My Little Man...

One more...

I couldn't help it...

Oh my heart...

Boy, do I love this littlest man of mine!

August Catch Up

The rest of our August...

Celebrating #7

A party with all our cousins!

Kallan's 1st Day of Preschool - 2014

His sweet teacher, Mrs. Kinhal

I love this boy!

He spend an entire afternoon taking apart an old CD player I gave to him.

He loved every minute of it!

A new toy for this little one...

Lots of squeals and little legs going jump, jump, jump!

Celebrating Kallan's 1/2 Birthday.

It's a big deal to be 4 1/2!!!

School - it's what we do most of each day...

Showing off their coracles... one of the first types of boats.

His play dough house...

His sweetness overflows!

He is just simply precious to me...

A new world puzzle for him... speaking his love language. 

He needed a little help with the oceans, but loved finding where

all the countries went!

We had some big boxes in the garage that she turned into

her house... complete with a kitchen and bathroom!

It made my heart smile.

Baylor...

you delight me baby boy!

1st Day of School - 2014

If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I'd still be homeschooling now... I don't think I would have said yes.  I was just thinking at that time... Let's just get through this first year!  I jumped into this adventure because of a call I felt on my heart from God... But just because He calls, doesn't always mean it will be easy.

I love to teach my children, to have them near me during their days, and to have so many opportunities to be able to mold their hearts and character.  But homeschooling is also hard, messy, stressful, and places a huge weight on a mama's shoulders.  There are many days that are filled with smiles and laughter but also tears and meltdowns.  Most days are filled with great teaching moments along side ones where I fail big time with patience or the right attitude towards my children.  I have learned that this adventure of homeschooling makes me lean in and depend more on Him... And that He is the One who gives me strength and supplies me with all that I need to the job He has called me again this year to do!

Our first week of school was filled with smiles and tears by all (even me....), but overall thankfulness for the blessing of this adventure!  Here's a few pictures from our week...

Our First Day of School

August 19, 2014

 

Liam - 4th Grade

Ainsley - 1st Grade

Kallan - Preschool

Our school table...

Lunch time

Math

Project: Entertain baby

Practicing spelling words

Shaving cream fun!

Of course it doesn't hurt to practice your spelling words in it while you are at it!

Working hard on his math.

I love my students!

I love that doing school at home can look like this...



SEVEN.

My dear Ainsley,

Today you turn seven years old.  Seven. To me, that seems so old. You are not little any more.  You are way closer to 10 than you are to “little girl”. And this last year has shown that.  What you say, how you think, how you interact with others... they all have started to show that grown-up side of you.  But it feels like only yesterday your perfect little body was put into my arms and I saw you and snuggled you for the first time.  It seems like just a few days ago that I was trying to calm your crazy hair with bows and dress you in all the pink I had.  It feels like we were just going through the stage where you would only wear dresses, loved princesses, and wore pig tails and fake jewelry.  I have blinked, and the little girl I love has turned into a sweet girl I love. 

 

So who are you at seven?  You are tall and skinny.  You tower over most kids your age whenever you are in a group setting with others.  You have lost quiet a few teeth.  Your smile is big and has lots of holes in it!  You are now wearing glasses.  You love having long hair, but mostly want it in pony tails every day.  You have left the dresses, and would rather wear shirts with shorts or jeans.  Dressing up and wearing dresses isn’t as fun as it used to be to you. 

 

You are creative.  You love to create with colors, paper, markers, art supplies, and lately Rainbow Loom.  You love to dance and sing.  You love to draw pictures and people.  You love to imagine that you are a mom, or a puppy, or anything else you can think of and pretend play with Kallan.  You love ribbon, and boxes, and pipe cleaners, and all things art.  I love to see the things your mind dreams up come to life in front of my eyes.

 

You are thoughtful.  You easily think of others.  Your friend got stung by a wasp, and you wanted to make them something.  If Liam or Kallan do something good, you want to celebrate them.  Your heart for others is big and deep and it blesses me to see how thoughtful you are towards those around you.

 

You love horses.  This is a new passion of yours.  I have no idea where you got it from, but it is strong.  You even decided to drop dance and take riding lessons.  But seeing you up on that horse each week, makes me smile because I know how much you love it.

 

You are a sister.  You are actually a sister to three brothers.  This year has been a little hard for you because you feel like you are “living in a boy world”, but you hang with the boys well!  You love to try to connect with Liam by being interested in the things he is interested in.  You relate so well to Kallan when you pretend play with him.  And, you are a passionate sister to Baylor, smothering him with love and snuggles, songs and entertainment.  You are a relater and nurturer at heart, and I see this in your role as a sister.

 

My prayer for you Ainsley is that this year you would grow in your love for God and soften your heart towards the love He has for you.  I pray that you would know how much He loves you and cares for you.  You can trust Him sweet girl… you can trust Him with all that you are!  I pray that our relationship would grow closer as a mother and daughter, and that there would be more days of smiles and giggles than clashing of heads.  And I pray that your heart for others would continue to deepen and grow, as you tenderly reach out to those around you.  I love you so much sweet girl!  Thanks for being my splash of pink from God!  You are so loved!
 

Always,

Mama

A Horse Party for a Horse-Loving Girl

She has fallen in love with horses.  That is all there is to it.  So when I asked her about how we should celebrate her seventh birthday, she knew exactly what she wanted to do... and even the cake she wanted me to make for her!  We decided to take her friends to the stables where Ainsley takes riding lessons, and it turned out to be such a fun day!!!

Her friends arrived, and we started the party by decorating canvas bags.

They loved being able to tie a colored bandanna on the handle when they were finished.

 Everyone also was able to make a braided bandanna bracelet.

If they didn't know how to braid before the party, they sure did by the time they left!

After the bags were decorated and bracelets made, we played a little

"Pin the tail on the horse"

and celebrated with cake, ice cream, and presents.

Then it was off to the stables!

The kids were so excited to ride the horses!

Definitely my favorite picture from the party!



Ainsley's teacher, Miss Allison, did a great job talking to the kids about the horses

and then letting them ride them, lead them, and brush them. 

Everyone was full of smiles and thrilled to ride the three different horses. 

It was the best way to celebrate this girl!

Happy Birthday to my horse-loving Ainsley!