7 Quick Takes Friday - Volume 15

I've really missed blogging lately!  Can you believe this post took me almost 3 weeks to write?  True story!  That's just the way life has been lately! Here's a brief summary of what's new in our world...

At the end of January, Nathan turned 5!  He's already lost two teeth (our earliest tooth loser yet!).  He has started "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" and is doing really well, so far.  He was already reading a few Bob Books before then, so I am hoping the momentum gathers and reading is something that comes easily for him.  I find Nathan rather fascinating, because, in our houseful of playmates and noise... he's the introvert.  He is perfectly content playing by himself somewhere quietly while the rest of the gang are doing something else!  I had always heard one of the "pitfalls" of big families was that the children don't learn how to enjoy quiet or entertain themselves due to the constant presence of others, but Nathan proves that idea wrong!  He definitely has a knack for building complex things with legos - sometimes more complex than his older counterparts build.  I love watching him grow and can't wait to see what God has in store for him!

The little girl had her FIRST birthday and I hadn't even blogged about it yet!  How does that even happen? (Um, I'll tell you how it happened - it's called having 6 kids and being pregnant with the 7th!)  We didn't do anything big - I'm a lazy mama and don't do birthday parties until the child is actually old enough to remember them!  But it was an absolutely beautiful day, so we did celebrate by spending some time enjoying the outdoors.  She's getting so big - she's got 6 teeth, loves to climb on anything and everything, and is definitely teaching us a bit about what people mean when they say "girls are different".  There's a little more drama in the house than there used to be!  But going along with that is a lot more sunshine and sweetness, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't marvel at the fact that we have a girl!  Yes, still!

On her first birthday!

I am now 16.5 weeks pregnant, and outgrowing regular clothes.  But, I'm also at the awkward inbetween stage where maternity clothes are sort of too big and look kind of frumpy!  So, please excuse my lack of fashion for the next few weeks, if you happen to know me.  Not that I'm the queen of fashion to begin with!  I can now feel the little one move for sure, which is such a nice blessing.  No matter how many times I've felt it, I'm always excited and thankful when it happens.  I haven't gained any weight yet, for which I am super thankful for, since I started this pregnancy out with an extra 15-20 pounds of weight still leftover from Rachel!  I don't tend to fret over my weight too much, but that small detail made me a little nervous.

We are planning another homebirth, for which I am super excited.  I was thrilled for the first one, because I had wanted to try it for so long and was finally able to, and I'm just as thrilled for this one, because now I know how wonderful of an experience it can be!

Our 20 week ultrasound is next month, and I am so looking forward to it.  We're not finding out the gender, of course, but we've decided to leave all the children with a friend and actually make it a "date night", of which we only do about 2-3 times a year!  Usually we bring the whole crew to the ultrasounds, but at this point we will no longer all fit into the ultrasound room!  And I think it will be fun not having to deal with squirmy toddlers and restless preschoolers.  And, of course, I am always excited to see the little one.  The miracle of pregnancy and growing a baby becomes more and more amazing to me with each pregnancy.

Here's my growing belly!

According to general statistics, I have approximately 23 weeks left of this pregnancy... and according to my schedule, I have approximately 21 weeks left of school.  Um, yikes!  Looks like after our maternity leave, we won't be starting out fresh with a new year as I had hoped... we'll be wrapping up the loose ends of this one!  Which is... OK... but the OCD organizer in me really, really wanted to get everything tied up in a nice neat complete package BEFORE baby came!  But there really is no way that I can see that happening.  So, we'll just keep plugging along and just see how things go.  That is so hard for me! I think it's good for me, too, though.

Last year, I am sad to admit, we did not manage our finances as well as we should have.  After spending many years with no debt at all, we got ourselves into a bit of debt.  This year, after watching our tax refund go to paying that debt (instead of more useful things, like savings, or home repair, or any number of other things money is good for), we agreed that things had to change.  So we've gone back to a "cash only" lifestyle.  And, WOW!  What a difference that has made in just the two months we've been doing it.  It has definitely taken some adjustment - mostly a mindset adjustment - remembering that just because we think we "need it now" doesn't actually mean that we "need it now" - things can actually... wait!  But the savings has been tremendous!!  Several hundred dollars a month!!!  That's a big deal.  So even though it's been a little difficult, we're sticking with it, because it WORKS!

 

I love this boy!  This was how I found him the other day, during his nap.  Needless to say, that was not how I had put him to bed!  He is always a source of laughter in the house!

And no, those aren't the ones he was actually wearing at the time!

I think this has been the best winter I can remember. I think we had, maybe 10 days or less, total, of temperatures that were cold enough to make me uncomfortable (below 45 degrees or so). It has been wonderfully mild.  We have taken full advantage of this, and spent as much time as possible OUTside!  Yesterday was our first official nature walk of the season - and it was a wonderful 73 degrees by the time we finished at noon.  I love this kind of weather, and I'm especially excited about Daylight Savings Time starting!  Sunlight and I are friends :)  Here's some pictures of our nature walk!

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the world!

Wordless Wednesday - Venerunt, Vindirunt, Vicerunt

They came

They saw

 

 

They conquered!

(Mom/Grandma, Don't Read This)

What could have these boys so captivated?

There's only a few things... can you guess? (Don't continue looking if you're squeamish!)

Do you see it? Look closely!!

Here's a better view:

Isaac almost caught him!

He was so fast! We decided to leave him be, he was pretty intimidated... and BIG!

(I don't remember my sister and I doing this when we were young!)

First Walk

Yesterday we took our first "official" nature walk of 2009! We stayed close to home because it threatened to rain, but the skies stayed clear for us. Even though the park we went to only has a paved walking trail, there were enough interesting things for the boys to collect along the way, in between running, jumping, climbing and rolling around (the joys of nature walks with boys!). Judah rode in the sling while I walked behind the boys, enjoy the light exercise and being sure to take notice of the nature around me, as well.

When we got home, while I made lunch, the boys worked on recording what they found for their nature journals. Eventually, I will encourage them to journal a bit more, such as details about the walk, the weather, and also identifying and labeling the plants they draw. But for now, just getting out for our first walk was an accomplishment in itself! ;-) Here are some samples of their journal work!

Joel's pine needles and Azalea flower:


Ezra's pine needles:
Ezra's flowers (since the flowers were white, and we had no colored paper, they used colors for the petals. But if you notice, the flowers do actually have little pink parts, so Ezra was very observant!)
Ezra also drew a Puffball mushroom (one of the few they refrained from "puffing" by stomping on them). The actual mushroom is on the table next to the paper. Again, drawing white things on white paper proves difficult (note to self: get some colored paper! What kind of homeschooling mom am I?! lol!) Oh, I think the words mean to say "Is it" near the arrow, but a few letters got transposed ;-)
Isaac's work - he has a hard time narrowing things down, so he made quite a few drawings, these are just a few:

We Did It!

I've been wanting to have a raised-bed garden for a number of years. This year, we finally got one made! I'm very excited. The boys planted sugar snap peas, carrots, broccoli and tomatoes (the tomatoes are going to be planted in separate containers). We started them off indoors in peat pellets. In just 2 weeks, they were ready for replanting, so that's what we spent our morning doing! The boys had more fun hunting for worms than planting, but that's ok, because I enjoy planting more than hunting for worms! We made a great team! Here's a slide show of the whole process, from the time we planted the seeds in the peat pellets, through today, when we transplanted them. Hopefully I'll have pictures of some yummy homegrown veggies soon!!

Theory vs. Reality

Charlotte Mason is a woman whose teaching methods have branched off into a homeschooling "style", and I would say ideally, our style follows that of the Charlotte Mason philosophy. She encouraged short lessons, leaving afternoons free for imaginative play and exploration, and taking Nature Walks frequently. I have posted a few times earlier about our Nature Walks and how pleasant they often are. However, sometimes the theory of pleasant, relaxing Nature Walks filled with exploration and inquisitive learning does not line up with reality, especially when 3 boys are involved. Here's how the one mile walk looked:

The beginning:

Continuing:

This happened about 3 times:

But it always went back to:


And then we finished up with:

And when we went home, I was more tired than they.

Enjoying God's Creation

At least once a week, we try to get out for a Nature Walk, usually on the Nature Trail at Stone Mountain Park. Its a nice loop, a little less than a mile but with some terrain, a stream, and lots of nature to explore. We went today and enjoyed a wonderful surprise - we saw two deer! At first they bounded away from us, but as the boys got quiet and we walked slowly, the deer became interested. They let us watch them for a few minutes, and returned the interest, before slowing disappearing into the foliage. It was so neat! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera (the ONE day I leave it home!) but I told the boys they can remember the images in their brains for as long as they want. ;-)

A few weeks ago the boys did their first "nature journal" entries. We don't bring the journals every week, but when we do, we plan a picnic lunch so they boys can take their time with their journals. Here are some pictures of our nature journaling!

The Nature Trail

Self-portrait of Nathan in the Ergo!


The boys working on their journals

Isaac's artwork - I was so impressed by the detail!

The nature walks are such a nice break to our day and overall week. Its a blessing to be able to get out and enjoy God's beautiful creation, and watch how things change through the year!