I am so not ready!

Sophia has been attending VBS this week. She's never gone before, so this has been very exciting for her! She's been having so much fun and it's been a joy to see her experience something new.

Though I miss her like crazy, it has been nice to have only two kiddos in the morning. With Haddie sleeping most of that time, and Riley playing, I am able to get a fair amount of stuff done! I started wondering if maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she went to school this coming Fall (we're homeschooling this coming year).

Well, day after day of loading all three kids up in the car, often times having to wake a very content sleeping baby to do so, drive to VBS, unload all the kids, drop off Soph by 9am, reload Haddie and Riley, drive home, unload Haddie and Riley, just to turn around and do it all over again to get Soph by noon - well, I am SO not ready! All of the loading and unloading and dropping off and picking up is exhausting! If we sent Soph to school, whether private or public, I'd have to take her, as our public school is within walking distance so no buses for us! This is by no means the main reason we're choosing to homeschool Soph this coming year, but I have realized this week, that it definitely is a factor and one I am not ready to tackle!

I'm thankful that our area has a lot to offer the homeschooling family in regards to extracurriculars, so I know Soph will get her peer fix next year without having to go to school. I'm also thankful that, for at least next year, I won't have to do the dropping off, picking up thing!

And, just because they are cute and I know it will make their Grandmas and Aunts smile... here are the kiddos that make all this dropping off and picking up so exhausting! :)

Singing the blues

I would love to post pics of Sophia's ballet recital but our memory card reader keeps shorting out and so I cannot access my pictures right now! Funny story from the day of her recital though... My Dad, Jamie and my BIL, David, were all busy working on our deck. My Mom, Jeni, myself and the "babies" were all inside. Sophia was playing outside, oh, and side-note, Molly, the adorable beagle belonging to my sister, was in the backyard. Anywhoooo... David hollers in to Jeni to go get Molly b/c she'd been whining to come in for some time. At this point Soph was inside getting cleaned up and ready for her recital. Jeni brings in Molly and is calling to Sophia in a strange way. I come see what's up. Well... Molly has a huge patch of white fur on her back and it was completely blue! Jeni asked Soph if she knew anything about this and indeed, she did. Wet chalk left outside was the culprit. :) We laughed and I scolded, though I know Soph wasn't trying to be bad and I've never told her not to color real animals with wet chalk, so I didn't punish her, but she knows not to do it again! Last I heard Molly was still sporting the blue look.

Busy Busy!

I have so much to share from this weekend. Friday Sophia and I were at her dress rehearsal for her upcoming ballet recital, while Jamie hosted our church small group at our house. I left Haddie at home, thinking we'd be back in time for me to feed her and to be a part of the second half of small group. Nope! The rehearsal took a long time and my dear friend left small group to bring Haddie to me so I could nurse her. Soph, Haddie and I got home just in time to say goodbye to everyone.

Saturday my parents and my sister, and BIL (plus niece Cora and dog Molly) all came to our house for the day. The men worked on getting our front deck, which Jamie and my Dad started building a few weeks ago, closer to completion. After a long, hot, humid day of hard work, the men got all cleaned up and we all went to Sophia's ballet recital! Jamie's Mom and Grandma joined (Jamie's Dad was sick and unable to join us - we missed him!), as did Shirmy (the student who lives with us). Sophia did excellent and we had a good time!

Yesterday we went to church then came home, ate lunch and cleaned up the house. I was the photographer for some friend's from our church who were getting married in the afternoon, so I left around 3:25p to get to the park where the event was. Jamie and the kids followed behind about a half hour later. I stayed for the full festivities, and didn't get home until 6p. Jamie had taken the kids home earlier. As soon as I got home it was time to start something else! Our dear friend, Karen, is heading home to Taiwan this week, so we were hosting a goodbye party for her. Everyone left around 9pm and I just about collapsed!

So, I have lots of pictures to share, but that will have to wait. Sophia is taking part in her first VBS this week and we have many other things going on too. So, no rest for the weary. :)

I will leave you with this funny story and the promise of pictures to come!

Last night as folks were leaving our house, Shirmy told us about something that had happened the night before. Shirmy's room is really the converted breezeway (the room that connects the house to the garage) of our house . To get to her room from our bedrooms you have to walk through the whole house. Apparently, around midnight Saturday night, Shrimy was laying awake in bed, and who should stumble into her room and try to get into her bed but Sophia - totally sleepwalking!!! Shirmy could tell Soph was not awake so she scooped her up and took her back to bed. Soph couldn't believe she had done that. :)

Have a great Monday!

one year ago

one year ago... my sweet children, with their daddy

one year ago, he was still a baby, my baby, at just 9 1/2 months

today, she is my baby

one year ago, one of my dearest friends bore her first child

today, you guessed it, that sweet girl is one

one year ago, we were saying goodbye

except we didn't know it, except I knew it, you know?

exactly one year ago, today, we drove north one hour to be with my Grandpa. He would die just over a week later. We would never see him again. one year ago was the night of Sophia's dress rehearsal for her first ever ballet recital. one year ago, Grandpa wouldn't get to come, he wasn't well enough - so we went to him. He got to see his Sophia dressed in her costume. How he loved her and how she loved him. one year ago, a piece of my heart broke, except I didn't know, except I did, you know?

today, dress rehearsal for ballet recital #2 When did she grow up? (excuse the flip flops, we hadn't donned our slippers yet :) )

one year ago, Cora was the baby of the family

today, Hadassah is. What's that you say? Isn't that the same baby? Nope! But I agree, it sure looks like it!

One year ago... what did yours look like?

Sophia Did Do This One!

[ Dont' know what I'm referring to with the title of this post? Take a look below at yesterday's post and you'll understand! :) ]

Sleeping beauty

Edited to Add: Jamie wanted me to assure my readers that he did not don this head gear himself, but it was in fact, his better half that placed it upon him. He didn't want any visions of him walking around the house in this pink hat getting into anyone's head... :)

ORIGINAL POST:

You may think Sophia did this to Jamie...

And

you'd

be

wrong!

hehehe ;)

Summer Simplicity

Easy clothes

Pony tails
Flip flops
Playing outside

And always having freshly picked flowers bringing simple joy into the house.

What is your favorite simple thing about summer?

Mini-Me

This sweet girl... she reminds me so much of -

myself.

:)

Growing up, whenever something was missing, or out of place, or something unusual was going on,

I was always blamed.

This always frustrated me so much.

But, I was always blamed for good reason.

I was always the one who knew where the missing item was,

had moved such-and-such,

or was behind the "something unusual."

I recall missing cans of food, found in my closet (I had used them for whatever I was playing).

I remember finding a missing spoon in my coat pocket - placed there after eating lunch at school, discovered months later at the airport when it set off the metal detector...

So, the other week, when I stepped in something gooey that was all over the basement floor, I really should have known who to ask.

And then today, when the gooey stuff was again, all over the basement floor, I should not have been surprised when, after finally asking the right person if that was stain remover gel on the floor, said person calmly stated, "Oh, that is to trap the spiders!"

I should have known, after all, she gets it from me.

:)

Online Reading

Following are a few sites I enjoy visiting when I have time to do some online reading. If you're ever looking for some new sites to browse, check these out!
1. Cake WrecksWhen Professional Cakes Go Horribly, Hilariously Wrong- This blog highlights cakes that have "gone wrong!" You'll be sure to get a good laugh, or a least a chuckle browsing through these hilarious cake wrecks!

2. Hooked on Houses- If you enjoy watching HGTV, find yourself checking out homes that are for sale, or wondering what the insides of houses you're driving past look like ... you'll love exploring this blog!

3. (In)Courage: Take Hope to Heart

- This is a fabulously inspiring site. All the posts are written by Christian women seeking to encourage other women. I love reading their stories and never regret a visit!

and... just a little Hadassah eye candy to brighten your day!


Are there any blogs or sites you enjoy visiting? Since we don't have cable, when I need some semi-mindless entertainment, I love reading blogs and am always looking for a new read! Do share!

Cousins

Today the kids and I had the chance to visit my sister and co.! [Jamie had to work :( ] They only live about an hour away now (yippee!), so a day trip was a great plan in my mind to make the day go faster while Jamie was working. The weather has been a bit rainy/stormy the last couple of days and the drive down there was intense! For about the last 1/2 hour the rain was crazy. My wipers were on full-blast and I could barely see. Everyone had slowed down a bit and had their hazards on just so each car could be seen. Sophia kept exclaiming, "Mom, I can't even see out of the windows!" I would answer her, "Yeah, me either." Driving like that for so long, with my precious babes in the car, and not having Jamie with me, well, I was a bit stressed! I kept praying for safety and strength and kept repeating, "I can do this, I can do this!" Well, God kept us safe and we arrived only a little bit late.

My sister made us a delicious lunch of enchiladas, fixings and milk-free chocolate chip cookies! It was all YUMMY! It was great to spend the day with my sister, brother-in-law, niece and Molly the dog.

Sweet Haddie. Cora kept stealing her paci. It wasn't too long ago the roles were different and it was Riley stealing Cora's paci!

Cora has this little purse, and Riley picked it up and started toddling about with it. We need to get him some sort of "man - bag." :)

If you think my kiddos have big eyes, check out their cousin's!

Sophia and Riley had fun playing outside in Cora's little pool. Jeni attempted to have Cora join them, but she hates the grass, and sitting in the pool wasn't amusing her too much either. She ended up being happiest sitting on a blanket wrapped up in a towel. She is so cute.

Towards the end of our stay the dog and the baby passed out on the couch.

Car!

Usually Riley fights getting dressed and undressed. So, this morning when he walked into his room gesturing for me to remove his p.j.s I was surprised! He then quickly pointed to his tummy area and said "Caw." (which means car) I opened his drawer and showed him some shirts with cars on them. He denied each of them. "Un Uh." I then found the shirt pictured below. I asked him if he'd like an airplane on his shirt. "Un Huh! Caw!!!" (remember, car can mean just about anything - even airplane!) He was so excited and started saying "caw, caw" and pointing to the sky and making his airplane sounds! What a cutie. :)

***

Just a morning sword fight with Mommy!

***

Remember how Riley loves playing the guitar on just about anything?? Case in point below.

***

This is our changing table.

This is our boy.

This is sort of how I found Riley the other day. He had climbed up on the changing table all by himself while I was in the bathroom. I found him sitting up there happily playing with his sister's paci. I didn't get a picture then, so while trying to recreate it this morning these are the shots I got. He wasn't really into the whole recreation thing...

My babies are growing up

Last week Sophia officially turned 5 1/2, Riley officially turned 21 months and Hadassah turned 2 months. How the time has flown. It seems like just yesterday that Sophia was my 2-month old and Riley and Haddie were but a dream and a wish away.

Hadassah had her 2-month well-check yesterday. She is just over 11 lbs and is measuring 23 1/4 inches long. She is wearing size 0-3 month clothes and is in a size 1 diaper. She remains a very chill baby. She is super content and loves to smile, coo and gaze into one's eyes. She is very alert during awake time and a great sleeper during nap/bed time. She naps in her swing for the most part because I'm a super freak when it comes to worrying about SIDS and so I like to be able to easily check on her when she's sleeping. At night she mostly sleeps right next to me in her pack and play and sometimes with me in bed on my chest or nestled with me (esp. if she's puking a lot after eating in the middle of the night - at those times she'll only settle if she's near my body). Riley and Sophia adore their baby sister and we do too!

Riley, at 21 months, remains mostly non-verbal. Well, that's not exactly right. He "talks" almost non-stop, but 80% of it is not English. :) He does say a handful of words pretty clearly, like Thank you and car. If he wants something - anything, he usually says "car." But, that could mean his paci or a popsicle or outside. He's super energetic and yet able to focus really well too. His favorite energetic activities are to either dance or run around in circles like a crazy man. His favorite focus activities are to either sit in his room reading books or playing with his vehicles. He's also starting to get into playing with play-doh, but enjoys eating it sometimes so we have to watch him carefully! He loves being outside. He still adores guitars and continues to make almost anything into a guitar and pretends to play on it. Riley is becoming quite the climber too, he can get up most anything that he sets his mind to. He adores tools and "fixing" things. He continues to react very strongly to milk protein and is always thankful when Mommy makes treats for the family that he can enjoy too! At almost two he is definitely testing boundaries and discipline has become a part of his daily routine, but even amidst that, he remains a super fun little boy and we just love him so!

Sophia is the whipper-snapper of the bunch. Her energy is always sky high and her need (yes - need!) to be active, creative, inventive and busy is never-ending. The busier she is, the more active she is able to be, the better she behaves. She is SO smart and is reading and writing really well for her age. She adores playing outside. One of my favorite attributes of Soph's is her ability to be equal parts girly-girl and tomboy. She loves all things pink, sparkly and princess -y, and yet can play hard with the best of them! She's not afraid to get dirty and scrapped up, and yet she adores wearing dresses and playing beauty parlor! We will officially start school with her this coming Fall. We will be giving homeschooling a try and are excited to order curriculum for that. She will most likely be doing a 1st grade curriculum because she has been learning and doing and mastering kindergarten level work this year, even though our school time has been super relaxed and stop and go. I can't believe my first born will be 6 this Fall! I love her more today than the day I found out I was pregnant!

Well, that's the recap of our kiddos! Have a blessed day!

My little decorator

"Mom! I got all of these rose petals to decorate the table!"

And decorate she did! I know I should be worried about the state of the rose bush... but somehow I'm not. I love her love of flowers and the joy she gets when she brings them inside to bring beauty to our house. My Sophia - she may be full of crazy amounts of energy and at times difficult to reign in, but she is never dull and never one to lack inspiration or invention, and I so love her.