five favorites (09/05)

Happy September! I have quite a few posts I’d like to catch up on this month, but I thought I’d start it all off with my classic “five” from the past week!

ONE. We’ve been soaking up the last of the summer weather (and the 100% humidity has been literally soaking us), but I’m making the very most of it while it lasts. Autumn seems to come and end in the blink of an eye in this region. Historically, our winter temperatures have lasted for up to six months, so I’m in no rush for the weather to change!

Kaya took her schoolwork outside to the hammock. We were writing “All About Me” books this day.Kaelyn joined in!Kaya and Kaelyn asked to have a picnic out on the deck for lunch one afternoon. These small things make them so happy. (Nella is still way too messy to join in on the fun just yet, so she ate in her normal seat!) Baby cuddles in the hammock for me! What could be better?TWO. I’m all clear to run! After my postpartum break, I’m ecstatic to be back at it. It’s slow going, but more distance and speed will come with time. For now, I’m just happy to be out there at all. It feels a little strange to run without my big belly, and I do miss having Eve with me, but I’m excited to get stronger and maybe race again sometime in the upcoming months.THREE. While I’m out running, Daddy and the girls are dressing up and dancing!I just love seeing what they get into with Daddy!FOUR. If you can’t tell from this picture, Nella is baby obsessed. Real baby in one arm, baby doll in the other!Babies holding babies.This was just a lucky shot, but I LOVE it! Smiles for kisses!FIVE. Can we talk about these cheeks? I’m seriously obsessed with our littlest lady. We’re really looking forward to having family in town for her baby blessing soon!

first day of school (2018)

Here we are, jumping into our second official year of homeschooling. We’re all feeling rejuvenated after a long summer break, and we’ve enjoyed being back in the books since last Monday.

On the first day of public school, I felt the same conglomeration of emotion as I did last year:

Excitement for our first day.
Nervousness that we’ll really be able to do it all.
Worry that I’ve made the right choice for my family for another year.
Joy that I get to have my girls at home with me.

Sometimes, I still have my doubts that I’m really doing what’s best for everyone, but deep down, I know that homeschool is what we need right now. I can honestly say that this is the busiest season of my life. I’m caring for a newborn, keeping a toddler happy, attempting to have our house in some kind of order, and teaching my two oldest girls in the midst of it all. Our days are full to the brim, and at the end of each one, I’m completely exhausted, but I know that I’m fulfilling a grand purpose.I’m trying to remember that while working through our curriculum is important, the most crucial thing is that my children feel loved (this article was a great reminder). I’m not keeping them home just to make sure we check off every box on our to-do list, and I don’t want them to grow up and have memories of a mom nagging them to do their work. I want them to cultivate their own desire for knowledge and to discover what they’re truly interested in.

I’m making an effort to be intentional with our time. We have more time together than we would if they were attending public school, but I want to make it really count. We’re snuggling up and reading good books, learning about animals we’re curious about, and creating art together this year. We have a “lifestyle of learning” instead of just formal school hours, and I’m overjoyed by that.

I can’t believe my little kindergarten baby is now a first grader. She has been so excited to do first grade work. Math is her very favorite, but she’s really great at reading, writing, and spelling, too. (Also, Nella totally photobombed this picture, but it was Kaya’s most genuine smile, and hey, it’s true to life!)
She wanted to wear all her Hello Kitty jewelry for her pictures!Kaelyn is still doing a very relaxed preschool curriculum, mostly child-led. She completes as much work as she’s up to doing, which is often more than I would have prescribed. My main goal for her this year is to do 2-3 lessons per week from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Everyone wanted a special photo with Evie, so I had to include these. They love her so much! I’m glad they get to stay home and enjoy time with her in these fleeting early days of babyhood. Here’s to another wonderful, challenging, growth-filled year!

last day of school (2018)

Well… we did it! We made it! We’ve successfully completed a full school year of “official” homeschool. I have a lot of thoughts and emotions about how the year went and what we all learned in the process, but I’m hoping to make that another post, and just keep this one focused on the girls.

They looked so little at the beginning of the year. It doesn’t seem fair that time goes by so quickly. We kicked off our last day with donuts to celebrate (of course), and then headed out for a few “last day” photos.
I thought it’d be fun to do a little year-end interview with each of them. I based my questions off of this list.Kaya’s favorite things:

Subject: “Doing our green book and doing our zoo path!” (Language Arts/learning to read)
Color: “All the colors except black and brown, but my most favorite colors are indigo and turquoise and violet!”
Food: Spaghetti
Book: “That Jesus one, where you can open the little thingies…” (Lift-the-Flap Bible)
Toy: Bootsie (the cat)
Game: Mario Kart and Blokus
TV Show: Blue’s Clues
Indoor activity: “Playing with my cat, and playing with my sisters.”
Outdoor activity: “Getting the pool, put water in it, and then slide down the red slide!”
Best friends: “Mia, Kaelyn, Nella…” (and everyone in her primary class)
When I grow up, I want to be: “A cowgirl because I want to ride horses!”
What makes me happy: “That you guys are my parents!”
What makes me sad: “When we want to play Mario and Daddy says, ‘no’.”
I am really good at: “Drawing. I always stay in the lines. I don’t even go on top of the lines sometimes.”
I love: “Cats! Dogs! Cows! Pigs! Donkeys! Sheep!” (all animals!)

Kaelyn’s favorite things:

Subject: “Doing the color to color in the tiger book!” (color-by-number)
Color: “Pink and Purple!”
Food: Pizza
Book: “The Paw Patrol book!”
Toy: “My toy Skye!” (with the helicopter from Paw Patrol)
Game: Mario Kart
TV Show: Daniel Tiger
Indoor activity: “Play!”
Outdoor activity: “Play with the water table on the deck!”
Best friends:  “Kaya and Nella and new baby!”
When I grow up, I want to be: “A mommy!”
What makes me happy: “Playing with my sisters and mommy!”
What makes me sad: “When Daddy says we can’t play Mario.”
I am really good at: “Writing stuff! But I’m still practicing.”
I love: “Helping mommy feel better.”

And, I absolutely love this picture, because it’s completely real. All while I was taking the older girls’ photos, Nella was walking/crawling around in the grass next to us (you can see the dirt stains on her knees!). She stepped up next to her sisters, made her “cheese” face, and then went off to get even messier. I just feel like this photo completely sums up how it’s been to balance homeschooling with her this year- sometimes she was crazy and in the middle of everything, and other times she was just off doing her own thing.
I’m so proud of Kaya and Kaelyn and all that they’ve accomplished this year. They’ve both reached major milestones: learning to read, add, and subtract (Kaya), and recognizing the alphabet, writing letters and numbers, and practicing counting (Kaelyn). I’m so grateful that we’ve had this opportunity to learn and grow together.

On to first grade for Kaya, and a final year of preschool for Kaelyn! But for now, Happy Summer!

five on friday (05/04)

Happy May! I can’t believe we’re already in the fifth month of 2018!

ONE. You know your kids have some great imaginations when they can play with a cardboard box for hours and hours. We ordered some patio furniture, and the box was just the perfect size to create a little house for the girls. They spent so much time decorating it with markers and tape, pushing it around, and pretending to “send Nella off to China!” (where do they get these ideas?)
I love seeing them be creative and come up with their own ways to play.TWO. The sunset light hit the blooming tree in the back yard so perfectly that I just had to take a picture of these pretty white blossoms. Spring is in full force (and therefore so are my seasonal allergies!), but I couldn’t be more excited about the warmth, sunshine, and all of nature seeming renewed. THREE. Right along with great weather comes photoshoots! I’ve been waiting for a warm day to put my little ladies in their matching dresses and get a few updated portraits.Being squished by kisses from both sides… this pretty much sums up how life is for Nella these days. I can’t believe we’ll be adding a fourth set of pigtails to the picture so soon!FOUR. We’ve spent every single afternoon out on the deck this week, and I don’t think this will ever get old. My hammock buddy! I think I might just stay out here until it’s time for the baby to come.FIVE. Even with all the sunshine and playing outside, we’ve still been doing some schoolwork. Kaelyn has really surprised me this week by learning to spell and write her name on her own! She can do it freehand, but this tracing page has been really helpful, too.She’s also turning into such a great little artist (this is her, Mommy, and Daddy, with hearts).Happy weekend!

Linking up herehere, and here today!

five on friday (01/12)

This was our first week back in our regular routine after the holidays, so I think I speak for everyone in my house when I say that going back to reality is exhausting! We really accomplished a lot this week though, so it feels good to know we worked hard.

ONE. The biggest news of the year so far… Kaelyn is a SUNBEAM! At church, when the new year rolls around, all the three-year-olds get to go to the main children’s class, called Primary, instead of staying in the more play-oriented class, called Nursery. I am not exaggerating when I say that Kaelyn has been talking about going to Primary for about a year now. She was counting down the days until she could go with Kaya to the primary room, and this past Sunday, all her dreams came true.
I snapped these pictures in the five seconds before we had to rush out the door for church. Also, Kaelyn found my old foam rollers and has been asking to wear them to bed, so I put them in her hair on Saturday night after her bath. She was so excited to have special, curly pigtails for her first day as a Sunbeam.And Kaya is in CTR 5 now! I feel like she was in Nursery just yesterday. She also wanted foam rollers, but I just put a couple on top, since her natural curls were looking good already. I can’t look at those adorably puffy curls atop her head without instantly being transported back to the 90s though!Everyone was still smiling after church……for the most part, anyway. Kaya takes a little longer to adjust to changes, like having new teachers, but it didn’t take long for her to feel like herself again once we got home.TWO. I was really looking forward to taking a nap after church, but then I found a pile of silly people snuggling in my bed! Seriously. I love these happy goofballs.THREE. We’re back to school now, but I’ve realized how important it was that we took a break over the holidays. It’s easy for me to forget that we started our schooling all the way back in early July, without taking any significant time off. We kept pushing through right up until about a week and a half before Christmas, and I’m surprised to see how much we’re getting done now that we are feeling rested and refreshed.

Kaya is still crazy for math. She would probably sit down and finish the rest of her math book in one day if I let her! We just started doing word problems, and I love that she gets reading practice through that as well.
Kaelyn has suddenly started trying to write real letters! I printed some out for her to work on tracing, although she was more interested in just coloring them. That’s okay, too!We also started something new this week- The Good and the Beautiful’s Language Arts curriculum! I had looked into these books before, but while we were at Michael’s cousin Jenny’s house for the family Christmas party, she showed me hers, and after leafing through them, I felt that this was what we needed to do next.

I wasn’t really sure where to go after completing Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and we had tried Phonics Pathways again, but we just weren’t loving it. Kaya is excited about these books and looks forward to doing them, so hopefully that continues. Although her reading is above grade level, I still started her in the Kindergarten books so that we could work on spelling and fluency.FOUR. I moved all the dress-up clothes to the girls’ closet, and now they are using them everyday! I am always surprised to see what kind of outfits they come up with, and I love when they excitedly come to show me what they’re wearing. Seriously… What is cuter than kids in costumes?Please notice that Kaya’s “pet” cat, Bootsie, is also dressed up with leopard ears. Haha!FIVE. We’re finally out of the polar vortex, so we definitely needed some outdoor playtime! Forty degrees felt like spring (although we probably still should have had gloves on). The swing is one of Nella’s all-time favorite things.Kaya also took her on the slide for the first time! They both loved it.Happy Friday!!!

five on friday (09/22)

Happy first official day of fall!

ONE. We’ve certainly been enjoying this fall weather so far, although we’ve had quite a variety of temperatures these past few days. For the most part, it’s so cool and crisp, but still warm enough, in the mornings to spend time playing outside.

We love these quiet times at the park, when it’s just us and we can be as calm or crazy as we like.

The girls were pretending that the big rocks were boats, the grass was the ocean, and I was a shark that could come and get them. They’ve been obsessed with sharks ever since we went to the aquarium in Myrtle Beach, so this game was perfect. I love playing pretend with them.

When we weren’t playing out in the grass, we were out on the deck. Kaya and Kaelyn love to use water from the water table to make “pretend homemade bread”, which we then had a picnic to eat. Each duck represents one slice of bread! Haha.

Nella likes to roll… and roll… and roll… the entire time we’re out there.

TWO. After all that rolling around outside (and the way she eats yogurt for lunch), this baby girl needs a bath. I’m absolutely obsessed with her post-bath hair (and those eyes)!! THREE. Last week, Scout had another bout of her eyes swelling up like they did at the beginning of August. When we took her to the vet then, they had no idea what was causing it, but we knew it wasn’t anything serious, so this time, I just continued using eye drops at home. It cleared up within about 5 days or so, and I’m happy to have her back to normal. I’m starting to think it’s some kind of outdoor allergy, but that’s all speculation.We sure love our puppy kisses (Scout might’ve been trying to lick crumbs off of Kaya’s face, though)!

FOUR. I’m so proud of my little preschooler! She is really excited to do phonics lessons with me, and she’s working on her writing skills. I feel like I’ve been a little more relaxed with her preschool curriculum than I was with Kaya’s a couple years ago, but that hasn’t kept her from picking up on things quickly and progressing. She knows the sounds for m, a, t, c, s, and long e, and has even read the word, “am”. She recognizes numbers and counts to 10 with no error. Way to go, Kaelyn!

FIVE. These girls of mine almost don’t all fit in the chair together for a photo anymore! I can’t believe how much all of them have grown in the past year.

Let’s just throw it back to 11 months ago for a moment… where did these BABIES go?!We may just have to stick to posing everyone on the floor from now on.

Happy weekend!

Linking up here, here, and here today!

first day of school (and why we’re homeschooling)

To be completely honest, I somehow feel a little nervous about writing this post. I didn’t want it to seem like I am against public schools, or teachers, or anyone who sends their child to school. I admire teachers so much for everything that they do, and I know their jobs are definitely challenging. Deciding to keep Kaya at home for kindergarten was not a conclusion I reached easily, but I know in my heart it is the right thing for her right now.

When she was just over 2 years old, I came across some information on homeschooling, and after that, it constantly weighed on my mind. It was an intense (and at times, all-consuming) thought that would never would go away, no matter how hard I tried to let it go. So, I started to do my research and learn about all the different homeschooling philosophies, the various curriculum, and what would be required to keep her at home. I talked to and asked a million questions of any other homeschooling families I met. I pondered and prayed and waited and listened to feel confirmation that this would be the right choice. Many days and nights of fearing my own inadequacies and doubting my ability to teach her finally culminated in a true sense of peace, and knowing that I was made to teach my own children best.

There are so many reasons I have for homeschooling, but if I had to summarize the majority of them in one word, it would come down to this:

TIME.

We get our kindergarten work done in about 1.5 to 2 hours each day, as opposed to the 8 hours she would spend away from home at public school. At this young age, I want her to still spend the majority of her day with her family. I want us to be her greatest influence. 

I want to teach her math while we’re baking, tell her about nature as we take walks, and answer all her hard questions. I want to have TIME to do all those things with her, and having her home will make those teaching opportunities more readily available.

I want her to learn life skills, not just school smarts. I want her to have more opportunities for service and helping others, and to see how important that is.

With her home, we can have lunch together everyday. We can have dance parties in the afternoon and go on more family trips. She can choose what she wants to learn about, and I can help fuel her interests. I want to be there to hear about her dreams and listen to her imagination. I want to have a strong bond with my daughters, and for them to form strong bonds with their sisters, too. I’m just not sure that could really be done in just the two or three rushed hours we’d have together after she’d get off the bus.

Even with all that conviction in my heart, I still felt emotional when I saw that big yellow bus roll through our neighborhood on the first day of school, knowing Kaya wasn’t getting on it. The day your first baby goes to kindergarten is a big milestone, and in a way, “skipping” that made my choice to homeschool feel a hundred times more real and monumental. I can only hope that when my daughters look back one day, they won’t feel as if I took something away from them by not putting them on that school bus, but that I gave them the gift of a different kind of learning, and a little more time to still be just kids.

One of the most common questions I’ve been asked is, “Are you going to do homeschool forever, or just for kindergarten?”, and the only answer I can give so far is that we’ll be taking it one year at a time to see how it goes.

Kaelyn will be doing preschool this year, just the way I did with Kaya for the past two years. She’s already interested in Kaya’s books, so she’s been quick to learn. I’m happy to have her home with us, too.Here’s to our first “official” year of learning!

“I promise you: the calling to be a parent includes the gift to teach in the ways that are right for you and for your children.” – Robert D. Hales, “Come, Follow Me” by Practicing Christian Love and Service

five on friday (7/21)

This week has felt jam-packed (in the best way possible), so I feel like this is the longest Five on Friday I’ve written in a while! We’re having fun and getting all we can out of summertime, which makes my heart so full.

ONE. The weather is finally feeling like summertime should… HOT! We’ve had plenty of fun outside! We’ve all been enjoying the hammock, although the kids don’t quite understand that it’s meant for resting and relaxing, and not swinging as fast as you can in it. Ha! We had a “picnic” with friends, Aaliyah and Talyah! I love how making kids this age happy is as easy as putting a blanket out on the deck and eating outside.  Scout loves being out on the deck too!

TWO. We’ve found several little friends outside this week. This woolly bear caterpillar was walking across our driveway one evening, and Kaya was eager to pet it and hold it in her hand. She insisted on keeping it, so we made a little house out of an empty milk carton, and Kaya picked some leaves and flowers for it to eat.

Kaya declared it a girl, and named her “Caterpillary”, with a nickname of “Fuzzy” and a last name of “Wuzzy”. Caterpillary “Fuzzy” Wuzzy. We’ve had a lot of fun learning all about this type of caterpillar, and it’s provided several hours of entertainment for Kaya already.

We (or should I say, Scout) also found this little baby bird out in the yard this morning. It looked like a Mockingbird fledgling, most likely working on learning to fly. The girls were so excited to say hello to this little guy, but we made it a quick visit so we wouldn’t disturb it or its mama bird too much.

THREE. When Kaya styles your hair, you might end up with four bows in it all at once… … but still look as cute as ever!

All three of these ladies together… breaking my heart with a cuteness overload! Kaelyn’s working on her “smolder” face, obviously (and she hasn’t even seen Tangled yet)!

FOUR. Nella’s been having some form of dinner every night this week. We tried apple-prune puree, as well as strawberry Greek yogurt. The latter has been her favorite so far!

FIVE. Last, but definitely not least, I guess we’ve “officially” started our homeschool kindergarten curriculum! We’ve been nonchalantly doing schoolwork through the summer, but this week was sort of my test run to see how well we could stick to a more structured schedule.

Kaya is absolutely loving her new math book, and if she keeps working at the pace she’s going, we might be done with kindergarten math by Thanksgiving. I love that we can go quickly over what she already knows, and spend greater time on units she needs more practice in. Kaelyn has been using some preschool books from the dollar store, and is just as eager to learn! I’ll probably be writing more about our homeschooling adventures, but for today, I’m just excited to say we’ve started!

Happy weekend!

Linking up here, here, and here today!

five on friday (04/14)

It’s already evening, but I just can’t let a Friday go by without listing some of my favorite moments from the week! I basically feel like I have four kids now (puppy included), so I just have to write whenever I can, even if it’s at odd times of the day. I’m always so grateful that I take the time to do this, though, because without these little blurbs about our everyday lives, I forget so many of the little details.

ONE. The weather has been gorgeous all week long, so we’ve been walking, playing at the playground, climbing rocks, drawing with sidewalk chalk, and using the water table again. Being in the sunshine automatically lifts our spirits so much! Kaya drew our family! I absolutely love her little people and that sweet heart she made at the start of the lineup.

What’s better than being able to work outside with a sweet baby on your lap?

TWO. I almost feel like Scout needs her own series of blog posts, titled “goofy things my dog does”. The best way to use your dog bed is to fold it in half, and then rest with your head under it, obviously.While Michael is working on one side of the yard, Scout’s trying to dig holes on the other side……but when she’s not getting into something, she’s busy snuggling with anyone who will sit with her. We really love having this little puppy in our family.THREE. One benefit of doing preschool at home is that we can do our lessons all cuddled up together, if we like. I love any reason to snuggle with these too-grown-up girls of mine.And we can take a break to take silly pictures together…
FOUR. This big kid is officially out of the high chair and sitting in a booster seat at the table! I love having her so much closer to us at mealtime.FIVE. Because there weren’t enough chubby cheeks in this post…  Happy Easter weekend!

Linking up here, here, and here today!

five on friday (02/24)

There hasn’t been a whole lot of blogging over here this week… Sad! Having three kids can be busy, so if I don’t schedule time for it, it doesn’t happen. The USB receiver for my keyboard and mouse also mysteriously turned up snapped in half this week, so my computer wasn’t even usable. Life with kids! You know I wouldn’t have it any other way, though.

ONE. This little baby is falling more in love with her daddy every single day, and he’s fallen head over heels for her, too. She’ll spot him from across the room, fix her gaze on him, and smile until he notices her. Michael bonds with our babies the most once they start smiling and interacting with him (you know, after the first few months, when they’re essentially eating and pooping machines)! I’ve loved seeing them grow closer, and I look forward to seeing her light up for him when he comes home from work each day.

TWO. There’s nothing better than making cookies on a rainy day… unless they’re Hello Kitty cookies! I never ever buy cookie mix, but when I saw this, I knew how excited the girls would be, so I splurged. They loved putting the edible stickers on! I enjoy doing these little projects with them. THREE. Kaelyn has started tracing letters! I let her decide if she wants to participate when Kaya and I do school, and usually she does. This week, she got out her alphabet book and started matching the correct stickers to the letters and actually writing them. I get so excited to see her learning! FOUR. These kids are still crazy for the Kangaroo Kids program. They are on the go for the entire hour, but I did get them to sit still for one picture in this little boat ball pit.

FIVE. We’ve been having some amazingly warm weather here this week. We’ve been soaking up the sunshine (although, having summer-like temperatures in February does make me a little nervous about how hot the actual summer will be), going on walks, and enjoying time at the playground. I think I feel closest to my kids when we’re outside, playing and exploring together.Nella has loved riding in the stroller and being able to see the world! This means that Kaya is on foot now, but she’s a pretty good little runner and even likes to help push the stroller.

Happy weekend!

Linking up here, here, and here today!