From the eyes of a child. . .

I know I'm raising boys. . .

. . .when they lift the 36 double rolls of toilet paper I bought, above their heads, just to "show you how strong they are!"

. . .when they carry all 6 loaves of bread from the bread store all by themselves just to "show you how strong they are!"

. . .when they talk COMPLETE NONSENSE to each other, and think each other is SO FUNNY!

That is how I know I'm raising boys. That, and the fact that there is pee around the toilet :)

For their friendship. . .

we are thankful! I love that the dads are so similar. . .they love God and make their wives and children a priority in their lives. "Can't we just play 5 more minutes?"We have a running joke with these two dads. . .one day when we were all at the zoo, Michelle and I were walking up ahead. . .we looked back and there were Matt and Ryan, each holding on to one of Trey's hands, walking with him and swinging him. Michelle and I both started laughing, thinking the same thing. . .it appeared as if Trey had two dads :) It has been great for Ryan to start attending a mens Bible Study that Matt goes to, and I have been attending a womens Bible Study that Michelle goes to. Everyone at their church has been very welcoming and inviting. Yes, for their friendship, we are thankful. I love that we parent very similar and they are so good with our kids. . .Michelle and I have been friends for 24 years, and we are so thankful for their friendship!

And, how is homeschooling going? Thanks for asking :) I really enjoy my afternoon time that I spend one on one with Ainsley. The math curriculum we are using, "Math U See" is great. . .I love how they teach the +8 and +9 math facts. By the end of this semester, she will be done with first grade math! She loves to teach Porter his kindergarten math :)

I really like VoWac too. . .a lot of the information she already knew but it is going well. We also spend time reading "guided reading" books and journaling. At bedtime we do "read alouds" of chapter books. As for my mornings, we all do our devotions/flag/calendar time/weather and then it's just a hodge podge of art, science, social studies etc things I come up with. If I continue to homeschool I would like curriculum for those areas. A lot of times our mornings are spent with friends over, or running errands, on field trips, playing, etc. And truthfully it is hard to get much "teaching" done with all 3 of them. Will I continue doing it next year? I am taking one day, one hour, one minute at a time :)

Birthday Weekend

Saturday morning Ainsley was invited to a friend's "pajama party!" This was right up her alley! Then my oldest sister, Jenny, arrived in town for Taetum's pool party and overnight at hotel. She stopped by with Willow, who Porter has a very special bond with. . .Man's best friend. . .As you can see, Ainsley was still sportin her pajama party attire. . .And Trey got himself in a predicament. . .But Auntie Jenny rescued him from the snow :)

Ainsley was giddy when she found out her baby cousin was born, and set to work right away making a card. She is so full of love. . .a picture of her holding baby Mollie :)

Happy Birth Day Mollie Ellin Louise! We have been praying for you and your mommy and daddy and we love you all!

It was then off to Taetum's 6th Birthday Party!

What a sweet group of kindergarten girls aka Beach Babes (Taetum, Taylor, Sarah, Madison, Jadelyn, and Ainsley)

Porter kept asking, "which one's Ainsley?" So many girls. . what to do. I had told Porter he could come if he could act like a six yr old. . he told me he wan't sure but he could try :) Love his honesty, and he did great! Trey prefers to watch the action. . . He continues to be my least active child. . .content to snuggle Grammy and sit by her and color. . .
My dad has always been so fun in the pool! Ainsley was so excited that she was the first grandchild to jump of grampas shoulders!

These three "friends from the start" were so cute at present time. Ainsley and Maddie could hardly contain their excitement giving Taetum an easy bake oven :)

I pray their friendship will be lifelong. . .

Typical 6 yr old party, with a little girl informing GooF "she was going to invite him to her 7th birthday, but now she's not" :)

The next morning Ainsley and Porter ran down to Taetum and Bridgers room at 7 am to wake them up :) Thus, five kids in our room. . .

This would be Trey telling me I could sleep on the floor bc he was sleeping with daddy. . .
and how they really ended up. . .

GooF took the kids for an early morning swim and we had a delicious continental breakfast!

Happy Birthday Taetum Elizabeth! I remember the day you were born. . .we stood in a circle as a family, holding hands, crying, and praying for you and your mommy. We praise God for both of your lives! And then Ainsley spit up all over the hospital floor :) Both of you look overjoyed in this photo :)After you and Ainsley survived the terrific twos together, and Steph and I came out with an even stronger friendship and respect for each other as mommiesyou have become best of friends! Happy 6th Birthday Taetum Elizabeth! You are a beautiful child of God! We love you!

I have been challenged to take a facebook, blog reading, texting less, break. . .in order to spend more time in "skin relationships" and more time in worship with God. If the kids are down for rest and I have extra time for my hobby of blogging, I will be back to write more :)

Science Discovery Center

Do they look like 3 little science geeks or what?! :)We decided to get a family pass, and we spent the morning exploring (this was Porter's favorite). . .

wondering. . .peering. . . climbing. . .

playing. . .

learning. . .

digging. . .

splish splashing. . .

jumping (check out my "hops" daddy). . .

and creating. . .

Ryan had just taught the kids how cartoons are made, so Ainsley was excited to make her own!

And, we have been praying. My sister in law (Ryan's brother's wife) is in labor today! All involved have been in our prayers today. . have been praying for health, safety, strength, and God's peace and comfort. Ainsley informed random people at the Science Center that she's getting a new baby cousin today (like the lady in the elevator :) ). We are not only excited to get a new niece, but we are so excited for them to get to meet their little girl, hold her in their arms, and experience the joys of parenthood. They will be wonderful parents, who will love her and teach her about Jesus' love!

And now, waiting. . .

3 down. . .9 to go

just finished painting the kitchen. . .the tape's not even off. . .

I have 9 rooms to go. I remember being at a playgroup in NE when Ainsley was about 6 mo old and she was wearing a cute little pink Old Navy jumpsuit. One of the other moms was going home to paint her bathroom and I remember thinking, "How in the world can she paint when she has a child around?" Well, a few kids later, and I'm laughing at myself. We may have a few paint stained shirts, but the rooms have gotten painted. That was back when I was, you know sane. Now I'm crazy enough to add painting to the chaos. That was back when I only wanted to leave my house when Ainsley was fed and rested (or ready to rest in her carrier) and changed. . into cute little pink Old Navy jumpsuits and such. Those were fun times, but do you think that's changed?! :) Yes, I have no idea what my children wore to the last playgroup we attended. . .probably paint stained shirts. . . :) Not really, but I am sure Ainsley was in a dress. She has drawers full of cute pants and shirts, but she wears the same few dresses everyday :) Now I am waaaaaay off topic. . .where was I. . .

Oh yes, before I do the other 9 rooms, I have some serious cleaning up to do. . .besides painting, we've been making green playdoh. . .

and gluing green Leprechauns. . .

Now, totally unrelated, but quite funny. . .Porter had speech this morning, and he has newly and proudly mastered the "l" sound. His teacher was saying words that begin with "l" and he was repeating them. She paused between "l" words and said, "um." Porter then said, "lum." MADE ME LAUGH! Did I mention he dressed himself for speech this morning? Yes, you guessed it, in a paint stained shirt.

"Yes, Porter I am glad you didn't take a nap so you could screw in all my outlet covers for me."
"Yes, because you're a boy and you're not scared of electricity."
"Yes, good think you're here since Trey's asleep and daddy's at work.?"
"Yes Porter, good thing, yes Porter, good thing, yes Porter."
You get the picture. . .

How's the house coming?

The question I get asked most often! We have a few boxes left to unpack (whatever's in them must not be necessities), and lots of decorating to do. I keep telling myself I have 30 years to do it, so I can take my time :) The living room is painted and we love, love, love the color! It is grayish/brownish, and although it looked dark against the many white walls when I started painting, it turned out great!

(I have the paint to do the kitchen a lighter version of this color)

I wanted a darker pink in Ainsley's room with lots of white picture frames, etc, but she really wanted lighter pink and it's her room, so I let her pick. . .looked pretty much like I was painting strawberry yogurt on her walls :)

After the kitchen is painted, I am going to take a painting break (maybe?) and try to get some pictures hung, the rest of the boxes unpacked, etc. Our living room furniture comes on Sat, and I can't wait to have a place to sit!

Notice there are no pictures of the floor or counters. . that is because they are completely covered in toys and mess!

30

I am 30. My mom was 30 when she had me. I USED to think she was old when she had me :)

We celebrated with icecream cake and then the kids went to Grammy and Grampas for the weekend!

GooF and I spent the weekend eating out, shopping for window treatments and bar stools, playing games by the fireplace, seeing a movie, napping, laughing together, and just spending time together! It was wonderful, but we were excited to get back to

wiping frozen fruit faces,

and creative fingers,to get back to Venn Diagrams (Porter's doing!)and story reading,to get back to our superhero,

and heart pizza making,

to get back to 2 yr old toes stuck in the treadmill. . .oh wait, could've done without that. But felt much better when our pediatrician told us the same thing happened to his son. . .