Our Butterflies have emerged ... and not so random thoughts...

... I'll have the pictures or our butterflies up later.

***Those of you who follow my blog and keep up with all of our day to day happenings ... thank you for keeping up with us. Please keep the Seneri and Perrott families in your prayers as they grieve the loss of their precious son, brother, nephew, cousin, and grandchild. We are witness to a family who is experiencing unimaginable pain in letting go of Paxton ... and at the same time their faith in God is unshakeable. They are a living testimony to God's love, mercy, grace, and power. Christi(Paxton's Mommy) spoke these words on Facebook ... and her words truly resounded with me:

"We feel your prayers. God's grace is sufficient, no matter what the circumstances. This is as difficult as one would imagine, and then multiply that by about a million. But... what power, what beauty that is coming out of this... The pain is temporary, but the fruit growing from this is eternal."

The Butterfly Field Trip

Last week we went on a field trip and did a fun class with The Butterfly Lady. It was such a fun field trip for us. The boys LOVED it! We bought two sets of caterpillars from her, so that we could continue our education at home and watch the chrysalis form, and eventually see butterflies emerge. We have had so much fun watching the changes occur! I highly recommend trying to catch one of these classes or organizing a class if you are in the area. It's a well done presentation that is well worth your time!

Aaron loses another tooth!

I didn't think this tooth would ever come out! It's amazing how long those teeth can be loose before finally falling out. Aaron came running to me after his shower a couple nights ago and told me he pulled it out himself. I sent Aaron on the Tooth Treasure Hunt, and when he found the last clue that contained his tooth, he went to Daddy to exchange it for $1. I love how much these children love this tradition! It's so much fun to watch them search for the clues!

Working around the house

This is a picture of our house before we moved in in Oct. 2010.

This is a close up of the house right before I put down new mulch. While I was away in Virginia, our bermuda grass grew aggressively into the flower bed until the flower bed actually looked like it needed to be mowed. I am not exaggerating. Thanks to the help of my wonderful neighbor ... I dug into the flowerbed area and pulled all the grass out by it's root. The above picture is the after picture of all the weed and grass pulling. Strange as it may sound ... I really enjoyed it.

I let a week or so go by and waited to see the areas that I would need to do more pulling, and I spent some more time out there pulling up more weeds and grass. What a job! (Notice the house in back of us now ... it used to just be field and forest!)

In the picture above ... do you notice anything that is missing? A tree perhaps?
Rich cut down the tree that was in front of our house. While we liked the tree, it was obvious that the tree was dying. So, it had to come down. With the help of our wonderful neighbor, the tree came down. We plan to have the stump ground out in the spring, and then let the grass grow in the area where the mulch was ... and then we will just have a small circle of mulch around the remaining tree. (notice the house now beside us?)

This past weekend, Rich brought home some new mulch! I never thought new mulch would bring me so much joy. I spent another couple hours pulling up more roots of weeds and grass, and then got busy spreading the mulch. What a difference it makes!

Martin's History Project

Many of you have heard me speak about Heart of Dakota. You have seen the sidebars that show which curriculum guide that each of my children are using. I love Heart of Dakota! I have been using it for several years now and have no intention of using anything else. It took me a couple years to find a good fit for us ... Heart of Dakota is most definitely that fit!
This week, Martin has been learning about Ancient Egypt and hieroglyphics. His history project this week was to make air-dry clay, press it out into an oval, and then etch a hieroglyphic into the oval. (he copied an example of hieroglyphics from his history book)
We let it dry for 2 days, and then he painted it. It was such a fun project ... and one that is not only etched on the clay tablet ... it's etched in his mind!

Rosalie is potty learned!!

I have no other choice but to call it potty learned as opposed to potty trained. I've gone through this process now with 4 children. With each child, it felt as though it was the first time I'd ever done it. I always thought that once I went through it with one child ... it would be easier with the next ... since I had experience under my belt. It never really worked out that way for me. Each time, I felt as though it was my first time. With the boys, I had a plan mapped out, a process to follow ... and for the most part the plan went well. Rosalie was an entirely different experience. I knew that it was time to train ... but had no plan in place.

I had just come home from Virginia, and was still trying to adjust to a normal routine, and the only thing I knew for certain ... was that ... while I wanted her to be done with diapers ... I didn't want to spend too much time caring about it.
So, my plan quickly came together. The plan was ... (drum roll) to have no plan. Those of you who know me, have to know that not having a plan is extremely uncharacteristic of me. Amazingly enough, it was the perfect plan for Rosalie. On my end, it didn't really matter to me what she did. If she had successes on the potty ... we threw big parties about it! If she had accidents, we said ... "hey, that's okay, we'll get it next time!" If we needed to go somewhere, I'd put her in a diaper or pull-up, and if she stayed dry, I made a big deal about, if she didn't stay dry ... no big deal! It was amazing to me what I saw happening! She did it all on her own. She started telling me when she needed to go ... I would not make a big deal about it ... I'd just say, "Okay, go on, I'll be right there!" When I had a free minute, I'd go see how she was doing. Within a couple of days, she was going on the potty every single time, staying dry anytime we went anywhere, and staying dry for naps and night time.
I am convinced that the key to success on Rosalie's part was how relaxed and calm her mother was.
The most exciting thing I have to report today about Rosalie is that she is DONE with diapers! Woohoo!!
The most exciting thing I have to report today about me is that I am DONE with diapers after 9 1/2 years of diaper changing! Before you get too excited for me folks ... keep in mind ... it's a little bittersweet! Certainly, it is sweet to be done with diapers. My baby girl is growing up, though...I want to bottle her and all her Rosalie-isms up! She keeps us all smiling! We are blessed!

Jonathan's Birthday

We started bright and early with presents from the family! 

After dinner, aunts and cousins arrived with more presents!

Star Wars Pajamas ... you can see the pure joy on his face!

The Cars 2 spy jet! 

Cars that are also walkie talkies - fun!!

We ended the day with a cake and blowing out the candles!  The birthday cake said, "Happy Birthday Jonathan and Ryan"   Ryan and Jonathan's birthday are only a few days apart!