First things first...

Nickolas is "18"!

Now a young man with a future to grasp and reality to face...

*pictured clockwise beginning w/ the back of blondies head~
Bryson 3
Andrew 6
Mikayla 9 (katie-girl)
Nick 18 ;^)
TJ 14
Joe(y) 22
Travis (friend)
Jenna (Fred's littlest sister)

Jenna made Nick cupcakes for his birthday. They are 3 1/2 months apart in age. Nick is older. *grin*

Nick had gone to the fair all day with friends, but we ended this night with our own version of STOMP (http://www.stomponline.com/show.php)


Dear Husband had to work on some rhythm skills with some of the children first. *smile*

Soon Joe joined in with another rhythm,

and Dad rapped it up with the best beat in town.

The Dad that can break dance is also the dad who has the skills with rhythm... Go Figure!

ON TO SUMMER TOPICS...


Our weather is cloudy with a chance of rain... every day! still.


Bryson needs to wash his "motorcycle".

So Sissy joined him.

Then the event was followed by a "tune-up" for the said motorcycle. This was some serious stuff. I am waiting for his front wheel to fall off...

And for those moments when it does begin to pour outside...



fyi... apparently this is a maze of "lazer beams".

It felt more like a spider web to me.
;^)













The transition has been slower going than I had hoped for, but we are bumping along, getting settled into our place. I suppose it doesn't help when we volunteer/go to VBS for double shifts (a.m. & p.m.) the second week we are back in town. *sheepish grin*

The littles are adapting well to the changes (house, schedules, routines, people, etc). The biggies are comfortably set. Katie, well, she's been a bit more off than I expected. I will be making a mommy/daughter date to clear up some expectations (from her and me). She's been needing a lot more nurturing and attention than usual.
so I whisper to myself
...slow down...embrace...communicate....

funny enough, I've been needing more nurturing and attention than usual, and dear husband is enduring it, but his time is divided amongst so many things right now that I really need to lower my expectations for this season of transition...it's just so much more easier said than done...
so I whisper to myself
...relax...pray...smile...


This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

Complementing
a
Compromise.

I am not sure I have explained our exact living situation as of yet. I have been a bit vague due to waiting for the details ourselves.

Here are the facts:
All 6 of our children are living at home for a very special season. I will enjoy every.minute.of.it cuz soon enough two of my man-child's will be moving on... the oldest is taking a hiatus while preparing for bigger life plans, and son #2 is still in the throws of which way to head in life's many options after recently graduating.

Gramma "M" is moving in with us also. This would be my dear husbands mother. This is where the title of this post comes in. I downsized much when I packed out belongings 2 yrs ago. I do admit to probably an overabundance of books, but hey, I still have another 15 yrs of homeschooling to go. Gramma M has had a life time of treasures to collect over her blessed years. I knew downsizing was going to be more difficult for her. Every item she owns reflects a memory, or a quality, which makes it hard to let go. Can I say that she has been quite the trooper?! My husband (bless his heart) is a facts-n-logic man, so "things" in general have no purpose to him. He sees over 1/2 our belongings as non-essential (which is about right), thus not necessary... I, on the other hand, encourage that some "things" make our hearts smile, encourages a cozy home environment, and reflects a little about our personalities.
So dear Gramma M & I have been compromising our belongings.

We use
my dishes (hers are not children friendly, lol)
her pots & pans,
our furniture,
her TV's,
my tupperware,
her baking dishes...
(you get the idea).

So when it came to decorations, we once again compromised.

I love clocks *grin*
Here is just a simple lot unpacked.

She adores Hummels;
figurines, wall photos, music box.

I think when all is said & done,
these "things" will complement each other.

Just as being a family,
with different personalities,
quirks, interests, & gifts
complement the true meaning of our HOME.



So how big is our new home?

Well, after sharing living space in a small home with my parents (bless their hearts!), this house feels rather large, but really is of modest size.

Technically, it is a 3 bedroom, 3 bath home. but... it also has a huge bonus room, an office, and a "salon" aka formal dining room.

This is plenty abundant for us!

The big boys get the bonus room (man cave),
Katie has her own room,
Gramma M has her own room,
Fred & I share a room ;^D,
and the littles are floating a bit as of yet.
(See how honest I am *hee*)

We are using the formal dining room as a school room,
the downstairs closest stores all the busy toys,
and the littles use the little landing pad at the top of the stairs by our room as a mini-play area.

As for sleeping, the youngest 2 are in our room for now, quite frankly because they would be anyways, regardless of us choosing a room for them. There will be a futon available in sissy's room for them to sleep in, and also a bunkbed in the man cave... I really wasn't joking when I said that they were floating, eh? ;^)

Will share pictures of our home once we are completely unpacked...
our office is full, but effecient;
the family room is simple and spacious;
the garage, once cleared out from the sorting, will give us a work-out area;
and if I, personally, keep our individual items down to neccessity,
I will be able to use our rather large walk-in closet as a prayer room.
You know, a place set aside to spend with the Lord before each day begins.
I figure as busy as I am going to be, this will be a must to keep my priorities and sanity in check. *smile*

JUST WONDERING...

Does anyone else's home look like this? Every time I turn around I seem to see more messes. I take the credit for the 'desk' mess, but the littles are certainly doing their fair share too.

We are wrapping up our last few weeks of school, getting ready for the end-of-year State Testing...

...and quite frankly, we are going a bit stir crazy waiting for our spring weather to begin to shine. Yes, April showers bring May flowers... but gray and dreary is...well..... blah....

Atleast my kitchen is still *smiling* at me
(aka it is clean).

The Simple Life
of
8~







VALENTINES DAY style....

A handmade Valentine from Katie-girl...

A hand-knitted garland & paper hearts....

Dinner of steak, mashed potatoes, corn, & these biscuits...

I attempted a Velvet Cake... decorated by the kids!

We are blessed with a houseful, and oh-so-thankful...

All the kids took turns making heart-shaped cookies,

Yes, even Joe is joining the fun!

The grandparents enjoyed steak dinner w/ us, but now are tucked away in their room for a movie night...

while the rest of us play some good ole family board games. =)

I *HEART* FAMILY!

Winter Blues?

The Ho-Hum-Dol-Drums?

Facing the mid school-year hump?

Lacking energy while the kids seem to be over-energetic with all things disorderly?

Yeah, our last few weeks have felt like this. =)
We took Friday off (call it an inservice day).
The older kids like these days:
popcorn & movies, board games,
a day free from routines.

Montessori Moments~

For the Littles I layed out some
"learning
trays"
in random places.

The kitchen table had a Ladybug craft (This is our Ll week), & a phonics tray. These were a hit once they finally saw them (discovery was part of the fun).

On the coffee table I layed out math manipulative blocks.
1 thru 10.


Bryson loved them, and TJ joined the fun. They made a stair tower.

Sissy created animals with them.

Dad & biggest brother Joe came home a little early;
the littles were thrilled!

Dad added a spinning skill to our learning trays.

~



Katie-girl
ended
the event
with
a
...
VALENTINE!

not a bad day with such random ideas =)

I *heart* homeschooling!

I *heart* my husband!

I had one of "those" days...

ya know...

the...

didn't get enough sleep...

house is oh.so.messy.where.do.i.start...

a back-slidden-potty-trainee...

a not our usual smooth school room adventure...

can't seem to find a way to sneak into the shower...

kinda day!!!

Then the husband come home from a hards day of work...
and his wife has no interest to figure out something for dinner, AND wants to sit on her bum to watch not one, but two episodes of her favorite show. :^/

(nice, huh?... yeah, not so much)

He cleans the kitchen spotless, then fixes dinner, (yes, this is pitiful, I do know this), and strongly directs the older children into pitching in with the rest of the house disaster...

and as I feel like the loser wife of the century, I add to my not.so.lovely.charm.of.the.day by saying "hmmm, couldn't handle my day off eh?" (like why start a war? sheesh, what was i thinking?)

and dear Husband says in his matter-of-fact, plain, simply-stating-a- truth, calm-sorta-way...

"There is too much to do around here for any one (1) person"

ugh!

If he only knew that I LOVE...

doing his laundry so he always has the clothes he needs ready to wear...

keeping the house tidy so that he feels invited in after work...

pulling off a descent dinner to feed his stomach & warm his heart...

to keep finances in order as to be good stewards of his hard efforts of daily work...

schedules that keep our kids eager to learn, especially when dad is home to share with...

friday.night.candle.light.shave.my.legs.bubbly.baths
that helps me feel like a person (aka wife) again.

One of "those" days are rare, and it isn't pretty, but my man loves me anyways...

Thank you God for such a man as this! =)

Confessions of an unscheduled week...

because I like keeping things real,
and after all,
no one reads on friday, right?

9:30 up & checking e-mails
The senior student has been up, showered, and working on geometry already this morning. My 3rd grader is working on her dad's Christmas present; she is also stalling to do her school work. I ponder about a healthy breakfast, then fix School Day Biscuits (aka biscuits w/ cinamon sugar & frosting). The aroma gets my 8th grader to crawl out of bed; he begins his math while waiting for breakfast. =)

10:00 the littles are up...
The kinder is helping Mr. Tot build a marble tower...they soon part ways as the kinder wanders off to play with Mr. Potato Head while Mr. Tot proceeds to dump out all the toy cars to play with on the Candyland game board. Yes, this does mean that all the Candyland playing cards are scattered amongst the floor... and where is mom? Out in the living room encouraging her daughter to begin her math lesson.

11:00 simplest of chores...
toilets swiped, laundry swapped about, breakfast dishes being done... the older boys are watching "Monk" while Katie is practicing a card trick, and the littlest boys are now fighting over a controller to a game system (we have 3 controllers by the way).

12:00 lunch time
consists of salami, cheese, & crackers followed by apple slices w/ peanut butter.

1:00 Katie is now whining about not getting up more Christmas decorations (we have only done the tree), and I am bargaining for a clean house... the front door entry way gets cleaned. (?)
Grandma is baking cupcakes for a week end event. The older boys are now playing a video game, and the littlest boys are watching a movie. "The Best Christmas Present of All" with Donutman. Me? I am going through our budget and planning to pay bills amonst Christmas shopping.

2:30 Katie gets distracted by learning to Hand Knit (which seems kinda cool). TJ (13) is wrestling on the bed with the littlest boys.

3:00 Grandpa is up (he worked til 4:30 a.m) and now has the littlest boys running wild outside with him. Katie & TJ are fighting. TJ is pestering, Katie is screaming, I do not like neither choice... they now are "reading" quietly.

3:30 Katie is now playing outside w/ the littlest boys...and...they find a long lost Easter egg...and yes, she did eat the candy that was inside it! I am now tidying up the house with the intentions of being ready to decorate the house tonight. The older boys are playing Chess. The dear husband calls to let me know he is at the hospital(?). Did I mention he has a dry sense of humor? Yeah, well, he was checking out a job site which is at a hospital building. Funny, eh?

4:30 I am now going through paper clutter on our computer/school desk...bills, assignments, crafts, teacher notes, coupons, etc... The older boys are unloading the dishwasher, Katie is hand-knitting again, and the littlest boys are running through the house chasing each other (pretending to be Ninjas I do believe) with their tinker-toy swords.

5:00 All is quiet! All the kids are watching "Elf", cept Bryson, whom has nodded off for a nap. I am still pushing through paperwork. Daddy is now home, yay for me!

6:00 I am going with Katie to her ballet class for a special parent night, while Dad (& Andrew) took Nick to soccer practice. TJ had the challenging job of babysitting his sleeping littlest brother...he played a game while we were gone.

8:00 We are all back home now. Bryson is now up. Dinner? hmmm... fried eggs & left over French Toast for most of us, pizza for the rest of 'em. Did I mention I don't cook much?

9:00 The littlest boys play randomly about the house with stuffed animals and plastic fruit. Somewhere along the line the magnetic ABC letters came out too, as the rest of us sat together to watch two, yes 2, episodes of 24.

11:00 Dad heads to bed, as does Katie. I check my e-mails (again) and drop a note on facebook. I get sidetracked by reading a few blogs (hey, atleast I'm honest, lol).

12:00 Bryson (whom has new found energy) starts bullying Andrew in which TJ tries to rescue him; mom (me) intervenes by channeling my wild childs energy to play with a ball in the kitchen. Nick escapes to the bedroom during all the chaos.

12:30 The oldest boys head to bed, the littlest boys lay down to watch a movie. Do I dare admit it is a "Care Bear" movie? I spend this quiet time creating our Christmas Letter, planning some Christmas day activities, and then decide to type up this post; aimless, eh?

2:00 Everyone is finally asleep.... We never did get to the Christmas decorations, and as I look about the house I see a sink full of dishes; hats, shoes, coats strung about; cars, fruit, Mr Potato Head, & stuffed animals covering our floors. The trash needs to be taken out (as in over-flowing), and the tree needs water... I will head to bed in about an hour (after the house is smiling at me), and now you will know why I wasn't up until 9:30 a.m. in the first place.

So...How are YOUR days looking lately?

Nature Study...

Our Backyard!

These photos are all from our fenced backyard.
We moved from small town to big city, so I find it a bit amusing to still enjoy such treasures of wildlife.

The wee lil tree frog was the most enjoyable. All the kids had fun with him.

We also have several rabbits to observe. Our dogs go a bit nutty over them.

Spiders are of abundance.
Thankfully, not many are found in our house;
the way it should be if you ask me!

The Blue Jays are amazing. We have a lovely birdhouse that we keep stocked with bird food. Chickadees and Robins are popular guests also.
We cannot seem to capture on camera our surprise early morning guest at the birdhouse...
the neighborhood squirrel!

We also discovered a rather large BEE hive in our pine tree. The odd thing was that we did not have many bees bothering us this summer, which is a nice change from previous summers.
We have the hopes of dissecting this piece of artwork very soon.

Some other friends of the back yard are:

Hummingbirds

Dragonflies

ants, lady bugs, and the occasional slug.

A change of plans ??

Ever experienced things not going as planned? Ah, yes, well, that would be my past week end. Original goal? To escape, to rest, to absorb peace and quiet, to nap, to read a book even, to sleep ...ultimately, to have a "day off". Now, even this thought really is humorous as I knew full well this original plan included Baby Bryson coming with me. but hey, I just took it in stride and figured it was a great time for a mommy/baby bonding time without all the hub bub of daily life.
My reality week end? Fred having to work both Sat & Sun; Nick was off to a friends' for his own break, and me? Too late to cancel my reservation, off we went to my upgraded kingsized bed w/ a fireplace hotel stay...yep, me, TJ, Katie, Andrew, & Bryson. New plan? to survive! ;^D
Clearly with no expectations now, I humbly embrace my little blessings and go for the ride...
a 2 hour drive. The first hour? one emergency "pee pee" stop, a Burger King pit stop, and a nurse the baby (again) stop. Second hour? baby nods off, Andrew drifts asleep, and Katie is peacefully enjoying music. TJ and I enjoy scenery (a dark version by now), and discuss survival and navigational skills as we search for this remote place I once called my "escape".
The excitement of arrival stirs everyone, they all tag with me for check in, the lady at the front desk graciously gives me the eyebrow raise of counting my little tykes as I proudly claim that not ALL my children were with me! We get our room number, park, and now are faced with the journey of carrying luggage... TJ with his backpack and a large box with a top that will not stay closed, thus not being able to see where he is going; me w/ Bryson in his infant carseat, a overstuffed diaper bag, and 3 sleeping bags (did I mention Bryson weighs 20 lbs w/o the carseat?), Katie with her back pack and a pillow, and Andrew with his bubbling energy! Ah yes, to walk through the main lobby, past the gift shop, through the entertainment (pianist and flute player), up the elevator, down two hallways to our final destination...to where we stare at each other? Who's going to open the door?
All things drop with exhaustion, and in we enter our glorious room of relaxation! Giddiness (sp?) infects us all, as Katie searches the closet, TJ checks out the TV, Andrew test the durability of the bed (much like Tigger would), and I announce the need to search for Gideon... Gideon? yep, had all of 'em searching around, not quite sure what they were seeking out, lol, 5 minutes later they embrace the hotel Bible.
Next on our agenda? to explore our new environment of the the hotel, enjoying the sites of what we passed previously, but with a different approach, lol. Instead of being overloaded, now we were "searching for monsters" as this was the only way to get Andrew to whisper and tip toe versus the first method of bouncing off the walls (literally).
The rest of the night went amazingly well... a movie night really. We went to the local market for snacks, then watched a few movies. Proudly, we only had one complaint for the night, as the sleepy, angry gentleman below us called around 10 pm. Crime in progress? Andrew's knees hitting the floor while playing peek-a-boo with Bryson...not bad I thought. Again, the children drifted off one by one, TJ and I were last, somewhere between 1 or 2 a.m.
I awoke at 5:30 ish, turned on the fireplace, texted Fred a "good morning", and this...this is where/when I found my quiet peaceful time... grateful for the cherub faces surrounding me, reflecting on the things I need to be more appreciative for. All the while seeking the Lord's comfort for my worn out, exhausted, overlooked self. Humbly, I was reminded that it is not in my job description to have a "day off"...I will have plenty of those to someday enjoy in eternity...for now? to love, to guide, to nurture, to teach, to serve, to appreciate, to honor, to respect my life and the loved ones I am blessed with!! and with that, I took an hour nap before my little crew awoke.