It's quiet time here.  It's imperative that we have quiet time here in this family...or else things happen.  Like little cute two-year-olds start taking the keys off of laptops... It's not pretty when quiet time doesn't go well!

Things are settling down a good bit since our traveling has ended for a little while, and I thought I'd share what's working for us when it comes to homeschooling.  I hesitated to share this at first but decided that everything that I've pulled from to create our own system was something someone shared.  I've never been one to enjoy a schedule that's attached to the clock.  Routines...not schedules...have always worked for me. 

However, things change.  A new season has come, and my crew has had almost a month of successful schooling with this new schedule in place.  It is attached to a clock.  Something that I've certainly had to get used to.  Ethan has a hard time with independent work during quiet time, but it's improving, slowly but surely. 

We started our year with a far different schedule that was NOT working.  We were...ummm...not happy at the end of the day.  I stopped everything and worked and changed and tweaked something that would work better for us.  And it has.  I know this is small, but my Excel trial edition expired, and I haven't converted to the full version yet. 

I've continued to adapt this but I haven't changed anything except the following:

Breakfast takes much longer than 15 minutes.  Chores and day of the week chores take much longer, too. We don't start any school until 9:00 or 9:30.  Other than that, it's pretty much on the money.  That and the fact that I feel like I'm running in circles when it comes to clutter and toys with the girls.  They are right there for most of everything!  (I've decided to invest in cabinet locks after picking up the contents of our plastics cabinet for the fourth time yesterday.  Deron concurs.  I used to always like using that cabinet to train.  Well, it ain't workin'.)  Oh-- and personal projects usually turn into chores that didn't get done that morning.  Traveling hasn't helped.  I get so far behind every time we go out of town.  I anticipate some fun/necessary projects coming up this fall!

The enthusiasm between the boys is hilarious.  They're polar opposites when it comes to schooling.  Daniel came to me in tears last year because he wanted to learn how to read, and Ethan is still on a quest to find a job  that doesn't require much reading.  For the most part, things are going well, and I'm very thankful for that.

Sausage and bean soup is on the stove and cornbread is ready for the oven.  It's feelin' like fall around here!

We received a Christmas catalog in the mail.  It had umpteen gazillion types of items.  I flipped through it quickly, and saw an ad for some sort of girdle.  Well, the woman in the ad was wearing it, and it didn't look decent enough to let the boys start skimming through it without taking that page out first. 

By then, I was driving, and I told Daniel, who was begging to look through it, that he couldn't until I took a page out first.  I told him there was someone who wasn't all the way dressed.

"But pleeeease.  I won't look at that lady!"

Ethan to Daniel, "Oh, Daniel, don't worry about it.  It's probably just some lady wearing a zucchini!  Mommy'll let you look at it later." Bikini...zuchini...LOL!

Daniel is a sweet and lovable child.  I love him.  I love his attitude...most of the time.  I love his excitement.  I love his smile and his laugh.  I love to watch him run...when he's running outside, that is.  I expect him to say and do weird things...things you think of when you think of a typical and classic little boy.  I am so thankful for him. 

But he can sure do/say some weird things!

"Mommy, Grace has a lot of boogers in her nose. {pause}  Don't worry though.  I'm gettin' 'em out!"

{sigh}  Honestly, I didn't quite know what to say to that.  I was speechless.  Unfortunately, it's happened more than once, too...

I posted some videos on the video blog...finally.  Enjoy!

It has been a wild and crazy few weeks.  We're trying to get in the groove, and it's taking a good bit longer than expected to establish a decent and predictable routine around here. 

We decided to go on vacation last week.  Deron had a couple of comp days and had earned a few vacation days.  So we went ahead and took them.  He'd been putting in crazy hours and needed a breather before things got crazy again. It was wonderful!  

We packed up and headed to our beloved state park...  The air was still hot and humid, but I liked to pretend that it wasn't as sticky as it was.  We played on the playground, hiked into a canyon, drank hot chocolate outside, and played in a tent on the back porch waaaay past dark!  The boys went fishing, and Hannah had a girl party with Grace and me.  She wasn't too sad that she didn't get to go out on the boat with the boys since we baked cookies and danced around the kitchen!

Deron let the kids roast their hot dogs over the fire, and that was definitely a hit.  It was much too hot for any fish to be biting, and the kids are too young to get up early enough to catch anything...Maybe next year!   The boat ride was a blast...from what Deron said...except when they were rowing against the right direction!  I could hear Daniel all the way across the lake! (imagine that!)

It was so nice to enjoy one another in the quietness of that park.  I am not the type of person that can relax the same way there as I do at home.  I have a very difficult time with the "stay-cation" idea.  Frankly, I'm miserable when I try that.  All I can think of is all the work that's piling up on me. 

For us, the time out of regular routines is very refreshing and worth every drop of effort and expense put into it.  When we refer to "the park," we all know what one another is talking about...It has, certainly, become a tradition in our family.  We're so thankful to have been able to go this year.  The Lord truly blessed our hearts with that time! Even for just a few short days...

Then, we took off to FL for the weekend to check on our house since the renters had moved out.  We found it completely trashed.  It could have been a great deal worse, but with the help of Deron's folks, we were able to accomplish a lot.  I took pictures, but they're so terrible that I can't even look at them.  Once they got the carpet out, it looked a lot better.  They "didn't" smoke or have pets inside...yeah right...

We're using a property manager this time around...something we should have done from the start, but oh well... I think it will be a much better experience.  At least, I hope it will.

 We'll need to go back to FL in a couple weeks to finish up our projects, but at least we get to visit our sweet friends and church family while we're there!  On that note, I can't wait!

So there's your condensed version of the last few weeks...Busy, fun, busy...

I had such good intentions on my posting frequency... ahhh, well!

Happy Monday!

This week has gone by at lightning fast speed!  I can't believe it's already Friday, and we'll be enjoying the weekend...except Deron.  Bless his heart.  He has to work.  It's our annual meeting at church this weekend, too, so I'll be cooking, doing school, and grocery shopping today.

Last weekend, we traveled three and a half hours to visit family and had such a wonderful time!  We enjoyed ourselves, and the kids enjoyed playing with all of their eleven cousins! 

One cute little baby we all know and love has turned into quite the little climber...I think I had like fifteen mini-heart-attacks yesterday!

Today is the very last day of July, and then, we'll be into August.  August is when I yearn for September.  I almost start to drool when I think of fall.  I try hard to enjoy August, but it's so hot!  So hot!  I pretend that it's not so hot, and I usually prepare myself a nice hot mocha and sit inside and think about the leaves changing color...the feel of the mild breeze blowing as you take in the loveliness of the season... {sigh} It's still summer and hot and sticky...  I have to conciously enjoy this end of this season...

Daniel has painted himself to be a ninja.  You should have seen Grace after he painted her to be a ninja baby!  

I have to admit that this has probably been one of the best summers we've had.  The boys are older and their interests are a little more established.  We've played and read and goofed off and watched movies and have started catching bugs for a school study (fun, fun).  And the pool has been wonderful.  We've spent hours upon hours in it! It's been such a great summer!  More on that later in August! 

Maybe it's better because last summer was so nutso crazy...with us moving 300+ miles from our home and me so sick all the time after having had my little cutie pie.  It was just...I don't like to think about that part of our time in FL because we still love it so much.  Now I'm homesick for our family down there!

Have a great weekend, all!

Hannah the Scary Dinosaur is now playing on my video blog.

I'm not sure what type of insect they're hunting here, but picture Ethan trying to catch a rabbit with a fishing pole and a carrot.  He stopped when he realized it could kill the poor, innocent little bunny, but it was a hoot watching him cast in the front yard.

Daniel enjoys school, most of the time...more often than not...sometimes...

Wednesday, I took the boys to karate for a "Summer Fun" day.  I told them they couldn't go unless they finished their work, so it was good incentive to get them moving.  I actually dropped them off for two hours.  I never do that.  It felt incredibly weird to leave them their.  But Deron said I needed a little break, and it would have been a nice break if Hannah had taken a nap like she was supposed to.  She cried the whole time.  "My BOYS....where's my boys?  I need to see my boys!  We need to go get my boys!"

My little girls can be so sweet!

In this picture, they're viewing the "Your Baby Can Read" DVD.  Hannah gets Grace a chair and wants her to sit and "pay attention," too.  Yeah, right!  The program is pretty interesting, but I think it can require too much time on the baby's part.  And unless Hannah's gung-ho about doing the additional work to read, I'm just going to continue letting her watch the DVD and play with her word cards.  She calls it her "school."  She also totes a legal pad and a pink crayon around to do "school."

I'm telling you...This one gets cuter every single day!

Grace is primarily walking, so we're working on shoes.  She still likes to scoot with that left leg under her, and as a result, that leg is the dirtiest little leg I've ever seen.  I really do try to keep my floors clean...{sigh}

This picture sums up how tired am I!  Doesn't she look comfy-cozy?!

Hope you have a good weekend! 

(And on a side note, to all my facebook friends...I deactivated.  I may reactivate one day, but for now, I enjoyed "checking it" more than, uh, once a day, and I realized how much those minutes had begun to add up for me.  I've decided for a once or twice weekly blog update which should make everyone happy since I'd sort of dropped off the blogosphere most of the time anyway.  Look for it Thursdays or Fridays.  I may begin to pop on more often with recipes and that sort of thing, but I should have an all pictures glimpse into our daily life on Fridays...mainly for the friends and family who miss out on seeing the kids very often.  Our love to all of you!)

What do you do with your girls while you're doing school?

Funny Story....

Word to the wise:  Basil, cinnamon, and onion powder DO NOT smell pleasant when mixed together.  Just so you know.  Check out the video. (There are several new videos, so scroll on down.)

"Mommy, he locked the door!"

"Tell him I said to unlock that door, right now." I said with a hint of laziness since my poor legs are aching from finding new muscles jogging up and down the hills in our neighborhood.

Turning and running with resolve up the stairs, yelling, "Mommy said to open up that door or you're in trouble!"

Grace had her one year well check last week and is doing great! (I wish I could've left the others at home to fend for themselves...not really.  Their behavior was, uh, not, uh, good...)  She weighs 19 pounds 10 ounces!  We're enjoying her so much.  She's so sweet and pleasant, just precious!  She loves to climb the stairs every chance she gets...just to give her poor mama heart trouble!  Seriously, she's super-cute once she makes it to the top, and if I wasn't so concerned with getting to her, I'd video her "victory dance" at the top!

Do you see those sweet curls?

I'm so in love!  Ain't she cute as a button!

Hannah's potty training and doing really well...most of the time.  Except today, at Wal-Mart when she needed to go, took off in the men's room, and Ethan and Daniel had to drag her out! She didn't make it to the ladies' room, and that's as much as I'll say...  "It weren't purdy!"    Anyway, when she began to show real signs that she would potty train...not me being trained to take her, that is...we packed up her diapers and told them goodbye.  Then she took them and gave them to Grace. Literally.

We've spent the week...I've spent the week...putting up veggies for the first time in a long time.  It was nice, and now, I'm thinking I should've only gotten one box of peaches.  It sure is nice having freshly frozen produce in the freezer, though, despite the new found muscles in my shoulders!

We're starting school tomorrow.  How fun!  Daniel's psyched...Ethan's better about starting first grade than he was about kindergarten!  It's progress.  I'm more nervous this year than ever since I actually have to send in information this year.  It'll be a good year, though.

Yes. It'll be a good year!

Check out Miss Priss walking on the video blog!

Ethan to Daniel:

"Brother-ship is way stronger than friendship..." 

I think my heart skipped a beat...

I just hope they remember that when they get older!

Oh, honey!  That's just beautiful!

Isn't she just the picture of a loving mother...with her baby face down on the bench?  Very tender and nurturing, that one!  Check out my little ladies on the video blog.

I'm loving these long, slow, and lazy summer days! 

The essense of a good summer:

(And just so you know...Hannah can only have blue, green, or purple since she is allergic to certain red, yellow, and orange food dyes.  She'll break out all over her little face if she drinks/eats anything artificially made to be those colors.)

This summer has been wonderful!  We're playing in the pool and making "movie theaters" by day and catching lightning bugs and reading stories by night! 

The boys have become quite the little daredevils in the pool.  They've perfected the cannon ball and are trying to increase the number of flips they can do under water.  Hannah will get in the water...by the ladder.  And I think Grace could swim like a fish if we'd let her.  She purposely puts her face in the water.  Then, she acts surprised, and then, she laughs like it's all big fun.

The kids will get their first set of prizes for the summer reading program tomorrow, so that'll be exciting for them.  I remember going to the summer reading program at the library when I was a little girl.  Listening to stories and watching the reptile show every year.  Those are some very fond memories for me, and I hope they will be for my own children, as well. 

Uno is also a summer fun staple!  Countless games of Uno have been played around here!

Grace update!!  Little Miss took her first steps Friday, so as soon as I get a repeat performance, I'll post that on the video blog.  However, I have a few cute videos on there now.

We went to the annual meeting of the church where Deron and I met this past weekend, and it was wonderful!  I've never seen it so packed.  They had to bring in chairs from the lunchroom!  Wow...

I didn't get to hear too much preaching (thank you, girls!), but it was still wonderful.  The kids and I went with my brother and sister-in-law because Deron had to work.  It really was something to see so many folks there!

While we were there, Ethan showed me that his tooth was barely hangin on.  We were pretty scared to let him sleep with it so loose so...

He's so excited.  You can't tell, can you?

Next thing you know he'll be graduating high school and getting married and his children will be loosing their teeth!  He needs to stop growing up so fast!

Ethan and Daniel progressed to their next belts Friday!  Ethan is solid yellow, and Daniel is advanced white.  It was such a special experience for them.

Here, they're getting ready to sprawl...

Thinking about their black belts...

I couldn't get any half-way decent pictures with their new belts, so I'll do that this week.  In the next picture, they are getting certificates.

Visit the video blog for a glimpse into their karate graduation.