HAM

Just pull out the camera and you'll see this cheesy smile erupt!

And as soon as it flashes you'll see her reaching for the camera so she can see herself - and she gleefully shouts, "ME!".

Busy moving ...

I have a list about a mile long of things that I need to do to get ready for our move. Thankfully, we have had the whole month to be packing, purging, and preparing.
Today I finished up week 7 of our school year, and we are going to take a 2 week break.
Tomorrow, I plan to pack up the school area. Thankfully, my mom will be coming early next week to help me finish packing up this house and then help me get settled in the new house. I don't know what I'd do without her help!
There are many people who have been helping us throughout the month and many people who will be helping us. I am so thankful for the people in our lives that are so willing to help and give of themselves. Thanks doesn't even come close to being enough!
My friend, Amy - took my 4 children Tuesday morning, so that I could go through all of their stuff and purge. I purge often - really, I do! However, I always have at least one of them convincing me to keep most of the things that I want to purge. So, thankfully I was able to do that without Aaron ... I mean, my children at home. (LOL)
My friend Shannon - took time out on Wednesday - not only to hang out with us at the nature park - but also to help me get a new mattress for Martin. (she has a truck!)
She will also be helping me pick up the new beds we ordered for the children.
So, the next week is going to be very busy for us - really the next couple of weeks.
We close on the house on Wednesday. We are thankful that we found this house. We are thankful that we are staying here in NC. We never dreamed this would happen ... however, NC has really become home to us.
My posts may be fewer over the next few days, but I'll have some updates here and there as we settle down in our new and permanent residence!

Sleeping with all her stuff

Pony is next to her face ... Minnie is at her feet ... and she is covered with her night-night!!

Reading ...

I am using Drawn into the Heart of Reading for Martin's reading curriculum this year. For the genre of Adventure, Martin is reading The Black Stallion . He LOVES this book! He has always enjoyed reading ... but this book is definitely his favorite so far!

The Best of Friends...

While the younger two were napping the other day ... Martin and Aaron went outside to play.
Do they fight just like every other set of brothers? Yes! Do they argue? Yes!

However, these two love each other so much and they always have. They have been like that since Aaron was old enough to crawl. I've never had to nurture this relationship or force anything. I am thankful for this special relationship that they share.

Our Pumpkin

Last fall we went on a fun field trip. They sent us home with a pumpkin seed planted in a small cup for each of the boys. Two of the three seeds sprouted and started to grow. I replanted those that sprouted in the dirt in front of our house. I didn't really give them much thought again. Every once in a while, I would check to see if anything was happening. I never saw anything, so I eventually stopped checking.
A couple weeks ago, Rich began trimming in front of the house in the area where we had planted the pumpkin seeds. Yesterday, I went out and noticed these tiny pumpkins laying in a pile of dirt just where we had planted them. They actually had started growing! Had Rich known that there were pumpkins growing ... he never would have trimmed in that particular place!
So, it was exciting for us to see these tiny pumpkins ... but we were a little bummed that we won't get to see them grow any larger.

12 New Things -Month 1

Month 1
Learn how to run the finances in our home.
Update:
Failure
With everything else going on this month with getting ready to move. I did not make my "new thing" a priority. It's still on my list of things to do. However, it just didn't get done this month.
So, I am on to my next "new thing".
Which is ...
become and expert at making meatballs.
This would be a good time for my father-in-law to give me some of his secrets. My entire family loves meatballs. I make them a lot. They all eat them and love them too. And just when I think that I have gotten the hang of it and that my meatballs are actually pretty good ... I make the trip to Pennsylvania and eat one of my father-in-law's meatballs ... and those meatballs put my meatballs to shame.
I know that asking for a recipe will never do ... because I am guessing that my father-in-law has never made his meatballs the same twice. For that matter, as many times as I have made them, I've never made them the same way twice.
However, I haven't quite discovered the secret yet ... so, I will continue on my journey of tweaking the meatballs ... and just maybe, I'll get it right!
Even in the midst of packing up my house and moving ... this will be one "new thing" that I'll be able to attempt. We still have to eat - whether we move or not ... so, I'll still be cooking!

Aaron - how's he doing?

Aaron is fully steeped in the 1st grade now. He is doing incredibly well! He is a very independent worker. He needs a little bit of guidance - but the very little guidance goes a long way with him. He is a quick learner and also has the ability to figure things out on his own. I will often give him his written work to do without any instruction. Most of the time, he reads the directions on his own and completes it without help. Sometimes he'll read the directions and tell me he doesn't understand. I am so thankful that he's so motivated to be independent!

His reading is unbelievable to me! He reads independently and is able to answer all comprehension questions without any trouble. He also can retell the story to me in great detail.
His math skills are also quite good. He just gets it. This is much different than what I went through with Martin. Martin struggled a great deal more in math - until we found the right curriculum. (now he no longer struggles)

Aaron reminds me alot of his Daddy. Aaron has the ability to figure things out without having all the details. He excels in just about anything you put in front of him - but gets quickly frustrated if he can't get it right the first time.
He is also very conscientious. He wants to do the right thing and quickly recognizes and feels ashamed when he makes a bad choice. It's not uncommon to find Aaron on his bed crying because he is "ashamed" of how he behaved.(and he actually uses the word ashamed) Wow. This makes him an easy child to discipline! Martin is still his very best friend. These two are inseparable. I love how they love each other!
Aaron has also recently discovered that Jonathan can also be a good playmate and friend. It's been a joy to watch Aaron and Jonathan grow in their relationship. I continue to pray that my children will love each other, rely on one another, and be the best of friends.

Fun with a rolling pin ...

Hmmm ... what should I do with this thing ...

I know!!! I can sit on it! This is harder than it looks!

Finally, success!

Embarrasing Moment ...

Did you know - that sometimes when you have 5 people to get ready on Sunday mornings ... that sometimes one of them slips by unnoticed? Did you know that if you are not careful to inspect each little person - that it's possible he could end up at his destination like this:

Did you know that he shouldn't be held responsible? Well - at least not yet. He is only 5.
(the person responsible ... well ... ahem ... that would be me)

When I got to church this past Sunday morning, Aaron had his buttons all messed up and his tie sticking out of his collar. Oh dear. It was an embarrassing moment indeed. It certainly wasn't embarrassing for Aaron ... he didn't have any idea that he wasn't put together just right. I was helping Jonathan get dressed that morning while my older two were dressing themselves. I remember that Aaron asked if he could put his own tie on, that I made a mental note to check it once he was done. Obviously, I went on to helping Rosalie, never giving Aaron's tie another thought. Interesting thing to note, though, is that he managed to slip by both of his parents this particular Sunday morning.
We are going to have be more intentional about our Sunday morning inspections!

Working on some Art

Martin had a ton of fun working on this project! We dyed salt 6 different colors. We then used a mixture of water and glue to paint in designs all over his paper. Then we put the colored salt on the glue. Totally fun!!

Birthday Weekend

My Dad, Mom, and niece Emily, came to visit us this weekend. They took us out to the Olive Garden for my birthday. I had to take this picture of Rosalie eating her salad. This girl LOVES salad, and can't seem to get enough of it.

She loves her salad, but had no problem eating alot of my lasagna too.

Jonathan had his pick of anything on that entire menu. What does he choose? Just salad, mommy ... just salad and breadsticks. And that is just what he had!

We had a super fun weekend with my parents and got to show my Dad the new house. (the outside of it) Thanks Dad and Mom for spoiling us this weekend. It's always fun when you visit!

Jonathan's "new" stuff

Several years ago, my mom made this Disney Cars themed pillow and blanket for Martin.

Martin got over his Cars phase pretty quickly, so I had those items packed away.

I found these items last week, pulled them out and washed them. I gave them to Jonathan and told him that he could put them on his new big bed when we move to our new house.

HEAVEN. This little boy thought it was the greatest gift he'd ever received! He told me that he was going to marry me ... and that I was his best girl.

He also told me that Mamaw was the best for making the pillow and blanket!

Awana is back in full swing!!

Martin got his Truth & Training shirt, book, and bag.

Aaron got his Sparks vest, book, and bag.

Jonathan got his Cubbies vest, book, and bag.

This is Jonathan working on his Cubbie verses.

We are working hard learning scripture each day! I love how much my children love Awana!!

SOLD

We were super excited to see the sold sign in front of the house!

Rosalie loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Rosalie loves Mickey Mouse and all the characters of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She will watch the beginning song and dance along with it as well as the ending song. (admittedly, she won't watch much of anything in between) It's so cute to watch her get excited about the characters ... especially Minnie Mouse!

Rosalie - How is she doing?

Last week the question was asked, "How is Rosalie doing while we do school?"

Rosalie is doing quite well! I have changed and tweaked our schedule quite a bit to accommodate Rosalie. Instead of having Martin and Aaron do there work at the same time, while I rotate them through the lessons that they need to me to teach ... I start the day with Jonathan, while Aaron and Martin entertain the princess.(although sometimes she likes to join in with Jonathan on his lessons - and we do like to include her!) When I am done with Jonathan, I work with Aaron. At this point, Jonathan and Martin try to keep Rosalie occupied. Once I am close to being done with Aaron, I sit Martin down with some of his work. Aaron then takes his turn at keeping Rosalie occupied.

This schedule never gets us done before lunch - but it is so much easier for me to keep the student focused. (and myself focused as well!) It also has me doing the greater part of Martin's school work while Rosalie naps. Martin's school work is a great deal more intense that J or A's. So, it only makes sense to utilize Rosalie's naptime to school Martin.

Rosalie's switch to one nap has been beautiful!!! Jonathan's switch(from 2 to 1 nap) didn't go very well - so I am thrilled with how Rosalie is doing! She almost always sleeps for about 2 1/2-3 hours each afternoon.

Rosalie also had her first week of Awana last week! Of course, she doesn't get to actually go ... but it has changed her routine a little, so it's worth mentioning! She stays home with Daddy, while I take the boys and I go to Awana. It was a little sad to watch her try to put her shoes on while the boys were getting ready to leave.

However, Rich said that she did very well and they had some good Daddy/daughter bonding time!