Life is getting bigger

I am really enjoying this summer.  The kids are getting bigger.  Putting on shoes isn't as hard anymore and they mostly keep them on understanding that we are going somewhere (Hannah sometimes has issues).  Nathan and Sarah have booster seats and they do up their own seat belts.  Abby also does up her 5 point harness seat belt by her self. Hannah is the only one left in diapers, she should be potty trained soon.  They actually follow us while we are walking somewhere (with exception to Hannah) not running in random directions.  I still feel the need for a sheep/children dog for the sole purpose of making them all go in the right direction, but things are definitely getting better.

For the second time we have re-homed our dog. I felt so guilty.  The dog had become such a burden to both of us and the kids did not enjoy him either. Life without the dog has been very good. I love animals but the last few we have had have cured me of "pet nostalgia" for awhile I think.  Sometimes Abby will ask me when we can have another pet. I tell her that we can get another one when they are older and can help to look after it.   It has been such a relief to be without a dog.  The only thing I missed where the daily walks. Recently we have been herding our children around the block or by the lake for fresh (muggy?) air so the walk experience is still there.  I am amazed at the energy or lack of energy from them.  Abby runs the whole way and gets upset when someone beats her home, if she were smart she would walk with the rest of us and save her energy for a final sneaky burst at the end, but strategy seems to elude her. Hannah runs the whole way , sometimes more as she often runs back and forth between us , unable to decide which hand to hold on too.  Nathan likes to run ahead and stop at a stop sign or a shady tree to wait for the rest of us to catch up. Sarah gets tired as soon as we leave the drive way and walks slowly.  One of us is at the back of the pack walking with Sarah and one of us is running with the rest trying to herd them on one side of the road.  All of the kids are fascinated with the spongy back tar they use to fix cracks in the road and they will stop immediately and crouch down to poke their fingers in it, we have to be careful not to trip over them. We must make quite a scene for the neighbors.

I always have ideas about the summer, where we will go and what I teach the kids, or what I will occupy their time with.  If I get 1/4 of what I had thought up done I consider that a successful summer.  This year Nathan is working his way through a work book to get computer time and I have started to get the kids to learn one verse from each book of the bible (this is going slowly, since I often forget to highlight it).  We have been to the African Lion Safari, local parks and beaches, Aunt Emily and Uncle Jeff's farm, and went to see a movie. I hope we can go mini golfing with them as well some time.  Sarah and Abby have been playing outside for hours at a time during the day.  They play with their ponies - burying them in the dirt (we have a dirt box instead of a sand box), then wash them off in the kiddie pool.  It is a little morbid, as they act out the burying process ("NO , don't bury me! HELP!) , but they are having fun outside , how can I complain about that? Nathan , our little "stay inside and watch something" child is loving the Olympics this summer, he gets so excited he can barely sit still.  I have an exercise ball he bounces on so he can actually watch the program without running around like a crazy person.

Hannah continues to find ways to get into trouble.  She can no longer get at the flour but she will try for the sugar every once in a while.  She is getting taller so she can reach more.  I found all of the brown sugar on the floor in a bedroom one afternoon , who knows how much she shoved in her mouth before making sugar hand prints on the couch ... Hannah knows when she has to poop and will strip all of her clothing off and poop allover the back porch, running over it with the ride on toys we have.  Hannah also has this thing with doors, all of the kids forget to close the back door when going outside (one of my main pet peeves this summer), Hannah will close it coming in but not going out and she goes out often.  If the back gate is left unlatched she will go out and walk around the house and ring the door bell , sometimes she goes to the neighbors doors as well. It freaks us out when she is unattended in the neighborhood but at least she comes to the door right away and she does not often get out.

Mark has been hard at work taking out flower beds.  It's unfortunate because someone had put a ton of money in landscaping that yard, but we don't have time to spend weeding out gardens and the kids pick all of the flowers off as soon as they come out.  At least now we have a bigger yard!  I gave up on my vegetable garden this year again.  Last year it was the dog nosing around and stepping on things , as well as little girls pulling up/stepping on plants.  This year Hannah was still digging around in there trying to eat the dirt and throwing it around.  We put some mulch down and gave them another place to dig around in , so hopefully next year....

Life is getting bigger. Our kids are growing and our circle of where and how we spend our time is getting  ever wider.  I'm painting more and learning more.  Our house is changing to suit our needs more.  I love our life and I am still excited to see what the next few years will bring.

There will always be a next step

Life it seems is a series of goals short and long term.  Our family has been working through goals in the past 4 months, some of us doing better then others. My goal was to paint more , and I have :).  The next step will be to try to sell some paintings. There will always be a next step with rewards along the way.  Mark has repainted the entire basement, ripped out the carpet and replaced the floor with a easy to clean laminate.  Sarah has been working on spelling her name correctly (sometimes she writes it completely backwards ), Nathan has been working on learning how to type, Hannah has learned to sleep in a single bed instead of a crib, and Abby has done the best of all. Abby has learned how to pee and poop on the potty , then on the big toilet, and is now working on not sucking her thumb during the day.

Toilet training Abby has been difficult to say the least. There were a lot of exhausting days where I was glad to finally put a diaper on her. I think I gave up at least twice. I hope we never forget the day we were jumping and cheering in the kitchen after Abby had finally pooped in her potty rather then the playroom downstairs. As the accidents became less common the celebrations also became less. One afternoon she hulled the downstairs potty up to the dining room to show us her poop. Mark and I gave Abby a "that's nice dear comment".  Abby set the potty down and looked at it, she shrugged her shoulder and said "that's too heavy for me to carry downstairs by my self" and proceeded to go downstairs without the potty....she didn't get that far.
 One day I heard a "BALEY ATE MY POOP!" from the bathroom. Mark and I gave each other a horrified look. Abby came out of the bathroom and I asked her why she didn't stop him or tell me he was .....eating her poop. Abby's eyes where getting bigger by the second and with some hand wringing she replied "Well.....I just wanted ....to watch him ate that".  I could just picture Baley enjoying his "snack" with a fascinated Abby watching closely.  

With Nathan and Sarah in school , it seems like we have double the germs at home. This past winter has been steeped in colds  and the flu (or several variations of it) we were even all treated for strep throat. Even now I am trying to keep my eyes open while typing this.  Hannah was sick yesterday and has been getting out of bed frequently during the night. It seems like the kids take turns getting sick , I take care of them, and then I get the grand finale of it when everyone else feels better.   I guess we will be fighting viruses for a few more years yet , as Abby goes to kindergarten this fall and Hannah starts the following year. Maybe we will have super strong immune systems once the youngest learns that sneezing everywhere and wiping your nose on your sleeve or your mom's pants are not good ideas.

Hannah has been targeting the flour bag recently (the past few months).  We buy flour from Costco so the bag is large and difficult to move around. Hannah gravitates toward flour , she throws it all over the floor and tracks it through the house. I put it on the counter (taking up a lot of space) but she simply gets a chair and ALWAYS finds a way in that blasted bag of flour somehow. She will also do the same thing with sugar or baking soda ...sigh....maybe she will be a good cook when she gets bigger? I am so tired of cleaning up flour.  I'm starting to hear my words come out of Hannah's mouth. I will hear her say something like "..kidding me?" or "Look at that!" (referring to an accomplishment) , and I will wonder where she learned those phrases until I remember that I say them. Speaking is done thoughtlessly , effortlessly and it surprises me to learn that someone is listening to my speech , considering it , and repeating it.

Nathan and Sarah are both still mostly enjoying school.  I love watching and listening to them develop.  Sarah has several friends , even a boyfriend? Nathan has one friend he talks about.  Sarah and Nathan visit at recess and say hi to each other when passing in the hallways.  They come home with tons of paper projects and stories and art projects. Sometimes I'm afraid for them, while watching the news or reading articles written on the prevalence of bullying and sexual abuse.  I have to remember that we gave all of our children to God and I need to follow His leading in raising them not my personal anxieties. It's hard to see the big picture sometimes. When I am painting , often Mark will not truly see what I am so excited about until the painting is almost complete. I'm reminded of the verse in Psalms "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" - a lamp to my feet , not a spot light or even a strong flash light to see ahead, just enough light to see where your feet are walking :).

I think any front landing area would remain crowded with this crowd getting ready :)

Lip balm belongs on your face obviously 

Easter eggs and missing teeth :) 

    

Singing and Jumping in the new year

When I think back on the past few months ...I get tired.  This Christmas especially has been exhausting .  The kids have been sick on and off , we traveled a little more then we usually do and Mark had a kidney stone three days before Christmas.  Currently those little munchkins are almost making me wish the Christmas break was over so some of them will be in school for most of the day.  Since they haven't been feeling well there has been a lot more whining, fighting and crying.
In spite of all that we have had a great time!  We attended a Santa Clause parade , picked and cut our Christmas tree, we walked around the neighborhood admiring the lights and delivering packages of homemade cookies to neighbors, they were pleased to see a troupe of kids and an enthusiastic dog wishing them a merry Christmas. We visited Lakeside Park and admired those lights, we visited relatives for a Christmas party and then had one at our house and then there is always Christmas morning :).  When the kids get older , I would like to add caroling to the to do list, or maybe some volunteer time.

This year I watched the silly statements surrounding the term "Merry Christmas" as opposed to "X-mas or happy holidays appear on social media again.  Along with those type of statements come ones like "Jesus is the Reason for the Season".  Is he really?  Truthfully?  I think it is all about the presents. The gift giving overshadows almost everything in Christmas.  We listen to the bible story at least once and then it is back to the anticipation of presents.  How could I change that for our family?  I'm still trying to figure it out.  This year the kids exchanged names and picked out gifts for each other so at least they could experience the "giving" part of Christmas as well as the getting.  I told them that Christmas is Jesus's birthday , but instead of getting presents Himself , He wants us to give to others.  Hopefully we can figure out different ways of doing that later :)

We celebrated New Years Eve watching tv while the kids slept.  I think if I were anywhere else I would be wishing that I was there on the couch watching a British TV series with my husband and eating some disturbingly good chocolate caramel pretzels (disturbing because Mark does not like pretzels , so I will end up eating all of them).  This morning I slept in to 7:00 am while my amazing husband dealt with kids squeezing the dog's new squeaky toy above his head down stairs. When I got up they had all charged upstairs and were very excited to eat breakfast. Hannah was jumping/dancing and singing as loud as she possibly could about Jesus and waffles (those were the two words I could understand).  There was lots of jostling , teasing more singing and finally they were quiet for a few minutes as they ate breakfast.  My husband was irritated by the noise (possibly due to the dog toy earlier) but I am smiling inside.  We are starting the new year with singing and dancing - featuring an original song by Hannah Hawkins (Jesus and waffles), what could possibly be better?

Sarah enjoying her birthday party - which is in early December 

decorating the tree 

Hannah doing more decorating rather then trying to eat ornaments this year