Easter 2014-better late than never!

I have to say, Easter is one of my favorite times of the year. There's new life to nature around us. Everything feels fresh and full of possibilities. What a perfect time to reflect on all that Jesus did for us when he died on the cross and paid the price for our sins. The true reason we celebrate Easter after all.

Of course I love all the other fun things that come along with the holiday as well. Who doesn't?? I love new Easter clothes, a big lunch with family, egg hunts, and of course the anticipation of Easter baskets first thing in the morning when the kids wake us up at the crack of dawn. Tradition. In all this excitement over the newness in the world around us, it's wonderful to be grounded by tradition. There's so much to be said about counting on time honored traditions that we can all look forward to every year. I hope you find as much joy and peace in your heart as we do over this wonderful holiday. Here's a little peak into our Easter this year...

Our new year surprise

Well, to say it's been a while since my last post is an understatement. I do have a good reason actually and although most of you know this already, I know there's a few that don't. We found out a couple months ago that we're expecting our 4th child! What a surprise and blessing this was as we were sure we were finished having kids. Really good example of how even though you think you may have things figured out, you never know what God's plan for your life is.

It is pretty funny actually. The number of things we are doing that we never planned for, but are very happy about, never ceases to amaze me. One of the very first things someone asked me when they found out about our new addition was "and your going to homeschool all 4 of them??". I've thought of some very humorous responses to that question in my head, but I settled on a simple "yes" :-) I won't lie, it was hard to homeschool during the first trimester. We took a lot of breaks. That's the beauty of homeschool though. We adjusted course, came up with a new plan, and are going from there.

About our little blessing though... this baby is going to have so much love. It has actually been a really neat experience with the older two. They are so involved with this baby. They ask all sorts of questions, talk about what gender they're hoping the baby is (another girl is what they both want), and give the baby hugs and kisses goodnight around my tummy.

Of course hubby is over the moon. He always wanted another but I wasn't comfortable having anymore because I deliver via C-section. All of my babies have been born C-section deliveries so this will be my 4th. Yes, I'm a little nervous but I will be delivering at a great hospital and have a great doctor. I am putting my faith in God that we will both do just fine. I appreciate any prayers you can give us though :-)

I do realize this is going to cause a necessary change in my blog name. I am going to have to give that more thought!

Here's our newest addition. Isn't he/she cute?!? :-)

Homeschool Room Reveal

After much deliberation we decided to turn our dining room into a homeschool room! The closet we've been using has been working fine, but as very little as the dining room gets used we decided to just go for it and create our own homeschool room. Honestly it was just the best decision for us. Knowing J's personality I knew he would love to have that dedicated space to go to where the distractions of the house were away from us and we could just focus on our school work. The kids were thrilled from the moment we told them we were doing it, to watching the whole process unfold, to finally seeing the end result. The room is in full swing now and being used daily. So here it goes, our big homeschool reveal...

Let me tell you about how I hate trying to photograph a small room. I did the best I could so I hope you enjoy!!

View from one entry into the room.


View from the other entry into the room.


I wanted to keep our dining room table but decided to switch out the chairs for barstools that could slide right underneath. I didn't want to take up any more space in our small room and I really didn't want anything getting spilled on my nice chairs!! :-) I sewed the tablecloth to be fitted so the little ones wouldn't just pull the cloth off the table. I love the United States map as well. We have family in various states so I knew I wanted a really big map that the kids could easily point to and learn all of the different states.


I felt the urge to be "official" and had an extra shelf and picture frame laying around so I created this little set up with our school name. A LOT of things used to decorate the room were things I had laying around the house or in the attic. I often find myself wanting a fresh look for our little home and consider myself a professional clearance shopper (hahaha), so I tend to hang on to all household decorations for a later use such as this.


I knew I definitely wanted cubeicals. I've had one for a while and love it so I knew it would be a good fit. Fortunately one day I was shopping at Home Depot and low and behold there were two of these in the store. I think they were bought online and returned to the store because I couldn't find any more anywhere in this area. I got the third online and we were ready to go. They even came with the 4 fabric bins per cubical. I still have a lot of room to be filled but I don't think that's going to be hard ;)


Had to show you this little gem. Once again this was just repurposing things laying around the house. This little crate was my grandmothers and used to hold a small Christmas tree. When I was "shopping" my attic I took one look at it and knew it would be perfect for the table. So glad to have a little piece of my grandmother in our homeschool room.


Just had to show off a few more of my supplies and toys. A wall pencil sharpener is a MUST. I loathed sharpening pencils all the time and the little sharpener we had kept busting open and getting little pencil shavings everywhere.


This shelf of toys make me happy. They are what the kids play with the most and there is so much learning that can happen from these toys. They can be pricey so I got all of mine second hand, on clearance, and when stores like AC Moore have their good sales or coupons.


Calendar time is something that my kids love. Up until now I've been using one that I created, but I found this one on a good sale (plus I was motivated by the fact that I hated mine) so I got this. I highly recommend this wall calendar. It's really good quality and comes with a ton of cards to be used on various holidays and more throughout the year.


My dedicated space to show off the kids artwork during the week. The amount of art and crafts the kids produce during the week can get overwhelming so this helps reign it in.


Here's the whole wall. I love having a dedicated space for their backpacks that they use for a co-op they're in one day a week. No more searching as we're rushing out the door!


We've been using the workbox system (in our own way) and this is what we use for our system. Normally there are little labels on the front of each drawer but little S wouldn't leave them alone today so they're off! All three kids are huge fans of Pottery Barn Anywhere Chairs. The green one I got second hand for $25!!! The pink one F just got for Christmas. I see another pink or purple in S's future :)


Another freebie project with a frame I wasn't using and scrapbook paper. I always have scrapbook paper on hand in this house!!


I also recommend a stash of supplies just for mom. Keeps my sanity having my own stuff to work with and always knowing where my good stuff is.


I really believe the most important thing about having a school room is keeping the "home" in homeschool. For me, the room should bring the best of both worlds together. The fun and wonder of a school room and the comfort and love of home. I hope you enjoyed the room, we certainly do!

2013 Round up

What a crazy year it's been here! It's been while since my last blog entry and that's because my computer took a turn for the worst and mostly just didn't want to work. Fortunately I was able to get a new computer for Christmas!! Merry Christmas to me! This is great news for the homeschool too as I wasn't able to do hardly anything for the school on my laptop (no Word program or anything). Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to get back on top of things now (hmmmmm... maybe I should make that my resolution?? Nahhh).

Wow. What a year of ups and downs it's been. Instead of telling you things you already know I'll just give you an update on how things are going here:

The school is better than ever and I'm still thrilled with our decision to homeschool. Our co-op this fall was such a blessing. It was a great time and we all made good friends. The kids are counting down the days until the spring when it starts back up, as am I :-) We just finished our homeschool room. We deliberated quite a bit on if we were going to turn the dining room into a homeschool room, but we finally took the plunge and honestly it's amazing. Better than I could've imagined and I'll upload pictures in my next post.

We had some great news in regards to F's speech. She's improved so much that her diagnosis has been downgraded from Apraxia to Moderate Dyspraxia. She still has a ways to go, but she's also come a long way as well. We're understanding her so much more and I love watching her little personality come out and shine. She also started taking ballet this fall and that is adorable to watch. She danced with her class in an assisted living home nearby for Christmas and they did a great job.

S is just amazing. She is so smart and bright and amazes me everyday with what she's capable of. Seriously though, you have to keep and eye on her because she is curious about everything and has been able to get into things that even I can't understand. A little scary honestly.

J continues to make us so proud with his accomplishments since we started homeschooling. He has told me that he is glad we are homeschooling. He is such a sponge. He is so knowledgeable and is constantly surprising me with things that I had no idea he knew.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been there for us during this year. It has most certainly been a year we never expected in more ways than one. I am so excited about this coming year. We have lots of plans for our family, our school, and our home. I'm excited for all the amazing adventures that lie ahead this year and I can't wait to share them all with you! We love you all!!

Happy New Year!!

My Sweet S

One year ago I got the biggest surprise of my life. I went into labor! You may think "well duh, that's pretty expected", but not for me. As my doctors like to say, I make and grow babies really well... so well that they don't want to come out. I just don't dilate. I don't drop. My water doesn't break... or so we thought...

I got up on the 27th and quickly realized my water broke sometime during the night. I wasn't even having contractions yet. I was in such a state of shock that I just stood there in disbelief. Finally I manage to pull it together and wake my husband. Once the on call doctor realized who I was she had me come to the hospital right away. No waiting around for actual contractions to start. My regular doctor and I are so close, I really wanted to just wait this out and see how long I would be in labor so he could deliver, but that was a big heck no so off we went. As it turned out my OB was downstairs performing a procedure and when he finished he came up to the operating room to see me while they were performing the surgery. That made my day :-)

Everything about this delivery was different for me and it was wonderful in everyway. After surgery they let S stay with me in the operating room and come with me to recovery. She never left my side and it was amazing. Even my recovery was completely different. I was up and walking around the next day with little pain. Incredible.

I knew S from the moment I became pregnant with her. I just knew her. It's unexplainable. I knew how her personality would be and she's lived up to every expectation I had. She is so sweet, happy, she doesn't complain, and she just goes with the flow despite being dragged to multiple soccer games and ballet practices every week. What a joy and blessing she has been to our lives. God has surely blessed us more than I could've imagined with her and all of our children.

S,
You're daddy, brother, sister, and I love you so much. You bring so much joy to this family. Everyday you amaze us with your capabilites and how smart you are. You are most certainly our little sunshine. No matter how dark the day is you have the ability to light up a room and make all the darkness go away. Happy Birthday Sweet S, we love you!!

Love,
Mommy