A New Challenge

Just have a minute this morning to say hi.

Hi!

I stayed in bed too long this morning and things are already so far behind.  Instead of letting it fluster me, I'm choosing to just go with the flow.  If we're only barely getting started and it's lunch time already, so be it. :)

Kids are eating breakfast now (almost 9am).  Then we'll finish chores.  Then a circle time of sorts with all the kids.  Then Tornado's Disciplined Studies (math and handwriting.)

Somewhere in there the babies will have to eat.

Babies?

For the past few weeks now I've had an extra baby with us Monday through Friday.  A little guy born just days after Belle.  I won't go so far as saying that it's like having twins.  I won't annoy all you mamas of twins that way.  I'm sure that in a way it's easier and in a way it's harder.  Just different. :)  And this is the way it will be until his sweet mama can return home, where she wants to be.

So far it's not too hard.  I imagine I'll be more tired when they are both crawling... and then walking. :)

Labels: As it happens...

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 9:03 AM 0 Comments

Vacation Part 2: Heading South

Dinosaur Exhibit at the Hands On Museum in Tennessee

The conference really came to an end Wednesday night (Thursday morning was breakfast and check-out) and when Tornado returned to our room late Wednesday evening, we sensed that something wasn't quite right.

Fever.

102.7 kind of fever.

The rock wall... sick Tornado in comfy clothes.

Thursday morning it was still high.  We carted him to breakfast, but he didn't eat much.  We had a decision to make.  Go home for two days (north) to give him time to get bettter?  Or stick to the original plan (driving south).  We decided he'd get just as much sleep in the car and decided to proceed.  By 2 we'd eaten again, made a stop at the store and were on our way.

The real vacation.

Tornado slept all day.

Finding "fossils"

We planned to camp that night, somewhere along the way.  Lexington, VA is where we'd be stopping so we made some calls and found a place.  By the time we got there it was after nine and raining.  The "campground" was simply a few places to put a tent at a truck stop.

We decided to check out the Howard Johnson just off the freeway.  When you figure in that we were going to spend $15 on the camp site anyway, and that breakfast would be free at the hotel, really we only spent an extra $15 or $20 on convenience.

Playing the "Slap Organ"

Worth it!

Especially when Tornado started throwing up the next morning.

The rest of us ate waffles in the lobby while Tornado slept (we took turns).  Again we had a decision to make... stick around at the hotel one more night or press on.  By check out time, it had been several hours since Tornado had been sick, so we decided to chance it. 

With his hotel cup in hand (just in case), we loaded the car and were on our way again. 

Little Man found the train table.

By afternoon we were in Tennessee and Tornado had missed another meal (just in case).  He was hungry though, and starting to feel better.  Enough so that when we saw a sign off the highway for the Hands On Museum in Johnson City, we decided to stop and let the kids play. 

They had so much fun!

Hop Scotch outside the museum.

That night we did camp at a little place not far from where we'd be checking in the next day.  Tornado was the only one of us to sleep great all night through.

Early next morning Sweet Pea was throwing up.  With a fever.

We packed up once there was enough light to do so, with Sweet Pea sleeping in the car already.  As soon as we could, we headed down for the pancake breakfast they had there... all of us except Sweet Pea that is.  Poor thing!  She stayed in the car with her Howard Johnson cup right by where we ate. 

Tornado could do it all on his own.

We arrived at our cabin and got checked in around 1 that afternoon and the first order of business was settling Sweet Pea on the couch.

I'd noticed through the morning that my "heavy chest" was turning into something.  That, and the lack of night time sleep, finally got me and I sat down to rest.

So tired.

My Beloved brought me some lunch and eventually the thermometer.

And Little Man really couldn't do it at all... but he thought it was great being "big".

103.8

I was sick too.

Labels: As it happens...

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 10:08 AM 0 Comments

Anyone eat chicken yesterday???

My Beloved called from work yesterday afternoon to find out if I'd started dinner yet.  Ummm... no.  But I was gonna really soon!  Honest!

Turns out, he had plans to participate in Chick-fil-a's national appreciation day.  So off we went with our 4 littles to back the restaurant's president in his statement supporting family values and marriage as God designed it. 

After two and a half hours of waiting, we placed our order. 

The chicken was good (really good to our very hungry crew!), but the opportunity to support Chick-fil-a and to stand for God's design of marriage between a man and a woman was even better. 

Last we heard, our local restaurant had drawn the largest crowd known by Chick-fil-a president (the general manager had talked to him earlier in the evening).  What fun to be part of that!

How about you?  Anyone else participate in National Chick-fil-a appreciation day???



Note:  Please keep comments friendly.  I don't want debate here.  I reserve the right to omit any comments at my leisure.    

Labels: As it happens...

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 6:00 AM 2 Comments

Vacation Part 1: Baltimore

The first part of our vacation was only sort of vacation-y.  For the kids and I, it was.  For My Beloved, it was work. 

Sunday through Thursday we were in a hotel in Maryland for a conference.  While My Beloved worked, Tornado got to participate in the children's program with the missionary kids and we all got to swim (all but My Beloved that is.)

There are no pictures of the week because I was pretty much on my own the whole time, but I'll note a few things:

First, everything takes longer!  That first day (Monday), we got up a little late (8?) because the night had been late setting up.  My Beloved went running out to finish getting things ready before conference attendees arrived, and the kids and I worked on getting ready to go have breakfast.  I'll spare you the details and just say this.  We finally made it to breakfast at 11.  Panara Bread was no longer making breakfast sandwiches.  As we were getting back to the hotel, we passed several people headed out to lunch. 

Just before 1, we were finally making out way to the swimming pool (after suiting up, lotioning up, an extra trip to the car for the swim diapers, and then nursing again because it had all taken so long) when My Beloved called to see what we were doing.  "You're just making it out to the pool?  You know, it's lunch time." 

"Yes, I know," I answered him.  "I just passed 3 sets of people leaving for lunch on my way back from breakfast." 

He laughed and I accepted the fact that everything takes longer when I'm on my own with 4 little ones.  Accepting that fact helped me to enjoy the week much more.  We just did what we could do and kept our own schedule. :)

Second... you'll all want to know how things went with the bathing suit I made Sweet Pea.  It went great.  I think the waist line for the little shorts was too low but overall, it was cute and functional... and modest!!! 

Third, I picked a crazy week to give up sugar.  (More on that later!)  Desserts, cookies and candy everywhere!  Sigh.

Labels: As it happens...

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 9:27 AM 0 Comments

We're back!

Sigh...

We're back, and this was only one of our many beautiful surroundings! :) 

I look forward to sharing more with you this week!  For now, kids are demanding attention.

Labels: As it happens...

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 9:49 AM 0 Comments

White

 "Why is it white?" Sweet Pea asked when she brought it out.

 "Because I wanted it to be white,"  Grammy answered.

 Like a knife in the heart.

But isn't it cute?  I just love it! :)

Note to grandparents though... pink! :)

Labels: As it happens...

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 10:42 AM 0 Comments

Winning My Man's Heart: The Biscuits and Gravy Edition

Another recipe I'd never tried... one of his favorites.

Now, in my defense... we don't usually eat sausage.  That makes it a little hard to do this recipe.  But when he brought lard home from our favorite farm a few weeks ago, biscuits went on the menu and he went out and bought some sausage. :)

Yum!  And easy!

One more piece of his heart forever in my hand. :)  I'm so glad.

Labels: As it happens..., In the Kitchen, Prince Charming

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 6:00 AM 0 Comments

A little time away

Won't find me at home today.  Yesterday we packed up and headed south for the first stop of our  two week journey.

The office My Beloved works for holds a conference each July (the same conference from our love story) and he stays busy working it.  Last year they moved it down to Baltimore and blessed our family by including us.  It's not a whole lot of family time because My Beloved is working long hours, but it's worth it to me.  We aren't home alone over night (I don't like that so much), we get to share our meals with Daddy, we can visit him in his "little cave" where he works on missionary computers for hours on end, and... we get to play in the pool every day!

The next part of our journey is, as yet, unplanned.  We're headed down to North Carolina for a week long vacation at a sweet Christian retreat, but... we can't check in until Saturday.  And we'd hate to drive the hour plus back home Thursday afternoon just to turn around and do it again.  Not to mention, the overall drive to NC is a little more than 10 hours.  And that's not counting multiple potty stops and nursings.  Let's make that 15 hours, shall we? 

So, in lieu of that 15 hour chunk, we're going to make it a bit closer to 10 hours and make our way slowly down to our destination.  I just don't know exactly what that will look like yet.  Camping?  Only if it's in the mountains.  Otherwise it will be too hot.  Hotel?  That is a bit pricier.  Not sure... as of now (and I'm pre-writing this) this section is unplanned.  What I do know is that during this time we'll be stopping somewhere to do laundry. :)  And probably be picking up some groceries for the cooler!

And then, the entire second week we'll be vacationing with friends (they have 2 kids not much older than ours--their youngest is the same age as Tornado).  It's a bring your own food and linens sort of cabin retreat.  We've never been there, so I don't know what else to say. 

What I do know is that I will have limited, if any, access to a computer.  If anything I may just moderate a few comments.  I do have a handful of posts scheduled, but if it starts to look like a ghost town around here in the way of moderated comments, you'll know I'm having fun! :)

I hope you all have a great couple weeks!  See you on the other side!

Labels: As it happens...

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 6:00 AM 0 Comments

Catching up on some Sewing

 And what little girl isn't adorable with a bit of eyelet peeking out from beneath her dress???

Can I tell you a secret???  The slips aren't white.  Oh, the eyelet is... but not the slip.  We made them out of old (three cheers for upcycling!!!) crib sheets that were far from the original white.  Three babies far!  With my little Belle, we decided it was time for new ones. 

 Can you see that little bow at coming from above the eyelet trim???

It's attached to a little white ribbon mom sewed around the whole thing about 1/8 above the white eyelet.  It makes the whole thing look deliberate.  Love that!

 Then there's the bloomers... love me some bloomers!  Aren't they sweet.  Also made from old crib sheets! (Also McCall's 4505)
 There's another longer pair for winter... but it's not quite finished.


 Anyone guess what this was???

 It's a bathing suit!  Isn't it cute??  Complete with ruffle around the neck...

 and little leggings.

 I'm thrilled she likes it!

The next test is going to be whether it works in the pool next week. :)

No pattern for this one.  We kind of came up with our own pattern.  


Do you sew for your kids???  I'd love to see!


Participating here:

Labels: As God Provides, As it happens..., Raising Children, With These Hands

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 9:14 PM 4 Comments

Our Fourth of July

Time gets away from me when we have visitors in our home.  Then Grammy left and we started another adventure the very next day.  All that to say, here we are, 8 days later and you're only just seeing pics from our 4th. 

None of the headless people pics turned out great.  Sorry.  Suffice it to say that among the kids outfits you would have found red white and blue, though not necessarily all on each child.  Still, if I'd thought to take a group picture, it was all there. 

The day truly revolved around food.  That seems a pretty normal holiday ritual.  Even though, as it usually is, it was just us.  Still I found some fun ideas to make the day special for the kids.  In all the reading we've been doing lately, there has been plenty of talk about the American flag.  Plus, Tornado has been recognizing it himself lately anyway.  So I worked it in where I could. 

 Found this idea here via pinterest.  She made it for breakfast and put cream cheese under the jam.  I called it lunch and put our "Sunny Butter" (sunflower butter since our Tornado is allergic to peanuts) under the jam.  The kids loved it and Tornado was delighted that it was a flag!

 Cute cute cute.  Their excitement made my day! :)

 I found this idea online too, though, I'm not sure where.  Sorry.  I could have made one more column of hot dogs (we ate that many in the end since a friend stopped by to help My Beloved with last minute firework details), but I didn't have a tray to put it on. 

Kids loved it too!

 In my head I had a fun picnic or nicely laid table pictured.  In the end the fireworks took up all but the little corner I cleared for Little Man to eat.  The kids thought it was funny to eat on this little "table".  My Beloved ate on the living room floor surrounded by fireworks he was attaching fuse to, and our friend stood at the end of the table.  My mom and I floated around.  Overall, I think the memories of the chaos in those last hurried minutes is more fun. :)

 And to finish the evening we headed to church where My Beloved put on a 50 minute kid friendly firework fountain show.  In retrospect, there were too many fireworks.  We learn how to make it better every year.

He did a great job with his helpers and everyone seemed to have a great time! :)

I hope your 4th was fabulous!

Labels: As it happens..., Making Memories

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 6:00 AM 0 Comments

We've been busy

My mom left today.  It was a great couple of weeks.  Games every night.  Sewing every day.  And lots of playing with kids and doing my dishes (this was her schedule, not mine). 

I'm hoping to share some of the sewing we got done, but I don't have any pictures of it yet.  Just to wet your appetite (and to encourage me to finish it), I did take one picture this evening... just for you!


I need purple thread before I can finish it up and we can't get that until Tuesday, so you'll have to wait to see the rest. 

Anyone have ideas what it is???  (Mom, you can't play!)

Labels: As it happens..., With These Hands

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 8:58 PM 0 Comments

Every Situation

Have you ever found yourself dreaming of your life a year or two in the future?

Your oldest will be older.  Your youngest will be older.  Hopefully that middle child will be out of these "terrible" days.

It's easy to find yourself daydreaming.  But as I found myself thinking just that today, I stopped.  Paul said that he had learned "the secret of being content in any and every situation."  Doesn't that "any and every situation" include these days of mine too? 

This young children stage is hard.  Lord let me learn to be content in every situation!

Labels: As it happens..., Life Lessons for Mommy, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 11:00 AM 1 Comments

A{nother} Change in our Homeschool Plan

Being a "mouse trap" with felt cheese

In my review of this past school year, I mentioned several places that I would share more later.  Well, here is one time I'm actually going to follow through with one of those promises!

The five of us were all loaded in the car one day in February.  Well, six of us if you include Belle, who was sharing my seat belt... and my body for that matter.  We run our errands together.  The whole family.  And this was one such outing.

"You know," My Beloved started as we turned passed the house that always counts down Christmas, "it's probably almost time for you to get a curriculum for Tornado."

I went hot.  He continued.

Toilet Paper Roll Pilgrims and Indian Craft at Thanksgiving

"You're not going to be able to be consistent enough on your own."  

We'd had conversations about curriculum half a dozen times or more over the last couple years.  But this was the first time he'd said that last part.  The first time he'd had some solid evidence.  The first time I knew he was right.

I wanted to argue.  Like every other time he'd mentioned curriculum.  I don't like curriculum.  We don't need curriculum,  I wanted to say.  I was tempted to dive into my heated explanation about how "homeschooling doesn't have to be just like a classroom."  To explain that I could come up with my own plans.  But I didn't.

I've been realizing that communication is always something that needs to be worked on...even in a happy marriage.  Out of no where it occurred to me that I should make sure I knew what he meant by "curriculum" before I got offended and upset at the notion.  When he said curriculum, I imagined he meant some all inclusive every subject and everything spelled out for me kind of curriculum.  He didn't.  I'm so glad I asked.

Planting flower seedlings

My initial burning was forced out as I started cautiously, measuring my words for calm.  "What do you mean by curriculum?"  There.  That was a normal conversational question.  Not an attack.  Not defensive.  Not as defensive as I was feeling anyway.

And I'm so glad I did.

Turns out, he didn't mean an all inclusive, take away my flexibility and creativity in educating the children kind of curriculum.  He didn't mean structuring our home school day like a classroom.  He meant math.  And handwriting.

That's all.

Math and handwriting.

"Oh," I said, shocked.  Is it possible that this is what he's always meant when mentioning curriculum in the past?  I have no idea.  I try not to think about it too much.  "I can do that."

So there you have it.  My Beloved, the leader of our marriage, head of our home, and official "buck stops here" guy of all things children, thought it was about time to start Tornado on an official math and handwriting program.  Now that wasn't so hard after all.  I didn't completely disagree.  More than that?  It was such a relief to have "permission" to "cop out" of designing the whole program from scratch.  And I can still do what I've been planning for the other stuff.


Next Week:  What came of this decision.



An aside:  There are a lot of great curriculums.  I don't mean this post to be an attack on curriculum, or on those of you who use it.  I know it is a great tool.  I simply mean that I've never wanted to use it and have always pictured myself coming up with my own stuff.  I hope I haven't offended anyone.  If you love pre-made curriculum... go for it!

Labels: As it happens..., Homeschooling 2011-2012, Life Lessons for Mommy, Prince Charming, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 6:00 AM 2 Comments

An Easy Day

Learning to say yes to messes.

I woke to baby stirrings.  Reached over the side of her bassinet and pulled her into my arms.  I nursed her for the first time in almost two weeks.  Fears and worries drained away as she latched on.  Suckled.   I sighed relief.  Silent praise.

Always asking to paint.

The alarm sounded and My Beloved moved from beneath covers to stop the sound.  Grabbed up clean clothes and moved toward the shower.  A door opened down the hall and little feet came walking toward my door and moved inside.  A messy headed boy climbed onto our bed.  We talked while sweet Belle nursed.  After a few minutes other littles were making their noises from the bedroom down the hall.  The toddler struggling with the door knob;  not able to open it himself. 

It was starting again.  A new day.  Yesterday, like so many recent days, was hard.  I determined then that today... today... I wanted it to be easy.

Last week I say yes to Father's Day cards.

Daddy leaves for work on time.  A group of littles wave from the front porch before we all head to the kitchen to scavenge for breakfast.  Almost 4 weeks since our last full shopping trip, we're running a little dry.  We buy farm fresh eggs and raw milk from a local store, so I open the carton and warm the pan.  Strawberries brought with a chicken dinner late last week bring smiles to little faces.  Applesauce fills bowls.  Eggs cook.

Caterpillars from our kit.

Behind me children do their thing.  I don't yell.  Water spills.  I bring a towel.  Little Man howls hunger and impatience.  I calmly correct.

Breakfast dishes gathered to sink, we move to the living room.  Kids ask for Candy Land.  Unhesitatingly, I say yes.  Their faces light up as I choose relationship over the easy way.  But isn't that just it?  Choosing to love on these sweet children by giving my time to them in relationship is a yoke I cannot, would not, choose to do on my own.  But in it, I took on the yoke that is easy, the burden that is light.

Another favorite I usually say no to.

Later we do some handwriting and math, Tornado and I.  Sweet Pea plays at the table.  Little Man "sits" with me and, for nearly 45 minutes, I patiently "guide" him through one tantrum after another, training him to sit nicely in my lap. 

The day passes.  Nursing.  Lunch.  Nap time. Play. Dinner.  Reading together.  Baths. Bed.

Little Man's first play-doh experience

No part of the day is perfect.  Training moments abound.  Correction too.  At day's end I'm tired, but not from a hard day.  I worked hard, but my day was easy... His burden is light!

Labels: As it happens..., Life Lessons for Mommy, Raising Children

posted by ~Babychaser~ @ 11:24 PM 0 Comments