It's a New Post! (Part One)

There are so many things going on in our lives right now that I need to get caught up so I can start blogging about it all. I'm going to sift through all of my pictures from November and post a big assortment of things that have been going on. They will be in no particular order, and there will be a Part Two.

I had put a lot of work into a post many months ago, then I didn't save it on my computer; that is the main reason for my absence. When that happened, it was frustrating enough that I didn't have the heart to redo it. I just wasn't interested in blogging for awhile. However, the kids (led mostly by the interest of my 8 year old) have been SOAKING up our scrapbooks and photo albums lately. Looking through them has been their FAVORITE activity. They love the ones I have written bits of information on - which affirms to me that my efforts in recording our family history are worth it to them. So back to blogging!

Homeschooling

just another day at work

and another

We joined some homeschooling friends for a field trip to watch City Mouse, Country Mouse, Christmas House at the Arkansas Arts Center in December. It was followed by the best tour of an art museum I've ever had. I loved walking around with our museum volunteer and thought she did such a a great job engaging the students and exploring the works of art.

Upward Basketball

A new addition to our year was Upward Basketball in Jauary. It was a lot of fun to watch Dash play, and I was proud of how well he did. We were really excited when he scored the first goal of the season during the first game. The Upward program was very impressive to us, as well. Sis is super excited about cheerleading next year.

A New Year

 Our New Year's Eve celebration included Auld Lang Syne, a dance party, and...

4 sparkling juices to toast plus one soymilk (Tornado isn't a fan of carbonation.). 

AWANA

We love our little AWANA program. It's one of the favorite things in our lives. These two really shine in this group, and they've gained a lot with building relationships and wisdom in memorizing scripture.

This pic was taken after they both took home awards at the AWANA Grand Prix. His car won first place in his division for Speed and then went on to win Grand Champion over all of the divisions. Keep in mind that this car started out as a rectangular chunk of wood. The pastor's car was in 2nd place during the final race to find the overall winner. After the race, he came up to Dash and asked to see his car. He turned it over and over, examining it, perhaps to find out the secret to a winning car, ha!

Sis's purple "flowerdy" beauty won First Place for Design. I was happy that they were successful; we had told them we were just doing it for fun and not to expect anything as we did not. 

Baby's Life

This picture was taken when he was about 8 or 9 months old when he first started pulling up. After he graduated from the Bumbo seat, I was able to put him in the laundry basket for a week or so. He then figured out he could rock it over. So I gained another few days putting the basket in the bathtub. That didn't last last, either, as he soon popped up like this. And it's been a crazy life here ever since.

big boy bath

another shot of him (last fall) learning to pull up and get into things 

One day he crawled into this empty puzzle box and proceeded to clap his hands.

He does love to eat.

This is one of his favorite activities. The kids started out putting him in it whenever he was sturdy enough to go for rides without my supervision. NOW, he just gets into it on his own and grunts his signature grunt of communication, "UH-UH!" to let someone know he is ready for a ride.

Homegrown Kids Co-op

Baby did not know if he was amused or not when the kids were using his head during...

their experiments with static electricity.

The boys made earthworm homes with layers of soil and sand. We had some earthworms living with us for a few days before they set them free in our yard.

Home and Family Life

Another puzzle completed by Tornado (with a little help from all of us). 

Two pieces missing at the end. 

It never fails.

One of my worst moments of the past few months was listening to Sissy's screams followed by Ryan's calls for help. I flew down the stairs with my heart racing to see a lot of blood, tears, and panic. We took her to the ER for stitches. She did not move a muscle when the doctor was sewing her up. That's one of her best qualities. She is strong and compliant when she needs to be. I'm always so proud of her whenever we are in important situations. I know that she will be on her best behavior. And even though I had a superficial concern she was going to have a Frankenstein-like scar on her forehead, it has actually already faded to where it is hardly noticeable.

Somehow along the way, a new family tradition started. We have really gotten into playing games as a family. Our favorite game is Outburst Jr. The tradition is that the losing team has to tuck their shirts into their pants, get ice down the backs of their shirt.

Then, they have to run all the way around the house with the ice in their shirts/pants. This went on all winter.

At some point the past few months, Dash started this activity of zipping himself up in a sleeping bag, then inching around the house like a worm. 

He even went down the entire staircase like this a couple of times. Sometimes I don't ask questions.

This was a nice late winter day in Arkansas. We loaded up with a picnic for the park.

Baby hasn't had many visits to the park, so this might have been his first time down the slide? It was definitely his first time as a "big boy."

The kids were actually pretty impressed with my swinging expertise. I taught them to swing like this. And to twist their swing around, winding it up then letting go. And also to jump out of the swing while in the air. Clearly, they have been missing out. I did NOT teach them to push someone then run forward underneath, like I used to do.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the past few months. Sis and Baby fell asleep like this.

Happy Birthday, Monkey!

For sake of time I am double posting this to both of my blogs. This month, my baby boy turned ONE so bear with me and all of my pics. I can't believe it. That's what we parents always say as our kids grow. It's true, though. I can't believe it has been a year. The infant stage of life is entirely too short for me. I wish the baby stage lasted 2 or 3 years. 

Sock Monkey theme, obviously. I went "shopping" at my parents' house for antiques to use, like this old potato crate, books, and lantern. 

painted paper mache letter: Hobby Lobby 

organic cotton stuffed monkey: 

Heidi's shop at Etsy

birthday printables: Cupcake Express at Etsy

candy: Natural Candy Store

 decoupaged paper mache 1: Hobby Lobby

old wooden Coca-Cola box: my parents

I loved the choices from this Etsy shop. 

The shirt is so soft and fits so well.

 

mixed nuts, olives, crackers, carrots, hummus, fruit, pasta, Smiley Face fries, tater tots, soy nuggets, Gardein strips, chips, salsa, PB & J sandwiches, banana chips, and banana mini-muffins

I Love Monkey by Suzanne Kaufmann 

is a cute book about being yourself.

Dr. Oetker Organics brand
cake and frosting mixes

He really didn't know what to think about having a cupcake. Upon examining it, he thought it was weird and seemed to wonder if he was really supposed to eat it. He figured it out, though, and wanted to share with everyone. He didn't make a huge typical 1st birthday mess as it was just a little cupcake...

however, his little pal didn't seem to have any trouble.

Every monkey party needs to end with banana splits, of course.

We had Rice Dream, Almond Dream, So Delicious soy and So Delicious coconut milk ice cream (added with bananas, chocolate syrup, strawberry sauce, crushed pineapple, nut topping, sprinkles, cherries, and Soyatoo) to choose from. One non-vegan family preferred the Almond Dream, and I think one family preferred the coconut.

He did also enjoy a few bites of ice cream.

lots of sweet help opening presents

I love you, my ONE-derful little man who has brought so much joy to my life. Every day with you is fun. (Slower and more difficult, etc., but I smile and laugh so much every single day because of you.) I love that you love it when we squeeze you into a group hug. I love how you've recently been hugging your brothers and sister around the neck tightly when we tell you to give them a hug. I love how fast you army crawl toward Daddy as soon as you see he's home. I don't like how you make a face and spit out pieces of steamed veggies, but we'll work on it! I secretly love how you can be screaming inconsolably with someone else, then the moment I enter the room and pick you up, there's silence - and you sometimes even giggle through your tears because you're so happy. I love your comb-over, and I promise I'll figure out a way to style it soon. I pray for peace and goodness and all wonderful things for you. Happy birthday!

*Thank you to my photographer friend/party guest Sarah who let me use her camera at the party and took a lot of the pics for me!

Merry Christmas!

Hey, friends!

Don't be blue...

I'll be back to blogging soon!

But until then, 
have a Merry Christmas! 

I miss you all!

Weekly Journal: lots of Baby this time

In Our Homeschool This Week
Schoolwork has been a little dull around here the past few weeks due to traveling and other activities. The majority of our school time has been spent on workbooks, worksheets, and reading.

Dash's reading ability has progressed significantly the past few weeks. We're so proud of him, and it makes accomplishing his assignments so much easier. Suddenly, he can read all of the directions on his math pages, etc. On the flip side, he can now read what I'm reading on my phone or in random magazines, etc. This is a game changer.

I'm hoping for a relaxing weekend in order to reset, plan, and get things back on track.

Some spider activities lately: labeling the parts, 

a "can/have/are" activity which led to spider reports. 

Here is what I posted earlier today of our recent language activities, including Contraction Surgery.

 Places We're Going and People We're Seeing

The kids were thrilled to have a movie night with Googie Saturday night. Baby even stayed part of the time so that Ryan and I could have a little date. (We don't even get to talk much these days.) We bought coats and other necessities for the two youngest kids. Googs took this picture.

On Sunday afternoon, we dropped Daddy off to watch Cloud Atlas while we headed to the Arkansas Arts Center for a children's theater production. I didn't tell them where we were going until we were in the car. I brought along Bunnicula and read the first two chapters to them on our drive.

They enjoyed the Bunnicula play. I had to almost restrain Tornado he was laughing soooo hard (which results in body rocking and arms wriggling around). It was very true to the book, which we finished reading this week. It's a very funny, cleverly written book (and fairly short). I actually laughed out loud while reading it during several parts, which Dash noted was interesting. They are looking forward to reading the sequels.

We had a few minutes before needing to pick up Daddy at the movie theater, so we walked into MacArthur Park for a bit to enjoy the nice weather and the birds.

************************************

When we did not go somewhere was the night of Oct. 31. The kids were supposed to go to AWANA that night dressed as Bible characters, but by midday...I asked the kids if they'd rather go out that night (therefore having to figure out what they were going to wear) - or stay at home for a movie night. They chose staying in, much to Ryan's and my delight. 

I made them goody-bags (because Sissy had told me she really wished they could have treats in goody-bags with their names on them plus "maybe some hearts and flowers on the bag, too") with our nerdy/ organic/dye-free/vegan candy, and they ate popcorn while we watched Because of Winn Dixie. And Sissy thanked me no less than 14 times for her "very pretty" treat bag that, yes, had hearts and flowers drawn on it.

What's New With the Baby This Week

I took some pictures of Baby wearing the white jacket Tornado was photographed in when he was about 4 months old. Of course, Baby is 9 months old now so it's more of a hipster fitting jacket on him.

Not yet crawlin'. 

He'll pose like this for two seconds then flatten to his belly.

 I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!

That's a pretty unanimous feeling around this house.

What We Cooked Up This Week

Vegan Chocolate Chip Pancakes

No recipe: just throw in around 2 cups of flour (I used 1 cup white, 1 cup whole wheat pastry.), 1 little organic applesauce snack cup, around 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. or so of baking powder, 1 tsp. or so of baking soda, don't be stingy with the ground flax seed, more than a handful of chocolate chips, and enough almond milk to create a batter consistency. 

A Link To Share

Last few days to sign up for free handmade dresses from Africa. Check out the post even if you don't have a girl sized 3T-5T. In the future, they may offer more sizes, and this is a chance to help create a business for those living in impoverished areas.