Who Is This?

Ok, I don't yet really have brain space or time to blog much, but I had to put in these pictures of Caroline from a bowling party this past weekend. Who is this beautiful girl and how did she get so big? Recently I have been so struck by how articulate and kind and taller she is getting! As she is quickly growing out of pants, she is also quickly learning how to skillfully distract her almost two year old sister when she is fussy and she is making earrings and jewelry to give away when she has time alone. The other day I saw someone in the hall out of the corner of my eye and thought a stranger was in our home...only to realize it's my growing up girl. It is such a joy and privilege to see God growing beauty in her inside and out.

Phases...

Life is always changing. The moon, the seasons, the daily journey of the sun...we have so many practical reminders that life down here is never static, always in motion. So why do we so often feel "stuck" and certain that things will never change? I am nine months pregnant. I even have a c-section scheduled for this week. I still feel deep in my bones like I will be this large and slow forever. I can't seem to grasp the change that is coming. I hit this same inability to believe in change with our young kids at times. I am certain when they hit a bad sleep pattern, bad period of behavior that we will be stuck in it forever. It is part of what makes that phase so overwhelming honestly. But then, a few weeks later, I look back and realize: we are sleeping through the night, he did remember to say yes mam, she is being more patient with her brother....Life is always changing and me with it. Some of the changes you see coming, some surprise you, but atleast for me it is not in my nature to constantly expect them and look forward to them. And yet, God promises to use "all things for good" ....all changes are in His caring hands. We are praying our whole family can not only simply adjust to changes in life but enjoy them this week!

Nesting

is a real thing....I am a good sleeper and I rarely have trouble falling asleep or quickly going back to sleep at night. Residency trained me well and I consider sleep a precious gift; one that I am quick to embrace. Last week, though, when our five year old woke us up at 2:30am...I was wide awake. I spent an hour lying there and thinking of things I needed to do: how the flower pots needed new pansies, how there are several Christmas gifts that I actually wanted to make, how I did throw away my nursing bras after Hannah and I really would need to buy new ones....Finally at 3:30 am I got up to write all these things down. Pages, I wrote. Finally at 4:30, I crawled back into bed with the peace of a very long list. Nesting is a real thing.

Yesterday, I was working earnestly on my list. I sat down at the computer to complete the "order baby luggage tags" part of my list. I looked at several sites, spent atleast 15 minutes, trying to find the best price with my slow midday internet connection. Finally I found what I needed. I quickly went to order the tags and as I clicked on it they requested I enter a first and last name. Here's the problem...we don't have a name yet. Took me twenty minutes of earnest list energy to engage my brain and remember I don't have a baby name yet. Nesting is a real thing...

A few days ago I took all four children to the Virginia Living Museum 45 minutes away for part of our school day. My husband desperately tried to talk me out of it. It was on my list though, to take the kids to the museum before the baby came. Despite the fact walking is terribly uncomfortable and I am as wide as I am tall, I took all four children through the museum for the morning. Nesting is a real thing...

I have sewn new curtains. I have made pillows. The closet chaos that has been tolerated for quite some time has been attacked with great gusto in the past week or two. Recently an inspector came to inspect our "slowly in process" deck work and I ended up telling him about how I thought it was wrong for the government to have building codes that private homeowners were required to uphold. If we want to do it the wrong way, it's our own foolish decision. I'm not sure he knew how to respond. Do not mess with a third trimester pregnant woman. Nesting is a real thing....

Halloween

If Halloween was any indication, Christmas will be VERY exciting in this house. We really didn't have a chance to play up Halloween this year. The candy, the costumes were very last minute; the jack-o-lantern didn't get carved, but instead drawn with a black Sharpie marker. We were busy running errands until almost 5 o'clock on the night of Halloween. And yet, they were jumping and leaping rather than walking to a few neighbors homes that we visit each year. They got it; they understood it and it was all wonderfully fun for them (and hence, for us!). They had decided to all be superheroes, but at the last minute, John Mac insisted on being Tigger and Henry felt that he had to carry a light saber in order to protect everyone in the dark. Hannah was Superbaby, but Superbaby stayed home with Not-so-Super-but-very-slow-Mommy to keep her early bedtime.

This is a picture I took recently of Hannah at the end of her nap. She works very hard to keep up with everyone around here and while she mostly compensates with long good night sleeps, she occasionally has a good nap.

And here is a recently picture of Henry and John Mac in their matching hoodies. My children all think that matching clothes are the greatest thing right now, regardless of gender, etc. It is funny because people always tell me our boys look alike, and yet, with their very different personalities, I can't quite see it. This picture is about as close as I've gotten to thinking that maybe they have the same bloodline.....

Faith and Movies

We have had a sick spell in the house. The first one of the fall season, a good reminder that it is tough to have lots of sick little ones all at once. In the midst of this, we watched a LOT of videos. Heidi, Pollyanna, Handy Mandy, Firebusters....all sorts really. My children were all four pathetic and slow, laying around the house for days. It is a very strange sight to see a five year old boy lay on a sofa all day! Anyway, one day as we were watching a video. John Mac says to me, "Mommy, I believe in God." Out of nowhere, completely not related to the fireman in the video, without any prompting or even conversation on my part. "What do you mean John Mac?", I asked. Did I miss a part of the show? "I just do Mommy. I believe in God." There you have it. A faith statement from a three year old in the midst of watching videos.

Catechism

Every day is different with young children. One day my kids are a wreck. One child is constantly crying about any small bump, while another is quick to shout, and still another quick to hit or kick. Then the very next day, they all play together so well, using words of encouragement and looking out for one another without my prompting. Last week we actually had a lot of the hard days. The kids seemed easily angered, teary, frustrated. The days were long. After several of these though, Brandon and I overheard a conversation in which Caroline was teaching Henry some catechism questions. Henry was going to try the catechism class at church and Caroline was trying to prepare him. She was great at encouraging him while she taught him, "You are going to know this one Henry" and "I think you are going to do great in our class". Finally, she taught told him her favorite catechism question. "This is the one that I really like. You are going to love it." It is the last one:

Q: What will the new heaven and the new earth be like?

A: A glorious and happy place, where the saved will be with Jesus forever.

Brandon and I were teary-eyed listening to the beauty of the moment. A piece of the love and truth of Jesus in action in our home! Then Henry responded with a question, "But what about the toys Caroline? Will there be toys there?" Now we know in part, then we shall know in full....

School Days

I don't think I've actually written about this....but we are on week #9 of homeschooling! That being said, I've taken very few field trips (which I think are one of the real advantages of homeschooling) so far. The weather has been so incredibly hot up until this week and we have been pretty busy trying to get in as much of a semester as possible before Baby Boy arrives in November. Today though we did our first field trip to the Jamestown Settlement. It was beautiful weather and it is so fun to walk through the Indian villages and Settler's forts, to go aboard models of the original ships....really the way learning about history can take root and grow! Here is a picture from "school" this week. We painted small pumpkins. It's kind of an interesting model of development in children, going left to right, youngest to oldest...the pumpkins all looked like John Mac's on the left the first time I did this several years ago! Now Henry's shows shapes used to make a clear face and Caroline's is even further along..hair bows and all!

I do not think that homeschooling is an easy walk in the park, or that it is the answer for every family, every year. There are clearly down sides to homeschooling with lots of small children. There is crayon on the walls, fingernail polish on the carpet....The picture below is what happens when Hannah is able to rummage through the pantry on her own.

I did have some help cleaning up. One clear advantage of homeschooling for our family which I have been surprised at is how much it has helped everyone at playing together well. This is true within our family but I also see it in other groups. We get together with several other families of homeschoolers once a week at a playground and watching all of the different age groups play well together is one of my favorite things. To see the big junior high guys tolerate Henry's desire to play soccer with them, or help lift John Mac up on the monkey bars makes you feel like you are still part of something big and good, even if it isn't your public school classroom. Tomorrow we are off for pumpkin picking...it's made for fun science reading this week!