

(with Grandparents)   :)

And a Happy New Year!