Rainy Day Inspiration & How Sister Dressed Nate

It's still rainy, and the kids haven't gotten out in the rain as much as they would LOVE to:)

One of their "school"/Awana actvities this week was to draw pictures of things God made, by looking out the window and drawing what they could see. Of course, it's been rainy so there wasn't MUCH to see out the window.

I pulled open our front door so the kids could all see at one time and have a better view. The kids loved it.


They all spent quite a bit of time sitting in front of the door, watching the rain and drawing.I thought it was soo neat how much they enjoyed the new and simple "art" space!!


As you can imagine, most of the pictures involved rain and water:) Chris drew whales jumping out of the puddles he saw in our front yard... LOL!!! A little imagination added in there:)


And Lydia's favorite picture was a girl getting wet in the rain:)


And just for fun, I'll share how Anna wanted to dress Nate today! I will preface the picture by saying it's a little challenging to dress him right now b/c it's between seasons, he's between sizes and the "cloth diaper bottom"!!!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Yay!! It's Tuesday!! And here's what I've heard from my kids this week:)

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Chris (4 yrs old): "Mommy, you gotta big 'ole tummy.... I like your big tummy, Mommy."

Me: "why?"

Chris: "Because it's got my baby brother in it."

As a preggo-momma whose been asked almost a dozen times now if I'm carrying twins... it's very comforting for those who love me most and have to see me everyday to "like my belly" and for such a great reason!!
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After giving Lydia a bath, I followed her into the room to help her get dressed more quickly. She takes off her towel and stands in the middle of the room. She says,"I,I,I,I..... I is cold!"

And of course she had the cutest little expression:) She hammed it up even more when I got the camera.

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Lydia asks to takes a picture and points the camera at my belly and says,"Say 'Cheese', whittle brother."



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Since Andrea delivered Owen, the kids have heard a few conversations about laboring and babies being born...

So Monday night as Brian was helping with baths I heard Anna ask him, "Daddy, does it hurt to push out a baby?"

Ha hahaaa, LOL!!!

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More Tiny Talk Tuesday HERE:)

Quiet Days

Yesterday Nathaniel was QUIET.... not that he makes noises yet... LOL!!

But he wasn't moving like normal. Just a few times during the day I would feel him turn or whatever he does in there... but no kicks or elbows! Since he's been such a predictable "mover", I was a little more attentive to his movements, or lack of movements.

I'm sure all pregnant moms go through "worried moments"... that's just the role of motherhood (at each stage). But it really got me to think what a blessing every child is and how Nathaniel has already changed our family life. Praying and hoping for a pregnancy for over a year, and then finally hearing his sweet heart beat and feeling his tiny kicks!! It truly brings me to a place of thankfulness to the Lord for each day with each of my 4 kids.

And having the "worried moments" makes me even more aware of my reliance on the Lord for each breath..... each that I have, each that Brian or the kids breathe and each heart beat of Nathaniel's.

Today, Nathaniel has been back to normal. In fact, he's been a little more active today. Even with me walking around a children's museum with the kids this morning, climbing through a McD's playground to "rescue" scared kids and grocery shopping with my three:) He's definitely been trying to participate in all the fun:)

So maybe the "quiet days" and "worried moments" are meant for me .... to reflect again on being thankful for each moment and recognizing WHO is really caring for us all!!

*** Blue picture above was a picture Lydia took of "baby brother" today... LOL!! Actually it's a picture of my preggo belly shirt! But I thought it was fun to share... they LOVE talking about and to their "baby brother"!

Tomorrow afternoon we are off to another prenatal check-up. I think the whole crew is coming along... so that will be fun for all of us to hear his heart beating again. It's also my glucose testing day.... yipppeee!!

A 2 yr old, a camera and some semi-willing subjects

Yes, Lydia has been armed with the camera again....
















I have luckily escaped thus far:)


You can see More Wordless Wednesday at Wordless Wednesday, 5 Minutes for Mom and Go Graham Go.

Hooked On.... the Well-Trained Mind

Here is a new meme I've been wanting to try.... and it works out well with what I've been wanting to post since I've collected most of our materials to school Anna this year. And this morning I was awake WAY TOO early and spent some of the quiet hours.... yes, hours reading through my "homeschooling manual"... lol

And I am convinced that I am Hooked On The Well- Trained Mind!! It's actually a classical homeschool method/guide. I'm just amazed at all the material we have planned to cover this year and am I NOT overwhelmed.

The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jesse Wise is used by many. But I was encouraged to look through it from my friend Erica! And I was immediately impressed with this model... I know some think it's TOO structured... but I LIKE structure and I like the well thoughtout 12-yr plan. And trying to navigate through ALL the MILLIONS of homeschooling supplies, companies, curriculums... is Very, Very OverWhelming!! It's nice to look through the suggestions in Well-Trained Mind (and suggestions from Erica!!) and then find those materials:)

I've already mentioned how much I LOVE The Well-Trained Mind's teaching to read (through phonics) guide! Here is Anna writing some her "oi" words on foil... cute and she LOVED it:)

So to continue through this model for our first "structured" year of homeschooling seems soo natural.

As I devoured the chapters of how we will work on Spelling, Grammer, Reading, Writing, Math, Science, History and Math this school year, I was sooo ready to to sit Anna and the table and START THIS morning... lol!!! I do have a couple more steps to complete before we start schooling this year, but the best thing is that I am EXCITED about school starting and learning with the kids:)

Check Out more Hooked on at Hooked on Houses.

Here is some comic relief to this "serious" post.

Lately during our "quiet school time" (aka.. my teaching time with Anna) Lydia has found a using kiddie scissors to pass the time. She'll sit and cut paper for 45 minutes at least... and all I hear is paper and scissors cutting:)It's a great coordination exercise and she'll be ready to cutting activities by the time she starts a more structured pre-K!!!

And she also learns to clean up her OWN mess:) Although I'm pretty sure Christopher helped on that morning:)

I heart Faces - Daddy at the Beach

We are hoping to go to the beach tomorrow.... but here is one of my favorites from JUly 4th this year!! I LOVE watching my husband with the kids.... having fun with them, nurturing them and enjoy being them them:)



Enjoy the beautiful pics at I [heart] faces!!!

I [heart] faces : Feet Week

I've been letting the kids take pictures with my camera lately.... I know it's kind of scary. But they enjoy it and I enjoy being surprised by some of their pictures!!

When I saw that "I [heart] faces" was doing Feet Week... I knew I found a great time to share this picture bu Lydia:)

I love her cute little toes, the adorable flip-flops and the hole in her jeans:)