Blogging is Important to Me; Gratitude List #418-444

I'm bothered by this large chunk of time in which I haven't been blogging or scrapbooking. I have the pictures, but they aren't organized in any suitable way. I have been going through different phases in life the past few years. I am committed to return to being more intentional. Adding our 4th child to my family has been this amazing cherry on the top of my great life. We smile and laugh constantly all day, everyday because of him. The paradox is that I accomplish less and have felt like a "less" person because of the addition. I look worse than I've ever looked (partly because I'm older than I've ever been, naturally). I travel less. There are less Family Fun Nights and less sandwiches cut into fun shapes. The importance of muffin tin meals pale in the comparison of all of the snuggles my children receive from their little brother everyday. But the other feelings I'm going through stir in me the need for, like I said, returning to my intentional self and doing the little things that I love, like recording my family story. So I'm back to doing that for myself and for the little ones who love sitting on the couch turning the pages of their scrapbooks or scrolling through the pages of my blog.

 

I was surprised I hadn't added to my gratitude list since 2012, so let's see if I can get closer to the goal of 1,000.

 #418: fun school projects

 

Dash's class at school recently completed a Titanic unit. The culmination party included dressing up in character for the presentations they had prepared. He was Isidor Straus, the well-respected co-owner of Macy's department store, who perished that fateful night of April 15, 1912 along with his loving wife who refused to leave his side. We had a lot of fun researching and preparing his project (and felt like homeschooling again), which was a video of Ryan playing the role of Isidor Straus and Dash taking on the job of interviewing him.

 #419-423: fancy buns, hair glitter, a Minnie Mouse hair clip,

pretend earrings that cause a little girl to squeal when she

sees them, and a princess sash.

#424: sitting on Daddy's shoulders

#425: T-Rex restaurant

because it's fun

 

#426: dinosaur hats

because they make the kids smile

 

#427: this guy

just because

 

 

#428: the sweetness of finding

Little One where he fell asleep on the floor.

 

Although, I must admit, the first time any of my
kids have done this as toddlers,

I run to see if they're breathing because it freaks me out.



#429: Cupie Mango, our February guest

(more about him later)

#430: my seasonal frame in my entryway

 #431: a field trip with my son

#432: riding the ferris wheel with him

 

#433: my son's excitement

#434: He runs to get on rides now.

His list of fears and sensory issues have diminished rapidly.

#435: pleasant classmates he spends time with daily

#436: his teacher

We love her.

 #437: clowns

 

Little One did not share my amusement.

 

#438: Monster Trucks

because they're cool

 #439: Justin's vegan peanut butter cups

 

He DOES share my love of these.

 #439: a girl who is going to be the best
teacher one day...she already is

 

 #440: first lost tooth/growing up

(My hate list would also include: growing up.)

 

 #441: the hugging tree at Fort Lonesome Farm

 #442: the doorbell ringing, then just finding this

#443: the daily laughs I was talking about above

 

He was using the last of his orange juice to paint his

legs with the stainless steel straw. He kept dipping

it back into the glass and was so deliberate.

 

#444: for you, taking the time to read my post

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.